Wagon Jumpers - June 22 - July 5th, 2008 (two week special!)
THIS THREAD HAS BEEN EDITED FOR WEEK 2 RESPONDENTS
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, either leave a note here and I will add you, or send me a PM.
What Are The Numbers Beside The Names?
As our group is getting larger it is becoming more difficult to stay on top of 2 day and MIA reminders for members. While this is not a challenge, and not a competition, the numbers are here to encourage members to stay active in the program by identifying and rewarding those who are most active in the program.
Name - (Rem #/#, %; MIA #/#, %)
REM = Reminder (2 day reminder sent out on Thursday's)
#/# is how many reminders were needed out of how many weeks the person has participated.
% - is what percentage of time has the person been able to actively participate in the program unassisted by reminders.
MIA - is Missing In Action, you end up on the MIA list if you do not post Sunday - Saturday of a given week.
#/# - is how many weeks has the person been on the MIA list of the weeks participated.
% - is how much of the program has the person been active in.
In other words, your goal is to keep your numbers as low as possible and your percentages as high as possible. The way to do this is to make sure you post as early as you can in the week.
Wagon Jumpers Participants
Week 8 Riders - Congratulations on 2 Months!:
Supersized (myself) - (Rem 0/9, 100%; MIA 0/8, 100%)
Jane3001 - (Rem 3/9, 67%; MIA 0/8, 100%)
JCR - (Rem 1/9, 89%, MIA 0/8, 100%) - Traveling July to July 12th, 2008
Karenie - (Rem 2/9, 78%; MIA 0/8 100%) - Bad weather may not be able to post
Kaydeefalls - (Rem 1/9, 89%; MIA 0/8, 100%) - Traveling to July 25th, 2008
Vicki8seekers - (Rem 0/9, 100%; MIA 0/8, 100%) Traveling to July 7th, 2008
FantasyFlight - (Rem 6/9, 33%; MIA 0/8, 100%)
Got2getthin - (Rem 2/9, 78%; MIA 0/8, 100%)
Week 7 Riders:
Kreitter - (Rem 4/9, 56%; MIA 1/8, 87%)
Hopeful31 - (Rem 4/8, 50%; MIA 0/7, 100%)
Defrog3 - (Rem 0/8, 100%; MIA 0/7, 100%)
Week 6 Riders:
Thin27 - (Rem 7/9, 22%; MIA 2/8, 75%)
Healthfirst - (Rem 4/8, 50%; MIA 1/7, 86%)
Rwbsmom - (Rem 3/8, 62%; MIA 1/7, 86%) - travelling July 13 - August 16, 2008
Igrratu - (Rem 5/8, 37%; MIA 1/7, 86%)
Jburgin - (Rem 4/9, 56%; MIA 2/8, 75%)
Week 5 Riders:
Writestuff - (Rem 4/8, 50%; MIA 2/7, 71%) - Iowa, sever weather, may not be able to post
Sarah_11235 - (Rem 2/6, 67%; MIA 0/5, 100%)
Peera - (Rem 1/6, 83%; MIA 0/5, 100%)
Ser25 - (Rem 3/6, 50%; MIA 0/5, 100%)
Ld1984 - (Rem 2/6, 67%; MIA 0/5, 100%)
Lumcti - (Rem 1/6, 83%; MIA 0/5, 100%)
Week 4 Riders - Congratulations on 1 month!:
Madikim - (Rem 6/6, 0%; MIA 1/5, 80%)
Wenchi58 - (Rem 4/5, 20%; MIA 0/4, 100%)
Msmeg1984 - (Rem 0/5, 100%; MIA 0/4, 100%)
The_Vitamin_Dominatrix - (Rem 2/5, 60%; MIA 0/4, 100%)
Week 3 Riders:
Jopi - (Rem 5/5, 0%; MIA 1/4, 75%)
Kroszelle - (Rem 4/5, 20%; MIA 1/4, 75%)
Hurley_Mom - (Rem 1/4, 75%; MIA 0/3, 100%)
Ciosa1020 - (Rem 2/4, 50%; MIA 0/3, 100%)
Week 2 Riders:
Elaughter - (Rem 1/3, 67%; MIA 0/2, 100%)
Shannyshan - (Rem 3/3, 0%; MIA 0/2, 100%)
Ka2007 - (Rem 2/3, 33%; MIA 0/2, 100%)
Tiegurl - (Rem 0/3, 100%; MIA 0/2, 100%)
Week 1 Riders:
Deedee1 - (Rem 2/3, 33%; MIA 1/2, 50%)
M_saluone - (Rem 1/2, 50%; MIA 0/1, 100%)
Unlimitedana - (Rem 0/2, 100%; MIA 0/1, 100%)
Inshapemommy - (Rem 0/2, 100%; MIA 0/1, 100%)
SkinnybyJune9th - (Rem 1/2, 50%; MIA 0/1, 100%)
Platypipearson - (Rem 1/2, 50%; MIA 0/1, 100%)
Lilley1199 - (Rem 1/2, 50%; MIA 0/1, 100%)
Raven21 - (Rem 0/2, 100%; MIA 0/1, 100%)
Jilly_Bean - (Rem 1/2, 50%; MIA 0/1, 100%)
KittyKat596 - (Rem 0/2, 100%; MIA 0/1, 100%)
New:
Justjess_1 - (Rem 0/1, 100%; MIA n/a)
Missing In Action
Newsjunkie1 - (Rem 6/9, 33%; MIA 3/8, 62%)
Marlasinger - (Rem 6/8, 25%; MIA 3/7, 57%)
Tntgal - (Rem 2/3, 33%; MIA 1/2, 50%)
Missing In Action - 1 Week:
Tally-Ho - (Rem 5/9, 45%; MIA 3/8, 67%)
Mpscarlet - (Rem 6/7, 14%; MIA 3/6, 50%)
