Last Chance for a Summer Vacation Experience- August 2016 Weight Loss and Lifestyle Change Challenge

[HappyGrape]

Morning person. I love my early mornings

 

[courtneybeth]

Question of the Day
Are you a morning or evening person?

Can you get more done in the morning than in the evening or is the other way around?

Do you have a day in the week where you are more productive?

If I could live a lifestyle where I sleep all day and am up at night I think I'd be thrilled. There's something magical about being up for a long night and watching the sunrise.

I should head to bed.... it's after midnight and there's a busy day planned for tomorrow.

 

[Dr Gunnie]

I know I'm late - but I'm back and ready to join for August. We got back last night from a week at Orange Beach in Alabama. I'll try to make it as brief as possible:

The good: I made it to the fitness room 5 of 7 days and ran for 30 minutes. My family and I had a great time. I got some new clothes.

The bad: I ate and drank a lot. I didn't track anything. While I didn't go crazy ordering the worst things, I didn't go with best either. I had desserts, I had beignets, my first hot krispie kream donut... and lots of beers. I basically went back to my old self for a week eating wise.

The ugly: When we left last Friday I was at 217.5 lbs. This morning I weighed in at 226. I gained 8.5 lbs in 9 days!!!! Kind of shocking, but not really. I knew I would gain a significant amount, but I was hoping to stay under 225.

What now? Time to get back on the weight loss wagon!

My goal for August is to lose 11 lbs and get down to 215 lbs. Kind of sucks because I was hoping to make an exercise goal for the first time rather than a weight loss goal, but after this week I need to the weight loss goal for at least another month.

Quick background: I'm Josh and I started participating in these threads back in February. I'm married with two kids and I'm a special education teacher and football coach. I started losing weight as a New Years resolution when I was 320 lbs.

August is a big month because tomorrow is the first football practice of the season and next week I go back to work. I actually think getting back to work and that routine will help with weight loss. Finding time to exercise will be a struggle... thinking of trying to run 30 min a day during the week before work. We shall see.

Time to head downstairs and reunite with the treadmill!

 

[donac]

Good Sunday afternoon

I follow a quilt blog that talks about slowing down on Sundays and that is what I plan to do.

One of the slowest ride in the Magic Kingdom is Tomorrowland Transit AUthority
But always known to most people as WEDway People Mover

It is a wonderful way to sit and relax and see Tomorrowland




And my favorite picture from the ride



Question of the Day
What do you do to relax?

Do you do deep breathing exercises?
I have an app on my phone for that when I go to the dr's office.

Do you do meditation?

Do you pray?

Have a happy and healthy day.​

 

[MochaDrinker]

Weekly update-0%

Question- to relax I read or sleep

 

[piglet1979]

Good Friday Morning

Disney World is all about rides but it is also about what happens before the rides.

Some of the best parts of the ride is the line before you get on the ride.

They have been trying to have interactive lines to keep you entertained while you wait.

View attachment 186205
This is the Dumbo waiting line (very early one morning) before you were outside.
View attachment 186206

This is drum garden at Winnie the Pooh

View attachment 186207

This is my dh playing at the entrance to Haunted Mansion
Haunted Mansion is his favorite ride since his birthday is Halloween.
I also had to include dh since today is our 38th anniversary.

Question of the Day

Since Disney loves to prep you for the ride, what do prep over the weekend to help your week?

Do you prep breakfasts or lunches?
Do you cook extra so at least one meal during the week is easy?

Does prepping for the week help make it easier for you?

Have a happy and healthy day.​

I am horrible at prepping. My husband and I do city up everything for salads that we will eat during the week.

 

[piglet1979]

Good Sunday afternoon

I follow a quilt blog that talks about slowing down on Sundays and that is what I plan to do.

One of the slowest ride in the Magic Kingdom is Tomorrowland Transit AUthority
But always known to most people as WEDway People Mover

It is a wonderful way to sit and relax and see Tomorrowland
View attachment 186606

View attachment 186607

And my favorite picture from the ride

View attachment 186608

Question of the Day
What do you do to relax?

Do you do deep breathing exercises?
I have an app on my phone for that when I go to the dr's office.

Do you do meditation?

Do you pray?

Have a happy and healthy day.​

I watch TV. I love tv shows and record way too many.

 

[piglet1979]

Am I the only one that is afraid to touch anything while at a Disney park and find myself constantly washing my hands or using a "pocket bac" from Bath and Body Works to keep the germs away? This question made me realize that I am a big germ phobe!

For prep.... we do some prep on Sunday after we grocery shop, but it's mostly meal planning that keeps it easy for us. Having items that are already prepped from Whole Foods is a godsend. Just put it in a pan, ready to go!

I always have hand sanitizer with me and try to use it all the time. Our first trip my daughter got pink eye after the first day. It was really bad too. I also came home and got strep withing a few days of being home. I am sure i picked it up at disney. I also was sick our last day this last trip.

 

[piglet1979]

Welcome to the weekend. Today and tomorrow I will take you on a couple of rides that are relaxing, which is something you don't always have at Disney World. Today we will take on the RiverboatView attachment 186433

There is not a lot of places to sit on the boat but the views are a lot of fun.
During the ride you pass by the Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain.

