Kelly: So glad you made your first goal, what a great joy!

Toasted: Thank you so much! And 180 woohoooo and that with even indulging is wonderful!

Diane: Thank you....I didn't mean to sound whinny about compliments it is just hard hearing good job from my family to one and I am just kinda left out...I will get over it. What you said to Laurie really hit me....We ARE more than just a number!

Laurie: Yeah I realize my OCD on that and please don't disappear I value what you have to say so much! We love you here! And one of your disadvantages I would have to disagree with....I think pizza and cheeseburgers are wonderful but I don't think they are normal food. I know you give yourself treats now and then and you should. We have hamburgers once a week ( I make them.) The way my kids eat them are different then me but I still do. I take one of those whole wheat flat bread sandwhich rounds and measure my meat and have a salad with them. You can figure good ways (I know you know that) and I know how hard it is with kids stepkids and hubby's! Hang in there. Take what you need to get your head around it again and remember....YOU ROCK and you are doing amazing!

Hey everyone, I'm going to be joining this thread if that is ok. You seem like an active group and I really need to be involved or I fall off the wagon. I'm not planning on losing 100 lbs, but I am planning on losing about 65 lbs. I'm calorie counting and going to be working out. I really want to be able to run a 5k. I can walk one just fine and my husband and I do at least one a year. I just feel bad making him walk it with me when I know he would rather run it. He's run a bunch of 5k's and even done a half marathon in the past.

Hi skinnygirl!

Well the hookers back living in my head! she keeps telling me now ive reached that goal 'go on treat yourself' hmmm never a good idea when my husbands away - that off switch is to hard to find when I'm alone! At least I can't pop down to the dairy when the kids are in bed oh well an apple will have to do, not fried chicken.

Geez Laurie I recognise some of those thoughts!

Looks like summer has finally arrived here - butt naked kids running round my yard! Mine not just some randoms oh to be young and free. Now Laurie I ordered a swim suit! Brave much

Slashnl glad you are feeling better!

MissLoud- I wish it was summer here! lol
Well I've got half of my meal planned out for today. I work 12 hours and am staying at my brothers tonight (he lives closer to my work) since I work 12 hours again tomorrow. Provided I don't add anything else in for the day (which I could) I'll have 800 calories left over for dinner. I also packed my breakfast and lunch for tomorrow. I'm feeling kind of proactive lol

Skinnygirl - Welcome! So glad to have you here. I am a wanna-be runner as well. I have actually run a 5K on a treadmill, but have yet to run an actual race. We have other runners on this thread - ToastedSmoke, Jessica, Ubergirl, and Diane. Maybe others. It's nice to have a forum to address the weird runner questions that come up.

Kelly - I'm so thrilled you ordered swimming togs! (And that I have an excuse to use that term.) And keeping a figure-friendly household is something that works really, really well for me. Yay, Apple!

Jenni - I love that you reframed my version of "normal." That's what my family ate when I was growing up. That's the stuff my ex-husband used to love to have. It's the stuff my current husband likes to eat. But that doesn't make it "normal." And you know what? My husband has started to make more calorie-friendly items, and for a long time, I recognized and appreciated those efforts. On Sunday, in fact, he made grilled chicken breast. I had gotten so far down in my pity swirl, I was not giving him credit for trying to normalize my calorie-friendly preferences. Thanks for the reminder.

I am actually feeling much better. Still staying away from the scale. I had a good, on-plan day yesterday, although I only walked about 2.5 miles with a friend instead of getting a "good" work-out in. But I think that's a good, "normalizing" step as well. I don't need all the answers today. But, for today, I know what I can do to make myself feel good physically, and that's what I intend to do.

Hi all!
Made it to Body Pump today. I'm trying to decide if I'm going to be sore. I think there will be some soreness, getting back on track after being out for a week. But, it doesn't seem too bad yet. I took it easy and lifted less weight, to try to ease back into it. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Skinnygirl: Welcome to the thread. Lots of support here, with a bunch of great people!! I have a goal of running a 5K in the spring/summer. I don't want to have to walk much of it, so I'll be gearing up for it after the holidays! We can all keep each other on track!

MissLoud: It is tough when you feel like you deserve a break after meeting a goal!! I hear you! Hang in there and stay strong. And, enjoy summer!

Jenni: I understand completely! I think you are doing so well, and I hope you are proud of yourself!

Laurie: Good list you have there. I think it points you to staying on plan. Yes, there are a few disadvantages, but overall it is really so much more beneficial to stay healthy and strong!

