300+ Countdown to Jan 1, 2009 !

   T O T A L   L O S T   I N   2 0 0 8 :   9 9 3 . 9  L B S   

       LINK to *NEW* Jan 2009 / Jan 2010 Thread 

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      We share a long journey.
      January 1, 2009 is coming ... IS HERE ! 
      What progress we'll make ... WE'VE MADE !
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~ THE 2008 300+ COUNTDOWN CLUB ~
      Counting down to JAN 1, 2009!
 1. Post your 1st of month weigh in.
 2. Check your updated number below.
 3. Let me know of any corrections.

.......................... GROUP WEIGHT LOSS ..........................
SW: 320.0   JAN 1st 2009 185.0     Lost  135.0  bigbrett22
SW: 340.0   JAN 1st 2009 173.0     Lost  167.0  danielle_20077
SW: 343.0   JAN 1st 2009 275.0     Lost    68.0  denise07
SW: 326.0   JAN 1st 2009 280.0     Lost    38.0  freethrowtommy 
SW: 354.0   JAN 1st 2009 328.0     Lost    26.0  humorpam
SW: 329.0   JAN 1st 2009 295.0     Lost    34.0  korali
SW: 329.0   JAN 1st 2009 221.0     Lost  108.0  laurabow
SW: 370.0   JAN 1st 2009 286.0     Lost    84.0  mnic
SW: 442.2   JAN 1st 2009 392.0     Lost    50.2  mwiowa
SW: 325.0   JAN 1st 2009 267.0     Lost    58.0  punkrockriot
SW: 315.0   JAN 1st 2009 226.0     Lost  100.0  renaer14
SW: 317.0   JAN 1st 2009 311.0     Lost      6.0  shnitzel (tracy)
SW: 465.0   JAN 1st 2009 220.8     Lost  244.0  sun123
SW: 385.0   JAN 1st 2009 336.8     Lost    52.0  sunnyone24
SW: 305.0   JAN 1st 2009 234.5     Lost    70.5  Tina_4792
SW: 367.0   JAN 1st 2009 299.0     Lost    69.4  topeze
SW: 576.0   JAN 1st 2009 447.0     Lost  129.0  velvetkiss 
SW: 325.0   JAN 1st 2009 255.0     Lost    70.0  watchmeshine82
SW: 355.0   JAN 1st 2009 287.0     Lost    68.0  wobbley
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Those ingredients read like a healthy muffin, unlike the balls of cake they sell in stores.  Im not much the cook but they sound wonderful! 

Work is nuts. New job responsibilites so extremely busy (yesterday wasnt even around) but plan to pop in daily at least.  You guys help keep me on the straight and narrow.  Thanksgiving, my usual thursday weighin, is heavy on my mind with intention to max out my efforts for feeling my top confidence and comfortable seeing so many folks again. 

Starting to get the sore feet bottoms from walking even though Ive been at it for weeks.  Admittedly, dont own sneakers and wearing those foamy rubber shoes but have walking shoes on my to do list. 

Wishing all continued success heading towards Dec 1 !!

Michelle, the info is for the medium size.  I usually fill the muffin tin up to about 3/4 of the way full, doing that to all 24, then if i have left over batter, I add to the ones who look a little less full.

Let me know if you like them !!!

285 !!!!!!!!!!!!! that was this mornings weightin ... lowest ever !! yay !

Hi Everyone!  Yesterday was my weigh in and I reached another Goal. I've finally got out of the 290's. This morning the scales said 286! That's a 6 pound lost this week. This month has been so hard, it's like I've wasted the first two weeks of November. I would go down a pound and up a pound. But I really kicked it up a notch this week and tried real hard. No more cheating!!!! Or at least I tried. :-)    I  know I have Thanksgiving to handle but I'm planning on it only being ONE day to worry about.  I'm not going to have to many leftovers to keep tempting me. My next goal is to get in the 270's and then dare I say it "My 100 pound Goal". It's only 16 pounds away.   If anyone had told me 5 and half months ago that I would be this close to lose a 100 pounds, I truly wouldn't have believed them. My husband wants to take me somewhere and make it special but I think it will be in January when I reach it and the weather might be a factor. We can't afford to fly some place, besides we have our little dog Callie that we won't leave. Only 16 pounds away I really need to be thinking of a place we can go. Maybe a long weekend in Dallas, anything going south. :-)  I love reading everyone's entries and seeing how everyone is doing so good. You just don't know how it motivates me.   Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!  Carol

