OCTOBER CHALLENGE *aggiecass09 and friends* CLOSED GROUP

AggieCass09

This is our thread for the October challenge. Here are the instructions:


Thank you for volunteering for the OCTOBER CHALLENGE, each and every one of you motivate me and I think this challenge will benefit everyone. So, this is how it works! Bear with me as its kind of complicated to explain, but once you skim over the word document everything will make sense.

~~The Number Stuff on 10/1 and 10/31~~
Weigh ins- since the scale is a HORRIBLE indicator of success we will only weigh in on 10/1 and 10/31 to show progress over the month.
Progress pictures- taken on 10/1 and 10/31 again to show progress over the month. Take shots of the front, side, and back in clothing that you feel comfortable in that will show progress (swim suit, gym clothes, please be appropriate!)
Inches- This is a better indicator of success so measure the circumference of your right thigh, hip (around your hip bones), waist (around the belly button or the smallest part of your midsection), bust/chest (for ladies you can measure around the middle with a sports bra on, for guys, measure around your nipple level), right arm (around bicep-not flexed), calf (widest part-not flexed). Again, measure on 10/1 and 10/31.
Body Fat %- if you have access to someone who can measure this with calipers (ie trainer or physician) have it done. Do not use scales as they are HIGHLY accurate. If you don't have access to get this measured, don't worry about it. Take measurements on 10/1 and 10/31.

~~Daily Stuff~~

1. Daily- you will daily check weather or not you met your goals in the following categories (if this is too overwhelming for you, just pick one or a few to track)
Calories- if you were +/- 100 calories of your goal (whatever that may be)
Exercise- if you stuck to your plan of exercise or rest (because rest days are SO important also)
Water- if you drank at least your body weight in ounces (i.e. i'm 157 lbs so i'll be shooting for 157 oz or 6 of my 24 oz water bottles)
Sleep- if you got at least 7.5 hours of sleep

2. Challenge- if you choose to participate, there are daily challenges listed on the attached calendar. Orange ones are social and are to be shared on the MFP thread and black ones are to be recorded on the word document.

~~How to Participate~~
You will use the attached word document to track all of your personal data each day. Do not use the sample calendar in google docs, please PRINT your own or download and save on your computer.
Each Monday you will update the google document with the number of times you met your goals (water, food, exercise, sleep, and challenges)
The orange challenges should also be shared on the MFP thread.
If you want to share your progress pictures on the MFP thread feel free.
Each week, winners will be announced on Tuesday for each of the categories. (but really, we are all winners)

Those that particpated in the September challenge (25 lovely ladies), we lost 66 lbs and 41 inches total...that's amazing! See what healthy habits (consistient ones) and some friends for accountability can do?

If you have any questions, just ask.

bluiz13

I sent you my email....

abellante_0205

Hey I didn't get the email -- am I still part of this??? Let me know! --- NEVER MIND GOT IT NOW! THANKS!!!

ronda_gettinghealthy

got the email...,.

abellante_0205

I'm trying to figure out the oz I have to drink per day -- right now I'm getting 8 cups in -- I'm 109.8 lbs right now so that would be about 110 oz that I have to drink?

Also explain the measurements again? I have never been able to figure out how to measure myself -- I have a clothes measure thingy -- its flexible -- not sure what its called LOL. I'll try to measure myself Saturday. Let me know exactly where I am supposed to measure -- where's the midsection?

AggieCass09

I'm trying to figure out the oz I have to drink per day -- right now I'm getting 8 cups in -- I'm 109.8 lbs right now so that would be about 110 oz that I have to drink?

yup...110 oz (think in terms of water bottles... it makes things easier)

you'll be peeing a lot at first if you are only drinking 8 cups now!

shannonaufman

I'm so pumped for the challenge, Cass. Thanks so much for ditching the scale -- I'm scale-free this month and I'm so glad I can still participate.

abellante_0205

lol i pee a lot right now neways so it wont be surprising if its worse later on LOL, but its good for me to get it all out haha.

AggieCass09

water disclaimer: if the 1 oz of water for every lb of weight doesn't agree with you (i.e. your pee is way clear and/or you "feel" too full) dont drink so much...it may be too much if you aren't active or if you have other medical issues (i'm not a doctor even though I took the mcat

you want your pee to be a pale yellow color so try to figure out what number works best for you...that 1 oz per 1 lb was a general guideline my trainer and my physician gave me (i exercise 6 days a week and live in a very humid/hot climate).

abellante_0205

water disclaimer: if the 1 oz of water for every lb of weight doesn't agree with you (i.e. your pee is way clear and/or you "feel" too full) dont drink so much...it may be too much if you aren't active or if you have other medical issues (i'm not a doctor even though I took the mcat

you want your pee to be a pale yellow color so try to figure out what number works best for you...that 1 oz per 1 lb was a general guideline my trainer and my physician gave me (i exercise 6 days a week and live in a very humid/hot climate).

Yea, I think I need to drink more some days, it just depends on my activity level... I'll have to test that out!

emilysebastian

water disclaimer: if the 1 oz of water for every lb of weight doesn't agree with you (i.e. your pee is way clear and/or you "feel" too full) dont drink so much...it may be too much if you aren't active or if you have other medical issues (i'm not a doctor even though I took the mcat

you want your pee to be a pale yellow color so try to figure out what number works best for you...that 1 oz per 1 lb was a general guideline my trainer and my physician gave me (i exercise 6 days a week and live in a very humid/hot climate).

I just want to quote this so you know YES--my water will be below this amount every day, per Docs orders... low HR, and too much water removes sodium/electrolytes that I actually need in my diet (I know--what a problem, right?! To keep MORE sodium in your system!). SO--my proposal... if we can all post or msg our water daily water goal (IF it is different than this) so we can be accountable for that amount each day
So... my daily goal is 80 oz on rest days, and 100-110 oz on w/o days :drinker:

nicolina823

I'm in and I'm so excited. Today is my last round of x-rays and meeting with the orthopedic at 10AM. Wish me luck. I'd like to take this month on 100% from the start.

I always forget to log water but I'm always between 128oz. and my pee is always clear without any color, so I guess my weight is out.

MOOOSEEE3

My water goal is to try to drink 20 glasses of water a day (that's 1.25 gallons of water or 160 ounces). My pee is always clear, as water is all I ever drink. I can't fathom drinking 199 ounces of water a day...that's A LOT! Can't wait to begin this challenge tomorrow.

bluiz13

my goals:
stay within my zig zag cals each day 1400-1683 depending on the day (actually under for the first wk or so)
drink 100+ oz a day of water
to workout 5-6 days a week
7-7.5hr of sleep a night


the cals, water and workouts are a "piece of cake" for me...it's the friggin sleep i have the most trouble with...getting to bed at 12am and getting up at 7ish is my norm so i'm trying to push it to 11-1130ish each night so i can get a little extra sleep...

looking forward to being part of the group....good luck folks...

ecmcnamee

So excited .. .but holy shiz I gotta keep drinking 25 glasses of water a day ... I want to lose just so I don't have to keep guzzling!! Thankfully I'm used to it now. Calories should be easy although I think I want to play with my zig zagging calories .. not burning as much since I cut back on the cardio .. we'll see. Water piece of cake .. exercise .. got it. Sleep ... ummmm yeah ... being a full time working mom of 3 and getting up at 4:45 a.m. to workout .. 7.5 hours is tough but I'll do the best I can. I'm also somewhat freaked about the scale going away but I'm gonna do this ... it is heading to my parents house this weekend! YIKES!!

punkrawkcutie

Hey Everyone

So I was looking at the challenge and it looks AWESOME. I already know I am going to struggle with the sleep and keeping within my calorie goal... But this way I will keep it in mind.

abellante_0205

For the water goal, I don't think I can handle drinking 110 oz at this time so my goal is to keep drinking the 64 oz that I have been drinking this week and try to up it a little everyday if I can to another 8 oz for the month of October -- I do know I need to start drinking more water on my work out days, so that'll be my goal

thedreamhazer

I am very excited about this challenge! I think my favorite part is the goal tracking, and including long term goals in there! It was great for me because I got to thinking about what my actual goals were for the future, and then it felt great to write them down.

I'm eager to get started, can't wait to force my partner to take my before photos tonight! I look forward to getting to know everyone better!

kiwikara

This challenge looks like so much fun! I am very excited! Thank you so much for setting up another challenge! September was great too!! You're the best!

candykay89

Cannot wait!

abellante_0205

I will post pictures tomorrow -- I haven't done it yet. But I'm sending you my measurements now since I doubt they will change by tomorrow...

I did the best I could:

bust: 35 in
waist: 30.5 in
hips: 37 in
right bicep: 9.5 in
right calf: 9 in
right thigh: 16.5 in

abellante_0205

I will post pictures tomorrow -- I haven't done it yet. But I'm sending you my measurements now since I doubt they will change by tomorrow...

I did the best I could:

bust: 35 in
waist: 30.5 in
hips: 37 in
right bicep: 9.5 in
right calf: 9 in
right thigh: 16.5 in

Here are my pictures -- I quoted my measurements I took yesterday so it could be with the pictures also! Hope this works!!!





Also I hope I took all the pictures I was supposed to...

Just so you know my back is curved -- I have scolosis because of the Spina Bifida I was born with. My weight is 109.8 lbs as of this morning (10am)

kiwikara

Are we tracking sleep by how much sleep we got the night before?

NitaCB

Hi, I have slightly different goals for the calories. I'm doing a 12 week nutrition and training plan at the moment so my aim is to stick to the requirements of the plan. They don't work with calories, more just specific numbers of servings and correct nutrients in each little meal. It means it doesn't always line up with the amount of calories I've had for the day, especially if I've done a whole lot of exercise.