Laurie- thanks for the welcome and for letting me in that I'm not alone in my goal! I use to run a mile and a half ( in the navy before I had to have surgery on both of my feet)

Slashnl- Awesome, I could definitely use a buddy in this journey to run! lol I'm excited to start. I'll be mostly inside on the tredmill this winter, but I have to admit... I've never been a fan of running outside lol

I resisted the hooker! I did have an obscenely large salmon steak and fruit salad, but alot better than the chicken wings and chips I normally indulge in when my husband is away. What made me proud is I got happy meals for my boys and nothing for me, whoop win!!!

I also admit to dancing around in my wedding dress sorry no pic toasted lol

I am feeling as little jealous I'm just not a runner! It would be a great workout, I'm still enjoying the rower and when I can brave my swimming togs (laurie ) I'll be able to mix it up. Also considering cycling, we have a velodrome here so track cycling looks interesting. When I get smaller I will definitely get back into rock climbing, my husband loves it and it would be a great thing to do together. Sorry just thinking out loud, its funny the things you are missing out on because of your size, wether it be perceived or not.

Spoke to soon about summer, after a day in the vege garden, its raining! *sigh*

Keep on trucking ladies!!

Hey guys.

I was complaining to my husband the other night about how I can't seem to get my shi... err, crap together with this weight loss thing. Complaining about how it seems so pointless when I've put in so much effort and am still the size of a cow. And how I can't seem to make myself care about the scale anymore after 6 months of obsession, and a month of stall (a month where I've admittedly been a bit lax because of all of the events).

He suggested we go ahead and get the elliptical I've said we can put off getting for now, because it's a pretty big expense, and I'm not sure I want to drop that kinda money on top of all of the Christmas gifting we are going to be doing. He suggested it will be a way to change up my routine and help get things going again. (I also think he wants to knock off a few pounds, because I just bought him a new belt in the size he said he needed, and it was a size too small! He sits comfortably between 175-180 most of the time.)

The elliptical I want is $577, and will ship free (from amazon --> www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D4LEEY0/) and requires assembly. It's got decent reviews, but I'm not sure if that's a good price. Although, considering it's cheaper than 10 months of a "couple's" membership at the closest gym, and he said he'd use it, too... I'm torn. The gym has a lot more to offer, but if we get that machine our basement will have a weight bench, an elliptical, and a tv w/ dvd player for fitness videos. Add some jogging shoes and a pair of bicycles, we'll have all of the fitness things we've been talking about. Without having to drive 30 minutes and pay $70/month for it.

I can't wrap my brain around spending that kind of money. The last 3 years we've had next to zero income (minus a few generous checks from parents, and very part time jobs) and have been living off of loans and having to be VERY strict with spending. Hubby's got a steady paycheck now (nothing spectacular, but feels a bit like we're rolling in cash after zero income for 3 years) and I plan on picking up a part time job in January (waiting for tax reasons)... but I don't want to start spending like it's no big deal, either, because that frugal-ness I've acquired over the last few years means we get to put some away into savings for other things.

Would an investment in our health be a good reason to dip into, or skip adding to, our savings? Part of me says yes, part of me says to just work harder with my Leslie Sansone DVDs or get something a little more difficult for 10% of the cost.

Ahhh I hate financial issues. Hubby and I are both savers, as opposed to spenders, and we are a little finicky with spending money. UGH.

Thoughts?

Fera- well at least you are savers. I would think you could take a look at your budget, and see if you can make it work. What about financing it? Maybe a payment plan would be a little easier?

So I weighed in today and am officially down my first 6 lbs, best part.... I got to add a carrot to my signature!
... I'm a little worried about these next few days though because we will be having not only thanksgiving dinner tomorrow and again on Saturday. Although I calorie count I don't think I'll be trying to do that. Instead I will just be eating small portions, with no snacking on anything unless it is the veggie platter.

Mandy - Great question! I think exercise equipment is the number one thing people regret buying. On the other hand, I think that the purchase often occurs at the very beginning of a weight loss journey, when people aren't necessarily familiar with the equipment and not sure what they want to do. That's not the situation here. Since I obviously seem to be in the mood for lists, I'll make one for you. =) Of course, all these pros and cons relate to me, so they may or may not be applicable to you.

Pro - Could re-energize your weight loss efforts.

Pro - You know what you like to do and you know yourself well enough to know that you'll enjoy using the elliptical.

Con - Establishing and maintaining the habit of saving is important. There will always be a reason to spend money, and in the case of a true emergency, it would be better to have the money in a savings account than in an elliptical.

Con - Depending on fitness levels, ellipticals are not always the optimal calorie burner. As you become more fit, that may eventually become an issue.

Con - The gym offers greater flexibility.

Pro - As I look at the snow outside my office, I think of how nice it would be not to have to leave the house to exercise (and everything else!)

Con - It requires assembly. In my mind, with my limited skills, this translates into, "I may never get it to work the way it's intended."

Pro - A gym membership is an ongoing expense. With this one, it will be done.

