cludgie

SN.................................SW....................................CW................................Goal...............................Lbs to Goal Cludgie........................235.....................................170...............................163...................................6lb "And another one down, and another one down, another one bites the dust!" :dance: :dance: :dance: :dance: This is a challenge I may actually hit! Woot woot!

Really sorry to hear that, I know its hard early on, but have faith - it does get better! Fingers x'd you feel good soon. xx

Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooot!!!!! My weight loss is super slow now, but finally today my BMI starts with 25! I know its 25.8 which still puts me at 6lb overweight, but my BMI has never been this low, and I have been clawing my way to the 25's, by God it feels good! :D :D :D :D :D Ps - I LOVE MY SLEEVE!!!!!

Day of Surgery, and earlier today - almost 9 months post op, and officially just 6lb over weight. WOOP!

Collar bones are the BEST! I think there is nothing prettier than a long neck and corking collar bones, I LOVE mine, and when I look at them I feel like audrey hepburn (if i ever look like her i will know my wls was a total success!!). I've recently felt ribs, and would love to see them sometime soon, although my weirdest find has to be a little sticky out bone in my wrist, seriously, my wrists never struck me as fat, but they are certainly much more bony now!

SN.................................SW....................................CW................................Goal...............................Lbs to Goal Cludgie........................235.....................................170...............................163...................................7lb Back again already, but the scale moved, so I am happy dancing!

SN.................................SW....................................CW................................Goal...............................Lbs to Goal Cludgie........................235.....................................171...............................163...................................8lb So far only minus 1lb, but have made some silly mistakes recently!!!

I have stopped getting that so much, but get cold sweats and palpatations if I go too far - having said that I managed to really mess up today with no consequence By 3pm this afternoon I hadn't eaten anything in almost 24 hours (oops), and whilst dashing between meetings I got shaky, so presumed that I had low blood sugar, I dash into the closest shop which only had either raw meat, dry crackers or packs of biscuits, so I grab crackers and wafer biscuits to nibble whilst I drive. Well, two dry crackers didn't hit the spot so like a complete idiot I open the biscuits, which was SUCH a mistake, by the time I had arrived at the next meeting somehow 3/4 of the pack had gone. ARGH!!! I am 1lb away from a BMI of 25.something, and hoped I'd hit that tomorrow, guess thats gone out the window again!

Sadly not, but a LOT of it comes down to genetics and skin type I am afraid - I have celtic ancestory, and a very typically irish skin type so both scar, and gather stretch marks very easily It sucks, but I figure that it's more fun hiding them under small clothes than hiding them under big ones, and on sunny days if people don't want to see my saggy bits, they can look the other way! Cx

Cant update properly as my broadband died, and I am trying to connect via my phone, however massive gain last week, crappy week this week, just weighed to find the gain gone plus 1lb - suddenly things look and feel better!

Hey Bookleen, welcome back. I've been in a similar situation tbh, I got back from holiday last Monday though and checked myself in at the closest Rosemary Connelly class. I think that with 15 weeks to Christmas and 18lb to goal I need to be held accountable, so I've come back to the traditional humiliation of being weighed in public once a week! We can totally do this! xx

I'm in - missed labor day goal by a big chunk, but massive stall mid way through did not help. I MUST be at goal by Christmas, so want to be 1/2 way there by the end of this challenge! SN.................................SW....................................CW................................Goal...............................Lbs to Goal Cludgie........................235.....................................172...............................163...................................9lb

In order to help me stay focussed to goal, I joined a fitness class yesterday, which meant I got weighed in and then had a motivational talk, and did 45mins aerobics. I am RUBBISH at exercse, I hate it, I avoid it, and become incredibly embarrassed having to wobble around in front of others, so whilst worrying about all of this I managed to wander into the "HIGH IMPACT" half of the class - this is my frst aerobics class in at least 10 years, so I realised I was trapped and about to be humiliated - GREAT!! Anyway after a couple of minutes embarrassment I look around a realise that I am actually doing well, I'm working hard, but its not killing me, I'm working up a sweat, but I am not woofing like a walrus just to get my breath, and before I knew it the class was over, I'd high impacted my way through it without a hitch! MASSIVE NSV! I held my own, had fun, and at the end the instructor came up to me and said "wow Claire, I can really tell how often you must work out, you were great!" - I didn't have the heart to tell her that I move less than your average sloth most days! Needless to say I'll be going back next week

