Turn your knowledge into Power Challenge

ab_shutterbug

Okay, I'm in. However, I'm not thrilled that apparently I am neither a pear nor an apple shape, bur rather like a banana. My goal will be to look more like an hour glass.

Neck - 14"
Bust ' 39"
Waist - 39"
Hips - 42"
Thigh - 22"

Forgot to measure arms.

Goal to lost 1 # per week, so 7 lbs by the end of this challenge. That will put me into the next decade, which would be SO exciting.
I also need to drink more water, so try to 5 glasses a day instead of 4.

LauraLLee

Week 2 Weight-loss goals: 10 tips for success
Well-planned weight-loss goals can help you convert your thoughts into action. Here's how to create successful weight-loss goals.
By Mayo Clinic staff
Weight-loss goals can mean the difference between success and failure. Realistic, well-planned weight-loss goals keep you focused and motivated. They provide a plan for change as you think about and transition into your healthy lifestyle.
But not all weight-loss goals are helpful. Unrealistic and overly aggressive weight-loss goals — for example, losing 10 pounds each week or fitting into your high school jeans from 20 years back — can undermine your efforts. They're difficult, if not impossible, to meet. And if your weight-loss goals are beyond reach, you're more likely to feel frustrated and discouraged and give up on your dieting plans.
10 weight-loss tips
It's OK to dream big. Just use these 10 tips for creating weight-loss goals that will help you achieve your big dreams.
1. Personalize your goals. Set goals that are within your capabilities and that take into account your limitations. Also, consider your personal fitness level, health concerns, available time and motivation. Tailoring your expectations to your personal situation helps you set achievable goals.
2. Aim for realistic weight loss. Healthy weight loss usually occurs slowly and steadily. In general, plan to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week (0.5 to 1 kilogram) — even if your initial weight loss is a little faster in the first week or two. To do this, you need to burn 500 to 1,000 calories more than you consume each day. Also, don't expect to lose more of your body weight than is realistic. For instance, set a goal of losing 10 percent of your current weight, rather than 30 percent.
3. Focus on the process. Make most of your goals process goals, rather than outcome goals. "Exercise regularly" is an example of a process goal, while "weigh 145 pounds" is an example of an outcome goal. It's changing your processes — your daily behaviors and habits — that's key to weight loss, not necessarily focusing on a specific number on the scale. Just make sure that your process goals are specific, measurable and realistic, too.
4. Think short term and long term. Short-term goals keep you engaged on a daily basis, but long-term goals motivate you over the long haul. Your short-term goals can become stepping stones to reaching long-term goals. Because healthy, permanent weight loss can be a long process, your goals need to be feasible for the long term.
5. Write it down. When planning your goals, write down everything and go through all the details. When and where will you do it? How will you fit a walk into your schedule? What do you need to get started? What snacks can you cut out each day? Then track your progress to see if you're meeting your goals.
6. Pick a date. Timing is crucial, often making the difference between success and failure. Choose a definite start date for your weight-loss program and don't put that date off for anything. Be sure to account for life circumstances that might hamper your efforts, such as work or school demands, vacations or relationship problems. You may need to resolve some issues before starting.
7. Start small. It's helpful to plan a series of small goals that build on each other instead of one big, all-encompassing goal. Remember that you're in this for the long haul. Anything you undertake too intensely or too vigorously will quickly become uncomfortable, and you're more likely to give it up.
8. Plan for setbacks. Setbacks are a natural part of behavior change. Everyone who successfully makes changes in his or her life has experienced setbacks. Identifying potential roadblocks — a big holiday meal or office party, for example — and brainstorming specific strategies to overcome them can help you stay on course or get back on course.
9. Evaluate your progress. Review your goals each week. Were you able to successfully meet your goals last week? Think about what worked and what didn't. Make plans for how you will reach your goals both today and during the course of the week.
10. Reassess and adjust your goals as needed. Be willing to change your goals as you make progress in your weight-loss plan. If you started small, you might be ready to take on larger challenges. Or, you might find that you need to adjust your goals to better fit your new lifestyle. If you find that you have to make frequent adjustments downward or constantly scale back, you may not be setting realistic weight-loss goals in the first place — head back to tip No. 1.

LauraLLee

Week 2
Metabolism and weight loss: How you burn calories
Find out how metabolism affects weight, the truth behind slow metabolism, and how to burn more calories.
By Mayo Clinic staff
You've probably heard people blame their weight on a slow metabolism, but what does that mean? And is metabolism really the culprit? Is it possible to rev up your metabolism to burn more calories?
While it's true that metabolism is linked to weight, it may not be in the way you expect. In fact, contrary to common belief, a slow metabolism is rarely the cause of excess weight gain. Although your metabolism influences your body's basic energy needs, it's your food and beverage intake and your physical activity that ultimately determine how much you weigh.
Metabolism: Converting food into energy
Metabolism is the process by which your body converts what you eat and drink into energy. During this complex biochemical process, calories in food and beverages are combined with oxygen to release the energy your body needs to function. Even when you're at rest, your body needs energy for all its "hidden" functions, such as breathing, circulating blood, adjusting hormone levels, and growing and repairing cells.
The number of calories your body uses to carry out these basic functions is known as your basal metabolic rate (BMR) — what you might call metabolism. Several factors determine your individual basal metabolic rate:
• Your body size and composition. The bodies of people who are larger or have more muscle burn up more calories, even at rest.
• Your sex. Men usually have less body fat and more muscle than do women of the same age and weight, burning more calories.
• Your age. As you get older, the amount of muscle tends to decrease and fat accounts for more of your weight, slowing down calorie burning.
Energy needs for your body's basic functions stay fairly consistent and aren't easily changed. Your basal metabolic rate accounts for about 60 to 75 percent of the calories you burn every day.
In addition to your basal metabolic rate, two other factors determine how many calories your body burns each day:
• Food processing (thermogenesis). Digesting, absorbing, transporting and storing the food you consume also takes calories. This accounts for about 10 percent of the calories used each day. For the most part, your body's energy requirement to process food stays relatively steady and isn't easily changed.
• Physical activity. Physical activity and exercise — such as playing tennis, walking to the store, chasing after the dog and any other movement — account for the rest of the calories your body burns up each day.
Metabolism and weight
It may be tempting to blame your metabolism for weight gain. But because metabolism is a natural process, your body generally balances it to meet your individual needs. That's why if you try so-called starvation diets, your body compensates by slowing down these bodily processes and conserving calories for survival. Only in rare cases do you get excessive weight gain from a medical problem that slows metabolism, such as Cushing's syndrome or having an underactive thyroid gland (hypothyroidism).
Unfortunately, weight gain is most commonly the result of eating more calories than you burn. To lose weight, then, you need to create an energy deficit by eating fewer calories, increasing the number of calories you burn through physical activity, or both.
Metabolism and weight loss: How you burn calories
A closer look at physical activity and metabolism
While you don't have much control over the speed of your metabolism, you can control how many calories you burn through your level of physical activity. The more active you are the more calories you burn. In fact, some people who are said to have a fast metabolism are probably just more active — and maybe more fidgety — than are others.
You can burn more calories with:
• Regular aerobic exercise. Aerobic exercise includes activities such as walking, bicycling and swimming. As a general goal, include at least 30 minutes of physical activity in your daily routine. If you want to lose weight or meet specific fitness goals, you may need to increase your activity even more. If you can't set aside time for a longer workout, try 10-minute chunks of activity throughout the day. Remember, the more active you are, the greater the benefits.
• Strength training. Strength training exercises, such as weightlifting, are important because they help counteract muscle loss associated with aging. And since muscle tissue burns more calories than fat tissue does, muscle mass is a key factor in weight loss.
• Lifestyle activities. Any extra movement helps burn calories. Look for ways to walk and move around a few minutes more each day than the day before. Taking the stairs more often and parking farther away at the store are simple ways to burn more calories. Even activities such as gardening, washing your car and housework burn calories and contribute to weight loss.
No magic bullet
Don't look to dietary supplements for help in burning calories or weight loss. Products that claim to speed up your metabolism are often more hype than help, and some may cause undesirable or even dangerous side effects. Dietary supplement manufacturers aren't required by the Food and Drug Administration to prove that their products are safe or effective, so view these products with caution and skepticism and always let your doctors know about any supplements you take.
There's no magical way to lose weight. It comes down to exercise and diet. Take in fewer calories than you burn, and you lose weight. But if you're worried about your metabolism or you can't seem to lose excess weight despite diet and exercise, talk to your doctor.

