Sorry, all... have been lurking instead of posting. Although I diagnosed some of my difficulties in getting back on track, I fell even further off of plan, and was too peeved with myself to post. I'm trying to reign in, and have been working out, but have been out of control with food. We had a dear friend die and the stress around that and hosting people for dinner after the memorial service contributed a bit to my lack of focus, but, excuses aside, I just haven't quite committed.

Moving on...

Lumifan, you rock. I know it's hard to be patient with yourself, but you've been doing such a wonderful job. I know that your scale will soon reward you, and your clothes are probably getting looser by the day.

Eny - holy cow! Congratulations!!! What a wonderful number to see.

MM - what an awesome measurement - you're inspiring. I need to get out the tape measure and give myself a baseline, because although inches don't come off as quickly as pounds, they end up being all the more satisfying and impressive.

Will power dust to all

offical weekly weigh in this morning - after 2 binge days and TOM rearing his ugly head... I'm down #1 total. not as good as it could've been - but I'm sure that the water weight that TOM brings has something to do with it. I'm still happy - as long as the scale keeps moving in the right direction!

Hi all!

I'm back after lots of holiday entertaining and over a month of sickness interspersed (ugh)!

I caught up on posts and am newly inspired so thanks everyone!

During the past month I've managed to drop a couple more pounds so I'm happy about that. And as of last week was able to start back up with workouts. I'll be able to workout Mon, Tues and Wed this week and then I'm having lasik on Wed. I don't know if this will necessitate a rest day on Thurs and possibly Fri.

Glad to be back!

Hi all!

I'm still here! I've had a rough couple of weeks. I went on a crazy binge and wouldn't work out and now feel very bad. BUT...I think I've figured out what set me off, and I think I'll be ok now. I decided to quit my job and become a full time student and it was freaking me out! I've worked since I was very young-about 11. So for me to not work feels weird, and lazy. Even though I just looked at the syllabus' (syllabi??) of my two on-line classes and realize that it's going to be a lot of work, especially since I'll start my two in-class classes tomorrow, and I have no idea what they have in store.

So, with that figured out, I feel confident I can get back on track. I've planned out meals for the rest of the month and I'm going to work out in just a few minutes.

Welcome back Angeline; I hope you're feeling better!

Enygirl-good job on the loss! Especially during TOM!

Leeza-I'm so sorry to hear of the loss of your friend. That is a very stressful situation. Don't beat yourself up if you can't focus. You'll get back into it.

mothermavis-You are my hero! You have that "just do it" attitude. Congratulations! Also, send a little my way .

Lumifan-Hang in there, it will come off! Unfortunately, now that you're close to you goal weight, the losses are going to slow down. Be proud of yourself for how far you've come, and keep working it! It'll come off!

Well, I guess I should go prepare myself for my first day of unemployment!

Have a great day, everyone!

Darby...how scarey that must feel to not work. I took about a year off when i had my 2nd child and it was pretty scarey not having that second income. Good luck on your classes. I just know you will do great. What are you studying???

Leeza...so sorry to hear about your friend. I think dieting should be the last thing on your mind when you are dealing with that kind of stress. Welcome back. Great job on getting back into working out. Once your body starts feeling better from that...i know the food part will kick in too. Hang in there girl!!!

Eny....yay on the pound down. I'm sure once TOM is gone...you'll see even more pounds come off!! Way to go!!

Angeline...welcome back!!!! Look forward to hearing more from you!!! And yay on the couple pounds down. Way to go. Keep up the awesome job. Hope all goes good with your lasix procedure thursday.

MM....how is it going??? Hope all is well on your end of the scale!! hehe.

Things are going good on my end. I saw 135 this weekend....yay me!!! That's always exciting to see. I should start making saturdays my official weigh in day. Seems like everytime i lose a pound it is on saturday. weird. Anyways....so i am hopeing to stay a good girl this week and will see 134 by Saturday. lol. I will be definately hitting the gym this week because a girl friend of mine has joined my Y and wants to workout with me. We did upper body weights friday together and we really got a good workout in. Tonight is cardio class. I can't wait!!!

WEED for today:
W- 64 ounces
E- 1200 calories
E- gym class
D- just take it one day at a time.

I'll just mirror Lumi's personals. Glad everyone is here and that we can help each other on this journey.

I saw the 140's this weekend, so I hope they are there tomorrow for my weigh in day, but if not, I am getting closer all the time! I think I'm going to get a facial when I see the 140's consistently, then maybe a pedicure for the 30's...

mothermavis - WTG! seeing the #140's would be AWESOME!!!

Lumi - on seeing #135!
Girls I think we rock this year!!!

Angeline, so sorry you were sick for so long - it's miserable to be sick, and so frustrating not to be able to work out. Welcome back to health!

Darby - thank you for the kind words Oh, and sister, do I feel your binge pain! Congrats on starting school - I went to grad school in '00 and I still remember the total stress and confusion at the beginning, and all of the fears and concerns it inspires. I hope that you enjoy your time out from work, and that your classes are great!

Lumi - thank you for your sympathies. And 135??? Holy freakin' s@#t!!! You've lost more than 60 pounds!!!!!!!! OMG! What an amazing accomplishment!

Enygirl - wow! 1lb down after binge and during TOM? That's a major accomplishment - great job!

