Shape Shifters Team Chat - DECEMBER 2023
jugar
Posts: 10,262 Member
Fat2Fit has 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 Slimpossible - @broncobuddee and @trooworld
Weight No More - @minstrelofsarcasm and @melaniedscott
WaistAways - @jugar and @ashleycarole86
Shape Shifters - @jessicakrall8 and @Pupowl
Our Team Motivators:
Downsizers - @Slimmersixties & @NachDeezy
Mission Slimpossibles - @katmary71
Weight No More - @rachelrjh
WaistAways - @conleywoods & @cleaneater80
Shape Shifters - @Sbus12 and @Cyncia85
HOW IT ALL WORKS: The December challenge runs for 4 weeks, from December 3 - 30. F2F months always start on a Sunday and end on a Saturday, so adjust your calendars!
Everyone weighs in weekly on their chosen day right here in the team chat. 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 want a break, you can be excused for a week or two, or are moved to 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. Don't worry! You can always come back even if you get dropped.
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 last month of 2023 begin!!
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FAQ for New Shape Shifters Members
How do I post my weigh in?
Userid
(Day of Week) Weigh-in
PW: 204 lbs (previous weight)
CW: 202 lbs (current weight)
LTD: 12 lbs (optional loss to date)
Where is the Weigh in stats spreadsheet?
Start at the Fat2Fit Main Page and under the header information, you’ll see a section at the bottom that says “TO ACCESS THE SPREADSHEETS FOR JANUARY CLICK HERE” followed by the link in blue. Once you click on that link, it will take you to the Summary page. Find Shape Shifters on the tabs at the bottom and click on that and that brings you to the stats page. Also on this page (scrolling down), you’ll find the Step Challenge chart as well. This is where we record your daily steps if you sign up to be part of the monthly step challenge. More info on how to sign up is below! Join us!
How often should I post in the chatroom?
Whenever you have a question, suggestion, story, news announcement or just want to brighten someone's day!! There's never too much...and please share recipes, tips, laughs, challenges, cartoons, pictures of your pets, pictures from walks you've taken, etc...we love it all!!
What if I have to be out of town during my weigh in?
Send a message to one of the Captains (JessicaKrall8 or Pupowl) in the chatroom or in a private message on MFP's mail and let her know your circumstance...if it's just for a week or two, you can be excused from the weigh-in. If you must leave for longer than a month, you may be moved to our support team until you return. When you're ready to come back, send another message and the MODS will move you back to active status.
What happens if I miss a weigh in?
If you're late, you'll be marked as LWI (late weigh in). If you fail to report in at all, you'll be labeled as NWI (no weigh in). After two NWIs, you're put on the drop list if no explanation has been provided. It's always best to let your Captain know what's going on and she'll make sure you're covered.
How do I sign up for the Step Challenge?
Send the Captains a message that you'd like to join, provide your daily step goal and tell her your favorite place to walk. It's that simple! Please be aware though, you're making a commitment to post your steps every 2-3 days, which helps the Captains keep the stats caught up. If you're not willing to do this, please do not sign up. (THANKS!!)
Do I have to re-register each month to remain part of Team Shape Shifters?
No, your membership will carry over month to month. The only place where this is NOT true is for the Step Challenge. You have to sign up each month to participate in it and this gives you the opportunity to adjust your daily step goal.
If I've missed anything or questions arise, just post them! We'll find the information you need as much as possible! Hope this helps!
Welcome!
Jessica
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I'm in for the December step challenge. 4500 steps for now and the trail near my house4
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*waves* Hello Everyone!
bike ride today
Swash "lake"
The lake part, which is an estuary for migratory birds.
Apparently we're supposed to share food...
A few photos out and about today. I had to hurry the bike ride up because we're getting the typical coastal rainfall for this time of year. I did get a little rained on but had the whole trail to myself. Alone on the trail = "TRAIL KARAOKE!" Where I attempt to sing along to my headphones because nobody else is around. lol5 -
Mulecanter
Friday
PW: NWI
CW: 2302 -
Hello Shape Shifters! I hope you are all doing well.
