Wagon Jumpers - April 5 - 11th, 2009 (Closed, Waiting List & Google Group Available)

Welcome 

(If you are interested in being on the waiting list, please read below and e-mail me. We currently have a waiting list of 4 people.)

Welcome to the Wagon Jumpers weekly thread. We are a group of CC members who have identified that one of our main challenges with achieving our weight loss, maintenance or general health goals is consistency.

This thread is designed to encourage long term commitment to our goals by publicly declaring them and asking the other members of this thread to hold us accountable. The primary focus of wagon jumpers is not how much weight you have lost, or need to loose, but what you need to do on a daily basis to meet your long term goals. 

There are two rules for Wagon Jumpers:

1. All members must post once per week between Sunday and Friday.

2. All members must check the thread for members who have not posted by Saturday (a short list is posted on Thursday) or are on the MIA list on Sunday and send them a polite and positive message to stay involved in the group and on track with their goals. 

If you would like to be a member of this thread please see the guidelines below and send me a PM if you are still interested (there may be a waiting list).

Medium Size Group = Some Time Commitment

The original idea of Wagon Jumpers was to create a close community where participants could get to know each other and hopefully form virtual-life and perhaps even physical-life bonds to create a support network as they attempted long term weight loss.

We quickly discovered that this was impossible with an 'always open' group as there were too many people coming and going. For this reason the group is capped at 30 participants. 

A medium sized group means that we have an active thread that produces between 40 - 60 posts per week. Members do not need to read / respond to every post every week. I do notice that those who respond regularly do tend to keep their goals top of mind, and have a better chance to achieve them. I estimate the average time spent by an active member on Wagon Jumpers to be between 1-2 hours per week. 

If you are looking for an always open group  on CC there are several that operate by different weight criteria, similar motivational patterns etc... There are also many small groups that cap their numbers between 4-10 people to keep the group more intimate, and easier for members to keep up with. 

Interested in Joining?

General Guidelines for Joining

1. Are you a wagon jumper?

Do you know how to loose weight, you often have success but then you find yourself loosing interest in your plan, or sabotaging your plan. It's not the "how" to loose weight that is the problem, it's the "how" to stay motivated.

2. Do you have a long way to go?

This group is designed so that members can get to know each other and support each other. Ideally you are planning to be a CC member and part of this forum for at least 6 months or more to achieve your goals and hopefully stay in motivation for a further 6 months or more.

Yes. This is, a long term plan.

3. Do you have the time?

This is a medium sized group, the thread does move fairly quickly each week. If you do not have regular internet access this is likely not the group for you. 

Still interested?

Send Supersized a PM. (Please do not reply on the thread)

An overview will be sent to you, you will have a chance to ask questions and an invitation will be sent to you once a spot is open. 

Google Group

We have recently added a google group as an option for members, past members, and members on the waiting list. If you would like access to the google group (and are in one of the above categories) send a message to beaglesmuggler (at) roger.com with your username and e-mail address and I will add you to the google group.

Wagon Jumpers Participants

Week 48 Riders:

Supersized  (myself)

Week 44 Riders - Congratulations on 11 Months!:

Msmeg1984

Defrog3

Week 40 Riders - Congratulations on 10 Months!:

Wenchie58 - away April 11th, 2009

Week 38 Riders:

Raven21  - Vacation April 17-28th, 2009

Week 37 Riders:

Tiegurl

Week 33 Riders:

Kyashiis

Unlimitedana - Vacation April 11 - 20th, 2009

The_Vitamin_Dominatrix

Week 28 Riders - Congratulations on 7 Months!:

Nannygabber

Week 24 Riders - Congratulations on 6 Months!:

Lam7

Week 22 Riders:

Maureenz

Week 20 Riders - Congratulations on 5 Months!:

Cawilder

Week 19 Riders:

Carryonandon

Figurethefat

Week 18 Riders:

Pelkeyjm

Week 17 Riders:

Constanza

Week 16 Riders - Congratulations on 4 Months!:

Germaica - Getting Married! April 12 - 25th, 2009

Week 15 Riders:

Jessicaanne2001

Week 3 Riders:

Thesilverstar121 - Vacation April 9 - 19th, 2009

Missing In Action:

Missing In Action - 1 Week:

Missing In Action - 2 Weeks:

Current Membership: 20

Current Waiting List: 4

Outstanding Wait List Invites: 0

12 Week CONSISTENCY GOALS

(as set w/o April 5th, 2009)

By June 27th, I will be...

Msmeg1984 - Maintenance: I will continue to eat less than 1800 cals/day on average New: Exercise at least 3x a week at least 9 of the 12 weeks.

Defrog3 - To continue eating healthfully for me and my little fetus, which means I need to stick to 2,000 balanced calories/day. My NEW goal is to start exercising regularly, meaning moving my butt in some fashion for 30 minutes, 3 days a week.

Cawilder - NEW: Attain a 30 / 30 / 40 food combo 80% of the time. MAINTENANCE: Running @ least 5 hours / week and 2X weight lifting. 

Unlimitedana - Maintenance goal: Eat 1550-1650 cals a day. New Goal Achieve the 40-40-20 at least two days per week.

Raven21 - 1. Exercise at least 3 x a week (maintenance) 2. Average daily calorie intake of 1450-1650 (new)

Figurethefat - For maintenance:  I will continue to complete a minimum of 1,500 exercise minutes per month.  New goal:  I will drink at least 1.5 litres of water per day.

Supersized - MAINTENANCE: Continue to eat at or below 2,000 cal/day average for at least 6 of 12 weeks, and never over 2,500 cal/day average. NEW: start going to the gym (again), and achieve at least 4 weeks where I attend the gym 3x/week. 

Lam7 - NEW GOAL:  Participate in our Navan Walking Club 10 Week Program (Tuesdays) starting April 21-June 26; as well as attend 6 "Spring into Spring" Interval Classes which will run on Thursday evenings starting April 9th, 2009. 

Constanza - (new) Eat an average of 1700 calories/day. (maintenance) Exercise at least twice weekly (calculated by average)

Thesilverstar121 - Excercising at least 3x a week.

Kyashiis - Maintenance goal:Exercise for a minimum of 20 minutes a day 5 days a week. New goal: I will zig-zag on my food intake consistently throughout the week and end up with an average daily calorie count of 1,200 cals. 

Nannygabber - Maintenance goal of doing NROLFW 3x per week with an allowance of two weeks slack for this 12-week session.

Pelkeyjm - Maintenance: Exercise a minimum of 30 minutes at least 3x per week. New Goal: Log ALL food on calorie count.

The_Vitamin_Dominatrix - Maintenance goal - I will continue to eat 1400-1500 calories daily with a ratio of 15% fat, 25% protein, 60% carbohydrates. New goal - Gym or no gym, I will workout 3 to 4 times a week.

Previous Threads:

Wagon Jumpers - March 29 - April 4th, 2009

Wagon Jumpers - March 22 - 28th, 2009

Wagon Jumpers - March 15 - 21st, 2009

Wagon Jumpers - March 8 - 14th, 2009

Wagon Jumpers - March 1 - 7th, 2009

Wagon Jumpers - February 22 - 28th, 2009

Wagon Jumpers - February 15 - 21st, 2009

Wagon Jumpers - February 8 - 14th, 2009

Wagon Jumpers - February 1 - 7th, 2009

Wagon Jumpers - January 25 - 31st, 2009

Wagon Jumpers - January 18 - 24th, 2009

Wagon Jumpers - January 11 - 17th, 2009

Wagon Jumpers - January 4 - 10th, 2009

Wagon Jumpers - December 28 - January 3rd, 2009

Wagon Jumpers - December 21 - 27th, 2008

Wagon Jumpers - December 14 - 20th, 2008

Wagon Jumpers - December 7 - 13th, 2008

Wagon Jumpers - November 30 - December 6th, 2008

Wagon Jumpers - November 23 - 29th, 2008

Wagon Jumpers - November 15 - 22nd, 2008

As always all members are encouraged to tag this thread so that it is easy to find.

