FEARLESS! October 2024 Challenge
baconslave
Posts: 7,018 Member
Ahhh...it's that time again. Fall. Temps turns cooler. Leaves change color. At least in the Northern Hemisphere, anyway. But, regardless, all those holiday foods start creeping in on us. Pumpkin this and that. Parades of Halloween candy-crack...And shortly after that Thanksgiving (for some). More and more holiday parties smack us in the face with all those goodies. Before you know it, it's the New Year, and you're wondering "What the heck happened!!!" You're sporting extra weight. You feel guilty and unhealthy. And disappointed in yourself.
And now you're justifiably afraid. You're welcome.
In honor of this being the scary month, you can tackle fear or a scary pattern that often derails you or inhibits your progress.
It doesn't have to be scary! This month's theme is Fearless October. This will be month 1 of a "prepping for the holidays" basics crash course: This is my 9th holiday season as a low-carber. And I have lost weight during this period in the past. It CAN be done.
The keys to success in this WOE, or any eating plan for that matter, is three-fold:
Well, isn't that trite and overly simplistic? I'll admit it is simple, but not easy.
Don't freak though. To let those 3 keys work for you, you need to be prepared. PLAN PLAN PLAN. I can't stress this enough. Plan ahead; log ahead. When you have a firm plan and procedure in place, you create good habits. And good habits work for you by keeping up momentum even when things get busy, chaotic, or just plain scary. You've already paved the road for yourself! All you have to do is stay on the smooth way and enjoy the scenery.
So in this challenge, and in the months ahead, we'll be working to set up and reinforce those good habits before you get in the thick of it. We'll be setting up those easy paths and building up that momentum by practicing a habit pattern to predispose us to sail through the holidays. Here will be you can keep track of the goals you reach. We can encourage one another, get advice about any trouble spots, share low-carb-legal recipes of our holiday favorites. Identify scenarios or patterns that absolutely scare you to death, and tackle the hades out of them.
We're going to compete with ourselves. We'll set up good habits in areas like: water, electrolytes, staying under carb goal, logging daily, staying close to cal goal, hitting our exercise goal, and for resisting a temptation or working on our "fear."
You all may want to add a goal like: "Pre-logged Day" or "Planned Ahead" or "Resisted Off-Plan Halloween Treat" or "Packed On-Plan Lunch". I do not recommend nixing the logging calories or carbs; however, if you are one who becomes stressed by calorie counting, that's ok. But I recommend at least keeping track of your daily carb intake. Portion and carb creep are real. And it helps to occasionally reset our ability to "eye" our carb-count. Now would be a good time to recalibrate your carb-sense. I want every single one of you guys to coast through the holidays, enjoying them to the fullest. Preparation and consistency are key.
I know it's late, but Hurricanes do not care. Chime in to let us know your personal goals.
We'll accept challengers at any time of the month. Remember, competing against yourself and starting on getting the basics down or refreshing them, before the hectic holiday season is fully upon us, is our goal.
Let's go get it!
And now you're justifiably afraid. You're welcome.
In honor of this being the scary month, you can tackle fear or a scary pattern that often derails you or inhibits your progress.
It doesn't have to be scary! This month's theme is Fearless October. This will be month 1 of a "prepping for the holidays" basics crash course: This is my 9th holiday season as a low-carber. And I have lost weight during this period in the past. It CAN be done.
The keys to success in this WOE, or any eating plan for that matter, is three-fold:
- Consistency
- Persistence
- Time
Well, isn't that trite and overly simplistic? I'll admit it is simple, but not easy.
Don't freak though. To let those 3 keys work for you, you need to be prepared. PLAN PLAN PLAN. I can't stress this enough. Plan ahead; log ahead. When you have a firm plan and procedure in place, you create good habits. And good habits work for you by keeping up momentum even when things get busy, chaotic, or just plain scary. You've already paved the road for yourself! All you have to do is stay on the smooth way and enjoy the scenery.
So in this challenge, and in the months ahead, we'll be working to set up and reinforce those good habits before you get in the thick of it. We'll be setting up those easy paths and building up that momentum by practicing a habit pattern to predispose us to sail through the holidays. Here will be you can keep track of the goals you reach. We can encourage one another, get advice about any trouble spots, share low-carb-legal recipes of our holiday favorites. Identify scenarios or patterns that absolutely scare you to death, and tackle the hades out of them.
