Biggest Loser--Fall 2011 Challenge for Losers & Maintainers!!

[mackeysmom]

QOTD Sunday September 11, 2011: Who is standing in your way?

Me. And my budget. Let's face it, eating healthy is expensive and I'm a poor college student. But really, out of the above list, the things holding me back are: procrastination (with planning meals), not being honest with myself (do you really need this donut? Yes!), keeping goals a secret (a few friends know that I'm trying to lose weight), giving up after a small setback (bad breakfast equals the rest of the day is shot).

If you substitute "poor college student" with "currently unemployed", I could have written the exact words that Gretchen wrote.

I have no excuse - I live alone and don't have to worry about shopping or cooking for anybody else. I am responsible only for myself and am the only person standing in my way.

- Laura

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

QOTD Sunday September 11, 2011: Who is standing in your way?

"Procrastination, lateness, being disorganized, pessimism, not being honest with yourself, severe self-criticism, downplaying achievements, focusing only on weaknesses while ignoring strengths, keeping goals a secret, demanding perfection, giving up after a small setback"

but mostly, just me.

Quote for 9/11/11

I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.

Live life to it's fullest WISHers, we are not guaranteed a tomorrow, so don't say I will start tomorrow. Today is yesterdays tomorrow.

 

[ougrad86]

also does anyone know if there is away to figure out the calorie content for a recipe? id like to be able to figure it out for the chili i made.

In WW, we figure out the values of all the items put in, then divide it by the number of servings; the online tools do this for us automatically. So I would just scribble down what you add to the chili as you create it, figure out the calories for each item and add them all up, then divide by the number of servings...the only trouble is figuring out the number of servings sometimes, but if you package it in servings sizes then you could count those.

 

[ougrad86]

Good evening all!

QOTD Sunday September 11, 2011: Who is standing in your way?

This is a hard question to answer, not sure if this answer is correct. Right now, there is no one standing in my way. What I do, what I choose to eat, is ultimately my responsibility. Perhaps my lack of willpower, which is what led to my gaining weight in the first place. I am horrible at stopping with one piece of candy, or ignoring the donut they are tempting me with at work.

Right now, I envision the trip. I ask myself is it worth it, that small minute of pleasure compared to how I will feeling fitting into my clothes properly, able to move freely and not feeling tired and sluggish all the time. I had a great burst of energy this morning when I got up, and was all over the house cleaning up before my football game watching started. Even though I still need to lose the weight, the healthy eating I am now doing is taking hold, and making me feel better and give me more energy. That is great motivation as well, and led to me eating salad and chicken while DS ate pizza. And I rewarded myself with some WW ice cream tonight (still within my points), which is way better than any old pizza!

 

[SettinSail]

Well, better late than never

My name is Shawn and this is my 4th BL challenge. I started trying to lose weight Feb 2010 and have made very very slow progress but will never give up! I lost a total of 29.5 pounds when I just suddenly stopped losing weight in June and now all I can do is go up and down the same 3-4 pounds. I do LOTS of exercise but could do better on my nutrition. I tend to do very well all day and then have a period of a few minutes in the evening when I just make horrible choices and sabatoge all my efforts from the day!
When I weighed in yesterday morning I was up 3 lbs from my lowest. I would love to lose 15 pounds this challenge and have my total lost go up to 42 pounds I am 50 years old, married for almost 17 years and have one DS who is 14. I work 30 hours a week for a large insurance company. We haven't been to Disney in years but we go on Disney cruises now!

I feel journaling your food is a very important aspect to losing weight. I do it in fits and starts and would like to be more consistent with this. I do have a few nice journals just for this purpose Even if you are not journaling, at least be aware of what you are eating! At the tail end of the Summer challenge, Pamela happened to mention that she weighed her nuts to make sure of the calorie count and was shocked to see how many calories she had been eating. I did the same thing and also discovered that I was probably eating 2.5 servings of almonds a day as a snack at work and 1 serving is 160 calories

The thing most holding me back is of course, myself I just need to get focused, get past this plateau, reach 30 lbs total and move forward from there

LTS, we had the free ChickFilA breakfast today too. I had the chicken and egg bagel. I didn't realize it also came with cheese on it. VERY filling! DS & DH picked ours up and they also got some chicken minis! I told them only you guys can pay extra for a free breakfast!

