From ZERO to HERO - The October 2015 W.I.S.H. Challenge

[belle032]

Happy Sunday everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying better weather than me...it's SNOWING right now! I know it's upstate NY but I can't believe it. At least it supposed to be in the 60s this week so I know its temporary, but just seeing it this early kills me!

I've skimmed the last couple pages that I've missed and hate seeing that people are struggling. This past week was hard for me too though. I've been working out every morning, but food choices need to get better, especially on weekends. I have 2 weeks before I leave for WDW and I want to get as close to that 10 lb weight loss as I can!

Switching to good news though: I weighed in at 198.6 this morning so I'm about at 40% of my goal! It's time to buckle down these next 2 weeks though. I know I can do better than what I've been doing. And another thing I'm super excited about is I FINALLY got an Ohana dinner reservation!! Horrible place for weight loss I know, but it's our favorite place to eat and I've been constantly checking for a ressie for weeks now. Letting myself enjoy this one and then its back on track when we come home!

QOTW - October 17/18​

I am so sorry! I got distracted yesterday and forgot to post our question of the weekend. After the marvelous, wonderful, motivating start that @JacknSally gave us, that wasn't a very auspicious start to my substitute hosting gig while she is off getting married and Disneymooning and other stuff. I promise to do her proud the rest of the month!!

Anyway, I'm curled up in a blanket on my back deck (when did it get SO COLD) , drinking tea, and making out my grocery list. Which brings me to the question! What are some of your favorite food finds that help you in this journey? Quick snacks, things to cobble together breakfast or your lunch bag, must have dinner items..... let's chat!

I always have string cheese, hummus & carrots, ground turkey, chicken breasts, shrimp & fish, popcorn, coffee, and fresh veggies around. For breakfast, I have smoothie in my blender bottle. It's super easy-almond milk, ice, splenda, BodyLab vanilla protein powder, banana, yogurt & cinnamon. Or you can add unsweetened cocoa powder & peanut butter instead of the cinnamon & banana.

Lunch I've been doing spinach salad, tuna, dried cranberries, a cut up string cheese, onions & mushrooms w/a homemade oil & vinegar dressing.

I've found when I'm craving food or something sweet at night, flavored decaf coffee does the trick. No caffeine so I don't stay awake and the flavor curbs my sweet tooth.

Positive thoughts & pixie dust to everyone!

 

[Flossbolna]

QOTW - October 17/18​

I am so sorry! I got distracted yesterday and forgot to post our question of the weekend. After the marvelous, wonderful, motivating start that @JacknSally gave us, that wasn't a very auspicious start to my substitute hosting gig while she is off getting married and Disneymooning and other stuff. I promise to do her proud the rest of the month!!

Anyway, I'm curled up in a blanket on my back deck (when did it get SO COLD) , drinking tea, and making out my grocery list. Which brings me to the question! What are some of your favorite food finds that help you in this journey? Quick snacks, things to cobble together breakfast or your lunch bag, must have dinner items..... let's chat!

Don't worry, we like a QOTW on Sunday, too! And the DISboards were down yesterday for quite some time anyway.

I can only come up with two foods:

frozen raspberries: Can either be thawed and go into porridge or Muesli or so. Or can be eaten frozen as an after dinner treat. Kind of like little ice cream pearls...

parmesan cheese (the real stuff, not the fake powdered one). It is actually not a very fat cheese. Most likely more than low fat, but not crazy fat. Because of it being very hard and having a very strong taste, I find that getting a small piece as a snack to nibble on often cures my snack cravings in the evening.

I'm now sitting at 8% for the month and have had to temporarily shelf my memberships in both the Overweight and Onederland clubs.

Oh, I am sorry! But I am sure you will soon return to the club!!

I completely agree - it is SO COLD here! But now that the 24th has popped up on the extended forecast, I have been watching the temps for the week jump all over the place... But wouldn't you know, the RAIN that is expected on the 24th hasn't changed a bit. I'm terribly sorry, Mother Nature and El Nino, but I have spent a year and a half planning an outdoor fall wedding, and rain is simply not on my list. The trees are cooperating nicely, why can't you??

Oh no!! Hoping for lots and lots of sunshine for you!!

Could it be that your activity levels aren't high enough/taxing enough for what you're eating?

I am pretty sure that I am fine in that regard. I am getting an average of 120.000 steps per week... I am more thinking whether I should eat a bit more and whether I am eating too little...

How beautiful is Germany in the fall?? Do you have lots of gorgeous changing leaves where you are??

