So glad to see you here, Melama! It's great to have support from people who are facing the same obstacles.

Diane - So happy to see you doing so well with the scale love! It is well-deserved! And I will second your motion to move your official weigh-in day to Wednesday. The scale is largely a mental tool, and if the numbers look best on Wednesday, and good numbers help keep you motivated, then Wednesday looks like a good plan!

My brief took longer than planned, so I didn't go running yesterday. =( I did, however, literally run the brief to its filing location, conveniently located about half a mile from my office. It was hot and unpleasant, but I was super excited that my (slowly) increasing fitness was actually functionally useful. So, a bit of outside running.

I also ate (censored because of the food porn contents) last night in the bathtub. It seemed like such a good idea at the time! =) But I know I need to get back on track. I am committed to eating enough at dinner that I am not raging hungry later in the evening when I have no sense. Starting now. =)

Have a great day, everyone!

Melama: Welcome!! We know what you're going through and it is discouraging to start again, but that's what we're all doing!!! Glad you are joining us!

Laurie: Nice! A real reason to run outside and you could do it! Those are the greatest victories of all! So cool to hear about it. Running will be there another day!

For me: Hiking was great. It was really steep, and we went very high, but it was fun. It took way too long, and I started making dinner at 8:00 last night, but I'm glad we went. We might need to change our times when we go, because I was really worn out last night. I think we'll try to keep the big hikes for the weekends, and then just try to get some walking in during the week.

I have a business lunch today and I don't think it will go well for staying on track (Italian restaurant...) but I am planning to run tonight to help minimize the damage. I had a little bit of a loss on the scale this morning, so that was good. Need to keep on track for the weekend to see the loss carry through.

Good morning!

Diane - It's too bad that we can't stretch our days to accommodate everything that we want to do, but I'm glad that you were able to take on a fun and challenging hike with your boy last night! Back when my 16yo son was younger, we used to do "Sunday strolls" that averaged five or six miles, since we could afford the time to do that. It was great. He won't walk with me now, but maybe he'll change his mind as he ages. But planning on new and interesting hikes for the weekends with your son sounds fantastic to me in so many ways! I am glad he's on board with you. Hopefully, your lunch today does minimal damage.

Last night at the gym was a huge struggle. I did all of my normal reps at all of my normal weights, but I felt completely drained rather than pumped, which is usually what lifting does for me. Then, it was my son's birthday, and I ate three cupcakes. Or parts of three cupcakes. (I have this habit where I will start eating something I shouldn't, think "what was I doing?" and throw it away. Probably better than eating it all, but probably not better than not even starting.) I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like I was going to die. Lesson learned. For the 7,982nd time.)

It's gonna be a great weekend, guys. Fitness. Healthy food. And a little self-love.

Laurie: Sounds like it was just a low energy day for you yesterday. Those days are rough! But you have a good plan for the weekend and you're moving forward! Good job on that attitude! You might get back to walking with your son at some point. Mine is 20 now, and I think that he may not have been as excited about going with me a few years ago!!

For me, I did go running last night. I made it, but felt like I wanted to stop! I think that toward the end of the week, I start getting really tired. I went to spin this morning and it went well. I am glad that is over for now though! No hike tonight because my son is working. I think going home and relaxing sounds wonderful!!

Have a good weekend!!

My "protein shake for breakfast" plan is going well! I've allowed myself to have a "day off" from them, though, because I like to prepare a sizeable "brunch" type meal on Sundays after church. I even had to wait a while for it yesterday, because we were out of milk! I've found that adding a couple spoonfuls of instant coffee to the mix gives it the energy boost I need in the morning, without the grumpy belly I get from drinking coffee on an empty stomach. I can already feel a difference in my energy levels during the day. Amazing what a protein boost can do!

Matthew is getting baptized this weekend, so we're having a bunch of family in for the weekend, and I'll be battling the food monster. I'm preparing pulled pork and chicken for bbq sandwiches and there will be a veggie tray, and various "cook out" type sides, potato salad, pasta salad, cheese cubes, etc. And a blizzard cake from DQ, because we know the owner of the one in town and know we'll get a quality product. I'm hoping to limit my eating to a couple sandwiches (lunch and dinner) the veggie tray, and small servings of the pasta and potato salads. But they will be from the Amish store and very, very yummy. Wish me luck!

Mandy: Enjoy this day! No stress, and just be happy!!! Glad the shakes are working well for you!

Good morning!

Diane - Hope you had a great weekend! I know weekends are sometimes tough, but now that you're pairing them with adventure outings with your son, hopefully it's easier to stay on track! And yes. Rest is critical as well. Hope you had a relaxing evening on Friday, and that you and your son were able to do some fun hiking this weekend.

Mandy - Sounds like you're working with what you've got, and doing a great job with it. Congrats on the baptism! I love your breakfast shake plan. Glad it's working out well. I actually do pulled pork and pulled chicken quite a bit -- it can be a low-calorie source of protein. I tend to add spices or seasonings instead of a high-cal sauce, and it works really well for me. Hope you had lots of fun with the fam, and that the baptism went flawlessly.

