Aaah! Congrats, thesame7lbs!! That is so exciting! And I'm sure you will do awesomely with maintenance-- it just takes eome getting used to. :)

Oh, and I know what you mean with your weight being what it was when you went to college. I'm still in college and have only been there for two years, but I weighed in at 138.0 this morning, which is my lowest weight since I graduated from high school. I was stuck at 139.4 for a couple of weeks, so I'm glad to see that it's coming off again. Just 18 more pounds to go! It's so weird to have my goal weight within a number that ends in "-teen"! Haha.

Oh, and I have officially brought my lunch to work every day this week. Yay for not eating fast food every day! Did anyone else find it hard to break that habit at first?

thesame7lbs - that is such great news! Also, selfishly, you are my height and at my "dream" goal weight, so it makes it harder to give up when I hear about your success. :yay:

Yesterday someone thought I was :preg: (I almost cried with the horror that she was so sure and so sincerely happy that I might be pregnant!) so guess what - it's time to rededicate my efforts!! I've been in a slow decline the last few months, just letting too many things slide - kinda maintaining, but not in a terribly healthy way. I am trying to get to the bottom of why I keep sabotaging my efforts. I'm pretty sure that I just don't believe that I *can* lose weight, so why bother. I'm really working on figuring out how to follow through on all my great plans....

:kickbutt: Diet is well planned - just have to stick to it
:kickbutt: NEED to get a good exercise schedule. Oh and stick to that, too!
:kickbutt: Wear Spanx at all times :D

It's not smart to Google an abnormal blood test result. It's quite normal to have an abnormal blood result from a routine screening and I know that. But I was wondering what low globulin was and I wish I hadn't looked it up.

Anyway, I want to focus my day on eating healthy & getting my 4 mile run in. It's hot here, but I remind myself that in July is will be really hot. Might as well get acclimated to the heat.

This week has been horrible with eating & this week I gained for the first time in several months. But the NSVs keep coming - I look healthy and dropped a size at Old Navy. I have also come to prefer non-stretch pants because they keep their shape better.

I have a great weekend ahead- a few dance parties, a neighborhood festival and BBQ with friends. I plan to keep moving & not linger around the ice cream stands & the food tables. I'm most worried about the BBQ b/c I overindulged at the last one. I plan to make one plate & eat slowly.

Helloooo my dahlinks!

I had a random thought about decimal points today and thought "now who can I share this with?" The featherweights of course!
I haven't lost any weight in a dog's age! Or so it seems. 128.2 ... 128.4 ... 128.2 and so on. But ya know what? It beats the crap outta 129.6 ... 130.2 ... 130.4 ... 129.8.
It's easy to get lost in the fluctuations instead of celebrating just where we are fluctuating.

Susan, thanks for that. I definitely needed that reminder!

MC, I know it's easier said than done, but please do not stress about the blood test. So many many things can throw those off. My husband is an MD, and one thing I've learned from him is that "there's more abnormal than normal," or, in other words, abnormal often is normal. Meaning that no one has a body where everything is always in the exact range where it is supposed to be. I will be thinking of you and hoping for good news on any follow-up tests you may have!!!

Sorry Girls - I couldn't resist. :devil: He made me do it!

Another great Sunday,
And what do I weigh?
128 - again today.

Yesterday, I was down a pound.
It was lost , gone, not around.

But, do not panic - have no fear,
Let me make this perfectly clear.

I sat down to have a small nibble last night,
What happened next was a terrible sight.

My lost little pound did not far roam.
This morning he came back home.

He missed me too much to stay away.
And so I weigh - 128 again today.

Hey feathers - it's been awhile, mind if I join in the end of May thread? My (college) gym is closed on weekends for the summer, so I really need to get outside and get myself to run today. I've been out of the gym for about a month, but have kept up healthy eating. Maybe gained back 1 or 2 pounds, but lost a lot of muscle tone, unfortunately! Has anyone had any luck running on an outdoor track? There is one across the street from me and I love it because I can track my distance and I live in a city and obviously there is no traffic or street crossings to worry about...but I find it gets kind of boring. How do you guys get motivated & what do you do when your gym is closed?

danni - I love your poem and your sense of humor about the pound.

Biju - I am an outdoor runner & appreciate outdoor tracks for speed work such as intervals. But if I had to run 4 miles on an outdoor track, I'd go bonkers. I live in the city too & I know 10 blocks are about a mile and I run around the neighborhoods of Philly and love how interesting the scenery is. The only problem are the frequent stops at traffic lights.

Another advantage of running the streets rather than a track are hills which build strength. Tracks don't give you any hills.

