Good evening all! Oh it has been such a long day! I finally have some time to reply. I feel like it has been forever since I have posted a reply.

Ashley- It makes sense the whole inches thing. I definitely think I had a lot to lose. When I decided I had had enough, I was 187. For my height, I think I am supposed to be about 125. That is over 60 pounds to lose! I don't plan on losing that much. But I would think 20 pounds would be a signifigant amount. I am starting to see it more though. And I think people around me are pointing it out more. Today FMIL's fiance came to pick up my FH and when he saw me (I was feeling "fluffy" today) he was like, "Wow you have lost weight!" So that made me happy. I think I am just being hard on myself and I also don't take compliments well. I am working on it though. Anyways, GOOD WORK on the treadmill!!! You didn't even think you could do it and look at you now! You are rocking it girl! And that is so great that you are able to run the whole time! I die after the first mile!!! I am so glad that you are getting over your fear of disappointing yourself. You have to give everything a try at least once. And you can't be good at everything, but you wont know if you don't try. On to the FMIL WHAT THE HELL??? Why would she even say anything negative? I mean if you asked for her opinion it would be one thing. I got some negative feedback about a few dresses, but I asked. But when I sent out the pics of the dress I did buy, there was nothing bad. I would hope that if anyone had something negative to say, they would keep it to themselves. I say exclude her from the dress shopping. She doesn't need to be a part of it. Oh and how did it go when you called her to talk to her about the comment she made???

Chico- Oh man healthy eating.... I have a really hard time with this one. Taco Bell is my newest obbsession. I literally have to talk myself out of going. But I do go. I went ::::gasp:::: TWICE last week!!! Oh but it was so good. If I eat liek shit one day, I just try to eat extra good the next day. I also try to make an effort to work harder at the gym. You definitely can't deprive yourself though! That is just asking for trouble!

Muffin- Congrats on losing a pound!!! That is great that it was done almost effortless! That is always a good feeling! Your pic is so cute!!!! Who is the baby in the pic?

Sunshine- You are like the incredible shrinking woman! Every new pic you post you look smaller and smaller!!! I think that you will be at your goal when it comes time to dress shop. And if not, then you gave it your all and you still look amazing! Oh I love Delia's!! I haven't ordered anything through them in a long time. I need to order a catolog! Hopefully the new size will even fit you! Or hopefully they will still be too big. ; ) Have fun on your Christmas excursions!!

Tanis- Thanks for the Christmas wishes!!! All were well said and I second everything! I hope you have a great trip.

As for me.... I am surprisingly not that sore today. Which is pretty good. I really need to get back into water polo. I had such a great time yesterday. I am going to really look into a club team, or maybe even a class at one of the colleges. FH left today to head up to San Luis Obispo. I was sad to be alone, but I made some plans for the next few days and I am really excited! My sister and nephew are coming over right now so we can go to this amazing mall in LA. It is called the Grove. They have a HUGE Christmas tree (bigger then the Rockerfeller (SP?) center!). And at night they have snow. So we are going to have dinner, get pictures with Santa for my nephew and enjoy the outdoor atmosphere. Plus hopefully see some celebs. FH and I were there on Thursday and Gwen Stefani was there w/ Gavin and the kids. We didn't see them, but hopefully will soo some celebs tonight. Then tomorrow night, one of my BM is going to come out to LA to stay with me. We are going to go to the Grove(its my new fav. place), have some dinner, do a drive by of Lauren Conrad's house(I am such a stalker) and then come back to my house for some wine and the season finale of the Hills. =) I can't wait! Then Tuesday I am off to my parents house for the night before heading to San Luis Obispo on Christmas eve. It is going to be a super busy couple of days, but I am excited! And as for the ring... FH filed a claim with the credit card company. We are going to see what happens. They already credited him his money, but they can reverse it if we don't win the claim. So we are waiting for confirmation before we go ahead and get a new one. Drama, drama, drama... Oh well. I am not as mad now. I know it will get fixed I just have to wait.

Well my sister is almost here and I need tog et ready to go. I should be back, but if not I hope everyone has a great Christmas!!!!

