A waist is a terrible thing to mind (stunt training edition!)

Another stunt training session last night! It was very similar to the last one and I definitely saw some improvement with my body control. I did some punching and bruised my hand a bit, but then again I am playing the pain game now, so I can't complain
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. We worked the mini tramp again and I definitely was doing better on that and ended up getting some sweeeeeet air and I was landing/flailing well and that made me super proud of myself! Everyone thought it was cool. I'm still waiting on video of a lot of this stuff that I'm doing so hopefully I can post some short clips soon!


My ankle seems to just not be getting too much better this past week. I've been taking good care of it and I don't think I'm overstraining it, but I probably shouldn't be on it as much as I am. I will try to convince my boss to let me work from home a few days next week, and hopefully that will help. It's mind-numbingly frustrating but, I am trying trying trying to stay positive.


I'm really excited for this weekend because I will be participating in my first stunt role in a short film! It's a Star Wars-esque syfy fight and I'm getting killed in a big light saber duel with like 20 other Jedi Knights. I might get to show off some acrobatic skills, so hopefully my ankle will be up to a back-hand spring or something! I gotta brush up on my lightsaber skills too!


I really need to start keeping track of my food journal on here again. I've been keeping one in a paper journal, but I prefer posting it here, it keeps me on track more effectively I feel.


That's it for now! I'm planing on posting some pics maybe this Sunday and an update on measurement since I'm trying to do it in 10lb increments and my goal by this Sunday is to be a solid 141 which will be a 10lb loss since I started posting! Hopefully all goes according to plan!
 
Blaaahhh I still can't run on my ankle and it's KILLING me (that fact that I can't run, not so much my ankle)! I'm still fluctuating between 142-144lbs, which is a bummer but at least I haven't GAINED weight. Ugh. I need to get out of this funk soooo bad! I need to make time for some non-high-impact cardio. I need to go swimming! I need to get motivated to just go to the pool once in a while and not worry about the whole "ehh I'm going to be all wet and it takes so long to dry off and get home bleehh" mentality and just DO IT! I still have been climbing but I really need some serious cardio back in my routine. I keep using this inability to do cardio as an excuse to eat crap and it needs to stop. Seriously, I have been eating terribly, especially this past weekend (pizza, cinne stix, movie popcorn, candy, etc.) I have some goals I'm trying to meet and now I'm way behind because of this.


Good things have been happening still. Another stunt training session tonight with some of the best stunt people in the local industry here, so that's exciting! Hopefully my ankle won't hold me back too much. I gotta stay positive and stop bumming about my ankle and just move on and adapt my exercise routine. It's inexcusable I haven't done any real cardio exercise in over a month. Climbing and light tumbling is good, but it's not the same as sustained cardio when it comes to weight loss I guess. When i was actively running everyday, that's when I saw a lot of my weight loss...


Hopefully my next entry will be a bit more positive and show some progress! Sorry if anyone actually reads this thing for the recent negativity! I swear I'm not giving up yet!
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Gotta say, i really respect you for your career choice and general activity! It's something I always considered myself - but I simply always figured I wasn't flexible enough! So, yeah, power to the people!

And you're absolutely right.. there's no reason to sweat too much about your ankle! Just gotta wait it out.. and fill that time with that cardio you keep mentioning. :p Maybe set it as a goal, and if you don't do it, deprive yourself of something to encourage yourself? I don't know, am just thinking outloud! Sounds like you're doing pretty wlel to maintain even with a busted ankle and all that junk food.. so hang in there!


How did the stunt training go? Did you learn anything new from the local talent? :D
 
Thanks, Sarah! I've always had being a stuntwoman at the back of my mind, but was always super intimidated because all of the stuntwomen who I admire the most have years and years of training in fighting, martial arts, gymnastics, etc and, although I started in a lot of the same sports and activities pretty young, I have some big long gaps and that always made me think I could never be like them. Then once I gained all the weight in college I figured I should just give up that dream. Luckily once I started losing weight I found that I still had some of the skills I developed years ago and now I'm just trying to hone them and I'm surprising myself everyday by discovering all the things I never thought I could do! And the more research I do on people overcoming such big obstacles and succeeding, I found I had no excuse NOT to go for my dreams! For instance, I found a video of an 80 year old woman doing gymnastics and a guy with one leg who is an INCREDIBLE dancer. I am definitely fighting an uphill battle compared to a lot of other aspiring stunt performers, but I think I've made some great progress and I know I'm starting to attract some attention within the local film industry/stunt community here so I'm anxious to see what's to come!


