Heyyy ladies!

I've been doing really well lately. Not much to report! Irene has brought a lot of flooding to my area- so much that I'm stranded at work because no one can make it in to relieve me, so I'll be doing a 24 hour shift. Basically, most main roads in the county are washed out. I got into work at 8am before the rain really picked up. Lots of coffee tonight!

Lemon- Good to see you check in! Hope everything continues to go well!

Miss- It's always good to take a break in maintenance land! I think it helps recharge us. Keep going!

Jiggle- Thanks for that! And a Halloween challenge sounds lovely- my favorite holiday.

Sara- Glad to hear your work situation is getting figured out! I think it would be wise for you to cycle your calories- figure out how many you want to eat on a weekly basis, and then divvy it up from there! It's always good to have extra fuel on those tough days.

Fruit- Keep it up! You're still doing wonderfully. Hope you had a wonderful, wonderful birthday!

KDM- So glad to see you again! I'm sorry to hear about the divorce. Now's the time to ramp it up! Sounds like you're making a great start again!

Ekicna- Fantastic!

TDI- Yay! I love that intuitive feeling when you *know* you've lost- so validating. Keep it up!

Envelope- So glad to hear about your milestone!

Precious- Welcome to CC! I love calorie counting- and it's free! You'll love the challenges.

Emme- Sometimes it's nice to pause and enjoy maintenance! You've earned it!

Hello all,
So so close to the end of the challenge! I'm pushing through this last week to get down to the 140's for my goal. I'm sticking to 1200 cals, cut out bad carbs (goodbye yummy biscuits...) and am going to burn an average of 600 cals a day. I'm three weeks away from going home and am hoping to reach 145 the day I leave!! I was a little bummed today because I ate some candies and cookies yesterday (preparing for no more sugar for the next three weeks...) and I was up a bit on the scale. I'm still counting yesterday's weigh-in as my weekly weigh-in and was down my 2lbs, but it's frustrating to be higher today. The cals I ate were all my extra exercise calories I burned this week so I didn't go over for the week. Oh well, just wanted to vent! Hopefully I'll be back down tomorrow Anyways, here's to the last week and look forward to the next challenge!!

*Jiggle: thanks so much for that post on motivation. I was not feeling like exercising today, but am gonna hit the gym after I'm done here!
*Sarashrinking: hang in there with your long school days. I agree that you should work out a weekly average and eat higher on your longer days. Also, I struggled with this because I sometimes have 16hr days. I found that most of my "hunger" was mental and I was just fine not eating the entire shift. Or, if I was feeling hungry early I would eat most of my cals early, and be satisfied the rest of the shift. Good luck, you can do it!

Have a great week all!!

One week left and I'm probably not going to make it to 155 but 156/157 is doable..I hopped on the scale this morning and 159!!! The 150s !!!! And I put on my jeans this morning and I fit into my comfy old pair, I am ready to go for the Fall. So half way there by the New Year it should be a new me

Oooooo fun! Can't wait til Tuesday the 6th to start the Day Before challenge!

Hi all!! I've been MIA for a few days. It was a crazy, but fun weekend. As usual I overate LOL. But that's why I eat less during the week so that I can have a few days where I just don't "care". Not the best, but it seems to be working for me right now..
Jiggle: Reading that was probably the best thread ever!! Awesome!! Thanks for the extra boost!!! Git 'er done!!!!

Corinne: I'm sorry you're stuck at work! That's horrible. Medical field I take it? That's icky though!!!!

Lemonzest: Thanks for checking in!! Sorry life is crazy busy!!

sumu: Awesome work! I'm in the same boat as you as far as goal weight!! I wanted between 154-156. I'll take 156!

OH!! I got a bike over the weekend off craigslist. It's a road bike! (DH and I were able to get 2 bikes-from the same household for $70!! woot!!) I'm quite excited to try it out some more. I may be going for a ride this afternoon to try it out. I also need to do my strength program. With camping craziness I kinda took a week off, so back to the grind I go!!

And I'm back! I didn't do so well with my diet break/refeed because I just couldn't let go enough to really eat up to the levels I was supposed to, plus that much whole foods is really filling! But I was consistently close to maintenance levels and kept up with my workouts so I am hopeful that this week I will create a nice "whoosh" for next Monday's weigh in.

Today has been a good day. I got my cardio and weight lifting in and have stuck to my protein shakes and fresh fruit.

