Let's Do this! - 2019 Challenge - Be the best you can be!

msarobix

I have been struggling with my weight for a number of years. I am a former fitness instructor who started packing on the pounds once I stoped teaching. Then I started a day job that was extremely stressful and didn't provide much "ME" time, and my workouts completely fell off my radar. That has left me weighing much more than I would like.

I have now changed jobs which as freed up some time to get back to my physical well being.

I have challenged myself to take off this extra weight in 2019. It will be anything but easy, and in the past I have found I am most successful with my weight loss when I am tracking and sharing my experience with others on the same journey. As well as helping them along their own weight loss path.

My plan is to post here on most days of the week in 2019, and I hope others will join in with me and be able to reach their own goals as well. I am starting this prior to January 1, because why wait. Let's get started now. Sure with holiday meals coming it might not be the best time, but really when is the best time. You don't necessarily need to be tracking your weight for the next week or so, but why not get that exercise program started.

So will you join me for this 2019 Challenge. I have an Apple Watch and would love to friend anyone interested in keeping up with each other on a day to day basis to meet our goals in 2019.

This Challenge isn't about who can lose the most weight, it is more about keeping us on track and picking each other up when we fall down. My personal goal is to develop my exercise routine over the next 6 months and then stick to it for the remainder of the year. I also want to clean up my diet. What are your goals for 2019?

I figure if working out daily and watching what I eat causes me to lose weight then GREAT. But if I simply get back into a routine and I am limiting the junk food I would be happy with that as well. I know the weight will come off in time if I stick to it.

Please join me, and share your struggles so we can all learn from each other.

Tina

loonyhiker

I can't wait to start! I have an apple watch to and will look up how to "friend" you on it. Don and I have been doing this program called "Naturally Slim" that was paid for by our health insurance company. I like the principles they recommend. The one that has worked best for me is to eat slower so I feel fuller. I eat half of my meal in 10 minutes, then wait 5, and then eat the rest. In the past, I would eat it all in the first 5 minutes! I'm taking in less calories this way. We both have lost about 6 lbs. in the 12 weeks we have been with the program.

msarobix

Hey @loonyhiker , Thanks for joining the challenge. I will send you a message so we can link up with the Apple Watch, I think I just need your Apple ID email address to add you.

Eating slower is something I need to start practicing as well. Steve is always scarfing his food down so fast, and I feel as if I am slowing him down if I am not finished when he is. But I guess I just need to start eating slower and maybe he will slow down as well.

I look forward to motivating each other this next year. I am just getting back to regular workouts. My workouts the past few years have been sporadic with log gaps in between. So I want to get to the point where I am exercising every day again. Awhile back I had a 329 day streak going, so one of my goals for 2019 is to beat that and keep it going.

bridgwaterk

I’m in!

I’ve been struggling to keep on track since our last challenge. A lot has happened health wise and in life since then. I’m slowly trying again to work on improving my health.

I’m tracking one meal a day here and my Fitbit transfers over my steps. I don’t have an Apple Watch.

I’m still struggling with daily tracking of all foods, eating healthy regularly and exercising daily. I am managing to slowly lose weight. Consistency is my biggest issue.

I’ve missed you both, @loonyhiker and @msarobix! I’m looking forward to dong another challenge with you. I too do best with regular contact and accountability.

Julia66227

I'm in! Sounds like the motivation I need. Thanks, Tina for including me!

SallyLuvsFitness

I would love to join you all as well! I don’t have an Apple Watch, however, I do track my steps with my Garmin. Let’s achieve our goals in 2019.

SallyLuvsFitness

My goals for 2019:
1) Cut back on wasted alcohol calories. I like Vino.
2) Continue working out - Barre three times a week
3) I eat pretty healthy now; however, focus on eating my veggies.
4) Weigh in every Wed, starting the beginning of the year. I would like to be back at my goal weight. I have slowly gained 14 pounds over the last three years. Time to take off.

All the best to everyone!

msarobix

@bridgwaterk

Welcome to this challenge. I know how hard it is to get back on track. I have also been starting slow and trying to build back up to a reasonable program. I am giving myself the first 6 months of 2019 to slowing ramp up to what I will consider a sustainable program going forward. We all have our starting points and limitations, but we can all make progress to our individual goals.

I hope to provide individual challenges along the way too. For me when I have a challenge it am much more likely to push myself just a little bit harder.

