Step It Up September 2023

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baconslave
baconslave Posts: 6,954 Member
It's been a long and busy summer.
Maybe you've been on it the whole time! Great job!
Or maybe you've been hit or miss?
Or slacked off toward the end?
Whatever it is, that's in the past! Time to look ahead!

This month let's focus on how to Step Up your efforts to achieve your health and fitness goals. Whether or not that sounds exciting to you, you can agree it's something to do, and time will pass anyway. Might as well accomplish something. :joy:

So it's time to reevaluate where we are headed and buckle down to renew your fight for your goals for another month, whether they be weightloss or increased fitness or just better health overall. So. Let's Step Up the drive to hit those goals this month.

We got this!
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Replies

  • baconslave
    baconslave Posts: 6,954 Member
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    Alright. I'm been muddling through and been doing a terrible job. I'm pushing 200lb, and yeah I'm tall but not that tall. I refuse to buy new clothes. I refuse to let things slide any further.

    I've had a very hard year. Getting older and those complications, people in my life being so dramatic, and struggling with my mental health. 10 of these pounds I gained after I recovered from Covid in April. I drink too much. I've been skipping some workouts because my oldest daughter took over my workout space with stuff she'd been hoarding for when she moved out and the younger kids have so many events it makes it difficult. Well she's moved out, and I need to get this under control.

    I'd been trying intuitive eating. I've been trying just low-carb, but the siren song of those carbs just gets in my head. Next thing I know a half a family-size bag of chips is gone and I have chocolate on my face. And like I said, I've increased my alcohol intake from "only the random Ladies' night and Saturday evening" and expanded it to Friday night and Saturday and Sunday. And when I drink, I munch carby junk food.

    It's time to take it back.

    Eldest is out. So I will reclaim my workout room this week so even if it's at 7pm, I can make sure I get my 5 workouts a week. I'm going to be rationing my alcohol intake. Back to my flexible keto. Gotta log all my food except Saturday where I can just eat to appetite.

    Yeah you have a lot of problems, chickie, but some of them aren't going away. Time will pass anyway, and it'll be better if you can sit comfortably in your jeans, your knees don't hurt on the stairs, and even if you are tired at least you can move with ease. Get it done.

    Be back Tuesday morning after my Labor Day camping trip. :triumph:
  • tishsmith101
    tishsmith101 Posts: 1,579 Member
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    My threshold these days for when I say enough is 175 and I'm short so I don't carry it all that well. After my last camping trip I was 175, today 172.

    I've said before I won't buy any more larger clothes. I need to make corrections to my daily habits to fit more comfortably into the ones I have. I too need to reclaim my workout room, from being the household junk room.

    My work has a fall fit fest going on and last week I completed 165 min of my 150 min commitment. My personal trainer is also starting a fall fitness push in two weeks. Both programs with enhance each other and get me moving.

    I have a work trip and a vacation trip coming up so I plan on using a lot of the bodyweight strength videos I've been saving instead of hitting cardio in the hotel gyms.

    Step it up September in progress ❤
  • taylok23
    taylok23 Posts: 818 Member
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    I’m down to join too. I’ve been loafing on my food choices, letting hubs be a bad influence. My drinking upped over the summer as well. Motivation to exercise is not my problem. Randomly grazing, eating because it is convenient or just over eating gets me in trouble. I’ve gotten cravings under control with fasting and will continue to focus on 3 22-24 hour fasts a week. I’ll continue to make protein my priority and all else low carb. Dairy has become my enemy so I’m phasing it out too. I’m tired of eating things that don’t make me feel good!
  • melmerritt33
    melmerritt33 Posts: 1,045 Member
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    I’m back, and definitely in need of this. I’ve been playing around with my carnivore diet this year, trying to be too strict or trying to be more animal based with fruits etc and just have constant problems when I do that. I also injured my shoulder in June, damaged my rotator cuff, and have only just got full movement back in my shoulder.

