Calorie Counters - CC Christmas Challenge

Good day!!!
Well now that Thanksgiving dinner is over and the Black Friday Madness has taken it's toll in preparation for Christmas, it time for another Challenge. Time to make this giving season a time to give to ourselves in a way that keeps on giving...LIFE!! Time to set some goals and get some results. I want everyone to know this Challenge will be a little bit different. On top of what you have for your goals, I would like each of us to make this a GUILT FREE challenge. As Northern stated in the Thanksgiving Challenge we will have a short break from "CHALLENGES" the 26-31 of December but on the First of January we are going ALL IN!!

Set your goal to loose, maintain, workout, or be an avid food logger consistently logging calories make not feeling guilty and being moderate in all things. Most of the time there is something going on that includes rich foods, decadent desserts and food galore. So indulge but not in excess, don't feel guilty if you do more than you planned to do but for sure don't get out of control!!!

I would like to welcome the regulars and returns back. Welcome to those joining us for the first time. We are working hard to get where we would like to be. The best thing is we're doing it together.

My goals are short.
Be down another 5 pounds and do my P90X everyday except on my rest day.
Not feel guilty.
Allow for indulgences.
ENJOY the rest of the year.

can i join? I want to make it to january 1st having lost another 12lbs. so thats 12lbs in 5 weeks and 2 days lol I also want to work out 45 minutes a day starting the 30th of this month. Aiming to stay at 1400 calories or less a day. 24-25 and january 1st I'm allowing myself an extra 300 calories. Did I do this right? lol

I weighed in at 192 this morning. Alot of water weight. My goal for Christmas is to weigh 185 and to have a new plan for working out established so that after two years of calorie counting I can switch my focus to building muscle.

My Christmas Challenge:
Lost 1 lb a week (just goin' w/what my body is doing)
Keeping up the 150 minutes minimum of exercise a day
(90 minutes of walking dogs + 60 minutes of *me* exercise)
I had been regularly swimming at the local Boys club. This summer they had problems with the pool, then closed until they hired a outfit to manage & run the pool, then more problems with the heater, etc. They only open 4 mornings a week for 1 hour of public swimming so I really want to start up again on Tues & Thurs. I can go for the next 2 weeks for sure, then, when school is out, there's a possibility that I won't be able to get a lane because of the high school & local college kids taking laps. *sigh* I will swim at least 4 times though. That's the goal.

My Xmas Challenge goals:
Lose 5 lbs by the end of this challenge
Make sure I do my workouts 5xs a wk. Which I have been doin
Keep logging my cals into myfitnesspal

Yay Jigglefree for posting a new challenge.

Welcome all returns and new folks.

So here I am starting afresh, at the very beginning of the challenge. I don't want to challenge myself so much as keep myself accountable. I vow to stay accountable and, hopefully, focused.

I'm "all in" for calorie counting now. It really seems to be the way to go. In the spring, I was just willy nilly cutting down here and there and trying to make better choices. Then switched to WWPP, then calorie counting. I've had the greatest success with calorie counting. What I like about it is that there is room enough to accommodate special occasions, holidays, and plain old "hungry as a bear" days and the occasional "not so hungry" days.

I don't feel obligated to eat a certain amount of food when I'm not hungry, and if I go over a little bit when I am, then my calorie TARGET can keep me somewhat in check. I like the flexibility and the normalcy of calorie counting...even when I'm choosing balanced foods (which I tend to do).

So that being written, I look forward to ending the year being accountable, and being supportive. I'm still on a learning curve but I'm super optimistic.

I vow to stick with it to the best of my ability and not torture myself one way or other--and that is really all I expect of myself through the end of the year. I challenge myself to track my food daily. If I get in some exercise, great. I will, again, try to stay off the scale for at least 2 weeks at a time. Weekly weigh ins are hard on me. To keep me honest, I weighed in before Thanksgiving dinner at 170--down 2 lbs in 2 weeks. Even if I weigh the same come Dec. 31, I will consider that a win.

I'm in again! I want to make it to Onederland by Christmas. (It would be the first time in at least 5 years.) Thanksgiving challenge went well...not weighing for the next couple of days though! Let's do it guys and gals. :)

I’m excited and ready for the new challenge! I love the challenge break idea between Christmas and New Year’s, since I’m planning on enjoying Christmas day with my family and enjoying the traditional holiday food that comes along with it. Hopefully by New Year’s I’ll be back to my pre-Christmas weight :)
Welcome to all the new faces and welcome back to the regulars!

My Goals:
Lose 5 pounds (160 to 155)
Exercise at least 30 mins a days 6 days a week
Not obsess over how many calories I’ll be consuming on Christmas day (and not feel guilty about it)

I'm in, though I'm skipping this week's weigh-in as I know I'll be up and it will just make me obsess. So my goal is to be 151 pounds, down from 153.6 (on wednesday). This season is always tough on me so I am going for what I can handle. Other goals are to type on 3fc what I eat everyday and track my official weekly weigh-in (mondays). I'd also like to stop obsessively weighing in 2-5 times a day, I am so much more sane as a weekly weigh-in type.

I'm in for this challenge!

I didnt' make my 13.8 lb loss goal last time but I still lost 7.6 lbs, so I would like to lose the last 6.2 lbs. That will be my goal is to get to 135 by Christmas. I would like to be able to work out more and get a good routine so that's on the list and keep watching my sugars. Thats how I lost my last weight and keeping drinking down to a min. Alright ladies good luck and we can do this! :)

Hi Everyone!

After being a lurker for years this is my first post as a member. I like the idea of this challenge and would like to join you.

I was unable to do my regular workouts the past couple months because of a foot injury, so my challenge will be to get back to my 5 workouts a week. I would also like to begin calorie counting so I am hoping to develop a list of foods I eat regularly so I can have a quick reference. I do have one problem though. I have some recipes that I don't have the calorie counts for and would like to figure that out. Any suggestions?

This site has been such a supportive place for me as a lurker. I look forward to becoming an active part of the community now.

Hi, ThinkinThin. Nice to meet you. :)

I cook a lot of recipes, and the only way to get a completely accurate calorie count is to go through it ingredient by ingredient with your trusty food scale (or postal scale in my case) and a calorie guide (I use CalorieKing.com). It's easiest to do it while you're actually cooking the recipe through the first time so that you catch any unconscious modifications. Just calculate as you go, write the total calorie count for the whole dish down on the recipe so you won't have to do it again, and then go ahead and divide it into equal serving sizes so that you'll know how many calories per serving.

It doesn't take as long as it sounds, and once you've done it once you're good to go next time.

Welcome to the challenge and good luck!

ThinkinThin--as nibbles wrote, you can break a recipe down by ingredients with a calorie guide then divide by servings and get your calories for the recipe. Also, CalorieCount.com has a recipe analyzer you could try. I'm sure there are others available online. Welcome to calorie counting--I do believe you will like it!!!

I'm in.

1) Log faithfully
2) 1800-2300 calories/day
3) get back to ticker weight(was 191) by Christmas or down 3 lbs by Christmas.
4)get 10,000 steps daily.

Down to 189. 5 this morning so the Thanksgiving water weight gain is coming off.

Hi Everyone! I am in! Life has been crazy for me these last couple of months. My good habits built along the way have helped me maintain my loss but I am ready to stop maintaining and begin losing again. What better way to get refocused than a cc challenge?

I am pretty good about working out. I still work out several times a week doing more challenging strengthening workouts, things like side-planks I couldn't do after my last surgery (whohoo!) . I do need to bump up my cardio b/c I don't do quite as much as I did. I have been maintaining my ticker weight +/- 2-3 lbs for a while now and it's time to see some more progress.

So I am challenging myself to:

1) be more consistent about tracking calories, calories somewhere around 1600-1750

2) keep up my workouts and add in a little more cardio

3) re-prioritize my needs so I don't lose track of them while caring for the needs of others, this has been hard to manage lately, it's a long story


My new goal focus that I've been daydreaming about recently is hitting the beach next summer in a monokini!

So Thank You for starting up this challenge! I am happy and excited to gift myself some more loss for Christmas!

Hey all!

My goals:
-Get out of the 170's (so 169.9, I guess...ha!)
-Exercise at least 5 days/week, keep up with my weight training
-Stay under 1600/cals at least 5 days/week (allow a little higher on weekends--1800-1900ish)
-Log calories 90% of the time (allow for an occasional "no count" day for Christmas parties, etc.)

This worked for me for the last challenge and I was able to reach my goal. My rate of loss is slow these days and I may think of tweaking some things come January...but I'm not really ready to shake things up too much over the holidays.

Today is kind of a "re-start" day for me. Of course I gave myself a "pass" for Thanksgiving day itself, but I've been overindulging more than I would have liked the last couple of days too. My first official WI day is Friday. Hope to still be 174!

Looks like some great goals! Welcome back to the regulars and a big welcome to the newbies!!

ummm, really! 309 calories over target. Well, tomorrow is a better day. I can do this ya know.

I'm in!!

Goal:
*lose 1 lb. per week
*get my 5 days of exercise in
*count calories diligently (except for special days, such as Christmas & New Years)
*stay within 1800-2000 calories a day

I am in also. Had my last Thanksgiving dinner last night. Goals are as follows:

1.) Walk with Leslie at least 4 times per week
2.) Lose 1.5# per week
3.) Stay within my calorie limit everyday except, Christmas day, and one meal the week before for my families anual get together.

I'll join the challenge! :)

I count my calories faithfully every day. My plan now is to lose up to 1 pound a week.
And I need to continue my daily walks through the wind and rain and blinding snow. :running:

Maybe I can lose 4 pounds before Christmas. We'll see how that goes with all the tempting Holiday Food this year!

Then the First of the Year I start on my 2012 diet.....sigh... this seems to go on forever... :snail: ... :snail:

Here's hoping we all see some losses!
:hat:

Strength is the capacity to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands -
and then eat just one of the pieces.
~ Judith Viorst ~

I'll join in!

My goals for this challenge:

*Lose atleast 10 pounds by the 31st
*work out for 30minutes straight.
*I want to loose 2 pounds a week
*stay within 1800-2000 calories a day
*Not feel guilty about eating holiday goodies

Jen: I went over again yesterday too. This holiday weekend has been a challenge, that's for sure! But Monday is here, and hopefully the old routine will help us get back on track.

Jiggle: So I was inspired by your clothes story last week and I decided to try on a pair of size 12 jeans this weekend. Would I wear them in public? No, but I did get them zipped and buttoned! I look forward to shopping for yet another smaller size on my next "wardrobe update". (Man, I will be so glad when I finally get to my final size....buying new clothes every few months gets expensive.)

Well, ladies....if you went astray this weekend (like I did), today is a new day and a new week...let's do this!

Good Monday Morning!!!
We are going to have fun this season. This past weekend was out of control...that's the best way for me to describe it. We had Thanksgiving dinner and celebrated my niece's birthday. So I've been eating and drinking more alcohol this weekend than I have the entire year. Shameful but today I'm ready for my regimen so I can get rid of what I'm sure I gained this weekend and my 5lbs for this challenge. This is my favorite time of the year and according to my Dr. enjoy this season. Not that I will listen to that on a day to day basis. I have to "Get My Life Together"!!!

