Good morning everyone.....I am checking in to get myself psyched for the day and will respond to all your posts later...but first I want to say that the cleanse IS working. I had a minor swoosh this morning.....not a big one but i'm happy to see the scale move in the right direction for a change. I also notice that I am PMS so happily i'll lose a bit more when AF comes. Not obsessing over food is a relief, I'm sort of trying to focus on other things. I still have to cook for the kids, but I'm not going out of my way to make things that I can't resist. Oh and my butt is hurting from BBL, so that definitely does do something. If I can get through 30 days of that I will be pretty pleased with myself because I very rarely stick to any workout plan that is done at home...Only teaching one easy class today and plan on getting some christmas decos out today from the cellar to try and make myself a bit less depressed about the holidays. I know divorce isn't easy, but knowing that I won't have my kids on the holiday is really doing a head job on me. No wonder I eat out of control. Have a healthy day ladies, ttyl.

Good morning. I finally weighed in after all the holidays. Well, I'm at 145.6, which is not horrible considering how much I overdid it, but not great either. Oh well! I'm not changing my weight on this site, not yet. I think by the end of the week I'll at least be down to 143.something since some of it is still water weight, I'm sure!

I stuck to 1200 calories yesterday, and oh boy that was hard. I was hungry a good deal of the day, but I get that, that's always the case when you first start out. I'm thinking of switching it so that it's 1200 calories but without counting fruits beyond like 2 servings and all vegetables? Has anyone ever done it that way? It seems more reasonable. I feel ridiculous counting broccoli, you know?

lizard - I'm only going to be able to catch up with whatever page the thread is on, I"m afraid, haha. And yes, sooo true about aging evening out the playing field, lol!

Sum38 - ugh, pictures, they are always humbling! I have been trying to do that every month. Still depressing!

sheila22 - I totally have some of those very same triggers! We can do this. I am allowing some wine today but that's because I've fit it into my calories for the day, but if it was left up to me, I'd have a FULL glass and then some after a stressful day!

NEmom - I hate colds! So far I've been lucky, and I work with kids...*knock on wood* because I know every single time I get sick, my diet/working out goes out the window and I put on weight. :-/

OLEHAT: I think it is ridiculous to count broccoli or any vegetable. even WW has unlimited vegetables in their programs. Noone got fat eating vegetables, they are good for you and get the most nutrients for your calories. Just my two cents, I'm sure many would disagree with me.

LIZARDU: I also have problem with retaining water. Basically it is because I do not drink enough water to flush it out. My ankles are especially bad at times and it makes me hate my legs. Anyhow keep dirnking that water, and remember, Lemon is a dieretic. It will help get rid of the bloat too.....

MOVING FORWARD: Back to routine is a good thing, we all mentioned that here . Thanksgiving did a job on most of us. As for the Zumba thing I'll try and explain it to you in a way that makes sense. Our bodies get used to what we do after a while. I teach five classes a week but they aren't very challenging because most of my students are older gals or deconditioned students (or uncoordinated). This is what i mean when I say that my classes aren't for me. I know that my classes definitely help me, but they aren't enough for me to lose weight and get into the kind of shape that I need to be in. So I'm shaking things up with working my muscles in a different way adding a different kind of workout ..........and also adding resistance training. I also want to note that DIET is 90 percent of the equation, atleast it is for me. I know people that run marathons that are overweight because after a run they eat whatever isn't nailed down. Hope I didn't go off on a lecture...LOL...I just have a lot of people ask me why I have a weight problem if im an instructor.

SUM: I giggled when you said taking pics set you straight. i need to take pics for my 30 day BBL challenge and I'm afraid of the camera turning to salt or something. I don't look at my body for a reason.

Good morning to all the wonderful 40 something ladies on this thread!

Zumba- Congrats on your woosh and sticking with your cleanse. I should probably try something like this, I have some protein shakes I can use. I will have to give it some considerable thought.

Sum- I had a small binge yesterday too but tracked what I ate as best as I could and ended up eating right around maintenance calories. Not bad but not what I need to be doing either.

Olecaht-Congrats on sticking to 1200 calories. 1200 is what MFP has me stay at and it is hard some days. I have given some thought into not counting veggies too. If they are free in WW I wonder why I should have to count them. I do count the fruit I eat though.

