Last 10lbs Group - March Challenges

ellipse22

NEW THREAD!!

A few of us have discussed challenges for March.
We need to decide if we are doing weekly, bi-weekly or a monthly challenge.

A few ideas have been:

Water
Exercise

Feel free to share some ideas and as a group we can come up with the frequently.

gym_rat

I think an exercise challenge would be great. I'm really not sure how everyone else is with exercise but I hit the gym most days but it would be good to be held accountable.

Dom_m

Thanks E.

Personally, I think a month is too long - I'm still hoping to finish the last 10 in a month (realistically, I'll have 5 to go). So I'd probably prefer 1 week at a time for goals. BUT, I only started doing this 5 weeks ago, so I'm still in the sprint phase, haven't settled down to the marathon yet So I'm happy to be overruled on this.

Anyway, a couple of other suggestions for challenges that came up were sodium and coffee.

I want to add alcohol (but I'm definitely not playing if someone suggests a whole month of no alcohol). I could try a week of none, or 2-4 weeks of reduced.

ellipse22

So we have:

Water
Excerise
Alchohol

Weekly challenges

Feel free to add how it is that we are going to do these challenges.

lvfunandfit

How about a no cheating with sugary treats challenge! I workout daily and drink a ton of water and I've had probably 3 alcoholic drinks in the last yr. LOL But, I'm a teacher and at work people bring in treats all the time to the teacher's lounge and I used to be able to avoid them. I totally blame my 2 pregnancies for causing me to develop a sweet tooth. .Although, I've been great at avoiding them all week I must say!

questionablemethods

Hey! Can I join this challenge group? I just joined the site and I've got about 10 to go to get to my ideal weight. These are the last 10 that I've been struggling with for YEARS. I really need help buckling down to shed them.

I'm challenging myself to eat clean for the month. For me this is eating nearly exclusively from the top two tiers of Michi's Ladder ( http://www.beachbody.com/category/michis_ladder.do ) but allowing myself two squares of dark chocolate after dinner each night. (Okay, and 2 small corn tortillas (soft, not fried) when I make fish/shrimp tacos.)

Edit to say that I'd love to friend people on here so they can keep an eye on my food log to keep me honest!

hepkitty

Hey all,
Keen to join you for the dreaded last 10 or so! I gained about 15kgs due to a combination of getting married and getting my first full-time desk job, meaning I sat around all day, could afford to buy lunch and have indulgent dinners, and didn't have to worry about scaring off my partner with weight gain! Bad combo

Have been trying to lose weight for about 4 months or so now, using MFP intermittently but regularly the last 6 weeks. I've done alright but I am struggling to keep up the habits. I have quite a busy lifestyle and get fair amount of exercise just through my normal hobbies (ie I dance 2-3 times a week, do pilates weekly, go climbing weekly, and bike to work most good-weather days) but I don't do any specific 'this is for weight loss' activities. I also can't afford to join a gym at the moment so strength training (apart from 1x climbing session a week) is pretty much nil. Struggle with ideas and motivation if I'm just trying to do strength stuff at home.

Keen for any sorts of challenges cos I definitely need to work on my willpower. I do pretty good on water (particularly M-F) but yeah, low motivation for exercise if I'm not doing something fun, and pretty poorly planned out eating habits i.e. I'll try to eat healthy and I log it but I'm definitely still in the learning phase about food beyond the simple calories in vs calories out. Sometimes I'm shocked at the calorie content of a food I never even thought was THAT bad, and wonder how I managed to not completely balloon out with previous eating habits! And have only just started to consider monitoring carbs-fat-protein ratio - I have been almost double over my carbs almost every day! Not sure how easy its going to be to cut down though cos I love my rice, pasta, breads, etc...

Oh and I usually weigh unofficially daily but will update MFP on Thursdays.

Becky

hepkitty

And I love the look of that Michi's ladder thing, kaitlin, that's the kind of thing I need permanently attached to me so I can consult at any time!

questionablemethods

And I love the look of that Michi's ladder thing, kaitlin, that's the kind of thing I need permanently attached to me so I can consult at any time!

It is very helpful. I have it up on the fridge to remind me. The more you start learning about the nutritional makeup of different foods, the more these things become second nature. (Note, CHOOSING these foods still isn't second nature to me, even though I KNOW which ones are the best!) Also, you start to figure out where foods might be even if they aren't on the list. For example, brown rice is in the first tier but quinoa isn't listed anywhere. I'm guessing that quinoa would make it into the first tier.

Hoosiermomma

I have heard it takes 21 days to develop a new habit. That would be three weeks... (duh!) :ohwell: I wonder if it would work for us? Perhaps everyone should choose their own 21 day day goal. Mine would be fitting in those 4 days of exercise each week. Would that mean 5.25 weeks for me so I keep up the habit for 21 days of exercise? (Don't sweat the math :laugh: )

I'm off to Cali and will be gone until Tuesday. A round of celebrations for new homes and birthdays! Will be interesting to see if I stay at my new low at next Friday's weigh-in! I will still have to fit in one more exercise session to meet my weekly goal.
Have a great week-end all!

SarahJoy_79

I think doing a challenge in 3 week chunks would work best for me personally.....as hoosiermomma stated it takes about that long to turn something from a challenge into a habit! I'm going to work on getting more water in my diet. Right now I've been doing awesome hitting the gym at least 5x a week and alcohol isn't a factor at all for me. So as of today....chug chug chug for me! I went out and bought a cute new water bottle last night hoping it will inspire me to drink more :laugh: :drinker:

ellipse22

Good Morning Everyone!!

I think a water challenge could be a good start. We can do it for 3 weeks but check in daily/weekly to see how it is going for everyone.

I'm glad the weekend is here! I tend to eat better on the weekend because I don't have to pack a lunch and figure out what I should for the entire day.

Anyone have plans this weekend?

SarahJoy_79

Anyone have plans this weekend?
[/quote]

It's me and my honey's 6 year anniversary....so I'm sure we'll be going out to celebrate on Saturday....I'm going to stay strong and order WATER instead of wine

luv2run4fun

I am a newbie--I have 10 lbs to lose, and I would like to become a part of this group. I also would love to take part in your March challenge--whatever that may be. I am just so thrilled that I have found MFP! I believe that this will be the missing piece to reaching my goal of losing that last 10 lbs I have been trying to lose for a very long time!

princesspurple

ellipse22 ...can we keep this thread until it gets full? I had a hard time finding the new one and I don't want anyone to get lost, plus it is nice to go back and read others stories so we know about them?

I go by the 21days to make or break a habit, my habit that I would like to make is stretching. I have been running and I don't stretch afterwards. I need to stretch! That is my goal for the next 3 weeks! On top of the water on the weekend goal.

Happy Anniversary SarahJOY!

luv2run4fun ......do you run a lot?

lose2cruise

Morning all! I'm good for the water challenge to begin with. I change my WI day to Friday, so today I'm down 4 lbs from when I restarted MFP on 2/8! Yippee!!!

Gogo

I do good with water, some kind of fitness challenge would motivate me I think. And 21 days to form a habit is great!

chrissyh

Still not getting in enough water. Did great on calories and ran 5 miles yesterday....today is 4 mile run Sunday will be 11 mile run-supposed to be high 50s - I will be able to run without 15 thousand layers on!:laugh:

SarahJoy_79

Still not getting in enough water. Did great on calories and ran 5 miles yesterday....today is 4 mile run Sunday will be 11 mile run-supposed to be high 50s - I will be able to run without 15 thousand layers on!:laugh:

I was able to get outside and run for the first time yesterday! I am so so happy my treadmill days are over...yay spring (almost)! :bigsmile:

ellipse22

I'm jealous of everyone that is getting some exercise. I get some exercise with work because I am always on the move but it's not the same.
I just want my stuff to come in so I can get out there!!!

lose2cruise

I'm jealous of everyone that is getting some exercise. I get some exercise with work because I am always on the move but it's not the same.
I just want my stuff to come in so I can get out there!!!

What kind of work do you do? I sit at a desk most of the day. I try to get my exercise in first thing in the AM. I did better on the treadmill today than I did yesterday. Some days are harder than others.

ellipse22

I'm a supervisor at Canada Post. I spend a lot of time on my feet walking about the plant/dock. I personally can't sit for long periods of time anyway.

I am quite busy with the kids too so it's not like I sit alot anyway. I just need my darn shoes & orthotics to come in so I can be more active!!

girlygirl82

I like the 21 day challenge idea... I am a fan of everyone having the same challenge though, so that we all can root each other on and give tips and pointers along the way. I feel that we would have more of a bond as a team if we did it together.

I think checking in on the challenge daily would be a good idea.

A suggestion to make it easy is.... Try to follow me here : )

If we are all myfitnesspal friends, everyday one person.... ellipse22 maybe? Or whoever logs in first for the day.... could post in the News Feeds (which shows up on our homepage of my fitnesspal) the challenge. Then we all could 'check in' by making a comment on our outcome underneath the News Feed. : )

This way it is easily accesible everyday on our home page and we don't have to search for it, and we all can easily cheer each other onto success!

Just an idea! Let me know your thoughts......

SarahJoy_79

I like the 21 day challenge idea... I am a fan of everyone having the same challenge though, so that we all can root each other on and give tips and pointers along the way. I feel that we would have more of a bond as a team if we did it together.

I think checking in on the challenge daily would be a good idea.

A suggestion to make it easy is.... Try to follow me here : )

If we are all myfitnesspal friends, everyday one person.... ellipse22 maybe? Or whoever logs in first for the day.... could post in the News Feeds (which shows up on our homepage of my fitnesspal) the challenge. Then we all could 'check in' by making a comment on our outcome underneath the News Feed. : )

This way it is easily accesible everyday on our home page and we don't have to search for it, and we all can easily cheer each other onto success!

Just an idea! Let me know your thoughts......

That sounds like a great idea to me!

chrissyh

Exercise is a normalcy for me anymore....water and no sugar - that's a challenge!

I'd rather not have a new thread everyday-maybe once a wekk....but I'll do whatever.

hamiltonba

I've given up sugar for Lent - but it's actually more of a push to see if I could do it for 40 days. I'm anxious to see the results. I think the push is to do all of these goals together. It sounds like each of us have one of these goals down to a science, but not all of them together - which we need to do to be successful in our weight loss.

10more

I definitely need to work on drinking enough water

ellipse22

I apologize to everyone...a new thread once a week or when the thread itself ends (auto through MFP) is good!

chrissyh

I prefer just let it keep rolling!!!

ellipse22

MFP will automatically create a new thread when this is full!

chrissyh

ellipse-sounds perfect!