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!

[aggieatheart]

I would love to join in please. I had been doing so good then since Jan 1st I have gone up 7 pounds!!!!!

I am starting back on track today and was on here looking for somewhere to join for motivation.

I am a mom of 4 in Texas. The hardest part of my journey is that I own a specialty bakery 🙂

I do Zumba, step and run for my cardio work outs.  I have been eating  awfully the last month or so and I can really tell by how I feel .

[Lizann]

I have to say that as much as I HATE to admit this... I feel much worse when I eat sugar including "white" grains.. bread, donuts, cookies.  I really cannot even have a "little" bit, or I really crave it more. MOST difficult time is in the morning when I really want toast or cereal.  BUT, if I eat an egg or grab nuts first thing I tend to do much better throughout the day.

[Lizann]

127 seems low.  130 to 155 is a great range.

[Lizann]

Out of my comfort zone also.

[LGI0524]

I had several great weeks in a row in January, and was seeing great results, and meeting my goals nearly every day! Then comes 4 bad weeks in a row: 1. All-day out of town meetings for work, 2. What their dubbing as Snowmageddon in Atlanta, couldn't get out of the neighborhood due to ice, 3. More all-day out of town meetings, 4. Snowmageddon #2, an even worse version and even lazier week for me.

But now, I am getting back on track! Planning my meals for the week, gym at 4:30, and the husband and I are committing to walking in the evenings at the park.

There's 81 days until we leave for a big European trip, and I am striving to lose that 20 pounds and be the same weight I was on our wedding day in 2011!!

[Lizann]

YOU CAN DO IT!

Enjoy Europe!

[LGI0524]

Thanks, looking forward to it!

Minor Win for the day - I passed on the homemade cupcakes in the break room at the office, and ate an apple instead! 

Anyone else have a Win today?

[TICKET]

I passed up candy hearts in the teachers' lounge! Yea me! 

[CaliGirl11]

I completely understand... I  have MS & RA, and bad fatigue that comes with them.  Exercising actually makes me more tired instead of energized.  I work at a desk job about 60 hours a week (70+ for the last few weeks), so I have one of those bicycle things under my desk that I pedal when I work.  That is what saved me!  I bring it home on weekends, and I'm actually pedaling right now lol.  I average 2-3 hours per day.  It does make me a bit more tired, but I'm hoping cutting back once I reach my weight goal will help.  Just find what works for you, and stick with it!  Good luck!!

By the way, you look WAY too young to have grown children!!  Please share your secret!  

[Shelley]

Love reading everyone's posts!  Good for passing up the unhealthy sweets, Lizann and Ticket!  Once you start, it gets easier and easier to walk on by.  Tell yourself "I don't eat that" rather than "I can't eat that."  

Got my Fitbit weekly summary email results

Walked 76, 751 steps

Burned 4896 calories more than I took in

It says I lost 1.2 pounds but I have been up and down everyday and don't think I have really made much progress the past week.  According to today's scale, I weigh 7/10's of a pound more than I weighed last Tuesday.  I did "okay" and better than most years with Valentines but still over ate and did have some chocolate as well as other things "I don't eat." LOL.  Last week I got over 10K every day but yesterday I got less than 6K so need to get back to it and back to my eating plan.  Hope everyone else is doing well and got through Valentines Day without too much trouble!  This is what I told myself:  "I am making a lifestyle change that is for the rest of my life.  This is not some short term diet where I give up sweets for a few weeks and then go back to eating like I have in the past.  If I think about this as long term change, then having a few minor (I only ate one square of dark chocolate a day for 4 days until the bar was gone) exceptions on a holiday but the rest of the time eating according to a healthy weight loss or maintenance plan is sustainable."  We'll see if this approach works.   Ticket and Caligirl, you have both been successful in losing a large amount of weight and in keeping from gaining it all back.  You gained some back but overall have kept most of it off.  Do you have any advice about the above way of thinking?  Is that "stinking thinking" or realistic?  I have 75 total to lose and have lost 35 but the speed of it has slowed down and I am making more exceptions but overall still maintaining calorie deficits.  What advice do you have for being successful?

