Ran my 5K on Sunday. Despite the fact that it was pouring rain all weekend, and starting raining even harder, I still ran.
Beat last years time by 2 minutes and 5 seconds. My official time was 34:01. Really happy with my results :D I didn't have a watch or my phone or anything with me cause it was raining, so I couldn't even time myself to know if I should be pushing myself or what!

Great job, Caroline!

A month!! No one has been here in a month :(

Great time Caroline! My hubby and I have been racing each other lately and I just can't seem to beat him. I am getting faster though! My 2 mile time last night was 22:41. I beat my preious time by 34 seconds. I am really pushing myself.

Miss you guys! <3

Nice job, Brandy!

Unfortunately, I think this thread has officially died. I haven't heard anything from Karen in a while, either. Bummer! It seems like all of my MFP friends are losing motivation and that makes me sad.

I started reading The Spark (from the creators of SparkPeople.com) and am working their program a little while staying here, too. I need something to keep me motivated!

I've just been lurking. I come in there every few weeks or so, read up and then don't post....Bad Stephanie! I hope everyone is doing well though. i've lost all modivation, I haven't gained though, just haven't lost either.

I've been lurking too....

I lost all my motivation for the past few months. I am just getting back into it now. Something about how my hypothyroidism has helped me gain 15-20 lbs since Christmas has made me feel like a frumpy something or other!!!!

I am going to get back to the doctor soon to get checked again cause i think it dropped. *Sigh* BUT i am going to start a workout video today! So yay me! haha

Yay Caroline! I hope your thyroid checks out ok. Let's lose the frumpy :)

I thought I was going to go to Zumba tonight - epic fail! I left my poor cousin high and dry at the class and I'm sure she's cursing at me right now.

The whole time that I was avoiding going I was thinking of excuses (*lies*) like " I'm so sorry, I fell asleep after work", or "my electricity went out, so I naturally thought they were out at the gym too"

Maybe we should look for motivation rather than us looking for her!

I'm with you ladies on losing motivation and gaining weight back. I'm here on MFP almost daily (except weekends) and keep hoping to see you gals pop in.

Anyway, I'm focusing on getting the eating to a more realistic level and moving more. I'm keeping it simple to slowly build momentum instead of burning myself out by jumping into it all at once.

I mentioned before that I read TheSpark by the SparkPeople creator and it was pretty interesting. One of the things they recommend for gaining motivation is to list 50 to 100 things you want to accomplish in your lifetime; this will give you an idea of what steps you can take now to get to those items. Then, you make a plan to move forward from there. I plan on sitting down and going that soon because it might be interesting to put things down in pen, rather than just having them float around my mind.

POP in!!! OK Heather, let me comment on something you posted this week; your running record inspired me to consider running :) please like running again...

OK so I may not have 50 - 100 things I want to accomplish, but I can tell you one thing I miss is this group. I miss the check ins with each other, I miss finding out how you are all doing. I even miss Keith Scott's perverted comments about boobs!!!

If I could accomplish 1 thing in the next few weeks, its to have a few of us posting on this topic again. Anyone?

Stephanie: I'm still here and I still check to see if anyone is posting here. I got tired of talking to myself, though So, I'm hoping others will jump back in and recommit to becoming their best self. I'm sure you've seen my posts; I'm working the 30 Day Shred hardcore right now, just getting myself to commit to exercising daily.

As for the running, I really hope I love it again someday. I still have races scheduled for Oct-Dec, but am pretty much taking September off from running, with the exception of my weekly 4 mile run with my running ladies. I pushed too hard too fast, with completing 16 races last year and I'll have more than 12 this year; 3 of which were half marathons. Other than the 10 mile race I have scheduled for October, I'm going back to focusing on 5ks because they're FUN and they don't make my body hurt or make me feel frustrated.

Okay, enough venting. Let's do this!!

So I'm slowly realizing that I'm tired of being fat again, this is a good thing. I called my cousin today and told her that I will see her at Zumba on Friday night. I don't want to let another 5, 10, 20 years go by thinking "I wish I could have just lost the weight". For the past 20+ years I've woken every morning, thought everyday, and went to bed thinking about my weight. It's a heavy load to bear (yes the pun was intended).

I'm sure there are others in this group who feel the same way.

Stephanie: For me, it was tired of being tired all the time. Being stuck in the Catch-22 of not exercising because I was tired but knowing I had no energy because I wasn't exercising.

Hey Stephanie & Heather... I am back now! I am hoping now that the craziness of the summer is over, I can focus on two things.... fitness and eating healthy! I have gained 20 lbs since December and it makes me sick to my stomach. Now, not that those 20 pounds are entirely my fault (have been diagnosed with hypothyroidism since then) but at the same time I haven't exactly been helping my body to lose the weight either. And since I've said this 900 times before, I'll say it again, I am back and I am going to do it right. I have a lot to look forward to in 2013, and frankly, my gut is sticking out WAY too far for my liking so enough is enough! Okay, now I just need to get my a$$ to the gym and get a membership and thankfully one of my co-workers/best friend is going to be there to help me along the way!

LETS DO THIS!

Nice to see you again, Caroline! Let's do this!

I let my sleepy brain talk me out of my workout at 5am this morning, even though my back is much better (pulled a muscle last week). So, tomorrow I will get my 5am workout DONE. I'll finish level 2 of 30 Day Shred tomorrow and Friday, rest on the weekend (well, from 30DS, will do other stuff) and start level 3 on Monday.

One of my FB pals is starting c25k. I am going to join him. Good luck this week ladies.

