June Weight Loss Challenge!

[Ford Girl]

Holy Moly - Summer is here!



How is everyone doing in their healthy living challenge?

I just lost another 2lbs, which puts me in second place in our BL competition, and puts me at a total of 25lbs lost in total in 2008! I am down from a size 18 to a 14, AND I haven't had heart burn in 2 months nore have I had hip pain in 3 weeks!

June's Mini Goal: to lose 8lbs in the month of June. I have 3 more weigh in's.

[phoozles]

Congrats FordGirl - You're doing so great!! What's your secret??

As for me, I've reintroduced carbs into my diet - man are they tasty!
I went down about 11lbs for the month of May on my 'kick start' plan, and now I'm on a new one that allows me to eat one 'indulgent' treat a day - Monday it was a low fat ice cream sandwich - yesterday was 6 small hot wings!

FH is still doing really well - he's down close to 18lbs since we started at the beginning of May.. of course, he doesn't eat when he should and doesn't exercise the 'right' way, and of course he's losing constantly

Get this - last night he weighed himself, then sweated up a storm on the exercise bike, weighed himself again (he's obsessed) and said he was down a pound! So I figure, let me try that. Weighed myself first thing in the morning, did a decent 30 minute cardio routine, weighed myself right after (without eating anything), and wouldn't you know it - I was UP half a pound .. What's that all about? Ah well, I'm not letting it get me down..

I put on a pair of pants that last week were still a lil' snug, and they are fitting loosely!

Tomorrow morning I'm getting a bridesmaid dress altered.. I bought it the week before I started this routine, so we'll see if more needs to be done to it other than just a hemming! It's got to be a little bit looser, at least!

[Ford Girl]

Yeah for carbs!!! Good eh? I could never cut, but I do limit portions and use the clock to judge, no starches/carbs after 6pm, hardly ever with supper.

You get one treat per day? mmmmm! Lucky you!! What that does is gives you the choice, the power to decide, to make a good choice.

You weigh more after a work out, typically. I hear ya on the men/loss/time frustration, it's not fair! Weird how the body works eh? I weighed yesterday at 6am, was down 1, incase I couldnt make it to the proper weigh in, but I did make it, and I weighed in again at 6pm, and was down 2! LOL! I even ate as if I had already weighed in.

Good luck at the fitting, I hope it's too big!!!

For me, there's no secret. Nothing crazy.

For us, the biggest thing we have done is lessen the amount of food we eat; we have been trying the method of “eat like a naturally skinny person” – from a program we watched on TLC, naturally skinny people eat to survive and rarely stuff themselves, obviously there are exceptions to every rule. But summing up what we have done:

Eat when you’re hungry.
Eat until the very second you THINK you might be full, then stop.
Eat consciously – pay attention to speed of eating and what you are eating.
Limit carbs at supper time, try to eat all carbs/grains before supper
No after dinner snacking except Thursdays. LOL! Thursdays is TV night. We eat popcorn.

These have really helped us lose the weight and fight cravings…its nice to feel hungry, and it’s nice to not feel stuffed, I feel very much in control of my eating right now, and that’s a huge motivator to keep it up. I also noticed I don’t beat myself up as much as I would have in the past, I don’t let myself get down over a few beers or a piece of cake – IF I planned for it – which makes it my choice, the food doesn’t control me, I control those choices and know what I need to do if I choose to eat those things. In the past I was always on a diet or a program, and this time I am doing it my way – I know what makes me fat, I know what I need to do to lose the weight.

Also, genetically my family is obese, the women are huge and have lots of belly fat while the men are tall and thin, so not only am I fighting my inner food demons, I have genetics pulling me towards obesity.

I say F – THAT! If genetics win, I will also suffer from heart decease, cancer, stokes, diabetes, mental illness and alcoholism. No thanks, not this cat, not ever. I do know I have to quit smoking, but I need to make my eating and exercising a priority right now, that will come soon enough; I don’t trust myself to do both, not yet. But some day I will be in control of that too.

