i was wondering if i could join...i've lost weight and regained several times, and i actually want to make it all the way to my goal this time.  i think this will help with accountability... (although i know i'm starting a week or two later than everyone else....)

thanks!!!!

:)

I am back on the wagon after a long long time making mean faces at it and pretending I don't care that I can barely see it in the distance.  I had great success with eating right and exercising regularly last year until about mid-July (summer vacation) to fall (football season...beer and nachos and tailgates, oh my!).  I then spent a few months whining to myself and wondering how I ever let this happen while also avoiding the gym and becoming a regular at the local Mexican restaurant.  I've finally decided that I'm getting back on the wagon, and I'm determined to hang on for dear life.  I'm excited to offer support and receive some motivation in return.  We can all do this.

Lately, my mantra has been "You only fail when you quit trying."  And I am no quitter.

jburgin - I have a feeling that the Slimfast guidelines are different for men - think you should have another look cos I seem to remember a TV program highlighting it.  You could be missing out on a yummy shake, lol

So, my wagon.  Um.  I'm a bit off this week but I'm sticking with it.  It seems that my habits have changed for the better so even when I feel I'm doing badly, it's not as bad as my perception of it, if that makes sense.

You know what?  My mind has just blanked on me.  More when I get my brain back!

Sneakafreaka - welcome to the group, I'm sorry I'm not too much help with the rural workout possibilities, I'm an urban girl myself... hopefully some of our other members have some insights that can help. 

Vicki - you back on the wagon? C'mon I know you can!

Writestuff - welcome to the group! sure, that's a start. 

Kaydeefalls - Great to see you again! In some ways I'm most scared of those last 10 lbs but I've got a long way to go till then.

Igrratu - Welcome to the Group! Let us know some more about yourself!

Health First - Can I see the mean faces? C'mon, you show me yours I'll show you mine!

Caro - If you find your mind can you check around for mine, it's lost as well.

Okay, quick update for me. Went to gym, two days down two to go.... did my leg workout with the weights for the first time .... that's gonna hurt in the morning!

Can I join?  I have been trying to lose weight for 10 years.  I'm approaching the big 4-0- and don't want to spend the next decade saying "I'll do it when I'm thin...".  I've done Weight Watchers, Atkins, the Zone, LA Weight Loss and various other programs.  I always lose weight until I stop and can't seem to find the motivation to keep going.  I'm 5'3", a married mother of one almost 4 year old.  I weigh 208 lbs and my ultimate goal is 180 by July 31st, then 160 by September 30th, then 140 by November 30th. I have been on CC since mid-April and was down 8 lbs.  I'm now down 6 lbs since jumping off the wagon for 11 days.  I'm back on now....this is day 3 back.  I would love to be held accountable, maybe that will keep me on this time!

Sneakafreaka, try googling "hotel room exercises". It gives you some stuff you can do when there is limited exercise equipment available. Remember that your goal is to burn calories, if you burn more than you consume, you lose weight. Hopefully that can help. 

shrinking_caro, thanks for the input. I might check it out. Last time I checked, their website was down.

I have been doing ok this week! I'm falling within range of my calorie limits and only went over by a little last night, and that was because I misread a label.  But it wasn't a bad go over, not fattening or anything. Rice and black eyed peas add up quick! Today was a big challenge for me, because I had frustrating stuff thrown at me all day long. Then, when I got off work, I had little time to think before I whisked off to my church for youth service. We recorded a live CD tonight. That was MAJOR stress for me. Despite all that I got today though, I fell within my limits!!!! Didn't buckle under pressures and drink sodas....and now I'm sitting back, reading the days stuff, and eating a subway sub.

Things are ok. Keep the confidence on your end guys! You can achieve your daily goal.

rwbsmom - welcome to the Group! Yup, we've all been there, so what stage of wagon jumping are you iin?

jburgin - Great Job on the managing the calories amidst stress and tight schedule. The tight schedule is the hardest for me, it's just so much easier to pick up high cal convenience food when I'm in a rush.

Jane - Glad your apartment wasn't flooded, that mush  have been an interesting morning. 