Wow, tried reading all the back posts, but have been lurking.  My family was in town, and even though I had a few days of not great eating, I did pretty decent overall.  I did gain some back (all the eating out), but then had some very devasting news this past Monday which lead to consuming chocolate.  Lots and lots of chocolate.  We don't have as many chocolate items in the house to start with, but now, we have practically no more items with chocolate.  It was a very bad stuffing of the face.  But, I got back on track yesterday and did very well.  I also made some changes to help jump start my loss again, since it'd gotten slow.  On the plus side, I'm hoping this past week and a half will have boosted the metabolism or something like that.

It was good reading in here too.  Sounds like most people had a binge sometime in the past 2-3 weeks or so, slowed down, but like we're all back to our healthy eating again!  We'll all eat more on Thanksgiving, I'm sure.  But, not like we did a year ago or anywhere close to that.  And then we'll be back to pushing on towards New Years.  It actually is kind of exciting looking to lose until then.  I mean, it helps keep me focused and push through the holidays.  And, it'll be great to see everyone's loss for the year.  And hopefully this time next year, we'll all be very close to where we want to be.  That sounds so far away at times, but not as much as it used to be.  I just realized that I've been at this for over 6 months!  I can't imagine people who don't find groups like ours.  How do they do it?

Ok, Happy Thursday everyone!  And good luck on the healthy eating and exercising!!

WELL DONE you guys!!!!! jumping up-and-down with joy for you all.

You are all doing fab! I am sure you will wow all your family in your party frocks. Happy thanksgiving to all, remember its only one day.

I am trying to forget the numbers, the scale in Publix went right off the scale but at least now it is under the 300, a very small loss but still not the same weight 298 as I am back home, hopeinf the difference is the clothes I have on and the time of day.

I am still trying to stay focused eat heathily and swim for a hour a day so that when I get back to the UK I hope my weight will reflect my sacrifices now(don't really want to go back to the cold, It's nice and warm in Florida) .

Happy holidays.

sun, I have the same problem with the bottoms off my feet even wearing sneakers. I think it happens to be just how I walk I'm a bit of a heavy foot walker. I didn't realize you got a new job I must of missed that somewhere. Hope that goes good for you. How fun a new job at the same time as you being so successful with your weight. I know that always helps me feel more confident, comfortable and successful.

korali, I'm thinking about making your cupcakes for the family Thanksgiving or Christmas get together. I'd love to take something healthy. My grandparents are very health conscious, so I think they would really enjoy those. Congrats on the new low!! I am soooo happy for you. It sounds like you are really back on track.

mnic, YAH!!! How exciting to be so close I' was in your shoes just a week or two ago. You can do it and when you hit that hundred pound mark you'll realize how much counting everything and exercise was worth it. I can completely relate to if someone had told me I would be this close to losing 100lbs I would of laughed and now I'm so close and even making goals that are going to put me into the 100's. Rock climbing is one of my goals and I found a sports shop that has in doors rock climbing I was so excited when I found that out, as I will to reach my goal when it is freezing. Sometimes looking outside the box helps with those rewards and makes it even more fun.

liza, Hope everything is ok. Everyone has those moments of just needing to give up everything for a moment, but it's what you do to revert from it becoming a consistant event in your life is what makes you stronger and keeps you from becoming that person you dislike. We've all fallin off and gotten back on and you can do the same. Good luck the months not over and your doing great already. I feel the same way I don't think I could of gotten this far without this group, I really don't know how others do it without everyone here.

I am so excited this morning I hit 216!! My lowest yet. I honestly don't remember the last time I ever was this weight. It feels awesome! Just 2 pounds away from my 100lb. loss. I went to lunch with my mom and a friend of ours, first free meal for awhile now, and we did the salad bar, it wasn't to bad till I got soup and second plate of salad and a cookie for dessert. I feel so bloated and kind of blah at the moment. I think I'm going to go walk around the office to get rid of the bloated feeling. I'm praying this didn't hurt my weight loss. We'll see in the morning. I'm right on track though so I can't complain to much. I've done awesome so far this month already I'm excited to see what the month end brings and we still have 10 days to go before weigh in:)

Every challenge brings strength.    

-Ang

Wow Ang congrats !! 100lbs lost thats AMAZING !! I cant wait till I can say that ... but for now im content with my 44lbs lost !!

Looks like everyone is having a great week !!

Hang in there everyone !

Is November awesome or what?!  Ang at 216! That 100 lb loss is right there, you must be able to taste it and calorie free too LOL! On your way to 'One'-derland (I stole that from someone on this thread and its posted on the wall above my scale).  

Wobbley, for vacation your doing wonderful!! It IS possible LOL!  Soak up all those sunshine rays and betting your scale will give you a friendly greeting with your efforts.  How long left til you return home?

Liza, welcome to the back on track mode! Think of how many are postponing knowing new years resolutions will be pending but with December and whats left of November, we can plow through the holidays victorious.  Regarding how folks without support like we have each other do it - I fear I'd be screwing up. Hoping your doing okay considering your news {{LIZA}}. 

What a week, Carol! The early month seems to have been holding out for this lovely weighin - 6 lbs and in those 280s :D! Im with you - its one day, one crazy food day and appreciating eating out not to have haunting foods in the fridge.  Know you'll use these weeks to do good and go at those 16 lbs for that 100 goal.  Excited for you !!

Korali, got to love that 285! How about those healthy groceries and supportive hubby.  The odds were behind you and you worked it to hit a record low.  What a month your having. 

I have good news - funny though, I gained .4 ounces this week.  Yes you read that right but good because Im on TOM which means I wont be on it for next week Thanksgiving or the following weekend company party.  Continuing to put in the hard work and willing to wait it out for TOM to pass and this work to show up on the scale. 

korali, thank you thank you. Not there yet, but so close it's driving me crazy. 44lbs lost is amazing! Before you know it you'll be hitting that hundred pound lost mark, you're already on the right track. You can do it!

sun, lol love the tasting 100lb loss and calorie free comment lol. I think November has just been incredible. It's like kick your butt in gear month or something. Man you are going to have an awesome Dec. 1st weigh in, just keep up the good work and as soon at TOM passes you'll have your major drop you're body is famous for doing.

Still sticking with 216 this morning. I kind of like seeing the same number on the scale. It kind of makes it official even if I am 1 pound away from hitting my 100lb loss goal and 2 pounds away from my Saturday goal. I'm sure if drink lots of water and get my exercise in I'll be seeing those numbers this weekend. I was really glad to not see a gain I was a little worried after my big lunch, but I was so good the rest of the day that I wasn't to surprised when I saw the 216 again.

Good luck everyone. Happy Holidays.

-Angie 

Hi all,

First, I changed my user name (this is Liza) for more anonymity (I think I spelled it right...bad computer, all the icons and pics are gone).  But, I don't want real life people to find me on this site when I tell them about it.  So, this is the name of one of my MMO characters for a game that I haven't played in a while.  I gave them the option of this name or Fraggle Rocket, another name of my toon.

I feel so much more motivated, although it really hasn't hit the getting moving part of me yet.  I've been feeling more lazy and not wanting to work out.  I think what gets me the most isn't so much the actual activity compared to the amount of time that I feel I waste cause I'm working out, stretching, etc.  It's funny, though, cause it seems that most of us are more motivated right now, even with all the holidays, than a little bit ago.  I have goal pants and want to fit them by Christmas.  Cause otherwise, it'll just suck.

