Wagon Jumpers - June 14 - 20th, 2009 (Closed, Waiting List Available)

Welcome 

(If you are interested in being on the waiting list, please read below and e-mail me. We currently have 1 person on the waiting list.)

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 finding its optimum level is between 20 and 25 participants. 

A medium sized group means that we have an active thread that produces between 30 - 45 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

Year 1 - Week 6 Riders:

Supersized  (myself)

Year 1 - Week 2 Riders:

Msmeg1984

Defrog3

Week 50 Riders:

Wenchie58 - extended sick leave

Week 48 Riders:

Raven21 

Week 47 Riders:

Tiegurl

Week 44 Riders - Congratulations on 11 Months!:

Kyashiis

Week 38 Riders:

Nannygabber

Unlimitedana

Week 34 Riders:

Lam7

Week 30 Riders:

Cawilder

Week 29 Riders:

Figurethefat

Week 28 Riders - Congratulations on 7 Months!:

Carryonandon

Week 27 Riders:

Constanza

Week 26 Riders:

Germaica

Week 23 Riders:

Pelkeyjm

Week 22 Riders:

Jessicaanne2001

Week 5 Riders:

Dovelette

Week 3 Riders:

Jnielsen006

Week 2 Riders:

Merimeriqcontrary

NEW:

Declanphenias

Missing In Action:

Missing In Action - 1 Week:

Missing In Action - 2 Weeks:

Current Membership: 21

Current Waiting List: 2

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)

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.

Previous Threads:

Wagon Jumpers - June 7 - 13th, 2009

Wagon Jumpers May 31 - June 6th, 2009

Wagon Jumpers May 24 - 30th, 2009

Wagon Jumpers - May 17 - 23rd, 2009

Wagon Jumpers - May 10 - 16th, 2009

Wagon Jumpers - May 3 - 9th, 2009

Wagon Jumpers - April 26 - May 2nd, 2009

Wagon Jumpers - April 19 - 25th, 2009

Wagon Jumpers - April 12 - 18th, 2009

Wagon Jumpers - April 5 - April 11th, 2009

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

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

Hi all, 

On the running thing - there are times where it takes me a good 30 minutes to get into my groove. I just know that when it does click in and my heart and limbs and lungs are working in unison it is pretty cool. But there are times when I have to literaly just stick it out for a bit to get there. I will talk to myself and say - OK, just run out to the bridge and then you can come back and then I "trick"myself by saying "Well, you've made it this far I am sure you can go further."  I have tried many times to apply my sticking it out methodology for running to my attitudes towards food. It has not always worked! 

I had heard about Volumetrics. I read a review of the book at some point but I can't remember what they said. 

Welcome to Delcan...

Sara - on the swimming thing... I personally don't like chlorine which has always prevented me from swimming but now we have salt water pools here and that has made it nicer. Don't worry about how you look!! You might at some point want to get into a swim team - in the US they have them at all levels. 

Time to go to bed... 

Another note on running (I'm all over this week!)   This time around I make sure to warm up by walking for at least 15 minutes before I start running, sometimes 20 or even 25 if I've got the time and my legs are cold.  I think it's made a huge difference to how I feel while I'm running!  Just a thought...

Julie Congrats on the furniture, and doing so well with all the change goingo on in your life. I'm with you on the 'accomplishment' of cardio = sweat. I sometimes feel like the more I sweat the more I'm getting done, that idea of literally mealting the fat off my body. The starting is always the hard part for me as well, I use Carol's tactic of tricking myself... I've done this much I can do a bit more, which turns into a bit more, until I've hit my stride which I usually do. Also with longer cardio sessions I always brought the iPod... unlike most people I don't put upbeat dance songs on it, I use classical or laid back folk... I find the juxposition of my body racing to get my heard going and the hard breathing (at first) to the calm music really keeps me calm and centered and avoids me getting so frustrated that I give up.

