TEAM: Gutbusters (June)
AB0215
Posts: 7,141 Member
Welcome to the Challenge new and returning teammates!! This is the conversation/weigh in thread for your Team 
Keep on losing because our first weigh ins begin THIS Sunday! I am here for you should you need anything - simply message me or tag me by putting an '@' just before my username (NO SPACES) and I will get to you asap! ~ Ashley @AB0215 or Craig @craigo3154 .
Keep on losing because our first weigh ins begin THIS Sunday! I am here for you should you need anything - simply message me or tag me by putting an '@' just before my username (NO SPACES) and I will get to you asap! ~ Ashley @AB0215 or Craig @craigo3154 . 1
Replies
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Hello team Gutbusters.
I will be your coach again for this month. My role here is to help motivate, encourage.
I am also the primary moderator for the TBL challenge. I rely heavily on the support of the team captains to make this successful as it is too much for one person to do alone.
At this stage team Gutbusters does not have a captain. Please PM me (@craigo3145.) if you feel you could fulfil this role. A team captain's primary role is to also help motivate and encourage the team. A team captain's secondary role is to enter weekly weigh-in data into the competition spreadsheet. Should be about 15mins per day.
As coach, I am running an optional mini-challenge within the Gutbusters team again this month.
Now an introduction:
I am a happily married 49yo father of one. I live in Melbourne Australia. I am passionate about helping people. Late August last year I passed my minimum goal weight (70kg - down from 91.5kg) and am now trying to maintain without bouncing back too far. I achieved the reduction in 4 months (so 40+ lbs in 4 months).
As I am now actively trying to NOT lose weight. At BMI 22.4 and less than 11% body fat, it would be crazy (if not dangerous) for me to try lose more weight.
(Why would someone not losing weight want to run a weight loss challenge? Because it helps so many people and I feel I have so much to share. I learned so much losing weight that I seems a shame to not have it benefit others.).
About the mini-challenge.
First and foremost is that participation in this challenge is optional. It's up to you as to whether you want to try this. (If you take the attitude that "this is not what I signed up for", that is up to you).
I used the principles of this challenge to win July (6.29% - down 10.8 lbs) and August (6.44% - down 10.4 lbs). Following this challenge does work.
The challenge is based on another challenge on MFP called UAC (ultimate accountability challenge). The way UAC works is that the aim is to follow 5 basic rules.- Track EVERYTHING you eat that has calories on MFP.
- Stay inside your allocated daily budget.
- Do at least 20 minutes of activity a day (anything: walk, run, cycle, swim, gardening, housework, yoga, gym, etc.. As long as it gets you active and off the couch)
- 1 pass day permitted per week (went over calories, could not track, not enough exercise, intentional pass)
- Check in daily (tracking yes/no, calories yes/no, exercise yes/no).
Using this strategy of consistent tracking and minimal exercise I have set a lifestyle plan that should keep me in my target weight range. (has for the last month )
I liked this strategy as:- No dietary restrictions. (fine for vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, paleo, carnivore, etc...)
- Works with whatever strategy you may want to follow. (keto, 5:2, 16:8, atkins, etc..).
- You set your own daily budget (MFP helps with this).
- You choose you own exercise and intensity (no step limit, no exercises you cannot or should not do, 20 mins of gardening counts as much as a 10mile run).
- Is not weight based (as weight fluctuates day by day).
- Can continue beyond weight loss.
Daily check in keeps you in touch with those doing similar. Longer term weight management is hard to do on your own.
It also has frequent resets (as in a circle each week).
It works on an honor system. Being honest with yourself and others is a key to making things work.
Consistency and new habits have been shown the only long term successful way to change weight. We all want the progress made here to last a lifetime.
You will find out more from me as the weeks go on. I have done A LOT of research into weight loss, diets, health and strength. I will happily share what I have learned with the group.
My commitment to this group is to post my daily results for this accountability tracking (and help out where I can).
I also post a daily strength challenge.
The daily strength challenge is additional to the 20 mins exercise in the mini-challenge. It is designed to:- build lean muscle (not bulk).
- be quick (5 mins).
