Stopping in quickly this morning! So happy to read all the positive input here! Everyone is doing pretty good, and some of you are just crushing it!!!

I am 4 ounces from where I was on the first of August.
August 1 - 184.1
Today - 184.5
This is not what I wanted after having lost 9 lbs last month. But I know the problems, just have to work harder on them.

Have a great Monday, everyone!

boatingmommy and Jenyreddy: Sorry to hear that you've been struggling this month. The good news is that today is always a new opportunity to do better. Just think about how much better you feel now than when you started, and how much better again you will feel when you lose another 5 or 10 pounds.

kfunk: You're still down 6 pounds in less than 3 weeks, which is great. The important thing isn't what the number says today. The important thing is that you are still here working on it. Instead of just throwing in the towel after eating that ice cream, you still came and posted today. THAT commitment is far more important than one day's number. Keep at it.

Riestrella: I love the trend lines. It may not be moving quickly, but it is moving the right directions: DOWN (and to the right of course, since we haven't perfected a time machine JUST yet.). Slow and steady is the best way to lose, anyway. Keep at it. As long as the line is trending downward, you're doing great. If nothing else, fighting the upward creep that comes with getting older is a great accomplishment. If you can keep up a steady downward creep, your older self will thank you for it.

All 4 of you above this line: Try to remember that although you might be moving slowly, many of us would love to be in the 160s, 170s or 180s, where you are now (I can't even remember when I was in the 160s last, but it was definitely at least 20 years ago). You are already well ahead of the game, so have patience with the process. It does go slower when you have less to lose. So don't be discouraged when you see others losing more per week. Some of us just have a lot more to lose than others, so it can be easier to have big numbers. And I will give the advice I always give when people say they are losing slowly, to have your doctor check your bloodwork if you haven't already. A hormone imbalance can make it very difficult to lose weight, even when you do everything right.

darius: Congrats on meeting your aggressive goal AND on getting into the 2's. That camp is really giving you a huge starting boost. My scale finally shook loose this morning. I loved your example, but the best part is that you think my cats only weigh 8 pounds. Ha. I have 2 cats and they are both basically mini jungle cats. They are so big that they open my door levers with ease, no jumping required. They aren't at all fat, but still weigh 12-13 pounds each.

Fungirl: Congrats on making your goal for the month, too. Ok, now you need to celebrate that HUGE NSV. You enjoyed your birthday and STILL lost weight.

mom2pands: Even though you haven't posted for a while, I see that you've updated your first post with current weights. Excellent. Sure, you had a rough week earlier this month, but you didn't go off the rails. Today is a new day and the fact that you are still here is fabulous.

ophelia: We miss you. Even if you come back to tell us you fell off the wagon, please come back.

Week Four
22: 225.8
23: 226.4
24: 225.4
25: 226.0
26: 226.0
27: 224.8
28:
----------------------------
Total Loss for Week Four:

Finally got a whoosh. I suspect I was retaining water the last two days and today my body finally gave it up. I'm starting to think I probably won't quite get to my stretch goal, but if I finish the month at 224.x, that would be perfectly acceptable. I started the month at 231.6, so if I can just lose another 0.2 pounds in the next 4 days, I'll have lost at least the 7 pounds I try to average each month. Good enough.

Oh, and the smoke cleared out of here (finally) for the last day and a half, so I actually got some good quality outdoor walking in without feeling like I had to chew the air. Went on a 3 mile walk by the river, and my ankle didn't bother me at all, so that was great, I think it is finally all healed up.

asegywehwre I typed up a post with personals and I exited the browser. YOU'D THINK I'D LEARN. So my post might seem a little rushed but here's the gist:

I'm up a little from yesterday due to some cake I had last night I'm sure. I'm also having a hard time with drinking water throughout the night, because I'm a lazy bum who HATES to get up and pee in the night so I just lay there dehydrated! I'm 183.9 lbs, which is just a 0.5 lb gain, so I hope I can weigh in in the 183 range for these final days to keep my average down! Luckily there were no snacks at DnD, but like I said, I did eat cake.

I've run this by gardenerjoy first and she said she doesn't mind me posting about it here, but I have officially opened my Haunting for Halloween 2018 challenge! I've been running these challenges for the past...4, maybe 5 years and they're always a blast to run. The board isn't terribly active anymore, so I hope I can get as many people as possible since it really helps having people to lift each others spirits! If you want to use the challenge for maintenance please do!

