You look incredible!!! You definately do not have the "mature"belly fat I am battling not very sucessfully.


Pat

Well, I definitely still have some. Maybe the sweater camoflauges it in the picture. I have a slight muffin top with these jeans, but I'm chuffed that they fit. The fact that they are a bit on the tight side will motivate me to keep on going. But they're definitely wearable. Thank goodness, because I wasn't really looking forward to going jean shopping - so many different styles, etc., and I always did find it hard to find a pair I liked. Now I've got my old favorites back.

This is also making me re-think my goal weight. LOL. (Again!) I'm going to see how I look/feel at 150lbs and decide at that point whether I want/need to go lower or not. In my mind, I really did have the notion that once I fitted into these jeans, I'd be at my goal.

evept.....love your new photo!! you look so radiant and happy and GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL - I was really excited to finally fit into these jeans. It's been YEARS! Funny how some of these little NSVs are so important.

BTW - when I got up and saw all this snow this am, I thought of you! LOL.

Oh my goodness, I found myself quoting each and every one of your posts, and we've been chatty! LOL so everyone, you are doing awesome!

Evepet you look amazing! Nice to see you!

Susan wow GF! Look at that thread you opened with your progress photos. I commented there, but if anyone missed it go looking. It will be top of stack for a while I'm sure. Great job Rainbow! Titled: goodbye 80's!!!!!!!!!!! HELLO 70'S!! comparison photos!!

Teena you are doing so well. I hear you about making little changes. I can't seem to give up my one restricted a day. I have tried and then cave when I don't have them here... and it takes a week to arrive. I end up buying not as good options for alternatives (higher in fat, not as great tasting - can you believe I linked those two things together? how is that possible to have more fat but not taste as good?) You are doing great.
Minch, congratulations on the 1/2 way mark!

Green Iris - I hope your knee feels much better soon. Sorry about the delay for your gym workouts as you wanted, but they sure have some great upper body things available - at least they did at the YMCA we had. It was sort of like a bike pedals for your hands, and I was a wimp doing them back in the day.

Not much going on here other than relaxing. Going to make chicken soup today from some left over roasted chicken. Bought more veggies last night so I'm stocked up for the weekend.

Thanks! I love the fact that I can wear these jeans again! Somehow, more than the number on the scale, it makes me feel like I've reached a goal. Funny, eh?

OK, tried a new recipe tonight and I think this is the best thing I have ever made on IP! It is a variation on this month's Better Homes and Gardens recipe to use up leftover sweet potatoes.

Chicken Curry Soup - one serving

Put in a stockpot an 8oz. raw chicken breast divided in fourths; rutabagus pieces about 2 inches each totaling slightly less than two cups; 1 stalk celery cut in thirds; a chunk of leek from the slightly greenish part of the leek (save the white part for a different step); salt; pepper; tablespoon of WF apricot jam (may be omitted or substituted with a different flavor - the WF peanut butter would also probably be good); pinch of cayenne pepper. Add water until just covered and boil for ~45 minutes or until the rutabagus is soft enough to mash.

While you are doing the boiling, finely slice the white part of the leek and a couple of inches of celery stalk. Saute in 2 tsps Extra virgin olive oil until soft. Add curry powder (I added a teaspoon and a half) and saute a little longer. Turn off heat.

When the chicken mixture is done, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Remove the big pieces of celery and throw that celery away. Remove the chicken and dice it up. Use a potato masher and mash up the rutabagus and leek into a puree (I kept mine fairly rustic, but it will puree very easily if you like a finer mixture.) Add the chicken back into the pot along with the sauteed leek and celery and curry mixture. Put back on the heat; add water to the desired consistency and mix. At this point everything is cooked and you are just heating it and getting the right consistency for you. At the end, add some sea salt. (The original recipe said to top with green onion, which I did buy but decided it did not need it.)

This is fabulous and very filling, phase one compliant and different than anything I have been having, so I am calling this a win!

Enjoy!

Trying to play catch up on everyone's posts again, but it's tough to keep up with everything going on! We had a pretty quiet day but I wasn't home on the computer for much of it at all. Tomorrow will be the same way since we have people coming to see the house pretty much all day. Guess the real estate market is picking up!!

