Everyone is welcome to jump right in with your goals for the month of November!

Our main goal at this thread is to remain ON PLAN (or OP for short) whatever our plans may be. Everyone is different. Feel free to join in! Whether you are a Weight Watcher, a Calorie Counter, a South Beacher, an Intermittent Faster, or anything else in between, it doesn't matter as long as you have some goals that you want to achieve!

November Challenge:

1. Stay ON PLAN through the month of November. Come here to the board if you feel like you are going to go off-course and need some support!
2. Set a weight loss goal only if you feel comfortable doing so.
3. Set a goal of how many days you’d like to do some form of exercise every week.
4. Set a goal of how many days you’re going to VISIT THIS THREAD and check in with us. This is important and a great way to stay on track.

Anything else you’d like to track here for the month, please do so! Feel free to track your daily eating, daily exercising...anything you'd like! We are here for each other because we're all here for a common goal: to be healthy and happy!! Let's all have a great month!! WE CAN DO IT!!!

Thanks for starting the November thread, GettinFit!

I am weighing in on Friday to see where I am at three months after hitting goal. I try to stay off the scale as much as possible, but I haven't been super strict with my calorie counting, so I want to see where I am at and see what adjustments I need to make from there. I would like to shoot for being in the 150s by Christmas, so we'll see what happens! My husband and I are officially TTC starting this month, so if it happens it happens, but if it doesn't I am just going to continue on my path of healthy eating and trying to stick to calorie counting!

Here are my goals for November:

• Stay on plan with my calorie levels and allow myself one higher calorie meal per week (because life happens!)
• Check in here more often than I did in October. I am going to try to check in daily
• Guzzle, guzzle, guzzle water
• Continue to run 3x a week doing at least 5k for each run

Good luck to everyone, and here are two of my newest favorite quotes (I liked them so much I added them to my siggy!):

"If you love the results, learn to love the process"

and

"Don't give up what you want most for what you want now."

Good morniing ladies,

Can't believe it's November already. Whew this year flew by. I am so excited that so far, I'm 27 pounds lighter than I was at the end of last year I'm looking forward to another great month and I hope to stay in this zone that I've been in. The scale is still going down for me and today I was 208.4. I sure hop it keeps going down and don't get stuck again.

Emme - Great job on giving away the M&Ms and I hope you made it through the rest of the day okay. You have been such a motivator for me to stick with my plan. I can't wait to join you in maintenance.

Penguin - Sorry to hear you've been sick. I hope you're better and I hope you have a great month with your weight loss.

I hope everyone has a great OP day. WE CAN DO IT!!!

Hi fellow beauties,

So I fell off of posting regularly last month while dealing with a bunch of stuff and am proud to say that I've pretty much maintained my weight, dropped two inches around my waist and developed an exercise habit! Maintenance wasn't the goal really but I struggled last month with staying OP in the midst of everything...I think I genuinely stayed OP like 60% of the time. So I'm still gonna go for 100% but instead of thinking about my efforts in terms of months, I'm gonna just focus on 100% one day at a time.

Last night I was doing some meditating (meditation is also something that became a daily habit last month) and in the midst of it I came up with 8 health commitments. They are:

1. Be aware of what I am eating (portion control, its appearance, and if possible, its source)
2. Write down everything that I eat (whether through WeightWatchers or Livestrong, another great place to track my intake).
3. 6 Fruits and Vegetables Per Day
4. At least 10 minutes of exercise daily, 5 days per week minimum (calendar idea)
5. Meditate daily
6. Six cups of water daily
7. Explore and utilize alternate sources of protein (no reliance on meat)
8. When choosing what to eat, make the best choice possible for my body and mind.

Those are the commitments I've made to myself as of last night - some of these things are already habit, and some not so much yet but I'm working on it, one day at a time.

I'll also be doing a couple of other things, like checking in with this thread, attending my WeightWatchers meetings and using Livestrong to help track my sugar intake (I'm pre-diabetic and so I need to cut down my sugar intake - Livestrong's Daily Plate feature is great for tracking sugar intake or intake of a particular nutrient).

Looking forward to sharing with everyone! And congrats to the ladies who did AWESOME last month!!

GettinFit - whoo hoo!! congrats on your weight loss!! Mental Rehearsing is such a great tool to help with weight loss particularly in the case of something like a cruise, where you just know that you are going to be confronted with tons of food! You will do great on the cruise! I also like the Reframing tool, which has helped me with my emotional eating challenges.

Emme - Love those quotes! Good luck with your new WL goal - looking forward to hearing about your progress!

GettinFit ~ It is awesome that you are 27 pounds lighter than you were at the end of last year! And 208 is a great number...you are getting closer and closer to onederland. Keep up the great work!

Tricia ~ Congrats on the two inches dropped and the exercise habit. Exercise is so great for you physically and mentally. And, yes, one day at a time is sometimes the best route to go. I love your health commitments. It sounds like you are really focusing on mindful eating. Good luck to you this month!

I am so glad it is the start of a new month. I started getting a sore throat last night, got extremely tired, and my husband brought home Halloween candy from work. So, what did I do? I ate it. Blech. I seriously have to conquer this eating-when-exhausted thing. I become a zombie and at that point there is nothing in my mentality that says "don't eat that." I honestly think I eat it so I can stay awake from the sugar rush which isn't good. That is something I really, truly need to work on this month.

Anyway, Happy November! It's a bright, sunny day here and I'm excited to see what this month brings. I'm weighing in on Friday, so I am just going to keep drinking water and doing the best I can...and trying to overcome this tired-eating thing I've been struggling with!

My November Goals

1. continue OP with food, Dukan Diet Cruise phase

2. Try to lose at least 8.4 lbs to get to 191 and move from Obese to Overweight.

3. 30 minutes or more activity daily. I had 20 minutes as my goal before but really need to push myself to make it 30 consistently.

