I was kinda excited to find out that I am taller than I thought I was. All of my adult life I have thought I was 5' 5". I have no idea when I last measured myself, but I am 34 years old and pretty sure I haven't grown taller in the last decade. We measured my 13-year-old this weekend and he was 5' 4". I said no way, I know I am more than an inch taller than him, and so they measured me. Turns out, I'm 5' 6". For some reason, it makes me feel thinner LOL

On another note, I haven't had a completely on plan week in probably a month, so I am declaring this week 100% on plan starting today. The weight is bouncing between 130 and 132. I normally don't have weight fluctuations, but my eating has been pretty erratic lately.

Oh, and a NSV, I took my boys to a waterpark this weekend, putting on a swimsuit for the first time since last summer. I didn't feel like a beached whale. I didn't feel the need to run from the pool to the towel ASAP after exiting the water. I laid in a lounge chair without a coverup. I certainly am not anywhere near close to being what anyone would consider a beach body, but I was comfortable...in a swimsuit, HUGE NSV for me.

Aimee Thank you for the kind words but unfortunately those pics were before the 7 pounds of solid fat gain. So I dont look the same as those. Thank you though. It doesn't matter. Their mean words are only motivating me more

Congrats on your little NSV. Isn't that such a wonderful feeling? And finding out you are a whole inch taller?! That's awesome. Means you can be 5 pounds heavier

Good morning feathers and happy hump day from Japan! I'm pleased that my weekend water weight has already fallen off and I'm back at 129.6 lbs!!! Got in a run (~3 miles) yesterday and feel slightly less flabby, though there is still work to be done. I have exactly three weeks left until I'm done with work and my visa expires, and 25 days until I move back to America.

My plans for resettlement in Austin have been waylaid because my boyfriend suddenly decided he was going to apply to law school at Stanford. I'm fine with it because honestly I was starting to feel skeptical about the move and leaving NY/my parents so soon, so this is kind of a relief.

Just for laughs, here's a (really attractive) photo of me eating a giant turkey leg at the "Freedom Fest" this past weekend, it was probably the healthiest thing they had at the whole fest: http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...7_675692_n.jpg

***

aimeebell WOW finding out you're taller than you thought is the best! I nearly crapped my pants (sorry for vulgarity) when I found out I was 164.5 cm instead of 163 cm tall. Congratulations on the swimsuit victory too, it's no small feat to feel at ease in swimsuits!

Dianne Tough critics - but then again it sounds like you hang out with exclusively buff gym rat type people. Since when have you had a boyfriend, is this new? Either way you are definitely not "a big girl" by any standard, and I know you know this...but damn, still harsh. Keep fighting the good fight.

skinnyelle Sailors were good, I drank a lot of tequila and danced with one who later turned out to look like a potato with a mustache. Serves me right. How was your weekend?

mortonpixie Your weekend sounds really good, especially with the running and biking and whatnot! Happy new year and congrats on that awesome bike.

claire By now you must be able to tell how many calories are in what foods, or at least be able to estimate - you'll be fine. It's good to keep feeling neurotic and OCD at bay.

sumire 215 pushups and 80 pullups? You're a BEAST and it shows, your arms look amazing.

Dorian5 NICE WORK on the 125.0, working hard and getting results! You're an inspiration! I saw your photos in another thread, you're such a bombshell it's ridiculous.

I meant to do personals, but I'm TIRED! And I didn't even do that much painting stuff today. It was hot though. I have a ton of respect for people who do active outdoor work all the time. (although, man, I could eat a ton if I did! )

I went a little over my calorie goal today, but I felt like my body really needed the fuel.

Hope everyone had a great day.

Dianne Your friends sound really mean :s. Just take the moral highground and think in your head you are a nicer person!

amiebell Wow swimsuit without covering up straight away, great NSV! I'm aiming for that on holiday, but I always cover up automatically.

Krampus ha interesting about Stanford, I might end up there next year if my bf gets his way!

skinnyelle You're right, sometimes we all need a break!

mortonpixie I am so jealous of your new bike and your biking/running plans! Have a good time.

Ann Don't stress about the calories, if you were physically hungry your body needed them!