Looks like I am the first one back! I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas! Mine was pretty good. On Tuesday I left and went to my parents house for the night in Ventura. It was a lot of fun. We drank champagne while wrapping presents. Then I woke up Wednesday morning(x-mas eve) and drove to San Luis. I met up with my sister, 2 friends, and FH for lunch before heading to Paso Robles to FMIL's house. When we got there we ate dinner and hung out. Then opened up our Christmas eve gift which was PJ's. FMIL bought me XXL. I have never been an XXL. But now I am definitely not a XXL. She insisted I still wear my PJ's so I did and they were HUGE on me. She said "I didn't realize you had lost so much weight." So that was nice. Her and her fiance said I look the smallest they have ever seen me. Thats not true, but if that is what their eyes are telling them, I will take it! On Christmas morning we woke up and opened presents. It was kind of hard for me and I started crying because it was my first time being away from my family for christmas. I love FMIL, but it wasn't the same without the kids around. I felt really bad that she saw me crying. I had fun, it was just hard. Anyways, I got dance revolution, so we got that thing going and we played that for a bit. Then another couple came over for dinner and we played more dance revolution and also catch phrase. It was alot of fun! On Friday morning, we got up and headed back to my parents. They got us a hotel room right on the harbor in Ventura, it was so nice. We usually never do anything when we are at my parents because they can be pretty boring. So I throw out the suggestion of bowling and my dad says "Let's go ice skating!" He used to play hockey and has been dying to go ice skating, so we decided to go. So FH, my dad, one of my sisters, and her BF all go. Well while we were there, some kid cut my dad off on the ice and my dad had to swerve to get around him. He ended up losing his balance and falling backwards. It was so scary. It completely knocked him out. He hit the ice so hard. I was terrified. After about a minute he came too, but was out of it. He kept thinking he was going to pass out. After about 30 min he decided he was OK enough to get up and leave. So we took him to the ER to have him checked out. He is ok. I don't know how he didn't crack his skull. He hit so hard. It was one of the scariest things I have seen. I can't stop thinking about it and last night I kept waking up because I was picturing the fall over and over again. Poor guy. He is really sore today, but he is completely fine. I am hoping I get a better nights sleep tonight now that I really know that he is OK. And I definitely wont be taking him ice skating again! And today we went to a party across the street from my parents. We just hung out and drank wine. It was really nice. Now I am back home. I came home to my bathroom a completel mess. My landlord called me this morning to say there was a plumbing issue and he wanted to see if there was anything wrong with our bathroom. So when I get home the toilet is filthy and so is the shower. It looks like it competely backed up again into both places. So I had shit literally on my bath tub floor. I am annoyed that my landlord didn't even call me to tell me what had happened. It would have been nice to know the mess we were coming gome to. Oh well. I poured a ton of bleach in the tub and turned the hot water on. So there will be no baths for me here. This is the second time it has happened! Yuck... Now onto the important stuff... Food. I think I did OK. I ate a lot of candy because FMIL made the most amazing heath bar like candy. It was so scrumptious! But other then that I did ok. I didn't weigh in on Wednesday because I was at my parents. I might get risky enough to get on the scale tomorrow morning to see what the damage is. But I am not sure yet. I may wait until wednesday! Anyways... That is my deal for now. I hope everyone had a great christmas! I can't wait to hear about it!

Hey Girls!!! I am back! I am just going to respond quickly for now because we leave again in about 36 hours so I am spending very little time on the computer before then :)

FMS- congrats on the game!!! I am so glad that you felt good and confident and most importantly had fun. And I am relieved that your Dad is ok...that is VERY scary. I hope he feels better soon.

Ashley- I totally smiled when I read about your gift to your FH...that is completely something I would do!!! You go girl Confidence in the bedroom is definitely one of the biggest benefits of newfound body happiness! And glad things have smoothed down with FMIL...but you are right...be careful with your boundaries going forward.

Tanis- hope you had a great Christmas in Louisiana! It sounds like you had a really good plan to stick to, which is at least half the battle. And glad your workouts are still going strong!