So for today I'm going to be 1200 on point and healthy calories. I figure on the days that I'm not at an event I will be strictly on plan...I got rid of all the junk food that was at the house this weekend so I won't be tempted unnecessarily.

Let's make this week a recovery week and the next few weeks productive!!

Northern - So glad I could inspire you and I was laughing at myself because I got rid of my too big clothes and now I have no room to gain or my pants will be too tight. Then I will have to wear dresses in the cold...I don't care for wearing dresses in the summer so I have to keep it together.

Looks like we have lots of new people joining us this time around. Check in frequently and you'll get motivated, encouraged as well as you can motivate and encourage. We have lots of fun in this group!!

Hey ladies, well I turned that one day of Thanksgiving into a cheat leftover weekend. Oops. But, I'm not worried about it, I'm just gonna keep on going!
I would like to lose 10 pounds by Christmas and get out of the 60's finally. I've been hanging on in this spot for soooo long that I think it'll be my Christmas gift to myself if I get to the 50's. I also want to re-focus on working out and make that a priority.

Have a good day everyone!!

I'd like to join the challenge too. I little extra accountability during the holiday's is good for me!! I went up by 2 over Thanksgiving but haven't changed my ticker. Current weight: 194.

Goals:
1) be in the 180's by Christmas...preferably 188
2) log my calories consistently
3) Enjoy the season w/o indulging in every food placed before me
4) Guilt Free Christmas Eve & Christmas Day

Hey everyone!
It’s nice to see so many new faces :) Welcome to all of you!

I’m staying OP and got in an hour long walk Friday and Saturday, since I was looking after my parents’ puppy. Took a break Sunday, but went out for half an hour today. So I’m keeping up with that so far :) We’ll see how well I do once it starts snowing. I’ve been feeling icky and bloaty from pms for almost 2 weeks now and I’m basically counting down the days until my TOM comes (really the opposite of how I normally feel about my TOM, but I just want to feel normal again). But hey, maybe it means I’ll have a big post-TOM whoosh? Here’s hoping :crossed:

Jiggle: It can be tough to get out of that Thanksgiving indulgence mentality, especially with a family birthday right afterwards. But it sounds like you’re back on plan and geared up for the Christmas season!
Northern: Yay for fitting into those 12s! I’ve been thinking about Jiggle’s story too, and I’m wondering how far away I am from size 10s… I might have to check that out next time I’m at the mall.

northern, I like your attitude, we can start over fresh each day. I have a pair of size 12s, I periodically put on, and zip, and marvel that i would NEVER wear them in public yet. However, they zip and button--so that is a start.

sparkle, yay for being oP even during TOM.

2135 calories--which is within range.--but God was I hungry today. It was soo hard not to eat another helping of meat or spaghetti for dinner, but I am pretty sure that was my body trying to maintain. I wish my breast feeding supply would just dig into my fat and use that mess up for the milk for my little guy. It would make it so much easier, and I would be less hungry!

JIggle, I know what you mean by out of control--me tackling that piece of pecan pie was Ooc.

Hi all! :welcome: to everybody!! It looks like there's some great goals!

My goals this time around are:
-get back to 151, since I don't think I'm there right now. I'm not weighing in until Friday.
-Just get back on track. These last few weeks have been nutso, and I just want to get back to normal!
-Keep working on my running, yesterday I did w4d2! (It felt good and I didn't feel like I was dying! YAY!) MIL and I just joined a local gym. It's pretty cheap, $8/month each! Anyway...I want to work on going there at least 3 days a week.

I hope everyone is doing well! I'll check in later chickies!! :carrot:

Good Morning!!!
I'm not weighing until Sunday because I want to feel good about me. I should be down to my pre Thanksgiving weight by then. I will be starting a new round of P90X on Sunday and I'm SO ready.

Make today an awesomely wonderful day and be good to yourself!!

Hi!! I am going to join at a straggler.

I was on WW, and stopped counting points (but continued to lose weight as the food process is ingrained in me, aside from the ocasional binges- thanks sweet tooth).

I recently switched to calorie counting, and I am having no issues with it- again aside from the occasional sweet tooth.

My personal challenge is: stop weighing every day. My weigh in day will be thursday morning (before work). I will weigh once a week, and continue to calorie count. ONCE A WEEK.

I will also try to reduce my candy binges - one little sweet/treat a day. that is it, that is all.

Well I weigh in today and I have gained 3lbs since last week weigh in and I dont like it. My bf said when I loose 30 pounds he buy me a new oufit I cant wait so now that mean I have to loose 33lbs I am hoping to loose 10lbs by NYE that mean I will only need to loose 23lbs more in order to get my new outfit. I get a new car when I loose 100 pounds so I cant wait instead of rewarding myself with food I am rewarding it with things I need. Those things are my motivation and also getting to be in onederland will be the most amazing reward ever :)

SW--- 279
NYE GW--- 270

11/29--- 282

Happy Tuesday.

Yesterday was my first 100% OP day since Thanksgiving. About 1500 cals and weights/yoga. I should be about the same cals today, but will do cardio instead.

I'm already nervous about Friday's WI. I was honestly hoping for a bit of a loss Thursday (Thanksgiving) morning as I *really* did good that week, but I had a slight gain. I think it was due water retention from zumba class the night before--I always weigh better after a rest or lighter exercise day. So whatever loss I might have had was "masked" by water retention...and now that Turkey Day will factor into this week's WI, I'll probably never see it. <sigh>.

I will honestly be happy if I'm just at my pre-Thanksgiving weight Friday, but I'm kind of scared that I've gained. Two gains in a row kind of gets to me. I considered not weighing this week, but I think I may allow myself to get sloppy if I don't...and I really need to stay focused until Christmas/New Years week.

Sorry for the out-loud rambling, ha!

Only one more day in November!!

2094 today, it will be a few more days before I can tell if I need to go lower. So far so good with my milk supply.

I'm doing horrible. One day 100% on plan the next totally off plan. My pre-thanksgiving weight of 154 is starting to feel like a dream.

Weighed in today. this week i'm down 2.6lbs total. I have 11lbs left to lose to hit my goal of 265 by january 2nd. so 4 weeks 4 days to lose 11lbs. I start exercising today or tomorrow. Probably tmr. My live in bf just left for his seasonal job so theres a bottle of something with my name on it today. so probably working out starting tomorrow.

About 1550ish cals yesterday, 2 mile WATP video. Today I have 1490 cals pre-logged and my 60 minute zumba class tonight. One more class next week, then we have a hiatus until January. Think I might start doing my wii zumba again to fill the gap.

GOOOOOD DAYYYYY!!!

So yesterday was and Monday were awesome days for me. I know I said I wasn't going to get on the scale until Sunday but I wanted to see how much damage I'd done and where I was in respect to how far I had to go to get back to preThanksgiving weight. I hopped on the scale this morning fully expecting to see a bad situation buuuuut I back and my preThanksgiving weight. I thought it would take longer but I'm there. Three legit days of work and YAY!!:carrot::carrot:

Hopefully by Sunday I can be down another pound or two!!!

Stimkovs - WELCOME!!! Let's have some fun!!!
Popspry - NO MA"AM!!! You are not allowed to talk like that about yourself during this Challenge. So you had a bad day...chalk it up to the game and get back on the wagon.
Northern - Don't be worried, you will be happy with your weigh in because it will be better than the last weigh in!!

Okay ladies we can do this and we are going to enjoy this holiday season. Keep on Keeping ON!!!

I'm doing horrible. One day 100% on plan the next totally off plan. My pre-thanksgiving weight of 154 is starting to feel like a dream.

I'm in the same thought as you! HA!! You will get there though, just keep working back on track and exercising. It will come off! :hug:

I broke my WI rule today... but I'm going to make sure I wait until Friday to WI officially. I did make it to the gym this morning and I can say that I just completed week 4 of c25k. Friday will be w5d1! I'm getting excited as I see my stamina increase!!
I have also started using the kettle balls at the gym. They're pretty sweet! I'm going to be researching more exercises with those babies!

Hope ya'll have a great day! I'm off to get some cleaning done!

ok, I went through my log, and I my avg weights seem to be going down. So I think I might have found a good target of 2000. I can lose weight and not lose my milk supply. If I do well on that, I am going to try 1800, and see how that goes. I want to be down to 189 by Christmas so badly!

Charlaine---way to go!!!!
Jigglefree---good for you!
Popspry it goes that way sometimes; but you're not lost--you are just a tiny bit misplaced and you'll get back to square. Forgive yourself yesterday and look forward to tomorrow--where you have yet another chance to improve, and you will.
TDIPrincess, great attitude. I like that you gave yourself permission to break your WI rule and put it off just a little.

Folks, we need to love ourselves more, for better or worse. We know how to lose weight, and we do so well at it--we also need to forgive ourselves when we temporarily go AWOL from the diet. Sometimes, we just need that break, and we can't continue beating ourselves up about it. The best thing to do is put it behind you and move forward with a positive "can do" attitude.

I feel realllllllllly great today. On plan and making it happen.

WE GOT THIS---never forget.

124chicksinger I really needed to hear that. Didn't know I did till I read it so thanks for posting it. I have been down about going off my diet thanks for the motivational words. No more beating my self up all matters is how I start tomorrow. I am forgiving myself for this week of the temptations of goodies and getting back on track.

I got back on track today - it was really quite easy. I'm going to weigh in when I wake up, hoping a better number than this bloated number I have now will keep my spirits up.

Back on track!

Back on track with some motivation. When they say loosing weight is hard and emotional they where not kidding. Everyday it is a struggle, but today I choose to draw inspiration of photos of myself. I have been telling myself that I can't do this there is no way. I just remember a time when I lost 60lbs in 3 months and kept it off for awhile. I know how to loose weight so I can do this.

I CAN DO THIS, YOU CAN DO THIS, WE CAN DO THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just signed on to the site yesterday. I am counting calories and wearing the Bodymedia arm band and using the software.
My goal for December:
Stay on track by losing 2 lbs per week until Christmas (7 lbs)
Log all my food every day until Christmas.
Get in my 10,000 steps every day until Christmas.

I look forward to getting to know everyone.

Count me in too! November wasn't great for me but December will be better.

1) lose weight. No set number - I just want to lose!!
2) Go to the gym during the work week. Right now I just go fri-sun.
3) I've been slowly adding more processed foods so I'm going to eat as clean as possible.

Bleh. My weight is up today. I know it's mostly bloat and my TOM. I thought it was over but then started up again. I have been too snacky, mostly snacking on healthy things tho. It may take a lil bit to level out. I'll be patient and start weighing my food again just in case my portions are off. I am pretty good about keeping a tally in my head now and eye-balling portions but I am not gonna trust that right now since the scale is creeping up on me. We have a little over 3 weeks til Christmas and I want to make that count! :)

Happy December!

