NEW for 2008 - 40 LBS to Lose Club - GROUP NOW CLOSED!!! (sorry)

All -- this is a continuation of the original 40 LBS to lose club started by JDBECKERS.  Due to the inactivity of the thread starter as well as the drop out of some of it's members, it was decided that we would begin a new thread. 

We are looking for people who are SERIOUS about coming to check in, taking the weekly challenges seriously, offering support and asking for it when needed.  Weigh-in's will be on Friday.  Some of us no longer have 40 LBS left to lose, but because that is where we started and how we initially bonded, we are continuing with that title. 

All those interested:  Please include the following information - we would like true starting points for everyone -- I will include my own information first.

Age:  32
Ht:  5' 5"
Current weight:  165
Goal weight:  135 - 140
Starting weight:  189
Weaknesses:  chocolate, sweets and bread.

I look forward to hearing from you all and being an encourager to help everyone (including myself) reach their goals!!!

I almost forgot!!! 
1/2/08 Challenge:  Stop beating yourself up over holiday indulgences.  Restart one healthy habit from pre holiday 2007 (or before that if necessary!)  :)
1/7/08 Challenge:  Get to the gym (or your workout equivalent at least 3 times this week.  Whatever your workout is - GIVE IT YOUR ALL! :)
1/14/08 Challenge:  Fit in an extra serving of fruit or veggies every day this week (which means you will ultimately have to eat the required daily allowance, THEN an extra serving daily)!
1/21/08 Challenge:  Log EVERYTHING that you eat on this week - from the biggest thing to the smallest - even bites of something count.  It is not necessary to use the log on CC, and estimates are fine.  Good luck!
2/4/08 Challenge:  Make ONE VERY AMBITIOUS goal for yourself and make small changes to reach it.  Let us know what the goal is - maybe others can offer advice/tips on how to help you reach it!
2/18/08 Challenge:  Do something good for your body today - it can be anything from making a doctors appointment to check on an ache or pain, to having a mani/pedi/or facial to give your winter skin some relief, or exercising a little longer/harder/faster to get it to fighting stage.  It is your call!
3/3/08 Challenge:  Try one new exercise on this week.  Feel free to alert the group to exercises you enjoyed, or really felt the burn... the goal being to shock your body into giving you a loss.  Good luck!

I have closed the group at 30 members who I have logged as follows:

Socioval
Pol_spock
Sharans
mlejoygrn
jeansmith
mahogany_horizons
brandy_m_gray
doost13
lakemom
jane3001
jjlewis305
hajduk
devbanana
tgegogeine
hitherm1
rdjustice
convertible_chic
infinityiz
kibabird
ktcort13
michelle_bachelor
kortam
malaun
candyluvr
jennip81
thewritesteph
no1ricanbeauty
darwin82much
crazineko *
Shanfood

The asterisk is for one of the original members who hasn't checked in yet...  An official welcome to you all.  As some of the original members can attest to - I have been known to pm  if I see that you haven't checked in for a while just to make sure all is well and to get you back on track.  No one has complained yet :)

Hey everyone!!! Glad to see that I am not talking to myself!!!  The scale is not being any nicer so I won't talk about that - BUT - I have been to gym two mornings in the row.  I am going this evening for the bootcamp class... I have to start going in the opposite direction! :)

 

Glad you all are here... I was getting LONELY! 

Mahogany, i can't wait until my problem is trying NOT to lose weight!!! I am going to make my goal weight by March 20th - no exceptions... then I can try and stay there and not go any further down!

Shan, glad I am not the only one bah humbugging at the COLD - I HATE COLD.  I only want to stay indoors when it is cold outside. I would love to see 140 on a scale - i wouldn't care how much fantasy was in it!  It would certainly keep me motivated!

Happy Tuesday everyone!!!   Anyone planning to take advantage of any Thanksgiving day/ day after sales?