My favorite views are of Big Thunder Railroad and Tom Sawyer Island.

View attachment 186434

View attachment 186435

View attachment 186436

A couple of quick facts about Big Thunder

While Big Thunder Mountain Railroad has an average top speed of 30 miles per hour, guests riding in the late afternoon and evening will have a wilder experience. The grease on the tracks gets thinner as the sun heats it up, so as the day goes on, your train ride will be faster, with tops speeds reaching up to 33 miles per hour. Sit in the back car to feel an even faster ride.

If you’re riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at night, check out the window of the second floor of the saloon. The patrons of the salon can be seen having a wild party. Nighttime is a great time to take a ride and enjoy the twinkling lights of the Magic Kingdom as you zip around the tracks.

Question of the Day
Are you a morning or evening person?

Can you get more done in the morning than in the evening or is the other way around?

Do you have a day in the week where you are more productive?

Have a happy and healthy day
​

I am neither. I love my sleep. I get up late and 11 is usually the latest I stay up. I get the most done in the middle of the day. I tend to get more done on Saturdays because I am home more.

 

[piglet1979]

Sorry I have been MIA. Friday I had the day off and took the kids to the county fair with my mom and then went school clothes. We were gone all day. I knew food choices would be bad. I had an Italian sausage sandwich and fries. I only get them once a year so I gave myself a pass for the day. We then had pizza at my moms for dinner.

This weekend in Ohio is tax free weekend. So I made sure we got everything we needed. I also did some shopping for me. I was?excited that I was able to buy a size 10. I was even more excited when I was to but a pair of jeans that were a size 10 and the length was perfect. My jeans are always too long.

Yesterday was a lot of running around. Today we have been running around getting stuff packed for the kids. They are spending the week at my in laws. We just dropped the off. So we are kid free and have no idea what to do. It is weird not having them here. I think we are going to go walk and play Pokémon.

 

[courtneybeth]

Reporting in at 25% of goal.

Staying on track!

 

[mamattorney]

Missed a couple of days - sorry about that!

Question of the Day

Are you a morning or evening person?

Can you get more done in the morning than in the evening or is the other way around?

Do you have a day in the week where you are more productive?

Have a happy and healthy day
​

I am a morning person for sure - not a 5:00am morning person, but I am absolutely the most productive in the morning through about 3:00pm. After that, things go downhill. I think Tuesday - followed closely by Monday are my most productive days. Unless I'm really procrastinating, I've always been a person who does the things they are dreading most first thing. So, for example, I've got 4 or 5 chores that I have to accomplish each morning and I do them immediately upon coming downstairs - even though they could really wait for up to an hour or two. I just want to get them done, if that makes sense. That's kind of how things work for me. So by Friday, even my mornings are less productive than other days of the week.

Question of the Day

What do you do to relax?

Do you do deep breathing exercises?
I have an app on my phone for that when I go to the dr's office.

Do you do meditation?

Do you pray?

Have a happy and healthy day.​

I like to listen to music, read books and watch tv to relax. I've wanted to learn meditation, I think it could be really helpful in my life.

Checking in: I am seven days into my challenges and have completed all 7 days, but I'll say 7/30 or 23% Today I had to do 90 squats - that was a lot!

 

[4Mickeys]

What do you do to relax?

I watch TV and read books.

@Dr Gunnie - welcome back! Glad to hear you and the family had a nice break together .... I'm sure you will start to drop that weight again in no time .... and holidays are for breaks in our usual routine even our newer healthy routines every once in a while

 

[donac]

Good Monday morning everyone.

Please remember to send in your percentages for the first week of the challenge.

The last few months I have been reading a lot about losing weight.

Many people feel that 80-85% of losing weight is eating habits.

Today is a trip to a place my dh and I love to eat at because of the food and the atmosphere.

Beast's Castle

If you haven't eaten here the experience is wonderful. I am a big Beauty and the Beast fan because of my younger son. It was the first movie we ever brought him to. It was the first broadway show we ever brought him to. He was only 4 the first time he saw it in New York. When he was 16 we took him again before it closed. By then he was really involved with backstage theater and was thrilled to watch what was going on. He and I worked on the show at his high school when he was a senior and it won a local best set and best musical that year. So as you can see that movie has a great deal of meaning to me..

Here is the castle entrance


The dining rooms are set up like rooms from the movie. The main dining room is the yellow ballroom which I don't have a good picture of.

The 2nd dining room is the library with a music box of Belle and Beast dancing.

The third dining room is small and intimate. It is the West wing which is dark and foreboding


And as you leave there is a beautiful stain glass window


What are you doing to control your diet?

Do you count points or calories?

What is the one thing you can change that would make your diet better this week?
​

 

[ski_mom]

Question of the Day
What do you do to relax?

Do you do deep breathing exercises?
I have an app on my phone for that when I go to the dr's office.

Do you do meditation?

Do you pray?

Have a happy and healthy day.

To relax I usually chill out with my laptop on my lap in the living room while DH watches TV. I consider that my downtime and can browse online forever without getting bored.

