Good morning ladies - didn't get a chance to post yesterday. I am still in maintenance land, hanging out at 211. But pretty jazzed about last week's running - thanks for your encouragement everybody. I am going to try to run a little farther today on the treadmill - maybe a mile and a half, but maybe at a slower pace like 13.5 minute or so. Still hot and humid here in VA so it's all about working at the gym. Also, NSVs: saw a few people this past weekend who haven't seen me in a couple of months and they were like, "WOW, you look great!" which was exciting to hear and reminds me of my progress - 25 pounds lost. In a weird way I would actually rather take of the weight really slowly - lose 3-4 pounds one month, maintain it for a month, lose 3-4 more the next month, that kind of thing since it seems more possibly permanent. Does that make sense or I am just justifying my turtle's pace here?

TakingCharge - congrats on your 'whoosh'! The hard work doesn't always pay off immediately, but sometimes does all at once which is very gratifying.

Dancer - way to go on being ahead of schedule.

I am actually writing this from Panera - but only had coffee, no French Onion Soup lol!

Have a great day all - I have some errands to run and then off to the gym for my date with the treadmill and the free weights!

Blueridge - how fun to get the positive recognition from your friends! I've been a little disappointed on that front - no one seems to have noticed my weight loss at all or if they have they're keeping it to themselves : ) (my bf, mom, best friend, etc, that have been hearing about it all along don't exactly count).

Dancer - sometimes I think the comments are a double-edged sword, and it's not always easy to navigate receiving them. I've seen different posts about that topic on this site. I think sometimes people notice but don't know how to say it in a positive or polite way so they keep it to themselves.

So just back from the gym - I did 30 minutes on the elliptical and then ran/walked a 13 minute 20 second mile on the treadmill. I think the run/walking is the way to go for a while for me. That way I can go for longer and not get my heart rate as high.

CJ - I love that you have such a positive attitude! It's really inspiring!

Blueridge - Way to go on the run/walk! That's a great way to get started and you'll build strength and endurance and be running in no time! Congrats on the compliments!

Dancer - I know it can be tough to not get the recognition you're hoping for, but you're doing amazingly well and you have to remember that you're taking care of your body and building healthy habits that will last a lifetime...how incredible is that? It took a while for people to notice with me, and it WILL happen for you too, but in the meantime, keep treating your body well and doing what you're doing.

Just a quick medical student thought: Even though we all want to be skinny and look hot (let's not lie, right?), we have to remember that these healthy habits are preventing sooooo many diseases that come from poor nutrition and health, and that alone is a great motivator! You only get one body, so treat it well and it'll thank you by giving you a long and healthy life!

Ok, medical student moment over...have a great night everyone! :)

TC - I enjoyed your medical student moment! You are absolutely right of course!

Blueridge - way to go on the workout!

i'm still around
 

so i havent' been on or posted or more importantly worked out since about the 10th. i've been sick still and havent exactly felt like/had the energy to work out. i have actually lost a little over a pound though. don't know whats thats about but i will not complain too much. btw: my new goal for sep. 7 is 168. (was 160) i am feeling better ant tomorrow is my half day at work so i'll have a little extra energy to work out tomorrow.

sw: 180.4
gw: 168

June 15: 180.4
June 22: 179.8
June 29: 176.4
July 6: 175.4
July 13: 175.4
July 20: 177.6 bummer!!!!
July 27: 175.8....i can see it's time to step up my game
Aug 3: 173.8 yay!
Aug 10: 174.2
Aug 17: 172.8
Aug 24:
Aug 31:


Sep. 7:

Hello ladies! Wish I had time to respond to everyone, but I've got a full-day training today that I've got to go to in a few minutes. BOO! On top of that, DH is sick so he's been coughing and blowing his nose all night. Sick husband = no sleep for wife! I am DRAGGING today..ugh! :coffee:

Anyway, here is this week's weigh in:

SW: 185
CW: 167.4!!!!!
GW: 165

I had a MAJOR whooosh this week - almost 3 lbs! The only thing I have done different is increase my running time/mileage, but also increased my cals slightly to make up for it. Yippee!! Looks like - barring any major food catastrophes - I will make my Labor Day goal!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Onestar - Hope you're feeling better! Congrats on the 1lb loss!

Fat Pants - Wow! Talk about major whoosh! You're officially settled into the 160's and maybe you'll just whoosh your way through! I noticed that a few weeks after I got more intense with running, I lost a few pounds as well, even though I was eating more. And now I'm always hungry, so I think my metabolism is in high gear these days! Whatever it is, good for you!

Fatpants - woohoo on the whoosh! You rock! Cannot wait to join you in the 160s - hopefully by labor day!

Onestar - congrats on the loss! Especially impressive since you've been under the weather.

Fatpants and TC - thanks to your help, I improved my running time to 12min/miles yesterday for 4 miles! That means I can start working up to 5 miles this coming week - should be fun : ) And I'm down a pound today for a grand total of 25 so I'm feeling pretty good about the world...

Happy Friday all!

Hello all - here's hoping that I'll have a similar experience now that I have started running. I did 45 minutes yesterday of cardio (about half on elliptical and half run/walking on the treadmill). I love the handle blue ridge girl but it dawned on me somewhere around my third or fourth mile yesterday that I may have to change my name to "treadmill goddess!" LOL. Also did my strength routine. Feels so good to be back in regular exercise routine of working out four days a week and being fairly active every day. Makes such a difference in my body.

Fatpants - you rock!

