Marching Our Way to a Healthy Lifestyle ~ March 2016 WISH Challenge

[Flossbolna]

Perhaps I need to go find a yoga class instead of going to work now.

Why don't you look into a yoga class that is "low impact" and consider it as a mental and general wellbeing hour and not as exercise? Here at work they offer a few classes with all kind of back and relaxation exercises and since the start of the year I am in a class that combines foam rolling and a few yoga stretching exercises. It does not feel like an exercise class, but it is so wonderful for my general well-being!

 

[HappyGrape]

Side note - I am looking at WDW restaurant reviews as I will be booking ADRs next month. OMG - this is torture! Need to cut down on review reading - I don't to put so much thought on it and it's not helping me at all

 

[mamattorney]

Good Morning Everyone - my woo-hoo is that even though Lent was over on Easter morning, I have continued to get 15,000 steps a day on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday of this week (and hopefully today). After 43 days, I think I want 15,000 to be my new 10,000!

I am also woo-hooing that we added another park day to our June vacation! We couldn't get free air tickets on the Sunday after our cruise, so we were temporarily booked to return home on Monday. We were going to continue to look for free air and just have a pool day at a hotel if we had to head home on Monday, but we just decided to stop looking for the tickets and go ahead and plan a fun day at a park instead!

But, sorry, all you Disney purists, we decided to add the extra day to Universal, so we'll be going to both Universal Parks and Magic Kingdom before the cruise and then spend the day at Epcot on the day we get off the ship! We previously had been going to Universal Studios, Magic Kingdom and Epcot on the front end, so our new plan messes with our dining reservations and I can't get Via Napoli in Epcot like we wanted. That's OK, I'll keep checking!

 

[4Mickeys]

With weight loss I think it was more about "i want to reach XXX pounds" and saw that as the end result -- and when I got there it felt amazing. The running sort of came from it and now it's manifested into something to where I want to reach a faster speed AND get my body into better shape. I think the overall end goal (after thinking on it and having a crying-while-talking conversation with the husband tonight - long day for real) is that I want to great my body into the best physical condition that it can be. I want to have toned arms, a tight tummy, and strong legs. To look good and feel good in my own skin.. and by accomplishing that I feel that the speed and other things will fall into place.

If that makes sense.

Taking a look at the little goals seemed to have found the bigger goal. You can totally do this too! I want to help - all I did is keep asking "why?" after i made a goal/milestone and it lead to the next direction.

Thanks Courtney - I think one of the big issues for me is that my self-esteem and sense of worth really took a hit when my last relationship disintegrated - but did so over a prolonged period that I feel has broken and changed me forever. Don't get me wrong I have done things that I am very proud of since this happened that may not have happened if I had still been in the relationship such as going to University, graduating, having a career I had never even thought of taking my kids to Disneyland; but in so many ways my life is not that picture I had of what it will be. So when I have to ask myself those why questions you talk about for me I have to explore the painful 'whys' of how I got here. I mean I should have the easiest reason in the world for having short and long term fitness and health goals - which is that in my situation I am the only parent for my kids and I want to be around for as long as can be and be a healthy me. But even knowing this and knowing that I need to devote time to myself so that I can be a healthy me and parent I am still struggling with sticking to changing my habits. I guess I have to remember that a lot of years went into getting me to this place and putting myself and my health back together is going to be a process.

Thanks also to the others who have posted great answers to this - I also don't want the changes to rule my life and mean I can't have treat days and things in moderation and while I want to be thinner I also want to age as best I can.

Thanks for listening to my rambling thoughts

My woohoo Wednesdays are:

* I have stuck to eating at home for the last 3 days after making a meal plan - tonight was yummy baked salmon and veggies.
* My Aunty who was admitted to hospital on Monday has improved somewhat - she is 85 and may not be with us for much longer - she lives about 2-3 hours away and my mum and other Aunty have gone to see her - I am hoping to visit next week some time. She is a much loved Aunt and my prayers are with her.
* I just spent a couple of hours curled up on the couch with my kids laughing at a movie.
* For my Mums birthday tomorrow she will be 81 - and so funny - our plans for her birthday went out the window as she had to go to see her sister - but knowing how much the kids love to have birthday cake - has told my Dad to bring a birthday cake over tomorrow for the kids to have without her being here; but still for her on her birthday lol he has strict instructions not to get a cheap supermarket cake but to go the cake shop for a good one. Don't worry her and her sister are on what we now call a cake tour/holiday as the last time the 2 of them went to visit their sister they ate cake everyday at a different café haha and I'm sure they will have some tomorrow.

Ok I'm done tonight I have laughed, cried and put in some big thinking time. Can't wait to read all your woohoos.

 

[Flossbolna]

I guess I have to remember that a lot of years went into getting me to this place and putting myself and my health back together is going to be a process.

