philana : I regret so much not taking my measurements when I started! Now I'd like to see the differences but I can't.... I kept a few super big pants and stuff so I get the idea but still... I like numbers :P

***

WI at 135.6 this morning, so a 2 lbs down from last week. I was really surprised. I should be more happy than I am now, I'm glad but not ''OMG YES'' becausse I'm so confused right now about my goal weight that being so close bring just more question about when I should stop... Arrrg

Hmm, the reply box at the bottom of each page is gone and now I have to hit "Post Reply" to post.

Went to the gym yesterday for lifting and short cardio session. Did planks, front and side, also. I feel GREAT today. I've noticed I'm getting stronger and able to lift heavier, and my bicep moves when I flex it! I hope a couple more weeks of this will = more defined shoulders and back. Eating (and drinking beer) was probably around maintenance level, and the scale is down 0.5 lb from yesterday.

TurboMammoth Way to go on the loss! Make sure you let your head catch up to your body. 135.6 on someone your height is pretty slim, you have a lot to be proud of

philana I know exactly what you mean about the H&M 36. I want to be an H&M 34 someday. Dutch 36 is bigger than French/Italian 36 though isn't it? I know it works that way in Germany and Dutch people (not you though, hehe) are similarly built bigger.

Philana ~ Measurements are maddening! Clothes are slightly better, but in old clothes I still get paranoid over whether they've either shrunk or gotten stretched out. And yes, 1 lb a week sounds completely do-able.

turbo ~ I'm jealously motivated b.c you're my height and at my goal weight
(in the 130s). Thought I was 5'9" all these years, but was measured a few years back and turned out I was only 5'8" so down the goal weight comes. Those jam/oatmeal bites sound goooood! Hope you and the bf were able to compromise when it comes to

Lisa ~ How you doin', chicky? Have you found your equalibrium with the weight lifting? When do you need to make a choice with grad school? Any idea where you'll be going?

Krampus ~ Ah, the scale... Such a fickle friend.

~~~
I'm feeling motivated by all of you, actually. I look in other people's tickers and realize that you've all lost a significant chunk of weight while I'm still within 10 lbs of my highest weight. I have bounced all over, but tend to stay within those 10 lbs (150-160). The lowest I've ever weighed was 139 after an allergy scare that left me too terrified to eat for days on end. I remember that feeling (light and lithe) and would love to be back there....

In life news, I'm looking at Occupational Therapy as a possible career field. Haven't started investigating it intensively, but am trying to talk to people to garner a general opinion of the field. The bls outlook is fantastic and it seems like there would be so many options for places of employment. Only downside is that it requires 3 full years of school. There's a night/weekend program run by a university close to me, but even still... scholarship/grant research, here I come!

Hope everyone has plans for a great weekend!!!

Don't feel bad. I joined 3FC in October 2010 and weighed 133 lbs then!

Alexis - Congrats on OT! I think that's an amazing career choice. I think the evenings and weekend program sounds great too.

I will reply to everyone else tomorrow I'm a little tipsy and sleepy! Hope everyone has a great weekend

Krampus ~ Sadly... I'm still at the same weight I was when I joined... Part of me is like "Well, thank goodness I haven't gained." but another part of me thinks "really??? STILL???"

Lisa ~ Nothing to congratulate, but I was actually interested in your opinion of/experience with the field... Hope you had a good night!!!

~~~
Ugh. It's 2:06AM and I am still awake... and eating. Grrr....
Ah, well. I'll think of it as a "metabolism booster".

Gots to be up early, too. Goin' to exchange a viola that I bought off craigslist. Was a great family that I bought it from, but alas, not the instrument for me. Treating myself to some browsing at Bloomies while I'm there. May stop by H&M too...

Turbo: Do you have a new goalweight in mind or just checking at every lbs if it's enough? Oh, and we are so close to the 'same' again, I am 135.8!

Alexis: don't feel bad! Feeling motivated is good, but feeling bad is silly. When you are not that big it's just harder to drop even a pound. And to get the motivation to then drop another one. I think if you really set your mind to it and are strict for a week or 2 the scale will move and you get back in the groove again.


