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.

So it seems like mostly everybody had a good start!  For those of you a little rough getting out of the gates, it really can take a couple of weeks to settle into a new lifestyle, don't get discouraged!

lilly- I feel like we have a lot of similarities.  I have bad knees too (total reconstruction of my left knee about 8 years ago), and the whole chocolate thing too.  I have a chocoholic mother, while I could easily pass.

quintanion-  I have a suggestion for you (and anyone else who is an ice cream lover) Edy's Slow Churned is the most awesome ice cream and it's between 120-140 calories a serving.  So if you are decent with portion control (or just don't use too big of a bowl) it is a pretty good treat.  And it comes in crazy flavors.

mystic- cute!  I really want a lionhead!  They aren't too common around here though.  I have my bunny named Killer, who is 1/2 dwarf.  And then Taco who I'm taking care of for the next month.  I also help out at a rabbit rescue (I'm a little in love with bunnies if you could tell?!)  I'm happy to have another bunny lover in the group though!

 

As for the stats, I will update everything late tonight or tomorrow morning depending on how late I'm up!  Hope everyone had an great first week.  And the challenge does start today!  If you would like to start it from the weekend and count it that is find as well.  So just to reiterate:

Challenge for week of 4/7 Get out there and exercise!  Work out 3x this week for at least 30 mins each time.

I think its best if we just do this as a personal challenge for ourselves as opposed to some crazy points system, cause honestly I wouldn't even know what to do?!?! and I want this to be relaxed.  So go walk/run/hike/elliptical/bike/dance/do workout video/etc!

I'm sorry you have bad knees too xzcandizx , but I have to admit its nice to know someone else knows my pain. You want to workout but you know if you push yourself too much its going to be so hard to walk the next day. As of this week my mom has started to really cut back on the chocolate because of a recent doctors appointment. He wanted to put her on diabetic medication, thats my main reason for trying to be healthier. I don't want to end up like my dad taking shots. I have to worst fear of needles, lol, its kinda funny I turn completely white in the waiting room before I get blood taken or a shot.

So how is Taco doing? My friend Jes has a inside bunny. Is Taco and inside bunny or an outside bunny?

Okay, I was just checking in today and I ended up rambling on and on lol. I have to say I love the nice slow challenge! At first I was worried we were going to have to do like a crazy amount of cardio and I wouldn't be able to keep up.

Where did everybody go?  After the weigh-ins I guess you are all shot!  

lilly- I am the SAME way.  I actually went to the dr. today because my allergies are getting really bad, and he wanted to take a blood test (for my checkup my thyroid levels were high but I had already seen a specialist who said they are normal) and I wouldn't let him!  I hate blood work so much!  Up until a couple of years ago I made my mom come with me every time, I'm such a wimp!

I hope everything with your mom turns out ok, it in my opinion if you can change your lifestyle instead of going on meds it's always a better choice.  I hate taking meds but unfortunately for my allergies I have no choice, although I do try some holistic things that help a little.

As for Taco, I feel so bad for the poor boy, he is so skittish!  Every time I think he's calmed down a little bit he starts running around like crazy and thumping (bunny talk for being pissed off/scared).  He does seem a little bit better though.  As for where he lives:  I actually don't believe in keeping domestic bunnies outside.  As I said I'm kind of a bunny freak (I got my first bunny before I was 10 and have had ever since) and I've gotten to know a lot about how they work and the best enviornment for them.  Outside for them is pretty scary with all the elements and other animals and usually they don't get to much "out" or play time with their owners that way.  Sorry for the rant, I'm just super enthusiastic about it.  So right now Taco is in a pen in our basement, and my bunny Killer lives upstairs in our den (he jumps up on the couch it is awesome!) and is "free range", meaning no cage, he is trained so it works out really well 

How is everyone else doing???

I got a little bit of a rough start to the week food-wise.  Yesterday I def went over my regular intake and likely over maintenance.  I saw my nutritionist, so if I do well I usually give myself a little break that day, but I think I went a little overboard.  I guess I will just have to work out extra hard this week!

 

Yea everyone seems to have went MIA.

candi- is he kinda like a little cat or dog then since he doesn't have a cage? andi love that you have a bunny named killer! that's so funny!how often do you see a nutritionist? do they just evaluate what you are eating and suggest ways to improve and lose weight?

I have been doing alright. I have upped my training so much that I can kinda eat whatever I want most of hte time and I'll still lose weight. I think most ppl would say I generally undereat for my activity level. But it makes me nervous to eat over 2000 cals a day, but also nice to knwo that I can!

I hate tuesdays and wednesdays because im stuck at school from 7:30 am until 7:30 pm (i work in the labs at night), so I feel like ive eaten so much and have no time after work to do some cardio or anything.

