Over 40 - Christmas Challenge (Closed)

brobin41101

Late check in, this will be quick (I know, I've said it before and written a book, lol.) I lost 2.6 pounds this week and have gotten to 254.9.

My goal for the next week is to stay there and not go up. We've come to the last week of our challenge and I hope everyone is happy with their progress. I am fairly satisfied with where I am and look forward to reaching my goal weight at some point in 2012 (not sure what that will be, but I will know when I get there.)

I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I hope our group can start a new challenge after the New Year! Good luck and best wishes to you all!

Kristel, You have done such an awesome job and should be very proud of yourself. :drinker: You met your goal well before our challenge end! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too ! I would love it if we could all stay together for another challenge !

tannyb

Kristel, You have done such an awesome job and should be very proud of yourself. :drinker: You met your goal well before our challenge end! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too ! I would love it if we could all stay together for another challenge !

Thanks, Beth - your constant and consistent support has meant the world to me throughout this entire challenge. You are an awesome person and MFP'er! Your progress was very inspiring to me! And I can't wait to see that new Christmas photo!

I'm not looking forward to the end of the challenge because I will miss everyone and because it helped so much with motivation. At least I know I will still get to talk to you and some of the others who are in my friends list, but I will still miss the challenge and group. If anyone has any ideas for a new challenge or group, count me in!

brobin41101

I just wanted to let you know that I am so proud to call you my MFP freinds. :flowerforyou: You have helped me through the tough spots and encouraged me along the way. Since meeting you I have shed quite a lot of weight . And all the while having the pleasure of cheering each of you on toward your goals. :drinker: We may not be at our ultimate goals,.. (yet ),..but we keep on trying and going forward and, I think, that is the most important part of our journeys. With Christmas just a mere 3 days away and then the New Year celebration. I would like to wish each of you a Merry Christmas...and a very Happy New Year !!! Keri, I think we are all in hopes of maintaining through out the holiday celebrations. I am so pleased you are getting back to your routine. Good luck to you ! Sherrill, Great job on the loss ! I am so glad your foot surgery went well. Be sure to keep up with your therapy routine. Jennifer, Thank you for the kind, positive words of encouragement . :smooched: You have done a great job with our challenge ! Lisa, what can I say ....congratulations...you have done an awesome job with your weight loss ! :drinker: Roxane, Great job maintaining during the goodie packed holiday parties. That has been a challenge for all of us. Good luck with your results next week ! Linda,Merry Christmas to you too ! This has been a wonderful group. Please know that if one falls short of a small goal, but has kept on trying then one hasn't fallen short ...but is succeeding in reaching the bigger goal. Be very proud of yourself. Leila, You completely rock ! :drinker: You have done an awesome job with your weight training. Your routines sound great. I bet you can really see the definition the weights are doing for you. Congrats ! Sabrina, I am so pleased to see you are with us. You have done so well considering all the difficulties you have gone through. May God bless you with peace in your heart ! Donna, I am praying for you ! You too have had a difficult year. We miss you and wish you a speedy recovery . Kristel, you are the Queen of the challenge.:drinker: :drinker: :drinker: I am so proud of your accomplishment ! I could go on and on with each of your accomplishments ...but...lol, I'm running out of space. Best of luck to each of you on our last weigh in. Christmas Day !!!

samhradh

Merry Christmas everyone.

Today I'm 176 lbs.

Hoping to get through the silly season without a gain, as i missed out on my October break I am taking leave until 6th of January, I am really looking forward to having some fun time with my kids, i have missed them so much over the last couple of months.

Santa worked his magic here and my son who was a border line believer this year was impressed.
So looking forward to a nice family dinner later on even if I am the one doing all the cooking.

I do love this time of year, there are so many happy memories, icing the cake yesterday made me think of my dear Daddy (RIP) when i was 13 he arranged for a pastry chef to come to our house to show me how to ice cakes, over the years this helped top up my pocket money doing special occasion cakes for family and friends.
Making a wish while stirring the pudding reminds me of my grandma, we still use a recipe passed down by her grandmother.
There will be the odd tear as we remember those who are not with us.

Blessings to you all enjoy life, see you all in our next challenge........

