Shinyhappymommy

Lilmiss, I have a blog that I've kept from the beginning of this whole journey. (See my signature.) I think that's what prompted this person to suggest the book thing.

I'm reading the Twilight series for the second time right now. I'm halfway through book 3. I like them much better than I expected to. I also read the Child Called It books. They were heartwrenching. I don't mind autobiographical when it has a purpose like those. I've actually been approached to write a book about my labpand journey. I'm still mulling it over. I think I'd like to be close to goal or at goal first.

I'm sorry to say I didn't exercise yesterday and I don't even have a good excuse. I just put it off till later and later and then I actually forgot to do it until about 11:30 p.m. and there was no way I was going to do it that late. I need to prioritize my days better and get it done earlier. That being said, I'm exercising this afternoon after dh gets home from work. I should be able to do my run outside. Yay!

Ugh, accountability! I'm frustrated with my weight these days. I got down to 203 which was my 100-lb mark. But I'm back up at 205-206 and can't seem to get that to budge. I guess I need to get more serious about food logging, etc. I've been exercising, but I think I could do more.

tapshoes, Try the Couch to 5K program to get running. It worked really well for me. You can even skip ahead a little if you're starting off stronger than the base level. I run fairly slowly and my 5k on Thanksgiving was 39:05. I'm up to 12 minute miles so it would be closer to 37 minutes now. I know that a lot of people are faster than that. You just have to look at where you are. I'm checking in to report my 2 miles run this afternoon. :scared2:

Nicole, Sorry you're having to deal with this. Especially so close to goal. That must be maddening. Hang in there and try to make the best food choices that you can. I know there's kind of a freedom when you no longer have restriction and it's tempting to go hog wild, eating things you normally can't. But as you can already see, the weight is all to happy to jump back on when you do so. You can do this. It may be that your weight will go up some, but you can minimize the damage. You can up your exercise to make up for the extra calories you may be eating in your larger portions. You could eat more filling foods that will give you a feeling of fullness for longer, like meats and whole grains. I'm against going hungry, so I know I would make sure I'm eating when I need to, but trying to make healthy and low-calorie choices. Just hang in there. This too shall pass and even if you do gain more weight, you have the band inside you and hopefully you'll be able to use it again soon and get those pounds back off.

Good job, Rhapsody! I think a 5K is only 3.1 miles, so you were really close today. I'm training for a half-marathon and today was my long run for this week. I did 4 miles on the treadmill. I've never done more than about 3.5, so it was my furthest distance yet. Yay! Next week will be Monday run 2 miles, Wednesday run 3 miles, Saturday run 5! It's only up and up and up from here. I think I'm crazy, but if I can do it I'll be so happy. Have a good Sunday. I'll check in on Monday.

I hated every minute of it, but I did my full t-tapp workout tonight from 10:30-11:20 p.m. Ugh. If I hadn't had such a bad eating day today I wouldn't have pushed myself. And if you guys weren't so darn reliable! Thanks for the motivation.

Congrats, Ezma! That is great news! I was going to type that I'm not going to exercise today because my shoulder hurts but it sounds so lame. I may have to reconsider my decision. I feel like I need a day off today anyway, so we'll see.

Reporting in that I ran my 3 miles on the treadmill today. :sneaky: It wasn't too bad. I was on the easy treadmill. One of them seems a lot harder than the other ones. The fitness center only has three. (I live in a very small town.) Saturday is my long run and I will go for 4 miles! Yikes. I have never run that far before. Should be exciting!

You guys are awesome. There is strength in numbers and I'm glad to be numbered among you all. I did my exercise today, my T-tapp workout. I've gone back to doing the very basic dvd because I'm trying to really work on form. Thanks for the kind words, Rhapsody. It's hard to see things in yourself that others can readily see. I appreciate the compliment.

LilMiss, I ran a 5K on Thanksgiving, and then a couple of days later beat that speed of 38:00 by 2 minutes. Ever since then, though, I've not improved on my speed, in fact, there are times I run a 16 minute mile! It's bothered me and I've wondered why I'm not getting stronger and faster. I think I've been doing it wrong. I've been running 3.1 every time I go because I've made it that far in my distance before, so I felt like I needed to keep doing that much. In the meantime I've decided to start training for a half marathon. I entered all my info into this calculator. What I learned is that it's okay to do easy (shorter) runs once a week and that you should rest for two days before doing the long runs. I've backed off of trying to run 3.1 miles every time I run and I'm doing more like 2 miles, 2 miles, 3 miles. It will increase week by week, but it's working well so far. Anyway, maybe that will help you figure out the best way to approach running for yourself so that you're meeting your goals. It's sure empowering, this running, isn't it? I did my exercise today right before lunch. I ran 2 miles on the hard treadmill at the fitness center. It was harder than the 3 miles I ran last time on the easier treadmill. Oh well, I'm all that much stronger for enduring through it.

