Wagon Jumpers - August 24 - 30th, 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 16 Riders - Congratulations on 4 months!:
Supersized (myself)
Karenie - Traveling to September 16th, 2008
FantasyFlight - Away until September 1st, 2008
Week 15 Riders:
Jane3001 - Traveling to Aug 30th, 2008
Week 14 Riders:
Week 13 Riders:
Week 12 Riders - Congratulations on 3 Months!:
Week 10 Riders:
Week 9 Riders:
Week 7 Riders:
Week 1 Riders:
New:
Missing In Action
Missing In Action - 1 Week:
Missing In Action - 2 Weeks:
Current Membership: 29
Current Waiting List: 5
Outstanding Wait List Invites: 1
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.
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 17 - 23rd, 2008
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
TBD
Sorry folks, I'm at a convention all weekend, I know we have at least one more member (likely 2 more on the way) to welcome, and I'm thinking up a weekly topic and my own update. I will be back at it full steam later tonight or Monday. Off to geek-out. Hope you are all having a great weekend so far.
Sara.
Yikes! I became MIA...sorry about that. I was out of town for work and was sans internet...which is a form of detox within itself. I must admit that while away I fell off the wagon and then allowed the wagon to run over me a few times. A resort dining room with unlimited new dishes for three meals a day is a test I dare not take again. I did manage to eat a huge spinach salad before my meals and stick with fresh fruit at breakfast time, but the dessert buffet won out more than once in its beckoning.
I feel about 50 percent guilty because there was much physical activity to partake of...walking the grounds and wooded trails was something I did daily and I even did some rowing, but the food was still a bit much.
I am determined to get back to "real" life this week and push toward my goals!
Argh, missed my weekly biking goal this week. I need to make sure I get my butt up and out in the mornings, no more of this, "I'll ride in the afternoon stuff..."
I'm still above my milage goal for the month and YTD, so I'm justifying it that I overdid it in previous weeks and I needed a break. yeah, that's it...
Hi everyone!
Thanks supersized for the invitation to join the group!
For info, this was my message to supersized when I asked to join the group:
"I would be grateful to be put on the waiting list to join the wagon jumpers! The title fits me exactly! Lose some weight, feel pleased, relax, put it on again - and then some! Feel sad at having let myself down, feel that nobody else understands what it is like, eat a bit extra to make myself feel better - you know how it goes...!
I am a loyal type and once in a group I am in for the duration, and would post regularly for support and to give support where needed!"
I have a lot of reading to do of the posts on the thread, which I will try to do fairly soon to get to know you all. Meantime, I am very glad to be here. The invitation has been timely for me, I am just back on the wagon again after three wasted weeks ( why do I do this...?). This last few days I have been walking more and have got my daily average steps up to over 10,500 again.
Looking forward to getting to know you all!
I'm glad we have this thread and the accountability emails. It seems my "pattern" is one of doing well and staying focused (on the wagon) for about two to three weeks at a time. Then, something (exercise, food, posting) always seems to get off track. Without this thread and the nifty emails you all send, I might never recover from these "slips," but so far I've gotten back on the wagon each time with these reality checks. So, THANKS!
Last week was crazy busy. I'm hoping this one will be better. It is my first week back teaching full time! :) I'm excited about it and the new students, but already missing the summer schedule of getting up late and reading, gardening, cooking, working out, etc. <sigh>
I hope everyone is having a good weekend and has done well with their goals! :D
Super, enjoy your conference, and we'll figure out something to set as a topic. Don't worry! :)
I was MIA too, sorry for that - my fault and i hope i will be back no normal this week and the following ones. Too much work AND too much food was what i did and ate, and i am not happy with the number on my scale BUT determined to return to my healthy habits!
Hi Everyone. And welcome to letsgetitstarted and Kyashiis!
Well good news is I had a great time at my 10 year reunion, bad news is I ate entirely too much and drank too much (still feeling the effects today). I started today out well though, had my special K for breakfast and I walked the dog for 2KM this morning (was a little slow getting out of bed so didn't have time for the 5K walk). This evening I'll do some Wii Fit and maybe take the dog for another walk. The one good thing is I did do some walking this weekend and danced my butt off Saturday night so maybe that countered some of the bad eating/drinking.
