Looking for a buddy or two
 

Hey so I have been fat smashing for about a year on and off. I started last June and by August I had lost 30 lbs. Then some things happened and I basically gained back about 8 lbs (not bad but also not good). So now here I am fresh off of phase 1 (again) back to my original ending weight from when I did the Fat smash almost a year ago and guess what? I am looking for a buddy (or 2, 3 etc).

So if you are interested please send me a message. :smug:

I'd love to have lots of buddies! I have found a couple of other girls that were on another thread, but I love to have multiple buddies-more accountability! That's great that you have had such success on this program-it is definitely motivation to those like me-I just started yesterday! Hope to be Fat Smash buddies! Have a great day! :)

Hello, Ladies! Can I join in? I had great girls in another thread, but it seems like we all let life get in the way and all kind of trailed off. I'm hoping they come back, but I do need some support. I'm starting back with Phase I Monday, so I'm going to need a sounding board and support.

My best friend got married last May (2007), and I started getting on the fitness kick then. When it was time to order the dresses in October, they made me order a size 22. The dress was big, but it wasn't gigantic. My sister just got married last weekend (yay!) and I was able to buy a size 14 dress. I'm not so sure of the actual weight that I lost, but I do feel so much better about myself. My number one trick was to not deprive myself...no matter what. I figured that if I really wanted that stromboli, then I better have a small piece and satisfy that craving rather than binge later. After a while of that, and working out, I found Fat Smash and loved it...as long as I stuck to it. The crazy part is that I felt so much better all the time and felt better about myself. So, why would I go off? Because it was easy, I guess. Now that I don't have anything but things for me, I'm going to try to keep going with this. I'm setting a minigoal of losing at least 20 pounds by our big family vacation in the end of August (about 45 people coming down the shore). And my big goal is that I'm turning 30 in January and want to be down 50 pounds by then. It's an agressive goal, but I'm going for it. Just for me. For the first time, I'm really doing something for myself. Yay!

So, let's do this together! What are your big motivating factors? With my last thread we decided to list five things that were our motivators. What are yours? Here are mine?
1) To feel good about myself and comfortable in my skin -- confidence
2) To not let my weight to get in my way
3) To become healthy and fit
4) Leaving all the bad stuff from my 20's in the past and going into my 30's with a clean slate (like feeling bad about myself)
5) To finally like seeing myself in pictures and automatically looking to see how fat my arms, chins, legs, stomach, butt, etc look!

mind if i join??
This is my very first time trying fat smash, and it seems like the perfect solution for me and my crazy sugar addiction. Today is my first day for phase I, and though i haven't abided *perfectly* by all the guidelines, it sure is a start. Luckily for me, my school year has ended and I'm graduating, and Im about to go on a week long cruise to Alaska with my family, so therefore no stress and an easier time for me to do this right. Today was incredibly hard, Ive had no lattes (I usually have two a day) though I have had coffee and green tea (not supposed to even have coffee :( ) but its nearing the end of the day and im already feeling somewhat detoxified, but tomorrow im going to try my hardest to not drink any coffee. Sigh. But I have high hopes for this, and would love to check in with anyone else just starting the program!
As for my top 5 motivators:

-Overall health
-Eliminate addictive habits/behaviors
-Confidence (i still love myself now though!)
-Have a funner time shopping
-Finally wear that bikini this summer!!!! ;)

Hi Annie! I am so glad to see your post-I had actually jumped in at the end of the thread you were referring to, and I was amazed at the progress that you guys made, and how great it was for you all to have the accountability and support. I am a school librarian, so I am out for the summer, and I'm able to get on here every day, usually multiple times a day.

I enjoyed reading your story. I saw the old picture you had up, and you look so beautiful in your purple dress!! That's so AWESOME that you went from a 22 to a 14! I was at a 22, then lost 86 lbs. I went down to a 12. Then I gained back my 86 plus some. I'm at the biggest weight I've ever been, and I'm 27. So I am motivated to get the weight off to be healthier.

I agree with you, it's very easy to do a diet as long as you're sticking to it, but that one time you go off, it's hard to get back on the bandwagon. I think that's what made me get so off track. Also, I hadn't really been on a diet like this one that taught you about healthy foods that you could eat. I would've never gotten into eating plain oatmeal, for instance. And even though I love brown rice, I never bought it! I just never thought about things like that.

I know you can reach your minigoal and your big goal!!! And just think, when you hit that 50 lb. mark for your birthday, you will be maintaining and not losing!! That is such an amazing feeling! I have a lot of weight to lose, and I really don't know what is a reasonable goal to set for myself. I know I'd like to start with something small, so I set a goal of 10 lbs. in 2 weeks. I mean, I have heard of people losing 10 lbs in Phase 1, but I don't want to get my goal too high and then not succeed. I know that I've been 100% dedicated to this program, and I will continue that as long as I can!!! Your family vacation sounds awesome!!! I know I just got back from Watercolor, Florida, for my brother's wedding, and I felt like I couldn't 100% enjoy myself because of my weight. So on that note, here are my 5 motivating factors (they seem to be almost identical to yours)...

1) My health-I have gotten to that point where I'm 27, and I am thinking that the older I get, the more susceptible to weight-related health problems I'll be.
2) Ditto on your #1-To feel good about myself and comfortable in my skin -- confidence
3) Ditto on your #2-To not let my weight to get in my way-I'm tired of feeling like there are more things I could do if I weren't this big.
4) My WEDDING!!! I am getting married April 25, 2009. I have all kinds of pictures and stuff coming up and I'm tired of worrying about how I look in them-like looking at each one to see how fat I look and only keeping the ones that are "good"!!
5) To go into a period of my life (my 30's) where I do not feel like I'm having to LOSE weight...but just life a healthy life and maintain weight I've lost. I've been fighting this battle for the last 5 years and I'm tired of it!! I want to enjoy my life and not make this the biggest part of it!!!

Wow! This message is long! I tend to be a talkative one, though, so watch out! ;)

Have a great night all, and I look forward to hearing from all of you!! :D

PS-Welcome EasterBunny! I know what you mean about finally having some time to take to work on your own life!! Best of luck and I look forward to being Fat Smash Buddies!!! :D

Kara

Kara - Congrats on getting engaged! :congrat: We just had my sister's wedding, and it was so, so much fun! If you need any advice on the planning, feel free to drop me a line. I plan events for a living, and it can be really stressful during the planning when you're not so used to all of it. Plus, there are lots of parties and all, so hopefully you can get your groove going now, so you're prepared once it all hits. This is such an exciting time, enjoy it! It'll go by so fast. And thanks for telling me I look good in the purple dress. It means a lot.

Easterbunny - :welcome3: I get the no coffee thing. I'm totally addicted to caffiene, except I'm with diet cokes. It's so hard to kick, but once you do, you feel so much better, sleep better, it's just better. I always wonder why I went back to the diet sodas again, since I have such trouble sleeping. You can get through this detox. It's so hard, but it's so good at the same time. You can definitely do it, but just in case...here's some will power dust just for you: :dust:

Fierliss - Sounds like you're on the right path. Are there any menus, secrets, tricks, etc that you want to share with us about going through the detox? I have found through the other threads that everyone has found something different that helped get them through it, so maybe you can share, too. I love getting new recipes, too, so it can help get through the long 9 detox days.

Good luck girls! Another day down! Woo hoo!!!! :yay:
Even though I'm not detoxing until Monday, I'm trying to not go too overboard, just to get everything out of my system now, since it's been so stressful.

Thanks for the congrats!! We are so excited about our wedding-we've booked the location for the ceremony and the reception-it's at a place called White Oak Plantation here in Baton Rouge, LA. I have picked my colors and have been using my summer off as a time to diet and look at wedding stuff. I'll definitely let you know if I have any questions-I'm sure I will!!! LOL It all is so intimidating, and being that I've never been married before, I don't know squat about all these formalities...like wedding favors, etc. I know the basics, but the intricate details..pshhh. They are confusing!! And yes, my aunt told me at my brother's wedding this past weekend that she wants to throw us an engagement party, but I asked her to wait a little while-I'd like to have as much time as possible to just stay dedicated to this program and not even THINK about anything else...but I know it's just a matter of time before the parties begin.

BTW, even though it wasn't for me, thanks for the willpower dust!!!

I'm about to start writing in the 3FC blogs online. I was doing one through the FitDay site, but it's kinda boring. I wanted to ask someone though, I'm getting a little overly-obsessed I think. Today here's what I've had today:
B-Plain oatmeal, 1 Splenda packet, mixed fruit, 1 C low-fat milk
S-Pickle, orange
L-1 C brown rice, pinto beans
S-Pickle, 1 C low-fat milk
D-1 C brown rice, home-made Caesar salad (just Romaine and light dressing)

So here's my issue. When I was doing the FitDay website, it was saying that all I was eating were carbohydrates, and my calorie count is about 1100. Is that too much? I've done diets in the past that had me under 1000 calories, and it NEVER let me eat things like brown rice or beans, so I'm freaking out. My fiance' tells me that I'm eating healthy carbohydrates, and if I told him I was concerned with my calorie count he would laugh me out of here, but I have this wacky preconceived notion that I have to be so strict on what I'm eating. Does my meal plan sound ok? Usually I eat more fruit. I just don't know if I'm doing it right-it seems so easy-LOL.

Looking forward to hearing back from you guys!

I think you could do with some more fruit, maybe it's because I'm a fruit person. I tend to eat more fruit than veggies. I generally use cinnamon in my oatmeal instead of sugar, not sure if one is better than the other but cinnamon with some apples or some bananas are yummy. Your menu looks pretty good though.

My 5 motivating factors for losing weight is

1) My daughter, when I gave birth to her the doctor said ( I wanted to slap her though) that by the time she was 10 I would be dead. Not sure how true that it but we'll go with that.
2) I hate that because of my weight I've settled for jerks, I would like to have a healthy normal relationship
3) I would like to talk to my dad just once and we never have to talk about my weight
4) I would like to spend the rest of my 20's enjoying myself instead of couped up in the house because I don't want people to see me
5) I would like to wear cute clothes and look cute in them.

Thanks for your advice, SouthernGal. I will try the cinnamon for sure!

I cannot believe that your doctor said that!! How old is your daughter now? I understand what you mean about talking to your dad without mentioning weight, because I have not spoken to my mom without talking about weight in YEARS..or really ever, honestly. And now that I'm getting married it's almost like she is embarrassed of me. And lastly, I cannot wait to be able to go shopping for cute clothes!! I mean, I like the clothes that I get also, but not as much as the things they make for normal-sized people that I see in stores and have to keep on walking!!!

Thanks for helping me with the menu! :)

My daughter will be 2 July 26th. My dad used to be really mean about it saying no one would ever want me etc, but now he just says I saw a story on the news about overweight people dying young I don't want you to die. At some point I would like to talk to him see how he's doing and weight never come up. I laugh because since he's retired he looks like he's put on 50 pounds maybe even more. I am such a fashion diva, at one point the cute clothes I had I made for myself, I'm so tired of wearing sweat pants and old lady stuff. My sewing machine got stolen while living at my last apartment (which I'm really mad about because it was one of the last things my mother bought me before she died), so until I replace my sewing machine I have to wear what I got, which since I'm motivated to lose weight I'll be needing new clothes soon anyway.

I love that you girls are late birds like me. Ha!

Kara - When I was doing this before, everything I read said to focus on feeling full and not worrying about calories. Now, that doesn't mean you should sit and eat an entire bunch of bananas, but you should eat until you feel full, since they are all healthy foods. There are foods that we are allowed that are high in sugar, but they are natural foods, so it's not so bad, but you just have to be careful about those. But, seriously, don't worry so much about calories. Just focus on the eating healthy and natural.

SouthernGal - I'm so sorry to hear about your relationship with your dad. I'm sure he's just saying all that out of love, it's just his way of showing it, even though it really sucks. Pretty soon, you won't give him any reason to talk to you that way! You can do it! We all can!!!!

I love that you girls are late birds like me. Ha!

Kara - When I was doing this before, everything I read said to focus on feeling full and not worrying about calories. Now, that doesn't mean you should sit and eat an entire bunch of bananas, but you should eat until you feel full, since they are all healthy foods. There are foods that we are allowed that are high in sugar, but they are natural foods, so it's not so bad, but you just have to be careful about those. But, seriously, don't worry so much about calories. Just focus on the eating healthy and natural.

SouthernGal - I'm so sorry to hear about your relationship with your dad. I'm sure he's just saying all that out of love, it's just his way of showing it, even though it really sucks. Pretty soon, you won't give him any reason to talk to you that way! You can do it! We all can!!!! :D

Yes I'm definitely a night owl!! I would be all year round, but during the school year I have to be at work early so I try to get to bed at a decent hour..but I hate it!!! :) I'd much rather stay up late-I function better at night...like the fact that I just cleaned the bathroom. LOL

Thanks for the advice about the eating. I think you are right-I find myself not binging on this at all, even though it says you can have unlimited quantities, I am focusing more on his comment about not overeating because it's not a good habit to have. So I've been doing well. I decided to not even use FitDay for a while because I focus so much on how many calories I'm eating instead of just acknowledging the healthy stuff I am eating!!!

SouthernGal-I know what you mean, I love fashion-not so much magazine fashion as just liking to wear trendy clothes. I'm 27 and feel like some of the clothes I have to pick out are way too old for me. And Annie's right, soon you'll keep your dad from having any reason to talk to you that way!

Good luck ladies, if I don't talk to you before tomorrow!!! And Annie try to unwind before starting on Monday-I completely understand needing to do that! :)

I used to use fitday but now I use thedailyplate.com it's a much better website. I don't pay too much attention to the calories either. Like my calories are pretty low everyday but I'm eating until I feel full and eating every few hours so I don't worry too much about it. When phase 2 comes there will be more food choices and the calorie intake will be higher. Just as long as you eat the food that's allowed and don't over do it you'll be fine.

Thanks for the recommendation, I'll have to check that out! I just have to share that I picked up a great water container at Albertson's that holds 2.2 Liters, which is more than what doctor's usually require. My fiance' filled it up with water yesterday and put it in the fridge and I drank the whole thing!!! I am doing so well on drinking the water, and like so many people have said, it all just makes you feel better emotionally, physically, etc. for doing it for yourself! Yay for Fat Smash!! :)

Good luck everyone, and good luck to myself-here comes Day 3!!

How is everyone's day going? Today I talked to my dad because I was trying to get together plans for Father's Day, and I made some great decisions, so I had to just share those with someone!!!

Usually we go out to eat, and I don't exactly get something healthy. So instead, I suggested that we grill at their house, because he and Ryan (my fiance') can eat grilled meat and baked potatoes, etc., and my stepmom and I can eat on the program. She is doing Nutri System, but can eat grilled veggies, and I can take my veggies and a sweet potato and some other stuff to eat. I feel better about making the decision to NOT go out to eat-especially since I am only in Phase 1!!!! :)

Can't wait to hear how all of you are doing!!

Kara - That's such a great idea! I have definitely found that the best way to go about fat smashing is to plan, plan, plan! When I plan ahead, I have no problem sticking with it, it's when I just go with the flow, I get all messed up and say that I'll do better tomorrow. Then the next day, I think, oh well, I messed up yesterday, so I might as well just get back on next week and call this one a loss. Then it's hard to get back into things.

Good Job! :carrot:

Oh yeah, I'm the queen of starting over...even though they say to just try to jump back on track the next day. I never do that. I know that before when I lost all that weight it was because I thought it out, so thanks!! :) I am with you, planning is the best strategy!

Ryan and I went to the gym today!!! Yay!! We walked on the treadmill, did weights, swam, and got in the whirlpool- I am SO tired. Feels great, though!!! :)

How are you doing?

I ate tons of jelly belly's today. Not good, huh? But...I'm planning on starting detox, phase 1 on Monday, so I'm not feeling so bad about it. I'm trying to watch what I eat until then, but I want to get it all out of my system, so I'm ready to start fresh. I had been doing my own version of fat smash to make sure I fit into that shiny purple dress, so now I want to follow the plan the way it was meant to be. Hopefully it will be a really fit and healthy summer!

Mmmm jelly belly's!! I love those, especially the popcorn flavored ones...but I love a lot of the flavors. That's ok, since you're planning on starting on Monday! :) I know you'll do great! And you succeeded at looking great in that shiny purple dress!! I really like the style of it-although I could only see the top part. That is the kind of thing I'm looking for with my wedding, I don't want something that is strapless, etc.

Hope you have a great night!! :)

I'm so tempted to dig into all the bad treats in the freezer (ice cream and flavor pops), so I'm just heading to bed. Not worth it. I'll have a sugar hangover tomorrow if not. Plus, I've been having such problems sleeping lately, that I might as well take advantage if I'm actually really tired. Stress...such a fun thing, huh? Ha! Good Night!!!:faint:

So did you get a good night's rest last night, Annie? I sure hope so. I haven't been sleeping all that well lately but that's because I was out of my asthma meds and I kept having breathing problems! I'm going to get those today!!

You are SO strong for resisting the temptations calling you from the freezer...I have to keep that stuff in my house because my fiance' can eat whatever he wants. Last night I had a run-in with a fun-size bag of 3Muskateers, but I bit the bullet and went and got a glass of milk and some fruit instead. Definitely not 3Muskateers, but at least I didn't ruin almost a whole day of hard work for it, ya know?

How's your day been today? I hope you are rested, and having a great day!

Hope everyone out there reading this is doing well!!! :)

I always have sleeping problems in the summer, but I'm sorry to hear that you're asthma is bothering you. I haven't had to deal with my asthma in so long, but I still carry my inhaler everywhere I go just in case. It's good that you didn't eat the candy, I don't even buy candy or junk food anymore if somebody else wants it they need to buy it or eat it at work. My bf was supposed to be fat smashing he started on the 1st with me when I restarted and he gave up on Friday of that same week. The he wants me to buy junk and crap, I don't think so. Goodluck with avoiding temptation I know it's much harder with the stuff in the house.

That is awesome that you haven't had to deal with your asthma in a long time. Unfortunately, I've had pretty bad asthma since I was 5. The Singulair I take keeps it under control but I was out of it. I got it again today so hopefully that won't bother me too much for the future nights and days. It always helps a little bit to get down in my weight, I find that I don't use my Albuterol as much, but I know that my asthma will probably never go away.

Yeah, I don't buy ANY junk food anymore. The 3Muskateers were leftover from before we started the diet, since I only started on Monday. Ryan is a perfect size, so he can eat what he wants, although he is trying to eat healthier with me. But I don't keep anything in the house that would tempt me. I didn't realize your BF had started the diet with you. My friend and her hubby did it last summer together. It is hard when you have someone who isn't doing it. Even though Ryan is doing a LOT of it, he still gets to make his sandwiches and popcorn shrimp, etc., that I'd love to partake in. Oh well, I know what's more worth it to me-and it's not eating that stuff. I would rather feel the way I feel right now than eat that stuff and go back to how I felt.

Good luck today!!! :) Good to hear from you!
________

Hey there, ladies! Today was a complete blow out. Thank goodness I wasn't on the plan, or else I definitely would have been thrown out! I work out of my boss' home, and her stepson was graduating today. There was food galore out there, and none of it good, of course. And, of course, I ate whatever I could get my hands on. I'm trying to get my boss to join me on Monday with the detox. It is so much easier when you have someone going through it with you, especially someone who eats lunch with you everyday. We'll see. I'm not going to push the issue.

I hope everyone else had a much better day than me. I can't imagine how it could have been worse. I did go to the movies tonight to get me out of the house, so that was fun. And I had a phone interview for a new job. They asked me to come in for a face to face interview, which is great news. Hopefully I can stop freelancing and have a steady job which will help with routine. When I'm in a routine, I'm much better at following a plan. Right now, I'm all over the place. Keep your fingers crossed for me!!!!

That is awesome about the job interview!!! What kind of job is it? I know how hard it is when you don't have a strict routine. Right now I am off for summer and it's made it weird with my eating-I get up so late that I sometimes can't get all of my food in. But I'm trying to work on it. I know that will help you so much. Is the job going to be in your area or will you have to relocate?

That's ok about today, at least you weren't on the plan!!! :) We all have those days, anyway. It will be much easier if your boss decides to start with you-I wish I had someone here that was doing the same diet. My fiance', Ryan is doing a kinda version of it, but that kinda consists of him just eating pretzels and a big ole' chocolate chip cookie. My diet doesn't really consist of those things, but right now it's not bothering me that he's doing it because I know what's more important to me. But once I get back to work, as I've said, I will be looking for people to do it with me. Our 3rd grade teacher was the one who suggested it to all of us, and a lot of people just fell off track. I am hoping that I can go exercise with her or something once school starts. That is much easier when you have someone to be accountable to also.

I made a GREAT dinner tonight. I steamed a bunch of broccoli and sauteed some mushrooms. I made the mushrooms so I'd just have them whenever I got hungry, but I put the broccoli in with my brown rice and it was soooo good and filling. It was the best thing to eat that I've had on my program so far. Right now I'm finding that I get kinda tired of the brown rice after a while if I don't eat something good with it, so the broccoli did the trick. Any other ideas you might have?

Hi, Kara! The job is an events job, so I'm staying in my field and in the Philly area, which is the plan. I have so much fun planning people's events and would hate for the economy to determine whether I stay or go. Events are the first thing that people are cutting from their budgets, so it's a sticky situation right now. (More stress...ugh!). If I don't get it, I still have my freelancing jobs that I do every year, but I would just love some permanent, so I can get that routine going.

I'm excited to start the plan on Monday. I feel I'm in the right place (even though I had such a bad day yesterday!). I saw a picture of me from the pre-graduation party and I wasn't so disappointed, like I normally am. I see that I'm moving in the right direction, which is the ultimate plan. I posted it on my profile, so I can go to it for motivation.

Your dinner last night definitely sounded good. I'm going to make it this weekend. One meal that has become my go to during the plan is to make the brown rice -- and I get the boil-a-bags, which are the daily serving size -- and mix it with newman's salsa, corn and beans. I'll mix up the beans by either black or red beans. It's very filling and delicious. Sometimes I'll even mix in a little bit of fat free ranch dressing to give it that creamy feeling. I even make it for our family get togethers, and nobody realizes that it's my "diet" food.

Hope today was good for all you ladies! The hot weather is making me want to get healthy and skinny, so that's a great motivator!

Annie you look so awesome in that picture!!! Just beautiful! I know that looking at that is inspiration for you to keep doing what you're doing, it's definitely inspiration for me to keep doing what I'm doing so that I can achieve that. I wonder if there's a place I could post pictures of myself before I gained all this weight? It'd be motivation for me to go look at them, although I already do on my computer-haha. It's frustrating to have made all that progress and be back at square 1.

The job sounds great, and it sure would be great to be able to stay in your area to work. That sounds like such a fun job! I have a good friend who does event planning in Austin, and she absolutely loves it-she's always busy, but she loves her job. And that is so important! It sounds like you love what you do too! :) Too bad you don't live in Louisiana, although I will be asking your opinion once it gets closer to my wedding-haha!

Oh my gosh, your brown rice suggestion...I can't get over it, isn't that sad??? I just want to go make it right now, but I don't have any salsa. How come you can have salsa-is it because the Newman's kind has only veggies in it? I just figured it'd be packed with sodium, but I guess it's only tomatoes and onions, really, huh? I definitely love mixing in the corn and beans with it, but like you said, I'm not getting the creamy feeling from it-it's just so dry. I am going to try mixing in the salad dressing with it tonight...that sounds great. Is it ok to use low-fat salad dressing? I thought it said that in the book. I just can't find a good fat-free one, but I've been sticking in my TBSP range for the low-fat. Let me know if I shouldn't be eating that. :) But that mixture sounds so good...can you tell I'm hungry? I have some leftover broccoli and stuff so I'm going to EAT!!!

Can't wait for you to start on Monday-can't tell you how much I love having y'all here to talk to, I feel so much better talking to people who are doing this too!!!

Talk to you soon!!! :)

Kara

Fierliss & SouthernGal, how are you two doing? It seems like Kara and I have taken over this thread. Ha. Sorry about that.

It's so great to be able to meet up with other girls who are going through the same thing. It's difficult with friends and family who mean well, but sometimes they just don't get it. Like, I hate when someone says, you're not fat! The truth is, I am, but I'm working on it. Let's not hide the truth!!! Or they'll say, one piece of chocolate isn't going to kill you, you're doing so well. Nope, but it may throw me off the path that I'm doing okay with. Not everyone gets it. They try so hard to be supportive, but it's definitely not the same as with talking to all of you. Okay, cheesey moment, eh?! Ha. But it's the truth.

Kara, thanks for all the kind words about my picture. I'm quite proud of it, since recently I was looking at a lot of pictures of my "before", which aren't so pretty. I was making a video for my sister's wedding, and I hate the fact that I ever looked like that. But...I did, and now I know that I don't want to go back to it. EVER!!!! So, I'll take my slip ups, like being off the plan for a few weeks, and then I'll get right back on. I'm not going back there. I'm happy with where I'm heading! Hopefully, you girls are too! :D

I'm trying to see if I can attach my "before" picture. This was taken about a year and a half ago, and it looks like I'm pregnant! The worse part is that everyone kept telling me then that I didn't look that fat. Okay! I know they were trying to protect my feelings, but it's obviously a blatant lie. Ha Ha!

Kara, if you want to post your pictures, go to the bottom of where you post (not the quick reply, but that other page), and it says attach files. I just attached from there, and hopefully you can see it. I would love to see everyone's motivation pictures, whether it's where they were or where they hope to get back to. I know we all have them!!! ;)

Annie you look SO different than you used to. I totally know what you mean about how people won't give you the straightforward truth about your weight. I have a very good friend who gives me the "I just don't even see the weight when I look at you because I love you so much", and I'm like darlin that is just not the truth. I appreciate people trying to look out for my feelings, but I'm not blind!!!

OK, I'm going to post some pictures now. Unfortunately my current pictures are all where I am right now, and the picture I'm going to post that is motivation is where I was about a year and a half ago, when I lost all that weight. Going to post some pics now.....

OK it took me forever to find a picture that would work-like many people, I don't really take a lot of pictures of me from the waist down right now, so I found one, even though I HATE it. It's the most "real" picture I have, I think. It was taken in February, but I'm the same weight, so I look pretty much the exact same. I'm going to attach a head shot of me now (it has my fiance' in it too), but that's the way my body looks (the one where I have on the pinkish shirt with the squares on it.) You can obviously tell the one that is my inspiration. I am the one on the left, and that's not even at my smallest. I felt so good then, and I WILL get back there!!!!

Hope you all enjoy! :)

Kara - You are a beautiful girl, and I have no doubt that you'll get back to where it makes you happy. We'll use our pictures to help motivate us to get healthy and happy...and hopefully skinny will be soon to follow! I definitely focus on the being healthy and happy part, more so than skinny. Being skinny right now doesn't seem attainable, but I know that I can get healthy, and that in turn, will make me happy. :dizzy:

We just have to set our minigoals, which will definitely help us get to the big main goal. I know your main goal right now is the wedding (which by the way, you're marrying a cutie!). My main goal is to shed it all by the time I turn 30 in mid-January, but my minigoal is 20 pounds over the summer. I know I can do it. We'll just take it one day at a time.

Have a good weekend! I know that I will...my goddaughter has her recital tomorrow, which should be hilarious! She doesn't have too much rhythm, so I can't wait to see her on that stage. :belly: Hee Hee! Ha.

Thank you for your comments about my pictures! That means a lot to me. You are right, each pound that I lose makes me healthier, and that is more important than me getting skinny. Luckily, they go hand in hand-hehe.

About minigoals, I'm curious as to how you set those in an achievable range. Like, for instance, I have no idea how long it will take me to lose the weight, so I don't know what a reasonable mini goal is. Does that make sense? I really want to set a minigoal, but I don't know when to set it for, and how long. Any ideas? I'm just excited right now about my weigh in next Wednesday to see how much I've lost-I can feel it.

Have fun at the recital-I bet she will be adorable, even if she doesn't have any rhythm!!! :) At least she tries ;)

Have a good night!!
Kara :-)

Hello ladies..

I haven't started Fat Smash diet yet but am seriously thinking about starting it either by Sunday or Monday. I've started working out in March, started doing some I.E in April...and lost 13 lbs altogether so far..but I really thought starting from the detox to build the healthy eating is what I needed! =)

By the way, Kara.. for the minigoal, what about using your 10%? Or 10 lbs each time would work too. And losing about 1-2 lbs per week is healthy for you.. so about 5 weeks for 10 lbs? How's that for a reasonable mini goal? =)

Welcome Tara!!

I think starting out with a mini-goal of my 10% is a GREAT idea!!! Thanks for suggesting that! I will set my loss of 31 lbs. for 3 months from now. I will do my first weigh in on Wednesday and am really looking forward to seeing how much I've lost during this detox. A good friend of mine lost 60 lbs. in a summer doing the FS, but I really don't want to set an unreasonable amount for myself and not be able to attain it, you know? I know that my long term goal is to be under 200 for my wedding, but that does put me losing over 100 lbs. Is that even a reasonable goal? I know that I'm going to try my very hardest and if I were to attain it it would mean no cheating for me, that's for sure...there is no margin for error!!!

Anyway this turned into a long message, just wanted opinions...Thanks!!! I'm going to bed--what am I doing up at this hour anyway?? Got sucked into watching The Devil Wears Prada....hehe.

Night night all!! :)

Kara...you gotta get your sleep . It helps to get 7-8 hours of sleep. :trampo: It helps you to feel better and be more motivated to concentrate on your diet as well as energy to workout.

No worries LaToya, I have a wacked out schedule. Even though I go to sleep late, I always get up late. It's this lovely summer schedule that I have the pleasure of having!!! I usually sleep until at least 11 or 12 when I stay up that late, so I definitely get 7-8 hours!! Hehe! ;)

Thank you for your concern, though, I appreciate it. :)