July 4, 2017 challenge

[Bobbinyc]

Welcome to the next Challenge!

This one will start today, May 30 and go to July 4th.  That gives us 5 weeks to work toward our next set of goals as we try to lose weight or maintain in a healthy way.  

Everyone is welcome to join this terrific group. You can post once weekly or every day - whatever you like - to share your journey, give and get support, offer advice, get some tips.  We have celebrated each other's successes, and empathized with the setbacks.  I personally found, the more I respond to others, the easier it is for me to focus on my own journey in a positive way.  We have seen great progress in previous challenges, in weight loss, health, learning, and non-scale success, because we are in it together and focusing on being healthier and living better lives.

Some of the terms used to report our weight:

USW - ultimate starting weight - the heaviest weight when you began to lose

SW - starting weight for this challenge

CW - current weight for the day you report in

GW - goal weight for this challenge, for Halloween

UGW - ultimate goal weight that you intend to reach eventually

Some people also include their height, their age, their BMI.  

All  you need to do to join, is start posting, usually with some of the weight information.

I do find this to be an amazing group of smart, wise, kind, and determined people.  I look forward to this next challenge, and sharing this journey and all we learn with each of you.

Bobbi

[OrionNebula]

I appreciate the discussion about emotions and food. People who don't have that connection really don't get it. I remember I once read a really lovely blog post somewhere about why a particular person turned to food. The gist of it was after a day of people telling you that you don't look good enough, don't perform well enough at your job or some other activity you might be doing, and just generally having a lot of negativity thrown at you from so many directions... food is a wonderful comfort. It doesn't complain to you or tell you you're not good enough, it just tastes delicious. 

I've been meeting my 10,000 step goal for the past two full days that I've had my fitbit, although I don't think Friday was completely accurate. I had a lengthy conversation with someone and I tend to talk with my hands a lot, and I noticed that I had a lot of steps logged during that hour but I didn't actually do much moving around! Changing the setting on the fitbit so that it thinks my fitbit hand is my dominant hand seems to have helped. Interestingly, though, I played Just Dance on my Wii for about half an hour tonight, and the fitbit read my heart rate as only 11 bpm on average higher than what it is when I go for a fairly casual walk. I expected it to be higher since I was pouring sweat by the end, but perhaps 11 beats really makes a big difference! I did forget to move the fitbit higher up my arm, though. Either way, I was pleased to see that my fitbit automatically logged it as aerobics 🙂 

I'm also liking the friends feature on the fitbit dashboard. A bit of competition is good motivation to make sure I hit my step goals!

[Ava_]

@dancefoxtrot - watching the news lately always adds to my stress.  Being based in the UK makes it all very close to me, personally and physically.  Although, the world is now a very small place with the internet and what is happenig right now affects everyone, no matter where you are.  Very dark days.

I have to agree on the music - I find music a great relaxer (even if its lively and loud).  Music can do amazing things to the mood.  I think my nighttime eating might be down to boredom, or stress or tiredness leading to a lack of control.

I wish I could get a good eight hours of sleep - I know the link between sleep deprivation and weight loss (or lack of it) but I have very disturbed sleep patterns at the moment due to an aged dog in the house, which needs tending to at 4am every morning.  This has been going on for three months now and I think I am very slowly losing it 😉  My mental capacity is way down, I am grouchy and lethargic and as I can see from my failed last two challenges (after doing so very well at the start of the new year), it's also affecting my metabolism and my self-control.

Unfortunately, the dog issue won't last much longer which is why I am persevering with the 4am wake-ups for the current duration - I owe it to her, she's done a lot for me over her life.

Your other tip about a journal is also a good one - I used to keep a journal, but posting here is about as close as I get these days, I guess.  Maybe something I should start again.

[_Lilac_]

@OrionNebula  I also find the heart rate differences weird. I can go to water aerobics and get about 111 heartrate. I'll be working hard, breathing hard, sweat...doesn't usually go higher than that. The walk over there and just walking my dogs or going to the store...I get 120's. So, not sure what's different, except buoyancy? lol. I remember one of those shows where the dude goes to live with an obese person for about six weeks to transform their homes and the person into workout machines, teaches them how to eat, etc. His 'victim' was about 500 lb and was doing water aerobics for exercise but this trainer said it wasn't enough because he needed the gravity to make him burn more calories. Don't know about that since it's done alright for me! I think the goal was super fast weight loss though. Anyway...off on a tangent as usual. 

