If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It! - WISH October Lifestyle/Weight Challenge

[Oneanne]

WooHoo....

Three more work days and then I'm off to the beach on Sunday. I'm going to leave super early so I get there in time to partake in the annual Cranberrian Festival. Washington is the fifth highest producer of cranberries and the Long Beach Peninsula (where I always go for my beach time) is a major growing area, so why not celebrate it! The weather is supposed to be pretty good while I'm there, so I should be able to get quite a few beach walks in.

I had a pretty good work day yesterday, weeding thru most of the stuff that came up while I was out... today will be mostly about getting ready to be out next week.

Last night I finally decided on the costume I'm going to make for Halloween. I was thinking of re-doing Joan of Arch, but while I was collecting ideas in Pinterest, images of the warrior queen from the show Vikings kept coming up... now I could never pull anything like that off but it got me to looking at traditional Viking garments and I decided I'm going to make myself a long dress and an apron, and I ordered a headband with antlers on it, to which I'll add fall flowers. Not sure what that all adds up to, but it will work for the office party and also the Harvest Festival in my community.

Daily accountability:

Steps: 6486 - goal not met
Water: 75 ounces - goal met
Sugar, dairy and gluten: I actually had a good day going but after work I went to the grocery store to get kitty litter and came home with candy. And ate it. - goal not met
Gratitude and kindness: I was gentle with myself getting back up to speed, but I didn't think about gratitude during the day - goal not met

 

[HappyGrape]

1) Did I do my steps (15000 goal) yes
2) Were my calories in balance Yes
3) Did I do my 3 weekly workouts without overdoing it (only M, W and F) Yes
4) What did I do great today, what worked well
It was good day. I made delicious salmon avocado toast, that was pretty tasty
5) What can I do better
It's harder to have proper meals in work. My salad was way too light and I end up needing good few snacks in the afternoon. I had apple and toast with salmon and avocado when I came home and almonds and pear. Little too many snacks, I am still way below my calorie budget but my energy level is better when I have bigger lunch and not as many snacks.



I bought some almonds, ripe mangos to do with tajine spice as I had them in Disneyland, some no sugar added alpen that I can add little to greek yoghurt and fruit, some frozen berries as they are tastier than fresh and great if you thaw them and mix with natural greek yoghurt. LIittle things that I find tasty as treats but more natural. I haven't had any sugary white carb things as white bread or white pasta this week and I seem to be happy with about 1800 calories a day (compared to 2250 last week!).

 

[glss1/2fll]

Weekends get in my way. And I get in my way on the weekends. I want that pot of tea and Costco chocolate muffin as a treat on Saturday!! That plus I'm home where all the food is and the logging isn't pretty! But in good news about weekends, I have met my steps goal. And that is new!

This weekend we are going out of town so I'm not sure what the food situation will be. The steps situation will be dismal. My parents live in the middle of nowhere at the top of a steep hill. I probably won't be going anywhere! DH will probably go for a walk, but he goes super fast and there's no way I could keep up and he wouldn't want to slow down (but he would if I asked). We'll just see how it goes.

In a big Wahoo, we bought our airline tickets to visit our son in college for parent weekend. It'll be fun. It replaces our anniversary trip to Disneyland the following weekend that I'd been dreaming about. Like I said earlier, being an adult is no fun sometimes! But DS is more important so away we go!! I think it'd be nice to see a Broadway show and there just may possibly be time Sunday (if there is one) before our flight home that night. Seeing as it will be near our 30th anniversary I'm gonna make DH treat me to whatever I want!!

In another wahoo my watch and wedding ring are getting looser. Yippee to sliding around!!

 

[sweetpeama]

Woohoo since it's still Wednesday here.
We got our first time homebuyers reclassified and got a refund for part of the years we paid back the one we were mistakingly put on. Told the rest was disallowed because of how long it had been. ( We can appeal this). We have enough now in savings to cover most of our house repairs plus deprieciation from a May 2016 hail storm.
Woohoo we finally got our 2016 taxes done and a small refund for both State and federal.
Woohoo 10 year old ( she had a birthday recently) got a scholarship that paid half her outstanding speech and occupational therapy bill and is going to pay a portion of her occupational for the remainder of the year in addition to the one that covers her speech.

