Anyone up for a new challenge?

Now that spring break is finally over, I can get around to sticking to my plan, and hopefully getting to my initial goal weight of 150 pounds by summer! (I'm at about 162 right now....)

Does anyone want to do some sort of challenge, or just be a food-buddy with me? I'd appreciate some company in my weight-loss plan please.

Challenge:

Ultimately, set a goal amount of weight to lose by... May 15th (we can extend this if anyone wants to, as the date approaches).  Depending on how needy/active you want to be, decide how often you want to check in (once a week, once a day, etc. I'll probably check in more closely to once a day).  We will reach this weight goal by May 15th by setting smaller, non-weight related (but certainly health related) goals as often as we check in. Weigh in no more than once a week.

hey, can I join?

Yeah! of course you can join! New members are always welcome!

sweatpants- I've noticed that I tend to eat less on days that I work out, most of the time, for two reasons.  first of all, I'm busier, because when I workout, it takes so much more time! Second, I think I am actually less hungry on those days.... weird, but it really seems like that.  Lastly, If you eat something crappy, you definitely feel it during the workout!

My first day is going well, although I'm trying not to get back into this cycle of eating too little, then eating everything in sight!  The problem is, I have been very busy, and not so hungry.  I ate something before practice (south beach diet bar), but then just had a few cups of coffee w/ 1% milk in it for breakfast.  For lunch, I had class straight from 9:30 until 1:30 and swim practice from 1:45-3:30, so I didn't get much in the way of food, but I managed a Kashi golean roll bar, an apple, and a little thing of fruit snacks (I was in a rush this morning and didn't have time for anything else! lol. plus, I am out of bread)  Finally, for dinner, which occured around 5 pm, I had a cup of rice and a huge chicken breast.  This all only amounts to about 1100 calories, so I kind of need something later.  Hopefully I'll be hungry later... I'm thinking of some popcorn for during studying!

i'll join, i guess my goal will be...... uh 127

i currently weight 134 so i belive i can reach it by may 25th:)

Goal 1:  Try to hit close to 1300 calories every day (aim for at least a 500 calorie defecit, but no more than 700).

Goal 2:  Use treadmill for 40 min. 4-5 days this week, try to do some core pilates exercises using Comcast's On Demand programs (at least 3x/wk), and get out the stupid gold's gym cables 2x this week to do strength training.

Today: I'm at exactly 1301 calories, after finishing dinner!  I know I'm good for the night, since I'll be on the treadmill around 8:00 and won't be tempted to eat anymore.  I weighed in this morning at 153.6--a little high, but since it's TTOM, I'm not worried.  I'm hoping to hit 151 this week.  I'm off to a good start!

CW- 147 (lost .2lbs since Friday, which is exciting because I thought I had a bad eating weekend)

1st GW-140 by May 15th.

2nd GW- 130 by sometime in the summer!

Goal 1: Keep a 500 calorie deficit each day. That means that I really have to cut out my munchies between the end of the work day and dinner.

Goal 2 (this week): I just bought a scale and I need to start measuring and weighing my food. Especially when I eat pasta and rice...i tend to over do those.

Hey everyone.

Hope all had a great weekend.

I have to say again that I am really excited to be a part of this challenge - partly to get to connect with others in the same boat, but also because knowing that I have to report in and be accountable helped me this weekend in regulating (to some extent) what I was eating. Sort of like having a food diary that will talk back.

I did all right meeting my goal of not eating after 8:00 - not counting my two dinners with friends. That continues to be my main goal - without it, I think I wil continue with my late night munching. As well, I think somewhat paradoxically, part of the reason that I might have been gaining weight (in addition to eating too much sugar) is that I was not eating ENOUGH. I haven't been tracking on here so my goal #2 is to keep a food log consistently.

I started this week exercising - did an awesome spin class that had the happy endorphins pinging all over the place. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for an amazing stress relieving workout. I realize that when I start the work week exercising, it bodes well for my exercise regime for the rest of the week. Once, I skip Monday, I tend to think that the whole week is lost and end up sitting around and doing a whole lot of nothing.

