Memorial Day Challenge
 

Just thought I'd start a new challenge for us. This one is going to be a short one....Lets see how much progress we can make before the end of this month!! Memorial Day kicks off the summer...Let's enjoy it!!!:p and feel good about ourselves!!

My goal for this month is to lose five lbs.

continue Belly Fat Cure Diet

Do the 30 Day Shred and also Brazilian Butt Workout when I have time....

LET"S DO THIS!

Thanks for starting the thread Zumba!

My goals for the month are:

Lose 5 pounds
Drink at least 6 glasses of water each day
At least 3 resistance training days in per week
Stay on meal plan!! :)

Those look like great goals Cbig. I see that our goal weight is the same, although I'm giving myself a few lbs over that so that I feel like I can achieve something faster.

Went to Zumba toning class this morning.....this is day three of BFC diet....so far i'm pretty impressed with how I've been sticking to it, but then again its only been three days......I am going to try and get my Shred DVD in today, but every day I find an excuse not to do it. Like right now I should be doing it but i"m watchign the Kentucky Derby!

Hi Zumba!

I'm aiming for 10lbs for Memorial day

SW 223
GW 213

Chica! Great to see you. I have been away for months and just this week decided to check back in, and what do I see but one of your challenges? It must be fate!

I will brave the scale tomorrow..I know I am up. So for now my goals will be non-weight-related:

1) Journal EVERYTHING. Keep calories under 1500
2) NO take-out /restaurant food(one exception for Mother's Day b'fast)
3) Exercise in some form 5-6 days/week(stairs not included)
4) Stair-climb at the office 3-4 days/week
5) Run 2-3 days/week

I started tracking my calories again yesterday, so I'm off to a good start. Great to be back!

Hello, everyone! I will join in too!

I'd like to drink at least 8 cups of water per day

Lose 4 pounds

Stick to an average of 9,000-9,300 calories per week

Exercise more

guac, good to see you! Great goals.

I have to remember, when I start to slip, how good being on plan feels. I was going to eat a regular dinner last night, and then went through and added up my calories, and realized I was already at 1315. So I kept busy and pushed through and it was OK.

Did 6.4 miles this morning, 5.6 miles at a jog. My pace is getting closer to a 10 minute mile..one of my goals for this year is to do a 5K in under 30 minutes.

Weighed in and it was about what I thought..I'd weighed in at the gyn a few weeks ago and I'm actually down slightly from there. I'd like to be under 135 by Memorial Day.

Hope everyone's having a great day!

My eating this weekend wasn't good. I am trying to get back on the wagon as I do every Monday. This morning I felt so heavy and bloated that I needed to get some air. I found this great bike/walk/jogging trail and went for a long walk, even though I wasn't dressed for exercise. It was very relaxing and invigorating at the same time. Now that I have found this place, I think I will go back again. Move more eat less.

Officially the "last" month before summer starts! :dizzy:

Goals for May
1. Lose 10 pounds
2. Stick to Weekday Diet regiment including 3 Lg Glasses of water/day
3. Start some weight training 3x/week at least 30/minutes
4. Continue walking 1 to 1 1/2 hours 5x/week
5. Avoid movie popcorn at all costs!
6. Less weekend backsliding!

Did pretty well last month, hit my goal a few times but backslid on weekends..:devil:.
ended month just a little above April goal.

1425 calories today. 25 minutes on the stairs at work, 40 minutes on the elliptical.

KG, congrats on April! Summer is so close now, we have to keep going!!

guac, glad you found a new place for exercise..sounds like it helped alot.

Hello, everyone. I rode my bike for about an hour around the new path I found. It felt so nice! I am sooo hungry today. I had a coffee, blueberry greek yogurt, and kashi cereal for breakfast. I made tuna salad with tomatoes and pickles for lunch (ate it straight without bread), and have been drinking my water. I am still so hungry! Guess it's one of those days.

Hello everyone!! I lost another pound..trying not to get too excited until I know it is off for good. Started taking fiber supplement, that is helping me with some of the bloat I was experiencing....I feel lighter ;) Still doing the Belly Fat Cure but honeslty the past two days I don't feel like eating at all (that's a first!) and I have to force myself to eat. It must be the new meds I am on kicking in.....or maybe it is the fiber making me feel full ;)

NATAMARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! girl I have been looking for you! So glad you are back, I know the two of us were making pretty good progress last year..let's do it again! I've had some really serious personal stuff going on, so of course i turned to food for comfort and let myhself go.......Here we go again! So far so good...for a while I was busting out of my clothes and I cannot afford a new wardrobe, nor can I wear sweats every day....So good to see you again........

Guac: how can you lose weight taking in so many calories? over nine thousand??? I totally missed something.....because I need to get down to around 1200 to see the scale move...

