First up, thank you for such a loving response to my last post. I truly appreciate all of your support and advice. I've been a bit scatter brained for a while, so apologies for my lack of updates and checking in on everyone and their progress. I really appreciate everyone taking the time out of their day to send me a message, I would love to respond to each of you but the response would be the same: thank you! <3
To address the question that came up the most after my last post: I actually don't have a primary care doctor close by at the moment because I can't seem to find one that's rated well. I got assigned one randomly and it's 60 miles away, which in Atlanta feels like 120 miles! I don't want to trust my health to a clinic that's notoriously sh!tty, the nearest one apparently is super dirty despite the staff being ok. My health insurance is simply bad right now, I took for granted how wildly accepted Blue Cross Blue Shied was but they dropped us. I forget the exact reason but they decided they were going to discontinue the plan we were on and not offer us an alternative. I feel kind of helpless on the health care front, so I think I've resigned myself to dealing with my mental care myself in the best way I can and hope that next year there might be another option for us. My boyfriend also needs to see a doctor about his mental care, he has ADHD to a certain degree and it's affecting his work. I think we're both feeling a bit overwhelmed and helpless that we can't get the care we need. I don't want to start a whole political debate, but I cannot believe how terrible America's health insurance system is...
So, if any of you have any ways to help with anxiety/depression without the use of medicine, please let me know! No big deal right?!
Anyway, back on topic! My health has been ok, I think my mind needed a little longer to recover that I initially thought so I've not been focused on my weight loss. I did go on a run on Friday and I pushed myself, but I didn't stretch sufficiently afterwards so my legs were hurting a lot over the weekend! I did a couple of longer walks since we were looking after our neighbors dog, so that was nice and a good alternative to being stationary while my muscles recovered. I'm definitely behind with my 5K training, which is next Sunday! I can't believe how soon that's coming up. I'm glad it's a 5K, because I know I can push myself to run that distance, a 10K would be a bit too much with no training.
Recently I got the ingredients to make miso soup, I'm really enjoying having it available as a snack! It's not super filling, so I wouldn't class it as a lunch, but it's not to have in between meals. I put in tofu cubes, green onion and seaweed.
I'm gonna try better to weigh in and stay accountable this week! A huge welcome back to Dottington, so great to see you!
Rie-I'm so sorry to hear about the health care issues, that's terrible. Sending all the good vibes and internet hugs your way <3 As far as helping to manage depression/anxiety on your own...I personally find that doing little things that make me happy each day greatly help. They can be very small things, but doing that means I feel like I'm always looking forward to something. Good luck with the 5k! I'm sure you'll do fine
Just joining this group helped me today already. I was very good about carefully weighing all my food and making sure I got in my 10k steps. Anyone else weigh their food?
I have been struggling for the past few days. Some days I have no trouble with food, then others I just want to eat and eat sugared items. I've always been that way, but if I didn't keep trying and getting back on track I would be in worse shape.. so I pick myself up...I know the drill!!!
Congrats to everyone for plugging away, fighting the good fight!!!
Not such a great week for me this round. I started out strong, but then was very snacky the last couple of days, thus resulting in an overall small gain for the week.
Sorry for my lack of updates! I've still been trying to find the right balance between work, play and fitness. Honestly pressure with trying to find an effective working-from-home routine has overshadowed the health/fitness side of my life, which I know isn't the best mentality to have but it's the truth. Gotta pay the bills after all! I've been going back and forth between dropping out of the challenge and simply running it as a bystander, but I want to see this one through, even if I don't reach my goal.
I think I'll take another break from 3FC after the challenge is over, just so I can clear my head space a little more. I'm not sure where the spark for weight loss has disappeared to after having such a great summer, but I think other areas of my life demand attention right now and I don't want to half a$$ anything. I'm guessing my break will be until the New Year, since I have a 2 week vacation to England at the end of November and then Christmas will be around the corner, so I think after all that is over I'll be ready to focus on my health again. Of course that doesn't mean I'm going to eat everything and stop exercising, but I think tracking things and actively talking about weight loss feels like a responsibility that I don't want to burden myself with too much. I know it sounds ridiculous, I wish I was made of stronger stuff, but in actuality I'm quite weak! The tiniest grain of sand can tip my scales so I need to be weary.
flower1 my 5K is actually this Sunday! My "next Sunday" is "not this Sunday, but next" I'm definitely not quite as ready as I intended, but I'm sure I'll manage to get around Thanks for your support Dott - I feel terrible spacing out after you've just returned! I'd love to be more support to you, so feel free to message me if you'd like!
I managed 4.2 pound loss this week I guess starting to the gym has paid off even though I don't feel like I'm doing much when I'm there! I have created a chart thing on excel, I started at 290 and went down by 5s till 180 which is my goal, I'm going to put an X over each when I get to it. I also included my mini goals and rewards, and the holidays Id'e like to meet them at. I printed it and put it on my mirror in my room, when I look at it in 5 pound increments over 100 pounds looks a lot easier lol I was supposed to do my 5K this past Saturday but I was no where near ready. So, now I'm planning on doing one December 8th and I WILL do it lol
I received a message many moons ago asking about categorizing contestants in future challenges. This would mean when it's time to announce the winners I would have 2 groups, those who are 200 lbs+ and those who are less than 200 lbs. Those with more weight to lose do lose weight at an accelerated rate, which gives them an advantage to these seasonal challenges. Even though I do chart the winners by percentage of weight lost vs. lbs lost to try and make it fair, I can't deny that we're all at very different stages in our weight loss journey perhaps it would be nice to have different categories so more people can take home badges?
For example, if week 7 was our last week, then somedaysunny, RunningRedHead and Darius would take the top 3 spots for the 200+ club, then MorningGlory, cattails and flower1 would take the top 3 spots for less than 200+ club.
However, I wanted to get everyone's opinion on this and go with the majority. Would you be ok if I categorized contestants in the challenge in this way? I don't particularly like the sound of 200+ and less, so we could come up with our own Halloween team names. Like "Team Pumpkins", "Team Ghosts" or something far more creative! We could even get silly with it
Let me know what you think!
Last edited by Riestrella; 10-24-2018 at 11:02 AM.
Riestrella:
Honestly, I don't really have a preference, and I think percentages is very fair. But you seem already somewhat stressed out right now, so I'd vote for whichever stresses you out less. /hugs
Riestrella:
Honestly, I don't really have a preference, and I think percentages is very fair. But you seem already somewhat stressed out right now, so I'd vote for whichever stresses you out less. /hugs
Lacerta and curvy bless you both! I'm doing much better in terms of stress levels, I think the colder weather is helping A sweaty Rie is a mad Rie. I don't mind doing teams, it wouldn't be a huge hassle for me! I think for this challenge it might be a bit too late since we're in the last week or so of the challenge, so maybe for the next one?
I think if I ran a Christmas challenge I wouldn't partake myself but would be happy to run/organize it for everyone else! I already have the spreadsheet ready to go since I went on a massive rampage in the summer planning a years worth of challenges!
No big deal right?! 
<3 As far as helping to manage depression/anxiety on your own...I personally find that doing little things that make me happy each day greatly help. They can be very small things, but doing that means I feel like I'm always looking forward to something. Good luck with the 5k! I'm sure you'll do fine 
I guess starting to the gym has paid off even though I don't feel like I'm doing much when I'm there! I have created a chart thing on excel, I started at 290 and went down by 5s till 180 which is my goal, I'm going to put an X over each when I get to it. I also included my mini goals and rewards, and the holidays Id'e like to meet them at. I printed it and put it on my mirror in my room, when I look at it in 5 pound increments over 100 pounds looks a lot easier lol I was supposed to do my 5K this past Saturday but I was no where near ready. So, now I'm planning on doing one December 8th and I WILL do it lol
