Biggest Loser Fall Challenge!

[Mom2aJessieGirl]

So.... I made it to the gym today for the first time in ages. I walked a 24 minute mile, which is lots better then what I expected!

 

[JacksLilWench]

Pjilla and kollerbear, I *completely* understand about the community boards- I will never go to them again after I was attacked for venting about my grandmother's accident while she was in a nursing home. Someone actually said to me "You can't expect nurses to not be tired and make mistakes." . Actually, that's *exactly* what I expect from you as a healthcare professional, regardless of how tired you may be...but I'll stop now before I get all riled up!

I'm so ready for the challenge to start!! I feel like I've been pretty slack lately, and I think its because I have no challenge :-( so I'm ready to go! Pamela, the oatmeal recipes sound so good, I'm gonna have to try those...especially the pumpkin one! I missed my run last night because I was hosting a meetup that (despite only 7 out of 21 people showing) was a great time. So Thursday I have to make up for it and maybe a little extra on Saturday ;-)

Only a couple more days now to the start line!

 

[lisah0711]

Good morning all!

I'm going to go ahead and post a warm up question since we are all anxious to get started.

Raise your hand if you want to go to the Happiest Place on Earth as we start our Biggest Loser Fall Challenge!

Yep, we're on our way to healthy living!

Oh . . . um . . . did you think I was going to say we're going to Disney? Okay, let's see if we can manage to do both.

But before we get started we had better introduce ourselves to our fellow travelers.

Did anyone else ever go on the America the Beautiful attraction at Disneyland? It was a circle-vision movie, similar to the Reflections of China movie at Epcot. Although the attraction never moved, many people thought it did because of the way it was filmed, so the host always asked you to introduce yourself to the people standing around you, in case you needed to grab onto them.

Well, during this challenge we will all be counting of the support of our fellow challengers.

Intro QOTD (Question of the Day) 9/5/12: Please introduce yourself, if you haven't already.

I am Lisa and I will be your coach starting Friday. I've been doing the BL challenges since 2009. I'm 52, married and have a sometimes cranky teen son. I will be reaching my goal weight by the end of the year. It's taken me longer than I thought it would to get there but each and every challenge, year after year, I end up weighing less than I started. Thanks to several WISHers who inspired me I started running when I was 49. In a few days I will be running my
4th half marathon in 12 months. I've made lifelong friends and been to WISH meets at both Disneyland and DisneyWorld. I've done things that I never dreamed possible because of these challenges and WISH who gave me the courage to start.

A big, BL thank you to our hostess, Maureen, and our weightkeeper, Samantha!

I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone and to a great challenge!

 

[lisah0711]

I totally agree about the Community Board -- those people can be scary at times! I do have to admit I do read there because some of those threads are so crazy they are funny.

 

[Disneywedding2010]

Afternoon everyone!

I'm going to make this short because I want to go back and catch up on some pages on the thread.

Went to the doctor yesterday and she told me "It wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on your blood glucose levels". Then she gave me a pink One Touch monitor. Alan went to fill my meds today and picked up the script for my test strips. HOLY MOLY! Those aren't cheap.

Going in for lab work in a few days to get more blood tests and such completed. Hoping results come back okay so I don't have to see a medical endocrinologist but we shall see. Increased my Metformin yesterday and yep it kicked my butt . Hoping my body adjusts quickly.

Alan and I are going to be at Disney this time next week. I'm excited for our little 3 day get away. We got 2 dinner reservations: O'hanas and he requested Liberty Tree Tavern at MK. I was amazed when he told me he actually enjoyed that place. I think his response was "Well yeah. Where else can you go to at Disney World no matter the time of the year and eat Thanksgiving dinner??" LOL.

CONGRATULATIONS to all the biggest losers that made the list at the end of the Summer Challenge! I was amazed that not only did I crack the top 10 for the last week but overall as well. It just goes to show even though I didn't lose a whole lot during the challenge I still kicked butt.

 

[JacksLilWench]

Good morning all!

I'm going to go ahead and post a warm up question since we are all anxious to get started.

Raise your hand if you want to go to the Happiest Place on Earth as we start our Biggest Loser Fall Challenge!

Yep, we're on our way to healthy living!

Oh . . . um . . . did you think I was going to say we're going to Disney? Okay, let's see if we can manage to do both.

But before we get started we had better introduce ourselves to our fellow travelers.

Did anyone else ever go on the America the Beautiful attraction at Disneyland? It was a circle-vision movie, similar to the Reflections of China movie at Epcot. Although the attraction never moved, many people thought it did because of the way it was filmed, so the host always asked you to introduce yourself to the people standing around you, in case you needed to grab onto them.

Well, during this challenge we will all be counting of the support of our fellow challengers.

Intro QOTD (Question of the Day) 9/5/12: Please introduce yourself, if you haven't already.

I am Lisa and I will be your coach starting Friday. I've been doing the BL challenges since 2009. I'm 52, married and have a sometimes cranky teen son. I will be reaching my goal weight by the end of the year. It's taken me longer than I thought it would to get there but each and every challenge, year after year, I end up weighing less than I started. Thanks to several WISHers who inspired me I started running when I was 49. In a few days I will be running my
4th half marathon in 12 months. I've made lifelong friends and been to WISH meets at both Disneyland and DisneyWorld. I've done things that I never dreamed possible because of these challenges and WISH who gave me the courage to start.

A big, BL thank you to our hostess, Maureen, and our weightkeeper, Samantha!

