Find Your Own "Directive" - the February Weight Loss / Life Style Change Challenge

[mamattorney]

Well, I was able to pick up my car ($500+, sigh) but am happy that it should pass emissions testing now and I can renew my license plates.

Had an awesome Valentines Day dinner with my husband. Definitely ate well beyond what I would have at home, including a chocolate sundae-like dessert plus two strawberry martinis, but it was a holiday and I knew it was coming. Hopefully my extra 5,000 steps a day from my Lenten resolution will take the edge off a dinner like that.

I've got another celebratory dinner next week (my Mom's birthday)which will also include dessert and fancy drinks, but the last week in Feb is all clear!

 

[pinklmaonade]

Hey everyone, sorry for the late checkin. No change in my progress; same as last week. Will catch up once I get some work out of the way! I was pretty indulgent on Valentines. Ice cream and quite a few carbs. Best get back to it this week!

-ali

 

[donac]

I thought of you when I saw this.
I'm guessing it'll mean crazy crowds ... but will probably be full of awesome yummy-ness.

If it is anything like DW it will be a zoo. We were in Epcot on a Saturday night in Oct. It was wall to wall people. And everyone had a drink in their hand. I don't drink and dh is a cautious eater so I don't think we will be going to the Food and Wine Festival any time soon. I think I would have tried some things but I caught a stomach virus the day before.

 

[flvy]

If it is anything like DW it will be a zoo. We were in Epcot on a Saturday night in Oct. It was wall to wall people. And everyone had a drink in their hand. I don't drink and dh is a cautious eater so I don't think we will be going to the Food and Wine Festival any time soon. I think I would have tried some things but I caught a stomach virus the day before.

I'm so happy last year I didn't really go to Epcot at night because I went during F&G and W&D and everyone has some horror stories, but I didn't see any weirdness during the day at all. It wasn't crazy crowded either. I think the W&D crowd comes out later to booze it up which is kind of sad.

 

[DVCFan1994]

Just wanted to pop in and say I'm sorry I haven't been on much, and it will likely stay that way for the next week. I have been reading along, mostly while in the car with my husband driving to all the stuff we've had. Plus the kids are on school vacation keeping me busy So I may not seem like I am here, but I am keeping up and will post when I can! Have a great week everyone

 

[Flossbolna]

Hello everyone!! Hope you all are doing better than me! I am very frustrated with my non-progress currently (still at 0% for the month). I know that part of that is my hormone imbalance, but it is still frustrating. And I am at the point where I start to stop caring and start giving up. Haven't tracked for a few days and stopped stepping on the scale. I know that this is definitely not the way to lose weight... I know I will be able to get out of the slump. Some day... But this weekend we are going away for four days and that will not help with the tracking either... Arg!!

 

[mamattorney]

Hello everyone!! Hope you all are doing better than me! I am very frustrated with my non-progress currently (still at 0% for the month). I know that part of that is my hormone imbalance, but it is still frustrating. And I am at the point where I start to stop caring and start giving up. Haven't tracked for a few days and stopped stepping on the scale. I know that this is definitely not the way to lose weight... I know I will be able to get out of the slump. Some day... But this weekend we are going away for four days and that will not help with the tracking either... Arg!!

Don't give up! It's a marathon, not a sprint and sometimes life gets in the way. Just work on tracking today. Then tomorrow work on tracking tomorrow. Don't think that since the weekend is coming, I may as well give up on the week. Just take it day by day, even meal by meal if you have to. You can do it!

 

[dsnyfn1022]

Hello everyone!! Hope you all are doing better than me! I am very frustrated with my non-progress currently (still at 0% for the month). I know that part of that is my hormone imbalance, but it is still frustrating. And I am at the point where I start to stop caring and start giving up. Haven't tracked for a few days and stopped stepping on the scale. I know that this is definitely not the way to lose weight... I know I will be able to get out of the slump. Some day... But this weekend we are going away for four days and that will not help with the tracking either... Arg!!