Yay for your husband, though! Not only is he super adorbs, but he clearly loves you. After all of that, I say go for it, if you are sure of your skills in putting it together properly. Otherwise, I gotta vote the other way. =)

Skinnygirldreams - Woot on the six pounds! That's such a great start! Onederland is on the horizon for you! Your holiday meal plan sounds excellent as well.

I did not do well last night, and I can't seem to recapture the exercise groove. Today's a new day. I am sipping herbal tea and determined to get in a good work out today. Hope everyone is doing well going into the Thanksgiving holiday.

Hey everyone. So I missed out yesterday but I'm all caught up now. See below. Monday's fast went okay and yesterday was foodier than I would have liked but nothing horrible or off plan just more lean meat than I initially intended. TOM is imminent so I'm as munchy as all get out but I'm trying really hard to stay reasonable. I'm enabling my brother who's trying to lose weight to eat more and I feel bad because I keep eating half of things and pushing the other half on him (a protein bar, a kiwi, a date, a breakfast sausage, a doughnut)- obviously not all in the same day, but over the past few days, that has just been some of the halfsies madness. I'm not a good sister right now. Anyway, now that I've reported myself to you guys, I'll stop and throw stuff away instead, even though that seems incredibly wasteful and thoughtless when one considers the "starving children in Africa" (yeah I said it! ). I got on the scale today and it WASN'T at all encouraging (183!!!). I know it's probably TOM-related but still, it wasn't the best start to the day... but still I keep going. I hope all of you guys are doing well and have an awesome day.

Slashni: I'm glad you're feeling better and are back to your workouts. Hopefully, you get back in the groove of things easily and aren't too sore from Body Pump.

Laurie: I think that from your analysis, obviously there are better and more advantages to being on plan- now if only it was easy to do the "logical" thing and commit to a life perfectly on plan. But then at the same time, that wouldn't be real life. It's the imperfections and the conflicts that make our real life novels so interesting... fraught, yes, but at least not boring. Maybe you could reconcile to being on plan 75% of the time or something and planning your off-plan periods... ah the irony of planning how to be OFF-plan- let it be said, weight loss journeys are not for people without a sense of self-irony. Anyway, I know you were just organizing your thoughts but I just wanted to say your "crazy" here, is totally sane. We get it. And we don't think you're (too ) crazy. We're all crazy here anyway, and I'm thinking maybe we are the sane ones and the rest of the world who's not obsessing about this journey like we are are the crazy ones... Who's to say, eh? (Well except science and psychiatrists and millions of years of history that includes very little about trying to LOSE weight... But still, who's to say! We'll take them down!). Yay on feeling better and doing a less than intense/non-weighloss-focused workout with a friend. Sometimes the best we can do is just little simple doable actions to stay in the game somewhat, so yay! I'm thinking of you!

SkinnyGirl: WELCOME! This group is great and I look forward to getting to know you. I think it's awesome that you have both a weight and a fitness goal. Running is great. I used to be a regular treadmill 5k runner (from late 2010 till about early September this year) but I haven't run in nearly 3 months and so I can't even begin to imagine what my running fitness is like. My current schedule means that if I'm going to get back into running, it's going to be outside which is wayyy harder than the treadmill especially in a humid tropical climate BUT if you want to do like a running challenge/support thing for December, I'm definitely in. Are you doing C25K or something of your own design. ALSO, go you being so proactive. I only recently started taking a packed lunch to the office and it's usually pretty uninspired so I'm always looking for ideas. What's in your packed lunch?

MissLoud: NOOOO!!! Say it isn't so!!! There was wedding dress dancing like no one was watching (because no one was actually watching)!!!!! I mean forget pics, I would have expected video! LOLOLOL. I'm so pleased for you! When I was a kid, my brother and I used to pretend we were in BMX Bandits (you know the movie right?) and cycling was to us all that, the bag of chips and the soda on the side! I think the velodrome sounds fun! Plus think of the indoor cyclists in olympics, they always seem super lean, so it's probably a great workout too!