What fitbit are you using? I have the Blaze and I love the fact that it just comes out of the wrist band. Mine is currently in my sock at the front of my ankle. I find it tracks my steps so much better attached to my foot rather than my wrist. I carry things when I walk, such as leashes, bags, etc. If my arm isn't swinging then I don't get steps tracked properly. You can set it to be less sensitive to movement too, I think. Someone here crochets and it counts as steps because the wrist is moving in a rhythmic fashion. Mine doesn't count my crocheting (yay, yarn therapy). 

I'm glad your fitbit has inspired you to get in those steps and keep track of it all. I find it REALLY helps. We all get those days where we think we are lazy and sitting around but we check the activity log and see we've been moving quite a lot.  Or the opposite, when we are tired and think we've been going going but it's more of a mental 'going' and we haven't physically got our activity. I like being able to SEE the charts. And that one that shows your weight loss in a graph...that is sooo important. Set it to 6 months or a year and you see this line dropping and dropping...sigh...so nice.

Ok, off to walking. Enjoy your fitbit!!!

[_Lilac_]

@Ava_ Being a caregiver always takes energy and it's difficult to fully take care of ourselves at those times, but just do the best you can. She needs you and you need to do this for her. That's what love is, right? You are taking care of your heart and soul, the body will follow. I'll send you some good vibes and strength today! 

[Daithílocha]

@Ava_Sorry to hear about your dog they really bring such joy to our lives.  I live in Ireland and we have such a close history your troubles feel very much like our troubles very sad times indeed.  I was not great at logging my food initially though I was on nights last night so kinda caught up with all that.  Nights brings its own challenges with food but my personal issue has never really been at work it's at home when everything done and I'm relaxing reading a book or something I just need to break the cycle or association with food.  I don't have a dog at the moment but I really would love one I work long shifts and just don't think it would be fair to leave it you really have me reminiscing about good times shared with a beloved dog thou. 

[almost_where]

Memorial Day Starting Weight - 243 

  Sunday1 -251- (06/04) 243 Target

  Sunday2 -000- (06/11) 242 Target 
  Sunday3 -000- (06/18) 241 Target 
  Sunday4 -000- (06/25) 240 Target 

  Sunday5 -000- (07/02) 239 Target 

+8 lbs

Gotta post the good and the bad. That's just the way the game works.

[almost_where]

Memorial Day Starting Weight - 243 

  Sunday1 -251- (06/04) 243 Target

  Sunday2 -000- (06/11) 242 Target 
  Sunday3 -000- (06/18) 241 Target 
  Sunday4 -000- (06/25) 240 Target 

  Sunday5 -000- (07/02) 239 Target 

+8 lbs

Gotta post the good and the bad. That's just the way the game works.

[ThatGreen]

@OrionNebula  @_Lilac_  About the heart rate.. I have been noticing huuuge drops in heart rate (Blaze), but this only seems to be the case while using the 'Hike' exercise mode for me. Maybe you guys are experiencing something similar?

The other day I got a reading of roughly 90bpm at least three times in five minutes (every time I stopped to check) while hiking. Manual readings between 125-150. I turned off the hiking mode and swapped to walking and I noticed it was off maybe twice during the next 50 minutes, which I would say is nothing to worry about.

I've been planning to make a post about it in the Blaze forum since it keeps happening and is very annoying since I try to hit a mountain at least once a week. The calories burned are so inaccurate when my Blaze thinks my HR is 90 +/-5 when it's actually 150.

And welcome to all the new people! I'm rooting for you!

[joylendragon]

Good morning everyone! Question, is there any way to change the post order. Mine always starts on 5/30 but i would like it to start at the most recent. Is there a way to do that?

The other day i purged my house. got rid of all the cookie mixes, cake mixes,most of the flour. I figure if i don't have it in the house i won't eat it. So now its a more healthier eating home.

