Well, ladies it's been a rough day calorie wise...i've already had 1300 cals and haven't had dinner I had a cornbread muffin from Famous Dave's at work and had no clue it would have over 250cals!!! Then, had a peanut butter cookie!! It's not the worst, especially if i just have something light for dinner...we shall see didn't make it to the gym last night, but I WILL GO tonight gonna make myself as soon as I get home from work!

Glad to see you guys have had a great challenge...since joining in friday, i'm meeting most of my goals set for this last week...tracking calories every day since Saturday AND signing into this wonderful site!!

...patiently awaiting the Halloween challenge...

Another day down in my last week/last ditch effort to hit my goal weight. There isn't much chance I'll do it, but I am going to give it everything I've got!

I ate well, worked out well, and am feeling well. Bouncy actually. More pep to my step I actually like almost everything about how I look now so I am enthusiastic about hitting goal because I think I will look fabulous. Still have some problem areas (those ding dang upper arms and the poochie tummy) that need serious work and I would really like to have one of those firm and high "bubble butts" but that's probably pie in the sky since I come from a long line of flat a$$ women

When we begin the next challenge, although weight loss will still be a big part of my goal, I am really going to focus on strength training and toning goals!

Welcome Northern!

Walked 64min & had 1362 calories. I didn't gain more weight like I thought I would, which is strange for me. I stayed the same, hopefully I'll see a loss tomorrow.

Woo hoo it's NSV Day!!!!
I was at Ross this morning and I decided to try on a sz 12 pant, actually I trief on three different brands to see and THEY ALL FIT!!! I wad way too excited!! YAY!!!

I have been doing really well this week. Hopefully by the end of the next challenge I'll be at my original goal of a size 10!!

Today's Nugget: What have you not been doing that you know you need to do? Let that be you main goal for today. Be good to yourself today!!

Congrats Jiggle!!! I love losing weight and being able to fit into clothes I never thought possible (and I hate gaining and NOT being able to fit into clothes...haha).
My NSV today: was in a funk the last couple of days and powered through, now I'm a happy girl again (plus I worked out and burned 1300 cals!!). Also, I tried microwaving apples with splenda and a little creamer and it was DELISH. Not too bad for eating at the chow hall every day! A healthy dessert Here's to pushing through to the end goal!!
Oriana

Good Morning All!!!

That is great jiggle!!!! Congrats!

Today is my birthday and I am trying to allow myself little indulgences without going bonkers. So, instead of my typical breakfast I had some greek yogurt and am now starving...but I'm also going out to lunch, which will be high in calories, and I plan on having cake later!

I hope everyone has a wonderful rest of the week!!!

Hello all!
Jiggle: awesome work! That is very exciting!!! I also love the nugget! There are many things, especially the last few weeks, that I need to be doing better at. Thanks for the reminder to fix them, TODAY!!
ovwgirl: awesome work as well! Great job with working out and finding healthy dessert ideas!!
preciousmissy: I hope you enjoy the day. You seem to have the right idea to not go bonkers, but to still enjoy the day!

My NSV is calculating my exercise minutes total for the month of August and getting 1615minutes in!! (Granted some was silly exercise like shopping, but hey, it counts!!). This ended up being just below 27hours in. I'm pretty excited about that!
Today was decent for eating. I did go to McDonald's (I try to avoid most months) but we had coupons and we all shared a few things. I walked about 2 miles and biked 6.5miles, which makes me happy. Later I'll be doing my strength exercises after a couple hours of work. YAY!
Later chickies!

I went into maintenance mode around the beginning of June. My husband and I are both in education, so we are fortunate to have our summers off I decided I just needed a "break" from counting calories every day, but I certainly didn't want to gain either.

I honestly didn't count calories all summer. (I did do some "spot checking" on certain foods I had no clue on to see if it was something "worth" indulging on, but I never kept a daily tally of my calories.) I guess I've been at this so long (started in January of 2010), I just know what a proper amount of calories for my body "feels" like. Some days when I knew I overdid it, I would be sure to eat lighter for a few days to "make up" for it. I made sure to weigh in at least every 2 weeks to make sure I wasn't getting off track. I was up and down 1/2-1 lb here and there, but I never hit my "red line" of 2 lbs gained.

As for exercise, I didn't do any "formal" exercise, but we're always doing *something* in the summer (camping, swimming, fishing, etc.), so I stayed plenty active. I think it makes a big difference when you're moving all day (even if it's not hardcore like running) vs. sitting at a desk all day (like I am now that I'm back at work.) I have to be MUCH more careful about my calorie intake now.

It's really funny how my eating habits truly HAVE changed since I started this journey. Even though I pretty much "ate what I wanted", that looks completely different now vs. what it would have been 18 months ago. For example: a small vanilla cone from DQ is totally satisfying, I really don't even *want* the medium blizzard I would have ordered in my other life.

Sorry, I know that really doesn't give you any concrete information to go on! Fortunately, it worked for me and it's nice to know that I (hopefully) won't have to count calories every single day for the rest of my life when I get to goal. I highly recommend "practicing" maintenance before you get to goal though, it will give you some idea of what to expect. Good luck!

jiggle- Yay! I love Ross, I'm going there tomorrow.
Precious- Happy Bitrhday!! Mine was three days ago & i ate way too much!
tdi- Great job w/ the fitness minutes! I got in 1001 min. not including shopping, maybe I should start adding that too.

