Hi All~I get to keep my internet. That means I can be an active party to the challenge again. Though I have been away for awhile. I have kept up keeping on. Goal reached this morning. I am ready for the April challenge. Yea!! bring it on!!!!!!

Dixiemae:

I'm still hanging in there! I had my first physical therapy yesterday for my back, and it's feeling AWESOME today. Not awesome enough that i'm ready to start excercising again, but progress is being made! I'm also down to 242.6 today, which is great! That means I still have 4.6 lbs to go to make this month's goal. I don't know if I'll make it, but I don't really care at this point. Making it through all this while still moving downward is goal enough for me.

Tummy Since my work has apparently blocked my blogs I usually read at lunch, I'll type a quick reply to you instead.

Not all Curves have the smart machines but mine does. Essentially it's a little tag you wear that you swipe before you start every machine. When you sign up for your tag, the curves lady takes you around the circuit and has you do 3 of your fastest/best reps on each machine to calculate your maximum. Then, when you do your workout, the machine you're on has indicator lights which show green if you're reaching 85% of your maximum, yellow if you're not quite there and red if you're just really under performing.

The machines will keep you accountable to 85% of your maximum most days, but if you come in 2 days in a row... the second day is designated cardio and you're only held to 50% of your maximum.

Anyway, when you're all done, there is a computer you can swipe your card at and it will give you a readout of how you did for every machine, whether or not you have residual energy (meaning you slacked off and didn't perform to 85% of your max), the % of your workout spent on different muscle groups and your calories burned.

It makes the workout more challenging for sure and also holds you accountable to staying on the machine for the full 30 seconds rather than wasting time getting to the machine and shaving those seconds off. A lot of people don't use their tags on days like Friday and Saturday so they can get an easier workout. This is the first time I've not used mine since I got it because A, I don't want to blow the progress I've made (the tag adjusts you up or down based upon repeated performances) and B, I need to take it sort of easy yet.

I couldn't help myself; I weighed in again today and the scale said 213.8! I looked at it cockeyed and waited until it turned itself off and weighed again. Got the same weight, so I'm going with it. This means two things: Less than five pounds to go to reach this month's goal which I'm going to say is doable if I keep exercising and keep within my calorie limits and I am also halfway over the 30lb. hump to Onederland! I'll make my 4/30/10 goal yet!

aluxa~Thanks!! I need all the support I can muster lol

howdy, girls!

dixiemae - woohoo for reaching your march goal. Our beginning stats look pretty similar. And you are where I'd very much like to be right now! Do you mind my asking what sizes you wear? If that's too personal, apologies in advance.

rashomon - keep up the good work!

shrinking - super interesting explanation of the smart machines. sounds like a great way to keep accountable.

eclipse - so glad you're feeling better!

aluxa - you are just cranking along - nice job! How are the peanut butter cravings today?

All's good here - working from home and ran some errands at lunch. Meeting a buddy for a walk after work and looking forward to it being lighter with the time change

So the big scary meal I was going to last night ended up not being what I expected. In fact there was hardly any food involved at all, but the booze was sure flowing freely. Ouch. And because there was hardly any food, double ouch! I'm paying for it today. Can't even exercise, and I have to give a talk tonight. ugh.

We were staying the night so I didn't get to do my normal weigh-in this morning, but this afternoon, the scale said 190, which is down a pound from yesterday. Now I only have tomorrow night's scary lobster, champagne and seafood feast to endure. Poor me...

Hope you're all doing well!

Dancerindenver~Im a size 14 now tops and jeans. I can wear jeans that zip and button now. I hope to be in 12's soon.

Looking forward to the new thread :-)))))))))

Ok so first day on my challenge and I have had NO soda, carbs...actually I have only had a couple cups of coffee a glass of iced tea (with Splenda) and water....for lunch it was a couple pieces of salami.... BUT O MY GOODNESS...since today is the first day of my challenge and the first day of 50 calories (HcG diet) I am struggling...There are bags of chips in my cupboard that I wanna cram my head into and run for the hills!!!!! I am staying strong though...so far no chips...
I gotta go buy a scale..ugh! and I am wondering about that ab circle pro...Hmmmm

Woohoo! Down to 234.6, which means 4.6 lb left to reach my march goal, and tomorrow marks the start of week 3 for me, so far so good.

I bought new, smaller panties today, because I was walking around Walmart waiting for a tire to be put on my van, feeling my panties slipping lower, and lower :lol. Thankfully, I was in pants and not a skirt! Anyhow, NSV in the Walmart lingerie department!

