Back on Target Challenge- week 1
lightinfl
Posts: 229 Member
okay, it sounds as if we are all in need of some serious revamping here... so I issue this challenge to each of us. One day at a time, respond with a quick "did ..." "today's goal met" or something to acknowledge you are putting in that extra effort each day. (that itself is a challenge to me, LOL)
1) accomplish at least 30 minutes of active activity each day this week. If you have a tracker which shows your activity, it must have counted the 30 minutes as active. Doesn't matter if you walk, run, bike, swim or do whatever, as long as your tracker says you are active, it counts
If you are already doing 30 minutes each and every day, add 15 minutes to what you are doing for this week.
2) plan ahead with your meals and snacks. Either log ahead or plan in a notebook what your main meals and snacks are going to be this week. The goal, obviously, is to keep to the plan. Look ahead at what obstacles you are facing and plan accordingly. Plan a backup meal in case things go crazy and you need an alternative.
3) Do whatever prep and cooking ahead of time that you can. Plan ahead so you can succeed.
1) accomplish at least 30 minutes of active activity each day this week. If you have a tracker which shows your activity, it must have counted the 30 minutes as active. Doesn't matter if you walk, run, bike, swim or do whatever, as long as your tracker says you are active, it counts
If you are already doing 30 minutes each and every day, add 15 minutes to what you are doing for this week.
2) plan ahead with your meals and snacks. Either log ahead or plan in a notebook what your main meals and snacks are going to be this week. The goal, obviously, is to keep to the plan. Look ahead at what obstacles you are facing and plan accordingly. Plan a backup meal in case things go crazy and you need an alternative.
3) Do whatever prep and cooking ahead of time that you can. Plan ahead so you can succeed.
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I have meals and prepping done to get me thru to Wed, logging has been done for them, with the exception of tomorrow (don't have that logged out yet- still deciding). I got a good 30 minute walk done this morning with it all counting as "active" minutes on my tracker I am off to a good start.
How did you do today?0 -
Good going, Light. And thanks again for the challenge. I had 38 active minutes on my tracker yesterday; logged all my food, including a 100 calories offset item and still had a 390 deficit for the day. This shows how much my desk job affects me. My intentional walk had to be cut short yesterday due to an expected need to help someone out, but just not sitting for 10 hours makes a difference. So since I can't stop working, I just need to stay aware to do more to offset the sitting during the week. A girl friend told me last night that her mother's massage therapist told her that after one hour sitting there's a physical change in muscle sheath, so at the very least, move around every hour. Hmmmmm.
Happy Birthday, Sheesh. Happy Anniversary, Lois. Hope it's a good day for all, including Kelly, out and about in Celtic country!0 -
Sarah, if you can't work the active minutes in during the day, you will have to do them before you go to bed. Your choice, LOL...same choice I make every day :P Good for you to get the active minutes in yesterday, plus getting your foods logged. Have you set up a meal and snack plan for this coming week? Or at least made your plan for one day ahead? You can't stick to your plan if you don't have a plan to begin with Interesting what the massage therapist said. Hmmm...
My plan is made for the week and I think all my foods are pre-logged. I need to verify that before I get to bed tonight. With my working hours, if I don't log ahead on the weekend, I am sunk and have to chose between logging and doing my exercise. I know how well that works (not!) I have had a quiet morning so I am off to walk Walmart in search of a few t-shirts my little grandson asked for and will walk all the aisles before coming back. When I get back, before I log on, I am planning an hour on my exercise bike I got 45 minutes of activity total yesterday, and calorie count showed a good deficit.
Happy Birthday, Sheesh!
Happy Anniversary Lois!
