*pokes head in*

Just a quick hello!

I'm new to this forum - finally in the home stretch. Wow - is it ever hard!!

I calorie count and run. I have run a Half and a few 5k and 10k's this year. currently training for a Half on 9/3...trying to do a bit of "minimalist" running (quasi-barefoot).

One hubby, four kids (12-2), 2 daycare kids, homeschooler.

SO INSPIRED by all of you!!

Skinnyelle Just noticed your rewards, 140lbs massage! I hope you enjoyed it

FPSJ Keep going!

Ann I love the feeling of my stomach growling, so i play that game sometimes. I have to have something on hand to eat quickly when it happens, or else I get the rage!

Maylay I drink whey sometimes. I make my own yoghurt and always drain the whey off the top and add it to a protein shake for after sport. Here you can buy whey drinks but they have too much sugar in for me.

Mortonpixie Wow you've come such a long way already! I run too (not at the moment), and this year I've managed to do my 2nd 1/2 and a few 5ks. Now I have foot problems and have to have an operation (on Tuesday, eek) but after that's all healed up I'll be back to training. Have you got the toe shoes? Vibrams I think they are called? I am thinking of getting them after my feet have healed, but I have extremely flat feet and am debating whether natural running would be worse for them.

everyone else Good morning! I weighed in this morning at another new low (68kg exactly), so I've lost 0.4kg (about 1lb) this week. My original plan was to get under 68kg by the operation on Tuesday but I'm not going to force the issue. Today I'm writing my thesis corrections (what else!) and then we're going on another semi-mountain bike ride, and I might go swimming beforehand. I'm trying to get as much exercise in before I have to stop and sit on my arse for 6 days. It is going to be hard for me (

Have a nice day xx

claire0412 - I do have the Vibrams. I started by walking in them, then weight training and workout DVD's, treadmill running, and now finally road. My feet are quite flat as well. The theory with the minimalist running, is the gradual re-building of the muscles in the feet and lower leg. If you took it real slow and easy, you should be able to run barefoot just like anyone else. I'm sorry to hear about your operation. I hope everything goes well. It would be exceedingly difficult for me to sit for 6 days as well.

Sunday! Father's Day!! Got up at 5:45 and went for a 13 mile bike ride. I'm fortunate that our city has about 90 miles of paved trails for biking and running. Came back, showered, had some avocado on toast and now off to church.

Gave my hubby a hug and thanked him for being a healthy dad to our 4 kids. My dad died in 1998 from lung cancer due to smoking. Hoping our kids will still have David around when they are in their 30's!

Have a great day, all!

welcome mortonpixie.
I'm new to this group, but this has been a very welcoming thread.

Today I ate a LOT of food at my sister's brunch for my dad, but it was reasonably healthy, so I'm not going to freak out. It actually wasn't much more than I expected to, but I ate some seconds that I thought I'd be able to resist. Just realized I'm not quite as far along the "in control of what I eat" path as I might have thought.

This is really embarrassing but I binged so badly over the weekend that I blew up almost 10 pounds in 2 days.

That being said, I managed to hold off until the photos and videos of my violin performances at the charity concert were over, so at least I don't have to look at visual evidence of what I am slowly accepting is an eating disorder that will take a long time to fix, haw haw haw.

My life philosophy is: "I have to make everything funny, otherwise it all seems so sad" (Moon Unit Zappa) and times like these I can either cry and feel sorry for myself or just laugh at the absurdity of it all.

Dorian5 Geek is the only way...I'm going to try and go to Star Trek in Las Vegas in 2012 dressed as a Romulan! My bf and I played a "video game medley" on violin/electric guitar at a serious business charity concert in a church on Saturday. Zelda, Megaman II and Mario. Vacation weight gain is a drag but it truly can be reversed, and IMO the memories of total freedom from worrying about weight can be 100% happy ones.

indiblue USA! USA! I'm going to blow all my savings on health foods when I get back. I am so excited to try them all. It feels really good to have control over what you eat/time to make meals at home, enjoy that break from social butterflying!

claire You'll be fine when you go back to the UK, I think if anything being in a less healthy environment will make you all the more motivated to stay "Viennese" in body. Congrats again on your thesis, celebratory cocktails totally justified.

ann71 Interesting theory about stomach growling --> not eating for stress. How long do you wait? I have a hard time sometimes with this, either I don't wait long enough or I wait so long I get low blood pressure-y and weak.

mortonpixie That's an impressive bike ride for early morning - I'm glad your husband is healthy, everyone benefits from it. It's important to realize just how much impact our choices have on everyone. Happy Father's Day!

hey krampus,
sorry to hear about the bingeing. At least you're aware it's a "thing" and hopefully you can succeed in addressing it.

