Hey there, Feathers. It's been a long time since I posted here. I haven't really been on 3FC much lately.

I hit my goal of 125 sometime this past June after over 1 1/2 years of weight loss. I'm still struggling to get back to goal. My weight has slowly climbed upward since a vacation I took in the summer. I've had the hardest time getting back on track, until November. Lately I've been "on fire" so to speak, with doing all the right things. Just today I ran a 5K race with my neighbor. I'm also signed up to run another one Thanksgiving morning. I'm doing really well lately!

Of course Thanksgiving is coming, as are the holidays. Lots of temptations for sure. And I know my eating won't be perfect. My philosophy is to be as good as I can now, to kind of "bank" a lot of good days. Hope it works for me!

This weight loss thing is such a journey of ups and downs. But it can be managed with dedication. My pants have been fitting a lot better lately. I have a cute outfit for Thanksgiving. It's all good. But I do want to see 125 again. Maybe after the holidays! But I need to make sure I don't dig myself too big of a hole with holiday eating.

Just wanted to say "hey", and I'm hoping to post a little more if I can. Hang in there, Feathers!

Good Morning feathers and happy Monday! Its a short week - yay!

It seems during the Holidays weekends are always such a challenge. But I am very proud of myself. I have been doing relatively well considering the challenges and temptations I have faced. This weekend was no different. I went to a ball Saturday for a charity event. It was a blast! Although I went to 2000 calories on Friday and around 2400 on Saturday, I still managed to maintain (I think my carb theory works well for me on drinking days). The not so good news; I doubt Ill make goal by Thanksgiving. But as long as the scale reads 128.8 or lower, I'd be thrilled! Its tough during Thanksgiving break. The drinking starts Wednesday night and continues on through the weekend! Not to mention all of the eating. I hope I can come back a week from now still in the 120's!!

Just a quick check in! Busy at work today with it only being a 2.5/day work week! :D

Have a great Monday feathers!

You all may have noticed, I tend to disappear when I'm off the wagon....

Dianne- You're truly an inspiration!

Krampus- I'm with you girl.

By some miracle, I was still 125 this morning after a week of not weighing because I didn't want to know how bad I'd screwed myself. I had gotten down to 123 but I'm just thankful that it's not worse than it is. I'm going to try today to turn it around and meditate on why I need to do that for myself. My mind does this thing where it kind of lets me block out things temporarily to binge and I lose sight of my goals. Back on the wagon... Happy Monday!

Today went rather well except I got really tipsy off of 2 beers and ended up nibbling on the complimentary beer snacks at the dinner place and then stopped for ice cream on the way home. Total calories still under 1800 for the day and I had veggies with peanut sauce and fruit for dinner so I don't feel too bad. Just a little silly. Going to drink my "Sleepytime" tea and chug a bunch of water before bed. Weighed 57.2 kg after my 40 minute mediocre run today.

Morning everyone! Hope your all doing good.

I guess were all going through a bit of a rough patch. I am too. I still weighed 136 lbs but thats my fault since i screwed up big time on saturday. It was my tom and i think i devoured two bags of chocolate coverd almonds and lots and lost of mixed nuts. Not to mention a huge bag of popcorn the ones with cheddar on it. Thankgod its Friday so we can all get a FRESH start.

Good luck everyone on this week and have a perfect or close enough week!

Krampus - Do you mind me asking your measurements? We are the same height and almost the same weight - Id be curious to see how close our measurements are!

Hey all.... glad to know I'm not the only one hitting a little speed bump.

Weighing in on Wednesday... will report back. Until then, must stay on plan until Thanksgiving!

P.S.
I think we all deserve a pat on the back.... not many people out there have the willpower to try and actively lose weight during the holidays. Yay us!

This is it. I go in for surgery tomorrow morning. A little nervous but also really excited.

I've been keeping calories around 1200 the last week, and the scale has shown 126.x the last few days. I've been warned that the fluid retention after surgery will likely add 3-4 pounds for nearly a week, so I'm sure that I won't be seeing that weight again for a while. I'm also not allowed to do any weight lifting for 3-4 weeks after surgery (and no cardio for 1 week; after that, I can do non-impact things like the bike or elliptical), so I fully expect to get a bit of muscle atrophy and stall on the fat loss. I can accept all of that as long as I end up with "breast-shaped breasts" at the end.

