Biggest Loser 9 Spring Challenge -- thread closing -- see new thread Part 2!

[maiziezoe]

maiziezoe empty your pm box!

LOL! I just got an email from the dis telling me the same thing!



It's done!

 

[my3princes]

You have to go with what makes you happy. Everybody's shape and size are completely different. I never seem to be happy at any size, I'm always thinking I should be smaller. Right now I'm 155lbs at 5'4 and wearing a size 6 jeans. I used to be 144 and wore size 4 jeans and I still thought that was too big. I will always have that mom pouch, I had 2 boys and they were both c-sections. I decided since the pouch will always be there I might as well tattoo it, so last year I had a butterfly and my boys names tattooed on my hip. I just think we are too hard on ourselves sometimes with should be happy with who we are. There is so much emphasis on changing what was given to us. I would love to not beat myself up anymore, but I know I always will. This is something I really need to work on.

This week I lost 2.6 lbs for a total of 11.4. I realized that water is the key to my metabolism.

i try not to wrap my head up in sizing, but i'll admit i do beat myself up too. i say that i just want my clothes to slip on comfortably, everyday....but the truth is I remember being comfortable in size 8 so i refused to buy bigger. so inevitably i just stretched my 8s out to fit my weight gain. i have a stack of fitted t-shirts that i'm determined to wear this summer, size small, and i don't want them to show every bump and curve and be tight across my back/shoulders. that's kinda hard to say....

but i quoted this one b/c it struck me in how differently shaped we can be beyond the numbers. I'm 5'4" and weighed 146 today in size 8. my goal is to fluctuate in high 130s lower 140s which makes my 8s comfortable, there is no way i could EVER wear a size 4, i seriously would need to be like 120. at 135 I can wear generous 6's. i'll trade ya stats

we are showing some great losses this week!

i have recently been introduced to the whole Susan Boyle story, and watched her sing on youtube a clip from Oprah, the song "I was Born to Be" what an awesome song....the words can be applied to different aspects of life, but certainly may apply to some of us here in our quest to accept our bodies and be happy...instead of always wanting different. and believe me i say that truly non-judgmental....I am one of the worse at this...

and Tara you look great! i can see difference, especially in your face....

I'm enjoying everyones perspective. I chose these two quote as you are both my height of 5'4". I am currently 139.8 lbs (I refuse to be 140) and am comfortably wearing my size 8's. I am at the point where everyone is commenting on how good I look. That being said, I'm still not happy with my body. My goal is 130 lbs and to tighten up everywhere. I must say that at 143 lbs my 8's were very tight so I was still in size 10's.

 

[carmiedog]

Today's QOTD:

What kind of changes have you made to your life/schedule to be sure that you can stick to your plan (diet plan/exercise plan, etc)?

I'm trying to put less pressure on myself. I get a little obsessed over weight loss. That means exercising to the point of exhaustion, and "taking care of" any food I eat that I shouldn't have. If I mess up, I consider myself a failure. I think I've finally learned how to have a treat in moderation, and to make choices that are within reason.

This week was especially hard, as I was sick (even pulled a muscle coughing) and had to keep myself from getting on the treadmill. And I think I'm OK with not meeting my January goal. I'll just work a little extra the next couple months.

 

[my3princes]

I'm going to share some photos. Keep in mind that I am still very much a work in progress...

Me at age 23

Me at age 33

Age 36

Age 37

Age 40 last night (no makeup these are pre P90X photos)

 

[iheartdolewhips]

A pound is a pound right? That's great! 4 sticks of butter, nasty cellulitely fat gone!

I love this way of looking at it! I really like Denise Austin and one of the things she always says when the workout really gets going is "We're burning butter now!"

Age 40 last night (no makeup these are pre P90X photos)

You look great! I hope I look that good at 40!

 

[redlight]

my3princes, you do not look 40! You look killer hot in that bikini.

 

[tigger813]

Just got home from a busy night at the Winterfest! It was a lot of fun and the school made a lot of money, as well as earned a lot of books for the school and raised a lot of money for Haiti!

I wasn't so good. Had a few small pieces of chocolate and 4 kind of small pieces of cheese pizza. I got in 3 miles today and the EA Sports Active workout and I was down 3 lbs on that so far, so I'm happy about that. I also had a diet coke. I was running around a lot helping people and worked up a sweat putting the books out and packing them up again!

Time to get comfy and snuggle with hubby! Will get in some workouts tomorrow as not much planned except cleaning for company on Sunday and going to the transfer station.