I'm still 43 pounds away, but darn happy with where I'm at. 100 pounds in 11 months is nothing short of a miracle for me. :thumbup:

I had a great run today. I took my girls to gymnastics for their first class ever and was happy watching how much they were using their muscles and moving their bodies. Then when they were done, they waited for me while I did 3 miles on the treadmill. It was more like 3.5 with warm up and cool down. It went really fast because Dances With Wolves was on the tv and I really enjoyed watching it so much that I hardly paid attention to the numbers on the treadmill. Tomorrow is a day of rest for me all the way around, so no exercise till Monday. Have a great weekend, you guys.

Ezma, I hope your hubby is okay. Keep us posted. Anna, 30 hour shift? Is that even legal to make you work those hours? Yikes. My exercise today was very mild. I tried a few pilates moves from some papers I printed off the internet. Maybe 25 minutes worth, but I didn't even come close to breaking a sweat. Tomorrow is my 3 mile run, so I'll report in then.

I went for a walk with my hubby in this beautiful 60 degree warm spell. We ended up jogging for about 1/4 of a mile because the kids were home from the bus already and we weren't there yet. It was fun.

I did my run tonight. The time slot this afternoon didn't work because we had wind gusting up to 60 mph and I couldn't run outside. So I went as soon as I could this evening which was from 8-9 p.m. and I was the last one at the fitness center. I did 15 minutes on the elliptical and then 2 miles in 25 minutes on the treadmill. I'm proud of myself. I was really tempted not to go. This thread has helped!

Last night we went as a family to the local fitness center. We played rigorous games of air hockey and shot hoops for a while. I was going to count that as my workout, but then I was watching the Biggest Loser and thinking about Lil's posted schedule and realized I have to do more if I'm to be serious about getting these last 50 or so pounds off. So I did my short T-tapp workout late last night. Today is my running day and I have only about and hour all day where I can fit it in, but I'm going to do it during that hour. I use the term running loosely. I'm a very slow runner, probably more of a jogger, but I call it running anyway. I'm currently training for a half-marathon in April. We'll see how that goes.

I ran 2 miles yesterday. I'll post after I get today's workout in. Great idea for a thread!

coltonwade, You look so amazing. You're not just smaller, you look so fit. Very inspiring. Thanks for sharing. I'm off to look at your blog.

nazzy, I had surgery in February last year, so I'm just under the 11-month mark. I have had 4 fills, I think. I like to keep my band fairly loose so I don't have pb episodes, etc. I think I'm at 6.5 in my 10 cc band. You can read my blog (link in my signature) for more detailed info.

I hit my 100 pound mark yesterday, so I figured I'd post some updated pics. Before is 303 and now is 203. Also a recent favorite of me and my hubby.

I hit my 100 pound lost mark yesterday! I'm so happy about this. I had the goal to do it by Christmas, but it happened early. Now to see if I can keep from gaining much over the next week. Eek!

Well, my own sort-of celebration is that I wore a special dress to church today. It was the dress my mother wore to my wedding twelve years ago. She died not quite two years later. I never even considered that it might fit me someday and yesterday I tried it on and it did fit. So I felt beautiful at church in my mom's dress. I'll post a pic later. Thanks for all your support. You guys are awesome.

Lil Miss, hang in there, Hon. You're on the right track. Sorry for what you've been through with the last four months. I know how hard it must be. You're stronger than this. We all are. We chose this amazing path and fighting it is only going to bring frustration. Reading your post makes me thankful to still be losing. It's slow, very slow, but I'm grateful that it's not going up or even staying completely still. My goal has been to be 100 pounds down by Christmas or New Year's at the latest. I'm two pounds away from that, so it's completely doable. By my bandiversary which is February 8th, I would like to be under 200 and in the Overweight category. My exercise is the only thing that's keeping me on track right now. Well, that's not entirely true. I've been making good food choices a lot of the time. I'm still sneaking in chocolate and sweets way more than I think I should, but I'm hanging in there. I plan on enjoying the holidays and having some of my favorite treats. I will never completely let go and forget about my weight and the band, but it's the biggest holiday of the year for me and food is part of the celebration. I plan on participating fully and also on working hard to not let it derail me for long. For my exercise, I'm running 5K 3 times a week and doing an exercise video on the alternating three days. I take Sunday off. I'm very pleased with having been able to get to this point with exercise. It's one of my strong points right now. It's bitter cold so we just joined the local sports club and I go there and use their treadmill. (Don't have one of my own yet.) I really look forward to being able to run outside. I really prefer that. I'm so glad for you wonderful people and your motivation and support. We can do this. We are strong. We are amazing.