75 Hard/Medium/Easy Challenge: March 3 - May 17
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May 14 - Day 72/75
✅ Food - on plan!
✅ No alcohol - no problem
✅❌ Exercise - Two workouts: 1strength-1 cardio. kind of blah on exercise today - but lots of cleaning, garden, walking about
✅ Reading - something helpful at least 10 minutes per day. an interesting piece on being like a worm - just going through all the crowded chaos of a mess and not putting things off
✅ Water - OK
✅ Thoughts - How are you enjoying the Atlas of the Heart @NouveauRee ? I have been wanted to get into that one, but keep putting other things before it.1 -
May 14 ~ Day 73 of 75 medium
[ Naturewalk ]
67 minutes
[ 3+ liters water & tea ] 5.5 liters
[ Reading ] Read during the day
[ Sleep 8+ hours ] 8h 25m & 85 sleepscore
[ Under 1450 cal ] Done!
[ Eat in 6 hour window ] Done!
Happy Wednesday
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My Version 75 Hard Challenge: May 13 - 70/75
✅ Diet - Calorie counting. Staying at or under 1200 calories per day. 1,1128 calories today.
✅ Water - 70 oz of water per day (no alcohol) 85 oz. of water today.
❎️ Exercise - 30 minutes cardio workout, 30 min strength training and 20 min yoga/palates stretch, 10k+ steps per day (inside/outside) 7,999 steps.
❎️ Reading - 10 minutes each day of anything. I did not read today.
❎️ Sleep- Get 7 hours of sleep every night. I slept 5 hours and 21 min.
My Version 75 Hard Challenge: May 14 - 71/75
✅ Diet - Calorie counting. Staying at or under 1200 calories per day. 1,137 calories today.
❎️ Water - 70 oz of water per day (no alcohol) 51 oz. of water today.
❎️ Exercise - 30 minutes cardio workout, 30 min strength training and 20 min yoga/palates stretch, 10k+ steps per day (inside/outside) 4,630 steps.
❎️ Reading - 10 minutes each day of anything. I did not read today.
❎️ Sleep- Get 7 hours of sleep every night. I slept 5 hours and 39 min.Mothers Day 5k run with my son.
Welcome Carson my first Grand-baby.
💪F2F - Mission Slimpossible!💪1 -
Day 7️⃣4️⃣ of 7️⃣5️⃣
✅ Exercise: 120m walk
✅ Read: Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience By Brene Brown
✅Water: gallon
✅ Food: dipped 71 cals into exercise
❌<10g Added Sugar: try to stay away from most cereals but still out of town so grabbed a Raisin Bran cereal cup this morning. It was that or Froot Loops , Frosted Flakes or Cocoa Krispies.
@jugar really enjoying Brene Brown’s book. Filled with so much valuable info to unpack but unsure if it would be the same for everyone. I grew up in a family that did not show emotions or share feelings so I’ve always had a difficult time communicating and tend to keep a lot in. Also have some social anxiety so this book so far has been very helpful. I’m reading rather slowly to take it all in and treating it more like a workbook. I may have to order the actual book. Right now I’m reading the kindle version. Her stories and examples are very relatable and easily transferable to your own experiences. For me it’s not a book to rush through. Will take my time to absorb, learn and apply.
@pupowl love your beautiful fluffy cat 🤗 how much time do you spend brushing?
@veta2018 congrats on your first grandbaby🤗 adorable💕0 -
Wow! gorgeous photos @veta2018 ! Beautiful family
May 15 - Day 73/75
✅ Food - not well planned, way off for lunch, but very light supper. I call it OK.
✅ No alcohol - no problem
❌ Exercise - Two workouts: 1strength-1 cardio. nothing but a short walk. Hours in the car, then lots of sitting planning getting ready for my dad's memorial service on Saturday.
❌ Reading - something helpful at least 10 minutes per day. no time! But I'm more determined than ever to get to the Atlas of the Heart. Thanks for the nudge @NouveauRee !
