Just wanted to say WOW - Alaska and Molly are doing really well on the OWLs this week :happy:

Thanks! Suzie kicks our butt at boot camp! If only I hadn't eaten everything in site over the weekend I would have lost weight!!!

I like the idea of keeping the challenges the same. Perhaps we could keep them the same for a month? Maybe change the challenge slightly in the final week of the month as an incentive to push ourselves that little bit more? Don't mind me, I'm just throwing out some suggestions

I've updated the spreadsheet with my current stats, I'm hoping to 'beat' what I got last week but I'm not too sure if I can. Time will tell! :laugh:

I'm finally beginning to get on top of my school work, thankfully! I need to manage my time a lot better, that's for sure.

Today I found out that my pen friend is coming to England and she and I are going to meet! She lives in Italy and we've 'known' each other for 5 years and she's coming to visit in the summer, so I am finally going to get to meet her. We talk on Skype all the time, and I genuinely feel as if I really know her, so I am looking forward to finally getting to see her, even if it's not for several months.

Lent starts on Wednesday, is anyone giving up anything? I'm not religious but I'm saying bye bye to diet pepsi/diet coke for 40 days and 40 nights! Who's with me?!

Indeed, slight changes are good. good idea Molly

Here are some of the costumes from my party. There were lots of really good ones but here's me and 2 of my friends:



By the way I am back on the exercise now. Hooray!

Bum - thanks for the photos. Great costumes - definitely looks like fun!!! Glad you are exercising again.

Amber - 2 part time jobs is really tough especially when you have to travel. Tough decision between Thai and Indian food! IT's hard staying on track when you have company. Just start again right where you are and work through it. Have a great week and good luck on that tough decision!!

Hey Dani - I hate being in between sizes! Hopefully the 18's will fit soon. I used to hate trying on clothes sometimes I enjoy just picking up different sizes to see what fits now. It's actually kinda fun. Can't wait I'm at my goal weight! I'm watching SMASH as well!! I think the first two weeks were better than last night. I LOVE LOVE LOVE The Voice!

I stepped on the scales this morning, just to see what my weight mid week was and was very disappointed to read a 4lb gain. I was so angry with myself. There's no way I'm going to be able to lose the 4lb gain plus the 1lb I'm supposed to lose a week by Sunday. Arghh.

Lent starts tomorrow so I'm giving up diet coke/pepsi. I really hope this helps with my diet as I drink at least 1 cup of it every day, which I know isnt good, but I know I'm now addicted to it. The first few days will be the worst though - I remember the first 3 or so days after starting MFP and drastically cutting my food intake, I thought I was dying :laugh:

Today I went out for lunch with some girl friends. I made the best choices possible, logged it and I will deal with the repercussions when I weigh in on Sunday! We then saw The Vow which we enjoyed. However, none of us cried and while it was good, we had expected it to be better than it was due to the 'hype' we'd seen online, but it was good nonetheless. Rachel McAdams is such an amazing actress, though I still find it hard to believe she's Regina George in Mean Girls :laugh:

Dani - I adore classic books but I've never been too keen on Jane Austin. She's a great author, I've just never been able to really 'get into' her books if that makes sense. Jodi Picoult is one of my favourite authors, she wrote My Sister's Keeper, which was made into a movie not too long ago. If you haven't read the book but have seen the film, go and read the book. It's different to the film and if possible, it's actually better! Lindsey Kelk is another author I like. I've recently discovered her and her "I Heart.." series, so I am currently working my way through that when I have the chance to sit down and read.

What does everyone think of E-readers? I work in the electrical department at my job and I sell them, so I feel obliged to like them but I'm not sure. I bought my step dad a Kindle for Christmas, and he barely uses it, but he says he likes it. I think it's a great idea and I love how convenient it is and easy to use, I think I'll always prefer physical books though!

I'm not sure who does the weekly totals on the spread sheet but please check them. I think my info was recorded in the wrong place.:ohwell:

I bought a Kindle for my husband and he made me take it back. Don't think he really understood all that it would do. My daughter (a school teacher) has one and loves it. I would love to have one for the convenience. I don't know if I would ever be able to switch completely, I love the feel of a real book!! Nothing exciting about curling up on the couch on a cold rainy afternoon with a good "nook"! :laugh: well since I put it like that....

