BL Summer Challenge 2009

[lisah0711]

Welcome, fabulous losers . . . I am your host . . . your coach host . . . Sorry had to do something for my 1000th post.

A big, big thank you to everyone who has agreed to coach our Between the BLs Challenge Summer 2009.

Here is our coaching schedule. We have a great group of people who have agreed to help us with our challenge.

• 5/15 - 5/21 lisah0711
• 5/22 - 5/28 pjlla
• 5/29 - 6/4 mikamah
• 6/5 - 6/11 Eeyores Butterfly
• 6/12 - 6/18 MelanieC
• 6/19 - 6/25 TammyNC
• 6/26 - 7/2 estherhead
• 7/3 - 7/9 Worfiedoodles
• 7/10 - 7/16 ibouncetoo
• 7/17 - 7/23 donac
• 7/24 - 7/30 MelanieC
• 7/31 - 8/6 sahbushka
• 8/7 - 8/14 lisah0711

Please let me know if I spelled your name wrong or put you on a week that doesn't work for you. Real life sometimes gets in the way of our Dis-life . . . And if anyone knows how to make this list line up better please let me know because I am apparently list challenged.

There is still one week where we need a coach 6/26 - 7/2. Lots of you offered to coach an extra week if needed and I appreciate that. Please PM me if you would like to coach that week. It is a lot of fun and great motivation.

Sounds like everyone had a great week and a great weigh in -- I know that we can all stay OP this week-end!

 

[sskem96]

I just started the challenge yesterday, so no loss to report yet.

QOTD: What are your plans for the summer? How will your plans help or hinder your plans for this challenge?

DH and I just booked a "secret" trip to Disney World for July 21-23. This kids think we're going to Chicago! I think it will motivate me to stick to the diet and exercise routine so I can be thinner and in better shape before our trip.

QOTD: What is your favorite Disney song? It can be from a park, movie, play, etc.

Wishes.

QOTD: Do you have mini-goals to help you meet your big goals for this challenge?

I'm doing Weight Watchers, so I'm going with the 5% and 10% goals that they set. I want to reach 5% by 4 weeks, and 10% by 9 weeks (the day we leave for Disney!)

QOTD: What is your favorite ride at Magic Kingdom or Disneyland?

Pirates of the Carribean.

QOTD: How healthy are you going to be today?

Since this was for yesterday, it was my first full day on WW, and I did a little too good! I ended up 4 points under. I was really upset because I'd had lunch at Olive Garden, and I could have eaten a couple bread sticks if I'd known I was going to have points left over! I also earned 3 activity points.

QOTD: What is your favorite physical attribute on yourself?

Probably my legs. I carry all my weight in my stomach, but my legs are fairly thin, not lumpy, and no varicose veins.

 

[dizneedoll]

Great job you loosers! I'm down a pound this week also.

QOTD: My legs, even 100 pounds overweight, I've got nice stems. Unfortunately, their joints are getting a little achy carrying around all this 'middle' part!

I hear you about the achy legs! I started getting bad sciatic pain down my leg and when I started walking I could only go for 10 min before I thought my leg was going to need amputation the pain was so bad. Now I'm up to 40 min of walking a day and the pain is all but gone!

 

[dizneedoll]

Whoa. I missed like 3 QOTD. I'm gonna do them now cause they're fun!

QOTD: What are your plans for the summer? How will your plans help or hinder your plans for this challenge?

We're going to Disneyland next week. And I'd like to hit the water parks and Legoland this simmer too. The walking always helps but those churros are murder!

QOTD: What is your favorite Disney song? It can be from a park, movie, play, etc.

OK...don't laugh...it's a small world


QOTD: Do you have mini-goals to help you meet your big goals for this challenge?

Basically I'm just trying to meet my daily/weekly excercise and healthy eating goals. Cardio 5x a week and strength training 3x a week.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

I missed the questions too!

QOTD: What are your plans for the summer? How will your plans help or hinder your plans for this challenge? Mostly I will be moving to a new city and my new house (packing before that), applying for a job and hopefully working at Worlds of Fun come July, and going through all of the trainings necessary for my new teaching job.

In some ways I think my plans will help because with packing and moving and working in a theme park I will be doing a lot of physical activity. In some ways I think they will hinder because I have never been good at staying on track when my schedule gets very crazy.


QOTD: What is your favorite Disney song? It can be from a park, movie, play, etc.

Hmmmmm, I love the Belle Reprise from Beauty and the Beast because I feel like I could have written it. It speaks to my soul.

QOTD: Do you have mini-goals to help you meet your big goals for this challenge?

Yep! I posted them awhile go (those were non weight goals). For weight goals I am using the WW mini goals of 5 and 10%.