As I have been encouraged by others, that is in the past now, look to the future and take it 1 day (or even 1 hour) at a time :)
OK, I'm back....actually we got back into town last week, but I didn't post - sorry :(
The day we hit BC I got sick, really dry cough, like asthma or maybe allergies. It has just wiped me out.
So after a GREAT five week holiday, with lot's of fun, relaxation, etc., work is crazy busy and I'm not feeling well. Excuses, excuses, but that's why I haven't posted.
I left the wagon back in BC when we went on our RV trip to Ontario, but have jumped back on, albeit, I'm kind of over the edge and hanging on. I am trying to keep my calorie intake to a reasonable level, but I am so beat, I haven't been tracking and from experience, I know that I go waaaaaaay over when I don't keep track. I've been craving fruit, and I know that too many grapes and cherries can't be good - bit it beats ice cream.
On a positive note, I started with a trainer, with a group of friends, when we got back in to town. We are going twice a week, tonight is the third time. The first time we did lower body and I couldn't walk without feelin it until Friday. Wednesday we did upper body and core. I don't think I really worked the upper body properly, as I didn't really feel it afterwards, but man, my abs are still killing me.
So, my twelve week goals:
- log calories
- check in with Wagon Jumpers at least once per week (it keeps me on track - thanks for the PMs)
- work out with trainer twice per week
- add another strength training session (45 minutes minimum) on my own
- do at least three cardio session on my own each week (also at least 45 minutes minimum)
- stop weighing myself every day!
Hope you have a fun conference supersized. Welcome to Kyashiis and letsgetitstarted.
I've got to try that Wii Fit, I've heard so many good thinks. Does any one here do DDR? I've heard it's lot's of fun too. I'm currently using Turbojam and it was quite effective. Before I left on vacation, I was doing 45-50 min in the a.m. and then again in the p.m. and I had great results with lost inches, no weight loss though. However...I did manage to put some of it back on while indulging for five weeks. I wish I could keep on track when not on my regular schedule.
Hang in there everyone!
Cheers, Tammie
Supersized I hope you are enjoying the convention. It's okay, we can do without a weekly topic.
Wenchie we all have been run over by the wagon a few times. You still did physical activity which definitely counts for a lot. Good luck with your goals.
Defrog you are really working it out on the bike. You def. deserve a break. You are going to be motivation when I get my bike in a few weeks. I should have been had but needed to pay off things for school.
Letsgetitstarted welcome to the group. Glad to have you aboard.
Writestuff I hope this will be a good school year.
Raven 21 glad you had a great time at the reunion.
Rwbsmom here a hand lets pull you back up here. Can you keep updated on your trainer? I have been thinking about one. Do you thYou have a really good plan.ink they are worth it? Good job getting back into exercise.
I did good last week even though I indulged a little. Saturday I exercised and stayed within my calorie goals. Sunday I ate maintenance. I finally earned my first 10 dollars. Well its not my first. I had ten before then lost it because I spent it and gained the weight back and then some. I am excited about getting 10 dollars back for my shopping spree. I didn't reward myself although I reached my goal for last week. This week if I make my calories and exercise goal I will rent a foreign film. I am still going to do last week's reward when I get a chance. I am also trying to figure what I am going to do while at the amusement park all day on Saturday. I don't think there is much healthy stuff at the park. I'll figure that out by Sat.
Welcome Kyashiis.
Hellow fellow Wagon Jumpers! I was sooo excited to get the email invitation to join the group after being on the wait list. I've been following the threads for about a month now and I'm glad to be able to participate.
A little about me --- my name is Susan and I'm 38. I am an emotional eater and a boredom eater. Having accountability to others and myself via this list will help identify when those bad habits kick in.
