Good afternoon ladies!!!!

Giv~ Congrats on the 3 lbs!!! That's awesome! And it's great that you got your treadmill set up! Woo hoo on the 3 miles too!! Try not to go nuts this week!

SG~ Congrats on making your goal!!!! Yeah, I know you're not callin' it just yet, but I'm congratulating you anyway and there's nothing you do to stop me My, my but aren't you BLAZING through the 190's!!! I told ya so, I told ya so!!!!

InControl~ Awesome job on an awesome loss hun!!! You're doing awesome!!! Keep up the great work!

Jen~ sorry you're still sick girlie!!! Don't try to do too much too soon and I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that you make your goal this month!!

MsP~ I got the first 3 blocks of the 2nd quilt pinned last night. I can't sew anything just yet though--my house is in dire need of attention. After that though, I'll start putting the blocks together. You're going to do just fine on Thanksgiving! I, on the other hand, don't really have any plan at all. I intend to eat what I want, but try my darnedest to practice moderation. I'm making my sweet potatoes with fat free half and half and might be cutting the sugar back as well, but that's about all I'm in control of. I know my fil will be using real butter and real sugar in all of his food, so I'll just have to do my best.

Tummy~ yeah, you'll have a giant swoosh this weekend while the rest of us are still in our turkey comas!!! How neat to be researching all the food options out there. I really should do more of that. I just feel like I have too much on my plate these days to even attempt researching anything like that--my head might explode!!! Wanted to you to know, I got up bright and early and did my workout!! CardioX instead of yoga today! It felt fantastic!!!

Well, I'm back after a busy morning of running around and shopping! I've got nearly all of my Christmas shopping done--well, for the kiddos on my list anyway. The girls were really good--which isn't typical, as they really don't like shopping--and it is a beautiful day out so it was nice to be out running around. Plus, it meant I wasn't in my messy house! But now I am...and what am I doing? Hiding here of course.

Weighed in today at 131.6 so I'm glad I didn't update my ticker--see? I told ya! Took my measurements yesterday and to my surprise, I dropped 3 more inches total!! I need to go back and look at my starting measurements and tally them all up!

Other than that, not much going on. I've got laundry to do, a house to clean, crafting/sewing items to tidy...it's crazy! Wanna hear another crazy thing? I bought a pair of pants from Goodwill this weekend, a pair of pants that I've been wearing all day today--comfortably I might add--and even though I should be over the moon happy about it, I'm finding myself a little puzzled and even a little worried/nervous. See, they're size 4--and they weren't the only pair of 4's I tried on either, I tried on a few and most of them fit me. So why am I puzzled/worried? Well, because I still can't wrap my head around it. I do not see a size 4 girl staring at me when I look in the mirror. And I want to know when I'll be able to look at myself and say 'Okay, I'm where I want to be, now it's time for maintenance'. I'm still trying to firm up and lose inches because my thighs are still jiggly and my butt is...well, it's just a pathetic saggy mess. So, at what point is my brain going to catch up?! Don't get me wrong, I'm not being critical of myself or insisting that I'm still fat and need to lose another 20 lbs--I guess I'm just more in shock. I thought if ever I got down to this size that I'd see a thin girl looking back at me in the mirror--and I just want my brain to catch up with what the scale and my jeans seem to know already.

Sheesh...sorry about that. I didn't mean to ramble like that. Okay, that's my cue to shut up I guess! Hope everyone is having a fantastic day!!! Be good to yourselves and don't forget to...

Drink Your Water!!!

Just a quick pop in as we are back from vacation today. Splurged a ton this weekend and was totally willing to accept the damage when I stepped back on the scale this morning, yet the scale had stayed the same! Well, actually it was down 3 pounds since TOM weight gain had left. I am in shock that I didn't gain after my weekend of pizza, candy and ships, along with no exercise since last Wed, but I'll take it!

Thanks so much everyone about my new pics! It sometimes seems like I haven't really lost anything when I look at myself. I still have belly fat hanging down, fat legs, etc and it takes lookiung back at old photos to remember where I was at and yeah I have come a long way. So thanks!

And Sandy, I don't know how I missed those photos when I posted last--but you look awesome! That is so amazing. I can't believ e you used to weigh 200 pounds. Wow! You are awesome!

And MsP---WOOOHOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Congrats on reaching goal! That is so inspiring!