Happy vacation, Kelly! (Kelly posted on facebook that she had arrived )
Cheryl has a grandson ( I think) participating in a triathalon today Last word was that he was doing well
They need to come back "home" and get in on the action
And I need to leave home and get in some action, LOL... see you later, at the end of the day:)
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bummer, had my post ready to submit, accidently hit a stray key on the keyboard which took it all away
Foods are logged and show a good deficit, tracker showed 45 min at fat burn but since it didn't count any of it as active minutes, I put in an additional 40 minutes of exercise bike and walking. Now, to get to bed so I can get my 8 hrs of sleep in. Can't believe tomorrow is Monday already. Weekends go too fast
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Got in 86 minutes of moderate activity yesterday and almost 12,000 steps. My deficit was modest (around 300), but I logged every bite. My nemesis (fat percentage) was within goal, thanks to the big pot of white bean and turkey chili that we made in the afternoon. I got the recipe from my Ellie Krieger cookbook, but it's also online at http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/white-chili-recipe.html#!. If you like turkey chili, this is a great recipe, and even with the sour cream topping (which definitely adds to the flavor), it's low calorie and low fat.
I noticed something this morning that I've noticed before. When I have good day, I often bounce up a little in weight the next day. I'm up about a half pound this morning. And when I have a not good day (like the day we met hubby's friends and I hit 2000 calories for the day), I will actually go down a bit in weight. It's an odd sort of thing. I know the long term is what matters, though--so on I go.
Light, I hope work is good to us this week, i.e., not too stressful and not too many extra hours! 0 -
WOW. Obviously I had not seen this post over the weekend. In another thread, I explained being at a tournament all day Saturday. However, I did get in over 12k steps, 4.89 miles and 246 active minutes (running from ring to ring attempting to watch all of our competitors who seem to go at the same time).
I must be getting old because I didn't even make it to 5k steps for the day and 1.94 miles. 0 Active minutes. The only real steps I got in was running in and out of the house, across the street and a couple of doors down many times to watch the lunar eclipse, blood moon and super moon activity...which was pretty cool. I was beyond exhausted and did not want to do anything.
With the trail race on Sunday I usually don't work out too much the week of so that I don't have over-trained legs on race day. It's just over 5 miles and normally that would be a "no big deal" thing, but I've been battling foot and leg issues that have me concerned AND I haven't been hiking over the past summer. Going to attempt the trail tonight as it's only going to be 102 this evening and temps are heading upwards over the next few days. I'll post tomorrow what I get done.0 -
Thanks for the birthday wishes! I had a fun one, and I have leftovers . . .so, I will probably get going tomorrow on logging food
It looks like the world is not coming to an end yet, so back to work on food and alcohol intake, LOL!
Light, thanks for the challenge. I'll participate while I can . . going back to Cali October 19th to stay until the baby is born. Has MFP added the ability to post to our group on an iPhone or iPad? That would be so helpful for out of town time.
Lois, Happy Anniversary! And, I know you'll do fine on your trail race this weekend. You're one fit and determined woman!
Sarah, work and life undermines us too much. I'm going to try giving a gentle push back on what takes over . . set a polite boundary and fence in at least 30 minutes a day for myself. That leaves more than enough time every day for jobs, family, chores, etc. We can do that. And if we can't, something has to be pushed back. That is all, ha ha!
I'm off to the treadmill to get my 30 minutes of activity today. I'll get going on my food tomorrow.
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Sheesh...if you go in through Safari you can read/post on iphone and ipads. That's the only way I've discovered. Exciting time with a new grandbaby!! Two friends just had grandbabies on Saturday.... super jealous but also very very happy for them as well...and you too.
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Hi, everyone. Lois and Sheesh--glad to hear from you both. I'm running late getting away from desk tonight. I had to take off some time this morning to get Hubby to the train station and then at the end of the day, my sister called with news about the closing on my Mom's home. Not terrible news--it's going to happen. But not good news either. I won't burden you with details, but I have paperwork to get done in a very tight timeframe and the amount we're getting is less than expected and the amount we're having to pay out of pocket for repairs and such is higher. But it's not like the house was worth a whole lot, so I'm trying to just say, "Oh, well" and move on.
