Wow, there's some serious progress going on! Lacerta, darius, Raining (and more), you are all rock stars! yangtzer, good for you with all the movement, that is progress too. Jeny, just what Lacerta said - with all the efforts you are making, you are getting healthier even if the scale doesn't show it yet - keep heart and keep going. kfunk, what is the lemonade diet? If it helps you gain control of your cravings, it sounds very useful.

Riestrella, I'm so sorry you've been under the weather and had to cancel your trip. Hopefully you can plan another very soon. Do you know, my original big losing streak began with being so sick that I stayed in bed for three days, only eating a few bowls of broth and noodles. When I got up, I had dropped 6 pounds! And just moved ahead from there. Here's hoping you make a quick recovery.

Sunshine, I too have chronic head pain, for the past 6 years or so, and been chasing down remedies without much result. I've been wondering about hemp oil or CBD extracts; your experience is promising, except for the munchies part! Grats on the NSV.

SW 8-14: 133
CW 8-18: 131
Goal for August: 130 (3 lb loss)

I've gotten right back into my normal eating mode since returning from our outing and am down to 131 as of this morning, though until I see a weight consistently, I don't really take it seriously. Meanwhile, I'm enjoying having all my kids together, at least until Wednesday when my sailor son leaves again - then I'll fall apart a little, as usual.

Gardenerjoy: congrats on a new decade - great job!

Rie: so sorry you missed your vaca - I hope you're feeling better

Ange - great job with the exercise

kfunk - I know you'll get back on track - don't be too hard on yourself.

As for me, I haven't been doing all that great with my weight but my exercise has been going really well. Today I did a hike straight up the side of a mountain (Grouse Mountain). The sweat was just pouring off me. This hike does not level out until you get to the top of the mountain. I felt really good that I was able to do this hike as it is a difficult hike. This hike is very popular and is called the Grouse Grind and referred to as "Mother Nature's Stairmaster". There are a lot of things to do on the top of the mountain.I saw a lumberjack competition, took the chairlift, saw the grizzly habitat where there are 2 grizzly bears. The bears were playing in the water - very cute from a distance I decided to take the skyride back down the mountain. It was a great day.

Week 3: (Aug 18-25)
18: 133.0

----------------------------
End of Week 2: 133.0
Total Loss for Week 2: +.4

Darius- That is so cool that you are at a fitness camp, I have always thought that would be an awesome thing to try! Great drop last week too!!! Are you less hungry on 1400 calories, or is your body still adjusting to the new amount?

Fungirl - How was your day at the amusement park?

Sunshine- What an amazing NSV, single digits in the clothing department is a terrific accomplishment!! I am in awe of the people who can get in so many steps per day, I always struggled to get more than 7000. I should probably fix my Fitbit and push myself. My sister in law suffers from migraines and swears by CBT oil.

Riestrella- How are you feeling today?

Joe- I hope that you were able to get a better nights sleep last night!

Lacerta- You are cruising through the 220's, keep up the hard work girl!!

Ange- Great job incorporating workouts into your routine!! That is awesome that they are easier now that you weigh less!! Someday I hope to be the type of person that loves working out! I think for now I keep doing what you did and focus on the diet part first and then add in workouts once I am maintaining. I am so glad that your knee was able to withstand exercising, YAY!!!

cattails- Great job getting right back to your plan after your outing!! The lemonade diet is a cleanse (Master Cleanse). For 10 days you only drink water with grade B maple syrup, lemon, and cayenne pepper. There are some other components to it that I ignore. I figure since I am only doing it to reset my taste buds and not to cleanse my body, it will be okay! I have done this a few times in the past with great success and a few times where I gave up before 10 days was over. One time I did it for 25 days! I don't think its very healthy though so I wouldn't recommend it.

flower- WOW, that hike sounded brutal, you must feel so good about yourself!! I bet that your legs and butt look fantastic!!!

I didn't weigh myself this morning, but I did before bed last night and I did not gain as much as I thought I did. Yesterday I did much better with my eating. I ate approximately 1300 calories and will be aiming for the same today. We spent a ton of time outside in the sun yesterday, it was nice and hot! I am bummed at how fast time is going, pretty soon it is going to be freezing cold!

Good morning everyone

Sounds like everyone is busy.

I ended up ordering the gnochi in tomato sauce for dinner which I felt happy I did.

But have been going out everyday this week and drinking way too much and gained back 2 lbs! My bad and I have no one to blame but myself.

I hope everyone is feeling better and having a good week.