Oh well, I realized that I have rambled on. I wish you all a good night and looking forward to chatting with you guys again soon.

well, sure enough, after studying for a bit, 6 hours after dinner I am certainly hungry!  Perhaps I should just start planning to have a fourth meal.  I had a grilled cheese tonight, as well as some "light movie theater butter" popcorn, which is only 200 calories for the entire bag, and I shared. Great study food.  Anyway, I am at about 1800 calories for today, which is perfect.  And TTOM hit today, so that could explain part of the eating like a crazed woman over the weekend....

OK, so I will set a goal for myself. It's that last small but stubborn part left.

CW: 133

GW: 127 (gurl and I are in the same boat pretty much)

My first goals (I'm going to try to start off small) are to stick to my 5k training (4 weeks left to my first race ever) and to log my food each day. Next week I'll have a better idea of what my trouble spots are!

I'm excited to get to know you all :)

Cordie

Hey tyrdrop!

Is it too late to join the challenge?  I could REALLY use the company...I am a binge eater looking for a buddy to keep me on the "straight and narrow".  I would like to lose 13 pounds and could definitely do this by May 15th.  I've done it before (that's the problem..keeping them OFF) Doing WeightWatchers ONLINE at the moment, not attending meetings...is it still open?

dgbrown

of course we're still open!  Welcome to the Club!

okay! so first official day of this weeks challenge, and i did not binge, woohoo!!!
going to get a good workout in this afternoon, so that'll be 1/4 workout days of this week down.
unfortunately I weighed in this morning at 139 (i was 137 just yesterday).  I know it's just a number, but it still gets to me.

I love hearing everyone else's weekly goals, btw.  Each person has such a unique way of approaching weight loss.

Alright, so this morning, I was 162.5, so I think most of the weekend crappy water weight has gone away at this point.  By easter weekend, I would love to be below 160.  That would put me right on target I think.

This week's goal is to workout as many times as I can (as in, I have daily swim practice which is "optional" and M/W/F practice in the morning, which is actually lifting weights and conditioning, etc). I'm missing Friday afternoon, and half of Thursday afternoon, because of class and a team meeting. Anyway, this weekend, I have a Chemical Engineering conference to go to, so I won't be online at all during that time, and hopefully I won't go crazy in the calories department... I'll aim for maintenance during those days I think.

On another note, I've just discovered coffee. Let's rephrase that. I've discovered coffee that I like. lol. I bought this sugar free chocolate coffee syrup (0 calories) and add it, along with some milk, into some coffee and it is delicious! yum yum!

Happy April Fool's Day!

Thus far, no jokes have been played on me - most probably since I have not left my house for the day - but the day is yet young.

I am procrastinating from studying and thought that instead of snacking, I would sublimate my wish to snack by posting something.

Tyrdrop, is sounds like you are in school as well? Are you doing undergraduate or graduate work?

Cordie, good luck with the 5K training. Hopefully the weather where you are is sufficiently inspirational so it does not feel like too much work to stick to the runs. Right now it is raining and grey where I am and I just want to curl up and watch movies. I was thinking of taking a learn to run clinic in the spring, later spring. Is that what you did?

Sweatpantsundays, every day not binging is a victory. I was watching this thing on You-Tube last night called "Diet vs. Exercise". And the point was that no amount of exercise can outtrain a bad diet. (In the clip, one guy ate 1/2 pizza and the other guy ran on the treadmill for the same amout of time it took him to eat it. Needless to say, in the time it took for the guy to consume 1/2 the pizza of about 900 calories, the other guy had only burned 42 calories on the treadmill). All that to say, despite the number, in the long term we are doing good.

Must return to studying. I wish you all a good day until the next time.

I haven't binged yet, but have had some calorific snacking sessions 
I am still very proud of myself for not binging.  I feel mentally more stable.

I had dance class yesterday and then did some abs when I returned.  1 workout so far this week.

Lately I crave super crunchy foods, and that leads to crackers and nuts and other high calorie snacks.  I just went grocery shopping though, so there are celery and carrot sticks ready for me to crunch away on!

happy april everyone

sw: 135

last week: 134

cw: 132

gw:127

yay getting there!!

It sounds like everyone is having a good week so far!

