Great to do a comparison. And yes there is a difference!

We all gain weight differently and in different places. Even at my heaviest, my face stayed thin. People thought of me as thin when I joined WW.

My weight goes right to my stomach. And it just took me to recently to stand straight when posing for photos rather than sideways!

Yes, I can see a difference, and I love your new glasses, Funky. I see some changes when I look at Halloween from last year. I agree everything just goes to my trunk/midsection and I hate it. I always gained in more hips and thighs and had a relatively flatter abdomen.

We decided not to go to Texas. I just don’t want to sit in an uncovered amphitheatre when it is 100 degrees and almost that even in the evenings. I’ve had so much travel I feel I need to relax a bit. OTOH I have FOMO, and with my colleagues dying way too young, I want to take advantage of opportunities and not let them slide.

Just need to get a handle on diet and probably a reset in my head.

Absolutely, @eld6161! I haven't seen a lot of change in my face to date. Even with the photos, I don't think my face reflects my total losses but I can see it. I think the photos cover about 50 lb loss. The weight came off my torso .. upper chest/back (which I can see) and my stomach/waist.

I don't pose for photos other than my makeup-check selfies lol .. ever.

I think I am stuck with my fleshy neck so that makes it harder to see losses in my face. I look in the mirror and that's all I see.

Sounds like you made a good choice @gsciencechick! I totally get the urge to do all you can now as a reaction to losing friends and loved ones but taking advantage of the time we have now doesn't have to mean always jumping up and running. There are plenty of opportunities to take advantage of in our own backyards --- like buying bikes! Take advantage of a beautiful day -- put laundry, grocery shopping, whatever on hold and get out on your bikes. Take a healthy picnic! I made picnics 3x when I was in minneapolis -- sparked only by discovering a great hybrid stone fruit and some wonderful sourdough rye bread at the farmers market. It was so delightful -- something I never thought of doing or made time to do in the past. Of course that was just my way of seizing the day-- I am sure you will come up with some that you and DH will love. You always have such fun activities!

About 10 years ago I embarked on a Paleo(ish) weight loss program. I asked my husband to take my photo at the start and after the first 30 days, wearing just my underwear. I had only lost about 6 pounds but the difference visually was remarkable. I also took measurements. I then had about a 3 week plateau, but took measurements and photos and could see that my body was changing, but the scale hadn't caught up yet. I was in my early 50's and that was the fittest and thinest I have been since having my kids. I still have a side by side comparison photo that I keep on my computer to remind me not to get to that "before" ever again. I'm trying to get back to the "after", but....bread. I'm obsessed with good quality bread. I'm OK with that as I have largely conquered my sweet tooth and snacking habits.

@Funkyart Definitley a difference, you are doing great! Sometimes we are going to hit plateaus, bounce up a bit or just feel very discouraged. Even have days where we just are not doing what we should. Part of the process, this is our life long journey. What you are doing noting your overall progress, is a great reminder that your changes are making a difference.

My week was fine. Weight stayed the same, happy with that for now. Started excercising more but mainly targeted excercise, assigned by my PT to help my shoulder/arm issue. It is tough, at times my shoulder hurts more than before PT started but my range of motion is improving and the nerve running down my arm is causing much less pain, so worthwhile.

Parties today and tomorrow, will try to not go overboard and then follow-up with lower calories the next few days after.

I'm glad you are taking pics and recognizing the great progress Funky. It is so easy to get discouraged, but we need to reflect sometimes and be proud. Lots of changes and consistency have gotten you those results. They didn't just happen.

I'm going to take the questions this week:)

How are you doing with your healthy lifestyle changes this holiday weekend? Not bad - exercise is seeing me through at this point.

What are your goals for the coming week?- no bread, no potato chips. I have been so lax with these foods, which are really a downhill spiral for me. I'm going to go cold turkey on these two.

What are you working on improving? - Getting my food choices back in line.

Are you pleased with your progress? - I have been at a weight loss plateau since November of last year really. But I am glad to have kept the weight off and stayed active. I have really made activity a big part of my life and I think that has been key to keeping my weight in line for now.

What are you especially proud of? Being active every day and trying things physical things outside my comfort zone - yesterday we went kayaking. Not particularly physical, but still, some weight loss and confidence in being in better physical shape has led me to say yes instead of no to things I have really ended up enjoying. Like @gsciencechick - I am trying to take advantage of opportunities. I get stuck in a rut, so I am trying to say yes more often. I haven't regretted it yet. But it is not my normal MO.

