November 23
Mrs_Hoffer
Posts: 5,194 Member
Did I exercise for at least 20 minutes?
Did I stay within my calorie budget for the day?
Did I keep track of everything I ate and drank?
Did I stay within my calorie budget for the day?
Did I keep track of everything I ate and drank?
0
Replies
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I’d like to revisit something that comes up periodically. I remember @MadisonMolly2017 had some powerful comments about this earlier this month, but with the new format, I couldn’t find them. I’m counting on you for words of wisdom!
I need help (and I know others do too) with managing two things that are really wreaking havoc on my progress:- Not letting a “pass day” become a “go hog wild day” and
- Once I hit 4 pass days, continuing to adhere to the 3 principles of the UAC
My binging is nowhere near as bad as the past few decades, but it’s also not completely under control. And once I’ve gone past my limits, controlling myself becomes really difficult. Suggestions?8 -
Exercise -walked 40 min
Under calorie budget (1650)? Yes 1593
Tracked everything I ate and drank? Yes
4 -
@biketheworld
Re #2 ( Once I hit 4 pass days, continuing to adhere to the 3 principles of the UAC )
@Mrs_Hoffer opened Nov 3 with what making the Champion's list is all about. I threw in a followup from Back In The Day before the idea of the Champion's list had been inaugurated. (see spoiler)Mrs_Hoffer wrote: »
I can't stress enough how important it is to stick to your goals and the 3 foundational pillars of the UAC even after you've used up your 3 Pass Days for the month! It not only helps to keep you in the habit of tracking and logging every single day, but also keeps the idea of exercising, tracking and staying under your calorie goal in the front of your mind - even after you feel like you've "failed" and feel like giving up for the month.
No matter how many Pass Days we end up using, it's better to keep working at it than to give up, drop out, or just "take the remainder of the month off!"
We need to not think of it so much that we've "failed"... yes, we may not qualify to be in the Winner's Circle, but we are a CHAMPION if we continue logging every day through to the end of the month! I think that sticking around and being a CHAMPION is often just as difficult (if not more difficult!) than staying under 4 Pass Days! (just my opinion!)
So without any further rambling..... here's our list of amazing CHAMPIONS for October!
@ashleycarole86
@biketheworld
@bookieNJ
@Caroline_slowandsteady
@_JeffreyD_
@jjjcat
@Katiecan2021
@Mrs_Hoffer
@seilidhe
@slimtastesbetter
@stella7x7
@tdrjustus3
@WhatMeRunning
@znaoiec
Mrs_Hoffer wrote: »I intend to see my name there too, on the Nov Champs list (I always thought of it as "aim for Winners' Circle - but if Life Happens (even in the first week of the month) - the rest of the month is "pre-season practice for the NEXT month's Winners' Circle. " Habit building is habit building. If you are going to build something, you have to keep assembling until it is done.
@BMcC9 THIS!!! Very well said. I might even have to use this next month!!
Be my guest! (it dates back to even before UAC started a secondary "Champions List" - and you could add "Keep aiming for one-or-more-fewer passes than the month before until the Winners Circle actually happens" (like the one who included previous-month pass totals, as visual self encouragement that progress in habit forming was happening, even if not quite WC yet)
3 -
On Nov 2, @victorious55 had these words of welcome and encouragement for new and returning members (and reminded us about sea otters, who hold hands as they sleep out on the ocean, to keep from drifting off away from mutual support)victorious55 wrote: »Welcome new and old members.
Welcome November, 2021!
For those of us in the northmost part of the northern hemisphere, we celebrated our Thanksgiving last month. Therefore, we are over the Thanksgiving "weight gain"
For those of you in the Southern hemisphere, I hope you are enjoying your warmer weather
The UAC challenge has only 3 rules.- Did I exercise for at least 20 minutes?
- Did I stay within my calorie budget for the day?
- Did I keep track of everything I ate and drank?
At first glance, they look very simple. From my experience these rules are applicable to anyone at any stage of this health journey (I called it "health journey" not "diet"). Whether you are just beginning this health journey, advanced in this process or just maintaining. (BTW, I've being in maintenance for the past 11 years).
I have come to realized that these are the only things that nobody in this life will do for me. Nobody can eat for me/you, exercise for me/you or track what I/you eat, lick or bite in this world. This is all about me/you, my/your health, and my usefulness to those around me! If I don't take care of my health then I cannot take care of anybody. (You are always advised to put on your mask when there is low pressure in the plane before helping your child/anybody, else both of you will/may die
)
Does it mean that I will not fail? No, it is not about being perfect! But it about forming a habit. A habit that will bless me and move me forward in life, it will also bless those around me.
