April 2006 Bandits December Challenge

[JulieNYC 4]

DeltaDawn, you rock! Way to go for starting the running program offiially. Awesome.

I met my Christmas goal today. My new goal is Onederland. I can't BELIEVE it's only 35 lbs away....

[Boo 3]

YEAH, JULIE!!!!

That is tremendous news! Do you ever pinch yourself to see if it is true?

Every time I use a cardio machine at the gym and have to input my weight, I have to stop and think, "Is it 186, no, 176...? Oh, yeah, it's 166!!!!" I'm in denial and am surprised to look in the mirror.

NSV: I bought size 10 jeans yesterday! The 12's that I bought in September are getting too loose.

:clap2: :clap2: :clap2:

On the way down, my thighs and rear are smaller because of the running. Julie, I need you to get on my case over crunches. I HATE them, but my gut needs work. Anyone else have suggestions how to help the roll above the jeans? (low-waisted kind)

Bluehill: How are you doing??

[*susan* 1,709]

Hey everyone, I am glad to see ya'll are still going strong. I haven't posted on our thread in about a week, but I am still doing what I should be doing. I didn't lose or gain this week though, but I am not surprised. Actually, I am happy there wasn't a gain, because I was expecting one. The cheetoe's and Peanut Butter ice cream demons were after me all week and I caved. But, I am forcing myself to get back on track today.

12/1: No exercise. 72 oz. Water

12/2: 40 minutes treadmill. 72 oz. Water.< /p>

12/3: 40 minutes treadmill. 72 oz. water.

12/4: No exercise. 48 oz. water.

12/5: 1 hour walk. 72 oz. water.

12/6: 40 minutes treadmill. 72 oz water.

12/7: No exercise. 60 oz. water.

12/8: 40 minutes treadmill. 72 oz. water.

12/9: 40 minutes tredmill, 60 oz. water.

12/10: No exercise. 60 oz. water

12/11: 45 minute vigorous walk. 60 oz water.

12/12: No exercise. 60 oz water.

12/13: No exercise. 60 oz water.

12/14: 40 minutes treadmill. 60 oz water.

12/15: 40 minutes treadmill. 60 oz water.

12/16: No exercise. 60 oz. water.<!-- / message --><!-- sig --><!-- / message --><!-- sig --><!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

[bluehill 0]

Betty, I've been thinking of you and the weather in Portland. So scary, it was the lead story on NBC news two nights ago. Hope you're in SoCal by now.

Julie: Kudos to you, gal, for achieving your Christmas goal! Wow, with TEN DAYS to spare! What a wonderful Christmas gift to yourself. and just further evidence of your tremendous commitment, energy, inner strength. Clearly, you can achieve any life goal that you set your mind and heart to. Bless you dear, you have been my inspiration since we first met (here).

Omigod, Boo, SIZE TEN JEANS!!! You rock, bigtime!

I want to congratulate EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU -- and you know who you are -- on your commitment to daily exercise during the holiday season. It's so easy for me to fall off the exercise bandwagon because I get overwhelmed and fatigued with all the work. (I host two very large gatherings, Christmas and Boxing Day). So when I see that ya'll are keeping at it, despite the distractions, I'm psyched about doing it too. I think I'll make it to 17, but just!

In the meantime, I definitely need some advice on how to stop putting every damned holiday treat into my mouth. My daughter is now home for semester break. Last night we were at a fabulous Hanukkah party with a variety of homemade latkes. I had to, just HAD TO taste every one of them, they were so good. Please help me with some will-power tips.

April Bandits December Challenge: TEN days of exercise completed

[Ceparano 0]

Congratulations Julie on not only meeting your Christmas goal, but doing it ahead of schedule!!!! Nothing surprises me with you...you are just unbelievable!

Roberta

[JulieNYC 4]

Bluehill, I just noticed you're -94 with 94 to go. One more pound and you're over the hump! That's so exciting!! Thank you for your sweet words about me reaching my holiday goal. I'm honored to be an inspiration to you, and believe me, you are to me too.

As for holiday "will power" tips, I have two things to offer. First, any time you're going somewhere where there's holiday food around, make sure you eat a high Protein meal before you go. It's so much easier to stay away when you've used your band to turn your hunger off. I did this this weekend. I was in NC visiting friends and there was TONS of holiday food in the house (they have small kids and my friend bakes). I can't say I was a perfect bandster (my best friend's plumb cake is a holiday tradition for me and it's SO YUMMY) but I did pretty well. Pretty well is all I can ask for in this season. Next, Bluehill, could you say to yourself -- "gee, I've lost 94 lbs in a few short months. I really want to start the New Year down 100 lbs and I'm going to commit to that goal." Then every time you are faced with a yummy treat, you can remember that it's going to be really hard to lose 6 lbs in 2 weeks this time of year. It would take really working out and eating small, Protein rich meals. But you can do it if you decide you want to go for it! (Of course, reaching that goal in Jan is fine too if you don't want the stress -- it's just the kind of thing I find motivational, though I recognize some people don't).

Susan, Cheetos are the devil's starchy fingers. (That's a line from a sitcom I watch where one of the character's ultra-religious mother imposes a very strict diet on her teenage daughter and several times she refers to varous cheeto shaped/french fry shaped foods as the "devil's starchy fingers" -- I literally roll on the floor laughing at that comment. I hope the humor translates in email talk...) Seriously though, no food is evil, but I understand the problem. Cheetos taste so good. Alas, I'm glad you're past your time with them and you must feel great that your workouts and your band helped you to keep your weight stable in a time when you thought it might not be. Congratulations! Come on, Onederland! You are on the way there. As for Peanut Butter substitutes, have you tried the DaVinci sugar free syrups? They have a Peanut Butter flavor that I put in yogurt and it does the trick for me most of the time when peanut butter is calling my name. You could even freeze some....

Boo, are you up for a mini-challenge, just between you and me (and whomever has tummy issues and wants to join)? My Dad said I need to be doing crunches every day so that I don't need much muscle repair when I have my Tummy Tuck in April. I may have children one day and he'd rather not cut the muscles, if it's not necessary. Thus, I'm supposed to be doing major ab workout. Here's the thing -- I flat out FORGET most days. It's not that I'm too tired or lazy, I just forget to do them. Maybe if I had a LBT crunch goal that I reported in on, I'd remember. So, Boo, I'm going to do 250 crunches a day from now to Jan 1, and I'm going to report in on them here. By Jan, it should be a habit. Want to do the same?

My other "solution" is a product called Lipo in a Box (I think I read about it here, actually, but now I'm a real fan). It's a light weight support garment that comes up almost to your bra (at least one model does). If I'm wearing low rise pants (but where the top still covers all skin -- yuck on me otherwise!) I wear that and it eliminates "muffin top" above the waist, even on me at 235, so I know it will on you. If the idea of wearing lycra doesn't make you cringe, you might check it out....I found that it ran SLIGHTLY big if you order. If you're between sizes, go for the smaller one.

I wear this one (link below), but there are several that would work -- just make sure it's a model that comes up high on the torso or it'll make it worse, not better.

http://www.lipoinabox.com/46851.htm

[Boo 3]

I was thinking about getting Spanx(?) or something like that. So I will definitely check yours out. No more muffin top! And yes, my skin is ALWAYS covered!

Adding crunches to the challenge is a good idea. 250 to start? Can I start with 100? yikes

Bluehill, Susan, we are all hit with temptation! I went to a holiday party in my size 10 jeans, heels and dressy jacket tonight. I walked right past the food for the first hour, not even thinking about it. Then the thought came into my head, "Wow, I'm doing great! I care more about socializing than food!" About ten minutes later I started to nibble on every appetizer and then even came home and ate more! Go figure...? But, tomorrow is another day to meet the challenge.

[DeltaDawn 0]

We yesterday was a great day for me. I really hit a NSV and as well, my christmas goal.

My dream was to go snow shoeing with my family, something I could not do at 358 lbs. Well... yesterday I did. It was a crisp, clear arctic day. The sky was purple and the air cyrstaline. I snowshoed for 40 minutes with my gang and it was wonderful. As well... it counts towards my exercise. So... I am happy and I am going strong (at least today!!)

Dawn

Banded April 4th, 2006

Montreal

[JulieNYC 4]

DeltaDawn, can you BELIEVE you're only 35 lbs from goal??!! That's so incredible! Your snowshoeing sounds wonderful as well. I'm so glad you had such a nice day with it.

Boo, whatever your crunch goal is it's great. For me, I need to do 250 because I do 50 of 5 different kinds of crunches (50 normal, 50 left, 50 right, 50 leg raises for the lower abs and 50 alternating left right center). If I don't do that many, I don't feel a thing. It only takes about 12 minutes to do, when I remember to do it. If I do them at the gym on the ab machines, I probably only do 100 (90 actually -- there are 3 machines and I do 2 reps of 15 on each). I'd rather do them on my floor at home though, watching TV....

Roberta, thank you for your sweet words. Woohoo! We all rock this holiday season!

Betty, is everything OK with your home after the weather last week?

I ran outside this weekend for the first time, as opposed to on the treadmill. It wasn't too bad, though I know my time wasn't as good (hills are to blame). I also got a heart rate monitor and I'm looking forward to seeing how it works with my workout tonight. I love gadgets.

[DeltaDawn 0]

Thanks for the kind words Julie!

Yep.... 35 lbs to goal sounds amazing to me too. But, I also know it will get harder and once I a there... I may want to lose more. I tried to set a goal that was really realistic... so we'll see.

Dawn

Banded April 4th, 2006

Montreal

[DeltaDawn 0]

Hey Julie,

You are only 36 lbs from goal... we are both gonna rock!!

And of course, we started at the same place... wow!!!!!

Best of luck with it all!!

Dawn

Banded April 4th, 2006

Montreal

[Kat817 19]

Hi everyone--so far I am staying on track, now that I am finally back to exercising. The cough will not go away, I sure do wish it would, I am very ready to breath normally again!!!

Yesterday, we went out and cut 3 trees for the Christmas party at DH's work. We walked out in the hills for miles it seemed!!! But it was great fun, the weather was cool and clear, and we saw HUGE jackrabbits, and several deer, and a coyote. We found the trees we wanted, and then the work began!!! DH was insistant I would learn how to chop these trees!!! Let me add, the area we went to get the trees is on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) and it was tagged. You could only cut tagged trees, because they were being thinned, and culled for burn protection. So if people didn't cut them for Christmas, they were going to be removed, and debranched in January/February. They remove all branches under 8" and leave the trunks in piles, for people to gather as fire wood. The branches are mulched back into the ground. So anyway we cut 3 trees, and it was WORK!!!! Then we had to carry them back to the truck. We had a wonderful time!! I had been worried about DH, we had been at odds, and I was worried he was dealing with some depression, but he was his old self yesterday---what a relief!!! We were gone all day, it literally took hours to get the trees carried back. We had stopped and got Subway (I know.....) to take out with us, and we had several jugs of Water. He has a winter emergency kit in the truck, with canned goods, candles etc. I know I got my exercise in yesterday!! Today I will use my energy trying to remove the sap from my hands!!! Not really, but I bathed them in alcohol yesterday getting it off. Today he and the guys will get them in stands, and the party staff will take over. At first I was kinda irritated that he had to be the one to go out and get them. Seems like he always gets the extra things to do....but afterwards, I am VERY glad he did---it was a great day!!!

Today I have been to Curves, and am heading out to buy 3 things...and then I am done. Well I have baking and junk to do, but that is it---Bring it on Christmas, I am ready!!!

Hope everyone has a great day!!!!

And if you stop in Heather (K@t)

!!!!HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!! Hope your day is special!

Kat

[Ceparano 0]

As I reported last week I went for a fill because I felt a bit of restriction but was getting very hungry. Thursday I had Soup all day because of the fill and ate light on Friday. Saturday morning I realized I had NO RESTRICTION!!!!!! I could eat a whole cow without a PB. I am eating anything that isn't nailed down! I have no idea what has gone wrong. Anybody have any ideas? I called the office and am going in for another fill this Thursday.

Went to Curves this morning.

Roberta

[JulieNYC 4]

Hey Julie,

You are only 36 lbs from goal...

Dawn,

199 is just my mini-goal. I can't think of things in too big of a chunk or it gets me depressed, so I focus on getting to the next mini-goal. I'm only 5'2. I don't actually know what my real goal is. The lowest I've been as an adult was 175. I thought I looked great there (compared to the 250 that my body was used to), but I could still have lost a lot. I'm my head I guess I'm thinking about 150 for a true goal, but who knows. For now, I'm focused on getting to Onederland, then to 180 -- at which point I'm told I'm eligible for a much needed Tummy Tuck.< /p>

[Boo 3]

Roberta: Sometimes it takes a little while for the restriction to sneak up on you. I have no idea why, but it has happened to me every time. The tough part is that when we have no restriction, the appetite goes crazy and we doubt all the success we have had. Hang in there!

Julie and Dawn: It is just uncanny that you both started at the exact weight and now you have both lost about the same weight!! Really inspirational! I wish we could have a "biggest loser" competition with another group (except that my losses average 1 pound/week).

Dawn: Your snowshoeing sounds glorious. I love cross-country skiing, but have never snowshoed (sp). Now imagine my workout. I ran 4 miles tonight under the stars, through palm trees while I delivered Christmas cards to various friends mailboxes. I ran by coyotes, deer, raccoons, and I live in L.A.!! It was really fun because the addresses gave me a route and I saved a lot of money on stamps (hehe).

Julie: Okay, I'll add the crunches, obliques included...we'll see how many and I'll report on my next post. Thanks, I need some prodding.

Kat: I am still coughing, too. It is the cold air hitting the lungs. That bronchitis is hard to get rid of!

Actually, I have made my Christmas goal, also! The original goal that I set in April was to be at 167 by Christmas and I am 166!! Wierd!

I won't be posting for a few days because I'm hopping on a plane tomorrow to fly to the Rockies (SLC) to see the snow! It is a short trip, but a fun one!