I was hungry after zumba last night, so my calories ended up a little over 1600. Today I'm scheduled for 1415. I'm going to try not to go over 1500. Light cardio tonight and the dreaded WI tomorrow!

Jiggle: 'grats on getting back to your pre-TG weight!
Tdi: do you do c25K with other people or just kinda doing your own thing?
Jen: yay for finding your calorie "sweet spot"
Pops, Too & Country: glad to hear you're back on track!
DeDe: welcome!
Kat: good to have you back this challenge!
4star: I'm not too optimistic about my WI tomorrow. We just have to keep on keepin' on in spite of what the scale says!

It's a great day!!! I've been on plan and I still have about 400 calories to go and be at 1200. I can have dinner and an evening snack!!!

I'm feeling sooooo good. I'm buying my husband a mountain bike for Christmas and I will be able to SURPRISE him. He's been asking for it two years now...and he's gonna be so excited.

Sunday's coming!!! Gonna have a great weigh in day.

I want a bike but my bf wont buy me one :(

Welcome dedej. I count calories also I was amazed a how much I was over doing it. I also do some boxing, zumba on the wii and I also do some squats, push ups, cardio. I really try to walk but dont get to so I walk/run in place lol

Kat I hear you about November not being a good month. Hope Dec is awesome weight lost for both of us...

124chick: Thank you! I love your attitude! You're right, we need to love ourselves more!! :D
Northern: I do c25k on my own. I was running outside, but recently joined a cheap gym and have been doing it on a treadmill due to the cold here. I've really been enjoying the program!

Today has been pretty good. I went to the gym once again at a truly ungodly hour IMHO! (I woke up at 4:50..ick!) I know there's people that do it ALL the time. I don't. But, I can say that I'm more comfortable at the gym during that time because everybody there is there to exercise. When I go later, guys check me out!!
Anyway... today I did more kettle bell exercises, I have to say I'm addicted now! LOL I've started to research more kettle bell exercises. I also did the eliptical today.
Foodwise, I've been doing allright. My only issue the last couple days is getting enough protein. I seem to be on the low end. I've gotta work on that some more.
I hope you guys are having a great day and evening! See ya later! :carrot:

tdi, the guy things must feel good, even if it is unwanted. That is super early. I'm usually just going to bed that time

Northern, I hope your WI goes great.

countrybarb, I like running with the wii. I hope you get bike for a gift.

jiggle, i hope he likes it, and I hope you get something you really love.

4star, I agree with having a good handle on what you are eating if the scale is going up. Good catch.

kat, eating natural is one of the best things for your health.

Dede, I also try to get 10,000 steps per day.

well, I overdid the homemade cookie thing with a friend. But I ate a healthy dinner so I don't feel to bad about it. I still need to complete my 10,000. I'm going to walk on the rebounder during an episode of biggest loser, and finish up the day with some weights.

well i had a hard day today. really hard. had about..2200 cals, 800 on which is vodka.im not proud but it happens , have a bad day and the lure of drink overtook me, i did great food wise but that litre of smirnoff gonna cost me. ah well ill make up for it the rest of the week. am i allowed to mention alcohol, if not it was all milk, yes, milk.


ok maybe like 1800 i dont know im not good at math right now still 400 cals over and i didnt exercise, sad sad times

GOOD MORNING EVERYONE!!!
We are 22-23 days away from Christmas. It's been great so far and I'm hoping to see a good weigh in Sunday. I want to be closer to a size 10 if not in a 10 by the end of the year. That was my original goal when I started. When I get there I can evaluate my body and how I feel about it.

I'm excited because this is my favorite time of year and things are going well with us. How are you ladies doing with being "Guilt Free" this challenge? So far I'm good and I haven't overindulged on anything. We have a staff Christmas Party coming up as well as a Departmental Party. That should be the extent of my celebrating prior to Christmas. Our last work day of this calendar year is December 23rd and we return on Jan 2...the beauty of working in Higher Ed. A free paid week off for Christmas!!!

Well, that was a pleasant surprise. I was not expecting good things as I'm pre-TOM (not to mention the Thanksgiving weekend overindulgences), but I'm down a little over a lb since Thanksgiving morning to a new low of 172.8! Woot!

Jiggle: I have one major Christmas party on the 16th, but that's it for now. Hoping to stay basically OP (other than that day) until the 23rd, which will be the last WI of this challenge for me. I'm also in education, so I have that week off too :) Going to be less strict that week and enjoy life a little...family dinners and a mini vacay with DH. Hope I can work the worst of it off that first week in January...ha! Sending you good vibes for your Sunday WI!!

Charlaine: it is the season to eat, drink and be merry. Sucks that alcohol takes up so many calories, but you are accounting for them, so that is a win! I am most definitely doing a "no count" day for the Christmas party I'm attending on the 16th.

Jen: great job keeping up with your exercise!

Tdi: I've heard a lot about that program. Maybe something I might actually look into this spring when I can go outside. I've attempted some running/jogging this fall. It ain't pretty, but I was surprised that I could even do it at all.

Country: I've kind of "rediscovered" my wii fit now that it's cold out and I have to work out inside. I usually do it Thursday nights for some lighter cardio before WI on Fridays. Some of the activities are pretty fun and don't really feel like exercise.

Well, gals, have a great weekend!!

Woohoo! I'm now back to my pre-thanksgiving weight of 154 pounds after being at 156.2 for 4 or 5 days. Yeah!

Happy Friday everyone!
I’ve been staying OP, although not exercising as much as I’d like. TOM came and I’m not feeling that great, so I’ve only been walking for half an hour a day. My parents seem to be buying lots of yummy food lately, and my mom’s latest purchase was Cinnabon cinnamon bread. I have to admit I had a few slices and it was delicious! At least I worked it into my calories… Hopefully they’ll eat all that food they bought soon (before I’m tempted to help them out) ;)

Popspry: Congrats!
Northern: That’s awesome! Way to go!
Jiggle: I’m doing pretty good staying guilt-free. I’m trying not to indulge, but even if I do I know I’m eating a heck of a lot better than last year :)
Charlaine: Alcohol does take up a lot of calories, but good for you for counting them regardless! That’s half the battle sometimes…
Jen: Way to go on the exercise!
Tdi: You’re doing great on the exercise front! I’m super impressed that you’ve been going to the gym so early.
Country: Sounds like you’ve got a great exercise program going on!

Hi Ladies,

My challenge to workout 5 days a week did not go so well this week unless I can count running through airports lugging a carry-on and laptop as exercise. :)

I was able to get back on track today with my cardio and will also workout again tomorrow. I have also set up my calendar with workouts for the rest of the month to keep me on track.

It is wonderful to have this site and all of the wonderful members to help me as I begin my journey.

Sparkle: As long as I do the exercise then I get a work out I need and loose weight long I eat what I am suppose to and not go off my diet.

TT5: This forum really is wonderful you ladys are so supporting I am even telling my true weight now.

I have to admit that today I did some walking and aint done my workout yet but I did have healthy eating today had subway for lunch/supper just trying not to eat right now since it so late...

Just checking in...had a higer cal day yesterday (about 1900) as DH and I decided to split a piece of cake for dessert last night. I am keeping with our mantra about not feeling guilty about a few extra indulgences this month! :)

Tonight we're going to an Italian place for dinner. Eating light today to make some room. Will still be a higher cal day than my usual work week days, but at least it won't be out of control with a little pre-planning. The restaurant we're going to is a local place, so no nutritional info...but I did a little research looking at calorie content on Olive Garden's website. If you're going to get a pasta dish, one of your best choices is cheese ravioli with marinara sauce (660 cals). I was surprised that this was a lower cal choice than the capellini pomodoro (angel hair with a spicy diced tomato sauce & olive oil, if I remember correctly...) at 840 cals. Even if you have meat suace on the ravioli, it's still better than the capellini. Of course that 660 cals doesn't include bread, salad, etc., but if you take half of the main dish home, it can be a somewhat reasonable meal out, even with some of the extras...plus lunch the next day. Win!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Edit: I can't say I was completely shocked at the calories in chicken alfredo...we all know alfredo sauce is evil. But wow, over 1400 calories (again, not including any of the extras!) Wow. I ate way too much of that kind of stuff back in the day...no wonder I got so heavy. I haven't had alfredo in probably over two years now. *Someday* I will treat myself to some, but definitely not now!!

NortherE, great job on being aware of what you were getting into .

hello everyone else.

I am a few 1000 short of my goal for 10,000 steps and I overate today. However, I went 10,000 steps over goal yesterday. I think I can let it slide?

Jen, I think you have enough in the bank to afford a withdrawal ;)

I lost 1 more pound last week.
I have been sticking to my plan and logging everything I eat.

I hope all of us are successful this coming week!
:hug:

Well I am back at my pre-thanksgiving weight now just have to loose.. Yesterday and today I weigh the same at least it ain't a gain. Today is my niece birthday party she turned 4 yesterday. She told us only people she loved could buy her presents lol. So I will try to stay away from the cake unless my niece makes me eat a piece. She is spoiled and I do anything to make her happy. I don't like birthday cake but I love ice cream cake. Ice cream cake is my weakness.

Well on another note I have my bf weighing in the nude in the morning with me. He gained a pound and he like I hate that thing it evil and wrong. He asks me everyday when he gets home from work if I worked out(that motivates me to work out). I now have 2 pieces of paper on the fridge one for his weight and one for mine. I love that I ain't hiding my weight and am admitting my weight to others.

I haven't been wrking out at all this wk only got 1 day in. Been busy cleaning and grocery shoppin and tryin to get sum sleep I haven't been sleepin gud at all. Haven't really been that hungry either. Hopefully when I weigh in 2mrw I won't have a gain. On a gud note Jillian Michaels new dvd comes out Tues and I'm really lookin forward to it. Hope everybody else is doin good.

Thanks chicks for the encouragement on working out!!
Northern: The program is great. It's amazing how quickly your stamina grows and it is pretty exhilarating being able to jog longer and longer. Also, I've tried jogging on my own before and I ran into a few problems: 1) I didn't know to organize it so that I gradually grew in stamina and 2) I'd do too much too soon and have pain in my joints, which is not good. C25k keeps it challenging and gradual at the same time. It's well worth it.
Sparkle: Thanks for the encouragement!
Jen: I'm amazed by how much you walk each day!!! Keep it up! Also, it is "nice" to know that people check me out..but at the same time I don't really like it LOL.

This weekend was a pretty high calorie weekend, but such is life. I get back to normal tonight and tomorrow. I must say that I m noticing that I'm used to eating less for breakfast. We went out for breakfast yesterday and I didn't finish my meal, I was full. In the past I would've eaten the whole thing.
Oh and Friday I was down to 155, I probably jumped back up a little bit after yesterday, but at least I'm making progress.

Anyway..later chickies! Keep up the awesome work! :carrot:

sorry I've been missing but I got a call from my niece telling me my oldest sister passed and I'm trying to come to terms with it. I'm going to try to get on and post but not sure how much I'll be in the right frame of mind for the next couple days. Trying to keep it together because I have a little girl looking for her mommy to read, sing and play. I will get back with all later.

