Redliss Welcome! and good luck! I know you can do it. TOM is a pain in the butt but just think if it is TOM you can count on losing some of that at the end of it cause its WATER WEIGHT!

Rainbow Don't sweat it girl! We all take a break now and again. The important thing is that we get back on the bandwagon! YOU CAN DO IT!

JMKO we all make mistakes! I ate one too many tacos for dinner tonight LOL tg, it was within my calorie range though! girls scout cookies are ok once in a while, plus it was only two not twenty- two

Sun Take a tylenol and take a night off. Once in a while is ok, or just do some stretching and/or light activity... headaches suck! So sorry bout your daughter..hopefully she can sleep soon.

Munchie Welcome to the club girl! I am so sorry about your miscarriage That must be really hard, buuttttt you are strong! YOu can overcome it and everything else in your life that says you can't! Thats good your BF is buying healthy foods for you, sounds like hes on board to support you! I love hiking too but I haven't done it in about 8-10 years.


Just catching up on the personals I was lacking earlier. Also sitting here wantign to move but now knowing what to do because I need to be back at the house in about an hr or so to watch my nephew but also cant exercize here cause everyone is here.

SMS Thanks! But I think what's more frustrating is that I haven't taken a break of any sort! The loss just kind of stopped...its making me think I need to lower my calories, but I don't really want to...

munchie First off I am sorry about your miscarriage. Hugs and love. Secondly you don't need to apologize about thinking about whats good for you. Also Maybe 1500-1300 is a little low for your weight...I am not an expert but I was on 1800-2000 with exercise when I was at 185 until 155. Just my opinion.

sms thanks... i hope she sleeps soon

rainbow I ***** about my calories to myself too lol

That's another thing I'm worried about. I want to keep my PCOS symptoms under control, but I don't really know how to figure that in to my weight loss. I'm not sure if I have the insulin resistance associated with it... My insurance doesn't cover all the fancy bloodwork and stuff. My goal is 140, ultimately 136 though. I've never weighed less than 160, so I don't know how long it's going to take to get there, I just want to be in a "normal" weight range. 20lbs down, but still 70 to go. I just want to keep seeing that number go down!

sun, 16lbs is a bit of popcorn! LoL. Glad to hear you're in the final stretch of your DD's treatments. I can not imagine what you and your DH have been going through.

gnat, I find that I enjoy using the elliptical too... but... I have to admit that it's because I find it to be easier to not push myself as much. To be honest, I'm not a fan of any cardio machines. I just do them in 5-10 min intervals while I'm doing my strength training routines. I look forward to when it gets warmer and I can start biking to the gym and can count that towards cardio.

sms, welcome!! You have some good goals going. And here's a tip, try using lean ground chicken for your tacos. Super yum! I have extra taco chicken in my fridge all the time pre-portioned for a quick taco salad dinner or lunch.

redliss, welcome to the thread! We're pretty close to weightloss twins with our stats. I hear ya on being sooo close to 170s that it's frustrating. I feel so much better in so many ways when i'm 175 and under. I can't wait! You can do it! Just pave the way and I'll be right behind you.

Laneyy, just keep taking weightloss in little goals. I find I'm the most optimistic when I break down my loss into 5 lb goals (or less!). Right now I'd be thrilled with a 3 lb loss over the course of a month if it meant that it was 3 lbs gone forever.

rainbow, If you don't really want to lower your calories and you feel you should still be able to lose then maybe try to evaluate what you are actually eating and see if you can improve the *quality* of foods. More veggies, less starches, etc. Or of course there's always adding more activity or changing it up a bit. Keep your head up! You've done so well and you can get back on the losing streak again.

jmko, 2 girlscout cookies are just fine. Everything in moderation! I'd love me some girlscout cookies right now.

munchie, welcome!! Sounds like you are going through A LOT right now. Just take it one day at a time and one priority at a time. Your mental, emotional, and physical well being are the most important right now. You can do whatever you set your mind to. And if nothing else, life goes on.

This weekend was ridiculous. I wasn't keeping track of calories at all and was super munchy. I mean REALLY super munchy. Think it's because of TOM coming. And I enjoyed several too many glasses of wine for 3 nights straight. Sounds awesome for losing weight doesn't it?! The good to take out of this: It's a lot easier to get back on plan during the week, and it's the first day to our office Biggest Loser challenge so I have a nice high starting number! LoL

After not checking the scale for all of Feb, I now know I am 186.1 lbs. So that's a loss of 2.7 lbs over 5 weeks. I'm reminding myself to be okay with it because this weigh in was done at noon on a Monday fully clothed whereas I normally go buff first thing in the morning. So really I suspect that I can easily knock at least a couple lbs off that number. And I knew that strength training would scew the numbers too. And need I mention the super-calorie weekend?

Tonight will be yoga. My calorie counter is up to date and accurate for today. And I have my schedule set up to get to the gym for this week. We can do this!

Prepping - It isn't that the weight isn't coming off fast enough (actually, I want it to come off rather slowly so my skin will shrink back nicely), I'm just worried about making it over this 200lb mark. I haven't weighed less than 200 in 4 years. Every time I get even remotely close (I've gotten as close as 204 in the past) I fall off the wagon and gain 10lbs. I know that if I can get past the 200 mark then I am gonna be mentally prepared for the rest of my weight loss. I have a printout of all my little mini goals, most of them are broken down into 5lbs, some of them are in between, like 199 for making it into Onederland, 168 for getting out of the "obese" category, and so on.

I just need to remind myself that this is not a diet, it's a lifestyle change. One that I should have made a long time ago. It's funny, how now I crave bananas since I eat them everyday, and how mac and cheese (which I used to eat a box a day) kind of disgusts me now.

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Just got home from work, pretty uneventful day. Went grocery shopping (which I couldn't really afford, but there was NOTHING I could eat in the house) and I think I was pretty successful. Now it's home/relax/homework before having to go to my other job. Then to spend time with Boyfriend, who I haven't seen in a week.

The sun is shining now, and it's gotten warmer out. Thank goodness. I can't wait for spring

sun thanks! i'm reaching hard for the 140's but they're so out of my grasp. argh. i feel like a kid going, "gimme gimme gimme" and reaching out as far as my little arms will stretch!

munchie sorry to hear about your situation, but you're young, and part of it may have to do with the fact that your body isn't fully developed yet. you shouldn't blame yourself with the drinking and smoking. but it's great that you want to start living healthier! Stick with it, and you'll do great!

sms trust me, if i thought i could have gotten away with 22, i would've. haha, everything in moderation i guess. i guess it's just a good thing they weren't thin mints, or i would've eaten the whole box.

laneyy you'll get down there. just keep going! maybe get down to 160 and then reevaluate and see where you're at!

prepping count the clothes as extra weight. AND because it wasn't first thing in the morning, you probably weighed 2 pounds lighter!

So I had date night with the hubby last night and we went out. I had a some terrible food, but not a lot, and I don't feel guilty. I definitely didn't lose, but didn't really gain either. I was happy to have a break from my really restricted medifast diet, but back on plan today! on another note, i think my scale is funky. I'll weigh myself in the morning when i first wake up, but after i step on a few times, the number automatically goes up, and stays up, without me intaking anything. it's weird and messes with me. i'm thinking of investing in one of those doctor scales and doing violent things to this one, haha

prepping Hah I love my starches too much I think. I've decided on 100 less calories per day and getting more exercise in - even if it doesn't help with the loss, at least I'll be working on my fitness again! Sorry about the weigh-in not being as much as you wanted, but as you say - midday and fully clothed, definitely not quite the same as naked in the morning! Your plan sounds good.

jmko Hope the scale starts agreeing soon!

sun Hope you're doing ok love!

Laneyy Hope the time with your boyfriend is nice!

~Ok so I have decided to change things up a bit and kind of...re-commit to what I know I should be doing. Exercise AT LEAST 3 times a week, ideally 4, 5 is even better. I'm going to drop my calories to an average of 1400 per day (still allowing for some higher days if I have some lower ones too). I'm just basically going to recommit.

Thanks to everyone for the kind words
prepping I know how you feel about the wine. There are days when I only eat about five hundred calories and spend the rest on wine. Definitely not the best for weight loss! I hope you enjoyed yoga, I absolutely lovee doing yoga and see it as a treat. You seem to be doing a great job getting right back on track after your munchy weekend.
Laneyy I have the same kind of mental block. It's like our bodies are so settled in at a certain weight that we sabotage ourselves without even realizing it. It is a lifestyle change though, and I've also found that once I start eating healthily, I start to crave healthy foods, which really helps things along. Good luck!
jmko date night with hubby sounds great! You totally should burn your scale or smash it with a hammer when you get a new one. I think that sounds very theraputic. Haha.
rainbow I feel exactly the same, we CAN do this, we've done it before, we're good at it- all it takes is jumping back on the wagon with vigour. you have done such amazing work so far, you can absolutely do this. You inspire me, and I hope i can be where you are some day soon, with a lot of hard work.

So today I went to all my classes, I haven't smoked at all, and I did both ab planks and a ten minute kick boxing video. not to mention I came here and was accountable! yay! I've eaten kind of crappy today but I've drank a lot of water and I'm marking it up to a successful day.

munchie Oh thanks...I never really thought of myself as inspirational at all haha. You can definitely do it though! Well done for the exercise, not smoking and coming here and keeping us informed!

