Today was a good day. I weighed in at 205.1lbs. I am a daily weigher but it doesn't drive me insane anymore. I have learned the natural fluctuations of my body so I can tell when I am getting TOM or my body is retaining water.

Angel's_Dust - One week I lost 4lbs! Than I only lost about a pound the following week. But it usually evens out to 2.5lbs per week in the end.

I have terrible stretch marks everywhere. I mean EVERYWHERE. I even have them behind my knee caps. I think weight loss can only help at this point. Oh well. I see them as "scars" of my weight struggles. I'm sure that they will fade a bit more. They aren't too noticeable.

Welcome to all the new challenge members!

I was morbidly curious about my weight today but all I got from the scale was annoying fluctuations. Oh well. It's probably because I'm sore, like, every day as I get used to the new load of exercise.

WormwoodDoll: Wow, 4 lbs? That's amazing. I'm scared to think how much less I'll lose a week after I lose 30 lbs. And, I too suffer from stretch marks behind my knees. I have them on my arms and stomach as well but they've all faded. But the new little ones from losing weight bother me at times. It's ridiculous to gain stretch marks from losing.

Yeah, WormwoodDoll, 4 pounds? WOW. I too might end up losing 4 pounds this week, because I weighed in after 4 days and was 2 pounds lighter. -_- I'm eating like.. 2000 calories a day, sometimes leaking over to like as high as 2200. I don't want to lose fast, since I know it's healthier to lose it slower and you're less likely to get loose skin, so if I lose 4 pounds two weeks in a row I might have to up my calories to 2500 or something, which is a really weird thought for someone trying to LOSE weight, to be eating 2500 calories. XD

Slimmer by Summer! Yes, I can do this! I will be 16 pounds lighter by June 21. That would make me 259. (Can't believe I'd be ecstatic with that, but I will.)

SW 275
CW 275
GW 259

Hello, I am just starting and would love to join. You all sound incredible in your efforts. I would love to loose about 15-20lbs by the first day of summer. My struggle has been everlasting and I am going to start with the plan that is real...counting calories and exercising.

Here's looking forward to summer and for me to get into nice looking shorts.

Melanie in Colorado

megwini - It's okay to lose 4lbs the first two weeks. If you're just starting to change your lifestyle, it's fine. A lot of that weight will be water weight. I think I lost...6-8lbs my first week or two. Then it became 1-3lbs per week, usually averaging 10-12lbs lost for the month. I obviously didn't stay consistent with that, though, because at one point I was more off than on for a few months.

Angel's_Dust - Yeah. I am prepping myself now for the slower weight loss. I know when I get around 170-180, I'll probably lose 1lb a week. Who knows. I'll be focusing on inches by then, though. I going to start to focus on more exercise and losing more inches within the next week. I need to take my measurements and stay getting back into going to the gym 4x a week. I don't want to be a blob of skin because I didn't start strength training too early.

I would like to join you all as well. Maybe this will help me refrain from eating up the extra exercise deficit and stick to my plan.

I want to be 199 pounds by June 21st (Hubby's bday) for a total of 26 pounds.
I want to continue to exercise and strength train 4 times a week.

I am joining the challenge also. I had such a bad beginning to this year.I know it will only get better.My goal
is to fit in my size 20 jeans by July01!

:dust:

Welcome to the challenge!! Good luck!

I think I've lost 1.9 lbs so far. I'm at 185.8. I say I think because the scale likes to trick me sometimes. I can't believe I've lost so much in such a little amount of time. It doesn't seem real.

WormwoodDoll: You should definitely take your measurements. I'm so glad I did. It was a big encouragement to see the numbers go down faster than the scale. I tried out the 30DS the other day and I think I need to try gaining muscle. Your 'blob of skin' words made me panic. LOL. I gain muscle fast, so I was afraid to gain too much. It's ridiculous, but I didn't want to see the numbers go up on the scale again. But I think I need to stick to the 30DS and do strength more often. I was using the strength to give my body an extra boost, but now I'll try to do the 30DS 3x a week. My body's pretty small for my weight because I've lost tons of inches, but I'm still afraid I'll have saggy skin.

I'm around 205 ATM. Too afraid to weigh myself though. Even though I've been OP, I ate soup from Subway last night. A CUP HAD 2,000+ MG OF SODIUM! I didn't realize that until I JUST NOW tracked my calories. Today is my higher calorie day (around 2300). I do this once every two weeks just to give my body a little shock. I worked it in perfectly because we were going out for DF mom's birthday. We went to Red Lobster - I had the wood-grilled salmon, jumbo shrimp, mashed potatoes, and a cup of soup, plus a biscuit (about 900 cals). I didn't eat breakfast. But I did eat two cupcakes. I'll still be in range with dinner though. Not the healthiest day I've had, but it was good, and worth it.

