The object of this thread is to take on at least one challenge related to your weight loss goals for 7 days straight. Choose whatever inspires you - a certain amount of water intake, no sugar, 30 minute walks, etc.

I will award accolades for each day you maintain your goal(s) and 7 day winner awards and pounds down at the end of the week. We will begin each challenge on Monday - you can choose a new challenge or repeat any challenge for extra mileage. If you would like to stretch yourself, take on more than one challenge.

We will support each other keeping in mind to stay focussed on our successes and/or challenges of the day and week related to our weight loss. There are plenty of threads where a lot of time is spent on personal stories, so let's try to keep that to a minimum.

mscat-
All that we have is right now.
Yesterday is gone, Tomorrow is not promised, and Someday is not a day of the week!

Well, I'm back for this week! Thank you all for your support last week. I gained 3 pounds on my "week off," which I'm not surprised about so my goal for this week is to get those 3 off and hopefully one or two more!

My challenge for this week is to eat 1200 calories a day and to exercise 5 days this week with 3 days of strength training.

Good luck to you all!

HAPPY MONDAY! Let's start the week out with everyone accomplishing something today - even if it's one minor challenge or goal.

Our Shining Superstars for last week were:

Me and 1 pound down!

Bev

Carla

Bonnie and 3 pounds down! We'll miss you during your break - check in and let us know how you are doing when you can.
and Sushi Penquin! the winner of the most days on task

mscat-
All that we have is right now.
Yesterday is gone, Tomorrow is not promised, and Someday is not a day of the week!

Hello hello!!!

Mscat, great to hear the scale has moved, congratulations! I hope it keeps going down and doesn't stop!

Haley, great to see you back with us this week!

Bonnie, you must be excited about your DIL and DGD's visit! And I promise you I will get this weird pain looked into.


I was tempted to make "gym in the morning" my challenge this week... and now I'm glad I didn't because I just couldn't get to sleep last night... I was really tired and sleepy, but then started worrying about things and once my mind started going, it didn't want to stop. Ended up being still awake at 5 pm, so I knew there was no chance of hitting the gym at 7 am and then getting through a double shift at work. I'm off at 10 pm, and boy will I be looking forward to my bed by then!

Anyway, here are my goals for this week:

- continued: take iron supplement, not eat after 7 pm, exercise daily, work on sleep schedule (keep posting get up and bed times), not mess up on the 21 Day Challenge, work on August goals
- water: drink at least 2.25 litres, try to work up to 2.5 litres
- specific exercise goals: try the Kick & Cardio class, play badminton with
boyfriend, swim before Aquafit classes, treadmill (at least 2 x 10 min. at a
higher speed than last week), skip rope several times (min. 500 skips, preferably 1000 skips, 1500 on the weekend)
- new challenge: walk the stairs (no escalator or elevator unless absolutely
necessary - sometimes it is at work)

Today is going good so far, I outdid myself and swam 20 laps before Aquafit and have stayed away from elevators and escalators. The first staircase of the morning is always the toughest, but I was fine today. 89 steps to get myself out of the train!!! I'll probably have to take a ride or two on the elevator at work in a bit, but climbing the equivalent of 8 storeys on my way home should compensate that (4 storeys from the train, and I live on 4th floor with no elevator).

Have a good week everyone!

Happy Monday everyone --
My goals this week are to stay within my points and exercise every day. Would like to lose 2 more lbs. by Labor Day -- That would be 25# total so that's what I'm aiming for. Weight is coming off slower now so may not make it but am sure going to try!

Bonnie - You sound so excited about your GD coming for a visit!!! Enjoy your time with your family but do drop in now and then. If your GD is anything like mine you'll get plenty of exercise -- she'll probably run you ragged!!

Haleys - good to see you back with us. It's so easy to let a couple pounds creep back on and so darned hard to get rid of them again -- but you will do it!

Sushi - all your stairs sound like great exercise. And glad to hear you'll check with your dr. about that strange pain.

MsCat - Our seats for Wicked were in the Balconey Row L - and they were fine. Don't really think there are very many bad seats in the theater. We kind of decided to go at the last minute so took what we could get and were very happy with them.

My report for today (Monday) - walked 45 minutes this a.m. and stayed within my points with lots of "good-for-me" food plus a lemon pudding/jello dessert with Cool Whip. I always thought SF puddings and jello tasted "off" but have actually learned to like it -- and anything with regular sugar tastes way too sweet. Funny how your taste-buds change.

Everyone have a good week -- Bev

Haley, it's good to see you back. Just wait - you probably didn't really gain 3 pounds. Give the salt and fat and whatever a chance to leave your body before you accept it.