The stunt training on Monday went very very well! I'm starting to prove what I can do. My tumbling is pretty good according to some of the local stunt professionals and in some cases I was actually helping and teaching people how to do stuff! It was a really cool feeling to know that I am pretty decent and am excelling at certain skills and have some knowledge to share about things. I've definitely got a list of things I need to work on, but I think I'm doing well and learning fast.


There's a lot that's been happening and I have been not very good at keeping my diary updated, so although it's pretty late, I wanted to post a picture of me during my first stunt gig! So without further ado, it's me as a Jedi:


That was one crazy shoot! It was about 106 degrees and dusty and I was wearing heavy Jedi robes and having to fall down and roll around in the dirt and die multiple times. So much fun!
 
haha, that is wicked! I am jealous! You're certainly looking the part! :D
And congratulations on the positive feedback! Is always good to hear some reinforcement/encouragement toward your goals! Looks/sounds like you definitely deserve it!
 
ATotally agree with Sarah and Irish! ... AWESOME picture and I'm totally jealous! Not so much of the 106 degree weather though...lol!
 
Thanks Sarah, Jen, and Irish! I appreciate it the compliments


I was going to post a "progress" picture today, but I said that it would only be in 10lb increments and I'm still not there. I thought I would be since I was 141.2 earlier this week and was hovering in the 141 range pretty much all week, which would have made a 10lb loss since I started posting, but currently as of this morning I'm 143, and I'm a bit nervous that it has something to do with me ordering tofu pad thai on Friday night! I didn't eat it all at once, I spread it over 3 meals, but still. And yesterday I had a little too much sugar, I think. In addition to my regular meals I ate a 90 cal brownie snack, a clif bar, and had a cup of frozen yogurt with fruit, granola, and mochi toppings. Bad bad bad, but not as bad as I could have been or have been in the past when I splurged, I guess. My daily diet has been consisting of granola cereal/almond milk in the morning with joint juice (glucosamine), 2 cups of fresh veggies and 1 cup of fresh cherries for lunch, 1 cup soup for dinner, and small snacks throughout the day like a plumb, a bag of 100 cal popcorn, a couple pieces of candy (really only a couple), a couple graham cracker squares. I try not to overdo the snacking.


Anyway, I hope that the extra 2 pounds is just retention weight because I have not been lazy this weekend. I haven't done any official exercise, but I just began volunteering at a local horse farm here which involves me shoveling hay, scooping poop, leading kids around on ponys, bathing/grooming horses, etc. It's great and keeps me outside for a few hours and I get discounts on horseback riding lessons! Woot! I'm going to try to not get down about the gain, but hopefully next weekend will mark my official 10lb loss. I'm so behind on my chart, I was expecting to be 136 by now. If I could just go running I'm sure I'd be there! But alas, my ankle still will not allow it. I have been climbing all week at least, but like I said in an earlier post, I need to swim or run or something.


Stunt training is still going great! I helped organize a fight training session on Tuesday and it went really well. They took video too! I keep promising to post video of some of what I can do but I haven't gotten anything back from the people who have taken video from all these sessions! Hopefully soon. In the meantime, I do have another picture to post that I'm pretty proud of. So, on Thursday I was super bored and procrastinating on cleaning the apartment and watching too much gymnastics, so I had myself a little handstand photoshoot:






I've been working on my handstands so much this year, and especially this past month since I can't do much with my ankle being injured. This was a good one! A rare, but good one. And yes, that is an Episode 1 poster behind me. Don't judge! :p


There's another training session coming up on Tuesday or Wednesday. I'm going to learn how to do high falls and get dragged behind a four-wheeler! Needless to say, I'm super excited for that!! Hahaha, you guys must think I'm crazy :willy_nilly:
 
Greetings, le_squish!