I've been giving a lot of thought to my new goals/maintenance for the next time period.  I was wildly successful with one part of my challenge last time, so I would like to set that as my Maintenance goal though slightly differently worded.  Last time I vowed to: make progress on the number of repetitions in my calisthenic exercises (started at: 20 push ups, 30 sit ups, 0 chin ups, 2x 30 sec plank, 20-30 jump rope)

This time I would like to phrase it as follows:

Maintenance goal:  Exercise for a minimum of 20 minutes a day 5 days a week.

At the moment, I am doing 15 minute exercise sets of the above mentioned exercises plus others, but it takes 20 minutes of exercise to kick your metabolism into higher gear, so I think this is achieveable. Also, I want to give myself room to incorporate running (that I failed miserably in last time) part of the time even if it is only 20 minutes...   If I can maintain this maintenance goal 80% of the time period, it will be a pass.

       &nb sp;             ************************

For a new goal, I want to zig-zag my food intake throughout the week and get an A or A- five days out of the week as a sub goal which means I will be eating healthily.  I can verify all of this easily by using the analysis function. A 70% achievement of this new goal will give me a pass.

New goal: I will zig-zag on my food intake consistently throughout the week and end up with an average daily calorie count of 1,200 cals. 

I intend to do these things by using my power virtues (the virtues that I struggle to live by):

1. Persistence
2. Patience
3. Faith in myself
4. Courage

Let's have a successful round this time everyone...

Hi Everyone:

The week seems to have gotten a late start for me. I got home Sunday afternoon with my daughter who visited for the night. I was having to drive the next morning back to her town to see my dentist. So we had dinner together, got up Monday morning and went. It was 5pm before I got finished (filling in my wisdom tooth yuk.... and owww...) and got home. I crashed immediately.

Tuesday was catch up day for work, and today I have had internet complications all day. SO - its like I am just now getting my week started. LOL!

Anyway... I have still been struggling with setting my goals this time. Only because I know I will be having to move, and resettle. I found a new gym, its the YMCA, but it is gorgeous, and costs the same as the one i go to now. Point being, there won't be a lapse in gym availability.

I have options in the following areas:

• NROLFW (mtc)
• Logging Foods (mtc)
• Tracking Macronutrients (mtc)
• Gaining better consistency in any of the above areas (new)
• Starting to track and maintain a deficit (new)
• Developing a reward system (new)
• (Re)Starting the 100 Pushups Challenge (new)

I have a feeling with all the packing, moving, and unpacking... I will be doing well to handle one maintenance goal of NROLFW. While I would like to include Logging as a maintenance goal as well.... we can only have one maintenance goal... right?

I don't feel confident that I can manage a brand new goal this time. But then again, am I just allowing self-doubt to control me? LOL! I don't know.

Unless you recommend otherwise, Sara - I think I will stick with one Maintenance goal of doing NROLFW 3x per week with an allowance of two weeks slack for this 12-week session.

Hope everyone is having a Healthgain week, take care, and I'll post again as soon as possible.

Happy Healthgain,
~Julie

Good luck to everyone doing the challenge again.

I have had some big rewards for losing weight set up for myself for some time, but I am not making much progress.  So, I have thought about rewarding myself for each and every hard fought loss of kilo instead of in stages of loss.  This is in hopes of motivating me to try harder.  I have 20 kilos to go to my goal weight, so I must be able to lose a little more consistently.

This is how it works.  At the first of the month I weigh myself.  At the end of the month, I weigh myself.  For every kilo lost, I give myself a reward. 

What do others reward themselves with?  I want to work up a list of things that motivate me to reach the goal.

