Happy Monday IP'rs. Back to work after 2 weeks at the cottage. I had my 12 week WI on Saturday and was down 8lbs. For a total of 39.5lbs. I'm feeling great. I stayed OP the whole time BUT did more meat at dinner. We tend to eat later and I forgot my scale. My coach did advise me before to cheat OP if I had to. Seems to have worked. I'm close to my halfway goal so hoping the losses don't slow down yet.
My coach did ask me to start thinking about a goal weight. I'm only 5'4.
How did you choose your goal weight?
I haven't been under 200 since early 20's so I have no idea. I lose top down so I don't want to look skeletal in my face/neck and still have a big rear-end. I do a lot of walking but didn't want to start exercising until I lost closer to goal.

Fantastic! Halfway to goal, that's something to celebrate!
And 8lb after 2 weeks at the cottage...Lots of temptations to stray OP, and how great you must feel.

Funny you should ask about goal weight...I've actually been thinking about that the last few days. Like you, I'm not tall (5"2") and if I go by BMI, I should be between 110 and 130. Well, I weighed 110 when I was 20, I'm pretty sure that's not realistic. 130? maybe. But right now I can't visualize myself there.
I lose the same way you do, even when I was younger, my top half was 1 or 2 sizes smaller than my bottom half. Even now, my face has already gotten thinner, more noticeable than my back end

I arbitrarily chose 150 as my goal when I started, with the thought in my head that at the rate I'm losing (which is averaging about 2/week), it'll be November by the time I reach that goal. I may be tired of this by then, and need a break... or I may decide to revise my goal and keep going.
Right now I'm OK with not worrying about that number until it gets closer.

What about the rest of you, especially any of you that are closer to goal? Why did you chose it in the first place? Have you revised your goal along the way?

Great NSV Destony!
I was eating Bok Choy for a while in the winter and think Frawnie has the right of it - in the cabbage family = safe.
I truthfully didn't find a way to cook it I enjoyed where I didn't need too much oil (my fave is sesame oil / garlic / pepper).
Also - hear you loud & clear on the fresh fruit - that has been a huge source of temptation this summer - cantaloupe are coming in fantastic this year - best I've seen in a few in the mid-atlantic but I try not to think about it too much

3BD - hey lady! Glad to see you - sounds like you are doing fantastic

Congrats dickinsp!

Sunflower - weight loss is never linear - I am still 30#'s from goal and have had a handful of 0 weigh-ins over the last 23 weeks (this past week being one of them) - daggone bodies lol & a size 6 is pretty darn terrific imvho

WoodLily - as I am closing in on goal, I keep going back and forth on where I want to be when I phase off - normal BMI (top range) is 155 so I'd like to be 145 - but I toss around in my mind phasing off at 155 and starting a program like Insanity to tone / tighten...we'll see

Happy Monday to all!!

I am going with 0 in the weight loss column for the week as I am bouncing around 173 - 175 on the scale. I love that I am seeing my pattern though and am not stressing. I figure (based on the last 2 months of tracking) I will have to get through TOM before the scales budge again.

Had a fantastic weekend with hubby, dd10, and friends at an Irish Festival & got to see some of our favorite bands. DD10 was able to stand at the front rail for Carbon Leaf - she had one of her favorite dolls with her and the lead singer reached out and exchanged his beer for her doll she went after the show and talked to all the guys / got her set list signed...memories to last a lifetime!

Good morning everyone. Hope you all had a great weekend.
I chose my goal weight based on what I weighed in my mid 40's. I knew it was still considered overweight, but I felt good at that weight. I recently adjusted it down another 6 lbs from my original 130 goal so the nurse at my clinic wouldn't have to give me her little talk about BMI numbers at my next visit. I am over 60 and fairly active, so I think I am more fit than I was in my mid 40's, so losing the extra 6 lbs. below my original goal weight is a goal but not a "must" for me.

It was hot and steamy here this weekend, so I decided to stay in the air conditioning and sort through my closet to see what still fit me. I was able to pull out two garbage bags full of slacks, jeans and capris that I will donate to a non-profit. I left the more expensive items that I wore as my work wardrobe for another day. I was a little hesitant to include the size just above my current size, but think it will be an incentive to keep the weight off.