I read over your diary and, wow.. stunt work! That's pretty damn wicked!! :p


Love the pics, too! Jedi!! Omg, I am such a huge Star Wars nerd! I actually have quite a few Star Wars videos in my treadmill collection :p I've got the Luke vs Rancor fight, the Sarlacc Pit scene when Jabba gets his, the rebel attack on the Death Star from RotJ (plus Darth saving Luke from the Emperor), and a few fight scenes from the prequels (Darth Maul vs Obi + Qui-Gon). I exercise while watching them, and I've always been a fan since I was a little kid :)


I think the work you're doing is so cool! Retention weight is just a headache btw, but it sounds like you have a good outlook on things and a good mentality for breaking through these little annoyances!


Hope to see those videos soon! :]


Good luck to you in the upcoming days!
 
Thanks, Frogged! It's always great to meet a fellow Star Wars nerd (I hope my having an Episode 1 poster isn't too blasphemous!) My sister and I used to have the Phantom Menace video game on the Playstation when we were younglings and have many fond memories/inside jokes of playing together. So, I kind of have a soft spot for that one. I read that you like comic books as well, so I can see us getting along just fine
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That's awesome you have an action-scenes treadmill collection! I used to have a video ipod and would play Lord of the Rings/Star Wars/etc on that while I ran on the treadmill, but I never thought of putting together an action montage! That is genius! I always got the most out of my running when the Fellowship were running from the Balrog through Moria or something similar. Now I usually just listen to a playlist of music from my favorite action scenes, so I guess it's similar to what you do, but I would love to have a video montage!


Retention weight is a bummer, but I was super happy to see 141.2 on the scale this morning, so hopefully that's what it was and it's gone now. We'll see! I can't wait to see the 130s on the scale!
 
Nah, I wouldn't consider it blasphemous. :p


The light saber fights were definitely a lot more 'energetic', which was fun to watch! There's good to find in everything, so I'll just equate that poster for your enjoyment of the improved fight choreography ;)


Yeah, I'm more a fan of the originals.. the prequels had some good moments, but the original trilogy set such a high bar, I don't think anything Lucas could've come up with would've been able to top it. I still enjoyed the prequels in some regards, because I'm a giant geek above anything else! :biggrin:


Haha, well thank you for the kind words! Not often my name is intermixed with 'genius'!
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In most aspects of life, I'm quite the goof. I just try my best to go along without tripping over my feet some days!


Oh, well I can show you how to setup the videos and what programs I use specifically to convert/combine them if you're interested! I started doing it right after the time I ran out of Biggest Loser episodes to watch. I would watch that series from time to time, but not religiously. When I started getting serious about my health, I became fixated. I watched almost all 10 seasons (I sorta stopped after Jillian left) back-to-back for months. I'd only watch it if I was on the treadmill, as I didn't want to run out of them too soon.


But, well, I did. So, I had to adopt new forms of distraction while running. The first video I ever put together was in October 2010, and that was of the District 9 mech attack scene from the end of the movie - so badass! :biggrin: I still run to that pretty regularly (always at a 9 because of, well, District 9)
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Sometimes if I have trouble deciding what speed I should run to with my videos, I try to pull something from the video itself to give me a good idea. Like, for Batman videos, I'll run at a 6, because there's 6 letters in 'Batman'. With Superman, I'll run at an '8', etc.


Right now, I have 375 videos from various movies, tv shows, etc etc. They're all in the exact same format (800x600 and loud as shit so I can hear them while pounding my machine!)
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hehe


I also have LotR: Fellowship, and the RoTK mixed in too! The Balrog + the ending of Fellowship where poor Boromir meets his end :) Tragic, but inspiring how he just kept fighting to save his friends, even with all the arrows being shot into him. Then, the end when Frodo is looking at the water's edge holding the ring, wishing he didn't have this burden, then Gandalf's voice over (that's my ring tone actually, haha). RoTK is basically the last 15min from when the Hobbits return to the Shire, all the way to when Sam closes the door to his home and 'The End' comes up. I usually keep a pace of about 6mph during that entire video.