Leaves here mainly just go from green to yellow to brown. No beautiful reds like in New England. But it can be very pretty. However, currently the weather is so miserable. I met a friend today and her two year old kept demanding his dinner at 4pm claiming that it was night and therefore dinner time. It was so grey and dark that you could think that the sun was down already...

Happy Sunday everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying better weather than me...it's SNOWING right now! I know it's upstate NY but I can't believe it. At least it supposed to be in the 60s this week so I know its temporary, but just seeing it this early kills me!

Hope temperatures will go up nicely again and the snow won't return for a long time!!!

 

[Qmom]

I guess I must have stopped watching my calories a bit this week! Still down, but not as much as I had hoped. I'm at 25% of my goal for October. Here's to a new week!

 

[DisPup75]

You'll make it up this week with hard work and eating right. I'm holding on to your membership card for Overweight and will gladly give it back once you get there. This is going to be a great week for you - so don't be too hard on yourself. You got this!!

_________________

Hubs and I are heading to the Disneyland Hotel's Steakhouse 55 this morning to have breakfast and investigate their Oak Room for my graduation dinner. We haven't seen it yet but the private dining option looks like the perfect way to celebrate with family and friends. We also will be doing a little bit of shopping for me too -- all of my Disney shirts are too big

Thanks for the encouragement! It wasn't a. Unexpected gain and is well in my normal gain/loss pattern. Just frustrating since it bookends two milestones. But I will have them back next week!

That sounds like an amazing graduation dinner plan! How fun!!!

Trying this from my phone lost .7 at WW yesterday so that put me at 2.6 total for 2 weeks and 65% of my 4lb goal. Very happy with this! Happy Sunday, don't think I'll be in till Tuesday as I have a funeral to attend at 11 am tomorrow so I'll need to work till it's time to leave. See you all later.

I'm so sorry for your loss. Congratulations on your great two weeks!!

Weigh-in today that I'm very happy with!

After a rough start to the week/month I turned it around on Friday night and kicked it into gear. I had been in the nasty habit of buying a pint of ice cream for the hubs and I to split over the weekend (and I wasn't tracking it of course) plus then overeating Friday through Saturday. Well at the grocery store Friday night I skipped right past the ice cream . I also stuck with my plan and only bought 3 apples and 3 bananas to last me through Wednesday so that I can go back and get fresh produce again'

Then yesterday, I went out with my SisIL and we went to an Italian restaurant for lunch. I got a salad! I did go over 6pp yesterday because I had a small pumpkin spice latte but I was still very proud of myself!

So I weigh in this AM and I'd lost the 2 pounds that I'd gained (taking me back to 0% for the month) plus an extra .5 pound! So I believe my percentage for the month is 45% which should mean that I'll at least hit 50% by the end of the month.

GREAT job getting stopping that ice cream habit! And woohoo in the great weigh-in! Do you eat some or all of your weekly points? They can help "pay" for that latte.

Happy Sunday everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying better weather than me...it's SNOWING right now! I know it's upstate NY but I can't believe it. At least it supposed to be in the 60s this week so I know its temporary, but just seeing it this early kills me!

I've skimmed the last couple pages that I've missed and hate seeing that people are struggling. This past week was hard for me too though. I've been working out every morning, but food choices need to get better, especially on weekends. I have 2 weeks before I leave for WDW and I want to get as close to that 10 lb weight loss as I can!

Switching to good news though: I weighed in at 198.6 this morning so I'm about at 40% of my goal! It's time to buckle down these next 2 weeks though. I know I can do better than what I've been doing. And another thing I'm super excited about is I FINALLY got an Ohana dinner reservation!! Horrible place for weight loss I know, but it's our favorite place to eat and I've been constantly checking for a ressie for weeks now. Letting myself enjoy this one and then its back on track when we come home!




I always have string cheese, hummus & carrots, ground turkey, chicken breasts, shrimp & fish, popcorn, coffee, and fresh veggies around. For breakfast, I have smoothie in my blender bottle. It's super easy-almond milk, ice, splenda, BodyLab vanilla protein powder, banana, yogurt & cinnamon. Or you can add unsweetened cocoa powder & peanut butter instead of the cinnamon & banana.

Lunch I've been doing spinach salad, tuna, dried cranberries, a cut up string cheese, onions & mushrooms w/a homemade oil & vinegar dressing.

I've found when I'm craving food or something sweet at night, flavored decaf coffee does the trick. No caffeine so I don't stay awake and the flavor curbs my sweet tooth.

