TGIF...Really for real this week. It has been a killer week to say the least. I ate Chinese last night...YUM those stir fried green beans. Love them. but UGH the sodium...I gained 3 pounds overnight...I know better too...Oh well this too should pass (and hopefully by weigh in tomorrow)

Queeda Glad you finally made it I look forward to hearing more about your adventure as it unfolds

Amber Great idea with the google spreadsheet. Thanks for pulling it together. I was in another challenge where it was used, but there was over 100 of us in the challenge, it seemed to work well. I accessed the spreadsheet and added myself to it. My only questions are is the week of 2/4 for this week, or next week? and for goal, is it a goal weight for Feb or ultimate goal?

Molly Sorry to hear your having a rough week. Deep breath...Keep your light at the end of the tunnel in sight (UNI) And it will be all worth it in the end. I still have not come up with the technology age and have skye yet (ironic I know as by BF STILL does not have a FB account and even she skypes...may have to look into)

Danielle Hang in there with the sore throat. strep is a killer to have...ice cream...great for the sore throat! (or at least a great excuse to indulge)

Mandy hang in there with the class. Is for a whole semester? I hated math and stats when I was in college. I learned exactly what I needed to function and have forgotten the rest

Jenn Love the new picture

Have a great Friday everyone!

Amber, congratulations on the NSV and again, thank you for creating the spread sheet.

I will be logging on the spread sheet Sunday onwards, with both my weight on there and the new challenges. Speaking of challenges, since Queeda has just moved, I think it'll be a lot easier if we create the challenges again rather than Queeda, as I'm sure she has a busy few days ahead of her! I did the past two weeks challenges and while I don't mind doing this weeks, if someone else wants to create some challenges then feel free.

Stats for 3/1

OWLs - 0
NEWTs - 11
H.P - 75

I am working 9 - 7pm tomorrow so I am hoping to get a good burn. I usually log about 3 hours of walking when I work a 10 hour shift, since I probably burn around 500 or so, but I never know what to log it as and working 1 day a week doesn't really qualify for an 'active lifestyle' category.

Does anyone have plans for Valentines day? I am spending the day with my two best friends! Best friend #2 turns 18 on the 16th so we're having a 2 day birthday celebration. Best friend #1 lives almost 100 miles away, as I frequently mention, so she and I have teamed up to give #2 a big birthday celebration surprise. It involves whisking her away to a spa in London, where best friend #1 now lives, spending 2 nights in a hotel, dinner, girly time, relaxation and generally a great time. I am so so excited and best friend #2 has NO idea what we've planned for her, so keeping it a secret has definitely been hard!

Amber, I like the NEWT challenge, I'm going to start playing again.
I'd suggest an excercise one but I feel that since I've been so lax with everything someone else should have a go.

I weighed in at the same weight today and have 155 house points for the week.

Suzy, I'm glad you don't want to weigh 5 pounds. Barbie does have some pretty great outfits these days, but her proportions are a bit unrealistic...

Can I add a slight suggestion or tweak to the OWL challenge?

Is it going to be just points for strength? Could we have a point for each 10 minutes of cardio too? I only suggest this because it's what I do, what with all the running! Feel free to tell me to just be nice and play by the rules.

Do any of you have big super bowl plans? My fiancé and I are going to his folks house. It's a bit of a drive for us, but it should be a good time. I don't see his parents all that often, and I guess they are super excited to see me. When we get married, I'm going to have the most inviting in-laws the world has ever known!

Also, my weight is pretty much holding steady for the past couple weeks. Last week, I adjusted my MFP goals. The program was telling me I should be at a net of about 1700 cal per day. I don't think thats enough - a lot of people can loose on that number. So, I manually changed my goal to 2,000 last week. My diary is open to "friends" so anyone is welcome to take a peek and let me know if you see anything that could be adjusted.

