The Three Part Challenge!!!

ckholmes

I hope all of you are having a fun and exciting weekend, Im up and moving today, yesterday I was hungover and did NOTHING!!

HeatherMN

Good morning,

I had a fantastic weekend exploring the wonderful state of Minnesota with my boyfriend!

On Friday night, we had a turkey dinner with all the fixin's for his dad's 60th birthday, which was fun but exhausting getting his son to bed after he had the sugary cake. Whew!

Saturday morning, we headed out and explored Charles Lindbergh State Park, which is a better park for summer exploring because the museums there aren't open this time of year. Then, we headed to Lake Carlos State Park where we snowshoed for about 2.5 miles and had a great time. The trail was quiet and went through a bog that cannot be accessed any other time of year. Then, we found a cheap hotel in Alexandria and had dinner at Tennessee Roadhouse. The restaurant is owned by the former Conne Lee Stitch, who sang at the Grand Ol Opry and was an opening act for country greats such as George Jones. Because of the two delicious strawberry margaritas (the best I've ever had), I ended up falling asleep as soon as we got back to the room. Alcohol on top of being physically wiped out from snowshoeing does this to a person, I guess. Needless to say, we never spent time in the pool so I'm glad I bought a new jacket instead of a swimsuit.

We were on the road again by 10am Sunday morning and explored almost a quarter of the state! We visited five more state parks and our trip in total took ten hours. Of course, this included exploring parks and stopping for lunch and dinner. We learned some fascinating facts about Minnesota's history involving the Sioux Uprising in 1862. Fort Ridgely State Park has the remains of an old Civil War training facility that was the site of the Sioux Uprising battles. It was all pretty interesting. Many of the parks we plan on visiting again this summer because the museums and historical sites will be open and some even have re-enactments.

We had an absolute blast I can't wait to have another state park exploration weekend! We ate more than we should have and didn't burn as many calories as we'd like, but we had fun, were active, got out of the house and even learned something.

I hope you all had a great weekend, too!
Heather

Stephanie: Glad to see you're back!!

HeatherMN

Okay, I'm sad that everyone has been missing for TWO days now. Boo!

Yesterday I went over on my calories AND sodium, didn't exercise and was generally lazy. The only good thing was that I was in bed at 9:24pm because it was better than sitting around watching TV. I felt refreshed when I woke up this morning, so I must have needed the extra sleep.

This morning, the scale showed a 1.2 lb. gain from yesterday which we all know isn't possible, so I'm blaming the excess sodium from yesterday and the fact that TOM should be visiting any day now. Looks like I need to force feed myself lots of water to take care of this problem.

I hope you are all absent because you're literally working your butts off at the gym!

Heather

HeatherMN

Good morning!

I'm going to keep on writing here until you guys get annoyed with me and tell me to go away!

So last night I figured I'd be way over my calories because I just HAD to indulge in a Dairy Queen Reese's Blizzard after the spicy chicken texmex dish that my boyfriend made for supper. When I logged my calories this morning, I found out that I had 11 calories left over. Wow!

This morning, when I weighed myself, I was at 193.2 when I was at 195.2 yesterday morning. I didn't believe the scale, so I stepped off it, reset it and tried again only to have it show 193.2 again. So, it must be right! I'm super excited and am so looking forward to be under 190. I still don't think I'll hit my St. Patrick's Day goal, but I keep inching my way down. It's so much fun to see my ticker moving along.

Okay, had to ramble about my morning excitement. Hope you're all off to a good start to your day!
Heather

shredder

Stephanie I remember the corporate pressure only too well!!! How you need to be available 24/7 and accomodate everyone else's needs, wants and wishes.
Don't be too tough on yourself with the weight gain, I'm totally there with you sister. I too have seen a gain on the scale and I KNOW I'm sabotaging my own weight loss. It almost feels like I'm packing on the weight to add a layer of protection against any formidable emotions I have. It's tough to see the number and I refuse to write it down as that would mean I own that weight and I don't. I refuse to.
Like you Heather, my TOM is approaching and I'm eating as though i'm an eskimo adding my layer of blubber in preperation for a harsh winter. Why do we do this to ourselves.
To be honest, I'm so over the bloody scales and the daily up and down of weight gain/loss and the coorelation of sad/happy.
My journal says to log my weight daily but if I'm not happy with the number I see, I immediately lauch into a downward spiral for the day. I need to break this cycle.
Ok....enough moaning from me.
My car is in the shop and will probably be $500 to repair....ahhhh.... what I could do with that money.
Catch you all later.