Positive thoughts & pixie dust to everyone!

Snowing? Yikes!!! I love snow but I think it would make me cry right now. Woohoo on the great weigh-in! You are going to be looking good at WDW!

I've never been to Ohana and there is so much talk about it on these boards. I'm thinking we might have to try it on our April trip.

Don't worry, we like a QOTW on Sunday, too! And the DISboards were down yesterday for quite some time anyway.

I can only come up with two foods:

frozen raspberries: Can either be thawed and go into porridge or Muesli or so. Or can be eaten frozen as an after dinner treat. Kind of like little ice cream pearls...

parmesan cheese (the real stuff, not the fake powdered one). It is actually not a very fat cheese. Most likely more than low fat, but not crazy fat. Because of it being very hard and having a very strong taste, I find that getting a small piece as a snack to nibble on often cures my snack cravings in the evening.



Oh, I am sorry! But I am sure you will soon return to the club!!



Oh no!! Hoping for lots and lots of sunshine for you!!



I am pretty sure that I am fine in that regard. I am getting an average of 120.000 steps per week... I am more thinking whether I should eat a bit more and whether I am eating too little...



Leaves here mainly just go from green to yellow to brown. No beautiful reds like in New England. But it can be very pretty. However, currently the weather is so miserable. I met a friend today and her two year old kept demanding his dinner at 4pm claiming that it was night and therefore dinner time. It was so grey and dark that you could think that the sun was down already...





Hope temperatures will go up nicely again and the snow won't return for a long time!!!

Raspberries and real parm are both wonderful things to have around! I now need to go dig out the frozen raspberries and try them while they are still frozen. Sounds like a yummy treat!

I guess I must have stopped watching my calories a bit this week! Still down, but not as much as I had hoped. I'm at 25% of my goal for October. Here's to a new week!

A loss is a loss around here. Congratulations!!

 

[DisPup75]

Haha, I was actually feeling guilty because I tried to get on yesterday to post our QOTW, and the boards wouldn't work for me, no matter when I tried! I kept getting an "error connecting to database" message. So sorry to make you wonderful people feel abandoned! @DisPup75 do you want to post the progress update tonight/tomorrow, or would you like me to? Either way is fine with me!

I completely agree - it is SO COLD here! But now that the 24th has popped up on the extended forecast, I have been watching the temps for the week jump all over the place... But wouldn't you know, the RAIN that is expected on the 24th hasn't changed a bit. I'm terribly sorry, Mother Nature and El Nino, but I have spent a year and a half planning an outdoor fall wedding, and rain is simply not on my list. The trees are cooperating nicely, why can't you??

Our dieting method-of-choice has been low-carb/high-protein, which means our grocery lists consist of LOTS of chicken breasts, ground turkey, deli meat, cheese, eggs, yogurt, and protein powder. Unfortunately, we have been terribly off our diet during September and October, with very little grocery shopping and VERY MUCH eating out. The one good thing about my employment situation as of late is that starting November 1, we are on VERY tight budgets, which will make grocery shopping, meal prep, and eating better absolutely mandatory. But I will have some free time to actually make meals and even get in a few walks

SO sorry to see you step back, @DisPup75! I am cha-cha-ing with you, though. Friday I was holding steady at 199, but our drinks that night and our quick Chili's takeout last night, plus "that time", had me weigh in at 203 this morning. Hoping that a few days of good sleep and back-on-track-ness will have that number back down to Onederland quickly! For both of us!!

Disney is just a short week away for me, now! This time in 7 days, we will be on the road - hopefully 3 hours closer to Orlando, and hopefully not still crying my eyes out over my dog-mom-separation-anxiety-guilt I always like to do photo scavenger hunts for my friends when I go to WDW! Is there anything there that anyone here wants me to be sure to take a picture of?! I will post them here/on Instagram during my trip!

LOL. I couldn't remember exactly when we were switching off but sort of thought with the wedding looming that you would be ready to delegate. I'm happy to post results tomorrow night but if you need procrastination time and want to do, I'm unlikely to sit down and do it be before 8 pm or so.

I've got my fingers crossed that the rain will go away. A week is still a long time for a storm system to blow away or change course!!!

And yes, eating out is normally the bane of my existence (although this week it was my MIL and her giant vets of macaroni and cheese). Funny we both hit Onederland and then wound up at exactly the same place above it! Those pounds will go away quickly because clearly they are not real.

