Week 3 not the best ever

Well, week 3 came and went and I didn't get in what I wanted as far as workouts go.  Did a bunch of little workouts at home to equal 30 minutes, but did not really break a sweat.  Food was, eh, ok at best.  Not awful, but improvements to be be made.   Here's to a healthier, sweatier and better week 4!

Week Three

Week three was definitely a better week for me.  I lost the period weight and am back to being down 1.4 pounds since the Challenge started.  So I kinda lost a week due to Aunt Flo (she's just a bitch, isn't she?) weight wise BUT I'm thrilled that my scale says that I am also down in my fat percentage!  I am down .5%.  YAY!! I'm excited about that.  I went over my calories both Friday and Saturday and I'm OK with that.  It kinda bugs me because I didn't over eat, or necessarily eat "bad" things but just things that were high in calories.... OK, and fat, and sugar. :):)  But I still feel good. And I am making better choices.  I'm going on vacation next week so am going to try to balance the diet with enjoying myself and see how I do.  I won't be running every day like I have been for the last three weeks but we will be hiking and walking a lot.

Week 3

This third week, during the week I did well. However since Thursday evening, I have been on a mini vacation so, not as well as I could have done from Thursday through Saturday. I'm staying positive and encouraged. I'm still really enjoying all of this! I realized though, that when I really eat well, I tend not to hit my calorie goals like I need to and when I eat what I want, I am WAY over my calorie goals... Needing to find a middle ground between those two, is my mini goal for myself this week to come :) Happy Memorial Day everyone!

week 3, reboot needed

Bad week for me, must reboot and try again. I say this after giving into the goodies in my house after having family over on Sunday - I just can't keep this stuff in front of me. I did make some good foods for the week that should keep me full and in my calorie range though - if someone will just finish off those cookies for me.....
No gain or loss but I feel as I did when this challenge started, not good. I have learned I feel lighter and more energetic when I eat right though, so lets hope that becomes motivation at some point.

week 2

Well, not my best week either, but I rallied... or so I thought.
I kid you not yesterday I was down a whopping 3.6 pounds - today I am UP .4 pounds?! Today I'm bloated and for all the water I've had I really haven't used the loo to account for it (TMI!)

Tuesday was a horrible day at work. I had a great morning and afternoon so I splurged on a yum Greek lunch thinking "I got this". I even had regular soda because that was avoid the yucky artificial sweeteners day. Yeah well, afternoon meetings put me in a funk and I proceeded to come home, have wine for dinner and then a pile of foods for before bed snacks so I could wake up without a headache from the wine. Counting the wine and regular soda (I had TWO), I was well over 1000 extra calories for the day. Not so good with the water either, I just didn't keep up at all. Same with the challenges - brushing teeth after every meal isn't so easy while at the office.

By Thursday though I was playing with the kids outside - did a bunch of gardening this weekend - been gaining calories back that way and even enjoyed a bit of icecream all within my calorie limits (yay for having to jog next to kids learning to ride bikes!) Honestly, I felt pretty good this weekend until today.

Back to the water today - I'll blame that for the bloat and try to move on. I really have no other explanation for it. I did have Jimmy Johns for lunch but got no mayo, no cheese... speaking of cheese, I'm not eating it on sandwiches anymore and don't miss it at all. Once I pile on the veggies I don't notice its gone and its a great calorie saver. ANYWAY... I'm all over the place tonight. Onward team!! We're learning lots, lets put that into ACTION!

I posted on Facebook this morning instead of the blog. :( Oh well, it's a Monday. To recap - last week was really pretty bad. The thing is (and I can say this now after coming through it and am on the other side!) is not to dwell. The scales might be forgiving but still in my heart of hearts I know what I did wrong, and where I could have been just a little better and made some wiser choices. It is a little different making bad choices now ya know? Before I made them and went on my merry way. Now, it's like have that ice cream - but only 1 scoop, not two. These changes in my thinking should be interesting!

Week Two...Only Ten More To Go

Week two's weigh in was better than week one's despite not getting in the same amount of exercise as week one.  It feels good to be getting back into the practice of tracking my food and my exercise again.

Another challenge I have been doing on tribesports.com is no chocolate for 30 days.  At first, I was skeptical that I could go a week, but I am happy to report I am on day 18!!!  To be honest, I haven't really missed chocolate as much as I thought.  

End of Week Two

Well, as you all know, my weigh in sucked but my fat percentage went down, so I'm stoked about that.  I didn't track over the weekend and I missed one workout so I'm sure someone got higher points then me this week.  But all in all, I feel it was a decent week for me as I learn to be more healthy and also learn more about myself.  I am looking forward to continuing on this journey with all of you.