Kens- welcome back!! If now isn't the right time to focus on weight loss efforts, trust yourself and do what you need to do, but remember that just because you aren't weighing in doesn't mean you can't make really good food choices and keep it up with your treadmill..which it sounds like you are planning to do. We are here for support whenever you need it!

As for me girls, the week in Florida was great!!! We rented a beautiful house, the whole family (me, FH, my parents, my sister and BIL, and my nephew/godson who is only 5 months old!) We had a blast. I worked out 4 of the 7 days, and one of those days I did two workouts...one easy and the other more challenging. My workouts were outdoor speedwalks...since I didn't have a gym to use and was sharing the common areas of the house with 6 other people, that was pretty much my only workable option. But I would do at least an hour long speedwalk; sometimes with FH, sometimes alone. One day I did an hour and a half, and one day I did an hour with my mom then later in the day I did an hour by myself at a faster pace. As for food....ah, the holiday battles. And I know better!!! Well, I did great the first few days....but the last few days, the sugar got the best of me. REALLY. I ate way too many sweets, things I normally would never eat. I came home feeling bloated and gnarly. BUT, it turns out I was beating myself up too hard about the effects...because my new smaller size jeans had arrived in the mail when I got home, and they fit great!!! I wore one of the pairs today out walking around the neighborhood with FH. I noticed I was getting a lot of looks from guys, so whether it was the new jeans or the confidence, either way I felt good :) I have a habit of the all-or-nothing mentality, so over Christmas I felt I was really really good then really really bad...and I think I learned a lesson from that. In the end, I am ok with it, but next time around I will be more even keeled and let the little indulgences in here and there rather than holding off then splurging. I have decided to do a two day fruit and vegetable fast to cleanse out my overindulgences...I do this from time to time to cleanse out my body, and it feels great. Nothing but vegetables and fruits for two days, but I cook the vegetables with a small amount of olive oil for the essential fats we all need, and I eat high protein veggies like peas and green beans and high protein avocados, also for the fat. That way I don't get wiped out or have no energy or feel starving, but I am getting the fiber and cleansing power of the veggies and fruits. If any of you want to try this, I recommend choosing two days when you don't have too much going on for your first time, not days when you have a lot of obligations or are going to be expending a ton of energy etc. I personally love it to jump start getting back on track after a vacation or what have you.

As for weighing in, I can't this week because we wake up at 5 am on Tuesday to fly to NC for a wedding for a few days...I can't believe we are flying south again so soon!! But it will be SO much fun. And we don't get back til the weekend, and I'd rather not weigh in over a weekend especially right after an out of town wedding where I won't be able to cook my normal meals or work out normally, so I am going to skip this weeks weigh in altogether and weigh in next week with everyone else on Wednesday. I'd rather just get back on track with regular weigh ins. So that's my story...I am off to watch a movie with FH and have a relaxing night!!

Hope everyone is going great, I will check in again soon!

Hi ladies,

I just found this post, and wanted to join in.

I went dress shopping and HATED how I looked in the pictures. That motivated me. I used to be very fit, but somehow between my 1st full time job, grad school and now being in a doctoral program my fitness became a lower priority. I'm kicking my self for that one.

I've been working out consistently for about 3 weeks now. I'm doing a combination of the Couch to 5K program via coolrunning.com. Plus I do the Firm Cardio Weight program. I'm on Weeks 3 of the couch to 5K.

My wedding is tentatively set for Fall 2010. We have epics coming up in the spring, so I'd like to be down about 15lbs by then. I'm hoping that I'll be confident enough to do b-pics as part of my wedding present to FH.

Just wanted to say hi and introduce my self.

 "Because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."

Welcome Kali and Melissa!!!

A few questions for you ladies...

Where are you starting at (weight, activity level, eating habits, etc)?
What are your goals?
And do you have a plan to achieve those goals?

These are all things the other ladies have addressed, but I'll put my stuff out there as an introduction and as reminder for myself.