Well, gotta run and go make toys. That is all I do anymore---even brought them to work on with me during vacation, lol. These Christmas orders are just killing me. Good news though is that I shut down my shop yuesterday until after New Years, so once I get these million orders done, then I can actually relax. I can't complain too much about all this work, as I have just officially made enough to buy a new car! (Well a new used car, lol.) I am driving up to a car lot next week and going to put down 3 grand in cash on an offer for a 2003 Dodge Neon with only 40K miles that they are asking $3400 for. Thought I was going to have to wait until taxes for a new car, but apparently not! So anyways all this work is worth it I guess, even if I don't have any spare time.

SG - I am sorry for your family’s loss. Congrats on the scale.

Gekster - Congrats!

Mystical - Congrats! Any movement down on the scale is progress, especially this time of year. Be proud.

InControl - Congrats!

Ms P - Congrats on maintaining so far and good for you planning ahead and enlisting hubby for help.

Sandye - I am not even close to goal yet and I am having some of those brain not catching up to my body issues. I grab pants that look to me like they should fit and when I look at the tag they are 2-3 sizes too big. A hoody that I thought should fit me could have probably been used to make one for me and another for you, lol. I can’t even imagine what it will be like when I get down to really small sizes like you are in now. I do hope our brains catch up eventually, if only to make shopping easier, lol.

Jessica - Yay for being able to get a car! I saw that you had shut down for the rest of the year when I went to show hubby some of the things I was wanting to order from you. Hopefully he will be placing an order for my birthday (March) some time after you have opened back up. I try not to make him guess at what I want since I'll be happier with my presents if he knows for sure.

It is taking me more time to get back to complete normal from being sick than the amount of time I was actually down with it. That is so unfair. I still can’t run and I am only up to 40 minutes with minimum resistance on the elliptical. So, the weight is coming off slower than it should, but that’s ok, at least it is still coming off. I am still 3.4 pounds away from November goal and I don’t think I’ll make it, but I’m going to get as close as I can dang it!

Just popping in to

Down 1.3lbs today. Awesome. I actually might meet this months goal after all. My boyfriend got me a real scale today! I've been using the wii fit as a scale and it is iffy on accuracy. But I got a nice one that does a lot of functions along with just weighing. The difference between the two scales is almost 2lbs so not sure how that should relate to my tracker..

Hey girls! Busy busy week, so I will not be around much.

The scale and I are not friends again, but I guess I'm to blame for my bad eating choices this weekend. DH and I were out and about most of the weekend so we ate out a lot, and I gobbled up some salt in the process. So back up to 168.0 this morning. Nov. goal is pretty much not happening for me, well part of it isn't happeing. I will eb joining a gym next week, as my workouts have basically stopped now that it's dark out.

In all honesty, I've been kinda blah on everything diet related because I'm fitting in a lot of my old clothes, and some of them are too big, so I figure "hey why not eat that cookie, your pants fit again" But I need to get my head back in the game and keep on pushing toward goal. DH promised to buy me a whole new wardrobe if I get there So I'm not going to go overboard this week, but I'm going to re-start myself next Monday, maybe Saturday if the gym is open.

I had a little mini whoosh and am down 1.2 today to 187.2, that leaves 2.2 pounds to lose in 6 days. I still have a chance.

Morning!

Mystical - I think you're weight loss is great and heading in the right direction, congrats! I hope you're excited

Sandye - LOL I love his little sayings, they make me laugh and I totally know how he feels now, it just took 3 months to find out what rickety really felt like. You're burning through those quilts, my goodness and it's not even December! Good to hear, glad you got in your cardio, I was watching, lol. I'm definitely going to be enjoying my modified recovery week to regrow some muscles for sure, ouch, I'm still stiff and it's Tuesday. As for the size thing, I've been chatting about this a lot lately too since my venture into size 6. I think my idea of a size 6 and 4 when I was heavy was that they were all thin and boney and such. Now that I'm here I'm not boney at all so I don't identify with what I thought a size 6 was supposed to look like. That was the issue I had, I think I look great but I don't think I look like a size 6 either.

MsP- Had to laugh at Dora, oh I'm so there too.

GivTLC - Congrats on that lost how fantastic! And a treadmill ready to go just to ice the cake. Enjoy your busy week.

SG - It's not as hard as I thought it would be though, as long as they are tracks in snow from a few cars it's not too bad. And I think it's all in the gear, having the right mitts and hats and things to cover your face and all that. Otherwise you can't change direction too fast or try to sprint or you'll fall over. But other than that it's just like summe Congrats on goal chickie, now just that other part of the goal and four thanksgivings.

InControl - Congrats on the early goal, my gosh that's so great and in grand style too, you went right on past it! I don't know that I'd run in NYC either, bad weather or not, a nice quiet contry road is what I'm about , lol.

