MaddieB: You look fantastic! Definitely see a difference from the first photo. I love Pilates! It would be perfect to help with the definition in your abs. Does the tendonitis in your knee stop you from bending and stretching your leg? Because there are a bunch of straight leg pilates/ab exercises you can do that are quick and effective.

Bunnabear: How did you find the 30DS? Congrats for sticking to it!! I can't ever seem to get past level 1 lol!

Ate chocolate tonight! oh boy. My nemesis. What can I say? TOM hit me hard. Will get back on thehorse tomorrow.

Hello people!!!

So as some of you know I had experienced quite a bit of anxiety over the last few months over my friends wedding which was to take place on the beach. Most of my friends are really good looking girls who take good care of themselves. I was quite nervous to go with them but I was feeling very good because by the wedding date I had lost nearly 50 pounds, and although I still have a ways to go, overall I was feeling pretty good! To make a long story short, after days of wearing my tankinies to the beach, one of my friends insisted that I had nothing to hide, and for once (having paid close attention to their beautiful bodies with thier own imperfections that they owned) I actually agreed... I put on my bikini top and it actually looked pretty great!!!

I am so excited! I'm definitely not done, but this vacation was such a positive experience for me. I got a lot of positive feedback (attention from men lol!) and I felt really great!

One big discovery for me was that the one girl from the group, who is actually a model, and who has an AMAZING body (and always had), she too had stretch marks on her hips. But she owned them. She couldn't care less. Suddenly I realized that all our bodies are "imperfect". But as of now, I am officially, without restraint proud of my accomplishments, and of my body. As it is now and as it will be as I continue my transformation.

30 Day Shred complete!!!!

Here is the final outcome of my 30DS journey

Weight: 158.8 to 152.6 - 6.2 pounds lost
Chest: 1.75 inches lost
Waist: 1.25 inches lost
pooch/gut/paunch: 2 inches lost
Hips: 1.5 inches lost
Thighs: Down 1 inch and 0.75 inches
Arms: Up 0.25 and no change

Ripped in 30 starts tomorrow.

1yr2mkovr - That is amazing! I'm glad you had a good experience! Where the heck were you that you were going to the beach anyway? Not Canada...either way, you lucky dog.

bunnabear - Wow, almost 2 full inches in your chest - that is incredible! Great work!

It is Weight Watchers official that I am out of the 160s! 159.8, but whatever. It counts!

hello there!

bunnabear congrats on completing the 30DS!!

1yr2mkovr that sounds like a good experience! I went water skiing with some friends last summer and even though I was looking forward to the event, I spent days worrying what they would think of me in a wetsuit.

I won't lose any weight this week.. I can be glad if I don't gain. It's my TOM and I have been eating way too much for the last 2 days.

Hello everyone! Did you have a nice week?

I DIDN'T! I've been sick all week, including today (Friday!). So needless to say my activity level has been zero which sucks because I was doing SO well with working out.

I went to work on Tuesday because I hate being off work purely because I don't get paid sick days. And if I'm off one day I lose out on like...£90/$140. But that was a huuuge mistake because I still felt like I had a fever. It was my co-workers birthday so I just sucked it up, even went for a lovely meal that night, but once the morning came I was back to a ball of pity shivering in my bed!

So I've had Monday, Wednesday - Friday off which is going to be really bad for my next pay cheque. I also took a Wednesday off earlier in February because I had the sh!ts (lovely I know) and I went home early a few days/came in later because I'M ALWAYS FRICKIN' SICK! Seriously, this being a teacher malarky is a pain in my a$$ sometimes! I remember Song of Surly saying it takes 2 years to build up the immune system and I'm only 6 months in! And I've been seriously ill enough to take the day off at least every month now.

It is now MARCH! Today is the 1st, which is a sick day so not a good start, BUT I have to work on a Saturday on the 16th so that would bring my work days up to 20 days this month SOOO if I don't miss one day I'm hoping that I can have a perfect working month so April's pay will be glorious again. March's pay cheque will probably bring a tear to my eye.

So yes, as you can tell, I'm not a happy camper! It's frustrating because if I had an office job I could probably work because I'm pretty tough when it comes to sickness, but when I have to teach and look after 15 2 year olds and then deal with awkward 8 year olds in the afternoon I just know that I'll get worse. Which is why Tuesday was a big mistake because I felt like dying at points in the day and ended up back to the beginning on Wednesday. Rest is definitely important!

The good news is that I finally got my Playstation move (it's basically like a Wii controller for the playstation) so I can now play my Zumba game! The reviews of the game were that as a GAME it's not great but as a fitness video it's awesome. But since I have a projector the sensor has to be BEHIND me which means that to progress in the game if it's based on points then I might be in for a bit of trouble... Oh welly I'll come to that problem when it's time.

I'm really annoyed at myself because when I had my perfect workout week I was too scared to weigh in because I knew if I had stalled or gained I would be really upset so I waited to weigh in. But now I've been sick I just know that the scale will not be in my favour! Feels like I've taken 1 step forward and 2 steps back now. I know I can't dwell on it since it's not my fault but still, it sucks that all that good work and trying to eat right might be down the drain because of a sick week. Harumph indeed.

Anywhoo, sorry for not being that active on the thread recently! I'm going to suck it up and step on the scale now...OH MY GOD. It's 162 lbs. I hope to jebus that is a fluke because that is HORRENDOUS! I've gained 8 lbs in a week?! I am going to be a SAINT this weekend!! No treats, I do not deserve them!! I hate life right now, haha.

1yr - Huuuge congratulations on the milestone of your friends wedding! I'm so happy that you felt confident and beautiful even though you know you have more weight to lose. Just imagine how epic you will feel at goal weight and let that motivate you to your goal!! And good for you for whipping out the bikini and strutting your stuff! You're definitely right about everyone having their own insecurities, I hear them all the time from girls whose body's I would love to have. I've heard "my bum is too big, my hips are too wide." It's funny because now I'm in Japan I hear some very strange ones, the bizarre one is that "my eyes are too far apart, I look like a fish." I was dumbfounded because the girl has an amazing body, has the BEST posture I've ever seen on anyone and she's worried about her eyes looking like a fish!

I'm here, but I'm so blah today. I felt starving all day. I hit 1350 calories, but I can just tell that the scale is going to screw me in the morning. Thankfully, I stayed at 135, but I was up .3 today. I don't get it. You do what you're supposed to do & the scale just doesn't move like it should. Ugh. Whatever. I can't get tweaked about 3lbs, but I am getting tweaked about it. I want to finish & be done. I'm tired of the anticipation of getting up in the morning, only to be disappointed when the scale, ONCE AGAIN, doesn't budge. It's very disheartening. BUT on the bright side, I'm in the mid 130s & so I need to just cool my jets. It was way worse when I was 50lbs heavier & the scale wouldn't budge. Silver lining, I suppose.

Sorry for the ***** rant. :/ Just one of those days.

Bunnabear~ I saw you are starting Ripped in 30 tomorrow, definitely keep us posted! I am going to start up 6 Week 6 Pack, I had done the workout twice and I love it, I am also going to combine strength and cardio along with the workout. Have you tried 6W6P before?

Thanks everyone for your support!!!!

I woke up this morning to a huge whoosh, and now I reached a new milestone!!! (See Signature) and I get a new five pound reward!!!

I am struggling so bad! Can't keep my calories under 1500. Its so hard right now! I hate it . I feel like I have no self control. And exercising is not great either. sorry for the pity train but this suckS!

Your vacation story put a smile on my face 1yr2mkovr I'm so happy for you! One of my best friends made a date with me to go Spring shopping (something I have avoided for years) in April. I'm nervous and excited and hoping that I can take off a few more pounds before then. This is the first Spring that I'm not dreading.

Still 135.4 today. I'm clearly going to have to do something major to lose the last 3 lbs because my body won't budge.

I really enjoyed Ripped in 30. It was definitely tough, but I actually prefered the 3 exercise cycle on the 3 minutes of strength instead of the 2 exercises in that part of 30DS. I'm excited and I like the idea of 7 days on each level rather than 10 (I always started to feel my interest wane around day 7 or 8).

I just realized I've hit my halfway point!!