I am looking forward to meeting my goals in 2019 with all of you.

msarobix

Hey @Julia66227

Thanks for joining the challenge. I know we can all be a motivation to each other. It is going to be a long hard road, but with the support of friends it can be a little easier.

msarobix

Hi @Fitness327wk

Thanks for joining, and thank you for sharing your goals for 2019.

I have heard about the Barre workout, but have never done one. Could you tell us all a little bit more about it and why you enjoy it?

One thing I want everyone to remember that this challenge isn't necessarily about losing weight, but achieving our individual goals. It is mostly likely that by achieving these goals we will lose weight, but that is just a side effect of what we are really trying to do.

Here are my goals for 2019:
1. Workout daily - walk on days I don't run
2. Increase my running to 3-5 miles a day 6 days a week
3. Add strength training 3 days a week
4. Add Yoga 4 days a week on days I don't strength train
5. Clean up my diet, and eat less than what I burn every day

My current Status:
1. Walking most days of the week 2-3 miles
2. Running a bit, usually no more than a few minutes up to 15 minutes at a time
3. Not currently doing any strength training
4. Not currently doing any yoga
5. Not monitoring what I eat at all, it is a free for all

My plan is to slowly progress from my current status to my ultimate goal for 2019. As I already mentioned I am giving myself 6 months to do this. If it happens to take a bit longer I am okay with that as long as working towards those goals. I just don't want to fall off the wagon and completely lose sight of what I am trying to achieve.

In the process of working towards these goals I also hope to drop 25-40 lbs, but like I said that will be an added benefit of achieving the goals above.

Now for those of you who haven't shared your individual 2019 goals, please do. Also let us know where you are starting and your plan to achieve your goals.

WE CAN DO THIS!

Smilely3

Hi,
My biggest struggles are consistent weekly workouts and sweets/ junk food. My goals for 2019 are to develop cleaning eat habits and burn 3500 calories a week to lose my last 25lbs.

msarobix

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday was a decent exercise day for me, however diet was another story. Changing the when, where and what I eat has always been the hardest for me because I like working out, but I LOVE to eat. I would love to hear some of your strategies for managing your diet.

Anyway, yesterday I also filled in my spreadsheet for the past month. YES, I said spreadsheet. I like to have statistics about my progress, and it gives me the data I need to constantly be making small improvements towards my ultimate goal.

Here are the things I track on my spreadsheet:

Weight
Active Energy - Apple Watch
Resting Energy - Apple Watch
Stand Hours - Apple Watch
Steps
Total Distance
Flights
Workout Minutes
Workout Distance
Workout Pace

I also have a spot for Notes for each day.

My spreadsheet has the above categories across the top and the days of the week down the left side. Then at the bottom I have the total, average, highest and lowest for the month. Each month will be on a separate tab and then I have a tab for the Summary for the year. I also have some graphs for their visual effect. It is the accountant in me that makes me want to track things this way. LOL!

I figure I will use these numbers to try to beat my best from the previous month, and to monitor to make sure that I am always making small increases/improvements so that I will be able to reach my ultimate goal.

Are any of you as obsessed as I am about tracking. Honestly, I find it to be an eye opener. I am either doing the work and seeing progress or I am slacking off.

As a former fitness instruction I can tell you that no matter where you start it is important to continue to advance/increase what you are doing in order to improve your fitness and overall health. Start slow and make small improvements over time towards your ultimate goal. As you get in better shape you won’t even notice the additional couple of minutes, the faster speed, or whatever it is you have increased. And when you see where you were and where you are now it will be a motivation to keep going.

The most important thing is that you track what you feel is meaningful to you to gauge your progress towards your goal. But I highly recommend that you track something. Obviously, we are doing this to hopefully lose weight, but weight can change dramatically from day to day so you don’t want this to be your only measurable.

What will you track?

I know not everyone has an Apple Watch, but at the very least it is probably a good idea to at least have a pedometer. Although there are apps that will also track your steps right on your smart phone, but you have to remember to keep it with you at all times. I am astonished at how FEW steps I really take during my average day when I don’t workout.

msarobix

@Smilely3, I find it difficult to have consistency with my workouts when I don't PRIORITIZE them.

Sure, at times there are 100 other things I would rather be doing then working out, but if you REALLY want to do something you will find the time to make it happen. It is all about prioritizing.