Starting weight: 250; size 20
Current weight: 208; size 12/14
Food: weight watchers girl here!
Activity: work out 5 or 6 days a week, running, weight lifting, bosu
Goals: short term- get out of the 200's! ultimate goal- 165 lbs.

I should probably add too, that one of my new main goals is to improve my own personal body image and confidence and that taking care of myself is really helping with that!
 

Welcome Kalikat and Melissa! I think you will both fit in great here and find some good motivation along the way.

Kali don't dwell too much on the BBQ chips you ate today. We all have those days. I ate so much candy over the last few weeks. Seriously! At one point FH had to do an intervention!!!! He was like, "Babe think about how hard you have been working out at the gym." But it was freaking good. Yumm... now I am thinking about candy. Anyways, try not to keep any kind of junk food around you. And remember, if you are going to eat some kind of junk, make sure it tastes good!!!

Well ladies, I am getting ready to go to Big Bear for the weekend. We are leaving Wednesday around noon and wont be back until Sunday. I am so excited! We are going to have a ton of fun! We are going to spend New Year's eve with some of our best friends and then another good friend will be coming up the next day. I definitely need a little trip. And I am planning on going snowboarding. I have never done it before. So as long as my friends snow gear fits me, I am planning on hitting the slopes. Oh and an update on the ring... It looks like we will be getting our money back. I am so relieved because if this guy is being a pain in the ass now, why will he help us anytime in the future if we need it? So I have been on the search for a new ring. I found one today that I love. It is from Benjamin Bridge. It is sooooo pretty! Here is a link:

http://www.benbridge.com/bb_store/catalog/Diamond-ring-in-platinum-p-8382.html

It is much smaller in carat weight then the one I currently have, but I really don't care. I don't need or want a huge flashy ring. So i think I am going to take a picture of it to a jeweler my friends have used and have it made. There were a few things about the ring I would change, and supposedly it will be cheaper to have it made elsewhere. So now I just have to convince FH of it. He doesn't really like the antique looking rings, but I am the one wearing it, not him. So once it comes time to really buy it, I will have to come up with a way to talk him in to it. If not, then we will have to compromise and find something we are both happy with. Either way I am just antsy to get this whole thing behind us. Anyways, I will probably do a quick check in tomorrow before we are off. I hope everyone has some good plans for New Year's Ever.

Happy New Year eveyone! This is my last post of the year and today I had my last workout of the year and as usual my favorite of the year. Last chance before all the newbies come in. I had a great back and tricep workout then did my abs. I am so close to a one armed pushup that I can taste it (or maybe thats just sweat! lol) No cardio as my legs are very, very sore from yesterdays workout a full leg workout including my 'lap of lunges'. I also fared quite well in Louisiana. We had our picnic on the way there, got seafood from Tony's a couple of times, and I ate the Salad bar at Ruby Tuesdays and then Subway on the way back. I did have a piece of pie. You haven't had pie until you've had southern pecan pie. Fitness wise I worked out twice which was great because the goal was to work out just once. The first gym hadn't been updated since the 70's and I seriously expected to hear the original Rocky song over the loudspeaker.

I hope everyone has a great New years. My final, final post is a rant I posted a few months ago on a thread where it seemed like all the women were putting themselves down because of how they looked. Someone had to stop that nonsense, so here is what I remind myself of when I don't like my body:

My name is Tanis. I am 39 years old and a size 14. My body rocks, not because of how it looks, but because of what it can do. I am an avid weight lifter. I leg press 500 lbs, I chest press 110 lbs, and I do 60 lb one armed rows. I make grown men do double takes, and old men just stop and stare. I can out-shop any teenager or more importantly could walk as far as necessary in the event of an evacuation. I could get my 6'8" 240 lb husband out too, if needed. My blood pressure is perfect, my cholesterol just fine and I eat all my veggies. I no longer weigh myself, nor will I let anyone else weigh me including my doctor because of the assumptions that come with being a "big girl". I am however happy to give them my nutrition plan, my workout schedule and my fitness goals. I will never be on the cover of Vogue or even Shape, but I am strong and powerful and I refuse to accept the idea that I should take up as little space as possible on this earth.