I have two trusty nalgene 32oz bottles and they really help. I don't use a straw but I still manged to get in 4L (128oz a day) - I was drinking 6L before but I decided it was too much. The bottle is definatly worth the 10$ or whatever they are. I love mine!

DeafinlySmart - I was just wondering if you get in lots of exercise? I am averging about the same calorie wise, 1500. Some days are 1300 and some days are like 2000 (like you, I don't do it on purpose! haha) Anyway I just recently lowered it, I lost last week but not the weeks before. Anyway, just trying to get an idea if I should bump my calories up a bit - after all, I don't want to be too low!

And a little about me:

Well my name is Courtnie. I just turned 21 in July. I live in one of the most beautiful places in the world (IMO) - on Vancouver Island in BC, Canada. I live with my boyfriend and our two month old puppy. I started my new life style 6 months ago and have lost 35 pounds. I work on computers all day so that's why you see me around so much, haha.

Courtnie: My excercise goes back and forth. By the end of last year I was going to the gym with a coworker consistently twice a week. This summer, I've been once. (I am off during the summer). At the beginning of the summer I was busting my butt trying to get this house in order (cuz I moved here and immediately went to work and didn't have time to do some of the things I wanted to do). Then my sister came in town from Texas (I moved from Tx to Md) and the kids and I were drug out of the house to do the tourist thing. It was HOT and we were WALKING fast to get from one smithsonian musuem to another. Then I was doing more tourist things with just my family. More walking. My shopping trips are infammous because I can clock 17k steps on those days because I come back with grocerceries but I leave just to get out of the house. That is my alone day. Pretty much most of the summer if I had a doc appt, I took the kids somewhere (I had a lot of appts this summer and didn't want them to remember only that). Last week I went to the gym once and that's all. This week I took the kids swimming and that's all. So next week I still plan to sit still most of the time (except on alone shopping day) and enjoy a little time off before I start back to school. Do I excercise? Not in your traditional sense and maybe not even consistently enough.

Edit: I want to be encouraged to get up and move more for life and ENJOY life.

Ok Ok Ok I'll eat more, but obviously not that much more since 1300-1500 is alright, which is probably more around the REAL estimate of what I eat.

I don't want to sabatoge* my dieting, I want to lose it and keep it off!

Well so far so good today, scale hasn't budged but that alright. I've already lost the manadtory 2lbs, but I really want to in the begining average around 3-4, to get ahead for those horrible plateus.

Good Luck today girls. THink STRONG!

3-4lbs is doable for SOME people initially especially if they have A LOT to lose. It isn't average though. Most people lose 1-2lbs a week. Don't stress about losing 2 every single week. Instead focus on improving your diet. You will lose the max you can by taking that approach. Some weeks they will fall off and other weeks they won't. You did great this week. Instead of the pressure, celebrate everything you do. Celebrate the scale victories AND the NSV (non scale victories). If you ate a small amount of fries instead of that HUGE order of fries you normally eat (that's not on your diet) you gained an NSV because you are mindfully improving. The focus is "FOR LIFE!" Yesterday I CHECKED my fitday before I walked into my treat place (I've only gone 3 times in 8 months including last night). I could have just gone in and clocked 2500 cal. I didn't do that. I made a willful choice to ONLY go if I could budget the calories. That's an NSV for me. Wearing my pedometer and clocking anything over 15k is an NSV for me. Celebrate not only the changes in scale, but the changes in your life! BE HEALTHY..that's your goal.

I'm feeling awefully discouraged and its only my second day. I went and workout at the gym this morning, which was good, but I weighed myself, to I guess sychronize the scale at the doctor with the scale at my gym. The problem was that I was six pounds heavier at 231. I know that all scales are different, and that weigh can flucuate that much just from water and time of day, but it was depressing. I was so proud of those five pounds, and now to use the scale at the gym for a every other week weigh in I need to start at 230 not 225. I know I have to remain consistant with weight, but I don't want to. *pouts*

Hey all, I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Chantal and I'm 19, married and live in Missouri. I'm originally from Manitoba, Canada. I'm doing the challenge to lose 20 lbs which will put me at 122 lbs and really close to where I want to maintain (115-120). So I'm hoping for the best!

Good luck to everyone.

c laura: I love your Yoda quote!! don't be discouraged over the scale difference. go with whatever scale you are planning to use each and every week. I had a doc appt recently too. Right afterward (while I was still in the exact same state) I went to wal-mart and bought a new scale that when I was on it, matched what they had gotten at the docs office. Now its the only one I ever use!!