Krampus: I don't know about the different sizes, I only know dutch ones. But it's quite plausible those are bigger than French or Spanish ones, cus we are like the tallest nation of europe. Except for me and my tiny frame. Though when I was in the US (texas!) I all at once felt really tall! Anyhow, I've never been a 34 because my legs are stocky. So I am not gonna set that as a goal, though to be at this weigth and already fit into 36 means I am different at this weight than I was before. I never fit into 36 until I was down to 125 or so. Which is why it was my goal. Who knows what happens when I get to 125 and have a ripped body from the weights? hihi

--
Strangely enough my weight is just dropping and dropping. I am bracing for a stall for a few days now, but still going down. What bothers me some is that I just look ugly without pants. My legs are one big cellulite. My stretchmarks are super visible and wrinkly. My skin just is a bit.. loose. You can see every fatcell and uneven spot from my knees up to my bum. I sure do hope this is gonna clear up. I look fatter than I did before because of it.

My upperbody looks just awesome though. My waistline is nice, my ribs are very visible, my collarbones/shoulder bones are visible nicely, my arms are getting muscular. Love it! But those damn legs!

Krampus - I love your new goal, I'd also love to be a 'ripped size 4'

Alexis - In Canada OT has great job prospects and a really decent salary for a Master's level profession. I think it seems like a lot of fun too! I'm not sure about the US though.

Turbo - Almost at your new goal!! Why don't you get the BMI for your height to see how low you can go?

Philana - yay for looking good! I feel the same way about my upper body vs. lower body. How many calories have you been eating during this drop?

krampus : Thanx for the nice word As you said, I think I need time too to get used to the new body... it's a whole new world for me right now

alexistrophic : hey that's true we're the same height! glad (I guess?) I'm your jealous motivation hihi good luck on your scolarship and grant research!

philana : I don't know yet about the new goal weight :S I'm still really confused. I'm gonna try to reach the 135 first for sure, but after that... no cluuuue. And god we're always following each other with our heights! you're probably left me behind soon though

Lisa : The BMI suggestion is a really good one... thanx

***

Hey!

I'm such in a weird mood. I went for a run and it was amazing today, which pumped me up.

But last night I learned my cousin, that I'm super closed to, is pregnant. She's 30, so it's normal, but we were chatting 2 months ago that we were soooo not ready for babies. And not she's going to be a mommy. I feel my life is such a mess right now compared to like... everybody. I almost started crying in the car on the way back while my bf had no clue what to tell me to make me feel better LOL

We also realized today that we will have to pay loads of money (it's tax time here) because they consider my bf and I like real grownup-and-everything even if we are still poor student. Like I have 600$ bucks to pay in tax... I'll have to post poned the shopping for clothes that actually fit me for later.

Hope you're having a good day!!!

Turbo - Hugs! I totally know that feeling! I have several friends that are married and have great careers and I'm still in school and in a complicated relationship. It's definitely hard but try not to compare yourself, I'm sure they're are things that make people envious about you..like your new skinny body!

Hugs to everyone. We're doing just fine!

BIG eating weekend, yet somehow weighed in at 130.5 on Saturday morning (after 4/20 party where I had marshmallows and s'mores for dinner) and 131.5 today (after 2500+ calorie day yesterday and big night of drinking Saturday). I'm dehydrated but also really need to go #2. What's going on? My waist feels smaller.

Exciting news, I half-seriously half-jokingly entered my mom and I in a contest to be models for a luncheon at the local Tulip Fest around Mother's Day. We made the top three! http://blog.timesunion.com/kristi/vo...avorite/47523/

Lisa ~ I've heard the same about OT here in the states, too. Now it's the process of actually diving in and checking it out for myself.

Philana ~ I've got stretchmarks, too, and it sometimes seems like the cellulite becomes more visible the more weight I lose.

Turbo ~ I co-sign everything Lisa said (only I'm not even in a relationship.) That being said, after spending time with a friend, her two kids and husband, I realize that I'm maybe not ready for that kind of life juuuuust yet. There are pros and cons to every situation and who knows but maybe your friends who are married w. kids aren't just a little bit envious of the freedom that you have....

