Britt's 30th Birthday Challenge! (September 22 - January 21)

brittdee88

My 30th birthday is on January 22, which is 122 days from today!

Over the next 4 months, I will be challenging myself to meet various monthly goals to reach my goal weight (125) with OMAD and to make some positive lifestyle changes. I want to enter my 30s having finally gotten over this weight loss barrier and beginning the process of truly crafting the balanced and vibrant life I have always wanted.

SW for this challenge: 154.4
UGW: 125
Maintenance range: 125-129

brittdee88

September 22 - October 21 Goals:
My focus for this month is on reducing stress post-Irma. Stress is one of the major roots of many of my daily challenges including high resting heart rates, insomnia, weight gain, and binging. It also exacerbates my anxiety and depression. Without addressing my stress levels, anything else I do will just be a band-aid. So I'm starting with a few small changes upon which I will build each month.

Lifestyle:
Stick to my bedtime routine to relieve stress, quiet my mind, and signal to my body that it is time to rest and recharge.
My newish routine:

• All electronic devices off at 10:30 PM
• Brush teeth, wash and moisturize face, and moisturize hair
• Quick body and scalp massage
• Light an incense stick and journal
• Follow a 12-minute restorative yoga sequence
• Head to bed

This routine takes about an hour, so I know there may be a few days I can't get to it in its entirety. My goal is to follow it at least 25 days out of the next month. I had a similar routine in the past, and it truly helped.

Diet:
Stick to one meal a day -- raw vegan on weekdays and cooked vegan on weekends and special occasions as needed
Stick to 100% gluten-free. I have a wheat allergy and should have been doing this all along, but I had been letting things slide here and there. No more. I've had enough of the welts and gastro issues that come with it. I want to get back to healing.

Accountability:
I will post checks or minuses for meeting these goals here everyday.
I will post my weight here everyday unless I become obsessive and find daily weighing is no longer good for my mental health. If that happens, I will post my weight at least weekly.

October 21 weight goal: 147
October 21 average RBPM goal: <79

jvcinv

All laudable goals, good luck with this.
I wish when I was still young like you that I had been one tenth as organized, proactive and determined to make positive changes.

brittdee88

Thanks so much, @jvcinv! Unfortunately, the planning and organizing part is a strength of mine while the follow-through tends to be a struggle once the initial novelty wears off. I am hoping that making smaller changes over time and holding myself accountable everyday here will really help.

tlblanksfit

I am rooting for you Britt. I think I will join you in your October 21st weight goal. I weighed in this morning at 154.9 so we are right there together. 147 pounds by October 21st, we can do it.

brittdee88

Yay, @tlblanksfit! We got this!!!! Feel free to post your weights in here as well if you want

Brendalea69

I love this You can do it!!!

mistymeadows2005

Britt, you are so much more organized than me! I'm lucky if I remember to brush my teeth before bed! I'm joining you on this (with a different weight goal of course)! Exciting stuff!

brittdee88

Thanks, @Brendalea69!
And yay, @mistymeadows2005! The more the merrier! I didn't grow up brushing my teeth before bed. I have actively been trying to build that habit, and I hope it becomes second nature at the end of all of this. Feel free to post your weights just like Tracey if you want!

mistymeadows2005

brittdee88 wrote: »

Thanks, @Brendalea69!
And yay, @mistymeadows2005! The more the merrier! I didn't grow up brushing my teeth before bed. I have actively been trying to build that habit, and I hope it becomes second nature at the end of all of this. Feel free to post your weights just like Tracey if you want!

WILL DO! I usually don't weigh on the weekends and then just weigh day-to-day through my fasts...I'm always a solid 5-10 pounds higher going into my fasts but those fall away the first day and the second (and sometimes third) day is the loss Ergo, a little pointless to post anything but those 2 days, but I'll update you on those!

brittdee88

mistymeadows2005 wrote: »

WILL DO! I usually don't weigh on the weekends and then just weigh day-to-day through my fasts...I'm always a solid 5-10 pounds higher going into my fasts but those fall away the first day and the second (and sometimes third) day is the loss Ergo, a little pointless to post anything but those 2 days, but I'll update you on those!

