February 2017 Wish Lifestyle / Weight Challenge: Beat the Sugar Rush and Earn Your Hero Medal!

Hello again... I'm Lizanne, a singleton of a certain age living in Seattle. I've been chubby for most of my life, with just a few brief periods that were chubby-free. I had weight loss success the beginning of last year dropping 30 pounds and getting to the point where I was starting to feel healthy, but gained the weight back over the second half of the year and I am now back at my heaviest. I am a confirmed sugar addict, I've said it many times... sugar is my drug of choice. So weight management is part learning new life skills and part fighting an addiction, and I'm not very good at either.

My goal for February is going to be simple - get moving. Walk, walk, and walk some more, to get in at least 300,000 steps for the month. I have already started doing laps in the office again, and will start up the evening walks in the 'hood soon. Plus, I will be getting out for walks and hikes in the woods... I may even be getting up to the snow this weekend with my Brother. I'll be heading down to the beach again later in the month, and will get in several nice long walks there.

Something new about me? I'm kind of drawing a blank. I know y'all know I've been getting tattoo work done, I'm actually going to get on his calendar for March to get the next things added. But I don't know if I mentioned that I was recently recognized by my tattoos. Before the Women's March we met up at a downtown restaurant for breakfast: I was first there and seated next to another group of women doing the same. I chatted with them a bit and one asked me if I had taken the god's eye weaving class out at Tolt... she recognized the bee tattoo on my hand. The teacher was one of the creatives who inspired me to get inked, so we had chatted about it.
 
Mind if I join? I am taking my not-as-little-as-they-used-to-bes to Florida at the end of June, and I want to lose as much weight as I (safely and reasonably) can, then gain about 5 lbs of it back during the two weeks we're there, then continue back on the downward trend.

I retired from the military 3 years ago today, and was already pushing the upper limits at the time of my retirement... well, after all those years of body shaming and forced running, I have been enjoying myself and not doing ANYTHING I don't want to. It's been great... but it also hasn't been the healthiest thing. My weight is WAY higher than I ever thought it would be, and I just don't want to be walking around Disney with as much extra weight on me as if I was carrying one of my kids! So most of my exercise is in the form of walking, trying to rehabilitate an old, BAD, break to train for all the walking we'll be doing in/around the parks... I *REALLY* don't want to have to rent an ECV.

My challenges are 1) finding time to exercise 2) a combination of medical conditions that mean I'm unlikely to run ever again along with a seething HATRED of running that seals the deal 3) two SKINNY children who need high calorie foods because they just don't eat much along with a husband who hates seafood, most vegetables, and most things you would equate with "healthy"

My helping factors are that I'm taking 13 credit hours at the college this semester... I don't have time for "boredom eating." Also, 2 of those credits come from my only "fun" class, which is Tap dancing, where we move pretty much constantly for 75 minutes twice a week... so it's guaranteed exercise those days...

I've been doing sparkpeople since around the beginning of the year, and I've lost about 5 lbs from my first weigh-in, but I find that pretty frustrating, because I *KNOW* how hard I've been working, and I can't the results matching the effort *yet.* Example... I've had over a 3500 calorie deficit this week, and yet my weight is UP .5 lbs... of course we all know how many factors could be at play, so I'm upping my water intake and looking at the calendar thinking, "yep..." but it still is disheartening.

So my TRACKABLE goal for this month is 60 minutes of light cardio(walking or dance, mostly) 5 days a week. I'd LIKE see that result in a solid loss (at least 4lbs, preferably closer to 8,) but clearly the scale is just doing its own thing right now... Also, implied, I want to stay on track and not give up.
 
I hope it's not too late to still sign up. This will be my first time joining in. I'm 41 yo and after reaching maximum density due to a few years of inactivity I decided to get back into it. I started January by cleaning up my eating and getting into a beginning running (run/walk/run) program. So at Feb 1, I'm down 16 pounds and slowing building up my running/walking. My goal for Feb is to lose 5 pounds and be able to run/walk 7 miles.

