November r stinks. I think I'm averaging every other month for crappiness. ;) big news...I'm starting a new "job" next week! I will be caring for an infant about 35 hours per week, plus still teaching Spanish Mondays. My world is about to get crazy, so I'm not sure if ill be on here less from the madness, or more, because I will have more periods of being home bound.

Happy Thanksgiving, Feathers!

Chickie: Wow, you're already so busy and now you're adding an infant?! Good luck lady :)

Joss: That all sounds really lovely! Nothing like the smell of baked goods to come home to as well, or anything tasty for that matter. I hope he loved them!
Also I'll echo what everybody else said about your abs: whoa! Hope Thanksgiving is awesome and you guys look all important and ****.

kakers: Diet breaks do seem to be good if you can stop after 2 days. Even though I'm aware of this though every time I'm like 'hahah, I can get away with eating everrrrrything muahhaah' and well I can't. I haven't had KFC in years but I keep seeing it mentioned everywhere lately. HMM.

Bayzee: I generally do the same thing as I cook the most. More veggies for me and more meat and potatoes for himself. I eat a lot of meat but he eats A LOT of meat.. mean man I call him. Mm I like baked goods.

Mottainai: Seriously you are stunning and if I looked half as good as you at any point nevermind the bloat I'd be happy. You should see my preggo bloat belly, it's so hot. :P I understand that we're our own worst critics though. I hope you're not too hard on yourself after the binge, it sounds painful.. take care of yourself.

Turbo: hahaha! You're a feeder! I also want to see Christmas market pictures, so nice. Your cat's hilarious, I guess he's high fiving himself? I showed my cat a mirror for the first time last year and it was hilarious. These days she just refuses to make eye contact with herself. She thinks she's people.

krampus: Only 2 beers totally evens out. My boyfriend and I had a bad habit of eating first and then getting horny ha, doesn't work out so well.. cramps.. lots of cramps. Lessons learned though.

Philana: Hey, good to see you back here! And well done for not having a massive regain, I think a few lbs is pretty normal. I'm still trying to figure out some sort of exercise routine that I can stick to and balance out my lazyness against what I genuinely don't enjoy. Not sure yet, I'm probably just lazy. I love to cycle too but the weather's so **** here and going alone gets boring.

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134.4 this morning, so that's my lowest so far.. yay! I have a friend coming down for the weekend tomorrow though so hopefully I can control myself a bit. I'll be in my own home so it shouldn't be too bad but we're planning on having a raclette. If you're not sure what that is it's basically shovels of melted cheese all over other delicious things washed down with several jugs of wine. Delicious! I still can't eat chewy food because of my jaw so maybe I'll make something soft for myself. I feel like an old woman, like yesterday I had to buy denture tablets to clean my night guard haha

Gotta run - going for a run :D

Bayzee : Even if you are not convinced that the 117's will stick, it is still a step forward seeing the number on the scale! :)

mottaini : You couldn't be more right the part of adopting a lifestyle focused on healthy and fitness for life rather than on a vacation deadline. I think it's normal to try to focus on some shorter deadline sometimes... It's a hard work controling that mental part!

I loved reading all about you coming around and making decisions about and FOR yourself. :) It was really inspiring!

Kakers : Hope you have a great time at the in-laws! Being OP after eating KFC, that is kinda really cool!??!

Joss : Those pumpkin spice bars sound delish! And it isn't weird at all : I love when the house smells good from good food cooking or baking.

I did not have any exam done on my hip, partly because it wasn't swollen at all but also because I am stressed to death about an eventual outcome of a medical appointment.. I'm gonna talk a bit more about the hip later, I came to a decision last night..!

Chickie : You are without a doubt one of the busiest person EVER. ;)

LeilaJey : I really laughed at your story of your cat ''meeting himself''. Cats are for sure entertaining! You are getting LIGHTTTT, girl! :D Hope you're gonna have a great time with your friend! And YUUUUUUMMM raclette! We have a raclette equipment at my dad's place, i need to plan one when I get down there at Christmas!

***

Hello Feathers! 0.4 pounds up today at 137.0, but I did not poop yesterday, so nothing too stressful on that side.

