DG - Thanksgiving Countdown (CLOSED GROUP)

swillis21

Here's the new thread ladies!
1. swillis21
2. curlyleslie
3. aryabrookenelson
4. slimdownspicey
5. sanya77
6. change_happens
7. jennifergayfield
8. tryingeveryday
9. kwinty37
10. jesustapdancingchristy
11. launawe
12. poppyinboulder
13. oliviawink
14. krebsea
15. loveme445
16. wendyc122005

REMINDER:
Try to check in each day with
DAILY GOALS...
FITNESS:
DIET:
CHALLENGES YOU ANTICIPATE: (if you want to include this, it can be helpful I think)

Thought it would be nice to re-post people's intros so that we can all get a chance to meet each other For those who have not introduced themselves yet...

NAME:
HEIGHT:
CW:
GOAL WEIGHT FOR THANKSGIVING:
FAVORITE WORKOUTS:
OTHER: (Whatever you'd like to share about yourself)


SWILLIS21
Name: Shannon
Height: 5'2
CW: 149.8
Goal Weight by Thanksgiving: 135
Favorite workouts: Running (usually on my treadmill at home), and Wii Just Dance 2
Other: SAHM, married 6 yrs, Christian, 2 wonderful children - 3 yr old daughter, 1 yr old son

JENNIFERGAYFIELD
I'm Jenni and my info is below
5'4"
CW 131.6
GW By Thanksgiving: 128 (may not seem like much to go, but these last few pounds are quite clingy!)
Favorite Workouts: Running outside (just take off from my house), Tennis
Other info: I'm a marriage and family therapist, my husband of almost 4 years is a youth pastor (we're very involved with the church), I have a 6 month old son JJ, my joy

SLIMDOWNSPICEY
Name: Jackie
Height: 5'1
CW: 175 (even though I won't acknowledge the 3lbs I gained on MFP)
Goal Weight by Thanksgiving: 163
Favorite workouts: Walking (I live in Manhattan so it's easy to integrate), Kettlebells, and SPINNING
Other: Working full time in sales (7am - 5:30 pm), super unhealthy but not fat boyfriend, living the lifestyle you would imagine of a 26 year old in Manhattan (ie. booze and restaurants kill me)

TRYINGEVERYDAY
Name: Rachel
Height: 5'1 and a half LOL
CW: I have not told anyone but I guess now is time to be honest......366 (no judgement right?)
Goal by Thanksgiving: 340
Favorite workouts: Walking and riding a recumbant bike they are the most comfortable for me to do right now but that is temporary!! I also love workout dvds like zumba and walk away the pounds!
Other: Married for 5 years to an amazing man, stay at home wife, Christian, one wonderful black lab!!

JESUSTAPDANCINGCHRISTY
Name: Christy
Height: 5'4"
CW: 165 or 170, will weigh tonight...
Goal Weight by Thanksgiving: 145
Favorite workouts: Insanity, playing softball, row machine, lifting, and hiking/climbing
Other: I live and work in DC and lack the ability to turn down both happy hours and playing softball. I also watch a lot of baseball and football, which is done with lots of booze and unhealthy food so I have to work to keep myself in check. I know how to eat healthy and how to work out properly so I just need some help on motivation and accountability.

KWINTY37
Name: Melissa
Height: 5'4”
CW: 185
Goal Weight by Thanksgiving: 170
Favorite workouts: Walking, Doing yard work (Does that count??? lol )
Other: I am 27 yrs old. I work full time in banking (8am - 6 pm)... pretty much sit in a desk chair ALL day!!!! I have gained 45 pounds in almost 5 years. Yikes.... I need a life change!!! I am very miserable.

LAUNAWE
Name: Lana
Height: 5'3
CW: 160.4
Goal Weight by Thanksgiving: 147
Favorite workouts: walking/running in the neighborhood, hiking, yoga
Other: have a boyfriend of 14 years, 2 grown step-daughters, 2 cats

KREBSEA
Name: Elisabeth
Height: 5'6"
CW: 150
Goal Weight by Thanksgiving: 135
Favorite workouts: Walking/running (treadmill or outside), organized sports (volleyball, soccer), and any kind of rowing (canoeing, kayaking, etc.)
Other: Have a 2-year old beagle mix named Annie... she takes up most of my time. Oh, and I'm a wine fiend... hoping to curb that "bad" habit by using MFP.