Yes, exactly! I think you are on a great track to slowly improve your physical and mental wellbeing. I am very sorry for all the crap you had to go through and what it did to you. But hopefully many little steps will bring you back your self-esteem! Changing habits is not something that happens over night and in my opinion not even in a couple of months. I realised the other day that I have been a regular poster on these threads since the fall of 2012! And I know how different I was in the beginning. I used to have a regular breakfast of a pretzel and a diet coke at my computer at work. Now I eat a breakfast of rolled oats, fruit and yoghurt nearly every morning at home at my kitchen table with a nice large mug of tea. I ate pasta four times a week, now I try to figure in far more protein heavy dishes during the week. And when I eat pasta, it usually is whole wheat pasta. I feel yucky if I don't hit my 5 a day portions for a number of days in a row. However, there have always been months when I was stressed out and I fell back into old habits. But I noticed that when it took me 6 weeks to get out of them in the beginning, it now only takes me 6 days. I am so grateful for this group as it is a constant reminder of what my goal is with regard to healthy living.

Ok I'm done tonight I have laughed, cried and put in some big thinking time. Can't wait to read all your woohoos.

Sounds like you had a full day! Sleep well!

 

[Dr Gunnie]

It's been a while! Hope everyone had a good Easter.

My Woohoo's:

- It's my niece's 16th birthday today!
- Unless I gain 3/4 lb today, I will be able to meet by 14 lb loss goal for March!
- I'm only 4 1/4 lbs away from 50 lbs down - the halfway point!
- I have a football conference to go to this weekend. No work for me on Friday!

Life is good.

 

[Flossbolna]

- I'm only 4 1/4 lbs away from 50 lbs down - the halfway point!

Yay! And I would love to see a halfway point picture when you are there!

 

[SarahDisney]

Hey guys! I'm a little slow and a little behind schedule right now, and while I'm going to try to do my best to keep up ... I make no promises. Thankfully, there are lots of awesome people here keeping the chat going while I'm MIA!

I also will have a go at things with my kids without worrying what others think if it looks like fun and I want to have a go. My 12 year old son and I had a noodle race in the public swimming pool last month lol you know where you sit on the pool noodle like its a horse and kick/paddle your way to the other end - lol I was exhausted - so unfit. As I got older I just started to opt out of sports. When the kids were younger I did do an adult tap dancing class - that was fun. I love to play backyard cricket with the kids - but don't do it often enough. We used to have a disco night at home with a colourful light and everything and dance around crazy - this has also slipped away - I get so out of puff so easily!

I love that you're doing whatever you thinkis fun without worrying about others!
And a pool noodle race sounds like the perfect mom & son time!

With weight loss I think it was more about "i want to reach XXX pounds" and saw that as the end result -- and when I got there it felt amazing. The running sort of came from it and now it's manifested into something to where I want to reach a faster speed AND get my body into better shape. I think the overall end goal (after thinking on it and having a crying-while-talking conversation with the husband tonight - long day for real) is that I want to great my body into the best physical condition that it can be. I want to have toned arms, a tight tummy, and strong legs. To look good and feel good in my own skin.. and by accomplishing that I feel that the speed and other things will fall into place.

This is a great goal - once you look good and (more importantly, IMO) feel good, then things will start to fall into place a bit more easily.

There was a over 55 lady in my old job. She would bring her own breakfast every morning and lunch most days. She made consistently healthy choices with rare treat and after just returning to her healthy eating. She was a keen golfer, and hit the gym 2 or 3 times a week doing strength training without obsessing about skipping a workout or doing stupid all go workouts. She was working hard enough to get results but not making it too hard to end up injured.

She have amazing posture, not skinny but slender and strong yet feminine looking. She is living healthy instead of doing a challenge and if she misses a workout or have an ice cream she would go back to the gym next time and healthy meal effortless

That's my goal. I want to be like her.

I want have good posture, healthy size, find activities I enjoy, and hit the gym 2 or 3 times a week to support my strength and aging process. I want to enjoy food, mostly healthy and don't go on and off imaginary wagons. I don't want to go on all or nothing challenge, deadlift 100 kg, run 20 miles or hit specific number on the scale. I want to be active & live healthy consistently and let the chips fall where they may

I love this!
The ultimate goal for all of us should be a sustainable, healthy lifestyle. Sometimes we'll do challenges or limit certain foods to get oruselves to that point ... but once you've reached the point where eating healthy and exercising isn't a challenge, it's just what you do ... then you're in a really good place!

A lot of my motivation in this whole journey is to find a way that works for me with which I can stay active as long as possible. This includes watching my weight, eating healthy foods and have a good foundation for fitness. I am not aiming at running a marathon or cut out all sugar from my life. I know that both things are far too lofty goals for me to reach. I don't have the self discipline for it and neither the dedication to give up things that I like in order to acchieve goals like this. But I am aiming at lowering my empty carb intake, get up my veggie intake, limit eating meat (more out of ecological and animal welfare concerns than for health reasons though), get my three cardio workouts a week (which does wonders for my migraine!) and being as active as I can in my daily life. That sounds like a sustainable program to me.

