"152/141/119" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! EK... I am so super proud of you. SO so soso osososososooso proud. Jasmi, treat yourself. Treat yourself good. :) You've been working hard and we all need a day to appreciate our hard work. (I'm having a piece of chocolate cake that my 7 year old made all by herself tonight, with some help getting it in and out of the oven... just Betty Crocker... but her first ever "all by myself" cake!!) I thought about you on the mountain yesterday... maybe you felt your ears burning? We did 4.8 miles. It felt GOOD! And, for the first time my walking partner and I were able to sprint-walk-sprint-walk-sprint that I heard was so good for burning calories... but we haven't been able to do for lack of energy :) Betty, what Jasmi said was true. I hope you are motivated by your 10lb (out of the gate loss) and that helps jump-start your feeling accomplished. It really did for me. Just know that your hard work will pay off and we are here for you:) And Harold, you are so RIGHT!!!!!!!!! Don't get caught up on the amount of weight because it is deceptive. I have a huge accomplishment to announce. For those who are getting caught up on weight loss rather than inches... ah hem...me! Don't do it! GUESS WHAT???????? I tried on my skinny jeans today. You know the ones? That I fit into at 120-125???? Y'all remember those jeans, right? Well... wait for it..... I got them up over my hips, around the waist, zipped and buttoned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And then I had to take them off because I didn't want to die of asphixiation or stretch them out ;) But it happened. For a brief, lovely moment... it happened. And I weighed 140 this morning and 137 this afternoon. Same clothes, etc. So don't get caught up on the weight, as I have obviously been. Thank you all so much for your support. This has been really good for me, and I appreciate your friendship.

Good Morning, Wish I was camping with Ekl. I bet she would really push me with that paddle. Reminds me of the time year before last when DH and I were camping and decided to float/paddle down the river. About halfway through, the sky blackened and I could hear thunder in the distance. I am terrified of lightening, especially anywhere near the water. Have had, locally, on 2 separate occasions in the last few years, a young boy struck and killed by lightening, near water. I grabbed the paddle and let me tell you I had an upper body workout that day! I think DH got a real kick out of watching me kill myself trying to get down river and off of the water before the storm hit. It wasn't a bit funny to me. Thank God, the storm turned and didn't hit us. I never could have out paddled it as far upriver as we were. SS, Thanks for the vote for the award. But remember, I only lost 5 lbs last week. The other 2 were from the weeks before. I've also found a big difference in weight with different times of day, different clothes, and after meals. I only go by 1st thing in the morning weight in my nightgown. Counting calories would be too hard for me. I am so lazy. I have found it easier to just forget the bun completely at BK and have the meat in a dish with lettuce, tomato, and mayo. I have to have my mayo. I've never been big on bread anyway. Lots of meals I cook I just forget to fix any bread. Drives DH crazy because he feels he has to have it. But, he will settle for WW sliced bread with butter spread on it when I forget! Harold, How are those eyes doing? Can you see us yet?!?! Sorry we are confusing you with the multiple weigh-in days. Weekends aren't good to me, so it is best to have a day to get back on track before posting an official weight. 48 lbs lost! WOW! Such tenacity! If I can hang in, that would put me right around my goal weight. I shall set my sights there. Peg, 3 lbs! Great job! I can't wait to get below DH in weight. I HATE HATE HATE weighing more than him. That's why I get discouraged when I only lose 1 lb a week now. I think he hangs around high 150s -low 160s. Once I get below him I will be ok with "slow and steady wins the race". Can y'all tell I'm from the "I WANT IT NOW" generation? That's how I got so large. I wanted those 2 big bowls of chocolate ice cream everyday while I forgot veggies and exercise. Now I'm paying for it. Those chest pains were my gift from God to wake me up. It worked! Karen, I'm glad you held steady while being sick. Are you feeling better? I bet you are weak as a puppy. Take it easy 'till you get some strength back. I know what you mean about night snacking. DH eats stuff every night after we get in bed. Can't fall asleep because of all of that eating noise on the other side of my bed! Some nights it's peanut butter crackers, others it's 2 peanut butter sandwiches, chips & dip, whatever he can find in the kitchen. If I can't resist, I will do celery with a very little PB, or 15 or so pistachios (sp?) shelled and eaten very slowly while he pigs out. I try to resist "Roseanne" that is giving Silver such a hard time!!! Helen, Everybody needs some fun with friends occasionally. And to still lose a pound, how sweet it is! Jas, About the WW. If it helps you get where you are going sooner, it is worth the $8 weekly. I did WW for a while once. My meeting was about 40 miles from home, so I quit going. Being right at work would really help you. My friend does it and it has helped her. It's just about finding what works best for you. If you have friends who are doing it at work with you, that would really help you stick to your diet. Nothing like having that up close and personal encouragement. If it would still be you working alone and you can get yourself kick-started, Save the $8 to use at the grocery store on healthier foods and spend the time you would spend at the meetings working out, walking, etc. Check in here more often for encouragement and our tried and true diet tips that have worked for us. As you can tell from the length of my posts, I love to talk. I can talk until you beg me to shut up!!! Have a great day everyone, Betty

I need to follow your lead Karen and not hop on the scale daily. It's really discouraging. I still have 4-5 lbs to go and now I'm getting really frustrated. Someone just asked me yesterday "but you've reached your target clothes size, right?" and that put it in perspective. I am officially in a size 6 jean. I need to shut up and stop complaining. I have lost 3 sizes (I was a 12) since January. I'd like to be in a 4 but I don't think my body type is such. Big hips and booty no matter how much I lose. So, I've decided it's not the weight that I'm aiming for, it's the tone. I just need to keep reminding myself of that. I think I need to put the scale away. It's in my kitchen!!! I went out and went crazy buying snacks from the bins at Sprouts for my 6+ hour plane ride coming up with DD. I want to have tons of stuff to entertain us. Crayons, coloring books, books to read (for her and me)... and snacks. I got dark chocolate covered raisins, jelly beans, salt water taffy, sugar coated peanuts, yogurt covered raisins. And two outrageously expensive dark chocolate organic chocolate bars. I'm planning to take a bunch of protein powder with me too so I can use that when I get hungry instead of relying on take out for when I'm running around with the bride. The hard part will be not overdosing on my favorite foods while I'm there. I have some serious cravings for home food, and none of it is diet friendly. Anyone have any travel food suggestions? I want food that will last, take up time, and be interesting. I plan on eating a big breakfast so I'm not hungry, but I'm pretty bored on planes!

Hi hi hi hi hi!!!! So sorry guys. Last week just got a way from me. We're going crazy yard work at our house and I've been exhausted. Still have not exercised since returning but have done lots of heavy lifting, pushing and bending. I figure shoveling dirt for 6 hours should count for something, right? :) EK, I knew what you meant... no retraction necessary :) And maintenance is on my mind... Weight = 131 155/24/? I'm actually pretty happy at 131. I know I said 125, but this is feeling pretty good. I'm still watching what I eat, and want to exercise more, but for now it's about toning rather than loss. I fit in my size 6 pants. I fit in my size 6 dresses. I feel good taking pictures. Actually, it was the wedding pictures that made me feel pretty good about myself. When I saw how I looked (and we all know what the camera does!!!) I realized I don't really need to lose any more. I don't want to be (s k i n n y) if you know what I mean. I want to be fit and lean. I need to post some befores and afters. remind me, ok? Happy birthday to all birthday people. So proud of Ek for the BMI/15lb milestone success!!! WHAHOO!!! Betty, I know what your body was lacking....FOOD :) Harold, I love couscous too!! Everyone is doing so well... so glad to be a part of this team. Have a good week everyone!!!