WaistAways Team Chat - October 2025
Here is your Team chat room for October 2025. This is where you weigh in, post your goals and progress, discuss any issues or topics of interest, share ideas, support your teammates, receive help when you need it, and dream big. Try to post often, and help each other succeed! Bookmark this thread to make it easy to land here any time.
Fat2Fit has five great teams. The group and team leaders are as follows - contact them any time!
Our Moderators:
Ashley - @minstrelofsarcasm
Jessica - @jessicakrall8
Lauren- @lauren_989
Megan - @Megan_smartiepants1970
Our Team Captains:
Downsizers - @Megan_smartiepants1970 and [open]
Mission Slimpossible - @trooworld and @micaroo4
Weight No More - @minstrelofsarcasm and @melaniedscott
WaistAways - @ashleycarole86 and @lauren_989
Shape Shifters - @jessicakrall8 and @frankwbrown
Our Team Motivators:
Downsizers: @HorsesRock9999
Mission Slimpossibles - @gemwolf110
Weight No More - @BodyTalking and @daria0919
WaistAways - @MaddawgMadsen
Shape Shifters - @LaurieWrobo and @nancyinmiami
HOW IT ALL WORKS: The October challenge runs for five weeks, from September 28th - November 1st.
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, and may everyone else get to work on next week!
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 single week. You are heading steadily towards your goal even if you aren't at the top of the weight loss leader board. In March we are aiming for every team to hit 50% green every week - let's do this!
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 can be moved to the Support Team for as long as you need. 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 or re-introduce yourselves right away, and let's get October on the road! 😎
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Welcome to October! 🎃
I am Lauren, co-captain along with @ashleycarole86
I am 39 years old and from North Carolina, USA. I have been on a weight loss journey most of my adult life. I have done a lot of the yo-yo thing, losing a lot of weight in 2012 and then gaining it back. Over the last few years, I seem to be gaining and losing the same 10-15 pounds.
September was a rough month for me and I gained 2 pounds. I need to get back on track now that vacation is over. My goals for this month are to track every day (get back to it) and get 7,000 steps daily.
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 (but don't sweat it if you have to use a different day sometimes)! 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, you can request a week off, or if you need a longer break, you can be moved to the "Support Team" where you 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:
So everyone, tell us a bit about you, your goals, 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. We all have information to share, things we can learn, and lean on each other as a team for a successful month!
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The October Week 1 Group Challenge is open and ready to begin on Sunday, Sep 28th. Please join us for Tracking Micronutrients! Put together a plan for tracking important elements of your nutrition plan and join us for a daily post sharing tips and tricks for building up areas of your diet! Here's your link:
October Week 1 Group Challenge - Tracking Micronutrients — MyFitnessPal.com
See you in the chat thread!
Jessica 😁
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PW: 139.1
CW: 139.5
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@micki48 Great job hitting green!
We did a 2.5 mile hike and picked up our two trees yesterday. Here's one of the trees we collected. It will be potted in a small pot for awhile and that will help keep the needles short.
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The second picture is a birch that's native to our area. My husband grew this one from seeds he collected in the forest. It's coming along nicely and it's my favorite! This summer he clipped most of the leaves off. This helps the branches get more complex and the leaves grow back smaller.
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Sunday: 12,522
Monday: 8,929 + 30 min jog + 30 min weights
Tuesday: 11,042
Wednesday: 11,450 + 30 min jog + 30 min weights
Thursday: 6,239
Friday: 5,395
Saturday: 11,549
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@conleywoods Nice way to be active together!
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There are 60 days until Thanksgiving (in the U.S.), so I am going to stay on track for these days (minus some candy on halloween). I need to get back to basics and just look at one day at a time. I look ahead and schedule my exercise for the week, but my goal is each night to sit for 5 minutes and plan my food for the next day.
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Kristi, that is so interesting!
On the road 🚗. We decided to day drive instead of night drive
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Solid goal, Lauren. We're rooting for you Xx
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Hi WaistAways Team!
My name is Nancy and I am one of the Motivators on the Shape Shifters team! I just wanted to pop in and introduce myself.
I am a native New Yorker who is now retired and living in Miami, Florida. I worked in human resources for many years, but switched careers mid-life to become a high school English teacher. I've lost 100 pounds since starting my journey, and have been able to help keep it off by living a more active lifestyle here in sunny Florida. I am addicted to Zumba, pickleball, tennis, and I teach aqua aerobics as well. I live with my husband, and our 23-year old daughter lives about an hour away in Boca Raton. We enjoy traveling, reading, and concerts (I took my daughter to Lady Gaga earlier this month, and I'm taking my husband to Vegas to see Duran Duran for New Year's). It's never boring lol.