I went running on Friday, lifted on Saturday, and rested on Sunday. I also ate too much on Sunday, though the rest of the weekend was reasonable. Ironically, I feel weaker on the days leading up to my period than I do when I am actually on my period, and I started after my run on Friday. Hopefully, my run will go well today, cuz I barely squeaked through it on Friday.

Starting tomorrow, I am going to do a two-week (primarily) liquid diet. Have two or three shakes during the day, then a **sensible** meal at night. This isn't sustainable, and I feel ridiculous doing it, but if it helps me get into the mode, then I'm excited about it. I am doing some pre-diet sampling today, so I hope I find protein shakes / drinks that I enjoy. Then, we are having company and my husband is making a delicious (and relatively healthy) meal for tonight. He is worried about the "hunger rage" that I will experience, but I think that's unfair. I have had lots of low-cal days, and lots of days when I have felt starving (and that's usually more about hormones than calories anyway), and keep my composure about 85% of the time. Here's hoping that I continue to display my kind, gentle, enjoyable nature over the course of these next two weeks. =)

Have a great day, everyone!

Hey guys!

Just realized my post was less than clear. This week is a stay-cation, family is coming in on Friday, house full of craziness Saturday, baptism on Sunday, everyone leaves on Monday (and hubby goes back to work).

Kiddo has a well-baby visit tomorrow morning, and I'm sure the doctor is gonna tell me he's growing like a weed. At his 6 month appointment, he was the size of an average 1 year old. Oof. Always off the charts for height, and in the 75th percentile for weight. Tall and lean. Not fat, like his mama. Good for him! lol.

Skipped my breakfast shake for a nap today. Heh. Hubby is home and he took the little monster for a while so I could get some extra sleep. I didn't fall asleep until almost 3 a.m. and the baby was up (literally, standing up because he pulls up in his crib now) and hollering for da-da-da at 8 a.m. My husband is a gem.

Laurie - I do pulled chicken like every week lol. I get those big flats of chicken boobies (the 1.99/lb flats) and marinate them over night in a mixture of olive oil, white wine vinegar, a splash of orange juice, minced garlic and a little salt and pepper... then the next day dump the chicken in the crock pot, and use the marinade as a braising liquid... just add water to cover the chicken and let it go on low all day. Then I pull it, and use the pulled chicken all week long. Cuts my meal prep during the week in half. Good stuff.

I'm gonna go make a half-pot of coffee and see if I can get my butt in gear today.

BTW. Downloaded Pokemon GO to my phone. It's insanely addicting, and it has me outside walking around more, even in this wicked heat. Good times.

Laurie: Good luck with the shakes over the next couple of weeks. My friend at work did that too, knowing that it isn't something she wanted to keep doing forever. She wanted to just do something drastic for a short amount of time, to see if she could get back in the groove easier. It seems to be working for her.

Mandy: Glad you got to take a nap! Sometimes that is the best thing you can do when you're spending lots of time taking care of a little guy! It's nice that your husband helps when needed!!

For me, I didn't have as good of a weigh in as I wanted to yesterday. I was down, but only .4 pound. I was very active and busy over the weekend, and I had hoped that would help with weigh in, but I must have overcompensated with food. Weekends are just tough for me. I would have liked to have seen a bigger loss, but I'm telling myself that as long as it is a loss, I should be somewhat satisfied.

Mandy - Wow. Your pulled chicken sounds 115% better than mine - and I REALLY enjoy mine. Good choice on sleep over breakfast shake! Sounds like that little baby boy is going to be super tall. Maybe invest in a basketball hoop?

Diane - Hopefully, these disappointing weigh-ins translate into a whoosh. It's so hard when you're "earning" that whoosh - but it's so great when it finally shows up on the scale. It sounds like you're doing everything right. But I think you're absolutely right. A loss is a loss. You and I have been on this forum for a very long time now. Can you imagine how thin we'd be if we lost .4 pounds every week? We would be getting treatment for anorexia.

I did well on the protein shakes yesterday, but today is my first official day. Unfortunately, I allowed that to translate into "last supper" last night. But no more. And I am not hating the shakes, so that is a pleasant surprise. I'm always a little bit hungry, but that's true of any time I restrict calories. I am allowed one protein bar for dinner, which I will eat after lifting weights this evening. I have two more shakes that I am supposed to drink between now and going to work out in 3ish hours. That will not happen, so today will be low-cal. Not worried about it, though. It all seems to shake out in the end, and forcing foods to get up to a required intake always makes me a little crazy. I will drink another shake in about two hours, work out, then eat my protein bar and go to bed feeling accomplished.

Good morning!