MM - 140s is awesome - and I think I want to jump on the facial bandwagon. I'll go for a facial when I get down to mid 160s, I think. Sounds like marvelous motivation

Well, I've reversed my pattern - now I'm eating (slightly) better, but not working out. I'd seen 177 - gack! - on the scale and I'm back to 174. Not loving that, but I can't complain too loudly given my inertia and lack of calorie counting. I'll get there on both food and exercise one of these days, and then look out --- facials here I come

Power to the spring breakers!

Ok, violating my NYResolution to get to bed by 11:30, but had to share - new recipe I found in a Nigella book: 3 cups frozen peas, 2 cups vegetable stock. Boil until peas are soft. Puree - immersion blender worked well - and enjoy. Of course, I can't leave recipes alone, so I added salt, pepper, dash of half n half, some chopped canadian bacon, sprinkled a little parmesan on top and some shredded basil, just because I had it in the house, (and b/c I don't think my DH would have appreciated it plain as his dinner.) I tasted it w/o all of that, though, and it was great. Almost no work, great taste, filling, good for you and low cal.

Leeza - that does sound good -and even better with your additions

I think that the facial bandwagon sounds awesome - but I'm thinking when i hit my 1/2 way point (#164.8) I'm going for the pedicure I love pedicures, and I haven't had one since Mother's Day 2005... I deserve one! I'm aiming for St. Patrick's Day as the 1/2 way goal - but we'll see. I'm sticking to the original plan of #7-10 a month for Jan, Feb & March. It'd be really freaking cool though!

I'm having a hard time not changing my ticker everytime I have a loss - I weigh everyday - but only make it official on Sundays.. well TOM is gone now, and this morning I was at #182! Hopefully I'll be within a pound of Jan goal on Sunday - and I'll blow by it! that'd be SO cool!!!

Finally a challenge I may have a chance of meeting. Down another pound today (well...2nd day in the past 4 days that i've seen it). I am 135 today. Now i have 15 to go to hit my Spring Break goal. That's 5 pounds a month and I have 2 and a half months to go. So...if i stay on track....i may very well get very close to meeting that goal. That would put me at 120. How awesome would that be???? Let me tell you....AWESOME!!!!!!

WEED for today:
W- 64 ounces
E- 1200 calories
E- upper body weights and abs.
D- just one day at a time.

oh and i didn't make it to the gym last night. No socks in my gym bag. No way i am going to class and come out with blisters again. Next time, i'll make sure to pack two pairs of socks in my bag. I definately got them on today!!!!

Ok girls - I need some to keep things going. I was at #180.8 this morning! #1.1 away from my super bowl goal! How cool would it be to blow by it on my way to my next one? I can almost feel the #170's!!!

Lumi - WTG on the #135! How awesome! I love meeting challenges. It felt really good when I was only #.3 away from my New Years goal.

OK Eny, consider yourself dusted. 1.1 away is awesome!!

I saw 149 again this am, if it's there again tomorrow, I will consider myself in the 140's & make my appointment.

Leeza that recipe sounds yummy. I am going to be home Sunday and I'm always looking for more recipes, I think I'll whip up a batch, I'm with you for the additions, I alway use a little of this and that, it's more fun that way, but I do try to write it down if we really liked it, otherwise, I won't remember what I did!

Lumi, how's things? You sound awesome, 120, I can't even remember 130 since before the 17yr old was born, I fully intend to get there.

Darby- congrats on deciding to go back to school! You rock! I am jealous.

Angeline - hoping you are feeling better, how is your back to workout plan going?

MM....things are going pretty good i suppose. I really would have liked to see 134 tomorrow. We'll see.

Anyways...doing okay i suppose.
WEED for today:
W-64 ounces
E- 1200 cal.
E- gym class
D- just one day at a time...don't over eat!!!

Hi Kids,
How's everyone doing? I'm doing well. I think I've gotten back into my routine. Food plan is going good and I've worked out twice today, I'll work out again this morning, and I'll jump on the treadmill on Sunday.

I got on the scale yesterday (terrified, cause I was sure my lack of exercise/overeating last week was going to cause a 5 pound gain). Somehow I dropped 1/2 a pound! So that puts me at 207, which is ok by me! My birthday is on the 18th of next month, so my mini goal is to try to get below 200 by then. I think it's doable, as long as I stick to my plan.

Angeline-how did the lasik go? That is definitely something I'd like to get done someday.

Leeza-good job on the loss! That facial will feel great! I'm a licensed esthetician, and I'd always get jealous of the client whose facial I was doing. I wished it was ME on the table!

Enygirl-you are doing great! Bring on the 170's!!

Mothermavis-were you able to make your appointment today? Great job!

Lumifan-you're sticking to plan! Good job! Are you down today? Do you always stick to 1200 calories a day? I've read that if you change up your calories you could see a loss. Like up the calories by a couple of hundred once or twice a week. I don't know the science behind it, but you could probably do some research on it. I've noticed that if I stick religiously to my points, sometimes I'll stall out, but if I use my flex points (35 extra points you can use weekly) I'll see a loss. A permanent one, too. Something to think about.

Well, todays plan is to workout, do some reading for school (lots of reading for school), pack up some stuff to take to Goodwill tomorrow. My husband and I have tons of errands to run tomorrow, so I'm figuring out where to eat for lunch. Subway is ok, but...not my favorite.

Anyway, hang in there, everyone. You're all doing great! Keep thinking about the wonderful warm weather that will surely get here someday! And think of all the lovely summer clothes we'll be able to wear.