Ladies, I've been off exploring Germany and Italy, but my time in Europe has come to an end. In a few hours, I step on a plane to Los Angeles.

I found a set of scales this week and weighed in at 221 pounds. That brings my total loss for my time in Europe to 77 pounds.

I am excited to see my family. I've missed them. My mom and one of my sisters have no idea I'm returning so we are making a big surprise of it. Not sure if mom will recognize me. I don't recognize me half the time in the mirror.

That being said, I am terrified of returning. I am terrified of becoming that girl who eats her feelings again (even though I haven't done that in a long time). I'm scared of resorting to old habits even though I'm making conscious efforts to continue my progress. So, instead of focusing on my fears, I am going to remind myself of the positive things that have come from taking back control of my health. Also, I'll be spending much time on here because I LOVE the community here at 3fc.

So I'm on this scale break and it is really hard......DH has hidden the scale from me. I am staying focused with my goals, though, and hopefully this break from my scale obsession will help. Yesterday I briskly walked 8k and according to my HRM I burned 662 calories which is crazy. I love my walk because I have so many paths behind my house and there are lots of up and down hills. The weather has been PERFECT!

In other exciting news - our POOL is open which means more exercise opportunities - yay!

Norma - Congrats on your huge loss in Europe and have a wonderful trip home. What a blessing to be able to go home that much healthier! Keep us posted about the homecoming.

stepbystep - How did your dinner go last night? I hope you're feeling better!

Step I hope you enjoyed yourself.
Laura,I agree the focus on numbers can be too much. We know we are making positive changes for our health. Good for your husband.
Nj, your trip sounds awesome, hope you have a great time with your family.

Hi guys,

2 days of wallowing over..... head back in gear and back to making good choices. I overate but mainly good things, chose pizza dinner but a non-cheese one with tomoato and a ton of veggies, skipped dessert and didn't snack when I got home drunk. Yesterday I did good breakfast lunch and dinner but did eat in between too, again mainly healthy apart from the pumpkin cream cheese muffin, BUT, I was going to order in fried chicken and fizzy pop so I did well to cook tomato pasta instead....

I'm up on the scales, it was expected, but this is life and now it's to get the number back down before the next up in the cycle.

Laura, the scales ban will do you the world of good, I am going to try something similar when I get back from my trip next week.

Nicki, how's the weight training going? I think I'm simiar to you in exercise choices, I used to LOVE LOVE spinning and although I never lifted heavy became adicted to body pump and loved how strong and toned I became.... need to get back to that at some point.... but now I work such long days I don't know when I'd fit my gym in......

Hi NJ, nice to meet you How cool going home so much healthier and the surprise too Enjoy the reunion and then remember everything you've leant about healthy living and you'll do great

Right.... time for work

The A/C at home is broken and it has been very warm in the house for the past few days. I don't feel like exercising because of it, though I have managed some short early morning workouts. I think I'm gonna focus more on exercises I can do while lying down on the floor, sit ups and leg lifts and such, and less on the aerobics and weights. I dunno, I'm not feeling as confident about reaching my goal this month.

I hope everybody is doing well with their breaks from the scale. Daily weighing probably isn't for everyone. I tend to unintentionally slack off if I don't weigh in the mornings, so I need the scale to keep me on my toes.

Circa, I'm so sorry about your AC. hope it gets fixed soon. Everyone at work is exclaiming,"you've lost even more weight" even though the scale is the same. TOM was supposed to start yesterday...so everything is screwy.
I am so sore from weights on Tuesday still, I'm hobbling around. I did some HIT on the treadmill yesterday, but I had to take today off. Naproxen is helping. But I got to get back to it tomorrow! It's sort of fun testing limits. :P

Hey guys....well I convinced DH to unhide the scale for my weekly weigh-in and the agreement now is the scale will come out every Friday morning. I was in a better overall mood this week without weighing morning and night!

With that said, I did show a 1.6 lbs loss this week which I wasn't expecting at all since I had gone up 2 lbs as of Monday so I am down 3.6 since then. So I'm a happy camper.

step - How are you feeling? What kind of trip are you going on? I saw you mentioned Body Pump.... I used to be obsessed with that - I LOVED it but now I don't want to spend money on a gym and also I'm not sure my knees could handle it anymore.

nicki - It sounds like you are losing inches instead of weight.....take it from me, hang in there - the scale will drop at some point!

circa - It's also sooo hot here right now and we haven't turned our AC on yet and I'm dying. Maybe I'll turn it on today....hopefully yours is working soon!

Laura, I'm glad to hear you are only doing weekly weigh ins now. I know the obsession with stepping on every day and I have to stop myself from stepping on every time I step into the bathroom.

Circa, sorry to hear about your AC. When the weather gets too warm, my motivation tends to wan.

I have returned to the states. I had this irrational fear that when the plane touched down I was going to gain everything back. I think my imagination might be too vivid.

I've noticed there are some definite differences. My cousin took me to lunch yesterday and I was only able to eat about 1/3 of my meal. Living in Europe, I didn't realize how much smaller of portions I was eating. I'll be sure to keep this up.

Another thing that tickled me to no end was when I boarded my plane, I didn't have to get a seatbelt extender. Not only did I not need one, I was able to tighten the belt a good amount!

In other news, I now know my US sizes. I'm in a size 16 pants and XL tops. For the first time in my adult life, I don't have to shop in the plus size section.

I think these little things will help keep me motivated.

Congrats nj on the new sizes!!
Laura I'm glad the scale gave you some positives!

Laura78, the weekly weigh ins seem to be working out well for you.
NjPants, I bet it felt great not to be in the plus sizes.
nickilaughs, it sounds like you are making great progress. I heard that sore muscles store water so maybe that's why the scale isn't budging even though you're more fit.


We got the central air fixed even though the whole system is old and needs replacing, but at least I'm not laid out on the bed trying to stay cool anymore. It was hotter in the house than it was outside. I still feel like I've been lazy with my exercise this week. I ordered a sundress that is a couple inches too small in the waist because they didn't come any bigger, but I'm gonna let it help motivate me the rest of the month.

Clothes are a great motivation. I have these size 10 rock and republic jeans that I couldn't get past my calls when I bought them. I can get them almost all the way over my butt now, but not even close to buttoning yet. I am awaiting the day I can comfortably button. That's my real goal.

Hi ladies! This is my first post. I had another username but lost my password, then lost my password to that email. What a wreck lol!

So I weighed in at 182 today. It's crazy to think this time last year, I was easily maintaining around 135-145for years! Then I started on migraine prevention meds, and I gained pounds so quickly, I don't even know how! I guess the worst part is nothing helped my awful migraines either

I'm looking forward to finding my healthy ways again, and fitting into my old clothes! I'm hoping to be able to make it to spin or yoga class tomorrow morning. What a great Mother's Day present, to not have a pounding head and well enough to go the the gym! Fingers crossed!

Oh gosh. We're going to Hawaii in a couple weeks. Losing just 5 more lbs would be huge!

You guys sound like fun. Traveling to Europe and refusing to buy amusement park food because they threw away your muffins?! Yes!!!!

Circa, it did feel great! I'm so glad you got some relief from the heat. I've been thinking of purchasing my first sundress ever.

Nicki, you're almost there! That's awesome. I was given a pair of size 12 pants that I'm holding into for motivation.

HIheart, welcome! We are a pretty great group. These other ladies help keep me going.

I have a question; have any of you tried the Fed Up Sugar challenge? I am getting ready to start it. Now that I'm home and have all these temptations of ease and comfort, I'm trying to stay ahead of what could easily be my old routines. Sugar has always been my biggest weakness and it's definitely an addiction. It is now time to face it head on and win. So, starting Monday I'm going for the 10-day challenge. I can have sugar in fruit, but no added natural or artificial sugars. I feel like I'm saying farewell to my oldest friend. Has anyone else gone through this?

NJpants, may the force be with you on this journey.
Welcome hiheart! We have good support here. What sort of plan are you sticking to? I think we all have different methods.
So new experience. I tried a fat burner per coworkers recommendation. It's like legal meth. I was such a spaz at work. I didn't eat all day hardly anything. And I couldn't sit still. I only did half a dose. I'm thinking of trying a quarter dose. I knew I was sensitive to caffeine but...jeez. It sucks if it's still too much for me that's thirty bucks down the drain.

Hey ladies and Happy Mothers Day! My kids gave me a sweet card and DH made breakfast.....other than that it's a normal day around here! We're just getting ready for church and I'm working on balancing my calories for the day and allowing myself treats too! It looks like it's going to rain today so I'm going to do a "Walk Away the Pounds" DVD instead of a long walk. I was also thinking of attempting my 30 Day Shred video but not sure if I'm ready for that pain yet! LOL

Nicki - The fat burner sounds interesting....are you sure it's safe? I can't even take Cold medication without feeling loopy so I generally stay away from anything like that!

Norma - No, I've never heard of that. I don't have a huge addiction to sugar, so I still allow myself to have it. I have a tsp in my coffee and also I enjoy a nightly 40 cal popsicle. Let us know how it goes....I should google it to see what it's all about. I was thinking of researching something to do to lose weight really quickly, like a 2 week program or something...just to get things moving again for me. But then I'm scared I'll quit and give up. Congratulations on fitting into small clothes and fitting on the airplane!! I'm jealous of your size....I am as "Pear" (DH would call me hourglass but I'm not sure) as it comes....I carry most of my weight in my hips. I *think* I'm maybe into a 16 in some things now....but mostly I'm still wearing 18 bottoms but I'm a solid size 12-14 up top (Med-Large) - LOL. Darn genes.

hiheart - Welcome! Did you do your workout this morning? I had all the plans of working out in the morning but then I slept in. After church it is for me! I'm sure that weight will be off before you know it. What plan are you following?

circa - Glad you got that a/c fixed! How has your weekend been going?