mkroyer- Congrats on your accomplishments! I can definitely relate with the misperception thing. Certain days I'll look in the mirror and see a girl with a good figure and than other days, I'll look in that same mirror and see a girl that is completely overweight. A lot of times I'll also question my goal weight. I really don't know what it is but I definitely do know it's VERY frustrating. I guess we have to just keep on keepin' on.

As far as the program I'm using to lose weight right now is basically calorie cycling/portion control. I generally eat anything I want (in portions of course), as long as it's within my calorie count for the day. I'll eat 1100 calories: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 1200 calories: Wednesday and 1400 calories: Saturday. So far, so good.

mkroyer , Wow, Your profile picture is so inspirational! Also Congrats on being 134!!!! As for the fat/thin battle of the mind... I feel the same way you do some times. The scale and my friends tell me I'm thin, but I still have that perspective that I'm a bigger girl in my head. I think my brain just needs more time to get used to the new me!


As for me... I am today 135.0!!!! That means I've lost 40 lbs! I'm on cloud nine today!

This morning I was 132.2, below that magical 132.4 that I had been waiting to see! Now, I'm not holding out much hope for staying at that number, because I drank 2 light beers yesterday at a picnic (I always weigh less after a few drinks) and I'm still in that pre-TOM water-weight-gaining phase so I could bounce back up at any time. It was still pretty darn exciting, though.

way to go mayness. I wish that I could go down a little in weight after a couple drinks, but sadly the scale tips the other way if i drink alcohol!

So I'm down 0.8 lbs since yesterday! Woo. However my Dad is coming for the weekend , and I can just see the scale spiking a little by Monday. I'm going to try my best to keep on plan, but my dads weird. I can remember him telling me I was over weight before, but now he thinks I'm too skinny! I just can't win! I also have not seen him for a month, and I've lost 10 pounds since then, so if he thought I was skinny then, eep!

Last night was weird too. My Ex ( I'm not sure what we were not official bf/gf I seem to do messy relationships instead!) called telling me he wanted to see me. So he came over.I haven't seen him in well over a month , and when he saw me, he started telling me how much he likes me, and that I'm his favorite girl, that I looked amazing , how he was trying to become a better person so that I would like him more...It was funny, he told me that I was getting hotter every time he saw me , while he stayed the same! Nice ego boost. But in the end, I just remembered by we were not together .

Happy Friday everyone!

Hi girls! Recently I lost 20 pounds and made it down to 137 (lowest weight I can ever remember being), then decided my body was ready to maintain, so I've been maintaining at around 137 (+/- 2lbs) since the beginning of July. But now I feel like I'm getting way too comfortable with my eating habits and losing all that great control I felt when I was trying to lose weight, so I've decided to get back into weight loss mode and try to get down to my goal of 130! Last week, I saw 134.8 on the scale for a few days, but with a combo of stress eating before finals, crazy heat and weight training, I'm back up to 138.8 (ugh). So instead of feeling sorry for myself and whining, I'm gonna get back on track and join you girls!

I completely agree about having skewed self-image and it's so frustrating! Even gaining a few pounds and being at 139 sometimes makes me feel like a big fat cow and I know I can't look THAT much different than I do at 137! It's almost ridiculous when I really think about it. In terms of my "diet", in the past I kept my calories between 1200-1500, but these days, with all the exercise I do, I can't seem to stay below 1400, so I'm gonna try for 1400-1700. During maintenance, I could eat way more and stay the same weight, so I think that should be fine. Night time eating is the WORST for me. I'll be great all day and then totally ruin it and eat 5 extra pieces of fruit or energy bars or whatever healthy food I have in the apartment. So frustrating! Anyone else deal with that?

Natalie - Talk about great ego boost! Even if he's not the guy for you, it sure feels great to have someone notice all your hard work! Congrats on 40 pounds!

May - 132.2 is awesome! It's hard to see a low number on the scale and then bounce back up, but knowing that you were able to make it there once should give you a lot of hope that you'll be there again soon! (That's what I keep telling myself...hehe).

Rb - Wow, 1100 calories? How do you survive?? What's your work out schedule like?

Anyway, I'm glad to be here and look forward to getting to know you girls!

Mk - Good to see you here!

Hey there TakingCharge!! Good to see you too!!
I have the same problem as apparently a lot of you have out there---the dreaded NIGHTIME EATING!! Its not even like right when i get home, but before dinners ready..its AFTERWARDS...as soon as im done with diner im Eyeing the HoneyNut Cheerios in the cupboard or the peanut butter in the pantry....or the delicious looking leftoevers my boyfirend still has sitting out on the stove top!! I cant seem tpo control myself at night...and then when i get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, i have no control over myself and wander into the kitchen and start picking at whatever in the fridge or cabinets!! Its like i do so great all day, and then i just RUIN it! GGrrrr......i AM however, happy to report that i havent "midnight" snacked for an entire WEEK!! Wahoos!! One bad habit at a time, i guess...

I totally know about the late night grazing. At around 11 pm, I would usually find myself looking though the cupboards. I started drinking light hot chocolate ( 45 calories a mug) for a night time snack. It warms me up and also fills me up too!

TakingCharge, I only eat 1100 calories most of the days because I don't get that much exercise. I have a few health issues I am trying to combat at the time and am unable to workout as much as I would like due to having extreme weakness in my legs. I have issues where my left leg will completely collapse underneath me at random times due to some neurological problems.

Happy September everyone! Does anyone set monthly goals? both scale and NSV related?

I've started the month at 133.6 lbs , so my Goal for October 1st is to be somewhere in the 120's.

Hey ladies!

I was doing really well at the end of last week - was down to 132.0 on Saturday! Then I ate A LOT over the weekend (had friends visiting) and was up to 134.4 on Monday. But today I'm 133.4, and I still feel a little bloated, so I'm hoping there's a bit of water weight that still needs to come off.

I don't usually, but I would REALLY like to be out of the 130s by October 1. I might also set some fitness goals (minutes, or number of workouts, or something) but I'll have to do some more thinking and math first.

Thread crashing again here, but just wanted to say mkroyer, you look amazingly fit and muscular in your photo, and your 134 probably looks like most people's 124, or lower even. The "tiny" comments aren't jiving in your head with the number you see on the scale, but I think you really are that tiny

Rb - I'm sorry to hear about your health issues. It seems like you've done a great job finding what works for you an still taking care of yourself despite it all. Very inspiring!

As for the late night snacking, I've been really good the past few days andbit feels great to have that control back! I hate that feeling of "screw it, I'm just gonna keep eating even though I know I shouldn't" and honestly not snacking at night makes me sleep better and feel better in the morning! Please reming me of that when I forget

In terms of goals, right now I'm kind is stuck at the high end of what has been my maintenance range (135-139) so I would 1) love to be down at the lower end and 2) surpass my previous low of 134.8. I have an exam on Friday so my body has been kind of whack with all the stress and then I'm celebrating my bday (which is today!) on Friday night, but I'm planning to stay in track and then really work to get my weight down starting next week.

It seems like you girls I've great, healthy goals and I'm excited for us to keep each other on track, especially with NO late night snacking!

Great idea hiimnatalie! As of today, September 1st I am at 138. I would like to be 133 by October 1st.

Wow, just looking at it that way makes me really excited for the Fall

TakingCharge, first of all....Happy Birthday! Secondly, thank you for the nice words, I really appreciate it. And lastly, great job on the late night snacking situation/it really sounds like you are doing great.