Danni, you are too funny! You have created a new niche -- weight loss poetry. I've been meaning to look up where Perryville is and finally did today. It must be so pretty there! We drive 95 a lot and I love going over the Susquehanna right near there, just beautiful. We are in the DC suburbs, so not a lot of character here but nice enough.

Biju, I'm with MC -- distance on a track makes me batty! I can't help with traffic, but for mapping distances of road (and off-road) runs, have you tried gmap-pedometer? It uses google maps to measure distances. You just click along your route.

Hope everyone is well today and has had a good weekend. I went out to dinner Friday night and had duck leg confit -- about the worst thing ever (confit means that the duck is cooked in its own rendered fat). I've searched all around and can't find any consistent calorie values for it... and then it occurred to me that no one in her right mind who cared about calories would eat that! Ah well. A delightful splurge, and now I'm back on track.

I'd eat that. You're making me hungry!

motivated chickie - You're right...running around a track 12 times is maddening, so I decided to run along the river today. I didn't stop once to walk - probably ran about 3 miles. It's discouraging that just 2 months ago I was able to run 7-8 miles non-stop, at about 7.0 mph, no problem. I am much slower now, and I hate that my legs aren't as toned as they used to be, but hey, at least I got back on track now with my running rather than waiting another 2 months! Are you from Philly? I am living in Boston right now, but I am originally from Bucks County - will be moving back home in September to go to graduate school in Philly! I am planning on running the Rock N Roll 1/2 marathon in Philly at the end of September, so I better get serious about running again!

thesame7lbs- I have tried mapmyrun.com but it's really complicated and annoying. I will definitely try gmap pedometer! I'm usually pleased with anything Google-related :)

Hey, ladies! I hope everyone is gearing up for an awesome week!

I am SO ready for this to be the week I finally break 130 for good! My scale flashed 129.8 this morning but then locked in on 130. Planning to start Jillian's 30DS in addition to my gym time, and I have all my fat smash friendly foods for the week ready to go!

Have a great week, everyone!

Today, I had my last weigh in before I go on vacation tomorrow & I weighed 131, so I'm losing weight again. Then I felt a wave of sadness because I thought to myself, "When will I ever see this number again?"

I have thought for hours about this vacation and how I want to deal with eating. My binge eating pattern will likely be triggered by the chaotic schedule, lack of sleep, alcohol, and the abundant availability of junk food. However, I know it's in me to not dive face first into a bucket of fries and a foot long sausage. But I have to be gentle on myself. There will be times when I will give into cravings. I hope I have the good sense to stop & move on with my day.

My goal for vacation is to maintain my current weight, which may mean I'll weigh 1-2 pounds over what I am at this moment.

Serious thinking aside, I am very happy to be going on this trip. I haven't left my region in over 6 years & I am seeing friends I haven't seen in 9 years. This will likely be the best trip I've ever had.

Have a great vacation. For every treat you allow yourself, try to balance it out with a surge of self-control and then promise yourself another treat later.
Do not over worry. How long will you be on vacation? No way are you going to gain 50 pounds. You know what to do when you get back. Enjoy this time with friends.

Thanks, Danni.

I'll be on vacay for 9 days. I am recovering from BED and a relapse into the disorder would be bad. When I get into binge mode, it's kind of like an addict on heroin. The food becomes my focus, not the fun.

The last time I was in disorder mode, I was having a night on the town in NYC. Instead of dancing all night, I left the party early and ate junk on the streets of NYC for 4 hours. That was two weeks ago. I hope the memory of that horrible night reminds me the consequences of relapse.

So many things trigger my BED, so I have to be careful about getting enough exercise, sleep, and solitude while I'm away.

I'll be logging onto 3FC via my phone. I don't know if I'll be able to post, but at least I can read your inspiration.

MotivatedChickie, :hug:

Do any of the friends you will be with know about your BED? Could they help, or is that just setting up an uncomfortable situation? I will be thinking of you and hoping that you are having an enjoyable, healthy vacation. You deserve it! (and, BTW, congrats on the 131! Wasn't your goal 132 for the trip?)

I'm trying to figure out how to stay on track this summer with my two older children out of school. They are happy enough to go to the gym with me as long as we don't go too much. I'll have to find a happy balance. My son has been waking up brutally early (4:20 this morning) so I will make lemonade from that lemon and take him on some early-morning runs, but I do get creeped out running alone so early in the day.