Sounds good! We actually might have similar trends, as I suspect I might gain after my cooked food days. I hope that will fall off as quickly as yours does!

blambo61

jvcinv wrote: »

All laudable goals, good luck with this.
I wish when I was still young like you that I had been one tenth as organized, proactive and determined to make positive changes.

Me too. I'm at my lightest right now in probably 21-yrs or so. Really wished could have gotten it together a lot sooner (I tried the exercise route about a million times but I just couldn't get it done). OMAD has worked for me!

minigrrll

I love your nightly routine. I'm like Steph, can hardly remember to brush my teeth before bed, let alone deal with cleaning my face and moisturizer etc! I did have a habit app that I was using for a while to remind me to do stuff, but deleted it once I fell off the wagon. Maybe it is time to re-download and start again...

tlblanksfit

This morning's weight 153.7

blambo61

tlblanksfit wrote: »

This morning's weight 153.7

congrats!

katjustkat

Great goal Britt and I wish you great success. I think you shutting off all electronic devices is a fantastic way to gain time.

brittdee88

Thanks for the support, everyone! And congrats, Tracey!

Unfortunately,
worst
first
day
EVER!

I failed on all fronts yesterday.
I did NOT eat enough at my meal time and was starving a few hours later, which turned into shoveling down anything I could find last night was quick (ie. cereal, Starbursts, and the cauliflower tacos I had prepared for today). That binge left me sick all night, and I didn't get to do my bedtime routine or go to bed at a reasonable time.

Lessons learned:
Always be prepared. I'm 100% sure that if my avocado had been ripe and I ate that with my meal, I wouldn't have been hungry later. I didn't plan yesterday's meal thoroughly because I was supposed to be going to an event that ended up falling through. As a result, I put things together that were very tasty but not filling enough. I need to make sure I have a back up plan in the wings at all times. I'm in the process of preparing an emergency meal right now for times like yesterday.
Don't fill calories with fruit. Clearly, this does NOT work for me. Without the avocado, I tried to fill in the gap with apricots and pineapples. I know fruit isn't satiating for me, but I was unprepared and tried to make do. This was a good reminder.

I'm trying to leave it at that and not beat myself up. Today is a new day.

Somehow, I weigh the same today. Still 154.4.

mistymeadows2005

It's alright babe! You're right back at it... You'd not BELIEVE the amount of food I ate last night breaking my fast.... Ill post pictures Monday but the picture I took doesn't include the equal amount of calories I took in after that... Only in about a 4 hour window lol...its all good #balance

katjustkat

Britt...yeah the first thing I thought of when I saw your meal was....that's not nearly enough calories. I know guacamole is a lil pricey but it could be a good idea to always have some in the frig. You're saving tons of money by not eating two other meals. Fruit makes me crazy hungry! I could eat two huge bananas and be like...what's next???...with wild eyes. Does oil help keep hunger at bay? Are you not eating wheat? I use raw bulgar in my Armenian cooking by soaking it over night in water, totally gets soft. Nut butters? Oh well, you're the expert and you def don't need help in that dept...just the mama in me

brittdee88

@mistymeadows2005 yes, balance! Love that. Currently baking a vegan flourless cake for myself for today's meal. Usually I would try to starve myself for a slip-up, but I am breaking that mindset in the best way!

@katjustkat yeah.... Definitely not a good idea. Keeping guac in the fridge is a good idea. I will whip some more up when this avo is finally ripe! I'm making raw nutballs because they freeze well and are super easy to just add to sauce and veggie noodles in a bind. I don't eat a whole bunch of fruit anyway, but I definitely don't plan to eat it in this way ever again! I have a wheat allergy, so no wheat. I also had plans to make chocolate sunbutter this weekend anyway to go with flax crackers, so I will have nut butter ready to go next week, too! Thanks, Mama Bear! I definitely don't mind - I always appreciate caring people!

blambo61

If i'm close to the end of a fast and still at work and eat something, it is all over with like you experienced. I will eat about 1200 calories from the snack bar before I stop! It is dangerous for me to start. That is why a noon meal doesn't work very well for me either. I did mitigate it a bit a few times by just eating peanuts which doesn't see to hurt me as much as the sweets. Just get back on the horse!

brittdee88

Day 3: 9/24
Weight: 155.2/+0.8 (likely binge weight catching up)
Yesterday's RBPM: 84
Yesterday's diet goals: success!
Yesterday's lifestyle goals: success!