I had to google what a Kindle Fire was after Jenn mentioned it as we don't have that here (yet) in the UK. It looks so cool! I like how it's more than an e-reader (I sound like I'm trying to sell it, you know like on the TV adverts? :laugh:) so I'd definitely consider getting one of those if it was released here. I'm moving in a few months and much to my disappointment, I can't take all of my books with me (limited space in uni) so I may invest in a kindle closer to the time.

Speaking of going to Uni, it's now less than 7 months until I move! I'm so excited but extremely daunted by the whole thought of training to become a nurse, but I have 6.5 months to go!!

"a block away" depends on the city and it can vary widely depending on the city. where i live everyone likes to say places/cities are only 15-20 mins away but in traffic it will take longer. molly, it's so sad that you have to leave books behind to go to uni but you'll start collecting other great and not so great random pieces of furniture and left over household items from roommates.

are we still doing 1OWL for every 10 mins cardio?

I'm currently battling a kidney infection which I discovered earlier, so I'm sorry if my efforts for the last few days are not as they should be. I've felt bad all week, but a doctor's appointment this afternoon discovered a horrible kidney infection. Just what I need!!

I've changed my weight loss settings to lose 0.5lb a week. I know I will not lose this week and I've been struggling weight loss wise for the past few weeks, so I'm hoping the change will help things and send me in the right direction.

Feel better soon Molly!!!

QUEEDA!! GREAT TO HEAR FROM YOU! omg the beach and your son are so beautiful!

hey everyone i've been looking at the week results tabs in the google document and my numbers don't make since like they don't add up at all. i think some how Nikki (bum) and my cells got mixed up in creating the functions for the spreadsheet. can someone check this to make sure i'm not missing something, please?

Thanks.

hey everyone i've been looking at the week results tabs in the google document and my numbers don't make since like they don't add up at all. i think some how Nikki (bum) and my cells got mixed up in creating the functions for the spreadsheet. can someone check this to make sure i'm not missing something, please?

Thanks.

I was looking at mine and they don't match either.

Queeda - that beach does look lovely. Looks like ya'll are very happy and having a great time! Glad you are finding time to catch up on a few things.

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Molly - take care of that kidney infection. You don't want to end up in the hospital. Hope you feel better very very soon.

My daughter and I are going out of town to a company regional event on Saturday. Sunday she will spend the day with her boyfriend and I'm hoping to get some grass cut around this place.

Hope everyone else has a good weekend planned.

Very busy this week! I maintained at 192. A victory given it is TOM. I was bummed to find my cholesterol was actually WORSE than last year. My NP seems to not be too worried, but it has been steadily increasing ever sense I beginning my journey to health 4 years ago. Beginning to wonder if genes are at play. It is bad (or good), when her only diet suggestion was to give up the one ounce of cheese I eat most days and to "try" to add more fruits and veggies though I already get 4-6 servings in most days already.

As far as the spreadsheet is concerned, I have only been filling out the first tab, and have not touched the other tabs. I am not on good terms with spreadsheets, have the other tabs been populated by the info on the first tab? If so it is likely there is a calculation is off. Hopefully Amber makes it back soon to help us straighten it out If anyone else in the group is savvy with spreadsheets, have at it to straighten it out!

Queeda--that is an awesome picture. Glad to hear things are going well. I had to look it up on the internet, you are 9 hours ahead of me here in the land of EST
Amber--Shower sounds like fun, and good luck finding full time work. It is difficult in this era. My hubby still can only find part time work. He is going to start back to school this summer in a paralegal program. We are lucky they are in demand in my area
Molly--take care of yourself and I hope you feel better soon. glad you caught it early, I have known many women who let those infections go, and they get so bad they wind up in the hospital.
Kathy-sounds like a fun weekend planned even with the grass cutting (exercise right??)
bumflap- don't let the scale get you down. So close to goal, it does get harder to lose weight as you are close to goal. hang in there
Jenn and Dani--I have a Nook, and like it, but I wish I had a Kindle. it is just lighter, and screen is easier to read. I do not like the fact I can not loan out books to a friend unless they have a Nook. I used to love reading, but since graduate school, it is harder for me to read. I am currently reading You are an Ironman, about 6 normal people and their road to an Ironman triathlon in Arizona. Very inspiring...makes me feel so lazy
A great weekend to all Hufflepuffs!