Wow Enygirl-you took me right back to my basic training days
I'm doing well-just frustrated about my back. It's feeling a bit better, but now the other side hurts a bit. I really think it might be my mattress, but when we went to look at mattresses a few weeks ago I was shocked by how expensive they are! I know we could get a cheaper one, but what's the point, you know? So we'll be saving up.

Anyway, I believe that by Monday I should be able to at least walk again. Food wise things are really going well. The other day I was in town getting my hair done, and I was planning on going to this great Mediterannean restaurant to get a falafel. Well, their servings are enormous and I knew I wouldn't eat just half, so I passed. I was proud of myself.

Enygirl-good job on getting out of your slump. 50 pushups! That's amazing! Are they full push ups, or girl push ups? Either way, that's awesome. I don't think I can even do 10 girl pushups.

Lene-I can imagine how fried ice cream would sit badly in your stomach. I think I had it once a long time ago and thought "wow, that is one way to ruin perfectly good ice cream!" Hang in there and stay away from fried dairy products!!

horsey-hope you had a good time with your visitors!

McKenziesmomma-you're doing great! 12 lbs is wonderful, and it is frustrating when the weight loss slows down, but as long as it's going down it doesn't matter how long it takes. It will happen as long as you're eating right and exercising. You're doing great!

Welcome Cee Cee!

Ok, tomorrow is weigh in, so I need to drink lots of water and eat right today.

Have a great Saturday, everyone!!

Ate clean most of the week even with company (my mom came for 8 days), but didn't exercise as much as I'd have liked to... So today I'm back to my BFL journaling, pretending the week didn't exist although for a week to "write off" I did well. I do better when I'm "accountable" with my journaling, this BFL journal is hard, you have to write down goals for the day, what to do better the next day, what to eat, what you really ate and the exercises which are planned before too. Former me would have NEVER done this type of planning. Somehow even with company, even with my trips that I do every 6 weeks or so I have to stay on track even with exercise. It's harder without my normal schedule to do my preferred workouts at night, which I prefer. I leave again in about a week for a 6-7 day trip again, I'm going to plan, create a check list on food to bring, places to eat out, and figure out before how to use those silly workout bands at hotels. Key is going to be eating smaller meals so I don't get so hungry that I pig out on fast comfort food... after some hard work here I can't blow it on deadlines and traveling.

I do girly pushups... maybe after I do the 6 weeks of the girly ones I might go back and do plank ones. did 52 this morning...

horsey - good job staying on track.

Did a hard cardio session last night, don't know why I like exercise at night but it seems to have always been this way. I am NOT a morning person. Today I'll do another hard cardio session plus will go on a bike ride with my little boy. Isn't it nice to know others are working on diet/weight loss too, from other parts of the US and world? I get bored, sometimes want to quit, and it's great to read of other's progress too.

One of our steps was a mantra, mine is "positive, positive, positive" especially when I start thinking so negatively of myself. I haven't had it easy the past 2-3 years, fitness/nutrition and positive thinking has been helping me get out of a rut - and I'm not the type to be in a rut, I traveled a lot, ran a company at a young age, and was always so active. Seems that fitness/nutrition and reaching one's goals applies to other things. Even making small steps, one day at a time, I'm able to apply this to other areas of my life.

Speaking of other areas of life... one of our goals for July was to work on another area of our life we might not be disciplined at. Is everyone doing that? For me it's two things - organizing my home, which I'm proud to have gotten mostly under control except a few clutter spots plus finances (I gained weight physically and financially in a bad year or two). I'm using flylady.net and am following the plan for keeping my home under control, which seems to cross ove (feng shui) to my mind being clear for other things. And I'm getting back to my Dave Ramsey plan, set up accounts at a new bank to "start fresh" and will do what I'm doing with fitness, set goals for the next day, evaluate, set budgets, watch carefully - it's hard to establish new habits, especially in those areas of our lives where we weren't disciplined for many years. Shrinks say it takes 21 days to form new habits, I personally think it's more like 90 days with lots of journaling, accountability, reminders and planning.

It's Sunday July 13, how's everyone doing this month? Can't believe it's mid month already!

I'm starting to lose some steam....I've been around the same weight for 3 or 4 days. I feel like I'm working out hard. I've been doing the 30 day shred. Some of the moves are so hard ...I'm too heavy to do them...but I do it the best I can and try to stay positive. I have been walking every night...if it rains or is to hot...I go to the gym to do my walking so there is no excuses. I know I lost alot of weight fast my first 2 weeks but this 3rd week has only been like 2 lbs. Its just so frustrating when you feel like your eating within your budget and exercising and you either stay the same or go up one.....