Caroline - I feel your pain, I've gained this year too. For some reason I cannot get below 200, I get so close and even saw 199 once or twice, but as soon as I do, I fall apart. I have NO IDEA why, I just don't get it. I feel like if I can JUST get to like 195 and stay there for a little bit, everything will be better. Maybe that should be my goal for now until the end of the year. Just get to 195 and stay for at least through the holidays. Now that I've typed it, it doesn't seem too unreasonable, I'll give it a shot.

Heather - your blog post about your back made me laugh out loud.

Stephanie: I aim to entertain and please through my blog. I have some more blog posts in the works. I'd like to post more often, but without a laptop or tablet to travel with me, I'm limited. If I keep up with my exercising through Thanksgiving, I'm buying myself one of them for Christmas. Just need to figure out which.

Today I have to face the music and go have my blood taken for my health insurance for work. They give us credit back for having numbers below target ranges. Unfortunately I fail some of them (like BMI) and every year I think, well next year I'll pass them all. Never happens.

I was looking at the calendar for October and I decided, to make October a wine free month. That's one of my downfalls, besides stress, after work I like my glasses of wine, and then dinner. I usually eat later, around 8pm. I'm going to target getting through the whole month wine free and try to eat dinner by 7:30pm

Wish me luck!

You can do it, Stephanie!

Hi Gang!!!!
I cannot believe it's been an entire year since I last posted here. To excuse my inexcusable abandonment of this amazing group let me just say that my life took such a spiral downwards I felt all posts from me would be so crappy and negative that I didn't want to burden the group or bring such a heavy vibe to our forum. I cannot begin to tell you guys how much I have missed you all and actually wanted on more occasions then I can count to pop back in a lot sooner then today.
I've read back over all the older posts and see that our numbers have taken a huge hit with the exception of Heather and Karen....you two just blow me away with your dedication to HH&F!!! Thank you thank you for being the heartbeat and never ever giving up.

I want to say how sorry I am that I just faded away with no explanation. There really was/is no way to explain, I don't even know where I was these past 12 months. But here I am today....I'm here to stay....I'm back, and want to help revive our group.

I want to know everything you guys have been up to. What's worked for you, what hasn't. What are your short/long term goals?

I need a total overhaul of my life, mind and body. Being the emotional eater that I am I got as low as 161 lbs and today I'm back to 192!!!!! Like, what the hell is that all about!
Today is the day I make change and map out my plan 3-6-9 months from now.
Beginning with my profile, which needs a total overhaul, to weighing in for the first time in a year to resetting my ticker to ZERO!!! Goodbye looking at that 23lb weight loss, that seems like a hundred years ago, and starting from scratch all over again.

Today I feel strong, empowered and eager to begin.
I know the work thats needed to achieve the results want. I'm ready to jump in and get the job done....Who's With Me!!!!!

I know it hasn't been easy for you guys to maintain a dwindling group and if you want to kick me to the curb, I won't blame you at all. I'm here to say.....I promise.
Off to the gym!!!!

Kisses
Kiki

Hi Kiki!

Sorry to hear of your circumstances, but we're happy to have you back! I'm looking forward to getting back onto the board more often myself and I hope a few more join us again.

I agree Heather and Karen are consistent for sure :)

STEPHANIE!!!!!!!! Hiiiiiiiiii

So happy to be back.
By the way, no matter how you feel about yourself I want you to know that you look stunning in your picture....love it

It's time to get back on track and we can do it through making and hitting short term goals and believing in our abilities as strong powerful women.
A new month, a fresh beginning, achievable goals and lots of love love love

Heather and Karen are just amazing! How they have hung in here for so long is beyond me. You girls ROCK!
I can't wait to catch up with them and Brandy, Caroline, Andrea and everyone else.

Kiki: Welcome back, stranger! I just *knew* in my heart that you'd eventually be back; this is why I never deleted your as an MFP friend during your absence. I'm just SO happy you're back and we would never not welcome you! Unfortunately, Karen seems to have disappeared latey For a while it was just me talking to myself here, so I'm thrilled that you, Stephanie and Caroline have made appearances again!!

After losing my 45 lbs and getting to my lowest weight of 176, I lost motivation, slacked off and gained just over 20 of it back. I kind of just hung out for a while, not doing much and not caring much. I still checked in and logged my food when I felt like it. The fire wasn't gone, just smoldering embers. Something clicked last month and I decided to do 30 Day Shred and actually stick to it. I completed Day 26 today (resting on weekends) and will be done by the end of the week. The scale isn't showing much progress, but I'm down over 6" overall, mostly from the spare tire area, so I'm taking that as a win. I ordered Jillian Michaels Body Revolution, which should be here today, that I'll start next week. I'm also involved in a challenge here on MFP to keep me motivated and accountable.

As for personal stuff, in the past year I've started attending church, got engaged , have run three half marathons, fell out of love with running, joined and quit a gym, paid off my car and just been BUSY in general. Still volunteering, playing with my horse and hiking, too.

I think that's my journey over the past year in a nutshell.

Oh, and I agree that this group needs to be revived! I miss everyone, too!

Ok, just sent messages to the core group to try and get them back here. Hopefully they'll stop in!

HEATHER!!!!!! I love you

I'm so completely dizzy after reading all about you and your amazing accomplishments! Isn't owning your car outright just the sweetest thing ever!
A HUGE congratulations on your engagement I'm so happy for you. How did he propose? Were you expecting it or did you just about die????Details please!!!!

I'm so proud of you for hitting 176 wow! I know what it takes to get there and how it feels to leave that beautiful number on the scales. It's painful to see and feel the pounds creep back on and how the feelings of defeat and hopelessness overtake you.
We've done it once, we can do it again....all of us....together.

How do you guys feel about starting up a new group? A new name, new challanges!

I feel we're all ready to turn the corner and get our "FIERCE" back!
What do you guys think?