HeatherMN

Shredder: I'm so glad you stopped in. I've missed you! Just remember to take care of yourself. Like you, I find myself sabotaging my weight loss sometimes and I need to remind myself that the next time I try to take it off, it will only get harder. Hang in there and keep checking in. There's no need to record your weight, just keep track of what you're eating and what you're feeling when you're eating. You'll figure it out and as they say, "This too shall pass."

allie5199

So I weigh in for the first time this month on Saturday (which means NOO sodium at all tomorrow!)...I'm a little nervous! I feel great, but I know I will be disappointed if its not somewhere near 144...which is stupid, I know! It almost makes me not want to weigh myself at all...do you think I could go all of lent without weighing myself? It's doubtful.

Sorry Ive been MIA for soo long...Ive been busy at work and working out, so I feel as if I have no social life or free time.

Im glad to see you lost more weight Heather! You werent lying when you said youre competitive...you are kicking our butts in weightloss!! Hows the biggest loser going at your gym... I have this gut feeling youre going to blow everyone alway and win the entire thing!!

Stephanie & Shredder...I know how you feel too. I lied for the last weigh in...I was actually back up to 148.5 (not 147), I just didnt want to own it until I brought it back down.

Ill post Saturday/Sunday if I end up weighing myself...Im almost thinking I shouldnt ...then when I weigh in on easter it'll be (hopefully) a huge number!

anyone have fun weekend plans? Im studying for the GMAT...ugghhhh Id rather do almost anything else!!

HeatherMN

Allie: I completely understand being busy, but I'm glad to hear you're still on track! I'm glad you checked in!!

The Weight Loss Challenge is going okay, but as of this week I wasn't in the top three in either category. I'm hoping everyone else hits a plateau soon, since we only have a few weeks left to the final weigh in.

Last night my family had chinese for dinner and I was expecting a gain this morning but was actually down another 0.6 lbs., bringing me to 192.6! Tomorrow's weigh in is going to be bad since we're going to Olive Garden for my boyfriend's sister's birthday tonight. I've already logged what I plan on having and will be over by about 600 calories, unless I can convince myself I don't need one of their delicious daiquiris or glasses of wine. But what fun would that be??

To make up for the naughty eating two days in a row, I'm planning on actually riding my horse this weekend since the weather is supposed to be in the 30s and sunny. We'll see if I can stick to my own plan, though.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!
Heather

Stephanie08

OK, here I am, making a fresh start today. I'm planning my meals this week and I think the work thing has organized itself a little bit so I can focus on me

Sad to say that I weigh in at 214 Holy crap how it has a way of creeping back on. Well, I look forward to hearing how everyone's doing. I'll be back tomorrow (Monday), and Tues, and...

HeatherMN

Stephanie: Welcome back! I'm glad to hear you're back on track. It's been a bit quiet in this thread, so maybe you'll you help spice it up a bit!

This weekend I was very naughty (yes, again) with the eating. We went out to dinner at Olive Garden on Friday and I didn't eat half of my meal like I planned; instead I ate all of it and had a slice of cake I wasn't intending on. Saturday night brought a trip to the casino buffet, but I actually don't think I did too badly there. Yesterday morning, the scale told me I was up two pounds, but even I know that I didn't eat enough surplus calories to gain two pounds of fat.

Yesterday I had a terrible sinus cold, so I didn't ride my horse like originally planned but at least my appetite was down since I couldn't taste anything. Sometimes being sick isn't sooo terrible.

This morning, my scale said I was back where I was on Friday morning, so it's like I hit the reset button for the week. Thank goodness! So far the sinuses are feeling a bit better today (thank you, Nyquil) and my boyfriend and I have plans to go snowshoeing for about an hour tonight after work. With the warm weather we're having, we'll probably be out of snow by mid-week, so I better enjoy it now. However, the forecast is calling for more snow next week.

Happy March!
Heather

shredder

Hey kids, what's up!
I feel a common undertone in the last couple of threads, mainly to do with resetting our goals and reconfirming our convictions.
I know life gets in the way.....a lot....when it comes to my personal battles. Those who know me would probably describe me as impulsive without weighing(no pun intended) the consequences. I act before thinking. This is getting me deeper and deeper in trouble and further from my weight loss goals. I have to seeing the warning flags sooner and respond rationally versus emotionally. That's my goal for this week...to stay in tune with the good angel on my shoulder and ignore the little devil :devil:

Sooooooo, I'm throwing out a challenge....and it's a big one. I want to abstain from all alcohol until St. Patrick's day.:sad: :sad: :sad:
That gives us 3 weeks of jumpstarting us into the Easter challenge without drinking all those empty calories.
For stud muffins like Allie and Heather, this may not seem like too big of a deal, but for me, it's huge. I love my wine, look forward to sipping at the end of the day, but honestly...it's defeating the purpose. I mean, how can I plan a great eating day only to pack on 200-400 calories right before bed, it's dumb.
Stephanie and Christine, this may be harder for you to accept as a challenge as, like me, you girls also like your wine right?

So, any takers!!!!
Let's get March really going. Three weeks is a cinch, it's in the bag and then we can all celebrate our Irish butts off on the 17th.
I'm going to post this now before I lose my nerve and back out!!!!!!
Who's with me????

HeatherMN

Shredder: I'll take your challenge with you! I had a margarita with dinner last night and actually felt bad about it afterward, even though I don't drink often anyway. Mostly, I felt like I should have had the beer for fewer calories instead of the higher calorie margarita. At least I didn't have the second one that I really wanted (my checkbook told me No and I listened!)

So last night I was really naughty with the eating because we did wings and chipotle chicken wontons and a margarita. I thought that snowshoeing before dinner would help, but I forgot to factor in that my daily calorie limit has changed so I can't eat as much of the stuff I love and stay within my calories. When the scale said I was up two pounds again today, I told myself that I hope I've learned my lesson.

Again, I know I didn't eat enough calories to gain two pounds and that I can most likely blame TOM again, but it's still a bit frustrating. I know it will be gone in a few days, so I'm trying not to get too down on myself. I need to kick it into gear with the exercising and yes, I know I've been saying that for a few weeks now...

Last night was very sad for me, as one of my snowshoes broke and I had to walk half of the trail carrying them to get back to the car :-( At least they have a warranty and can be fixed, but I won't have them back in time to enjoy them anymore this season. So, it looks like I'm done snowshoeing until about November or so. Now that the snowshoes are out of commission, I'm hoping spring comes very, very soon so the trails can dry out enough for hiking.

Have a great day!
Heather

Stephanie08

OK Shredder, I'm with you on the challenge. In fact I started on Monday, no wine last night and I'm dreaming of some tonight but NOO! I will not, so instead I'm going to go to the grocery store, and make my boyfriend a nice dinner for his birthday. It is all empty calories, and from what I read, you body tries to metabolize any alcohol sugars first, so no matter how little you eat, your body will not get to the food calories because it's too busy with the wine calories

Heather, I'm sorry to hear about your snowshoe, but maybe you burned some calories carrying them back to the car? Sodium is a killer too, so if you've dined out three nights, you're probably retaining water each morning you weigh in.

So as for me, I'm trying to stay away from wine, and I joined the Biggest Lose contest again at the gym starting 03/15. I'm going to Las Vegas in April, and I'd love to be well below the 200lb. mark by then.

HeatherMN

Stephanie: Good job joining a Biggest Loser challenge. And going to Vegas? That sounds like so much fun! I KNOW you'll be able to be below the 200 mark. We're here to support you every step of the way!

Yes, I still burned 321 calories in 36 minutes of snowshoe (carrying) last night, so it wasn't a complete loss. Tonight I'm going to recommend to my boyfriend that we at least get a good walk done tonight to burn some more calories. He's been gung-ho for being active since he's lost about 22 lbs. now as well. Between the two of us we've now lost over 50 lbs. since November. We've almost lost his 6 yr. old son! What a crazy thought.

I know the sodium is what really killed me on the scale this morning. I'm supposed to do my weigh-in for the weight loss challenge tonight (I opted for snowshoeing last night instead) but I'm scared and I don't want to pay into the pot! I'll probably go anyway even so. I really need to kick it into gear for these last couple weeks of the challenge because the money would be a huge step toward the money I need for my therapeutic riding instructor certification class I want to take in June. I need someone to chase me around with a cattle prod to get me to exercise the way I should be doing!!

Yay, time to go home for the evening. Have a wonderful evening!!

Heather

shredder

Ok Heather and Stephanie, let's do this. I'm excited you're joining me for the no booze challenge, I also have my neighbour doing it with me so I'm not as likely to cheat as we tend to be the social butterflies on the block and ready to party at a moments notice.
I hope you other gals will join us.
To keep me motivated, i placed 16 skinny bracelets on my right wrist today and at the end of each successful evening I'm gonna switch them over to my left wrist, one day at a time. This will tell me at a glance how many days I've conquered and how many remain in the challenge. This is also a great way to keep track of your daily water intake except you'd do it with 8 and not 16.

Heather, that really bites about your snowshoes. I know you'll come up with some alternative exercise.
I so have not been in the work out mode lately. Feels like my feet are glued to the floor some days. I think this is my inner voice telling me to get out there and find a part-time job and stay busy. Any work out is a good one, so keep plugging away Heather.
Stephanie, you are so awesome for getting back in the proverbial saddle. The Biggest Loser Challenge coupled with the no booze challenge will really get you going for your Vegas trip. I'm jealous....are you planning to see any show?
Hey....maybe this would be a good "Meet and Greet" destination for our group....what do you guys think?

