Welcome 4keeps!!!! And you're right--this IS the place to be to help stay focused. (Weight loss really is a mind game, isn't it?)

Welcome 4keeps and good luck. We learn from each other and share with each other.

4keeps!

Dagmar

4keeps, glad to meet you. And look at your statistics! Nothing is going to stop you. Just take your time. Breathe. And come here to share when you feel like you just can't go any further.

4keeps - hi! Looking forward to hearing more of your story!

Yesterday was a very good day. No food struggles, no cravings, and despite the weird Monday hours (choir transport - dinner not until 7:30), all was fine. I had just enough time at the end of the night to relax and savor a nice glass of Shiraz, and then off to bed for a satisfactory 7.5 hours of sleep. The scale reads 3.5 pounds lower today than yesterday.

Becky, congratulations on the 3.5 drop.

Welcome 4keeps! Great to have you around.

Becky!

Welcome 4keeps!

Wow! Becky! That's quite a drop. Why are some of your weights in red? I'm thinking the 7 day averages might be a good idea for me because I'm up almost 3 pounds from yesterday. Ugh. Body Pump and I'm sore so hopefully that's most of it but it sure plays with my mind.

Welcome 4keeps!!!!

Saw this on Facebook from one of my former students in Japan. Bless them.

Wow, Becky! 3.5 pounds! And I was happy with my .5!

They've moved DH's uncle from in home hospice care to a facility, or are moving him right now. My eating and exercise is going to be pretty off track this week, I'm going to have to survive it and deal with it later.

bargoo, allison, michele, shannon - thanks, but it was a bounce-back to 147.5 from a weekend spike. We had several meals out, plus Saturday was a "tap takeover" - I downed something on the order of 115 oz of beer (over 11 hours). Lotzzzz of bloat! It wasn't a "real" gain, and this wasn't a "real" loss either. I only posted it because I think that's the most I've ever lost in 24 hours.

michele, a couple of my averages are in red because they are increases over the prior week. Blips and spikes in daily weight are expected, but with a 7-day average, I'm a little tougher on myself if it goes up. I make it red so that it reminds me to keep my commitments! Today's drop, for instance, is going to be cancelled out by the two days of upticks that got me to that point, so I have this week's 4 remaining days to tell the true story about whether this week is a loss week. I really don't care if it only goes down by .1 pound per week - this experiment has no timeline. My target weekly calorie intake is 12000, which is what my LoseIt app tells me is the maintenance calorie level for someone my height at 140 pounds (where I'd like to get, I think). By the numbers, I should be losing around 1/2 pound per week, supposedly. This is the absolute easiest way that I can think of to not suffer while losing, and since mid-July, I can truly say that I'm eating in a way that I can see myself doing for the next 50 years. I'm eating like the person I want to be - fake it til you make it. Incomplete project is to develop the habit of exercising like the person I want to be!

Thanks, everyone, for welcoming me!! I feel accountable and ready to tackle these last, miserably hard to lose, pounds. I wonder what it will feel like to reach my final goal. I'll likely be so afraid of regaining I won't know how to enjoy it. I know I need to simply enjoy how far I've come, and stop beating myself up that I haven't ARRIVED yet. I want to enjoy today, and not be so focused on what I have left to obtain that I miss out on all I already get to do with a healthier lifestyle. God has blessed me so much on this journey, and I don't want to lose sight of that. It's easy for me to get down on myself, and I need to slow down, enjoy each day, and just breath.

Sorry...that went from a simple THANKS, to a pep talk to myself. Ok...goodnight, everyone, and enjoy maintaining!

4 keeps. pep talks are permitted and are encouraged . I might just steal your pep talk and substitute my name in place of yours. Thanks !

^^^ That's the part I need. ^^^

I'm with bargoo, Yay for Pep Talks.