Welcome!!!!!!!!!

Mind if I join? I am taking my not-as-little-as-they-used-to-bes to Florida at the end of June, and I want to lose as much weight as I (safely and reasonably) can, then gain about 5 lbs of it back during the two weeks we're there, then continue back on the downward trend.

I retired from the military 3 years ago today, and was already pushing the upper limits at the time of my retirement... well, after all those years of body shaming and forced running, I have been enjoying myself and not doing ANYTHING I don't want to. It's been great... but it also hasn't been the healthiest thing. My weight is WAY higher than I ever thought it would be, and I just don't want to be walking around Disney with as much extra weight on me as if I was carrying one of my kids! So most of my exercise is in the form of walking, trying to rehabilitate an old, BAD, break to train for all the walking we'll be doing in/around the parks... I *REALLY* don't want to have to rent an ECV.

My challenges are 1) finding time to exercise 2) a combination of medical conditions that mean I'm unlikely to run ever again along with a seething HATRED of running that seals the deal 3) two SKINNY children who need high calorie foods because they just don't eat much along with a husband who hates seafood, most vegetables, and most things you would equate with "healthy"

My helping factors are that I'm taking 13 credit hours at the college this semester... I don't have time for "boredom eating." Also, 2 of those credits come from my only "fun" class, which is Tap dancing, where we move pretty much constantly for 75 minutes twice a week... so it's guaranteed exercise those days...

I've been doing sparkpeople since around the beginning of the year, and I've lost about 5 lbs from my first weigh-in, but I find that pretty frustrating, because I *KNOW* how hard I've been working, and I can't the results matching the effort *yet.* Example... I've had over a 3500 calorie deficit this week, and yet my weight is UP .5 lbs... of course we all know how many factors could be at play, so I'm upping my water intake and looking at the calendar thinking, "yep..." but it still is disheartening.

So my TRACKABLE goal for this month is 60 minutes of light cardio(walking or dance, mostly) 5 days a week. I'd LIKE see that result in a solid loss (at least 4lbs, preferably closer to 8,) but clearly the scale is just doing its own thing right now... Also, implied, I want to stay on track and not give up.

Welcome. Your kids sound like mine. My son (10 years old) only weighs like 57 pounds and is all skin and bones. My daughter is closer to 70 pounds but hers is all muscle from gymnastics.
 
Video games include a prologue before you begin game play. Let's focus on your story's prologue.
Briefly introduce yourself. Let us know your goal and how you're going to earn your hero medal.
If you're a familiar face 'round these parts, then tell us something new you haven't shared yet!

My goal this month is to get in 400 minutes of exercise. I am going to do this by walking even if it's laps around the inside of my house aka my infamous house laps as well as trying to work out in the pool by either water walking, swimming laps, or doing other water exercise a couple of times a week. While I want to loose a bunch of weight ( over 200 just to be in a normal BMI) I have learned over the years that concentrating on that just gets me upset because somehow my body hasn't seemed to get the message that if I cut my calories by 500 a day and burn an extra 500 a day I should loose 2 pounds that week. It did improve my math skills though doing calorie counting for food and exercise. Exercise will be at least 10 minutes a day more in likely walking even on days I hit the pool because well that was one of my 2 resolutions for this year-the other one to loose at least 10 pounds in 2017 ( so far 5.6 down and now to keep that off and loose some more).

Something about me: I live about 2 hours from the NE entrance of Yellowstone National Park in the summer months ( usually memorial day weekend till mid September depending on the weather and how fast both the MT and WY Highway departments can get the Cooke City Highway open as well as when the snow closes it again for the winter) and I do have mixed feeling on fires there ( fine with the natural caused ones as long as they are not threatening human life and structures ( the animals are smart enough to get to safety) because the Ponderosa Pine Cones only release their seeds with the extreme heat of fires and we get new trees to replace the old, dead, and dying ones. I do not like the ones that are caused by human carelessness so please if you visit heed all fire regulations and restrictions and make sure that your fires are out even if using an established fire ring. ( yes the wind has swept embers from those when unattended and started fires when it was thought that the fire was out ( dumping a bucket of water on does not put it out, If you can't lay your hand on the ashes and they feel cool to the touch it's not out) Oh and I don't move in the winter months it's just the road is closed so depending on if we use the East, North or NorthWest Entrance it is between 3-3.5 hours to get there.
 


