Abu's AWESOME August 2015 - W.I.S.H. Weight Loss Challenge! Any & All Welcome to Join!

[DisPup75]

On the bright side, I did get to woohoo today! My Chacos came in and they are perrrrrrrrrfect! Can't wait to wear them in the parks in 73 days! And my bachelorette party invites are addressed and ready to go as soon as I go get stamps. It's going to be a Gatsby themed event - "Paint & Prohibition". We're going to a painting class, and then downtown to a speakeasy themed bar, which I didn't even know we had! But the most exciting part is that we're dressing up in 1920's costumes - give this Halloween-loving theatre major a reason to dress up and I AM THERE! LOL

So sorry to hear about all of the job stress. It sounds like a really terrible situation. I'd be inclined to start casually looking around but would probably put off a full scale job search until after the wedding. My wedding was small and pretty casual but I was still a basket case. I can't imagine what I would have been like on an interview! But I can also see wanting to be settled somewhere new so you don't have to deal with all of it for that much longer.

On the woo hoo side, your bachelorette party sounds like SO MUCH FUN!!!

@DisPup75 , how did your new running shoes work out??

The shoes are SO comfortable but they are definitely too small, even after sizing up. So I went a little crazy and ordered the next 3 sizes of the same model. They were REALLY short and I don't quite know what will fit. Obviously all of the spares will be going back but that was a super fun conversation with my husband last night when he was reviewing our credit cards statements and saw the multiple (large) Zappos purchases last night. No dear, I do not intend to keep five different sizes of the same shoe....

@SarahDisney I'm excited for you for your relaxing TV night! Haha. I spend too much time in front of the tv, I'll admit. Best decision we ever made, though, was not putting one in the bedroom when we moved. I'm so bad about binge watching things, having one in the bedroom meant I spent all my free time in bed watching TV. Hope you watched something stupid!

TV night! Yay! I kicked the TV out of my bedroom a few years ago and it has been GREAT. I still miss it sometimes though. We only have one TV now and sometimes I really need to chill with a good Bridezillas marathon. Hard to do when you can hear the eye rolling from the othe side of the den.

A last-minute whoohoo to add on this Wednesday evening (hey, it's 11:14pm in California, it still counts!): My professor gave us a study guide that has all of the questions for the final exam. Now I just have to memorize 225 questions before Wednesday. No pressure right?

Woo hoo! Hope the exam goes well!

I've been lurking around the WISH boards the last few months and read through this thread last night and I was hoping it was ok if I decided to jump in.

Quick version of my story....a few years ago I adapted a much healthier eating lifestyle and lost about 30 pounds over the course of 1.5 years but this last year I have seen about 10 of those pounds creep back. I really need to get back to where I was!

So my goal for the rest of August would be to lose 3 pounds. That is a pretty challenging goal for me because I don't tend to lose weight quickly but hoping I can pull it off. Here is my plan:

• NO late night snacking (my absolute downfall)
• Go to bed before midnight during the week (should help with above goal and also help with the tired afternoon snacking that can happen when you need that "pick me up")
• At least 60 oz of water a day.
• No desserts. At all

Thanks for letting me join. I am hoping to be active in the thread and support as many others as possible!!

Welcome! Sounds like a great doable plan!

 

[DisPup75]

Now, I know I took a big step backwards with my "lenient diet" over the weekend. It majorly backfired on me. I put on more weight than I anticipated, and it isn't just melting off like it did in July. On the bright side, I learned that I, personally, really can't cheat on my diet. I've got to really stick to it if I'm going to make any progress. But, the whole reason I took a small break is because I was stuck in a plateau.

I personally don't like the concept of "cheat" days. For me, they are just license to go crazy for however many hours, days, months, or (gulp) years it takes me to realize that I am out of control. That said, I really need periods of leniency. I'm trying my best to make permanent changes and I know that I will never have a perfect diet. So I've made a vow that my only real requirement is that I track everything that I eat. No matter what. I can't say that this has been the best of plans over the past few weeks. But I know that while I have frequently made some really bad eating choices, I've done better than I would if I didn't write it down, and I've seen tiny weight losses every week that seem to correspond with the tiny calorie deficit I've managed to maintain.

