Stay Strong SEPTEMBER WISH Challenge

[4Mickeys]

Welcome to the September WISH challenge

Everyone is welcome - we are here to support each other with kindness and positivity as we each work on becoming or staying healthy. If this sounds like you, we would love for you to join. I hope to see some familiar 'faces' and meet some new ones.

To ease the load the last few months rather than a monthly host we have been hosting weekly. We have adopted this weekly format: Motivation Monday, Topic Tuesday, WOOHOO Wednesday, Thankful Thursday and Free For All Friday.

Weekly Hosts:
Week 1: 4Mickeys
Week 2: PollyannaMom
Week 3: sjrec
Week 4: MickeyMom76

Enjoy the last of your weekend and I will see you all bright and early tomorrow for Motivation Monday ​

 

[MyPrince&Princess]

Thank you! Happy to join!

 

[4Mickeys]

Good Morning! Lets kick this off.
Introduce yourself and share as much or as little as you are comfortable.
Do you have a specific goal for the month of September?

I joined a 5 week guided challenge to help me this month, one of the first things I was given to do was to write down some thoughts to these prompt questions. You don't have to answer them on here if you don't want to but I though I would share them to see if they were helpful to anyone.

Does your health negatively impact your daily life...if so how?
Does your health affect your relationship with others? Do you feel close friends and family are affected by your health?
Why is it important to follow a ....... lifestyle? What do you hope to accomplish?
What do you want to be different about your health and eating habits?​

 

[4Mickeys]

Hello all,

I am Sam joining in again from Australia. I am facing some challenging health diagnoses if I can't turn things around in the next 3 months. My cholesterol is up there and doctors would prefer I start taking a statin now - but I have convinced them to give me 3 months. I am pre-diabetic - so again need to see some solid changes in blood sugar levels in 3 months time. My blood pressure is higher than normal range as well. I have been experiencing aura migraines over the past year and a bit and they freak me out. So all in all - I really need to drop some weight and change the numbers in the blood work. I know that my health age is older than my actual age which is 46 and I really want to change this as I don't want to cheat myself out of experiences with my children - as a solo mum this is extra important to me. I work full time and have 3 teenagers - DS18 in his first year of university and DS15 & DD15 twins in year 10 at high school. They all work part-time. So life is pretty hectic and I struggle to fit ME in there some days.

My goals this month are to:

Eat NO junky take-away.
Walk at least 5 days a week.
Drink 2 water bottles per day - I have a cute one that keeps my water nice and cold.
Follow my Keto 5 week challenge ideas and meal plans.
Continue trialling a 16:8 fasting approach to eating at least 5 days per week.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Hi!
I'm Nicole, 48, and living in Massachusetts, USA. I have one DS, who has just gone off to college , and I live with my DH two spoiled cats. I substitute teach a couple of days a week, and take care of my little "niece" and "nephew" (honorary, but as good as family!) a couple of mornings as well.

For September, I'll be sticking with my 500 minute goal in the exercise thread (also here on the WISH board - come check it out if you haven't yet!)


Does your health negatively impact your daily life...if so how?
No, not at this time. - My goal is to keep it that way!

Does your health affect your relationship with others? Do you feel close friends and family are affected by your health?
NO, but my DH's health affects mine. - He's on medication for high blood pressure and is supposed to eat a healthy diet. So a lot of my food choices tag along with that, and it pulls me in the right direction. However, I find portion control a lot easier than he does. And he comes from a family that shows they care with food. It's complicated.

Why is it important to follow a ....... lifestyle? What do you hope to accomplish?
I believe it's important to follow an ACTIVE lifestyle! - I want to keep my body moving so it doesn't become difficult to do things.
And I believe it's important to follow a BALANCED lifestyle! - I'm an "everything in moderation" type person.

What do you want to be different about your health and eating habits?
I would like to gradually lose about 10 more pounds, and I would like to do more healthy cooking. DH is easier to please than DS, so I'm hoping to experiment a little more while he's at school.

 

[4Mickeys]

Thank you! Happy to join!

so happy you are here.

I have one DS, who has just gone off to college

Hope he is settling in ok and that you are coping ok.

