Good afternoon everyone,

I just got back from WI and I am up almost 2 lbs from Friday. And since Monday is my official WI day. I only get to report a 2lb loss. I don't understand how I gained weight this weekend. I stuck to my plan and even started exercising yesterday. I am so discouraged right now. However, I refuse to turn to food to try and make myself feel better. I hope that everyone has a great day and stays POP. I will try to check in later.

I can't imagine not being able to find my scale ... I would go into scale withdrawls. I need my scale ... I have to have my scale ... I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT MY SCALE.:fr: OK, I'm better now:)

My DS is a very active child, he has to be since he gets bored quickly. He does Cub Scouts, Soccer and is a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do (don't tell me he can't focus - HA). I realize they have to learn, but you would think they would work them up to it. They could super glue him to his seat, but ... knowing my DS, he would either be walking around with a chair stuck to his butt, or sans pants (now wouldn't that go over well in a Catholic School):rofl:

Thanks! Congrats to you on all your work too!

When I got stuck, I guess I kind of unofficially went into maintenance mode. I had a whole lot of craziness fall on me at one time -- gall bladder surgery, a move to a place that wasn't near a gym, the new place didn't have a dishwasher (which meant that I was a whole lot less likely to cook!), blah blah blah. Lots of stuff that piled up to give me a good excuse to not worry about the last 20 pounds for a full year! For that time, I didn't really keep track of my calories (I knew portion control by this point). I didn't go to the gym, and my main "exercise" was walking the dog (not exactly high aerobic work when the dog is a Corgi with three-inch legs!).

In a weird way, though, it's really satisfying to know that, despite all of that, I maintained the loss. I really makes me optimistic that I can be one of those folks who lose it and keep it off.

Monday's Question of the Day:We have now completed 1/3 of our competition. In the words of the doctor, "How's that workin' for ya?" Are you where you wanted to be at this point? Is there anything you need to change or is everything going according to plan?

Not so much according to plan, but I am where I guess I should be. I have a 12 pound goal and being down the 5 only 1/3 of the way thru is great for me! So it is definitely working, even if I was a little disappointed with WI on Saturday.

This week is proving to be a challenge for me so far. I will work hard to not gain! I worked hard last week but anyway...I know what I have to do to get-r-done!

Here's to a GREAT week Blue Team! :cheers:

"Monday's Question of the Day:We have now completed 1/3 of our competition. In the words of the doctor, "How's that workin' for ya?" Are you where you wanted to be at this point? Is there anything you need to change or is everything going according to plan?"

I took my first first freebie this week. TOM is here and I suffered a huge cheat on Friday night that is still kinda hangin' around. My goal for the end of this week is to be 229. I may end up a couple pounds shy. I gotta say, that as of now, nope this is not going as planned, but I am putting a stop to that today! I will keep myself away from the temptations, and focus on exercise and staying on plan! Gotta get in it to win it for the BLUE TEAM!

My 3yo just had eye surgery the end of November. Keep the patching up it really does help a lot. My DS is still slightly crossed but is now correctable with glasses and we don't want to put him through surgery again. However without his glasses his vision is still 20/25 which is better than mine with glasses. :hug: for you and the DS.

Want to look good
 

:carrot:Hi everyone it looks good for the blue team again.
Hope we win all i want is to lose weight and look good in my cloths.
And do it for myself And be proud of myself.:lol:I know i can do it
I think i can I THINK I CAN LOL Hope everyone has a goodday.

I also posted a gain this week. :( Sorry team. I had a very rough week last week recovering, laying around too much (I felt good enough to exercise by Thursday, but I didn't...) and eating too much junk.

I'm 100% back on plan today and have had probably the best day so far this challenge. I'm actually hoping I've lost weight since this morning. ;) I'll see tomorrow. I need to be good for about six more hours.... evening is the roughest for me it seems.

Yep. Last time I lost a ton of weight I got stuck at 172.

I'm so busy at work today. No time to really post. Or even eat! :mad: I'm getting light-headed and feeling very hot, so I got to run and refill my water and grab something. BBL...

Oh my gosh. I just killed some time fooling around on Facebook, and looking at old pictures. I found a bunch from when I had lost weight after first year uni - down to about 170lbs. I looked SO :censored: good!! Very cute, fit, happy, healthy, etc. Then I look at more recent pictures - my skin is pale, I'm puffy and chubby all over, obviously not strong (e.g., my upper arms). Um, can we say that my :drill: motivation :drill: is back? Regardless of what the scale may say, I want THAT girl - late 2004/early 2005 me, who was healthy and glowing and happy - back ASAP!

Kelly - I'm an every-morning weigher, so I was in a panicked rush trying to find the scale, but just had to give up in the interest of eating breakfast and getting out the door.

Hi Bluezers. It's been a long day. I still have a cough, etc. so not feeling too hot. Just wanted to say hi and I was OP today, day 170!!!! Day 183 is my halfway mark for my goal of my first solid year OP!!! I wouldn't have made it this far without all of the support from everyone on this site. I'm so happy to be able to come here. :hug:

I lost 1.5 lbs this week and hope to keep that up! If I just lose half a pound a week I'm happy because it's at least in the right direction. If I do that for the rest of this year I'll hit my first goal, just a few months later than I thought. Not too shabby. :cp:

The cruise challenge is too cute, Chelle. I really like that!! :)

Rhonda, well, my plan hasn't been working wonders but it's working enough. I hope to tweak it some when I'm well and my head doesn't hurt from this dang cold or whatever I have. :faint:

scgirl, I hope I maintain as well as you. I think I'll do ok but may still struggle if I get away from tracking my calories only bc they can add up soooo quickly and you just don't realize. I have most of what I eat memorize for calories tho so shouldn't be hard. LOL!!

Marianne, I know the feeling. I want my 22 year old, 179 lb self back. Felt really good then. That's why my goal is 177, at least at first but maybe forever. We'll get there. Just gotta have patience. :hug:

Sweetpea, I wouldn't mind getting stuck at 172!! I gotta get there first tho, lol!! I look forward to one day... :: sigh ::

Heather, evening is worst time for me too. I just have to go to bed at 8pm sometimes!

I want to continue personals, but dh is home for a little while and should go spend a few minutes with him. Plus gotta get kids to bed. Hugs to you all, tty 2mrw.

Selina :hug:

Hey blue team!!!!

Okay, so I'm BACK. and NO i did not SKI.

Sadly, the little cold I had turned into a full-blown body aching, sweating, shivering, feverish FLU. I spent all weekend cooped up with family in a condo. Honestly, I just wanted to go home and go to bed.

There were however 2 highlights to the weekend. I did leave the condo briefly on Sunday to see the kids in the snow with their skis on learning to ski. It was SO CUTE, I cried. I was emotional for a lot of reasons which I will get into in a bit. The second highlight was that I was assured to have lost more weight than I had hoped. I barely ate all weekend because of feeling sick. I had some crackers and some soup, but really, I'm sure I am down another few pounds. This highlight of my weekend really doesn't compare with the first in any way, but it's the only other thing that was good about being away.

I am a bit emotional about being at the ski hill. First of all, I can't believe how many people go there and how much fun active, healthy people are having!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am sad because I have missed out on literally years of having fun, all because I am too big to do things (or I perceive myself as being too big to do these things). What is shocking to me is how even 10 years ago, (before kids, before being over 220lbs), how I never thought to go and have fun skiing??? Did I think I was too fat then>?? My god!

I resolve now, to lose the weight, the guilt, and the burden. This is more than just losing weight now, it's a mission to gain the confidence I need to know there is MORE TO LIFE than eating chips and watching TV.

Next year we are going back, and I plan to ski, take lessons, have fun, enjoy it all....I plan to show my kids that I can do this too. That mommy can learn to snowboard too. Next year I will be well under 200, and I should be able to find ski pants in my size!!!!!!!

Okay, so I came home 3pm on Monday and I weighed myself. I was 256 after having eaten my first big meal since being sick ( I am feeling better as of this morning). So I am usually about 3-4 pound heavier in the day, so I am thinking I will be 253-254 in the morning.

Cheers, Ginger

A quick PS: this is the third FLU I've had in 6 weeks. I'm a tad worried it's something else, so I am going to my Dr. just in case.

Well, it appears that my goal of losing 10% (to get to 241) of my body weight goal was a bit too zealous for a 12 week period!:o I've only lost 6 pounds (2.24%) so far. BUT, overall I'm happy. Life has been very "real" for a good part of this competition with my girls being sick off and on and my work schedule being hectic. I'm learning how to stay OP when my plans change and I cannot control what's happening. As of tomorrow they are well enough for me to go back to the gym! I cannot help but wish I was losing faster, but actually I'm pretty comfortable? I feel like I can continue doing what I'm doing forever and I do not feel like I'm depriving myself at all. I know if I got crazy low with calories I could lose faster. But I've BTDT before and not interested in a crash diet this time around.

Sorry you were sick again, Ginger. You have been sick a lot. It's odd to have the stomach flu that many times that close together. Hopefully this was the last time. I relate to your feelings/awakenings about missing out on so much because of being/feeling limited by fat. Isn't it amazing how quickly our bodies respond to exercise though!

It looks like lots of us had a rough week from looking at the weigh in thread. It happens. Lets aim for blowing the competition away next week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

Hi everyone.
Sorry I didn't weigh in today...things have been a little...blah.
I'm a bit stressed with school...kinda got a curveball thrown at me with a new roommate who's a tad bit...annoying.
I've just been a bit stressed lately I guess. I'm trying to get back on the ball with exercising since last week I had a rough sleep schedule. I guess it was due to the stress.
I hope everyone else is doing alright!

Good morning, Bluesers!

I didn't get around to working out yesterday. I had a presentation for work and ended up working late. Hubby strained his back on Sunday, so I was responsible for dinner. Have I mentioned how much I despise cooking? Then, I had to make a "Wallyworld" run and pick up a little something for my oldest DD. Today is her birthday. She turned 12 at 7:05 this morning. Today, we are taking the family to dinner to celebrate. She wants sushi. (yuck!) I'm not sure where we're going as we moved here last June and we've not found a sushi place for Hubby and DD yet. Wherever we go, I'm looking for something low calorie or as healthy as possible. And, I'm determined to get in a workout sometime today. Maybe at lunch.

Dionne - Love the new avatar picture!

Hope everyone has a great on-plan day. GO BLUE!!!

:wave: hi everyone! I plan to be around more the next couple days. I'm slowing things back down, can't take much more of running around crazy. Hubby is back to work, kids are feeling better, so time to get back to normal. Except hubby bought this stupid 80GB Zune and it driving me INSANE. I spent half the night on the phone with their customer support and everything they tell me to do fixes nothing, I think they are as clueless as I am. It's just messing everything up. Hubby put in his music and it mixed all the files up. For example, his ACDC has cover art for Kenny Chesney and songs for 3 different artists, and those other 3 artists albums are empty :?: Then it messed up the windows media player and we had to fix that, and can't! It's a total mess. I just boxed the stupid thing up and I'm getting my $300 back, it is a mess!

Okay, enough venting! I'm gave up my second workout last night to try and fix it for him, and I am not giving up anymore time today to deal with it. Time to focus on myself again. I have gotten away from that.

I wore my new size 16 jeans last night and felt so much better. They are so comfy compared to the 20s I have been holding up the past couple months :D

Yay I'm finally back into the 220's. I'm only like 4 pounds away from prepregnancy weight. Only took 2 years. Gosh. Gotta admit other than a couple months I wasn't really trying. Just have 50 pounds to go after that. No plans for another baby anytime soon so hopefully I'll finally make it. I also feel like TOM is soon. Starting to get that slightly depressed, my life is horrible feeling. Hopefully since I cut out the caffeine weeks ago it won't be as bad as it has been in the past.

Just got finished posting the results for Week 4. I'm pretty sure that we are not going to win this week. I'm really disappointed that the numbers are so low, mainly because of gains from people that don't participate in the chat. (This is not an attempt to bash a gain cause it does happen. Those that don't participate know who they are.)

I had a really big rant in my blog yesterday and the results this week really confirm what I was having a hard time with. If you don't participate, majority of the time you don't lose.

I got to thinking about a lot of things yesterday concerning the challenge. Believe it or not, i get emotionally invested in it more than I probably should. I truly feel horrible today for the way that a handful of people can effect all of my team mates that work their tails off every week and make sure they make it to the forums to chat.

So I have a QOTD and I'd like for as many people to answer it as possible. Please answer honestly because it will ultimately go into consideration for future actions on how to deal with non participating team members.

QOTD: If you could change one thing about the TBL challenge, what would it be? Also, how do you think we should deal with no participating chat members?

QOTD - I'm not sure about the first part of your question yet but I know that participating in chats helps me. The last time I tried to lose weight I stopped coming here and tried another site where there wasn't as much "interaction" and basically after a short amount of time just stopped trying altogether. I won't stop this time.

Way to go Purple on your jeans and Karen on getting to prepregnancy weight! Hope you both gave yourselves a pat on the back!!
For those that haven't had children getting off post partum weight is a killer! It doesn't seem to want to leave the body!
We had a sad past two weeks as a good friend of mine was in Mexico with her hubby and he fell asleep on the couch in their room. She let him sleep and went to wake him up in the morning and he had passed away in the night of a heart attack at age 53 years of age. She had a nightmare trying to make arrangements and get him back home to Canada all with a language barrier and no family. So it really hit home for us how much time we spend fretting about little things and taking things for granted! DH and I have been more committed to the gym than ever, totally on track with our eating since January and I am not letting the little things get to me.. including when my 4 and 3 year old have joint tantrums :)
So if you do slip up a little just get back on track, be thankful for everybody around you and make your health priority one.. you only get one body so take care of it!!
Have a good week gang!

QOTD: Are other teams having non-participation problems too? I don't really keep track of the other teams. I don't think that there's any way we can guarantee that people won't quit along the way. Everybody seems to start a new year saying "This year I'm going to lose the weight!" How many actually do? I might be wrong (this is my first challenge), but I would venture to guess that most folks who drop out probably start disappearing around week 3 (after the initial newness of it all wears off).

Could we institute some sort of rule that, if you miss two consecutive weeks (not posting at all during a 14-day period), you're dropped from the challenge (and your weight won't count in the team total anymore)? That will allow for folks to go on vacation without having to worry about posting. You don't have to do personals or even read the rest of the chat thread. But, if you go two weeks without a simple "I'm busy, but I wanted to check in and say 'hi'," you're probably not going to be remotely dedicated to the challenge.

Yes, it is very frustrating to me that many of our team members don't participate in the chats. I know that the chats threads can get long, but that is because some of us are chatting and being supportive....and, that's a very very good thing! And, I wish our team members wouldn't get their feelings hurt if they don't get personal responses to each and every one of their posts. My goodness, posting personals can take a huge amount of time! Let's stop putting expectations on everyone to post personals to everyone everyday. Its okay to just post a sentence or two a couple of times a week and let us know how you're doing and let us know if we can do anything to help you.

Now, on a very positive note.....I joined the BL challenge for support and encouragement on this very very difficult journey. This is my second time participating with the BL challenges and I've met some awesome weight loss partners!:grouphug: If there is another BL challenge following this one, you can be sure that I'll be signing up to participate again. Despite the fallout rate of our team members and the lack of participation sometimes, these challenges are worth every single minute I invest.

I don't know if I am one of the people annoying you guys because I do post here, just by far not as much lately as when the challenge first started...and I did gain 0.8 of a lb this week. I have had a nice loss every other week of this challenge and used to post daily, several times a day actually. The past couple weeks things changed in our house because we are doing home rennovations and it's taking a lot of my time because I'm not naturally a home decorating type person so I'm slow at making decisions, and my children have been sick, and we have a ton of birthdays this month so I am getting out invitations, valentines, school parties, etc. SO I am not around mostly because I can't be...but I have been checking in whenever possible and trying to do personals when I can.

I think it is unfair to assume that if someone is not posting here they are not losing weight. I post religiously to a group in the 100 lb. forum, where I first started chatting here before this competition started. I am losing even while not getting to post here much, and I am posting over there becaus it is a smaller group who I have gotten to know more and feel more connected to, so I tend to go there daily for that support and to check up on people.

I was also checking here in the same way off and on through the day, but honestly almost none of my posts ever get a response. i don't expect everything I say to be responded to, and definitely never expect everyone to respond to anything..but when you post say 10 posts and not a single one is responded to, you wonder if you are just typing to yourself. I really felt ignored here, and like so many of you all know each other from previous challenges so you respond to each other and then other people, like myself, just kinda get pushed aside. Like I said, I don't expect every post to be responded to, but I'd say 98% of what I post is never responded to by a single person..and what is the point in talking to myself?

I do understand Rhonda's point about there not being pressure for personals...but if we're all posting about ourselves and few to none do personals, what is the point? that's not really communicating with others if we just post about ourselves. When this started I was doing personals, to almost every single post for our blue team and I liked doing it, but most of those were never responded to, and whatever I wrote about myself in those personals was usually never responded to, so I wondered if I was wasting my time.

I really see both sides of it. I don't want anyone pressured into personals, which is why I have said nothing about it and just started chatting more in the other forum again. But at the same time posting regularly and having almost everything you say ignored doesn't feel good either. Here's what i honestly have felt on this issue: seems the posts that get responses are when people are struggling and having a hard time...which is GREAT! I love that, but it sucks when posts reporting good progress are not responded to. I posted a 3.6 lb. loss and not a single person said a word back to me, for all 3 of my posts where I reported my loss for the group I might have gotten 1-2 responses total. But at the same time others were struggling and everyone was patting them on the back...I just felt my progress was ignored while we babied those who were gaining and that made no sense to me. I was trying to respond equally to those struggling and those doing great, but I felt I was really talking to myself here.

I do LOVE that we rally around those having problems and I try to do that as well...but hoenstly, ignoring those doing really well makes no sense. I am hard on myself and maybe hard on others, but I don't believe saying "oh it's okay, just get back to it" over and over to the same person accomplishes anything. I'm all for support but ten or more posts of "it's okay" to someone struggling doesn't help that person...there needs to be more of a kick in the butt and GET TO IT, and problem solving to help them get going again sometimes. I had a gain of 0.8 lb. this week and I have made a clear plan of how to FIX that and have started already. I am not going to say it's okay because it's not okay to me. anyway, my point is just that we can't ignore those doing well and just overly indulge those who gain. Those doing well get discouraged, or at least I did.

I know I am not the only person who feels this way...maybe I won't be the only one to speak out. I hope i'm not demonized and hate dnow, but you asked for honest opinions :) and I am REALLY getting a lot out of this challenge. It has been very motivating for me, even without getting much support here (or at least I felt that way). :grouphug: i don't want to be hated now for how I have felt in the group, if that makes sense.

Rhonda - Thanks for the compliment. I hope that you have a great time tonight with the family.

Victoria - I hope that school and roommate situation settles down for you.

Nori- I hope that life has started to settle down for you. Keep moving forward.

Ginger _ I am sorry that you were sick. Feel better

Selina- I hope that you also get to feeling better. Congrats on staying OP.

Hello to everyone else. Sorry, I didn't get to everyone.

My DH is flying back out tonight. So, I need to go get him ready to go.

Everyone have a great day.

Karen -- I love them! Of course, they look just like mine, so that might be why. :)

Karen--I love the glasses, they look really good. I always feel the same way when I wear somthing new, like I'm a fake or something. The new will wear off soon and they'll just be your glasses :)

Sorry I deleted the last post with both pictures. I suddenly got paranoid I shouldn't be asking. (Like I said TOM). Not much self esteem. These are my new glasses. My last pair were metal framed so I'm trying to get used to them. I like them. But I feel like a fraud trying to be stylish.http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/i...8/100_1637.jpg

When I think of teammates who never post, your name never once crossed my mind. IMO, you've been one of our loyal posters.

And, I agree. We should celebrate success a bit more. And, I'm a big proponent of "tough" love, but I bite my tongue quite often as I'm not sure how well that will be taken by everyone. Yes, we should rally around those who are struggling, however, we don't need to condone it or join in a group gripe fest. Sometimes, we get so busy commiserating and nobody stands up and says "Yes, you screwed up, now what are you going to do about it?" That tends to happen a lot throughout the forums. Know what I mean? Sometimes, we all just need a good kick in the butt to get us moving. This journey is really a battle and we need to step up to the challenge. And, I don't reserve the butt kicking for everyone else but me. You should hear how I talk to myself! "Quitting is not an option! Buckle up and quit whining!" Yep, you can tell that I was former military and raised in a military household.:D

Karen - I really see where you are coming from. I don't think that you are a non-participator, it's actually quite the opposite. :D Even if people do have life issues that they can't be here everyday, as long as they participated steadily before, I know they will come back eventually.

My QOTD was really directed towards those people that NEVER have come to the chat threads to post or they did in the very beginning and now they never do. I would call names and point fingers, but I'm more of an adult than to do that.

As far as giving people a big kick in the pants about having a gain, sometimes I feel like its necessary but other times I think it can't be helped. Obviously TOM plays a big factor in a gain every few weeks, and since we all are on different schedules, it makes it seem weird. But, there are people that just have a stray bad week. Now for those that continue to gain week after week, I agree that we should be administering some tough love. Unfortunately, it might be looked upon as a bashing and that gets people in trouble. There are days I'd LOVE to get on this forum and give people a swift :kickbutt: but I fear that if I do I'll lose my position as a moderator. I'm supposed to be neutral and non aggressive, so really its hard for me to play :drill: without getting in trouble.

Erin - Ever since I've run the challenge there has always been drop outs. Both of the other teams are having the same problems that we are so this was something that had to be asked challenge wide. It'll be interesting because so far I've seen different types of responses coming from each team.

One of the big things that was brought to my attention prior to this QOTD and some members of the Black Team are affirming is that some people that are regular challenge participants don't feel as motivated because they are not on the team that they wanted to be on. This is mainly because of attachments to team leaders and other friends they've made in past challenges. I'm just curious to know if anyone on the Blue Team feels the same. Should we work on placing returning participants on preferred teams next challenge?

QOTD: This is the first time that I have done TBL challenge. So, I can't really answer the first part and as far as the second part goes. I don't really have any suggestions. I know that this is not much help. I do know that participating in the chat helps me to lose weight. I definitely am not someone that does a lot of personals and most of my posts are about myself. I am trying to get better at addressing some things I read. I do try to read the posts. But, I do have to admit that there are days when I can't read anything and just post about myself. I just figure that maybe some of my challenges that I face may somehow help someone else.

I have to run and get some stuff done. I will try to post back later.

I am back! I went to my sweat this weekend, which was awesome. Not awesome was having all of my diesel fuel freeze in the -30 windchill and having to stay in Ottawa IL for an extra day with NO books, NO food, NO laptop and watching all my friends drive home to their families while I had to stay there sad and alone at the Holiday Inn Express. Good times, good times.

I posted a gain this week, but I was not near a scale. I had to weigh in last night after eating off plan this weekend, but next week should be good. I have my first treatment with the doc today, so hopefully that will start things moving in the right direction. Plus, now I am home and can start running again, even if I have to do it on the treadmill at the gym.

QOTD: If you could change one thing about the TBL challenge, what would it be? Also, how do you think we should deal with no participating chat members?

They should be shot, drawn and quartered. Just kidding! I actually don't have a opinion one way or another. I cherish those of you who do post regularly, and I try to post as often as I can, but I rarely get to do personals, and I'm usually not around much on weekends. Does that mean I'm not giving the challenge 100%? No.

Theresa - I agree with Rhonda, you are not someone who doesn't post.

Karen - I like your new glasses.

Dionne - Don't you just love the weather we've had for the last couple of days? There's supposed to be another storm in the Gulf though, I hope your DH doesn't get caught up in in when he flies out.

Krispie - My dad died of a heart attack at 53 too, it was truly a wake up call to take better care of myself. I hope your friend finds some peace.

Chellez - I'm sorry that we frustrate you. ;) Please know that we really do appreciate your work on this challenge. If it wasn't for the challenge I would probably have said heck with it this week and binged. Now I know that getting stuck at 172ish is a normal occurance and I'll wait it out.

Ginger, Selina - I hope you both feel better.

Victoria - Roommates suck. :D

Marianne - I'm going to have to go dig up some old pictures to remind myself of what I'm doing this for.

Jordan, SCgirl - Thanks for telling me you were stuck here too. It would have been so easy to give in to temptation and just give up.

I know I've missed some of you, but I need to get to work.

I'm not sure if the comment on not posting a lot was for me or not...either way, I just wanted to post that I got my measurements done finally. I'm down 1" in the bust, 1.5" in the waist and 3" in the hips! So, my numbers arent changing much, but I'm losing regardless. So, if I can be a size 10 and still weigh 240, then so be it!

Chelle, I ditto Rhonda! I love the challenges, the people I've met who are wonderful support, everything about TBL. Can't think of anything I'd change right now.

About ppl who don't chat.. not sure what to do, if anything. You may just have to let it all come out in the wash. Usually non chatting team members who post several gains eventually choose not to stay on their own. You may just be adding to your stress for no reason that can be solved. Wish I had more words of wisdom for you. :( :hug:

Your funny Chellez...I wish I was a little pixie! After 3 kids though A LOT of toning need to be done! I'm sorry about the whole non-particapting thing that's happening. I know how much work you put into this, and it's really just plain rude if ya ask me. I say if you haven't posted since this challenge started your out...there is just no excuse for that. I also think next time around maybe with the freebies they need to include that if you don't chat at least once a week you get two freebies and then like with the weight freebies your out. I don't know how hard that would be to keep up with though. It's just a shame that people aren't taking advantage of the support this challenge offers. Hang in there hun...

I strongly disagree with putting everyone back on the same teams. That would just be a continuation of the previous challenge and would be a disadvantage to new people. Have you ever tried to fit into a clique? Not so easy. Personally, I will always be 100% committed to my team no matter who is on it or who leads it (although, Chellez is a pretty awesome leader!) Both teams that I've been on have had their own unique personality and I've loved both of them. I like changing things up. It keeps me from becoming stale and unmotivated. Plus, look at the great new weight loss buddies I make each time. And, its not like we are totally removed from our old friends. I jump on the black and red teams threads each day...and,:sssh:I've even been known to post something on the other threads, too!:D And, those of us who stick through this to the end might end up on one big thread during the last couple of weeks of the challenge and during challenge "hiatus." So, its all good in my book.

I think that maybe next time, since we do a QOTD, each person could be assigned a day for the challenge to present their question (not that I have provided one, but 1 is always up by the time I get on the thread). I think that the 3 strikes and your out should be your out after 2 missed. 1 can be expected ... things happen, but this is not that long of a period that you can't give us a number each week.

I am a little on the hard line side of the 2nd part of this question. I was very saddened by the Blue Team's number this week, especially since I saw the numbers that people with loses were turning in. You have to participate ... period. If you are not participating ... why are you here? Talk to us. Ask a question ... I have (not a QOTD, but I have asked other questions). Complain about something ... I have ... even if it is just a lousy day. Let us know you are out there.

I have an old T-Shirt that has a football player who looks like he has severely roughed up walking away. It says, "Play Hard, Play Rough, or Take Your Ball and Go Home." That's what we came here for right, to work hard to succeed, because the end result is MUCH more than the outcome of any game or challenge. It's the rest of our lives.

I love the glasses. You do look stylish.

I agree. The glasses on you are just too cute! :cp:

And yep, play hard or go home. But even if you don't wanna play hard, play some at least. Anyhoo, I think whatever team you are put on that you should just jump headfirst into that team and make it your own and help all the newbies feel welcome and help to make it fun and add to it's appeal, not complain about it!! Where is the teamwork? Where are the 'support' groups we thought we had in these teams? I know you all can do better and don't do it because we all think you should, do it because it's YOUR team and don't you want to take care of it? It's like your family and your home. Put some effort into it and spice up things if it's not flowing smoothly at the moment. Be a peacekeeper on your team, help mediate problems that might arise. But don't just give up. To me, that's simply not an option. (This isn't directed at everyone, please understand. Whomever it hits home with, that's who needed to read it.) :)

:hug: Hugs to each of you, Selina

Okay, I found the scale... NOT GOOD! After yesterday's little picture wake-up-call and this morning's scale reading, my dedication and motivation are back. I'm going to start calorie counting again, at least loosely. Being TOO strict about it makes me MENTAL, but I know it works for me, so I'm going to try to be more balanced about it this go 'round.

QOTD: If you could change one thing about the TBL challenge, what would it be? Also, how do you think we should deal with no participating chat members?
What would I change? During sign-ups I would have a rule that says no to people below a certain post count (maybe 25? 50?) to prevent drop-outs from people who join 3FC in a huge blur of excitement (esp. in January!), and then NEVER post or weigh-in.

As for how to deal with people who don't participate, I like the idea of minimum one post/week, although I'm worried about how much work that would be for Chelle, Julz and Melissa.

Kelly - Love the "Play Hard, Play Rough, or Take Your Ball and Go Home." mantra - maybe that should be our Blue Team mantra for the next week or two? :lol:

Rhonda - Happy birthday to your daughter! I think you should let Rhonda-the-drill-sergeant out more often, too. :D

Tina - Hey lady! Nice to see your name pop up in here! I keep meaning to pop into the other threads to say hi, and then I get side-tracked. Bad me!

Brenda - Congratulations on losing inches! Sounds like you are making good progress!

Dee - "They should be shot, drawn and quartered." :rofl: I definitely recommend the old pictures, both bad and good - it's completely rebooted my thinking this week!

Anna - Oh my gosh, -30 windchill? :brr: Glad your sweat went well!

Dionne - I think it's great that the chats are helping you! Also, don't stress if all you have time to do is pop in and post. Like you said, we can all benefit from each others experiences!

Chelle - I think you're right that we have to tread VERY carefully with the tough love... it's SO hard to know how people mean/interpret things on the internet, and I'd hate to see drama coming out of misinterpretations. That said, I think we can safely commiserate AND say "okay, what are you going to change now?" It would be hard to begrudge anyone who said that, y'know?

Also, I think that if people are annoyed about not being with the same team as last challenge, they need to put their big girl panties on and deal with it, as harsh as that might sound. As Rhonda said, it's an opportunity to make MORE WL buddies, and it's not like we're barred from popping into each other's chats! ;)

Karen - Those glasses are cute! It's so weird adjusting to new frames, eh? My most recent pair are awesome and I love them, but it took forever for me to get used to them. :woohoo: for the pre-preg weight! What an achievement!

Theresa - Congrats on going down TWO pants sizes! I'm sorry you feel like people are skipping your posts! I get a TON out of reading everyone's posts, even if I don't respond to all of them - it's the comfort and support of knowing that there are people who understand, who are sharing the same highs and lows I am... basically knowing that I'm NOT alone and I'm NOT crazy! ;) Also - I really appreciate your openness and honesty about your experience with the challenge.

Erin - I like the idea that you and others have put forward about having "freebie" weeks for posting AND weigh-ins!

Kristen - Oh gosh, how awful about your friend's hubby. :( Thanks for the reminder to be grateful for the little things and keep working on our health!

Ashley - Ugh, I do NOT miss the days of weird roommates! I can definitely empathise. Try not to let them get to you - just keep living your life the way you want it!

Nori - I think that learning to stay OP amid stress is a HUGE victory, especially if you are in a comfortable lifestyle and still losing!

ginger - I hope you feel better soon! Lots of tea and sleep for you, and good call on checking with the doctor.

Selina - Congrats on being almost halfway through your year OP! Thanks for the reminder to be patient - success takes time.