Final Days
27: 183.9 lbs
28:
29:
30:
31:
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Avg Weight for Week Four: 184.1 lbs
Avg Weight for Final Days: 183.9 lbs
Total Loss for Final Days: 0.2 lbs

kfunk - Ugh, the dip is annoyingly tasty. Sorry to hear that you went over with your calories, but time to move forward and try harder again today!

Jeny - Your body is trying to tell you something and that's whatever it is you're doing just isn't working. You could be eating too much or maybe too little. If you're exercising you might be not eating enough to keep your body fueled. WHAT you're eating might be the problem. Worst case scenario, you might even have a thyroid problem or something of the sort that's preventing your weight loss. Be sure to do your research and perhaps have a doctor check you out if you're concerned. Our bodies can take a small adjustment period to get used to a new routine, but if you've been putting in the same effort for weeks then it's time to change it up!

Lacerta - You won today! Yeah, you're right, even though I don't consider myself old I know that it's harder for me to lose weight now than it was 6 years ago. Amazing how our bodies change! I also have to remember that part of my slowness is my inability to make snap changes in my diet. I'm sure if I cut out grains and replaced them with vegetables my weight would shoot down, but mentally I know myself better than that. Thanks for the pep talk, I needed it! I found myself in a pit of sadness the last time I left 3FC because I was comparing myself to others and I do not want to repeat that again. Congrats on the WOOSH! And yay for fresh air at last and your ankle not giving you problems! Wonderful news

Jeny- It is super common to get stuck over and over again. Lots of us lose in a couple cycles per month and stay put or bounce up a little during the rest of the time. It is very difficult to stay patient when you are doing everything right, but what other alternative is there? "In a year from now you will be glad you started today". that is a quote that really stuck with me. Even though you aren't losing as fast as you would like, it is still a huge accomplishment to be -14 lbs!! Consistency and patience are the only things that are going to get you to your goal weight, you can do it!!!

boatingmommy- Maintaining is really awesome in the summer, seriously!!! Having said that... have you thought about doing another dry month or 3 out of 4 weekends? You did so well with it last time!!!!

Lacerta- YAY on your whoosh!!!! I appreciate your words of encouragement and I am very glad that the smoke has cleared out, that sounds awful!

Ristrella- Great job on making yesterday a success!! Hopefully that pesky little bump up will be gone soon. How much water do you drink during the day? I also hate waking up to pee, but usually end up going 4 times a night, ugh! I should cut myself off around 6 to see if it helps!

Last night was a disaster for me. I ended up eating at Mcdonalds and after my meal I ate 5 of their chocolate chip cookies and when I got home I had some ice cream. Well, I had been feeling the cravings for a few days and finally caved and gave in. Now that is out of my system I can move on! I did not weigh in today.

Four days in a row of eating too much for me, but we had a long weekend break in Queensland and I'd decided that I wasn't going to be too strict, so I just ate normal meals. I still avoided all the sugar that the others were eating (cookies, lollies etc) but calories-wise I would easily be 2-3x what i'd normally have, each day, what with bar meals and alcohol etc. Didn't get on the scales this morning, but now I know i need to have a week back on diet-regime, so that's the plan: strict again til Saturday and see where i'm at then.....

On the plus side we did a challenge called 6 Mountains in a Day on Sunday, and I completed them all with my wonky knee that held up really really well so i'm really really pleased that it seems to be on the mend more properly this time and I can finally start booking walks with the walking club i'm in. I still need to take it sensibly for a couple more months but I think I can safely keep strengthening it now without worrying that it's doing more damage than good.

Lacerta congratulations on your woosh!
Thank you Riestrella and kFunk for the words of encouragement.
Lacerta our (my sister's, mother's, and mine) dear cat Jack went missing 3 days ago and failed to return,
We live in western rural NC, and he is an indoor cat but loves to spend the nights outdoors in the summer.
He gets into fights with skunks and opossums and gets bites on his neck.
Well 3 days ago he never came back.
He is big too, about 12-14 pounds, and fearless but slow, which is a deadly combination with coyotes etc.
Poor Jack we will miss him and the other cats are pacing the floors and distraught.
We have LOST CAT posts on every facebook page in a 3 county area.