It's so frustrating sometimes to do this journey! And seeing absolutely no movement is even worse. Are you able to maintain right now while you're struggling with the hormonal imbalance? My mom has struggled with thyroid problems for years so I've seen the struggle! Just do what you can and recognize the small victories and the NSVs! They'll be your mental savior!

______

I'm actually struggling mentally as well. The past few days have been rough. Yesterday I was doing great all day and then kinda went into "eff it" mode and dug myself into an even deeper hole w/ my points. But today I'm more motivated then ever to get back into it! I got rid of the tempting junk food that I had taken home from my parents house and packed snacks and everything to eat throughout the day. I'm ready to get back into killing it!

An NSV would be that even though I didn't make the smartest choices on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, I didn't let it spiral into bad choices all days on those days, not to mention I'm not letting it ruin my whole week!

 

[Flossbolna]

Don't give up! It's a marathon, not a sprint and sometimes life gets in the way. Just work on tracking today. Then tomorrow work on tracking tomorrow. Don't think that since the weekend is coming, I may as well give up on the week. Just take it day by day, even meal by meal if you have to. You can do it!

It's so frustrating sometimes to do this journey! And seeing absolutely no movement is even worse. Are you able to maintain right now while you're struggling with the hormonal imbalance? My mom has struggled with thyroid problems for years so I've seen the struggle! Just do what you can and recognize the small victories and the NSVs! They'll be your mental savior!

Thank you both for your lovely comments!! They definitely gave me a boost in motivation to make good choices today - and to try to finally get back into an early morning running routine tomorrow before work! That's why I love this thread so much!

 

[courtneybeth]

Week 2 Results
Great job this week - it can be tough with a holiday that encourages eating of sweets.
@4HOLIDAYS 0%
@4Mickeys 0%
@5xdisneyfans 40%
@bigsis1970 25%
@chasingthtdream08 30%
@courtneybeth 40%
@CruisingKate 25%
@donac 31%
@Dr Gunnie 40%
@dsnyfn1022 100%
@DVCFan1994 50%
@Flossbolna 0%
@flvy 10%
@JacknSally 0%
@jayna22 63%
@knkmom 50%
@Lady Marie 50%
@LindseyJo22 0%
@mamattorney 89%
@MochaDrinker 0%
@ohMom 50%
@pinklmaonade 30%
@pjlla 4%
@SarahDisney 0%
@Zoesmama03 25%

As always - please send me a PM if i missed your posting or you need to adjust your number.
​

 

[Zoesmama03]

Hi everyone. I hope we are all having a great start to the week. It feels like Monday today. I had requested yesterday off to take my daughter to the dentist so my week is thrown off a bit. She had a small cavity in her new molar still working on coming out. She had lost all her baby teeth a year and a half ago. I gotta work at funding for braces but she keeps saying no. I don't want to put the money in until she is ready to deal with the upkeep. So holding off a bit longer. Some days she is all about it others just says NO. I can already her front teeth will be very crooked and I hate to wait much longer than it will take to get funding. I'd "have" it soon with tax refund but really need to upgrade my car a bit to something my brother can more easily fix. Its on the downhill and everything keeps popping up. So far the engine doing good, transmission was babied and doing alright(its the 3rd one, the years around mine were all crummy transmissions), its having some minor but potentially increasing electrical problems, my heater core went out(thankfully we live in Phoenix area where we can do without), and my darn driver door thinks its open because the switch in the door for the door ajar light is "broke". But it safely works(closes fully just isn't getting that switched off) runs for now I just can't have a dome light. And well a reliable vehicle needed to keep my job and hunt for something FT. More than cosmetic teeth stuff. ::sigh:: To me braces are more than cosmetic though they do have a function to also make it so its easier to floss and keep clean.