Any ideas?

Hi Everyone!!!

12 WEEK GOAL-

New- Prepare at least 2 meals per day at home at least 4 days per week and log all food on Calorie Count to not exceed 1600 calories per day.

Maintenance- Exercise a minimum of 30 minutes at least 3x per week.

Personal mini goal- To weigh 145 by the end of the 12 weeks. I'm at 151ish now so hopefully I can accomplish this...

This week started off okay with going to the gym on monday for a forced workout on the elliptical and I took yesterday and today off from exercise which means I have 3 days left to get in at least 2 more workouts....I'll definitely get it done.

I went out to eat today for lunch with my boyfriend and his boss to a thai food place. I ordered the thai fried rice and only ate maybe 1/3 of the gigantic portion. I gave my leftovers to my boyfriend and I was very proud of myself. That means that I can only grab food on the go 1 more time this week. I hope this new goal works out well. The food I have stocked up on at home is fruits and vegetables and healthy snacks and meats, so hopefully I can get my diet on track and get a good consistent routine going here.

So, the scale hasn't budged for me which I should'nt be concerned about but I can't help it. I know I've lost some bulk in the midsection and I feel better but for some reason that number has a huuuuge hold over me....frustrated...but I'm just going to keep chugging along.

I hope everyone is having a great start to their new 12 week goal!!!

Jen

Hi everyone,

Here is my new goal for the 12 week challenge: I will exercise 3 times a week for a minimum of 30 minutes with an intensity level of 6 to 7. (See the exercise corner of cc for a description of intensity level: Perceived exertion scale). I will allow myself 3 weeks off, so I will grade myself on 9 weeks instead of 12. This will be my only goal on pass/fail.

I won't do a maintenance goal since my schedule is too full at this time.

I think the idea to set rewards is a great one. How about a bouquet of flowers, going to the movies, even a new exercise outfit. I will set some up for myself based on my success in this 12 week challenge. For every week I successfully complete, I will give myself a reward. I'll have to reflect on this, must not be too expensive, if I hit every week.

4 months already, thanks Sara for the reminder and for creating and maintaining Wagon Jumpers! This journey has been very surprising and I know that without WJ and the encouragement of all of you guys I would not have made the strides that I have. I have incorporated regular exercise into my life. I even find it fun. This is new for me. A first step in a healthgain journey.

Have a great week all!

Constanza, The Silver Star, Kyashiis, Julie and Germaica I will have your goals posted late tomorrow. 

Jen Your new goal looks like 3 new goals:

1. Prepare at least 2 meals per day at home at least 4 days per week.

2. Log all food on Calorie Count

3. Do not exceed 1,600 cal/day

Please pick one of the three to focus on as your new goal for this round (as always doesn't mean you can't try to achieve the others, but only put one on the judgement block of pass/fail for the two weeks.

Back Late Tomorrow

Sorry all it's one of those super crazy weeks (wasn't supposed to be), I will catch up with all my posting late tomorrow or on Friday. Keep a special watch out for those who haven't yet posted as my list will go up late on Thursday and maybe not until Friday.

Cheers,

Sara.

Kyashii -

My goals are simple things that I really want or need, but all cost less than $30 (except the shoes). My first goal was a tanning package, other goals include a new pair of casual tennis shoes, a manicure/pedicure, new purse etc.

I find it helps to make the goals things that I would usually not think twice about buying for myself, but now that I have to earn them - it makes me work much harder!

Thanks Sara- I got a little ahead of myself.

New Goal: Log ALL food on calorie count.

I'll make it a personal goal to cut back on the fast food, and I think that the logging will help me be conscious of what I am consuming. kyashiis and Meg- I love that you guys reward yourselves for acheiving your goals. I think it's something I'm going to think about doing...

Possible Rewards-

1. Get my hair done

2. Buy a new book

3. Day trip

4. New shoes

5. New item of clothing, etc.

This is going to be a great way to motivate me since I love presents....

