Hi CoolChickie and welcome!
Your story sounds oh so familiar! Wow, 130lb off in 2007 is pretty impressive. At least you know you can do it and you're practiced, so can do it even better this time around.
I started my journey this year and felt like it was impossible, but i'm really there now (about 35lb off) and time has whizzed, so that looks to be about the same sort of amount that you want to lose to get to 138. It was easy once I got going - the hardest bit is buckling down for the first couple of weeks to get in to routine. And then keep going. Easy! Done!

Thank you Ange82much! I really appreciate your posting. Your message already makes it seem more doable! I am looking forward to checking in tomorrow. :)

gardenerjoy - I forgot to put my goal down for May. My goal for May will be 3.6 lbs. can you please add me to the list. thx

momtopands [/B]- keep up the good work - you're doing great

ange - congrats on getting to your goal - great job

snowmama - nice drop and way to go on your 15 mile bike ride. I do a fair amount of walking but would like to get out on the bike more

kfunk - you're so close to a new decade - keep it going

nightowl - congrats on conquering that hill on your bike

ophelia - good job on getting your water in. Hopefully you will have a whoosh soon.

05: 132.6
07: 132.8
09: 133.0
10: 132.6 - finally heading downwards

Gardenerjoy- nice drop!!

Ange- I needed to read your post this morning, thank you! So glad that your cross examination is over with and that it wasn’t as bad as you were expecting… I love getting stuff that I dread done and over with, it feels so good!

Momtopands- I am right there with you with the bounce up, hopefully our bodies adjust soon!

Nightowlrn- What a huge accomplishment, I can’t imagine how thrilled you were when you realized that you could make it up without stopping!!!

Snowmama- Most of my stalls (that aren’t self-induced) go back to water retention, or just normal fluctuations that occur during the month. I love chips and salsa, but one serving is only 7 chips, but at least they are big! I hope that you get some relief from your allergies, my husband has been suffering from them as well, they seem to get worse every year.

Coolchickie- Welcome to 3FC!!! Wow, 130 lbs. is amazing!! This website has made a world of difference for me, I hope that you find the same thing is true for you.

Flower- Thank you! You are close to a new decade too!!

Sw: 169.4
cw: 163 (-6.4)
gw: 157.8

Thanks for all the encouragement! I'm starting to head back down again - hopefully I will see a 147 some time this week.

Ange - that was exactly what I was telling myself - that it might take a while, but I will overall lose weight if I keep doing what I'm doing.

We are going camping this weekend - I'm very excited. We will go on a day canoe trip and bring the new puppy - I'm hoping she likes to swim. So I won't be weighing until Monday. Have a great weekend everyone!

SW:150.4
GW: 144.4


Week One
01: 150.4
02: 151.0
03: 150.2
04: 149.0
05: 148.8
06: 149.0
07: 148.0
----------------------------
Total Loss for Week One: 2.4 lbs

Week Two
08: 148.0
09: 148.8
10: 149.4
11: 149.2
12:
13:
14:
----------------------------
Total Loss for Week One:

Welcome, CoolChickie and flower1!

ange82much: 4 lbs
Chunkahlunkah: 5 lbs
CoolChickie: 7 lbs
Jayden: 8 lbs
flower1: 3.6 lbs
gardenerjoy: 1 kg
kelijpa: 4 lbs
kfunk6113: 4 lbs
momtopands: 8 lbs
nicoley73: 6 lbs
Nightowlrn: 7.2 lbs
opheliaphoenix: 8 lbs
PandaCupcake: 6 lbs
Slimmer_me: 6 lbs
SnowMama: 10 lbs
Tesni: 5 lbs
wantochange: 5 lbs
yangtzer: 6 lbs

SW: 98.4kgs GW: 97.4kgs (-1.0 kgs)

1: 98.4 kgs
2: 97.85
...
8: 98.4 kgs
9: 98.35
10: 98.0
11: 98.3 (stir-fry for supper)

May goal: 3.6 lbs

Week 1
05: 132.6
07: 132.8
09: 133.0
10: 132.6
11: 132.2
12:

Total Loss Week 1:

:welcome2:Coolchickie!

