Lightspeed ahead to a healthier you! April 2016 WISH challenge... all are welcome!

[HappyGrape]

Hi All,

I am Nia - 37 year old, live in Dublin with my husband and my nearly 9 year old son, I work full time in IT.

I never been overweight but I always had to work at staying healthy weight. Last year was particular difficult, my husband was diagnosed with cancer. Multiple surgeries, scheduled and emergency and honestly - my weight or healthy eating were not priority. I gained weight and now I am on the upper end of healthy BMI range.

Things are slowly getting back to normal. DH got his all clear. His follow up scan is tomorrow and we will meet the consultant Tuesday. If all goes well this will be the time I need to let the worry go and start living again

My plan is to focus on goals one at a time.
1st. Diet - count calories 1700 most days, eat mostly clean food, avoid processed food, eat out less, 90% stick to diet, 10% treats
3 weeks in I will add strength training back, starting with 2 sessions a week, 2 sets per workout for week or two, moving to 3 sets for week or two and moving to normal 3 workouts, 3 sets of each exerice in my program
I will keep active and walk at minimum 10 000 steps but will ensure I get adequate rest
Year and half ago I was confident, fashionable, fun, outgoing, slimmer. I feel little shattered. I want to be happy and confident again.

This is me @ the streets of America August 2013. Excuse my hidden face - internet shy!

I want to be same weight by August 2016, which means I have 10 kg to lose.

 

[tortilla24]

Hi everyone. I'm Tortilla

I'm in again for this month! This time with 2 goals in mind:

1. Lose 4 pounds
2. Workout at least 4 times a week

Heh - I guess it's a goal of 4's for the 4th month of the year. Both will be hard goals but I think I can do this!

Instagram - justrynabehealthy

 

[MochaDrinker]

HI I'm Ashley, 34, from Iowa. I weigh 212.6lbs and I'd like to go down to 208 this month, so four pounds.

 

[mamattorney]

Hi Everyone,

I'm Patty, a 43 year old mother of three- ages 13, 10 and 6. This is my third month participating in these challenges. I've been working on losing weight for almost a year (well, I've been working on losing weight for almost my whole life, but this time I really needed to and I've kept at it) and I'm 80 lbs down (yea!). I was thinking of tying in my "one year anniversay" to a goal (maybe 100lbs lost), or maybe tying it to our vacation in June, since I started losing weight right after our vacation last year, but the longer I thought about it, the less I liked the idea. I'm pretty confident that I will gain weight on vacation, even if it's just from all the salt they put in the food on the cruise, so reaching that goal ahead of vacation and then gaining, or being really close when I leave on vacation, but gaining so it's hard to reach the goal by my anniversary date both seem really depressing. So, I will keep trying to lose slow and steady and wherever I am when we leave on vacation or when I hit my anniversary date is fine.

So, instead, I think I will stick with the same goal I had last month - lose 10lbs. It's about 50/50 that I will meet it, but it worked pretty well last month, so I'm going to stick to it.

Good Luck Everyone!

 

[JacknSally]

Hi, everyone! Happy April!! Anyone planning any pranks today?


Doing my treadmill walk early today so I can jump on here and work on my intro at the same time. So let's see.

I've always been overweight, ever since I was little, and had some pretty drastic weight losses my freshman year of college and the summer after I graduated college... But there were some pretty drastic gains after both of those losses. :-(

I've been doing these challenges every month since last May (WOW. Almost a year!) so a lot of you probably know me, and a lot about me at this point. I joined these groups as I started to lose weight for my Oct. 2015 wedding and subsequent Disneymoon. I ended up losing 30lbs, weighing in at 199 on wedding day. Today I come to you weighing 219lbs - that's right. Through a series of job-quitting, depression, horrendous eating choices, poor sleep habits, and other negative factors, I've put 20 of 30lbs back on since November 1. So here I am again, starting over. I don't ever want to be in this place again.