- use no equipment (bodyweight only) and minimal space.
- no impact so gentle on joints.
- cycle through arms, legs and core with enough recovery time to get best results.
).
I will start cross posting my daily status posts into this thread.
So Welcome June Gutbusters.
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May 22
Exercised?: Yes. Walked 5.8km in 50 min (moderate hills).
Calories?: Yes
Tracked?: Yes
Still interstate (and will be till Thursday). Managed to get out and walk North Sydney tonight. Tomorrow will probably cross the harbour bridge and back.
Looks like I will be here next week as well. Time to start forming a travel routine. Fortunately my exercise routine requires no equipment and I can walk anywhere.
Daily Strength challenge
Challenge for May 22 is dips ()
3 sets- First set till the point where you can do no more, wait 2 mins
- Second set of 60% of the number you did in the first set (half, then another 10%), wait 2 mins
- Third set of 50% of the number you did in the first set (half)
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May 23
Exercised?: Yes. Walked 8+km in 60+ min (over Sydney harbour bridge).
Calories?: Yes
Tracked?: Yes
Long walk tonight. Fly home tomorrow night, but back in Sydney next week.
Photo from tonights walk.
Daily Strength challenge
"Challenge for May 23 is squats (no weight - air squat - http://www.12minuteathlete.com/how-to-do-a-proper-air-squat/).
You can do assisted squats (using a table or bench top to take weight off the knees if it is too much)."
3 sets- First set till the point where you can do no more, wait 2 mins
- Second set of 60% of the number you did in the first set (half, then another 10%), wait 2 mins
- Third set of 50% of the number you did in the first set (half)
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May 22
Exercise: Yes
Calories: Yes
Tracked: Yes
OK, I posted this in the May challenge, but I figured I'd repost here to get this thread moving. Intro to follow1 -
Hello June Gutbusters!
I'm Les, 39, mom of 2. Just starting my second month here. It's been several years since I really believed I had the ability to successfully lose weight. I got into a really negative mindset and I just didn't try, and worse, sometimes I think I tried to fail. I recently got some info about my personal and family health that shocked that mindset out of me, and I've been much more diligent about working to lose weight since April. I joined Gutbusters for May, and I feel like there are other people here who are also working hard and making progress, and overall, throughout the MFP communities other people who have succeeded at meeting their goals. That makes me feel finally like I can be successful, too. And if you're new and reading my intro, I hope I can be someone who helps you feel like you can be successful, also.
In May, I worked on tracking my food daily and I overcame a couple of personal challenges, including packing my food on a couple of extra long commute days that would previously have led me into severe self-sabotage. In June, I think my challenge is going to be paying more attention to my macros specifically. Throughout May, I was tracking but not monitoring to see if I was reaching my macro targets, just checking that the calories were less than the total. I think I need to start being more conscious about where exactly my calories are coming from, because I suspect that the easy weight loss of the last 6 weeks will start to decline unless I do.
In terms of exercise, in May I've worked on making exercise a regular habit, mostly by following the Hasfit foundation/beginner workout online, and supplementing with walks on the treadmill and walking to pick up my son from day care. For my June exercise goals, I'm keeping to the Hasfit beginner workouts, but I'm going to be deliberate about pushing myself more on the amount of weight I lift. I really want to ensure that this time when I lose weight, I lose fat.
Also, what's the deal with "losing" weight? That makes it sound accidental, like "I lost my keys". But this process is not accidental for me. I'm shedding weight? I'm reducing? I'm unloading weight?
Thanks for reading!
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Hey there, thanks for having me!
I'm Tara, 45 and mom of 5. I've been through the weight loss cycle a few times before, managing to lose 30+ pounds each time but ultimately self-sabotaging. I always manage to pile it on again plus a bit extra. This time I really want to break that cycle.
My family eating habits are pretty good as far as meals go -- my weakness is treats and snacking. I've managed to lose 20lbs since 1st April by being conscious of what I eat and cutting out snacks completely. It's a great start, but I have 50lbs to go before I reach even the top edge of normal weight. I've always stalled out before that point in the past. I'm here to build on my good start to make something more sustainable and long term.
