WaistAways Team Chat - SEPTEMBER 2022
jugar
Posts: 10,262 Member
We have five great teams. The group and team leaders are as follows:
Our Moderators:
Liselyn - @jugar
Megan - @Megan_smartiepants1970
Ashley - @minstrelofsarcasm
Jessica - @jessicakrall8
Our Team Captains:
Downsizers - @lindamtuck2018 and @Megan_smartiepants1970
Mission Slimpossibles - @broncobuddee and @trooworld
Weight No More - @minstrelofsarcasm and @melaniedscott
WaistAways - @jugar and @ashleycarole86
Shape Shifters - @jessicakrall8 and open
Our Team Motivators:
Downsizers - open! let your Captains know if you are interested
Mission Slimpossibles - @katmary71
Weight No More - @rachelrjh
WaistAways - @conleywoods
Shape Shifters - @angmarie28 & @PatriceFitnessPal
HOW IT ALL WORKS: The September challenge runs from September 4th - October 1st. F2F months always start on a Sunday and end on a Saturday, so adjust your calendars!
Every challenger weighs in weekly on their chosen day right here in the team chat thread. At the end of each week, the tallies are done to determine the team and individuals with the most weight lost. The best losers are announced with full fanfare every Sunday. The team competition is all in good spirits - may the most losing win!
We also celebrate those small, steady losses. If you lose, however small an amount, you are in the green! At the end of the month, we celebrate everyone who lost at least a bit every week. You are heading steadily towards your goal even if you aren't at the top of the weight loss leaderboard.
To make your weigh-in easy to find for your team Captains, please put it right at the top of a message, and use this format:
Weigh In Day:
PW (Previous Weight):
CW (Current Weight):
If you miss two weigh-ins in a row without asking for a break, you will be dropped from the team, so be sure to inform your team captain if you are traveling, sick, or just need some time off. If you take a break, you can be excused for a week or two, or are moved to the Support Team for longer. You can remain on the Support Team for as long as you need to. You still participate in the discussions, you can weigh in if you want to, but it will not count in the weekly tally.
Once you reach your goal weight, you join the Goal Zone! You continue to weigh in every week. If you have 2 weeks above your self-defined goal zone, you go back to the regular team to lose that amount before it builds up. You will have a chance to hone those maintenance skills and stick with your team!
In addition to your own team, there are weekly F2F Full Group CHALLENGES. You can do all or none - it's up to you. Participating adds a lot to your success, so we hope to see you there often! These can involve anything fitness, health, or nutrition - and they’ll get you moving, thinking, and learning about this journey. Check the Announcements section for full group challenges.
Let’s show our fellow challengers some F2F love! Introduce yourselves right away, and let the new month and year begin!!
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Welcome to September!
This is our home for the month, where all of our joys and challenges take place. Please (re)introduce yourselves and set some goals and daily actions for the month. Focus on the small every day choices, and you will get where you want to go!
I am Liselyn, co-captain along with @ashleycarole86 . I live in rural Québec, and I'm a retired university professor of music. My weight loss story? After being somewhat overweight for most of my life, I really packed it on while in an admin job that involved a lot of sitting, meetings, travel, and meals. I tried many times to lose, but it was not until I was 58 that I got really serious with both food and exercise. In October 2022, I'll hit 10 years on maintenance, always refining and making sure I don't have to do it all over again. Yes, it is possible to lose weight and get in shape during and after menopause!
I know there are people on this team who have a lot to lose, others who have lost a lot and are closing in on their goals, and some who might be working on losses that are stubbornly resisting. There is much wisdom here, and the most important lesson we learn from each other time and time again is that it is not a straight shot, there will be trials and errors, and sticking with it when it feels like you have fallen off yet again is the best thing you can do for yourself. Plateaus can be good, but going back the way you came is not!
Some helpful information/tools:
Posting your daily updates
We know from experience that posting daily (or as often as you can!) makes a huge difference to your success. Use any format you like to let everyone know how you are doing on your daily goals and habits. You can report on food, exercise, water, sleep, or whatever you are tracking and trying to stick with. While you're there, talk about how you are, ask questions, and if you can answer someone else, please do! Congratulate others, commiserate, enjoy someone's rant, or go ahead and rant yourself. It all helps make the kind of community where we are in each others' heads when the hand is reaching for that off-plan snack, or the couch is feeling way too inviting...
