Lose 10 lbs in September Challenge

So excited to get this september challenge going! I lost 6.7 pounds in august and striving to make the 10 pound mark!!!!

I'm on and it's correct. I'm so impressed and pleased that you've taken the time to help so many. Thank you!

I think I must've read your mind. I completed part of the mini challenge yesterday. I went to a Body Pump class for the first time. I'm beginning to tone in preparation for skinny me.

I think that's a great idea to have us update the spreadsheet - google docs is pretty sweet. :P

Good luck everyone!!


P.s. Feel free to add me!

MINI-CHALLENGE FOR WEEK 1:

3. Think about (and share if you feel comfortable) what got you to where you are today. Why did you let yourself go? What was your awakening moment when you knew something had to change? What situations trigger you to not make healthy decisions and how can you control those situations? Life happens, and sometimes we need to focus on what happens in life and how we react to those situations and be ready to deal with them when they arise.

Comfort got me to where I am today...comfort and laziness added with several cups of my love for anything sugary and sweet. I was thin all of my life until the age of 19, although at this age I was also right at the maximum weight for my height (131 lbs).
Ultimately my journey psychologically to get to this point started almost 2 years ago. My family moved 5 hours from my old home, I realized I needed to lose the 76 pounds I had put on over a period of 10 years. I joined Weight Watchers but managed to only lose 10 lbs because I wasn't ready at that time psychologically. I went another year of getting really acquainted with St. Louis food (yuuuuuuummmmm) and managed to gain an additional 30 lbs, topping out at 206 lbs...my highest ever and extremely hard on my 5'2" body!! What pushed me over the edge was a couple of events that happened in quick succession. Christmas shopping season 2010, we were rushing to get to GameStop literally minutes before they were closing on X-Mas Eve to pick up one last gift for the kids, a Wii....My husband (the athletic one with mile long legs) was rushing through the crowds and I was making every atttempt to race walk with him and I just couldn't do it. I felt like I was going to pass out, my legs were burning and I couldn't breathe!! It was horrible! The next event was when my daughter took a picture of me playing the Wii and I was able to really "see" for the first time what my body looked like to other people....extra gross! Another month went by before I was mentally prepared to take it all on. I went to Borders and picked up an issue of Oxygens Fat Loss magazine and read it front cover to back cover on the 15 minute drive home and then again when I got home. I cleaned out cabinents and the fridge. I joined Weight Watchers (for the 2nd time, I had cancelled it after 2 months on the previous attempt) and went to Target where I bought several DVDs, hand weights, resistance cables, and a yoga mat. I walked, I worked out, I ate good....I also was taking a fat burner that was recommended to me by someone at GNC and drinking protein shakes as well. During the first 4 months (Feb, Mar, Apr, May) I lost a total of 36 lbs....I plateaued and I grew frustrated. I tried another cycle of fat burner and changing my workouts but nothing....in July I discovered MFP and was full speed ahead, I managed to gain 10 damn lbs (per the scale and my jeans) but I have since managed to lose 5 of those gained back and I am going to manage to lose another 10 in Sept!

Sugar is still my downfall but I am making a major attempt to eat as clean as possible, when I rid my life of sugar, processed foods, and fast foods my weight goes down. My body simply does not tolerate the sugars well at all, I know this!

I have 6 months until my 31st birthday and come hell or high water on that day in 2012 I WILL weigh in at 120 lbs!!!!!!!

3. Think about (and share if you feel comfortable) what got you to where you are today. Why did you let yourself go? What was your awakening moment when you knew something had to change? What situations trigger you to not make healthy decisions and how can you control those situations? Life happens, and sometimes we need to focus on what happens in life and how we react to those situations and be ready to deal with them when they arise.

Oh boy I remember the exact trigger that caused my weight to spiral out of control it was 2 days before my 20th Birthday in 2002 and I got that phone call that no one wants to get it was the call that changed my life. At 2 in the morning on October 1st the phone rang and it was the hospital telling me that my Mom had died. (my mom had metastatic breast cancer that came back as bone cancer) after that I just turned to eating to make me feel better. This was my second time dealing with this in my family as back in 1996 I lost my little brother to Leukemia so I was no stranger to loss, but when I lost my mom it was too much for me to deal with. I knew I was gaining weight but I didn't care, once I starting comeing out of my depression it was too late the damage was done. Over the last 7 years I have tried to lose the weight but I would usually end up reverting back to my old ways after a few weeks, it wasn't until 2 months ago when my Husband and I bought a house and I was denied Life Insurance because of the underlying health issues that come along with being overweight that I decided once and for all something had to be done about. I was embarassed to be denied I was even more embarassed to have to tell people that I was denied, so here I am 8 weeks later and a total of 26 lbs lost so far (still lots of work to do) but I already feel so much better and can't wait to reach my goal weight. I had always been a little overweight as a kid but in my twenties I was/am way overweight so I really don't know what it is like to be skinny and can't wait to give it a spin! In the future when I come across situations that are highly emotional like I have delt with in the past I will not use food as therapy I will need to really talk it out and not keep everything bottled up inside me, it's obviously too destructive for me to do that.