Kathy, sounds like good news for Michael! I know 2 kids who had seizures when they were younger but are seizure free now as teenagers.

Lisa, thanks so much for being our coach this week and thanks Sue, CC, and Sacha for all you guys do. Oh, and Janis!

I have NOT sabotaged myself this evening. We had grilled talapia and asparagus for supper and for dessert I had 2 chocolate graham crackers and have had NOTHING since then. It's the first time in a long time that I've had a succesful evening.

Welcome to all the newbies and I'm looking forward to chatting with everyone this challenge

 

[glss1/2fll]

Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels. Someone said that a challenge or so back. I try to remember them when I am tempted by goodies.

 

[Michele]

QOTD Saturday, September 10, 2011: Do you think tracking food is an important part of weight loss?


Yes, I believe it's important and that it will help. I have been really bad about this in the past, going to try very hard to do it for this challenge.

 

[Michele]

QOTD Sunday September 11, 2011: Who is standing in your way?

Only myself, I need to follow through with my plans.

 

[bellebookworm9]

Okay, meals and snacks are all planned for tomorrow, so I feel I will be successful. I am really bad about planning for the week, so perhaps I will just make an effort to sit down the night before and plan for the next day. I am also going to the gym tomorrow evening to use the elliptical and the nautilus weights.

 

[kollerbear]

It's still September 10th in some parts of the USA, right? OK, then...

QOTD Saturday, September 10, 2011: Do you think tracking food is an important part of weight loss?
* Yes, definitely
* Maybe, it depends on the person
* No, I don't think it's necessary

I can't tell if it's "Yes, definitely" or "Maybe, depends on the person." I can definitely say that I have been health conscious for a long time, and actively trying to lose weight on and off for a year, and all of a sudden when I started using the meal planners and daily journaling at eDiets the weight just started disappearing. I think the combination of planning and measuring my food makes all the difference to me.

Of course, this might only help because I'm obsessive and couldn't stand not writing something down. Just knowing I'll have to write something up when I go off-plan seems so difficult to me, that I'll decide not to eat out or will say "no" more often to foods I don't know the composition of. Of course, I'm so obsessive that not tracking even one meal out would drive me crazy, so what I've done is tell myself that one meal per week I won't write up. That doesn't mean it's a free meal-- I just came back from my friend's birthday dinner, hadn't eaten lunch to save calories up, only had one cocktail and then diet Coke after that, tried to eat only a little of the shared appetizer, and didn't have dessert. (But the goat's cheese ravioli was DELISH.) Planning to go "off the record" once a week has been really helpful for me, and lets me still stay "on plan."

 

[kollerbear]

kollerbear,
I'll be watching your vegetarian journal. I'd really like to cut out meat completely but hard living with a carnivorous omni(my brother) who has to have his meat.

Hi Melissa! Yay! Yes, it's very hard being vegetarian while living with omnis! I'd be interested to make some recommendations for you... many of the recipes we make could substitute a meat for a portion, so that everyone could be happy... I saw in my WISH journal you were interested in gluten free, too, so I'm thinking some tofu dishes?

also does anyone know if there is away to figure out the calorie content for a recipe? id like to be able to figure it out for the chili i made.

Yes-- I'll second a PP and say that the only way is to walk through item by item and find the calories for it. Kind of a headache. And then making the portions... I've been known to get really mad at my DBF for serving himself first-- "NOW I can't know what one quarter of the recipe is supposed to look like!!!" Maybe estimate how much chili you made based on the size of the containers you put in the freezer (you could have also measured before putting it in the freezer, of course), and then determine what fraction of the whole recipe should be a serving?

I have NOT sabotaged myself this evening. We had grilled talapia and asparagus for supper and for dessert I had 2 chocolate graham crackers and have had NOTHING since then. It's the first time in a long time that I've had a succesful evening.

Congratulations on your snack-free evening! Chocolate graham crackers are my favorite dessert--sometimes I split one in half and put a scoop of vanilla frozen yogurt in there--skinny ice cream sandwich!

Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels. Someone said that a challenge or so back. I try to remember them when I am tempted by goodies.

