Lightspeed ahead to a healthier you! April 2016 WISH challenge... all are welcome!

[courtneybeth]

Silver linings--- that skort is totally a size 12, and last time I tried on clothes at Lilly I was a solid 14!!!

You're so cute! and I love the skort - what brand is that?! It'd be perfect for my upcoming May trip.

 

[Lady Marie]

Hi everyone - I'm Courtney Beth and I'm happy to be a part of these threads for another month. Many of you already know that my journey to a better me started in June 2014 when I saw a picture of myself at a very close friends' wedding and was shocked to realize that that woman in the photo was... ME. Over the next 18 months I shed 70 pounds and today am running half marathons.

To date I've completed 4 half marathons this year and am going to run at least 15 through Rock n Roll to achieve Hall of Fame Status with a special award. I've also signed up to run the Disneyland Dumbo Double Dare Challenge in September in honor of my running anniversary when I could barely run a 5K in 2015.

Here's an example of what a 70 pound difference looks like:

View attachment 159533

June 2014 vs March 2016
​

I am presently in a dual maintenance mode and strength building as I continue on my path to the best me.

Therefore, my goal this month is to do a dedicate at least 30 minutes of exercise for all 30 days of the month. (ie: practice run, strength training, yoga, half marathon, etc) I will keep track of it by day so i should be at 100% at the end of the month. Time to up the accountability!

OMG! You are awesome and such an inspiration!!!

I'll be back later to officially do my intro. But in the meantime, they are here!!!!

Purple for me, green for DH, and a gratuitous shot of my special girl messing up my photo shoot (it's really nice to see her causing a bit of trouble!).

View attachment 159546

Your kitty is gorgeous! Thanks for sharing the MB picture too. I have been holding off ordering my AP band for this year in hopes of getting a purple, and this sealed the deal!

Just got done with THREE HOURS on the treadmill. But they were crazy productive. Did 3 new shirt designs and walked 7 miles. And it's only 12:45pm! But now I have to rein in my ADD and actually get some physical work done. I don't see this going well.

You are an awesome inspiration too! 3 hours-- that's incredible!

 

[iheartdisney44]

I am in for the month! I will introduce myself when I'm not on-the-go!

 

[Lady Marie]

You're so cute! and I love the skort - what brand is that?! It'd be perfect for my upcoming May trip.

Lilly Pulitzer -- but I am warning you now, you may get hooked!

 

[pjlla]

I'm in for another month! Super excited for this theme!

Edit: instagram - courtneybeth83

Welcome back!!

ME! ME! ME! I'M HERE! I'M IN! ME!


This will be perfect for gearing me up to the May the 4th Be With You virtual 5K. AWESOME!


Instagram info: @craftiest_place_on_earth

Intro.... I'll be back later for that.

So glad you are here with us again!!

Oooh I'm in for April! I'm currently training for a half-marathon (well I'm only in the first week of training). But I have an April goal of running 56 miles. I love the Nike Plus app. It plans out everything for me! Good luck to everyone!

Welcome friend!! We have plenty of runners here, so you will be in good company!

I am in for April. I know I got sloppy with March but I am back on track.

Happy to see you back with us.... hopefully April will find you in a less hectic place!

I am both in for April and looking forward to hostessing in May!!!

WOOhoo on being "in" for April and THANK YOU for offering to host May!

I'm in for April! My goal is going to be to record my calories at least 5 days a week!

Welcome back.... and great goal!

I am in! Not sure what to make my goal this month. I usually do km but I am away for 9 days and will have to look and see if I can calculate a good goal that will push me but not make it impossible to reach. I am hoping not to gain weight on my trip. Actually a little nervous to be away from these boards, MFP and my fitbit app. I can still use my fitbit for steps but I won't have any internet to do more with it. Spending one night at AKL before going on our second Disney cruise. I have one week to kick some butt before I leave. Thank you @pjlla for hosting and Starwars makes me smile since my middle child is a big fan. I have saved seeing the new movie for the ship. My son has seen it twice already and will be watching it again with me.

Wooohoo on the upcoming trip! I'm kinda jealous!!

I'm in!

Sir, we are happy to have you back!

Reserving my seat for the Star Wars month - can't wait to see which side we all end up on - haha.

Consider your seat saved! Glad you are here!

I'm here! I'm so excited for this month's challenge, and I'm excited to see so many people excited to participate!

And I actually took the time to write a short introduction so that I don't have to do it later.

For those of you who don't know me yet ... I'm Sarah.
I'm almost 30 (I'm not looking forward to this summer), I live with my parents (and two siblings) in NYC, and I'm currently within 5 lbs of my all-time highest weight. So that's something I need to deal with.
Over the past few years I've become a runner, which is a truly amazing thing. I started running to lose weight (I'm still not sure if it worked), and I kept running because of runDisney. So far I've run 2 runDisney 5Ks, 1 runDisney 10K, and one local race. Over the next year, I'm hoping not only to work up the courage to run more local races, but also to run my first half marathon (for more on that, check last month's thread). In March I focused on non-running exercise, and I've gotten to a point where I'm doing some exercise at least 6 days a week, which is pretty great.
When I became a runner I didn't stop being an eater ... which is where my problem is. I know that I need to focus on my eating, and this month I plan to work on that.

When I'm not here on the DIS (those very rare occasions), you can find my on instagram as slkworks.

And, in honor of the theme ... me and my sister in January (I'm the one with the red lightsaber). I've gained almost 10 lbs since this picture

Welcome.... relax and ENJOY this month, since you are out of the "driver's seat". Love the picture.... but I'm sorry it makes you sad. Use it for your inspiration this month! I'll add you to the Instagram list!

I am struggling to decide behaviour goals vs weight loss goals as month one. My real goal is stop trying to do it all at once but this is hard to quantify. The plan for April is to take break from the gym for the first two weeks, keep up walking 10-15000 steps, and track calories/eat clean returning to the gym second half for only 2 workouts weekly (to be increased in May). It's hard to quantify moving goal so while the focus is on behaviour - I will put a specific weight loss as my quantifiable goal and really - the healthy diet is the focus. Once I feel this is on track and isn't big effort I will add next behaviour goal

Thanks Sarah for being host last month and Pamela for this. Looking forward getting to know the participants and sharing the journey

4/1 goal - 4kg weight loss
4/8
4/15
4/22
4/29 (FINAL RESULTS)

Have a healthy April All!

You will do great this month! Happy to have you with us!

I'm here! Waiting to board my plane to Lisbon. So far travel eating has been on plan!

So jealous.... Portugal! My Dnephew eloped to Portugal last summer! The pictures were stunning!