For me, doing me working out first thing in the morning works best. I wake up and immediately get on the treadmill. I don't really give myself time to think about what I could be doing instead. Although, if I convince myself that I need more sleep and never get out of bed that is another problem. In the past 3-4 years extra sleep has been my #1 excuse as to why I can't fit in a working on any given day.

I find that when I workout in the morning it energizes me up for the rest of the day, and sometimes I even feel like getting in an extra mile or two when I get home from work.

By the way, after your workout, if you don't feel energized and ready to take on another workout, then you are pushing TOO HARD. Bring your intensity down a few notches and see how you feel. You shouldn't feel exhausted after your workout no matter how hard you worked.

Junk food and sweets are my downfall as well. And it doesn't help to have a husband with a sweet tooth. I don't have any advice on this front because I am still trying to figure this one out for myself. If anyone else has any suggestions that have worked for them in the past I would love to hear them. I can use all the help I can get in this category.

OliveC1956

I would love to join you guys! I am not sure what I need to do to join the group. I have not joined a challenge before, just tried tracking by myself. I'm in though. Sorry I don't have an Apple Watch.

msarobix

Hi @OliveC1956, you just joined by posting here. I haven't set up a group, I thought we would just stick to this one thread and post throughout the year. If it gets too cumbersome than we can figure that out as we go.

The idea is to share your journey, what is or isn't working, your struggles and triumphs, and everything else along the way.

Start by sharing your individual goals for 2019.

No need to have an Apple Watch. I thought about sharing specific measurable, but everyone will be at different fitness levels and I don't want anyone to feel as if it is a competition. Everyone should advance at their own level and not worry about what the next person is doing. I just want to make this group fun, supportive and motivating to keep everyone moving towards their individual ultimate goal.

acogg

Hi long time MFP friend! So nice of you to send me the invitation. Sure, I'll join and try to support and share. Just getting over a cold so I expect to be active tomorrow. My weights are ready and I am ready to start again.

KeriA

Hello, thanks Tina for the invitation to this challenge. It was an answer to a question on my mind as I logged in to MFP today. Until recently I have logged food and exercise daily, weighed daily, and checked in with friends and challenges. Also I have had a fitbit for a long time but recently I first lost my charger and then found it but now don't know where my fitbit is. I will have to replace it if I don't find it soon. The question is how to find the right way to track things for me now given my life now. When I started here and had the most success I had more time. Now I am working full time at a job I love with a small commute. My daughter has returned from college to find a program closer to home so this almost empty-nester doesn't have an empty nest any longer. I am also having a love hate relationship with my new scale that registers me heavier than the old one and seems to pop up and sometimes down in a way that makes little sense to me. I do vary a lot but not quite this much. My life is so full that by the end of the day I don't always want to get on the computer. I too use a spreadsheet but need to get it up and going again. It seems too cluttered with data I don't use and it needs to be reorganized so I was very interested in your description of yours Tina.

I just googled the Apple watch and feel like I should do a pro and con list that a review did on the watch for me:

Pro:
I exercise 3 days a week (aquafit)
I try to take every opportunity to get in the steps such as park farther from the building, take the stairs, try to get up and have a short walk for tea or water etc. at work.
We try to eat healthily.
I weigh in daily

Con:
With only a short time after work it seems that getting to the gym and making healthy meals at home conflict.
When things get busy we eat out more than I feel is good. My husband and daughter and I work a lot.
I have arthritis in one knee that limits my exercise somewhat.

Anyway I like the idea of not waiting to start our goals for 2019. My wonderful employer gives us the week between Christmas and New Years off each year paid. I have some time now to get organized. I copied Tina's lists below and revised them for me:

Here are my goals for 2019:
1. Start to increase my workouts to work back up to daily exercise - walk/glide/exercise at home or gym at work on days I don't go to Aquafit
2. Get enough sleep everyday
3. Add strength training 1 day a week (aquafit includes resistance work)
4. Drink more water
5. Clean up my diet, and eat less than what I burn every day
6. Log food and exercise daily
7. Eat at home except for limited meals out (no more than 1 time per week)

My current Status:
1. Except for holidays exercise 3 days a week
2. Usually get enough sleep but sometimes push it some on weekdays reading longer than I should
3. Not currently doing any strength training except for resistance work in Aquafit
4. Not getting enough water
5. Not logging what I eat or exercise but continuing for the most part to eat similar to when I logged more regularly

Opportunities:
Time this week to get organized.
My daughter is starting a new program going back to complete her degree. We have been picking her up each night at work so she doesn't have to take the bus home late at night. So that will help us get to bed earlier now that she will not be working nights any longer.
Now that the holidays are over I can get back to my Aquafit schedule more regularly but will add in cleaning up our house.

msarobix

@acogg Thanks for joining the group. This will be a year long challenge, but I know we can all stay motivated to reach, stretch and achieve our goals.

msarobix

Hi @KeriA, I can tell you that the Apple Watch is awesome, but it is pricy. It is much more than a pedometer, which is why I like it so much more. I just did my first ECG on it tonight. I love technology, LOL!

