I am with you there Crawfish...

Hey glad you found us.

I have hit a plateau on weight for about a month now. I think it is starting to come down.

I needed to eat more cleanly and got some help and ideas from my friends here and I think their advice is working ...though I still am not eating 100% clean...I am closer than I was.

Rock on 9ers...for me if my count is right...I am on single digit work outs to the end of C1...

...Amazing how fast it has gone when you look back...C2...bring it on.

9ers...

...all hangin in there OK...

I know it has been a little hard with the web page improvements...

...week 11 closing in on an end...

Final week of C1 one right around the corner.

Soon we'll be counting it down in hours...then minutes and finally like New Years Eve...seconds...

Then a short active rest break and on to C2!

keep it strong 9ers!~

Hey guys,

Just a quick check in...WOW week 11!!! can't believe C1 is almost in the books.  It will be successful and C2 will be even better.  I was working out at my gym this past week and noticed a clipboard laying on a bench with a BFL workout sheet. I waited for the person to pick it up and struck up a conversation.  I had seen her at the gym before but didn't realize she was following the same plan.  She said that she had been very successful with BFL ten years ago and that she was getting back on the wagon, just like me.  It is nice to see someone else on the plan occasionally to encourage and watch the live results.

UBWO tonight after playing a few holes of golf.  Can't believe the beautiful weather we are having in NE Ohio.  Prolly bound to turn ugly one more time before it is really spring.  Sunny and 80 on March 22nd????  Rode 8 miles on the bike trail yesterday for cardio...really beats stairing at a TV on the old stationary bike.

Continue onward 9ers!!!

Wow is this the group that still has about 60 of you still doing it???  Hooray for you guys!!!!  

Hang in there, you're almost done!!!

I am on week 6 of my 1st challenge and all I can say is wow while I am reading your posts!  I have taken 4/5 week pictures and didn't see much difference and I am going to weigh myself on Friday which will be my half way point.  So, congrats too all of you for making it!  Also, thanks for all the post for us behind you to read!  It made my lunch hour go by quickly, free pizza today in the breakroom and I read most of your posts with a turkey on whole wheat sandwich & water.  

Hey 9'ners!!!! I cant believe its week 11!!!  This is so awesome!!!  I am feeling much better and have been eating and working out pretty hard!!!  Things are really getting exciting because now people are noticing.  Last night on the couch watching American Idol, I caught my BF just staring at me.  He was like oh my you have lost so much weight :)  Just brought a smile to my face.  A coworker noticed today as well and another coworker even stated I was getting "skinny"!! Woot Woot.  I am so happy I have gone through this journey with everyone.  Its so much fun to read the posts daily.  Cant wait to get to C2 and start posting like crazy like I was in the beginning.  I notice that the more I post the better I stay to my workout and diet plan.  

Hope everyone is doing well and is healthy.  One more week to the final reveal.  I am so excited to see my before and after pictures as well as everyone else's!!!

Take care!!!

~Natalie

you guys have been the best!!   what a great group.  i am so excited to see all the b4 and after shots!!!!  this includes me!  Keep up the GREAT work!

BuckiBBQ...glad you found a fellow BFL colleague. I am sure that will help keep the lifting motivated as you will be able to cheer each other on to success.

Optigirl - thanks for checking in on us. This thread really does have some really great dedicated people...reminds me of another thread...'Coffee Crew' group...what a great group of inspiration there and here you are straddling the motivation fence...thanks!

Tonja - week 6 of your 1st challenge …keep hanging with us sounds like you are doing great...You will be finishing up as we start up C2...I hope you continue to stay with us...to keep us honest.

NatalieCA - glad you are getting those sideways glances (-:

That’s gotta feel good!

and TeriLynn - I could not agree more. This blog, the people all over the website pulling for you, and of course  the before and after photos on the web site have been what has kept me in this all the way this time. I am sure of that. I failed at this at week three several years ago and I bet if I had this motivation and more important accountability partners that are here...I would like to think I would have made it. Anyway that is the past and here we are...WOW and YEA!

...smelling the barn...almost home 9ers!!!

Hey gang, just checkin' in - FINALLY - the pants are getting baggy! And the scale budged a little!

Natalie, glad you are finally feeling better and SO excited for your transformation! Those comments are the ultimate pay off! Still not to sure how I'm gonna feel about pictures by the end of next week....  Maybe the end of C2.....

Tonja, congrats on making the halfway mark! The first six weeks were the hardest for me. The rest is just routine, but feels better.

Bucki, Feels like spring here too, but not 80 degrees! Wow. Still a little snow on the ground, but certainly warm enough I went for a short run after my UBWO today. ( My second run! Wa Hoo)

run4life, thanks for keeping us going. I can always count on you to have a post up and keeping us positive.

Hey Francine, Bart,  Kathy and others - hope you are still in with us for the last BIG week! I'm kinda bummed - I'm going to be away from home for the last four days of our challenge. A  Get-a-way with extended family - What are my chances of keeping it clean? pretty small I'm afraid. Not how I wanted to wrap this up. But I'll do my best.

