Sharon that's a brilliant mental picture to start my day with, I must try it sometime! YEah to the positive end to the day!

MW I've got everything crossed for you on the job front, sounds great! Talking of thunder thighs, that's what I call myself ha ha! WHen My thighs no longer disgust me, no matter what the number on the scale I'll be super happy!

lhanna well done on the loss! Portion sizes are another of my (many!) enemies on this quest, I'm geting better, but not by much. It's easy while I'm over here becuase Thai portions are typically tiny, or perhaps that's normal but they just seem tiny. But when I'm cooking for myself or eating in a western restaurant I know I have more than I need!

Alimac Enjoy the skiing, and I hope you lose big before you go

CofaTree Whoop to your loss well done! Long may it continue

So, last night was a success, I went out and drank soda and didn't even want beer, yippee! Came home early had a good nights sleep and woke up fresh this morning, brilliant! Also woke up freezing, it's our winter just kicking in and although days are still hot, nights get really chilly, so I was really glad to jump out of bed and stick the 30 Day Shred on to warm me up. I'm really getting into it now, but NEED to find some dumbbells to up the challenge!

Another busy day here today, but that's good keeps me from snacking and the cycling and walking all add up towards the calorie burn.

Tutoring and then staying in tonight, and cooking at home, so less temptations to get through, yay!

Have a great Thursday everyone

tc - well done for resisting the calorific beer and for doing your exercise DVD. I can't seem to find the time to do my Zumba DVD...but at the back of my mind, I also know that that is a bit of an excuse...maybe the exercise motivation will come once I'm in the swing of my eating plan.

mw - hope you've had another positive placement day today! You can't underestimate the power of mental positivity to make dieting and exercising so much easier to do, can you?

Sharon - you are now forever pictured as having big hair, pink frosted lipstick and a stonewash ra-ra skirt on in my head, now that I know you were an 80s chick!

Hope everyone is having a fun-filled Thursday...it's time to go and make some lunch now.

I'm Caroline by the way

Morning everyone ... hope everyone is doing ok .... feeling a bit hungry and grumpy this morning .... just had some oat bran porridge (allowed on Dukan) and hoping it'll help ....

On a positive note, Friday is casual day at work and all the smallies come in wearing their cool jeans, tops etc. For the past few months I've been wearing my black but NOT TODAY ... Today I decided to cram myself into my jeans (the old reliable ones that had been toooo tight) .... ok, they're still a little tight but I'm hoping the top I'm wearing is loose enough to hide the muffin top!!!

Take care

Meh, why can't dieting be easy? I want it to be life but bad food is so blooming good, arrrrgh!

Cofa Tree - yep, if you look hard enough you'll find time for the workout!

Ali - yay to the jeans

Happy weekend everyone, will be back with more to say tomorrow, I'm exhausted just now x

Good morning all

I joined yesterday and found this thread this morning. I've got to say I'm so pleased I found and joined this site when I did! It's so encouraging to read all of your posts - the fantastic weight loss you're experiencing, as well as the problems / set backs which make me realise realise that it's normal to have days when that carrot stick just isn't enough!

My weight loss journey restarted a week ago when i realised that the jeans that were once a bit too big on me were starting to feel a bit tight. And also someone hinting about pregnancy once too often made me realise how much I'd let things slip.

My longterm goal is to get down to a comfortable size 14 and get my BMI to a healthy number. However short term, I'd love to get back into a size 16 (got some pretty things from the last time I lost weight!). Planning on making a return to Zumba this week... Also bought that Zumba music cd over the weekend, so may even make up my own dances. It'll be like primary school all over again!!!

Take care everyone. Look forward to chatting with you and good luck on your journeys

Hi KatDuckie - Welcome to the site! Seems like we have a similar journey to go on! Particularly when you are dieting at home and not through a class, I think a site like this is invaluable for support.

I hope everyone has had a good weekend. I was at a funeral on Fri (husband's side of the family) and there were only cakes, sandwiches and nuts to eat for lunch and dinner, so I went waaaaay over my calorie limit. Oh well, I'm in this for the long haul so the occasional blip is fine. Am planning on doing my Zumba DVD tomorrow as my son's in nursery for his first day ahead of my part-time return to work at the end of the month...

I hope everyone has had a good weekend and that there aren't too many Monday blues out there......

Katduckie - welcome! This place is great! Good luck on your journey and come back here often for support and friendship it's bril! I also restarted when clothes were beginning to get tight again, argh! I wish I didn't always roll off the wagon like that. But, as I've said a thousand times, I'll say again, this time it's for good! As for Zumba, I wish I didn't have two left feet and I'd certainly give it a go, but as it is, I'm all over the place!

