I got back on Weight Watchers this week after taking Christmas week off, and at my weigh-in today I'd lost 0.8 pounds. And I only gained 0.2 pounds in that week off, even though I also took the week off from running, so I'm happy about that. I have one pound left to get to my goal weight!

The thing I want to work on is keeping up my exercise program throughout the winter. I really, really prefer to run outside - the treadmill bores me to tears - but obviously that's harder in the winter. I can bundle up when it's 30 degrees or above, but below that, or in the case of snow/ice/rain, I need to stay motivated to go to the gym and work out there.

Interested in the diet soda discussion - I am a Diet Coke addict. It started when my younger daughter was an infant and I was so sleep-deprived. My diet is very healthy and I drink enough water during the work week, but I also drink a LOT of Diet Coke. We never used to buy it for the house, so I only had it with lunch at work or sometimes at a restaurant. I need to work on not buying it to have around the house anymore.

Lynne - fantastic! It's great to see all those checks.

Kari - sounds like you have some extra motivation. I could see how a bit of friendly competition could be very helpful.

LeahJanes - if you're interested in crossfit, I would say just go for it. It is hard to do the full versions of all the workouts, but at a gym they will help you scale the workouts to a good level for someone who is starting out. Are you thinking of going to a crossfit gym? I started doing crossfit on my own but go to a crossfit gym now, and I would definitely recommend going to a gym that knows that they're doing.

Tricia - great progress on your first week! Have you thought about gearing up so that you can still run outside in bad weather? I actually love running in bad weather, but not everyone does. If you have warm clothes, waterproof jackets/pants, and yaktrax or something like that for traction when it's slippery it's definitely possible to run all year.