Thanksgiving to Christmas 2016

[dancefoxtrot]

Our Challenge this time has 31 days so we can set realistic goals for 4 weeks of weight loss or maintenance. Come and share your stories, successes, struggles and what you are learning on your journey to a healthier life.

OSW= 153 Feb 2015

CSW= 149.3 Today

GW =  145 12/25

UGW= 135 and maintain it

OSW= Original starting weight when began with Fitbit

CSW= Current starting weight

GW= Goal weight for this challenge ending on 12/25

UGW=Ultimate goal weight.

Okay we going together toward healthier bodies and minds. Sadly holidays have been commercialized to focus on consumption including lots of sugar, empty carbs and calories.  We can make much healthier choices since we are not mindless puppets of the greedy manufacturers. 

Let's give ourselves and others the gift of healthier food and attitudes.

All the very best on this Thanksgiving Day.

Anyone want to share a few things that they are thankful for to inspire us?

I'm thankful for my home to keep me sheltered from the storms.

I'm grateful for my work teaching exercise and health to older adults and it

helps me, too.

I'm grateful for still being able to dance.

I'm thankful for my son and his kids just 1 hour away.

I'm grateful for my sister and brother across the country that I can call.

I'm grateful for my garden with some organic veggies and fruit.

I'm thankful for the good nutrition that my late momma taught me to eat.

I'm thankful for my Fitbit friends that are so kind and supportive.

We are doing this one day at a time and we can reach our healthy goals!

Hugs to all our fierce challengers,

Barbara G

[_Lilac_]

@Bobbinyc  Mom and I walked 6800 steps, at least 4 laps around the mall, then we did our shopping at four different stores. I took the dogs for their walk and I hit 10,000 by 2:30!! My pants are slipping so I'm always tugging them up. I am much faster than I used to be. This week has been successful on the scale already and it's only a few days in. I had a lunch of three different steamed veggies (rutabaga, carrots and string beans) and half of a chicken breast. I just couldn't finish the other half after having all those veggies. My stomach is shrinking and can't tolerate large portions. Yay. I'm really feeling great today about these signs that all this effort is working. 

[Glenda]

                                    Lilac,   I'm so glad for you for getting your treadmill.!!!  It is MUCH easier to establish a habit when you don't have to consider how you look or the weather, etc.  Also,  you have a good attitude..  Put it where you want to.  I have a bike in my family room right in front of my biggest TV.  It is sort of behind a chair and doesn't  look very noticable or obnoxious to me.    You ladies are beginning to inspire me.  

[Bobbinyc]

@Glenda  You are pretty inspiring yourself, Glenda.  Isn't this group amazing?  Lilac is like 'the little engine that could' .

[Bobbinyc]

@_Lilac_  Isn't it amazing when we get used to eating so much less.  I think you should get yourself some more presents - clothes, maybe a couple of sizes smaller, just to save time and money since your body seems to be changing so fast.  

I did another walk this afternoon, and will do a bit more tonight.  I often start the day feeling very tired and that negative thinking starts - I can walk later, I can skip a day, ....but once I get moving I get so much more energy.  

[Glenda]

Yes Bobbinyc, What are we going to do at Christmas when this ends? I'll be sad. And I haven't even dieted lately which is what this is for. I'm thinking about it. I like the 5 - 2 diet. I'm just having trouble deciding when to do the 2 this season. yesterday that had free doughnuts in the waiting room for car repair.

[Glenda]

Bobbing and Lilac, I often tell myself I'll just get on the treadmill for 10 minutes. The hard part sometimes is just starting. I don't remember ever quiting after 10 or 15 minutes. I start reading and forget about it. Lilac you MUST have a book holder.

And beside my treadmill are metal shelves, a "bookcase" . They were $39 on sale I think. I cut pieces of cardboard to fit each shelf so that stuff wouldn't fall through holes. It has a pencil holder full of stuff on the top shelf and some tissues, second shelf has TV controls and coffee and some unread news paper or my Kindle and third shelf is the paper I'm finished reading and a small plastic oval trash container , and on the bottom there are instruction books & parts to exercise equipment (an old heart monitor). On the far side of the shelves is a standing pole lamp. You must have a good light for reading, & a handy place for everything. You might want a little clock on top. I have one on the wall. Is is great to have plenty of table space for everything. ............. Another consideration might be an ironing board which would be height adjustable ? Maybe you could disguise it by making a cardboard box to put over the top making it look like a table. Put the trash on the floor.

[_Lilac_]

@Glenda  The treadmill has a built in tablet shelf, which is perfect for my kindle or the tablet I have. I can play games, watch netflix, read, whatever. And since I'm putting it in the livingroom I have the tv right there and the pc that is hooked up to the tv. I'm all set! 

My sister and her husband dropped by tonight to get my receipt in case the treadmill will fit in their SUV. She'll bring it over tomorrow. Otherwise I need someone with a truck or hire somebody to bring it to me. I am anxious to get it and assemble the thing. 

I'm going to the pool in the morning. I feel like I might be getting a cold. I really don't want to get sick right now!

[A_Lurker]

@_Lilac_- happy for your purchase.  I know how our winters can be and it can discourage you from going out and doing things.  When I first started using a treadmill years ago I watched a lot of TV while on it.  Best of luck with it!