Yay on only seven days to Disney!!! I'll have to think on the photo scavenger hunt. I'm particularly fond of taking photos of the hippos on the jungle cruise.

 

[ThistleMae]

Weigh-in Results: Week 3

Pounds Lost: 5 of 5
Goal Progress: 100%

Lost another 1.5 pounds this week and was greeted to this little surprise this morning. Happy to finally join you @DisPup75 in the club
13 pounds to go until goal weight.

Wow! Good for U!

 

[ThistleMae]

Well I finally did my weigh in for the week and, as expected, I'm up from last week. The bright side is I am down from my initial start weight but my percentage has gone to 11%. When I weighed in this morning and saw the number, my thought was "ok, I can fix that." I had prepared myself for the gain and I am not going to let it get me down. It's a new day and I'm ready to continue this journey.

That a girl!

 

[ThistleMae]

Happy Sunday everyone!!

I hope you are doing well - i.e. better than me... No, I am not doing horribly bad. Just having a bit of a pity party with my weight still not going down. Today I was down 0.1 kg from last week, that puts me at 18% for my monthly goal. I have not even lost one pound this month! And I really don't understand why. I am moving, I am eating well. I think I will try to get more sleep next week. But if things don't improve by the end of the month, I am going to talk to my doctor again. At least this gives me an incentive to keep being good and to keep tracking everything I eat, so I can show him that if eat 750kcal per day under what my fitbit says I need, I should be losing more than 0.5 pound in two weeks...

Am happy however that I have started to take some furniture apart that I am no longer using in order to prepare it for being collected. I bought some new stuff and the old stuff has just been cluttering up my spare bedroom. So, this is a good step that will make the spare bedroom more usable again!

Also was inspired by @ThistleMae who told us about buying here special vinegars and bought some delicious herbal teas as calorie free treats for myself. Sometimes it is just nice to treat yourself to some good food. And I am learning that good food does not have to equal lots of calories!

Hip Hip Hooray....on the Herbal Tea Treats! You have exactly the right idea! Even use a special cup...just for the Herbal tea...something that makes you feel special. I think talking to the doctor is a very responsible choice. And...especially when you can show him what you are eating! I love the fact that you are not discouraged. We can all learn from your courageous attitude!

 

[Flossbolna]

A very happy Monday and a great start into the new week to all of you!!

I had a fantastic start! After being so sad about the little progress I had, I woke up to a wonderful surprise on the scale this morning: Down 0.6 kg (1.4 pounds?) since yesterday!!



So, since the results have not been updated, I would like to change my progress from 18% to 44%!!!

So, all my hard work is paying off. It just does not happen gradually, but in bursts. Will need to remember this when I get frustrated next time!

Hip Hip Hooray....on the Herbal Tea Treats! You have exactly the right idea! Even use a special cup...just for the Herbal tea...something that makes you feel special. I think talking to the doctor is a very responsible choice. And...especially when you can show him what you are eating! I love the fact that you are not discouraged. We can all learn from your courageous attitude!

Thanks for your encouragement! I like the idea of having a special "treat mug". Might even be a reason to treat myself to a new mug (I love mugs, but have currently a no-mug-buying policy in place due to heavy overcrowding of the mug cupboard!)!!

 

[LindseyJo22]

Hello everyone,

I just found the WISH forums and the challenge - I know it's quite late in the month, but I'd love to join in!

I'm Lindsey, I'm 25 and recently married (yay!). I've always been a little overweight, but nothing that really bothered me. Sure, I could stand to lose a few pounds or so, but there never seemed to be any issues or anything, so I wasn't really concerned. Plus, I met my now husband, and we are both definitely food people. We love cooking, even if it's not fancy, and we love eating (especially dessert). I kind of figured as long as I wasn't going too far from my current weight, I was fine.

However, I had my first doctor's appointment in quite a few years recently, and they told me my cholesterol was very high, especially for someone my age. My doctor wanted to put me on meds, but I told her that I'd rather try to tackle this myself first - it should be manageable if I actually get serious about cleaning up my diet and losing some weight, since there doesn't seem to be a genetic predisposition to high cholesterol in my family.

So that was basically my recent wakeup call. I lost a good amount of weight in college and went from 150 or so (where I am now) to about 135, but wasn't able to keep it off. I moved across the country, went to grad school, and met my husband, which wasn't a great recipe for cooking and eating well.

