So because of the snow day yesterday, we had our weigh-in at school for BL today. Kelly and I were both feeling pretty good going in. I lost 2 3/4 and Kelly lost a pound. She wasn't very happy. I thought it was great, she lost. Not like me last week that gained 1.5. So my real true weight loss was down like 1.5. I can live with that.

Wardhog- Good luck with the in-laws. Stay tough. So what are you down total now? You have pulled some pretty big numbers the last couple of weeks.

Foucault- Good luck with the water. I hate drinking water and usually only drink it during and after working out.

Cardio- good luck on your journey. You have already come so far. Your pictures are awesome and inspiring. You will reach your goal.

Have a great weekend everyone and stay on track. I hate the weekends when trying to lose weight. Way too sedentary. I'll check in later.

mtiger - hooray for the great weigh-in!

Hi Cardio! I like your screen name!

Today I did a Group Ride class, :26 on the stair climber, and :26 on the elliptical. I forgot to take my aleve before I left the house and my legs were crying for mama! I stayed on my eating plan yesterday and I am on track for today.

Have a great week-end, everybody!

Hello,
I've been thinking about you guys. I just read all the posts I have missed and everyone is doing so well. I am so proud of you all.

Welcome to Cardio. I read your post and will go and look at the photos here in a bit.

I am very happy to report a 5.75 lb loss on Thursday when I weighed in at TOPS. I guess what didn't show up last week showed up this week. I was "Loser of the week". I plan on being that more often. So far this year I've lost 6.5 lbs. That's more than I did all last year. I have set a goal of a 3 lb loss each month for this year. I know some months I will loose less and some more, but I figure 3 lbs a month is doable.

I am feeling better again. I hope this time I'm well for good. Spring is about 6 weeks away right?

I'll go back to working out on Monday. I'll start with walking and then get back to the weight room the next week. I'm trying not to overdue and build my myself back up slowly and stay well.

I'll check in tomorrow. I was craving a ice-cream drumstick and I came here instead to get over the craving. It worked!

Wow, Mychoice! Congratulations on being loser of the week!

Today I jogged for about an hour (5 mi), then did 30 min on the ellptical and 30 min on the bike. I stayed on my eating plan yesterday and I am on track for today. Apparently just *thinking* about going off plan makes me gain weight, though. I am up about 1/2 a pound. (I am not too concerned about it, really.) My in-laws arrive on Tuesday and I know that's going to cause me problems. This is a lifestyle, though, right? A week is just a blip and it will be over before I know it.

I hope everyone's having a good week-end!

Lisa - Welcome! What inspiring pictures you have! You're already accomplished so much that I'm sure you can defeat the extra pounds you've put on recently. You lost it once, you can lose it again.

mtiger - Congrats to you and Kelly for losing during the BL weigh-in! A pound is a pound, and that means you are one more pound closer to your goal.

Susie - Wow! What a fantastic weigh-in! I'm so proud of you! Like you, I'm looking forward to spring, too. It will be so nice not to worry about whether the bad weather will keep me from going out and getting some exercise.

WardHog - Good luck with the in-laws. I hope they don't stress you out too much.

I'm doing well, though I have stayed away from the scales for the last couple days. I trying to wait until my official weigh-in on Tuesday. Yesterday, I walked almost four miles. I just got back from a two mile walk today. I plan on relaxing for the rest of the afternoon, maybe reading a book or something quiet. I had a craving for chocolate yesterday, so i had five mini chocolate-covered pretzels. They were 130 calories and 5 fat grams. All in all, not bad. And I was able to stop myself at just five, so that was a miracle.

After losing these twelve pounds this year, I'm definitely a size 18. Before I was straddling the line between 18 and 20. I will be so happy when I manage to slim it down to a 16. So many stores have things on sale all the time, but they only go up to size 16. I was in Kohls yesterday and noticed that most of the pants I was looking at only went up to 16. No love for the big girls. I hope I'll be in 16's by my b-day in May.

I know it sounds funny, but like I've said before, I hate the weekend for losing weight. I have really tried to be active this weekend. Along with my workouts I have tried to move around the house more and limit just sitting and watching tv or reading. I am an avid reader, so it makes things tough. I would rather sit all weekend and just read. We'll see how it worked for me tom.