[Bobbinyc]

@Glenda 

I spent time reading about diets in order to pick the right one, reading about exercises in order to find the perfect one to start with.  So...I spent time reading, not getting healthier.  Amazing, how many ways I can find  to procrastinate or avoid something.

If you were to get on the treadmill, what would that be like?  Would you want to listen to music? Read?  Listen to a book on tape?  Listen to a podcast?  Daydream?  Solve a problem?

What if you got on it for 3 minutes the first day?  How would that feel?

I used to go for walks as soon as I woke up.  I kept my sneakers and walking clothes right next to the bed and put them on and got out the door without thinking. I did it like brushing my teeth or showering - no option, nothing to decide about.

I believe I finished walking before I was awake enough for my mind to know what my body was doing!

[Bobbinyc]

@Glenda  This group has been here for at least 2 years.  We will continue after Christmas.  

[_Lilac_]

@Glenda The same people tend to follow each other to new challenges. So I'm sure there will be something like a 'Christmas to Valentine's Day' challenge or something similar. I joined the group for the Labor Day to Halloween challenge for the first time. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have this crowd to blab at every day.

[Glenda]

Bobbin, I always read and listen to fast music usually. If I read on the sofa I feel guilty for wasting all that time, so I avoid the guilt and get a pat on the back instead by reading on my treadmill. Even when I don't want to use the time to walk and have other things to do, if I tell my self I'll just walk for 10 minutes, I still manage to stay on for my 5,000 steps. It is just the step on that is hard.

[A_Lurker]

I still find that it's definitely in my nature to be sedentary.  Even 10 months in I'll do my steps, my execising, etc. but still like my down time.  I don't think I could concentrate enough to read while exercising (although I suppose I could slow it down, but people often say I have two speeds - stop and go).  I do put on the TV though and watch old episodes of shows I've seen before while using the equipment though.  I'm already thinking about starting my Christmas task early (rearranging the workout and storage rooms) so that everything is in the same room.

[_Lilac_]

It's official. I have a head and chest cold. I didn't need this!! Time to make soup, I guess. I'll forego the pool this morning and rest. I did a lot yesterday. Hot tea, lozenges and homemade soup. Sounds good.  

[_Lilac_]

@A_Lurker  Yes, it's definitely in my nature to be sedentary. Kids in the neighbourhood would go out to play and I'd be inside reading or making art or sewing Barbie clothes, or whatever else required me to be on my backside. Yesterday was a very active day for me. I went walking and shopping then I came home and strangely couldn't quite settle into a chair. I'd be up moving furniture, cleaning, took the dogs out, and put up more holiday lights. I hurt my back with the furniture so forced myself to rest. I just had a lot of energy. Now though, I'm hacking and sniffling. I'll do some marching around but I'm not going to get in 10k steps. It's -12C and I don't feel like venturing out. 

I hope everyone is having a good day. Keep up the work. 

[Glenda]

                                     Lilac,,  I'm sorry you are not well now.  This is really the season to wash your hands lots and don't touch your face or eat anything until you do.  Especially if you go shopping or anywhere with people around, germs are everywhere.  And don't forget gas pump handles are one of the most germ laden things you can handle.   If you go to the grocery store and want to put produce in a plastic bag you can wet your fingers to get the bag open by touching a damp celery bag on the shelf or the wipes they give you at the door to wipe the cart handle with.  Don't you dare lick your finger.!!!   I have seen people do that.  Horrible.    

[A_Lurker]

@_Lilac_ - I'm actually not sure after 50 years that I can change my nature.  I can force the habits for a period of time and see if it becomes nature, but I'm not sure.

Sorry to hear about the chest cold and I'm going to give you some 'do as I say, not as I do' advice.  Rest, eat at maintenance, and get better.  In the past I've ignored my own advice and it means that you take longer to get better, or you get worse.  Take care of yourself.

[nmroadrunner]

Hi Everyone!

The Arctic front has even reached us in NM and this desert rat doesn't like the cold at all! I was born and raised in the Pacific NW and only go back there to visit and only in the Spring or Summer hoping to catch one of those rare but beautiful stretches of warm weather up there. Hubby and I went up there in April of last year and spent a month and only had five days of sunshine the whole time, the rest was cold and damp. We could hardly wait to get home. I had tried telling Hubby we needed to wait until May  but he had made up his mind that we were going in April. He was born in the NW, too, but was a military brat and hadn't seen as many NW Springs as I had. 

I have been busy doing a lot of Christmas gift sewing and am coming down to the home stretch and hope to finish up this weekend and get the packages in the mail Monday.

Hubby had another follow-up eye exam on the 2nd and is making great progress and his vision is steadily improving. We are so thankful for organ transplant donors and their families, especially those who have given Hubby his vison back.

I'm down 0.2 lbs this week, but it's the right direction.

USW    199

CSW     174

CW       170.4

GW     <170

UGW  <150

Hope everyone is staying warm and dry.  Keep on stepping!

[Bobbinyc]

@nmroadrunner  So glad your husband is doing well.  

And you are down .2!  Great!

[Bobbinyc]

Had to go to shopping, which I hate, but peeked at the fitness clothing.  I've been wearing ratty old sweats and won't buy anything until I lose some weight.  But I took a look.  It's all very high tech now, and designed to be skin tight!  Whatever happened to wearing sweats?  Ok, giving away my age here.

One of the shirts had a great quote:

What seems impossible today, will one day be your warmup.