Aunty36- I am in school. I am an undergraduate student in Chemical Engineering, as well as on the University swim team.  Needless to say, I don't have a lot of free time!  My weight loss goals are for a mixture of being able to do well next season and feeling comfortable in my own skin.  I'm tired of being 10-15 pounds heavier than everyone else on the team, and weighing the same as girls who have half a foot on me! lol, fine, maybe only 3 inches, but still.... I felt great in the water my freshman year, after I had gotten down to about 150, and when I'm lighter I've noticed that I feel better, thus, I need to feel good :-)

Sweatpantssundays- what do you consider a binge? I'm just curious because, especially last year, I had some serious binges, and I swear I gained at least 5 of these pounds because of them.  I still binge sometimes, just definitely not as often.  I've recognized what my trigger foods are, and if I buy them at all, I keep them out of sight.  Single portions work well for me (individually wrapped) and when I am in the mood for mindless munchies, I've found that light popcorn and the low fat popcorn have between 200-300 calories in a huge bag.  When I just feel like munching, that's where I go. Anyway, I was just wondering. Congrats on it though!

So, even though I weigh myself everyday, and I might mention it, I'm going to attempt to stick to a weekly weigh in that "counts" and post that seperately.  Feel free to do the same? Or whatever works for you.

I'm a newbie (one month CC'er). SW was 196, lost 10 lbs over 7 weeks (whoo hoo), so current weight is 185.5.  At 5'9", long term goal is 165. 

> Goal for May 15th is modest 180 (weekly average).

> Goal for this week is carb binge recovery (triggered by baking brownies for college goodie mailing). I use a loose "carbohydrate addict diet" scheme to keep me away from binges, but I still get my wine and dark chocolate in at the end of the day! Yay!

My motivation: NOTHING TASTES AS GOOD AS THIN FEELS! 

(as versus old attitude of, ahem, "100% of people who eat carrots die.")

lol- i like both of those.

I've been logging my eating and exercising onto CC for 3 weeks now, and I've not yet had a day where I ate more than I burned.  I'm nervous that today will be the day I eat over, because I'm going to have to eat out twice!  I'm so afraid that I'll make one slip and totally give up.  I'm such an "all or nothing" thinker, I drive myself crazy!  I'm just going to have to do what I can do, and expect it maybe to set me back a couple days, and keep working toward my goal.  There's no way I'm quitting this!  I want to keep feeling this good about myself!

I was a little stuck at 152.6 for a couple weeks, and I had hoped to hit 151 this week; I've been 151.4 for a few days, so that's exciting.  I haven't been doing strength training at all, and it's already Thursday!  But I've been doing pretty well getting on the treadmill, so that's something.  One more week, and I can reward myself for my hard work!  (For every month I stick with this until my husband returns from Army training--June--I am doing something for myself.)  I need a new hair cut to go with my new body, so that's reward #1.  Since reward #2 will come around the time I get to visit DH's post for his first graduation, I'm going to buy a DRESS (I only have skirts and tops, because I always felt self-conscious about my mid-section, which is now shrinking, YAY!) to wear, so he can see what I've been doing with myself.  Keeping this effort a secret is so hard, but I know it'll pay off when I see him checking me out next month!  It's great motivation, that's for sure!

Anybody else rewarding themselves for your efforts?

tyrdrop - for me, binging is more of a mental "zoned out"-and-stuffing-my-face state.  As a recovering binge eater I am careful not to consider overeating as binging, because everyone overeats once in a while.
yup, I've been doing some calorie packed night time snacking, but I don't consider them binges.  I just count the calories in my day's total and move on with it!
surprisingly though, because I've gotten such good workouts in, I'm still running a deficit everyday!

I worked out TWTh, 3 done this week!  AND no binges so far.

I think my binges are triggered by loneliness.  If I hang out with friends and have a good night socially, I won't binge, but if I've been working and studying all day with barely any interaction, I come straight back to my room and binge.

I'm a college engineer too!  It's rough isn't it? =/

adamanda - going out to eat doesn't have to be high calorie!
Tricks I use include:
1. asking for a to-go box and packing half away
2. ordering salads with dressing on the side, veggies, lean meats, etc.
3. drinking lots of water
4. eating slowly and talking a lot!