I am loving this not counting calories! Turning down Coca-Cola Light and 80 calorie muesli bars is good for me, I was starting to get ridiculous about eating unhealthy, low calorie things just so mfp would look better. Ridiculous. Today I've bought some figs and am gonna make some hummous and a big salad for lunch, had a nice low carb breakfast (over easy eggs, baked beans and zucchini). As long as pre-packaged, sweet things don't creep in I think I can lose weight like this.

In other news, had my stitches out and the doc is really pleased with the progress and I can stop using crutches, so that's good! Although the arm workout was good!

Have a nice day

Dianne, I am disgusted by your so-called friends' behavior. Very rude. I do think you should cut your BF some slack, though. By saying he likes your shape, maybe he means literally that, not that he likes your shape despite its being "imperfect" somehow. I think our SOs, if they are otherwise kind and loving, should have their comments taken at face value. Boys do NOT understand body image issues in quite the same way, IMHO. They have their own, believe me, but it's not quite the same.

Krampus, good luck on getting ready to come back to the states! I hope if you settle back close to home that it's a happy time for you! Also, in your photo, even with the goofy eating shot, you look really cute and like you're having fun.

I'm back to 118 today after my initial return to maintenance mode. Argh. Frustrating. I suspect I'm PMS-y bloated, but I'm also feeling a near-desperate need to get back into running. I ordered several new workout videos this morning as motivation/reward for renewed workout vigilance, because at this point it really is all about the exercise for me. My food has been almost entirely fresh, organic produce lately, but I have done very little cardio. Consistent cardio workouts are apparently the magic bullet for me.

Hi all. I'm brand new to IP. Getting my packets today and starting on Saturday. Just curious as to on average how much everyone lost in a week. I only have about 17 pounds to go and was hoping for 2-2.5 pounds a week. Is this realistic. Excited to get started.

aimeebell - wow, most of us are shrinking and YOU are getting taller! That does give you a few more pounds leeway - sweet! I'm glad you felt confident in your bathing suit, what a great feeling!!

krampus - that photo was very cute! Great job on the run and the low weight!

ann71 - glad you got some work done, feed that body if it shouts!

claire0412 - so glad your incision is healing nicely. Your dedication to a healthy diet is responsible for your speedy healing - nicely done!

kat999 - maybe you could start an exercise accountability thread where we could talk about our workouts and keep each other going. What videos did you order? I have 4 children, exercise DVD's are my lifeline! I recently did the INSANITY workouts, wow - that was amazing!

Celticgirl - I'm not familiar with the Ideal Protein diet, but with only 17lbs to loose, I would think that 2-2.5lbs per week is about double what you can expect. Sorry.

---------------------------------------------------

Well, happy Wednesday everyone!

I got up at 5 and went for a 1000m swim at the YMCA. I got home and managed to make coffee and some eggs, eat and welcome my daycare boy before any of our kids got up! My swim was good - I'm working on bi-lateral breathing with my freestyle stroke. I did half the workout with the backstroke because I LIKE that one!

I think I might starve to death...I'm taking in 1700, as a base, and sometimes eating back a few hundred of my exercise calories! I feel like I try to fill a bottomless pit all morning...then it evens out by afternoon. I always have a gigantic salad for lunch and all that veg helps!

If the sun comes out - I'm going to let the kids splash in the wading pool out back. I need to go dump some rain water out of it...grr... Yesterday I dumped it and washed it out, blew it up a bit and filled it so that it could warm up - then it RAINED! I guess it's like what happens when you wash your car!

Have a super day everyone!

That would be great. I can start up a thread to that effect. I ordered a few strength training workouts from Jari Love, because I'd heard great things about her stuff being very P90X-ish but a little more doable, kind of like a way to eventually work up to P90X. Strength training is also kind of my "treat" workout, so while I know I need to get back into running, I figure if I run, say, 2 days in a row, I should get a strength WO as a reward.

There's now a July Feathers Workout Accountability thread here.

Happy Hump Day feathers!

Is it sad that you all seem to be better friends than some of the people I surround myself with? One of my sisters, who I always run to when people make mean comments to me, had similar reactions to yours. She really doesnt understand why I get so many comments about my weight. She said "I'm bigger than you and I dont get near as many comments". It got me thinking, maybe it is true; that you can will something on yourself with your mind. Maybe because I am so worried about it all the time and so consious about people making comments about my weight that I actually inadvertently will it on myself? Regardless, I have grown up with comments like that and have learned to ignore them. Its just been hard to brush it off latley because of my insecurity with my weight gain. Thank you all for your support. I seriously really appreciate it.

