First let me start off by saying that everybody looks at me like I'm absolutely psycho when I bring this subject up so please bare with me here. I'm 5'1 and on a good day weigh 109lbs. I went from 123lbs to 109lbs over the past year so I'm happy with that. I've always weighed about 112lb until i went up to the 120 mark though

Now, the thing is that I gain 3-4lbs in just 2 days of not watching what I eat. Normally, I get back to my routine on Mondays and by Wednesday my weight is back down to 109lbs.

I would go to the gym during lunch and run 3miles and do some sort of weight lifting, then walk the dogs, and THEN either go for a run or do spinning. Well, for the past few weeks I've been so unmotivated to work out. I'm usually very hyper and don't mind it at all so I'm not sure what's wrong with me I mean, I'll still drag myself down to the gym on most days, but I just feel so blah.

I'm not one to stick to a "diet". I just watch what I eat during the week and work off whatever I ate/drank at the gym. I do love food and I LOVE DRINKING. Even though most of the time it's just wine, but on the weekends there's beer EVERYWHERE I'm concerned that if I don't get motivated again that I'll go back up to the 123lb mark (ahhh!). 120lbs for me is totally over weight!

These were taken in 2009 (123lbs):

Work cruise to Jamaica...


Thanksgiving...


Recent pics...my 30th bday...May of this year:





About 2 weeks ago at the dolphins game...gained 3lbs and you can totally tell



It's not just the gaining a few lbs that's bugging me. It's that my legs are arms have been nice and toned and it's going away. Or maybe it's just all in my mind.

Sorry guys, had to let that out. I'm not crazy, but everybody I say this too totally blows me off because "I'm crazy"

I need to get back to it and I'm so not feeling it!!! I hate this!

Just like the dogs NILIF also pertains to people, so get back to the work outs.

Chunky Butt! Just Kidding! You look fine, I weigh 143 lbs, and would like to tay around 138 or so, but I just cant loose that 5 lbs.. uggg. If your planning on doing the tough mudder, good to start getitng in shape now. need some motivation as well. Hey...... We need a thread like Val's excersise accountability thread, The training states that we should be able to run 5-7 miles, do 10 pull ups and chin ups, and 20 pushups. I did 2 pushups and 1 pullup, and a half of a chin up........ Maybe we can motivate each other since we both are working to the same goal.

When people ask me if I lost weight I tell them yeah, about 30lbs. They freak out and can't believe it but then they get annoyed when I say I still need to lose about 20lbs more "WHAT?! No you don't. You don't have that weight to lose! You're crazy! You look fine! BLAH BLAH BLAH" it's obnoxious because even though I did lose "a lot" I don't like how I feel or look. It annoys me when people undermine my own thinking about my OWN body! So even though I think you look GREAT! lol I won't call you crazy

arooroomom wrote:

When people ask me if I lost weight I tell them yeah, about 30lbs. They freak out and can't believe it but then they get annoyed when I say I still need to lose about 20lbs more "WHAT?! No you don't. You don't have that weight to lose! You're crazy! You look fine! BLAH BLAH BLAH" it's obnoxious because even though I did lose "a lot" I don't like how I feel or look. It annoys me when people undermine my own thinking about my OWN body! So even though I think you look GREAT! lol I won't call you crazy

I'm so glad that I'm not the only one that gets SUPER annoyed when people try to tell me that I'm fine. What is fine for somebody ELSE isn't fine for ME. Why can't people just understand that?! ughhh!!!

Thank you for not calling me crazy but I will say that you do look great and you can totally tell that you've lost the 30lbs! Yay you!! On the other hand I totally understand how YOU feel that you need to loose a few more. Do whatever makes you happy and ignore everybody else..LOL!!!

i<3neo wrote:

Chunky Butt! Just Kidding! You look fine, I weigh 143 lbs, and would like to tay around 138 or so, but I just cant loose that 5 lbs.. uggg. If your planning on doing the tough mudder, good to start getitng in shape now. need some motivation as well. Hey...... We need a thread like Val's excersise accountability thread, The training states that we should be able to run 5-7 miles, do 10 pull ups and chin ups, and 20 pushups. I did 2 pushups and 1 pullup, and a half of a chin up........ Maybe we can motivate each other since we both are working to the same goal.

Tough mudder? What's that? LOL! Yes, I do agree that we should all motivate each other! Wow, 7 miles...ummm that's difficult. I can (or I should say COULD about 2 months ago) run 4miles and I was dying....lol. Do girly push ups count? Lmao!!!

