I've just written in via her [url=http://www.oprah.com/ord/... :shock:

I wasn't aware that you couldn't, and I certainly have! :?

I did something similar before my wedding, with reasonable success. It was Joanna Hall's Carb Curfew plan, which is a low GI plan with the added restriction of no carbs after 5pm. The only problem I had with it was the vast amounts of cooking (and washing up) - that just didn't work for me long-term! I couldn't give up carbs all together, but cutting back on the bread (and biscuits!) in particular has really helped with my weight loss. Anyway, you've done a great job already and it sounds like you're approaching this in exactly the right way. I agree with MoonLite - everything in moderation! Good luck!! :d

[b]WHAT, (When you deviate from your dieting, what do you eat?)[/b] If I'm just having a slightly bad day, it'll be Domino's pizza and wine, or else if it's a total meltdown, it'll be anything and everything I can lay my hands on! Solution: I have scheduled monthly pizza nights to keep the pizza cravings under control. Having only healthy food in the house limits the damage in the event of a total meltdown. [b]WHY (What makes you deviate)[/b] Having a stressful day at work, hubby being away and feeling bored, running out of healthy food... Solution: I plan my menus a week at a time a week in advance and order all my groceries for delivery at the start of the week, so I always have something planned and all the ingredients to make it. [b]HOW (When you eat, how much do you eat)[/b] Until bursting point or all the the cupboards are bare! Solution: Order small pizza and as above, keep only healthy food in the house - there are only so rice cakes you can eat in one go!! [b]AND WHEN do you emotionally eat? [/b] Always in the evenings. I'm rarely "bad" during the day - if it's going to go wrong, it'll be after 6pm. Solution: Eat sustaining, healthy snacks during the afternoon to ensure I'm not starving by the early evening.

Wow - Evelyn, your before/after photos are amazing! What a difference!! Great board! :d

I'm completely with you - I've had mine for a couple of weeks now and I am totally addicted!! It's absolutely fab!!! :d

This is such a great challenge - thanks for organising it, Nisa! The Visual Boards are SO motivating, and although I was a bit apprehensive about putting my own together, it was actually great fun! Here's mine! :d [img]http://farm3.static.flick...

This challenge has really got me thinking, and I must admit that I'm struggling a bit with trying to figure out what my goals should be. However, here's what I've come up with: [b]Right now[/b] 1. Book in for a health assessment to get objective advice on how much more weight I should lose. 2. Eat at least one piece of fruit every day. 3. Stay on track with my diet plan and don't let the current confusion about my goal weight send me off course. [b]Short-term goals[/b] 1. Continue building up my fitness levels and toning my muscles, ensuring I do some form of exercise every day. 2. Buy some sexy, expensive underwear, something I've been putting off for years, waiting until I'm slim enough to be worth it - I AM worth it now!! 3. Start taking extra vitamins and cutting back further on my alcohol consumption in preparation for starting to try for baby #2 in a couple of months. [b]Ultimate goals[/b] 1. Keep pregnancy weight gain under control, ensuring I gain no more than advised. 2. Continue exercising throughout pregnancy. 3. Get back down to my target weight (whatever that ends up being!) before I return to work after what is likely to be 10-12 months' maternity leave.

Hello! My name's Leanne (Lucybell is my Dad's pet name for me). I'm 36 and live in the south of England with my wonderful husband and adorable (mostly!) little boy, who'll be 2 next month. I put on most of my excess weight during a horribly unhappy period in my late 20s and now that I'm nearly back to where I used to be, I finally feel like I'm achieving closure on that ghastly time. My buddy is 08willbegreat, one of my fab team members from the Around the World challenge. I've been doing the Slim Fast plan since 9th July last year and so far lost over 65lbs! The UK plan is a little different from the US version, with a choice of milk shakes, fruit smoothies, cereal, meal bars and soup for the meal replacements. I try to eat fruit every day for at least one of my snacks, and we cook a healthy home-made meal every evening. Finally, I also try to keep my metabolism boosted by zig zagging my calories, using a combination of the complex pattern from [url=http://www.naturalphysiqu... website and the guideline amount for extreme fat loss from [url=http://www.freedieting.co... website. I started exercising regularly several months ago and had built up to quite a tough daily schedule, combining both cardio and resistence training, mainly using DVDs. However, that was recently put on hold for a couple of weeks as I recovered from (cosmetic) surgery. However, I've now restarted the daily regime, albeit at a gentler pace at the moment, and aim to build back to and beyond my former level over the coming weeks, with the help of my great new toy - a Wii Fit! :d