I've heard this quote too and it really stuck with me... You know, maybe it's just that I haven't been skinny since I was in junior year of high school so I don't remember what it felt like, but man, there are SO MANY GOOD TASTING THINGS out there... I mean, red velvet cupcakes probably taste at least as good as skinny feels.... And if not, I can't wait to be skinny!!

 

[buzz5985]

I'm late to the party, and it's been a busy, hectic week, but i'm hoping I'll have some time tomorrow to regroup, relax and meet everyone here.

I'm Kathy, 47 yo single mom to an amazing 9 yo son, Michael who is the light of my life. I'm an RN in an endoscopy unit, and have done many bl challenges, some I've lost on, some I've gained, some I've maintained, but I know without the amazing support here, I'm would have done so much worse. I will never give up. I started my weight loss journey 6 years ago, after my mom had some medical issues, and at that time, I said I would never give up. I've been up and down, but never up over my starting weight then of 229, where before that, I'd yo-yo'ed up and down too many times, and always went up and over the prior weight.

I'm at 215 this morning, and my goal for this challenge is to stick with it, and get to 199. The amazing ONEderland I've seen so many hit, but I haven't been there in 2 years.

Just a note on ds. I shared on the summer challenge that he had a seizure on tuesday, and we went through a workup this week, MRI was normal, so great news, EEG showed that he is prone to have more seizures, so we started him on a med last night, but the good new is there is a good chance it will be a childhood disorder and he may out grow them. Thanks to all of you for your good wishes and prayers. The support here is so amazing.

I'm sorry I haven't had time to read through the thread and meet everyone yet, but am looking forward to catching up later this weekend. Looks like an awesome group!!

That's great news about your DS.

Good evening all!

I thought long and hard about what the QOTD for tomorrow. It's a national day of mourning and a day of remembrance. It's a time to think about those we lost, how our lives were forever changed, and to reflect on the world that we live in today.

So while you are doing this reflecting tomorrow, I would like for you to take a few minutes to reflect on your healthy lifestyle. And think about this question which is based on an email from sparkpeople.com:

Who is standing in your way?

Something we were withholding made us weak, until we found it was ourselves.

- Robert Frost

Imagine someone regularly tying small weights around your ankles as you try to climb a mountain. Doesn't sound fair, does it? But that's exactly what you can do to yourself, a little bit at a time, if you don't watch out. When you think of who and what is standing in the way of your dreams, it's easy to forget your own responsibility. Even the best of us can be guilty of unknowingly hurting our own progress. Procrastination, lateness, being disorganized, pessimism, not being honest with yourself, severe self-criticism, downplaying achievements, focusing only on weaknesses while ignoring strengths, keeping goals a secret, demanding perfection, giving up after a small setback--these are all ways you can make it tough to be (and do) your best. Smart systems, the right attitude, and a promise to keep going no matter what will make a world of difference.

QOTD Sunday September 11, 2011: Who is standing in your way?

I am the only person standing in my way. Demanding perfection, giving up after a small setback - that is me!!! I was always told growing up - if you can't do it right, don't bother to do it at all. I'm finally learning at the age of 52, that I don't need to have a perfectly clean home, be super Mom, and work full time. Maybe, just maybe, I can put myself first. Instead of cleaning a kitchen - that's already clean - I should go for a walk instead with some friends.

I pick my DS up every day at school. There is a beautiful place to walk, right near the school called Breakheart Reservation. I know of 3 woman that are also there picking up their boys, so I am going to invite them to join me 45 minutes before school lets out, to go for a walk in Breakheart. I hope some will join me. They are all fellow hockey Mom's - we are a different breed. LOL

I had a busy day, what else is new?? DS had hockey at 9 till about 10:30. Came home and showered then headed to my DF Assisted Living facililty for the final BBQ of the year. The place is great - they bring in DJ's that play big band music, set up big grills outside. All the families are invited - so a lot of times there are 3 generations of people there. Also had a yound man from Creature's Teachers - I actually held a 7 yo alligator!!! I don't know who enjoys the animals more the grandkids or the residents. Came home DS went to a birthday party/sleepover. I turned the breadmaker on and made fresh tortillas to go with the fahitas I was making. DH came home from work (he was on call today) just in time to eat. Threw a turkey into the "Set it and forget it" for lunches this week, sat down to watch Torchwood.

So it's the second day I journaled my food, drank my water, exercised and found a healthy article to read. And answered the QOTD. It's a good start.

