Posts by jennawillis16

haha just noticed that this week too and was curious!

and good job CC team! I love that it's applicable for cals/deficits and the support of the numerous other CCers

Definitely in!! Accountability is key for me (workouts end up being like twice as long when I go to the gym with a friend) so this sounds like a great plan! Are you making a group, Juliette, or just within this thread?

I'm in for 15:

CW: 152.4

GW: 137.4

Hi,

I work the midnight to 8am for my job this summer.. and it was definitely horrible at first (hahah who am I kidding, still can't stand it..). I do night auditing at a hotel so have a little kitchenette (fridge, microwave, toaster, kettle) in the office so I can really bring/make whatever I want.

Throughout the summer I've tried two sleeping schedules:

1) Go to bed at 2pm get up at 10pm (so I could take advantage of the sun and tan)... and it worked great for the time that I was consistent with it. However, it interfered with plans because most of my friends worked during the day and wanted to hang out during the evening. I know this probably wouldn't work for you either if you have a family to take care of BUT this was probably the best (sleepwise.. as I wasn't constantly tired) for me. I'd have "breakfast" at around 2:30am at work, a snack around 5am, and lunch around 10am at home. I'd have "dinner" whenever I got up.

2) Go to bed at 9am and get up at 5pm. I'm assuming this is what would work best for you. It's what I'm currently doing (well I usually do 10 or 11am to 6 or 7pm) and I feel so much more tired during work / those last few hours before bed. Also.. stores and stuff aren't open during the hours I'm awake which is unfortunate. Anyways.. I have "breakfast" at around 2:30am, a snack around 5am, go the gym after work, have a protein smoothie for "lunch" at 9:30am and then go to bed before having "dinner" at a normal(ish) time of about 7pm.

Using CC, it was hard at first to label things breakfast, lunch, and dinner because I was used to breakfast being the first meal upon waking up.. however, this isn't the case this summer. I consider each day from midnight to midnight and log whatever I eat at work as "breakfast".

As for what kinds of foods, I usually have oatmeal with fruit for breakfast, a yogurt or more fruit as a snack, and a granola bar before I hit the gym. Then either an omelette - or lately - a protein smoothie when I get home. Then I cook a normal dinner at dinner time (even though I am just waking up ... it doesn't seem to bother me not having breakfast food).

I haven't noticed a change in metabolism or anything, but then again, I'm only 19. A woman I work with who does maitenance during the 12-8 says she gained approximately 30lbs when first switching to nights. She also has a family she needs to feed and what works for her is sleeping for 5ish hours when getting home from work and then having a nap or "laying down" as she says for 2 hours before work.

My advice, whatever you decided as a sleeping schedule STICK WITH IT. When you constantly change it up you become EXHAUSTED (and I also find I eat more because I'm not sure when I'm supposed to be eating).

Sorry for the horribly long post, just nice to find another night person out there! Good luck!!

First: LOVE the cake toppers! haha that is adorable!

Since you are only digging for half the time, I would log half your field hours as the "shovelling" (or what the option is for the 400cal/hr) and then log the other half as something you seem as equivalent to the screening such as "standing - light/moderate work" (but I have no idea as I'm not sure how much effort is actually involved...)

If the time period is truly split half and half this should give you a closer estimate to what you are actually burning throughout the day

Marketing is definitely a great avenue to pursue. I'm a second-year commerce major at one of Canada's top business schools, and although I'm leaning towards accounting (very lucrative) I have a strong interest in marketing as well.

I would suggest taking a general business or management course, business communications, organizational behaviour, and as many marketing and advertising courses that your school offers.

Take note that marketing and advertising are not the same thing!

Marketing includes the entire process of selling your product. Each of the elements of the marketing mix must be considered (4Ps: Product, Price, Place, Promotion) as well as your marketing research and forethought (Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning).

On the other hand, advertising is but one element of the promotional mix (a shoot off of the Promotion element of the "4Ps"). The promotional mix contains personal selling, advertising, publicity and PR, and sales promotions.

A friend of mine is interested in a similar avenue and he is taking sales courses and pychology, and another of my friends has combined her commerce degree with film. There are definitely numerous options available!!

