As for me .... I had a good day yesterday. I followed the flat belly diet; basically ate veggies, and protein. My sugar intake was less that 20 g with no added sugar. And scale rewarded me; 148.5 pounds!!! I wanted to cry. I did eat low calories, but I am going to try eat quite low again today and tomorrow. Just to get rid of this bloat and yuck.

I took a walk, did a little bit of arm toning and drank my water and tea. I was a good girl!

Today's plan;

Gentle walk (Jo...which means ONLY 4mph...lol)

18 fast with 6 h eating window;

No bfast
Lunch;
~ Salad with grilled shrimp
~ Dressing; olive oil, lemon and balsamic vinegar
Snack;
~ Sunflower seeds
~ Dark chocolate
Dinner;
~ Grilled chicken
~ broccoli
~ feta cheese
~ brown rice

Jo You and I are on the same wave length My weekend was spent as well soul searching....

I know we can do this!! -- Just imagine the day when we enter into maint?? What a glorious day it will be. What is your "ultimate" goal? Weigh wise? -- I know you would be happy at 170 with smaller clothing, but what is your secret goal?

Sum, I am still shooting for 145, because that was smack in the middle of a normal BMI for me and with a medium frame, I figure that was appropriate. In my head, I see anything under 150 as desirable, but under 160 is a must. Notice how I am already preparing myself to not be able to get to goal???
Good for you for getting back on the wagon and I am so glad you were rewarded for your efforts on the scale.
Your daughter is beautiful! A senior prom for a girl is so special, I hope she had a great time!

Alaskan, Great job on the weight loss last month! That is awesome, you must be thrilled, and I have to say what a difference in your head shots! You should be so proud. Here's hoping you have another great month.

K9, that is quite a summer coming up for you! Mine looks nothing like that, but we are usually so busy during the year, a nice relaxing summer by the pool is nice for us, without all the running around of the school year.
Have fun pumping the iron. I am loving my program, but I have been sore, sore, sore. It's all good.
Good for you for signing up for another 1/2 mary!

Guacamole, hopefully you got yourself back on track after Saturday! The weekends are always rough aren't they? So I probably know this, but what is your plan? Are you a calorie counter? Do you workout?

Who did I miss?

Star! You must be busy, haven't seen you on mfp much this week. How's your daughter doing? Sorry to hear she is having joint trouble too
Awesome news on another 1.4 down though!!! You are rocking this thing. How about I hang out here around 170 and let you catch up I'm laughing, but that just might be the case at the rate I am stalling and the rate you are losing! Oh well, if I don't laugh I will cry right?

Okay, I know I missed a lot of personals lately, so hopefully I touched on most of what I wanted to. Catch you all later! Busy day again today, but I may be back tonight to see how everyone is doing.

good morning i had another night filled with dreams, not sure why, not sure if i'm sleeping better or worse than usual where i dont dream...woke up feeling very crappy and tired and achy, almost didnt want to work out this morning....after i dropped the kids at school, though, i ate and laid down for awhile and felt better so i went to the gym and did my usual workout and i feel fine now...not sure what that was all about

raining like crazy here...but it IS a rainforest after all...the lawn is flooded and waterlogged, it rained so hard last night that it woke me out of a dead sleep, and the forecast calls for rain all week

Kristiina - I am so not ready to watch any of my kids graduate. Even though DS is 18, he stayed back a year in school, so still have one more year of school My heart goes out to you though!

I can't imagine a MIL worse than the one on "Everybody Loves Raymond". It's only hilarious to me cause it's not mine. I really doubt talking to her would be beneficial then, that's someone who feels they NEED to be "there" ALL the time... dang. My MIL passed a year ago this coming Monday... I miss her terribly - but grew up around her. Fortunately my mom isn't like that to my DH either... my dad is a "FIL"... but mom never wanted to be "titled" like that and just doesn't act like one at all - DH is grateful,

Great job following your new plan and with the loss!!! Awesome!

Jo - You so have to do what is right for you. As we all know, this is not a cookie-cutter, everyone is not the same type of thing. If it were, we would not be on the slower loss thread and everyone would be equal I am a huge advocate for strength training and workouts... but you all know that anyway...and if it takes more calories to fuel them, then I say do it. The difference in shaping and health is going to be the reward

I have no doubt you will hit your "secret goal" as Kristiina worded it. It will be slow, but the reshaping you are doing along the way is amazing and in my eyes, should not be giving way to doubt on your not reaching goal. You really are more inspiration then you realize with all you do. As for me catching up, if you remember right, you have made leaps and bounds of progress over me due to my 6 month plateau I will say this though - I also wonder if it's the body's way of saying "hold up, gotta shift around a bit before we move the scale". During that 6 month plateau, every month there were inches lost, reshaping done, butt lifting going on... funny part... since I started losing this month, I did my measurements as always... only the arms showed a loss of size This might be your body's pausing point until it shifts to where it has to in order to lose?

Guacamole - Been awhile, are you hanging out ? How are you doing?

Alaskan - I wonder why all the dreams lately? Have you had more on the brain than usual?