I am soo tired. Colds have this affect on me, like I can sleep and sleep. I did get up to work out this morning but it was not a real hard work out. I tried though so that counts for something. Hoping I have a much better food day today. I really do not like this constant yo yoing that I am going through.

Happy Tuesday all!

NEMom I hope that it is just a cold not the flu

ZumbaLMAO...if mine did not turn into salt yours won't -- I let it all hang out, no sucking and tucking, and the sight was not pretty. I will take pix every 5 pounds I drop, hopefully I can see that ugly gut shrink.

olehcat You may be carrying up to 5 pounds of water weight; it will come off quick.

I am 5-6 days away from TOM and I am starting to feel the hormonal shift happening. I need to mentally prepare myself that is is only water weight that I will gain...I hope I won't get totally bummed out over it. I am on a roll and I hate that TOM has to mess with our bodies.

I walked my 5 mile walk and now I am hydrating myself in hopes that if I keep well hydrated, maybe TOM won't make me into a water balloon.

Hi everyone. I'm new to this thread. November is on it's way out and I have been looking at my scale like a pendulum. I haven't been discouraged. I still get up to do my routine spin, weight train and calorie count. i have had a rough month, not really Turkey day, for me it was TOM. I will see the numbers crunched soon. *crossing fingers*. Kudos to all you maintainers and weight droppers.

Hello all! Quick pop in to say that I feel like an overstuffed turkey. PMS is here and my eating is pretty horrific. I walked on Monday but nothing today. Went for miso soup, tempura, and sushi with hubby. It was great, but I over ate and my stomach is rebelling. I hate this feeling and will have to remember it next time I am faced with eating too much. I don't even know how many calories I have consumed. That's why I don't eat out often! I am going to guess 1200 and go from there. Not much left to work with for the rest of the day.

Sorry for the ramble. Good luck today!

zumba-hey zumba great news on the swoosh hun!! you go gal!! i am not weighing myself...nuts i know!!..but i refuse too on the basis that i am in it for the health benefits rather than the weight loss..weight loss to me is a bonus!!..lol...lol..lol...but mind you being a diabetic i go for a checkup every 3
months so i will be weighed then...will be interesting to see what difference i make at that time!!

oh yeah and i am planning on being naughty whilst i am away but hopefully my body will rebel and will deter me from doing it again!!

wow and i have been battling hunger and craving like you would not believe!!!!...i am doing the soup diet...low in calories and carbs..which i find suits me!!..i have done this before and lost 4 dress sizes..this won't be a permanant eating plan but just for now!!..i have heaps of veges and some fruits..and meat twice a week!! i am cooking for hubby and trying not to taste or sample whilst i am doing it...was a bad habit of mine!!

nemon-i soooo hope you feel better soon hun!! look after yourself!!

sum-5 mile walk....woweeee i only wish..my exercise is piteously small..but baby steps for me!!..gotta do the hydro thing..will be seeing the physio on friday and the pool opens on the 8th..then it is all go for me!!

avolon-hey there hello to you!..nice to see you here..i am sooooo glad we do not do thanksgiving here down under!!...i am flat out battling through christmas and new year me thinks!!

guac-get back on track hun!!..yeah i had one of the worst monthlys just recently but stayed true..had to lol it was my first week..rofl..you have lost soo much i am sure you can do the rest!!

oh i found out a way of catching up with this thread..i opened up a notepad and did a draft on there and now i will copy and paste!! see ya all later..cheers liz

(rant coming)

I haven't posted enough to warrant a rant....but.....I have had a bad few days. I had been grateful that I'm in a period when the great fan of life is not slinging guano around. Fortunately, nothing has hit the fan; nonetheless, I have been in a really really really bad mood. Thanks to TOM. I am not usually affected this way. If anything, I tend to get sad, not irritated. I cannot concentrate, feel weak, fuzzy headed. I just want to sit and stare. The colder weather is also bothering me a lot. My feet are ice, & that keeps me awake. The heated air is drying up my sinuses. I cannot smell or taste. My fingers are cracked to the point of bleeding. My face is painfully dry and also broken out. (yes, I'm drinking lots of water.) Good news is, I don't feel like eating. But I also have not been exercising and counting my calories like I should. Caffeine doesn't help. Perky music isn't helping. Forcing a smile isn't helping.