Foucault- that is a lot of walking. Good for you. I love chocoalte covered pretzels. I have been craving chocolate a lot this week. I have picked up many a candy bar, looked at the calories and put it back down. I am going to have to find something to settle my urge with. I bought some X-large pants yesterday. No 2X or 20. It sure feels good doesn't it?

Mychoice- awesome job on your loss. That has got to feel great. Keep up the good work.

Talk to you all tom. Keep working hard.

Good morning Ladies,

I want you to know that you all stopped me last night from having a ice cream bar at 11:30 p.m. The reason I wanted it was because I had missed dinner. We went to a Joel Osteen program last night and it started at 7:30. We live about an hour from where it was so we didn't really have time to eat dinner. I had a healthy snack to help me but by the time the program was over I was starved. We did a quick run through McDonalds at 10:30 p.m. and I had a small cheeseburger. When I got home I thought, I'm going to have a ice-cream bar. Then I said, no, it's 11:30 at night and I"m going to bed, I'm sure I'll live until morning and you know what? I did!

I thought about the fact that it was late, was I really going to enjoy it? If it showed up on the scales on Thursday when I weighed in was it really worth it and I thought about how all of you have said no to things and now you are in XL and Lgs...I'm going to join you soon ladies!

Mtiger: I can struggle on the weekends too. I'm a "routine" person and of course the weekends are off routine for me. Tell us how you were able to make it through.

Focult: You will be in those 16's soon.

Wardhog: I hope the in-laws don't stress you out to much. You can stay on track..I know you can. Look at how disciplined you are with your exercise....if you can do that, you can do the other.

Cardio: How are you doing? I hope you are being motivated and I'm looking forward to your posts.

Ok..I need to get back to work. I'll check in tomorrow with everyone.

Good morning!

Mychoice - good for you for staying away from the temptation. Good job!

mtiger - Can you have a little chocolate without going overboard? If it fits into your plan, go for it!

Today I did 24 min (2 mi) on the treadmill, a Group Power class, and 30 min on the elliptical. I stayed on my eating plan yesterday and I am on track for today. Houseguests arrive tomorrow and I am already pissy. gah ...

I hope you're all having a nice day.

Mindy - I know this sounds crazy, but the best thing I did for my weight loss goal was getting a dog. The little guy wants to walk *all the time*, and I always plan in at least a one hour walk each day on the weekend. He keeps me on track because I'm not just walking for me, but for him. Otherwise, I'd probably be loafing around the house on a Saturday morning. And, yay! for the XL pants! That's fantastic! Are they the work-out type pants? I got a pair of them in L. They're a bit tight, but I think I'll be able to wear them just fine once I get a little closer to 200.

Susie - Great job on resisting the temptation! That's great! I'm sure you'll be seeing the difference on the scales once you turn down a few of those cravings.

WardHog - Pissy already? I'm sorry you have to deal with guest for a whole week. I hope you can find the time to de-stress. Maybe time a scented candle and a cup of tea/coffee in the bathroom with you and lock the door? Leave the kids with the in-laws. ;-)

I'm doing well today. I got in my strength training and a bit of cardio at lunch. I usually feel like crappola during TOM, but I'm actually not that bad this time around. I couldn't resist the scales at lunch, though. I stripped to my undies and stepped on the scale. It says 219.5, which is what it was a few days ago. What makes me happy is that after I eat breakfast and drink my 30oz of water each morning, I usually weigh 2 to 3 pounds more than when I stepped on the scale first thing in the AM. So, I'm hoping to see a number even lower than 219.5 tomorrow for my official weigh-in. Though, I'd be happy with what I have now.

Michigan, Michigan. I can not believe this but, we had another snowday today. We were one of the few districts that closed. I guess it was because of the cold. It was like -4 this morning with wind chills around -17. Everybody else went to school, I don't understand. I was looking forward to getting back into my weekly routine. I just move more during the school day then when I'm home.

Here is what I try. Since we have had a lot of snow, I shoveled today, for about 20 min. I try to move around the house. I vaccumed, washed a few dishes, broke part of my filling today so I went to the dentist and then stopped by a bookstore. I bought a "Shape" magazine, looking for new ideas.
Then tonight I will do some type of workout, haven't decided what exactly.

Foucault- I have 4 dogs that I would love to take out for a walk, but not at 12 degrees which was our high today. Oh where, oh where is spring. As far as my new pants, I usaully wear Knit pants with elastic waist becaue nothing else fits my tiny waist. Even the one pair of jeans I found recently, the waist is a bit large. Tom is coming here also, I hope it accounts for the extra 1/2 to 1 pound the last few days.

