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Labor Day to Halloween Challenge 2017

Hello everyone and welcome to the Labor Day to Halloween Day challenge.

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!

Atlantic coast of Canada, 52 F, Fitbit Inspire HR.
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187 REPLIES 187

@March55  I'm so sorry for your loss. At times like that I think maintaining is a great achievement. You have more important things to focus on right now.

F, 53, 5'9", PA
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My entire body is in rebellion. Yesterday I took the morning off from walking to rest my ongoing foot issue. It got to 6:40pm and I'd had just about 3000 steps from simple housework and moving around. I thought to myself, "A year ago you could simply bounce yourself to the pool for water aerobics. You had motivation." So I smacked myself around a bit, got ready, and went to the pool. It's not that my motivation is lacking I guess. I'm just going through one of my body pain times. They come at me every few months. Not sure what it could be. The pool is the best option for getting a workout without stress on joints, though my sciatic nerve hates the twisting motions (I pulled it Tuesday night when taking out the garbage). 

Since I'm in a plateau, I've increased my calorie intake a bit because I don't want to wreck my metabolism by going too low when the weight isn't going to budge anyway. I'll probably go to the pool again tonight since I skipped walking this morning. 

There is a creature living in the neighbourhood that is rustling around in the bushes and along the fence at the back of my property in the early morning, keeping me awake. Two nights in a row. I need decent sleep.

Ok, I'm done complaining. Can you believe it's already the end of September?? Our autumn has NOT kicked in yet. I can't wait til the leaves begin to change. I'll share pics. 

Atlantic coast of Canada, 52 F, Fitbit Inspire HR.
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Where is everyone??? Out at the gym, taking advantage of the cooling weather, walking and too busy to sit down to report?? 

My mom is going on a trip for a few weeks so I'm heading back to the pool for workouts rather than taking our morning walks. I might do the morning walk with my dogs instead, just to keep up a routine. It is -1C this morning, after a sweltering week of 28C with massive humidity. This is Canadian autumn. Haha. 

It won't show on CNN, but we had a terror attack in Edmonton last night. I hope anyone on this challenge from Edmonton is okay and safe! 

Ok, off to make breakfast and get the leashes ready. Have a wonderful day all!

Atlantic coast of Canada, 52 F, Fitbit Inspire HR.
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Well here are the results from my first biweekly weigh in since joining the challenge:

 

USW: 189.2

SW: 176.2

PW: 176.2

CW:169.4

GW: 166.2

UGW: 130

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Well it seems that a weight loss of 7lbs/week will not be achievable but at least I tried. I've revised my goal weight to reflect this realization.

 

USW - 310.0

SW - 299.0

CW - 291.8

GW - 280.0

UGW - 190.0

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Thanks so much.

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In this challenge, I’m reporting body fat %, not weight, and I’m using TrendWeight numbers:

 

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

SBF 4-Sep-17: 14.6%

PBF 11-Sep-17: 14.5%

PBF 18-Sep-17: 14.3%

PBF 25-Sep-17: 14.2%

CBF 2-Oct-17: 14.1%

GBF: 13.5%

UGBF: 11%

 

Being coming down 0.1% every week since the beginning of this challenge. I’d be most happy if I could keep it that way until the end, though it doesn’t look likely with trip to the US during the last week of this month.

 

Reason of satisfaction for this week: all daily BF% values were at or below 14.0% (which was my all-time low in the 4+ years I’ve been tracking weight & BF% with my Fitbit Aria):

 

2017-10-02_0853.png

 

Dominique | Finland

Ionic, Aria, Flyer, TrendWeight | Windows 7, OS X 10.13.5 | Motorola Moto G6 (Android 9), iPad Air (iOS 12.4.4)

Take a look at the Fitbit help site for further assistance and information.

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USW- 215.0 (2/4/14)

1stCSW- 211.4 (2/14/17) First Challenge Starting Weight

2ndCSW - 210.8 (4/18/17) Second Challenge Starting Weight

3rdCSW - 212.0 (5/31/17) Third Challenge Starting Weight

LCSW - 209.8 (7/4/17) Last Challenge Starting Weight

CSW - 209.0 (9/04/17)

LW- 208.0

CW- 207.6

GW- 205.0 (October 31st)

UGW- 150

 

Did not report last week but I had bounced back up to 210 so being back down is great. I have hopes of making my goal weight for the first time since starting to participate in these challenges.

 

Oh, I also found out that it helps if you cut out going back for seconds! LOL! 😄

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My 285 lb brain today:

I often get questions how I stay motivated and keep going. I'll give you a day in my brain.

