Brand new month, brand new thread!

4 more weeks until Halloween

This Challenge thread is a place where we can all come to share our progress, our struggles, our triumphs, and to cheer on those who are committed to a healthier lifestyle, and to just talk!

Let's make this an October to remember!

Morning ladies!

Motivation level: 8

Today is going to be a good day. It's my day off from work, it's payday, it's a new month, everything is good. I'm back at 199 this morning, so I guess September is just a total write-off for me. And that's ok, because I am going to kick some *major* butt in October.

We all are going to kick some major butt in October, aren't we, chickies?

Today's food... I dunno. On my days off it's hard to predict. I might have a light breakfast then go to Subway for lunch. Dinner... I'll find something healthy to fix, since I'll actually be here to cook for once. That is, if we have any food in the house, which I'm not sure we do.

Anyway, I'm going to go get started on my day. I'll be back this afternoon. Have a wonderful day, chickies!
~Elisha

New month = new start. Thank God!!!!! I always feel like I can achieve anything in the beginning of the month!!! Let's get it started right!!! WATP here I come!

Hey chickies! Today pretty much slipped away from me no sooner than I started the new thread. Sheesh. I had 2 clients waiting when our doors opened, who literally held me hostage in my own cubicle until 11:30. Needless to say, I've been behind ever since.

Cottage double for breakfast grew hot on my desk while dealing with them, so that was a bust. I've got my Zone bars for the car ride out to my mom's tonight. Weekend with Mom is just the therapy that I need right now, after the days from **** that I've had this week.

Everyone, have a great weekend, and I will peek in if I can. Don't know how things will shape up, but I will have food, water & exercise pretty well taken care of.



I'll miss you, chickies!!!!

Well, it looks like it's officially slowed down for the weekend around here!

Today is going ok for me, though not quite as quickly as I had hoped. I didn't even finish running errands until around 3:30, then I fixed myself some lunch, and that didn't turn out as I had hoped either. I got a lovely avocado to put in my quesadilla, but the stupid thing wasn't even ripe enough to eat! So I put it in the food processor to make some guacamole, and it's not even ripe enough for that. Funny thing is, I checked it at the store and it seemed perfect. *sigh*
Oh well, I didn't really need those calories anyway.

Breakfast: 2 sl. red. cal wheat toast, 1 oz. deli ham, 1 sl. American cheese, coffee w/creamer
Lunch: quesadilla w/salsa and ff cheese, a few bites of guacamole, diet cherry coke
Dinner: salmon cakes, french fries, broccoli and cauliflower, water

And there will be exercise at some point today, I absolutely promise. I still have a lot of cleaning to do, in advance of dinner preparations (which actually shouldn't take too long), plus I'm planning on rearranging my bedroom this evening and cleaning everything really well. That will take a while.

Anyway, I'd better get busy. Have a great weekend, chicks!
~Elisha

Hi All!

I think I can officially post myself as one pound lighter now! I was 173.5 on Sat and Today during a time my stomach was pretty empty. And I was 174.5 on Wed. So am going with 175 for now.

I wore a pair of pants today that I couldn't breathe in about a month ago...so I can see the progress. Amazing how even 5 pounds can make a difference!

I am emotionally exhausted as this morning I met with the potential buyer for our small company that I work for. It actually was a very good meeting and I thought it went well. Still stressful, even if he seems like a good guy. If he buys I know one thing for sure...I'm going to be working my A** off as he plans to grow the business FAST. I have had a gravey job for 4 years...wish it would last a little longer!! WAAAAAAA

My eating has been ok this week. I haven't eaten all the best foods, but I haven't eaten much of the bad stuff either. Calories are ok...just need to get back to the veggies, etc.

Birdiegirl

hello all!

Todays food was less than stellar. I started out ok with cheerios&milk & tea this AM.....then I got to work and my friend brought in BIG raspberry muffins to give us strength (today we did all the end of month reports and stuff and sent out 1000 AR statements).....then another gal brought in home-baked chocolate cupcakes, with centers of choco chips and cream cheese (and they were as good as they sound). Well, after that much food, I skipped lunch - not a good thing to do, I know, but I certainly wasn't hungry! I ran thru McD's for dinner....a chicken mcgrill.....only about 400 calores but enough sodium to last me thru next April! I guess I didn't go overboard on calories....but it certainly wasn't the most nutritious day either.

Hikein....you are probably packing for Chicago about now....or maybe already on the road. Wow, I haven't been to the Windy City in soooooo long......used to love going shopping downtown and over to Water Tower Place. And the pizza!.........good thing there was always a lot of walking to work that off!

Dilleight.....20 pounds down! Look at you! I know how hard to have worked.....and it is paying off!

Birdie.....glad the meeting went well.....now all you have to do is convince the new guy you are indispensable!

Keep your fingers crossed for my weigh-in day tomorrow! ......

Evening ladies!

Today was good. I had a nice visit with a friend and I got a lot of stuff done, including eating well and exercising! Yay! I just did 30 minutes on the stairclimber and an extended upper body circuit! I even got a full 64 oz. of water today! And dinner actually went as I had planned, so there were vegetables involved. And calories came in at 1325, which is just totally awesome.

I got my room all cleaned and moved around, and I can actually breathe in here now. I can't watch tv though, only videos or dvd's, because I have to find a longer cable to reach where I want it to reach, but it's ok, because I still need to move a few things, and I don't really watch that much tv anyway. Now I just need to clean off my desks (yes, I have two in my room, one for my computer, and the other is basically just a vanity, but both of them end up with all the random crap I collect piled on them) and I'll be all set! I feel so much better when things are clean. I can't wait until I get my own place so I can just make it clean and keep it clean. It next to impossible when there are 4 people living here, plus a herd of pets, and only 1 person cleaning. *sigh*

All in good time, all in good time.

