Halloween to Winter Holidays Challenge

[_Lilac_]

Hello everyone and welcome to the Halloween to Winter Holidays Challenge!! We'll tally up Dec 31 and start the New Year running! (or walking, or swimming, or biking, etc). There are many people who kinda disappear during holidays so I want to cover as much ground as we can while we can and be here over the next 8 weeks for these trying times!! 

We can post (daily/weekly) about our weight and non-scale successes, share helpful tips, support each other and talk about our ups and downs.  The following abbreviations can be helpful to use:

USW - Ultimate start weight

SW - starting weight for the challenge

CW - current weight 

PW - previous week's weight

GW - goal weight for the challenge

UGW- ultimate goal weight

To join, please simply post and you are in! Have a great time, let's get this going!

[sandmotors]

So sorry to hear this. Don't be so hard on yourself. Life has it's bumps. You get a chance to try again about making healthy choices.

[Dominique]

Reporting body fat %, not weight, using TrendWeight numbers:

USBF 2013 and before: no idea (didn’t have any device to estimate it), but probably around 25% or more.

SBF 30-Oct-17: 13.6%

PBF 6-Nov-17: 13.8%

PBF 13-Nov-17: 14.1% 

CBF 20-Nov-17: 14.1% 

GBF: 12.5%

UGBF: 11%

No change since last week. The days are getting really short here in Finland, but no snow yet. 

[Cele21]

@_Lilac_ - Thank you! November was going to be another 'No fast food' month for me before heading into the holidays - starting over again. 

@sandmotors - Thank you also! Where in Chicago are you located? I'm out near O'hare.

[sandmotors]

Getting a little anxious about Thanksgiving. My sister-in-law is hosting. But, how come everything is always surrounded by food. And no matter all the tricks I have up my sleeve to stay away from the eating frenzy. I end up there right with them. My birthday is a couple days after Thanksgiving and people in the office are asking me where do you want to go for lunch. Food is everywhere. That is the end of my rant on food.

[_Lilac_]

Tomorrow morning I have that appointment with a specialist in a city 3.5 hours away. We have to leave here about 4:30-5am ugh, to compensate for the early morning traffic in that city. I thought I was supposed to be going for indepth testing, MRI, etc but I'm scheduled for a followup and 'catch up' since I haven't seen that doc in over two years. I'm on the lists for the tests and I'll have to return in 4-5 months. It will give me more time to lose more weight to fit comfortably in the machine. I seriously thought my plateau had broken after a 4 lb loss but then it popped up a bit again and I seem to be still sitting stuck . 

I'm very hungry today. Maybe it's my loss day and I'm complaining too early. Always seems to happen. 

There will be no junk food or fast food on our trip. Two of us are being very careful. The third person travelling has had gastric surgery for weight loss but I think has slipped 'off the wagon'. I might pack some healthy food for myself. 

A brand new Ikea store opened in that city a few weeks ago...the first in this entire region. My travelling partners are anxious to go. I hope it will give me an opportunity to get in lots of steps. But after sitting in a car for 6-8 hours tomorrow, not sure how well I'll do on the 'move your butt' front. 

Oh well, middle of the night runs with my sister aren't abnormal in the last year...going to pick up foster dogs, adoptive dogs, trips to other cities. We call them our 'adventures'.

Ok, I need to get myself moving.

[yagirltildz]

USW - 145

SW - 152.8

CW - 152.7

PW - 150

GW - 142

UGW- 140

Have lost 0.1 pounds, ha! 

Have noticed that my pants are looser, and I look thinner. I think I might just be retaining water weight from the spin classes and workouts that I have started doing in the past 2 weeks. Thoughts? I would really like to see the number on the scale be waaaaay lower (I suppose we are all in the same boat there). 

Happy early Thanksgiving, tomorrow shall be a cheat day of epic proportions lol. 

[sandmotors]

My pants are looser also. But my weight hasn't change much. I am focusing on body fat % and measurements. I have a Nokia scale at home that measures body fat % and muscle mass. In the last 8 weeks I lost 2.2% body fat. I will take that. I have been lifting more weights and eating more healthy fat. Maybe that is what is working????????

[March55]

Hang in there.  Food is with all social events and it makes it tough for those trying to lose some weight.  Do the best you can and don't beat yourself up.  To increase some steps, I started to walk in place during commercial breaks when watching TV at night.  Good luck and don't give up!

[March55]

11-22-17.   My challenge since my last post (11/13) was to get my steps (9000) in 5 out of 7 days.  I didn't make it, but did reach 4 out of 7 and the other days I had increased my steps from the last few weeks, so I was glad.  I live in Michigan and the weather is getting colder and I had been using that as an excuse until I saw an elderly neighbor out walking and I thought, if he can get out there, so can I!  So, I've been trying to get out there everyday.  I've been really concentrating on my food intake as well and it looks like its paying off along with walking, as my weight is down.

 Good luck everyone and have a great week and Happy Thanksgiving to anyone celebrating.

