Hawaii Nesties
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
***MrsNicole&Brian808 ***
Nicole! Just wanted to say you look great in your new siggy pic! You can really see the difference just in your face. (My face was a lot chubbier when I was heavier, too. I hate that.) I just subscribed to your blog...keep it up! 
Re: ***MrsNicole&Brian808 ***
Hey Christine! Thanks! To be honest, because I see myself (clothed and unclothed) every single day, I really don't think I look any different, regardless of how much the number on the scale goes down. My clothes do fit better, but I still see every single bulge and roll. :P But, when I saw the photos of myself from my SIL's wedding (where my siggy pic was taken), I could see a difference! I thought it was because I flat-ironed my hair that morning (I think my normally poufy/frizzy hair makes my face look fuller), but other people who hadn't seen me since our wedding also said I looked different.
Then, I recently bought a brand new 10-pound bag of rice. That bugger is heavy! It finally dawned on me just how much progress I've actually made.
Anyway, I'm still chugging along...slowly, but surely. I had some baseline blood work done last month and go back in November for a follow-up. It will be interesting to see if my numbers improve. That's really why I decided to seriously try to lose weight...for health reasons. I was feeling really crappy and wanted to be a bit healthier before TTC. Thanks for your kind words and encouragement! They really do help in the motivation department.
How are you feeling these days? Is baby still kicking up a storm? That photo you posted of the baby's foot showing through the mom's belly is freaky! I don't think I'll ever be thin enough to see that happen. :P Time is flying by. It doesn't seem like so long ago when you announced your pregnancy and, now, you're already at the halfway point!
Oh! BTW, yes, I took the majority of the photos I posted of my SIL's wedding with the 70-200mm f/2.8L IS mounted on a 40D body. It was a lot of fun shooting. My arms, shoulders and, oddly enough, my hands were paying the price the next day! It was so worth it, though.
[butting in]
Nicole, you look great!
Are you working out too? I think I would feel a lot better if I worked out but I'm already in that vicious cycle of being to tired to work out so I don't but then I'm still tired. You know? Haha. I'll be looking to you for encouragement after baby's here!
Your photos look awesome! I'm impressed. I borrowed my friend's 70-200 for a wedding and I didn't get quite as many good shots. I was really trying to stay out of the way of the photographers, though, so that's partly why. And, yeah, that thing is HEAVY! OMG.
butting in too -
I just posted a comment on your blog - you're looking great nicole! and yes, it's *particularly* noticeable in your face - it's really slimmed down!
(and btw, i replied to your PM)
butting out!
me butting in too -
I'm so proud of you Nicole!! You look awesome, and only 1.4 pounds to go! You're such an inspiration... I keep vacillating about whether to join WW, thinking sometimes that I can do it on my own, but I'm going to look over my finances and schedule and hopefully I can do it! And you're the one who inspired me about it.
3 months sounds like such a long time, but I hope I'll have that much progress too in 3 months.
I started following your blog, thanks for sharing!
Christine! No, I'm disappointed to say that I'm not making a conscious effort to exercise. I wanted to start taking walks around my neighborhood with Brian, but his work schedule has been screwy and, everytime I work up the motivation to actually go walking, it rains.
I'm afraid to do anything too much more strenuous because I have chronic eczema that gets exacerbated by heat and perspiration. It's also a vicious cycle. I can say, though, that I'm a lot more active than I used to be. While I'm not really "exercising", I'm generally more active around the house and more motivated to run errands.
This might be TMI, but I've noticed that, while my hips have slimmed down, so has my butt!
I used to like my behind, but I find it disappearing these days. I think I'm definitely going to need to make an effort to do some muscle toning soon. 
I was also trying to stay out of the photographer's way. To be quite honest, I didn't care for his personality. I suppose I was spoiled after meeting Frank at Lisa's wedding.
He even took the Rebel I had at the time and took a few shots using my camera! I'm never getting rid of that body. 
My SIL's photog wasn't too friendly. His assistant was really sweet, though, and she encouraged me to follow them around. I made a point to always stay behind her, which is why I also missed out on capturing some really sweet moments. But, overall, I'm extremely pleased with how the photos turned out. I couldn't have wished for better!
Thanks, mie! Your kinds words really are encouraging to me.
Hey Sandra!!! Thanks! Hmm, aren't you supposed to lose weight before you get married? I'm about 8 pounds lighter than I was on my wedding day. Better late than never, I suppose.
Squats! You can just do them at home in front of the tv.
Who was her photog? The wedding we went to was Dulce and they were really nice. Well, they never said anything to me but they kinda smiled and they didn't get pissed at whoever's uncle kept getting all up in there to take shots. I was even getting irritated with him! Haha. In fact, he was probably more of the reason I didn't get a lot of good shots. Because he would have been in all of them. He didn't even try to stay out of the way!
Hey Jen! I don't know how much the meetings would cost in your area, but, with my health insurance, mine cost $110 for 10 weeks. The cost was hard to swallow at first, but I looked at it 2 ways. Firstly, I saw is as a financial incentive. I figured that if I was paying, I better damn well make a genuine effort to make this work for myself. Secondly, it works out to $11 per week for me. That's a couple of plate lunches, or a couple of trips to Starbucks, or eating out for one person. That kind of put things in perspective for me and showed me where I could cut corners (unhealthful corners, at that) to make up for the $11 per week.
Three months sounds long, but, to be honest, it doesn't feel that long. I mentioned in one of my blog posts, but the experience hasn't been as tortuous as I thought it would be. That's because I'm making changes at a pace I can live with and sustain for the long term. Even after we have children some day, I know I can get back on track using the tools I've gained through WW. My biggest problem is portion control and WW has really helped with that. Could I do it on my own? I've tried and have never been successful. While it doesn't seem like much, weighing in every week with my leader and attending the meetings with people who have the same goals as me has been invaluable.
GL with your decision and let me know if you have any other questions!!!