One Week Challenge 1 (5/9-5/15) That's it, just a week. Please join me.
Here's the deal. This whole 12 week boot camp didn't do much for me. OR should I say that I didn't do much for it. I think ALOT of people had the same issue, especially considering how many people started and how many are left. I also find open ended goals with no definition don't work for me. Like Dr. Phil says in his book goals have to be specific and attainable. So there has to be a happy medium.
So I recommend shorter, more personal challenges. We'll start small with one week. We choose a goal, an area we'd like to focus on. It has to be something that means something to you, or if you are like me you won't stick to it. It also should be something you can do in a week, in your real life that will better your weightloss efforts. Sure we'd all like to hit the gym three times a day, but we live in reality. You should be very specific, if possible give yourself solid numbers to work with; something measurable. Ie) drink 6 eight ounce cups of water a day, walk three times, cut out white bread and replace it with whole grain.
My first goal: Stay within my points 5 out of 7 days this week.
The perfectionist tendencies in me want to say....and I will drink more water and exercise 5 times this week, and not eat anything junky and blah blah blah. But I'm not going to do that to myself. If those things happen great, but all I am focusing on is staying within my points for 5 days. If I can do just that, I am hoping that I can get back on track. I had been doing so well in the fall.
So come on please join me! It's only a week, we can do this!!
~misty
I'll have to think about this one and decide what would be a good goal that I can stick with. If I lived alone and had a regular job I would probably be able to do something like bootcamp a lot easier. But when you have a husband and a kid and a job working 12 hour shifts things are a lot more challenging. I agree with you Misty about everyone saying that if we wanted it enough we would do it. I don't think that is necessarily true. For example I thought when I was planning on working night shifts that I would be able to incorporate some exercise on my breaks. Nothing huge but I figured I could walk up and down the stairs a few times. By the time I get to a break all I want to do is have a nap because usually I am running on next to no sleep. That carries over onto my days off. I admit that I have days where I am the laziest thing on the planet and I could do better. I'm not saying that I am run off my feet or anything 24/7 but for the kind of work needed for bookcamp, there was no way I could have done it.
Anyway I don't think anyone cares if this is Dr. Phil or Oprah based, if they do we can always move over to a different forum.
I think about my goal a bit more and then get back later today (probably about 3am when I am at work!).
I think my goal is to stick to my protein shakes for breakfast and lunch with raw veggies and fruit for snacks. Actually they are quite filling and nutritious, it is the carb addiction that gets me noshing on crackers and cookies and also not being active enough. Okay so actually I'm going to make 2 goals: protein shakes for breafast and lunch and also to make myself a TO DO list everyday so that I am not sitting on my butt in front of the tv!
Great Goals, Everyone!!! They seem so doable. I like this idea of Just a week.
I weighed in at 206.5, a result of my crapy Mother's Day. I was preparedfor it, but still it hit me with a bit of emotional binging. But on to a new day and a new challenge
Misty,
Holidays wreak havoc with any eating plan. And, there are holidays every stinking month--sometimes more than one. My own husband uknowingly sabotaged my well planned eating for the day by bringing home an apple fritter and proclaiming that "It's Mother's Day! You can't be on a diet today!" So, I was smart and just broke off a piece of it to have with my "planned" latte. It worked out okay...but later in the day inlaws showed up with chocolates. Why, oh why, do we have to have crap food to celebrate? Once again, I had one, and then passed the box around to make them dissapear. At least I'm getting wiser about holidays.
There's so much guilt, tradition, and expectation involved in holidays. It's so hard to not eat poorly. You have every excuse to eat poorly. Everyone expects you to eat poorly. And, generally the food that is offered is not the best for our bods.
So, I congratulate you for starting today as a new day, and looking at the challenge for the week.
Marny
Today is a great day so far. The weather is gorgeous and the kids were actually pleasent (Marny I babysit a 4 and a 2 year old and have a 2 year old and an 8 month old). We walked to the top of the big hill behind my inlaw's house, it's a pretty good hike they can mow about 6 fields on it I think. I feel good for having done some exercise, it was a leisurley pace but a long walk none the less, plus I had a 25 pound baby on my back.
I have a balsamic glazed chicken and broccoli in the microwave. I found the recipe on here and divided it up into single servings and froze them,s o I have lunches on hand. I hope it's good, I haven't tried it yet.