Dcap: YOu go girl..ten lbs by Memorial Day!! DO IT!

KG: Movie popcorn is SO bad but just tastes so darn good..and when you don't have it you can smell everybody else having it....be strong!!!

Sorry if I forgot anyone. Making fried rice for the kids tonight, of course I'll be eating something else (grilled chicken and salad). It is getting easier to give up the carbs..

Have a great evening everybody!!

Zumbachica - LOL! Boy do I wish I could eat 9,000 per day and lose weight! I meant that I want to stick to an average of 9,000 per week - some days will be 1200 and other days will be more like 1500-1600 - but the average number of calories per week will be consistent.

Tuesday: 1480 calories. Walked .8 miles, jogged 2.4 miles.

I SO want to eat something sweet now..wasn't going to eat dinner but was so hungry after being in the rain and wind watching my son's baseball game, so I had a WW entree about 8:30. So I'm posting now so that I won't eat again.

guac, I have those days too. I set myself a range of 1200-1500/day because I just couldn't stick to 1200, but I've definitely been at the higher end most days. I didn't have enough activity today to justify it, but what's done is done. Glad you enjoyed your ride.

zumba, great to see you too! I know I had started to look at belly fat cure but then I fell off the wagon. Right now I'm doing OK counting calories but I'm sure I'll hit a snag soon and need something different. I had gotten down to 127 early last summer and then blew it. And I'm with you on the clothes..I'm back to only having a few things I can wear to work that fit. And I had given away all my "fat" clothes and am NOT buying more. YAY on the lb..you worked for that!!

See everyone tomorrow.

Hello, everyone! Hope you ladies are having a great day. I went walking for 1 hour today. I used an app called iRunner, which was nice because it told me how many miles I walked (a bit over 4 miles) and how many calories I burned (401) and how long I was walking. I think I might alternate biking and walking on different days of the week so that I don't get bored. Doing ok on the calorie counting today so far. I actually saw 157 on the scale today! I couldn't believe it, so I stepped back on and it said 158. Boo! Keep plugging away...

Good luck today!

1545 calories, 40 minutes stair climbing, 40 min elliptical.

OK day. Fighting boredom at work..amaing how boredom makes me want to eat.

guac, nice pace on your walk today!

I am in! I need some motivation! I am soooo discouraged! I am back up to a solid 164. Why? I don't know!

My goals for this challenge:
Drink 8 cups of water
Continue strength training & Couch to One Mile ( I changed this a little to suit me!)
Record what I eat.
Lose 4 lbs.

Good luck everyone!

Lost my job today. They axed my whole department - 40 people or so. We were taken over by another division and they're eliminating all our jobs. The only good news is that our jobs are guaranteed through the end of January. All day I felt too sick to eat but I was finally too shaky and had to have something. I will not let this throw me off track..if hunger isn't the problem, food is not the answer!!

Down 1.2 lbs. for the week. I was hoping for more because usually when I first get back on track I at least drop so water weight. Oh well.

1180 calories yesterday and about 45 minutes of swim class.

KelStand, welcome! Great goals! How's your walking/running going?

Checking in, its been a crazy week! I weighed this morning 146.4 so I'm up 2 pounds :( I know its due to over snacking. When I don't drink enough water I snack. If I know this why don't I just fix it? grrrr This weekend the weather is supposed to be great so I should get outside alot and maybe help burn some of that extra off!

natamars: I'm so sorry about your job! Great attitude to not let it throw your food off track. I'm proud of you!

guac: I have some awesome trails near my house I love to bike/jog on too. I found them last summer and I'm hoping to take a lot of advantage of them this summer too!

Zumba: great job on the weight loss! We do have the same weight goal. My secret goal is really 120 but I didn't want to be too discouraged if I couldn't get there. LOL I'm short but my body is different than it was in my 20s. I'm much more muscular than I was then so I may or may not be able to weigh that even if my body gets to the same size.

OMG Nat, i am so sorry!!!!!! Well...atleast you have a paycheck until january and that gives you time to find another job. things are just so bad all over. Sending you hugs, and hope you can find the willpower to stick to your healthy eating and workouts during this frustrating transition....:hug:

Cbig, you bring up a great point about being muscular. When I was working with a trainer I was losing inches but not many lbs and it was discouraging, until one day I tried on a bikini and discovered I looked the best that I ever did in my life! Muscle may weigh more but damn it makes us look great. Unfortunately that was back in my 30's, I doubt that I could do that again...just too much work at this age at half the result...still gonna try. I bought a new DVD by Jillian Michaels that is jUST butt and thighs and I'm going to do it tonight....decided to focus on the really BAD areas first.....and boy, are they bad areas....HIDEOUS...

1455 calories yesterday. No exercise.

