Now we want an avatar of slender Bobbi feeding chickens.

Welcome Nora, this is a wonderful group and they are very helpful and willing to share. I have learned a lot from them and the support is fantastic.

Claire ~ You are a bigger person than me, I have a hard time moving tickers up.

Allison ~ I still have pizza I just make sure I eat it within reason. I don't know how I used to do it but I could eat half a large pizza loaded to the max. Now, I can only eat one or two pieces max and I am full. I buy frozen healthy pizzas like South Beach or Healthy Choice and keep them in the freezer.

Cheryl ~ Good idea on the cokes. They will give you the extra boost you need for your skating and you are using the calories up. Congrats on the weight loss.

Bobbi ~ Congratulations! 1 lb past your goal. WOW. Yes, I love to spoil DGS and my DD just can't afford to do to much for him. We went out to eat yesterday and he was a little piggy and stuffed his mouth so full that some had to come out. He is such a hoot. Then we went to buy me a new carpet cleaner and there is a section in Menards where they have a kids playground set up. So we went in so he could try the toys out and we ended up walking out with a big rocking fish. I went to take him off it and leave and he wouldn't let go of it and screamed. So I went and found one on the shelf and he saw that I had the box and he then was willing to get off of it. He is only 14 months old, can you tell he is spoiled. HEHEHEHE!

Sunday Calories: 2145
I ate out at a Chinese Restaurant and I found what I ate on FitDay so either FitDay is high on the amount of calories, I realize that every place varies on actual preparations or I needed extra calories to maintain my the level of activity I was at yesterday. I am down to 190 this morning. WHOOHOO! I also feel fantastic today so I am going to stick with what I was doing this past week and see if I start getting drained again. Maybe I need more calories for my activity level. Nothing worse than feeling physically drained. I may have been on a plateau also that just needed a boost to get me off of it.

Your situation and mine are almost exact! I don't want to go through this again, either-so Saber was my last baby, too!!!

Robin-congrats on the great weigh in!!!

Bobbolink-love the cherry tattoo!!!! Congrats on making it below goal! Have you checked out the maintainers forum yet? Any plans for maintenance? When I was maintaining after babies #1 and #2, I basically upped my calories by 100 a day, and waited a week to see what happened. If there was no gain or continued loss, I upped them the next week by 100-and so on and so forth until you find the calorie level where you maintain the weight loss, but no longer are losing. Most people can maintain between 1400-2200 a day, it just depends on your metabolism, your exercise, and your current weight, etc. Trial and error for everyone, just like the weight loss phase. Congrats again!

Here is my Jose tattoo for my DGS. The tattoo artist had to modify the dragon a little because the original had a pacifier in its mouth and a teddy bear under its arm. I didn't think Jose would appreciate that when he got older. I also had a wing added.

Here is my rose tattoo. This one is almost 16 years old and has never been recolored. It looks better than in the picture. The camera here at work stinks and both tattoos are much darker and the lines look great. Plus, its not easy taking pictures of your own ankles. HEHEHEHE!

Congratulations Bobbi!

GrammyL: I LOVE that rose tattoo!! I've always wanted to get one, but just a tad bit scared about actually getting it.....

I'm finally back on track after 2 days (thurs. and Sat. I think it was) of over 2500 calories...those were my 2 PMS binges I guess....Yesterday I was at exactly 1100 and today as of right now I've had 850....(thats with an early dinner) so it looks like I'll get some nuts as a snack for later... I always use a portion or 2 of nuts as a late afternoon snack if my calories for the day were kinda low, the brand is actually a nut and fruit blend with some kick..called Sahale Snacks, Oh gosh they are good!!! That should bring me up to 1100 for the day....

Hello all. I'm a 35 year old overweight, full-time working mother of one.

It is time for me to get serious about loosing this extra weight. I've spent the last month or so exploring various options and I've settled on counting calories, primarily because I'm cheap and don't want to pay to lose weight through some of the other available programs and also because it seems to be one method that has stood the test of time - no gimmicks.

I spent the last week getting in the hang of tracking what I've been eating. I'm not sure what is an ideal goal to shoot for but I think I'll start off next week with an 1800 max goal and tweak it from there depending on what happens.

I've been slowly encorporating walking into my daily routine too. I'm hoping that as the weight comes off I'll move in to jogging.

I'm looking forward to all of your wisdom and advice.

Hi everyone!

Calories today are 1149. I'm going to have a mini bag of popcorn too.

Bobbi and Lara -- Love the tattoos!!! You gals have some smokin' hot legs too! I'll just have to enjoy seeing others' tattoos because I do NOT like pain.

Bobbi - That's so cool that you are at (actually under) goal! If you go to the maintainers thread, I hope you'll still post/read here too!

My Biggest Loser contest at work is coming to an end this Friday. A friend and I decided to continue it together for 2 more months, which fits well with my new goal of 6 weeks to lose 6 lbs. We want to have the accountability, so we are putting our money in a pot every week -- we plan to reward ourselves with pedicures and a healthy lunch at the end of it. I'm pysched!

Welcome Lovemyboy! Sounds like you have some good ideas... you can do this!

Bobbi - you posted this before, but I forget... how long was it total until you made goal? Any secrets or tips for us besides upping the fiber?

Hope everyone else is having a great day... I have a feeling this is going to be a good and healthy week for all!

Congrats Bobbi!! That is awesome. I bought some fiber stuff so I am going to try and get more fiber into my diet. I don't think I will get as high as you but hopefully like 20 or so.

Also....

Congrats RockinRobin!!! 110 lbs that is awesome.... What a great job done!!!

You both are very much a inspiration!!!

Calories for today: 1480

Fat 22%
Fiber 62g

Bobbi~ I've decided to do my own not very scientific study to see if you're right. I'm going to fill up on fiber and see if the weight comes off easier. Regardless, fiber is healthy.

1759 cals today
Down 2.25 lbs this week at TOPS weigh-in.

Congratulations Bobbi!!!!!!

Yeah, after I did it a second time, I just accepted it the third time. Kinda the same way I grieved over not getting my girl with the second baby, and was over it by the time we found out the third was also a boy. LOL C'est la vie.

Here you go ladies and gent!

Great job, everybody!

As for me, yesterday was much worse than the day before, which was itself bad. On Saturday and Sunday, I ate so much that I almost exactly canceled out my entire calorie deficit from Monday through Friday. I guess I'm no worse off than I was last Monday, but it really sucks to see all my progress go down the drain. Oh well.

Today, I stuck to plan. I just need to do a better job on the weekends. (Understatement of the year.)