My favorites are the superhero ones tho (Spidey, Hulk, Bats, Supes, etc). I even have some animated films in there that are pretty sweet (Superman/Batman: Public Enemies is great, and the 2009 Wonder Woman animated film is pretty kick ass, and Crisis on Two Earths - the end fight between Owlman and Batman rules)! :biggrin: Although, I'm slightly afraid to run to my Incredible Hulk videos because they push me so hard that I once fell during one scene in particular (the overpass). It's from the one with Ed Norton as Banner when they corner him and attempt to take him down with gas. To this day, I really only throw that one in the mix if I'm feeling particularly emotional because I can only handle it if I'm really needing to get some aggression out. I usually run at a 9-10mph once he starts transforming, followed by bumping it up to 12mph when he becomes super angry/stronger from hearing Betty's screams while being attacked by the sonic weapons.. that's when I fell a few months earlier.


At any rate, I'm going on a bit of a nerd shpeel here! lol, sorry


If you want anymore info about my routine, feel free to pm me or just respond here. I have it down to a science at this point
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And, yes, retention weight is such a bastard!


Good luck breaking into the 130's, squish! :hurray:
 
Glad you're cool with the poster. Have you played the old Phantom Menace game on the Playstation? Tis very very silly and very entertaining if you're a 13 year old girl and have nothing better to do than go on some crazy murderous rampage through Tattooine with your little sister by your side :biggrin: We tried to get away with a lot of weird stuff with that game, there were a lot of bugs and glitches that lead to some very humorous situations. ANYWAY! I definitely agree with you about the originals being superior, but there are definite moments in the prequels that I like.


375 videos!!! That's incredible! I would try to set up a montage like you, but I have been out of commission the last few months when it comes to running and I also don't have a treadmill or video iPod anymore. I have some experience and have some video editing software that I use, but alas, no place to play the videos while I exercise. I don't think I have the soundtrack to District 9 though, so I will have to give it a listen and probably add that to my action soundtrack collection! I have the music for "The Departure of Boromir" on my list and my goodness, although it's a slow-paced song (parts at least), it still pumps me up and inspires me. I love that scene but it's so heart-breaking! And I don't have the Hulk soundtrack either so it looks like I have some music shopping to do, haha! I think those scenes you mentioned would be a great motivator to push harder when I'm exercising as well (and I'll be careful about trying not to fall haha
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)


And just so you know, nerd shpeels are MORE than welcome in my diary! So shpeel away! :p


As for breaking into the 130s, I actually saw 138.4 (didn't get a chance to eat dinner Tuesday) on the scale yesterday morning, but 140 this morning, so that's pretty cool! If I can maintain below 141 I'll be posting update pics this weekend!


Anyway, a little update on my week. Went climbing Monday and Wednesday and killed some 5.9s which makes me feel pretty good! My climbing has come a long way, as has my upper body strength and I'm starting to see definition when I flex my arms! So cool! Tuesday we had a stunt high fall training session which went really well and I learned how to do a "suicide" fall, a "header", and just a regular backwards fall. For the header basically you fall forward off a platform and fall head-first to the mat (thus, being called a "header") then flip to your back the last second before you land. I liked doing that one the most. A "suicide" is basically just jumping off the platform then falling in a seated position then hitting the mat on your back, then the backwards is just falling backwards onto your back. Always land on your back! Also, the coordinator who's house we were practicing at mentioned that he might consider me for a stunt gig in the fall time for a bar fight scene. I really hope I get to do that! That would be really awesome!


Hopefully I'll get a chance to update this weekend! Got a first aid certification class on Saturday then a guns and weapons safety and handling course Sunday. Fun weekend!
 
Well, I think it's safe to say I've settled at around 140lbs this week. Pretty good! I'm so close to the 130s! I'm hoping to be 138lbs by this Sunday. I just gotta keep active, keep training, and no binging! No cookies. No brownies. No cupcakes. I was kind of bad this weekend, not terrible, but yesterday I had a small 5 guys burger with a couple fries and had Olive Garden for dinner. Oh my goodness I love Olive Garden. I always get the unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks combo. I had 3/4 a bowl of soup, a bowl of salad and 1 1/2 breadsticks. Not too bad, but all that salt... Luckily, it didn't do too much damage, I think. Not much exercise this weekend either, but still had fun. I really need to post update pics this week.
 
Hi squish!