08willbegreat - I'd be delighted, yes please! :d

I'm sure I already signed up for this, but I can't see my reply - but please do count me in!! :d

I just checked out my BMR, and found out it's currently a little over 1,400 calories. My average intake is usually around 1,600 calories, although this is done via calorie [url=http://www.naturalphysiqu... (target average ~ 1,300-1,400 calories), interspersed with some naughty cheat days! I find this seems to work OK, and I actually tend to see the biggest losses shortly after one of those naughty treat days. :?

This sounds like a great challenge - please count me in! :d

LOL - this is great fun! Tonight we had a good one: "No, don't stick your knife up your nose!" :lol:

LOL, Ms Liberty - they're only skinny and itty bitty relative to me, particularly my rather generous bottom and thighs! :lol: I do love England when the sun is shining like it has been this week. Not so much when it's raining! But walking in London is definitely not the same - far too dirty, yuk! Hubby would love us to relocate to the States (he could easily move with his company), but I'd miss my family (mum, in particular) too much! Today's thing to make myself feel good is similar to yesterday's. I'm wearing my other new skinny jeans and a different top - not itty bitty, but a lovely, floaty, yellow number - and I've put on some make-up (I had eye-lid surgery last Friday, so I can't wear much yet, but just covered up the worst of the remaining bruising). I'm all glammed up, despite working from home, which feels so much better than slumming around in my PJs like I often do! Sharon - that sounds like a lovely day you had with your mum. I'm glad she's feeling well enough to travel, and go shopping. Good job getting that new dress - photo please!! :d

Great idea! I went out for a lunchtime walk in the sunshine in my new skinny jeans and an itty bitty top - and it made me feel fab!! 8)

[u][b]Week 6 and Full Challenge Results!!![/b][/u] [b]Weight Loss[/b] We came in third place for week 6. Congratulations to Biblioholic who was our biggest loser by both % and lbs, closely followed by Luvmygrlz! Overall, we came in a fantastic second place, with evelyn64 being a worthy biggest loser champion both in terms of % and lbs. She was followed by MelodyTX and Biblioholic for the most lbs lost and by Biblioholic and debbienyv for the most % lost. Congratulations to you all!! [b]Activity[/b] We came in fifth for the week and for the challenge - the important thing being that we all significantly improved our health and fitness by putting in an amazing total of 414 hours of activity!! Congratulations again to Evelyn for putting in the most time overall - a total of 52 hours! She definitely earned her crown!! GREAT CHALLENGE EVERYONE - KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!!

Awww - thanks Debbie! :oops: I didn't really make much mention of the surgery, only journalling about it briefly back in March when I booked it. What with my exams and then my weekend away, it came up so suddenly, I just didn't get round to mentioning it again! I'll be very glad to be able to see properly again - it's not that easy catching up with all my buddies through a film of eye ointment!! Hopefully, once the stitches come out on Wednesday things will start to get a lot clearer. 8)

Well done everyone on a fantastic challenge! We lost an incredible 76.3lb in total over the last six weeks, with Evelyn being our star performer, losing more than 18lb!! As well as being slimmer, I'm sure we're also a lot fitter, which is arguably even more important! I hope everyone keeps up the great work, and keeps on moving!! It's been a privilege being your travel guide for this challenge. I'm just sorry I haven't been around much this last week or so. I'll be keeping my dark glasses on for the rest of the week, while my eyes heal from surgery, but I can now just about see well enough to do some well overdue Fatsecreting! Leanne 8)

[u][b]Week 5 Results!![/b][/u] [b]Weight Loss[/b] Well done everyone - we came in first place this week - WOOHOO!!! Congratulations to 08willbegreat and MelodyTX who were our biggest losers by % and lbs respectively! [b]Activity[/b] Another good week, coming in a respectable third this week! Congratulations again to 08willbegreat who pulled out a spectacular 930 minutes!! :d :d :d :d :d :d :d :d :d :d :d :d Now, let's all really give it everything this week, and make it our best yet!! 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)