I also got a very high medical bill today because my insurance will not pay for those walk in clinics, and the one I saw for an ear problem a few weeks ago, charged $260 for a visit in which the doctor said she could not see a place in my ear that was readily visible to both hubby and my friend. If I had the energy, I'd write a letter of protest, but frankly, I doubt it would do me any good. I just consider myself well warned about the clinic, but also very wary of what would happen with my insurance should I end up in a hospital. I hate insurance companies. And I hate companies, like the one who pays my paycheck and tries to provide as few benefits as they can.
Am I sounding bitchy? LOL This is the spot to report on my activity/intake progress, and here I am unloading on you. Sorry ladies. I'm soon off to walk and it's a big salad for dinner.
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Sorry about the issues, Sarah, and the long day. I understand about the long day as it was 7p before I finally got home from a really long day myself. Left long after the 8 hrs had passed...
Sheesh, Lois, good seeing you both Do what you can, when you can... but when you can, give it a good go
My foods are logged, with a deficit and I ate according to plan. Got 37 active minutes in with a total of 1 hr and 12 min in the fat burn zone. Can't say as I understand how it all figures out but it must be related to heart beat. Now it is late and I need to go to bed so I can get up and do it all over again tomorrow 0 -
Good morning, all. Yesterday was okay, but not stellar--56 active minutes, a deficit of 329, and fat percentage within goal. But my experience is that 329 does cut it, so I'm hoping to work up to more. I am meeting my mall walking buddy tonight for the first time in quite a while, and I'm really happy about that. I wish I had more time to devote (only an hour), but I also have to pick up hubby at the train station tonight. However, my friend may find that an hour is all she can do considering that she's been on hiatus because of travel and family issues.
Sheesh, you're right that we should always be able to find 30 minutes! Hope you can find a way to post while you're gone to keep us up-to-date about how things are going with the new grandbaby and with you, too. Lois, you always amaze me, and I know you'll do great on the trail. Light, hope your workday today is shorter.
Have a great day everyone.0 -
Checking in to say I got 64 active minutes yesterday. (I jogged through Central Park, and then transported over to England to walk through Castle Combe! . . . thank you Google and iFit )
Light, are you using your Fitbit to tell you active minutes? Where are the fat burn zones etc. I can't tell on the app.
Lois, thanks for the clue about logging in with Safari instead of the app. I'll give that a try. BTW, my daughter is a black belt in Tai Kwon Do. I know how hard that is to achieve, so congrats to your hubby! Especially since he has remained with it. She hasn't done it for quite a while, but always talks about getting back into it.
Sarah, good luck with your mother's house closing. And, have fun with your walking friend!
I'm going to log food and get my 30 minimum minutes today!0 -
OK...So I got stuck at work until after 6....missed my TRX class (started on other side of town AT 6) and the sun was way too low when I got close to one of my trails. I headed home. I DID however, grill my chicken for the week - so we are back on plan for lunches and breakfasts. THEN, though I didn't have the motivation to go outside (what is up with 98 at 830pm Sept 28???) I continued to WALK in circles at home to achieve a total of 10,175 for the day (got home with 4,569 so yippeee). Total active minutes were 37. Not my personal best, but the way I was feeling, I'm actually happy with those accomplishments.
Sheesh you're making me jealous with your new treadmill gadget. what app are you using? something on the phone or actually on the treadmill? Oh and hubby is actually a 5th degree black belt and instructor. It is a ton of commitment to make it to black belt (which is why I stopped at Red). Daughter made it to black belt and then went to college. Son made it to 3rd degree and is happy popping into tournaments every now and again. Congrats to your daughter. She can return at any time and continue.
Oh and hubby sent me a text at 330 this am to tell me that one of my freezers was left open and we lost everything (I have three so oops). Thank goodness it wasn't the one with all of my mahi mahi in it...so I get to clean that out tonight (fall cleaning - great time). It was the one with bread and some hamburger and tamales. ah well.0 -
Lois, I got a new (old one broke down after many years of heavy use by me and family) NordicTrack treadmill. It's "iFit compatible", which is a subscription but they offered a free trial with my purchase of the treadmill. The treadmill links to your wifi (getting that set up was a bit of a pain), and then you log into your iFit account on iPad and download the workout/place to the treadmill. There's a "holder" for your iPad, and the workout takes you to these remote places virtually. The treadmill incline goes up and down with the terrain, but you can control the speed. There are workouts for elliptical and bikes too. There are training workouts and competing with others workouts. I really like it..but I'll have to check into the subscription cost because I don't want to do the treadmill everyday.