In sum, MyGetUpAndGo got up and went. I want to do more than the minimum. I want go get back on track. How can I get out of this funk?

oh wow that is horrible for you...i am sorry i have no idea what it is like to be that cold...here it is sooooooooo hot you don't feel like doing anything...i tend to exercise early morning and at night when the darned sun goes down or get in the pool where it is cool...i can only say to ride the tide and when it is all over get back up again...you are an amazing woman do what you can to spoil yourself (without consuming too many calories)...have a really hot shower or bath (again i have no idea of the cold so you have to excuse me if what i say makes no sense to you)...okays i will stop there...suffice to say i soo hope you feel better soon!!....cheers liz

Oh... I have perspective and I know things could be a LOT worse. I just cannot accept that I will be so unmotivated and unproductive once (or twice, or thrice) a month. The other day, I stopped by the grocers and I felt like crying because I was so weary. This cannot be part of the "new me". I will stop whining soon and start problem solving.

Man! Miss a day here, it's like missing a week! You guys are doing awesome keeping each other motivated. That is the whole idea behind a site like this...pushing & pulling each other along the way.

Things have been good. I have my combat boots on & I am going to win this battle! I walked for 50 mins. this AM. It was awesome! I took a route I haven't done in several years. And I did it in what I would consider record time since, I haven't walked in so long! I'm just about 12 mins. over my usual pace for the route. Not shabby!

Please also pray/send good vibes. H blacked out twice tonight. I finally got the truth out of him...he didn't eat dinner tonight, he'd just forgotten about it. I'm still going to have him call his dr. in the AM. Thank God he wasn't driving or out by himself. He had ZERO recollection of blacking out either time. SCARED THE HEL7 OUT OF ME!!! I'm hoping all it is is that his blood sugar was down. Believe me, I'm watching him like a HAWK! He is NOT going far, even if I have to tie him to the bed post! (Don't get an ideas, this if for his health! )

Sorry to cut this short...I've gotta get H showered & to bed.

BE HEALTHY! CYBER-HUGS TO YOU ALL!!!

gosh that is scary sweetheart..i hope that hubby is all right!!...cheers liz

Good morning! Tiny weight loss from yesterday.......I cheated on my cleanse a little and had salty meat so I'm thinking that is the problem......oh we'll..today is day three...I'm going to have three shakes and no food today except for fruit.....lots of water. I'm also supposed to have green tea but I think it's just plain nasty.....I have tried hard to like it over the years.......

Will catch up with you all later on....I have to get little man to school. Didn't get to do BBL yesterday so I'm definitely doing that this morning before I get too tired......later gators!

SeeMyFeet - I used to have absolutely horrific TOMs. It was so bad that basically I was like you described for about 1/3 of almost every single month! Bloated, weary, achy, I would put on about 5 pounds which ruined almost every weight loss effort I started because it would stay for almost 10 days (the extra weight), then on top of that when TOM arrived, I would have incapacitating cramps that would make me throw up and keep me in bed for a day. Basically it was ruling my life. I couldn't dare arrange travel or sign up for races or anything because if it happened to fall on about three critical days of TOM, it would be ruined. Anyway, I went on these pills that basically take my period away (they're a kind of low dose birth control pills, but they made my period go away completely). Suddenly I could start losing weight, no more cramps, no more horrific PMS(T) symptoms, I feel like it gave me my life back. So anyway, long ramble short, I just wanted to let you know that I completely sympathize. I remember how horrible that was.

MrsTryingAgain - how awfully scary!

guacamole - so easy to eat 1200 in one meal, it's scary!

lizarddau - great idea about notepad!

avalonmoon - hi, welcome!

zumbachica - yep, nobody got fat while eating vegetables, so I'm not counting them! Makes me feel like I have options, like if i"m absolutely starving and I've had 1200 already I can eat some raw veggies!

Sum38 - I think I was carrying some water weight, today I'm down to what I was on Thanksgiving, which was still about 1.5 pounds above my low of that week, but we're getting there!

So, today I weighed in at 144.2. I'm excited because I really hope to be 143.something by the end of the week. My low from the Friday BEFORE Thanksgiving was 142.8, then I had a large eating day the next day and never got a chance to fully recover before Thanksgiving weekend. So on Thanksgiving I weighed in at 144.6 (I think), and so now I'm fully recovered from Thanksgiving weekend, yay! Anyway, like I said, I'll be satisfied if by Friday morning I weigh 143.something and then I can see the 142.8 by some time the next week and that will bring me back to "normal."