Darth Maul, of course

Still at work but I'll post later today my goals and stuff

AWESOOOOME!

How did you know so quickly!? I'm impressed!

Good Morning Ladies.. I am Michelle and I am in.. I am a WW member - but not at goal, I just have too much personal going on and I have very little control over my emotional eating so I am going to work on that this month so my goal is maintain for the month and I will do that by tracking everyday.. so 30 days no excuses tracking ..

I have a very supportive Hubs, a 22 yr old DD and 19 yr old DS and only very loving kitty name Hunny (for Pooh's hunny pots) I work M - F at a desk job, I enjoy Scrapbooking - I currently have to going - my DD's softball training trip in April 2012 and mine/Hubs trip in Sept 2014.. I don't have a spot in the mobile home I currently own to do this so unless I can go away for the day (usually fundraisers) or for the weekend I don't get work on them much.. that said I have a day one on 4/9 and am on a waiting list for a weekend 4/28 - 5/1 .. this is my Me time - hands are busy so not a lot of extra eating but not a whole lot of moving.

this pic is Chris and I at Chef Mickey's on 10-1-14 .. I'm pretty much the same except my hair is shorter and I've lost 8 lbs since then

I hope to hop back on at lunch but if not I'll see you all on Monday! Michelle

SOOOO happy you are with us this month! BTW, I sent you a PM! Love the picture!

***********

Trying to play "catch-up" here! I cannot believe you guys chatted up 3 pages just today! WOOHOOO! I love a BUSY thread!...............P

 

[ski_mom]

I'm joining in again too! I hope to become more active on the thread now that I'm getting to know everyone.

I'm Becky and I'm 45, married for 24 years this summer with 3 kids. DD19, DD17 (18 this month) and DS13. Our oldest daughter moved away for college last fall and our middle daughter is going off this fall, so it will just be the 3 of us year round after that. I'm pretty sad about it, but happy that they are thriving and enjoying life. I guess this is what we try to prepare them for...

The picture I'm going to post is actually move in day last August for DD19. I've been doing my fitness pal for the last 6 weeks and have lost 14 pound, but this picture basically shows my starting weight. Last summer while on vacation, my feet swelled up and stayed that way for about a week and a half. It was the first time that had happened. The scale showed that I'd gained about 12 pounds since the last time I weighed which had only been about 6 weeks before that (but 1.5 weeks of that was vacation). I really thought when the swelling went down that at least some of that would come off, but no...that seemed to be my new "regular" weight.

Well, I denied it and ignored it until the middle of February when I just decided enough was enough! Here's to this time!

My goal for the month is to lose 2 pounds a week, so 8 pounds total. I plan to do it by tracking my food in my fitness pal and coming here to get new ideas and encouragement (hopefully give some too).

 

[pjlla]

Hi All,

I am Nia - 37 year old, live in Dublin with my husband and my nearly 9 year old son, I work full time in IT.

I never been overweight but I always had to work at staying healthy weight. Last year was particular difficult, my husband was diagnosed with cancer. Multiple surgeries, scheduled and emergency and honestly - my weight or healthy eating were not priority. I gained weight and now I am on the upper end of healthy BMI range.

Things are slowly getting back to normal. DH got his all clear. His follow up scan is tomorrow and we will meet the consultant Tuesday. If all goes well this will be the time I need to let the worry go and start living again

My plan is to focus on goals one at a time.
1st. Diet - count calories 1700 most days, eat mostly clean food, avoid processed food, eat out less, 90% stick to diet, 10% treats
3 weeks in I will add strength training back, starting with 2 sessions a week, 2 sets per workout for week or two, moving to 3 sets for week or two and moving to normal 3 workouts, 3 sets of each exerice in my program
I will keep active and walk at minimum 10 000 steps but will ensure I get adequate rest
Year and half ago I was confident, fashionable, fun, outgoing, slimmer. I feel little shattered. I want to be happy and confident again.

This is me @ the streets of America August 2013. Excuse my hidden face - internet shy!

I want to be same weight by August 2016, which means I have 10 kg to lose.

WOW.... that is a LOT to go through! I can imagine how easily the less important things in life fall to the side when you are going through something like that. I will DEFINITELY add your DH to my prayer list and keep him in mind for his follow-up appointment. Glad you are finally taking care of yourself though! Glad to have you here!

Hi everyone. I'm Tortilla

I'm in again for this month! This time with 2 goals in mind:

1. Lose 4 pounds
2. Workout at least 4 times a week

Heh - I guess it's a goal of 4's for the 4th month of the year. Both will be hard goals but I think I can do this!

Instagram - justrynabehealthy

I will add you to the Instagram list. Great goals! Welcome back for April!

HI I'm Ashley, 34, from Iowa. I weigh 212.6lbs and I'd like to go down to 208 this month, so four pounds.

Hi Ashley! Glad you are back with us!! Sounds like a good solid realistic goal!

Hi Everyone,

I'm Patty, a 43 year old mother of three- ages 13, 10 and 6. This is my third month participating in these challenges. I've been working on losing weight for almost a year (well, I've been working on losing weight for almost my whole life, but this time I really needed to and I've kept at it) and I'm 80 lbs down (yea!). I was thinking of tying in my "one year anniversay" to a goal (maybe 100lbs lost), or maybe tying it to our vacation in June, since I started losing weight right after our vacation last year, but the longer I thought about it, the less I liked the idea. I'm pretty confident that I will gain weight on vacation, even if it's just from all the salt they put in the food on the cruise, so reaching that goal ahead of vacation and then gaining, or being really close when I leave on vacation, but gaining so it's hard to reach the goal by my anniversary date both seem really depressing. So, I will keep trying to lose slow and steady and wherever I am when we leave on vacation or when I hit my anniversary date is fine.

So, instead, I think I will stick with the same goal I had last month - lose 10lbs. It's about 50/50 that I will meet it, but it worked pretty well last month, so I'm going to stick to it.

Good Luck Everyone!

Patty.... so happy to see you thinking this through so thoroughly. No sense in setting yourself up for failure! And WOOHOO and BRAVO on the 80 pounds GONE forever!

Hi, everyone! Happy April!! Anyone planning any pranks today?

Doing my treadmill walk early today so I can jump on here and work on my intro at the same time. So let's see.

I've always been overweight, ever since I was little, and had some pretty drastic weight losses my freshman year of college and the summer after I graduated college... But there were some pretty drastic gains after both of those losses. :-(

I've been doing these challenges every month since last May (WOW. Almost a year!) so a lot of you probably know me, and a lot about me at this point. I joined these groups as I started to lose weight for my Oct. 2015 wedding and subsequent Disneymoon. I ended up losing 30lbs, weighing in at 199 on wedding day. Today I come to you weighing 219lbs - that's right. Through a series of job-quitting, depression, horrendous eating choices, poor sleep habits, and other negative factors, I've put 20 of 30lbs back on since November 1. So here I am again, starting over. I don't ever want to be in this place again.