LHann360

Good morning,
I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday. I had a nice low key relaxing day. Happy the shopping and rushing and baking is over. I really haven't logged any food all last week. Too hard with all the weird miscellaneous items I ate. I did manage to hit the gym most of the week and today starts stage 2 of my rules of lifting. Last week was the rest week, which worked out well. :bigsmile: I'm a little nervous to start this stage, but looking forward to it.

My last weigh in today was 185. Not my goal weight, but I did lose over the challenge.
I think I started at 193... I definitely changed physically and mentally :laugh:

I would love to stay with you all for a new challenge if anyone thinks of one for us. I really like to be accountable with the check ins.

Santa was really wonderful to me. My children bought me a laptop I couldn't believe it !! Hubby bought me a new workout outfit and a book " Womens Health training guide 2012" I've skimmed through it and it looks really great. A new bathrobe size medium ---- my now old one is a 2x---- soooooo going into the donation bag along with the old pjs . We all lounged around and ate sandwiches and snacks. It was really nice. I love my family. My mom and sister visited.

Have wonderful week

Leila

brobin41101

Hello everybody, hope you all had a wonderful holiday ! I am taking a quick moment to post my final weight for December 25th. I have truly enjoyed this challenge. I'm not sure you realize how much you have impacted my life, and my ability to move forward with my weight loss journey. I'm not quite there yet, but I am on my way to a good start ! I thank each and every one of you for your support ,encouragement and motivation. I thank you for your prayers for my niece Amanda. Who, by the way, is doing unbelievable. She has been home for a while now. She got to spend Christmas at home. God is good !!! And the power of prayer is amazing ! Thank you God, for your mercy and thank you friends for your prayers. I look forward to another challenge to keep me motivated ...and lol, accountable ! xxx hugs to each of you ! Donna, thank you for coming up with this wonderful group! SW- 209 GW - 185 (Dec 25)
Week 1 - 207 (Aug 22)
Week 2 - 204 (Aug 29)
Week 3 - 203 (Sep 5)
Week 4 - 203 (Sep 12)
Week 5 - 203 (Sep 19) ...My Anniversary
Week 6 - 199 (Sep 26) ...Out of the 200's...Finally !!!!!
Week 7 - 196 (Oct 3)
Week 9 - 193 (Oct 10)
Week 10 - 193 (Oct 17)
Week 11 - 191 (Oct 24)
Week 12 - 191 (Oct 31) No Treat For Me
Week 13 - 190 (Nov 7) - Mini Goal - (190 lbs.)
Week 14 - 188 (Nov 14)
Week 15 - 187 (Nov 21)
Week 16 - 188 (Nov 28) Happy Thanksgiving !!!
Week 17 - 190 (Dec 5) Everything I lost...gained right back in the matter of two weeks.
Week 18 - 185.5 (Dec 12) More water in the plan this week. Last week was horrible !
Week 19 - 185 (Dec 19) I felt like a yo-yo this week !
Final - 185 (Dec 25) I've been up and down this week 183-185. This was what it was today.

tannyb

Well, I am back up this week, but it is no surprise (it's something I was expecting in the last two or three weeks, to be completely honest.) I am going to look at this as the wake up call that I needed to get myself back on track, since I had such a hard time in December.

I have enjoyed being in this challenge with all of you. As Beth has said, being in this challenge has helped me more than you all may realize. Having to check in every week helped me to be accountable and I did not want to disappoint anyone, nor myself for that matter.

So my final weigh in was 257.7 (up 2.8 this week), but that is still below the goal that I had set originally and I was trying to set a realistic goal, so I have to be happy with where I am now, especially looking back at where I started.

I hope everyone enjoyed a nice Christmas and got to spend time with family and friends, as that's what it's all about. I wish you all a happy, healthy, prosperous New Year and may we all be slimmer in 2012! For myself, I'd like to be at my goal weight a year from now! Best wishes to all in your weight loss journey!

Week 1 - 282 (Aug 22)
Week 2 - 282 (Aug 29)
Week 3 - 281 (Sep 5)
Week 4 - 278 (Sep 12)
Week 5 - 277 (Sep 19)
Week 6 - 274 (Sep 26)
Week 7 - 274 (Oct 3)
Week 9 - 272 (Oct 10)
Week 10 - 270 (Oct 17)
Week 11 - 265 (Oct 24)
Week 12 - 264 (Oct 31)
Week 13 - 261 (Nov 7)
Week 14 - xxx (Nov 14) vacation - didn't weigh in
Week 15 - 259 (Nov 21)
Week 16 - 258 (Nov 28)
Week 17 - 258 (Dec 5)
Week 18 - 258 (Dec 12)
Week 19 - 255 (Dec 19)
Final - 258 (Dec 25) I seem to be stuck with this number!

dlperry65

Last official weigh in. Sorry that the challenge is ending.
Disappointed I did not quite reach my goal. Lowest weight was 151.8, but it was not a Monday. Phooey.
Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and has a Happy New Year.

SW - 171
GW - 150(Dec 25)

Week 1 - 169.8 (Aug 22)
Week 2 - 167.2 (Aug 29)
Week 3 - 166.4 (Sep 5)
Week 4 - XXX (Sep 12)
Week 5 - 168.4 (Sep 19)
Week 6 - 165.4(Sep 26)
Week 7 - 164.0 (Oct 3)
Week 8 - 162.2 (Oct 10)
Week 9 - 162.2 (Oct 17)
Week 10 - 161.2 (Oct 24)
Week 11 - 159.2 (Oct 31)
Week 12 - 158.4 (Nov 7)
Week 13 - 157.6 (Nov 14)
Week 14 - 154.8 (Nov 21)
Week 15 - San Diego (Nov 28)
Week 16 - Recovering from San Diego (Dec 5)
Week 17 - 155 (Dec 12)
Week 18 - 153 (Dec 19)
Final - 154 (Dec 25)

KeriA

I am really enjoying reading about everyone’s Christmas. Beth thanks for the sweet words to all of us and glad that Amanda was home for Christmas. Great gifts Leila! I got a long seeved running shirt from my daughter. Sam loved reading your thoughts on Christmas and family and glad it isn’t so crazy now and you are enjoying it. Kristel, you did so well and I like that you are giving yourself a year to get to your goal. So many try to lose too fast and it doesn’t stay off or it just isn’t as healthy. That being said I am ready to speed up my efforts for now. No more night class and hopefully my Mom is settled down for now. Although she has gotten over the surgery and fall pretty well I have to admit she just didn’t seem like her normal lively self this Christmas. We had a wonderful celebration. Christmas Eve at my house and Christmas day at my sister’s. I worked so hard that I was sore from the cooking, shopping and cleaning Christmas Eve. I was stiff Christmas morning.

As for the challenge -My Low was 226.4 from 231. I am still assessing what damage if anything there has been from Christmas and finals week but I managed to stay below my calorie goal on Christmas Eve and stay under maintenance on Christmas day. So I do not expect any permanent damage from the holidays. I didn’t reach my goal but this group helped me get through what was really the worst time I have had since joining MFP. I need to get back to my exercise routine, drink more water again and I will start lowering my calorie goal down a bit too.

I asked Donna about starting another challenge as a thread in my 40/50+ group and she seemed positive about it. I am wondering what you guys think about it. I think maybe having it be a spring challenge for March 20th the 1st day of spring. I am hoping that Donna will help moderate it when she is up for it. She and Gwen are in the group. If you like the idea I will set up the thread on the group and send the link. Either way I am interested in continuing in a challenge group with all of you.
Keri

dlperry65

Let me know if a new challenge is started. Would like to see this group stay together.

brobin41101

I asked Donna about starting another challenge as a thread in my 40/50+ group and she seemed positive about it. I am wondering what you guys think about it. I think maybe having it be a spring challenge for March 20th the 1st day of spring. I am hoping that Donna will help moderate it when she is up for it. She and Gwen are in the group. If you like the idea I will set up the thread on the group and send the link. Either way I am interested in continuing in a challenge group with all of you.
Keri

Keri, There are several of us who would love to continue with another challenge. I know I would for sure. Please let us know what you come up with and we will be there.

KeriA

Hello everyone, I started a short (14 week) challenge to keep us going. If Donna feels better and wants to take it over Yay! I can give her moderator status. Or it is short enough that it gives us a chance to continue and reassess later. To make it simpler for me I posted the topic as a part of my group 40/50+ Younger Next Year Group. I am not really sure whether you have to join or not. If so I am fine with you joining permanently or temporarily for this challenge. If you don't have to post on the thread then that gives you the choice as well. Since our group is getting smaller I will keep it open for a few weeks to others in our group.

Here is the thread http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/428589-spring-challenge

LHann360

thanks Keri,

I joined in over there !!

paxetamore

Back from lovely holiday vacation time with family late last night. Final weigh-in this morning..

GW - 199.9 (Dec 25)
SW - 225.3
Week 1 - 225.3 (Aug 22)
Week 2 - 224.0 (Aug 29) - nutrition goal: drink 8 cups of water per day and meet weekly calories-burned goal
Week 3 - 222.4 (Sept 5) - exercise goal this week: increase cardio time in workouts
Week 4 - 225.3 (Sept 11) - limiting alcohol to weekends only and getting the cardio up & going
Week 5 - 224.7 (Sept 19) - getting the cardio up & going!
Week 6 - 222.7 (Sept 26) - getting the cardio up & going... still
Week 7 - 221.8 (Oct 3) - still working on cardio regime!
Week 8 - 220.7 (Oct 10) - vacation to visit my daughter at college for a few days... I want to not gain!
Week 9 - 220.2 (Oct 20) - c-a-r-d-i-o!!!
Week 10 - 219.4 (Oct 24) - c-a-r-d-i-o... every day!
Week 11 - 218.3 (Oct 31) - see above lol!
Week 12 - 217.2 (Nov 7) - getting up earlier... that's a start )
Week 13 - 215.2 (Nov 14) - see all above :-)
Week 14 - 216.1 (Nov 21) - less alcohol and more exercise
Week 15 - 217.4 (Nov 28)
Week 16 - 215.8 (Dec 5)
Week 17 - 213.6 (Dec 12)
Week 18 - 213.6 (Dec 19)
Week 19 - 214.7 (Dec 28)

I figured a gain, plus t.o.m.

Did not meet my original, goal but happy I lost 11 pounds. I will be joining the new group too... thanks Keri!

sherrillg

A little late getting this posted. Well, I didn't make my goal but I knew that it was going to be tough with lots of travel and surgery. I'm happy with 7.8lbs gone. Very proud of all of you who stuck thru this til the end. Great job!! Great Commitment! Happy New Year!!!

GW - 145 (Dec 25)
Week 1 - missed
Week 2 - 162 (Aug 29)
Week 3 - 160.2(Sep 5)
Week 4 - 158.4 (Sep 12)
Week 5 - 158.2 (Sep 19)
Week 6 - 157.2 (Sep 26)
Week 7 - 157.2 (Oct 3)
Week 8 - 157.2(Oct 10)
Week 9 - 157.2(Oct 17)
Week 10 - 157.0(Oct 24)
Week 11- 156.0 (Oct 31)
Week 12 - 154.6 (Nov 7)
Week 13 - Japan (Nov 14)
Week 14 - Japan (Nov 21)
Week 15 - 154.4 (Nov 28)
Week 16 - 154 (Dec 5)
Week 17 - 154.6 (Dec 12)
Week 18 - 154.2 (Dec 19)
FINAL - 154.2 (Dec 25)

dfeledichuk

Sorry I have been AWOL my sincere apologizes and thanks for Beth and KeriA for looking after things while I was off. I had surgery before Christmas which did not go well, some complications and I will now be going for a second surgery in January.

I have updated the final numbers and congrats to all of us.... even though we didn't all reach our goal we all made progress in the right direction and that is awesome. And to those 4 that meet or exceeded their goals HIGH FIVE! Well done!

Have a great new year everyone!

KeriA

Donna,
Great to see you back. Glad you feel up to continuing with the spring challenge too. If some of you didn't see the link here it is.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/428589-spring-challenge

I think you may have to join the group to do the challenge but you can always just do that temporarily.

Keri