No time again, everyone. Thanks for the congrats. Keep up your good work. I'll be coming up for air in a day or two. Continuing the challenges with counts to include both new challenge and old.
No Booze
Day 1/22 complete no pauses allowed (started Nov. 5) First round COMPLETED Nov. 25!!!
No Smoking (Started Nov. 5)
Day 1/22 complete no pauses allowed (started Nov. 5) First round COMPLETED Nov. 25!!!
No Sugar
Day 20 complete no pauses allowed (started Nov. 7)
Write-it-down Challenge
Day 16 completed no pauses allowed (started Nov. 11)
Last edited by redballoon; 11-26-2008 at 02:52 PM.
Thanks miriam101! I hope not to hit a rut one of these days, but for now I've stayed positive. It makes a really big difference if I focus on the countless reasons why I am doing this. WTG on your ongoing success with your two challenges!
Sunnigummi - WTG on staying positive! Great job on your succesful challenge days! And hey, I'm like you. One thing at a time!
redballoon - Don't forget to breathe! You're SDC to finishing your next 2 challenges.
I'll check in later with my update; haven't exercised yet - but I will! Keep up the good work everybody.
Hey all. Day 8 starting over again. I didn't eat enough yesterday and even though I was tired, went to swim last night. Felt so tired and starved that when I got home, absolutely fell off the *not eating bad stuff for me* bandwagon BIG time! It didn't help that DH brought home a huge tin of a Xmas gift he received in his office that day (I won't post what it is but suffice to say I wouldn't be acing Red's sugar challenge right now!)
So today of course, my mood has swung to the negative, probably after the *high* I caused myself yesterday. And the stupid stuff is sitting over on the counter still! I should be exercising, or doing something productive, but instead I am sitting inside on this overcast, rainy day watching movies on the boob tube and reading internet garbage and writing emails. Very introspective today......
Yaay Red! You are so incredible right now! Send some good vibes my way, would ya'?
Miriam--FINALLY! you deserve that vacay, absolutely! Let DH take care of the kids and hold down the fort--you need some YOU time!
Quix--have fun on your break, as well! It sounds perfectly wonderful!
Tex, Tech, Schmalger and Sunni--you all sound like you are doing so well on your challenges!! Keep it up through the holidays!
Arabella--I hope you are feeling better. Maybe the holiday break will be good for you? Or is it too busy (i.e., do you have to do too much for it to be enjoyable when you are sick?)
Well, off to change the laundry and clean a couple of bathrooms.......
Yep - Schmalger - positivity really has quite an impact on our successes...
Hey Mod! Nice to see ya! Climb back on the bandwagon - I have an empty chair next to me I know what you mean about the low after the high- - earlier this week I ruthlessly consumed an obscene amount of sugar and I felt like my heart was racing and adrenaline pumping and... very sick to my stomach, LOL
I am VERY excited about my trip to the states! I'll be staying in the metropolitan area - so I'm not quite sure how I'm going to be getting places - I guess on the subway <which makes me nervous by myself - I'm a big scardey cat after my cousin was mugged on the subway with me like 20 years ago...>. My brother and I are hopefully going to see Rock of Ages on Broadway and I'm looking forward to going ice skating at Rockefeller Center - all the fun things I could never do because for the past 10 years - when I've traveled - I've always has a baby or toddler with me. But I'm not sure how one dresses in cold and rainy weather - I've been living here a long time, lol. Here's a question: if you're going to the mall, and it's freezing cold outside and you're wearing 4 layers of clothing and a long coat and boot, when you get to the mall - what do you do with all those clothes?!
Happy Thanksgiving to all you Americans - I always found Thanksgiving a good time for personal introspection and realizing how much we all should be thankful for in our own lives.
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Challenges:
Recording - Day 3, 3 pauses
Positive - Day 3, 3 pauses
Whew! I just finished my exercising for the day, just before midnight. My sister stopped by, and her 15 minute stop-by to return something turned into 2 hours! I came so close to not exercising tonight and counting it as one of my pause days. But I got on there and finished at about 11:30 PM. And I had no idea how much this exercising has been affecting my legs until I got on the machine tonight. I didn't think I would make it 5 minutes! But I slowed down when I thought I would collapse and got it done. I know I wouldn't have made it without prayer, the ipod, and constantly reminding myself WHY I'm doing this. Oh yeah, and picturing Jilian barking at me works wonders, too. So here's the daily report:
Daily Exercise Day 4
Level 3
Exercise? Check!
Stats? 30 minutes on the elliptical – 4.50 miles – 135 calories burned
Mood? Completely tapped out. Whew!
