Stew's Crew -- 15-20 by Halloween? CLOSED TO NEW MEMBERS

http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=p SPnLlFRvr2d78CiporCyWA&hl=en

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pSPnLl FRvr2d78CiporCyWA&hl=en

(This first link is the spreadsheet and the second is the check-in form)

Anyone trying to Lose 15-20 pounds by Halloween?

I have been messing around with this last leg of my weight loss journey for far too long. I'm really going to get serious about this last push and wondered if anyone else is in a similar situation and would like to help motivate each other?

Here are my stats, too:

5'6" female

157

28.9% BF (would like to be 25%)

Goal is 140

Moderate Activity Daily (I'm a SAHM with 3 little ones who keep me hopping!)

40 min. cardio 3-4 times a week, 90 min cycling once a week, 30 min. strength 3-4 times a week

(edit: added links to weigh-in form)

Original Post by ohtobethinagain:

I entered in stats for this week and took a glance at the spreadsheet........ missechelle, you've lost 14.5 pounds!!!  Congrats.  Now, share how you did it.  LOL!

  I actually weighed myself today and I am down to 149.5.  I have 4.5 to go by Halloween, but I am not stopping there.

I try to eat between 1200 and 1500 calories a day.  Some days are only 600 and some are 1700.  My days are never the same. 

I completely stopped drinking cause it hinders the weight loss, well not completely I have a sip of my husbands beer now and then.  I hate beer!  That keeps me from drinking more than a sip.

It is going to sound terrible but, I don't exercise, well not at the gym.  I park at the end of the parking lot at work and wherever I shop.  I also take the stairs.  I work in the hospital = tons of stairs.  I do use the elevator to go up several floors though.  I did a 5K for breast cancer on Sept. 20th and I have one coming up on Oct. 18th for Operation Aware(drug free run).  It is to help support my daughters school.  Hopefully we win and the school gets money.  Keep in mind I DO NOT run at all or practice.  No time!

I work nights Sun - Weds.  I sell pickles and beef jerky on Wed to help with 5th grade graduation. I bowl on Thurs.  I work all day on Fri for free at my daughters school.  I'm the volunteer coordinator for the PTA.  I make tons of phone calls, copy lots of papers and make popcorn for after school.  My daughter is 6 and is in 1st grade.  Apparently I will be doing this for a while.

I was eating lean cuisine meals for a while (two months), but I got tired of them.  I also download the menus for my favorite restraunts to see the calories.  I memorize the things I can eat.  Oh hot peppers!  I love hot peppers.  They raise your metabolism for two hours.

My coworkers are VERY supportive.  We go out to eat every time I lose 10 pounds.  We are going to the Cheesecake Factory in a few days.  They constanly tell me how good I look.  I get really embarassed some times. 

My best friend had gastric bypass in May.  She has always been slightly bigger than me.  I decided to lose weight with her, like a support group all our own.  She looks amazing.  We tell each other all the time.

If I think of anything else I will keep you posted.  I am bound and determined to look HOT again.  I have jeans in my closet that are taunting me.  LOL 

SW = 183 in July 2008

SW = 165 for the challenge at the end of August

CW = 149.5

GW = 145  by Halloween

GW = 125 by my birthday in March 30th.  I will be 30.

UGHHHHHHH definately the drinking...cause I drank again this weekend...friday night the most (along with eating ribs when we went out to eat)...then had one drink (long beach tho...about 700 cals in that one) and had some bailey's mixed with creme de cacao last night...I'm back to 178.4 this morning...and I feel blah because of it. I thought I would enjoy the drinking more because i haven't drunk in 2 weeks...but I reallly didn't :(
off the booze again. blah. wanna get back to last friday's weight by friday at least!

how was everyone's weekend?

I was out drinking saturday night as part of my boyfriend's birthday celebration.  It reminded me why I don't do it except for celebrations.  I hate the bar atmosphere, especially the smoke and noise.

I think I'm going to cut my target calorie count by 100 this week.  Based on what I've experienced, that's enough to make me a little hungry.  (Right now I'm not bothered at the target I have set, but it's 100 more than CC tells me to shoot for.)  Then I'll have to at least do some exercise to earn more food, gaining that 100 back from the first 100 calories I burn exercising that day.  That should help me get moving on non-weights days, since I've been finding excuses to not exercise.  I'll revert to normal this next Tuesday, so a week of trying this to counter the crunch this week -- where I have a lot of school work to do.