And I'm not going to track my water, I know I don't have a problem with that one. It's just too many things to think about! I'm also doing a 10 wk group training for a half-marathon at the moment so I feel like I've definitely got enough to keep me busy in terms of daily requirements and monitoring!

nanegan

Bump :flowerforyou:

ecmcnamee

Ok so here goes ... I'm posting this out there so I can be accountable to myself and commit to doing this challenge through the end of the month ... I don't mind posting pics of myself but I'm not a fan of these mainly because I'm still not a fan of how I look .. anywho this is about embracing change so here it is.

October 1 ... starting weight: 210 lbs

Measurements:

Calf 17.5
Right Thigh 26.75
Hips 44.25
Waist 40.5
Chest 44.5
Right Bicep 14.5

And here are the starting photos:



Good luck to everyone

abellante_0205

I plan to eat _____ +/- 100 calories a day (C), drink __64+__ oz. of water (W) , get 7+ hours of sleep (S), and to exercise (E) the following schedule (with ample rest days):

theemstress

Kudos to you Cass! Thanks again for doing this yet again this month - and with double the group size! Go team!

October 1 ... starting weight: 140 lbs.

Measurements:

Calf 14.125
Right Thigh 22
Hips 38.875
Waist 32
Chest 37
Right Bicep 11.125


Diet and Exercise goals:

eat 1400 cal, +/-100, drink 80 oz a day, get 7.5 hours or more of sleep, and exercise the following schedule:

M: Workout video + walk or run
T: Rest
W: Workout video + walk or run
R: Rest
F: Workout video + walk or run
Sa: 5-7 mile run, or 10-20 mile bike ride
Su: 7-10 mile run, or 30 mile bike ride


I have taken my before and after photos but after seeing the bikini shots on this thread, I think I might redo my shots in the morning. The bikini shows much more than my sports bra and yoga pants. Not sure yet if that is a good thing or a bad thing...



Best wishes everyone!!
-Emily (theemstress)

theemstress

Thought I'd share one of my favorite recipes when I have a little sweet tooth craving! This isn't exactly filling, but if you're looking to nosh on something tasty and get another fruit in for the day, this is a good go-to recipe. Plus, with fall upon us, who doesn't love the smell of cinnamon and apples baking in the kitchen?


Baked Apple Chips

Slice apple(s) thin, toss with cinnamon sugar.
Bake for about 1.5 hours at 250*.


Calories: About 99 cal per apple. I usually cut up about 4 apples, save half the batch.

abellante_0205

Kudos to you Cass! Thanks again for doing this yet again this month - and with double the group size! Go team!

October 1 ... starting weight: 140 lbs.

Measurements:

Calf 14.125
Right Thigh 22
Hips 38.875
Waist 32
Chest 37
Right Bicep 11.125


Diet and Exercise goals:

eat 1400 cal, +/-100, drink 80 oz a day, get 7.5 hours or more of sleep, and exercise the following schedule:

M: Workout video + walk or run
T: Rest
W: Workout video + walk or run
R: Rest
F: Workout video + walk or run
Sa: 5-7 mile run, or 10-20 mile bike ride
Su: 7-10 mile run, or 30 mile bike ride


I have taken my before and after photos but after seeing the bikini shots on this thread, I think I might redo my shots in the morning. The bikini shows much more than my sports bra and yoga pants. Not sure yet if that is a good thing or a bad thing...



Best wishes everyone!!
-Emily (theemstress)

Aww Its okay! Are you talking about my pictures? I don't have a sports bra so that idea wouldn't have worked for me but I found that bikini that I'm wearing in my pics and I didn't think it would fit me anymore -- its pretty old, I think I wore it last when I was 13 maybe??? and now I'm 26 1/2 AH lol I was surprised it fit again!!!! Yea the bikini seems to show more -- I used to take my pictures wearing a top and pants/shorts and you really can't see a huge difference in that -- well sometimes you can but not always. Good Luck with your journey!!!!

miovlb6

water disclaimer: if the 1 oz of water for every lb of weight doesn't agree with you (i.e. your pee is way clear and/or you "feel" too full) dont drink so much...it may be too much if you aren't active or if you have other medical issues (i'm not a doctor even though I took the mcat

you want your pee to be a pale yellow color so try to figure out what number works best for you...that 1 oz per 1 lb was a general guideline my trainer and my physician gave me (i exercise 6 days a week and live in a very humid/hot climate).

I just want to quote this so you know YES--my water will be below this amount every day, per Docs orders... low HR, and too much water removes sodium/electrolytes that I actually need in my diet (I know--what a problem, right?! To keep MORE sodium in your system!). SO--my proposal... if we can all post or msg our water daily water goal (IF it is different than this) so we can be accountable for that amount each day
So... my daily goal is 80 oz on rest days, and 100-110 oz on w/o days :drinker:

I have the same problem. In fact, a few days ago I way-overhydrated in preparation for my long run and I felt it for the next 24 hours. Fatigued, lightheaded, low heart rate, low bp--just all around not good. I know better, but sometimes I just don't think!

Anyway, I'll be aiming for 10 cups of water on rest days and 12-13 on days I run or work out.