[My Michelle]

I'm on-plan and feeling good! I can't believe how fast the end of the year is approaching, and I'm already trying to come up with strategies for the coming holiday feasts!

TERAPET - I'm soooo sorry to hear about your pup, it is heartbreaking. I'm thinking of you both, this is one of the hardest things to go through in life!

LouisaH - Yay for the weight-fairy! What kind of scale do you use to get the body-fat/muscle readings, I'd love to get that kind of data, do you think it is fairly accurate! Resist the TOM monster, you can do it!

NightAngel - I'm sorry the stress is piled up, hang in there. It is hard to break the "treat stress with food" cycle, verrrry verrrrry hard! You can do it, though, just never give up!

dollypie- Welcome! I'm sure that by the time you leave for your D.C. trip you will be feeling much better and have more energy! This is a great place for support!

layddi - I hope the 2 pounds stayed away! Try easing into the exercise, just start with 15 minutes on whatever it is you are planning to do. It is easier to convince yourself to tackle 15 minutes, and harder to make excuses to avoid it, and you'll quickly get into the exercise habit and not have it be this looming hours-long task that feels so daunting and off-putting. Sometimes it just takes jumping over that first hurdle to get into the swing! Before you know it you'll be adding minutes!

Ms Perception - I hope your recovery is going well and your legs are starting to feel less tired. I know my legs would want to be in Aruba laying on the beach for about a month after that heroic run!

WinterJinx - I'm still getting used to daily weighing, so I understand why weekly weighing is easier on the emotions. I was slightly up this morning and I know I scowled at the scale and stomped around for a few minutes because it is so "unfair". I'll get over it!

Newshinyme - I'm glad the days are improving, I'm sure you'll be 100% OP by the end of the week!

[susiemartin]

Yesterday was OP and really a tough white knuckle day! But the scale is down this morning - 223.4
Seems that every time I ride out a hard day I see a woosh within the next day or so

Planning for another OP day today.
Hope your day is a good one!

[TERAPET]

Thank you all for sending the kind thoughts. I am grateful for these bittersweet days, both for the time to be with Jingle and also for the time to get a handle on the situation. I hold and pet him a lot. I think he is a bit perplexed by the whole thing but does his best to keep his routine, basically just following me around all day and enjoying any treats that come his way. Silly boy!

Not surprising, I am not doing much in the way of weight loss these days, pretty much maintaining which is fine for the time being. It takes a lot of concentration for me to lose weight.

[mystical]

Good morning all, I am back down on my weight (199.2) can't believe how well things have been going for me. Has taken me a very long time for things to be right for me to lose the weight. My DH is trying to lose weight as well and he is struggling to find the right foods for hime as well. Thanks for all your support.

I am hoping that I can at least maintain my weight through the holiday if not I will have to put in some extra workouts LOL

[dollypie]

Well I feel really great today! I think it is because last night we had our National Night Out and a great time was had by all. I was even able to control my eating and not go overboard so that was good. Now to keep up the motivation to hit the gym tonight!

[layddi]

Good morning !

Winter Jinx- I know how you feel about the weighing, the scale can be your friend one day and then the next day “stab you in the back.”

My Michelle- The holidays…..”uuuuggghhh”: I have a love/hate relationship with holidays….. but you gave me in incentive, I will start thinking of stratagies.

Tearapet- Hope you’re ok.

Mysticle- Congratulations on your loss.

Dollypie- I love your enthusiasm, especially when it comes to hitting the gym, I hope to get to that place one day.

Thank you Ms Perception- for putting up our Goal List every morning, for me personally gives me more motivation.

Speaking of motivation, is anyone watching The Biggest Loser?

[WinterJinx]

Hey I think I did pretty good today even though I had a bowl of ice cream. It's something I rarely indulge in but the cherry chocolate garcia was calling my name saying "EAT ME." How could I resist.....no really how could I?

I made it to the gym today for an hour so I figure it all evens out.

