Biggest Loser: Black Team Thread
 

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1.../blackteam.jpg

Hey Black Team!

So here's the deal... every Monday morning weigh yourself, and post your weight here (I've changed it to every Monday instead of every Sunday, it makes more sense, but it MUST be posted by Monday at noon to stay in the game).

Also post your final goal weight, and do the quick math to figure out how many pounds you are from that weight (Current weight [minus] goal weight).

Your team will have to elect a captain (soon!), and that person will add up the numbers:

1. Add together your team's total weight.
2. Add together the total number of pounds that need to be lost to get to everyone's goals.
3. Make a Black Team's total weight, and number of pounds to be lost this week... then next week, add in the total number of pounds lost that week.

Use this thread to get to know your teammates. Get everyone to dish about their eating habits, their workout routines, strengths, weaknesses, what you can bring to the table, and what you need help with. Give each other suggestions, encouragement, new ideas and strategize. Let's see it ladies. Which team can be the Biggest Loser?


Important Note: When you're checking the thread in the future, be sure to check this first post before anything else. It's where updates will be posted about the game!

So... I was thinking we needed a banner for our signatures.

What do you all think? :D

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...eambannerj.jpg

Where on earth is my black team at!? :lol:

IM here!! black team rulez!! lol
I think you should be the captain! im nominating you :D

These banners are awesome! I love it! Also, because I love Jillian so much, I'm excited to be on the black team even though the colors don't really correspond to the real show. Anyhoo, I'm here Jelbb and I'm ready and rearing to go!

I'll help keep track of numbers if help is needed, but I do better as a follower than a leader unless absolutely pushed to do it. I'm more of a support character than a hero! Or if forced to be the hero, I much prefer being the anti-hero who does things in a weird, backward way. heh

Anyhoo, to get us started, here's some information about me and what I'm doing right now.

My final goal weight for the purposes of this challenge is 125 lbs. I think in the long run it might be lower than that since I'm so short, but 125 is the goal I've pointed myself at until I'm closer to it to see how my body feels about losing more weight. That puts me at 69.1 lbs from my goal weight.

Lbs from goal weight: 69.1 lbs

I set a goal for myself to lose between 1.5 and 2 lbs per week. So far it's been pretty consistent.

I've been following a sort of intuitive eating plan and a very loose calorie counting plan as far as food goes. I eat when I'm hungry and I make a note of the calories per servings in things so I don't eat more calories than I mean to. I don't have the patience to keep track of calories on a website or in a journal. Every time I tried to do that in the past just frustrated me and made me ignore the calories in things rather than keep track of them. Also, I've stopped drinking soda and I only drink juice very rarely. I do sometimes drink alcohol, but it's not more than a couple of times per month. When I'm on vacation I do drink ales. I do drink a lot of tea though.

My normal workout routine consists of doing yoga every morning for 40 minutes, walking home from work which is about 20 minutes, doing yoga in the evening for 10-15 minutes. Sometimes I do try to walk during my lunch break at work. I've also just taken to walking whenever I can and taking the long route places if I have time and am in no hurry. For this month, I've been doing the 30 day shred pretty much every day. I'm not sure if I'll continue it once I hit December right away or if I'll take a break.

I don't really know what my strengths are at this point. I do know a few weaknesses. One thing I'm really afraid of is getting impatient and feeling like I'll never make it and giving up like I have in the past. I haven't hit a craving or an urge to eat more than I should that I haven't been able to resist. They've only happened rarely too, but they do happen. I also tend to overeat when going out with this one friend, but I don't see her every week, so it should be fine.

Basically, my strategy so far has been to not obsess over my final goal. I've noticed that's been a problem for me in the past. Being so obsessed about where I'm going, I've been unable to take pleasure from where I am now and how I'm working toward that goal. All I see is that I'm not there yet and I get frustrated, despondent, and stop working toward it. To combat this, I've broken down my goal into 5 mini goals that I only focus on instead of looking at the big picture. It's 5 because I'm losing 10% of my BW for each goal until I'm at my final goal.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to learning more about the rest of the black team. This is really a great idea and I'm looking forward to the Black team's inevitable victory!

YAY! Black team mommas!
I love Jillian too, even if she is a little bit scary, hehe. :D
Everyone pumped and ready to weigh in tomorrow a.m.?

Yeah! I usually weigh myself in Saturday morning, but switching to Monday won't be a hardship. Hopefully I'll have fluctuated down in two days time so I won't feel sad. hehe

wrd, that was a great post! I'm so glad you wound up on my team!!!