I just keep telling myself, "Maybe I will get a whoosh here in a couple days if I stick with it!" or, "At least your 10 lbs down! You don't want any of that back do you???? No...so don't quit!"

momma - just keep working at it. Some weeks you just won't see a big loss, PMS, TOM etc. all play in. Also - are you taking in more sodium? That will keep the weight on, but hide because it doesn't effect the calories. Keep track in your journal. And you're right - you are down #10 - and you don't want to go back! I'm still trying to get rid of the weight that I gained back after the last downward spiral. I had given up and put #16 of the #20 I had lost since Sept. back on... Now I'm still #4 away from then! It's FRUSTRATING!!! But that's why we're here together - because we get that!

I need to work on my cholesterol levels. I just got a letter from the doctor with my results - and it's high - but the worset part is how high the LDLs are in comparison to the HDLs... I don't understand it all - but I have to fix it. It's part of the getting healthy challenge.

You know I did have like 3 cups of popcorn last night for supper...I bet there was alot of salt on it. I'm done with TOM...since last weekend...but sometimes I do kinda feel crampy still....is that PMS???

Thanks for the encouragement

Momma-are you eating enough calories? 3 cups of popcorn for dinner doesn't sound like a lot. I know if I lower my calories too much, I don't lose. Hang in there because eventually you're going to see a difference, and it will be worth it. I've been having a tough time too. I lost 9 lbs really quickly and this week I only lost 1 lb. It's frustrating because I worked so hard this week, but at least it's a loss, right? And even if I lose only 1 lb. a week, that's still 52 lbs. in a year. So, please stick with it! It'll be worth it in the end!!!

Horsey-I gained weight as my debt went up! Weird. But we decided last fall that we were going to get rid of all our cc debt by the end of August and we are pretty much on schedule. Strangely, since we've made the decision, we've also been able to lose weight. My husband has lost 20 lbs!

Enygirl-I'm way overdue on getting my cholesterol checked! Thanks for reminding me. My levels were high last time, hopefully they've come down.

Well, like I said, I'm down a pound, so I'm pleased about that. We're going to a concert tomorrow night and I'm trying to figure out the eating portion of the day. We'll eat lunch at home, but we're going to need to eat dinner somewhere. I don't know if there's anything around the concert venue, or if we should just eat in Denver. I guess we'll figure it out.

Have a great Sunday!

Oh NO...my bad...I meant I had 3 cups of popcorn after dinner. I'm getting between 1400 and 1500 calories a day. I'm not drinking enough water for sure...I'm only getting like 40 oz max (about 5 - 8oz glasses).

Last night for supper we had cheese burgers and chips (4oz extra lean hamburger meat grilled (130 cal), 1 slice fat free Kraft cheese (30 cal), 1 Healthy Life wheat bun (80 cal), 1 TBSP miracle whip (35 cal), 1/2 oz BBQ potato chips (75 cal), and a 100 calorie pack of choc. chip cookies ...total supper calories was 450 calories...then I had about 3 cups of popcorn at about 35 calories a cup...but my total calories was still under 1500 for the day...I just wonder if there is too much salt/sodium in the popcorn??

Oh well...maybe a whoosh is in the future (like tomorrow )....I know it sure is frustrating....but what can you do??? One things for sure...I'm not giving up. I'm not letting my family down, I'm not letting you guys down, but most of all I'm not letting myself down. Thanks for the support everyone!

Well, I gotta go walking...its BEAUTIFUL outside this evening!

I did a nice walk/jog this evening, just trying to keep up with my little boy on his bike! What a beautiful evening here too, the days are too hot - 95-100 degrees to workout outside during the day. I'm on the BFL plan so Sundays are "cheat day" but I'm going to try to only do One "cheat meal." My meal was a buffet, but I wouldn't REALLY call it cheating that BAD, my cheat was a large baked potato (along with steak, mushrooms, huge salad) still I ate a lot of calories so for dinner I only had tomato soup.

McKenziesmom, 2 lbs a week weight loss is GOOD, you don't want to lose much more it's unhealthy so the experts say. I get bloated on starchy foods and carbs, if I ate a ww bun, chips and popcorn like you did my tummy would be mush. We're all different. I"m getting more into the Eziekiel bread, and if I have a burger I'm doing 1/2 a bun now and I'm feeling better. Are you eating enough veggies though? That was a high carb dinner/stacks! Personally I'm trying to cut back at night, although I too like popcorn, sometimes if I can't sleep I get up and munch on it - I read a recipe in the Biggest Loser Cookbook, sprinkle it with lowfat parm. cheese and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, with a little Garlic. It's the new snack I'm sneaking into movies at the theatre!

