Hey ladies and gent,

I just wanted to report that although I've been a tad scarce (well, compared to how I *was*) I am getting back in the saddle. Since coming back to school I've been pretty stressed and had a rough time readjusting, but I am officially back on track. My best friend and I signed up for the gym together today, and we promised to keep each other on track,and after just one workout I feel 100% better. Although she is a skinny little thing, she wants to get fit and in shape, and I want to lose weight, so we should work well together and it doesn't make me uncomfortable at all.

Here's the reason I wanted to post: I know that without reading this board, I probably would have let it all fall to the wayside. I really need to be reminded that this is important, like a baby, and even though I'm doing it for me, I wanted to thank you all for being such positive influences just by sharing your successes and struggles. Thank you all for being you! I promise to try and respond to more of your posts.

Now a big group hug!

Dana, my Rockygirl, you are makin' me so proud! I'm thrilled that you're going to the gym now, and that you have a workout buddy for support. It's great to hear that all of us here were helpful to you, but you should reserve some credit for yourself for not just withdrawing completely when you weren't doing so well on plan....and it's great to have you back!

That is great. I know when I was in college, I loved having access to the gym and went frequently. I even took a weight training class to fulfill 1 of my 4 hours of required physical activity classes. I would encourage you to try that as well either an aerobic class or something because that way you won't be tempted to say "I don't feel like going today." You'll have to go because your grade will depend on it.

I miss the gym, sometimes anyways, heh. I used to go a lot when I was in college too, it helped with all the stresses of exams, projects, labs.. etc. My friend and I used to try new stuff, like step class, kickboxing, it really mixed it up, and was a great bonding experience. Not to mention fun!

It's funny how just visiting this site and reading the posts can give you that extra motivation, it's become a habit for me, I get up, sit down with water, listen to the news and read about whats going on with everyone else. Even though I'm not 100% on track, just keeping in mind that I'm trying to lose weight helps resist those little treats (vanilla latte, NOT with skin milk thank you very much ).