Valentines Day to April 18th

[BLLingg]

@Bobbinyc, I hope it's ok for me to plagerize your Christmas to Valentine's Day Topic Starter but it was absolutely perfect!!!

Welcome all Challengers!  What an amazing group we have!

Let's all continue together to take off the excess pounds and keep getting healthier.

This challenge will begin on Valentine's Day and finish on (American) Tax Day - 18 April 2017.   (Really!  It's the 18th this Year, not the 15th!)

All you need to join this challenge is to post your stats regarding your weight, and check in weekly or as often as you'd like. We are a great support group and enjoy keeping up with each other and being there for our ups and downs.  Generally we have found that the more we check in and offer support, tips, info,  and ideas to others, the more we get for ourselves.

We list our weight, as well as any other goals we might have related to being healthy (such as increase water, more active minutes, etc).  Developing good health habits is primary.

A little rundown of terminology for anyone who is new.

USW- Ultimate Starting Weight

CSW- Current Starting Weight (for this challenge)

GW- Goal Weight   (for Feb 14)

UGW- Ultimate Goal Weight   (what your healthy target weight is)

PW- Previous Weight

CW- Current Weight

MFP- My Fitness Pal

List as much info as you like.  Some people include age, gender, height....whatever seems relevant to you.

We keep it as serious or light as we feel, but we always keep it focused on being as healthy as possible, while we support each other kindly.  We can do this together!!

[TravellingSunny]

@HeartBiller Gosh, thank you very much for the warm welcome.  🙂

[Ava_]

Super quick post just to weigh in:

USW - 154 (12/30/16)

CSW - 138 (02/14/17)

PW - 138.4 (02/19)

PW - 136.5 (02/22)

CW - 138.4 (02/28) oh dear 😉

GW - 130 (04/18)

UGW - 125 (summer?)

Congrats to those who managed to lose weight this week!

As for the water question - I aim for 2 litres a day (I think that is 70 ounces) but struggle every day to reach that.  I manage a litre easily, but find myself forcing the last litre throughout the course of the day/evening.

It does make a difference, though.  My skin looks better, the cravings go away and the weight does seem to drop off when I regularly meet my water quota, but it is hard.  

Which makes me think I am drinking more than I need? If it is such a struggle to drink then that means I am not naturally  thirsty, so that makes me think I am 'over drinking' just to fill up?  What do you think?

[Ava_]

Super quick post just to weigh in:

USW - 154 (12/30/16)

CSW - 138 (02/14/17)

PW - 138.4 (02/19)

PW - 136.5 (02/22)

CW - 138.4 (02/28) oh dear 😉

GW - 130 (04/18)

UGW - 125 (summer?)

Congrats to those who managed to lose weight this week!

As for the water question - I aim for 2 litres a day (I think that is 70 ounces) but struggle every day to reach that.  I manage a litre easily, but find myself forcing the last litre throughout the course of the day/evening.

It does make a difference, though.  My skin looks better, the cravings go away and the weight does seem to drop off when I regularly meet my water quota, but it is hard.  

Which makes me think I am drinking more than I need? If it is such a struggle to drink then that means I am not naturally  thirsty, so that makes me think I am 'over drinking' just to fill up?  What do you think?

[nightswimming]

@Ava_ If you are eating lots of fruit and veg and other high water foods, or drinking other things too, you are probably getting plenty. They say your urine should be the colour of pale straw, if it is you are doing fine, if it's darker drink more!

[em.kz]

I have a question regarding drinking water and if any of you that drink a lot of water could enlighten me, that'd be great! Last year my New Year's resolution was to drink more water, so I started bringing my water bottle with me everywhere, I got an app that helped me keep track of my water intake, I felt like I was doing everything right. However, I couldn't keep it up because I had to pee CONSTANTLY. At that time I was in high school and my teachers got annoyed that I always had to use the restroom during their class. It just didn't work into my 5 minute passing times to get between classes and keep my water bottle filled, so I ended up stopping. Anyway... back to the question: Does the constant need to pee go away after you stick with drinking lots of water? Or do you just have to learn to live with it?

