Featherweights: JULY CHALLENGE!
 

Seems a lot of us have goals and mini-goals to meet in about a month, and some want to do a '30-day challenge', so I thought I could start a thread where we can keep accountable together. So...





These next 31 days are going to mark a nice change in a lot of us! We CAN meet our goals! Who's in? What's your goal?

Awesome idea!

Starting Weight: 132.4
August 1st Goal: 128

Plan of attack: Continue exercising 4-6x a week and counting calories.

This month is going to be tough for me because my husband is coming home from a 6 month deployment, so there will be many celebratory dinners and two vacations thrown into the mix!

Starting weight: 130
August goal: 125 or a drop down to at least 18.5% body fat plus a 5k at the end of it

Plan of action: Morning run everyday for at least 30 minutes (or go for a swim if muscles are too sore), pilates for an hour everyday and 30 minutes stretching, hour long walk after dinner and overall just burn 700-1000 calories a day in exercise :) Also count calories and increase protein to a minimum of 80g daily.

In case you haven't noticed I just LOVE exercising and I find it so much easier to decide to eat healthy high protein, low fat (and high GI if it's just after a particularly hard work out so as my muscles can repair properly) meals if I base them around what nutrients I'll need in order to train to the best of my ability.

Hi all,

I am new and excited to join you ladies in this challenge! I've been lurking for a while, and I really love this forum.

Starting Weight: 116
August 1st Goal: 111

Plan of attack: Things have been utterly crazy in my work life lately, thanks to a recent promotion. I gained five pounds (ouch) and I blame stress and not making myself and my wellbeing the priority that it always should be! So, this month I want to lose the weight that I gained by:
- Revamping my diet: I want to give up sugar, real and artificial (except for fruit of course), and while flour on a daily basis. I will allow myself it for a treat (ie: a piece of cake at a birthday party). But I really want to scrap it from my daily lifestyle. I've been reading a lot by Gary Taub, and I really believe what he says about sugar being a TOXIN for our bodies. I also want to eat 8 servings of fruit or veggies so that the hungry monster doesn't kill me!
- Getting serious about calorie counting: I am going to plan my meals the night before/that AM and will stick to it rigorously
- Working on the mental stuff: I have a problem with binging and stress eating. I have found Beck Diet Solution helpful in the past, but never completed it. So I will be recommitting myself to that program.
- Exercise: I was always a dedicated daily exerciser, until all this work stress kicked in. It was how I offset the damage from the point prior. I am going to get back into it and give my lazy elliptical routine a major kick in the a$$ with a mix of running, spinning, and Jillian Michaels.
- Forgiving myself: I have still weighed daily for the past month, and I have been beating myself up for letting myself go. But you know what? It happens. I want to forgive myself and move on.

Ah great, exactly what I need! I am going on holiday on 2nd August, and need to keep on track :)

Start weight: 67.7kg

Goal weight (2nd August) 65.5kg (goal) or a flat stomach, whichever comes first

Plan of attack: Keep to a whole foods, low sugar, low carb, high protein diet (1,500 calories a day). Try to walk around as much as poss, even with crutches, and do Pilates and or weights 4 x a week. I have lots of time on my hands now because we're in the school hols so I'll try to use it productively :)

I'm not going to seriously weigh myself until 2nd August because:
a) It is getting on my nerves!
b) I have to wear a massive clumpy post-surgery shoe, my foot is really swollen and I swear that makes me heavier than I would be normally. Soooo I will weigh myself on 2nd August, when all the bandages etc come off :) I'll check in with my daily calories and exercise though :)

Yes! I will def. join. Love that all you ladies have such ambitious goals! You girls are awesome. Sheesh, I couldnt imagine burning 700-1000 calories in exercise a day. I can barely do my 2.5 mile run everyday and thats only around 200 calories! :dizzy:

SW:136
Aug 10: 125.8
10.2 pounds!

Goals: Hard 30 minute exercise at least 5 days a week.
Calories: NO more than 1500 AVERAGE for the week.
Food plan: Barely ANY processed foods. All clean!

My weight goal is modest this month. It is simply to not GAIN any weight. Optimally, I would like to lose 3lbs, to get to 129, but with all the fun and activity going on, I will be happy with just not gaining.