Does your health negatively impact your daily life...if so how?

Some days more than others. I have made improvement this year - but I used to be exhausted ALL the time. Not health per se but weight - I get surprised sometimes when I go to bend over to do something and its not easy (belly getting in the way) like painting my toenails. Because of my lack of fitness - I can get easily puffed walking up flights of stairs or at a fast pace. At the moment worrying daily about my health.

Does your health affect your relationship with others? Do you feel close friends and family are affected by your health?

Yes - I hate that my kids worry about me - especially DS18 - he is like me and gets some anxiety - so he seems to feel more strongly about if I am ok than the other 2. Last week I had an aura migraine while all the kids were at work - my lovely neighbour sat with me till it passed - it took me a couple of days to find out but DS18 was feeling guilty that he accepted the extra shift at work and felt he should have been the one to be there for me. So we talked that through and I assured him at no time did I think that at all. My kids are getting older now but I do wish that I had been a more 'active' parent as they grew up and not been so tired and falling asleep on the couch on the weekend - we did active things -but I just wish we had done more.

Why is it important to follow a ....... lifestyle? What do you hope to accomplish?

I am currently trying to follow a Keto 16:8 IF lifestyle to accomplish an improvement in health risk factors and avoid unwanted diagnoses.

What do you want to be different about your health and eating habits?

I want to 'feel' healthy, strong and full of energy. I want to feel confident that I am making healthy choices and doing all I can for longevity, I want to reduce my chocolate and soft drink (sugar free) addictions. I want to re-learn to eat to fuel my body rather than hurt it by trying to give myself comfort with food.

 

[sjrec]

I’m Sandy, 66(!) retired educator from south central PA. I am currently at a healthy weight for me, but lost 70lbs almost 20 years ago and 20+ lbs a year ago that I had regained over a couple years.
I am not negatively affected by my health at this time-and I plan to keep making the right choices so this doesn’t change.
My husband is also health conscious-he’s our running as I type this! He eats anything I put in front of him and is always willing to try something new. So this helps.
I would like to lose 5-8lbs more over time to give myself some “wiggle room.” I need to work on portion control.

Thank you for starting us off, Sam! I hope those migraines ease off. Pain makes everything else harder.

PollyannaMom, enjoy the empty nest, but I remember what an adjustment it was for us when our daughter went off to college hours away!

I will take week 3 unless someone else would like to do that week.

 

[AnnieBearJamboree]

Hi everyone! I read through the August thread a little while ago, and thought it was great that so many people were encouraging each other to be active! I'm happy to join in!

I feel it is time to make a positive change in my life. I'm at a healthy weight, but my eating and exercising habits are NOT healthy. I'm trying to exercise more regularly and eat better now, so that I don't struggle to change my habits later in life! My goal is 150 minutes of jogging a week, half an hour five days a week - I'd love to do every day, but unfortunately I work as a social worker and a waitress in the evenings, so I'm already making room in my schedule as it is! That makes my September monthly goal 600 minutes.

Today I hit my half an hour, so I'm off to a great start.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Welcome to the new folks!!

I will take week 3 unless someone else would like to do that week.

That would be be great, and I can take week two:

Week 1 - 4Mickeys
Week 2 - PollyannaMom
Week 3 - sjrec
Week 4 - ...........................

Now we just need one more!

 

[sweetpeama]

Does your health negatively impact your daily life...if so how?
It is starting to as my knees are bothering me thanks to tearing one out about 13 months ago and not being able to have surgery due to my weight.
Does your health affect your relationship with others? Do you feel close friends and family are affected by your health?
It is starting to because it is getting harder to keep up with everyone.