This year has kind of taken on a tone of "I'll try anything once" - I've started my own business, I'm signed up to do a virtual 5k (any sort of marathon-type anything is something I NEVER thought I'd do), and I've decided to try to sign up for the 2017 Princess 10K at WDW. I'm trying to start new habits of better eating and exercising... I'm sure there will be some other firsts throughout the year, too, but those are on the agenda right now. I'm just. so. tired. of yo-yo-ing and going from feeling AMAZING to feeling so blah and disgusted with myself. I'm tired of not feeling comfortable in my clothes, and not being able/confident to wear the cute clothes I find online or in stores.

As for my goals this month, I'm not sure exactly what I want to do. I've been so discouraged the last few months with setting weight-loss goals and then never having a number to report because the scale just goes up. I've set myself up for defeat in the past, too, with setting exercise goals that were apparently too high and never being able to hit 100% because of an off-day or week. I guess I'll be going with a performance goal and just lowballing it. So here goes!


My goal for April will be to walk at least 30 minutes a day, 3 days a week.


I'm really trying to walk 6.2 miles a day (a 10k a day) at least 5 days a week, but I don't want to track that here, because of the above reasons. So 90 minutes of walking a week is what we'll go with.


I really like to see my progress through before/after photos, so I took a couple of before ones yesterday. They're pretty horrendous. I won't post them til I have some pretty kickin' after ones to go with them, haha. But yeah.

So that's me! I'm really looking forward to getting to know everyone better this month, both old and new friends. Thanks, @pjlla for hosting again - I always love love love your threads! And thank you @SarahDisney for being such an incredible host last month and for helping me to get back up off the couch and get in gear through your questions and really think about what I'm doing and why. I love this forum so much!

I love that 2016 is the year of "I'll try anything once"!! And of course, love to hear your stories of TM adventures, crafty-ness, and all that!

Joining In.

Hi! I'm Amanda. I'm currently at 200 lbs. My goals for the month are to loose 1 lb a week and finish my couch to half marathon. I only have 3 "sessions" left.

Hi Amanda! So happy you are here... two great goals for April!

View attachment 159531

Hello everyone!

I'm Derek, 43, and as you can see, I can rock the slave Leia bikini!
I ran the Dopey Challenge at WDW this January as Stormtrooper (5K) Vader (10K) Boba Fett (13.1) and Leia (26.2)!
First ever marathon and did it as part of the challenge. Yes I am that stubbornly crazy.

Current weight 230.5, need to get under 200. Obviously not all at once, hope to slice 10 off this month.

WOWZA.... that's QUITE the picture! Love it!! And when you decide to do something, you do it BIG! I cannot believe your first marathon was part of a challenge!

Hi everyone - I'm Courtney Beth and I'm happy to be a part of these threads for another month. Many of you already know that my journey to a better me started in June 2014 when I saw a picture of myself at a very close friends' wedding and was shocked to realize that that woman in the photo was... ME. Over the next 18 months I shed 70 pounds and today am running half marathons.

To date I've completed 4 half marathons this year and am going to run at least 15 through Rock n Roll to achieve Hall of Fame Status with a special award. I've also signed up to run the Disneyland Dumbo Double Dare Challenge in September in honor of my running anniversary when I could barely run a 5K in 2015.

Here's an example of what a 70 pound difference looks like:

June 2014 vs March 2016
​

I am presently in a dual maintenance mode and strength building as I continue on my path to the best me.

Therefore, my goal this month is to do a dedicate at least 30 minutes of exercise for all 30 days of the month. (ie: practice run, strength training, yoga, half marathon, etc) I will keep track of it by day so i should be at 100% at the end of the month. Time to up the accountability!

Your pictures are SO INSPIRING!! I hope you smile when you look at them! Love your goal!!

Holy words that can't be said on these boards... Your photo difference is AMAZING. Like. Sebastian with his mouth on the floor over here. WAY TO GO ROLE MODEL.

So. Just discovered the room my treadmill is in has AMAZING acoustics. So much so that I might've gotten too into When Will My Life Begin from Tangled and fallen off the treadmill.



Did a full hour on the treadmill and right before it was over I got a super frustrating message from a past customer so I decided to stay on and blare Disney music. Almost at 30 minutes of the second go-round!

Whooopss! I fell off once as well... attempting to sing and DANCE as I walked! Glad you aren't hurt!

I'll be back later to officially do my intro. But in the meantime, they are here!!!!

Purple for me, green for DH, and a gratuitous shot of my special girl messing up my photo shoot (it's really nice to see her causing a bit of trouble!).

Love the bands... and glad to see your little girl looking peppy!

Hi, I am in for month. My name is Stephanie and last month was my first month doing this. I am 36. I am married with 2 kids. Daughter is 8 and my son turns 10 next week. Seriously how do I have a 10 year old. Growing up I was one of those kids/young adult that never needed to work and could eat anything and never gain a pound. I am very short (only 4'9") so when I tell someone my weight they say that is nothing. I was 95 pounds until shortly before I got married and then only went up to 116. I only gained 18 pounds with my son and lost the baby weight very quickly. Well all but 4 pounds. When I got pregnant with my daughter I weighted 120 and only gained 8 pounds and lost all of that weight plus some I swear by the time I got home from the hospital. That year i got back down to 110 very easily with little effort. Working at a daycare and taking care of my 2 kept me busy. Right around the time I turned 30 I got a new job. The dreaded desk job. I slowly gained weight and got up to 140 by January of 2015. I started tracking my calories and working out. I lost 9 pounds and got very discouraged because of what a friend told me. This was around Easter last year. I fell of the wagon for a few weeks and then i was just starting back up when I was in a car accident and hurt my back. I had to do PT though the beginning of July. Then I was out of the routine and gave up. In January I weighted 148. The highest I have ever been including being pregnant. I have been up and down since January but really started to do better last month. I ended the month down 3 pounds. My short term goal is to lose 10-15 pounds by our Disney trip in June. It is really hard to get in the work outs because life seems to get int he way. My kids are very active in sports so there is a lot of running them around plus working full time does not give me much time.

My goal for this month is to lose 5 pounds. It will be touch but I am up for the challenge. For a longer goal I am hoping to be down to 120 by this time next year.

