underanalysis - Congrats!! Weren't you stuck at 140-something forever? Can't believe you're at 138.4 lbs now!!

atmos - Ugh, I'm sorry you felt sick What concert did you go to? Did you have a good time?

Reclaiming Waif - I only have one pair of jeans too It sucks, doesn't it? And yes - your milestone rewards, I do them too! I told myself I would buy 2 new pairs of jeans once I get below 135 lbs. What other rewards have you thought about? A facial sounds amazing! I want to treat my husband and myself to a nice massage one day.

vix and LovesToTravel - Hi! I hope you guys are doing well!

Lulubellebc - Congrats on your 2.5 lbs loss! Keep up the great work!

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I DON'T WANNA LEAVE THE 130s-THREAD!!! Aahhhh, why is it so hard for me to get back on track? I keep making up excuses, it's terrible. For example, if I know there is a birthday coming up in 4 days then I think to myself "why get back on plan now when you're gonna eat junk food again soon anyways? Might as well just wait until after the birthday party". Another problem of mine is that once I eat something unhealthy, for example a piece of chocolate, I'll go off plan for the entire rest of the day. It has to be all-in or nothing.
What do you guys do after a major setback? (And I'm talking major since I've been off plan and WAY over calories for exactly 35 days) I gained a lot during these 35 days and while I know that it doesn't take me long to lose most of my regain, it still seems impossible to me right now. The longer I'm off track the harder it is for me to fully commit to getting back on it even though it seems SO easy. Just eat healthy, drink lots of water and workout. I know how it works. It's as simple as that. But yet, it seems so hard, it's unreal.

RW, I totally have a similar jeans situation, but mainly I'm wearing shorts and skirts right now, kinda excited to try on my jeans when fall comes to see if I need some new ones!

I do the milestone reward thing, but then I also treat myself to something new if I have a bad day or PMS, so it can get expensive lol!

I hear you, the struggle is real!! They'll know when they get down here too, maybe they won't be quick to judge when they're like, 'Man, I lost 80lbs in a year but I just can't shift this last 10lbs!'

Ooh atmos, plane ticket to where?

UA, great to hear about your post-TOM drop! About the goal body thing, what kinds of exercises do you do? I've seen more women on here and other forums having body fat goals of under 30% etc rather than goal weight. Not sure how they measure it however.

Hoopty, don't go! We don't want you to leave, even if you do spoil yourself on your birthday, there will be a place for you here! It's not like you have to step on a scale before posting! I haven't really had any major set backs, I even purposely started mid-November to test myself through thanksgiving and Christmas. I put on weight but I had a voice in my head reminding me so I definitely went far less overboard than in previous years. I can only compare it to when I was learning to drive and one day it suddenly clicked when I needed to change gear, it's like a eureka moment. I got used to spoiling myself with delicious foods but it didn't go with my other interests to be overweight and spoiling myself was hurting me, I just thought, right, now is the time!!

Down 0.7lbs this week, very happy to be mid-way through my 5lb-cushion (as my goal was 135 but I wanted to get down to 130 before starting to think about maintenance).

Happy Weekend!!

Well we decided to venture out to a restaurant last night and it was so late we decide to go to our favorite pho place because it is quick in and out. I got a noodle bowl with lean beef and lots of veggies, but it was swimming in a salty broth. I also had a rice paper spring roll. It was way more than I should have eaten on the plan, but it was all fresh, healthy, low calorie stuff. The part that worries me the most was all the SALT.

Sure enough this morning, my weight showed as 141! The needle moved up 4 pounds due to one meal?! This is crazy. I am going to a hot yoga class and guzzling water so hopefully I will be able to sweat it off and the scale will show a loss tomorrow. SALT is the devil!

I think my dieting and causing me to restrict calories so much has made me turn into a shopper. It's like I can't have one thing, so I am going to indulge in another. I go online and buy clothes for my daughter (who is starting kindergarten so I have an excuse), but now I am starting in on clothes for myself. If I could just get into the ones I already have, I would have a new wardrobe! I can't seem to cut back in all areas of my life!

Hoopty: Thanks! For a long time I was just sort of casually eating healthier, and that took me slowly from 155 to 145 between January and June, then at the end of June I started keeping my food diary daily and working out as well, and that's really melted the weight off. I'm at 137.2 today, and I've lost 1-2 inches in pretty much every part of my body.

Vix I switch off mostly between "A Day" workouts which are cardio, lifting, and ab work, and "B day" is cardio, pushups, ab work, and squats. I have a scale which is supposed to track my BF% but I'm not sure how accurate it is. Right now it says I'm at 27.3% down from 31% when I started. I'd like to get down to 24% at least.