Weighing in
Please try to weigh in on time! When you post, put your weigh in at the TOP of a message, so it is clear and easy to find. If you cannot post your weight for whatever reason, please request a week off, or if you need a longer break, you can request to move to the "Support Team" where you can still participate but your weigh-ins will not be part of the weekly tally. This is where members who are ill, on vacation, or just needing a break can hang out for as long as needed.
The F2F Habit Tracker
If you want a simple place to track your most important habits, give this a try. You can see how your teammates are doing too
The link and how-to info are under "Announcements" on the main F2F page here:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10872955/habit-tracker-september-2022#latest
So everyone, tell us a bit about you, your goals for the month, what steps you are going to work on. It's fun to know your name and where you live (if you're willing to share that), what brought you here, how your weight loss journey has been, and where you are headed now. Let the introductions roll!1 -
Greetings from Saskatchewan as we travel across the country to a wedding in Manitoba! I am your co-captain alongside our wonderful leader @jugar and my role here is to run our step challenge.
Step challenge details
-The step challenge is an optional add on that's encouraged to get the motivating benefits of having to report in and be accountable.
-All intentional activity counts, so you need to provide me with your daily steps + additional minutes of intentional exercise not counted in those steps which I will then convert to steps for you.
-If willing, commit to a daily step pledge and provide me with that target. Your total steps + exercise minutes converted to steps will count towards this pledge. I will use it as part of our consistency stats in my weekly report.
-You can report daily or weekly. The week runs from Sunday to Saturday so each Sun/Mon please ensure I have your stats from the prior week.
Hopefully that covers it but feel free to ask if there are any questions. I'll automatically role the August participants into the September team with the same pledges, so if you need to make any changes, just let me know.
About me
My name is Ashley, I'm 35 years old, and I am married to fellow teammate @bowens1973
I was overweight my whole adult life until I committed to a new lifestyle in January 2021. I have a history of binge eating, emotional eating, and generally just not looking after myself. While I was a super athletic kid, the weight just piled on when the activity stopped but the bad eating habits remained.
Before I started back on here, I had mostly given up on ever losing weight and I hadn't actively tried to do so in years. I was at my highest weight ever. One morning that late January, I woke up from a bad dream about my size and for whatever reason it kicked me into action and I haven't looked back since.
My husband joined the journey shortly after. He had a hip replacement in late 2020 and it has completely changed our life as a couple. We are able to do much activity together now.
I went from 293 to the mid-160s and decided as I was in a normal BMI for the first time in adulthood that I was ready to switch to maintenance.. I am a relatively new maintainer and looking to translate the new habits I made while losing into habits I can sustain for life. Last month I was back on the team after a vacation but I am happy to report I got back to my maintenance range. I'm on the road again for a couple of weeks but I am planning to do what I can to not weigh outside my maintenance zone for two weeks in a row so I can stay in the goal zone team.6 -
Hey everyone. My name is Lauren and I am from North Carolina. I have been overweight for most of my life. I lost 50 pounds about 10 years ago and gained most of it back. Since then, I've been doing the yoyo thing.
For the past 9 months, I have been going to orange theory fitness about 3-4 times per week. What I have learned the most, is you can't outrun your fork. I focused for most of the month of August and actually saw some progress on the scale! Last weekend we went on vacation and I went overboard. Now it's trying to get back to the basics, measuring and tracking. I am planning for a great September!7 -
@ashleycarole86 👋🏻👋🏻 at you as you pass through Saskatchewan.
Hello Waistaways 😀 my name is Carol and I am from Saskatchewan, Canada 🇨🇦 I joined MFP in February so I could be successful in weight loss before hip replacement surgery. I’ve lost 49 pounds so far and 50 was the goal my surgeon set for me. I am getting my first hip on September 16. I’ve got all my preparations complete, temp staff hired to replace me at work for a week or 2 and now I only have to keep my nervous anxiety at bay for 2 more weeks.
My goal for September is to stay at UAC, continue to lose weight and work hard at recovery so I can get hip number 2 as quickly as possible. My long term goal has been and continues to be goal weight by March 2023.
Welcome to all the newcomers!! The Waistaways are a great bunch and I’m happy to be one of them.
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Hello all,
It's only taking me a month to finally introduce myself. My name is Mary. Proud mama of a 14 year old son who just started high school, and my fur babies- Sherri and Furrball🐈⬛, and our newest addition, Jack 🐕.
