Halloween to Thanksgiving (U.S.) Challenge 2016

[Bobbinyc]

Hello everyone! Welcome to the Halloween to Thanksgiving Challenge!!!

This challenge will begin on Halloween October 31st and finish on Thanksgiving (U.S.) November 24th. This is a little less than 4 weeks!  It helps us be realistic about weight loss goals and practice good habits before the next set of  holidays.

All you need to join this challenge is to post your stats regarding your weight, and check in weekly or as often as you'd like. We are a great support group and enjoy keeping up with each other and being there for our ups and downs.  Generally we have found that the more we check in and offer support and ideas to others, the more we get for ourselves.

We list our weight, as well as any other goals we might have related to being healthy (such as increase water, more active minutes, etc).  Developing good health habits is primary.

A little rundown of terminology for anyone who is new.

USW- Ultimate Starting Weight

CSW- Current Starting Weight (for this challenge)

GW- Goal Weight   (for Nov. 24)

UGW- Ultimate Goal Weight   (what your healthy target weight is)

PW- Previous Weight

CW- Current Weight

MFP- My Fitness Pal

List as much info as you like.  Some people include age, gender, height....whatever seems relevant to you.

We keep it as serious or light as we feel, but we always keep it focused on being as healthy as possible, while we support each other kindly.  We can do this together!!

[Bobbinyc]

@_Lilac_ You do such a great job of working everything out so well.  I have two stainless steel water bottles that I use for hiking and birding.  So, why didn't I think of using them all day when working?  Duh!  They both have infusers to put fruit in.  When I used to hike I would put berries or lemon or lime slices in there to get some flavored water and a tiny bit of sugar.  Thanks to you and @lusry they are now both on my desk.  I'll still try getting up every hour to walk a bit and get a drink, but that doesn't always work, so these bottles are a good backup.

Thanks

[Bobbinyc]

@jadedkisses  Yes, it is a challenge. I always thought raising a child was the hardest work there is.  And as soon as you think you have the right balance and are on top of things, the kid grows and goes through something new! 

[Bobbinyc]

@A_Lurker  Wow.  I knew you had lost a lot of weight and you always sound so thoughtful about how you are managing things (despite all of your stress).  But to turn around diabetes!  Well, Wow!  

[Bobbinyc]

@HeartBiller  what amazing changes you and your husband have made!  It may take some time but I know all 3 of you will get to a healthy weight. You and your husband are giving your grandson such wonderful models of health and of tackling problems and making changes.

[lusry]

@Bobbinyc I'm feeling great except for the almost constant acid reflux. I had it before I was pregnant and now it's worse. I already take a nexium every morning so instead of also taking a Tums (which I don't feel great about doing. I try to keep the mediciation to a minimum if I can) I've been eating/drinking less acidic things. I've been drinking a good amount of water, but nowhere near what I need to. I'm finally off my project that I had to travel every week for so now that I'm home (and working from home) I'm trying to focus on drinking more water and getting up and moving around every hour. Great thinking about the water bottles you use for birding! I did the same thing with mine. I was using it when I went to the gym or took it with me when I went for a run, but didn't think to drink from it when I was sitting at home working. That's when I started filling it up every morning and I've stuck with it ever since. I have recently downgraded to a smaller 20oz bottle because it was easier to travel with, but I may need to bring out the 32oz one again.

[DJC_63]

I agree. My only problem is that my body doesn't handle too much activity well. I went to the gym 3 days in a row last week. By Friday my back hurt so much I barely moved all day. I find there's a fine line between what helps my back and what hurts it. My knee is getting stiff again, too. It's so much harder than when I was young and could do whatever physical activity I wanted. I suspect maybe that's why I have the problems I have now! 😄😄

[A_Lurker]

@Bobbinyc that's the reason I started to work on the weight again this year.  They had prescribed Metformin to control my sugar levels, but it upset my stomach horribly.  I decided I needed to work on my weight last Christmas.  I arranged for my mother to go into respite care in mid-Jan and then started working on it.  Oh, and stopped taking the pills.  I knew from my blood sugar levels that they were coming down, but I really don't test it much.  The A1C level is an indicator of how your blood sugars are over a 2-3 month period of time, so better than am occasional test.

[_Lilac_]

Week 2 Day 1:

What a day! From the time I went to bed at 10pm last night til 3am, I was awakened to take trips to the bathroom 6 darned times!! Guess who is processing fluids perfectly fine without a diuretic!? I was up early to go to see my neurologist. He agrees that my quick weight loss, drinking more water and the diuretic caused my health scare last month. He feels it is not indicating that my epilepsy is growing worse or that I have increased chance of having grand mals. I've been really worried about that. He's happy with my efforts to improve my health. He was wearing a step tracker and admitted he uses it solely as an alarm because he feels it vibrate and he doesn't disturb his wife. 

My daughter and I walked a bunch to get to Wallymart for grocery shopping. By the time I got home from there I had 8200 steps! Then I went with my mom to another place and in the parking lot I got my 10,000 step vibration and celebration on my Blaze.

This evening I peeled and sliced about 15 quince. Now, quince is this old fashioned fruit that they used to make jams out of and send it to the soldiers in the second world war because it is super full of vitamin C, moreso than any other fruit. It smells DIVINE. My aunt has a tree of them in her front yard and I stole some (well, she doesn't use them!). So anyway, I peeled and sliced them and cooked them into a syrupy sauce. SOUR...I asked my mom why it might be sour. I added 1.5 cups of sugar. She said that's not enough at all. When jam is made you add almost as much sugar as you have berries. I wasn't trying to make jam but more like an applesauce, but ya well, I didn't have enough sugar at all then. I'll try to fix it tomorrow. I'm tired of being on my feet! 