Reclaiming_Waif, I very much understand feeling more comfortable posting with the featherweights. Count me in as another one who feels a bit awkward yammering on when I was only a few pounds away from a normal BMI to begin with. And try not to sweat (haha) the water retention too much. Our bodies will always be in flux depending on all sorts of factors like salt intake, hormones, etc.

underanalysis, isn't the bra thing frustrating? And I can sympathize with feeling good in clothes and not so good with clothes off.

Vix, congrats on the loss this week!

Hoopty, you are an honorary member of this thread so please stay and let us support you through this rough patch. As far as dealing with setbacks, that all-or-nothing mentality is really destructive, isn't it? I struggle with it too at times. Your inner perfectionist convinces you that something isn't worth doing if it's not perfect. THAT'S SUCH A LIE. How about going back to baby steps? You could pick a small, achievable goal for the day and then gradually start building on those small successes.

Atmos, hope the concert was fun and I'm also curious about this plane ticket! I'm not doing any major traveling again until next year so I like to live vicariously through other people.

Still keepin' on here as usual. Trying to walk the line between being mindful about what I eat without getting too restrictive, which will inevitably mess with my head and throw me off track. I've suddenly gotten a bunch of comments at work this week about my weight loss, which feels rather weird. I haven't lost much at all this summer so it's not like anything dramatic happened to my appearance recently. I get embarrassed when people bring it up and often just make inarticulate noises and change the subject. Like, "Ah, ummmm, eh. So how about that thing you're doing?" The awkward face I pull really brings it all together.

I've been carb cycling and it seems to be working, down 1 1/2 pounds this week, 133.5 today :-)

under analysis - You might want to do some research on body recomposition to help you reach your goals. I'm really not qualified to speak to it myself, but there's lots of info out there if you can wade through all the bro science to get it it.

Hoopty - Stay with us! It really is hard, but the only advice I can give it start now. Not after your birthday, not the day after you have a set back, but right now. Never a start tomorrow, or next week, or after x. Always right now. And eventually you'll be able to get back into it. I went and saw Beck, he put on an amazing show. I loved it! What a tiny ball of energy he is.

vix - Hooray for midway!

Reclaiming - If I know I had something salty that is making me retain water, I just don't weigh in for a few days. It's not worth the mental hassle. For example, I could tell I was pretty puffy after my camping trip last weekend so I just didn't weigh in again until like Thursday. Also, it's really typical for all people to vary considerably throughout the day or between days, so it's just a mental state you have to figure out. You didn't actually gain 4 lbs in terms of fat or muscle.

LovestoTravel - It is awkward! I don't handle it with much more subtle grace than you do, either. I've been in the same 5 lbs range for a while now though, so I don't get many comments. I didn't really get many comments when I went from 160 to 140, but my initial drop from 145 to 128 solicited a lot of awkward ones from peers. My family is the worst...they think they need to shove food into me whenever I go home. One time my mom asked me if I had lost more weight, when in fact I had gained a pound or two from the last time I had seen her. Sigh.

vix and LovestoTravel - My ticket is for the UP of Michigan! Fall colors, can't wait! Oh yeah, and probably a pasty or three.

lulubellebc - Great job!

I've not been very great with my exercise, but since being back from camping I have been in my calorie range every day and it looks like it paid off! A new low for this time around (ha), 131.8 this morning. Though my body fat percentage is the highest I've seen in a while, of course. I just measure on my scale though, so I think it's in the margin of error at a 1% increase and could just be due to my hydration levels. I'm not sweating it too much.

If things are like they have been, I can expect about a week or two sitting higher than this weight before going south again, but I'll take it. The line is very wiggly, but the long term trend is downward. Once I hit 130 I'm going to up my calories slightly so I can slide gently into maintenance. My main goal is body fat loss anyway, rather than pure weight loss. If only I was better at eating my protein...

Thanks everyone for your kind words It means a lot to me!

vix - It's not actually my birthday yet - it's my niece's birthday on September 1st but I can't seem to control myself when there's cake and cookies around. My birthday is coming up too though - September 26th, which leaves me with 5 1/2 weeks to get rid of all this weight/fat. You're right - it really just has to click! It has happened to me one time when I literally just sat there at my kitchen table and I thought, this is it. I know what to do. And I did it. I made it to 123 lbs with no slip ups, at all. I just continuously lost weight by eating healthy and working out. Congrats on the .7 lbs! You're so close! What are you going to change once you get to maintenance?

