Exercise and Weight Loss Challenges
Options
Replies
-
Welcome Charlie.Interesting reading ladies.I knew a person shouldn't exercise everyday and the exercise routine should vary.I tried harder this week so we'll see what the scale shows tomorrow.Marney you're right,any loss is a gain.We're trudging along but we'll get there.See everyone on here tomorrow.
Mary0 -
Wow Charlie, you really know your body and all the science as well. Marney is wrong about me being an exercise star--I know it is important to move but right now I do no formal exercise. My goal is to walk 5 days a week (45 minutes) and do yoga as well. I think that kind of routine is something I can do, once I get started, as long as my feet and knees work. Right now I am just focusing on recording my food, drinking my water, watching salt and carbs and sugar, keeping my protein consumption up.
I started with mfp on July 7th, my birthday, 2014, and hope to reach my goal weight of 165 by March, 2015. In July I weighed in 218.8 (I think I probably was heavier than that at some point) and I've lost about 28 pounds so far.
I was of an average weight for most of my life although I've dieted on and off my whole adult life, starting as a teen. I did not start to seriously gain weight until I was close to 50. I guess I could blame menopause but think it was more using food as comfort and being less physically active. I've been on every diet invented during my life and, in the past, had my best luck with weight watchers. However, whenever money was an issue I would stop going and the 20 pound I'd lost would return. I am so grateful to have found mfp. Since it is free and a much better support system (to me) than ww I have had more success.
0 -
Sept 5th-168. 3.5lb loss
Sept 12th-167. 1 lb loss
Sept 18-166. 1 lb loss
Sept 27-166 0lbs lost
Oct 3-165 1 lb loss
Oct 10-164 1lb loss
Oct 17-165 1lb gain
Oct 24-166 1 lb gain
Oct 31-162 4 lb loss
Nov 7th-162.5 .5 gain
Nov 14th-167.5 5lb gain
Nov 21st-163.4lb loss
Started out171.5-8 lb loss on challenge.0 -
8 lbs sounds great! Man, just think of 8 pounds of ground turkey--that's a lot! Not that I mean to compare your progress to ground turkey in a bad way, lol.0
-
Hi Guys,
Start--207
Sept. 5--205.6
Sept 12--203
Sept 19--202.8
Sept 26--200.9
Oct. 3rd--199.2
Oct. 10th-198
Oct. 17th-198.3
Oct. 24th-198
Oct. 31st--194.6
Nov. 6th -192.6
Nov. 14th-191.9
Nov. 21st-191.1
15.9 lbs of ground turkey!0 -
OK, I admit it, I have turkey on the brain.
0 -
Started this challenge at 172
Sept 5th 171 - 1 lb lost
Sept 12th 169.5 - 1½ lb lost
Sept 19th 168.5 - 1 lb lost
Sept 28th 168.5
Oct. 4th 167.5 - 1 lb lost
Oct. 10th 167 - .5 lost
Oct. 17th 167
Oct. 24th 166 - 1 lb lost
Oct. 31st 164.5 - 1.5 lb lost
Nov 7th 166 - 1.5 gain
Nov 14th 165 - 1 lb lost
Nov 21st 162 - 3 lbs lost
Total 10 lbs of ground turkey lost or a 10lb bag of potatoes!
I hope my scales at home agree but the exercise centre scales are like doctor's scales so they should be right. I was startled this morning since I was hovering around 164 all week. Of course, French fries and a burger lunch out and dinner out tonight will not help. But it was a good burger and I wanted to test French fries, since I have been gluten free for a month now. I have my answer.
Yeah us! Gayle flirting with a new decade and Mary losing 4lbs in a week. Go team go!0 -
Great job Gayle and Marney!!Now to get through Thanksgiving and company.This week will definitely be a challenge.I definitely will be challenged this week but i'm up to it.Like Marney said, go team go!Charlie,so glad you're now part of the team.
Mary0 -
Marney, funny that a 10 lbs bag of potatoes sounds heavier than 10 lbs of ground turkey. It's a better illustration for me. Let's try to check in as needed this next week. Wishing you a fabulous Thanksgiving week! A little early, I know.0
-
Hey guys, not sure how often you find yourself resorting to fast food but I was glad to see this article about healthy fast food choices.
BREAKFAST OPTIONS
*Starbuck’s Spinach and Feta Breakfast Wrap
Calories: 290; Total Fat: 10g; Saturated Fat: 3.5g; Cholesterol: 20mg; Sodium: 830mg; Carbohydrates: 33g; Fiber: 6g, Sugar: 4g; Protein: 19g
Panera Bread’s Power Breakfast Egg Bowl with Steak
Calories: 270; Total Fat: 17g; Sodium: 440mg; Carbohydrates: 3g; Fiber: 3g, Protein: 24g
McDonalds Fruit & Yogurt Parfait
Calories: 150; Total Fat: 2g; Saturated Fat: 1g; Cholesterol: 5mg; Sodium: 80mg; Carbohydrates: 30g; Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 23g; Protein: 4g
Taco Bell A.M. Grilled Egg & Cheese Taco
Calories: 160; Total Fat: 9g; Saturated Fat: 3g; Cholesterol: 90mg; Sodium: 330mg; Carbohydrates: 15g; Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g; Protein: 7g
LUNCH & DINNER OPTIONS
Panera Bread’s Power Chicken Hummus Bowl
Calories: 270; Total Fat: 10g; Sodium: 500mg; Carbohydrates: 18g; Fiber: 4g, Protein: 27g
Check out their whole Power Menu here.
