Memorial Day Challenge
 

Hello to those out there who wants to join us for our Memorial Day Challenge. We can also set a mini-goal by the end of April..

My Memorial Day Challenge is 15 pounds and mini goal for the end of April is 7 pounds..

It's good to have encouragement from others.. I love this forum as it has helped me a lot in my weight loss journey..

Thanks to you all..:D

Thanks Globe for opening the challenge thread. I'm in! Memorial Day is seven weeks away, so I am shooting for ten pounds by Memorial Day, with a minimum of seven. I am also going to measure my waist, hips, thighs, and upper arms. I also love coming here, and the friendship and support given each other.

I agree Serenity measuring yourself is also a good thing as we often get so caught up with the number that when you are losing inches yor are losing weight.

I'm aiming for 2 pounds a week so I'm going to work my butt off to make it.

I'm in, I am also going to aim for 15 pounds by Memorial Day, 7 by the end of April. My work I think is going to do a biggest loser challenge so if that happens I might be upping my game a bit :)

I'm joining in! I'm hoping for 20 pounds by Memorial Day, but 15 would be great also :)

Memorial Day
 

Im in.Start tomorrow.Brother was in hospital today. In 48 days I hope to lose 15/20 lbs.:carrot:

I'm in - ill go for 7 by Memorial day - we have a 5 day vacation in there ;) I'd love 10 though...

Sign me up. I'd love to see 15, but would be satisfied with 10. So, I'm gonna go with anywhere between 10 and 15 for my goal window. :^:

Found it! I am in to get to 217...this ought to be fun.

Good luck to all!

Found it--no time to post but will be back in the Wee hours for goal . . . Hi rho:hug: and ALL!:hug: Good Luck and thanks for the Challenge!:carrot:

I'm looking forward to this challenge and will work harder this time around.. we have each other for support and encouragement and that goes a long way :)

Do we just weight ourselves in the mornings and record it when there is a lost?

That would work or do what is best for you. My weight goes up and down so much that I'm going to stick with weighing myself saturday mornings as that is when it seems to more stable. I'll weigh the same after eating lunch and drinking tons of water LOL so I noticed that usually saturday mornings is when my body tends to be more stable..

good luck to everyone and even if we lose 2 pounds the point is that we lost so that is good. take measurements as well I'm going to this time around

Losing steadily...can't remember the last time I felt this good! Still have a long way to go but I think I started this journey at the perfect time because it has been an amazing thing...even on the bad days.

And like you globe this time around I plan on working harder from now on and the encouragement and support from everyone on here is priceless.

minoja the support on here is priceless for sure...

I'm definitely working harder and focusing on what I want and not what I don't want...

You will be do will minoja it is all in the attitude and like I said even if I don't make my goal for the end of the month a loss is a loss

Memorial Day Challenge
 

I am there with you. I am only on day three of induction and it is not easy for me but I am running a 10k may 25th so being 15 lbs lighter will help tremendously. my start weight is 193 currently 189.4 and long term goal is 130. I will have a short term goal of 178.

I can't quite remember the lowest I've ever gotten in recent years on Atkins - but think it was either 221 or 223lbs, so think I'm going to go for 220 - which would be 17lbs by Mem Day - and secretly hoping for a 20lb loss. I'm at 237 this morning, which is great because Monday OffP Easter carb bloat had me up to 244! :o . . . egg salad marathon has done its wonders! lol:dizzy:

My other goal is to continue not beating myself up and maintaining my exercise regimen I've recently gotten into plus MORE H20! I'm sad to report that I continue to live on coffee and cherry crystal lite.:cool:

I'm making these for tonight (I'm nite shift)....chopping the bacon up into the cream cheese/not wrapping and using big serrano peppers:

http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2008/0...er-recipe.html

Also have my low carb choco-protein shake handy to sip for energy (just not hungry til like 10pm:dizzy:)

Hope all the Challengers are rockin' on - and thanks again globe for starting us up!:carrot:

213.2 today this is the lowest I've been in years. Haven't fully been on plan but still losing. I will credit the metabolism pills. Going to be a busu rest of the week but will check in this weekend. Good luck everybody!

