Although it's still a little early, I wanted to go ahead and get things set up for a new challenge...the

Christmas - New Year Challenge!



1. Be sure and log in here on Wednesday, November 27, post your start weight and your goal weight for the challenge.
2. When setting your goal, keep in mind that challenge is 5 weeks long.
3. Weigh in every Wednesday and post your updates here.
4. Watch the data at http://sdrv.ms/1cGHwsS to see our progress as individuals and as a team.

GOOD LUCK!

Old challenges - Halloween: http://sdrv.ms/19Qmc3j

Old challenges - Thanksgiving: http://sdrv.ms/1c1AT8J

177!!! whoo hoo

177!!! whoo hoo

That's AWESOME, Sophie! And I love how close the snowman is getting to the tree on your ticker. He's obviously making a dash for the finish line now. "Whoo hoo" is right!

down 206

I was sleeve 12/17/12 weighted 265 lbs. I was doing grad school and I could hardly follow all the rules of eating and exercising. Today I weight 189 lbs. I have lost 76 lbs but now I'm done with grad school. I graduated on 12/15/13 with my MBA. So now there are no more excuses. I have been focusing on my food intake and exercising everyday. I was size 22 and now I'm size 14. My new year resolution is to lose 6 lbs every month and by April to weight around 165lbs. I feel great and I'm please with my weight lost.

I am at a stand still. Getting upset even tho I know this is normal. When does the hair stop falling out? I am 4 1/2 months out and down 55 lbs. but I am ready to see the scales move. Any ideas?

I can hardly even remember my goal I've been losing so much lately! (Giggling) I believe my original goal was 210... passed that.. new goal 204... yeah right! Drum roll. .... this morning. . 201.6!!! OMG!!! Congratulations to everyone whether you made your goal or not. It's gonna be a great year!

I can hardly even remember my goal I've been losing so much lately! (Giggling) I believe my original goal was 210... passed that.. new goal 204... yeah right! Drum roll. .... this morning. . 201.6!!! OMG!!! Congratulations to everyone whether you made your goal or not. It's gonna be a great year!

I would be giggling too! How nice to start off the year right on the border of Onederland! Congrats on a fantastic challenge experience!

I am at a stand still. Getting upset even tho I know this is normal. When does the hair stop falling out? I am 4 1/2 months out and down 55 lbs. but I am ready to see the scales move. Any ideas?

So sorry you're feeling a bit down at the beginning of the new year. I don't have much more experience than you as my surgery was on July 30. The last week-and-a-half was a little rough on me as I was GAINING for the first time since my journey started. I didn't try to make any adjustments until after our family holiday as I knew it would only make me miserable. Thankfully, now that I'm on the other side of it all, I'm doing a lot better. I did have to adjust a bit, not because I was overeating at meals or overindulging in sweets, but rather because I fell back into that "grazing" habit so easily. After 5 months, I thought that surely those old habits were long gone. Um...WRONG.

My advice is to wait it out a bit longer as I'm sure you'll pass this plateau soon. If (like me) you are not good at the waiting game, go ahead and try something different. I kept my calorie intake about the same but went 3 days on Soups, just to try something different. I also bought one of those $25 little trampolines and am running in place on it a couple of times a day. I have absolutely no idea whether those two little modifications had any impact; I only know that it made me FEEL better to make an active adjustment and that today I am at my all-time low and moving forward once again.

As far as the hair loss goes, I have to say that mine has only recently gotten worse. The good news (for me) is that I have a LOT of hair and have no real fears of bald spots. I guess I'm lucky in that case. I did get my hair cut much shorter, however, not because it makes any difference in my hair loss, but rather because it makes the strands of hair that I find EVERYWHERE much shorter and easier to deal with. As a side note, this is the first time in my LIFE that I feel comfortable with a hair length that is not designed to mask my large neck and multiple chins. Anyway, I keep reading that the hair loss phase can be longer than wished for, but EVERYONE says that it does come to an end. I guess I'm just going to hold on to that thought.

Hang in there, sweetie! I know that you'll begin to see changes again soon. Stay on plan, keep your chin up, and be thrilled with your progress. We're all pulling for you!

Just a quick review about Challenge data:

To find the links to the online tracking spreadsheet, go to the very first message in the current topic. To do this, look at the top or bottom left of the messages pane and find the place where the page numbers are shown. Clicking on the left-pointing double chevron (<<) will take you to the very beginning.

For a quick review, however, here are a couple of links for you. (Note: Sometimes links here don't work as they should, but we're going to give it a shot!)

New Year's Challenge spreadsheet: http://sdrv.ms/1cGHwsS

Valentine's Challenge spreadsheet: http://sdrv.ms/JJFPls

Valentine's Challenge topic: http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/291848-valentines-challenge/

Hope this helps!

Bea

Wow thank you for your hard work- thank you

I was sleeve 12/17/12 weighted 265 lbs. I was doing grad school and I could hardly follow all the rules of eating and exercising. Today I weight 189 lbs. I have lost 76 lbs but now I'm done with grad school. I graduated on 12/15/13 with my MBA. So now there are no more excuses. I have been focusing on my food intake and exercising everyday. I was size 22 and now I'm size 14. My new year resolution is to lose 6 lbs every month and by April to weight around 165lbs. I feel great and I'm please with my weight lost.

Wow you lost weight with the stress of an MBA on your back? I can not even imagine the will power that must've taken. That's an amazing accomplishment. Big congrats for both the degree and weight loss!!

Final weigh in. 167. Congrats everyone! Thanks Bea!!

226.6 I had passed my goal and the holidays got to me. Plus I'm having a little constipation issues if anyone has a help they can recommend I would appreciate. Thanks. Happy New Years every one. All in all thanks BEA for the challenge it helped a lot. Can't wait to start the valentines day one with NO holidays lol.

Happy New Year to all of us. We are having a second chance at health and a better life. Not to mention a pair of jeans.

Just made it to goal 199 today.

See you for Valentine's Day

Happy New Year to all of us. We are having a second chance at health and a better life. Not to mention a pair of jeans. Just made it to goal 199 today. See you for Valentine's Day

Congrats on meeting your goal AND reaching "Onederland!"

I weighed in at 213. I lost 5.8 pounds on the challenge but didn't meet my goal of 210. I guess the closer we get to goal, everything slows. Also the holidays and all the parties. Time to get back on track!