New Years to Valentine's Day 2016 Challenge

[awood08]

Welcome to the New Year Everyone! This will start January 1, 2016 officially 🙂

If you have seen the posts before this is a challenge that everyone is invited to join to set your own personal weight loss goal for the next 6 weeks. This is all about having a great support system and most importantly feeling great and happy and healthy about yourself. Don't worry if you have bad weeks because we all go through it.

To join the challenge all you need to do is post your weight stats & check in as often as you'd like with an update or just to share a story from your week. This group has some huge inspiration in it and people that give wonderful advice.

Looking forward to catching up with all our friends from the other challenges and anyone who is new!

Thanks @saraj91 for starting up the last challenge!

 
A little rundown of terminology for anyone who is new 🙂

USW- Ultimate Starting Weight

CSW- Current Starting Weight

GW- Goal Weight

UGW- Ultimate Goal Weight

PW- Previous Weight

CW- Current Weight

MFP- My Fitness Pal

[Samalama217]

@swimr12265 Wow.  You lost 6 pounds in 2.5 weeks?  That's impressive!  Great job.  I appreciate the suggestions.  I have set a time to stop eating in the past, but I can never stick to it.  If I'm hungry, I eat.  I work until 7pm so when I get home I have dinner around 8/8:30.  I don't usually eat past 9.  I'm usually pretty good at not eating breakfast and I'll try to eat within like an 8 hour window. As for the water, that's never a problem.  I have always been a huge water drinker.  I usually don't drink anything else, but I do have to have my coffee on days that I work.  I don't go crazy with sugar or cream though.  I think my main problem is WHAT I eat.  This past week I rediscovered a big batch of Halloween candy that I had placed in another room (used to be on my coffee table in living room).  When I first put it in there, I didn't have any for a month.  But now that I saw it again, I have been dipping into it wayyyy too much.  Darn my sweet tooth!  I'm going to have to stow it away in a closet or something or even throw it out (gasp).  

Do you really think it's the no eating after 7 that has attributed to your success?  Do you eat breakfast?

-sam

[Samalama217]

@dianenyc So glad you're feeling better!  I think the low carb is a great idea.  I tend to lose weight when I eat tons of protein and try to limit my carbs.  But it's soooo hard!  The suggestion of eating 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight is daunting.  And everything has carbs!  ugh.  

I do weigh daily, but I only log once weekly on Wednesdays (when my weight is usually at its lowest for the week).  I try not to, but I can't help it.  And I don't know why.  Daily weighing is useless.  I don't know if it makes me eat more, but it definitely pisses me off! lol.

Have a great week as well! 🙂

[HelenKr]

Wow, so much conversation today! This really is a wonderdully supportive group.

I can relate to sooo much of the conversation.  Got down to 125 ten years ago and then gained everything back.  😞  Don't want to ever do that again.

@OCDOC Rob, Yea, my two college aged kids were home until last week, always eating, definitely was a tougher couple of weeks.

Thanks for the advice @JacquelineP and @dianenyc !  I will have to experiment with what arm movement the fitbit picks up.  I went to the gym today and did 20 minutes on the elyptical and some weight machines.  Looks like fitbit picked up the elyptical.  I am going to continue to limit walking until my foot feels better.  

@dianenyc - I think calcium deficiency may contribute to leg cramps.  Do you take calcium? 

Take care everyone!

Helen

[Kitten87]

Well I don't think I could be any more upset!!! I got my fitbit back in August and it has just died....forever! So I called fitbit customer service and they are replacing it free of charge but it's still upsetting to have a 200$ piece of gear go out!! To make the matter worst, the representative said it is happening a lot from the fitbit brought from Best Buy!! Well I'll be down for the count for the next 7-10 days. Best of luck everyone!

[JudePDX]

USW 220

CSW 150

CGW 142

UGW 135

[JacquelineP]

Yes @HelenKr, I was thinking the same thing about all the conversation, too.  What fun!  

I just wanted to throw in another 2 cents regarding @dianenyc's leg cramps and say that I've read (and heard from my doc) that the three things linked to leg cramps are deficient calcium, potassium, and/or water.  So, I try to eat a banana (or a cup of watermelon chunks) for potassium every day. I'm a milk drinker so the calcium is covered, and I watch my water intake, especially if I am doing any alcohol imbibing.  Something else to experiment with.  Good luck!  Nothing worse than those darned cramps.

[dianenyc]

Hey Samalama --

Thanks for the good wishes and I'll let you know how the low carb thing works out. I lost a lot of weight the last time I did this -- but I really counted carbs.  So I'm doing that again.  Actually, the FB food log counts carbs and fiber, so it makes it a lot easier.

