7 Day Motivational Thread, starting May 27: New Week, New Start!
 

Good Monday morning, folks! It's a new week, let's get started!

Goals for the Week:

• Log everything, no exceptions (nibbles and "tastes" count!):
• Maintain adequate daily hydration:
• Maintain a 7-day rolling average between 1200-1550 calories:
• Maintain a 7-day rolling average between 800-1300mg sodium:
• Maintain a 7-day rolling average of at least 16g fiber:
• Some sort of physical activity 4x during the week:
• Study every day:

Most of my goals seem to be working for me, so I'll continue them for another week. I've swapped out the water goal, though. Unfortunately, this new one seems rather subjective. I'm not sure how to properly quantify what "adequate hydration" will mean. I know what I want: I want to be properly hydrated but I also want to stop being tethered to a restroom. I also want be able to sleep through night, uninterrupted. I'll play it by ear this week with the hope of being able to make a better goal next week.

Anyway, let's get the ball rolling, eh? What's on your list for this week?

epixi - thanks for starting the thread - perfect timing - I just finished reading through the weekend posts. IMO, adequate hydration is easy to determine - it's when you don't feel thirsty. Years ago, people didn't walk around everywhere with water bottles and people were slimmer. Water can play a role in weight loss. There's research that shows that people who drink two cups of water before a meal eat less at the meal immediately following (makes sense as there's not as much room in the stomach for food). A research study also found that people ate less when eating a stew or casserole with water added turning it into a soup, than the group who ate the stew or casserole and drank a glass of water with it. Big applause for you for your two blue weeks!!!

Ian - glad your total calories for the week wasn't bad after all.

****
Goals for the week:
1. Avg 1400 calories a day:
2. Avg 45 min exercise a day:
3. Small bites, slower eating:
4. No sugar, white flour:

my goals for the week
 

I'm just re-starting, so my goals this week are going to be small and simple

1. Log all food and exercise
2. Pay attention to portion sizes
3. Drink plenty of water
4. Work out 15 minutes/day
5. Keep within the calorie recommendations on here based on my goals

I'll look back in a week and see where I get!

Mayberly - welcome! Glad you joined in. Good goals! Small and simple is the way to go. It reminds me of something my kids' piano teacher used to say: "Inch by inch, it's a cinch. Yard by yard, it's hard." Portion size is really important. I keep my measuring cups and spoons handy now - I really had to in order to log my food correctly.

Try to check in here daily if you can. It's really made a difference for me. It makes me focus on meeting my goals for today - one day. Trying to make my goals for one day seems manageable - I can focus on that. A longer time frame than that and I think I would slip.

goals
 

Goals: eat more veggies, drink more water, exercise and don't obsess about the scale.
I walked 2.2K in 31min. today so I am going to raise my goal to 10K for the week. Let's see what my legs say about that tomorrow.:eek:

Oh, I think I remember when you cited that study, Carolynn. Was that the sneaky one where they pumped extra stew into the bowl from underneath so people didn't realize how much they were eating? Diabolical, but funny!

Mabyerly, welcome aboard! Good for you for "small and simple". It takes a few trials to determine what's workable for you. As Carolynn said, do try to check in daily (even if you don't have time to post). I find it helps me keep the goals front-of-mind. That and keeping them on my phone's daily to-do list.

A hearty welcome to you, too, KWest! I'm right there with you on the water consumption. It can be a chore to get it all in! I had to look up MUFAs :).

"...and don't obsess about the scale..." I like that, Lilbits! Good luck with the walking goal -- you've made great strides already (haha see what I did there? :D).

Good job on the walking, LilBits. I walk sometimes

Debbie - I'm all for a red wine weekend pass!

Welcome, Kwest! I had to look up MUFAs too.

epixi - different soup study! I'm a food study geek. I find it interesting how many different variables influence the amounts people eat - rather than people just stopping eating when they're full. The first study was about the influence of visual cues. I wonder if my cat would eat more each day if I put her food in a bigger bowl?! For supposedly being so smart, people are tripped up by all kinds of psychological factors when it comes to eating.

Lilbits, good walking so far! Yeah you you can do 10.

Welcome to the newcomers and the re-starters.

Goals this week:

1. Maintain a rolling average between 1200 and 1400 calories: 1231
2. Walk 10k this week: M-2k
3. Swim 1x
4. Weight training 1x
5. Increase Omega 3: M-Y

I am so excited to go to the back clinic tomorrow, hopefully I'll get some direction.

libby116 formerly known as lilbits
 

I decided that I needed a new start today to be consistent so today is day one.
HW195 CW186 GW116
Jan 2013 May 2013 May 2014
I am so glad to be a part of this group and you have made me feel like I matter. I am here for the long haul.