Onestar - hope you're feeling better

Dancer - I'm super impressed. I can pull off one 12 minute mile, but to do four consecutively is a real achievement and a testament to how hard you've been working.

Happy weekend! Let's make it a good one so we have good news to report on Monday!

: ) All hail to the treadmill goddess!

Dancer - So glad to hear about your running accomplishment! That's so great! You'll see, you'll keep improving and it'll feel so awesome!

Ok girls, I really need your help. I've completely lost control over food! My average calories this week are 2000/day!!! I know I've been working out a lot, but to be honest with you all, I know I'm eating way too much, even with the calories I'm burning. The worst part is that I do so well during the day and can stop after dinner at around 1500-1600 calories, but I'll just keep snacking on anything that's in my apartment until I'm way way way too full. I ate 3 odwalla bars in one day!! And it's not a matter of not buying junk food because I'll just eat fruit, energy bars (won't buy those any more!), yogurt, other snacks that I need to buy so I have food for the day, but I just can't have around at night because I'll keep eating! I'm not super stressed or upset or anything, so I'm not even sure why I have this constant urge to just keep eating, but it needs to stop, NOW. I feel gross, out of control and NOT healthy.

How do you guys keep yourselves in check? I've changed so much and become this healthy, motivated person. I'm freakin training for a half marathon! I need to find that person within me again and stop this mindless eating because it's making me feel so powerless and completely the opposite of who I've worked so hard to become!

Wow, I'm sorry for rambling. I really needed to get that out. And I really need a kick in the butt from you girls! Please remind me that I CAN'T do this to my body and it deserves to be treated better than this! Thanks a lot for listening. I'm so thankful that you're all here!

Morning everyone,

Back from a few weeks off the board -- actually, it felt like a few weeks off the entire grid! Was in Wisconsin/Chicago on vacation with some old friends from graduate school and really just had a fantastic time. Ate tons of good healthy meals (we like to cook together), but didn't really spend any focus on portions and almost NEVER refrained from dessert. And aside from one decent run around the lake....LOTS of lounging.

So needless to say, I was pretty intrigued to see what the scale said this morning, when I checked it for the first time in 2 weeks: 167.2. MUCH higher than I frankly should be at this point in the "challenge," but only a very small gain over that two week period. So I suppose I should be proud??? Actually, I think I will make up my mind to be....it's probably a healthy thing to take a "break" from the focus required of serious weight loss. And I suppose I learned that if I had just been *slightly* more active on my trip I might have even managed to register a bit of a loss.

I've got two more days of summer to relish before I need to start law school back up on Wednesday. And then to CT for my sister's wedding this weekend. I"m MOH so I'm hoping I'm too busy to pig out.

I'm nervous about getting back into my old school habits that lead to packing on 12 pounds last year so I'm planning to make time to register food at fitday for the first few weeks so I can be more aware of what I'm doing. TC -- you're in med school right? Perhaps we need a no-snack pact? Hang in there.

Thanks to you all for providing this place to be able to check back in after time away, reconnect with my goals, and find motiviation!

fatpants - We had such a nice weekend in Co Spgs (visit to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo to feed the giraffes, etc, walk around Garden of the Gods, dinner at Phantom Canyon Brewery, ice cream for him/sorbet for me at Josh and Johns, great hike up Stanley Canyon) - what a pretty city you live in! That hike was tough but rewarding - thank your husband for his warning abou the rockiness!

takingcharge - there are probably a few things going on - I've noticed I'm much more self-critical about my food choices than I was at the beginning so it's entirely possible you're being harsher on yourself than you need to be. I can totally relate to the phenomenon of evening munching of relatively healthy stuff, just too much of it. That's been an issue for me too. Planning an evening walk with girlfriends has been helpful as have crystal light popsicles - good to munch on when you're bored : ) You are doing so well - I know you'll figure this out!

kpme - nice job on maintaining so well on vacation - that's a really tough thing. I'm sure you'll be right back into it!

I'm down 2lbs for the week and pretty happy about it : )
June 8:190: 190
June 15:188: 189
June 22:188: 188
June 29:186: 187
July 6:184: 184
July 13:182: 181
July 20:182: 179
July 27:180: 178
Aug 3:178: 178
Aug 10:176: 176
Aug 17:176: 174
Aug 24:174: 172
Aug 31:172
LABOR DAY Sept 7: 170
Sept 12 wearing bridesmaid's dress: 168

KP - good to have you back and congrats on your two weeks away.

taking charge - don't know if I'm in the best position to give you advice about keeping eating under control. Haven't been so good on that myself lately. In the past when I have done well with it, I find that writing everything down is helpful and creates a certain amount of accountability. Sometimes just knowing that I'll have to write something down is enough to keep me from putting it in my mouth.

That said, I'm skipping my weigh-in today. It's TOM. Plus, I am in the middle of moving so I can't cook (all pots, pans, etc are packed) so have been eating out a lot which means my sodium intake is up from normal, so I think it would be just too depressing. I have been back from Boston for three weeks now and feel like I have been doing okay (with the exception of the last two days of eating out so much) and while I'm pleased I didn't gain in Boston, I'm a little disappointed I haven't had any loss since I've been back in Virginia. I think I need to take my own advice to taking charge above and start writing down everything I eat. Have been doing well on exercise (treadmill goddess! and I took a dance class yesterday...) but hey, if my calories are way above what they should be, doesn't matter if I do all the exercise in the world. But hey, trying to see the cup as half full - I am maintaining my 25 pound loss!