Changergirl - I agree as a teacher breakfast is a must! I would not have the energy to deal with kids on am empty stomach. My go to breakfast is a poached egg on an English muffin (love it with runny yolk) with some fruit on the side.
Mel - Nice work not using rainy weather as an excuse to skip your run!
I was trying to take my weight loss slower this time by limiting my calories to 1500 but I ordered a dress online for awards night at the school I teach at and unfortunately the dress is a little too small... I think I need to lose about an 1inch around my rib cage for it to fit. The awards night is 29 days away so I plan on buckling down and decreasing my calories to 1300 per day to try to increase my weight loss. I am also going to up my exercise. I think in 29 days an inch is do-able. If not I do have a back up outfit but I really love the dress.
Today I went for an hour hike through the woods which was great. It didn't feel like a lot of work while I was doing it but my legs are feeling it now which is great.
Hi everyone. I can't remember exactly how many challenges this makes me but I think it is the 4th. Ladies, stick it out until the end even on your not so perfect weeks, it is surprising how empowering just completing the challenge can be even if you don't loose as much as you planned. After all there is no way to control how much or how fast you will lose. All you can control is what you eat and how much you exercise.
I would love to do some personals but I am rushing to get this posted before we go move my daughter into the home she just bought. So proud of her, single mom working hard to make a good life for herself and her kids, put herself through nursing school and now owns her very own house.
Anyway a couple of things that jumped out at me as I was reading was: I second the use if a recumbent bike for knee health. I was introduced to one during physical therapy after I had my knees replaced and liked it so well I bought one. Just so you know I HATE regular stationary bikes.
Also, I have always been a sweet baby too but after being diagnosed with diabetes had to cutout refined carbs. Sugar, flour, potatoes ... You get the picture. Much to my amazement not eating them completely eliminated my cravings. So much so that if I accidentally eat something with sugar or flour in it I can tell because my blood sugar jumps and I start craving sweet again so I really must abstain from refined carbs.
Last note because my daughter just arrived. I finally broke through my plateau by doing IF. I eat the same number of calories and carbs but now I eat them all in an 8 hour time frame. The window that seems to work for me is 7am until 3pm. I am so full trying to fit that much food in an 8 hour window so you don't feel deprived at all, then by the next day you are so hungry that breakfast taste Wonderful ... I love being hungry enough to really enjoy the meal.
EofAZ: that's great advice- sometimes you feel like you're a let down because you don't lose one week, but you need to keep going.
I was so sick at the beginning of this week, but that amounted to a good loss to start the challenge. I'm down 4 lbs which is fantastic for me. I seen to always have a hard time getting stuck. I lose, then get stuck for like two weeks, then lose a little more. It's like my body fights me sometimes- but I am going to keep moving forward. Even if it takes me twice as long to reach my goal. Any movement is better than no movement anyway and I need to keep this in mind!
Mel - IF is intermitent fasting. Basically you limit your eating hours. People use all different kinds of time frames. I currently do 15/9 which is 15 hours of fasting (8pm-11am) and 9 hours of eating (11am-8pm) so I eat lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, and sometimes a little something in the evening. I like it because it gives me a chance to feel hungry, without feeling deprived, because even though I keeping the total calories low, the reduction of a meal lets each of the other meals increase in size. It has also changed the way I think about food...because I don't eat as often, food seems to have become more of a "need to" rather than a "want to". I'm sure that all sounds a bit hokey, but it at least is working for me.
This is exactly what I found too. I love feeling really hungry .... Not starving just actually hungry and having enough to eat to completely satisfy that hunger. I am doing 16/8 . Have my morning coffee with cream, then breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snack/supper. I pack this and it works out well because DH and I carpool, he's a trucker so I never know when he will get in so we can leave for home. Fortunately I love to sit and read and waiting for him is my window of opportunity to enjoy a good book. So having my last meal before I leave to meet him insures I stay in my 8 hour window.
When I switch to beginning my feeding at 7 and concluding at 3pm I unexpected gained some desperately need free time in the evenings with energy enough to get a few things done around the house. pLUS for the last week I've noticed my morning sugar levels are reading normal, I was Really struggling with high morning readings. That alone is a good reason for me to continue with this eating pattern. Sure hope I can keep those steady and it isn't just a fluke.
I'm really interested in IF, but whenever I look around on the internet for information about it, I get a lot of mixed opinions and it's hard to know what's healthy and what's not. Is there a specific amount of time you should IF for or is it just up to you?