Krampus ~ Such a great article!!! And very well written, too. Definitely the best out of the three.

~~~
Bleh. Dealing with the fall out from the weekend. It's the same stinking pattern: over eat like crazy on the weekend, then starve to make up for it during the week. So not cool. I'm aware of it, though, and that's half the battle.

I've decided that the theme for this week is going to be "How can I be of service to others?" and am hoping to get myself out of my own stinking head. Have Red Cross volunteer training on Wednesday, so am looking forward to that.

Goals for the week are:
A - Get to a meeting
B - Get to a yoga class

Hoping I can manage at least those two.

turbo: *hug* i'm not a fan of tax time either. even as a married couple we had to pony up the same that you had to pay which sucks. i'm so not ready for babies and everyones looking at me to have them. *high five* for no babies right now!

krampus- i love your story! you and your mom look so cute! i would totally vote for you guys

alexis- i'm totally with you on the weekend fallout thing. when you say meeting, do you mean ww? i'm going to try to get to a yoga class during the week since i missed my saturday hot yoga due to exhaustion...

----
so i'm in that squishy part where a) my stupid period is still here and this time it's a bad one. i should have known that it was going to be rough when i started spotting a few days before it was due (i'm on the ring). i've been really cranky and super bloated and SO HUNGRY!

b) i'm sort of just maintaining. like i would like to be closer to 130 but i'm not pushing it which is way harder than losing-- the idea that i can eat more instead of just trying to eat as little as i can.

i went shopping and was irritated that i couldnt fit into the 0's and 00's at banana republic. i'm thinking, what's wrong with me?? it's so dumb. i think i need to work on my body image because i still think i'm just as fat as i was.

so yeah, weekends are when i let myself loosen the reigns. i work out during the week so i can eat on the weekends and i KNOW my weigh in on monday's will be unnecessarily high, but i still get depressed when it is. however, i know for my accountablility that i need to weigh every day because when i don't and put it off, that's when i gain back.

also, i've made the decision to go back to school for speech pathology. i'm a teacher right now but the job security is not there and i need to have a fall back plan. it's a tough decision though, since i've been out of school for four years now!

JOY ~ You have come SO FAR!!! Give yourself some credit, girl!
I hear ya on the going back to school part... I've been out of school for close to SEVEN years! I've always known I wanted to go back, I just didn't know what for... I'm really hoping that this OT thing pans out b.c I'm itching to be back in the classroom, but don't want to make a hasty move.

When I say "meeting" I mean OA because I am the definition of a compulsive eater. They help me, for sure. Am thinking that I'm going to go to the yoga class tonight, though. Usually, my rule of thumb is choose the option you feel LESS like doing... because that probably means you need it more. Oy...

philana: Ugh. It really does amaze me how different womens' bodies place fat deposits. At least you've probably got a nice feminine shape with larger hips and a slimmer waist. I've got muscular legs, thin arms, but a high propensity to gain weight around my upper and lower belly. Combined with my flat-chestedness, the result is that I'm just kinda shapeless no matter how much I weigh, haha.

jayohwhy: Yes on the body image thing. But how? I keep harping on myself to lose something between 5 and 10 pounds, even though people tell me I appear to be in great shape all the time (this is without my prompting them). I *know* I'm in great shape. So I sometimes really don't know why I'm still pushing myself to lose. Or well, I do -- it's because I can be an insane control freak, and watching my diet like a hawk feels strangely "good".

krampus: Looks like you showed more restraint at Saturday's party than I would have, haha!
----
I'm worried about my health right now. I spotted randomly when I first arrived in Beijing in the middle of January, then had a normal period in February. Not a word from my uterus since then. Unless I start in the next few days, I will have gone 2 months with no period.

I've always been irregular and have a history of ovarian cysts, but what now worries me are these random flare-ups of indigestion and constipation -- I never used to get this.

As I've complained before, my weight loss has been totally stalled (if my scale can be trusted, that is), despite at least two months of caloric deficits that *should* have let me lose something on the order of 5 pounds.

I don't want to dither on too much about my symptoms here, because I'll be seeing a doctor today. But I'm just worried that something serious might be wrong...