Here is a picture that I took on March 18th for the weekend challenge that I was not able to post. The weekend challenge was to post what we wear to work out in. That day i was going for a walk to get in my steps before date night with my hubby. Normally I do not have makeup on or my hair done but I needed to get the walk in to get my steps. The next day I went to the rec in my jeans and walked the treadmill just to get steps in.

OK that was a very long post. Sorry for that. I can ramble at times. I am very excited for this month but time to get back to work.

No worries about the rambling.... I can be guilty of that as well!! Glad to learn a bit more about you Stephanie!

I'm going to be half in this month. I leave on the 14th, but I want to make sure I stay on track up until my trip so my trip pics can be the best they can be Let's see if vanity is big motivator for me hahaha! BUT I'm going to be ambitious. I've been flirting in the mid to low 180's. I want to be FIRMLY 180 or even better 179 before I get on that plane!!! According to the scale this morning that's only 3lbs away. I've been doing that in a month, but it's totally doable in 2 weeks. I just have to get it together and stay on point. I will be tracking daily no matter how bad I eat and riding my bike to work to get in some more movement!

A little about me: I never worried about my weight too much until I got married and BOOM! I got comfortable (read: lazy) and gained somewhere between 20-25 lbs (I was not going anywhere near a scale during that time so I am not sure). I easily lost the first 7 or so lbs, but I feel like I have been loosing and gaining the same 5-7 lbs since Christmas..... This month was the first month I lost two "new" pounds and I want to keep the trend going. I liked the body I had when we got married (I was somewhere around a size 8/10 US for frame of reference). I would guess I'm about 15-20 lbs away from that.

Here's a reverse before and after This is one of my favorite photos from our wedding day and a picture of me trying on clothes last weekend (it's the most recent and honest photo on my phone without me hiding behind someone haha!). Looking at this side by side I can see that my goal is totally obtainable... because it's not that much but it's enough to make a big difference to me..... but I can also see that I am sooooo my biggest obstacle because I should have totally been back to that by now....

Silver linings--- that skort is totally a size 12, and last time I tried on clothes at Lilly I was a solid 14!!!

Pretty pictures!! What a beautiful bride! And the LP skort is so cute! I admit, I love skorts!!!

***********************

Okay.... page two caught up.... and since I sat down to do replies we had a total "first of the year" total thunderstorm! It is now back to super sunny and warm.... probably 70°.... and of course, it is supposed to SNOW on Sunday. WTH Mother Nature?!! ...................P

 

[pjlla]

I am in for the month! I will introduce myself when I'm not on-the-go!

No worries.... you have the whole weekend to do your intro if you want!! Just glad to have you with us this month!!

I'm joining in again too! I hope to become more active on the thread now that I'm getting to know everyone.

I'm Becky and I'm 45, married for 24 years this summer with 3 kids. DD19, DD17 (18 this month) and DS13. Our oldest daughter moved away for college last fall and our middle daughter is going off this fall, so it will just be the 3 of us year round after that. I'm pretty sad about it, but happy that they are thriving and enjoying life. I guess this is what we try to prepare them for...

The picture I'm going to post is actually move in day last August for DD19. I've been doing my fitness pal for the last 6 weeks and have lost 14 pound, but this picture basically shows my starting weight. Last summer while on vacation, my feet swelled up and stayed that way for about a week and a half. It was the first time that had happened. The scale showed that I'd gained about 12 pounds since the last time I weighed which had only been about 6 weeks before that (but 1.5 weeks of that was vacation). I really thought when the swelling went down that at least some of that would come off, but no...that seemed to be my new "regular" weight.

Well, I denied it and ignored it until the middle of February when I just decided enough was enough! Here's to this time!

My goal for the month is to lose 2 pounds a week, so 8 pounds total. I plan to do it by tracking my food in my fitness pal and coming here to get new ideas and encouragement (hopefully give some too).

Hi!! So happy you are joining us for another month! Thanks for sharing the picture! And glad to have another "college Mom" in the group. My DD is just finishing her Junior year (holey guacamole, where did that time go??) and DS goes off this fall (cannot even think about it yet!).

*************************

Okay my April challenge friends, I've got to go eat dinner! DS gave us exactly 24 hours notice that he is singing in a school concert in another town tonight. Fortunately my WW chat job can be pretty flexible and understanding and I was able to get out of my 5:30 - 8pm shift tonight!

Today, day #1 of April, was good as far as food goes.... I even threw an extra 2 SP snack in my bag and ate it this afternoon so that I had a few more SP than usual during the day.... and then instead of just eating an apple, I had hummus and celery for an afternoon snack, so that I was using a few more of my SP in an attempt to hit my daily target today... but I'm currently just 11 SP (out of 30) eaten for the day. Not sure I will be able to hit it.... but maybe if I have some nuts for an evening snack. I know, I know..... stupid problem to have. I need to stop whining and eat something yummy.

Off to make sandwiches for dinner! BTW, did I tell you that I started a kitchen fire last night when trying to toast piece of flatbread last night? Good flames coming from the toaster oven before I noticed it! SO SCARY! I actually had to dump water on it because the flames got even bigger when I unplugged the oven and opened it in an attempt to blow the flames out. Now the house STINKS of burnt food.... any suggestions? I've had windows open and fans going since last night (thank HEAVENS it's been fairly warm). I've got a couple of candles going right now (I usually hate candles, but I thought it might help).

I'll be back in the morning with our weekend QOTD (and maybe a challenge!)................P

 

[mamattorney]

I don't know if I have ever posted a picture of myself, but I think I will today. I was looking for a good one at Disney, since this is DIS boards, but our last trip I was at my highest weight ever So, since this is the WISH board, I decided to copy @courtneybeth (sorry for being a copycat) and do a before and not really after, but we'll call it a "before and now". So here I am - last June at Universal Studios and today (literally, today - like 10 minutes ago lol)
.

 

[SarahDisney]

Off to make sandwiches for dinner! BTW, did I tell you that I started a kitchen fire last night when trying to toast piece of flatbread last night? Good flames coming from the toaster oven before I noticed it! SO SCARY! I actually had to dump water on it because the flames got even bigger when I unplugged the oven and opened it in an attempt to blow the flames out. Now the house STINKS of burnt food.... any suggestions? I've had windows open and fans going since last night (thank HEAVENS it's been fairly warm). I've got a couple of candles going right now (I usually hate candles, but I thought it might help).

When we had an oven fire last year, we just had all the windows and doors open for a few hours (and it was snowing ... or had snowed earlier that day, the snow may have stopped by then), which helped a lot. Other than that, we just used some air freshener. If the candles don't help, I'm not sure what will.