Thanks!
Amber

1-29
owl 7
newt 3
hp 60

1-30
owl 8
newt 4
hp 40

1-31
owl 7
newt 3
hp 35

2-1
owl 0
newt 4
hp 34

2-2
owl 8
newt 0
hp 0

2-3
owl 8
newt 3
hp 0

Week so far:
owl 38
newts 17
hp 169

Ladies, the new challenges sound fantastic! Amber, you have been such a great addition to our house. Queeda, I think we should all come visit you! 80 degrees sounds heavenly! Will you still be teaching kindergarten? We will be watching the super bowl at my sister in law's house which is always tricky for me because she puts out a TON of junk food and we all eat all day log. Really blew my calories last night so I have to have some self control before the buttons start flying off my pants! I've been losing and gaining the same pound for the last month, but I think I'm losing inches. I can finally fit into my skinny jeans again-yay!!

Happy Sunday morning!

I realized yesterday that I only counted minutes of running for this weeks house points and did not add any points for the other exercises! I'll get there yet!

Yesterday, I got 6 newts and 0 owls, but ran for more than half an hour. I was going to do 10 miles or so, but was feeling a little off.

So, weekly points total for me:

Newts: 44
Owls 17
HP 229

Also, weighed in this morning at 89.6 pounds, EXACTLY what I weighed in at last week.

Yes, let's all go visit Queeda! Pool party in February? Excellent!

Today probably won't be a great day for me as far as produce goes. Fiance and I are having lunch at my moms and dinner at his folks house. I do have some fruit and an avocado that I'll bring along with us so I have something fresh to snack on!

Ms Carolina, I like your attitude!

If you do exercises like lunges, sit ups, push ups, barbell curls... If you do 10 of 'em you get a house point.

So, 10 of anything = 1 point. 10 pushups and 10 minutes of running would be 2 points.

60 minutes of running, 10 push ups, 10 sit ups would be 8 points.

I think I have not posted any stats since tuesday, so at the risk of repeating myself, here are the rest of my stats for the week. That is another reason why the spreadsheet is so nice, I won't have to try a go back to reread posts to figure out the last time I posted stats.



Newts:
Owls:
House Pts.:

OK, thanks, I get it now. A mechanic is looking at my car tomorrow...I sense an expensive quote (along with a wagging finger and a stern "you shouldn't have put it off for so long") I got stuck at my friend's house last night because we had a bit of snow and the taxi drivers freaked out and stopped answering the phone. I have therefore had a disrupted Sunday, although I did end up meeting with some old friends and helping them put some pictures up in an exhibition in the local shopping centre. They took pictures of me pretending to contemplate the artwork and I look like a real geek in them. heh. Hope you all have a good week

I did a 30DS workout today but only someone with severe counting problems could keep track of the sets you do in those. So I thought I'd award myself 20 OWLs for that, which would be below the number of sets I did but any more seems greedy. Is everyone ok with that? I did also do a bit of walking-as-though-I'm-going-to-be-late, so I'll be adding that as cardio mins too.

How did it get to be Tuesday already??

Sunday was a strange day for me as far as eating goes. I went to my moms for lunch and then my fiances parents for dinner and super bowl stuff. Both meals were seriously lacking in veggies, but I managed to get a couple servings in. Sundays run was nice though. That little bit of a cold I’d felt on Saturday was gone, so I was able to get in the 6 miles I’d wanted.

Monday was better for me in regards to eating. I had veggies with both lunch and dinner and was able to get some fruit in there during the day. On Monday nights, I lead my running group. It was lots of fun last night. We are getting new members this time of year, so it’s great getting to know other people.

Today, I was loathe to get out of bed to get my 6 miles in before work. My bunny wanted to snuggle, and when she demands snuggles, one must oblige. So, I stayed in bed with her for an extra half an hour. Did some push ups, leg lifts and crunches this morning. Will get my run in after work this evening.

I’ve got collard greens on the menu for tonight. Anyone else with big veggie plans?

Molly - that’s the way I understand it. I think we have the potential for high numbers this week. So, let’s all get going!!

Bum - that is a lot! Good for you for doing all that work. I’ve never done one of those videos, so I don’t really know what it’s like. I think I may have mucked up the OWL challenge... Let’s let Suzy clarify?

Queeda - how goes the new job? Getting settled in? Have you found any new and exciting produce, half a world away?