I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone and to a great challenge!

I can't remember if I did this or not...I don't think I did! Hi everyone! My name is Kaiti, and this is my 4th(ish) challenge. I am hoping to start nursing school in the Spring and want to do so at a healthier weight and with healthier habits under my belt! Right now I work as an anesthesia tech in an operating room in my hometown. I love my job, and want to go back to school to learn how to do more AT my job. My next trip to the world is in 22 days hyper to run the ToT 10miler race- my first Disney race! I will try to post some pictures as I go on my Facebook account, and you're all welcome to add me on there! My name is Kaiti Courts on there- just let me know you're a Dis'er so I don't think some crazy person is trying to stalk me I can't wait to get started!

 

[tea pot]

You've come to the right place! Glad you'vw returned. Start doing some thinking about why you can start strong but fizzle out quickly. What ever that reason is, we can definitely help you overcome it and move beyond it this time. The first thing I will tell you is that you MUST stop thinking in terms of "diet" and start thinking in terms of "lifestyle change". There is NO getting around this. If you are serious about taking weight off and (more importantly) keeping to off, you must be willing to start making permanent changes.it isn't as hard as it sounds though.. Baby steps!

Thanks so much pjlla and your so right!
This time I will start to change my "Life Style" habits one at a time as you said Baby Steps in the past I tried to all things at once and just got overwhelmed. I also want to concentrate on Adding good things not just taking away old comfortable crutches.

Tea Pot You are definitely in the right place. We are all so glad you are here. Just keep reading and posting! We are all in this together.

Melinda Thanks so much for your voice of support
I want to make time spent here one of those consistent
Positive changes I'm adding to my day

 

[momofdjc]

Good morning all!

I'm going to go ahead and post a warm up question since we are all anxious to get started.

Raise your hand if you want to go to the Happiest Place on Earth as we start our Biggest Loser Fall Challenge!

Yep, we're on our way to healthy living!

Oh . . . um . . . did you think I was going to say we're going to Disney? Okay, let's see if we can manage to do both.

But before we get started we had better introduce ourselves to our fellow travelers.

Did anyone else ever go on the America the Beautiful attraction at Disneyland? It was a circle-vision movie, similar to the Reflections of China movie at Epcot. Although the attraction never moved, many people thought it did because of the way it was filmed, so the host always asked you to introduce yourself to the people standing around you, in case you needed to grab onto them.

Well, during this challenge we will all be counting of the support of our fellow challengers.

Intro QOTD (Question of the Day) 9/5/12: Please introduce yourself, if you haven't already.

I am Lisa and I will be your coach starting Friday. I've been doing the BL challenges since 2009. I'm 52, married and have a sometimes cranky teen son. I will be reaching my goal weight by the end of the year. It's taken me longer than I thought it would to get there but each and every challenge, year after year, I end up weighing less than I started. Thanks to several WISHers who inspired me I started running when I was 49. In a few days I will be running my
4th half marathon in 12 months. I've made lifelong friends and been to WISH meets at both Disneyland and DisneyWorld. I've done things that I never dreamed possible because of these challenges and WISH who gave me the courage to start.

A big, BL thank you to our hostess, Maureen, and our weightkeeper, Samantha!

I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone and to a great challenge!

Hi I'm Reenie. I've done a couple of challenges before and this time I managed to lose a couple of pounds over the summer. I'm hoping that the fall will be a little more successful. I'm 42 and working mom of 3. I have 2 teens and an 8 year old. My 16 year old son should be getting his liscense in November - I'm starting to look forward to that. My DH works second shift so having another driver for activities will be handy. At times it seems like our family life revolves around baseball with games from March through October and practices the rest of the year. In the fall we through football games (DD cheers for the town team) into the mix.

Hope everyone has a successful challenge this fall.

 

[kollerbear]

Pjilla and kollerbear, I *completely* understand about the community boards- I will never go to them again after I was attacked for venting about my grandmother's accident while she was in a nursing home....

I totally agree about the Community Board -- those people can be scary at times! I do have to admit I do read there because some of those threads are so crazy they are funny.

Thanks to you both and to Pamela... these comments helped ease my feelings for sure. I know I SAID on the thread that I'd unsubscribed (and I had!) but right through last night I was still anxiously refreshing the thread to see any new posts. These comments helped me let it go this morning and I won't be back. The people who said the most hurtful things have thousands and thousands of posts under their accounts, and I took a quick look at their most recent posts and honestly they seem to just swoop from thread to thread giving their two cents about every little thing, even in cases where it's unsolicited or barely solicited. I think it's so easy to forget that EVERYONE on here is a PERSON, and for the sake of brevity, or just out of carelessness, anyone can misstate an idea or misrepresent a situation, or even just only give part of the story. If you were in a conversation with that person, you wouldn't attack them outright!! It was a really good reminder for me how important it is to try to give EVERYONE the benefit of the doubt. It's like my old philosophy professor used to say: "When you read something that makes no sense, spend some time trying to figure out how that idea COULD make sense. Sometimes it's just bad writing, but the idea, although poorly written and perhaps only partly developed, could have a lot of merit and inspire you to look in a new direction."

Good morning all!

I'm going to go ahead and post a warm up question since we are all anxious to get started.

Raise your hand if you want to go to the Happiest Place on Earth as we start our Biggest Loser Fall Challenge!

Yep, we're on our way to healthy living!

Oh . . . um . . . did you think I was going to say we're going to Disney? Okay, let's see if we can manage to do both.

