Tummy...great job! WTG!

I finally hauled my butt into the gym today and I'm glad I did. I feel "accomplished". Food was OP as well today and I drank 8 cups of water! Woo hoo!

OMG, thank goodness I can finally log in!!!

Ms. P and Tummy - You girls look AMAZING!!!!!! I mean, WoW!!!! You all should be so proud of yourselves!!! And those muscles!!!! I am totally jealous and inspired!

LTTG - WAHOO!!!! I'm so glad the scale is moving again! All you needed was some time with Sandye to get you on your way again! Keep kicking those pounds to the curb!

Gekster - Counting Calories is a way of life for me now. There are some days I don't log it in to FitDay, but I can eyeball it and know when I've had too much. Keep up the good work!!!

SG - I think you are right, the people there are not measuing right or something. That doesn't make sense. 7.5 pound loss is great!!! Go you!!!

So quick check in for me. Had a busy weekend helping my dad with my parents business. My mom had knee surgery last week and she was out of commission to help. So I'm tired and off to bed here in a minute. TOM should be gone tomorrow (thank goodness!) and I'm hoping for maintaining, because last week was really tough emotionally and then the weather was bad and this site was down, so I was completely unmotivated to do much. Oh well, this week is a new week.

See ya tomorrow!

Good morning ladies!!! :wave:

Good gravy, I tried and tried to post a reply yesterday--even thought I had time to do some personals, but every time I tired to get on here either the site was having issues or something else needed my attention. :rolleyes:

MsP & Tummy ~ Hubba hubba!!! You ladies look AMAZING!!! It still blows my mind how much you two have changed!!! Absolutely incredible how different your bodies are now--and MsP, I'm with Tummy, I envy you your skinny legs! I have 'sturdy' thighs (:lol: tried to come up with a word that wasn't too negative ;)). You both are sportin' those guns too! Ain't nobody gunna mess with you girls!!!:boxing:

Tummy, you'll have to wait a bit longer for progress pics--I didn't take any after Phase 1 and I'm not going to try a self portrait--it get too frustrated. :lol: I'll get on them though, I promise!

I'd love to do more personals, but well, you know me lately--tons to do!! I started working on the girls' quilts for real last night--I actually sewed a whole block! :lol: Might sound impressive, but it's not--it's a whole 9 squares sewed together--but, the main thing is, I STARTED!! ;) We finished painting their room yesterday and it turned out nice! We bought a cute sign that says "Twinkle, twinkle little star, do you know how loved you are?" and hung it over their window between their beds--I love it! Now, after I finish the quilts I need to get busy decorating the rest of the room!

I'm down a little this morning--132.4 and I'm please to say that I made it through another weekend without going food crazy! :carrot:

Some NSVs to share: Yesterday I decided to get the kids some doughnuts as a treat (it's been forever!)--I went to Dunkin and picked out a dozen, brought them home and didn't even want one! Of course he have left overs too and they are of no interest to me at all. :D Yay! Also, we were running around all afternoon and by the time we were finished it was dinner time so we decided to stop and get something rather than try to cook--so, hubby and the kids had fast food (blech!) and I came home and had left over chicken and made some veggies (there was only one piece of chicken otherwise everyone would have had some instead of the crappy fast food).

One of the reasons we opted not to cook was because we brought home a new baby last night! His name is Ham and he's an adorable 12 week old kitten. Everyone was all crazy :hyper: and wired up about bringing him home so I wanted to limit the mayhem ya know?

So now we have a kitty! :) And I am now on a rampage to clean every room in the house--especially the playroom--so that he can't get into anything he shouldn't or, heaven forbid, get hurt or trapped in some massive toy pile! :lol:

Anyway, enough :blah: from me--I obviously need to get my butt in gear and get this house whipped into shape pronto!!! Who knew getting a kitty would mean having a cleaner house? :lol:

Have a great day ladies and I really, really hope to get back here later and do more personals! I miss you all and feel so bad for not getting to everyone!!! Big :hug: to you all! Now get out there and have a fantastic day and don't forget to...

Drink Your Water!!!
:D
P.S. After thinking about it for some time, I decided to change my original start weight to reflect my high point the day I started my lifestyle change, I had felt like it was kind of 'cheating' to add those few pounds in there, but I figure that's where I started and I earned every pound lost, so I'm takin' 'em!! :D ;)

goal for this challenge (page 2) - 169lbs by Dec. 1
start weight: 179
current weight: 170.5
lbs lost since challenge began - 8.5
lbs left to go until end of challenge -1.5

I'm so close to reaching the mini-goal for this challenge :D I lost 3 lbs this week! yAY!

JasonsLea - Every loss is an awesome loss !!!! great job!

Nella -I hope your mom is doing well! The site being down was a huge letdown for me too! So hard to keep myself accountable lol. Good luk this week

moon fairy - Great job going to the gyM!

sweet tooth - You'll be in the 160s soon!

Shrinking Girl - I know exactly what you mean about being on plan but not eating healthy food. I had the same problem last week. It's a mental challenge to not be preoccupied with everything. Best of luck to you! Don't feel discouraged!

Tummy Girl - You Look amazing and so fit! Awesome job! :D

Gekster - family/friend support is very important in this process. Good job saying NO to eating out.

Bigmid - 6.2 lbs sounds like a lot. Maybe it's water retention! Try to drink more water and see again. Good luck this week! :hug:

Good Morning :wave:

I hope you all had a great weekend.

Just a quick drop in this morning for me. Due to last weeks issues with the site I didn't get a chance to post my Friday weigh in ... sitting at 201.5 so only 1.5lbs away from my Nov goal, :carrot:

Hopefully when I weigh in tomorrow i'll see another drop.