Lol, I'm trying to convince people to do it with me, you know you want too! Look it up, its fun....heather is doing it too!

Mel, you look great, but I can empathize with you about feeling like you can look better. I'm 5'3" and 125 and I really want to get back down to 110-115 (before I started birth control and had my thyroids start acting up, I weighed 105!). And when I tell people I want to lose 10-15lbs they look at me like I'm retarded and tell me how I should shut up and how small people shouldn't complain. SUPER annoying. We all have our "stuck" moments where we're just groggy about it all, but just keep doing it and maybe think of new things to do to keep active! I just got back to working out and am ridiculously happy I can do it without worrying about my ankle.

I'm way too excited for the Tough Mudder! Thankfully chin ups/pull ups/sit ups etc are no problem for me, I beat out all the boys in my high school when the military popped up during lunch doing a contest lol, but I need to get back to running 7 1/2 miles consistently and be able to run several nonstop!

Ok, here's my thought. Exercise is essential for body and mind....not just what you look like. I went from 280lbs to 185lbs in about 11 months and so desperately wanted to lose that last 10ish pounds but you know what.....my body doesn't want to! I work out (hard!) 5-7 days a week. I spend anywhere from 1.5 to 3 hours at the gym 4 days a week and I do 2 long runs (5-7 miles) outside 2x a week and in the summer we hike 8-17 miles every weekend. As far as food goes I eat small high protein meals every 2-3 hours during the week and I drink wine every day...weekends are kinda whatever I want within reason. Here's what I have determined though.....I hate beating myself up over the little imperfections and the stupid scale! I gained 4 lbs between yesterday and today after my amusement park pig out but you know what....I had a great time and it was worth it! I just say to myself that I work my ass off an I earned it. Back to the gym today though! I guess what I'm trying to say is if you like what you see in the mirror then don't obsess over 2-3 lbs. Just make sure you earn that beer on the weekend. Since I have given up on losing anymore on the scale I try to challenge myself to run faster, longer, lift more...whatever works. Set a fitness goal, not a weight goal. I am working on my 5k trying to get it to 25 minutes. That keeps me going faster regardless of how frustrated I get by the scale and in turn I get more toned and build more muscle and THAT is never reflected on the scale!

Good luck though! I KNOW HOW FRUSTRATING IT IS!

The scale is the devil, I am not gonna weigh myself til I look in the mirror, feel great, and whatever the number is oh well. Also muscle always makes your number higher and it can feel shitty that you feel great and look great but the scale has a higher number due to your muscle. Also if you gain 2-3lbs over the weekend it'll probably be gone by mid week.

I have never drank or had an interest to so this is easier said than done for most I guess, but I'd try giving up the booze for a couple weeks and see if there's a difference. I am no nutrition expert at all but I'd think booze is one of those factors that really keep you back.

P.S. No one can tell you gained 3lbs at the Dolphins gain Mel, lmao

Jill, looked it up! They should be coming to Miami, but there's not date to register for yet That seems like fun! A bit crazy, but fun!!! I signed up to get an email when they have a date and open registration!

Heather, you're totally tiny like me! Non-tiny people (lol) doesn't understand our issues..period. I weighed 99lbs my senior year and was 105lbs till I was about 22 then it was all down hill..lol. I would never want to weigh that again or I'll look sick, but 107-108lbs is perfect for me. I agree that I should look into something different to do. I think I'm just sick of the same routine!!!

Lindsay, you totally made me feel better and you're TOTALLY right!! All this time I drank all the beer I wanted and ate bad food, but I didn't feel guilty because I knew that I was busting my butt during the week working out and eating right (with the exception of the wine of course...haha). Muscle does weigh more than fat so when I weigh myself and the numbers haven't gone down or went up a pound, but my pants are still loose and I feel good it doesn't stress me out at all. The thing is that now I know it's not muscle. Ugh!!! I just need to get back to it and I'll be fine within a week.

Oh, and you and Heather sure can run a lot! I suck at running. My goal is to get to the 5mile mark and then I'll be happy!

Have you thought about getting Couch25K? I know SO many girls from Fort Carson who have used this app to get in shape and learn to run properly and build up their stamina! It's pretty awesome seeing how much it helped them!
And I seriously get you. I didn't think I looked sick at 105lbs but I definitely did, 115 is my good number but I just want to get rid of fat for the most part. And yeah, when Jarod was at BCT I went to a Super Bowl party with my friend and was talking about how I felt bad skipping the gym that day and just talking about my new habits(since it was just a little bit before I got super super active again) and one of my friends' friends, who is overweight and eats ONLY fat food and doesn't exercise, goes, "I hate when skinny people complain about being fat and needing to diet." Wanted to slap her. Not my fault you aren't my size- there's a reason! And that's awesome you think I look great but what's important to me is looking good to MYSELF!

