Figured I'd kick off week two after wading through the most recent week one posts. Hope everyone had a great weekend and has a great week!

Kathi

Thanks for kicking the week off, Kathi.

I'm feeling overwhelmed by the speed of the posting here this past week, so I'll just drop by to say that I'm still around and my weight is pretty steady. I have been reading, but I can't keep up with the posts.

Anyway, stay warm everyone!

Why is it that Monday is always the diet "start" day?? We all know every expert says if you have a bad day, don't wait until the next work week to renew yourself. Yet, on Monday morning I still feel that its a new beginning to my eating well.

Not that I was so bad....I actually did something yesterday I was so proud of. The DH, DS20 and DS16 (see, I've got the 3FC lingo!!!) were all really getting to me, and instead of turning to the fridge, I went to the gym!!!! That was either divine intervention or the thought of all you chickies in my head (I think it was the latter!!!) I left dripping wet from 30 min on the stair, and was actually hungry for Sunday night dinner.

Marie, I actually LOVE to hike, but since I live in suburban NJ, its not so easy. When you and CAT talk about your hikes, I am so envious!! My BIL and family live in Eugene, so we've experienced the beautiful mountains and buttes that everybody there seems to hike all the time.

AZ, how did your 6:30 cut-off work? I'm going to try that tonight. Just Saturday I read in my college alum mag that a study showed timing of eating DOES matter! Also, I think it was Prevention mag that had a little blurb about green tea drinkers have less belly fat...time for me to go green!!! So water and tea tonight for me! Thanks for the tip!!!

Have a great Monday everyone! Oh, and welcome Tracy!!!

ps...am I detecting a trend to using first names, or do you guys go back and forth? I am definitely a chubster, but everyone calls me Karen!!

Maggie - I have been overwhelmed for weeks now. I try to do personals once a week but it doesn't always work out that way. Interesting to think of all the people that have come and gone over the last year. I especially think of several that reached their goal and haven't been around since. Maybe they are hanging out with the "Maintainers" . I would love to know how they are doing.

Karen - My hikes are in temperate conditions. Marie has to wear snow shoes.... LOL

First names, screen names, and even initials are what I use.

Welcome to the group Tracy, hope you made the trip over to this weeks thread.

I leave on the red-eye tonight so after I do my workout I'm going to clean house and do some shopping before a nap. I can't wait to see the kids tomorrow. I'll try to check back before I leave but if not I'll check in on Wednesday.

CAT, you should invite the Maintainers who used to be 40 Somethings to check in, say hello and offer words of wisdom!!

Is anyone up for a 5 pound mini-challenge (I don't want to use the word competition, since we all route for each other!) I feel I need some kind of incentive/motivation to eat really cleanly and just GET RID OF 5 pounds, instead of wallowing here at minus 2. We could make it fun and entertaining...let me know....

Cat: sorry to say it's still pretty frigid here : ) so glad mom bought me long johns for Christmas as I've been wearing them to walk to the bus stop for the past week!

Maggie: It is pretty overwhelming, lots of people kicking of the new year with weight loss goals : )

Karen: green teas are great, I drink mine with agave nectar.

Started my morning off with some stretching and a few of my pt exercises. plan to jump on the treadmill on my lunch break. not to mention half mile walk to and from the bus stop in the cold. I really think God should give me a 5lb loss as a reward for all this walking in the cold! (one can wish, right?)

Have a great week everyone! Off to fix my oatmeal and green tea for breakfast.

Welcome Tracy, glad to have you with us. I started with over 100 pounds to lose as well, and while it can feel overwhelming at times - taking it one pound at a time really makes it feel so much easier.

NewLeaf - haven't been sledding in ages. Rarely hear people do that much anymore, so was neat to see that simple little word. Sorry the scale was back up - but basics are safe. I steamed some veggies yesterday - super fast/easy - helped me get through a craving.

Marie- thanks, yes, I'm working with "rolling hills" on my TM. there's a setting - so it makes it easier -- sorry your Packers didn't make it.

AZ - nice to see you posting more looking forward to know you more - be sure to post often

Maggie - I appreciate you letting us know you're here. (waving) - I'm guessing with the new year and everyone making new promises to themselves - there's an influx every Jan - and by mid Feb, things slow down a little bit more. I hope everyone sticks with it, but I anticipated a rush in January

Chubster/Karen - you hit the nail on the head. It's about making choices - and you made a great choice in that moment...congratulations. You can do THIS, or you can do THAT...and the cool thing is the choice is up to you. One side note - NJ has plenty of parks my friend... (as for the names, if the name is there or I know it, sometimes i use it, if it's not made public, I don't -- don't think it matters much!)

Cindy - have an awesome trip!!! Hope the weather cooperates for you

---
Taking it day by day. This week will be a doosy, but eh, it's life. My bottom issue still bothering me, another cold (picked up from DH) and period about to start any moment. So - I'm hoping to get all three things over with and start next week off feeling all renewed! LOL

I'll burrow under a blanket and read a lot maybe! I should get my Kindle today - on schedule to arrive. TRYING to keep a good attitude this week, LOL, but it's becoming a challenge.