Wardhog- I was looking at some back issues of "Looking Good" mag and most of the successful weight losers were eating anywhere from 1200-1800 calories. I am bumping mine up for the next few days to see what happens. I think I'll have room for some chocolate.

I'll check in with everyone tom. Stay strong.

Good morning,

I have the munchies this morning. There is some mini chocolate around the office. I had 3 pieces, then went and got a glass of water and decided to come here so I can stop it before it gets started.

I think I am feeling that I need something because this morning I had to deal with snow and ice coming into work and once I got here I the stressers kicked in and I wanted to comfort myself. I can't stop those feeling from happening but I can stop my reacation to them!

I hope everyone has an on plan day. I'm planning on it--I might have had a little mess up but I'm moving on!

Mindy - Ouch...that's cold. I whine when it is 30 degrees here because I've become a sissy since moving to New Mexico. The last few days the highs have been in the 50s and 60s. I bet you're even more ready for spring than I am. ;-) I think your activities to get yourself moving at home are a great idea. I looked at an online calorie estimator, and it says shoveling snow for 20 minutes burns about 200 calories. That's more than walking for 20 minutes, which burns 150 calories.

Susie - Yay for stopping the cravings! I know exactly what you mean about dealing with stress by reaching for the candy. I think we are all guilty of that every now and again. I was so angry and annoyed after a phone conversation with an idiot at work yesterday that I went downstairs and grabbed a little Dove chocolate. I ate one, then looked at the others in the bowl and walked away. And they had caramel in them, too. Chocolate + caramel = heaven. It also equals another five pounds attached to my ***.

I had my weigh-in this morning. I'm down to 218! That's 4 pounds! Which makes up for me not losing anything last week. As you can see, I changed my ticker on the double. ;-) This 199 by my b-day sounds even more feasible now.

mtiger - whoa! I can't imagine weather that cold. I am a total wimp - if it's below freezing I don't even want to go outside!

Mychoice - good job walking away from the candy before it got out of hand.

You too, foucault! And yay! for the four pounds!

Today I did a Group Ride class, 25 min on the stair climber and 25 min on the elliptical. Did I mention this? Over the week-end I was getting on the stair climber, and there was an older (60s?) man on the machine next to me. He looks at me and says, "Do you know what you're getting into here?" How insulting! Does he think that I can't handle the stair climber because I'm a GIRL? Humph.

Anyway. I stayed on my eating plan yesterday and I am on track for today. In laws arrive around dinner time, so I am making soup (for them), grilled chicken, macaroni and cheese (for them), and some kind of veggie. Then I will probably go stuff my face with chocolate, but I will try to hang on.

I hope you are all having a good day!

Hi,
Ok...I've been here twice today. Let me tell you, that chocolate is calling my name and I'm saying no!

Wardhog: Don't do it! Don't "stuff" yourself with anything. Look back at Focult's ideas on ways to pamper yourself and get through this time with the in-laws.

Focult: Great weight loss! 199 is going to be a dream come true for you.

Okay guys. I am counting on you all for some ideas here. I am now eating 1500 calories a day. I work out 30 min. a day. Like 4 cardio days and 3 with weights. The scale just keeps toying around with this couple of pounds. I have not really lost much of anything for a couple of weeks. Needless to say I am getting very frustrated. What should I do? What would you do?

One calculator says to eat about 1600. Another one just said 2200. I can't even begin to think about eating that much food. Plus I am scared to death to even try it. That seems like so much. Plus increasing to 1500 hasn't seemed to do any good. AHH!!!! What should I do?

Mychoice- the way I feel today I'd be right there with you eating that whole bowl of chocolate. Hey maybe I could get up to 2200 calories. HAHA! Just eat one and step away.

Wardhog- good luck with those in-laws. I'd feed em diet food. If they didn't like it they could go out to eat. Can you tell I'm in a pissy mood?

Foucault- God that is awesome. I am so happy for you. My buddy Kelly is down too. Poor me, I think I'll go eat worms. Wonder how many caloreis they have.

Sorry to be so down. Maybe I'll feel better tom. Everyday is a new day. I wish I could find a reason for my lack of success. I'd feel better if I had screwed up. But I just keep sticking to my plan and never falter. Help me keep going Lord.