Drinking enough water is another area that I need to improve. Even when I keep a glass of water next to me I always seem to forget.

Does anyone have any tricks that they have used to drink more water?

msarobix

Hi Everyone,

I was able to squeeze my workout in first thing this morning before work. When my alarm went off, I was VERY tempted to turn it off and go right back to sleep, but I told myself that I would be much happier if I got my workout out of the way. This morning was just a walking workout so I knew I didn't have to work too hard, so I swung my feet out from under the nice warm covers and made it happen. And it is a good thing too, because I really didn't feel like working out after work tonight.

Now I have the next 6 days off, which I imagine will be glorious. I don't have any specific plans other than to do my workouts, relax and get a few chores done around the house. I am very much looking forward to it.

loonyhiker

Hi everyone!

I find that I need to get my exercise done before my husband wakes up or I don’t do it. I’m also learning that if I don’t get my heart rate up enough, my exercise ring won’t close.

My goals are:
Eat slowly
Drink more water
Exercise at least 4 times a week
Eat no more than 24 grams of sugar per day

pinkmomma6

I’m in!



Starting weight: 228
Goal weight: 130
Current weight: 228
Total weight lost: 0
This week's successes: 0
This week's challenges: Holiday Treats

msarobix

@loonyhiker I have the same problem with my exercise rings sometimes. I find that I have to be walking at least 3.5 mph in order to keep my heart rate up enough to be considered "Exercise" on the Apple Watch. My Move ring is a completely different animal. Some days I feel like I get too much credit for my MOVE ring. There are days that I haven't even worked out and I only have 2 minutes of "Exercise", but I easily get more than 400 MOVE calories. I don't get it.

I do try to stand at work for a few hours a day, so maybe that helps. Who knows, it is really a mystery to me.

msarobix

Hi @pinkmomma6 Welcome to the challenge.

Yes, Holiday Treats are a big downfall for me as well. Luckily the holidays will be over soon and we can all go back to normal.

loonyhiker

@msarobix I have been walking at 3.2 mph for 3 min. And then 3.5 mph for 2 min and repeat for a total of 60 min. My exercise ring has been closing after 30 min. If I just walk at 3.2 mph, it doesn’t close.

My knitting and spinning gets my movement ring closed easily. I had to go in and increase the calories goal.

jhonnamitchell618

Hello!
I have a 9 month old and 2 dogs that LOVE to help me exercise...LOL I am excited to join this challenge. I have an Apple Watch and wouldnt mind to add friends to do some challenges and to keep me accountable.

My Goals:
* Find a workout routine that works
* Drink water
* Stop using excuses as to why I haven't lost all the baby weight
* Journal food daily (hardest for me to keep up)

StacySunshine8

I would love to do this challenge with you guys. I’m new. I got an iwatch for Christmas. I was using a Fitbit and I have had a gym membership since October. I just downloaded this app yesterday. Holidays are tough but I did better this year than I usually do.

milley1985

I'm keen to join, i don't have an apple watch though.

msarobix

@loonyhiker LOL! I have noticed when I do a lot of knitting my move ring closes more quickly also. But sometimes I am aggressively knitting so I wonder if that is why. Other times when I am just casually knitting I don't notice an increase.

msarobix

@jhonnamitchell618 Welcome to the group. I will send you a private message so we can hook up on the Apple Watch.

It isn't going to be something that I try to tackle in the first couple of months in 2019, but I need to start tracking my food as well. I figure once I get my workouts back on track if I am still not losing the way I hope I will need to dig into my diet to see what the problem is. But I know I don't want to have to track my food for eternity.

msarobix

@StacySunshine8 Welcome! Yes, I agree, holidays are super hard. I have the next 5 days off so I hope I don't get to crazy with my diet. I find that if I keep myself occupied I am less likely to feel the need to snack.

I will also send you a private message to link up on Apple Watch.