I'm a bit frustrated. It seems I keep bouncing around 154-155 pound ranges eating the same calories and healthy food. I seem to have losses when I eat bad food in my calorie range, which doesn't encourage me to eat healthy.

sorry I've been missing but I got a call from my niece telling me my oldest sister passed and I'm trying to come to terms with it. I'm going to try to get on and post but not sure how much I'll be in the right frame of mind for the next couple days. Trying to keep it together because I have a little girl looking for her mommy to read, sing and play. I will get back with all later.

I am very sorry to read about your loss. I hope you can find peace with her passing. Please remember to take care of yourself too and give yourself the time to grieve when you can catch a few moments to yourself. :hug:

I'm a bit frustrated. It seems I keep bouncing around 154-155 pound ranges eating the same calories and healthy food. I seem to have losses when I eat bad food in my calorie range, which doesn't encourage me to eat healthy.

Probably a little too much sodium causing some water retention. Just don't bail on your plan and it will fall back off.

Jigglefree: I am very sorry for your lost. I ain't lost a sibling yet, but I lost my pawpaw who was a big part of our family 2 years ago. It still hard when certain songs come on or I say hey my car messed up I call pawpaw and see what he thinks then remember that I can't. I will keep you and your family in my prayers. Give your self time to grieve. :hug::angel:





Well yesterday was awesome went to my niece 4th birthday party and let just say that she is a mess. My bro smashed cupcake in her face then she started facing everyone with cupcakes then that started the cupcake war lol I have lots of video and photos. I did good cause what I ate at party was my supper and I didn't over do it like I use to in the past. I had 1 slice of pizza, 1/4 c of my special recipe dip with few chips and ate 1/2 of a cup cake.

Jiggle: Hugs to you and your family. You've had a rough go of it lately :( Take whatever time you need away...we will be here whenever you're ready to come back.

Well, another Monday, ladies. I hope everyone's weekend was enjoyable, whether you stayed OP or indulged a little. I logged all weekend, but I was over both Friday and Saturday. I usually allow around 1800 on higher cal days, but I was closer to 2,000. Oh well. We promised not to beat ourselves up this month, right?

With that said, I'm back to my normal budget and exercise routine as of yesterday and am looking forward to another OP week. I really hope I can get to 169.something by the 23rd, but I know I may be holding myself back a bit by being more lax on weekends this month....oh well, it will be what it is. As long as the numbers don't go up, that's an accomplishment this time of year!

Country: I don't think there's any way in H-E-double hockey sticks that I could only eat 1/2 a cupcake!

Tdi: My husband and I always talk about how we would have eaten "back in the day" in certain situations. I try to remember that when I don't do as well as I had hoped. My two 2,000 calorie-ish days this past weekend are NOTHING compared to what I would have had 2 years ago.

JM: hope you start sleeping better. This is a tough time of year to go around worn out!

Anyone I missed: Have a great week!!

Ok not real forum savvy so I'll stop quoting a bunch of posts. :) I am reading up on everyone's progress and wishing everyone the best!

countrybarbie- good for you. Your bf loves you and you shouldn't have to hide anything. Very freeing!

jen- Don't sweat a small overage if you are generally consistent. Sometimes, I purposely take a break to see how I will perform while I eye my portions and appetite. It's nice to see that while I might not lose, I have built habits that do carry over and help me maintain. It makes me very hopeful for success during maintentance.

tdi- I am so interested in learning to run. Please keep us updated on your progress. I might have to get clearance from my doc to give this plan a try. How much did it cost?

I am back down to my ticker weight after having it creep up 2-3 pounds on me. I honestly have been watching portions and turning down milkshakes (lol!) but not working out. We are getting a house soon and I have been busy trying to do my day-to-day life and get things packed up for the move. My routine is off with all of the extra things I need to do but it's necessary work and very exciting!

Jigglefree -- Hang in there! I'll be thinking of you.

Countrybarbie -- 1/2 a cupcake is dedication, my friend. That's awesome.

popsry -- don't you hate that? It will fall off eventually, we promise. :)

As for me, I've been sticking to my plan pretty well, but my weight just hadn't budged since Thanksgiving. I was starting to get nervous... (No! Evil scales! I'm too fat to plateau at 1300 calories a day.) but I dropped a pound yesterday and today, so whatever was holding on finally decided to let go. Whew...

I'm finally catchin up on my sleep. I did my weigh in this morn. I didn't lose or gain ne thing which is fine but I really wanted to lose at lease a pound. I don't have another weigh in til another 2 wks from now. I got BFBM and NMTZ to do the next to wks so hopefully that'll help me drop at lease 2 lbs.

Jiggle: I'm very sorry for your loss. Dealing with the death of a loved one is extremely difficult. If you need anything, please PM me. Take the time you need and grieve in a way that you need to. :hug:
Northern: I do the same thing!! It makes me feel much better!! Plus, the way I see it (and I'm careful with this thinking), it didn't take one day of bad food to gain all the weight I did. One or 2 days here or there is fine. It's when it turns into a week, then a month..then a year...and down from there!
4-star: I will keep you guys updated on my progress! The program is FREE!! Here's the link: cool runnings c25k (http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml) As for getting clearance, this is a gradual program that you take at your own pace. It has an outline for 9 weeks, but if it takes you longer, that's just fine. I used to try to jog on my own, but it didn't work because I'd do too much and then end up in pain. Also, make sure you get decent running shoes.
Nibbles: I think we'd call that a little whoosh!! It does pay off to keep on track! :carrot:

As for me: I'm back to normal with eating today, which feels good! I did w5d2 and I have to say it went REALLY well!! I jogged 8 minutes at one time!! I never thought I could do it!! :carrot: Wednesday will be jog for 20 mins...I'm pretty nervous, but I think I'm ready. (At least I hope so).
Otherwise, everything's been good!

I hope you guys keep doing well and making progress! :carrot:

Jiggle: :hug: I’m so sorry for your loss. I’ll keep you and your family in my thoughts and prayers. You’ve had a rough time lately, so go take the time to grieve and don’t worry about checking in here until you’re feeling a little better.


I had an OP weekend and I’ve been exercising despite the rain here. On the weekend, I decided to go to the mall and see if I could fit into size 10s and happily they fit nicely! Then I wanted to see how far away I was from a size 8 (omg – single digits!) and I could actually button them up. No way would I wear them out of the house, but I’m on the way to being in the single digits so that made me really happy. Then I got another nice surprise - I’ve been stuck at 160 for a couple weeks and I’ve finally broken into the 150s so I’m really excited about that! :yay:

Tdi: Congrats on getting back on plan and on making progress! Woot! And you’re doing amazing with the jogging!
Popspry: Don’t give up, you can do this! Stick to your plan, and hopefully you’ll see a loss soon.
Country: Good job staying on plan at the birthday party! Last time I got around cupcakes, I had 2 of them… So kudos on only eating ½ of one!
Northern: I always think about my old eating habits when I eat slightly more than I would have liked. There’s really no comparison between my eating now and what I ate last year, so that always makes me feel better :)
4star: Congrats on losing those pounds and on the upcoming move. That’ll be really exciting (plus I’m sure you’ll get some great exercise on moving day ;))
Nibbles: I’m glad your scale’s moving now – it’s so frustrating when it just won’t budge.
JM: I’m glad you’re sleeping better!

jiggle: *hugs* So sorry for your loss.

I dropped 2lbs at weigh-in last Friday. Must have been the 'after TOM whoosh'.

i just typed a whole long thing and it's GONE!

ANYWHOO, I'm better and yesterday was a great day. Today is going to be good also!!! I'm planning to be on task til I get to my parents...will eat on plan but won't be P90X-ing.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. I realized that I need to maintain control so I ate well yesterday and I will do the same today. I know everyday won't be awesome but I'm gonna make the best of all of them.

I don't want to have sad holidays so I've been reading Christmas stories, singing carols and watching all the holiday shows with my 3yr old to create fun memories with her and my husband. Since this is my favorite time of year I will enjoy it.

Jigglefree I am so sorry for your loss. Its never easy losing those we love. Tight hugs, Donna

Checking in on all of us "losers" (in a great way), I commend those of you who are getting past the Thanksgiving holiday and on your way back to losing, either what was gained, or surpassing. I haven't been on the scale since T-giving and on the one hand, I hate the weigh ins and vowed to stay off it, and on the other I think I'm a little bit scared to find out. If I am up, it will not be a motivator, rather, it will send me spiraling into an emotional wreck.

So I plan to reach 160 by June 30, 2012. Doable, right? Deep inside, I hope to lose more, but history tells me that its going to be difficult getting down to even the 160. On the other hand, I was surprised to find this old body could lose 20 pounds in 4 months, so now I don't know what is possible or impossible.

Lets stick with our plans as best we can. Even 90% of eating the way I do now is better than 100% of the way I was prior to paying attention!

Lets get through the end of the year happy with our accomplishments and start the new year fresh with a clean slate and rededicated goals. That's my plan!

Hugs to all.

I am finally a lb away from my pr-thanksgiving weight. so happy today about this weeks weigh in. I started at 279 then wk1 I gained and was at 282. I weigh in this morning and am at 278 yay now only have 7 more pounds to go till I am at my Christmas/NYE goal weight

About 1520 cals yesterday and 30 minutes elliptical. Would have been more like 1420, but we decided to watch a movie last night and I had some popcorn. Tonight is weights/yoga. I only have about 1330 cals pre-logged, but I haven't accounted for any snacks yet. Hope to keep it under 1500 today...need to try to make up for my higer cal weekend a bit.

On a TMI note...I thought TOM was starting last Friday, but it's doing that weird "lingering" thing where I think it's going to start anytime, but doesn't quite. I was really hoping to get it over with before this Friday's WI...oh well.

Tdi: good luck with your 20 minute jog! I may seriously look into that program this spring. I will be very motivated to do stuff outside by then. It was -9 this morning here....brrr!!

Sparkle: wow, new clothes sizes and a decade breakthrough...way to go!

Scottie: Yay for the post-TOM woosh!

Jiggle: glad to hear you're staying strong. Hang in there.

Chick: I would love, LOVE to be 150 by June 1. At that point I would maintain for the summer and re-evaluate in the fall if I wanted to go farther. 150 would put me relatively safely into the healthy BMI category. I don't know if I can lose 23 more lbs by then though. It certainly *sounds* do-able, but I'm seriously lucky to average a lb/week these days, and I know it only gets harder as you get smaller. That was the one "good" thing about starting out heavier...I averaged like 3/lbs week for the first 5 months. Definitely kept me motivated. Well, all we can do is keep on and it will be what it will be when we get there. Any loss is progress!

Country: that last t-giving lb will be off before you know it!!

Jiggle - so very sorry for your loss.