Hope everyone else has had a good weekend :)

Came across this and thought I'd share.  It offers quite a bit of inspiration.  Before/after shots of BL former contestants.  Kind of a 'where are they now' thing.  Some are amazing.  Actually, they all are.

http://www.people.com/people/package/gallery/ 0,,20055177_20225996,00.html

I'm jumping back on wagon this week... I drank way too much last night and have a headache... so I'm going to stay focused... I worked out for 5 days straight and took yesterday off, I have a headache and think I'm going to take chill today also ... I'm on my last stretch of TOM...

I purchased measuring tape so I can monitor my inches and not weight, I'm going to stop obsessing over the numbers or at least try... the 18th is my birthday so I'm going make a personal mini goal to lose inches before then and get into a size 7 w/o the stomach hanging over! yuck!

I've been changing up my excercises everyday... ran my daughters high school track on sunday, did pilates and cardio sat., strength and cardio friday, pilates and cardio and strength on thursday ... I'm hoping it will all pay off soon ... uh and we move on....

Sounds good Soraya...I'm off the booze til the weekend of your birthday too since we are going to reno that weekend! woooo!
Day 3 of not drinking. Have worked out last 2 days...and have workouts planned the next two days. Good for you on mixing it up...that's what I do. I need to get back to doing yoga once a week! I bought a "myotape" which is a measuring tape for your body (snaps into place...pretty cool) and need to do my measurements...and get my body fat tested again...perhaps that will make me feel better about not losing the lbs...bet I've lost some inches :)
Anyways...I'll keep tabs on you...and you do the same for me!
I'm down to a size 12 now (gave all my baggy 16's to my roomie)...and want to get down to a 10...possibly an 8 (which seems possible if I plan on losing another 20lb)...but we shall see. I'm going shopping for a halloween costume that weekend too! ahhhhhhhh...wanna be somethin cute :)
What happened to the challenge this week stewmama? I was so lookin forward to it.

thanks johgar and I am on day 2 of no drinking trying to stay on the wagon for as long as possible... I didn't work out for the past 2 days took off and feeling it today so def. going to work out today and do some pilates... do you ever notice that after yoga/pilates your stomach naturally wants to pull itself in??? I know that sounds crazy! but when I do pilates I feel that?

stewma- where are you?

only 10 days till my birthday and hoping that the scale and inches are good to me ... I'm going to try to not drink till then but I doubt that will happen -- if anything no drinking until the wknd or if I do drink I wont' binge drink... that's my problem binge drinking... well today is another day....

it's 97 degrees here in L.A. and it's too hot to want to work out or open the door !!! I hate this please can it get cooler you feel like your in weird open space prison of heat! yak! ...

ok have healthy day

Ah, halloween motivation :)  I haven't dressed up since forever... I'd like to make that a reward for the week or so before the end of this challenge.  If anything, I'm leaning toward being a pirate :)  Hm, options, options, options. 

We had a cold morning here in Kansas today, it was 38 when I went to the cubical dungeon.  (We don't have to decorate it to be scary for halloween )  It warmed up nicely though, but I'm not looking forward to the winter.

Last thought I'll throw out there:  that "lung tired" feeling is awesome.  I managed 30 minutes of jump time today plus at least as much as rest down time.  Add that to the 80 minutes of moderate walking I did to and from the campus gym, and I'm tired.  If I keep to my target calorie goal for today it can be a 1,000 deficit day!  Though I'm going to use 200 to 'buy' myself a smoothie.

Hope everyone is having a great day!

My daughter (8) decided she wanted to be dorothy for halloween this year.  My niece (6) had decided she wanted to be a witch.  So, my sister has decided that she is driving 5 hours so the kids can go trick or treat together.  Now, we feel like it needs to be a big production this year and all the adults have to dress up, too.  So, there is going to be a whole group of us all dressed as Wizard of Oz characters.  Not sure who is going to be who yet, but oddly we've managed to round up a live Toto dog to go with us. 

I have dibs on all the watermelon candy that either of them brings home. 

175.2 this morning.  YAY!  I so want to be below 175 by Friday's weigh in.  That would mean I am officially closer to 170 than 180.  LOL!  It's the little things that make me happy.

Sat up at the hospital for half the day on Monday only to find out they had me scheduled for the wrong test in the wrong department and had not received all of the paperwork they needed from the doc's office.  Needless to say that was a wasted day and we are no closer to knowing anything than we were 2 weeks ago.  I've been fuming since then (even more so because the doc's office won't return my calls).  I should take this aggression and go pound it out on the treadmill.  Yet, I sit here and play bingo on Pogo.    I've apparently been grinding my teeth while sleeping these past few nights, too.  My jaw and teeth hurt, and I keep catching myself clenching my teeth during the day.  Like I said, I'm kinda fuming over this. 