Hope that clarified and/or helped.. and feel free to message me if you have any questions!

hahah bad idea... you are going to get attacked with posts and all are going to say the same thing:

(a) there is no quick weigt loss method;

(b) additionally, the faster you lose weight the more likely you will be to gain it back;

(c) diet pills don't work;

(d) if diet pills did work - even just one brand - it would have gotten major publicity and everyone would be thin; and

(e) there is, however, a failproof formula... if calories in < calories out, you will lose weight

oh and (f) no such thing as negative calories, however some foods (like celery and certain lettuces) take more energy to digest than what they have in them.. but there is no way you can sustain yourself on just these types of food

You are an AMAZING inspiration! I have the exact same start weight and almost the same goal (looking for around 115).. out of curiosity, how tall are you?

The entire tone of your post is absolutely amazing like I can feel your happiness and see the massive smile on your face!! I hope that I can one day be posting something similar!!!

Ahhh you are amazing! haha and the tips sound great!! Definitely interested in more if you can think of any :)

Again, total inspiration - THANKYOU!

Hey everyone!

Definitely down with this idea!

Background: I'm a sophmore at Queen's (Canada) for Commerce. Our program is very rigorous and extremely stressful at times ... and when that happens, my eating and exercise plans are the first to slide.

I've never really been at a good weight (150lbs throughout most of highschool) so I decided freshman year I was goign to turn things around .. I actually ended up LOSING 15lbs as a frosh and was down to 135lbs. from about January of last year and throughout the summer... then first semester sophmore year i F-ed up big time! I'm now worse than ever weighing 155 ringing in the new year.

Start Weight (Jan. 2): 155lbs
Current Weight (Jan. 8): 151lbs
Goal Weight (Summer): 125lbs (plan to lose about 1-2lbs per week)

As for Hunter's questions:

I like to work out at random times when I feel the school's gym won't be too crowded (I hate waiting for machines). So I go in the mornings around 10am when I don't have classes or during 4pm or so when it's relatively dead.

I generally do an hour on the elliptical aiming for about 550-750 calories burnt depending on how hard I want to go that day. My goal for the new year is to go at least 4 times a week.

I'm from about an hour outside Toronto, Ontario, but am currently in Kingston. No clue about elevation. :S

ahhhh! this is the story of my life.. i always start- eat healthy for a bit and then fall off the wagon again! definitely in need of some motivation to make it through exam season (and the holiday season!)

definitelyyy... i hate midterms! and assignments! and everything else that is due right now! ahsioadhaispd

hahaha

but yes.. definitely a stresser and trigger for binging for me.. every year around exam times i probably gain 2-5lbs (and then just have to work extra hard at keeping it off afterwards)

Great thread!

I'm 18, second year student at Queen's University in Canada

I am 5'4" and weight 145lbs. as of this morning

I'd like to be down to about 130lbs. by Christmas/New Years.

Challenge Idea

During the summer I joined a group who wanted to lose 10% of their bodyweight by Halloween (and was doing great till I got back to school and began drinking/eating poorly... and thus dropped out)... if anyone's interested in doing something similar like a 10% by Christmas, I think it would be a great motivation because we'd be forced to keep each other on track and going. The guy in charge of the last group created this spreadsheet online: http://www.editgrid.com/user/alexanderrob/10_ Percent_by_Halloween. I'd totally be down for keeping track of our progress if we want to!

Anyone in?

This Week: 140.1

Last Week: 142.5

Loss/Gain (Week): -2.4 lbs. (1.7%)

I really wish I had kept more in line with my plan. There's always next week however!

alexanderrob: way to go! 4lbs. is fantastic- you are definitely well on your way!

milasclone: it doesn't really matter what scale you use as long as you're keeping it consistent.. even if the one at work isn't right, you'll still see your loss over time according to that scale.