The last week has been okay. Last Wed was our company Christmas dinner and this weekend we celebrated my sister-in-law's birthday at a bar. This week so far has been excellent. Thursday I will be getting my wisdom teeth pulled so the weekend may be rough. I've stocked up on my homemade broth, so hopefully it won't be too bad. DH has some no sugar added chocolate ice cream in the freezer that he mixes with vanilla protien mix that he used when he had his out so I'll bee gettin My protein in that way.

Hi all! Just checking in. Had some wine last night. Probably not the best idea but I had a great day, got great news about a surgery my Mom just had and felt like living a little. :D

Tdi: I have back arthritis and have been told before not to run but I *think* I might be able to get clearance and a few tips from my doc to help get me started. She lets me do things at a certain pace so long as it doesn't cause me a lot of pain. If it's speed walking without taking meds or jogging and needing meds it might have to be just speed walking. I've made huge progress in strength and endurance so she encourages me to try just about everything I am interested in, to an extent. Anything is possible so I'll ask. And if it's FREE then what do I have to lose?

SparkleBe: Thank You! Yes! This is a very exciting time. It's hard to keep track of calories and work out with all that I need to do but I'm trying to keep it all at an even keel.

I meant to say that I am a lb smaller then my pre-thanksgiving weight.

this how my morning started after I went to the bathroom then went into the kitchen my bf just got off the scale and he gained weight. I ask him how much he weighed so I could write it down so he told me then he said quote "I hate that thing it is pure evil" So I step on it thinking I am still at my 279 block and it reads 278 I am dancing around going OH YEA BABY LOL

Jiggle: I am so sorry for your loss. I know how difficult it can be, but please take care of yourself as best you can.

Hi Everyone,

The week is going well so far. I have completed 3 days of my 5 days per week exercise challenge. Mixed it up between Leslie Sansone and Kathy Smith DVDs and a Zumba class at a local facility. Still trying to get up to speed from my foot injury. I can't believe how much I am huffing and puffing to try to get through it, but I know I need to continue in order to get back to where I was.

I have also been tracking everything I have been eating. I haven't starting tracking calories yet. Just trying to get in a good habit of keeping a food journal at this point. Even that has seriously curtailed my snacking so it's a good thing.

Congrats to everyone on their accomplishments! Keep up the good work!

185.5 this morning so I am on track.

Jiggle- Sorry for your loss. We lost my dad Friday night and had the service yesterday. I feel your pain.

185.5 this morning so I am on track.

Jiggle- Sorry for your loss. We lost my dad Friday night and had the service yesterday. I feel your pain.

I am sorry to hear that. Please remember to take care of yourself. :hug:

Toobig: I'm so sorry to hear about your dad. :(

Weight loss wise, it looks like everyone is doing pretty well this week, keep up the good work...it's hump day!

I ended up at about 1450 cals yesterday, so that was good. Since I seem to be eating a bit more than usual on weekends this month, I've dropped my weekday calorie range just a bit...my old "redline" was 1600 cals, now I try not to go over 1550 (and I REALLY try to keep it under 1500.) So far, so good this week.

I tried a more advanced yoga video after I did my weight lifting last night, and um...yeah...it might be a little TOO advanced for me right now, lol. Tonight is my last zumba night of the year. It will start back up in about mid-January. I just got my wii zumba back from my SIL last week, so I will probably do that during the "hiatus".

Hope everyone is having another great OP day!!

Hi all! I think I will jump in even though your a few weeks in. I'm gonna do a small goal of 2.5 lbs just to get me started since there are 2.5 weeks left.

Hopefully that will be attainable and get me motivated to lose more! :)

Good luck all!!!

Welcome back, Elizabeth! :)

Just checking in...things are going poorly for me. I do what I'm supposed to but the scale doesn't agree. :( I'm changing my goal weight from 151 to 153 as right now I'm still considerably higher than when I started.

I did my NMTZ wrkout this mornin. Its been forever since I've done that dvd now my body feels like jello. On top of it I started TOM this suxs. I'm not guna let it stop me. I have BFBM 2mrw.

Toobig: I'm very sorry to hear of your loss as well! :hug:
Northern: Nice work with changing calories slightly to give you a little more play on the weekends. I tend to do the same thing! As for you -9, that's insane!! We don't get that cold until around the end of January and February. I can imagine why you wouldn't do anything outside! We don't come close to that cold, and I'm doing my runs on a treadmill, in a gym LOL!
Thinkinthin: Awesome work on your exercising! I LOVE that you're taking your journey slowly and allowing yourself time to adjust. I bet you're already seeing some results!
Elizabeth: :welcome:
Countrybarbie: Awesome work, and it's so exciting when the scale goes down!! :carrot:
Kat: I hope your wisdom teeth come out good!

Me: I accomplished my 20 minute jog! It felt really good to do it! That is officially then longest I've ran without stopping once! I'm really excited! Friday I start week 6/9. I also think I'm going to switch to mileage rather than time. This will be a bit more difficult since the times compared with mileage have you running a 10min mile. I'm running about a 12min mile. The program breaks it down both in mileage and time, you choose one. When I wasn't doing the program at the gym, I did time since it was easier than tracking mileage. Now that I'm at the gym, I think I will switch. I'll let you know how that goes Friday! I'm really excited because I'm so close and I am noticing some changes in my legs!
Otherwise, I have been sleepy all day! It's a good thing I mostly have off today minus one class tonight. I am NOT a morning person, so it is going to take some time getting used to going to the gym around 5:30 5x a week. My plan is to keep that up until I finish the running program, then I'm going to take a week long break from the gym to let my body catch up a bit. Then back to normal.

Anyway... Exercise is going well this week and for this challenge. Food has been getting much better! I'm keeping it right around 1500 calories during the week. I could probably get away with eating a little more with all my working out, but I really want to get back to where I was before the last challenge!

I hope you chicks are doing well and have a great day! See ya later! :carrot:

Popspry: I feel your frustration. It's really hard when you know you're doing everything right but the scale doesn't want to move. I'm sure you know all of the explanations (muscle building, water retention, "inches, not pounds", etc. etc.) Knowing those things helps logically, but our darn emotions just can't help but make us feel disappointed. Hang in there, it will come off eventually. Maybe there's a nice "whoosh" in your future??

JM: Hope your TOM goes away soon! It definitely makes things harder :(

Tdi: Great work on your 20 minutes, that's awesome!! We've been back to more "seasonable" temps the past few days, but I'm actually kind of getting concerned about the lack of snow. Some years back we had a long cold snap and no insulating layer of snow on the ground and our pipes froze. And that's saying something because in MN pipes are buried 6 feet underground.

As for me: Had about a 1400 cal day and an hour of Zumba yesterday. My hammies are kind of sore today. I think it's from doing squats on Tuesday. Haven't done squats for months. Today is my light cardio day and I'm on track for about 1450 cals. Hope I'm not retaining too much water (sore hammies plus last part of TOM) for WI tomorrow. Well, either way, I know I've had a good week!

I did my cardio wrkout 2day. Yesterday's NMTZ I'm sore and can really feel it everywhere. Even though my body hurts I pushed thru my whole cardio wrkout and I feel gr8

Thanks for the welcome Northern and tdiprincess!

jmfan- I don't weigh in during my TOM. It is just too depressing. :)

All you girls are such great exercisers! Very motivational! I need to get my butt in gear and start exercising again too. I was walking the dog alot but now that its cold that has pretty much stopped (i hate cold). I gotta come up with a new exercise.

I did great yesterday. Only 1785 calories and that is only because we had brinner for dinner (breakfast for dinner) and i had a couple pancakes and just couldnt eat them without syrup. lol Had I not had syrup i would have been under! Oh well. I decided anything under 2k is good with me for now. :)

Meanwhile I think I have an orange addiction. I have had 3 so far today. A vendor brought in this huge fruit tub (not a basket a metal tub). We've been eating from it all day. lol Oh well I guess that's better than cookies or candy. :)

Seems like things are going well for some so far! Keep it up!!

My wisdom teeth came out well. Homemade broth, sugar free jello/pudding, and protein shakes are on the menu for the next few days. No exercise either :( I'm hoping I'll be able to get back to the gym next weekend.

172. I'll take it. 2.1 lbs to go to 169.9!!

So busy with the move I forgot to even weigh.... :(

I am not comfortable with my progress. I am getting in the game.

Congrats everyone on the great progress. I cant believe it is like 2 weeks till Christmas that is crazy. I have 6 more pounds to go till I reach my Christmas/NYE goal.

Kat that sucks about the wisdom tooth. Glad it went well. I still have mine they started getting abscessed a couple months ago but ain't got a chance to get them extracted.



Hey girls I have made a fb page all about my weight lost journey and would love for all of you to come and be a part of it so if you have FB like my page
http://www.facebook.com/pages/My-journey-2-onderland/153894828045395

I just completed my NMTZ workout for 2day. I feel gr8 now 2mrw I have cardio. Today I'm just guna chill and watch a movie and sum tv shows. Got to eat healthy 2day since yesterday didn't go so well. Dang it this TOM needs to go away. I have the fiber one brownies if I'm really craving sumthin sweet. Or I can make a Jillian Michaels shake with her whey protein. Hope everybody is having a gr8 day.

First of all, toobig and jiggle, I am so sorry for your losses. Remember to take time to grieve and be kind to yourselves. I know how therapeutic doing things like exercising can be. When I lost my dad, we went to a gun range. It was my first time, it was very therapeutic.

pops-girl, I can TOTALLY identify with you. NO MATTER WHAT. I lose inches, and then start dropping weight. I get so discouraged at the lack of weight drop that I tend to give up in the same spots over and over. This time I gave up for a month. Last time it was almost a year. The only time I successfully lost weight was when I didn't own a scale and it couldn't depress me. However, I have to be very careful with my calories because of my milk supply.

4star, moving is stressful

Northern, it looks like you will make goal by Christmas! Just love squats for the butt!

Kat, rest and take care of yourself. That really drains you.

Elizabeth, I would be suprised if you didn't consistently lose at 1800. I like to shuffle my calories around to trick my body.

jm, its good that you gave the muscles you are working a rest. I'm looking to start doing some circuit training with my rebounder. I don't know what NMTZ is, but I like JM, just not a fan of her workouts.

so I logged 18,626 steps yesterday. That is 8.82 miles. I really hadn't done much until I ran for 42 minutes. I jog on my rebounder while watching an episode of biggest loser. Well, I decided to go ahead and do some HIIT. For those who don't know that is where you raise your HR to max during a short session. This for me was 1 minute. The highest I got was 177. That was the second time, I thought I would die the first time. But I kept moving my legs. I also did an ab workout that is on my ipod. That left me with aching abs today, but my legs feel pretty good.

calories wise, I went over by 350 yesterday, putting me at 2450 but I will take it, when I gained 5 lbs in a month I was eating over 3000 calories daily.

I hope to make it back to 191 by Christmas. I showed 192.4 today. So maybe I will make goal.

ok, 200 off from goal. But so far my log is showing a 3 lb loss from November 13th to today. So guess I will keep on keeping on.

Thanks for the kind words everyone!