In case I'm not in any shape to post for a few days, I wish a happy Thanksgiving to all of you.

Neurodoc, good luck! I hope it goes well!

FPSJ, my speed bump is more like I giant concrete retaining wall. :( But I am treating each stumble as a learning experience. I really believe that hard times and challenges are our opportunities to learn. And boy am I schooling myself these past few weeks.

Good news bad news from the doctor yesterday. Good news: he does not think my hair loss is related to my weight loss. DH and I were pretty sure of that because my calories were never that low, but I was a little worried. The bad news: it's a fungus. Yuck! Fungus! Nothing weird or exotic. Just one of those random things that got a hold of me. So now I have to set aside my fancy shampoo for a month and use an anti-fungus shampoo and in 4 weeks or so my hair should be intact. Yea for modern medicine!

In other good health news, I've been diet-soda-free for three days. I wasn't really drinking it before I started losing weight -- I kind of started using it as a "treat." I know it's not good for me and I cringe at the thought of drinking a can of chemicals every day. So now I'm having a cup of unsweetened tea with my afternoon snack.

I am rethinking my baking plans for the holidays. I'm just not sure it's in my best interest. It's hard -- I really enjoy baking with my kids and for me, having lots of homemade cookies and treats around is part of the holidays. But I know myself. I know myself. Willpower only goes so far. I guess if I really want the experience of baking, we can always drop our creations off in the teachers' lounge at my daughters' school or send them to work with DH. Then I just have to resist for one day. :o Still not easy.

Tonight I am baking two pies and three batches of bread (I am thinking I will be up quite late!). No snacking options though. The pies are for teachers and the breads are coming with us to my inlaws for Thanksgiving. Oh yes, don't forget the 2nd batch of cranberries. I made cranberry bourbon sauce last night. Tonight I'll make cranberry-mandarin.

Hope everyone has a great Tuesday!

Same7.........I hear you, I hear you, I hear you on the holiday baking. For years, I've made homemade treats as gifts for neighbors. And I know they loved them and looked forward to them, because I got the reputation as the "neighborhood chef" in our neighborhood. Potlucks, picnics, holidays, whatever, I was the one to bring the treats everyone loved. But last year, I just couldn't do it. I couldn't trust myself to make all that chocolate and not pig out on it myself. So I bought ornaments for each of them instead! THE HORROR! They all know about my weight loss (how could they not notice my changing size and me running in the neighborhood constantly). I explained that I just couldn't bake this year. Everyone was totally fine with it, too. So I'm not baking this year either.

I love baking with the kids, too, and that's something that makes me a little sad sometimes. I feel like my food addictions are depriving them of some experiences sometimes. I think your idea about baking and then getting it all out of the house the next day is a good one. Our tradition around here has been to make gingerbread cookies. So we ARE going to do it one day. I'm just putting it off until as close to Christmas as possible so I won't snack on them for weeks on end. And I can give them away on Christmas, too. Years past, we'd pretty much bake treats the entire month of December, and we'd eat them nonstop the whole month, too! That wouldn't be a healthy choice for me or my kids, so I figure I'm actually doing something good for them by scaling down the treats around here.

Hi everyone,

thanks for the kind words regarding the situation with my sister. It's really frusterating sometimes listening to her go on about her appearence, blah blah blah. I am perhaps more grounded because I work in the corporate world in a very male dominated industry, but I don't want people judging me on my appearence - I want to get ahead for being smart. I guess that makes me a giant nerd. :P I did cave in and invite her for thanksgiving even though I was upset about the comments at the last get together. Well just try to keep everything in perspective.

Weekend was hard, I kinda gave up a bit on dieting. Friday we ordered take out and it was so delicious I could not stop eating it. I ate until I was stuffed and then ate more. I was up 2 lbs Saturday morning.

Saturday I did well and made it to a bikram yoga class where the teacher spent most of the class trying to break me down. Apparently there is some sort of mentality in bikram yoga that if you can put up with the crap from the teacher and the heat and all that, then you can put up with anything. What does not kill me makes me stronger? I am not buying it. I was ready to walk out of class and his studio forever but I stuck it out. A woman talked to me after class saying he just teaches like that and to please come back. Then she told me my entire body will change if I keep up the bikram yoga. I felt super self concious being told this - I guess she noticed I am the fat one in the class. Sigh. I made a goal in the exercise thread to get to 4 bikram classes this month and I don't think I can bring myself to go back honestly. Sigh.

I was back to 141 this morning. Back on 1500 calories after a break on the weekend. This month has sucked, I can't believe I have only lost 2 lbs. I am sort of ready to give up on dieting all together, honestly. I might be happier eating whatever I want and weighing 150 lbs then going hungry constantly and being 140. I just don't know...

WOW! I have never done bikram yoga (my friends telling me that puking and passing out were regular occurrences turned me off plus I get overheated anyway in a regular yoga class). I am surprised to hear that bikram is so philosophically different than other types of yoga. My instructors have been the kindest, gentlest people you will ever find on the planet and spend the class telling you not to be hard on yourself :goodvibes. I am definitely not cut out for bikram! I push myself really hard in yoga but to subject myself to someone who will add to my insecurities - **** no. Be kind to yourself, girl! Unless you start to dig the boot-camp nature of getting :kickbutt:

Yep. I'm in the same mindset. I am going to play it by ear and see what happens through December but I plan to shift my mentality to that of a maintainer next year. It just sounds so appealing. I know I still have to be vigilant but I feel so consumed by this for the last year. I'm ready to move on!

I had a birthday celebration dinner last night and I did OK! No bump in the scale. I shared a cheese plate, and I had most of mine on apple slices instead of the baguette. I had a green salad with roasted squash and pumpkin seeds. I shared a smoked salmon plate. And then I had 2 chocolate-covered figs for dessert. One delicious glass of red wine. Heaven! Ah, I miss eating out at fancy restaurants. I've mostly given it up since I've been "trying to lose weight."

Next hurdle: Thanksgiving. I am making some healthy sides (roasted brussels sprouts, mmm, something with roasted winter squashes, and a healthy REAL green bean casserole) but the dessert and wine will be hard. I'm planning to eat lightly and exercise that day and then not keep raiding the leftovers :D

Baking - ugh - don't want to think about it. I haven't baked in a year, except bread, and I have all but given that up as well.

Kellost and changed - welcome back! My plan is to keep checking in here over the holidays and not gain 8 lbs like I did last December.
neurodoc - best wishes for a safe surgery
krampus - how are you able to estimate the calories for all those things when you are out? I try but man, there are so many things to think about :dizzy:
Chelsey Dianne - you are doing so great! Did you find out you were 5'5" not 5'6"? I missed that...

Thanks EmmaD!

I think it is a sort of bikram way...I don't mind the heat so much, it's the teachers who are a total pain. I don't enjoy being yelled at via a microphone. It's not relaxing to me, it's not motivating, I think it's dumb I would subject myself to it! I like the heat though, I was worried about it too as I get dizzy in the shower a lot. But once you start sweating you cool off and I don't find it so bad.

Dianne, please don't laugh at my measurements. I am 32.5-26.5-35. Nothing up top, not much on the bottom, but still plenty fluffy around the middle. Those are "old" measurements from 1 lb ago in the opposite direction too so now I imagine my waist is 27 or something. Sigh.

EmmaD I kind of don't always approximate "out" calories, especially in situations where I know I'm overeating. Those situations become "tomorrow is a new day" meals...

Another day off, another buffet yesterday. I have a Tupperware full of vegetables and a mandarin orange for lunch. I'm at 128 today and while I was ogling myself in mirrors all day yesterday, I would still like to lose. Unfortunately there's an upcoming overnight work trip on Friday night where the entire focus is on drinking beer and eating gigantic meals. Everyone is served the exact same thing so I can't get something different, and it's always about as interesting as watching paint dry so I inevitably wind up cleaning my plate.

Bikram yoga sounds interesting. I'd like to try it when I move back to the U.S. Always "when I move back." I'll join a gym when I move back. I'll make fancy salads for meals when I move back. I'll do it when I move back.

Hey everyone,

Well i screwed up again too. I don't know what it is about this week. I have my bestfreinds birthday party coming up and its a 4 day event of drinking, clubbing, and eating cake. And i have been so anxious about it. Therefore i have been eating which i dont know how that jutifies my eating. I guess i havent been out in so long. I have ignored every social situation where ther has been food and i am just anxious of how i am going to act. Does anyone feel like this or felt like that? I drive the three hour drive on thursday and wont be back til sunday. I am just a nervous wreck. I couldnt get out of it and i dont want to either. But its should i or should i not. sigh...

It's not "one or the other" and it doesn't have to be. I do totally understand your anxiety. I go out every weekend and I spend the day before mentally prepping myself. I try to eat as lightly as possible, tiny breakfast and small lunch, so that when evening comes I'll still have a bunch of calories left over. Often I drink and get the munchies and indulge them. There can be small gains but even on the worst of weekends a couple days back on plan fixes it.

Clubbing counts as exercise. Drink less and dance harder.

LOVE IT! Plan to practice this tonight :) No scale movement today, but to be quite honest, I'd really be pleased if I just maintained until the end of the month. It's so hard to actively lose weight when you're surrounded by holiday eating.

I'm right there with you in terms of the getting anxious about public uncontrolled eating situations.

Today my plan is to eat a good breakfast (done), log some quality gym time this morning, salads and fruit for the rest of the day, and plenty of dancing tonight.

Hope you all have wonderful day :)

Man, I'm jealous of you ladies. I will be spending tonight sipping tea with my inlaws, probably watching the news on their tiny tv while sitting on their horribly uncomfortable couch. We will talk about things like the garden club and small-town politics. :rolleyes:

I confided to a friend that I was worried that it would rain on Thanksgiving, and that I'd be anxious and not able to fully enjoy the meal if I didn't get my run in. She looked at me like I had two heads. I thought she'd get it b/c she is overweight and trying to lose, but I think she thinks that I'm "skinny now" and I don't have to worry about it. ~sigh!~

Krampus, I'm not going to laugh at your measurements because they're pretty darn close to mine! ;)

Lose25, I get where you're coming from. I think some of my recent bingeing is due to anxiety about gaining weight over the holidays. Nope, doesn't make any sense. Drives me crazy. But I'm trying to learn.

Neuro, I hope your recovery is going well!

Kellost, :wave:. Good to see you! You've given me a good idea -- I will decide on a few baking projects that are true traditions, and do those. All the incidentals will have to be shelved at least for this year, but probably forever. And I will focus on things that can be given away (oh no, am I becoming a food pusher?)

I will probably be offline for a few days. By some miracle my inlaws got highspeed wireless internet (this, from people who don't have cable), but there is no privacy there. None. They have no concept.

Happy Thanksgiving :thanks2: to all my American friends. And to those of you on the international scene, have a great, healthful week!

So, I had brownie a la mode last night.
The crazy, crazy thing--my calories came out only 55 over my goal, with my macronutrients right in perfect range. I even put my light salad dressing over my McDonalds salad (Southwest) last night and had an extra piece of bread when I got home because I was hungry--and I still hit my mark.
Weird. Really, really weird.

Happy Thanksgiving Eve Feathers!!

Krampus - I would not laugh at those measurements. I cannot believe how much my boobs have gone down. I went from around a 34 full C to a 32 barely B :?: I am a total pear. I think thats why I am getting frustrated. I am losing up top, which is great for the stomach but not losing in my legs or my arms! And I find thin "limbs" so attractive. Right now my measurements are
32-25.5-37! I hope the last ten pounds come from my arms, legs and one more inch in my stomach :D Wishful thinking again! :dizzy:

Amy - As not fun as that sounds lol, the bright side is you will be able to maintain, or even lose!!

OneofTwelve - Congrats on staying in your calorie range AND macronutrient range while treating yourself. Thats impressive!!

Emma - That is so cute that you called me by my first and middle name :) Thanks for the acknowledgement but I have been slipping up a lot :(

Man OH man is it hard to stay on plan during the Holidays. My new goal for Christmas is 127 (it was 125). Its just so hard between the holidays and friends birthdays. Now I am hoping to reach my goal of 120 by Spring Break. We'll see.

Everyone have a GREAT thanksgiving!!! Be safe!!

