KimL1214- Fitness classes are so much fun. I push myself harder when there are others around. My husband got a new job out of town so at this time I'm unemployed. I don't start graduate school until the fall so I have plenty of time to take care of myself. This has been needed for some time.
How are you doing with the smoking? I was lucky that I never got addicted to cigarettes and was only a social smoker. But, I do have plenty of friends who still smoke and it is hard for them to quit. Any sports activities planned?

ak812 and LeslieB- I started the C25K on Sunday and will be doing the second day of week 1 tomorrow. It does get harder as the weeks pass but the program is designed to build stamina.
ak812- I also use the On-Demand fitness videos. I like the different choices of exercises and the different time lengths. How did you do with your goals today?
LeslieB- I have never been on a horse before and always wanted to try it. That sounds like so much fun. Does the dietition plan out your meals for the week?

hi everyone,
This has been a "tired' day for me... a long weekend trip has caught up and I just need sleep. I stayed in my cal. range, actually a little low (1100) and have been drinking my water but didn't get my walk in today which I feel bad about. I'm going to do some jumping jacks when I'm done posting just so I've at least done something
ak812 I didn't realize On Demand had workouts, so I'll have to check that out. It would have been nice today when I didn't have a car to get over to the community center for my walk (it was raining or I'd just have walked the neighborhood)
KimL it's nice to see you here- a familiar "face", I hope we rock this!
Leslie I like the quote... I should have been giving myself "I can" excuses today. I will keep that in mind tomorrow!
taking control good luck with the deadlines and essays!
Isabella I'm not buying any new clothes either. Right now, most of what I have is too big or too small, but I know I'm on a losing streak, so oh well! Before I started this journey I was squeezing into size 22 and refused to get anything bigger, so I was down to one pair of jeans and my husbands sweatpants, it wasn't pretty!
I have to get to a crying baby now (he's one) so I hope to catch up on personals over time and get to know all my blue team members!

Hi everyone! I'm not starting this challenge off on the best note- I'm very sick with some sort of cold. I'm hoping to be able to get up and back to work tomorrow, though, so I'll catch up with you all then.

A little about me- I'm 23, and I'm so tired of being overweight and exhausted all the time. I work as an activity director for a retirement community and live with my boyfriend of 7 years and our pets (two dogs and a hedgehog). I really think that my weight is holding me back from being the energetic, fun loving person I used to be. My 6 and 7 year old nieces joke that I'm not invited to their slumber parties anymore because I always fall asleep first. I want that to change!

My plan for losing weight is simple: move more and eat less and better! I'll be counting calories and trying to get in a 30 minute workout at least 5 times per week. I've never been a part of a challenge like this, so I'm hoping it will keep me motivated!

My name is Shanae. I'm 25 and mother to two boys, a 5 year old and almost 4 year old. I live in Southeastern Colorado with some family. I'm currently on the hunt for work, but there's not much to choose from. A hazard of living in a small town. I have been doing Zumba for 3 weeks and I do some calorie counting. I'm ultimate goal is 130..about 70 pounds. I want to feel good and look good.

Hello everyone! I had a pretty productive day. In addition to the 30 minute walking workout this morning I got in a 35 minute walk during my lunch break. I met all my goals for the day - drank 8 full glasses of water, stayed in calorie limit, and took a walk during lunch! Not bad for a Monday.

Shanae - Hi! Glad to have you as a team member. Best of luck to you with the job search - I know it's a tough market out there but you will find something, I'm sure. I calorie count, too - are you using any kind of online tracker or just keeping track all by yourself? I use MyFitnessPal and enter all my food there to keep track of calories, carbs, fat, etc. It's a cool site!

ladyponies23 - Oh no, I hope you feel better very soon! Being sick is no fun, especially when you're trying your best to get your body to a healthier place. I'm sending lots of healing wishes your way.

