Hi ladies! I have missed you

Sorry I have been away so long. I have been struggling quite a bit lately and I know that being here is so helpful. I felt I was doing pretty well in the summer. Not losing fast but doing well. Since August life has been so hectic and stressful I just let things go and its showing in a negative way. I gained about 6 pounds back and I'm NOT happy. Soooo back to holding myself accountable and stop letting myself believe the food fairy somehow makes me feel better. Logically I know that stress will always be there and happen from time to time. I need to get myself out of that horrible habit of self soothing with goodies!

My start weight now is 147.4 and my ultimate goal is around 125 but would love to just be 130.

cbigsis - I hear you about struggling. I have honestly been off track with my eating since mid-August. I was all motivated to lose weight for a family reunion at that time, and after the event passed, the air just started hissing out of my will power balloon. I kept telling myself that since I was exercising, I was entitled to more calories. Of course, higher calories led to off-plan foods, and the rest is history. I have not consistently tracked my calories since August. Recording my food has been such a key to my weight loss journey and I need to get back into the habit. I need to get back to what worked.

Strangely, exercise played little to no role in losing the bulk of my weight. I only started seriously exercising this spring/summer when my weight loss stalled. I am ravenously hungry after exercising. I am actually thinking about cutting back on the exercise until I hit my goal weight, and then starting up again when I am in maintenance mode. There are other diet plans that use this approach, I am thinking in particular about Ideal Protein (which I don't do - I will stick to my calorie counting), which discourages any major exercise routines until your goal weight has been achieved (I think this is what people on the IP threads were saying, someone can correct me if I am wrong).

To put it simply - in order to lose weight I need to focus on my food - 1200-1800 calories per day in a cycle depending on the day. However, that is not enough to keep me going when I exercise. If I up my calorie intake I don't lose - if I keep it low I do. If I exercise like a fiend I develop a large appetite and cravings for carbs/sugars and other off-plan foods. If I don't exercise I am able to maintain my low carb/low cal diet and keep cravings at bay. Ahhh....just trying to sort it all out and get back on track.

So far, so good today. I am on-plan and tracking my calories. I hope to continue throughout the day.

Good luck today, everyone!

Took last week off of the diet/exercise train. With my cold, I just could not care about it much and it really showed with the food I ate. I ate more crap in the last week than I have in the past year. I did not weigh myself this morning because I am scared to see the number.
I did get up this morning and exercise even though my cold is not totally gone. I have kept my food in check so far today and plan to have an on plan night.
I really need to find my mojo again. I felt soo proud of myself last year at this time when I was so close to my goal of 160. I had a pep in my step and just felt great. After a year of struggling to maintain the loss and hoping to lose 10 more pounds that feeling is gone like the wind. The negative self talk is back along with my bad outlook.
I have a new goal. By my 43rd birthday in April. I will be down to my new lower goal of 150 and I will be smoke free. This gives me several months to work on my goal and allows for a few slip ups over the holidays.

NEMom - I know you might not feel this way right now, but you are so inspirational! The fact that you have been working at your weight loss for so long and haven't given up gives me hope. I am going through the "sophomore slump" of working through my second year of focused weight loss without having reached my goal. This mountain is taking forever to climb! I think that all people attempting weight loss need to know that the key is persistence over the long haul. It is so tempting to just let myself fall off the wagon for good. Why am I working hard and beating myself up only to fail in the end? However, I haven't failed and you haven't failed. We have kept the bulk of our weight loss off and we can keep going. It's possible! Other people have done it, why not us? It might be taking longer than we imagined, it might not be happening in a clean upward arc, but it CAN happen. We can achieve our goals. I feel like I am about to collapse a few feet away from the finish line, but I refuse to let that happen. Just know that I am right there with you!

I as well, fell off the wagon...that was in July. I have tried restarting over and over again, but somehow I just can not stick with my plan.

Again, I did a restart...this time I am back to logging all my food. I even went and input most of my main meals for this week at MFP

So ladies, we may need a little challenge, I think? Perhaps end of year goal?

Here is my goal;
By 12/31 I WANT to weigh 145 pounds. That is about 10 pounds.

Guac - Thank you so much for your post! It helped me immensely. I was feeling so down and kind of lost as to what to do. I think I may try the calorie cycling too. I have thought about doing that before but never really tried. I think I worry about being too hungry on the low days. I totally agree with you that its hard to exercise intensely and not eat those calories back. I'm going to try moderate exercise because it does motivate me and make me feel good, and then maybe on the lower calorie days those will be my rest days.

NEMom - I hope you are feeling better! Its so hard to stay on track when you feel crummy!

Sum - I felt like with this falling off the wagon that little thing in me that had clicked and allowed me to lose all my weight for some reason had clicked back off. I know I don't want to go back to how I was. I have to find a way to get that button reset too! I think a challenge is a great idea!!

Here is my goal:

By 12/31 I want to break the 140 barrier. That is 7 pounds. Even with holidays that really should be possible!

Sometimes being a woman really sucks. -- Our hormones rule us wayyyy too much.

So I have been REALLY good for two days (ya sounds ridiculously short time ), but I have eaten around 1400 cal, walked 4.5 miles per day and eaten GOOD stuff; salads, fish and some fruits. And my freaking scale goes up 2 pounds. NO, NO, NO!!!! This is the time I need to see downward movement to keep me going, but since I am OVULATING, body is hanging onto water like mad. -- I know it is just water weight, but I needed a little boost to get this restart going But I am not giving up! I hate how I look and I am ready to battle!

Here is my plan;

Walk 4.5 miles
Bfast
Smoothie 300 cal
Lunch
Butternut squash soup 300 cal
Dinner
Rice/beans/avocado/cheese/chicken 600 cal
salad 100 cal
snacks TBD 300 cal
Total 1400 cal - 400 cal walk = 1000 cal net

I am sending everybody

cbigsis What size are you? I think we may be about same size? I am a 2 1/2 inches taller and 10 pounds more.... so you and I can really work trying to get down a jean size together

NEMom I hope you are feeling better. -- Sounds like a perfect and sensible goal!! Want to join the end of year challenge?

guacamole I hope you are staying OP!!

Ladies I just had an idea....I read about rock in your jeans or something like that challenge....maybe we should do our own rock in your jeans challenge? I personally would like to see all my 10's get HUGE on me and that I could button up my 6's ( I am not talking about them fitting, just that I could squeeze them on...lol). Whatcha gals think?

Quick check-in - I did well with my eating yesterday and tracked my calories.

It's a step in the right direction and I hope to continue the trend today. I still am not back to myself since my cold last week. Still stuffy and achy. I haven't been exercising, but just trying to get my house back in order after all the guests from past few weeks. It's going to take some time to re-establish my old healthy routines, and break free from the new unhealthy ones I developed over the last 2 months or so.

cbigsis - Your goals sound good and you seem motivated. I think that you will get back on track as long as the desire is there!

Sum38 - I actually don't own any jeans, but your challenge sounds like fun! I am currently "rocking" (sarcasm) a size 12. My size 10s that I was beginning to fit into in the summer are now too tight again. I would like to be back to comfortably wearing a size 10 in a few weeks. For some reason, I seem to wear larger sizes than other women of my approximate height and weight. Makes me feel fat.

Guac, its just a matter of body type. I wear a size 8 jeans but up top I have to wear a med/large depending on style and brand because I have wide shoulders and big knockers. So my dress size is actually about 12. I don't like that I don't seem to have a definable waist but as I have gotten older I do appreciate the knockers more. LOL

Sum those hormones do suck! Hopefully you will see the results of your hard work soon.

I'm going for that calorie cycling which means today is a low calorie day. 1200 for me is lower than I have really ever done so I am a bit nervous I will give in. I feel determined right now and have my food planned out for the day. Also I was doing great giving up diet soda during summer but I have gotten out of control on that lately too. So today's goal is no more than 3. May still sound like a lot but you have no idea....

Guac- Thank you for your very kind words. I really needed to hear that I have not wasted the last year not really losing weight but losing what I keep regaining. I am going to get off this merry go round one day but not until I see the magic number I want. We can do this!!

Sum - I would totally be up for an end of the year challenge. Because I know my body looses really slowly, my goal would be to lose 5-6lbs. If it is more, I will be doing the happy dance but if I lose 3 lbs a month, that is about what my body considers a good loss.

cbigsis - Good luck on the calorie cycling. This may be something I will have to try.

Food was good yesterday until I found candy corns and then I exceeded my calorie limit for the day but about 300. I plan to keep my calories 100 lower for the rest of the week to make up for the candy corn lapse.
I did get up and exercise again this morning. Again, I did not hit it hard but did 30 min on elliptical and about 20 min weight lifting.

Now is the time to refocus our efforts because at least for me, fall and winter time are easy to but on weight because of all the big clothes I wear to keep warm.

I hear you Sista....
but hang in there... cuz' when the time is gone, you know the water will also be gone. even though I'm not looking forward to my next PMS TOM series, I know I lost 5lbs. last time around when that thing was over.

Let's hang in there!
Have a good rest of the month.
(we are on similar schedule)

Checking in - Stayed on plan yesterday and also tracked my food. I'm proud of myself for sticking to my calories because it's been awhile since I've been able to stay on track for an entire day, much less two days straight. I still feel stuffy and phlegmy - ugh. Got all the kids off to school on time (which believe me, is a small feat each morning) and now I am relaxing for a bit before trying to tackle a project around the house.

Hope you are all doing well and having an on-plan day!