Hanging the same, i'm good with that as I go into the weekend.

Week Two
08: 257.3
09: 257.3
10: 257.9
11: 257.9
12:
13:
14:
----------------------------
End of Week One: 258.4
Total Loss for Week Two:

Welcome Chickie !!!! Wow, what an accomplishment and that you essentially maintained it for so long. I love the challenges here and the folks to cheer each other on. I dropped out for a year because....well... a life that required alcohol and eating out to survive it. I gained 25 back. Boo. That ordeal has now passed and I am back at it.

May 1st : 125.8
May 2nd: 124.7
May 4th: 125.4
May 5th: 124.5
May 8th: 124.5
May 9th: 123.9
May 12th: 123.2

TARGET!!!!! I weighed in at 56.0 kg today
:cheer::cheer::cheer::cheer::cheer::cheer:

Realise i'm getting boring by blowing my own trumpet here but what i'm really trying to share is that I feel so good now ALL THE TIME, and what we're all trying to do here is really really worth it (even just to feel like this, without even considering the health aspects etc) So I am trying to spread a bit of that around!

And my other reason is that i'm excited and want to share that (so thanks 3FC for letting me!), but wondering whether to share this news with hubby, because then he's going to be really pleased that i'm 'back' and I can go out drinking and parties and eating 'normally', and will doubtless suggest some celebration that'll immediately take me back a few steps!! He's been great and we had an agreement at the start that this would probably take about 6 months, and he wouldn't be a 'food pusher' (tell me to eat/drink anything) and I wouldn't not go out any time and wouldn't turn down social stuff just because I was dieting, so that's all worked great, but I think he thinks it's temporary...

Anyway, i'm going to carry on for a little bit to give myself some wiggle-room and will think about future strategy in the next few weeks

Ange - research 5:2 or intermittent fasting to maintain. Just have a low intake (400-500) the day before and the day after you hit the town.

Hi Nightowlrn - thanks! Yes, i'm familiar already with the concept and I think something like that is likely to suit me. I've already been doing the small window of eating thing all year, just 'naturally' because it suits me - which is sometimes called IF too (i,e I usually consume all my calories between 8am and 5pm, leaving 15hrs daily with zero calories), but haven't tried the 400 cals in a day thing yet, and am definitely interested for future :)

btw, it's super-cool that you can load up your bike and be independent for a few days. Love that. How much spares/repair kit do you need to take, and how are your mechanical skills for fixing up any problems? I bet there's some part of you that likes those hills really really!........

TY for the Warm Welcome!
 

ange82much- Thank you for sharing. My goal is to “feel so good ALL THE TIME”! So your posting is very inspirational to me and really appreciated. :carrot:

opheliaphoenix- Thank you for the welcome and encouragement! I recently mentioned my recent struggle to lose weight to a friend of mine who is a professional bodybuilder & his 1st question was to ask about my water intake (which was not good). He told me to drink more water and I would lose weight so I think your focus is spot on and water is key to making progress in fat loss. :bravo:

Nightowlrn- Thank you! I credit (or blame as the case may be ;) ) eating out for just about every meal, including breakfast, and drinking alcohol about twice per week for the past 2 years for my weight gain and inability to lose it. I have gone through stretches of not drinking, but still ate out regularly. I am hoping committing to eating at home more often allows me to see progress on the scale.

Kfunk6113- Thanks for the welcome & encouragement! I think this website has already made a difference. Congratulations on all of your progress. Do you have any pamper you plans for when you reach the 100 lb mark? :queen:

GardenerJoy- Thank You for the welcome and for creating this thread! I am very happy to have found it. :hug:

momtopands- Thank you! I hope that you have a great weekend!:goodvibes

Yesterday, I held steady at 176.2, but knowing that I was going to check in with all of you today made me more mindful of not only how much I ate, but how much I moved and how much water I drank. This morning I weighed in at 175.4! Thanks again to everyone for the warm welcome!

wow Ophelia - that's a super-whoosh! Congratulations!!! well done you. Enjoy your time in the 170's :)

ange82 - Congrats! :cp: :woohoo: I think that's a great idea to keep going for a little bit to give yourself some wiggle room.