I love anything Star Wars, I just prefer the original trilogy is all :)


Phantom Menace on PS? Hmm, I don't recall it. I remember playing a LOT of Masters of Teras Kasi, tho! haha. My step brother and I looved Mortal Kombat on Sega, so this was a natural fit when we discovered it :)


However, trying to get away with doing naughty things in a video game is always so thrilling :p Especially if it involves real players - such as MMOs! I must confess, I was a bit of a hooligan in WoW :) Not so much a ganker (I hated those guys), but I'd try to find sneaky ways to play around with the mechanics of the game. I got my wrist slapped a few times by Blizzard, but ah well :) I usually spent most of my time playing dress-up in various enemy cities (I had a rogue and druid), then stealth in to either aggro and run the auctioneers/bankers out of the areas, or /dance with various players from areas where guards couldn't reach me :) I have a few videos still saved thanks to Fraps, hehe


So yeah, I understand your notion of trying to get away with weird/goofy things in games - it's awesome when you manage to!


The Departure of Boromir is so saddening :( I love it tho. I have that on my ipod, but I always prefer to listen/watch the actual bit from the movie where you can hear every detail (his yells and shouts, etc). The LoTR soundtrack is amazing tho! I think the last 20min of RoTK when the hobbits return home, then Frodo leaves, and Sam finally returns to his family are just beyond epic. I have that entire sequence in my videos too :)


The Hulk has a great soundtrack too, but I get most of my muster to run strong by the visuals of him getting angrier and the roars he emits - just so powerful!! Hulk.. SMASH! Love it :biggrin:


Looking forward to your pic updates too, squish! Hmm, as for not eating dinner on Tuesday, that's no good :( Maybe have some kind of cereal bar along with you just in case? It's always good to keep a steady routine of calorie intake to make sure your metabolism stays fired up throughout the day. I eat every 2 hours, with my biggest meals being breakfast/lunch/dinner. I eat these awesome 210 calorie protein bars in between! They're some kind of in-house brand from Target, and they're friggin' yummy! Here's a few pics as they're kind of hard to find through google (sorry for the crappy cell phone resolution):








Anyway, if you're interested and have a Target nearby, they're located in the pharmacy area - not the cereal bar isle! And I'm sure you'll break into the 130's very soon! :)


That is so cool about the stunt work, btw! I was watching my clips from Dark Knight Rises when Batman and Bane are going at it, and kept thinking of what you said the other day regarding their techniques and fight style :) So awesome! I wish my job carried that kind of interest, but alas, all I do is throw paper envelopes into plastic and metal bins, haha


Ohhhhh, and Olive Garden. Oh my.. HUGE weakness for me at times.


Not too long ago, I actually ate there twice in one week - once with a lady friend, another with my Nana. It was absolutely dreadful for my diet! That place is so not calorie friendly! lol. I always get the alfredo shrimp pasta.. mmm, oh my. =[


Even if you only ate half the meal, I think you're still looking at a whopper of a calorie + sodium infusion. Yes, it tastes amazing and is a lovely outing, but you gotta weigh the consequences of it too afterward ;(


However, it's good to indulge now and then. Don't fret!


Looking forward to more updates and your upcoming pic updates, squish! I need to do that as well, but my plan is to show videos, too. I'll give plenty of warning before I do though as they're pretty scary! hehe
 
Sorry it's been so long since I updated!!!! I've been so busy! But in a really really good way :) Work-work is still kinda crazy, but not to the extent it was a few months ago when I wouldn't have a day off for weeks. I manage to get Sundays off now, so it's something! And when I work Saturday's it's at my retail job, so I can sorta just check out and it's not like I have to be in constant focus like I am at my full-time job. I know that's a terrible way of working at a job, but I do get pretty tired by the end of the week working full-time and I can work well enough at the store while being "checked-out" haha. I've been really busy with stunt work stuff, too, which is freakin' awesome. Still struggling with my ankle though, so I'm thinking I will try to schedule an MRI and possibly get some physical therapy to help with that. I feel a definite improvement but I still can't run or jump and land on it.