Have a happy and OP day :)

Good morning, all!

Sandye-Thanks! I do love my legs. They may be short, but they're nice! BTW, I think it's more accurate to put your highest weight. Since you've lost the weight...claim it all! :D I've wondered about changing mine to my high weight, too. I was at one point (not including pregnancy) up around 207 or so...YIKES! Not attractive on a 5'3" individual, but I didn't realize it until I lost some of it. I thought I looked pretty okay. Anyway... Congrats on the kitty!! I bet the kids are super excited. Best of luck on that, and your quilt, and maintaining, WHEW!

LaurenA-Yay! You're really close! Keep on doing what you're doing...it's obviously working for ya! :)

InControl2Day-WOW! You're very close to November goal too! Way to make it happen..and what a week! 3 pounds?! AWESOME!

Shari-Good job getting back to the gym! You're turning the ship back around and heading in the right direction!

Well, I overate at lunch yesterday. My tummy told me to stop and I ignored it since we were eating out and I really wanted it all RIGHT THEN (stupid, stupid, stupid!!). Well, I immediately came home and started downing water and ate a nice healthy supper, so the scale wasn't terrible...up 1 pound. Obviously I know it will be gone shortly, but it's just another lesson learned. I'd been very OP the last couple weeks and felt fantastic. I had prepared myself mentally to go to this one restaurant and DH changed his mind and we went somewhere else and I just clearly lost my mind. LOL So.....I'm still a work in progress!!

MsP & Tummy OMG!!! Talk about HOT Babes!! You both look amazing that so much for the great pics. When I see success stories like yours it really helps to keep me motivated.. You ladies are the best :)

I had a great weekend went out to do our normal shopping and we did it no junk food or going out to eat YEAH! DH bought me the Active game for the wii, thought it might be fun for a change of pace on the days I don't go to the gym. Hope it is good....

I have been very busy, I have started making my Christmas cards hoping I get them all done in time LOL, I have completed some of them and they are turning out really good I'll have to take some pictures of them and share with you ladies. Well gotta run, I am taking my son to school today. Have a great day everyone :)

Morning!

MsP - LOL, I know how ya feel, on Saturday, the 14th, I took my pics and stuff like I normally do then it was move onto other things, so by yesterday I was onto other things. I think my favorite part is to not be in such a hurry anymore. Since I'm healthy now, I seem to have a million times more patience for the scale and the tape measure than I did before, it will come in it's own time as long as we take good care of ourselves. Congrats on that 0.2 away as well, that's marvelous and brilliant and you just don't even look like the same person. LOL, work in progress, I hear ya, it's those moments when I realize that this is a life long work in progress and it takes a lot more work than I thought to be an obesity survivor.

Taurie - Thanks so much and yes you are stronger than cheese puffs, absolutley! LOL, that's awesome

SG - Glad you're back! The reason I marvel at those cheekbones is that I had to lose 75lbs to see mine, lol, I have a round face and have since the day I was born. This is the first time I've ever not been round and it's really been the last 10lbs or so that have defined my face a bit. hence my glee at your delightful gene pool there! And thanks, I'm feeling less fat so far and healthier everydat, but I don't know if I'll ever identify with the word skinny after a lifetime of obesity, I'm willing to try! I'm thinking you're looking awesome there yourself. I'm seeing some thigh and waist shrinkage this time, very nice! Glad the weekend is over and boohiss ppl who can't use tape measures, honestly!

Sweettooth - Thanks, it's coming along for sure, I'm losing my squirrel cheeks! Hopefully this week will be filled with healthy choices to move that scale in the right direction. You can do this!

Moonfairy - :) Thanks so much. And look at you rockin that lifestyle, good for you! I love the hauled part, that's so true some days.

Nella - Aww thanks. The muscles I'm actually super proud of, I didn't think I would be but losing weight is being proud of the absence of something so it's different, the muscles you can actually be proud of something you built, it just feels more tangible, kwim? I hope Monday finds you in better spirits and back making healthy choices for you! Let us know how it's going.

JasonLea - Howdy there, you may have achieved a miracle of losing while having a binge omgoodness, you must have done something right in there somewhere. You're worth making good choices for, so binge be gone!

Sandye - LMAO that was exactly the word I was looking for "sturdy" :lol3:It's not a bad thing, thick sounded rude and I don't have cankles either but sturdy fits well. Alright as long as you're trying I'll let it pass, I want to see the gun show! I love it that there's a lot of chickies round here that aren't just shooting to be thin and dainty but healthy and strong and maybe a bit thin and danity ;) WTG on the weekend, again, that's 2 in a row!!! You're doing it, you really are :carrot:Congrats on those two NSV's btw that's awesome and I know how hard that can be, I mean a dozen donuts, that's brave! I get two so there's none available, lol. Have fun with your kitten, I bet the kids are over the moon!

InControl - Omgoodness you're almost at goal and it's only the 16th! That's fantastic. And thanks, it's nice to see the pics b/c it's really easy for me to forget too.

Lauren - Holy, that's fantastic :carrot:you're almost at goal too and it's only half way and 199 here you come!

Mystical - You're very welcome, I love seeing people's progress too, it gives something tangible to those numbers we all throw around. Have a great day!

Goodness, time flys when you're reading all the news.

Great weekend, dh is off for 3 days so we'll be having our family time. Got a birthday party tonight for a wee friend of dd's, pizza, hotdogs and birthday cake, aka, I'm eating before I go. There will be a lot of ppl I haven't met before so that will be nice to socialize with some new faces.

