Wow, that is fantastic! You obviously worked incredibly hard to lose that much weight in just 9 weeks! You should be very proud of yourself. I hope you win on Wednesday! Is there any sort of prize?

I am in VA so doing hiking here as a break. I had to go ahead and send my bike and all equipment to Canada before we left home since it takes it 8 days to get there. When I get back home I will be swimming and going to the gym and riding my racing bike instead of the touring bike. I am as ready as I can be I think. I fly out June 2. We will bike for 2 days around the Victoria area and then start out.

CONGRATULATIONS Kelly !! You have done an amazing job. You are so good at setting goals and seeing them through. It is a real gift. I applaud your tenacity. Have a wonderful time sailing . I love love to get out on the water...DH has such a hard time with the sun and light that it doesn't happen very often. Hope you take some pics to share !! c

Kelly, that is incredible.

As of tomorrow, I'm going gluten free for a while. Not to follow the current trend, but because I might be gluten intolerant (currently awaiting results of blood test for celiac but I would be surprised if I had it...but I wouldn't be surprised if I had some degree of intolerance). So I'll be curious to see how this impacts my weight loss progress, which has been slow lately (up one, down one, down two, up one, etc.).

I'm still maintaining my weight though the quality of my diet deteriorated over the last week. I was out of town for work and it was kind of out of control. At most I gained a pound but it was more the eating of some junky food that kind of gets you in the mood for more of that. Plus when I got home I had not much around for food and no time to go grocery shopping so it wasn't pretty.

My exercise for the weekend was mostly a lot of yard work and a stint on the stationary bike. My new leg is still not right so limits my walking and even my yoga to some extent. Hope to get that perfected soon.

It's weird but I feel like with my recently diminished yoga and crummier diet I can already see the belly bulge increasing. I wonder if it's the lack of yoga or the excess refined carbs leading to the fat around the middle that they say happens. Well, five day weekend coming up so I hope to get back on track with all the good things.

Kelly, what kind of sailing are you going to be doing and where? We like to sail but mostly inland lake sailing since we're in the middle of the country. We have done a few charters though which have been great fun.

Your success over the past weeks must be a huge inspiration to keep the momentum going. Congratulations!!

I'm still wondering what happened to Polly.....

YAY Kelly! Congratulations on your great loss. You should be proud!
Trail, hiking sounds lovely. We like to spend time in the woods too. Unfortunately I'm afraid of heights, so it is hard for me to do the ones DH likes.
Sue, good luck going GF. I'll be interested to hear how it goes for you. I know lots of people who have had great success with GF diets.
Gibby, I swear I can bloat up like a tick with just a couple of "bad" days.

I'm going along. Eating as well as I can and moving when I can. It is the start of the "season" here on Cape Cod and I worked at my waitress job both days this weekend. DH also was tending bar all weekend. Yikes! My legs are killing me! So I did get my exercise in. We're all recovering (DD works with me too now that she's home from college) and gearing up for next weekend.

I'm making some turkey chili today, a huge batch (9 lbs of meat) meatballs to feed DS and his friends over the weekend, and really trying to make sure there is good food in the house. I hate it when we don't have a plan.

Nice to check in...keeps me thinking that I need to keep on trying.

Beth P.

kelly, that is just fantastic. Wow!

I'm exercising just fine, can't seem to get on the diet track again, and I'm not sure why. Well, my focus is on
two other things for now...

Anyway, still working out & riding the bike.

I am about to get in the car for a looooong drive so no exercise for me today. I have packed healthy snacks to get me through the day.

I am bringing my heart rate monitor so I can make sure my walks will be in the cardio zone.

Since I'll be with my Mum and her friend, I think there will be more eating out than I would normally do but that just means I need to stay sensible with my ordering.

I'm also bringing my laptop so I can check in here tomorrow and find out if kelly won the big bucks.

Keep up the healthy work everyone. Even if you don't lose an ounce, if you have improved your health, you have improved your life.

Bloat up like a tick - that's a great line I will have to remember. It's brings to mind quite a visual....

these check-ins are wonderful, I read them all the time. I had a lower back injury in march that really set me back as far as exercising goes, but I was in the process of moving at the time so I stayed on my feet and moving/working a lot so my weight stayed the same. I'm almost healed now and have kept up good eating habits.

keep up the good work all of you, it's very inspiring.

Sounds like everyone is moving in a positive direction which can be so hard to do when life is busy and our attention is needed in a million different places!

