Hi!

I want to join in, although I am a little late and wont meet my goal by May 24th. I want to lose about 9 pounds by about June 20th... a couple weeks before my boyfriend gets back from being gone for 5 months... I want to feel confident and energetic when he gets back!

I have been weighing in about 140 lately although this morning it said 138.5 (don't think that's permanent though) and I'd love to be 130 by mid-June.

Hopefully having a group will make it easier to stay focused on my goal!

This was not a very good week eating but the food was great.  My daughter was here for a week and cooked some fabulous meals.  I really worked on portion size

OK the cheese cake (just had 2 small pieces) is gone and I am ready to get with it again.  I weighed myself this morning and I was 136.6.  I cannot eat less or I would be below my BMR so it is to the gym I go.

Zochia thanks for the encouragement.  You are very mature for your age.  Here you are encouraging a mom with a daughter your age and 2 older ones.  You are a sweetheart and an inspiration.  God Bless

Great job to everybody and have a great week. 

I seemed to have hit a plateau :/ Scale hasn't budged in 2 weeks. I have a feeling I'm gaining some muscle though... i've been working out way more this month. So far only 3 days off this month... and I finally ran outside to get read for the sun run next week.

Any suggestions to bust through a plateau? I'm trying to vary my workout a bit...

I'm back, hi guys!!!!  Haven't counted or been on here for almost four days, but it feels like much longer!   You guys have all been quite busy and made some great choices!  Kinda missed you all  

Celebrated my test being over and had a really nice meal and drinks (mojitos, yum, yum) at a cuban restaurant on Sat.  But I wore my skinny jeans :)  and HTB said i looked hot! 

I was way up yesterday, shouldn't have stepped on.  So I'm going to try and wait til Friday morning to get back on.  Can I do it?  I've totally gotten into the 1/day habit, but I just want to see a happy number.  Gonna work hard and keep thinking about friday.

djkitten ~ I don't think there really is a secret to break plateaus, they're endlesssly frustrating, but all you have to is keep up faith that you're excersizing and eating right, then one day the weight will jsut drop off.  Don't give up!   (i know prob not the answer you were looking for)

Hey everyone!!!!!  Well I feel better now but just like two hours ago I had to get on here and just read everyones posts because this morning I woke up with a upset stomach.  SO I layed on my butt all morning.  That made me feel aweful.  I should of been riding my bike (which I think is about to fall apart, lol), or walking ar doing pilates.  But no, I just had to have a stomach ache on the first day of the week!!!!  SO after reading everyone's posts I was extremely encouraged.  So I got in the shower, finally, and took a 50 min bike ride.  So I feel a bit better.  I think I will take another one later plus a walk.  But will skip out in the pilates today.  Well my stomach is finally starting to go down from being away, helping the elderly couple.  And tomorrow I am going to amish country with them.  But thankfully we are taking lunch instead of going to a restuarant.  Thank goodness.  You know on my bike ride I was thinking, how fortunate I am to even be the size I am, but also lose weight if I desire it.  There are so many people out there that in their dna, make-up, that cannot lose weight.  It is impossible for them.  SO just thinking that made me very thankfull for the body the Lord gave me.  I have a question that may sound stupid.  DOesn't water, the more you drink, flush out the system and help you to lose more weight?

Anji- That is how my dad is!!!  He always brings home dounuts for dessert or a specialty bead, or something along those lines.  And most the time I only eat it so that I don't make him feel bad.  SO I am at a loss of what to do.  The problem with me staying out of the kitchen is, my hall way comes out in the kitchen.  SO in order to get back and forth from the living room and my bedroom I have to walk right through a part of it.  Wow, I am surprised you are not super woman!!!!  Doing those stairs everyday!!!!!!  You must al least have great calves!!!  SOmething I covet every time I see it on another woman. lol.  I am sooooo glad that the 194 was just a fluke!!!!!!  And I am sure you will see those 180's by the end of the week.

aresmom-I love barnes and noble...well anything with books in it.  As a matter of fact I should be getting a shipment in from Books A Million today!!!!!  Good job getting on your bike after eating out.!!!!!!  Although you hate that thing with a passion.  Great job for going so long without white carbs and sugar!!!  THere is no way I could do that for so long and not need to go see the shrink!!! lol

nieciecl- Welcome!!!!I hope you reach your goal.  We will be more than happy you help you along!!!!

cheermom- wow you hiked on your day off!!!!!!  You are so awesome!!!!  I am so glad it is the "fat" you that you are losing.  It makes me so happy when people start to really get into losing their weight.  Not because they look better.  Because it is so much more healthy and it makes that person feel sooo good inside.  Knowing they conqoured it all.  And great job subing the potatoes with the rice!!!

kimanne-  Wow great work on the water.  you must have been chugging!!!!  And your workout sounds great too!!!!!  Glad you are back on track, that makes two of us!!!!

dayummy-  WElcome!!!!!!  Glad you joined!!!