Well I like the new weekly goals.. Last week my goal was to exercise 5 - 6x per week. I didnt make that goal but I did exercise 4x last week which is an improvement from 0 times per week I sacrificed my sleep to go jogging every morning at 6:30am... I tried eating better and become more self-conscious of what I put in my mouth.. What a week. I started recognizing when I eat and what I ate. Sometimes I'd have the food in my mouth and then realize it and take it out or throw the rest away.. Im trying and that's all that counts right now.. Im not beating myself up about a mistake during the day.. Im just learning from it and keep going with my weight loss.. I used to say oh well forget it... just eat what you want for the rest of the day. Im breaking that habit...
Holidays do reek havoc on your weight loss plan... I try not eat as much of a serving as I normally would have done when I was promoting my weight gaining lifestyle... (Dr.Phil taught me that)... Yesterday I went to Sakura's Japanese Steakhouse and had a good meal but I chose there instead of Ruby Tuesday's.. better choice...
Im really trying.
This Week's Goals
1. Execise 4 - 6x per week
2. Eat fruits and veggies for snacks.
3. Make better choices with my meals.
4. No fastfood after today...sorry for luch i had a fruit& yogart parfait and a four piece nugget. thats it.lol..like i said better food choices.
5. MORE WATER!!
Today I did well. In addition to our hike up the hill I called my neighbor and we went for a walk. I still have two points left and I even had some sugar free icecream. So I'm off to bed. DH just got hoem from the airport. He should be done with his license here pretty soon, tonight he had a cross country trip he had to do. He had to fly into two different airports. I can't wait for him to be done with this thing. Of course then he will probably want to buy a plane.
Hi ladies! I'm here. I did well last week, just trying to continue and make it a habit. My goals are:
To choose healthy foods and eat consciously, staying away from sweets and white stuff, and to stop eating 2-3 hours before bedtime.
I wasn't absolutely perfect last week, and I still lost weight, so I think this realistic approach will work better over the long haul, rather than the all or nothing plans I've tried before. Like Geneen Roth says, for every diet there is an equal and opposite binge.
I'm fortunate in that the exercise thing is already a habit I've grown to enjoy. I shoot for every day, and when life gets in the way, I call it a rest day. And I've got some new cardio DVDs to play with this week.
Today will be excellent - at least until I have to get on the scale at my annual GYN appointment.
Hey all. I did okay yesterday. I didn't keep up with my goal with lunch but I was eating leftovers so I'm going to give myself permission to have a leftover lunch when there is something. I hate throwing out food and I don't mind leftovers. My husband generally won't eat them at all. I kept busy for a few hours but I slept a good part of the day since I worked nights on Sunday. I have a big list of things to do today so that should keep my from excess snacking.
Tracy - I agree that a lot of these diets just don't work even if they are diets that intend for you to continue eating in that way. Like Dr. Phil's plan is very good but I think it is very difficult for people to cut back so drastically on refined carbs so abruptly. I think it would be better to cut back a little bit each week then you wouldn't feel so deprived and have carb withdrawal. I think moderation is the key.
Misty - sounds like you had a great day. I'll bet the hike tired the kids out too and hopefully they had good naps. Are they still napping in the afternoon to give you a bit of a break? My son naps everyday for 2 hours in the afternoon even though he is almost 4. My mom said she could never get me to nap when I was that age. I think he is a lot better for it, he's less grumpy.
Good to see you Tracy, I'm glad your first week went well.
Jen- Three of the four kids still nap. The four year old is a chatter box so I can usually get her to "rest" for about half an hour before I have to entertain her. Somedays she will play quietly on her own for an hour or so, then I get time to get my stuff done. Sometimes though the baby's schedule is different from the older kids depending on when he gets up, so he might not sleep at the same time. I totally understand the leftovers thing. The kids never finish everything I prepare so I end up putting one serving in the fridge and it rots, on the Oprah thing I couldn't eat it most of the time. Now back on my points I can finish up the stuff so it doesn't rot. I try to serve them healthy stuff so that it fits my plan.
I was on the elliptical last night at the gym. I had 10 minutes left to go including the extra 5 minutes that I've made my goal for the week. I really didn't want to do 10 more minutes, but I thought of you guys and my goal here, and I stuck it out!
One Week Challenge 1 (5/9-5/15) That's it, just a week. Please join me.
I sacrificed my sleep to go jogging every morning at 6:30am... I tried eating better and become more self-conscious of what I put in my mouth.. What a week. I started recognizing when I eat and what I ate. Sometimes I'd have the food in my mouth and then realize it and take it out or throw the rest away.. Im trying and that's all that counts right now.. Im not beating myself up about a mistake during the day.. Im just learning from it and keep going with my weight loss.. I used to say oh well forget it... just eat what you want for the rest of the day. Im breaking that habit... 