Weight is up to 201 today. My rings are tight so it's probably bloat. Not gonna worry about it. Counted yesterday, coming in at 1550 for the day.

I know its probably just water weight but I weighed myself today since I'd prefer to have a Saturday weigh in and I am down to 207.6! Woo! I will take it. Almost to my Christmas goal, so I think I will alter my goal to 205.something. :) Yay!

jendiet & pops - I know the feeling. In 3 months at Curves I lost 20 inches and not a single pound and then everything stopped - no pounds, no inches! Talk about depressing. So I am trying very hard not to focus on the scale this time around, but it's hard.

I completed my personal challenge of exercising 5 days this week. Woo Hoo! :carrot:

I finished up the week with a Zumba Ripped CD and 2-Week Turnaround Cardio.

Still tracking food without tracking calories. I will begin calorie counting in January.

I hope everyone is doing well with their challenges. The support on this thread has given me the encouragement to keep moving toward my goal. Thanks everyone!

I did my hour cardio wrkout. Man being on TOM is killer it totally messed me up. I'm just craving sweets and salty food. Hoping this is over soon. So I can get back on track with my food.

A bit depressed. Went down 2 pounds, now back up .6. I wish I could say it's because of something I did, or didn't do instead of some mystery. These final 15 pounds are killing me, the other 35 was a joke compared to this.

I stuck to counting my calories last week and lost 1 more pound.
:smug:

Now I have to try and get through the next couple of weeks during this Holiday Seasson.

Best wishes to all on a successful weight loss journey this Holiday Season!

:xcheer:

Ugh...I've finally caught the crud. Haven't done much of anything all weekend, including exercise. But since I don't have much of an apetite, I'm not eating much either. Really glad I'm scheduled to stay home to do a webinar tomorrow instead of going to the office. Hope everyone else is feeling better than I am!

Hey everyone!
I haven’t been feeling well this week, so I haven’t been on 3FC in a little while. Also, I’ve been napping during my normal exercise time, so I haven’t been exercising as much either. I’m still not feeling great, but I’ll try to get back on track exercise-wise this week. I have been staying on-plan food-wise, though, since I don’t feel like eating. At least that’s something. Can’t believe there are only 2 weeks left until Christmas. My parents got our Christmas tree today, so the house smells like evergreen.
Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Toobig: :hug: I’m so sorry for your loss. My thoughts are with you and your family during this difficult time.
Northern: It really is that time of the year. :hug: Hope you feel better soon!
Jolina: Congrats!
Popspry: I know the feeling – my weight loss has pretty much stalled too… So I’m right there with you, just waiting for the scale to catch up.
Jmfan: TOM cravings are awful. But hopefully you’ll get a nice whoosh when it’s over :)
Thinkin: Congrats on the exercise accomplishment! That’s awesome!
Elizabeth: Welcome! I hear you on not wanting to walk outside in the cold. I’ve been complaining about that for a month already ;) I’ve been thinking of getting one of those walk away the pounds videos, which probably won’t be as nice as walking outside, but it should still be fun.
4star: Moving is so stressful, but it’s great that you’re still counting despite all that extra work!
Jen: Awesome job with the exercise! And you’re already getting close to your goal. Yay!
Country: Way to go getting below your pre-Thanksgiving weight!
Kat: I’m glad the wisdom teeth came out without any problems. Hope you feel better soon!
Tdi: Great job on jogging for 20 mins straight! That’s awesome!

Sparkle: I too, have been resting instead of exercising for the past few days. I want to get back on track with my exercise too this week, but still not feelnig 100% today. Trying not to feel guilty about not exercising, but sometimes our bodies just need the rest! I have been logging and staying well within my calorie budget though. Hope you're feeling better too!

Sparkle sorry you ain't felt well hope u feel better. I have been wanting to just lay around. They say that one day after you exercise long enough it just come natural but I hate having to force myself to do it. Once I start working out I love it and enjoy it. It the getting my butt in gear to start working out.


Well I was doing good last night till made some peanut butter fudge and cheese cake for my bf. I didn't give into the cheese cake but I did give into the fudge. I was laying in be really bad that I had ate that and wishing I didn't so I decided to get up and do some sort of exercise so I got in the floor beside my bed and did some push ups. I don't feel so bad since I did some sort of exercise after giving into the sweets. Tomorrow is my offical weigh in and I was hoping to loose so here to hoping. I'm try to workout more today and not take in as much calories today since I did get off track last nite.

Northern and sparkle: I'm sorry you guys haven't been feeling great! :( Excellent self-control on not exercising until you guys feel better! It takes a lot to not do it, but until you're bodies are back to normal feelings you gotta hold back! Don't feel guilty, you're sick!!

countrybarbie: It can be very frustrating when we give into things, but we all do it from time to time. The key to remember is that it didn't take us one day or one week to gain all the weight we did. It's also not going to take us one day or one week to loose it all again! It's going to take time, be patient with yourself. Try not to get into a habit where if you give in you "punish" yourself with exercise or other restrictions. This can become quite dangerous. We all have bad days, get back up and keep going! you're already making some great progress! Focus on that! Also, in the future, something that I do to avoid overeats on treats is 1- make less treats and 2- learn what you won't be able to control, and only make them as a treat for you from time to time. There are foods that I just refuse to buy or make except for a couple times a year because I absolutely know I have not control with them. Put those foods in their place. It's not that you can't have them, but limit when you do.
You're being super loving to your boyfriend by making him some nice goodies, but even I don't make 2 desserts for my hubby! In the future, make him one! :D

I took a few days off from exercising. I didn't exercise Fri-Sunday. It felt good and I feel better today! I also took a little break from counting calories, but I exercised some good control. On Saturday we went to someone's house for dinner, I ate very little during the day and then only had one VERY small piece of dessert. When I came home I had a little wine and a healthier snack. Sunday was pretty much the same. In the past I KNOW I would've eaten more. I''m pretty sure I stayed under 2,000 calories both days!

Today is going good. I'm having lunch and then off to the gym. I'll be doing w6d1 of the c25k!! I'm excited to be closer to the end than the beginning! :carrot:

I made 2 he won't eat them all at once but I went ahead and made them so he can have them after supper for this week and next week. I make all the sweets sugar free. Since he is diabetic I make the sweets with splenda or equal. I don't let him have to much. I make sure we check his glucose levels before he gets any sweets.

Thanks for the advice it is very helpful. Yea I know it going to take me awhile to get where I need to be but it will happen. When I was putting up the fudge today I resisted from having any. I told my self it wasn't worth gaining back the weight I have worked so hard to loose. So instead I had a salad with cucumber lettuce and baked chicken(it was a lunch time when I put it up)

I don't make sweets often maybe every few months. It Christmas and he wanted so goodies so made him 3 different kinds so he can choose. He asked why didn't we buy any ice cream and told him if we wanted some we go to mcdonald's and get a 40 calorie ice cream cone cause if we bought ice cream I would eat it all in a couple days. Ice cream is my weakness.

tdi: Thanks. I think I'm starting to turn the corner this afternoon, and I'm REALLY tempted to do some exercise, but I think I'm going to be smart, take it easy and go to bed early tonight and start fresh tomorrow with my regular routine. I have a busy week/weekend coming up and need to be well! Good job on enjoying some indulgences but keeping things in check this weekend!!

Country: I hear you on ice cream, I love it too! Have you tried Skinny Cow ice cream? The truffle bars only have 100 calories, and they're actually very good! (Ok, not *quite* as good as full fat ice cream, but WAY better than any other "diet" ice cream I've had.) They come in several flavors, my favorite is the cookies & cream.

Everyone else: Hope your week is off to a good start! Can't believe we only have this week and next until Christmas weekend, wow!! I finally finished up my online shopping last night. Still have a few last minute things to buy at the store this weekend, but I can't believe how quickly it snuck up on me. On Amazon there's only 3 days left to order with free "super saver" (a.k.a. slow) shipping. Just wanted to warn any other procrastinators out there!

SparkleBE and Northern Exposure: Hope you're feeling better soon.

Decided to make Monday my official weigh-in day. Down 0.2. Not much, but something.

Went to my regular Zumba class tonight (2 workouts down this week, 3 to go). Had a substitute instructor who really kicked it up a notch! Whew! Had to modify for the last 15 minutes because I was getting light-headed, but I did it. Considering she was probably at least 20 years my junior I am pretty proud of myself. My regular instructor is older than me by a few years, so I have no excuses in her class. :)

Hope everyone is doing well with their challenges.

Well I have eaten pretty crappy over the last 2 days, convenience and fast food meals. I am up like 5 pounds! I know it's gotta be the sodium or water retention from all of the soreness that's set into my muscles. I could sweat this if I wasn't so tired and busy. I am just gonna do what I can and try to moderate. I won't be cooking a lot of meals over the next week but will still try to make decent choices. I am into the thick of things: cleaning and packing at my old house, and cleaning and unpacking at the new house. I know I've got to be burning up the calories b/c I haven't been sitting down very much at all and working morning to night.

At this point, I'll be happy to make it back down to my ticker weight for Christmas. (Who knows,maybe it's all water weight?)BUT this will all be for a much better lifestyle in the end and we'll be spending Christmas all settled into our new home! :)

Good Morning. I'm emerging from a very painful weekend but I didn't gain, I stayed the same. I only have a couple weeks to get these five pounds off. So I will be pressing my way through the holiday parties without a lot of junk.

Have a great rest of the week.

Hope everyone who is not feeling well feels better soon!

I am back down to my ticker weight. I am still on a liquid/soft foods diet thanks to the wisdom teeth. I am nervous to add more solid foods because I don't want food to get stuck in the holes! I think I am hitting my target calories, but I'm not sure. It is hard to always measure liquids and soft foods. I've been ballparking it and I figure between 1200-1500.

We shall see how the upcoming week goes! I really want to get down to 205 so I can treat myself to a new haircut :)

Well I have been struggling this week. I am happy to say that even though I struggled with exercising and eating sweets that I have lost 2 pounds. I have 2 more pounds to loose then I will have lost 10 pounds since starting this weight lost journey. I have been an uphill battle but I am doing it. When I loose 30lbs I get a new outfit. I cant wait :)

I started a 284 and am down to 276. so I have lost a total of 8lbs YAY 8lbs of fat are gone and I never want to see them again.

Kat I prob would be scared to about food getting in the holes. Hope you can get back on ur game and eat real food soon :)

4star congrats on the new house. I bet you are excited. We all have off weeks. Don't worry about it chic you be settled in to your new home soon and will get to cook and workout like u was before the moving begin. I hate the chaos of moving lol.

I'm doin gud TOM should be over 2mrw. I got my cardio to this this mornin. I'm hoping 2 have a gud weigh in Mon.

I'm stuck again. No weight loss in several days. I did snack at my aunt's open house event, and I guess I might have overdone it despite my attempts to guesstimate. Probably not going to make my Christmas goal (onederland), but as long as I can get a couple of pounds closer, I'll be happy.