I have about 12k-13k worth of steps planned for tomorrow just because I have appointments and I'll be trekking it. I hope I can sleep tonight! I haven't slept enough the last two nights.

Inspiration of the day...pants want to fall off. As we were walking today I gazed up the road and remembered a time when it was impossible to walk to my doctor's office. I expressed this to my daughter and she said it's impressive how much progress I've made in a short time. And she mentioned how much progress I was yet to achieve. When the people you care about the most support you so much and see the effort you put into it, it feels good. I want to make her proud and to encourage her, not necessarily in losing weight, but in life struggles in general. Sometimes our loads are overwhelming but she's a hard worker and when she wants something she achieves it. I'm trying to do that too. 

Have a good night everyone. Have a great week and think about the things you do now that you weren't always able to do and also the things that you will be able to do in time to come. 

[HeartBiller]

Well today was my day to weigh in... I met my first small goal. Woo Hoo!! Today is mine and my husbands 30th anniversary and I had set a goal to be under 175 by today. Well I didn't meet that goal in the last challenge but praise God I did meet it today. I weighed in this morning at 174.8. I have to say I was super excited.

I had set what some would consider a small goal by Thanksgiving, but I have been struggling for the last month, so I thought start small work on it. I am happy with today's.. and would be super happy if I can set a new goal before Thanksgiving, but will be pleased either way.

MY stats
USW - 210 lbs
SW - 210 lbs
CW - 177.6 lbs - 11/01/16
TW - 174.8 lbs - 11/08/16
GW - 173.0 lbs
UGW - 125 lbs

[Bobbinyc]

Checking in:

SW:  186

11/1  186

11/8  186

So far I am learning:

1. I should be great at maintenance, if I ever lose the weight and get to maintenance. 

2. Kicking the scale  and yelling at it  are not  weight loss techniques. 

3. Just focus on health, just focus on health, just focus on health.....

[Gayle1018]

Hang in there!!!  I had a 3+ week stay inplace - very frustrating I know, but hold steady and it does show up!  your doing the right thing!

[Bobbinyc]

@HeartBiller  Happy Anniversary!  I hope your celebration is fun and meaningful.  And congratulations on the weight loss! I like these short challenges for focusing on the little goals along the way.

[Bobbinyc]

@_Lilac_ I love that your daughter noticed how much you have accomplished.  And added in some encouragement about going further.   My son does that (not always as tactfully).  She is lucky to have such a wonderful role model.  I mean that in the very deepest sense of the word.  You both had a huge loss recently, and you are showing her ways of being resilient.  That will carry her through a lot in life.

[HeartBiller]

@Bobbinyc What you are doing is exactly why I set such small goals. I had a month of almost nothing. It was very disheartening but after joining on here and reading all the posts.. You all give me the strength to carry on... Hang in there, a steady is better than a gain. ... lol. I lost and gained the same 3 pounds 4 separate times before I could get past the number I hated so badly...lol.

You are always an inspiration to the group!

[HeartBiller]

@Bobbinyc Thanks for the anniversary wishes.

[_Lilac_]

1 lb loss so far this week (and still counting because I'm wearing out my floor to the bathroom)....but....

Non-scale achievements this week! 

Visibly noticeable fat loss. (A few people mentioned it)

Energy, drive, happiness.

Each day I get up and have a goal and tasks and a plan. 

Daily update: By 1pm I had 12,000 steps already. I was on the go since 8:40am, aquafit, errands, walked dogs, went to walk at the park with my mom. I stiffened up in the car on the way home so I'm taking it easy. I have to get new walking shoes with really good arch support. Maybe I can go shopping tomorrow. I'll put that on the agenda. 

I'm going to focus on my non-scale achievements for a while and do a scale check at the halfway mark and at the end. I have a much better time and experience by paying attention to the life I'm leading instead of 'when I get to a certain weight I'll be able to enjoy this or that'...I need to enjoy it now because this is the only time I have. THIS is life, whether it's fat or not. 

Ok, dog needs something so I need to get back up off my butt and shuffle around. 

[Gayle1018]

@_Lilac_   Love it!  always great to know your doing well with other support and how your feeling.  My dog wondered why he had to get involved, as now we are up to 3-5 miles walking a day...(he's 10)  he has even lost 3.5 lb.   

enjoy yourself and be proud of your acomplishments! scratch the pup!

[Bogdel]

A bit late, but I'm back in. I'm 62, 5'5", and live in Colorado. I lost 39 lbs this year, thanks to this wonderful group and the FitBit tracker, which kept me motivated and encouraged. I am working on my last 5 lbs (my ultimate goal weight - for this year, at least!). Hope to take them off by Thanksgiving. 

USW- 183.5 (Jan.2016)

CSW- 144.2 (11/8/2016)

GW- 140  (for Nov. 24)

UGW- 139  (or to be determined when I get there)

PW- 150 (9/05/2016 - previous challenge)

[Bogdel]

Hi, @_Lilac_! Thanks for your wonderful posts. I always enjoy reading them. When you mentioned quince, my mouth started to water, and my olfactory system started to smell the fragrance. Quince is a delicious fruit. I still have a quince tree Europe, where I used to live while ago. They are very tough to eat uncooked, but I never liked them in a gem (too sweet for me). I usually just boiled them enough to make them tender (no sugar), and ate them like that. I also used to drink the juice that is left from boiling. I was surprised when you said that they were sower. Did you let them get yellow before you cooked them. Sometimes, if they were still greenish, I would let them ripe in the house. They release that beautiful  fragrance in the room. 

Outstanding job on your weight loss! You are a great inspiration to this forum. Keep it up, friend!

[dancefoxtrot]

Hi all

Reminder to USA citizens.  Vote like your life depends on it, because it may. 

Only a few more hours left. 

Barbara G