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Downside of the week: My mother-in-law has been staying with us, which means random tempting food around.
Upside of the week: I managed to dismiss the crappy store muffins sitting all inviting and delicious looking on my counter. Instead I made a batch of blueberry bran muffins with whole wheat flour. Proud of myself for that.
Status of last week's goal: I went for a walk four days last week, even after getting large blisters on the back of my heels. I also love adding my workout to Runkeeper, it makes me happy.
Goal for next week: The goal for this next week is to keep the same amount of walking and add in a strength training workout. With the idea of eventually working up to three a week and six short to medium walks.
Total pounds lost: 6
Pounds remaining: 44 (Over one tenth gone!)
I'm finding this approach is working very well for me though we're only three weeks in. Slow and steady while heading toward my goal. Thinking if I really need something before I eat it or if there is a healthier alternative I can have that would satisfy just as well. The second I -can't- have something I get fixated on wanting it. My major problems are motivation to work out and sleep is a huge issue. (That last I unfortunately can do nothing about.)
How is everyone else doing? Well, I hope!
Weekly Wrap-up:
Weight lost: -3. I gained 3 pounds. HNNNNG.
Downside of the week: I've been living back at home for the last week and a half, where my step-mom makes massive quantities of food for my enormous family. We had relatives from VA up too, who are extraordinarily picky about what they eat, so we weren't exactly doing amazing - macaroni and cheese (cooked with lots of butter) beef barbecue (lots of sugar) etc. etc.
I've got a week until my lease starts on the new place, and I absolutely cannot wait.
Upside of the week: I bought a Sony SWR10 tracker. I got it two days ago, and I'm already finding myself going out to walk/run more in the two days just to hit the goals it set for me that day. If I would have gotten this earlier in the week I know for a fact that I wouldn't have put 3 of those pounds back on.
But you know what, here's an important thing to take from this: we're all going to have crappy weeks. We're not going to hit every goal we set, and we're not going to do this overnight.
Does that mean stop? Hell no! That means keep going, twice as hard afterwards to make up for it.
Status of last week's goal:Well obviously I did quite the opposite of losing 3 pounds, but I did fantastic with not eating sweets brought home. I had one little piece of my grandmother's birthday cake, that's it. It was just the massive quantities of PA Dutch-style cooking that did me in.
Goal for next week: I'm going to make up for last week's failure with a pretty hefty (no pun intended) goal of 5 pounds for next week. I think I can do it.
Total pounds lost: 11
Pounds remaining: 39
I was a day late in this one again (go figure) and will be continuing this trend next week, as I'll be in Arizona until Sunday. That said, I think I may just switch on over to making Mondays be my report day.
There are a few of you we haven't heard from in a while! How are you doing? What's the progress there?
Chin up ladies and gents, we've got this.
However, when I came home and stepped onto my scale it showed 2 kilos down!
My goals after returning is to keep up moving about as much as I did while working, keep up my eating schedule. It's not an easy thing, but I will try to be out walking or something every day and I've bought something to keep up with breakfast habits.
Since I'm not American, using silly measurements, I'll be using kilos and you get to convert if you want to understand!
Goal loss: 15 kilos (at least)
So far: 2 kilos lost
Downside of the week: Yesterday. If I had measured on Sunday morning like I shoulda... I might have done better, haha. But, I ended up Just casually over-eating at my Mother's house for family hang-out day.
Upside of the week: I DID, however, manage to continue my conservative-lunches plan, and I actually went out for at LEAST a one-mile walk/exercise every-other day. My sister has been also-getting-fit lately, too, so she dragged my ass out of the house once. Very helpful!
Status of last week's goal: I did increase my exercising, woo! Even worked in going to the park with my youngest brother and playing on the equipment in full-adult-awkwardly-trying-to-monkeybars style. Which was both hilariously failing and fun!
Goal for next week: Get at LEAST 5 days of 30-minute-minimum physical activity this week. Also, stop indulging. I had my indulging week. Done.