My weakness is exercise. With so many kids (my youngest are toddler twins), I find it very difficult to get time to myself every day to exercise. The plus side is that running after them every day means that there's very little time for sitting around on the sofa. Yesterday, for example, my first child woke at 6am, my last fell asleep at 10:30pm. By that point I had some chores to do before I dropped into bed to start again today. (This isn't a complaint -- I love my family. I really don't get much time to myself, though).
My challenge for June will be to fit some sort of daily exercise into my daily routine even if it's just five minutes a day. Starting small and scaling up is my plan.
Good to be here; let's make some major progress together!4 -
Hi, all! I'm Elise, a mid-twenties English teacher living in Va with Aspen, my maltese mix furbaby. I’ve been a part of this team since January.
I'm not traditionally a fan of exercise, but I am now addicted to it. I keep pushing myself at the gym and have recently started to run on the treadmill for short sprints. I started small with the optional challenges (you’ll learn about them soon if you aren’t already familiar with them) and have built up my strength constantly ever since.
I am very committed to tracking my calories and keeping under my calorie goal. I began my weight loss journey October 30 and have lost over 40 pounds to date. I've been using HealthyWage and DietBet to keep on track and have realized that I needed the tangible benefits of winning money to stay committed. I've tried weight loss and tracking before and never made it past a month or ten pounds.
My message to others is to push through the plateaus. I spent a month dancing around 196 pounds while doing everything right. However, the pounds have come off fairly easily since then.
I try to stay fairly active on these threads. I think it keeps me in the right (growth) mindset!4 -
@CrowChild Wow, your 6-10:30 pm day sounds like a doozy! It sounds like you've got a good exercise goal to start small and build up from there. Have you seen the Daily Strength challenges that @craig0314 posts? They might be a great start.
Looking forward to succeeding in this month with you!0 -
@eevang Nice to see you again in June! What grade level do you teach? Do you have a favorite book or author you like to teach?
Also I lived for a short time in VA, in the middle peninsula. It was such a pleasure to see the river everyday!0 -
May 24
Exercised?: Yes. Walked 3km in 25+min (North Sydney hills over lunchtime).
Calories?: Yes
Tracked?: Yes
Home now. Nice to be home (if only for a short while). Lots to do before weekend away with family.
Daily Strength challenge
Challenge for May 24 is sit-ups or crunches (abs day - be sure to use a mat or towel for cushioning - )
2 sets- First set till the point where you can do no more, wait 2 mins
- Second set of 50% of the number you did in the first set (half)
The reason for only 2 sets for this exercise is that it ideally should be balanced with back strengthening exercises (which plank variants provide).
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Hi Everyone!
My name is Ruthie, I am a 29 yr old nurse and I live in Massachusetts. I have been overweight my entire life. I honestly don’t remember a time that I was under 200 lbs. I recently went to the doctors and my blood pressure was very high. Along with that I recently went on vacation and I didn’t recognize myself in the pictures that were taken. I have decided to finally make a change.
My problem is that I get motivated for the first couple weeks and then I drop off. I think this group will help keep me accountable and motivated!
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Thanks, @LesIckaBod, life can be hectic but it's always good fun! I've been looking at Craig's daily challenges, and I think they'll be perfect for me to start with.
I feel that June is going to be a great month for all of us.2 -
@ruthiebryan2922, I avoid having pictures taken too -- I'm ashamed of how few I have of my twins that actually have me in them. The picutre in my avatar is ten years old, and I weigh about 50lbs less in hit than I do now. I need to do better with that.4
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May 25
Exercise: Yes
Calories: Yes
Tracked: Yes
Super hungry last night for some reason, but my resolve held!2 -
May 25
Exercised?: Yes. 8,000+ steps - preparing for weekend away (and then interstate next week) - LOTS of housework.
Calories?: Yes
Tracked?: Yes
3+ hours of housework before away for weekend. Weekend with family to celebrate my upcoming 50th birthday next month (before my parents go interstate for the next 4 months).
Daily Strength challenge
Challenge for May 25 is door frame rows ()
3 sets- First set till the point where you can do no more, wait 2 mins
- Second set of 50% of the number you did in the first set (half)
- Third set
The reason for this exercise is push ups and dips work primarily the triceps (pushing). This exercise balances the others by working the biceps (pulling).
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Username: CrowChild
Weigh in week: June Week 1
Weigh in day: Sunday
Previous Week's weight: 184.0
Todays Weight: 181.8
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Exercise: No (off day)
Calories: No
Tracked: yes
I know two "no"s doesn't look good, but I actually think yesterday was kind of positive. I was about 100 calories over, and we were out the whole day and had two meals at restaurants. I didn't make the best choices at Panera (what are the better higher protein choices there?) but for dinner we chose Chipotle, where I could get a salad with extra chicken. I added the salad to MFP before going into the store so I would know what to get. Sodium was through the roof for the day, but the scale this morning was down, so I think I did ok with getting back on track after the first meal out yesterday.
Also saw Solo yesterday, which was fun!3 -
May 26
Exercised?: Yes. 4km in 30mins round sight hills.
Calories?: Yes
Tracked?: Yes
Weekend with family to celebrate my upcoming 50th birthday next month (before my parents go interstate for the next 4 months). Early morning walk while very cold (<10C).
As well as early morning walk took the kids down to the beach to walk around the rockpools, then when swimming with them later. Very active day.
Amazing dinner at the resort restaurant. Very fancy. Double dessert. However, when calculating up for the day, still under mainly because of food choices (higher protein, whole vegetables, almost no gluten or processed carbohydrate).
May 27
Exercised?: Yes. 4km in 30mins round sight hills.
Calories?: Yes
Tracked?: Yes
Weekend with family to celebrate my upcoming 50th birthday next month (before my parents go interstate for the next 4 months). Early morning walk while cold (<10C), but not as cold as Saturday.
Unfortunately wife is ill at the moment (chest infection), but still need to travel for work next week. She assures me that she can cope with running daughter around to school and other things, but will keep a close eye on it (may need to rush home - family ALWAYS comes first).
Will change over to new month (June) in the morning from interstate (probably at the end of the work day).
Daily Strength challenge
Challenge for May 27 is side lunges ()
3 sets- First set 10 or 15 each leg (if 10 is too easy continue to 15).
- Second set 6 or 9 each leg.
- Third set 5 or 8 each leg.
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May 27
Exercise: Yes
Calories: No
Tracked: Yes
Meh. Basically, I was on track prior to dinner, planned out what my dinner would be and made sure it would fit in my calories ... and then I ate about half a cup of the homemade mac and cheese I made for my boys. They didn't like it, which is why it was available for me. There are worse upsets to have, but still, I know this one was a bit of self-sabotage -- I could feel it as I was doing it. And the family member of the emotional triggering from last week called in the middle of dinner, as happens frequently, so that could be a part of it as well.
A new week begins tomorrow!2 -
LesIckaBod wrote: »@eevang Nice to see you again in June! What grade level do you teach? Do you have a favorite book or author you like to teach?
Also I lived for a short time in VA, in the middle peninsula. It was such a pleasure to see the river everyday!
@LesIckaBod Thanks! I teach 8th. The Outsiders is the most fun to teach since the kids love it. My only assessment for it is a college-style discussion, and that gives my students the chance to relax and actually enjoy the story.
It’s so green in Va at this time of year. I’m loving it!
Also, Panera is really tricky. I think I get the most bang for my buck (with protein) with the Green Goddess salad that has chicken in it. For a lunch meeting, I got a half size with dressing on the side and only used half the dressing. I have several healthy co-workers who (independently) ordered the exact same thing!
Before I began this weight loss journey, I thought Panera had fairly healthy options. I also used to budget around 700-800 for dinner, so Panera had lots of options around that range. Now that I’m used to eating 400-500 calories for dinner, Panera seems a lot less healthy! Before, I would pick up food from Panera, Starbucks, Chick-fil-a, etc after work maybe once a week. Now I barely ever eat at those places because there is only one item (maybe two) on each of those menus that seems “worth it” now.1 -
Hi team! I’m vee I’m a mum of 3, a dog groomer and from the uk. I’ve gained 70lbs over the last 7 years and I’ve decided I need to break the bad habits for good. I’ve been overweight for a while but I’ve never really felt fat until recently when I reached my heaviest ever weight.
So I thought I’d start here.
Good luck team!5 -
Hiya all. Team Gutbusters for June. This is my first time here. I’m a 53 years old, 5’4” female living in NYC, USA. I have lost 81 lbs since 2014 and need to lose 40 more to be in healthy weight range. My problem is I don’t do anything consistently - exercise, track, cook - that will help me continue on my weight loss journey. I’m hoping that this group will assist me in these areas as I will be part of a team and I would not want to let anyone down. Good luck to everyone.4
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Hi, all. I'm back for my second month and hope to do better this time after a shaky finish to May.
I'm almost 54 years old, 5'6' and trying to lose 40lbs.
My goal this month is to be more consistent with staying under calorie goal and getting into the daily habit of strength exercising. I love to walk and have lovely countryside nearby but I know I need to work on my strength and flexibility. Thank you to @craigo3154 for setting up the daily challenges which is a great way to get into the habit.
@craigo3154 - I think you may have missed my message on page 16 of the May thread - can I please change my weigh-in day to Tuesday for the June challenge? I have not weighed-in today.
I'm also celebrating my birthday in June. What date is your big 5-0?!
Welcome to the new members and let's all have a great month, Gutbusters!
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LesIckaBod
Weigh in week: June Week 1
Weigh in day: Monday
Previous Week's weight: 203.2
Todays Weight: 200.56 -
May 28
Exercised?: Yes. 10km in 80mins (over Sydney harbour bridge again).
Calories?: Yes
Tracked?: Yes
Travelled interstate for work again this morning. In Sydney again. Vivid festival on in Sydney at the moment, so lots of places lit up.
Tired now and need sleep.
Month changeover done by my co-moderator. She did an awesome job.
Daily Strength challenge
Challenge for May 28 is side planks. ()
2 sets- First set 15s, 30s each side, wait 2 mins
- Second set 15s, 30s each side.
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Some thoughts I didn't get to add before: my weight is down, but according to my fitbit aria scale, I've lost 5 pounds of muscle and 10 pounds of fat since early April. That is not the ratio I was looking for. (Can I play a Jedi mind trick on fat?) I'll be getting my second InBody scale reading later this week, and I hope (a) that it's more accurate than my home scale and (b) that it shows I've lost fat at a better than 2:1 ratio.
@eevang You must do a great job with The Outsiders -- I would have thought the nicknames and mid-60s lifestyle (no cell phones!) would make it hard for 8th graders to relate! What a good idea to have the discussion as the sole assessment for the book so the kids can really focus on understanding the story itself.
Regarding Panera, you inspired me to check out their website and the nutrition facts. You can play around with customizing the options -- making some things "light", adding more protein, dressing on the side, etc -- and the nutrition facts automatically update to reflect the changes. I'm not going to make a habit of going there more regularly (can't, it's 45 minutes away), but I'm happy to know what I can do now to make the options more in line with my needs.
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@LesIckaBod - what a great start to the month! You are doing so well.
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Ruthiebryan2922
Weigh in week: June week 1
Weigh in day: Monday
Previous weeks weight: 261
Today’s weight: 2601 -
User ID: brunchowl
Weigh in day: Monday
Weigh in:171.8
A small gain this week but I didn’t go over my calorie goal. I assume it’s water weight and will work itself out soon enough.1 -
Hi I'm Val from the lake district, UK and have been with the team for a couple of months. I'm aiming to lose 50 pounds in the next year - ideally by Xmas. And also to walk 10k steps a day.
The biggest challenge for me is to cut the habit of snacking on an evening.
Username westray16
Weigh in day Monday
Weigh in previous week 13st 9lbs, 191 lbs
Weigh in today 13st 8lbs, 190 lbs
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kALZikXxLc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzqLFXKOC8Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8NzhNe9Res
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUX6Pz8vV0s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2VljzCC16g
This discussion has been closed.