Well, guys, the end is nearing.  Anybody want to continue as a group for another 10-15 between Halloween and the end of the year?  I will not gain weight during the holidays, I will not gain weight during the holidays, I will not gain weight during the holidays.

Soraya – try to make it through the weekend without drinking…I was so proud of myself the other weekend when I managed not to drink. It gave me such a feeling of self control. Also…crazy difference in the weather…I’m only 5-6 hours north of you, and it’s cooled waaaay down. Only in the 70’s to 80’s this week :/ unlike you, I am not quite ready to say bye-bye to summer :(
This quote has been running around my head, and I think I’m going to make it my mantra for whenever I feel like oinking out (like last nights mac n’ cheese, 2 Klondike bars, 3 fudgsicle pops and about 3 big spoons of peanut butter with jelly…aaaaaaaahhh…feel like such a lil piggy, and my weight is back up to 179.4 this morning!!!): “Nothing tastes as good as looking good feels”
Windrinre – I was a pirate 2 halloweens ago (and last year for work…since my devil attire was not work appropriate…hehe)…I am thinking of being a lil sailor girl this year…or a convict…lol…haven’t quite decided yet. Congrats on the exercise :) Keep it up!
Ohtobethin – I am so sad…b/c I was on the other side of 175 last Friday…and through drinking/lack of self discipline, I am now almost back to where I started! I am just frustrated…my body seems to hold on to fat like a chubby child does candy…arghhh. Good luck with all the hospital stuff…I hate the places myself.  Oh…and I’m so in for another group to lose another 10-15 by the end of the year!!! It’ll be a challenge b/c (when I get back to 175) I have about 15lb to go, so it’ll put me right at my goal.
Blah…gonna super hydrate today and see if it’ll even back out my weight…grrr
Good luck for tomorrow everyone!

Oh MY GOD! I love that :) 'NOTHING TASTES AS GOOD AS LOOKING GOOD FEELS' ... I'm going to go for a run and say that over and over again! ... Thanks Johgar!!!

I did good I didn't drink last night either 2 days now... going for the wknd :) hope to make it... and your right it does give you a good feeling and plus you don't wake up cranky...

The weather here is fantastic finally it's below 90 degrees yesterday it went up to 99 degrees and it's soooo hot in my apartment I live in an old bungalow apt. and the heating system comes from the ground up it's terrible my house has heat rising in it when it's hot outside and the gas co. is like there's nothing we can do about it unless they tear up the apts... anyway... It's 85 so not too hot and I think I'm going to go for a run/walk/meditation clear my head and heart... I've got 9 days till my birthday and I want to look good or feel sexy for it... so gotta get on the ball... I ate a LUna Bar at 1230pm last night so not too bad on the binge...

ohtobethin- your entry cracked me up! that is hilarious I love it... I love halloween....! I definitely think we should continue the 15-20 pounds down during the holiday's I'm down for a group :) the more motivation the better ;)

Have a healthy day ya'll

SW=165

CW=149.5

GW=145

No change this week.  Better luck next time.

Doh, forgot to weigh in before leaving to do homework this morning.  Will check in after 3 when I get home.

175 even.  A new low, and a total loss of 11.5 pounds since Aug 4.  I NEVER would have thought I'd get that far in just a hair over 2 months.  4 pounds in 2 months would have been success IMO. 

And, I just realized today was the 10th (just entered stuff into the spreadsheet), which means I have been officially divorced for 7 years as of today.  We got married at midnight on New Year's Eve, and were married exactly 10 years, 10 months, 10 days........and most likely 10 hours and 10 minutes.  HA HA!  We were the 3rd couple called that morning and court started at 9. 

Life is good.  But, I haven't looked at my stocks yet. 

It's Friday, it's Friday.  Kiddo is leaving tomorrow and won't be home until Oct 19th.  School is out next week. 

Hi guyz!  Weigh in today....

SW-190

LW-180.5

CW-179

GW for challenge-170

9 to go..I can do this....Great job to everyone!!  BTW...I am so in for another challenge after this.  Have we decided a goal date? New Years????

·  Aug 22:  180.6lbs

·  Aug 29:  182.4lb (+1.8!!!) 

