Shannon - I'm with you. We have the same weather right now. SO not Christmasy!! I can remember once in 1985 when it rained all day on Christmas and it was 85 degrees. We were miserable. I mean, we KNOW it's never going to snow here, but it can at least get a little chilly!!

Yep! It's just going nuts here, I go from heater running all day, sitting in my chair under blankets freezing to death to open up all the windows and sit real still so you don't generate heat. Texas weather is always a little odd but this is just nuts. I just covered up my plants for a freeze warning the first part of this week!! Ba Humbug : )

My first week w/ LAWL has been pretty good so far. I have lost 4 pounds! WOO HOO! I want to get to my new years goal by the end of the weekend! Any tips or advice? I have been going to the gym for an hour everyday and completely avoiding any fast food. What can i do to keep pushing myself and get there by my next weigh in (monday)? I know you're only supposed to do it every 2 weeks, but can you TO more than that? Like once a week? Is that dangerous? Good luck with your losing!

Michie

Michie, If you do takeoff too often, your body goes into starvation mode and then you totally stop losing any weight! So don't try to go to fast. It took some time to put the weight on, it won't come off over night. You want to do it the safe and healthy way so that you are not losing muscle weight which would make it so that you are more likely to gain weight later when you eat a bit more calories (or having to survive off from fewer calories, which no one wants). You are doing super fantastic. Just follow the plan and you could most likely will easily make your new year's goal. Be kind to your body. Oh, and Take off is a little different from the fast forward and a lot harder you only get 6 ounces of protein for the day, so I don't think anyone really wants to do the take off too darned often.

I cut the "volunteer" tree down from our front yard that my DH would not let me pull or otherwise remove until now. It had grown too big and was starting to interfer with the other big tree in the yard (my DH wanted to cut down the only nice tree in the yard to save the weed tree and I objected). Anyway I have the day off today so I went and cut it down. Turns out it is 12 feet tall and I had a heck of a time wrestling it into the house and into the tree stand by myself. So now my living room is quiite full of tree... Smells fantastic though and it is the freshest tree I've ever had, seeing as I've never cut one down out of the front yard before. The yard looks better. My DH thinks I'm a tree murderer though, and I have the sap on my hands to prove its true.

barbara--you just reminded me of my favorite holiday movie: national lampoon's christmas vacation. love love love that movie. "litte full, lotta sap." (i could recite that whole movie, word for word!)
you made me laugh for the first time today. thanks! i needed it. :)

Hey gang...

Wheeeew! I took the day off and did a TON of Christmas shopping for Liz and the kids today. Good thing I got my per diem check yesterday, for a business trip I took last month!

Michie.. I'm with Barb on this one.. Congrats on your loss so far.. That initial rush of good feelings and power can really be fun.. BUT (there's always a but)... You can't fool yourself into believing it's gonna always be like that... Follow the plan to the letter and you will see consistant losses, but sometimes you won't see much at all..

What's happening right now is that your body is in shock because you dared to feed it good food and rob it of the crap we all like to eat. "How DARE you feed me veggies!!!" :lol:

But your body will adjust very soon and over the next few weeks and months, you'll have to tweek your diet here and there.. Get your starches in early.. Don't skip or skimp your portions (extremely important)... Have breakfast for dinner and lunch for breakfast once in a while.. The trick is to keep your body guessing for the time being..

Keep up the good work!!

Hi everyone,
I hope everyone's week has gone well. I haven't been online in a few days so I'm a bit behind on all of the posts. I finished Takeoff and managed to lose almost 2 pounds, not as much as I hoped but at least I'm moving in the write direction. The trick will be keeping it off this weekend as I have 2 christmas events to go to so there will a lot of temptation to contend with!

Shannon - there is a recipe for eggnog in the LA cookbook. I have not tried it yet, but will be over the weekend. Here goes:

EggNog
Makes 2 servings
Serving Size - 1 cup
Counts as - 1/2 protein, 1 dairy

2 eggs, well beaten
3 packets splenda
dash vanilla extract
2 cups skim milk
dash nutmeg, to taste

Combine eggs & splenda; add vanilla and milk and beat well; pour into 2 glasses and sprinkle with nutmeg

Hope everyone has a great weekend! I WI today and was down a pound! YAY!

Had a NSV yesterday! For a LOONG time I have had to wear 3X shirts, and some of those were tight! I bought my first 2X sweater yesterday and it looks awesome! :) Also one of the door greeters that I used to work with saw me when we went to wal-mart and she said, "Hey Lady, you've lost a lot of weight havent you?" I was beaming! It was great to finally hear that from someone other than my family.

Good morning everyone :) It sure is quiet here lately!!! c'mon everyone.......work hard this weekend :)
XOXO

Dan and Barb- Thanks so much for that... I totally understand what you mean. This is my first weight loss experience and I am just so anxious to get it all off that I want to do it as fast as possible! But I guess it wouldn't feel as good if it were easy would it???

I did go into my COD today and I lost a few more pounds! YAY! My company holiday party was last night and I was afraid I was going to be up up up, but nope! I was so excited to have made my holiday goal.

I am getting tired of the gym though... anyone do any workout/weight loss videos? I want something to do everyday in place of the gym. Any favorites?

Again, thank you all so much for helping me... this added support really comes in handy! Have a great rest of the weekend!

Congrats michie!! Don't forget... The food you eat today won't have it's true effect (generally speaking) on the scale for a couple of days.. So any damage you did last night probably won't show up until tomorrow or even monday...

Michie a lot of us on here use the Biggest Loser 2 Workout DVD. I also use Lesley Sansone's Walk Off the Pounds DVD. Both are great and fun! Congrats on the loss! But remember what Dan said... the same also goes for TakeOff, It also takes a couple days to see results.

hello everybody,

Sounds like some are struggling but others are doing well. I have been MIA most of the week. Just busy with work and shopping and such. My mom leaves on monday for a month long trip out west to see her family so tomorrow is the last visit with her and my ex mother in law till after she comes back.

I am POP since a week ago this past tuesday. Basically about 10-11 days. As of yesterday down 7.2 lbs so it is working. I have lost what had creeped back on over the last few months. Had a not so good day today but tomorrow is a new day.

I for one will be very glad when xmas is over. Someone else on here said they weren't really in the spirit yet and they can count me in on that too. I am getting my shopping done but not enjoying it near as much as I normally do. I don't have a tree for this year either. Since I will be alone for xmas I didn't bother and with the house purchase and such in the last 6 weeks I really can't spare the extra $$ either. Maybe I'll get one in the after xmas sales this year to use in the future. I did get some xmas decorations/figurines etc out today so my living room and kitchen has some stuff out.

It has been quieter here the last week than normal...guess everyone else is busy with holiday preparations as well.

Hope everyone has a good weekend and upcoming week!!

Shannon, we own a small ranch in Fredricksberg and I spent Christmas there two years ago. I packed for cool weather and got 90's! I thought I was going to die! I had to go to Wal-Mart and buy T-shirts just to survive. I have never had that kind of heat in California for Christmas!
Plus, I got so sick from the cedar trees that I was hospitalized for a day. I love the place but I am so allergic to both the Hill Country and Austin I may never return.