If getting on the scale everyday helps you lose weight, then do it.

If it makes you crazy, then don't.

Personally, I never accomplish much long term when I'm making myself nuts.  Sometimes there's a short term benefit but it always fizzles.  Slow and steady -- that's the way to go.  I like what HelenKr said the other day about lifestyle change -- it keeps me out of diet-head, which I am now convinced is a mental disorder.

Have a great week.

[dianenyc]

Hey Helen,

I think you may be right about the calcium thing.  Though my legs are much better after a couple of days of resting, stretching and more water.  It's so cold here today I don't want to do anything but I need to get dressed for work.  Dreading the thought of stepping outside let alone taking 10,000 steps out there today.  Ah well, such is life.

How's your toe?

[dianenyc]

Thanks JacquelineP -- I'll start tracking potassium as well as calcium.  And I'll let you know how the pocket thing works out on the elliptical.  Never got on it yesterday -- did yoga instead, first time since my knee surgery in July.  I'm trying to work in more stretching, especially now that I'm walking so much.

Have a good one today.

[dianenyc]

Hey Kitten -- Just keep logging your food and keep up your normal walking routine (maybe log time here instead of steps) and log your weight like you normally do.  You won't have your step count but you'll still be in the game.  I try to remind myself to be flexible when things like this happen.  Clint Eastwood had this great line in Heartbreak Ridge.  He kept telling his trainees: "you improvise, you adapt, you overcome." It's like that.

I might take that advice today myself.

Have a good one.

[DJC_63]

@FitinNWPA Looking at your screen name I'm guessing that you live close to me, as I'm in Southwestern PA. The temperatures we've been having are making it hard for me to get many steps. My car doors are all frozen shut, I'm going to have to try running an extension cord to it and using my hair dryer. My fan broke Thursday night so I barely have any heat, and now I can't even get the doors open to drive it to the shop. My place is small so there are only so many steps I can take. How is the weather where you live?

[DJC_63]

My weekly check-in... No change this week, which is certainly better than gaining, so I won't complain.

SW - 204

PW - 201.5

CW - 201.5

GW - 198

UGW - 150

[DJC_63]

@dianenyc  I also wish the Fitbit would record more activity for doing floor exercises. I tried to add that as an activity once and it couldn't even find it. So now, when I even remember to manually add it, I list it either as Pilates or Yoga.  It still doesn't give me much "step credit" for those activities.  

I'm enjoying reading the thread and the conversations some of you are having. It seems that a lot of you are working on things inside rather than just weight, which is almost always a good thing. I'm glad that I joined!

[swimr12265]

Hi Sam,

I will admit that I have to force myself to eat breakfast...it's easier now, but for many years I didn't eat my first meal until after 1 pm. I guess I just got persuaded by all the research I kept reading that it's best to eat more frequent meals (even if small) to keep the metabolism moving. I try to eat a piece of fruit, usually an apple or banana, but I'm trying to make it a grapefruit (they're just so hard to peel properly, and I'm weird about that white skin--I have to have it ALL off). Candy like what you mentioned (I LOVE candy corn!) is a weakness of mine. Every once in a while I'll buy a bag, feel guilty I bought it, and then, rather than throw it out (the horror!) eat the whole bag in one sitting, promising myself once again that I won't do it again...until I do. Now, I'm just not buying it. It's so much easier for me to resist something if I don't buy it myself. It CANNOT be in a dish in front of me, though. I don't have THAT much willpower, alas. As for your question about eating after 7, for me it is the Holy Grail. I am convinced of it. As I mentioned before, it is the one "point" of my program that doesn't fail me. Even if I slip with my eating, it seems I still wake to a smaller number on the scale if I haven't eaten after 7...and a larger one if I do. You should try it (take food with you that you can eat...if possible).

🌻 Swimr

[Ballthree]

So, last week I was cruising along, just doing awesome on exercise and staying under calorie limit. 

Saturday, I got up and went to the gym and weighed in at 300.6.  On the threshhold of breaking in to the 200s, which is a milestone!

Then later Saturday, I had to go out of town and watch an all day volleyball tournament. I thought "Heck, I've been doing awesome on exercise and diet, I can afford to eat a snack". Nothing healthy available at the venue, of course. Then, one snack turned into two snacks. Then three. Then on the long ride home, I indulged into a favorite road snack when I'm driving.....in-the-shell sunflower seeds. Which has a bazillion grams of salt. 