Stephiepops-Good job on the two pound loss!!!!!Sounds like you did awesome over the weekend and during the week with those 8 miles!!!!  Hope you can make that goal this week!!  Yeah I'll take on a mini challenge...Drink only water and make that 64 oz. 

immom-  I have heard that stress can make a person gain weight.  For a while I think that is part of what caused me to gain some of my weight.  SOmething that should never happen to a person happened to me, and I dwelled on it a lot and it stressed me out.  And it was during that time that I started to gain it.

blondiepants- Welcome.  Glad you joined us.

Olivia- I have a friend that have really bad knees and she is only 17.  She just takes it easy.  Do you try wearing a brace while jogging.  That can be extremely hard onthe knees.

emilynsb- Welcome,  it deffinatly makes it easier to lose when there are others helping you along.  Good Luck.

puppykisses-you had cheese cake and didn't invite me!!! Thanks for the complement.  I always try my hardest to encourage others in every aspect of life.  I never want to be a hinderence to anyone.  My biggest worry is that I will drag someone down for one reason or another.  SO I am glad I am an inspiration to you.  You saying that made my day!!!

djkitten- after a while of workout and dieting a person will hit a plateau.  SO jsut hang in there it will go away in time and you will see a loss again here soon.

lemntwist- congrats on your skinny jeans!!!!!  Hope you did well on you test!!!

well, off to hopefully take a walk or get on that bike again.  Good luck to everyone and hope there are good results on friday!!!

olivia77 and djkitten - I just took a nutrition class yesterday and they said that a study actually found that the artificial sweetener in diet sodas do not act as good as in regular because natural sugar causes the body to sense it's fuller and does not need the food.  Here's what she actually said with rats...

rats that were given diet sweetener ate more than rats given regular sugar daily.

And when the rats were all given a natural sugar treat before their meal, the rats who normally have the natural sugar naturally compensated by eating less than the ones who ate the artificial sweetener.  It seems the rats body did not know how to compensate when given sugar. 

Just a little FYI

But I still commend you for drinking it. I am completely addicted to Pepsi. Can anyone say rehab?????  But I am trying to limit myself to 4 oz every other day. I found that if I go longer than that I get the withdrawal headaches and the only thing that cures them is a "shot" of Pepsi.  Not even coffee.

Well I feel much better now.  I wasn't able to get my walk in, night came so soon.  And our days are not extremely long yet so the days are still sorta short.  But I did get in my second bike ride.  And before I leave tomorrow at 10 am or so I want to get a bike ride in.  Hopefully I get to it.  I am going to try a new daily routine.  Hopefully it will work.  But I will have to start it on wednesday becuse I don't know how long I will be gone tomorrow.  But when I get home hopefully it will be light out enough still to at least get in another bike ride.  And hopefully we do a bit of walking.  But I have my chin up and am still excited and am hoping for a good number on the scale on Friday.  If I ever get ion it!!!  It is driving me crazy!!!  every weigh in I miss it so far.  And I have not been on a scale since I stated my period and I don't even want to count that time cause I weighed more because of it!!!!!! 

Olivia- aawwww hope you feel better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Good work For at least doing something while feeling bad.  All I did was sit on my butt. lol

Wow Zochia that was a beast of a message! I'm totally with you on the water!

So I'm still 155 this morning (8Ib to go!) which is good and means I am maintaining this loss. I really want to get to 153 by Fri/Sat but think I may only manage 154 - I will still be happy with that though! I think I did really well yesterday I was actually at about 1200 after my dinner so had a yogurt and some wholemeal bread to bump me up a bit to 1400cals. I dont want to go too low - or am I being silly? Did a 3 mile run in 30mins 10 seconds which is another improvment. Plus some pilates infront of the tv. Feeling good today as well. A bit more hungry but I am filling myself up with green tea to try and curb the appetite.

Going to make nice healthy turkey burgers/pattys tonight so I am looking forward to that alread and may go for another jog plus the pilates. I'm sure I am seeing a slightly more defined stomach when I look in the mirror!

Olivia - sorry to hear your feeling under the weather plus TOTM - Thats a real bummer! To get better from colds faster stay away from sugar! Any type of sugar. The cold germs feed mainly off sugar in your system so the less sugar there is the better you will get!! Eat lots of good wholesome chicken soup and you will get better.

Immom - I agree with Zochia - Stress makes you retain weight around your middle so try some yoga or small amounts of meditation to release some stress. Failing that - get a massage!

lemntwist - Nice one on the jeans. I wear a pair of skinny jeans regularly but want to get rid of my muffin tops!

