I have maintained loss for about a month now, so its time for me to burn burn burn those calories and loose as much as possible by christmas.

I have just bought a cross trainer, so I plan on an hour of that a night, at least 5 days a week every day until christmas day...

I'm going to see how many lbs I can loose...
I know over christmas I am going to put weight on, I always do - but at least now I know I have the motivation and encouragement I need to loose it.

It would be great for me to loose 7lbs by then, as this was my original target for the year back when I made my new years resolutions.

If I make this it will be the first time every I have kept all resolutions! Will have to think of some more to make for next year, being as I wont be able to use the ones I did again!

Maybe one should be to reach my new target and maintain there for a year - I don't know yet!

Hi loopy!
Congrats it sounds like you are really going after your goal.
Good luck on your 7 pounds by Christmas!
I am also trying to lose about 7 pounds by Christmas. I'm hoping they'll hurry up and install the skating rink at the park near my house so I can burn some extra calories

What exactly is your cross trainer-exercise wise? The reason I am asking, is because if it is strength training-you need to allow 48 hours in between the workouts to allow for muscle repair. There are so many exercise machines out there right now-that I am unsure of exactly what you haev purchased.

If it has strength training properties-and I know that you are a runner-it would be better if you alternated days-use the machine one day, ran or did other cardio the next, and so forth.

what's your calorie level? It could be that you're doing too much exercise and you're not fuelling yourself properly. What do you eat on a typical day? Do you zig-zag calories? There's more to losing than exercise...

I dont tend to zig zag...
On a typical day I have bran flakes and skimmed milk for breakfast (normally bout 3 or 4 spoonfuls), I have a sandwhich (perhaps turkey) with wholemeal bread and no butter and as an evening meal I have noodles or soup or beans on toast.

At this time I dont think it is possible for me to eat any more... I feel happy with the amounts and if I do eat more my stomach really hurts and feels bloated.

The cross trainer is cardio. It works your arms and legs and mid via a kind of upright pedalling action. It is supposed to be easier on your joints than most other machines. I do have some muscle toning equipment, such as a sit up bench and weight, and yes I do these every other day.

Are you eating any fruits or vegetables?

yes I am... as snacks...
days when I dont have sandwhiches for lunch I have a mini tin of fruit.

i`m plannig to loose at least 22 pounds for xmas, so is gonna be a hard month for me, but i`m confident that i can do it. I just get a static bike so i`m going to combine a strict diet (but healthy) with exercise. Good luck everyone with your xmas goals

my cross trainer shud be here 2mora... that gives me 2mora night to build it up and start exercising with it. Hour a night at least 5 days a week before xmas. And in between xmas and new years eve, its about 5 weeks, so hopefully I will have lot my 7lbs to reach my original target.

Next year I will then go for under 140.

IMHO I don't think you're eating enough to fuel your body to keep going all day AND an hour of cardio at the end of it.

You hardly have any good fats in your diet, how about adding advocados and flax seed and sesame seeds?

PLUS - 3 or 4 spoonfuls of branflakes isn't really enough to wake your metabolism up in the morning! I know, I tried the half a rich tea biscuit for breakfast thing, you know you gotta eat breakfast to boost your metabolism. I thought a biscuit would do it - no wonder I ended up passing out by 4pm!

If you zig-zag you might be surprised at how your body reacts. I'd ramble on about starvation mode etc etc but it's been said lots of times before on here. Thing is, the more you eat, the faster your metabolism and the easier your body burns fat. It doesn't think there's a famine and tends to use up those stores more easily than if you ate 200kcals a day. Of course you have to strike the balance between enough to keep your metabolism going and little enough to lose weight.

Also, the "last 10lbs" or whatever are VERY hard to lose. Simply because you are lighter, your body is used to eating less which both contribute to slowing your metabolism.

If I was in your position I would step away from the scales, lift some heavy weights and eat some more every other day to rev your metabolism.

You might like to read this article http://www.skwigg.com/id32.html

Although, that's just my opinion. As they say, you can lead a horse to water!

I really do appreciate everyones opinions as this is something that is proving so difficult now.
I find it really hard to eat more than I am at the moment....
First thing in the morning the last thing I really want to do is eat.

Oh well xmas shopping 2mora, dont know whether to go for 12s or 14s.

Here's some food for thought -> http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=98923

The last two weeks I havent exercised at all, thinking I could kick start things with my new cross trainer..
Next week I plan on at least 30 mins a day, if not more, eating my calorie controlled diet too...
If I can get 2lbs a week between now and new year I shall be ecstatic. Mainly due to their being an xmas party that I want to look really thin at to prove a point... but also becuase it'd make a dream come true.

At the moment I also have no lighting in my gazebo where my gym is so it really doesnt help to get home in the dark and try to exercise....

Bring on light nights. )