It must be old home week, cause I am back too!!! I need to get back in control before I lose all of my great progress. I'm 195 today - and I have been pretty out of control with emotional eating. So - here I am.

I am tracking with My Fitness Pal now - was using Loseit but I need to change things up a bit since I was getting so bored and unmotivated with the same old same old.

I haven't been doing much exercise lately but that changes today. I'm going back to this routine, Mon - Fri:

50 squats
60 arm weights
1 minute plant
50 crunches
10 mins stationary bike

Just typing it here makes it more doable for me - cause I need to stay accountable.

I'm also going to start posting here at least once a day. And, I'm thinking about joining a dance or water exercise class - not sure about that yet.

Good to see all of the familiar faces and some new ones too!!

I just thought of something else that I am going to do to help get some motivation. So, I have a Pandora bracelet and I really love it. I have been splurging on charms quite a bit - these little bobbles make me so darn happy LOL.

I'm not going to buy anymore charms, except as a reward for milestones. I'm going to reward myself with one new charm for every 7 pounds lost.

Does anyone else have a Pandora bracelet? if so, does it make you smile like mine makes me smile?

Scarlet - welcome back! I don't think I was here yet when you were here before.

lotsakids - I think that makes sense, you're healthier than you were and it's okay to be in maintenance for a little while. Good for body and for the mind. Congrats on your size 12s

Llilith - Welcome back to you as well! It will be really nice for this thread to be active... I hope MFP works better for you!

I feel like I have been in the 180s forever. It's been a very very tough and slow decade for me. The first time I hit the 180s was 7/31...oh goodness. 3.5 months so far and I'm still lingering in the mids. I'm really hoping this week is different.

Lilith - love the charm idea I was just talking to a friend about starting a bracelet for events we did like 5K runs and things that we want to accomplish!

Welcome back everyone Sometimes I feel a little goofy for it, but seeing everyone making their 'pacts' to get back to it inspires me so much. It just serves as a fantastic reminder that we ALL have setbacks, but setbacks do not = failure, or an end. Just an opportunity to pause, and reset. And end-of-the-year goals for you guys? I'm hoping to break out of the 160's before December ends.

I'm thinking that 185 by the end of the year would be good.



XRiotGirl - I agree about the setbacks. This is real life and the weight loss has to be sustainable and doable. I think part of my problem is that I got really bored. I'd been counting calories since June of 2013 - and so I guess that was a little break haha. I did learn that I can't eat everything I want and not gain weight, imagine that? LOL. The part I'm keeping in mind though is that I've done this already, come this far, so I can surely do it again.

Nice to have some good support here - thanks you guys!

hi all. So here I am in the 180s!! Didn't see it coming.. had a whoosh last week and it seems to have stayed cant believe I am almost hitting my next mini goal of losing 75lbs!!! almost there.. still chugging

nitrus - Welcome and great work!!!

RiotGirl - My goal for the end of the year is 179. I'd love to surpass that, because it's really not that far away, but based on my "progress" the last few months I'm not gonna get my hopes up LOL

YAY nitrus29! 75 pounds is AMAZING! Do you have a reward planned for yourself when you reach that big milestone?

I am 193.4 today. I did all of my exercises and logged everything with MFP yesterday, so I feel really good about that. I'm close to actually belonging in the 180s thread again woohoo!

I found a really great recipe that I made for breakfast today - super easy to put it in the crockpot and wake up to warm breakfast. (careful if your slow cooker is one of the ones that cooks real hot - I could not do this with my Crock Pot Brand cooker, but I can with my new Bella slow cooker. It runs much cooler)

https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/2014/1...l-cut-oatmeal/

Slow Cooker Apple Pie Steel-Cut Oatmeal

Ingredients
1 cup Steel-Cut Oats (certified gluten-free if necessary)
4 cups unsweetened Almond Milk (certified gluten-free if necessary)
2 medium Apples, chopped
1 teaspoon Coconut Oil
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
2 tablespoon Maple Syrup
Splash of Lemon Juice

Optional Toppings
Peanut Butter
Freshly chopped apples

Directions
Add all ingredients to your slow cooker. Stir. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
Give it a good stir. Top with your favorite toppings. I like peanut butter and fresh chopped apples.
Store leftovers in fridge for up to 1 week. To reheat add a splash of almond milk and heat up in microwave.

Nutrition Information
Serves: 5 | Serving Size: 1 cup
Per serving: Calories: 180; Total Fat: 5g; Saturated Fat: 1g; Monounsaturated Fat: 1g; Cholesterol: 0mg; Sodium: 135mg; Carbohydrate: 31g; Dietary Fiber: 5g; Sugar: 11g; Protein 5g

Hi everyone. I don't belong here. I'm STILL in the 190s. Those of you who remember me know that I am all talk and no action. I really want to lose weight, but probably not bad enough to do what it takes. But I'm not giving up. I enjoy reading of your successes and cheering you on, and one of these days, something is going to click and I'll start losing.

Lilith, I copied your oatmeal recipe. My DIL could use something like that over the winter when sending my grandson off to school. Way better than the quick unhealthy breakfasts she's been giving him.

Maybe by the end of 2014 I'll really belong here.

Carry on...I'll continue lurking!

Lilith, that sounds yummy! I don't eat breakfast much anymore, but when I did I loved making a big batch of steel cut oats for the week. With cinnamon and apples was certainly my favorite. Love the idea of adding lemon juice.

Wannabe, it's so good to see you posting. There's a lo to be said for maintaining, so give yourself some credit! But of course, I hope whatever needs to happen for you to lose again happens sooner rather than later

No loss for me so far this week, but maybe by tomorrow morning. We are going for sushi tonight and I've already planned to have wonton soup, two sushi rolls and one glass of wine, no more!

llilith! you are back! So good to see you.

I'm 174.4 today. We have had a really hard weekend. My daughter in law passed away due to alcoholism yesterday. She had been moved to hospice last week. She had weight loss surgery over 10 years ago and because she didn't deal with the reasons she was eating, began drinking. Alcohol has a devastating affect on people with gastric bypass and she went into liver and kidney failure. My son had left about a month ago because she started drinking again after being in intensive care for weeks and slowly getting better. She was told then drinking would kill her. He didn't want to watch her kill herself.

My son seems to be toughing it out but I also don't think it has really hit him.

I lost a friend on Friday, she had cancer and fought so hard to live. It just breaks my heart to think that my d-i-l didn't

Lotsakids - I'm so sorry for your losses. Wow, that's hard stuff to deal with. I'm sending positive thoughts and good energy to you and your family. (((hugs))). It is so hard to help people who won't help themselves. What you said about DIL not dealing with the reasons she overate and drinking instead - that makes sense to me. How sad that she couldn't see the need to heal herself. For her, and for your son and everyone else who loves her. Are there children? Your poor son, that's going to take a lot of emotional work to get through.

I'm sorry about your friend. It is heartbreaking when someone fights so hard and that still isn't enough. Your friend sounds like she was amazingly strong.

I did pretty well over the weekend but I guess I overdid it with something - I was 198 this morning - highest I've seen in a LONG time. I was 193.4 on Friday, so I'm guessing it's water retention. I did have several drinks when we went out on Saturday night - so hopefully it's just a temporary jump.

I don't know how I even ate under 1600 cals regularly at this point. I can't keep it under 2,000 for a single day for the past like month. Yikes lol