    So both diet and exercise are in need of a reboot and get back on track. My goals are:

    1. Stick to a relaxed carnivore style keto diet. That means not strict carnivore but very limited plant foods in very small amounts, so as not to cause any flare ups of my Fibromyalgia or IBS. Essentially, plant foods are just flavourings for me. I must stop trying to cut out dairy because that never goes well, but I’m planning to stick to goat and sheep dairy which I seem to do much better with.
    2. Get back into a regular exercise routine. I have kept up my regular walks but need to get back to strength based and regular workouts. I’m aiming to do a workout four days a week in addition to my regular walks.
  • nicsflyingcircus
    nicsflyingcircus Posts: 2,413 Member
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    I got back on the wagon Tuesday. Going well so far.

    My goal is to stick to my calorie and carb goals (I'm set for under 50 but shooting for sub 20 while I get into ketosis) and make myself be a little more active. I prefer to walk outside but it has been a hot, grossly humid summer.
  • Megan_smartiepants1970
    Megan_smartiepants1970 Posts: 39,435 Member
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    My September Goals are ....
    ... Stay with Keto and IF
    ...Meal Prep on Sunday's
    ...Get 6 hours of sleep (this is a challenge for me with this darn leg/foot of mine
    ...Home Gym 5 days for 30 minutes
    ... drink 140 oz of water daily
  • melmerritt33
    melmerritt33 Posts: 1,045 Member
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    A good start for me, did some exercise yesterday and today, allowed myself some unsweetened BBQ sauce with my pork ribs yesterday and some unsweetened ketchup and avocado oil mayo with my lunch today. This could be the key for me to stop sabotaging myself with my diet and keep the health I regained over the last two years.
  • gerripo
    gerripo Posts: 10 Member
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    I posted a couple of things in the group yesterday. One was some advice for a newbie who asked for said advice. The one thing I wrote to him was to make certain he came daily to MFP. I expanded to say that every dang time I decided I could do this without taking the time for MFP I would immediately slack off and start gaining back weight I'd worked hard to take off. WHY FOR THE LOVE OF PETE CAN I NOT FOLLOW MY OWN ADVICE????? So, I'm back again to lose the 25 pounds I gained back. Next time I think about going solo without MFP, you all have my permission to whack me with a 2 by 4.
  • taylok23
    taylok23 Posts: 818 Member
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    I’m up a bit today again with some water weight because of some off plan junk I ate yesterday along with some adult beverages. I’m a sucker for Sunday Funday. Enough of that nonsense so I’m in hour 21 of my fast. I did fine over the weekend with fasting but have to be sure I don’t go overboard daily and stress my body out. I do tend to be an all or nothing kind of girl occasionally. I may be challenged in the next few weeks with food because I have work being done on the kitchen and won’t be able to cook much. Hopefully I can grill to avoid eating out too much. Happy Monday all!
  • melmerritt33
    melmerritt33 Posts: 1,045 Member
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    Did well again today, I don’t seem to have reacted to the sauces from the weekend which is good news. Stayed on track with my food and did two workouts today, a walk in the park and a full body workout with light weights.

    I’ve joined a challenge in a fitness group I’m a member of on Facebook (JDA Fitness) which I thought would pair really well with this one, it’s two workouts a day plus extra challenges each week (this week being five push-ups each day). I thought I might need an extra incentive as I have a holiday coming up this month. If these two group challenges don’t keep me on track and accountable then nothing will!
  • MacLowCarbing
    MacLowCarbing Posts: 350 Member
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    As of today I'm 77 lbs down from my highest known weight. I just did a 72 hr. sardine challenge this weekend and it was a great kick-off for the month.
  • baconslave
    baconslave Posts: 6,954 Member
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    ayyyyyy. And here I am!
    gerripo wrote: »
    I posted a couple of things in the group yesterday. One was some advice for a newbie who asked for said advice. The one thing I wrote to him was to make certain he came daily to MFP. I expanded to say that every dang time I decided I could do this without taking the time for MFP I would immediately slack off and start gaining back weight I'd worked hard to take off. WHY FOR THE LOVE OF PETE CAN I NOT FOLLOW MY OWN ADVICE????? So, I'm back again to lose the 25 pounds I gained back. Next time I think about going solo without MFP, you all have my permission to whack me with a 2 by 4.