Happy post Turkey Day everyone!  I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend, and didn't spend too much time shopping!  I had a great thanksgiving - started on Wednesday - my immediate family does thanksgiving EVE dinner, followed by Thanksgiving day dinner at a relatives house (thats our tradition - gotta love it)! :)  So Wednesday, I made two pans of mac & cheese, one for my mom's house, one for Thanksgiving day.  Then my dad got all uber sentimental on us all - cause my brother wasn't home for thanksgiving (he is away at law school), and because my dad lost his dad last month.  But he made it through and we made it through, and had a really good time going through old pictures. 

Black friday - i didn't think I could shop anymore than I did.  I hit a whopping 6 stores before 8:00am.  I ROCK! :)  Hubby got his tv, I finished shopping for everyone but the kids and my mom - she is sooooooo hard to shop for.  And you can't ask her what she wants, she wants to be surprised. UGH.

Anyway, I am at work, while the internet here is slow because of the shoppers trying to grab some deals.  I weighed in on Saturday - and I was still 156 so I guess thats ok, got to keep at the gym.  I will be there tonight hopefully, but if not definitely tomorrow. 

Have a great day everyone...

Happy Wednesday Everyone!!! I am glad that the week is almost over! :)  I made it to the gym last night - YAY ME!!! and got my butt in gear.  I was there for an hour and a half - and burned a whopping 763 calories.  Not my best but not bad.  I am feeling pretty sore today.  I took a cardio weight class - it was fun, even though the instructor had NO rhythm whatsoever! Then I FORCED myself to run my two miles afterward.  :)  I am feeling it now though but I am glad I went.

Today's challenge - staying under calories.  I don't think I did too badly meal wise yesterday... although some of the choices could have been better.  I had a honey raisin bran muffin for breakfast yesterday - it was good, but not 400+ calories good.  I will do better...  but I had soup and a half sandwich for lunch and salad for dinner (plus a couple oven fries I scarfed off the baby's plate... I was starving! :)

Have a great day everyone!

Well... Its thursday - and I am having a good week... the scale is at 155 as of yesterday... Hoping to take a little more off by tomorrow... I think the coffee is adversely affecting my weigh in.  I had no coffee from Friday to Wednesday and the scale was FINALLY nicer to me.

Today - no gym - haven't been all week! UGH.  But choir rehearsal tonight, and I am off tomorrow, so I will go and do an early workout tomorrow... weights and the Latin impact class - sounds like fun... :)

Hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season thus far!

Yeah Diva, I am here....funny I came in here at the same time you did!!   Or nearly, I mean on Thursday.  Sorry I was mia last week, but so sick with anemia.  I didn't make it to the gym not one day except friday :(  But THIS WEEK, I AM 4-FOR-FOUR, made in in Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  Unfortuantely for me, the scale is logging a gain of like 2 lbs putting me up to 130.

 

IT WAS VERY HARD GETTING UP THESE LAST 4 MORNINGS as a result of sleeping in for the past week, due to illness!  It is VERY HARD TO KEEP motivated to get up in the morning, give it your all and sweat it out!  Sometimes I just need to hear a kind word (you look great), or feel my husand squeeze my waist as he so often does now and say (you're so tiny Michele) to keep me encouraged.....BECAUSE IT IS SO HARD, SO HARD, SO HARD to keep getting up @ 6:15 every morning to walk, especially when it is cold and you don't want to leave your sunggly bed!

 

BUT I CAN'T GIVE UP ON IT, CAN'T BACK OUT ON IT, BECAUSE THIS IS HOW I LOST SOOOO MUCH WEIGHT TO BEGIN WITH....

 

Not just the calories, but the exercise...so I need to press on.

 

GREAT TO HEAR FROM YOU DIVA..

 

and great to know I can always count on you guys for support.

UGH... I have a definite love/hate relationship with the Christmas season.  I LOVE Christmas... absolutely adore it... I love having time off to hang out with the kids, and making cookies, and being a kid again... It is so much fun... What I don't like - COLD AND SNOW.  I HATE COLD WEATHER.  I really do.  It makes me want to never leave my bed.  I think it is starting earlier for us here in the midwest than normal... I woke up to single digit temperatures again.  UGH... And now it is supposed to snow 2 - 6" depending on where you live.  The worst of it is that I haven't been to the gym.  BUT since I have my cable back - hubby caved on his budgetary restraints, so I can do workouts on demand... That's tonights plan - after I help Monica study for finals... and put the baby to bed...

I hope it is warm, and sunny and glorious wherever you all are... but it is winter, so you are probably in the same predicament I am in.  LOVE YOU GUYS!

Mahogany... I feel your pain on the anemia thing - I have suffered from that at various points in my life... I was even hospitalized for it once.  Take care of you - have some liver and broccoli for dinner! :)

 

It's Wednesday!!! So happy it's Wednesday!!! I have four more workdays til next year!!! If I can just make it through Thurs, Fri, Mon & Tues... I am off til the 5th of January!!! Woo HOO!!!

I am feeling pretty good about my commitment to myself for the holidays - I won't beat myself up for not losing anything as long as I don't GAIN anything. And I am still at a solid 155, which is good.  I just need to keep doing what I have been... counting, and making it to the gym when I can.  It will be all good - then at Jan 1st, back on the wagon...  I only have 20lbs left!

I watched the biggest loser last night, and was really inspired by the changes... then this morning, I did some research about the previous winners... a lot of them have gained the weight back.  That is so disheartening... given all that opportunity, that I wish I could have... but again, it is really about the LIFESTYLE change- and changing your relationship with food, and knowing that you have to make this body a priority.  That is really what I plan to take into 2009.  I am a priority, whether it is eating right or working out, I can't put anything before taking care of me, because if I am not here or I allow my body/health to deteriorate, then I can't take care of others.

Two weeks til 2009!!! Love you all! :)

Yes, it is sad to see those who struggled so hard let it all go.  But you know what, your last paragraph says it all.  MAKING YOU a priority....YOU AND YOUR fitness, because as you said, if you aren't in good order, you'll be in no shape to help anyone else.

Enjoy your break diva.  today start's my vacation as well.

Well, it is 2009, and I sit here typing with yet 20lbs to lose.  So what do I commit to for this year?  LOSING THE POUNDS.  I did sort of let go during the holidays - no gain, no loss.  BUT I MISS POSTING A LOSS ON FRIDAYS, so it is time to get back on the wagon.  I am excited, I know I can do it, I have already done so well.  And I know that there will be pitfalls and setbacks, but I fully expect that by my birthday I will be SOOOOO close to meeting my goals that I won't remember how I let 2008 get away without me making my goals.

I Love you all and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

 

Hi everyone - it is Tuesday... I am at work, trying to get back into the swing of things... Not going so well thus far.  I am really tired.. and it is cold out, and I just want to lay in bed.  I guess that is whats to be expected after laying around and getting up when you feel like it for two weeks.

I hope you all are having a wonderful start to your 2009! :)

heeeyy diva, same here.  It is really hard getting back in the routine when on the daily basis you can get up as late as you want and then go exercise.  to top it off I had the stomach flu for the past few days, so the only day I've gotten up early is this past friday, and this morning, to hit the exercise gym.

It is hard when it is dark, cold, dreary, and rainy and no one else is up.  However after getting in my 30 minutes of cardio I felt energized and ready to start the day.  THOUGH I MUST ADMIT THAT I am feeling unusually hungry but that is probably because I am just getting over the virus.

 

How's it going with you girlie?

Today was REALLY ROUGH.  My church is fasting all week from 6am to 6pm and I am wiped out by the time I get home because of it.  I normally don't have any problem fasting - especially one where I do get to eat something each day.  But right now, I think it is the combination of the two weeks off vegging around and sleeping in and having to face the music that is throwing me off.

Hopefully tonight when I get home I will FORCE myself to do some sort of exercise - even if it is via the exercise channel on COMCAST.

And the gym... forget about it... I hate being out in the dark cold (and often WET) nights, and I am struggling to even get to work let alone getting up any earlier.  I need to just pack my gym bag and put it in the car and go directly there from the train station.  I am not diligent enough to do so yet.

It's 2009 and I still have 20lbs to lose. UGH.

Glad you are feeling better Mahogany, and thanks for checking in on me.  I have GOT to get it together!

DIVA, you will get it together.

 

It hasn't been any easier for me to get to the gym.  It is really COLD in the mornings, and it has been raining / freezing rain the past week.  the only day that has been sunny this week has been today, so HURRAY :)  And I made the most of it and made it to the gym again today.  When I go to the gym I feel better all around, so I just have to keep pressing on and making that sacrafice.

 

I remember you fasting last year diva!  You'll do great girlie, you always do.  Be careful with the exercise though, because if you aren't eating, you don't want to make yourself sick/dehydrated.

 

Noble you are for fasting!

Hey Mahoganyy - I did do some exercise - I HAD to after my 6pm meal of MCDONALDS (YUMMY quarter pounder with cheese and fries! :)  I know - totally not helpful... but I did log it and it only came to about 1185 calories.

So I went home and burned about 400 calories doing taebo on the Exercise tv...  I figured this entitled me to a serving of ice cream (slow churned edies... only 120 cals per serving). 

I have a question for you though... I invested in one of those body analysis scales, and it gives out all your body stats, etc.

Anyways, it says that if I want to MAINTAIN my weight I should eat 1480 calories per day.  So if I am trying to lose weight, I would have to drop my calories way below 1200 to meet that.  I guess my body composition is so fatty that my metabolism is super slow?!!! I guess I can do my best to eat 1200 per day (which is super hard - even the 1480 is hard) AND workout on top of it.  But I don't always have time for that.  I wonder if I should try the New Rules of Lifting for Women to try and build some muscle mass, to make losing weight more attainable?!!! UGH...

Diva,

    I treat myself to a qpc (actually a qp as I hate the cheese) about every couple of weeks with fries.  It had yet to do damage as I SERIOUSLY work out.  1200 is hard to eat, but try raising it to 1300.  I lost a lot of weight doing 1300 on days when I didn't exercise or 1500-1600 on days when I did.  Your mileage may vary, b/c you may not be as muscular as me.  I'm sorry I can't help more but I don't have one of those body sale thingies.

Thanks Mahogany... I think my plan will go as such... I will concentrate on trying to build lean muscle via weights and yoga/pilates type stuff.  My belief is that my body has done all it can do on restricting calories alone - as there is really no where else for me to go - I have already bottomed out there.  Even with the clean eating before the holidays the scale didn't move an inch and I was between 1200 and 1300 calories on non workout days.  I am going to PM Melkor (on the fitness boards) and see if he can suggest anything different...

But I think you hit it on the head - I am not as muscular as I need to be to where I would lose eating 1300.

Onward and Downward!

YEAH FOR YOU DIVA AND YOUR MUSCLE BUILDING.  YOU CAN DO IT!! :)  REMEMBER THAT!

 

m.

Happy Monday All!!! As we are expecting blizzard conditions here in the Chi today, I am going to prep myself for an at home workout.  I will do the 30 day shred workout on Comcast Exercise TV, along with the Taebo workout... I highly doubt that I will go out into the snow if at all possible tonight.

This weekend was fine, got alot done around the house, and I am feeling less frustrated weight wise.  Melkor gave me some really great information and some ideas to combat my plateau and basically just told me to hang in there.  We will see.

Hope you all are having a much warmer sunnier and drier day than I am!

Well, it's Thursday... And it appears to be just you and I checking in here Mahogany... I don't know where everyone else has gone.  I joined a weight loss challenge on the fitness boards, so I am hoping that will keep me moving and working toward my goals.  I plan to hit the gym again tonight, and maybe even do the class tonight....  it kicked my butt the last time I did it, but I need to do it consistently! :)

Hope you are having a wonderful week, and are staying warm!

Diva

HEY LADY...yeah i don't know where everyone is gone.  You may want to open the group back up to people so we can get some more active members.

 

I have been consistent at the gym this week.  I am like 130.4 or something like that.  A little heavier than usual because i was retaining weight due to the stomach virus.

 

U ARE DOING A GREAT JOB getting to the gym tonight.  What is the weight loss challenge?