And for sure switch stuff up. My FAVORITE things to do to lose weight at running obviously, while listening to my iPod, and then my secret favorite thing ever is playing Dance Dance Revolution.. calorie burning fun! Too bad I have to wait til Feb to play since I can't do it while in an apt!

ughhh i feel this pain so bad. i'm 5'2" and about 6 months ago weighed the most I ever have, 185lbs(ew) and I'm down to 145lbs and my goal being 125lbs. I've done everything I have time for. I do about 3 miles around the dog park with the dogs a day. Use the wonderful calorie counter on my phone to stay under 900cals for the day and I've only lost 2lbs in the last 2 weeks! Ughh! I think I'm going to man it up and do Zumba with my friend this month..

Jennet, your body needs to be intaking 1,200 (healthy and balanced) calories a day AFTER exercise if you want to lose weight and keep it off. Any lower than that and your body is going to start storing the fat and enter starvation mode.

Idk Heather, I can only physically eat around 900 calories a day before I start feeling way too full and cannot eat anymore. I think as long as those 900 calories are "good" wholesome foods that are varied I think it's OK. I think eating less than 1200 calories is only a problem when you physically feel hungry but you're denying your body food.

Couch25K....nope, never heard of it, but I'm going to google it when I'm done replying to this thread. Sounds interesting.

I use the Myfitnesspal.com calorie counter (I think Shannon suggested it a while back and it's awesome!!!). The more you work out the more calories you're allowed. I always stay under though. I'm with Kristina...as long as your satisfied and not starving yourself then you still drop the weight even if you don't reach the 1,200 calories, but then again everybody's different and you have to find what works for you.

Definitely no carbs at night and stay away from the red meat! That's a major thing for me!

My fitness pal is great! I use it too. I asked my doctor about making it to 1200 calories and he just said "if you're not hungry- don't eat."

No red meat?! Oh Melissa I don't know how you do that! I think I would die without meat lol

arooroomom wrote:

My fitness pal is great! I use it too. I asked my doctor about making it to 1200 calories and he just said "if you're not hungry- don't eat."

No red meat?! Oh Melissa I don't know how you do that! I think I would die without meat lol

Even Ivan is now using it! He says he needs to loose 10lbs... I'm like ummm OK if you say so..lol.

I'm not a huge fan of red meat really. I can go weeks without it. I do LOVE LOVE LOVE my philly cheese steaks though! Oh, and a good burger...yummm!!! I can pass on the actual steaks though. Ivan always wants to make that for dinner and gets mad at me when I don't want it

900 cals does seem low... at 5'3" my body stoped at 133 I now range between that and 135 regardless of all the lifting cardio I do. I'm just gonna change my shape by working out and keep the scale where it it is. I have a med build and know I will never be a sz 2, my legs are just to big! I'm in small Xsmall tops and a sz 4 bottoms I'm happy if in a yr I can stay the same buut build muscle. All us ladies can get there if we stick at it. It just sucks that when we take time off it just comes on so fast!

arooroomom wrote:

Idk Heather, I can only physically eat around 900 calories a day before I start feeling way too full and cannot eat anymore. I think as long as those 900 calories are "good" wholesome foods that are varied I think it's OK. I think eating less than 1200 calories is only a problem when you physically feel hungry but you're denying your body food.

No no no, what I said is a fact. And you also have to realize is you're eating 900 calories, but burn 250 running, your intake is only 650 for the day not to mention what you naturally burn already made you go negative. What also will happen is you'll lose weight quicker but it will not stick. One of the times I was crazy about getting in shape, I'd eat 1,400 calories but I'd go to the gym/run/hike and I'd end up burning more than I took in.. once I stopped the crazy exercise and did a normal calorie intake, bam, what's up most of the weight I lost. When Jarod was gone I worked with a friend of a friend's who was a personal trainer, body builder, nutrition expert- she was crazy, I guess she use to work on set with movie stars(Oh Scottsdale..) and I baby sat for her once while she tried out to be the new Jillian on Biggest Loser.. this girl knows her stuff! And she stressed to me how important it was to make sure you're eating enough. I have a friend who is full only eating one meal and eats nothing but, but that doesn't mean it's healthy and she shouldn't eat more. I had to eat over 2K calories most days when I last did my crazy work outs.. it sucked but had to be done.