I did stop by the supermarket to look for rutabagas again, but they apparently don't carry them (checked for both fresh and frozen). Oh well ... I was looking forward to trying them.

On a big positive note, I had bought some ON skinny jeans awhile back figuring they'd fit in awhile, and just for grins tried on a pair of size 8 Sweethearts this morning. Well, I haven't taken them off since.

had a great DATE NIGHT with dear hubby, olive garden and les miserables!!! it felt good to be in control!!! this is the first time i have been to the moveis since i started IP and NO popcorn!!

i made excellent choices at olive garden!!

they have a new dish, lemon herb grilled chicken, and i had NO pasta, and it came with spinach, tomatoes and broccoli, and they added bell peppers in the place of the pasta!! and i had NO breadsticks and salad with NO dressing.

IT WAS AN AWESOME NIGHT!!

it just feels amazing to go out normally, and stay on plan!!

AWESOME I TELL YOU!!! JUST AWESOME!!!

Susan - Congrats on the 70s - you are one amazing and determined woman!

Evepet - the jeans look great! You look tiny in the photo!

Did my weekly weigh in this a.m. and down 1.2 pounds. I am a tiny bit below my 3 lb. maintenance range, so I am happy. I am not trying to lose, but if I can keep this up (maintain in this range) for 6 months or so, I may decide to go lower. Of course by then I will have a complete new wardrobe and won't want to invest in a new one all over again!

aww thank you!!! well done for your continued ability to maintain and even lose more!! i keep reading where people say, losing weight is hard but maintaining is so much harder!!

that surely scares me because losing is no picnic!!

This sounds tasty and different. Definitely going to try it. Thx.

Thx Lizzy. My legs really slimmed down on this diet, and my upper body. I'd still like to get a bit slimmer in the tummy area but I can see that things are 'adjusting' there too. Thankfully these last lbs do seem to be resulting in a flatter belly and smaller waist. And the exercise is helping re toning everywhere. All in good time I guess. BTW - I love to hear how well you're doing in maintenance - gives me hope!

Sounds like a lovely evening Rainbow. And your dinner sounds absolutely delicious! I'll have to remember that they have that type of choice available at Olive Garden. Haven't been there in quite a while, definitely not since this diet.

Isn't it great when those small jeans fit! I wore mine all day yesterday too. LOL.

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Hello everyone. I'm sitting here nice and snug in my office, just finishing my second cup of decaf coffee after having my breakfast cappuccino. Listening to the wind howling outside... makes me glad that I don't really have to go anywhere today. With the wind chill factor it's -10 degrees today, but that's going to feel mild compared to the next few days... we're heading into a few days where the wind chill factor will put us in the -20s. Brrr.

I'm soon going to soak for a while in a nice hot epsom salts bath and read. By then it will be time to think about lunch.... I think cream of chicken soup today, with cauliflower/zucchini/red peppers blended in. And a dash of cayenne and curry. I've also been throwing some dulse into my soups recently. Gives it an added flavor dimension, and from what I read is very healthy. I keep forgetting to eat the stuff though, so one way of getting it in me is to put some in the soup.

Hope everyone has a great Sunday! Cheers for now.

Halfway to goal is so exciting!! Congrats! Agree a non-food present is probably the most motivational and of course, is around long after the last bite of a piece of cake. (Although that cake could take up residence on your hips...)

Evepet,
You look really gorgeous! GF, you look young, hot, amazing!! How exciting to fit in those jeans! Keep wearing them, you'll be smiling all day.

Congrats on the size 8 skinny jeans!! I bet your DH likes them too!

Gazelle,
Great choices at dinner! Glad to know Olive Garden has more things we can eat.

So nice to hear that Olive Garden has alternatives and also will serve you their salad without the dressing. I am VERY fortunate that movie popcorn doesn't bother me. The last movie I saw before I went on IP I ate the popcorn and it made me so sick for days so I havent wanted to touch it since.
Put on a new shirt today and my hubby looked at me and said he couldn't believe how thin I was. I told him how excited I was that I was almost to my halfway point and he started saying how he didn't want me to lose too much!! I'm not even out of the 200's yet!! Decided not to tell him that fact though.
Trying to decide on a reward for the 3 big goals that I have coming up(half way point, going from obese to overweight, going into Onederland). Im thinking jewelry this time since these are major biggies! What do yall think?