Did you know that our Fat 2 Fit group has a book club? You can find the
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Great job team on September! And to @strong_fit_ells and @inshapeCK for being in the green all 4 weeks! 🎉
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Sunday weigh-in
PW - 188.9
CW - 189.8
I did write a longer, more comprehensive post (before the September chat was closed) but it has mysteriously disappeared and I am so cross!
I'm taking myself off to bed right now. Hopefully I will be able to remember what I wrote earlier and reinstate it tomorrow.
Night everyone!
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steps
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Not a very active week.
I'll come back later with my intro and weigh in 😊
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Hi all, I am Vikki, 54, married, Baltimore MD, empty nester, work full time, absolutely failing at any self-control currently.
I hit my goal last year, then last December I went on a cruise, and it has gone downhill, or I guess since I am gaining it would be uphill? I don't know. Anyway, I was sitting around 151 ish for quite a while, then I got on the scale this morning, and it said 157. I wanted to cry. I know that's mostly temporary from my horrible choices I've made over the weekend, but still, it was really disappointing, and a complete slap in the face, kind of like the Baltimore Ravens have been this year, best roster in the league my *kitten* !
Anyway, I am going to change that, and here is how…
No Alcohol for the month
6k steps a day
No Snacks, just 3 meals per day. I will allow a small dessert once per week.
This week I would like to just log my food every day, and exercise at a minimum of 3 days.
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@lauren_989 here's my weigh in:
PW 252.8 lbs
CW 254.6 lbs
Oops 😅🫢 there was no moderation this past weekend. Fortunately I don't have any further excursions or events planned any time soon so I should have a good month!
BTW I wasn't able to access the community boards on the app, I had to login on a browser. Anyone else having that problem?
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I'm Jackie, 35F, and I live in Michigan, USA. I'm married with 2 kids, a 4yo son and a 1.5yo daughter, and I also work part time as a mental health counselor. My kids keep me active, but my job typically involves a lot of sitting. I do have a few clients who enjoy walk and talk therapy, so when the weather allows I like to take advantage of this opportunity to move. I also recently started doing some strength training at home.
I gained quite a bit of weight during my last pregnancy and while breastfeeding, and now that I'm done with that phase of life I'm ready to put my weight loss goals toward the top of my priority list.
I have PCOS which can make weight loss a bit tricky, but I have the tools I need to be successful. I resumed my weight loss journey in May 2025 and I've been making slow and steady progress ever since! I appreciate all of the support and encouragement this group provides, it really makes a difference in my motivation and staying accountable. I'm also loving the Bingo challenge put together by mkksemail.My goals for October are:
•Stay in the green each week (for real this time!)
•Meet my step goal of 7000 at least 5 days/week
•Keep logging all of my food intake
•Engage in physical activity 5 days per week, with 1-2 of those being strength training
•Limit myself to 3 pieces of Halloween candy 😆2 -
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@lauren_989 I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the app but it's still not letting me use the Community feature so I'll just use the browser version for now.
@YinxFed oooh that is sooo frustrating when the post disappears! I've had it happen a few times too, if I accidently click something that takes me away from the page, or rotate my phone horizontally then it wipes it clean. It's maddening! Someone in here recommended using the Save Draft button when typing a longer post so I do that periodically and it's saved me quite a few times.
I'm back on track today! I logged all my food, didn't get enough protein but I stayed below my carb and calorie goals. I've almost met my step goal for the day, I plan on marching around the house for a bit to get the rest of my steps in. I also need to journal 1 more time in order to check it off my bingo card and then I'll have my whole card filled 🥳
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Woohoo, I had a perfect day yesterday !
I asked chatgtp to make me a 1 week exercise schedule, Including cardio, strength and balance work. So I am going to do that this week, I like it cause I can customize it for days, and to exclude exercises I don't like, like lunges, I hate lunges, I should probably do them, but nope, not gonna…
Heres to another perfect day !
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@Gidgitgoescrzy yay! One perfect day is where to start! I hate lunges as well. I would rather squat.
So I finished a garmin badge for the first time (after multiple attempts), getting 300K steps in the month! So I took over an average of 10,000 steps per day! 😊 Also, I bought a smaller pant size today. And 3rd NSV, my patient told me my pants were falling off me! 😂
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@Gidgitgoescrzy I'm also not a fan of lunges, I feel like I'm never doing them right and im wobbly. Yay for a perfect day!
@lauren_989 wow those are some great nsv's! It can be so rewarding when others notice your efforts.
Yesterday went well for the most part, I didn't quite meet my step goal but I did walk for a while to at least boost my count. I also didn't log all my food but I watched my portions and didn't have any excessive snacking. Chobani has their pumpkin pie greek yogurt out and it's so good! I get excited for it every year.