Kim - I am the total opposite - throw as many preschoolers at me as you want and I can find some way to handle it, but I would NEVER survive in a middle school, they would totally eat me alive. I give you major props for doing that line of work; you are an impressive lady. And congrats to you on the new scale # ... I had my boyfriend hide the scale somewhere in our apt today because I have been getting a bit too tied up in the number I see. I'll only have him return it on the weekends for BL weigh-in. Good luck to you with that leg - hopefully the new shoes will fix the problem.

qtapostolic - Yeah, On Demand has some pretty good workouts for free! It's under the "Sports & Fitness > Fitness Workouts" section. They have various cardio options, yoga, Pilates, walking workouts, etc. Good for you for staying in that calorie range today, and don't stress about not getting in too much exercise today. Tomorrow is a new day! Hope that little guy of yours is doing well.

Eliza31 - I agree, On Demand has a great variety of workouts. Which ones do you like to do? I've been really enjoying the Kendra Kemerley walking workouts but I think they'll be disappearing at the end of this week! Oh well, then I'll be forced to start 30 Day Shred I suppose. I did well with the goals today, thanks for asking! Completed all of them.

Gina - Sounds like you have great enthusiasm and a wonderful plan. Love that you fit in time with the dog and exercise at the same time.

takingcontrol - Oh man, best of luck to you with all of the assignments. I graduated last year and remember all too well the stress of what can feel like a hundred different tasks at hand. You will get through it all though! Are you close to summer break? If so, keep on trucking & you will be there so soon!

LeslieB - Crossing my fingers for you that you get to enjoy those horseback riding lessons soon. Glad you had such a productive day with personal trainer & dietician. Must be a good feeling to have a plan of action for the week ahead.

Evangeline - Cannot imagine what a relief it must be to walk around pain-free now. Yay! Also can't believe you have such a long commute! I thought mine was bad at 35-40 minutes. Will definitely be thinking of you when I'm impatient in traffic tomorrow morning. Getting up & down those stairs sounds like a wonderful way to fit in a bit of physical activity; good for you!

Well, I am off to bed to gear up for Tuesday. Days at work have felt SO long lately & I'm not sure why. Looking forward to hearing from you all tomorrow!

ak, I mostly just track them myself. I've been kind of loose with it lately.

Reached 197.2 this morning! A new low for this weight loss! Yay for Zumba!

Hello Blue Team. You girls (are we all female??) are very good at doing personals. You'll forgive me if I don't do them all the time. I'm just about ready to jump on my bike for my ride to nowhere. Thank goodness I have the TV in front of me. Sounds like everyone is in control so far.

Ladyponies, hope you're feeling much better by the time you read this or at least by tomorrow.

Leslie, how was your Grapple? I've had them before and thought they were quite nice. Yesterday I bought a new apple I've never had before. It's called a Junami. This is what I found out about them: " At long last, an apple with so much juice it is almost more juice than apple. Junami! This variety of apple comes from Switzerland, a cross between Ideared and Maigold with Elstar. All of the good characteristics of its forbears unite in this new fruity thirst quencher. They are beautifully round and their eye-catching red colour makes you want to sink your teeth into one! When you experience its fresh fruity taste and crunchy bite, you will never want to eat any other apple!"

So I am expecting big things from my apple. It's fairly large so I'll be sharing with DH as the one apple cost $1.61.

Good Morning. Off to a good start this week, so far I've been under on my calories so I've added a smoothie to my menu to bring them up a little.

Leslie --- My commute isn't so bad, I don't mind driving/riding. The killer is that my husband and my schedules doesn’t align to well. He puts in 10 - 12 hour days and mine are 8-9. So I always have any place from 2-4 hours of time to read while I wait for him. If it was consistent I would make plans to workout while I wait but most of the time I don't know he is working over or how long he will be working over until I get to the parking lot of his business. I keep books in the car so I really enjoy the free time to read and relax but it really shoots me in the foot for having free time to fit in a workout. I'll figure out something, just need to be a little more creative.

ak812 --- the plus side of riding in with him is that we are at work before sun up so we usually drive in on the leading edge of the traffic backup and riding together allows us to use the HOV lane, most of the time that is a good thing. Even if it doesn’t move faster, in Dallas it restricts people from merging in and out of the lane so you don’t have people cutting you off during the commute.

