Skinny Cows [CLOSED GROUP]

@MissKittyrina - I weigh myself at the same time! Right after I get out of bed, use the bathroom and right before I get dressed. I follow the same line of logic

I am the same...first thin in the moring after the toilet...but i wear my pjs (I make sure I have the same ones on for it)

Hi everyone!

I have had a really busy day, so I am just now finding time to write. My name is Gemma, I am 34 and I live in Chicago with my husband, 4 kids (ages 10, 8, 6 & 5months), a new 3mth old Boxer puppy and a cranky cat! I work from home as a freelance graphic designer (with the baby, which is very difficult most days).

Ever since I began having children 10 years ago, I always seemed to gain too much weight with each pregnancy, lose a little bit (not all of it), then gain more with each following pregnancy. I was in a great workout/healthy eating routine last year, then got pregnant with my 4th son. I had every intention of keeping up with my exercise routines while pregnant, but had a difficult pregnancy and was on bed rest and in/out of the hospital for the last 5 months of my pregnancy. The sudden end to my workouts caused me to gain 50 lbs throughout my pregnancy. I also had my first c-section, ruining my core strength....and here I am!!

I have been doing Jenny Craig to help with my eating (which I have had great success with in the past) and have already lost 15 lbs, which I feel great about. My clothes are finally starting to feel a little looser and I am gaining a little more self confidence. I have begun taking the baby with me to the gym every morning, while I do Spin classes and lift weights. I also try to get outside and walk the puppy most nights. To kick it into high gear, I also began Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred today, as a backup for the days I can't make it into the gym. Can you see I am desperate for this weight loss thing to work this time??? I am really trying to stay motivated and really need the help of you all! I do pretty good during the week but have a hard time on the weekends when I'm surrounded by my husband & kids eating junk! I weigh in on Mondays since I go into the Jenny Craig center. I stay far away from my unreliable scale at home :-)

It is great to meet you all! Keep up the good work everyone.

My own personal daily goals:
-Over 8,000 steps daily (I sit at the computer most of the day, and after I began wearing a pedometer that I got at Jenny Craig, I realized I was not as active as I thought I was)
-30 days straight of the 30 Day Shred (Day #1 complete!!)

Gemma, same way with me, I have a friggin Kangaroo Pouch down there! I hate it so much. But even if you have a kanga pouch, doesn't mean the muscles aren't strong. I'm hoping mine will go away with the other weight too, or at least get smaller. My mom keeps buying me all these stupid tummy shaper things thinking it will make me happier with my body (she's so cute) but in reality, I always know it's there and I'd prefer to NOT have anything that has to be hidden or sucked into one of those things.

Todays mirror challeng. I really like that my jeans look so baggy...wait, they look crappy like they don't fit, but wait, that's a good thing, right?????

Hey all! I'm going to try to only post this once... ha ha.... I'm having the same fashion crisis as you all are... I've been slowly going through my closet... I have 3 pairs of jeans that fit, 1 pair of capris, 1 pair of khakis and 1 pair of boot leg... I haven't worn some of these in YEARS. I'm a recovering pack rat... and thank goodness I did save all this stuff, because it's getting cold here in New England and I wouldn't be able to wear shorts for much longer... Also financially speaking, a shopping spree isn't in the immediate future... I want to get to my "size" and stay there for awhile before I invest in clothing. What I am doing now is donating all the clothes that are too big - thus the recovering pack rat comment... Hopefully that will keep me in check...

I too have had a horizontal c-section... with my first child - the other 3 were v-backs.... I never truly exercised enough between the 4 kids to comment on what happens with diet and exercise. I am only a couple of pounds away from my original goal - but am not happy with how my body looks. Not in an unrealistic way - don't think I should have a body of a 21 year old super model - but my back thighs, bum and stomach still have jiggly dents and dimples... I have a pretty defined ledge/mound/cliff/bump (I can't describe it well) on my lower abs where my c-section incision was. I'm thinking that it won't go away (and I'm okay with that) that is, won't go away unless I become a gym rat which isn't in my immediate future... As it is, I exercise with the two little ones running in between my legs.... My baby (2 - so not much of a baby any more), likes to sit on my stomach when I do my crunches...

Well, I'm going to say au revoir... Have a wonderful day, my fellow skinny cows. I'm VERY proud of us!

Lissa

Lisa- So sorry to hear about your brother. I am glad he is doing better- how scary, Take care of yourself.

Lissa- have you every tried shopping at the thrift stores. My SIL suggested it to me until I am down to my size. I actually found some very nice brand name clothes for a very low price. You have to hunt but it does save money. My picky teenage daughter was even having fun looking for things.

Steph- I'm with you the weekend was rough. A personal shopper sounds fun.

Jonette- Isn't it great when you're excited for saggy jeans.

I got my 10 pushups in this morning. Stayed on plan at work despite the employee appreciation cookout. I got a plate and then gave it to one of the guys.

