Happy Wednesday! You guys are doing so great!

@trooworld - What a great day you had yesterday!
Thanks! My lawn/garden is at least looking better. Not sure I'd do as far as "good" just yet!
I love your focus on two solid goals!

@its_cleo - Sending you a big hug. I get being frustrated about having had an uptick. Hang in there.
I love that you already went for a walk today! And a whole hour, too! That's a win! Yay, Cleo!
Lots of people are struggling with being at home, but you got up and got moving today, despite that early star (5 AM - ouch!). S, please notice that you are actually making some great choices

@mrmcgrath - Woohoo! Looks like you are doing really well, too!

@Jactop - A hug regarding the weigh-in. And you will keep it up and get past that "2," you really will.

@Katmary71 - Arg. So sorry about the blood pressure.
I can sympathize about the dance routines. Somehow being interrupted while doing disco cardio is more embarrassing for me than being interrupted while doing regular exercise. Flashbacks to junior high?
I am so impressed that you still have VHS tapes AND a way to play them. There's some great stuff out there on VHS, I am sure!

I tried a new disco workout today. Not my favorite but I burned a few calories - here's the link.

Wednesday check-in
Calories- under. My Fitbit gave me 500 more calories today, I had two dinners and still had room! I hope it's not some glitch!
Exercise- Leslie Sansone videos, Sidney Cummings butt and abs, plank challenge, yoga
Water- over

Habits
Cardio 30 minutes- done
Weights- done
Yoga/core- done, though I'm getting a little restless with the plank challenge, been trying different ones but am not clicking with one routine.
Decluttering- none
Recipe- thinking of chicken enchiladas next
10,000 steps- done

raleighgirl09
Week 3 weigh in (16Apr2020)
Previous weight: 178.5
Current weight: 182.7

Ok gang - it has been 5 days since actively planning and eating 100% on plan. Interestingly, I have not been face down in ice cream or cookies or indulging in high calorie things but it just doesn't take much anymore to see a swing up in weight. I feel like this is a good bit water but the facts are - this is pretty much 4 pounds, no matter what it is composed of. But best to get animated at 4 pounds - and not wait for a 40 pound gain to take action!!! =>

The weekend was fine - did some work/work, did some shopping and sanitizing what I brought home (yeah, ya gotta factor time in for that!), did some cleaning and laundry. Drove to the coast Sunday and was working along on Monday trying to finish up a big project (a systems user guide) when I was called and let go in the early afternoon. Not very happy about the way they did it but was able to confirm that it was in the works for a while and related to the trouble I had with my boss. I am super grateful they gave me some severance and while I have not "planned" for this event, I have planned for a surprise one day so we'll be ok. Turns out there are lots of things to assess and bring into focus and take care of when one loses their job - who knew? => I think I have gone through the stages pretty quickly and am very happy to find that feeling sorry for myself isn't among the feelings. I have a lot to be grateful for and a lot of good in my life, despite the setback.

I did have some stress eating, though! So I woke up today with an 'oh crap - don't continue down this path' and made my daily plan already. Going out for a good walk soon - at least I did keep on walking. => I'll check in again later but wanted to get the weigh in done.

Username: leonadixon
Weigh in day: Wednesday
PW (3/25): 199.0
Check in weight (4/1): 197.4
Check in wieght (4/8): 199.0
Check in weight (4/15): 200.6

Urgh.

Ok, I had my tele-meeting with my dietitian yesterday. She helped me get to working on getting my give a darn a tune up! I am going to start journaling my food again starting today. I committed to 20 minutes a day, 6 days a week of walking. Let's hope this is a good kick in the rear! She was happy that I have been basically been maintaining during this time, but I am not happy with it.

I hope all is going well! They did some furloughs here at my work, but I was not impacted. Thank God!

@raleighgirl09 I am really sorry about your job. There is no good time for that, but now seems like an especially bad time. Also kind of awkward because of the shut down- did you have personal stuff at your physical office that you need to get?

@gwamajtw91 Congrats! It's so cool to see that old number on the scale and be wowed by it.

@Katmary71 thanks for the kind words. One of the things that has got me is my stamina/endurance. I do one exercise with my trainer and I'm ready to collapse! Any exercise I was doing was in smaller bursts 15-20 mins so that is why. I'm gradually going to increase it and try to do longer chunks of activity at a time with fewer breaks and try to get my stamina back up. ....and I totally sympathize about not wanting to be caught dancing! I would have done the same thing lol.

I think I did one of those LS videos with the guy leading. I really liked it, it was a bit faster paced.

@AustinRuadhain yeah the early start is a mixed blessing- I can get up and go out but I like my sleep lol. Fortunately the last two mornings I’ve slept better.

@trooworld I absolutely think doing goals in small chunks is best.
Well I’m doing ok on cals the last couple days. Yesterday I also did some strength training on my own, mostly some upper body stuff for my back. But I tried to go for 30 mins with only short breaks ie 2 mins between every 2 sets. I also did some mobility work. My various aches and pains seem to be slowly improving.

Today I went for a jog. I really wanted to push it because I’ve been doing the same route over and over but given my tendon is healing I tried to be smart and not push too hard too fast.

