Thank you for s thoughtful and well written intro/challenge, Heidi and the whole 5% team!

I enjoyed reading it, and the CDC article, too. I like the way they breakout all the many protein sources. I mean, I know all that, but I also get tunnel vision, and forget all that. I bought some soya chunks awhile back, that I meant to try, but never did! They're not easy to find in the US! The people looked at me like I had two heads when I inquired at Whole Foods and Trader Joes ... I didn't even try my local supermarkets after that 🤣. But soya chunks are a major source of protein in other countries! I did find some on ye olde massive marketplace aka Amazon 😉.


For my plan ... copying my hopes/plans/goals forward from assignment #1 -2:

mkksemail wrote: »

So, I did write my Goals and Hopes in Pre-Challenge Activity #1. Copying it here:

mkksemail wrote: »

mkksemail wrote: »

Thanks for posting the history of the challenge, and the link to the SparkTeams blog article. Interesting reading!

(I also signed up at one of the other challenges mentioned, that also migrated from SparkPeople 😎)

Stopping at that point for now. I'll be back for the actual Pre-Challenge Activity #1 👏

Cheers!
- mk (Maine 🌧️☔)

I am back to finish.

(I really did enjoy reading that history, ty for posting it!)

I have been in an 18-mos 10k/day steps goal since Dec 4, 2021 thanks to a really great bunch of people I was lucky enough to stumble upon at Fitbit. We had a daily goal day challenge every day until the day Fitbit killed their challenges and open groups in March 2023 😩😡.

I am here at MFP for the food logging tools (which are vastly better than Fitbit's, btw!). I joined some challenges hoping to reinforce that, bc I need it. While I did manage to lose 30 lbs over about 18 mos at Fitbit (started 6 mos before steps goal streak started), I regained it all plus 5+ lbs more this fall and winter 😬.

My goals and hopes for the challenge are:

1.) To maintain/reinforce food logging habit that I restarted on Apr 30 (May 1?) of this year

2.) To add strength training and or stretching/yoga to my daily exercise. I really need to do more than walking.

Cheers!
- mk

To zoom in on that further, the logging is sticking this time (yay!), so I'll sharpen that goal by stating:

1.) I will strive to come in under my calories budget for the week (average).

And I'll really put myself on the spot with the second goal/hope of adding strength training and/or stretching (or yoga) to my cardio 10k/day (& 20-min+ daily) of tracked exercise per day. I've mumbled for over a year about adding those elements, so I'll drill down on that, and hopefully bring it to reality, by stating that:

2.) I will strive to add 1 strength training session, and 1 stretching or yoga session, to my weekly exercise diet. Any length of time! Just beginning and maintaining something regular will be a good launching place to be at, for the next Seasonal 5% jaunt around the world! 🤗🌍🌎🌏🌐🗺️


Cheers!
- mk (Maine)

My eating plan would tie into my #1 goal:

Assignment #1:
1.) To maintain/reinforce food logging habit that I restarted on Apr 30 (May 1?) of this year.

Assignment #2:
To zoom in on that further, the logging is sticking this time (yay!), so I'll sharpen that goal by stating:

1.) I will strive to come in under my calories budget for the week (average).

My 'eating plan' started back in July '21. It started out focusing on fiber. I tried first, to eat >20g fiber per day. Then I tried to tie it to a benchmard (the RDA, actually), of 14g per 1,000 calories consumed.

I realized it was difficult to hit my fiber goals without eating veggies and fruits, so I added a goal if 3 cups of veggies per day, and 2 cups of fruits per day, or their equivalent.

Then I started noticing my protein intake was always near the bottom range of the US RDA. So, I read up on optimal protein intake, and learned fir the first time, that women over 50, as well as anyone trying to lose weight, has protein daily requirements that are significantly higher than the US RDA bottomed range. So I started aiming fir 100g of protein daily. This I never hit, until I started adding protein powder and nonfat dry milk powder to my morning tea, instead of a splash of nf milk. Then, as I went along, and started losing some weight, I changed this to trying to get >=20% of my daily calories from protein.

I also had long ago stopped using salt at the table, and only in limited quantities when cooking, so I did try to use lower sodium things.

And ... I tried to keep fats to below 30% of calories, and really limited saturated fats. For example, I stopped using butter to fry, sauteed, or broil. I used olive oil instead. Yep, even with eggs - try it, it's fine! 👏😄

So, anyway, that dll went great as long as I was food logging, which I did daily for almost 6 mos. I kept losing weight - slowly - so I thought I was good without logging. But ... creep is real! Little by little, I stopped hitting my targets, or even really trying, except I still only used olive oil to cook, rather than butter, I didn't use added salt, and I had protein tea every day.

Annnnnnddd .. I gained back all 30 lbs that it took me 18 mos to lose. So, her I am, starting again. I 'sort if' have the same meal plan targets in mind, but for now, I'm just concentrating on daily logging, and trying to stay within calories goal. Fine tuning, and that other stuff will come later. I promise! 😄

Cheers!
- mk (Maine)

For the duration of this 8 week challenge, I aim to write out a food plan each week leaving some wiggle room for enjoying an untracked meals when needed. During the summer months, and being away from home more than during the rest of the year, can mean eating on the road. I plan to stick to a weekly food plan, but being flexible with myself during times away from home to be able to enjoy this very short season.

I don’t really have anything that truly helps me. It’s all “what I want to do”. I have in the past stuck to a really clean meal prepping and did great on it, the only thing was it was so time consuming and it was meals my significant other didn’t like (since he doesn’t diet like me). So I just keep trying to go back to that cause when I was doing that I felt good. Also it was no sugar and that’s a big one I need to work on, cutting the sugar.

I am using WW tracking and keeping my carb intake low.

I am a very low fat lacto-vegan, (probably no one else follows my way of eating so I named it myself). I already eat massive amounts of whole grains, beans, fruits, and veggies, and it has been good for me, so I plan to continue what I have been doing for the last 2 years.

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