200+ (Week 47) "Hot for Halloween" Begins!

akasullengal

It's that time again. This marks the end of our 6-week "Getting Fit for Fall" challenge and the start of our group's new 6-week "Hot for Halloween" challenge.

It's extra special for several of us. While we've continued to acquire "newbies" as time as gone on (and love all of you dearly!), for a few of us, the end of this upcoming challenge marks our one-year anniversary with MFP. We've come so far and I'm so proud of all of you for sticking around and really making healthy lifestyle changes that you've been able to commit to. *group hug y'all!*

So, anyways, it's time to do our weigh-ins, and other check-ins for the week and "Getting Fit for Fall" challenge as a whole. I know my weight loss numbers are going to be disappointing, but I'm especially curious about how my measurements "stack up" from 6-weeks ago, because I'm continuing to feel smaller. More muscle I suppose!

Good luck everyone!!

akasullengal

Checking in for today, I ate well overall. As I said before, lunch at the second clinic location is dangerous for me, but had a veggie sandwich (not bad), baked doritos (not great), and a nectarine (good). Dinner was kept pretty much in check with an egg white omelette with 2% cheese. Wanted to add spinach in, but mine had gone bad. So heated up some frozen broccoli/cauliflower mix, sprinkled a wee bit of cheese (didn't drown it- which I was notorious for in the past. Cheese is my favorite condiment), and ate the bag. So, we'll see how friendly the scale is tomorrow. I'm really pleased with my eating this week overall as well as my exercise, so whatever the scale gives me tomorrow, I'll accept it. Went to the gym after work and did 60 min (5.23 miles) on the elliptical, which should help a bit. I know my overall weight loss for the challenge is going to be sucky (I've GAINED a pound or two), but as long as I've lost inches, it'll be okay. I know the summer was rough for not only me, but it's a new challenge and I really want to work HARD and jump start some loss on the scale again for my upcoming 1-year anniversary here. Happy with how far I've come, but I'm always aspiring for better!

KendalBeee

The weather was perfect tonight and since the sun is setting earlier, I didn't have time to sit at home and let myself get tired before I went to the park. There were 3 separate softball practices going on from 5-6yr olds up to preteens so there were a LOT of people there. Lexi and I went 3 miles, which was great. I've found that I can use the hair ties I have on my keyring to keep track of how many laps I go.

Weigh in probably won't be so good tomorrow. I was totally within my cals today, but over 800mg over on sodium. I should drink water, but with the interrupted sleep I got last night, I don't want to possibly wake up in the middle of the night needing to go. As a matter of fact, its 9pm here but I might go to bed soon. I'm excited to watch the football game, but I can't stay up till midnight to watch the game and then watch the news.

Even though I was over on sodium, it said I would weigh 210 in 5 weeks if every day was like today. Talk about some motivation! Thats just want I've always wanted! 50 pounds in a year! If nothing else, I'm aiming for 45 pounds in a year.

anvy0530

Morning all!

I didn't lose any weight this week :mad: BUT I took my measurements and I lost another half inch off my hips :flowerforyou: and a half inch off of each thigh :happy: . So I cannot complain about losing an inch & a half this week. I guess the extra running really is thinning down my lower half! So far today, me & Sofie went on a 45 minute walk (she didn't get a walk yesterday due to the funky weather and me & Gabe being sick). I think I'll pop in an Insanity DVD and finish off my calorie burn for the day & move on to the weekend. We are maybe going to go meet the Siberian Husky pup who needs a new home. So cross your fingers that she gets along with the family (and, mostly, Sofie) so we can add another baby to the "pack".

Kendal: The other day my MFP told me that if every day were like that day, I'd weigh 197 pounds in 5 weeks. I think I'd drop dead if I managed to lose over 20 pounds in 5 weeks. Sometimes I think that thing is just retarded as I have never hit what it says I will - but you are right, seeing those numbers motivates the hell out of me (until my next weigh in - when I don't lose a damn thing)

Kristina: Cheese is my favorite condiment too. If we do get that puppy, we are going to name her Bella - after our favorite cheese (Raspberry Bellavitano - if you haven't tried it, you MUST get to your nearest cheese monger and test it out, you won't regret it)

Lacey: I saw your Indian food post. Thanks so much! I actually HAVE garam masala (and a recipe for making it if I ever run out - it's a mixture of spices) so I think I am all set to explore the world of Indian food more fully. (I have an affinity for spices and my spice cabinet has actually made an aspiring chef friend of mine - currently in culinary school- stop & take notice...probably because it takes up 2 cabinets in my kitchen)

Have a great day ya'll!

stroynaya

It was a good week for me. Despite the chili cheese nachos I indulged in at the ballpark on Wednesday, I lost 3.4 pounds and two and a half inches. Yeah!!!