Anyway for on topic I'm getting MFP log going strong again this week. I'll spend some extra time this week planning the weekend meals and next week for my grocery shopping trip Friday. I'm going to make it extra healthy last week and all weekend we kinda had quick grabs too much, way too much. It would be helpful if we could bring snacks to the skate rink. But no outside food or drink allowed in. They do have a water fountain which tasted pretty good. Maybe they will allow an empty water bottle to fill there or I'll just have to skate to the fountain(more exercise). For my daughter it would help to bring a bottle and flavor packets she just claims she can't do water without flavor.

Okay I better get off for a bit and eat some breakfast. I have a banana but not sure what else I'll eat. Not feeling in the mood for oatmeal and we don't have much else I want to eat. So might just have two bananas with my lemon water. I'm pretty sure I'm on the brink of a bladder infection or something.

Question of the day - February 15

Progress Report: Half-way Point
We are officially half-way through the month and should be well on our way to finding our new Directives.
Take a moment to reflect on the last 14 days and really be honest in your evaluations.
Ask yourself: Are you breaking free from your programing and finding a new Directive?

Are you on target for your goal? Why or Why not?
What will you change over the next 14 days to finish strong?
What will you keep doing?
​

I'm at 25% and should be at 50% so not exactly on track. But compared to past attempts with this in the last 4-5 years 25% is great for two weeks into a second month of "working at this". It's definitely and improvement on the journey I haven't seen in years. So while I'm behind I'm happy with it. And will keep on making these changes towards a new directive. I definitely need it. Just can't wait to get our own skates and we will go skating more often. I'm working on the "diet"(just changes for my GI/tummy issues) and tracking has been come and go. I'm finding that a big struggle to keep going.

well I am only 1/4 of the way to goal - but that is less then what I started the month at.. I need to buckle down and not let the stress get to me so much right now, which is a work in progress.. I hope everyone has a great afternoon..

Same 25% for me and I have the same thought its less than the start so I'm on the right road.

REPORT - no loss this week
For month:1/4lbs
25%

Busy weekend, busy Monday at work. Just checking in for late report.

Those weeks stink. I had mine the first week. Just keep swimming. HEHE

I am at about 30% for the month. Not too happy with my pace. I feel like my eating has been on point and the bump in exercise have been kicking my butt! My clothes are maybe fitting a tiny bit better but nothing noticeable. The scale is just NOT moving. Although to be positive, I've learned that "healthy" foods aren't as hard to eat as I've always believed they were, yeah it's easier to drive thru McD's but it's cheaper and takes me maybe 5-10 minutes to whip up something at home! It sounds silly but basic things like how to cut a cantelope or how to tell if an avacado is ripe or how to cook quinoa, I've learned all these new things now through this lifestyle change! So I am happy that I've become a better cook in my kitchen! Oh and my favorite thing is now Kale Chips!

To finish strong, I want to make sure I am working out 5 days a week, whether it's my stationary bike at home or my trampoline class I can't stop talking about!

Yes learning the processes for new foods or recipes is sometimes the tricky part because there are some that don't go for a food because they just don't know how to cut it, prepare or whatnot. Healthy food eating is definitely not my problem. I love most of them. I know for me its portions, those evil nonfood food items, and the lack of activity in my life.

Hey guys, just a quick QOTD hit and run for me today...



I am nowhere near on target. Why not? I keep treating Jelly Bellys and cookies like they don't count toward my calories for the day. I keep treating exercise like it's something I do if I'm ahead of schedule and there's nothing good on TV. Basically, I'm falling into bad habits and not particularly caring.

As for what I'm going to change - I need to stick to my schedule. Even if I'm behind schedule. Which means that if I have a workout scheduled for first thing in the morning, I do it first thing in the morning, even if I don't wake up until 9ish (I think that's part of what killed me last week - I kept oversleeping and it threw me off). Meals need to be what I've planned unless it's something we absolutely don't have in the house (the problem with living with other people is that sometimes the leftovers I wanted have been eaten before I get to them).

What I will keep doing is tracking my junk food. I've been pretty okay about that, and I need to keep it up. I may not enjoy looking at MFP and seeing that I ate 4 oreos, but that's still information that needs to be in there.