Tomorrow I see my trainer, and supposed to connect virtually with some folks from my hiking club but we’ll see how it goes. I’m not a big fan of the zoom social stuff, it just seems awkward.

Snowing here in April! Just light flurries.

@mrmcgrath Definitely that time makes food, especially sugary carby ones, harder to avoid! I don't know if this is the case with you but I found on days I worked out harder or longer I needed to eat more or else the next day I was hungrier.

@raleighgirl09 Oh no, I'm so sorry you were let go, what lousy timing! I'm glad you're feeling okay about it, it sounds like you're taking things well. Hope your walk was great and helped clear your head.

@leonadixon I'm glad your meeting with the dietician helped motivate you. Twenty minutes a day of walking sounds like great exercise.

@gwamajtw91 Yay, congratulations!!!!

@trooworld I hope you're feeling okay and not coming down with something. Hopefully you found some energy even if it was a rest day.

@its_cleo I've found in the "HIIT-type" videos if I keep doing the exercise they're taking a break from part of the time or march in place it makes a better workout. With Leslie Sansone I either keep doing the harder thing like knee lifts instead of walking and/or using more weight or adding light dumbbells to non-weight routines to up intensity. Using arms helps a lot too. It's not that I'm hardcore, it's that I have to do low impact and it's geared toward people new to exercising so I'm trying to find ways to do all this that doesn't worsen my chronic problems. I hope you get the chance to talk to everyone tomorrow, I'm not a huge Zoom fan but do really value the connection with others once it's started.

@bethanie0825 If you just started running again that definitely can be it.

Username: davors19
Weigh-in week: Week 3
Weigh-in day: Fri
Previous Weight: 271
Todays Weight: 269

[quote="Cornanda;c-44918042"!
@mrmcgrath would you be willing to share some thoughts about Noom?s.[/quote]

Sure. I do not like the food tracking module as much as I do mfp and I had difficulty getting my Fitbit steps to sync at first BUT I do like the daily lessons and the psychology behind them. It has really helped me dig deep as to why I keep doing what I am doing. Plus you are assigned a goal coach and a group coach and that has helped tremendously keep on track.

@raleighgirl09, girl your attitude is amazing!! I’m so glad that your assessment of losing your job has you feeling grateful and that you will be OK. It still sucks and I am sorry that you now have to figure out what to do next. You will get that weight off this week for sure because you are a girl with a plan and you know how to work the plan! Be VERY kind to yourself!

@Cornanda, I love how you have recognized your temptations and have decided to push back at them. My weight is up this week too and that is annoying, but I can either own it and work to get on the other side of the gain or shrug and go eat some more peanut butter. What I am REALLY trying to work on is taking ownership and realizing that everything I eat is my responsibility. I’m going to post the link to that video that I spoke about below in my comments.

@leonadixon, haha, I need a tune-up on my “I don’t give a darn” too! Glad to see that you have a plan in place and I am sure that your maintaining will turn to lose again. Yes, thank God that your work hasn’t been impacted.

@vegan4lyfe2012, I think having pictures that show our progress are so important. You will get back to picture A. You just have to want it and work for it. I am in the SAME boat and will write about it in my comments.

@Katmary71, ugghhh I hate bad tech days. I have been trying to figure out why my Fitrockr won’t sync and their tech support hasn’t been able to figure out it either. There is no reason for people to be so grouchy at the grocery store. Hmm, do you think people are buying so much garlic to ward off the evil of Covid or are they just cooking more at home?

@bethanie0825, upping your workouts will always make you hold onto water. Glad that you know that and accept it.

@gunderw59, @davors19, great weigh-ins!! Keep it up!

@gwamajtw91, Wow that is awesome!! YES go YOU!!!!

@its_cleo, it's smart not to push yourself with your jogging, as you well know. How did the trainer session go? Yeah, I’m not a big fan of the Zoom thing either. I’m now doing it twice a week and I’m grateful for the technology to connect with my friends, but I will be glad when we don’t have to.

@trooworld, I hope you are feeling better today?

Good morning team! Sorry that I was missing the last couple of days. I have been fighting with myself over my weight gain and trying to figure out how I can get my motivation back to start consistently losing again. Why is OK that I keep gaining!! At the end of last October, I was 203 lbs. and so happy that I was almost at Onderland. And then I just started gaining every month. Sure, there are weeks when I’m down but the trend has been up and it keeps going up. This morning my scale weighed me at 213 lbs. What the heck!!! So, I went and re-watched the video that I spoke to @Cornanda about and will post it below. I went and looked at my pictures from when I weighed my heaviest 264 lbs. to my lowest at 203 lbs. This is just unacceptable behavior and it HAS to stop!!! I put so much work into my workouts. My muscles literally hurt somewhere on my body every day because I push myself to be fitter and stronger. But then I end up eating too much and obviously NOT caring. Ugghhhhh!!

I also feel like a terrible captain for you all. I should be setting an example and being your biggest cheerleader and I have failed, and I am sorry! Oh please don’t come on and tell me that it’s OK. It’s NOT!! I need to do better for myself and for my team. And since actions speak louder than words, I'm just going to go now and pre-track my day and do a workout. Take care of yourselves.