Okay, so my name's Jess (if you care to call me by my first name). I've had super struggle issues with my weight for yeeaaars. When I was 137 lbs, I thought I was fat. When I was 145 lbs, I thought I was REALLY fat. And then when I got to 176, I felt morbidly obese.
Well, I haven't been any of those things technically speaking, but I haven't been particularly healthy, and it's time to change that!

Last time I was on 3FC, I went from 176 to about 156 lbs... left 3FC, and bounced back up to 160-165. Lost again to a steady 160... then my boyfriend came to visit (long-distance relationship :(), and I worked to get down to 158... by the time he left this summer, 5 weeks later, I was at 164-165 again. :(

So, I got determined. Part of my motivation is that I'm spending Christmas in Ireland with his family and friends, and while I think my personality is pretty decent, I'm friendly, and I get along with people... I'd still prefer for his friends to be thinking, "Damn, she's hot," and not, "Huh, he could do better."

The rest, and more powerful part of my motivation is simply self-loathing. I didn't like how I looked and felt at 176, or at 160-165. My clothes don't fit right, and my mind is constantly rolling over the idea that everyone glancing at me is thinking, "Ew."

Time to change. My mother cut wheat out of her diet a few years ago, and dropped 60 lbs like magic. Wheat doesn't sit well with her digestive system or her metabolism. Don't get me wrong, she ate well, watched her fat and sugar intake, and substituted in rice pasta and rye breads, but.. alakazam. 195 to 135 in about 6-8 months.
So, at thanksgiving this year (Canadian thanksgiving is in October), feeling particularly bloated and a bit depressed, my mother suggested that I try it. Just try it for a week or two, try cutting out wheat. Okay.

Two weeks later, I went from hovering between 159 and 162 to being at 157. Then 156. Down and down, next thing I knew it'd been more than a month since I'd had a cookie, donut, bagel, roll, and I didn't even miss them! Not having wheat meant that I didn't really crave wheat all that much anymore. And there were so many substitutes, and I didn't have to feel guilty eating rice, and potatoes and rice pasta... no problem at all!

While I cut out wheat, I also keep loose tabs on my calories. When I went from 176 to 160ish, I kept OBSESSIVE tabs on my calories, and got really good at estimating about how many calories are in the things that I eat. I avoid sugary things (thankfully for me, a lot of sugary fattening things have wheat in them), and keep fried junk down to a minimum.

On an average day, I tend to eat:

Breakfast:
Organic oatmeal with organic honey to sweeten it. (Estimated 250-300 calories)

Lunch:
Chili from Tim Hortons (Canadian chain.) (300 calories, according to their website)

Dinner:
Heaping bowl of steamed veggies, good pile of rice pasta, and organic tomato sauce. (Estimated 500-600 calories)

Snack:
Obscene amounts of rice crackers. (200-300 calories)

My exercise routine isn't AMAZING, because I'm so... so not a morning person... but I get to the gym about three times a week (that's my goal at least, and lately I've been pulling it off!). I hit the elliptical, and picture Jillian screaming at me, while I push myself like mad for a half hour, and every few trips, I do an intense weight circuit that leaves my muscles shaking like Jell-O! :D

I've been sitting at about 153.0 for almost a week now, and this is a plateau for me. The same number? For a WEEK? I can't imagine women who sit at the same number for 6 weeks or more, and keep moving. I'd go mental. So, I figure, my body is getting WAY to accustomed to what I've been eating, so I kicked up the calories a little this weekend in the hopes of reminding it that I've been eating damn well, and it should drop some frigging weight! :lol:

So, I indulged in some salty fast food fries and a diet coke (no burgers, wheat in the bun! :D), and kept the rest of my eating about normalish. While home for the weekend for my mother's birthday, she woke me up at some unholy hour like 8 am with a giant glass mug full of pink fruit shake, which tasted like it had organic almond butter, strawberries, some kind of flax flakes of some kind, and I'm willing to bet some soy milk, and protein powder... either way, it was fantastic, and I kinda wish I wasn't too lazy to do that for myself! :lol:

After chowing down on lunch and a big-*** diet coke, I weighed myself, feeling bloated and icky and weighed in at 153.2... which shocked me just a little until I glanced at my fingers and remembered that for some weird reason, my fingers have been pruny all day, without having (Sorry!) showered, or gotten them wet at all. I think I might be dehydrated...
So, if I pound back a ton of water tonight, get myself hydrated again... I dunno, it's anyone's guess what the scale's gonna read tomorrow. :o

ohhhhhhhh I can't figure out how to add the banner to my signature! Someone help me! :D

I'm so excited about this challenge! I havn't weighed myself in over a month, but have been fairly consistent with exercise and eating.

I go to the gym 4-5x/wk, and will do cardio 30-60 minutes. On days with short cardio I'll do some weighlifting.. mostly toning with free weights.

I've had been stuck on a plateau for.... hmm... honestly.. I'll have to say almost 2 months. So now, I've determined.. it doesn't count as a plateau anymore. Time to revamp what I'm doing.

I tried the 30 day shred (once) and liked it, so I'm going to buy the dvd's and that will be my workout for the challenge. I would still like to have an hour minimum tho.. the workouts are technically 20 minutes.. so I'll still go to the gym for cardio.. otherwise I'm trying to incorporate some running outside (still trying to wake early enough :D)

For food, girls you'll have to help me :( No fast food for me, and no sweets in excess for me!

Be proud :) For fast food I usually go to taco bell and get a fresco bowl w/ no chips. So instead in preparation for the challenge, I went grocery shopping and I'll be making my own bowls here. I'll have a layer of black beans, brown rice, grilled chicken, lettuce and tomatos with salsa! yum yum! :D I'm pretty sure it'll kick TBs butt!

For the first week of the challenge I'll also be doing a detox to jumpstart my weightloss get me back into the mindset of being thoughtful of my health. I'll follow FatSmash for the detox since it incorporates a lot of powerfoods, still falls into a range of 1200-1600 calories.. so I know I'll still be energized to kick butt!

I would like to get back down into the 110s. I havn't rocked a dress or a pair of shorts in forever. It would be so awesome if I could find a dress to <3 for new years, I've always had to work for new years in the past so this year I get to go out!!!! :D

Ok thats the longest post ever from me :p I'm done!

Heading to the store to buy my 30 day shred dvd's, some more veggies for EFS, and maybe a slow cooker or juicer. For committing myself to this challenge I'm giving myself a reward!!

Jess be our captain!!

k girls good luck :) I'm outta here!

Hello everyone!! :woohoo: go black team!! Anyways I just wanted to say hello and say lets kick some butt! :p I can't wait to weigh in tomorrow... but do I need some where to put a start weight or will tomorrow be my start weight? I'm blonde so some things come slower to me hehe

Haha, no worries!
Tomorrow morning will be your start weight, and your goal of 125 will be used for our calculations. Remember to post your weight tomorrow a.m.! :D

So are we doing the hourly exercise count thingy! (descriptive ain't I?) Because if we are I could definately help out the team there... For being the weight I am... I am also very exercise orinted :p (It's the eating for 4 people that has gotten me in trouble :D) I work out usally 6 or 7 days a week for about an hour and a half :p I actually enjoy it.. once I get to the gym.. It's getting out of bed I have a problem with :p

oh yay! I figured it out! Got my black team signature now :D

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr's! Let the games begin!

I just got done with week 2 of the C25K challenge i also am doing the 30 day shred and some other cardio on the side / cycling/elliptical .. i try to do 2 separate exercises a day so its usually 60 minutes total :)

Layla316:
We're not going to do it large-scale this week, but we are next week. I can decide the amount of weight loss the winning teams should get off of their total losses depending upon the numbers that come back from this week. (Aka., if all 9 teams each only lose a combined total of 3 lbsish, then giving them a whole lb off of their losses for making a fitness target might be a bit over the top. :p)

THAT BEING SAID...
As Captain of the Black Team (is that what we decided??) I elect that we try collectively to complete at least 30 hours of exercise this week as a warm-up! We haven't heard from AS22... so, assuming there's only 5 of us working on this, that means... 6 hours each between now and next Monday, which works out to less than an hour a day! Doable? If AS22 shows up, we'll be sitting even more pretty in that goal. ;)

ALSO, I elect we all become avid water drinkers. Water flushes out your system, gets rid of excess sodium, and helps to make sure you don't retain water in your body, which will help weigh-in wise!
I bought a big 1.5 Liter bottle of water, downed it, and have just been refilling it a few times a day with tap water. What sayeth you, Black Team? :D

Fill out this chart for tomorrow a.m. after you weigh-in!
MONDAY NOVEMBER 17th
Starting Weight:
Final Goal Weight:
Number of pounds to lose:
Weight Lost To Date (in this challenge):
Exercise Plans This Week:

Check in as often as you can throughout the week. Let everyone know about things you're struggling with, and issues you're having so we can all be encouraging and helpful! Talk to each other about cravings for junk, about not feeling like going to the gym, about daily stuff that might affect your (and our!) efforts. Ladies, we can do this, I know we can! Let's shake our booties! :D