Hey everyone! Thanks for the wisdom and words. I guess your allright i am going to drink less i mean who are you kidding i am the girl that gets drunk with two tequilla shots so i wont have any problems with little drinking and i do dance a lot. So that will be my workout. I guess i am going to prep myself menatlly and have a talk in my bathroom mirror and in her bathroom mirror everytime i excuse myself. Also i have GAINED two lbs so everyone else who has lost CONGRATULATIONS!! Very proud of you guys. I am just mad at myself for falling offf so much. I think its because i am thinking after this birthday i will have a fresh start. But no this will be my fresh start and i wil just have to be extra prepared.

To all the Americans have a wonderful thanks giving and enjoy all the delicious food. Everyone else have a wonderful weekend. It feels like a friday for some reason....

It is a minefield to stay good this time of year. My Germany (Dec. 26) goal was 122 a blue moon and a half ago. Now I just look at that and laugh. I'm going to change it to 124. I'm still 128...

Today is Thanksgiving but it's just another work day for me. I'm going to eat on plan and go for a run in the bitter cold in celebration. I made lemon pasta with eggplant and spinach for lunch and I can't WAIT to eat it. Went shopping yesterday and NSV ALERT found my calves fit comfortably into all boots at the stores now. Wasn't always the case! XD

Dianne Ugh you have such a tiny waist! Jealous! I gotta get there. I think I may have "graduated" from 34A to 32A, hard to tell.

Happy Thanksgiving Feathers! Just a quick check in!

129 on the dot today. So I didnt make it to goal. I am still happy with where I am!!

Krampus - you have small hips - I am jealous of THAT!

Have a great day everyone!!

Happy Thanksgiving, Feathers! I just got back from running the "Gobble Gobble 5k" here in my hometown. It was a cold, wet, morning but I did it! It feels good. Maybe it will offset the pie I'm planning on eating later tonight.

Have a great holiday!

Happy T-giving everyone. I'm 2nd day post-op now, still pretty sore but absolutely thrilled with my results so far. Not to get too graphic, but I had "stage IV ptosis" of the breasts, which translates into layman's terms as "extremely droopy; pointed straight down." For the first time in my adult life, my boobs actually project forward from my ribcage.

Can't trust my weight because I'm pretty swollen (gained 5 pounds overnight after the surgery), so I'm not weighing for a few days. The bad news is, I'm not allowed to exercise for at least a week, (and no weight-lifting for 3-4 weeks) which will make it that much harder to get through the holidays without true weight gain. Thankfully, I am also not at all hungry, probably from the lingering effects of anesthesia, pain meds and the metabolic shifts from the surgery.

I hope you all manage to eat exactly what you were planning to today. Good luck!

Neurodoc. I am glad your operation went well. Just rest for a bit and heal completely and youll be back in the gym in no time.

Krampus i feel you. I might have to chnage my december goal as well. November was a fail for me. Ithink i lost like 2 lbs. I am going to weigh in on the 30th hopefully a whole month didnt go to waste and ill see another 2lbs loss.

I am off to a weekend of craziness and club workouts. Hopefuly ill be super motivated and get back on the wagon after a weekend of fun. Have a great thanks giving everyone.

Down to 57.2 today/126 exactly after ONE DAY of being on plan. Ran for about 5-6 miles last night (1 hour at a jog pace) and did pushups, crunches and leg lifts. Today is a "thin" day. I could totally make my Dec. 1 goal if it weren't for this weekend of landmines. Sigh. Always something.

Being an expat on Thanksgiving is always a little sad. I tried to make an omelette for dinner but the egg ripped so it turned into a scramble. Ended up watching Dr. Who and crying like a baby because I'm so darn attached to the characters.

Getting down that quickly with exercise motivates me to work out more Krampus! :)

Good morning all. It's the morning after thanksgiving, and I've never been heavier. :-( Ugh. Feel exhausted. That is all.

Well, yesterday I weighed 135.4 (I weigh myself daily), and today I weighed 138.4. But getting back in my groove (eating well) sounds really good to me right now. Onward!

Woof. Lotta calories happened yesterday.

But, it happened... and now it's over. I'm ready to get back on track, starting this morning with a healthy breakfast.

Next up: Break a major, major sweat.

Looking forward to getting back into my routine. As for Christmas.... I'm almost thankful I have to work! Hahaha.

