Okay, I waited until 10:00 PM. No one weighed in today?? Are we giving up on the weight loss challenge people? Holly? Leslie? Nono? Enke? Denise? Eliz? Mary? Hello - is anyone out there? 124 for me this morning, which is down one pound. Instantly celebrated by eating 4 double stuff oreos and a glass of milk for breakfast. Hey - that's almost as good as a bowl of Kashi.

FracesRe, welcome. you are so cool. You are at the right place. We are right were you are. Kept the weight this week. I think running the marathon helped. Thanks for this thread. It keeps me motivated and honest.

I'm here. I'm not under 130, but I'm LOVING my snack or breakfast replacement meal of vegetable juice. I feel so much less "loaded" on the days I do it (right now 3 days a week). I'm using vegetable juice and water as the base and then just blending (not even juicing) whatever else is in the fridge into it. So far, nothing has tasted bad! Spinach, watercress, radishes, onions, etc. have gone in...basically it's a salad in a cup. I love salad -- when someone else makes it! So, this is working to get some more veggies in me. I thought of something last night as I was out picking up a small hoagie (turkey) with the kids, as I was beat.: There's a reason there's a small size of all of the foods offered. Remember a long time ago we talked about frames? I have a small frame. Why do I always choose the medium size of serving? Seems like I should be choosing the small.... So last night I had the medium sized hoagie, but my kids were sharing it with me... At least I had the ah-ha moment. Now to put it into practice.... I also practiced some cake aversion therapy this week and it worked. I found a 1/4 sheet cake for $4.99 from my store bakery that wasn't made up of my favorite ingredients. I ate about 8 pieces of it, and then threw the rest out. If it had been my favorite icing and cake, I'd have polished off the whole thing by today. If it had been regular price, I'd have eaten the whole thing, because I spent money on it. The fact that it went in the trash is a big success. And now I'll remember that I threw cake out and feel guilty for at least 6 months and not buy another, no matter what the price.... Anyway, I'm not going to report actual weight until I'm under 130, 'cause that's my first goal.

Oh, I've been avoiding the scale in general ..... thanks to DH buying 18 ..... yes 18 boxes of Girl Scout cookies!! I am going to have to pretend it is Lent again and give up Thin Mints. Jlynne - I love the reward to yourself. LOL! I have had chocolate chip muffins on the brain for the last 3 mornings, but so far have avoiding buying one. After my run, and drinking a cup of coffee I decided it was time to step back on the scale and was happy to see 134.2 - I thought it would be much higher. I really need to be somewhat good for the next 3 weeks before my 25K. I think a little less weight will help me some. Thanks for starting us JLynne and congratulations. Welcome Frances! Holly - I think I will go with your goal of 3 pounds too. Sounds reasonable - possibly doable. NoNo - I will order Mediums now thanks to your analogy. PH - your progress is inspiring!!

I found a 1/4 sheet cake for $4.99 from my store bakery that wasn't made up of my favorite ingredients. I ate about 8 pieces of it, and then threw the rest out.

You threw out CAKE? Perish the thought! I'm far too cheap to buy cakes at the bakery, lol (and I can't bear to throw anything out). I spend about $2.25 for a box mix and canned icing, bake a cake, and after a couple days I put what’s left (usually about half) in the freezer. 3-4 weeks later, out it comes, as good as the day I put it in. Maybe better. I, too, am a fan of tomato juice or V-8, and I love your idea about blending in extra veggies – I have to try that!

Denise I bet that schedule of yours makes a regular eating plan almost impossible. I was 139 the morning of the day we left for Boston (last Friday) and I was 144 this morning. So... I really tried to be good, but probably ate way too much on Sunday considering I only ran a half marathon on Monday but still, 5 lbs? Ok, I might've been artificially low before I went (stress and taper so I was eating less, maybe water weight loss?) but still, even if I go to 141 which has been my norm for most of this year, that's a 3 lb gain. And now I'm not running much, and just about any activity causes some discomfort so I'm basically slugging it and finding solace in the fridge. Gotta knock that off, now.

Between that and this week having been Nighttime Hot Flashes Hell, my butt has seriously been dragging.

Amen, sister! I stopped taking my hormone replacement meds 3 weeks ago because I've been worried about the risks of staying on them too long (and also thought they may be causing my weight gain). Last night, the fourth -yes, FOURTH - hot flash at 3:45 AM was so bad I had to get up, sponge off, get a dry pillow case (DH wasn't excited about me taking ALL the bedding off) and open the window to get some air circulation in the room. I couldn't fall back to sleep because I kept thinking "I have to fall asleep before the next one comes." It's a good thing today was a rest day because I feel like a walking zombie. I keep trying to remember the Serenity Prayer" but I don't know how much more I can take. Go back on meds, or not sleep until I turn 60? Think, think, think.....

JLynne - My running buddy said she read somewhere that hot flashes/night sweats can increase with more extensive workouts. She's been training for a 50k in a couple of weeks and has been having horrible night sweats. Cripes, I'm not looking forward to that. As far as baring my bod in a bathing suit (or batman suit) - I try to as little as humanly possible.