Wow! Good afternoon everyone. I haven't checked in for a few days and it took me quite awhile to read the rest of last week's thread and this week's so far.

Hope everyone is doing well getting back on track. I can't remember who it was who resisted the OPENED chocolate but all I can say is, you are way stronger than me

I was so busy last week driving back & forth to Costa Mesa 5 days!!! My son came in 2nd in the tournament (or as he likes to call it the last loser!). We were quite proud of him but of course he was not happy with his performance the last set (which he really should have won and "seemed" to have it sewn up!). He got a great trophy though.

We had 2 days rest (which for me meant lots of work since Saturdays and Sundays are not my days off) and then he started a new tournament in San Diego on Monday. His opponent didn't show up so he won that match by default (I am so not a competitor! He was all bummed out because he didn't get to play, I would have said I won!). He played today and won 6-2, 6-3. One of my older sons went with us but we could barely see what was going on. He was on the 4th court over and there were only seats at the end of all the courts and you couldn't see through very well from anywhere else; on the 2nd set we thought the score was 5-4 and then they were shaking hands!!!

Cuppajoe-Not sure where you are in western Michigan but I went to high school in Saugatuck!

Talk to everyone later. Hope you all have a good week.

I'm sorry for your and your DH's loss. It sounds like she went in peace, surrounded by those she loved most in a home she created and in which she lived a very long time.

Be happy for yourself still Kim . You have made impressive accomplishments in the last 5 weeks.

Dagmar

Here's a little for Kim.

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss Kim...she sounds like she was a wonderful woman. Take comfort in the fact that she will live on in the hearts of all those who loved her.

*hug*

Prayers to your and yours Kim

What a busy, chatty thread today!

Kim This is dedicated to your DH's Grandma. A beautiful song.

An Old Irish Blessing

May the road rise to meet her.
May the wind be always at her back.
The sun shine warm upon her face.
The rains fall soft upon her fields.
And until you meet again,
May God hold her in the palm of His hand.

May the Lord bless her and keep her.
May the Lord cause His face to shine upon her.
And give her Peace.

Wow, three days into the week and I can barely keep up with all the injuries! Knees, backs, eyes, fingers and I can't remember what else--I hope everyone is recovering! It certainly sounds like you all are doing a great job staying on plan despite the injuries. My butt hurts, but it's the good kind of hurt that you get from a good workout (I guess my trainer had me do a bunch of butt exercises on Monday).

I am now in the second week of my chocolate covered espresso bean embargo. So far, I continue to resist them.

kaw--I'm so sorry to hear about your DH's grandmother.

bargoo--I'm a couple of days late but Happy Birthday! I'm always off-plan on my birthday. You are a stronger woman than me when it comes to cake, that's for sure.

clykk--great job resisting all the temptations at your meeting! I know I am a broken record on this, but why is that so many business functions are food orgies? Every business meeting I go to it feels like I am climbing Mt. Everest in terms of trying to not eat all the stuff they set out. Thank God for decaf coffee--I'd never make it through without it.

cuppa--I'm so glad to hear that my info on when I eat has helped you! Ignore all that advice you hear about not eating after a certain hour; it is geared towards people who go to bed a lot earlier than we do. Also, my personal belief is that so long you stay within your calorie range for the day, it doesn't matter when you eat.

Good morning and happy August everyone!

Yes, Happy August! I am still 136 lbs today. Couldn't quite believe the number yesterday and was expecting a visit from the "magical fat fairy" to put those 4 lbs right back on while I slept.

I've been reading a bunch of posts last night because I couldn't sleep(too irritated at my father who managed to rile me up with just one call after being away for 2 months but that's a rant for Men - ARRRGGGHH). After a night's churning in my brain I kinda found an idea running through a lot of the posts.

It seems we aren't satisfied when we reach our goal (or get very close to it). For example, one day after reaching the lowest weight I've been in 3 years I'm already thinking I can maybe now get down to 125 lbs instead of the more realistic 130 I have on my ticker.

