Oh honey, I'm fine. But goodness you are soooo sweet! I've come to the conclusion that I must be happy with my body the way it is, because I just haven't found the motivation to get out and do what would need to be done to lose some weight. I honestly only want to lose 20 pounds. Now, I could go into the epiphany I had earlier this week about why I'm so unmotivated, and this goes for EVERY ASPECT of my life, but I'm not gonna. We all have our baggage....I just need to put mine back on the carousel and hope someone else picks it up! But man I've missed posting on here, and misse all you gals! Love you all!

Hey Ladies!

Just stopping in to share some great news....I've gone down a dress size! :) Or, I should say, I'm "between" dress sizes. Since I lost the weight I normally wear a 12 in all clothing....dresses, skirts, pants, jeans, etc. For my 6'1" frame, that's a slim size for me, it's what I wore when I was my slimmest in college. However, today when I was shopping for a dress for my rehearsal dinner, I brought a few size 10 dresses in as well to see. And they fit perfectly!!! And these were not stretchy or flowy or anything; they were tailored, fitted, structured size 10's, so I know it was the real deal! So I can still wear 12's as well for right now just depending on the designer and how their sizes run, and I am not a 10 in jeans/pants yet (I'd love that, by the way!) but this still felt like a big exciting leap :) Being as tall as I am, clothing size-wise I'd be thrilled with being a 10 across the board and staying there.

I have my first gown fitting on Thursday and I'm going to weigh in that morning because I want to know what weight I am at for this first fitting in order to make sure I stay at that or below that between now and the wedding (so that the dress fits!!), so on Thursday I'll know if I met my current goal or not :) I was shooting for 3 lbs down from last week, so here's hoping I can do it!

Keep up the good work girls, and Ash, Tanis, Muffin, let us know how you are doing when you get the chance!

Tanis- I am so sorry for all of the losses. I can't imagine what you are going through. I am sure working out is a good release for you. It gives you a time to get away from all of the drama.

The bridal shower was fun. FMIL, one of my sisters, and my aunt didn't come which bummed me out. But it was still a great day. There was a little bit of drama that day though. One of my BM had family in town this past weekend. So on Sat night they went to a concert and then to a bar. Well she got pretty drunk and was running and tripped on the curb. She was fine the rest of the night but when she woke up in the morning she couldn't walk on it. So she called my sister and said that she wasn't going to be able to make it bc she had to go to the ER. Well I was pretty upset. So one of my other BM decided to send her a text telling her she should come even if she is late because I really want her there. So my BM left the ER and came to the shower bawling her eyes out feeling awful that the whole thing happened. At least she came. Turns out too that she fractured her foot and has to wear a boot! Anyways... We didn't play any games, which I would have liked to have done, but my sister had me take a picture with each person as they came in. Then my other sister's boyfriend took the pics to Costco and printed them all out then put them in frames as a parting gift to everyone. He also printed a copy of all of the pictures for me. Here are just a few pictures... The first one is my sisters and I. The MOH is the one on the far left in the tube top dress. The second is some of my friends that I drove the the BS with. And then just Muah.







Happy year anniversary! Woo hoo! Lets keep it going!

Hey Ladies!

I am replying to myself but it's all good :) I just signed on now that I had a minute to read Tanis and FMS's posts, so I am back to respond! Tanis, I am so so SO sorry for the losses you and your family are going through. It sounds just awful, and I am sure very stressful for everyone involved. We all know what happens when a lot of stress and drama enters the family dynamic....super uncomfortable and often explosive! Best of luck getting through all of that, come on here often for support and definitely keep it up with your workouts because it sounds like that is helping you immensely. And way to go on your 600 pound leg press!! I don't even know what to say about that. You're essentially leg pressing about 4 people's body weight. Damn, girl. That's impressive.

FMS I am glad your shower was a lot of fun! I am sorry there was some drama and that maybe it wasn't 100% what you had hoped for, but in the end, I am glad you had a good time partying with your ladies anyway :) I hope your BM's foot is ok, what crappy timing! Your pictures are lovely, you look really cute and happy! Did you get great gifts that you had registered for?

