Happy September, everyone! All are to the September 2020 daily weigh-in/check-in. This is our monthly neighborhood block party so welcome back to the regulars, and please make yourself known and comfortable if you're a lurker considering joining. We'd love to have you here! Know that on this thread you will find support, encouragement, and endless kindness.

Here you can:
~track your weight daily, weekly or however you'd like ... but do check in
~keep track of what you eat or didn't eat
~keep track of your water intake or lack of
~keep track of your exercise/other goals
~vent, rant ... express yourself or just chit-chat

My oh my, where did the time go? If you're reading this on September 1, it is 86 days until and 115 days until . I know, I know, many of us are still sweating out the last remaining weeks of summer but fall is upon us and winter is closer than we think. Kids are back to school but they may not be back in their physical school and my neighborhood grocery stores and local Target already have their Halloween candy out to purchase.

It's an understatement to say that this has been a most surreal year than most of us can remember. Our lives and routines have been upended in ways we could never have anticipated. Yet the days, weeks, and months march on. With the days getting shorter, the leaves turning and the temps getting cooler it's time for a check-in with yourself. So how are things going? Have you had a good summer? I'm sure that there have been challenges and successes for all of us. Maybe you've been on a roll and want to keep the momentum going? Good on you! Keep it up. Maybe you're thinking, "How can I find momentum when I can't even get started?" Got it. Or maybe you're like me and can successfully string together 2 or 3 days, or even a whole week of healthy eating and exercise only to hit a bump in the road and begin again. That's okay too. There is much to be learned from persistence. So as we usher in a new month, take some time to think about where you are with your healthy goals and where you want to be. And take pride in every incremental goal/success/achievement. Stop underplaying them and telling yourself they don't matter because they do and they add up.

Sending and well wishes as we all make our way through September.

curvynotlumpy thank you again so much for starting this monthly thread. And you totally grabbed me with the 115 days till Christmas part

I hope everyone is in good spirits as we turn the page on August and start a new month. I wish everyone success on their journey, however that looks like for each of you.

I weighed in this morning at 224.4, a number I have never seen before. Of course I know the scale will go up and down and up and down again, but 224 is closer to 220 than I’ve ever been before, so it gives me hope for this new month. I have to think about what goals I want to set for myself. I don’t think I want to repeat the ones from August. I’ll give it a bit more thought tonight and get cracking tomorrow.

Take good care everyone!

Hey Friends, where the heck did August go? Big Ole Blockity Party Woop Woop. Oh how I wish we could get together...Drink till we drown, Dance till we drop. Heck Ya! I can just see Curv taking tickets and our kick boxer watching the door. Gz hangin with the band, Bloomin serving drinks. Ophelia wondering around, looking stunningly gorgeous. And me, telling poor jokes and trying to figure out which of these beautiful ladies i could trick into dancing like a robot or carrot.. Bam

Curv, Thanks once more for leading our group into yet another month, filled with hope and promise. I cant wait, its gonna be wonderful, and there is no group on this planet I would rather journey with. That freekin turkey emoji cracks me up, is it being rode, Haha Seriously, your words inspire me and I can't thank you enough. There is no one I would rather dance with!

Martine, Hooray, What wonderful numbers you have. Im so proud of you. that kick boxing is surely working out. And, you can beat the heck out of anyone who doesn't think so...Bad *ss weight losing machine! I could not be happier for you. 224 and dropping like a stone! No one can say you didn't earn every pound...

Wow, time does fly. Fall is hard on us here in the Pacific NW. The nights are so cold now. Its supposed to warm back up this week but fall has surely fallen. Things are a little tense in Portland, but when I watch the news coverage, I cant square it with whats happening "on the ground" I catch myself wondering where they are talking about. SURREAL for real. What i see is a whole bunch of kids, drum circles, and food trucks. There does seem to be a sense of impending change, for better or worse, things may never be the same. It is truly a beautiful city with beautiful people. The unrest seems forced, almost staged. IDK, i think some kindness, some FREEKIN EMPATHY would go a long way. It sucks so bad when someone gets hurt, and for what? Anyway, I digress. I hope for success in all our endevors this month and beyond. If you cant be with everyone you love, love everyone you are with!

8/31 319.1

Good afternoon

Martine: I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall...scale when you saw 224. A big and HUGE congratulations to you! What a milestone and testament to all your efforts and persistence.

William47: You sure paint a lovely and festive picture for our block party! It's definitely something I'd want to be a part of. On my weekly phone call with my girlfriend in Portland I always ask for updates and how close the activity is to her and her boyfriend's home. She has similar comments to you that it's pretty centralized to a specific area.