As for icecream: they sell individual Haagen Dazs and Ben and Jerry's now. As long as you only buy one, you're limited to a couple hundred calories, and I do like my luxury ice cream. Cherry Garcia. Dulce de leche. Yum.

1435 calroies, well within my range. Feeling much better today, probably operating at about 90-95% capacity. No exercise today, but I can't use being sick as an excuse...I was just lazy and sat on the couch on the computer most of the night! Now I really DO need to get back into my routine. No excuses tomorrow. My zumba class is over until January now, but I will do my wii zumba tomorrow night just to keep up with my Wed. routine.

Friday is DH's office Christmas party. Lots of fun people. My game plan is to eat sensibly during the day so I can afford to have a drink or three. Thankfully we will be ordering off a menu for dinner (instead of a buffet) so I'm hoping it will be easier to make better choices. It will be a no-count day, and I'm going to enjoy myself...but I don't want to go too crazy with Christmas coming up the following weekend already! Wow, where did this month go??

Glad to see some of us are feeling better!
My fil is now in the hospital. its weird being there with him since it hasn't been two weeks since my dad died.
I have been rough guessing my calories, which is not good. And we have been eating lots of take out and junk food because I have not been home to cook. Hopefully things will get better soon.

Toobig, I'm so sorry to hear about the terrible time your family is going through, especially this time of year :( Hugs to you. Don't fret about every calorie right now...just do what you need to do stay sane through this tough time. You'll get back on track when you're ready. I lost my aunt last year and had to travel to Texas, so I was gone for a week. I forgave myself for not worrying about calories during that time. I gave myself a week away from the scale after I came back as I eased back into my usual routine. All in all, I might have gained a pound. (I honestly don't even remember now). But it wasn't a big deal. Just cut yourself some slack :)

Jiggle: I hope your week is treating you better than your weekend. And remember the main goal of this challenge...not to beat ourselves up this time of year (and especially with what your family is going through.) If you don't lose the 5 lbs, it's all good. You're maintaining your weight and that is an accomplishment to be proud of!

I was guna take a rest day from wrkin out but I decided to do Jillian's lv 2 of Yoga meltdown. I feel gr8 for a 30 min wrkout.

Just checking in again. 1420 calories yesterday and 45 minutes of wii zumba. First time I've exercised since last Thursday...mostly due to being sick, but a little bit due to laziness! At any rate, it felt good to get moving again.

I've been getting used to my slightly lowered calorie ceiling (I recently lowered my weekday limit from 1600 to 1550). I've actually been coming in well under 1550 lately, probably due to lack of appetite from being sick. I'm having a really "hungry" day today though. Not sure if that means I'm feeling better or if it's just one of those things (it's not TOM)...but I feel like I could eat a horse right now!

Thinkin: congrats on the loss! ANY loss is good :)

4star: hope you get settled into the new place soon!!

Country: congrats on the 2 lbs!!

Kat: It's always nice to get back down to the ticker weight after a setback, isn't it?

Nibbles: mmmm....now I'm really craving ice cream!!

JM: good job getting an extra workout in!

171. Another week, another pound :)

Northern: I'm glad to hear you're feeling better!! Awesome progress as well.
too big: I'm am really sorry to hear about your hardship right now. Take your time and do what you can when you're ready to. :hug:
Nibbles: I bet you'll have a whoosh soon! I had one last week. I was hovering at the same weight for 3 weeks and then all of a sudden I was 3lbs less! Just be patient and focus on the fact that you're improving your health either way! :carrot:
JMfan: Awesome job with the workouts! I didn't know she had a yoga one! I enjoy doing pilates from time to time.

Sorry this week has been CRAZY! I had a distant relative pass away from cancer this week. She was diagnosed about 4 months ago and given a few months to live. We traveled to see our family and support them a bit.
I have gotten through the running plan. Monday and Tuesday I did w6d1+2. Today I'll be doing w6d3. Last night I did some zumba after a rest from driving all day.
Today I've gotten back on track with counting calories as well. Tuesday, Wednesday and part of yesterday I just ate whatever. I'm also testing out the idea of eating a more plants based food diet especially at home. I started that today also. I'm doing this more to be healthier. I will still eat meat, but more of a once a week or so thing or when we're out.

Also, I'm finally back down to 151.2!! Which was my goal for this challenge. Maybe I'll lose another lb or so, but I'm happy to be back to where I was.

Anyhow.. later chickies!! :carrot:

Thx u princess. I just did my hour of cardio with her. Wat a killer wrkout

Hi Everyone,

Just checking in to keep myself accountable. Completed workout #4 - 2 Week Turnaround Weights. Hope to complete #5 tomorrow and keep myself on track as long as this sore throat doesn't get worse.

I also signed up for My Fitness Pal. I'm still trying to figure out how to use the exercise tracker, but figured out my calories and also used the recipe builder which is really cool.

Have a great weekend!

Hi everyone. I'm being accountable right now. :) (so funny ThinkinTHin5 you're feeling the same way...)

2 X this week I walked at lunch time. 1 for a 1/2 hour and today for 20 minutes. I hope to add more exercise to my life.

Since Thanksgiving I've been maintaining. I'm happy with that, but come the new year I want to work harder at losing again.

Well the last 3 days have been awesome I ate lunch then after lunch I got dressing in my walking/workout clothes then went for a 1/2 mile each day. I have been1 1/2 miles in three days that is really good for me :)

Counting Calories don't seem to get easier for me I hate math lol...

I am hoping to be able to get me a treadmill in Jan. When my mama had one couple years ago I would walk on it while I watched tv or listen to music and loved it so hoping I can do that again.

Good job on the workout chicks. I will check out the my fitness pal and see if it can help me.

My eating habits are going to take a hit between Christmas and new years, but I am going to try! Good luck to everyone!

My eating habits are going to take a hit between Christmas and new years, but I am going to try! Good luck to everyone!

Mine too, DH and I will be away on a mini vacay...that's why I'm trying to make a good, solid push this next week! After my final WI next Friday, I plan to stay off the scale until the first Friday after New Years, hopefully that will give me some time to reverse some of the damage I'll be sure to do. Wishing you luck too!!

Hey everyone!
After another week of rest, I’m finally starting to feel better. I decided to start exercising again yesterday and got in a 45 min walk and a short pilates video. After all that time off, it really does feel good to get moving again :) I finally ordered a WATP video so that I can walk indoors, because it’s freezing here! Weirdly enough, it was 13 (55 F) and rainy on Thursday and today it’s sunny but feels like -13 (8 F). Brrr.
After all that time off, my scale hasn’t moved in a while. I’m hoping that when I get back to exercising regularly it’ll start moving again.
Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Northern: I’m glad you’re feeling better and congrats on the loss!
Fitterchick: Good luck to you too. I’m going to try to stay OP after Christmas, but if I don’t it’s not a big deal. What’s the point in going through this is we have to worry constantly and can’t enjoy the holidays, right?
Country: Congrats on the workouts! That’s great!
Chicksinger and Thinkin: Good job staying accountable here! Hope your sore throat gets better, Thinkin!
Jmfan: Great job with the workouts!
Tdi: I’m sorry about your relative :hug: I’m glad you were able to spend the time with your family.
Toobig: :hug: I’m so sorry to hear that your family is going through such a hard time. Don’t worry about your eating plan right now. Take all the time you need, and you’ll be able to get back on track after you start to feel a bit better.

Unfortunately the sore throat got the best of me today so I won't be getting in my 5th workout this week. I'm going to take it easy this weekend and try to get back to my Zumba workout on Monday.

Congrats to everyone with their successes and near successes this week. As others have said, we need to be kind to ourselves during this time of year. Being aware is a success in itself.

Thinkin hope you get better. I completed my last day of strength trainin. Tomorrow is my last day of cardio. Then I have weigh in Monday morn. I'm so scared to see it. I hope I don't gain weight. Then this wk I move onto level 1 of Extreme shed & shred the new Jillian dvd I got.

Hi everyone!

Did my last day of cardio. Woo Hoo! I don't believe I did all 5 of my wrkouts last wk and all 5 this wk. 2mrw is weigh in after 2 wks. I hope the scale will be gud 2 me.

jm hope the scale is awesome to you..

thinkinthin- sorry about ur sore-throat those are the worst hope you get to feeling better soon..

so I went to the ymca this morning for an RC indoor fly meet and well I went to the locker room and weighed on the manual scale. I weighed 15 pounds less on it than I did on my digital at home this morning. One the scales is wrong. I am really liking the manual scale weight better. I am a CNA so I do know how to work a manual scale lol(just incase anyone think that is the problem lol) So should I go by the manual scale and just minus pounds when I weight at home or should I just forget about the manual scale number and count with the digital scale?

I am also happy to say that today after left indoor flying and went to one club it was lunch time so my bf asked if I wanted something to eat. I was like yes!!! so we on way McDonald and I saw subway. I was like hey I want subway my bf like really I said yes so I got BLt with light mayo and lots veggies and mustard. I was so proud my self but did have lrg sweet tea from McDonald I can't give those up lol. I also drank like 40oz water last night for supper and 20oz this morning for brakefast

I’m happy to say that I’m feeling much better and I had a good OP weekend. I’m getting back in the habit of walking my parents’ puppy every day, so I’m pretty happy about that. And my workout video came in the mail today (on a Sunday! I was very surprised), so I’m looking forward to being able to walk inside on really cold days :)
I went out to dinner to a wing place with my family tonight and I’m proud to say that instead of ordering the deep-fried chicken wings, I ordered a make-your-own salad (and I made it healthy :)). I did have one wing, just to try it, but I took off the skin first. And I have to say that the skinless wing actually looked more appetizing. Maybe my tastes are starting to change?
Hope everyone had an awesome weekend.

Country: Not sure which scale is actually right, but I’d probably stick with your digital one for right now, just because it’s in your home and will be easier for you to weigh in. And if it’s the one that you first weighed in on, it gave you your starting weight. So while you might actually weigh 15 pounds less, you also started out weighing 15 pounds less too, and changing scales might get a bit complicated.
Jm: Hope the scale treats you well tomorrow!
Toobig: Hi!
Thinkin: Hope you feel better soon! Take it easy until you’re well.

Still holding things together. I went missing last week but I got my juju back. I'm not going to weigh in until Christmas day. I don't know what's happening with my body because I've been eating what I shouldn't buuuuut some of my clothes are feeling loose. I have a pair of jeans that I hadn't worn in a while that were tight on me and I was scared to put them on yesterday but when I did put them on they were more loose than they were when I last wore them and was heating healthy.

Happy Monday, ladies!

Just checking in. I never made it to DH's office Christmas party on Friday. I was looking forward to it, but had a bit of a re-lapse with my cold/flu whatever I've been fighting and was just too run down to go out that night. I guess the good news is it saved me a lot of calories! I stayed right around the high end of my budget calorie-wise the rest of the weekend, so that was good. Even got some weights/yoga in last night.

I will be taking about a week off from calorie counting after Friday, so I'm pushing for a strong finish this week!!

