Accountability and Motivation Thread - July 21 - 27
 

I can't believe I just wrote July 21 - 27 in the title! It's already nearing the end of July!! The summer us flying by way too fast in my opinion! I can't wait to be on holidays for the month of August...only 2 more weeks at work before I get 4 weeks off!! :D

I weighed this morning and was down from Friday! I have to say I think this is a first ever for me. I'm always up on Mondays and then spend the rest of the week trying to get back down to my Friday weigh in and cross my fingers to make a little progress past the previous weigh in. It astonishes me how imperative exercise is to my progress. I honestly didn't do much different with my food intake this weekend, but I did manage to get in 40 minutes of intense exercise each day. I've read several times that diet is 80%...well I think it must be different for some people. I think for me, exercise is 80%!

Last week, I decided to start over with a clean slate. So far, I'm proud of what I've accomplished by getting back to daily workouts. Another week is upon us all! Let's make it a good one!

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iRKguaMPHH...-weight-24.jpg

7 lbs in 17 days?
 

Losing .411 per day over 17 days is a little steep. But FitDay tells me my goal of going from 182 to 145 from June 1 to Sept. 15 is unrealistic. And I've gone from 182 to 161 from June 1 to July 21. That's around .34 pounds per day. And I do almost no exercise other than an occasional walk -- two miles or less.

With exercise and limiting your intake to 800 calories a day or less, could be possible. :)

My weight recently took a big jump...so I know I have at least 4-5 pounds of water weight that will come off quickly and I'll be left with 2 actual pounds to lose in 17 days. If I am holding as much water weight as I suspect, 7 pounds is very doable. If I'm wrong about the water weight, it's unlikely I'll hit that short term goal. :)

I'm back on in starting today...my family finally..finally left on Sunday..they decided to stay a bit longer :D

Had a lovely visit with my cousin this morning. We talk on fb but it has been 20 yrs since I have seen her since she lives 4 hrs away.

GOALS
1. Keep to carb limit
Gonna be a little over today because we had timbits with our coffee but I only had 3.
2. 6 glasses of water
3. 4 servings fruits veggies
4. Exercise 3X for 30 min
5. Cut back lawn

It shouldn't be that hard to drink water when it's warm but I have been only at about 5. I need to get back into more formal exercise to lose a few pounds before Dr appointment in a month.

Jenn

Just really felt the need to get on this thing today and BEG for motivation!! This past weekend was horrible!! All I did was eat and you know what? I really didn't care...I hate feeling like that...but it was my grandbaby's 2nd birthday and every time I turned around there was food, and going out to restaurants, drinking...ugh...I knew I'd end up paying and I have according to my scale this morning. I don't even want to state what it had to tell me!!
So, now that a new restaurant every night is OVER, snack foods are OVER< birthday cake is OVER....I'm over it all!! Today is a new day, the start of a new week, a promise of a trip to NYC and Niagara Falls by my husband IF i lose and get to my goal...so come on ladies... a little help...ANYTHING that motivates you to stay on track...ANYTHING that motivates you to exercise (which I HATE with a purple passion)....and I'm going to post every day come hell or high water on Fitday!! So far so good but I'm at work and that horrible craving for the M&M's is hitting me...gulping water as we speak!! HELP!!!! And Debbie, tonight I'm digging out the plan you wrote for me!! Thank you!

Hi all! Just got my workout on! :p It was a 32 minute high intensity cario/ab interval workout. It was awesome!

Laney - Motivation is such a struggle for all of us, especially during social events. Like you said, today's a new day so just do your best to get back on track. Maybe I should come up with another plan for you that has you working out for only 10 minutes a day. Would that be more doable...that way you only have to take it 10 minutes at a time and it would be less daunting and maybe easier to become a daily habit? Heck I'll even do it with you!!! I'll add on the 10 minute workouts to what I'm currently doing!

Would anyone else be interested in a "10 minutes of exercise daily" challenge? I could try to devise some kind of challenge and have options for beginner, intermediate and advanced? Any takers?

That sounds great to me....I think I can spare 10-15 minutes when I get home. I'm just so tired and quite honestly I know if I could just get into an exercise routine, I'd start feeling better, I always did long ago ...and because I don't exercise I'm sluggish...I know it's my own fault. I would give anything to be able to afford to hire a personal trainer who would be there with me but alas...can't do it!
would love something that is easy to start and go from there...thank you Debbie!

Becca, you are not alone in starting over. A few of us have recommitted ourselves again this week (or in the past week or so). You got this!

Laney, How nice of your husband to give you such a wonderful goal gift. Keep that trip in mind through the hard spots. Don't worry about what you did last week. That's in the past and there's nothing you can do about it. You can only worry about today, so just do your best. I know you can do it!

Debbie, you're doing so well getting back into exercising regularly. I don't think I'm going to do the challenge. :( My back sporadically hurts a bit and I'm just so worried I'm going to re-injure it. I don't want to commit because I know I won't be able to do it and then I'll just feel bad about it. I need to just focus on my calories for a while.

Jenn, goals look good for the week. Glad you had a nice visit with your cousin. 4 hours away is too close to go 20 years. I hope you don't wait that long again. What are timbits?


I'm doing fairly well, but my calories are a bit higher than I'd like at 1800-1900 for the past few days. This time though, unlike two weeks ago or something (maybe even 1 week ago) I was having too many snacks to get my calories up and not eating enough nutritionally. My calories are still a bit high, but I'm making more nutritional decisions. I know that calories are calories, but I feel better about eating the Italian pulled chicken sandwich on HG bread that I just ate than having 1.5 oz of salt and vinegar chips. (I had about 4 chips though.)

I'll check in again later.

Today went well. I went for a walk and got some sun. Now I am back to sorting material for quilting.

Laney - Consider it done! ;) First thing tomorrow I'll put something together for the remainder of the week and try to keep it under 10 minutes for at least the first week and keep it at a good starting pace. We'll take it from there and increase when you're ready. I wish I could design something myself, but I'm not able to demonstrate the exercises for you so I can't do that. I'll have to rely on youtube videos so there is someone demonstrating the moves. There's lots of good, solid workouts on youtbue...and best of all it's free!

Jenai - I totally get feeling afraid of reinjury...I'm currently struggling with that myself. These workouts I put up will be a nice pace and require no equipment. Have a look at them and if it looks like something you want to try, great! If not, that's okay too :)

Jenn - Maybe you would want to join in as well to get ready for your doctors appointment in a month?

Have a great evening all and I'll check back in tomorrow morning!

I'm still here--just busy and haven't had time to log on. Hugs to all. Will try to catch up tomorrow.

Hi everyone. I didn't stay exactly on plan today. :( I had 4 Birthday Cake Oreos. I had more chicken at dinner than planned and added 1/3 c of mashed potatoes to it. But I still had several things left on my list of food to eat for the day, but I marked most of it off. Normally I'm up until 5 or 6:00am so I eat stuff through the night (that's usually my "day"). But I just now took a melatonin to try to get myself to bed at a normal hour and hopefully sleep through the night. So I ended up at 1800 calories today, which is still higher than what I want. But dinner was just so damned good! Sometimes it's tough being such a fabulous cook. ;)

I don't have tomorrow planned out yet. Hopefully I'll stick to whatever I come up with. Have a good night.

Hello to all. Just a quick check in. I get 8 hours of exercise at work. I left 25 to 32 Pound boxes regularly at work. I walk a bunch. Tomorrow I am Digging out the weeds and stuff in the last bed in my garden. I will finally get my asparagus in the ground with my purple bunching onions and rhubarb.It is hot and smoky a lot of fires here in the north west
Sounds like it would be a lot of fun to to the work outs, but by the time I get off work I am tired and my feet hurt clear to my knees.I am aiming to get the majority of my serious yard work done by the first week of august then I will be doing a lot of bike riding.

Weekly goals
post every day
log my food
drink lots of water
don't work out in the heat and get sick again.

Nyda

Good morning all! Got in my workout this morning before heading to work! I'm happy about that...now anything else I do today is just a bonus since I've already met my commitment for the day :D Exercise is making all the difference again! Should be a good week on the scale and I'm feeling quite confident that I can meet my short term goal by August 4th! Stay tuned! ;)

Laney - I'm going to post the workouts in the Exercise section. that way, if anyone else stumbles onto the site, they may find it easier there rather than it being in our weekly thread. I'll come back here and post a link as soon as it's up.

I encourage everyone to try out these 10 minute workouts! You've got nothing to lose....except a little weight! :p

Have an awesome day all!

For anyone who wants to start incorporating exercise into their day! Click here to follow along!

http://www.greatmindsthinkfit.com/im...Motivation.jpg

Thanks for posting that Debbie!

Wishing everyone motivation and success this week.

I've been half on and half off the wagon this week so far. Today has been OK with a fresh tomato omelet for brunch. Tonight's dinner will be baked chicken and baked zucchini and a tossed salad with ranch dressing.

Thursday DH and I are taking a group motorcoach/bus day trip to a big band (swing music from the 1940's) concert about 2 1/2 hours from home. I think I can eat decent at the lunch buffet, but honestly I don't know how much willpower I will have since it's our 43rd wedding anniversary that day. I understand that "dinner" on the way home will be from a stop where we will have enough time to get a take-out meal (more than likely fast food) to eat on the bus on the way back home. I'll aim for a controlled cheat at best.

In any case, I'll be back on the wagon Friday.

Mern - Half off the wagon is better than completely off the wagon! 43 years married! Wow!! I just celebrated my 15th and you're celebrating your 43rd!! Congratulations! I love big band music!!! Sounds like a fun day you and your husband have planned! Enjoy yourself, but keep your goals in mind and get right back at it like planned on Friday. I know you got this this lady...you always do! ;)

Jenn - So glad you like my exercise challenge post! Are you going to do today's workout? I'm just about to cook dinner and then after dinner, I'm getting my workout on!! :cool: LOL! :p

Sure is quiet here today!?!?! Where are my fitday peeps at?!?! :cool:

Mern, 43 years! Wow!!! Congratulations! I don't think a controlled cheat as you put it would do that much damage to your overall progress. I think you deserve a little decadence on your fun day you have planned.

I've been feeling really terrible today. I took a melatonin for the first time last night. I thought if I went to sleep at a "normal" hour I would get a good night sleep and wake up refreshed and ready to go in the morning. It was awful. it didn't put me to sleep for about an hour. Then I woke up every hour and got out of bed at 1:30am for a while. Went back to bed and slept pretty sound for a couple hours. Woke up at 6:30, 7:30 and got out of bed at 10:00am. But I felt like I hadn't slept a wink. I've been so exhausted all day.

I've been doing so/so today. I had an apple with peanut butter this morning, and an Atkins shake/milk a couple hours later. I went off plan when I had 1 oz of chips. 1 oz is not very many chips, but it's got around 140 calories, so it adds up really fast.

It's dinner time, and I'm not sure what I'm going to make yet. I may take it easy on myself and reheat the frozen leftover lasagna. I probably should before the French bread gets stale and moldy. Ok, that's the plan. I probably won't have much of it though.

I made french onion dip to go with the chips, but I bought myself broccoli to dip. I thought that was a wise choice. Indulging in a little sour cream is way better than adding chips or crackers on top of that. I'm sure I'll have another shake later too.

Ok, I need to get my butt in gear and make something of my day.

It's getting close to the end of the day, and I messed up. I got the munchies while downstairs (too close to the pantry) while watching the baseball game. Instead of having my planned snack of broccoli and dip, I got into the Oreos. A lot.:( I felt like I needed something sweet. I should have had a shake/milk to curb my sweet tooth, but I thought it was too far away from bedtime and that I'd get hungry later. Today my count is at a whopping 2300!!!:eek: A lot of it was from my lasagna dinner and piece of French bread (I didn't say no after all). But too much of it came from the cookies. Damn Nabisco for making something as tasty as Oreos! lol Yep, if I didn't have the cookies I would have been at 1900. That still would have been high, but I wouldn't be mad at myself for it.

How is everyone else doing?

Good morning all! Got up late so I haven't got in my workout yet. I will most definitely fit it in sometime during the day though!

Jenai - On a positive note to your cookie indulgence last night, at least you kept track of how many you were eating and added to your calorie count. Most often when I over indulge, I do it blindly and don't pay attention to how much I'm eating or how many calories I ate....I just know I've done bad. I think it's wise that you track it so at least you are aware of what you've consumed. Hope you got some better sleep last night!

Have a great day all and I'll check back in after I get my sweat on! LOL! :D

Workout done! Today was a 40 minute cardio interval circuit. Only 6 days back to exercising regularly and I swear I can already see a difference! Very encouraging!

Hope everyone is having a good day!

Mern, congrats on the 43yrs..what a blessing!! Big Island trip sound like fun!
Laney, I feel ya... my family and I were eating out all the time..they wanna try new places etc.....
Debbie, glad you are seeing your work payoff already!

I been doing good this week.. day 3 :eek:

I saw this plaque in the store yesterday...I had to buy it and put it the
exercise room...

" INSIDE ME LIVES A SKINNY WOMAN TRYING TO GET OUT.
BUT I CAN USUALLY SHUT HER UP WITH COOKIES! "

A good day food wise--under on carbs since I just didn't have much appetite today. No exercise today since I don't feel well but got lots of water in and even managed to finish some writing.
Jenn

Hello all. I have been busy this last 2 days. I got the oregano out of the 5 by 20 foot bed. It had pretty much taken it over. I did not get the compost dug in though. I went and got it late in the afternoon. On Sunday I push to hard to get the other one done and got sick. I can get some exercise in in the evenings digging it in and planting.
I did okay yesterday. I stuck to plan. I did not post it though. I really like the saying about the thin woman in each of us. I did have 1/2 of a wal-mart chocolate chunk cookies. My sister got the other half.
I have been getting my water in and Not feeling to bad today. I took a nap in the middle of the after noon. There is something about a nap that just energizes me. Hope every one is having a good hump day. Nyda

So far not too terrible of a day. With a little guidance on how to do some things, my daughter made dinner tonight. It was delicious and I had a little too much.

I went to the dr. this afternoon to try to figure out what's wrong my eye. Before I went in I did the customary weigh-in. I was so proud to point out to the nurse, "How much did I weigh the last time I was here?" She gave me great pats on the back when it was a 22lb loss. She was asking a lot of questions, so I told her all about FitDay, especially when I told her it's a total of a 40lb loss over all. She was impressed and has a wedding coming up in about a year she said and is not happy with her body. Maybe she'll show up here.

I hope everyone has a good day.

Finished cutting the grass this morning--30 min exercise. Drank 2 glasses of water already so a good start to the day. Now to figure out healthy lunch.
Jenn

Hi all. I haven't been here this week because other things than dieting have been on my mind. My mom dad and sister have all been sick with colds and flu. They are recovering now but it was a tough week.
Debbie, you have been exercising all week and that has encouraged me to do more too. I have been out walking for 10 minutes each day. The sewing room clean up is coming along slowly but I am making progress.
Mern, Happy 43rd anniversary, Enjoy your vacation and come back refreshed.
Nyda, you are a gardening warrior. The first bite of a cookie is the best. It's nice that you could share it with your sister.
Jenai, congrats on your 40 pounds weight loss.
Jenn, I hope you feel better soon.
Becca, I have a night light that says, come to the dark side, we have cookies.

Tonight I am getting together with some old friends at a restaurant. They
have never seen me this heavy and I am a little ashamed to go. The food is good so there is no problem with that. I just want to see my friends and enjoy the evening. Have a good day all.

Hi all :) I took things down a notch today and did 2 different Blogilates workouts (pilates based youtube workouts). First time ever! Even though it wasn't my usual intense workouts, I'm still considering it a successful day of exercise. 7 days in a row!! :D

Where is everyone? Not a very motivating 'motivational thread' if there are only a few posting! :rolleyes: LOL!

Hi. Missed yesterday day. I was just so tired last night.I did not get anything done at home. We had left overs, crock pot pork loin and rice cooked in chicken broth. I had a good morning with the scale lost 2 pound.
I have to work again today, but Saturday I will get the asparagus and onions in the ground.
Will post more this evening. Oh I am giving myself a challenge:) today. To leave work with out buying anything all day. Last night it dog and cat treats.

Sorry I skipped for a while. I haven't been feeling well. I was having a bad attack of being wired too tight (in simple terms) and wasn't tired for over 30 hours. I finally fell asleep last night and feel a little better this morning. I could use a few more zzz's though.

I lost 2 lbs this week, and honestly I have no idea how the weight is coming off. I've been eating A LOT of calories. More than my target of averaging 1500...by A LOT. I'm not complaining, and I'm certainly not going to fight it. But I am baffled. I know I need to get a reign in on my calories before the scale starts rebelling against me.

btw, I edited my signature with a change to my ONEderland goal. It was 10/31, but when I did the math that meant I would have to lose 2.5lbs/wk for the next 14 weeks. I think that's way too much pressure. I changed it to 12/25...my Christmas present to myself! With that date I need to lose 1.5lbs/wk until then. That's a little less daunting and more realistic. Even then it will be a challenge to keep up the losing every single week. I want to not be afraid to take pics with my family this year at the holidays. That would be a good present.

Hi Jenai :) I think that's wise to change your goal date. Not a good idea to put too much pressure on ourselves, but smart to make a goal to strive for. Just think how proud you're going to feel at Christmas!!! At this rate, I have no doubt that you'll achieve your goal!

Mind if I join?

I just started today but I'm feeling good so far. It is only 2pm so I have to rest of the day to make better changes.

I mostly sit down at work so I have been making sure to get up and walk about a few times. Drinking water and such.

Hi, Margaux! Welcome aboard!



I have news. It's happening fast, but I'm still trying to take it slow...kind of a contradiction there, huh? My daughter and I are starting a business together. She's only 12.5, but how blessed am I that this is something we can do together?! And what an amazing experience this will be for her, learning all about business at such a young age.

You all are going to scream bloody murder at me though. I promise I will be good and not let it get away from me...or add on to me. One thing that I am extremely good at is baking, and she is too. We are going to start a home baking business of non-perishable goods like cookies, muffins, sweet breads, brownies, bar desserts, etc. Nothing that has to be refrigerated because that just wouldn't be likely out of a home kitchen, and also nothing frosted is allowed such as cakes and cupcakes, but that's ok...that's not where my talents lie. But as long as it's non-perishable all it takes is registration with the state health board and each of us getting a food handler's license, and each item must have specific (but easy) information disclosed on a label. And it will take minimal investment.

I know when I bake things I have an impossible time saying no to eating too much. However, I think because the items will be earmarked "for sale only" it will be the mental barrier I need to keep my fingers off. My daughter can be the taste-tester.

Go ahead. Start yelling at me. But my daughter and I are excited, and I think I can balance my weight loss/eating plan with being a great baker. This is a starter business that our income is not depending on. It's just to keep me busy and maybe both of us making some spending money. So I think it will low enough stress that I also won't stress eat. We're trying to figure out a way to get my son involved too.

Welcome Margaux! Glad you decided to join us! I too sit down all day at work, so I try my best to get in exercise on a daily basis. Feel free to koin in on the 10 Minutes of Exercise a Day Challenge!. I put up a rotation to follow this week and if there is enough interest, I may put up another rotation soon. Give it a try! Nothing to lose but some weight! ;)

Jenai - How exciting! Will you sell your baked goods at a farmers market booth? Congratulations and all the best in your new business venture!!

Debbie, Thanks for not berating me! lol I'm looking into 2 events in November right now, but I think they might be too big for us to bake enough stuff in my single oven kitchen for 2 days. But I'm going to try to find church bazaars, little craft/art shows, maybe a farmers market (after all, everything will be made from whole foods!), that kind of thing. I also signed up for a site that is a county-wide market venue where you can peddle your wares. Maybe give as gifts to teachers and things with our adorable labels that I have yet to create lol. Also take samples to my daughter's softball games and such. Just little by little, friend to friend word of mouth. And keep our fingers crossed and hope it works! :)