BTW, posting from my iPad Thanks for the tip.
Wow! 5th degree black belt ...awesome! It took my daughter years to get her black belt, and we had to travel to San Jose, CA for her testing. She's a tiny thing, and I'll never forget her breaking boards and fighting so hard she made her opponent cry! And learning all the moves, the Korean, and the fitness testing made ME cry!0 -
wow, all this black belt talk... I am in the presence of might...
I am done for the day. Foods are logged, including the cookies I ate instead of the healthy carrots/almonds I had planned. They were so good though... and I haven't had any cookies in a long time... and I still stayed within my recommended food boundaries with a good deficit I will say I passed over the ice cream and cupcakes that were brought into the office... I put in extra time on the exercise bike as penance 
Activity level was 67 minutes.
Sheesh, I track the activity minutes on my fitbit... The display on my unit does not show them but my computer will show the activity minutes and so does my iPhone. I get better info on the iPhone, imo... when I go to my heart rate, I can see how many minutes I did as fat burn, cardio and peak heart rate. All my activity does not count as active, though, like it showed me with 1 hr 45 minutes in fat burn but only gave me credit for 67 minutes of activity. That's okay, as far as I'm concerned, it all moves me towards goal and it's not "resting." There are times in my day that I am so sedentary and my heart rate drops so low that it thinks I'm sleeping, LOL. You can rest assured I am NOT sleeping at my desk!
Good job with all your activity minutes...and your treadmill sounds wonderful Maybe one day... but for now, I am fairly happy with the used one I found last weekend for $30. It has a mild built in incline but that seems to require a bit more umph than walking in place and I'm going to have to work my way up gradually timewise as right now it wears me out a lot more than the treadmill in the gym does. It's good for those days when it's too hot or rainy to be outside and when I don't feel like biking or walking in place.
Lois, good for you for going ahead and getting your food prepping/cooking done Even more awesome was all the steps you got in while walking in circles. You got this Sorry about the freezer- how long had it been left open?
Sarah, your activity minutes are good too Concentrate more on your active minutes and your deficit should fall in line... Still long hours today but I did manage to get out about 1/2 hr earlier than yesterday. Don't think that it's going to change anytime soon as we are heading into our really busy season and the flu shot clinics. One thing good about the flu clinics is that I will be putting in more steps and active minutes while doing them, LOL
Anyways, it's late and past my bedtime. Hope everyone's day went well ...0 -
It's almost bedtime, but I stopped into my office to upload my tracker and log my food, and most important, to say thank you to Light. Had it not been for this challenge, I would not have walked tonight. I had plans to walk at the mall with my buddy tonight at 7, but around 6 she called and said she didn't feel well. Hubby was recently in from his trip to Newark and the rain was coming down. I had a stressful day (found that I have been making a major boo boo at work--and it was something I didn't catch and had been repeating because it was in autofill info). Add to that that the papers on the closing of Mom's house that I was supposed to sign, get notarized, and return did not arrive until after the banks closed, so that required multiple phone calls, and hubby arrived at the train station hours early--a nice surprise but an interruption in an already chaotic afternoon.
Anyway, tropical storm Joaquin is dropping lots and lots of rain on us, and I thought--nah--I don't want drive in this to go walk alone, and I haven't seen hubby, etc. THEN I thought about this challenge and having to put down that I didn't even make a half hour activity.
So on went the shoes and slicker and off I went to the mall. And I got in 46 active minutes (more had I worn my bodymedia all day, but I had it charging), I had a deficit of 478 calories after logging all my food, and my fat percentage was within goal again today. Woo Hoo!! Hope tomorrow will go as well.