Krampus You are in the 120's!!!!! Thats so weird, I just wrote yesterday that you should be in the 120's in no time! hah well now you are!! What a great feeling. I know youve mentioned it before, but where are you moving in the US? Im excited for you!!

Also, I remember you had "gained" back up into the 130's not too long ago. What have you been doing to get back into the 120's? Where have your calories been and have you been exercising?

And yes! I recently met this guy about 3 months ago and weve been dating for almost a month. Hes a sweetheart!! The age difference scares me a bit though; he's 35 and I'm 24. My parents are 17 years a part and I see how hard it is on my mom now :/

Claire Isn't it exciting/motivating when you find a WOE that you can do AND enjoy? I love when that happens. Congrats on getting your stitches out!!

Katt I agree with you 100%. Sometimes I can be oversensitive and I always take it out on boyfriends and family members. I didnt get snippy with him but in my mind I was like "Wait, you think Im big too?" BUt I know thats just me being insecure. Hes great.

This may come out sounding strange, but I think you are so adorable!! Your main pic and personality are beautiful! I don't think Ive ever heard your story. WHen did you start trying to lose? Do you have before and afters?

Morton I am SO jealous of your exercise. Swimming is so fun and refreshing! Did I read correctly you are eating 1700 a day AND eating back exercise calories and still losing??

I havent weighed since the last time I saw 136. My Aunt is pretty heavy this week so I wont dare go near the scale I really wish I could say the 136 is a lot of water weight, but sadly it is sold fat gained back Oh well! Lesson learned. I just WISH I could find the motivation/energy for exercise like I used to have. I just seem to have negative 100 motivation for it.

HAPPY HUMP DAY!!!!!!

Oops, on Monday I ate everything I could find and then some, was totally out of control with chocolate. Probably about 2100 calories that day. Burned about 300 on the treadmill though -- average at maintenance? I was glad that I ran every single day this weekend. I weighed 129.2 Tuesday morning (holy f*ck) and now I'm back on track, being very good, running hard, and staying away from the scale. I realize that it's hard for me to have ONE low-calorie treat, that just gives me a taste for it and I crave more. I had 2 chocolate ice cream bars, a kit kat, and a skinny cow chocolate candy bar on Sunday. They were all low calorie chocolate (nothing was more than 100 calories) but still... maybe I should try getting some dark chocolate instead of eating a truck of milk chocolate.

ETA: I am staying AWAY from the scale this week until Friday weigh in since I was up to 129 on Tuesday! Bah, I refuse to be a slave to some number!

---

sumire - WOW I can't believe how many push ups and pull ups you did, that's amazing! I can't really do any at all. Haha. That's why my arms are flabby! I'm working on it though.

claire0412 - Always a good idea to switch it up and keep things interesting! I've been considering trying something else soon, but now I've memorized the calories in pretty much everything I eat regularly so my brain keeps tally anyway. GLAD YOU'RE HEALING UP, TOO!

mortonpixie - WOW! Nice bike! Oh my gosh, you just blew my mind -- I can't believe 2011 is half over! Didn't it just start like, last week!?! Holy cow! At any rate, nice run and I'm glad your hamstring seems to be doing a little better! OMG at your gigantic salad! I made an epic salad for lunch today with grilled chicken and yellow onion and cilantro with lime to squeeze on it, yum! Yours looks awesome, I LOVE cottage cheese!

skinnyelle39 - I always save up calories for a couple of drinks when I know I'll be around other people drink -- I just never remember to save up calories for the crap I shove in my mouth once my will power has been weakened.

