Bea Amaya

Woo Hoo! There are a LOT of us in the challenge now...the more, the merrier. You'll know each week if your data has been updated because you'll see a "Like" from me on the item. Remember to look at the first post in the topic for a link to the online stats of the group. I think we're off and running again!

---Thanksgiving Challenge Update--- So far we have a total of 35 people participating in the challenge and planning to lose a total of 347.3 lbs. I, for one, think we can do this! Good luck to all!!!

Some Halloween Challenge Stats: - Participation by week was as follows: Wk1 - 43, Wk2 - 47, Wk 3 - 43, Wk4 - 41, Wk5 - 44, Wk6 - 35, Wk7 - 23 - The number of people that met or exceeded their goal was 15 (out of 23 reporting in so far this week), or 65%! - The total amount of weight lost by the group was a whopping 660.3 lbs !!! (More was lost, no doubt, since some dropped out early.)

Yes! Please do! Just give us today's weight and your goal weight for Thanksgiving (November 28). It's a fun way to track progress and encourage others!

Wow! Awesome progress!

Oh so close to ONEDERLAND...you'll be there before you know it! Nice progress!

Start Weight: 238.2 Thanksgiving Goal Weight: 228 Woo Hoo! Here we go again!

Hi All...the stats coming in to end this challenge are really AWESOME. Can't wait to do a final report at the end of the day! As far as the THANKSGIVING CHALLENGE is concerned, I'm going to try to post the link here: http://www.verticals...ving +challenge Just a warning...I posted the challenge information on October 18 and three days later another member of this group, FabMomof4, posted a different topic with the same name. Please feel free to participate in whichever one you want (it's all good!), but if you're trying to find the one with the measures posted like this one, search for "Thanksgiving Challenge" and choose the one with the earlier date (or...just use the link above). Hope to see you all there!

Just took a look at your AWESOME before/after pics and have decided you are my new VSG heroine! I'll never have the view-from-behind that you do now (I'm much older and have lots of miles on my frame) but by golly, I love seeing what is possible. Seeing your photos has convinced me to stay the course and get as close to the "win" as I can. Congrats!

I lost 1 lbs. in week 2 and 1 lbs. in week 3 after surgery. I was convinced something was wrong and the surgery just wasn't done "right". Turns out my average loss for month 1 was 3.39 lbs/week and for month 2 was 3.08 lbs/week. I am not one of the "fast" losers, but have come to understand the ups-and-downs a bit better now that I am nearly 13 weeks out. I have lost 53.2 lbs so far and am very pleased with it. But now that I've hit another week of losing absolutely nothing (my next weekly weigh-in is Tuesday) I've learned to accept the ups, downs, and flat-lining as part of the process. Also...it took me FOREVER to lose a size in clothing, even with the 50 lbs gone. Like you, that just does not seem logical at all. But now that I've started, I'm looking to move down one more size soon as my "new" smaller clothes are starting to get baggy. Hang in there! Your struggles and concerns are perfectly normal. The advice to be patient is right on the money, but not helpful at all. :-) That's why I was hoping this posting of my swings and stalls might be helpful. Can't wait to see your awesome progress a few weeks from now!!!

Oh sweetie...I feel your pain!!!

You can wait until next week, of course, since it will be the first weigh in for the Thanksgiving Challenge. But there should be a topic in this same forum called "Thanksgiving Challenge" in case you want to go ahead and post a greeting. I'll add you to the chart now.

Yeah! Beat my Halloween goal today! I'm going to just let it ride (not reset my goal) and see what happens next week. That will be the end of this challenge and the beginning of the Thanksgiving Challenge. This is really so much fun working together and celebrating each other's victories. Some stats for your consideration: Together, all that have participated in the Halloween Challenge have lost a total of 511 lbs. How awesome is that! 7 people have beat their Halloween goal already (2 not showing on the charts since they reset their goal to a higher amount). 4 people have lost more than 20 lbs in the challenge so far. 27 people are at least 60% to their goal. Our cumulative group loss averages per week are nothing less than amazing: 1.7 (1), 2.2 (2), 1.9 (3), 2.2 (4), 3.3 (5), 2.2 (6, so far) Don't forget to log in to the Thanksgiving Challenge at the same time you log in your final challenge numbers here next week. "Happy Holidays" indeed!

Congrats on your success and the positive impact it has had on your life. And thanks so much for sharing your story, and your thoughts, with us. Like others have said, this kind of encouragement is so very helpful for those of us with a long way to go still.

I'm hoping you mean "182" then. :-)

Hmmm...so sorry. I'll try again here: http://sdrv.ms/19Qmc3j Good luck!

I already set it up, but put in the notice that the start date is October 31. Let me know if I need to do something different, though, and I'll be happy to! Thanks. :-)

In preparation for the next challenge, the "Thanksgiving Challenge", I will be posting a new topic with a new link to a new chart. Be sure to sign up so we can work on this as a group again. The Halloween Challenge has been a tremendous amount of fun!

Tammi, you should be able to download this one and modify it for the next challenge, especially if you know your way around Excel just a bit. Feel free to ask me any questions and I'll try to walk you through it. I keep a more complex one for my own daily stats and have a blanked out copy posted for anyone that wants to try using it as well. Just let me know if you want to see it and I'll post a link and some instructions too. Here's the link to this one: https://skydrive.live.com/view.aspx?resid=C39B86143819E4E1!634&app=Excel

I'm at 241.4 this morning...just another half pound and I've reached my Halloween goal of 12 lbs lost! Other stats: 11 reporting in so far this week 4 people have already reached goal (chart shows 3 since I talked FRED1977 into increasing his goal) 12 people are better than 60% toward their goal The group (of 73, including drop-outs) has lost over 400 lbs together!!! The group (of 48 still reporting in) has lost 385.9 lbs together!!! Average loss per person (385.9/48) is 8.04 lbs! 2 more weeks left in the challenge. AWESOME!!!

Awesome additions to the list! Wow! I LOVE the things we all are able to do now...YEAH!

Almost 50 lbs down and I'm still struggling to Celebrate as I'm still wearing the same clothes and comments about my losses are rare. But I noticed something this morning, something I can do now that I could not before, and now I'm feeling upbeat again. After I started thinking about it, SEVERAL things came to mind. 1. I can trim my toenails easily! 2. I can put my blue jeans on while standing up, and without leaning against anything! 3. I can reach, and dry, EVERY BODY PART after showering! 4. I can lace up my shoes now (as opposed to leaving them loosely laced up and slipping them on and off)! Woo Hoo! Here's hoping you'll share what you can do now as well!

Your progress is AWESOME! Love your ticker showing you are right at 50% of your journey to goal!

Yeah! Thanks for the encouragement! Looking forward to a little positive change!

Yeah, it took me to my own recipes as well.