Memorial Day Challenge

[Bobbinyc]

Welcome to the next Challenge!

This one will start on April 18 and continue to Memorial Day (May 29th) 2017.   That gives us 6 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, 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'm very excited about continuing with this wonderful group of people and meeting some new folks too.

[_Lilac_]

Well, I did some organizing, laundry, cleaned up a mess in the office room and helped my daughter drag things out so she can move. Hopefully she'll have the big stuff moved out tonight. I didn't get a lot of steps (4500 including a dog walk) but my knee has been very bad today even after taking something for it. I might have to pass on the 5k walk tomorrow. 

I've had 1000 calories, which means I need more..nothing looks appetizing. How do we overcome boredom in our diets when we are being careful?? 

I am happy I got things accomplished today. It helped fuel my desire to do more purging and cleaning. 

Ok, off to make supper. Wish me luck in scavenging!

[dancefoxtrot]

@ThatGreen

Well write to the Fit Bit management and tell them about the badge discrepancy for kg.  They can adjust it so it is completely fair so you get as many badges. Hey, we are for fairness. Wait until you pass that test.

Open that 400 pg book and study your head off.  Don't sabotage yourself on that test.  I'm a procrastinator too mostly about paperwork.  Just get started since you have very little time until the test.  I'm rooting for ya.

Best,

Barbara 

[dancefoxtrot]

@IdahoSandy

Hi Sandy

Wow. Over 50 lbs of fat burned up in 11 months.  Yay, you are a champ. Looks like you should make 54 or 55 by your 1 year anniversary.  I bet your blood work will show better results. Yay health.

Best,

Barb G

[SunsetRunner]

Hi everyone!

I weigh in on Fridays so here's my second Friday weight: 

USW: 224.5 lbs (7/6/16)

CSW:  151.0 (04/18/17)  (Starting weight for this challenge)

 CW: 151.0 (04/21/17)

CW: 148.0 (04/28/17) -3.0

Goal Range:   150.0 - 155.0

I'm down 3.0 lbs from last week which was a huge surprise.  It puts me below my goal range but I was super excited because I OFFICIALLY reached the 75 lb loss mark!  I was very close a few weeks ago so now I have actually reached it!!  YEAH!!!

As I mentioned last week my goals for this challenge are:

• to stay within my weight goal range;
• to increase my daily step goal from 5,000 to 6,500; and
• to add strength training/toning 2x week to my workouts.

So I fell below my goal range which means I'm having trouble with my "maintenance plan".  I was checking different web sites and for my gender/height/build (female/5'9"/large frame) weight and the low end of my range should be 149.0 lbs.  That being said 148.0 puts me just below the range.  I've really been getting messed up between MFP and Fitbit with how many calories I should be eating in a day.  I've probably got one of the setting wrong somewhere but I haven't had the time to look deeper into it so that's on my list for this weekend!

I have increased my step goal and have reached that every day with the exception of yesterday.  My husband had gall bladder surgery so I was stuck inside the hospital most of the day.  It was very cold and rainy so I didn't get a chance to go out for a walk and we had to be at the hospital very early so I didn't get my morning workout in.  Oh well, I needed a break anyway.

I did get two strength/toning session in this week.  Now that I've reached my goal weight, I really want to focus on strength and toning for the summer.  (I have a LOT of flab to lose! 🙂 Might try to ramp it up to 3x/week. We'll see how it goes.

I've been reading all the posts and everyone is off to a great start.  Keep up the good work and don't be afraid to reach out to all of us if you are struggling or just need to vent.  That's what we're here for!

Have a great weekend everyone!

[dancefoxtrot]

Hello all,

Managed to lose .2 of a lb. over night, woo hoo.  I'm tired this afternoon so sitting with legs up for a rest. 5300 steps so far today.  My knee is less aggravated since I'm not teaching 2 exercise classes in a row! 

@_Lilac_  Please take care of your knee so it can heal.  Do you have an elastic brace for it?  If you have to do less walking for a while just lower your calorie intake a bit.  Fit bit sounds like it is telling you to eat too much.  It is not perfect and I wouldn't try to eat every last calorie that it suggests.  

Best to everyone,

Barbara G

[dancefoxtrot]

@em.kz

Drink lots of water when you have a fever to protect your brain cells. 

Congrats on your loss. You are doing great. You are catching me since I'm up at 146.4 lb today. 

Get well,

Barbara G

[SunsetRunner]

Congratulation @IdahoSandy!  You've done an awesome job and Kevin is adorable!!

@HeartBiller I know what you mean! My daughter just turned 30 this month so we are definitely getting older! But, like you said, better and healthier!! Happy birthday to your daughter!