I hope it's not too late to still sign up. This will be my first time joining in. I'm 41 yo and after reaching maximum density due to a few years of inactivity I decided to get back into it. I started January by cleaning up my eating and getting into a beginning running (run/walk/run) program. So at Feb 1, I'm down 16 pounds and slowing building up my running/walking. My goal for Feb is to lose 5 pounds and be able to run/walk 7 miles.

WELCOME ABOARD! Glad to have a new face here with us! Congrats on 16 pounds already gone forever!

Mind if I join? I am taking my not-as-little-as-they-used-to-bes to Florida at the end of June, and I want to lose as much weight as I (safely and reasonably) can, then gain about 5 lbs of it back during the two weeks we're there, then continue back on the downward trend.

I retired from the military 3 years ago today, and was already pushing the upper limits at the time of my retirement... well, after all those years of body shaming and forced running, I have been enjoying myself and not doing ANYTHING I don't want to. It's been great... but it also hasn't been the healthiest thing. My weight is WAY higher than I ever thought it would be, and I just don't want to be walking around Disney with as much extra weight on me as if I was carrying one of my kids! So most of my exercise is in the form of walking, trying to rehabilitate an old, BAD, break to train for all the walking we'll be doing in/around the parks... I *REALLY* don't want to have to rent an ECV.

My challenges are 1) finding time to exercise 2) a combination of medical conditions that mean I'm unlikely to run ever again along with a seething HATRED of running that seals the deal 3) two SKINNY children who need high calorie foods because they just don't eat much along with a husband who hates seafood, most vegetables, and most things you would equate with "healthy"

My helping factors are that I'm taking 13 credit hours at the college this semester... I don't have time for "boredom eating." Also, 2 of those credits come from my only "fun" class, which is Tap dancing, where we move pretty much constantly for 75 minutes twice a week... so it's guaranteed exercise those days...

I've been doing sparkpeople since around the beginning of the year, and I've lost about 5 lbs from my first weigh-in, but I find that pretty frustrating, because I *KNOW* how hard I've been working, and I can't the results matching the effort *yet.* Example... I've had over a 3500 calorie deficit this week, and yet my weight is UP .5 lbs... of course we all know how many factors could be at play, so I'm upping my water intake and looking at the calendar thinking, "yep..." but it still is disheartening.

So my TRACKABLE goal for this month is 60 minutes of light cardio(walking or dance, mostly) 5 days a week. I'd LIKE see that result in a solid loss (at least 4lbs, preferably closer to 8,) but clearly the scale is just doing its own thing right now... Also, implied, I want to stay on track and not give up.

WELCOME to our happy group! A Disney visit is the motivator for MANY of us joining the weight loss train (myself included).... the trick is finding a way to keep going after the trip!............P
 
I'd like to try again! My name is Becky and I'm 46, married for 25 years this summer with 3 kids - DD20 (sophomore in college), DD18 (freshman in college) and DS14 (freshman in HS). I always thought I was overweight because I wasn't a size 2 growing up. I now realize I was probably about the perfect size and wish I would have not been so body conscious all those years. I basically gained weight with my first pregnancy and never lost it. I've lost some over the years, but mostly have always gained it back. I started working on it seriously again last February when I found this group. I lost 30 pounds between Feb 15 and June 15 last year when we left on a 2 week vacation. I've never recovered! Since then, I gained about 8 or so of that back, but I'm ready to work again!

This month, my goal is to lose 8 pounds. That's basically 2 pounds a week and I should hopefully be able to handle that! My plan is to start tracking again in MFP and walking again. I live in the midwest, so the weather is up and down here this time of the year, but I'm going to attempt to walk after work any day that I can. Hopefully I can get DH to join me - that would make it more fun!

