SUPPORT GROUP/CHALLENGE for 20-somethings!

This is a now CLOSED support group for 20-somethings looking to loose 20+ pounds over the next several months.  We will have our weigh-in closing date on Monday (meaning if you would like your weigh in to be counted for the week the posting should be made by midnight on Monday night). We also will have weekly challenges for whoever wants to participate!  Which I believe should start on Mondays unless anyone thinks otherwise.

I have posted all of the stats as a Journal entry under my name, and will post an abbreviated version below which I will update weekly. I still believe the important part of this group is posting and helping each other on a consistent basis, so if you don't want to do the weigh in that's fine, you just need to be actively participating in the group by posting. At this point looking at everyones goals I think that this group should go at least until the end of the summer (last weigh-in 9/1/08) and then we can choose if we'd like to continue.  I also think those of us who are committing to the weekly weigh-ins should maybe set mini-goals for ourselves.  Something like the end of May and middle of July may be good.

Future Weigh-ins should be posted like this:

LW (Weight last week): ***

CW (Current Weight): ***  

Just to make it easier for me to find and post. Let me also note that because of the nature of this group (it's size and it's purpose) the only thing that I feel needs to be steady in this group is people being consistant.  It is totally fine if you choose to not weigh in, or if you are busy for a few days or are going on vacation, but the main purpose of this group is to have a support group, and I don't want the group to be defunct by the end of the month because everyone has forgotten about it or has just given up (which this group should help anyone from doing!).  I have done it myself, joined a group and fallen behind, and just forgotten about it, but since this group is so small to begin with, it would be pretty pointless if that happened.  So the one rule that I feel should be in place is that you need to check in at least weekly, and if you aren't going to be able to just place a post saying that you will be gone for awhile.   If you are gone for more than a week I'll send you a message seeing how you are doing, because I am here to help :)  But if anyone vanishes for over 2 weeks your spot will be open for someone else to take.  I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, I just feel that it's the only way to guarantee that everyone is committed.

Please let me know if there are any mistakes in my postings of your stats.  

emma_lizardbreath:

SW:  227       CW:  220          GW:  170  *

funshinevenus:

SW:  157       CW:  136          GW:  130  -1!

katie4983:

SW:  189       CW:  181          GW:  135  *

kerrilynndrown:

SW:  139       CW:  137.4       GW:  115-120  -1.2!    

marie_von:

SW:  147       CW:  137.5       GW:  115-120  *

megoo4u:

SW:  183       CW:  155.8       GW:  142  -2.4!

milwaukeegal:

SW:  185       CW:  176          GW:  135 -1!     

sparkleriot:

SW:  180       CW:  168.2       GW:  135  -2!

star_dust_03:

SW:  194       CW: 176           GW:  150  

weddingmama: 

SW:  188       CW:  175          GW:  150  *   

xzcandizx:        

SW:  175.5    CW:  165          GW:  125  -1.4!

6/25  Our loss for this week is 9 pounds!  

This brings our total loss to 114.8 pounds!!!

REMEMBER The challenge this week is to stick with the basics of healthy living.

whitelyte--I'd have to say the biggest difference between northern and southern california is the people, or at least the difference between L.A. and here.  People will talk to me on the street, in stores, basically everywhere...it's a bit odd, the only people that will try to talk with you in L.A. are the "crazy" people, everyone just sticks to themselves down there.  Also, the weather...it's cold up here for me!

Can I just say I love Richard Simmons????!!!!  OMG, I have his Disco Sweat dvd staring at me from my shelf right now!  Granted, I haven't done it in a while, but I think I want to break it out again.  My mom used to have me do it back in the early 90's with her...loved him then and love him now!  You really can get a good workout!  Too bad most of my friends make fun of me for even having his dvds!

When people say that wine is good for you, I think that's just an excuse to drink it. It's true that it does have some positive effects, but I think the negative effects of alcohol outweigh the good effects.

That said, it's ok to drink in moderation every once in awhile and still stick to your diet. Just make sure to skip the mixed drinks - those can be awful. Unless that's really your thing, but otherwise avoid it. Though, I personally love wine coolers and Mike's hard lemonade, but I avoid them not just because I'm on a diet but because I had a brain scan done that showed the negative effect that alcohol had had on my brain (college binge drinking).

The best drinking choices calorie wise would probably be light beer or straight shots of liquor.

I've heard that vodka and diet soda is a good combo for watching calories.  I drink pretty infrequently (and am a cheap drunk), so I don't sweat a beer once or twice a month.  My family occasionally makes wine, grappa, or limoncello, and my parents were never averse to letting me have a bit growing up, so I never got into the typical college binge drinking

lillysmominpa - I can sympathize about the dog!  I have to put mine in her kennel anytime I'm doing exercises at home because she thinks that I'm asking to be jumped on and licked while I'm trying to do pushups or planks. 

ktcort13 - I have a similar outlook on "dieting" vs eating healthy within calorie limits.  There seem to be so many people on CC that eat nothing but low-fat/low-cal/fake sugar diet foods and I think they're missing out on the tastiness of healthy, real food with treats now and then.  That said, I am revising my habits because they were horrible before!  I'm still working on getting enough protein and vegetables (especially green ones) in my diet.  So I work on that, watch my overall intake, and if I want ice cream occasionally,  then I'll have ice cream, damnit

Does anyone have staple foods that they eat multiple times a week, or that help keep you on track?  I've started eating stir fry 3-4 times a week and just love it!  I'll throw in chicken and veggies, and based on how many cals I have to work with, I'll either steam them in chicken broth or experiment with making different sauces.   Today it was mongolian style chicken with mushrooms, onions and broccoli, for only 250 calories.  The best part is I can make a big batch on the weekend and have the rest ready to heat up for a quick meal during the week

I live at home while im going to college (its just cheaper that way) but my dad makes stir fry about once every two weeks. I love it!

