major flushing for two days + extra water + extra walking = wonderful news on the scale

146.6!!

I am going to remain drinking extra water and getting in more walking today. Yesterday I did my personal best, 16.5 miles in total for the day...over 40,000 steps.

Off to prepare my breakfast, grapefruit and a waffle with peanut butter, and then start exercising.

Have a fan-tab-ulous day everyone!

I did a 5K jog again this morning, my fourth. I kept the same pace, just under 10 min/mile for a finish of 29:52. Probably should start thinking about replacing my shoes before too long. Also thinking about signing up for an official 5K in the fall - what fun that would be! (Did I really say that? Running, fun? What has happened to me?!)

@ aspen13 - Whoo, grats on the new scale number! That's awesome! Little changes and consistency do pay off sooner or later. Holy sh***ing cow, 16.5 miles of walking; that's a lotta steps! Also, I hear you on the picture avoidance. This year is the first time in a looong time that I actually want to see myself in pictures.

Hey feathers, sorry for being so absent recently- i went home to my parents for the weekend and left my laptop charger behind! Now i can only check in on my phone :( i don't even have chance to go and get it, as I'm going on holiday for a week on Monday! Just thought I'd let you know that i haven't left, looking forward to catching up soon!

Catails: Thank you! I will never do 16.5 miles in one day again. lol I told my son that yesterday and he told me just the day before I told him I would never hit 40,000 steps in a day. I really mean it though, way too much. WooHoo on the jogging!! I still prefer walking or speed walking but will jog sometimes. I say you should definitely sign-up for a 5k.

Leaves: Enjoy hanging with your parents and have a safe and wonderful time on your vacation.

Downed 24 oz of water already this morning, working on my next 12. For breakfast I am going to have Kashi GoLean Vanilla Graham Clusters and dark sweet cherries.

It's storming here this morning, so dark and gray. It's making motivation hard. Will have to give myself extra push.

Holy crap, Ya'll! I went AWOL again. Sorry! Busy with work and family get-together's. UH. Not much to update. Had a nice birthday and 4th of July party. :) Getting ready for Midwest Mania in September!! Big fitness convention with workshops and networking opportunity. My gym always sends a bunch of us down as a group...

I'm a little MIA at the moment too! So busy lately -- my ex husband, who has been here staying with me all summer, is about to go home in two days. I'm very sad because we're such good friends, it's hard for me to have him so far away most of the year. But I will adjust after a few days. Also my eating will be mine, without the temptations! I have managed to not put on TONS of weight, but it sure wasn't the weight loss extravaganza that I had hoped for this summer. Here's the thing. I know EXACTLY what works for me and what I should do. I just don't do it because in my mind it's "boring."

I want to change my mindset to "staying the same weight that you're unhappy with is boring" not "not getting to eat what I want whenever I want is boring."

On the good front, I'm running a lot.

Hope you all are doing well! Aspen, congrats on the whoosh! Krampus, how did the move go? Moving Forward - hope your camping is going well!

Everyone else, hope your summer is going well so far!

I finally got a tape measure!

I have no idea where to measure though...or what measurements are "good." Any guidance?

I'm back from camping. We had a good trip, but the weather was freezing. We had virtually no sun and I was in a perpetual shiver. I ate tons of food I don't normally eat, including plenty of junk. Yum! When I got home in the evening and weighed myself, I panicked because I was slightly over my red line weight. By morning, I was down two pounds. Phew. It appears that I actually only put on a little over a pound. Not too bad. Just means I need to crack down for a bit. We are going to Disneyland in a little over a week, so I hope to get it off before then. It's just hard to go from a smorgasbord to restriction.

Olehcat--I'm sorry to hear your ex will be leaving soon. Sounds like you'll miss him. You are right that your weight loss will be easier with a shift in mindset. I really do believe in the saying that attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. Be sure to fit in some treats for yourself to keep it fun and interesting.

Aspen13--16.5 miles is pretty impressive! Good for you!

Leaves--Have fun! See you when you get back.

Cattails--Good for you with the running! Keep it up!

Krampus--How is the new place? I hope everything went as planned.

olehcat: Sorry to hear that you're so sad about your ex leaving. How far is he during the rest of the year?

Moving Forward: Welcome home! Sorry to hear it was so cold but happy to hear that you only gained about a pound.

Today is my rest day. I do have some cleaning I need to get done though. I DVDed a couple lifetime movies, my son will be cringing and I am sure spending a lot of time fishing. :D

Hey, ya'll. Did a 5-mile group run with my best friend yesterday. It was awesome! She wants to train start training for next year's Madison Marathon together. When I first met my best friend five years ago, we promised each other we'd run a marathon together some day. She's finally back in shape enough to start training. Makes me so happy! :hug:

Not much in other news! Just loving the cool weather, it's perfect for bike commuting. :carrot:

Aidan: So nice you and your best friend can workout together. What an experience you two will have running a marathon together.

I am over the worst part of TOM and pushed myself right through it all. I have really been listening to my body and knew I could feel that this morning I would have happy news with the scale. I lost all my bloat plus had a nice loss on top of that, so had a very nice scale drop. 144.2!!

I am very ready to meet this day head-on.

Have a super day everyone!

@Moving Forward: Welcome back and kudos, both for enjoying your outing and for only having an extra pound to deal with! No sun is pretty typical for Oregon and Washington. LOL

@Aidanqm: How terrific to start training with your bestie! Sounds like great fun.

@aspen13: Awesome about the loss! May it continue right on into the 130's. :)

Speaking of TOM, mine is cramping my style! Heehee... Been jogging 5k every two or three days, and the last one was a teeny bit faster than ever before, woot. It still is pretty amazing to me that I can run a whole 3 miles without stopping. I've been trying to do some strength training and pilates twice a week, though last Thursday I overdid it and really felt lousy for the next three days. Lesson learned!

Tomorrow is our anniversary, 22 years of wedded bliss. Going out to our favorite Vietnamese restaurant for lunch, yum! Anybody have suggestions for things to try? We're kinda new to the cuisine. Love those fresh spring rolls!

Cattails: Happy anniversary!! Cramping your style, lol.

Cattails-Happy anniversary! Good for you for the running and the strength training. I'm pretty impressed!

Aspen13-Congrats on the loss! I love the energy in your post.

Aidanqm-I'm impressed with your running too! That's great you can run with your best friend. I would love to have someone to work out with. It gets pretty lonely weight lifting alone in my garage. Lol

Speaking of weight lifting. It's been a few weeks since I've done any exercise. Whoopsie. I know I need to get back at it soon, or I'm going to become a drop out. I feel great whenever I finish a workout, but I have inertia right now. I have a few issues that I think are interfering. One, I'm on vacation and feeling lazy. Two, I'm at the end of the New Rules of Lifting For Women program and am not sure what to do next. I also have 50 pound dumbbells, which I am close to outgrowing. My research is unfortunately showing that new dumbbells will run me hundreds of dollars. I think I need to come up with a new program for myself to follow since I did well with the structure of the New Rules program. I also need to think of a good incentive for myself. Any ideas anyone?

@Moving Forward: 50 lb. dumbbells, wow! I'm impressed - the heaviest I use right now is 15s. Btw, it's August now - let's go to the August chat. :D