Weight-Loss Summer Shake-Up Challenge Chat Thread

[San2]

Congrats on the BMI milestone!

And I learned something new today....for some reason I was absolutely convinced that there was piles of calcium in bananas (don't ask me why), and today I found out that there isn't....go figure. No clue where that idea came from.

I'm not doing too well exercise wise...I can only do a little bit at a time, and have to take breaks in between. I have stopped taking the painkillers for my back, knees and some other stuff, because I noticed that if I take them, I seem to be retaining water like crazy and my weight goes up instantly. Without them, I seem to be doing a lot better, and they don't help enough to be worth it. So, I'm trying a full week without painkillers.....we'll see.

Oh, just before I forget it - I will be in Germany to visit my parents and a gazillion other people which I haven't seen for years from the 21st to the 27th. I will try to keep tracking and updating my scoresheet, but I'm not entirely sure if I will be able to get to the computer in time, all the time. So if I put my stuff in too late next week, I apologise in advance!

 

[thecabbie]

San, bananas are great for potassium, but not calcium. Still really good stuff to have in your sustem though.

I did it, I broke 100 miles for a 7 day cycling total. I managed a 25 mile ride today, so I'm at 113, the most mileage ever for 1 week's worth of time.

 

[Omega]

San, bananas are great for potassium, but not calcium. Still really good stuff to have in your sustem though.

I did it, I broke 100 miles for a 7 day cycling total. I managed a 25 mile ride today, so I'm at 113, the most mileage ever for 1 week's worth of time.

Well done for breaking through the 100 mile barrier!!!


That is a brilliant week of exercise - and is sure to help when it comes to your next encounter with the scales.

My goodness we are getting milestone after milestone being hit on this challenge!

 

[momma4alex]

Thanks all. I didn't even realize that i was under the 45 bmi milestone. now to get under 40.. lol haha that would be nice.. but i guess small things at a time. so now to get under 44.

 

[Omega]

San - Karl is right - potassium is really good for you so it is still well worth having your bananas. I have one just about every day. They dont help your calcium though - so it is great that you are learning things from this challenge bonus.

I am sorry to hear about your pain. I hope that you can find another solution for your pain - but I can well understand your decision to stop taking the painkillers.

I was given some pain killers which contained sodium after my operation last year. I considered it sabotage - pure and simple!!! I used to be very focused about both my weight loss and challenges - and I was in an elimination team challenge with Kimberly and Dawn at the time. I remember giving Rod instructions as to how to update my challenge scoresheet when I was lying in my hospital bed awaiting my emergency operation - complete with morphine injections, IV painkillers, saline drip, tube up my nose and catheter... LOL - you couldnt make up this stuff!!! The medical fraternity really have no idea how much we hate seeing our weight go up - or they wouldnt prescribe such things.

I hope that you have a wonderful holiday in Germany. Dont worry about filling your scoresheet in on time. I am not the world's strictest person when it comes to forcing the deadlines - and I know to expect you posting late.

I will try to get the week 5 bonus posted early so that you get a chance to see it before you go away - so can decide how much of it you are going to aim for while away. It is always harder to do these things when away from home.

Talking of which - I will have to get round to sorting out what we will be doing for week 4. I will try to get that done tomorrow.

I too am going away from home - since we are heading up to Newcastle to spend a week with my parents this Saturday. I should have access to a computer while there - but less time to spend checking in...

 

[othie]

It is good to see you back.

Never any need to feel guilty among friends. We are all fighting much the same gang of demons - and know how life can get in the way of us doing what we need to do to get our weight under control and where we want to be. Stress is always hard - and your computer dying is certainly stressful. Surprise trips can be enjoyable - but can play havoc with lifestyle changes...

First things first - do you think that you are back on track now? If not is there any way that we can help you?

As far as the challenge goes - I am not as strict as many - so if you fill in your scoresheet and let me know - I will sort out what points you earned last week.

Brief recap - until Friday we were drinking water (either to allocation reported as "W" or to 3 litres if allocation seemed too much - reported as "3" for less points). Also getting 5-a-day reported as "V". In addition we were aiming to try new fruit and veg not had during week 1 (at least three of which had to be veg).