Why is it important to follow a ....... lifestyle? What do you hope to accomplish? I am trying to balance things going to a high protein (60-75% of my diet) moderate fat (15-25%) and low to carb (10-15%) balanced on a weekly basis as this seems to work best for me though I can go down to 50% on the protein and bump the carb up to 25% and still do ok just not as well at loosing the weight especially since I am unable to do much exercise at the moment due to my knees. I am also concentrating on drinking plenty of water including at least one 16-20 oz serving a day of either Activate or Trim and taking at least one burn cap a day as due to sleep and activity schedules I am typically only eatting 2 meals a day especially since I have my thyroid herbal to take (because medical in my area only looks at labs not at symptoms and since my numbers are in the "normal" range even though they are low and I have (had) just about all the symptoms minus the ones that do not apply because they are for the opposite gender) and then I have to wait at least an hour to eat anything. Having a child who often decides due to her neurological disability that it is not necessary to sleep except from 3-5 am till 7 to 10 am sleep is much more important to me than eating 3 meals a day plus I am loosing more weight this way due to my not making sleep deprived choices and existing on coffee and high sugar items to just funtion.

What do you want to be different about your health and eating habits?
I am working on changing things to be healthier for me without following the latest fad diet yet knowing that for my body the high carb diet recommended on the my plate system or even the former food pyramid system is not ideal. The older various serving numbers of bread and cereals, fruit and vegetables, Dairy, and Meats and meat subsitutes of the 80s to early 90s that was in every 4-H food project book I did worked better than those ones for me. I just need to watch the sweets a bit more.

 

[MickeyMom76]

Introduce yourself and share as much or as little as you are comfortable.
Do you have a specific goal for the month of September?

I'm in! I'm Cristin from southeast PA. I'm a 42-yr-old wife, mother of boy/girl twin 15-yr-olds, dog owner, kindergarten teacher, and (of course) Disney-lover! My goal for September is to get back into routine and hopefully lose 5 pounds. I completely fell off track in August. My plan to accomplish this goal is to 1)workout each morning 2)eat healthy throughout the day 3)meal plan and prep on Sundays.

Why is it important to follow a ....... lifestyle? What do you hope to accomplish?

For me, the healthy lifestyle is important for the long-term. I was an active, athletic kid. I started to feel like age was slowing me down. When I got to 40, I decided that it wasn't ok with that and I decided to finally do something about it. I saw my mom (retired elementary teacher) struggling to keep up with her grandkids. I don't want that to be me. I want to be around for and able to keep up with my kids and, hopefully someday, grandkids.

 

[4Mickeys]

I feel it is time to make a positive change in my life. I'm at a healthy weight, but my eating and exercising habits are NOT healthy. I'm trying to exercise more regularly and eat better now, so that I don't struggle to change my habits later in life! My goal is 150 minutes of jogging a week, half an hour five days a week - I'd love to do every day, but unfortunately I work as a social worker and a waitress in the evenings, so I'm already making room in my schedule as it is! That makes my September monthly goal 600 minutes.

we are so happy you decided to join us! Good for you for deciding to make some changes now .... that is my big regret - when I was young I was slim but did not develop the exercise and eating habits to carry me through as I got older.
You sound like a busy lady - 2 jobs and your daytime one must be quite demanding.

Today I hit my half an hour, so I'm off to a great start.

@sweetpeama great to see you again, I get what you mean about the 'plate' and the 'pyramid' and I am switching things upside down to try and turn things around for myself too.

Seeing some great goals from everyone - September is going to be awesome

 

[4Mickeys]

TOPIC TUESDAY



Getting health and staying healthy takes STRENGTH.
Physical AND mental Strength. Building physical strength helps us move well and burn calories. It also takes mental strength to face up to issues we may need to overcome, strength to so No Thankyou when offered a delicious looking cake or chocolate, get up out of bed or off the couch to exercise.

What are STRENGTHS do you think you already have that will help you through this month?
What do you need to work on STRENGTHENING? ​

 

[MickeyMom76]

What are STRENGTHS do you think you already have that will help you through this month?

I am a very routine person. I think that is my strength. Once I get into a routine, I'm good and I usually stick with it. I have my plan set for the month. I started 21 Day Fix Real Time today. I will stick with that each morning. I did my meal plan for the week on Sunday and meal prep yesterday (since we had off for Labor Day). This will help me stick to it!

What do you need to work on STRENGTHENING?

Because I'm such a routine person, I struggle when there is a change to routine. Weekends are usually a little harder for me because the daily routine is different. Summer was also a struggle, but today is the first day back to school in our district. So back to routine! Workout is already done!

 

[piglet1979]

Hi I am Stephanie. I live in Northeast of Ohio. I have been married for almost 15 years and have 2 kids (DS 13 and DD12). My 2 kids keep me very busy. Recently the building that I work in put in a gym that is free to tenants. This has been awesome for me. I have been able to workout on my lunch instead of trying to fit it in around the kids activities. I was doing really good until I hurt my foot. I have bursitis and inflammation. I was doing great and it was getting better but last night it popped back up. It was not bad and did not last long so I am going to try and work in a littl emore easy walking to easy back in to it.



Does your health negatively impact your daily life...if so how? No i don't think so right now.
Does your health affect your relationship with others? Do you feel close friends and family are affected by your health? No I don't think so. I give myself a free pass if I am out with friends and family. It doesn't happen too often.
Why is it important to follow a ....... lifestyle? What do you hope to accomplish? Not sure. Will need to think about this one
What do you want to be different about your health and eating habits? DH and I have decided not to go out to eat as often. We were going out a lot before. We are doing good but can do better. This wasn't just for weight loss but also for out budget. But works for both.


What are STRENGTHS do you think you already have that will help you through this month? I think my strengths are my determination and being doing better on a routine. Once I put my mind to something I do really good as well as once I am determined I also get a routine.They kind of go hand in hand for me.
What do you need to work on STRENGTHENING? Not letting small issues get me down.

 

[sjrec]

I like to cook-and I seem to be able to resist keeping the higher calorie/high fat things in the house. This helps me stay on track. So that is a strength.

On less than ideal days weather wise, I find it easy to talk myself out of my walk-I need to be more active. I know I have been talking about joining the local gym on here for ages-for free!- and I still haven’t done it. Sigh.

 

[sweetpeama]

What are STRENGTHS do you think you already have that will help you through this month?
The ablitity to listen to my body or at least hear what it is is saying in order to adjust what I need to do each day or more acuately what I can do without being out of commission for at least the next day if not longer depending how much I push past the point where I should
What do you need to work on STRENGTHENING?
Having the stength to tell people no and asking for help instead of listening to the take care of everything yourself society around me.

 

[AnnieBearJamboree]

Day Two - another half an hour down! I'm at 60/600 now.

 

[PollyannaMom]

What are STRENGTHS do you think you already have that will help you through this month?
What do you need to work on STRENGTHENING?

I am a very routine person. I think that is my strength. Once I get into a routine, I'm good and I usually stick with it...

Because I'm such a routine person, I struggle when there is a change to routine. Weekends are usually a little harder for me because the daily routine is different...

I agree. If I stick to my routine, stuff gets done. If not....????

I also consider it a "strength" in a way that I actually like many healthy foods. - Eating, say, a salad is not a sacrifice for me, so that gives me a bit of a head start.

I need to work on strengthening my attitude toward cooking. - When I'm actually in the mood to cook, I'm good at it, but "making dinner" too easily becomes more of a chore than a creative outlet, and I get bored with it.

 

[4Mickeys]

What are STRENGTHS do you think you already have that will help you through this month?

I have also gotten pretty good at meal planning and I am enjoying the food I am eating as well.

What do you need to work on STRENGTHENING?

I need to continue to strengthen my resolve to get this done. With so many other things I am also a set my mind to and get it done but for some reason I am having more difficulty with this weight/healthier living. I need to strengthen my ability to say no to chocolate (not all the time but more than I do). I do need to strengthen my body as well.

My start to the week is going well, I walked in the morning Monday then Tuesday the short morning walk and then made DS15 walk with me in the afternoon that was a longer walk and I hit just over 11000 steps yesterday. Lunch and Dinner were on track although - I did have 2 freddo frogs and 6 corn chips in the afternoon. I was TIRED last night as a result of the resumption in walking (haven't really done it in a few months - my walking friend caught a virus that she couldn't shake) - I went to bed around 8.30 and didn't stir until 6.30 this morning. So this morning instead of a walk I think I might do some yoga instead - I can feel the muscles in my back and shoulders complaining - so that might help with that.