Weighed in at 128.2 this morning and had a great run and am feeling back on track after a high-calorie day yesterday. No more rice. Just not a good idea. :(

Hello ladies :wave: Just checking in. No, I didn't disapear again and I have been reading, just not posting. My weight has stayed the same for the last week but that is a good thing as I quit smoking 9 days ago. So I guess I have been concentrating on that and not posting so much. I have been logging my food in Fitday (most of the time) so that I can keep my weight in check. I did walk around the lake (maybe it's a large pond) a couple of times last week and Saturday I acutally went two laps around :encore:

I went to a picnic yesterday at my son's and ate a little more than I should have but I'm back on track today and ready for a good week.

Have a great vacation, Chickie!

I'll try to check in a little more this week. Have a great Tuesday everyone :exercise:

abbyin, just wanted to say that is AWESOME that you quit smoking! To accomplish that and to maintain your weight loss at the same time is fantastic!!!

Monthly bunco party was at my house last night. cooked all day. beer and food all night. and now you know I'm not throwing that food out. so I will just work on getting back to sane. go on vacation in 2 weeks so that will be another monkey wrench in the plan. I guess I will just keep in the slow lane and still try to stay below 130 for the next month. One of these days I do plan on getting back on the fast track.
Have a good day, everyone!

Good morning all. My food was very good yesterday and this morning my scale rewarded me with a 1lb loss, down to 143 :trampo:

I'm not going to change my ticker yet, though until I see if it sticks.

Have a great day!

Good morning ladies (and any gents lurking out there!)

First of all, :cheer::cheer2::cheer3::cheer2::cheer3::cheer: for you, AbbyIN! Quitting smoking is the absolute best thing in the world you can do for yourself! I know it is hard and I will be pulling for you and sending you :dust:

Hope everyone is well today. I have had a good couple of days OP in spite of TOM arriving yesterday. Today is a run day but I might take a walk instead and run on Saturday (usually a rest day). My first full day of TOM is pretty uncomfortable.

I also got 7 hours of sleep *in a row* last night! DS slept until 6:30 -- absolutely unheard of. He's usually up around 5, sometimes earlier. So I'm feeling rested today, something I'm not very accustomed to. :) My husband is taking the kids to see his family this weekend, and I'm staying home just to have some quiet time and get some projects done around the house. I'm *so* excited to sleep late and have the house to myself for two whole days!

Is it silly that I'm already dreading winter? I seem to lose weight every spring, keep it off through the fall, and gain it back in Jan-Feb. March is always my heaviest month. I try telling myself that the sooner I get to goal, the more practice I will have at maintenance before those months arrive. :) I guess it's good that I'm thinking about it now. Failing to plan is planning to fail and all that.

Wishing everyone a great Wednesday!

ETA: Decided TOM was a lame excuse and ran 4+ slow miles. And in an NSV, decided it was hot enough (and I LOOKED hot enough ;)) to wear a cute little running tank I bought last month. :)

I lost 3 pounds in Month, which at my weight is extremely good!! I have another 5 more pounds to reach my final goal!!
Congratulations to everybody that did good this month. If you didn't, hang in there, we all have rough times during our weight loss journey...

Caribbeangirl02

Bahhh! 140.0 this morning. I know it's just water because I didn't gain 2.5 pounds overnight, but it's so frustrating! I have been in the same range for a month and I feel like I am not accomplishing anything at all, even doing around 1200 calories and working out for 30 min. every day! How do I break through this?:mad:

Bama Girl, plateaus are the worst!

You mentioned that you're working out 30mins every day. Could you switch that up to 50 mins (or even 60) 5x/week? Here's why I ask... (warning: math to follow).

Let's assume you burn 75 calories/10 minutes (a reasonable estimate I think for aerobic activity).

If you work out 30 mins/day you burn 225/workout. Do that 7 days/week, you burn 1575 calories per week.

Now, if you work out for 50 mins, you burn 375 calories/workout. Do that 5x/week, you've burned 1875. And you get two rest days.

If you work out for 60 minutes/day, 5 days/week, you're up to 2,250. And you've still got two rest days!

Of course, this might not work for you if you have to squeeze your workout in during a lunch break or before school/work, etc. Or maybe you can do a longer workout only a couple days a week. But I tell myself that every 10 minutes I add will yield tangible results.

A lot of people believe strictly in "calories in, calories out," and that it's numbers, pure and simple. Many others will swear there are ways around a purely numbers approach (increasing protein and decreasing carbs, for example). I believe that the loooonger you move your body, the better. By which I mean, the difference between 30 mins and 60 mins is more than 30 mins. I know, that doesn't make sense... but I like it. :)

I also believe that switching things up, like trying a new form of exercise, can help bust a plateau, if only because you're working a new muscle group.

