First of all, WELCOME cammie and oakey!
We still have over a month 'til easter, so there's more than enough time to do some major damage to that extra poundage that's just got to go!

I was POP today- did good with carbs & calories. Today was my rest day so no exercise! Yes, I realize that I HATE exercise. Hey, it is what it is.

Tonight I went to the movies and watch Slumdog Millionaire. GREAT movie! If you haven't seen it yet and you get a chance to, I would definitely recommend it!

Enjoy your weekend ladies!

~shauna~

Wouldn't it be fun if we each declared a reward that we would give ourselves at the end of the challenge after we ROCK it?! Like get a massage or buy a new little black dress or have a relaxing picnic in the park, or something like that. Something to look forward to and help motivate us to give this challenge our all!

sweet I have heard good things about Slumdog and I will definitely put it on my list of things to do

I love the idea of a reward.....gonna think of a good one for me

Today was a long day but amazingly I feel fantastic. Tired but very productive. I did my weights. I ate well. I didn't cheat at work (which was my goal today). I even did some line dancing for some extra cardio. My bf came to visit me at work and brought me some cardio DVDs that he got me including the 30 day shred. Super stoked!!!

I did very well today. Stayed within my cals and looking forward to what tomorrow brings. On the scale and off!!!

Nicki, your bf is so cool to do that for you! Congrats on your POP day!

Shauna, that's a fine idea. I'll have to think of something.

Speaking of the challenge, I thought of my next goal for the Easter Challenge, and that will be to get my first real pull-up. Yeah, that will give me something I have to work extra hard at. I tried today, and I can get about halfway up, so I've got some work to do! I would also love to have a handstand by then. That would be sweet!

I missed my lifting workout today. I knew I should have done it first thing this morning, but I didn't make it out of the house in time. After running dogs, I was too wiped to do the lifting. I did get to skating, though, and had a great workout tonight. My friend was there, and we came up with a couple of new routines, so I've got something to practice this coming week.

Hi all

Yay! It is Saturday. I have been trying to keep my cals at 1800. I think it might have been the answer. I am down to 208. Hopefully it continues that way. I can't help feeling that I am cheating though. I was so used to eating around 1300.

I was in a store the other day and saw all the easter stuff. I loved candy in an easter basket! This holiday will be hard to bypass for me. My favorite was the cadbury mini eggs. I am determined to hit all holidays this year with not going Off Plan.

Jam: What kind of dogs do you have and how many?

I am in for the reward! Have to think of a good one. I am liking the idea of a new small dress! Most of my clothes are so big. When I wear my one new small shirt at work, everybody compliments me. The big and baggy are not working anymore. Unfortunately, I don't have the $ to go get a whole new wardrobe.

Have a great weekend everyone and work it!!!

So excited! I am 169.4 today.. been in the 169 range for the past 3 days so I updated my ticker!!!

The 160 may be attainable! excited!

I really wanted to go for a walk today but the temperature dropped so much. It was +7 yesterday morning.. and this morning it is -26 with a windchill.. Couldn't believe it!

Down another 1.5 pounds today. I've almost reached two goals...my 10 lbs by St Patty Day goal and my no longer "obese" by 03.21.09 goal. So excited!!!!!

So now I'm about to hit the gym to tan and do some weights then home to try out the 30DS DVD my loving BF got me!!! Isn't he great?

Congratulation Nicki It sound like you are doing great.

I also like the idea of a reward. I will have to think of a good one.

Yesterday was a good day for me. I was POP and made it to the gym last night. I worked the chest, arms, and back plus core and 20 minutes of incline walking on the treadmill.

Weekends are usually tough for me to stay on plan but I am determined to stick to it this weekend. I think joining 3FC and actually recording how I do knowing others will see it will help.

Well, I am off to the gym to get in some cardio.

By the way it has been exactly one year since I really decided to make a lifestyle change of eating healtier and exercising. It has been a long year of gradual improvements. I cannot even begin to imagine the things I can do now that I could not do a year ago. Plus I have lost 96 lbs in a year. That is something I never thought would happen.

Hattie, I'm so glad you're seeing some movement on the scale! Good luck with the holiday! I'm learning to appreciate alternatives to celebrating holidays with food. After Christmas this year, then my sister's bday dinner, and the food hangover that followed, I think I'm cured. Lucky for me, my son is willing to take any candy off my hands, if I receive gifts like that.

I have 2 dogs. I have a big blond rott/pit mix and a little red pit bull. A few of us posted pics of our dogs in the Valentine's day challenge thread. If you find the thread on the CC board (a few pages back, probably) you'll see there's a paperclip symbol to the right of the thread title. If you click on that, you can see all the pics attached to that thread.

KKat, congrats on the 169! Do you have a place you can walk indoors? I did my jogging inside the house this winter, when it was too gross and rainy to go out. Sometimes, we just have to get creative with the exercise options!

Nicki, let us know how you like the 30DS!