Me - OMG I HURT! I was kinda hoping what with doing 1 hour of cardio / day for several weeks now and leg lifts as part of the ab work out that I would be ready for the first day of legs + weights yesterday.... NO! So I'm now acting like a geriatric (or pregnant woman) and having to brace myself to be able to lower myself into a seat.... please let this pass relatively fast, today will be an arms and chest weights workout, but Friday is supposed to be my next legs work out. If I still feel like this I may need to go to machine weights and leave the free weights for later. 

hopeful31, from personal experience, I can say it isn't that bad to miss major exercise. Even multiple days in a row. You still sound like you're pretty active during the day despite not being at the gym. Activity is activity. Your body will burn "x" amount of calories just sitting idle. If you're worried about losing the mentality of doing a major workout consistently, that's understandable. But just remember that even small activities can add up to a major workout.  :)

Keep the faith! You can do it!

Hi All, thanx for the welcome.  I'm not sure if you have formal wagon categories here, but I would say, I see an outline of my wagon on the horizon and I am running to try to catch up and get on, I was on in April for two week and fell off, then just had a hold of it Monday and Tuesday and let go yesterday.  I'm a little down on myself this morning as I weighed in an am another 2 lbs up....so I'm running a lot faster today to catch the wagon....I'm starting again, from today - hopefully the scale will show a loss tomorrow.

hopeful31, wow, you sound so busy, I love watching ice skating, that must be so much fun to participate in (although a lot of work).  Sounds like you're getting lot's of exercise running around.  Hang in there, also sounds like you'll be back on schedule soon!

writestuff, I love how you described your wagon....I was trying to do much the same but you got it bang on!  Congrats on the 5 lbs, that's so exciting. A loss on the scale always gets me motivated to stay with it and that's a great idea to pre-prep the meals, what kinds of meals are you preparing, are they a re-heat thing or more salad stuff?  I'm thinking of doing something like that, but am really stuck on ideas.  My DH is a meat'n'potatoes kind of guy and does NOT need to lose weight.

I all sorry for the second post so quickly but I kind of had an 'a ha' moment when I was thinking about the posts everyone has put up so far.  The past few days really hit home that I think like a 'fat person' (sorry if that offends anyone).  I started to look at the eating out as a 'reward' because it was a holiday and I had been doing really good.  I didn't choose healthy items on the menu again because I wanted a reward.  Somehow I couldn't pass up a mushroom burger and fries for one of the meals.  Same for the cupcakes that a 'friend' sent over. 

I'll know my wagon ride was successful when I don't even think about having the mushroom swiss burger but stay looking at the healhier items.   Reminds me of the Biggest Loser TV show- in the beginning during the food temptations some of the people give in and really want the temptation thing.  By then end of the show none of the people still there think the food is worth it regardless of the reward.  Somewhere in their mind they made a shift in thinking. 

sorry it's taken so long to check in, but i'm still here!  i've been pretty busy getting used to my new work schedule and such, it's been making me sleepy.  it's nice to see so many people keeping up!!

as far as the wagon goes, i'm still on for the most part.  i hopped off a bit for dinner on mother's day, stumbled just a bit on monday and jumped back on on tuesday.  sunday and monday we're that bad really.  on mother's day we went to red lobster, and i checked out the site before to find some low-cal options.  i knew their biscuits had 160 cals each one, so i limited myself to only one.  i ordered grilled salmon with broccoli and a baked potato with pico de gallo.  fat free red wine vinaigrette for my salad.  doing well.  then they accidently brought me french fries (one of my weaknesses) out instead of the potato, then brought the potato also.  during dinner i didn't touch the fries, but after (literally in the car on the way home) i dug into the fries and had a second biscuit.  but you know what? oh well.  i don't think the occasional splurge is really going off the wagon.  the less i let a quick hop off the wagon affect me, the more quickly i am to jump back on.  though monday i just felt like splurging, and did extra workouts to make up for it.

overall, i'm still satisfied with where i am.  i'd like to squeeze in some more real workouts, instead of my normal 20 minute pilates workout.  but hey, it's something!  :D 

goal for upcoming week: more cardio!