[A_Lurker]

@GettingfitinSC- I drink at least 64 oz each day but usually closer to 128 oz.  Basically I drink as much as I think at work during the day and then the 64 oz once I get home.  If I don't drink enough over multiple days I'll find (especially in the winter) that my lips get chapped and my sinuses dry up.

[nightswimming]

You guys are really keeping me going with all your positive energy! I can't tell you how much it helps. These last few pounds have been brutal because I know I could just stop right now, but I won't. I want to see my scale say 8 stone 0.0lbs (112lbs)!

F/35/5'0"

USW: 174 (03/15/16)

SW: 114.8 (02/14)

PW: 114.7 (02/21)

CW: 113.4 (02/28)

GW/UGW: 112

[Linda17]

Lots of people (especially elderly) are dehydrated and don't even know it.
Your body is a chemistry lab, and needs water for all the metabolic
processes, including digestion and elimination.
More exercise, especially cardio helps you drink more water.

[_Lilac_]

I ate breakfast by 9am! Yay. That's a success for me because I usually forget to eat before I get my day started. I took the dogs around the neighbourhood and then grabbed a bus and got off toward the library and walked the rest of the way instead of transferring. I spent a few hours there crocheting and listening to an audiobook. Now, I know one can do these things at home but...my dogs are so disruptive in needing attention constantly (I am currently hiding in my room because they went wild when a dog walked down the street), that I felt I needed the silence. It gave me an excuse to walk all the way home too. I have almost 11,000 steps after taking them for their second walk tonight. My life is completely controlled by these mutts, omg. After celebrating about having my breakfast early, I found myself having lunch at only 4pm. I'm on my second 32oz bottle of water. 

My mother is still feeling horrible with her cold. Her voice is shot and she's coughing a lot. Her court stuff is over, to her relief. She doesn't think we can do our mall laps for at least a few more days. The cold is making her extremely tired and weak. Everyone in their house is sick!!

I plan to go to aquafitness class tomorrow to give me some variety in my activities. I might also try to figure out which buses to take to get me close to one of the natural parks and take a camera. I need to walk amongst the trees.

I'm going to whine slightly about losing 2lb and then having it jump back to the previous weight. If I whine, it'll fall off again. It's fluid, not fat. I know it. Just gotta hate the scale when you know you are doing what you are supposed to. I think a walk in that park will be just what I need to renew myself.

Thinking about everyone here sweating and dancing and drinking their water, knowing I'm not alone in this, helps keep the motivation going. So glad you are all here. 

[IdahoSandy]

Weekly weigh in!

Valentines to April 18
USW 208 (5/22/16)
SW 169.8 (2/14/17)
PW 171.8 (2/21/17)
PW 171.3 (2/25/17)
CW 168.6 (2/28/17)
GW 159.8 (4/18/17)
UGW 158 (5/22/17)

I lost a little this week. I hit a plateau. I added group exercise classes to my routine and I'm enjoying it. Have a good week everyone!  

[GettingfitinSC]

Thanks everyone for the responses about water. I'm going to try to drink more. I do find that the days I start drinking water earlier in the day (at or before breakfast), I feel more energetic throughout the day. I'm going to make more of an effort to drink 64 oz minimum each day and work my way up. 

I also get headaches pretty often, not migraines, but enough to take Tylenol. I'm planning to start tracking to see if there is a connection between the headaches and not drinking enough water. These aren't weight loss related, because I've always gotten them, but perhaps it's related to being overweight. I'm not sure. 

I've also started this week (today) tracking my sugar intake. I'm too 'scared' to go cold turkey yet, but this week I'm going to see where the sugar is in all the foods I eat. It's obviously in desserts, etc, but I'll be looking at other foods as well. For instance, I was eating chicken nuggets for lunch today and was planning to have honey mustard dipping sauce. My habit has been to enter foods before I eat, so that I know exactly what I'm doing. When I saw that the honey mustard had tons of sugar, I skipped it. 🙂 Slightly proud of myself, but not too much because I still had a hot cocoa later in the day, which has lots of sugar. 😞 Anyway, my plan is to watch sugar this week and starting cutting back on it. Then, next week, I'll try to really avoid added sugars. I don't eat a lot of desserts now since I'm watching calories pretty good, but I do have a fun size candy bar, cookie, or something nearly every day. Living next to grandparents with a toddler who visits them daily and brings back 'treats' helps with that. Usually, I only one or two small low calorie things, but I'll cut that out and see about sugars in other foods see what difference it will make. 

