aimin4thin, I think we are in the same boat when it comes to the plateau. Besides from my bad weekends I have been on plan. Need to get those weekends in control. Have you tried increasing your calories to around 1500. I did this and a few pounds came off. Also try and get more water if you are not already. How is your ratio of carbs, fat, and protein? I try to keep mine at 30% fat and proteing and then 40% carbs. Are your carbs good or bad carbs? Just some thoughts, but when figure it out please let me know what it is. The thing is to keep on with what you are doing and don't give up. You have done so well so far and are not far from your goal at all. Just when you least expect it those pounds will start coming off again.

Sno, I am sure that pound is water weight. Don't let this discourage you. Keep up with the exercise and great eating.

Did my workout at the gym last night. DH is working late tonight so I think I am going to make me some vegetable soup tonight and then can have it for lunch the next few days since it is cold again. It will warm me up and fill me up with not alot of calories

Dollypie, according to fitday, my averages since Jan 1/16/2007 are as follows: calories per day 1254, Fat 25%, Carbs 34%, Protein 19%, so I guess I need to up my protein considerably. Typically my carbs are whole grain breads, whole wheat pasta, carrots, snap peas, polenta, rice noodles, rice and things of that nature. I don't eat chips or fried things and seldom does a potato ever touch my lips. Also I know I need to cut back on the alcohol, which I have been trying to do. Instead of having half the bottle of wine, I am cutting back to a glass or two at events. I have a ton of parties and social events to attend and I want to be social, but not derail my diet at the same time. I have completely eliminated beer from my diet altogether and am trying to stick to things that take a long time to drink- sippers like wine, scotch and water, etc... so that I will drink less across any given time. Ugggh it is just so frustrating. I am trying SO HARD and lately, progress is just...stuck. I can see great muscle tone, but that is about it right now...

No time to write I have a staff meeting today and I need to prep. but I am having a wonderful birthday!!!!! I didn't lose weight but I am alright with that because I have been lousy and I didn't gain. Well I actually lost .5 lbs but that isn't anything. But I was feeling down and didn't want to weigh in and I did anyway. I was jumping up and down.

Also DH joined me at the gym and we walked about a mile around the track. That was his gift to me! I loved it.

My 20 year old came to my office and took me to lunch! He also brought me flowers and dark chocolate! Girideli! The best I ate 2. I can savor those babies.

Even though I didn't lose and I didn't meet my goal I am feeling charged! I know I can do it. It is hard but I just have to keep it up!

Hey WBM, that's great that you didn't gain, had a fabulous birthday and are so super charged to meet your goals! You CAN do it. It isn't easy, but the greatest accomplishments in life take a lot of work and dedication, and that hard work makes you appreciate it all the more. I mean, if everyone lost ten pounds just by thinking about it, it wouldn't be any big deal, right?

But you will have those days where you walk into a meeting with someone you haven't seen in a while and they will say to you " You look great...have you lost weight?" and THOSE days make it all worth it.

Or what about the day you go into your closet and pull out the black pants you wear all the time, and they practically fall down because they are so big!

Or the day your husband walks up and puts his arms around you and says "Oh my gosh, you are getting so thin!" and you notice that he is checking you out more, can't keep his hands off of you...

Or you are having a cocktail with your girlfriends when a nice-looking guy walks by and totally checks you out!

There are lots of reasons to keep going, for all of us. And these are just a few fun ones. The most important ones are your health, your blood pressure, your heart, your self-esteem, your bones, your outlook on life, and your right to feel fabulous and beautiful. We can ALL do this. We ARE doing this and we are doing this together which is the greatest part of it all. I know I really appreciate all of the support this group has given to me. I hope that this serves in some way to motivate all of us to reach out and grab our goals and our dreams with both hands.

Have a great day and may today be a LOSING day for us all!