Having a sustainable program is the most important thing - and I think you have a great plan!

First full day with my new student.... fingers crossed that it goes along well. I was concerned about being in this particular classroom, as I am NOT fond of the teacher and I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual (truly the ONLY person I say this about in the entire building), but my student will only be in with her regular class for a few relatively short pockets of time during the day. I guess I can handle that.

I hope everything goes well with the new student!

My WooHoo for today is that I got my workout in yesterday. It was not as good as I wanted it to be because all of the treadmills were taken but I got my steps and 16 minutes on the elliptical. I am working to improve my time on the elliptical. Today is a little bit busier but I should still be able to get the work out in. I am really tired today because I slept on the couch (my husband is sick) and didn't sleep well. I need to keep myself motivated all day since I won't get to work out until about 6ish tonight.

Getting in a workout is always an awesome WooHoo!

My Woohoo for today is that I went for my before work run!! For someone who is not a morning person, the fact that I can get those done is a great step for me!

Morning runs are never easy ... but WooHoo for going out there and getting it done!

Between my always difficult traveling companions and Disney's failure to provide any usual information regarding Animal Kingdom hours, my trip planning is in complete disarray. But my magic bands have shipped and I've got less than four weeks until I'm there. Yay!!!!

WooHoo for MagicBands!!

---

Okay, that's all the time I have for right now. I really need some coffee, but I'm planning on going to Starbucks later today for my outdoors time, so ... yeah. I hate mornings.

 

[Lady Marie]

@courtneybeth, Awesome and thought provoking question!
I am one of those who had not given much thought beyond the lose XX lbs and then go on about my business. But as I reflect on this, I really do think I want to age well as everyone else has mentioned. I live in what was formally a 55+ community and a lot of the owners in my building are original owners putting them between 70-90 years old. You can see the ones that really take care of themselves. One of the 90 year olds was STILL driving! (I never saw her on the road-- that may have been scary, but I did see her coming and going from the parking lot) At any rate, the ones that are going over to play tennis and golf seem to be the ones that still have it together and are independent. I know this and know I should get my act together and start making this a part of my routine, but it is hard.... I HATE exercise. I really really do. I kinda like yoga, so I should go in that direction. It's just the commitment I find so hard.

I know there are adult leagues out there ... I just don't know that I want to get involved in that. As a kid, it's okay if you suck at sports ... people expect there to be some kids who aren't as good. As an adult, I think there's a bit more of a stigma if you're not very good at the sport you want to play.

I agree 100% -- and it's hard, because I would love to join adult dance classes (not like zumba... I mean like jazz and ballet). But I don't know if things like that cater to people like me who just want to have fun, or if they are more for people who used to or still do dance (or even more intimidating professionals who are keeping up on their craft)... The only way to find out is to research and just go... but I haven't been brave enough to try yet.

However, there have always been months when I was stressed out and I fell back into old habits. But I noticed that when it took me 6 weeks to get out of them in the beginning, it now only takes me 6 days. I am so grateful for this group as it is a constant reminder of what my goal is with regard to healthy living.

That's wonderful that you have recognized the patterns and have improved on getting out of the rut. I can relate to all of this. This group helps me get back on track so much quicker. I have noticed a direct correlation between my activity on the board and getting back on track.

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WooHoo!!!! I had a good day yesterday. I made a wonderful Hungarian soup that I was totally anticipating being on the high end of the calorie scale.. But it was remarkably light. The main ingredient is peas, but it does use cream so I was nervous. At any rate, it was delicious albeit a little lumpy (my first time making it so I'm not gonna be too hard on myself about it haha!). One bowl (two ladle-fuls) was just under 300 calories and filled me up. This may be a new staple in the house! Thanks @JacknSally for the nutritionist's advice on low calorie dinners. I was thinking about that last night, and even though I still had some calories to eat, I stopped after the soup and called it a night. Anyway, the scale did give me some instant gratification this morning for my good day yesterday which was nice and inspiring to keep it up today. I may actually finish the month with a loss rather than a gain. Woohoo!!!

 

[dsnyfn1022]

"What are your long term fitness goals?"

This was the million dollar question today from the personal trainer. I was ready to open my mouth and proudly exclaim... ACHIEVE THE 2:45 HALF MARATHON TIME with resounding enthusiasm. But I paused. Because really, is that a long-term fitness goal? It seems like a milestone on the path to the long term fitness goal and now I have to look at the bigger picture.

How do we achieve the long term fitness goal and what is it? Is it something that we can articulate into words or do we have to set up mini goals to achieve on the way that will eventually lead to the bigger goal?