I became a co-captain of the team in order to try to help out Jessica a bit. I joined this team in August 2021 and I have found it a very valuable tool on my weight loss journey.
There are a lot of things being offered here; there is the step challenge, the habit tracker, the weekly challenges, your personal weigh in and of course the Shape Shifter group chat itself. The more you engage with the group, the more you will get out of it!
Don't hesistate to reach out when you are having a hard time, chances are you aren't the only one and everyone here is kind and supportive. I often see people feel bad about posting a gain, please don't! We are all aware that weight loss isn't linear. Sometimes the scale just does what it wants, even when you do everything right. So post it, shrug it off and keep going. As long as you put in the work, the results will come, promise. This is probably a hard month for a lot of you with the holidays. Give yourself some grace, enjoy yourself and lean on your healthy habits. Remember that one day of overeating does not erase any progress!
I wish everyone a great December with lots of victories, big and small!
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Hello Shape Shifters. Yesterday I worked on my puzzle a little bit. I really underestimated how challenging this one would be. It is a smart cut which doesn't help and I still don't have the whole edge together. I want to finish it on Wednesday, because my mom is coming over Thursday and I want to be able to start a new puzzle with her. I think I can do it, but it is going so slow! Instead of sitting at my pc before bed last night, I worked on the puzzle and my brain was completely fried. I slept really well though, lol!
This morning was super cold again. I dressed better, but I was even colder than during yesterdays walk. I think part of it was also that I had to bike for 10 minutes to the start of the walk. I wore an extra layer for the bike part specifically, but it was really miserable anyway. The walk was longer than I remembered and my legs were a little tired by the end, but nothing too bad. It was very quiet and I only saw one other person. I really had to warm up when I got home, but I am currently on giant tea mug number 3 so I feel much better! Also running some laundry. It was so cold in the laundry room/shed that the detergent just turned almost solid and wouldn't come out of the bottle. Fun times. I plan to relax with Tinus and the puzzle the rest of the day. It will be nice. Happy Saturday everyone
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Izzyred9400
Sat weigh in
PW 140.6
CW 140.4
A smidgen of a loss but I will take it.
I measured my waist this morning & I've lost 1 inch so a nice NSV for me.
I'm off to the Christmas Markets this afternoon.Its really cold today & snow is expected this evening.I don't like been out in it but love it when I'm snug indoors & can watch it.
Have a great Saturday all ❤️
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Hello everyone! Happy December!
My name is Melissa and I’m a 54 yo retired attorney married for 32 years to the love of my life. We have two kids - a daughter who is a DA in Denver, Colorado and a son who is in his senior year at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. We have a golden retriever named Alaska. We split our time between Houston, Texas and Telluride, Colorado. My husband is an avid skier so we will be in Colorado through March, hopefully.
My weight has always been a struggle for me even though I’m very physically active. My problem is in the kitchen. I’ve been motivated by my daughter’s upcoming wedding to lose some weight. I’d like to lose about 5-6 more pounds. I tend to do okay in December despite the holidays because I usually run the Houston Marathon in January (sometimes the half) so that counters some of the treats.
We are getting some nice snow which I’m really excited about. The Christmas tree is supposed to be delivered today so I’ll have to get my run done early so I can start decorating. It gets dark so early right now!
I’ll re- join the step challenge for December. There is a bike path in Telluride where I like to run, but I often end up on the treadmill due to weather, convenience, etc. I’ll set my goal at 10,000 steps to encourage more movement on my non-running days.
12/1 14,547 steps
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The December Week 1 Group Challenge is open and ready to begin on Sunday, Dec 3rd. I hope you'll join us for the "Hello December Challenge" and get your fitness fix on! Here's your link:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10904491/december-week-1-group-challenge-hello-december-challenge/p1?new=1
See you in the chat thread. Would be great to see more Shape Shifters in the mix!! (hint, hint)...