How is everybody else doing?

Sunday:
OWLs: 6
NEWTs: 2
HP 60

Monday:
OWLs: 4
NEWTs: 4
HP: 40

I still feel like I am coming down with something though I am not actually "sick" Annoying really, I just prefer to be sick and get it over with! I go through this the every year and know the pattern all too well. Extra Vit C and airborne for me this week. I have been sleeping an extra hour in the mornings, so I am only working out about half of what I usually do.
I'm kinda of bummed I have to come in to work on the 2 days (just part of it) I had scheduled off, I have now acquired 3 meetings and a training I need all the time away I can get since it seems I can't ever get one complete week off due to staffing)
In the past, I have always counted any owl activity into my House points, my vote is to count them both together, which I agree can produce some higher numbers!
I made a great broccoli salad this weekend. The ingredient mix is kind of odd, but it tastes great.. It has broccoli slaw, toasted almonds and toasted ramen noodles (uncooked), cranrasins and oilve oil and vinegar for dressing. I also have some portabella mushroom caps I want to roast in the oven a bit later this week.

Jenn--as far as I know we are using it now. we posted a starting weight, a goal for the month. I am going to update the spreadsheet every couple of days with my totals

Amber--still have not acquired a taste for collard greens...even since relocating to the south where it is a food group all on its own and even then when they are cooked in fatback (I personally think that is more gross than eating them plain)

bumflapassass great job with starting 30DS

Queeda--enjoy every minute of that 80 degrees while you can! Hope things are going well as you settle in.

Hope everyone's week is going well!

Hope everyone is having a good week.

1 Owl for each set of 10 if you did any exercise towards our house points.

Sorry guys but what does this mean? My brain doesn't seem to be working very well recently.

Sorry Bumpf.....that was a typo, I meant to say 1 Owl for any exercise towards house points, but that has been upgraded to 1 Owl for each 10 minutes of cardio. Sorry for the misprint.

Oh.... Oh... Wait....

So, did you mean that if I did 10 push ups, 10 sit ups and ran for 30 minutes, that would be 3 OWLS? one point for each exercise?

Somebody, decide and stop me from making more of a mess!!

Hi Hufflepuff Members! I would like to join your house. What do I need to do? I have read through a few posts and I love the way everybody communicates and encourages each other.
Thanks!

Bum- you count the set you do in 30DS? Hardcore

BLIMEY! No I just awarded myself an arbitary 20 owls becuase I COULDN'T keep up with the counting! Looking back I think I may have sold myself short there...

Today I talked myself out of going to the gym then I reminded myself that if I don't do excercise I have to do something really boring so I talked myself into going again. Glad I did too because even though my upper body strength is pitiful still, I can feel my puny arms getting slighty more resiliant.

Hello Alaska, indeed we hufflepuffs are pretty cool :glasses:
Not too much needed for this group really, we are in friendly competition with the other hogwarts houses:

1. Each week we weigh in between Friday and Monday and the % lost is averaged and whichever house has the greatest loss at the end of the month wins the quiddich cup.
2. Hufflepuffs keep a record of the number of mins spent excercising. 1 min = 1 house point. Again, this is %'d. The house with the most points at the end of the month wins the house cup.
3. Within Hufflepuff we have house challenges; food (NEWT) and excercise (OWL) challenges. These change on a weekly basis and the 2 Hufflepuffs that win these challenges are selected to be prefect for 2 weeks. Prefects get to chose challenges for 2 weeks, having a go at both food and excercise.

This week we are being awarded 1 NEWT per fruit/veg portion we eat and there is a slightly more confusing OWL challenge where you earn 1 OWL by either completing a set of 10 of something or 10 mins of cardio excercise...and I may have misunderstood but I think if we did 100 jumping jacks in 10mins we could get 11 NEWTs?

Also there is this document where we are now recording our stats, making things so much easier for our head of house, Queeda (Lhurtubise).
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkCoTRlaFXkodDZXZ2hZLUhlUEpKODdaSEhXR0FBWUE

I have also changed my font colour because I don't want to accidentally alter someone elses numbers