LauraLLee

Knowledge challenge week 2

Use Link and take metabolism quiz and share your experience.
Share a tip or two that you know about weight loss.
Make sure you write your NSV for week.

Power Challenge. Beginners exercisers: Walk at least one mile during the week and do 30 Jumping jacks a day.
If you cant do jumping jacks do half jacks. Of course if this is too easy for you up the numbers!
And Make sure you track your progress for the week.
Intermediate exercisers: Walk 7.5 Miles and do 4 sets of 25 Jumping jacks everyday.
Advanced exercisers: Run or Jog10 miles and do 200 jumping jacks a day.



(on a side note if this is too easy or needs to be tweeked in anyway let me know so I can gauge what everyone can do)

LauraLLee

Weigh in Friday!
I dont need your measurements today! We will look at them next week.

I will post a chart Saturday with our results! I can't wait to see our results! :happy:

emccand

oops I forgot to do last weeks questions lol sorry about that! my weigh in for this week is 237.6, i gained like 3 lbs back and then lost it again thru the week, and am 2 ounces less then last week, im hoping this week i do much better!

DorothyNorrington

Hey everyone!

Here are my week one results. I am pleased with them, but still need to get out of my comfort zone more in the physical activity area. I met the walking challenge, but really would like to have had even more in there in addition to the water aerobics, and moving/cleaning activities.

Weight: 260.5 (last Friday was 263.0 due to TOM)

Power Challenge: (Met Goal)
Friday: -
Saturday: -
Sunday: .7
Monday: 1.0
Tuesday: -
Wednesday: -
Thursday: -

Total: 1.7

NSV: While packing the trailer for camping, I was able to do it myself. Usually I wait for Ray to help because he can lift the heavy stuff, crawl around on the ground to remove stabilizer jacks, and make several trips up and down the stairs to pack it. I would stay in one spot (either up or down) so I could avoid the stairs. Not this time...I worked up a sweat!

Here are my thoughts on my personal goals. 1) Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. I was able to do this 1 day. The remaining days I averaged 4-6 glasses. Still need to work on this. 2) Log at least 6 days. I logged everything consistently for 4 of the 7 days. It's a habit I need to create and make a priority! 3) Increase movement more. As mentioned above, I met the power challenge, but really need to amp it up. I want it to be something that I can maintain as a lifestyle, so 2 hours a day is not going to work for me, however, I CAN increase the intensity and the variety of methods I use to get in the movement. I also am going to try to incorporate more natural movement in my day, by parking farther away, etc.

I can't wait to hear how everyone else is doing!

vallejos6

Ok, I weighed in this a.m. at 154.8, so an overall GAIN of .2 pounds. I'm not surprised as this hasn't been a great week, next week should be better.

This week I got in 5.1 miles of jogging and .6 miles of walking, and overall 3 days of exercise. My goal was 4 days, so I need to pick it up this week. My weight lifting went well. No increases of weight, but I did add 2 extra reps on my triceps dips. This week my goal is to up my reps to 2 sets of 10 (I'm currently doing 2 sets of 8) as I feel a few of my exercises are starting to get easier.

I'm gonna shoot for the Intermediate exercisers goals this week. 7.5 miles should be just about what I jog. I will add the jumping jacks and I think (for me) I'm gonna add push-ups as well (let's say 20 a day). I haven't been doing many push-ups since I completed the Insanity program and they really do wonderful things for the arms, chest and shoulders!

I'm really lucky in that my job helps me to get in lots of incidental movement. For the summer, I've been working in the summer school, which has quite a few "opportunities" for sprinting across the playground to catch runners, pushing swings, and singing/dancing in our activities. My regular job during the school year requires me to go out to every recess, chase my little guy around the playground, or mostly help him to play soccer (and jump in front of any ball heading for his head as he can't see them quickly enough to avoid them). I also have to do PE class with him twice a week. It's a really fun job and I'm always happy I don't have to sit at a desk all day!

Dorothy, great job on your weight loss this week. I know you wanted to do more activity, but I think you did quite a lot with the class room cleaning/moving. Have a great weekend camping!