I've struggled with being "pleasantly plump" after the birth of my son. In the past I was able to be somewhat "average" weight in my 20s and 30s by having an active lifestyle. But it's been the last couple of years where I have realized that most of my weight problems have been due to an unhealthy relationship that I have had with food. Subconsciously, food =control. A rebel at heart, I hated being "controlled." My mother and I had a volatile relationship. I was never "enough." I've learned that I binge when my emotional triggers get pushed. Even positive events can trigger me. But I am in that point in my life, where I accept my past. I want to live a healthier lifestyle. I've been a fighter. Struggled. I deserve success. We all do.
The most recent push was after I had been accepted to a double blind clinical study for hypertension- beginning of June. After months of labs, doctor visits and being hooked up to a blood pressure cuff for 24 hours, I was accepted to the study. For randomization, I was injected twice in the abdomen. They told me that according to my last labs, I was borderline diabetic. I remember thinking to myself... could I really see myself doing this? Injecting insulin into my belly every day, because I was going to keep my unhealthy ways?
So here I am. My goal is to get to my pre-kid weight. I am 26 pounds away. 🙂
Mary10 -
Hello team!
I'm Kristi and I am 40 years old and live near Spokane Washington in the USA. I'm married and we have 3 kids age 13, 11 and 7. I live next to my in laws on 100+ acres. I have 2 dogs who love hogging all the space on the couch and 2 spoiled guinea pig boys. My whole family is wrapping up summer vacation and getting ready to start a new work year. I'm a school based occupational therapist and I mostly work at the preschool in my district. School needs to start because I have a pile of new work toys taking over my sewing area!
I started my weight loss journey in February 2019 at 255lbs using noom. I joined this group in December 2019 and have been here ever since. I was able to get down to 214lbs but couldn't maintain it. Last year was full of life and work drama and I really folded under the pressure. I gained and was up around 243lbs. In April I started working with a wellness coach. I do body scans with her and set goals. She also has a lot of educational material and 2 educational meetings a month. She also does live workouts mon-fri for her clients. I'm getting ready to transition from meeting with her every 2 weeks and need to decide if I want to do monthly or quarterly. I think I'm leaning towards monthly.
My plan for this month is consistency 🙌 We are very spontaneous during the summer which can derail my efforts at times. I want to stick to my macros and eat pretty clean. My husband started growing wheat grass and micro greens for us. Well, he originally started growing it for the guinea pigs because I occupational buy them wheat grass. Then as he was reading about it he decided we should be eating wheat grass too! I now have my own home gym in a small bedroom next to my room. It's the perfect location, down stairs and away from the kids upstairs bedrooms. I am planning to start morning workouts this next week. My plan is to get up at 5AM and until 6AM that hour is my time. My workouts are 25-30 minutes HIIT style. After that I can relax, drink coffee or snuggle guinea pigs. My piggies are in my workout room too. That is extra motivation to get in there. They are most active in the morning and evening so they are pretty funny at that time. I have already started going to bed earlier and working out earlier in the day to prepare.10 -
Hi everyone! I'm Kellie, 32, from Alberta, Canada. I've struggled with my weight all my life. I've yo-yoed between 145 and 225 as an adult. I'm trying to lose it again and be able to maintain. I'm not sure how to do that yet but I keep learning more.
Like @lauren_989 I go to Orangetheory, which I love, but injuries have taken a toll on my ability to go consistently and my enjoyment of it. I have physio exercises to do but the work life balance means I haven't done them consistently.
I finally got a permanent full-time job as a process engineer-in-training (a requirement in Canada to be one for four years before becoming a professional engineer) in May after not finding one since I graduated in 2019. I had started a master's in chemical engineering to try to stay competitive with all the other grads. Now I'm working full time and trying to complete this MSc, but my master's supervisor keeps ghosting me for months. I was supposed to have finished this by the end of August and had to extend to the end of December because of this. The stress of school and working full time has caused me to pack on the pounds.
So now I'm in the mid 190s (it'll probably be way up after this week/weekend) and I'm really hoping to start losing more consistently. Here's to a better September!9 -
The Sept Week 1 Group Challenge is posted and ready to begin on Sunday, Sept 4th. Please join us for Jump Into Fall as we try a choice of mini-challenges designed to motivate us as we transition into the Fall Season. Here's your link:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10873067/september-week-1-group-challenge-jump-into-fall#latest
Hope to see you there!
Jessica
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Hi team WaistAways,
I'm Courtney. I've been with the team for 2 years now (wow!). I've yo-yo'd with my weight most of my adult life and after reaching my initial goal of 190lbs from my starting weight, I've yo-yo'd around it for over a year now. Maintaining the 50lb loss is an accomplishment by itself, but not when I've said I plan to lose more. I know that the key for me is logging and tracking my portions as I don't make the time for intentional exercise in my daily routine. If I could find a way to love exercise after dinner, I'd be in heaven! I'm able to get off the couch for hockey, I should find a way to do it for Pilates and HIIT as well, but, like others have said, you can't outrun your fork. Portion size! That's my kryptonite.