I'm trying to do Weight Watchers, but through a third-party app because my budget doesn't have room for the membership fee at the moment. I'll probably end up using MFP or something similar to get nutrition info for the stuff we are cooking, since at least for this week I don't have any WW-approved meals on there. We had already bought groceries and stuff, so I'm using up our food and then will plan a healthier menu for next week!

I've got to head to work now, but I will be back later with a goal and a plan

 

[Flossbolna]

I just found the WISH forums and the challenge - I know it's quite late in the month, but I'd love to join in!

I'm Lindsey, I'm 25 and recently married (yay!). I've always been a little overweight, but nothing that really bothered me. Sure, I could stand to lose a few pounds or so, but there never seemed to be any issues or anything, so I wasn't really concerned. Plus, I met my now husband, and we are both definitely food people. We love cooking, even if it's not fancy, and we love eating (especially dessert). I kind of figured as long as I wasn't going too far from my current weight, I was fine.

Hi Lindsey!! Welcome to our group here!! And congratulations on your marriage!!

You will find that cooking can be a lot of fun still, even when you slim down the recipes. Lots of healthy AND tasty food out there! Sorry for the shock with the high cholesterol. My brother in law had high cholesterol in his late twenties, too. He and my sister made some changes to their diet and were able to really get it under control. So, I think your approach to first try with a different diet makes sense! Good luck with it!

 

[dsnyfn1022]

Finally made it to a computer and got all caught up. Phew!

Good Morning Fellow Friday Friends. I did not lose any weight this week, in spite of the five pounds I took off last week. But....I had a big slip last night, without any thought to Friday being weigh in day.....I was out of control....hungry. I pulled frozen fudge from the freezer, ate four pieces! I made toast, with butter and jelly.....ate two. Then I went for the ice cream sandwich! I almost started baking! If I had been drinking....I would have been drunk and passed out from all the booze. So what went wrong? I am stressed about my back. I couldn't work out this week at all. My car has a warning light on and I have to drive for an hour to get it checked out and my back "kills" driving. And...it's cold and rainy outside. To add to all of this, I baked corn muffins this morning, with jalapeno's in them. So it looks like I want to continue the binge into today. So after they were baked....right now they are sitting on my stove...I decided....I have to get back on track. I will have one half of a muffin with dinner....and not eat all six...which I easily could....no lie. The nighttime is when I go crazy....so I have to be really strong tonight! Wish me luck, I have to get it together, with the Holiday's coming, I can't have a landslide now or it will be over until January, when everyone says....oh my new year resolution is to take off some weight! I'm asking you all for some support....I really need it right now.

I'm so sorry that you had a rough night but I'm happy to see you were able to get it turned around! I'm in the same boat where some nights it's like a food hangover. My mouth goes into autopilot and I eat everything in site. Then when I finally stop I'm like "what the heck did I just do?" I see it as a normal part of the process. Every day is a new day to make a change!

I've struggled immensely this week. I won't get into much detail but I've been struggling with a health issue that started late last week, though I'm not really sure at this point if the "issue" is really and "issue" or something slight that my worrier self has made into a bigger deal. Anyway, I worried myself so much that I felt pinned down and finally decided yesterday that I really needed to let things go and stop making myself sick from stress. So far, things are looking positive on the health front and I'm generally feeling better since I decided to stop the insanity (and stop looking at things on the internet!). In regards to my exercise, my "plan" was working for me just fine until I became the ball of stress. I haven't exercised for the past 2 days but will get back on that bandwagon today. I also haven't made the best food choices as I have stress ate but I've started today off well and hope to continue that path. So really, my plan to adjust my own thinking and stop focusing on the negative and more on the positive.

I'm a worrier too and google is the enemy when it comes to symptoms lol. I hope that your health issue gets resolved and that it's no big deal! I also hope you were able to get back on track

Happy Sunday everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying better weather than me...it's SNOWING right now! I know it's upstate NY but I can't believe it. At least it supposed to be in the 60s this week so I know its temporary, but just seeing it this early kills me!

I've skimmed the last couple pages that I've missed and hate seeing that people are struggling. This past week was hard for me too though. I've been working out every morning, but food choices need to get better, especially on weekends. I have 2 weeks before I leave for WDW and I want to get as close to that 10 lb weight loss as I can!

Switching to good news though: I weighed in at 198.6 this morning so I'm about at 40% of my goal! It's time to buckle down these next 2 weeks though. I know I can do better than what I've been doing. And another thing I'm super excited about is I FINALLY got an Ohana dinner reservation!! Horrible place for weight loss I know, but it's our favorite place to eat and I've been constantly checking for a ressie for weeks now. Letting myself enjoy this one and then its back on track when we come home!