I ask this because... I don't think I've really thought about what the long-term goals are for me. And I'm not sure everyone here has as well. But if you're one of the lucky ones who have, can you please help in providing resources or anything I can use to help determine what my goals are? It would really help the thinking process and help me to see the proverbial finish line and what mile(stones) I need to cross before seeing that final goal.

It's so hard to come up with a long term fitness goal! Especially as a runner because, as you mentioned, is getting X pace or running X distance really a long term goal? What happens when you complete that, are you just done? Of course not!

Right now my long term fitness goal is vague. I want to still be physically active in 20-30 years. But that's not a smart goal because it's not specific. So basically I don't know!

 

[dsnyfn1022]

It’s WooHoo Wednesday - what’s your WooHoo for today?

WOOOHOO WEDNESDAY! I'm days away from hearing about that promotion I applied for. At this point, it's been a month and I just need to know! I know that they've made a decision so at this point we're really just waiting on HR . Maybe I should call the HR guy every hour until he tells me?

Yesterday was a rest day and a rare Tuesday where I was actually home. So DH and I took advantage of the mid-60s weather and walked outside for an hour! It was great, got in my 12,000 steps for the day and I got to spend some much needed quality time away from the TV with my hubby

Finally, I weighed in today and I'm where I was at on Saturday. This is breaking the cycle of being up a pound at this point in the week. I'm hopeful that means tomorrow I'll be down the final pound I have to meet my goal! Fortunately, it's a run night. 5 miles! So assuming I don't lose my mind then I should be set.

 

[courtneybeth]

I love that you are giving this SO MUCH THOUGHT! I can get caught up sometimes in giving quick answers here, almost for the sake of just getting something typed. But we should ALL be thinking about what our true LONG-TERM goals are!

I'm usually a person who gives rapid-fire responses without much thinking -- and this was really the first time that I caught myself and took a step back. Seeing the big picture can be difficult and I think a lot of us really can benefit from seeing what the big picture is with our weight-loss, health, fitness, and travel goals.

I didn't mean to get deep on everyone - but I know as more of us reach our goals in the up coming months... they may reach the point where I am right now. What happens once you reach that goal and how does it relate to the big picture going forward in life?

Thanks Courtney - I think one of the big issues for me is that my self-esteem and sense of worth really took a hit when my last relationship disintegrated - but did so over a prolonged period that I feel has broken and changed me forever. Don't get me wrong I have done things that I am very proud of since this happened that may not have happened if I had still been in the relationship such as going to University, graduating, having a career I had never even thought of taking my kids to Disneyland; but in so many ways my life is not that picture I had of what it will be. So when I have to ask myself those why questions you talk about for me I have to explore the painful 'whys' of how I got here. I mean I should have the easiest reason in the world for having short and long term fitness and health goals - which is that in my situation I am the only parent for my kids and I want to be around for as long as can be and be a healthy me. But even knowing this and knowing that I need to devote time to myself so that I can be a healthy me and parent I am still struggling with sticking to changing my habits. I guess I have to remember that a lot of years went into getting me to this place and putting myself and my health back together is going to be a process.

::hugs you::: Your last line is absolutely right. It happened over a long period of time and it will take time to undue - but the good news is that your'e making strides to improve and you're getting better each day! Whether it's mentally or physically stronger, it's still progress! And it's been amazing to watch your progress as you've participated in the threads! I hope you'll stick around and we can continue to see you blossom into your new self!

I am one of those who had not given much thought beyond the lose XX lbs and then go on about my business. But as I reflect on this, I really do think I want to age well as everyone else has mentioned. I live in what was formally a 55+ community and a lot of the owners in my building are original owners putting them between 70-90 years old. You can see the ones that really take care of themselves. One of the 90 year olds was STILL driving! (I never saw her on the road-- that may have been scary, but I did see her coming and going from the parking lot) At any rate, the ones that are going over to play tennis and golf seem to be the ones that still have it together and are independent. I know this and know I should get my act together and start making this a part of my routine, but it is hard.... I HATE exercise. I really really do. I kinda like yoga, so I should go in that direction. It's just the commitment I find so hard.

I heard that a habit takes about 20-30 days to get used to. Have you thought about creating a workout calendar and holding yourself accountable with a reward system? Maybe you could build up to something special for your next WDW trip. I hear there's some pretty good restaurants and snacks -- you could splurge on a more expensive meal if you hit all days in the calendar. I think once you find something that works for you and you enjoy it... you'll want to do more of it. if that's yoga, running, weights, whatever... find it!

Right now my long term fitness goal is vague. I want to still be physically active in 20-30 years. But that's not a smart goal because it's not specific. So basically I don't know!

Haha! It'll take time for sure to figure out. I think you'll have an ah-ha moment fairly soon when you think about it.

Between my always difficult traveling companions and Disney's failure to provide any usual information regarding Animal Kingdom hours, my trip planning is in complete disarray. But my magic bands have shipped and I've got less than four weeks until I'm there. Yay!!!!