As for the stomach growling, perhaps I'm lucky in that generally, unless I'm doing strenuous exercise, having my stomach growl means I'm hungry, but not problematically hungry. So eating anywhere from immediately, if I really want to eat, to an hour later (or sometimes even more) is usually just fine for me.

krampus The quote reminds me of my Italian neighbor, who always says about living in crazy, at times infuriating, India, "If I do not laugh, I cry!"

claire congrats on the new low! best of luck for surgery- will definitely have my fingers crossed for you.

mortonpixie Welcome! Nice on the half and the bike ride! That's awesome that your city has tons of trails AND that you take advantage of it.

--
I finally bought a new scale, 2 months after mine died. It confirmed what the other scales (er.. scale + Wii Fit) said- I'm 56 kgs. That's 123.4 lbs. I have seen this number before, but had been writing it off to inaccurate scales, but this brand new one confirms it. I kind of find it hard to believe, just because I don't FEEL 123 lbs. I am also having trouble believing it because it means that I'm definitely not going to be satisfied in 3 more lbs. I'll probably have to readjust my goal to 115.

I know I'll have to reassess when I actually get to 120, but for now I'll finally change my ticker and come to terms with being 123, and all the responsibilities of being this low and having a scale to keep me accountable and continuing to lose.

ann71 - I have realized that I am in control of nothing. LOL Sounds like you are recognizing the problem (ie. seconds that you didn't need) so that's half the battle.

krampus -

indiblue - that weight number IS an inigma. I am at 161lbs - but certainly don't "feel" it. I wear a size 8 in pants and Medium shirts...I run and cycle and lift, oh my! I guess I don't really know WHAT this weight is supposed to look like...so long as my other numbers (body fat %, resting heart rate, BP) are in order, the silly weight number will come along. BTW - big wahoo on being that low...amazing!

Well - I'm home from an ill-fated run. I pulled my left hamstring last week on Wednesday and had babied it the rest of the week. Just a few steps down the trail put me in excruciating pain...no running for me the rest of the week. My old Schwinn will have to do till then - I don't like that bike, but it's all I have...beats being cooped up in the gym on the stationary trainer. I keep reminding myself - New bike in the spring!!

Hi all. I was 127.4lbs Saturday morning, but I had to film a wedding on Saturday and that means open bar and buffet of delicious food, and omg strawberry wedding cake... yeah. Oops. But yesterday (Sunday) I ate OK (maintenance), we had lean steak and vegetable kabobs for dinner. Weighed in at 129.6lbs this morning, which I hope is just a lot of water retention from the beer and bourbon I drank and the salt I ate last night.

Next weekend my boyfriend is going to visit his parents a few cities away, he'll only be gone Friday and Saturday, but I think I'll be able to stick to plan easier while he's gone. We just have such a good time going out to eat and cooking together and drinking, at the time I think it would be more mentally healthy to eat whatever and have fun... but then on Monday mornings I'm kicking myself.

I realized just now looking at pictures of me from the wedding that I look awesome in clothes, so now I just need to work on looking awesome naked.

++++

Krampus - I'm sorry to hear that you had trouble with eating this weekend, I'm sure that most of those pounds will fall right off once you get back to regular eating again. Geekdom IS life, and you would make a sexy Romulan! Do you ever upload your concerts and things online? I would love to check them out if you do! Since I am determined to be at goal by October, I am excited about Halloween costumes, the boyfriend and I are going to be Mario and Princess Toadstool, and I'm sewing a Bowser shell for my dog (L.O.L.)

OhThePlaces - I definitely felt crazy smuggling my scale, and even had to step back and decide if secretly hiding my scale to check my weight was disordered thinking or not. I decided that I would tell my boyfriend that I had brought it, and he was like "Oh good, I need to check my weight." So I felt less crazy being up front about it.

mortonpixie- I hope father's day was good for you, my father died when I was eight (1996) and sometimes father's day gets me down. Anyway, I am totally impressed by your running numbers (times, miles and whatnot) -- I love running but asthma tends to tear me down before I can get as much in as I would like to. I'm slowly getting more miles and faster times in before the tightness in my lungs forces me to stop, because I find that it's something I love! I hate to hear about your hamstring and hope that you're feeling better soon.

claire0412 - Congrats on your new low!! Good luck in surgery and don't worry too much about weight and all that when you're recovering, just be sure to heal up nice and strong so you can exercise even harder. I'm so ready to get out of this 127-129 cycle, I am inspired by your lowest weight yet since you were stuck for a little while as well.

ann71 - Maintenance for dyed hair does suck, but it's worth it to me! My hair is naturally a silver/ash color (ever since I was young) and it's just awful on me, it washes me out and I hate it, the payoff for dying my hair is so worth it. That being said, I dye my own with a $5 box of dye instead of going to the salon to save money. Great job staying healthy at brunch!! I hear you about control, I always think beforehand that I'm totally fine and plan on eating soooo healthy, then at the actual time I need to be strong, I break down.

indiblue - Congrats on 123 and almost being at goal. I am excited to see how you feel at 120lbs, that was my original goal as well -- then 118, then 115. Sometimes I wonder if I should drop it to 110, just to be sure that I feel good at goal. I keep waiting on that "happy with my body" feeling to kick in and it hasn't happened yet, I'm hoping that I can feel that way when I hit 115. Maybe it's just a matter of resetting my thinking process.

