Hi Califoina - Do the best you can everyday. That is all each of us can do. :hug:

Danni, how did you do tonight? Did you stick with it??

Ms Perception, thank you, I can use the encouragement. I think I am going to add in a scheduled rest day--I took the day off yesterday and felt great going into the gym today. I was off so I went in and did my usual strength routine and then did a spin class with a friend :) My nether regions are in serious pain, but it was a lot of fun!

I think I'm eating enough . . . I actually increased my intake about 100 calories (from 1550 to 1650) with the new workout schedule, since I've gone from burning an average of 150 per day to 250+ per day.

Originally Posted by Ms Perception:
100percentME-Out of curiousity, what has prompted you to keep lowering your goal weight? Is it because you're going for a certain look or just what feels good on you? Just curious.

forgive me for launching into a story here. i couldnt help it lol
originally, when my goal was to be around 140, that was mostly a starter goal. When i allowed dreams of being "skinny" to start dancing in my head, i would get overwhelmed and give up and eat everything i could find in order to deal with how disappointed in myself i was. I also had it in my mind that i was just a "big" girl and that i could never be thin cuz then i would lose my curves and my frame is just too big blah blah blah. at the time, i just wanted to be safely south of 150, so 140 seemed good. i then lowered it to 135 cuz thats healthy bmi for my weight. and i was still using my logic that i was just a big girl and that i would always be in the higher end of my bmi range. goal pant size: size 8

after 135 got closer, i started to think about how my body was changing and how i wasnt just a big girl anymore and my curves didnt appear to be going anywhere. i think ive said this before, but what i found out is that being curvy cuz of your shape and being curvy cuz of fat are two different things. yes i have a curvy shape, and now my curves are (mostly) due to the shape of my body, and not due to all the fat that was settled on my hips.
when i think about it, i do feel a lot better now. i have more energy and stuff, tho at the time, lowering my number was based on vanity. so i knew i wanted to lower it, but i was afraid to. because i was still afraid that i would find myself incapable of losing the weight.
I had starting to think about the number 111 (cuz its all 1's lol) but that still seemed way unrealistic. i hadnt ever weighed that little at this height. so i settled with 123 as my new goal weight, because, well, its in numerical order 1-2-3 :) goal pant size: size 6
around the new year, i started reaching into the low 130's and i starting sliding into some tight size 6 pants. and i decided that that wasnt going to be good enough. so i readjusted my goal weight to 118 (because that will be exactly 50 pounds from my highest weight that i weighed myself at). and i decided that at 118 i should be able to wear a size 4, which after seeing myself in size 6's, i decided that 4 would be better.
For now im going to say that my goal is still 118, but if i reach 118 and am not happy ill go down to 111. this will mostly depend on my pant size. if i can be in the size 4's at 118 then ill stop focusing on my weight and start focusing on toning and such (something that i have failed to do throughout, unfortunately).

So basically, my goal readjustment has been mostly based on vanity, but its also been based on me realizing that i can be thin, i can lose weight, and that im not just a "big" girl. That was all in my head, it was my defense in order to justify my weight, but now i realize that my body type was never the cause of my being overweight. So, vanity + self realization i guess. Plus, as i lost weight, i felt better and it was easier to be motivated. It was hard to be motivated when i still weighed 150 pounds, and couldnt see a difference. now i look in the mirror, and i dont always recognize myself, i literally cant deny the difference (even tho my brain still wants to) and its easier to be motivated about what a difference the next 10 pounds will make.
lol sorry, this ended up being a way long post. i just got really enthusiastic talking about it. i have to say, im very excited to hit my final goal (whatever i decide that to be) so that i can post out my full story in the goals thread.
anyway, hope you ladies are doing awesome. off to bed for me. I have a test for school in the morning :)

stella - I didn't make it :mad: not yet - maybe today! I have the will - not the will power. I will not give up trying.

100 - :carrot: you are getting us all excited!

100 -- I loved your post and story :yes:

Yesterday was so-so... No exercise either but today I am running this afternoon and going to the gym tonight...

Ilene, do you generally run and workout on the same days? Right now, I'm jogging three days a week and spending three days a week in the gym, and it seems like my legs are tired a lot. I wonder if it would be better to do my jog and then go to the gym, and add another rest day into my routine . . .

Originally Posted by stella1609:
Ilene, do you generally run and workout on the same days? Right now, I'm jogging three days a week and spending three days a week in the gym, and it seems like my legs are tired a lot. I wonder if it would be better to do my jog and then go to the gym, and add another rest day into my routine . . .

Stella, generally speaking, no, I try not to run and workout on the same days... Lately it's been happening often, life gets in the way, so I do what I can... YES I am more tired for my workouts that night, but I just use less weight or less reps... Lately I've been doing more of a full body workout so the routine doesn't concentrate a lot on legs, which is good for my running, it only has one or two leg exercises per session... When I did a 4 day split, on leg days I did not run, sometimes I even tried not to run the day after a leg day because my legs would feel like lead and were very tired...

I'm having some of the same issues. I want to do some leg work in the gym (leg press, calf extensions, lunges and squats with dumbbells), but it's hard to find a good time to do them and not ruin my legs for jogging the next day. I was hoping you'd say you do okay jogging and then hitting the gym :)

I've been thinking about this group a lot the last couple of days, especially danni and the SnackMonster!! I am out of my element yet again (I will be back home soon, but this is something I promised to do ages ago, housesitting for a friend) Anyway - I packed a huge amount of my own healthy food but then had to contend with chips and ice cream galore at the friend's house ... so I ate some and THREW THE REST OUT. I've never done that before! But it called for drastic measures, as I am starting to realize that I have a bit of a binging problem.