Still working on remembering to log everything. I do a lot of my logging on the train with the mobile app and do pretty good on the breakfast and lunch logging, but logging my exercise, especially when I get home and dinners is more iffy.

Amy, you are sooo tempting me with the cheese. I love good cheese, but so many are high fat that I've been trying to stay away from them. I broke down and had some yesterday as a snack and a few small cubes of brie and gouda put me at my goal for fat grams for the day! Please tell me the Raspberry Bellavitano is a low fat variety. Also good luck with the dog. Huskies are one of my favorite breeds.

pinbotchick

Good morning ladies!!! Summer colds suck!!! I'm impressed you ran yesterday Amy. I walked 30 min on the treadmill and thought my head would explode with each step. Still feeling down today but better than yesterday. My biking friend canceled today since she is sick. It must be a cold going around in our area... I'll try to take a walk later tonight. Work will be busy with 7 clients and 2 of them new (that means extra paperwork)... Plans for the weekend include a 10 mile run, a beer festival and getting hair cut and colored. Oh so exciting!!!

Weigh-in and measurements done. I'm down 1 pound from last week to 183.5 which is actually up 1/2 pound from the start of the last challenge. (*sighs*) I can't even say my measurements are down. Each arm 1/4 inch smaller, waist 1/2 bigger and the rest are the same.

Congrats Sarah and Amy on losing pounds and/or inches!!!!:drinker: :drinker:

Amy - so jealous of the puppy prospect. Good luck. I'm missing mom's dog. Since my brother returned from DC, the dog rarely makes it over.

akasullengal

Morning everyone!

First my check in. I was expecting some major movement on the measurement front, as my clothes are fitting looser, but it's negligible... a half an inch here or there, but nothing dramatic. It must be coming off from places I'm not measuring (i.e. the lower thigh, the space between my stomach and hips, etc).

Weight: 180.6 (-3.2 for the week) (-1.4 for challenge). Pretty pathetic for a 6-week challenge, but VERY pleased with the weight this week, obviously. I haven't seen this much movement in the scale in weeks. Let's just hope it continues on that front. Clearly the not flaking out on the weekends helped matters. I really hope this is a good sign for weight loss ahead. i'm SO close to the 170s!

So goals for myself over this Hot for Halloween challenge:
- Goal weight: 175, that's an average of a pound a week. Clearly doable, let's just hope I acheive it this time. I really wanted to be under 170 by my year anniversary (finally out of obese BMI), but that's not going to happen
-Exercise: keep up with my current schedule. That means doing something 6/7 days of the week. One of them can be light exercise (weights, pilates), but the majority being more high intensity stuff (i.e. running, elliptical, bike, swimming)
-Food: this is the major area that I need to continue to work on, and it's clearly what will make the difference. I know I'll slip up at times, but over this challenge I cannot have a weekend where I fall apart. 1-2 not the best meals a week, okay, but no full days of crappy eating. A meal I can compensate for. Full days I cannot. Really trying to be under my calorie goal by at least something the majority of the days of the week.

The summer is approaching it's close and the fall is beginning. Time to kick it into gear.

akasullengal

Kendal- good luck with the weigh-in! Nice exercise yesterday!

Amy- boo for no weight loss, but yay for more inches lost! You'll have to take pictures of Bella!

Sarah- another great loss this week for you! Fabulous! It's great that you've been able to log most of your meals. Dinner is the one that I usually struggle with, I don't know about you, so it's super important for me to log.

Victoria- *rages for you w/ your challenge total* but *twirls for your pound loss!* I know we've both been in a similar boat over the past few weeks, but hopefully this'll be a turnaround for both of us! Proud of you for getting some treadmill in yesterday, despite feeling crappy. Can't believe you have a 10 mile run ahead this weekend! Damn! What's your longest training run on your schedule? I think mine was originally 10 for a couple of weeks before the half, but as I extended the training time, I bumped it up to 11 being my longest. This week's schedule is for 9, but as I've only done one week at 8, I might do that again this weekend... or maybe 8.5. We'll see.. then bump it up to 9 next week.