CofaTree don't worry about the food on Friday, as you say it's got to be realistic. I took Saturday off, just because I was going insane. Getting back on it yesterday was tough, but I did it, and I think a day a week when I can do what I want might be the way forward, and in the long run keep me to plan and not have too many adverse effects! Good luck with the DVD today!


Busy weekend here, which is far from typical! Went out for dinner on Friday, but then came home afterwards and got an early night because Saturday was Karen New Year (the Karen are the ethnic group from Burma that I work with) so I was up way too early and to the refugee camp I work in for the festivities. I avoided snacking, but lunch was huge! Then home and had some beers in the evening with a delicious but not at all healthy Burmese curry. Yesterday I had a pool day, no snacking and healthy meals and in the evening went to an Iron Cross concert, Burma's biggest band who came to play in my town, it was brilliant! The longest set I've ever seen a band do, they came on about about 7.30 and didn't finish until just before midnight! Needless to say I'm knackered today!

Today will be day 8 of the 30 day shred, I'm on course with that so far but think it's going to hurt today, after four hours of jumping and dancing about last night, my knee is painful today, but I'll save it for later and see how it goes!

Can't wait for an on plan week!

Thinking Slim guys

Was my son's 18th on Friday so I had some champagne and other naughties. Stopped at one slice of cake, though. Got back on track on the weekend and my Monday weigh in - am down 2KG. Is only my first week, and so I know that is going to slow massively, but it's a nice start. The most interesting thing is the way my measurements have shifted, even just over 7 days. 5cm off my waist even though my period is due.

Well done to everyone and good luck for the coming week, whether you lost or not - just to stay on track is enough, longterm. x

Well done PhatPoenix! Both for the weight loss and the inch loss! How are you going about achieving this?

Can't do my Zumba DVD . Since a couple of days after Christmas, I've had pain between my shoulder blades and tenderness around my right rib area, particularly at night. It's been keeping me awake and almost on the verge of tears a couple of times. Initially I thought it was trapped wind or indigestion so was trying gaviscon etc, but it's just got worse, despite my Jan health kick, so went to the docs today - she thinks it may be my gallbladder so am having a fasting blood test on Wed and am being booked in for an ultrasound to check what's going on. Have to stay away from alcohol and fatty foods (which I am doing anyway at the mo!) and only do gentle exercise like walking.

Think I'm only on for a one pound loss this week so was wanting to the DVD to try and lose more. Oh well, I just have to keep telling myself, this is a lifestyle change for the long run, so I'll just save the DVD for when I know what's going on and whether it's safe to do it.

You're all very inspirational! I'm new on here, after many years of fad dieting!
I'm currently at my heaviest ever, and have just finished week one - with 6lbs lost

I find it really hard to talk to my friends about my weight loss because a) most are male and just don't understand, b) they're all skinny!

I have an amazing fiance who is trying his best to be supportive, however he also doesn't understand - it's doubley tricky since atm he's trying to bulk up a bit and so he's eating the complete opposite to me! So it would be nice to have some people to talk to who actually get it!

Hi purplekitten7 - welcome to the boards and talk away to us all - I certainly do whether people want to read it or not

Thanks Cofa Tree!

I've put on 2 stone overall since I met my partner, and I'm sure he thinks he's being supportive by telling me he still loves me/finds me attractive and would no matter how much I gained...but it's not the most motivating thought!

How do you guys stay motivated to shift the weight?

My motivation is to start a family, I had a miscarriage in 2011 and while everyone tells me it's not my fault - I feel guilty in case my weight was a contributing factor! Unfortunately at the time, the guilt made me put on 3 stone in 18 months from what I was then - comfort eating I suppose

OK, so I need a bit of a me, me, me post in the hope it'll help me get back on track with my eating.......

You may have noticed how I've created a log post, and promptly stopped logging, meh! Because I can't seem to eat well at the moment. I mean, I'm eating better than I would if I wasn't giving it any consideration, but I've lost my ability to just eat three good meals and NOT SNACK!

Exercise is going well. I'm loving the 30 day shred, but I still feel MEH MEH MHE on the food related front. So, I hereby promise to do better FROM NOW! NOt from tomorrow, from now!

I'll be back tomorrow triumphant and in a better mood and ready to do personals

Keep going everyone

Hi Sharelle...sounds to me that you are doing great, let's recap....1. healthy eating 2. a dreaded photo (that's a brave move right there) and 3. starting exercising. That's awesome, pat yourself on the back....as my 6 year old woukd say....You Rock!!!

Hi curleycarr - I see we have the same start weight and same desired end weight! Because of my (lack of) height, I'm supposed to be at least another half stone less to be in the correct bmi category, but thought 154 was a good goal to aim for.

Hope everyone is managing to keep on track. Got my second weigh-in tomorrow so we'll see what that brings. Had an up and down week, but hoping it'll come out positive overall.

Just think how much less we'll all weigh this time next week if we keep on track...