hey everyone! i'm back from vacation, even though i didn't announce that i was going on it. i remember months ago saying i wanted to reach goal by this vacation and with ups and downs and "things getting in the way" i'm prob very few pounds from where i began. kinda sad. but it's ok. i haven't weighed myself since being back but i can feel my clothes a little snug. honestly just from being back a day i already feel thinner being back to not eating out and drinking lots. i'm totally ready to get back into the swing of things though. i'm making new goals for myself as i always feel like that helps and planning some more. i get discouraged when these things happen but i have not been on a vacation like this in 8 years. i needed to just splurge. and i'm sure the weight will come off faster than i think. i'm ready. i need to catch up! there is over a page of BOLD threads that i haven't looked through, haha!

80's resurgence! How I would love that. I would rock my leg warmers and snap bracelets. I would buy a new Popple and jump around on my Pogo Ball. Woo! :spin:

Jamie - Okay, since you poked, here's the rundown of the outfit. It's from the new Romantic Collection at the Gap. I was never able to shop at the Gap and now it's practically my favourite store. :) I think I go there so often simply because I actually fit into their clothes now. The outfit was this polka dotted skirt, a baby pink cami and a purplish (beetroot) cardigan buttoned over top the cami. The cardigan matched the skirt perfectly and the cami added another colour dimension and the cute layered look. Together they look like this only the cardigan is the same colour as the dots on the skirt. I paired it with some basic ballet flats and some cute accessories. It's amazing how much I like to shop now for things that are not shoes. I had my fingers crossed for you and DH--I'm so glad it worked out! :woohoo: Your stomach must have been doing flip-flops last night. Have fun at the movies tomorrow. :corn: Hopefully you're not going to try to see The Dark Knight, which is sold out everywhere. :lol: You shouldn't have a problem getting in to something else. By the way, I don't reward myself with food anymore, either. :) Good for you!

Mod - I've been really unmotivated around the house and at work, too. The only thing I have been motivated to do is eat and go to the gym. Thankfully, even though I am eating a lot, I am not going over what I should be. And the only reason I am even motivated to go to the gym is because I'm paying for it. Honestly, I don't know who or what to thank for my boyfriend but I don't know what I would do without him these past few weeks. Mr. Supportive. :cheers: When I come home, I just want to sit on the couch and do nothing! But, since I have him around, I want to cook a healthy meal for both of us and I know we should both go to the gym so I just put my workout clothes on instead of moping. It's very easy to mope, though. One thing I have done recently is to start blogging--privately--just to complain about random crap. It HAS been a long time since Dotti updated her site. She had updated a few things but nothing of substance. I use what she puts there as a guide only if the restaurant I am going to doesn't post their own nutritionals. It's an easy one-stop-shop when I'm out and checking nutritionals on my Blackberry, too.

Jess - Welcome. :) Good luck to you! I see you have lost some weight already so congrats to you for that!

I'm very excited to go camping this weekend. My BF and I are all set and ready to go minus the food. We're going shopping for food right after work before we leave so everything will be fresh and ready to grill! :burger: Or cook on a stick. We have plans to go pedal boating, swimming, and for a small hike. We also got a badminton set and a Frisbee. I love that we are both putting in an effort to be active. :) The only thing I don't like about this camping trip is that it was planned for the same weekend as the release of The Dark Knight!! Oh noes! I definitely don't have the time to go see a movie during the week so I have to wait until next weekend to see it. Hopefully no one spoils it on me. Oh, the other thing about camping this weekend is that my area (and the area where we're camping) has released an excessive heat warning for the weekend. :drool: :sunny: Hopefully I won't come home with another wretched sunburn. :cool:

In other news, I lost a pound this week. I know I have lost inches and gained muscle based on my measurements and progress pictures. I wasn't expecting to lose scale weight so I was pleasantly surprised at WI this week. Must keep it up, must keep it up...

Have a nice weekend, ladies! Keep cool!

Manick, wow awesome advice! I like the sharpie idea and yeah, it made sense.