Regarding eating habits: July is going to be a binge-free month. I will also keep striving to eat more healthy whole foods. All too often, I will choose one serving of potato chips for 120 calories, instead of a banana, or some almonds for the same amount. I will remind myself more often of what my body needs versus what my mouth wants.

Fitness wise, I will keep running 3 miles 3 to 4 times a week with a longer run thrown in here and there. I will keep working on my push-ups and try to increase it from 10 to 15 by August.

Start weight: 132.
Goal: 129 to 132.
Eats: 90% of what my body needs/10% of what my mouth wants.
Exercise: Keep sweating off the fat and stress by running every other day. Tone up these flapping arms by doing push-ups, tricep dips, and hand weights.

So great to see you girls join in!!! :D

My Goals
Start Weight: 125.6 (as of this morning :carrot: )
Goal Weight: 117, Lose 8.4 lbs
Fit into my beach clothes from last year for our big beach vaca in the beginning of August.

Plan of Attack
~Exercise about 6 times/week. Take a day off to spend at the pool.
~Burn over 800 calories/day through intense cardio (running, elliptical, aerobics), strength training, outdoor walks & hikes and some pilates & yoga.
~Eat 1400 calories or less/day.
~Try to minimize my sodium intake & up my protein.

Am loving the 'Burn over 800 calories/day' goal skinny fast ;) If you're up for it we can compete with each other to see who can burn the most calories in a day?

Anyways over here in Scotland it's about 11pm so here are my results for the day:

~2.8K morning run (and I only walked for 6 minutes of it)
~pilates for 70 minutes plus 50 minutes pilates stretching spread throughout the day
~instead of that hour long walk I took the same route (4.8K btw) and ran it in half the time (got back an hour ago and I feel AMAZING) :D
~Consumed a bit under 1300 calories
~Consumed a massive 99g protein!
~Burned 930 calories :D

Am feeling very proud of myself and let's see if you can beat that skinny fast! ;)

love this idea!

Starting Weight: 122
August 1st Goal: 118/119 (just to break out of the 120s is all I really want!)

Plan of attack: listen to the nutritionist...which is scary because I have to eat MORE which is terrifying to me (she thinks 1200 is the lowest i can eat AFTER exercise...meaning on days i work out and burn 400+ she thinks i should be consuming 1600 calories!)

I want to start using myfitnesspal calorie tracker more religiously again. ive been lazy about it. and I want my minimum amount of exercise to be 4x a week, for at least an hr.

Wooh! I go home to california august 1st, here's to hoping I can look hot in a bikini by then :)

I'll join in.

SW: 127.8 (but I've been at ~125.5 until today so I suspect there's some water weight in there)
GW: 124

Plan: 1. Stick to 1200-1400 calories on off days, 900 net calories on running days 2. Run/walk 5mi 3x/wk in no more than an hour, working up to 6mi in an hour by the end of the month.

Results today: ran/walked 5.2mi in 1.05, 600 net calories so far

Whoa Chooks! You're off to quite a start.

Great goals you guys!

@JuliaTN after yesterdays almost 5 miles my legs are KILLING ME but I still want to burn at least 700 calories today so I was wondering (since you are a runner type) if you know of any other types of exercise I could do that will still let my leg muscles recover aside form swimming and using an elliptical? :)

And if anyone else read that as well then feel free to offer any contributions :D

Fantastic - I will join you!

Goal #1 - Get in a 10 mile run before 7/31.
Goal #2 - See 159 on the scale. This will be the first time in 6 years!!

SW - 161
GW - 159

I know 2lbs seems awfully slow...but that's the way it's gone for the last year. Immensely frustrating since I train 6 days a week and count all my calories. Oh well, I see the muscle mass increasing and the body fat decreasing - so let's just KEEP WORKING!!

Cycling is a Quad heavy cross training activity. I hurt myself, running, at least once a season - and I end up on the bike. Not sure which muscles/joints are hurting, but cycling is something that is impact free so your joints can rest as well. Also, a long, gentle walk does wonders.

HTH :hug:

Chooks! I'm up for it!! Sounds motivating :)

My totals yesterday:

Consumed about 1400 cals (1300-1500?), but my protein was a tad low & sodium was too high :( (I treated myself to avocado 'sushi' rolls and Vietnamese summer veggie rolls for dinner instead of watching my nutrients.)