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modcat44 - Ugh! Laundry and cleaning bathrooms - two of my most favorite things. I'm sorry you've been struggling with sugar. You have been doing such a GREAT job. Remember that! You have sooo much to be proud of. You're in the low 180s!! You will get past this and continue to excel! Here are some "good vibes" to get you through this -
miriam101 - I hope you have a spectacular time in New York. DH and I went to New York last Thanksgiving. We were with my MIL, who insisted on dealing with the insane crowds to go to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We were *not* thrilled, but after all was said and done, we were glad we went. New York was so cool to us, and I'm sure you'll have a blast. HAVE FUN and WTG on your challenges!!
Another quickie. I am SO busy. mod, good vibes! schmalger, what's SDC? miriam, I DID IT!!
No Booze
Day 2/23 complete no pauses allowed (started Nov. 5) First round COMPLETED Nov. 25!!!
No Smoking (Started Nov. 5)
Day 2/23 complete no pauses allowed (started Nov. 5) First round COMPLETED Nov. 25!!!
No Sugar
Day 21 complete no pauses allowed (started Nov. 7) COMPLETED!!! Nov. 27
Write-it-down Challenge
Day 17 completed no pauses allowed (started Nov. 11)
Red--I think she means So Da*n Close, haha! (Or So Darn Close, I guess I should say).
Thanks for all the positivity Red, Schmalger, Miriam! I am feeling better now, so starting Day 9 (on Turkey day, so may not be successful, but at least off of Day 8!) I hope to go for a run here shortly after the bird is in the oven--want to run about 45 minutes to counter-act the upcoming feast......
Miriam--what I used to do was leave the coat in the car and run into the mall. Now I know, you are gonna be parked very far back and if it is really is freezing, you'll just have to sweat inside--maybe take a lighter weight jacket, so you'll have something on but not too heavy to walk around in......
Another trick is to buy something soon and put the coat/jacket into the shopping bag while you are walking around--another reason to not be bringing in a too bulky coat.....
I went ahead and exercised early (in comparison), so that the rest of my day is freed up for other things. We aren't going out of town like we usually do, so it's just DH and me. But I am gonna cook a little and watch Peanuts and Garfield Thanksgiving specials. We finally broke down and bought the DVDs, because we always miss it on TV and love them!
Daily Exercise Day 5
Level 3
Exercise? Check!
Stats? 33.40 minutes on the elliptical – 5.00 miles – 180 calories burned
Mood? Great! I am more and more sore with each passing day, and like last night, I didn't think I'd make it 1/4 of a mile. It's funny, though. Once I crest 20 minutes, it's like my body gets "broken in," and I'm able to push through and keep going. I was so close to 5 miles at the 30 minute mark that I just kept going until I hit it.
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redballoon - modcat44 has it right on the nose about SDC. And WTG on completing yet another challenge! You are unstoppable!!
modcat44 - I'm so glad to hear that you're feeling better! And enjoy Turkey day and your run.
mod and schmalger, thanks for the explanation and encouragement. I am really under the gun here with two stories to write before I go into the office. Lack of sleep is becoming a problem but I must push on through Sunday, with the big race here and more stories to write.
I am not feeling like I am doing great on anything or making progress, but I am trying to just allow the passage of time to come up with some tangible results. I think I am OK on eating etc, though I would like to be doing more. at least I know I'm not adding unneeded calories through beer and sugar and I'm sure my body (my liver especially) is enjoying these days. I, on the other hand, am just too stressed and tired to be enjoying them and I have no time to get to the gym, which I want to. It's cold and raining here, which doesn't help. But, I will try to keep it up. Your support is very much appreciated!
Well, I just weighed in this morning and my weight is down! I am just a bit more than 2 pounds higher than the lowest I have been since the end of December last year. That's gotta be good for something, eh? I tried on my "fat-gauging, non-stretchy jeans" and the top seems a bit closer to closing. They feel tighter on my butt though and thighs and that feeling I find SO irritating. God, trying on those jeans makes me angry. I HATE the feeling of tight clothes, even if I were thin. I am happiest in workout clothes, clothes that move with you and you never really feel. And I hate loose clothes. So, I really have no choice but to wear stretchy things. But, as I've said before, these allow for weight gain without noticing. Hmmm...well, perhaps I'll just use these jeans only for a gauge and never wear them. Ok, I'm babbling here, putting off doing my work... Oh, I wish I had jeans that were loose and looked good. I think all these stretchy nonsense I'm spouting is just me trying to rationalize being dumpy-looking.
Hang in there all and a belated (though it's still Thursday in the States) Happy Thanksgiving to you all!
Ok, later!
Last edited by redballoon; 11-27-2008 at 04:19 PM.
I suppose by now you Thanksgiving challenges must be finished, fellow Americans. Don't eat the leftovers today
How did you all do?