1355 calories & 53 min. walk today. My weight actually went up 7 ounces, delayed reaction from overeating on Sunday, I think. If this is water weight, it should have started coming off by now, I'm getting worried. I'm exercising, keeping calories in the 1300's & still cooking my own meals, nothing is working yet. I'm not letting it get me down or feeling that I should give up. Not yet anyway!

northernexposure: That helps me a lot!! Thank you very much for your suggestions and ideas. That was quite helpful and good to know. I am going to try this, but I'm going to get myself down a little more. Part of it is that I don't know if I want to go down to 135, so I want to play with 145-150 for a bit. We will see though. Thank you for the help!!
fruitlady: I count shopping because generally I try to walk quickly and I'm also lifting stuff. I also park farther away than I need to to get more exercise in I say count it! LOL Count all you can get!!

Thanks for the birthday wishes TDI and Fruit! Also thanks for giving me a guilt free reason to go shopping...I'm not shopping, I'm exercising!!!

Northern, it sounds as if you really did make a lifestyle change! Instinctively you decided to have the small cone rather than gravitate back towards the medium blizzard that use to be habit. I think that is very commendable...well done! It gives me hope that one day I will be able to do the same thing!

This morning I stepped on the scale and it was two pounds higher than it was yesterday (yup, I'm a daily weigh-er lol, but it works for me), which doesn't really surprise me. Thursdays are my official WI day so I have to actually say the fact that I was only 2lb up after going to the state fair and my birthday is quiet an accomplishment...not to mention that I was 4lb down for the month! So all in all, it was a successful month!

Preciousmissy: Congrats on your small gain after a good celebration! I'm sure you'll go right back down, and I love your attitude!!

Well, I was extra hungry today for some reason and went a bit over my calories. I guess I'll have to burn an extra 300 tomorrow when I work out! I'm starting to get a little burned out with all the workouts and eating the same foods for four months, but I just have to hang in there 16 more days and I'll finally be home!!
My goal for tomorrow: 1200 cals!!! And burn 900. For this mini-goal I'll reward myself with a new magazine and some relaxation. I'll update tomorrow. Good job everyone, almost there!!

Evening, chicas!

My nsv: Looking down and seeing my defined calves. Well, when flexing, anyways, haha.

So, it's been a pretty crazy week. I've done really well on plan and with exercise...Classes didn't start until yesterday because of the devastation my county has faced after hurricane Irene. We've been declared a federal disaster zone- our main roads have just begun to open back up and the national guard is working hard to try to make some temporary passages for stranded people on washed out roads. FEMA is everywhere as are various utility companies, Red Cross, clean up crews, and emergency services from across the country. I could get into the awful things, but I'm a sunny side up kind of girl, so I'll just say that I'm really glad to be living in a community that supports each other so strongly, strangers pitching in during the clean up and donating so much. It will be years of recovery, but people are just picking themselves off and dusting themselves off! I am so thankful that only my basement flooded with very minor damage- had it been worse I could only hope to show the resilience I've seen from others who have lost everything.

OVW- Weight loss is a journey! Hang in there, you're doing wonderfully. Enjoy it while it goes by.

Precious- Happy belated birthday! Isn't it nice to just take that break every now and then? It's like a recharge. So good!

TDI- I like your idea of counting shopping! It's true, you can burn quite a few calories. I definitely always park far away and walk through quickly- I'm not a huge fan of shopping so I get "in the zone" ha. Awesome about your exercise nsv!

Fruit- I think you're right on. Glad to hear you're enjoying yourself!

Northern- Good to see you back! I took a CC hiatus for a while and I think it really was what I needed. I did gain 5 pounds instead of maintaining (holiday season, ha) but it gave me a good feeling knowing that I can maintain without CC. Then, I decided to lower my weight goal and it brought me right back here, ha. So glad to hear you've enjoyed your summer "off"! I think it's so important to dip your toes into maintenance so you're ready!

Jiggle- Great nsv!!!

H82sweat- I know what you mean about feeling bouncy and peppy, ha. I swear my co-workers must want to kill me when I come in all cheery and bright early in the morning. It just feels so good!

KDM- Great way to get into the groove!

Corinne- thanks! I'm glad you got through the hurricane ok, we were flooded here too, lots of trees fell. There are still people w/ no electric.
precious- I do that too! I park the farthest away that I can! LOL
Northern- Great to see you are back! I'd never have the nerve to do what you did w/ maintaining. Great Job! I think I'll be counting forever

Walked 26min. It was humid, the air was so still. Calories were 1357, made a good recipe, a little high in calories though. Oh and I can't forget I had a 4lb. woosh!!!

It was taking longer than usual to lose this water weight, then it just all came off at once, strange for me. As i get older, I keep wondering when my metabolism is gonna drastically slow down. That's always in the back of my mind when I don't lose weight as fast.
No picnics to go to for the holiday, thankfully. But am dreading going food shopping w/ hubby this weekend. We end up arguing because he want tons of junk food and I don't want it in the house. If I want something sweet, I'll bake it myself!!

OOhh I am so happy our fellow C counters that were in the path of Irene are okay.

Last week I dropped a pound due to TOM and today, official weigh day, I'm down another 2 pounds. The exciting part? I'm at my halfway goal overall! Yay!