@zenobia9777, Sounds good, I'm in.

@CeeBeeSlim Sorry to hear about your deer problem. DH and I were just talking about starting a vegetable garden next year and he mentioned we'll probably have to put a fence (chicken wire or whatever) around it so there will be some food for us LOL

Iitstuesday wrote: »

@SparkSpringtime69 i don’t know how you do the heat and humidity in SC. I’m miserable right now in NY. Too many days in the 90’s. Can’t wait for Fall….

I stay inside a lot . But seriously, I'm hoping I'll get used to it by next summer. Although, I think NJ/NY were hotter than us the last day or so.

@zenobia9777 do you do them every day or take break days in-between? If you're up for it, we can make this a standing accountability commitment, or just an ongoing challenge, with break days or without. Let me know what you think, and if anyone else wants to join in, you're certainly welcome of course.

@zenobia9777 I hope your bug goes away soon.
I do the forearm planks right now not the full straight arm ones. My ultimate goal is to do 3 sets of 2-minute straight arm planks. Once I get up to 2-minute forearm ones, I'm going to switch out to the straight arm.
This week's goal - 3 sets of 60-seconds, 3 days a week (then add 5 seconds each week until I'm up to 2 minutes).

@CeeBeeSlim I just looked that up, sounds painful, I hope it doesn't flair up too often. Planks definitely help make my tummy look better; I also do back extensions to strengthen the back muscles.

Hello all!
What's the plank challenge exactly? I'm in! 6 long planks with a rest in between? My bootcamp instructor/trainer told me that the straight arm planks are a bit easier than the forearm planks (if youre doing them right). I'm not totally sure why- something about being able to lock your elbows? In forearm plank, if you draw your shoulders down from your ears and tighten everything from your shoulders towards your core, then you're actively working (and not just hanging out suspended in air)!

@CeeBeeSlim I've had a veggie garden for many years (nothing fancy - basically growing only what my kids will eat) and for the first time ever this year, I had a rabbit demolish all my beans, beets and lettuce in one day!!! I saw him munching away from the window so I released my dog who chased him away but he was back a day later!!! So frustrating. Ironically, he didn't touch the carrots!? At least not yet. Gardening is still worth it though - keep it up!

The heat is really bad but so far for me I'd say it's not worse than most hot muggy summers. I really wish I enjoyed swimming more. It's just not my thing but I can objectively appreciate that it's a really good workout and it's cooler than going for a run!

@spirittrail I'm also Canadian! You clearly make excellent (veggies!) choices for your health which is awesome. But I think there are plenty of demographics (urban, lower income, less educated?) that do choose fast food all the time for a bunch of reasons. It depends greatly on where you live and what you know. I agree portion control is a BIG part of it (hence why tracking on MFP is so key!), wherever you live.

And I'd never thought of my 7pm to 7am period as a "fast" but I guess it is. It wouldn't be too hard to go another few hours I assume, except for my coffee or tea. I need that as soon as I wake up! Is that allowed?

Hey all I'd love to join in and see if I can get myself moving on the health goals I have for myself!

I have been using MFP for 10 years on and off, but maybe I need to engage in community and sharing a bit more?!

really struggling the past few years to have consistency in any area of diet or exercise. I have lost a lot of weight, gained a lot of weight, and everything in between. went from just over 100lbs to almost 200lbs in SUCH a short space of time.

I bounced down to 120 and now back up at 152

It's a rollercoaster.

So
5'7"
Current weight 152lbs
GW 128-135lbs

Health issues have meant I have no fitness routine or exercise and I am really struggling with starting off again, and I know it's a huge part of how I can change things, but knowing where to start is the issue!

Sorry for the long post, lots of good support in this thread, i enjoyed reading all of your wins and support!

Hi friends. Hope everyone off to a good start this week. At least it is a bit cooler. Feeling totally discouraged as my weight is right back up to where I started. It’s 2-3 lbs I lose and gain. But really slowly climbing up over the years. It’s ultimately 5 lbs my body not willing to part with again after not having it around for 8 years or so! I’m doing all the things - always have activity. Eating well. Drinking water. Just. Ugh.

Hope you are all doing better! Look forward to hearing your good news.

@k8richer Hello!! I wondered when a fellow Canadian or Commonwealth citizen would show up! 😊

Lol! I don't know whether there are any fasting rules. I just decided one day to see how long I naturally fasted when my sister complained about a 12 hour fast for blood work. I told her it sounded easy. I noted when I stopped eating naturally and when I ate breakfast and it was about 12 hours. So I now do that daily. Soon, it was easy enough to do 14 hours some days. Stop eating at 7pm, eat again at 9 am or even 10. I'm not a coffee drinker....I start my day with water. 😆 I think if it interests you, yes, it's not as intimidating as it sounds. Some people like my sister who nosh at 10pm and eat at 7am may have to move more slowly....but I sincerely believe a 12 hour fast is doable for almost everyone.