My bestie surprised me with a homemade birthday dinner of chicken breast stuffed with pesto and wrapped in bacon, roasted brussell sprouts and mint chip brownies (she only gave me three. Dinner was fabulous but the brownies did some damage. Hopefully I can work that off this week and have a nice loss this week. I have to run but will do personals in the am. Have a nice night.

Week Four
22: 267.6
23: 266.8
24: NWI
25: 266.4
26: 265.8
27: 266.4
28:
----------------------------
Total Loss for Week Four:

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
21: 99.45
23: 99.6
24: 99.9
28: 99.5 (close, again)

Welp, I ended up having a bad day yesterday! I think I need to stop psyching myself up to have a certain type of day, if that makes sense. When I see a low weight, I need to stop thinking "omg I need to make sure today is even better so I lose more tomorrow!" because I think that puts some weird pressure on myself and I end up having a bad day? It might sound crazy, but I've definitely seen a correlation between putting expectations on myself and bad days. I think what I need is to just have a positive attitude every day, an equal amount of pep so to speak! The moment I think "this is it, you better not fluff up today!" then that's when I have bad days. I'm rambling!

What made yesterday bad was a) I didn't exercise because I was waiting for the landscapers to come over and b) I ate too much. There's a huge tree right outside our balcony window and since I work from home I want it trimmed because we get no natural light in our apartment. I got a call saying they were going to come in the apartment "in the next few hours" (at around 11am) and look at the tree from the balcony, so I waited to work out until they came over because I didn't want to be mid-sweat when I let them in. They ended up coming much later than anticipated, around 3:30pm and that snowballed into me taking a nap and not doing anything . I also had TWO sandwiches yesterday, an egg one and a peanut butter one. *sigh* This is gonna be a hard habit to crack I know, but I need to be stronger that's for sure. Also, later that night I ended up having pretzels and dip because my boyfriend decided to have some while we were watching Sharp Objects, despite already having some in the afternoon! *bigger sigh*

I know I know, I'm a broken record. My problem areas are always the same, I just need to be stronger mentally and not give in to extra sandwiches/snacking/excuses not to workout. Apparently the landscapers are coming over today to trim the tree, I think I'm just gonna work out anyway and if they come while I'm working out then I'll get the boyfriend to handle them and I'll hide my sweatyness!

Final Days
27: 183.9 lbs
28: 184.4 lbs
29:
30:
31:
----------------------------------
Avg Weight for Week Four: 184.1 lbs
Avg Weight for Final Days: 184.1 lbs
Total Loss for Final Days: 0 lbs

kfunk - I try and continuously drink water until my pee is clear! I'd say perhaps 60-80 oz a day? I'm going by how often I have to fill up my water bottle. Cutting yourself off at 6 will definitely help, but I stay up until about 11:30pm and I get thirsty in the evening so I tend to drink water right up until bed! I have a cat that likes to get under my feet as I walk so I think that's what stops me from peeing in the night these days, since I don't want to have to "wake up" enough to not step on him and sometimes he steals my side of the bed! *hug* Something to consider the next time you find yourself giving in to your cravings is to eat half of what you normally would and then full on throwing the rest in the trash? Another thing you might find helpful; I briefly saw a documentary about food and something one of the guys said really stuck with me and perhaps you'll find it useful too. He said something along the lines of "I believe you can eat whatever you want, as long as you make it yourself." Perhaps next time you want McDonald's, make yourself a burger, fries and cookies from scratch. I'm not sure how to make ice cream, but maybe you do! That way, sure, you're eating "bad" food, but it'll be ten times better than something you can buy from a fast food place in terms of quality of ingredients. Again, something to think about, I know when the craving bug bites it's a hard itch not to scratch.

ange - I hope your weekend didn't set you back too much, I'm sure you'll bounce back soon. And hey, awesome job on resisting sugars. I'm so pleased to hear your knee held up during your walk. I have to be sure to strengthen my IT band or my knees will get a bit wobbly too!

darius - I am so so sorry to hear about Jack. I am a new cat mama to an indoor cat, so I can't imagine how upset you are. I know that considering where you live it's perhaps easier to consider the worst...but I still like to hold on to hope that maybe he just ventured into someone else's home.

Fungirl - Aww, what a lovely friend to make you a birthday meal! Even if it hurts the scales, at least it warmed the soul God, how cheesy was that line?!

ange- Great job avoiding all the sugary sweets while you were away! I'm interested to see where you end up come Saturday's weigh in! That is awesome news that your knee held up!!!!!

darius- I hope that Jack makes his way back home safely.

fungirl- That dinner sounds amazing!! Hopefully you will come back down fast, drink lots of water!

gardenerjoy- You've got this!!!

Riestrella - I am sorry that you had a bad day yesterday. I do the same thing when I see certain weights on the scale, so I understand the pressure you are talking about. For what its worth, 2 sandwiches and pretzels are much better choices than you could have made... A 6pm cut off definitely wont help if you stay up until 11! I can't remember the last time I slept through the night, isn't that sad?! I am lucky if I only have to go to the bathroom two times per night. OH, I was really good at throwing food away, or giving it away.. not sure what happened but I am not as strong (at the moment!). I have this desire to eat even when I am not hungry, I have been noticing it lately. I am not too worried about it, I know it will pass! Isn't that the truth about making food at home?! It is crazy how many extra calories restaurants can jam into their food!! I hope that you have a great day today!! Don't beat yourself up if you go off track a bit, it happens!!

raining- you are so close!!

Yesterday was a decent day. I ate lunch from the café at my work, so I am sure the wrap I chose had a ton of calories in it and I chose tator tots as a side. I did not have any candy, cookies or ice cream yesterday though, so that is a win! Today has not been so good.... lots of candy, some cookies... eh. I will not be weighing in for the rest of this challenge, but will continue to stay for the support and encouragement! We are going to the MN state fair tomorrow and I am super excited about that!! I am not going to monitor what I eat at all, complete free day. I do expect to hold myself accountable starting on Thursday, no excuses!

Just want to say hello
I'm doing OK these days.

kfunk, have you ever checked out the South Beach plan? The first two weeks you go without any sweets (including fruits and the more sugar-intense veggies) or bread, and that knocks out the sugar cravings nicely. You eat every four hours (breakfast, lunch, dinner, plus two snacks and even a sugar-free dessert if you want) so hunger is not an issue. After the two weeks, you can add back in a little bread and fruit as long as it doesn't spur more cravings. I find it a very adaptable and livable way to eat.

As to why we can gain so fast and it takes forever to lose those pounds? That is the million dollar question.

Jeny, I'm glad you're still with us! Sorry that you're so frustrated right now, but you can be proud of the fact you are working for your health. Hopefully some small tweaks will get some more weight loss going.

Riestrella, you and I had a certain way with the family dogs, hm? Once I even stuffed mutton into my sock during dinner, then excused myself to visit the bathroom and flush it all. It was so stringy and awful I couldn't swallow any of it. Hey, that was a terrific day you had! Lots of reasons to feel good about yourself. I know it's tough when others are eating goodies - is there something you might keep around or bring with you to munch on while the others (husband and friends) have their treats? I sometimes like to devour a huge bowl of air-popped popcorn, plain.

boatingmom, what kfunk said: maintaining this month is awesome, especially after such a big loss last month.

Hi yangtzer.

Lacerta, grats on your whoosh! It's always nice to see the scale finally break loose. It's good to hear your ankle is all fixed up now.

Fungirl, your birthday sounds like it was a blast! Glad you had a great time and congratulations on making your goal!

darius, welcome back to two-derland. I'm so sorry to hear Jack is missing. I hope he turns up. We are rural also and lose cats frequently to coyotes, hawks and foxes. Several years ago, one big black cat of ours went missing for two weeks - I went around calling him without much hope and amazingly he finally answered and came strolling home from across the back field. I guess he was just out doing his thing down by the creek. Troll ended up living to 24 years old.

6 Mountains in a Day, wow! That sounds exhausting!

gardenjoy and raining, you two are so close! I'm sure you'll see a whoosh any moment now.

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

130 has stuck, now I'm hoping to see the 120's soon!

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
21: 99.45
23: 99.6
24: 99.9
28: 99.5
29: 99.3 (yay!)