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

[Glenda]

Bobbinyc, Let me climb up on my soap box and rant!!! Beginning when babies are still in diapers little boys are dressed in clothes that make you think they will grow up to be someone you will respect. Their clothes have sleeves, collars, fit loosely. Little girls are in goofy looking, bare, weird sleeves or sleeveless, no collar and ALWAYS skin tight, and usually no pockets and inferior material. That is why teen girls have anorexia. As they get older they wear what is available and expected even though on men every figure flaw is covered up and on girls it is all on display. Women should revolt. It is too stupid.

[almost_where]

@Bobbinyc

If old school sweats are good enough for Rocky Balboa then they are good enough for me. 🙂 I have never been a fan of the skin tight look or fabric. I bought a pair of those "space age" under armour boxers with such and such technology for when i walked 10 miles in manhattan and at the end of the walk the fabric had holes in it. Im all about $4 dollar fruit of the loom cotton t shirts/long sleeve shirts for working out.

[_Lilac_]

@Bobbinyc  All of the women's athletic wear is form fitting, tailored, and goes in at the waist. I can't wear it. I'm not built with a waist! I'm a big-gut type of girl and that stuff just doesn't fit! I'm relegated to the men's section for loose fitting sweatshirts and jackets. I agree...sweatpants and loose stuff is better. You can move in it and feel less self-conscious. If you are less self-conscious you are more likely to work hard and not hide or avoid other people. I could NOT feel comfortable with my big belly hanging down below the bottom of one of those workout tops. I need loose and big and long. When I shrink, my clothes can shrink. Until then...gimme a tent.

[Glenda]

                                      I agree!!  Glenda

[Bobbinyc]

I agree with all of you!  Fitness fashion (and most other fashion) is crazy!  And those prices!  Yikes! There are reasons I hate to shop.  Even when I was skinny (many decades ago) I would never have worn that stuff.  I just don't think it's an appropriate way to dress.  I have been wearing my son's hand-me-downs.  I just need some lighter weight sweats to move more easily, now that I can finally move.  

One of my standards for picking my quirky little gym  was that everyone there just dresses comfortably, not for fashion.

[A_Lurker]

Just adding a link for those who can't buy cheaper workout gear.  I've bough swimsuits, capris and such from this place online.  I've always been happy with what I purchased.  http://www.junonia.com/

[Glenda]

                                     A_Lurker  I really like knowing you are in Ontario Canada because of the little thing at the bottom of your post.  I wonder what the aqua cc is about.  I wish everyone had their country or state or even section of the country like Northeast  or deep south  even ,so that we would know what weather they have to deal with.    The decade of their life would be good too for understanding a little better sometimes.  Life is different in 40s or 60s.  I should have clicked on my picture here to see what happens, but if it takes you to my profile page you will even see other pictures of me and see that I am in subtropical Houston TX area (actually south of Houston in Pearland which no one would recognize) and my age etc.  Maybe that only happens if you are in my group?   By the way, that isn't really a picture of you, is it?

[_Lilac_]

@Glenda  test test. I am testing my signature at the bottom. 

Got it. If you go into your profile and then you will see a list of things like 'about me' 'personal webpage'...you will see 'signature'. You create it in there. You can put what you want. I put my location, my age and gender, and my fitbit device. Voila!

[_Lilac_]

So, tonight is the holiday dinner/party for my place of work. I'm actually on long-term disability leave but I'm technically still an employee (as was my late husband), and I'm able to go to functions such as these. I'm not worried about the food because I am able to eat a LOT of calories at my weight as long as I do some exercise, and I can't eat a lot anyway. So, I'm thinking about walking there. Usually they arrange a shuttle bus to and from the place for people who don't have cars or who are planning to drink but they don't have it this year. It's 5k to the venue. Phew. That's about 3 miles. Heck, really if you think about it, that's just an hour of walking, right? 20min per mile isn't a super fast walk. I could stash my fancier shoes in a bag and wear my walking shoes, then do the old switcheroo. Hmmm...It would be a good challenge for me. A new high. It's going to be mighty cold though (-20C with wind) and I have to cross a bridge over the river. Hmmm...I'll think about it. I'd take a taxi home, of course. 