KendalBeee

219.0 today. Down .6 from last week but thats up .4 from the beginning of this challenge. UGH. I knew I was becoming complacent in this weight loss challenge.

So my goals for this challenge are:
- Log everything Monday-Friday at the minimum. I did this a couple months ago and had a hugely successful month. Last time I still ended up logging on the weekends as well cause it was such a habit.
- Exercise 5 days a week. I think its time to start adding weights/strength training into my routine for something different. I want tone arms and nothing happens to them when I'm running, zumbaing and ellipticalling all the time.


My calorie equation is still set to lose 1.5 pounds a week, so I'm hoping for a minimum of a 5 pound loss by Halloween. Just cause I'm logging everything doesn't mean I'm always going to be under cals...its just more than likely going to happen.

Laceylala

Goals for the challenge:
1. No eating out at work for 4 weeks (Gods above this will be hard!)
2. Get a ton of protein in my diet
3. Log calories Mon-Fri and attempt to do it for the weekends
4. Work out five days a week for a minimum of 45 minutes each time

Monday I will go to the gym, take the tour, do the free week. Then the next week pay for it, get going and get a PT for a few sessions to give me a new work out routine.

I'm still debating on whether or not I want to weigh myself or not. Maybe I will weigh and have measurements taken at the beginning and not do it again for a month. I just don't want to get obsessed with the scale again.

Laceylala

Amy - I too have a TON of spices, but maybe only one of the many that makes up garam masala. I love spices! And cheese too. In fact I spent about $12 on cheese yesterday for one dish last night. It was tasty delicious!
A couple times a year I buy cheese from igourmet.com and revel in their glory, lol.
Good luck with the potential new pack mate, sounds fuN!


I've got to get off here and get some work done....will respond to everyone else later

makeitallsue

bump...grandkids here and my middle girl turned 18 today....running around like crazy witll catch up soon!

stroynaya

Success of the day--Resisted the Lemonheads that were calling my name in the drugstore! The sneaky things are no fat, but if you eat the whole box (a large one) it is still over 400 calories. Of course the nutrition label says something like 50 cals/serving, so you have to do the math to get the total cals, because I know once they're open they will get eaten sooner rather than later.

Goals for the challenge:
Cardio: 20 minutes/day on the elliptical (on top of the walking I already do)
Strength: 3x per week (doing 1-2 now)
Logs: Log everything every day (logging now, but not consistently)
Not setting a weight goal yet, because I decided to do monthy weight goals and I want to see how September turns out before I set one for October.

Hope you all have great weekends. I'm working tomorrow. No complaints though. Working the occasional Saturday gives me cash to go out with friends or go shopping, but as I haven't worked Saturday in a while, the fun money was starting to dry up.

pinbotchick

Morning gang - hope you all have fun weekends planned. I feel so-so today. The cold is moving down my head to the chest. I find that more bearable than the headache/sore throat. It does make exercising hard. I was almost shaking with a 40 min walk this morning at 30 min/mile pace. I set off to do 3 with the dog but turned around due to fatigue. (*sighs*) I'm thinking if staying home from the beerfest - I need a nap now.

akasullengal

Victoria- sounds like you really need your rest. I'm impressed with you for still attempting a walk!

Nothing much planned for the day. I'm going to head out to the grocery store after I eat some breakfast. I'll watch the Michigan/Notre Dame game. I didn't do any exercise yesterday (rest day), so I'll need to do something today. Now that walking group is over, I'll need to be a bit more creative. I don't think I'll go to the rec center today, though I could per theory watch the game on one of the TVs there and get a good burn while I'm at it. It could probably either be packed there or empty. I think more likely is I'll do a DVD instead. perhaps my dance with julianna... we'll see.

Trying to stay good with the eating all weekend and see what sort of movement there can actually be on the scale 2 weeks in a row. It was down a bit more this morning (yay), but am not getting my hopes up that it'll stay that way.