Jaime, :cheer3: :congrat::cheer3: Woo to the Hoo!!!

Stephanie, welcome. I like BB too - although last season was a little sleazy; I still haven't recovered. My early favorite is Keesha - she's so cute! How about you?

Tarah, Hi!

Thank you all for the advice. I noticed last night, after the popcorn, I started to reach for the bag of M&M's my little girl keeps in the freezer. My DH stopped me. I just wanted to continue eating - so probably I should stick closer to whole foods too.

I stepped on the scale this morning and it was the same as yesterday - good news!

Hi LeeAnne - didn't see you there. Have a wonderful time this weekend and congrats on the pound!!

Hi Michelle, thanks for the welcome. I am not sure who I like yet in BB, but I can certainly tell you who I don't like, does that make me a glass half empty kind of girl? :) Jesse and Renny are the most annoying ever!

OK, to make this on topic! Today has been a great day too, Completly on program and redy for the weekend. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

I took Friday off of work for a mental health day - I was going crazy. It was really nice. I just played Playstation for most of the day (we got a PS3 recently). Then Sunday night Jay and I BOTH got sick after dinner and were still sick yesterday so we were both home sick yesterday. We ended up figuring out it was the meat (the only thing I thought it wasn't) after we had leftovers last night :barf:

But the down time was REALLY nice and I feel motivated again :woohoo:

Well I did lose some weight because of it but you know its the kind of weight that comes back once you start eating normally again I still haven't gotten my butt to the gym. I want to go tomorrow. I have a standing date on Tuesdays with a friend from work to go see a movie. I don't know what we will see since she snuck out to the movies over the weekend to see The Dark Knight and didn't tell me. I wanted to do the same thing but I didn't because I was thinking of her. Boo! So I'll go see that another night with Jay, who really wants to see it too. Maybe we will see Hancock tonight or Get Smart! (if its still in theatres). Tuesday nights the movies are only $6, which is why we've been going on Tuesdays :)

Personal responses the next time, but thanks everyone for the advice!

Just wanted to pop in and say Hi, summer's flying by...it feels like forever since I've been able to get on here. No internet at the camper. :(

it's good though, having a great time, our dog loves it up there, so that's a bonus.

Hope all is well with all of you!
:sunny:

"mental health day" -- I love those! I'm a teacher so I'm off for summer and I have a wait a while before I take one of those days off.

My weigh in day used to be Mondays, but I've recently become a Friday girl and I hope this week turns out as well as last one did -- I lost 3.2 lbs then! I haven't had a loss like that since I first joined WW online.

Hope everyone has a great WI this week. Good luck!

So yesterday was OK as far as my eating. Not great, but OK. I went off my plan, but not horribly.

DH and I started talking about redoing our kitchen. I'm not sure if we're going to try to re-face the cabinets we have or get new ones. We'll have to see what the cost of the new ones will be.... :)

keli - Sounds like you are having fun!

meli - I wish I had the summer off... that would be nice :) Congrats on the loss! :bravo:

Jaime :congrat:!!! how great to have that weight off your shoulders :hug: DH

Mod, thanks, having fun for sure, stressing out a bit too at times, we're in "trying to sell our house mode" it's kind of a weird ball of emotions, exciting, interesting, scary, finding out there's way more cobwebs than I realized in the basement :D buts it's step one towards our dream house...nothing too fancy, just what we want where we want it.

I'm kind of, I don't want to say struggling, but I'm not really losing, I want to get these last pounds off, but I just can't hit it hard, we went for a good walk tonight, I've been working alot cleaning, haven't been too bad with the food, but need to reign some things in I guess.

You'd think summer would be auto-weight loss, but all the tempations make it the opposite, I think I'm also in that "almost at goal~I'm ok where I'm at" mode, too. However, I bought pants in the size I want to be in and the snugness keeps me from being too "ok where I'm at" :D

Sounds like ev1s doing well, lots of new faces, I can't believe how this Flex area has taken off, I remember when it was just a wee thing with a couple posts, it's fantastic!

best to all :sunny:

I'm offically back, had some off program days, due to the wedding and two days of eating out and few glasses of wine. Enjoyed it all, but it's time to get back on track.
Have quite a bit of catching up to do, haven't been on line for about two weeks. I missed you guys, and look forward to chatting again with you all.
Well talk to you soon.