~elliptical for 4.4 miles
~treadmill at an 8 incline @ 4.5mph for 2 miles
~strength training (total body, but 1/2 was arms alone) for 25 min
~tried that youtube aerobic workout, the 9 min one, thx Chooks
~stretching & a few yoga exercises for 30 min while watching tv
TOTAL burn around 1100 calories

I'm sore today. I planned to run this morning, but my 5 year old woke up sick. I may hit the treadmill for a run still. My sodium intake was high yesterday, so I am afraid to weigh in, lol.

Great ideas!!! I don't think this will help your legs to recover much, but I love a good outdoor hike too! Juat another idea to change it up.

Seeing as I missed my morning run I've come down with midday exhaustion but am going to fix myself a cuppa coffee and hop on the bike machine (thanks mortonpixie ;) )! But for future reference does anyone have any tips on how to get past the mid afternoon slump?

5 Hour Energy shot, lol. They actually work pretty well and don't have nearly as much junk or caffeine in them as other energy drinks! Sometimes I take one before I run and it really helps. No heart palpitations. No crash after. They last a good 3-4 hours usually.

Protein always picks me up a little. I take my supplements midday (vits/minerals, herbal superfood energizers, phytonutrients, omega-3s), but I doubt they kick in that fast?

Sadly, I'll admit that I take a diet pill here & there (either Hydroxycut ((which isn't great for you)) or Weight Guard ((which is pretty safe)). Both have caffeine.).

7/2 Weigh In:
Holding steady at 125.6 :)

I weighed myself after my workout b/c I thought I could sweat out all that sodium I ate yesterday, lol. I was not about to weigh myself this morning.

7/2 Exercise:
Treadmill for 55 min, running at 6mph (10 min mile); 5.03 miles with a bunch of walking cool downs. I couldn't hang for more than 20 min!!! And did a couple 7mph spurts. 550 calories (I always take a few calories off of the treadmill reading.)
I hope to do something else today. I have at least 250 cals to burn through exercise to keep w/my plan. :)

Hey Chooks, just have to say you're really gorgeous. LOL, I just saw your masked profile picture. Cute :)

I will pick up an energy shot tomorrow and test this out :) Haha! It's just such a glorious photo I had to share it ;)

How todays plan of action went:
~No morning run, was forced to take a rest day.
~Pilates 70 minutes.
~Stretching 50 minutes.
~Bike machine 20 min of 14-16 mph and 15 min 16-19 mph (I couldn't help myself, I know I'm supposed to be resting but I get WAY too into exercising)
~1570 calories consumed
~73g protein
~1020 calories burned

I treated myself to some of my dads Kleftiko which is a delicious greek recipe for slow roasted lamb which is what I got the majority of my calories from.

Wow y'all seem to have it together!

My own goal for July will be fairly modest:

- Maintain minimum of 5 days a week exercise

- Keep on eating well (I'm not counting calories - never have had the patience or drive to do it... plus with my obsessive personality things could get really scary if I started doing that :dizzy: )

- Lose 2 - 3 pounds - I want to lose the weight slowly so my skin has a chance to keep up and my body has a better chance of maintaining the loss.

Yay, this is perfect!

Current Weight: 142.4
Goals - Hopefully will lose around 5-6 pounds this month and keep losing. I also want to workout or run at LEAST 4 times a week, but preferably 5-6.
Plan of Attack - A lot of cardio and a little bit of strength training, and counting calories

Exercise for today:
- 25 minute jog
- 25 minute walk
- 1 hour Zumba

I was really looking forward to going out for a run this morning (as yesterday my poor battered legs wouldn't let me) but I've discovered that during my long walk last night one of my blisters has popped and the skin has rubbed off :'( I can barely walk let alone run! And I can't seem to find any of my synthetic socks anywhere so I know that if I go out running in cotton ones then it'll just get worse...

Edit: Reading back on that I realised how disgusting it sounded ¬¬ a little bit tmi I think... Also I went out and bought some synthetic socks :3

Welcome, Precious Little & Rachel Anne!!

I hope we get some more updates after the holiday w/e is over :)

Chooks, I'm with you. I planned on getting in a good workout today, but it didn't happen. I spent 5 hours at the pool instead with my family. Oh well, it was a good trade.

What are synthetic socks? I have a bad blister too and have been using the blister bandaids but they only help so much.

OH! And my weigh in today: 125.2! Gotta love those tenths of a pound!! 125.6 to 125.2 feels great, lol.