KimL1214 --- I do miss NY State and would go back in a heartbeat but jobs have always kept me from moving back. Now, as I start thinking about retirement I still don't envision being able to relocate back to the Finger Lakes because my girls are desert dwellers having never lived near lakes, trees and grass and my DH was born and raised in AZ, so my destiny looks like it is living in the desert SW, which if you ever witnessed a desert sunset isn’t all that bad. You save a lot of time on Saturdays too not having to mow lawns LOL.

Well DH has to drive to AR today and we got a later than usual start so he probably won’t get back home until around 8pm so I packed a prevention workout video and will try to get into the “Energy Room” at the office after I get off and put in 30 minutes using that. I would do it during lunch but some of the ladies like to go in and play with the Kinect bowling. The Energy Room is a conference room our department set aside with a TV, Kinect, games, sofas, punching bag, etc. to go take a break from the day. I typically try to use it after I get off work if DH is on a known run that will afford me at least ½ hour before he could possibly get back but lately I’ve had a good book and been more interested in sinking into the pages so I will report back tomorrow to hold myself accountable to at least fitting in a 30 minute video.

Have a good day everyone.

You've got my mouth watering. Just thinking about how good it must be is worth $1.61. Enjoy.

Good Tuesday Bluesers !

Overcast morning here but I will get out for a good hike with the dogs today. Other then that it will be pretty much staying home and doing homework and housework. I like these kinds of days to catch up on the things that need doing. Update on the grapple.... I ate it yesterday and was somewhat underwhelmed. It tasted like... an apple. Don't know what I was expecting but a bit like a grape I guess. Was a nice tasting apple though.

takingcontrol - Welcome Back for another challenge !

Gina - Welcome ! Sounds like you have a great plan in place. What do you do for your workouts?

Eliza - I have started the C25K twice and both times got to about week 4. I've come to the conclusion that running just isn't my thing. I'd rather do a Zumba class or go for a hike. Hope you like it. The dietitian and I go over how things went the week before and we get a plan on what types of foods I will be eating for the next week. We don't have an actual menu but there are certain foods I will avoid this week. I really like the accountability to her, not to mention she's a total rockstar of a person.

Kelly - Are you feeling less 'tired' today? Did you get those jumping jacks in?

Kim - How is the leg feeling today? Did you get some new shoes? It's amazing how the wrong shoes can have such a huge impact on our bodies.

ladyponies23 - Welcome ! Hope you're feeling better today.

Shanae - Welcome ! Sounds like you have a handful there with 2 boys. Congratulations on the weight loss !! Yay Zumba !!

Amanda - You go girl with that productive day ! Hope Tuesday is just as good for you.

Isabella - How was the ride to nowhere? After reading about that apple of yours I think I need to go get one of those. Let me know what you think of it.

Evangeline - Glad your commute isn't bad. What types of books do you like to read?

Have a great Tuesday Bluesers !!

Inspiration of the day: Using the power of decision gives you the capacity to get past any excuse to change any and every part of your life in an instant - Tony Robbins

Hello again guys! I’ve officially taking this evening off uni work, ready to get back on it in the morning, so thought I’d use the evening to catch up on here, and hopefully persuade myself that the naughty snacking that has snuck back in my diet has to go….. I’m also watching Supersize vs Superskinny, it’s making me squeamish!