Hey Chicks,

Glad you're having such a great b-day WBM . Isn't it awesome when everything seems to be clear and fall into to place. Got to love those days and they seem to come frequently when eating is on plan. I'm feeling pumped again because the scale is moving in the right direction again
My black pants are almost to big for me and before Christmas I wouldn't even try them on because I knew the zipper wouldn't zip.

Aimin very nicely put . The right reasons +all the right reasons to stay on track.

I've been making it to the gym regularly and gone back to fairly intense weight workouts hoping to boost the burners. Eating is right on track and I'm staying away from sugar completely right now. Even a little sends me into a tail spin so nothing is the rule.

So cool about the running Dolly . You'd be amazed how quickly you can build up time and stamina for running. Training yourself to breath during running is half the battle. You seem to get to a certain point and then it comes naturally. I always find the first 7-10 mins. hard and then seem to be able to go for quite awhile after that.

Cheers ,and, to all,

Nina

Well, I didn't make it to the gym yesterday or today, becuase the kids were sick and I don't want to expose other people's kids if I can help it. My hubby is going out of town at a convention this weekend, so I'm hoping to get time in at the gym both days. Without exercise my energy level has dropped so low! I'm really hoping that the kids had a good day at school, then we are going to go to the park & I can walk the track while they play. But if they didnt have good days, then they can be such grumps right after school.

Hope everyone is having a good day, and has a great weekend!

Hi ladies:

well I kinda went awol this week--with TOM and being up a pound and other stress I just kinda visited carb land. Heres hoping I havent done too much damage.

I cleaned my closet a bit today and I saw how much great clothing I have that almost fits and it made me re-motivated. I have three weeks until my trip and I know I can get down to where all this stuff will fit which will feel really good. I need to break that 240 barrier. this is where I got off track before xmas.

So tomorrow back on plan and keeping it sane.

Glad to hear everyone is doing good and keeping it going!

sno

well--I guess everyone is on vacation--hope you all are having fun!

I am having some trouble getting on track with eating but got back into exercise yesterday and feel motivated again today. I have my food planned out and I think it will work.

I am going to try to post everyday to keep myself honest--it is harder to keep eating contrary to goals when I keep reminding myself of what I want to do.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Sno no vacation just a busy weekend running my various children around. Everybody is into skiing or snow boarding right now so I'm the designated driver it seems. I'm really wishing for spring right now. Tired of the cold, but did manage to get out today to do some skiing of my own.
Good for you setting your plan back on track. There always seems to be a series of small or not so small hurtles along the way to weight loss and lifestyle change it just making it over them and continuing with your resolve that gets you where you want to be. When I look at things from a day to day bases it seems like an up hill battle that is taking ever so long but when I look back to last Nov. some progress has definately been made.

Cheers

Nina

Thanks for that, Nina--I appreciate the support. IT is hard to keep going sometimes. My hubby made some cinnamon rolls today and I just walked right past them. It was hard tho--they smelled great.

The day went well and I just have to keep reminding myself of what my goals are. sigh!

It does feel good to be on the wagon tho.

Snoi

Good morning all,

I don't know if I could have passed up cinnimon rolls for anything Sno. They're my favorite so you're definately the willpower winner. Thank goodness
my hubbie can't bake. I have a hard enough time with the oreos in the cubboard but I'm a total sucker for baking of any kind.
Well I lost 3 lbs last week probably because I kept my exercise up and gave up sugar. I've lost a total of 10 lbs for this challenge and 27 total since joining this board in Nov.so feeling pretty motivated to keep going.
It really helps to have this group to post to. The support really makes a difference so thanks Sno and everyone else out there lets keep going strong.

Have a great day,

Nina

Sno- WTG passing by those buns! That is incredible It's great that you are getting back into the exercising- hopefully the rain doesn't give you too much trouble! (I was going to go to the park, instead we are going to the gym I think)

40- Fantastic Job! It takes a whole lot of willpower to give up sugar, what an inspiration that is!