Exercise has been fairly steady but I really want to take it up to the next level soon. I'm down to 137-138lbs (GOTTA POST UPDATE PICS!!!) which I haven't seen since high school and I'm a bit in disbelief that I've already come this far. I tried on a costume I wore in high school when I played Cinderella in the musical we did senior year and I was able to zip it. I haven't been able to zip that freakin' dress since I took it off after the last performance. It's still a bit tight, but I could zip it!!! Its weird, I remember putting it on a few times over the past few years and always thinking, "once I can zip this dress up, I will be happy with how I look," and now that I actually can, I was a bit surprised to note that it wasn't as fantastic as a feeling as I expected. I'm still not really happy with how I look, I still think "gosh, well my stomach is still to big and too flabby," or something like that. Maybe it just hasn't hit me yet, I don't know. I just expected it to be a bigger moment than it was. And now that a lot of my "goal clothes" are starting to get bigger and bigger as I get closer to fitting into them, I'm trying to figure out why I'm still not really happy with how I look...


Just gotta get outta that mindset, I suppose. I know I've made a lot of progress and I'm certainly upped my confidence 10-fold, but I still have about 15-20lbs to lose. I guess I put too much into thinking "I'm going to look AMAZING when I can fit into this!" and that's just not healthy...


I'm trying to not get hung up on that stuff and with my ankle still being busted since some really incredible things have been happening for me. I've been working on a few different small film projects as a stunt performer lately and my resume is starting to look pretty good. I got to do a short film last weekend where I got to bulldog someone. I bruised my knee a bit but otherwise it went safely. We did 9 different takes so it wasn't so bad. I got to do some fire training earlier this week as well and this coming weekend I get to play a zombie in another local independent! I think the director was impressed with the fact that I know how to be lit on fire and might use me for something more than just a zombie extra, so we'll see!


Frogged - I never played much WoW, I did play Asheron's Call when I was younger and then I heard about LOTRO and decided to not play WoW because I was waiting for that to come out. But alas, I have a Mac and couldn't play anyway! I thought about taking up WoW since there's a Mac client, but then I decided it might be best if I waited until I was done with school on account of I get very VERY addicted to MMOs and my grades probably would have gone down the drain had I started playing. My sister played it though and whenever I came home from school we would create a silly character, play dress up and run around being annoying. It was fun! Some people got a kick out of it! Never got in trouble with Blizzard though! I'm curious what you got into to get Blizzard to slap you on the wrist haha!


I have to admit, Boromir is probably my favorite character from LOTR. There are a lot of people who don't like him for his betrayal, but I think his flaws and his redemption at the end not only make him interesting but also relatable! I try to time my playlist when I'm running (or at least when I WAS running, since I still cant :( ) so that "The Departure of Boromir" and "Parth Galen" play during the last mile or so. I always try to channel Boromir's determination to get through the last bit of the run and push really hard haha!


Oh and speaking of the Hulk, I'll have to post a video of my first fight scene practice once I get the footage. We call it "Gary... SMASH". Once you see it, you'll probably see why haha.


Thanks for the suggestion on the protein bars! I've been keeping those fiber one bars at my desk at work to eat after lunch and it helps a lot. I will have to get some of those at Target just to mix it up a bit!
 
UPDATE PICTURES!!!! Since my first post I've lost 15lbs, so here I am at 136lbs. I said I would take update pics and measurements at every 10lbs lost, but whatever. Here ya go!









Sorry for blinding you with my paleness! Anyway, I weighed in at 136 this morning, and I have the morning off, so I thought I'd FINALLY post some update pictures.

And now for some measurements!


Bust - 36.5 in (-3.5 in)

Waist - 29 in (-4 in)

Hips - 37.5 in (-1.5 in)

Upper arm - 11 in (-1.25 in)

Thigh - 21.5 in (-2.5 in)

Total inches lost = 12.75 in (if I did the math right! too lazy to check right now )


Feelin' pretty good about that!


That's it for now!
 
Thank you, KJ67!


I wish I could say that I have had a great week with losses and progress and staying on track, but wow... it's been a terrible, TERRIBLE week... just, blegh... :blush5:


It's always hard to get back on track once you fall off the wagon, but I just gotta push through. :)
 
Awwww. Press on Girl, just keep pressing on! You've come a longgg way, like 75 percent of the way...42 pounds down and 16 to go... You have like two laps left. Soon you'll be on the Bell Lap... :hurray:
 
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