Laurie: Good job on the lunch! It is sometimes so hard to keep focused when faced with choices that are out of the norm. I think you made a good choice and handled the resulting conversation very well. Awesome! Glad that you had a good workout/run!!

Kate: Definitely a sign to not overeat when the food runs out! Ha! As for running, I used an app for my phone, C25K (stands for couch to 5K). It starts you out with a little run, then a walk, and you slowly build over time. It is something like an 8 week plan, but you can repeat weeks and go slower, too. It really worked. I could barely run at all and by the end of it, I was able to run a 5K, which I did!! Now I just run because I love the results. I'm not always in love with the actual running, but most of the time, I do like doing it.

Ennay: That's a good story! Funny how that worked out for you.

For me, I had a not so good day of food yesterday and paid for it this morning with a little increase in weight. But, I'm back on it this morning. I went to body pump and I really felt stiff and kind of tired, but I think I'll still go running after work today.

My 20 year old son is an ex-football player. He's a big guy. He told me yesterday that he wants to go running with me, so that he can stay in shape and drop some weight. We talked about it and he doesn't want to go to the gym to run, so I'll keep doing that by myself, but we're going to find some time to run or hike outside during the week/weekends. I'm excited! It will be fun going with him.

Have a great day everyone!

ennay-That is an interesting story, who would have thought!

slashnl-I’m sure it will be nice to have your son along for some exercise. I am always more motivated when it is not just me.

Day 4 is going well so far. Yesterday was on track as well BUT I gained a pound. I was very confused by this until I realized that the bullion cube I use (I used 2) each have 1,600 mg of sodium!!!! Lesson learned.

Good morning!

Ennay - So glad you found something that works for you! I never considered that super-hunger might be a GI issue.

Kate - Way to continue to be persistent! It's awesome to check in and see that you are still trucking along on your plan. And I totally relate to scale frustration. Fortunately, sodium just causes a bit of water retention, not fat gain.

Diane - I have loved going to the gym with my husband. We don't actually work out together, but I go on days when I might otherwise skip it because I don't want to have to explain to him why I'm not going. Similarly, he goes on days he whines about it, but he goes because I am committed to being there. You are very persistent about making sure you get your exercise, but it will be fantastic for him. And you'll feel even better about it. And - yay for the recommitting after a slip-up. This is why in the period of time when we've been posting on this thread, I had a 70-pound regain, and you (I believe) have a much smaller window of regain before you lose again.

I met with a trainer yesterday for his free "body assessment" and one free training session yesterday. I don't know that I will actually sign up with him, but I may do a challenge like the one that I did before that was so successful, if I can talk this guy into it as well. I bet the trainer at my previous gym location that I would give him $20 if I lost a certain amount of weight, and that I would sign up for training if I didn't lose the weight. I ended up being successful. I haven't proposed it to this guy, but I think I might. I meet with him on Tuesday for the free training session. I think I'll propose it to him at that point.

Have a fantastic weekend everyone!

Laurie: I remember your challenge with the trainer before. It was pretty successful as I recall. That would be a good thing to do! These darn regains, though. I hate having to lose weight that I had already lost! But, that's what happens when you let it go.

Kate: Yeah, who knows why our bodies react the way they do and then disappoint us with a gain. You're probably right on the sodium issue.

I didn't go work out this morning. I went running last night and was feeling really tired before going to bed and I just decided to take a little break today. I think that my son and I are going running tomorrow, so that will be good, too. I went back down on the scale, and I have about half a pound to make my goal by Monday. Weekends aren't usually kind to me, so I need to really focus to make it.

LaurieDawn-Nice idea to make it a competition with yourself.

Slashnl-I know what you mean about weekend not being kind. They are usually my downfall each week. Maybe I should change my weight in day to Friday Did you go for your run?

Tomorrow will be my one week weigh in. I feel that I have done well so I hope the scale reflects that. This weekend had a couple of challenges. The first was a graduation party and the other was a pool party. Now, I am vegan so this already narrows what I can eat so it is pretty easy to avoid the meat and sweets, but there are usually chips and other snacky things that I munch on to excess. I kept to my plan and pretty much ate what I brought with me. No chips!

I also started working out today. I did DDP Yoga. I have started a 30 day challenge with myself to work out every day for at least 10 minutes.

Overall, feeling good and feeling in control.

Kate - I have so much admiration for vegans! That is such a difficult commitment to make, and out of all of the potential reasons for being vegan, I have never heard a bad one. Hope your weigh-in today reflected your hard work, and hope the graduation and pool parties were super fun and brought you closer to your goals.

Diane - I have high hopes for your weigh-in this morning! It would be fantastic to meet your goal, and it sounds like things are in place to get there. Hope you had a great run with your son. I love that you are his fitness inspiration!

