Hey Everybody,

Long time no see! It's been a rollercoaster the last few weeks. First my trip to NYC for christmas that ended with me getting REALLY sick. I'm still not sure what I had but it felt a lot like the time I had pneumonia. I'm still trying to get completely through that. The vacation also ended with my grandmother dying, which has also been really rough so yeah...intense past few weeks. And of course, weight gain goes hand in hand with all of that mess. I knew I'd gain back what I lost on RFL, and I was right. almost to the T, actually. I'm back at 250.2 and that is AFTER the waterweight has settled. Or at least I'm assuming. So a little over ten pounds. Ouch.

But I'm actually thrilled to be back in the groove starting today. I think I "crappy-fooded" myself out. I'm looking forward to eating healthy, tracking, activity, and all that good stuff. Currently my plan is 7 days of my usual 1380 calorie days or less, with a focus on carb moderation...then 3 days on RFL and repeat.

I received the bridesmaid dress for my friends wedding in April, and let me tell you...I don't fit. That thing will only zip half way. It's not pretty. And it is SHORT. And yellow. But otherwise a beautiful dress. Anyways, the pressure is on, so I gotta get real serious, real fast.

I'll have to do some back reading to catch up on everything but I hope everyone is well and had a lovely holiday.

Hello Ladies. I have managed to lose the Holiday weight. So back to 218. I am pleased to be back on track.

LebenAlles Sorry to read you were sick and your Grandmother passed away. I think you have the right attitude just stay on plan.

Angie WOW just WOW on your inches lost. I was impresed that my bra size when down but you are a whole other ballpark. Great job. I am impressed. I wish I had measured more than just my waist and hips. I have started with my upper arms.

Have a great week.

Angie that is awesome about all of the inches you lost! You are such an inspiration to me!!!! Especially because we have similar size goals, just keep kicking butt lady!!


It has been a while since I have posted in here, so I need to catch up on everyone! I am glad to see how everyone has been doing so far this year, it's also good to see everyone getting back into routine after some of us have fallen off. I completed another day of 30 Day Shred this morning, level 1. I am going to finish up a round of it, then begin P90X or Insanity, if my husband is ready to begin Insanity. He has been on medicine to help with his heart, and so far so good. He begins his regular exercise at work again this week, so we are going to see if the medicine will help keep his heart rate regulated. So I am praying all kinds of crazy that it does help, and if not, that we can find something that does help him.

Since I lost track and got all off the boat around the time of our ceremony and everything in December, I started my count over again for the year commitment. So officially, today is day 9 of 365.

For some reason, I am struggling to get back into the 3FC groove. I am in a relationship now, and have sort of been obsessing about it (to the detriment of the relationship, ironically ;-) ), but this place helps me so much!

Angie -WOW. Just wow. Glad you retired the Fiona avatar. You look amazing. And your second WI is so impressive. I am so freaking inspired by you!

LebenAlles - So much adversity. Yet, here you are, recommitted and working it. No guilt, recriminations, or tears. And that's how to win in the long run, I am concluding.

Pink Hurricane - Congrats on the ceremony! Such a huge milestone. I am finishing my first round of NROLFW, and considering going back to P90X. I love that you don't mess around with namby pamby exercise routines. :-) Also happy your hubby is doing well.

Lisha - My friend! Looks like we both stalled a bit. Thanks for beimg here and working through it. Life is good.

I have a numbers goal. I am not sure how serious I am, but I have a landmark birthday on May 13. I would like to be 150 by then. Which would make 120 pounds down in a year. I am mulling whether I really want to commit to an action plan to make that happen. :-)

Hmmm... 60 pounds in four months is not realistic. Perhaps I should revise to 160..I feel a spreadsheet coming on. :-)

Laurie~ YAAAAAYYY!!!!! So glad to hear that you are in a relationship with him! I know what you mean about the kind of obsessing part haha, but that's all the more reason to focus on you. You never know what could come of this relationship, so enjoy the ride and go with the flow and keep doing YOU! I am definitely going to have to get back into P90X, I started up 30DS again in hopes of it getting me back into the groove of everything, so my plan is to definitely get going with P90X next week, if not then, then in two weeks.

As far as the landmark and weight loss goal you have set for your birthday, I agree that 60 pounds is a lot in 4 months, especially since you are getting closer to goal. However, I think 30-40 would be more attainable, but it still allows you that leeway if you get past 40 lbs before your birthday! You should definitely make a spreadsheet! I love joining up in challenges with a spreadsheet. Something about seeing that progress week to week in front on my face just does something good for me.

Me too.
I'd like to be 199 by July 20th but that doesn't seem to be realistic. Nevertheless, I'm sticking to my program 100% hardcore just in case...'cause you never know what the Scale Fairy might bring

LebenAlles - I'm very sorry to hear of your grandmother passing. I totally know what you mean about "crappy-fooding" yourself out. The same thing happened to me just recently. My ex-husband showed up at my doorstep 8 days ago when I thought he was still deployed (US NAVY). We (the two of us and our two girls) ended up spending lots of time together and eating all the wrong stuff. He left last night so I can finally get back in the groove.