Synthetic socks are socks that are made of like polyester or something similar. They're good for preventing blisters as they don't hold moisture and reduce friction whereas ordinary cotton socks just looooove moisture and friction :P I've decided to go for a 5K anyway blisters and all! I've positively SMOTHERED them in plasters and hopefully my new socks will prevent me getting anymore :3

btw I just love this thread. I think I'm getting addicted to it. I want to write a post like every other minute :P

You probably already know, but there are some really good points here :

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/20/he...l?pagewanted=1

Interesting read :) Thats why i always try and underestimate the amount of calories burned through exercise (for instance on livestrong.com if one exercise option says "running: 7mph burns 680 calories" and another says "running: 7mph burns 480 calories" then I'll go with the lower option) also at the end of the day I lob of 100 calories form my 'calories burned' section :)

Stats for the day:
~missed morning run due to blisters and lack of synthetic socks
~No pilates today (didn't have the time)
~stretching 30 minutes
~Long walk, complete 3 hour spring clean of house and accidental hour long run/walk as I was only intending for it to be a 5K but it turned out to be more like 9 as I got lost ¬¬ stop laughing.
~1660 calories consumed
~70g protein consumed
~1238 calories burned (oh yeah baby!)

Was my step fathers 50th today so we went to the (only) big swanky restaurant in town and I was very good :3 I ordered butternut and sweet potato squash for starters and only ate half of it, the mullet for main which is very low fat, and admittedly the panacotta for dessert... but it was small I swear! And when I got back I had an absolute SLITHER of nigella lawsons nutella cake (440 calories per 16th of cake! OMG!!). Was absolutely delicious though :3

Starting Weight: 130
Goal Weight: 130 or less
Eats: Calorie counting, vegetables, clean/real food.
Exercise: Same as ever. Keep running, doing tae bo, Youtube yoga/pilates, pushups/planks/etc, and walking lots.

Like aimeebell I simply don't want to gain weight this month. It's going to be absolutely insane, with hectic moving preparations and zillions of farewell parties and whatnot. I'll be lucky if I can get 6 hours of sleep a night. I also want to keep exercise regular and consistent - sweaty cardio 5 days a week, plus basic core/arms stuff. I fly from Fukuoka back to New York on the 31st.

Oh god today... :/ Today did not go too great food wise... It was a (rare) gorgeous day and so me and a few friends decided to go out for a picnic. Now I brought healthy low cal food with me and I ate all of that... along with half of everyone elses ¬¬ Not a proud moment to say the least but I managed to compensate with rigorous exercise and I just THANK GOD I did my morning 5K as otherwise I'd be about 300 calories beyond my limit and probably wouldn't have had the energy to do my other exercise.

Stats:

~Morning run 5K (was strangely difficult as I've been getting really painful stitches all day even when doing only light exercise ¬¬)
~90 minutes pilates (gotta love blogilates on tumblr :3)
~stretching 40 minutes
~Long walk before and after picnic along with one after dinner
~A massive 2166 calories consumed :/
~Only 70g protein consumed
~1200 calories burned

Reaching for that 1000 calories burned goal is getting easier and easier :P But the frequent stitches are getting annoying and putting a dampener on my high impact cardio :/

Good luck everyone! :D

Today's weigh in: 124.0 :) I don't understand it. But I'm 1.6 lbs down in 4 days!

30 walk pushing my 34 lb kiddo & my 46 lb kiddo + a double stroller on some serious hilly paths
20 min aerobics at home
20 min ab pilates at home
20 min strength training at home
+ 30 min stretching & over an hour of sweaty house cleaning (happy 4th to me)

Calorie intake: 1200, but I'm going to have a bowl of cereal later
Calorie burn: about 800

We'll see what tomorrow holds. :)

I weighed in at 138.2 right now. I'm so excited! I haven't had a chance to weigh myself in a little over a week because my scale at my apartment is broken, but now that I'm back with my parents I've been using their scale. I've also cheated a little these past two days (though still working out) and haven't really counted calories as precisely as I should have. No excuses, but I'm planning on getting back on track tomorrow.

Today's exercise consisted of a 2.5 mile jog and a 2 mile walk. Also 30 minutes of pilates. I just got on a monthly plan for a gym nearby my parents' house so I can go use some equipment when I'm at home. I'm planning on getting up early tomorrow and heading there!