It's official, I won! By a bunch too, the 2nd place winner lost 16 pounds. Also, it sounds totally crazy to me but my total inches lost is 39. When the girl was doing my measurements I was adding them up in my head and I guess I missed a few. Fourkids, the prize is $500 and 10 free training sessions.

My daily calories have been right around 1400 for the last 9 weeks. Yesterday I ate about 2300 calories and I woke up this morning feeling awful. Everything I ate was healthy and wholesome, I guess the quantity/richness was just too much.

sueb20 - I've been really considering GF as well. I don't have any tolerance/sensitivity that I know of, I just want to see if it makes me feel different. I don't think I'm ready just yet so I'll be interested to see how you do with it.

Gibby, we are doing inland lake sailing as well, near Dallas. My FIL has a boat on a lake up there. Actually, I've never sailed before and tend to get motion sickness so we'll see how it goes!

Thanks everyone for your encouragement and praise. This check-in has been a huge motivator for me!

Kelly, after my trip to the store yesterday to fortify my GF endeavor, I'm convinced that one could easily NOT lose weight by going Gluten Free! There are plenty of cookies, corn chips, even bread... I was surprised at how much our big local natural-food store had! I did buy a box of cookies to have on hand for sweet-tooth emergencies. They are GF but each cookie (they're small) has 100 cal and 5 g fat. I'm allowing myself one a day! I'm only on day two but so far it's not that hard. Of course I'm motivated by the fact that my stomach is all bloaty and gross and I'm impatient to see if this is going to work. The hardest part will be dining out. I am being forced to really *think* about every single thing I put in my mouth, which isn't a bad thing...

Woohoo, Kelly! I am so thrilled for you. I should have been following these posts all along! As someone who hates exercising and loves carbs, I need that inspiration.

I am going back to read the entire series. Now that the year from *#@& at school is winding down, I may have enough energy left over when I get home to do more than my weights for 10 minutes.

Thanks and again, CONGRATULATIONS!

Woohoo, Kelly! I am so thrilled for you. I should have been following these posts all along! As someone who hates exercising and loves carbs, I need that inspiration.

I am going back to read the entire series. Now that the year from *#@& at school is winding down, I may have enough energy left over when I get home to do more than my weights for 10 minutes.

Thanks and again, CONGRATULATIONS!

Yay Kelly!! I couldn't wait to see if you won. Wow - it was really no contest.

For me to maintain my weight, with a limited amount of exercise, I can only eat about 1400 calories per day. Sometimes I wonder how long I can keep doing this but last week when I was out of town for work and ate a bunch more than usual I felt gross. Couldn't wait to get back on track.

So maybe there is hope for us to stick to this slim, trim and healthy eating long term. It's now been almost five months.

I'm so excited for you Kelly! May we live vicariously and take some credit for your success? Were we the wind beneath your wings? Nah, maybe not, but I think we're all excited to see you doing so well. It's inspirational.

Hi cyn, welcome to the our little group. We encourage each other and share ideas. It's not just about weight loss, it's about trying to be healthier.

sueb, don't forget to read labels on condiments and salad dressings. I think many of those that contain gluten.

Hh, I know -- who'd have thought ketchup would have gluten? Ack. Pretty much all dressings have it too. How annoying, but there are lots of recipes online.

kellyeng, how do you feel eating 1400 cals a day? I assume that's net after exercise. Was that easy to manage for you or was it a struggle? Maybe I should use that as a target...hmmmm.

Very happy you won the contest & that you are enjoying your new trim & fit self.

Haven't had a chance to go back and read everyone's previous posts from other weeks, so please forgive me if you have already discussed this. Have any of you tried the Lose It! app for your phone. A friend at school got me started with that, although I haven't been keeping track lately. It is a free app and is pretty cool. You set your goal and time line and it tells you your calories needs to reach your goal. You input your food and exercise and it tracks it for you. Has graphs and you can support friends, too. I need to get back to doing it.

I just had a candy bar. Aaarrgghh-no will power! I am so glad I checked in here!

This is an interesting article. I might even buy the book.
Stand up, stand up, stand up for your health

Congrats Kelly!

I'm still finding my way, figuring out when to work in the exercise, and what foods leave me satisfied while keeping the ww points low. I lost 3 lbs this week, 10 lbs total since I started weight watchers, so that makes me happy! I really enjoy all of the information and momentum I get from this thread ; )

Good for you kiki, 10 pounds is significant and 3 in one week is really exciting.