✅ Water - OK
✅ Thoughts - It will be amazing to see all the family and friends over the next few days. Even though it is sad to lose my father, having everyone together to celebrate his life will be wonderful. And it's my daughter's birthday tomorrow - she'll be travelling all day from Alberta to Boston, but we'll have time for cake, right?1 -
My Version 75 Hard Challenge: May 15 - 72/75
✅ Diet - Calorie counting. Staying at or under 1200 calories per day. 1,174 calories today.
✅ Water - 70 oz of water per day (no alcohol) 86 oz. of water today.
✅ Exercise - 30 minutes cardio workout, 30 min strength training and 20 min yoga/palates stretch, 10k+ steps per day (inside/outside) 30 minute cardio, 30 minute strength training, 20 minute stretch with 8,553 steps.
✅ Reading - 10 minutes each day of anything. I read for 1 hour today.
❎️ Sleep- Get 7 hours of sleep every night. I slept 6 hours and 51 min.
@Pupowl - Congratulations on your loss this far. You have learned some great strategies along the way.
@jugar - <Hugs> Sorry that you loss your father. Happy Birthday to your daughter.
@NouveauRee - I'm still planning my transition but I plan to continue to drink plenty of water and log everything everyday. I will continue to watch portion size and make healthy food choices. I also will be slowly increase my 1,200 daily calories intake by 100 each week, working towards 1,650 daily calories. This may fluctuate depending on my activity. I also plan to continue to strength train for 30 min. every day. And try to get at least 7 hours continuous sleep.💪F2F - Mission Slimpossible!💪1 -
May 15 ~ Day 74 of 75 medium
[ Naturewalk ] 54 minutes It has been really warm here, so not a lot of energy
[ 3+ liters water & tea ] 5.5 liters
[ Reading ] Read during the day
[ Sleep 8+ hours ] 8h 13m & 84 sleepscore
[ Under 1450 cal ] Done!
[ Eat in 6 hour window ] Done! Bonus ~ gym rings workout
Happy Thursday
Last day for me, let's gooo!
@NouveauRee Thank you. I comb/brush him almost daily and we also have an appointment with a groomer at home at least twice a year. It's quite a bit of maintenance!
@Veta2018 Thanks!2 -
Day 7️⃣5️⃣ of 7️⃣5️⃣
✅ Exercise: 120m walk
✅ Read: Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience By Brene Brown
✅Water: gallon
✅ Food: dipped into exercise
✅<10g Added Sugar: on target
Woohoo Congrats on making it to day 75! Kudos to the Final Fabulous Four🎉💪🌟
Are these goals now habits you will continue to stick to?
Here’s a recap of my stats.
Goal 1️⃣ (88%) 66 of 75 days exercised 90 mins
Goal 2️⃣ (100%) 75 of 75 read 30 minutes non fiction
Goal 3️⃣ (89%) 67 of 75 drank a gallon of water
Goal 4️⃣ (91%) 68 of 75 within net calories
Goal 5️⃣(83%) 62 of 75 had less than 10 grams added sugar
Overall 51 days met all 5 goals which is 68%. Was aiming for 80+%. Feel like I could have done better. Leading up to traveling and being out of town this month shows me how much I rely on my routine and need to find better ways to adapt. However, had some back to back long shifts in April that also impacted hitting my goals. Proud I didn’t just give up but a reminder to work on life balance and prioritizing myself. Will press on until I reach 75 days with all 5 goals met. If I can reach it in 100 days that’s 75% passing.
Will dig deep and push a little harder.
@jugar sorry for the loss of your father. Glad you can all be together to celebrate his life. May he rest in peace. Hugs 💕
@veta2018 sounds like you’ve got a great transition plan. Best Wishes! You’ve got this!💪
@pupowl you’re doing a fantastic job keeping him so well groomed and maintained. Hopefully he enjoys the bonding/brushing time🤗0 -
My Version 75 Hard Challenge: May 16 - 73/75
❎️ Diet - Calorie counting. Staying at or under 1200 calories per day. 1,248 calories today. I'm under my new goal of 1300 calories.
✅ Water - 70 oz of water per day (no alcohol) 96 oz. of water today.
❎️ Exercise - 30 minutes cardio workout, 30 min strength training and 20 min yoga/palates stretch, 10k+ steps per day (inside/outside) 3,849 steps.