I have to want the weight loss more than the extra bite.
I'm at a crossroads I think. I'm happy with my current results. I could just maintain and be satisfied. But that extra 15lbs would bring me to a point where I would be stronger, healthier, and my self esteem over my appearance would be through the roof. My motivation wanes once life gets in the way. Hopefully I will make a decision at some point and either buckle down, or sit on the sidelines.
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PW: 177.0
CW: 176.0
Planning to start off September strong
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Hello, my name is Kelly. I am a wife, mother of 4, and Kindergarten teacher. I have been a part of the team since January 2020 and I am pretty sure I weigh about the same!!! I am an emotional eater. I have thyroid issues.
September goals.
1. Follow my new meal plan which will hopefully eliminate my stomach pains
2. 5 workouts a week (I have not been good at this)
I think I am good with here 2 goals. I need my pants to fit better before either gets cold!!!
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@jugar thanks for you feedback on my diet changes. I was surprised you said rice because that is listed as a healthy gut food. I don't do cow milk, often, but I am going to cut/reduce cheese but keep yogurt, for now. Its interesting that you mentioned fats because I have been having afternoon nuts. I have been careful to have only 1 serving, but it has definitely increased my fats. I am going to cut those out for the month.
@conleywoods I use Orgain Simple and it does not have fake sucrose or any other fake sugar. I ordered a pre-workout to replace my morning coffee 😥 and I realized a lot fo those of sucrose so thank you!
I made a tracker sheet that starts today and ends October 1st to motivate me to follow my new self researched meal plan. I am basically cutting out foods that could be causing stomach issues and adding foods that can help. I am planning on making a 4 week meal too.5 -
Steps
Sun 9,430
Mon 11,925
30 min intervals
Tues 14,967
20 min Barre
Wed 14,382
Thurs 13,698
15 min Barre
Fri 13,491
Sat 4,888 (I have an earache and rested in bed)5 -
Hello!
I’m Loraine and I’m a Brit living in rural Missouri. I moved from Las Vegas in January this year and it was an awful experience that hasn't quite leveled out yet.
During this time I have gained 30lbs, so a lot of weight over a relatively short period of time. I am struggling to lose it, I have very few clothes that fit and am loathed to buy more at this size as I have no desire to stay at this weight. I have gained and lost over my life so this is nothing new to me, it just went on so rapidly, it caught me a bit off guard.
I joined this group last month and it has been so helpful in so many ways.
My goal for the month of September is to build on the habits from August and introduce a few more. I am going to use the Habit Tracker to keep me focused on each item.
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@ashleycarole86 Here’s my steps for last week:
Sun 8,126
Mon 6,651
Tue 9,885
Wed 4,113
Thu 12,005
Fri 5,107
Sat 11,8973 -
Happy Sunday and first day of the September challenge!
We did well in August, even if week 5 was not one of our most amazing. We lost over 40 pounds as a group for the month, and considering all the vacations, getting back to work/school, renovations, and all kinds of other circumstances, I'd give us all a pat on the back. Results will be posted a bit later.
I have been sitting here at the computer doing tallies for a couple of hours. Time to get up and move around!!6 -
Hello, my name is Michele and I'm 58. Married 39 years with two grown children and a granddaughter. I've been part of this group since February 2019. We have a LOT of friends here that have been with the group a long time. They feel like family. This is an awesome, no judgement group. There is so much wisdom, motivation, and support. If you've been here, then you know. If you are new, I hope you love it as much as we do.
I started at a high weight of 223.5. My low was 188 right before the pandemic started. I literally maintained at 196 for an entire year. I wish I was there now, but I am not. I have been struggling. Like
@LoraineGB, I moved from North Caroline to Pennsylvania back in March. I have gained close to 22 pounds since then! Some was related to medicine, but I have gone off and the weight is still climbing. I am not going to out exercise the fork, so I need to get back to logging my food. I can't remember the last time I logged for a full week. That's a very lofty goal for me this week as I start back teaching after a 4 year hiatus. I will be teaching PreK including my granddaughter and 15 other littles.
I also want to get back in the habit of doing Pilates 4x a week. It will be a challenge with school. I am not an early morning person, but evening I let everything get in the way and I make excuses. So that's my goal.