~~Veronica

McHeather

Welk, my week one wasn't as good as it could have been. I think I'm still 162 - that's what my moms scale says - after I ate breakfast. I've let myself indulge in treats way more than I would have if I were at home. I'm getting my excersice here though - we did the Particiwalk yesterday - 2 km walk. We swam the day before and will again today. I'm going to be home by Monday and can really focus more on myself and this challenge. We're on our way out to to do some shopping - that must count for a calorie burn! I'll catch up on the challengequestions later. Great job everyone else and keep it up!

idahogirl71

I am at 323.8 today which is down 2 pounds from last week, but is 2 pounds heavier than yesterday. The only thing I can figure for the 2 pound gain is that I did not eat enough calories yesterday and I only drank 72 oz of water rather than my normal 96. I am way swollen today in the feet and fingers so this must be why.

kimberlyrenee

Idahogirl - Oh my gosh I can see why you are proud. It takes much willpower to turn down french fries and opt for the healthy salad. What a great accomplishment!

Laura - Congrats on your NSV. How great it is to see some physical results of all your hard work.

Kristie –how great! Sometimes it is hard to accept compliments. How wonderful it is to hold your head high and know that you deserve and earned each and every compliment given.

Abhamilton – welcome!

Dorothy – Congrats on your loss and your NSV. . . . . sweating . . . . the sweet perfume of burning calories

Emccand – you can make the coming week spectacular!

Veronica – I love reading about all the physical activity you have. It is an inspiration.

McHeather – it is always harder when you are not in your own environment. You will be able to focus much better when you get home.

I will have to post my results later . . . . gotta get back to work now.

Hope everyone has a great afternoon!

LauraLLee

Ok, so I have a three pound gain this week at 296.2. But despite the exercise, my food choices have been bad and my water intake is not what it should be. TOM also is been on his way and has arrived in my town to make me crave chocolate, and anything sweet. He also is ever making me emotional and that isnt always a good combo with the cravings...
So enough of my excuses. I hope to have a better week.

LauraLLee

I'm gonna add push-ups as well (let's say 20 a day).

That is good Veronica . I am going to add those next week... shhh.....:bigsmile:

I love your activity too. Thanks for participating with us!

DorothyNorrington

Abhamilton: Welcome! I think you will find this is a great group.

Veronica: Love all of your exercise and movement! I haven't added in weight training yet, I am really scared of it, and have no clue how to even begin.

McHeather: I think you are doing a great job! I love to vacation because it seems so much easier for me to get the exercise in, through sight seeing, and the pool at the hotel. Hope you are enjoying it.

Idahogirl: Do you weigh in daily? I just weigh in weekly on Friday's.

I will be doing the challenges when I return on Monday. I am hoping to be able to drive out of the canyon enough to get service to record my food and activity, but if not, I will do it with paper and pen, then input when I get back.

Hope everyone has a healthy, active, and happy weekend!

LauraLLee

We're on our way out to to do some shopping - that must count for a calorie burn!

Shopping and walking count in my world as exercise! Hope you have fun!

LauraLLee

Great job Idahogirl!

Dorothy have fun this weekend!

LauraLLee

Okay, I'm in. However, I'm not thrilled that apparently I am neither a pear nor an apple shape, bur rather like a banana. My goal will be to look more like an hour glass.

Love that! Welcome to our group!

vallejos6

Ok y'all... 100 jumping jacks done (I didn't do the sets, just did them straight). Really got the blood pumping and was fun. I ALMOST had to grab my inhaler after, but toughed it out with my little wheeze and ended up not needing it (I have exercise induced asthma- total pain in the butt, luckily a quick puff on the inhaler seems to keep symptoms at bay). I also did my 20 push-ups. That's a good number for me, I was struggling for the last one, but got it (and am now really feeling it in my shoulders and triceps!). Hoping the rain holds off for our jog tonight, will post when I get a chance.

Abhamilton, welcome to the group! I used to be an almost perfect hour glass (although a bit bigger hour glass than I would have wanted), but I lost weight and almost all of my boobs, and now I'm decidedly pear shaped, ugh!

~~Veronica

kimberlyrenee

My weigh in for today is 276.2 (down 2.8). My NSV last week was getting in my water. 4 days I drank all my water I waked about 5 miles last week.

This coming week . . . I will try the 30 jumping jacks a day (starting tomorrow), but the only time I have ever been able to do jumping jacks was in the water. The walking I think I will go with the 7.5 miles.

Have a great night everyone. I will check back in tomorrow, if the jumping jacks don't kill me.:huh:

kimberlyrenee

Knowledge challenge week 2

Use Link and take metabolism quiz and share your experience.

Laura, I don't see a link.