I am struggling a bit with the shake and protein bar diet. I went to sleep hungry, and woke up at 4:30 because I was hungry. I was able to go back to sleep, but it wasn't good sleep. I am going to adjust the time when I eat so that I am eating my protein bar closer to when I go to bed. I keep telling myself that a moderate diet is better, that real food is better than the "Frankenfood" I'm consuming, and I know I'm right. I also know that I need to flip a switch so that I can actually eat well when I am allowing myself to eat real food. It's hard, is what I'm saying, but I also know that I need to do something. I weighed this morning (should have done it yesterday morning), and I am 247.6. I won't weigh again until July 26. I feel confident that this will get easier after tomorrow, and that I can struggle through today and tomorrow like I struggled through yesterday. I lifted yesterday, and had a subpar work-out, although it was still pretty good. I will run again today. I may do week 3 over again, as week 4 looks like a huge jump from week 3, and I struggled with week 3. But I might just give week 4, day 1 a shot and see what happens.

Hope everyone has a great day!

Laurie: Ugh! That is never fun, feeling hungry overnight. I hope that you can tweak this enough to work well for you. It might just take a while to get used to the shakes and bars. If not, then you might have to go back to regular food. Why does it have to be so hard???

Nothing new with me. I am exercising well, but no big changes on the scale. Fighting hard to stay on plan with food!

Diane - Can I say that the "nothing new with me" status updates where you are STILL maintaining a 60-pound loss are incredibly inspiring? You are going to get where you want to be, and I am confident you will stay there!

Though about you when I was running yesterday, Diane. Let me preface by saying my run last night was an epic failure. Except -- I still ran for chunks of time that I wouldn't be able to run a few weeks ago. I am going to check my ego, go back and do the Week 3 runs again, and hope that I can do Week 4 next week. Either way, I am getting the health benefits of exercise and am not regressing on my hard-fought running ability. I will consider that a success, despite what my easily-pricked ego wants to push on me.

I am getting used to the shakes / bar thing, and slept much better last night. I kept telling myself that I could have an "extra" shake if I wanted (extra only because it would be consumed at a time that I wouldn't normally consume it, not because it would bump my calories too high) right before bed, but I honestly felt satisfied enough that I didn't want it. I felt a bit sluggish on my way into work, but I have taken my mini-walks on schedule, and the energy has returned. Maybe this will work out after all.

Hope everyone has a fantastic day!

Laurie: Thanks for the encouragement! It seemed like I getting back on a roll, but this week seems to be pretty stagnant. I find that a little irritating but you are so right. When "nothing new" results in a gain, then it is not good. Regarding C25K, I wouldn't worry about repeating weeks. There was one week that I just couldn't get past for quite a while, when I went through it. It might have been right about where you are. It seemed like there is one that takes a huge increase on the running time, and it is hard to get used to. I'd rather repeat and be ready to move on, rather than pushing forward and struggling more. Oh, and good for you on the shakes! Getting used to them might help!

For me, I went running last night and it was good. I increased my time by a minute. That's my goal right now to increase my total running time by one minute each week until I get to where I want to be, and then I'll work on increasing my speed to get that back to where it was, and then hopefully improve. I went to body pump this morning too. To keep on my self-imposed schedule, I need to run tonight too. I feel like I can right now, so I'll go do that. If it is too hard, then I'll quit early.

I've struggled a little bit with attitude about going to workouts and running. I always tell myself that I don't want to go. I end up going and enjoying the workout, but I have to gripe about it in my head before going. I'd like to change that, but I think it has more to do with the lack of weight loss. It makes me crabby.

Diane - I know exactly what you mean, and I fall prey to it far more often than you do. I do well for a long time, then get frustrated because either I can't make myself be compliant with my plan, or the scale just stops cooperating. Then, I gain 50, 60, 80 pounds before I really get a handle on it again. But you don't do that. You seem to be able to quiet that voice (or maybe just ignore that voice) much better than me. And quite frankly, even though I enjoy being smaller and wearing smaller cloths, I love being able to lift heavy weights and to run. I love the energy and the feeling of lightness I get when I am exercising consistently. If I focus on that as my reward, it makes it easier to endure the scale struggles. I just have not been successful in the past at valuing that enough to not stop when I get frustrated with the lack of loss. I'm hoping that I can be like you and maintain momentum over years.

I am having food dreams again! And, unusually, this time I ate the food that I was dreaming about. And my dream self said, "Oh, I forgot that I was on the protein shake / bar diet. I guess I just ruined it. Might as well eat everything else." WTH, Dream Self? Yesterday afternoon, I was thinking, "I could do this forever! It feels so easy!" Then, I have this self-defeating dream. And you know what? My dreams do not control me! I have only been drinking two protein shakes / drinks at work, despite my plan to drink three. It's just hard to get schedule them in, but if I let loose in the evening, I am terrified of what will happen. So, I am going to make an effort to actually drink all three today.

Then the weekend. We are going to a work picnic today, with lots of "free food." They will have rotissierie turkey breast there, though, so I may decide to substitute that for my protein bar. That will have no impact of the efficacy of my two-week diet. It could, however, open the mental floodgates, so I will need to seriously consider whether or not it's a good idea.