Wagon Jumpers - October 12 - 18th, 2008 (Closed, Waiting List Available)
Welcome
(We are currently at 30 members and 1 invitations. If you are interested in joining the waiting list please read below and e-mail me)
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 23 Riders:
Supersized (myself)
Week 22 Riders:
Week 21 riders:
Week 20 Riders - Congratulations on 5 Months!:
Week 19 Riders:
Week 17 Riders:
Week 16 Riders - Congratulations on 4 Months!:
Week 14 Riders:
Week 13 Riders:
Week 11 Riders:
Week 8 Riders - Congratulations on 2 Months!:
Week 7 Riders:
Week 6 Riders:
Week 5 Riders:
Week 4 Riders - Congratulations on 1 Month!:
Week 3 Riders:
Week 2 Riders:
Week 1 Riders:
New:
Missing In Action:
Missing In Action - 1 Week:
Missing In Action - 2 Weeks:
Current Membership: 30
Current Waiting List: 0
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.
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!
Going to the gym for 1 1/2 hours 5x per week. Cardio for 45 min and strength training for 45 min.
I will be working out 3 evenings 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 - October 5 - 11th, 2008
Wagon Jumpers - September 28 - October 4th, 2008
Wagon Jumpers - September 21 - 27th, 2008
Wagon Jumpers September 14-20th, 2008
Wagon Jumpers September 7-13th, 2008
Wagon Jumpers August 31 - September 6th, 2008
Wagon Jumpers August 24 - 30th, 2008
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
FITNESS
What are your fitness goals? What exercises have you newly tried that you love or hate, and why? Find a video link and post here so that we can all see what the exercise looks like.
HEADS UP FOR NEXT WEEK - GOAL SETTING WEEK!
Next week is the finish up for the people who set goals on July 27th, 2008. Next week I will be asking everyone to report on the success of their goal, AND to set a new 12-week goal. The 12 weeks will begin on October 19th and end on January 10th, 2008. Yes, this stretch includes the holidays.
Rules for Goal Setting:
1. I will only post goals that are posted on this thread NEXT week.
If you post your goal this week or the week after next please feel free to link back to it whenever we discuss goals. But I will only make myself accountable for posting goals on the main introduction thread NEXT week.
2. I will only post consistency goals.
For example: I will be exercising 3x per week, I will be drinking 100 oz of water on average per day, I will be eating 1500 calories on average per day.
I will not post result based goals as I think those are achievable through consistency.
Examples of goals not posted: I will weight X lbs, I will have lost X lbs, I will be a size X.
3. I will only post 2 new consistency goals, or 1 maintenance and 2 new consistency.
This means if you have a long list of goals you are trying to achieve prioritize one or two (I will post less than 2) and decide which are the most important for you to work on for the next 12 weeks. If you over achieve great! If you have not narrowed it down by the end of the week I will post your first two only.
Example: I will be doing ____ amount of exercising per week, I will be eating ____ average calories per day.
If you have already achieved a goal you can make it clear that you are not working to achieve it but are wanting to maintain it while working to achieve other goals.
For Example: I am already drinking ____ oz per day and want to maintain that while I exercise _____ per week and eat _____ average calories per day.
4. The example format is not fixed
I am using examples of amount of water intake, calorie intake and days spent exercising as they are the most common. These DO NOT have to be your goals.
Ok. I'm thinking over my goals for the next 12 weeks and will post them later as I am completely exhausted today...
Just wanted to share that I have lost 3 kilos out of my goal of 6 kilos, and I have reached and surpassed my goal of running 25 minutes without stopping or walking. I have accomplished this in seven weeks as a late joiner of the Wagon Jumpers. Thanks Sara...
Kyashiis Good job on your goals. Remember you have a week to think about what you want your next 12-week goals to be. I will only be posting goals that are on the thread NEXT week.
Weekly Check-In
I made it through my busy week on calorie and with all the exercise in. This week I was working on the election every day with 2 all candidates meetings, 2 door-to-door canvassing commitments and 1 speaking commitment, I had 1 board meeting and 1 job interview and I still ate according to calories and exercised 4 times. If ever I feel like I am 'too busy' to meet my healthy living needs, then I need to refer back to this week.
I did better on my life balance goals as well getting most things I needed to do done. Although not all.
It's the Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada, and our election is the day after Thanksgiving, so most of my family is putting off Thanksgiving until November when we can be wound down from the election.