✅ Reading - 10 minutes each day of anything. I read for 20 minutes today.
❎️ Sleep- Get 7 hours of sleep every night. I slept 6 hours and 42 min.
Diet (89%) 65 of 73 days
Water (89%) 65 of 73 days
Exercise (67%) 49 of 73 days
Read (79%) 58 of 73 days
Sleep (54%) 40 of 73 days
Total perfect days (13%) 10 of 73 days
I could have done better. I more or less used this challenge to track my habits, rather than challenge myself to complete them everyday.
@NouveauRee @pupowl @jugar 😁Awesome dedication! It was a pleasure doing this challenge with you.🥂 To the fabulous four finalists!💪F2F - Mission Slimpossible!💪1 -
May 16 - Day 74/75
✅ Food - A good day - lots of salad, veggies, and good protein.
✅ No alcohol - no problem
✅ Exercise - Two workouts: 1strength-1 cardio. A full Pilates session with some extras, a fairly long rehearsal, and some walking. Not five miles, but something at least.
❌ Reading - something helpful at least 10 minutes per day. no time - after Saturday...
✅ Water - OK
✅ Thoughts - My daughter and her partner made it at last - some delays, a train breakdown, but finally they are here. Feels good.2 -
May 16 ~ Day 75 of 75 medium
[ Naturewalk ] 58 minutes
[ 3+ liters water & tea ] 5.5 liters
[ Reading ] Read during the day
[ Sleep 8+ hours ] 8h 4m & 79 sleepscore
[ Under 1450 cal ] Done!
[ Eat in 6 hour window ] Done!
Happy Friday
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Here is my entire 75 medium checklist.
Naturewalks: 62 out of 75 done ~ missed 13 days
3+l water/tea: 75 out of 75 done ~ This one didn't require any effort. If anything, I drink too much.
Reading: 75 out of 75 done ~ Also no effort whatsoever, I love reading and learning new things.
8+ hours of sleep: 71 out of 75 done ~ missed 4 days ~ Impressive! When I was short on sleep, it was never because I went to bed too late. Sometimes my brain just won't quiet down and I will lay in bed awake for a few hours.
Under 1450 calories: 60 out of 75 done ~ missed 15 days ~ At the start of the challenge, I said I wanted to limit days over calories to 7, so I didn't really do great with that. My problem is that one day of overeating almost never stays at one day. Instead I go off the rails for a week or so. I would like to be better at this, but I am also not that bothered about it anymore. Life is hard, losing weight is hard. In the grand scheme of things, I still did really well for 60 days and my weight went down as a result which is the important part.
Eat between 10:00 and 16:00: 71 out of 75 done ~ missed 4 days ~ Also happy with this. The few times I didn't manage that window, it was mostly due to having dinner with other people and once because of ordering pizza if I remember right.
Bonus gym rings workout: I didn't track this well, but I think I only missed around 4 days. I recently increased my sets/reps from 3x8 to 3x10 so that is going pretty good too.
Here are some updated full body pictures I took today plus the ones from the start again. I didn't wear good clothes for the starting pictures, but it's fine. I can see a difference mainly in my legs and stomach/hip area.
Start weight: 197.7
Current weight: 186.7Overall I am pretty happy with how I did. I still think the original challenge of not being able to fail anything is too harsh. Instead I am more a fan of having minimal habits. Things you always do even when life keeps throwing crap in your face. For me that would be getting enough sleep, 12k daily steps (my daily average for this year so far is 17.772 so 12k is doable even when I feel terrible), never miss my nature walk two days in a row and end the week lighter than I started it. Of course that last one will change when I make it to goal weight! Anyway, I enjoyed sharing my posts here daily and I liked reading what everyone else was up to. I do think it is a bit of a shame that people dropped out so fast. I think it has just been the 4 of us since day 30 or something. So go us for sticking it out, even if we weren't perfect!!!
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Day 7️⃣6️⃣ of 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ (52 days met all 5 goals)
✅ Exercise: 90m walk
✅ Read: Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience By Brene Brown
✅Water: gallon
✅ Food: 🎯
✅<10g Added Sugar 🎯
For accountability continuing to track here until I get to 75 days of meeting all 5 goals.