This is how I feel today, proud, strong, in control and ready to shed another 10lbs. We can’t change the choices we made in the past; we can only improve on the choices we make today, right now, this choice, it’s for me.

For more info on my Booze Diet Plan, see the tjt.

[bendyfoot]

What are you all doing for exercise?
I have one more week to go of my SI6 program (http://www.beachbody.com/product/fit...s/slim_in_6.do) It'll actually have been 6 weeks today, but I'm going to do one more week of the hardest tape. So other than two days that I missed, I've worked out for an average of 50 minutes a day, 6 days a week, for the last 6 weeks. DW and I did a weigh-in/measure last weekend. I've gone down about 5 lbs (and have been at about the same weight for the past 2 weeks, grrr), but I've lost about 2.5 inches in the chest (and I bought three new bras before I started working out, they're getting too small already, grrrr), 2.5 inches in the waist, maybe 1.5 off the gut, but nothing off the hips. I'm happy with the upper body losses, but WHY OH WHY is it that the place you want to lose weight the most is the one that sticks to you the longest??? On the plus side, I have MUSCLES now!!! I can actually SEE my biceps/triceps/shoulders, and my legs are rock hard (except for that fleshy part on the inside, you know the place) from all the squats and lunges and leg lifts. I swear I also have abs, you just can't see them yet! Also...I think I now have an a-s. DW and I took pictures of ourselves 30 days ago, and new ones last weekend, and I can see the difference if I squint but I can feel it in the way my clothes fit, so that makes me happy.
I ordered a new series of tapes...I'm a bit scared of the ones DW is doing (they're not for wimps), so I got something that seemed a little more up my alley:http://www.beachbody.com/product/fit...mum_results.do

Geez, these things look so corny in their ads, but they really kick your butt, I sweat like a crazy banshee every workout!!!

Still doing well with the healthy eating. DW and I enjoy one date night a week (Fridays), where we treat ourselves to dinner out, usually for Thai or Indian food, which isn't too terrible. Other than that, we cook everything from scratch and have cut the junk right out, only fruits, veggies, low-fat dairy (boy do we miss our cheese!), lean meats except for one red meat night a week (steak or extralean burgers), fish two nights a week, and have really cut down on the carbs (we used to eat a whole baguette with most dinners...loaded with butter of course!) and only have whole grain stuff. I actually prefer the foods now, but still crave my sugar/chocolate.

[Ford Girl]

Originally Posted by bendyfoot

What are you all doing for exercise?

Still doing well with the healthy eating. DW and I enjoy one date night a week (Fridays), where we treat ourselves to dinner out, usually for Thai or Indian food, which isn't too terrible. Other than that, we cook everything from scratch and have cut the junk right out, only fruits, veggies, low-fat dairy (boy do we miss our cheese!), lean meats except for one red meat night a week (steak or extralean burgers), fish two nights a week, and have really cut down on the carbs (we used to eat a whole baguette with most dinners...loaded with butter of course!) and only have whole grain stuff. I actually prefer the foods now, but still crave my sugar/chocolate.

Not much really. No gym or formal program. Just walking the dog, 5 - 6klm (45 - 60 mins) a day, probably 4 - 5 times a week, fast paced with agility thrown in (bus stops, stairs, tree's, play ground). I do the stairs once a week at work, up and then down, 31 flights. I walk one lunch hour per week, slow paced while window shopping.

I do have a treadmill and weights and exercise ball set up, but have yet to use them cuz of the nicer weather and the dog needs walking. But I do hardly sit around, always wrenching in the garage or out and about. I know for me, eating properly plays a bigger role in weight loss then exercise. I know when I hit a plateau I will need to step it up, but this time I figured, focus on food and getting that in check, then up the exercise.

I still eat cheese, I buy the lite cheeses, cheddar, feta, havarti, but now I measure and weigh it, so the portion is appropriate. A kitchen scale is the best tool ever for this...buy one if you dont have one, it's helpful when you know what an appropriate portion looks like.

Bendy- you are doing so good, both you and DW. And it's nice to treat yourself once a week, we do date nights too. (I have 2 peices of cake hidden in the freezer for our next date night )

Keep up the good work!!!