Of course, I'm going with straight calories in/calories out so it makes leniency a little easier. You are on South Beach, right? I wonder if the extra carbs that probably came with the weekend have a greater effect since your body is used to lower carb now. I don't know. I agree that plateau means something has to change. It is just so hard to know what.

I want everyone to really analyze their execution of their plans. I know we all laid out these great plans for August - but are we really sticking to them? I will be the first to admit that, despite all my plans, I have not tracked every day, I haven't gone for a single walk since August 1st, and I haven't touched the weight set in my garage. I have a million excuses why I haven't, but those don't really matter. What matters is that I haven't done it. But even knowing all of that, I get frustrated that the numbers on my scale haven't gone down.

Now, I know a lot of us in this thread have done much better than I have, and I commend each and every one of you for that! But for those of us who are frustrated because the numbers aren't changing or we don't feel any differently, look at your plan, and then look at the execution of your plan. Are you causing your plateau by not doing anything to change it?

QOTD, August 13, 2015:
Are you currently, or have you been, stuck in a weight loss plateau? If so, what are you doing/going to do, or what did you do in the past, to break through that plateau?

Right there with you. Looking at my chart for the past few weeks, I'm not quite in a plateau. I'm just experiencing the shallowest downhill curve imaginable. But I'm also not doing my job. I'm tracking and I'm walking. But I'm doing almost no other exercise, I'm not eating much in the way of fruits and vegetables, and my average calorie deficit is tiny. It's frustrating that I managed to lose more weight with my ankle in a boot than I have since. But it is all on me. My goal this weekend is to get some meals together for next week. I've been winging what I eat and the results are not spectacular.

 

[JacknSally]

I'm proud to say that I came home and before I even gave myself a chance to sit down with my laptop, I changed clothes and went out in the garage and did the weight bench! Hopefully this is the first step toward coming down from my plateau.

The shoes are SO comfortable but they are definitely too small, even after sizing up. So I went a little crazy and ordered the next 3 sizes of the same model. They were REALLY short and I don't quite know what will fit. Obviously all of the spares will be going back but that was a super fun conversation with my husband last night when he was reviewing our credit cards statements and saw the multiple (large) Zappos purchases last night. No dear, I do not intend to keep five different sizes of the same shoe....

OK, I am SO GLAD I'm not the only one who shops like this!! Haha. I can almost never find stuff in my size in the store, so I mainly just shop online. But then I don't know if I'll need my actual size or not, so I usually end up ordering 2 or 3 of every item, so I can try on different sizes. I know full well that the majority of the order will get returned and it all balances out in the end, but DH2B sure gives me some crazy looks, and our UPS/FedEx/USPS people probably hate coming to our house, lol.

TV night! Yay! I kicked the TV out of my bedroom a few years ago and it has been GREAT. I still miss it sometimes though. We only have one TV now and sometimes I really need to chill with a good Bridezillas marathon. Hard to do when you can hear the eye rolling from the othe side of the den.

In my house, it's Dance Moms My car-and-tool-and-American-Picker-loving DH2B judges me so much for watching it, but at the same time, I don't see him getting up and leaving the room! LOL.

I personally don't like the concept of "cheat" days. For me, they are just license to go crazy for however many hours, days, months, or (gulp) years it takes me to realize that I am out of control. That said, I really need periods of leniency. I'm trying my best to make permanent changes and I know that I will never have a perfect diet. So I've made a vow that my only real requirement is that I track everything that I eat. No matter what. I can't say that this has been the best of plans over the past few weeks. But I know that while I have frequently made some really bad eating choices, I've done better than I would if I didn't write it down, and I've seen tiny weight losses every week that seem to correspond with the tiny calorie deficit I've managed to maintain.