 

[piglet1979]

My results from yesterday
1) Did I do my steps (10,000 goal) - Yep (almost 13,000)
2) Were my calories in balance - Yep
3) Did I track my food - Yep
4) What did I do great today, what worked well -- Well yesterday worked well because I was only working a half day at home
5) What can I do better -- I did snack too much at the end of the day so I need to work on this.

Yesterday went better then I thought it would. My daughter is now back to her happy smiling self though a little more tired from the crutches. I did eat Chipolte for lunch but it is only about 350 calories because I get nothing on it. Dinner went array because the roast did not cook fast enough. So i had a pasta salad instead since my lettuce went bad.

Since I was only working a half day, I logged off from work at 2 and went to the rec. Then I came home and worked my other 30 minutes I needed and meet the kids at the bus stop. I did do a little bit of walking (pacing) waiting for the bus and got the last of my 10,000 steps. At my sons soccer practice a couple of moms were walking so i walked with them. I did a few laps with them and then got really tired. They were fast walkers. I was almost running to keep up. But that got me up to the almost 13,000 steps. I could have just easily said that i would just sit and watch the practice and talk to the other parents since i already had my steps. I am very proud that I choose to get more of a work out in then to sit on my butt.

 

[Oneanne]

Daily accountability:

Steps: 5398 - goal not met
Water: a bit under as for some reason I didn't drink as much last night as I have been - goal not met
Sugar, dairy, gluten: very little dairy or gluten, the rest of the candy for dinner - goal not met
Gratitude and kindness: haven't been at the front of my brain like they should be - goal not met

Today I'm going without cold meds and letting my body just work it out. A lot of my coughing yesterday was a dry cough from the meds, so I'm expecting an improvement and with the improvement I'll feel like walking more and getting my step count back up.

The hotel room I have booked at the beach has a built-in lounging bench at the window, which looks out to the beach. I'm so looking forward to curling up and reading/knitting and seeing the beach/ocean. I think I may take my own fuzzy throw with me, so I can snuggle up properly. And of course I've been planning out my meals while there, as there are some very good choices.

Halloween costume plans have changed back to Joan of Arch. I was looking at the time I have to put something together, considering I'm going to be out of town most of next week, and decided I don't have time to play around and figure the other costume out... plus I have almost everything I need for Joan on hand. So now I'm planning on wearing the J of A costume to work and wearing the antler/flower headband to the Harvest Festival, where we'll be having to wear coats anyway.

Happy Thursday everyone.

 

[HappyGrape]

1) Did I do my steps (15000 goal) yes
2) Were my calories in balance Yes
3) Did I do my 3 weekly workouts without overdoing it (only M, W and F) N/A
4) What did I do great today, what worked well
My meals worked very well for me today
Breakfast melon, yogurt, little bit of no added sugar alpen and few almonds
lunch left over chicken, rice with little bit cheese on top and tomatoes
Dinner was disney inspired - turkey leg, roast home made chips, coleslaw without the mayo. My son loved it too and straight way mentioned flame tree!
And after dinner mango & tajin spice and apple
6 000 steps are from a good house clean I did!
5) What can I do better
Nothing, it was great day.

 

[Flossbolna]

I miss you all! But life is so hectic here. Not for long however and I will have a nice, long vacation! @Oneanne reminded me how much I am looking forward to relaxing with a good book, does anyone have a recommendation for me? I am more looking for fiction, more light hearted, not heavy literature.

 

[glss1/2fll]

I miss you all! But life is so hectic here. Not for long however and I will have a nice, long vacation! @Oneanne reminded me how much I am looking forward to relaxing with a good book, does anyone have a recommendation for me? I am more looking for fiction, more light hearted, not heavy literature.

Flossbolna, if you want a really fast read the Number One Ladies Detective Agency books are good and will make you feel good about the world. I really like the Three Pines mystery series by Louise Penny. The Mitford series is also lovely. Right now I'm reading The Book Thief and am not loving it. The Harry Potter series and Twilight series are also nice fast reads. If you like fantasy, I like the Eragon series by Christopher Paolini. Those last three groups I think are young adult reads so they go fast.