It invigorates me to come up with new ways to get in my exercise. It's motivating. It gives me a sense of success. 

I wish you all a successful day! 

[Glenda]

                                     There is no gear on this page but I stumbled around , clicked on my picture and got there and put in some info.  Clicking on my picture doesn't take you to my fitbit 65 AND FIT profile page and pictures which surprised me.    Your entry above here surprised me too.  You say you can eat a lot of calories at your weight.  Is your goal to maintain?

[_Lilac_]

@Glenda  My base amount of calories to eat is 2000 (as I wake up in the morning and look at the dashboard it says 2000 for someone my height and weight). The more activity I do or as I go about my day, that number goes up. If I go to the pool, the number jumps to 2700. If I do 10,000 steps (including or excluding the pool) the number climbs to 3100. On my really active days I've seen it between 3300-3800, even over 4000. That would be to maintain!! Because I'm so heavy, the amount of calories I burn during activity is tremendous. My daughter and I can go for the same walk together and I'll burn 3 times as many calories or more. I sweat all the time, whether it's cold or not, if I'm walking. If I've burned 3800 calories in a day, the math shows I should eat 2800 for my 1000 calorie deficit (for a 2lb/week loss). Wowsa, huh? In my first two months of working with this system I'd lost 25lbs because I wasn't able to keep up with the calorie demands. I was doing a lot of exercise. I've learned to juggle things a bit better and eat more on the days I burn more. 

You know on those 'My 600lb life' shows where the doc will say "I need you to lose 75 lbs in the next two months" and you think 'what the heck???'...but if the person is that big and they move a bit every hour or so, they will burn a lot of calories. Just turning over in bed can be an effort. Someone I know well over 400lbs says taking a shower is a horrible chore. With trying to reach all body parts, bending, lifting legs, etc etc...there is a full sweat on when ya get out! I was like that at 380 a few years ago. 

The struggle with really obese people losing weight is the motivation to keep the activity up. Fighting the sedentary monster calling to you inside your brain...he's always there. Lurking. We have to avoid injury or he comes out screaming. 

I'm not looking forward to my base number of calories to start dropping and dropping until I feel they are in a pit and I'll never be able to manage it, but at the same time I know that they are lowering because I am dropping weight and I'm gradually improving over time. 

[Glenda]

                                     Maybe rather than worry about when you might need to eat less you could experiment and maybe find more satisfying food to eat.   Beans are supposed to be more satisfying than meat.  When I was a little kid I ate lots and lots of beans and was thin.  I like them.  I gave them up for quite a while because of gas but if you eat them regularly you body can handle it.  I'm going to start eating them again.  They are good for you.  I like them with vinegar and onions in them but I was just reading that lemon is better for you than vinegar.  I may experiment with lemon in beans. ho ho  Is there much difference in lemon and vinegor?

[A_Lurker]

@Glenda- the CC stands for Community Council.  I was asked to join it a while back and I did.  The signature on the bottom of posts anyone can do.  When you're in the community (anywhere you post) you can click on your own icon in the top right corner and choose Settings.  Once you get into your settings you go to the Personal, then Personal Information.  There is a signature box where you can put any information you want to show up with each post.  It's up to each individual what they want to share.

I actually changed my picture a while back to a 'make your own avatar' site.  It was one where you could generate a sillouette based on weights and measurements.  I was playing around with it and decided I liked it enough to use it.  I just prefer it to having a personal picture.  There's a story behind it, but not something I'm going to post publically.

[A_Lurker]

@Glenda- it's important when you start to lose weight at a very high weight (mine was over 400, but it was 360 pounds this year) to keep your calories high to start with.  If you drop your calories too low there is nowhere to go when your body eventually adjusts.  I now know my previous attempts failed because I was eating too little.

