Here's kind of a silly one that made me very happy.

Before I lost the weight when I would bruise I would never see the bruise on my skin. I guess the blood never made it all the way to the surface. It would hurt, but it was never visible.

I moved a couple of months ago and after moving my forearms were covered with bruises. This made me ridiculously happy as it was the first time I have had a visible bruise since I had gained all the weight when I was 15.

I freeze about 75% of my food and most of it turns out really well. Stir fry freezes really well or any combination of meat, vegetables, sauce and rice. I froze thai green curry for the first time this week and was very happy how well it turned out. These I freeze altogether with everything in the container including the rice. White rice tends to disintegrate, but brown rice keeps its texture really well.

For fajitas or things that are vegetables and meat with no sauce, I freeze the veggies and meat separately, otherwise the meat can get wet and kind of gross when microwaved with the vegetables. I freeze baked vegetables and potatoes to eat later. I freeze pre-cooked, shredded and seasoned chicken for my buffalo chicken salad. I do not freeze the sauce (yogurt, blue cheese and vinegar)though (it turned out really badly).

I think the key is to portion your food before freezing. Once it is frozen you want it to remain frozen until you are ready to warm it up and eat it. The more often you defrost and refreeze the item, the more damage you will do to the food.

I use freezer safe containers and have had no problem with freezer burn. My containers are sale products I bought at Linen's N Things but they do have the little symbol for freezing and microwaving on them. I also don't leave anything in there for over a month really. Since all of my items are pre-portioned and pre-packaged, it is really easy to just grab a meal out of the freezer for lunch or snack. And on those days I just really don't want to cook, I usually have several options.

If you have any questions about whether something is ok being frozen, I suggest portioning the meal into containers and freezing one of them. Try it the next day. If it is horrible, you still have the rest of the meal in the fridge. If it is ok, pop the remaining portions into the freezer for a later date.

Hope this helps

Laura,

I also started out with a ton of weight to lose and never been very interested in exercising. I actually started with cardio and made myself a promise that I would go everyday for 30 days for 30 minutes. I hated it for the first few weeks, but it got easier and by the time the 30 days were up, it was a lot easier to do.

I didn't really see results personally for a very long time. Other people would see it, but I was blind for almost half a year. I ended up focusing more on the scale than appearance during that period. I think the key is to find something that is changing as you work out whether it be weight, body measurements, how fast you can run in a minute or any short term goal that shows the changes you made.

Good luck
Genevieve

@Michelle - I love the sparkpeople recipe calculator, too!

I also have an iPhone and use a program called Food IQ which also lets you set up recipes and add them without having to go through adding all the ingredients each time. It's even great for things which I do measure exactly, like oatmeal with raisins and flax seeds. Make it a recipe and add all 3 items once every day.

Genevieve

Thanks for the advise and encouragement!

Suz ette -
Hello! I didn't keep a blog although I did keep a journal. Honestly, I was really self centered and isolationist for the first 50 lbs or so.

Pat -
Thanks! I look forward to seeing what you and everyone else does to change things up and lose a couple of lbs.

Matt -
I think you're right about the changing things up, its just intimidating leaving the routine that saw me through the first 120 lbs. I think more than anything, I'm terrified of backsliding too much. A couple of lbs on a bad week is no big deal, but a significant weight gain scares me! I'm hoping that I can find new techniques and ideas here that will help.

John -
I've looked at the BMI table before for exactly that reason. It recommends that I get under 165 lbs which I have not weighed since I was 12! LOL I look so different to myself now that I am afraid of developing unreachable goals.

Hello everyone!

I've been on my weight loss journey for the last year and a half. I lost 120 lbs by eating right and exercising hard, but now I am beginning to stall out. I am down to 196 and have at least 20 more lbs to lose. (I'm not really sure, I've been seriously overweight since I was a child so I have no idea how much I should really weigh as an adult.)

I did the first 120 mostly by myself with only close family and friends to cheer me on. I am stubborn enough to stick with it and as well as too stubborn to always allow others to help. Weight loss has begun to stall a little and I am hoping that joining Traineo will help reinvigorate my weight loss journey.

I'm really looking forward to spending time here!

Genevieve