Here is the link to the Accountable to Me Challenge thread for anyone who needs a reminder of what their goals were.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10365492/accountable-to-me-challenge#latest

My water intake is doing much better since the water challenge. My hair, skin, nails are less dry and I know it's from increasing my intake.

I haven't lost any weight, or so my scale says, but everyone's noticed a change in my shape and I feel the difference in my jeans. So it has to be coming off somewhere.

I know I have to log! I can't do it any other way. I despise it. But in order to see the results I want, I must. I'm really going to start working hard at it.

Nutrition wise I have been doing the rainbow challenge every week, to make sure I'm getting plenty of veggies. This I will continue.

I've done better on my weight. Hit a rough patch there for a few weeks where I wasn't losing weight but it is finally showing up on the scale.

We also go for walks outside when it's nice enough. It's hard with a 4 month old because it's been windy too and it's hard to know when it's nice enough to take her out for a bit. Need to get my husband's bike tire fixed (he has a flat) and then we can switch up walks and bike riding at night. I think my son (he's 5) get's bored going for a walk all the time.

Through this challenge, I've learned I do much better when I know I'm accountable to more than just myself. Thank you for keeping me going! My accountability to me goal was to continue to decrease my sugar intake. I'm doing better but still have plenty of room to improve. I notice that when I allow myself a sugar day, I crave it even more and can't get satisfied. I once heard the idea, "You'll never be satisfied with what you don't need because you don't need it. " That's so true with sugar! Going forward I'll remember that concept. I'll decide ahead of time what I'll eat and not let my craving decide for me.

Nutritionally, I was working on limiting my sugar intake. I've done fairly well because I've realized it effects more than just my weight. I get real sugar "highs" and then the "crash" is pretty bad. The main change I made was to switch from regular chocolate to 85% dark chocolate. I allow myself one little piece every evening, and the thought of that treat keeps me from indulging during the day. So far, it seems to be working!
My accountability has gotten a lot better! I log EVERYTHING, even sugar free gum!
A goal that I had was to lose 4-6 more pounds by the end of the race. So far, I've lost 3.5 since then, and with one more weigh-in to go, 4lbs. is within reach. I've achieved a total loss of 10 pounds during this race, which is over 7% of my body weight, so I'm happy with that!
The MAIN thing I've learned is that a great group can make for a great experience! I've never been in a "group" diet before, and I've gotten SO MUCH from my team by learning that I am not alone in my struggles, fears, and celebrations of large and small victories, both on and off the scales. The encouragement and motivation that I have gotten from Team 6 has been truly awesome!

When I started this challenge I wanted increase my strength training, drink more water, to consistently log in (I want to beat my 25 days streak) and eat more good fats and less bad fats.

I have increased my strength training but not to where I want to be. I drank a lot of water before I started, but nowhere near 1/2 my body weight. I am doing way better but I am still working on getting there. I beat my streak! I am now at day 58 and I do not plan on stopping now. I am eating more goods fats than I did prior to the challenge, but I will continue to work on this.

I have kept trying new recipes. I found a great muffin recipe that I made and my DH requested I make a second time! We're also continuing to try to dinner recipes. We're planning a BBQ for May 7th and I'll be trying some new hamburger recipes. As far as being consistent with exercise, that was harder than I thought, given having arthritis in my back, and working a lot of overtime over the last few months. However, I have done what I can. I have lost 14.4 lbs since the start of this challenge, and I am very happy about that! I will continue to work on consistent exercise though, because I really want to build some strength and endurance.

Things I have improved:
1.Drinking more water
2.Thanks to all the great challenges I have started to use heavy weights and I see a big difference.
3.Going outside my comfort zone and trying new exercises I wouldn't have ever tried on my own.

Things I need to work on:
1. Telling myself its ok to take a rest day. I haven't had a rest day in months.
2. A loss is a loss even if it's only .6 ITS OK JUST BREATHE!!

I have taken more rest days and I learned to just relax and not be so hard on myself. Nutritionally I continue to eat 5-8 cups of vegatables and drink 80-120 oz of water everyday.

One of my biggest goals of this challenge was to be able to run a 5k without walking or stopping... I was able to accomplish that today as I ran it in just about 34mins!

I also got very close to my weight loss goal. Only 2lbs shy but I will continue to work toward this for the next challenge:-)

Nutritionally I have been more aware that all calories are not created equally! I plan to watch my sugar intake and have noticed the trigger sensation mentioned by previous contributors to this thread.

I have stayed about the same, weight wise, but feel more toned with the different exercises and activities done throughout this challenge. I am going to continue mixing it up from time to time and work in different types of workouts to keep it interesting.

I failed at my posted goals of drinking more water and working on my core muscles. I drink lots of water however I can't seem to hit the challenge goal. I've kept running and have had no interest in adding other exercises.

But, and this is a big one, not only did I blow past my weight loss goal for the challenge I'm now 0.8lbs from my final goal weight. I never stated this as a goal because I have control of what I eat I don't have control of the day it shows coming off on the scale and I didn't want to jinx it. However, weight loss has always been my #1 goal.

The best part of this challenge is the accountability and having a team to share successes and trying new things. I also loved the nutritional challenges. Because of the omega-3 week I've added nut butters. I had thought nuts too calorie dense to fit in my goal. However, I learned that a BBJ and an apple might be a small meal for me but it keeps me full for hours.

Nutritionally I have improved the variety of foods I eat and have added more vegetables to my daily intake. My snacking habits have been curbed, and I have replaced hot tamales & cookies with Almonds & celery or aplles with peanut butter and ...cookies occasionally, but oatmeal instead of chocolate chip and I don't have them on hand at home, late night snacking has been pineapple, mixed berries (w/o whipped cream) or watermelon.
Goals - I have truly improved my sleep from avg of 4.5 HR for the week to (OMG) 7.3 HR last week. I feel better, not sure if it is the sleep or the exercise or just being part of something that made me smile & think about stuff besides my little corner if the world. My resting heart rate has dropped a full 12 beats (from 85-73) during the course if the challenge. Really love my Fitbit, it gives me these insights and would tip me off when I got home from work, and helped me push myself to go for walks to a- get my steps in and b- get my minutes/miles for my team.
My second goal, yes!! Actually getting my wardrobe planned, washed & packed for Hawaii. I pulled out my summer clothes last weekend, some size 8s fitting, 10s are good, 14s too baggy!! I took 2 black trash bags of clothes to salvation army. Tomorrow I am going to shop for a new swimsuit, will probably get a 12 but maybe a 10 will be okay. I have trimmed and toned and I am 100% certain it would not have happened without my team mates ( and competitors) motivation and daily inspiration. Thank you all!!

I'm away so doing this on the phone and don't have the bells and whistles to cut and paste and such so going to go by memory. Nutrition... I thought I was doing okay before this challenge... my logging showed me how off I was. I have tried to work on making my food better while maintaining my lifestyle. Well... something hit me with a wake up call so let's just say that I have learned alot from the nutrition challenges and plan to execute that in working on my new plan (life throws you a speed bump sometimes to get your attention!)

My goals included water, nutrition, and sleep. I have so fully incorporated water into my life... no soda, no tea. I drink a small bit of juice and then just water. Don't always get what I want in the day but not due to drinking substitutes! Nutrition.. that logging goal helped with that a bit. Now with needing to get blood pressure back in check, it's even more important and my take away goal for the future. Today was my first low sodium day (and I achieved it at a hotel with all meals eaten out because I track and log!). Sleep.. well let's say it's coming slowly but I know how important I thought it was and with this new hiccup, it is even more important.

Going forward for next time.. and for life.. nutrition, water and sleep are still goals. They are now more important as I I plan to change my health and my desire to have no worries of meds. In addition, what I thought my goal was going to be (running a 5K) is on hold. Need to get health in check before stressing this mama's heart. So while it was important... not quite as high as it was three weeks ago. Hoping for a really good health check to start this new challenge. If I was not doing this challenge, I would not have been able to have logs to see where and how far I came and to be able to easily show the docs what my life was like and how far I've already changed. BIG THANKS to the leaders of this challenge!

My goals were to find new workouts that I could do while in PT for my knee and to lose 4 pounds to get to my goal. I have been doing strength workouts for my legs and have tried the bike a few times - which for me is great because when I did it the first day I hated it! I've also got just half a pound to go to get to my goal so I'm doing well there, too! I will be there by the end of the challenge.

Nutritionally, I've really focused on protein intake and portion control. I'm still working on these, but I've gotten so much better thanks to this challenge!

I stuck with trying new things and thanks I the nutritional challenges I have tried to eat more veggies. I didn't hit my weight loss goal for this challenge missed but 1 pound. Oh well! This challenge was great for getting me to push myself more and to get out of my comfort zone.

Thank you for this challenge and looking forward to the next one!