I stumbled upon this video of a woman who lost 250 lbs and this video really spoke to me on why weight loss is really in our hands and ours alone. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clTtwdV7MnM

@TeresaW1020 - What a great video! "You are the person that chooses to eat what you eat." Great bottom line. It puts you in charge!

I am sorry you have had a rough couple of days, and so delighted you checked in.

As a reality check -- you are not a bad Captain. You are, still, our biggest cheerleader, and a fabulous example (you are doing it right now) of getting real and being resilient.

It is so, so easy to get distracted and coast, and then suddenly your weight is back up. At least that is so true for me. Since you only gained 10 pounds since October, I can only think (based on my life experience anyway) that you were paying some attention and doing a bunch of the right things.

I say this because I have gained *cough cough* more than 10 pounds in a month or two and then been surprised.

You hit a great weight, and then the holidays hit, and then COVID-19 and weeks in the house in jammies and sweats. You could still be coasting. Some people are!

But YOU - you weighed in. You stopped and looked at the results and did some analysis -- what you wanted? if not, what actions weren't working? And since you headed off to pretrack your day and do a workout, we know you headed off in the direction you want to go. So yay!

[quote=

I also feel like a terrible captain for you all. I should be setting an example and being your biggest cheerleader and I have failed, and I am sorry! Oh please don’t come on and tell me that it’s OK. It’s NOT!! I need to do better for myself and for my team. And since actions speak louder than words, I'm just going to go now and pre-track my day and do a workout. Take care of yourselves.
[/quote]


Never. Never. Never! are you a terrible captain! You are great at lifting others up. We all struggle. That's why we are here. ((hugs!))

AustinRuadhain wrote: »

On a related note...

I just hopped on here after getting lit up because after lunch (on plan - yay!), I was looking at a book called Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life. While the author is focused on managing your relationship to screens (phone, etc.), so much of what he is saying in the first part of the book applies directly to losing weight, and seems so on track with the video @TeresaW1020 posted.

This may not speak to you, but here it is, just in case.

From Chapter 5 "Deal with Distraction from Within"
... resisting, ruminating, finally giving in to the desire perpetuates the cycle and quite possibly drives many of our unwanted behaviors. ...

• Without techniques for disarming temptation, mental abstinence can backfire. Resisting an urge can trigger rumination and make the desire grow stronger.
• We can manage distractions that originate from within by changing how we think about them. We can reimagine the trigger, our task, and our temperament.

From Chapter 6 "Reimagine the Internal Trigger"
By reimagining an uncomfortable internal trigger, we can disarm it.
Step 1: Look for the emotion preceding distraction (for distraction, you might put in "craving" or "temptation")
Step 2: Write down the internal trigger
Step 3: Explore the negative sensation with curiosity instead of contempt
Step 4: Be extra cautious during liminal moments (transitions from one thing to another in your day)

From Chapter 8 "Reimagine Your Temperament"
The way we perceive our temperament... has a profound impact on how we behave.
... individuals who believed they were powerless to fight their cravings were much more likely to drink again. (this might well apply to indulging in tempting food)
Labeling yourself as having poor self-control actually leads to less self-control.

Austin's Takeaways from Indistractable so far

• Resisting temptation is not effective.
• Resisting temptation can actually make giving in to desire... more gratifying. (Yes, for those of you of the right age, I am thinking of Rocky Horror and "shivering with antici......... pation." Oh my. Yes. I have so played this game with myself without noticing what I was up to.)
• We can manage temptation by changing how we think about it. Specifically we can reimagine the thing that triggers us, the action that we take, and the story that we tell ourselves about ourself and who we are.
• To disarm a trigger, look for the emotion preceding it, write down what that trigger is, and explore the negative sensation with curiosity instead of contempt.
• Self-contempt is not our friend and is not effective place to stand if we want to change our behavior. Yes, we will have that feeling, but maybe just watch it float by -- thank it for sharing and then let it go, like a balloon.
• Labeling yourself as having poor self-control actually leads to less self-control. So, maybe look at telling yourself a different story about yourself.

I like this. Very much. Lately I've been thinking a lot about how the source of my weight problem is that I have to get my head together. Most everything is focused on will power-- but this shows that kind of thinking can be dangerous.

mrmcgrath wrote: »

[quote="Cornanda;c-44918042"!
@mrmcgrath would you be willing to share some thoughts about Noom?s.

Sure. I do not like the food tracking module as much as I do mfp and I had difficulty getting my Fitbit steps to sync at first BUT I do like the daily lessons and the psychology behind them. It has really helped me dig deep as to why I keep doing what I am doing. Plus you are assigned a goal coach and a group coach and that has helped tremendously keep on track.
[/quote]

Thank you. I've been interested in the behavior part of it as I think that's what I may need more than anything else.

Username:TeresaW1020
Weigh in week:  Week 3
Weigh in day: Friday
Previous Weight: 210.5
Todays Weight: 212.5

I totally forgot that today was Friday!!