I think our society (most of us are North American or European I think) has instilled in us the idea that we always have to do more, lose more, reach for more, and change the goal almost immediately when we get there. We're not allowed to sit back for awhile and enjoy our victories.

So I'm going to enjoy being 136 lbs. for awhile. I'm still staying OP but I'm not going to obsess every day with the diet. If I have an ice cream I'm not going to immediately post my guilt here. I will come for support if I eat the whole container though

Cheers! Have a great August!

Dagmar

Does the fat fairy look like my cat who ate my cereal while I was in the shower?

I think that's part of it. Something else that's very important is the 'unknown'.
I'm going to pick some number out of thin air here ... so please be patient with me.
Someone who is 170 lbs may choose to lose 30 lbs. 140 is a nice normal sounding number. She really has no idea what 140 looks like on her frame, height etc. But when she gets there, she realizes that this isn't what she thought she'd look like at 140. She's still a little soft around the middle. Since she knows how to lose and a few pounds will probably do the trick ... she changes her goal to 134.
No harm done. This is a journey of discovery, right?

And there's also the comfort cushion. In order to stay at 134, she may find it in her best interest to get to 132 and keep a five pound 'cut off' point. At 137 she'll have to nip it in the bud ... get with the program ... to stay 'at goal'.

That was a bit rambling ... wasn't it?

No, that was definitely not ramblin' in my books, Susan. You made complete sense.

I remember when I was in my 20s and lost 15 pounds for the first time in my life. I had been 150 for about 5 years and had no idea what 135 pounds would look or feel like. When I got there, I had the opposite reaction to what you described, Mudpie. I was shocked to discover my ribs on my back. It grossed me out some. I stopped the strict diet at that point, but unfortunately, I didn't understand the importance of a maintenance plan. Within 18 months, I was back up to what was old and familiar - 150 pounds.

Now that I have had that experience with 135 pounds, I decided to make 140 pounds my goal weight. After what you said Susan, I may find that I will want to shoot for 135, so I leave room for error. I guess time will tell.

Exactly! I want to weigh 135, but put my goal at 133 so that I'll have a couple pounds of leeway when maintaining. We all know that our weight fluctuates all the time and I expect it will continue to do that when maintaining. So the goal is 133 with a cap of 135 (meaning if I hit 135 I know I need to cut down on something to stay below it).

That was exactly my thought process, SusanB! My original goal was 135. I started at 150 and even just losing 15 lbs seemed impossible. But when I got to 135, I thought "hmmm, I'm not really as thin as I thought I would be and this hasn't been as hard as I thought, maybe I could lose some more weight." So then I dropped the goal to 125, and when I got to 125, I dropped it to 115. My current goal is to get to 110 in the AM, so that my evening weight is a little under 115. And the reason for this goal is to give me a 5 lb cushion, so that if I do gain a little weight back it's not an immediate disaster!

I kinda feel like a slouch now. Barbara and I are the same height but my goal is 20 lbs. heavier than hers. Although frame, distribution, and muscle mass all make us very individual little snowflakes .

I'm also thinking about 128 as the final goal with a fluctuation of 2 lbs. of real weight (not just water, binge, etc.) to give me a margin. Or maybe 125 or . . .naw, I walk about 300-350 lbs. of dogs at a time so I need some heft to hang on to them .

Dagmar (too hot to think)

I'd never thought of us as snowflakes, but thats a great analogy! Especially on such a hot summer day. Sometimes I feel like a goal weight of 130 still makes me heavy...but I always try to remind myself that weight is mostly just a number. I have a pretty muscular frame, so I think that I will always be heavier than somebody who is small boned For those reasons, I kind of doubt the validity of BMI sometimes - at 147 pounds I was technically overweight (well borderline), but strong, relatively fit, and wearing about a size 8. Just a thought