CoolChickie - :welcome: Wow, congrats on your loss and maintenance! This is just a blip that you'll get through. I'm glad you're here. :)

ophelia - You're inspiring me to drink more water!

kfunk - For now, I'm counting calories, exercising on my days off, and getting in more steps on the days I work. I may have to kick all of that up a notch depending on results. So far, so good. Looks like you're in your final 20 too! What was your method for losing? Calorie counting?

Greetings and waves for all. :D :wave:

May goal - 10 lbs. That is going into June with 183.8lbs

May 02 - 193.8
May 06 - 191.4
May 14 - 187.8

ange :cheer2: Yay for making it to goal!!!!!!! :cheer2: You'll do well in maintenance mode, you've been so successful this far!

ophelia Congrats on you whoosh and your new decade!!! It's about time TOM did something nice for you! :dancer:

My last few days have not been good. Missed 2 workouts though my eating wasn't bad. My daughter ended up in a residential psychiatric facility yesterday and I was really stressed and upset. I am better this morning and have been praying for her health and safety and hoping she will be able to come home soon. Needless to say I didn't even eat most of the day, though I did when I got home, and managed to get in bed by midnight. My weight was down the past 2 days and i'm trying to keep myself busy and on plan. I need stability and prayers to make it through this tough time. If you pray, I would appreciate your prayers for me and my family.

Week Two
08: 257.3
09: 257.3
10: 257.9
11: 257.9
12: ?
13: 256.8
14: 255.7
----------------------------
End of Week One: 258.4
Total Loss for Week Two: -2.7

Ophelia - Great job with the water intake!! Congrats on the new decade as well!!

Ange- Congrats on making goal :carrot::carrot::carrot:!!!! I love hearing about how great you are feeling and it is very helpful to remind me that it is possible!!

Coolchickie- Thank you! Nice drop!!! When I hit the 100 lb. mark I am going to get a manicure and pedicure. I have all sorts of treats planned for my ultimate goal, but $$ will decide how far I can take it hahah!!!

Lunkah- I have done a variation of things. Cut out alcohol and gluten, and that alone made the biggest difference, but I liked calorie counting a lot!! I switched to WW for the last 30 to try to shake things up and to regain some of my motivation (its not working). I think your plan sounds fantastic! What is the calorie count you are sticking to?

Momtopands- I am really sorry to hear about your daughter :hug:. I hope that she is able to come home soon. I will pray for your daughter and family.

I am not sure what is going on, but I have been struggling for quite some time. Things have gotten worse and I need to get a handle on it before I end up gaining more than water weight.

Sw: 169.4
cw: 170.4 (+1)
gw: 157.8

I am actually pretty happy with my weigh in this morning. Although I was very active this weekend, I did not stay on plan at all. I did try to be mindful of portions, and to keep the junk to a minimum - but we cannot camp without s'mores!

Momtopands - I am sorry to hear about your daughter. I hope she is able to get the help she needs.

SW:150.4
GW: 144.4


Week One
01: 150.4
02: 151.0
03: 150.2
04: 149.0
05: 148.8
06: 149.0
07: 148.0
----------------------------
Total Loss for Week One: 2.4 lbs

Week Two
08: 148.0
09: 148.8
10: 149.4
11: 149.2
12: dnw
13: dnw
14: 148.6
----------------------------
Total Loss for Week One: +.6 lbs

momtopands: I'm sorry to hear about your daughter but know that she is getting the help she needs. I will say a prayer for her.

ophelia: congrats on a new decade! - well done

CoolChickie: nice drop

May goal: 3.6 lbs

Week 1
05: 132.6
07: 132.8
09: 133.0
10: 132.6
11: 132.2
12: 132.2

Total Loss Week 1: -.4

Week 2
13: 132.4
14: 131.2
15:
16:
17:
18:
19:

End of Week 1: 132.2
Total Loss Week 2:

momtopands really sorry to hear that you and your daughter are having a difficult time. That sounds really stressful. Look after yourself :hug: Hopefully she is being looked after well though - I guess she has to have the focus she's getting right now in order to get better, so wishing you better times very soon and that she improves quickly.

kfunk Really sorry to hear that you're struggling with your mojo. If it's been going on for a while and you haven't really gained weight, then that's already a great achievement, so well done you - that's tough to do and you deserve some major credit for that. It's easy to stick to your diet when it's easy, but this bit you're in right now is one of those turning points and it must be hard (cos YOU have to turn the right way!). So recognise that it's temporary, keep muddling through AND DON"T GIVE UP!! We need you to be one of those that had a sticky bit and then got through it (and gave everyone else some insight in to how they did it.) I'm looking for you to turn this into a story of inspiration, so no pressure but......:)

For this trip, services are about every 10 miles or so. Some areas have no cell coverage, so some self sufficiency is needed. I got two flats the first 10 miles!!! And, none after that. very strange...

I am pretty handy with the bike. I carry 2 tubes, a patch kit, tire levers, a little soap, and air. I did not pack a tire, but might next time along with 3 tubes. I have a lot of little bike tools to fit any screw/bolt on my bike, a multi tool knife, and pliers. My tour bike is steel, so it shouldn't break. I also brought a water filter and dried food just in case I really found trouble and had to camp a night somewhere. It was pretty cool weather luckily.

nicoley - I hear ya on smores. I've actually never been camping, but I love having them at backyard fire pits. I'm glad the weigh in went well.

momtopands - Oh no, I'm sorry to hear about your daughter. I hope treatment goes well for her. I send positive vibes you and your daughter's way! :hug:

kfunk - I'm still working out my calorie level. I've set my calories to maintenance at MFP and have been eating back my exercise calories (although I haven't been including my walking calories bc that's just life ;)). My goal's basically just been to eat to satiety while still having a deficit of at least a couple hundred calories each day. So far this month, I've been averaging a 200 calorie deficit per day. I'm a bit all over the map though, with a couple days where I ate well over maintenance, and most days my deficit's been 250-500. I'll need to increase that average daily deficit to get the results I want. I suppose I'll need to cut out my surplus days :( which are usually the nights I socialize. (ETA Alternatively, I might try not eating back my exercise calories on that day and instead banking them to cover for my weekly caloric splurges.) I'm a pound up from last week, but I'm pretty sure that's just water weight. I'd been eating more carbs than my norm and I'm sooo sensitive to water weight gains when I do that. Since I'm such a slow loser (:lol: sounds so insulting), I think I'd prefer to keep my carbs lower for a while bc it can be demotivating having fat loss masked by water weight. Anyway, enough about that. I hear ya on the struggle! Do you know what triggered your lack of motivation, or if it was a variety of factors?

Gardenerjoy I just read your goal story the other day, and your techniques are almost identical to the techniques that I settled upon. Thanks for sharing that, it’s inspiring to read. And congrats on your continued dedication and success.

Momtopands Thinking of you through your trials and tribulations. It’s so hard to see our children hurting or in trouble. Worst feeling in the world. I hope that she’s able to get what she needs from this and ultimately end up in a better place. Hugs.

Ange82much Your mention of feeling good all the time is exactly what stops me from eating junky food. It’s such a change from heartburn and low energy (even on days I’m tired) that I don’t WANT to eat junk.

Kfunk6113 Ok, so your talk about sodium triggered me to look at my intake vs. weight and there seems to be a direct correlation between high sodium and weight stall for the next three days. I'm going to be much more careful about that moving forward.

Nicoley73 Hope you had fun camping and canoeing with the new puppy.

Flower1 Thanks and glad you’re heading down!

