I'm glad to hear that you're feeling better, Slammer, but be sure to still take it easy tomorrow if you do go to the gym. I don't want to have a set back.

It seems I have one day one and one day off when it comes to my energy. I'm not sure what gives with that. I'm hoping when I get a good chunk of this weight off I'll have more energy days than less. I still got my workout in though. And tonight I'm having steak. Yum!

I was a little sad to see that a lot of women who had joined this challenge towards the begining, have not checked in. I hope they are still staying on plan regardless. If you are one of them and are reading this, please let us know how you're doing.

Hi everyone!

I haven't been able to weigh myself since my last awesome drop, since my Wii balance board has been out of commission. Just got it hooked back up, and weighed in at 143 this morning. Slightly up, which is discouraging, but I'm telling myself that it's probably water weight from all the weight lifting I've been doing. Even so, I'm going to be diligently on plan, drink a ton of water, and hope it falls back off asap. It's hard as I get close to goal that my loss is stalling, so I'll give it another week or so, and if I'm still not losing I may have to cut my calorie goal down a little.

Hope you're all doing well, and sticking to plan! Have a great day!

Sandy-- I took it pretty easy today-- I actually ended up lifting, but I used lighter weights than usual and took plenty of breaks. It felt good to be back in the gym, despite feeling a little bit weak. Good job getting in your workout, and I hope you enjoyed your steak! I'm sure your energy level will pick up soon. With the way you're working, you'll drop the magic number of pounds and be ready to star in an energy drink commercial.
tab-- Congrats on being so very close to goal! You're almost there! I'm glad that your Wii board is back up and running, and I'm sure you'll get rid of that water weight in no time.
As for me, I've been able to eat again, and my appetite has come back with a vengeance... It's like my body's trying to make up for its lost calories. I visited a local farmer's market for the first time today and picked up all sorts of fresh produce, though, so I'll be able to snack on wholesome fruits and veggies to stave off cravings.

Hi All, Sorry I haven't checked in! I lost my first 5 lbs but have remained stagnant at 144, because I have not been exercising. Today I did horribly with my eating and I don't even know why. I had a candy bar and chips out of the vending machine, then had greasy Greek pizza for lunch...got a full-flavored coffee and more chips at dinner. I feel terrible. On the days when I don't have my graduate internship (in a school) I sit for 9 hours at my paying job and am so bored. I try to get up and go for brief walks but I still go crazy. Now classes have started up again, so my low-stress job is a good thing: it enables me to study, but who can sit for 9 hrs a day? Then in the evenings, even if I don't have class, the last thing I want to do is work out. I just want to sit on the couch. I take vitamins and have been eating much healthier but I still don't have a lot of energy. I have never been able to get up early to work out - maybe someone has tips for being motivated in the morning??

Hello everyone, can I join you now? I love Halloween and I want to lose 10-15lbs by then, so that I can look better with a costume. I decided to start raw food diet from tomorrow. I am planning to post my diet and weight/size change everyday here. Is it okay?

Of course it's okay, Petit Aria. We are happy to have you, and I wish you much success in losing that weight. Do you have a costume in mind that you'd like to wear?

Marie, my brother is a security guard (graveyard shift) but is taking classes, too. That is what he does at work because it is boring for him, he just studies. So it's like they are paying him to study. Try taking a B-100 complex. It's helped me quite a bit with my energy. It's not over the top or anything. It just give you a little lift.

Slammer, what a sweet compliment. Thank you so much. And I get the same way that you are right now after I recover from an illness. I want to park a chair right in front of the fridge. Good for you, though, stocking up on the fresh produce!

Tab, ugh...that is frustrating! I'm pretty sure that with your Wii now in working order, those pesky few pounds will be off in no time, even without the cut back in calories.

It's starting to cool down over here in So. CA. I love it! It feels like Halloween will be right around the corner. I can't wait to tally up all of our losses by then.

Lindsy, how's it going keeping that chocolate monster away? You can do it, girl! Beat that demon down!!

You know, I forgot if I had mentioned this recently, but you know how I have my blog that's really been helping me stay on track? Well, my husband has been doing so well losing weight himself lately. He's now down to 165, only 5 pounds away from goal. Yeserday he tells me that he wants to start his own blog and call it "Starving for Attention". He's such a nut, but I sorta love him anyway. ♥

Thanks for the encouragement Sandy and Slammer!

I hope everyone has a great day and weekend, eating and working out on plan!

I am going to a BBQ tomorrow, and have been asked to bring my world-renowned taco dip and chips. This will be my first test of non-dominant hand eating of a trigger food for habit breaking. I'll let you know if this slows me down, or makes me more aware and able to stop at a planned-amount of taco dip, which I'm going to call a 2 cups of dip and 1 c. chips. Some people might think that's alot, but I am a recovering taco dip fiend, easily getting through half a lasagna pan worth without even pausing for air or non-taco-dip thoughts. The extra hard part will be creating my menu tonight for the rest of the day to fit in this indulgence. I can do this!

You can do it, Tab! I've got a birthday party to go to on Sunday (my 4-year-old nephew and my father's bithday...yep both born on the same day), and there will not be any foods, besides a salad, at this party that is on my blood type diet. I may just bring a bag of pre-cooked meat that I'm allowed and toss it on my salad when no one is looking.