@_Lilac_- don't worry about what changes you'll need to make eventually.  As I've lost weight my BMR is definitely lower, however, I'm way more active than I was.  I couldn't imagine hitting 10,000 steps back in December last year when I first started wearing a tracker every day.  Look at me now, doing 20,000 for the month of December.  Next year I'm going to work more on the intensity of exercise (and likely go back to calorie counting in January) but I was actually eating more calories than I was when I first started.  Yep, 90+ pounds lighter and I'm eating more.  If I do nothing else for the rest of the day I'll burn 3886 calories.  I still have 1000 steps to go, which I'm going to do before I go to bed.

[Glenda]

                                      A_Lurker,  You told me how to do things.  Fitbit said I could click on solution to give you credit but there is no place like that really.  They give wrong info or I'm just missing it all the time.    Also they send you an email and say click here to reply but then you can't vote for people..  The next time I get to the page I vote though but I wonder if I'm voting twice. 

[_Lilac_]

As planned, I walked to my work holiday party, a total of 5k or 3 miles. It was super cold out so I brought some rum and eggnog in my purse and had a few swigs to keep me warm. Dinner was great and I saw some people I hadn't seen in a long time. I had a few more drinks and a lady asked me to go up and dance with the group of people dancing. I hadn't danced in 30 years!!!! I'm serious. I told her that and she pulled me up. THIRTY YEARS!! I had so much fun for two songs (one of which was 'I'm too sexy') and returned to my seat. It got a bit late and people were leaving so I thought I should call a taxi. I went outside and ...omg in my tipsy state...I WALKED HOME!!!! Another 5k or 3 miles. I got more than 18000 steps today!! What was I thinking?? It was too cold for the shifty people to be outside so it was ok. For reference, it's -11F/-24C here tonight. I felt good. My feet hurt now that I'm home...and I stiffened up. But ...10 kilometers today! 

And my treadmill was delivered and assembled by my brother in law. I can use it tomorrow. I'm excited. That's if my feet aren't damaged!! 

Well, it's bedtime! I'll let you know how my treadmill is tomorrow. 

[Glenda]

                                    Lilac,  I can't even imagine temperatures so low.  We thaought it was an adventure to go to the ice sculptures in 15 degrees above zero.  Interesting observation you made.  I agree crimes are probably made by criminals who would rather do it in more reasonable weather at your house or in the street.  You probably were safer since it was so cold.

[mommo77]

SW: 212

CW:  151

Goal this challenge:  150

Wow it finally feels like Christmas here (Houston)!  Cooler temperatures make it more Christmassy. I surprised myself by walking before work even on the cold mornings. Thursday there was a front blowing in but I got out there and moved.  I'm proud of myself for not giving in to excuses about weather. I figured if I can slog my fat rear around the park in the heat of summer, I can bundle up and brave the cold. (Relatively cold, for us.)  I have one more week of school then off for the winter break.  The kids are INSANE already, but that's normal, lol.  I'm hopeful I may meet this challenge this time. One pound to go, two weeks to do it, maybe?  I'm trying to figure out how to get things moving a bit so I'm changing up some things.  Different veggies than normal, more whole grains.  The doctor put me on statins for cholesterol so I'm keeping closer track of fats and those things.  My mom battled high cholesterol no matter what she took or ate her numbers were high.  I hope I can do better and get off these meds soon.   

Oh, and I think hubby bought me a new Fitbit for Christmas.  My Charge HR is nearly new, only bought it this summer. I guess I've complained about the band too much, though and he wants to shut me up!  I love my tracker, just the band is hideous. 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, friends, and happy days to everyone  as we countdown to Christmas.

mommo

[_Lilac_]

OW OW OW OW...That's me hobbling around this morning. Pulled my achilles tendon. Every muscle and joint hurts. Sigh...that'll teach me to be stupid. I guess it's a rest day? I have a pot of homemade soup prepared, holiday music on, and plan on moving only when necessary. 

[Glenda]

                                     Wow!  You have lost a lot already.  Good for you.