Golfergirl,
Weigh to go! Perserverance paid off!
Everybody, you're the best. Keep on keepin' on.
I won't meet my Valentine's Challenge, but I managed to lose 5 pounds instead of 6, so I am close to meeting it. What I know is that the continual effort is what gets the pounds off of me.

I'm up for a St. Pat's Challenge three days after V. D. C. How about everyone else?

Have you heard from Christie and is she fine?

Onward and downwarddddddddd for us all.
Love,
Judy
234/211.8/thinner this is another new low for me even though I only lost .6# this week. Yay!

Golfergirl- Way to go! That is an amazing work! I agree with Diana, it is probably all your hard working finally paying off! You are very inspiring!
Diana- How old is your nephew? You're right, we'll wait until Saturday and then start a new challenge. Do you ever get bored, being on mat leave? Do you go out lots? Do you have lots of friends with children? Is there lots to do for people with children there? Thanks for always being here, your messages often make me smile!
Judy- Congrats on a job well done with the challenge! You will soon be under 200- that is a wonderful feeling!
I am also down from where I was when we started. I have been bored and a little unhappy lately, and that has translated into not trying. I know I need to get off my butt and get at it. I even have the healthy groceries I need to do it! So, I am going to commit, one day at a time, to staying on track. You guys may get tired of me posting- whenever I think I am going to get off track I will come here! I have been doing fine with going to the gym 5 days a week, I just haven't tracked, and that is the key for me!
Do you guys journal every day?
TTYL!

Hi, ladies! I just wanted to check in and let you know I am in a much more positive mood this afternoon! I went shopping this morning and got some great deals and found out that I haven't "grown" as much as I had feared! I am journalling, OP, and have my bro cominng over to babysit this afternoon so I can hit the gym. It is turning out to be a good day! Also, dh and I may head off for a weekend away tomorrow, which would be our first weekend away from dd ever!!
Hope you are all having great, OP, days!

Keep going with the exercsie Golfergirl, your endurance, speed, and intensity is increasing so that tells you that your improving your body. Your heart, muscles and bones love you for it. Isn't it nice to know that it wan't jsut a fluke on the scale I haven't heard from Christie, but I have a feeling she'll get to a computer on the weekend and post then.

Judy, way to go on the loss , you are so close to meeting your goal for VD. You have 2 days to go, maybe just drink a lot of green tea, that's what Christie sould recommend, who knows, you amy still make it You're not that far from "one"derland you know

Tara, he was born yesterday, and we went to the hospital to see him (oh, and his parents ) You know I thought I would get bored being on leave, but surprisingly I don't. I get out of my house probably only twice a week. I go visiting then, do errands and the grocery shopping. I quilt, read, watch tv, exercise, talk on the phone, and spend time online, here and ebay There isn't much to do with kids here as it's a small town, but I'm looking forward to when we move as we'll do stuff like the pool and such, baby is such a water freak Most of my family and DHs family have kids, so it's nice to get together with them. And some of my friends are married with first babies too, that's nice I spend a ton of time a t home alone as I don't have a vehicle and live in the country, but I like it, I'm sad that my leave will be over in a few months. How did you like your leave? How long did you get? How did the interview go? Tara, I'll never get tired of you posting. I'm always happy if there is a new post when I come to check, which is usually twice a day. To answer you, sometimes I count points in my head, but yesterday and today I have journalled. Way to go on the exercise I'm glad you're in better spirits today though, it can make the world of a difference in one's outlook on life, and weight loss. Wow, going away from baby a whole weekend, I've never left baby for a night, although it might be nice. Where are you going? For VDay too, how nice How did your first WI back go at WW the other day?

WEll, I'm too chicken to weigh today, it will be down, but I'm still chicken. I've broken my rules in our little competition, I haven't been drinking my water, I've been doing the other stuff though, I jsut find it hard to drink the water. I did it for 5 days though
Sorry, I really go on sometimes, hopre you don't mind, baby is sleeping and I just have the time.
Diana

Diana,
That is awesome that you have stuck to 5 of your rules! Congrats on your new nephew! You are lucky that you are happy to stay home. I am just a naturally "busy" person, and especially after working fulltime I just feel like we need to keep busy!
I took 13 months for my mat leave, worked for 6, and now I am off again until I find a job. I didn't get the one I interviewed for this week- the person they hired most likely had more spec. ed courses than I do! It's ok, the only reason I applied is to try to get into the school system here.
WI was cancelled due to the blizzard.
DH and I may go to Calgary this weekend. (10 hrs!) We will find out tonight. It will be hard to be away from dd, especially since I am still nursing! But I know that it would be REALLY good for us to have some time alone. I have not been feeling very romantic lately!
How close to goal is everyone here? Some of you have your goals posted, but not everyone, and I am just curious!

Tara, sorry you didn't get the job, but it only means that it wasn't meant to be and there is a better one out there for you I'm sure you will enjoy the trip, are you going ot pump then to keep up your supply? Might be a good idea I worked full time too before I went on leave, it was definitely a change. The worst part was when I had to go off work before baby came due to PIH, pregnancy induced hypertension, it was on "couch rest" as my doctor called it. That was very boring I keep myself busy all day and there is always stuff left on my "to do" list at the end of everyday.
Gotta go to bed....