So yeah, today was good. Now if they would hurry up with the security check so I could actually start my new job, all would be well. And it would be nice if I could spend some time with Steve, but that is coming up on Sunday and Monday, so I really can't complain about that. I just haven't gotten to see him all week!

Ok, I'm going to try to calm my brain down a little. I hope everyone is doing fabulous this evening and having a wonderful weekend!
~Elisha

Morning chicks!

Motivation level: 7

I actually decided against exercise this morning (it's so hard to make myself do it in the mornings!), so I'll be sure to get it in tonight. I felt really good after doing that UB circuit last night. I hope I can make that a permanent part of my routine this month. However, with this 100-mile Challenge, perhaps I should be focusing a bit more on that and add weights next month. I dunno. I think I'll try to add them now, and if it doesn't happen I'll try again next challenge. Hey, maybe strength training could be part of our next challenge?

Anyway, today should be ok. Work 10-7, so that pretty much shoots the entire day. But then I have tomorrow and Monday off. Tomorrow I get to go to a Ben Folds concert--I'm so excited!--and I'm making dinner for Steve. Then Monday we're going up to a local state park to check out the changing foliage (autumn is beautiful in WV!), and we're packing a picnic and our hiking shoes, so it should be a rather healthy day. Then only a few more days of work and I'm on vacation! I'm not going anywhere this time--well, I'm going to Cincinnati for 2 days--but I'm going to get all of my fall cleaning done. I'm going to clear out all of my old clothes that don't fit and give them away. That way I won't be able to grow back into them, and they'll be helping someone who actually needs them. Besides, I could use the closet space!

As for what I'm going to eat today:

Breakfast: coffee w/creamer, tortilla w/deli ham, cheese, and scrambled eggs
Lunch: diet vanilla coke, leftover salmon cakes and broccoli and cauliflower, rice cakes
Dinner: No idea. Mom and Dad both get off work early, which means they'll either fix a nice dinner here, or go out, but it's hard to tell which. If they don't fix anything I'll probably have either another salmon cake or a Boca burger.

There will be exercise at some point this evening, hopefully at least 30 minutes on the stairclimber, maybe a lower body circuit, but those are kind of hard for me to do when I've just been working my LB on the stairclimber for half an hour. We'll see.

Ok, off to face the day! Have a great one, chicks!
~Elisha

Just got back from riding and weighed myself at 172...that's the lowest I've seen my scale in probably 2 years...I lowered my signature another pound to 174...which will be what I weigh after I eat some lunch, etc. I think I'm on a roll now.

I did have some snacks this week, but in moderation. I bought a big hersheys bar (if you eat the whole thing it is 400 calories!)...I savored about 1/3 of it as my snack on Thursday at work and I left the rest of the candy bar in my desk for 2 more snacks next week. I was craving chocolate and this satisfied it. I took small bites and made it last a long time.

I felt really strong riding today, my legs have gotten so much stronger. Which helps with my confidence in the saddle. There is no room for lack of confidence when dealing with horses (they KNOW how you are feeling and will take advantage of ya in a second!).

Have a great weekend. Hubby and I are going out to eat tonight...will be a challenge to find something healthy. I haven't eaten much yet today though, so calories won't be an issue.

Birdiegirl

Hello All

My weigh in today turned out great.....officially, I am down 5 pounds for the month of September! This is the first time in nearly forever that I have made that kind of progress......always lost a couple pounds, gained a couple pounds, over and over again .....and I know it is due to this challenge board and all you beautiful ladies keeping me focused! Thank you Thank you Thank you! I am so pumped right now....what a great way to start October!

Birdie.....and you lost too! You are awesome! And.....don't think i would add those extra 2 "lunch" pounds......read that scale the way it is and go with it!

Elisha.....you got the exercise on track now! Strength training with the next challenge is a great idea! I have been doing the aerobic/cardio stuff, but by the looks of my arms, I should add some weights to my program.

Eating today has been......well, like it was the weekend. Breakfast was oatmeal with milk and raisins and a big glass of water.....we were out running errands around lunch time, so I did a couple granola bars and more water......tonight is the annual neighborhood potluck, so trying to keep things in line will be a challenge.

Have a great weekend!

Blarg, I am up two pounds. I am mad and sad and frustrated. I don't want to be this way, deep inside it's like I know this isn't the life I want to live. So now I'm more determined. But on the other hand, I'm disappointed.

You might not really be up my weight jumps about all the time.

I wondered where everyone was and just typed a long post on the old one! You can read it there! I'm going to bed!

I'll read in the morning the rest of the posts!

Morning chicks!

Motivation level: 5

Well, this weekend wasn't incredibly terrible. There was no exercise involved though. I did get in some quality time with the bf, so that it good. And we got to see Ben Folds in concert, and he's just plain awesome. And there was a yummy dinner, and cheesecake for dessert (I know, bad girl!), but my calories weren't actually too bad, and I had a whole bunch "in the bank" anyway, and still do.
Today will be decent where food is concerned, and exercise. I'm going to exercise as much as possible today, try to get ahead, or at least caught up, on the 100 mile Challenge.
Obviously the rest of my weekend plans got changed. Steve had to work today because he's going to miss Saturday, and I might do the same. We'll see.

Ok, I just completely lost my train of thought, so I'll be back later. Have a great day, chickies!
~Elisha