Had a good weekend with both food and exercise. Not perfect. I ate the fried chicken instead of the grilled chicken, for example. But I had a small portion. I am starving, though. Starving. And having food dreams. This is the hard part. If I can get through this challenge and back into an easier phase, where it seems easy and natural to eat well, I can continue to make progress in this journey.

Guess what, Diane? I did Week 2, Day 1 of C25K yesterday. I thought I was going to die. I did the first run without difficulty, but the second and the third almost killed me. But then, once I got halfway done, I knew I was going to finish it. I slowed my running pace a bit and just pushed through. I keep telling myself that I am going to wait to run until I weigh less and there's less pressure on my knees, but I have an unquenchable desire to want to run. Probably because I want to participate in the 5 and 10Ks that all of my friends post on FB about. Which may be a lame reason to want to run. But why fight my fitness impulse, no matter what its motivation?

Can't wait to hear about successful weigh-ins! (And regardless of the scale number, staying focused = success. But meeting the scale goals is more fun.) Have a great day, everyone!

Kate: Good for you with your challenge on working out. I think yoga is really a great thing to do. I do it more in the winter than the summer, since the class I like is on Saturday. But I can tell I haven't done it for a while, feeling stiff and inflexible more than usual.

Laurie: Yay! I know that there were some of those weeks/days on C25K that were tough. I repeated when I felt like I needed to do better. I think it is a good thing to do, getting ready for a 5K! I actually don't love running races, but I'm glad that I can say I did one!!

Well, weigh in was disappointing. It didn't change. Well, it actually went up .2 pounds, but I'm not going to change anything for that little amount. I wasn't happy about it, but I'm not giving up. I'm not sure why it went up, because as of Saturday, it was down. I don't know, I'm debating my decision to have Monday being my official weigh-in day. I also have to wonder if the extra exercise I did yesterday is holding me back, too. I feel a little sore, so it may be contributing. It may also be that I ate more than I thought. I didn't log my food, so could be the problem. Anyway....... moving on.

My son and I didn't go running on Saturday. He stayed out really late with some friends he hadn't seen for a long time, so I told him that we could skip it. He had to work, so I didn't want him completely wiped out. So, Sunday we went to the path that I use when I'm running outside. He enjoyed that, but we just walked. He wanted to work up to running, and I think the walking is good too. We're going hiking after work, so we'll see how that goes. It might be just too hot for it, but we'll see.

LaurieDawn-Awesome job on the running. I did C25K when I lost my weight on the first go around. It was so empowering to be able to run a 5k. I get what you mean about wanting to join your friends on all the 5 and 10K events. We will get there!

Slashnl-It is so annoying when you do well and the scale doesn’t reward you for your hard work! I do find that I will retain water after a workout if I am sore. I think the answer to that is to drink more water. Walking is good too, I always say 30 min of walking is better than 30 min in front of the tv.

I lost 2.6 lbs in my first week, not bad. I confess to wishing it was more. You hear of people losing 5, 7, 10 lbs in their first week. It is probably a result of this being a relosing, idk. I also didn't work out much until Saturday. Like LaurieDawn said, the number on the scale doesn’t make or break the work I am putting in.

I haven't weighed for some time, and I debated this morning whether to step on the scale. After reading the posts from yesterday, I am so glad I made that decision. The scale is sometimes super helpful to keep me on track. But it can also be very frustrating for me, and scale frustration has certainly resulted in a number of bad decisions in the past.

Diane - It is beyond frustrating when you do what you need to do, and the scale spits in your face. You're experienced enough at this to know that the scale often does not reflect hard work, nor does it always reflect the real progress we are making. But it still sux. It sounds like your son is facing some exercise anxiety, which (from what I've read on here) seems very common with former athletes who are trying to get back into shape without the pressure of an upcoming season. It is AWESOME that he has you to help him through it.

Kate - And I feel for your scale frustrations too. As you know, 2.6 pounds in a week is amazing. But when I restart, I always hope for that huge drop-off. Still. . . if I lost just a titch over 2 pounds per week, I would be in Onederland before Christmas. It's amazing how it adds up.

I have been in a Tuesday / Thursday / Saturday lifting routine for a few months, and greatly appreciate the fact that my husband goes with me because our gym is across the street from our kids' judo class. His kids are at camp this week, and mine are with their dad, so no judo for them. My husband thought it would be a great idea to skip lifting this week. Ummmm... no? It's so much harder to get into a routine than to stay in it. If I missed this week at the gym, I would struggle to keep my food in line, and then I might have to deal with another "fake it til you make it" period, and I don't need to invite those, since they pop in so forcefully too often. So I successfully strong-armed him into going.

I've been thinking a lot about the "lifelong" aspect of this. I notice my FB feed is so often flooded with calorie-dense foods, and that these largely come from thin people, and I mourn (again) that I can't be one of those people -- the ones who struggle between ideal weight and 10 pounds over ideal weight. But I will always have to be more careful of my calories and more disciplined about my exercise. On the other hand, I got my biometric screening yesterday, and the nurse said, "Do you exercise?" I steeled myself for disbelief as I told her I did, and prepared to defend the concept that someone can be both fit and fat, but I was pleasantly surprised when she continued, "It definitely shows. Your numbers are fantastic."

