Mother's Day Challenge. Lose 20 by Mother's Day! Who is with me?

[Shelley]

Being involved in a challenge helps keep me motivated and it seems like it works for others too.  It also helps to have a goal and a deadline to get there.  Let's all get healthier for ourselves and for our families.  Let's do this for our kids, or our grandkids, or for our own mothers as well as for ourselves.  Come join me and let's do this!

[Shelley]

Helen, I discovered that my sweet tooth went away when I stopped eating sugar.  And now if I make an exception, I seem to become ravenously hungry and cannot get full.  It makes me so miserable, I just don't make exceptions anymore!  I do seem to be able to eat fruit without it causing a problem so if I do want something along the lines of dessert, I eat some fruit.  Apples are high in fiber and tend to be more filling.  And drinking water like you are doing is great too!  Hang in there. Once you have gone a few days without sweets, you may find you don't miss them anymore.  That is what I have heard from others and was my experience too.  

[Shelley]

I got my Fitbit email with the weekly stats but can't get it to copy on here.  I am not sure how I got it to do it last week but I will just write them out.  My steps were the lowest ever since getting the Fitbit but that is because I had a cold last week and just laid around.  Even though I didn't move much, I lost weight.  I think it was because I kept the calories pretty low eating soup all week.  I hope it wasn't from losing muscle!!  Here are my stats:

 Total Steps

 24,265

 Total Calories Burned

 12,221

 Calories eaten 

 7464

 Weight lost 1.8 pounds

[NinjaTwisty]

Is it too late to join now? Am feeling a challenge will be good. Is the 20 to lose in pounds or kgs?

[DanaC]

Hi Everyone!  

A week or two ago, I "lost" my fitbit - turns out it was attached to my pajama bottoms.  Found it before it got washed, but just missing that one day, messed me up some.  Then my cycle came and so it goes.  However, since I am not on a food program/plan - just making better choices  -Ezekial bread instead of regular, no dairy, drinking more water, getting more fruits and veggies, etc. - it wasn't too bad a fall.  My steps were down for a few days and forgot my fitibt for a few days, but now I seem to be doing better about both of those things.  I am at my daughter's school quite a bit and coordinate the after-school programs as well.  So before, I would read or something else sedentary, but now I am walking the halls waiting for checkout.  I am sure I look funny on the monitors.  Weight is coming off again so yea!  

Good luck, Everyone!
Dana

[pharkins]

i would like to join this challenge. I work out 1hr45min to two hours a day. I get in anywhere from 15-22,000 steps a day depending on my activity. I try to get 10,000 in first thing in the am and then the rest is extra. Nothing better to me that to feel the little buzz on my watch first thing in the am. In my mind if I dont hit 10,000 early I get anxiety.  I have cut back on my calories for sure but I still have the want to cheat probably more than i should. I love coke. I dont allow myself much at all anymore. I need to figure out a good eating balance.

I have lost some but wish for it to drop a little quicker.

[MellowCrunch]

Hi everyone, I've been out of it for a while. My household was sick last week and it's taken a bit to get back in the swing of things. I was also pretty discouraged because despite all my efforts I was only seeing the scale go up! I couldn't believe it! I'm normally a healthy eater so I was surprised not to see a loss when I added a salad for lunch most days and met my exercise goals most days. It was way better than I was doing previously so how could the scale NOT be going down. But I'm trying to just stay positive, get my steps in, and keep at it. I haven't gotten on the scale since being sick. I'm afraid.... 😉

Heather*

PS. Glad to see other's like the salad in a jar thing too!

[amyb68]

@ heather - I know what you mean!  I feel like I'm certainly more active than before I got my force and I'm eating better.  How could the weight not be just falling off?  I've stopped stepping on the scale for awhile and am just going to go by how I feel and how my clothes fit (not much change yet, I've only had my force for a few weeks - but I'm trying to stay optimistic)!  Keep up the good work and I'm sure it will pay off!