@veta2018 woohoo fabulous job sticking to your habits and reaching your weight goal during this challenge! Proof consistency pays off! Best wishes as you transition to maintenance. Keep us posted. This is something I’m very interested in learning about. I’ve still got awhile but I want to be prepared and ready this time. So any additional tips and advice along the way please share. Enjoy your time with your new grandbaby!🤗
@pupowl wow amazing love seeing all those checkmarks ✅ now I want to create a chart😂not just to see the checks but to see patterns. I have a hard time getting back “on track” too after a higher calorie day. That’s why I don’t do “cheat” days because it’s never just one day. I’m also okay with eating exercise calories because some days you just need more although I do need to dial it back to limit this to 2x per week or only 1/3 of exercise calories. Overall I try to look at my calories by the week to see the deficit net exercise. It’s been pretty consistent with the scale most weeks. Were you able to see a pattern on the days you ate over your goal? Were there other circumstances such as birthday or busy day that started it? I know I tend to eat more when I’m stressed from work. Also right before/during my cycle so I’m okay with eating at maintenance during that week. It’s useful to see the patterns to help plan better the next time or accept it so you’re not beating yourself up for something that’s normal. Thanks for sharing your before/after pics! You look great and I can so see the difference in your hips/thighs! Woohoo way to go and congrats on 11 pounds down! Keep up the great work! Wishing you continued success on your journey and if you continue at this rate you’ll be reaching your weight goal too this year!🤗0 -
May 17 - Day 75/75
❌ Food - It went great until supper! Then it was a pizza (and salad!) party followed by birthday cake and some ice cream. My dad's memorial service is tomorrow, my daughter's birthday was yesterday, so all the family arrived and we had a great evening even if it was plenty excessive on the calories.
✅ No alcohol - no problem
✅❌ Exercise - Two workouts: 1strength-1 cardio. No strength, but a good hilly 3 mile walk.
❌ Reading - something helpful at least 10 minutes per day. no time - after Saturday...
✅ Water - OK
75 Days! I did not keep the beautiful records like you @Pupowl but I know the areas that need work, and I have developed some new strategies for fighting inertia. I did not really lose weight, but got back into my maintenance range, even if towards the top of it. I know how important it is to keep up strength work, even if it isn't a "hard" every single day. I will be doing a couple of interesting challenges over the next months, so I hope to keep this energy going for a while. It has been wonderful having the daily report to do and reading all of yours. Well done!
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My Version 75 Hard Challenge: May 17 - 74/75
✅ Diet - Calorie counting. Staying at or under 1200 calories per day. 1,119 calories today.
✅ Water - 70 oz of water per day (no alcohol) 76 oz. of water today.
✅ Exercise - 30 minutes cardio workout, 30 min strength training and 20 min yoga/palates stretch, 10k+ steps per day (inside/outside) 1 hour cardio, 20 min strength, stretch with 10,479 steps.
✅ Reading - 10 minutes each day of anything. I read for 1 hour today.
✅ Sleep- Get 7 hours of sleep every night. I slept 8 hours and 14 min.💪F2F - Mission Slimpossible!💪0 -
@NouveauRee Thanks a lot for your kind words! Seeing patterns is really useful. I recently got a paper habit tracker from Amazon that I started using this month and I love it. Just coloring in the boxes is already so satisfying!
I don't really trust exercise calories. Fitbit always gives me a lot so I usually don't touch them. I also think the calories I can eat is just very low for some reason. Yesterday I had a rest day, still got my 12k steps and did the gym rings workout, ate 1425 calories and this morning I had a 0.4 lbs gain. Not huge and might be a fluke, but I still didn't expect it and it makes me afraid to eat over 1400 calories. My BMR is 1529 but there is no way I can eat that and not gain. On my active days when I go for a walk, I usually get over 1000 extra calories from my Fitbit.