[TICKET]

Ninja--

My husband and I have had so much success with Body for Life--and taking before and after pictures has always been a part of that--pretty humbling, but it's great to see results! 

---

[stacey444]

Ticket ~ you mentioned that you and your husband have had great sucess on the Body for Life program.  I was curious on what Body for Life was all about so I visited the website.  I looked at some of the sample menu's and it raised a question for me.  How does the food plan stand up against the daily calorie requirements on Fitbit?  I looked at the recipe for the Breakfast Burrito (as an example) and it seemed like a lot of food.  I am sure they have different meal plans for weight loss but I would love it if you could tell me how it worked (or is working) for you.

[TICKET]

Hi Stacey-
The original book has an excellent plan- the later cookbooks/recipes get more complex and harder to judge serving size and cals.

I have done a workshop for BFL and tell people to read the original book- it's good clean eating with reasonable portion sizes.

BFL gave me my life back- truly.



Sent from my iPhone

[Linda50]

I just started using the community board. I would like to join the challenge. I need the motivation and support.

[DanaC]

Hi Everyone!

Hope you all are doing well!  I am down 14 pounds from the start of the year so very happy about that!  I hadn't lost any weight before like many of you did before this challenge, having started on 1/1.  Really trying to focus on just making better choices each day, and not seeing that I am going on a diet (and thus later, off a diet).  In the past, I have lost good amounts of weight from WW, but don't maintain the loss.  The Fitbit has been a great source of motivation - really want to hit 10,000+ steps each day.  I was about 2,000 steps short at 8:30 and so got out my Wii game Walk it Out and ended up with 12,000.  I loved Shelley's idea of making the weight goal tile the 20 pounds of this challenge, rather than my long-term goal.  Makes it much more motivational - so thanks for the tip!  If you have a Costco near you, I love the 180 snacks they sell, and also just found and am enjoying Kind bars.  When I am super hungry in the mid-afternoon, these really help to curb my hunger.  

Good luck, everyone!

Dana

[Shelley]

Dana, you go!!  So happy for your success so far toward the goal.  You are doing it the right way, with exercise and making healthier choices about what to eat rather than thinking of it as a diet.  I love that you pulled out the Wii and got another 4,000 steps.  I am going to have to get that game.  I only have the Wii Fit games that came with it and rarely pull it out anymore.  But anything that helps get exercise and steps without leaving the house is great for those times when it is too cold or too late at night to go.  Last night I was being a slug and watched a movie and then read my book and still had 1800 steps to go to get to my 10K.  At 11:30pm I jumped up put on Pandora and started racing around the house.  I got a little more than 10K before the stroke of midnight!  Felt silly waiting till the last minute and doing that so late but happy that I didn't let my step average go down.  And today when I weighed I was two pounds less than last Friday!  Now that is the rate I was losing back in the fall but haven't had a two pounder week in a long time.  I am nowhere near you, Dana, and actually behind where I had hoped to be by now, but as they say, "slow and steady wins the race" and I am in a race with myself and hope to win.  I will cheer when the rest of our group win their races too!!

[DanaC]

 Thanks, Shelley!  You are always so supportive!  It is much appreciated.

[Linda50]

I have been doing ww for about a year. Lost 30lbs to date. I have been struggling the last two weeks, losing no weight. I have been reaching the 10,000 steps this week. The wii really does help. I have been trying to do it for at least an hr every night. The dance videos are great! I think I have them all including the Zumba ones. Lol. The fit bit really has been keeping me in check with movement, calories etc. weigh in is sun so we will see what the results are. Hoping to be down!

[Shawncar]

Hello all! I'm in for the challenge. Thank you for setting up this challenge. I need all he help I can get too.

[Elansc]

It has been a couple of weeks but still here and still meeting my goals -- just not losing lots of weight. Down 4 pounds for this challenge and been very good at meeting my step goal every day -- almost 30 days in a row now. The weight loss has really slowed down -- but I knew it would get harder the more I lost (-65.5 currently) I just have to stay motivated! I really wish it would warm up so I could get some of my steps done outside

4 lbs down and 16 to go before Mothers Day (YIKES!)