BLC 11 - BLACK Team Motivational Meeting Place

Welcome to the Black Team and to our Motivational Meeting Place.  This is the place to hang out among friends, find a shoulder to lean on when you're having a hard day or share an "OMG Moment".  Swap tips and cheer each other on!

The key to our success is keeping this an active and supportive thread!  Ask questions, make suggestions.  So come on in, pull up a chair and introduce yourself! 

Let's get this party started!!!!  Black Rocks!

BLACK TEAM
betzc  (Week 0: 138.4)
campbellmiru  Week 0: 228.4)
healthmd  (Week 0: 166.0)
jachid2  (Week 0: 158.0)
jodiferjuniper  (Week 0: 195.4)
kirie  (Week 0: 160.4)
makphl  (Week 0: 187.5)
mazele  (Week 0: 254.6)
missjaylene13  (Week 0: 205.2)
need2losebabyweight  (Week 0: 181.4)
papa3169  (Week 0: 278.0)
schweise  (Week 0: 199.5)
staceygene  (Week 0: 216.0)
team_Malone (Week 0: 175.8)
Black Team Total   Week 0: 2744.6

Hi team!! I am Lyndi and I am sooo happy to be doing this! I have been on a weight loss journey for a while....going from 210 last jan08, and getting to 175ish now. I had a few starts and stops along the way and it is always a challenge to keep motivated, so I am hoping this is the challenge I need. I havn't been inder 175 for MANY years....so I look forward to seeing how that feels.

Right now my biggest challenge is having family here for the weekend, but I am going to work hard to eat well and workout through it. It is also my TOTM, so I am already 5 lbs more than I was a couple days agoBut, weigh ins are not for a while, so I will keep on truckin!

GO BLACK TEAM!!!! YEAAAAA!!!!

 Hey everyone! I'm Marianne. Nice to meet you! Can't wait to get this started. :) I've been working to get down to 140lbs for awhile now, but a bunch of things in RL have halted progress (family friend dying, mom having a heart attack) but now that things have calmed down I'm ready to go! This is my first challenge I've participated in and I'm ready to give it my all :)

Ugh. Heading down to see my parents today for the weekend, so that means fast food on the way for dinner. :( But I'm going to exercise beforehand and make sure I choose good choices. Don't want to let the team down! Though, rejecting moms homemade cooking might be a bit harder! lol! But I'll manage!

Lyndi, I completely relate to your TOTM woes :( I'm just getting over mine, and it's been so hard to exercise and eat well on it this time. I'd rather stay in bed and eat chocolate all day. Hah!

Very nice to meet you all!

GO BLACK TEAM!

Welcome Black Rockers! I'm Jody, your team leader. 

First off, congrats to everyone here for committing to BLC and taking a BIG step in the right direction in our quest for a healthy and happy life!

I started on CC in March of 2008 and tipped the scales at 232.  Now just over a year later I have two feet firmly planted in Onderland (wednesday I was 195lbs).  It's taken me a long time, but I've learned that for me, slow and steady wins the race!

Lyndi, I hosted family here a few weeks ago and you know what?  I only provided food I could eat and only enough so people could eat healthy portions.  Not only did it help teach my family (all overweight) the right things to eat, but I didn't have any tempting leftovers!

Marianne, good luck on the road trip!  Thank goodness most FF joints have healthier options these days.  When we were in Florida on vacation last month I feel in love with Chik-fil-A salads!!!  So yummy!

Does anyone have weekend goals they want to share?  Mine is to learn how to start the lawn mower!

Hey there Black Rockers!

First, for those of you who were in the last Challenge, I tried to continue after my injury but it was just not possible. I started back in the gym on Monday and it feels great to be back at it. I will not be able to lift weight for a GOOD LONG time, but will be working the lower half with weights and hitting the aerobic exercise hard. I will do my best to be on here for a little while each day to check in and too keep you all posted on the recovery effort. If you want to see pics they are posted on my profile.

I recognize some of the names in the family this time. As long as I don't get infured like in the last two challenges I will do my best to help the team out. For those of you who are new, I had knee surgery in Nov 08, and elbow surgery 4 weeks ago today. I love going to the gym, and was so ready to go back this week. I have been told by my doc that I shouldn't do anything for another month, but being a large guy in the Navy I have to work out to be able to stay in. I have just over 18 years in the US Navy, and I am an Aviation Electronics Technician. I am involved in my community as a Assistant Scoutmaster in a local Boy Scout troop and an active coach in the local Special Olympics program (pic posted of the Basketball team I took to the State Tourney and brought home Silver. By the way, this team had not won a single game in almost a decade!

