Welcome to our new Shape Shifter team members! It’s definitely helpful to bookmark this monthly chat page (as @lauren_989 noted) by selecting the ribbon in the upper right corner of this page.

Introduction: I’m Patrice, a 59-year old woman from northern Virginia, near Washington, DC in the USA. For work, I help education and health leaders partner with people who have lived experience - and the practitioners who serve them - to solve some of the complex problems we face (e.g., improving early intervention for infants and toddlers, increasing independent living for young adults with disabilities). It’s especially important to form strong relationships at the state and local level in this time of reduced federal funding.

I’ve been married for 35 years. My husband and I have two adult sons. One son lives with us since graduating in May. He’s doing part-time research related to his field while looking for a full-time job. Our older son lives and works in our hometown (Boston, Massachusetts) where we travel regularly to care for aging relatives. Most recently, my mother fell (Tuesday) and needed hip surgery. My siblings have been visiting her while she’s been hospitalized and I’ll stay with her once she’s released from rehab later this month. So, it’s good that I can serve as a kind of respite support to them, and visit friends and family while I’m there about one week each month.

In terms of my own health, I’m about 4 pounds away from achieving my short-term goal of a “normal” BMI. My longer term goal is to maintain my weight between 125-130 pounds, which is the mid-point of the BMI for my height — and what feels best for me.

I started using MFP in December 2020 at 168 pounds, my highest non-pregnancy weight. It took me a few months to build the habit of tracking but it really helped me recognize the need for portion control and substitutions (e.g., yogurt instead of ice cream). I joined the F2F challenge in June 2021 and met my goal in September 2021. I maintained my weight between 125-130 for a little more than a year, but gradually gained back weight when I slacked off on my tracking. I crept back to 150 by June 2025 and now I’m back on a downward trajectory!

For exercise, I run, row, and play soccer. My husband and I also workout with a personal trainer for 30 minutes, twice a week, when we’re not traveling. Nutrition is what I need to improve most. I’m trying to add more fruit and vegetables to my daily diet. As Yoda says: “Do or do not. There is no try.”

By the end of this month. I want to say: “I have added more fruit and vegetables to my diet; and, as a result, I am now at a healthy BMI for my height.” 🥳🤩🥳

FAQ for New Shape Shifters Members

How do I post my weigh in?

• Userid
• (Day of Week) Weigh-in
• PW: 204 lbs (previous weight)
• CW: 202 lbs (current weight)
• LTD: 12 lbs (optional loss to date)

Where is the Weigh in stats spreadsheet?

Start at the Fat2Fit Main Page and under the header information, you’ll see a section at the bottom that says “TO ACCESS THE SPREADSHEETS FOR JANUARY CLICK HERE” followed by the link in blue. Once you click on that link, it will take you to the Summary page. Find Shape Shifters on the tabs at the bottom and click on that and that brings you to the stats page. Also on this page (scrolling down), you’ll find the Step Challenge chart as well. This is where we record your daily steps if you sign up to be part of the monthly step challenge. More info on how to sign up is below! Join us!

How often should I post in the chatroom?

Whenever you have a question, suggestion, story, news announcement or just want to brighten someone's day!! There's never too much...and please share recipes, tips, laughs, challenges, cartoons, pictures of your pets, pictures from walks you've taken, etc...we love it all!!

What if I have to be out of town during my weigh in?

Send a message to one of the Captains (JessicaKrall8 or FrankWBrown) in the chatroom or in a private message on MFP's mail and let them know your circumstance...if it's just for a week or two, you can be excused from the weigh-in. If you must leave for longer than a month, you may be moved to our support team until you return. When you're ready to come back, send another message and the MODS will move you back to active status.

Who are our team Motivators?

LaurieWrobo and NancyinMiami are our two motivators. They’re here to answer questions, give suggestions and help with times when you need a little more support!

What happens if I miss a weigh in?

If you're late, you'll be marked as LWI (late weigh in). If you fail to report in at all, you'll be labeled as NWI (no weigh in). After two NWIs, you're put on the drop list if no explanation has been provided. It's always best to let your Captain know what's going on and they'll make sure you're covered.

How do I sign up for the Step Challenge?

Send the Captains a message that you'd like to join (in the monthly team chat thread), provide your daily step goal and share your favorite place to walk. It's that simple! Please be aware though, you're making a commitment to post your steps every 2-3 days, which helps the Captains keep the stats caught up. If you're not willing to do this, please do not sign up. (THANKS!)

Do I have to re-register each month to remain part of Team Shape Shifters?

No, your membership will carry over month to month. The only place where this is NOT true is for the Step Challenge. You have to sign up each month to participate in it and this gives you the opportunity to adjust your daily step goal.

If I've missed anything or questions arise, just post them! We'll find the information you need as much as possible! Hope this helps!

Welcome!

Jessica

alleykat69

steps for 11/1

5471

I would encourage those of you who really want to make some changes and meet some goals before the end of this year, to pop into our Group Challenge this week (See link above this post). We're setting goals in ten different areas of our lives for the next 8 weeks to see some accomplishments by year's end. We will revisit in December and check-in. It's a good time to put additional thought and planning in and important area — YOU!!! If we don't prioritize ourselves, who will?!

Also, for you newbies or weigh-in only posters, you're really missing out on a great source of encouragement, motivation and information in the group challenges…PLEASE take a moment each Sunday and pop in and see if the weekly challenge would be of help to you. Also, it helps you meet other people from the other four teams outside of the Shape Shifters…all caring individuals who are very supportive.

Jessica

Migraine Today & feeling like crap time change with sleep disrupted = migraine

Step challenge is open for registration…give me your daily step goal and where you walk during this time of year!! Please remember you are committing to reporting your steps every 2-3 days. It helps your Captains to keep the stats up to date without having to enter a lot of data all at the same time. Thanks!

Jessica

My steps

• Sat 11/1 4305
• Sun 11/2 7353

@jessicakrall8 please put me down for the November challenge.My steps have been lower than normal the last month but I still want to put my goal at 12000 please.In winter I like to go to my local park weather permitting & if not into town to walk in the shops & covered areas.

@Krysless2 -- need your steps for Saturday 11/1 (last day of October step challenge)

alleykat69

steps for Sunday 11/2

5747

Here's a summary of the October Step Challenge results:

@frankwbrown Please check your chart/stats…it copied over all my hard work again and gave it to LaurieWrobo…I'm starting to feel offended.

alleykat69

steps for Monday 11/3

7129