And ... that's all I have time for right now. Pizza for lunch coming up soon ... that wasn't in my plan, but I'll make it work. And that's why I dislike legal holidays ... too many other people home.

I get there too. I try not to buy that stuff. I know my weekend included too much junk food sweets. Today will be better that is all we can do.

Got all my fast passes for April sorted out. I swear the more use to going to Disney I get the less I plan. I'm still holding out hope for rivers of light and the nighttime safari when I go, but not a lot haha

So jealous. I hope we can make a trip in the end of the year.

So I've hit my goal for the month however I'll be interested to see if I can maintain my 100% because this weekend was very naughty! It wouldn't have been so bad except that I ate an impromptu lunch out on Saturday at Quiznos and that alone was like 36 points . And with Vday on Sunday my mom made red velvet cupcakes and I just couldn't resist. So needless to say this week will be spent playing catch up and praying that I can just come out even.

As for what's going on diet-wise, I'm finding that I'm not getting enough food with WW. Even with eating all of my weekly points and daily points I'm losing 3-4 pounds a week. I just don't think that's healthy or maintainable. So I've changed my settings so that I can now also eat my fitpoints and I'll be doing that this week. For today, I tracked all of the food I have had or plan on having in MFP and WW and it was only 1173 calories and based on what I burned off with exercise today and with what MFP says I should get, I'm 1,000 calories in the hole. Again, I don't track ketchup or mustard but still! That's just not enough calories for me. Especially since I ran 5 miles this morning. So for the rest of this week and into the weekend I'm going to track in both MFP and WW. I'm going to go forward with that for probably the rest of the month and then see how it goes with me eating my fitpoints on top of my weeklies. The good news is that I only get fitpoints when I run because I don't like to manually track it because it doesn't seem accurate and I don't want to way overshoot.

Congrats on reaching your Feb goal. Best of luck maintaining it. Maybe you can get a bit overage going. Those weeks going high or over points can sometimes kick up metabolism too. Pick an extra fun activity to add to your normal routine and I'm sure it will be fine.

Hey everyone, sorry for the late checkin. No change in my progress; same as last week. Will catch up once I get some work out of the way! I was pretty indulgent on Valentines. Ice cream and quite a few carbs. Best get back to it this week!

-ali

We all get the no change weeks. It happens. Sometimes our body is making other changes. I'm going to get my MFP food log going steady again this week. I fell off a lot over the weekend and didn't even keep my little notebook going.

Hello everyone!! Hope you all are doing better than me! I am very frustrated with my non-progress currently (still at 0% for the month). I know that part of that is my hormone imbalance, but it is still frustrating. And I am at the point where I start to stop caring and start giving up. Haven't tracked for a few days and stopped stepping on the scale. I know that this is definitely not the way to lose weight... I know I will be able to get out of the slump. Some day... But this weekend we are going away for four days and that will not help with the tracking either... Arg!!

Don't give up. Are you getting enough sleep?? How is the quality of it if you are? I know a lot of hormone regulation only happens during sleep and we have to make sure we get enough. Have you gained? Maintaining can be better.

 

[courtneybeth]

Question of the Day - February 16

Let's talk about... "Foreign Contaminants"
In Wall-E, Robot Mo's job is to clean up all Foreign Contaminants found in the Axiom ship. We can think of Foreign Contaminants in our progress
as those speed bumps that get in the way or distract us from reaching our goals. it's the thought of "eh, not going to the gym" or
"another Hershey's kiss really won't make a difference." Finding our new Directive is all about not getting exposed to Foreign Contaminants.

What are your personal "Foreign Contaminants" in your journey to finding your Directive?
What will you do to not be 'contaminated'?​

 

[donac]

Question of the Day - February 16

Let's talk about... "Foreign Contaminants"
In Wall-E, Robot Mo's job is to clean up all Foreign Contaminants found in the Axiom ship. We can think of Foreign Contaminants in our progress
as those speed bumps that get in the way or distract us from reaching our goals. it's the thought of "eh, not going to the gym" or
"another Hershey's kiss really won't make a difference." Finding our new Directive is all about not getting exposed to Foreign Contaminants.

What are your personal "Foreign Contaminants" in your journey to finding your Directive?
What will you do to not be 'contaminated'?​

I try very hard not to have food in the house that I am tempted with. I don't buy ice cream or cookies anymore. I do have some low cal fudge pops in the freezer so dh doesn't complain.

I am off today and it is very grey and dismal. I have a couple of errands to run today and then off do some more fittings for Music Man. I have already sewn and knitted some projects. Now I have some computer work to do and then the rest of the afternoon is mine.

Have a happy and healthy day.

 

[courtneybeth]

Question of the Day - February 16

Let's talk about... "Foreign Contaminants"
In Wall-E, Robot Mo's job is to clean up all Foreign Contaminants found in the Axiom ship. We can think of Foreign Contaminants in our progress
as those speed bumps that get in the way or distract us from reaching our goals. it's the thought of "eh, not going to the gym" or
"another Hershey's kiss really won't make a difference." Finding our new Directive is all about not getting exposed to Foreign Contaminants.

What are your personal "Foreign Contaminants" in your journey to finding your Directive?
What will you do to not be 'contaminated'?​

Night-time snacking is so hard! I know others have expressed this as a challenge and I feel your pain! Breakfast and lunch are fairly controlled environments because I leave to go to work after breakfast and lunch is packed ahead of time with healthiness in mind. Night-time snacking is a challenge because I am at home for many hours before going to sleep. It's eating dinner and thinking "okay still hungry... what's here?" And then... TROUBLE.

We've tried to keep healthy alternatives in the house. What's really helped is that my husband has eaten all of the snack crackers - so there's nothing tempting right now.

 

[pjlla]

Hey all! I'm here. I drove DD back to school yesterday and ended up staying overnight (very unplanned) due to the weather. Fortunately I wasn't scheduled to work today at school (and school ended up being cancelled anyhow), but I still have my WW meeting tonight.

Despite the schedule getting thrown off, I still stayed OP over the weekend and into yesterday. DD and I dashed off to a Subway last night before the snow got worse..... it isn't her favorite, but I really like it and I know she didn't feel like going to the dining hall. For breakfast today she shared one of her frozen breakfast sandwiches (4 SP) and I grabbed a coffee along the ride.

Made homemade chicken soup for dinner for DH and I and pulled out a frozen "treat" for DS (leftover twice-baked potato from Christmas), but just heard that somehow they got an exemption and will be able to have their Robotics meeting tonight, despite the fact that it is a snowday for both schools.... so not sure when they will eat. But it is ready when they are hungry!

Week 2 Results
Great job this week - it can be tough with a holiday that encourages eating of sweets.
@4HOLIDAYS 0%
@4Mickeys 0%
@5xdisneyfans 40%
@bigsis1970 25%
@chasingthtdream08 30%
@courtneybeth 40%
@CruisingKate 25%
@donac 31%
@Dr Gunnie 40%
@dsnyfn1022 100%
@DVCFan1994 50%
@Flossbolna 0%
@flvy 10%
@JacknSally 0%
@jayna22 63%
@knkmom 50%
@Lady Marie 50%
@LindseyJo22 0%
@mamattorney 89%
@MochaDrinker 0%
@ohMom 50%
@pinklmaonade 30%
@pjlla 4%
@SarahDisney 0%
@Zoesmama03 25%

As always - please send me a PM if i missed your posting or you need to adjust your number.
​

Some GREAT numbers there..... and you rounded me UP to 4%! WOOHOO! Feeling MORE and MORE motivated to make good food and exercise choices now that I am SURE I have a Disneyland trip in my not-to-distant future! I know that DD is feeling motivated too, so it is time to GET SERIOUS! We looked GREAT at our last visit to WDW and FABULOUS at the visit before that..... so we cannot break that trend! I'm going to jump on the "Fitbit" bandwagon and get one for myself to challenge me to MOVE MORE.... and DD is pretty competitive, so it will be fun to compete with her!

Here is my FAVORITE picture from our 2011 trip!





Off to get ready for work!.....................P

 

[courtneybeth]

@pjlla - I love your matchy matchy in the photo. Super cute

 

[Dr Gunnie]

Question of the Day - February 16

Let's talk about... "Foreign Contaminants"
In Wall-E, Robot Mo's job is to clean up all Foreign Contaminants found in the Axiom ship. We can think of Foreign Contaminants in our progress
as those speed bumps that get in the way or distract us from reaching our goals. it's the thought of "eh, not going to the gym" or
"another Hershey's kiss really won't make a difference." Finding our new Directive is all about not getting exposed to Foreign Contaminants.

What are your personal "Foreign Contaminants" in your journey to finding your Directive?
What will you do to not be 'contaminated'?​

Last Friday was a tough one - a lot of the classes at my school had Valentine's Day parties and I had kids coming in to give me cupcakes and cookies. I didn't want to be rude and not take them, so I ended taking them all to the teachers’ lounge and leaving them there.

The real tough one that I caved on was one student brought be a Reese’s peanut butter cup heart that was as big as my hand. I should have tossed it or gave it away, but I brought it home and by Saturday afternoon I couldn't help it - I ate 1/4 of it and threw the rest away. Not strong enough for Reese’s! Combine that with some adult beverages on Saturday night, and Sunday morning's weigh in didn't go as well as I wanted. I was able to lose it by Monday and then some, so everything's all good now.

 

[dsnyfn1022]

Question of the Day - February 16

Let's talk about... "Foreign Contaminants"
In Wall-E, Robot Mo's job is to clean up all Foreign Contaminants found in the Axiom ship. We can think of Foreign Contaminants in our progress
as those speed bumps that get in the way or distract us from reaching our goals. it's the thought of "eh, not going to the gym" or
"another Hershey's kiss really won't make a difference." Finding our new Directive is all about not getting exposed to Foreign Contaminants.

What are your personal "Foreign Contaminants" in your journey to finding your Directive?
What will you do to not be 'contaminated'?​

I'm bad at like dipping in the peanut butter jar for an extra lick on top of the tablespoon that I've scooped out. Or I'll just make it a "heaping" tablespoon and eat that. Or, like last night, I just stood over a bowl of potato salad and ate like 4 spoonfuls which was definitely not on plan. So I guess my "foreign contaminants" are the little extras. Or "BLT"s (bites, licks, and tastes) as was said in a WW meeting that I attended a while back.

 

[flvy]

Question of the Day - February 16

Let's talk about... "Foreign Contaminants"
In Wall-E, Robot Mo's job is to clean up all Foreign Contaminants found in the Axiom ship. We can think of Foreign Contaminants in our progress
as those speed bumps that get in the way or distract us from reaching our goals. it's the thought of "eh, not going to the gym" or
"another Hershey's kiss really won't make a difference." Finding our new Directive is all about not getting exposed to Foreign Contaminants.

What are your personal "Foreign Contaminants" in your journey to finding your Directive?
What will you do to not be 'contaminated'?​

Honestly my biggest things are feelings not foods. It's the eff it attitude and the "just one" mentality. As far as the eff it goes it's when I get too in my own head and people start getting me down. It's the I'm going to go eat this because it's expected and people want me to fail anyway. I also get pretty stuck in the just one day off, or just one night with a big bowl of pasta. In the long term just one something doesn't make a difference, but too many just ones do.

This month I've been in a huge funk that's mostly been stress related. I just want to get to my half on the 28th, have a few days off of work and to recharge to kick butt training in March for Dark Side in April.

 

[courtneybeth]

Today was leg day with the personal trainer... wishing we had an elevator in our office because the walk up the flight of stairs was me going "Ouch" at every step up!

Good thing is that I've burned enough calories for Mac N Cheese dinner tonight.