Ophelia Woo hoo, you are magic! Whooshing during TOM?! My fingers are crossed for you to continue your magic through the end of the month. :)) Hope you had a fantastic Mother’s Day.

Unwanted37lbs Awesome work so far, good luck this month!

CoolChickie Welcome! The support and camaraderie on this site is nothing like I’ve found anywhere else. It helps me every day, and I hope it does the same for you. :)

So it happened again. We were planning to go out to a specific restaurant for Mother’s Day, so I planned carefully what I was going to eat. It was my pick, and I was pretty excited. Then, we ended up at a different restaurant. Panic! I made good choices at the new restaurant and took a picture of my food for entering later. I ended up below where I would have at the other place and got to eat much more. I’m bummed we didn’t get to go to my restaurant but such is life.

Went on a 20 mile bike ride yesterday and saw a huge King snake, lizards, and a crane close enough to touch. I may have pushed myself a little bit beyond comfort, but I feel pretty good today. Didn’t feel great after the ride, probably a combination of the rich food and exertion. I just had a protein shake for dinner. Drinking lots of water this week to see if I can minimize sodium impact on my week.

07: 177.4

Week Two
08: 177.0
09: 177.0
10: 176.6
11: 175.8
12: 175.2
13: 175.0 TOM
14: 175.0 TOM
----------------------------
Total Loss for Week Two: 2.4 lbs.

SnowMama - great ride - I hope you have recovered!

Holding steady. Did okay yesterday but got into the sugar last night. I try not to keep sweets in the house because I have little self control but we have leftovers from camping.

SW:150.4
GW: 144.4


Week One
01: 150.4
02: 151.0
03: 150.2
04: 149.0
05: 148.8
06: 149.0
07: 148.0
----------------------------
Total Loss for Week One: 2.4 lbs

Week Two
08: 148.0
09: 148.8
10: 149.4
11: 149.2
12: dnw
13: dnw
14: 148.6
----------------------------
Total Loss for Week TWO: +.6 lbs

Week Three
08: 148.6
09:
10:
11:
12:
13:
14:
----------------------------
Total Loss for Week Three:

Nicoley Bravo!!!

Flower- nice drop, good job!!

Ange- Thank you, I really appreciate your support. I hadn’t thought about it that way until I read what you wrote… in my mind I am struggling to lose, but really I have been maintaining and that is something I haven’t been able to do in the past. I definitely won’t give up!!

Nightowlrn - It sounds like you are VERY handy when it comes to fixing your bike, that is awesome!!!

Lunkah This part is hard for me lately, but it’s a work in progress! The calorie levels make my head spin, it seems like there is such a fine line. It’s nice that you are playing around with it, you will find what works the best for your body; I like the idea of not eating back your exercise calories though. I hear you on keeping your carbs lower so that you don’t start to feel impatient with the scale from the water weight holding on. I do know it all started back in October; I can’t say for certain what caused it, but I think impatience was a big part of it. I just want to get past the losing stage and enter maintenance. In order to do that I will have to start working out regularly and stop binging during all of the “special occasions” that crop up this time of year.

Ophelia- Thank you I just need to fully re-commit myself and things will fall into place. I didn’t realize how long this process takes. It sounds like you had a nice Mother’s Day with your kids. That is sweet that they wanted to go out to celebrate with you! Congrats on staying in the 170’s and for your awesome week!!! You definitely deserve it.

Snowmama- Do you have a goal to stay under as far as sodium is concerned? I am sorry you weren’t able to go to the restaurant you picked, but you did a great job navigating around the new menu! Great job on your bike ride! If I saw a snake I would never, ever go again hahah!! Nice drop this week!!!

momtopands Thinking of you and your daughter, I hope that things are going better :hug:

Sw: 169.4
cw: 167.8 (-1.6)
gw: 157.8

My birthday was the 12th. I can celebrate for the month, but not with food. Getting back to routine...