I gained this week, but I expected that. I'm focusing on slowly building habits and I think once I get the foundation laid the weight will start coming off.

 

[MickeyMagic]

Oh no - I almost missed weigh in day. I started out about 3 times today to report weight. I would sign on and get sidetracked reading other things and then would sign off again. Then I would remember I forgot do my weigh in report. So, I would start again and again. This time I came directly to WISH and I am not going to catch up on any reading or I will probably forget to send my PM with today's weight yet again. Off to do that PM NOW!

 

[ibouncetoo]

I have a question on our COW If I'm reading it right we have a total of 21 points possible (3/day, one for each segment) right?

Anyway, I made all three today! Veggies and fruit just miraculously came my way...so I ATE them! I had to make a concentrated effort to get the water in, but I did it.

I didn't answer the favorit ride question, becaus...I can't. Some decisions are just beyond me. I can say that there are some I look forward to doing that I haven't been able to do in a while. I've been avoiding some of the more 'thrilling' rides due to climbing in and out of ride vehicles and my joint issues....but that will all be changing now!

 

[tink1963]

Glad to hear about all the losses. I just wish I was one of them. This week I maintained. And I'm really rather upset by it. I had a really good week. Journaled everyday, excercised, and nothing.

QOTD: What is your favorite ride at Magic Kingdom or Disneyland?

Peter Pan.

QOTD: What is your favorite physical attribute on yourself?
I can't say that I have a favorite. Ok maybe I would say my hair color. Even though I'm starting to get a few grays but hey, I earned everyone of them.

 

[bobnjenn0828]

Wow, I guess I really need to catch up! I work nites and just worked the past 3 nites (12 hr shifts) and have not really had time to be on the internet. However I did make time to exercise every day that I had to work

My favorite ride at MK is the teacups - I love them. But we have so many that we have to ride every time that we go - Dumbo, Winnie the Pooh, Space Mt, Splash Mountain !

My favorite salad dressing is Ken's lite sweet vidalia onion and also Ken's light French dressing. I have never made homemade dressing.


I did pack my lunch for work everyday and drank all my water!! We even ran up and down 4 flights of steps one night at work. I had a 2 lb loss this morning which made me very happy I was really afraid that I would gain because at the beginning of the week my weight actually went up 2lbs. I finally figured I had not been drinking enough water and drinking too much diet pepsi. I changed that once I went back to work and it really helped.

Well I haven't been to sleep since Thursday so I really probably should! My son rebroke his arm on Tuesday and had to get a full arm cast today. He was just cleared from the ortho dr. last week for his broken arm (wrestling match) from February and fell at school playing football.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

 

[sahbushka]

Wow, I guess I really need to catch up! I work nites and just worked the past 3 nites (12 hr shifts) and have not really had time to be on the internet. However I did make time to exercise every day that I had to work

My favorite ride at MK is the teacups - I love them. But we have so many that we have to ride every time that we go - Dumbo, Winnie the Pooh, Space Mt, Splash Mountain !

My favorite salad dressing is Ken's lite sweet vidalia onion and also Ken's light French dressing. I have never made homemade dressing.


I did pack my lunch for work everyday and drank all my water!! We even ran up and down 4 flights of steps one night at work. I had a 2 lb loss this morning which made me very happy I was really afraid that I would gain because at the beginning of the week my weight actually went up 2lbs. I finally figured I had not been drinking enough water and drinking too much diet pepsi. I changed that once I went back to work and it really helped.

Well I haven't been to sleep since Thursday so I really probably should! My son rebroke his arm on Tuesday and had to get a full arm cast today. He was just cleared from the ortho dr. last week for his broken arm (wrestling match) from February and fell at school playing football.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

Wow, that is really too bad about your son...how frustrating for him going in to summer to have a second stint with a cast...bummer!

Congrats on the loss and on realizing what the problem was and making the change! Hope you get the rest you need.

Sarah

 

[sahbushka]

So I was supposed to work 8 hours today and about 5 and a half hours into my shift I got a call that someone had called in sick and I was being forced to work the swing shift as well, so 16 hours. They did let me go grab some food as I was not prepared for that long a shift. I am proud to say I went to subway and as a snack later I got a diet pepsi and pretzels out of the machines. Way better than some of the options and I am still under my points for the day! I didn't get to do my work out that I had planned though.

Oh well.

Hope everyone had a great op day!

Sarah

 

[mikamah]

Thanks Lisa for the awesome coaching last week, and welcome Pjlla!! I pronounce that pill-ja in my head, and it's kind of a cute name. Thanks Dona for doing the Cow again. It's such a big help to keep me healthy.

Anyhow.... I will start off my week with this Question Of The Day.