Alright, hope everyone's having a great day.  And woohoo for Friday!!!

Ang, forgot to mention I have same job, different position although still from home . Its something Im better at so loving it despite it being much more work.   Youve got your 100 lb moments away and then the crossover 200 right behind.  You must be pumped!

Welcome Topeze *wink* - the "Z" helps liza for the memory challenged. In the many years Ive been online, CC was the first time I ever put a photo to my online anonymity.  Go goal pants! Your holiday gift to help with motivation.  Im the opposite. Im driven from habit - "must go walk" and its only when Im out there pushing myself, I think "I felt so driven to go through this?" LOL.

Speaking of which, late last night it hit me - I never went walking! My repetitive life keeps my memory on track so it still was surprising but all I could think was - the dress!  That and how I'd heard it was supposed to be crazy low for TX, like 37 degrees.  So 10:30 headed out with layers piled on and the cold biting my face. 

Starting second lap, I gradually started stripping until I got home carrying the layers. Funny thing was I had shirts over my dress so Im walking down the street pulling them off over my head LOL.  That late, I didnt have an audience but a few passing cars.  Course wasnt inside my cold house for long before I started bundling back up.

ALSO - the cold, definitely upped my pace - loving that. The late night walk - I could get used to that peacefulness.

Ang, I really do get excited when other people are that close to important goals.  Just so exciting to see.  And I know that all of you will be part of my story when I'm done losing, so I like to think that we're all part of each other's goals too.  So, keep us updated for when you hit that mark...I'm sure it's any day now!

Sun, haha, didn't even think of it.  I think the Z has always been a favorite letter, cause it was one of the distinguishing parts of who I was.  Unique.  But, ya'll can still call me Liza on here, I don't care.  It's more that I just don't want to be everywhere with my name.  And I think you're right.  Habit is so important.  And when stress hits, I get out of those habits. 

I went for a walk last night with my dog (I don't like going alone), and did 40 minutes.  It was cold when I started, but after I got going, it felt right about perfect.  And not hot and sweaty at all!  Like you Sun, I like the cold walk.  I'm guessing we also burn more since we have to keep ourselves warmer anyway.  And I actually did pretty good...I do a loop at the park, which is right at 1/3 of a mile.  I do a tiny bit of running, to push myself and get my heart rate up.  They have lights running around the park, and instead of running from one light to the 2nd one after it, I upped it to the 3rd!  While this is still a short distance, it's still more than I could.  Was excited about this.

Oh, and even with all my complaining lately, my weigh in was good this morning.  I was down to 295.2.  So even though I've been hovering at 300 for the past month (last week was 299.8, week before 298.2), I'm finally moving away from it again, so woohoo!!  Still feels weird to no longer be in the 300s when 6 months ago, I was 2/3 the way to 400.

Hey you guys I found some inspirations. I am all about inspiring quotes and I found one from another forum I had to share.

"It's a lot harder to be fat than it is to work so hard at being fit. Fit feels so good."

The woman who stated this was Karen Daniel, she started out weighing 375 and has now gotten down to 200, 175lbs lost in two years!! She was eating her emotions and her life away.

Her story was very inspirational to me as I know my life and so many others of us have the same story. Life is painful and frustrating when your weight effects your life so much.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/diet.fitness/1 1/21/weightloss.karen.daniel/index.html

I don't know about you guys but I would rather exercise, count calories and eat to live instead of live to eat. I like the idea of going to a carnival or an amusement park, with my friends and in the future my children, and ride the rides, fly on a plane without worrying about getting a seat belt extender, going to see a movie without the fear of the seats being to small to watch the movie comfortably, sitting in an armed chair in general and not worrying about the arms digging into my sides, not worrying about getting in and out of little cars (my friend has a tiny sports car 50lbs ago it was a nightmare to get in and out of), going out and not always feeling like the fattest girl there, walking up a flight of stairs without huffing and puffing and most of all I love the idea of being comfortable in my own skin!

When we get down, when we get frustraighted and we just want to give up remember:

IT IS HARDER TO BE FAT THAN IT IS TO BE FIT!   