Tomorrow I think we're doing a whole lot of nothing and then Wednesday, dh and I are dropping dd at a friends place and going to the big city by ourselves for the day. We haven't done that since we moved here so we're pretty excited. We're picking up my new exercise bike and it won't fit with the car seat but who cares, lol, we're kid free for the day! Much needed for sure and we might even finish up some Christmas shopping without a cranky toddler.

Alrighty, gotta run and finish up my STing and do some errands. Have a brillaint monday ladies!

No time for personals at the moment, but I read everything and WAHOO to those who are down on the scale or made good choices!!! You ladies are so inspiring! I'm back on track so far today and plan on staying there. Today is my early day at work, so no time for a walk before work, but I WILL do a JM's video later if it kills me!!!

Have a super awesome OP day!!!!!!!

Helloooooo Chickies!

I'll jump right into personals:

sweettooth Don't beat yourself up too much at your workout routine falling apart at the first sign of stress... it happens to all of us from time to time. Also... remember this is a journey and as a journey it's ok to commit to LEARN something along the way. Learning new ways to cope with stress is something I think a lot of us face. At least you recognize the problem!

Nella Yeah, I'm all grumbly about Curves right now, it irks me the heck off! I hope this week goes better for you than last week!

JasonsLea You know, sometimes I really love that sore muscle feeling and other times I just want it to be gone! Hope your thighs feel better soon!

Sandye OMG kitten!!! I adore kittens and you should have seen the look of shock on my face when you said you brought home a new baby! I was like "woah did I miss something???" And then I saw the kitten. Post a picture of the little cutie!!

InControl2Day WooHoo!! 3 lbs in one week is amazing!

LaurenA Hoo! So close to goal ANDDDDD onederland! You rock!

MsP You know, that same thing has happened to me before.. you plan and do the research for one restaurant and then when plans change it's almost like my mind went "woohoo! try to count THIS!" and then I ate until I couldn't eat anymore. Naturally I felt horrible afterwards. Nice job on the water.

mystical You make your own Christmas cards? Woah. It seems like everyone here is super talented!

Tummy You know, a lot of us keep saying how we're not sure we'll identify with being skinny but you know... I just got to thinking and I don't think many women ever really think of themselves as being skinny. Most of us always think we have some weight to lose... and if it isn't weight then we're upset about something else. You look fantastic and I would totally love to have your round face. See? The grass is always greener.


As for me, I saw 192.8 this morning. I had to hesitate to put the 193 into my ticker. I'm not sure I'm going to update that until Nov 30th. I'm unsure how much my 4 thanksgivings is going to influence my weight and I'd really hate to claim losing only to gain. I am sorta kinda maybe getting a bit hopeful I might pull off hitting 189 this month though. I mean... if I'm realllly super good I might see it and that might just be motivation enough.

I'm pretty proud of myself as well. I walked into the teacher's lounge during my planning period to make some copies and there sitting in front of me were tons of Panera Bread bagels in every flavor under the sun. After squealing with glee I went to look for my favorite, Asiago cheese... but they were all gone. There were gingerbread, but those seemed like something you'd want cream cheese with and I don't do cream cheese really... and so i started rooting around for one that sounded appealing and I realized I shouldn't be working this hard to find something I want to eat in a bag of treats. So I stopped. I didn't eat a bagel. I love bagels. I didn't eat one. I'm not even sorry.

SG-That's a huge bagel victory! Holy cow, way to think!! I love when I catch myself thinking BEFORE I put something in my mouth! Now, THAT is progress you can enjoy! :D Yay on the weight! Claim it! It's your loss and you surely deserve it. I bet you'll do better at Thanksgiving than you think. It's mostly in people's minds that the holidays cause a gain. People say the same thing about eating out, but it's all in your choices!

mystical-Thanks! You're so sweet. Sounds like you've got the ball rolling pretty good over there! That's wonderful! Have fun with those cards. I think I may do a Christmas letter to let people know what's going on in my family, but if time runs short, it'll just be store-bought cards. I'm not the creative type!

Tummy-"obesity survivor"...I like that! Oooh, that date night sounds perfect! Enjoy that and the next several days in general. I hear ya on becoming more patient. I think it's more in perspective for me now that I'm pretty darn close to where I want to be and this is a life long thing, so I'm taking the time to learn and figure things out (not always the right way! LOL) Soon, I'll be there and living maintenance. I hear it's not much different over there!

The day is going well and I spent some time online working out the last details of what my maitenance range will be. This is, of course, subject to change, but I researched and worked the numbers and so I'm super excited to reach 135 so I can update my ticker with my new and improved goal!! I really put some thought into where I wanted to be and STAY for life. I guess I'll know once I get there if I chose correctly. LOL Have a good one, girls!

Hiya ladies! I finally had a chance to actually get on here and do some real posting a few days ago and then the site was down. Argh! Of course as soon as life got busy again, the site seemed to work okay. Got on to post again this morning, and it was down again. What the heck? Of course now that I am running out the door it is working. I figured I'd at least check in while I had a chance though.
Anyways, finally in the 220s! Woohoo! Went shopping this weekend and I officially fit into XL. Not 1X or 2X....just normal XLs! My *** is still huge though, so I will require pus size clothing for awhile in the jean department, lol. I am a size 16/18 now. I went to Torrid and I bought all size 0 tops....it was so amazing. I used to need a size 4 sometimes, and could never fit into anything smaller than a 3. So now I am in their smallest size! And last to add to my post of bragging...I ran for 45 minutes the other night! I usually run for 30 minutes on the treadmill, but the other night I was at the old house with the ex and while he was hanging out with DD, I decided to go for a run since the house is right next to a bike trail. I'm not sure if it is because the air was nice and cool or what, but I ran the whole trail, ran back again, and then ran around the block to make it an even 45...I was winded, but I could have kept going. Wow. I could barely run a few minutes when I first started running. I have made a decision to run a marathon by the end of 2010 now. Posting it on here so you ladies can hold me accountable!

okay, well I really do have to run. Hope everyone is doing good. Miss you!

Halfway thru the challenge.
 

Well it's halfway thru the November Weight Loss Challenge. My goal I set in the beginning of the challenge was to lose 16 LBS. My SW is 226.2. My CW is 223.0. My Goal Weight was 210. But I'm changing my Goal Weight (GW) to
218. Since I haven't done very well in this challenge.

Well we just got back from the funeral/memorial, and it was really nice. After the memorial there was food and I was one of the last to go so I could really look at options rather than be rushed and pick up things I know are horrible. I realized there wasn't much there at all I could be okay eating so I took like 1/2 a cup of potato salad and a roll of turkey sandwich meat and then just a bunch of veggies - no ranch cause I had no idea on the amount of calories. I forgot to bring my notebook I write my food down in... so I took a picture of my plate! And now I can remember all that was on the plate and make an estimate for everything. I wasn't even tempted by the dessert table so that felt awesome. Hope everyone is having a good day.

I do NOT want to work out today. Somebody whack me, please.

LTTG - me too. I need a good whacking myself!

Well, I am not really losing weight. Today I was at 181.6 and my goal for November is 175. On Sunday I was 178.6 which made me smile, but I had drank the night before so I was probably dehydrated. I know I gotta cut out the drinking to get real results. But, the great news is tomorrow is 2 weeks without cigarettes. And I've been working out every day the past few days. I got My Fitness Coach for the Wii and it's pretty cool. The more consecutive days you workout, the more stuff is unlocked in the game so that's motivating. My weight usually fluctuates from 181 to 183, but I haven't weighed in at 183 since the 4th. I haven't seen 182 since the 9th. It's kind of weird because I'm not seeing alot of fluctuation like usual. I'm 181something every day pretty much.

Ok....so, I survived the weekend better than my DH. He really did have a great time with his old college buddies!!! I was off plan and drank alot of wine this weekend. Like the most off plan I have ever been. :( But I did get 2 incredible elliptical workouts in. On Friday I weighed in at 240.4. Just a tiny bit away from a new decade right. If I played my cards right I would be in the 230's right now.
Instead I woke up this morning at 247.6. Oh My god. I didn't go on a true eating bender all weekend, but I did have my share of carbs. I think it was all the wine. I did stick with red as it has less carbs. Needless to say I am flushing with all the water I can stand and am down to 246.0 already tonight. Now, I know that it is almost all water. But the hard part is the weighin with the doctor tomorrow. But, oh well. I can fix it and be right back in it for my big November goal of 233.0

On the flip side, my size 18 pants fit. and rather nicely I must add. Not to tight and not falling down!!! So, there is a plus. Even better though I picked up a nice cold along the way. Happy!!! :)

So Here is to a learning experience. Next time it is either eat off plan or drink lots of wine. Not both.

Jen

Originally Posted by Late to the game:
I do NOT want to work out today. Somebody whack me, please.

:club: ;)

Managed to drink 8 glasses of water yesterday and today. I forgot my gym bag at home (even though my clothes and running shoes were in the car). I just didn't want to leave my purse, etc unlocked, so I headed home instead. I did pull out some cards from Jillian's Hot Bod in a Box and did some weight exercises at home. :cp:

Jello - glad you had a nice weekend, I'm sure it's just water gain. Flush it out!!!

Vickie - You can do it!! Glad you are changing goals instead of dropping out.

LTTG - I got up off my bum and did JM's BFBM video. I want to hear you got up too!!!

Giv - That's awesome!!! Congrats!!!

Gekster - glad to have you back. Avoiding the deserts is always the hardest.

Laurana - Maybe you need to lower or raise your calories. What sort of eating plan are you on right now?

Sandye - Kitten pics please!!!! Grats on the low 130's!

Gooooooooooooooooood morning ladies!!!!!! :D

Okay, Mom--:club::kickbutt:: You had better have gotten off your bum and got your workout in!!! Next time call me and I'll give you a good Thwacking over the phone!!! ;)

Gekster~ glad to hear the funeral was nice and that you did so well with the food. I did have to laugh a little at the vision of you taking a pic of your plate! Now that's accountability! :)

Lauranna~ first of all, CONGRATS on 2 weeks no smoking! That's AWESOME!! You might be seeing a stall out with your loss due to the quitting though. Don't fret though, things will even out eventually and you'll start to see the pounds drop again so keep up the great work!!!

VickiLou~ stick with it hun! You can do it!!!

Giv~ congrats on the loss hun! You're doing fantastic!!! :carrot:

Moon Fairy~ thanks for thwackin' my mom (yeah, LTTG is my Mommy! :D) and way to get your workout in girlie!!

Jello~ flush, flush, flush, flush!! Just keep on drinking that water hun and those pounds will be gone in no time! Trust me, I've been there! ;) For me though, it's food--not wine. When I overdo it, it's always with stuff that's either sweet or loaded with sodium! Blech! Just keep on drinking your water!!!