Take care everyone,

It sounds like a lot of people had a rough weekend! but kudos to everyone for logging in, staying on / getting back on track

It seems like anything that throws people off their normal, safe routine can be a challenge. I'm still undecided about what to do about weekends-- normally I plan out my food the day before and stick to it. This is harder on the weekends, because typically my time off involves doing social things with my friends, and eating out at places that are decided at the last minute. In between this weekend, and having to leave my house for an overnight training thing for work, I think I made it work as best I could.. I typically hang out with my bf over the weekend, who can is the sort of person who can eat an entire pizza and still be in way better shape than me. Anyhow, he ended up being in town, so I met up with him at a bar at the last minute. I did not drink because I had already ate all my calories for the day. It would have been incredibly easy to say "Well, it's only one beer" but I resisted. Ultimately, it didn't matter-- I just had some water and no one cared because we were just there to socialize. I find one way to deal with hanging out with someone who can and does eat unhealthier than me is to do a good amount of cooking for the both of us, which I did for one meal, and the other two meals I ordered things that were healthy. Also, I had zero control of what would be served while at training, but managed to make decent decisions (Kashi instead of a particularly good looking biscuit this morning...ignored the temptation of "all you can eat for free" eating beyond how hungry I actually was )

One suggestion for a mental challenge for the next week: writing down instances where you chose a healthy choice over an unhealthy choice. This reminds you that you CAN do it, and can motivate you to do it again the next time.

Hi again ladies!

Lisa - I am so sorry to hear about your brother, I have no idea how hard that must be to deal with, but it sounds like you have a handle on it and you're very aware of the pitfalls that are lurking for you. That must demonstrate how far you've come - you should be very proud of yourself.

And I'm very emotional too - just can't stop those tears flowing when something upsets me! (And it's not usually a very upsetting situation!)

I think you're right about the shopping thing - I'm sure once I get started there will be no stopping me, but it's just getting started that is scary and hard!!

I have eaten so much in the past 3 days - I seriously felt like I couldn't stop eating - but today it is STOPPING. There's no way I'm letting any more bad food pass my lips today, I can't let my hardwork over the past couple of months be ruined now!!

My challenges haven't gone well this week - but I have time left to go and I can make up for it - so I'm doubling up my pushups, one set in the morning, one set in the evening, and upping my exercise. Today I'm thinking I'll do the 30 day shred - it's short enough to fit it in, but hard enough to get a good sweat on.

I think Violet's suggestion of writing down the times when you made a good choice over a bad choice is a wonderful idea - sometimes those choices are SO hard to make, and sometimes they're so easy - but anytime you make that choice it's a definite plus for you're life!!!

Stay strong all

Steph x

I'm with you guys on the UNMOTIVATED end too. I just can't seem to get myself to do much exercise. The only time I can REALLY work out is after my son goes to bed and by then, I'm too tired after chasing him around, trying to give the dog the interaction she needs so she doesn't tear up the furniture and making DH happy too! Oh, and don't forget the housework which I can never seem to catch up on these days as I can't seem to train ANYONE in this house to just clean up after themselves and put stuff away.

At least I"m eating better, but I'm still constantly wanting a cola. It's been a week and I was sure the cravings would be gone by now, but they aren't. I think I used up all my will power today when checking out at walmart to just ignore that soda fridge by the checkout, I hate that they are there.

And then I got a flu shot today and my shoulder is KILLING me. My whole arm, even below the elbow seems to be swelling and I've never had that happen before.

I did buy some more workout supplies today. A couple of 3 pound dumbells and some resistance bands. I also have good shoes now and one of those huge bouncy balls (My toddly likes to sit on my lap and bounce with me). No excuse to not exercise. And tomorrow is horse day....I know I will work out there, but last week I didn't even feel like riding for some reason.

I think I'm falling into a slump

I rallied last night and pushed myself through my favorite workout video, which for some reason seemed boring. I then looked through 30 day shred and it really looks like fun. So now I'm excited to add a new video to my workout. It also helped that as of this morning I am only a few ounces away from my first 10 pounds. Wow, if I do this in a slump, what can I achieve if I buckle down and try harder? I know I owe my current success to proper eating, but if I don't exercise I will plateau.... I am feeling so much better and...

I am Cola free for a week!!! Now that is a real achievement for me

Come on ladies, if I can do it, you can do it. What is your worst demon???? That's always a good place to begin, I know if you set your hearts to it, you can get rid of your demons too!

Hi everyone,
I am fighting a bladder infection so not too much energy today- Laid around and watched Season 4 of Army wives. I did get my turbofire workout in this morning before the doctor. It included well over 10 pushups.
Hopefully tomorrow will bring more energy.
Shayna- I have heard that too that you have to eat some of your exercise calories or your body starts hanging onto pounds. I am going to have to check out the BMR calculator.
Take care.

It sounds like most everybody is doing a great job and staying motivated. I don't know what my problem is...well, I do know. I'd love to start eating non-processed food, but it takes a lot of planning out and more than once a week grocery shopping. I feel like I don't have the time to do all of that. I think I am addicted to Diet soda and carbs and I know that both are what is holding me back from losing weight. i just can't kick the habit. My work provides pop, so it is always available. That makes it worse. On top of that, I was on a roll with working out and now have hurt my foot and am supposed to stay off of it.

Sorry to sound negative - I'm usually not. Just having a hard time figuring out what to do. Any advice would be appreciated

I hope you all are having a great week!