Hi all

I hope all is well! My husband and I are away for the weekend at Mt Washington Resort in NH. We come every year the weekend before Christmas and usually enjoy more than our share of Christmas cheer, sweets and other tasty treats and cocktails.

Last night I did well although I did detect a small amount of butter on the grilled veggie. I hope I have the willpower to get through the après ski happy hour... Time will tell!

Good news. I had my WI and I am down 27.2 lbs and 16 inches after 6.5 weeks! On way to 30 by Christmas if the stars collide!

Hope all is well!

Wow, hmm123, that is amazing. Way to go! How fun to have a tradition like that -- enjoy your weekend away!

Great result hmm123, think of it during the apres ski happy hour, it helps. Imo Xmas dinner won't be as bad as the socials, at least we have the bird to eat.

Wow - Togden and Hmm, those are pretty phenomenal numbers!!!

I am almost ready for Christmas. I am going to give it my all to stay OP this year, really really really want a loss over Christmas. Here's trying my best!

Well, I'm almost out of here (work) for two weeks! Can't wait!

I LOVE WINTER BREAK ... WHEN THE KIDS LOADED THE BUS THIS AFTERNOON I RAN TO MY OFFICE, SHUT DOWN MY COMPUTER, AND BOLTED OUT THE DOOR ..... YAY!!!!! NO WORK TIL JANUARY 5th AND THATS IF THE SNOW DOESNT START!!!! I LOVE SNOW DAYS TOO!!!!

TOgden -- so funny. I think my son's teachers felt the same way -- they bolted out of school this afternoon before most classes were even done! They were all gone when he went around to hand out their holiday gifts…. Hopefully, they won't mind getting them when everyone returns in January Happy well-deserved break to you!

Happy break, TOgden! I am sure you will enjoy it, as will I!!

Mimi - you're so close to your goal! Have they talked to you about going onto maintenance at all??

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I had a GREAT weigh in this week, down another 4 pounds. I am a happy lady, here's hoping that I can see another little bit this week. I don't have big numbers in mind, my coach and I talked about how a 1 pound loss over Christmas would be a great success! I am hoping to outdo that a little and lose 2 lbs. That, would be cool.

We had some 25 pounds down by Christmas goals, anyone get there??

Hi all!

hmm123 - That trip sounds amazing! And great job on your progress! 27 lbs in 6.5 weeks is super impressive!

I have to share my little success story. So I bought a wedding dress back in early October and on that day, they had to use those oh-so-flattering clip-in panels in the back for me to try it on. While I love the dress, since buying it I've been holding this terrible image of myself in it in my mind - big arms, too busty, and with a chubby back. To make it worse, I chose a dress that is shall we say … daring. The dress is essentially backless with these small lace cap sleeves that come up from the front of the dress, clasp behind the neck, and then cover just the shoulder blades, leaving an entirely open keyhole back down to my waist. So yeah, I was planning on losing weight. Anyway, I'd been feeling more and more nervous about the purchase having held the unflattering image of myself in my head, so I called the salon to see if they'd mind me putting it on again now that I'm down at least a size. Well, I put it on yesterday and the sample size fits! Zipped right up. Seeing myself in the correct size dress was so unreal. It totally reaffirmed by decision to buy the dress, lifted this huge weight I'd been feeling, and also reaffirmed my commitment to IP! The salon even said that taking in the dress once I've lost more won't be a problem based on the style I picked (non-strapless, no boning, not fitted through the hips). Whew!

All the talk about alterations got me thinking about my clothes, and basically about the fact that they're all starting to hang off me. Are the rest of you having that happen? It's great, but also stinks because I feel much less put together in the morning right now, but I'm resolved not to buy any intermediate sizes of things other than essentials (1 pair of pants that won't fall down, and probably a bra - they keep shrinking!) How are the rest of you handling ill-fitting clothes?

MaPetite - I have mostly dresses in my closet, and I have only lost 12 lbs so no big changes and if so, they fit probably better now. When I reach my goal, I might have to donate some of my clothes, but then I am joining the military forces so they will provide me uniforms and I don't need to worry buying new clothes.

Thanks ladies! I survived my weekend in the mountains. Alcohol was not a problem at all however I had one slip up.
I spend Friday in the spa all day and had ordered a nice healthy salad... The mean people from the kitchen sent the lunch in with a lovely warm roll! What jerks! Lol!

I had a long staring contest with the Roll and I lost

I am so upset as I had been following all perfectly... I had a plan, brought food, etc...

Oh well. It was good but not worth the guilt and anxiety it caused me! I am going to take this as a learning experience and hopefully not do it again!

The good news was that when I started on 11/1 I told my husband that I was going to give my self a pass on this weekend to enjoy a few cocktails... I was not even tempted especially after the " roll incident"!

Merry Christmas everyone!

MaPetiteChoux how exciting about the dress!! It sounds gorgeous! I'm fortunate (I guess) that I have a range of clothes (especially jeans) in various states of fitting. My previously too tight jeans now fit so I've got that under control, though, really, for how long? My bras are starting to get a little loose so I'm starting to wear sports bras instead when possible. As for my shirts, I'm just trying to pick the ones that aren't hanging off me as much. I do feel less put together some days and I find I'm making up for that by doing my hair nicer and wearing nice accessories, haha! As I get smaller I think I'm going to try to get some american eagle jeans on a 40% off sale and grab a few sizes (usually the jeans end up being like $25 each).

Wow, that is amazing news!!! I wish I knew about IP when I got married!

As I quit my job (last day was 12/1) I have been living in yoga pants. I am wearing the ones that used to be too tight and they feel great now. That said, this weekend we were away and got to get dressed up for formal dinners and such. While packing I pulled a few dresses from the back of my closet that I have nit been able to wear for a long, long time and they fit! My husband posted a few pictures on Facebook and I received lots of great feedback which felt awesome! Three friends private messages me to ask what I was doing! It felt awesome and it is things like that, you dress story and the other inspirational stories on this blog that will get me through the next two weeks!

I will be honest, I really can't wait for the holidays to be over, I don't need all of these temptations!

I have WI at 3 today. Hoping that Im down a few more since I'm only 9 away from my goal and cant have another WI until jan. 5th

kimo - thanks for reminding me about American Eagle jeans! Smart move. I may do the same thing. Unfortunately all my alternative sized clothes hiding in boxes under the bed are too big. I lost about 20 lbs on my own over a few years before doing IP, and have very few things left from before putting on the weight.

hmm123 - congrats on the Facebook love! That's so awesome! It's such a good reminder when someone who hasn't seen you in a while (or even just a few weeks on IP!) notices and reminds you it's working. My mom and I are doing IP together and she's about 5 weeks ahead of me and has lost 25ish lbs, and we can't wait to see each other over Christmas because she lives out in St. Louis so we haven't seen each other since before we both started. It's going to be great!

Hey everyone! I'm still here, but have made a few poor choices the last two weekends. I have resisted weighing myself in case it's really bad and I jump off the deep end, or in case it's surprisingly good and then I think it's okay to keep making poor choices...
My clothes are actually feeling better today than they have the last two days and at my weigh in late last week I was the same. No loss, but to be honest, I'm happy to maintain over the holidays.
I knew when I started in November it was going to be tough, but I'm still further ahead than I would have been if I'd decided to wait till the new year.

To all of you that have continued to have such great losses - CONGRATULATIONS! I need to tell myself, even if I'm not having a great week, that I need to check in to remind myself not to have such a pity party. I'm not the only one resisting temptation and once the holidays are over I am going to feel SO much better not to have gained my usual festive weight!