What is your favorite physical attribute (on yourself)? Maybe you have great eyes, or perfect teeth. What is it about yourself that you really like right now? (Not in 10 pounds or whatever.)

I would have to say my hair. I have really thick hair, and I love the cut I have lately, it's kind of bobbed up in the back, but longer in the front. I especially love it when I've just colored it.

You know when I was a weight watcher I SWORE by eating all my extra flex points each week, but my biggest key was varying my points each day by using those flex points. So a few days a week, especially near WI, I'd have a low points day - at actual point goal. Then I'd have a few HIGH point days where I'd go well above my regular points and then I'd have some mid range point days to fill in the week. I think your body definately needs the "guessing" and I was BIG on this.

Glad you had a loss this week, and an awesome attitude for success. This is exactly what I try to do, and honestly when I'm staying under my points, I've always had more success when I use all of my flex points and most of my activity points. I usually have a couple days where I use more flex points than others. My ww leader has always pushed using all the flex points and activity points, but lately she is talking about mixing it up and having a couple higher point days with some lower point days, just like you said. It works.

II gained this week, but I expected that. I'm focusing on slowly building habits and I think once I get the foundation laid the weight will start coming off.

I am sorry you had a gain, but I love to hear the optimism coming from this quote. You are so right and on the right track.

Glad to hear about all the losses. I just wish I was one of them. This week I maintained. And I'm really rather upset by it. I had a really good week. Journaled everyday, excercised, and nothing.

.

Venetia, I'm sorry you didn't see a loss, but hang in there, and don't give up, and you will see a good loss next week. It's so frustrating how the scale doesn't always show our hard work, but I know for me, trying not to give so much "weight" to that number on the scale, and knowing I've done everything right and keeping on track will help and the scale will catch up. Our weight can fluctuate day to day by hormones, sodium intake, fluid intake, etc. Hang in there!! Keep doing all the right things.

Congratulations to all the losers here!! It's so nice to see such a positive and active thread. I thought of you all yesterday when I was having some stress, and those thoughts helped keep me away from the delicious muffins someone had brought into my work. I was in a procedure room for the morning, and when I came out I got the message that my mom was in the ER with pneumonia, it was lunch time and those beautiful muffins were there, but I ate my sandwich and fruit, and felt so good afterwards. My mom is doing ok. She has had lots of medical probs, and had her ups and downs. From dec 07 to last july, she was in the hosp more than she was home, but had been doing pretty well til now. I'm sure she'll be fine, I'm just hoping that she doesn't lose too much strength and will be able to come home without going to rehab. It's stressful, and I feel guilty. We are going to camp in maine for the weekend, but we'll go see her before we go today, and when we come home monday, but I'm torn. My son is so looking forward to camping, so we will go a little later than we planned, and come home a little earlier. I'm going to go cut up some fruit for our trip now.

Thank you all for you support and inspiration. You really do make a difference, and helped me to stay on track.

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

[lisah0711]

Kathy, sorry to hear that your Mom is sick. That is the pits. You are truly one of the "sandwich generation" between your Mom and your son. Here is some for all of you. Both you and Michael have looked forward to this camping trip for some time. I think that your plan is fine. Just have your cell on so you could come back if things change. If your Mom is in the hospital now, she will probably need more help when she is ready to come home and you will be rested and refreshed after your week-end with Michael. Have a safe and wonderful trip!

It looks like we have our last coaching spot filled. With a different coach every week for 12 weeks we should get lots of new ideas and keep our thread fresh and motivating. Thanks again to everyone who keeps our challenge going!

One other small housekeeping matter. The original sticky with the challenge info had a typo on the ending date. It said the ending date was Friday, August 17th but actually that Friday is August 14th. The results will be posted the week of August 17th, which is a Monday. Sorry! Sometimes I am not so good with dates!

Have a great day, losers!

 

[ibouncetoo]

So I was supposed to work 8 hours today and about 5 and a half hours into my shift I got a call that someone had called in sick and I was being forced to work the swing shift as well, so 16 hours. They did let me go grab some food as I was not prepared for that long a shift. I am proud to say I went to subway and as a snack later I got a diet pepsi and pretzels out of the machines. Way better than some of the options and I am still under my points for the day! I didn't get to do my work out that I had planned though.

Oh well.

Hope everyone had a great op day!

Sarah

Vending machine pretzels have been a life saver for me, more than once! It's also the best $ value in our machine at work...more bang for your buck.

.

 

[50sjayne]

QOTD: What is your favorite physical attribute (on yourself)? Maybe you have great eyes, or perfect teeth. What is it about yourself that you really like right now?

I'll say my eyes and breasts. I think that I have nice blue eyes. As for my ****s, it took me a long time to to feel comfortable about them. As a teenager I felt that they were a mismatched pair, awkward, and insecure about my D's. Now a days I lovethem. My only gripe is that I can not find cute full figure bras that are young looking and don't belong in my mom or grandma's drawers.