POPPYINBOULDER
Name: Poppy
Height:
CW:
Goal Weight by Thanksgiving: 225
Favorite workouts: Gym, walks
Other: I'm 60 years old and really want to lose this weight once and forever. I'm really hoping this thread will give me the incentive I need to succeed.

slimdownspicey

Hey everyone! I came close to keeping up with my trainer during Kettlebells - my lower back hurts when I use heavier weights and I had some problems keeping up with the squat jumps. I still managed to burn about 800 calories in 70 minutes though. I also threw out the banana bread and made banana fudge pops instead .

I'm so happy to have this group - my personal trainer, who I am very close with, is moving to California at the end of the month and I've been freaking out about it. She set me up with someone else to train with but I also take classes with her and check in all the time - I'll be training with a man now so it will definitely be different. I'm thankful to have some ladies to check in with too!

My Daily Goals...
Fitness: Seeing my trainer today - I tend to chat to get out of working out as much and today I'm just going to give it my all!
Diet: Use only 2 tbsp of dressing on my salad at lunch.
*Challenges I anticipate today: The salad is HUGE and they give you at least 6-8 tbsp on the side. I brought a 1 oz cup and stuck it in my desk so I would know.

swillis21

@Jackie, great workout! Sounds intense And great idea w/the banana pops, sounds good! And with salad, I find it much easier to use less dressing if I can shake the dressing on in a container or something. Idk if you could find a way to do that, but then a little goes a long way. Glad your happy to have the group! me too

YESTERDAY...
Fitness: Run 2.5 miles - I did it!
Diet: No eating after 8:30 pm - had frozen yogurt around 8:45, and then 2 twizzlers at 9:30 - BUT it was only 2 bc I was trying to be good

My Daily Goals...
Fitness: Run 1.5 miles & 20 min Just Dance 2 (w/jumping rope between songs!)
Diet: Drink 12 glasses of water
*Challenges I anticipate today. Going for a run AND Just Dance, usually do one or the other in a day. And drinking more water, have to go get started on that now

jesustapdancingchristy

DAILY GOALS: Stay sane (and hydrated) while working some overtime to meet a data request, and don't celebrate too hard at the baseball game tonight
FITNESS: Pushups, squats, and lots of stretching (still sore from softball tournament) before bed
DIET: Stick to the plan...have some black bean soup if getting hungry, or munch on some nuts. Eat dinner before baseball game and stick to just a few beers to save money and carbs.
CHALLENGES YOU ANTICIPATE: I had to get in to work early to fulfill a data request for my client so I'm working 4 more hours than I normally do. Breakfast at 7am had me starving for lunch by 12 and I only have so many snacks that I can do between meals. I'll eat dinner while still here and then head to the ballgame. Gotta be smart and not drink myself over my calories/carbs.

wendyc122005

wendyc122005

NAME: Wendy
HEIGHT: 5'4"
CW: 194
GOAL WEIGHT FOR THANKSGIVING: 175 ( 2ish a week)
FAVORITE WORKOUTS: Swimming laps with my son. Adding in treadmill this week.
OTHER: Wonderful Family! Challenge daily is time. Full time job, 1hr + communte each way, 2 kids and their misc. stuff. All of these equals a struggle to make time for dedicated exercise time. Pushing myself to get on the treadmill in the RIGHT after the kids are tucked in.

wendyc122005

*Challenges I anticipate today: The salad is HUGE and they give you at least 6-8 tbsp on the side. I brought a 1 oz cup and stuck it in my desk so I would know.

I keep my own dressing in the fridge at work. I LOVE Newman's Light Balsamic (and I am a Ranch girl). It is only 45 cal and 2 carbs for 2 T. It tastes great too.

tryingeveryday

Hi everyone! Good luck today on all your goals I know you can do it be determined and don't surrender! I saw a show last night and a lady said a great line!! "Don't let a muffin have control of your life!" I thought that was great cause when I crave something bad it always seems so loud and I have to give in and in all reality we do have control over what goes in our mouths so take that control back and do what you need to!!

Daily Goals:
Diet: stick to my calories for the day
Excercise: walk and bike a little (I have already done both of these!) I could only do 5 mins on the bike which was aweful but I am going to take it and run with it maybe in a few days/weeks I can up that time and burn more calories!!

slimdownspicey

*Challenges I anticipate today: The salad is HUGE and they give you at least 6-8 tbsp on the side. I brought a 1 oz cup and stuck it in my desk so I would know.

I keep my own dressing in the fridge at work. I LOVE Newman's Light Balsamic (and I am a Ranch girl). It is only 45 cal and 2 carbs for 2 T. It tastes great too.

That's such a good idea! We have a fridge for 4,000 people to share so I tend to lose things in there but I've tried bringing it in pre-portioned cups that day. It's just so tempting when I go out for a salad and the dressing is so good! I usually get the full fat because I am more satisfied (unless the light is really good) but I should go back to bringing my own because then I don't have more in front of me.

I already failed at my goal and had 3 tbsp! Then I threw the container out =(.

Have you tried the Bolthouse Farms Yogurt dressings? They are AMAZING - esp the ranch, I like to add ground chipotle to it.

wendyc122005

OK . . . not trying to hog the board. I have short spurts that I can squeeze in posts. Here are my goals for today and my mini goal fo the week.

FITNESS: Get the treadmill cleaned up so hubby will move it into our room and I can start using it when the kids get to bed.
DIET: Need to keep my net carbs down below 30. Hubby wanted Mexican last night so I made bean / beef burritos. Thought I had healthified it enough, but when I added up all the ingredients I was WAY over.
CHALLENGES YOU ANTICIPATE: TIME! TIME! TIME! Oldest is back to school and it is really tough to get it all in. I WILL MAKE TIME FOR EXERCISE TODAY!

MINI GOAL FOR THE WEEK: My current weight was my weigh in from early last week. I am going to hold off until at least Friday before weigh in and hope that I will be in the 180's. Heck I will take 189.9!

wendyc122005

[

I already failed at my goal and had 3 tbsp! Then I threw the container out =(.

Have you tried the Bolthouse Farms Yogurt dressings? They are AMAZING - esp the ranch, I like to add ground chipotle to it.

I will have to look for that dressing. I live where it is REALLY hard to find any specialty item, but I am going to see if I can find it.

BTW - You didn't eat it all so you didn't fail!!!! Another good thing about the Newman's is that a little goes a long way. Over dressed it make the salad to overwhelming for me.

jenniferjgayfield

Just reposting my goals from today on here...Looks like we got a good group

Goals for today 8/21/11:
Fitness: Run 2 miles and ab workout (not yet decided what I will do here, any ideas anyone?)
Food: Greens, specifically spinach!
Challenges: I am sooooo lazy about doing ab workouts, plus I'm not very creative with them. Need to find more ways to integrate ab training into my workouts.

Good luck today all!

launawe

Hi everybody!!

YESTERDAY...
Fitness: 40 minute walk -- done
Diet: 2 cups fruit, 2 1/2 cups veggies -- I ate the fruit and about 1 1/2 cups of veggies

My Daily Goals...
Fitness: walk 40 minutes (still sore from Saturday's hike)
Diet: 2 cups fruit, 2 1/2 cups veggies
*Challenges I anticipate today: It's 4 p.m., and I haven't had any veggies or fruit yet. However, I did go to the store and buy some more, so that's promising.

swillis21

*Challenges I anticipate today: It's 4 p.m., and I haven't had any veggies or fruit yet. However, I did go to the store and buy some more, so that's promising.

Make a smoothie maybe

loveme445

NAME: Renee (loveme445)
HEIGHT: 5'7"
CW: 187
GOAL WEIGHT FOR THANKSGIVING: 167
FAVORITE WORKOUTS: Jogging & Zumba
OTHER: Im a SAHM, married with 2 toddler boys & Ive been struggling with my weight loss journey for a couple of months. I was doing pretty good with losing the weight from about Oct-March and I was maintaining from April-June. Unfortunately, I lost the motiavtion of being consistent with exercise and logging. As a result, Ive been gaining weight from June-now. However, I just came back from a 3 week vacation and Im ready to finish this journey!

loveme445

My Daily Goals for Wed:

FITNESS: Jogging & Strenth Training
DIET: 10 cups of water & 5 fruits & veggies
CHALLENGES YOU ANTICIPATE: Getting in my workout with my boys

tryingeveryday

Good Morning everyone!

I reached my goals yesterday and feel great about it! On a side note I ordered a new scale because I hate the one we have now and I will recieve it in a couple days!! Can't wait to track my weightloss on that!

My Goals today are:
Diet: Exactly like yesterday stay within my calorie count!
Excercise:Walk for 20mins and ride the bike for 10
Obstacales I forsee are I am super tired this morning and If I don't get off here and go I may not go for a walk at all.

slimdownspicey

Morning! I 1/2 achieved yesterdays goals - ate 3 tbsp of dressing instead of 2 but did manage to throw out the other like 1/4 cup . I definitely did a tough workout with my trainer - my legs were on FIRE - but I could have pushed harder.

My Daily Goals...
Fitness: Walk to and from all my meetings, even the one that's a mile away (time permitting).
Diet: Drink 6 glasses of water before Kettlebell class tonight so I'm not as thirsty working out.
*Challenges I anticipate today: I tend to not drink water in the morning because I'm sucking down iced coffee like a maniac. Gotta get water too!

slimdownspicey

I reached my goals yesterday and feel great about it! On a side note I ordered a new scale because I hate the one we have now and I will recieve it in a couple days!! Can't wait to track my weightloss on that!

Congrats on reaching your goals! What kind of scale did you order? I don't even have a digital one which I love/hate because my weight can go up/down a lb depending on how I stand...you've got me thinking I should get a better one.

jenniferjgayfield

@Rachel, good job on achieving your goals yesterday, and I totally understand the importance of a good scale, thinking of getting a new one myself bc it fell recently and has been having issues.
@Jackie You should consider getting a good digital scale, they are more accurate, and it can be important when tracking weight loss.
I got my goals done yesterday, ate spinach, although reluctantly, and got my 2 miles in...Shannon you are so right that we are not in high school anymore, but it can be difficult to not compare my not so great times now to my HS times. Still, proud that I'm getting fit, even though slowly.
Goals for 8/24/2011:
Fitness: Church Wednesdays, gotta be there at 6:30 and get home around 5:30, so just hoping to do about 20 minutes of stairs during lunch. It's not much, but better than no workout today.
Food: Behave at dinner, don't go over on calories. Having grilled chicken on flatbread and some rice tonight, but it can be easy to overeat, which is especially not good on small workout days. Portion control is not my friend.
Hope everyone has a great Wednesday...anyone else going to church tonight?
Jenni

wendyc122005

Well didn't meet my fitness goal yesterday. Had an awful mess with my son's school bus. He wasn't on it! By the time I got him from school and met with the principal to get her to correct their bussing problems I was an hour behind. That meant everything was behind. Dinner, homework, showers, baths, reading to the kids and bed for them. All that and I still needed to get lunches and laundry. UGH! I like to think that all that hustling burned some calories enough though I didn't get my butt on the treadmill or in the pool.

Anyway it is a new day so here are my goals for today.

FITNESS: Get the treadmill in the bedroom and get at least 4 miles in.
DIET: I have entered all of my meals for the day into my food diary. My goal is to not deviate at all from it.
CHALLENGES YOU ANTICIPATE: NONE! I wlll keep myself on track today no matter what!

tryingeveryday

http://www.amazon.com/Eatsmart-Precision-Bathroom-Technology-440-Pounds

This is the scale I ordered! I feel like I need to explain my purchase...I like this one because the weight limit is so high and because of my weight I wanted to get a scale that I am sure can weigh me properly...I also like it because it has a wide base to stand on so I won't be squeezing my thighs together to fit on the scale!! (not that they don't touch anyway but that is temporary?? hopefully) And I love that there are over 1000 reviews for this scale and of course there are some bad reviews but each bad review I read they reported back saying that the company replaced thier scale promptly and they have had sucess with the second one. Most of the reviews are raves though!! Also the scale does not have to "wake up" like most digital scales do you can just step on this one and it will weigh you.

Hope this helps!! I will post when I get mine and let you know if it is all I wanted it to be! I did 2 day shipping so it will be here the 25th!:happy:

Oh and just to update I did get off of the computer and went on a walk this morning so my tired did not defeat me!!

slimdownspicey

@Jenni - maybe try either the flatbread or the rice at dinner but not both (less carbs at night). instead, try a steamed veggie (bird's eye makes frozen steam-in bags) or fresh (get a pack of zip-lock microwave steamers, no mess!) and use some "i can't believe it's not butter spray" or some parmesan cheese on the veggies. way less cals/carbs and better nutrients. plus you won't feel bad when you over eat steam broccoli

swillis21

Wow! Everyone is doing so great!
@Renee - (I love your name btw) Yay for SAHMs! And I hear you in getting in workouts with toddlers! How old? I try to ignore my housework sometimes (they can make such a mess! lol) and make working out my priority, and then the rest usually gets done too.
@Jenni - I know what you mean abt portion control at dinner time - I was just telling my sister that I think that was a lot of my weight gain, that and eating at night I've found it helpful to plate everyone's food in the kitchen and then go back for seconds if people are still hungry. Just an idea. Also, not going to church tonight, but I'm excited for a big "Day of Service" we're doing this Saturday What do you do on Wednesdays? plan activities? Have fun!
@Wendy - it IS a new day And it can be so frustrating when everything goes off course and we had no hand in it! But that's why moms are so great! So, yay! for moving on with a great attitude!! And I love the idea of entering all your food at the beginning of the day - I've done that for dinners before, but why not the whole day sometimes?! great idea!
@Rachel - Woohoo! Fatigue did NOT get the best of you And that's exciting that you found such a great scale! You are going to do great - don't doubt yourself and we're all here for you!

Yesterday...
Fitness: Run 1.5 and 20 min Just Dance - Ran the 1.5 with great pace, but the Just Dance did not get danced My sister was visiting for the day, and she's been gone for the past 3 mos. Plans kept changing a lot, but I will try for it tday!
Diet: Drank 12 cups of water

Today...
Fitness: Jog 2 miles and 20 min Just Dance
Diet: Drink 12 cups of water again
Challengs I anticipate: My kids are way overtired so hopefully they are not too cranky/naptime goes well so I can get in my workout
~Shannon

p.s. found some amazing gum last night - the Extra Apple Pie! yummm!

Krebsea

Morning ladies!

FITNESS: At least 3.1 miles (5K) on the treadmill -- goal is to run at least 2 of them. Also, 60 sit-ups mid-day and 60 sit-ups before bed. Hoping to get those abs back in shape!
DIET: Stick to daily calorie goal. I have a big chef salad that I plan to nosh on throughout the day, and I'm going to try it without dressing today to keep the calories at a minimum. Oh, and NO wine.
CHALLENGES YOU ANTICIPATE: I'm headed over to my mom's house tonight -- she and I are both wine fiends, and I rarely leave her house without having a couple of glasses of wine.

-Elisabeth

launawe

Yesterday..
Fitness: 40 minute walk -- done!!
Diet: 2 c fruits, 2 1/2 c veggies -- I got in the fruits, and close to the number of veggies

Today...
Fitness: 60 minute walk
Diet: don't eat after 10 p.m.
Challenges I anticipate: I've been having trouble with eating late at night for awhile now. I get hungry, and feel like I can't go to sleep with the hungry feeling.

launawe

This is the scale that I got a couple of months ago. It seems to be working great (although, I haven't been losing weight). LOL
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001KXZ808

tryingeveryday

Yesterday..
Fitness: 40 minute walk -- done!!
Diet: 2 c fruits, 2 1/2 c veggies -- I got in the fruits, and close to the number of veggies

Today...
Fitness: 60 minute walk
Diet: don't eat after 10 p.m.
Challenges I anticipate: I've been having trouble with eating late at night for awhile now. I get hungry, and feel like I can't go to sleep with the hungry feeling.

Have you tried just drinking some water before you go to bed or maybe some green tea? This seems to help me I know I run the risk of having to get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night but worth it to not have to add calories I don't really need!!

launawe

I've tried drinking water, and it doesn't seem to satisfy me. I could try decaffeinated green tea. Actually, herbal tea might work. It wouldn't keep me up, but has some flavor.

swillis21

@Lana - You are not alone! I've found if I'm hungry the 100 calorie popcorn bags work well - I really like kettlecorn because it's a little sweet but healthy too. I also have found that peanuts or anything high-protein is good, because protein takes longer to burn off and I've read that it's perfect for nightime snacks. Also, if you just have the munchies I have found gum (especially the Extra dessert flavors) to be really helpful

jenniferjgayfield

@Jackie Not gonna lie, I was not happy to see your veggie substitute for rice suggestion, but you are right, so I am officially switching out my rice for steamed broccoli tonight. I really appreciate it because I need to be held accountable for what I eat, and advice is always welcome, so thank you!
@Shannon Wednesdays we do Youth Group teaching and hanging out...it's a lot of fun and fellowship

CurlyLeslie

Hi everyone! I'm sorry that I haven't spoken up sooner. I had access to MFP only through my iPhone app while I was in Hawaii for 9 days so fortunately I was able to hear about this group from Shannon, but not able to access the message boards to post though. I returned from my trip yesterday and pretty much bombed out every single day there (sheesh!) so I really, really need the motivation and support to get back on track, lose the weight I gained there, and continue on my weight loss/fitness goals. Oh, and Thanksgiving is my birthday this year so it is the perfect goal date for me!!!

Here is a little about me:

Name: Leslie
Height: 5'6"
CW: 147.4
Goal Weight by Thanksgiving: 135
Favorite workouts: Walking,elliptical machine, stationary bicycle, lifting weights
Other: SAHM to three kids, married almost 15 yrs, LDS Christian, love to read, knit, scrapbook, sew

Today...
My Fitness Goal: (not exactly a fitness goal but I really need it since I flew home yesterday), to go to bed by 10:30 so I can get 8 hours sleep.
My Diet Goal: To stay under my calorie goal and not eat after 8:00
Challenges I anticipate: Still feeling exhausted from my trip so I want to eat everything in sight (especially all the chocolate macadamia candies and other Hawaii goodies I brought home for family and friends)