Keep going everyone! x

Hey everyone!!!  Well I did get up early this morning to go on my bike ride and it usually takes me about 45 min to do the whole route.  And well, this morning it only took me 25.  So I may have to find a new route to make it long again.  I was supossed to leave 45 min ago, bu they are running late.  So I went outside to play with the dog for a few minutes.  I know that for a fact I will be able to weight myself this Friday.  I will have two chances.  SO I will have no reason not too.  I think I will do it on the digital scale, I think it is more accurate.  It is so hard for me to get my exact weight on a slide bar one.  Hopefully when I get back today I will have time to take a walk or another bike ride or both.  That would be wonderful.

stephiepops-  Yeah that did turn out to be kinda long. lol. Good, lets check up on each other everyday to make sure we are drinking the water.  SO far I am working on 32 oz at 10:50.  So I think I will make it!!!!!  Your not being silly at all.  If you eat too little calories it might cause you to binge or gain the weight back easily.  Wow 3 in 30min!!!!  Thet is booking.  I wish so bad that I could run but my aszma prevents me from doing it much, more so in the cold weather.  SO good for you!!!!!Sounds like your dinner is going to be yummy!!!  isn't it wonderful when you can see the differnce in the syomach.  I look at my stomach everyday in the mirror, somethimes a few times.lol.  Just becasue I love to see the progress. 

amaresmom- I think that would be agreat thing to do.  SEe how well everyone is doing might cause us to get even more motivated and wanting to get better results.  I know it would help me stay out of that kitchen.

Well I am off to see if there is anything else I can do to keep busy before I leave.  Oh, on friday I will be packing my lunch when I go to town instead of going to the diner!!!!  I have already made up my mind.  Though chinese sounds soooo good, on second thought it gives my a tarrible stomach ache.  SO never mind.  Good luck to everyone on there Tuesday!!!!!!!!!

Doing ok so far today.... (in the UK so it is 4.30pm now!) I had a serious sugar craving earlier and so nearly dived for the biscuit tin but stuck with Green Tea and some gum instead and now I'm just about ok.

Amaresmom - that is a brilliant idea, I am getting really confused with how everyone is doing!

Zochia - Not really sure what 32oz of water looks like and can't really measure in oz, all I know I have drunk A LOT today - only water and green tea (which is supposed to speed up your metabolism) and lots of it!!

Stephiepops-16 oz. is 500 ml. Hope that helps.  Thanks for the clue about sugar. I've been battling a sinus infection since January.  I thought I read somewhere to avoid sugar.  I'm going to stick to water today. No PEPSI and try to avoid sugar added foods. Maybe a salad and tuna sandwich for dinner later.  I already had sugar in my coffee and on my oatmeal but I'm going to avoid it tomorrow.

Zocchia-great will power. All I did today was get up at 11 a.m., eat breakfast and fill out a credit app online.  I did not get to sleep until 4 a.m. so don't look at me like I slept allday and night.

Well guys. I'm starting to get brave and I think I might give the bike a try today instead of a walk.  Remember, I have NO coordination so let's see if I can pull this off.

amaresmom - On Friday after my next weigh-in I'll post start/current weight.

Thanks for the encouragment ladies :) I think I was getting stuck in the same rut at the gym... plus I haven't had a hockey game in a couple of weeks.

Hopefully training for this 10k on the weekend will wake it up, I need to see a drop!

Good point on the measuring... I have been slacking a bit lately trying to eyeball more. Maybe I'm not ready :)

Thanks for the tip on artifical sweetners. Trying to change the diet coke and crystal lite for more water. I also read something about coffee hampering weight loss. This will be much harder to give up! Day 4 without and I can feel it!

Hey gals!  Sounds like everyone is managing to stay mostly on track even with a lot of distractions!

I have a bad cold and my Mom is coming out to visit for the weekend - so my goal this week is to not use those 2 factors as a reason to stuff my face! Really, eating a ton doesn't make you feel better but its hard to resist!  So far I am doing good, so i just need to stay focused.

Happy Tuesday everyone!

thanks for the confirmation on the stress weight guys. I feel good. I went for a run today. It  was awesome! Then I ran into my X bf at the store. Me, down 11lbs...he noticed. Maybe I flaunted it a little, Hmm...don't ya wish you treated me better. And my kids completely brushed him off. HA

sorry I'm done now

Hay everyone,

Managed to get in my exercise yesterday I got on the treadmill and did some intervals and wow were they tough. I set it at an incline and walked briskly for 2mins sprinted for 1min 10 times. I was way more sweaty than just doing 30mins. I would really recomend it so any runners. Vary your routine as otherwise your body gets used to it. Also did some pilates and had some healthy turkey burgers for dinner.

Then - shock - this morning the scales dropped 1Ib down to 154!! That means I am 7Ib away! I really hope I keep it off for the weigh in this week. Going to try and be very good today, I am really craving chocolate .... ahh!!

Immom - Nice one about the X!

Olivia - Keep up with the chicken souop - believe me it works! We are all with you.

Mich - Bad luck about the cold, eat healthy vitamin filled things and watch the sugar intake (germs feed off the sugar in your body).

Well done on giving up coffee kitten!

Cheermom - Thanks for the tip about the water I will hopefully be able to work it out now! I hope the reduction in sugar helps your sinuses - plus is will probably help the weight loss so go for it!

Have a good wednesday - half way through the week!