    Twinsies! yeah no dang kidding! I know I need to treat this like a part-time job. And be invested every day and accountable. I know what I need to do...I need to do it.

    So. Goals.
    • About that booze. No drinking except the once monthly Ladies Night. Keep it to low-carb drinks, ma'am. And I have an anniversary weekend. I am buying exactly enough to drink Friday and Sat reasonably for that trip. No more than that, literally right before we leave. And keep the eating reasonable, you punk!
    • Log yer dang food, you sneaky brat. I see you! :rage: Do it!
    • Get that workout room fixed tomorrow so no more excuses no matter what malarkey comes up during my usual workout window!
    • Check in daily.
    • Carbs under 100.

    I don't even want to talk about what I weigh after this weekend's water weight. OY!
    Anyway, shooting for a lb a week. :triumph:
  • melmerritt33
    melmerritt33 Posts: 1,045 Member
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    Another good day, but realised I’ve been eating too much dairy, my sweet spot is one serving of dairy each day and I’ve been having more than that, I need to dial back on that a bit. Met my exercise goal. So this is going well so far.
  • taylok23
    taylok23 Posts: 818 Member
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    I had some stress today between work and unexpected car expenses. I really wanted to soothe with some sweets or junk but since I’ve skinnied down the pantry and wasn’t willing to drive anywhere, I told myself it was just the stress talking and to get over it. Small win but moving in the right direction. Now to make that a habit and start trimming back on my portions. Low carb day so I can’t complain…well, about my choices anyway! Tomorrow is a chance to be better.
  • baconslave
    baconslave Posts: 6,954 Member
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    9/5:
    cals: :+1:
    carbs: :+1:
    exercise: :+1:

    too much busy to work on that exercise room until later in the week. Everybody needs me to do something. I might just shave my head so the urge to rip out my hair isn't as strong. :neutral:
  • taylok23
    taylok23 Posts: 818 Member
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    23 hour fast with fairly low carb meal later today. I had some sweets cravings again, likely still a hold over of stress so I had some protein and fat. It worked but wasn’t as satisfying!
  • MacLowCarbing
    MacLowCarbing Posts: 350 Member
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    Another good day, but realised I’ve been eating too much dairy, my sweet spot is one serving of dairy each day and I’ve been having more than that, I need to dial back on that a bit. Met my exercise goal. So this is going well so far.

    I have that issue too... if I keep dairy in small quantities once a day I do fine and it keeps me happy and I stay on track. If I have a little too much it gets hard to stop at one serving and triggers cravings. It's a fine line.

    I've gotten in the habit of cutting my dairy like yogurt or cottage cheese to half the recommended servings and try to keep cheese in general to a couple of ounces.
  • baconslave
    baconslave Posts: 6,954 Member
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    9/6:
    cals: :-1: Had one more drink than I had budgeted for at Ladies Night. Was still a deficit but barely. But that's the last one until next month
    carbs: :+1:
    exercise: :+1: arm strength with dumbbells and 45 min of Sansone vids
  • taylok23
    taylok23 Posts: 818 Member
    edited September 2023
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    So I’m back down after my off plan food over the weekend. Down 3.8 pounds since August 7; I’ll take what I can get. Fasting seems to be helping so I’m sticking with the plan. Goal would be to get down another 13 total but I think that will me tough with lifting weights, so I’ll need to get back to measurements to see if I have true fat loss or muscle gain.
  • tishsmith101
    tishsmith101 Posts: 1,579 Member
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    Back from my work trip and vacation. Ate more than I should and carbs but walked an average of 12,405 steps per day over the past 9 days. Will wait to weigh in until Sunday after I drop the water retention from the7 flights I took.

    Back to meal planning/prep tomorrow.