October Challenge

VeryKatie

I'm starting this thread early this time. Mostly because I was so gung-ho to fill out ALL of September but... I never log when on vacation and I forgot about that last time. So I want to be consistent for October. I aim to gain 0.5 lbs per week since that's about what I should be gaining according to the internet, plus it would get me back on track for reasonable weight gain this pregnancy.

I'm seriously struggling with lack of sleep and I think that's affecting my eating. And now I have yet another cough (only got a 2 week break after a 4 week cough and now it's back). And its extra annoying since I keep peeing a little every time I cough too hard ugh. Pelvic floooor ugh!

So my goals for October include...

1) Get well
2) Log everyday
3) Do zumba as soon as my lungs can handle it
4) Control weight gain better
5) Be involved with the group and such!
6) Work on going on stress leave or something from work cuz that would be great.
7) Take the stairs sometimes
8) Drink more water.

Anyone else?

Also do people want me to maybe try and think of a halloween challenge or post "weekly winners" this time around for weight loss? I wouldn't include me since I'm going up not down lol. Does anyone have any Halloween challenge ideas? I'm not the most creative person.

For new people, here is the link to the challenge spreadsheet. It's still set up for September but I'll switch it over on Sept 30.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/176VoQo1O354WMX5V56uvjDdxFLFOC_gw_NEmArQ0-FY/edit?usp=sharing

arendiva

I don’t know if this really counts as a challenge but it could be fun to do a holiday recipe share with pics. It can be tough eating healthy at Halloween parties so bringing healthy options that are still tasty and festive is awesome.

VeryKatie

Welcome to October everyone! Here is the link for sign up (enter your name and stats on the "sign-up" tab, and do all logging in the "logging" tab). Any questions, let me know

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/176VoQo1O354WMX5V56uvjDdxFLFOC_gw_NEmArQ0-FY/edit?usp=sharing

@arendiva a recipe share sounds fun! Let's do that (though I'm not sure I'm going to any parties lol).

I'm off to a good start... I snacked on chips last night and didn't log them... and I forgot to weigh myself this morning. Oh well, I will use my last September weight then. No more unlogged chips. October is the month of logging. And of getting stuff done at work and home.

Things I need to get done include:

1) Sell my car (and get fixed whatever I need to)
2) Find, interview and hire a basement contractor (cuz hubs is really wanting the basement done) - though I really shouldn't be taking on a new project like that *sigh*.
3) Highlight all the drawings at work that I've been avoiding
4) Finish that silly report

puffbrat

Here we go! My October goals are the same as September because I mostly (but not entirely) succeeded at some, and completely and utterly failed at the others.

Goals for the month for me:
1) Actually log my food every day
2) Stay within calorie goal 6 days a week and within maintenance on 7th day
3) Lift weights 3 times per week
4) Walk at least 6000 steps every day

October events which have the potential to affect my goals/test my commitment:
1) Work trip out of town for 2 half and 2 full days, Oct. 15-18
2) 2 day camping trip with the Leos and friends, Oct. 19-21
3) Halloween, Oct. 31

Non-weight/health related goals for October:
1) Finish making the ornaments for my advent calendar
2) Decorate for Halloween
3) Back up all the pictures and videos on phone and ipad

@arendiva I really like the recipe share idea.

@VeryKatie for this month or the future, weight based challenges could reflect on goal success rather than weight loss since we have so many members in a similar boat of needing to gain but to control it, or who are struggling/at goal and want to focus on maintenance.

VeryKatie

So far so good on my end. I'm going to go to Zumba today... even though I don't want to after my friend bailed. Plus I didn't notice my white sweater was transparent after I got to work and now have to wear the exercise shirt under it. Worried I'll be stinky later since I will have to wear it after I exercise.

How's it going for you, @puffbrat?

Is anyone else participating in the spreadsheet this time?

WifiresGettingFit

I joined the spreadsheet today.

October Goals:

• Log accurately every day
• Meet step goal every day
• Eat under maintenance 80% of the time

puffbrat

@VeryKatie I'm glad to hear October is going well so far. I totally understand wanting to bail on Zumba but I'm sure you be glad about going afterwards. Sorry about your transparent shirt though; that is so annoying. So many shirts are that way anymore which is really obnoxious, especially for people who are modest and/or have a job and don't want to be flashing bras and skin.

Hit and miss for me so far, but I think off to a better start than September. I have logged all my food. I only stayed within my calorie goal 1 day (definitely won't today) but stayed under maintenance every day so far. I lifted weights Tuesday and plan to again tonight. I didn't hit my step goal yesterday (under by ~1200 steps) but well exceeded it Monday and hit goal Tuesday.

I haven't started any of my non-weight related goals yet but I also didn't expect to until this weekend at the earliest.

How are you doing so far @WifiresGettingFit?

WifiresGettingFit

@puffbrat I'm also hit and miss. I'm doing good with logging accurately, everything else needs improvement.

WifiresGettingFit

I got three wisdom teeth removed on Tuesday so for now I'm just trying to heal. Recovery is going okay so far, I have a follow up on Tuesday. I can't wait to be all healed.

VeryKatie

@WifiresGettingFit ouch wisdom teeth. Beware of soup. Soup may cause vomit. Vomit may cause infection I learned that the hard way.

I have not exercised at all... and I did miss logging for about 5 days. But I got right back to it when the long weekend was over. So that's good. And the weight gain seems to be under control now which is great.

WifiresGettingFit

@VeryKatie that sounds awful. Thankfully I haven't had any issues with soup except for being tired of it (and everything else on their suggested list.)

puffbrat

@WifiresGettingFit Yikes! I hope you recover quickly. That really isn't fun.

I have been seriously sick since the 6th. The urgent care doctor thought I had the flu even though I tested negative for that and strep. It definitely started turning into a sinus infection and who knows what else mid-week. Now I just have a little nasal congestion and an annoying cough. Both the Leos are sick too, and yesterday Waldo lost a battle with a rock wall and had to get four staples in one leg. Of course today I go out of state until Thursday and Friday we leave to spend the weekend camping. So far this month has sucked!

Alioth

Hey guys. I've been trying to jump back in.
So, I started out October at 179.
My goal is 172.
Right now: 174.4
That is mostly because I have a cold/cough/sore throat and the cold meds are making me lose water weight. I'm actually 176 probably. But still, Huzzah!
Other goals: Go for a walk once a week. Work 10 hours this week. Maintain emotional stability. The hormones have been a roller coaster zomg!

@puffbrat Hope you guys are over being sick soon.
@WifiresGettingFit Teeth recovered yet?

puffbrat

Thanks @Alioth. We are all doing much better! The kid has been teething all month too but that appears to be coming to an end for now.

Do what you need to for your emotional stability. Those hormones are nuts! I strongly recommend avoiding any movies/tv shows that involve unhappy children. And absolutely do not watch the Zookeepers Wife! It's a really good movie that completely traumatized me even though I was already 1 year post-partum.

I actually hit and surpassed my goal weight for the month while sick since I didn't really eat anything for almost a week. Now I am back to my "actual" weight which is halfway to my Oct. goal. I'm hoping I'll be able to eke out a little more of a loss being back on track this week. Thanks to being sick and new in my job, I actually had to completely zero out my sick and vacation leave that was accrued, so now I have to work ~17 hours of comp time before the week of Thanksgiving in order to go on vacation as planned

WifiresGettingFit

@puffbrat I don't know how I missed your last response, I hope you're feeling better! That sucks about the sick and vacation time.

@Alioth Yes, thank you for asking! Good luck on your goals!

VeryKatie

Shoot, I forgot to weigh in today. I guess I'll be using tomorrow's weigh in for the spreadsheet.

WifiresGettingFit

I guess it's time to reflect on the month.

WifiresGettingFit wrote: »

I joined the spreadsheet today.

October Goals:

• Log accurately every day (I logged every day but there were some days where I feel like I may have forgotten to log something I ate so I don't believe I was as accurate as possible.)
• Meet step goal every day (This one was also a hit and miss, I have been walking at least 10 minutes every day for the last week 5 days though so getting back to making sure I meet my step goal again.)
• Eat under maintenance 80% of the time (Not even close. In fact I would say it was over maintenance about 98% of the time albeit not always by much but still. It adds up. According to the scale, I am 1.8 pounds down from the highest weight I seen this month but given the numbers I would say it's highly unlikely. It does seem that I was able to maintain at least. I'll aim to have more accurate/consistent data next month to get a better overall picture and make tweaks from there.)

I'm looking forward to sitting down and making goals for next month but will use these last two days in October to get a head start on making better choices.

EDIT: fixed a typo and reworded a few things

puffbrat

Goals for the month for me:
1) Actually log my food every day - didn't happen
2) Stay within calorie goal 6 days a week and within maintenance on 7th day - did ok-ish but not great with this
3) Lift weights 3 times per week - hahaha yeah right
4) Walk at least 6000 steps every day - I was doing great at this, except when sick, until the last week

October events which have the potential to affect my goals/test my commitment:
1) Work trip out of town for 2 half and 2 full days, Oct. 15-18 actually did ok
2) 2 day camping trip with the Leos and friends, Oct. 19-21 similarly did ok
3) Halloween, Oct. 31 did well in terms of candy but was starving and craved sweets all day so overate

Non-weight/health related goals for October:
1) Finish making the ornaments for my advent calendar didn't even touch them
2) Decorate for Halloween I put one of the Halloween wreaths on the door
3) Back up all the pictures and videos on phone and ipad didn't happen

I did lose weight this month. Until 2 days ago I had actually lost more than planned. Of course today I am back up 1.6lbs putting me slightly up from my goal for the month, but not by much. The rest of my goals were a miserable failure, so once again I will carry them forward to November.

VeryKatie

1) Get well - debatable lol
2) Log everyday - 5/7ths of the time roughly... i will accept it
3) Do zumba as soon as my lungs can handle it - didn't do it, in fact I sold all my tickets.
4) Control weight gain better - yes!
5) Be involved with the group and such! - Yes!
6) Work on going on stress leave or something from work cuz that would be great. - Ready, set, go!
7) Take the stairs sometimes -ummm... nope. Except at home... lol
8) Drink more water. - I have no idea if I did or not.

Alioth

Looks like everyone did great on their October goals. Hooray!
Uh, I ended October at 175-176. I just didn't log it. So I lost about 3 lbs. Which I'm totally happy about.
I didn't get much walking in. Maybe 2 in the month. I did get to work 40 hours a month in September and I think I did the same in October, but haven't run the numbers yet. Emotional stability still pretty poor. Haha. But improving.

@puffbrat Dang. I wanted to see Zookeeper's Wife. Maybe I should read her biography instead. Books are easier for me to handle with any sort of sad/traumatic content.