[_Lilac_]

@dancefoxtrot I've never been able to eat what fitbit tells me to. I'm usually running at a 2000 calorie deficit. I'm a BIG person so it tells me I can eat a lot, but it's not reasonable. For example. It said I burned 4400 calories on Thursday. Hence, my 1000 calorie deficit to lose 2lb/wk would have me eating 3400 calories that day. NO WAY! It's a struggle for me to get to 1500-1700 most of the time. Like yesterday, I had 1000 by 6pm and had to find more to eat so I wasn't too low. I can't follow it or I'd be expanding my stomach just to hold more grub and that's opposite to what I want to do. 
Anyway, I'm doing ok. I move, I eat good food, that's what I need to do.

[Nora58]

Happy Saturday everyone! Nora and I got out on the trail today and I am surprised at the results I got when I checked the computer at home. 9 peak,108 cardio, 123 fat burn, 5 floors, 12,505 steps 129 active minutes.  For the week which ends at midnight for me so far I have 60,163 steps which is surprising since 3 days we didn't get our walks in . I am hoping when I weigh in later I will have lost some, I feel like I have. I did find the calorie burn for yogalates and tai chi so I can keep track of those as well now.

[Nora58]

@HeartBillerMy brother is diabetic and the first thing he did was walk over the sand dune every day and walk the beach . He hates needles and never had to use one because he is serious about his health. he has had a heart attack, two arteries clogged and now he is having a valve replaced. He weighs exactly what a 5'10" , 69 year should weigh and still is dealing with this from a crappy disease. Tell your husband to get with the program before it kills him. My brother was only 30 lbs over the recommended weight for his age at the time which was around 55. The best you can do is set an example and hope he follows.

And about feeling older , My daughter is 39. I guess I should change my name to Nora60. lol

Lucinda

[ThatGreen]

@dancefoxtrotThank you for rooting for me! I'm a terrible study because I have no technique, but I'm also a fast study when I start. I found audio files of my book, so today I took a long walk and got through one of the chapters I thought I'd know least about. Still got some way to go, but I'm learning things!

I was always curious about why kg badges are awared every 3 kg, since every 2.5 kg would be much more in line with the lbs badges. Maybe because they don't want to use the decimal? I'll think about writing them though.

@SunsetRunnerAs a fellow 5'9" female, I've never heard that 148 puts you under any range. I'm curious where you got this number? And how do you figure you have a 'large frame'?

Good luck with your strenght training!

@_Lilac_How on earth are you still running if you have such a large deficit? And please tell me your secret to burning 4000 calories in a day!

Please take it easy with your knee and know when to rest. You shouldn't be in constant or recurring pain like that. Have you seen a doctor about it?

@Nora58Do you have a specific flow of tai chi that you do? I've been thinking it's something I should try but there's a lot of information to navigate and I'm not sure where to start.

[SunsetRunner]

@ThatGreen My goal range is a personal range that I have set for myself.  I did try looking at several web sites for ranges based on build, and there are so many of them it is very confusing. (If anyone knows of a good reliable site I'd love to hear from you.)  I did see 149 as low end for large frame on a couple different ones but because there is so much variance in different sites I don't get too hung up on it.  I just like to have a range for my goal that I know will keep me healthy.  I was always curious about how frame size is measured so again I searched the internet ( 🙂 ) and there were two methods that kept coming up -- wrist and elbow measurements -- both put me just into the large frame size -- again I don't get too hung up on it.  My biggest struggle right now is just finding the balance in calories/exercise that I need to maintain my current weight.

Good luck on your exam and on making it through your busy weekend!

[_Lilac_]

@ThatGreen  I burn so many calories by existing. I'm a heavy person and the more you weigh, the more you burn, and if you move on top of that, you burn a lot. When I started my journey at 355lb in late August, it was possible for me to burn 5000 calories by doing 10k steps if they were in 30min+ increments. When I got closer to 300lb that just doesn't happen anymore. Now, I'm lucky if I burn 4000 in a day and that was with 15,000 steps. I got more 'fit'. But I still burn a huge amount of calories compared to someone smaller. If I burn 4000 and eat only 1500, you'd think that I'd lose a lot of weight/fat...but unfortunately it doesn't work that way. I just have to stick with burning and eating moderately and it comes off eventually. I wish there was a formula that was exact. It would be easy then!

[_Lilac_]

Hooray for natural parks! It was gorgeous this morning so Mom agreed to check out the park for dampness and trail conditions. We were glad to see that it was great! We did almost 40 min going through the woods and around a lake and then through woods and back to the car. It was sooo nice to see the ducks and smell the trees and meet up with dogs being walked. Better than looking into store windows in the mall!! We found stray daffodils coming up on the wooded hillside and wondered how they could have got there. I mean, they are bulbs right? So someone must have planted them. But on a hillside of trees? Nice surprise. 

