Jenni Oh no. Being sick is so miserable. Feel better!

Laurie 195?!?! And SO casual about it.... you are rocking it! And regarding getting checked out-- I'm a total feminist, and yet, I so get that and am glad you enjoyed it! I hate feeling invisible and I know exactly what you mean.

Diane Thinking about you today. Hope you are having a good day!

Jessica I'm also thinking about you and hoping all is going well.

Martini. Bleh on the triggered cravings. Hooray for staying on plan. Thanks for considering me a friend. I'm always happy when I see your avatar! And furthermore, HOORAY for allowing ourselves to contemplate plastic surgery! Why the heck not?

Mandy Can't wait to hear what's cooking at your house. I hear you about the weekends. Sometimes it helps me to eat less on my structured boring weekdays to give me more calories to play around with at other times.

So, I'm down another .4 this morning,

I'm thinking about my end of year challenge goal weight. During the month of October, I was strictly on plan for 2 weeks, mostly on plan for one week and largely off plan for one week and I'm at just about 4 pounds for the month. Given that we are heading toward both Thanksgiving and Christmas, I think that realistically, I could probably lose 8 more pounds by Jan 1, and maybe, if I struggle less, I might be able to lose more. But I'm thinking about revising my goal weight from 230 to 238, that would get me out of the dreaded 240s by New Year, and if I surpass that goal, well, I'll just be happy. Looking back at my weight loss log from 2009, I realized that I slowed, and actually bounced up a couple of pounds during the holidays, and I was MUCH STRICTER about everything last time around, so I think that making a realistic and doable plan might really be smart.

So far I'm down 39++ in 5 months. Realistically, I think I can get under 200 by late spring and once I get into the 190s, I'm going to to consider that possibly maintenance weight. So all in all, this feels doable. I swear that it is fully life-changing for me to realize that I can steadily if slowly lose weight even when I mess up from time to time. Uber is learning to ride the local and avoid the whole GOAL EXPRESS vs. MAROONED IN FATLAND set up! Why did I never never realize in all of my 53 years that there was a third way between sustained perfection and being completely off the rails. Sigh. With age comes wisdom, I guess.

Hi everyone! Well I'm back from our holiday - which turned into a bingefest I jumped on the scales this morning and I'm up 5 pounds!! In 5 days thats pretty impressive I'm not changing my ticker because I know some of if not all that is bloat so will see monday. I just have no self control when its in front of me, and my friend likes to bake to relax - fudge, muffins and yo yos. It doesn't help that I am way overdue TOM so much so I might have to buy a pregnancy test I think I remember last time I lost a bunch of weight my cycle got a bit mucked up, I'm getting all the symptoms of TOM but it needs to come already!!!!!

Sorry really sounds like I'm trying to justify my binge, but back on the wagon today So doing a fast day today and Friday and journaling my calories to keep myself in check.

So much to catch up on! Hope everyone is crusing on happily

Hey everyone, yesterday went well and was very much on plan. Today, however, is not going the rosiest. I'm projecting that I'll probably end the day around 1600 which isn't tragic and is still 300-350 under maintenance but still isn't the 1300, I like to stay around. I didn't work out this morning but now I'm motivated to get home in time so I can get a work out in to burn the extra 300 or so I'm over. I'm feeling pretty alright in general. The scale is what it is, although I'm getting kind of bored with the early 180s. But I remember this is exactly how it was my first time going down where I stuck around the early 180s for like 8 months. People, it CANNOT be like that this time, I'm ready for the 170s already! Frustration notwithstanding, I'm sticking to it and I know everything will click at some point.

FeraFilia: That's kind of how 5:2 is working for me- Mondays for recovering from Sunday and Thursdays serving as kind of a midweek boost. Too bad yesterday's fast day was a bust but yay do-overs!!! Hopefully today's fast goes well.

uber: Wooot on the whoosh!!! Get it!!! And also yay on actually being able to eat what you felt like in a controlled manner. That's living the dream in real life! I'm not even kidding. Nothing worse than trying to convince yourself a green salad tastes just like pizza when that's what you really want to taste. Congratulation on 5 months back on track and 40 lbs down! That's amazing! Here's to rocking out the next 5 months as well!

Laurie: I love your attitude to scale bounces. Being solidly in non-plus size clothes and as fit as you are... That's the kind of "fat" we all dream of being. It's funny how hard we are on ourselves and how little time we spend celebrating how far we've come vs where we started. I think sometimes I need to sit a minute and remember my highest weight and how I would have KILLED to be halfway to where I am now and give myself a little encouragement. We're doing it! Yay on being checked out. My little feminist heart says own it!

Jenni: I can only weigh a couple of times a week if not, the numbers gets to me. Maybe push hard sticking to plan till tomorrow or Thursday or Friday and weigh in then. On a day to day basis, the behaviour is always more important than the scale. I'm sorry you're feeling bad and hope you feel better soon. Hopefully

Slashni: Yayyy new pants that fit!!! Nothing worse than saggy bottom pants that make you feel frumpy and hide your hard work. Go size 16!!!

martini: Thanks for your kind words. I think we all probably struggle with "I-could-be-doing-more-itis" and are hard on ourselves for that when sometimes, just getting by and making it through is enough. Yay on an on-plan day and not going over!


Okay I started this post in the morning at 8 am and now it's past midnight and I'm determined to post this before I go to bed. I left work at 5.30ish like a good clock-watching worker bee and got home before I felt too exhausted to work out. I had an excellent work out of the sort that I felt "why am I not ALWAYS working out" but then I had a heavy dinner after which took me up to about 1900 calories which is maintenance if I don't add back my exercise calories, which I don't. Tomorrow is going to be a light eating day to balance today- not a fast, but I need to keep my eating tighter. If I go to bed in the next half hour, I might JUST wake up for a pre-work workout. So good night people!

MissLoud!!! You're back!!! Yayyy!!! It probably isn't 5 real pounds as you say. Travel is funny and plus now that you're back in your own space, you can get back in gear.

uber: I think your year end goal sounds reasonable and not too stressful. Go Uber Go!!! I haven't set a year end goal yet mostly because my weight hasn't been moving to my liking BUT I should take a leaf out of your tree and maybe set something non-stressful and reasonably attainable that isn't going to make me want to go off the deep end.

Okay bye for real now!

The fasting today seems to be a little bit more successful.

I know the standard issue "rules" for a fast day on 5:2 is ~500 calories. I am allowing for coffee + cream in the morning (3 cups @ 110 calories, total), and a smallish something with my vitamin (~100 calories), and then ~500ish for dinner, so not a TRUE fast, but close, with a goal of ~750 on the pseudo-fast days. So far, I'm sitting right at 750, but I might need to add 100 a little later if my stomach is rumbling before bed. I can't sleep on a rumbly tummy.

Hey guys, so I ACTUALLY got up early and worked out and feel great. I've missed this post-workout high one gets from pushing hard and just getting it done. Yesterday was an unintended maintenance calorie day, but it's fine. Today, I'm trying to be better so, we'll see. TOM is approaching so it's not the easiest time to be on track but I'm trying.

Hey so do any of you run in Asics shoes? I've been using the Asics Gel Neo 33's and I LOVE them but it's been over a year and they're worn out and my knees are feeling it now. (Or maybe my knees are just getting old...) So, I'm thinking of just repurchasing the same exact ones but typical of human nature there is a newer version of them (Gel Neo 33 2) OR now that I have a bit more disposable income than I did when I got my current sneakers, I can even do the Gel Kayano which I was trying to dupe with the cheaper Neos... Anyway, I'm not a huge sneakers person and in fact my running shoes are my ONLY pair. So my sneaker experience isn't a lot. My question is what running shoes do you guys wear or did you use in the past that you can recommend that were light and airy and supportive? They don't have to be Asics. I had Saucony before Asics and they were great but kinda heavy, so I'd prefer a lighter shoe now that I'm used to that.

Ferafilia: I hope you had a great fasting day. 750-850 calories is a valid fast no pseudo about it, because it is considerably less than what would be considered normal even for weight loss. What do you do for your midday snacks that keeps you around 100 calories? I'm always looking for low-call midday snack ideas.

I had planned on a much longer post, but my boss is throwing busy work at me this morning, and I'm super annoyed by it, because I have real work to do andI can't stay late. So, I suppose I'll be responsible and get back to it.

I was 195.6 this morning. And my throat is doing that, "You're going to be flat on your back in a few days" thing that makes me worried. But I'm ignoring it because it's not bad now, and I am hoping it doesn't get bad. My husband also literally bought $150 worth of candy for Halloween. Since none of it is open, I am not feeling overly anxious about it, and he promises it will all get handed out on Halloween. But I HATE walking by it. Sorry. Enough grumbling. It's work frustration.

Here's to an on-plan day for everyone!

Still feeling like POO POO!!!! I guess this is a good way to get my body cleansed. Although I will probably have a loss just thinking it will bounce up because I am not really drinking or eating!

Toasted....I LOVE Asics! They were actually highly recommended by my physical therapist!

Toasted - Either a greek yogurt or a couple string cheeses (100-150 cals, protein and fat for satiety) or fruit, veggies (a big celery stalk + 1tbsp peanut butter is 100 cals!), or fiber bar (120 calories, fiber for satiety). At least that's my plan. Yesterday it was a small piece of pumpkin bread. FAIL. But it was yummy. I was able to keep it at 750 yesterday, with the coffee + cream (I need the cream when I drink it on an empty stomach, saves me some pain later I don't know why), the small piece of pumpkin bread, then 2 eggs + whole wheat toast with pb and apple butter as dinner.

Yesterday's fast was a success! After I rode out the initial tummy rumbles, everything settled in and worked out just fine. I think I can handle doing this twice a week. 2 days @ 750-800 should be do-able to help balance out the over-doing on weekends. It also means I can have weekend date-nights with my husband without stressing nearly as much. You can do a whole lot more with 2000 calories (My weekend limits) when you're smart about it! I'm hoping that eating 2000 calories on the weekends will help teach me what "normal" eating is like, vs the unhealthy eating I was doing before to gain the weight, and the restricted eating I've been doing to lose the weight.

We'll call my weekends "maintenance practice" since according to most calculators my maintenance calories at goal will be 1900-2100 (using various calculators). That's a big part of my failure before. I never really *learned* to eat properly, and the only habit I kept was drinking mostly water.

Here's my new plan of attack to get through the holidays without gaining massive amounts of weight.

I've actually laid out a calorie goal for each day of the week, and it totals to 10,400... which would be about 1480 calories per day, average. Since MFP has me at 1550 per day, a total of 10850 per week, I'll allow (like weight watchers) 400 'flex' calories, to be used (or not!) on any day but fast days. My days of the week can be switched, as long as I have 2 (non-consecutive) fast days, 2 weight-loss calorie days, and 3 goal-maintenance calorie days from Sunday through Saturday.

I think I can keep this up through December, and it should help me continue to lose weight through the holiday season.

We'll see how it works out the rest of the week, but I think I can keep it strict for 4 days knowing there's a little freedom for the following 3.

P.S. It's official, my brother won the race to make my parents grand parents. My sister in law just announced that she's pregnant. I'm gonna be an aunt (again) in June!

Hi Everybody,

Miss Loud So glad you're back! Don't worry too much about the scale bounce. I find that a vacation detour never really lands me up more than one and the rest is bloat that quickly goes away once I'm back on plan.