Hope you all had a great Holiday. Again, pats on the back to us for working toward our goals during this caloric landmine that is the Holiday Season.

Have a relaxing, healthy day!

-FPSJ

Just want to say hello to everybody -- I took some time off during my trial maintenance period, but I've decided to lose some more. Hope everyone's grooving and doing well. There's no Thanksgiving where I live so it's been business as usual, and now I'm about to go brave the snow to grab some stuff for the fridge while the shops are still open. Hope everyone that did get together with their friends and family had a good time. :)

Five stone welcome!!

Well i weighed in today and shocking and suprisingly i am at a 135 lbs! How did that happen?! I have no idea at all. I have been eating little so maybe thats why. Hopefully ill get to at least a 132 lbs or 133 lbs by tuesday.

Hello Feathers!

Well, I am happy to be weighing in at 125.4 today. Thanksgiving was, well, it was HUGE. We went to my inlaws for a couple days and had dinner at the home of their friends who are big foodies. The food was phenomenal. Everything was delicious. I tried parsnips for the first time, in a delicious parsnip-apple puree. I ate far too much dessert on Thursday and on Friday.

I ran a Turkey Trot on Thursday, a cross-country 5K in 26:07. I ran there and back, too, for a total run of maybe 5.5 miles. I ran another 5.7 or so on Friday in a vain attempt to offset desserts. :dizzy:

Now I am back home and planning for a solid on-plan week before my first Christmas party on the 4th.

Anyone do any Black Friday shopping?

Yup, I joined the crazies out there on black Friday--got myself a $5 pair of brown dress pants and a group Christmas gift for my five youngest siblings, and a diet root beer for me :). Total costs under $18. :)

The scale has been almost humerous since my surgery:
Tues: 126.2 (pre-op)
Wed: 131.6
Thurs: 129.2
Fri: 126.8
Sat: 128.4
Please note; lowest post-op weight so far has been the morning after the T-giving feast.

I am really missing doing some exercise. I went walking yesterday, but that hardly counts (it wasn't brisk enough to get my HR up). And unfortunately, my appetite's back now, and I've been home all day, so it's a struggle not to overeat by snacking.

Same7, good for you on that running; keeping up with good habits even if you overindulge is a smart way to stay the course. I think it's much easier to eat healthy when you've been out exercising; it definitely makes me feel more motivated to "not keep blowing it."

Well, had what must have been a water-weight miracle this morning. Despite continued holiday overeating, am three pounds down.

Finally, after punishing me horribly all week, the scale decides to give me a break. I will try to take that and run with it today!

Just had my Thanksgiving feast tonight at a friend's house. Potluck dinner with about 25 guests. I never cease to amaze myself with how much freaking food I am capable of eating. People were commenting on it and then finishing their sentences with "...but you're skinny now so you can eat whatever you want." That's not how it works, but I'm not gonna lie - I wore a super tight turtleneck to "show off" the losses (a lot of the guests are people I haven't seen in a while).

As for the teacher trip Friday night, as soon as everyone was drunk they bombarded me with comments about my weight loss! I figured they either didn't notice, but all my coworkers ranging from fellow English teachers to the vice principals were red-faced drunk asking me about how I lost weight etc. Can't say my ego didn't smile a bit. :)

Petrified of weighing myself tomorrow morning. Maybe I just won't do it.

Krampus, first of all, congrats.

Have to say, though, my goal is to lose my excess weight (all new, all gained in the past two years) slowly enough so that people don't really *notice* in a big way. Reason being, I'm so ashamed to have gained it in the first place, so aware of how fast and surprising my pile-on was, that I want to pretend it never even happened.

Can anyone relate?

Joan, I felt the same way, for much the same reasons (gained 20 pounds in ~2 years). I was a "stealth dieter" - even kept wearing the same wardrobe when it was starting to fall off me, belted and pinned at the waist, so people wouldn't notice the new outfits. It was only when I'd lost 10 pounds OVER my pre-weight gain weight that I had the courage to come out of the closet (love that pun).

I also have to say that most people, especially male coworkers, are quite oblivious to moderate amounts of weight change. It usually takes AT LEAST 20 pounds up or down for the average acquaintance to notice a change, and I bet it could be a lot more than that if you're heavier to start with.