Lois, sorry about the freezer. I hate to lose food. It costs so much! And I'm sorry that you're having unseasonable heat. We had bad heat in August and September. If you feel too bad, remember that we're being drenched and Friday the HIGH will be in the 60s. I'm not ready for temps that cool quite yet.
Sheesh, I'm so glad Safari works with the ipad so you can stay in touch.
G'night all. Tomorrow is weigh-in day!
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Whoo hoo! Good going Sarah! 0
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Wed evening, finished the day with 34 active minutes and a little over 2 hrs fat burning mode Stayed to the meal plan and am showing a deficit as I head on to bed. Long day and I'm tired. The weekend is right around the corner...can hardly wait... 0
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Way to go Sarah and Light! Happy to report 74 active minutes yesterday. But, barely did 30 today. Logged food yesterday with 484 calorie deficit. Today I was slightly over. (Exercise makes such a difference!)
Going to go check for the weigh-in thread.0 -
Wednesday evening, and what a day! The paper I had to sign would not print, and so hubby had to the file to a Fed Ex that has an office services department. Then I went to my bank that has always notarized things for me and was told they no longer notarize anything to do with real estate unless it's a Capital One loan. Arghh. So I went to another bank, raced home to check work, and I had so much work piling up, I was a mess. There was also a question about one of the papers, and when I called the lawyer in NC their office closed at 1p.m. Thankfully, hubby offered to take the package back to the Fed Ex for me. I don't know what I would have done without him. The back rub he charged was a small price to pay!
I had some more phone calls to make in the early evening, so I didn't get out to walk until close to 7:30. But the weather is feeling balmy because of that tropical storm headed our way, so I took a small flashlight and walked around the neighborhood and got 39 minutes of activity in. Not what I wanted, but I met the minimum. Again, I'm grateful for this challenge because it once again got my butt out the door.
I'll pop over and start the weigh-in thread if we still need to do that.0 -
Yea! to Sheesh and Sarah! In spite of the issues of the day, all three of us made our minimum activity. And yes, Sheesh, it does make a difference, doesn't it?
Sarah, it sounds like your day went about as poorly as it could. Sure hope today will be better.
I'm heading into some tough time myself as we have had and continue to have 2 staff of 6 out. One of the float gals does a fine job filling in for the secretary (but can't do the referrals, cash log or billing so my medical assistant has picked those duties up) but we also have to pick up about half of the responsibilities of the medical assistant that is filling in (shots, documentation, on site testing like urine, hemoglobins, strep tests, flu swabs) which puts an extra load on the rest of us (namely me, my medical assistant and the other nurse) Well, as of this afternoon, the other nurse leaves early and is going to be out tomorrow also with no help coming in, meaning I get to do my work and her work too... on a Friday. Uggh. That wouldn't be so bad except that work goes on and since we are already short, it trickles down to me and my medical assistant doing the work of 4 people in a very very busy office. I would just as soon skip tomorrow and go right to Saturday, LOL. But for now, I need to log off and go hop in the car for another 9-10 hr day.0 -
Oh, gosh, Light. I know that times. I have one coming up after the first of the year. I'm cheering you on from up the east coast. Mentioning the east coast, are you being affected by this hurricane? We are supposed to get 7 to 10 inches of rain on Saturday and also have high winds. That means trees are coming down. It's pretty serious. Hubby has his appointment with the neurosurgeon this morning and then he is coming home to start preparing (generator out of garage and to the back patio, pick up some supplies, etc.).
I am going to have to focus on work. For the first time in my working life, I am making mistakes and I'm feeling anxious. I have had such a great track record with my client, but the management is changing and now there are people at the top who are new, so it doesn't matter what I've done for the past 15 years--it matters more what I've done for the past 15 weeks.
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Sarah - I thought of you
Interesting read from my Health IQ from Humana... For years dietitians said every 3,500 calories cut or burned leads to 1 pound lost. Newer studies show that's only true for the first few pounds.