Total lost: 7 pounds
@slyphe - don't get yourself down, man! Your last week was kinda a funky fluke of more-than-healthy loss, (kinda like my first week). You just evened it out more reasonably so your overall is still beyond ours :P I expect you're better hydrated or the like now which is totally best. (though, I'm sure the butter-baked-mac helped.... Wow that sounds amazing.)
We're totally being numbers-focused, but remember, losing weight needs to be about being healthier overall, not just lighter!
We have an apple tree, an early variety made for cooking (not for eating) and they are ready. Normally this results in apple pie, apple sauce, apple crisp.. I think you get the picture. We have a dehydrator but I'm not really that much of a fan of the chips or leather or whatever, it's something about the texture.
Suggestions for better, more healthy uses, please? Help!
(We also have a yellow plum tree and a fig tree that will be ready in the next month-ish, plus a second crop of apples.)
But again, I totally have NO creative-cooking/canning skills.
Can you just... stew and can them? Does that even make sense?
Apple juice, maybe? Can you juice cooking apples?
If you're looking to preserve some of the apples, jams are a good option, but you can also brine/pickle the apples. It's a pretty common eastern european thing, and it's not bad either, plus, more crisp, tart apples are the ones that usually get the treatment, which yours probably are. In addition to regular dehydration you can grind them once they're fully and thoroughly dried out until they're a nice, fine powder. You can then use the powder to add flavor to sauces, use it in glazes, marinades, or whatever else you wish.
You could also make apple jack/calvados/apple brandy. But that might not technically be legal depending where you are, and you'd need access to a still.
The apple powder is something I'm going to try as well.
There is an apple press that floats around our town for making apple cider, which we are trying to get our hands on as well.
Thanks for the suggestions @Mephistoles.
Downside of the week: It was busy and super stressful this week with my mother-in-law around, so I didn't walk as much as I wanted to. I only got out for two walks.
Upside of the week: I've done really well at ignoring tempting foods and allowing myself just a treat now and then.
Status of last week's goal: Well, I failed at the walking and didn't add in a strength workout but I'm going to try to go for it again now that things are slightly calmer around here.
Goal for next week: The goal for this next week is to walk four times and add in a strength training workout.
Total pounds lost: 8
Pounds remaining: 42
Downside of the week: I've had a terrible cough since coming home and for some reason nature has decided to turn up the heat, making it damn near impossible to gather enough energy to do -anything-.
Upside of the week: I've managed to maintain some of the food schedule, which is a very good thing!
Status of last weeks goal: Well, I should have moved around more, but at least I wasn't a complete couch potato. I'm still coughing, but will go see a doctor about that to fix it!
Goal for next week: I'll be packing a lot of stuff, possibly sawing a piano into smaller pieces with a small handsaw and I should try to pick up walking. I've bought myself a step counter and thought I'd have a few trial days where I check how many steps I do normally and then gradually up the count, rather than setting a figure I might possibly not meet.
Total weight lost: 3 kilos
Remaining: 12 kilos (at least)
Downside of the week: kept getting horrible sleep, so didn't feel like doing a dang thing exercise-wise and went out of town to a wedding, where there was overindulgence (Though, I DID say no to the cake
Upside of the week: Danced my unicorns off at the wedding (which is a TON more exercise than I normally get) and walked a bunch the next day at the zoo! So, although I spend a lot of time in the car and munching wedding food and driving drinks-for-consciousness, I didn't way out-balance it.
Status of last weeks goal: blundered massively. But yay for wedding dancing?
Goal for next week: I really wish I could actually, practically, have some social event to dance at several times a week - great workout and fun! Barring that possibility, back to the walkin'! THREE TIMES A WEEK /me cracks whip
Total weight lost: 9 pounds
To go: 21!
Weekly Wrap-up:
Weight lost: 1 pound
Downside of the week: I totally thought I'd have time to go hiking and be outside the whole time I was in Arizona, but boy was I wrong. I instead pretty much sat in workshops all day, then went and stuffed my face.
Upside of the week: The trip was fantastic, and I did get to go on a 3 mile walk. Not exactly what I was hoping for, but it's better than nothing I guess? Running will be starting tomorrow since I've got a consistent schedule available now that I'm juggling 2 jobs instead of 3.
