IslandVet Funnily enough I've never been hugely into cheesecake - it's just not something I've had a lot of in my life I guess. I kind of planned for the dinner since it was a belated celebration for my birthday, but I went overboard for some reason really unbeknownst to me! I have definitely learnt the lesson though!
I hope your Thanksgiving day is good!

leopardspots Thanks for the hair compliment! That photo was actually right after I got it cut and coloured 6 weeks ago and the hairdresser wanted to put those loose curls in so I told her to go ahead. My hair is naturally kind of curly anyway, but I usually straighten it! I just had it done again last Wednesday and the colour is much much brighter haha...very red. Luckily I only work part-time retail as I'm an artist as well, so I guess I can kind of get away with less-than-normal colours.

carlyjordan I did the same thing with alcohol when I first got into my new lifestyle back in July. I've slowly started adding in alcohol sometimes and definitely planning it into my calories! I don't "binge" like I used to, binge-drinking is definitely a problem in New Zealand - EVERYONE seems to be getting drunk every night of the weekend, a lot of my friends do. I think it's totally fine to avoid the alcohol until you're ready to bring it back in in a controlled way! And I've learnt to have good snacks on hand in case I feel that alcohol related hunger.

Age: 22

Location: Germany

Most Recent NSV: Completing a 4 hour bike ride/ hike up to Lake Eibsee

Weight Lose Goal for the Challenge: I would love to get below 200

Battle Plan for Reaching BL Challenge Goal: Remain on plan (WW) and work out at least 3 times a week

Particular Challenges/Upcoming Temptations that You are Working to/or Planning to Overcome: We just got deployment notification for DH so not stress eating during this time will be a big challenge.

Anything Else You Would Like to Share About Yourself:Nothing that I can think of right now.

My goodness, I'm going to have to check this thread frequently if I want to keep up. Nothing too exciting going on with me. I did WI yesterday, though. Yay for not forgetting! I'm so excited about this challenge and I am one of the many who had to immediately add the banner to her signature.

armywife88, good luck with your upcoming challenge. We recently found out that my brother will be deploying (he's only been in a few months!) and I was about beside myself. Stress triggers eating for me too.

Carly, good for you! I quit drinking years ago when I was 21 (strange, right, since I'm only 26) but it was becoming too frequent of a habit for me. I lived and still live in a college town and alcohol is everywhere.

leopardspots, love the banner!

leopard- My oldest (6) is going to be Batman and my other little man (4) is going to be Ironman. I am dressing up as batgirl which is making my big boy happy :) My DH is going as the scream guy....hope it doesn't terrify the kids LOL

Leopardspots - Haha, yeah - it is a fun job. Even if it makes it hard to stay on the weight loss bandwagon sometimes :) As for the cats, lately, they've been having issues when my husband and I are on different floors of our townhouse at the same time (like if I'm asleep upstairs and he's downstairs watching TV). Which is a problem, since I work days and he works nights... I'm not sure what's gotten into them, but they've been banging on the bedroom door, opening and slamming cupboards - basically being b****y cats :)

Okay - the last of the birthday cheesecake has been cleared out of the house, and I have a healthy lunch and snacks packed for work today. I just have to keep reminding myself - I've done this before. I've already lost some weight, and even if I've taken a year off since then, I still know how to do it. I know what I need to eat, and I know how active I need to be, so I just need to get off my butt and do it!

Thanks for the banner leopard spots!! I actually just moved up to Northern Michigan from the Mount Pleasant area, I'm in Petoskey now and I love it! It's beautiful up here, but I am curious how big of a difference the winters will be, heard it's just piles upon piles of snow :)
As far as my date went...wow! Couldn't have gone better. We went to a concert that was 2 hours away and the whole ride there and back we were really comfortable with each others and laughing and joking...things were going really well and during the show I got really excited because they started playing my favorite song and he leaned down and kissed me! It was perfect, I still have butterflies...ahhhh :D
So that couldn't have kicked my motivation levels any higher, I'm ready to look goooooood!