Subway’s 6” Oven Roasted Chicken Sub (Served on 9-grain wheat bread with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, green peppers and cucumbers.)
Calories: 320; Total Fat: 5g; Saturated Fat: 2g; Cholesterol: 45mg; Sodium: 610mg; Carbohydrates: 45g; Fiber: 5g; Sugar: 7g; Protein: 23g
*Chipotle Steak Burrito Bowl with Romaine, Fajita Vegetables, Black Beans and Green Tomatillo Salsa
Calories: 355; Total Fat: 8g; Saturated Fat: 2g; Cholesterol: 65mg; Sodium: 1,000mg; Carbohydrates: 33g; Fiber: 15g, Sugar: 6g; Protein: 39g
*McDonalds Premium Grilled Chicken Sandwich
Calories: 350; Total Fat: 9g; Saturated Fat: 2g; Cholesterol: 65mg; Sodium: 820mg; Carbohydrates: 42g; Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 8g; Protein: 28g
Ordering Tip: Make it an open-faced sandwich to save 100 calories and cut 165mg sodium and nearly 20g carbs.
*Quiznos’ Small Tuna Sub with Cheese (Just ask to hold the dressing)
Calories: 410; Total Fat: 14g; Saturated Fat: 7g; Cholesterol: 45mg; Sodium: 1030mg; Carbohydrates: 44g; Fiber: 2g; Sugar: 5g; Protein: 27g
Wendy’s Asian Chicken Salad (Large salad with 1 packet of dressing)
Calories: 335; Total Fat: 11g; Saturated Fat: 1g; Cholesterol: 90mg; Sodium: 775mg; Potassium: 1100, Carbohydrates: 26g; Fiber: 5g; Sugar: 12g; Protein: 35g
*Nutrition Note: Many fast foods, even the healthier options, contain a lot of sodium. These meals provide more than 35% (805 mg) of the daily recommendation for sodium. Try to select lower-sodium foods at other meals & snacks throughout the day to balance it out.
Elle Penner, MyFitnessPal Registered Dietitian
0 -
How are you guys doing? My scale was up today, for no apparent reason but only.5 pound so I can live with it. Threatening clouds in CO today but only flurries.0
-
Hi Guys,
Back in Williamsburg today after driving up from Hilton Head. Driving days are hard. No exercise and I found gluten free, dairy free pizza and fake ice cream in the store. A quick high salt dinner. What can I say? We were tired, it was there, and we don't have such things at home.
I am not getting on the scale today!
Gayle, .5 lb can rise or fall in an hour. Keep doing what you are doing.
I am back on track today and tomorrow. Driving to Phillie on Wednesday. Difficult because of a driving day, heavy traffic and a snow, rain mix expected and then out for dinner with friends. On home on Thanksgiving day with increasing snow on the ground as we go. At least we don't have to go via Buffalo area!
So, I will be on my own scale for weigh in day but after two driving days, I am expecting a gain. Still only one week.
The Christmas music is all around us and I haven't even though of gifts yet. I got a few things down here at the malls but not really even started,
I did however find some great fitting pants. So pleased! Haven't had pants that fit in years. However, I am hoping to shrink out of them shortly. What a dilemma! And we don't have that store in Canada.
Do you three have favourite clothes that you have had to, or aren't looking forward to, giving up? Altering or just giving away?
Keep on with the plan!
Marney0 -
Got back from my weekend business/pleasure trip to D.C. Overate and scale showed it this a.m. was up 2 pounds. Oh well. It was worth it!
We won the award at the Green Symposium for our category. I only had the symposium on Friday afternoon, so the rest of the time until I left last night was all mine!
Marney, can you get the pants on-line? Most places, even boutiques, seem to sell on-line now.
I eat out all the time. I don't like Wendy's, but I do love that Asian Cashew Chicken salad. Is spicy so be warned! I am boycotting Panera though since they did away with croissants!
Back to work tomorrow. Then have only 1/2 day on Wednesday. I do have to work Friday and Saturday though. Oh well, 3 1/2 days this week isn't bad!0 -
Hi Guys. How are you doing this week? I feel like I am struggling a bit, but only a bit.
Marney, you are really paying attention and that is more than half of it. How fun that you get to travel so much! Great that you found the pants!
Charlie, what is a Green Symposium? Congratulations for the award. You are an inspiration that you manage to lose and eat out a lot.
Mary, know you are busy with company but hang in there and we will all pick up the pieces next week.
Looking forward to the Friday weigh in--then it's full steam ahead.0 -
I work for County government as a sustainability coordinator. The symposium was to discuss ways to make correctional facilities greener. We have done a lot at our facilities and the Sheriff's Department entered this competition based on the green initiatives we have taken. Was interesting meeting with other governmental people and learning about what they are doing to "green" up their prisons and jails and the resources available to do so. Was only 2 1/2 hours. Should have been 2 1/2 days.
