If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It! - WISH October Lifestyle/Weight Challenge

Confidence: For me this goes beyond confidence in eating and exercise choices... it's more about being confident in myself and in being visible. Part of surviving an alcoholic household is learning to be invisible because what can't find you can't hurt you. Carrying the extra weight around has always been a form of protection, after all who's going to even look at a chubby girl? I've slowly and quietly been coming in to my personal power the past dew years and becoming visibly physically strong, so people see me as something other than soft and mushy, has got to happen.

Consistency: This is huge for me. I seem to have two natural speeds - lightning fast or comatose. When I'm in high-speed mode it can mean I'm moving forward (usually towards instant gratification) so quickly that I forget to execute the plan, heck sometimes I even forget I have a plan. When I'm in comatose mode I'm disconnected from everything, so again the plan falls by the way side. Having daily accountability is helping to keep the goals consistently in my mind.

Courage: Again, this ones goes beyond just physical health for me... the question is, do I have the courage to actually manifest and live the life I dream about - which includes being healthy, slim and strong? So far I'd have to say I haven't been brave enough to do it. Framing the lack of progress up in terms of courage is very intriguing.

I love this! But then again I always love reading your thoughtful posts! You remind me to go beyond the immediate and not to forget the mind and soul as part of this journey -- definitely one of the bigger components for sure! I agree there is definitely a correlation between it all. :)
 
Hello all - I knew I had been MIA but didn't realise how much until I went to catch up this morning! I can't believe we are headed into the last few days of October - eek I have 3 birthdays coming up in November - first up is my sister's 60th - surprise party starting at 4.30pm - I have no clue what the food will be - I think I will have something good before I head off just in case the options are poor - I won't be drinking as I will be driving. 2nd is DS who will be turning 17 - wow where has that time gone! There will be cake for him - he loves it but in the last few years I have been having smaller and smaller pieces and not just because of my focus on health but just as I have just changed a bit in my desire for cake or overeating on it. He will have dinner choice and I know that will likely be junky - but I will see what I can do. Lastly is my cousin's 50th - starting at 6.30pm again no idea what the food is and I will be able to have a few drinks here as we are staying at the resort where the party is. Now I am not a huge drinker so the drinks calories won't be all that bad. It is certainly shaping up to a busy November for me as also DD will have her dance concert - for which she has photos today - so make-up and hair happening here a bit later today. Apart from the unexpected cost of attending these parties - cousin's party is too far away to go there and back in the one day - so forced accommodation costs - at this time of year headed into Christmas and at a time when I had a plan to clear some debt I feel that it is going out the window a little. Funny how $$ health can be similar to personal health. Anyway to stop the rambling - I will just say that I am choosing to enjoy the celebrations as we don't often get together as a larger family any more - and my cousin needs the love of her family especially as her DH has brain cancer and they have been told to live their bucket list as there is nothing more that can be done.


it sounds like you are on the right track! I love how you focus on the direction and the positive.

Thanks - I am trying but it definitely seems to be clicking a little more at the moment.

How do you get yourself back on track and get all your cars running again, so to speak?

Ha - I feel like I am in the early stages with sorting out my cars and getting them back on track after what I would call a multi-car pile up! I am realising one car running does not service the demand from the crowd aka overall health and wellbeing - I need to tinker on each of those cars to keep the riders happy!

I'm a little sluggish this morning so I'm listening to some Disney parks music while I work. What is everyone's favorite Disney park music?

I also don't really listen t Disney park music - If I need a pick me up P!nk does it for me.

There's a difference between interest and commitment. You've got to be committed in order to keep plugging along. DH and I recently had this conversation-- he canceled his gym membership because he's not motivated but good for me that I am. I told him, I'm most definitely NOT motivated to go to the gym. In fact, I purposefully do not arrive early to my classes because watching what I'm in for as the previous class finishes for any amount of time makes me dread it even more than I already do. I told him I didn't know why I keep going, but I just do. It wasn't until this interest/commitment was brought up that I get it now.... While I'm not motivated to go the gym and abstain from the foods I want to be having in the quantities I want, I AM committed to getting to a healthy BMI and not letting myself get out of control again. So all the other stuff becomes the necessary evils to achieve that if that makes sense.