Since Saturday we have been concentrating on having sufficient calcium reported as "C". Also all of the above - but removing the need for the new fruit or veg to have a minimum veg element.

Naturally I need to know about exercise too.

It is all written out more formally in both threads.

your the best omega, thank you.

I have 5 days left (over this and next week) left of my summer courses so right now I'm running around like a chickent without a head getting everything ready for the final grades, so if I seem gone alot, just bare with me.

Thank you for the offer, but honestly I haven't been keeping track while being gone. I wish I was here for the water one, finally one I do anyways!

I just need to talk myself into getting going again, I seem to have some issues putting on my shoes and going walking, or not eating more then the serving size. But I'll get back into it,just got to kick myself in the butt some lol

 

[Omega]

Well people - I went to my slimming club meetings yesterday and weighed in at Slimming World at my goal weight of 9 stone 0 lbs - i.e. 126 pounds.

Although part of me still likes the notion of seeing my weight go down - I have to come so that I like to see it standing still at the right place... Therefore an independantly verified weighing at absolute goal weight wearing clothes in the afternoon is pretty good.



It is certainly on target for some decent points in the challenge - if only I can keep it there....

I will leave my ticker just under that - because I got a reading slightly lower than that at home under my normal weighing circumstances...

I will not cut my walking - because I would want to see a reading of 125 pounds to do that. Last time I cut my walking I got an immediate gain of over 4 pounds.... So that is why I am still doing a minimum of 6.5 miles of exercise walking every day. Since getting to goal I have preferred to keep my food as it was before and take the opportunity to decrease my exercise walking. I was walking at least 11 miles a day during the main of the time that I was losing weight so 6.5 miles is not too onerous in comparison.

This week is the last week of both my Monday keep fit class and my Wednesday dancing class. From Saturday onwards I will be walking outdoors as we will be spending a week in Newcastle. I will be hoping for some decent weather next week.

 

[thecabbie]

Margaret-It still never ceases to amaze how much walking you do. My ankles cringe just thinking about it! What I do understand though is the feeling that if we back off, even just a bit, it seems like we end up seeing immediate negative results.

I know that every time I go from real cycling and switch over to stationary in the winter, I see an immediate adjustment gain. I can't seem to muster the same level of intensity in the winter compared to real outdoor cycling. One of the reasons I have been so cranky due to the weather. Thankfully, this seems to be out now and I should be able to get my mileage in now.

 

[Omega]

Karl - I am sure that you will agree that when we find a form of exercise that we can do that actually makes the weight loss dream happen - we can surprise everyone including ourselves with our ability to do it... Seeing real results spurs us into greater action - and we end up feeling like we are something off that TV program Gladiators... We become the most unlikely athletes in the world...

6.5 miles is not too bad. If I have my treadmill I can polish it off in 1hr 35 mins of actual walking (although it does cut into over 1hr 45 as I pause it every mile to pop to the toilet and have a slurp of water - sometimes I check the computer too!!!) as long as I keep the speed at between 4mph and 4.3 mph. I used to be able to do it all between 4.3mph and 4.4mph but cannot seem to get it back up there. I am pleased enough to be able to do mile 1 at 4.0, mile 2 at 4.1, mile 3 at 4.2 and the rest at 4.3.

It always takes longer if I go outside as I never keep up the same level of speed. Being only 5ft3 tall I only have little legs so am walking pretty fast when I do these speeds. I would never set this pace for myself - but when the treadmill sets the pace I can manage it...

Someone with a current BMI of 18.3 and a maximum BMI of 22.0 seriously upset me in another thread (which I ended up leaving - as I do not come to the forum to be driven to tears) the last time that I touched on the insecurities that go with seeing gains up from goal for someone who has cut their BMI down by about 30 points... I do not cope well with the notion that I may return to where I was. I know just how easy it is for a normal, intelligent, well organised person to get trapped inside a body which could kill them or dramatically reduce their quality of life. I have no innocence that says "that kind of size increase happens only to other people".