So - in the end, I ate 3 servings of full-fat ice cream and let's say a total of 4 servings of chips (2 of those a bag of evil orange-ness, ICK, where has my sanity gone???).

I have to figure out why I spiral off into binge-iness every time I am left alone with evil junk food. By the way, philosophically I am REALLY opposed to junk food!!!

Anyway, I just keep pulling myself back up and eating as well as I can until the next transgression. I am walking lots and doing yoga when I can. I will start running again next week.

Keep on keepin' on, feathers. Hopefully the average of all we do will lead us in a positive direction ;)

Emma, that's probably not too much damage! Three servings of ice cream is max 600 calories, and 4 servings of chips is about the same. That's a total of 1200, which isn't a deal breaker! Don't let it get you down too much. Good for you for trashing the rest of the stuff :)

Danni: Thanks for your words of encouragement.
Today is a new day and I am already feeling better. The wonders that a rest day will do (plus I slept for 12 hours last night). Am I so tired because of my calorie reduction or because I am working out? Probably a little bit of both. When will my body adjust so that I won't feel so tired?

Hi Feathers!

It's been quite a stressful week with lots of obligations and no time to relax. But instead of pigging out, I've stayed focused on the healthy eating. I'm proud to report that I've stayed on track with diet and exercise all week!

Danni......Oh, that Snack Monster visits me often. Particularly at night! I try to save calories to eat at night, but even that doesn't work sometimes. After my planned snack, I often find myself eating more snacks. It's so tough! You can do it, though. And try not to worrry about the scale being up....I am ignoring my scale this week also. LOL

100PercentMe: Congrats on the lower numbers! I think I'm going to lower my goal weight to 119 because that's what my Wii Fit tells me I should weigh. I never really thought I could get close to that number, but now I'm starting to think it's possible. I'm coming to the realization, though, that my body is just going to be lumpy and imperfect regardless of my weight. So I'm going to just be okay with that. It's hard to find the perfect number...for me, I'm going for 119-125 because it seems to be a healthy (and not too low) range for me based on my height.

Silverstar: I'm with you on wanting summer. In particular, I'm not so scared of the summer clothes anymore like I used to be. I used to love layers in the winter to hide my own layers, you know? No more!

Ms. Perception: Thanks for the idea about "selling" candy with my kids. I'm going to have to remember that one! I've been ignoring the candy this week, but I know I should just toss it anyway, because it's no good for my kids either.

Stella: I know what you mean about not seeing yourself as skinny or skinny enough. I've had so many people tell me how thin I've gotten, but I still seem to focus on the problem areas. I mean, I'll never really feel confident in a swimsuit. I know I'm losing weight based on my pants getting loose, but it's honestly hard to see it sometimes!

Ilene: Congrats on turning it around and seeing the Easter weight melting away. I'm hoping for the same results soon. Easter weekend was really a killer for me. Live and learn, I guess!

Joan: It's okay, we've all gotten a little off track from time to time. Just jump back in!!!!!!

Emma: Chips and ice cream? I've done that too many times. This week it was Easter candy, and I do mean lots of it. Just try not to let one bad day turn into 2 or 3. You're going to be just fine!

Have a great day, Feathers!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by stella1609:
Emma, that's probably not too much damage! Three servings of ice cream is max 600 calories, and 4 servings of chips is about the same. That's a total of 1200, which isn't a deal breaker! Don't let it get you down too much. Good for you for trashing the rest of the stuff :)

Thanks, Stella [ETA: and kellost]! Yeah, I don't even care about the calories so much, they didn't even add up to 2000 each day, and I've done way worse than that in the past :D. I am more concerned about the bigger picture, which is this compulsion to sabotage myself, or rebel against "eating healthy" or whatever the heck is going on (for more than a year now).

I don't kid myself that I am never going to have a treat or overindulge again. I'm just shocked at the power this crappy food has over me now. Like I canNOT be trusted in a room with cookies or chips or ice cream, stuff I don't even really LIKE and never buy for myself. I don't want to have a war going on inside myself! And having the only answer be to throw out other people's perfectly good food ... I'm still trying to get my mind around the psychology of WHY I am doing this to myself ... probably I have blabbered on too much ... but I was feeling like avoiding here :o but then decided to put it all out there.

Anyway, reeling it in - I was thinking about all this when I was out for my walk this morning. Today IS a new day and I have done well so far ('cause I PLANNED, duh). I am going to really focus on my exercise goals for the rest of the month. And try to just avoid the junk food as much as I can. At least I don't have this problem at home, and I'll be back home next week.

Originally Posted by Califiona:
Today is a new day and I am already feeling better.

HA! I just said almost the same thing.

Someone posted somewhere else on this forum (Maintainers maybe?) about how MUCH she screwed up during her weight loss but that she just kept picking herself up and "starting over" and doing the best she could so that the overall trend was in a positive direction. I have to remember this more often! It's the big picture that counts, that the good choices outnumber the bad ones (hopefully by a wide margin :D).

Good to hear you are fully rested. That helps so much.

Originally Posted by Califiona:
I am hungry and tired. I know that this is because it is Wednesday and my off day is tomorrow. I hope that I can make it through today without bingeing because it feels so good to be losing. Correction: I know that I can make it through the day without bingeing.

How was your day?