I feel as I have been slacking! Sorry ladies

Work as been killing me. 50+ hours in a week. Yesterday was my only day off, as tired as I was I still went to the Gym!
This week I have peaked at 172! I don't have a clue why. Probably the stress. I have been OP and working out twice a day on Monday and Wednesdays!

Last night, I caved and got some Icecream from the store. I knew I shouldnt have, but I couldnt control my sweet tooth!
I jump on the scale this morning, 170! Maybe I should eat Icecream everynight! teehee. This scale is driving me up a wall!

My trainer yesterday mentioned that I look like I'v lost a lot of weight in the past month or so. I don't see it, and the scale doesn't prove it to me. I'm losing my mind. Eeeek! Maybe someone hacked it, and is trying to drive me crazy with it! haha

Iv been looking into Bob Harpers Smart Weightloss Pill thing. Any ideas on it? Good or bad idea?

Anyway! Any Ideas for costumes ladies!?
I need to start looking for some online! yaya

Good job with sticking to your guns, ladies! You all seem to have creative ways of staying on plan and "cheating" correctly. Keep it up!
I have had a busy, disappointing weekend I gave into temptation yesterday and had an unplanned cheat meal at Chik-Fil-A. I don't even know why I did it, but I'm back on the wagon today. On the bright side, I got my workouts in. Next Saturday, I'm seeing a couple of friends whom I haven't seen in over two months, so I'm going to work really hard at the gym and with my eating to drop a couple more pounds before I see them.
Tab and Sandy, how were your events this weekend?
Lindsy-- sheesh! That's a lotta work, woman. You should be proud of yourself for working out on your day off- that takes dedication! As for the ice cream incident, I know how you feel! Almost every time I eat pizza, I drop on the scale the next day. It's kind of funny, really. I haven't heard of the Smart Weightloss Pill, so I don't have an opinion... Now I'm curious, though, so I'll probably end up googling it.
I've been trying to decide on a costume, too! I'm a self-proclaimed nerdy geek, so I'm looking into a female hobbit costume. I figure it will work with my height, haha.

Good job of getting back on the wagon! I hate it when I slip up like that. But you just gotta get back on track and let it go lol. Oh boy I want some pizza now!!

A hobbit. Haha that would be so cute!

Hey gang! Sorry I was MIA yesterday. I did a lot of running around buying birthday gifts for my dad and nephew.

Speaking of birthdays...my nephew's party was today, and I did not give into the delicious looking pizza from Costco. Instead, I just ate my salad with my turkey that I had brought. It really filled me up. Not even the birthday cake (of which I would have had two slices prior to my starting of my diet almost 2 months ago) tempted me in the least. And I brought my water to drink. Tomorrow is weigh in day for me, so that darn scale had better be nice to me for all my efforts.

Lindsy, are you sure you're not losing inches if your trainer says you look like you've lost weight? Maybe all that muscle you've gained in the gym is starting to show up on the scale. But it's taking less space on your body in inch loss.

I'm very sensitive to diet pills ever since I took ephedra years ago and had a bad reaction. So I stay clear of them. Please make sure you research any pills thoroughly.

Slammer, good going getting back up on that wagon. My sister called me up this morning to tell me that she'd fallen off the wagon because it was her son's birthday. I really hope that she gets back on track like you did. It's so hard for her right now because she's stressed from starting a new job.

Hope everyone else had a nice weekend. Onto another week!

Good Mummy-day morning everyone!

Well, the scale wasn't as nice to me as I had thought it should be, but at least I'm still down another pound (8 pounds down since we started the challenge). I'm going to have to remove the bread from my diet to shake things up this week. I'd like to drop at least 2 pounds a week from now on. But Auntie Flo is coming up any day now, so that may be why I didn't lose a bit more.

Hope we all have a strong, stay-on-track week this week!

Hi everyone!! I'm glad to hear that everyone still seems so determined!

Just had to stop by to say I'm not sure if it was placebo effect or what, but I ate with my left hand a portioned amount of Doritos and Taco Dip at the party on Saturday, and totally didn't go immediately for seconds, or ever. It slowed me down, and made me think about each bite since I am not very adept with my left hand and didn't want to miss my mouth and waste any of my portioned amount. It was the weirdest thing, since usually I would camp out at the food table, and be a taco dip vacuum. Woooohooooooo! This was a small victory that felt huge.

Even if it's just the fact that it makes me more aware, or slows me down since I'm not left handed, I'll take it and will try this again the next time I'm treating myself to a dangerously yummy food.

Now onto a just as determined week, staying healthy and on-plan. Good luck everyone!!

Woah Tab! I never heard about that! I'm going to try that!! Left handed, this should be interesting, or really messy hehe

Sandy, 1. I hate Aunt-Flo. She ruins my life. lol. At least you are down! So much better than gaining! Good job!

I put the batteries back in my scale this morning. 170. Phew. Nothing gained. I took your advice on the inches lost. I found the paper my trainer filled out a while ago. (5 months or so). I measured myself today. WOAH.
Weight: 179
Shoulder: -4in
Bust: Same (Yay I dont wanna loose my boobies! hehe)
Waist: -1in
Abdomen: -4in
Hips: -8in
Thighs: -2in each
Calfs: - Same
Arms: +1in each

Thats pretty damn good. I just REALLY started getting into it a month or so ago. Before it was on and off diet, and rare exercise.

That's a pretty big NSV for me. 19 inches lost.