So my eating today has been pretty good. Things are logged and I had calories for an ice cream bar. sooo yummy just delicious! Stepwise I drove to work and ate lunch at work so didn't get as many as I would like. But I did meet goal so victory for me!

 

[piglet1979]

My results from yesterday
1) Did I do my steps (10,000 goal) - Yep (about 12,000)
2) Were my calories in balance - Yep
3) Did I track my food - Yep
4) What did I do great today, what worked well -- I went to the rec. I really did not want to go but I made myself go
5) What can I do better -- not eat a candy bar.

Yesterday was a great day. I wen to the store with my daughter after I got home to get duck tape for her crutches. She really wanted to make them her own. She got tape that was the universe with starts and the black and purple colors. She also wanted to get stickers for her boot. We got Minion and Mickey and Minnie. Unfortunately they are not sticking.

I did weight myself this morning and I am down 1.2 pounds. Yay!!!! 1/3 of my goal. Hopefully I will be down a little more by Monday. I do have a party to go to tomorrow but it is at my moms and she will help keep me in check with the food.

 

[dolewhipdreams]

Hey everyone sorry for not popping in with a discussion question yesterday. We had a conference for work and I was on the go all day!

On that topic, I usually get really stressed about conferences or lunch meetings where I'm not in charge of the food because it means I will most likely eat very little or will go way over on points. I'm happy to say that yesterday there were enough good options that I was able to have a filling meal at no more points than my usual lunch! I also packed my own fruit and veggies as snacks so that I wouldn't get so hungry that I gave in and devoured the entire dessert table. It put me in such a good mood for the rest of the day. I celebrated by going shopping and buying some cute clothes for our upcoming Hawaii trip.

Okay and now for today...

QOTD: One of the best ways to grow is to fail, then learn from your failure. Believe it or not, even Imagineers fail! If you've ever ridden Expedition Everest at the Animal Kingdom, then you know that there's a big animatronic Yeti involved. Well, Everest Yeti was initially designed to have a full range of movement! But not too long after opening, several key components broke down and have yet to be fixed- even years later. A lot of people consider this an Imagineering failure and in many ways it was. But I'm sure that they've used that experience to analyze what went wrong and have addressed those problems on their more recent animatronic installations.

What's a time when you failed to meet your goal? More importantly, how have you used that failure to learn and grow?

Bonus QOTD: Since it's Friday the 13th... What's your favorite Disney Halloween movie?

 

[Oneanne]

QODT: We use the concept of "fail fast" at work, meaning learn from it, make adjustments and move on doing better. Depending on the situation there might be a postmortem or retrospective which are always "blameless", in that they aren't (supposed to be) about who did what, but rather to record what happened and identify what changes are needed. Even with Kaizen improvement initiatives there should always be a check and adjust step, to make sure you're getting the result intended. I think we can apply these concepts to ourselves and our healthy living journeys. Stuff is going to happen (failures), when they do examine them (without self blame), make adjustments, reset and start again.

So the first time I rode Everest I swore that stinking Yeti reached right down in to the car and tried to grab me. Then a couple trips later the Yeti wasn't even lit up and I thought what-the-what? A couple trips after that it was lit up again with strobe lights and the breeze blowing its arm hair around at least gave the appearance of movement, so I thought well, that works, but isn't the way I remember. Later on I went to a talk about Animal Kingdom where they explained that the Yeti's foundation had cracked so he couldn't move any more and that the ride was so popular they didn't think they could shut it down for rebuild, which would take a very long time. Fortunately they had built the ride on three different foundations (the mountain, the ride superstructure and the Yeti), so nothing else was impacted by the cracking.

So to @dolewhipdreams point, they had a design failure but also a design success that allowed them to move on to an acceptable solution. I'm thinking the lessons here are maybe twofold: one, build your plan in components so that if something isn't working the entire thing doesn't fail: and two, be fluid and if our original vision isn't coming to fruition (Yeti yanking people out of the ride car), move on to Plan B (strobe lights and a breeze) - just don't give up (shut the ride down).