But before we get started we had better introduce ourselves to our fellow travelers.

Did anyone else ever go on the America the Beautiful attraction at Disneyland? It was a circle-vision movie, similar to the Reflections of China movie at Epcot. Although the attraction never moved, many people thought it did because of the way it was filmed, so the host always asked you to introduce yourself to the people standing around you, in case you needed to grab onto them.

Well, during this challenge we will all be counting of the support of our fellow challengers.

Intro QOTD (Question of the Day) 9/5/12: Please introduce yourself, if you haven't already.

I am Lisa and I will be your coach starting Friday. I've been doing the BL challenges since 2009. I'm 52, married and have a sometimes cranky teen son. I will be reaching my goal weight by the end of the year. It's taken me longer than I thought it would to get there but each and every challenge, year after year, I end up weighing less than I started. Thanks to several WISHers who inspired me I started running when I was 49. In a few days I will be running my
4th half marathon in 12 months. I've made lifelong friends and been to WISH meets at both Disneyland and DisneyWorld. I've done things that I never dreamed possible because of these challenges and WISH who gave me the courage to start.

A big, BL thank you to our hostess, Maureen, and our weightkeeper, Samantha!

I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone and to a great challenge!

Thank you Lisa! And thank you Maureen for hosting! I know she's already put a LOT of effort and thought into what's in store for all of us, so a big round of applause to her! I'm so excited to be this challenge's weightkeeper, not least of all because it means I'll get to check in (even if it's a one-liner) with all of you each week, and you all are SO inspirational to me!

I've already introduced myself, but quick recap (in case Maureen is using these to help her form small groups): 26, live with Matt (BF) in Queens, NYC, 3 cats (50% too many cats), love Excel, vegan (99.9% of the time, as I've been lambasted for not pointing out), LOVE LOVE LOVE to cook and meal-plan, want to go to culinary school for health-supportive cooking next year part-time (maybe?), work at a non-profit doing alternative-to-incarcerations, JUST starting C25K running when the challenge starts (although ran a couple half marathons a couple years ago), take care of my grandma upstate with Matt, 1/2way to my goal, about 26 lbs. left to go, hoping to lose at a steady 1 lb./week during the challenge. Thanks for all of your support guys!!!

I was amazed that not only did I crack the top 10 for the last week but overall as well. It just goes to show even though I didn't lose a whole lot during the challenge I still kicked butt.

YES you did!!! Congratulations!!

Thanks so much pjlla and your so right!
This time I will start to change my "Life Style" habits one at a time as you said Baby Steps in the past I tried to all things at once and just got overwhelmed. I also want to concentrate on Adding good things not just taking away old comfortable crutches.

I LOVE this point... it's not just about removing old, unhealthy habits, it's about finding new, healthy habits that you REALLY LOVE and ENJOY. And even though it can feel like a lot of pressure to do everything at once, be kind to yourself and give yourself time to add new habits. It takes a LONG time for a single habit to stick, not just a week or two!! For me discovering how much I love to cook and getting into the habit of cooking each night was an incredible discovery. I think it can be as simple as, for example, making iced unsweetened herbal tea for yourself and keeping it stocked in the fridge, so you're not just removing sugary drinks, you're adding a new drink to your daily habits that you truly enjoy (if that's your thing). It's the little things like that that help you feel like you're transitioning into something more positive, not depriving yourself.

I hope everyone is having a great day!!

 

[tigger813]

Time for my introduction...

I'm Tracey (42), wife to Brian (doconeill), Mom to two girls growing up way too fast, former teacher, licensed massage therapist, soccer mom, dance mom, chauffeur, chef, shopper, book lover, exercise enthusiasts (trying to get better at it), Disney lover!

This is probably Challenge 6 or 7 for me. Didn't get on here much last challenge due to family and work issues. Kids just went back to school today so I'm planning on being more involved. Thanks to those running the challenge! It is not always easy. I was weight keeper a few challenges back! I loved it but it was a lot of work!

Hoping to walk tonight at DD12s soccer practice with another mom. I was going to do the elliptical after dropping DD7 off this morning but DH was on a conference call and wouldn't have been able to hear the call.

I need to think about supper now so DD12 can eat and have her food settle before soccer practice.

Gotta start filling out school paperwork!

TTFN

 

[CruiseBoundnKY]

Hello All!! Thanks for welcoming me with open arms.

I'm 37, mom of 2 (ds 9, dd 15), married 16 yrs, live in central KY.

I am 2 days away from my first race ever. It's a 2K, but it's a start.

I'm currently in the 230 range, but thats about to change.

I'm doing Zumba, walking, starting C25K and thinking about Jazzercise.

Basically anything to move more.

Looking forward to getting to know you guys.

Karen

 

[belledreamer]

Good morning all!

I'm going to go ahead and post a warm up question since we are all anxious to get started.

Raise your hand if you want to go to the Happiest Place on Earth as we start our Biggest Loser Fall Challenge!

Yep, we're on our way to healthy living!

Oh . . . um . . . did you think I was going to say we're going to Disney? Okay, let's see if we can manage to do both.

But before we get started we had better introduce ourselves to our fellow travelers.

Did anyone else ever go on the America the Beautiful attraction at Disneyland? It was a circle-vision movie, similar to the Reflections of China movie at Epcot. Although the attraction never moved, many people thought it did because of the way it was filmed, so the host always asked you to introduce yourself to the people standing around you, in case you needed to grab onto them.

