Hi Beth, Jay-nee, Jen, Chris, Tracy
I just took the time to re-read through my journal. Boy am I a drama queen

sheesh! I found an interesting post that I will use here:
me said:
Plateau Ponderings
Well, it is safe to say I wont see a loss this week, or just another tiny one like the past five weeks. So, hows my perspective?
Actually, its pretty good; up and down. Ive done some deep thinking. One of my WW leaders posed the question: what was your last straw? The one that brought you into WW? And what keeps you coming back, because you goals now will be different that your goals then. Well, it took me a while to digest that. But I realize now that I have met all but one goal from my last straw days that brought me to WW. At 222 lbs my goals were:
Be able to move freely (I could run but I could barely tie my shoes)
Be able to get up off the couch (I used to do the ole heave ho to get up
Be able to be active and play with my son (I used to lay on the couch and feel horribly guilty)
Be able to wear nice clothes, fun clothes that I bought because I like them
Now, going back to pre-WW days to my highest weight of 242 lbs I thought if I could only get down to 180-185 lbs Id be happy.
Now present day:
I can and do, do all the things in my list. I am at 170 lbs and holding (that could be looked at as a positive thing!).
I am known by all who know me as a fitness buff, counted among the elite at my gym.
So many people have complemented me on my weight-loss and many have told me I am an inspiration. I must never stop counting my blessings.
So where does that leave me? Well, I said all but one of my original goals have been met. The real one that is left (aside from actually reaching goal) is making peace with food. I still have my binges. But I am learning to make peace with them, to somehow peacefully coexist. If there was one thing I could change right now it would be my love of food!
It seems that my new way of life supports a weight of 170 lbs. Maybe thats where I should be. I am definitely not thin yet, but if being thin means living hungry and obsessed with my food then maybe I wont make it. I dunno. Maybe its still to early to tell. Maybe Ill keep losing at a snails pace and get there one day. I just dont know where there is!
I guess if I had to really put into words what my current goals are, they would be:
Be as strong as I can
Run as long and fast as I can
Where a size 8
Tweak my food plan to provide the maximum energy throughout the day
Start participating in group fitness activities more (like run a half marathon)
I wish I could commit to the Disney half this year, but I just dont know yet if I can swing it.
Here's what I find interesting. I'm at a plateau again. I'm not sure I should really call it a plateau, though, because I'm eating too much food to lose weight so I'm not losing weight

No mystery here. BUT, Looking at the goals I set for myself on April 1st, I feel I have pretty much achieved them. I am much stronger now than I was then (ex: I'm setting the pec dec at 120 now!!!). I have run a 20-milers (ok, the speed part wasn't there, but hey I RAN A 20-MILER!) and I can wear some size 8s now. The part that STILL eludes me is the "Tweaking the food plan". Well, I need to do a little more than
tweak, its more like
sledge-hammer my food plan. All I can say is TG for my strength and endurance. I just can't be a dainty eater! At the time I was holding at 170, now its 160 with a bit of a bounce.
I'm also in the "blah" phase of my cycle

But reading through the journal assures me this is nothing new. Been here before, will be back again. Deal with it. But I think I've entered "peri-menopause". Oh the joy.
I used to post my running stats alot more than I do now. I will try to post more acurately again since its nice to have as a history. Right now my long runs are 16-18 miles (one 20 miler so far, did I mention that before?
). My 8-mile pace is ~9:45, my TM good pace is 7.0 but lately I've doing more 6.5 and 6.7 settings. I currently do "burst" at 7.5, 8.0 and 8.5 mph.
I will be running a very hilly half on Oct 1. I don't think I'm prepared at all for the hills. Speed will not be a goal here!
Sunny