Jessica3 -
Saturday steps 41193
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@SavageMrsMoose Stats for the step challenge for Dec will start with Sun, Dec 3rd...FYI2
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Hello Shape Shifters! You have a new member joining you for December. Welcome @bnjones2023 !4
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Today I went out for a cycle but the rain caught me and some small hail too. I carry a small thermos with warm water instead of cold, so I can get warmed up on the trail (if I'm hiking it's water and a thermos of coffee). I had planned a longer route this morning but it was quite windy and being difficult. I saw the big bull Roosevelt Elk again, he was posing for photos by the road. I saw a falcon - really pretty bird. And I saw a hunter on an e-bike pulling his buddy riding a Huffy brand cruiser bicycle behind him by rope. In that way neither guy had to pedal. lol. The duck hunters were out this morning. The one fellow had a box of mallards they had gotten earlier.
The park was pretty empty as the weather has been 'bad' albeit typical for December.Every day there is a new hole in the yard making a tunnel system going towards the bird feeder
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Hello @bnjones2023 and welcome to our lovely group! I hope you will enjoy your time with us. If you want to share something about yourself, that would be great. We are happy to have you and good luck on your health journey. 2
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Hello Shape Shifters! New month, new intro. I love reading introductions, so I hope more people will share some information, whatever you are comfortable with.
My name is Laura, I am 35 and I live with my cat Tinus in a small village in the Netherlands. I am very fortunate to live close to a national park. I enjoy going for walks there, sometimes with my camera. I love taking pictures of nature, especially birds. I take a lot of pictures of Tinus as well and I enjoy sharing pictures with the group. Some other hobbies are reading, jigsaw puzzles, singing, gaming and Postcrossing.
November felt a little bit slow and I lost 6.6 pounds total. In an ideal world, I would lose 2 pounds a week. We had 5 weeks this month so I didn't do great. I really struggled the past 1,5 weeks or so and I had 8 days where I went way overboard with food. Because of that I asked to be excused from my last weigh in. Sadly I also realised that weighing in once a week isn't working for me either because it is too easy for me to go crazy and think "oh I will fix it before Wednesday" and then it turns into full blown 'head in the sand mode' of not caring anymore at all. So back to daily weighing. I stepped on the scale for the first time in a little bit this morning and I was up 3 pounds. I honestly expected worse; I should be able to get that off again quickly! I made a cute rainbow tracker for myself in google sheets so I will be sharing a weekly review on Sundays. Posting daily numbers was annoying me; too much work! I will still share pictures and other things in the group of course. The main thing I want to do for the whole of December is going for a daily walk. So far so good, but it is only day 3 and the weather hasn't been bad yet, so we will see! Happy December everyone
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I made some more progress on the puzzle last night. All the green butterflies are done too, now I 'just' have a sea of yellow left. I got a high sleep score again, so I think frying my brain with the puzzle is really useful! It was a little less cold this morning, but more windy. While biking to the walk, I came across a young horse that had escaped its pasture and was just chilling next to the road. The mom was still in the field, so at least it didn't wander off. I went over to the farm to inform them of course and the lady was very thankful. Seems the baby horse is a bit of an escape artist, she told me he keeps trying to get out of everything. I hope they figure out a solution for that, because it is not safe at all. The walk was pretty nice, though some areas were very wet. I love my shoes, I never get wet or cold feet. Almost all the snow is gone, but we are getting new snow tonight! I hope it is pretty tomorrow.
After my shower I went to the grocery store to stock up on some soup and other things. I also bought a pancake mix, bananas and a whisk. I am going to see if I can make some tasty vegan pancakes tomorrow or something. I want more warm things to eat. I don't want to make a whole bowl with batter though, so going to try to work out how much I need to make just 1 pancake. I will let you all know how it goes. Happy Sunday everyone
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Hello Shape Shifters! You have a new member joining you for December. Welcome @bnjones2023 !
Good morning @bnjones2023 and welcome to the team! I recommend you start at the beginning of the Dec chat thread and read our FAQ file, which should answer many of your questions. If there's anything not covered, just post your question and you'll get several responses I'm sure. Hope December brings new habits for you and helps you on your quest for better health and fitness. Give us an idea of your goals and what we can do to be more supportive!