This Week's Topic
Lunges - I'm not sure if I love them or hate them, it's a bit of both. They were the hardest exercise for me to do when I started again, they are still one of the hardest for me, but I really do feel my whole body engaged, and they give me a great work out. NOTE: I did use the progression (except the reverse lunge) as in video.
Apparently we can't post video here so here is the link:
Uh-oh.. looks like I missed a week already. Sorry and thanks for the reminder Supersized.. Congratulations on your success Kyashiis!!
Last week : has not been extremely productive healthwise. One achievement (if you can call it that) is eating one meal of the day as a salad and I did do that. I am 1.5 lbs down in 2 weeks - though I probbly could have done more with some diligence. I wish I could be a numbers Nazi like you supersized! I keep letting small indiscrepancies slide telling myself I am alright and that is probably what is affecting my eating.
As far as exercise- it has been non-existent. Other than the walking around at work - which is a bit- I dont exercise at all. Got to build that into my schedule this week.
Fitness: I love squats but that is only because they are easy for me to do..What I really could use more of like the plank or crunches are what I shy away from. Love floor exercises in general though -such an inexpensive and anytime way of getting in shape.
12 week goals : will think abt them.
Weekly check in:
I thought I'd get in early this week instead of bothering Sara with having to send me another reminder onn Thursday (thanks for those, by the way). Last week was neither my best nor my worst week. I got more exercise in and finally made it below 200 lbs. (WOO), but I also depended way too much on energy drinks and comfort food instead of giving my body the fuel it really needs.
Weekly Topic:
I have a love/hate relationship with walking dumbell lunges. It really works the legs very efficiently, and it makes my heart rate skyrocket. It can be a challenge to keep your abdominals engaged, but doing so will help you to be mindful of your posture and tone your core.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkwYjPQ97_0
12 Week Goals:
I need to consider these before posting.
Carabo Good job on incorporating salads into your meals. What is the major thing that is preventing you from finding the time to exercise? What choices can you make to bring exercise in? I'm with you on the squats, I like those as well. Some good news on the plank and crunches is that I could barely do them when I started and now I'm getting quite good at them and increasing the difficulty, so they do actually work with progression.
The Vitamin Dominatrix Don't worry you've got a whole week to think about the 12-week goals I won't post them until next week. In fact I won't post any that are not posted during next week so take the week to think about it. Also mega congratulations on breaking the 200 lb mark. Doesn't it feel nice to see a "1" at the front of that number. I find it's a big psychological boost. I use dumbbells with my lunges as well, and boy do I sweat!
Weekly Check In:
Was mostly good -- one night where I ate way over my calorie limit because my mom had people over to watch the red sox game and there was a ton of food. Whoops, but I don't feel that bad because the rest of the week was so good. I am down 2.6 pounds from a week and a half ago, which is pretty great! I too have been trying to eat more salads. Today is my 18th birthday and I had a delicious salad for lunch! (I decided I'm not letting myself splurge today; instead I'm allowing myself a little treat tonight -- a chocolate peppermint stick luna bar yumm.)
Fitness:
Eek, my fitness has been nonexistent also. I have been so stressed with college apps and senior year of high school and I have been focusing more on those than exercising. I really need to slowly get back to it because track starts in 6 weeks. One exercise I have found that I like (it's not hard at all but I can feel it working) is leg raises for inner thighs on your side:
I think my not exercising has something to do with my state of mind - when I'm depressed or have body/image issues is when I dont want to exercise. The idea of jiggling parts of me feels less and less appealing. Paradoxically, exercise is exactly what will make me feel better. So I probably just have to accept my body and get back into my routine.
I do get into these phases around once a month..where I can never look nice enough and nothing I do seems good enough. Anyone know what I am talking about ? Anyway, its good you asked the question because I realized there is no good reason for me not exercising except that I dont feel good enough to exercise.
By the way, its good to know that there are so many cool exercise videos on U-tube! Maybe I could learn a couple of new exercises to get me back on track!
Weekly check in:
Wow, I am really happy to be a part of a group, CC can be a lonely pace for a Newbie, so Thanks for having me! I have been working out and eating 1500 calories per day for a few weeks now and I have so far lost 3.4kg.
Weekly Topic:
I actually have a fitness class that makes me feel this way, its the body attack class, High impact cardio, love the way I feel after, hate the way I feel during!