GOOD LUCK everyone.

mortonpixie I so want some Vibrams, defo going to get them when I get back to exercising. I'm glad you had a good Father's Day! We don't celebrate that in our family because our dad died when we were little, and none of my siblings have children of their own yet. Mother's Day is a big thing though

Krampus Sorry to hear about your bingeing. Do you think it might be worth going to see a doctor when you get back to the US? They could check your bloods etc and see if there is a medical reason for it (low blood sugar etc etc) and if not, maybe they could refer you on to someone who could help? I'm not sure how bad it is though, so disregard if you think you can get it under control yourself. Chin up though, the water weight will melt off once you're back to normal eating.

ann I;m the same, I have up to 1 hr from stomach rumbling before I get snappy hungry. Whenever I say I'm starving, my boyfriend feeds me quickly to tame the beast!

indiblue Great news, well done!! I know what you mean about maybe revising goals though, I am going to have to do the same. An extra kilo is not going to shift my extra fat pocket under my belly, grr.

Dorian Ah yeah I had to do this 4 day 'get rid of your belly' diet to get myself out of the 69.soemthing kg stage. It rose to over 70kg during my period, and I thought '**** no', read the diet in the magazine and did it. Worked like a treat and now it seems to be on the move again.

I know I should just enjoy doing nothing and chill while I'm recovering, but th day after I get the bandages off my feet (1st August), we're going on a three week backpacking trip to Turkey and the Greek Islands. I've had just about enough of hating my holiday pictures, so I want to be happy with my bikini body by then. I guess that means I'm going to have to diet / exercise the best I can with my broken foot...

I'm planning on eating whatever I want tomorrow, the actual day of the op, which I'm happy about because there is a Starbucks at the hospital and my bf is paying, haha. From Wednesday on, until I go back to work on Monday, I'm gonna go back on the diet I went on to get me out of my 69.something kg static. I think it's from a Cynthia Sass book. Anyway, 1,200 calories is more than enough considering all I'll be doing is sitting on my backside and hopping between the toilet and the sofa. When I go back to work I'll start trying Pilates and eating more calories and see how I go. My boyfriend actually offered to take all the chocolate we have in the flat to work and bring it back in the evenings so I don't sit around and eat out of boredom. I think he was joking (he thinks i'm being neurotic) but I might actually take him up on it!

Anyways, I'm sure I'll be on here a lot over the next few days because I won't have much else to do! Have a nice day xx

claire0412 Wishing you well on your surgery! The massage was awesome and much needed. Thanks!

mortonpixie Welcome! Hi!

I gave myself the rare guilt-free 24 hours of freedom from calorie counting this weekend, from Saturday evening to Sunday evening. I didn't over-do it and stuff myself, but I did partake in many delicious foods and four drinks on my Saturday night/Sunday morning date and also a burger, chips, and a little icecream on Father's Day. Happily, I maintained my exact weight from Friday.

Hey all, thanks for the support and hugs and whatnot. I'm 4.4 lbs down overnight (?!?) after hopping right back on plan yesterday. My mission this week is to be fairly "hardcore" as I want to wear my backless New Years Eve dress to a party on Saturday but I was prob. 5 lbs lighter then. Right now it feels like stuffing a kielbasa into a Vienna sausage casing, and I don't want to have to resort to Spanx!

Dorian5 I have faith in you, you'll be just fine. I hear you on welcoming the chance to stay on-plan over the weekend - it's rare for that to happen when you've got a busy/active social life and a boyfriend. The violin stuff isn't up yet, so far just a Youtube clip of me playing the melodica while my friend sings Justin Bieber...ha! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iBXN97kM6Q

claire Best to you with your operation! You'll be just fine. Re: binging, I'm going to join Overeaters Anonymous when I go home. After seeing a photo of myself taken mid-two-day-binge where I was smiling and looked great I have a vision of starting an awareness campaign about how binge eaters come in all shapes and sizes.

Just checking in to say WOOO I finally figured out to add an avatar. lol. AAfter a little over-indulging yesterday evening, I kicked my own *** at the gym this morning and stayed within my calories.

Krampus, I just watched the video... too funny. You are super cute! Glad a lot of the weekend weight fell right off.

Claire, best wishes tomorrow during your operation!

Skinnyelle, such a great reward idea! I have a hair appointment next Tuesday. I'm hoping that I'm at 135 by then so I can count it as a reward! Haha

Dorian, my husband has been gone for almost 6 months (deployed) and it has definitely been easier to eat healthy without him! lol

krampus just snuck a peek at your YouTube clip! That was awesome :0)! I dont play any instruments but I always wanted to learn. How cool! Still envious of those legs! Ill be on treadmill bright and early in the morning, lol.

ohtheplaces Yes it makes this weight loss adventure much more enjoyable and bearable. Enjoy the hair appt and definitely count it as a reward.