"I decided that I needed a new start..." You picked the right place, Libby -- this week's theme: New Week, New Start! Yay! "I am so glad to be a part of this group..." and we're glad you're here, too! "...and you have made me feel like I matter..." You DO matter!!!

"...I am here for the long haul..." That's the spirit! Ready? Let's go!

Week 2 goals:

Under 2000 calories per day
Cardio 3x
Walk 20 miles
Situps 1k
Pushups 250

Week 2 Progress:

Under 2000 calories per day 1897
Cardio 3x
Walk 20 miles 1
Situps 1k 0
Pushups 250 0

Monday
 

• Calories Avg. < 1400 /day: 2271
• Cholesterol < 200mg: 259
• Vegetables > 3 / day: 2
• Protein > 50 g / day: 97
• Sugar < 50 g / day: 56
• Workout > 150 min/wk: 0

Last week made 4 of 6 goals above. Missed on calories (1472 avg,) & veggies (2.4 avg.) Going to be hard to dig out from Monday's deficit (calorie overdose?) this week.

Picking back up from the last thread ...

Epixi: Congrats on your second 'blue' week! And Don't be too envious of my working regimen. I can do planks, but I'm with you on the push ups! I can push up, but the let down thing is another matter. Last year I had 'A proper push-up' as one of my goals, but I gave up on that! Basically, I can do one. Yes, one. On a good day. Sometimes even two. Now I count them if they are within 2-3 inches from the floor. If I try to touch nose-to-floor I get a flat nose. So my push-ups aren't perfect, but I am on my toes! Oh, and with the black-eyes, Peas, that is, try using chicken broth, some onion and garlic.

ian: No, I don't speak Dutch. I could understand it fairly well after being there a while, but never could wrap my tongue around the gutturals.

- Donna

Looks like everyone's off to a good start this week. Me too!
****
Goals for the week:
1. Avg 1400 calories a day: 1032
2. Avg 45 min exercise a day: 45
3. Small bites, slower eating: sometimes
4. No sugar, white flour: Y

Welcome n00bies!

I'm here, late but better late than never. I weighed in and I'm back up to 190.4.:D Well I'll blame it on my daughter and Tori. Well my daughter wanted crawfish yesterday and fried skrimp poboys the other day and being the good dad that I am, I made it happen and I joined in. I'm also blaming Tori, well because it's Tori and what would a week be like if I didn't blame her for something. Last night she told me about some good stuff she was eating and it made me hungry and triggered a feeding frenzy! Seeing that she's be MIA for so long, I doubt she'll come back to defend herself which makes it even better. Soooo the damage was the 190.4:eek::eek:

I'm going to attempt daughter is still home to lose 3 pounds.

day 2
 

I walked 1.56K at a higher intensity. The diet is going well. I am hoping for a 2 pound loss this week. We don't know what we are capable of till we try.
Debbie: Some day I will run a 5K

Debbie: What weight were you when you started running? I can't run farther than between a few telephone poles and I am hoping as I lose weight
I will be able to run more. I am under my calorie allowance for the day but I didn't exercise as long either. Things are going well this week both with diet and exercise. We can do this.

Carolyn, Libby, Debbie, Epixi, Ian - the week is off to a bang on start. Sorry Mike for leaving you out but at least you are here :), and yes, easy to blame it all on Tori when she is MIA (and not reading posts?)

Donna what happened? Maybe need to change to rolling averages?

Got to the back clinic today but have to go back for my assessment results tomorrow. It's looking like I have a stuck ligament in my sacral area- how weird is that, no wonder it's not really healing. The chiropractor was really happy with my work out routines though.

Libby there was a question on the intake questionnaire, "What would you do if you were healed?" and I wrote "run". This going easy is getting a little annoying.

Goals this week:

1. Maintain a rolling average between 1200 and 1400 calories: 1231, 1264
2. Walk 10k this week: M-2k
3. Swim 1x
4. Weight training 1x: T
5. Increase Omega 3: M-Y, T-Y

We have a lot of Canadians here
 

I live near Kitchener Ontario. If any of you are close maybe we can get together.

Hey Libby :)
I started running when I was on maternity leave with my second child. She refused to take a bottle, so I nursed her until she was 11 months old. For many mothers, this is the norm, but for me it was really difficult! My husband couldn't do anything to please her...all she wanted was mommy! I also have a little boy who was only 19 months old when I had my daughter. It was a trying time and I took up running to get out of the house at least for a short time. I started with 'Couch to 5K'. It's a great program to get you started running and to slowly build your distance and endurance. Google it if you haven't heard of it...you'll find it on CoolRunning.com I eventually lost steam and stopped running. This past December, I created my own Couch to 10 K to start running again and build my distance. All this to say, when I started running, I was around the 135-140 mark...right where I am now. I really encourage you to check out the 'Couch to 5K'!! It's tried and true and will halep you get started running the right way!!

Debbie

Debbie: I took a walking class with the running room 2 years ago and I enjoyed it a lot. Each week our leader would take us farther along the walking trails in our area. Our longest walks were about 5K round trip.
I didn't sign up for the next sescion because my walking partner hurt her foot. It was great having a walking buddy to talk with as we walked along.
Now I have the motivation to do things on my own. When I get down to
145 I will start training for a 5K.

Week 2 Progress:

Under 2000 calories per day 1897, 1353
Cardio 3x
Walk 20 miles 1, 0
Situps 1k 0, 50
Pushups 250 0, 75

Nice job Ian. You weren't too hungry at 1353?

Libby I have run at 190lbs. Not fast, in fact slower than some people walk but I could run a whole 5k. The impt thing is to have enough muscle in your legs to take the shock so that you don't hurt your knees. I also learned in a learn to run program and it was fun and helpful.

The most impt thing is to build up your stamina gradually so that you don't hurt yourself. And running's not for everyone which is fine. Walking is enough to meet your fitness needs for general health.

It's fun to sign up for things and set goals.

I had 4 small meals throughout the day so didn't mind it too much, but it's too time consuming to make 4 small meals per day so I'll go back to larger, more calorie intense meals from today

Tues
 

• Calories Avg. < 1400 /day: 2271, 862
• Cholesterol < 200mg: 259, 184
• Vegetables > 3 / day: 2, 1
• Protein > 50 g / day: 97, 73
• Sugar < 50 g / day: 56, 30
• Workout > 150 min/wk: 0, 60

Heavy on the protein.

Robin: I'm always bad on holidays. But not too bad. I weighed myself this morning and I'm at the low end of my 'normal' range. I'm usually there on Thursday am, so maybe my scale is just confused. Currently I've been averaging Monday - Sunday, and 1500 is about par.
Best of luck getting your ligaments unstuck!

- Donna

Goals for the Week:

• Log everything, no exceptions (nibbles and "tastes" count!): yes, yes
• Maintain adequate daily hydration: yes, yes
• Maintain a 7-day rolling average between 1200-1550 calories: 1407, 1363
• Maintain a 7-day rolling average between 800-1300mg sodium: 1023, 932
• Maintain a 7-day rolling average of at least 16g fiber: 19, 19
• Some sort of physical activity 4x during the week: M=Tai Chi/Yoga, T=Taiko Class
• Study every day: yes, yes

Really short on time right now. Will be back to chat later today.

The diet is going well and so is the exercise. I walked 1.71K in 22min.:)
The weight is coming down but I won't post it till Monday morning.
Question: What do you eat after a work out? I have heard that you should eat protein to repair muscle damage. Any suggestions? I wanted to get my bike out of the garage but my DH said I should lose some weight first.:mad: So I asked him how much he thinks I should lose and he said 25 pounds. That would put me at 161. I hope I get there before the snow flies again.:eek:

862? Hell, what did you eat?

Epixi - How do you stay in the blue everyday? You must have some intense fortitude.

BTW, what do you study? And how much? I'm thinking of adding studying to my list but I don't know how much is reasonable per day.

From what I've read, its best to eat carbs before a workout and protein afterwards, but you might want to check that, I'm no fitness guru.

Going out to dinner and a movie with a SIL tonight. I don't know where we'll be eating, so I can't plan ahead. (I like to check to menu online ahead of time and make my decision - or narrow it down to a selection or two.) So my plan is to eat a modest breakfast and lunch, and eat an apple or something as I drive up there.

Ian - good progress!(and reported in RainbowVision!) I wouldn't like to fix four meals a day either. But instead of an extra meal, you could do a snack (hard boiled egg, nuts?) I'll answer for epixi - she's studying Japanese! I don't remember for how long. Hope is studying Spanish. I'm studying Tagalog - but I haven't made it a daily goal yet.

Libby - great job on the walking! Your walking IS training for a 5k. It's getting you into shape and building your endurance. I haven't run a 5K for 33 years, but all this talk about doing one is making me consider working towards it.

Robin - hope you can get your stuck ligament unstuck.

Debbie - That's great you enjoy running so much. And thanks for the info on "Couch to 5K". I've heard of it and seen it referenced various places, but it's nice to hear from someone who's actually done it.


****
Goals for the week:
1. Avg 1400 calories a day: 1032, 1236
2. Avg 45 min exercise a day: 45, 60
3. Small bites, slower eating: sometimes
4. No sugar, white flour: Y, Y

Well yesterday started off pretty good, then....

I knew I was retaining water from the crawfish so I was intended on only eating apples. Three apples down and my daughter wanted to go to New Orleans. So I came back and got her and the youngest and we headed to the city.

First stop was for some activity. Gotta burn calories ya know. So we went to NOLA Motorsports Park. The last time my daughter and I raced go karts (or carts) was in Va. Beach, she won and I haven't heard the end of it. I don't know where she gets her "in your face" competitiveness from.;) Let's just say she's a dirty driver. You'd think she's a NASCAR fan. She kept slamming me in the wall and wouldn't let me pass. Welllllll it was time to step up to the big boy karts.:D I'm talking helmets, neck braces, you know... the stuff that separates the chirrens from the men! These bad boys can reach speeds of 50 mph (but they said on that course, the fastest you can get up to may be 44 mph). I had those snotty nose punk brats begging for mercy as I lapped them... over and over. It was just the three of us on the course and I had free reign to show them who's got the true racing skills! Just as every good dad knows, ya gotta teach the chirrens that if you ain't first, you're last! ;)

Okay, back to the food, this is how my day looked. 3 apples, then beignets (the kids fault), then a 4th apple, a hot dog and during the middle of the night? You guessed it, a PB&J sammich. That's how I roll!

The damage? I hopped on the scale and it read 187.4 so I'm down 3 pounds. w00t w00t. The trick is to finish the week down 3 pounds. Basically all I lost was water weight.

Goals (starting Tuesday)
DONE 1) Lose 3 pounds
2) drink 100 oz water yes
3) take all vitamins yes

Hehe, it's in rainbow vision so I can judge individual goals by their color. It's Red < Orange < Blue < Green, not much of a system compared to an excel spreadsheet but it's visually stimulating :)

Ah, you're all studying random East Asian languages but none the same as me :( Apart from Spanish ofcourse. How many words/sentences/grammar rules/phrases/etc do you learn per day? I generally hit up none, but usually learn 1 thing per day just by living here, or if I don't learn 1, I at least recognise more each day by speaking to people.

Today I tried to order roast chicken from the take out shop next door but the woman told me "치킨 없어" and then "다음에" (don't google translate that, I'm paraphrasing) but it translates to something like "No chicken, I'll see you next time). So ended up making rice intense meals today, will probably not work out well.

01gt4.6 - Theres a certain level that kids take over from their parents. For me against my dad at squash it was around 16/17yrs old, but I haven't played for some time so that old timer would probably beat me these days (quite comprehensably). But generally around 20-25 yrs old children will surpass their parents in physical abilities. Obviously this isn't scientific, a hardcore 16 yr old beats an unfit parent and a fitness freak parent beats a 25yr old kid, etc. but that is the age that I've seen it happen at the most.

When I'm a parent I'd be quite pleased to see my son/daughter surpass me, I don't know why you're so amped to beat them?

Ian, I guess you don't know my sense of humor yet. I was joking. I want nothing more than to see her excel, it's just funny to hear her talk trash because I know she gets it from me. It's all in the name of fun. She'll be 21 in a month and a half.

Below is the race footage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_2Tn36flsI

Ian, I'm studying Tagalog because one of my daughters-in-law is originally from the Philippines. She came here when she was 12, but she speaks Tagalog with her family. I figured I would learn some both as a matter of respect to her and her family, and when my son & DIL have kids, they may teach the kids (though they were just talking about sending any future kids to French school). My Tagalog has come in handy already though. A lot of nurses here come from the Phillipines. Unfortunately, I had to spend a lot of time in hospitals and nursing homes with different family members over the last 4 years, so I was able to get a little practice in with the nurses and aids.

I've been listening to Pimsleur audio lessons. I've got some books as well, that I look at occasionally. When I first started, I labeled various things in my kitchen with Tagalog labels. Everytime I touched something in the kitchen, I'd say the Tagalog word in my head, so I'm excellent with kitchen and food words! I've let my studying slide though...I should make it more of a priority if I'm going to do it.

New to this
 

Hi everyone, my name is Mindy and I got a great tip to join all of you from carolnnq (Thank you again) . I'm new to the program so I'm not really sure what to do or say here, so please be patient with me. I am trying to loss weight from just having a baby in April, and also so I don't feel so disgusted when I look at myself or think that's how my husband see's me, but trying to stay positive.
Well, I think I did okay yesterday, but don't really understand the calorie stuff and if I'm even doing things right. My goal is to go from 196 lbs to 155 lbs. It's only 41 or so lbs, but feels like 100.
So, my goals for this week are
1.) Log everything, everyday
2.)Make time to do some form of exercise, even if walking in place with baby.
3.)Be more conscious about wanting to eat my feelings or when I get bored.
4.)Try to look for support from discussion boards.
5.)Get into this routine each and every day!!!!!!!

So, I think that's a good start for goal setting. I wish each and everyone all the best and luck with your programs!!!!!