Scale is down to 136.8 this morning - Chica, we're exactly the same weight! Of course you're taller than I am. But I can already see a differences around my middle. Today will be my 9th day back on plan.

I agree with everyone that though I set a weight goal, muscle is more important. I really need to start focusing on that more. I wouldn't care what I weighed if i could look ripped in a bikini...

I have a job interview next week. I've made some good connections at my job(I work for a large bank) so I'm hoping to be able to transfer. The bad news is that I'll probably have to commute into the city, which will completely change my lifestyle, expecially the time I'm able to spend with my son. My current boss is remote and fabuolous, and I can work from home whenever I need to. Guess I've been spoiled.

Set a PR in my 5K this morning - 32:51. It's a very hilly and challenging course..the same one took me 37 minutes one year ago. Still working toward my goal of "running" an under 30 minute 5K this year on a flat course.

I did not do well this week. It was teacher appreciation week and there was so much yummy stuff in the lounge. Maybe next week will be better. I am really getting discouraged though. It seems no matter if I eat alot or not....I don't lose weight.

Hello :D

Somehow I got lost after April challenge...but I found you guys.

Doing well with IF. I had a 5 pound drop last week :eek: I ate loads of veggies and lean protein for 5 days. I felt great!

Goals;

1) Log everything
2) Water/Green Tea 64 oz per day
3) Get down to 143 pounds (146.5 today)

I hope all the moms had a great mother's day yesterday! I definitely ate well over my calories yesterday. The weather was so beautiful we were outside hiking and biking all afternoon so I'm hoping that burned off a bunch of the extra food.

nat great job on the run! I had gotten my 5k to under 30 min last year and was so excited! Its back over for now because I don't run as often in the winter but I think I can get it back down this summer. :)

kel try not to get too discouraged. Sometimes the body just likes to sit at a certain weight. Have you tried changing what you do for exercise? Sometimes that will shock your body into losing the weight again.

sum: Great job on the weight loss!!! Wow that's awesome!

Zumba I love the Jilliam Michaels DVDs. And I have a couple of Bob Harper's too. They are killer!!!

Hello, everyone! Went out of town for a long weekend and my eating was....atrocious! Oh, well. Back on the wagon today. I got my period unexpectedly this morning. Usually I have at least a week of PMS. This time I had about 2 days of PMS and then BAM! However, I wasn't expecting my period until at least 5/20, so, I'm not sure what's going on. Maybe all the sugar and carbs I ate over the weekend spurred it on? Who knows... :dizzy:

Good luck today, everyone!

What a busy day I had. My pedometer logged 24000 steps :eek: I need to eat some more tonight, because I am only at 900 calories for the day and my steps alone burned 1200 cal.

My weight was 146.5 this am. I had a spike day yesterday, therefore I was fully expecting a higher weigh in.. I am sure I will be back at 146 tomorrow morning.

I power walked 5.5 miles
I drank my water/tea.
I logged all of my food.

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

Guacamole; I have noticed that my cycle is getting shorter with age. It used to be 34 days now I am at 28 days....I hope you are doing okay, and perhaps two day PMS is a blessing :D

cbigsis It is okay to splurge on Mother's Day. :) Sounds like you had a very active weekend. I love being outdoors and enjoying sun and family.

:wave: to everyone else, I am happy to be here.

1280 calories. Jogged 1.6 mil, walked 1.6 mi. Felt kind of bloated and crampy on my run so cut it short and walkde home. I did some extra walking during my son's soccer practice.

I was a bit over yesterday for Mother's Day, but not too bad..about 1800 calories total. My son made me a Mother's Day cupcake at the store so I split it with him. I told my husband and son that I didn't want anything food-related for the holiday, so we went bowling instead. I did have a few extra snacks at night as we watched a movie and the Once Upon a Time finale together.

Sum, WOW on the steps! You rock!!

guac, the important thing is that you're back on the wagon now, you couldn't have done too much damag ein a weekend although you may see some extra on the scale for a few days. My cycle is ALSO getting shorter - it used to be 28 days and now it's more like 21-24. Ugh!!

cbigsis, sounds like you had a nice, active Mother's Day!

KelStand, I hear what you're saying. I know not everyone agrees, but I believe in set point weights. I have certain weights that are hard to get below and which I can overeat to a point and stay at. It really takes concerted effort and tracking to break them. Stay with us!!

1440 calories yesterday, 40 min elliptical.

Scale is back up to 138 today. 13th straight day of counting calories and increasing activity. I think I'm going to start a weekly weigh in thread in 40-somethings to help..I weigh in every day and it gets discouraging seeing the ups and downs, but hopefully I'll see a pattern when I track. What I wouldn't give to lose a solid lb per week when I'm on plan!!!

Already did 35 minutes on teh stairs this morning. Have to prepare for a job interview so may skip the gym tonight.

Hope everyone's doing well.

Nat - a weekly weigh-in sounds good. I am down 1 lb this morning after weeks of standing still! Now to lose 1 more!

Good luck today, everyone!

Mid-May! Hope everyone is hanging in there! :carrot:

135.2 this morning...8 to go for this month...not sure I will make it!
But did fit into some of my summer shorts...but not all!
Skinny jeans still hiding in back of closet :o

Still walking :running:and watching food...Mother's Day :val3: was a bust...my sister made unbelievable brunch for me and my mom and some others.
Did have small movie popcorn for The Avengers :corn:...couldn't resist :devil:!

Some new snacks discovered..small cans of green beans 1/can = 40 calories with Whole Foods Low Fat Dill Sauce 2/TBLSP = 30 calories
Spring Rolls...read ingredients, some are all veggie some have hidden stuff...with Olde Cape Cod Fat Free Toasted Sesame Soy & Ginger vinaigrette 2/TBLSP 40/calories
Seaweed Salad...the Whole Foods only has 30/calories.
Calamari Salad...the Whole Foods has 130 calories but is really filling.
Trying to find new low-cal snacks every week!

KG123 - sounds like you are doing great! Oh, and I love movie popcorn too!

Sum38 - congrats on the new low weight! I'll have to pop over to the slow dancers. Sometimes I lose track of all the threads I post to.

Staying on track so far today. Haven't stepped on the scale again.

Good luck today, everyone!

Thank you! Thank you for all the encouraging words and suggestions. I have done a little better in the will power department this week! :o)

Walking/running is going pretty good. I haven't made that mile yet with a complete run, but I am getting there!

cbigsis- I do like the idea about changing exercise. That makes alot of sense. Today was the last day of school and we only have a couple of days of post planning. I will now have time to go to Zumba/Yoga....which I love to do. Maybe that will help.
Good luck on that 5K!

natamars-I have read about set weight and it makes alot of sense. I seem to be hovering around this 162 to 165. I think a dramatic change is in order to change it. Yeah for you! You seem to stay on track so well and not "wig" out when you don't! :o)

guacamole- I hope you are feeling well!

sum38- yeah for the 5 pound drop!!!

Good luck to everyone!!!

*sigh* Scale is back up to 137.8. The first day I thought it was an anomaly, but now it's been 3 or 4 days in a row. I have not tracked my calories perfectly the last two days..I'll have to see if I can piece it together. Yesterday I had my job interview so I ate no b'fast, and by 1 I was starving, but I got a gorgeous chopped salad with mesclun lettuce, broccoli, carrots, edamame, chick peas, kidney beans, almonds, and dried cranberries with light Italian dressing. Then I had a vitamin water and special K bar for a snack. Dinner was my homemade refried bean and cheese quesadillas which I make on high fiber low card tortillas. I did have an ice creamsandwich later(160 cal).

Exercise was 35 minutes stair climbing Wed, 35 minutes swimming yesterday. Going for a run this morning and back to writing everything down.

Sum, YAY on the new low! You must have been flying!

KG, very ambitious goal. SOunds like you're doing well. That's a great idea to try on some shorts...I'd like to finally fit into everything this summer.

:wave:

so WI at 220.6 today - doesn't look like I'm making it to 213 by next week, but I'll take being in the teens!

Hi, everyone! Looks like there have been some ups and downs for folks! I stepped on the scale to 156, so I am 2 lbs down for the week, which is a rarity for me!

However, I got so excited I decided to try on clothes at the mall - thinking maybe I could squeak into a size 10. Nope! I am still solidly in a size 12. So, I went home to try on a 12 I bought awhile back that turned out to look too tight when I got it home (Actually, it is a Calvin Klein size L, which I think is about a 10-12). Nope! I still have a big belly poking out that even Spanx can't cure in that dress. Every other part fits well but the belly area. Ugh! Now I don't feel so hot about myself any more, even though I lost 2 lbs!

Well...guess I just have to work harder.

P.S. I am proud that I stopped myself from buying a size 12 dress that was on sale for $60 down from $120. It looked really cute, but I am not going to blow $60 on a size 12 when I am trying to go lower (maybe if it was $25) - I have enough size 12s and want to encourage myself to go below size 12.

Hi everybody..I have been doing pretty well..broke down and had some bread last night with some very salty meat...so I had a gain this morning , nothing major but its so disheartening. clothes fit a bit better, jeans dont hurt on the hips, always a good thing. Still, I'm below 140 and that hasn't happened in a while. Just have to keep trying, Memorial weekend is next week!!! Had a breast biopsy so my workouts have been sparse this past week, hurts when i lift my arm...Keep on keepin' on everybody!!