ETA: I know she hasn't been on the forums in a while, but Carolyn's facebook update said that she was pregnant! How exciting for her!!

akasullengal

yeah, so exercise didn't happen today.

but my eating was on point. woo!

at this point, i'm hoping to get to bed early, so I don't sleep in too late (am NOT setting my alarm), so I can get a good run in in the morning. I have a pretty long route planned out... we'll see if I hit the distance I want. This time, instead of circling my neighborhood (it's getting repetitive for the long runs), I'm running more around town. it seems SO MUCH longer, when I'm not lapping. This will be a bit more hilly though... boo.

Hope everyone is having a good Saturday!

KendalBeee

Absolutely AMAZINGLY good news: I found 3 pairs of jeans in the back of my closet that fit me. Two of them are size 17, the other is an 18. I was seriously becoming depressed because all the jeans I have to wear are huge and saggy on me (waist, super saggy butt, and thighs are HUGE on me). I feel like crap wearing them but I don't have any money to buy new ones or even get my jeans tailored to fit. I was literally dancing around my room and yelling I was so happy.


Bad news: I have a head cold or something. Super super runny nose and sinus headache. UGH. My throat hurts from all this drainage. I think I'm going to go get some medicine and spend the day in bed. I might indulge in a grilled cheese and tomato soup.

akasullengal

Kendal- amazing!! I loved it when I found old clothes in my closet that now fit. Hallelujah! I don't really have the money to get a lot of new stuff now either, but my dress pants for work are starting to get big... in my thighs especially. Not falling off my butt completely yet, but they're taking wide leg pants to a whole new level. Hope you feel better!

So, did my long run for the week and actually overshot my goal a bit (instead of undershooting like last week). 9.38 miles in 2hr10min. Whew! I have some mixed feelings about the run. I did finish it and didn't walk at all, though by the end I was basically shuffling (average 13:51 pace). Instead of looping my neighborhood like I normally do, I decided to do a much larger loop of the southern part of town. Really showed actually how far I'm running, which is sometimes hard to tell when you just loop the same nieghborhood multiple times. But, my neighborhood is pretty flat, and this run I did had much more changes in elevations. That PLUS the fast that is was about 1.5 miles longer than my previous run, pretty much was my limit. I actually had to go back in the house, drink some water, did down for a minute, and eat a plum, before I headed back out to do a cooldown walk and stretch. Happy I did it, and it's cool to know how I'm slowly approaching the half-marathon distance. I just at this point, don't see how I'll be ready to do those last miles. I was DEAD after my run this morning. We'll see. I plan to do the same loop next weekend and hopefully it'll be better.

I think I might go to the running store and investigate new shoes. Obviously would not break them in on a long run, but my shoes which have done me well are starting to wear down and I need to get some real running shoes. Other than that, no plans for the day. Perhaps cleaning the apt. up a bit, reading, watching some TV... pretty relaxing. Not ready for another workweek. Blech. I need a vacation!!

akasullengal

btw, so after my run and logging my probable foods for the day, it said in 5 weeks, I could be 166. HAHAHA. Yes, of course I shall run over 9 miles every day and eat around 1600 calories. I could totally keep that up long-term. Not.

On a much happier note, stepped on the scale this morning, and again, this is just one day and it might not last until Friday (if I eat well on the weekends, I weigh in later in the morning, which causes a lower weight than at the usual time), but I was 179.6. O.M.F.G. Need I say anything else? Just the short foray into the 170s gives me so much hope that will finally surpass this hump I've been at and make my way into them finally!

makeitallsue

Kristina.....way frickin awesome!!!!!!!! My run ... Not so great , I twisted my knee big time after only 10 mins and made the mistake to kee p running after 4 miles I had to stop and I walked to next 3.7. I'm on the iPod and having trouble typing , bear with me. Not sure what I started challenge at but I was 214.4 today and not a happy camper. I think I am going to try base calories for a week regArdless of exercise.... At least. Until my exercise starts to suffer. I do know that I am alMost the same weight I was at the beginning of the year and today that is really getting to me.... I think I am just in pain and I am feeling sorry for myself.... Tomorrow is a new day!

pinbotchick

Well ladies, I am starting to feel better but still plan to take it easy the next few days. I've been trying to catch up on work. I managed 15 min of exercise so far. Well see if I do any more tonight.

Kendal - twirls!!!! YEAH on the pants.

Kristina - nice run!!! Congrats on the 170 ville - I'm sooooo jealous...

Deb - my heart goes out to you. Ice and rest that knee for a few days.