I'm currently awake much earlier than I need to be because my daughter woke up coughing 😔 it seems like we get over 1 sickness only for a new one to start. I hope being sleepy all day doesn't cause me to make poor food choices. That does seem to make it harder to say no to cravings.
It's been quiet in here these last few days and I wonder if others are having issues with the app? I sent an email to support so hopefully they're able to fix it soon.
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Day 2 in the books! I am proud of myself.
So funny thing happened yesterday, It was bonus day. So my boss gives me the amounts, I reach out to everyone incase they want to put some in their 401k, or not pay taxes on it, or pay more taxes, etc… so I write the checks and pay the taxes, etc. Typically, the owner and the CFO (my boss) have each employee in the conference room, to blah blah blah… Well for some silly reason they decided month end was the day to do this, so me and CFO were busy all day, owner decided to do it by himself, he read the paper wrong and told everyone they were getting raises ! 😮 No one was getting a raise, one we had a really bad year, and 2 we only do raises every 2 years… So even when he gave me mine, he said, and you know all the other stuff, and I had no clue what he was talking about, so I ignored that. Then I went to overnight the guy in FL his check and noticed on the letter that he told him he was getting a raise… So then I had to go tell the owner and CFO about his mistake, and guess who got to tell all the employees, sorry you aren't getting a raise? Yup, it was me… Most just laughed, but some got really mad…
Lesson learned, owner is not allowed to do stuff by himself anymore…
Anyway, aside from that yesterday was good, I probably went a little heavy on the cheese on my salad, but I'm sure it's fine.
@lauren_989 That is awesome, smaller pants and someone noticing, double win !
@jguldi11 Hope the cough is nothing, I remember mine that little, it was a tough time keeping the germs away, but cherish it, funny enough, you will miss it.. haaaa haaaa
This morning, I did a bunch of weird exercises that are supposed to get your lymphatic system moving and help give you more energy, you basically just jump around, shake, flop your arms, hit yourself, and bam you feel energized! LOL, It's more than that, but that's kinda what it feels like. 😂
Okay have a wonderful day, I am trying really really hard to be in green every week this month, and darn it this 1st one is going to be tough that 5+ gain from last week was a doozy, but I think I might do it.
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Holy heck @Gidgitgoescrzy .. I was telling Brad over breakfast about the crazy bonus mishap at your work, and we both agreed you were brave to do his dirty work for him after he screwed up! Yikes
@lauren_989 your success is so refreshing to see, keep up the great work
Speaking of losing posts, the last step report I wrote was all done minus one thing, and I lost it. That is SUPER unmotivating when I have to right up the same report twice. Teaches me for not hitting save draft along the way
I've felt busy this week so I apologize for not being here more. I will be back with step stuff later!
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Hi WaistAways!
My name is Jolene and hopefully I will be able to contribute more starting this month. I have been with the group since 2023. I got down to 170 lbs in 2023, but floated back up to 180 and have maintained right around there for over a year.
The last day or two I have felt miserable. Headaches (migraine level yesterday), stomach queasiness, and overall body tiredness. If I didn't have so much going on at work and I had more PTO, I would have taken today off of work, too.
My goals for October are to post on here two to three times per week. Sober October. @ashleycarole86 - 6,000 steps per day. And, I think that is enough goals for me as I am coming off the support team.
I leave Friday for a bowling tournament that is 8 hours away… in the same state because Colorado is huge. I will get back on Sunday, then turn around and head to Denver (6.5 hour drive) on Wednesday for a work event, which we will get back from the following Saturday. Once those two trips are done, the rest of this year should be a lot easier.
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Greetings Friends!
I'm back from choir, and I always feel a little bit lifted after singing with my pals.
Ashley @ashleycarole86 I hope I'm not too late with my Step and exercise stats?
Sunday 21st Sept - 4313
Monday 22nd - 5398
Tuesday 23rd - 3939 / 58 mins Caroline's Circuits Lower Body Bands & Weights
Wednesday 24th - 2567
Thursday 25th - 6297 / 58 mins Caroline's Circuits Strength HIIT Weights
Friday 26th - 4626
Saturday 27th - 1515Before MFP misbehaved and I went off in a strop, I was sharing my enthusiasm of the wonderful Bingo cards that MK created. And I still think they're great. I like the idea of the Winter Arc too, but I will stick with the Bingo cards for the time being.
Also inspired by MK, I got the Kindle version of Thinner, Leaner, Stronger. However, now that I have bought the book, it looks more likely that I'll stick with my girls, Caroline Girvan and Heather Robertson and continue with their programs as I enjoy them so much.
My goal for this week is to drink a litre of water a day, log all my food and come in here.
And just now, my son sent me a message saying that he and his wife will be visiting for Christmas. Now my heart is completely full!
I'll come back tomorrow and give a re-introduction.
TTFN
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