Okay, so this isn't going to be as easy as I thought... I'm one hour into work and I've already had one co-worker email me to tell me she brought in homemade pumpkin whoopie pies with cream cheese filling and another ask me if I'm in for the 2:30 frozen custard run!

Praying to every known deity for strength right now... :)

Hey all! I'm over my over-eating from Sunday. It happened, I learnt a lesson, I felt horrible but the damage probably isn't all that bad. Since I'd had a few lower calorie days that week anyway and lowered them yesterday as well, it probably just evened things out! I think I need to learn not to stress so much!

Today is Tuesday, work and then my 2nd Zumba class! I went last week and enjoyed it quite a lot, 1 hour of fun dancing and quite a lot of sweat! I definitely need it since I haven't exercised since Friday! I think my weight is still heading down which is great!

stephandra, be still my heart! That sounds so romantic. I always loved that flutter! What concert did you guys see?

smisen, how'd you do today?

rainbowstripe, way to get back on track! I'm dying to try Zumba. There are quite a few classes in my area. I love to dance, so I may just have to take the leap!

I did Week 1 Day 1 of the C25K today. I'm a former runner and this seemed to be a great way to ease back into it while losing weight. I'm ready to be a runner again...just formerly fat.

Kismet Thanks! You should definitely try Zumba if you have a class near you! I was just waiting for one that was convenient for me and luckily this really nice girl around my age had just moved here from America and she started up a class with the first session last week and it's like..1 minute walk from my work, so I just get changed at work and go there! How did you like C25K so far? My boyfriend keeps suggesting to me that I do it, but I'm just not sure how I'll deal with the structure, that and I really like to mix my workouts around so don't want to be stuck having to do something particular on one day if that makes sense.

Wow I'm never gonna be able to keep up with this thread!!

Leopardspots: My family has a cabin on Cedar Lake in Oscoda..well actually its at the north end of the lake so its a Greenbush address...and i live only 11 miles from the Ohio border.....

Age: 27
Location: Georgia
Most Recent NSV: fitting into some tight 10s.
Weight Lose Goal for the Challenge: i want to lose 30
Battle Plan for Reaching BL Challenge Goal: getting serious with my wii fit wkout plans, running 5k every other day, lower calorie intake and spin class twice a week
Particular Challenges/Upcoming Temptations that You are Working to/or Planning to Overcome: Thanksgiving and dating with hubby...we go out alot
Anything Else You Would Like to Share About Yourself: not really!! Im really excited to be starting this challenge with you chicas!!!

Woah! Definitely going to have to keep a strict eye on this chat if I want to keep up! Brilliant times :)

I just weighed in: 147.7lbs!!! Woohoo! :D

I had a pretty OK weekend in the end actually. WW meals, light version sandwiches from the supermarket. I only had one drink on Saturday night and a ham, light cheese and lettuce wrap when I got back instead of the burger and chips we usually get. I did splurge on my pub lunch on Sunday but I think I'm allowed a little treat now and then anyway so not bothered :)

So yay for the -2.3lbs! :)

Janel: that is serious amounts of workout! what's the spin class like? :) I've heard they're really good for burning massive amounts of calories but I've never actually been to one...

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

katylil - mm, pub lunch! And well done with your loss! I totally agree with your philosophy on treats :) I eat really well most of the time, don't have any "banned" foods, so if I feel like treating myself once in a while, I do, and I thoroughly enjoy it!

I've been stuck on my current weight for the past week and a bit, scale hasn't budged at all! I think I'm due a big "whoosh" downwards soon! Having said that, over the past month or so, I really haven't felt at all like I'm trying to "diet" or anything like that. So when I don't see a loss, it's not really frustrating, because I know I'm eating really well, I don't feel deprived, and I know the weight will come off in the end :) I'm just so keen to drop a few pounds because I'm only 2/3 away from "normal" BMI!

rainbowstripe, I think that since the C25K days are only about 30 min long, 3x a week you might be able to mix it in with whatever else you like to do. I've never done this particular program before, but my 50 year old mother completed it and now she's running 4+ miles a day! But then again, she's pretty much a badass.

tinycities, congratulations on being so close to "normal"!