SW: 155
CW: 153 (- 2 lbs)
GW: 150

Ristrella - I am so sorry that you got sick and had to miss your trip. Sending positive vibes and I hope you have a speedy recovery

Lacerta - Thank you! I like to snack on pepperoni sometimes and it makes me retain water also. I'm going to switch to turkey pepperoni and hope my body handles it better.

I had a FANTASTIC time at Six Flags yesterday. My best friend and her husband and I had decided to go to Six Flags to celebrate mine and their oldest daughter's birthdays next week.They also had their 16 year old niece and their youngest daughter. We got there right when it opened and was there until it closed. I am happy yo report there was only one ride that I did not fit on but I did not let it bother me since the next ride I tried was a kiddie coaster and I fit just fine. I did not bother counting calories since I knew that this was just a day to go have fun. I did try dipping dots for the first time. What a strange but yummy snack. We walked a ton and it was hot so we sweated...a lot. It was great seeing the animals with the kids and seeing the wonder on their faces. I ran around the park with them like a teenager and my 40 year old body is definitely feeling it today, lol. I am up in weight today but I know that is from the junk and sodium yesterday. I hope to be back down to my regular weight by Wednesday or Thursday. I'm off to do my food shopping for the week. Have a great Sunday!

Week Three
15: 269.0
16: 268.6
17: 268.2
18: NWI
19: 270
20:
21:
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Total Loss for Week Three:

wantochange: You're still down 2 pounds overall for the month, which is something to celebrate. Put this last week behind you and start fresh. It doesn't matter what you did yesterday, only what you choose to do today.

kfunk: Glad to hear you are back on track and not up as much as you feared. You'll be back down to new lows again in no time. Keep it up.

flower: I did some of that sort of climb in college. I hope to get back to them again eventually. Right now, I'd probably pass out and roll back down the mountain. Good for you for being able to do that AND for choosing to do it

Cattails: Grats on the new low

ange: Way to go on that hike. That sounds like you had a lot of fun. And yes, it is amazing what difference a good stretch can make. I've found that be the case with my knees as well. They really hurt if I don't stretch properly, but if I do, then I have no pain at all.

darius: Thanks for the info. I love water aerobic classes too. The only reason I haven't done more of them is because they don't limit the number of people in the class at my gym, and it is always so full that it is hard to actually do the movements, plus most of the attendees are older and get upset if you splash them or move around too much, but if you don't splash or move around, you don't get much of a workout. If I could take a class with fewer people, so I had good space, I'd have a blast. Hope the fitness camp works for you.

Week Three
15: 229.0
16: 228.2
17: 227.0
18: 227.8
19: 226.6
20:
21:
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Total Loss for Week Three:

Yay, back down to another new low today. So I took off all of what I had gained yesterday plus a bit more. Here's the best part: My official weigh ins (for me) are Sundays. That's what I track for week over week changes. This week, I lost the most weight I've ever lost in a week (4.0 pounds). Even more than I did the very first week, when all the water weight falls off. Not sure why or how, but this was a GREAT week. I've been doing some reading online, and for people with PCOS, it appears that cutting a substantial amount of sugar out of the diet can help fix insulin resistance (basically reset the body's ability to process sugar correctly, like normal people do), but it can take a few months to get there, so for some people, weight loss can actually accelerate once you reach that point.. I didn't know that when I started, but coincidentally, that's the biggest change I've made, is cutting out all of the snacky foods, and thus, a lot of the sugar. I'm also eating a lot less bread and drinking a lot less milk, both of which have sugar. And it's been 5 months. So maybe that is what is happening. I really hope so. I'd love to be able to keep this rate of weight loss for a while.

Thank you Cattails, Lacerta, kfunk for the words of encouragement and congratulations on your progress so far.
Well it did not take any time to get accustomed to 1400 kcal a day. I was surprised; I thought I would be starving around bedtime but all of the meals were very filling, and big protein servings at lunch and dinner.
The big challenge for me will be continuing 1400 kcal a day after I return to NC after my 3 weeks here, but I am determined to succeed.
The way the calories are set up here are:
Breakfast 500 kcal, Lunch 500 kcal, Dinner 400 kcal
There is a 120 kcal dessert at lunch which is part of the 500 kcal but I am on the no dessert option.
Apart from this strict 1400 kcal diet there is a salad bar and soup bar and a refrigerator with snacks like small cups of greek yogurt and apples.
But I do not go overboard with the salad bar and havent had any snacks since I have been here, because I am very heavy and want to make the best progress I can.
I am TyII diabetic and my fasting blood sugar has gone from around 120 in the morning to between 60 and 70 so I have cut my glimeperide and metformin in half on the advice of my doctor (she told me to do this before I left NC to come to the camp in case my blood sugar started going below 70).