I've been really trying to concentrate on healthy eating for a good 6 weeks now. I just returned from a 5 day vacation and I wouldn't even say I fell off the wagon so much as I would say I may have "rested" from the wagon..... We went to the Outer Banks of NC and the first evening was easy --- broiled seafood and veggies. No problems the whole time I was there... I did have a wrap for lunch one or two days and "splurged" by having mustard and mayo instead of just mustard, also at hubby's spaghetti one night which had sausage in it, so I reduced my serving size.......... believe me, next time I'll stick with the marinara and larger size......grease is NOT worth it when you've been eliminating it from your diet for 6 weeks prior.
I'm on the Couch to 5k training program and LOVING it. Who'd have thunk it? Me--a runner???!!!! Never would I have put those two in the same sentence. I did my running while in OBX and even felt good enough to work in other sessions of cardio. I'm on week 5 this week.... tonite I'm looking at a 5 min run, 3 min walk and repeating for a total of 3 times...... Seems easy enough, I've been doing 5 minute runs.................BUT next run is a 8 min run, 5 min walk, 8 min run............8 MINUTES? Sounds LOOONNNNNGGGGGG....
But I belong to the Couch to 5K forum also and there are people there who have done it and say they thought the same............. so I know I can!
I've rambled long enough! Great to finally "meet" everyone....can't wait to be an active participant.
I wanted to post the last 2 answers;
12 week goals -
Couch to 5K training - 3+ days per week
Strength Training - 3+ days per week
Expresso Bike - 3+ days a week
Monthly weigh-in only
And for a recipe: ( I hope the link works)
http://caloriecount.about.com/recipe/125853.h tml
This is a FABULOUS make ahead breakfast sandwich if you like the Egg Muffin sandwich at the "Golden Arches".....
I have a microwave poacher for the eggs, the Canadian bacon microwaves in 45 seconds and I like to toast my English Muffins before assembling.....I cook about 6 and wrap in Press-n-Seal....refrigerate. I pick one out and take it with me to work. Pop in microwave for 1 minute. Unwrap and viola! My husband has taken a liking to them also so usually the 6 will last us a week between the two of us... I alternate other days as to not overload on the cholesterol from the eggs.... which would be easily fixed by using Egg Beaters.
Welcome to all the newbies!
My update for the week - I'm on week 3 of Couch to 5k, doing very well with that.
Dinner is in the oven right now and if I succeed with not snacking before dinner, i will have my first deficit day in the past week (ttom - im crazy hungry!)
I managed to have a decent strength session today - i still didn't make it into the free weight area, but i'm working my courage up. maybe later this week when its not so packed...
I am trying hard to be good for my last few days - i weigh in for the first time in a month on saturday! I hope its a good outcome :)
Off to finish making dinner - have a great night!
Just realized I forgot to close off last week's thread so I'm bumping this one back to the top.
New Members Well it took us almost 2 months to work our way from 50 participants that were having trouble knowing each other to a group of 30 that I think is pulling pretty well together and then into our waiting list. It's always a bit sad to open the waiting list in a sense as it means that we have lost members. However, I think it is overall a happy thing and will make the group stronger as it welcomes in new perspectives and new motivation.
A big welcome to:
Kayshiis
Letsgetitstarted
Sjenn23231
For the new members (and old) just so you don't get too overwhelmed you will notice that some of us post almost daily or every other day and often respond to everyone who has posted. Feel free to do this if it is motivating for you, but it is not a requirement of the group. All you need to do is post once between Sunday and Friday. I like it if you post before Thursday because then I don't give you a two day reminder. The second part is to check who did not post during the week and send them a polite and positive e-mail encouraging them to stay on track and keep in the group.
If you have any questions please feel free to ask me or any of the rest of the group.
My apologies for not being as available this week, I'm pulling it back together after my conference.
Cheers,
Sara.
Wenchie I agree a week away is valuable in many ways, always feel free to send me a message if you will be away for a bit and I'll make sure not to send you reminders or MIA's until we know you are back. Good job on getting in the physical activity.
Defrog Sorry about the biking goal miss this week, I'm not doing so well either. We'll pull together for next week.
Letsgetitstarted I think all of us are familiar with the yo-yo diet, or the try anything diet. It's not that any of us don't know how to loose weight in a healthy way... we just... slip.... slide... get lazy.... get distracted..... and then.... back to square one (at best). So you are in good company. This forum has helped me a HUGE amount if not to always stay on the wagon then to get back on faster. I'm working to overcome this all or nothing mentality, but at least now when I fall I'm back to it in days or at worst a week. Welcome to the group. Very glad to have you with us.
Writestuff I think I'm going to do a back to school/work topic next week, we have lost a lot of members in the last week (as expected) as we get back into our heavier "regular" routines. I know what you mean about having a pattern of getting off track, I think I'm a 6-8 week person somewhere in there I dive. I really stayed motivated towards the end of my first phase, and now I need to find my motivation for this second phase.
Ka2007 Come on! You can do it! Hang in there!
Raven You, me and DeFrog need to get it in gear for next week. Good job on the Special K and the 2KM, I think I'm still hung over from the conference, it may go away if I stop drinking today.
Rwbsmom Welcome back! Did you take an RV from BC to Ontario? Wow! Something I've never done, I think my parents went Ontario to Saskatchewan when I was really young. Seems none of us do well with vacations and change ups to our daily lives + diet. I won't be updating goals until October 19th, but feel free to link back to this thread and keep us updated when I post check-in topics.
Tiegurl Yeah, I think it's late in the week to choose a topic, back to it next week. I agree with someone who mentioned it earlier you have the best ideas for rewards!
Sjenn You are my hero, controlled eating while on vacation, I always fail at that. I've been thinking of adding the couch to 5K after I finish my 3 phase plan (currently on phase II), do you do it indoors or out? My main hesitation is that I would like to do it outdoors, but, I'm scared of running in the winter on the ice.
MsMeg I can't believe it's been a month already. My fingers are crossed for you.
I'm a new Wagon Jumper, and the day I had today was one of those days to make me want to give up. Just about everything that could go wrong at work did... (ssccreeaammm) I really don't feel this way very often.
So, I'm now thinking about how to get through the remainder of the evening (now after 9:30) to salvage my day. Dinner: leftover soba noodles with leftover spaghetti sauce, cottage cheese with peanut butter, Slenda and cinnamon ,,, and that brings to my cal. limit today.
I got my main exercise done in the morning fortunately. So, if I can just make it to bed time, I'll gut through this day.
In regards to replying by Thursday, I should be OK, but there is a time difference of one day from the USA to Japan. We are ahead... not sure how that will work.
I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Kathy. I've lived in Japan for about 23 years. (Got myself married and a ready-made Japanese family of two little Japanese kids -- to add to my single-parenthood two daughters.) So, now we are one happy family living on two continents. I am now 57 and getting younger all the time (no kidding). We have four grown children and seven grandchildren. I have an English school, and I teach English as well as giving seminars, translating, and speaking from time to time.
I have lots of hobbies, and the one that gives me the most satisfaction currently is hiking and guiding in the World Heritage site of the Kumano Kodo ancient pilgrimage route. Partly as a result of hiking (as overweight as I am), I have gotten much more fit than four years ago when I started.
Like another new member, SJenn, I am doing the couch potato to 5K training program, and it is truly incredible. I am jogging 8 minutes at a time with a 3 minute walk break in between jogging. A couple of days ago, I managed to jog for 30 minutes out of 60 minutes. The first time I jogged in 1-minute segments, it was quite a stretch for me... I used to jog when I lived in the States in Eugene, Oregon which is famous for training world class athletes. (but that's another story) Suffice to say, all the tools on CC+ and the feedback and encouragement from other members have gotten me to this point. THANK YOU SOOO MUCH
Sorry to be rambling...
.....12 WEEK GOALS.....
show minus 6 kilos (2 kilos loss per month) (13 lbs)
run 25 minutes straight without resting/walking
maintain a 600 calorie deficit per day
Update my Kumano Kodo blog once a week (can't let everything slide
just because I am changing my lifestyle)
wear size-12 jeans with no stretchy parts
weigh-in once a month on 23rd of month
get minimum of 2 -3 people complimenting me on how nice I am looking
a week by the end of the 12-week period
This sounds a little ambitious to me, but if I can pull off 60%, I'll treat myself to something nice to be decided at a later date.
I can't believe a month has gone by already either!
I am trying very hard to be good this week - I planned my meals out for today, and hopefully I can stick to it like I did yesterday. The hardest part for me is to wait for the right times to eat my snacks. Many times I will get bored and eat my snack early and then when it comes to my normal time to eat the snack - i get hungry and eat something else...
No more eating when not hungry... thats something I need to really get better at.
Thanks for the kudos Supersized! I think the key to the controlled eating on vacation was more allowing myself to broaden the caloric intake I have been watching so instead of 1500 cal. per day, if I ate 1900-2000 in my mind, I still succeeded because I had preplanned to exceed the 1500..... I found out last night though, I didn't do so well on hydrating. When I went to do my C25K run, I got Charley horses in both calves.....typical sign of dehydrated muscles. I was only able to do 1/2 the program. So tonite I'll repeat it.
I can only say GREAT things about C25K program. I definitely would encourage anyone to pick it up and try it at any time! Don't wait til you think you can do it... Its a simple program and will walk you through it and if you have to repeat a day (I have) - do it until you succeed that day. Days I thought I'd never make it through, were no obstacle when I followed the program and did what it said -- which includes REST days. Here's the link to the full program: http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.s html
Another note: find something to occupy your brain. If you're like me, I have a hard time being so focused on the one thing: running. I have found a few podcasts of music that work wonderfully on the MP3 player to help distract from ticking off the time in your head. This one is Christian music: http://www.buriedtalentsband.com/C25K/ ; the others I haven't downloaded but that are available: http://www.djsteveboy.com/1day25k.html; http://www.ullreys.com/robert/Podcasts/page4/ files/category-7.html. I'm sure there are even more. I've started mixing my own now by using songs with the combined length I need and inserting an alert signal in when I need to switch from running to walking.
Okay, one more thing I thought of............... read the cool running page GOOD. When it says run slower than you think you should - do it! Get your time in and then work on speed. For me that means walking at 3.7mph and running at 4.25-4mph. I probably could actually walk faster than I could run the program but I wouldn't be getting my heart rate up as much and wouldn't be doing the aerobic conditioning required to train up to the next time frame.
I run (I'm very generous to my 4 mph by calling it that) either inside or out. At first I would have told you I prefer the treadmill. Now that I've been doing it, I much prefer outside. Talk about BORING---treadmill for 30 min, ughhhh! Outside there is tons of stuff to look at and you're paying attention to where you're running for gravel, sand, etc..... Its also, in my mind, easier to focus on a spot farther out and say "I think I'll be there in 3 minutes while running" and then try to reach and pass that spot. I've found that my speed increases while running outside while it decreases inside and I think its due to that type of goal setting.
Supersized, you are in a much harsher winter environment than I am here in Virginia. I'm hoping to be able to combine my treadmill running with outside running in the winter while there is no ice and when there is, I plan on trying to do it in places that are well scraped and taken care of....We don't have too many inside tracks here.....any near you? At least on an inside track you are actually moving and looking at different stuff.....and not at a mirror, wall, or other walkers/runners.
Anyone that hasn't visited http://www.hungry-girl.com/ --- take a visit! Talk about some GREAT calorie saving hints.............. here's one - to cut calories in half---- combine things that are practically 0 calories to something you want to reduce: 1 can Hormel 99% fat free turkey chili and 1 can diced tomatoes (I like Hunt's diced tomatoes with sweet onions) - makes 2 servings about 2 cups each -- 289 calories each serving! whereas if you ate the whole can of chili, which would be 2 cups, it would have been 420 calories!
Ciao for now!
Susan
Good idea to have a "back to fall schedule" topic next time, Sarah. I've been thinking ahead to that. It's been hard to stay on program this summer and my weight shows it. I'm almost looking forward to scheduling exercise times, planning my meals much more carefully, etc.
Today is filled with housework, errands, etc. It's easy to put off finding the time to do things that will help me reach my weight/fitness goal. And the only one I'm cheating is myself!
Uh oh... didn't realize that I'd become MIA. I'm still around. I am still loosing. I'm at 45 pounds now! Ya hoooooo!
With Groups - you're not alone.Get the experience and support
of others who succeeded.