I also use a small plate. Walmart sells these small plates that have dividers in them, works great for me.

Dance like no ones watching.

[_Lilac_]

@joylendragon There is a cog wheel on the right above the posts. It gives you an option to show you the most recent first. That's what I do. When you load the challenge page it will pop to the last post you read with the latest posts up top. Enjoy!

[ThatGreen]

@joylendragon  I'm the same way with foods. If it's in my house, I know I'll eat it sooner rather than later so I avoid buying those things unless I plan to eat it the same day.

I always feel bad throwing out stuff, but I have previously gotten some chips on a whim and caught myself after having a small bowl and promptly threw the rest out.

I was never a fan of cooking but I rely heavily on food prep and make big batches of food to freeze down so I'll always have something quick, easy and healthy to eat.

[joylendragon]

thank you for the info.

[Wilson22]

To day has been a really good day. This challenge has defiantly inspired me so thanks. I woke up early this morning and went on a Jog I am trying to complete the c-5k, I am half way through it now. I then went down to the boat and varnished all the boards and stained the seats. On my return home I walked to the shops to do the weekly shop which I then carried home. Finally I took the dog for a long walk. I think I may get a little exhausted if I keep this up and of course I have to go to work but defiantly motivated and want to reach my goal

[OrionNebula]

@_Lilac_ I have an Alta HR. It can also come off of the wristband, but I would rather have accurate calorie burn data than accurate step data! Although who's to say the calorie data is truly accurate? I've done a few tests on the steps (counting as I go)... I've found that it's less accurate for small sets of steps (20 or so) but very spot on for longer sets of steps. I don't seem to have a way to change the sensitivity of the Alta HR other than telling it if it's on the dominant wrist or not. However, the dominance thing has helped make it less sensitive. 

I would love to manually check my heart rate to compare, but I have the hardest time finding my pulse. I can never find it on my neck, and only sometimes on my wrist. Unless of course I've just pushed myself to the limit with physical activity - then I can practically hear my heartbeat in my ears as I recover 🙂 I have done some comparisons to my phone - it has a sensor near the camera flash that can measure heart beat and blood oxygen level. Again, I have no idea if it's accurate, but my Alta HR has been within 1 beat of the phone every time I've checked. Next time I play Just Dance, I'll have to pause in the middle and see what my phone says. I do know that my resting heart rate is pretty accurate as it's right around what it is measured at the doctor's office (they have a machine that clips to your finger while they take blood pressure).

@ThatGreen my Alta HR doesn't have an option to set it into any specific mode (at least I don't think it does). It automatically recognizes a variety of exercises and logs them. It's quite possible that it's accurate. My average heart rate while playing was 120, and there was a mix of easy dances and hard ones, so my heart was going faster at different points. However, when I go for a walk, my heart rate is around 105 - 110. It just seems like I was working a lot harder playing my game! I'm interested in seeing what my heart rate will be next time I go for a hike. I'm really bad with hills and all of the great hikes around here are in the mountains... I usually have to take a lot of breaks going up long inclines. If my heart rate doesn't go up higher than my video game workout, then I will know something is off.

[dancefoxtrot]

@almost_where

Is that water weight from high sodium intake or did you go crazy on consumption?  Hopefully you can undo it soon. 

Rooting for you, so don't get discouraged.

Barb G

[dancefoxtrot]

@Ava_

Sorry to hear about your sick elderly dog.  Are you saying that after caring for her you can not fall back to sleep? Boy you would need to go to sleep at 8 pm to get 8 hours if you can fall back. Sleep is so necessary so I hope that you find some way to get more sleep.  

Condolences on the awful loss of life and terror in England as well. We are one precious world spinning through space on a beautiful planet, linked by our shared humanity.  It is tragic that a small group of insane, deluded murders can cause so much pain. 

Best,

Barbara G 

[_Lilac_]

Went for a 40 min walk in the natural park early this morning with Mom and my sister. There was a triathlon happening so we had to be careful on the trails. We cheered people on as they passed us. Came home to crochet and relax with my sister visiting for the day.