Of course, I'm going with straight calories in/calories out so it makes leniency a little easier. You are on South Beach, right? I wonder if the extra carbs that probably came with the weekend have a greater effect since your body is used to lower carb now. I don't know. I agree that plateau means something has to change. It is just so hard to know what.

I'm not officially on South Beach, but I guess for all intents and purposes, I am. I'm on my own low-carb/high-protein diet. Now that I've lost weight since I started, though, I might need to recalculate my numbers and see if I need to make adjustments there. I had kind of plateaued before I spent the weekend not watching my carb intake, so I was hoping if I introduced them back into my diet and cut them out again, I would lose (it wasn't my plan in July, but it happened, and it worked, so I thought I could duplicate that magic LOL)... it just hasn't quite worked out that way.

Right there with you. Looking at my chart for the past few weeks, I'm not quite in a plateau. I'm just experiencing the shallowest downhill curve imaginable. But I'm also not doing my job. I'm tracking and I'm walking. But I'm doing almost no other exercise, I'm not eating much in the way of fruits and vegetables, and my average calorie deficit is tiny. It's frustrating that I managed to lose more weight with my ankle in a boot than I have since. But it is all on me. My goal this weekend is to get some meals together for next week. I've been winging what I eat and the results are not spectacular.

I hope you come out of your curve soon! Do you have any yummy recipes planned for next week? Any go-to favorites?

 

[JacknSally]

On the woo hoo side, your bachelorette party sounds like SO MUCH FUN!!!

If you'll be in Memphis on October 3rd, feel free to tag along! LOL. The more the merrier!

 

[DisPup75]

I have no idea what to do about my shoes! The first two that arrived were the pair of mizunos that felt great but were significantly too short. I also bought a pair of sauconys that look like clown shoes and are so soft they feel like walking on marshmallows - not a big fan because they are (1) ugly and (2) feel like they have no support. I sent the mizunos back and got the next larger size. Also too small. Sent those back and ordered two more sizes. They arrived today and the smaller ones fit perfectly and felt great walking around the house for an hour. Yay! Then I put them on and took the dog for a three mile walk. They were fab for the first half of the walk but then my feet started to get really tired and they started to feel really hard. To be fair, this was the first time I've had real shoes (as opposed to my much loved Tevas and Keens) on in months, the walk was longer than I usually take at the end of the day, and I did a few 30-second running spurts (that is a whole other post but let's just say the last time I ran for any longer than it takes to cross a street was probably 2010 when I dropped out of C25K on the very first day). Anyway, I got home and my feet were really tired and a little sore. So I put on the saucony clown shoes. Which still feel like marshmallows but now in a good way. I'm now trying to figure out if I should keep both pairs. The mizunos clearly need to stay since I wore them outside and I think they are actually a good pair for me. Just not sure what to do about the others. Is there such thing as a too soft shoe? I eventually would like to take on C25K again but the two or three minutes I ran today made it clear that I need to drop a bit more weight first for the sake of my knees.

I hope you come out of your curve soon! Do you have any yummy recipes planned for next week? Any go-to favorites?

We seem to be almost completely out of food so need to do a major stock up - Costco, regular grocery, and the farmer's market. My office has been REALLY cold lately so I will probably make up a big pot of soup. Maybe roast a chicken and prep some fruits and veg. Almost all of my favorite make ahead meals involve large quantities of cheese so I'm always at a bit of a loss. DH gets home before me and will usually make dinner if I come up with a plan and do the grocery shopping. I'm just really bad at the "come up with a plan" step.

 

[JacknSally]

Guess what, people!!

It's Friday!!



I'm so excited for this weekend! 1) It's the weekend. LOL 2) Our MNSSHP costumes should be delivered today and tomorrow. WOOHOO!! 3) I'm going to get my hair cut and moisturized after work today. Let the wedding beautification begin!

What exciting things do you have going on this weekend??

But, the weekend is not an excuse for us to lose focus on our goals. SO!

QOTD, Friday, August 14, 2015:

I know a lot of us are meal prepping this weekend to get us through next week. I'm always looking for new yummy things to try. What are some of your favorite healthy recipes? Are you trying out anything new this weekend?

ETA: Don't forget to post your results this weekend!​

 

[ThistleMae]

I'm doing a crock pot of Chili today. 13 beans with turkey burger for meat. I have a cup of it in my salad as a meal. While I would rather eat it right out of a bowl with bread...that isn't going to happen! I'm digging deeper this month, July was my very slow, bounce back and forth one or two pounds a week month...mostly bounce up! As was said earlier, wasn't measuring...just eyeballing my portions...not eating a balanced diet...not tracking...not enough excersize. So...it is understandable why I had such a slow month. I'm doing well this month so far. I'm measuring everything. I'm tracking daily. I use MyFitness Pal app. THIS IS WHAT I DO: I put in my food for the day before I eat it. Then I adjust it according to carbs, protein and fats. Sometimes I switch things out and replace with more fat or more carbs, whichever looks a bit low or too high. It's one of the reasons I really like the program because I can use it this way. So for example, if I want to eat a Weight Watcher's ice cream bar tonight...but see my sugars are too high for the day, or my fat is to high or to low, I will take out something for lunch that will lower or raise those stats so I can eat the ice cream bar. Or....I take out the ice cream bar and replace it with another snack. It gives you the ability to really have a healthy plan every day. The app is free if anyone wants to try it. Have a great Friday!

 

[JacknSally]

I'm doing a crock pot of Chili today. 13 beans with turkey burger for meat. I have a cup of it in my salad as a meal. While I would rather eat it right out of a bowl with bread...that isn't going to happen! I'm digging deeper this month, July was my very slow, bounce back and forth one or two pounds a week month...mostly bounce up! As was said earlier, wasn't measuring...just eyeballing my portions...not eating a balanced diet...not tracking...not enough excersize. So...it is understandable why I had such a slow month. I'm doing well this month so far. I'm measuring everything. I'm tracking daily. I use MyFitness Pal app. THIS IS WHAT I DO: I put in my food for the day before I eat it. Then I adjust it according to carbs, protein and fats. Sometimes I switch things out and replace with more fat or more carbs, whichever looks a bit low or too high. It's one of the reasons I really like the program because I can use it this way. So for example, if I want to eat a Weight Watcher's ice cream bar tonight...but see my sugars are too high for the day, or my fat is to high or to low, I will take out something for lunch that will lower or raise those stats so I can eat the ice cream bar. Or....I take out the ice cream bar and replace it with another snack. It gives you the ability to really have a healthy plan every day. The app is free if anyone wants to try it. Have a great Friday!

Yup, this is what I do in the LoseIt app, too. The key is making sure to track everything, and to track it honestly. I like to plug in everything I plan to eat that day so I know ahead of time if I need to adjust, rather than plugging it in afterward and finding out I should've had a 1/4 cup of broccoli instead of a 1/2 cup. I've got my goal carbs, protein, and calories set up and it tells me where I stand compared to those goals. Love it (when I use it!)

 

[ImpossibleOfMe]

Wow....that is a lot to lose in one month! Is that your typical expectation?

It's not at all! Lol. I joined a competition this month with top 4 getting paid, so hoping I get double my usual expectation. XD

Down 3.8 so far. 4-5 is what I would normally go for.

 

[courtneybeth]

I put in my food for the day before I eat it. Then I adjust it according to carbs, protein and fats. Sometimes I switch things out and replace with more fat or more carbs, whichever looks a bit low or too high.

I do the same thing! I'm on WW and always pre-plan my meals so that I know what I am eating and if I should/shouldn't eat something. It helps me budget my points for the day and it takes all the guess work out of "welp, maybe I shouldn't have eaten that!"

What are some of your favorite healthy recipes? Are you trying out anything new this weekend?​

I am so ashamed to admit this but.... I am a terrible cook and stay out of the kitchen since I burn water! Thank goodness my husband is the cook between the two of us.

 

[JacknSally]

It's not at all! Lol. I joined a competition this month with top 4 getting paid, so hoping I get double my usual expectation. XD

Down 3.8 so far. 4-5 is what I would normally go for.

Are you doing dietbet??? I've been wanting to try that! But I don't want to risk losing money lol

 

[ThistleMae]

Yup, this is what I do in the LoseIt app, too. The key is making sure to track everything, and to track it honestly. I like to plug in everything I plan to eat that day so I know ahead of time if I need to adjust, rather than plugging it in afterward and finding out I should've had a 1/4 cup of broccoli instead of a 1/2 cup. I've got my goal carbs, protein, and calories set up and it tells me where I stand compared to those goals. Love it (when I use it!)

Exactly! I plug in everything in the morning...sometimes I do a few days at a time. Then I know exactly what I can eat. I love my app! Glad to hear someone else is using the apps for planning!

 

[ThistleMae]

This is my new favorite snack recipe (if you want to call it a recipe?). Rice cake, 1 tbsp. whipped cream cheese, 1/4 tsp. mango pepper jelly. It's really delicious. I usually eat two of them with a cup of tea. Very satisfying!

 

[SarahDisney]

Just popping in quickly to report that I'm up this week, so back to 0% of goal.

 

[JacknSally]

Just popping in quickly to report that I'm up this week, so back to 0% of goal.

That's ok! Don't get discouraged. You might make it up and then some next week! I'm back to 0%, too. But we're barely halfway in!

 

[stacy~**]

Thank you everyone for the welcome messages. I guess I am still trying to get up to speed on this thread, etc. so I might be a bit quiet but I'm here!

I got my "official" start weight yesterday so I will participate in the weigh in next weekend.

As far as weekend meal planning I really don't do much of that but probably should. In the past I have sometimes prepared the salads in mason jars for the coming weeks lunches. I do enjoy having those and it beats making salads everyday. Maybe I will plan to do this next weekend.

 

[dsnyfn1022]

I've been lurking around the WISH boards the last few months and read through this thread last night and I was hoping it was ok if I decided to jump in.

Quick version of my story....a few years ago I adapted a much healthier eating lifestyle and lost about 30 pounds over the course of 1.5 years but this last year I have seen about 10 of those pounds creep back. I really need to get back to where I was!

So my goal for the rest of August would be to lose 3 pounds. That is a pretty challenging goal for me because I don't tend to lose weight quickly but hoping I can pull it off. Here is my plan:

• NO late night snacking (my absolute downfall)
• Go to bed before midnight during the week (should help with above goal and also help with the tired afternoon snacking that can happen when you need that "pick me up")
• At least 60 oz of water a day.
• No desserts. At all

Thanks for letting me join. I am hoping to be active in the thread and support as many others as possible!!

Welcome!! Your plan sounds great! Desserts and sugar are my weakness and I think sugar tends to make me gain more than anything so limiting those are great first steps!

 

[dsnyfn1022]

Checking in for the week and I'm down 2.5 pounds which puts me at 87% to goal. I also hit the gym 4/5 week days this week which was much better than the sporadic 2-3 I was getting before.

 

[ThistleMae]

That's ok! Don't get discouraged. You might make it up and then some next week! I'm back to 0%, too. But we're barely halfway in!

yeah....stuff happens....it's called life! I know it's discouraging...don't beat yourself up!

 

[ThistleMae]

Unhappy Saturday! I had a really bad night. I was totally out of control. I did good all day and then it hit around 7 p.m. It started with my homemade chili. Went from one bowl to 4 bowls. Then I ate an ice cream, then another, then another. Then I hit up the fudge I froze from my lunch this week. Three pieces! Of course I woke up with that dreadful "failure" feeling. But....I'm back on track today. It's just so disheartening when I've done so good for 2 weeks. And once it hits it's like a roller coaster ride....I can't stop it once it starts! But this is part of the disease. I really believe it's just like alcoholism. On to a new day. I'm going in with a positive attitude and like the advice I gave above...I'm not going to beat myself up over it....I'm going to pick myself up and start over! Have a great Weekend everyone!