I didn't post yesterday, but I did meet my goals. I've decided to continue with the same goals as last week, even tho I may not meet all 3 every day. Those goals are to get at least 20 min deliberate exercise every day, to drink at least 6 cups of water (yes, I know it should be more. Baby steps!), and to do at least 15 min cleaning or decluttering every day. I'm trying to do Flylady's mission every day, and of course doing a lot of cat-related sweeping and tidying and wiping up.

Bonnie - I do hope you'll drop in from time to time before your official return in September. Meanwhile I've put the coffee pot on and will sit by the computer awaiting news of your arrival.

Mscat - Yay! I knew that ticker would move eventually!

I am already down 2 pounds today from the up 3, so I'm guessing you guys are right about letting the salt and whatever else get out of my system.

I got ssssoooooooo mad yesterday! My friend said he'd go to a kickboxing class with me at my gym and we get there and they won't let him in because he's already been a guest once and he can't be a guest again, I was SSSOOOOOO mad that we drove all the way out there in REALLY bad weather to hear that he can't go in. We drove together, so I had to leave too and we just went back to my house. They said that on the little guest pass I had it was for first time guests only, but when he came with me last time they didn't have him fill anything out, so really there wasn't even proof he had been there before, but the guy just wouldn't budge. I really was upset, so we left and went grocery shopping and had a delicious omelet for dinner.

I ate my 1200 calories, but because of the above did not make it to the gym, but I still have plenty of time to get my 5 days of working out in.

Tuesday noon...
Doing well with my goals, but my calves are till sore from Sunday's rope skipping session, ouch! I'm feeling like if I gained 5 pounds or more in the past 2-3 days, bleh.

Monday: up 7 am, bed 10:50 pm
Tuesday: up 7:10 am, bed by 10:15 pm (such is the plan!)

Hey Ladies - sorry I have not been posting regularly - both computers at home have horrible trojan viruses - DH's shuts down after about 5 minutes on the internet The laptops' connections only work in certain rooms and I have been too busy at work to post adequately. Will do better in the future.

Horrible day on points - okay on water. No exercise - but weight is holding and if I can get the fireplace moved from in front of the treadmill and get to bed on time - I will work out in the a.m.

Sushi for Monday and Tuesday! See the Dr. ASAP! Last year I had the same thing for 2 months accompanied by daily vomiting! After all kinds of tests and meds they could not identify the source as viral, parasite, gluten intolerance (ingrediant in foods such as oatmeal), etc. It went away after I took the Landmark Forum - I believe it was stress and I totally let go of all stress in my life after taking the forum.

haleys for Tuesday and for 2 pounds down!

Bonnie for Tuesday - you cleaned enough for 2 workouts, girl!

carla for Monday! BTW my boy kitty decided to use the drop cloth in the middle of our sunroom construction zone as a litter box

Bev for Monday! Thanks for checking in even though you are on "challenge vacation" We have tickets for Wicked - thanks for your input on the seats. We have Row A in the Loge - a little left of center but I think they will be great.

Have a great Wednesday!

mscat-
All that we have is right now.
Yesterday is gone, Tomorrow is not promised, and Someday is not a day of the week!

12 hours later... I'm in a cranky mood. Totally off the wagon, too. I didn't exercise at all and didn't drink my water (I had some, but not much). Went to the store and had to use the movator there - there is no staircase!!! Normally I'd just walk up, but someone blocked the way with a shopping cart. And then I had food after 7 pm - 2 cookies, a few cherries and jello, and it ended up being too much sugar, so I had to eat some baby carrots too. Now it's 1 pm and I can't fall asleep even though I'm awfully tired...

At least I haven't messed up on my 21 Day Challenge.


The pains have stopped for now, and hopefully won't come back. I have a doctor's appointment in 2 weeks, so I'll get this checked out.

I think I'm getting stressed out, and the next 3-4 weeks will be stressful. I'm moving to another country in early September, still have a ton of stuff to take care of and time is running out.
Today I had a number of frustrating customer service experiences while trying to sort out my banking. I almost lost it when calling about my student loans... after 20 minutes of "your call is important to us, please continue to hold, a representative will be with you shortly" a live female voice told me that they were "experiencing a high volume of calls and could not answer my question, but if I leave my name and number, they will get back to me next business day." So why keep me on hold for 20 minutes in the first place?! And what use do I have of them calling me "next business day" and leaving me message to call them - because I'm at work and can't be reached?!
I'm bracing myself for dealing with more banking and student loans, the insurance company, drivers' license office, and storage companies which just won't list prices on their websites and "hesitate to give out price lists over the phone/email/fax" - so how on earth can I find out what the rates are?