I don't know if I have ever posted a picture of myself, but I think I will today. I was looking for a good one at Disney, since this is DIS boards, but our last trip I was at my highest weight ever So, since this is the WISH board, I decided to copy @courtneybeth (sorry for being a copycat) and do a before and not really after, but we'll call it a "before and now". So here I am - last June at Universal Studios and today (literally, today - like 10 minutes ago lol)
View attachment 159685 .

What a difference! You have made some amazing progress!

 

[tortilla24]

I will add you to the Instagram list. Great goals! Welcome back for April!

Thank you!

 

[courtneybeth]

I don't know if I have ever posted a picture of myself, but I think I will today. I was looking for a good one at Disney, since this is DIS boards, but our last trip I was at my highest weight ever So, since this is the WISH board, I decided to copy @courtneybeth (sorry for being a copycat) and do a before and not really after, but we'll call it a "before and now". So here I am - last June at Universal Studios and today (literally, today - like 10 minutes ago lol)
View attachment 159685 .

Never apologise! Everyone should have a before and after to show the amazing progress made. Look at YOU and how much you've improved your self!

 

[donac]

Hi. A quick introductions I am Dona married for almost 38 years to my college sweetheart. We have two boys who are getting married in the next 14 months (One this Aug and one next April). We also have a nephew getting married in June in Wichita KS and a niece who may be getting married in Sept. I have to start looking for a dress for ds's wedding.

I retired from teaching math last June and am now teaching a couple of college classes in the local private college. I have a couple of days in and a couple of days out. It is great. I was used to having Friday to myself since dh went and stayed with his mom on Fridays but she passed away two months ago so now I have to get used to having dh home on Fridays.

The month of Feb and March were pretty busy with my mil's funeral and then dh is dealing with his sisters and the estate. I am his sounding board and have to give him my attention when he needs to get things off his chest.

The month of March is now done. I spent most of it costuming the local high school's production of Music Man. We had a great time but it feels weird not having to go out 3 or 4 times a week.

Today was a rough day. I started it by driving an hour to my mother's church for a mass for the anniversary of my father's birthday and the 2nd anniversary of his death. I came home and then had to go to a wake for my dh's uncle. It has been a long day. I am still deciding on my goals for the month and will write them down tomorrow.

Have a healthy evening everyone.

 

[Zoesmama03]

I'm joining back in this month. My goal is 6 lbs. I mostly maintained in a five pound range most of March. But need to press on and get the losing going again. I work at reading the thread this weekend. I've gotta do some car hunting. I got some savings and need to find something used in my range. I hate the thought I haven't bought from a private seller in so long(I was teen the one and only time I did). I'm too used to going through dealerships but I don't want payments so just getting something 2005ish range. A little newer than my Dodge and of course switching to a Ford my brother knows them far better than Dodge.

 

[Oneanne]

Hi all, checking after a couple days off-line. I'm midway thru my Texas trip, so far it's been a lot of driving and moving around. overall it's been a good trip, but I've decided I'm tired of traveling alone. The hotel I'm in for the next two nights is pretty divey, fortunately my Brother and SIL will be here later tonight.

I've eaten a lot of food since I've been here, so I'm sure I've put on weight. Overall it's been good food although I did give in to some fudge (really didn't enjoy it, so that's good), and in Austin I was staying right next door to a super cute coffee shop and so had Chai for breakfast both days.

I think during March I posted about the extreme stress I've been under at work, and how we had gone thru a restructure that greatly expanded my job. This added even more stress to the point where I felt trapped and was starting to panic. On the Friday before vacation I stepped down from my leadership position, so this should help get the stress picture straightened out.

I joined WW in January and had lost 28 pounds. My weight goal for April is to re-lose what I've just put back on, and to lose 5 more. I'm also going to start Pilates when I get home, and have a goal of being able to buy regular sized clothing for my May trip to WDW.

Here's to a healthful April for us all!

 

[DisPup75]

I'm here! I'm so excited for this month's challenge, and I'm excited to see so many people excited to participate!

And I actually took the time to write a short introduction so that I don't have to do it later.

For those of you who don't know me yet ... I'm Sarah.
I'm almost 30 (I'm not looking forward to this summer), I live with my parents (and two siblings) in NYC, and I'm currently within 5 lbs of my all-time highest weight. So that's something I need to deal with.
Over the past few years I've become a runner, which is a truly amazing thing. I started running to lose weight (I'm still not sure if it worked), and I kept running because of runDisney. So far I've run 2 runDisney 5Ks, 1 runDisney 10K, and one local race. Over the next year, I'm hoping not only to work up the courage to run more local races, but also to run my first half marathon (for more on that, check last month's thread). In March I focused on non-running exercise, and I've gotten to a point where I'm doing some exercise at least 6 days a week, which is pretty great.
When I became a runner I didn't stop being an eater ... which is where my problem is. I know that I need to focus on my eating, and this month I plan to work on that.

When I'm not here on the DIS (those very rare occasions), you can find my on instagram as slkworks.

And, in honor of the theme ... me and my sister in January (I'm the one with the red lightsaber). I've gained almost 10 lbs since this picture

I love this picture!

Hi All,

I am Nia - 37 year old, live in Dublin with my husband and my nearly 9 year old son, I work full time in IT.

I never been overweight but I always had to work at staying healthy weight. Last year was particular difficult, my husband was diagnosed with cancer. Multiple surgeries, scheduled and emergency and honestly - my weight or healthy eating were not priority. I gained weight and now I am on the upper end of healthy BMI range.

Things are slowly getting back to normal. DH got his all clear. His follow up scan is tomorrow and we will meet the consultant Tuesday. If all goes well this will be the time I need to let the worry go and start living again

My plan is to focus on goals one at a time.
1st. Diet - count calories 1700 most days, eat mostly clean food, avoid processed food, eat out less, 90% stick to diet, 10% treats
3 weeks in I will add strength training back, starting with 2 sessions a week, 2 sets per workout for week or two, moving to 3 sets for week or two and moving to normal 3 workouts, 3 sets of each exerice in my program
I will keep active and walk at minimum 10 000 steps but will ensure I get adequate rest
Year and half ago I was confident, fashionable, fun, outgoing, slimmer. I feel little shattered. I want to be happy and confident again.

This is me @ the streets of America August 2013. Excuse my hidden face - internet shy!

I want to be same weight by August 2016, which means I have 10 kg to lose.

Hoping for he very best news for your husband! Also, I really love the dress you have on in that picture!