Dianne042425 - I'm sorry you're having a hard time, but there's no way you're even close to being thick with your stats! And if anyone called me wide (even when I was extra wide) I probably would have chewed them out. Totally rude! It is strange that you get a lot of comments on your weight, to you bring it up in conversation at all? I don't think ANYONE'S size is open to discussion unless the subject in point brings it up themselves! Anyway, you've got this, you'll be back on track and losing pounds in no time! I find that weight I put on quickly tends to be easier to work off for some reason.

aimeebell - I totally was eating caramel sauce out of my boyfriend's fridge (it was his roommate's caramel! ) when he went upstairs to take a shower! I was almost caught when he came back downstairs really quick, I shoved it back in the fridge and pretended to be looking for a bottle of water or something, haha. How cool that you are taller than you thought! This makes me wanna go measure myself. And congrats on the swimsuit confidence, that's excellent!

krampus - Aw, shucks! My head is THIS BIG now! Thank you! Also, how are you managing to look hot with your mouth wide open and a giant turkey leg in your hand? That's amazing! YAY for 129.6! You definitely managed to stay calm this weekend as far as food goes! How many sailors did you have to pry off of you?

ann71 - If your body is hungry, then definitely feed it! Sounds like you're doing great! I like being inside with air conditioning myself.

kat999 - Are you planning on choosing a window to stay within? Like, at maintenance 115 is the lowest I wanna be, I would like to maintain 115-120. I'm afraid you might drive yourself crazy trying to stay at 115 since weight fluctuates so much! But you're maintaining well I think and YAY for new workout videos! Also, I dig the new thread, I will be posting there definitely!

Celticgirl - Welcome! I'm gonna be honest, I have no idea about anything to do with IP at all, but there is a very active IP thread on this site somewhere! 2-2.5lbs sounds like a lot to lose unless you're really overweight, but it tends to come off a little bit faster in the beginning, so who knows. My first week of counting calories I lost 7lbs of water. I'm thrilled to see a half pound loss a week at this point! Good luck!

HAVE AN AWESOME DAY EVERYONE, YOU ALL INSPIRE ME TO PUSH HARDER!

Hey feathers! Still trucking along over here, not much to report, just the "same ol' same ol'."

mortonpixie: You're close! It's one of the Tony Horton One on One workouts (30-15 Upper Body Massacre). I like it a bit better than the P90x push/pulls because I don't have to fiddle with my weights (I have a set of dumbbell-sized bars with plates and spinlock collars, and it gets obnoxious changing them during a workout).

I'm impressed with your work on your swim technique! I like to swim, but the only way I know how is the way I instinctively learned as a kid, a kind of crude breaststroke. Last year I swam some at the gym, and I realized I was SO SLOW compared to everyone else there, and I couldn't figure out when I was supposed to breathe.

aimeebell: I always wanted to be 5'6", but I didn't quite make it! I tried re-measuring myself a few months ago, just to make sure, but nope. Way to go feeling good in a swimsuit! I have managed to cultivate a pretty good body image over this journey, but swimsuits are still a challenge for me.

krampus: Hope the rest of your stay goes up well & that your future continues to shape up just the way you want it. I'm excited for you & all the changes you have coming. (Btw, you even look gorgeous eating a giant turkey leg. How awesome is that? )

ann71: Fuel thyself! And drink plenty of liquids if it's hot out there. It can be brutal working in the heat!

Dorian5: Mmmmmm truckload of milk chocolate haha. Good for you for keeping away from the scale. By Friday it'll be much more reassuring--maybe even a new low--yay!

Dianne042425 You will bounce right back. The motivation will return but you literally just have to push yourself to JUST DO IT! Are your pics still posted on 3FC? Your friends to sound really mean :0(

aimeebell How exciting about the height! lol

Krampus My weekend was great. Spent lots of time with my bf :0)

Played tennis with my bf a little last night. Then he had me run suicides and sprints up and down the basketball court. Killer. But Im always complaining to him about the shape and tone ( or lack thereof) of my legs. He seems to think that will help. I must admit I immediately could feel my hamstrings after we were done. Its cool to change up the exercise from time to time. Have a great day everyone!

Okay, okay, I don't know many women who are CONFIDENT in a bathing suit. I wouldn't take it that far. Just I didn't feel a need to hide myself. I looked around and realized I was in as good of shape or better than 90% of the women there, and I wasn't horrified by any of their bodies, or thinking MY GOSH WOMAN cover yourself up, so why should I be so hard on myself.

I have gotten two comments in the last week, that go like this "WOW! You look great. You lost a TON of weight." I wish they would stop at you look great without throwing the word TON in there. I didn't have a "ton" of weight to lose in the first place, but it makes me feel like they viewed me as a fat cow before. I don't let it get to me; they mean well. I am just putting it out there that mentioning the word "ton" about a person's weight loss is probably a bad idea.