Good luck in Dec and beyond!
Jessica 1 -
My name is Julie, I'm 35 years old, married, SAHM to two year old twins, living in Arizona. My weight has been stuck bouncing all around the mid/upper 130's for far to long. My ultimate goal is to drop the final few pounds and reach my goal of under 130.
I have a 10k Race in January that I am currently training for. I'm running 4-5 times a week. While I currently can cover the 10k distance, I'm trying to up my speed and get more comfortable running longer (to me) distances. I'm also wanting to increase my upper body strength. I want to start a home body weight routine, but I've been struggling to find time to squeeze it in. I'm really going to work on making that a bit higher in my priority list this month.
For my diet, I've recently been playing with OMAD, but I'm not sure if that is working well for me. I think I'm going to give it another week before reassessing and deciding if I should continue with it.
My goal is to solidly get to 133 this month (I saw it briefly a couple of months ago, but it didn't last long).
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I would like to do the step challenge this month. My goal is 10,000 steps.
I don't have any amazing places to walk near me, but there's a park/playground close by that I like taking my boys to walk around and letting them play a bit (yay for the cooler weather that allows a bit more outdoor time).4 -
My name is Julie, I'm 35 years old, married, SAHM to two year old twins, living in Arizona.
For my diet, I've recently been playing with OMAD, but I'm not sure if that is working well for me. I think I'm going to give it another week before reassessing and deciding if I should continue with it.
My goal is to solidly get to 133 this month (I saw it briefly a couple of months ago, but it didn't last long).
Heya Julie...what is OMAD? Just curious...running after 2-yr-old twins is all the exercise plan you need, some days, right?! LOL Bet they keep you hopping!
Love your goals for the month! WTG!
Jessica2 -
Steps
12/1 5,111
12/2 7,7193 -
Please sign me up for step challenge
5,000 steps
I walk during my 2nd job I try to get outside but weather is changing so I'm riding my bike inside strapping my Garmin around my ankle3 -
Wk 1 - Sun, Dec 3
PW: 174.0
CW: 173.6
Gain/Loss: -0.4
SW: 178.8 (started May 2023)
LTD: loss 5.24 -
jessicakrall8 wrote: »My name is Julie, I'm 35 years old, married, SAHM to two year old twins, living in Arizona.
For my diet, I've recently been playing with OMAD, but I'm not sure if that is working well for me. I think I'm going to give it another week before reassessing and deciding if I should continue with it.
My goal is to solidly get to 133 this month (I saw it briefly a couple of months ago, but it didn't last long).
Heya Julie...what is OMAD? Just curious...running after 2-yr-old twins is all the exercise plan you need, some days, right?! LOL Bet they keep you hopping!
Love your goals for the month! WTG!
Jessica
OMAD is one meal a day, a variation of intermittent fasting. The idea is you eat all of your calories in one meal, and don't eat the rest of the day. I'm having hard getting enough calories at the one time and then I derail later so it's not working too well for me. I'm playing around with my meal, trying to see if different macro allotments work better.
I struggle because I'm in the kitchen all day (or so it feels), preparing food and feeding the kids and doing dishes. It's hard for me to just forget about food, so I'm hoping just eating once will shift the focus off of eating outside of my eating time. But I might have to come up with a new strategy because this hasn't been working to well so far.2 -
Hello Shape Shifters!
I’m Patrice, a 57 year old woman from Alexandria, VA. I work at the intersection of education and other systems — e.g., health, mental health, employment, and independent living — mainly for children with developmental delays or disabilities but not exclusively.
My husband and I have been married for 33 years, and we both grew up in Boston, so we’ve maintained a strong connection with our friends and family members there. We lived in Japan and Germany before we had children, which allowed us to travel within Asia and Europe a bit. We still enjoy traveling wherever we have the opportunity.