Angel's_Dust - Yeah. I lost 3 inches off my waist in about a month & 1/2 and I was wowed. I wonder what would happen if I did strength training. My legs and thighs are pretty toned from generally walking every day, plus doing the elliptical. I need to focus on my belly, arms, and back. They're my problem areas.

Hey everyone!

I used 3fatchicks a while ago for support in my weight loss but my diet has taken a hit lately from a number of different stresses. But I am ready to get back on track and I am looking to join this support group! I also want to slim up for summer :) Now that it's finally getting warmer, I really feel like I need to get off my *** and start getting back into shape.

Good luck to everyone!

Hi yall! I hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend!

So, I absolutely blew it yesterday. We spent the day at Carowinds which is a local amusement park. I did great only taking in about 600 calories (tdp says I can have 1692 based on my weight and sedentary lifestyle)up until about 5pm when I decided to share an ice cream cone with the baby. Then on the way home, I stopped for chinese take out because everything else was closed besides fast food. I did not make the best choices there either. I had orange chicken, fried rice, an egg roll and 2 crab rangoons. I shared half the portion of chicken and rice with the baby and refrigerated the rest. I tried to make myself feel better by telling myself that since I still nurse and don't account for that and that I walked for 7 hours straight that I could get away with it, but I am thinking I may take a water aerobics class after playgroup, and then go back in the evening with my hubby to do my regular cardio and strength training just to be on the safe side. Do you think that is necessary?
I hate putting the baby in the child watch so much if I don't have to.

Count me in! I would like to lose 20-30 pounds by the end of June!!

So about that soup...I only gained .9lbs from all that sodium intake. Thank goodness. I was really worried about it.

Here's to a decent week and weekend!

Also welcome to all the new challenge members!

So did everyone have a good Easter? I know I did. I ate some stuff I probably shouldn't have but it's ok because I ate in moderation and I'm happy with my progress. I'll be getting more serious tomorrow morning... Like getting back to weighing and measuring my food portions and tracking my food on the daily plate. I have not got on the scale so I don't know if I'm up or down but I'll weigh tomorrow, just to see.

Guess my little hiccup didn't hurt my progress as the scale said I was down 2.5 pounds today. Yippeeeeeeeeeeee!!! Off to update my ticker!

I am going on vacation that will involve a beach (gulp) and wearing a swimsuit the first week of June. I only have 7 weeks left to get a semi beach-worthy body. I would like to lose 20 lbs by then.

I had a good Easter, but I got a huge bag of mini eggs and practically inhaled them. Those were gone in two days. The melty, crunchy goodness was too addicting. But I kept within my calories and didn't stop exercising. I had to take an extra day off yesterday because my calves have been so sore and tight. I'm making up for it today, but I'm going slower. Right now I'm trying to figure out how to squeeze an extra day of the 30DS into my packed schedule.

WormwoodDoll: Yes! Try strength training! You'll burn more fat. My body responds to strength training way more than to cardio. You should try doing both. When I lost all those inches, it was because I was doing lots of strength training and maybe 4x a week of 15-30 minutes cardio. When I was 190, my measurements were SMALLER than when I was 177. Probably by 3 inches for each body part. (I don't want to come off like I'm demanding you do it. This is just a suggestion. :))

Angels_Dust - I usually do 10 mins cardio, 30-40 mins strength training, and another 10 mins of cardio (or a 1 mile walk).

I would like to be 150 by July 14th!! I am currently 172. oh boy...

Welcome to the Challenge!

It turned out the scale was playing with me. I'm only down .9 this week + 3 days. Blah.

WormwoodDoll: Wow, that's more than I'm doing!

WOW, i have almost the exact same goal - my birthday is july 12th and I was hoping to break 150 by then. and i weigh around 172 now too. let's work at it together! lol

i've decided that i'm not going to weigh myself for at least a month so i'll just go by the looseness of my clothes. hopefully it will be more satisfying to see the scale drop by a larger amount in a month!

in response to the discussion about exercise- i agree that strength training can be very helpful. the more muscles that you have, the more calories your metabolism burns throughout the day. i've been going to the gym every morning, and i do cardio for about 20 minutes, stretch and do abs for about 10 minutes, then strength training for about 20 minutes. it's working great!

I would like to be 130 by june 21st:carrot:

25+ lbs by June 21st!