I did some speed reading at the bookstore tonight while my boy played, I'm doing this six meal a day thing in BFL but I think my calories are likely too high. I really lost weight better when I was counting them - and as someone that tends to eat too much I'm going to have to again most likely. Back to 1200-1400 per day. And this 20 min cardio thing, I've kicked up to 30 min of intervals BUT I'm 40, and I don't even think 30 minutes is enough. So maybe I'll do 30 min of the intervals - that means hitting high points and really pushing it, plus another 20+ min of walking/jogging, etc added to it on my cardio days. Three days are weights, 40 min or so, and HARD weights. I'm enjoying building muscle, at my age toning is a very GOOD thing... oh how I miss the good old days when I could eat anything and "look" in shape although it was likely skinny fat, I wasn't really in shape and in my 20s way too thin. Imagine having to eat hoping to gain weight all those years! Now I need to figure out how to rev up the metabolism again and push it...

Checking in for weigh in!
start 160lbs. week 1 158lbs. week 2 156lbs.
exercise: 6 days good workouts
water: hit my target 5/7 but did a lot better than week before
journaling: everyday!
decluttered: notta lotta but I did work extra hours at work)

Beginning stats end of week 2 stats
160 lbs 156lbs
measurements:
bust: 38.5 38.5
waist: 35 32.5
hips: 41.5 41.5
thighs: 22.5, 23 21.75, 22.25
arms: 12, 12.5 12, 11.5


Either my inches aren't coming off very quickly or I'm not measuring the exact same area each time.
Horsey, I think you're smart to only use one cheat meal. I would think it would cause cravings and throw off my eating plan if I indulged all day. I also need to do 30 min + in cardio to see weight loss and I think interval training is the way to go.
Momma, I can't rely on the #'s on the scale. My weight fluctuates too much daily. I just aim for a general decrease in lbs. over the course of a month. You're doing a fantastic job!
Darby, down a pound! Great job! Have fun at your concert.
Eny, sorry about you cholesterol. You have a great attitude and with all your hard work I know you'll get those numbers down. By the way I think girly push-ups are still great for the arms. I do 2 sets of 25 and 160 crunches before bed.


Game plan for this week.
water-64ozdaily
exercise- 5/6 days
journaling- really is helping to keep my eating in line
declutter- I didn't do much last week, I might check out flylady too. I used to do her program and it really helped. I still try to follow getting dressed, making bed and no dishes in the sink. But I could use a little more help.

Weigh in - after a horrible weekend - I'm down to #188.8 It's only a #.8 loss, but I'll take it! I need to get back into bootcamp mode! I've slacked off a lot the last 2 weeks! Tonight - pushups and tae bo! I'm still waiting for the new DVDs - but the old one will work!

Girls I need a keep on me!

Well....I only lost 1 lb last week...down to 248! I have really struggled with it today but upon reviewing my blog I noticed last week I went from doing 45 minutes of cardio plus walking to only 20 minutes of cardio plus walking....so I'm going to up it back to 45 minutes of cardio plus walking and keep the food the same and see how things go....

So about my food...I've pretty much just been counting calories....I've been doing the calories in vs calories out....only taking in 1500 (which is less than reqired for my BMR) plus the exercise as mentioned above....I never thought about if the food was coming from carbs, protient, etc. So what do you guys think....do you think as long as I keep my calories in check its okay ...or do you think I need to watch were my calories are coming from.

Personally to me it's not just about weight loss it's about learning about nutrition and feeling good. Great that you are losing weight, but if you want to step it up, I think you'll have to learn about protein, fats, carbs and what's best for your body! Also at some point you'll want to add resistance training too, not just cardio. Just hit the library and check out some books about nutrition/dieting, and fitness. Also you can subscribe to magazines like Self, Women's Health, Oxygen, Prevention, etc to learn more. OR just check them out at the library too. I'm having a hard time losing the last 10-15 lbs, so I'm really having to focus more on eating right, and tightening up my diet, moreso then someone more overweight. It's when you plateau that you have to switch things up, do more, tighten up nutrition, etc. My way out of this plateau of mine is going to be more cardio, and tight/clean meals.

below are my numbers.....I'm going to report them like this: start / current / goal

Weight: 255 / 247 / 241 (only 6 more lbs...I bet I lose more than that!!)

Bust: 48 / 46 / 45
Waist: 49 / 48 / 46
Hips: 55 / 53 / 52
Thighs: 28 / 27.5 / 26

Total losses this week: 2 lbs and 1.5 inches!!!

I kicked butt on exercise too I did 6 days of walking total of around 15 miles,1 days of Tae Bo at 25 min., and 7 days of 30 day shred at 20 min. I had one day of 1 hour swimming.

I did stay on my budget though So, I'm really excited about that!!! Money management was my part of life to work on.

I did all of my food / exercise journaling on my 3FC diet blog