You guys rock!

Right on MJ. No one makes the choice of our food but us. Sometimes I feel I trick myself and say that I can just cheat a little and it won't matter. That depends on what I am eating of course but everything counts . I love LA because it forces me to be aware of everything I put in my mouth and journaling drives it home. Writing down what I eat always makes me think more about my choices. I think I needed to get to the point where I was sick of being fat and that is what drove me to change. Everyday and every meal is a challenge to see if I am going to choose well or not. Nothing worth having in this life is easy to obtain. Hang in there everyone and don't give up on yourselves.

I am doing the happy dance today! The kids are back to school after a 10 day fall break! We had lots of fun, but ready to get some projects going and back to exercise.
Buzzing from the high of the start of another diet - it always feel so good to lose the first little bit, but somehow the feeling never lasts and I end up sabotaging myself! Shocked to see the scales down 8 lbs since Sunday – but I know it is mostly H2O.

It is so great to find a group who understands the struggles with food addictions. But, I have made many enjoyable memories while putting on some of this weight – and I wouldn’t trade them!

Kristen – you have so many exciting things happening – the wedding and building the house. I agree with the advice of pick what you really like, but realize it will either eventually be dated or your tastes may change over time. If you pick a good quality cabinet with good lines, you should be able to re-paint and change the hardware as you need to. The trend over in Europe is for laminate type cabinets which are a little shiny. I love dark cherry, but you won’t find it here (wood is very expensive).

Barbara – WTG on 4 spin classes! I miss spin class – I use to love my instructor, she was so motivating!

Amy – I love the combined goal of 100lbs by Christmas! How does it work? I find parties to be my biggest stumbling point – all it takes is a slipup and then I over-indulge. Try to go full to the parties and find a satisfying drink.

Kim – “cord of wood” my back is sore just thinking of it. That is a lot of exercise!

Lori – if you find a recipe for sugar free pies... please share!

Gotta run and get the kids off to school......

Kim- A cord of weed. I am giggling just thinking about it, LOL.

Glad to provide the humor.

Just another service I provide!

Hi to all,

Glad to hear all of you are doing so well on the 100 lbs challenge already.
The challenge is really a brilliant idea...just what I needed at this time.

Lately, I am feeling my weight loss is a bit slow...that might be because I am down from "obese" to "overweight" zone...but now I have to struggle harder. I spoke to the people at COD past Tuesday and found out that I have to move to a different plan after the next 8-9 lbs. That will be a Plan 1 with lites or Plan-2 without lites. Too little food...I don't know how I am going to handle it.

Anyways...at this stage I need support+truth rather than support+sympathy. Honestly, it is the sympathy that got me those extra 40-50lbs.When those lbs slowly crept up and I got to 198 lbs just before summer of 2008...I wanted to kick myself.I was angry because my husband always called me "beautiful" instead of pointing out the weight gain.
Bottom line...I know most people are kind...but I have to be truthful to myself and be my own critic...as long as the criticism is constructive...not self-loathing.

in the end ....whatever works for you...as long as you get to your ideal body.....I just wanted to share that "198 lb" moment with you all

Someone else has any thing to share? Funny,angry or sweet memories of weight gain or weight loss?

MJ I am having the same exact problem, still following the plan and trying to exercise but the weight is just not falling off like it did the first few months. Most people I believe would agree that this tends to happen. I am still trying to adjust my plan(exercise and food) to figure out how to loose. I am 11 pounds from my intial goal(i need to loose more but that was my first goal) and it has taken me longer to loose 11 pounds than it did to loost 40. How is that possible????

Hope everyone is doing well and have a great weekend!!!!

It is for sure harder to lose once you get closer to goal...just enjoy how far you have come and don't stress too much about it! I remember when i made it to 185...for the life of me I could not get below that...and all i could focus on was getting to my goal...it was like losing the 60lbs before it meant nothing if I didn't reach my goal...so when i couldn't get there I just gave up and now...here I am again...

Nothing wrong with pushing yourself harder to lose as you have to if you want to get there...just don't forget how far you have come! You have both lost a lot of weight and have done amazing!

Being closer to goal does mean that they clothing sizes come down faster, which is an awesome thing!