I have a shoulders/abs workout planned for today, but since I missed legs yesterday, I think I'll do legs lifting first, at least a few sets, then do my scheduled workout. Speaking of which, I'm going to try to get that done before the boys get up. My son has a friend staying over, so if I want to workout uninterrupted by short people, I'd better get on it!

Hi Everyone!

I know I've been sort of a lousy challenge buddy recently, but I'm still here doing my thing and cheering for everyone. Life has been a little hectic and stressful. It will all be good. I was down a little bit this week and hit the 95 pounds gone mark. Looking forward to the next 5 pounds and then many more after that!

This morning I actually had a "gym date". There is a guy that also works out with my trainer that lives close to me and we've been chatting it up for a bit. We usually see each other 3x per week at the gym and have talked about walking the neighborhood when it's nice out. He seems to need a little extra motivation to get going when he doesn't have a training appt and I'm always up for more friends. Our trainer wasn't available today so we met at the gym to workout together. I had done my session yesterday so I helped him out with some of his and then we did abs and cardio together. It was fun. Now if only I could get my hubby involved one of these days. Sigh. He is cutting back to 2x per week with the trainer and I'm thinking about the same so we might start doing our Sat workout together. Could be fun...we'll have to figure out how to coordinate our workouts.

My hubby and I are going on a date tonight. No clue what we are doing. He's been sick all week and is sleeping on the couch as I type. Hopefully he'll be a little more chipper tonight. Everytime I ask what we are doing he mentions something that involves food. I'm trying to convince him that we don't need to make food the focus of going out. It's fine if we eat dinner, but I don't have the desire to spend the majority of the date eating and spending way too much $ on a meal. I'm hoping for bowling or pool...maybe a comedy club. We'll see...

Jam - I see you are up to your usual crazy, busy self. Can't wait to hear more about the Crossfit classes!

FB - Love the picture!! Your arms look FAB!

Nicki - Super huge grats on your great success!!! ONEderland baby!

Oakey - WELCOME to the challenge and to 3FC! CONGRATS on your amazing weight loss!!!!

DG - I hope you are having a wonderful time at your daughter's wedding!!! I'm sure you look fantastic!!!

I'll have to think of a reward for this challenge. I do love rewards. I am buying myself a ring when I hit 100 pounds gone so I'll do something smaller with my Easter challenge. I've been thinking about a pair of gloves for weight lifting....does anyone else wear them? I feel like I'm not a "real lifter" yet and don't rate for the gloves, but I think they'd help cause I'm constanting wiping my hands before grabbing the weight. I think I'm just being more self-concious than anything.

I know I missed a bunch of friends...sorry...but I am going to take advantage of one child napping to go rest myself for a bit.

Later....
Barb

What a day....and it's only 1/2 way over. I went to the gym and tanned then did Body Motion (a circuit of weights at my gym). Then I came home fed my daughter and laid her down and proceeded to do Workout 1 of the 30DS. WHEW!!! I loved it!!! Jillian is great. Sure enough when I started to feel about to die (lol) she would be encouraging and telling me not to quit and i would push threw it. It was fantastic. It kicked my a** and i was sweating my behind off. I didn't have any weights though so gotta get me some of those.

wow nickle!! who knew?? congrats girl!
Barb You definitely challenge us all just by breathing air!

WAY to go everyone.

i'm just saying hello....helllooooooooooooo

LOL! No really, LOL!!!! Yahaha. I find this ultra-amusing. The workout schedule is fricking grueling.

Thanks for the arms compliments peeps! I'd take a flexed picture - but it would bust out your monitors and I'd look all insane.
Hello BBB you cute thang!

Guess what? Check out my ticker!

I had a bad week, well, rather a bad three days that made my average intake 2,000 cal/day. I still went to the gym 4x this week, but there were some major stress issues this week. And so, for week two, I GAINED a pound this week. However, it's TOM and I seriously look four months pregnant. So I'm gonna say I stayed at the same weight and the rest is water weight.

I'll reweigh myself Wednesday to see a more accurate number.

WOOHOO FB! How does it feel to be 1/2 of your former self!!?!?!?!?!?

Date night was a lil nuts. After urging DH to take the focus off of a long, expensive dinner he asked if he could pick the place we go. I said, "sure, as long as I can get something healthy.". His reply was "uh oh". Grrrrr....we ended up driving to NE Philly to a hole in the wall cheesesteak place! I was not happy at all, but tried playing the nice wife. I ate 1/2 a sandwich and a bottle of water. I did fine on calories but didn't feel good about it. Then we went to Dave & Busters and played games for a couple hours. It was crowded but fun. Our wonderful sitter managed to get both boys to bed so we watched some TV together before hitting the hay. All in all it was a pretty good night...food aside.

Today is going to be filled with grocery shopping, food prep, cleaning, the gym.... We are supposed to get a pretty good snow storm tonight. Could be fun...could make the commute to work tomorrow a nightmare.

Anywho...have a great day....whatever you are doing.

Barb