My mother left on her two week trip so my plan was to go to water aerobics this morning since I couldn't walk with her. I turned on the tv and found all the breaking news of the massacre in Las Vegas. I sat stuck to the tv and didn't get to the pool. Breakfast was 4 oz of beef I'd roasted with half a small potato, chunks of carrot and some rutabaga. Breakfast?? Well, I'd made this yesterday and it was soooo good, I saw it on the fridge shelf and couldn't resist. Why use willpower on something that doesn't need resisting?? It's a meal in the day. Doesn't HAVE to be breakfast food. 

So my dogs went nuts later with too much energy. I decided I needed to get my butt moving too. I took the small dog on our typical 2000 step walk and then took the larger dog on a 3000 step walk. I did sit around for a while this afternoon, not accomplishing much at all. Lunch was cheese and crackers, yogurt cup, 2 boiled eggs. My daughter left some supermarket-made cookies on the counter and after checking the calorie contents, I decided to have one. YUCK. Awful. Why did I bother?? 

I wanted to go to the water aerobics class tonight but realized it's Monday and I dislike the instructor. It's a useless class with a lot of floating around with noodles, only a few min of cardio. Ok, so do I sit around or do I go power walk? I thought, "oh no, if I go that way there are sweet and sour shrimp" and then "if I go that way there's garlic cheese bread" and "if I go that way there's thugs and druggies." Hmmm...I remembered AGAIN that it was Monday, which meant the sweet and sour shrimp place was CLOSED. Yay...off I went. Walking by the pizza place I saw a family enter the door. The man was probably 450lb and the wife was likely 350 and their kid was heavy. I wanted to shout, "No no no. Get back in the car!" but I couldn't. I walked faster, pumping my arms. I passed the Asian all you can eat buffet and an obese woman drove in and looked for a parking spot. I wanted to yell, "NO! Keep driving!" But I couldn't. I kept walking, thinking about where I'd started at 380lbs a few years ago. I got sickened by the horrible stink of the grease pumping out of all the fast food places that used to smell so good. It stinks now! I had decided to walk 25 min one way and then return, giving me my last 5000 steps for the day. I was annoyed at the traffic lights taking too long because my heart rate was going to slow down. I remembered how last summer I'd take my little dog around ONE BLOCK and need two days to recover from it! How could I have let that happen?? As I walked, I thought about someone dear to me who was diagnosed with diabetes last week. It was just the thing needed to start her healing process. Just a week of eating better and getting meds she feels so much more energy and she's smiling! 

Ok, so what did I learn today from my brain? I don't do everything perfectly. My brain often thinks about food and junk. But I work around it. I'm aware of it. I know my triggers and avoid them if I can. I don't necessarily avoid the fast food places because that stink is a good deterant and reminder. I learned from my brain that when I feel energy, act on it. Instead of just ignoring it and sit around, get up and DO SOMETHING. Yes, I ate a cookie. Yes, I missed TWO water aerobics classes. I'm not beating myself up because I changed my plan and made it work. 

My 285 lb brain will never be 'fixed', regardless of how much weight I lose. I'll probably always struggle with those initial thoughts of food (and laziness). My motivation comes from knowing I can battle it though. I've lost 70 lbs in the last year and even though I'm on a plateau, I'm sticking to it. I can't go back. None of us can go back, right? 

So if I have a tough day, I'm going to look back on this post and remember. 

Atlantic coast of Canada, 52 F, Fitbit Inspire HR.
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Stats for this week October 1 - 7

 

USW - 195

SW - 195

CW - 190

PW - 192

GW - 180

UGW- 160

 

We got a new dog Sunday.  He is a Pug mix, about 20 LBS and 10 months.  He is cute as a button.  Taking him for walks is helping me get those steps in!

Everyone have a great week and stay strong!

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Well it's not been a great 2 weeks weight wise but I've had some good adventures.

@ 149.6 today with is up from were I've been, but since it's under 150 I'm not too stressed out.

We went to a beautiful wedding this past weekend in Illinois.  Spent 10 1/2 hours in the car so that did nothing for me as well as eating wonderful.  If you ever get the chance visit Casey, IL - the Worlds Largest ... mailbox, knitting needles, windchimes, & a few other things.  Richards Farm Restaurant has great home cooking & the Worlds Largest Pitchfork.  A fun area.

Hard getting back on track but I need to since I'm off on another family adventure next weekend 🙂 Headed to Cary, NC to a golf tournament - watching not playing 🙂 🙂 🙂

Keep at this everyone -- we can conquer weight & flab & get fit

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@alleganygirl  Wow! What a small world.  I currently live about 2.5 hours from Casey, IL.  You are heading to Cary, NC next week.  I grew up on the east coast of North Carolina.