I've mentioned this before but kiki's comment about feeling satisfied reminded me so I'll mention them again.

I put a tablespoon of chia seeds in my morning cereal. They provide fiber and omega-3 fatty acids. When I don't add them to my breakfast, I do feel hungry well before lunch. When I used them, I can usually go another hour before I start to feel hungry.

They make me think of poppy-seeds. I add them to my Greek yogurt, cereal, and fruit breakfast that I have every day. Sometimes I have it for dinner if my husband won't be home and I'm not cooking. I adore my greek yogurt, cereal, fruit, and chia meal.

There are 60 calories in a tablespoon so you might have to make adjustments elsewhere but if they help make you feel satisfied and full longer, that shouldn't be hard to do.

I also suggest Greek yogurt because of the higher protein amount. That also helps you to feel satisfied and fuller.
I buy the chia seeds at my grocery store but I'm sure they would also be carried at a health food store.

hh thank you for posting about the chia. I have never looked in to them till your post. Wow.. these are perfect for what I am doing. I need the hydration and I most definitely need the calories. My only question is about the way they affect the gut. Not to be too explicit but I DON'T need a lot of fiber...my guts work perfectly. So am I going to end up in the bathroom all the time if I use much of this ? Otherwise it seems like a perfect food. I look forward to your answer and trying it out.

My bike is gone so I have been doing other stuff to stay in shape for the trip. Today I worked out at the gym with weights and then I ran the steps in the gym up and down to the 2nd floor. There are 20 steps and I did 60 round trips. Then I rowed on the machine for a mile. When I got home I did 3/4 mile in the pool. Later I went out and finished up with another 1/2 mile. I feel ready and am excited about getting on the road. We have added a woman to the 2 of us. She lives in Victoria and is 40. She bikes 40 km every day to work and has never don e a long tour. She is excited to have company. I am looking forward to making a new friend.

Good to hear how everyone is doing. It is true that it really helps to check in here. Lots of positive vibes :) c

Hey Trail,
How funny - I just rode my bike around the golf course and was thinking about you & if your Canadian ride started yet. I also thought of you earlier when I was reading about a local woman who does big bike rides, along the line of what you do, but she does it with an all woman group and they stay in B&Bs, not camping.

As to the chia, my gut works fine and it did before the addition of the chia so I haven't noticed any changes or problems. I only do a tablespoon a day so if you're thinking of additional amounts I don't have any experience with that to offer you advice. Is there time for you to experiment before you go on your trip?

Cyn - I don't use that app but I use a different one that sounds about the same. I log everything I eat and all my exercise. When I've hit the max calories for the day that's it - unless I get more exercise in which case my total allowed calories for the day goes up and then I can eat something else. It's been very helpful.

Cyn - I don't use that app but I use a different one that sounds about the same. I log everything I eat and all my exercise. When I've hit the max calories for the day that's it - unless I get more exercise in which case my total allowed calories for the day goes up and then I can eat something else. It's been very helpful.

hh...I do have time so I am off to the health food store tomorrow to get some and try it. Sounds good and I will post back as to the result.

I used to love to run around the local golf course. They took a gorgeous wooded area that was a perfect trail run and made it a golf course ...boo hiss :( So we would go there in the very early AM and run the hilly terrain and on hot days make it into the sprinklers !! All this before they opened up for the day. haha. Who was the local woman you were reading about ? Do you mind telling? Fancy to stay in B&B...no way we can afford that LOL. Camping and cook our own all the way for us.

Thanks again and I will let you know how it is going. I leave here on Friday Jun1 to go to Atlanta with DD and then she will take me to the airport on June 2 and we ride on June 4th. So I will post updates as I am able. I will have my Macbook Air with me this trip woo hoo ! c

The local woman is local to Hilton Head. She does tours with Woman Tours and it specializes in activity tours for women over 50. Her next trip is following the Mississippi River from New Orleans through the heartland of America, completing the 38 day, 2,000 mile tour in Lake Itasca, MN.

Oh I know 2 couples that are doing that right now on tandems ! I linked it for Kelly on the last check in . That is a popular route and would be fun. I want to do it from top to bottom not bottom to top...it is VERY hot now so I hope she is not starting any time soon :) She will be sorry. It has been 90 every day for a couple weeks in the day when starting from the South. I have read about Women Tours .They do some great stuff but too expensive for me. I have a cycling friend that got a big discount since she also did the cooking for them part time and rode part time.She did an Oregon tour for 2 weeks with them. c