My weekend was not a good one either. Yesterday would have be great but I had wine. In fact, I had wine every day this weekend. I'm still struggling to loose the the pounds that I gained from last month (4 pounds). Today I am lethargic and upset with myself. Trying not to beat down on myself. A new week!

My NSV- went to the mall to buy a pair of tights to go with the sweater dresses I bought a few weeks ago (both XLs). I didn't even bother trying on tights in the plus sized section. I tried on a XL and it fit perfectly. No more new plus sizes clothes for me

That knowledge should have carried me over to a good weekend but it didn't. New week ahead

I did really good up until after church yesterday. Our fast ended and I ate everything I've been craving through the week...NOT GOOD!! Well now that it's out of my system, I will be on task until this Thursday...My 4th Anniversary and then I will be hunkered down until Thanksgiving. Before I count the pounds lost since the fast started I will give due diligence to maintain it. No need counting them and I can't keep them off.

Making plans for a fun weekend...yea I know it's Monday!!

Phat: It's ok, sweetie....we ALL have setbacks. I overdid it on my girls' weekend a couple weeks ago and had to pay for it in the form of a 2 lb gain. But you know what? It came off and now I'm moving forward. Yes, I'm angry at myself for stalling my forward progress, but I'd be even angrier at myself if I just gave up. Telling yourself you're disgusting is NOT going to help you. You're not disgusting, you're HUMAN! You CAN and WILL get over this!!

Nibbles: congrats on the 2 lbs, what a fantastic start to this challenge for you!

Farn: YAY on the 4 lbs!! Glad to see you're also off to a good start and staying motivated!

As for me: DH came home from his weekend trip a little earlier than I expected yesterday, so I spent some quality time with him instead of doing my yoga/weights. But, I still met my goal of at least 5 days of exercise for the first week of the challenge, so I'm pretty proud of that! Calories ended up a little on the high side yesterday (1750ish), but that was by far the highest calorie day I've had all week, so I'm totally OK with it.

I'm so lucky to have today off! It's one of those cloudy, windy, cold days that makes me want to linger over just one more cup of coffee, lol. But, I will do my workout early today so I can just chill tonight Sometimes it's nice to break up the routine a bit.

Have a great Monday, ladies!

Edit: Hi Jiggle! you must have posted when I was writing. I probably would have eaten a horse after fasting that long! Oh, and happy anny to you this week...enjoy!!

Edit #2: Hi Kat! Missed your post for some reason? Anyway, yes, I feel you on having to work on losing re-gains instead of moving forward...but it happens! And how wonderful for you to be out of plus sizes! I still remember when I was first able to shop in the "regular" section....felt like a total imposter for the first couple of months as I had been shopping in plus sizes for over a decade. It was just such a huge paradigm shift for me. Lately, I've been able to buy large tops instead of XL. Even THAT'S been weird. I finally got used to shopping "regular", but always the biggest sizes in "regular". It just keeps getting better!

Phat: I agree with northern! We all have times we don't do our best foodwise, but you're here accounting for it and moving on! I overate this weekend as well by quite a bit and didn't even count the calories. I'm a bit upset at myself, but I just have to start over today and keep moving forward. I hope you did enjoy your weekend though! Remember, that if this is to become a lifelong thing we must realize that we will "slip up" or have times when we don't eat the healthiest. The vital thing with this though is that we get back up and fix it the next meal or the next day and keep moving forward!

Northern: I'm glad you got your hubby back early and you got to enjoy your time!!

Jiggle: I'm glad your fast went well considering! Everything will balance out foodwise and weightwise

Farn and nibbles: Awesome work both of you!! Keep it up!

I had a decent weekend, not necessarily foodwise.. We helped out in Binghamton NY again with flood relief work, which has been awesome! We pretty much ate whatever. I am planning today to get back to my normal c25k program. I had to take a break from it due to having a cold. Today is also back to normal eating and CC! Later chickies!