Red - nice fringe benefit - weight loss - eh? I know you might not see the tangible results of your challenges yet - which must be hard because they are really difficult ones! But I'm sure the subtle things will start showing (like you size-gauge jeans fitting better ) I've found that my weight was stalled for a while and even though the scale wasn;t moving (which annoys the ** out of me) I could see clothes were fitting better.
Mod - my coat question was if I was coming sans-car....
Shmalger - woohoo! Good for you for pushing through and reaching that 20 minute crest. My body - or maybe brain? is so anti-exercise but once I start - I do okay. It's the starting that is the bummer....
Wonder where arabella, and fish and apple are?
Challenges:
Day 4 for both recording and positive...
No Booze
Day 3/24 complete no pauses allowed (started Nov. 5) First round COMPLETED Nov. 25!!!
No Smoking (Started Nov. 5)
Day 3/24 complete no pauses allowed (started Nov. 5) First round COMPLETED Nov. 25!!!
No Sugar
Day 1/22 complete no pauses allowed (started Nov. 7) First round COMPLETED!!! Nov. 27
Write-it-down Challenge
Day 18 completed no pauses allowed (started Nov. 11)
Well, today was not a pretty day eating. I had way too much, but stayed on my challenges. So much work and no time to really take time out to make a good meal, I grazed through the entire day eating calorie dense things. (Sigh). I can't let this weight come back on. It always does. This time has got to be different!
************** miriam -- Yeah, I'm glad the scale moved some. I think my body was changing but in ways not really noticeable with clothes. In fact, it was getting BIGGER in some areas because of weight training. I don't want to take my measurements though because I become obsessed with them. Even trying on too tight clothes makes me really irritated and then disgusted and given-up. I don't know. I think I actually do best not focusing on anything but what I put in my mouth and what kind of exercise I do. All ready for your trip? Where in New York are you going? To the city or upstate?
As for malls, if you mean just like department stores in Manhattan, you'll just have to split your days, shopping or outdoor walking. That said, if you're walking a lot you really don't need to wear so much. You can always duck into a store or building to warm up a bit. Wearing technical wear is my favorite, sports clothes that are light and have underarm zips and such. They hold the air so are really warm when you have them all shut but are so light and cool when unzipped. Other than that, if you don't have a huge selection of clothes, just do what mod said and put your coat in a big shoulder bag or pack. if you are going to a real mall, then perhaps they'll have coin lockers, but I don't know. On the other hand, I think you just have to suffer and sweat. Americans are used to wearing around lots of clothes. It had never occurred to me to take something off. Hmm....
Last edited by redballoon; 11-28-2008 at 06:55 AM.
Well - i'm not SOOO ready for my trip yet... I don't wear pants - only skirts -so i went and bought some warm tights to wear. Iguess i'll have to wear boots - ugh. hate boots because my feet sweat .... I'm going to be in Manhattan and Brooklyn and NJ. Starting to get excited!
Coats: I bought a beautiful long wollen coat when i was in NY 6 years ago, size 12P (yea America - for petites..) and last year I was so huge, not only couldn't I close it <like the previous year...> I couldn't even get it on!!! This year it fits, but only with something thin on - so not practical. So a short jacket it'll have to be, and not a very warm one, at that! Maybe I should buy a new coat?? Nah - then I'll be stuck in a big size, hehe. I would still like to lose a fair deal of weight.
Sorry for the ramble. I love the recording challenge - makes me think twice if I really want to write down that tempting junk -or not have it.
As you are almost done with your ENTIRE list of challenges, Red, have you given some thought about the next one??
So here's the daily report:
I'm sorry you've been struggling with sugar. You have been doing such a GREAT job. Remember that! You have sooo much to be proud of. You're in the low 180s!! You will get past this and continue to excel! 
Here are some "good vibes" to get you through this - 
sugar is done!!!
trying to keep it up....
I HATE the feeling of tight clothes, even if I were thin. I am happiest in workout clothes, clothes that move with you and you never really feel. And I hate loose clothes. So, I really have no choice but to wear stretchy things. But, as I've said before, these allow for weight gain without noticing. Hmmm...well, perhaps I'll just use these jeans only for a gauge and never wear them. Ok, I'm babbling here, putting off doing my work... Oh, I wish I had jeans that were loose and looked good. I think all these stretchy nonsense I'm spouting is just me trying to rationalize being dumpy-looking. 
too much food!
because of weight training. I don't want to take my measurements though because I become obsessed with them. Even trying on too tight clothes makes me really irritated and then disgusted and given-up. I don't know. I think I actually do best not focusing on anything but what I put in my mouth and what kind of exercise I do. 
All ready for your trip? Where in New York are you going? To the city or upstate?