Janis

 

[bellebookworm9]

I just made this list and it is hanging on my wall above my desk, where I will see it a lot. It is based on the list of things possibly holding you back in today's question of the day. I hope it helps somebody else. Parentheses indicate "put your own reason here".

Rules for Success

1.Do it now! No, it can't wait until later. Nothing is more important than your health.
2.Get organized! It will help you plan.
3.Optimism is the way to go: "You are pretty, you are smart, you are nice, you are worth it!" (Thanks Trina)
4. Be honest with yourself. No, you don't need that (ice cream/pumpkin bread/latte/cookie). Yes, it could be the difference between a loss and a gain.
5.Be positive and open about you achievements! "I did (a 5K on the elliptical in 31:32)! I ate (4 veggies and 5 fruits)!"
6. Focus on the positives, but don't ignore the negatives. "I did a great thing by (walking around campus for two hours today). I also had (some poor breakfast choices), but I can plan for that in the future by (bringing my own breakfast before a tour.)
7. Don't keep it a secret! "I'm watching what I eat to (lower my insulin level/reduce risk of [heart disease/diabetes/high cholesterol]/feel better about myself). I'd appreciate if you could support me and encourage me on this journey to a healthier me-and I will do the same for you if you would like."
8. Things will not always be perfect and it is unrealistic to expect them to be so. If one meal or workout does not go as planned (or not planned), don't give up! Get back into it as soon as you can and you will undoubtedly feel better.

Remember: "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels."
"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail"-Pamela (pjlla)

 

[kollerbear]

I was always told growing up - if you can't do it right, don't bother to do it at all. I'm finally learning at the age of 52, that I don't need to have a perfectly clean home, be super Mom, and work full time.

Oh my gosh... my mom used to say to me all the time when I was a kid that "if it's not worth doing right, it's not worth doing." It wasn't until I had been moved out for a few years that I thought, hold on a second... there are lots of things worth doing that it doesn't matter if they're perfect!! I am so happy to hear someone else say this, too!!!

 

[kollerbear]

QOTD Sunday September 11, 2011: Who is standing in your way?

It's myself. I'm really lucky to have a very supportive boyfriend who makes it easy for me to stay focused day to day and plan each week. Now that I have a plan and some momentum going, it will truly be no one's fault but my own if I can't see myself through.

 

[RedRosePrincess]

It's myself. I'm really lucky to have a very supportive boyfriend who makes it easy for me to stay focused day to day and plan each week. Now that I have a plan and some momentum going, it will truly be no one's fault but my own if I can't see myself through.

That's so great you have a supportive bf. I had one that started out being supportive and that's when I lost all my weight but as soon as we started having problems that's when I put it back on. Unfortunately I found comfort in eating and didn't end things with him when I should have. Maybe if I had ended things earlier with him, I wouldn't have gained so much back but it was as much his fault for making me feel that way as it was my fault for letting him make me feel that way.

QOTD: The thing that is standing in my way is me and being able to have control. I need to be able to tell myself when to stop (eating) and when to go (exercise).

 

[donac]

Good Sunday morning everyone.

Please take a second to remember everyone who died 10 years ago. I still have students who lost someone that day. The town I teach in lost 37people and that doesn't include the people who got out like my gf's husband.

Yesterday was a lazy day around here. Dh did some painting and I did some sewing. Dh will paint again today and ds will help him for a while. I need to go grocery shopping today and plan my meals for the week.

Off to get ready for the day.

Have a happy and healthy day.

 

[pjlla]

Happy (but solemn) Sunday morning to you all. FIrst of all..... prayers and thoughts with any one here who was affected by 9/11/01. I know, in some way, EVERYONE was affected, either directly or indirectly. I will be saying a prayer for peace today, as I"m sure many of you will be too.

I came on here yesterday with the intention of getting caught up, meeting the new "faces" and being off to a good start.... but at that time I was 8 pages behind and only read 2.... and now I'm STILL 8 pages behind!
I'll try to get to it today.

DD's competed in her first TRIATHALON yesterday! She and two swim team friends had a team.... her friend Eva swam (1/2 mi), DD biked (14 HILLY miles), and her friend Kathryn ran (hilly 5K).... they came in 2nd overall for female teams!!!! I was SO IMPRESSED! And their other swim team friend (and DD's ex-boyfriend ) came in 3rd overall for the 19 and under category. These kids are some AMAZING athletes!

DD's team time was very good, but DD and Eva are both sporting bad colds, so I'm sure that affected their times. But Eva totally swam BOSS, coming out of the water ahead of virtually EVERYONE in the two waves that went off ahead of her (I think she was only beat of the water by about 5 men!!). And DD and Kathryn BOTH had personal best times in their legs of the race..... so we couldn't have asked for a better showing! And DD was doing this road race riding a cheap-o Walmart mountain bike (hey.... this was her first bike race, so I wasn't ready to invest in a fancy bike! ). She was one of only about 4 or 5 mountain bikes in the race.... most people had hybrids or true racing bikes.

Anyhow, needless to say I was SUPER proud of them ALL!!

My parents came up for a visit this weekend, so last night after the race and some work around the house, we ran into town to do a bit of shopping and went out to dinner at Ruby Tuesday. Love their salad bar! Not sure what we will do today after church. Probably just hang around the house, visit, maybe play some games (and in DD's case, finish her weekend homework). DH is still recovering from the bad cold he had Labor day weekend, so his energy level is pretty low. And of course, DD caught the cold and has been sniffling, blowing, coughing, etc.

Well.... my morning coffee it calling my name. I PROMISE to come back on later today and play catch-up and meet all of the newbies (and introduce myself properly! ). TTYL................................P

 

[ougrad86]

I tend to do very well all day and then have a period of a few minutes in the evening when I just make horrible choices and sabatoge all my efforts from the day!
At the tail end of the Summer challenge, Pamela happened to mention that she weighed her nuts to make sure of the calorie count and was shocked to see how many calories she had been eating. I did the same thing and also discovered that I was probably eating 2.5 servings of almonds a day as a snack at work and 1 serving is 160 calories
I have NOT sabotaged myself this evening. We had grilled talapia and asparagus for supper and for dessert I had 2 chocolate graham crackers and have had NOTHING since then. It's the first time in a long time that I've had a succesful evening.

Congrats on the successful evening. This is my downfall too. I am so good all day and at the end of the day I am tired and think that I've been good and then go a little crazy. So I am watching that. I found out that if I just graze at my dinner instead of sitting and eating at 7pm (we eat late because of our schedules) I tend to do better. And then shortly before bed, I pull a WW ice cream treat out of the freezer and slowly savor it. Gonna keep on trying it like that.

I eat almonds everyday for my cholesterol (along with high-fiber oatmeal and fish oil). It is 4 points for me, out of a total of 29. I used to think that since it was like medication (my doc recommended it) I could just ignore that little bit, but that adds up to almost a full day of points over the week, so I had to include it. But it is good for my cholesterol and heart, so I need to keep on eating them. I count out 25 almonds every day . It is so easy to eat too many if I don't count them out. They have become my mid-afternoon snack along with some raw veggies.

When I next see my doctor (I've been putting it off because I want my cholesterol and weight under control - I will do it after the turn of the year), I want to be closer to my ideal weight and have my cholesterol being where it should be. Willpower, willpower, willpower !

Remembering 10 years ago - all those who died, their families; the day the world changed for my innocent five year old and he didn't even know it. Was just so happy that mommy picked him up early and he got to go home to play with her.

 

[jaelless]

I read a lot of people saying themselves, and while yes that is true for a lot of us, I am going to go with the CEO's of big business. Those higher ups who price everything healthy for us more expensive. I was at store this week because I wanted some apples. Would you believe ONE gala apple was priced at $1.97, that was absurd. Produce prices are outrageous right now. Lean cuts of meat are usually over a dollar more per pound. Anything with light, low fat, low sugar, or organic is guaranteed to cost more. So what do I end up buying the full of fat and calorie options. That is where you find the cheap stuff. The worse it is for you the cheaper it is. The media is up in arms about the growing obesity problem in this country, especially where kids concerned. Well how about making it more economical for people to eat healthy choices.

Please don't blast me for this opinion. I really try to avoid posts like this. It just sucked seeing so many people blame themselves. Yes we are ones who put the bites in our mouths, but I am betting that if it were cheaper, lots more homes would have healthier bite options.