Okay everyone. The Halloween Challenge was a big deal to me as a newbie. I was banded on Sept. 2 and I am doing very well, partly because of that spreadsheet! So a big thank you to LeighaMason who put together the spreadsheet. I put one together this morning for The Christmas Challenge. I figured that I could basically copy and paste, in doing so, I messed up the Halloween spreadsheet...so my apologies to Zeniada...I had no idea what I was doing and I messed up your line!! I feel terrible!

However, I somehow managed to get a spreadsheet put together...I hope it works. My goal is to another 8 pounds by the Monday after Christmas. Weigh ins will be Mondays, as usual, beginning on the 8th. Here is the link. I hope it works for everyone. If something isn't letting you read or edit, let me know, I may need to change my privacy settings.

Good luck to all who wish to participate.

Amanda

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Ak2Ill9eR_EidG1WRTUyU0FXVkNqSXZPcnloVUtvSGc&hl=en&authkey=CJGdlIUD

Okay, apparently I don't know how to post a link. Urg. If someone can help a technology challenge goof get a link up, let me know

This will me my first official challenge... I started at 276.2 pre op (270 day of) and wanted to be 250 by Halloween - barely missed it at 252. New goal will be 15 pounds by Christmas.... Starting today 11/15 at 249.6.

(I weight in every other day for my own personal tracking... so If i miss a monday weigh-in, harass me via e-mail and I'll update!)

Second week not as good as the first for me. I was banded 11/3 and lost about 8 pounds overnight it seemed. Kinda stalled since then, but on liquid diet until Thanksgiving day, then I can do mush for a week... I guess that will consist of mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving dinner... No company and not going anywhere for Thanksgiving so I don't have to explain, refuse food... I think that will be easier for me.

Let's have a good third week!!!

Hey looks like it was a pretty good week, for the most part! Yay!

Second week not as good as the first for me. I was banded 11/3 and lost about 8 pounds overnight it seemed. Kinda stalled since then, but on liquid diet until Thanksgiving day, then I can do mush for a week... I guess that will consist of mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving dinner... No company and not going anywhere for Thanksgiving so I don't have to explain, refuse food... I think that will be easier for me.

Let's have a good third week!!!

Sophie - just wanted to say that a few weeks ago I went through 2 weeks or so where I just didn't lose anything and even gained about half a pound (I didn't change anything...was still keeping to my calorie goal and exercising everyday). Then, I got on the scale and was down 2 pounds in a day. And then this past week I lost a pound a day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (Sunday I think was 1.2 pounds down). I think sometimes our bodies just go through weird stalls for no reason at all. I was getting so discouraged :-( But then, often we'll lose a crazy amount in just a day. So don't get discouraged -- just stayed focused on healing up!! Congrats on your surgery and weight loss so far!

Finally got the scale move

Finally got the scale move

Yay!! Sometimes that stupid thing is so stubborn

I can't get onto the spreadsheet....its giving me an error....all I did was click the link....is something wrong with it?

I am in on the Christmas challenge. I have been stuck for 3 months and I have to do something to get back on the road to success.

I am under 200 lbs for the first time in 6 years!!! I was so shocked on Friday when I weighed myself because I thought that I would not have lost almost 3 pounds in a week but I did. I hope everyone is having success also!

Spreadsheet seems to be working ok ....hope u can get on

Spreadsheet seems to be working ok ....hope u can get on

For some reason it is not working for me. I will try at home later....its not even like my company is blocking it, it just tells me there was an error....very odd.

Woo-Hoo, finally got the link to work!!!!!!! You are all doing such a great job! Anyone wanna share how they are losing 3+ lbs a week? What types of things are you eating? Are you doing shakes or other 'slider' items? I would love to know!

Woo-Hoo, finally got the link to work!!!!!!! You are all doing such a great job! Anyone wanna share how they are losing 3+ lbs a week? What types of things are you eating? Are you doing shakes or other 'slider' items? I would love to know!

Hey Cara! Glad you got the link to work. I was in my car when I saw that you had posted that the link was broken and I was scared that someone erased the spreadsheet like they did the other one

Anyways, to answer your question, I'm crosstraining 4-5 days a week, doing 55 minutes of interval training on the elliptical for the days that I don't crosstrain, and everyday I take a 2.5-4 mile walk (I love walking. Doesn't feel like exercise and it gives me a chance to clear my mind). I'm sticking to 850-950 calories a day and food logging everything (I use fitday.com). Things were slow for me toward the end of October so I changed things up a little (varied my calories, changed the balance of my macronutrients for a few days, changed up my exercise a little, and started drinking tons of water/fluid). That seemed to work. What is your daily calorie intake like and what is your exercise routine? I'm writing from my phone so I don't know how much you lost this week, but I think any loss is a great loss! When I have a week where I only lose .5 pounds or something, I try to remind myself that its just great to lose whether its .5 pounds or 5 pounds.

I had a mini Blizzard and cheetos for dinner... WTF is wrong with me??? How do I expect to lose ANYTHING eating food like that??? I'm so disgusted with myself... ugh.

This is my first post and is LONG overdue. I was banded almost a year ago with pretty dismal results which can be attributed to my lack of follow up with my doctor and not reading these posts often enough. ENOUGH EXCUSES from me! I am participating and hope to have a new, better me by Christmas to ring in the new year. Thanks for posting the Challenge!

I am not eating as I should either but I try to make the better choices. I think once the doctor told me in week 3 not to have any more protein shakes for breakfast, it threw me off...I love them and I was losing weight then....does it really matter if you are having them? I guess I don't see the difference.....anyway, I do walk but feel that I need more exercise and am hoping that my life will slow down a bit so I can get back to the gym full time agian! Good Luck to everyone!