Either way, I am smiling because the scale moved again - and THAT is an excellent way to start my day.

Sorry I have been MIA for a couple days. I'm doing okay but having a terrible call week. I can't wait until this is over Thurs. morning. There seems to be a frightening trend going on at the hospital right now. I was nearly hysterical from one call I got from the ER last night. Probably more complicated than I can explain here except to say that they keep forcing patients on me that are not appropriate and I feel like no one is listening to me and someone is going to get hurt.

Chubster-sometimes we have a separate challenge thread. There has not been a new one yet for the new year. Maybe you can start one. I suspect you can probably see some of the old ones if you want some ideas about how they worked. As for names, we tend to go back and forth if we know them. My real name is Mary.

Petra - I'm sorry to hear work is so stressful for you right now, and hope this trend doesn't stick...hang in there - just a few more days

WeightLossWanted – thanks for kicking off the week! Great dedication, to use your lunch break exercising. I hope you have a great week!

PresMaggie – I think we all agree, it’s a little overwhelming. But, as someone else said, this too shall pass; I’m sure we’ll get to a new status quo in a few weeks.

Karen – I like that name better than chubster, especially since chubster won’t describe you for long… right? I always try to maintain for the weekend, and then start anew on Monday. Weekends just have less structure, and I have to keep in my other people’s needs / choices more than during the week when I make all the food decisions for everyone! As for me, I tend not to do the challenges because they’ve had a demotivating effect on me, not motivating. As in, as soon as I see I won’t reach my goal, I give in and wait for the next challenge. Which ends up meaning a lot of lost time for me. But don’t let that stop you – I know that the challenge threads have been a big hit in the past.

CruiseCAT – I have often had the same wonderings… Have a great trip!! Looking forward to your return…

LambChop – the kids had a great time sledding! And they were exhausted afterwards; it’s a huge hill to walk back up! Good luck this week, attitude is key. Enjoy your Kindle! I’m looking forward to hearing what you think… Personally, I can’t imagine moving away from paper pages, but who knows – maybe that will become the default at some point in our lives.

Petra – and I always thought Petra was your name! I hope things get better this week…

For me, I ended the weekend up just 0.2lbs from Friday, which is great. As I said above, that’s always my goal – to maintain over the weekend and then use the week to drop more weight. So I’m feeling off to a good start. I felt very munchy yesterday and did my best not to give in to bad choices. In the end, I had 2 Hershey’s kisses and walked away.

Also, to all you new people -- keep posting to give and get support... before you know it, the weeks and the pounds will by flying by... Oh, and for people who don't know, NewLeaf = Heidi

Hi all!

Glad I'm not the only one who can get a little overwhelmed by the posts!! I am going to try to start fresh this week, although I was reading last week's posts.

My brief bio - I'm 47 with one 5 year old son. Started on this 11/2/09 and this time, I really do feel differently about changing my life and NOT "being on a diet." I esp. want to be a fit and active mom and enjoy fun times with my son, and I also want to feel and look good myself. Not currently coupled, but hopefully, when I get back down to a point where I feel happy and comfortable in my own skin, Mr. Right will come along too.

so hello to everyone!

presmaggie - Hope you are staying warm! We had a low of minus 14 last week and tomorrow the high will be close to 60!! gotta love Colorado

chubster - great job on gym instead of fridge!! I'm always up for a challenge if you want to start one.

CAT - interesting that you should comment about the people you don't see anymore. I happened to click on a 40-something chat thread from January 2009 and realized that I didn't recognize most of the names! Hope you have a great trip!

WLW - I'm all for the walking in the cold reward! lol!

Lambchop - hope you feel better and hope your Kindle gets there! and yay on the scale moving!

Petra - sorry the week has been so stressful. Hope it calms down a bit for you!

newleaf - wow, 2 hershey kisses and you walked away? that's impressive! glad you met your target for maintaining and hope it's a great week.


my own update got long, so I think I'm going to put that into a new thread, I could use some good support!

PeanutsMom (aka Marsha)

Hello fellow 40-somethings. I am so glad to find a board like this. I have started today and here is my basic plan:

-64 oz. water daily.
-Dust off the elliptical and work my way up to a comfortable/beneficial rate.
-Walk when not doing elliptical, begin with 1 mile.
-Reduce intake of calories. No special diet foods, just reduce intake. Try to stay around 1300 calories daily.

I like what I see on the board so far and plan to look around a lot more.

Also want to note that this all began because I joined our office "Biggest Loser" contest. We all put in $10, will weigh in weekly for 10 weeks and the biggest loser gets the kitty! I thought, "Why not?" I knew I needed to lose weight and thought it might give me a jump start on getting to my goal!

Welcome, Annie! It sounds like you have a good plan in place -- one that a lot of us follow: no special diet, just reduce intake. A slow and maintainable loss is a good thing!

Thanks, NewLeaf!