Chugging Along

Good morning everyone!!  Hope everyone's Tuesday is off to a great start!  So far, so good for me.  I don't have a lot to report on my end...work is as busy as ever.  Is it bad that it's only Tuesday and I'm already counting down the days til the weekend???  lol  It sounds like I'm going to be able to get together with a GREAT bunch of girls...friends and fellow bloggers...this Sunday.  The plan is to go to lunch and then shop at the Farmer's Market together, so I hope everything works out.  I'll be meeting up and riding with Kim from All About the Bottom Line, and we're headed down to meet Tina at Fat Girl Dives In and Crys from Bigger Than My Body.  All of these lovely ladies are listed on my blogroll.  Also, one of my previous co-workers, Tasha, from my last place of employment contacted me and wants to get together for dinner Sunday night, so it's going to be a busy weekend! 

I have to tell you, after being on unemployment for nearly a year and a half and living so far north of all of my friends, I am just so thankful that I was able to get an apt further down in the city, and a new job that's only a 20 minute commute from my apt.  Things are improving...I'm happy and feeling good.  The depression and sadness that I was plagued with for so long is finally lifting and I now wake up each morning looking forward to the day instead of dreading it.  It's a good place to be in, so I'm trying to be aware and thankful and not take it for granted. 

I'm also trying not to complain too much about this suffocating heat (with our heat index here in Atlanta, we stay between 107-110 degrees most days!).....but trying to just be appreciative of the sunshine because I know I'm going to miss it sorely when winter gets here in just a few short months and the clouds turn gray.  So....I'm going to fully enjoy myself this weekend while I peruse the fresh produce at the Farmer's Market and take full advantage of all that summer has to offer....I hope you will, too!  :)

One Week Down - Three To Go!!!

Ok friends, we've completed our first week of the month-long challenge....so who's in the lead??

Tina @ Fat Girl Dives In!!!

Tina lost 8 lbs. this week!!!

And just for the record, MOI came in 2nd place....I lost 4.2 lbs this week, and Kim of All About The Bottom Line came in a VERY CLOSE 3rd place with 4 lbs. lost this week!

We're off to a great start!  If you didn't lose as much as you would have liked to this week, DON'T GIVE UP!!!  Give it your all this week and stay in the game!  We're all in this together friends...I'm here to offer you any encouragement I can to not give up on yourself....I'm thankful for every one of you that's participating in this challenge with me, and thankful for our friends that are cheering us on from the sidelines.

I've been considering doing some sort of challenge EVERY month from NOW until CHRISTMAS.  Still rolling it over in my head.  I've actually been thinking about our New Year's Resolutions we made back in the freezing cold of January....remember those?  What were yours?  Are you succeeding at them?? 

We're just over HALFWAY through this year.  How many of us said THIS, 2010, was going to be OUR year to lose our weight and reach our fitness goals??  There are still 5 months left in this year.  We still have a chance to hit it hard and finish strong, and if that takes me doing some sort of challenge every month until the end of the year to keep the fire lit and everyone motivated, then I will commit to doing that...but I want your feedback.

What do you think?  Are you all interested in something to keep the fat-burning flames fueled for the rest of the year???  Let me know your thoughts! 

********************UPDATE*********************

After I posted this, Crys from Bigger Than My Body commented with her weigh-in....she lost 7.2 lbs this week and has moved into 2nd place....WAY TO GO CRYS!!!!!!!!!  :)

Challenge Weigh-in #1

Well it looks like I had a good sodium drop since Sunday.  I've lost 4.2 lbs!!  You don't have to take a pic of your scale reading today....I just did it because I was so excited!!!  I hope everyone else is off to a great start for the challenge...leave me a comment or send me an email letting me know how you did this week.  Can't wait to hear from you!  :)

My Scale Pic...Finally

My internet's back up and I finally took the time to download my scale pic from last Sunday.  Have all of YOU posted your scale pics yet??  It's not too late to join the challenge if you want, but the 2 requirements are this:

1.  Take a pic of your starting weight, and take one more pic on Aug, 31st, the last day of the challenge, in order to be eligible for the $50 gift certificate.

2.  Make sure you leave a comment on my Friday posts letting me know what your loss is for the week.  You do not have to take a pic every Friday during the month, but you DO have to report your weight....either by way of leaving me a comment on Friday's post, or by sending me an email.

I'm going to be honest....I'm not doing as well as I should.  I'm doing a LOT better than I was before I started the challenge....eating all healthy, low calorie and low sodium foods.  However, I'm afraid I'm still eating too much volume, and I think it's directly tied to stress.  I just suck in this area, and I'm really trying to get the stress eating/snacking under control.  I'm still looking forward to this Friday's weigh-in though.  Even if I only drop 1/2 a lb, I'm going to consider that a success because at least it will mean I'm headed in the right direction again. 