I slept SO well last night for the first time in a very long time. The routine truly helps.

Quick plan change: After looking at my social calendar, I have decided to change my cooked food days to Fridays and Saturdays. I only have one social event on Sunday this month, which is this afternoon, but I tend to go out on Fridays with my fiancé. I also tend to do a lot of my scholarly work on Fridays, so it is much easier and less involved to either grab something from the campus dining hall or pop something quick in the Instant Pot while I'm reading if I'm not going out than it is to put a raw meal together.
I may be using a special occasion pass tomorrow for a post-Irma dinner with my classmates if the restaurant doesn't have an adequate selection of raw food.

blambo61

What is RBPM?

tlblanksfit

Britt, we are on the same page. I had somewhat of a splurge day yesterday and my weight was 155.1 this morning. Today I had chinese buffet after church (2 plates) so I may have another bump in the morning. Tomorrow will be a fast day so I will not be eating again until I get home from work on Tuesday. Since I finished my meal today around 4:00 that will make a 48 hour fast.

minigrrll

Awesome that you slept better. Sleep is often elusive for me, I know it's one area of my life I need to work on... So many things to improve!!

brittdee88

@blambo61: resting beats per minute!
@tlblanksfit: we really ARE on the same page! I had Thai and Japanese tonight at my professor's house, so I am pretty sure I will see a bump up as well. Good luck on your 48-hour fast! Here's to the nice drop we will get later this week!
@minigrrll: try the routine! I have had insomnia since I was a preteen, so I have a history of horrible sleep. It still comes in waves, but I am trying to capitalize on these times when it's not so bad to build up my sleep storage. The routine definitely helps me!

brittdee88

Day 4: 9/25
Weight: 155.8/+0.6 (this should be the last gain of the week)
Yesterday's RBPM: 83
Yesterday's diet goals: success!
Yesterday's lifestyle goals: success!

Yesterday's meal was absolutely delicious, but I am pining for something raw today. Regardless of whether or not my classmates and I actually meet up for dinner, I am eating raw today.
My bedtime routine helped me fall asleep last night, but my fiancé ended up kicking me a few times while trying to get into bed in the dark (he's blind as a bat), so I am not super well-rested today. I am really enjoying the nightly self-care, though.
Any updates, goal buddies? @tlblanksfit @mistymeadows2005
Happy Monday, everyone!

tlblanksfit

Hey Britt, we are still hanging in there together. I weighed in at 155.7 this morning and this should be my last gain of the week as well. I enjoyed my Chinese food yesterday, but it is time for me to get back to doing what I need to do to have steady consistent losses. I want to do daily OMAD and ditch the water fasts for now. Today will be my last water fast until I reach maintenance. So the last 45 days of my weight loss journey will look like this:



as opposed to my maintenance plan which will look like this:

brittdee88

Yay! We are really close! It will be super interesting to see if we stay close tomorrow as well!

I commented in your other thread about the fasts. I think that's a really good plan

brittdee88

Challenge update: Following Tracey's lead of her 50 days to maintenance plan, I have decided to end my weight loss journey on the last day of this challenge. Regardless of whether or not I reach 125, I want to enter maintenance at 30 once and for all. I liked how I looked at 135-140 for the most part, so even if I only get down that much, I know I will be infinitely more confident, healthier, and stronger. And as long as I can fit comfortably into the new clothes I had to buy last month (about half of which are snug), I will call it a success.

mistymeadows2005

SO JEALOUS! You both are so much closer to goal I am, but that's ok...I know I'll get there! To answer your question, I shall not know how much progress I made until weigh in on Weds...and to be fair last week I weighed in on Friday so it'll only be 5 days...but that's just the way it fell this week. As long as I get back down to where I was Friday from my weekend transgressions (that's tongue in cheek, I did OMAD just fine LOL), then I'll be happy! 186 as of this morning, but 48 hours from now is weigh in and I'm fasted after about 11pm last night. Next eating Weds around 9pm Stay tuned goal buddies!