Anyway, I am here if anyone needs a swift kick in the backside to get motivated, and I would like to challenge each of us to post our goals for the challenge. Here are mine

1. Get back into the swing of things.
2. Lose at least 10 during this challenge.
3. Make new friends while doing this.

Later,
Papa

P.S. Looks like I am once again the only guy on the team! No ganging up on me now ladies ok!

Hi Everyone!

My name is Liz and I did the last challenge and lost 7lbs! During that time I was working on figuring out where I needed to have my calories at to lose at a rate I was happy with and in the last week I have found that having between a 750 and 850 deficit seems to work best for me. 

A little about me: I have a 2 year old daughter and a 10 month old son, so obviously I gained weight without a lot of time to lose it between the 2 of them. Our daughter was just over 6 months old when we found out we were pregnant with our son.

I was about 50lbs overweight before I became pregnant the first time, so at 9 months pregnant (both times) I was tipping the scale at 234 lbs. As of today  I have lost a total of 54 lbs. I have 40 lbs. until I reach a healthy BMI and 55 lbs. to go until I reach my goal of 125 lbs.

Going along with Papa's goal for the challenge:

1. Keep going to Curves at least 3 times per week for at least 30 minutes per session
2. Go for a walk or keep active during the days that I can't get out for a walk.
3. I hope to lose at least 12 lbs. (1.5/week). We'll see how that goes!
4. Make new friends too!

Talk to you all later!

Hello Black Rockers! Nice to meet you all and get back in touch with some of you.

Happy to be back at another BL challenge. I'm Monica. I've joined the last two BL and it helped me a lot to lose weight by being accountable, not to mention meeting new people and sharing our journey.  By the way, it's my 1 year New Lifestyle Anniversary. I was 255 in May '08 and I'm now at 166 and 16 away from my goal! Last time I was at this weight was when I was 20, so you can imagine how great it feels. Many times I thought I'd never be able to do it, but instead of just thinking of the 105 lbs I had to lose, I finally realized that any loss would be great, so I focused on mini goals, which is not as overwhelming. Jody, I'm 100% with you, slow and steady does win the race!

papa: I'm so happy to hear you're back at the gym and on your way to recovery. But take it easy, remember you're still recovering! Loved the pic with your Bball team, how happy and proud you all looked. Big congrats!

Marianne, we can't prevent bad stuff from happening, but we can prevent stuffing ourselves when they happen. Have a great weekend and if the best choice it's still not great, portion control!

Lyndi, you've been doing great and this challenge it's the way to give you the extra push. I also have family around, my parents and mother-in-law came for my son's 1st communion (he was so cute in a suit!beautiful day). Needless to say it has been harder to stay on track, but I have the same strategy, burning the extra calories at the gym, and boy, I've been working out this past week! Ttom also added some 3lbs but fortunately it was just water and it went away, so hang in there!

Jody, you're also doing great. I keep reminding myself that it's not a race but a lifestyle change. I'm learning more and more that change won't happen overnight, specially if you want the change to last. And this time it will last!

My goals for this challenge are:

1. lose 7lbs, of fat, everywhere other than in my breasts, please!

2.Keep it at the gym and build up some muscle mass.

3. Share, laugh, and support each other. We can do this! Go black!

PS: Hi Liz! I was writing so much, as usual (sorry, ) and you posted in between. Nice to meet you too.

Wow....what a great team we have! Thanks to everyone for their support already!! I know I am going to enjoy getting to know you all :)

Hi,

I am very new to this entire site, actually fairly new to the internet. I have never joined a team online before. Is there a place to go for the rules and such. I am a little confused. I catch on quick. Any info would be greatly appreciated. I am very excited and look forward to the challenge.

Staceygene

Papa & Monica, good to see you two again!  How's dummie doing?

Hey Liz, I know where you're coming from.  I had 3 kids in 4 years!  I never had the time or motivation to lose weight in between kids.  Now they are 3, 5 & 7 and I'm finally making time for me!

Hi Stacey, welcome to CC and the internet!  There are no rules, other than to post your weekly weight between Tues and Thurs each week.  If you need any help just holler!  I've been on CC for over a year now and I'd be happy to help.

My goals for this challenge are to:

1.  Continue to jog 5K 3x week

2.  Start strength training or weight lifting routine

3.  Be positive & have fun!

Hi Team!

I hope you all had a great weekend and happy mother's day to the mom's here :)

We went out to eat a couple times this weekend, and I was way over my calories...so I didn't do too well with my company here. But, it is a journey, and like many have said, I am in it for the long-run too. I do not dare get on the scale till I have to though, and I will be back on track this week.