I AM SO EXCITED FOR YOU TO GET YOUR BANDS SOON! What colors did you choose?

 

[courtneybeth]

It’s WooHoo Wednesday - what’s your WooHoo for today?

After changing our plans last week to staying off property, we put the order in for the passholder magic bands and I finally have the PURPLE BAND.

It's so pretty.

 

[SarahDisney]

Good Morning Everyone - my woo-hoo is that even though Lent was over on Easter morning, I have continued to get 15,000 steps a day on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday of this week (and hopefully today). After 43 days, I think I want 15,000 to be my new 10,000!

WooHoo! 15,000 steps is an awesome goal - you can do it!

I am also woo-hooing that we added another park day to our June vacation! We couldn't get free air tickets on the Sunday after our cruise, so we were temporarily booked to return home on Monday. We were going to continue to look for free air and just have a pool day at a hotel if we had to head home on Monday, but we just decided to stop looking for the tickets and go ahead and plan a fun day at a park instead!

But, sorry, all you Disney purists, we decided to add the extra day to Universal, so we'll be going to both Universal Parks and Magic Kingdom before the cruise and then spend the day at Epcot on the day we get off the ship! We previously had been going to Universal Studios, Magic Kingdom and Epcot on the front end, so our new plan messes with our dining reservations and I can't get Via Napoli in Epcot like we wanted. That's OK, I'll keep checking!

I'm jealous.
Don't get me wrong, I love me some Disney. But I'm a Potter fanatic, and I still haven't seen Diagon Alley ... so Universal is very high on my MUST DO list right now (it's basically just below Disneyland, which I consider my second home). If I had the opportunity to go to Florida right now but had to choose between Universal and Disney ... I'd choose Universal. I was just at Disney ... I haven't been at Universal in a long time.

Thanks Courtney - I think one of the big issues for me is that my self-esteem and sense of worth really took a hit when my last relationship disintegrated - but did so over a prolonged period that I feel has broken and changed me forever. Don't get me wrong I have done things that I am very proud of since this happened that may not have happened if I had still been in the relationship such as going to University, graduating, having a career I had never even thought of taking my kids to Disneyland; but in so many ways my life is not that picture I had of what it will be. So when I have to ask myself those why questions you talk about for me I have to explore the painful 'whys' of how I got here. I mean I should have the easiest reason in the world for having short and long term fitness and health goals - which is that in my situation I am the only parent for my kids and I want to be around for as long as can be and be a healthy me. But even knowing this and knowing that I need to devote time to myself so that I can be a healthy me and parent I am still struggling with sticking to changing my habits. I guess I have to remember that a lot of years went into getting me to this place and putting myself and my health back together is going to be a process.

Thanks also to the others who have posted great answers to this - I also don't want the changes to rule my life and mean I can't have treat days and things in moderation and while I want to be thinner I also want to age as best I can.

Thanks for listening to my rambling thoughts

Thank you for sharing this.
It's definitely hard to look at your life and see where it "went wrong" ... but you've accomplished a lot, and that's awesome. You're really taking steps in the right direction with your health, and ike you said, it's a process ... you'll get there eventually.

y woohoo Wednesdays are:

* I have stuck to eating at home for the last 3 days after making a meal plan - tonight was yummy baked salmon and veggies.
* My Aunty who was admitted to hospital on Monday has improved somewhat - she is 85 and may not be with us for much longer - she lives about 2-3 hours away and my mum and other Aunty have gone to see her - I am hoping to visit next week some time. She is a much loved Aunt and my prayers are with her.
* I just spent a couple of hours curled up on the couch with my kids laughing at a movie.
* For my Mums birthday tomorrow she will be 81 - and so funny - our plans for her birthday went out the window as she had to go to see her sister - but knowing how much the kids love to have birthday cake - has told my Dad to bring a birthday cake over tomorrow for the kids to have without her being here; but still for her on her birthday lol he has strict instructions not to get a cheap supermarket cake but to go the cake shop for a good one. Don't worry her and her sister are on what we now call a cake tour/holiday as the last time the 2 of them went to visit their sister they ate cake everyday at a different café haha and I'm sure they will have some tomorrow.

Lots of WooHoos!
Prayers to your Aunt ... I hope she continues to improve.
And happy birthday to your mom!

My Woohoo's:

- It's my niece's 16th birthday today!
- Unless I gain 3/4 lb today, I will be able to meet by 14 lb loss goal for March!
- I'm only 4 1/4 lbs away from 50 lbs down - the halfway point!
- I have a football conference to go to this weekend. No work for me on Friday!

Awesome WooHoos! And yay for being so close to halfway - I think you'll hit that 50 lbs really soon, which will be awesome!!

Life is good.