This is true - I have been working on some stuff at work recently that somehow seems to be speaking to me personally rather than just strategy options for the students - one quote that I like is that "motivation is imagining a future emotion" also that we don't teach kids motivation because we expect it - similarly we expect ourselves to HAVE motivation and then wonder why we don't - Motivation is having the grit to push through the uncomfortable challenging parts of our action plan towards our goal so that we can enjoy that feeling at the end. So I think why you keep going is because you are using your resilience, grit and tenacity to push yourself through the uncomfortableness of the gym and even though you aren't "feeling" motivated you haven't given up and are moving through your action plan.

I am not sure how I get back on track as I am still trying to.

You and me both.

How can you take this idea of a blank sheet of paper and apply it to your goals?

I loved reading all the different answers to this question! So many different perspectives. Whilst I know I am brining all my history with me when I make that mark on the paper - it is a chance to write a different future - any future I want.

It's the last Woohoo Wednesday for October! What are you excited about today??

As it is Saturday for me already and Wednesday was a little frustrating - don't you hate when your supervisor gets you to prepare a presentation - that you spend time and energy on - only to run out of time at the meeting! Ugh! I will woohoo that this week I have taken some opportunities to get some walking in such as the Wednesday meeting - it was held at the University next door to my kids school - so rather than park in the closest car park at the Uni - I parked at the kids school when I dropped them off an walked there and back - adding about a 20 minute walk to may day overall - similarly yesterday - the car had to go the mechanic and rather than them drop me off like they usually do - I walked to/from work again adding about a 20-30 minute walk to my day.

I feel like everyday is a blank piece of paper -- almost literally. I have my WW app all blank and my activity on my Apple watch is all at nothing. So I can either fill it up with things that make me proud or just not. There are definitely days where I just don't fill up my activity... and some days that the WW shows that I did NOT use the blank page to it's best potential.... but it's a new start each day to make progress. And to keep reminding myself of my new mantra... Progress not perfection; progress not perfection!

I love you perspective about he blank piece of paper.

I feel this months is battle for some reason, there is something that is bothering me not related do food or weight, and can't sleep great. I had sore stomach two days, one after prawns, one yesterday perhaps too much fiber. Work is busy and stressful too

:hug:

woke up this morning and had some time to reflect on things and I feel something clicked about what I need to do.


Glad to hear you are feeling a little better about what is challenging you.

How do you weed through all of the noise to focus on what is healthy and beneficial for you?

Honestly I think for years I just tuned out a lot of the noise about what I should/could be doing - and was on my own merry unhealthy journey! I have started to tune in to a few experiences/conversations on that ride to help me.

In what ways can you leverage the four Cs to meet your goals?

Curious - I want to be more curious about healthy recipes as well - I tried one this week and it really did not turn out well at all! lol oh well. I also need to be more curious about how to meet my bodies needs e.g. vitamins and incorporating foods that will help with absorption.

Confidence - I also need to work on this in more areas than just health.

Courage - I need to be courageous when it comes to getting active.

Constancy - I need to find constancy in healthy food options.

I had an insight yesterday as well-- I need to work on mindful eating. Someone brought doughnuts to work. I had one, tracked it, and still was within my daily allowance. (Shocking, because before I would have totally thought the day was shot and just kept riding off the rails...). BUT I didn't enjoy it when I thought back on it. I was too busy socializing and didn't even realize until the darn thing was gone that it really hadn't been worth it. I would have much rather used those points on things I know I adore. Oh well -- tracked, moving on, no harm no foul, learning from it. Next time I will be more mindful.

This is so true! Last night I had junky dinner with the twins - I made the choice and I am ok with that - but DS wanted me to bring it home after dropping DS16 at work - I said nope if you want it we are all going and we are eating it there while it is hot and "fresh" lol because I know it is not the true idea of fresh. But I said to him if I am having this at the moment I want it to be the best junk it can be and not cold and awful after being in the car for 15 minutes! So we did - we had it sitting on the boardwalk by the river - it was at least hot - I enjoyed it in the moment - but do not feel it is dragging me back.

I worked on my Halloween Headdress last night and am well pleased with it, so I'm pretty well set for the Harvest Festival Sunday, but do still need to make my new orange top for the party at work next week.

That looks amazing - you are so creative and clever.
 
Feeling a little exhausted after that epic catch up! Okay I am off for a walk - I think I might go the beach - it is a gorgeous day. For some reason I woke up at 5am on a Saturday! it is now 7.40 - the kids are still snoozing - so I am having some breakfast then a walk.
 
I've nothing brilliant to say tonight! I'm tired and it has been a very long week. I'm sorry people have been under the weather but it sounds like everyone's starting to feel better! I've been logging my food and getting my steps in. hooray! I didn't make it to yoga once this week and I can tell! I did do all my morning stuff at the gym. Today I forgot that we weren't playing pickleball and I showed up anyway! I walked the track for a bit then went home and did a bunch of quick projects I hadn't had time to do. I felt much better about life when I got to work. It's amazing what can be accomplished in 15 uninterrupted minutes!!
 


Courage - I think it takes courage to track everything and really be honest with yourself while owning your bad choices. I am in a place where I don't want to put in the work to move up from 20lb weights range. But I want to be stronger, so I have to be brave and pick up the 25s one day.

lifting weights. I lift on and off but mostly on and have a genetic severe hyper mobility meaning I am somewhat limited on how strong I can get. People say that if you have lost weight your metabolism slows down and you burn less but this was not my experience, I have calorie burn of 20 year old at age nearly 40! My average burn for a day is 2450 cal, higher than my much larger DH some days and I lost weight eating little less first few months but mostly about 2000 calories per day. For example this month, I lost 3 pounds eating 2100 a day average for 4 weeks.

I credit this entirely to lifting weights. Regardless of the fact that someone without hyper mobility will be able to increase their weight/strength and get better results more quickly I have persisted since 2009 and always did some weight training, even if it's minimal or just trx exercise. My back squat best is 40kg(80lbs) my dead lift record 55kg (5 less than my weight) my glute bridge 150 lbs. (70 kg). I don't look like bodybuilder, I am still feminine. I have friends deadlifting 100 kg, and looking awesome. It probably won't happen for me (lifting as high) but I work within my abilities.

I had to be brave in 2009 as there weren't many women in the weight section and there were few cases of male approaching me and telling me I need to stop lifting to avoid bulking up! I kid you not. In my current job, there were 5 years period that the gym I went to at the time I went to there weren't any females and i felt ok, the males were all serious about their fitness and supportive. When I went to bigger, mixed gym there are few Instagramers, body builder competitors and generally a lot of females from teens to women in their 70d's that are great inspiration.

Increase weight slowly, don't do too many reps when increasing, keep your posture good and keep doing what you are doing. I honestly believe that I got away with few ups and downs while keeping my metabolism healthy only due to the strength training. It's so awesome!
 
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I've started to think that it might not be so important to be in balance everyday, but say a week overall should be balanced. I know we're fed nutritional requirements in daily doses, but I have to think that if I used my calories one day on ice cream but the next day on simple protein and veggies, overall I'm going to be OK. I'm am going to feel like crap the day I ate only ice cream tho...

I think it's not always the case for me.
Example 1- I ate my calories for the day equal to my burn which for me is high, over 2400 most days. I really felt like and ice cream after dinner and had one for 300 calories. This is when it's ok, as I have had it but didn't really feel too full. Perhaps my choices were little too calorific. I don't feel that I need to compensate at all next day. It's cool
Example 2 - I ate my calories for the day and felt full but decided to ignore it. Someone took out nuts, and cheese and few cocktails and after i had a drink I just felt like snack eating machine. I end up 1000 calories over. For me that's not good, even if the rest of the week is deficit. Being able to connect with not being too full and enjoy it more that the opposite, eating beyond feeling satisfied is something that I want to be consistent with. It's the behavior to ignore the signal of fullness and continue eating beyond that that I feel doesn't have place in my life.

Hunger goes up and down but ignoring the feeling of complete absence of any physical hunger for me personally can be issue. Beyond this point I feel crap after, and on the contrary I feel great when I eat enough, without being too much.
 
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Friday/Saturday
1) Did I do my steps Yes
2) Were my calories in balance Yes
3) Did I do my 3 weekly workouts without overdoing it (only T, T and S) N/a /Yes
4) What did I do great yesterday, what worked well
I ate little lighter during the day, and made somewhat good choices while out at steakhouse meal. Salad instead of chips, extra veggies. We were on comedy show, and I had 2 glasses (125ml)prosecco for the evening. We had long walk between dinner and the venue where the comedy night was. By the second half I was feeling hungry again, probably as I had the drinks and couldn't find anything remotely healthy. I end up having small granola bar which was the lest bad option of all available.

5) What can I do better
nothing, things are looking good. A lot of food waste again this week again, I thought I have it figured out so little disappointed.
 


A lot of food waste again this week again, I thought I have it figured out so little disappointed.

This can be tricky - some people are really good at planning their meals in a flow on effect using the same veggies different ways etc. I am still working this out myself - tend to plan around what looks/sounds yummy/healthy but not necessarily around the ingredients of those recipes.
 
Hey friends! It's almost the end of the month so let me know by tomorrow what your progress is.

Also, we don't have anyone lined up to host November yet so please speak up if you can!
 
I don't have any more formal QOTDs for these last two days. I think instead it would be good to pause and reflect on how the month went as a whole. So feel free to discuss how you have improved this month, what new things you tried, what you can do better, etc!
 
lifting weights. I lift on and off but mostly on and have a genetic severe hyper mobility meaning I am somewhat limited on how strong I can get. People say that if you have lost weight your metabolism slows down and you burn less but this was not my experience, I have calorie burn of 20 year old at age nearly 40! My average burn for a day is 2450 cal, higher than my much larger DH some days and I lost weight eating little less first few months but mostly about 2000 calories per day. For example this month, I lost 3 pounds eating 2100 a day average for 4 weeks.

I credit this entirely to lifting weights. Regardless of the fact that someone without hyper mobility will be able to increase their weight/strength and get better results more quickly I have persisted since 2009 and always did some weight training, even if it's minimal or just trx exercise. My back squat best is 40kg(80lbs) my dead lift record 55kg (5 less than my weight) my glute bridge 150 lbs. (70 kg). I don't look like bodybuilder, I am still feminine. I have friends deadlifting 100 kg, and looking awesome. It probably won't happen for me (lifting as high) but I work within my abilities.

I had to be brave in 2009 as there weren't many women in the weight section and there were few cases of male approaching me and telling me I need to stop lifting to avoid bulking up! I kid you not. In my current job, there were 5 years period that the gym I went to at the time I went to there weren't any females and i felt ok, the males were all serious about their fitness and supportive. When I went to bigger, mixed gym there are few Instagramers, body builder competitors and generally a lot of females from teens to women in their 70d's that are great inspiration.

Increase weight slowly, don't do too many reps when increasing, keep your posture good and keep doing what you are doing. I honestly believe that I got away with few ups and downs while keeping my metabolism healthy only due to the strength training. It's so awesome!

Yes, this is so encouraging and I know it to be true! I had been out exercising a bad diet since last year and I still lost 20 lbs since last December. I know this would not have happened were it not due to the weight lifting portion of my classes. Cardio can only take me so far.

My gym only uses dumbbells and trx straps (not the long weights - whatever they are called haha!), and so I guess technically I am squatting and deadlifting around 40lbs (a 20 in each hand) and single arm snatching 20-25 depending on rep count for the day. I know if I worked at it, I could do more. I hear you about the male vs female disparity.... while the class demographics definitely skew towards being more females, the men are the ones grabbing for weights 20 and up. Not many girls are trying to lift heavier.

I guess I struggle with wanting to finish the "suggested" workout, so I lift lighter knowing I can finish. When I started I would never finish and I was barely lifting anything. Now I think I am proud to be able to finish lifting decent weights, so I am not pushing to perform better .... if that makes sense. I've got to get over that and start to work on being better -- not just enjoy how far I've come Haha!
 
Reflections -- I have had a good month for the most part. I lost 4 lbs this month and the magic happened when I got serious about tracking. I tracked the 2nd half of the month (for better and for worse) and I think that's what helped me.

We went to a Halloween party on Saturday night, which was off the rails, but not absolutely insane. I was happy with it. Yes, I had some desserts, but tried to stick to the veggies and proteins and leave the chips alone. It was a party, and parties will happen, and I will want to enjoy them. I can let them derail me for the night, but the next morning is back to the plan.

The good news is, candy does not tempt me in the least. Tomorrow night will be just fine :-)
 
What an off kilter weekend... I had purposely kept Saturday commitment free to get misc stuff done, as we were going to be at the Harvest Festival most of the day Sunday. Then I ended up spending most of Saturday at urgent care with my Sister, due to a kidney stone. Going in we weren't certain what was going on, as neither of us had previous experience with them, but she was in horrible pain. Fortunately she passed it while we were there, but she was totally wiped out and drugged up... so much so that there was no way she could do the booth Sunday. We did go up and walk the festival and get some lunch: it was crazy busy with wall to wall people and a lot of fun costumes. My Brother and SIL were supposed to join us for lunch but decided they couldn't get over until dinner. In between was the Seahawk's football game. Now normally I would do chores during the game but this one was a wild high scorer and every time I stepped away from the TV someone scored, so I finally gave up and just sat and watched.

It was a scramble to get chores done but I think I may have actually gotten more done than on a regular weekend because I knew I had to do something every time I had an open minute or two, instead of being able to tell myself I would do it later. Granted Sunday I did start with laundry at 6:30am and was sweeping floors at 10pm.

I continued to eat gluten and dairy free over the weekend, altho I did have some sugar. Saturday I started to cough at lunchtime, even tho I hadn't eaten anything at that point, so that tells me what I was having for lunch during the week wasn't a specific trigger. I never got my FitBit on Saturday, altho I know I didn't get any steps in sitting in the exam room: yesterday I had about 6000 steps... there just wasn't time to walk more.

Looking back thru the month, I feel like overall it was successful as I am in the right place now, even thou I rarely made my daily goals.

I am now in the two week count down for vacation. This week I need to focus on getting the clothing thing figured out. Saturday I'm taking classes at a local knitting convention, then Sunday I have my pre-vacation pedicure, Tuesday of next week it's hair time, Thursday I have another Rolfing appointment and then Friday morning its off to the airport. I am starting to get excited about it!

Happy Monday everyone... and Happy Halloween Eve.
 
Reflection for the month. It was a crazy month. First with my daughters ankle and then being sick. At the beginning of the month I could have worked harder to make time for me and through out the month I could have eating better.

I was pretty sick yesterday and I stayed home from work today. I am starting to feel better now so I should/hoping to be back to normal tomorrow. I will weigh myself in the morning and report my finally percentage.
 
Only one more day to go!

I lost 4 lbs this month, eating about 2050 calories a day, doing average 14800 steps and 3 short lifting sessions total of 1 hour a week (20 minutes each). I am happy with that.
I would love to lose another 2 lbs before Christmas so i can gain them over Christmas and still be at happy weight :)

I find the daily goals helpful as it is minute to reflect and adjust plan
 
I have missed half the month at least. And I'm so glad to have a moment to check in with y'all. I have been sticking with my plan to stay very low carb. I'm at 110% of my 10 pound goal for the month.

I'm exhausted and overextended most of the time lately. In fact that's actually quite an understatement but I'm plugging along, trusting God to see me through these times and into better.

I'm trying hard to remember and plan correctly and all that for time to meditaye and pray, time to eat, time to sleep, time to do some breathing exercises, staying hydrated, etc. etc.

I hope one of you is less over extended and able to host next month! DoleWhipDreams, you have done a fabulous job and I appreciate you.

Where is this thread usually found, btw?

(Oh and in skimming through some of the pages and pages of comments I'd missed I saw a bonus QTD that I couldn't resist. If there were a Disney University for me to attend I'd major in rides. :moped::moped::moped:
 
@fromscratchmom this thread is on the W.I.S.H board! Here's the path to get there: Forums>Just For Fun>W.I.S.H. Usually the host is kind enough to post the link to the next month at the end of the current month so that makes it a little easier to find :)
 
I think what is working for me is consistency. Most days my eating has been fine and under calories. I've consistently logged it all. I've also consistently met my steps goal. Last night that meant wayyyy too many circuits through the house! DH just laughs at me. But he is sweet and will walk with me (not inside the house!) when I need more steps. I'm not doing anything drastic, just little things consistently.

Y'all have been talking about weights and I think next month I will add that to my goal. Years ago (like when DS20 was still in diapers) I regularly took weight lifting classes. A year ago even I was popping over to the weight room after yoga MWF to do some lifting, but then an old shoulder injury acted up and I quit. I think I could do a lot before it starts hurting again. I just need to be consistent!
 

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