Hi everyone. I'm in. Though I had to look up memorial day, lol, we don't celebrate that here.

My goal is 10 pounds. This will be a real challenge for me as I've been struggling for months. I guess I'm with Aud and going to try to stop beating myself up.

Hi All and hope your brother is better jansusan? Had a great OP day plus made it to the gym for lower body weights.:carrot: Took some pretty long walks everywhere on the job, so motivated yet again by the Challenge.:)

Hi AnaB!:hug:

Worked over 11 hours tonite so off to bed . . . seeing the Dr. tomorrow so might not make it by here . . . Have a great day day shifters!:D

Welcome AnaB! Where are you from? Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer here in the States and people start having BBQs and wearing shorts and swimsuits. So here it is sort of a milestone in trying to look good. lol

Aud, I agree those Easter eggs are good for the plan. I colored 2 dozen, and I'm the only one in the house that are eating any.:dizzy: But, since I keep on peeking at the scale, and it is slowing inching down, I am happy to eat them.

I got rid of all the cake from Easter without eating any! :carrot: After the fiasco of Christmas and probably gaining ten pounds losing weight after Easter is going to be a huge victory for me. I hope everyone else has the same results.

Keep on doing it!

23 more pounds to go til memorial day...

Wow I'm impressed that you are running a 10k..but induction will get easier believe me.. atkins is great and you will lose weight..hang in there the results are well worth it

you can do it minoja :carrot:

Good that you got rid of the cake serenity..

Yes Ana where are you located? Yes memorial day is the when you can't hide the parts you don't want people to see but I must say I've never liked shorts I'm more of a mxi dress gal..

Aud I didn't boil eggs for easter but egss salad sounds good right about now..

10k is an awesome goal...I mapped out (www.mapmyrun.com) a 5k from my front porch that I'm doing on days off, primarily on my bike now, cuz my knees are giving me probs at this weight/walking it.

I'm the only one eating the Easter eggs too.:o

Peppers were fab last nite, and like the egg salad, so filling and fulfilling lol.

Just realized by logging in here that I had virtually no plain water yesterday:^: . . . so just drank two big glasses while I read along here. So good to have a place to come thats supportive AND reminds me of the goal I'd already forgotten even tho' it was just made frickin' YESTERDAY for petes sake!:dizzy:

The stop beating myself up goal is the most important I think . . that cycle and style of thinking has got me where I am today here @ age 51, still thinking carb bingeing is some kind of comfort.:( We can do it anaB:hug: & All who suffer from this!

I hope . . . lol!:D

I'm withya doing induction buckle....I'm one of those that feel amazing on induction (well really atkins in general) . . . plan to stick to as close to induction as I can get untill under 200, then I'll reevaluate.

DH made some kind of chicken zucchini dish..looks and smells fab...the other thing I'm doing differently is eating most of my food at the end of the shift or part of it when I get home - right before bed. This flies in the face of what we learn NOT to do, but gotta tellya its working for me, because most of my OffP'ness was happening with late nite munch monster . . . this allowing myself to have a late nite feed...with yummy lc meals has really kept the monster quiet!:carrot:

Down 2 more bloat lbs . . . keep on keeping on All!

Thanks globe! I am determined to stick to plan...finally seeing some steady results!

Thank you aud,my brothers` out now and on a long road to recovery.
Fell off the wagon tonight at work... stressed about son and g`baby moving to his own apartment...but I know its the way of life. Cant seemed to keep my mind on this diet,but tomorrows a new day,try try again...lol

Ive notice though ,that if I dont have my food prepared for work or at home,I tend to grab at whatevers closest.Fast food on the way to work or vending machines at work on break.GOT to get to the store!!!!

Yes, preparing and purchasing all the food we need is the hardest part. We just have to learn a "different" way of eating. It is not too bad once we get the hang of it. What really gets me mad is when someone in the house eats my special food and then doesn't tell me. When I go to eat it, its not there.:mad:

The good news is that I added blueberries, strawberries and low carb yogurt into my diet over the weeks and I am still losing! I am able to cut out the cheese. Look for the diabetic Dannon yogurt it comes in those packs of four. 3 carbs per 7 oz. I made myself this huge concoction of sf jello, strawberries, and the yogurt. I was in heaven.:D (But of course you need to add the foods the right way when you start OWL.)

I posted this in the other forum but to show you how bad I feel I'm just copying and pasting here

Hi all - just checking in - had my best ever day Monday then by Monday afternoon was sick sick sick (guess it wasn't just a reaction to the smoke from the brush fires) - the worst sore throat ever followed by coughing my lungs out and gurgling.... Haven't stepped on the scale since - and worse yet gave in yesterday and had a Big Mac - hubs was getting ready for a weekend trip and it was fast and easy and would fill up the empty from not eating all day. Yesterday I had a few minutes of feeling better then feeling really crummy - and coughing so hard I threw up...

I haven't done any walking in place and even though I need more water I havent been drinking as much as usual --- so all in all I'm scared to even look at the scale as I walk by it ...

I'm so disappointed in myself it was the first Off plan meal since last Year..... Food delivery today and will make Chinese Chicken Soup to have over the weekend.

Rho, take care of yourself. I live on LI also, though western LI. Don't beat yourself up over the Big Mac, you might not have gained any thing, and if you did, it is probably just water weight from the bread that your body is not used to. I hope it rains out there soon. We have had no rain here all week even though they keep on forecasting it.

Jansusan: I have the same problem, I did really well when I was making the time to prep salads and other stuff but if I don't have it prepped it's a lot easier to grab something on the way to work, usually fast food (though I try and get a low carb burger or salad)
Rho: don't beat yourself up, slip ups happen and after being sick it is easiest and at least for me more sane to eat something quick even if it isn't OP. Just drink lots of water, that helps me flush it out quicker.
I started taking Wellbutrin a couple of weeks ago for my anxiety and upped my dose this week and suddenly I haven't been hungry, I realized today that is most likely the reason for it. Now that I know I am going to try to be more on top of my eating and working on eating multiple small meals a day.

Hi All and think I'm getting some steady results too mino . . . 233 today . . . amazing what staying OP will do for the scale lol . . . my DD did my measurements the other day and now I can't find where she wrote them down dangit . . . hope this weight lifting doesnt bulk me up toooo much? LOL!:dizzy: Think I'll re-measure at the end of the Challenge?

We really are surrounded by carbs . . . and not the "good" kind . . . I constantly have to adjust my mind set that I'm really not being "deprived" of anything GOOD. Getting better at it but its of course, a struggle. Hope you're not beating yourself up about that big mac rho? Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things and you've accomplished so much already . . . hope you're better soon!

Gonna look for that yogurt serenity . . . used to love Blue Bunny low carb but getting harder and harder to find stuff like that. DID find the LC sweet relish and pickles for all the egg salad I ate... did you ever make any globe? . . . think "I'm good" til next Easter.:o

Totally forgot I wanted to check out the metabolism pills air0...can you post the name of them again . . . I remember talking about them in the Easter thread.

I think exhaustion is my #1 daily enemy, but stress and hospitals are right up there janS . . . hope things calm down for you on that front - hard to battle with all that going on - but you can do it!:hug:

We must've posted at the same time air-:D . . . not trying to be a Thread hog here, but just want to share that I have clinical depression (like Mom, Gram and 1 sister) and have battled it since late puberty . . . the ONE AND ONLY drug that ever helped me was Wellbutrin! I had energy and optimism and clarity . . . with no side effects EXCEPT:

I have NO allergies (knock on wood) . . . never have . . . used to rub poison ivy leaves on my legs and arms on dares as a kid . . . I can snort pollen, dust, cig smoke . . . well you get the idea . . . so yeah, I'm loving Wellbutrin, but a couple of months (I think 4) into taking it, I started feeling hot/flushed . . looked in the mirror and had these crazy hives creeping up my throat/neck/ears.:mad: Never proven Wellbutrin, but taken off of it as a precaution and they vanished.

FForward about 6 years, and a variety of failed meds . . . my doc did a bunch of research and thought that maybe the hive thing was an allergy to the coating on the pill so he ordered a "plain" form of it and equipped me with an epi-shot thing . . . this time it was only 3 days until the hives came . . . I'm just so furious at my body for this cruel joke--whatever is in that stuff is definitely the chemical my brain is missing . . . so its the ONLY substance that causes an allergic reaction in my allergy-free life?

Yeah thanks Mother Nature!:mad::devil:

The doc researched further to find that Wellbutrin is the ONLY anti-depressant that works on those certain brain neurons/deficiency/whatev . . . the closest thing he can find to it is some kind of ADD med that may work since I don't have ADD . . . but haven't really got on board with trying it yet. Hope you have great success taking it air0 . . . and am sooo jealous lol!

Sorry folks - din't mean to write a novel:o . . . just re-did my measurements (gave up on finding those from a week ago) . . . not sure if we did them right but guess the most important thing is to do the same place each time?

This thread moves fast - I'll try to check in more often. Hi everyone!

Aw Rho, don't beat yourself up. You haven't eaten much so calories wise you won't gain, might just retain a bit of water. You'll get right back on track. You've been so succesful and learning how to deal with a slip is good practice (as Aud I'm sure will agree with me!)

Serenity, I'm in Australia. I'm sort of familar with Memorial Day (there was an episode of the West Wing with that title that was set in May!) but I get really hazy on when in May it is ;). Here the weather is still really nice but it's getting dark earlier and in general it feels like winter is on the way. Which is cool as it gives me lots of time before beach time again.

I'm back on strict induction and FINALLY feeling good about it again. I was hovering in the 184s and now I'm back down to 179.8 this morning, oh, joy at seeing that 7 again. I swear to god, I've been through the 180s and the 170s so many times, this is the last time!

Happy Saturday!

I love the fact that we have buddies in not only North America, but Europe and Australia also. The power of the 'net.:grouphug: I was never that good with geography/climate (product of the NYC school system;), but I'm guessing that our May is the same as Australia's November (six months opposite).

Aud mentioned that we are surrounded by carbs. Yes, we are, and I have started reading the nutrition labels to look at carbs, and OMG:eek:, the carb content in what you would think is "healthy", is ridiculous. For instance, I was thinking maybe I can have some vegetarian frozen meals on hand for an emergency. I looked at the lowfat broccoli souffle, it listed 42g of carbs. Hellooo, that is more than my daily allowance. Oh well. Processed foods are not good for you anyhow. lol

Talk to you tomorrow. Stay 100% and keep on doing it!

Hey guys :) I'm back again!

We ended up going on a spur of the moment trip down to visit my family as my husband didn't have work for 2 weeks. We stayed with my mom and I figured even though I couldn't do Atkins while there I would just try to eat as best as I could. Well my mom basically had no food in the house! She left us a bunch of cupcakes and cookies she baked, and a plate full of easter chocolate and chocolate bars to eat. We ended up eating out a lot because of this.

Before the trip I got to my lowest weight this year, 181.8. I went back on plan after Easter and this time I was up to 187.8! I've been back on plan for a few days and I'm down to185.4 so that isn't so bad :) I'd like to be in the 170's by the end of April. No more breaks, no more cheating, I'm going all the way!

I looked up Memorial day and see it is May 28th. I'll set a goal of 175 for then, aiming low since my weight loss will slow at some point.

Glad to see some familiar faces and some new ones :) My husband is going out of town for 6 weeks so I'll be taking care of house and baby alone, but I'll try to check in more often!

LOL @ Serenity OMG is right. I stop looking at vegetarian meals awhile back just for that reason they often have a lot of carbs in them..low fat foods are often the same, low calories but high in carbs..

heyy step welcome back:hug: for sure you didn't gain 7 pounds, that is definitely water etc. from the excess carbs.. your goal seems attainable and like I posted earlier even if I lose 2 pounds a loss is a loss in my book..