Hello everyone! Sorry for not posting much- I've been having some trouble logging in. Anyone else had this problem?
1st week went ok. Haven't been working out because of an injury but I am going to try some gentler forms of exercise this week. I lost 2lbs in my first week- mainly from reducing portion sizes and not snacking after dinner. For the rest of the challenge I'm going to focus on getting 5-7 portions of fruit and veg a day (if i eat all that- there will be no room for anything else!), drinking lots of water throughout the day and working out three times a week.
Is anyone else feeling the winter blues yet? My energy is really low so I'm thinking about eating foods with or supplementing vit d, B12 and maybe iron
Scots gal: family can be tough. I hope you have fun with your family at the lodge. I could really use with a countryside retreat right about now
Rie : Well done on getting out of the 170s! I know we shouldn't let the scales guide us but sometimes it can be so motivational. That's a beautiful photo- I love autumn too.
I definitely spoke too soon about my cold having reached it's peak, I got a second wave on Saturday. I felt quite feverish, not too bad, but I definitely needed a nap and taken care of. Luckily this time the boyfriend was around, it's our own personal joke that whenever I get sick he's always out of town! Luckily it passed pretty quickly. Yesterday our friends treated us to a meal because we looked after their dog for a week. We went to an amazing BBQ place. I stopped when I felt full, but it definitely was a cheat meal! My weight was up to 171 lbs this morning, but I'm gonna pin that to water weight.
I'm gonna brave a run today, it's definitely getting colder here so I need to wrap up warm, but I need to train for that race. I mean, I THINK we're doing the race, not heard about if Mum has entered us yet! Either way, I need to stay active.
I downloaded an app for Android called Habits, I'm using that to keep on top of my goals. Today I read, ate at the table and ate oatmeal because I'm running which is allowed . The idea is for me to check the app each morning and remember what my goals are. I hope it works! I definitely discovered I needed a visual reminder.
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Nanu - No, not had any problems logging in! Glad you're here. Sounds like a fantastic plan you have. Not experiencing winter blues yet, I think I tend to feel like that after Christmas once the holidays have been and gone! By January I'm ready for the days to get longer. Well, I definitely need to get more into the 160's before I feel like I'm securely there as evidenced by my weigh in today! But it was a great boost to motivation to see it briefly
Wow...I kept looking for my name on the spreadsheet and thought I didn't post my weight for the week Then I see it at the top!
Now please be aware: during the Halloween challenge I would have gotten the award for most weight gained. So this 8.8 loss is the due to the start of a
Medifast program - so obviously a lot of water weight lost. My real challenge will be the coming weeks. October was a real binge month for me, but I am doing extremely well thus far and the binge monster has gone into hiding. One moment at a time.
This challenge, Rie, is so much fun and so needed at this time of year!
Thank you so much!
Everyone who participates this time of year, I admire you! I hope we all succeed with our goals, whatever you choose them to be!
On Monday I had what can only be described as a kick up the butt in terms of the way I'm leading my life. Not to do with weight loss, but the fact that I'm not as productive as I could be. I work from home and I wasn't being strict on myself. The more work I get, the more I need to buckle down and treat Monday - Friday like an actual job, instead of just picking at work when I feel like it. I set myself a daily plan and yesterday I actually implemented it completely successfully. It was quite the surprise to me! Usually I make these grand plans and set routines and fail, but I think the thought of people depending on me to do a job and do it well made me realise I can no longer mess around. I set my alarm for 7am (I'd been waking up naturally at around 8:30am-9:30am before) and just got going. I went on a run, I worked for a full 5 hours, I went grocery shopping, I prepared dinner, I did some scrapbooking and THEN I relaxed! It felt so good to be so productive in my day! Before I would have gone on a run, procrastinated for 3 hours, work for 2 hours then immediately go into slob mode.
Today I'm up early again and actually kinda loving the idea of getting to work at specific times. Tonight I'm gonna make tortilla soup which I'm actually pretty excited about! I made it once before and boyfriend and I both loved it. Then I'm going to a friends house to play a board game.