I had a rough day yesterday, even if I stayed OP. I was just feeling... BAD. I went for my progressive run and it was SO BAD. The hip was okay, but I was feeling a light pain on the back of my knee and on my foot (which is the one I hurt in september, and all of the same side I have problem with my hip right now). Plus I kinda bit myself in the back of my mouth a few days ago and it has real trouble healing, and now I got a swollen gland on my throat on the same side... THEN major headache hit me, and it was the end of the world, I spent the remaining of the afternoon curled on the coach.

When I got home, I started to talk with the boyfriend how my run wasn't nice, and he told me he talked a bit about my problems with the people he trained with and they told him to be really careful with a hip stuff, because if you push it too much it can go down in your knee (!!) and your ankle and foot (!!!). He asked me if I had any races planned in a near future (no...) and that I should maybe take a break for a little while, that it would maybe do good, after seriously training for over a year. He suggested to go for bike ride while the weather is still nice, that a less high impact on the leg sport could maybe help me for a while.

I agreed to that, and then I started crying like a baby while cutting my chicken sandwich in the kitchen. LOL I am TERRIFIED about stopping run training.

So today, I'm taking a rest day, and tomorrow I'll try a bike ride!

Have a good day, feathers!

Morning, everyone!

Thanks everybody for the kind comments on my pictures. I promise I wasn't trying to go compliment-fishing, haha. I really wanted to document how big a change can happen when I go crazy for a week to remind myself in the future.

Today I'm feeling great, back into healthy patterns again, and really wanting to do it for the right reasons. As per the general suggestion, I'm deciding to relax a bit.

Going back to what I was doing when I first joined up on this forum a month or so ago, I'm just focusing on forging healthy lifestyle habits: exercising for fitness and confidence, eating well for nutrition and healthy digestion, and not worrying about the small things. I've slid back into a healthy, moderate daily pattern very easily, and it feels quite nice. The things I'm going to have to be vigilant about are not starting to get obsessive about the things I shouldn't...I'm not going to think about how many calories I chew in gum or if I exercised one minute fewer than the day before or ate "too many" vegetables or things like that. That's where I start getting crazy and going down the slope of too much restriction, and I don't like it!

So yeah, no more weight-loss goals per se. I've even made myself a maintenance ticker as a declaration, even to myself, that while I can appreciate further toning up I don't NEED to or HAVE to lose any more. Any number in this range is perfectly grand. And that's what I'm sticking to. Don't let me forget it!! It's a very freeing feeling, to be honest. (:

As my act of relaxation today, I really just want to drink soda for some reason, so I'm gonna go get some. I will admit it: I don't like drinking water. I like empty-calorie-additive-junk-food soda. Root beer and cream soda especially, mmmm...

Turbo- Hugs to you for your bad day!! ): My gosh, that's so much physical pain, plus worrying about having to stop training. I really do feel you, it would scare me too, for sure. Hang in there, girl!!

Leila- Oooh, I never heard of raclette but it sounds AMAZING!! I love cheese even though I don't digest it well. I'm gonna look it up and try it myself sometime. Sorry about your jaw, be careful and chew soft things!

Chickie- Goodness, so much busyness!! I hope caring for the baby will at least be fun sometimes (??). Good luck managing everything, I know you can handle it. You seem so capable, from what I see here, anyway, haha.

kakers- Glad you're doing so well!! I haven't had a Hostess Cupcake since I was.....I don't know, 4 years old, once??


If I missed anyone, it's just because I post too often and I personal-ed at you in my last post but you haven't posted since then. xD Hope everyone has a great day.

Hey - I'm not sure if I count as a featherweight, but I don't think I'd ever be able to have an objective opinion on the matter. So I thought I'd jump in and ask here if I fit the group? (5ft 7 and about 143/145 pounds?)

My activity on this site has waxed and waned over the years, but during the past few weeks I've felt apathy about nutrition and fitness start to take over. I figured I should push myself back into the right mindset, and finding like-minded folks is usually the best way to do that.

Is it alright if I join in?