Jiggle- I am so ready for the next challenge! Bring it on baby!

Corinne- sorry to hear about the flooding. I hope you can get home for some well deserved off time.

Sumu- way to go!!!!

Lemon- I hope life settles into a groove for you

TDI- I bought my bike (Giant hybrid) off craigslist too! I absolutely LOVE biking. Find yourself some good hills, get into your "granny gears" and you will get a mix of cardio and leg strength training that is amazing

To everyone I missed- keep up the good work!

Hope everyone has a great OP day!

Hey guys! I'm happy to report I've signed into 3FC every day AND have been tracking my calories...I'm still trying to figure out where I want my calories to be...but they have been OK the past few days...but atleast I'm tracking everything! haven't been back to the gym yet, but I worked 12 hours shifts this weekend....I AM GOING AFTER WORK TODAY!!!

Jiggle: YOU ARE SO ENCOURAGING!!! I LOVED your post! are you some sort of motivational speaker!?!? it definitely got me motivated!!!

corinne: STAY SAFE! Praying for a quick cleanup in your area!!!

everyone else -- keep up the good work! I cant wait to start the halloween challenge!!!

Hello all!

I love reading through everyone's posts to see what's new, what's old, and what's in between haha!!

I love the idea of a Halloween Challenge! Thanks for heading it jigglefree! I am going to have to start thinking of personal activity challenges that will get me through the winter. Last year it got so cold it wasn't safe to walk my dog outside (thank goodness she's puppy pad trained!). I've spent the entire summer going to festivals and walking I'm not sure what I am going to do for winter exercise since I live on the 3rd floor and can't very well do jumping jacks haha!

Good Day ladies,
It has been some kind of day. I have been making sure I don't get eat happy and start snacking because I'm having a great. So I had to go back and read my post for the nugget. It's absolutely amazing that I'm having a really tough day. I want some Cheetos and I will not give in because it's not in my calorie range. I will stay on task.

Hope you all are having a great day and sticking to your plans.

Today's Nugget: Live on purpose and live like you mean it. This is the only life you have so live well and stay healthy!!

h82sweat: Ha!! Mine is a Giant. Not sure of the make. It's an older one. I went for a 7 mile ride. My legs felt like jello when I was done LOL. It has been a few weeks since I went riding, but man I have never felt that feeling after biking!! I switched to biking when my joints were bothering me with jogging. I average 11mph, I'm trying to work up to 13. I really enjoy riding though!!

Hi guys!

I see some familiar "faces" here, hello! Just wanted to say hi and let you know I'll be joining you for the next challenge! I am back from my summer maintenance break and ready to get back in the groove and get the rest of this weight off. (For anyone who cares to read the details, a posted some ramblings in the main CC forum, lol.)

Well, good luck ladies, and I will catch you soon! Can't wait to reconnect with you fab CCers, "old" and new

Thank you for all the B-Day wishes everyone!!

This is getting exciting, I love to see how everyone did by the end of a challenge!

All last week, I was over calories & ate sweets almost everyday. Yesterday I had alot of cake & ice cream. I'm paying for it now, I'm up 6lbs. in a week w/ more to come, I can feel it.

Walked 50min. & had 1479 calories today, that included the last of my cake, which was about 2 pieces. Thank goodness it's gone! Everything else was healthy food, but that really screwed it up for any weight loss. All clean eating til I lose this weight!

Good Morning Ladies!!!

Had a great day yesterday!! I'm feeling pretty good even though my sleep was disturbed and I could use a few more hours. Usually when I haven't had enough sleep and water I tend to be hungry but I will press my way today!!! I'm going to finish this week strong!!! I want to have a good loss for this challenge.

Northern - Welcome back and we look forward to seeing you next challenge. I did see your post and I'm thinking I should take a break to see how I maintain at a lower weight.

Today's Nugget: Stop trying to do the hard things alone. When you find yourself in a place of struggle find someone that you know loves you, will push you, help you and will celebrate you to help you get over the hump.

Hi jiggle, good to see you again Maintenance was great...just wish it was "forever" and not just "practice", but I think both my mind and body needed it. Now I'm refreshed and ready to go! I will see you soon!

When you ate at maintenance how did you figure out what to eat calorie wise? Did you increase or decrease exercise? How long did you do this for?
I'm thinking that when I get around 145-150 I'd like to maintain that for a month or so before I decide if I want to lose anymore.
Any tips and suggestions would be great!