I envy your cooler temps as fall comes into focus. The days are definitely getting shorter but the cooler temps here are still a few weeks away.
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Happy September 1!

I did not want to start back to work today but that always happens when I take vacation. I started the day off with a walk with my friends and their dogs. Juno was more generous with the ball today so that made it more fun. Our peer boot camp is Thursday and Friday so today I'm working with my staff on firming up the details. Our boot camp is something that we host each year in preparation for the new academic year. Of course this year is different since it will all be conducted on Zoom. It will be an experience. Next week we have our orientation for our reentry students and students with children. The quarter begins September 29 so it's going to be an intense 4-6 weeks as we get to the start of the year and for a few weeks beyond.

Over the noon hour I met with the health and wellness group I'm part of. It's always good to catch up with folks to hear how they manage their challenges and where they are finding success. One lady has given up all sugar. I couldn't commit to that, but it's working for her. Several of us shared how we took for granted all the incidental movement we would get working in our offices.

Hope everyone had a great day!

curvynotlumpy I am impressed by your university's and department's aim to maintain certain programs and activities in place, like the boot camp to start a new semester, albeit in a new format given the current situation. A semblance of normalcy brings a certain comfort. And I'm glad to hear that your health and wellness group had a chance to check in. Sharing experiences can definitely benefit everyone, as it does here.

William47 you sure have a way with words, your posts are often poetic and so colourful. I only know what I see in the media (mostly Canadian, I rarely watch/read US news) about Portland, so it's nice to get your take on it. And you are right, kindness goes a long way.

On this first day of this new month, I completed a flexibility workout, because my shoulders are sore from all that kickboxing. This type of workout works muscles in a totally different way and I love it. My goals for this month will be to continue eating healthy, continue to exercise 4-6 times per week, to drink 2.75L of water each day (increasing by a cup from my August goal) and to walk 10km per week, not counting regular daily steps. Doesn't matter if I break it into many small walks or 2-3 longer walks, it'll be my choice to make it happen on a weekly basis. We'll see if my hips agree with my approach.

Hope everyone enjoys a great evening!

1: 28 minutes flexibility workout WATER GOAL: done

Hi all! Longtime member here, who hasn't been around in a while. I hop in now and then. I have lost - and kept off - about 50 pounds from my highest weight. At 5'2", my highest was 276. I'm currently hovering just under 220. My main goal this month is just to increase my water. I find myself drinking almost anything BUT water, but I know how much better I feel when I do drink enough plain ol' water.

Martine -- congrats on hitting a new number! I know how great that feels.

Hey Puff, you picked a wonderful time to join our group. Your before and after pictures are Crazy Amazing, like not even the same person. You must be very proud to have exhibited such strength of character to have achieved that level of success. I would very much appreciate accompanying you on your quest, even if for only a short time. WELCOME!


Oh ladies...I'm still in full-on recovery mode from our party. I don't really remember to much past my "full splits" attempt on the dance floor. All I remember is my mind yelling, "Abort Abort" but my body just going with it. Yikes


Oh Hey...If you get a chance, check out the moon. It was so bright last night, deep shadows, i swear i could almost see color. Like nights in Alaska.


9/2 314.0 BOO-YA

puff0518 welcome to this thread and congratulations on having shed 50 pounds so far and maintaining it. What has been the secret to your success so far? Drinking more water is always a great goal, your body will thank you for it.

opheliaphoenix an almost 8-pound loss in August is pretty amazing if you ask me. I have faith in you that you will make it work with all these birthdays this week. I think a 2-pound loss per week is a very sensible goal and a healthy pace to lose weight.

Day 2 of this new month and I have to take a rest day I worked from home today and decided to go walk during my lunch break, as I’m aiming to get in 10m each week, but now my hips have started hurting/burning again (sigh). Either it’s from walking or from sitting on a kitchen chair all day in front of my laptop. So no kickboxing for me today, but at least I can say I was still active. And I will reach my water goal for the day too. We’ll see how my hips feel tomorrow...

Enjoy the rest of your day everyone!

1: 28 minutes flexibility workout WATER GOAL: done
2: 2.3km walk WATER GOAL: done

Good afternoon

Martine: Sounds like you have a great plan mapped out for the month! I was wondering how your hips were feeling these days. Any improvement? The kickboxing hasn't seemed to aggravated them.