Always awesome to hear

WooHoo!!!! I had a good day yesterday. I made a wonderful Hungarian soup that I was totally anticipating being on the high end of the calorie scale.. But it was remarkably light. The main ingredient is peas, but it does use cream so I was nervous. At any rate, it was delicious albeit a little lumpy (my first time making it so I'm not gonna be too hard on myself about it haha!). One bowl (two ladle-fuls) was just under 300 calories and filled me up. This may be a new staple in the house! Thanks @JacknSally for the nutritionist's advice on low calorie dinners. I was thinking about that last night, and even though I still had some calories to eat, I stopped after the soup and called it a night. Anyway, the scale did give me some instant gratification this morning for my good day yesterday which was nice and inspiring to keep it up today. I may actually finish the month with a loss rather than a gain. Woohoo!!!

WooHoo! It's always awesome to see people making changes based on the awesome advice shared here. And it's amazing that you're starting to see the results already - I hope you can end the month with a loss!

WOOOHOO WEDNESDAY! I'm days away from hearing about that promotion I applied for. At this point, it's been a month and I just need to know! I know that they've made a decision so at this point we're really just waiting on HR . Maybe I should call the HR guy every hour until he tells me?

Waiting is the worst. I hope you hear good news soon!

Finally, I weighed in today and I'm where I was at on Saturday. This is breaking the cycle of being up a pound at this point in the week. I'm hopeful that means tomorrow I'll be down the final pound I have to meet my goal! Fortunately, it's a run night. 5 miles! So assuming I don't lose my mind then I should be set.

Yay! I hope you get awesome news on the scale tomorrow!

After changing our plans last week to staying off property, we put the order in for the passholder magic bands and I finally have the PURPLE BAND.

It's so pretty.

I love it. It's beautiful. I'm officially super jealous!

 

[Flossbolna]

After changing our plans last week to staying off property, we put the order in for the passholder magic bands and I finally have the PURPLE BAND.

It's so pretty.

View attachment 159145

My trip still is quite a long time away, but I went and already put in my order for a purple band, too. I never got the obsession about them, but now that they are an option, I realized that this is actually a color that goes very well with a lot of things in my wardrobe. So, I am really looking forward to getting it sometime in the future!

 

[pjlla]

WooHoo Wednesday, March 30th:

WooHoo Wednesday is a very special tradition that we have on these challenge threads – it’s a chance for us to take a break and celebrate our victories (big or small).

It’s almost the end of the month and while we’re current celebrating Mickey’s Soundsational Parade (a fairly new parade), today let’s take note of the fact that parades have been a part of Disneyland history for 60 years. Did you know that Disneyland had a parade on its opening day?

The opening day parade was a special event held on July 17th, 1955, to commemorate the opening of Disneyland. The parade featured guest starts and a segment to represent each themed area in the park.


Some of us can start to see the WooHoos as soon as we start our healthy lifestyle journey, but others take some time to start noticing these small (and big) victories. Wherever you are on your journey, it’s important to remember that there is always something to celebrate, even if it’s just that you’ve taken that first step. Every person has WooHoos, and that’s where we’re celebrating today.

It’s WooHoo Wednesday - what’s your WooHoo for today?​

Hmmmm.... and Hmmmmm..... I'll think and get back to you.

Good Morning Everyone - my woo-hoo is that even though Lent was over on Easter morning, I have continued to get 15,000 steps a day on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday of this week (and hopefully today). After 43 days, I think I want 15,000 to be my new 10,000!

I am also woo-hooing that we added another park day to our June vacation! We couldn't get free air tickets on the Sunday after our cruise, so we were temporarily booked to return home on Monday. We were going to continue to look for free air and just have a pool day at a hotel if we had to head home on Monday, but we just decided to stop looking for the tickets and go ahead and plan a fun day at a park instead!

But, sorry, all you Disney purists, we decided to add the extra day to Universal, so we'll be going to both Universal Parks and Magic Kingdom before the cruise and then spend the day at Epcot on the day we get off the ship! We previously had been going to Universal Studios, Magic Kingdom and Epcot on the front end, so our new plan messes with our dining reservations and I can't get Via Napoli in Epcot like we wanted. That's OK, I'll keep checking!

I TOTALLY understand. Up until 2014 I would have considered myself a DIsney purist..... but then DS and I went to MineCon in Orlando and the tix included a private evening at Universal (which I didn't know when I bought the MineCon tix, so I considered it a "free" night!). We went STRAIGHT to WWOHP and stayed there the ENTIRE NIGHT! It was amazing! SO WISH we had more time! It was SO COOL!!

Thanks Courtney - I think one of the big issues for me is that my self-esteem and sense of worth really took a hit when my last relationship disintegrated - but did so over a prolonged period that I feel has broken and changed me forever. Don't get me wrong I have done things that I am very proud of since this happened that may not have happened if I had still been in the relationship such as going to University, graduating, having a career I had never even thought of taking my kids to Disneyland; but in so many ways my life is not that picture I had of what it will be. So when I have to ask myself those why questions you talk about for me I have to explore the painful 'whys' of how I got here. I mean I should have the easiest reason in the world for having short and long term fitness and health goals - which is that in my situation I am the only parent for my kids and I want to be around for as long as can be and be a healthy me. But even knowing this and knowing that I need to devote time to myself so that I can be a healthy me and parent I am still struggling with sticking to changing my habits. I guess I have to remember that a lot of years went into getting me to this place and putting myself and my health back together is going to be a process.

Thanks also to the others who have posted great answers to this - I also don't want the changes to rule my life and mean I can't have treat days and things in moderation and while I want to be thinner I also want to age as best I can.

Thanks for listening to my rambling thoughts

My woohoo Wednesdays are:

* I have stuck to eating at home for the last 3 days after making a meal plan - tonight was yummy baked salmon and veggies.
* My Aunty who was admitted to hospital on Monday has improved somewhat - she is 85 and may not be with us for much longer - she lives about 2-3 hours away and my mum and other Aunty have gone to see her - I am hoping to visit next week some time. She is a much loved Aunt and my prayers are with her.
* I just spent a couple of hours curled up on the couch with my kids laughing at a movie.
* For my Mums birthday tomorrow she will be 81 - and so funny - our plans for her birthday went out the window as she had to go to see her sister - but knowing how much the kids love to have birthday cake - has told my Dad to bring a birthday cake over tomorrow for the kids to have without her being here; but still for her on her birthday lol he has strict instructions not to get a cheap supermarket cake but to go the cake shop for a good one. Don't worry her and her sister are on what we now call a cake tour/holiday as the last time the 2 of them went to visit their sister they ate cake everyday at a different café haha and I'm sure they will have some tomorrow.

Ok I'm done tonight I have laughed, cried and put in some big thinking time. Can't wait to read all your woohoos.

First of all. prayers for your aunt!! Second..... so great that you are trying to get healthier and STAY healthy to be around for your kiddos!

It's been a while! Hope everyone had a good Easter.

My Woohoo's:

- It's my niece's 16th birthday today!
- Unless I gain 3/4 lb today, I will be able to meet by 14 lb loss goal for March!
- I'm only 4 1/4 lbs away from 50 lbs down - the halfway point!
- I have a football conference to go to this weekend. No work for me on Friday!

Life is good.

Lots of woohoos! Have fun at the football conference!

@courtneybeth, Awesome and thought provoking question!
I am one of those who had not given much thought beyond the lose XX lbs and then go on about my business. But as I reflect on this, I really do think I want to age well as everyone else has mentioned. I live in what was formally a 55+ community and a lot of the owners in my building are original owners putting them between 70-90 years old. You can see the ones that really take care of themselves. One of the 90 year olds was STILL driving! (I never saw her on the road-- that may have been scary, but I did see her coming and going from the parking lot) At any rate, the ones that are going over to play tennis and golf seem to be the ones that still have it together and are independent. I know this and know I should get my act together and start making this a part of my routine, but it is hard.... I HATE exercise. I really really do. I kinda like yoga, so I should go in that direction. It's just the commitment I find so hard.

I agree 100% -- and it's hard, because I would love to join adult dance classes (not like zumba... I mean like jazz and ballet). But I don't know if things like that cater to people like me who just want to have fun, or if they are more for people who used to or still do dance (or even more intimidating professionals who are keeping up on their craft)... The only way to find out is to resarch and just go... but I haven't been brave enough to try yet.

That's wonderful that you have recognized the patterns and have improved on getting out of the rut. I can relate to all of this. This group helps me get back on track so much quicker. I have noticed a direct correlation between my activity on the board and getting back on track.

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WooHoo!!!! I had a good day yesterday. I made a wonderful Hungarian soup that I was totally anticipating being on the high end of the calorie scale.. But it was remarkably light. The main ingredient is peas, but it does use cream so I was nervous. At any rate, it was delicious albeit a little lumpy (my first time making it so I'm not gonna be too hard on myself about it haha!). One bowl (two ladle-fuls) was just under 300 calories and filled me up. This may be a new staple in the house! Thanks @JacknSally for the nutritionist's advice on low calorie dinners. I was thinking about that last night, and even though I still had some calories to eat, I stopped after the soup and called it a night. Anyway, the scale did give me some instant gratification this morning for my good day yesterday which was nice and inspiring to keep it up today. I may actually finish the month with a loss rather than a gain. Woohoo!!!

Recipe please?? I love soups and I really like peas! In fact, we will probably be sowing peas on Monday!