Hey ladies!
Had a relatively good weekend. I got in my walks and stayed mostly on plan, although I was waylaid by the cake table at my sister’s baby shower. I managed to work the cupcakes I ate into my calories, but needless to say my eating for the day wasn’t exactly what I’d hoped for. Oh well, I haven’t had cake in ages and it was worth it.

Phat: You are not despicable! You are not a failure! You had a couple off plan days, and we’ve all been there. Don’t worry about it, try to put it behind you and get back on plan. It happens. You are a wonderful person and you’re strong for losing weight in the first place – one bad weekend doesn’t change that.
Tdi: Sounds like you had a great weekend – go you for helping with the flood relief!
Northern: That’s great that your hubby came home early and congrats on getting in your workouts this week!
Jiggle: It must be really hard going from fasting mode back to normal eating mode, so I think you did pretty well!
Kat: Don’t beat yourself up about a little extra wine! You’re doing a great job (no more plus sizes! Woot!) It’s a new day, so try to put it behind you and focus on the new week ahead
Nibbles + Farn: You ladies are doing great!

@ SparkleBE -- Some days, you just deserve a little cake. Great job on working it into your calorie count for the day.

Phat -- hang in there, girl. We've all been there, and you'll be back on track in no time.

Thanks all for the encouragement. Still on plan. We're a third of the way through!

Down 3.6 already since we started. Holding at 200.2 (grumble grumble) and TOM came to visit; hoping to break the 200s tomorrow.

Hey ladies!!!! Hope everyone had a great weekend!!! Mine was pretty good, already started on some Christmas crafts (feeling a little like Martha Stewart, before the prison sentence, haha) and completed those this weekend. My hands are destroyed from the hot glue gun! I forgot about how dangerous those things were! haha. Well I was kind of lazy on the working out aspect of things, but I did stay perfectly on track with calories. Surprised this morning when I saw another 2 pound whoosh! Im happy! Need to remember to not give up working out on the weekend, even if I get lazy. This was the first weekend though that I didn't cheat at all, so I'm pretty excited about that too!

Sparklebe: sounds like you had a great weekend too!!! Except you found your exercise motivation, whereas mine got lost some where! haha. Nice job working your little cupcake treat into your daily allowance!

tdiprincess: I think that is so awesome you are helping with the flood relief!! And I'm sure you were burning enough calories where you could probably eat whatever you wanted and still be on track. you're doing so great!!

northern: thanks!! you seriously keep me motivated!! you are doing so awesome!! i know how you feel about lingering over a cup of coffee, haha that's my problem too. Sometimes on cold days, its like all motivation disappears and I just want to sit by the fire in a hoody with something warm to drink. That's going to be my problem come Christmas time, I'm a major sucker for hot chocolate! haha.

jiggle: Happy Anniversary!!! i hope you had a great day and I'm sure you'll have a fun weekend coming up!! You deserve it!

Phat: Kind of mirroring what everybody else has been saying, it is true, we all have our bad weekends. I have had an extremely rough time, even through the Halloween Challenge. I would do perfectly well during the week and then the weekend would roll around and I was eating all this junk food. I was dealing with gaining weight every weekend and having to work off those pounds and by the time I did, the next weekend came up. It was rough. This past weekend was my first where I didn't do that. You just gotta stay strong and keep motivated. We're all gonna have our bumps in the road, some more than others, but keep going. It really helps me to stay motivated by thinking of something cute I will be able to wear when I get into better shape. I have next New Year's Eve (2013) all planned out and I'm planning on wearing some cute little shimmery dress. Lookin hot!! I just keep thinking about that and it gets me motivated. "Nothing tastes as good as being healthy feels" remember that, I remind myself daily. Dust yourself off, consider it a lesson, and keep on movin, chica!!! You are an amazing person and you deserve to be healthy. You got this!

I don't think I was able to msg everyone, but I'll be back tomorrow. Gotta get my workout in since I was so lazy this weekend. Have a good day everyone!!

Posting one more message: I didn't see that KDM and Jdonato were back too!!!!!
So glad and missed you both!!!!!!! Let's kick some butt this challenge!!!!!

Hi guys!

Just a quick check in. Yesterday was good, about 1450 cals. And even though I did linger over coffee, the sun peeked out and I took the dog for a 30 minute walk/jog (and even a bit of straight-up running!)

Congrats to everyone who's lost already, way to go! I will be weighing in on Friday as usual. Now that I'm done losing my 2 lb regain, I hope it's "onwad and downward" from here!

Good Morning!!
I'm rocking and rolling this week. My clothes that I've been wearing because I refused to buy anything until I got solidly in a 12 are getting much too big. I have to get a few more items to carry me through my size 10. I was very excited to have a hard time finding something to wear to work today. I usually wait until I can pull my pants off without unzipping them and all of them are there except for the pair I have on now!!! YAY!!

We have about two weeks left in this challenge and if I'm not -10 lbs I will be rewarded with inches lost and that makes me happy. If you need a good toning workout I would highly recommend P90X!! It's tough but well worth it!!

Congrats jigglefree! I can't wait until finding clothes becomes a problem because they're all too big.

Well, after 4 days of my friend visiting from home, I have fallen off the wagon AGAIN!! this is becoming a habit I MUST BREAK!!! She leaves this morning while I'm at work, and I can honestly say, I'm back on track! My willpower had not regained enough "uumph" to say NO to all the bad choices at the places we went out to eat while she was here...so I gave in to temptation and totally could have chosen better....but like people say, it's in the past, cant change it, gotta make the right choices starting today I also haven't been to the gym since Friday, but I've done alot of walking around Downtown, so I guess that's better than nothing.

Glad to hear about all the good things happening to everyone in this challenge!! You're all such a motivation!! And for those of you like me who may have fallen off the wagon, it's time to hop back on!! WE CAN DO THIS!!!

**HAPPY HUMP DAY!!!!**

Well, I veered a bit off course today, but managed to right the ship again. I was out of the building for a workshop today (why are "off routine" days so hard??). I ate breakfast at home in hopes that I could avoid the temptation of the donuts I knew they would have there. I did fine when I got there (just had coffee), but by mid-morning I was starving and the chocolate donut was screaming my name! (Note to self: pack a granola bar next time!) Needless to say my willpower wavered. We went out for lunch and I ordered as sensibly as I could, a sandwich/salad combo. Saved half the sandwich for dinner tonight that I'll have with some low-cal soup. Had to guesstimate at the calories in the donut and in the restaurant food (local place with no nutritional info avialable), but after finding some comparable things online, I think I'll end up at about 1550 cals if I forego my evening snack. Since I got home a bit earlier today, I also took the dog on a 30 minute walk/jog since it wasn't dark out yet. All in all, I have to say pretty good "save", lol!

Jiggle: way to go on the clothes! I know I will be so glad when I'm finally done with "transition" clothes and I can just buy my "final" wardrobe. You're almost there!!

KDM: I feel you! I had a two lb gain as a result of a girls' long weekend a few weeks ago. I have a girlfriend coming up to visit this weekend (I'm a hunting widow this weekend again--deer season in MN, lol). I really need to make better choices this time around....I know how hard it is though!

Well, ladies, we're halfway through the week. Let's keep on truckin'!

Hey, Calorie Counters! Late joiner, but I'm in for Thanksgiving.

I meandered away from the forums (and my weight loss effort) for a while but I'm back and ready to start losing again! Through spring and summer, I was down to 211, which was GREAT! The last couple months, I've put on five pounds. I'd like to banish those newly gained pounds and continue to lose. My goals for this challenge are pretty simple:

1. Write down what I eat every day. I need to get back in the habit of doing that. I think this will help me consider what I'm really eating-- when I started calorie counting earlier in the year, it really helped me consider the nutritional value of what I was eating, and I found myself making really positive changes in my food. So back at it. Already got a spreadsheet going.

2. Take four long walks before Thanksgiving. Walking is how I lost my 13lbs this winter/spring, I need to get back in the habit. Also, it's a huge stress reliever, and I need that. After Thanksgiving, I'll probably go back to setting walking goals in miles but for now, I just need to get out there.

Good to be back, keep up the good work everyone!