Daily accountability:
Steps: 5626 - goal not met (still coughing, but I'll get there)
Water: just a little bit under - goal not quite met
Sugar, gluten, dairy: again gluten and dairy OK, but not so much with the sugar - goal not met
Kindness and gratitude - goal met

As already mentioned I've still got the cough, which is how colds always go for me. Today is day seven of being sick, so I fully expect to be done with this crud soon. I'm grateful (oh, a point toward today's gratitude goal) that time off plans for next week are low key and relaxing... it would be tough to be heading in to my WDW trip feeling this way. Tomorrow all I "have" to do is general household chores, then Sunday I get up and going early. I love the drive down, at least after you get thru the mess that is Tacoma, and I'm looking forward to some lovely autumnal colors in the forest lands the the road goes thru for much of the way. I called the hotel yesterday and requested the west building, and they were able to give it to me, very grateful about this (yah, there it is again).

See y'all in a week... make it a happy healthful one.

PS: Favorite Disney Halloween movie, why Hocus Pocus of course! Love the Sanderson Sisters!

 

[dolewhipdreams]

So to @dolewhipdreams point, they had a design failure but also a design success that allowed them to move on to an acceptable solution. I'm thinking the lessons here are maybe twofold: one, build your plan in components so that if something isn't working the entire thing doesn't fail: and two, be fluid and if our original vision isn't coming to fruition (Yeti yanking people out of the ride car), move on to Plan B (strobe lights and a breeze) - just don't give up (shut the ride down).
!

I love this!! Thanks for sharing

 

[piglet1979]

I fail a lot with my weight lose journey. I think the biggest thing I have learned is that just because you failed does not mean to stop and never start again. Try again. Keep what worked and change what didn't. Last year (March) I was down to 135. I have gained some weight back. What worked form is that I need to go to the rec right from work before I go home. Once I go home I get lazy and don't go back out. I am back to doing that. I am still trying to figure out what happened that got me off track. I know the summer was and the beginning of fall has been crazy but I need to make time for me. So maybe that is what needs to change. I need to put me as a priority. Make time for myself. I only need about an hour.

Also, The first time I rode Everest I never saw the yeti. I did see it the second time but that was the last time I will ever be back on the ride. Going backwards up a hill in the dark is too much for me.

Halloween Movies -- I love Hocus Pocus and Hotel Transylvania 1 and 2. I hate scary movies. I will stick with the kid ones.

 

[dolewhipdreams]

Once I go home I get lazy and don't go back out.

This is me to a T!

I hate scary movies. I will stick with the kid ones.

Ha! Also me to a T! I can't stand being scared.

 

[HappyGrape]

1) Did I do my steps (15000 goal) yes
2) Were my calories in balance Yes
3) Did I do my 3 weekly workouts without overdoing it (only M, W and F) No
4) What did I do great today, what worked well
I managed to do my 15000 somehow
5) What can I do better
I snacked after dinner on almonds and fruit and I didn't have my side salad with lunch as I end up having some indian finger food .... I am not sure if this goes into what can I do better however as I didn't have too much and the plan is to be able to enjoy tasty food in moderation and it was definitely in the worth it category. I only had one spicy samosa, some nut type of spicy mix and 2 sweets made out of nuts 1 and second out of coconut. They didn't feel that sweet and were not big in size but I felt so thirsty all afternoon. I don't feel great, my throat is sore so I have no regrets skipping my workout. I may do it today

The few bites I had and small salad were the only food outside home I had this week, and the salad was super light. We are out Sunday night but may have dinner home before going out and just get drinks at the venue

 

[HappyGrape]

Hey everyone sorry for not popping in with a discussion question yesterday. We had a conference for work and I was on the go all day!

On that topic, I usually get really stressed about conferences or lunch meetings where I'm not in charge of the food because it means I will most likely eat very little or will go way over on points. I'm happy to say that yesterday there were enough good options that I was able to have a filling meal at no more points than my usual lunch! I also packed my own fruit and veggies as snacks so that I wouldn't get so hungry that I gave in and devoured the entire dessert table. It put me in such a good mood for the rest of the day. I celebrated by going shopping and buying some cute clothes for our upcoming Hawaii trip.

Okay and now for today...

Oh I love moments like that! When you truly enjoy the results of your behaviors, and feel rewarded by them more so than if you would have hit the dessert table!