·  Sept 5:   183.0lb (+.6)

·  Sept 12: 178.6lb (-4.4)

·  Sept 19: 179.0lb (+.4)

·  Sept 26: 179.0lb (no change)

·  Oct 3: 174.6! (-4.4!)

·  Oct 10: 178.4 (+3.8)

·  Oct 17:

·  Oct 24:

·  Oct 31:

Accccccccckkkkkkkkk!!! so mad right now! I'm only down 2 freakin pounds, and there's only 3 weeks to go...at this point even aiming for 10 seems a little pointless!

On a positive note tho...at least I haven't GAINED any weight over the last 2 months...but STILL..2lb in 2 months?!? ahhhhhh....at this rate it will take me 20 months to lose my last 20LB!!!! grrrr
soraya - I'm on 5 days no drinking, and I'm keeping myself so busy this weekend, that there will def be no time for it! Gotta clamp down on my eating too...
Dang it...I was so stoked last week to get under 175...grrr
ohtobethin - WAY TO GO!!! and especially having lost weight and feeling great on your divorcary...lol
ladyelizabeth - New Year's sounds good to me! I'll be out of the country til Jan 4th, but will just weigh upon return...viva Mexico! lol...it'll make me discipline myself on vacation...which is hard to do

Have a good weekend all. Trying to keep a positive outlook even though my body is being so FREAKIN stubborn in losing weight. Really need to go get my body fat tested, cause I won't mind as much if I've lost more BF and not weight...sigh

johgar - have you taken measurements?  Sometimes that can be more of an indicator of success than the scale.  I did measurements last time I dieted and only weighed once a week.  This time, I'm weighing daily, and have no idea what my measurements are.  It's odd, but pants-wise, I'm up one size from where I was the last time I dieted, but I'm only 4 pounds heavier than what I got to last time.  I can't figure that out because last time all I did was watch calories.  This time I'm walking and watching calories.  You'd think things would be more toned this time around.  Go figure.  I do know for a fact that my stomach is flabbier this time around.  I still have a little bit of a roll just above the naval that I did not have last time.  I'm hoping that 5-10 more pounds will cure that.

I'm super frustrated myself... we've been on this challenge since Aug. and I haven't lost any weight... the scale is up to 147!!!! I don't know if it's because TOM is nearing an end... or that Ididn't drink enough water ??? it's frustrating to get down to 140 and think your gonna break into 130's and then boom! weight goes up!!! I hate it!!! I'm 5 pounds heavier than I was 3 weeks ago and plus I am working out and changing it up nearly daily ! my arms and bum are sore as heck! from the yoga and running so I don't get it... I haven't been drinking any wine so it's not that! Im not pigging out! or anything like that --- I do have a bit of insomnia so I do have a luna bar and a handful of cashews at midnight but that it!!! I'm not eating a whole freaking cake! my friends tell me I look slimmer but I don't feel it! what could it be!!! I'm sick of this! maybe it is the water? i only had about 40oz of water yesterday --- forget it I'm flushing myself out today! uh!!!!!!

sorry for the rant! :(

I'm rooting for those of you struggling, I KNOW you can do it! :)  I've come to the conclusion that it's not worth fretting over one week's increase.  Unless it's a trend, I'm going to ignore it (that is, unless it's a downward trend, 'cause then I'm all for it).  There are too many reason why it could be up temporarily for a week - water, salt, exercise, TTOM, illness... the list goes on.

I'll actually be weighing in tomorrow morning instead.  I took today as my cheat day, since the social event I usually put it on is not going down this week.  So I took the liberty of hitting maintenance on a small pizza, which I'd been craving for over a week.  It was just as good as I thought it would be, not at all disappointing like some of my 'treats' in the past that I feel weren't worth the calories.  I think the wait made it better :)

So I'm stuffed (ate one small slice over full, it was that yummy) but not the least bit guilty.  It was a nice reward for basically being up all night anyway working on my master's project.  I'll rejoin the wagon in the morning, and know this kind of thing won't happen for at least another week.   Until then, hope you all are doing well :)

I had a small pizza last night plus a friend came over with a really fantastic bottle of wine.... so I will be joining you on the wagon windrinre! it's offically one week till my birthday and I will be having cake and wine so I think I want to stay clear of drinks until then hopefully I can do it :) ... I'm in work out clothes and will be doing something today to offset the pizza and wine and oh midnight hot chocolate and brownie! I just remembered .... I will be jumping rope for an extra 30min to get those cals evened out!