This year has kind of taken on a tone of "I'll try anything once" - I've started my own business, I'm signed up to do a virtual 5k (any sort of marathon-type anything is something I NEVER thought I'd do), and I've decided to try to sign up for the 2017 Princess 10K at WDW. I'm trying to start new habits of better eating and exercising... I'm sure there will be some other firsts throughout the year, too, but those are on the agenda right now. I'm just. so. tired. of yo-yo-ing and going from feeling AMAZING to feeling so blah and disgusted with myself. I'm tired of not feeling comfortable in my clothes, and not being able/confident to wear the cute clothes I find online or in stores.

As for my goals this month, I'm not sure exactly what I want to do. I've been so discouraged the last few months with setting weight-loss goals and then never having a number to report because the scale just goes up. I've set myself up for defeat in the past, too, with setting exercise goals that were apparently too high and never being able to hit 100% because of an off-day or week. I guess I'll be going with a performance goal and just lowballing it. So here goes!


My goal for April will be to walk at least 30 minutes a day, 3 days a week.


I'm really trying to walk 6.2 miles a day (a 10k a day) at least 5 days a week, but I don't want to track that here, because of the above reasons. So 90 minutes of walking a week is what we'll go with.


I really like to see my progress through before/after photos, so I took a couple of before ones yesterday. They're pretty horrendous. I won't post them til I have some pretty kickin' after ones to go with them, haha. But yeah.

So that's me! I'm really looking forward to getting to know everyone better this month, both old and new friends. Thanks, @pjlla for hosting again - I always love love love your threads! And thank you @SarahDisney for being such an incredible host last month and for helping me to get back up off the couch and get in gear through your questions and really think about what I'm doing and why. I love this forum so much!

 

[PoohBelle]

Joining In.

Hi! I'm Amanda. I'm currently at 200 lbs. My goals for the month are to loose 1 lb a week and finish my couch to half marathon. I only have 3 "sessions" left.

 

[GrandAdmiralStrife]

Hello everyone!

I'm Derek, 43, and as you can see, I can rock the slave Leia bikini!
I ran the Dopey Challenge at WDW this January as Stormtrooper (5K) Vader (10K) Boba Fett (13.1) and Leia (26.2)!
First ever marathon and did it as part of the challenge. Yes I am that stubbornly crazy.

Current weight 230.5, need to get under 200. Obviously not all at once, hope to slice 10 off this month.

 

[courtneybeth]

Hi everyone - I'm Courtney Beth and I'm happy to be a part of these threads for another month. Many of you already know that my journey to a better me started in June 2014 when I saw a picture of myself at a very close friends' wedding and was shocked to realize that that woman in the photo was... ME. Over the next 18 months I shed 70 pounds and today am running half marathons.

To date I've completed 4 half marathons this year and am going to run at least 15 through Rock n Roll to achieve Hall of Fame Status with a special award. I've also signed up to run the Disneyland Dumbo Double Dare Challenge in September in honor of my running anniversary when I could barely run a 5K in 2015.

Here's an example of what a 70 pound difference looks like:

June 2014 vs March 2016
​

I am presently in a dual maintenance mode and strength building as I continue on my path to the best me.

Therefore, my goal this month is to do a dedicate at least 30 minutes of exercise for all 30 days of the month. (ie: practice run, strength training, yoga, half marathon, etc) I will keep track of it by day so i should be at 100% at the end of the month. Time to up the accountability!

 

[JacknSally]

Hi everyone - I'm Courtney Beth and I'm happy to be a part of these threads for another month. Many of you already know that my journey to a better me started in June 2014 when I saw a picture of myself at a very close friends' wedding and was shocked to realize that that woman in the photo was... ME. Over the next 18 months I shed 70 pounds and today am running half marathons.

To date I've completed 4 half marathons this year and am going to run at least 15 through Rock n Roll to achieve Hall of Fame Status with a special award. I've also signed up to run the Disneyland Dumbo Double Dare Challenge in September in honor of my running anniversary when I could barely run a 5K in 2015.

Here's an example of what a 70 pound difference looks like:

View attachment 159533

June 2014 vs March 2016
​

I am presently in a dual maintenance mode and strength building as I continue on my path to the best me.