As for my weight: I'm 170 lbs on the dot so I imagine another day or two of eating on track will put me back down to 169 lbs like last week!
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Morning Glory - Congrats on being number 1 this week! Keep it up! Glad to hear that you're losing the October weight so successfully.
Last edited by Riestrella; 11-16-2016 at 08:11 AM.
Hello All! Sorry I've been out for a while, survival mode kicked in here a bit! James was super fussy at home this past week, James and I both caught a cold, and James especially was not happy about it. I'm finally feeling better, just a bit of an itchy dry throat now, but hopefully it's just the tail end of it. I struggled a bit with food for a few days there. My husband and I both did some emotional eating after the election, and that weekend we had our friends over to play settlers of catan and hang out, which was a much needed get together. I made sweet potato black bean tacquitos which were healthy, but there was also chips and cheese dip, cookies, and I made sangria as well (which was awesome. we all kind of needed to get drunk and play a game!). The next two days I had crazy cravings though, it was tough to get back on the wagon, but I am now, after a stumble. Yesterday I hit my calories perfectly, and hopped on the elliptical for 30 minutes which was good.
In other news, the other day when I went to get James out of his crib in the morning, he saw me, smiled sweetly at me, said "ma ma", and threw his arms up for me to pick him up. I don't think he knows my name yet, but that warmed my heart (especially after a week with the cold!).
Last time I weighed in I was 209, and my body fat % is also down, which is good despite going a bit off track. I don't think I'll make my xmas goal, but the closer I can get to onederland the better!
Nanu: I'm totally with you on adding more servings of fruits and veggies, I used to be better about that but I've gotten out of my groove! Do you have any recipes or snacks you particularly like? I've found that I like tomatoes or cucumbers with a little balsamic vinegrette. I always need more snack ideas though.
MorningGlory: This time of year is so tough, I'm always so thankful for Riestrella's challenges this time of year because they help me to lose while I would probably normally add more weight to lose! We've got this
Riestrella: I'm so sorry you were sick too! Perhaps James and I got you sick, if that's the case I'm really sorry! I did really enjoy just walking and chatting with you, and I promise that's probably the most bitter you'll ever see me, it wasn't my best day! We should plan a game night or another walk soon. I honestly don't know that I could ever work at home like you do! I'm truly awful at routine and scheduling my time. I never really learned how to, and now I just get overwhelmed by it and feel paralyzed. Once I get going then I don't know how to take breaks, I'll get obsessive about finishing whatever task I've gotten into. I may need to check out that habits app too!
Hello everyone! This has been a tough week with only a couple of slip ups diet wise. I'm maintaining my weight from last week but I'm happy that at least it hasn't gone up. It's only a couple of pounds on the scale but I definitely feel better and can go to the next notch on my belt!
Rie:Well done on the life shake-up. I'm absolutely hopeless at working from home so I force myself to go into the office everyday even though I have the option not to. It always feels so good to go to bed feeling you have achieved something that day.
Claygirl: I have a sweet tooth so I tend to replace snacks with fruit or yoghurt. I go for little/no prep fruits like bananas grapes, berries and satsumas. And of course, there is always the avacado toast
I'm also 4.5lbs up grrrrrrrr I can't seem to control myself when I am travelling. But it was a great week away and It will be nice to be home for the final stretch to Christmas. Like Rie, I need to pull my schedule together and stop slobbing around and actually get up, make a plan and do something! I also need to make a plan on fitting in a walk every single day this next week. We are really struggling this week or so with money, I really don't know what I am going to do, I am surviving on £65 per week just now which is meant to help with the business start-up. Mum gets a good wage but it just keeps disappearing, we are going by not paying bills and that needs to stop. My mum really needs to actually pay the bills and stop buying crap or giving money away to my siblings, I actually want to cry on how bad its got. I have had to start job hunting, even though mum promised it was ok to live here without paying bills, yet every week my £65 goes on a weeks worth of shopping. I'm screwed.... I feel like all my life I have had to scrape along the line of just living. Aurh!!