12 Week Goals:
will be drinking at least 2.5 litres of water per day, eating calorie controlled balanced meals, and exercising 4x per week, plus 2 sessions of 30 minute taebo!
Hi, all, I too am writing now so that Super won't have to email me a reminder!!
This week's topic:
Super: I hate lunges, too. I have a tear in the meniscus of my right knee that makes it painful to do certain exercises. Lunges are one of those exercises--I find it very difficult to bend my knee properly, when my torso is in front of it (so my balance is on the left side). I can do them slowly, but its not so much fun.
My focus muscle of the month is the rotator cuff. It is relatively weak, when compared to the rest of the surrounding muscles. Its weakness makes it difficult for me to hold a medicine ball and do chest presses while shuffling. The feeling of fatigue is almost in the armpit, but on the front of my chest/arm. To fix this, about 3 weeks ago my trainer started targeting the area with specific exercises to strengthen the muscles there. Sux, but it seems to be working!
Carabo, I too love squats and have an aversion for plank. However, I've found that doing exercises that strengthen the core really make me feel confident and strong! I've been holding plank (on elbows) on a BOSU; I'm up to 30 seconds, I'm so proud of myself!!
Last/This Week so Far:
FOOD: I was OK last week--still maintaining, not losing weight, but my clothes continue to fit differently, which makes me confident that I'm losing fat %. My biggest clue on this front is my bra size, which continues to diminish. *sigh* Why does it have to come from there FIRST?? In any case, I think I need to lower my calories to 1500/day to start losing pounds again (vs. my current ~1800/day), but I'm not sure how to do that/where to cut. I'm trying to go for smaller portion sizes as a start and see how that goes. I also need to get more OCD about using CC to track my calories. I've been lazy for the past month, not tracking ANYTHING.
FITNESS: Again, just OK last week--I did a lot of walking around NYC on the days that I was there for interviews, AND I even did a 20 minute weight lifting/Total Body Workout one evening as I was watching CNBC (and the disaster that is Wall Street). I did 2 sessions w/my trainer, my husband and I biked, and yesterday and today I did about 2-3 hours of driveway repair work, which seemed to take a bit of energy, even if it wasn't real cardio. I've been on the bike once since my accident, and I'm upset w/myself for not doing more to date. My goals from July are totally blown as a result...
Super: Happy Thanksgiving! Hope the elections go well! The other day my local NPR station devoted a half hour to discussing the Canadian elections--what a nice change to listen to Stephen Harper's challenges, rather than some new spin on Obama/McCain!! If interested, you can listen to it (in your infinite spare time) here:
Sarah Belated Happy Birthday To You! I hope you had a good one! I never disliked salads, but I tend to get away from them when I'm not eating healthy. One thing I do is ditch the iceburg lettuce which is strangely not filling and very fibrous I find and I go for lots of rich dark greens, baby-spring mix in spring and root vegetable salads in the fall. I also make a lot of my own dressings which takes surprisingly little time to do and is much tastier and calorie effective than packaged dressing with tonnes of salt.
I can totally sympathize with the stress of college apps and the pressure of making your next big change. One thing I will suggest is take a very close look at what you really really want for health and fitness. The vast majority of us loose our health and fitness goals in the first few years of university and then spend the rest of our 20's catching them up (if not longer). The two biggest life changes that get women to stop thinking about health and fitness is university and children. The irony is that with both if you manage to fit health eating and exercise into both you will have the energy and sharpness of mind that you will need to give them the attention they need and deserve.
Carabo I agree not exercising will have a lot to do with your state of mind. There are in fact many many studies that make this connection. Both between physical activity and mood and health eating and mood. I really wasn't too sure about it myself, but in the last year as I have been 'on the wagon' for much longer periods of time consistently than I was in the past. Consequently when I'm 'off the wagon' the difference is shocking. The depression, the unwillingness to get up and move the feeling of no time and just lethargy was almost overwhelming. Of course in that state of mind the last thing that I want to do is go to the gym, but it is really the best fix. Get up, get moving, you will feel better, physically and mentally.