As for me girls, I had my first fitting yesterday!! It went SO great. First of all, I am obviously pretty thrilled about meeting my original goal. My original goal when I started all of this a year ago was to lose 30 pounds before the wedding, and as of yesterday, the day of my first dress fitting, I had lost 31! There were times when I wasn't sure if I could do it, when I plateaued at a 25 pound loss for soooo long and sometimes went up a little bit then back down again, I was starting to think maybe that's just what I had to be satisfied with. But I wanted to go further and I am so glad I did! The dress fitting was amazing, but it started out kinds funny. When they put the dress on me, it wouldn't even stay up because it was way too big, and the tailor didn't understand why they hadn't ordered me a smaller size. I told her I had lost some weight since buying the dress, but only 6.5 pounds, and they CLEARLY could have ordered me a size down and I still would have had room to have it taken in. So, I have to have it taken in a lot all down the back, but it doesn't change the look of the dress so it's ok. Also, I am pretty hourglass-y and my biggest measurement was my bust, so that's what they were gauging by when choosing a size and they still wanted to overshoot it a bit to be safe, so in the end I guess I am glad they had the extra material to work with to ensure the perfect fit. I am a little nervous that she didn't pin it tight enough for altering, but she kept telling me that you can't really feel the tightness of the fit when it's just pins and that once a zipper is there I will feel much more secure. She seemed to really know her stuff so I just have to trust her, and also know that it's just my nerves because I want it to be perfect and shot off all my hard work :) Also, I have a second fitting in 5 weeks so she assured me that if at that time it still needs to come in more, she will do that then. It's probably best because even as is I now have to maintain my lowest weight for the next 5 weeks and past the wedding, so probably best that it isn't tailored to the tiniest with no flexibility. She also tailored the bustle to put in the little loops and buttons for that, and it looks SO pretty bustled!! I had my jewelry with me (my custom made earrings which are GORGEOUS!!), and my shoes, and they had my veil in, so I got to see the whole look together. I was thrilled.....my mom was crying :) She had come into the city for the day to go with me, and I didn't have anyone else come because I wanted it to be special for her and I. Then we had a lovely lunch out to celebrate!
I didn't take any pics because I still don't have a digital camera, but I think we are getting one as a wedding gift so I'll have one in time for 2nd fitting to show pics to you guys!

So tomorrow is my bridal shower, so FH and I are headed out to my parents house at the beach in a few hours. I somehow have to workout, pack, get a mani-pedi, and eat lunch in the next 3 hours! Riiiiiiight. Anyway, 4 of my friends are coming out from the city for it....at first I was hoping for more people to be able to come, but when the shower is 3 hours away (necessitating an overnight stay) and on a summer weekend when a lot of people have weddings etc, you do what you can. There will still be about 30 women at the shower between my mom's friends, my family members, and mine and my sister's mutual friends who live out there. I adore my dress and shoes that I bought for the event, and I know the host will do a beautiful job, so I am excited!

Alright I've gotta boogie....sorry for the long post, but so many exciting things to share! I hope everyone has a great weekend and keep up the good work!

Yikes, where IS everyone??? Come on ladies!! :)

Hey Girls,

Just checking in! How is everybody doing?

FMS it sounds like you have been really busy! I hope you are finding time for taking care of yourself, too. I have fallen into that trap lately as well, being busy and not having as much time/motivation for working out, but I am getting back on track this week.

My shower was beautiful and really really fun, but it was also kind of emotional and overwhelming for me. I had friends coming out and staying at my parents house for the weekend to go to it, and so I had to spend the entire morning before the shower cleaning the house for the guests. FH helped me but my family all had their own stuff going on. So I was a little annoyed about having to bust a$s all morning before my shower. And then at the shower itself, it was so gorgeous and well put together, it was like a wedding... however because it was outside in the hot hot sun for many hours, and we were drinking wine and champagne, by the time it was over I was exhausted and kind of in a lull and wanted to crash but still had guests to entertain for the rest of the weekend. So it was tons of fun but also just a lot in a short period of time. I was also feeling happy but emotional about having met my goal....I mean I was thrilled of course to have met my goal, but to have that and my first gown fitting and then my bridal shower with a ton of people all within 48 hours was just a lot for me, not to mention we had to travel 3 hours to the shower!! So I guess it's understandable that I felt a little overwhelmed. I did really love it though.

As for "how it's going", well, it's been a little hard for me this past week since then. I think part of me thought that once I met my goal I'd be made in the shade, but a lot of emotional stuff came up for me around that, and it kind of sent me in the other direction for the week that followed....I only worked out once, and I didn't eat very well at all. Or I should say, I ate well some meals but other meals just threw any carefulness out the window. I know this all about my emotional process, and I know what I need to do, but it has been challenging and somewhat exhausting. So, anyway, I am feeling back on track for the first day today and I am going to make the most of it. I know that part of me is intimidated to actually step into the reality of having met my goal since so much of my past emotional life has been tied up in body image issues, and I am working on that. I am going to make sure to do some exercise today, but nothing too hardcore because I haven't worked out in a week AND I am on my period AND it is one million degrees in NYC today and I have to work out outside. But, it will be good for me. FH has been incredibly supportive of me as always, and he has been encouraging me to not get down on myself just because of one off week. So I am working on both the emotional stuff AND forgiving myself for falling off the wagon a little.

So that's me, sorry for the long post ladies, but I needed to vent and get some support. Even though we don't all come on as much as we used to, I really value this as a place where we can come and support eachother. Thanks for that :)

Hope everyone is doing well and would love to hear what's going on with everyone!!

I moved!

Yup, that's where I've been- moving! To a tiny, but super cute apartment. I'm loving it. Life is much better. Enough about me.

Sunshine, Tanis, Kens, FMS, Ashley- hi again : ) I didn't have time to catch up but I just want to say hello, I'm here and I'll be around ; )