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

[LadyRayado]

Yay Monday...

Here are my goals for August:
1. Lose 8lbs
2. Follow the 21 Day Fix eating and workout plans
3. Drink more water, less coffee and soda

53 days until Disney!

 

[Keithsmomma]

My goal for is 64oz (Or 4- 16.9 oz bottles of water). Right now I drink 2. Unless I'm at work. Then I tend to drink more. With my health finally back on track (thanks to one doctor figuring out what was really going on) plus he was able to take me off 5 medications . I'm finally more myself. Now I can get back being outside and enjoying time with my family.

 

[Rose&Mike]

QOTD--the best think I could do to simplify my life is to plan a little more for the week ahead--plan my meals, plan my outfits, plan my workouts, and plan my meditation time. I waste too much time if I don't have a plan. Then I skip things that I really like to do, meal time becomes a drama fest, my blood pressure ends up elevated, etc. My DS goes back to college tomorrow, so by this time next week I hope to have a plan and be on a schedule.

Sorry about the boot Connie. I am fighting something in my foot, but it is different from any other foot injury I have had (and I have had a lot!) I am still hoping that rest, rehab exercises that I learned in the past, and modified exercise will do the trick.

I hope to have more time to chat later this week.

 

[courtneybeth]

I hope I'm not too late to join!

My Goal for August: Lose 8 Pounds

Plan to Get there:
- Walk a minimum of 7500 steps per day
- Eat only my activity points on Weight Watchers -- I must earn to eat
- Go to Disneyland 1 day per week minimum and not snack on the yummies. For every 5,000 steps walked, I get to ride one ride.


I lost 7 pounds last month. Let's make it an even 8 for the next month. I didn't make my step goal every day.

 

[SarahDisney]

Monday's QOTD: What is a way that you can simplify your life, starting today? I challenge everyone here to pick one small change you can make to simplify your life, and try to make that change every day for the rest of the week. I'm curious to hear the results at the end of the week - did that small change make any impact for you?

So mine doesn't sound so simple, but it will simplify my life ...
For every two things that I add to my to-do list for a given day, remove one (usually this will mean moving it to a different day ... but hopefully one that's less busy).
My to-do list tends to look very empty at the beginning of the week and then fill up, and some days are busier than others - and those are the days when things really go off the rails. So what I'm going to try to do is take some of the less time-dependent stuff off of my to-do list on the busier days so that I'm not running around like a chicken with its head cut off.
(it makes sense to me, I promise)

My simple change is going to be that I am going to start doing small house cleans every evening - nothing major, but little things like making sure the dirty clothes get put into the washer every evening, instead of left in a pile on the bathroom floor, or clearing trash off the coffee table and straightening the throw pillows on the couch before bed, so that when I get up the next morning it doesn't look like a tornado blew through.

This is great! I also struggle with cleaning up every day, and then it becomes a huge task at the end of the week!

I love this!!! I tend to try to make big changes and then fail miserably because it's just all too much. So my little change is this.... I'm going to hang my clothes up after trying on and rejecting them and make sure that everything that gets makes it into the laundry bin. Hopefully it means I won't have to spend Saturday morning sorting through piles of clothes trying to determine what is clean and what is dirty.

Yeah, same thing ... I've got a pile of clothes on my chair, and at the end of the week I have to decide what gets put back in the closet and what goes in the dirty laundry.

Well... I'm gonna have to think of a new goal for this month. As of this morning, I'm wearing a boot on my left foot trying to get the plantar fasciitis to heal so... while "as needed" walking is fine, I won't be doing any "exercise" walking. I'm thinking I'll be getting less than half the daily steps I was last month.

Take care of yourself - that's what matters most! I hope your foot heals up soon!

QOTD--the best think I could do to simplify my life is to plan a little more for the week ahead--plan my meals, plan my outfits, plan my workouts, and plan my meditation time. I waste too much time if I don't have a plan. Then I skip things that I really like to do, meal time becomes a drama fest, my blood pressure ends up elevated, etc. My DS goes back to college tomorrow, so by this time next week I hope to have a plan and be on a schedule.

