I WILL lose this fat once and for all and to make sure it happens I’ve signed up for the women’s challenge to keep myself accountable! I’ve posted this in the Challenge thread but I want it here too for my benefit.
Plan:
8-4 through 9-1: I’m on vacation next week and again over Labor Day weekend with no access to weights. My exercise will be Cardio 45-60min per day 5-6 days a week. As for diet I have no formal plan but I will track my calories and try to get my macros close to my OPT numbers.
9-2 through 11-22: OPT for diet and exercise.
11-23 to 11-30: Diet & recovery, to finish out the challenge.
Not bad for the first day. I’m really pleased with the protein since that’s usually my toughest macro to hit.
Yesterday went well. I was hungry late in the afternoon but resisted snacking beyond a large carrot (this accountability is working so far). I was pretty tired and getting cranky before I finally got to eat dinner (husband was late getting home from work). Between his hours and the kid’s activities dinner time ranges from 6p-8p and often I’m not sure what time we’ll eat. Hopefully being a little hungry really won’t kill me!
Meals are planned for today and the macros look good again just need to make sure to eat breakfast BEFORE heading to work today and pack my lunch!
Memo to self: pictures Aug 29!
Thank you for the welcomes! I’ve been around the forum for a few years but am a lurker rather than poster. I hope to improve on that over the next few months. I just have to remind myself that even if I don’t feel qualified to answer a question I can comment along the lines of keep up the good work.
Results: Tue 8-5-08 ~ Day 2 of 119 (Women’s Challenge)
Calories 1439
Protein 37%
Carbs 39%
Fat 24%
Exercise: treadmill at level 3.1 for 45min
Sleep: 5 hours
~~~~~
Results: Wed 8-6-08 ~ Day 3 of 119 (Women’s Challenge)
Calories 1427
Protein 32%
Carbs 41%
Fat 27%
Exercise: treadmill at level 2.9 for 45min (forgot to increase it, duh!)
Sleep: 5.5 hours
~~~~~
Results: Thu 8-7-08 ~ Day 4 of 119 (Women’s Challenge)
Calories 1505
Protein 34%
Carbs 31%
Fat 28%
Alcohol 7%
Exercise: treadmill at level 3.1 for 45min
Sleep:6.5 hours
Unexpected art show opening last night. A friend of my husband’s has an exhibit at a tiny restaurant near our house and last night was the opening night. We ended up going while our son was at karate. Of course it wasn’t decided until 15 minutes before we had to leave so dinner instead of relaxed was inhaled in 5 minutes (and I only got the meat part, though better than just the carbs!) but I did have a glass of wine and a couple of cheese and crackers at the show. Overall still okay.
I’m still pretty hungry later in the afternoon until dinner time. Today should be okay because I’ll spend all day running around like a chicken with my head cut off preparing and packing for our vacation. No treadmill today but lots of NEAT. Not to mention all the calories I usually burn off worrying about getting everything done! We leave for vacation tomorrow morning and my hope is to still be able to wear my already tight pants at the end of the week when we go out for dinner! I must keep the snacking to a minimum, watch the alcohol consumption and keep my activity up.
Thank you for the welcomes! I’ve been around the forum for a few years but am a lurker rather than poster. I hope to improve on that over the next few months. I just have to remind myself that even if I don’t feel qualified to answer a question I can comment along the lines of keep up the good work.
i love how you've counted the days - i never thought of that and i tend to be pretty anal with the numbers.
as for posting, i tend to be a lurker wherever i've been a member, but it really is amazing how one little comment can make your day. and i find that if i post my eats and exercise regularly, i feel like i'm letting others down if i go off program, so i am less likely to do so.
sounds like you are off to a great start - best of luck with the challenge!
I’m back from my vacation from my vacation (no, not a typo). Despite too much food (mmmm lobster) and too much wine I moved enough during my actual week’s vacation that I only gained a couple of pounds that were gone by Tuesday morning. However, I haven’t done anything in the way of exercise or tracking my food since (vacation from vacation). Today is a new day. I have my meals planned for today and an exercise plan for the week.
Exercise: The first week of the challenge I aimed for 45 minutes on the treadmill at 3.0 and zero incline just to get some movement without tiring me out. I think that was too conservative so this week I’ll increase the speed and incline probably a little each day until I find a comfortable level. I’ll use this as a baseline later in the challenge.
Food: The first week of the challenge I was hitting a 25-30% deficit while getting 30-37% protein (a significant improvement). This week I’m going to hit hard with the calories and aim for a 40% deficit through Friday and at least 30% protein. I’m hoping this offsets the damage from last week and gives me a head start on Labor Day weekend which will likely be a repeat of my vacation week (without the lobster). I know we have until Tue 9-2 to take pictures for the challenge but I’m doing mine on Friday so I can start the next part of my challenge plan fresh on Tuesday.
