Such an inspirational post, will be following

I'm really not gone, but this month up until today can suck it!!!

First, my parents/bosses were out of town for a week vacation, so I was running 3 businesses mostly by myself. Normally, that is no big deal for a week. But the day after they left, one of our renters had a dryer fire that caught the house on fire (fortunately didn't burn it down, but it'll be several months of work to get it back to condition and the tenant had to vacate). So I was dealing with that insurance and disaster cleanup all week. THEN the real estate auditor called to schedule our audit. They audit us every 2 years, which is no big deal, but it does take about a week of prep, and they usually give us 3 weeks lead time. But this time, they wanted to come in less than a week because the auditor was going on vacation...and my boss/mom was still out of town. So I got to prep for the audit almost entirely by myself (I've been through about 10 before and we always have clean files, so that in and of itself isn't a big deal). Then our accountant called and needs all our bookkeeping for 2018 taxes by next week, instead of mid September when we usually file because SHE's going on vacation (do you sense the theme yet?). Then I had a wedding to go to out of town and while in Salt Lake on Sunday, hubby and I went out for a walk and I fell down and got all kinds of bruised (seriously, I don't usually bruise, and I have like 7 or 8 large bruises, I landed hard). Then, two days later, the pain in my left wrist was getting MUCH! worse, so I got it x-rayed and found out I can't say I've never broken a bone in my body anymore. It isn't bad, but it took a chip out of the bone, and the doc told me to wear a splint (not a cast, fortunately) for the next few weeks. And then, of course, we had the normal 10th of month crazy we have every month, so I've put in mega overtime for the last 2 weeks. I feel like that list needs bullet points. Oh, and I forgot one more...hubby qualified for insurance at work, and they only gave us a short window to sign up (like 10 days), so had to find out which of our doctors were on the new plan and find our marriage certificate, which I haven't laid hands on in 19 years, and because of everything else going on, I missed the deadline to cancel the old insurance by 1 day (the deadline I didn't know existed) so now I've had to petition to have the cancellation made retroactive. /sigh

So needless to say, diet and exercise have not particularly been my focus this month so far. However, with all that happening, I've only gained about 2 pounds. I've still made relatively good choices, had mostly salads for lunch, but did have lazy dinners, like Cheerios, or PB toast and and apple, or canned Chili, some of which are better than others on the healthy scale. I've barely been for any walks and my stress level has been sky-high. So I'm calling only 2 pounds gained a win in the long run and getting back to it. It is possible some of the 2 pounds will fall back off as my cortisol levels get back to normal over the next couple of days. Also, I looked amazing in my dress at the wedding reception. In fact, my 4 year old niece said that I looked very pretty in my dress, and my sister insists that it was without prompting from anyone. If a 4 year old thinks you look good, I'd say it's true, since they have no filter.

So it's been a rough month, but it did have some highlights, and I'm still here, which is the important part.

My energy is sort of depleted, so I'm not feeling up to personals, but I have read everyone's. Keep at it!

Week One
01: 181.2
02: 181.2
03: 181.0
04: NWI - out of town
05: 180.4
06: 182.4
07: NWI, too busy, forgot
---------------------------
Total Loss for Week One: +2.0 on the 6th

Week Two
08: 184.2 - had canned Chili with tons of sodium the night before
09: 182.6
10: 182.6
11:
12:
13:
14:
--------------------------
Total Loss for Week Two:

Lacerta, all I can say is WOW...what a month! Seemed it was one thing after another for a while. Good thing is, you made it through it all in one piece...well, if you don't count the broken wrist...I'm glad you are still here. I've missed your daily posts!
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Week 2:
08: 198
09: 197
10: 195.4
11: 198.8
12:
13:
14:

Well, I'm up on the scale because I kinda went overboard yesterday. DH and I decided to go out to eat to celebrate my upcoming birthday (it's Monday). I definitely overate, and I got ice cream afterwards. I also ate pizza for lunch instead of the tacos that I had planned on making. Whatever...back on track today.

Meal plan for today:
Breakfast: coffee, eggs w/spinach, bacon
Lunch: leftover steak
Dinner: tacos

Hey guys!