At what point do the rest of you get rid of clothes that don't fit? Right away?
After losing a little more? Never, in case you gain it back?

Hi 3bigdogs. Your success is inspiring - congratulations! You mention your body taking brief "rests" all the way through. I feel like mine is doing the same thing, every few weeks or so. Interestingly, it seems to happen at weights I was at for a long period of time. For example, I was just stuck at 186 for over a week...which is what I weighed for about a year before I got pregnant with my son. The last time I got down to 175 (on Lindora, quite a few years ago), I was stuck there for about a month, and that was what I weighed for several years. It is like my body is comfortable at these weights where it was before. Anyone else have this experience? I'm hoping someday my body will be "comfortable" and stuck at 143!!

WOW! i'm super impressed at everyone! Your doing amazing! I sorta fell off but didn't fall off the last couple of weeks, just tried to stay compliant as much as I can, but i had a few week movements!

I chose my Goal based on the assumption that I have never in my adult life been below 200. Now I am! My first goal was 190 and Now I am almost there and I am thinking about adjusting it lower like around 175 and then make an adjustment from there!! Have a great week everyone. Maybe I can check in a little more this week!

I chose my goal weight because 1) it's the low end of the suggested weight range for my height; 2) I feel like it gives me wiggle room if I gain a few pounds after going on maintenance; 3) I hope to reach it in November, right before my son's wedding and then a cruise, so I know I'd look good in pics at that weight. It's probably a little low for long-term maintenance, at my age, unless I really stick to eating like a bird. I guess I'll know more as I get closer to that number. I sure would like to get into a size 12, though.

My WI was this morning. I lost another 3 pounds, which has been my average per week thus far. Hope I can keep that up for another month or two.

Linda I'm with you on the skin issue. I am also taking a highly absorbable collagen dose daily but I read or it was in one of the IP videos that it takes 6 months to see any effects. So I guess we'll both see! One of the IP videos about a month ago talked about the chromium and I remembered that every time I had lost weight before under a Dr's supervision it was recommended. My losses are more steady since I started taking hem. Who knows if it is that or what.

Also, when I was about 2 months in I noticed little fat pockets I could actually feel under the skin on my thighs and abdomen (which was kind of creepy) so I dug out an old massager and started using it. THose are gone now, again, was it the massaging? Not sure but I got good results so I'm still doing that some.

Hi Beth!. I've been reading your posts and always like to see what you add.

Re goal weight, I think initially I thought I wanted something achievable. Once I got there my fat numbers were still too high so that is my goal rather than the scale number.

Me, being me, I'll finish up the Collagen-which honestly-I'm not sure I'm really noticing anythng from- and I made sure I got the one that Prevention magazine recommended-about 3/4 of the way through my second bottle...and am going to get the Chromium. Is there a specific brand/dosage that is recommended?
OMG!!! I agree, those pockets ARE creepy feeling. I am definitely going to try the massaging trick. I am pretty certain I have one of those 3 pronged ones that still works.(I'm a sucker for most anything on a clearance rack at the store..-so much stuff I have never used..lol)

W/I day today...hoping for good numbers, if not on the scale, hopefully on the tape.

Have a great Tuesday everyone!!

I have to add one more thing this morning....it's such a weird feeling putting clothes on. Usually when they have been a bit tight, the next time I would put them on they would just be tighter...that was the usual feeling anyways. So, to put something on that was a bit tight and it's fitting more loosely than last time..it's a strange feeling (albeit a good one!) anyone else experiencing this feeling/mindset?

Just this morning I put on a maxi skirt that I bought less than two months ago, and it was loose. I had to roll it at the top so it wasn't dragging on the floor. I was surprised...I mean, I have lost maybe 13 lbs since then, but I don't feel smaller. It's hard to feel smaller even when the scale and the inches lost and the clothes are screaming...YOU ARE SMALLER!!! But I am determined to get used to this not squeezing into clothes phenomenon!

Linda The chromium I take is 500 mcg, one a day. They are really tiny.

Yes, me too! I love it. Everything in my closet was busting at the seams just a couple of months ago, it was soooo frustrating. I hated going out anywhere social because I didn't fit in any of my clothes. Now everything is getting too big and will soon be donated. It feels great.