Hannahrifka - (Rem 4/4, 0%; MIA 2/4, 50%)
Missing In Action - 2 Weeks:
Gettinghealthy123 - (Rem 5/8, 37%; MIA 3/7, 57%)
Previous Threads:
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.
Two Week Special?
First my apologies to everyone who has posted since Thursday who I have not been able to read or respond to yet I'll try to catch up tomorrow. This upcoming weekend is both Canada's long weekend (Canada Day) and my Birthday and we are going camping for the week past the weekend, and I've been told I can't get wireless in the back country and even if I could I can't bring the laptop!
So this "week" is a two week special, or we can call it double trouble. I do expect that everyone will post twice on this thread, once before June 28th, and once before July 5th. It is simply two weeks because I will not be able to set up the thread next Sunday morning.
These Weeks Topics
How to forgive yourself for slip ups? Lets expect that there will be a few over our collective long weekends and figure out how best we can plan and how we can get over it if we do go off plan and not let it derail us
The short scoop: 1) I'm posting from my office, where we miraculously have internet and are moving furniture so they can clean and paint next week. 2) Our house is basically fine, although we'll have to do major disinfecting and painting and maybe more than that in the basement, which is the only place we had floodwaters, thanks to being up on a rise or hill. 3) I've been really sick all week, possibly due to river mold, but am getting better now. 4) My fiance' and cat are OK, and we're all grateful not to have had more problems with the storms. 5) We hope you'll all pray for or send positive thoughts to those who are homeless, sick, and/or will have to start over from scratch, possibly with no or little help from insurance or the gov't--there are many. 6) I "slipped" and didn't worry about what I ate the past couple of weeks. I'm just grateful to have had food to eat, period. Sometimes, it takes something like a disaster to put things in perspective. I know I'll be able to plan better in the coming weeks and am still committed to eating healthier, but I just had to cut myself some slack over the recent days.
Anyhow, I miss you all and hope you're all well! I haven't had a chance to read all your posts, but it seems most are doing really well with their wagon. :D Hang in there, and I'll post again when things settle down a bit.
Peace
Hola! I am alive and doing quite well! :) I am sorry I slipped on the posting, life got busy and I kept meaning to, but would let it slide. I am still on my wagon and working hard at it. 8 weeks without a soda today! AND finally, after months of not seeing anything, I lost 4 lbs via the scale. Not sure what it means, but I take it as a win.
Also, I am finally working in exercise! I take a walk at least twice a week for about an hour. It hurts the knees sometimes, but it does wonders for the brain!
I hope all else is well, I am sorry to hear of your difficulties, writestuff, I truly will be praying for you guys up there.
Good timing with this topic.
I'm on the verge of shifting to maintenance until after July 4th. I plan a large independence day festival and i am going to be extremely busy and in the heat for the next two weeks. I'm usually too exhausted to exercise, and since i am not around food while working outside - i just have to eat when i get time to take a break.
I have a hard time forgiving myself for slip ups, especially since its such a conscious thing ... i reach in the cookie jar and tell myself i shouldn't have one, but i do it anyway. Its kind of like disobeying your mother!
I think if i slip up over the next two weeks, i have to remind myself that one slip up will not result in re-gaining my 22 lbs, and i have to just work a little harder for the rest of the day/week.
Hey, all,
I'm still here, just finished logging my ridiculous calories for today--BIG SLIP UP:
Eggs and bacon for breakfast (at a diner w/a former work colleague)--do those little coffee creamers really have 20 calories EACH?!
Hot dog, light beer, and 2 handfuls of popcorn at a baseball game this afternoon
Pizza, Coke, and chocolate chip cookies at my parents' house for dinner
In all, 2000 calories and a C+ grade.
How shall I forgive myself? I'm just going to get over it, that is, OWELL. Its one day out of the week where I have otherwise been really really good. One day ain't gonna' be the end, I just have to make sure I jump back onto the wagon tomorrow. And I will--I'll have some oatmeal in the morning and go on a long bike ride, and I'll be back on track.
If I were in a different place mentally, then I would probably not be on the wagon at all, and the matter of self-forgiveness wouldn't even be an issue. I can't waste my time beating myself up over being human; i.e., I realize I'm going to screw up sometimes, and so long as I recognize that it will happen, then I'll be able to get over the times when I do! Perfection is overrated!!
Writestuff: Glad to see that you and yours are making it through! I know that working over the basement is tough (my husband and I had a minor flood last year after 8" of rainfall in a 24 hour period), but at least the rest of your abode is OK and you have each other. Be well!
You know, the days when i have "big slip ups" i find i lose weight shortly thereafter... Maybe our bodies want us to be bad once in a blue moon?
:)
defrog 3, I really wish 2000 was a silp-up. For me, that would be a good day.
Yesterday I logged almost 4000 calories, and I didn't log absolutely everything I ate. Last night marked 15 lbs gained back. That's a third of what I had lost. How the heck do I stop doing this? Why do I foget how awful I'll feel the next day when I reach for the second (third, fourth) dessert? Those last 15 lbs took MONTHS to lose the first time.
I'm completely fixated on junk food. I manage not to buy it most of the time, but then I go nuts and eat a tub of ice cream in two days, or a package of cookies in one sitting (so embarrassing). One switch I've managed to make is to satisfy chocolate cravings with protein bars. I found a brand that tastes great (four flavours, 193 cal, 14 g protein).
Exercise went well over the weekend. Maybe I'm getting back into the habit. The main problem weekdays is that it takes so much time out of the evening.
Slip-ups. How do you keep them from becoming a lifestyle? It's not the higher poundage or BMI that bothers me as much as my own lack of respect for all the effort I put into losing that weight in the first place.
Catching up on last week
Deedee1 Congratulations on the 6lb loss and the 9.5 mile bike ride! Keep going on the good work!
Shannyahan In your post on last week's thread you said you've really changed your eating, how have you done that? Is it making a difference? Good job on not letting one bad meal derail you!
vicki8seekers Sounds like you are feeling really motivated, I know what a huge boost it is to actually succeed at getting up in the morning and accomplishing (I'm assuming HIIT is fitness) your fitness goals for the day.
tntgal Welcome to the group, sorry for the late welcome these few weeks will be a bit off for me as I have a lot going on right now. It sounds like we have a lot in common. I go from the not eating at all to letting the grazing get way out of control. I'm also doing a slow and steady wins the race approach by trying to slowly get my calories undercontrol (I've been cutting them down from a weekly average of 3000/day by 100 each week currently working on 1900/day) and increase my exercise until I'm at a place that I think is healthy (1500/day + 4 days/wk exercise) for loosing weight. Then I'm focused on maintaining that consistency for 12 weeks at least before I can even look at the scale and wonder if it is working. The good news is that I think it is, I'm seeing physical and energy level differences already!
Marlasinger Welcome back to the group! I think all of us are fully familiar with the falling off the wagon for a while and then staring up that hill to get back on. Coming back and saying I'm not giving up, I'm going to do this, I'm back at it is a huge achievement. Stay with it.
madikim Congratulations on the 9lb loss!
defrog3 Thanks for the fiber tips... blueberries, who knew?
Wenchie58 The scales may not be cooperating but remember about building muscle, and that muscle weighs more than fat and all that good stuff. Your cholesterol definitely shows that all your work is paying off!
Ser25 I know how hard it is to find the time to work out when your busy, and because you are busy you are tired. I'm sure you already know if you can find the time you will also find the energy you need. Good luck!
Healthfirst Hope this week is better for you (well busy wise) sounds like you did well with food. I always struggle with the eating small amounts throughout the day. That's a big challenge for me.
igrratu I did the free day thing in the beginning but had to abandon it because I got to a place where the free day became the day I ate all the junk that I wasn't allowed to have. It basically reinforced the idea that I needed to deprive myself of some food items if I was dieting and then the diet did become a diet that I would break rather than a life style choice where I could figure out how to incorporate the brownie rather than deny it. I don't want to derail what is working for you, but be careful of that trap.
Kroszelle Keep us updated on some of the tips that you find to help you overcome it. I think we all may be emotional eaters to a degree, even if we don't eat for comfort it looks like a lot of us eat for stress or boredom which are also ways of using food in an emotional way.
hopeful31 How did you do over the weekend? Sometimes it does help just to admit that you are in a bad place. We all go there, we all will likely go there, the key is getting yourself out. Have a better week!
Kreitter I SOOOO know that feeling and wanting to hit the snooze! Way to go! 4 days, that's a lot! Keep it up!
Fantasyflight How is the no buying food at work going this week?
Got2getthin WOW! Congratulations on the 17lb loss! That's great! And I bet the inches feel wonderful! Sounds like you are now onto the consistency part, I'm still working my calories down, I hop you can post some tips to stay on track.
JopiI think I end up logging my calories because I do need to. It's painfully obvious to me that when I do not log my calories I really don't know portion sizes well, and I really loose track of how much I can reasonably eat in a day without loosing weight. I will seriously gain weight inside of a month if I don't log, so that is my prime motivating force with logging on CC. Hopefully some of the other folks on here may have some advice for logging while in maintenance.
Ciosa You can loose those 15 lbs! Watermelon is sweet.... so sweet... better than any chocolate (okay maybe that is bit too far...)
Catching up on this week
Writestuff I'm so glad to hear that you are in the grand scheme of things relatively okay. My thoughts, hopes and prayers are with everyone who is struggling right now with catastrophes I can't really imagine. I am glad you just do have something to eat, keep working on keeping your life in perspective, that is the most important.
Jburgin Welcome Back! I'm glad to have you back I missed your links! The reason I encourage everyone to post each week is that I find once I stop posting then it's easier to stop logging and once I stop logging well all is lost then. Congratulation on the 8 weeks san soda! And the 4 lb loss!
msmeg Good luck with the festival! I can relate to the choosing to slip. I find it much easier to do by not logging my calories, if I've logged my lunch it's much harder (or easier if I've left room) to say yes to a cookie that I know is going to cost me 220+ cal, but if I haven't logged then I am so good at convincing myself that I "probably" can fit it in. Of course I know I'm lying to myself and that will probably push me above some horrifically high daily calorie number, but it's like if i haven't seen the numbers yet I can just do it.
defrog I think that's the general attitude weather it's not letting one bad meal bin your day, or one bad day bin your week, or one bad week bin your month. I think for me the question is how to stay with the upwards and onwards attitude after that one bad...
msmeg I think the gain after a bad day or big slip up is often water weight and so can be lost faster and easier. Also there is definitely some merit to calorie shifting if we go by what all the threads on plateau's say.
Ser25 Yeah, my bad days are also upwards of 3500+ cal at which point I typically get too scared to fully log. I started exercising in the mornings specifically because of the time it takes in the evenings. Generally I find that if I keep up the exercise then I have enough energy to stay up about as late as I did before exercise in the morning.
My Weekly Check-In
Not such good news this week. I am in week 18 of my plan now, still phase I which is turing out to be a real struggle. The good news is that I kept up my exercise last week. I made it to the gym 4 times all in the morning before I set off for the cottage on Thursday. I also stayed really active at the cottage going out in the canoe, swimming and playing tennis.
I'm really proud of myself with a few "firsts" this week. I held a baby for the first time this week and actually quieted him. I steered the canoe for the first time, and made fire for the first time.
I also have some hope on the fitness horizon, one of the girls I bothered into playing tennis with me used to take tennis lessons when she was younger, she's quite out of practice and I've only played a handful of times myself. This is the same girl that I share "toxic friend" with, so we've decided to turn our Thursday "girlie tv nights" into "girlie tennis nights". I'm very excited about this.
I did not do as well with food. I crashed hard on Friday with the girls at the cottage, too many tostitos, daiquiri's and beers added up to 3500+ calories and then on Saturday when I was back in the city I went to a fundraiser after party and had restaurant veggie nachos and veggie burger with the works and chips... so I did not meet my goal of an average of 1900 cal/day this week. Which delays my making it to my phase II by another week.
I did manage to achieve 73% of my goals this week so I seem to be back on the wagon for life balance and just need to slowly improve a bit.
My goals for this week are to eat 1900 cal/day on average to go to the gym 4x this week for 2 hours per day and to do better on my career goals which have been suffering for awhile now.
Last one: This week's topic
Okay so I had a bit to catch up on.
I think I have good coping skills for the short term slip up.
While I log my calories everyday I look at a weekly average. I do know that some days I overeat while somedays I under-eat. I find that if I set a weekly average this allows me to have a day or two where I overeat a little, while balancing off with some of my busier days when I under-eat. This really helps me to have a better day the next day if I had an over-eating day the day before. The weekly average also helps me to try to keep any bingeing in check as a 3000+ calorie day is very hard to recover from. So while I can have that cookie today I can't have 10.
I have a harder time bouncing back in the long term / big slip ups.
I'm upset with myself this week, because last week despite planning I went off plan and I cost myself a week towards my goals by over-eating 2 days in row, by a lot, so it threw off my weekly average.
I guess this is where my goal helps me. I'm frustrated that I didn't meet my goals, but the good news is that my weekly average was only over 2000 calories by a bit and that is not too bad.
I haven't really figured out how to come back from not logging and slipping up for more than a week. Once I am gone for a 2-weeks+ I have a really difficult time coming back.
I would like to join this thread :D
My goals for this week:
-Log my meals everyday (my record is six days in a row)
-Not binge on Sunday
-Make 1 hour of exercise everyday
How to forgive yourself for slip ups?
By trying to not think much about them. I'm a perfectionist, and when I have a mistake (specially dieting) I think about i over and over until I'm so stressed I make another one even bigger.
I'm trying to be more positive, but lately it's been a bit harder. I usually crutch on food for comfort, but since I began eating healthy I've had to deal with my emotions. And it's hard. But I'm not giving up.
Unlimitedana Welcome to the group! Love your nickname. You have a lot of company here with the perfectionism / all or nothing mentality. I think we figured out in one of the early weeks that this mentality was one of the biggest reasons we wagon jump. Trying to be perfect is the perfect excuse not to be.
I am new to the group, I too am a self proclaimed wagon jumper. I have 4 kids(5 if you include my husbad) and after a hard labor where my son broke my tail bone, I never lost the weight. I wasnt able to do anything for several months. I got into bad habits durring this time and have been wagon jumping ever since. I joined CC about a yr ago, fell off the wagon, and decided this was it! I am sticking to it this time!! I started at about 144 last week and have lost 2 lbs this week! I didnt think I was loosing anything so I was very happy when I steped on the scale this morning. I am 30 trs old and 5' 2.5" I would like to get down to about 115-120. Once I get to 125 I will decide then if I really want to loose any more.
I really feel like I fit this group well, I have the all or nothing mentality. If I mess up at all I beat my self up but then I say well I already messed up today so I might as well have that _____ I have been craving. I think the biggest change for me this time is that I have resigned my self to the fact that it wont happen as fast as I would like. I am taking it slow, and I only take it one day at a time. I know where I want to be, but my focus is on the here and now.
Usually, I just remind myself that tomorrow is another day and try to move on. Weight loss is stressful enough without beating myself up over it every time I mess up.
This last week's been kind of bleh, I've just been to busy to think to much about what I'm putting in my mouth, so my calories have been under what they should be and my sodium intake is through the roof. However, this week will be much calmer, so I'm thinking I'll be spending it getting myself back on track.
As for me...eh. Mediocre week. Moving sucks so, so much, and because my apt is in chaos, I've been eating out more than usual, and I have no accurate way of counting that. I haven't gone crazy, but I probably have been over my daily allowance with more frequency than I'd like. The scale was extremely discouraging this morning, but it's also TTOM, so I don't know how much of that was just water weight (I bloat like crazy when I'm menstruating, it's very irritating). Oh, well. I'll be out of Chicago for good Wednesday, and then leave for Italy (!!!) the next Tuesday. And I refuse to care about calories while I'm abroad. :)
When I slip, I deal with it. I'll feel a little depressed for a little while, and then just move on with my life. Being skinny is NOT worth giving up all the foods I love, and if I overindulge occasionally, it's no big deal. The whole "food is just fuel" mentality depresses me.
Will you please add me I am currently experiencing some accountability issues!
Hi there, love the idea of this group, could i join? fell of the wagon big style and put on 5 of those hard lost pounds in a month and a half :-( back on the wagon i go now lol :-)
Well, I got only half my minutes of exercise. I hope to accomplish 120 this week. My goal is to eat within calorie range and limit snacking. Hopefully, all goes well.
If you slip up, tell yourself that it is okay and you can start all over again with the next meal or day. Sometimes it happens and you have to let it go. It is not the end of the world if you slip up.
Want to be a leader?Start your own group!
