Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's weight loss challenge

Come challenge yourself and support others struggling through the holidays. This is a weight loss/maintaining personal commitment of healthy eating and exercise.

Starts: Friday the 16th Ends Tuesday January first 2019!!!!! You can do daily or weekly check ins.

Copy the following questions. Paste it in to your reply with each check in.

1. Challenge Starting weight:
2. Current weight lost:
3. Losing or maintaining weight:
4. Fitness/exercise goal:
5. Total weight loss at the end of challenge: (Post January 1st 2019)
6. Check in: Tell us how you are doing - (How is your diet and exercise plan going? Any struggles? Stress level? What have you overcome? Any strategies that have helped)

1. Challenge Starting weight: My current weight is 251. I'm down 10lbs since Nov 27th and 29lbs overall! whoo hoo! I'm going to smash that surgery once I have it! I wasn't supposed to weight myself until the 27th because I was becoming obsessed with the scale so I had to take it to the basement behind the furnace. I was just to curious because I feel great! I won't be weighting myself again until the 27th.
2. Current weight lost: 29lbs
3. Losing or maintaining weight: losing
4. Fitness/exercise goal: I bought this awesome desk elliptical thingy called Cubii jr. I love it! I use it at my desk all day. I'm gonna have legs like Tina Turner! I also do upper body weight training with resistance bands.
5. Total weight loss at the end of challenge: (Post January 1st 2019)
6. Check in: Tell us how you are doing - (How is your diet and exercise plan going? Any struggles? Stress level? What have you overcome? Any strategies that have helped) I've stepped up my IF game to 20/4 on weekdays and 18/6 on weekends. So far so good! 160lb here I come!

1. Challenge Starting weight: 148
2. Current weight lost: 186
3. Losing or maintaining weight: maintaining
4. Fitness/exercise goal: 3 times a week to start: 15 min at a time
5. Total weight loss at the end of challenge: (Post January 1st 2019) no more than 3 pounds

Exercise has been my biggest challenge, due to pain issues...I want to start there..... Looking to maintain/not drop below 145 pounds as well.

Thanks for the challenge.

Ok, here's my manifesto to myself to get back on track with the losing rather than gaining the Christmas 10:

I know in the early days pre-WLS, there wasn't much livin going on. I was isolating, felt bad (terrible), slept bad, and it was an all or nothing focus to eat as nutritionally dense and calorically light as I could. No cheating, no booze, no party of any kind. We just worked, ate, slept and watched a lot of tv. I wasn't even exercising at that point! I had very few clothes that fit, very few shoes, and didn't want to be around people cuz I felt like I was under scrutiny all the time--especially eating out in restaurants. And we never really got into fast food that much cuz of Mr. F's allergies--so there was no drive-thru to hide behind.

But now we have many social invitations/obligations and business networking things and I have my new thrift shop wardrobe and I feel good in my skin/clothes. I feel like Mr. F. is proud to be seen with me and like I've turned the clock back about 20 years. And I'm happy and am feeling SO much better physically and sleeping quite a bit better too. And so I don't want to just sit home and watch tv and isolate--especially towards the weekend! I can do S-W, but Th-Fri-Sat, I start to get itchy feet!

And I know it's not so practical at Christmas to change this up again and revert to the old isolation-straight-and-narrow gig, but I CAN go back to the menus that made me lose. And start eating some of them again! At least from S-W and maybe even Thursday! I CAN negotiate new rules of engagement for being out and about on Fri-Sat. Rules that don't ruin the rest of the week but still allow me to socialize and be with Mr. F. without totally going off the rails.

My goal to get back on track is to shake things up again so that things are fun and interesting again in the diet/weight loss/scale game! I'm still gonna do some IF, maybe even ADF with calorie restriction, but mainly go back to the menus that worked. I will also try to get back down to my ticker weight by Christmas. I think that's do-able. I will take the big holidays "off" but not in between. I'm gonna go post this as my reminder over on the challenge thread too. LOL.

4 minutes ago, FluffyChix said:

...I feel like Mr. F. is proud to be seen with me.. 

I was trying to tell my bariatric skrink this same thing. SHE was trying to tell me that shouldn't be a high priority goal.

I was like, look lady. I'm as feminist as it gets, just shy of radical only because I know we need men to procreate.? Is it so wrong that I want to look good on the arm of my wife? Not even for the sake of my OWN feelings?

My MAIN reason for doing this was my diabetes diagnosis. I told my doc at the time, " hell naw! I'm 27, I aint takin' no insulin! Get off my lawn!" She told me. Well I guess yo big ass better lose some weight! OK she didn't say it like that. Tad more professional.

So my reasons for doing this are very logical and reasonable. It just irks me whenever I mention that I also want to FEEL pretty, it upsets her for some reason.

6 minutes ago, LadySin said:

I was trying to tell my bariatric skrink this same thing. SHE was trying to tell me that shouldn't be a high priority goal.

I was like, look lady. I'm as feminist as it gets, just shy of radical only because I know we need men to procreate.? Is it so wrong that I want to look good on the arm of my wife? Not even for the sake of my OWN feelings?

My MAIN reason for doing this was my diabetes diagnosis. I told my doc at the time, " hell naw! I'm 27, I aint takin' no insulin! Get off my lawn!" She told me. Well I guess yo big ass better lose some weight! OK she didn't say it like that. Tad more professional.

So my reasons for doing this are very logical and reasonable. It just irks me whenever I mention that I also want to FEEL pretty, it upsets her for some reason.

I hear ya! You know, it's kinda like a Maslow's Heirarchy of needs for weightloss:

10. Lose weight to experience more complete self-actualization and to be able to give back to others more freely/energetically.

9. Lose weight to create a better interpersonal relationship with your SO (better sex, more fun being together, etc)

8. Lose weight to feel more confident in yourself and the interactions with other people.

7. Lose weight to feel good about yourself in your new clothes.

6. Lose weight to fit into smaller clothes/save money on clothes.

5. Lose weight to be able to fit into smaller areas that normal people fit into.

4. Lose weight to fit into society/your job easier.

3. Lose weight to be able to move better.

2. Lose weight to keep from adding to the list of obesity related diseases.

1. Lose weight to put existing obesity related disease into remission.

The heirarchy starts at the bottom #1. And as you move up the ladder towards #10, you're experiencing more and more external rewards rather than the core benefits we're all looking for. You know? I would think a psych would be able to understand this? *scratches head*

I hear ya! You know, it's kinda like a Maslow's Heirarchy of needs for weightloss:

I need to print this off and put it on my fridge. This is so so so so true and a great way of looking at it!

On 11/17/2018 at 16:42, NYJenn said:

Starting 210 lbs

Weight lost: 78 lbs so far

Still losing

Exercise goal: attend my class 2xs per week

Forgot to check-in on Saturday
Current weight: 196 lbs
Weight lost: 14 this challenge/91 total
Still losing
Exercise: attended body pump this week. Um, ouch

Checking in. Scale finally moving again after a 2 week stall. 10.2lbs down since the start of the challenge.

Hi checking in

1. Challenge Starting weight: My current weight is IDK. I'm in vacation, from the scale alsi
2. Current weight lost: I was actually up a lb
3. Losing or maintaining weight: no clue
4. Fitness/exercise goal: I wanted to start some type of squat challenge but I will wait until I can find a good one. I woukd like to start going to the gym more since I pay for it anyway so I should start there
5. Total weight loss at the end of challenge: (Post January 1st 2019)
6. Check in: Tell us how you are doing - (How is your diet and exercise plan going? Any struggles? Stress level? What have you overcome? Any strategies that have help) nothing different for me, eating mostly the same choices plus celebratory cake, I'm traveling and that is stressful but so is Bird Box.

Edited December 26, 20187 yr by GreenTealael

2 hours ago, GreenTealael said:

Hi checking in

1. Challenge Starting weight: My current weight is IDK. I'm on vacation, from the scale also
2. Current weight lost: I was actually up a lb
3. Losing or maintaining weight: no clue
4. Fitness/exercise goal: I wanted to start some type of squat challenge but I will wait until I can find a good one. I woukd like to start going to the gym more since I pay for it anyway so I should start there
5. Total weight loss at the end of challenge: (Post January 1st 2019)
6. Check in: Tell us how you are doing - (How is your diet and exercise plan going? Any struggles? Stress level? What have you overcome? Any strategies that have help) nothing different for me, eating mostly the same choices plus celebratory cake, I'm traveling and that is stressful but so is Bird Box.

1. Challenge Starting weight: 256.9
2. Current weight lost: Unknown. Will weight tomorrow!
3. Losing or maintaining weight: losing
4. Fitness/exercise goal: I bought this awesome desk elliptical thingy called Cubii jr. I love it! I use it at my desk all day. I'm gonna have legs like Tina Turner! I also do upper body weight training with resistance bands.
5. Total weight loss at the end of challenge: (Post January 1st 2019)
6. Check in: Tell us how you are doing - (How is your diet and exercise plan going? Any struggles? Stress level? What have you overcome? Any strategies that have helped) Alright dog, what had happend was....CHRISTMAS! You want to know what I did for two days straight? No i didn't eat sweets. Didn't take a sip of egg nog. Didn't even lick pie off my wife's fingers. (A decision I regret deeply) No, none of that stuff! What I did do however, was eat more rice then I have possibly eaten in my life. Not not Black rice, not even brown. In fact the only color evolved with said rice was the guy on the box. No ladies in gents, the culprit was plain, Old. White. Rice. With copious amounts of garlic and onions. I mean whyyy Sin? Whhyyy! Now I'm stuck feeling as bloated as the national debt, and have gotten to know my toilet bowl very well. I'm even on first name bases with the one here a work, Man f**k rice!

31 minutes ago, LadySin said:

1. Challenge Starting weight: 256.9
2. Current weight lost: Unknown. Will weight tomorrow!
3. Losing or maintaining weight: losing
4. Fitness/exercise goal: I bought this awesome desk elliptical thingy called Cubii jr. I love it! I use it at my desk all day. I'm gonna have legs like Tina Turner! I also do upper body weight training with resistance bands.
5. Total weight loss at the end of challenge: (Post January 1st 2019)
6. Check in: Tell us how you are doing - (How is your diet and exercise plan going? Any struggles? Stress level? What have you overcome? Any strategies that have helped) Alright dog, what had happend was....CHRISTMAS! You want to know what I did for two days straight? No i didn't eat sweets. Didn't take a sip of egg nog. Didn't even lick pie off my wife's fingers. (A decision I regret deeply) No, none of that stuff! What I did do however, was eat more rice then I have possibly eaten in my life. Not not Black rice, not even brown. In fact the only color evolved with said rice was the guy on the box. No ladies in gents, the culprit was plain, Old. White. Rice. With copious amounts of garlic and onions. I mean whyyy Sin? Whhyyy! Now I'm stuck feeling as bloated as the national debt, and have gotten to know my toilet bowl very well. I'm even on first name bases with the one here a work, Man f**k rice!

I feel for ya! Hope you're better soon!

On ‎11‎/‎26‎/‎2018 at 8:29 AM, AshMarie794 said:

Challenge Starting weight: 209

Current weight lost: 49

Losing or maintaining weight: losing.

Fitness/exercise goal: 5x a week

Challenge Starting Weight: 209

Weight Lost as of Christmas Day: 65 lbs!!

Still Loosing and same fitness goal

*laughing* I feel your pain. I can't to any type of rice. Brown, white or wild. The bloat and trying to get things to move days after.

Edited December 27, 20187 yr by Healthy_life

On 12/26/2018 at 11:09 AM, LadySin said:

1. Man f**k rice!

Hahaha! I'm gonna go out on a limb and ask if you're from the South? I am from Houston. We're part of the rice belt and growing up it was practically a 5th food group. I heart it so dam* much. I'd probably sell Mr. F. for a bowl of rice with gravy and some meat...LOL.