Nella~ I'll get kitty pics up soon, just so busy this week! Way to get that workout in hun!! :)

Okay! So, I did some personals...yeah, only for this one page, but it's a start right? :lol:

Tummy, MsP, SG, Mystical and all the rest of you lovely ladies :wave: you're doing awesome and I hope you're having a great morning!!! :)

Well, got most of the downstairs spic and span yesterday and my laundry room is looking fantabulous!! I got all of my mason jars set aside so that I can start assembling my Hot Chocolate Mix in a Jar gifts (once I find the dang mint chocolate chips that is) and whatever other '________ Mix in a Jar' I end up making. ;) The play room is still a disaster and I'll be tackling that today after I head to the grocery store.

Up .4 this morning--might be retention, I dunno, I'm not sweatin' it. Got my Plyo in already :carrot: I love it when my workouts are kid free!!! :lol:

I feel like I've been running non-stop the past week and I think it's trying to catch up with me. I have a nice deep cough brewing and my chest is nice and icky. I will not let it turn into a full blown cold though--nope. I don't go for that. I don't have time for crap like that! I have quilts to sew, gifts to make and buy, wrapping to start...ya know, stuff!!

Well, better get going. I need to get the boys out the door and hit the shower so I can run to the store and get it out of the way. I wanted to make more progress on the quilt last night and it didn't happen so I will be working on it today after the playroom gets overhauled.

Have a great day and don't forget to smile!! :) And be sure to...

Drink Your Water!!!

Sandye-Take care of yourself, woman! You sound like the enegizer bunny, but it'll catch up with ya if ya don't get the down time you need. Yay on getting the downstairs cleaned up! I am catchnig up on laundry and planning today. I'm more relaxed when I'm caught up on those 2 things!

LTTG-:drill: Get to work on that exercise! :club: :coach: Get to it!! :kickbutt: ;)

moon fairy-Way to make it work for ya! :carrot: Don't ya just hate it when you forget stuff in the morning. It all worked out though.

jellofer-Yikes! That musta been a shock to see on the scale. :fr: Of course you know it's not fat, but still... Another lesson learned, right? Get your water and get back on plan and you're good to go. Yay on the pants, though!!

GivTLC-Thanks! :hug: And YAY on the 2.2 pounds! Keep up that good work!!

Lauranna-I'm with Sandye on this. CONGRATS on the smoke free 2 weeks!! That's AWESOME!! Your weight will come off. At least the fluctuations are less. Maybe it's salt in your food or whatever that has brought you back up a little. The point is, it'll happen, but enjoy the tremendous accomplishment of becoming smoke free!! That's part of the journey too!

Gekster-Glad the service was nice. And very smart way to account for your food! Look at you making such good choices and counting everything! NICE!

VickiLou-I always start the month out slow...maybe you'll have a really strong end of the month! Anyway, whatever your goal is...keep making those good choices and it'll happen!!

Jessicado-WOW!! Congrats on all those victories!! You're becoming and stronger healthier woman by the day!! :carrot:

Shari-I'm sure your friend appreciated it a lot! Good luck on the transfer!!

KimL-Ooooh, that sounds AWFUL! I'm so glad you're back and feeling better. Best wishes catching up on all your work and getting fully recovered! :hug:

Quick update: I am still up my 1 pound from Sunday. I was POP yesterday, so I'm not sure what's up with that. Might be from the ST'ing or something. No worries. It'll come off soon and take that extra little bit with it so I can move on toward maintenance range!

Thanks MsP and Nella and Idream. Yep it is just water. Already down another pound this morning. had a great workout with the PT today and now for more water before the doctor appointment. I am not bent out of shape over it as I understand the why. This is easier to take than the 3 weeks I fought with the same 2 pounds. So it goes.

The pants thing is great though. I so loved it. I am trying to catch a cold and feel sort of lousy today so I am just gonna curl up on the couch until time to see doctor then I gotta work the princess shift tonight. Just four hours so not to bad. Then I get 3 days to myself. So plan is to be back at 240. by Friday. Lots of water and perfect on plan.

Idream.....I too am a quilter. I just haven't had time to sew. But I think maybe I will this week. It is a nice thing to do when you are not feeling to well. Plus, it is hard to eat when you are sick. :)

Love and light to my peeps!!!

Jen

Ms_P - Oh I hate it when you're all prepared to go to a certain place and it changes suddenly! It def. can throw you off.

mystical - You're making your own Christmas cards?!?! That's cool :) I wish I were crafty, sounds fun!

Tummy - Eating before you go to a party, now that's commitment - I like your game face :) Have fun on your kid free shopping day :)

Nella - Yay for being OP! :carrot:

Shrinking - You'll get there - 189lbs will be here in no time. And well done on that NSV, bagels are always hard to resist, especially fresh ones!

Jasonslea - a Hero eh :) well I like the sound of that

Jessica - Wow! The 220's Congrats and well done with the running - I can't run for that long, maybe one day.

Gekster - Great idea - taking a photo of what you ate. Sounds like you made good food choices.

LTTG - :club: :rollpin:

Lauranna - Well done one 2 weeks without smoking :carrot:

GivTLC - 202lbs lost - well done :cp:

jellofer - at least you recognized you went off plan and got right back to it. You'll lose those pounds in no time.

moon - Good for you! I have often been in the same situation and just not worked out when I got home - damn I can be real lazy when it comes to things like that

iDream - It's hard to kick a cold to the curb when you are going non-stop, I know what that's like. I hope you are feeling better.

As for me, I stayed at 201.5 over the weekend. (which is good considering I had 2 birthday dinners this weekend) Trying to drink plenty of water today - I will weigh in again tomorrow, hopefully will see a drop.

Have a happy and OP day! :D

Morning!

Nella - Did you do your workout, hmmmm? Just checking in on you. And how's today's food, still Op? Have a great day!