I started planning everything (well, not outfits, but meals, workouts, etc) and it really helped me manage my time better - so I hope it does the same for you!

 

[courtneybeth]

Monday's QOTD: What is a way that you can simplify your life, starting today? I challenge everyone here to pick one small change you can make to simplify your life, and try to make that change every day for the rest of the week. I'm curious to hear the results at the end of the week - did that small change make any impact for you?​

I am going to try to wake up just 10 minutes earlier each morning so that I don't have that "rushing out the door" feeling. I cannot tell you how many times I've said to myself "just 10 more minutes" and then I am frantically trying to pack a lunch bag and inevitably forget something. For the next 4 days I am going to force myself to wake up just 10 minutes earlier and see if that makes an impact on my morning preparation and commute into work.

 

[swimchick1984]

Monday's QOTD: What is a way that you can simplify your life, starting today? I challenge everyone here to pick one small change you can make to simplify your life, and try to make that change every day for the rest of the week. I'm curious to hear the results at the end of the week - did that small change make any impact for you?

My little change will be that I make the bed each day.

 

[swimchick1984]

LadyRayado. I am waiting for my 21 day fix to come in the mail, after that we can be buddies.

 

[DisPup75]

GOAL: Lose 3 lbs by the end of August

PLAN:
I’m dividing my plan into 3 sections – nutrition, exercise, and weigh-ins

Nutrition:
- Minimum of 25 servings of fruits/vegetables per week (comes out to about 3.5 per day, which is not easy for me)
- Track all weekday meals eaten at home; attempt to track weekend meals (tracking can be stressful for me, so I’m putting limits on what I “force” myself to do to make it a little more laid back)
- Use chocolate as a reward for non-running exercise – 1 small chocolate per 15 minutes of non-running exercise (I’m hoping this will help motivate me to exercise and also help me feel like I’m not depriving myself of one of my favorite food groups)

Exercise:
- 1050 minutes of exercise (mostly calculated by my Fitbit and tracked in the WISH exercise challenge)
- Run 2-3 times per week (I alternate weeks of 2 runs with weeks of 3 runs)
- Running-related Cross-Training 2 times per week (I’m still experimenting with this – I’m currently doing walking, trying to add other things)
- Low intensity exercise 1-2 times per week
- 1 rest day per week

Weigh-Ins:
- Weigh in twice per week: Tuesday (or Wednesday if I forget) and Friday (I’m hoping the second weigh in will help me stay on track all week long, not just at the end of the week)
- Report weigh-ins (in terms of percent of goal) on this thread on Fridays

I'm hoping that having such a detailed plan really helps me stay on track!

I just love all of this detail! I could learn from this and hope too!

Mornin' y'all!

Well... I'm gonna have to think of a new goal for this month. As of this morning, I'm wearing a boot on my left foot trying to get the plantar fasciitis to heal so... while "as needed" walking is fine, I won't be doing any "exercise" walking. I'm thinking I'll be getting less than half the daily steps I was last month.

I did a pitiful job of keeping up with my progress on my goals for the last week of July. I was way ahead of my goals at the previous check-in so, I know I achieved them but, I just plain lost interest so, I slacked off both walking and water consumption. I also carbed-out for a few days, totally blowing it on the SB plan.

So, gotta get back up on the horse. Or wagon. Or whatever.

DH and I have a trip to Las Vegas planned at the end of this month. So, I guess my overall goal is to behave as healthfully as possible for the next few weeks so that I'll be able to enjoy myself more while we celebrate my birthday and our anniversary.

Now, I just need to set an individual goal (or a few) for myself that will equate to "behaving as healthfully as possible"...

Ouch. I just got out of a boot for a fractured ankle and have never been so happy to be free of something. Be careful with overdoing it. My ankle always felt fine but the boot made my gait off and put a lot of extra stress on my knees. But behaving as healthfully as possible is a great goal!