4. check in daily (and try to do personals when I can! but i will still check in even when I can't do them)

Starting weight 11/1: 199.4

Here we all are in November. I was just thinking that I can't believe it's been 2 months since school started. I think that was about how long it has been since I found you all too. (Thanks to Gettin'.) Well, I'm tired of talking about how my exercise is going well but my eating isn't. Especially since my exercise isn't even going so great anymore. I'm back up to 214. I have been there all weekend and didn't manage to eat well enough to get back down before WI. So, I'm so glad for a new month.

My goals:
1) Post often.
2) Work out for 30 minutes at least 5 times a week. (If I do it in small chunks, I will add another 15 minutes.)
3) OP one day at a time. (Tricia, I see you are in the same boat with me here.) I CAN be OP for just today! I may switch between plans during the next few weeks. But, I will do whatever plan I am doing (WW PP, WW Core or counting calories) for at least one week. No switching in between weeks.
4) Count my OP days and aim for 60 between now and the start of 2012. (This is my BOOTCAMP 60 DAY CHALLENGE!)
5) I'm not really setting a weight loss goal but I do hope to be in Onederland by the beginning of the year.

NO MORE EXCUSES.

Sheila - I have no doubt that you'll do great on your trip. You won't want to gain what you've lost! CONGRATS on your great loss since the beginning of the year.

Emme - I know what you mean about being a zombie when tired and mindlessly eating sugar. It's a common struggle for me. I have been really trying to get more sleep to combat that. A couple of good days and that will be a thing of the past!!

April - Good call on posting even if you don't have time for personals! I will keep that in mind too.

Tricia - Great job losing those inches even during a stressful time. It's you and me doing one day at a time!

It's going to be a great month. I think my challenge will really help me like last time. Only I will not stop counting if I have one bad day this time. It really messed up my mental game before!

I'm doing core this week and will post my menus for accountability. I did so much better when I did that.

Tues. Day 1
B~dutch pancake, sf syrup, cantelope, decaf w/sf creamer 2
L~veggie soup 1 pt (has tomato soup in it which is not core)
Sn~popcorn 3,cantelop, diet pop
D~?? I'll think on this and be back.

Exercise: 3 15 minute sessions of stationary bike

AprilSnow ~ Congrats on being 199.4!! Welcome to onederland!!

workinmom ~ You have some great goals. Don't worry about being up a smidge...some water flushing and healthy eating will knock that right down! And I like that you aren't going to stop counting if you have an off-day...you don't want any other things messing with your mind when you're trying to stay focused! You'll get your exercise groove back, too.

I'm the reverse: I've got my exercise groove going, but not so much my eating! I got my 3.2 mile run in this morning on the treadmill and the last 10 minutes were absolutely brutal. I think it's because I'm at the start of a cold and just feeling worn down in general. It was really hard to finish it (especially since at any time I can just hop off and stop), but I managed. Lots of mental push work happening this morning.

Thanks Cammie - I'm going to give it my all this month too. I hope you can gain control and get back on track. Tell yourself that if you don't get control now, the scale will be up another pound and it will keep going up. I know you can do it.

Emme - I hope November is a great month for you with your eating and I hope you can shake the cold.

Tricia - Great job on maintaining and not gaining any weight. Yep I really like those tools from WW. When you use them they really do work. I hope you have an awesome month.

April - On making onederland! Save a spot for me.

Today's Journal
B: Toast with Laughing Cow wedge, 1/2 C skim milk, coffee w/flavored creamer
L: Chicken breast, cabbage, 1/2 C roasted potatoes, Skinny Cow Heavenly Crisp bar
S: Almonds, apple, Coke Zero
D: Progresso reduced sodium soup, Skinny Cow Candy pouch
Exercise: Walked 3 miles

I need a consistent group to check in with and stay ON PLAN. May I join you? I used this site years ago and cannot remember how it works or how to tag things so that I can follow posts. I am a 43 year old RN and mom/wife. I am at my heaviest weight ever and am miserable and just cannot seem to stay on track. I like WW because I can eat varied foods but just cannot seem to stick with it. I also know that I need to exercize regularly even with my crazy schedule.
Goals starting today:
Stay within my points
Exercise on my days off (I work 12-14 hour days 3x and week and those days vary)
Drink more water

Alliern - Yes, please join in! It sounds like you have the right mindset to hang out right here with us! Your goals look good! I was just directed to this site not too long ago and it's very encouraging. I think you'll like it. Post often so we get to know you. Also, a warning, it's a busy group with posting so try to check in every day or it's easy to feel out of the loop.

Gettin - I like the variety in your menu and your plan for treats. Maybe someday I will be able to do that but for now, I'd better not. You're so right about the scale going up if I don't get myself in check! I don't want to keep wrestling with the same couple of pounds!

Emme- Great job doing your run even when it was tough. Those are the kind of exercise days that are the most rewarding when they're done. I keep thinking of your strenuous mud run a few weeks ago. I think I would love to try something like that.

I had to come and post. I just picked up Mexican for my son for lunch. He wanted a lunch date with Mom as he had something to talk out with me. I actually just picked up his food and ate my healthy soup. He offered me a taste and I turned that down as well!! It's a NEW ME! On points, I may have taken a bite and factored it in. I felt differently about it today. It's my first day doing CORE and by golly, I can make it through one day!

Welcome, Alliern! We are happy to have you join us! It is definitely hard to eat right and exercise with crazy, busy schedules...I can definitely relate! Your goals sound really good. And if you have an "off" day where it is rough, just brush yourself off and keep going. This is a great support group and we really keep each others' spirits lifted and encouraged!

workinmom ~ Congrats on not giving into temptation! That rocks!