Hi Everyone,

I'm Patty, a 43 year old mother of three- ages 13, 10 and 6. This is my third month participating in these challenges. I've been working on losing weight for almost a year (well, I've been working on losing weight for almost my whole life, but this time I really needed to and I've kept at it) and I'm 80 lbs down (yea!). I was thinking of tying in my "one year anniversay" to a goal (maybe 100lbs lost), or maybe tying it to our vacation in June, since I started losing weight right after our vacation last year, but the longer I thought about it, the less I liked the idea. I'm pretty confident that I will gain weight on vacation, even if it's just from all the salt they put in the food on the cruise, so reaching that goal ahead of vacation and then gaining, or being really close when I leave on vacation, but gaining so it's hard to reach the goal by my anniversary date both seem really depressing. So, I will keep trying to lose slow and steady and wherever I am when we leave on vacation or when I hit my anniversary date is fine.

So, instead, I think I will stick with the same goal I had last month - lose 10lbs. It's about 50/50 that I will meet it, but it worked pretty well last month, so I'm going to stick to it.

Good Luck Everyone!

Wow! You have had an inspirational year! Great job!!!

Hi, everyone! Happy April!! Anyone planning any pranks today?


Doing my treadmill walk early today so I can jump on here and work on my intro at the same time. So let's see.

I've always been overweight, ever since I was little, and had some pretty drastic weight losses my freshman year of college and the summer after I graduated college... But there were some pretty drastic gains after both of those losses. :-(

I've been doing these challenges every month since last May (WOW. Almost a year!) so a lot of you probably know me, and a lot about me at this point. I joined these groups as I started to lose weight for my Oct. 2015 wedding and subsequent Disneymoon. I ended up losing 30lbs, weighing in at 199 on wedding day. Today I come to you weighing 219lbs - that's right. Through a series of job-quitting, depression, horrendous eating choices, poor sleep habits, and other negative factors, I've put 20 of 30lbs back on since November 1. So here I am again, starting over. I don't ever want to be in this place again.

This year has kind of taken on a tone of "I'll try anything once" - I've started my own business, I'm signed up to do a virtual 5k (any sort of marathon-type anything is something I NEVER thought I'd do), and I've decided to try to sign up for the 2017 Princess 10K at WDW. I'm trying to start new habits of better eating and exercising... I'm sure there will be some other firsts throughout the year, too, but those are on the agenda right now. I'm just. so. tired. of yo-yo-ing and going from feeling AMAZING to feeling so blah and disgusted with myself. I'm tired of not feeling comfortable in my clothes, and not being able/confident to wear the cute clothes I find online or in stores.

As for my goals this month, I'm not sure exactly what I want to do. I've been so discouraged the last few months with setting weight-loss goals and then never having a number to report because the scale just goes up. I've set myself up for defeat in the past, too, with setting exercise goals that were apparently too high and never being able to hit 100% because of an off-day or week. I guess I'll be going with a performance goal and just lowballing it. So here goes!


My goal for April will be to walk at least 30 minutes a day, 3 days a week.


I'm really trying to walk 6.2 miles a day (a 10k a day) at least 5 days a week, but I don't want to track that here, because of the above reasons. So 90 minutes of walking a week is what we'll go with.


I really like to see my progress through before/after photos, so I took a couple of before ones yesterday. They're pretty horrendous. I won't post them til I have some pretty kickin' after ones to go with them, haha. But yeah.

So that's me! I'm really looking forward to getting to know everyone better this month, both old and new friends. Thanks, @pjlla for hosting again - I always love love love your threads! And thank you @SarahDisney for being such an incredible host last month and for helping me to get back up off the couch and get in gear through your questions and really think about what I'm doing and why. I love this forum so much!

I like a short, simple, and totally achievable goal!!!

View attachment 159531

Hello everyone!

I'm Derek, 43, and as you can see, I can rock the slave Leia bikini!
I ran the Dopey Challenge at WDW this January as Stormtrooper (5K) Vader (10K) Boba Fett (13.1) and Leia (26.2)!
First ever marathon and did it as part of the challenge. Yes I am that stubbornly crazy.

Current weight 230.5, need to get under 200. Obviously not all at once, hope to slice 10 off this month.

LOL! Amazing!!!

Hi everyone - I'm Courtney Beth and I'm happy to be a part of these threads for another month. Many of you already know that my journey to a better me started in June 2014 when I saw a picture of myself at a very close friends' wedding and was shocked to realize that that woman in the photo was... ME. Over the next 18 months I shed 70 pounds and today am running half marathons.

To date I've completed 4 half marathons this year and am going to run at least 15 through Rock n Roll to achieve Hall of Fame Status with a special award. I've also signed up to run the Disneyland Dumbo Double Dare Challenge in September in honor of my running anniversary when I could barely run a 5K in 2015.

Here's an example of what a 70 pound difference looks like:

View attachment 159533

June 2014 vs March 2016
​

I am presently in a dual maintenance mode and strength building as I continue on my path to the best me.

Therefore, my goal this month is to do a dedicate at least 30 minutes of exercise for all 30 days of the month. (ie: practice run, strength training, yoga, half marathon, etc) I will keep track of it by day so i should be at 100% at the end of the month. Time to up the accountability!

Wow. Wow wow wow. First, you look amazing. Second, you are a walking testimonial to the power of just doing it.

Ok I originally chose a purple magic band and the more I looked at it, the darker and less vibrant it looked, so I changed it to yellow which is what I got last October. But this just convinced me. The purple band is gorgeousssss and I'm totally changing it back.

I love it. It is SO pretty. I originally had pink and changed it as soon as they announced purple. But I didn't expect it to be so great!

I'm going to be half in this month. I leave on the 14th, but I want to make sure I stay on track up until my trip so my trip pics can be the best they can be Let's see if vanity is big motivator for me hahaha! BUT I'm going to be ambitious. I've been flirting in the mid to low 180's. I want to be FIRMLY 180 or even better 179 before I get on that plane!!! According to the scale this morning that's only 3lbs away. I've been doing that in a month, but it's totally doable in 2 weeks. I just have to get it together and stay on point. I will be tracking daily no matter how bad I eat and riding my bike to work to get in some more movement!

A little about me: I never worried about my weight too much until I got married and BOOM! I got comfortable (read: lazy) and gained somewhere between 20-25 lbs (I was not going anywhere near a scale during that time so I am not sure). I easily lost the first 7 or so lbs, but I feel like I have been loosing and gaining the same 5-7 lbs since Christmas..... This month was the first month I lost two "new" pounds and I want to keep the trend going. I liked the body I had when we got married (I was somewhere around a size 8/10 US for frame of reference). I would guess I'm about 15-20 lbs away from that.

Here's a reverse before and after This is one of my favorite photos from our wedding day and a picture of me trying on clothes last weekend (it's the most recent and honest photo on my phone without me hiding behind someone haha!). Looking at this side by side I can see that my goal is totally obtainable... because it's not that much but it's enough to make a big difference to me..... but I can also see that I am sooooo my biggest obstacle because I should have totally been back to that by now....

Silver linings--- that skort is totally a size 12, and last time I tried on clothes at Lilly I was a solid 14!!!

View attachment 159570

So I'm in the midst of trying to order some new summer clothes for my trip at the end of the month and I have to admit, I've never tried on a skort. Are they really better than shorts? I sort of struggle with shorts and getting then to fit right and stay in place but I'm so tired of Capri pants.

OMG! You are awesome and such an inspiration!!!



Your kitty is gorgeous! Thanks for sharing the MB picture too. I have been holding off ordering my AP band for this year in hopes of getting a purple, and this sealed the deal!



You are an awesome inspiration too! 3 hours-- that's incredible!

Ah thanks!

I'm joining in again too! I hope to become more active on the thread now that I'm getting to know everyone.

I'm Becky and I'm 45, married for 24 years this summer with 3 kids. DD19, DD17 (18 this month) and DS13. Our oldest daughter moved away for college last fall and our middle daughter is going off this fall, so it will just be the 3 of us year round after that. I'm pretty sad about it, but happy that they are thriving and enjoying life. I guess this is what we try to prepare them for...

The picture I'm going to post is actually move in day last August for DD19. I've been doing my fitness pal for the last 6 weeks and have lost 14 pound, but this picture basically shows my starting weight. Last summer while on vacation, my feet swelled up and stayed that way for about a week and a half. It was the first time that had happened. The scale showed that I'd gained about 12 pounds since the last time I weighed which had only been about 6 weeks before that (but 1.5 weeks of that was vacation). I really thought when the swelling went down that at least some of that would come off, but no...that seemed to be my new "regular" weight.

Well, I denied it and ignored it until the middle of February when I just decided enough was enough! Here's to this time!

My goal for the month is to lose 2 pounds a week, so 8 pounds total. I plan to do it by tracking my food in my fitness pal and coming here to get new ideas and encouragement (hopefully give some too).

Your family is so cute!

No worries.... you have the whole weekend to do your intro if you want!! Just glad to have you with us this month!!



Hi!! So happy you are joining us for another month! Thanks for sharing the picture! And glad to have another "college Mom" in the group. My DD is just finishing her Junior year (holey guacamole, where did that time go??) and DS goes off this fall (cannot even think about it yet!).

*************************

Okay my April challenge friends, I've got to go eat dinner! DS gave us exactly 24 hours notice that he is singing in a school concert in another town tonight. Fortunately my WW chat job can be pretty flexible and understanding and I was able to get out of my 5:30 - 8pm shift tonight!

Today, day #1 of April, was good as far as food goes.... I even threw an extra 2 SP snack in my bag and ate it this afternoon so that I had a few more SP than usual during the day.... and then instead of just eating an apple, I had hummus and celery for an afternoon snack, so that I was using a few more of my SP in an attempt to hit my daily target today... but I'm currently just 11 SP (out of 30) eaten for the day. Not sure I will be able to hit it.... but maybe if I have some nuts for an evening snack. I know, I know..... stupid problem to have. I need to stop whining and eat something yummy.

Off to make sandwiches for dinner! BTW, did I tell you that I started a kitchen fire last night when trying to toast piece of flatbread last night? Good flames coming from the toaster oven before I noticed it! SO SCARY! I actually had to dump water on it because the flames got even bigger when I unplugged the oven and opened it in an attempt to blow the flames out. Now the house STINKS of burnt food.... any suggestions? I've had windows open and fans going since last night (thank HEAVENS it's been fairly warm). I've got a couple of candles going right now (I usually hate candles, but I thought it might help).

I'll be back in the morning with our weekend QOTD (and maybe a challenge!)................P

Oh no!!! I'm glad you got it out without more damage. Hope the smell goes away quickly!

I don't know if I have ever posted a picture of myself, but I think I will today. I was looking for a good one at Disney, since this is DIS boards, but our last trip I was at my highest weight ever So, since this is the WISH board, I decided to copy @courtneybeth (sorry for being a copycat) and do a before and not really after, but we'll call it a "before and now". So here I am - last June at Universal Studios and today (literally, today - like 10 minutes ago lol)
View attachment 159685 .

You look great!!

Hi. A quick introductions I am Dona married for almost 38 years to my college sweetheart. We have two boys who are getting married in the next 14 months (One this Aug and one next April). We also have a nephew getting married in June in Wichita KS and a niece who may be getting married in Sept. I have to start looking for a dress for ds's wedding.

I retired from teaching math last June and am now teaching a couple of college classes in the local private college. I have a couple of days in and a couple of days out. It is great. I was used to having Friday to myself since dh went and stayed with his mom on Fridays but she passed away two months ago so now I have to get used to having dh home on Fridays.

The month of Feb and March were pretty busy with my mil's funeral and then dh is dealing with his sisters and the estate. I am his sounding board and have to give him my attention when he needs to get things off his chest.

The month of March is now done. I spent most of it costuming the local high school's production of Music Man. We had a great time but it feels weird not having to go out 3 or 4 times a week.

Today was a rough day. I started it by driving an hour to my mother's church for a mass for the anniversary of my father's birthday and the 2nd anniversary of his death. I came home and then had to go to a wake for my dh's uncle. It has been a long day. I am still deciding on my goals for the month and will write them down tomorrow.

Have a healthy evening everyone.

It sounds like you've had a very stressful time. I hope April is peaceful for you.

I'm joining back in this month. My goal is 6 lbs. I mostly maintained in a five pound range most of March. But need to press on and get the losing going again. I work at reading the thread this weekend. I've gotta do some car hunting. I got some savings and need to find something used in my range. I hate the thought I haven't bought from a private seller in so long(I was teen the one and only time I did). I'm too used to going through dealerships but I don't want payments so just getting something 2005ish range. A little newer than my Dodge and of course switching to a Ford my brother knows them far better than Dodge.

Good luck with the car hunting!

Hi all, checking after a couple days off-line. I'm midway thru my Texas trip, so far it's been a lot of driving and moving around. overall it's been a good trip, but I've decided I'm tired of traveling alone. The hotel I'm in for the next two nights is pretty divey, fortunately my Brother and SIL will be here later tonight.

I've eaten a lot of food since I've been here, so I'm sure I've put on weight. Overall it's been good food although I did give in to some fudge (really didn't enjoy it, so that's good), and in Austin I was staying right next door to a super cute coffee shop and so had Chai for breakfast both days.

I think during March I posted about the extreme stress I've been under at work, and how we had gone thru a restructure that greatly expanded my job. This added even more stress to the point where I felt trapped and was starting to panic. On the Friday before vacation I stepped down from my leadership position, so this should help get the stress picture straightened out.

