Need to Lose 100 LBS -Robins Thread !

A little Sunday motivation.

A dream written down with a
DATE
becomes a goal. A goal broken down into
STEPS
becomes a plan. A plan backed by
ACTION
makes your dreams come true. Greg S. Reid

Sunday Share ... I was browsing around the message board today and came across an interesting article that I'd like to share ... this is the full link for it ...
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10191216/the-most-important-thing-you-can-do-to-lose-weight/p1

It has some links in the post that take you to more information that is very helpful ... but he gyst of it is this:
a) people underestimate how many calories they eat
b) people overestimate how many calories they burn through activity

AFM ... I'm still on my quest to bake that first really good loaf of sourdough bread. Today was another less than stellar result. However, I have another batch of dough sitting in the fridge made out of fresher flour and with a slightly different method.

@Karen... I will be posting my calories <=> MFP target for the days like we did in the past. It has to be within 100 calories either way to count as a day. I will also post my 'Steps walked" results.

One other thing I want to go back to doing is using my weight scale instead of measuring cups/spoons for anything that is not liquid. That was brought home to me today as important after reading/viewing from the discussion link I posted above.

@Kelley... I like your quote from Greg S. Reid. True words, those.

Follow Through on Consistent Focus
Niki
(God that's a mouthful of a motto)

@sarah & becka-- welcome!!

@robin-- great plan to track your walking progress. When I first started running that's exactly how I did it. I would pick a landmark and run that far, then walk a bit and pick another. As I built endurance I would try to get a little further.

@laurie-- I'm also not ready for school to resume tomorrow, Fortunately, we have only one full week, then next week is MLK day, 3 days of final exams, and an institute day. We have similar goals (not surprising given our doppelganger journey on MFP ) as I also want to lose the last 30 lbs this year. My immediate goal is to lose the 10 I gained over the past few months; I do NOT like the way my jeans are fitting. Sorry you are getting our freezing temps; they stink.

@niki-- thanks for the link! Sidesteel (who that article references) is another great source for sound fitness advice in the forums. I followed a lot of his threads when I first started MFP and they really helped me figure out how to set calorie goals, etc. I also am back to using the food scale on a regular basis.

@kelley-- great motivation!

Sunday Share:
As I mentioned above to laurie, we've had some really frigid temps the past few days. Although I love Chicago, and living in a climate with four seasons, I've increasingly come to the decision that I want to retire someplace warmer. I just can't imagine being 75 or 80 and trying to deal with the snow, ice, and cold. DH and I have had a few semi-serious conversations about it, and I know he's on board (he's always hated the cold). That's actually one of the reasons I'm set on getting debt paid down and focusing on saving for retirement.

I set up my fitness goals for the month. I'm keeping the nutrition goal simple to start. To make tracking easier, I will just make the weeks run Saturday through Friday. This week shouldn't be too difficult to stick to calorie plan. The only odd days will be Friday when we have DH's holiday party and Saturday when I have a holiday get together with some friends. I will eat light throughout the day Friday to allow for some extra calories that evening. On Saturday, I will go to the gym to earn some extra calories for the evening. I've got this.

Fitness Goals for the month of January:
I will run 3x/week and at least one 5k/week. Week 1 = 1/3 runs; x/1 5k
I will run a 5k start to finish with no walking breaks.
I will run an 8k twice.

Nutrition Goal for January:
Stay under calorie goal 6/7 days each week.

You vs Year Challenge:
3k done/ 997k to go

Grading Goals:
1. 15/40 AP essays

Exercise Goals:
Sat-- walk gunner DONE + gym DONE
Sun-- rest day
Mon-- walk gunner
Tues-- walk gunner + gym
Wed-- walk gunner
Thurs-- walk gunner + gym
Fri-- walk gunner

Good Morning Everyone.

So hard to come back to work after an extended weekend, terrible traffic this morning so had an hour commute—not fun. The joys of living in a big city.

@Robin~ Yes, we had terrible storms/tornados here on December 26th. Luckily, my neighborhood didn’t get brunt of it, but people just a few miles from me are still picking up the pieces. A former co-worker lost her house. I can’t even look at FB right now, there are still so many displaced pets at the animal shelters or with people that took them in—it’s heartbreaking. I think FEMA is here now to help with clean-up/rebuilding and displaced families.

Welcome to Becka and Sarah!

AFM~Zoe woke me a couple of times last night, needing snuggles. So of course, when my phone went off at 5am she was sound asleep and had the nerve to meow at me when I needed to get up! She’s lucky she is so darn cute. It’s month-end/year-end so work will be unbearable this week into next and then auditors arrive a week from today for our annual financial statements audit. I hate January!

I don't make New Year's Resolutions so last week I posted about choosing a word for the year—my word for 2016 is purpose. There are some personal things I hope to achieve in 2016 that I can’t post on a public forum but are directly correlated with this word, so it’s fitting.

I’ll try and check in when I can this week.

Good morning everyone.

I am up 6.8 lbs. from before the Holidays. I am going to start back and try to lose some of the extra 60 lbs. I would to.
Hope you are well and getting back to getting healthy!

Happy National Weigh-In Day!
The Special K® Brand Marks January 2 National Weigh-in Day
Brand Releases Survey Results to Help Change Women's Conversations about Weight Management
BATTLE CREEK, Mich., Jan. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent survey by the Special K® brand indicates that weight loss is often top-of-mind at the beginning of the New Year, with 67 percent(1) of women saying it is the ideal time to begin a weight-loss plan. Now, in an effort to change the way women think and talk about weight loss, the Special K brand has marked Jan. 2 as National Weigh-In Day and is inviting women to "weigh in" on the topic of weight management.
According to the survey, 62 percent of women fixate on the number of pounds they hope to lose, which often derails them from their weight-loss plan. The Special K brand wants to make stepping on the scale fun for women. Rather than focusing on the numbers that appear, the Special K brand wants women to imagine what they will gain emotionally when they lose.
"As 2012 rings in, we all know people all over the world will be making New Year's resolutions to lose weight," says Yuvraj Arora, Kellogg Company senior director of Special K. "We hope that we can use this resolution moment to help women focus on the positive gains and feelings of accomplishment they foresee in the New Year."
Special K Offers New Tools to Help Women Stay on Track
The Special K survey also found that 75 percent of women said they aim to gain confidence by managing their weight in the New Year. At the same time, more than 63 percent of women find that personalized meal plans or tracking tools make weight loss programs easier to follow. In addition, 64 percent find a lack of support the reason for getting off track from a weight loss plan.
Recognizing women need flexibility in their plans and tools at their fingertips, the Special K brand is offering new ways to keep women on track. SpecialK.com features tracking tools, peer inspiration and motivation that make it a potential alternative to best-in-class weight loss communities. In addition to the tracking tools and communities, the SpecialK.com site now allows women to design a plan just for them.
The Special K plans are also customizable to women's lifestyles. There are on-the-go options for busy lifestyles and adventurous recipes for "foodies," plus vegetarian recipes. After selecting their meal plan and activity level, women are given a personalized Special K plan that is unique to their needs and goals. Women can easily track their progress online via their mobile device.
Women also can take advantage of National Weigh-In Day to share their goals. The Special K brand is encouraging women to share what they hope to gain via social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and their own personal blogs on National Weigh-In Day, which also marks the launch of the Special K brand's Twitter handle, @SpecialKUS.
Women living in the New York City and Los Angeles areas are invited to live events on National Weigh-In Day, where they can step on a scale and see messages about the emotional benefits they can gain from achieving their weight-management goals.
The Special K brand will use its Twitter feed not only to provide updates of local events, but also to empower Special K consumers to share content and spread positive words of encouragement to impact the conversation around weight loss.
For more information, visit the Special K Facebook page or www.SpecialK.com.

” If you have health, you probably will be happy, and if you have health and happiness, you have all the wealth you need, even if it is not all you want.” ~Elbert Hubbard



Tom

Hi! I'm new here, but sadly not new to the journey. I am a single mom and I have had a really rough couple of years. About 4 years ago I had gone from nearly 300 lbs to 170, I was the happiest I had ever been. I wasn't happy because of my weight, but shedding the weight did help me feel freer in a sense. I had more confidence and wasn't so afraid to go out and do the things I wanted to do. It was wonderful as I had been overweight since I was a child.

Then I got together with the wrong guy three years ago, and we were together for about 6 months. We were madly in love, or course. With him I developed a pretty serious drinking problem, and dropped all of my college classes. I was on an all together downward spiral with him. He left when he found out I was pregnant. He not just left me, but he left the state. I live in Kansas, and he moved to Pennsylvania. So I went into grieving, and boy did I grieve. Being an emotional eater, this did not bode well for my weight. In a small part to the pregnancy and a supersize part to the depression I gained it all the weight back plus some. I completely stopped caring about myself, my health, my appearance, none of it mattered to me. And I definitely didn't weigh because I knew I was gaining why give it a quantifiable number to increase my depression? So here I am, stepping on the scale, and wow was I shocked. 332 lbs.

My mother was always 300+ lbs as I grew up (and eventually 400+), and I don't want my daughter to have to live that life. I'm not saying I was embarrassed of my mother, because I wasn't. But she was embarrassed of herself, and that meant missing out on a lot of things because she didn't want to have to go out and do those things. I don't want to hold my daughter back because of my weight. So this is for me, and for her.

Over the holidays I think I finally figured out how to forgive someone who will never ask for it. I figured out how to let go of the anger and the hurt. I figured out a way to stop blaming; be it myself or him. Blame has never solved a problem. I finally felt that heavy darkness lifting, and I am finally ready to get my life back. In order to do that I really need a sense of community. I realize now that I cannot do this alone, and I can't do it with people that don't know what it feels like to have to lose a significant amount of weight. So here I am!

I did the weigh in, but haven't gotten around to the measurements. I think I will try to do that tonight when my daughter goes to bed. But to make sure I'm not overwhelmed I am starting with small goals. For this month, my goal is simply to log everything I eat. I'm also trying to drink a gallon of water of day (and hopefully phase out soda) but my main goal is tracking the food.

Please feel free to add me as a friend!!

As I was catching up on the past pages, I was reading everyone's 2016 goals. I had been working on mine and doing some fine tuning. I may tweak them as the month goes along, but these are definitely some of the areas I want to focus on this year. Thank you again for your friendship and support. You guys are truly the best!!!

Susan’s 2016 Goals
January 4, 2016

Health & Fitness Goals:
•Sleep is critical. I need to try for at least 7 hours. Lucky if I get 5-6 right now.
•Drink more water than any other liquid, i.e. Diet Coke, Crystal Light, etc. . .
•Try to get 100 grams of protein daily. I know my body reacts so much better to higher protein intake.
•Continue eating clean with shopping outside aisles & limiting as many processed foods as possible. Less eating out too will help.
•Get in some form of exercise 5x per week. No excuses. I need this as a meeting on my calendar. It’s just as important as any other business meeting.
•If I do the above goals, the weight will come off. Not setting hard number.

Personal Goals:
•Do ME!!!
•Laugh more. Be happy. Be kind. Be grateful.
•Date honest, FUN, respectful, and successful men who treat me just like I would treat them
•Continue to eliminate negativity from my life including toxic relationships
•Connect & build “real” relationships
•Meet with financial adviser to discuss current retirement goals & what each one means. I have different things going on, but can’t really tell you what they all mean.
•Less eating out to save $$
•Tackle personal debt – freeze credit cards – cash only.
•Save $$ out of every paycheck no matter how small

2016 Word: Contentment
•According to Wikipedia, “Contentment is a mental or emotional state of satisfaction drawn from being at ease in one’s situation, body and mind. Contentment is a state of having accepted one’s situation and is a form of happiness.”

@susan--good to see you back! Love your nutrition goals; I have a lot of similar ones (more sleep, more water, more protein), but decided to just list the calorie goal for now. Baby steps for me to get back on track.

@becky-- welcome!

@tom-- good to see you back as well! Hope you and Amy had pleasant holidays-- your profile pic suggests you did.

@niki-- great job with the loss! Also, there's nothing wrong with weighing in every day (unless it creates anxiety or is discouraging to you personally). Studies show people who do so tend to maintain a healthier weight and stave off weight gain better than those who only weigh themselves periodically.

@kelley-- yes, returning to work after break; the struggle is real. LOL And don't even get me started about how often gunner climbs on top of me at 5 am and then gets disgruntled when I have to "disturb" him to get up for work an hour late. #spoiledpets

@alison-- Yes, I've seen a lot of coverage of the flooding up north. My sister still has some friends in Manchester from when she attended university there, and it's just been a mess for them-- and from what I've seen, Manchester doesn't seem to even have gotten the worst of it. Are you still doing your dancing?

Monday Check-in:
Well, my Jan 1st weigh in was 196.6 and today I'm down to 193.2, so the scale is moving in the right direction. I suspect about half of the 10 lbs I'm up is water weight, so hope to see a couple more pounds drop quickly. Then the challenge to lose real weight begins.

So far, I've been under calorie goal each day and have stuck to my exercise goals; pretty easy today, since it was just to walk gunner. Tomorrow will reveal my true commitment b/c I have the gym scheduled.

Fitness Goals for the month of January:
I will run 3x/week and at least one 5k/week. Week 1 = 1/3 runs; x/1 5k
I will run a 5k start to finish with no walking breaks.
I will run an 8k twice.

Nutrition Goal for January:
Stay under calorie goal 6/7 days each week.
Week 1 = 3/7

You vs Year Challenge:
3k done/ 997k to go

Grading Goals:
1. 17/40 AP essays
2. x/41 AP journals
3. x/15 SOS Speeches

Exercise Goals:
Sat-- walk gunner DONE + gym DONE
Sun-- rest day
Mon-- walk gunner DONE
Tues-- walk gunner + gym
Wed-- walk gunner
Thurs-- walk gunner + gym
Fri-- walk gunner

Wow! I'm behind on my check ins this week. Sorry guys!
Yesterday, "how are you doing?" could be described as "bleh, sick." Today, my Tuesday Goal is to get rid of more of this stinking congestion!