Wagon Jumpers - August 17 - 23rd, 2008 (Closed, Waiting List Available)
Welcome
(Sorry we're closed to new members until the group is less than 30 members)
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.
Each member on this thread (listed below) has agreed to check into the thread at least once per week. If any member does not check in by the end of the week, we ask all members to politely and positively PM that member and encourage them to make a post and stay on track (or get back on track).
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).
Why is the participation capped?
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.
Over the first few weeks we experimented with an "open to all" concept and found that the thread became too long and confusing and as a result no one got to know each other and it became too much work for many members.
With a mid sized group (30) I am hoping to maintain the community and supportive goals of the original thread, and have enough people that if we are not all daily posters (as the only requirement is a weekly post) that the thread is still motivational and has new content day to day.
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.
Still interested? Send Supersized a PM.
Wagon Jumpers Participants
Week 15 Riders:
Supersized (myself)
Karenie - Traveling to September 16th, 2008
FantasyFlight - Away until September 1st, 2008
Week 14 Riders:
Jane3001 - Traveling to Aug 30th, 2008
Week 13 Riders:
Week 12 Riders - Congratulations on 3 Months!:
Week 11 Riders:
Week 10 Riders
Week 9 Riders:
Week 8 Riders - Congratulations on 2 Months!:
Week 6 Riders:
momof2funykds - Away until August 22nd, 2008
New:
Missing In Action
Missing In Action - 1 Week:
Missing In Action - 2 Weeks:
Current Membership: 28
Current Waiting List: 7
Outstanding Wait List Invites: 2
12 WEEK CONSISTENCY GOALS
(as set w/o July 27th, 2008)
By October 19th, I will be...
2/3 of the way through phase II of my plan. That is have 4 weeks left until I can say that I have been eating at 1500 cal & exercising 4x/week at 2hrs/day for 12 consecutive weeks.
Drinking 100oz fluid daily, at least 3 trips a week to the gym and 2 trips will include strength training!
Running 3 times a week consistently. I will also be drinking 4 500ml bottles of water every day in 12 weeks.
Doing 30+ minutes of cardio 3-4x a week and weights 2-3x and not hating it or ending up sore every single day. I'm also going to try to be drinking 64-100oz of water or crystal light daily. Last but not least, I'm going to save up for a new pair of workout shoes and some new comfy exercise socks, which I will hopefully be using by then.
20 weeks pregnant, so hopefully I'll be feeling a lot better. My goals by then are to be eating the whole 2300 I need per day, and taking a 30 minute walk at least 3 times a week.
Or be on course to meet each of my monthly biking goals (August 240 miles, September 350 miles, and October 280 miles), and I will have done the 60 mile course of the NYC MS Bike Tour on 10/5/08, despite the nasty 2 mile hill that's right in the middle of the course!
Getting my 64 ounces of water/non-caloric drink in everyday, will do my cardio exercise 2x/wk (M, W) and my pilates 2x/wk (F, Sun).
Sure I make time to take my walk.
Going to the gym for 1 1/2 hours 5x per week. Cardio for 45 min and strength training for 45 min.
I plan to have made going to the gym 3 times a week a habit.
Sticking with this thread, maintain a regular 3-4 times/week workout schedule, and eat at least one serving of raw veggies with my dinner every night.
Have eating at McD's in the mornings for breakfast down to a maximum of 1 time a week. I also will have kept my eating out at lunches down to 1 time per week.
Posting on wagon jumpers at least 10/12 weeks. In 12 weeks I will be eating 1400-1500 cal/day and I will have successfully done this for at least 9 weeks of the 12.
I will be working out 3 evenings a week.
Working out 5 days a week.
Journaling my food intake daily and drinking a quart of water a day.
I will update my logs accurately and consistently, and exercise regularly; cardio 3x/week and strength training 3x/week
Working out 5x week. These exercise will include biking, running, dance lessons, weights, etc. I will be eating 24 grams of fiber consistent 1500-2000.
Previous Threads:
Wagon Jumpers August 10 - 16th, 2008
Wagon Jumpers August 2 - 9th, 2008
Wagon Jumpers July 27 - August 2nd, 2008
Wagon Jumpers July 20 - 26th, 2008
Wagon Jumpers July 6 - July 21st, 2008 (another, two week special!)
Wagon Jumpers June 22 - July 5th, 2008 (two week special!)
Wagon Jumpers June 15-21, 2008
Wagon Jumpers May 25 - 31, 2008
Wagon Jumpers May 18 - 24, 2008
Wagon Jumpers Week 1 (May 4 - 10)
Wagon Jumpers - Anyone Need a Lift? (initial thread)
As always all members are encouraged to tag this thread so that it is easy to find.
This Week's Topic
A number of us have mentioned needing to prepare more foods at home, and not rely on store purchases as much. So this week's topic is:
Enter a recipe into CC's recipe tool and post the link to the recipe on this forum
GOAL UPDATE
For everyone who set 12-week goals on the week of July 27th, 2008 we are now 1/4 of the way through to our goal end date. How are you doing? Are you on track? If so, what are you going to do to keep yourself motivated for the next 9 weeks? If not, can you get back on track in the next 9 weeks? How so?
Weekly Check In
I got back on track this week and made a very good start to phase II of my plan. I kept my life balance goals in reasonable check making progress on my bookkeeping and on my career goals and went all out on my health goals. I'm finding 1500 calories a bit challenging. Mainly I need to bring some more fruit and snacks into the house. Most days I ate around 1200-1300 and left the remaining 200 calories because I didn't have any small calorie snacks. That did help with being able to have a bit more food on the weekends when I eat with my partner.
There's really not too much more to say than that, week 1 of 12 - complete. Well done.
This Week's Topic
Japanese Soba Noodles (vegan) so very very tasty and fairly low cal as main dishes go. It's a buckwheat noodle with a ginger soy sauce. Really easy to make. The trick with Soba noodles is to cook them, then rinse them off about 4 times so that all of the starch comes off the noodles and they are not sticky.
Goal Update
My goal is to be entering week 8 of phase II of my plan on the week of October 19th, I am on track so far. I have a few margins of error built into this goal. So long as I don't give up too many weeks, I think I should be able to meet this target in 9 weeks.
Caribbean Jerk Chicken Skewer
http://caloriecount.about.com/recipe/138433.h tml
This is my recipe - its one of my favorite ways to fix chicken and its not too high in calories.
Goal Update:
I've been doing pretty well with getting myself to the gym at least 3x a week, I've gotten my fluids up to 64oz a day. I have been eating really well, however i derailed a bit this morning and i had a birthday dinner to attend last night (at a buffet... grr) but i'm going to recover from that... I can have a good week this week and everything will be back to normal!
I was feeling a bit sick last night so I let myself sleep this morning. It won't throw my plans off too much I can still go to the gym this afternoon. I started yesterday well, I went to the gym for the first time on a Sunday morning and then the farmers market, lots of tasty local organic food. I also stayed reasonably on cal (1537) yesterday. Sunday is typically my worst day, and I stayed on cal despite having a snack buffet at the bookclub and having planned for a higher cal dinner I found myself too full to eat most of dinner which helped keep the calories down.
Anyways, wakie, wakie wagon jumpers!
:) So I haven't been doing that well but not that awful either this past week. However I know what part of the problem is, no groceries in the house = eating out and making bad choices (mostly because in my home town there are very few good choices available when eating out). So I started this morning with a bang, I did my 5K walk with Dexter this morning and I had yogourt for breakfast (resisted the fresh chocolate chip muffins and cinnamon rolls in the cafeteria, man that was hard). For lunch I plan on eating a salad or soup, or maybe both since I didn't have a lot for breakfast. And this evening before I head home I'm stocking up on groceries, I already have my list. And there's a bonus, my husband has decided he wants to drop a few pounds so he's asked that I bring more fruit in the house to satisfy his sweet tooth as well as mine (we both LOVE chocolate). I also bought the Wii Fit this weekend, can't wait to try it out. I know it's not the only form of exercise I should be doing (and it won't be) but it's definitely better than just sitting in front of the TV. (and since I had gift certificates it cost me like 1/2 the regular price!).
Well 1 bottle of water down and 3 more to go today. AND I'm going to try and get my 1st run in today. Thanks for the reminder Supersized, I have 9 weeks left to get my butt in gear and make my 3 runs each week. I'm going to try and focus on each week instead of thinking about the big picture, gets to overwhelming and I'm too forgiving of myself.
Just a check in! I've been keeping the calories down since I'm just laying around trying to get this pain under control. Tonight my leg is hurting to the point I can't lift it up to get it on the bed. I have to lift my leg with my hands. It hurts bad! :( I've been taking my pills for my nerve pain in my leg, and it feels like I'm not.
I'm just waiting to see how long this lasts. I hope it's not long!
I took a short walk today. I walked really slow so it didn't burn much calories. But it was nice to get out!
Hi, all,
I have MANY recipes posted to the CC Recipe section. In fact, I'm making this tonight with a green salad:
This isn't the healthiest of recipies (CC grade = B), or lowest calorie (522??) but its sooo good. I just have to make sure that I exercise enough on days when I have it...
If you do a search for "Dr. Gourmet" in the recipes section, you'll find a lot of the recipes I've used. I also try to indicate what else to serve with the recipe (if its not a one-pot dish)--for example, the Mango Salsa is great with the Jerk Shrimp; the Pork Chop with Sage-Tarragon Butter is excellent with the Roasted Potatoes and Green Beans with Red Onion (those 3 combined remind of what a "family dinner" should be--I feel like June Cleaver making them all...); etc., etc.
As a recipe source, drgourmet.com is probably one of my favorite sites these days. His stuff isn't necessarily low-cal or AMAZINGLY healthy, but its usually pretty simple, delicious, and to me it doesn't require heroic efforts to keep track of.
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Re: Goals
I'm on track! I ridden 198 miles so far this month, vs. my goal of 240.
My biking motivation over the next few weeks will be hills--can I do them? I've avoided the Watchung Reservation like the plague this summer--its a set of hills smack dab in the north-center part of NJ that is about 5 miles from my house. There's a 1.12 mile, 7% incline to get up to the top, and in the past I've failed miserably in my ability to get up it. To give you some perspective, I quote from a guy on bikejournal.com's forums:
0%-1% = it kinda goes up.
2%-3% = it goes up
4%-5% = it really goes up
6%-7% = wow! it really goes up
8%+ = it is like climbing a wallthe maximum incline for a highway on-ramp is 6%; the maximum incline for a rail line is 3%
Well, on Saturday not only did I get up the 7% hill, BUT I then proceeded to do another 15 miles in the rolling hills that are further west. I did this as a test run to an office building where I hope to get a job offer. I would love to commute by bike 2-3 times a week (there's a gym in the building, so I'd be able to shower once I got to work). And, wow, I'd be in the best shape from doing that!
I was passed by 3 different bike clubs (15+ riders) while on this ride. They must have been averaging 20 mph + through the hills. It took me 2.5 hours of riding to complete 39 miles (coming down the hill was amazingly fun, and going on flats after the hills was a piece of cake!!).
Yesterday my husband and I got up at 5:30am to do the hill again--15 mile ride, up and down the hill, in an hour. He had to wait for me for a few minutes at the top of the hill, but I just stuck the bike in my granny gear (the lowest of the low) and chugged along until I did it.
Whew, a lot of typing here!
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Momof2funykids, hope you're feeling better soon! :(
I've made it to the gym Sunday through to this morning, which feels amazing that I will be done my weekly gym requirement tomorrow, half way through the week. I won't be able to go to the gym this Sunday, we have a convention we're planning to go to Fri - Sun, and I've signed my dogs up for camp so next week Monday will be an afternoon. In other words I'll be away from the gym for awhile unless I can find some time during the convention to go, but that is not likely. The trick will be getting back next week. I'm doing well on my calories, I'll need to watch what I eat at the convention on Friday and Saturday (and Sunday) to not blow the calories out.
Raven Let us know how that Wii Fit goes, I've been thinking about trying it out.
momof2funykds Take care of yourself, and I hope you are feeling better soon
DeFrog3 Your cycling continues to amaze me. I used to commute to work by bike about 5 years ago now. It was about 44k each way and there was a huge hill on the way just at the end. The way back was much more fun. I miss being in that good of shape, but we're slowly getting back there.
I've been eating quite a bit over the past few days.
I need to get myself to follow my planned meals today and hopefully stay on track for the rest of the week.
I was going to go to the gym everyday after work this week, however i have chosen to go to one of our concerts in the park tonight - the band is amazing and I've never gotten to see them.
I've been setting goals for myself daily and trying to reach them - yesterday though my snacking was just a little out of control. I ended up eating maintenance level, but i did get in a 2.5 mi run outside - which was great.
Thats all i've got for now! Have a great day.
Great topic! I'm always looking for new recipes that are healthy as well as fairly easy and quick to throw together after work during the week.
Here's my recipe: Chicken Cacciatore It's a recipe that I made for the first time last week when my bf and I went to dinner at his parents' house, and he mentioned last minute that I was the one cooking the meal! In the past, I have succombed to making less healthy meals when I have company because I don't want to force anyone else to make healthy choices, but then I realized how ridiculous that is. Don't I want the people I care about to be healthy?? So I chose a healthy new recipe that I had been planning on making that week anyway, and everyone loved it! I received compliments from everyone at the table, and no one missed the extra calories or fat. Yay! Plus, it's a super easy recipe to make, and the prep time is only about 15 minutes.
I did pretty well last week. I cooked most nights during the week, so I was proud of that, and I plan to cook a lot this week too. I am super excited because I found out that there is a much newer, nicer gym near my bf's house than the one I've been using (which was a total dump with machines that should have been replaced about 20 years ago). Hoorah!
...Bad food day today. Pizza for lunch, Risotto for dinner...
Uuuugh...
Need to make better choices tomorrow.
MsMeg How was the concert? What band did you see?
Healthfirst I find healthy is often a great way to go. I do double trouble by usually cooking vegan, but if it's tasty and healthy I find guests are doubly impressed.
Defrog3 How goes today? Better?
Yesterday a new friend invited me to dinner at BenniHanna, one of Toronto's big name Sushi restaurants. I couldn't pass up the opportunity. Fortunately I knew far enough in advance to manage my calories and stayed under. The food was excellent.
I went to the gym this morning rounding out my fitness for the week. Our big geeky convention is in town this weekend so the trick is not to crash all my calories for Fri/Sat.
Supersized - is the convention a comic convention? I think my brother said something about it this weekend and he lives in TO. I really want to try sushi, real sushi sometime but my husband is allergic to seafood (not fish though, just shellfish) so I'm a little nervous taking him to a sushi place.
Healthfirst - I totally agree with supersized. Once I decided that health was more important than "looking good in those jeans" things are easier to commit to.
So far this week has been really good. I'm eating well, cooking at home and working out. I haven't been jogging but I think I might adjust my goals since it just doesn't seem to be something I'm motivated to do and I'm still exercising in other methods so running might wait until the fall (or until our gym is done here at work).
I haven't eaten anything yet today. Bad choice. I had a dr.'s appt to have blood drawn so I needed to fast. (Hopefully cholesterol will be back to a normal level!)
Then immediately after I went to the gym, and I now want to get a quickie bike ride in, but I'm hungry now, so I think I'll eat first.
Going to my mother-in-law's tonight for dinner (she usually makes some kind of salad thing), networking/business meeting afterward (no food will be present, thankfully).
There's a local band that I like a lot that I'd love to go see tonight--the benjamins (check out their song "17 March" on iTunes--I like it for working out)--but I don't know...
Healthfirst, your recipie looks yummy!
Supersized, good work at being good at BenniHanna's--there's one by me, and I find it hard to be good there. Re: biking, its a matter of consistency, I think--gotta' stay on the bike!
OK, now for food...
Check-in - I have been meeting my goals and doing well. I added forum postings into my calendar so i make sure i do it, i have been logging all my food and staying at my target. It has definately helped since I went grocery shopping and stocked up on some good items.
Weekly Check in
This is my first week back at home after my six week study trip. I was glad that even though I slacked on eating healthy a bit, my body was able to compensate that by the ginormous amount of physical activities we did in the trip.
LW:229 (mid-july?)
CW: 222
I'm now eating healthy, under my calorie limits because I'm not doing the same amount of exercise.
This Week's Topic
I know it's not that original, but it's a must on my weekend's breakfasts because I like sweets!
The concert was fun! Its a local band called the Well Hungarians www.wellhungarians.net - i think they also have a myspace.
They are quite good!
I didn't feel bad about skipping the gym yesterday, i got right back into it today and got a good run in outside with a friend - in the rain!!!
I've done really well with keeping away from the unplanned snacks for the most part, but now i am starving and my bf isn't home yet to eat dinner - i think i'm going to have to eat without him!
I don't have any good recipes. Sorry.
I have been eating within my calorie range and been overshooting the fiber a bit. I have been exercising. In fact I am part of the exercise challenge and will meet my goal. The scale has been going down which is always good. I am doing all this slowly. As of now I am rewarding myself with watching season 2 of my fav tv show. I'll be adding more rewards. I am basically on track and hopefully come 9/8 I'll be training for my 5k. I don't know which one yet. I am part of a group so hopefully I'll see one to join.
Supersized good job with getting everything back in balance.
Msmeg it is okay if you derailed. I understand about going out with people. One of my coworkers took me out lunch and I brought my own food with me. It was surprising. Good job with upping the water. I know how hard that can be. glad you enjoyed the concert.
raven I understand no groceries making bad choices which is why I plan market time monthly. That has messed me up a lot in the past. Yay for will power. Hope your have fun with the Wii and its cool that your hubby is getting on board.
momof2 I hope the pain goes away soon. Be careful with the walking.
defrog good job with being on track. Yay getting over the hill.
healthfirst cooking is always fun when you have time to do it. Ooo new gym.
thin27 good job.
Update on my leg and back pain - It is subsiding a bit tonight. It hasn't been that hard to get up the stairs. so hopefully, it is going away now. I sure hope so! I want to walk. I NEED to walk!!!! Plus it gives me some "me" time to think. I went to my dr appt today and the PA said that when a person has a flare up, it's good to get a steroid injection. I haven't hadgood experiences with those. I wind up in bed for 2 weeks unable to do anything but lay in bed and sleep. For some reason it increases the pain. They say it's normal to have increased pain for the first few days until it gets absorbs into your body. But I think my body doesn't want it!
Good news....Lost another pound. Down to 172 today. Hope it stays gone. Ya know how on one day you're down and the next you're right back up again. lol But that's the first time in 11 yrs I've seen 172 on the scale. Noticed my jeans today are getting bigger on me. I Like that.....alot! :D
well, be back tomorrow! :)
Update on the Wii Fit. I love it. It's definitely not as intense (yet) as many of the boot camp classes etc that I have been to but there are definitely some really good exercises. 1 thing I don't like is that it is all done in your barefeet. This is great for Yoga and the Balance Exercises, but for some of the aerobic and the strength training I find that having sneakers would help, especially since I have problems with my arches and find them cramping if I don't wear sneakers. I did 50 minutes on the Wii last night and of course my 50 minute power walk with the dog in the morning. Overall very good day. One other feature I really like about the Wii fit is that it is also a scale and measures your BMI. Now I know that BMI isn't the best or at least should not be used as the sole factor in determining if you're at a healthy weight or not but it's nice to have this information automatically calculated for you. I have entered weightloss totals into a forum (cc etc) before but haven't it done for you seems more motivating for some reason. I'll keep you posted on the progress but so far I'm down 1.3 pounds and hubby is down 2.2!
momof2funykds - congrats on losing a pound! great job! Hopefully the pain subsides enough that you don't need the steroid injection, that doesn't sound like any fun and not really any help either.
tiegurl - you pick great rewards, thanks for the ideas. I really like the idea of any other than food/sweets as a reward. Let me know how the 5K training goes, I'm hoping to start that sometime in the next few months.
msmeg - I have that same problem with my husband when he works later than me. I have to keep out of the kitchen so I don't snack on crackers, granola bars etc before supper.
Keep up the great work everyone!
So you can log your weight -- which allows you to do the following:
- Plot your weight curve
- Analyze the trend of your weight (see under Recent in the figure above)
- Determine the projected target date (see under Overall in the figure above)