It's snowing??? In October??? And I thought I wasn't prepared for the 50 degree mornings that we are having. Congrats on your weight loss! You definitely have enough time to get to 100% and hopefully get to your WDW goal. Also, I've never eaten at Ohana. I feel like I'm missing out!

A very happy Monday and a great start into the new week to all of you!!

I had a fantastic start! After being so sad about the little progress I had, I woke up to a wonderful surprise on the scale this morning: Down 0.6 kg (1.4 pounds?) since yesterday!!



So, since the results have not been updated, I would like to change my progress from 18% to 44%!!!

So, all my hard work is paying off. It just does not happen gradually, but in bursts. Will need to remember this when I get frustrated next time!

That's exactly what happened to me this weekend! I weighed on Saturday and had taken off .5 pound of the 2 that I had gained. Got back on the scale yesterday and BAM, huge weight loss. Just goes to show how much weight can fluctuate. I'm so happy that you saw some progress!!

Hello everyone,

I just found the WISH forums and the challenge - I know it's quite late in the month, but I'd love to join in!

I'm Lindsey, I'm 25 and recently married (yay!). I've always been a little overweight, but nothing that really bothered me. Sure, I could stand to lose a few pounds or so, but there never seemed to be any issues or anything, so I wasn't really concerned. Plus, I met my now husband, and we are both definitely food people. We love cooking, even if it's not fancy, and we love eating (especially dessert). I kind of figured as long as I wasn't going too far from my current weight, I was fine.

However, I had my first doctor's appointment in quite a few years recently, and they told me my cholesterol was very high, especially for someone my age. My doctor wanted to put me on meds, but I told her that I'd rather try to tackle this myself first - it should be manageable if I actually get serious about cleaning up my diet and losing some weight, since there doesn't seem to be a genetic predisposition to high cholesterol in my family.

So that was basically my recent wakeup call. I lost a good amount of weight in college and went from 150 or so (where I am now) to about 135, but wasn't able to keep it off. I moved across the country, went to grad school, and met my husband, which wasn't a great recipe for cooking and eating well.

I'm trying to do Weight Watchers, but through a third-party app because my budget doesn't have room for the membership fee at the moment. I'll probably end up using MFP or something similar to get nutrition info for the stuff we are cooking, since at least for this week I don't have any WW-approved meals on there. We had already bought groceries and stuff, so I'm using up our food and then will plan a healthier menu for next week!

I've got to head to work now, but I will be back later with a goal and a plan

It's awesome that you have the initiative to try and lower your cholesterol on your own first! You can definitely do it! I had a similar situation, I love a ton of weight my senior year of high school and then maintained it through the first two years of college but slowly it started to creep back on until I weighed 236. I started having lots of health issues which made me feel so sad because at 23 high cholesterol shouldn't really be a concern!

WW is expensive and lots of people on here use MFP instead! Do you know if your work offers any WW discounts? Mine just recently started offering them, that's why I ask. Welcome!!

 

[LindseyJo22]

It's awesome that you have the initiative to try and lower your cholesterol on your own first! You can definitely do it! I had a similar situation, I love a ton of weight my senior year of high school and then maintained it through the first two years of college but slowly it started to creep back on until I weighed 236. I started having lots of health issues which made me feel so sad because at 23 high cholesterol shouldn't really be a concern!

WW is expensive and lots of people on here use MFP instead! Do you know if your work offers any WW discounts? Mine just recently started offering them, that's why I ask. Welcome!!

Thank you! I will look into a discount of some kind, that would be nice! Even if my current job doesn't have one, I am probably going to be looking for a new job after this semester, so I'll keep the possibility of a WW discount in mind.

I've tried MFP before, but have done a little better with the points system in general. I think I'll probably use it to figure out the points for some of my recipes though, because I don't have access to WW's online recipe tool since I'm not an actual subscriber

Thank you so much for the warm welcome! I'm hoping having a supportive community will help this really stick, since doing it on my own is often successful for a while, but not long-term.

 

[dsnyfn1022]

Thank you! I will look into a discount of some kind, that would be nice! Even if my current job doesn't have one, I am probably going to be looking for a new job after this semester, so I'll keep the possibility of a WW discount in mind.

I've tried MFP before, but have done a little better with the points system in general. I think I'll probably use it to figure out the points for some of my recipes though, because I don't have access to WW's online recipe tool since I'm not an actual subscriber

Thank you so much for the warm welcome! I'm hoping having a supportive community will help this really stick, since doing it on my own is often successful for a while, but not long-term.