 

[HappyGrape]

QODT: We use the concept of "fail fast" at work, meaning learn from it, make adjustments and move on doing better. Depending on the situation there might be a postmortem or retrospective which are always "blameless", in that they aren't (supposed to be) about who did what, but rather to record what happened and identify what changes are needed. Even with Kaizen improvement initiatives there should always be a check and adjust step, to make sure you're getting the result intended. I think we can apply these concepts to ourselves and our healthy living journeys. Stuff is going to happen (failures), when they do examine them (without self blame), make adjustments, reset and start again.

So the first time I rode Everest I swore that stinking Yeti reached right down in to the car and tried to grab me. Then a couple trips later the Yeti wasn't even lit up and I thought what-the-what? A couple trips after that it was lit up again with strobe lights and the breeze blowing its arm hair around at least gave the appearance of movement, so I thought well, that works, but isn't the way I remember. Later on I went to a talk about Animal Kingdom where they explained that the Yeti's foundation had cracked so he couldn't move any more and that the ride was so popular they didn't think they could shut it down for rebuild, which would take a very long time. Fortunately they had built the ride on three different foundations (the mountain, the ride superstructure and the Yeti), so nothing else was impacted by the cracking.

So to @dolewhipdreams point, they had a design failure but also a design success that allowed them to move on to an acceptable solution. I'm thinking the lessons here are maybe twofold: one, build your plan in components so that if something isn't working the entire thing doesn't fail: and two, be fluid and if our original vision isn't coming to fruition (Yeti yanking people out of the ride car), move on to Plan B (strobe lights and a breeze) - just don't give up (shut the ride down).

I love that post. Flexibility in the plan is absolute must for me. I will not adopt any way of eating that gives me banned foods, specific number of meals or any all or nothing rules. What I do must be flexible to avoid feeling as failure and it was massive switch from what I have previously attempted to do.

Example - work lunches.
Best - bring my own. Do I always do it - no! Is it realistic to think I can always do it - no, I want to be able to lunch with people and not carry lunch every day!
Plan b - there is small store near us saying some meals with fuller for longer label - high protein and buy some fruit or salad, salad bar in work and two near work, burrito bowl place, subway, pizza place. I spend some time researching menus and I have very extensive list of options that will suit me.

Exercise
I can hit the gym, swim, do a class - the chain have 2 gyms in suitable locations so even more options, hit the actual gym and do my own thing. Walk outdoors on my lunch break.
Often my husband travels and being a mum, it just creates stress trying to do it all. I have some basics - adjustable dumbbells, body pump barbell, kettlebells, step I can use as bench and trx band. I put youtube dance videos to get my steps up. If I can't get to the gym, I don't feel I failed. But I don't commit to 3 bodypump classes a week, I make it flexible for myself.

I don't expect to eat same when I am home as when I have celebration with family, I look at the situation and I think about the specific event ahead of it and make a plan. Will I skip starter and eat dessert? Skip cocktails and enjoy glass of wine? Bring some healthy options? Or just enjoy the company and decide not to in this case eat the food that is in offer. I hate having dinner after 7 and I have done this as well.

Having plan to allow adjustments, thinking about how to make it easier for myself to stay with my plan is my main strategy to avoid feeling of failure. Letting go of the idea of perfection is part of that for me. Avoiding failure by having flexibility build in is my number 1 strategy

Having a moment to think about what can I do better feels great.

What I found out, that the same plan I had during weight loss remained in maintenance. The journey of learning didn't stop. There are small ups and downs in weight - it is not static. My initial goal changed when I felt content with the balance between how I look, how I feel, how I eat and how I exercise. There was a moment I was above my goal weight but I wasn't willing to walk more, exercise more or eat less. It was aha moment, right - this is it, I am happy as it is. It's not exactly what I had in mind.

And even with all flexibility fails and I have a proper failure I learned to snap out of it quicker. Forgive myself, beating myself just doesn't work to motivate and inspire me to do change. Look at what went wrong. Make a plan how I am going to handle it better next time. Put it in practice.