SG - I appreciate that, I've never thought of that before, I think I know one or two woman who think of themselves as skinny, and they are lifelong rail sorts that can't gain weight and have body like a teenage boys (their words, lol, not mine) and they wish they were curvy. And what I've learned about myself is that skinny to me isn't even an ideal anymore. I was waiting at the checkout in wal-mart the other day for about 15-20 minutes and was watching what people were buying in relation to how healthy they looked, weight and things. Oddly enough, I never noticed how many heavy people there are, which is funny since I was one and second, even a lot of "skinny" ppl were buying horrible food and they looked terrible, their skin was unhealthy, hair didn't look good and they just looked sick. It really brought home the fact that healthy and fit is so much more important than a size b/c anyway when we do this long enough, the size will come. Kudos on the bagels! I hated the kitchen at work, it was like walking through a mine field.

MsP - Darn maintenance being the same, lol, but I hope I have prepared myself mentally for it, I think so but we'll see, we are all a work in progress after all ;). My friend actually told me about the obesity thing, she's recovering anorexic (10 years now) but she considers herself an eating disorder survivor to keep it in perspective that she needs to work at it daily and give herself credit for how hard she worked. She suggested that it's probably the same idea on the opposite end of the scale too, and I would have to agree.

Kim - Omgoodess, I'm glad you're alright, that sounds absolutely terrible. They're rationing the vaccines up here to make sure there's enough for the high risk folks first. Take care of yourself :hug:

JasonLea - Congrats on helping out your friend, sometimes it is who you know, lol.

Jessicado - Yeah on the sizes, that's incredible, you're going to have to find yourself a new store soon! LOL on the huge ***, that just made me laugh. Brag away baby! That run is incredible and :woohoo:marathon woman, we will be making sure!

VickieLou - 9 lbs sounds fantastic anyway and you're still losing so don't forget to give yourself credit!

Gekster - lmao on the picture that's awesome and resourceful! I'll have to remember that. WTG on making good choices to take a picture of too.

LTTG, Nella - :frypan:I know it's a day late but better late than never.

Lauranna - :congrat:on two weeks, I was just looking back at your post from the beginning of the challenge and was hoping you were keeping it up. Honestly, as a former (2 years now) 10 year, pack a day smoker I can't even imagine trying to drink while quitting, that is the craziest resolve. I don't even drink a lot now and it's been two years, lol. The weight will come off, the quitting is so worth it, wtg!

GivTLC - Thanks so much, and you guys all inspire me! Woohoo on those pounds too, that's fantastic and you're almost into the 150's!

Jellofer - Congrats on the pants that's great and a true indication of the loses right? That's some water weight, my goodness. I have experienced that on low carb before, the water weight can be frightening but it'll be gone in no time, we are all a work in progress, lol.

Moonfairy - Loving the determination! I think that's great, when we want to do it, there are no excuses that stand in the way.

Sandye - You are like a tornado, lol, I envision the tazmainian devil spinning everywhere. I got bath salts in a jar one year that I really liked. Have fun but don't overdo it, remember no cardio with a chest cold! We need you healthy.

Lauren - It's the only way I can be totally sure that I'm op, especially at kids bday parties, its all cake and pizza and hotdogs and there's not even a small quantity of that that I want in my body at this point. Turned out there was some fruit and veggies though so I ate some of that. I'm sure some ppl think I have an eating disoder with my little plate of carrots and celery and strawberries but I no longer care :) :crossed: on a drop tomorrow, you and GiveTLC are so close!

Great evening last night, delightful adult conversation and the kids kept each other occupied nicely. Workouts done for the day although it's supposed to be 12 degrees today so I'm almost tempted to go for a little run this afternoon to enjoy the nice weather, I mean that's almost shorts weather up here!

Nice boring day today, menu planning, grocery list making, christmas shopping list and all the fun stuff to get ready for a kid free shopping day. Not to mention my textbooks came from my college so I can't wait to flip through those, my first course is human anatomy, can't wait, I took it first year university too and I loved it but it's a toughy.

My weight is still bouncing around 146.8, 147, 147.2, not the nicest but I'm sore like no tomorrow after killing my STing workout yesterday, so i'll be happy with that and go get busy with all my stuff.

Have a great day ladies!

WOW....Ms Perception and Tummy girl those are quite the pictures, you both look fantastic. What an accomplishment.

I stepped on the scale yesterday and it turned out I was only up .8lbs so the 6lbs went away overnight. Not sure what happened there but I'll take it. This month is going slower than planned on the weight loss journey but I haven't been exercising since I have been sick. The weight for the first 2 weeks seemed to melt off but now it has slowed. Hopefully I can get back at it soon. Stupid cough. Well I better get ready for work now. I hope all of you have a great day with many successes.

Gekster and SG - My condolences. Congrats to both of you for continuing to take care of yourselves.

Ms. P and Tummy - Yall both look amazing!

Sandye - I love that you are making quilts for your girls. They will probably treasure them for their entire lives. I still have the blanket my mother crocheted for me when I was a little girl. Something that my friend did in her little girl’s room that you might consider - she also made her quilt and she sewed some extra squares and sewed a white panel in the middle with her daughter’s name cross stitched on it, she then used that as the front of a throw pillow and used one of the materials she had cut the squares from as the back.

Lauranna - Congrats on 2 weeks smoke free! Don’t worry so much about the weight loss. Concentrate on the not smoking and do the best you can with your food and exercise. The further you get from your last cigarette the easier the rest will become. Trust me. I actually quit smoking about 4 months before I started trying to do anything about my weight and nearly 8 months before I recommitted myself and got serious about it. However, I had tried the weight loss thing many time while I was still a smoker. This time has been my most successful and easiest and I definitely attribute a good deal of that to my not smoking. Congrats again, and stick with it.