Starter Kit and New Points Calculator
 

I have gotten to the point that I have decided to join Weight Watchers. However, there are only two meetings near me that really aren't convenient so I wanted to see if I could buy the Starter Kit and the New Points Calculator on Ebay. Before I go that route, however, I wanted to see what they give you at the initial meeting. The last time I went, years ago, they would give you a little slide rule points calculator thing and the basic booklets and then you could buy a Food Companion. I see on Ebay they now have a calculator and a complete starter kit. What I want to know is does anyone know how much there actually costs at the meetings?

I have been completely absent! So sorry, everyone. I've had a lot going on at home and at work and didn't want to come in here with a slew of "me, me, me!" posts. I can see it's been really quiet in here, though. Where is everyone?! Hopefully in all of our absences, we're still staying on track and on program.

Mod - Have you managed to see The Dark Knight yet? My BF and I went to see it on Saturday night. :) We made a little date out of the whole thing. We had a picnic in a nearby park (I brought some healthy things for us) and then some frozen yogurt at a little mom and pop ice cream shop in a cute neighbourhood just outside of the business district where the theatre is. By the time we got there, there was a massive line but, luckily for us, we got our tickets online on Monday for the Saturday 10 PM show and were able to walk right in.

Welcome to anyone who is new or coming back again. :)

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So... I DID IT!!!!! I finally made it into the 170's!!! 179.6. Whoop whoop whoop! :cb: :hat: :dancer:

It seems these days that I've been getting some backhanded compliments that I'm not entirely sure how to handle. A friend of mine was chatting with me and mentioned how much smaller I look. She asked me what size jeans I had on and, answering honestly, I said, "They're a size 12." She went on and on. "Oh my gosh, size 12. You're so lucky. I struggle to fit into my 14s. I wish I could fit into a size 12." A simple "Wow, congrats!" would have been nice, especially since she knows I'm coming from a size 24-26. Plus, we all know the nature of plus sized clothing. There is much more variance between 20-22 and 24-26 than there is a 12 and a 14. I wear 14 in other pants and I have an odd pair of size 11 pants (don't ask). Then just yesterday, my sister e-mailed me. She and I have been sharing our little daily success stories (she was an overweight child as well but she lost her weight slower and earlier in life than I did so it's less of a dramatic change). She lives in Columbia, SC and I'm in Philly so we don't get to see each other often but exchange e-mails and pictures all the time. She had asked for pictures of my camping trip so I sent them. She responded, "Your pictures scare me a little bit… you look SOOOOO different. It’s hard to believe how much weight you’ve lost." Now, I know she means it in a good way but to tell me that my pictures scare her a little bit is a mixed message to say the least!!

:mad: Anyyyyway....

I switched my workout this week. I started on Thursday (WI day) with the switch and.. oh boy. Instead of doing 2 days of full circuit strength and weight training along with 2 days of cardio, I am now doing lower body one day, upper body one day and cardio three days. :wl: It's a struggle to say the least. I am learning how weak my upper body actually is. I'll get there--slowly but surely I will get there--but I really am struggling.

Hang in there, baby!

summer's tough for losing, you'd think it would be easier, better weather for activity, but def. more temptations...

going through alternating moods with the house sale, scared, excited, happy, worried... :D we started packing some boxes, I was actually enjoying it!! wacky, I know. I'm looking forward to closing, I'll be glad when it's all over. Fresh start coming :)

LeAnne I just looked at your prog. pics, great job!! you look happy and healthy!

best to all :sunny:

i completely agree. summer is EXTREMELY tough for losing. it almost makes me can't wait for fall, haha. i am trying really really hard to stay on track. it's tough.

keep it up everyone. :)