Well, during this challenge we will all be counting of the support of our fellow challengers.

Intro QOTD (Question of the Day) 9/5/12: Please introduce yourself, if you haven't already.

I am Lisa and I will be your coach starting Friday. I've been doing the BL challenges since 2009. I'm 52, married and have a sometimes cranky teen son. I will be reaching my goal weight by the end of the year. It's taken me longer than I thought it would to get there but each and every challenge, year after year, I end up weighing less than I started. Thanks to several WISHers who inspired me I started running when I was 49. In a few days I will be running my 4th half marathon in 12 months. I've made lifelong friends and been to WISH meets at both Disneyland and DisneyWorld. I've done things that I never dreamed possible because of these challenges and WISH who gave me the courage to start.

A big, BL thank you to our hostess, Maureen, and our weightkeeper, Samantha!

I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone and to a great challenge!

Not going to Disney at the start of the BL challenge but planning on going during it so I'll raise my hand!

Already did an intro earlier, so a little more about myself. I'm Ashley (also know as Ash.) I'm in my mid 20's but certainly don't act my age (still love cartoon and the like) and am a huge fan of all things Disney, Sherlock, Doctor Who, Avengers and Superman so I'm always open to chatting more on any of those subjects. I also love to sing, write, watch movies and photoshop in my spare time as well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Had a time trying to get dressed this morning...cause everything I pulled was too big! I haven't really noticed the scale moving much (still managing to keep those 5lbs I lost during the storm off) but I'm definitely noticing it in my clothes. Clothes have always been hard to shop for, especially since I'm so hourglass shaped, it's hard to find clothes that fit everywhere without making something else look huge... Even the shirt I ended up wearing made me look 3 months pregnant... TIME TO GO SHOPPING!!

Had an unbelievable craving for fish today so I made baked tilapia tacos for lunch today. YUM!! All I put on the fish is just salt, pepper, a little butter, Tony Chachere spice and Worcestershire. That on tortillas and a little sour cream is about 400 calories which is perfect for me. Mom's making some turkey burgers for us to try for dinner so we'll see how we like it.

Getting ready to head to the gym; hopefully the knee will last longer this time. We also may be booking our Disney trip tomorrow for possibly October! Anybody else going around that time?

EDITED TO ADD THOUGHTS ON TURKEY BURGER: It was okay. Not 'Wow! This is great!' but it wasn't terrible.

 

[lisah0711]

Hi All
I 'd love to come back and so glad I didn't miss the start date.
I was here a year or so ago then I let Life get in the way.
Need to get get serious again
I can and have made good progress in the past
but my MO is a great start that is usually short lived,
followed by the "so you failed again" mantra and regained weight.
So sick of it
HELP!

Teapot! So nice to see you again.

Even though I know I'm ultimately the one responsible for my food and exercise choices, I firmly believe that this group gave me the boost I needed to finally make my weight loss happen this year. I don't ever want to go back, and so I choose to keep hanging with you lovely people. You're all inspirations to me! Looking forward to a great fall!

Hi Liz! You are living the dream being in maintainence. Every maintainer is an inspiration to me and reminder of where I hope to be in the not too distant future.

I can't wait to hear how you and Kaiti enjoy the Tower of Terror 10 miler.

The pumpkin was good! But there is just a little something about it that I didn't love. DD loved it. I will post the recipe, but next time I make it I do need to change something... not sure what.

Do you think it was the coconut and pumpkin combo? That seemed like an unusual combination to me.

We are all so glad you are here. Just keep reading and posting! We are all in this together.

And we are glad to see you here, too, Melinda! The Wine and Dine is coming up fast!

Hi, I'm Christina!
I'm newish to the boards and new to the BL challenge. I've been doing WW with my DH since May and have lost 27.6 lbs so far. I'm hoping this will help keep me accountable because I've been in somewhat of a rut the past two weeks.
I used to run... ahem.. 9 1/2 years ago I ran all of 1 5k. In any case, I wanted to start running again, so I started about a month ago, and well I have a 5k this Sunday and I am planning on running the Princess 1/2 in Feb.
Nice to meet all of you!

Christina! This is a great group. Sounds like you've had a very successful summer.

So.... I made it to the gym today for the first time in ages. I walked a 24 minute mile, which is lots better then what I expected!

Woo hoo! Great job! That is one of the nice things about exercising -- you really appreciate how quickly it makes a big, positive change in your life.

Hi I'm Reenie. I've done a couple of challenges before and this time I managed to lose a couple of pounds over the summer. I'm hoping that the fall will be a little more successful.

Hi Reenie! Nice to see you again!

I LOVE this point... it's not just about removing old, unhealthy habits, it's about finding new, healthy habits that you REALLY LOVE and ENJOY. And even though it can feel like a lot of pressure to do everything at once, be kind to yourself and give yourself time to add new habits. It takes a LONG time for a single habit to stick, not just a week or two!!

This is great advice, Samantha! Good luck with the C25K.

For those of you doing the C25K who are thinking about trying a run/walk eventually you might want to take a look at Jeff Galloway's 5K program or conditioning program that helps you get started. I wish it would have been available when I first started running because I think I would have been better off doing the run/walk right from the beginning. Here is a link to the conditioning program. http://www.jeffgalloway.com/training/condition.html Be sure and check the links on how his program works or look at some of the training plans on rundisney.com

Hi Tracey! Hope the girls are enjoying school!

Hello All!! Thanks for welcoming me with open arms.

I am 2 days away from my first race ever. It's a 2K, but it's a start.

Karen! Your first race -- how exciting! You'll do great! :cheer: Be sure and share how it goes.

I only went back a couple of pages to start on my replies so if I missed greeting you, I apologize, and say

 

[Melissahac99]

Hi! My name is Melissa and I'm new to the DIS boards. I recently began planning a Nov 2013 WDW trip and discovered this amazing place, thus my lack of posts.

I am W4D2 of couch 25K and want to lose 50lbs. My first 5K race is Oct 28. Yikes I think this challenge will help motivate me in the diet end of my fitness/weight loss goals.

I am a Part time oncology RN, wife and mom to two boys, almost 5 and 19 months.

So excited to start!

P.S. I tried to PM to join the challenge but it won't let me till I have 10 posts.

 

[Friend of a Mouse]

I'm in! My name is Jessi and I am a teacher of the visually impaired. This year I travel to four different schools three days a week and two schools the other 2. I am also currently working at a theme park as a lead at a roller coaster. Needless to say, eating right and exercising properly have been a challenge. I need to be held accountable even when it is not easy.

 

[kollerbear]

I am 2 days away from my first race ever. It's a 2K, but it's a start.

Wow, that is SO exciting! I hope you really enjoy it! There are many more to follow, I'm sure.

Had a time trying to get dressed this morning...cause everything I pulled was too big! I haven't really noticed the scale moving much (still managing to keep those 5lbs I lost during the storm off) but I'm definitely noticing it in my clothes. Clothes have always been hard to shop for, especially since I'm so hourglass shaped, it's hard to find clothes that fit everywhere without making something else look huge... Even the shirt I ended up wearing made me look 3 months pregnant... TIME TO GO SHOPPING!!

That is AWESOME!! I think needing (and trying on) new clothes are such a rewarding non-scale achievement. And I'm jealous that you're booking your Oct. trip right around now... is it weird that I sometimes call the booking line just to ask questions, the answers to which I kinda already know?? I won't be back for a long time. It's kind of pathetic that I've definitely done that 2 or 3 times in the past year.

Do you think it was the coconut and pumpkin combo? That seemed like an unusual combination to me.

Yeah, Pamela, that seemed a little odd to me, too. Although didn't you say you used almond milk, instead? That definitely sounds better. This actually reminded me of a Skinny Taste recipe that I tried and really liked:Healthy Pumpkin Oatmeal Shake I don't know--I think having it cold helped the pumpkin work. (I actually should make this again, I'd forgotten about it!) I think canned pumpkin can be tricky-- I personally find that canned pumpkin that isn't doctored pretty substantially with fats/creaminess/sugars (as one does in a pie or quickbread, for example) often tastes bland and flat to my palette, because my taste buds want it to taste like pie (even though rationally I know it won't).

This is great advice, Samantha! Good luck with the C25K.

For those of you doing the C25K who are thinking about trying a run/walk eventually you might want to take a look at Jeff Galloway's 5K program or conditioning program that helps you get started. I wish it would have been available when I first started running because I think I would have been better off doing the run/walk right from the beginning. Here is a link to the conditioning program. http://www.jeffgalloway.com/training/condition.html Be sure and check the links on how his program works or look at some of the training plans on rundisney.com

Thanks for sharing this link, Lisa! Frankly I picked C25K because of how cool the app was... That's a good reason, right?? We'll see how it goes.

I'm in! My name is Jessi and I am a teacher of the visually impaired. This year I travel to four different schools three days a week and two schools the other 2. I am also currently working at a theme park as a lead at a roller coaster. Needless to say, eating right and exercising properly have been a challenge. I need to be held accountable even when it is not easy.

Hi Jessi and welcome! You are on the road SO much! It is really hard to build habits when your days can be so variable. The Challenge can be a great place to think up some good strategies that work for you... I always really enjoy reading everyone's answer to the Questions of the Day and try little things out myself.

 

[kollerbear]

Alrighty, guys... can you all believe that the Challenge starts on Friday?? How cool is that? Thanks, Lisa, for starting the QOTD early.

A little bit of housekeeping:

1) Just a reminder to please please please make sure that you've PM'ed Maureen at Octoberbride03 so that she's got your name on the roster. This is on the first page of the thread when the challenge starts, and I know she's been updating it pretty frequently.

I was going through the thread for everyone's intros to set up my spreadsheet, and 6 people introduced themselves who WEREN'T on Maureen's list: lovetoscrap, Melissahac99, princessbride6205, tigger813, ::Snow_White:: and Friend of a Mouse. This probably just means that the list hasn't been updated yet for you recent new additions, but I just want to make sure that everyone has PM'ed Maureen and that she knows for sure if you want to participate so that she can set you up with a small group!

2) Make sure that you send your start weight to me and any weight loss goal you have for the challenge on Friday (by Monday at the latest). If it's ok with all of you, I think it's also kosher to send me a weigh-in on Thursday if you know you're going to be MIA for the weekend.

I'm psyched to get this show on the road!

Best WISHes!

 

[donac]

Good morning everyone.

I am still here and will be starting the challenge on Friday but this has been the week from hell.

I have never had such a STUPID beginning of the year. We had a meeting the other day where the Vice Principal was such an IDIOT. He had no idea what he was talking about. I wrote on a paper "We here by Retire" and 5 of us signed it. The other VP's had other complaints so they just laughed at it.

I have 2 more days of this and then there is nothing planned for this weekend but sitting at my sewing machine and getting some sewing done.

WIll be back probably this weekend when I finally calm down.

Have a happy and healthy day.

 

[lmhall2000]

Well, starting the challenge right...headed to Orlando Tomorrow!! Board the Fantasy on Saturday! Dd just on her last dose of antibiotic after having 8 days of 102 fever...now ds can not breathe...allergies? Not good ... My goal is to lose a pound on the cruise!!

I am only 35-40 pounds from goal!! So excited!!

 

[pjlla]

I'm going to go ahead and post a warm up question since we are all anxious to get started.

Raise your hand if you want to go to the Happiest Place on Earth as we start our Biggest Loser Fall Challenge!

DO I WANT to go? Heck YES! Am I planning to go? Sadly no.

Yep, we're on our way to healthy living!

Oh . . . um . . . did you think I was going to say we're going to Disney? Okay, let's see if we can manage to do both.

But before we get started we had better introduce ourselves to our fellow travelers.

Did anyone else ever go on the America the Beautiful attraction at Disneyland? It was a circle-vision movie, similar to the Reflections of China movie at Epcot. Although the attraction never moved, many people thought it did because of the way it was filmed, so the host always asked you to introduce yourself to the people standing around you, in case you needed to grab onto them.

Well, during this challenge we will all be counting of the support of our fellow challengers.

Intro QOTD (Question of the Day) 9/5/12: Please introduce yourself, if you haven't already.

I am Lisa and I will be your coach starting Friday. I've been doing the BL challenges since 2009. I'm 52, married and have a sometimes cranky teen son. I will be reaching my goal weight by the end of the year. It's taken me longer than I thought it would to get there but each and every challenge, year after year, I end up weighing less than I started. Thanks to several WISHers who inspired me I started running when I was 49. In a few days I will be running my
4th half marathon in 12 months. I've made lifelong friends and been to WISH meets at both Disneyland and DisneyWorld. I've done things that I never dreamed possible because of these challenges and WISH who gave me the courage to start.

A big, BL thank you to our hostess, Maureen, and our weightkeeper, Samantha!

I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone and to a great challenge!

Lisa... as always, your story is inspiring. THanks for sharing it and thanks for taking the reins and starting our challenge off on the right foot. I feel like I've shared my "story" too many times, so I'll try to be brief.

I am a 40-something married (celebrated 20th anniversary this past spring) Mom to two kids.... DD just turned 17 (and a Senior in hs) and DS is 14 1/2 (Freshman). I have been working as a Substitute Teacher in our local school system for 9 years now and I am really ready for a change!

I have struggled with weight the majority of my life. My first venture into Weight Watchers was at the tender age of 13 or 14! I lost about 30 pounds during the summer between 9th and 10th grades and managed to keep it off all through high school. Of course, the (college) Freshman 15 was really more like the Freshman 30 and I struggled to stay a "normal" weight all through college. I was about 155 when I met DH in 1986. I gained during our courtship and was probably 165 when we got engaged. I lost weight and was married at a healthy 138-140 and then promptly gained every single pound back plus some during our first year of marriage. Then hit WW again and lost it... and then stopped WW and gained again! (I'm sure many of you can relate to this!).

I got pregnant with DD at about 175 and pregnant a few years later with DS at about 180 (had lost a bit between pregnancies with some Jenny Craig help.... had a friend who was working for them... never officially joined and didn't care for the foods). Anyhow, I "maxed out" at about 219 (that is the largest number I ever saw on a scale, but I wouldn't be surprised if I actually weighed more at one point). Lost 40-ish pounds in 2003 for a WDW trip, felt pretty good at Disney in the 175-ish range, but started putting it back on again right after the trip. And hit DL in 2005 at nearly 200 pounds.

Restarted this journey YET AGAIN on 01/02/2008 at exactly 200 and haven't looked back. I was DETERMINED not to return to WDW any heavier than I had been in 2004 and DEFINITELY wanted to be under 200. I put my nose to the grindstone and vacationed at WDW in 04/2008 in the 165-ish range! I felt SO GOOD!

But you know the best part?????

I DID NOT quit after that trip! I did not stop my new lifestyle. I didn't throw in the towel because I gained a few pounds on vacation. I started back up, immediately after returning home.... journaling my food, weighing/measuring my portions, counting my points, and hitting the scale weekly for accountability. And I lost the vacation weight and kept going!

Anyhow.... I dropped my goal several times during this journey, so I can't exactly say when I hit maintenance. And there are many days/weeks STILL that I don't consider myself in a maintenance phase. IT seems like every time I finally get to that magic number, we have a holiday or vacation, a few pounds creeps back on, and I am back to losing! But I have a goal "RANGE" of 130-133 (ish ) and as long as I am within that range, I know I am doing okay!

My biggest problem STILL is that I hate exercise. I dread it, I do it, I hate it.

I have truly CHANGED MY LIFE!! After living a good portion of my adult life significantly overweight, I cannot begin to tell you how much I LOVE living life as a SLIM person! And I'm sad that I wasted SO MANY of my younger years hating myself and hating my body. Now I love my body but hate my wrinkles!

This is at least my 9th BL challenge here on the WISH boards and I LOVE them! They are my therapist, WW leader, and best friends all wrapped up here on this screen!

Okay.... so that wasn't so brief!

Thanks so much pjlla and your so right!
This time I will start to change my "Life Style" habits one at a time as you said Baby Steps in the past I tried to all things at once and just got overwhelmed. I also want to concentrate on Adding good things not just taking away old comfortable crutches.

Great way of thinking about it.

Melinda Thanks so much for your voice of support
I want to make time spent here one of those consistent
Positive changes I'm adding to my day

Thanks to you both and to Pamela... these comments helped ease my feelings for sure. I know I SAID on the thread that I'd unsubscribed (and I had!) but right through last night I was still anxiously refreshing the thread to see any new posts. These comments helped me let it go this morning and I won't be back. The people who said the most hurtful things have thousands and thousands of posts under their accounts, and I took a quick look at their most recent posts and honestly they seem to just swoop from thread to thread giving their two cents about every little thing, even in cases where it's unsolicited or barely solicited. I think it's so easy to forget that EVERYONE on here is a PERSON, and for the sake of brevity, or just out of carelessness, anyone can misstate an idea or misrepresent a situation, or even just only give part of the story. If you were in a conversation with that person, you wouldn't attack them outright!! It was a really good reminder for me how important it is to try to give EVERYONE the benefit of the doubt. It's like my old philosophy professor used to say: "When you read something that makes no sense, spend some time trying to figure out how that idea COULD make sense. Sometimes it's just bad writing, but the idea, although poorly written and perhaps only partly developed, could have a lot of merit and inspire you to look in a new direction."


AMEN!!

Thank you Lisa! And thank you Maureen for hosting! I know she's already put a LOT of effort and thought into what's in store for all of us, so a big round of applause to her! I'm so excited to be this challenge's weightkeeper, not least of all because it means I'll get to check in (even if it's a one-liner) with all of you each week, and you all are SO inspirational to me!

I've already introduced myself, but quick recap (in case Maureen is using these to help her form small groups): 26, live with Matt (BF) in Queens, NYC, 3 cats (50% too many cats), love Excel, vegan (99.9% of the time, as I've been lambasted for not pointing out), LOVE LOVE LOVE to cook and meal-plan, want to go to culinary school for health-supportive cooking next year part-time (maybe?), work at a non-profit doing alternative-to-incarcerations, JUST starting C25K running when the challenge starts (although ran a couple half marathons a couple years ago), take care of my grandma upstate with Matt, 1/2way to my goal, about 26 lbs. left to go, hoping to lose at a steady 1 lb./week during the challenge. Thanks for all of your support guys!!!





YES you did!!! Congratulations!!



I LOVE this point... it's not just about removing old, unhealthy habits, it's about finding new, healthy habits that you REALLY LOVE and ENJOY. And even though it can feel like a lot of pressure to do everything at once, be kind to yourself and give yourself time to add new habits. It takes a LONG time for a single habit to stick, not just a week or two!! For me discovering how much I love to cook and getting into the habit of cooking each night was an incredible discovery. I think it can be as simple as, for example, making iced unsweetened herbal tea for yourself and keeping it stocked in the fridge, so you're not just removing sugary drinks, you're adding a new drink to your daily habits that you truly enjoy (if that's your thing). It's the little things like that that help you feel like you're transitioning into something more positive, not depriving yourself.

I hope everyone is having a great day!!

Lucky that you love to cook. And the "replacing, not just removing" idea is a great one!

Not going to Disney at the start of the BL challenge but planning on going during it so I'll raise my hand!

Already did an intro earlier, so a little more about myself. I'm Ashley (also know as Ash.) I'm in my mid 20's but certainly don't act my age (still love cartoon and the like) and am a huge fan of all things Disney, Sherlock, Doctor Who, Avengers and Superman so I'm always open to chatting more on any of those subjects. I also love to sing, write, watch movies and photoshop in my spare time as well.

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Had a time trying to get dressed this morning...cause everything I pulled was too big! I haven't really noticed the scale moving much (still managing to keep those 5lbs I lost during the storm off) but I'm definitely noticing it in my clothes. Clothes have always been hard to shop for, especially since I'm so hourglass shaped, it's hard to find clothes that fit everywhere without making something else look huge... Even the shirt I ended up wearing made me look 3 months pregnant... TIME TO GO SHOPPING!!

Had an unbelievable craving for fish today so I made baked tilapia tacos for lunch today. YUM!! All I put on the fish is just salt, pepper, a little butter, Tony Chachere spice and Worcestershire. That on tortillas and a little sour cream is about 400 calories which is perfect for me. Mom's making some turkey burgers for us to try for dinner so we'll see how we like it.

Getting ready to head to the gym; hopefully the knee will last longer this time. We also may be booking our Disney trip tomorrow for possibly October! Anybody else going around that time?

EDITED TO ADD THOUGHTS ON TURKEY BURGER: It was okay. Not 'Wow! This is great!' but it wasn't terrible.

WOOHOO on the clothes that are too big! If you can't afford new ones, you could always try to tailor some of your things. I've actually had pretty good luck taking in various things (mostly things that I loved that I didn't want to part with).

And regarding the burger..... sometimes you have to NOT think of it as a "burger replacement" but just something different that comes in a burger roll. I think that is why so many people don't like veggie burgers.... they want them to taste exactly like a burger but be healthy. Well... that isn't going to be the case.

I don't make turkey burgers here (because DS is allergic), but I know that some people have had pretty good luck spicing up the turkey meat before making the burgers. I think because of the reduced fat in turkey versus beef, you may need to do something to give it a bit more flavor.

If you are looking for a healthy "burger-type" replacement, I really LOVE the Morning Star Farms California T'key burger (veggie burger). Best tasting veg burger I've ever had!