Teapot: Pheasant Lane is the mall in Nashua, NH.

Have a great night everyon!

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Woo hoo - "one"derland!!! I will meet you there soon!

Get over here girlfriend!!!!!

 

[3_disprincesses]

Wish I had more time to read everyones posts...I have learned so much from all of you!

Tara - congratulations girl...you are really reshaping your body!

I had a 2.8 lb loss this week...grand total of 10 pounds for the 1st 4 weeks of the challenge! I did get in a few days of cardio this week only wish I would add to that and do more each week.

Someone posted earlier that she believes the key to her metabolism is water...I agree. I notice how much better I stay away from the snacks and how much better I feel when I drink lots of water. Not to mention that my skin looks fabulous!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

♥ Theresa

 

[tmfranlk]

Good evening all. It wasn't the best of weeks for me. I was up 2lbs after being down almost 4 last week. I did discover that the two things I wear on the WiiFit weigh vastly different amounts so that was part of it, I think. I'll just have to be sure and wear the same thing on weigh-in days. It's also a bit of a water retention week, please the snacking urges have been killer strong this week. It's just been one of those "starving" weeks. Gotta watch out better for that! Of course, it's also been a stressful week with kids longer and more often than ususal (and still continuing as they'll be here most of the weekend too - and they wonder why I said no sleepover tonight ). This next week, I'll definitely be working to regain control.

 

[Octoberbride03]

Oh its a good thing we're on an honor system. I am not brave enough to post pics of me in exercise clothes or bathing suits.

That being said to the 2 of you who did, You both look fantastic. Great jobs most definitely.

Since we're all talking about our preferred sizes, I must say that i don't really have a size number in mind. Especially since it seems that no 2 designers size their clothes alike. I'm thisclose to 16 in 1 pair of pants while in 2 others from the SAME STORE mind you, I'm comfortably in 18. So size is an arbitrary number. But then while I'm working on losing weight I'm not entirely sure I want to be back in "one"derland either. I'm know I have a big frame and I'm just not sure where my most comfy weight will be. When i get to my current goal I may just stick there and see just how much it works for me. I don't want to keep going lower just because some chart in the Dr.s' office tells me I should.

 

[tmfranlk]

Someone posted earlier that she believes the key to her metabolism is water...I agree. I notice how much better I stay away from the snacks and how much better I feel when I drink lots of water. Not to mention that my skin looks fabulous!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

♥ Theresa

I think that's definitely one of the keys! I misplaced my bottle early in the week and didn't drink near as much water as I usually do. I think that definitely led to my increased snacking. The good news, is that I found it this morning and am already up on my water intake.

 

[3TinksAndAnEeyore]

I gotta ask.... what exactly are the Harris Teeter Triples??? I'm guessing that Harris Teeter is a grocery store and you got triple coupons??

I had wondered the same thing when I read that and thought "Harris Teeter Triples" must be some cool and tasty low-calorie treat. I googled it and couldn't figure out for a minute why I was only getting coupon information on it. Can you believe there are areas of the country where there are NO grocery stores that double (much less triple) coupons? Sadly, it's so, and I live in one of them.

not only is it great you arent going to starbucks everyday, but it will save you a TON of money!!! use that money to buy some new workout gear or something!

I've noticed my own less-frequent Starbucks stops have been helping in the budgeting realm. Here we are on January 29th and I haven't once taken money out of the ATM. The only time I ever really do that is for evenings out with DH (and we haven't had one this month ) and when I want to make a stop for food of some sort. It's amazing how shopping for healthy food can save you money, too! That armored truck filled with money they showed to the red team on BL definitely resonated with me.

I have a question for everyone: What do you think your ideal size would be? I remember thinking that a size 12 was where I wanted to be back when I was wearing a size 18. When did my first weight loss attempt I blew by 12 and landed at 10 which I was happy with for awhile. Then I thought an 8 would be ideal, but even at size 8 I still have the Mommy pooch. So now I'm thinking 6. I need to know what other people view as an ideal size as I try to get my head wrapped around it.

Like someone else posted earlier, my primary goal right now is just to be in "regular" sizes so I don't have to shop in the Women's section of the store. I'm about a size 18 right now (give or take a size depending on the manufacturer). And, like someone else said, my size back in my college days was a size 10 which is probably so different now that until I get back down there, it's hard to know. At 5'9, it seems like it takes about twenty pounds before I drop a true size. Anyone else of that height who has more recent experience with how many pounds it took to drop a size?