Last day before weigh in everyone! Let's all push just a little bit harder in our workout today
I'm really interested in IF, but whenever I look around on the internet for information about it, I get a lot of mixed opinions and it's hard to know what's healthy and what's not. Is there a specific amount of time you should IF for or is it just up to you?
Last day before weigh in everyone! Let's all push just a little bit harder in our workout today
Sarah, it is really what works for you. It certainly isn't for everyone. Some people have two 24 hour fasts a week or they eat only so many hours in the day. it may be 8 like i do but ive also heard some do 6 and others even less. for me It is basically just drawing a line in the sand and deciding i was not eating after such and such a time. I don't typically eat before 7 anyways because I have meds I take on an empty stomach and then have to wait for an hour before I can consume anything so the only change for me is to limit how late in the day I continue to eat. After looking at IF I realize that was basically what I was trying to do but it made me realize that not only did I not want to eat after 3pm but I also wanted to make sure I ate enough during the day to make up for it. It isn't just cutting out eating but making sure yo are getting adequate nutrition when you are eating. I actually increased my calories during the last challenge trying to break a plateau and have continued to eat more calories in less time and started loosing again so for me it is a good fit but for most they have families they need to cook for so eating early isn't an option.
I love that there are several teachers on our team! I skipped breakfast the first four years of teaching (because i am never hungry in the mornng) and was always ravenous by lunch at 12:30, and then pretty much spent the rest of my day eating because the full feeling would never kick in. Now I drink my MF shake on the way to school and have a MF fruit & nut protein bar at about 10am. Frequently I'm nt even hungry when lunch time rolls around.
EofAZ - you must be so PROUD of your daughter!
I'm in a hotel this weekend and forgot to bring my scale. I'm an obsessive daily weigher, so ima bit freaked out. I know it will be fine, I just like the daily reassurance.
Have a great on-plan weekend everyone!
Last edited by SuperHeroTeacher; 05-26-2013 at 01:06 AM.
So, I just wieghed in...and after almost a whole week of being at 193 - 193.5 (I'm a daily weigher), I'm back up to 195.5. It must have been because of all the 'crap' I ate last night at my daughter's going away party! Well, thankfully I'll be back on plan starting this morning!
I'll be flying out this afternoon (which reminds me, I should start packing soon) for the whole week (yes, I'll be taking my scale with me this time ).
As some of you will remember from the last challenge, I am posted (I'm military) to Edmonton, AB this summer, so I'm heading down this week to go house hunting! I'm so excited!
I may not have much time to chat this week since I'll be kinda busy looking at tons of houses and of course shopping! It'll be a nice break from the everyday, but will be challenging having all that access to too many restaurants as well.
Good morning team-
Hope everyone is having a great Sunday thus far.
We have tons o' sunshine which makes me very happy.
Weigh in day- remember to post your weight to the weigh in thread before 6pm central time.
Nikel- how's the ankle after the 10K?
Armygirl-good luck with the house hunting.
Armygirl & Superhero teacher- Sometimes it's good to take a break from daily weighing- makes you focus on other areas of your healthy lifestyle change!
EofAz- thanks for the IF info. I've done calorie cycling (informally) before so this seems similar in a way.
Rated- good to have a physical goal to go after. You can do it & rock the dress!
Enjoy the day everyone. Make positive choices and be happy
The start of a new weight loss challenge is so encouraging - here's to a great fresh start!
While it's not surprising, I do find it so amazing how our mindset is everything. The other night, I was finding myself actually feeling hunger pain late in the evening/night, and instead of grabbing the first thing I saw, I looked for something that would not blow my day. I had a glass of low sodium V8 juice and was satisfied! Am also feeling good about that apple in the afternoon. Am making an effort, and having the desire, to eat fresh, whole foods, rather than processed items which are ok calorie-wise but not particularly healthy. Feeling good about a healthy lifestyle change which includes exercise most days of the week.
My ankle felt great! It only started to feel a little sore the last 0.5 mile or so. I feel a lot more sore today than I usually do after a shorter race, which I'm sure is just because I ran a 10K after 2 weeks off from running. My 5k split was a PR for me, and the race itself was a PR.
). 
It only started to feel a little sore the last 0.5 mile or so. I feel a lot more sore today than I usually do after a shorter race, which I'm sure is just because I ran a 10K after 2 weeks off from running. My 5k split was a PR for me, and the race itself was a PR. 