I hope I'm not too late to join!

My Goal for August: Lose 8 Pounds

Plan to Get there:
- Walk a minimum of 7500 steps per day
- Eat only my activity points on Weight Watchers -- I must earn to eat
- Go to Disneyland 1 day per week minimum and not snack on the yummies. For every 5,000 steps walked, I get to ride one ride.


I lost 7 pounds last month. Let's make it an even 8 for the next month. I didn't make my step goal every day.

Love that incentive!! Disneyland is my absolute favorite park and I would be walking all kinds of steps to earn my rides. And perhaps if I could go once a week, the little red wagon wouldn't have such a siren's pull over me....

 

[JacknSally]

Morning, everyone! So sorry I don't have time right now to go back through and catch up on the chatter from yesterday, but I will be back later today to do so! I'm so glad to see the positive responses to yesterday's QOTD - I have to admit I went back and forth on whether or not to post it. I wasn't sure how much you'd hate me for encouraging yet another change only a couple of days after everyone started a diet/exercise regime LOL!

Your QOTD for Tuesday, August 4!




*The woman in these pictures is NOT me, nor is it anyone I know personally. It is a photographer that I follow on Facebook, who is sharing her personal weight loss journey with her followers.

Personally, I am a very visual person. So much so that, for our wedding, my fiance cut out (of construction paper and poster board) to-scale representations of all of our tables and the reception hall so that I could actually see how to lay everything out and make sure it would all fit, and I have a 6ft. table set up in our guest bedroom, with the table linens and centerpieces on it so that I can figure out exactly how it needs to look. LOL

That being said, visuals really help me. I get more done every day if I physically write out a schedule or to-do list, rather than just try to keep one going in my head. I love the before-and-after photos of people's weight loss journeys. The first picture I posted above is a clever visual motivator where you have two jars, one empty and one filled with stones - one stone for every pound you want to lose, and you transfer a stone into the empty jar when you lose that pound. I think that's fantastic, and I'm planning to set that up for myself for this month. I took a before photo of myself at the beginning of June, but haven't taken one since. Maybe I'll do that tonight, and see if I can notice any difference in myself visually.

Do you have any visual motivators? Do you take before-during-after photos of your weight loss journey? Do you do something similar (or exactly like) the jar trick? Do you keep a "goal outfit" hanging where you can see it every day, or "goal photos" posted by your mirror or scale or treadmill? If you don't currently have any visual motivators, do you think having one might encourage you to stay on target with your plan this month?

This is one of my favorite visuals. It really puts into perspective just WHAT you're carrying around when you're overweight... and it encourages me not to get disappointed in myself when I *only* lose 1 or 2 lbs. Sorry it's a little gross!!

​

 

[courtneybeth]

Do you have any visual motivators?
​

YES! I am completing my MBA in December and am walking at graduation in May - so my goal is to reach -50 lbs before April 15 so that I can find a Kate Spade dress to wear to my graduation / graduation dinner May 22nd. (I would currently fit into a size 12 or 14, but I'd like to be in a size 8 or 10 -- I think it's doable at 150 pounds. Currently weigh 180).

I made this ridiculous sign that I posted at my desk so when I get a "stress eater" moment that I remember what my goal is and it usually stops the cycle.

 

[JacknSally]

YES! I am completing my MBA in December and am walking at graduation in May - so my goal is to reach -50 lbs before April 15 so that I can find a Kate Spade dress to wear to my graduation / graduation dinner May 22nd. (I would currently fit into a size 12 or 14, but I'd like to be in a size 8 or 10 -- I think it's doable at 150 pounds. Currently weigh 180).

I made this ridiculous sign that I posted at my desk so when I get a "stress eater" moment that I remember what my goal is and it usually stops the cycle.

That's not ridiculous at all! I think it's awesome! And I'm glad that it's able to help curb your stress-cravings. THAT'S what's most important - whatever will help you stay on track to achieve your goal - no matter how silly or "ridiculous" you or anyone else thinks it might be. CONGRATULATIONS on your degree and graduation - what an accomplishment!!