We've had an incredible November keep up the good work and I think we're all going to be in shock of our own progress by January 1, 2009.

By the way, I hit 215:)

-Angie

For a while now Ive had callous blisters on both soles from walking, about an inch across. There just sore to walk on but after my laps, ooo!!  Outside of the 'after laps', they tame down to bearable.  Last night, after my laps something occurred to me - my new holiday shoes, first heels in many year.  In my bare feet, lifted my heels and felt what it was like to put all my weight on those blisters. Problem! 

I know there are other exercises but for whatever reason, walking the block works for me as in I do it (surprisingly as Im no exerciser) and I have stuck with it (more surprising).  Im more determined to walk laps and max my loss potential for the holiday dresses than wear the heels but I also dont want to give them up either.  They lift my edema swollen ankles up out of view so I dont feel my feet have to be completely hidden.

My 'coach' Alice and daughter have separately hit me to get sneakers. Oh no - my cushion foam shoes are too loose and comfortable but reading up, learned loose shoes sliding is a cause of these blisters.  I dont like sneakers and tried socks but it didnt stop the blisters.  Im stubborn but Im also a realist. Something had to give and ideally not the skin of my soles so today, I conced and will purchase sneakers.  Shouldnt be such a big deal but I will mourn my loose slip on shoes.   Heading out - if I dont, might change my mind.

Hey sun, had an idea for you.  I know they sell sneaker like shoes that you slip on.  More like a sneaker mule.  Maybe those might work better for your needs?

I had read that Ang, well par t of it at least.  I also think about a lot of those things that I'll be able to do and am already starting to notice some differences.  Not as many as I'd like, but still, enough.  Grats on the 215.  only 1 more to go!!

Ok, I know that I'll get the "everything will even out" answer but I really need advice.  I really have buckled down the last 7 days getting ready for Thanksgiving so I can have my mom's zuchini casserole and not feel guilty about it - sooooo I have been strictly sticking to 1800 calories or less each day, riding my exercise bike, 30 minutes each day and I step on the scale this morning and I haven't lost a pound...in fact I think I'm up like 0.2 lb or something.  What am I doing?  It's not TTOM and I'm getting lots of veggies and fruits to fill in those calories.  Is this a stupid question?  Any help would be greatly appreciated even if it's news I may not want to hear, I want to hear it so I can get back on my losing streak.  Thanks for listening!

Could you be building muscle?  Do you weight train?  I find that days after I weight train, I'm higher than if I skip a day to weigh.  I retain more water that next day. 

And yes, it will even out.  Unfortunately, our bodies sometimes do what they want to with no rhyme or reason to it.  And then the next week, they do the something different that doesn't make sense, but we're happy cause we had a big loss.  I wouldn't worry about it too much, since you're making the right choices.  A big thing for me is to drink a lot of water.  I lose better when I drink 10 glasses (80 oz) or more every day.  And increase that when I work out.  Although, as one girl I know says it, she determines it by the color of her pee.  That will help shed the water weight, since that's probably what it is.

Sounds like everyone is having some cold weather, I thought I was the only place that is alittle colder than normal for this time of year.

sun, I love slip on shoes too and just had to break down and get some tennis shoes for walking.  It makes my feet much happier but I loved the ease and comfort of my slip on's.

My weight stayed the same this week, I was busy this week so I didnt eat as well and now retaining water, but next week will be better.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Original Post by topeze:

 Although, as one girl I know says it, she determines it by the color of her pee.  That will help shed the water weight, since that's probably what it is.

 Hi, a little tip I was told is that your pee should be very light in colour, pale straw colour, if it is dark then you are definately NOT drinking enough water also any "solid matter" you pass should float! if not you are not eating enough fibre. Does anyone else have any other info about this?

This do even out and my body seems to have a mind of its own, it's so disheartening when you are good and the scales do not show this, but then the next week it all evens out, keep at it and let go of ALL control over the Thanksgiving, Dec 1st is coming.