Jellofer - You can do it, we've got 6 days and perfect eating I bet you're golden.

Jessicado - Congrats on that car! No wonder you're working so hard, that's totally worth it to just go buy one with no loan, good for you!

FGG - Gosh that flu scares me the more I hear you ladies talk about it. At least you can exercise a little bit and I'd count it as a success that you got right back to where you left off. OMG, that's one great little whoosh, and here you were thinking it was hopeless, lol, the body sure is funny some days, great job!

JasonLea - Right back at you.

Gekster - Woohoo 1.3 downfantastic! And a new scale that must be nice to have something a little more dependable.

Nella - Hang in there, we all have blah weeks but it's important to try and make as many healthy choices as we can even if there's some unhealthy ones mixed in there too. It is super hard when you feel "normal" again and you can wear your stuff but don't sell yourself short if you want that goal, you can do it!!

We've got some holiday decorating in the works today since dh is off work. We also have a very excited dd that the tree is coming, lol, it's super cute to watch her get more aware of things each holiday season. now she 's all about making a list for Santa and it's just priceless.

Going to head off to get some biking in before it gets too late into the morning. Down 0.4lbs today to 145.6, which is nice after 6 days of seeing 146's but I'm still averaging 2lbs a week so not a word of complaint, yet

Have a great day.

Good morning all! Hope the day is treating you all well so far. I am cold but doing well. I've been cold alot lately. There must be something to the fat/insulation thing. I swear I wasn't cold all the time like this in the past. Or maybe my MIL just keeps her house cooler, but I digress. The day is going well so far. I got to see a tiny drop on the scale to 134.4 which made me happy. I was hoping to continue making progress as much as possible this month so I could hope to get very close to my new and improved goal by year's end. I've made MORE plans about how I'm going to weather this weekend and come out on top. The closer it gets the more confident I am that I don't have to turn this into a weight-gaining calorie-fest. I will make good choices and should at least maintain. If I gain a bit, I'll get it right back off and WILL NOT beat myself up about it since I've planned ahead to keep it all in check. I think for me I had to just decide it's my choice to do the right things. If I gain I won't be ashamed or feel bad, but it'd be super cool to maintain or even lose. (This is my pep talk to myself, so please excuse the fact that I'm having it every day this week! LOL)

Sandye-I was reading just the other day about how it sometimes takes awhile for people to reconcile their weight loss in their minds. They call it "phantom fat", a.k.a. you see more fat in the mirror than you may really have. You may consider having your body fat measured in a reliable way so you can get some perspective from that. Trust me, though. You are quite slender and look fantastic. Of course, it's ultimately important that you are satisfied. Maybe try maitaining around 130 for a while, as you continue building muscle, and try to let it sink in. I have gotten a lot better in the last month or 2 of seeing myself more realistically, but I lost the weight over the course of a year. Yours was a little faster, so maybe your mind has some catching up to do. Sorry to get all psycho-babbley on ya. I just care that you realize how amazing you are! Yay on those 4's! Good luck on the housework today. I have some laundry in need of folding myself. Well, there's a boatload of things actually...yikes!

jessicado-You must have some incredible metabloism going on there! That's great to maintain through some off-time. Isn't it great when we can't notice the day-to-day changes to go back at look at pictures to remind us of how far we've come! Good idea temporarily closing shop to catch up and enjoy some of this season and congrats on the car. That must feel great!

FGG-Sorry to hear the recovery is slow, but take it easy and get all the way better. It'll really help in the long run. Take good care, hon! Yay on the mini-woosh!!

Gekster-Maybe on Dec. 1, you could just switch to using the reading on the "real" scale as your official weight. That way it won't mess up your monthly goals or anything. My Wii fit is off by a pound or 2 also, but I don't sweat it. It's a secondary thing.

Nella-Believe me, we all go through those blah periods! Good idea joining the gym. I wish we had one around here because I function better in that kind of setting when it comes to STing or other non-running activities. Just keep in mind all those new clothes you could have if you keep up the good work!

Hey Ladies!

It's been TOO long! Things are very crazy for me today. I have a lot of school things due today and a lot I want to get done so I can just have reading h/w catch up over my mini Thanksgiving break.

I have officially lost 15.1 pounds since I've started on 3FC. Oddly enough, I started really loosing after I had gotten that stomach flu and then hit a plateau, then last Friday we had fast food for every meal (no food in the house and we're babysitting my cousin while we wait for his mother to give birth) and now it's coming off again! I am at 208.9.

