I am a few inches shorter and several pounds heavier. I might post my weight here when I've shed a few pounds I have just over 50lbs to lose to rid myself of the past five years' weight gain and, according to my BMI, I will then *just* fall into the top end of the 'healthy' weight range. My current BMI is 33.39

Good luck for next week, osuche. Exercise and muscle tone will definitely have an impact on weight. 1lb of muscle takes up less space than 1lb of fat, so extra pounds might be coupled with smaller measurements.

If anyone hasn't yet taken body measurements, I would definitely recommend doing this and repeating every few weeks or every few pounds lost. It's great to see the difference on paper after a few weeks, and even if the scale hasn't moved much you'll no doubt see a difference in measurements, which is a real boost I've followed the Body Measurement table on FitDay and measured neck, bicep, forearm, chest, waist, hips thigh and calf.

I've also taken photographs of the scale, showing my starting weight and of myself, front, back and sides, wearing only underwear I'll do this every ten pounds or so that I lose. Hopefully after a few weeks I'll see a difference.

My first day went well. It almost didn't. I was very motivated before I started, then awoke in the morning wondering if I should just wait another day before starting. Convinced myself that if I did that, in reality I would actually be throwing away another week (since all diets can only begin on a Monday ). At certain points during the day, I was crawling the walls, wanting to eat all the 'bad' foods I could lay my hands on. I would liken it to craving a cigarette when trying to quit smoking. Not a nice feeling at all, but I pulled my way through it and realised if I do that, get through the other side each time I feel like that, I will feel much better than if I give in and sneak in a whole load of crap food part-way through the afternoon.

In the end, my first day was good. I ate healthily, ate smaller portions and, most importantly, I started my 12 week walking plan. I only needed to walk for 20 mins and I did that. So I think all in all, the first day was a success and I am ready to tackle Tuesday

Is that one of those roller bar thingys to help with sit-ups? If it is, I have one of those I'm going to start that next week, after a week of walking. How many are you doing each night?

How did Monday go for the rest of you?