Challenge-Phase 2: Starting Tue, 9-2-08 I’m starting OPT and plan to have everything in place before I leave for the weekend so I have no excuses come Tuesday! I will at least post my results from Tue on Wed (9-3). I had so much little stuff to do this past week to catch up from being away I let myself skip workouts, make excuses for not tracking my food and more or less avoid this forum. I do NOT want a repeat performance of last week.
Results: Sun 8-24-08 ~ Day 21 of 119 (Women’s Challenge)
Meh, I had a plan for the day. It fell apart before lunch! It never got better.
I don’t want to keep fighting the weight loss battle. I’m not even battling, more like skirmishes, sometimes only reconnaissance. I just want to win the war. I want to be done with it. Why won’t I do that? What is stopping me? Why won’t I do what needs to be done?
Results: Sun 8-24-08 ~ Day 21 of 119 (Women’s Challenge) Meh, I had a plan for the day. It fell apart before lunch! It never got better.
I suggest you write every piece of food you eat, every day, HERE. I believe you can write a message and then edit it, so you can even log it all in as it is being eaten if necessary.
Are you writing your food anywhere? Or do you tabulate it in the evening? Do not skip days as you have been. Especially for the next 14 days to build a habit.
Etana
Beginning REPAIR TODAY, taking the same advice for myself
The edit window closes about an hour I think after the post. Having said all that, you should record what you're eating somewhere. It doesn't need to be here, but it should be somewhere. I decided in December that I would log everything, even the bad days. In the past whenever I've had bad days I just don't log them. This of course makes it impossible even a week or two later to know what I'm doing right (or wrong). For a long time I would make a plan and it didn't matter what I wanted that day, I would stick to the plan. Now I'm comfortable enough with changes that I do sometimes change things during the day (but come down to the computer afterwards and readjust the rest of the day).
Results: Sun 8-24-08 ~ Day 21 of 119 (Women’s Challenge)
Meh, I had a plan for the day. It fell apart before lunch! It never got better.
I don’t want to keep fighting the weight loss battle. I’m not even battling, more like skirmishes, sometimes only reconnaissance. I just want to win the war. I want to be done with it. Why won’t I do that? What is stopping me? Why won’t I do what needs to be done?
For me, it came down to REALLY wanting it. Once I REALLY wanted it bad enough, then nothing stood in my way. I focused on my goal and never lost sight of it. No matter what.
I agree with the other advice you have gotten. Things didn't start coming together for me until I logged everything little thing consistently. I took a break and my results took a break, too.
And, then there's always the "how bad do you want it?" Like Jane said, until you have that in place, nothing else is going to really matter.
Well part of my problem yesterday (and Sunday) is I’m coming down with something. I woke up both yesterday and today with a sore throat. It didn’t say sore but I can feel it’s swollen. My sinuses were tingly all day yesterday and I felt a little achy and very tired. Throw in a dash of PMS (man the timing on the challenge pictures couldn’t be worse for me!) and well you have a post like yesterday. Actually I write my posts ahead of time in word then copy and paste to the forum. What I wrote in my word document is full of much more angst.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Etana
I suggest you write every piece of food you eat, every day
Quote:
Originally Posted by realcdn
Tyou should record what you're eating somewhere.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Karen411
I agree with the other advice you have gotten. Things didn't start coming together for me until I logged everything little thing consistently. I took a break and my results took a break, too.
I actually do have a program on my computer (NutriBase) that I use. The first 5 days of the challenge I used it and did well. Then went on vacation and well I posted that above…
This week is turning out to be hectic between getting ready for a long weekend away, not feeling great and back to school stuff (forgot my kids need backpacks and one of them needs sneakers I think! Doh!). I’m going to spend the rest of the week doing “stuff”, the stuff that needs to get done without worrying about formal exercise. I’ll “dust” off my program and get back to tracking and even try to pre-plan for next Tue at least. Between that and preparing for OPT (exercise part) I shouldn’t have any excuses next week.
Quote:
Originally Posted by missjane
For me, it came down to REALLY wanting it. Once I REALLY wanted it bad enough, then nothing stood in my way. I focused on my goal and never lost sight of it. No matter what.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Karen411
And, then there's always the "how bad do you want it?" Like Jane said, until you have that in place, nothing else is going to really matter.
Yeah, I’ve been thinking about this for a while. On the one hand I do think I really want it. On the other obviously my actions don’t match this. Jane, you’ve said the same thing on other threads. I’m curious did you go through a thought process to get to that point? I’ll save you the rest of my angst ridden (I keep hoping I’ll gain some insight but so far just more confusion) writing but I want to get to the point where I REALLY want it and then REALLY do it. I want OPT to work for me.
As an aside, anyone else hate the end of summer because of mice? Our main computer is in a basement office with a drop ceiling. The cat and I are sitting here tracking the movements of a (VERY LOUD) mouse over our heads. OMG, it sounds like there is mouse Olympics or a party going on up there! Grrr…time to get more mouse traps!
I can't say it was a thought process. I knew I wanted to do it for vanity reasons, and I knew I HAD to do it for health reasons. I just KNEW it was my time and I wrote down my goals, focused on them with a tunnel vision like never before, and did it (well, still doing it ). I liken it to when I quit smoking years ago. Many times I tried and failed. But, when I truly wanted to quit and knew and trusted that I COULD DO IT, I did it. And, there just was no doubt, ever.
I can't say it was a thought process. I knew I wanted to do it for vanity reasons, and I knew I HAD to do it for health reasons. I just KNEW it was my time and I wrote down my goals, focused on them with a tunnel vision like never before, and did it (well, still doing it ). I liken it to when I quit smoking years ago. Many times I tried and failed. But, when I truly wanted to quit and knew and trusted that I COULD DO IT, I did it. And, there just was no doubt, ever.
Darn, no step 1, do this. Step 2, do this. Step 3, voila you are there?
Vanity reasons, got that. Do not like looking like a rectangle in clothing or a giant blue avocado in my old swimsuit. Pants are all too tight. Only t-shirts and one nice shirt fit. Yeah, deninitly got that part.
Health reasons, got that too. History of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and Parkinson's in my family. Two of them can be prevented with good nutrition and exercise. The other two if can't be prevented can make it easier to manage with good nutrition and exercise.
Writing down my goals and tunnel vision. Hmm, haven't done and don't have respectively. I think mostly I just blunder along both in trying to lose weight and in life. Goals, plans, tunnel vision. Wait, step 1, step 2, step 3 and voila!
Seriously, plan to do some thinking along these lines. What do I really want? Why do I want it? How will I get there?
Lisa~ put up a link to this a few days ago - if you didn't see it - you might want to read it now - it deals with the issue of what we say we want vs. what we actually have
that's a great article. i've been thinking about what i want quite a bit lately and it looks like i may be heading back to school this fall. and it's funny how much i've thought about how to work my current fitness and nutrition habits into my new schedule - it seems to really be "sticking" this time.
Lisa~ put up a link to this a few days ago - if you didn't see it - you might want to read it now - it deals with the issue of what we say we want vs. what we actually have
I didn't see the link to this article before. Thank you for posting it here. It's given me more to think about as I get closer to starting OPT.
OPT starts Tuesday. My meals are already planned for that day and at least until I get a decent scale (THANK YOU Etana!) the numbers line up almost exactly. I'm taking my OPT exercise info with me to preview.
Is there a way to make the pictures the same size? I've been playing with them all morning and this is the closest I can get.
Is there a way to make the pictures the same size? I've been playing with them all morning and this is the closest I can get.
What I did last time is take one picture and crop it at the same spot. Size it to what size you want. Take the next picture and crop at the same spot. Look at the height number from the first picture and then scale the second one up or down to match.
(I'm not sure that helps, but that's the basic mindset behind it.)
Hi Karen, just subbing to your log. Sounds like you did pretty well last month, all things considering (like lobster!), so keep on reaching for that goal. You can do it!!!
Results: Tue 9-2-08 ~ Day 30 of 119 (Women’s Challenge)
Calories 1349
Protein 39%
Carbs 35%
Fat 26%
Exercise: OPT A1 w~1 (about 45 minutes)
Back on track. Day one of OPT complete. Still need to figure out how to fit a third cardio day into my schedule and this week will be tight since I didn’t start on Monday.
Results: Wed 9-3-08 ~ Day 31 of 119 (Women’s Challenge)
Calories 1314
Protein 37%
Carbs 36%
Fat 28%
Exercise: OPT B1 w~1
I am feeling yesterday’s workout in my hams and abs. Must brace myself to sneeze!
The kids started back to school today and between forgotten sneakers, getting the boy school supplies and picking the girl up after practice the day flew by. We should settle into a routine pretty quickly, none of this is really new. I was too busy this afternoon running around to really notice being hungry but did have some pangs before bed.
Losing it once and for all…
). I know we have until Tue 9-2 to take pictures for the challenge but I’m doing mine on Friday so I can start the next part of my challenge plan fresh on Tuesday.
) writing but I want to get to the point where I REALLY want it and then REALLY do it. I want OPT to work for me. 
Grrr…time to get more mouse traps! 
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