I was totally dreading my WI today because I didn't make it to the gym the last couple days like I planned, and I had a big dinner out on Friday. But I have been a lot more aware of what I'm eating. I used to do a lot of grazing without even thinking about it. (Cutting the crusts off sandwiches & eating them, grabbing just one hershey's kiss from the pantry everytime I was in the kitchen) NOW I notice when I am about to eat soemthing like that, and am aware enough to ask if that's what I really want to do. That is like HUGE for me!

AND I lost another 2 pounds this week!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MY Goal for this week: get to the gym at least 3 times, and walk the kids to school at least once

Good Monday to everyone!

Sorry I haven't been around work has been crazy! Last week wasn't all that great and not all that bad either. I did gain half a pound, but hey that could be water weight right??? At least there was no major gain. The great news to report is that I made it through a weekend and ate only healthy food. I even made DH bacon and eggs on Sunday and I had an egg white omlete with veggies.

aimin4thin, I am still with you on the plateau. I am still truckin' on though. When I added up your percentages it only came to 78%. Where is the other 22% going. I would definetly up your protein though, especially if you are doing weights. Two of my favorite drinks are Diet Sprite w/ Rum and Diet Coke w/ Jack. Also I will get a glass of wine and sip on that. They are somewhat low cal right?

40 before 40, I agree with you the running does become easier and getting the breathing down is half the battle. I did 25 minutes straight yesterday! The problem I am running into is that my muscles get so sore at towards the end and then the next day they are really sore. I have invested into IcyHot for that reason. Any ideas on how to keep the soreness at bay?

Sno, Great that you are back on the wagon! You did so great walking right past those cinnamon rolls! Your diet and exercise plan has been so great lately. We all have days when we are down, but the key is to get back on track. It is hard but with your determination I full faith that you will be back at it!

Luxorbea, Way to go on seeing the light! Sometimes I need it to flash in front of me again! You get the happy dance for the loss!!!

40, You get the happy dance, too!!! DH is an addict to oreos, but he makes oreo soup he calls it. Oreos in a bowl of milk. He will leave an empty package on the counter because for his "soup" it doesn't matter if they are crisp or chewy. This is great for me because I only like the crisp ones. So no oreos for me!

Thanks Dolly Pie! Yeah the plateau is still difficult for me to kick. I know I have got to cut back on some things I love like the wine with dinner and whatnot. Diet Coke and Jack is one of my favs too. I am trying to kick it in high gear. Right now I am cutting back on cals and carbs all around so I will need extra support to get through this phase. It's tough when you think you are doing everything right and then boom... you find out you were sabotaging yourself when you thought you were being so careful. I am a little down right now, but no fear. I will pick up my mood and keep going. Failure on this challenge is not an option so I just have to kick up my exercise, cut out my bread/wine/booze and plug on. More power to everyone else!!!

Aimin

Hi all!

thanks so much for the support--I really appreciate the words of encouragement. It has been a rough day and I had a lot of cravings but managed to stay on plan. --the bad news is I am up 7 lbs from last week! What a drag.

I realized too that I had a change of medication that was probably going to cause some change in appetite. But I need to nip it in the bud so I can attain my goals. I have 11 weeks which could be 22 lbs down. And I have almost 3 weeks until my trip so I could be down a lot more by then.

Nina--fantastic job on the 3lbs! I know my hubby rarely cooks but I guess I needed some extra challenge yesterday.

Luxor: keep up the good work--2 lbs is wonderful and you are doing a great job with the exercise.

Dolly: hang in there--you are doing great--half a pound is nothing--it will come off really fast. Plateaus are really hard but I know you can make it. PS--ice helps a lot with muscle soreness--it is hard to do but it can really make a difference.

Aimin: good luck with the plateau--sometime a small change makes a difference--like I broke a plateau giving up diet sodas--apparently they block weight loss for some people. Also raising water intake can do it--I read somewhere if you drink 90 oz of water it raises your metabolism.

Have a great productive week all!