Introductions!
Mrs_Hoffer
Posts: 5,194 Member
Welcome to the May 2022 Ultimate Accountability Challenge!
Some of you have been with this challenge for months and some are brand new. This is one of the hardest challenges to stay with throughout the entire month.
FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS!! Log every BLT (Bite, Lick, Taste). Stay strong and stay true to yourself....YOU WILL SUCCEED!!
Please feel free to share as much information as you feel comfortable sharing about yourself with the rest of the group. We look forward to getting to know you a little better.
WE GOT THIS!!
Some of you have been with this challenge for months and some are brand new. This is one of the hardest challenges to stay with throughout the entire month.
FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS!! Log every BLT (Bite, Lick, Taste). Stay strong and stay true to yourself....YOU WILL SUCCEED!!
Please feel free to share as much information as you feel comfortable sharing about yourself with the rest of the group. We look forward to getting to know you a little better.
WE GOT THIS!!
3
Replies
-
If you're new to the UAC and are anxious to get started, you can check us out for the remainder of April here: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/142864-ultimate-accountability-challenge-april-2022
Feel free to introduce yourself or join in the discussions there, or just hang around and get a feel for how it works!2 -
Hi! I'm Grace, 30 years old, 5'2 and 92.8kg (eek!)
I'm remotivated to lose weight again, especially as I'm going to Disney World with my mum at the end of September.
I have a new air fryer which is the BEST THING EVER!
I want to join this challenge to help me stay motivated as I usually get bored and go back to bad habits after about 6 weeks.
Looking forward to tracking with everyone!8 -
WELCOME Grace!! @Kabbij Disney World sounds like so much fun!!1
-
Thank you @Mrs_Hoffer, for another month to focus on daily healthy habits. I hope your move goes super smooth for you! 🙂2
-
Hello members old and new! Happy to be joining you for another month.
My name is Ashley, I'm 35 years old, and I live in Alberta, Canada with my husband, our dog, two cats, and my mother.
I started my weight loss journey in January 2021 at a morbidly obese weight and am now in the healthy BMI category for my height, having lost just over 125 pounds.
I am not done losing until I get a bit of a buffer between the top end of my normal BMI range.
My keys to success have been the rules of UAC - honest tracking every day, and movement. And also just as important... daily accountability!
There is so much to learn from folks here. It's such a lovely and supportive group.7 -
Hello everyone, My name is Jill (57 year old). I live in Montana (south eastern). I am excited for another month of UAC.
I started my weight loss journey July 2019. I am currently 80 pounds down since that time.
I started with MFP in November 2021 because my dietitian reviews my diary during our appointments. I am still working on lowering my cholesterol.
Looking forward to to reading and learning from all of you.7 -
Hi, I am Jen. I just upgraded my Fitbit Inspire 2 to the Fitbit Charge 5. If anyone would like to add me as a Fitbit friend or an MFP friend, please message me. I have been struggling lately with trying to get my "ducks in a row" as I am job hunting and trying to develop a healthy lifestyle. I keep struggling with going back to the "old way" of my yoyo diets where for a few days I am doing great, then life happens and I slip up. My goal for May is to just stay in UAC for the whole month and aim for more good days than bad days. I am finally starting to understand that I need to make this a way of life for me - every meal will need to be tracked to help me stay on track and exercise needs to become a 5 day a week activity. This is something I need to maintain for life, not just something I do until I reach my goal weight or dress size as I have always done in the past.7
-
Hello to everyone returning and welcome to the new folks. I am Julie and live in Canada 🇨🇦 with my husband and our lovely (but incredibly mischievous) standard poodle Beauregard. 😊 May will be my 10th month in UAC, which I was so happy to find at the same time that I joined MFP.
Walking is my favourite exercise (and I am eager to return to the outdoor public pools when they re-open in June). I am a brand new gardener and am excited to get some of my lovely seedlings into the de-frosted ground in May. 🌱🌱🌱 This month I will continue making the effort every day to join Kate as a person who exercises in the mornings. @snowshoe072 Feel free to add me as a “friend” and I will happily send encouragement your way. 🥰5 -
Hi all. Terri here. Good to see both returning and new members with us for May 2022.
I've been with UAC since 2017. This is such a great motivational space, where you get valuable support from the kind, caring members. It has helped me finally reach my UGW (just before Covid hit the world for six) and stay there for the duration. Posting everyday helps build solid habits which will help you on your quest for better Health and Fitness.
Although my focus shifted from weight loss to fitness/health well before I went on maintenance, I'm delighted that, in October 2021, I fell below my original UGW, and I have managed to maintain this.
Bring it on!!!