Therefore, as you join us in this month's UAC, you do not have to be perfect. We are not There is nothing you are going through that no one in this group has not experienced. You are not the only one out there! This is a very supportive group. We will support you as you learn these habits. Come by everyday, read encouraging, funny, and realistic posts, and post something.
If you have at most 3 pass days (pass day is a day where you could not say "Yes" to any of these 3 rules). Then you are in Winner's circle.
If you have more than 3 pass day but you were here everyday, you are in the Champion's circle.
Welcome, let's hold unto one another like the Sea Otters. Let's each other hands through this month!
"Otter groups are called rafts, and the animals famously hold hands to keep from drifting apart." (https://animals.net/sea-otter/)2 -
Very early reply for me, but I felt compelled to just reply right away as this is a topic of immediate concern for me presently.
I'll get to bingeing later.
First I wanted to cover "pass days becoming go hog-wild days" as well as "adhering to UAC principles after hitting 4 pass days" which is in this spoiler right down here ⤵️As much as ❤️ I LOVE UAC ❤️ the truth is MY GOALS are NOT to win UAC. UAC just so happens to align perfectly with the activities I must do to achieve MY GOALS, and the challenge format presents a fun way to track those as well as provide a swell group of folks with oodles of insights and experience helping me learn so much more than I could by simply doing all this tracking on my own. UAC is frankly one of the best tools (actually THE BEST) I've found to help keep me on track with MY GOALS
MY GOALS are (off the top of my head)
1. Get fit. As in become as fully functional of a human being as I reasonably can so I can do things when I need or want to do them.
2. Get to a healthy weight (current target is ideal BMI weight but subject to change).
3. Make the changes as permanent as possible and don't stop trying to keep up with as much as possible until I'm dead and no longer need to worry about quality of life any more.
4. That probably covers everything but just in case...
5. I have 4 and 5 to fill in at any other point should I like...
6. And this one for good measure with optional sublists below it should the fancy strike me.
There is no winners circle or champions there. Only the joy of participating. I won't even get a medal or even a t-shirt out of it.
So for me if I have a pass day in UAC, it should hopefully mean I have not given up on my real goals. I've done that before and still regret it, and not just because of the stupid freaking scale or size of my pants or self image....I have literal pain and unhealth which I very well earned by being a stupid moron for so long who casually tossed aside their health for some fleeting gluttony or laziness, or whatever. So even after 17 consecutive pass days I'm still trying overall to stick to my true goals. In the grand scheme of my health goals and desire to live a pleasant and healthier life, UAC is but a fun blip that I look forward to each day (you are all just that freaking super awesomely cool... seriously, I'm not joking). It's a big blip though since I spend so much time here, and do spoilers like this so much...
I can already hear it...But wait, if there's no rewards (no medal or even a t-shirt), why bother?
The reward is life, more specifically quality of that life. I took that for granted far too much. That's easy to do when it doesn't hurt to be carefree about health, and for some fortunate people they never have to do anything more than simply enjoy themselves however they see fit while still living relatively long, quality lives. I wish everyone could do that. I can't. My quality of life will forever have growing negative aspects which are only alleviated by being the healthier version of me. The healthier, the better. I get to see and enjoy so much more in life while being healthy and active than the alternative, where life is only more challenging (what else could one expect?).
I promised I would get to bingeing...Tough subject.
I have been an emotional eater. That can be brought under control with mindfulness (not as simple as just that word, but that's how I tackle it). I don't have easy answers here for that. But if you have this, you must address it like your life depends on it (most likely it does).
I have issues when my blood sugars start cycling up and down from eating high carb foods, be they sugary (the worst triggers) or even just starchy. I can't control myself, I WILL find the sweets even if I have to go get them from far away. And it only results in a vicious circle, repeating over and over.
I'm NOT HERE to villify carbs! But they ARE MY NEMESIS with no doubt about it, no wiggle room, nothing. I am only successful in preventing that when on medication like Metformin (along with healthy habits/exercise) or when maintaining a very low carb diet. Without medication carbs will eventually result in that ridiculous cycle of highs and lows. I enjoy being low carb with no medication, it is working extremely well for me.