I've tried MFP in the past as well and am way more successful on WW. I think it's because with MFP didn't really teach me to balance my meals and eat more fruits and veggies like WW. Since almost all fruits and veggies are 0 points, I'm more likely to eat them than I am to spend 100 calories on a banana when I could have like...a cookie

With that said, when I made the transition to WW I actually tracked a day in both WW and MFP to see how the calories shake out. I didn't track any 0 points items in MFP because I wanted to see how many "real" calories I was eating. It ended up being a smidge over 1000. I guess they figure you can't really eat 5-700 calories worth of fruits and veggies every day. And if you eat, say, 3 bananas or a potato or something more calorie laden, then they assign points values to it. So that's how you get tricked into eating fruits and veggies! lol.

 

[LindseyJo22]

I've tried MFP in the past as well and am way more successful on WW. I think it's because with MFP didn't really teach me to balance my meals and eat more fruits and veggies like WW. Since almost all fruits and veggies are 0 points, I'm more likely to eat them than I am to spend 100 calories on a banana when I could have like...a cookie

With that said, when I made the transition to WW I actually tracked a day in both WW and MFP to see how the calories shake out. I didn't track any 0 points items in MFP because I wanted to see how many "real" calories I was eating. It ended up being a smidge over 1000. I guess they figure you can't really eat 5-700 calories worth of fruits and veggies every day. And if you eat, say, 3 bananas or a potato or something more calorie laden, then they assign points values to it. So that's how you get tricked into eating fruits and veggies! lol.

I definitely agree! The couple of times I tried MFP I was limited to about 1200 calories - which is probably fine, if I knew how to get in fruits and veggies in the right amounts and such - but I didn't. So I ended up eating lots of stuff that wasn't very filling and still had a hard time staying in my appropriate calorie range, which just ended up with me being hungry and annoyed all the time - not a good recipe for success!

In other news -

Had a small victory today with WW- the first day I'm trying to track anything in a while. I'm sitting in Einstein's Bagels at school grading papers and working before I have to teach my first class, and I realize I'm starving. I usually eat a late lunch on MWF because I teach at noon. Instead of getting a delicious bagel, muffin, or cookie, I actually got the fruit cup. More expensive, but 0 points so I can snack and still feel ok about it And I even got a cup of water with it instead of the diet coke that is my usual. I've had one this morning, and I really don't need the caffeine all that much. The zero points approach definitely encourages me to eat more fruits and veggies and good-for-me things!

 

[Lady Marie]

Hi everyone! I'm joining in. I think I joined in on the monthly WISH thread last year around the same time (this must be the time of year I get motivated! haha!) but I was looking to loose around 15 lbs last year.... this year I need to get serious.

A little about me: I'm 26 and want to loose about 30 lbs. Before I got married in May 2014, my DH and I were vegan and oh man did the pounds just fall off! But I desperately missed cheese and sour cream! We are big foodies and so went back to eating meat and dairy right before our wedding and honeymoon (we honeymooned in England and France and I was NOT giving up dairy being there! ). Well let me tell ya, it's true when they say it comes back with a vengeance. I gained it all back and then some.

Last October, I tried Weight Watchers and joined a gym but I wasn't motivated. I was a newlywed and we were happy and cooking with lots of butter since we were off the vegan train (I should mention I'm originally from the south and that comes with it's own set of diet problems-- I was never taught how to cook without butter!). Weight Watchers was good, but I wasn't motivated to keep going because I never saw much of a decrease no matter how hungry I spent the week and I couldn't get into the gym-- I mainly just felt intimidated there. So I just gave up on all of it.

Well, I was a bridesmaid this month and the pictures just made me sad. I mean, I am never going to be the size of the other bridesmaids (just NOT my body type-- I've always been curvy), but I didn't like seeing us all lined up like that... that wedding was 2 weeks after I had gotten back from a cruise...and when I bent over in the bridesmaid dress the hook up top snapped off. Small moment that we laughed off, but internally mortifying.

So here I am-- DH and I got an elliptical for the house so neither of us have an excuse. There's no reason I can't get at least 30 mins of cardio a day when I can do that while watching my Netflix in the air conditioner (we live in South Florida-- running outside feels like running in an oven. I have some serious respect for the people I see running outside here!).

