Linda - I will jump in and try to help as well.

Copy this and paste it in your signature:
[*IMG]http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b16/lisah0711/BL9.jpg[/IMG]
Then delete the *
Then click the Preview Signature button - you will see right away if it worked or not.
Best of luck!
For those of you who have been successful at the BL (or WW, etc etc) before, can you offer any recommendations for journalling? I purchased a small notebook just for this but am not sure - is that what most people do? Is there a template that most followed til they got into the hang of it?
Jude
Hi Jude - I know that different journals work for different people. Are you tracking calories? Points? Something else? The small Weight Watcher's journal is what I used before I got into the etools. I liked that it was portable. There are some great journals on
Amazon - maybe you could use the "search inside this book" feature to get an idea of how you'd like to set up your notebook. Someone posted a link to the
DietMinder food journal a few days ago and I thought it looked awesome.
I'll catch up with the QOTD's when I come back this afternoon. We are getting ready to go out for our "New Year's Eve dinner" at a Japanese Hibatchi. We were supposed to go on NYE, but we had to cancel since DD17 realized she was working that night and couldn't get someone to cover the shift (can you imagine no one wanting to take her shift on NYE? lol).
Have fun at your NYE dinner! Sonds like fun. I can not imagine no one wanting to take her shift on NYE! Kids these days, I tell ya!
Yesterday we talked about our goals for this challenge, today's QOTD is do you have a plan in place to help you reach your goals for the challenge?
I just PM'ed my starting weight to Shannon. I lost a pound between the challenges! Which is not going to win me the title of Biggest Loser, although at this time of year, I kind of feel like since I'd normally gain about 6 pounds, it's like losing 7 pounds in 2 weeks. Right? No? No. Oh well.
So my plan for reaching my goals. As Stephen Colbert would say:
"Stay the course." There's no finish line. There's just doing what I'm doing, and that's the way it is going to be from now on. I may have more points. I may have fewer points. But I do have points and I do need to track them regardless of how many or how few I have. If getting a concussion last year taught me anything, it's that I really, really can't remember numbers, so don't even try.
This is what got me here and this is what I will continue to do:
1. Track my food intake, even after I reach goal.
2. Have races on the calendar to look forward to and train for.
3. Strength train on most of the non-running days of the week, whether at Bodypump class, with a DVD, or in the weight room. I also plan to stay after Bodypump and try Cardio Kickboxing at least once, and try some Pilates Reformer training sessions.
4. I have a few books about maintenance that I am going to study, along with continuing to read blogs, journals, books and magazines about health, weight loss and fitness.
5. I've joined a "FIT Club" at the YMCA - hopefully this will give me even more friends interested in health and fitness, as well as access to a trainer and some fitness testing.
6. Continue to banish negative self-talk. I have learned so much in the past year, but one of the most important things is that I can't HATE myself to a better place.
Oh, and I just PM'ed my weight from Thursday to Shannon. I am down since the end of the last challenge, which is a small victory. I retook the WW quiz and got bumped down to 19 daily points a few weeks ago. Eeek. It's to the point of being livable, though. For which I am grateful!