SW: 98.4kgs GW: 97.4kgs (-1.0 kgs)

1: 98.4 kgs
2: 97.85
...
8: 98.4 kgs
9: 98.35
10: 98.0
11: 98.3 (stir-fry for supper)
12:
13: 98.55
14: 98.3
15; 98.7

I thank everyone for the prayers and support. It is still stressful but I am happy that she is getting the help she needs. I have talked to her a few times on the phone and at least she is participating in the counseling and activities. I will be able to see her tonight. My son and I have been doing lots of outdoor work to take up the time and talking when we're not working. The garden is half weeded, tilled and planted. 6 hours of outdoor work. And today my son showed me how to mow the lawn. Now I feel like I owe him a million dollars in back pay for doing this job. I couldn't even finish the front! I have decided I need to find a way to get a riding mower.

In all these activities i'm down again in spite of eating pizza and wings last night(though I didn't go over my calories though).

Week Three
15: 254
16:
17:
18:
19:
20:
21:
----------------------------
End of Week Two:
Total Loss for Week Three:

great new profile pic Ophelia. Check out those collarbones!!

Gardenerjoy- Happy belated bday!!

Momtopands- I am glad to hear that she is doing well, I hope your visit was very nice! Wow, that is a lot of outdoor work, I bet your yard is starting to look great. Ours needs some serious intervention!! Nice drop as well!!

Ophelia – thank you! I bet you get a nice woosh to reward you for your trifecta yesterday!! Keep it up!! I have been hovering around 80-100 oz. of water lately and want to step that up today. The last day to weigh in for my diet bet is tomorrow and I still have 4 lbs. to go! I am bummed because this will be the first one that I lose. I have another one ending late next week that I should win though. I love your new pic!

Sw: 169.4
cw: 165.4 (-4)
gw: 157.8

Seems like most of us are getting back on track.

kfunk - sorry to hear about your dietbet! I played one, and won, and was going to go straight into another but thought I might not be able to handle the pressure. So I think I will join one soon - I would love to be out of the 140s and it might be the motivation I need. I'm pretty frugal!


SW:150.4
GW: 144.4


Week One
01: 150.4
02: 151.0
03: 150.2
04: 149.0
05: 148.8
06: 149.0
07: 148.0
----------------------------
Total Loss for Week One: 2.4 lbs

Week Two
08: 148.0
09: 148.8
10: 149.4
11: 149.2
12: dnw
13: dnw
14: 148.6
----------------------------
Total Loss for Week TWO: +.6 lbs

Week Three
08: 148.6
09: 147.6
10:
11:
12:
13:
14:
----------------------------
Total Loss for Week Three:

Ophelia love your new profile pic! You'll get a whoosh soon!

kfunk thank you, my visit with my daughter was not bad. She is looking good and still herself. She has been participating, even though she is ready to come home, so I hope this will be the beginning of her road to recovery.

nicoley congrats on your loss!

I figured that yesterday's weight wouldn't stay since I don't plan to be doing 6 hours of garden work everyday for my workout, so i'm fine with the bump back up. I also ate out, even though I didn't go over my calories, but still, my body hasn't been used to that for months so no complaints here.

Week Three
15: 254
16: 255.7
17:
18:
19:
20:
21:
----------------------------
End of Week Two: 255.7
Total Loss for Week Three:

momtopands - I'm glad to hear your daughter is doing better. Sounds like you had a good workout with all the yard work.

kfunk - it's tough when you're struggling with motivation but the important thing is you are not giving up and continue to be accountable - well done. I'm still struggling with my motivation but it's starting to get better.

Gardenerjoy- Happy belated birthday:)

SnowMama: Wow that was an amazing bike ride and great job with the change in restaurant plans on mother's day.

ophelia - I like your new profile pic:) Congrats on having a great week!


After reading the discussions about water intake, I upped my water intake yesterday which seemed to help and I'm staying within my points range.

SW - 132.6
May goal: 129 (-3.6)

Week 2
13: 132.4
14: 131.2
15: -
16: 130.2
17:
18:
19:

End of Week 1: 132.2
Total Loss Week 2: