12 Weeks Till Summer Challenge - 6 Wks To Go!

Thanks Vic!
Once again, you have outdone your self. :flowerforyou:
My NSV this week was running 5K on Saturday. I also weighed this morning ( not an official weight) and I was 153.8. I hope to keep this about the same for the next few days so I can actually post it for this challenge.
Thank you again for starting this thread and challenge!!

Good luck to everyone this week.

CHALLENGE: I officially ended my first 12 week challenge today (from Jan-Easter) and in that time I went from 157.6 lbs to 138.6 lbs and lost 19 lbs! I have noticed though that my rate of loss has decreased. Yesterday I decided that I was going to start zig-zagging my calories. So my plan is to have 1200-1280 NET calories three days in a row and then one day of 1500-1700 NET calories followed by three more days of 1200-1280 and one day of 1500-1700...and continue the pattern for the duration of our challenge. I'll post updates and pictures on my blog (newmeat30.blogspot.com) to track my progress and document my skin "condition".

I am really considering doing this soon too! I will keep track i.e. stalk your blog to see how it goes because I am really curious about how it works. Perhaps I will get to do it once I am out of school for the semester and have time to focus

THIS WEEK'S CHALLENGE: Reflection and Change

We are half-way through our challenge. It is a perfect time to refect on how the last 6 weeks have been. Think about the changes that you have made in your life. Have you given it your all? Did you fall off the wagon? Seriously refect on your progress up to this point and decide if there are changes that you need to make. If you are struggling, reach out to someone else in this challenge that has made progress that you admire and ask them how they have done it. If you are making great progress, offer advice to others that seem to be having a hard time. Come up with a game plan for how you are going to succeed over the next 6 weeks of this challenge.


QUESTION OF THE DAY: What is your most recent non-scale victory (NSV)?

Start bragging people! We see your numbers every week....but what have you accomplished that the number on the scale can't tell us?

I have two brags for the past weekend. Yesterday at our family get-together, my brother-in-law called me "skinny." Having someone recognize the hard work always helps me keep going. Also, I had a gift card and went to spend it on some clothes and was able to fit into a size 6 pants. When I started, I was in a size 10, which was tight. I was pretty pumped!

Thanks, Newmeat for your hard work.

Relecting on the last 6 weeks -- my NSV has been in sticking with logging and exercising even though I have been trading pounds back and forth for a few weeks. Although I took a week off from "normal" exercise to clean my house for Easter, I continued to watch what I ate. I experienced my first 1000 calorie burn by mowing the lawn this weekend (2 1/2 hours -- I couldn't quit -- had to get the lawn done before it started raining again!) And I logged Easter dinner before I ate it.

Thank you to all my MFP friends who have kept me on track!

BUMP

Question of the day: My most recent NSV is that I am starting to see definition in my arms again! Yay!!

My biggest accomplishment during the challenge has been consistency with my eating and exercise. I have finally found the spark to stay dedicated to doing both. It feels pretty good to be doing this for myself....because no one else can do it for me!!

Reflection- I think I've been doing really well. I usually lose a little less than a pound which is fine by me. I don't have much weight to lose so it's probably healthier that way. I know now that I won't make my goal. 9 pounds in 6 weeks probably isn't realistic at this point. That's okay. I think I'll re-evaluate at the end of this challenge to see if I actually need to get down to 135. That may be to low of a weight for me.

Question- My pants are super huge on me today, which is great cause these are the pants I bought when I started gaining weight. I bought them a size to big so that I wouldn't feel fat in them. I m swimming in them now though!

Also I'm on to the second level of 6w6pack. By the last few days of level one I could totally feel the change in my body. I am more coordinated and much stronger!

Advice- I work at a school and a few of the parents have said I am looking "skinny" They always ask me, are you losing weight and I always reply with I'm not sure! Maybe! I feel kind of embarrassed of it almost. I have no idea why? It makes me sad though that I can't be proud of it and say yes! This is what I am doing!

The other thing is that I am a little worried, I still have a bunch of belly fat to get rid of but the rest of me is skinny enough. I don't want to have stick skinny legs and arms. I like them the way they are. I know you can't spot reduce fat, but I don't understand how to get rid of this belly fat without getting to skinny elsewhere?

Bumping with my chart for the end of the week


Starting Weight:198
Current Weight: 175.8
Goal Weight: 168
Ultimate Weight Loss Goal: 140

3/24: 182
3/31: 180
4/7: 178
4/14: 174.5 <<<mini goal - 176>>> (Reward for meeting or exceeding mini goal: pedicure)
4/21: 175.8
4/28:
5/5:
5/12: <<<mini goal>>> 168

Non-Scale Victory:

In the past 6 weeks, I've noticed a major change in my body. I'm kicking myself for not taking my measurements when I first started so I can see exactly how many inches I've lost. I NEED to take them this weekend so I can track my progress for the next 6 weeks. My clothes are fitting so much better. When I bought my belt, I had it set on the middle hole, now I'm on the tightest hole (that's 3 holes in 3 months)... it would actually go tighter if there was another hole and if my jeans weren't bunching up because they're too big too. I'm going to have to buy some transition pants here shortly as well as a new belt. I've also noticed how easy it is for me to resist eating heavy foods when I go out. I try to find the healthiest thing on the menu for 2 reasons. The first being the fact that I know how hard I have to workout to burn the calories in the heavier foods. The second is that my tolerance to grease has changed. I don't feel very good after eating greasy food and it isn't fun to be out with my friends when I feel gassy and bloated. :sick: I'm almost half way to my goal weight and I'd say I'm getting really close to having my food habits set too. It's really exciting to see how much progress I've made in such a short amount of time.

Sorry for the late post. Had a really rough week & didnt make it in time to weigh in...here it is anyways. Hopefully this week will be better..

3/19: 202.5
3/27: 201.3
4/02: 195.6 (yay me!!! )
4/10: 192.6
4/17: 189.8
4/24: 188
5/01:
5/08:
5/15:
5/22:
5/29:
6/05:
6/09: 170

In the past 6 weeks...
... I have lost half my wardrobe! It has been put in bags and brought to a local women's shelter as they were too big.
...I am wearing some pants I have hoarded for several years that I was almost 20lbs lighter than I am now when I used to wear them, and there is NO muffin top! The JM Ripped in 30 videos reshaped my body.
.... part of the last NSV, was I religiously did my workouts progressing through the workouts and finding strength I haven't seen in a long time because of them.
... I am ready to go in a sparkly tap dress and dance this week with a LOT less self-consciousness since I have committed to a healthier me, and feel more confident!

BTW... thanks again Vic for the great chart and for keeping up this great challenge!

wooooo great job everyone

I haven't posted the chart before, maybe I should add it to help me remember at the end of the week!


~New Goals~
4/21: 270.3
4/28:
5/5:
5/12: <<<mini goal:264>>>
5/19:
5/26:
6/2:
6/9: <<<challenge goal: 256>>

2 lbs lost!!!!!

4/21: 162 lbs
4/28: 160 lbs
5/5:
5/12: <<<mini goal: 155 lbs>>>
5/19:
5/26:
6/2:
6/9: <<<challenge goal: 150 lbs>>

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