Constanza I know I need to get around the self-conscious thing. The closest I've got is that I now go home and get into my gym clothes and go to the gym. I know that when I see someone very overweight exercising I hope it works out for them, and keep telling myself that people are more positive and sympathetic to someone who is overweight obviously trying to do something about it than not. Still, just need to get over myself and do it.

Check-In: I've been doing really well with my exercise. I get in  at least 30 minutes at least 5 days per week. I started rollerblading again, a friend and I started playing Tennis too and it's sooo much fun. We're not very good but we are having fun learning and chasing the ball is a bit of a workout. I've also started hanging out with a girl who is very into fitness. This helps with motivation sooo much. I've been thinking about joining an organized sports team but I want to wait until i'm in a bit better shape. Good job super for joining the rowing team. I was thinking about an indoor volley ball league. If I have to wear little shorts that might be a motivation to get exercising!! hahaa.

Cardio: Like I said I've been rollerblading and playing Tennis. I definitely sweat and have fun when I do those things but I'm not sure that they are indeed Cardio. I also had begun running but have been experiencing shin splints and some lower back pain from running. I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong or if it's how I run or my shoes?? I've attempted the couch to 5k before but have never followed through to the end. I think that it might be a good idea. I'm going to check out those podcasts raven suggested. A friend of mine suggested some but those were created by some annoying guy that talked waaaay too much so hopefully these will be better. I really should start a weight lifting routine. My boyfriend's friend is really into lifting and I ask him what I should do but it's hard to start something and make it a habit. I've just been trying to lose weight by upping my exercising but just being active isn't helping that much to lose the weight. I know my best bet will be to combine cardio and lifting. I think if I try to do a hardcore routine I'll burn myself out so I'm pretty much into a routine with the cardio and soon I'll add the lifting once I'm comfortable that I won't fall back into a slump.

My eating has been good. I've been doing a diet high in lean protein and veggies. I've been trying to cut out the sweets as much as possible and I've been trying to cut back on salty snacks as well. Chips are the enemy. I love them but they don't love me.

In other news...we're getting a puppy!!!!! I'm so excited because it's a german shorthaired pointer puppy and with that breed they need a lot of exercise and the puppy will be able to come with me on walks and eventually runs and it'll just be great fun to have a companion even when all of my friends are busy. I think we're going to name it Ollie but I have to run that by the rest of the family. My 4 year old little boy likes it so that's all that matters I suppose.... lol.

So it's gorgeous outside and I'm out of here to go enjoy it!!

I hope everyone is having a great week!!!

JEn

Ack its Wednesday already!!

I'm here, I'm here!!  Have to write quickly, as I'm at work (yikes!).  I've been so exhausted (long story), I've not been on the PC at home at all this week...

Check-In: doing well, baby's growing well, I've gained a total of 22 pounds so far, which is OK for me--only 10 weeks left until my due date!!

Cardio:  I love road biking and spin classes.  I can't get out on the road now now, though, b/c my belly's in the way!  And, well, I don't belong to a gym right now (trying to save $$), so the spin classes are out.  But I've really found that biking is the best way to get my heart rate up for an extended period of time without killing my joints.

Pouring rain in the NYC metro area AGAIN.  I feel like I've moved to Seattle, its been so rainy and dreary here for about a month.  *sigh*  I hope there's a little break in the rain for my baby shower, which is happening on Saturday.

Jen--I'm not a "dog person" in the sense that I would ever want to own a dog, but German shorthairs are really neat animals.  When I was a kid growing up, my neighbor had 4 of them (yes, at the same time), and they were a lot of fun to play with.  Good luck!

Welcome, declanphineas--I so love that you're into belly dance and Bhangra--I would love to learn more about that!

msmeg--so sorry for your loss.  Hopefully your friend wasn't suffering or in pain with her illness.

Best healthgain to all!
D

Check-in:  Sara, great idea about reaching out to our support group for tips on staying on top of my calorie food logging for my next round of goals.  My excuse is it is harder during the nice weather months.