Haven't seen them side by side so hope there's some change!!

I could totally see the difference! In your face, your stomach, your legs! That's so exciting and such a great idea! I wish I had done that at my starting weight of 248.

Also, now that you have less than 100 pounds to go it means that you are no longer eligible for The Biggest Loser -- I was pretty happy when I figured that out!

That's something that occurred to me, as well! While I might lose 100 pounds over this journey, I'm really aiming at about 93 pounds to get me down to 155. As I get closer to that weight, I might re-evaluate, but even in my junior year of high school after a bout of mono (and photos show me looking pretty thin at that point) I was as low as 128. I'm never going to go that low even though some of those silly doctor's charts seem to think I could. So I'm really looking forward to the next five pound loss when I can truly say there's no way I'd be eligible for The Biggest Loser.

No more specialty stores with the words "woman" and/or "plus" hanging from the ceiling.

Yep, that was the post I was remembering! I totally agree!

I lost 2 pounds this week and I'm out of the 200's!!!!!

That's awesome! I'm so looking forward to that myself. Maybe in BL10!

I'm going to share some photos. Keep in mind that I am still very much a work in progress...

Speaking as another 40 year old, you look awesome!!! You look younger than you did three years ago!

QOTD: I've changed two major things. First, I'm excercising on a regular basis five days a week. I'm finishing up the third week of the C25K program and I've surprised myself with how much I'm enjoying it! Part of the change with the excercise is that instead of putting DH and the kids first, I asked DH to take over part of the DDs bedtime routine so I can go for my "wogging" in the evening. I am listening to an audio book while I'm out, so it's really enjoyable for me. The running parts are very do-able so far and I'm looking forward to the next step on Sunday.

The other change, and I actually think this has been the most important change, is that I'm journaling everything I eat into the "Lose It" app on my iPhone. I've never been a calorie counter and point counting/journeling was always WW's weakest link for me. But doing it on my phone which I always have with me anyways is almost fun! It even has built in reminders so a window pops up if I haven't logged breakfast or lunch yet. It's really gratifying to be able to go back and look at four weeks of journaling and know that I documented every bite!

I added the fifteen pound sticky to my signature today! I was really excited. This is the weight I took off around this time last year and I'm still so highly motivated that I know this time I'll keep taking it off. This is really in large part due to all of you!!! Your posts on what works, what doesn't work, and hearing about your successes big and small really helps to motivate me! So, thank you to everyone here on this thread.

 

[pppiglet]

Down 2lbs this week, without exercising. End of month at work so working late. Yesterday I got a terrible cold and hope it makes me not eat anything this weekend!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

I totally did not stick with this. It is KING CAKE season down here!

I have lost 1.5 lbs since this started. Yeah it's 1.5 more than nothing but gee whiz. I lost more than that but gained some back.

Just gonna work on getting back on track now...

 

[iheartdolewhips]

Like someone else posted earlier, my primary goal right now is just to be in "regular" sizes so I don't have to shop in the Women's section of the store. I'm about a size 18 right now (give or take a size depending on the manufacturer). And, like someone else said, my size back in my college days was a size 10 which is probably so different now that until I get back down there, it's hard to know. At 5'9, it seems like it takes about twenty pounds before I drop a true size. Anyone else of that height who has more recent experience with how many pounds it took to drop a size?

That's something that occurred to me, as well! While I might lose 100 pounds over this journey, I'm really aiming at about 93 pounds to get me down to 155. As I get closer to that weight, I might re-evaluate, but even in my junior year of high school after a bout of mono (and photos show me looking pretty thin at that point) I was as low as 128. I'm never going to go that low even though some of those silly doctor's charts seem to think I could. So I'm really looking forward to the next five pound loss when I can truly say there's no way I'd be eligible for The Biggest Loser.

Well, I'm a lot shorter than you are (5'4"), but I've generally heard that about 20 pounds is the difference between sizes.

And good for you for being realistic about your weight goals! You're right that the weight charts are generally quite silly. The highest "healthy" weight on one of those charts for my height is about 145. I was around 145-155 when I was in middle school and you can look at pictures of me and see that I really wasn't fat at all - my arms look like toothpicks! I definitely don't think I could ever get down to 112 like those charts say I could. They don't really take into account your body frame hardly at all.

I totally did not stick with this. It is KING CAKE season down here!