On holiday in a very trendy shop I decided to try on a nautical style blazer which only went up to a size too small, I figured there was no chance of it fitting - WRONG! Perfect fit, and buttoned comfortably It was only as I left the shop I realised I was wearing a thick jumper, and it had even fit over that too - Woop!!

Yep, me too, as of yesterday I have lost 4 and a half stone (which is 4lb more than my very tall seven and a half year old weighs), I am just 8lb from my ideal weight according to the charts which is actually the same weight I was at 12, do I feel better? Absolutely! Do I feel thin? Never! I have the same thing you all do when I look at my clothes which are 5/6 sizes smaller than they were in January and wonder whose they are, but I am not really seeing it in the mirror, and I'm not sure if my brain will ever catch up!

Well, fool that I am, I was so horrified by myself pre-op that I not only didn't measure, but I also threw out all of my largest clothes once they got too big, it wasn't until 3 months in, and about 30lb down that I dared to measure at all! Anyway in UK sizes 5th January 2011 = 235lb 5ft 8 clothing size 24 (about an xxl in the uk, not sure what us size that would be) Shoe size 6.5 wide fitting (and even in wide fitting no boots ever zipped up!!) Bra size 42B 21st August 2011 173lb 5ft 8 (thank goodness I'm not shrinking downwards too!) clothing size 14 (medium ish) shoe size 6 normal (and I have a wardrobe full of knee high boots which not only fasten, but which I can tuck my jeans into comfortably too!) Bra size 34/36 C (really REALLY love a shrinking back without a shrinking cup ) Since March I have lost 6inches off my waist, and can only guess that it must be at least 8inches in total given the 30 odd lb lost by that point! Did I mention that I love my sleeve???

Good luck Diva, you have achieved so much already that I am sure you can do just about anything you set your mind on x

Ok, so I want to thank Lil Miss Diva A; For starting this group and being uber encouraging, and B: For giving me the idea for this thread! I have been struggling a LOT recently, but I think that old habbits die hard, and have I really been honest with myself? Have I been as good as I could? Or have I been expecting my sleeve to do all the work alone? So today has been an ok day, and is day 1 of "the final Count down". I have a holiday booked at the end of August, and I would like to be "normal weight" by then, so that is 11 weeks to lose 19 of my remaining 30lb. So here are my confessions; I have started to snack on sweet stuff recently (oh how those nibbles add up!), I have also probably added in too much alcohol (my one glass of wine at the weekend has become 1/2 bottle, and 1/2 bottle mid week - bad bad empty calories!), and I've still not cracked this excercise thing, so am far less active than I should be. And what am I going to do abut it? Well I am going to be honest with myself, and I am going to be honest with you guys, so that I can't bury my head in the sand! Food today = 75g cooked ham, 100 calories, 15g Protein, carbs 6g 70g Breaded chicken Thing, Calories 253, Protein 15g, carbs 20g Drinks Today= 2 x Very Large mugs coffee 1 x "Normal" mug coffee So milk consumed approx = 85 Calories, 8g Protein, 12g Carbs Excercise today = Total Fail Lessons learned = 1. I need to move more 2. I need to ditch the milk in coffee (never realised the carbs in milk!!!) Actions for tomorrow = I will get up 30 minutes early and do 30 mins cardio before work I will have a coffee free day! Fingers x'd for tomorrow!