  I hope everyone's having a super duper week!!  :)

Pick Up Your Challenge Badge!

Tina at Fat Girl Dives In was kind and gracious enough to take time out of her hectic schedule to create a badge for our challenge...which by the way, is the FIRST challenge she's ever participated in...YAY!!!!

I finally got the internet and cable working last night but have yet to find the time to post my scale pic from Sunday morning....it's on my list of things to do tonight when I get home from work!  It's 7:52am here in Hotlanta and my desk is already piled high with work...time to get the day started!  :)

ACK!!! No Internet!!

Hi guys!  Quick post....I'm at work and I've just been super busy lately since they loaded me down with the new responsibilities...doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day!  My cable and internet were STILL down when I got home from work yesterday, so I finally called and they're scheduled to come out today sometime between 10am-2pm....they'll call me when they're on the way to my apt and I'm going to leave work and dart over there to meet them (I'm only 10-15 mins away from work now...woo hoo!)

Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to go through all the comments on the last couple of posts about the challenge and make a list of everyone who's joined....I just can't spend that much time on the blog while here at work....but HOPEFULLY they'll fix my internet today and I can get it done this evening when I get home.  Until then, I hope everyone has a fabulous day...and don't forget...first weigh-in is this weekend...you can check in with me either Friday or Saturday with your weigh-in.  You don't have to take a pic of each weekly weigh-in, but I DO need you to pop over to my blog and leave me a comment reporting your loss, or send me an email and let me know how you did....thanks!  :)

Ready....Set....LOSE!!!

Good morning my dear blogging friends!!!!!

Did everyone get started on their challenge yesterday and take a pic of the scale reading???

A HUGE thank you to Pam for doing that post for me....I was so busy with moving this wknd and she saved the day for me! 

Good news is I'm all moved in and COMPLETELY UNPACKED!!!!!  Amazing!

Bad news is, I moved to a really OLD apartment complex and the floors are wavy, which gave me funky scale readings.  I weighed yesterday morning and was going to post the pic online yesterday evening but we had a thunderstorm and our internet and cable went out...in fact, they're still out this morning.  But it doesn't really matter because thanks to my wavy floor, I got 3 different scale readings this morning. 

I can't remember exactly, but I think yesterday's reading was 254.2...I'll post the pic this evening hopefully when I get home.  However...I got up this morning and weighed and it said 250.8.  Then I got a shower and weighed again just to be certain I dropped some water weight, and it said I was 254.6.  WHOA!!  Then I realized it must be the floor....so I moved the scale to the kitchen, and it said 256.0....then I moved it to the foyer right as you come in my front door and it said 257.4.  DAMN!  lol.

So.....I guess it's a good thing I'm not in the running for the gift certificate, because I can't seem to get reliable numbers!  What I'll do is take the # from yesterday's scale pic, then use the foyer to do all of my weigh-ins, so that at least it'll be consistent if I weigh in the same each week. 

I'll admit that yesterday, Day One, wasn't too hot.  I had to spend all day unpacking, finding stuff, and organizing and then had to go grocery shopping....but I'm all set up now!  I baked some chicken breasts last night and got up this morning to make one of my fave low-cal breakfasts....egg whites scrambled with 3 oz. of baked chicken breast with onions, bell pepper, and fresh mushrooms.  I'm back to not salting my food at home again, so I stirred in a little yellow mustard at the end for color and flavor...delish! 

I also packed my lunch and snacks for the day.  I brought some tuna salad made with a little light mayo, mostly mustard, onions, boiled eggs, tuna and dill pickle on a Thomas Everything bagel thin (LOVE those things!).  I brought a Fuji apple, a peach, and some baby carrots for snacking....and a tomato to slice and put on my tuna salad bagel.  Day Two is looking good so far..having a cup of decaf coffee now with Stevia as my sweetener (zero cals) and 1 Tbsp of Coffee-mate creamer.....then it's time to start chugging the water!

I hope everyone else is off to a great start....if you've joined the challenge, please leave a comment today letting me know and tell me what you're starting weight is.  I'll pop over to the blog of each comment I receive and make a list of everyone that's participating....and will check your scale pic on the last day of the challenge as well to see who the winner is.  The other thing I plan on doing is posting who's in the lead each week so you know who you have to beat!!  I hope everyone's up for a little friendly competition, because I plan on beating all of you, lmao!!  Don't worry....I didn't make myself eligible for the $50 g.c., so happy spending to whoever EARNS it!!!  :)