Example I did great on my vacation number 1 in WDW. But than stress over DH follow up scans, Spanish island vacation, California, another beach holiday all within 6 months. What I did wrong - i didn't track consistently. I did it on and off. Estimated tracking at WDW worked way better than no tracking. I didn't eat bad all the time, but I figured one more time I will be tracking long term. It was good fun and look at me this month getting myself back at being more active here! I didn't beat myself over it, I don't spend much time in regret - it was awesome summer but I plan to handle things differently.

Christmas here is really 2 weeks celebrations and it will be my next chance to practice better plan. I will track daily, I will make plans for the next day each night and review how my day worked, I will aim to remain in balance each day

 

[HappyGrape]

@dolewhipdreams I am loving your questions and how you have linked them to Disney! @Oneanne Loved your reply - read it few times and thought about it in terms of practical application. It was really helpful to link the question and answer to where I am currently at

And in the spirit of lessons learned I will let go of desire to be perfect, and not do my 3rd workout for the week. I don't feel great, i don't want to make myself feel sick. I won't push for the 1500 steps either today.

My week 1 of this month I have average of 2231 calories a day, week 2 so far about 1830. I went over 800 calories one day week 1. My strength workouts are about 10 to 20 minutes with minimal equipment. Week 2, I won't even do my 3 workouts. I am still down 1.2kg or 2.5 lbs so far! Reminder to myself that it doesn't have to be perfect, and it doesn't have to be hard. It's great not making big deal of missed workout or one day that went in the wrong direction. In the past I would have made so much bigger deal out of the bad day, or missed workout.

 

[4Mickeys]

What's a time when you failed to meet your goal? More importantly, how have you used that failure to learn and grow?

Well if I look at the big picture and count the time I joined these WISH threads it will be 2 years this January and I have failed because I have not lost overall. There were minor losses and regains. I feel that I have been learning and growing mentally and emotionally though connecting with you all on the same journey. I have learned that I need a plan - for meals etc. and that I must MAKE the time (for meal planning, exercise etc.)- don't expect it to just happen - it won't. For a long time I think I have expected failure and of course that is what I have gotten - if that makes sense...

In relation to this month - Water - I have failed to consistently increase its consumption - I have learned it is easier to increase when I exercise in the morning and take a water bottle with me - I have almost drunk 600mL before breakfast on those days. Food choices - this weekend I chose twice to have some not so good food - Friday night I let DD choose dinner as she had been for a CT scan - she chose McDonalds - I didn't really have any other options at home - and so after much agonising on my part I gave in and just went ahead and had it with the kids - What I learned was that - my mind seems to have made a small shift this month in relation to junk food as normally I would have WANTED it as much as the kids - it took me like half and hour of self debate to allow myself to have it - also the fries I enjoyed - but the burger not so much - and I felt icky in the belly after. I enjoyed a homemade chicken burger I had earlier in the week much more - it was tastier, fresher and didn't make me feel bad mentally or physically. Oh and it was half the calorie count of the maccas burger.

I agree with @HappyGrape I don't expect to be perfect with my eating but I am finding it this month easier to say no to the junky food that has previously been a habit.

Bonus QOTD: Since it's Friday the 13th... What's your favorite Disney Halloween movie?

I am going to go with "The Haunted Mansion"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It has been a rainy weekend here - I am not complaining we need the water badly and my lawn is now looking wonderfully green again. The rain has affected by walking though but I did my strengthening exercises yesterday. Yesterday was a lazy day - 1 load of washing, picked up DS16 from his mates place - they went to the local amusement park for a 15+ Halloween night on Friday night - made a poor but easy choice for lunch - felt icky in the belly afterwards - fell asleep on the couch for a couple of hours - watched TV, helped twins pick and submit their elective subject choices for year 9 (next year), talked to a friend on the phone to sort out our plan for buying P!nk tickets tomorrow (woohooooooo).

So after feeling icky after eating 2 bad choices this weekend - I am starting to wonder if it is because I have been doing pretty well the previous 12 days of eating pretty much fresh food based on good protein, fruit, vegetables, dairy, nuts etc. and my body was saying hey what are you doing - that poorer choice didn't feel good!

Okay enough rambling from me - is already my Sunday morning - have a great weekend everyone - I am off to meal plan for the week.