Hi Corinna and Renee - Well so far it has just been a combination of diet and exercise and willpower. At first I was snacking and binging and that would drive my weight back up a couple of pounds and then of course I would have to re-lose that. But over the past 8 weeks I have been doing a lot better, just dealing with the inevitable hunger pangs and ignoring them and trying to stay on plan. It's going to be a very long haul from my current weight down to 100kg. 100 kg (220 lb) is still not ideal but I will work on that when I get there.

One of the hardest things to learn was exercise balance. It's too easy for me to overeat just a little and undo whatever gains I may have made from daily exercise. If I exercise too much, it really increases hunger. For me I think it's mostly in the diet, and exercising enough to keep moving and keep the metabolism up. The only thing I do is daily walking and some Kinect/Xbox weight/toning exercises 3/4 days a week.

Hello to the group - today is a small non-scale victory for me; it is my 11th anniversary since I stopped smoking on Dec 10th, 2002.

Good for you, Darius...that's a wonderful milestone

Darius, that is not a small victory. Eleven years is a big victory!!!! Congratulations.

Walking is a good exercise. I enjoy it. It helps relieve stress too. I like to do it after I get done eating. That way my stomach doesn't feel too full when I go to sleep.

Renee - how are you doing? Did you get a lot of snow?

I really need to get back on an exercise plan. I have some time before the New Year starts. Need to think about how I want to approach this effort to make it successful. Types of daily food/exercise. I think Darius is wise to think about the balance between them.

Corinna, I'm doing well, but my diet, not so much Too many parties and temptations around. I'm aiming for next year to really get going and drop this extra weight.

We only got a couple of inches of snow, but then it turned to sleet and we got an icy mess. It has melted some...I don't mind the snow, but ice can be treacherous.....I need to get out and do a little Christmas shopping today. We usually have a very small and quiet Christmas.. not much family left. Have a great rest of the week!

Hey folks!

Welcome darius! Congratulations on your progress.

I weighed-in a little early since of been slacking off and avoiding the scale. I'm hovering around the same weight - 153. We will see what Saturday brings.
Have we lost Jillie and Deelou? Hope not.

I am still here and staying the same, trying to get thyroid in check so I can add exercise, the last week was good but the last two days terrible fatigue again....

Hang in there Deelou.

Good job not gaining any weight Lizzie.

Renee, hope you have a good week too. I will be starting again with the New Year as well.

Hello everyone it is Friday weigh-in day.

Renee good luck in all of that snow and ice. I have never before heard of the 7 fishes even though I have been to Napoli and I thought I would have heard of it by now.
Corinna I agree with you about walking. I have to wait until I am down to about 120 kg before I can start jogging again. I don't want to hurt my knees. I know something about running from my marine corps days and I can't rush it. I was using the C25K about 2.5 years ago and it's a good program.
Crimzon thank you too for the words of support this week.

Goal: lose 30 lb
Start date: 6 Dec 2013
----------------------------------------------------
........................................LOSS pounds
12/06......138.6 kg...............0.0 lb.....Start
12/13......136.3 kg...............-5.1 lb
12/20...............kg.....................lb
12/27...............kg.....................lb
12/31...............kg.....................lb
........................................-5.1 lb TOTAL

Darius, you did really good this week

Thank you Renee it was some kind of ridiculous water whoosh. I'm not fasting or anything. I average about 2 pounds a week.

Well, looks like we're in for another snow storm....expecting up to 6 inches. It sure will look pretty and make for a white Christmas I have a Christmas luncheon today and will try to behave myself...have a great day everyone!

Wow Darius! That is great!! Your doing good.

Renee, travel safely in the snow.

We had our Christmas party at work today. I didn't attend because I knew I would eat too much and be mad at myself later. Now I am just sad because I didn't join in on the party. If only I had stronger will power.

Thank you Corinna!
Renee be careful traveling. It hasn't snowed here yet but last year our first big snow was on Dec 9th.