THanKs GuYs!!!

Jen

Weekly Check-in:  Well, I did it!  First "interval" session was this evening and it was fabulous!  Just what I needed after a long boring day, and I met 4 new people in the community to boot!!!!  Gotta like that.

I feel like I am off to a good start, and looking forward to looking back on these next 12 weeks...and reporting something somewhat positive!!!!!

Have a great long and lovely Easter Weekend everyone!

Lee-Anne

Raven,

thanks for the cleanse information. I will definitely check it out.

On running and doing NROLFW -- I run 30mi/week and still was doing it 3X/week. I personally don't think the two are exclusive despite what the book says. I do believe you have to have proper nutrition to do both and that can be difficult.

I am now taking it easy on running as I have developed hip busitis and illioband syndrome but with easy running and stretching it will be fine.

Thanks.

TWO DAY REMINDER'S (ONE ACTUALLY

Sorry for the delay on this folks, life happens sometimes. Here is the list of people who have not yet checked in, watch for them to check in today, if they have not checked in by the end of the day please send them a polite and positive reminder to set goals and stay in the group.

Maureenz

Carryonandon

Jessicaanne2001

Missing In Action:

The_Vitamin_Dominatrix

This has been a crazy week for me. The really really good news for me is that I have my contract with my new job signed and sent in!!! Yay! This will be a big change for me. Essentially I am going from my completely unstructured fly by the seat of my pants job in a very entrepreneurial business association to working on Bay Street (Canada's Wall Street for the US folks). It's a 15 month contract, so it may be all I can take in the hyper-structured environment but I think the experience is unbeatable so I need to take it. Going into this environment is also going to make me more image conscious so I'll need to find a way to stay on top of my goals in a positive constructive way and not try to starve myself back down to 120 lbs resulting in more weight gain (because starving myself no longer works). 

Julie I think you definitely have the right idea of just staying on top of your maintenance while you get your life settled. To use a military analogy, in those circumstances holding onto what you have gained is a success. Wait for conditions to stabilize before you try to move your front. Extending too far is the key failure for many a campaign. Oh, and try not to invade Poland, it doesn't end well. 

Kayshaiis I often use small things that I know I'll do anyways, but delay them (delayed gratification) until I feel I have achieved them. Pedicures, manicures, and eyebrow waxing are at the top of that list. Also downloading itunes, getting a movie stuff like that.

Sorry for the not more personal replies. Thank you to everyone who put so much thought into their goals and this thread this week.

Cheers,

Sara.

*NOTE TO SELF: No Polish men in my future...

LOL!

Happy Easter, Everyone! I hope you and yours have a beautiful holiday.

Keep it Healthgain,
~Julie

Hi again folks!  

This is a quick one to say that I was so inspired by the folks who had success in the last round (esp. Julie!)  That I made my own, very much simpler, spreadsheet to log my calorie intake and keep track of my average sincethat's my goal for the new round.  I put in this week's info to get things up and running, and I'm feeling super-motivated already!  It's a fantastic and instant way to see progress, even if it's only progress in keeping on track.  Hooray!  I may post it on the google docs site when it's got more info, if I feel brave enough  Happy friday, all!

Hi everyone! 

Sorry I was MIA last week.  I moved to another state and it took forever to get the internet situated. 

I'm standing and walking much more with my new job, which is a good thing, but I REALLY need to find a place to work out.  I could join the 24 hour gym that my new roommate uses, but I'm considering checking out the mixed martial arts dojo in town instead.  They have cardio classes as well as martial arts classes.

As for my goals:

Maintenance goal - I will continue to eat 1400-1500 calories daily with a ratio of 15% fat, 25% protein, 60% carbohydrates.

New goal - Gym or no gym, I will workout 3 to 4 times a week.

THIS THREAD IS CLOSED, PLEASE POST ON OUR NEW WEEKLY THREAD:

Wagon Jumpers - April 12 - 18th, 2009