Thanksgiving to New Years Eve Challenge 2015

[saraj91]

Hi All! 

This is the Thanksgiving to New Years Eve Challenge... Welcome !!

We'll begin on Thanksgiving, November 26th and finish on New Years Eve, December 31st. This gives us 5 weeks for this challenge so set your goals accordingly & don't worry if you don't hit them, it's not all about the numbers, it's about how you feel about your own health & being part of a fun, supportive group. 

To join the challenge all you need to do is post your weight stats & check in as often as you like with an update or just to share a story from your week. This group has proven to be so supportive the last 2 challenges I've been a part of so I hope you find it just as great to be a part of as well.

So, enjoy being part of the group & have fun working towards your goals! 

 
A little rundown of terminology for anyone who is new (thanks @awood08 for this list from the last challenge).

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

[dancefoxtrot]

Merry Christmas and happy holidays fitbitters,

For me 137.5 this am again so bouncing around this number for a week or so. Today is a cheat day since it is Christmas but I won't go too crazy. Hope that there will be some pumpkin pie at my son's dinner as that will be worth a cheat. 

Well we have another week to New Year's to get closer to our goals. Enjoy the journey.

Think health.

May your wishes come true.

Barbara G

[kmme]

 Good Morning All ,

 Hope you had a great Christmas:)  Feeling very good here , finally broke my plateau , i worked my butt off for it , just gotta say 🙂 Probably not going to hit my challenge goal but i will get close ( i hope:) )

USW- 175 - July

CSW- 135- Sept 9th

PW- 134.8- Dec 22

CW - 132.0 Dec 28th

CGW- 125

UGW- 120??

[JacquelineP]

@kmme  Congratulations!  First note after the big holiday is a positive one.  Thanks for setting the tone and spurring us on!  And I am super impressed you managed to do it at this time of year.  HOORAY!

[awood08]

I stepped on the dreaded scale this morning and was pleasantly surprised, I guess I was alot harder on myself for Christmas than what I thought. But I also pushed hard in the gym the days following so that may be why it is being nice to me. Another good note I'm now in a size 12 🙂 I haven't been this size since middle school!

I'm hoping I can keep my focus up, I was the only manager in my company that did not get a Christmas bonus and that was very disheartening. I spoke with the supervisor above me and was given many excuses why but nothing that validates why my hard work all year wasn't rewarded. I have begun to think about going back to my old job. Alot of hard decisions to make 😞

USW 6/16: 235

CSW 11/26: 188

PW 12/24: 180.4

CW 12/28: 179

GW 12/31: 180

UGW 1/6: 175

[healthmom]

Great job! Sounds like you have a lot to think about with work. Good luck and I hope it all works out.

[JacquelineP]

@awood08  Thanks for being an inspiration, once again.  I am sorry that you are having trouble at work, which always just saps us.  Sounds like you have many things to consider now, but that's what the new year is all about, I guess.  Wish you had happier choices, but sometimes these really hard ones are the ones that take us to new and better places.  I hope that is so for you.

[SebringDon]

Checking in. I had a hard time resisting the goodies, so I'm only down 1.4 instead of the 2+ I was counting on by now. At least it's still down.

USW- 228 as of 9/17/2015

CSW- 216 as of 11/26/2015

GW- 208 as of 1/1/2016

UGW- 185 currently planned as of 7/1/2016, 173 probable final

LW 212 as of 12/20/2015

CW 210.6 as of 12/27/2015

2.6 lbs to go this week. It's gonna be tight. I'm giving myself an extra two days, to 1/3, since Sunday morning is my usual weekly weigh-in.

[Viva_La_Basic]

I'm in!!

GW- 115 lbs

PW- 155 lbs

CW- 141.5 lbs

[dancefoxtrot]

awood

Keep your ears and eyes open for even a better job. Ridiculous not to be treated fairly at work since you work hard all year.  Are the other managers all men? Do you have a real live labor board claim? Do you have other choices of work in your area? 

Sending you good wishes for the best choice possible.

Barb G

[kmme]

@JacquelineP 

  Thanks 🙂 It has been a long time in coming , the first 20 or so pounds dropped relatively quickly and easily these last 20 have been a struggle , but getting there at least

[JacquelineP]

@kmme  Your history sounds a bit like mine.  I lost the first 20 lbs relatively easily.  Now I'm struggling to NOT regain it, and loss doesn't seem to be in the picture lately!  Don't know where my motivation went.  Every day I say, "OK.  This is it.  I'm going to be more careful about what I eat."  Then I slip up again.  Wine before dinner isn't helping, so I need to cut out doing that.  I'm walking as much as ever, thanks to the FitBit and related challenges.  But my calorie count on MFP is way up for the past two weeks, so I know that's the problem.  I'm up 3 lbs since I started this challenge! How embarrassing and depressing.

Well, today is a new day.  "OK.  This is it!" I'm going to be more careful about what I eat TODAY.  One day at a time.  I'll go plan my menu for the day. RIGHT NOW   AND I'll put in some extra steps on today's Goal Challenge.  

Thanks to this group (and my FitBit Challenge group) for helping keep me accountable and motivated. It would be easy to just throw up my hands and quit.  I saw a saying yesterday that is the bottom line: At any given moment I have a choice between what I want RIGHT NOW and what I want MOST.  I know that what I want most--good health--is the best choice.  

[JacquelineP]

 I've got to quit taking myself so seriously.

[KimShea]

Dangit.  I'm up.  Feel like I'm doing well, but the scale says otherwise.  Feeling frustrated.

USW 235
CSW 178
CW 180.5
CGW 174
UGW 145

[awood08]

@JacquelineP

I LOVE that.....oh the frustration of weighing ourselves wrong the whole time! lol

I like this technique (just kidding!! 🙂 )

[dancefoxtrot]

Kimshea

Know the feeling of frustration. Drink lots of water, eat lots of non starchy veggies, have a big poop, scale will get lower in the AM perhaps. All of us experience frustration with the weigh in at times. Stay on track.

Glad that you are doing well. 

BG

[dancefoxtrot]

JacquelineP

Thanks for the funny cartoon. I got on my scale 3x in a row this AM. It went from 138.8 to 133.4 to 138.5 and the only difference was how slowly and lightly I stepped on the darn thing. I went with the 138.5 since I'm completely sure the 133 was a bold face lie, ahem error. 

It is weird that our motivation goes up and down.  The wine tends to lower our impulse control so giving it up at least for a while may really help. 

Christmas season is over so let's lose as much as we can by NY day. I too gain weight in this challenge and I'm searching for my motivation. Health and looking slim around the lower abs. are my goals. Back from Christmas with a few candies, chocolate of course, and more sandwiches than usual at my son's house and beef for Christmas dinner.  Back to my veggie focus. So far I've had a cup of coffee with almond milk but have been sitting at the computer doing genealogy. Time to get up and move and wash the pile of dishes in the sink. Next I'll look for a dance class at my local studio. 

Let's do it today and start the on track pattern again. 

All the best,

Barbara 

[saraj91]

Hello all!

Hope you all had a lovely festive period with friends & family!

Ours was very busy but lovely, our first attempt at cooking Christmas dinner went well, my hub is a terrific cook so everything was super yummy! All in all it was a great few days with family. I did enjoy some treats & a large plate of Christmas dinner  but we also went on a few walks. So after stepping on the scales this morning I was really pleased to see that I have maintained my weight! 

As we are approaching the new year shall we start thinking about the next challenge if people would like to do another one? I was thinking New Years Day to Valentines Day maybe? That gives us about 6 weeks for the next challenge. Let me know what you all think 

USW 23/3: 186

CSW 26/11: 140

PW: 21/12: 136

CW 28/12: 136

GW: 31/12: 136

UGW 5/3/16: 126

[awood08]

@saraj91

So glad you didn't gain over Christmas 🙂 Our scales were nice to both of us this week! lol

I think Valentine's Day would be a perfect time frame!

[JacquelineP]

Thanks @dancefoxtrot!  I needed that. Just a little empathy and a "Rah Rah! We can do it!" talk.  I did increase my steps yesterday, partly by marching in place while ironing and then while watching tv after dinner, and I REALLY watched what I ate.  I did a small walk in the morning before it got yukky cold with snowflakes here, too.  AND giving up the wine before dinner does help with keeping restraint in place!  

Turns out that I weighed less this morning by 1.5 lbs, which we all know is nearly impossible to lose in one day, so I was never quite as high as I thought.  Still up 1.5 lbs total this challenge, instead of 3--at least so far, and we still have two days left.  I would normally gain more at this time of year, so I'll count it as ok.  I'm going for my higher step count today, as well, and another ON TARGET day.  

Keep up the good work, Barbara!

[JacquelineP]

@saraj91  I would very much like to go on to another challenge, and the timeframe you propose would work great for me.  I signed up for a virtual 5k race on February 14th, and I get my first set of training instructions on January 4th.  Sounds like this new challenge you're thinking of would work perfectly for me!  Hope it works for others, too.

Thanks for doing this!