USW - Ultimate start weight - (Previous challenge was 204)

SW - starting weight for the challenge (203)

CW - current weight  (201) - loss

PW - previous week's weight (204)

GW - goal weight for the challenge (197)

UGW- ultimate goal weight (180)

[_Lilac_]

I went to my specialist appointment and I might be facing some difficulties in my weight loss soon-ish. I will be required to stay in the hospital for two weeks, unable to leave the room at all, due to having monitoring electrodes and wires attached to my head. I intend on doing my steps to the best of my ability by marching and walking in place and a bit of jogging for intervals. I'm going to ask if they can install a stationary bike in the room. (They previously told me they might get a treadmill for that unit but because of my plantar fasciitis, that might not be helpful). The last time I was in, they'd give me an injection every day to prevent clotting since I was on my butt so much and I was a heavy person. I want to avoid that this time. 

Also, this is all leading up to the possibility of having brain surgery. I can't tell you how much this scares me. I'd like to avoid that if I can but that's what all this testing is for, to determine if my seizures would be cured by it. How much recovery time would be required for that?? I'm sure I won't be encouraged to do a lot of activity (especially alone) after something like that. 

Anyway, stress isn't going to help my situation.

Yesterday: 3 hour drive in dark and fog, 4 hours at hospital, 3 hours of walking around IKEA, 40 min waiting in line at their lunch counter, 45 min waiting in line so my friends could buy a big bag of chocolate truffles (I didn't even try the free samples), 3 hours driving home in dark, etc etc...I'm exhausted! My foot is forcing me to take a day off. 

[_Libella_]

I'm proud of myself.  My goal for Thanksgiving was to eat fewer calories than I burn.  Since I usually eat around 1000 less I figures I had wiggle room.  However I kept it under and am almost 1000 under--and I had some of everything and ate a filling meal, including chocolate pie and cheesecake.  I didn't over stuff, but I was very satisfied.  It makes me feel that I have actually succeeded in making life changes rather than just a "diet".

USW - 295

SW - 274

CW - 265

PW - 271

GW - 260

UGW- 195

[_Lilac_]

@_Libella_  Congratulations on a successful Thanksgiving. We are both about the same weight, and as long as we move, we burn a lot of calories, so it's fairly easy to balance things. Let's keep up the good work!

[Cele21]

@_Lilac_ - I have a friend that suffered from seizures her entire life - couldn't drive, was monitored during her only pregnancy (because of the stress on her body), had to take a ton of medication. When she first started having them, a scan showed a fatty tumor in her brain but the doctors said it was in a location that wouldn't affect anything and it never grew so they left it alone. Over twenty years later, she went to a different doctor. Had all the testing. His recommendation was to remove the tumor. She had brain surgery (I think her daughter was five at the time) and has been seizure free since. She is off all medication, drives, sleeps better and is totally grateful for the new doctor. The hospital even used her story in an ad campaign (both print and television). I know it is a very scary prospect but think of the possible good results! Try to focus on the positive possibilities as much as you are able and keep us updated! You are always in my thoughts and prayers and that will re-double now!

On a personal note: my Thanksgiving holiday was good. We spent it with my husband's brother, his wife and son, a friend of theirs and my husband's aunt. My kids (adults) brought their dates with for the first time so that was interesting. My son's girlfriend got into a discussion with my brother-in-law that covered everything that we don't usually talk about with him - religion, politics, etc. Lasted well over an hour with the rest of us tip-toeing around trying not to make it worse. Actually was better than expected but still tense.

I am going to start working (again) on my personal wellness and mindfulness today. I haven't been feeling very rested, my food choices have been crap, my water intake is practically non-existent and my brain is ..... fuzzy? Need to change quite a few things but have the support of my family (and all of you) and the expectation of feeling much better with deliberate dedication.

Here's to today! Be Glorious!

[_Lilac_]

Saturday, I had 12,000 steps, limped home...so I decided to take yesterday as a rest day. Today so far I've walked to the back door twice to let the dogs in and out. Otherwise I've been on my rear end. Time to get moving! I am stuck binge watching a series on netflix so I suppose I could get on my feet and do my marching and jogging in place while I watch. It snowed a bit last night and the sidewalks look slick so I might just stick to indoor workouts. 

My son is coming home for ten days on Dec. 18th. He's bringing his girlfriend with him. He never had a girlfriend while living at home. And this is only the second one that I know of. It'll be strange. Haha. Don't like my kids growing up. 

Alright, getting antsy...funny how making a habit of exercise drives you to continue to exercise, even when your nature is to partake in extreme laziness. It's all about retraining, I guess.

Keep up the good work, everyone.

[Dominique]

Reporting body fat %, not weight, using TrendWeight numbers:

USBF 2013 and before: no idea (didn’t have any device to estimate it), but probably around 25% or more.

SBF 30-Oct-17: 13.6%

PBF 6-Nov-17: 13.8%

PBF 13-Nov-17: 14.1% 

PBF 20-Nov-17: 14.1% 

CBF 27-Nov-17: 13.8% 

GBF: 12.5%

UGBF: 11%

Moving back in the desired direction.

