Hello Shape Shifters! I’m looking forward to getting to know our new group members a bit better — welcome!

I’m Patrice — a soon-to-be 58 year old woman living in northern Virginia, just outside Washington, DC in the USA. I’ve been married for 34 years; my husband and I have two adult children, ages 22 and 23. They are both in college, living near their university campuses most of the year, but they visit during their holiday and summer breaks from school.

I’ve been using MFP since December 2019, and started tracking my calories more diligently during the early days of COVID, when public spaces closed. At the time, I led a very full life as a working mother with many community volunteer positions and responsibilities. Work was still busy because I started my own business around that time, and all my education and health clients needed to move from in-person service delivery to online learning and Telehealth. However, I eliminated most volunteer activities and concentrated on my health.

My weight had gradually increased over the years, and I had moved into the overweight BMI category at 168 pounds, so I was especially motivated to become healthier in case I caught the coronavirus. At the time there was no vaccine so a healthy weight was important to survival. I was able to move into the ‘normal’ BMI range by 2021 and joined the F2F challenge group in June 2021 at about 135 pounds. As expected, it was taking longer to lose the last 10 pounds as I moved closer to my goal. So, this group helped me stay accountable and gave me the encouragement I needed to reach my goal of 125 pounds — that was around the end of September 2021.

I maintained my target weight of 125-130 for a year but gradually started gaining pounds as I focused on improving other areas of my life — like decluttering/ downsizing now that we are getting closer to becoming ‘empty nesters’ and strengthening my new business. There’s still so much to learn about business development and navigating life transitions! Now, it’s been two years since I began straying from my target weight, and I have about 15 pounds to lose. My current goal is to lose 2 pounds by the end of July.

Slow and steady works best for me for long-term weight loss. It always helps me when I sleep well so I’ll concentrate on getting 7-8 hours of sleep, increasing my body weight exercises, and tracking my calories better. I’d like to row more but the coach had to change days so I’m going to rearrange my schedule to match the new days. It will take a little while until I can make the new day work. Best wishes with the new month, Shape Shifters. It’s a clean slate so let’s make it a good one.

Steps
Sun 6/30 10,090

Selena280
(Monday) Weigh-in
PW: 291.6 (previous weight)
CW: 291.6(current weight)

kkay2345
Sunday
PW: 183
CW: 184.8

Steps
Monday 7/1 9,041

@DaffyGirl88 No worries, hope you have a good time! We need your stepgoal for July and we don't have your steps for Sunday.

JenHul
Monday weigh in
PW:125
CW:125.5

Steps:
June 28= 6550
June 29= 10,591
June 30= 6642

I will not be joining the step challenge for the month of July as I will be away camping for most of it. I will post and check in when I can, but not regular enough to post every couple of days, so I'll join step challenge next month.

Have a great day everyone!

Tuesday ~ July 02
[ Sleep 8+ hours ] ~ 8h 56m / 83 score
[ Naturewalk ] ~ 62 minutes
[ <1400 cal ] ~ 1262
Musings of the day:
Today was not an easy day, but I did make it a good one. I woke up with a pretty bad headache and there was some rain predicted. I went for my walk anyway and I made it home just before the rain started. I had a very hungry day which was a little annoying and I also had to go to the store again. Getting groceries is the most difficult part about weight loss in my opinion. It is so easy to just grab chocolate, cookies, chips etc. Several times I had things in my hands that I knew would be a really bad idea. I managed to put all of them down again! I was really proud of myself for that. I am doing my best to be more positive in that area as well. It can get really depressing to go for groceries when you only focus and see things that make you go "I can't have that". Instead I am trying to really lean into how good it feels to make it out of the store with only the things on my list. I will also make sure to fit in small treats every now and then so there are "I can have this!" moments as well. Since I need fresh salads, carrots and the burrito is made by the bakery, I need to go the stores quite often. It is also from two different stores which means double the temptation. I am sure it will get easier to deal with the more successes I have, but for now it is a bit of a pain. Anyway, I am glad I made it through the day hitting my 3 main goals.

Please could I be added to the July Step Challenge,target 15,000 steps.
.My favourite places to walk in the Summer are in my local park,along the canal walkways & if its raining around my town & the shopping centres.
My steps so far,
6/30 18,212
7/1 15,050