Dancer: I have not crave pb today, but I'm feeling weird. Yesterday I was crazy for PB (I was able to control it) and today I almost have to force myself to eat!

Dixie: you are welcome

MsP - How's your dog doing? Better I hope.

Louisa - how did the talk go last night? hmmm, lobster... you're so lucky. Enjoy your scary feast

chubbybikinidreamer - don't you mean 500 calories a day? Do you get to eat veg on this diet? I say toss the chips in the bin. I know I wouldn't be able to resist... though someday I just might.

Krystalb - you're so close this months goal. congrats on your loss so far.

eclipse - lol. you make me laugh. congrats on the new knickers

As DancerinDenver suggested my weight is nearly back down to pre-Amsterdam. The night I got home I was 125 lbs, the next morning 123, yesterday 121 and this morning 120. Hopefully by the end of the week I'll be back to 118 and by end of next week I'll lose an additional 1 to 2 pounds.

I leave for southern Italy on the 1st of April for a week. I'm scared about over indulging as I'm going with a family of big eaters. I know we are going out for dinner a couple of times, but the rest of the time we are all taking turns cooking. I'll try to convince everyone to make a salad every night, so I can fill up on that. I always feel like my diet makes me a party pooper with these people.

Gooood Morning Chickies!

Before I run out of time... Personals! But only since my first post yesterday...sorry!

knobhdy You know, I'm in need for a goal revision myself. Way to go for not just saying "oh they're blown" but instead revising them to keep yourself motivated. I think that's awesome.

Msp Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry to hear about your dog! It's so stressful when something is wrong with your animals. It's like you never know when you're reacting or over reacting and I always second guess myself. Then I feel terrible that I can't just explain to them that everything is going to be ok. I hope your pooch is feeling better in no time flat!

Tummy I see you started a blog! I visited yesterday, didn't get to read everything but it looks good so far!

aluxa Man, I know what you mean with the funky cravings. Sometimes I think it's my body's way of trying to fool me into over eating again. It's like "hmmm, here's something we didn't eat before, perhaps she'll fall for THIS one." Hang in there!

Dixiemae Congrats on making goal! Ooh and it looks like you're really close to making your big time goal too! Way to go!

eclipse So glad to hear the therapy was positive! I bet you can't wait until you get the all clear to start exercising again! In the meantime, way to go for keeping that downward trend!! Also... I know exactly what you mean with the panties falling down while you walk! About 3 months before I started my weight loss I bought all new matching panties and bras because I was tired of feeling un-sexy. Well... I spent all that money and held on for soooo long to all those new panties that one day I pulled them up.... and they fell right back down! Definitely a NSV. Way to go!

Rashomon Sounds like you're kicking butt and cruising towards onderland! Go you! Hitting onderland is just around the corner... keep it up!

LouisaH You know, if I didn't know this was a weight loss forum, the "scary lobster, champagne and seafood dinner" comment would throw me for a loop! Sometimes things like that catch my eye and strike me as funny. Most people would be "sign me up!" But man, I hear ya on it being scary! Good luck!

chubbybikinidreamer Wow, I've never heard of the diet you're on but it sounds tough! Good luck and hang in there!

Taurie Wow, sounds like an amazing trip you're going to have! Don't worry about feeling like a party pooper, really... you've got to do what you want to do and not worry about what other people think about how you eat. You only feel poorly because that is how you USED to eat. If you'd always eaten this way, you wouldn't even think twice, now would you? I hope you have a great time!

Well, that seems to sum things up. If I missed anyone, I am sorry! Things are OK with me. I'm still trying to get 100% back on track. It's tough and I've got 2 dinners out this week so we shall see. For the time being I'm happy to maintain but ultimately I would love to lose another 10-15 lbs and hopefully get into size 12's.
I did have a reassuring NSV the other day when I went shopping. Until now I've been buying my clothes at Old Navy constantly. Well, I went to Dress Barn and I took all the sizes I'd normally get at Old Navy to the dressing room and held my breath... and they fit! I kept being worried that somehow Old Navy's sizes were larger than everyone else's and I wasn't really in 14's. I even tried on a size 12 dress (as I'm usually a size smaller in dresses) and it fit and actually looked really cute. I took a photo from the side and I couldn't believe how slim I looked! So naturally I sent it out to my entire family so they could see too! hehe
I hope everyone has a great day!