You're spot on about keeping certain activities and events in place bringing a sense of normalcy. A lot of the fall events are focused on community building and bringing folks together into the university environment. Now that everything is virtual it's even more important to bridge the distance. And while the events may have the same title as previous years, most will look different. The learning curve will be big this year.

puff0518: Great to see you! Love your avatar pics. Such a difference. Congratulations on all your success! with losing the pounds AND keeping them off. While it's all hard work and sweat effort, it's the keeping the pounds off that has been the biggest challenge for me.

William47: Okay, I have to ask...were your full splits successful? I have a picture in my head and it's of you having the time of your life. We should all live life with joy!

opheliaphoenix: September is a big birthday month for your family! Your birthday and seeing the number on the scale moving down is cause for celebration. The gift of health is the best gift you can give yourself.
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This day has gone by so quickly! I had two meetings this morning; the first to discuss fall events, the second, our Vice Chancellor's weekly COVID meeting where key campus partners provide updates.The number folks wanting to live on campus continues to drop (we call it student melt). Two weeks ago a little over 3,000 students had signed housing contracts. Now we're at 1,900. I'm sure that part of this melt is the result of the outbreaks being reported across the country on various college campuses. All faculty, staff, and students are required to get flu shot before November 1 and before we can enter any campus building we must do a daily symptom survey. It really isn't much to ask at all and I appreciate the precautions.

A pretty typical day all-in-all.

Happy Hump Day!

Martine, your post came in while I was writing. I'm so sorry that your hips are acting up again. You're wise to take a rest day.

Good evening all. I spent most of the day trying to work out a quilt pattern I have never done before. I have no pattern to follow, just a picture on Pinterest. It is a baby quilt sized version of one my son and future DIL want for their wedding. It has taken me 3 days to get this worked out and the top finished!!! It is not hard, but it does involve matching up all the seams on tiny 2" blocks while also keeping the sequence and color pattern in the right locations, and you have to sew each seam the opposite direction from the previous one so just a lot of pinning, counting, double checking and nitpicky stuff. I can't wait to start the Queen sized version (she said sarcastically)

Food right on target at 1600 cals and 30 net carbs. Great chest/back/shoulder workout and a solid 2.25 mile walk at a 16mph pace tonight. I am getting my momentum back after a couple of yuck weeks.

Martine - Hooray on that new low number!!!! Doing a happy dance for you! Hoping the switch up on exercise eases the soreness for you

Ophelia - Good for you on that August loss! Thats terrific.

William - I so agree with you on the empathy thing. Everyone needs to take a chill pill. Then start talking--and listening. Hope you are walking OK after those splits

Curvy - thank you for once again taking charge of the thread.

I’m committing to weighing more regularly and checking in here MUCH more often. July & August were too hot for me to exercise much (I did get 4 cords of firewood stacked tho) and I pretty much lived on fresh fruit pies and ice cream. But I stuck with IF and remarkably didn’t gain weight. Didn’t lose either but not gaining is key! Today I hiked a very hilly two miles so I’m feeling good about getting back at it and “seeing” you guys more often!

I've decided that I will weigh twice per month on the 1st and the 15th of the month.

Vladadog nice to see you checking in. Those Summer months sure were hot this year, it definitely was a struggle to keep exercising. Great news though that you maintained through these past couple of months.

gzgrl22 nice job on being right on track. It always feels so good, especially after a few "off" days. I didn't know you were a quilter. Such a beautiful art form, one for which I would never have the patience for, lining up all those seams. It is truly a beautiful gift for you son and daugher-in-law.

So kickboxing was back on today, as my hips felt okay-ish. Nothing like it was yesterday, so I'm hoping it was just a bad day. I will hold off on walking till tomorrow, but still striving to meet my 10km/week goal. I'm surprised at how easy it has been so far (well the month is only 3 days old...) to drink 2.75L of water each day.

I spent the day helping a colleague back from sick leave catch up on all the new technology we're using and new procedures in place, since head office personel is working from home now. She seems to like the new methods so far, so I'm sure it'll be an easy transition back in her position. Also at work, I found out that on top of the two regular districts that were assigned to me since the beginning, they switched the third district I was supposed to be in charge of on me. The discussion started on Monday, when another colleague suggested that she should keep the 3rd district that I was supposed to have, since she was managing them already, and instead take on another district, which she had only temporarily taken on since another colleague's maternity leave started. Well it turns out that I won't be taking care of either of those districts, but instead one located in the Québec City area. I could read between the lines and figured out my District Manager had a major say in this, since apparently the District manager from that area is much easier to work with. At least my DM is looking out for me.

Hope everyone enjoys a great evening!

1: 28 minutes flexibility workout WATER GOAL: done
2: 2.3km walk WATER GOAL: done
3: 43 minutes kickboxing and upper body strength training workout WATER GOAL: done