Welcome!
I think that the Featherweight section is more about just having fewer pounds left to lose, rather than what weight you're at. Regardless, I don't think you'd find anyone here kicking you out for any reason, so don't worry! (:
This is a great place to come for motivation and chatting with people with similar goals and mindsets, and I've found it so helpful, myself!

Hey everyone, I'm going to just jump in if that's okay!

I've been feeling really motivated in the last month, which is why I found my way back to 3FC. I've been hitting the gym hard 5 days a week and counting calories again with MFP. The scale hasn't budged this week but I know I'm doing the right things, so I'm not letting it get to me (yet). I'm the maid of honor in my best friend's wedding in a little over 7 weeks and I would REALLY like to reach 128 by then... that's 1 lb a week, so we'll see!

I hope the American feathers are having a good Thanksgiving. I was worried about overeating, but it became a non-issue because my 1 year old came down with a stomach bug this morning, so I stayed home with her while my husband took our 3 year old to the feast.

Ohtheplaces and TheBunneh (omg, you've got the cuttest picture ever!) : welcome!

Nobody really ever put strict standards on ''what is a featherweight'' ;) In my opinion, it's more a ''state'' than a ''weight'', by that I mean as a state of you feel you're getting close, but not quite there yet.. Am I making any sense?

Welcome again and brace yourself, we are pretty chatty :P

***

I know it's Thanksgiving for most of you, but as I was watching the Macy's parade today, my crazy Christmas spirit kicked into gear and I thought, after my sucky day yesterday, what is better than Christmas stuff to cheer someone up! (Despite being like 9 C degrees outside...)

I've been listening the Christmas music channel for the past hour. I'm still flabergasted that there is a song called ''The Marshmellow song''. Made my day!

Turbo Do you have Aldi or Lidl over there? That's where we got our cheap raclette grill.. I love it. We only do it a few times a year though, lots of cheese. I'm excited!

Sorry about your crappy day, that really sucks :( I hope you enjoy the bike ride anyway, I really love to cycle.. maybe there's somewhere new you can explore on your bike? Hope you're feeling a bit better anyway.. hugs!

mottainai I'm one of those people that just loves water.. so I think I got lucky there. I am partial to some soda now and again though. And wine and cider and.. well that list would be pretty long.

Sounds like you're doing great again which is good! Do you do weight training or anything like that? Enjoy your soda!

TheBunneh Hey you totally fit! And I agree with Turbo that it's more about the mindset/just being close to your goal. Everybody has a different goal too so I suppose it's quite a broad idea. Welcome :)

OhThePlaces Welcome to you too! That sucks about your kid getting sick, I hope she feels better but hey at least you didn't over eat like you said. I do hope that you got to enjoy something nice for Thanksgiving!

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So I went for that run and just at the end of the running part (C25K) I was getting a stitch in my side, well both sides so I stopped and resumed the walk. Went past the driveway to a house when I heard those dogs from before start barking and running at me so I just started to run really really fast and they chased me for quite a while it was horrible. I didn't have my phone and there was literally nowhere to get away from them. Sure they might have just barked at me but they sounded viscous and waiting around to find out wasn't really the best option considering I was in the middle of nowhere and very few cars go around here. And I have experience with another shitty dog that was biting at my feet when I was cycling so not a great record. (I do love dogs by the way but why can't people train their animals? It makes me so mad) By the time I got to some trees that I thought I could jump into I had gotten far enough ahead of them that they gave up at that point I was pretty much getting sick and I was so stressed out. I walked the rest of the way home coughing and thinking I was having a heart attack. Eugh. Those people are getting an angry visitor tomorrow! They just moved in a few weeks ago too.

Thanks for the welcome! :)

Turbo, I am so unprepared for Christmas this year! I looove Christmas music, so I need to find a radio station to get my fix.

LeilJey, holy crap! I am a total dog lover and would still have probably peed my pants! How scary! I'm glad you got away unharmed. Talk about getting your blood flowing!

Krampus - the FRIED CHEESE. lol. Brings back memories hehehe. For a small, nothingmuchtodo town, its not bad foodwise! You being there almost makes me wanna be in that town!
Philana-Sounds like you are right on track! Since this is a lifestyle thing, we're egonna have our up and down moments and unlike what most diet books say - they can def be long episodes - like even a month (vs a day or a few days of eating a ton)
Jossfit-Your abs of steel are just…AMAZING. Thank you for your wise and kind words…I am trying to remind myself that these are bad circumstances and trying to not be hard on myself. Your rationality inspires me to try and maintain my composure during these times.
Chickiechicks-YES. This November SUXXX. Its my bday month and even my bday sucked. GAH. Do you like kids? I'm not really into kids, so taking care of an infant would make me run for the hills! lol
Leilajay-Yup! Not into THanksgiving food, altho I could gorge on that and anything else right now lol. My idea of irresistible is orange chicken, white rice, lo mien and some Ben and Jerry's. Lets add some Nutella to that. Also heard good things about Speculoos Cookie butter. As far as therapy goes…I'm not sure! I enjoyed it when I was doing it - and for now I can't afford it, but I'm unsure if I want to continue it for the long term - def considering it tho! CONGRATS on being at ur lowest and Ugh my roomie's dog (terrible roomie in general!) nipped at me once. And regularly peed in the bathroom. I love dogs, but some owners really need to train them!
raclette sounds so NOM I'm doing a homer simpson donut drool face right now
Turbomammoth - man o man I'm sorry to hear about ur knee pain!!! You are a real champ tho, doing a bike ridetmrw - most ppl like myself would just use it as an excuse to be lazy lol. YES boredom eating makes my stomach a balloon. Those XXL size balloons .
Mottanai-glad to hear that you have come up with a healthy pattern eating plan! Hey on the plus side ur bloated belly is my relaxed nonsucking in belly when i'm not bloated! hehe. I went up as many lbs as you not too long ago but cause im a few inches shorter it looks way diff. I love 0 cal soda. Diet Sunkist NOM
Ohthe places-thats is the toughest part about dieting - no results but working thru it despite that because it is such a downer when you put in effort and there are no measurable results. Good to hear that you are still pulling thru!


Hey all. So last night…I threw up. I was eating like crap the 2 nights before, but got really full and didn't eat for like 8 hours. Then I got a lil hungry and missed eating veg and had some broccoli and kale and the GAS combined with my body prob not used to eating like this in such quantities…well it was a bad combo. Food came out of my mouth and I took a very uncomfortable dump all in the same 15 min span. Had a huge stomach ache…my eating has been a lot more stable since then. I guess the plus side is that this wasn't exactly due to overeating - cause I was hungry, but more that my body couldn't handle the types of food.
Decided to spend Thanksgiving alone (said I had PMS cramps cause I didn't wanna worry people!) because meh I just felt like it - kinda felt great lol. I hated Thanksgiving last yr cause most of it was spent with me trying to be polite about declining foods I didn't like
Anyways, I feel better now…just sensitive in the tummy. Also my mac trackpad broke and my applecare expire 3 weeks ago but I have $0 to fix it.
I feel like this
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SMPNsIMuNL...orVendetta.jpg
But I look like this
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...-Tarepanda.png
excuse my crappy typing - my mouse is running all over the place! writing cover letters is gonna be tricky.

Happy Thanksgiving American Feathers! Hope you are having a relaxing day with friends and family.

Welcome Ohtheplaces and The Bunneh!

Nothing new or excititng to report. Staying OP and kept my calories low today because I don't do any workouts on Thursday's. I'm much more relaxed this week overall.
For the weekend, my goals are to stay OP with food/calories and keep the wine down to the same as last weekend.

Will catch up on personals tomorrow...Cheers2!

EDIT: I changed my current weight on my profile just to remind myself that I am making small gains. And I actually forgot that I started at 121 lbs. I lost the first 2 lbs in a few days so I always have 119 in my head.

Well...I lost it again this morning, tears and all.

Weighed 119 after a PERFECT week of eating and workouts. I know some might think..ya right, she probably ate some junk somewhere, but I didn't. and no wine since Saturday. My eating is squeaky clean and I worked out 5 out of 6 days this week. Not girly workouts either! In fact, yesterday's calories were low and it was more of a RFL day since I don't workout on Thursday's and I thought I might actually break 117! WTH?