We're going to compete with ourselves. We'll set up good habits in areas like: water, electrolytes, staying under carb goal, logging daily, staying close to cal goal, hitting our exercise goal, and for resisting a temptation or working on our "fear."
You all may want to add a goal like: "Pre-logged Day" or "Planned Ahead" or "Resisted Off-Plan Halloween Treat" or "Packed On-Plan Lunch". I do not recommend nixing the logging calories or carbs; however, if you are one who becomes stressed by calorie counting, that's ok. But I recommend at least keeping track of your daily carb intake. Portion and carb creep are real. And it helps to occasionally reset our ability to "eye" our carb-count. Now would be a good time to recalibrate your carb-sense. I want every single one of you guys to coast through the holidays, enjoying them to the fullest. Preparation and consistency are key.
I know it's late, but Hurricanes do not care. Chime in to let us know your personal goals.
We'll accept challengers at any time of the month. Remember, competing against yourself and starting on getting the basics down or refreshing them, before the hectic holiday season is fully upon us, is our goal.
Let's go get it!0
Replies
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October came early for us here in upper northeastern TN. The hurricane smashed us. Rivers flooded. Trees went down all over the place, many with roots in the air as we'd had several straight days of rain before it hit.
We lost our beloved RV and my 2020 Explorer is crunched up like a soda can. 2 fences need mended soon so we can move the sheep. We still need water. Areas by the river in our town got flooded and wiped out. Parks I played at as a kid and my children enjoyed were wiped out. Local high school flooded. Folk lost their homes, bridges out. Lot of hurting here. I'm thankful all my family is fine and that the trees behind the house decided Friday was not their day to get rowdy. We have donated to the food drive and are collecting info on how to donate to the flood victims. Also, the town the campground we almost always frequent...well their river flooded worse. So I'll see about donating later to their efforts as well. Pay forward the blessings we got that they didn't.
Ok, so onto the purpose of this thread.
SW: 217.8 (YIKES
)
GW: 213.8
If I can just lose a pound a week... Slow and steady finishes the race.
Goals:- pre-log or log at all
- stop letting my weekends go crazy
- keep prioritizing my exercise
Things have been really hard in my life lately. I have to turn this around. I'm about to turn 46, and I need to get over the shame of regaining part of the weight I worked so hard to lose 8 years ago. That's why I put my actual honest-to-God weight in here. It is what it is. Now it's time to fix it.
My exercise will have a set back this month. I have surgery next week, IF I get over this bs cold in time, so I won't be able to strength train for 2 weeks, but doc said I could slowly resume walks as soon as I feel up to it after the 2nd day.1 -
@baconslave Oh my, you really have been hit hard all around. You're due for an upswing in all things. Sending you a big ole heaping of good vibes for healing you and your community.
I just got done with a stressful work project that put my life on hold for 3 weeks. Ready to begin with a fresh start today and was expecting a gain on the scale. I was actually down another 3 so that's 6 for the month of September. I had considered getting some new sneakers once I got below 170 but now I realize I need a new Fitbit instead so hoping I can order that next week after 1 more pound.
I think my October goal is fit in extra reps of anything and everything in the moments I need to take a break from work. Oh need another cup of coffee? Earn it with 10 knee lifts before you go get it or something like that. Today I have both strength training and yoga. That is my predictable Monday routine that keeps me going. Adding on to that has been my challenge for months. If I can find a good spin class trainer, that will be my weekly add this month (hated the last two I tried).
CW - 170
Oct GW - 167
1 -
Post surgery and still not even walking. I'm just paranoid, and the weather at exercise time has been cold, dark or both. Still a bit tender so I'm going to err on the side of "baconslave, you are getting old, don't push it too soon."
SW: 217.8 (YIKES )
CW: 215.1
Oct GW: 213.80 -
Hubby and I had a very active camping weekend with lots a walking and an unintentional climb up & down a mountain. Let's just say the trail map was very deceiving. Rain kind of spoiled the end but we packed up quickly during a brief dry stretch.
I totally agree with not wanting to go out in the dark and cold. Rest is your friend for now, heal up soon!0 -
I don't really have goals for October other than maintaining my weight and keeping working out. I did switch from Bodyweight to lifting weights this Monday. Canadian Thanksgiving meant a free eating day for me, although I did make some Keto desserts so I could enjoy dessert left-overs without huge numbers of carbs afterward. I put on a number of pounds, but they have almost all dropped off. Better yet, with focusing on the meat and keto stuff I made, according to my breath meter I was back into full Ketosis by Tuesday.1
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