Legomom, you have been an inspiration with your fearless approach to changing your eating and adding in new activities .. and also GS for taking advantage of opportunities.

I am jumping in. I am nearly finished with some obligations, so i feel like this new beginning is a good time to take better care of myself.

What are your goals for the coming week? I’m signing up for an archery class at the park district. I haven’t done archery since maybe junior high but I enjoyed it then. Hopefully I will be better at it this time around. I also plan to get to the gym again with my friend. We joined at the beginning of the year and were going regularly, 3 times a week, but the summer had many things interfering with both of our days. I notice that I got pretty lumpy and gained 5# so I’m looking forward to it.

What are you working on improving? I want to improve my eating. More produce especially vegetables. Our dinner vegetable is always an afterthought so just lettuce and maybe some other raw veg on the plate. DH makes dinner and is always concentrating on the protein and possible sauce. So, more veggies at lunch for me I hope. I also want to improve my posture and core strength. Hence, archery and gym.

Are you pleased with your progress? I have already cut my evening wine consumption in half. and I feel better, sleep better.

What are you especially proud of? That I have already cut my evening wine consumption in half!

Hi, Bpath! So glad you have joined us! I always think a transition from one season to the next is a great time to reevaluate and introduce new behaviors! You're off to a great start -- archery is such fun and should work some new muscles!

Thanks, Funky! I see these threads and think oh, I wish I could join it. Now I can!

Thank you, funky! That's nice of you to say.

I have been off potato chips and bread for 3 whole days - feel better already :) I am back to aiming for and eating that 30 plus plant products every week. That seems to be what works best for me.

I would like to lose some weight - about two inches in my waist.

Heard this awhile ago - What are the 5 markers of metabolic health? Clinically speaking, metabolic health is defined by optimal levels of five markers: blood sugar, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, blood pressure, and waist circumference—without using medication. I believe the waist marker needs to be no more than half your height in inches. That's the one I can't meet yet, and I know I will have to lose some weigh to get there. So, I'm going to try to be more mindful of my portion sizes and see where I get. After losing weight fairly easily for about 9 months, and then nothing for about 9 months, it seems like a real challenge at this point. I could do more weight training, but otherwise my exercise is pretty good. Like the saying goes though - you can't out exercise a bad diet, so I need to get my eating under control.

Glad to see you here bPath. It is wonderful when people join in and I for one am very happy to have the company.

Lego mom it is very difficult to lose weight. But maintaining it is a dream for me. Good luck with actually losing weight. :-).

That said I am back down 3 lb and have been for 3 weeks. Not sure if it is just a cumulative effect of all the dancing I was doing. But now I'm trying to figure out how to continue that pattern if it works that well for me. Legomom perhaps you could add 75 minutes of dancing today. :-).

I am doing a few posture exercises. But I would like to add two or three more. Any ideas? So far I am leaning up against the wall doing chin tucks at the same time when making a circle with my arms along the wall to over my head. I also do downward dog etc.

This fellow is interesting. Maybe some of these posture exercises would work.

https://youtu.be/XWQvmh_INTQ?si=xi_4rs-e7XOL8GiN

I would LOVE to dance every day. I wish we had some sort of adult dance class around here. I tried Zumba a couple times, but I'm not sure why I didn't like it. Group classes aren't my favorite. DH hates to dance - probably because he's super coordinated and athletic, but has ZERO rhythm:) That said, if we go anywhere there is a dance floor with good music, I am there! Unfortunately that's just not very often.

I've been doing a lot of posture work too - I have found my favorite back stretch to be lying over a foam roller, I start with it at my lower back and then slowly move it up as I feel stretched. When it gets to the humpy part of my back, I stretch my arms over my head - it hurts so good. I follow a guy called Posture Guy Mike on instagram who gives some different stretches. He has an app/program, but I haven't bought into that yet. I also added in some back exercises to my weight routine.

One thing I found out about my posture was my pelvic floor was out of line. I started following a lot of pelvic floor therapists and they give lots of lower abdomen exercises, but one day one of them had a stretch, and when I did it, it was like WOW. That really is my issue. The more you know:)

Thank you LegoMom and I hope you do find a dance class maybe on YouTube that you do like.

I will look into pelvic floor exercises. Used to do them all the time and forgot all about making them regular so thank you again.