Bigbitty Welcome to the Group! Just a note on the goals I am not posting new goals until NEXT week. Also one thing I've noticed with myself and with others who set the goals, especially if you are a newbie and a few weeks in. Actually I shouldn't say 'especially if you are a newbie' because it really applies all across wagon jumping our issue is consistency. You have selected 4 goals, water, calories, exercise and an exercise modifier. I know 12-weeks seems like a long way off, but it's not. Many people find it extremely challenging to consistently maintain one goal across 12-weeks. I suggest over the next week you think about which of your 4 goals are your top 2 priorities. Post those next week. If you achieve more than that - great. But try to make your goal small and achievable. Remember that it's one thing to do it for a week or two it's quite another to still be going strong 3 months later.
Defrog I'd suggest doing the OCD thing on tracking your calories at 1800 before you drop to 1500. You're very active and you may need the extra calories. Also, I know when I'm not OCB about tracking calories then 1500 quickly becomes 2,000 with those little extra cup a juice here, just one slice of bread there. If you are totally OCD on the calorie tracking at 1800 and you still are not feeling like you are loosing then drop. Sorry about the bike thing, you can hardly be blamed for that. Think about a good one for winter we'll start up again next week.
Happy Canadian Thanksgiving I know we have at least one other Canadian member - Raven, where are you?
I really overate yesterday. It was mainly the problem of snacking my way through the day and into many more calories than I needed. I did make it to the gym which was very important to me since it is closed today for the holiday and I didn't want to have 4 command performance days in a row. I need to think up a better or new weekend strategy. I was doing very well for a number of weeks on the weekends, but that has gone. I think I need to go back to cooking. With the election we have been ordering out and eating out a lot because I have not had time to cook. So, must get back there.
Canadian Election 101
Thanks for posting the link DeFrog, it was actually a fairly balanced report although most Canadians (who are politically involved) would rip it in places. Most of Canada's national (and regional) newspapers have some pretty strong political affiliations. The Globe and Mail is known as a Liberal paper along with the Star, the Sun and National Post are Conservative papers, and urban weekly's like EYE, NOW and Village tend to support NDP or Fringe.
Anyways for anyone who is interested I thought I'd put a bit about the Canadian political election here for your amusement.
The System
Parliamentary - Canada has a parliamentary system like the British system where our provinces and territories are broken up into 308 ridings. Each riding will have a selection of Candidates (typically 1 from each major party and some fringe) and the Candidate that gets the most votes is elected to one of the 308 seats. The party that gets the most seats forms government. Mostly you will hear Canadians talk about majority and minority governments. A majority government is when one party wins at least 51%+1 (156) seats and then cannot be voted down in the house therefore can pretty much do what they want for the 4 year term. A minority government is where one party has the most seats but does not by itself make up over 50% of the seats and needs to work with other parties to get bills passed. The number is 51% + 1 for a majority because one member of the government becomes the speaker of the house and keeps order and is impartial and does not get to vote except in the case of a tie.
We do have a House of Lords in Canada called a Senate which also must consider all legislation. The Senate is appointed (this is under much debate in Canada) and once a senator is appointed they have that seat for life. In this way you could have a Conservative government with a Liberal Senate and this will cause conflict between the two houses.
The Parties
Liberals
Leader: Stephan Dion (current Leader of the Opposition)
History: The oldest political party in Canada, and the only party left in tact from when Canada was completely governed by the British North America's Act. The Liberals are often called the 'natural governing party of Canada' as they are the middle ground and usually benefit from Strategic voting. This Liberals have been in power for 2/3 of Canadian History. In 2004 they had a leadership change after 12 years, they held onto power until 2006 when they lost to the Conservatives for the first time in over 20 years.
Political Leanings: Liberals in Canada are roughly equivalent to Democrats in the Untied states, but likely a bit more socially progressive than the Democrats. They can be for two reasons, one is the Canadian political climate that despite geography identifies more with Europe than the US (see high immigration) and the other is that we do not have the social / religious pressures that see strong social conservatism like in the US. Liberals support immigration (an uncontroversial issue in Canada), middling tax cuts, moderate social spending and are generally the least controversial party in Canada.
Challenges: The Liberals had strong leadership through the 1990's but were then hit with a major spending scandal which impacted Ontario and Quebec the most. Ontario and Quebec hold the most seats and were Liberal strong holds. After / During the scandal they elected their former Finance Minister as the new Leader. The Finance Minister and the former Prime Minister had had an open dispute during the scandal and the Liberal party was seen as falling apart and having grown corrupt. They lost to the Conservatives in 2006 have just held a leadership race and their new leader is widely unknown and very new to most of Canada. He is from Quebec and is a francophone and is having trouble getting english speaking Canada to notice him.
Conservatives
Leader: Stephen Harper (current Prime Minister)
History: The Progressive Conservatives were the counter-part to the Liberals for most of Canadian History. Then in the 1980's following a very rough Conservative government that brought in free trade and a general Goods and Services Tax applicable to everything of 7% they were thrown out of government and reduced to only 2 seats in the house. The spent the 1990's splintering into different right wing parties, the Reform, the Alliance and the old PC's and eventually regrouped under the new Conservative Party. Following the Liberal spending scandal of 2004 they were elected to a minority government for the first time in over 20 years in 2006.
Political Leanings: The Conservatives hold their cards very close to their chest, so it's hard to tell, and a good strategy for them. The new Conservative party is made up of the old Progressive Conservatives which were a 'fiscally conservative' party that focused on small government and lower taxes. The upshot Reform and Alliance which were really only in the province of Alberta (our version of Texas) were Canada's first social conservatives. The Reform and Alliance had policies against same-sex marriage, abortion and immigration. They never managed to get a seat outside of Alberta. When the parties merged they put forward the traditional fiscally conservative platform and have completely avoided talking about or creating policy that would counteract same sex marriage (now legal across Canada) or abortion or immigration. Still many Canadians are suspicious because Stephen Harper, the leader, is from the Reform side of the party not the old PC side.
Challenges: The Conservatives are holding onto power because Canadians were angry with the Liberals and booted them out. Canadians are widely skeptical about the social agenda of the Conservatives, but also don't think the Liberals have pulled themselves together enough to really be an effective party yet. The challenge for the conservatives will be have they convinced enough Canadians that they are not a 'scary' social conservative party (largely viewed as the reason the Conservatives did not get a majority last time), has Harper distanced himself enough from George W. Bush (probably the least popular President in Canada), has he convinced Canadians that he is actually concerned about average Canadians who are worried how the US economic crash is going to affect us, rather than giving big business tax breaks.
New Democratic Party
Leader: Jack Layton
History: Formed as the CCF in the 1930's following the 1st world war the New Democratic Party is a moderate socialist party. They have historically advocated for the labour unions, poor and working classes. In recent history they have been trying to move themselves more to the center like Tony Blair's Labour Party in Britain.
Political Leanings: Through to the 1970's the NDP actually had a communist branch, mainly Trotskyites. The Trotskyites were thrown out of the party in the 1980's and the NDP enjoyed a surge in popularity. Ever since then they have been trying to figure out how to appeal more to the mainstream. They have been following Tony Blair's new left model.
Challenges: Many Canadians like the social progressive platforms of the NDP but see them with inefficient leadership and worry they would spend too much on programs and raise taxes. Jack Layton has spent most of the campaign trying to Convince Canadians that in an economic downturn he would under no circumstances run a deficit. Many Canadian would like to see the Liberals as the governing party and the NDP as a strong opposition. It is this combination that created most of Canada's popular institutions like universal health care and national pension plans. However the NDP needs to beat the strategic vote which has people that may otherwise vote NDP if the Conservatives were weaker, but with a strong Conservative party will support the Liberals to try to prevent the Conservatives getting a majority.
Bloc Quebecois
Leader: Gilles Duceppe
History: England and France fought over Canada for a little under a century. At the end the French decided to give into the English on the condition that Quebec would be allowed to maintain it's French cultural identity. The rights of Quebec to language and culture are in our Constitution. However as Canada settled from what was once Upper (Ontario) Canada, and Lower (Quebec) Canada to include 8 new provinces and 3 new territories mostly english speaking Quebec has felt in many was it's equality, language and culture have been eroded. Many Quebecois feel like they are living in an occupied territory and want their own country. In true Canadian fashion we don't usually go to war on these issues, we got our freedom from England around a board room table and in 1995 we held a referendum in Quebec about separation. It got 49.7% of the vote and was called a failed vote. Following this the Bloc became an the official opposition in the Parliament when Quebec voted for no Liberal or Conservative seats after the collapse of the Progressive Conservative party.
Political Leanings: Quebec has always been more socially progressive than the rest of Canada. That being said the Bloc is a French conservative party, with socially progressive policies. I dare say that if their primary platform was not to separate Quebec from Canada which means they only run Candidates in Quebec, if they did run candidates in the rest of Canada on a national platform they may actually draw considerable support.
Challenges: They will never form government because they only run candidates in Quebec. There is something very ironic about having a main opposition party whose main objective is to say the government is illegal because it has not honoured the constitution. Still, Quebec seems to be loosing faith in them as they have had significant opposition power in the parliament for almost 10 years now and seem to be comfy in Canadian government rather than trying to bring it down.
Green Party
Leader: Elizabeth May
History: The Green Party was formed 25 years ago, and is not officially affiliated with Green Parties in other countries although all Green Parties do have at least one unifying principle. The Green Party has been trying to get onto the main stage of Canadian politics for the past 10 years. The big challenge has been entrance to the debates. In 2001 they were told they needed 2.5% of the vote, in 2003 (having 2.5% of the vote) they were told they needed to run Candidates across the country in 2006 (this was a very controversial reason for exclusion because of the Bloc being in the debates), having met the other two requirements they were excluded in 2006 because they did not have a seat in the parliament. This year an MP crossed the floor and joined the Greens. Stephen Harper and Jack Layton threatened not to participate in the Debates if Elizabeth May was let in, the public outcry from their own members was so much they needed to reverse their decisions.
Political Leanings: The Green Party is confusing for many Canadians they are neither left nor right, and those that are left think they're right and vice versa. They run a fiscally conservative platform advocating significant reductions in income and corporate taxes while shifting taxes on to pollution through carbon taxes and cap and trade. They also run a socially progressive platform advocating for a Guaranteed Annual Income, increase in minimum wages, and the addition of preventative medicines in the health care system.
Challenges: Cracking the house of commons. The Green Party is the 2nd choice party for over 60% of Canadian. The challenge is making them the 1st choice. Many Canadians who would like to support them are too worried about either the Conservatives or the Liberals getting a majority that they vote strategically.
THE ISSUES
Leadership If you read the competitive news Stephen Harper (Conservative) is a right-wing nut job who will ban same-sex marriage, force all women to be back in the kitchen barefoot and pregnant, and will hand over Canada to George W. Bush. Stephan Dion (Liberal) is a smart guy who has no control over his party, is too timid for real leadership and can't pick a direction to run in, he's also a complete unknown whose dog (Kyoto) has more public profile. Jack Layton (NDP) is a used cars salesman selling snake oil and will spend the Country into oblivion. Gilles Duceppe (Bloc) is crazy and French. Elizabeth May (Green) is delusional if she thinks Canadians care about the environment when our major industries are oil, forestry and cars. In short, Canadians are not in love with our leaders, there's no Obama factor here.
Economy Canadians are extremely worried about the economy because of what is happening in the US. The Liberals, NDP and Greens all have comprehensive economic plans. The conservatives have been in active denial about an economic crisis and have been telling Canadians not to worry they have a plan (they have not shown the plan). On the other hand the Conservatives were the party of 'fiscal responsibility' for 200 years of Canadian history that it's hard to tell who to trust.
Environment in 2006 for the first time the Environment ranked higher than Health Care on Canadian concerns. Canada is a northern country which has depended on the ice cap to protect our Northern boundary. We are not militarily oriented and are worried what global warming, which we can see acutely in our rural and northern regions every day will mean for our Sovereignty. More pressing for most Canadians are the simple changes we see day to day in climate, this brings health concerns, concerns for our children, concerns for our economy which is resource based, concerns about infrastructure and mass transit we are not a densely populated area, concerns on wild life and generally the future of Canada. On the other hand, maybe we can grow bananas.
Health Care No one touches the Health Care system in Canada. If a leader said Health Care and Privatization in the same sentence their own party is likely to kick them out.
Arts The Conservatives have made major cuts to the arts during their term in office. This has leant support to the people who think the conservatives have a secret social agenda to impose a moral majority on Canada.
The US Election It's widely acknowledged that the Canadian election was called quickly so that Canadians would head to the polls before the Obama/McCain race was decided. The general climate is that if the US elects Obama then the conservatives will be thrown out of office. On the other hand Canadians figure things are looking up if Obama is elected regardless of what leader we have, but if McCain is elected we don't want another Chretein / Bush or Diefenbaker / Regan pairing. Historically when Canada has had a socially progressive leader and the US has gone Republican it has not been good for Canada. So Harper has a lot to gain by having the election before the US goes to the polls.
Hope you enjoyed my little political detour. I tried to be as unbiased as possible, but that is of course never possible. If we have anymore Canadians on here who want to add feel free. I'd also be interested in knowing what you in the states are thinking about your own intense race.
Hahaha. The next twelve weeks are beginning on my 21st birthday!! I have been on off with the eating and exercising thing. My water weight has been having making the scale go up and down. I can tell I lost though by observing my body. I am glad we are doing the twelve weeks thing. It will get me back on the right track. Maybe in those twelve weeks I can loose my 24 pounds which puts me over my half way point.
I didn't do any new exercises. I guess the only real thing I have been doing is running. I kinds of want to this strip tease exercise thing.
I am going to continue with my old goal:
Working out 5x week. I will be eating 24 grams of fiber consistent and 1500-2000 calories.
Hi all!
I kinda feel like I fell off the wagon the past 48 hours. I didn't do my workout on Friday, and I have a bunch of friends who like to have a few too many drinks on occasion... ouch. Friday night was one of those. BUT, I was overall under my calorie average for the week, and I did go ahead and take advantage of my reward to play golf Saturday, even though my workouts for the week were one short. I figured the extra energy I would expend chasing my ball would be sort of a workout replacement... LOL...
Even though my busy weekend entailed no exercise whatsoever besides the golf, the calorie intake was on target, and I am back on track with exercise today.
I will repeat week two this week. I have revamped my whole workout plan, and it now, as I mentioned, includes the 100 pushups challenge, and additionally, Couch to 5K.
I can do 5 sets of 6 girlie pushups, and I actually jogged for 12 minutes Thursday evening, with a 3 minute walk in the middle. Not too bad for having been a complete couch potato for the last 12 months. But still have a long way to go!
I have a couple other challenges in my personal life that I believe are giving me the ability to focus on healthgain. Its almost like, the emotional energy created by those issues is being channeled into the "health" area. SO, this is good. HOWEVER, this does happen to be a trigger for me. Its happened in the past. About 5 years ago, my best friend told me she was moving with her husband to a very far away place permanently, I knew 3 months in advance, and dropped 40 lbs during that time. Then when she moved, I stressed so much that I just didn't care what I ate, and gained it all back the next three months... Hence, my belief that there is so much more psychology in this stuff than we could imagine. Ohhh to understand it all... LOL
GOALS:
Will post next week so I will be included in the list!
FAVE/LEAST FAVE EXERCISE:
I really love doing my floor workout which includes my favorite moves.. from standing up straight and reaching very tall, do a toe touch, and then walk my hands out into the "A" pose. I hold each pose for at least 20 seconds, and I am slowly building up the time. From the "A" pose, go into a left plank, hold, then to a front plank, hold, then to a right plank, hold, then back to a front plank, where I hold and then go straight into pushups (girlie). The planks are my favorite, but I really enjoy the switching around because it is so fluid, and when done correctly (abs in, rear tucked) it burns so good, and I feel like a ballerina doing all that balancing and slowly exerting such energy. Pushups are my least favorite (hardest) exercise, but I like them because I keep gaining on the reps!! I love that I am getting stronger and can do more and more, it keeps me driving. (This is the center portion of my daily stretch/yoga series. If you would like to know more, I'd be happy to share. )
Happy Healthgain,
~Julie
Tiegurl What a ... uh good... yes good... way to start off your 21st year. Are you in the states? If so, that's a big b-day! Make sure to post your goal NEXT week as that is when I'll be asking for all the results and new goals. If you miss next week feel free to link back to this week's thread.
Julie Have you tried yoga? If not you really should your exercises and the feeling you get from the floor exercises is incorporated into yoga in such a huge way. That may be my winter reward going back to yoga.
I just returned from the gym! I felt really horrible while on the machines..it seems like I haven't been there in a really long time instead of just a week..so slow and easy does it...I did push myself on the eliptical and feel pretty good..I did lose 2 more lbs last week so something must have been working. It was pretty deserted there, only some younger people who looked like the last thing they needed was to exercise but then again that is probably why they looked so thin/trim was they exercised on a regular basis. Anyway I don't mind the "poor thing" looks I won't look like this forever!!
My favorite exercise has got to be the mini tramp/with cd that came with it..the time just flies when I was able to complete it.. the least favorite is the lunge...I too have horrible knees and pretty much can't do it properly and tend to fall over or forward and hurt myself even more.
I have gotten away from cooking myself with the craziness of the last week...I also have real issues with leftovers so I am really trying not to cook so much that I just chuck in the garbage in 3 or so days. So out come the weight watchers cookbooks and I have a great diet cookbook by good housekeeping that I started this healthgain journey with...so I am going to continue..
Sara - I have never been to a formal yoga class, but have seriously considered it! I know I would really like it so much... I was kinda waiting til I got "settled in" before I jumped into any huge commitments, trying to ease into it... you know... and... there was some fear about not making it on the wagon, just to be sincere... BUT - I think those fears are pretty much past, and I am on the road again... hehe (thank goodness!) I will most definitely look into it!
Hee hee rpete - you used my word! "healthgain" I LOVE THAT WORD!!
thank you for the birthday wishes sara :) and you are totally right, it is very important that I focus on what I want for health and fitness in college. For one thing, I definitely do not want to gain the freshman fifteen!
Ohh, and speaking of yoga, I would lovee to get back to that. I took it as a gym class in school sophomore and junior years and I used to take a class outside of school every week. I loved it--plus an organized class is a way to force me back into exercise (although i thoroughly enjoy yoga and wouldnt consider it 'forcing me' into anything..). I think I might look into joining a class actually. I am almost done with the majority of my college apps for now and can't wait to be able to solely focus on my health.
For right now, I've realized that I need to start eating more. Teens aren't supposed to eat less than 1500 and the most I've been eating is about 1300. But the last two weeks, I have been eating way too little (like 800-900) because I was frustrated with my slow weight loss. I understand that it is much healthier to get back to exercise instead of restricting my calories too much. If I truly care about my health (which I think I do), I will make time in my day for exercising.
My main goal this week is to just try to get even a little exercise in, and up my calories significantly. I can't let the stress of school/college apps get in the way of my health, as both are my top priorities right now. I only have 11.2 pounds to go in reaching my ultimate goal and I'd like to do it the healthy way :)
Rpete I can relate. When I went back to the gym for the first time in February I was at my heaviest which really meant I did not want people at the gym to see me. My stomach stuck out, and when I did ball sit ups I looked as round as the ball and my stomach really rolled out. It's been less than a year and now I can see huge differences from when I first went. I'm so glad I stuck it out through the 'poor thing' looks because I now feel great when I go to the gym and while I'm not yet 'fit' I do look like I've been in the gym awhile.
Julie One of the things I like about the studio near me is that we can either buy a series of classes (like once a week Sep - Dec) or we can buy individual classes (like 20 classes) and show up to as many classes as we want or as few until those 20 classes are used up. I do it the second way because that way I make sure even if I miss a few weeks then I'm getting my money's worth. I also highly recommend the classes as opposed to a DVD since the teachers will adjust you and even a 1/4 inch twist in the hips or foot can make an immense difference. There is also something very dynamic about doing these exercises in synch with other people. More resonance I think.
Sarah I really wish my high school had put more focus on physical education and health. I got a great university education but I really didn't understand what was happening to my body or why. The problem with the freshman 15 is that it is often more than that and then happens yearly until you figure out how to fix the problem, which has now become the problem, instead of just maintaining your healthy self.
The biggest things I learned, and it applies to the working world too, as life does not calm down after university, is planning. Dorms are challenging to cook in, most cafeteria food is greesy and very carb heavy, it becomes very challenging to find fresh good food, but most campuses have one place hidden away that has some healthy choices for student prices. If you can cook, do cook.
You are absolutely right you do need to up your calories. As a full on member of wagon jumpers I can tell you the absolute best way to put on weight is to drop below 1,000 calories. Especially as you get close to your goal the secret is to eat more and exercise more. Get those muscles working for you to burn fat so that when you are crazy busy with studying your muscle are burning the fat even when you aren't exercising. To build the muscles your body needs food.
Also having muscles gives you more energy, eating right and exercising will give you the energy you need for school. When you do find yourself really tired during the semester take a look at your diet and exercise and remember them. They are often what will get you through a long exam better than all nighter and many pots of coffee.
Finally remember that when you starve your body it just takes the energy out of the muscle not out of the fat, muscle being more energy rich. So in the long run you're just setting yourself up to have to burn more fat.
Good luck with everything and keep thinking about what exactly it is that you want, it's so easy for that to get lost in the process of pursuing a degree. The degree being very important as well.
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