Whatever the measurements say next week, I'm just proud to have started something and finished it with you guys!

Thanks again, Sherene

I am still here and going. Starting to feel like my gut us going down again, after a few weeks of being "stuck". Guess thats what they call a plateau uh? I also adjusted some of my meals, thanks to all the great folks in the forums feedback!

The end of week 11 is near, hard to believe the end of the challenge is only a week away. Time really has gone by pretty quick. Looking forward to C2 with everyone.

I would encourage everyone to take their after pictures and compare with the before, even if you dont "show and tell' in the forum. I am willing to bet that if you followed the program even somewhat close, you will see a change.....with or without movement of that stubborn scale!

I am wondering if anyone can give some instruction on uploading photos.

Finish strong everyone and then bring on C2!

WOW!! The time is starting to fly now! Way to GO, everyone here.. thank you for keeping the posts going through thick and thin (lol).. I've been at 15 pounds weight loss now for three weeks, and was feeling somewhat discouraged about that, but pulled out the old measuring tape, and wow! inches and inches off waist and butt.. So yesterday, I felt brave enough to go the 'back' of my closet (where my skinny jeans and pants have been collecting dust), and was ecstatic to not only get them over my thighs and hips, but to button and zip them! -who cares if they're high- waisted, not in style jeans? They zipped up!  So, I do agree that sometimes the scale can be our enemy.. ]

Regarding the moms' triathlon training group I just joined, the cardio has been 5-6 days a week, with strength training 3 days a week, so I've upped the cardio from before.. (and am now falling asleep every night before 10pm from just being TIRED).. Hopefully, my body will get used to it. I'm trying to have the mindset of an athlete, not a middle-aged chubby mom!

Regarding the photos, yikes, I'm scared about that! Are yall going to post them here and leave them? Or remove them after a day?

Have an active and clean weekend, 9ers!

9-ers

ssm and bartmarshell - glad the pants are getting baggy and the gut is going down

cgtexas - sounds like you found the right tape measure...it was hidden in the closet all this time hanging on the pants rack!

Exciting that you are in to something 'old' - skinny jeans (-:

AWESOME!

The triathlon training sounds awesome - great cardio with some strength training mixed in.

Fantastic!

I just completed a 5 k hill training run...felt better than when I was running in back in January!

Tonight, I think I will throw in a little cardio elliptical just for good measure and then call week 11 a job well done.

This is it group...next week is the final lap of the race!

Keep it strong group...not celebrating early here...but S-O-O-N!

run4life...glad to see all is well! Great job and attitude. Me...well, I missed my first workout yesterday....just too tired getting into the new job thing. Been good with diet though, except missing meals and one night of beer and pizza....had to be the new guy nice guy good guy team player!

All honesty, this program and forum helped me get over the hump of some bad things I was doing from a diet and exercise standpoint. After 11 weeks it is well seeded and has stood up to temptation. I'll be working out tomorrow and plan on eating lean and mean for some time to come!

Hey, did a mid week weighin, which I typically don't do, and was still down another pound!

Love you folks! Will check in again....be good, take care, finish strong!

TMastro...great job on the number trend...'going down'

You are an inspiration for all of us and I think missing a meal or workout here or there is no issue...right.

progress, not perfection.

I know if the past I have missed workouts for running...no big deal...

I guess I was just 'puffing my chest up' a little bit on my workout streak...

...but I tell you I would reather trade that streak for the numbers you have been posting up week after week..

Finish strong and sounds like the new job is being good to you...

...love a plan when it all comes together!

Progress, not perfection.....words to live by in so many ways!

Hey, taking it on the chin this week and taking it in stride. My 10 straight weeks of weight loss have come to an end. Picked up four tenths of a pound and happy it was no more. I added another night of celebration to the week's activities last night. Life is good and I'm just so damn happy I guess.

Got a new plan starting tomorrow with regards to stocking the office kitchen with healthy alternatives and getting my workouts early 3 weekdays to ensure they do not get skipped. I'll be home for dinner all but a night or two and do not want to be skipping dinner with the family for a workout and I do not want to be working out at 8PM either.

Progress, not perfection....hey, run4life, I am going to use that one with my new team. Been painting the picture this week of our vision and think the realistic thing for us all to focus on is making progress towards that vision every day...think about where we will be in a year!

Since 1/9:

Weight: 205.6 (down 28.4 pounds or 12.1%; up 0.4 pounds this week)

Body fat: 23.1% (down 6.4 points or 21.7%; down 0.0 points this week)

Muscle: 36.6% (up 2.9 points or 8.6%; down 0.2 points this week)

Calories per day: 1,788 (up 388 calories versus last week)

Meals/Snacks per day: 3.0 (down .5 versus last week)

Thoughts / Learnings:

- Broke my streak of 10 straight weeks of weight loss with a .4 pound gain!

- Last time at current weight:  December 2008 - 39 months ago

- Transition week...way up in calories and way down in workouts.

- Did not eat cleanly 2 nights and missed 2 workouts.

- Not as worried about the diet as I am about the workouts.

- Will shoot for earlier as opposed to later. Later just ain't gonna work!