So why bring up the carbs, do you ask???
Well...
Do you feel you have an uncontrollable urge to go for something sweet, and in the absence of that get something loaded with starchy carbs to get by? Does it keep happening?
Are you good at maintaining a healthy dietary routine until some slip up? Did that slip up contain a fair amount of carbs? Did it trigger a lot more carb intake?
I'll stop. Probably not helping at all. Again, carbs aren't the problem. A wrecked metabolism could be the case causing carbs to be bad for YOU specifically, at least in your current state.
Everyone has to figure themselves out. Tracking helps to show what worked and what didn't. Use that to help guide you. Find out what you ate in the prior 36 hours before you "lost your mind and lost control". Something may have triggered it.4 -
About "carbs" in my prior post......again, not intending to villify them...
...but (just for fun, not so much being serious, despite it being 100% fact)...1. There are essential proteins (the essential amino acids required in our diet).
2. There are essential fats (the essential fatty acids required in our diet).
3. There are no essential carbs. None.
4. Although you might find you wish you had more fiber in your diet 😂4 -
Awesome topic today. Interested to hear the groups responses.
23rd Nov
* 28 min jog, boxing, skipping, meditation & stretching.
* Tracked every BLT
* under cals
Didn't get enough sleep but still got up at 5.30am to work out so I'm so tired right now. I'm off to bed guys. Night. Xo5 -
Tuesday
Well all of the above was very timely as today proves to be pass day 4 for me. As per above, it can't just be about the 3 pass days for me, because if I am still tracking and showing up then I am still in the mindset of making more mindful decisions, and 'more mindful' decisions is ultimately what I need to be achieving. So it might not be a UAC 'win' for the day, but I can still achieve some personal wins in maintaining some level of clarity about what I am doing.6 -
@BMcC9 - thanks for finding those references. Those are spot on and very helpful. And @WhatMeRunning - I always appreciate your input!
So much to process. This is proof that right about when I think I have it all together and am contentedly plugging along, wham, I’m thrown for a loop and questioning what I’m doing.4 -
Tue Nov 23rd
✅ tracking - yes
✅ calories - Under
✅ exercise - 10 mins yoga flow, 10 mins booty workout , over 20 mins of stretches, and some squats and I plan to do 7 miles on my bike later
4 -
biketheworld wrote: »I’d like to revisit something that comes up periodically. I remember @MadisonMolly2017 had some powerful comments about this earlier this month, but with the new format, I couldn’t find them. I’m counting on you for words of wisdom!
I need help (and I know others do too) with managing two things that are really wreaking havoc on my progress:- Not letting a “pass day” become a “go hog wild day” and
- Once I hit 4 pass days, continuing to adhere to the 3 principles of the UAC
My binging is nowhere near as bad as the past few decades, but it’s also not completely under control. And once I’ve gone past my limits, controlling myself becomes really difficult. Suggestions?
[*] Not letting a “pass day” become a “go hog wild day”
My method
never plan a pass day let it be an accident and only log as a pass in the evening before bed, I may well know my calories are going to be over but it doesn't stop me trying to keep them close to goal as least
[*] Once I hit 4 pass days, continuing to adhere to the 3 principles of the UAC
My method
Always try to beat my previous months passes or workout a little more than I did the previous month.
My major issue is movement I am pretty lazy,
For calories and logging, well I have been logging my food daily for about 5 years now and the only days I take off is around xmas and the new year .. I do occasionally go over but never by much4 -
@WhatMeRunning I’m on a similar boat. Everyone’s body is so unique but I am one that doesn’t tolerate sweet foods very well.
I’m definitely carb sensitive. My doctor did some tests on me several years ago and said that as my blood sugar was on the low side of normal and it’s likely that having foods that are too high in carbs cause my insulin to over shoot and bring on the symptoms I experience when I have too many carbs. I seem to be ok on a 1/2 cup of whole food starchy carbs with any of my meals but that’s the most i can tolerate otherwise I’ll need to lie down… or go looking for more carbs and it will usually be the fatty salty kind.
Sweets and deserts just make me feel sick; that’s not to say I don’t enjoy the first couple of bites!