Lastly, I strongly believe in at least one recovery day. I do two because I'm doing lots of running and if I don't rest my tendonitis will recur. But please consider giving your body one day to regroup. You can still do a nice easy walk, and I usually do some pushups or planks on my day off. But I give my big muscles a little break.

Take this with a grain of salt -- I'm no pro! But I read a lot. :)

I think that's a pretty good idea, actually. I work out after work, so I have plenty of time to increase my workout times. And I don't have to do the same thing for 50 minutes-- I can change it up. Thanks!

You could also increase your intensity instead of your time, go faster, do inclines, intervals....

bamagirl, I feel you. I've been playing with the same pound for 26 days now. Up one, down one. I've been following fat smash, which helped me get through two plateaus, but I've decided to switch it up. I'm going back to low-carb for a few weeks - I've been eating a lot of brown rice and beans and oatmeal, so I'm switching to egg whites, veggie sausage, and grilled chicken salads. Hopefully 2 weeks will finally help me get below 130!

I also just added in Jillian's 30Day Shred in addition to my gym workouts.

In addition to changing your exercise as suggsted above, think about calorie cycling and switching up what you eat. I'm one of those who doesn't think it's as simple as calories in, calories out. And I also find that if I'm not getting results, I get sloppy. Good luck!

Thanks for all the info and support, ladies! How is everyone doing in this last week of May?

Good Morning,
I have most of the junk food cleared out from the party - slowly getting back on track. Scale is back on 128 this morning - which today I was very happy to see again, after being up for 2 days. Weather is moving in so I have the big sinus head this morning. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

I am ready for June! How about you?

I have been at exactly 127.8 for three days! How strange is that? To not move even a tenth of a pound? Boy, if I were .8 lower, I'd say I had this maintenance thing nailed! ;)

So I mixed it up a little this morning -- ran 6.5 miles at a faster-than-6 mph pace. I usually go 4.5 or 5 miles at a slower pace. I also wasn't pushing the stroller this morning, so that makes it a lot easier to pick up the pace. My husband took all three kids to see his family this weekend so I have the house all to myself until Monday! Glorious! I love my kids but they are 24/7, especially my little guy who will 17 months old this week. It's a tough age. But I have to admit it was hard to see them go.

Now I am off to the Farmer's Market to stock up on good healthy stuff for the weekend. I have a long list of home and garden projects to do, but I'm not committed to finishing them all. My goal is to have LOTS of downtime this weekend! I would, however, like to stay on-plan. :club:

Have a great weekend everyone!

Amy

Hi ladies,

Sorry for the back-to-back postings but I have something exciting to share: GOAL!!!

:carrot::broc::cb:

Weighed myself three times just to be sure... moved the scale around... yep! 127 even. (and 126.8 once).

And it is all thanks to coming here, learning calorie counting, and getting support. So THANK YOU!

I'm off for a long walk with a friend I haven't seen in, oh, 10 pounds. I wonder if she'll notice?

Happy Memorial Day to my fellow Americans. Enjoy your day off and your cookouts!

Congrats! I am so happy for you

:D

I hope you have a nice long weekend, we don't celebrate Memorial Day here but we have a May long weekend so I will be thinking about my American cousins :)

Nice reading everyone's efforts and gaining support just from being amongst a bunch of folks all working towards the same goal. I've got myself on a 105 day plan for the summer to lose 15 pounds. I'm back to calorie counting as it's my best motivator and keeps me on track. I didn't berate myself with last week's pizza slices but it remindes me that I blew what was a perfect day for no reason.

I've taken a nine month break from my huge weight loss effort of last year. This time around I can't do anything high impact and I can't do anything at all like a lunge. My knees are shot. So, I have to basically be even more vigilant to calorie counting, life-style exercise (commuting by bike with the kids, relaxing by walking, urging my hubby to consider buying a bike or joining together for contra or square dancing as a date), and doing at least four times a week official aerobic workouts. I have to rigidly do little things when I used to do huge, major, all-encompassing, (and damaging) exercise to guarantee weight loss. This may be the best thing that happened to me because I'm very committed to losing these last 15 pounds and I can't do last years ridiculous intensity levels to achieve it.

We're joining a family for Memorial Day picnicing tomorrow. Can't wait. The family is just as committed to healthy living as we are--and they're awesome fun.

Hope everyone who gets this holiday (sorry overseas 3FC friends) enjoys.

Just hanging in there by a thread. Hope to have a good day. Habits are hard to break. But I will keep trying....

It's June! Does it matter who starts the new chat thread?