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Small world indeed -- funny that both places I'm visiting you live 🌻

Illinois is quite different from Western NY 

My nephew grew up in Gerard 

 

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Well, I can't seem to beat this plantar fasciitis irritation and I might have hurt myself worse today. It's really painful tonight, can barely walk. I've got it on ice currently.

My daughter tells me to take a few weeks of break but after working so hard, it terrifies me to sit around NOT exercising, ya know? I need to move to lose. I can eat lettuce all day and I won't lose til I move my rear end. That's just the way my body works. I'm too afraid of being sedentary again that I'm not resting enough. My brain is trying to come up with ways to keep moving...shorter walks but more often? Water aerobics classes every day (but I have to walk there and back), use the stationary bike at the gym (again I have to walk there and back)...what to do! 

Weight hasn't changed. Plateau still intact. Maybe I can rest while I'm on this plateau since the weight isn't budging up or down anyway. 

It's Thanksgiving weekend in Canada so I'll be preparing a turkey dinner tomorrow. Nice comfort food. I'll have to do all the peeling and chopping from my recliner. haha.

 

Atlantic coast of Canada, 52 F, Fitbit Inspire HR.
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@_Lilac_

Sorry to learn of your pain PF. and the limitations in walking it brings.  My friend has it a got a shoe pad that helped. Maybe massaging it, icing and resting help.  Definitely need more than lettuce for food.  There are all kinds of chair exercises perhaps online to help burn calories.  Can you ride your bike to the swimming pool and gym? 

Think that is you reduce calories and eat healthfully you can maintain your weight during your resting periods. 

All the best,

Barbara G

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@dancefoxtrot  Oh, I don't eat just lettuce..haha. I was giving an example of how my body works. I can be careful all I want with food and I can't lose without being active. Because of my high weight, I can simply start the day waking up needing 1700-2000 calories (with the 1000 calorie deficit already calculated). I don't have to worry about it much, but I'm on this stupid plateau. Anyway, I iced my foot last night and it works wonders. I'm able to walk around today without too much pain. I am, however, avoiding a walk with the dogs or a workout. I've been doing toe scrunches and other exercises for my foot. I already have an arch support insert for my shoes. I would like to find a better one, maybe. Because of my weight, I don't get the support out of the regular ones that I should. I've decided to rest to heal. I'll go to the pool if I freak out about not moving.

Atlantic coast of Canada, 52 F, Fitbit Inspire HR.
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In this challenge, I’m reporting body fat %, not weight, and I’m using TrendWeight numbers:

 

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

SBF 4-Sep-17: 14.6%

PBF 11-Sep-17: 14.5%

PBF 18-Sep-17: 14.3%

PBF 25-Sep-17: 14.2%

PBF 2-Oct-17: 14.1%

CBF 9-Oct-17: 14.0%

GBF: 13.5%

UGBF: 11%

 

Another of marginal progress, but progress nevertheless. 

Dominique | Finland

Ionic, Aria, Flyer, TrendWeight | Windows 7, OS X 10.13.5 | Motorola Moto G6 (Android 9), iPad Air (iOS 12.4.4)

Take a look at the Fitbit help site for further assistance and information.

Best Answer

USW- 215.0 (2/4/14)

1stCSW- 211.4 (2/14/17) First Challenge Starting Weight

2ndCSW - 210.8 (4/18/17) Second Challenge Starting Weight

3rdCSW - 212.0 (5/31/17) Third Challenge Starting Weight

LCSW - 209.8 (7/4/17) Last Challenge Starting Weight

CSW - 209.0 (9/04/17)

LW- 207.6

CW- 208.6

GW- 205.0 (October 31st)

UGW- 150

 

This past week had too much fast food and not enough movement due to wacky schedules and poor planning. Also had to put a new battery in the scale so maybe I can blame it on that? 😄

Should be better food wise this week but not sure about the steps. Still hoping to make my goal this time!

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Stats for this week October 8 - 14

USW - 195

SW - 195

CW - 190

PW - 192

GW - 180

UGW- 160

 

Well, no change this week.  That can be a good thing! 🙂

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@_Lilac_

 

Try biofreeze, it is amazing. Also, keep your shoes on ALL THE TIME, no slippers, no flip flops, no barefoot.  Also, a good pair of shoes.  New Balance, Brooks, Saucony.  That's what a podiatrist told me and a few of my friends who also were having issues.  I wear good shoes, but I like going barefoot.  I notice a difference when I wear my tennis shoes more.

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