For sugar cravings I have discoverd 2 wonderful healthier option, No Sugar Added Licorice, yum!!! And Cracker Jack's rice cakes, very good, butter toffee...mmmmmmmmmm! Great to cut the craving, low cal, low fat options.

[phoozles]

Wow Bendy, you're doing great!

And FordGirl, it's true - your diet is 75% of your weight loss, so conquering that first is your best bet - the exercise just helps things along and tones stuff up

Went for my dress alteration today - they had to take in the bust about an inch on each side and take about an inch off of each strap - when I bought it just over a month ago it fit perfectly! So I guess that's good news! They'll have it done by next week, but the wedding isn't until the end of the month, so while I want to continue to lose weight, I don't want to lose so much that the dress still looks weird (like it did when I tried it on this morning before they pinned it) .. but I have a feeling that I probably won't need to worry about that

They also had to take about 2 inches off the bottom, but that's just because i'm vertically challenged.. I'm wearing 2 1/2 inch heels too!

[Ford Girl]

Bye bye last week's 3lbs! See Ya Never Again! Audios! Good Bye!

I'm down another 3lbs, woo hoo!!!!


How is everyone else doing?

Bendy - any more cookie attacks? Did you get your new tapes?

Pooz - how's the maintaining going?

[bendyfoot]

Bye bye 3 lbs!!! Congrats!!

Things are going well here. I'm trying not to be too obsessive about the scale right now, because I KNOW I'm losing fat even if the scale says my weight isn't changing. I can see big changes in my body shape for sure. That said, I stepped on the scale this morning, and it would appear I'm down 2 lbs or so, but I'm going to do a "real" weigh-in measure on the weekend probably.

NO, my new tapes aren't here yet , and I'm really hoping they arrive before the weekend, I'd love to start them on Saturday. DW got her new tapes in the mail yesterday http://www.beachbody.com/product/fit...xtreme/p90x.do , and we started watching a few of the workouts. All I can say is OH. MY. GOD. It is EXTREME. Totally mental. She can't wait to start them, but she's sick like that. She's going to have muscles on top of muscles. Me, I just want to get rid of the extra body fat first, get toned, and THEN maybe I'll think about getting all buff. I just want to look lean first and foremost.

Oh, and about the cookies (or chocolate or candy or blah blah blah), I have attacks every day But so far haven't given in to them

[phoozles]

Congrats FG - another 3 out the door!
Bendy, good job on the 2 down as well

As for me, things are going pretty well.. Lost another 2 last week, and I went to my niece and nephew's birthday party, where all of my family members (who didn't know I was working on a tinier me) marvelled on how much weight I lost (which made part of me say, how big was I before? ) but it was nice because no one around here has said anything - mostly because I see these people every day, I guess..

I'm dredging up all these items in my closet that I haven't been able to wear in years (which makes me wonder why I kept moving them from house to house ).. Everyday FH asks me, "Is that a new skirt/pair of pants/dress?" and I say, "What, this old thing?"

Oh, and I weighed myself on my sister's scale - we assume it's off by about 7lbs, but I would take that scale any day! Instant 7 pound weight loss!

I'm a little worried about sticking to things lately - with all the drama re: Ethel and her kittens, I've been distracted and not eating as much as I should, as well as almost skipping out on exercising (but I do my best to keep that up).. The food is still yummy though!

Oh, and..

Originally Posted by Ford Girl

Pooz - how's the maintaining going?

I'll respond to a lot of things, but pooz is not one of them.. Actually, since I'm responding, I guess it is.. And I'm still quite a bit far from maintaining, but that's okay, progress progress progress ..

[Ford Girl]

Ya Bendy - down 2! I have friends that are like you, the scale doesn't determine progress cuz you are already close to ideal weight, exericse and clothes fitting tell the real story. Looking lean and being healthy are both great goals!!!

Ya Phoozles - down 7! (love those kinda scales) Good on you - down 2! I asked about maintaining cuz you siad you didnt want to lsoe too much before the wedding/bride'smaid dressing fitting. Is that wedding July long? Whats your dress look like?

Keep up the good work!!!

[phoozles]

Originally Posted by Ford Girl

Ya Phoozles - down 7! (love those kinda scales) Good on you - down 2! I asked about maintaining cuz you siad you didnt want to lsoe too much before the wedding/bride'smaid dressing fitting. Is that wedding July long? Whats your dress look like?

Keep up the good work!!!

Ahh, good call.. The wedding is on June 28th, so just a couple of weeks left - I don't think I have too much to worry about..

The dress is a pale yellow ( you can't argue with the bride) and it's got kind of spaghetti straps, and then comes down flowy from the bust. It's not a bad looking dress, actually, it just washes me out, colour wise, but it was the only yellow dress I could find that didn't look absolutely hideous.. When I first put it on it was tight enough at the top that I didn't need a bra (I'm packin' some heat up there ) but when I got it altered, it was all loose up there! So hopefully it'll stay tight with the changes, because it doesn't look good otherwise!

[Ford Girl]

Originally Posted by phoozles

Ahh, good call.. The wedding is on June 28th, so just a couple of weeks left - I don't think I have too much to worry about..

The dress is a pale yellow ( you can't argue with the bride) and it's got kind of spaghetti straps, and then comes down flowy from the bust. It's not a bad looking dress, actually, it just washes me out, colour wise, but it was the only yellow dress I could find that didn't look absolutely hideous.. When I first put it on it was tight enough at the top that I didn't need a bra (I'm packin' some heat up there ) but when I got it altered, it was all loose up there! So hopefully it'll stay tight with the changes, because it doesn't look good otherwise!

Pale yellow eh, could be good, could be bad, I'm more of a jewel tone kinda girl, the pales look ok, but are just that - pale. I always need a bra, I'm packing big guns too. I could never go without.

I'll look for pics on your fb site after the wedding.

[bendyfoot]

OMG I could never go braless either!!! Why do brides always pick strapless/spaghetti numbers for the bridesmaids? I got stuck in a strapless dress a few years ago for a friend's wedding and had to drop a freakin' fortune on a strapless bra good enough to keep the girls in check for an entire day And pale yellow? No offense, but ew. I can't pull of any colour of yellow, I'm like you FG, I'm a jewel/earth tone kinda gal.

[Ford Girl]

Cheat of the week: I had a cheat night last night, and the worst kind too...I had wings and beer. I ate light all day, knowing I was going to blow it at the pub....

I ordered 15 wings, could only eat 13, and I ordered one large draft beer, but asked her to give it to me in a 2 portions in a smaller glass, so I had one draft, but it felt like 2. Strange maybe, but it helps me feel like I am in control.

Was it worth it? No. Honestly, by 9:30 I was hungry, but very well couldnt snack cuz I JUST HAD WINGS....and by midnight I had gut rot, bad, real bad. The wings didnt stick around long. Then this morning, I was soooooo hungry.

Chicken wings are not your best bang for your caloric buck - not even close!!
Live and learn I guess!

[bendyfoot]

mmm...tasty tasty wings and beer......mmmmm.....it's true though, when you don't get any fibre in your meal you get hungry soooo much faster! D'oh!

We ususally have our cheat meal on Fridays, but this week we're going out Saturday night...it's our first wedding aniversary!!! We've been together almost 6 years now, but just got married last June
Still trying to decide what we're going to have....Italian? Thai? There's just too many decisions! On Sunday we're renting kayaks and going out on the water, hopefully we'll find a spot to beach and have a picnic! I'm looking forward to a nice weekend together! (Of course we still have to fit in our workouts, but it'll still be fun!)

[want4rain]

Originally Posted by bendyfoot

it's our first wedding aniversary!!! We've been together almost 6 years now, but just got married last June

oh! thats so great! the first one is always so special.

i read up on you guys all the time and think what you are doing is so empowering!! all of you have made great progress!!!

-ashley

[phoozles]

Originally Posted by bendyfoot

OMG I could never go braless either!!! Why do brides always pick strapless/spaghetti numbers for the bridesmaids? I got stuck in a strapless dress a few years ago for a friend's wedding and had to drop a freakin' fortune on a strapless bra good enough to keep the girls in check for an entire day And pale yellow? No offense, but ew. I can't pull of any colour of yellow, I'm like you FG, I'm a jewel/earth tone kinda gal.

Yeah - I hate strapless bras - for me, they don't seem to do much - just fall down I've been blessed (or cursed, most days it seems like a curse ) with big 'uns, but at least they are perky big 'uns, so if they are tucked in properly, they usually can stand up on their own.. at least, they used to .. the drawback of losing weight is that when the fat is going, it's taking the perkiness with it! So I probably WILL need a strapless bra.. but I don't have one.. so, yes, the pics on FB will be interesting..

Originally Posted by Ford Girl

Cheat of the week: I had a cheat night last night, and the worst kind too...I had wings and beer. I ate light all day, knowing I was going to blow it at the pub....

I ordered 15 wings, could only eat 13, and I ordered one large draft beer, but asked her to give it to me in a 2 portions in a smaller glass, so I had one draft, but it felt like 2. Strange maybe, but it helps me feel like I am in control.

Was it worth it? No. Honestly, by 9:30 I was hungry, but very well couldnt snack cuz I JUST HAD WINGS....and by midnight I had gut rot, bad, real bad. The wings didnt stick around long. Then this morning, I was soooooo hungry.

Chicken wings are not your best bang for your caloric buck - not even close!!
Live and learn I guess!

Hey, sometimes you need to do something like that to find out it's not worth it! Actually, the plan I'm on now allows you to have 6 medium hot wings once a week, if you want.. I bought some pre-cooked frozen wings and heated them up.. (I could have gone out and gotten some, but I'm lazy) the verdict.. kinda They didn't make me want to have wings again for a while

[bendyfoot]

Ok, so I'm writing this to keep myself accountable. There is a potluck going on 10 feet from my desk. There is chocolate cake and curry and cheese and rice crispy squares and muffins. I smell it from here, and I want some.

BUT I just ate my lunch, which I took the time to prepare at home and make healthy choices, I am actually quite full, I am going to have a really nice meal with family tonight, with a hamburger, and I don't need anything that's in that room.

I don't want to sabotage my hard work. Those "muffin-top" pants I mentioned before? The ones that were muffin-top-ey when I bought them and then JUST fit a few weeks ago? I'm wearing them today and they actually have about an inch of spare room now. I'm not blowing this to stuff my face on stuff I don't need.

[Ford Girl]

Dont do it Bendy, think of the pants, drink some water, call DW, go for a walk, anything but join the buffet!!!

[bendyfoot]

I went for a walk with DW...the buffet is now gone. I shall celebrate by finishing off a bottle of water and enjoy some tasty raspberries and blueberries with vanilla yogurt

ETA: mmmmmmmmmm.....DANG those were some tasty raspberries!!!

[TeriM]

Wow, you guys are all doing great .

I was doing great (down 28 lbs since Jan) until I went on holidays in May to Las Vegas. I haven't been able to quite get back into the swing of things since then but have maintained so can't complain to much. I am camping right now which seems to send me into a frenzy of endless snacking and not great food choices . We have a friend coming to join us today for a few nights and she is bringing cheesecake and cookies so I don't envision the rest of the week as being any better. Unfortunately my hubby is one of those that can eat anything, anytime with no consequences . Anyway, gonna just take lots of walks on the beach with the furries and not worry about it until next week. Then it is definately back to the grind!

[Rottielover]

Congrats all on the weight loss so far.
I am down 60 lbs and still slowly dropping.
I have started a new gym, and I love it.
Soon I will be signing up for their core workouts 1 time a week in the evening.
I am going on sat to buy my first summer dress in over 6 years

[Rottielover]

here I am to date

[Ford Girl]

Another 2 down this week!!! Total of 28lbs since Jan, and 18 in the BL challenge! Woo Hoo! DH lost 3.


TeriM - dont you "hate" people like that? LOL! The skinny chicks and men who can eat pizza and drink regaular coke!!! Just do the best you can, and when your companys gone, get back on track, one day at a time, its over whelming and hard to get back in to it if you beat yourself up or think about how much better you could have done!!

RL - you look fabulous!!! Honestly, huge difference, but with 60lbs gone, its no wonder you look amazing!! Thats as much weight as your daughter I bet!!! Hats off to you! Thats a huge victory!! How much to go, doesn't look like much to me??

Oh bendy and pooz....hows your week going? Feeln skinny?

[phoozles]

RL - you really look amazing! Great job!!

Way to go, FG - another 2 down! You're averaging 2 a week, that's awesome!

I only weigh myself on Saturdays, so I don't know where I am this week, but last Saturday I was down another 2, bringing my loss so far to 15lbs. I was also down a total of 4 inches from the previous week. Saturday night was a bit of a set back - went to my best friend's Jack and Jill where there was unlimited free booze and a huge feast.. I ate more than I have been eating, but not as much as I typically would in that situation, and I definitely had a few drinks, so there's a chance I gained.. Oh well, I've been working hard this week, so hopefully I won't see too much damage when I hit this scale this weekend.

Today I'm wearing pants that I haven't been able to wear in years. They are a little snug, but that's just more motivation for me to make sure they are loose in the next couple of weeks!

[TeriM]

Originally Posted by phoozles

RL - you really look amazing! Great job!!

Way to go, FG - another 2 down! You're averaging 2 a week, that's awesome!

Today I'm wearing pants that I haven't been able to wear in years. They are a little snug, but that's just more motivation for me to make sure they are loose in the next couple of weeks!

Way to go RL, FG & Phoozles .

[Rottielover]

I have about 15 lbs left to lose, and toning up.
My daughter only weighs 42 lbs, so it is her + 1/2, lol
Thank you for all the encouragement

[bendyfoot]

Good job gals!!! You all rock!

Me...not feeling so skinny today...I've been doing my new workouts (which are fun but there's a bit of a learning curve, it's going to take a few weeks to really be able to give 'er)...but I've been PMSing like a crazy banchee all week, and caved in yesterday to all things foodish. I ate muffins, croissants, cookies, squares, and tortillas smothered in almond butter and honey. Not to mention my regular meals on top of it all. I woke up with a terrible tummy ache and DW said I was grinding my teeth all night. I hate when I binge-eat like that, but when I feel like that I JUST DON'T CARE. Of course this morning I feel like crap about it, but it's too late. Sigh. I guess I just move on and make better, saner choices today. The hormones are a little more under control, so I think I'll manage. I HATE HORMONES!!!!!

[phoozles]

bendy, I did something similar last week - I think the best thing is to get right back on the horse .. We're all going to have set backs here and there, and if you are seriously doing a lifestyle change, and not just a "diet", you have to accept that things will come up that you have to deal with..

You're doing great - one day isn't going to ruin everything.. and I hear you, hormones suck!

[Ford Girl]

Hey hey hey!!! How is everyone this week?

Feeln fit? Lookn trim?

Im down just 1lb this week, smallest loss so far in this BL, but its a loss and I feel great! My clothes are very baggy, I've had to go get new pieces to make due at work! Im down 29 in total since xmas, and can't remeber the last time I felt this good about myself. 1 more lb and I hit 30!! WOOT!

Remember my June Mini Goal: to lose 8lbs in the month of June. (total loss 33lbs)

The first weight in of June, on June 3rd, I was down 25, now I'm down 29, with one weigh in to go. I need to lose 4lbs this week to meet the goal I set, which is a stretch, but if I fall short by 1 - 2 lbs its not a huge disappointment, I worked hard and it shows, if it takes one more week to hit that goal - then so be it!

My next goal will be another 6lbs before we leave for NB July 22nd!

How's everyone else doing? Any summer struggles? Any tumbles off the salad wagon? With summer its very hard to avoid the blender drinks and patio cocktails!