Toasted I was just looking at your post, and that's when I noticed that you and I actually joined 3FC at around the same time-- I started my big weight loss project in June 2009. We are the same height, and I also stuck in the mid-180s for a long time. The big difference between us is that I allowed myself to veer entirely off track and regain big time. I try not to be hard on myself, because I know that I hit a perfect storm of stressors-- a kind of once in a lifetime groups of major life challenges that hit me all at once-- but my point is simply that I LOVE seeing you where you are and knowing that you are still working it and I'm still working it... you backslid a little and I backslid a lot, but it is really good to remember where we started and how things could be a lot worse than they are!

Laurie I really love the sound of 195! It's so solidly onederland! And soon, you are going to trip right down into the 180s! What is REALLY fun is that it seems like once you get solidly into onederland every five to ten pounds makes a big difference in what kind of styles you can rock!

Mandy I'm listening attentively to your 5:2 plan. I have had good luck incorporating some days where I only eat 800 calories a day. Like you I only have coffee and milk for breakfast then divide the remaining calories between lunch and dinner. Lately, I haven't had the heart to do it, because I had been teetering a bit. But hearing you talk about it, I think maybe if I PLAN 2 800 cal days and space them out, it might be very doable. I think getting through a hungrier day isn't so hard if I know I have other days when I can be more liberal. It does help me lose faster and I really would like to power down through the rest of the 240s! Thanks for the input!

Hellos to Diane, Jessica, Lotus and Martini

Everything is well with me. Scale holding steady. I seemed to have conquered the binge monster for now and everything is going okay. Yesterday I walked my kid to school in the morning and then walked again in the afternoon on the beach. The combo of weighing less and walking more has definitely improved my fitness level. Yesterday, walking my kid to school he said "wow, you're walking so fast..." and I said, "do you need me to slow down a little?" THAT was a good feeling! Rocking a size XL T-shirt that my daughter gave me last Christmas that I didn't want to wear because it was too small. It's still a bit small, but it's wearable!

So was successfully on plan yesterday - 360 calories. My water intake needs to come up but otherwise im okay I think!! down 1.5 pound this mirning so its a start - determined for the scales to be healthier looking on monday normal calorie day today.

Hope everyone is hanging in there!

Hi all. Never made it to the computer yesterday. Oh well!

Went to body pump yesterday with the new "release". I think it is good to have them completely change up the program every few weeks to just shake things up for your body. It was heavier into cardio and upper body work, and I felt it today with sore triceps and shoulders. But not overly sore like last week, so it is all good. Went to spin this morning. The class was packed, but it was a good workout. I think I'm doing better with eating on plan. There is still way too much candy around in the office, but I'm trying to keep away. I've had to force myself to drink more water. I guess I really got out of the habit on that. I know it makes me feel better, so I'm pushing!!

MissLoud: Good for you on getting back on track!

Uber: Isn't that awesome about being able to walk faster!!! Those are the really good things that happen as we get more fit. We all watch the scale, but the day to day living where we can do things without as much effort is what makes it great!

Mandy: Sounds like you have a great plan going!!!

Jenni: Get well soon!

Laurie: Yep, not liking the Halloween candy either. Time for it to go away.

Toasted: Good for you with your early workout!

Martini: How's it going for you?

Hey everyone. 2nd check in of the day and I'm doing alright. I think the more on here I am, the better I tend to do on plan etc. Today went well, I would have been liked to have been under 1300 but was instead a solid 1320 calories. That's fine though. Tomorrow is a fast day so I'm looking forward to that a lot... not. I'm going to try to go to bed early tonight... well it's almost midnight- so maybe not early, but at least not super late. It would be great if I could wake up early enough to get a workout in tomorrow.

Laurie: Yay the mid 190s sticking around. I'm sorry you're getting sick. Maybe start with hot tea with honey, as much sleep as you can get and vitamins. That's my getting sick fight back arsenal... But anyway, I hope whatever it is blows over without catching you at all.

Jenni: Sorry you're still feeling ill. I LOVE my Asics. They're the lightest, most comfy sneakers ever but I'm seduced by the idea of there being better out there... But you and your PT are probably right, I'll stick with the brand at least even if I try out a different model.

Mandy: Thanks for sharing your snacks. Not everything is available here- for example we don't have string cheese and greek yoghurt you won't believe sells for the equivalent of $20 for the 4-pack of Oikos which is BEYOND ridiculous as $20 here goes a lot further even than $20 in America where NO ONE (not even fancy Whole Foods people- no insult intended, I like Whole Foods, you just have to admit the prices are pretty fancy) would pay that for yoghurt. My yoghurt solution so far has been to make my own and usually I have it for breakfast or dessert but I've never thought of it as a fast day snack. I'm definitely going to incorporate that. I'm intrigued by the celery and peanut butter snack- I don't eat peanut butter but it sounds like it could be awesome with hummus and maybe I could do carrot sticks or some such as well... hmmm. Thanks for sharing your snack ideas for fast days.

uber: Yay on smaller t-shirts and speed walking!!! Go go go! I definitely remember you from when I was first on 3FC. I was inspired/intimidated by you and how on it you were and probably a little envious too. I guess one of the advantages about regaining is that you realize this path isn't straightforward. I used to feel like everyone who was succeeding with weight loss was so lucky and had this perfect life and if only I could succeed, everything would fall into place. When I got to goal, I felt like one of the "golden" people too. I couldn't IMAGINE regaining. Like I was almost a bit scornful of the very idea in a "how do people even regain"- sort of way because after all I had made it and so automatically everything to support maintenance would fall into place no matter what life threw at me because after all, I was successful and had all the answers. And of course it doesn't work like that. And I think this time around, knowing that, I'm more balanced and realistic and compassionate towards myself and others. I actually know now that weight loss and goal are not really the end of this journey and that I don't have all the answers and I don't know how long "goal" is going to last for me, but then I don't know how long anything in my life is going to last, so it's not that dramatic, it's more day by day. So all in all, it hasn't all been bad the regain, I have learned a lot from it about myself and this journey. Hopefully, some of that makes sense and you kind of get what I mean.

MissLoud: I'm glad yesterday went well for you, that's great! By Monday, you should be right back where you want to be or very close!

Slashni: Yay on a good workout, feeling less sore and sticking to plan.

Ooh so proud of myself - went to McDonalds and only ate a hamburger and a coffee! I didn't cave in to my Grand Angus and McFlurry craving. My hooker was chanting in my ear, 'this weeks a bust, start again monday' in your face!!!!!! Lol

Anyway that is all

Mandy - Hurrah for hanging in there with the fast day and congratulations on the new addition to the family!

MissLoud - Welcome back! I'm going to echo what everyone else has said with respect to holiday weight gain. It happens. I think your focus with getting back on plan is great!

Toasted - Woo hoo for getting up to work out before going to work!! That's so awesome!!

Laurie - The compulsive eater lurking inside me is freaking out at the thought of being surrounded by $150 worth of candy. You might see it as just something else on the list of things you deal with on a daily basis, but I'm finding how well you're handling it nothing short of wonderful.

Jenni - Sniff sniff!!! Take good care of yourself and feel better soon!

Uber - Holding steady is great news and that's so cool to hear about how much your fitness level is improving!

Diane - What you mentioned about getting out of the habit really resonated for me. I was in the store today and I almost got some chocolate and decided not to because it would just be continuing with a pattern I have of mentally "needing" certain foods. Drinking water instead of eating candy might sound like a small change, but when you're in the middle of the decision it's actually a huge, huge deal.

I was on plan today. I wasn't on plan yesterday. I won't be going in to the office again until Tuesday and I'm thinking getting out of that environment for a few days is going to be good for my head and for staying on plan.