Hi Melissa! There is no late. I, for one, will probably be at this for a while

Last evening I took DS#2 up to his (moved back home and into) room. I had him clear off my weightbench and I actually used it.

I'd had a terrible day at work, complete with the nagging headache and second guessing and re-mulling. By 7 pm I had to do something!

I have dumbells downstairs but they just didn't seem like enough, ya know?

I sweated, grunted and put 'my mind in my muscle' and it felt awesome! I slept amazingly well and this is the first morning in 8 days that I haven't been wakened by that annoying kink in my neck.

... I forgot to weigh myself. Better go back in this thread and see what a weekly recheck would be.

NSV!! Ok... so... I have this pair of pants... Silver jeans size 27 "rock star fit" = very tight. I bought them back when I weighed around 125, but they were always uncomfortably tight until I stretched them out a bit. Today, I put on these pants, stretch free and no wear for two years ...and they fit beautifully. "Wow," I thought to myself, "I don't know if I've EVER been THIS slim without eating disorders!"
Now, that motivates me to eat clean for another day!

Melissa! Nope , never too late to join! Judging from your sig pic, you're pretty, btw

goinforthegold, I wrote down the name of the non butt substance so I can try it! And I'll let you know if I think it tastes like butt! Oh, how cute, they have flavors like "creamy caramel pie" and "creamy dreamy milk chocolate"

The second pic is me at 135, so thank you! The difference between 135 and 145 was more noticeable in my clothes than it was visibly, if that makes any sense... like... by the time I hit 145, everyone acknowledged that I lost a whole slew of weight, and now people are not acknowledging it as much except to say things like, "Are you still losing weight?"
"You've gotten so thin."
and...
"ARE YOU EATING?!"
and yes, I agree that your back is amazing. your abs are not bad either... you are criticising yourself WAYYY too much, when you have better abs than most American women.
BTW... PVL... I read it wrong at first and thought it said VPL and I started giggling like a middle school girl.

Yay, Susan, for using your weight bench it must be nice to have that in your home... I only grunt while weightlifting at the fitness center if no one else is around I get embarrassed!

What exercises are you doing? I've been working my way into the double digits with crunches (go ahead, laugh!) and I have an appointment at Curves next Monday night to get my post-surgery buns off the coach.

Shane- I think having a larger chest (34D-36DD depending on my weight) is the main factor in concealing the extra pounds, not bone structure. I'm 5'4" so, yes, I look top-heavy Way to go on the pants!

What exercises is... who? Me? Everyone?
I do these:
http://exercise.about.com/od/abs/ss/abexercises.htm

I ride my bike to and from work every day which equates to 18 miles, run during each of my 15-minute work breaks, weight train (basic hand weight stuff every day and the gym twice a week to do heavy weights... I know I should do it more - maybe every other day - but I really do not have time), and run up and down stairs for 30 minutes a few times a week. I run extra when I feel like it and often go for distance runs on the weekend.

Oh... I have a lot of weekend exercise time since my weekend lasts 3 days.

I have a large chest, too, but you have me beat, miss DD. Mine are 36D's, albeit small D's... not exactly tiny nothing wrong with a huge set of knockers!

WOOHOO!! Nice job on the jeans! And it's funny that you posted about that today b/c I got into a pair of jeans today for the first time too. This summer I couldn't get them past my hips and today they were actually comfy!

The creamy dreamy chocolate isn't exactly creamy and dreamy...*LOL* but it's not really that bad. I've only ever tried the vanilla and chocolate.

VPL Protein Shake? *rofl* And I know, I'm too hard on myself...I'm working on it. I guess from being fat for so long, I still see fat.

Thanks for the warm welcome! Today I was a little pressed on time so only did a few mat ab exercises. When I ran I also tried to contract my abs so that added a little more work for my tummy today. I attached pictures of me at 178 (white shorts), I took the other one like 5 mintues ago and this morning I was 170. Tomorrow I plan on doing abs for a while cause my friend and I meet at the gym and we do lots of core stuff.