So, have a good week everyone.......we can do this!!

Hi all! I'm back from my mini-vacation to my parents. All went pretty well even though I didn't eat the best. I'm down from my starting weight so I'm happy about that. :)

Jodi - I wish I knew how to work a lown mower! My dad never let me do it growing up because he didn't think I'd do it right. Haha.

Papa- I hope your knee heals up quick! I have a bad knee myself (Had surgery on it when I was a teen) so I can feel your pain. It sounds like you're really busy though! That's great.

Liz and Stacey - Incredibly nice to meet you!

Health - Nice to meet you too! Thank you for the advice :) I followed it this weekend and it turned out just fine!

Goals this week:

1. Drink enough water
2. Get up and do something everyday, whether its cleaning or exercising
3. Pick some healthy foods up when we go do our grocery shopping this wednesday. :)
4. Don't weigh myself more than 3 times a week (I tend to do it everyday, and that's just no good for me!)

I hope everyone has a great Monday! I'm sure we'll do great at the weigh-in!

You're not alone!  This weekend was rough...TTOM and Mother's Day.  I tried to keep my eating within reason, but I didn't journal my calories so I really don't know how much I ate.  But I'm back on track and even got my 5k jog in today. I'm sure my "friend" will alter my actual numbers for this weeks weigh in, but I'm going to drink as much water as I can stand and hopefully that will help keep me somewhere close to were I should be on the scale.  Happy Monday Everyone!

Hi Black Teamers!  Wow I need this challenge!  I am so d*** close to my goal, and everyday in the past  weeks I have done something stupid. (eat over calories, to many cocktails, skip a work-out... you get the drift.)  But last Thursday, week 0 weigh in time seems to have brought some level of control back and things are going better.  Not to mention, I was in a Spin class on saturday, and Jerry and Stella (The oldest couple from the real Biggest Loser) were on bikes beside me.  He has lost 173 lbs!!,  they look so great and are feeling so much better.  It was really inspiring.  I just kept thinking to myself JUST DO IT!    I wish everybody the best of Luck and hope to be able to keep in touch!

Take Care,   Betsy

PS.  Papa, so glad to hear that you are on the mend!!!

PSS.edit:  OhOh... I am the 13th responder on the black team...  sounds like an omen :)

Hi Black Team!

I haven't ever done anything like this either.  If I miss something, please pop me a message.  My goal for 8 weeks is 8 pounds.  My plan is to add 2 more workouts each week and keep my average daily calories under 1700.

I was wondering is there any tool on this site that tracks your daily calories burned and subtracts that from your calories in?  I would love to see that analyzed on a chart.

Good luck to all,

Jaye

Hello Team - its great to 'meet' you all! Being Team Black is most appropriate, beingst that the majority of my clothes are that color anyway in an attempt to slim things a bit, he!

I'm around 1/3 of the way to goal - -have lost a little over 30 lbs and have nearly 60 more to go.  Right now circumstances are helping me along a bit . On the negative side, I was laid off a couple of months ago and am sure you can all understand all the stress that comes with it. But from a mental/physical health side of things, I'm trying to stay positive and use this extra time as an opportunity to exercise regularly and make healthy home cooked meals. And since the financials are tight, I have barely gone to restaurants/take out, which makes eating healthy and knowing my calorie intake much more accurate. (My biggest challenge has always been the social eating, and eating out quite a bit for work functions.)  So now the hardest part is more tied to weekend activities with family and friends rather the whole week!

This site has been an amazing help in this journey - its been so inspirational to see so many success stories, including some of our team members who have been at it awhile. Look forward to getting to know you all!

The goals for the this week are:

1) Walk or elliptical 5x week/45-60 mins

2) Total gym -  3x week/25 mins

3) Continue to remain positive and celebrate the little successes/not focus on the big remaining number!

Welcome, Welcome! It's great to see so many of our team members checking in! 

Makphl, it definitely sounds like you're making lemonade out of the lemons life has dealt you as of late.  Way to go!  You're the inspiration! 1.3 of the way there and a positive attitude!  You're my hero!

Jaye, I wish there was a "deficit" calculator!  I haven't found one yet on here.  I end up calculating it myself from the "eat meter" vs. "burn meter" on my home page.  BUt it would be helpful to see your numbers tracked.  Hmm...maybe a suggestion for the creators of this fantastic site!

Betsy, congrats on being so close to goal!  No omens here...just good vibes and campanionship on this trip to a healthier lifestyle!  I can't wait to see everyone on the BL Couples Finale! 