THEN, this weekend, hubby sweetened the pot even more since "Getting Healthy and Losing Weight" wasn't a good enough motivator for me:
If I can get back to the weight I was at when we got married, we will spend a weekend at the GRAND FLORIDIAN!!!!

That has always been my dream! And I am sure all of you out there can understand, being that this is the DIS! I'm shooting for accomplishing this by August 2016, so I've got to get serious and get moving!!!

That means my current goal is 160 lbs (that cute size 10/12 that I was in my avatar picture!) I would love to be get down to a solid size 8 (about 145 for me), but that seems SOOO FAR away.... baby steps...

So the countdown has begun: 30.6 lbs to go until the Grand Floridian!

 

[contempgal]

QOTW - October 17/18​

I am so sorry! I got distracted yesterday and forgot to post our question of the weekend. After the marvelous, wonderful, motivating start that @JacknSally gave us, that wasn't a very auspicious start to my substitute hosting gig while she is off getting married and Disneymooning and other stuff. I promise to do her proud the rest of the month!!

Anyway, I'm curled up in a blanket on my back deck (when did it get SO COLD) , drinking tea, and making out my grocery list. Which brings me to the question! What are some of your favorite food finds that help you in this journey? Quick snacks, things to cobble together breakfast or your lunch bag, must have dinner items..... let's chat!

Hmmm...my "healthier" go to's are hummus, fresh fruit (I love just about any fruit there is), greek yogurt, wheat sandwich thins, ground turkey, lean chicken breasts, black bean burgers, chick peas, laughing cow or WW cheese wedges, salmon and quinoa.

 

[courtneybeth]

Had a small victory today with WW- the first day I'm trying to track anything in a while.

Welcome new friend and so glad to hear about your small victories. That's what this thread and the WW program is all about. I've been on WW for nearly 6 months and have lost 25 pounds on the program. (I've lost a total of 52 pounds since June 2014, but WW is really the thing that has spring boarded my success!) It is not just about losing weight but teaching you how to make the right choices and eat healthy. You can still enjoy the things you love but everything in moderation! Congrats on your recent marriage and the first steps to a new you. We're all here to cheer you on should you need motivation or a small coaching moment to say "Put that___ down right now!"

I had a fantastic start! After being so sad about the little progress I had, I woke up to a wonderful surprise on the scale this morning: Down 0.6 kg (1.4 pounds?) since yesterday!!

Awesome job on the loss! It's only half-way through the month so you can still make your goal.

@Lady Marie - For some reason I can't add quotes to posts after I post, so I'm responding to you this way. WELCOME TO YOU and good luck in your quest. Having a goal and something tangible makes it so much easier to lose the weight, eh? You'll lose 30 pounds in no time for sure. We'll keep you on track and on target.

 

[courtneybeth]

I'm feeling a bit chatty so I'm just going to post this here.. LOL.

I think planning this December trip is causing me extra stress . But everything so far has worked out -- so I'm going to take it as a sign that we are done and I am not to touch any more reservations or plans on this trip for the next 60 days. (Though I think I have to make food reservations for May's trip around Thanksgiving. Rats! Here we go again...)

After rescheduling our Candlelight Processional days, we managed to snag our missing Akershus reservation - so a big thank you to @JacknSally for reminding me that FP+ reservations often cause people to cancel their dining plans. Our FP+ reservation window opened up last night and we got everything that we wanted. It was probably the smoothest part of the process. I think the fact that we didn't want any character greetings or roller coasters helped - also deciding things in advance and working day by day helped too.

So between craziness in the AP renewal process, moving two days worth of dining and activities around for Candlelight Processional, and trying to get FP+ selected... we're done. It was a true nail bitter and I hope that others don't experience this when they plan their vacations.


Also - I got my other midterm grade back and it's... a 94%. Huzzah! Starting the semester off strongly for sure! We met for Disney India over the weekend and started to figure out the amount of people per acre. I had no idea that Disneyland had nearly 1000 people per acre at capacity, with Magic Kingdom at about 900 people per acre.. This is why it feel super crowded on full days! You can use these figures with the percentages of people to see how full the park really feels. At Disneyland yesterday it was at 80% capacity before we left - so we were at 800 people per acre. No wonder why people kept running into us!

 

[DisPup75]

QOTD - October 19

Happy Monday!!!!! We've talked a lot about motivation and our reasons for this journey over the past few weeks and I want to continue that a bit. For most of us, this isn't our first time at the weight loss rodeo. Why is this time different? What are you doing to make permanent changes? What helps you get back on the wagon after a slip instead of just completely abandoning your plan?