I really don't do breathing exercises or meditate, but I do pray and find that that relaxes me when I'm worrying about something too.

 

[ski_mom]

What are you doing to control your diet?

Do you count points or calories?

What is the one thing you can change that would make your diet better this week?

I have been logging calories this time around and it really works for me when I do it lol! I have to get back to logging my food. I have really slacked off on logging since vacation which was back in June, so I'm not sure what my problem is. I know it works, I just have to do it!

So, my change for the week is to get back to tracking! I'm going to log into MFP right now!

 

[Lady Marie]

Weekly Check-in: 25%

I did yoga, biking, and the elliptical this week. I kinda like that break down. Yoga makes me feel strong (and makes my abs hurt haha), biking is with DH so we have quality time together, and the elliptical is me time with my show. I'm shooting for the same thing this week

Question of the Day
What do you do to relax?

Do you do deep breathing exercises?
I have an app on my phone for that when I go to the dr's office.

Do you do meditation?

Do you pray?

I know it sounds nuts, but I go to Disney to relax. I've said before, our families keep up BUSY! (Like yesterday, as we were just relaxing watching TV for the first weekend in forever, we get a call that we need to go out to the in-laws to put a new battery in his mom's car.) It's always something. So, getting out of town for the weekend is my way to get focused couple time with DH and not worry about anything else. Plus, it's Disney, so I can shelve the real world for 2 days and come back feeling revived.

What are you doing to control your diet?

Do you count points or calories?

What is the one thing you can change that would make your diet better this week?

I am currently focused on eating clean, cutting out processed foods, and making my diet mainly fruits, vegs, and a little meat. I was counting, but it wasn't working for me. Like @MommaoffherRocker said, I am buying prepackaged stuff too. I love the preportioned out apples or carrots. It keeps me in check and eating on track. I may not need to do that forever, but during this transition to a better lifestyle I need all the help I can get!

To be better this week, I could turn down the free lunch we get at work every Friday. Boss buys us sandwiches from the local Italian deli that are to die for. Sooooo good, but I know the salami and all is not the best choice to be making. I could change that..... not saying that I am going to though..... One thing I have done in regard to this is eating half at lunch and half for dinner so I'm no longer making that whole thing just lunch!

 

[dsnyfn1022]

What are you doing to control your diet?

Do you count points or calories?

What is the one thing you can change that would make your diet better this week?

I'm 0% for this week as well. I made some not-so-wise decisions on Friday night (namely half a bottle of gin) and so I was up when I weighed in on Sunday. The good news is that I'm feeling extra motivated to get back on the wagon so yesterday was a good day and I lost 1 of the 2 pounds that I had gained just over Friday and Saturday. So fingers crossed that next week I'll be able to report a small loss. I'm catching myself slipping back into old, bad habits so I'm going to be focusing hard on buckling back down because I have goals and now I have a target date to hit those goals!

I do WW. I've been doing it for a while now, about a year I think? So I count points. For some reason I'm just really not successful when it comes to counting calories. I have no idea why! It just doesn't hold me as accountable I guess.

To be better this week with my diet, I plan on sticking within my points every day between now and Friday. I've been going over into workout points and I'd like to avoid doing that unless I am starving. Before it would be that I wanted to make an unhealthy decision and I had those points to fall back on so, why not? But that one unhealthy decision would spiral into another and before I knew it I had blow the day. So tonight I'm going to the store to buy more fruits and veggies to have to snack on for those desperate moments when I'm starving.

 

[piglet1979]

Good Monday morning everyone.

Please remember to send in your percentages for the first week of the challenge.

The last few months I have been reading a lot about losing weight.

Many people feel that 80-85% of losing weight is eating habits.

Today is a trip to a place my dh and I love to eat at because of the food and the atmosphere.

Beast's Castle

If you haven't eaten here the experience is wonderful. I am a big Beauty and the Beast fan because of my younger son. It was the first movie we ever brought him to. It was the first broadway show we ever brought him to. He was only 4 the first time he saw it in New York. When he was 16 we took him again before it closed. By then he was really involved with backstage theater and was thrilled to watch what was going on. He and I worked on the show at his high school when he was a senior and it won a local best set and best musical that year. So as you can see that movie has a great deal of meaning to me..

Here is the castle entrance
View attachment 186718

The dining rooms are set up like rooms from the movie. The main dining room is the yellow ballroom which I don't have a good picture of.

The 2nd dining room is the library with a music box of Belle and Beast dancing.View attachment 186719

The third dining room is small and intimate. It is the West wing which is dark and foreboding
View attachment 186720

And as you leave there is a beautiful stain glass window
View attachment 186721

What are you doing to control your diet?

Do you count points or calories?

What is the one thing you can change that would make your diet better this week?
​

I try to count calories. Sometimes I do really good but others not so much. I need to get back to it. I do need to eat more fruits and veggies. I love them but I am horrible at prepping and I can't eat the pre-cut ones.

 

[piglet1979]

Check In:

7/31 getting 10,000 steps each day
7/31 Squats (I am up to 45 squats a day)

I am at 22.58%