Yeah me too-up until maybe the last 5 years or so I'd just do my best to camoflouge 'em but now that I'm 41--feeling really comfortable with my body.
Honestly--I think my daughter had something to do with this. She'd get annoyed at me wearing huge shirts and sort of gently tried to tell me I had a great figure why hide it. When I did start shedding the big shirts she just was thrilled and encouraged me. Lol--she's gonna make a great Mom some day.

 

[50sjayne]

QOTD: What is your favorite Disney song? It can be from a park, movie, play, etc.

OK...don't laugh...it's a small world

I didn't laugh, just smiled a little. It reminded me of one time I was dropping the kids off at school (highschool)and daughter-- half laughing said Mom--are you trying to get us killed? (with It's a Small World playing full blast)

 

[50sjayne]

OK this COW thing isn't easy--it's hard. I thought I had a great day yesterday and didn't end up with any points lol. I only had one serving of fruit and veggie and maybe 6 glasses of water total between drinking fountains, regular water and coffee. I count half of my coffee as water. I had milk and a bagel with hummus for breakfast-- no points hmpf.
Well today I cut up a canteloupe, kiwis and threw some grapes in to make a fruit salad. So I had at least 2 fruits already lol. I forget how you really have to build up the water to make that viable.
Had a big Ribeye for dinner lol, but went for a long bike ride to our rose gardens after. Roses are still not there yet--a few here and there, but it's a beautiful ride on the river anyway.

 

[LuvBaloo]

I didn't make it onto the computer last night, so it was exciting to log in today and see so many people have sent in their weights.

Today is DH's birthday and dd7's first overnight campout with Brownies (Girl Scouts). And DH's sister is in labour with her first baby, so tomorrow will be a short car trip to go see the new little one. I'm excited, but I really need to get my butt in gear and get the cross-stitch done for the baby.

 

[lisah0711]

I didn't make it onto the computer last night, so it was exciting to log in today and see so many people have sent in their weights.

Today is DH's birthday and dd7's first overnight campout with Brownies (Girl Scouts). And DH's sister is in labour with her first baby, so tomorrow will be a short car trip to go see the new little one. I'm excited, but I really need to get my butt in gear and get the cross-stitch done for the baby.

Happy birthday to your DH and your new niece or nephew!

 

[pjlla]

Oh my GOSH! I am away for a just three-quarters of a day and I missed THREE PAGES of posts! So sorry to everyone, but way too much to go back and reply individually to everyone... but I did read everything.. I promise. Glad to see we had many more losers! That is so encouraging.

Welcome to any and all newbies who posted.... sorry I can't welcome you all by name right now. But rest assured, you have joined up with a GREAT group of "losers".

Those of you who are trying to hard to earn your COW points. I know that I do great with the veggies and water, but I usually struggle with the fruit... but I got it in today!

I had a really busy day, so that is why I haven't been able to hop on here and "talk" earlier. I had a walk with a neighbor at 5:30 am, did some laundry and dishes and general picking up after the walk. Then it was off for the 90 minute ride to the "specialist" with DD's sick guinea pig (turns out she has a bad kidney stone). On the way home we stopped at Costco, Christmas Tree Shop, and Building #19 (we live in the BOONDOCKS so I have to run all of my errands when I am out). Home to unload and put away all of the purchases, and then a few hours of yardwork. Made a nice dinner, got the laundry from the clothesline and threw another load in the washer and now we are going to have a family movie time!

Hopefully tomorrow won't be quite so crazy, but there will still be laundry, dishes, and yard work.. oh well.

Speaking of Costco, I LOVE the fruit there! I bought a bowl of cut up assorted fruit, a bowl of fresh pineapple spear, and a bowl of sliced mango, plush a quart of blueberries. YUM, YUM, YUM!! I'll have no trouble getting in my fruit for the next day or so. Sadly, Costco is over an hour away, so we don't get there very often. Anyhow, if you have never tried their fruit (if you have a membership) give it a TRY. We had a BJ's membership for years and I never remember them having nice fruit like that.

Well, it is SO late that I will post TOMORROW'S question of the day tonight for you all to get a headstart on.

QOTD: Do you have any healthy/low cal picnic/barbeque foods that you always bring along/serve during holiday weekends (like Memorial Day)?

I like to make my DMIL's broccoli salad. It does have some mayonnaise in it, but not much and I use light mayo. It is a super easy, yummy, reasonably healthy, and loaded with healthy broccoli. BTW, I will share the recipe if any one is interested.

I'll try to find the time to hop on periodically through the day tomorrow to see how everyone is doing. Good night!......................P