Well emotional rant over... Here are some nice pics I took: Arh I cant get them to work
Rie Every single time I eat a chippy, My tummy goes all bubbly, its really not nice. I think I have the picture think on point. I had to upload them on Facebook though. I still need to learn how to work my camera properly though I got it for xmas last year and I am struggling to make the pics look as good as the ones I took from my digital camera when travelling the states. Some Cannon tutorials I think for me this next week.
I hope your cold gets to France! It took me 3 weeks to get shot of mine and it really messed up with my energy levels. I'm still not 100% back to normal. My hands are always cold, I think I might be low in some vitamins. I also need to add in some new habits, one being doing my 10 mins of exercise stretching per day to work on my tendonitis. I always forget
Well done on getting back into 160's! I can't wait to get to 270's Ill be so happy to finally see it!
Nanu Good luck on the portion control and adding more veggies. I have 100% hit the winter blues, I never have the motivation to work out or do anything productive. I also want soup and lots of it! Sadly winter here in West Coast Scotland is usually driving rain and 60mph wind, this means that even the dog doesn't want to leave the house for a pee. I really need to find a class at the gym WHICH IS AT THE END OF MY ROAD! I know how lazy!
MorningGlory1950 I had quite a binge last month as well, I was doing so well and then I ruined it on the last week. SABOTAGE!! I always do it! Last week I was doing great! I lost 1.8lbs in 5 days and then SABOTAGE! I really need to pull my socks up this next 5 weeks.
Claygirl1518 I came across a new machine I had never used in the gym at the lodge. It was like an elliptical but a mix with skiing. The foot pedals went away from you instead of up and down. It was bloomin difficult!!! Burned lots of calories mind Keep up the calorie goal and workouts
Weight is 170 lbs this week. Just a 0.2 lb gain but feels like 20 when I tasted the 160's again! Still, glad it's only a tiny gain and I know I WILL see the 160's again shortly!
Exercise has been sadly abandoned this week it seems. I think when I focus too heavily on one aspect of my life I get lazy in others. Mum did in fact enter us into the 5 mile Christmas Eve race, she texted me a picture of our numbers the other day. So I need to get back on it so I don't die on race day! Can't wait for the prize at the finish line - minced pie, wine and chocolate!
Eating has been heading in the wrong direction, while I'm doing very well at not eating oatmeal every day I've mindlessly added a handful of chips to my lunch which I do NOT need. Need to work on that. I've also been slacking with water intake too, so going to focus heavily on that today onwards.
Life is good though! Haha, sorry for all the doom and gloom in the health department. Since I laid out a work schedule for myself I've had great success in getting work done. I did have to do some minor tweaking, down to me becoming an angry food monster as soon as 12pm hits, but I think I've gotten the hang of it! Work itself has been going very well, I've got lots of projects on the go so more projects means more experience
Boyfriend is now out of town for 4 days, then it'll be Thanksgiving. We'll be with our "Atlanta parents" i.e. boyfriends godparents this year. Atlanta mum is an amazing cook so I'm very excited. I invited our closest Atlanta friends too since they weren't going to be doing anything so it'll be nice bringing people together. The day after we're going to do Friendsgiving, which I'm looking forward to as well!
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Clay - Sorry you got sick too! Sick with a baby cannot be good. Glad you're feeling better. I most definitely caught the cold from my boyfriend who brought it back from Colorado. That's so cute that James said mama . Haha, don't worry, I didn't get a bitter vibe from you at all. Let's hang out soon again, things might get crazy in the next month but we'll find time for a board game night! I think I'm the opposite to you, I give myself too many breaks and then never finish anything! For me what helped actually writing out a little timetable for myself. Very much "at this time do this".
Nanu - Great job for hanging in there, you're doing great!!
Scots - So how was the holiday? Sad I can't see the pics! Are you right clicking the picture itself and copying the image address? Copying the address from the browser bar doesn't work. I'm sure you'll lose that gain in no time. Sorry to hear about your money troubles, it's hard trying to get parents try and act differently! Parents just flat out don't listen to their kids, which is frustrating when we're all adults!
Last edited by Riestrella; 11-20-2016 at 09:52 AM.
Nanu: I love avocado toast! I have it all the time and throw on some hot sauce. It's one of my favorite breakfasts. I want to try the cooked egg in a half an avocado again. It's weird, but I lose more weight when I eat avocados. It may be a total coincidence but I've noticed that when I eat half an avocado for a week (still staying at my calorie goal though) my body drops fat. It may be because when I'm eating avocado I'm focusing more on the quality of my food, but I remember reading somewhere that healthy fats signal to your body that you are not low on fat so it's okay to let some extra go?
I tried something new for breakfast this morning, a breakfast bake with quinoa. I threw together a cup of cooked quinoa,half a cup of shredded cheese, corn, 2 eggs, and seasoning and cooked it in a muffin pan. The muffins turned out well, 100 calories each and reminded me of cornbread a bit. I have 4 extra ones so tomorrow I think I'll have one with some butter or coconut oil on it. I'm trying to make different breakfasts that are very nutrient dense to keep me fuller. I find I do better that way. Oatmeal leaves me hungry too soon, and I'm trying to cut down on carbs to get my insulin to be more sensitive (easier to lose weight that way from what I've read).
It sounds like you're definitely making progress! Sometimes the scale isn't the best way to track progress. It really helps me that I can track my body water and fat as opposed to just weight. Sometimes I just hold onto a ton of water!
I'm also 4.5lbs up grrrrrrrr I can't seem to control myself when I am travelling. But it was a great week away and It will be nice to be home for the final stretch to Christmas. Like Rie, I need to pull my schedule together and stop slobbing around and actually get up, make a plan and do something! I also need to make a plan on fitting in a walk every single day this next week. We are really struggling this week or so with money, I really don't know what I am going to do, I am surviving on £65 per week just now which is meant to help with the business start-up. Mum gets a good wage but it just keeps disappearing, we are going by not paying bills and that needs to stop. My mum really needs to actually pay the bills and stop buying crap or giving money away to my siblings, I actually want to cry on how bad its got. I have had to start job hunting, even though mum promised it was ok to live here without paying bills, yet every week my £65 goes on a weeks worth of shopping. I'm screwed.... I feel like all my life I have had to scrape along the line of just living. Aurh!!
Well emotional rant over... Here are some nice pics I took: Arh I cant get them to work
Rie Every single time I eat a chippy, My tummy goes all bubbly, its really not nice. I think I have the picture think on point. I had to upload them on Facebook though. I still need to learn how to work my camera properly though I got it for xmas last year and I am struggling to make the pics look as good as the ones I took from my digital camera when travelling the states. Some Cannon tutorials I think for me this next week.
I hope your cold gets to France! It took me 3 weeks to get shot of mine and it really messed up with my energy levels. I'm still not 100% back to normal. My hands are always cold, I think I might be low in some vitamins. I also need to add in some new habits, one being doing my 10 mins of exercise stretching per day to work on my tendonitis. I always forget
Well done on getting back into 160's! I can't wait to get to 270's Ill be so happy to finally see it!
Nanu Good luck on the portion control and adding more veggies. I have 100% hit the winter blues, I never have the motivation to work out or do anything productive. I also want soup and lots of it! Sadly winter here in West Coast Scotland is usually driving rain and 60mph wind, this means that even the dog doesn't want to leave the house for a pee. I really need to find a class at the gym WHICH IS AT THE END OF MY ROAD! I know how lazy!
MorningGlory1950 I had quite a binge last month as well, I was doing so well and then I ruined it on the last week. SABOTAGE!! I always do it! Last week I was doing great! I lost 1.8lbs in 5 days and then SABOTAGE! I really need to pull my socks up this next 5 weeks.
Claygirl1518 I came across a new machine I had never used in the gym at the lodge. It was like an elliptical but a mix with skiing. The foot pedals went away from you instead of up and down. It was bloomin difficult!!! Burned lots of calories mind Keep up the calorie goal and workouts
Ugh that sucks about what's going on at home. That's got to be so frustrating when you work hard and all the money you make gets blown without your knowledge or consent. Do you and your mom have a joint account? If it's possible I'd see about making sure your money is somewhere she can't access it without your permission. I know that's a lot easier said than done. My mom is a compulsive shopper and just buys whatever and it ends up sitting in her house forever. She's incredibly irresponsible with money. In my case though she is out of my life now, but I worry that one day she may sue me and my siblings for money. I won't get into all the details.
That weight is probably mostly traveling weight, you guys may have to remind me of that next week when I'm back after thanksgiving! I'm glad the trip was nice though, you'll be back on track in no time!
Update: things are pretty good here. I watched the health nerds videos in youtube again to remind myself how to eat and just other tips and tricks. I'm working on focusing still on a calorie deficit but while getting nutrient dense foods, as well a less carbs, more protein and veggies, and healthy fats. I also started using the fooducate app to see more info on the quality of my food. So far it's great! I like that if the food isn't that great it suggests alternatives that are healthier, easy switches.
Weight this morning was 208.6 which was definitely nice to see!
I'm heading up to the mountains on Tuesday with James, and the Internet is spotty there so I may not write until Saturday, hopefully it will be good this time. I'm going the height indulge at Thanksgiving a little, but I won't fall of the wagon completely. Onederland is so close! 😄
Riestrella: I think everyone gets a bit off track this time of year, but what matter is that we get back on track. You've got this 😊. Also, I wouldn't feel too badly if exercise goes off track every once in a while. Dont they say Losing weight is like 80% diet 20% exercise? I can't remember the exact percentages. Unfortunately for me though food is a lot harder to control than exercising 😥.
I know exactly what you mean about being on the edge with weight on the scale. When I dip under a 10 lb goal, it feels so awesome! Then if I see it go back up it feels like I'm Luke Skywalker hearing that Darth Vader is my father. Now when I dip under I try to fight the urge to weigh for a week so hopefully it sticks!
A game night sounds great! I'll keep you updated on good days when Franklin's off. He's a **** of a game player though 😉 you have to watch out for him.
Hello everyone, I just joined the spreadsheet and am looking for support!
For a brief / not so brief(?) explanation, I experience erratic dips and peaks in appetite and hunger during the month and will be starving constantly for two weeks and then quite normal for another two. It's possibly related to a birth control I take for a hormone condition, but that condition has always been there, so I don't have a baseline to compare and I also don't currently have access to an endocrinologist to help me fiddle around with the prescription.
I often find that I am fine during the first half of the day and then I have this constant hunger at night that doesn't go away no matter how many whole foods I eat and how much water I drink. Other times in the month, I experience constant appetite and have developed binge-eating habits. It developed along the same time I was counting calories, so I no longer do that, but have been tracking my hunger patterns for the last two months.
As far as exercise goes, I'm live in a place with hiking and don't have a car, so most of my exercise has been about walking and hiking. But the weather gets terrible every winter, so I'll be looking at a shortage in exercise options. I also live in a house with other people, so distracting exercise noises is not an option (like Zumba.)
I'm looking for support and I'm hoping to keep myself accountable, free of guilt, and as sane as I can manage.
Claygirl1518: The mountains will do you so much good! I live in a place with lots of hiking and it does wonders for your mood. I lived in a city for most of my life, so just walking along a road with trees is refreshing. The place I live now is full of pines.
Riestrella: I can totally relate to that feeling of inching back up into a bracket I thought I struggled past. I've been in the 140s for a couple of years. But then I think back and remember I was in the 160s for a couple of years too, so maybe it's best to look at the big picture.
I'm running the heat...IN GEORGIA. Whuuut. The person who lives below us and next to us usually runs their heat, which keeps our apartment nice and warm since we're on the top floor. I guess they must be out of town or something, because I've been shivering in here. Boyfriend and I are cheap so we don't run the heat until we're turning blue, but that happened yesterday and today. Winter is here!
I bought 2 pairs of jeans and a top from H&M yesterday. I'll admit, it was kinda sad buying the jeans in the largest size they had on the site. I think after losing most of the weight back in 2012 my mind hasn't reverted back to "you're bigger now" so I still think I can get away with wearing 30" jeans. Nope, 36" for me. I bought one in 36 and another 34 just so I have another pair for when I DO lose this weight. They're super cheap though, $10 each. I ordered the wrong size in the top too, again, thought I was smaller - bought an L instead of an XL (if going by the size guide I'm an XL). Ah well. I can drive them to the store for a refund if they're truly unwearable. I think buying those clothes really kicked me in the gut and reminded me I regained back 20 lbs.
At the same time though, I felt the urge to lose the weight again and realised I had slacked off this week. It was the kick in the gut I needed!
I decided that I'm gonna run a marathon one day. I don't know when, I still haven't run a half marathon, but I really want to compete in one of the biggest marathons in the world. I want to do either the New York, London or Berlin marathon. I'd do the Tokyo one but it's not as scenic as the other three! I'm pretty much gonna train for a half marathon and then continuously train for a marathon until I can enter one of the 3 (which might take a while since they're so competitive to enter!) I think it helps me to have running goals, which in turn helps my diet so I can run faster.
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Clay - Sounds like you're having great progress with educating yourself about food. That's why I dislike diets so much, it doesn't provide enough freedom to educate people on how to make smart choices. You're plan on healthy eating is what I would consider the best way to eat, so keep it up! Sounds like your tools are helping you, that app sounds amazing! I might have to get it.
Have fun in the mountains for Thanksgiving! You're right, just indulge a little, you can enjoy anything in moderation . If you need some inspiration think about how close you are to Onederland!!
Oh yeah, I agree with the 80/20% thing, but for me I'm a firm believer in exercise helps steer my diet in the right direction. I'm less likely to over eat as well as more likely to make the right food choices if I've worked out. Food, in day to day life, has never been a big problem for me. I tend to eat the right amount of calories to maintain weight. It's kinda like what I saw last week with holding steady at 170 lbs despite not exercising. Exercise pushes me into the deficit that helps me lose weight. I've gained weight because I've had periods of over indulging, like when I lived in Colorado I was eating out 2-3 times a week. Before that what started the re-gain was stress eating for a looong time. Basically my entire time in Japan I was stress eating the whole time!
Hahaha, I'll think of that Star Wars reference next time I dip under then regain a little!
Yes please do! Oh man...Chris is pretty much the same when it comes to board games. Those two can duke it out and we'll just chit chat haha! I'm always the one who's like "I'm just so happy to be here!" and he's like slowly plotting everyone's demise. In a good way, haha.
Pollifax - Welcome welcome, so great to have some new people here in the challenge! I actually came off birth control because I became very uncomfortable at what it was doing to my body. I'm sorry to hear you don't have a choice because of your condition . That is most unusual about your cravings though, what have you tried in the past? Perhaps there's still a solution you might not have tried yet? Have you tried eating more healthy fats? Sorry for so many questions, it's my way of helping!
Hmm...home workouts I'd recommend are Insanity or a Jillian Michaels workout. Insanity is a lot of jumping, I've had to retire from it because I live above someone now and you have to jump a LOT. Jillian Michaels workouts tend to be a little bit more low key, but require dumbbells while Insanity is pure body weight.
Yeah, you're right! It's good to think of the right now instead of how long you've spent being this or that weight. All I know is I want to lose weight and I have to keep my eye on the target!
. The idea is for me to check the app each morning and remember what my goals are. I hope it works! I definitely discovered I needed a visual reminder. 
Then I see it at the top!
I got it for xmas last year and I am struggling to make the pics look as good as the ones I took from my digital camera when travelling the states. Some Cannon tutorials I think for me this next week. 