I have lost 1.5 lbs since this started. Yeah it's 1.5 more than nothing but gee whiz. I lost more than that but gained some back.

Just gonna work on getting back on track now...

Don't be hard on yourself! They often say that this has to be a "lifestyle" change. So you've fallen off the horse - just get back on right now and go for it!

 

[jbm02]

I had wondered the same thing when I read that and thought "Harris Teeter Triples" must be some cool and tasty low-calorie treat. I googled it and couldn't figure out for a minute why I was only getting coupon information on it. Can you believe there are areas of the country where there are NO grocery stores that double (much less triple) coupons? Sadly, it's so, and I live in one of them.

Ummm...I didn't even know there were places that doubled or tripled coupons!!! Nothing here for that either...



I added the fifteen pound sticky to my signature today! I was really excited. This is the weight I took off around this time last year and I'm still so highly motivated that I know this time I'll keep taking it off. This is really in large part due to all of you!!! Your posts on what works, what doesn't work, and hearing about your successes big and small really helps to motivate me! So, thank you to everyone here on this thread.

Wow - congratulations!! I am one pound away from my "10" one - but the one I really want is a 20 or 25 one!!!

Well, I'm a lot shorter than you are (5'4"), but I've generally heard that about 20 pounds is the difference between sizes.

And good for you for being realistic about your weight goals! You're right that the weight charts are generally quite silly. The highest "healthy" weight on one of those charts for my height is about 145. I was around 145-155 when I was in middle school and you can look at pictures of me and see that I really wasn't fat at all - my arms look like toothpicks! I definitely don't think I could ever get down to 112 like those charts say I could. They don't really take into account your body frame hardly at all.

I never knew about the "20 lb" thought - that's probably a good projection because at almost 10 pounds, I'm still in the size jeans I started with. That's okay - I can see the difference in my face (chubby cheeks are receding...).

BTW, did anyone see the "special health edition" for Ladies Home Journal? There is an article on Jillian Michaels and the BL and they printed out an entire weeks' worth of BL menus. I copied it and am going to try several of them. I borrowed it from my secretary at work and so it may be a month or so old. I especially liked some of the snack ideas since I am always looking for something as soon as I get home and before I can get dinner going.

Bitter cold here today (well, maybe not if I lived in Minnesota, but still....) Negative 17 with the wind chill. Brrrrrr. DD had a sleepover last night and then we're off to Saratoga (the place, not the resort at Disney!!) for a girls basketball game this afternoon. We were scheduled to go snow tubing tomorrow but not unless it gets over zero!!!!

Have a good day everyone!!!
Jude

 

[jenanderson]

BTW, did anyone see the "special health edition" for Ladies Home Journal? There is an article on Jillian Michaels and the BL and they printed out an entire weeks' worth of BL menus. I copied it and am going to try several of them. I borrowed it from my secretary at work and so it may be a month or so old. I especially liked some of the snack ideas since I am always looking for something as soon as I get home and before I can get dinner going.

Jude - You will have to let me know if any of the menus are good. I am suffering from boring menu problems. I also need snack ideas! This week I am going to try out at least 1 new meal because I feel like I eat almost the same thing all the time.

Yep...it is Minnesota cold here today. We are on our way to the in-laws (I am worried about the food situation there) and we will have to run outside. I am planning on packing my warm running clothing.

I did great at the work dinner last night. I had a glass of wine, a piece of sea bass, none of the rice and ate the grilled veggies. I did have a bit of the cheesecake...but just the smallest tasting and I had plenty of points available for it. I made my one glass of wine last the whole night by drinking plenty of water at the table as well. I was really happy with the outcome though because there were tons of tempting foods that I didn't even really feel like I was truly tempted by. I tend to look at so many foods now and think...how many minutes on the treadmill will that cost me.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Jen

 

[DisFam95]

I have been tugging on my jeans all week to pull them up and they have very faded knees (on the floor w/ kids a lot and the fashionable dark wash shows knee wear way too quick)

I have a trip to DL in 3 weeks so went jean shopping. I got a smaller size!!! They are a bit snug but better than hanging in the butt! I think the snug fit will help remind me to keep focused. I'm debating on taking the bigger jeans on the trip but maybe I shouldn't. Probably need as much reminded to not go overboard with all that yummy food!

I finally got back on the treadmill in over a week..super busy this week. It felt so good.

Keep up the good work everyone.

 

[my3princes]

When is it going to warm up?