Whilst someone who has dropped 30 pounds tends to only envisage a worst case scenario of a gain of 30 pounds (but accept that it may be a little more) - if you have dropped 160 pounds you envisage a gain of 160 pounds (or more).

I do have to say that these demons do drive me to do what many would think of as too much. It is easier than facing up to the demons and not taking best action. I have a major fear of leg injury. I really do not know what I would do if I broke a leg...

I am pleased that the weather has improved so that you can get the most effective exercise done. It always makes us feel good to know that we are getting the best exercise impact into our project.

 

[Omega]

your the best omega, thank you.

I have 5 days left (over this and next week) left of my summer courses so right now I'm running around like a chickent without a head getting everything ready for the final grades, so if I seem gone alot, just bare with me.

Thank you for the offer, but honestly I haven't been keeping track while being gone. I wish I was here for the water one, finally one I do anyways!

I just need to talk myself into getting going again, I seem to have some issues putting on my shoes and going walking, or not eating more then the serving size. But I'll get back into it,just got to kick myself in the butt some lol

I hope that things go well with your courses - as that can indeed be a stressful time in itself...

Lets face it - the points dont matter as far as the grand total goes - because it is not like there is a prize or anything for whoever gets the most points - and there are no eliminations... The fact that you missed out on points isnt as big a deal then.

It is great that you normally work hard on your water. That is a great thing to work hard with. Keep it up as it can only help your project.

If you can bring yourself to get out walking that will be of the biggest benefit to you. For me it made the biggest difference between a million attempts at weight loss that got nowhere and this one last one that turned me into a slim person (ok - a slim person with a lot of mental issues regarding size).

You speak of limiting your serving size. The bottom line is that I eat tons of food. I probably eat more than I used to. I think that I eat more than my husband who weighs 362 pounds. I honestly spend hours a day eating food now... But the thing that I eat a lot of is fruit and vegetables.

When I say a lot - I mean A LOT... They speak of 5-a-day but I would say that I eat at least 10 servings of fruit and veg a day. There will be days when I eat 15. Most afternoons among the fruit that I eat are 2 large pears, 1 banana, plums and apples. When I say that I eat apples I do not mean 2 of them. I may have 6 or 7!!! Most days I will eat a bag of apples.

I guess that is why I am really encouraging everyone to eat more fruit and veg and expand their fruit / veg horizons. It is like a gift that fills us up and gives us sweetness while providing us with vitamins and not making us fat.

I am very restrictive in things like fat content and I do stick to healthy food - but it is very hard to say that I eat small portions. I eat enough protein to hit my nutritional targets - but do not eat it to excess - and I always go for the healthy cooking option.

If I tried to eat small portions - I honestly think that my stomach would think that my throat had been cut and I would be abandoning my diet like I have many times before. You have a fairly decent calorie allowance at your size - and my advice to you would be to use it to feel full.

If you are not logging your food somewhere like fitday - my advice to you would be to do so - at least for a few days to see where you currently are. Then you can see how your food matches up with the amount of calories that you should currently be aiming for. You may get a pleasant surprise and find out that you have much more food available to you than you had realised.

If you have any difficulties with either logging things in fitday or working out calories to shoot for - just put a posting in this thread. I certainly am more than happy to help and I am sure that a number of others here would be more than happy too if they spotted your posting first...

Take care

 

[Omega]

I have just posted the bonus information for the week starting this Saturday.

WEEK 4
There are a lot of benefits to our cholesterol levels if we ensure that we eat plenty of beans. The only real problem is that tinned beans do tend to contain some sodium which needs to be taken into consideration…

There have been a number of studies on the effectiveness of beans.

Full of beans (ASU Research)

My challenge to you for this week is to eat three cups of beans across the week. This must be spread across at least three days since they recommend that we do not eat the full quota for the week at once. I will give 3 points for each half cup of beans eaten.

So - eat beans to collect 18 points.

Reinforcing previous bonuses, I will give 1 point for each day that you have 5-a-day, 1 point for each day that you drink your allocation of water and 1 point for each day that you have sufficient calcium giving a possible maximum 21 points.Anyone reporting a 3 litre lower level of water drinking will earn half a point for each day.

ADDITIONAL ONE-OFF WEEK 4 BONUS
I really like the way that the week 2/3 bonus has worked out. I have therefore decided to have another very similar bonus in week 4. We can each try 5 new fruit/veg. As in week 3 there is no requirement to have so many veg as a minimum – just it needs to not be on any earlier list. I will give 2 points for each different item of fruit /veg that we eat a portion of during week 4 – maximum 5 items.

SECOND ONE-OFF WEEK 4 BONUS
A great way of serving vegetables in the summer or for a buffet is with a dip. Kimberly suggested a dip may be a great way of preparing avocado. With this in mind – if anyone posts a healthy diet friendly dip recipe in the food ideas thread http://weight-loss.fitness.com/club-challenges/32234-summer-shake-up-challenge-food-ideas.html – I will give a further 4 points.


Wk4---0hrs 00mins----123456---ssmtwtf---ssmtwtf---ssmtwtf---newveg*0---diprecipe*1---
If someone completes all of their tasks I would expect their Wk4 main scoresheet line to look as follows:
Wk4---5hrs 00mins----BBBBBB---CCCCCCC---WWWWWWW---VVVVVVV----newveg*5---diprecipe*1--

 

[Bellaryna]

Hey Margaret~
Just wanted to let you know that I think I am going to bow outta the challenge for now. We are always soooo very busy around here and with that and the hours at work getting to be more and more I just am having a hard time trying to keep track of "everything".
Don't worry though I will still keep track of me
I just don't think I should/could/can add one more responsiblity to this summer of mine! LOL
If you jump to my diary you will get a better idea of things going on.
You still are and always will be the best!
Your putting together a GREAT challenge. Keep it up!

 

[Omega]

Hey Margaret~
Just wanted to let you know that I think I am going to bow outta the challenge for now. We are always soooo very busy around here and with that and the hours at work getting to be more and more I just am having a hard time trying to keep track of "everything".
Don't worry though I will still keep track of me
I just don't think I should/could/can add one more responsiblity to this summer of mine! LOL
If you jump to my diary you will get a better idea of things going on.
You still are and always will be the best!
Your putting together a GREAT challenge. Keep it up!

Dawn - naturally we are all sorry to lose you - but we know what a busy lady you are and that you will not have taken this decision lightly.

I am so pleased to hear that you are going to keep track of things and not put yourself and your health at the very bottom of your list of priorities.

You always know where to find me - because we are in touch both on this forum and elsewhere.

 

[bikinibound]

Had a good day of exercise. Took a looong walk with May and a friend who lives nearby and also works at my office. She had to bow out early, though, to go pick up her daughter. I felt like Margaret today--as she often walks and runs errands at the same time. I went to my office, the library, the post office, and then went and sat by the dam (a really nice area in our small city) to rest up before the walk back home. I was gone for over 2hrs, but spent 1hr 30min walking.

Eating was so-so. I ate far too many sweets (but no ice cream...lol...bc I resisted buying any yesterday), but I got in my calcium easily, drank my water and ate plenty of fruit/veg. Had a big salad for dinner tonight that got in my veg quota.

 

[Omega]

Kimberly - well done on the exercise front - and on avoiding the ice cream. It is great to get in the exercise and tick off the errands all at the same time. It kind of subsidises the exercise time and makes you feel like you have accomplished something extra to the project over the time spent...

I am eating a lot of sweets at the minute - but always stick to the sugar free kind. They cost a little more - but at least they do my project no harm. LOL - The main cost is that "a lot of sweets" (albeit sugar free) costs a lot more than "no sweets". I got hooked after my toffee binge back as my mother was rushed into hospital - and I havent broken the cycle of being hooked. Whenever I speak to Rod of trying to break out of it because I am spending too much he tells me to treat myself and that since I have lost weight while eating them I should stop feeling guilty...

Every time I have gone outside to do walking here over the past two weeks and gone down by the river - it has started to rain quite heavily just when I am by the river. Two weeks of this is putting me off!!! Rain is forecast for today so I will be walking on the treadmill. There are plenty of things that I need to do at home anyway in getting ready to go away on Saturday...