I'd like to join if that's all right. I weighed in on July 1st at 126.4lbs, but I was retaining water, so I'll use my Saturday WI as my starting weight, which was 125.0lbs.

I would like to see 122lbs by the end of the month, and I would also like to build up my running time. I'm getting closer to managing a full 5k without having to slow to a walk at all. (I am pretty sure that my asthma is getting under control the more I run.)

I'm off to a bad start this month since I basically ate and ate all of July 4th weekend! Clocked in at 129lbs this morning! Blechh.

But on the bright side I had set a goal to weigh 125lbs by July 15th, so the fact that I weighed that much on Saturday is excellent. :)

I didn't actually weigh until today, but that's probably good since I gained over the holiday weekend for sure. :o

CW: 144
GW: 136

Goals:
Lose 8 lbs
Stay under 1000 cals on weekdays and under 1300 on weekend days
Do 1395 minutes of exercise for the month (45 min a day average)

Well....I started the weekend on Friday at 130.0 lbs, and ended it this morning at 131.8. Ehhh. I have been bouncing between 130 and 132 for weeks now because I haven't had a string of more than three on plan days. I haven't been doing horribly, still working out, still watching what I eat 80% of the time, but giving into indulgences a little too often. It was a good weekend, with a lot of activity, a lot of fun, and a little too much eating. I am aiming for a perfectly on plan week starting today, that means 1400 calories, 3 or 4 runs, a little tiny bit of strength training mixed in, and good healthy, whole foods. Game on.

So my husband was off work Sat, Sun, Mon & Tues for the holiday w/e and it's really been hard to workout. I'm definitely not meeting my goals. Instead I've been at the pool, the movies, the pool, the park, the pool, lol... Do I get a free pass b/c it was a holiday :) ? I mean, I worked out Sat & Mon, but altogether this is the least amount of time I've spent exercising in a long time.

Anyway! Vent done.

RachelAnne, Congrats! You're doin great :)

Dorian5, Welcome! You have come a long way, and you're so close to your goal now. That's great! Forget this past holiday w/e, I am. We can start fresh right now :)

mayness, those calories are really low. If you're working out maybe you should reconsider? You don't want to start burning your muscle. Sorry for sounding like a nag. Just curious where you stand.

aimeebell, hang in there! you can bounce back. Good luck w/your fresh start!

Girl, your workout schedule is insane! How do you do it?

Well I just LOVE my morning run (in case you haven't noticed) and I do 10 minutes stretching before and after (same with pilates) and when I went to the picnic we chose the park that was a good 3K away and then walked round the whole thing twice before going inside and did the same afterwards (about 40-50 minutes each time cause its a pretty damn big park) and for pilates trust me it gets ADDICTING! I do blogilates (you can find her on youtube or tumblr) Summer Body workout part 1 and 2 first to get a full body workout and then I just mix and match which is for some reason I just find to be sooo fun! My favourite is the 10 minutes Legs & Thighs workout and the Intense Ab workout but I've gotta warn you they are KILLER. And I love a long walk after dinner as I find it helps me digest my food :) Bringing along a friend or family member is always good for conversation.

This is all due to the fact that I have a LOT of spare time ;) And you're doing great! Even just floating about in a pool burns calories! Stay strong!

Stats:
~No morning run as I'm taking it a bit slower incase I stress myself out too much and stop enjoying it :(
~Bike machine 40 minutes at about 15mph, long walk/hike for an hour after dinner :3 (oh how i love country parks)
~Pilates 50 minutes
~Stretching 30 minutes
~Calories consumed 1738
~Protein consumed 106g (OMG)
~Calories burned 874

So I've realised that I eat quite a lot but it's all good food I SWEAR! I guess I just need the energy to train properly. It's really been taking it out of me, I've been so tired lately so I've been going to bed earlier (by which I mean before midnight) but I'm still absolutely knackered :/

Updates!

Well, I don't weigh myself daily - does NOT make things stress free for me - so I won't have a progress check in til the 15th. My leg is feeling better and and I ran 3 yesterday.
I'm going to try to pound out 5 or 6 on Friday. I'd love to run tomorrow, but think I'll swim or bike instead. That much closer to my goal of 10!

Keep on trucking ladies!

Current weight: 139
August goal : 132