Another interesting note (and I didn't copy directly) was that the rule above also doesn't work because your body constantly adapts and your metabolism actually slows down the longer you diet. Darn I wish I would have copied the details on that one as well.
healthiq.com It won't let me do the quiz again to find what I was looking for0 -
sorry no time to read or answer stuff, I should have been in bed about 1/2 hr ago but I had no active minutes showing so hopped on the exercise bike. Got 37 active minutes showing. Not sure what my fat burn total is because the phone took too long to load it. Stuck to meal plan and have a good deficit again.
very quickly, Sarah, Juaquim is too far off shore to affect us at this time. If it wobbles a little more west, we could get some balmy breezes but nothing serious expected. Hope you will fare better than expected. gotta get to bed. Tomorrow will be brutal...0 -
Goodness, I get confused with two threads. I just dumped everything in the weigh-in thread. But for documenting the challenge, I walked from 10:30 until 11 p.m. tonight. Haven't been able to log food for today yet, but I think I did okay.
Light, my work stress is up, too. Hope tomorrow is not as bad has you think. Try to take a few minutes here and there for yourself. (Yes, I know I'm one to talk! )
Lois, I read about the 3500 calories, too. I also recently read about a study where the folks who mixed mostly moderate calorie days with occasional high calorie days lost more weight over time than folks who consistently maintained a moderate intake. I can't remember the details at the moment, but it sounds like the point is to just not let the body get on auto-pilot.0 -
Getting in 30 minutes today will be a real challenge. I got off work around 6:45 and checked my home e-mail to find there was an issue with some of the paperwork related to the closing on Mom's house. So I just got off the phone with my sister, and now have to speed wash my hair to get to my volunteer work by 8:15. The BodyMedia site is down for the second day in the row, so I'm logging food in MFP. Maybe this is the final sign to give up the old tracker! This has been a hard, stressful week for several of us, I know. I'm happy that the weekend has almost arrived. 0
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it is 10:30, past my bedtime but I am heading to the exercise bike before
bed... going to get that activity in long
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TGIF ladies! Light, my har's off to you getting on the exercise bike at 10:30 pm!
Happy to report 65 active minutes, 1 minute peak zone, 34 cardio, 5 hours 57 minutes fat burn. Logged food, good deficit. It's strange that my fat burn zone is much longer than my workout was. Maybe stairs? Maybe my heart rate is high without me realizing it??
Lois, good luck to you for race day!
Oh, and I got my flu shot today. Want to be immune before the new grand baby comes 0 -
I second Sheesh's hat's off, Light. When we got back in here last night, it was raining outside and I just could not get myself on the TM. I have committed to at least an hour's activity today and tomorrow. On Monday and Tuesday, I'll be staffing an exhibit, which means leaving home before daylight each day and then standing on my feet on concrete. Since I'm not used to commuting or standing, those days will probably kick my behind. LOL
We're still getting the remnants of the storm (windy, a little rain, and very chilly), so I'm going to put on a big pot of homemade vegetable beef soup and then head out to the mall.
Lois, I have been thinking about you a lot and I hope that race day goes well. After all the things you've had to handle lately, you deserve a long stretch of good times. We're rooting for you. 0 -
yep, got the 34 minutes of activity in and it showed over an hour of fat burn... if it had been any day but Friday, I would not have been up that late, nor on the bike probably.
Sheesh, there seems to be a heart rate level between resting and what they consider active which qualifies the fat burn. I'm guessing I get mine walking from the parking lot/office/parking lot/front door type thing sine it gets my heart rate up but is not exertional. That sort of thing... just a guess based on when they are giving me credit for it.
Sarah, hope the upcoming days will work out better than expected, both work and weather wise. Will you look too silly if you dance or walk a little bit at your post? Maybe all that commuting and standing will burn more calories? Have you thought about your meal plan for those days so it doesn't derail you?
Lois, with all the back issues you are reporting, not sure if you are racing or watching this weekend. Either way, I hope you stay safe and are feeling better
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This discussion has been closed.