Well, to be honest I don't totally remember my goals anymore BUT... I have lost 9 pounds since the start of this. As well as making it to the gym, eating healthy and drinking the green tea!! Great motivation!! I was stuck for a long time but have finally made the jump to losing again!!

Diana- I'm not upset about the job, it will be nice to have a longer break! I had high bp in my pregnancy too, but was able to avoid bed rest. The fortunate thing is that it usually only happens with the first pregnancy- so we should both be ok if we have more children! Do you want to have more? We aren't going to Calgary now. It will probably be another quiet weekend at home. Are you doing anything fun for Valentine's Day?
Golfergirl- 9 lbs is GREAT! A lot of that has just come off in the past week, right? How long until you leave on your trip? Are you and dh doing anything special tomorrow?
Do you drink decaf green tea? What brand and kind do you drink? Right now I have the lipton stuff in the little round container that is resealable. It is ok, but I have had better!
I am off to another good start today. I have finally wrapped my mind around the fact that I just have to do the plan! I am going to the gym this afternoon, have started my daily journal, and didn't get on the scale yesterday or today!
Do any of you ever cook with black beans and have any yummy recipes? I have surfed the recipe threads here, but haven't found anything appealing.

Tara- The 9 lbs. has just come off in the last week. Monday I was at 185 and today I am at 179...I am thrilled. We have been eating salads, one for lunch, snacks (grapes), breakfast (banana or apple) and a LARGE salad for supper with good stuff. And I have been pushing myself harder at the gym as well!! So FINALLY it's come off. I don't remember the green tea that I have been drinking. It's the hot stuff, it's been so cold that it's nice to have the hot stuff. It's the cheap stuff that I bought at Target... I only drink 2 glasses a day. We leave for FL next Friday...I can't wait. I was hoping to lose 10 lbs in 2 weeks but maybe it will even be more. I just want to fit into some of my comfy clothes before I leave...even if I "have to" go buy some more just to have some fun clothes that fit really good!! :-) Any excuse to shop is fine by me :-) For Valentine's Day we are just staying in, I am making a large (fattening) supper. Scallops with truffle oil, veal mushroom ravioli, Chocolate Mayonaisse Cake (sounds gross but's fabulous!!) in a heart shaped pan!! I am getting movies tonight and we will have a nice quiet, cuddly night at home :-)

Anyway, today has been good. I had an apple for breakfast and a piece of pizza for lunch, and now I am chewing gum to keep my attention from food!! I leave work at 2 on Friday's so I am ready to go!!!! I have to go grocery shopping for tomorrow night!!

Thanks for all the support, I will be back on the boards Monday looking for the next challenge!! I am on a roll and this weight is GOING to come off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a good weekend everyone!!

Congrats again on acheiving such a great loss- you have worked hard and deserve it! I hope you enjoy your romantic evening. Scallops with truffle oil sounds so yummy!

I am having a great day- went shopping/walking with a friend, then I am forfitting my cardio day at the gym in order to go for an outdoor walk with my sis and a friend. I am OP, even though I wanted to order something really good for lunch I just didn't!! The weekend may be tough- I have company, Valentines Day, then big supper at my Grandpa's Sunday....I will exercise lots and be careful, and get through it!
Anyone else have obstacles this weekend?
TTYL!

Golfergirl, you have been very successful, keep it up You're in the 170's, I want to be there too! Ahhh...soon.......That supper you're making sounds super, you msut be a very good and adventuresome cook. I hope you really enjoy your trip. We'll be here when you come back And ready to go on the next challenge. You sound like you're up to it as well.

Tara, to answer your question, yes I think we'd like to expand our family, what about you guys? And about VD, I'm sure we don'e do anything too exciting, but I will mke him share the chocolates I'm giving him Sorry, I don't cook with the black beans. I hope you enjoyed your walk with the girls, how's the snow situation now? We're going to friends for supper tomorrow, hopefully I'll do well there, best of luck to you during your hard weekend.
Diana

Well, Valentine's Day is here...what are the results?
I had aimed to lose 10lbs, and lost 6. Not so bad, but I really didn't work to acheive this goal. With a little more effort I could have reached my goal. So I am ready for another challenge...how about everyone else?
Diana- Did you get your dh some good chocolates? Mine just got a card. Did you get your anything? We got our daughter something quite un-Valentinelike. Have you seen the LeapFrog Fridge magnet set? She had played with one at a friend's house and loved it, so we got her one. There are so many great learning toys! But, I will stop myself there! I could talk kids or weight loss all day!!
Do you have far to go to be in the 170's? I really want to be back in the 160's!
I read something around here somewhere that made a lot of sense to me. It basically said that you may plateau at the same place when losing weight that you did when gaining. For me, this means that although I was lucky enough to be around 163 for months, while eating like a monster, I may get stuck there on the way back down. Just something to think about!
I am going to go start a new challenge. I really hope to see you all there- but you should post how you did with this one too!