Potted Bio - 2022Terri: Female; just turned 76; living in Northern Ireland; married 55 years; ex Maths teacher; volunteer group leader for U3A (University of the Third Age, life-long learning charity)Daily Habits Update - April 2022 (Things I aspire to, but don't always achieve)
SW: 227 (Mar 2014)
CW: 138.6 (Mar 2022)
GW: < 1401. Log ALL CI/CO (Daily)
2. Stay under goal (Daily)
3. Balance macros/micros (Daily)
4. Hydrate adequately (Daily)
5. Choose healthy options (Daily)
6. Steps > 7500 (Daily)
7. Stretch before/after workouts
8. 15+ minutes Cardio > 5 days a week
9. 15+ mins Strength > 5 days a week
10. 15+ mins Flexibility > 5 days a week
11. Active hours > 6
12. Practice self-care (Daily)
13. Stay up to date with accounts (monthly)
14. Mindfulness Practice/meditation ((Daily - morning/evening)
15. 1 > 15 mins Declutter sessions (Daily)
16. Be creative
17. Purchase essential items only
18. Read > 1 book from 'to read' pile
19. Work on art/craft craft projects (monthly)
20. Learn something new (daily)
21. Actively Build Healthy Habits
https://www.random.org/colors/hex
THERE ARE NO QUICK FIXES OR SHORTCUTS to achieving permanent change.
REMINDERS: One or two thoughts which might give heart to some of you.- Daily weight fluctuations are normal, and can be as much as 2 lbs a day for no apparent reason.
- A general downward trend is what we are looking for.
- Eating out can cause apparent weight gain because of high sodium levels, but usually goes quickly. Drinking extra water helps with this.
- The human body does not react instantly to what we do to it. Sometimes it can take several days to see results.
- Plateaus are a normal part of the process. The body is consolidating and adapting to your new way of eating/exercising.
- The closer you get to your goal weight, the more difficult it becomes to lose weight, as your body becomes more efficient at using what you feed it.
- When you exercise you build muscle, which takes up less space than fat, so use measurements as well as weight to assess your progress.
- Getting/Staying fit and healthy requires a lifestyle change for most people.
7 -
Thank you @TerriRichardson112, you inspire us!
- I tried the color fonts link .. not sure how it works?1 -
Thank you @TerriRichardson112, you inspire us!
- I tried the color fonts link .. not sure how it works?
You generate random colours, then copy/paste the code in place of the colour name.
EG: [ color=red ] replace the red with the code for the color you want.
NB: I put spaces inside the brackets so that you could read what is there.
If you type without the brackets the text following is red2 -
0
-
Hi I'm Tara. I'm 47 years old and live in Australia with my husband, 3 sons and MIL. I lost a lot of weight last year and am now in the healthy weight range. However the last month the last month the scales have been heading up rapidly with lots of emotional and celebratory eating. Unfortunately I tend to "eat my feelings". I'm looking forward to the accountability of this group. I've been checking out last month's challenge posts and it seems to be a really supportive and motivating space.4
-
Hi, I'm Caroline. I first lost weight 20 years ago, post-college, when I learned a lot about nutrition with weight watchers and lost 25 pounds. I then kept it off for ~10 years, until I got pregnant. With my first pregnancy, with my now 10-year old, I was very sick the whole time and the only thing that kept me from puking was eating white food, and I gained over half my body weight. I then had another child and a few years there with young children where I really couldn't focus on weight loss. I finally had the bandwidth 3 years ago to turn my attention to it. I lost a fair bit of weight just by paying better attention to what I ate. Then my weight loss stalled and I joined MFP in Feb 2021 and started tracking my calories. But I needed more inspiration and I joined this group in September 2021 and it was been fantastic. I think my intro last month I said that I had lost 25 pound and was hoping to lose more but thinking that maybe I was in maintenance. I have had a lovely month of celebrations (I was going to say a rough month - but overall it has been lovely) and the total loss is now closer to only 20 pounds, so I have my work cut out for me now just to get back to where I was! @Tarann75, I hear all your struggles and am right there with you.
May is looking like a better month for me in terms of not having too many fun plans, so I am really hoping I can turn things around and go back to being "slow and steady" in the right direction!4 -
And I also wanted to add in my introduction that I will be doing some of the regular admin posts this month, taking over temporarily from @Mrs_Hoffer who has to let real life take precedence for a little while.
I would urge all of you to take a look at the Volunteer Schedule: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10862844/may-volunteer-schedule#latest
And think about signing up for a day. I was intimidated for a long time about signing up to volunteer - I felt like only the smart people who had succeeded in weight loss were allowed to volunteer for this group.
The truth is that this group needs everyone's help to run. Signing up to post the topic for a day just means that you start off the thread (either early in the morning or the night before) either with the already picked topic or with a topic of your choice - could be as simple as a silly gif or friendly hello, or it can be a question you're wondering about or request for stories/thoughts. I've found it very fulfilling and, quite selfishly, it has helped my learning a lot to be able to ask what I am most wondering about.
Looks like we still need cheerleaders for Sundays as well - that just means you read everyone's posts every Sunday - so checking in a few times - and comment to encourage people.