I also love the sleep goal. I may have to try that some month. I am terrible! I have to be at work at 7 am and I am not a morning person AT ALL. I only live about 7 minutes from work, so usually I roll out of bed around 6:00. My theory has always been that I doesn't matter what time I go to bed, I'm always tired when I wake up. I use that as an excuse to not get as much sleep as I need. It also doesn't help that DH is one of those people who just doesn't require much sleep. No matter what time he goes to bed he almost always wakes up on his own 6 hours later and is ready to go for the day. I so wish I could do that!
 
I'm no stranger to these threads but I've been on hiatus for a long time. 2016 kicked my butt as I struggled with depression, but I'm determined to make 2017 amazing.

I'm Megan, and I'm recently turned 28. I'm a wife and a dog-mom and a small business owner who really sucks at time management and self-control. I'm a stress-eater like no other, and chocolate is my bestie. My days consist of getting out of bed whenever I happen to wake up, sitting in front of a computer (working) for 8-12 hours, sitting on the couch with DH for an hour or so while we eat our fast-food/take-out dinner when he gets home from his two jobs, and then going back to bed around 1am. My days consist of so little physical activity that my Fitbit has automatically set my daily step goal at 2,000 to get me to take more steps than I do currently. Admitting that, I feel like a total slob, haha.

I got started on these threads in 2015 as I prepared for my wedding, and I managed to lose 30lbs by the big day. I'm sure a lot of that was due to diet, wedding stress, and job-from-hell stress. I've tried to get back into the swing of things several times but could just never follow through. Today I weigh the most I've ever weighed in my life, up 33lbs from wedding weight. DH and I went to Disney last week for my birthday and I am so embarrassed by how I looked in the photos from our trip. We are headed back at the end of April (one of the upsides to having a magically inspired business is I can justify more visits to the World, haha... affording them is a different story, though) and I am determined to lose a decent chunk of weight by then. I'm aiming to be down 20lbs by April 28 but 30 would be a DREAM. Overall I want to be down 60lbs this year - 5lbs a month seems totally doable right now! Now that I feel more like myself again, I feel like I'm ready to do this.

I'm back on the low-carb, high-protein lifestyle that worked for me in 2015. I'm not diabetic but I have an insulin resistance that means my body LOVES carbs and LOVES to hang on to carbs. It also means that I need to get used to this being the way life has to be. In a few months I hope to/plan to work pastas and things like that back into my diet in moderation, because I love them so, but I'm wary to do it too soon because I am, in all seriousness, a carb addict. How funny that the theme of the month is SUGAR.

I'm setting a 10lb goal for myself this month, which I hope isn't too much, but I'm also hoping that with how sedentary my life has been for the last year - and with how much I've been eating every day - adding exercise, healthy foods, and water back into my day will make the weight come off pretty quickly at first.


February Starting Weight - 229 || February Goal Weight - 219

I've started back tracking in LoseIt, which is not syncing with my Fitbit the way it says it should, so that's incredibly frustrating. I need to track down some good Youtube exercise videos today - I love to dance so I'm hoping some dance-oriented exercise videos will make me want to get active. I hate, hate, hate the treadmill. Hate. HAAAAAAATEEEEEEEE. And our weather (and general safety - thanks, Memphis) is too unpredictable to really plan to get outside during the day.

My weight-loss specific Instagram account is @bonnie.apetite, if you'd like to follow along. I'm nervous to share it because I feel like some of my posts are going to be kind of personal and probably emotional, but it's there if you want it. My personal Instagram account is @legett.this.party.started, and my business Instagram is @craftiest_place_on_earth. My personal IG is probably the least personal because of certain friends and family - ain't that the way? - but if you are a fan of dog-and-disney photo spam, you'll love it! :rotfl:

 


I always thought I was overweight because I wasn't a size 2 growing up. I now realize I was probably about the perfect size and wish I would have not been so body conscious all those years.

THIS. OH MY GOODNESS THIS.