Everyone who lost ~2 lbs: as this seems to be the magic number on most forums and such on CC. CONGRATS. we're making perfect progress.. I definitely can't wait till Halloween to see how far we all have come!

denalou18: I hate this problem! I always just record my exercise from the previous day on the current day, record the number from my burn meter, and then delete the entries (and move them to yesterday so I have the record of what I did that day still). I haven't found a way around this... I don't think its the same as adding the exercise totals to your sedentary total (I'm pretty sure what it does is first subtracts the calories you would burn being alive for that time and then adds the calories you burnt being active in that same time period).

jamminatorr: definitely agree! mario bros. kicked butt.. i have the original NES and an N64 (never really got into all those new machines my brother has) but am thinking I'll carry on with nintendo only for the fact that the Wii, especially the Wii Fit look amazing.

Woooo Monday! A highschool reunion party I hosted on Friday night definitely ruined me. (I threw all thoughts of keeping track of my calories (alcohol or otherwise) to the wind as the competitive spirit of flipcup and the excitement of seeing everyone again took over). Also, I took the entirely wrong mindset and wanted to eat those few last fatty meals before really committing to this diet that we're all embarking on today. That said, a half-pound gain is far less than I anticipated (although really it was like a 3lb gain cuz I was down to 140 on Thursday) and am so ready to start this!

This week: 142.5
Last week: 142
Loss/Gain (week): +0.5lb

alexanderrob: I definitely had the same type of weekend. Between the party, and my "last chance" to eat fattening food, I definitely didn't do well. But no worries! Today is our new start right? Speaking of new starts, your exercise plan sounds fantastic! I wish you the best with that!

lisalac: I would definitely blame the shower. Your hair is porous and thus would retain a fair amount of water, and your skin definitely would have absorbed moisture as well. I weigh myself everyday in the morning after the washroom and before showering/eating/drinking. I don't think I could ever manage to get on the scale at any other time of day! I strive to see the lowest numbers possible and would probably get upset with my afternoon/evening weights. My advice? Stay consistent. Weigh yourself at the same time every day. And if you jump on the scale more than once a day, only compare that weight to what you weighed the day before at the same time (not to the morning).

Sarah_11235 and uberman: I am so joining in to your alcohol-cutting plan. In two weeks' time I'm back at university and will really have to watch it.

saxkat13: I have the same target calorie range.. we'll definitely have collaborate on meal plans!

Week 1 Mini-Challenge- My Plan

I've done up an excel document with 4 sheets. Sheet one will track my burn meter, calorie count, and deficit. Sheet 2 will track my fat, protein, carbs, and nurtrition grade from the Analysis page. Sheet 3 will track my counts from the Analysis page (ie. cholesterol, vitamins, sugar, sodium, etc). Sheet 3 will track my deficit versus weight. I know a lot of these things are on CC, but this way I can clearly see/compare values from one day to the next. Also, I can see the impact my deficit has on my weight.

Calorie goal: 1250-1400
Deficit goal: 750-1000

Exercise Goal: Not too sure yet.. Definitely running at least half an hour on days that I don't work or only have a four hour shift. And I'll start going to the gym as soon as I get back to university in two weeks (free membership there lol).

Steps:
1. Limit alcohol and plan around its consumption by eating less on the days that I know I'll be going out (also beneficial in that by eating less I won't have to drink as much to get bombed.. hahah horrible I know, but true)
2. Keep my burn meter above 2000.
3. Two meals a day must be half fruit/veggies.
4. Make as many vegetarian/vegan choices as possible. (I cut out red meat a while ago and recently switched to soy milk... protein supplements, nuts, etc have helped me reach my protein intake, and I still eat chicken fish occasionally)

I definitely did something similar as well! I use the tools from CC to get my numbers and plug them into a 4-sheet Excel document... I have a deficit tracker on the first page (with calorie intake, burn metre, daily and cumulative deficits), followed by a nutrition report showing the difference in my fat:protein:carbs in grams and percentages versus my calories for the day, then a daily intakes page to compare my intake of vitamins/minerals/etc (what shows only if you leave your mouse over a day on CC) so that I can compare it more easily than what CC has .... on my last page, I have my weight versus my deficits.

Each of my pages are cross referenced, and I have formulas in place to do any calculations.

It's amazing to see everything laid out on this!! Also, I can use the graph features and data analysis tools to see any correlations between weight and calories/intake ratios/deficit/etc!

If anyone wants to do a little extra work and feels this would help, I'd be more than happy to e-mail it to you!