So many good posts today. I hope my thoughts are helpful to the rest of us who are struggling, including me.

Welcome, @BBlueLuca in my experience the worst enemy is in your own mind because I tend to get overwhelmed and I feel like I can't begin something.

Begin where you are and put the past behind you. Just do something, anything, every day to get started. Baby steps. It's sticking with any projects that gets you interested and seeing progress. Make a plan that you can believe in.

I found that I had to join a gym because otherwise I just would not do enough. If money is an issue there are often gyms that offer extremely low rates. Or you can join a meetup walker's group. That helped me a lot for several years and eventually got me doing more cardio-intensive exercise.

Everybody's got a trigger that makes them accountable and you just have to find what it is. MFP helped me a lot because I like to express myself in words.

For a while I had some real life running buddies. They could run and I could pretend to run (brisk walk) but it was a great motivator. We did a lot of the 5K events.

I also had a friend who used to go to the gym with me, but she moved away and I have not made a new friend at my new studio.

I hope some of these ideas help you. Forgive yourself your lapses...I had a big one yesterday. You may want to totally reconsider your food choices. I think giving up bread and grain except for in the evening has been a huge help for me. I keep repeating myself on this note but you haven't heard it yet. LOL

Sorry if I sound like a preacher. I'm really talking to myself. Hello just a

Good luck!

Oh ladies!! Measuring your food? Life is too short for that.....just my opinion. 😊

I had my monthly weigh in yesterday. Thank goodness I don't rely on the scale as my make or break metric. I am negative one pound in the end. That's it. If I hung on to the old me....my entire month would have been wasted on feelings of dread, anger and self loathing as I jump off and on the scale DAILY. Wringing my hands in despair!

Instead, I CELEBRATE the one pound! I also lost ONE INCH from my waist AND HIPS!! Which is far more important to me personally. I view the entire experience holistically....and ask....What did I do RIGHT? I increased my water dramatically! What can I IMPROVE? I am slowly adding exercise days to my week. Currently at 4x30 minutes this week. What was NEGATIVE? 😆 Ice cream on a weekly basis. That was it. That was the cause of my weak showing on the scale....I can fix that.

For the month of August, now that I have reached my goal for water intake, I can "relax" as it is now a daily habit. Eating healthy and avoiding sodium, excess sugar and chemicals is now a daily habit and can also go in the "daily routine " category. Still needing attention are daily exercise of 30 minutes daily and my weekly ice cream habit. Time to focus on one or both. The next step to reduce ice cream is once every 10 days. I'm already feeling a wee bit sick after eating it. 😕 I'm exercising 4x30 this week, 5x30 next week.....then plan to "hold" at 6x30 minutes for the rest of August.

My goal may be more long term so I don't allow daily weigh ins and food cravings to distract me. Instead, my focus is losing the cravings permanently. Focusing on living a healthy lifestyle of nourishing food and water, moving daily, increasing lung capacity and maintenance of healthy muscle.

If this is helpful to anyone....KNOW WHY you want to be healthy. Don't blindly follow what the herd is doing. Time is ALWAYS on your side! 😊

Bust 38 Waist 30 Hips 40
Size 8/10 Canadian (down from 10/12). Shocked to be a size SIX in some US brands
Largest size.....16 Euro or 14 US

@litstuesday I think if you keep focusing on the positive things you've been doing, those pesky pounds will eventually go away.
@spirittrail I do pretty much the same - dinner at 5 or 5:30 and then breakfast at 7 or so. I don't really think of it as a fast, but I guess everyone "fasts" while they're sleeping. Regarding fast food - it's soooo sad how much junk us Americans eat (not me though ) Great results with the inches lost.
@BBlueLuca welcome! I hope you enjoy the group.
@zenobia9777 you gave some great suggestions, and improved arm strength is a big deal. Slow and consistent is the best way when it comes to strength training, three days a week is great.
@HoneyBadger302 sorry you didn't get the job you really wanted, but what a fantastic job you did negotiating such a great new salary and benefits. Glad to hear you made your end-of-month goal. I was in a Sparkpeople BLC Challenge too! I think there were two different ones, I was (and still am here) in the Resolute Renegades.
@CeeBeeSlim I always weigh/measure most foods when I'm seriously trying to lose weight; even though counting calories and tracking is a big pain, I find it helps me a lot. The only things I don't bother weighing are fruits and vegetables unless they're the starchy kind.
I've been overeating a bit this week, some nighttime snacking, which I rarely do. Got in one day of planks this week and tomorrow's the last day of the week so I'm going to end up one day short of my goal for the week.
I think August is going to be "get my lazy you-know-what back into a regular exercise routine" month.