One of the most important things for me is starting the day with a walk. Especially since I want to have my breakfast after 10. If I wake up at 6:30 and have nothing to do, that is quite a long time to 'wait' without food. So I have noticed that no walk + overeating go together quite often. I am 'retired' (disabled) so don't work, I don't have much of a social life and rarely go to birthdays, so that hasn't been a problem. I did have my mom visit twice during this challenge. She sleeps over 3 nights every two months. In that past her visits have thrown me completely off plan. So this time I just didn't adjust anything and kept my own routine. Which means I will start cooking dinner at 15:15 and my mom will eat later. Going to bed at 20:30 because I really need my sleep even though she will stay up a little longer. She wants me to do well so it wasn't a problem and it worked so much better for me. Anything that disrupts my routine can become a huge issue.
Another reason why cheat meals don't work for me is because it turns into a binge day. Since I am already over my calories with my treat meal, why not also eat this, and this and that? I feel like I have to cram everything into one single day for some reason. After an extreme day like that, it is really hard to go back to eating at least 50% less. I am doing my best now to spread things out more and keep it small so I can just fit it in my day. I can still eat ice cream, and applepie, and a croissant, and chocolate; just not all the same day. I am sure I will still fail this sometimes because even though I always feel completely miserable after a few days with a lot of food, my brain can still sometimes convince me that it is actually nice, lol. My main goal in that case is to limit it to two days of binging instead of an entire week.
Oh yes, Wednesday is my weigh in day for the group, so those days are always hard. I still struggle with that sometimes, but not as bad. Trying to justify overeating because I just had a good weigh in, setting myself back a few pounds and having to re-lose that first and then lose more so I can get another good weigh in next Wednesday. It just doesn't make any sense. It feels much nicer to just keep going on that downward trend.
Sorry for the wall of text, I didn't plan to write this much!0 -
Well done to all of you who stuck with the challenge and have improved yourselves by doing so.
I've improved in some ways, getting more active, and continue to eat fairly well. I still need to do the general exercises on a more regular basis. Unfortunately, my weight has gone up and, if I took after pictures, they wouldn't show progress.
Anyway, congrats to all of you 👏😀2 -
@pupowl I'm with you about not trusting exercise calories. I try to stick with my "existence" calories and don't worry too much if there is a bit of looseness in the counting, but try never to go into the calories I supposedly burned.
One thing that makes a huge difference, though, is grains. I do not aim for low carb or IF or anything like that, but I try to get all my carbs from whole foods like vegetables, legumes, and fruits. If I eat any grains at all, it is almost immediately a weight gain, even with exactly the same number of calories as a non-grain day. Even brown rice or other whole grains have this effect. I'm not sure if this is common, but I have tracked for years and this is quite consistent.1 -
Day 7️⃣7️⃣ of 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ (53 days met all 5 goals)
✅ Exercise: 90m walk, 20m resistance training
✅ Read: Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience By Brene Brown
✅Water: gallon
✅ Food: under
✅<10g Added Sugar all natural
@jugar woohoo congrats on 75 days and yay for getting back into your maintenance range. A reminder that this is a lifestyle and life long journey that doesn’t stop when you reach goal. I’m glad you were still able to learn a few new strategies during this process. If any of your new challenges will be a part of F2F hope to see you there. Best wishes and enjoy your family time this weekend and riding and gardening this summer🤗
@pupowl glad you were able to recognize things that were throwing your routine off to course correct. Definite win! I printed a habit tracker when I was reading Atomic Habits but need to start using it. Something about seeing it on paper and the ritual of completing that just feel more impactful. Interesting about both you and @jugar take on exercise calories. I’m nervous about eating too low because it always leads to binges. Also it helps me mentally to know there’s exercise calories if I go over but I do rely on them too often. I’ll have to figure out a calorie target or range to test out this summer that will help see results but also maintainable long term without feeling deprived.
Sorry you saw a slight increase this week despite all your checks. Hope next week you see a big woosh!
I definitely agree all calories aren’t created equal in our bodies. Grains seem to create more retention but I still eat them. I’m still trying to focus on less packaged/processed foods right now. I still rely on them more than I’d like especially for snacks.
Thanks all for all the advice and tips! Lots of takeaways that will help with continuing to clean up my diet and eventually get to and maintain goal🤗💪💕2 -
Thanks @bodytalking glad you are seeing improvements. Keep pushing and being consistent! You’ll see the scale turn back around soon!🫶1