[LouisaH]

My Michelle: My scale is an Omron 400 or 500 (would have to check). It gives me weight, body fat, skeletal muscle, BMI, resting metabolism and visceral fat. I don't know how accurate it is, and don't really care about that too much, but it gives me a trend to watch, and certainly seems reflect the weight loss and exercise accurately (since I did no circuit training/weights of any sort on my vacation, by body fat went up and skeletal muscle went down). I like it. I figure eventually I'll stop checking it daily, but for now, it's really helpful.

MsP: Thanks for adding my goal and keeping the list updated. So what's your exercise plan now that the marathon training is over? I imagine you're excited to get back to some things you haven't gotten to do for a while?

Mystical: Congrats on reaching onederland--and this time it should be easier to make it stick with DH on board on the weight loss. We all have to work super hard now in preparation for the holidays. Having willpower of steel does not mean we can't eat yummy stuff, it only means we can't as much of it as we might want! For me, the trick is to get sugar and carbs out of my system so that I have an easier time saying no unless it's something I REALLY want.

dollypie: way to stay in control--did you make it to the gym?

WinterJinx: That's what it's all about in my book--buying indulgences. Exercise so you can enjoy the things you aren't willing to give up. If I don't allow myself treats, I feel deprived and resentful, and soon give up. That's a bad plan in my book!

The scales said 153.4 this morning, so the weight fairy came back and dropped off a little of the weight she originally took. That or TOM just bought a new set of luggage. I'm still down a bit from the start of my vacation, and I'm not worried, except that I am having insatiable urges for not just sweets, but FOOD. I'll get back on track eventually, but I just feel like the closer I get to goal, the harder time I have sticking to my calorie allotment, even with exercise calories added back in. I'm also being lazier about tracking calories, and I'm finding that I'm eating first, and then adding up calories, rather than figuring out what I have room for before I eat. This is not good preparation for the holidays, so I've got to get my resolve and my routine back in the groove!

[VickieLou]

Terapet so sorry to hear about your dog.

Got back on plan yesterday and worked out. Today was away from home the whole day so didn't count calories. See how I do on my weigh in tommorow. Hope Everyone has a good day tommorow.

SW: 248.8
CW: 248
GW: 238.8

[Marniadec]

I'm so sorry to hear about your dog, Terapet!

So, I kind of have been doing great so far. I'm supposed to eat between 1200 and 1550 calories and I always stay under 1300.

I have 2 problems, though: One is that I haven't been having as many fruit and veggies the last three days and this will continue until I get paid on Monday. The other is that I sleep during the day and I stay up all night. I'll try to stay up until late afternoon, but what am I going to eat until then? I'm thinking about giving myself a cheat day, but I really don't want to...

[susiemartin]

Yesterday was OP - planning for another today.
Terapet - I know what you're going through Hang in there. All dogs go to Heaven. It's not Heaven for us without them.

I'm with you all on the coming holidays - love 'em but fear 'em. Especially around Christmas time.
That's the time of year when I historically get off track and my food goes crazy. I'm trying to mentally plan ahead for this year & got my fingers crossed that I'll find a way through them. I sure don't want to go back to Binge & Weight Gain ****.

Hope your day is a good one!

[TERAPET]

susiemartin-I like to imagine Jingle will be met by my two dogs already in heaven. Probably crazy but it makes me feel better.

[susiemartin]

Originally Posted by TERAPET

susiemartin-I like to imagine Jingle will be met by my two dogs already in heaven. Probably crazy but it makes me feel better.

Not crazy -
You can depend on it

If you care to read it, here's a short post about the dog I buried just about 2 years ago.

[dollypie]

WinterJix - I love Cherry Garcia! Have you tried the frozen yogurt one...it really isn't that bad. Actually pretty good! Good job a the gym!

LouisaH - I track calories too and it is really hard for me too do. I try and track my food categories all the time and then just calories every few days to keep me on track.

VickieLou - Great job!

Well I didn't make it to the gym yesterday but took a 2 mile walk with the neighbor pushing the kiddo in the stroller. It was great! The weather is so beautiful something we only get for about a month out of the year. We are going again tonight!

[VickieLou]

Sw: 248.8
Cw: 245.2 (-3.6)
Gw: 238.8