Ah Kim, not Belgian, British, but closest affordable surgery was belgium, so combined my sleeve with a weekend away! Well, I have been far from perfect, but I have been a lot better this week, and -2lb, which is the first significant shift in a very long time. So thats good. I also had a great NSV this week, a friend (who I consider to be a skinny friend), asked me to take a bag of clothes to the charity shop for her, and I thought prior to donating them I'd have a quick peek and see fi anything was vaguely my size. Well it ALL fit despite being an odd range of sizes UK 10s-14s (US 6,8, and 10s), so I just adopted a new work wardrobe, and now I owe a big donation to charity! Anyway I have 7 days until I go on holiday, and so I seriously doubt I'll get the extra 10lb needed for my labour day goal, but I am happy, I am now tecnically just 9lb overweight, and 19lb to my long term goal! Its a good place to be :D :D

Ok, so this is some very thinly veiled photo whoring, but I have been falling by the wayside for weeks, I'd lost my motivation, and have felt just as fat as I did 60lb ago. This morning I get up and can find literally nothing to wear for work because everytihng looks and feels wrong, in desperation i grab a top my husband convinced me in to buying (depite it feeling too tight AND having horizontal stripes, and a pencil skirt I've not had the confidence to wear yet), I go to the mirror, and for the first time in a LONG time suddenly see the me who has lost 60lb. Don't get me wrong, I can see the horrid mummy tummy and at least 20lb to still lose, but this morning this person smiled at me from the mirror, and it made me smile back!

Ok, so today I have had a good old fashioned wake up call!!! I joined this group 2 months ago, and in that time have lost just 8lb, which is a loss (yay!!), but it is a poor loss, and why is it a poor loss? Because it reflects my recent complacency. I am drinking a couple of times a week again, and I am emotional eating again. Seriously WTF??? I have come all of this way, but seem to have a mental block when it comes to the final stretch, am I sabbotaging myself or just plain dumb?!?! Classic Cludgie-ism, yesterday for instance = Breakfast - Skipped, lunch - a packet of pork scratchings and some Hershey's Kisses, and Tea - 3/4 of a chicken and cheese sandwhich, all followed by a LOT of pick n mix in front of the TV with my husband. So negligible Protein, negligible Vitamins, and at least ten billion calories with zero excercise! - NOT A GOOD DAY! Needless to say it is stopping! Today has been day 1 again, I just can not have come this far to throw it away because eating rubbish (even in smaller ammounts and more slowly) tastes and feels good! Its not worth it. So today I got my Protein Shakes out again, and although I skipped breakfast, I had a shake for lunch and some roast pork on it's own for tea, so high protein low carb achieved, and I have managed to have zero rubbish (even though hubby sat eating whoopie pies, and pick n mix beside me for most of the evening). I would consider today a good day, 175lb, but feeling thin (Yay, I've been feeling fat for weeks), and self control re-gained. I have also decided that as of monday I am joining a slimming and exercise class (I think that the age old threat of someone else weighing me, and an increase in my activity levels can only be a good thing). Day one (again) - Check, bring on day two!

Thanks everyone, following LBD success wore a pencil skirt to work today for the first time ever to much appreciation, so am thingking a skirt/dress based shopping spree is called for!

Its certainly an odd one, everyone is so different, for instance I am 5'8 and currently 175lb, and in US sizes I'm a 10 (UK 14), one of my best friends is at least 5 inches shorter than me, and weighs 165lb, but looks tiny next to me, and is about a dress size and a half smaller than me. On paper, being tall I should carry it well, but in reality I don't . I have a really broad chest (nope not big boobs, just a weirdly big rib cage!), an ok bum, with a kangaroo pouch tummy (the price paid for 20 years of obesity and a wonky c-section), and traditional thunder thighs. According to the charts I am now just 11lb over the upper end of my "ideal" weight for my height, but I look (especially naked), like I have closer to 30-40lb to lose still. I guess if you look lighter than you are enjoy it, and for those of us who aren't in that boat, its about a more creative wardrobe choice! Good luck in your journey! And Diva - you are looking stunning, well done!:cheer2: