Thanks, he is waiting on a skin biopsy result to determine if it is gluten related.
I feel like sugar in general is just a slippery slope for me. I am kind of dreading the maintenance phase of my diet, because that's when they start allowing some fruits and occasional wine and more carbs again. I have trouble with moderation anyway so it seems as soon as I let some sugar back in, that's when I cave.

However, when I am off sugar I can pass by my works breakroom (which always has some sweets for someone's birthday) and not think twice.

I agree totally! It's definitely a slippery slope for me too. I am not entirely sure what I am going to do in maintenance yet, but I general I don't see why I ever need refined-sugar sweets. I will probably have them only very occasionally - not a complete ban, but banned from everyday life. I don't have the same problem with fruits ... though sometimes I go through phases where I really crave them. There are so many good things in fruits that I don't worry too much about that as long as I am not over like 2 servings in a day.


Congrats! I can't wait to be down to the last 5 ... if ever. I can't decide what my weight goal is, since it is taking so long (according to me, that is... maybe I am in the normal time-frame for a Featherweight? Approximately 4 pounds/month).

Sometimes I feel guilty wanting to lose more weight when I'm not even in "overweight" territory. But I know that when I was in my 20s and 30s I looked great at a weight of between 115 and maybe 125. It just worked with my body type. Now that I have entered my 40s I don't think that is attainable and honestly it might not look good anymore to be that thin, like my face will start to look older (here's an amusing Australian article on the dilemma )

I suspect we have many small-framed folk in the Featherweight forum.

BTW - to determine frame size, that method using your fingers around your wrist doesn't make any sense at all (I know someone my size whose fingers are probably an inch shorter than mine...). Here is the National Library of Medicine method, based on a wrist measurement (there is also an elbow measurement method out there but I find that harder to measure!). It helps to know if you are better off at the lower or higher weight ranges.

Of course your body fat and overall physique can tell you a lot as well! There is no easy answer, and sometimes we just have to wait until we get there to see if it works...

OMG that article about butt or face is soo true... I started to notice that my neck is starting to lose elasticity and it is even worse now that I have dropped weight. I kind of hope it firms up again, but maybe it is an age thing (mid-thirties).

I need a sub forum on face creams....

((((Hungerwerks, kristip, Chubbysmall, EmmaD))))
Hello Feather Friends -
Sorry I've been MIA for most of August… I'm in the middle of a job related transition (I was Marketing Coordinator for an Architecture and Design firm) and it's been a bit of a challenge to keep a regular schedule. If I'm honest, a good chunk of my posts were made during office hours (oops…)

Hoping to post in here more often, as I notice a direct correlation between the frequency of my posts and my weight. :rolleye: The good news is that for today - I'm up and motivated enough to get my butt to the gym. I'm in a better place now, mind-set wise, so hoping that this upward trend continues.

I miss you guys!!!

xoAx

Welcome back Alexistrophic! We've missed you around- glad you're back!

Just keeping on keeping on here- Getting close and trying to keep strong to the goal! It helps I buy my food for the week and cook most meals at home.

Breakfast: Latte with skim milk and 2 tsp sugar
One egg, scrambled

Morning snack: 1 cup strawberries
1 cup tea with half and half (no sugar)

Lunch: Vanilla Greek Light and Fit yogurt
1 cup tomato basil salad

Afternoon snack: 1 cup watermelon
1 cup chai tea with half and half and 1 turbinado sugar packet

Only the dinners change lol. Monday was 2 medium pieces of supreme pan pizza from pizza hut. Tuesday was half a monster fajita (homemade on an XXL tortilla lol). Wednesday was half a hamburger with muenster cheese and fresh tomato, 1/2 cup baked beans, and some homemade fries and ketchup. Tonight is a garden salad with fried chicken strips. Tomorrow will be a 6 inch sub from Subway.

kristip ~ Thanks for the welcome back. I really missed you guys!!! Love the regimen of your days. Looks like it's working for you and you've come so far!

~~~
Warning: mini rant ahead.
I woke up and my account was overdrawn... My own fault, really... There were a few fraudulent charges back in July and I wasn't keeping as close an eye on the line items as I ought to have... It's just a headache all around. I'm on the phone with a customer service rep right now.

The job search is taking longer than I had anticipated and is more frustrating than I thought. On the up side, I'm learning something new from every interview. On the down side... it's taking a long time.
I have an interview at 3PM (so that's promising) and I'm more excited about this job than I have been before, but it's still really discouraging…

Now with this overdraft fiasco, I have $12 in my wallet. Supposed to go to Action Park with our church youth group tomorrow, but I have no money and admission is like $40, not counting gas, etc.

Beyond frustrated and upset with myself.
My first instinct is to shove food in my mouth, but that's not going to solve anything and will, in fact, make the problem worse.... It's just tough b.c I don't feel like I have other options sitting here.

PROUD OF MYSELF, though… because rather than stuff my face, I literally got down on the floor and did sit ups. That's a victory, for sure.


Plan -
Go to the gym - workout
Home - Research companies and get ready for the interview.
Prepare for interview
Ace interview
Work on freelance stuff

Sounds like a good problem solving plan!

I felt discouraged today too because our scale broke. My FI got on and said it must be broke because he only weighed 140 (he is like 230). So I found one of the little metal weights had popped out of one of the four corners.

Then I made a bad choice....I stuck the metal piece back in and proceeded to weight myself. It said I gained 5 pounds....

So now I don't know if it was wrong for longer than just today or it is just broken and unreliable. It's gonna be a major bummer if our new scale says I weigh more than this one did.

After this I proceeded to try on my really small work pants I gave up wearing for a year, and they fit. Actually they were a bit big and I had to wear a belt. So I am redeemed I am losing weight, I just have to tell myself not to get hung up on the numbers.

Fantastic! Someday I am going to get back in the habit of exercising at home. SOMEDAY

Congrats! That's what it's all about!

I don't know if this is a thing for people at lower weights (not even that low, I am talking mid-range BMIs, not particularly athletic) - or just my bizarrely proportioned body.... but my clothing sizes change dramatically with just a few pounds. I had a meeting to go to and I tried on work pants that I just recently could fit into again. Several of them are too big! It's very subtle but they have a bagginess around the middle or sit too low on my waist and look quite frumpy. Can't wear them to a professional meeting.

So I had to get new pants. Two pairs of size 6 that fit perfectly. 8s are usually too baggy, and I have some 4s that fit but are a bit too bootylicious for the workplace if you know what I mean A few more pounds to go on that ... also toning up might take care of it.

But who knows if I am ever going to find out - I have been slipping recently. Too many parties/friends visiting/crap in the house... I also think I am complacent that I "got back to where I was" a few years ago... Anyway I have a decision to make - my original commitment for hardcore dieting was for ~4 months, till the end of August. It's coming sooooon.

On the one hand, I know quite well that it's not the actual number on the scale that I care about, it is being a certain size, looking a certain way, not carrying so much body fat, being able to move freely (like in yoga class, not negotiating around a roll of fat in my midsection) and to participate in activities like climbing hills and chasing after kids.... on the other hand, I feel like such a failure if I "give up" before reaching the weight I think I should weigh (<130 pounds).

So I have to decide how much more strict dieting I can take, and I need to approach exercise with as much zeal as I did my diet.

Whatevs! I know I think about this too much. For today, on plan, no eating carby crap, maybe possibly even going to the gym

Haha, I am in the same place with my size 4's being a bit too bootylicious for work.

I know what you mean about being complacent, sometimes when I reach a good weight number my mind automatically wants to "treat" myself for getting there. I think its about balancing out your diet/activity to a place you feel is "do-able" consistently. After all we can only keep up dieting (aka depriving) ourselves for so long.

For me, I allow myself some bigger portions on the weekends, partly because I am doing more activity and it feels like a treat.
Even though it is healthy my weekend breakfast of a poached egg, oat-bran crepe with cinnamon and a dollop of fat free whipped cream, and 2 slices of turkey bacon feels like a splurge. I am slowly learning to love some healthy food and treat it as a splurge the way I used to treat a chocolate cake. I am also learning to get excited about trying new healthy recipes which keeps the motivation going.

I always remember a friend that had the goal of, "I want to look/feel good naked". I think this is a nice goal, because it isn't necessarily about size or weight numbers.

On the pants thing- YES, it's amazing how the weight hardly changes at this point, but the pants REALLY do. I have now ditched my 4's totally and have kept the smaller 2's and bought some 1's and 0's. I bought a 00 for a NSV goal (and they get on and zip up now, they just aren't flattering or easy to get on!). I was a 00 and 0 until my 30's, so I know that it works right with my physique.

Of course, now that I'm getting close it seems to be slowing down so much! I'm gonna have to go through and start measuring portion sizes again. I feel like I'm probably underestimating amounts. Ugh. So close.

Well it's the end of August, which for me coincides with feeling like it is the end of summer. Time for assessment and goal-setting for September/fall.

The good:
Managed to stick fairly well to my diet
Made my August (random, arbitrary) weight loss goal = 5.6 pounds lost for August ... a little over 20 pounds lost since I started at the end of April (so average of ~5 pounds/month)

The bad:
NO exercise (I had 1 day logged on my ticker)
Lots of off-plan foods sneaking in + sometimes not eating ENOUGH

The ugly:
My body. Just kidding. Sort of. Everything sort of "softened" with weight loss. I feel incredibly squishy and flabby. Still have a horrible belly.
Feeling pretty tired most of the time. Working on that!

So what is my plan for September? I am not entirely sure. Since I don't have time to exhaustively over-analyze the situation as I usually would, I am saying for now that, while I would be OK maintaining my current weight, I am going to keep pushing toward losing a few more pounds (5ish, max of 10). I am now also committing to exercising for reals! yeah, yeah, I'll believe it myself when it actually happens! I did put gym time on my calendar this week and bought some cute new workout clothes, which is always more motivating than my usual workout rags. I'm going to start with "running" (aka jogging/walking but with more bounce ) intervals and yoga... want to work up to more sustained running and weight-lifting once I call it quits in the weight loss department.

Everyone ready for a new month?

Having this forum to report into and to see everyone else's progress has helped me so much

I'm thinking about switching up my September goals and just do a maintenance/ barely losing goal. I've been at this since mid March with a 900 calorie goal and am really thinking of at least doing 1200-1400 at least a few days a week. My brain might need to rest from it all. lol. We shall see. I really would love to see under 110 soon though. Decisions, decisions!

I too need to re-evaluate my September goals.

Soooo...scale was broken which was frustrating. Seemed to finish August around 116 ish.
I am thinking I will shoot for 113 by the end of September because I feel a big plateau coming.
Alternately, my insurance formulary switched my BCP from generic back to name brand and I am having all kinds of side effects. I think my weight plateau might have something to do with that too.

I haven't been exercising at all (in part due to low calorie intake) so I think I will try and add in some walking or yoga 2-3 times a week to start.

I DID schedule a bridal shop appointment at the end of October so I really hope I can get back on track.