Status of last week's goal: I didn't lose 5 pounds, clearly, but I didn't end up on the wrong side of the spectrum at least!
Goal for next week: 3 pounds, 3 days of running this week. 3's going to be my lucky number for the next week. Little lower than I'd like, but it's not a sprint, it's a marathon!
Total pounds lost: 12
Pounds remaining: 38
Fantastic job you guys, it's good to see everybody reflecting so well on what's worked and hasn't work, as well as some pretty constant progress! Rock on with your bad selves
Downside of the week: No huge downside other then it was hot.
Upside of the week: I feel like the changes in my eating habits are becoming much more habitual. I always have water that I'm drinking, fruit and a bit of plain greek yogurt for breakfast, plenty of vegetables for lunch. It's good!
Status of last week's goal: I did not walk as much as I wanted, but I got out for a few.
Goal for next week: Getting out for exercise still seems to be my biggest issue. This week I'm going to try to come up with some options to help motivate me further.
Total pounds lost: 10
Pounds remaining: 40 (1/5th of the way there!)
I'm pretty excited to hit the first 10 pound mark! It feels like real progress and not just some silly trick of the scale. I've also noticed that while I'm still tired (lack of sleep) I'm not exhausted in the same way or as cranky, it seems. Which I think I can easily attribute to keeping better hydrated and not eating nearly as much crap.
I noticed in the first few weeks that when I was stuck awake late at night with a cranky daughter I just wanted to 'feed my tired' as someone called it. I couldn't sleep, so I wanted to eat (chocolate, icecream, cookies, etc) instead and this last week I didn't really notice that going on as much and it was much easier to ignore.
Yay for progress!
Weight lost: 1 pound
Downside of the week: I was lazy ass balls all week. I also got crappy shit for sleep, so I ended up spacing and forgetting things like bringing lunch to work, forcing me to eat out twice - and while I was reasonably calorically responsible in that eating out, I would have still been better off if I'd brought lunch.
Upside of the week: I haven't been feeling nearly as hungry lately! By which, I mean, the actual quantity of food I finish is notably less than I serve (Which, I realize it only SORTA a good thing, since it's a bit wasteful, but I'm learning my own level-of-hunger)
Status of last week's goal: failbot is fail. I need to come up with... a better motivator for exercize than "Come on, you know in 50 years you'll appreciate actually having mobility and spryness left." Cause... I KNOW that's important, but.. ya know... A bit long of a time for good motivation
Goal for next week: Find exercise that I both enjoy and can motivate myself to do regularly.
Total pounds lost: 10
Pounds remaining: 20
Downside of the week: Started packing up my home and wrecked my back. Lumbago has kept me immobile for most of the week. It also messed up with my plans to start a 30 day ab challenge. I'll push that ahead to next month.
Upside of the week: Yeah... pretty much none of that (other than managing to pack a lot of stuff up before back broke)
Goal next week: Get well enough to actually function.
Total weight lost: 2 kilos
Remaining: 13 kilos (at least)
Goal: To get to a point where I feel as healthy as I ultimately end up looking.
Downside of the week: I had five party/celebrations last week over the course of seven days. I dealt with this by either eating very little or saying, "Screw it," before diving into the sugary cocktails, wine, and bacon-wrapped, cheese-stuffed tater tots that were baked with brown sugar.
Upside: I'm starting to look over blogs that focus on healthy recipes, and I'm planning on trying a few out over the next week to see if I can find ones that strike a good balance between being the sort of thing I can share with others while still being nutritious.
Pounds remaining: ???
Politics
Strangely this all came about just when I really wanted to focus on trying to be more healthy and it has been a wonderful motivator.
Want to post and update us on what you're doing to get cheered on too? There's a whole long line of absolutely nobody that's going to turn you down. The more the merrier, whether you're just here to clap for somebody, bulk up, get yourself to a healthy range, or drop half a human like me - it doesn't matter.
That said:
Weekly Wrap-up:
Weight lost: 0 pounds
Downside of the week: I've been stuck working the weirdest 6 to 2 AM shifts ever. Every single time I get off work and tell myself that I'm going to go to bed, I end up on Aetolia roleplaying with people or building. This means that I usually get to bed at around 5-6 AM, and sleep until way later than I should, which in turn makes me starving at like midnight the next night when I'm working.
