Bea Amaya

Hang in there, sweetie. You know, 2 lbs per week IS my goal these days. Any time I do better (like the past two weeks) I just consider myself lucky and mark it down. I'm thinking that the next two weeks are going to be a little tough on me as I will be out of my element and in a place where my food choices are more difficult, but thank goodness I have this group to come to for support and encouragement!

I'll make a note of your names and try to invite you to the next challenge. However, I'll be overseas for a week at the end of January and may have to put someone else in charge for the next one (we'll see). Sometime near Christmas, I'll post the details of the next challenge here, so you might want to check back as well. Also...we still have 2 more check-ins after today, so you are welcome to post your current weight and goal weight for New Year's and just hang with us for the next 2 weeks. Bea

Hi Livvsmum...You are certainly welcome to make this a Christmas Challenge and end it then, but we have it set up as a New Years Challenge. As for me, both of those last two check-ins are important (Christmas Day and New Years Day) markers in my life and I will be watching them both closely. It just seemed that with only 7 days separating the two holidays, we should include New Years Day in this one. I also like the idea of finishing this challenge in the first day of the NEW YEAR. Happy Holidays!

Wow! Awesome! Congrats!

Oh, this is SO CLOSE! We're all rooting for you!!!

Okay. I really didn't think I would post here as I am only slightly over halfway to my goal. But this is the first year in MANY years that I actually bought, and intend to wear, a little black dress. Even though I am still "obese", I've come a long way and am THRILLED with my progress. So...here goes...

SW 292.0 CSW 227.0 CCW 221.4 Week 3.0 Woo Hoo! A high loss week for me is typically 2.6-2.8 lbs. A 3 lbs week is almost unheard of, but I'll take it! Woo Hoo!

That's so cool! Here's hoping that by next week you'll be solidly into ONDERLAND! What a great milestone to pass in this end-of-the-year challenge!!!

Awesome ticker showing 50 lbs down and 50 lbs to go! What a GREAT place to be after 2-1/2 months! Way to go!

Congrats for moving solidly into the 200s! Awesome to know you'll never be in the 300s again!

July 30th sleever checking in. HW 292 CW 221 Down 71 lbs NSVs: - I'm [FINALLY] buying clothes in "normal" sizes! - I have collar bones! - I decided to get a shorter hair cut since I'm losing my extra chins! - I didn't worry about collapsing the table when I got a facial today! - I walked through a restaurant last night without knocking purses off of chairs and bumping into tables! Yes, I'm still obese. And yes, I still have a long way to go. But by golly...I've come a long way as well!

No worries! Also, I set your goal at 180 since this challenge is going to run an extra week, all the way to New Year's Day. You don't have to stay in that long, of course, but the charts are set up for that period. Hope that's okay. Good luck!

My PhD will be from Texas Tech University in Technical Communication and Rhetoric (English department). I am hoping to be finished with my dissertation by May, but it may take me a little longer. I have been invited to go to Doha, Qatar (next to Saudi Arabia) at the end of January to present on a panel at the Texas A&M University campus there. I will be on a panel with four others and am really looking forward to the adventure. Up until a year and a half ago, I lived overseas (for 3 years) and did the travel thing A LOT. As an obese woman ("class III obesity"), that was something I did because I had to, but never, NEVER enjoyed. Although I'm only half way to my goal, and still technically obese, I am so looking forward to the TRIP as well as the adventure on the other end. That will be a real FIRST for me! There is also a slight chance that I can cross over from "obesity I" to merely being "overweight" by my travel date. That would be ABSOLUTE HEAVEN for me! I'm LOVING reading about everyone just a bit here. Thanks to ALL for posting!!!

I've gotten to "know" many of you just by reading your online interactions and have to say this is the greatest support group ever. As a group, people are informative, supportive, open, caring, and just plain fun to be around. It takes a bit of time to search through profiles and get a peek at who you are and what's going on with you. So, I was wondering if we might want to take a minute to introduce ourselves, post a photo, or do something a bit "more" here in this topic thread. My name is Bea and I am a mother of 4, grandmother of 7, and great-grandmother of 1. At 53 that may sound a bit of a stretch, but a couple of those in the mix are steps. Anyway, I'm not a fast loser but have been consistent. Here I am at the halfway mark on my journey (68 down, 64 to go) and I find things slowing considerably. Still, I'm doing just fine in my journey I think. I have a high stress job (Marketing Manager at a $50 million company) and have an extra stressor in that I'm currently working on my PhD. I also keep an apartment in the city (Houston) while I go to my home in the country, where hubby is, on the weekends. I have to say I am LOVING my sleeve (and so is my sweetie!) and what it has done for me already. Thanks so much to all of you for being here for me since, even when I don't interact a lot, I READ READ READ postings here every single day and find them to be incredibly helpful! Here's a recent picture of me so you'll have an idea about what I look like:

Welcome to the group, and it looks like you're off to an AWESOME start! Nicely done!

You're definitely welcome to join in on the fun. Just post your weight here now and your goal weight for New Year's Day. Then drop by every Wednesday and let us know how you're doing. Welcome to the Challenge!

Oops! I'll go back and correct it now. Thanks!

With a little over half reporting in so far this week, this looks like a GREAT start to the Challenge! 9 people report a 3 lbs loss or greater (AWESOME!) and 2 of those lost a whopping 6 lbs! 28 people report a total loss of 57 lbs (an average of 2 lbs per person) several people are within a few pounds of a major break pointChellemetime - 1.1 lbs to go BELOW 150! Coachdk - 1.1 lbs to go BELOW 260! HardWork 13 - .1 lbs to go BELOW 240! Hunter - 1.1 lbs to go BELOW 260! Irs - .1 lbs to go BELOW 210! julia7665 - 1.1 lbs to go BELOW 140! livvsmum - .1 lbs to go BELOW 220! nsharrah - .2 lbs to go BELOW 180! and MORE Woo Hoo! Happy Holidays, indeed!

After a 6-day stall, I came back like gangbusters...I'm thrilled to report a loss of 2.6 lbs! Yippee! CSW 227.0 CW 224.4 CGW 215.0

Although it's still a little early, I wanted to go ahead and get things set up for a new challenge...the Thanksgiving Challenge. 1. Be sure and log in here on October 31, post your start weight and your goal weight for the challenge. 2. When setting your goal, keep in mind that this is a short challenge, only 4 weeks long. 3. Weigh in every Thursday and post your updates here. 4. Watch the data at http://sdrv.ms/1c1AT8J to see our progress as individuals and as a team. GOOD LUCK! Big nod out to FeelsMe2 for setting up the Halloween Challenge that we're having so much fun with! Just trying to follow suit with the next challenge. To check out the Halloween Challenge data, go to http://sdrv.ms/19Qmc3j. Last Update (attachment): 11/08/2013

We're doing this one until New Year's since it is just 7 days after Christmas. Still, some people have been listing a Christmas goal, so, it's really up to you. Welcome aboard and good luck!!!

Thanksgiving Stats (so far): Only 27 (of 41) reporting in so far, but that's not really a surprise. Hopefully more will report their final numbers. 14 of the 27 (52%) met or exceeded their goal! An additional 7 (for a total of 21/27 or 78%) were within 2 lbs of their goal! The group lost somewhere in the neighborhood of 323 lbs total for an average of 7.8 lbs per person! WOW! And that's still with a handful not reporting in yet. That's really AWESOME. You know, I think that doing the challenges helps me (and perhaps "us") in a lot of ways. First of all, I really look forward to weigh-in day and might even work a little harder that last day (walk further, exercise longer, eat more carefully, etc.) just in anticipation of the weigh-in. Second, I absolutely LOVE to see people reporting in on their successes, and struggles, as that makes me feel like I "belong" here with you all. Third, I think that this kind of tracking makes me more attune to my body and what it's doing. I don't believe I've gotten better at meeting my goals so much as I've gotten better at estimating what a 4- or 5-week run will look like. And finally, I have so much fun signing in, reading everyone's posts, and seeing everyone report in once a week that it's BOUND to help me stay excited about the challenge. So, thank you all for participating, once again, in an AWESOME holiday challenge!