I added myself to the spreadsheet - I am official. Love this idea and the idea of maintaining yourself on the spreadsheet.

3. Think about (and share if you feel comfortable) what got you to where you are today. Why did you let yourself go? What was your awakening moment when you knew something had to change? What situations trigger you to not make healthy decisions and how can you control those situations? Life happens, and sometimes we need to focus on what happens in life and how we react to those situations and be ready to deal with them when they arise.

For me, the problem started when I started dating my dh (20 years on 9/21). I was very active and when I went out at night, I may have had a drink, but I danced and danced. My dh doesn't like to dance, drank beer and preferred sports bars. Add to that 2 kids, a more sedentary lifestyle and aging and you get to be 220+ lbs.

Last November, I was depressed, felt sorry for myself that I was not able to keep up with my kids and at my highest weight ever. I just had had enough. So, I put up the money for a club membership (where I learned about MFP) and a personal trainer. I lost the 40 pounds I am down by March. I have maintained that weight loss, but have been stuck at my current weight since then.

Why am I stalled? I have reverted back to some bad habits (diet soda instead of water/not planning & recording my food and exercise) and my schedule has been such that I have just been feeling overwhelmed all summer. School is starting up, my routine (such that it is) will be more normal, and I am feeling again very motivated to kick-start myself and drop the rest of the weight! I am proud that I have maintained the 40 lb loss, but I still am not at my healthy goal. Going forward, I have to work on taking the time to plan my food and do some prep work in the evenings for the next day - especially during the work week.

Thanks for this forum!

Water is definitely not an issue...10-12 glasses nearly everyday.

I will not promise to try anything new this week because I am starting two different exercise challenges, but by the end of the month my goal is to take a Zumba class. I think I will feel healthy enough to keep up, and I love to dance.

Excuses are what got me to where I am. I knew something was wrong hormonally, so I threw up my hands saying I can't do anything about it. After I crossed over 300lbs, I finally was diagnosed with the root cause and then expected that the medicine would just take care of it. I would work out for a while, lose about 30lbs, feel good about myself, and then stop...as if I had done some tremendous thing...30lbs in the grand scheme of 300 is nothing, or at the very least not enough to stop going. I was always too busy, too tired, too stressed to focus my attention on myself. The deciding factor was the end of the school year when I could hardly fit into any of my work clothes. My girls were leaving for college, I was changing jobs (giving me a little freedom from grading papers and tutoring after school, and I just decided this was ME time. I found and started this site on June 17. In the first 2 weeks, I lost 5 lbs (water weight), but wasn't working out and wasn't really doing much other than just tracking what I "normally" ate daily. July 2, I joined the YWCA and my weight quickly shot up to my highest ever 348. It was then that I started actually paying attention to the nutritionally value of the foods I was eating, especially sodium. At this time, I also saw a candid picture of me and was totally disgusted. I am definitely NOT one of those people who see themselves as their size or bigger. Coming face-to-face with my highest weight was enough to kickstart what I needed to do. July 17, I have lost 31lbs and I'm still going steady.

3. Think about (and share if you feel comfortable) what got you to where you are today. Why did you let yourself go? What was your awakening moment when you knew something had to change? What situations trigger you to not make healthy decisions and how can you control those situations? Life happens, and sometimes we need to focus on what happens in life and how we react to those situations and be ready to deal with them when they arise.

I'm here after having a lot of life circumstances all occurred within a month time frame- first I had my son and was not able to exercise after hitting the 5 month mark of my pregnancy due to complications, I decided I wanted to be closer to family, so I took a job transfer , sold our home (had 58 showings in 30 days) and moved cross country for my new job when he was 4 months old. A lot to take on as a brand new mom. I let my eating habits and exercising slip and used all of the above as my excuse. My son is now 2...yes 2 and I have not lost the weight yet. What changed- I could no longer look at myself and the way I looked in the mirror. Pre-baby I was 150 lbs in amazing shape-very healthy and exercised 5+ days a week, and I realized that I need to be back there again for my mental health, happiness and future!

I've been on track now with my lifestyle changes since July 25th. As of today I've lost 9.8 lbs, have made exercising and eating healthy a priority and am getting my family involved so my son grows up knowing how to make healthy choices and stay active.

count me in

It is worth a shot, I am in!!