I know the January chat thread kind of fizzled and died half way through the month but I also feel January was a particularly difficult month for a lot of people, myself included.

I would like to get the February chart underway.

I am really hoping to get back down to 147 for Valentines day. That was my Christmas goal which I met and then promptly gained 3lbs back. I am planning on trying a new fitness program incorporating a lot more intense intervals along with eating only when I am hungry. I am having trouble buying into the whole eating 4-6 small meals I find that this actually left me feeling quite uncomfortable after lunch at work I now find I am eating around 3 meals with a pre and post work out snack and a little protein before bed. I also really need to focus on cutting out wheat and sugar this month since they are causing me a lot of digestive upset.

I am really hoping to see some great results in February and I am going to try very hard to shake of the January doldrums I have been experiencing.

What are your goals and feelings about February?

It depends on the alignment of the moons and stars in distant galaxies. I am currently in Day 5 of total abstinence from candy/cookies/cake/desserts since I noticed some scary binging behavior popping up as well as a small gain.

I am having trouble managing hunger and the knowledge that I will never be able to eat as much as I want for the rest of my life if I want to stay a certain weight and size. Also because of the sudden lack of sugar, my moods are extremely unstable and volatile, and I have no energy to run.

I don't really know if I am in any place to set weight goals. I had hoped to be at 122 a week from today, but I'm certainly not going to lose 4 lbs in one week. If it's this much of a struggle to stay below 128 (my "red line" weight) I might end up having to tweak my goal weight.

Hello! I've never taken part in these monthly chat threads, so I thought I would start this month
My Valentine's goal is 132...I'm not sure if this is going to happen cos it has taken me 2 weeks to drop 1lb meaning I'm now at 134. I know 2lbs in a little under 2 weeks is totally possible but it's going to take some hard work! Ideally I'd like to be 130 by 1st March.
I also want to start running regularly outside. I can run 10K on a treadmill at an incline of 0.5 but I know outside is much tougher!
Here's to a great February!
Cat x

I want a regular monthly chat spot again!

I finished my two-week diet and hit my Valentine's Day goal weight of 125 already. However, without the strictness of my meal plan, I don't know if I can keep losing, so I'm going to go back on a fixed diet again starting Sunday. Until then, it's just all about portion control, exercise, and nothing sweet that doesn't grow on a tree or a vine.

My final goal weight is 115, and DH says I'm looking pretty skinny already and doesn't know where that last 10 pounds is going to come from. I told him I weighed 115 when he met me, but somehow he doesn't believe that. *heh* Personally, I think he's simply too polite to notice the increased size of my "back end," shall we say.

I'm a little discouraged with my workouts right now and may need to shake things up with some honest-to-goodness running several mornings a week rather than just my jogging. I got a couple of couch-to-5K podcasts and may try to work those in officially to my exercise regime.

I've pretty much been bouncing between 117 and 121 for the past two or three weeks, so I'd really like to see a loss sometime this month, even if it is just a pound or two. And I'd like to get back into a better exercising routine. I still walk almost everywhere that I have to go, but I haven't jogged regularly since October. I went out yesterday and only jogged 4 km, and I could tell that I'm much more out of shape now than I was three months ago, even if I am thinner. I'd like to work back up to at least 7 km in one go by the end of the month. So to that end, I promise to jog whenever it is minus 2 degrees C or warmer. And to start doing strength training again.

Veela - I noticed January was a hard month too - SO happy it is February

I just hit my 'low' weight of 133 - this is a number I've seen a few times over the last few years but never been able to stick at - or get below. My original VDay goal was 130 - but I knew that would be pushing it. My half-marathon and triathlon training kicks in next week so as long as I don't eat back my calories I would like to see 130 by the end of the month.

Eh. I'm feeling kind of down today, and that's put a damper on my appetite. I feel frustrated, because I really have no idea where to set my goal, honestly. I thnk I'm liking the losing process and I'm not going to know what to do with myself when I'm done. And, honestly, I don't know what finished looks like. I don't know what to be happy with size-wise, if that makes any sense.

It sounds like many feathers are having a hard month. Here's hoping you can figure things out and get on a road that works for you soon. I understand where so many of you are coming from. Committing to this thing long term, to by-and-large never being able to just eat whatever you want whenever you want to? It's huge. Just the other day I was trying to explain this to my forever-thin, 6' boyfriend who can eat whatever he wants. The idea of calorie counting appalls him, and he hates the fact that I measure out my cereal and am always asking him what he put in the food he makes and how much oil he used. I was trying to make him see why some people—those of us who are vertically challenged and of the female gender, for example—really pretty much have to be aware of what and how much we are eating if we don't want to gain.

In lighter (no pun intended) news, I leave for my cruise in about twelve hours!!!! I'm so excited. I did, however, learn that they opened a cupcake store on the ship one week ago. Argh!!! Like there isn't already enough food for me to avoid? *le sigh*

Krampus I can totally relate to the binging it is a constant problem for me lately. I am trying to get rid of a lot of the little bits of junk food I have in my house including some very delicious fair-trade chocolate. I also discovered a particular cookie at the deli near my office that I cannot resist. I really need to focus on bringing my lunch to work everyday and eating a healthy dinner.

Last night I had lemon pepper tillapia and steamed kale which was actually very quick to make and very tasty. I am also trying something new where I don't eat any carbs after 4:30 or 5:30. I also focusing on lowering my fruit intake and replacing the fruit with veg. I find my diet is the toughest area for me to control.

In other news I over did it at the gym the other day and am having issues with deep muscle pain in my right leg so I have been taking it easy the last couple days and I am hoping it feels better tomorrow.

Have a GREAT cruise PetitePowerhouse! May you hold strong in the face of many cupcakes.

Veela, I hope your leg heals up soon. I pretty much can't keep anything in my house aside from raw produce/uncooked things because I'll attack it. Binging/overeating always happens when I least expect it too - e.g. last night around 9 pm I was out to dinner with some friends and they broke out dried soybeans (traditional food for the Setsubun holiday). You're supposed to eat your age, but I ate a LOT more than 24.

I managed to run yesterday, still felt quite fatigued. Weight is stable around 126.1-126.3. Time to change my ticker.

My leg is still not 100% so I am currently skipping the treadmill and doing high intensity resistance training instead. I got in a very good work out last night and made myself a delicious dinner. This morning I am back down to 149 so 2 more pounds and I will be at my Christmas weight again.

I hate that I have to re-lose weight that I gained but right now I feel I may finally be back on track.

I'm been shopping weight-loss tracking sites and really love LoseIt.com (much more than Spark or FitDay) -- mostly because the others are too complicated in the detail they ask for on "custom recipes" and either over- or under- emphasize community.

Really really stressed out about my thesis -- I hope I can keep losing even with the cortisol. 3FC has become a procrastination tool, so I may have to kick myself off for a couple of days while I churn out some pages.

Happy February Feathers!

So sorry everyone seems so down...I am not doing so great myself as I have once again come down with a virus...I spent about 3 weeks of December fighting some sort of bug too.

I am beginning to wonder if my attempts at outdoor running in the snow are not good for my immune system? The week before last I made it out for some outdoor runs, and some great ones on the treadmill at the gym. Monday I was running away and then suddenly was just exhausted and stopped after 15 minutes or so...that night I started coming down with a bug and Wednesday I woke up entirely congested and have been miserable ever since.

Argggh...I finally get on track with calorie counting and running and then I get sick. I am not counting calories right now...I am not binging on junk but i've been mainly confined to my couch and just eating whatever sounds good, which is mainly broth soups, teas and carb loaded things like pasta and whole wheat toast and crackers...am trying to get in some veggies though and not eat any refined sugar.

Hi Fellow Feathers,

This is my first feather weight post. I'm very excited to find a "home" sub forum her a 3fc.

My Feburary goal is 8 lbs. A month ago I was very sedentary and was maintaining being about 30 lbs overweight, then my church small group decided to do a weightloss challenge. I have started doing Bootcamp with Bob from TBL DVD and restricting my calories and have seen a whoosh.

I loved reading about people running. C2k5 is something my husband and I keep talking about and hopefully will get in gear as soon as the snow melts.

Chrissy

Chrissy, welcome to the forum!!!

I did C25K last year, I started March 1. It's a really great program!!! I was never a runner before EVER! The closest I ever got was in college, I would run the trails near my dorm for maybe 15-30 minutes a few times a week. But as a child I was always begging my Doctor to give me a note for gym class saying I didn't have to run. LOL. Since I am asthmatic, he always did and I spent many a gym class sitting on the bench watching. Ha!

The way C25K works is amazing...the first few days I wanted to quit before the 90 second runs were up...but I stuck with it and saw it through until the end and then kept running regularly into fall. I slacked off a bit right before I started dieting because running just made me so hungry, it was hard to keep my calories down. But the transformation I saw was amazing - I went from running at 4.5 on the treadmill to running at 6 or 6.5 and at the end I was also running outside up to 5 miles a few times a week.

Since I took a few months off, I am not at that level anymore, but I am starting back up running slowly for 20-30 minutes and I am sure I'll see my pace pick up again soon. I am actually looking forward to running outside this summer.

Definatly take the plunge!!! There is a very active C25K sub forum on www.active.com if you want to check it out. Groups start the program there together every week!