Hope this is the start of a great week!

Laurie: So Awesome!!!! How nice to hear that your exercise is paying off with a medical win of your numbers looking good! That's what it is all about, and I tend to forget that when I get focused on the scale. And, I totally agree that this has to be such a lifelong lifestyle change. We see it when we go off track and regains happen so quickly. But, too, if we really admit to it, when we're eating well and exercising as we should, we definitely feel better than when we're indulging. Anyway, good for you on the lifting and successes!

Kate: So true! We want the big rewards with great numbers on the scale. But, the work that we are putting in and the "sacrifices" we make are to be applauded! The scale will hopefully recognize that in time.

As for me, I didn't let the scale break me yesterday. I was really good being on plan with food, I worked out in the morning and then went for a hike with my son last night. What a fun time that was! I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would! It was warm, but we had fun climbing and talking. I got on the scale this morning and it was down, so that was good. I won't change my ticker, but I'm glad it went down. Went to Body Pump this morning, and running later. This will either make me really fit, or kill me. We'll see....

Hey you guys!!!

It's been a very long time since I've been here. My time has been crazy occupied by this crazy new world of parenthood. Can you believe my kiddo is already 8 months old?! A pic, because he's the most adorable thing ever.



I gained 44 pounds when pregnant with him, then within 10 days after he was born, was 50lbs less than the day I went into the hospital to have him! Then within the following 3 months I gained back 20, and have been stuck there ever since.

I tried to keep up with losing some weight, but every time I cut my calories, my milk production went down, and that little giant (who was 9lbs, 12oz and 23 inches at birth) has been exclusively breastfed until he was 6 months old, and is still primarily breastfed with some food he can chew thrown in at lunch and dinner times (so mom can sit down and eat). He is now approx 22 pounds, and 31 inches (bigger than the average 1 year old!) and is wearing 12-18 month clothes. My kid is TALL.

Anyway, I'm mostly trying to get myself back into it, and with my computer moved upstairs it's easier to get online for various support and tracking.

So, I'm back! and hanging out at ~310lbs because trying to lose it has caused problems with feeding my kiddo. I'm hoping to wean him at a year, when the pediatrician says he can have dairy milk, and then get myself back in gear, lose some weight, and then see about making this boy a sibling!

I hope all of you have had a decent first half of 2016 and I will be around much MUCH more often.

Mandy - Such a thrill to see you here! And what a beautiful little guy! Glad you're here, even if you're not in full "loss" mode yet. I feel like we're sort of developing a "healthy" instead of "thin" theme today, and this is the place to be to focus on health and nutrition for both you and your little giant, even if calorie-restriction isn't on your to-do list yet.

And Diane - Such great things happening! You're on top of your food (woot!) and you're both a blessing and inspiration to your son, AND you're having the opportunity to enjoy his company. So glad you got some scale love, even if it was unofficial.

Was just going to check in and read a bit on my break, but could not resist commenting when I saw Mandy had returned!

Mandy! Aww, what a cute boy!! My son was a tick under 10 pounds when he was born, so I can relate! I'm glad you checked back in, though. I've been thinking about you and wondering how it is going. Keep hanging in with us, and just entertain us with cute baby boy pics!!!

Laurie: I agree with you that we're still trying to lose, but the focus is on health, too. It is just so important!

As for me, I went running last night and it was good. I thought I was going to increase my distance, but by the time I got to the end, all I added was 1 minute. Sounded much easier before I started running. But, it was good. I was really feeling it last night. I was good about dinner and didn't go to overboard. Sometimes I do that after running. The scale was absolutely beautiful this morning, but I'm not calling it a victory yet. It could turn on me at any time! Ha!

Going hiking again tonight with my son. It might rain, but we'll figure out a place to go. I have a good lunch packed, so there should be no temptations for other stuff.....

Diane - I LOVE reading those types of updates. Your fitness is amazing. You are in healthy eating mode. And the scale is FINALLY cooperating, at least for now. WOOT!

I had a great day yesterday, followed by a good evening, and a disastrous post-10 p.m. eating spree. I had gone up to my room even, to do a bit of work, and then go to sleep, but I became frustrated by something my husband did (something relatively innocuous, even, but I don't claim to be reasonable) and went back downstairs, and made some bad choices.

But you know what? Today is going well so far!

I am hoping that it is a great day for all of us!

I can totally provide adorable baby boy pics! I just took a bunch today (with a mirror as a prop) that I absolutely love and can't decide which to get printed as an 8x10 to frame! This one is my favorite though. <3





But I'm sure others would prefer one with a smile...



I'm convinced this handful of pics I took (about a dozen) are the best I've ever taken!