Therefore, my goal this month is to do a dedicate at least 30 minutes of exercise to all 30 days of the month. (ie: practice run, strength training, yoga, half marathon, etc) I will keep track of it by day so i should be at 100% at the end of the month. Time to up the accountability!

Holy words that can't be said on these boards... Your photo difference is AMAZING. Like. Sebastian with his mouth on the floor over here. WAY TO GO ROLE MODEL.




·················

So. Just discovered the room my treadmill is in has AMAZING acoustics. So much so that I might've gotten too into When Will My Life Begin from Tangled and fallen off the treadmill.



Did a full hour on the treadmill and right before it was over I got a super frustrating message from a past customer so I decided to stay on and blare Disney music. Almost at 30 minutes of the second go-round!

 

[SarahDisney]

INTRODUCE YOURSELF! Share a picture if you would like.... before/during/after... whatever would make you happy to share!

If you have been here with us for a few months (or years ), feel free to keep your intro BRIEF but try to share something we might not know about you! If you are a newbie, please feel free to tell us whatever you want to share.... but specifically why you are here, what are your goals (long-term and short-term), and how you intend to achieve those goals.

I already introduced myself (and shared a picture), but I wanted to share a bit about my journey and my goals.
I've always been overweight - but whether I was a little overweight or more than a little overweight really depended on what else was going on in my life. About 7-8 years ago I reached a point where I was less than 10 lbs from my goal weight ... but a few years later, I ended up putting on over 20 lbs. And I've been trying to lose those 20 lbs since.
In the past, I've found myself to be more successful when I can stay active. But over the past few months, I've been fairly active, but I'm still eating too much and gaining weight. So my focus for this month is on the eating (which will be hard because of some life stuff, but I'm trying.
My goal for April is to lose 2 lbs. It's a small goal, but one I hope I can reach. My plan is to continue exercising, and to focus on not snacking after dinner (and derailing a good day). Once I can get a handle on my late night snacking, I may add another focus, but I'm starting small.
My long-term goal is to create a sustainable healthy lifestyle. I know that's a very abstract goal, and I know that there are certain things that will have to change before I can do it (like my living arrangements), but I also know that I want to take steps in this direction, which means developing some great healthy habits and learning how to adapt them when life changes.

“At last we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi. At last we will have revenge.” WHO said this and in WHICH SW movie ????

Yeah, I'm not going to know any of these. I've seen Epsiode I a few times, Epsiode II once, and that's it.
I am not a Star Wars person. I am going to try to see all of the movies eventually ... but the Marvel Cinematic Universe is higher on my list, and it's going to take me a while to get through those.

I never been overweight but I always had to work at staying healthy weight. Last year was particular difficult, my husband was diagnosed with cancer. Multiple surgeries, scheduled and emergency and honestly - my weight or healthy eating were not priority. I gained weight and now I am on the upper end of healthy BMI range.

Things are slowly getting back to normal. DH got his all clear. His follow up scan is tomorrow and we will meet the consultant Tuesday. If all goes well this will be the time I need to let the worry go and start living again

That's definitely enough stress to throw you off track - but I'm glad to hear he's doing better and hopefully you can get your health back on track now too!

Heh - I guess it's a goal of 4's for the 4th month of the year. Both will be hard goals but I think I can do this!

Since my brother is an April baby ... I love the focus on 4's. You can do it!

So, instead, I think I will stick with the same goal I had last month - lose 10lbs. It's about 50/50 that I will meet it, but it worked pretty well last month, so I'm going to stick to it.

You did awesome last month - and I know you can do awesome this month too!

My goal for April will be to walk at least 30 minutes a day, 3 days a week.

This is an awesome goal - you can do it!

That costume is awesome! I'm so impressed that you did Dopey ... and did it all in Star Wars costumes!

This is amazing - that difference is incredible!

So. Just discovered the room my treadmill is in has AMAZING acoustics. So much so that I might've gotten too into When Will My Life Begin from Tangled and fallen off the treadmill.