As this is my first post to this thread, I will tell you some stuff about me

I have just turned 29. I am a wife and mother. I have been on Nutrisystem for 6 weeks now and have lost a total of 13.5 pounds!! I started this challenge (40 pounder!!) as a way to push myself toward that goal. I have a Halloween goal as well that should help. I have also jusst joined a gym and I am training (the couch to 5K program) for a 5K cancer walk in October. My biggest struggle is a sweet hubby that eats whatever he wants and right in front of me!! I am a southern girl who loves southern cooking so its hard to smell the things he is kind enough to bring into the house!!! I keep a journal but have recently started a blog. For those thinking about it, do it!! Its amazing how great it can make you feel. It also lets you see how far you've come and relive some of your moments!!

I am also new to 3fc and have met some really great buddies here. I figure I will be about at goal by my next birthday so I hope that gives me plenty of time to make some great friends!!!

You need to pick one scale and sick to it. I don't stand on any other scale but my own and that is the only one I count. If you want to double check that your scale is right, weigh a bag of sugar or something you know the weight of. Probably a good idea to be 10 pounds or more. I weighted my free weights to test mine.

Another tip, don't weigh at different times. Weight at the same time everyday after you wake up, before you shower, before you eat, after you go the washroom. I can weight myself in the morning and the next morning I can be up as much as 8 pounds. It depends what you had to eat the day before. How much water you drank, if its hot out, cold out, etc.

AND IT'S ONLY YOUR SECOND DAY! It took me over 34 days to see my scale change after starting. If you are excising you might gain weight to begin with (usually water weight). If you are eating too little you won't lose weight either. It really is trail and error, 6 months and 35 pounds later I am still working on what makes me lose weight best. Don't get discouraged, it will come off - but not overnight. It takes time and it will be worth it. And the slower it comes off the better - it means you are more likely to keep it off if it comes off slower and also less hangy skin.

Good look and just keep on trucking!

To avoid such confusion and irratation, why not invest in a very good scale for your home. Then you can weigh yourself as much as you want knowing that it is the same scale everytime. Even if it doesn't match the doctors, still losing 5lbs consistantly on the same scale means the same thing, you lost 5lbs. Am I making any sense?

Hang in there girl!

I don't want to burst your bubble but at your weight losing 3-4 pounds a week is unlikely. You might lose that your first week or two but probably wont keep it up. I started about the same as you and have lost an average of 1.62 pounds a week. Sometimes I go a week or two without losing, and then lose 2.5 pounds. ONLY ONCE did I lose 4 pounds in one week and that was just a couple weeks ago and I hadn't lost for a few weeks before that. Even when I started, I never had a big drop right away. I don't want you to get discouraged if the weight doesn't come off as fast as you like. Remember this is a life style change and there are more rewards then numbers on the scale. It took me 6 months to realize this.

Like I said, I started 6 months ago and I was so frustrated at how slow the weight was coming off. I spent an hour and 20 min on my bike 7 days a week (burning over 600 calories each day doing that alone) and it still wasn't coming off very fast. But I am at a good place now, I might not lose everyweek but I am happy, to hink 1.62 pounds a week THATS AN AMAZING AMOUNT to lose - so if I don't lose this week thats okay, it will catch up with me next week or the week after. And even if it takes a year or more I will make my goal weight and that is all that matters.

I know it is hard to see it like this when you are starting and I never thought I would see it like this. Small changed so a long away. I eat less and move more - the weight has no where to go by off. And it won't happen over night.

Losing 3-4 pounds a week is very doable with someone at 300 pounds. At 200 I would aim for 1-2 and be happy with anything more.

Remember, healthy is the more important thing. Forget the numbers on the scale. Sometimes the scale lies.

And there is nothing manadtory about weight loss.

I am so scared of those plateaus. Imagine being on a roll and then just coming to a complete stop. What a way to burst your bubble!!

I totally agree about the water thing. If you have a 1L bottle, it makes it sooo much easier to drink it.

I guess I'll jump in on the intro bandwagon. I'm Rosario. I'm 24. I'm originally from Los Angeles, CA but moved to Atlanta, GA in Feb. 2005. I live with my bf. No kids. I'm a full-time receptionist and I plan to go back to school in the spring. I love food(which is why I am where I am ) and I am bonafied couch potato. I'm hoping to change all that!!!

A quickie post..
My name is Sarah.
I am 27yrs old, happily married for 6 yrs.
I have 2 children (5 and 3)
I am 5'1" tall
I weigh 145lbs
My goal is 110lbs.

I am doing the Jingle the Pounds Away challenge.

When I have more time I will post more...:-)

HOPE TO MEET ALL OF YOU!

Sarah

I'm really going off of my past deiting experience. When I dropped down from 230 to 200 for my wedding I lost 9lbs in the first week, and continued to lose 3-4 pounds for the following 4 weeks. Then it slowed down to 1-2 pounds per week. I was eating healthy and consuming 1200-1500 calories a day and excersizing 4 times a week. Everyones bodies are different. Thats just how mine works.

But you also weigh almost 30 pounds less now. I just don't want to see you get discouraged if you don't lose 3-4 pounds a week every week.