It is such an awesome thing, you are so right, Katie. IT is sooo nice getting dressed in the a.m. when your clothes fit nice, or, ARE TOO BIG!!!! Thinking about that makes me want this back soooo bad. I need this cold to go away so I can work out HARD. I am thinking of doubling up on my workouts. I watched TBL at 2 o clock this morning when I couldn't sleep cuz I kept coughing, and they work out A LOT! Do you think that is the key to the big losses? Cuz I could find the time if I tried to get more exercise in. I am a better exerciser than a dieter, I have found out. Hmmmmmm

thanks Nicole,Katie,Kristin and Amy M.
Yes I do look back and congratulate myself on what i have accomplished so far...I do not want to be skinny just 122-ish.I am not sure though if that is possible for my body type...I am 5'2" with medium body frame.

i like Nicole's idea of more work outs...true those people at TBL workout everyday and i think that counts.Usually in LAWL plans, if you exercise more than 3 times a week, they given you more food...ie higher plan.So if you do the math...a sure plateau breaker would be exercising 5 days a week.If your body gets used to that...make it 7 days...surely you would get back to your ideal weight by then!!!
Like...I have to go on plan-1 with lites or plan-2 without lites after next few lbs...i don't think I can eat any less after that...there is no plan 0
In that case...i just have to exercise harder...i have been slacking off...hardly make it 2 days a week to the gym...may be i'll get some excercise DVD's...

Take care ladies...and have a good weekend!

I have been doing a bellydancing workout this week. It is really great. I was really self conscious at first, even alone in my living room, but since I got over myself, I am loving it. I was not aware that I could feel so sexy at this weight, LOL. I tried the shred, but it hurt my body too much, and my massage therapist sister banned it. I think that everyone is very different when it comes to exercise, and that they have to listen to their own body. My goal, for now, is to move my body for 20 minutes per day. So far, I can live up to that promise. Maybe in 25 lbs I will want to up it a little bit more, too.

MJ- I am 5'1, medium framed, and my goal has always been 125. It was the weight I was most healthy and comfortable at. Once I got sick and dropped down to 102 for about 6 months, and I was miserable, cold all of time, weak, and sickly looking. I think that 122 is a great goal!

Exercise is key, but remember that on TBL they work out for 6 hours a day. That's unrealistic for anyone not on a reality show. They wear BodyBugg sensors that monitor their caloric output, and log it into a program along with what they have eaten so that they "hit their burn" as they have said on the show. That's why Jillian gets so PO'd at them when they don't eat as much as they should - they screw up the balance. They burn like 6000-7000 calories per day, including their base metabolic rate.

Although I would love to lose 85lbs in 7 weeks - that would totally rock!

Kim, You'd look like a skeleton if you lost 85 pounds.... but I do know what you mean... heck I'd love to lose 14 pounds in 7 weeks! Ha! Even 2 pounds a week is really a fast pace for most of us. They don't advertise that on all the commercials, that most women as they get close to goal have no shot at all at losing at 2 pounds per week, so we all feel like huge failures, when we are just normal women with normal bodies. The math is that 2 pounds of fat per week is 7000 calories, or 1000 calorie deficit a day. You really shouldn't drop below 1200 calories a day for health reasons, and a lot of women are not burning off 2200 calories a day, so there is just no way they can lose 2 pounds a week. If you are only burning 1600 calories a day, even if you are really, really strict diet wise, you are going to be losing less than a pound a week. So even a little exercise can tip the numbers more towards losing, but then when we exercise we get hungry... so is it hard to balance all that out.

My daughter finally felt up to going to her apartment last night, but when she got there she had a lot of stuff to carry up and not much energy so she parked someplace "temporarily" and got her vehicle towed. So mom gets to go and bail out the vehicle and pay 262$. Oh well... so much stress lately... She got her truck towed last Saturday night also... so this didn't go over very well with her father at all... and she knew that she had majorly screwed up again.... but really we paid over 500$ for towing this week, and it is hard not not be a bit miffed about that! I understand both sides, but she has been so sick and getting super upset (which she did) is not good for her. So I tried to calm her down... not sure that truck is even really worth bailing out again! ha! She promised to be very careful where she parks in the future.. I do think that towing companies in town are getting very aggressive and you will be towed almost instantly many places by fly by night almost fraudulent place.... in parking lots for different business around town here. They have a sign up that says you will be towed, and some crook of a tower there watching to cash in on anyone stupid enough to park there.... She got towed both times in a short period after parking.

Barbara - sorry to hear about all the towing but I have to say that Parking Wars on TV is one of my favorite shows...some of the things people do is just hilarious to try and get their cars back or not get the ticket in the first place.

Finally have my painting done in my living room and hallway. Today is cleaning day and then put the room back together and re-arrange it for winter at the same time. Figure today is as good as any where its torn apart anyway. I am done painting for a couple of weeks anyway. I still have the kitchen and the hallway off that and my bedroom to do but I am painted out for right now.

I am hitting the grocery store monday morning and stocking up on all kinds of fruit and veggies. I think I'll do a FF next week to get me going again. My carbs lately have been way too much so I need to get those cut down. Also bought some lentils to try. I've never had them before and I'll have to look up how to even cook them or for a recipe with them but I thought I'd try them at least.

I got off the exercise wagon over the last 2 weeks as well. So I am going for a walk later and get my butt in gear.

These last few days have been hard for personal reasons but I got past them so now I need to get motivated again.

Hope everyone has a good weekend...I'll check back later