✅ exercise - ran 6K
✅ calories - well under
✅ tracking
I’m saving my 3rd pass day for Thanksgiving. I will still track and portion out everything but I expect my calories to be over by a couple hundred as I won’t have time to exercise on the day.7 -
23 Nov
Did I exercise for at least 20 minutes? yes
Did I stay within my calorie budget for the day? yes
Did I keep track of everything I ate and drank? yes
Ineed help (and I know others do too) with managing two things that are really wreaking havoc on my progress:
Not letting a “pass day” become a “go hog wild day” and
Once I hit 4 pass days, continuing to adhere to the 3 principles of the UAC
My binging is nowhere near as bad as the past few decades, but it’s also not completely under control. And once I’ve gone past my limits, controlling myself becomes really difficult. Suggestions?
I think Whatmerunning summed up the pass day conundrum. It's really more about internal goals than being in the winner's or champion's list. I actually would prefer to not be on the lists... LOL... Since we control our own requirements when we have a pass day it is because we did not meet our own goal. That's the beauty of the UAC. I also never plan a pass day. If I have a celebration or some reason then I try to work it in to my plan. Even if some days I am hungrier than others I might calorie avg over 2 or 3 days.
As far as binging. No one really wants to hear it but I don't think it is something which ever goes away. Once I accept that it might happen to me, I find that working to log the items helps to keep me more honest and reduce the craziness. Even if it means just saving all the wrappers and evidence to log later. The other thing is I monitor my resting heart rate and running heart rate and a really awful honest to god eat so much I am going to explode makes my body go crazy, and if I can remember that it will keep me from overdoing things.
But the biggest thing which I will repeat is that I accepted for me that I was not going to be perfect all the time. There would be a binge. I just fit it in to my life, and try to keep it from being awful and too frequent.
9 -
Date: November 23rd
Exercised?: Yes! I got in more exercise than usual (not sure about the timeframes, but I know it was 30+ minutes). Did 23 push-ups for the date today too.
Calories?: Yes.
Tracked?: Yes.
(Pass days used: 3/3)5 -
biketheworld wrote: »I’d like to revisit something that comes up periodically. I remember @MadisonMolly2017 had some powerful comments about this earlier this month, but with the new format, I couldn’t find them. I’m counting on you for words of wisdom!
I need help (and I know others do too) with managing two things that are really wreaking havoc on my progress:- Not letting a “pass day” become a “go hog wild day” and
- Once I hit 4 pass days, continuing to adhere to the 3 principles of the UAC
My binging is nowhere near as bad as the past few decades, but it’s also not completely under control. And once I’ve gone past my limits, controlling myself becomes really difficult. Suggestions?
@biketheworld
Are you in weight loss mode or maintenance? (sorry can’t remember) because I handled pass days differently in both of those.2 -
@biketheworld great topic. I've found that sticking with UAC, even if I take pass days, then I don't go too wild. But if I leave for a while, my eating habits get really bad - way, way too much sugar and I end up feeling awful and putting on weight. This month I dropped off for a few days, but came back and I'm so glad I did (thanks for tagging me @Mrs_Hoffer ).
I don't know if this is any help to you at all but one thing that makes me rein it in a bit on pass days when I'm the challenge is because I hate posting a bad pass day. If I post one where I went wrong, or ate a nice lunch out in a restaurant but then later pulled it back, I feel ok posting that, so that kind of motivates me to pull it back if that makes sense. What I hate posting is that I've gone over calories left, right and centre and basically lost control. It's at that point I've a tendency to drop out!
For me today:
Exercise - yes 30 minutes of pilates, 25 minutes walking
Tracking - yes
Calories - yes11 -
21st - yes x3
22nd - yes x3
Today - yes x3
I think a big part of it is just being kind to yourself and letting yourself have the things that taste nice occasionally.
If I'm letting myself have cake regularly (albeit portioned and counted) then I'm less likely to go crazy. Etc etc.
I also think having health goals helps a lot. I'm doing this to be healthy and active into my old age. Not for aesthetics. Not for an event. Not to make someone jealous.
That's what I used to do "I'll lose weight for Christmas" "I'll lose weight to fit into this dress" etc and those binges were impossible to curb. I find it a lot easier now I'm health focused.10 -
✅ - Exercise 20+ Minutes: 93 minutes, aerobics/walking/circuits
✅ - Calories within budget
✅ - Tracked everything
3️⃣ Pass Days left
Lots of interesting and insightful posts already.
These are my thoughts on todays topic, and are based solely on what works for me, just a happily imperfect miracle in progress.
Everyone is an individual, and I have found what works for me by trying out the suggestions and method of others, and adopting/adapting those that suit me.