Heatherlee wrote:

I have a friend who is full only eating one meal and eats nothing but, but that doesn't mean it's healthy and she shouldn't eat more. I had to eat over 2K calories most days when I last did my crazy work outs.. it sucked but had to be done.

I have a friend who does the same. Not because she's trying to starve herself, but she's just not hungry. I go to lunch with her and I feel like Ms. Piggy because seriously she doesn't even make a dent in her food..lol. She does want to loose a few pounds, but she thinks that if she goes jogging for 30min and eats her one tiny meal that she'll loose it I tell her that she should eat small healthy portions every 3hrs to keep her metabolism going, but nope. It's in one ear and out the other. WHATEVER!!

I'm not sure if my friend is trying to starve herself or if she really just isn't hungry. I know she takes meds that suppress her appetite (both for other health issues and a diet pill) but I keep trying to stress to her that all the weight she is losing is purely from the diet pill + not eating and that it's unhealthy and when she decides to stop the pills and eat normal, she'll gain it all back plus more. She doesn't exercise at all. It's a mess. If you're going to lose weight, do it the right away. It's not that hard to eat good food throughout the day and go running or something every day.

I know I'm late, just now catching up here! I sympathize with you, Melissa! All my friends and family think I'm nuts when I complain about my weight. I'm 5'4" and I was 109 lbs before I got pregnant. I'm 110 lbs now at 14 weeks + 4 days preggo and the ladies that I walk with in the mornings were very unsupportive when I told them I needed to not walk as far so I'd stop losing weight.

I got chubby for a while around the age of 21-22 yrs old, I maxed out at 116 lbs and went up several pant sizes at the time. When you have a small frame like we do a few pounds can make a big difference. I'm so glad I have you girls around to share this with, so many people just don't understand and tell me to be thankful I'm "thin". Even at 107 lbs I look very healthy and still had the infamous love handles. lol At my current weight I really do think I'm at my ideal weight...although I know that will be changing rapidly for me over the next 6 months.

What really helped me lose the last few pounds when I was nearing my target was a few simple things. First, I took slightly longer walks with the dogs. For example instead of a 30 minute walk take a 40 minute walk. Second, if I had the time and the weather was good for it I'd go out for an extra walk in the afternoon or evening. Even a short walk around the block for 10 minutes was better than sitting on my butt at home on the computer or watching TV. Third, I had hubby help motivate me by setting aside 20-30 minutes either Saturday or Sunday to do a nice cardio workout together. It's so much more fun to work out with a partner and the competition between us to do better than the other got us working harder than if we were working out alone. Now all those above three things were in addition to my normal routine and the weight just came off so easy for me in a matter of months. Granted, I'll admit that I did slack occasionally...who doesn't?!

Normally I'm not a big eater to begin with, I eat when I'm hungry which normally is about every 4-5 hours. I also eat slowly and most people would say I "eat like a bird". I don't eat large meals like most people I know, I eat until I feel satisfied, not full. Lately (due to being pregnant) I'm hungry all the time and it feels like I'm always stuffing my face yet somehow I'm only 1 lb heavier than before I got pregnant. Whatever, I'm trying my best not to complain.

I think it also helps that I have a huge house to constantly clean and I'm at home all day so I'm not sitting around at a desk all day like I used to when I weighed more. I think having a desk job can make it harder for some, I know it made my weight harder to manage when you really don't have a choice about sitting for some 35+ hours per week.

I've never dieted in the sense of altering my food. I'm not a health nut, I eat good and bad foods although I do try to keep things balanced to the best of my ability. But overall I eat what I want, when I want. And normally I reserve drinking for Friday through Sunday, again that's on hold for 9 months for me now. And when I did drink I kept it to one or two per day, I get woozy pretty easily anyway. lol

I was hoping to lose some weight on Zumba buy that's also been put on hold for 9 months.

I think it's normal to have ruts where you aren't motivated. I don't fight them because sometimes you just need a break and then you're back at it with renewed vigor...just so long as they're not extended breaks. lol

It's crazy how different people's bodies can be. Val, I'm 5'3" and 115 is where I look healthy but still fairly thin but not to where I look sickly. When I dropped to 105 my junior year, I was really boney and everyone kept telling me I look sick (even though I'm pretty sure that they say 105 for 5'3" is still 'healthy' but at the lowest end of healthy).
You are probably going to be one of those super cute pregnant ladies who are all belly! And then once you give birth get back to normal super quick.

i use my fitness pal too, i try staying around 900cals because i really can't do 1200, it'd barf lol i get too full. i think it's cause i sleep so much and i'm only away like 10 hours a day lol