After 3 days of not exercising I finally put on my jogging shoes and hit the road.  It took me longer than ever before to jog 5K (45 minutes) but at least I did it. 

Also, in case anyone is interested in trying out a new recipe...I posted a Mediterranean Quinoa Salad in my recipies.  It is delicious and can be used as a side dish or a main dish.  It kind of tastes like Tabbouleh.   It's a little high in fat from the olive oil, but it's got so many leavy greens in it it's a protein and vitamin rich meal!

Good luck to those who will be weighing in tomorrow.  I need all the help I can get, so I'll probably wait until Thursday to post!  have a great night - Jody

Hello Everyone,

It is nice to meet all of you. I really believe I am going to enjoy this.  My goals are..........

Drink more water daily

Get my self motivated to start an excercise routine THIS week . I do a lot of walking but that is it.

Finish this! I have never joined a group. I have used so many excuses, like......It is all or nothing and when I get discouraged, I don't continue. I am really tired of all of my excuses. I like being a part of something like this where all I have to do is jump on and there all of you are LOL.

I really believe I am ready, if you don't mind me taking the time to share this story. I wait tables at a local restaurant. I see all sorts of people come in: big ones, little ones, slender, heavy , you name it.

 I don't know why ( maybe I do) but this one lady the other day, really stuck out to me. She was sitting there with this man, a really good  looking healthy attractive man. She was a very large woman, about my height 5"4, a few years older I believe, anyway she ordered fried pork chops, mashed w/gray,mac n cheese, g beans, side salad w/xtra ranch, bisq. and a diet coke. Her husband said very nicely "don't forget your jelly" and she replied "oh yeah, ty. "Grape jelly also please. He was sincere and nice. He seemed to accept her glutteny ways, without malice or question.

I also have a very kind and attractive husband. He knows how unhappy I am with my weight and he has never made me think that my weight was unacceptable to him. My weight is the biggest termoil I have in my life. He is aware of how unhappy my weight makes me so with that in mind he does care because he sees it bother me so much.As I walked away from this lady and man I asked my self....."Could I just stop fighting being heavy, give into the bisquits and jelly, have the fried pork chops, not care, weigh whatever?I really pondered that question. I wish I could sometimes but something inside me won't let me. That was such an eye opener to me..... I will never conceedand be okay with being so unhealthy. I don't want skinny, I want to be healthy and live without worry of obesity. I can not tell you what that was suppose to mean to me but it was such a break through moment. That moment won't leave me. that is what made me reach out and find all of you hear on CC.

Obviously I have done a lot of over eating or I would not weigh 216 lbs. but I have a continuous fight inside me, though not so much self motivation to keep itup, to implement exercise. To be successful I must.Ii have quit smoking, drinking, even coffee but  I seem to have no will power with eating.. I know I am contradicting myself. What I do is go on this health kick, eat healthy, mess up in a month and eat whatever for a month or two then go back and try again with will power. When i am off eating well, continuous shame for being unhealthy. It is all or nothing. When I am eating well I don't ever get around to the exercise. personal trainer I can not afford. I could afford a gym membership, actually had one but went 2 months and paid for a year. i really just don't even no where to start.

 I don't mean to sound negitive. I believe I am an optimist or I would of just give into those bisquits and quit all the termoil. My nature won't let me quit. I will post my weight on Thursday. In the future I won't go as long. Thanks for all the posts. Any input would be most appreciated. I hope this makes sense. It is late and I am tired. Could not wait to get off work and post. i am still learning how to put a picture on and do the food journal and such. My husband is going to help me hopefully tomorrow.

Hey Guys!!! It's the first day of week 1 weigh ins!! Let's kick some butt!!

This will be my first BLC on Calorie Count. I started my weight loss about a year ago. We did a biggest loser challenge at work and I went from 286-247 and won the cash pot. Yeah. I took it easy saying it was just going to be a week or two and it turned into 6 months of not going to gym or counting calories. I gained back like 4 pounds which was good, but I still have more to lose. At the beginning of this year my mom, sister and aunt started our own BL and I have lost 25 lbs. so far this year. I have 30 pounds to go to get out of the 200's and I have really stalled this last month so this challenge has come at the perfect time.

Let's Go Team Black.

Hey Black Team,

I'm Jaylene and this is my first challenge.... I was in a bad car accident about 8 months ago and I'm now getting back into the swing of things... From the accident I have a lower back injury and the doctor told me that losing 30 pounds would help with my pain management so here I am... Plus losing the weight will help me be a healthier person...

Some goals for the week!

1. Go to the gym and do 45 min of cardio 3 times 

2. Eat within my calorie limits

3. Work on some weights 2 times this week