Do you think it was the coconut and pumpkin combo? That seemed like an unusual combination to me.

I didn't use the coconut, as I didn't have it on hand and was concerned about the fat content. I used almond milk instead. DD liked it enough that I will definitely try it again, but not sure what I will do next time (other than add a bit of salt).


For those of you doing the C25K who are thinking about trying a run/walk eventually you might want to take a look at Jeff Galloway's 5K program or conditioning program that helps you get started. I wish it would have been available when I first started running because I think I would have been better off doing the run/walk right from the beginning. Here is a link to the conditioning program. http://www.jeffgalloway.com/training/condition.html Be sure and check the links on how his program works or look at some of the training plans on rundisney.com

I only went back a couple of pages to start on my replies so if I missed greeting you, I apologize, and say

Thanks for sharing the Jeff Galloway stuff.

I'm in! My name is Jessi and I am a teacher of the visually impaired. This year I travel to four different schools three days a week and two schools the other 2. I am also currently working at a theme park as a lead at a roller coaster. Needless to say, eating right and exercising properly have been a challenge. I need to be held accountable even when it is not easy.

All of that and many fur babies too I see! You are busy! Welcome to our group!

Yeah, Pamela, that seemed a little odd to me, too. Although didn't you say you used almond milk, instead? That definitely sounds better. This actually reminded me of a Skinny Taste recipe that I tried and really liked:Healthy Pumpkin Oatmeal Shake I don't know--I think having it cold helped the pumpkin work. (I actually should make this again, I'd forgotten about it!) I think canned pumpkin can be tricky-- I personally find that canned pumpkin that isn't doctored pretty substantially with fats/creaminess/sugars (as one does in a pie or quickbread, for example) often tastes bland and flat to my palette, because my taste buds want it to taste like pie (even though rationally I know it won't).

I've seen that Skinny Taste recipe as well, but haven't tried it yet. I usually really like canned pumpkin. I'm not sure why this particular recipe wasn't so good. I will try it again and let you know how it comes out next time.

Hi Jessi and welcome! You are on the road SO much! It is really hard to build habits when your days can be so variable. The Challenge can be a great place to think up some good strategies that work for you... I always really enjoy reading everyone's answer to the Questions of the Day and try little things out myself.

Alrighty, guys... can you all believe that the Challenge starts on Friday?? How cool is that? Thanks, Lisa, for starting the QOTD early.

A little bit of housekeeping:

1) Just a reminder to please please please make sure that you've PM'ed Maureen at Octoberbride03 so that she's got your name on the roster. This is on the first page of the thread when the challenge starts, and I know she's been updating it pretty frequently.

I was going through the thread for everyone's intros to set up my spreadsheet, and 5 people introduced themselves who WEREN'T on Maureen's list: lovetoscrap, Melissahac99, princessbride6205, tigger813, and Friend of a Mouse. This probably just means that the list hasn't been updated yet for you recent new additions, but I just want to make sure that everyone has PM'ed Maureen and that she knows for sure if you want to participate so that she can set you up with a small group!

2) Make sure that you send your start weight to me and any weight loss goal you have for the challenge on Friday (by Monday at the latest). If it's ok with all of you, I think it's also kosher to send me a weigh-in on Thursday if you know you're going to be MIA for the weekend.

I'm psyched to get this show on the road!

Best WISHes!

Thanks for helping us keep our ducks in a row!

Good morning everyone.

I am still here and will be starting the challenge on Friday but this has been the week from hell.

I have never had such a STUPID beginning of the year. We had a meeting the other day where the Vice Principal was such an IDIOT. He had no idea what he was talking about. I wrote on a paper "We here by Retire" and 5 of us signed it. The other VP's had other complaints so they just laughed at it.

I have 2 more days of this and then there is nothing planned for this weekend but sitting at my sewing machine and getting some sewing done.

WIll be back probably this weekend when I finally calm down.

Have a happy and healthy day.

Sorry that your school year is off to such a bad start. Enjoy your sewing weekend!

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Morning all! Another rainy day here. We did get enough sun yesterday that I hung out two loads of laundry, but alas, they didn't completely dry and ended up in the dryer for a few minutes any how.

Kids are off to school (in my car) and DH is off to Maine for a meeting, so I have the house to myself until 3:30! That NEVER happens. Usually if I am not working, it seems like I have errands or DH is working at home (which he does about 90% of the time). I don't know what to do with myself here today! I could do anything I want! I'll probably do something exciting like fold yesterday's laundry, vacuum, and then work on a house project. How dull am I!??

Anyhow... .tried another new crockpot recipe for dinner last night. It was good, everyone liked it, but I didn't LOVE it like I thought. I think it was overcooked. The recipe said to cook on low for 7 hours. I set it to low for 8 and then shut it off an hour early. It was VERY cooked.... veggies had no color left to them and the meat fell apart (not such a bad thing). It was tasty, but it smelled better earlier, so I think that the taste got cooked out of most of it. Next time I will use a little something to sweeten it up too... maybe some lemon juice, and cook it on low for about 5 hours before turning it to warm. I'll share it sometime soon.

Breakfast is eaten, two of three beds are made, dishwasher is unloaded and reloaded. DH won't be home for dinner, so nothing to prep for tonight. Kids and I will eat up leftovers and such.

I will make beds and hit the TM and then vacuum before sitting down at my scrapbook table. Sounds like an exciting day here in paradise! TTYL..............P