Angel's Dust, we'd love to have you! It's not so much actually being in school as being willing to make goals to change yourself for the better! It was mostly that, for those of us IN school, the start of school is a convenient goal date for us, because then people who have not seen us in a while will be seeing us again, so it's a good motivator. But regardless of your situation, if you have a weight you want to aim for by August 24th (or maybe you could just do up to Labor Day?) then go for it!

Nicely done!

I'm up a pound, but I just started my period this morning, and we ate out this weekend, so I'm hoping it's mostly water retention. We'll see how I do next week.

Wasn't sure I would be joining this challenge, but financially we should be able to afford me starting my Medical Assisting courses in fall which means four nights a week of class, and needing to be able to have energy to study and get ready for the clinical portion of the class in spring. So classes start Aug 24 which will be when I hope to meet my goals by.

Goals for this challenge:

1. Get to 185lbs

2. Work towards getting 7 hours of sleep on most nights

3. Walk everyday for a minimum of one hour on the treadmill (or other 1hr walk)

4. Start walking stairs at the college after this semesters class on Tuesdays and Thursdays , so I don't use the elevator for one floor next semester like I have always done in the past.

5. Go hiking in the hills once a week

A lot of goals this challenge, mostly targeted at getting the endurance to be able to complete some hard courses that require not only physical but also mental endurance.

I've decided to aim to lose 11 lbs by then. It seems like so little, but it's realistic for me and maybe I'll end up losing extra if the pressure isn't there so much. So, I'd like to be at 170 by Labor Day. I actually do have people I probably will have to see either this summer or in September (old friends from school). I really want to be 165 at least by that time, but I'm reaching for 170. I'm planning to work very hard. I also have a trip planned for NEXT summer and I need to get to my goal by then AND tone up. I wont have enough time for toning if I don't get a move on!

Can I join, too? I'm not in school either.

I don't see why not, Wormwood

So how often do y'all weigh in? I have been weighing myself every day for a long time, but it's getting kind of discouraging. I think I'm retaining water from this weekend.

I am going to try to cut back to weighing once a week...

I used to weigh myself 20 times a day lol... It got so bad I would way myself after I went potty (TMI) to see if I lost weight. Now I weigh myself once a week at school and once a week at home, when I am no longer taking my gym class I will weigh myself at home 2 times a week probably. I know its better to only do it once a week but this is far better than 20 times a day.

Wormwood, I think you would be more than welcome to join, more about a day (week) to end our goal in than the act of actually going to school.

Welcome everyone who has joined!
As for how often I weigh, several times a day. It's an obsession I tell ya

I weigh just twice a month. My next weigh-in is next Monday. It helps keep me sane. If I feel I'm veering off-plan I'll weigh myself to keep myself accountable, but as long as everything is going smoothly, I see no reason to get stressed over daily weighings; bi-monthly is SOOOO less stressful.

Thanks ladies! I've decided to go back to school in the spring semester of 2010 which...isn't too far away! So maybe I can just hop in a bit early. BUT I am getting married in September, so that's something I want to work towards! 175 is my goal!

I weigh daily, too.

Getting married is pretty much an even better goal than school! Congrats WormwoodDoll

Hows everyone doing?

I told my DH my new goals, so he is behind me 100%. I started to weigh myself everyday now. I really just want to be able to put 199 on my ticker SOOO BAD.

Armband says I slept 6:36 hours last night at 88 percent efficiency. So I am getting close to sleeping 7 hours, just need it to be more restful.

Since treadmill is still out of the question my workout was more stretching, toning, and yoga yesterday. However I am able to walk out and feed the goats which provides me with a short walk. From the house to the shed, shed to the pen, pen to the shed, shed to the pen and pen to the house.

Tonight I have my gym class up at the college, so weigh-in on the medical scale and I am going to give the bike a try, as it wont put a huge amount of pressure on the part of my foot that hurts.

I am also going to walk the shorter set of stairs at the college tonight. I am not sure with my foot walking the double flight of steep stairs is a good idea but at least the shorter stairs is a good step.

DH says we can go hiking on Saturday in town if my foot feels up to it, if not we will go for a shorter walk closer to home, we live in the middle of nowhere so its pretty much like hiking anyway.

Well, 1 lb down 15.5 to go. I just calculated and I need to lose an average of 1.55 lbs per week to reach the goal for this challenge. It's doable but I truly need to get back to exercising.

Yep, I'll have to lose 1.2 lbs per week to reach my goal of 175 by August 24th. We can do it!

How did I lose another pound? I have no idea, either!
Good job everyone. I think we'll reach our goals on schedule!!!!