I want it to be evening here so I can get my damn signature! GRRR! Anyways, I'm pretty proud of myself. I made myself a pretty big breakfast so I wouldn't be tempted to snack and self-sabotage today... I've also been keeping a better eye on my calories and keeping them higher... I'm trying to eat to my BMR (which right now is about 1650 cals) so my body isn't shocked and "omg what are you doing to me woman?!"

I had a salad for lunch... just a tiny bit of lettuce piled up with chicken and red bell pepper and some black olives. And raspberry vinagrette. I just can't stand the taste and texture of lettuce. It's like crunchy water

Laneyy, that would be difficult to not enjoy lettuce. I love lots and lots of fruits/veggies. Doesn't matter what kind. Except passionfruit.

jmko, silly scales. I would always weigh 3 times and pick the middle number or whatever came up twice. I love date nights with the DH -- think we're due for one too!

rainbow, WTG on recommitting! We all go through that every once in a while.

munchie, glad to hear your first day went pretty well!

Yoga last night was awesome. I don't know if I'll get a chance to workout tonight... but I'll definately be gung ho for tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to TOM coming (I know, sounds crazy) because I have been getting some mad cravings. Ridiculous ones. Makes me think I might have to go back to accupuncture as my TOM effects were almost non-existent as long as I was getting poked all over. grr.
Have a nice day all!

Laneyy I used to hate so many vegetables...what kind of lettuce are you eating? There are some I really don't like, but generally the type I like is the type a lot of other people don't like hah! I don't like rocket or the bitter tasting lettuces - but a lot of people like those because they have more flavour? I prefer cos or iceberg or romaine... the salad sounds good though! I love olives SO MUCH. I'm looking forward to you getting your signature too!

prepping I think I just needed a little bit of a jolt...not losing for nearly 3 weeks was basically all I needed - I think sometimes it's easy to get complacent when things seem like they're happening easily - and I have to remember it's about hard work too! Glad to hear the yoga was good! Hope the TOM cravings go away soon!

~Recommitting is so far going well. Monday's calories were 1240, yesterdays were 1410. It's weird flicking a switch in my brain that says that my maximum limit (at least Monday-Thurs) is 1400 calories...I'm so used to thinking of 1500 - but it is actually easier than I thought it would be. I did well with Zumba last night and then this morning, even though an hour later than planned because I forgot to set my alarm, I got up and did a Turbo Jam dvd workout.
I'm getting my hair cut and coloured today, the red is just not working anymore due to the epic fade! I'm thinking brown of some sort but I'm scared of being "boring"...not that I think brown is boring, but just for me...my hair has always been something I've liked, no matter what my size, so I'm kind of scared for it to just be "normal" - I know I'm not making much sense...sorry!

jmko: Yay for your date night I'm glad you enjoyed yourself and had something to eat that wasn't diet related - but didn't over do it. I need to invest in a better scale as well. I'm ready to throw mine out the window for being so wacky!!

rainbow: Recommitting is always good. Everyone needs to refocus every once in a while to make sure they know what their goals are and how to achieve them. You're right on track!! Keep it up!

Munchie: Way to be accountable! And taking baby steps is always a good thing or else you're body will be all "wtf!"

Prepping: You're absolutely nuts, hahaha! You're Excited for TOM?! *shakes my head* Oh and I agree with acupuncture tho - it's so good for relieving stress. I might need to invest in a couple sessions myself!

Laney: A good breakfast is always important. It gets your body up and going. As for the lettuce, it's basically just water anyways so mixing it up with veggies and chicken is a good thing. I'm the opposite tho - I love lettuce! If you want, try mixing the lettuce with some fresh spinach to make it even healthier.

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I worked all weekend and packed healthy meals for my dinner breaks, but when I came home I had a box of mac'n'cheese both nights I drank plenty of water to flush it out tho and went to the gym before work on Monday - which made me feel a little better. I was dreading getting on the scale tho, but for some reason I've dropped 3lbs.

Today's my day off, but I've just been stressed all day (I might have just been working! sigh). Im planning on going to zumba tonight to help chill out a bit and then play some video games with my FI. I haven't eaten all day tho :\ so Im going to make an egg wrap before my class so I have something in my stomach. I'll probably have a protein shake when I get home.

I booked my plane ticket to North Carolina today, so I'm excited about that. Oh! And I did my measurements today and I've lost 1" in my hips! I'm hoping to have more improvements when I measure myself again in a couple weeks

gnat Sounds like you've been doing well then, despite the mac n cheese! Hope you have fun at Zumba and thanks for reminding me to do my measurements haha!