I was a size 7/9 in highschool and I can't tell you how much I stressed over my weight because I was - literally - the biggest girl in school. What I wouldn't give to be that size again!! I wasted so much time and energy worrying about my weight then when looking back I had absolutely no reason to. I've had such an unhealthy relationship with my body image since such a young age, it's really shaped who I am and how I am today.
 
THIS. OH MY GOODNESS THIS.

I was a size 7/9 in highschool and I can't tell you how much I stressed over my weight because I was - literally - the biggest girl in school. What I wouldn't give to be that size again!! I wasted so much time and energy worrying about my weight then when looking back I had absolutely no reason to. I've had such an unhealthy relationship with my body image since such a young age, it's really shaped who I am and how I am today.

Same here... I was probably a 9/10 in high school, which isn't skinny at just 5'3", but wasn't exactly heavy either. If I could get to a size 14 now I'd be thrilled.
 
I'm Melanie a SAHM to 5 kids from 2 to 10. We currently live in FL. I gained weight from senior year of high school until having DS10 and then decided I needed to be healthier for him so I lost 60lbs. I was super happy with myself afterwards but then slowly gained it all back after having the other 4. I lost 25 lbs last year and would like to lose about 50 more. I am not fixed on that number, I just want to get to a point that I am happy with my body and I can wear whatever I want. I have been running for almost 2 years now and love that I can always make a new goal for myself with running. Last year it was a marathon, this year is all about speed. I am also working towards running a marathon or half-marathon in each state. So far I am at 3/50.

For February I am going to set a lofty goal of 10lbs. To get there I am running 6 days a week and doing 30 day shred (currently on day 9). Challenges are eating kid's leftover( because I hate to waste food/money) and the dark (because running in the dark is scary but the only time I can get out there). But I am determined to fight through those challenges.
 
THIS. OH MY GOODNESS THIS.

I was a size 7/9 in highschool and I can't tell you how much I stressed over my weight because I was - literally - the biggest girl in school. What I wouldn't give to be that size again!! I wasted so much time and energy worrying about my weight then when looking back I had absolutely no reason to. I've had such an unhealthy relationship with my body image since such a young age, it's really shaped who I am and how I am today.
Same here... I was probably a 9/10 in high school, which isn't skinny at just 5'3", but wasn't exactly heavy either. If I could get to a size 14 now I'd be thrilled.
Unfortunately I can say the same thing, I guess it is a reflection of what kind of society we live in:sad1: I hope I am able to keep my daughters from feeling the same way.
 
Hello all I am in - but I have to dash and get ready for school/work at the moment - the school has stuffed up my twins school schedule I think - the first one they got had their names but the other ones home room on them - then the other day they were given new ones which saw them each switch a couple of classes the core ones maths, English etc ... I think it is still not right as DD said she feels the maths class is a higher level than her (they stream them even though they try to pretend to the kids they don't) so I can't have her there if that is the case as it will affect her maths self confidence even more than it already is!!!! They aren't even identical twins as most of you know they are boy/girl twins! Ugh. I will catch up tonight - Have a great evening.
 
Hello everyone - I'm back at it as I really begin my training for Dopey Challenge 2018. (It's happening! :D )

Since June 2014 I've lost 81 pounds and am spending this month working on two things: building up stamina and working on muscle tone. Or a reachable goal: sticking to my calendar and making sure I cross 28 days. Every day will count towards 1/28 of my goal!

How I'm going to accomplish this:
- I signed up to try Beach Body on Demand and I'm going to see if the on Demand videos will work for non-running days.
- I'm going to try Shakeology for a month and see if that helps give me the nutrients I'm missing.
- I'm going to run 2 Half Marathons, 1 10K and 1 5K race this month.


I'm excited to guide you through this challenge this month. I find that if I'm actively engaged on this sub-forum then I feel motivated to do better in my personal efforts. What will slow me down are late nights at work and still adapting to a new job. My Direct Report starts on 2/13 so... there's another wrench in the plan.



I fly home on Friday afternoon and I have one day to prepare before running my first HM of the year. Wooo!
 