Whew, it's been a week. I've been keeping a journal for my health to eventually show the doctor. Basically what I found was throughout my period I experienced 1 or 2 soft/loose bowel movements a day (usually in the middle of the night?) and it was met with shivers, feeling feverish and run down. My period ended a few days ago and I still feel run down in general, but at least I'm not waking up in the night feeling awful until I visit the toilet. I did end up getting a bit emotional on Friday morning, I was just so fed up of feeling this way and exhausted. I slept for about 12 hours last night, which has helped! Today I still feel in general a bit weak, but I think that's just down to inactivity. The boyfriend has gotten me a multivitamin that I hope will help, I also have electrolyte pills since I've found I've been super thirsty these days too and water doesn't seem to do the trick as much as it used to. Probably due to the humidity!

I managed to workout today, it was nice moving again! I've definitely lost a lot of muscle/cardio but I'm glad I'm starting up again. I decided to do Jillian Michaels Body Revolution. It's just too humid in GA right now to workout outside! I don't particularly like Jillian Michaels' style of presenting, she can be a bit annoying, but I find her workouts are good when I've been out of practice for a long time and need a bridge to get back to the harder stuff. I also said NO to PIZZA which I'm amazed by! My appetite isn't quite back to normal so I figured it'd be better to eat some good food instead of junk food! Pretty proud of myself for that.

Since I'm on my laptop I managed to fill out my weights for the month so far, since Haku the kitten has arrived I've not been weighing in, but I'm going to pull out the scale and get back to it tomorrow! Introducing my older cat, Vivi, to the new kitten has been a process of trial and error, which has probably not helped with my health since I probably felt some stress over that. However it's day 8 today and things seem to be going really well. We put up some netting on the baby gate outside the bathroom and now Vivi likes to run away from Haku, then come back, then run away again! Haku is so ready to go out into the apartment and explore/play with Vivi, but we don't want to push it. I think I'll wait until tomorrow to give them a supervised face to face interaction, even though they do seem rather chill with each other through the gate!

Starting Weight: 194.6 lbs

Week One
01: No Weigh In
02: No Weigh In
03: 193.8 lbs
04: 191.6 lbs
---------------------------
Average Weight for Week One: 193.3 lbs
Total Loss for Week One: -1.3 lbs

Week Two
05: No Weigh In
06: No Weigh In
07: No Weigh In
08: No Weigh In
09: No Weigh In
10: No Weigh In
11: No Weigh In
--------------------------
Average Weight for Week Two: No Weigh In
Total Loss for Week Two: No Weigh In

Week Three
12:
13:
14:
15:
16:
17:
18:
----------------------------
Average Weight for Week Three:
Total Loss for Week Three:

Week Four
19:
20:
21:
22:
23:
24:
25:
---------------------------
Average Weight for Week Four:
Total Loss for Week Four:

Week Five
26:
27:
28:
29:
30:
31:
----------------------------
Average Weight for Week Five:
Total Loss for Week Five:
Total loss for August:

jolie - Welcome!!

sgregg - Happy birthday for tomorrow! Wow, that magnesium really did the trick, look at that woosh! Congrats on getting into onederland, what an amazing achievement! Birthday celebrations are going to happen, we can't be perfect every single day of the year. It won't undo all your progress to treat yourself a day or two, it's when we slip up for weeks at a time it can be harmful. Enjoy yourself!

Lacerta - Great to see you back after such a horrendous month! Jeez you couldn't catch a break.

Welcome, everyone! Let me know if I messed up your username or didn't state your goal the way that you want it.

For JenyReddy and others, you don't need to convert to pounds unless you want to -- I'm happy to keep track of a goal in kgs or stones or any other measure that you want to teach me.

ange82much: maintain <114 lbs
etherbunny: 6 lbs
Happycamper 22:
JenyReddy: 5.4 lbs
jolielaideballoon: 3,8 lbs
Lacerta: 4 lbs
Riestrella: eat salads for lunch & stay accountable
sgregg: 10 lbs
VickieLou: 10 lbs

Riestrella, are you doing low carb? I was just curious since you said something about taking some electrolytes. I know eating keto can flush out electrolytes, and I sometimes have to supplement when feeling exhausted. I'm glad you were able to pinpoint more specifics with your health journal.

-------------------------------------------------------------
Week 2:
08: 198
09: 197
10: 195.4
11: 198.8
12: 199.2
13:
14:

Stepped on the scale and saw the result of feeling crappy for the last week. I'm 188.6 lbs, a 6 lb drop since the beginning of the month. Still having problems with my stomach, trying not to stress about it but I can't help it sometimes!

Starting Weight: 194.6 lbs

Week One
01: No Weigh In
02: No Weigh In
03: 193.8 lbs
04: 191.6 lbs
---------------------------
Average Weight for Week One: 193.3 lbs
Total Loss for Week One: -1.3 lbs

Week Two
05: No Weigh In
06: No Weigh In
07: No Weigh In
08: No Weigh In
09: No Weigh In
10: No Weigh In
11: No Weigh In
--------------------------
Average Weight for Week Two: No Weigh In
Total Loss for Week Two: No Weigh In

Week Three
12: No Weigh In
13: 188.6 lbs
14:
15:
16:
17:
18:
----------------------------
Average Weight for Week Three:
Total Loss for Week Three:

Week Four
19:
20:
21:
22:
23:
24:
25:
---------------------------
Average Weight for Week Four:
Total Loss for Week Four:

Week Five
26:
27:
28:
29:
30:
31:
----------------------------
Average Weight for Week Five:
Total Loss for Week Five:
Total loss for August:


sgregg - No, I'm not doing low carb, I've used the pills before to help with dehydration and since I keep sweating/having stomach problems I figured it would be a good idea to replenish some electrolytes in my system!!

Riestrella: You should make sure that your multivitamin includes iron, or else get your iron/ferritin levels checked out and see if you are low. I've had the symptoms you've listed before while on my period and it has been because my iron levels got too low. I wasn't even all that low, just lower than I should have been. Symptoms include:

• Extreme fatigue
• Weakness
• Pale skin
• Chest pain, fast heartbeat or shortness of breath
• Headache, dizziness or lightheadedness
• Cold hands and feet
• Inflammation or soreness of your tongue
• Brittle nails
• Unusual cravings for non-nutritive substances, such as ice, dirt or starch
• Poor appetite, especially in infants and children with iron deficiency anemia

I don't see that the loose stools could be caused by an iron defiiciency, but I do see some places that say that gastro problems can be the cause of anemia. Do you have IBS or Crohn's disease or Celiac disease? Those are listed as something that could cause all the symptoms you listed. Something to talk to your doctor about when you see them. But it could just be the period poops (seriously a thing, I swear) giving you the loose stools, combined with an iron deficiency giving the rest of the symptoms. As I said, I've had all those symptoms from time to time, and I don't have any gastro diseases.

sgregg: Thanks, I've missed posting every day and need to get back into the habit again.

Week Two
08: 184.2 - had canned Chili with tons of sodium the night before
09: 182.6
10: 182.6
11: 182.4
12: 182.0
13: 180.4
14:
--------------------------
Total Loss for Week Two:

Ok, so I'm back to where I started the month. Not a great first half the month, but today's weight means the gain was pretty much all just bloat, so I had a perfectly awful 2 weeks and basically maintained through it. That feels pretty good.

Riestrella, I sure hope you can get things figured out and back to normal soon. Stomach problems are so annoying.

Lacerta, yay for maintaining through a stressful time!
------------------------------------
Week 2:
08: 198
09: 197
10: 195.4
11: 198.8
12: 199.2
13: 199.2
14:

Yesterday, the 12th, was my birthday...I had cookies...they were oh so good. LOL! I only ate 2 though, so big progress compared to what I would have done a year ago. I'm super stressed with work stuff right now...I'm sure that's not helping my weight loss either. Whatever, I'm not going to let it bother me. Just gotta "keep on keeping on", as they say. DH is cooking dinner tonight. Baked chicken (marinaded with something he come up with), creamed broccoli (not sure what he's doing here, but it sounded good), and mac -n- cheese for the kids.

Week 2:
08: 198
09: 197
10: 195.4
11: 198.8
12: 199.2
13: 199.2
14: 198.6

Loss for Week 2: +0.6 gain for this week...