So I weighed in this mornin and i 2 wks I've lost 1 lb. Its not alot but I'm happy to see it go down. Better than a gain. This wk I start Jillian's new dvd Extreme shed and shred. Then I weigh in again on Jan 1st. Hope I get a 2 lb or more lost that day with it being a new year.

Hey chickies! Looks like we're making some great progress as yet another challenge quickly comes to an end!
Sorry no personals today.

Today I completed w7d1 of c25k. It was a bit brutal, but I paced myself and got through it. It doesn't help that this week is getting into TOM week, so my joints are generally a little sore and I tire out easier.
Otherwise, I weighed in on Sunday at 150.8!! I'm quite excited! I haven't seen this weight in almost 5 years! That also means I'm about 10-15lbs from my goal of 135-140!! :carrot:

Keep up the great work! :carrot:

tdiprincess: Congratulations on being so close to goal! That's fantastic.

I lost 0.8 this week. So I am down 1 pound since I started the challenge. That's great progress for me since I'm such a slow loser.

Sore throat and dry cough are keeping me from exercise this week so I will be keeping a close eye on calories to hopefully offset being a couch potato.

Keep up the good work everyone!

The natural life in each of us is something self-centered, something that wants to be petted and admired, to take advantage of other lives, to exploit the whole universe. And especially it wants to be left to itself: to keep well away from anything better or stronger or higher than it, anything that might make it feel small. It is afraid of the light and air of the spiritual world. ...It knows that if the spiritual life gets hold of it, all its self-centeredness and self will are going to be killed and it is ready to fight tooth and nail to avoid it.
We are ready to fight tooth and nail to keep secret all the things we don't want Jesus to root out. But, he must. And...
...the business of becoming a son of God, of being turned from a created thing into a begotten thing, of passing over from the temporary biological life into a timeless "spiritual" life has been done for us [through Jesus].
Lewis goes on to say that we must get close to him and as we do "we shall catch it," catch the "infection" of salvation and grace. The challenge of Christmas is to get close enough to wonder in the incarnation and not mistaken it as trite.

Jm: congrats on the loss! And you're right, every loss is a victory ;)

Tdi: 150.8 is awesome!! Yay!

Thinkin: sounds like you're making good progress! It's great that you know your own body so well. Hope you feel better too...this crud is hard to shake.

As for me: Ended up kind of high yesterday (1650 cals) due to caving into some homemade goodies that were available at work. I did do my exercise, 30 minutes of elliptical. Hoping to keep my cals lower today and also getting my 2nd strength training/yoga night in for the week. I don't know if I will lose the 1.2 lbs this week I need to get to my goal (losing a lb/week has been about my max lately)...I'm hoping it will be close...but I have to stay focused. Eating crap at work will get my nowhere fast!!

Hmmmm....pretty quiet around here! Hope everyone is busy with good things :)

Anyhoo, just checking in. Yesterday I did do a little better...right at the top of my range (1550), but at least in it. Also did my weights/yoga as scheduled. Tonight I'm thinking wii zumba and hoping I can keep my calories under 1500 for once! I really doubt I will make my goal at this point, but hopefully I will see some sort of loss.

Today is my "Friday" and we're off for winter break until January. YAY!! This day cannot go fast enough ;)

I'm doin my wrkout after lunch 2day. It will be my first day of Jillian's new dvd Extreme shed and shred. I'm getting back into eating rite. Its so hard round holidays. I'm shooting for 1200 cals a day but I'm not sure if thats to low for me. So it will prob be 1200-1400 a day. Since I wrkout 5xs a wk.

Checking in real quick - been hovering at 209/210 this past week with a few jumps to 211/212. This morning was at 210.2 so I am anticipatin 209 tomorrow. 4 more pounds to my halfway goal!!!

This week I am doing cardio everyday to offset any "bad" calories. I had 6 of my homemade cookies today, so the cardio will come in handy! I am hoping to get down to 208 by christmas day.

im 270.8 right now so i have 5.8lbs to go before my 265 mini goal. i wont make my original goal i know that now, the alcohol must have got to me, i think i drank a half bottle of jager, and i dont mean the small bottles, like..i think i drank a litre of jager in 2 days, plus other drinks besides, but im glad ive lost some weight. im hoping to lose a few more lbs before my january 2nd holiday challenge end date lol thats when i will see how well i did. hopefully ill only be a couple lbs away from my original goal when i started. but at least ive lost some. 120lbs to go, seems like a lifetime away

It's almost Christmas! :smug:
I did stay on plan last week and dropped another pound.

Best wishes to all this Holiday Season!

:hug:

186.5 this morning. I am happy with that.

Hope everyone has a great day!

Holy crap! I lost 2 lbs this week! I haven't lost 2 lbs in a week for MONTHS. And I didn't even do that great...who knows. Apparently the weight loss gods are smiling on me this Christmas, because I reached my goal!! 169.1!! You guys have NO idea how long I've been in the 170's. This is a major breakthrough for me :)

Anyhoo...I'm going to be on a bit of a hiatus from 3FC until around New Years, but I wish each and every one of you the best of luck reaching or making progress toward your goals, and more importantly, a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! See you in the next challenge!

Hey everyone!
I can’t believe Christmas is just a couple days away! I’m not sure if I’ll make my goal or not, but I’m close and I’ll be happy even if I don’t :) I’m getting back into an exercise groove and I’ve been walking most days this week. I was busy and missed Wednesday, so I walked for an hour yesterday and today to make up for it.

My mom and brother are both sick (he has bronchitis and she has pre-bronchitis), so I’m really hoping I don’t catch anything. I hate being sick on Christmas, plus I’ve got some big boxing day shopping plans. Almost all of my clothes are getting laughably large, so I need to stock up!
Hope everyone had a wonderful week!

Northern: Congratulations! What a great Christmas present! Merry Christmas + Happy New Year to you! And have a wonderful break!
Too: Congrats! Way to go!
Jolina: Best wishes to you as well!
Charlaine: Sounds like you’re doing great, even with the alcohol! Good job!
Kat: Homemade cookies are always so hard to resist (and who really wants to resist all that deliciousness?), so kudos to you for doing cardio to offset the cookies!
Jm: Hmm, it really depends on the person but 1200 calories might be low since you exercise so often. This website has a suggestion of how many calories to eat and I’ve found it useful: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

With Christmas here tomorrow, I'm officially calling my challenge over. I managed to maintain at 170 because, frankly, I wasn't giving losing my best effort. I know, come the new year, I will totally reach 160.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Thanks Sparkle, hope you find some good sales!

Chick: maintaining this time of year is no easy feat! Yay on not gaining!

Everyone else: again, happy holidays to you all! I thought I'd check in one more time before getting on with the holiday festivities. Hope everyone enjoys this time with their friends and family. See you again soon!

Did my day 3 of lv 1 Extreme shed and shred. 2 more days of lv 1 to go. Then I move onto lv 2.

Merry Christmas Ladies!

I haven't been going on here updating but for good reasons and I have still been doing the challenge.

First....I MADE MY CHALLENGE GOAL AND SURPASSED IT BY 1 LB! lol 134.0, I can't believe I lost 15lbs over the holidays! and 2 inches in my waist and 2 inches in my hips.

2nd...We are moving in 2 weeks to be closer to our jobs so we've been busy preparing and saving.

3rd...I'M ENGAGED! He proposed 2 nights ago, since we were going to my mom's for christmas eve and his family christmas day, he wanted everyone to see my ring and celebrate. When he got down on one knee, i started sobbing lol. My ring is georgous! Exactly what I wanted, he took my sister shopping for it and was there 6 hours trying to pick out the perfect diamond :) So I'm really excited for the next challenge cuz I have a wedding to plan and get skinny for! We are thinking September 2012. If the church is available, but we want next year so I will keep everyone updated!

Congrats to everyone for doing this challenge and God Bless and MERRY CHRISTMAS! can't wait to see you all in the next challenge.

185.5 this morning. With pjs so I'll call that goal!

jdonato~ Congratulations on your engagement!

Ok So I managed to gain over my challenge. I kinda got lost getting settled into the new place and have been exhausted. Haven't eaten a lot of lean meals and of course, I did some Christmas baking. No idea how many pounds I gained as I am really bloated right now but I'll update my ticker soon after I find out what sticks and what is water retention.

Now that I think things with the move are settled, I am looking forward to Monday and starting a new routine just in time for the New Year!

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! :present:


:newyear:

Hello everyone!
I made this challenge on the dot--4lbs! Yay!
I've been gone from home so I didn't get to weigh until I went home for Christmas dinner.
Can't wait til the next challenge starts--and I'm now officially 10lbs away from my original goal. Woohoo!

Jdonato--CONGRATS! :) We'll be looking forward to seeing pictures of you in your dress. Now that's a special challenge to work towards!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Well I weighed in this morning and I am down to 268 so that means I have lost 12 pounds since I started this challenge. I passed my goal weight for this challenge yay

SW-280
GW-270
CW- 268

Since I have started my weight lost journey I have lost a total of 16 pounds(284-sw; 268cw)

My NEW YEAR goals.... maintain a more consistent exercise schedule such as going to my local gym, 24, and signing up for different exercise classes. Trying to do cardio, strength, and even more flexibility. Also, I want to get a low-calorie diet... Any suggestions? Also, wanting to switch from calorie loaded cocktails on weekends to one drink on the weekend of a low-calorie spirit such as voli light or skinny drink. Wish me luck! And Happy New Years everybody!

My final weigh in was 155.5, which was 0.5 pound above my goal of 155. But I’m still considering it a success :) Way to go everyone who made goal, got close or completed the challenge.
I hope everyone had a wonderful, guilt-free Christmas! Happy New Year to everyone!

Jdonato: Congratulations!! Now you have even more motivation to keep losing for the wedding :) Keep us all updated, and I look forward to seeing your dress pictures too!

Awesome work everyone!! :carrot:
Jdonato: Congratulations!!!

So what is the next challenge??

I was able to get back to 151 and surpassed it with 150!! I also was able to continue the running program, which I'm almost finished with! :carrot:
Until the next challenge, I'm planning on eating well and continuing to exercise!
Later chickies!

Happy New Year, ladies!!

Great work, everyone and a big congrats to JD!!

I haven't weighed since December 23rd (when I made my 169 goal), but I really went off the deep end since then...but it was a wonderful goodie-filled, craving-satisfying week off. I won't even begin to name all the sinful things I indulged in. I guess it's too early to call whether or not it was "worth it", (I'm not weighing in again until Friday), but I sure had a good time. Slowly transitioning back to more normal eating today and tomorrow until I go back to work on Tuesday, then it's 100% back in the saddle. Just hoping the damage isn't *too* bad!

So what do you guys think for the next challenge? Valentine's Day?

I'm ready for another challenge, since like you Northern, I've been enjoying myself very much. But, I'm ready to get back to normal! As far as when to end the next challenge, it really doesn't matter to me.
Later guys! :carrot:

I also ended up indulging during the holidays and it was fun ;) But I’m back on plan now and ready to for the next challenge :) Valentine’s day sounds good to me!