Kim- I am soooo sorry that you had it for a couple weeks. I was only truly down with it for about 3 ½ days with a couple days of not quite right before it and am still in the not quite right of after it. I thought I was going to die, literally. I can’t imagine that for a couple weeks. I am glad you made it through.

I’m sorry that I can’t do more personals right now, blame it on the pig flu.

So, I figured out why I was having the small gains. It was apparently my body trying to fight off swine flu. In the end my immune system lost the battle, but thankfully I did not actually get sick until the wee hours of the morning the day after hubby’s birthday. I am so glad I was not sick on his birthday and was able to celebrate with him. I also got lucky in being one of those people Kim was talking about who is only sick for a few days. I was completely down Thursday-Saturday and part of Sunday. I’m still not all the way back, but I’m getting there. I am so thankful for my kick butt immune system (and my aleve which kept my fever minor). My husband and I had mono in ’06 - he was sick for over a month, I was sick for 5 days. Mono damages the immune system though and mine is still not back to full strength (for me a cold used to last a few hours, half a day max - last winter I had one for 2 weeks), the doc says it usually takes about 5 years. After swine flu only taking me completely out of commission for 3 ½ days, I’m thinking that part of my having such a strong immune system is that it will get back to normal after the mono faster than most. I know weight loss and a healthier diet also improves the immune system for most people, I’m wondering what mine will be like in the end - I might never be sick again, lol. Due to the sodium in all my chicken broth and the fact that the only solid foods I discovered an ability to keep down were hawaiin bread and, oddly enough, lasagna, I was up by 5.4 pounds at the end of it, including my small gains before I got sick. Since I wear a body bugg I know that my bmr went up by .2 calories per minute due to my fever, my weight would have probably shot up even more if not for that. I told my hubby that I wish I could have a minor fever all the time, but without actually feeling bad. I have been seriously chugging my water and crystal light and being a very good girl with my food since I got to where I could eat properly again, I was even able to exercise last night. I was not able to do what I usually do, but I did 30 min. on my elliptical on minimum resistance, even though I was a mess afterward. I have dropped 6 pounds in the last 2 days, so the flu weight is gone and it took .6 extra with it. WooHoo! Half of my exercise goals for the month are now impossible (6 days per week and not skipping on C25K), but I’m not gonna worry about it - I was sick, nothing I could do about it. I’m still going to try to get my minute and mile goals though. Hopefully I can still hit my weight goal (5.6 pounds to go), but if in a month where I got taken down by swine flu and also have Thanksgiving still to contend with I just manage not to gain for the month I will be happy.

I have a personal question for those of you who are down to small sizes (size 4s indeed - good job Tummy). Where on earth do you find panties? I am starting to get a bit worried about this. I can’t stand loose panties. I’m already in a 7 and some of them are already having to be tossed due to being too loose, and that’s at 190. What in the world size am I gonna need when I get to goal? The smallest thing I’ve ever seen in a store is a 4, and I’ve only seen those a few times. When I was at 245my 9s were getting too tight and I really should have gotten 10s I think. So if nearly 55 pounds causes a drop of 3ish sizes, what will 75 more pounds do? I really don’t want to get little girl panties, which is what my hubby jokingly suggested. Have you smaller girls had a problem in this area? Am I going to have to special order them? ACK!! Does the rate at which panty size drops slow down? The last time I was smaller than a 6 I was young enough for little girl panties, so I am clueless. On a slightly sideish note, I really miss England when it comes to buying panties - the UK sizes panties the same as outer clothes, so if you wear a size 18 jeans you wear a size 18 “knickers”. It was sooooo much easier.

FGG-I wear VS undies/panties. They have sizes according to S, M, L, XL. You would certainly find a fit there. I've gone from XL to M. The S is definitely small! I love their cotton undies. Just a thought. Feel better soon!

Bigmid-Congrats on the weight coming off! That extreme jump almost always comes right off...whatever it was.

FGG - I buy Victoria's Secret undies for my SD's. They are a size 1 (gag me I know, lol, but they are teenagers) they have size XS, S, M, L, XL . I am a M at VS right now, and I only had to get a few L when I was at my heaviest. And honestly they are cheaper there than the deptartment stores. At Belks they were 4 for $25 at VS, they were 5 for $25. And VS always has clearance ones on their website.

And I agree the US panty sizes are stupid! My guess is it was to make us feel better about it. I guess I would be in a 6 for panties in like Jocky brand or something.

NELLA ! A big THWACK! to you! I managed my first set of bench presses before I had to turn my attention to printer problems (my DH is clueless), but I made up for it today!

LAURANNA ~ Woo hoo on two weeks without cigs. Trust me, it gets easier ( I smoked 1 PPD off and on from 12-50). The fact that you had drinks without smoking is huge! WTG!

GIVETLC ~ WTG on the 2.2!

JELLO ~ Wow, that's quite a gain for a little wine! Woo hoo on the 18s though! Hope you feel better soon. "Princess shift," I love that!

MOONFAIRY ~Thanks for the rolling pin! I don't blame you for working out at home. My little gym has keys for lockers, but you leave your keys in a basket on the front counter which isn't always attended. Makes me nervous, so I go home and change and carry my keys with me.