So those are my two goals this week, along with 12,000 steps and watching calories... Drink more water and Cut back on sugar. 

Hope everyone has a great week this week!

[GettingfitinSC]

I would like to try a challenge if there's someone who wants to join me. I did the New York one and another one by myself, but it seems kind of boring if there's no one to race you. It needs to be one of the easier ones to start with. I'm not sure exactly how it works, but would like to try. Any takers?

[Bobbinyc]

@em.kz I'm no expert, as I tend to forget to drink, but when I am on top of it, I pee a lot.  The body just has to process it.  I do sometimes time it.  If I am running a 3 hour group with too short a break, I don't drink much before hand.  I try not to drink too much close to bed time.  That said, I don't know how much you were drinking.  For me, 8 glasses would work.  During the summer, and when I am very active outside and breaking a sweat, I might need more.  I do eat a lot of fruits and vegetables so I get some water that way.  Hope this helps.

[em.kz]

@Bobbinyc Thanks so much for your reply! That is helpful to hear your experiences, I guess I'll just need to plan better when I'm drinking water.

[em.kz]

@GettingfitinSC I would be up for trying some challenges with you! I'm not very experienced with challenges, in fact today was the second time ever that I tried one (the Daily Showdown), but I find that they keep it interesting. Plus, a little competition is healthy!

[Florriel]

@GettingfitinSC 

I am up for a challenge 🙂 currently I am just part of a family workweek hustle with my husband and sons. With my eldest boy away at uni it is a fun way to keep in touch and I was surprised how competitive we all get 🙂

When I was first diagnosed with diabetes I started taking more notice of food labels and was horrified at all the hidden sugar in foods. Cooking from scratch now is a great way of knowing and controlling just what is in my foods. It does also help that I don't really have that much of a sweet tooth - it was the dreaded carbs that brought my sugar levels up as I did eat a lot of bread and potatoes'

[HeartBiller]

@em.kzJust my personal experience. After I starting drinking a lot of water.. (more than 64 ounces) I did go to the restroom very very often.. lol. Now it has been almost a year later and it seems to have regulated itself out so to speak. I am not constantly in there, but you do get on a regular schedule so to speak..lol.

[HeartBiller]

@nightswimmingIt is amazing how close you are! You got this! Your goal is a dream to me...lol. I probably need to aim for yours since we are the same height,...lol, but I guess we will see what happens if I ever reach my goal of 125 first..lol. Major Congrats!

[HeartBiller]

@IdahoSandycongrats on moving past the plateau. I have struggled with it for a while now... mine has been up and down with in the same 3 to 4 pounds for a month (which is my fault) but it is a great feeling when you move past it.

[HeartBiller]

@GettingfitinSC  Well I am not sure how the challenges work. I have only done a couple easy ones, but I am game to check them out...lol.Let me know what you come up with.

[Gayle1018]

OK, I'm back and ready!  Happy Lent...

USW- 197

CSW- 156.6 (today)

GW- 147.5 lbs  (for April 18)

UGW: 142-144...(by summer!)

My plan is slow and steady outlook,  I've lost fast in the past, and put it all back and plus,  so taking my time and getting use to the changes, temptations etc so I can make this a way of life verses "dieting".     Saw a picture of me from last night with being 40+ off, like it! Looking better...feeling better. 

kinda went overboard last night with "Fat Tuesday" and I went to an awards event, was shocked I was awarded Volunteer of the Year.  So - Cookies!!!

It's great to have multiple avenues for encouragement!  So with that being said, going to quit avoiding weighting in and check in!   Have a great week all keep up the good work.