A baby crow had dropped from a nest and was in my fenced backyard. My dog went out and although he sniffed at it he didn't harm it. When it began to move he chased a bit but he wouldn't hurt it and I made him come in after the parents went ballistic and were dive-bombing. My sister was courageous and lifted the baby over the fence into the next yard. It's been moving around and hiding under things but still can't fly. Any time we go out the crows swoop and threaten us. I took the dogs for a walk and they chased us halfway down the street and up the other side. It's going to be a long night if they keep up the racket. 

Food is good today. Reasonable but I'm finding I'm hungry so I'll have a yogurt snack later. I'll fill up on water and hot tea in the meantime. So far I have 8000 steps. I might do some livingroom marching/stepping this evening too. 

I hope everyone had a great weekend and ready for a successful week.

[ThatGreen]

You guys, I think I might have dimples. I just noticed today that my face has to be slimmer because there's a hint of a dimple on my left cheek when smiling.

That's pretty much all I had to say except hope everyone's having a great day.

[GeetzSJ]

I am 43 years old and 5ft 1in. This is the heaviest I have been all my life. Even after giving birth to my kids 12 years ago, I weighed at 55kgs. Once I reached my 40s, I found myself putting on weight easily. I train 3 times a week, but still find it difficult to lose weight. 

USW - 64 kg

SW - 64 kg

CW - 64 kg

GW - 55 kg

UGW - 52 kg

[_Lilac_]

@GeetzSJ  Welcome to the group. I'm sorry to say that training 3 times per week is not enough to burn away fat and make you lose weight. It's crappy, I know. The standard 3 times per week was for muscle building for men. To burn that darned fat, you would be better off doing 5 times per week of cardio and 3 of weights for muscle tone (if you choose to). That's why the '10,000 steps per day' thing helps lead to a healthy lifestyle. I wish I had better news about that for you because I know that 5 times per week is difficult for a lot of busy people, especially parents. But, the good thing is, once you get used to making it a necessary part of your daily life, it's just easy and then your body craves it. Plus, to add more wood to the fire, you have to change your cardio routine after a couple of months because you'll notice it stop working. It's like your body figures out "hey, she's trying to make me feel good. I'm gonna quit cooperating". So then you have to change from walking to biking or from jogging to fitness tapes or whatever. A change always helps. Deep sigh...if this was easy everyone would be svelt.

Ok, that's my 2 cents. I wish you all the success in the world! This is a place for support and sometimes even a wall to bash your head against. We all know the struggles. I started out at 172kg and I'm at 132kg now. I'm working my way down!! One step at a time.

[ThatGreen]

@GeetzSJWelcome!

I'm going to politely disagree with you @_Lilac_. The training is just a beneficial bonus to weight loss and a calorie deficit is the only thing needed in my experience.

Last year I lost 20 kg from March to October being sedentary for at least 23 hours each day. I had a goal of just getting out of my house most days in a week, turned it into a 30 minute walk per day and from there ended up doing C25K three days a week. Never more activity than one hour and most of that hour would still be walking at a normal pace.

Then life and winter happened and I abruptly stopped doing the good things I had been doing. Over winter and I went back to more and more of my bad habits and ended up gaining back 8+ kg for it.

I started finding my way back to the good habits again around March this year, mainly eating at a defict and logging my calories.

Now I'm finally back where I was in October last year, with a lot of help from the Memorial Day Challenge and actually setting a goal and being aware of what I'd have to do to get there. I wish so badly I could do 10.000 steps a day but if I did I would be in constant pain.

Now, @GeetzSJ, I do think your goal is insanely agressive if you expect to lose 9 kg over the next four weeks. 1 kg a week would still be very agressive, especially considering you are so close to your goal.

I would recommend you start logging your calories first off. You can do that here in Fitbit, but I'd still recommend My Fitness Pal as I feel like they have a bigger database.

Use your Fitbit to figure out how many calories you burn every day and how many you eat. Choose a realistic deficit based on these numbers and figure out if you can adjust anything (either burn more or eat less, etc.).

We're here to help you if you have any questions, need support or just want to share victories, disappointments or stories.

Good luck!