I’m Kate, from Yorkshire in the UK. This is my second challenge and it’s great to be back on Team Blue!! I’d love to be at goal by the end, but if that is going to happen, I need to find my focus again! I’m finding it much harder to stay on track foodwise now, because I’m actually starting to like what I see in the mirror, so it’s harder to be disciplined. I am keeping up the exercise and generally healthier life though, so hopefully I will get there!
I’ve also always been overweight, yo-yoing up and down, but I believe I’m now the lightest I’ve been in adulthood. I have been living in India and Thailand since the end of 2004, but came back to the UK a year ago to study. I’m heading back to Thailand in September and really want to be fit and healthy on my return! Just a shedload of work to do between now and then, boooooo!

Leslie – hello, great to be back on board I think I missed your story last time, I didn’t realise your journey was thanks to your gym group and shared with your hubby, it’s fab!

Kim – good luck for the challenge, I hope you stay in good health and get to that mile!! I’m currently doing the couch to 5K plan, and even though I’ve got pretty good at all my other gym classes, I really struggle with jogging, BUT, I won’t be beaten! Good luck with the smoking too, you CAN do it

AK812 – hello and welcome! Pre-K teacher, wow! I teach English as a second language, and adore my K students, the things they do and say are just priceless Sounds like you’ve got a really good plan. Getting into exercise was a real drag for me, but also the best thing I ever did! I still struggle with the diet, but I wouldn’t want to be without exercising, NO WAY!

Eliza – Good luck for the challenge. I really hope it gives you the same accountability it gives me. I can often avoid eating the wrong things knowing I’ll let the team down come Sunday, I hate admitting things have gone wrong on the scales when I know it’s because I’ve been off plan!

Qutapostolic – Congratulations on your divorce! I wish I could make the same move. I hate struggling with food, but it’s a battle I continue to try and fight, and one day I WILL win it! It might be slow, but who cares, this time it’s forever right? Good luck!

Somni – well done on your awesome loss thus far! Your in-laws literally won’t recognise you when you see them, how exciting! Loving having so many people into exercise on here, we’ll be able to swap tips and ideas, yay!

Retiredone – I love food too, it sucks! I’m using my wardrobe as a big motivator too, when things get too big, they’re gone. I WON’T need to wear them again, because I am NOT going back. Ever. Let your weekends be, you’re doing great, and at the end of the day, whatever you do now, you have to be able to stick at for the rest of your life or the weight will go back on.

EofAZ – hello and welcome! I’m so glad you’re now pain free, and hope that with your new knees you’ll lose the weight over and manage to keep it off. Congrats on getting married, how exciting!

Giffy – hello! I hope WW works for you again this time, good luck I love morning workouts, if I don’t do them early I don’t seem to get the same benefit, so your new schedule sounds great!
Ladyponies23- get well soon, take it easy until you are firing on all cylinders again

Lostangel – hello! Good luck with the job hunt

Thanks for the well wishes, guys! I decided to try to work out last night- if I can do it when I'm feeling so horrible, what's my excuse to not do it any other day? It actually made me feel better, and definitely like I accomplished something big. I put an episode of Gray's Anatomy on Hulu, hopped on the treadmill, and powered through it. I ended up running up until the commercial break, then walking through the commercials, for about 30 minutes. Then I tried to increase the speed and my old treadmill died. I figured I probably needed a break as much as it did! It's working again today, though, so I'll try to get in another run this evening. For now I'm back at work and feeling a little better. Thanks again for thinking of me!

I'm not feeling well today. I've been going to the bathroom like every 5 minutes and my stomach is having cramps. I've decided to lay down on the bed. It must be the exercise and diet. Is anyone else having this problem?

ak812: I like the 10 minute exercises that focus on one body part; also I like Yoga, Pilates, and I even tried belly dancing.

retiredone: The Junami sounds delicious. Where did you find it? I would love to try it.

lostangel05 and LeslieB: Zumba is so much fun! They offer it at my gym 6 days a week and I am going to try to take it 3 times a week. I've been doing it for over a year now off and on. How often do you guys do it?

takingcontrol: I feel the same way about using this challenge to help me stay motivated and continue staying on plan. Congratulations for being the lightest in your adulthood. Do you work in Thailand? It sounds so adventurous.