I've had a rough week with my diet, with work, and with my health. I have some cold symptoms, I've been super stressed at work, and I have not made the best choices this week. When I have that kind of life-combination, I am going to gain. Anyway, like I said yesterday...I'm just going to keep on going and see what next week brings. Once I get back in the groove of teaching to routine, things will get better. I'm still having to teach students rules/procedures which is taking up a lot of time. More time than I wanted it to, but it is what it is.

I hope you all have a great Wednesday!

sgregg: Happy birthday and good job with the cookies. I would think back to school week would be stressful for teachers, but keep on keeping on is a good attitude. All we can ever do is the best we can do for the day. I always gain when I'm stressed, even if I eat right. I bet next week is way better for you.

Week Two
08: 184.2
09: 182.6
10: 182.6
11: 182.4
12: 182.0
13: 180.4
14: 180.4
--------------------------
Total Loss for Week Two: -2.0

So that looks like a good week, but really, I just got back to the start of the month. But it feels good to keep yesterday's weight, because that tells me it wasn't a fluke, so yay! Now to get back to the 170s. I saw them briefly in July, and I want them back.

All right, doing well on the diet so far. I need to start exercising as well, but I'm working on normalizing my sleeping schedule a little so I have the energy. My weigh-in is surprisingly low -- I'm at my end-of-month goal -- but I feel like that probably has a lot to do with water weight. We'll see how 8/21 goes. I'm hesitant to adjust the future goals, because I know that the weight loss will level out as I get going, and there will probably be some backtracking as well as plateaus. Also, my diet this week has pretty much been 'rationing out the food I have until I get paid on Friday,' so I don't think that's a good reflection of how a 'normal' week for me will be. But maybe I'm being too conservative! Anyway, I'm so happy that I hit a lower number.

SW: 211.6/33.5" Waist
GW - 8/14: 210.4
++Weigh In: 207.8
GW - 8/21: 209.1
GW - 8/28: 207.8

Lacerta, thanks for the encouragement. Here's to you getting to the 170s... You got this!

Jolie, great job on meeting your goal! And you are probably right about the water weight. It's crazy how much weight is stored in our bodies in simple water.
----------------------------------------------
Week 3:
15: 196.4
16:
17:
18:
19:
20:
21:

196...I need to stay below this number this coming week. Every time I see 195-196, I do something to sabotage it. No sabotaging this week, Shauna! lol!! However, my sister has a baby shower this weekend along with my cousin who is having her bridal shower. I know there will be lots of goodies at the shower to munch on because my mom and aunt are in charge of the food & sweets. I need to start planning right now what I'm going to do about it. My mom does try to have things that she knows is on my diet so I appreciate that. It's the little sweets that my aunt makes that's going to be a temptation. They are both AMAZING cooks, and Saturday will be a challenge, but I just need to keep my lower weight loss number in the front of my mind and how much I want to get there.

sgregg: I've felt that barrier a few times as well. Usually, when it's a weight I'm really looking forward to reaching, I hit a barrier and can't get below it for a while. It's like my body thinks "Yay, we made it....wait WHAT? You want MORE?!?" Stick with it and eventually, you'll move past it. And baby showers (and other events) do happen with some regularity, so figuring out how to navigate them is important. Good luck!

Jolie: Great start. Also, I'm jealous of your waist. Healthy guidelines say it is best to have a waist no more than 35" for a woman. I had to get to 180 before I reached that goal. You're there already. Best is less than 1/2 your height, which I haven't reached yet. And yes, it is totally normal to drop a large amount of water weight the first week or two. And it is very common (although not universal) to stall out completely or even rebound a little bit afterward. Don't let that stop you. Keep at it. I bet you can get to 205 by the end of the month.

Week Three
15: 179.0
16:
17:
18:
19:
20:
21:
----------------------------
Total Loss for Week Three:

That's more like it. Today's weigh in is a new low for me, after most of a month of being up. Looking forward to more new lows soon. Oh, and I get to mark off one of my minigoals. I now have lost over 40 kg. And I'm just a tiny fraction from being under 28 BMI

Week Three
15: 179.0
16: 179.6
17:
18:
19:
20:
21:
----------------------------
Total Loss for Week Three: