Since the 2015 thread has gone way over 500 posts, maybe it’s time for a new thread. Hope that’s OK?

Summer is coming to an end - so many us have had great summers, lots of successes, SV’s and NSV’s that we’ve all shared, and some getting so close to goal or reaching maintenance.

So … Forward into Fall. Let’s keep going strong!


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I found you! I have been so busy enjoying my new life that i havent' posted in here too terribly much. I'm glad that everyone is doing so god and I have to comment on Destony: you absolutely rocked that dress! You look fabulous!

I am loving life more and more each day with this new body I have discovered that has been hiding away for years. It is amazing to feel sexy and beautiful again. It took hitting that 100lbs gone mark for it to sink in that I am back!; the "me" that used to have confidence and could turn a head every now and then. I sure missed that girl. So I echo Destony's sentiment: this diet is worth every penny I've spent, every craving I fought and every bite of off Protocol food that I DID NOT take when it was there taunting me. I have often seen the words : "Nothing takes as good as being skinny feels." I'm not "skinny," nor am I trying to get "skinny" but I know for a fact that being thin is the best feeling in the world!

Frawnie what to speak of all the medical expenses you will save for the rest of your life. I just read an article today about a study that said statistically people with lower BMIs develop dementia later than those with higher BMIs. And there are loads of benefits like that one that will save us all so much money in healthcare.
I looked at the monthly IP P1 cost as "health insurance".

Destony and Frawnie; your successes are so inspiring. Thank you for sharing. I can imagine how emotional it was to look fabulous in that dress or to hit that number on the scale. I'm sure when I hit my goal, I'll bawl my eyes out. Your journeys are inspiring to the rest of us to keep going.

Thanks Blue for starting the new thread - I know Lisa has been really busy this summer (good for her!)
Well that's a heck of a bra you absolutely deserve every compliment

I was just thinking about this driving in to work this morning (where to stop - or more like, where is my body going to force me to stop). Like you, I am enjoying the simplicity of P1 eating - and of course the benefit of seeing the scale going in the right direction.
I have a problem though, because while I am 2.4 pounds away from my top end healthy BMI for 5'6 (and a HALF darn it lol), I still have a lot of wiggle and jiggle - tummy / thighs / rear / upper arms
This is where a coach would be beneficial. I have no idea what my body fat % is...I really don't know if I am small, medium, large boned - I get told quite often I have very small wrists - but then have shoulders like a linebacker
I've only had a few people tell me to stop...my boss / friend, who was very svelte (she's had 4 kids in 7 years and has a bit of a tummy now), agrees that 145 is a good goal...and maybe even 135.
The question though is how do I want to get there...if I can?? To my knowledge, I haven't been under 15X pounds since elementary / middle school (I was a very large kid )
I want to feel good in my skin. It was so AWESOME walking into cute clothing stores at Broadway at the Beach in Myrtle (outdoor mall) and actually being able to look at size M / 10's - DH saw me eyeing a dress and encouraged me to buy it ("That would look good on you" - wth???? who are you and where is my husband ) - & I would have IF I didn't think I still have a size or 2 to go...
My original goal had been an 8 - and I will be thrilled if that's what happens - but my body is still morphing.
I weighed in at 157.4 this morning - the size 10's I bought for the beach all fit well now (no muffin top)...one pair I can already slide off w/o unzipping!
My chiropractor even said this morning the changes in my body over the last 3 weeks are very noticeable.
Apologizes for the ramblings - my original goal is really in sight now, but is it really enough? I am also wondering if phasing off properly (at 145) & moving to exercise wouldn't be more beneficial?
I've mentioned a few times DH & I did Insanity summer of 2013. I started at 215 and over 10 weeks got to 193 - so I lost 22 pounds, but it changed my entire body composition. Again, I didn't measure but I know I lost a ton of inches because even at 190, my 14's were loose & my arms / shoulders were defined and looked awesome.
All that said, I wonder if losing the weight / fat (ie, I reset goal for 135) would be more beneficial than phasing out at 145 and working on definition. My minds-eye sees 135 giving me a larger "scream" weight zone as I phase out...

I can totally relate to wondering what our Ideal weight should be. I'm already hearing "wow you're getting so skinny". I'm 5'4" and over 160 pounds, I'm far from skinny LOL I really think people who know us and are used to seeing us overweight just aren't used to seeing us thinner so to them it's a more drastic change. If we meet people we've never met before they wouldn't tell us we're too skinny. So I just shrug it off, don't say much and chalk it up to that.

We aren't designed to be overweight, just look at all the health problems it causes! I think it's really just the state of our county - so many struggle with being overweigt, the "norm" is a higher weight than ever. If we look back to the 60's and earlier you don't see weighing as much as most do today and we don't think they look too skinny (well I don't anyway LOL). Even our clothing sizes are much larger than other countries.

I'm not saying we should be sickly model thin of course but I do think we have accepted an unhealthy norm. Clothing size is probably a good way to go for me - I want to be able to shop at name brand stores and wear say a size 6-8 - I think that's my goal.

Oh and yes! How I look naked is a good indication too LOL yes I'm 53 but I want to feel comfortable with my husband seeing me in my underwear without running for the cloest ;-)

And thank you Linda and Frawnie both for posting HOW WORTH IT every sacrifice you have made has been! I've struggled at events the past few weekends so to see those words are so encouraging to me - it motivates me to stay on plan so THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

Hi Beth (hysteria) - this might help you figure it out:
"I really don't know if I am small, medium, large boned - I get told quite often I have very small wrists - but then have shoulders like a linebacker."
https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/...ages/17182.htm

"Knowing your frame size can help you set reasonable weight goals. Enter your height and elbow width and this calculator will use standard insurance industry tables to show your frame size and ideal weight range. (Measuring the elbow, rather than the wrist, to determine frame size gives more range and accuracy, particularly for men.)"
http://health.bizcalcs.com/Calculato...ame-Size-Elbow

Elbow protuberances never change as adults while wrist circumference can have added fat at a heavier weight, throwing the calculator off.

Liana

Thanks Liana! That was VERY helpful - it appears for both wrist / elbow I am medium frame and ideal weight is 130 - 144

I am still planning to see how I feel when I get to 145 (ie - is burn out an issue? What are the Thanksgiving plans? etc...) hopefully in early / mid October and will adjust accordingly

It's hard to decide what your goal weight should be, when you're more than 50 lb away from it. OMG, 50 lb sounded like SO MUCH when I started
I just picked a number (for me 150), which would have been a bit more than 50 lb. loss. But like you all, as I get closer to that, I'm giving it more thought.
Last time I was thin(-ish) I was 40, I had lost about 20 lb, and was wearing size 8. I felt OK at that weight, but not skinny by any means, if I could have stuck it out, looking back, 130 would have been better, healthier, looked better.
BUT... I was 40. This body may well be an entirely different story

And as for looking good nekkid...that ship has sailed This body is never going to look like it did at 30 or 40 or 50 but it sure will look at lot better than it did a year ago ....... it already does, even with the "wiggles and jiggles"...

So right now I'm focused on reaching the goal I set. Will I change it when I get closer? Most likely. But I don't know what the number will be, I'm going to trust my body to let me know.

Linda - whether exercise and toning will get you looking like you want, it sounds like exercise worked for you before. So maybe. But maybe this is a question for the maintainers...maybe someone has already wrestled with and made this decision ...and ...good or bad?? Be interesting to hear what they say.

Liana - thanks for those links, I had never seen them before, and they are a great help - I always found BMI alone to be lacking

I love reading about how well everyone seems to be doing, it is so motivating. Congrats everyone. I wish i could post more, but work has been so busy this summer that i don't have time to check in often. But Busy is good at work, makes the time go much faster and i don't have time to wander around then and be tempted by all the treats others keep at their desks.

Right now i am just just over a lb away from Onederland by my scale at home(slightly more with my official WI but their scale is always about .5 higher than mine at home) and its so close it feels like it is teasing me. I leave for Vegas on Sunday so wont WI next week, but i am determined to be under 200 for my next official WI two weeks from now. It will be good motivation to stay OP as much as possible while away. Wish me luck!!! LOL

Good luck!!! You can do this!!!


Cindy

Thanks Canadjineh for the goal weight links. Looks like my top end for a medium build is 138. I'll keep my goal as 140 for now and see as I get closer. Thankfully, the weight is now starting to come off my rear and thighs. Of course, it quickly came off my face and neck. If that continued, I was going to up my goal weight because I didn't want to look skeletal from the waist up and then heavy below.
It sounds like the low weights are new territories for some of us, I know for me, my lowest was 128 in high school 30 years ago.
New, scary and exciting territory for me.
Happy IP Thursday all!

I was having the same fears lrg! I am already fairly pear shaped (I've been told hourglass too b/c I have a small waist - but I don't think my boobs are big enough to qualify for 'hourglass' lol) and was losing so much from my chest...but as I dropped around & below 170, it started really coming off the hips and thighs too.
I am actually starting to like the way my legs look

acid - have a FANTASTIC time in Vegas! You can do this! Can't wait to see your post on getting into onederland!!!

blue - lol - I hear you on the 'looking great nekkid' issue...and its not just age (I am 38...). I am never expecting to look like (insert super skinny model here)...but I already feel so much more confident in the buff than I did 75 pounds ago. I can look at myself in the mirror - something I completely avoided at 200+. Obviously, I still see issues...but I also see RIBS! and a collar bone! and hip bones! and sexy legs! and my FEET!

I was wondering as our bodies continue to change, if anyone else has experienced aches & pains? My boobs have shrunk (I only have 2 bras that fit now) and during the process, it felt like I had a pulled muscles - both sides! My hips have been getting achy for a while too...and it seems to coincide with drops in my weight - I guess, maybe, its the fatty deposits that have probably been there for god-knows-how-long dissipating and things are shifting

Have a great vacation, Vegas is so much fun! and I'm definitely wishing you luck staying OP, how exciting to be so close to Onederland. You'll do great!


Beth - Can't say I've noticed any more aches and pains, but I still have a lot of them there "fatty deposits" I do like your thought that yours are dissipating and shifting, sounds good to me

I mentioned that my last weight loss was when I was 40-ish (about your age), and I wasn't even that much overweight then, went from about 160 or so to 140. Of course, once the weight was off, I tried to eat healthier, but over the years, it all crept back on. I've heard the statistic that on average, most people gain 1lb for every year over 25. Not too far off the truth (OK, maybe a bit more than that for me )
Of course, I tried lots of diets over the years since, sometimes I'd lose 10 or 15 lb, but all just temporary. I've finally realized that all those diets are just about losing weight. But I think the most important part of IP for me is going to be P4 - maintenance.
I know that getting to over 200 was a real wake up call for me, and I knew I had to find something that worked, I'm so glad to have found IP, because it definitely is working...but I'm not sure if I would be as good as staying OP if it wasn't for 3FC and all the support and encouragement and information from you all.

OK, maudlin speech over...on to today.
Weekly WI... only 0.4 down (still, it WAS down). A bit disappointing, must admit : (but it's been hot and humid here this week, so I'm hoping it's just water ).
I have a vacation planned starting in 2 weeks, I've been hoping to reach 40 lb loss by then (I'm at 35.4) so hopefully I'll have a couple of good weeks coming up

Beth -
I had quite a bit of muscle pain/ache back stuff. My physical therapist and also my chiropractor both said that when the body's center of gravity changes (which it does with weight loss) everything in the body needs to readjust - all the very small to the very big muscles and also the spine need to learn to hold the body in the new way. So the body is constantly shifting. I also had a lot of problems with balance (I do pretty extreme yoga so that's where I noticed it) because my body had to learn how to hold itself again. I also noticed things in the ribs, etc. - I carried most of my weight in the stomach, so when it had less to hold up, it started to cause aches. My therapist said it was because it was like my muscles were working so hard to hold the weight that they almost numbed out - and when they had less to hold and less work to do, they actually kind of "woke up" like your foot falling asleep and waking up -
so there was actually less pain, but I was feeling it more because they were more "alive" due to actually being able to relax.

I also had to get adjusted at the chiro more frequently as all of this was happening my spine also was adjusting.