HeatherMN

Shredder: I LOVE the idea about having a meet and greet for our group in Vegas someday. Unfortunately, this year is probably out of the picture for me due to other trips and my certification class (too much money to spend!). I actually had a dream the other night that you and I met at a laundromat by accident....I'm weird, I know.

Anyway, I also love the idea of using the bracelets to keep track of where you're at. I should definitely use that trick for my water intake as that's what I struggle with the most...well, that and sodium.

Yesterday I went over on calories, but lost one of the pounds gained this week anyway. After a healthy dinner, my boyfriend and I went for a walk around his neighborhood. Unfortunately, it was after the sun went down, so everything that melted during the day was a bit icy so we didn't walk as fast as I'd like to. I also slid on the ice and landed on my left knee but it doesn't hurt to walk, only a little tender to the touch. Such is life in Minnesota.

I fully intend on going to work with my horse after work since it's another lovely spring-like day. I'm thinking I may even ride tonight since I have the option of both the outdoor and indoor arenas. I do know that I need to spend quality time with her either way.

Oh, I forgot to mention that last night I went to Maurice's to try on jeans and was able to pull a size 10 on, button AND zip them. About five pounds to go and they would be *gasp* comfortable enough to wear! Holy schmoly! My boyfriend and I have decided that we're going to hold off on going to dinner with our friends (who we haven't seen since November) until I lose another five pounds or so. I'm hoping that will be about two weeks....at that time, I would be wearing the size I graduated high school in and he would be a size smaller than he graduated high school in. Fun!

Well, back to work. Have a great day!
Heather

shredder

Heather, were we adding bounce to the dryers or fluffing and folding???:laugh:
You crack me up. I'm also a crazy sleeper but in my case I actually do the nutty sleepwalking thing.
Once I went downstairs and got all the tupperware containers from the cupboard, went back to the bedroom, arranged them all on the floor in a circle around the bed and half filled every one of them with water.....while I was sleeping. I thought my husband was going to call the men in the white coats to come and take me away.
Sorry you fell...how do you feel? I so hear you about the jeans, isn't that just the best motivation ever. I bet your friends will be blown away when they see you....your honey sounds like such a cool and supportive guy....lucky you:flowerforyou:

I switched over the first of my 16 bangles last night. Doing that coupled with writing in my journal is highly motivating. I also have these silly little stickers that say "you did it" that I stick on a page of a day well spent. Are you getting that anything visual is a total stimulant for me
Trying to stay at 1,500 csalories until the weekend and actually was 200 below that for yesterday. Drinking tea in the afternoon really is a pick me up and at only 5calories a cup, keeps the munchies away.
Off to the gym in a bit. Excited about the challenge.
Stephanie, how are you doing on it?
Ice that knee Heather.

HeatherMN

Shredder: Actually we were folding clothes and chatting about the most random stuff. Your sleepwalking story is hilarious; too bad you don't have it on video!

My knee is doing fine, I'm just apparently a bit of a klutz lately. Yes, my boyfriend is super sweet and supportive but he tells me when I'm being ridiculous and doesn't give in to my sometimes crazy demands. I guess that's why it works. Doing the weight loss journey with him has been the best experience because we keep each other motivated, remind each other when we shouldn't eat certain foods and support each other through the successes and setbacks. I honestly am not sure I'd be as far as I am on the weight loss if we weren't doing it together. Previous boyfriends hindered progress because they would eat junk food in front of me and talk me out of exercising (as if I need help doing that!). I'm super lucky I have him and I remind myself of that every day. This is the one guy I've ever met who could completely and utterly break my heart...that's pretty scary and wonderful at the same time.

Okay, I'm rambling now. Time to get back to work...at least until I'm bored again!

Stephanie08

I'm doing well. I went to the grocery store last night and I kept forgetting things so I'd run from one end of the store to the other. Of course every time I ran by the wine department! It reminded me of the Pee Wee Hermin Movie. If you've ever seen it, he hates snakes, but there was a fire in the pet store, and he save all the animals, but would stop in front of the snake tank and make a disgusted face. That was me at the store in front of the wine! (eventually he saved the snakes too)

2 days and counting.

I love the tupperware story. In only snore to wake the dead, no sleepwalking.

So I'm glad I checked in here, you've both modivated me to continue with day 3!

I love the jeans story too Heather, your friends will be so surprised

I think I'll go have some tea too.

HeatherMN

When I finish the Diet Cherry Coke I currently have open, I just may have some tea as well. One of the consultants we have here at work is a Caribou Coffee Mango Tea addict, so I've been thinking about tea all day long.

I just walked outside to get the mail here at work and it's so beautiful outside that I want to run away to go spend time with my horse. Two more hours left....ugh.