Gonna have to really pump it up on thursday to make up for it. I feel so full of energy today but have nothing to spend it on.

 

I havent been active for so long that I get tired easily. I really want to do my full 45 to 1hour of cardio, but Im just too tired after only 20 minutes. Guess I'll just have to keep working my way up.

Well...this week got off to a rough start yesterday!  There's been a lot of stress with school/rehearsals/life and I ate above maintenance yesterday as well...but, that was yesterday.  Today, I was right on target!

Today and yesterday I got in a half hour of cardio, so I'm on my way to the challenge!

ktcourt13--what training do you do? 

Hey guys, anyone else gearing up for final exams and finding it hard to keep a regular exercise schedule? I'm so busy right now trying to get everything finished. I had to give a 40 minute presentation in one of my classes yesterday so I had an awful weekend trying to put it together. I find it so hard to take time off to exercise if I have so much work to do that I know I'm going to be up half the night trying to finish. I'd rather just keep working until 2am and get some sleep instead of exercising too and having to stay up until 3am, you know?

I suppose the answer is to be a better student, and make sure I get everything done long before the deadline...it's just hard to do all the time :(

Im having the same issue Kingje.  Yesterday I squeezed a mini version of my weight circuit in at around 8pm. Then after I ate and everything I studied until about 2am. (I felt really energized after working out, even for a short period of time)

 

I have 2 weeks of exams starting next week. what im planning on doing is just simple things for working out.

Example, im going to walk home from school all next week (weather allowing).  Its only about 40 minutes for me. If i cant do that then i'm going to do some short cardio bursts. I have a 15 min workout on one of my turbo jam tapes and thats really good when im strapped for time.

If you have pets, I find walking the dog is good. Only take about 15 - 20 minutes. Try jogging for 1 block, then walking 1 then jogging 1.

I really miss my weight and normal 30 to 45 min cardio workouts when im busy, but i find simple things makes me feel better and keeps me active

stevie---i do triathlons. i do them w/ the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training. it's a pretty amazign program. My main tri is in september, but i'll do a bunch of little ones before that. So we just started working out as a team, but i've been doing a lot of running and cycling during the off season.

i think if you guys have exams, that needs to be your priority. try and get an extra walk or something in if you can, but don't worry about it if you don't have time. you're body is already going to be stressed right now. Once exams are over, get right back to it.

Hello ppl. Sorry I have been a ghost for a week or something ... been having a hectic week. I'm trying to slow things down at home and school got me tied down but I'm gonna try to get myself a few post or so every week now. ... I feel that I am still stuck with the same weight. I have no idea why... it's so upsetting. I run and do my cardio and drink water. It is too weird for me. =(

Okay..I am here.I will weight in Monday, and catch up.  I am not really sure how I lost this group...lol 

So far I have lost about 6lbs, but  I think much of that is water weight. 

AF is scheduled to be here in about 5 days.  I will be interesting to see the scale with that happens.

Denise

Alrighty so its Friday and I weighed in I'm the same 158 I am a little bummed about it but I am hoping I just didn't lose anything because its water weight from being that time of the month. But I can see my body changing for the good so thats a good sign. I also completed the challenge this week . Maybe its because I am working out with weights more than anything? Who knows. Hopefully this time next week I will be down a couple more pounds. Just gotta keep going I tell myself hahaha. Its become such a habit to eat healthy its kinda irritating in a way- when I try to cheat I can't! Okay okay, I had 3 bites of cake last night but I tried to eat the whole piece and couldn't bring myself to do it! Lol, I sound weird now soooo I think I should go.

Hey guys, my internet connection at home is broken so I haven't been able to get on the site except maybe at lunchtime at work. It's supposed to be fixed tomorrow morning so hopefully it happens. It's strange how much you start to depend on the internet! Anyways, I'm still bogged down with school work so it's been a struggle to eat properly. Luckily (or unluckily?) I'm so stressed with work that I don't have much appetite, so at least I'm not trying to study while thinking about how hungry I am.

Weird. When I feel stressed out or have anxiety attacks I tend to eat BUT since I count my calories I resort to fruits ... that is whatever fruits or veggies I have to snack on. But then I'm so tempted to grab other things in the fridge like a really sweet yummy chocolatey dessert. Anyhoo, I haven't stepped on the scale for like ... well I guess over a week! And lately I have been feeling so bloated, urghhh... why is this happening?

When I am feeling really bloated it tends to be I am taking in a lot of sodium. I really don't watch sodium for any other reason than it makes me feel bloated. I use to really load everything with salt, not even taste it and just put it on anyways.  Maybe you are not drinking enough water? Water is really important just because it does flush out your body so well. I never really got it til I started drink so much of it, now at the end of the day if I haven't had what I think is enough I start chugging it lol.