Krystal - I am so glad you have so much going on and would gladly let ya bask in the sun with me if you are ever in the state and need a place to crash with a pool Lord knows we have plenty of room and I would love some female company over the age of 16, I bet you are going to just have a blast all summer though, some amazing plans you have!!!

For me - Super busy lately, but still chugging along. I have been recording my workouts in MFP, but otherwise have been commenting in small spurts due to no time. Youngest DD has been following dr order and being careful with wrist until we hear something on tests. Oldest DD sees the orthopedic surgeon tomorrow. What a blessing. His office no longer takes any of the 3 insurances I have on her, but... when her RA specialists called him direct on the phone, he went to hospital board, and then we got a phone call directly from him to say - no insurance, no money... your only obligation is to get her here on the times we have open. :O Wow!!! Thank goodness!!! Best in his field and her RA dr trusts no one else to do what is necessary on that end for her. Parents will be here May 22, appointment for doing all college paperwork on the 23rd (registration, loan, everything... will even have class schedule when I leave).

I haven't read all this but it is VERY interesting. I lost 40lb with intuitive eating and have been stuck for a couple years. I exercise every day but that doesn't help. I tired low carb the other day and couldn't make it one day. I am a mother of ten and 63 years old.

OMG!! I went from 151 to 147 in TWO days??!! This flat belly diet is working.

Is it possible that I actually did not gain, but I have been carrying around all this water because of bad food? -- Looking back, my calories were not that high, I just ate junk and more junk. I probably ate at maintenance level all month. Hum.

This is very possible and probable!!
I'm telling you, it looks as though someone stuck a needle in my abdomen, just by reducing the carbs/junk in my diet!!
Now, if we can just continue to stay on track!!
No more junk!
Have a yummi shake instead

We can!

My carbs were at 60g and sugar 20g on both days...amazing results.

I gotta tell ya, it is so hard seeing you guys with your losses this week to not say to heck with it and cut my calories back down, but I gotta stick to my plan for a while. Congrats to you losers by the way

I am still hovering at 170 (last week 171, bouncing around that pound all week), but I took measurements today and have lost 1/2 inch at my bust and a 1/2 inch at my waist, so I will take that! I also feel thinner than ever, so that helps. I know I am holding water since my muscles are sore (shoulders, pecs, tris, hammies, thighs and calves especially). Also, my body is getting used to the bump in calories. I am going to give it at least a month. I always get this feeling right before I drop weight too, like I can feel it coming or something. Maybe it is just that I feel the thinness before it registers on the scale? I don't know, and maybe I am wrong, but I think I will drop a little in the next week or two. If I don't, I am still sticking to the plan!!!! Hold me to it! My scale does not own me! <<<<My new mantra!

Carol, to the slow losers thread!

good morning made sugar-free cheesecake this morning...tastes good but doesnt look so good LOL i messed around with the recipe which i think caused it, it raised up real high while baking and then fell very very flat LOL but it's still good and everyone will probably eat it up later...i had two small pieces, can't figure out the calories on it, it's driving me bonkers, but it was sugar-free and i'll eat well for the rest of the day...

talked to my sister for a long time this morning...she's in another one of her crisis(es?) where she's upset and might leave her boyfriend (which i would be fine with) and probably was drinking already today...i made sure she ate something while i was talking to her...send up some prayers for her she needs them

Good afternoon my favorite online peeps!

Carol! You are about to meet some of the most wonderful and supportive ladies.


Alaskan, did you start taking vitamins lately? Vitamin B usually gives me vivid dreams. I have to take my multivitamin by noon or otherwise I am going to have a movie night -- sending good vibes towards your sis!

Star, I love hearing nice stories about good doctors! How is your DD doing overall? Does she have a lot of pain on daily basis? She sounds like a trooper. RA is such a difficult "illness" to live with.

Jo, I am sure my little salsa is temporary I am ovulating as well which makes this even sweeter. You will be doing your salsa solo soon. Your bod looks really good. And now that you are doing all that weight training, you will get even more condensed. Both of us are within 10 pounds of healthy BMI....you look much trimmer than I do. You are inspiring me to get my weight training going.

Dang, Krystal....144. Awesome! I can never catch up with you Tahoe should be fun, even if you are between seasons. Did I tell you that Tahoe is high on our list what comes to moving there? Have you been to SF before? My work used to take me there quite a bit, I love that city.

Guacamole,

ive been taking multivitamins for about a year now and i always take it in the morning...im not sure why i had all those dreams...im dealing with alot of personal drama but thats nothing new...and doesnt play out in my dreams at all...i had less dreams last night though

worked out this morning...ate well except for (BIG EXCEPT) a rather large piece (chunk) of fudge...specially made locally at the famous tourist shop and given to us as "teacher appreciation"...i saved half for DH and put it away where i wont see it again ughhhh sugar is my downfall....planning to eat well tonight but still, it was SOOOO good and i almost dont even regret it lol

had one student Melt Down for almost 2 hours this afternoon...ughhh...spent my whole afternoon monitoring Just Him ack!

have alot of things to get done tonight and i really want to watch american idol but i might be too busy