Hello all! Down 3 lbs with 12.5 to go to reach my goal for this challenge :) Dh is determined to lose weight now too so we're in a bit of a contest with each other now. It should be interesting :)

O_o I hope you mean 230 or you might kill yourself trying.

Hey, at least the scale is going down and not up! and congrats on losing the 3 pounds amynbabe! Just a little at a time :)

I still am not weighing myself but i definitely think i've lost some weight in the past week. now it's just a matter of staying on track!

Thanks for the encouragement, syncrosweetie88. But I have great news. I was sore on those other days and weighted more. I checked today (not sore) and I'm down 2.1 altogether. That'll teach me to step on the scale on my sore days. I think I'm going to do myself a favor and not check again for a while.

Thanks for that bit about excersice! I will try that at the gym. I tend to do just 30-60 mins of cardio and then some abs, but maybe I will try 45 minutes of cardio, 10 of abs, and then strength traning.

Thanks for the tip! I almost feel like I'm new at ths lol!

I'm really blowin' it this weekend. Friday I went over my calorie intake by 90 calories because I just had to have a few more bites of ice cream. Saturday I doubled that. Today I had a five guys little burger and fries 'because why the **** the not, i've already blown it '. Ugh I have no self control! And this is after I was able to put on a pair of size 16 jean shorts that I haven't worn since 2004! I think I need to start again fresh by restricting some trigger foods.

I'd like to lose 10 lbs before summer!
I've been falling off the bandwagon lately and loosly counting my calories which is not good.

I need structure to really succeed. So the plan is to start using the daily plate again and work out atleast 3 x's a week again!

Hey ladies. Sorry I haven't been on! I was in Pittsburgh for a year days without internet access and I have been really busy at home.

I am down to 201.1lbs! I have lost 4lbs this past week.

Sunkisses - Don't beat yourself up. Just get up and do it again! It is really hard to get over the "I already blew it, so why not do more damage" mentality. You're not the only one, I've done this PLENTY of times!

Don't beat yourself up for going off the diet a little, everyone does it once in a while. It's when you feel guilty and just figure that you'll completely blow it since you broke it anyway - that's when you'll actually gain weight. You're better off having a slow loss or maintaining for the week than gaining.

And I wouldn't recommend completely restricting foods because when you get stressed out you'll probably just end up binging on them and feeling REALLY guilty. Trust me, I had a binge eating disorder for 2 years. I would make a strict diet and lose weight, but if I went off the diet I would feel so guilty and depressed that I would completely splurge and gain the weight back, which would make me feel even worse. It got so bad that it turned into clinical depression. I'm fine now because I've learned not to be so hard on myself when I diet.

You just have to think about it in the long term; so you were a little above the calories one day, the next day you'll just get back on track or maybe make up for it with a little exercise. Seriously, it's in our nature to break the rules and go off our diets once in a while.

Congrats on the 4 lb loss wormwooddoll! :carrot: You're almost breaking 200 :)

Sunkisses: Self control takes a long time to gain. No one's perfect. I have more self control than I had years before, but I still slip a lot. I HAVE to have chocolate milk almost everyday to stop extra cravings. I also get strong cravings for ice cream every once in a while. Nothing can stop me from getting that ice cream. Just try to take those extra calories out of the next day, or say that you can't change what you did, and it's in the past. Start fresh.

WormwoodDoll: Holy crap!! 4 pounds! That's awesome! So close to Onderland now...

At this rate I am NOT going to make it.

Hey Ladies,

I would like to join in on the challenge! First day of summer is EXACTLY two months away, and I would like to lose 20lbs by then. I know, I know, that is a mightly goal... but I really want to make it :^: That would be going from 153lbs to 133lbs. My bare minimum will be to get to 138lbs, a loss of 15lbs.

This is my first weight-focused challenge... usually I do POP challenges since staying POP is the best way healthily shed pounds. However, at this point in the journey I think focusing on the destination is probably the most productive way to go about it.

So good luck to all you ladies... I will check in twice a week to see how things are going. My main motivation is the fact that I will be wearing something like this first week of August (Oy Vey!!):

Hi everyone :). I'm a little late, but I'd still like to join the challenge and see how much I can push myself! My goal is to lose 20lbs by June 11. I'd ideally like to lose 25lbs, and bring myself under the 200 line, but that might be a bit of a stretch at this point ;).

The goal is to work out 4 to 5 times a week by doing 30 to 60 minutes of cardio, as well as 2 to 3 times a week of strength training. Nutrition-wise, I'm trying to stay within the 1400 to 1600 calories a day range, and drink a minimum of 64 oz of water a day (which is proving to be the hardest part, strangely enough).

But yes :). Good luck to everyone else participating!