Sunday comes along, and I get good steps in the morning again, but I'm going out with the party crowd that afternoon. I have a few adult beverages, telling myself that hey, they're diet beers....what could go wrong? However, those beers seemed to affect my decision making, and 4 hours later, a few beers turned in to binge eating on pizza and bar food. 

"Eh, so what" I say to myself. I'm still getting 15K steps a day. I go into the gym on Monday morning and weigh myself and I'm at 308.8. WTF???? I gained 8.2 pounds in 2 days? So i retroactively log everything I ate on the weekend.......around 3 times the calorie goal, and my sodium level was up around 4 times recommended. I didn't just fall of the wagon, I took the 30 meter spring diving board and did a triple gainer summersault!

Got back on track Monday and drank a ton of water, trying to flush the salt from my system.  I felt guilty for what I did, and I felt even more guilty because I didn't come here and post my weight and fess up!

Back to 304.5 this morning, and that's what I'm posting. I did 30 minutes on elyptical this morning and walked another 4K steps. The goal is still obtainable....I just need to make everyday good decisions! I know what happens if I mess up one day. I'm telling myself now to don't give up my progress!

USW: 01/03/16 313 lbs

CSW: 01/03/16 313 lbs

CW: 01/19/16 304.5 lbs

CGW: 02/14/16 293 lbs

UGW: 199.9 lbs

Good luck to all, especially those of us who stumble and get back up again!

[Ballthree]

Question for the group:

I have Fitbit Charge HR. I noticed that Fitbit doesn't always recognize full steps if I'm doing other excercises, such as stationary bike or elliptical. For example, elyptical showed that I went 3 miles, but fitbit only shows 4,000 steps.  When I road stationary bike 8 miles, fitbit only showed 2000 steps. 

Fitbit will recoginze my elliptical workout as track excerise, but sometimes I feel a little cheated because I didn't get credit for all my steps on fitbit. Mentally, I find myself sometimes not wanting to do some of the higher cardio workouts because I want to get step credit, so I walk instead.

Should I just leave it as it is on fitbit, or manually log the missing steps when I do these other workouts?  

[OCDOC]

@Ballthree

Your weekend of 'what the heck, I can afford a break' describes EXACTLY what I've struggled with for years. Whether it be a weekend of kids stuff or a mini-vacation, I'd 'gift' myself a break, then it became two days, then momentum lost. I learned to not weigh in after a binge (knowing what was coming), and often the 2 day break became a 6 month break then back to square one. Ugh.

I'm aware that treat weekends are a good thing for people who ARE WHERE THEY WANT TO BE; ie maintainance. However, these breaks are momentum-killers when one is ambitiously pushing down the weight.

I LOVE beer and pub food, and know exactly what happens after a couple pints....for me it's game over!

If you can get back on the horse right away, then I suspect you will be okay. My trap has always been "Oh well, I've already blown the weekend, so I may as well have whatever I want Monday etc...".

Don't let the one (glorious for sure) weekend derail you! 🙂

Rob

PS I have no idea how to fix the Fitbit thing. When I do stationary stuff I set the thing to 'workout' and start/stop it. It seems to track calorie burn accurately..not sure re the step count.

[awood08]

@Ballthree

I just upgraded to a Charge HR from a Flex at Christmas. I too am a little disappointed by the fact that I'm not getting any steps recognized when it automatically tracks my bikes and elliptical workouts. But I have noticed, honestly even if it doesn't count those steps during those work outs, I still get calorie burn calculations and I follow that more than my step count. Do I like getting all my goal steps in a day? Of course, but with weight loss the calories in vs the calories out is more important for me 🙂

[Ballthree]

@OCDOC  - Thanks for the input! Good to know I have "brothers-in-arms" in my struggles!  I need to put together two straight weeks to show I can go more than a week without capitulating to my base eating desires. 

@awood08 - I am getting the calorie burn calcuations for the workouts, so maybe I shouldn't be so childish about wanting step credit. 

One other quirk I noticed with the Fitbit Charge HR is that my HR is inflated during walks. I'll walked for an hour and it'll say my average heart rate is 145-150......I think the actual HR average may be closer to 120-125. I should probably go in and adjust my calorie burn down, but really, I just want to stay under my MFP suggested calorie intake no matter what I'm burning. 

Thanks for the feedback!

[dancefoxtrot]

awood

Hi there,

Move your HR charge to your ankle by adding a piece of or elastic and it will count your leg movement. I need to do that when I ballroom dance in closed position since my arms are still. 

Try it and let me know if that works.

Barbara G