SANDYE ~Will do. It's not often that I just don't feel like it. I did start, but had to play computer geek (who, me?) after five minutes. What's with this cough? You did not mention that in your email this morning! DON'T IGNORE THIS (Chicks, I am super paranoiod about this H1N1). ANY DIFFICULTY BREATHING, GET THEE TO THE ER!!! I WILL CALL DH ABOUT THIS, DON'T THINK I WON'T!!!!!! Sorry, I got a little carried away there, but so many young (25-40) healthy people are dying from this! You know I am not normally afraid of things like this. Promise me? TAKE YOUR VITAMINS AND GET LOTS OF REST!!!!

MSP ~Thanks for the kick in the rear! I predict that pound will be gone tomorrow!

LAUREN ~ Thanks for the rolling pin! Way to go not gaining weight after TWO birthday parties!

TUMMY Thanks for the frying pan. It's funny how aware I am of what people eat anymore! I was never one for sodas or fatty foods or supersized meals. My drug of choice was chocolate. When I see what some people eat, it amazes me! I would feel so wretched if I ate like some of my coworkers. It's a shame because some of them are so young. 12 degrees? I can not EVEN imagine!

Well, my DD needs to do some homework. Sorry I didn't get to everyone. My workout was cut short yesterday, but I had an awesome ST session today. I will be sore tomorrow! Thanks for all of the tough love. I hope everyone has a great rest of the week!

Evening Ladies,

Bigmid - Why thanks and congrats on getting back down.

Kim - Glad you're slowly recovering, that's incredible how long it takes to get your energy back too, that's brutal, no wonder there's so much worry about the high risk folks. And I believe in the states it would be about 53 degrees, I'm in celcius and I forgot that you guys are different, lol.

FGG - OMG you too! This is nuts but yeah for your body fighting back and glad you didn't get it as bad as Kim. I'm with the other ladies, we don't have the VS here but we have La Senza and the like and if you go to any undy store you can get those other sizes. I didn't know they made them in sizes like here but it may be an American difference, we go s-xxxxl kinda thing. And the 4's don't fit yet, lol, they're muffiny to all get out.

Actually got a post in at night for once, doesn't happen much anymore.

Today I had one of the most marvelous moments, as I metioned this morning I thought I might go for a run this afternoon because it was so nice out today. Well, I did and when I was done it occured to me that I went for a run because it was nice outside, like for something to do, to enjoy the day more, not to lose weight or because I "had" to but because I couldn't think of a more enjoyable way to spend some time on an unseasonably warm day. I may have just met a whole new person inside this body of mine today. It was brilliant and I hope everyone can feel that someday, it was priceless.

Talk to ya'll tomorrow.

Hellooooo!

Jumping right into personals.....

MsP You know what, I've decided to take your advice and claim my loss. Thanks! And... if I gain, well I guess I'll be motivated to make sure I get it right back off!!

KimL Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry for the hearing loss, but I'm also so glad you're feeling better. Paperwork... ugh... that stuff piles up FAST, doesn't it? Good luck and don't hurt your neck looking over all those papers! It gets me every time I'm sick, I always end up with a stiff/sore neck.

jessicado Hoorayyyy! I know exactly how I felt when I hit the "just plain old XL" category. YAYYYYYYY!!!! You are rocking this stuff girl! Also... did you say marathon? HOLY COW! You are my hero. I was thinking of going for a half marathon by the end of 2010... but man, you go girl!!

LTTG You know, I think it was something about Monday and working out. I like... walked off the treadmill 1/3 of the way into my intervals Monday and just went upstairs.. just wasn't feeling it. I blamed it on my cycle.

jellofer How did the weigh in with the doctor go? Also, congrats on the 18's!!! Isn't it fantastic to get into a new size???

Sandye Man you're busy. I wish I had the time to do all of the fun stuff you're doing. I will be selfish here and say I MISS YOU!!! But I'm glad you're keeping busy and getting a bunch of stuff done!

FitGirlyGirl Ack! Not you with swine flu too! I'm glad your case was mild and that you feel better! You know, I've never understood why we have different sizes for panties than we do for pants. It has just never made sense to me. Is it so we can think we have a small butt? I don't get it!

Tummy Wow to you on just going for a run because you ENJOY it and it's something to do! That's got to feel amazing when you realize such a thing! I'm in awe of you girl!

Well, I'm down to 192.4 today which means I can update my ticker. Part of me thinks the weight loss must be a fluke since I've been eating so poorly but then I remember it's not that I've been eating a lot of calories, it's that I'm not eating as healthy as I usually do. It's getting better though and this week I've got salads for lunch which are fantastic!

I'm still waiting for the inevitable weight loss slow down where I start to lose a little under 2 lbs a week. I was reading a thread here some time ago about how much people eat and how much weight they lose per week and I'm up there on calories but also up there on weight loss and I'm not sure why. I'm not even counting all that carefully any more. My breakfast is always the same, my snack and lunch are pretty much the same all the time and dinners... I just make sure what I'm making isn't too calorie dense and eat what I want. The only time I really count is when I'm dealing with meat because it has a tendency to be more calorie dense than anything else I eat these days and it's easy to go over with it. But.. things seem to be moving along so I guess I'm doing ok, eh?

Gah, my attitude has been so poor this week. I've not wanted to work, I've not wanted to get out of bed, I've not wanted to work on anything and I've not wanted to work out! I'm hoping I'll pull out of this funk SOOOOON! I hope everyone else is doing great and hope to hear from you soon!

Quick morning rant because I am getting so darn frustrated at this point. Every time I get close to getting out of the 280s my weight jumps right back up. I weighed in 3 days ago at 281.3 sooo close, but then today back up to 282. I have been stuck in the 280s since before I went off plan and I have been back on for 3 months and still, I lose and then gain again and I'm being pretty constant. Ugh.