I joined WW in January and had lost 28 pounds. My weight goal for April is to re-lose what I've just put back on, and to lose 5 more. I'm also going to start Pilates when I get home, and have a goal of being able to buy regular sized clothing for my May trip to WDW.

Here's to a healthful April for us all!

Wishing you a peaceful April too!

 

[DisPup75]

Good morning friends! Welcome to APRIL! Remember to NOT be fooled today! Since today is day #1 of the April challenge AND it is a Friday, we will start today with our usual INTRODUCE YOURSELF QOTD plus a fun QOTD to get the ball rolling!

View attachment 159454

QOTD for Friday April 1, 2016:

INTRODUCE YOURSELF! Share a picture if you would like.... before/during/after... whatever would make you happy to share!

If you have been here with us for a few months (or years ), feel free to keep your intro BRIEF but try to share something we might not know about you! If you are a newbie, please feel free to tell us whatever you want to share.... but specifically why you are here, what are your goals (long-term and short-term), and how you intend to achieve those goals.

Fun Friday QOTD:

“At last we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi. At last we will have revenge.” WHO said this and in WHICH SW movie ????


***********

I'll be back later today to welcome each of you formally! For now I must dash.... have to leave early today!............P

OK! I'm Maggie and I'm returning again with intentions of really, truly, honestly participating fully in the challenge this month. Like I used to. Not like I have been the past few months.

I'm 43 and have been struggling with ever creeping weight for about 20 years. A few pounds a year times 20 leads to more than a little extra weight. I got serious about losing it last June and pretty quickly took off 15 pounds before spending the fall piddling around and losing an additional 5. My life since June has sort of resembled Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events - if it could happen, it has - and I've really let stress get the better of me the past few month. I'm twisted up like a pretzel but the bigger problem is that I slipped back out of Onederland. Weighed in this morning at 204.8. Sigh.

The goal for the month is to make that go away. I want to close the month at 198.8. So I just have to lose 5 pounds. Easy peasey, right? Yes, except for the fact that I leave for a little place called Disney World on the 25th and won't be back until late on the 30th.

The plan is to go full tilt until I leave and try to overshoot my goal by a bit. I've never gained weight at WDW before and I'll just keep my fingers crossed that I'll keep my streak intact!

Specific steps:

1. I'm counting SmartPoints again and also tracking on MFP to make it easier for me to aim for my 50/30/20 macro split.
2. I'm increasing my step goal to 12,000+ per day.
3. Im taking @Flossbolna 's advice and looking for a restorative yoga class.

Obstacles:

1. I'm still stressed out and I believe that potato chips are the answer to all of life's problems.
2. I was given a great sourdough starter a month or so ago and I'm sort of obsessed with making bread.
3. Dole whips, California style corn dogs finally making an appearance at Disneyland East, those pressed ice cream panini things @courtneybeth keeps raving about at Epcot....

Photos:

I need to dig deep and see if I can find a progress photo that meets the household rules for Internet photos (no faces). In the interim, I'll leave you with another picture of my cat because cats rule the Internet and it makes me happy. I took this on her 17th birthday so pre-illness but she was already an old lady!

View attachment 159741

 

[HappyGrape]

Some amazing weight losses - great inspiration!

I am super happy with myself! Had night out planned last night and was so tempted to cancel to avoid temptation. I went out and without studying the menu for 20 minutes I just went straight away to salads and choose the superfood salad. No dressing at all, little plain but fair size and well prepared veggies with some chicken. 2 glasses of prosecco for the whole night - I didn't do too badly. If this will work for me I need to be going out and making good choices and yesterday worked great.

 

[GrandAdmiralStrife]

checked my home computer email (a separate personal email usually devoted to spam or stuff I like to check once in a while) and surprise, apparently I forgot I registered for the Cap10K that's next Sunday! Well, better to find that out than to register twice or something, I guess...

 

[DVCFan1994]

Hi everyone, I am back again Hoping April is a bit calmer than March and I can participate more. Mid month is our kids spring break though, and that week I likely won't be around much. Gotta keep them busy I popped into the last challenge in mid-march and said I was abandoning my weight goal. Not only did a bunch of stuff interfere with my normal exercise routines, but a conversation with my physical therapist led me to think I need to stop focussing so much on the number on the scale. I am at a healthy weight by BMI. I just have never hit my goal weight, which is lower in the healthy range. My physical therapist did a running clinic I attended and she explained to everyone that when in a strengthening phase of training plan (which I am), her weight always goes higher than she likes, but she ignores it. She said starting to cut too many calories trying to move the scale in the other direction can lead to trouble as well. I have been feeling fatigued all the time lately, so I am going to follow her advice for a month and see how it goes. I am going to focus on getting all my workouts in and eating right to fuel myself this month. So instead of a weight goal, I am going to focus on 6 hours a week of exercise and staying below my MFP calorie goal for the week. I am not going to say daily because I do long runs on weekends and usually go slightly over then and honestly need to. But, I am usually a little under other days, so it should even out over the week. So I will consider the two goals as 12.5% each, and if I hit them for a week I'll add them to my progress, if I don't, I won't. With 4 weeks to report progress, that would get me to 100% at the end of the month if I am successful.

With my goals out of the way, I will briefly introduce myself to newcomers. I am a SAHM of two kids, 8 and almost 10. I first started my weight loss journey in 2009, when my now 8 year old was 1.5. I felt frustrated with not only my appearance, but my lack of energy and ability to chase my kids around. I was about 50 pounds above the weight I wanted to be and 30 pounds truly overweight. I started with just exercise, because I am a big fan of food and did not want to give anything up I had success with just exercise at first, then started cleaning up my diet and tracking my food. In about 4 months I got within 5 pounds of my goal weight, 122, but never made it. But honestly I felt great at 127-130 and was happy with how I looked, so I decided to just stay there for a while, figuring I'd find renewed focus down the line. I never did, but was okay with it. Last April I had to have a minor surgery, but it had a major set of post op restrictions and I could not run, bike, swim or do any exercise with impact greater than a slow walk for 6 weeks. I gained 10 pounds and have been fighting to get it off ever since. I've lost as much as 8 but always put it back on.

This month, my diet portion will be different. My DH's doctor is worried about his borderline blood pressure, and wants to put him on a very low dose of BP meds. DH does not want to be on meds, so he is opting to try diet and exercise as a remedy first, then add the meds if that does not work. He is following the DASH diet, and I am doing it with him to support him. It is not a huge change for me, but it is for him. Its focus is on tons of fruits and veggies, whole grains, lean meats and low sodium.

Looking forward to a productive month with everyone!