Well! I have to run now!

<3 We Can Do It Ladies.

Tummy Girl Yes I am very excited about getting some weight down but I guess no matter how much I lose it will never be fast enough as long as i keep going in the right direction I am happy, thank you for your support and help... I am sure I will be needing some more help in the future thanks

Ms Perception Your doing a great job at those pep talks I make have to borrow them for me as well LOL... You are doing a fantastic job I always look forward to reading your posts they really help keep me inspired thank you so much for sharing. Hope things go well for you this weekend.

Miss Mallee Great job 15.1 lbs down that is awesome. I am so proud of you

Today is a bit cooler and it is overcast so I really feel like sleeping but to much to do for that LOL, we have been getting out our Christmas decorations I am hoping that we will be able to get them up this weekend. Our first Christmas in the new house and we have almost all the family together. It will be hard this Christmas though since this will be my first year without my daughter, I am hoping that it will be fun for her since she now living in Hawaii with her husband and babies. I miss them so very much.

Today is going very well, got up late this morning but I have managed to get all my cabinets cleaned and re-organized, I think I will do closets tomorrow.

Hope you all have a wonderful day, I will check in later today

Ok.....so just having a nasty cold is not enough. NOw, I have to scratch my eye and get stuck with a little infection. Nice!!!! Still not able to really get a good workout in. Ate chicken soup for lunch. With noodles. Didn't eat them all though. And even better TOM is on his way. So, best of luck with making the 233 goal. But we knew that was a long shot. I am downto a new decade though. 230's and am happy with that. Goal for TOM is to maintain and hope for a little loss???? So, we shall see. Congrats to all the big losses and great job to all you maintainers. So far I will call this a good month. Much better than October. I have already plotted my December goal. and am ready for the new year. CLothes are too big, but that is ok. Got a lot more to lose then I will shop.

Happy day to all

Jen

jellofer-You're ahead of me. I haven't given December more than a moments thought. Now you've given more to think about...thanks a lot! LOL I've been so focused on succeeding at my plan for turkey day, I forgot life goes on after that!

Seriously though, December is a mystery month for me. It was my first real month of losing last year. Now I just want to continue reducing body fat. It seems like a lame goal compared to a pounds goal, but it's where I'm at right now, ya know? It's actually a great place to be. Of course, I do expect the pounds to drop as the fat decreases.

NSV ALERT:-Tonight at WW meeting (I had to go tonight since my normal Thurs. mtg was cancelled for the holiday) the leader (different than my normal one) was handing out lifetime stickers (monthly reward for those maintaining goal weight). Anyway, she asked me if I was "lifetime". That means she thought I looked like I was at goal/maintenance! Yay! I'm so excited to be so close...plus then it's FREE! I set my goal there so I will reach it in 2.8 pounds (135 clothed, at the end of the day). SUPER Exciting!

Hi chickies, no time for personals, sorry. And so many of you are doing so well! Woo hoo to you!
I have been, well, maintaining is a good word I guess, alhough that wasn't the plan. I have been OP dietwise, but the exercise has taken a backseat to the Thanksgiving stress, planning, shopping, etc. My DD (Sandye) is halfway across the country, and DDIL ( and DS and grandkids) will not be here this year. Two of my brothers are not married (so no spouse to help), my one married brother's wife just lost her dad, so I would not dream of asking her to bring anything, so I pretty much have to do it all, which I don't mind, I just stress over having everything "perfect." I don't have dual ovens or a five burner cooktop, and my kitchen is "cozy." I feel the need for perfection ( homemade napkin rings anyone?) and realize that no one gives a fig about any of that, but I can't help but stress. That being said, I am happy to annouce that I spent all evening cooking! I made cranberry sauce, stuffing, and sweet potatoes! Tomorrow I will cook and mash potatoes to reheat Thursday, and I will bake pies and brine the turkey. If all goes according to plan, I will heat the sweet potatoes, stuffing, and mashed potatoes while the turkey rests, and cook the veggies, heat the rolls and make gravy and call it dinner! If only I didn't have to work tomorrow, life would be perfect, because I still need to clean the house, do laundry, do last minute shopping, rake leaves, decorate the house, lose 20 pounds, groom the dog, iron, pay the bills, ah heck, you get the idea. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving (and give your mom or MIL a hand!).

I was down another partial pound today to sit at 133.8! Yay! I get another smilie on my ticker!! That's all from me for now. Gotta go help dad make pies for the big meal. He had surgery on his hand so he's a little dependent right now...can't even use the can opener. Poor guy!