 

[JacknSally]

Water - I don't drink enough, I am going to put out 32 oz to drink from the time I get home till the time I go to bed.. I get home around 4pm and stay up till 10 so I think 6hrs is enough time to get that in..

I have been struggling with this myself lately! One thing I do, and I know it sounds completely ridiculous, but I fill up an 8oz measuring cup and drink from that. There's something about having it in such a manageable form that makes it so much easier. I tend to get sidetracked pretty easily, so even though I'll fix myself a 16-oz glass of water, I'll get started doing something and it will sit next to me for hours before I touch it. But if I take a couple of minutes to put water in a measuring cup and down that, then that's an entire glass of water I just had, and it's no problem at all to do that twice an hour.

Mornin' y'all!

Well... I'm gonna have to think of a new goal for this month. As of this morning, I'm wearing a boot on my left foot trying to get the plantar fasciitis to heal so... while "as needed" walking is fine, I won't be doing any "exercise" walking. I'm thinking I'll be getting less than half the daily steps I was last month.

I did a pitiful job of keeping up with my progress on my goals for the last week of July. I was way ahead of my goals at the previous check-in so, I know I achieved them but, I just plain lost interest so, I slacked off both walking and water consumption. I also carbed-out for a few days, totally blowing it on the SB plan.

So, gotta get back up on the horse. Or wagon. Or whatever.

DH and I have a trip to Las Vegas planned at the end of this month. So, I guess my overall goal is to behave as healthfully as possible for the next few weeks so that I'll be able to enjoy myself more while we celebrate my birthday and our anniversary.

Now, I just need to set an individual goal (or a few) for myself that will equate to "behaving as healthfully as possible"...

Oh no! So so sorry to hear about the boot. What a bummer! BUT, it could be an opportunity to get back on track with your SB plan! Now instead of trying to change your diet AND exercise at the same time, you can focus 100% on getting your diet where you want it, and work in exercise gradually as you're able!

My goal for is 64oz (Or 4- 16.9 oz bottles of water). Right now I drink 2. Unless I'm at work. Then I tend to drink more. With my health finally back on track (thanks to one doctor figuring out what was really going on) plus he was able to take me off 5 medications . I'm finally more myself. Now I can get back being outside and enjoying time with my family.

WOOHOO! Congratulations!! I'm so glad that you're able to feel more like yourself again - and dropping 5 medications?! WOW! That's amazing. Thrilled for you!!!

QOTD--the best think I could do to simplify my life is to plan a little more for the week ahead--plan my meals, plan my outfits, plan my workouts, and plan my meditation time. I waste too much time if I don't have a plan. Then I skip things that I really like to do, meal time becomes a drama fest, my blood pressure ends up elevated, etc. My DS goes back to college tomorrow, so by this time next week I hope to have a plan and be on a schedule.

I can't wait to hear if your plan & schedule help you feel a difference in your day!

I hope I'm not too late to join!

My Goal for August: Lose 8 Pounds

Plan to Get there:
- Walk a minimum of 7500 steps per day
- Eat only my activity points on Weight Watchers -- I must earn to eat
- Go to Disneyland 1 day per week minimum and not snack on the yummies. For every 5,000 steps walked, I get to ride one ride.


I lost 7 pounds last month. Let's make it an even 8 for the next month. I didn't make my step goal every day.

It's never too late @courtneybeth ! Welcome to the party! HOW COOL that you can work a visit to Disneyland into your weight loss plan!!! I'm so, so jealous. I haven't made it out to that coast yet, but I really want to!

So mine doesn't sound so simple, but it will simplify my life ...
For every two things that I add to my to-do list for a given day, remove one (usually this will mean moving it to a different day ... but hopefully one that's less busy).
My to-do list tends to look very empty at the beginning of the week and then fill up, and some days are busier than others - and those are the days when things really go off the rails. So what I'm going to try to do is take some of the less time-dependent stuff off of my to-do list on the busier days so that I'm not running around like a chicken with its head cut off.
(it makes sense to me, I promise)

That makes sense to me, too, and best of luck to you! How do you make your to-do lists? Do you come up with to-dos for each day on Sunday, for example, or do you make them up day-by-day?

I am going to try to wake up just 10 minutes earlier each morning so that I don't have that "rushing out the door" feeling. I cannot tell you how many times I've said to myself "just 10 more minutes" and then I am frantically trying to pack a lunch bag and inevitably forget something. For the next 4 days I am going to force myself to wake up just 10 minutes earlier and see if that makes an impact on my morning preparation and commute into work.

Boy, do I know your pain! Haha, I am chronically late to everything. I read an article the other day about how people who are late are just more optimistic than people who are on time... We'll go with that! LOL

My little change will be that I make the bed each day.

Love this! Such a simple little act, but for some reason it has such an impact on my mood at the end of the day. I hope it does the same for you!!

 

[JacknSally]

All caught up! Where's everyone hiding today? It's quiet in here!

 

[swimchick1984]

I have been at work all day today completely slammed.

Do you have any visual motivators? Do you take before-during-after photos of your weight loss journey? Do you do something similar (or exactly like) the jar trick? Do you keep a "goal outfit" hanging where you can see it every day, or "goal photos" posted by your mirror or scale or treadmill? If you don't currently have any visual motivators, do you think having one might encourage you to stay on target with your plan this month?

I do not have a goal picture. But I think I am going to make one for my first mini-goal. Hmmm what should it be.

 

[SarahDisney]

I am going to try to wake up just 10 minutes earlier each morning so that I don't have that "rushing out the door" feeling. I cannot tell you how many times I've said to myself "just 10 more minutes" and then I am frantically trying to pack a lunch bag and inevitably forget something. For the next 4 days I am going to force myself to wake up just 10 minutes earlier and see if that makes an impact on my morning preparation and commute into work.

That's a good one! Feeling rushed is definitely rough, and I hope the earlier wakeup helps!

I just love all of this detail! I could learn from this and hope too!

I hope you can too! I find that being really detailed helps me a lot, and I love to pass on my detail-craziness!

Morning, everyone! So sorry I don't have time right now to go back through and catch up on the chatter from yesterday, but I will be back later today to do so! I'm so glad to see the positive responses to yesterday's QOTD - I have to admit I went back and forth on whether or not to post it. I wasn't sure how much you'd hate me for encouraging yet another change only a couple of days after everyone started a diet/exercise regime LOL!

It's hard to hate you when we know you're just trying to help!

Do you have any visual motivators? Do you take before-during-after photos of your weight loss journey? Do you do something similar (or exactly like) the jar trick? Do you keep a "goal outfit" hanging where you can see it every day, or "goal photos" posted by your mirror or scale or treadmill? If you don't currently have any visual motivators, do you think having one might encourage you to stay on target with your plan this month?

Hmm ... I'm also a very visual person, but for some reason I've never really used visual motivators. It's probably something for me to think about...

This is one of my favorite visuals. It really puts into perspective just WHAT you're carrying around when you're overweight... and it encourages me not to get disappointed in myself when I *only* lose 1 or 2 lbs. Sorry it's a little gross!!

I think one of the "wake up" moments I had was when I was in grad school (back before I dropped out) and we dissected a cadaver - our cadaver was obese, and seeing all that yellow fat around the organs and everywhere was really a rude awakening of how bad fat really can be. But it did get me used to the sight of fat. I spent 2 hours cleaning up fat around some of the blood vessels one day (and wasn't even done) ... remembering that is probably a pretty good motivator!

That makes sense to me, too, and best of luck to you! How do you make your to-do lists? Do you come up with to-dos for each day on Sunday, for example, or do you make them up day-by-day?

What I do is make a "weekly schedule," which has my to-do list for each day, plus my meal plan for the day and planned exercise. I usually do it on Saturday night or Sunday morning, and it looks pretty empty then. Once Monday hits, things suddenly start needing to make their way onto my to-do list, so they generally get added in as soon as possible - which tends to overload some days and leave others fairly empty. So I'm trying to space things out a bit more - for example, I had two things get added to today's to-do list, so I moved something else to tomorrow, which is a slightly less busy day.

All caught up! Where's everyone hiding today? It's quiet in here!

Haha, I noticed the quiet today! It worked for me because I was swamped earlier in the day, but I'm taking a quick DIS break. Hopefully tomorrow more people will have time to chat!

 

[DisPup75]

Do you have any visual motivators? Do you take before-during-after photos of your weight loss journey? Do you do something similar (or exactly like) the jar trick? Do you keep a "goal outfit" hanging where you can see it every day, or "goal photos" posted by your mirror or scale or treadmill? If you don't currently have any visual motivators, do you think having one might encourage you to stay on target with your plan this month?

LOVE so visuals. That fat! Egads!

I do try to keep visual reminders. I didn't take before pictures before this go round but I have plenty of others from my last attempt that will do. I keep a string of paper clips hooked to my office wall with one small clip for every pound loss and a big clip for five pounds lost. I also love graphs (and data) so I track in lots of different places!

I do not have a goal outfit. I've got a few pieces in the closet that I hope will be wearable soon but I haven't quite found the outfit worthy of losing 80 pounds for yet. But it will come to me someday!!

 

[courtneybeth]

Thanks everyone for their support. I love reading about all of your progress/goals too!

My goal so far is making great progress. I weighed in today (WW weekly weigh in) and was down 2.5 pounds! That leaves only 5.5 pounds to lose for August and 26 days left to accomplish that! Today also marked a big goal: I finally crossed the threshold of the 10% of body weight loss milestone!

Cannot wait to celebrate at Disneyland on Thursday.

 

[DisPup75]

YES! I am completing my MBA in December and am walking at graduation in May - so my goal is to reach -50 lbs before April 15 so that I can find a Kate Spade dress to wear to my graduation / graduation dinner May 22nd. (I would currently fit into a size 12 or 14, but I'd like to be in a size 8 or 10 -- I think it's doable at 150 pounds. Currently weigh 180).

I made this ridiculous sign that I posted at my desk so when I get a "stress eater" moment that I remember what my goal is and it usually stops the cycle.

Beautiful dress!

All caught up! Where's everyone hiding today? It's quiet in here!

The boss apparently occasionally expects that I work. Blargh.

↑
I just love all of this detail! I could learn from this and hope too!
I hope you can too! I find that being really detailed helps me a lot, and I love to pass on my detail-craziness!

I think one of the "wake up" moments I had was when I was in grad school (back before I dropped out) and we dissected a cadaver - our cadaver was obese, and seeing all that yellow fat around the organs and everywhere was really a rude awakening of how bad fat really can be. But it did get me used to the sight of fat. I spent 2 hours cleaning up fat around some of the blood vessels one day (and wasn't even done) ... remembering that is probably a pretty good motivator!

Ready for the crazy - can never have enough!! LOL!

That yellow fat story has me running scared. I intend to donate my body to a medical school and I'm now horrified at the idea of medical students looking at my fat. Must.get.rid.of.fat.

 

[DisPup75]

Thanks everyone for their support. I love reading about all of your progress/goals too!

My goal so far is making great progress. I weighed in today (WW weekly weigh in) and was down 2.5 pounds! That leaves only 5.5 pounds to lose for August and 26 days left to accomplish that! Today also marked a big goal: I finally crossed the threshold of the 10% of body weight loss milestone!

Cannot wait to celebrate at Disneyland on Thursday.

[/QUOTE]

WOO HOO! And a great place to celebrate all lined up!! If I ask nicely will you take a ride on Pirates in my honor (and pretend that Johnny Depp is not there )? I would offer you your choice of virtual Disney gifts and snacks in return.