Exercise remains on track, and I did manage to replace my interval class with an Aqua Turbo class on Mondays, and my whole family is now involved, all of us are really enjoying Wii Fit.

Topic:  I do enjoy cardio, as it helps me feel stronger and more capable, happier, more energetic!  The last interval program and my current Aqua Turbo class are all about that.  Both are high intensity classes!   They focus on building cardiovascular strength and endurance through challenging routines of intervals and higher intensity options.  Both are only an hour long each, but I feel great after it!  I too wish that I could get into running, but I know it is not something I could accomplish on my own. 

msmeg1984: so sorry to hear about your friend.  Be strong like we know you can, be weak when you need to be, but always remember, we will always be here to support you.  God Bless.

declanphineas:  Welcome to the group!  The inspiration, support and continuous learnings are incredible!!!

Julie:  You are an amazing lady!  "A Zumba" instructor...now I am going to have to read up on that to find out what it is all about.  You are a wealth of health!  Good on ya Girl!!!!  Be Proud!

I am amazed that I have been hanging in here through thick and thin for eleven months.  I am still learning so much.  It's going to take a while longer until I get where I am headed.

I will write about cardio which I don't understand well after I have a chance to read through everybody's posts.  I'm looking forward to it.

Welcome to the new member!!

Can't believe it's Thursday already! It's been a really busy week. I started a part-time job doing some marketing work for a small software company and have also had some other opportunities fall in my lap. It's always feast or famine with me in terms of projects - and now its feast! Still need to keep looking for a full time gig, though.

However, all the projects have actually given me a little motivation to do some other things - so, i'm back to a healthier amount of calories. Though, exercise has been lower - not that much lower, though. Maybe I'm getting closer to a happy medium.

Cardio, what? haha. I hate cardio because it makes me out of breath and always seems like a chore. However, if I'm consistent with it, I start to like it. If I can get myself to enter a gym, I really like to do the elliptical machine, actually.

To close, here's an ineteresting article on eating from the BBC: Eat less while eating more?

Hey again All!

I just thought of this... (Carrie, I looked at your link and it made me think if it! BTW, the info there is great! THANKS) and it really is a good week to bring this up! I have been talking so much about Zumba, and realized, there may be some (or all?? LOL) who have no clue what it is.

Here's a link! THIS is the type of class I am in. There are different levels, and different teachers have different styles, but the lead chick in this vid gets it right, imho. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf0q6qtThF4

Hope you enjoy!

Have a healthgain day,
~Julie

Welcome declan! I hope you have a blast here at Wagon Jumpers. I know I am.

This week was a real, drag, I'm so sorry I'm late. I am halfway through my BA thesis and things have gotten pretty bad. (I haven't slept right for the pst 5 days and this is really worrying, anxiety has gotten a hold of me). Yesterday, I had my first graduation exam, it was hard, I got a pretty good grade, so, now I'm happy. Foodwise, I've seen better days, but since I can't be the one grocery shopping right now, I can't just pester my mom to buy me all the fruit and vegetable I love and need because I feel bad that I can't help.

I've been blading less, but I feel absolutely slumped when I get 3-5 hs of sleep/night and I just can't keep it up for long enough because I get headaches. Hopefully, it'll all be over next week and I'll be back on track with everything and enjoying a normal work schedule again.

Topic:

Since I love blading so much, I do it all the time, I go uphill and downhill and listen to audiobooks because I don't do much interval training, more resistance (uphill for longer and flatland around my neighbourhood park). I find it's a great workout (I sweat a lot, my legs are getting stronger). I adore biking, but my bike is out of order at the moment, but when I get it fixed, I'll go places, let me tell you!

I used to do dance classes, but I can't afford the gym right now, as I can't earn my keep at the moment (damn graduation, grrrr).

Last summer I did a lot of swimming and was planning on taking raven's advice to take up a running for beginners program. (I need to find a right pair of running shoes first. Thank God for summer sales.) Actually I love cardio because it gives me an excuse to be outdoors. And I find myself tempting my friends to come along with me and we do meet and have a lot of fun. (Even if I can't do my very intense hilly workout with them, I still go pretty far and for a long time 2-3 hrs of casual skating must count for something, I think).

Julie Zumba looks like so much fun! Oh, I wish they had instructors in Romania. I might get a video even if I have two left feet (and two left arms at that). Regardless dancing absolutely rules! I used to do this dance mix class and we did a different style every week (they alternated of course, but even if I couldn't keep up sometimes, I laughed and sweat and enjoyed). I wish you the best of luck with becoming a trainer.

Raven Thanks for the great idea. I've never tried running before, I pictured it as something boring. But I think a beginner podcast might prove interesting, till I get to the stage of actually running and listening to my audiobooks (which is what gets me pumping).

MsMeg All my sympathy and be strong! But don't forget to be weak and let it all out too.

Super You rule for the rowing team thing. I wish I could afford a competitive water sport, since my dad used to be on a kayaking team all through college and he makes is seem like so much fun and a great way to connect with people. I think a team is what makes a lot of people tick to stay in with exercise. So go go!

Jen Puppies always make a house happier and more confused. Enjoy!

Constanza Keep up the running, you make me feel like I could do it. And I truly hope I do.

Dove Hoop dancing is the coolest. Even the Wiifit version.You live in Capo Verde? Wow. I truly love the creole and the music there, I know Portuguese and I hope that one day I'll be able to get that language right *the one in Capo Verde*

Cawilder That's what I dream of doing! Being able to integrate it in my spirit. Woohoo.

Thanks guys for all the guidance.

I hope you had a nice week!

I'm getting pretty frusterated with myself.  The last couple of weeks I have not been doing as well as I should food or excercise wise.  I keep writing it off as simply an off week but I have really been falling off the wagon.  Although I havn't gained any real weight I need to stop kidding myself and start eating properly again.  It's getting to the point where I am eating when I am not only not hungry, but absolutly stuffed.  I keep getting so sick to my stomache and you would think that these stomache aches would force me to stop eating but they arn't. 

The past couple weeks I keep saying I will get back up and start doing things right, but I have only been saying this half heartedly.  I don't know whats going on with me.  I have been eating healthier since last November losing over 50lbs.  I had a bad week here or there but this has been a month now of me not motivated.  I still have about a hundred left to lose but I seem to have lost my drive.

I'm not sure why I lost my drive, and I don't know what derailed me.  But I do know that I need to get back on track and figure out why I'm not motivated because I don't want to be derailed again.

This weeks topic: I will be honest I don't excercise anywhere near what I should be.  When I do excercise however its almost always cardio.  I enjoy cardio for a few reasons.  When I am doing cardio I feel like I am really accomplishing something and so its easier for me to stomache.  Also I figure since I have so much weight to lose that cardio should be one of my focuses.  I also enjoy some cardio.  I really like cardio classses but I'm not a member of a gym that has them unfortunatly so I have to settle for dvd's.  I also love bike ridding, but I try not to overexert myself because I am prone to fainting and since I bike on trails if I was to faint it would be tricky to get me any real help quickly.

On the other hand I dislike cardio for just as many reasons.  I have extremely overactive sweat glands and the smallest ammount of exertion makes me look like I just took a shower so I really hate cardio.  I don't like feeling all wet, smelly, and sticky and it stings my eyes and if my thighs are sweating and rubbing together it can chaff also known as "chub rub."  But my biggest reasons for not enjoying cardio is that I have horrible anxiety.  Whenever I feel an elevated heart rate, increased breathing, or lightheaded I tend to get nervous and start having anxiety attacks or faint.  My doctor says it's because I associated all those symptoms of excercise with symptoms of anxiety attacks and I just work myself up so much I start to panic. 

Anyways I'm not too concerned about the excercise at this time.  I have been making really small changes to my life since November, I figure the slower I work the excercise into my routine and get it to stick the more likely I will be able to maintain the excercise schedual in the long run.  If I jump in headfirst excercising five days a week there is no way I will keep that up for more than a week.  What I really need to concentrate on now is why I fell off the wagon this time and how to avoid it in the future.

Cardio is something I don't really understand.  I guess it means the kind of exercise that gets your heart rate up.

I love hiking in rugged terrain.  It gets your heart rate up.  I check it with my fingers along the side of my throat when I feel I'm getting heated up too much.  I would really like to get one of those heart-rate monitor watches, but it's not going to be soon.  I like dancing.  Those Zumba classes would be wonderful for me.  Other than that, I just do calisthenics at home and run/walk/jog/wog in the park or on the roads in my area when I have time.  I guess that gets my heart rate going.
Julie - That is the first time I have seen Zumba though I have heard of it.  Wow. You must feel like a million bucks making those kinds of moves.  I would love that kind of exercise.
Meri - I love my Nike Pegasus shoes.  I don't think they are so expensive for running shoes.  My had a little space in the innersole for an i-Pod sensor.  It's a great motivator and you can listen to podcasts, too.
Meg - so sorry to hear about your friend who passed away.  
Welcome declanphineas.

I haven't done too well with the exercise part of my goal this week, but the zig zagging is going well.  I think I may have lost a pound or two.  I weigh in on June 23 to mark one year of using the CC+ site.  It has been a wonderful year of discovery for my health and getting to know such a great group of like-minded people.  Thanks for helping me on my journey.  I am feeling strong going into the new year... (smile)

Jnielsen You are getting there. Don't be overly critical of yourself. We all lose our motivation from time to time, that's why CC's here, to talk about it and get back in the saddle. I've had so many relapses I can barely count (actually I can't) but I realized, I didn't know how to lose weight right. I didn't know anything about nutrition in fact. It's the sort of been there, done that feeling that everyone gets. The more I read about weight loss and nutrition and fitness, the more ideas I get, the more comfortable I am to know that there are so many variations, I just have to find the one that works for me.

Maybe you don't enjoy your workout anymore, try something new. A new dance video? Maybe just walking for an hour or so. I find it always helps to spend a week walking for one hour a day whenever I'm in an exercise rut, then I decide what to take up and do it.

Perhaps you feel like you've been working too hard and need a reward. It can be a really small one. Sometimes on weeks when I can't exercise that much I make it a point to buy myself a bottle of nail polish, a new book or some more expensive food thing I truly like but don't start using it/reading/eating it until I get back on track with the exercise. I know it's there and I know I'm gonna get it soon if I sweat a little.

With food, again, to me it's a question of variation, I try new recipes or if I don't have time to cook, I buy some veggie I haven't had in a while and get pumping. Somehow the boredom and lack of motivation goes away when I get excited about the 'new' factor. Also, the more I read, the more I get excited about my effort. Maybe it's just beginner's fun or some might call it inconsistency, but if it works, I don't care. :)

Kyashiis Thank you for the advice will set out to see how much and try them on. And if that doesn't work I'll keep looking. (Thing is I have an iPod classic so the whole sensor thing doesn't work for me, although I wish it did eversince I saw the package at my local Apple provider).

UPDATE:

Hi, I missed the last threads because I'm studying for my finals. I'm still on the wagon though, and I'm doing okay this week. Not exactly calorie counting, but not gaining weight either just simply maintaining.

Weekly Topic: Exercise

This week: Cardio

Do you do cardio in your exercise routine? Why? Why not? What do you like / loathe about cardio? Do you have any questions for the group about cardio?

I love doing HIIT, plain running is not for me I lose my breath quickly though it improved with the C25K program which I didn't finish.

What a great group

I totally fell off the wagon this past week, from a healthgain perspective and from an oganizational perspective. I was feeling quite sheepish that Wednesday and Thursday went by without me getting to our "two day reminder" but YOU ALL MADE IT !!! GREAT...

... onward...!

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

Wagon Jumpers - June 21 - 27th, 2009