August 2018 Weight Loss Challenge
Goal: 11 lb

Date Weight Loss lb
-----------------------
8/1 314.2 lb START
8/3 314.6 lb
8/6 319.0 lb
8/7 317.0 lb
8/8 317.4 lb
8/9 313.4 lb
8/10 315.4 lb
8/12 319.8 lb (Tennessee Fitness Spa intake weigh in with clothes)
8/17 308.5 lb (all below readings with clothes)
8/18 308.0 lb
8/19 307.5 lb

August goal: -1 kg (reach 99.4 kgs)

1: 100.4 kgs
2: 100.15
4: 100.65
5: 100.7
6: 100
7: 100.05
8: 100.5
10: 100.45
11: 100.4
12: 100.1
13: 100.35
15: 100
16: 99.65 (new low for the month)
19: 99.7

darius..congrats on cutting the blood sugar level by half. what device do you use to check your blood sugar?

Lacerta..congrats on your new low. are you on a low carb diet since you cut off all of the snacky foods,bread and diary? do you eat any Idaho potatoes now at all LOL?

Fungirl28..so glad you had a ball at 6 flags along with a lot of walkings. what was your favorite ride?

wantochange..looks like you had a lot of fun last week. what's your favorite drink?It's good to treat yourself once a while I'm sure you'll do better this week

kfunk6113..good job on the eating part. where are you located? how cold does it get in the winter?

flower1..good job hiking up the Grouse Mountain and I guess the view was your best reward I've been to YVR twice and heard a lot of good things about the view. Is there public transportation to take you there? How long was the hike?

Cattails..good job getting right back into your normal eating mode. which navy base is your son stationed?

ange82much..good job challenging yourself. so glad your knee is getting better. which national park did you visit? is it winter down under now?

Camila415..good job on the long walk. do you have a walk buddy or listen to podcast while walking?

Riestrella..hope you feel better soon. where was your planned vacation?

gardenerjoy..I know how hard it is to maintain the weight. I've been there so many times and still struggling. do you do anything differently maintenance vs.losing phases?

Sunshine318..welcome back. did you order a smart scale that can sync with your fitbit?

waving hello..Raining, Wannabehealthy, JenyReddy, boatingmommy

Hi Yangtzer
For checking my blood sugar I use a Walmart "ReliOn" Prime brand small glucose monitor device, with the ReliOn Prime test strips, a bottle of 50, and GE lancet device for drawing blood from your finger each time.
I check mine about 4 or 5 times a day to make sure my blood sugar isn't going too low.
I am not on insulin. I am a Type II diabetic.
I fainted once a couple of years ago and have gotten sick while out hiking on trails, and now I carry packs of emergency glucose gel with me when I am out exercising. This never happens to me in daily life like working or driving, it is only during periods of heavy physical exertion.
And I have not gotten dizzy here at the Tennessee Fitness Spa because I am eating structured meals 3 times a day so my blood sugar never bonks.

Today I reached my goal for this month

SW:160
GW: 155 √

160 √
159 √
158 √
157√
156 √
155 √

Congratulations unwanted37lbs !!

Way to go, unwanted37lbs!

ange82much: maintain between 112-117lbs
boatingmommy: 6 lbs
Chunkahlunkah: 2.5 lbs
darius: 11 lbs
flower1: 4.6 lbs
Fungirl28: 8 lbs
gardenerjoy: 1 kgs
Jeanex: 5 lbs
JenyReddy: 4 lbs
kfunk6113: 9 lbs
Lacerta: 5.6 lbs
momtopands: 8 lbs
nicoley73: 4 lbs
opheliaphoenix: 6.8 lbs
Raining: 5 lbs
Riestrella: 3 lbs
Sunshine318: 6 lbs
unwanted37lbs: 5 lbs
wantochange: 5 lbs

August goal: -1 kg (reach 99.4 kgs)

1: 100.4 kgs
2: 100.15
4: 100.65
5: 100.7
6: 100
7: 100.05
8: 100.5
10: 100.45
11: 100.4
12: 100.1
13: 100.35
15: 100
16: 99.65
19: 99.7
20: 99.7

Unwanted37lbs - CONGRATS!!!!

Yangtzer- My favorite ride was the Wonder Woman ride. It was intense!

Week Three
15: 269.0
16: 268.6
17: 268.2
18: NWI
19: 270
20: 268.8
21:
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Total Loss for Week Three: