Kfunk - good job on Wednesday and Thursday and getting right back on track again today. You asked about my diet and I can say that I eat quite healthy. I gave up sugar and gluten and try not to eat anything processed. The only meat I eat is chicken but also eat tuna and salmon. My breakfast is usually a piece of gluten-free bread with melted cheese. Then a few hours later I will usually eat an apple. For lunch, I usually bring a salad to work with tons of veggies plus I will add either tuna or salmon. For dressing I use a small bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I usually have a couple of gluten-free crackers as well. In the afternoon I will have another piece of fruit. Dinner is usually chicken plus veggies, or eggs with veggies or sometimes I have a gluten-free bean burrito with cauliflower rice. In the evening I usually have some fat-free greek yogurt with blueberries, raspberries or blackberries and will often add some raw pumpkin seeds.

Between my walking and hiking, I did about 32 miles this week and my weight stayed the same? I seem to lose really slowly. I maintain on what am eating even though I am quite active. When I go for a hike I usually bring some almonds or other nuts with me plus some fruit. The one thing I was thinking about my diet is that maybe I eat too much fruit (about 3 times a day) but on WW fruit is 0 points but maybe I'm getting too much sugar from all the fruit ?? I have also been eating a fair amount of watermelon this summer? When I have a treat, I will usually buy some sugar-free chocolate covered almonds (probably not the best thing).

Tonight I'm going to a movie and I plan on getting some popcorn without added butter ...

flower- Your diet looks great!! I have always heard that the last 10 lbs. are the hardest to lose, but especially when you are such a low weight to begin with. Have you ever counted calories to see what a normal day ends up at? Maybe shaking it up a bit would help speed things up? I am having a difficult time trying to figure out what to eat. My memory sucks and I cant remember what I used to eat when I was steadily losing. Yesterday ended up turning into a giant dud day. I am so frustrated with myself, I can't seem to get out of my own way. I know I can do this but it will just take more time.

32 miles this week is freaking fantastic!!!!! How often do you weigh yourself?

boatingmommy- I hope you enjoyed your time at the lake!!

gettnfit- How was your weekend?

I didn't binge yesterday and I drank extra water so there are a couple good things. The rest was bad! I binged all July long and now I am having a hard time regulating my portions, I need my stomach to shrink back to where it was before!

kfunk - you're probably right that I need to shake things up a bit. I'm thinking that maybe my metabolism is kind of slow ... I read a book by Holly Pomeroy. I think it 's called the Fast Metabolism diet and it's all about creating a faster metabolism. Basically her diet consists of getting rid of dairy, gluten and sugar. For 2 days you eat lots of fruit, veggies, medium amount of protein and non-gluten grains. The next 2 days of the week are high protein days and you eat protein and low glycemic veggies only (no fruit or grains). Then the final 3 days of the week is low carb, low protein but you add in good fats like olive oil, eggs and nuts. She says you have to do this for 4 weeks to create a faster metabolism and you should lose a fair amount of weight in a month. I decided to give this a try for one week and see if I lose anything. Basically it is a cycling type of diet where you do 2 days high carb (healthy carbs, no gluten), then 2 days high protein (no carbs) and then 3 days low carb, low protein and you add some healthy fats. I am going to start this today. I think the high protein, no carb days will be hard for me because I do like fruit but I'm going to give it a try. My water intake is pretty good as I usually drink between 10 and 12 glasses of water a day (80 to 100 oz.).

That's good that you didn't binge yesterday and kudos on the extra water. It's really tough when you've been off plan for a bit and then try to get back in the groove again. and even tougher when you're struggling with your mood. I find when my depression is more active it is far easier to go off plan than if my mood is stable. It makes it harder to do all the things that are good for you like exercising and eating better. I think when your mood is low you have a tendency to crave sugary high carb things. When you eat something with sugar it elevates serotonin in your brain which temporarily makes you feel better. I personally feel there is a correlation between eating more sugar and carbs when your depression is active than if your mood is stable.

kfunk were you doing WW before? I thought you tried it and did well on it or maybe I'm thinking of someone else? I'm basically eating the WW way but I'm not tracking. A lot of what I eat is 0 point foods (fruit/veggies) so I think most of the time I'm within my points but I don't lose. So I'm going to try the fast metabolism diet for a week to see if this shakes things up a bit.

boatingmommy and gettinfit: how were your weekends?

Hello ladies! I feel like I've been away forever! The Lake was great! Lots of boating and swimming. We spend a fair amount of time in the water. I'm a little crispy around the edges, although I try and make sure I put 50 spf sunscreen on. I did okay with the eating, but could have done better with the drinking. I didn't gain, and that's amazing, but so far this month I haven't lost a pound, and I know it's because of the booze. I have girlfriends coming camping for our 50th birthdays Friday night, so I'm planning to work out extra hard this week knowing that Friday is going to be a tough one.

Sounds like you all have been super busy. I want to take time to write more personal notes, but I have to be at a home about an hour away first thing this morning. I'll try and stop in tonight when I have more time!
Today's weight: 184.8

Yesterday was so busy! I love vacation time, but I always pay for it afterwards. I ended up working until about 8 p.m. and then I soaked in the tub, read my book and then snoozed. I have a ton of stuff to accomplish today.

flower - Wow you are very organized to try such a strict diet plan. Unfortunately, I do not have that kind of control. The other problem is that I eat dinner with my husband and daughter every night and I refuse to make two separate meals. Do you have to cook for anyone else? Your stats prove that what you are doing is working so keep up the good work. Shaking it up is probably a good idea...and advice I need to take, I think. I kind of stick with the same foods for too long.

kfunk - when in doubt I pull out the scale and measuring cups. Sound like you have been doing great with the water. Your body will eventually adjust once you get back into a pattern for losing. Hope your week at work is going well!

GettinFit - How's life treating you? Did you toss those sneaky snacks out of the house?

Okay...Off to work! Have a good one!

Hi ladies,

I'm sorry I've been MIA the past couple weeks but I have been busy studying to pass my Real Estate Final Exam and between that and work, I have not had time for anything else. I have been eating really good but no exercise now for 1.5 weeks and my body is feeling it. I will be taking the exam on Thursday and am hoping to pass on the first try so I can get my life back.

Hi Flower

I hope everyone is having a great day

Good morning! It's a rainy day here in the midwest. Lots to do so I can't let the dreary weather get me down. I have home visits this afternoon into this evening, then I have to get groceries for my girls' weekend. I am going to try and pack some healthier snacks. I plan to get a bunch of fruit for our breakfast on Saturday. Friday night we are grilling steaks. I have some small ribeyes that I plan to grill with some veggies. Once again, the alcohol with bill the tough part of the weekend.

GettinFit - Good luck with the exam! Sound like you have been studying hard, which will pay off I am sure! Eating good is great, even if you can't exercise.

flower and kfunk - Happy Hump Day! Hope you ladies have a great OP day!

Hi ladies. Boatingmommy: fantastic that you didn't gain on your vacation well done. Your girls' weekend sounds like fun. Hope you have a great time and good for you for bringing some healthy snacks.

GettinFit - good luck on your exam.

kfunk: how are you doing?

I took 2 rest days without exercise. I think my last rest day was about 10 days ago. I also got a good night's sleep last night and my body feels more rested. However, I'm up .4 lbs.

Enjoy the rest of the week.

Boatingmommy- maintaining through your long weekend is amazing!!!! I hope that you have a fun girls night!!

flower- that diet sounds really interesting, how is it going so far?

gettnfit- Good luck on your exams tomorrow, hopefully all your hard work studying will pay off!!

Work is super busy and then I am running around at night trying to get everything ready for the next day. I have been eating okay, but I have not been tracking. I need to get back to strict tracking ASAP!! My appetite is still bigger than I would like it to be. I was 170 this morning

Hello Ladies! Sorry didn't check in yesterday. I came downstairs yesterday morning after getting ready for work and our kitty of 14 years was on the ground struggling to breath. My husband and I rushed him to the vet, but there wasn't anything to be done for him and we had him put to sleep to keep him from suffering. I spend much of yesterday crying. He was a really awesome cat and will be a much missed member of our family. Today I'm going through the motions of getting ready for work and wishing he was still sitting her...in my way, as he often was. Ugh! Sorry to be such a downer.

I am working this morning and then heading to the campground this afternoon. Both of my girlfriends seem to be so excited. The one has never been camping and the other hasn't been since we were kids and my parents took her with us. We have Skip-Bo, wine and good music. I hope we can have a campfire. It should be a good time but a diet nightmare in the making. I have packed lots of healthy alternatives, I just hope my willpower holds up.

GettinFit - I hope your exam went well!
kfunk - Have a great weekend. I hope you can take some time to destress.
Flower - How was your week?
Take care of yourselves ladies!
Today's weight: 183.4

Hi Ladies. I'm not doing so hot with my eating but the exercise is going great. Today I hiked straight up the side of a mountain (Grouse Mountain) for 2 miles. The sweat was just pouring off me. I was so pleased I was able to this hike. I've been wanting to try it for some time now. The hike does not level out at all until you get to the top. It is straight up and very steep. Once you get to the top there are quite a few things to do on the top of the mountain. I saw a lumberjack competition, saw the grizzly bear habitat and went on a chair lift ride. The two grizzlys were playing in the water. It was a great day on the mountain. Grouse Mountain is a huge tourist attraction and the hike up the mountain is called the Grouse Grind. It is referred to as "Mother Nature's stairmaster". Many people come from all over to do this hike. I decided to take the skyride down the mountain.

I hope you are all having a great weekend!

Boatingmommy- I am so sorry to hear about your cat, that must be so hard, especially since it sounded like it was very unexpected I hope that you were able to enjoy your girls weekend and that you were able to forget about your sadness at least for a little bit. Great job on packing some healthy alternatives!!

Flower - "mother natures stairmaster" sounds like my version of h*ll, not gonna lie. I bet there is no better feeling than on the walk down after you conquered it!!! Do you have any idea how many steps you get in on these epic hikes? My hat is off to you lady!!

gettnfit- How are you doing?!

Thursday and Friday were horrific, totally binged both days. Yesterday was much better though. I am going to see if I can get in a gallon of water today and also stick to 1300 ish calories. I need to figure out a way to get back into the groove full time! I have a bunch of work today on the computer and a ton of laundry to wash and put away! Yesterday I was able soak up some sun and that felt great!

kfunk - your plan for today sounds good. You asked about how many steps I got in. Yesterday I got in about 17,200 steps - it was a high step day. according to my fitbit I climbed 223 floors. Instead of hiking back down, I decided to take the skyride down the mountain. It's really steep and can be really difficult going down due to the roots, loose rocks and plus I was super tired from the hike up. I also walked around a lot on the top of the mountain and did some sightseeing.

Boatingmommy- I'm so sorry to hear about your cat. I'm a cat lover and it's so difficult to lose a pet as they become members of our family.

Gettinfit - waving hi.

Good Morning ladies! I'm back and so disappointed in myself! WEIGHT THIS MORNING: 186.7!!!!! DOUBLE FUDGE!!! Ugh! I had such good intentions and they went right out the window. I didn't exercise and I drank and ate whatever was put in front of me. It wasn't the meals, because they were actually fairly healthy. It was the snacking and drinking. I know some of this will come off quickly, but what a stupid thing for me to do. I need to do a total body flush with about 5 gallons of water and totally stick to points for the week. I'm not going to make my goal this month with stupid moves like this!

Thank you everyone for the kind words about our cat. It's left a big hole in my heart and it was difficult to come back home and not have him here to snuggle.

Flower - Wow! Hiking sounds exhausting but fun! Sounds like a beautiful day. I've always wanted to see some of Canada, but we always seem to head someplace tropical for vacations.
kfunk - A little time in the sun always makes me feel better. Glad you took a little time out to soak up some rays!
GettinFit - Hey girl! hope all is well.

Okay - Running late for work...take care all!

Flower- Wow, my highest step day while wearing a fitbit was like 7500 or something like that! Have you noticed a difference in how your butt looks? I am interested because I used to have a butt but now its flat.. hoping that with some work I can get it back to pre kids and pre obesity (not sure which flattened it)!

boatingmommy- your plan to flush that retention out with water sounds great! chug, chug, chug!! If you do that and stick to your points I think you will be surprised at how fast the scale comes back down. It is so hard to lose weight during summer time, so even if this month ends up being a wash, maintaining your weight is still a huge accomplishment!

Yesterday was on plan! I think I ate 1-200 calories over 1300 but I had cantaloupe and some broccoli with parm cheese, so good choices put me over. I didn't get a full gallon in, but did at least 70 ounces. I am going to eat some breakfast in a bit and see if I can repeat my success for a third day in a row. It feels good to go to bed feeling a little hunger instead of feeling like I am going to burst! 168.5 this morning