Reclaiming Waif - Salt is the devil Have you managed to drop some of that water weight?

underanalysis - Taking measurements is a great way of actually seeing the progress you've made. Weight can be so tricky, we all know that, especially during TOM. I have always wondered how those BF%-scales work. Like, how does the scale know how much fat you have on your body? Can it sense it through your feet? I need to google and find out, right now

LovesToTravel - Please let me give you a hug through the screen, right now You're the sweetest! Oh you're so right, that all-or-nothing mentality is super destructive! I used to think that if you can't start right now, you won't be able to tomorrow. And that's so true. Your coworkers are probably really noticing that you've been losing weight. Isn't there this weird rule...family notices after 4 weeks, friends after 6 and yourself after 12? I really don't remember right now :LOL:

lulubellebc - Congrats! How exactly does carb cycling work?

atmos - You are absolutely right. Like I said to LovesToTravel before - I need to start now. I have to start now. No excuses. Take baby steps if necessary. Why are you having trouble with protein?

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It was our 2-year anniversary today But of course, I totally overate. I am so sick and nauseous right now. I enjoyed every minute of the day, but it's seriously time to take that step and be in control of myself.
I am gonna check in tomorrow night before bed to report about my day. My top 3 priorities: water, healthy food, gym. I can't slip up and come up with some stupid excuse. That's not going to happen. Day 1, here we go

I recovered from the salty meal two days later. TWO DAYS. I never knew salt did that. But then last night I drank A LOT of alcohol and have a hang over. I am not supposed to be drinking at all. But once I had one and it went down so smoothly, there was no stopping me

I got up and weighed myself and I did go down. I am 137.2! I haven't seen 136 and below in several years so this is pretty exciting that I will probably be there tomorrow. I am yay-ing on the inside though because I am too woozy to jump up and down.

hoopty - Happy anniversary! Hope you are feeling better and you can definitely get back on track today. My lack of protein is general laziness about wanting to cook foods with high protein in them, particularly meat. I have my protein goal set based on my lean body mass as I'm trying to maximize fat loss and minimize lean loss at this point. Basically, my goal for now is body recomposition rather than weight loss. I have a weight goal set at 120 to 125 at this point based on the body fat percentage I'd like to be assuming I don't lose more lean mass. It's all quite complicated and I'm still trying to figure it out. I just know I'm at a fairly healthy weight, but with some majorly saggy thighs that I'd like to see tightened! That's why I'm going to start upping my calories as soon as I hit 130...hoping to do so sometime in Sept!

Reclaiming - Well done on the low weigh in.

I was a bit lazy yesterday with not working out, but I kept to my calorie deficit and have been doing so for a good week straight now. It's definitely paying off in terms of weight. Tonight I have dance class. I really need to work on working out on non-class days, though!

atmos I feel like a lot of the time I'm pushing uphill against bro science, really. I have been seeing slow body recomp results with my current training regime, but most of the time when I try to ask about recomp improvements on other sites I get lectured that my program isn't good enough and directed toward some program I can't even execute fully.

hoopty I don't really know exactly how it works, but I know it's not 100% reliable. It's been telling me 27% for a while now, then suddenly said 25% the other day, then 28% the day after that. So I kind of just figure that an average of what it says is fairly reliable.

I measure as well, and sadly I lost my measurements from my starting weight when I moved in March, but I know I've lost like 2.5" off my waist and 3" off my hips, about 1" off my thighs and about .75" on my arms and calves. Some of those may actually be bigger losses because of the missing number from before, but I'm pretty sure for instance that my waist was 31" starting and it's now 28.5"

Hi everyone! I'm joining the 130s thread. When I first joined 3FC, I was 130, then I comfort ate my way up to 136 I'm now trying hard to get under control and am currently at 132 lbs. I'm hoping by joining, I'll stay motivated instead of fizzling out in a few weeks.

Hello everyone

Just a quick update:
I finally managed - after 38 days of eating terribly and not really working out - to get back on plan! The first day (2 days ago) wasn't so great, but yesterday I gave 100% and it already paid off: I lost 4.6lbs of water weight!
I'm so motivated and determined to lose this regain and more

Popped back up to 138 yesterday and seem to still be sitting there for now. I've been on plan, so I'm guessing it's either fluid or hormonal somehow. I can't cry too much about it, all things considered. I wouldn't mind my end weight being 138 or even 140 if I got more muscle definition to go with it anyway.

underanalysis - Most likely fluid. It takes a lot of calories to add weight! Sounds like you have the right attitude.

Stefania - Welcome!

Hoopty - Way to go! Getting back into your plan is just as hard as staying on it, so good work!

I diverted a bit yesterday. I binged on chips and ice cream and skipped my dance class. Sigh. It's so hard to give up the old ways.

On the plus side, once I stopped myself I tracked it all and was still under maintenance calories so I just drank tea the rest of the evening and made the best of it. I look forward to the day where being on my plan is just the same as living my life, and those bingey, hiding in my room days are over completely.