[_Lilac_]

What a day. It got to be noon and I grew restless so I took the bus to get groceries (after hunting for my house keys for 30 min). I heaved three bags home and found cards on the ground up the street...my neighbour's. I surmised that his wallet had been stolen and the cards dumped. I picked them all up and went home. He came to get them. His car was broken into last night. They took his bank and credit cards and left everything else. He'd cancelled them and there were no purchases. Phew. You'd think..that if someone stole a bank card with 'tap' feature, they'd just go to McDonalds and fill up, ya know? Or buy gift cards at a gas station or whatever. But nothing..

Anyway, then I made food and cleaned up a bit. 8200 steps. My foot is killing me though so I'll try to get in my last steps of the day. It did get iced and I took a naproxen, so hopefully that will help.

I got an email from the nurse at the hospital I'll be booked into for two weeks in the coming months. I'd asked for exercise equipment but she said there's no room for it. She can get me a set of those pedals from physio though. I guess I'll just put on exercise videos from youtube and work out behind the curtain. There are three other 'guests' in that unit. I don't want anyone watching me work out!! She also said she'd have the nutritionist come see me to order up a better menu for me. The menu is very carb heavy there. And there's a fridge in the room so I can bring bagged salads and extra fruit, etc. I'm not on a restrictive 'diet' so doing the old 1200 calorie weight loss sort of deal isn't for me. I'm 285lb...that isn't gonna fly, especially with me exercising. I can burn 3500-4000 calories a day. It's not healthy.

I am currently listening to my disco playlist, bopping in my chair..I should just get up and dance around to do my last 1800 steps, huh? How can you not get into a good mood listening to disco music??

"Do the Hustle" and "Disco Inferno" and "Hot Stuff" and "Ring my Bell" and "You make me feel like dancing"...

[yagirltildz]

Week 4 into this challenge and all I have done is GAIN weight. Anyone have some suggestions?

I have been going to a 45 minute spin class twice a week, meeting my step goals on the other days, and eating between 1,200 and 1,500 calories per day. 

I am sooooo frustrated, but I guess I'll just keep going. 

[_Lilac_]

@yagirltildz  Ok, so...my first idea was that a spin class twice per week isn't enough cardio to make you lose. You said you get your step goal each day. Are those aerobic steps or just walking? Our bodies adjust quickly to walking steps and they don't benefit us as much as when we start. Are those steps at a great pace to get your heart rate up to aerobic standards? I've learned that to lose weight we must do FIVE (flippin') days of aerobic workouts. If you are working out but gaining weight, you might be gaining muscle, which is a good thing. 

Having said that...there are plateaus that we cannot break through no matter what we do. If you have been working out and burning a lot of calories, you might not be eating enough and going into 'starvation mode', forcing your body to hold onto everything you have. Also, sodium can make you retain all that water you are drinking during your workouts. There are sooooo many reasons you might not be losing. 

One big thing to keep in mind is that our bodies get used to certain workouts and activities and routines. We must change them in order to trick our bodies into losing. If you have done your spin classes for more than 6 weeks, you might have to change that to a different kind of class for the next six weeks, or add something else to it. Biology is fickle and tricky and can make us pull our hair out. 

Having said this, I've been stuck in a plateau for ages. Sometimes nothing makes it budge. I will remind you...you are working out. You are eating healthy. You are improving your health. The pounds/kilos should come secondary in our minds. 

I hope I can take my own advice and make some changes to jump start things again, but I won't freak out just yet. I can stay encouraged. I hope you can too!

[yagirltildz]

Thank you so much for the support! I think I'm going to have to start running during the week. I am determined to keep going (usually if I don't lose anything within 3 weeks, I give up) so this is progress! I think you are right, I haven't been eating much. I need to eat more (good) calories. Considering doing a no carb diet, but not sure how practical that would be to start in the middle of finals week lol. 

I definitely know I need to bring down my stress levels, and sleep more. I have been getting 6 hours for the past few weeks. 

[_Lilac_]

Wow, I just got a call from the hospital and I'm being admitted for my two week brain monitoring and other tests on Monday!! Stuck in a room with three other people (all with epilepsy) for two weeks! I'll get out and return home three days before my son comes home to visit for the holidays. I have so much to do! 

After the cat ate through two strings of tree lights yesterday, I decided to get a new pre-lit tree. I just got home with it, organized the branches and then the cat began to chew on lights again. Had the spray bottle close. I expect my house to be destroyed by the time I get home. My daughter works full time so she won't be home to monitor the demon-cat. My neighbour will take the dogs out. I think I'll spray the tree with concentrated citrus. Sigh...I also found him chewing on my phone case, damaged it. He has it in for me...

I'm hoping the hospital stay will jump-start some weight loss. I'll feel absolutely compelled to get my steps, there will be a change in routine, the stress of it all...might be the change I need to throw me off this plateau. In my anxiety, I've already prepared a list of things to take and began packing already, even though I thought I was going to be on the waiting list for a few months. 

I had 10,000 steps by noon today but I'm too freaked out to sit still. I need to pack and clean and strangle the cat!!

Ok...I'll check in later.