 

[Cord the Seeker]

Hi, everyone.

Sorry I haven't been around much. between the holiday, general busyness, and feeling generally low, I haven't been in much of a posting mood. Been keeping up my scoresheet, though.

Hope you are all doing well.

 

[Omega]

Cord - There is never a need for friends to apolgise to each other for such things. Sorry to hear that you have been feeling pretty low.

I was feeling pretty low yesterday - I actually dusted off my diary to talk about it - in the bigger scheme it was probably a bit childish and I am not going to go into it here.

Is there anything that we can do to improve things for you?

It is great that you are keeping up your scoresheet - even if you are currently being less involved in the chat thread. Everyone continuing with the challenge is reinforcing some really good habits that really do in my experience lead to great weight loss acquired in the healthiest of ways.

Take care. I hope that things brighten for you soon.

 

[thecabbie]

Karl

Someone with a current BMI of 18.3 and a maximum BMI of 22.0 seriously upset me in another thread (which I ended up leaving - as I do not come to the forum to be driven to tears) the last time that I touched on the insecurities that go with seeing gains up from goal for someone who has cut their BMI down by about 30 points... I do not cope well with the notion that I may return to where I was. I know just how easy it is for a normal, intelligent, well organised person to get trapped inside a body which could kill them or dramatically reduce their quality of life. I have no innocence that says "that kind of size increase happens only to other people".

Whilst someone who has dropped 30 pounds tends to only envisage a worst case scenario of a gain of 30 pounds (but accept that it may be a little more) - if you have dropped 160 pounds you envisage a gain of 160 pounds (or more).

I do have to say that these demons do drive me to do what many would think of as too much. It is easier than facing up to the demons and not taking best action. I have a major fear of leg injury. I really do not know what I would do if I broke a leg...

Back in 2001-2002 I went from 365lbs down to somwhere in the 280's. I ended up falling off the wagon and into a downward spiral in my weight loss. I not only gained back all the weight, I added more and came up to 389 lbs!

I have quit smoking more times than I can count. This is the only time however that it has lasted this long. And yes, I do still get cravings, but I can separate myself from the source enough if someone else is smoking to dodge the issue.

I guess whatI am ultimately saying is that I know exactly what you are saying. The idea that it "can't happen to me", is completely false. In the case of any addiction (yes, I do consider food an addiction), you CANNOT ever afford to let your guard down.

What makes food difficult to manage is that you still have to eat. You quit cigarettes, alcohol, crack, whatever your drug of choice is altogether

You can't quit food.

I know where you live with this one Margaret. I live there too. I hope to see my goal someday too. And when I do get there, I hope to have your attitude about monitoring it and not falling away from it. I'm an Omega fan.

 

[thecabbie]

Glorious weather again, although today was threatening some with some potential showers from the higher humidity.

Knocked off another 25 miles today. Have done approximately 72 miles since Monday. I should get another ride in on both Friday and Saturday, so a 100 plus mile calendar week seems likely this week.

It's a ratchet effect right now. I started up the season with my typical ride being about 12 miles. That slid to about 16 miles, then 18. Currently I am trying to hold myself to a minimum (time permitting of course), mileage of 20 miles per ride. If I can work out the time on the weekend, I'd like to start doing one long (30 miles or more) ride per week.

I think I may be ready to try a 40-50 mile ride soon. I got done with my 25 today and still felt pretty fresh.

Have to update the scoresheets, got a couple of new veggies in too.

 

[Omega]

I know where you live with this one Margaret. I live there too. I hope to see my goal someday too. And when I do get there, I hope to have your attitude about monitoring it and not falling away from it. I'm an Omega fan.

Thank you for saying such a nice thing. It is also great that you can understand where I am coming from on this. I wish that it wasnt the case - but those of us that come down a long way need to be extra vigilant about letting things slip - we have so much more to lose.

Maintenance takes work after any level of weight loss. It needs to become an obsession for some of us. Most of humanity can cope and be ok with just one alcoholic drink - the alcoholic is lost if they had that same drink. Yet we have to eat every day to live - we dance with danger for the rest of our lives.