Good luck for week three!

Good Monday morning ladies, I just up info dated my info on Facebook but wanted to add my information here too. Nervous to weigh in tonight at weight watchers but I am going to get through it! :) I'll again update my post & let everyone know how I did tonight after weigh in. :) So I was up again tonight, but all in all I wasn't shocked. So onto week 3 and we'll see if me tracking on myfitnesspal helps, so I am reading my calorie/carb/fat ect intake. I did fit in a 45 minute cardio work out tonight and I walked at work today for 15 minutes, so I managed getting in 60 minutes of activity today woohoo.

My week 1: So, my weigh in is in the evenings and I was up .2, but really not stressing it. I know if I do, that will just add another .5 lol. I did alright for my first week, didn't work out as much as I needed to, but I was able to get all of my water in every day, even on the weekend (although I know we're not tracking it on the weekend).
My schedule at work took me out of my normal day to day routine so, this week I am ready to give 110% and stay on track. I did eat healthy all during the week last week with the exception of Wednesday where we went out to Buffalo Wild wings. Today so far has gone great. Looking forward to seeing everyone else's numbers tomorrow! I'm sure everyone did fantastic!

Week 1

Well, it is week 1 and I'm down 2 pounds?! Honestly, its the water and the fact that I'm over PMS. Also, since I'm weighing myself I can tell you the scale showed no weight loss yesterday after my Outback meal. This morning I was down 3 pounds when I woke up. The 2 pounds is today after a pretty clean eating day and lots of water. Does anyone else fluctuate that much?! No changes in my body- my pants fit a little snug like always.

Pop challenges have been good. No cheese was easy - I ate soup all day! But my calorie intake was also low that day - so says myfitnesspal, it actually yelled at me I wasn't eating enough.

Water has also been good. I measured and all my cups are 16 oz, I can guzzle one pretty quick if I'm behind but keeping up during the day is better. The hardest is when I'm at work - I rarely buy bottled water, its not enough anyway, and its taken me some mental strength to drink from the work water cooler again (GERMS?!?)

Not snacking is killer, especially around the kids. I'm eating all my calories in 3 meals. I think I'd rather be on Weight Watchers then daily calorie counting because there are days, like today - I'd love a banana but I don't have 100 calories left to spare since I go day to day rather then weekly. I'll have to work it into breakfast tomorrow.

So hit all my days except Saturday - splurged and a big ol thing of icecream and that put me over 155 calories for the week in total. Not bad I don't think?

Must move more. The day I did stretching I worked in some outdoor fun with the kids to get the 30 minutes point. I got more calories added back in that way. I see lots of tweaking to this here diet of mine over the next 11 weeks... maybe smaller meals more often and I'm also running out of meal ideas so looking forward to that pop challenge to share some recipes!

Week One: Worked Out All 6 Days!

So you all know that I went down 1.4 pounds on Friday which is my normal weigh in day.  But I also wanted to share that I worked out all 6 days last week (twice for an hour!).  It sure felt good to do that and it sure felt good NOT to work out on Sunday! :)  I have to tell you that I've really enjoyed reading everyone's posts last week as well as the articles that were posted.  I am learning a lot with this challenge.

Thank you to all you Skinny members for helping to motivate me last week!!  I hope this challenge has been as motivating for you as it has for me so far.

One week into the challenge and I am down exactly one pound.

Hmmm. I was hoping to have actually lost 100 pounds, because I like to see immediate results. I am all into immediate gratification. Oh well.

I wanted to share my feelings this morning. I woke up and I felt really crappy. I didn't sleep well the night before and that always makes me cranky the next day. Grumbled my way into the kitchen to get my coffee and knew that I did NOT want to do my weight plan or exercise or anything else healthy. Ugh. But I ate my piece of toast with peanut butter and banana and came on into my office where I was greeted by an email reminding me to post my progress and points. And all of a sudden - I wanted to do the challenge! And I wanted to eat right! And I wanted to exercise. Sorta. :-) But seriously, it's all about the accountability factor that turned into wants. Thank you all for making me accountable which in turn made me want to get healthier.

Link to JJ Virgin's 7docs7days.com

I've been listening to this series since Wednesday (sorry for not posting sooner) and realized you guys may want to listen as we'll.  

http://7days7docs.com

eggs

http://hotair.com/archives/2013/01/28/breaking-eggs-not-bad-for-you-and-the-nyt-is-on-it/

The plight of the egg is a personal favorite of mine. As a kid I remember eating liver at least once a month because it was supposed to be good for you until suddenly that was bad for you too - of course, that one I didn't mind as much and have never looked it up to see if anyone changed their mind :)

pyramid vs plate

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/pyramid/

Simple stuff in this one, but a good reminder.

The Mediterranean Pyramid

I was perusing the Mayo Clinic website, my go-to medical information site. www.mayoclinic.com There is a tab for Resources and that in turn lead me to this other site and an article on the Mediterranean pyramid. I've always heard that the mediterranean way of eating was the healthiest. A quote from the article: "The “poor” diet of the people of the southern Mediterranean, consisting mainly of fruits and vegetables, beans and nuts, healthy grains, fish, olive oil, small amounts of dairy, and red wine, proved to be much more likely to lead to lifelong good health.

 Other vital elements of the Mediterranean Diet are daily exercise, sharing meals with others, and fostering a deep appreciation for the pleasures of eating healthy and delicious foods."

Gotta like a diet that includes alcohol. :-) Here's the link if you would like to read more: http://oldwayspt.org/resources/heritage-pyramids/mediterranean-pyramid/overview

McDonalds and Subway

This study was done focusing on teenagers, but we all to eat and we all need to be aware of what we are eating.  This shows even a good option can be bad...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/09/mcdonalds-subway-nutrition-teens_n_3246268.html

For the past decade or so, people have been made to be afraid of the sun from media slamming us with inconsistent information and always highlighting the bad effects from the sun when over exposure occurs.  But, there is no reason to be afraid of the sun. In fact, proper exposure is so good for you (those of us Vitamin D deficient can attest to that).  The below link is to a very good article that talks about the benefits of the sun, what to look out for, and proper exposure.  I hope you all enjoy the article.

http://www.naturalnews.com/038730_sunlight_health_benefits_disease_prevention.html

How much exercise will I need to do if I eat...

Here is a link to a very interesting article on exercise and eating fast food.  Would you like to see this information posted?  Would it make a difference on what you eat?

http://news.msn.com/science-technology/how-much-exercise-does-a-big-mac-cost

Day 3 update

Quick update from me, on day 3, already.  :)
Yesterday I noticed my toes cramping as if I was dehydrated, it happens - but I'm not, I'm keeping to the water goals. As I was looking over my calorie counting app I noticed it keeps track of protein, sodium and... potassium! Turns out, I don't think I get enough potassium in my diet - not because of this diet because the foods I've chosen this week are staples in my diet anyway - I think I just don't get enough potassium full stop. So this is really interesting to me and I'm going to watch not just calories and sodium but all the categories (its like looking at the back of a box). It shows you what you've had and the goal for the day and the difference.

Day 1 - I only got half the Calcium and Iron and Potassium
Day 2 - I got 3/4 of Calcium and Iron and 1/2 the Potassium

Vitamins A and C I got 100% both days. Protein I'm pretty close to target too.

Have I mentioned I don't exercise? It is not uncommon for me to have absolutely no energy. For 7 years I've blamed the kids (haha, sorry kids) - but now I'm wondering if a good multi vitamin would help. I know I know shouldn't we all be on a vitamin? I rarely take them though because they often make me ill - haven't found one I like.

ANYWAY, I'm rambling - but this 12 week experiment is proving interesting already and thought I would share. If anyone wants to know - I'm using myfitnesspal iphone app.

Hi my name is

Kimberly and I am TOTALLY excited to be a part of this fun 12 week challenge.  

A bit about me...I'm a single mom to a wonderful 9 year old boy, Anthony, have a 2-1/2 year Yorkie-maltese mix dog, Moxy Girl,  full time and have 10 weeks left on my Health Coaching certification program.  I am one those people that actually enjoys going to the gym and exercising.  I just don't have the time to.  

But I wasn't always that the case.  The morning before having Anthony I topped the scales at 218 pounds.  Yes some of that was baby, but most of it was eating whatever I wanted while pregnant.  Nine months after Anthony I lost one of the most important person in my life, my mom to obesity.  It took me awhile but I saw I was following in her steps despite always liking fitness.  It just wasn't a priority. In 2005, I made it a priority and within 6 - 8 months lost the final baby weight plus an extra 10 pounds for good measure.  

I'm now looking to lose those sticking 10 pounds again.

My goals for this challenge are:

Drop 10 pounds

Drop 6.6% body fat

Exercise consistently

Make some great connections that help foster a healthy lifestyle 

Woohoo, let's make this happen!! 

Intro

Hello I am Megan Lanham, 34yrs old, I am married with two kiddo's 10 and 8yrs old.
I am looking for a positive outlook on being healthy, currently I struggle with staying motivated and focused.
My goal is to lose 15 pounds by the end of the 12 week challenge.
I also hope to learn new healthy alternatives for meals and have fun. I am looking forward to this journey with everyone! Good Luck everyone!

Hi - My name is Paul Zeman.  I'm 56, and I want to live long enought to see and enjoy my grandchildren.  And, since my daughter is only 12, I have a while to go!!  I started this journey about 5 months ago when I lost a very good friend of mine.  He was a year younger, and had always been in better shape.  He went to FL on a business trip - checked into his hotel room - and had a massive stroke that virtually killed him almost immediately.

I looked in the mirror and I saw an old white fat man - not the person I wanted to be.  I saw my Wife without a Husband.  My Daughter without a Dad.  And I got very scared. 

So I committed to myself that I would "FIX IT". 

That was at 290 lbs.  I'm at 259 now.  I'm starting to exercise again.  My chest measure 52".  My waist measures 45". 

My goal is 4 fold:
(1) I WILL get back to my High School graduation weight of 200 lbs.
(2) I WILL get back in GOOD shape for a 56-57 year old
(3) When I hit my goal weight of 200 lbs, I have already set it up to take the USMC Physical Training Test.  I doubt I'll pass (compared to "kids"), but I WILL take it and WILL survive it and surprise the _ _ _ _ out of my friends and family!!
(4) Unless the Lord has other plans for me, I'll be healthy and live to be old enough to scare my Daughter's boy friends, walk her down the aisle, and hold my Grandchild. 

So help me God.....

Ooorah!!!!
Improvise......
Adapt.......
Overcome.......

Intro

Hi, my name is Jill and I don't have a photo to post. I'm 37 with 2 kids, 7 and 4 in age.
I'm looking for motivation to eat healthier and not solidify that next size up in pants I've started buying in the past year. Plus, I'm getting closer to needing blood pressure medication and my body can no longer control a lot of sodium without bloating up bigger then my 5 month baby #2 pregnancy photo - and that disturbs me. I would really like to drop 10 pounds over this 12 week challenge, stay far away from fast food (except Subway), lower my sodium intake with better food selections and maybe... just maybe... get motivated to move. I'd say my lifestyle is darn near sedentary lately except for chasing the kids, cleaning the house, stuff like that. The weather is better so I suppose I'll naturally be moving more. But otherwise I'm not entirely sure where energy comes from to actually purposely exercise, maybe I'll find some here.

If I were to get all psychological on you all... my Mom was my size when she was my age and by the time she died at the young age of 60, she was obese. Clothing in the size I'm starting to wear now was in her closet still. She fought her weight her entire adulthood and that has made me extremely sensitive to the 5 pounds I've been gaining each year since the birth of my children - weighing more now, 4 years later, then I did in the first year of either of their births. I'm not looking to be high school skinny. I am looking to make better choices and take care of myself more. Hope we all accomplish that - and have the scale agree in the end  :)

[edited to say I hope "noon" means Mountain time zone?]

Welcome to the first day of this friendly competition!!

I think this is going to be a fun competition.  I also think that whether we like it or not, we'll also learn a few things both about ourselves as well as about better health, in general.

Please post an introduction of yourself with a current “before” photo and your fitness goals as your first post.  ANOTHER NOTE:  Your picture does NOT have to be in sports bra/bike shorts (or boxers if you’re a guy), although you can if you desire to do so.  You can post a fully clothed picture.  

Good luck team!!!  I'm confident that we're all going to do great!

Stacey

Intro

Hi everybody. My name is Denise and I agreed to join this challenge when Stacey presented it to me. I joined Weight Watchers in March for various health reasons and when this opportunity came by I thought it would be a perfect addition to just losing weight by making healthy choices. Sometimes watching the scale move (OR NOT!!!) just isn't enough. So I am looking for some kinship with other people in the same boat. Looking forward to competing with all of you.

My health goals are to lose 10 pounds and to move my cholesterol  from 215 to 200 and my A1C results from a 5.9 to a 5.4.

 - Denise

Hello Everyone!  My name is Stacey Patel and I am the facilitator of the Skinny On The Inside 12 Week Health Challenge. I'm so very excited to be doing this and I hope we all have a fantastic time, get healthier, and become more health conscious.  My goals for this 12 week challenge is to have my scale stop telling me I'm a "Fatty Patty."  Well, it doesn't say that in words, but displaying my weight and body fat percentage each time I get on it pretty much says that to me.  My goal is to lose 15 pounds, 10% of my body fat, and  having thinking healthy come naturally to me so that I automatically make healthy choices.  Another of my goals is to make this challenge fun for all of us so that we don't get bored with it and that we all benefit from what we will learn.  Good luck team!