I'm going to stop there because my computer battery is warning me and I don't want to lose this. Welcome to the team new members. Glad you are all here.
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Steps for end of the week:
Friday: 15232
Saturday: 16176
Things happen, right? Last night, on my last walk with Jack, we were crossing the light by the local post office. I saw a car coming toward us as we started on the crosswalk. We completely had the right of way, I waved at the drive; a precaution to make sure he saw us since it was pretty dark. To my relief, he started slowing down. But not enough to completely stop. He coasted over the crosswalk at 2-3 mph. I put my hand out pushing on the hood of his car, my other hand holding Jack away with the leash. I made sure he didn't go under the wheels. It was a bizarre and frightening experience. The driver seemed shocked and I couldn't tell if he was inebriated. His window was open and I said, "were you intending to fully stop???" We went straight home. It's made me so much more cautious walking Jack today.
My goal today is to be more mindful of empty calories. I've been under or close to my daily calories allotment. But my macros suck. Going to try to drink more water today.
Happy Sunday, all! Just be wary of these drivers!
~M7 -
Team Results
By Percentage
By Pounds
Individual Results
By Percentage
By Pounds
Team Winners
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Team Results
By Percentage
By Pounds
Individual Results
By Percentage
By Pounds
Team Winners
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I'm working for a perfect day today😌 I have just a regular day at home so it shouldn't be a problem. Yesterday was busy running errands. Then I had my hair color touched up. I just do a demi permanente and waited about 2 months too long so it was pretty much back to gray and dark blonde. It took over 4 hours to get through all of my hair! Then I went home and got my husband for date night 💗. Needless to say my food was just off and too much sitting as well.
I wanted to post some pictures of all of my sewing projects for my guinea pigs fall cage! Their cage is 90% all washable fabric bedding so it cuts down on waste. I didn't make the cute pumpkin house. I just wasn't in the mood to develop a pattern myself. A lovely lady in the UK makes them and I couldn't resist.
Here are the two boys (Pumpkin Spice and Winnie) in their summer cage digging in their garden themed foraging box!
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@bobagurl2017 I'm really glad you and the puppy are okay! That sounds so scary 😳2
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@bobagurl2017 So glad that you and Jack weren't hurt! I would have been fuming.
@conleywoods If I am reborn as an animal, I would choose to be one of your guinea pigs - they have a lovely life! And such plush living quarters!
@ashleycarole86 here are my step and exercise stats for last week:
Sunday - 1990
Monday - 3615 / 35mins Hamstrings (Caroline Girvan Iron - Day 16)
Tuesday - 3121 / 36mins Complete Upper Body workout (CG Iron - Day 17)
Wednesday - 1675
Thursday - 8931 / 40mins Glutes (CG Iron - Day 18)
Friday - 2776 / 36mins Full Body Muscle Building (CG Iron - Day 19)
Saturday - 2348
My September goal is to join the group discussion more regularly and increase my water intake.
We are planning a mini break to Belfast at the beginning of November and when we get back we plan to adopt another rescue dog. I am hoping that these future events will help motivate my improved behaviour!
Welcome to all newcomers. I think you're going to like it here.7 -
Hi WA's ....You have a new member joining your team ... Please welcome @Melissa0711
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Hello @Melissa0711 Welcome to Waistaways! I look forward to meeting you.2
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@Melissa0711 So glad you are joining us! This is such a great group and everyone is so supportive ❤1
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Welcome @Melissa0711 - it is wonderful to have you with us. New members always bring lots of that new energy! Tell us a bit about yourself and ask any questions you may have!1
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Last week:
Sunday - 15,836
Monday - 9915
Tuesday - 12,874
Wednesday - 13,779
Thursday - 6029
Friday - 8328 + 50 minutes bike
Saturday - 14,990 + 45 minutes bike
Who is up for weigh-ins?
@Terytha
@CarolAnnM2
@MsMcClane
@MoonlitMuse
Off we go!4 -
Evening all!
Busy couple of days.. my aunt's wedding today was a great success.
Very late nights for me, tons of catching up with family I haven't seen in forever, and way too much food and drink the last two days!
The wedding meal was one of the most decadent I've had.. so tasty. Needless to say, weight has gone up.
I will have more time to catch up in a couple days but it's been great reading everyone's intros.
I will be doing the step report Tuesday if everyone can have their data in by then!4 -
Weigh in Day: MONDAY
PW: 203.5
CW: 202.7
😃5
This discussion has been closed.