For me its chicken wraps. They are nice and easy to bring to school with me on my 9hour+ days. Its nice because you can mix whatever you want. I take chicken breast and cook it the night before, then in the morning i can add a tsp of salad dressing and a variety of veggies and the chicken, or i can add some other lunch meats and lettuce for a more "sub" type wrap. Or make it more mexican with some olives and a tiny bit of salsa. yum!

 

For the pet thing, I really want a dog when I move out. Right now i have 2 cats. I felt so bad yesterday i was doing one of my aerobic DVD's and doing leg lifts and i guess he wanted to zig zag around my feet, i ended up stepping on his paw. I felt so horrible, but he was back up and purring in a few minutes so im glad i didnt really hurt him. Gotta love how cats are like that, they love to try to trip you by clinging to your feet.

I have to disagree with you on that one birdy22, I think reasonable amounts of wine can have health benefits and is something in life that is truly worth appreciating but I suppose you only appreciate it if you like it. I think wine is a better choice than light beer or liquor (love tequila!) but I'm with you on avoiding the mixed drinks.

I drink pretty infrequently too, quintanion. I got the odd glass of homemade wine too and I make my own now.  As far as staple foods, I'm a bit of a cereal addict. Hot, cold, bland--I could eat cereal three times a day and be happy but I mostly just have it for breakfast.  Luckily I don't like most of the really awful sugary kinds. Lately, I've been mixing 1/2 cup of fibre1 with a little bit of some other, slightly more appealing kind (multigrain cheerios, special K, corn flakes, even frosted flakes isn't so bad if you don't take too much) to get a more filling version. It's been working to keep me feeling full sooner and longer while still getting my cereal fix.

**edit** wrong name! Will pay closer attention :)

Original Post by kingje:

I have to disagree with you on that one ktcort13,  

I think someone else said something about wine. I had to reread and see if I said anything haha. But i drink wine more now instead of hard alcohol or beer. If i go to a bar, it's rum and diet coke and shots. I went bowling a couple months ago and got some mixed drinks (AMF) w/ my cousins and I felt miserable the next day. I can't handle all those sugary drinks anymore and I'm glad!

Lets see...staple foods. I eat chicken and rice a lot. I get potatoes a lot as well. I know a lot of ppl stay away from carbs, but I need them for my training so i get them a lot! But during the day i have dannon yogurt, bananas, salads, and stuff like that. for mornings lately i've been having the egg beater stuff adn 3 turkey sausage links. It's only 180 cals and 25 grams of protein! Good way to start the day.

I went to spin class this morning, followe dbya  workout w/ my trainer and I am beat! i had to go to a little fam reunion at a park right after the gym so it zapped eveyrthign out of me. I am so ready for a nap!

Oh yeah, I totally said the wrong name! Sorry ktcort13, I guess I was still thinking about how you said you weren't on a "diet", which I do agree with you about.

Even with only 12 or 13 people it gets a little hard to keep up with so many separate conversations going on at the same time!

I didn't mean that wine doesn't have health benefits, it's just that the negative effects of alcohol might outweigh the heart healthy (I think it's the heart that it's good for) effects of the wine. And I think they have supplements with the good stuff from red wine in them.

But all things in moderation. Wine would probably also be and ok choice, I was just trying to think of stuff with minimal calories that aren't from alcohol. I didn't mention wine because I think it has carbs. However, they're probably minimal.

So I started my "eating healthy kick" last saturday, and its been one week so here are my updates:

 

LW (Weight last week): 183.5lbs

CW (Current Weight): 179.6lbs

 

I expect this to slow down as this was just my first week and I probably had some "water weight"

 

Im excited to see the challenge for this week

 

Slow Week:

LW:  193

CW:  193

Hi~

First weight in:

LW: 157.8 lbs  

CW: 155.6 lb

 

I've been gone for a day and I feel like I've missed so much already!  I will have to catch up with all the postings tomorrow.

Thanks for putting your weigh ins so they are easy to find/read.  I will update it all tomorrow night (just get your weights in my midnight tomorrow if possible :))

Other than that, I've been so busy because I just picked up a foster bunny named Taco that I'm going to take care over the next month.  So I'm very excited :)  Update more tomorrow...

Weigh in! (using friday's weight)

LW:  175.5

CW:  174.5

pretty much on target...

 xzcandizx - aww thats so cute. I love bunnies. I have a lionhead dwarf named Merlin. His mane makes him look like a wizard. He also loves to chase the cat around

Hey there,

LW: 165

CW: 163

Have a good week you guys!

LW: 175 CW: 174

woohoo i'm pretty happy!

LW: 190

CW: 188

I just wanted to say that It looks like everyone did awesome last week.

My confession for the week, I had dairy queen. I actually looked up the nutrition information and was shocked at how many calories (up to 750 for things I like).

My goal next time Im craving it, buy my own  icecream and top with fresh fruit.

LW: 197

CW: 198.5

Yeah, bad week this week. I hate the end of the semester. Only 2 more weeks to go!

Hoping it's just water weight...

LW:  187
CW:  187.8