Ok here goes nuthin' ....



And my back from I don't remember when ... probably right around 130 lbs thinking about Body for Life.




I sincerely wish those weren't quite so large ... the pics, I mean.

goinforthegold - it is natural to be hard on yourself... I am hard on myself as well. I think parts of me (especially my stomach) look absolutely HIDEOUS and I still actually think I look like someone who has a lot of weight to lose even though I KNOW innately that it can't be true. haha.

Ok, Bikini Ready, I really REALLY envy the fact that you do not have cellulite AT ALL on your stomach (I have all this yucky loose skin + cellulite combo that makes me absolutely nausious ) - lookin' good, girl!

Susan, your stomach looks great for being 47 and having C-sections. Definitely flat. Your arms have decent definition, too!

When I get a chance, I'll have to post a picture of my back. I wonder how it looks, anyway!

OMG SUSAN! Your stomach looks AMAZING!! Can we trade??!?!?!? Seriously, it's much flatter than mine is!

Melissa, yours look awesome too! You look like you haven't suffered the ravages of what children can do to the belly yet...*lol* NO FAIR! *ROFL* Although Susan, you look that way too. *sigh* Am I the only one with gross loose skin and no curves? Say it isn't so. Meanwhile, there I am being negative again. *slaps self on hand with yard stick while repeating must not be self critical, must not be self critical* *lol*

It took Mel's suggestions, a totally empty house, three wardrobe changes, two glasses of wine and nine tries to get that picture taken. Can somebody photoshop out the stretch marks and wrinkles?

Wait, wait, wait .... breathe ... it beats the heck outta what I did look like.

My digital camera is broken (haha)! I have a lateral incision from major abdominal surgery in mid-August so let's just agree that it's not appetizing and work from there, shall we? To top it off, I was allergic to the surgi-strips used to hold the incision together so I have a long line with huge polka dots on each side of it that are healed but still discolored. There, you've got more of a picture than you ever wanted!

I'm excited to get back on a machine they have at Curves. I have no idea what it's called but it forces you to twist at the waist with some resistance. They tell me this will give me an honest-to-god waist, which I have never had. I'll try anything!

Um ... let's not have an assessment of progress day today ... K?

I now have my HMR on. I'm ashamed to say it was dusty ... when I finally found it.

I fit into a pair of jeans I was about to write off to the charity pile... and they're comfortable enough to wear all day. Crunch!

I messed up yesterday but still got my 100g protein. See, the girlfriend brought home some baked goods - one brownie (very small, though!), one slice of carrot cake (also small/sliver-like) and one medium-sized slice of coconut cake. Umm... I ate it all

Today is a new day and I am going to go off to the gym in a little bit to do some weight lifting. So far, I've eaten clean, and I'm not going to let anything else mess me up!

goinforthegold, I haven't had children but I have loose skin anyway SO NO, you are NOT alone! Most of the weight I gained and lost was on my stomach, and since it came off somewhat quickly, it left some nasty hollow skin. Oh well. I keep hoping it will snap back - I have a couple photographers wanting to do photo shoots with me and I keep putting them off because I hate my stomach

Honestly I think we are all looking pretty good and it will only get better! Like Susan said we are all doing great compared to where we have been in the past.

I am lucky that I don't have loose skin or cellulite on my belly (it's all on my butt and thighs...ugh) most likely due to no childbirths as goinforthegold mentioned and good elasticity.

Nightengaleshane... I feel for you about the little baked goods whoops... my sister took me to ice cream her treat and I didn't hold back... I'm made up for it during my workout this morning, did my ab work in and lots of cardio, maybe later I will do some more crunches or ball stuff.

Oh and I was reading past posts about the protein powders and what not being good or disgusting... I get this wildberry passion protein tea powder in little packets that is delicious... tastes like fruit punch and only has 70 calories (the carbs and sugars are very minimal as well) for 15 grams of protein. All you do is mix it with water, shake it up and you're good to go.