@DianaGetsFit512
The step challenge goes from Sunday to Saturday, so today is day 1 of the new week.
You can post daily, or weekly, but once the week closes I appreciate you getting your update in as soon as possible so I can issue the step report. I will usually try to wait a couple days for everyone to get the steps in.
So yeah, next Sunday if you can post for this Sun-Sat, that'll be great. Just list your steps by day and then if you had any intentional exercise minutes for other activities that those steps don't have (like biking, strength, etc.) then just give me those activities by day with minutes performed and I'll convert them to steps for you

Monthly Introduction...

Hi everyone, I'm Brad and I am the proud husband of @ashleycarole86. We call Alberta home - living just outside Calgary. I am an avid cyclist and have just put Celeste (my road bike) away for the winter - I will visit her regularly so she doesn't get lonely living in the furnace room. I will now transition to riding our Peleton stationary bike to stay in shape. Over the course of the next month or two I will be planning my 2023 races - thinking that I will do the RBC Vancouver-Whistler Gran Fondo (again) and the Penticton Gran Fondo (first time).

My weight-loss journey began in March of 2021. I was close to 300 pounds at the time and had a total hip replacement in the fall of 2020. My inspiration was a number of factors:
1) I was no longer in pain as my surgery had fixed that.
2) I knew that I would not get as long with the new hip before requiring a second replacement if I continued to carry that much extra weight.
3) I want to live as long as possible so that Ashley and I can continue the amazing journey that we are on.
4) Most importantly, Ashley had started her journey and I had a few moments where I was sitting beside her watching tv and binge eating in front of her. I came to the realization that this was no different than one spouse trying to quit smoking while the other continues. It makes things unnecessarily difficult and seems very unfair. I didn't want to be "that guy" or somehow sabotage her success.

Since 2021, I have been as low as 170 lbs but I am currently sitting around 185 lbs and I know that my laser focus has waivered a little, but I think much of this is the result of returning to a higher degree of social normalcy - we are now back working in office primarily and along with this comes the social commitments that often center around food. We are also taking part in "extra curricular" activities that often include dining out. If COVID-19 had any positive side, it was that tracking exact calories (vs. estimating) was much easier. Ultimately, I know that is a skill that I need to master and Ashley is much better at estimating than I am (to be honest, I will often give-up on tracking at all on a day that I need to eat at a place that doesn't have nutritional information - I know this is not ideal).

My goals for the month:
1) Drink more water - I have days where I realize late in the afternoon that all I have had that day is coffee and milk with my cereal. I believe in the power of water for appetite suppression and overall health.
2) Tracking more consistently - even on those days that I find myself eating out at a place without nutrition. Although the MyFitnessPal database has lots of errors and omissions, it does a pretty good job of finding a suitable estimate.

Wishing you all a healthy and successful month!

Brad...

Hi everyone! I'm Kristi and I'm 40 and live in Washington state in the US. I have been married for 15 years and we have 3 kids age 13, 11 and 7. We have 2 dogs and 2 guinea pigs. I work 4 days a week as a school occupational therapist at a large preschool center. I'm also working on my masters degree and just passed another class! I have 5 classes left plus a capstone project. I work with a wellness coach right now and meet with her every 2 weeks or so. I'm doing macro counting for my food. I'm really working on my weekends right now. I definitely hit my calories but my macros are way off from my weekly goals. I struggle with balancing my week day goals and my weekend lack of goals.

I tested NEGATIVE on my rapid test today. Wahoo. Now, I have to go back to work after 5 days of no movement. That will increase my steps by 1% for sure.

My granddaughter is still negative. Haven't done much moving today. I think my husband and I are going to go to a park in a bit and take a little walk. I have logged my food today and just finished off a bottle of water. I am still thirsty.

My challenge goal (one) is I am a person who logs my food and gets at least 15 minutes of exercise 3x per week.

Steps (Covid week)

Sunday 7162
Monday 3746 (travel day)
Tuesday 8601
Wednesday 4266
Thursday 5003
Friday 4646
Saturday 3920

Total 37,344 Next week, I will increase this number by, at least 1%. So, at least 374 more steps. I know I can do that!!

This week I averaged 46 fl oz of water. I will increase that by 1% next week to 47 ounces.

This week I had 88 zone minutes. Next week I will have at least 89 minutes.

Yesterday I had 1717 calories. Today I will eat 1% less or 18 calories less.

1% sure does seems easy, doesn't it? Will it really make a difference?

Hi everyone:

I just completed my first month with the WaistAways, and although October kicked my tush, I learned a lot from the information shared on here. Grateful to be a part of this team.

My background: I'm 47 and have struggled with my weight most of my life. Overweight before high school, lost a lot of weight in high school, maintained in university, gained in early twenties, and then I got into running in 2009 and lost about 100 lbs which I kept off until 2015 when life sort of imploded. Bit by bit, the weight crept back on over the past 7 years (and then some). I'm at my all-time highest weight and ready to get back to me after jumping in to be an in-home caregiver for my mom with my dad at the beginning of the pandemic. Sadly, my mom passed away in January this year, and although the grief/emotional toll of all that transpired over the past four years remains very present (as I learned in October - hello, emotional eating), I am continuing along on my health and fitness journey in the hopes of moving closer to feeling more like myself again with each passing day.

My goals for November are to be more engaged on here (even on the "bad" days), remain committed to my C25K program (w/13 runs in Nov), move 30 minutes every day, and focus on my water intake/eating clean.

@CarolAnnM2 - congratulations on all of your successes to date. I wanted to share that I have also started a Conquerer Challenge - Road to Hana - as some additional incentive as I get back into running. I'm really enjoying it so far, and I'm super motivated to get my first Conquerer medal by December 31st!

I am a person who prioritizes my health during the week and weekends equally

I have been sick since last Fri and stayed home from work today and probably tomorrow too. I tested negative for covid. My food hasn't been great but my loss from last week is holding. We are still taking the kids out trick or treating so I am resting up before we head out. Luckily my husband's aunt and uncle are getting dinner for everyone. All I really have to do is get my costume on and walk around with kids. I'm not congested so it's doable!