I use UAC as as accountability tool. It is designed to encourage us to be consistent in the choices we make, and the habits we adopt. This is an ongoing process. I have been in the group for a considerable time.
Over the years I have been on MFP I have developed many useful habits. Those habits are framed in positive terms, and have helped me become healthier and fitter, one step, one habit at a time.
Another factor is that I have stopped thinking in terms of success or failure. I believe that every action is a choice, which is of itself neither good or bad. The results of some choices can be unhelpful, but beating yourself up over those choices helps no one.
One cannot change circumstances, but one can choose to change how one reacts to them. My reaction is to look for ways to learn from them.
My reward is an intrinsic feeling of growing into the person I choose to be.11 -
November 23, 2021
Did I exercise for at least 20 minutes? Yes
Did I stay within my calorie budget for the day? Yes
Did I keep track of everything I ate and drank? Yes
Habits to maintain/work on this month:
Kitchen Closed? Yes
Did you go "nuts" with nuts today? No (19 days "nuts" free)
Within Sugar macro today? Yes (16 days)
Pass day 3/3 (this is for accountability to myself and my records).6 -
I logged and exercised and went a bit over. I just felt really hungry today. I am still in a deficit but I didn't hit my target so Passdays=2 :-)7
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Pass day #5
Imma just not share the details given todays timely topic 😬8 -
November 23
❌✅✅
I left my doctor appointment without asking if I was cleared to resume weights for exercise! 🥴 Reason was the whole thing became a bit hastened to address a concern I had about bleeding, which was a "large, delayed hematoma", which was... opened... to drain for a "while". It's been a fun day, to say the least! I did call back this afternoon. No weights for a couple more weeks. Quite vague. Concern is to not strain causing ruptures or bleeding, which given how today went I'm not all that gung-ho to test anything. So I guess I'll wait. They let me know that walking would be fine, so hopefully this separate plantar fasciitis thing continues to show improvement, but I'm not eager to rush testing that either. What a mess! UGH! Ok, done venting now.13 -
Ugh. So sorry you are having to deal with that! @WhatMeRunning Hopefully things will heal up correctly and quickly.
3 x yes!
It been a very busy day. My mom arrived today. I will not be sitting anytime soon.8 -
Hang in there @WhatMeRunning - you’ll be back up and running before you know it!5
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@TerriRichardson112 I think you summed up today’s topics and various discussions nicely. This is a forum that many of us use to hold ourselves accountable to what is important to us. There is no one size fits all for everyone’s lifestyle there are ideas here that I may try and ideas that I dismiss but only you can chose what you may think will work. I look at each day as a way to continue my success and if I slip I have only myself to answer to…no one made me eat it but I decided to eat it anyway.
I tracked logged and completed flexibility work and rowing.8 -
@WhatMeRunning wishing you a speedy recovery.3
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Did I exercise for at least 20 minutes? ❌
Did I stay within my calorie budget for the day? ❌
Did I keep track of everything I ate and drank? ✅9 -
Exercise:
Tracking:
Calories: 8 -
Started strong with my 30 min weights routine, made really great choices at a Colombian resto...and then I went over for dinner. Pass day #4.
Appreciating all the insights today as I struggle with many of the aforementioned points too. Like many of you, that's one of the reasons why I'm a UAC participant as it does allow me to recognize my eating behaviors specifically and correct them when I over indulge. Anywho, onwards, onwards.10 -
@WhatMeRunning Sorry to hear. Good that it was addressed but ya, sorry to hear it will be awhile yet
@biketheworld Very interesting (and timely for me) topic. I was on here for 10 months when it finally dawned on me that I was self-sabotaging. I knew I was a binge eater (and some other binge activities). So I bought a book to work through. I've haven't made it completely through but I learned enough in how far I got to know why I do it, what my triggers are and some replacement behaviours. Having said that, Sunday and today I acknowledged what my trigger was and willfully chose to over indulge. Sunday was controlled and reasonable, today was not. But I did well on Friday, Saturday and Monday (Friday was the trigger day and it is a big trigger). So there are some successes in there; it shows that I am improving albeit not totally there yet. I'm not sure if that helps you but I think if its a recurring behaviour, perhaps some type of therapy is warranted - mine was a book - and trust me it brought up a few issues from my past that weren't very pleasant to go through. But I learned a lot and was able to make some improvements. Good luck with it.
No x 3 today.9