Mandy: Sorry you're feeling the grind right now. I know the feeling and it's no bueno! I think sometimes it's easy to overlook our achievements and how far we've come sometimes. Now, I complain about the 180s and feel like I'm as big as ever BUT if I pause, I REALLY remember how FAR I've come even in the months since I've been back on here working on the regain. Sure it's only like 16 pounds after 4 whole months BUT 180 is better than 196 and it's been worth the hard work and obsession and frustration even though right now, stalling it doesn't feel like it. And even though you're stalling right now, as an objective observer, I think all the effort, obsession and frustration has been totally worth it. I mean hard, yes! But worth it! Look at you knocking out upwards of 5 miles any day you choose like it's nothing, and decades of pounds closer to goal and inspiring so many of us on here AND doing it in the middle of the life upheaval of a big move and life change! I mean, you're an ABSOLUTE rockstar and you've been on tour so long, I think you deserve a little down time. So basically, your hooker needs to get of your back and take several seats! #PIPEDOWNHOOKER Anyway, you asked for none of that preamble, you were only seeking input about a scale, but you know me by now, I've never liked 3 words when I could use 27. So, re: shaking things up with a new tool (i.e. the elliptical), I think it can't hurt PLUS it IS something you've mentioned for a while. Obviously, it probably won't fix the megrims, plan fatigue, and general out-of-sorts-and-over-it-all-ness BUT it is a good tool to at least give you an alternative to Leslie this winter. Re: the financial outlay, my mother always says "you can't take it with you" so whilst I agree that saving is good and should be a priority, good health is just as good and if you think about it, investing in your health IS kind of saving in a sense. #EnablerAtWork I think if you can afford it and believe you can assemble it and will use it, I think you should get it.

I got jumped! SkinnyGirl: Yay on 6 lbs down! WOOOOT!

Laurie: Yesterday was yesterday and as you day is a new day with fresh opportunity. You KNOW my workout struggle. I empathise totally! Who's to say you won't rock out a good workout today? Let us know either way.. Have an awesome day.

I forgot tomorrow was thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving to those celebrating!!!!

Thanks y'all for your input.

I think the elliptical is something that hubby and I could figure out (he *did* get his undergrad degree in engineering, after all) and I've put together all manner of "assembly required" things (okay, so they're all desks and book shelves, but the reviews say putting it together isn't hard, per se, just time consuming) so reading the assembly instructions (use fastener J2 to attach part C to part Q...) isn't that difficult. I just hope they are in plain English, not Chinese run through Google Translate to English, because I'm not sure I'll know entirely what to do with that.

As for actually using it... When they were available for free in SC, we made use of ellipticals approx 3 times a week. We both prefer them because we both have lower body joint issues (me ankle, him knee) and the elliptical is an easy way to get decent cardio in without over-aggravating those issues. And this machine does have multiple levels of resistance, so it should be decent for our cardio needs for quite a while. It even has heart rate programs built in because it's got a grip heart rate monitor on it. One of the reasons why I thought it would be nice to have, is it's got different levels of preset courses on it.

On the financial front. After doing the math, should we make this purchase, it will not be taking money out of savings to pay for it, more like taking the money we would have put in savings into the elliptical. We've already got a little cushion of savings for emergencies built up over the last couple months, so it's not like we have zero savings right now. Financing isn't really feasible because we're trying to avoid more debt to pay off, simply because we're working on paying off our credit cards as well as his student loan repayments are going to start soon.

After talking with the hubs, we've both agreed that if he gets a Christmas bonus that would at least cover a decent chunk of the price, we will go ahead and purchase it, then limit our gifts to each other to $50 each (Which is good, because I already got him a couple things adding to $50!).

Anyway, the sick has a firm hold on my throat, and I'm moderately certain this is a different sick than before. This feels more like a sinus infection. But, no fever, so I've convinced myself that it's not as bad as I think it is, I'm just being a big baby (there's some sinus pressure, my throat is a little inflamed, a little congestion, but holy crap it hurts to swallow!)... HOWEVER. If it's not gone after Thanksgiving fun and festivities, then I will be carting my sick behind into the closest 'doc in a box' for a Z-pack and some special cough syrup.

Funny thing though. This afternoon when hubby came home from the church for lunch when he walked into the kitchen where I was putting the kettle on for tea (yeah, I just said that)... he asked how I was feeling and I responded "code milky green" and he said he needed to go look for a Planet of the Apes marathon. (If you don't get it, it's a Big Bang Theory reference)

And in weight news... I saw 275 again this morning, and yesterday morning, after McDonald's for dinner Monday night, and surviving on Chex party mix and soup yesterday. So 275 after so much sodium my previously loose rings are not even spinning and require effort to remove. SO, I think there might be a little progress hidden in there. Just in time for me to kill it off tomorrow. Is it horrible of me that I'm hoping my sore throat sticks around to keep me from eating everything on the table tomorrow?

Toastedsmoke Hey ... Thanks for the words of encouragement. I think I'd enjoy a cardio buddy. I am not following any plan ( mostly because I have had surgery on both of my feet in 2009 and might be a slow goer) so it's just going to be me chuggin along. I'll probably just start with walking the 3.1 miles on a regular basis, and go from there. ( I know I can already walk that much but I want to start by improving that time and working up).

My extra "atta girl" moment of the day because of the holidays companies keep dropping off sweets..... Today they dropped off a pumpkin pie, an apple pie, those big sugary muffins, and pumpkin (?) bread, oh and a bag of m&m's..... i resisted all but 1 single M&M and they have all been here throughout my whole 12 hour shift.... I call that a WIN! lol