[NinjaTwisty]

I stopped stepping on the scales a while ago. I always got descouraged by what the scales would tell me which would then set me on a relapse to bad eating. By not stepping on the scales it allows me to think more positively and also enables me to keep my drive.

The way I know I'm losing weight is I wear the same top to gym once a week, other days I wear a different top, but at least once a week I will wear the same top I have had since I was at my heaviest. And as I train more, and get fitter I notice that it is gettting a lot bigger on me. And that is my motivation.

Scales only tell you your weight, not your body fat %. So even though you might have lost fat, you might have also put on some muscle, which would result in a higher weigh in. So just keep pushing. You got this 🙂

[Lizann]

I like that !! And, it is true.

Today, I have avoided all sugar.  Tough.

[amyb68]

I like that, too.  I'm going to find something to wear once a week so I can gage my progress!

[NinjaTwisty]

Another idea is to take measurements of your body. Such as arms, chest, stomach and even thighs, and see the difference.

I also started a picture diary. So I took a picture at the start of my journey, and I take pictures every so often to see how much I have changed.

It's all about surrounding yourself with people who lift you up, make you feel better about yourself and also encourage you to keep going. I cut out a lot of people from my life because they kept telling me that my goals were unreasonable. That they were too hard. And then they would try to tell me how I should be eating, and even how I should be training. There isn't a general get fit guide that works for everyone. So do what works for you, by all means take advice from people and see how it goes, but remember it is your journey, not theirs. So if you listen to your body and go from there, progress is sure to follow 🙂

[Shelley]

Good tips, Nija twisty!  I like the t-shirt idea.  And I also use the pictures to document my changes.  Another clothing one is to pick a garment a size smaller than what you wear and keep trying it on every week till you can wear it.  It is called your clothes-o-meter.  It gives you something to work toward and to enjoy when you have lost the weight.  You are so right about muscle weighing more than fat.  Muscle takes up much less space than fat.  So if we are building muscle, we can actually shrink and still weigh the same.

[Lizann]

Or even weigh more because of muscle.

[thistime101]

I would love to join this!  I think this is doable for me!

[jpokc]

count me in, love my fitbit

[bkelley32148]

I love this idea!  I am in.

[TICKET]

Okay Ladies! 

I'm totally stepping (no pun intended!) outside of comfort zone and doing this. 
5  years ago I lost 100 lbs., but 30 snuck it's way back on, so I'm in! 

[MellowCrunch]

Great tips everyone! Thanks for the encouragement.

BTW, I shoveled some very heavy snow yesterday and was able to log it in as an activity. However it only credited me 162 calories for 30 minutes and no active minutes. Pretty sure that's not acurate! But I'm enjoying the muscle fatigue I'm feeling today. Just burned 353 calories on the treadmill and now going to sneak in a little yoga before the kids get too restless. Feeling positive today!

[CaliGirl11]

I hope I can be included!  I'm not a mom, but I was born on Mother's Day lol.  This Mother's Day is my 39th birthday, so I have several goals I want to reach by then.  I'm 12 lbs away from my original weight loss goal, but I'm thinking I can lose a bit more than that. I'm not sure what a good weight is for me.  My max was 204 and now I'm 147 (original goal was 135), so 127 seems like a good revised goal (I'm 5'7").  I have been divorced for 1.5 years (separated 7 months before that) and I have not been on a date since, so I would also like to go on a date before my birthday.  I won't hold my breath on that one, though lol.  Good luck to everyone!  

[TICKET]

Love how everyone here has such different backgrounds---I'm a mom--of two grown girls. 

About five years ago I had lost 100 lbs., but in the last couple years it's crept back on--so I'm ready to get back to about 140--I'm 160 right now. So, I know it can be done! 

My biggest trial is overcoming the effects of epilepsy medications--they really want to slow me down, but I will (I AM!) ovecoming!