To sign up, just go to the link and leave a comment with what you are willing to do. @Mrs_Hoffer is away this weekend I think so it may be a bit before you officially get on the list, so be patient.2 -
Here we go for May! I am bON from Austin Tx. As a yo yo er all my life (Im old now too) I finally figured out that I trying to just "be normal" would lead to the same results so I stick around on MFP. I started maintenance in late 2017 after losing about 30 pounds. Not huge but I have lost that same 20-30 off and on many times since I was 17 and each time the weight is uglier and it might be a little more gain. So it's important to me to be accountable to myself. This challenge is awesome because YOU set your goals and YOU are responsible for them. We are all here to help and pull together but in the end I find posting every day and following the 3 basics keeps me on track. For April I focused completely on a fairly high cal intake, my exercise and not binging. For May I am going to do a small cut because I feel a bit "fluffy" lately but my ultimate challenge is to be able to do this without setting a rollercoaster mental/eating thing in place.4
-
I’m Kathy, 68, from the Gulf Coast of Florida.
About 35 years ago I lost 60 pounds on Weight Watchers, and kept it off for many years. I even became a WW leader for a while. But when I turned 50 I quit smoking. I piled on the weight and have struggled ever since.
Last summer, at 190+ (that was the last time I actually got in a scale) I joined Noom. From July 2022 to Feb 2022, I lost 48 pounds, and got into the low 140s. But for the last 2 months I have bounced from 141-144 and back over and over. I’m just stuck there. So I thought I’d switch to MFP to see if changing things up a bit would help me refocus.
I really want to get down into the low 130s. I’m 5’7”, with a really small, thin frame. I’ve never been able to use the excuse “I’m big-boned”, because it just isn’t true. I want to get those last 10-12 pounds off before I go to Paris in July. I live by my Apple Watch fitness app, so the exercise part is habit for me. In April, I averaged 85 minutes a day. But I’ve gotten away from logging food like I need to. I’m counting on this challenge to force me into more accountability.
I look forward to getting to know y’all.8 -
Hi all
My name is April, I’m 31 and I’m back to try the May challenge after messing up in April. I think I put too much pressure on myself last month so I’m going to keep it as simple as I can this time around. I’ll continue eating low carb and I will check-in daily. I had thought about throwing in the towel because I went off track last month but I’ll persevere!
Hope you’re all well 🖤6 -
Hi new and returning folks! My name is Mary-I love to read which is why I am bookieNJ. Not too creative on names. Following the dash diet to improve my blood pressure and lose weight. Big appointment on the 13th to see if it’s working8
-
Hi, I am Susan, from Kansas. Back for my 7th month. I have lost 53 pounds so far since last August, and still have nearly that much to go. I am mostly retired and anticipate being able to finish closing my business this year. I live in the country and after having burned out as a psychotherapist and coming close to being diagnosed with diabetes, I have recently been enjoying having the time to do what I think of as 100% self care to reverse my metabolic syndrome--- reading, cooking, exercising, gardening, and enjoying life with few commitments and deadlines. Recently I have been picking back up some pasttimes that I had gotten too heavy for, like Zumba and pickleball.8
-
Hi - I'm Marisa from Northern California. My weight journey story is as old as time. I remember feeling fat even as a child, even though I probably was not overweight. I just wasn't as thin as my friends. In my high school and college years I was up and down - mostly up - and once again not overweight, just not as thin as my friends. Over the last 30 years and 2 kids, I've mostly been up and up and up. Eating too much, not enough exercise and honestly not understanding the basic mechanics healthy eating. Or to be even more honest, burying my head in the sand about the basic mechanics of healthy eating. I was about to turn 60 last year and took a look at some pictures of myself from our family vacation and decided to log back into MFP. The difference this time from previous times have been joining challenges like this one and reading the boards every day. During the 8 months that I've been back on MFP, I lost 38 pounds, met my goal weight that I've been targeting for the last 15 years of 135 pounds, declared myself in maintenance and then have promptly exited maintenance. I have plans on how to get back ion maintenance and stay there over this next month. I've learned so much from all the folks that post here and I love the daily reminder of what it takes to have a healthy lifestyle.10
-
Hi all! Kate here from Pennsylvania. I am 37 and am bouncing back from my pregnancy (almost 2 years ago... ha!). Excited to join the challenge and encourage everyone to do great this month!5
-
Hello, I'm Lesley from the SW of UK. I joined UAC in January 2021, already in maintenance. I had some horrible life events happen in early 2021 and found the group very supportive.
I'm a little old lady, retired 7 years. Gained a lot of weight after retiring, joined MFP in 2018 and lost 22+ kg over 9 months.
I know all about yo yo dieting and find this group and the 3 rules very effective at keeping me on track.6 -
Hi all... Kay here, 61, retired, tagging along with you again this month. I seem to join late and drop out early but I keep trying! This is a great group and it is indeed a tough challenge. Wishing us all perseverance and success!!8
-
Hi, All! Nice to meet everyone. My name is Betsy, I live in Southern California, and just came back o MFP today. Found this challenge, and am happy to join in with you! Thank you to Mrs. H for setting this up!4
-
Welcome Betsy, hope you really enjoy the group and glad to see someone willing to join us mid month. My understanding is that if you keep participating to the end of the May on the daily threads, you will be in the list of Champions. Later in the month they will post a link to sign up for the June group, and then you will also be in the running for the Winner´s Circle for June if you can limit it to three pass days for the full month.0
-
You need just needed to add square brackets, and no spaces inside the brackets to get the Color. Then /color inside square brackets to finish the color.0