I spent part of the day in my desk chair, which has caused my ankles to swell a bit, but that hasn't happened since last summer, so I need to fix this. I took the dogs for a stroll and then it was time to go to Mom's party. She wouldn't let me walk the 5k (as I predicted) but I insisted we all take the stairs to the party room (third floor). I hadn't had supper so ordered a bowl of veggie soup (not canned but restaurant made) and some sort of sandwich that was good. I don't usually have more than 1 bread per day so this was 2 at one meal. Yikes. The cake was passed around and I waved it away. I think it helped my mom decline as well. I got restless so walked around the venue and then took a trip downstairs and walked up the stairs again. I thought about going for a walk along the river (the place was on the riverfront) but didn't want to leave my mom's party. 8000 steps for the day will have to do. Not the best, but I made some good choices. 

If my knee doesn't clear up I'll go see the doctor. I have to see her anyway to get on her darned scale. For anyone who hasn't heard the story before, she refuses to get a scale that weighs over 300 lbs and I've never been able to be weighed on it. She believes that it will encourage her patients to lose weight. Sigh...just makes them not lose weight, but you can't tell her any different. So...I've finally beat it and I want to prove to her and that monstrous scale that I did. 

My plans for tomorrow are to do more cleaning/eliminating/organizing. Daughter has moved all her stuff out so it's my chance to trash stuff in my cupboards I thought was hers. It's now MY bathroom and I'm going to make it MY space. Kitchen too. 

Ok, it's after midnight. Time for sleep to regenerate energy for tomorrow! Hope everyone had a great day and a successful Sunday tomorrow. 

[DJC_63]

@SunsetRunner  Congratulations!! If I lost 3 pounds in a week I would be so thrilled. It sounds like you've got great goals. Hopefully you'll learn the tricks of staying in maintenance mode. I seem to never leave maintenance mode (as in, I never lose any weight), but I'm not sure why. I'm sure you'll figure it out and do great.

[DJC_63]

@Nora58  Glad to hear that you finished your treatment. I try to keep up with this thread but I missed your original post where you talked about what was wrong, the meds, etc. I can tell, though, that you had to take a med that caused rapid weight gain. I had that happen once. The doctor didn't tell me that was a side effect, and I didn't notice it for awhile because it was winter and I didn't weigh myself then. Once I found out that it was the medicine causing it, I did some research and found that most people quit taking it because they gained so much in such a short time period (like 25 - 30 lbs in a month).  That is awful, considering sometimes we don't have a choice about the medicine.

I hope everything continues to go well for you!

[DJC_63]

@TT_is_me  I will say some prayers that things get better for you soon. I struggled with major clinical depression for many years, and it definitely can crush your motivation. Clinical depression might be a little different than yours, but I do understand what giving up hope is like. That is one of the worst things. I hope the counseling helps, in my experience if you get a good counselor it can be great. Make sure that you make yourself a priority. If you can do things that make you feel successful personally, it helps so much. Just having a Fitbit and seeing that I can hit the goals, etc. has helped me believe in myself so much more.

Keep posting!

[almost_where]

 Easter Day Weight - 249

  Sunday1 - 247 - (4/23) 248 Target

  Sunday2 - 245 - (4/30) 247 Target 
  Sunday3 - (5/07) 246 Target 
  Sunday4 - (5/14) 245 Target 
  Sunday5 - (5/21) 244 Target 
  Sunday6 - (5/28) 243 Target  

Memorial Day Goal - 242

-2 lbs

BMI shifted from Class 3 morbid obesity to overweight as of this week

[BLLingg]

Thank you for the Photos, @_Lilac_.  You really are a very BEAUTIFUL woman!!!  Such a cute Smile and expressive Eyes!  I (WE!) are so PROUD of you!!!  The difference is plain to see!!!  And boy, do you ever need to get some new Clothes!!!

CONGRATULATIONS on 296!  Can't wait to see it at 196!!!

[_Lilac_]

@BLLingg  Thanks for the kind words. I'm working at it!!

I went walking this morning with Mom at the mall. I have a lot of old dry leaves in my yard that had been buried under snow all winter so I have to rake them or I'll have no grass. That's on my agenda for today, along with loads of laundry. 

We won't be going to the mall or park tomorrow due to commitments Mom has so I'll go to the pool and do more work around the house. 

I did research about my knee issue. It seems like it's an 'overuse' problem that runners and sprinters have, a weakening of the tendons where the muscles attach in the back of the knee. I haven't been 'running' but at my weight and level of activity, I can understand why it was 'overuse' on those mall floors. The remedy is rest and stretching but I don't have to limit all my activity. I'll continue with the pool and lessen the hard floor walking. No doctor needed unless it doesn't go away.

Ok, off to drink a bunch of water!