LaurieDawn - I need to follow your lead and experience new love. My ex-husband has made mention of getting back together but while he was here, I remembered why I divorced him in the first place. I know he loves me, but he doesn't love me like I know I can be loved. ANYWAYS! lol....I'll save this kind of talk for a relationship forum LOL. And thanks about the pic! I had felt like a Fiona figure for a long time (a beautiful woman being hidden by my exterior ogre-ness lol) but it was time to change it up.

Lishar - that is awesome that you've lost the holiday weight! Onederland is within reach.

Thanks ladies for the weight loss kudos. Right now I'm trying to reverse a lot of damage done while my ex was here. I'm also fighting a stomach virus....another one apparently. There's a lot of stuff going around.

I brought back my weight tickers. I won't be weighing in often still but I like to use the numbers as reference points (i.e. at size 12 I typically weigh 170-175, etc.). I'm sure right now I'd register in the very high 170's so I'll give myself some time to stabilize and come back down. I set my ultimate goal for 150 lbs to see how it looks on me and what size I wear at that weight. Once I get there, I'll either maintain or go down more. I'm visiting my sister (who lives in Virginia) at the end of March and she has, in her words, "a handsome man" that she wants to introduce me to lol. I'd like to hit my first mini goal (165lbs) by then.

I have been feeling down and then pissed the last few days. I am at 48lbs lost. So close to 50lbs gone. No one has said anything to me except my parents and my husband. I have not been vocal about changing my lifestyle. Changing my eating habits and increasing my exercise. I have posted pictures of my face occationally on facebook. My friends see me and my co-workers see me. Has no one noticed that I have lost a small child in weight? I don't know why it bothers me so much but it does.

Then I thought maybe I am still too fat for people to notice. I dont' think so. I had my daughter take a picture of me today and made a side by side so that I could see the difference from this summer. This helped me see that Yes there is a difference. Yes I look thinner. Here it is. I still have another 55lbs to go but I am almost halfway to my goal.

WOW! There is DEFINITELY a noticeable difference! You look great and you should be very proud! I noticed as well, other than my parents and siblings, that it took people a while to even mention it. Maybe some are afraid to say something? I don't know what the case may be, but I just now started getting comments from people I see on a somewhat daily basis asking if I've lost weight lol. Uhh, yeah? Over 80 pounds! lol You are doing this for you so your excitement over your accomplishments is the most important

Angie - I hear you about realizing that you can be loved -better-...that's a hard conclusion to come to sometimes when you're tempted to settle with any love that comes along, so I'm proud of you for reaching that conclusion! I think a lot of people never figure that out, and it's sad. Hope you get to feeling better soon!

Lishar - I completely understand how easy it is to be swayed by how many compliments you get. I think it's natural. And I think that's something I'm having to work with this time as opposed to the other time I lost a significant amount of weight (50lbs five years ago). People didn't notice. Or the few that did made comments like 'just another 30lbs and you'll look fabulous!' or something. And I was like "Really?!?"
A lot of times I think it's just a taboo subject. Because heaven forbid you say that and it offends someone because they're like "are you saying I was fat in the first place??" or "yeah, im losing weight because I've been very sick...or dealing with this major issue in my life...so thanks a lot". So this time around, I'll admit..I've made sure everyone knows what I'm doing. They tempt me with food less, and seem to notice the major drops more because they know it's okay to say something. I know it seems like bragging, but shiz, this mess IS something to brag about. This is one of the most important and difficult things we will face in our life. Seriously. And not everyone gets that.

Anyways, there's my rant. So I've lost most of holiday weight. 242.6 today. I'm pleased with how things are going so far, and have completed two weeks now of being back on track. 60 lbs down, here's to the next 60!!

Btw Lishar, you look fabulous!! Seriously. Look at that waist! I think anyone who cannot see that change has to be blind, fer real.

Wow, Lishar! I can definitely see a difference!

LebenAlles - congrats on your 60 lbs down!! That is awesome! You've been back on track for two weeks..you are not wasting any time in 2013 lol. It's kind of been one week back on track for me...the stomach virus kind of forced me back on track lol.

Day 200 of 365

This is the longest I've ever stayed aware of my health and in fat loss mode. The longest before this was in 2005 and it was for approx. 180 days. I've got it beat by about 20 days lol.

I have started a "lower" carb meal plan to see how it works with my body. I'm an intermittent faster (for life...I love it) so I like to eat 1-2 big meals early in the day and be done. This is what I cooked up today: 986 calories, 51g fat, 51g carbs, 81g protein (it's a chicken stir fry cooked in olive oil with onions, garlic cloves, green peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, brown sugar & seasonings, with 1/2 of an avocado and 2 slices of honey baked turkey breast).



It was heaven on a plate and extremely filling. I couldn't eat it all in one sitting so it was split up into two meals lol.

I want to keep my carbs at 100g or below, drink 80 oz of water, eat between 1500 - 2000 calories a day, and exercise 5 times a week with heavy lifting 3 times a week. I plan to keep up my intermittent fasting (eat between 11:00am - 3:00pm) and eat 2 meals a day. I would like the weight from this point on to come off slow and steady as I transition to maintenance later in the year. This is my plan for the next several months so here goes