We also stayed in Japan for about a year when our two sons were very young. They are now ages 22 and 23 years old, so they live near their universities most of the year and return home during some of their school breaks. I’m gradually adjusting to the ‘empty nest.’ Part of that transition incudes downsizing a lot of the stuff that accumulated while raising children. I’m slowly decluttering and making space for this new phase of life and future experiences.
Improving my health/fitness level is a major focus of this transition work, as I reestablish my ‘identity.’ I’ve always been active, but it was more difficult to find time for exercise and plan health meals that everyone would enjoy while trying to balance school, sports, and community activities while also fulfilling work, business travel, and other daily commitments. So, this has been a period of adjustment and still requires dedicated practice.
I joined MFP at about 168 pounds when the pandemic hit our area and I decided to concentrate on improving my health to increase my likelihood of surviving if I caught the virus. My work was still very busy because we had to shift in-person health services to Telehealth and teaching moved online, which required lots of changes, but I was also able to step back from many volunteer responsibilities. I actually enjoyed the slower pace of family life, cooking and hiking with our sons, etc. but I recognize that this period was very difficult in many other ways.
I met my weight goal of 125-130 after about 18 months, and shortly after joining this group. I joined the F2F challenge around May 2021, and reached 125 in August or September of that year. I was able to maintain my goal for about a year but got off track when I had to shift my primary focus from nutrition to support some family members. I’ve gradually gained back about 10-15 pounds over a period of a year or 18 months.
Last week, I had a ‘wake-up’ call because I’m approaching an overweight BMI. So, I’ve made some positive changes over the past couple days. I’m looking forward to keeping the momentum going forward. My rowing group can’t take a boat on the river in the cold weather but our winter conditioning workouts start on Tuesday after a month-long break. The new schedule is the motivation I need to establish a new routine!
Best wishes to our team and welcome to all the new Shape Shifter members! Onward!!
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My steps for the end of the month
11/30 20,285
12/1 12,552
12/2 10,971
I would like to join the Step Challenge for December please.My goal is a bit lower for winter at 14,000 steps.I like to walk in my local park & also if its wet I walk into down & walk around the Shopping Centre.4 -
jessicakrall8 wrote: »My name is Julie, I'm 35 years old, married, SAHM to two year old twins, living in Arizona.
For my diet, I've recently been playing with OMAD, but I'm not sure if that is working well for me. I think I'm going to give it another week before reassessing and deciding if I should continue with it.
My goal is to solidly get to 133 this month (I saw it briefly a couple of months ago, but it didn't last long).
Heya Julie...what is OMAD? Just curious...running after 2-yr-old twins is all the exercise plan you need, some days, right?! LOL Bet they keep you hopping!
Love your goals for the month! WTG!
Jessica
OMAD is one meal a day, a variation of intermittent fasting. The idea is you eat all of your calories in one meal, and don't eat the rest of the day. I'm having hard getting enough calories at the one time and then I derail later so it's not working too well for me. I'm playing around with my meal, trying to see if different macro allotments work better.
I struggle because I'm in the kitchen all day (or so it feels), preparing food and feeding the kids and doing dishes. It's hard for me to just forget about food, so I'm hoping just eating once will shift the focus off of eating outside of my eating time. But I might have to come up with a new strategy because this hasn't been working to well so far.
Thanks for the explanation...I understand what you mean about wanting to forget about food. Feels like I'm always planning for the next meal. I'm doing intermittent fasting with 2 meals a day during an 8 hr window and then fasting for 16. I can't say I do it all the time...I'm sometimes hungry in the morning at work and I'll have oatmeal. I have a horrible affinity for the mcmuffins at McDs though...UGH! Try to only do that once a week, but can't say I have a solid handle on it...
Jessica3 -
izzyred9400 wrote: »My steps for the end of the month
11/30 20,285
12/1 12,552
12/2 10,971
I would like to join the Step Challenge for December please. My goal is a bit lower for winter at 14,000 steps. I like to walk in my local park & also if its wet I walk into down & walk around the Shopping Centre.
@izzyred9400 I have 20,285 for you on 11/29...are you sure it's the exact same for 11/30? Let me know.
Jessica0 -
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