Ok, rant over...
Maybe now I'll manage to get to sleep...?

Make that 3 am...

Tuesday report - Walked for 40 minutes on my "medium tough" route and it was so hot and humid that I really got a workout. Then topped it off with two hours of mowing and trimming - thought I would drop by the time I was finished. Sat in the tub and soaked for a half-hour when I was done!!! The upside is that I drank lots of water. Stayed within my points range with good fruit and vegetables.

Bonnie - Send some of your rain our way. It is so hot but no rain. We really need it too. Wish I could get motivated to do windows -- they are soooo dirty and I really just don't care as long as it stays this hot.

MsCat - When are you going to Wicked? Hope you enjoy it as much as we did. I'm not taking a break from the challenge - exercise and on-point WW friendly food everyday.

Sushi - I'm going to go looking for a good jump rope. Used to jump rope when I was a kid and think it would be good exercise. Besides, then my neighbors can really think I've lost it!! Can you picture a gray-haired overweight old lady jumping rope in her driveway every morning when they're on their way to church or work??? I love that mental picture just enough to do it!

So now I want a jump rope and a pedometer. I never in my wildest dreams thought those would be on my shopping list!

I don't envy you dealing with customer service folks, Sushi - and I am one. By the time people get through the automated prompts they are so glad to talk to a real person. I can't believe that business cannot come up with a better system.

Haleys - good job on the 2#. And I would have been mad about the gym not letting your friend use a guest pass also. They could easily have printed that on the pass and saved you a lot of frustration.

Everyone have a good day - Bev

Tough Wednesday ladies - busy all day, exhausted - had a great lunch and did ok on points but water is totally out the window Going to take on just the water challenge for the next few weeks here and on the 21 day challenge. I do better when I really concentrate on one thing at a time!

Bev - you are doing great today! We are going to Chicago to see Wicked. We are taking our daughter to the teen forum for Landmark Education - I didn't realize that Wicked would be there until after hearing you talk about it! Otherwise I would have gotten our tickets earlier.

Sushi - glad your stomach pains have resided. I swear it sounds like what I had - and it was all stress related! Do you have some way of relieving stress? Meditation, bubble baths, walking, shopping? (just kidding).

Hi everyone - where are you haleys, princess, carla, Bonniebelle? Hope you are all doing ok!

Hello all.

Sushi, sorry to hear you slept so badly. No fun at all. And it sure doesn't help with meeting goals the next day.

Mscat, it sounds like you're just trying to do too much. Even your home computers are stressed out! Switching to an achievable goal is a very good idea.

I'm not really doing too well on this challenge myself. I've been drinking lots of water, which is easy in this muggy heat. And I do get in a bout a half-hour walk in the evenings, but I can't even convince myself that should count as exercise. It amounts to less walking (and slower) than I would do just walking to work. As for the 15 min housework, I think I'm close to that one, although I haven't accomplished a lot. I do have a shiny sink all the time... I keep meaning to do the Flylady mission of the day, but I have done other things instead, so I consider that goal achieved.

In my defence I have this sore throat that has been getting slowly worse for about 3 weeks. I was on my way to the walk-in clinic down the street when the skies opened and a torrential downpour started. So I put it off to tomorrow - again. Between the throat and the heat, I really don't want to do anything. Even doing the dishes leaves me in a sweat, and that's with the AC on. I'm hoping to get some lake time in this weekend.

I do think this challenge is a good idea even when I don't meet the goals. It certainly keeps me from "forgetting" that I'm supposed to do (or not do) whatever.

Keep on truckin'!

Had a good Wednesday - Walked 50 min in the morning and another 40 min last evening. Stayed within my points. And Wed is my weigh-in day and I lost a pound! One more to go to be down 25# by Labor Day so I should be able to do that.

I am so glad to hear that I'm not the only one that's sick of this heat/humidity. Just seems to wear me out. I do just what is necessary but seem so tired all the time. Am hoping that turns around when we get that nice, crisp fall weather.

MsCat - It probably is a good idea to re-focus on one goal at a time. Sometimes we expect to be super-women and just try to do too much. The one thing I tell myself over and over is that I'll never be perfect and doing what I'm able to do is better than just giving up and doing nothing at all. I can finally accept that and know that quitting is not an option.

Everyone have a great Thursday - we are getting just a few drops of rain so will see how soon it quits so I can take my walk. Have to grocery shop and run errands today so would like to get an early start.