Hello everyone - I'm back at it as I really begin my training for Dopey Challenge 2018. (It's happening! :D )

Since June 2014 I've lost 81 pounds and am spending this month working on two things: building up stamina and working on muscle tone. Or a reachable goal: sticking to my calendar and making sure I cross 28 days. Every day will count towards 1/28 of my goal!

How I'm going to accomplish this:
- I signed up to try Beach Body on Demand and I'm going to see if the on Demand videos will work for non-running days.
- I'm going to try Shakeology for a month and see if that helps give me the nutrients I'm missing.
- I'm going to run 2 Half Marathons, 1 10K and 1 5K race this month.


I'm excited to guide you through this challenge this month. I find that if I'm actively engaged on this sub-forum then I feel motivated to do better in my personal efforts. What will slow me down are late nights at work and still adapting to a new job. My Direct Report starts on 2/13 so... there's another wrench in the plan.



I fly home on Friday afternoon and I have one day to prepare before running my first HM of the year. Wooo!

Great goal and you are SO busy right now! I'd be happy to help out here on the thread with a day here or there as needed.... just let me know!....P
 
I was a size 7/9 in highschool and I can't tell you how much I stressed over my weight because I was - literally - the biggest girl in school. What I wouldn't give to be that size again!! I wasted so much time and energy worrying about my weight then when looking back I had absolutely no reason to. I've had such an unhealthy relationship with my body image since such a young age, it's really shaped who I am and how I am today.

Back in the day when I was in high school ( class of 91) that would have been considered on the thin size. Average size for the girls in my class was anywhere from a 12-16 and most of us were solid not flab either. Of course we were considered a power house in athletics so between that and the girls who grew up in the ranching community and thought nothing of tossing 75 pound bales around it was nothing unusual to see the girls lift just as much as the boys in the weight room. I was a 14/16 basically all through high school.
 
Back in the day when I was in high school ( class of 91) that would have been considered on the thin size. Average size for the girls in my class was anywhere from a 12-16 and most of us were solid not flab either. Of course we were considered a power house in athletics so between that and the girls who grew up in the ranching community and thought nothing of tossing 75 pound bales around it was nothing unusual to see the girls lift just as much as the boys in the weight room. I was a 14/16 basically all through high school.

I am a 16 now and it is DEFINITELY not muscle, haha. My goal is a 10-12. I was there in 2011 and am anxious to get back!
 
Hello! Joining in again although it will likely be a sluggish start since I'm not scheduled to be off the steroids for at least another two weeks and I'm not really making it right now. Goal for the month is to lose 2 pounds (essentially maintain my weight until I'm off the FEED ME RIGHT NOW drugs and then lose a pound a week for the last two weeks). Plan is simply to consider whether I'm really hungry before eating and then track absolutely everything I eat or drink that is not water or celery.

I'm Lily, 43, married, mother to two cats and a dog. 2017 goal is to lose 50 pounds, which will put a few pounds into a healthy BMI category. Woohoo!

Something new....... My left foot is a full half size longer than my right foot.
 
February 2 -- Celebrate Your Inner Hero
giphy.gif

Let's Focus on the Positivity Today!
Fix it Felix Jr is a compassionate hero in "Wreck it Ralph". He's a stand-up guy who is loved by the townsfolk of Niceland. His programming is to wield his golden hammer and fix all of the havoc that Ralph causes during the game. One of my favorite scenes in the movie is the one pictured in today's .gif -- Felix realizing that sometimes he has too much positivity ;)

I feel that we can never have too much positivity in our lives. Often, we are our harshest critic. So today is a celebration of YOU. We are going to highlight some AWESOME things about you and your life.


Question of the Day:

Let's grab our golden hammers and fix our opinions about ourselves. Let's embrace Felix's
positivity and share some AWESOME things about yourself. List between 3-5 things you
like about yourself. It can be physical appearance, hobbies, material possessions, accomplishments
or anything you can think of. Let's embrace our inner hero and share things that make you happy!
 

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