The only thing I can think of is the Kettlebell workouts. I was told that lifting weights affects your weight...Right now I need to see the scale budge for my sanity. It's going to be very hard weekend!

Thank you so much for the welcomes everyone. I'm not always great at keeping up with personals, mostly because I can be kind of shy and have a difficult time thinking of what to say. But I'll try my best!

And hello, OhThePlaces. I think it's kind of neat we decided to join in at the same time! :)

Today I am making the decision to be 100% committed to nutrition again. I have no choice in the matter. I can really tell how much worse I feel since my habits have slipped and it's getting ridiculous.

I'm also going to think through some rules to set down when I visit family for two weeks over Christmas, so that I'll have a plan of action when I'm surrounded by fresh baked cookies all the time!

Bayzee, darling, hugs for you! That sounds so frustrating. I'm sure I can tell you what you already know: there are MANY reasons for scale changes rather than actual body fat, random variables other than intake and exercise even, and at low weights like ours those really do show up more significantly. But then again it just sucks seeing the numbers anyway, doesn't it? ): That's why I had to completely stop weighing myself for all those weeks, and though I'm doing it again trying to remain emotionally detached, I may end up quitting again, because it really is hard....Just trust in what you KNOW, that like you said your eating and exercise is just spot-on, and those are the important things, truly, not the scale number!! You're an inspiration for me (since we're neck-and-neck with weight right now, haha), and sounds like you're doing great in general, so I know you must be seeing losses!

Bunneh- That's great you're re-committing to good nutrition! That's something that hits me VERY hard each time I go off-plan, is just how much worse I feel overall. It's very not worth it! I'd love to hear your plans for surviving your family's visit too! I'm getting ready for a long vacation in a couple weeks, so I'm also trying to come up with a plan of action for that.

pixellate- Sorry to hear you were sick. I cannot STAND throwing up, absolutely avoid it at all costs. Then again I suppose most people do, haha. Your images made me smile! Glad you had the Thanksgiving you enjoyed!!

Ohtheplaces- Welcome to you! Hope to hear from you regularly around here. (: Sorry to hear your baby was sick on Thanksgiving, is she/he all right now? It sounds like you're on the right track for losing weight, good luck!

Turbo- I love Christmas music, makes me so nostalgic for my childhood listening to it on the radio in the car. Never heard of the marshmallow one though! haha

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Hope everyone in the U.S. had a nice Thanksgiving! I totally didn't realize it was yesterday, since the Canadian Thanksgiving was in like October this year, which threw me off so bad, haha. I like it in November so much better. Anyway, once I learned it was the holiday I missed my family a LOT yesterday, cried on DH a bit. I especially miss my mom.....even my dad and my sister too.....ahhhh I wish we could move back to Oklahoma and live nearer them. I really do. I know I'd start thinking how annoying my family are and probably wish we could move away again if we did, but still. /:

To be honest, I've really started up a campaign to get us to move from Vancouver. There are a lot of things I love about this place, but there are also a lot of things I didn't know and wasn't expecting about the city and the country, plus the way all our individual circumstances are. I can think of so many reasons we'd be better off either in Japan or the U.S. DH and I are openly dialogue-ing about it at least, and hopefully after our visit to Japan we'll be able to make some decisions in the new year.

As far as eating and such, I'm still feeling good about my new mindset. Was totally relaxed about eating yesterday, trusting that I'm eating healthy and not too much and that's good enough! Bloat's basically gone too, so that feels nice. I'm really doing some thinking about myself and why I want to lose weight and how I feel about my body and all that kind of stuff...it's pretty interesting. haha

We're going to plan games with some people from church tonight, so I'm really looking forward to that!!

edit: Did a fun mixed cardio workout this morning, different than what I usually do, to mix it up! Did the rower and the stair-stepper. I'd never used the stair-stepper until I tried it out once last week, but I really like it for some reason, haha. Also happy to report that somehow or other I've accrued next to no weight gain even after last week- the two gym scales gave me 114.6 and 115.4.