I went back up 2 lbs. LOL. :) I knew I would with the holidays approaching. Too much Christmas cookie sampling. They are good though.

Tomorrow 22 December is the longest day of the year. Hope you all spend it being festive and have fun. Remember crunch time is coming. Enjoy it while you can.

Weigh-in was not good :( I will be purging the house of cookies and candy come the first of the new year :yes:

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Did lots of walking today. Felt good. Temperature dropped just a bit, so it made the heat a bit more bearable.

Went Christmas shopping for some last minute items, but no luck. Well, I have a just a couple more days so I should be okay.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!!! Look forward to supporting each other in the New Year to reach our goals. Enjoy this holiday season.

:tree: :xcheer: :ginger:

Wow, we have been getting some rain these last couple of days. It is a big event because it doesn't rain very often. I am calling it our wet snowflakes for Christmas. I can pretend they were snowflakes somewhere way up there in the clouds, but melted on their way down. The temperature has dropped to around 68 degrees too, which is a big difference from being over 100 degrees the last few days. Since it is nice out, I went walking in the misty and sprinkling rain.

:snowglo:

Raining here today too and it's 56 degrees, which is extremely warm for this time of year...we should be in the 30's. No white Christmas here, all the snow we had washed away :( Today I will do a quick shopping trip to pick up some last minute things for my Christmas eve dinner. I made cookies yesterday and told my husband and son they must be gone by the first of the year :D

Renee-sorry to hear about your warmer weather. I hope it changes for you. Wishing you a White Christmas, if not, then still a happy one !!!

Here with some more quotes about dieting:

“I’ve been on a diet for two weeks and all I’ve lost is fourteen days.” ~Totie Fields

“The second day of a diet is always easier than the first. By the second day you’re off it.” ~Jackie Gleason

“At the end of every diet, the path curves back to the trough.” ~Mason Cooley

“I tried every diet in the book. I tried some that weren’t in the book. I tried eating the book. It tasted better than most of the diets.” ~Dolly Parton

“Probably nothing in the world arouses more false hopes than the first four hours of a diet.” ~Dan Bennett

“A diet is the penalty we pay for exceeding the feed limit.” ~Unknown

“The cardiologist’s diet: If it tastes good, spit it out.” ~Unknown

“The biggest seller is cookbooks and the second is diet books – how not to eat what you’ve just learned how to cook.” ~Andy Rooney

“The first thing you lose on a diet is your sense of humor.” ~Unknown

Those are great Corinna, and so true!

Merry Christmas!!!!!!

“Our health always seems much more valuable after we lose it.” ~Unknown

“A man’s health can be judged by which he takes two at a time – pills or stairs.” ~Joan Welsh

“Living a healthy lifestyle will only deprive you of poor health, lethargy, and fat.” ~Jill Johnson

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” ~World Health Organization

:tree: Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year :tree:

We had our 7 fishes dinner last night and then it started to snow! It was a perfect Christmas eve. Very cold this morning at 12 degrees :brr:

Merry Christmas everyone!! :xcheer:

I wish the best to all of you in the coming new year!!

Seven fishes sounds yum Renee. We're having lobster tails today.

Some of those quotes gave me a chuckle Corinna. I think Gleason's is very fitting for me. Dolly Parton's made me giggle too. She's so sweet.

Talk soon.

Hello it is Friday weigh-in day. I hope to meet my 30 lb goal sometime around the end of February.

Goal: 30 lb
Start date: 6 Dec 2013

12/06 .... 138.6 kg .... start
12/13 .... 136.3 kg .... -5.1 lb
12/20 .... 135.9 kg .... -0.9 lb
12/27 .... 134.4 kg .... -3.3 lb

-9.3 lb TOTAL

:cp: You're doing wonderful Darius :carrot::bravo:

Darius-your still losing!!! Even during the holiday season. Your doing great. Keep it up and you will meet your February goal.

Renee-your Christmas Eve turned out nice! I'm happy for you. Stay warm. :)

Lizzie-thanks, hope you have a wonderful New Year too. Glad to see you're still around.

Our Christmas day was nice. We decided to wait until 8PM that night to open presents. Made the day last longer. I think we will do it again that way next year. It helped alleviate some of the after Christmas sadness that comes from waiting for the day to arrive, and then it is all over so fast.

Diet Pictures
 

Here are some pictures I wanted to share to make you smile.

Funny Pictures Continued
 

Just a few more I wanted to share with you.

I like the food pyramid and pizza slice "Close Enough."
Thank you very much Renee and Corinna for your support.

My favorite is "Don't step on it, it makes you cry". :) My goal for the New Year is that if it makes me cry, it will be with happiness rather than being sad.

Great list, Corinna, though there are a few I would find difficult to do. 12, 39 and 40 would be hard for me. Some I already do and the rest are doable. I'm going to print out the list and refer to it often...........

Renee-I don't like going barefoot because my feet are very sensitive and tender. However, a nice clean sandy beach I like walking barefoot on. If there are rocks, too many shells, slime, seaweed, etc then forget it. Thank goodness there are shoes now made for water wear.

Meditate-I don't meditate, but I do pray daily.

Raw veganism. It's good if your body can handle it. Not mine. I have to have some cooked food every so often too.

That's a good list. I'll be concentrating on #1. I know I'm not drinking enough water recently.

I jumped on the scale today with fear in my heart. I'm happy to report that I haven't gained a pound over the Christmas holiday. I realize this is not a maintenance thread though but I gotta celebrate just a bit.

Congrats to Darius for losing over the holiday:carrot:

Yeah Lizzie, that is good news. You won't have any extra work then to begin the New Year!

December 31... Still up and down 2 up three down, two down, one up, etc,etc,etc...

:newyear: Have a Happy New Year, Corinna :newyear:

Happy New Year Renee!!! Thanks. Are you staying up late? This is going to be the big New Year for us. This is the year that we will make it happen. Can you feel the change starting? It begins 1 January 2014. That's right. The year that slim and trim became the new shape for you and me.

Happy New Year Darius, Lizzie, Deelou! Let's keep those scale numbers moving downward. Darius has been keeping the momentum going, so let's jump in on his trail and follow suit. We can all do this together. It will be a Happy New Year for all of us.

It's Day 1 for me now. I weighed in this morning and saw that I have gone up 3 more pounds. So now I am starting off at 145 for the New Year. I am really going to try hard this time around. My goal is to lose the 25 pounds by 1 June. So that is 5 lbs a month. That should be doable.

I went for a 1 hour walk this morning with my dog. It was at a casual pace. Next was breakfast which is very important to the start of my day. Yes, I am thinking thin, thinking thin, .......thinking thin my friends.

Yes, I will be staying up...my husband and I will watch the ball drop in Times Square, NY at midnight. I'm not going to weigh in until Saturday, so I can stay on my usual weigh-in day. I know I have gained over the past few months... weigh-in is not going to be pretty :( But, it's a new year and we will drop the pounds and get healthier.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Happy New Year Corinna, Renee, and Lizzie; I think that this will be a good year. If everything works out OK I will complete my diet goals this year and be into maintenance.

Hi Everyone
 

Hi Everyone, I am Marian. I would like to join your group if you are open to new members. I would love to drop 25/30 lbs in 2014!

I live in Medina Ohio (South of Cleveland) and work as a Clinical Nurse Specialist.

Welcome teati, I moved from Columbus to Florida 6 years ago...GO BUCKS,

Thanks
 

Thanks Deelou, You will be super jealous: I got an Ohio State snuggly for Christmas. I went to Cleveland State & Kent State - but I am a fan of the Bucks. Everyone loves a winner!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year East Coast USA!!!

Hi Corinna! Hope you are well.

I've lost a few pounds over the last several months. Very slowly. Instead of concentrating on pounds during January, I'm going to concentrate on:

Exercising every day - cardio, stretching/yoga and weight bearing for 31 days

Keeping my calories to maximum of 1500 for 31 days

I am going to try to not weigh myself until January 31. Focus is on health and not poundage. I'll let you know how it goes.

Hi Kris!!! So glad to see you back here. I thought about sending you a private message, but didn't want to pester you. It has been some time. I'm glad to see that you are seriously making changes for better health and have lost a few pounds. Sounds like you have a good plan in place. I hope to see you on here more often so we can support you on that effort and hear about your success. :) Happy New Year!!

Hi Marian! You fit into our group perfectly...welcome. We look forward to sharing/supporting each other during the New Year to reach our diet goals. We usually weigh-in each Saturday, but we do try to correspond during the week to keep each other motivated and provide support when needed. Looking forward to sharing with you too. Happy New Year!

Welcome Marian!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!! Good wishes to you all in 2014. I hope you meet all your goals.

Corinna - I wish I was starting at 145. Thanks for your encouragement.

Some of my goals - become a success story and kick menopause and thyroid issues in the butt, drink more water, mix in some IF, do pilates (mat) several times a week and daily stretching, walking more when my foot cooperates.

Have a great day!!

Thanks Lizzie! I am looking forward to your success story this year too. Yes, I hope to see several success stories this year from this group.

Hey everyone, Fitness Blender.com has a number of free videos seen on Youtube. Here is one that I got my husband to do with me. It takes less than 15 minutes and anyone can do the stretching exercise. No equipment is needed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VULt-...em-subs_digest
Give it a look/try. I enjoyed it.

Well Day 1 is done. I did good for the day. A couple of walks, bit of exercise, eating healthy small meals, water, and plenty of variety. I know the next few days will be harder as my body adjusts. I am still thinking thin to win! I want to be that skinny person. I can do it. You can do it too!! You can, and you will. Let's do it! Come on, we can do this!!! :yes:

:snow4:

Slowly getting back into healthy eating.....still purging the house of holiday goodies. Had our traditional New Years dinner of pork and sauerkraut last night...I am ready to get off this sugar high.

We're getting 8 -10 inches of snow tonight :(

I love the Blender Fitness videos. I just stumbled on them one day. I've got a bunch bookmarked. They keep them short and doable. I'll check that one out later - thanks Corinna.

Hi, Corinna & Lizzie, I will post my weight on Saturdays. Thanks for the warm welcome. Marian

Hello everyone, it is Friday weigh-in day:

25/30 Pound Goal - Let's Do It Together
Goal: 30 lb
Start date: 6 Dec 2013

12/06 .... 138.6 kg .... start
12/13 .... 136.3 kg .... -5.1 lb
12/20 .... 135.9 kg .... -0.9 lb
12/27 .... 134.4 kg .... -3.3 lb
01/03 .... 133.7 kg .... -1.5 lb

-10.8 lb TOTAL