This transitioned into me grabbing quick food from the gas station down the road on my break late at night, which is horrible horrible horrible. No. Stop doing that, me! The good news is that it was only for a week, so now I can get my sleeping (and eating) patterns back in check.
Upside of the week: I really can't think of anything that stood out tremendously this week, it was definitely a sorta 'ehh, it's another week' type deals.
Status of last week's goal: Clearly I didn't make the 3 pound goal, but I did find time to go running twice, and it was wonderful. Hot, disgusting, and wonderful.
Goal for next week: 1 pound (because clearly the odds are being stacked against me here, hrmph. Set a goal low and do well, set a goal higher and woah ho ho, slapped down) and another 3 days of running.
Total pounds lost: 12
Pounds remaining: 38
To the rest of you? You're doing amazing. It's inspiring and motivating to read about what it is you guys use to motivate yourselves to keep pushing on.
But in seriousness, getting back on a regular schedule will be good for you, and running, that's awesome! I'm hoping to build back up to running again once I can figure out the motivation to actually get going regularly.
Food wise, I find what works absolutely best for me is to have things prepared and easy to get to. When I get home with groceries, I try to take the time to, cut up the vegetables and the fruit, pre-cook stuff like sweet potatoes. (Excellent and super easy in the slow cooker, by the way. Especially when you do NOT want to turn on the oven in the heat.)
Put the fruit together in small containers for my morning breakfast for the next few days and stack it right with the greek yogert. I need something sweet in the morning as I grew up on sugar cereal. And it makes mornings easier to bear, like I get a treat. Blueberry, strawberry, banana plus about 3-4 tablespoons of greek yogert. YUUUUMM
For the vegetables, I have one of those tupperware split containers with three sections. Dip goes in one, vegetables go in the other two. It means I can just grab it out of the fridge and eat as much of it as I want then throw it back in the fridge. Normally this, plus some left over dinner meat is what I have for lunch/snacks.
As for water, I have three 1L containers that I rotate in the fridge. They're small enough that I can drink right from the container and bring along in the stroller when we go walk. But big enough that I'm not constantly going to refill (like a glass) in which case I wasn't bothering to drink more.
Everyone has to figure out what works for them, but I thought I would throw out some ideas that have worked for me.
Now if I could just get this exercise motivation worked out.
This is the picture that originally got me interested in working out. Just to see what happens if I do.
EDIT: To kinda monologue a bit more - we test our brains practically from birth. People take advance classes, get encouraged to read etc. Mental pursuits are a daily thing, we all know what we're capable of - at least to some extent - intellectually. Or we did at one point. Emotionally too, we get kinda poked and prodded daily. What can we handle, how do we survive stress? Physically though...not so much. I know what I can do mentally, or at least have an idea. And I've got a fair idea of my personality/emotional responses to stuff. No clue yet about what I can do physically though, I'm just getting started. I'll get back to you!
But! I wanted to share a bit more. I went to my doctor today for my physical and we discussed some ideas and options for weight loss. While this will not apply to anyone else, I thought it might give all of you hard workers something to think about.
First of all he said some form of physical activity every day for 20 minutes. He suggested that walking is great, it has the same benefits as running but much easier on the joints. But he says, it's not a stroll. Strolling is for relaxing. If you're walking for exercise, you must walk fast, as if you are late for a very important meeting. Every few minutes ask yourself, 'if I was hurrying somewhere, would I be going faster?' If the answer is yes, then walk faster!
He also suggested an eating plan called 5:2. Which is in a week five days you eat regularly (try for healthy) and then on two non-consecutive days you restrict your calories heavily. He said some suggest you fast completely on those two days, but he doesn't want that. For myself he suggested restricting to 500 cal on those days. Which I think is doable, though I'll have to pay attention and plan for it. But for me it's easier then trying to count calories every single day, I don't have enough time for that.
