2 week challenge

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Replies

  • Beeps2011
    Beeps2011 Posts: 12,190 Member
    145.6....officially in plateau-land.

    booohoooohoooooo

    I got my 3 x lifting in this week - which was H-A-R-D given my whacky schedule - and I am GLAD to be OUT of the gym until Monday. Seriously. I'm exhausted.
  • moniquestifter
    moniquestifter Posts: 2 Member
    Hi new to group and back to MFP after hiatus. Is there anyone else here managing chronic pain? When I have a flare up I have to rest and can't workout, which is soooo frustrating.
    My two week goals are to:
    Log every day and stay within 1200 calorie limit.
    Gym Workouts 3 days a week and 30 minute walk days not at gym.
    Stretch and foam roller daily.
    Drink 8 glasses of water a day.
    Reevaluate and restructure work day as psychotherapist to better manage stress. Say no!
    Only one desert a week-must be in calorie count.
    Can't wait to get started!
  • VelcroButt
    VelcroButt Posts: 34 Member
    Hey guys. I am going to do my first 2 week challenge starting tomorrow. My goals are:

    1. eat 1200-1400 calories per day
    2. exercise at least 5 days a week
    3. go to sleep by 10 each night (except Friday and Saturday)

    #3 is going to be the hardest. I'm such a night owl but it's much easier to exercise when I get enough sleep plus there's no risk of midnight snacking which tends to be my downfall. Good luck everyone!
  • Beeps2011
    Beeps2011 Posts: 12,190 Member
    My 2-week-challenge:

    1. Upped my calories to 1,400 per day (truly, 9,800 per week, since, with planning and intentional, some days will be higher and some days will be lower). NO extra calories for any exercise performed

    2. 3 x weekly weight-training.

    3. likely can't get in 1 x weekly scheduled cardio this week, but starting in February, I'm throwing this back in here - I've missed 4 saturdays in a row due to kidlet activities and I'm TERRIFIED to try and do ANY cardio right now because of the lung-burn-blow-back.

    4. MORE water....I'm sooooooo bloated today (TOM), it is kinda AWFUL.

    5. MORE sleep....I'm also very sleep-deprived. Seem to be having a LOT of trouble staying asleep. Booooooooooooo.
  • amysj303
    amysj303 Posts: 5,086 Member
    Oh, Beeps, I think I want to "star challenge" because that seemed good for me, to look at the week instead of a day, and be able to cycle up and down a little.
    I think I will try average 1200/day for the week.

    I started the winter detox yesterday and it was a lot of cooking. I have probably dirtied every pan twice making stuff to have just for a couple of days! I burnt the balsamic miso roots! I ate most of them anyway. I went to a baby shower and had seltzer and a walnut lentil spread I had made. so no one noticed. The cupcakes were tempting though, because I started my period yesterday too, perfect!

    Yesterday was a savory shake for breakfast (avocado blended with broth and a bit of miso), roasted roots for lunch and quinoa stuffed squash for dinner. It wasn't super low-cal but not really high either. the nice thing is that someone else on MFP is doing it, and they entered the recipes or "new food" and I think it's accurate so I can use that instead of the recipes!
  • abigail1977
    abigail1977 Posts: 544 Member
    Amy - the winter detox food actually sounds pretty good, I hope it works well for you

    Beeps - hope your goals will help you break your plateau

    Velcro & Monique - welcome to the group & good luck with your goals

    So, I had my first strength workout on Friday since my wrist sprain. After only 4 push-ups my wrist was hurting so I skipped the bodyweight exercises & did all resistance band exercises instead. It wasn't much of a workout but it's a start. I will do more again today. Injuries are no fun, especially when you get older! I missed my yoga class Saturday & did not get my cardio in yesterday because I had to bring my daughter to a Snow White audition - like I need one more thing in my schedule, yuck.
  • ramalem
    ramalem Posts: 1,066 Member
    Morning ladies!

    Amy - good luck with the detox. Can't wait to hear your results/opinions.

    Velcro/Monique - welcome!

    Abi- You have to start somewhere. Good luck with your schedules!

    I pretty much fell off the wagon this weekend. Did not workout, log or eat well. I have decided that Weight Watchers isn't worth it for me since I'm not really using it. Not sure what I need to kick my butt in gear either. I am proud of myself for keeping up with the gym, even if it is only 3 days/week. I'm halfway through Stage 2 in NROL and can't wait to move on to the next. Really hoping to get up to the mountains on Friday (my day off) to try out my new snowshoes. Unfortunately, we haven't had much snow in the Pacific Northwest :(

    My Goals:

    Log - even if it's awful
    Water - I haven't been drinking nearly enough
    Weights 3 days + one extra day of cardio

    Have a great week all!
  • Better_Balance_2011
    Better_Balance_2011 Posts: 3,711 Member
    Hey ladies. My weekend was pretty good. I drank more wine than I probably needed Saturday (can we say broken record)....but moderated the rest of the week. And I wasn't sloppy drunk or anything. Just drank wine from late afternon till bed time. We had Daphne's birthday party Sunday which was a hit. I made high heel cupcakes that turned out so cute. I ate okay. I don't feel terrible today.

    I was one lift short of my work out goals last week. There is no way I could squeeze in even 20 minutes yesterday. But I did 3 miles on the mill Saturday. It's sort of becoming routine. We go to the coffee shop and then hang out at home and relax; at noon D goes down for her nap, and I hop on the treadmill. It gets me off to a good start and gets me motivated for the weekend.

    I also worked out at lunch. I lifted and then hopped on the new treadmill for a mile. I feel GOOD! I am loving the basement gym at work. It was busy today; there were like 7 or 8 or us down there.

    My Goals:

    1. Hit my alcoholic drink max goal (or rather stay under it)
    2. Lift 2x (one done)
    3. Yoga class Tuesday
    4. Core workshop Saturday (excited about this)
    5. I will try to probably get on the mill Thursday on my day off. Or walk/run outside with D if weather allows.
    6. 10,000 calories or less net (1400/day + a littell extra for a cheat)

    I logged almost everything last week except the end of the Satuday wine and all of Sunday. But I think I may have done okay though. Guess we'll see on Thursday! Have a great week ladies!
  • amysj303
    amysj303 Posts: 5,086 Member
    Post a pic of the high-heel cupcake! I bet it was cute. or wait, maybe not pics til wednesday;) j/k, I just noticed how many pics of food are on facebook-delicious sugary goodness.

    With the cleanse you don't really eat until 1:30pm. The first meal you drink at 10:30. Today was a chai gingerbread, but made with rooibos tea so no caffeine. I seem ok with the second day no caffeine, so that's good. I took advil for cramps though, so maybe it worked on whatever headache I did have.

    the cleanse is no dairy, gluten, shellfish, anything processed (including all soy products), nightshades (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant), condiments, sugar, alcohol, caffeine and soda.

    But they let you put honey in the chai and I think that's probably the same as sugar anyway, but oh well... also, I drank perrier at the baby shower, and that would probably count as soda.
  • Better_Balance_2011
    Better_Balance_2011 Posts: 3,711 Member
    Here are the cupcakes:

    b118bdd1-e4eb-47f5-8b6d-4fff62174c91_zpsc1459023.jpg

    718c60bb-7b21-4100-b80e-d6bb0b4279d8_zps9ac87fef.jpg

    I wouldn't count Perrier as soda. It's just carbonated water right? Maybe a little sodium?
  • ramalem
    ramalem Posts: 1,066 Member
    OMG - those are ADORABLE!
  • Beeps2011
    Beeps2011 Posts: 12,190 Member
    Those cupcakes are AWESOME!! What a GREAT IDEA!
  • amysj303
    amysj303 Posts: 5,086 Member
    those are cute! what makes the heeled part?

    They look pretty good. Sugar looks pretty good. I just made a almond milk with unsweetened cocoa powder. It wasn't much of a substitute for hot chocolate!

    One more day...
  • Hey ladies! My name is Nicole , the not really overweight is a perfect description! I'm 168 cm and bounce around from 57 kg to 63 at the highest. (I am currently roughly 60). Ideally I would like to be at around 55 kg but I have crazy schedules and limited resources. I'm a first year med student , and I live in the dorms so cooking limitations and food availability are a huge obstacle. I would love to hear advice any of you may have, or simply suggestions! I also started another bout of a drug called prednisone last month which if any of you are familiar with is a corticosteroid, with one of its lovely side effects are increased appetite and weight gain. I do love to go for runs outdoors and attempt to do so as often as I can. I look forward to your replies!! :)
  • L_in_NY
    L_in_NY Posts: 8 Member
    Good Morning ladies! I'm sorry I haven't checked in over the last couple weeks. I'm doing pretty good. I'm down to 151 so close to the 140s. I have been working out 5 - 6 days a week even if its just for 20 mins. My eating could be better. I'm having challenges over the weekend with not going back to my old habits and snacking all day. Our work challenge is on its 4th week. We have a couple of guys going really strong and have lost a lot of weight, I'm hoping we can get a woman in the top 3. I'm also trying to put together a team to do a mud challenge, doesn't have to be a Tough Mudder but something different than a regular 5k run. Has anyone here done a tough mudder or a mud challenge? I heard some stories that there can be something like an electric fence to climb under (not that excited about being shocked at any time no matter how little it is), I'd just like to know if it's true or not.

    Goals for the next 2 weeks:

    1. Continue to aim for 1200 cals daily
    2. Exercise 5 - 6 days a week for at least 30 mins
    3. Keep up the water intake

    I'll log on later and check in with you all and see how you've been doing. Just no time during working hours (unless I'm WFH (working from home)). ;)
  • Better_Balance_2011
    Better_Balance_2011 Posts: 3,711 Member
    those are cute! what makes the heeled part?

    They look pretty good. Sugar looks pretty good. I just made a almond milk with unsweetened cocoa powder. It wasn't much of a substitute for hot chocolate!

    One more day...

    The heel is those Pepperidge Farms pirouettes broken in roughly half. Then I had to afix it to the tray, and then the other end to the milano cookie using melted chocolate. I was pretty amazed they did not fall aprt in transport from kitchen to dining room! Thanks Pinterest!

    Had a decent day yesterday. Ate too many hiny of lime Tostitos after work. Thankfully they are gone, as is most of the party food. I put the leftover cupcakes in the freezer for book club Saturday. Now just veggies, hummus, babaganoush, and guac left.
  • amysj303
    amysj303 Posts: 5,086 Member
    welcome Nechana, where do you live?
    The steroids does make it harder. Since this group has been around, I am not sure how many of us have actually shed the last 10 pounds! I got heavier, but probably got some muscle-which is a good way. If you build muscle then you look small but eat more:happy:

    I think some of the things you can try would be intermittent fasting, like eating within an 8-10 hour window. Seems to be some evidence that it helps your body to burn fat for fuel. Not that you can eat whatever you want in the eating window, still have to stay under cals.

    For workouts, I think intervals are good for burning calories. You can google HIIT or Tabata, I think, you can do it with any cardio equipment or running, alternating sprints, jogs and walks.

    There seems to be a set point, though, that gets stuck and your body just wants to hold onto that weight no matter what you do. It's discouraging:ohwell:

    My set weight was lower when I was younger, even if I gained weight on vacation or a rough patch, I would always go back down without doing anything! Now it just seems to creep up and up.

    The other thing that I would say is that you can't be too hard on your body for too long. If you severely limit cals or workout hard, you don't want to do it forever...probably only 4-6 weeks.
  • Beeps2011
    Beeps2011 Posts: 12,190 Member
    lol...I TOTALLY lost my "last 10 lbs"....but, then, turns out, I had 20 to lose, not 10....so, I'm STILL in the "last 10 lbs", but this time it is FOR REAL and not the scale # I had in my head....

    Put another way - I weighed ~160 lbs when I came to mfp....and thought, for 5'9", that 150 lbs was about where I should be. With my weight-training program and my bodyfat loss attempts, I NOW realize that I should likely be <140 lbs (but 135 is likely too tough a scale # for me to maintain at).

    As such, I'm now 145.6 lbs and, therefore REMAIN in the "LAST 10 LBS" club....
  • ChLoE1130
    ChLoE1130 Posts: 1,696 Member
    Hey ladies!

    Amy- I would be up for a star challenge again if anyone else is interested!

    Beeps- that's kind of where I was with my ultimate goal weight. I thought it was 145, but then when I got there I realized 135 would probably be what I would look best at. But, I always get to 140 and cant get below and maintain.

    Better- LOVE the cupcakes! and LOVE Pinterest!

    I had an ok weekend. We went out of town with some friends so higher carbs then I would have liked and extra drinks. I didn't even bother logging. I am still sitting at 157 though, so at least no gain. I want this baby weight gone!!! I started C25K on the treadmill yesterday. I think saying I will run 3 days a week is feasible and if I can get in some weights or ab work I will consider that extra. I need to stay realistic with a 3 month old. And Jillian Micheals seems to be a bit too rough for my back right now.

    So 2 week goals:

    1) Keep carbs less than 30%
    2) stay within weekly cal goals
    3) C25K 3 times a week
    4) 2 days of lifting and abs

    Keep up the good work ladies!
  • KellyBgetsfit
    KellyBgetsfit Posts: 1,713 Member
    I LOVE the cupcakes!!!!!!

    Beeps- I go through that sometimes where I can't stay asleep, but for the past few nights it has been I could not FALL asleep. So tired and grumpy.

    Amy- Are you going to organize the star challenge???? I say YES!

    I dropped my calories by 100 for the week, but I ate a lot yesterday. I am grumpy this week. Probably the lack of sleep and stress of life.
  • Beeps2011
    Beeps2011 Posts: 12,190 Member
    I am taking some advil as soon as I get home....for whatever reason, I'm moving through tampons this TOM like they are going out of style. I'm tired. I fasted. And, I just want to go to sleep.
  • Beeps2011
    Beeps2011 Posts: 12,190 Member
    The *star* challenge is pretty easy - you tell us what your calories are,
    for the week, and if you hit your calories, you get a PLATINUM star.
    If you go over by 1-500, you get a GOLD star.
    If you go over by 501-1,000, you get a SILVER star.
    If you go over by 1,001-1,500, you get a BRONZE star.
    No star if you eat 1,501+ too many calories (for the week).
  • Beeps2011
    Beeps2011 Posts: 12,190 Member
    ...I don't mind running the *star* challenge. I can even go in it, so long as I'm not going koo-koo low with my calories (which is the TENDENCY I have, when entering challenges).

    I *have* to move MUCH more into a "maintenance" mind-set, in 2014. Once I am below 145 (expected this week), then I have PROMISED myself that 1 lb per MONTH weight-loss is perfectly fine and acceptable and I only need a SLIGHT calorie deficit to GET THERE.

    Lemme know who wants to be "in" the star challenge....we'll run it Mondays to Sundays, okay?

    Through February and March?? (Or, would it be preferred just 1 month at a time....so, just February to start and if people keep in the challenge we run it for March??)
  • ChLoE1130
    ChLoE1130 Posts: 1,696 Member
    I want to be at 1800 calories a day with breastfeeding. And I am not logging exercise cals burned or breastfeeding cals burned. So total calories eaten a week would be 12,600
  • amysj303
    amysj303 Posts: 5,086 Member
    Thanks, Beeps, I think I am only in for the next three weeks, then Costa Rica, then back at it:)
    For the next three weeks I will try 1200 per day but that will be hard-I have a birthday in there.

    The cleanse was good, I think, the scale did go down 3.5 pounds so that was rewarding, but last night was a struggle, PMS, hungry and irritated. But I had my quinoa and squash, drank my lemon water, had a hot almond milk for dessert and went to sleep.

    Today someone brought bagels, I wasn't going to but it looked good. Probably as many cals as my shake, so if I can have my light lunch, I should be ok for a marg and tacos tonight.

    I still said no to coffee!
  • Beeps2011
    Beeps2011 Posts: 12,190 Member
    FEBRUARY STAR CHALLENGE

    Week 1 - Feb. 3-9 ~ report in (by) Feb. 10
    Week 2 - Feb.10-16 ~ report in (by) Feb. 17
    Week 3 - Feb. 17-23 ~ report in (by) Feb. 24
    Week 4 - Feb. 24-Mar. 2 ~ report in (by) Mar. 3

    Weekly alotted calories (Mon - Sun)

    Asjerven 8,400
    ChLoE1130 12,600
    Beeps2011 10,500
    shander7 10,000
  • shander7
    shander7 Posts: 613 Member
    I'll go in for the challenge!! Sorry I haven't been on much this week, my sister is getting married on Saturday so we've been busy busy getting ready!! I think my weekly goal will be 10,000

    This will definitely keep me in check and get me logging again!
  • abigail1977
    abigail1977 Posts: 544 Member
    I am back to logging so I am in for the challenge. I have realized that my calories are set a little high since I am not as active as I used to be so I have dropped them a bit. I am in for 11,550/week.

    Good luck everyone!
  • KellyBgetsfit
    KellyBgetsfit Posts: 1,713 Member
    Ok - 9275. I am going for 1325. Start logging next week, right? I didn't log yesterday. It is to early to be TOM, but I have grumpy and frumpy.

    I had to put on a pair of size 6 pants today :cry: I bought these when i was pregnant. I haven't had to wear them since Addi was like 4 months. BOO!!!!!!

    I MUST turn my grumpys around. THIS. IS. ENOUGH!
  • Better_Balance_2011
    Better_Balance_2011 Posts: 3,711 Member
    I'm in, but I will not be reporting the week of 2/10 as I'll be in Phoenix for 3 days. Put me down for 10,000 which gives me 1400 a day with a little wiggle. I'll start there.....

    I weighed myself this morning since I'm having wine with a friend tonight so thought this would be a more realistic actual weight than my usual Thursday. 1.5 pounfd up. I'm not logging it. I felt all puffy (water retention from lifting? or food?) and am rather constipated which generally makes me feel terrible. Naturally it put me in a terrible mood that I have not fully recovered from yet. So hopefully I'll have a better weigh in tomorrow or Friday. I'm considering bimonthly weigh ins. The fluctuation kills me.

    On a side note, check out my butt progress. (Posted in a blog, but I can't figure out how to add pics to blogs). It's not earth shattering, but I love to see physical changes. If you do not do semi regular photos, I highly recomend it! It has been the most motivating evidence of progress I have found.

    Butt_Progress_zps2da979b6.jpg
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