Well, on an average day, I use the Pom Tea glass ... I buy so many of those it's filling up the kitchen cabinet! Anyway, that's approximately 13 ounces and my daily intake would be 3-4 of that so roughly over or around 64 ounces total. I mean it could be something else, or perhaps really cut down on sodium. I drink 1 full glass when I wake up, half when I wake up and the other half before leaving for school then break it down to the rest of the day. Or, I don't know, maybe cut back on chewing gum too because by chewing gum we swallow air? lol. At least that's what many articles on the net "says" or "stated"... just google it. That could be it though or perhaps change my diet and mix it up.

But I do feel better when I drink water. I don't know, maybe it's also stress? I really try to not let it get to me, I just focus on other things. But hopefully it'll go away. I'll try to cut back on sodium first and up my water intake more.

I've heard that about chewing gum too ladycroft. I wonder how true it is. It makes sense.

When I'm stressed out I usually eat too, just when it's really bad I find I start to feel physically sick and that's when I can't eat. It's only happened a few times so hopefully I won't get that stressed out regularly.

A friend of mine gets bloated when she eats lots of fruit, but she's allergic to it. Tomatos, strawberries, citrus anything. She gets hives too. If it's happening really regularly could it be something like lactose or gluten intolerance? You'd probably have a few other symptoms from those. Might just be an off week and you'll feel better soon.

hey everyoen! i feel ya on the bloatedness. I don't drink as much water on teh weekends as I do when I'm at work. I ate at KFC and Carl's Jr yesterday too so I know I got a ton of sodium in me right now. My ring is tight when it is usually easy to slip on and off. So I"ll be drinnking lots of water today.

I am BEYOND exhausted though. I did my group swim workout thurs, spin fri, then went to the clbu fri so lots of dancing, had my trainer sat morning (after only like 6 hours of sleep), then a bike ride in 90 degree heat sat afternoon. I could barely move last night. but I burned over 3000 cals and only ate about 2000 so i had a great deficit. I am still super tired today. Hopefully I"ll have enough energy for spin tomorrow!

Well I hope you all are having a great weekend, and thoseof you in cali are enjoying this beautiful weather!

edit---i almost forgot....i need to change mygoal weight to 170. after talking to my trainer and mother, 160 will probably be too thin for me based on my muscle build. Thanks!

So it seems as though everyone who has been posting is doing pretty well with the cardio challenge this week!  That's great!  I know I'm a little behind in asking this but what kind of challenge do we want to do this coming week?

I was thinking because of all the bloating spoken about (myself included I have major salt issues, I had panera 2 days in around and went up 1.5 pounds just from all the sodium!) that we could do a water challenge this coming week.  64 ounces everyday!  If you have a really hard time with straight water, tea or flavored water is ok, but lets try to stay away from sodas etc. if possible.  How does that sound?  I know it's kinda last min and I am trying to stay fairly simple with the challenges cause we are still just starting off and it seems like everyone is crazy busy with exams/papers/life!

kt- That's great that you are able to have a 1000 calorie deficit by working so hard!  It seems like you've been pretty hardcore about working out.

I've been trying myself. I've done pretty well but my ridiculous allergies make it so that I can't really be outside, which put a little bit of a damper on this nice spring weekend. Thankfully I'm going to the allergist tomorrow, because they told me that I can't take any anti-histamines until I see them.  It's been a tough past few days with that!  Even the roof of my mouth is itchy!  So hopefully they'll give me some shots ( I know ugh, shots, but they seem like my only option) to help these allergies vanish!

Other than that just everyone remember your weigh-ins tomorrow!  Good luck!

Soo... my scale wont turn on anymore so im not able to do a weigh in this week. Im going to try to use the one at school in the weight room, but It will have to be in the middle of the day, where as my previous weigh in-s were first thing in the morning.

But... I took measurements of arms, check waist, hips, etc.. last week and again this week.

Overall ive lost 4.2 inches, with my arms being the most noticeable (almost 1 inch per arm) So i'm very happy with this week.

I treated myself to McDonald's on Saturday, its funny how when you start eating healthy (at least the first couple weeks in) you really want that greasy food. I only had the McChicken sandwich by itself and added my own home made salad. so thats not too bad. It was like a nice reward for this week *grins*

How much is 64 ounces? I have a standard size bottle of water that I continually refill, not sure how many of them it would take (Yay for Canadian mL but i could probably look up the conversion)

 

I walked for 60 minutes twice this week and did a 30 minute cardio routine. I have to say, 2 weeks in and I feel so much better. More energy for sure.

 

Has anyone here ever done step aerobics? I was thinking of getting into it as Im getting bored with my current cardio routine.