I was happy to get this information from him and hear some encouragement. I like going to see him, he has a great sense of humour and always likes to explore any ideas you may have to care for yourself. Because who knows you, better then you?
Has anyone else discussed the issue with their doctor or health care person? I'd be interested to hear some other takes on it.
Completely unrelated, if you're not the biggest fan of the gym, I may just have the perfect link for you! I hate the gym, but I love exercising. If I could have the gym without all the people in it, I'd be set.
...But oh wait, I do have a living room.
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/8x2ciz/y75yp.l7:blA956@T/imgur.com/a/YBQFI
There are 100 workouts there that don't require equipment whatsoever. If you can't find a single one you like in there, I don't even know what to say! I'm scouring the list now for one in particular I really like, then I'm going to print it out and hang it on my wall. I've always been a big fan of things like this, and the last few times I've been watching movies have ended up doing dips on my chair kinda passively. Doesn't seem as hard since I'm distracted by the movie, and my arms are starting to look great! Hooray!
Downside of the week: Because of the fast thing I didn't eat quite as healthy as I had been before on Thursday or Saturday.
Upside of the week: I did my first 'fast' day on Friday and it went a lot better then I expected. Especially after researching it I found out the fast is not 24 hours, it's 36, from dinner the night before until breakfast the day after. Which would normally be fine because you'd sleep twice except my daughter keeps me awake at all hours. Anyway, out of the 500 cal I was allowed, I had 439 cal. Which included, banana and blueberries, a hotdog bun with smoked chicken and some bbq sauce, a red pepper and half a piece of toast with peanut butter on it. There were a few times where I was a little hungry, but I just drank some water and I was fine. My next fast is tomorrow and I'm not worried, though I decided to switch out banana for a different fruit with less calories.
Also last night I was at the grocery store and I really wanted the mint oreos that were on sale. I picked them up, put them in my basket, then picked them up, looked at them, thought about how much I wanted them, then put them back on the shelf and walked away. Instead I went picking blackberries and shamelessly stuffed my face with them while picking about 4 pounds to bring home. They were delicious and much more satisfying than cookies.
Status of last week's goal: To be honest, hearing it from the doctor's mouth has done a lot to motivate me to get out. I walked weds, thurs and fri. Then spent an hour and a half picking blackberries last night and my arms feel it today since all the best were up high. (Stretching, crouching and trying hard not to fall into the bush.) I decided that if for two weeks starting today I go for a walk every day I'll treat myself to a new pair of workout pants which I would really like!
Goal for next week: I'm finally going to buckle down and say I'd like my goal to be losing 3 pounds next week. I've avoided a number because down, no matter how much or little, is good but I'm hoping this will curb me on the non-fast days.
Total pounds lost: 12
Pounds remaining: 38
I just wanted to say, thanks to everyone here and especially to @Slyphe for starting this up. It has been a great motivator in itself and helps keep me going by breaking things into weekly chunks. It's not some giant, unending struggle that will go on for years, (Ideally I would eventually like to lose a total of 100 pounds.) it's just until next week when I post and reflect over the previous week. I love reading over everyone's success and throwing out suggestions that I hope will help others. And taking suggestions as well!
Thank you all so much and also thank you to my very supportive husband, he has been amazing. I feel so positive and like I can really do this all the way!
Downside of the week: My back is still hurting (not as much, but I can't do all I'd like), so I haven't been able to be out walking as I meant to do. It really sucks. And it means I'll have to bring in some help to move my stuff, which I had planned on taking care of myself otherwise. It's good exercise! (I'd only have asked for help with the freaking piano).
Upside of the week: I've packed and packed and packed, slowly and steadily making my part of this apartment look absolutely barren. I've taken things slow, so it's probably not burned a lot, but I've kept busy.
Goal next week: Get out walking. I have a lovely stream running through the city and there's a walk next to it. I should really try to go round that once a day, but I'll set a goal for walking at least twice next week.
Total weight lost: 2 kilos
Remaining: 13 kilos (at least)
I wanted to share this in case people haven't seen it:
http://www.nerdfitness.com/
"The smell of dusty fur, sweet smoke, waiting and patience, a thing that time cannot kill. The moth that candles won't burn."