I hope you're okay!
(And that's way better than my treadmill accident ... I fell of the treadmill once because I was watching baseball and yelling at the TV)

 

[JacknSally]

I hope you're okay!
(And that's way better than my treadmill accident ... I fell of the treadmill once because I was watching baseball and yelling at the TV)

All is good! My dog was in the room but asleep so not even he saw me. LOL

Do I dare ask what team you root for? I'm a lifetime die-hard Braves fan (YES I know they've sucked for a while) and the Red Sox are my #2 team. DH, my maid of honor and her whole family, and my mom are ALLLLLL die-hard-cut-me-and-I-bleed-birds Cards fans. My divided house is a fun place to be. When the Sox beat the Cards in the series? Yeah. DH didn't live that one down for a while.

 

[SarahDisney]

Do I dare ask what team you root for? I'm a lifetime die-hard Braves fan (YES I know they've sucked for a while) and the Red Sox are my #2 team. DH, my maid of honor and her whole family, and my mom are ALLLLLL die-hard-cut-me-and-I-bleed-birds Cards fans. My divided house is a fun place to be. When the Sox beat the Cards in the series? Yeah. DH didn't live that one down for a while.

I'm a die-hard Yankees fan. I'll root for the Mets too, because I do live in Queens so they're kinda my hometown team (plus, my mom is a Mets fan), but any year when the Yankees don't win the World Series is a sad year for me.
So we're basically enemies now

 

[JacknSally]

I'm a die-hard Yankees fan. I'll root for the Mets too, because I do live in Queens so they're kinda my hometown team (plus, my mom is a Mets fan), but any year when the Yankees don't win the World Series is a sad year for me.
So we're basically enemies now

Hey, at least now we know!

 

[courtneybeth]

I'm currently training for a half-marathon (well I'm only in the first week of training).

You can do it! Keep us posted on your training progress! When is your race and where?

I never been overweight but I always had to work at staying healthy weight. Last year was particular difficult, my husband was diagnosed with cancer. Multiple surgeries, scheduled and emergency and honestly - my weight or healthy eating were not priority. I gained weight and now I am on the upper end of healthy BMI range.

Sending you lots of virtual hugs and positivity - your husband will get the all clear and you can focus on you again. It's never easy to go through this thing but you'll get those pounds off in no time.

I'm Derek, 43, and as you can see, I can rock the slave Leia bikini!
I ran the Dopey Challenge at WDW this January as Stormtrooper (5K) Vader (10K) Boba Fett (13.1) and Leia (26.2)!

You have an amazing sense of humor and style. I dig it - you're going to get along great in this group. LOVE the costume.

Holy words that can't be said on these boards... Your photo difference is AMAZING. Like. Sebastian with his mouth on the floor over here. WAY TO GO ROLE MODEL.

Thank you! I realized that I hadn't showed a before/after photo and the one that started it all... I'm just trying to keep the weight OFF me right now.

This is amazing - that difference is incredible!

Thank you! I made the pic this morning and was blown away at how the strength training has tightened up the muscles and really has changed my physique. Not anywhere near done but can't be at goal weight and flabby, right?

 

[DisPup75]

I'll be back later to officially do my intro. But in the meantime, they are here!!!!

Purple for me, green for DH, and a gratuitous shot of my special girl messing up my photo shoot (it's really nice to see her causing a bit of trouble!).

View attachment 159546

 

[piglet1979]

Hi, I am in for month. My name is Stephanie and last month was my first month doing this. I am 36. I am married with 2 kids. Daughter is 8 and my son turns 10 next week. Seriously how do I have a 10 year old. Growing up I was one of those kids/young adult that never needed to work and could eat anything and never gain a pound. I am very short (only 4'9") so when I tell someone my weight they say that is nothing. I was 95 pounds until shortly before I got married and then only went up to 116. I only gained 18 pounds with my son and lost the baby weight very quickly. Well all but 4 pounds. When I got pregnant with my daughter I weighted 120 and only gained 8 pounds and lost all of that weight plus some I swear by the time I got home from the hospital. That year i got back down to 110 very easily with little effort. Working at a daycare and taking care of my 2 kept me busy. Right around the time I turned 30 I got a new job. The dreaded desk job. I slowly gained weight and got up to 140 by January of 2015. I started tracking my calories and working out. I lost 9 pounds and got very discouraged because of what a friend told me. This was around Easter last year. I fell of the wagon for a few weeks and then i was just starting back up when I was in a car accident and hurt my back. I had to do PT though the beginning of July. Then I was out of the routine and gave up. In January I weighted 148. The highest I have ever been including being pregnant. I have been up and down since January but really started to do better last month. I ended the month down 3 pounds. My short term goal is to lose 10-15 pounds by our Disney trip in June. It is really hard to get in the work outs because life seems to get int he way. My kids are very active in sports so there is a lot of running them around plus working full time does not give me much time.

My goal for this month is to lose 5 pounds. It will be touch but I am up for the challenge. For a longer goal I am hoping to be down to 120 by this time next year.

Here is a picture that I took on March 18th for the weekend challenge that I was not able to post. The weekend challenge was to post what we wear to work out in. That day i was going for a walk to get in my steps before date night with my hubby. Normally I do not have makeup on or my hair done but I needed to get the walk in to get my steps. The next day I went to the rec in my jeans and walked the treadmill just to get steps in.



OK that was a very long post. Sorry for that. I can ramble at times. I am very excited for this month but time to get back to work.

 

[JacknSally]

I'll be back later to officially do my intro. But in the meantime, they are here!!!!

Purple for me, green for DH, and a gratuitous shot of my special girl messing up my photo shoot (it's really nice to see her causing a bit of trouble!).

View attachment 159546

Ok I originally chose a purple magic band and the more I looked at it, the darker and less vibrant it looked, so I changed it to yellow which is what I got last October. But this just convinced me. The purple band is gorgeousssss and I'm totally changing it back.

 

[JacknSally]

Just got done with THREE HOURS on the treadmill. But they were crazy productive. Did 3 new shirt designs and walked 7 miles. And it's only 12:45pm! But now I have to rein in my ADD and actually get some physical work done. I don't see this going well.

 

[SarahDisney]

Just got done with THREE HOURS on the treadmill. But they were crazy productive. Did 3 new shirt designs and walked 7 miles. And it's only 12:45pm! But now I have to rein in my ADD and actually get some physical work done. I don't see this going well.

Three hours on the treadmill. Holy cow.
I am incredibly impressed. You are amazing!!

 

[Lady Marie]

I'm going to be half in this month. I leave on the 14th, but I want to make sure I stay on track up until my trip so my trip pics can be the best they can be Let's see if vanity is big motivator for me hahaha! BUT I'm going to be ambitious. I've been flirting in the mid to low 180's. I want to be FIRMLY 180 or even better 179 before I get on that plane!!! According to the scale this morning that's only 3lbs away. I've been doing that in a month, but it's totally doable in 2 weeks. I just have to get it together and stay on point. I will be tracking daily no matter how bad I eat and riding my bike to work to get in some more movement!

A little about me: I never worried about my weight too much until I got married and BOOM! I got comfortable (read: lazy) and gained somewhere between 20-25 lbs (I was not going anywhere near a scale during that time so I am not sure). I easily lost the first 7 or so lbs, but I feel like I have been loosing and gaining the same 5-7 lbs since Christmas..... This month was the first month I lost two "new" pounds and I want to keep the trend going. I liked the body I had when we got married (I was somewhere around a size 8/10 US for frame of reference). I would guess I'm about 15-20 lbs away from that.

Here's a reverse before and after This is one of my favorite photos from our wedding day and a picture of me trying on clothes last weekend (it's the most recent and honest photo on my phone without me hiding behind someone haha!). Looking at this side by side I can see that my goal is totally obtainable... because it's not that much but it's enough to make a big difference to me..... but I can also see that I am sooooo my biggest obstacle because I should have totally been back to that by now....

Silver linings--- that skort is totally a size 12, and last time I tried on clothes at Lilly I was a solid 14!!!