Oh, do you guys all weigh in on the same day? I have to weigh daily because of my heart failure, but I can post on Fridays. Well, maybe I won't want to this Friday after Thanksgiving. I've already gained two pounds being away.
I have a trick you might be interested in for eating out and even for meals you regularly cook at home. Interested?0 -
Hi Charlie. Oh yes I am interested in any tip or trick to make this better, smarter, easier! I weigh daily (or I start lying to myself) but we have a group weigh in on Fridays. I am sort of dreading the Friday after Thanksgiving but it is what it is. A new starting point, lol.
0 -
That is interesting about greener jails. Would be cool to offer green job training as well. It is important to me to work at something that makes a difference (or I try). That is right where you are as well.0
-
Any tricks that would help, particularly in eating out, Charlie. I am in awe that you have done all you have done while eating out. Any help would be welcome.
I find eating out a struggle because I have been lactose intolerant for years and now gluten intolerant has entered the picture too. However, gluten free seems to be available in most restaurants in the US (not so much in Canada) and lactose free, I am used to. It just added another dimension to making good choices.
Jobs that make a difference are so important. That is why I changed to working with seniors from a long career in Banking IT. It was fulfilling and I hope at some point to re-enter as a volunteer.
I weigh every morning when I am at home but when travelling it has only been on reporting day, Friday. I never thought about weigh in after Thanksgiving! How unfortunate in our timing! Our Thanksgiving is on a Monday in October and I never thought about reporting day.
I hope the week is going well. Talk to you on Friday.
Marney0 -
Gayle: Many prisons are offering green job training. They do so within their facilities as part of their own recycling, composting, etc. programs. At the local level, our inmates only stay an average of 13 days (no longer than a year) and job training is not offered. We are looking into developing a hydroponics garden though as it will not require a lot of training for inmates to work.
Okay, here is what I do to make eating out easier, but you must do it on your computer, you can't use the phone app. First: It is always easier to find restaurants that have their calories on-line -- so many do. I never go to a restaurant that I haven't at least looked at menu and figured out what I'm going to eat first. But that can get time consuming over and over again and sometimes you just want to make that decision fast so how I do that will be following the next paragraph.
I also keep consistent. Also, I always ask for a salad with no cheese. No croutons. And dressing on the side. I never eat more than half the dressing. Sometimes less. I just dip the fork tines in the dressing. But, that is still not my trick.
Okay here is where I change it up: After I log the meal, I use quick tools and save it as a meal. When I save it, I save it first with the total calories, then the name of the restaurant, and then what the meal was. That way, at a glance I know the calorie count without having to open up the entry.
So, I might save a meal as: 348 Bob Evans potato crusted flounder, salad, ranch, beans. The next time you go and have that meal, just go to the meals tab. (Okay, so "Meals" isn't my idea, but a lot of people don't use it even though it makes things easier and they don't know the number of calories at a glance). Also, the problem is that it isn't in order so even if you have the calorie count, you have to scroll through all your listings to find those that fit.
So, I take it a step further to make it easier to plan your meals. I highlight and copy all those meals periodically. I then paste them into an excel spreadsheet. I sort them numerically (lowest calorie to highest), tidy it up so it looks nice, and then email the list to myself and save it on my smartphone. So, if I leave work, and I have 660 calories left to eat, I look on my phone and have 45 or so meals to choose from less than 660 calories at a variety of restaurants and cuisines all in order by calories. I go all the way up to over 1000 calories. Once I eat that meal, I can go into the "meals" tab on MFP, find the meal and upload it easily. You can then add or subtract any changes you made. Like remove one veggie and add another, etc. If I change it, I save the change as a new, different meal, with the adjusted calories.
The second advantage is that since I know how many calories I have left to eat and the number of calories in the meals, I don't tempt myself by looking at higher calorie choices so that I get hungry for something I shouldn't have. Also, if I know I want a dish of ice cream later, I adjust my dinner choices to eat less to allow for that snack.
Like many people, I might enter all of this in the morning and add or subtract from there. Always good to plan your day in advance.
You can do the same thing with the foods you make all the time at home. It saves so much time and you don't have to keep starting from scratch and figuring it out. I update my excel list about every month to 6 weeks.
I am lucky though, I don't have any dietary allergies or sensitivities. Although this would make it even easier for me if I did.
It sounds way more complicated than it is. If you save your meal every time as a meal in the calorie number format, the cutting and pasting is really very fast to create you carry with you list. Oh, if you don't have a smart phone, you can carry a paper copy.
My friends who aren't dieting like this. They may call me up and say, let's have dinner, where do you want to go. I can look at how many calories I have left for that day and say, "I can go here, here, or here! You pick!"0 -
Sorry about the grammatical, typos. I was in a hurry and didn't proof-read. Hope you got the idea though. Save the meals with the calories number first, restaurant, and description. Then transfer to a take-with you list in order from lowest calorie to highest.
0