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Evening all! I've done some replies, but I'm going to dash for now. The rest of my computer time for the evening will be spent getting next month's challenge prepped! I'll be back in the a.m. to chat!........................P

 

[JacknSally]

Hi, friends! Didn't mean to jump ship yesterday but I REALLY WAS busy dying. Apparently I'm more out of shape than I thought - LOL. That's scary. I majorly tweaked a muscle in my thigh/hip and could barely move yesterday, and got NO SLEEP the night before. Despite that, I still got 7000ish steps in yesterday, so I'm proud of myself. The leg is better today - still sore but I can walk - so I'm here on the treadmill again, so expect some interesting posts through the night, I'm sure! I'm so glad you guys find humor in those. My stream of consciousness when exercising is really a curious thing. I'm trying not to retweak my leg so my speed on the treadmill is SUUUPERRRR SLOWWWW and it's making it SO MUCH HARDER to do this thing. Ugh.

What do you iisten to when you just need background noise but need to not be searching for something to listen to every 3 minutes? Well, when you just finished the complete series of Gilmore Girls for the umpteenbillionth time, you listen to Ellen's Universe of Energy. Because not only can you quote the whole thing (stupid Judy), it lasts forever, and you're also having major EPCOT withdrawals. 6 MONTHS 3 WEEKS 1 DAY!


Speaking of.... IT'S WOOHOOOOO WEDNESDAYYYYY YAYYYYY!!!!! I love the positivity on Woohoo Wednesday.

My woohoos for today:

• My Etsy shop was featured on Disney Fashionista Blog today! She wrote up a post about my "This girl runs on caffeine and pixie dust" shirts. Only like 4 people have liked it on their Facebook page, ha, but it's cool anyway.
• SOMEONE WORE ONE OF MY SHIRTS IN ANIMAL KINGDOM YESTERDAYYYYY AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
• The MOST ADORABLE PAIR OF MINNIE EARS EVER were delivered to my house today! One of the coolest things about this whole Etsy experience has been getting to know other small Etsy business owners who specialize in Disney items, and doing trades and supporting their business while they help support mine. I've got to make myself a Disney/Mean Girls shirt to go with these ears so I can photograph them. Love love love.
• I'm working on some awesome shirt designs for @courtneybeth and her DH for their upcoming races!
• I signed up for a Virtual 5K today. It's Star Wars themed and @courtneybeth and @flvy and I are going to do it together. There's a medal. It might light up. I'm down.
• 6 MONTHS 3 WEEKS 1 DAY 'TIL DISNEY... for one day. BUT STILL. DISNEY.
• I weighed on Monday and was at 220. The highest I've weighed since... GAH. Last June? Last May? Idk but it was NOT OK. I weighed this morning and was at 219, though, so that's something. Considering I started the month at 214, though, I'm NOT HAPPY. The sleep schedule is having a BIG IMPACT, I know that for a fact. Also the inconsistency with water drinking every day. I have got to get better about it.
• Side note for the above woohoo - I need to find my cloth measuring tape and take legitimate measurements and keep an eye on those more than the scale. Or in addition to, at least.
• We went to Sprouts last night because our Kroger produce SUCKS, but we got some great produce and some proteins for REALLY great prices. And it wasn't crowded and we didn't want to kill anyone. So we might've found a new grocery store, which I'm ok with. They even had some yummy healthy/organic prepackaged meals, too.
• I had a chicken caesar salad for lunch today and it was so goooodddd. I forget how much I love those. I could eat them forever.
• I've been .85 miles since starting this post. It's super hot and muggy in the house, though, so I feel DISGUSTING and sweaty and ugh.
• Not a woohoo: it's about to rain again. They're saying 6 inches today and tomorrow. Making for the wettest March on record for us. They're already talking about roads being washed out and more flooding. Sigh. Maybe this will make our backyard actually grow grass this year, though!

Ok, I guess that's enough woohoos. Now to find something else to do for... I don't even know how much longer.

 

[SarahDisney]

• My Etsy shop was featured on Disney Fashionista Blog today! She wrote up a post about my "This girl runs on caffeine and pixie dust" shirts. Only like 4 people have liked it on their Facebook page, ha, but it's cool anyway.

• SOMEONE WORE ONE OF MY SHIRTS IN ANIMAL KINGDOM YESTERDAYYYYY AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

• The MOST ADORABLE PAIR OF MINNIE EARS EVER were delivered to my house today! One of the coolest things about this whole Etsy experience has been getting to know other small Etsy business owners who specialize in Disney items, and doing trades and supporting their business while they help support mine. I've got to make myself a Disney/Mean Girls shirt to go with these ears so I can photograph them. Love love love.

• I'm working on some awesome shirt designs for @courtneybeth and her DH for their upcoming races!

• I signed up for a Virtual 5K today. It's Star Wars themed and @courtneybeth and @flvy and I are going to do it together. There's a medal. It might light up. I'm down.

• 6 MONTHS 3 WEEKS 1 DAY 'TIL DISNEY... for one day. BUT STILL. DISNEY.

• I weighed on Monday and was at 220. The highest I've weighed since... GAH. Last June? Last May? Idk but it was NOT OK. I weighed this morning and was at 219, though, so that's something. Considering I started the month at 214, though, I'm NOT HAPPY. The sleep schedule is having a BIG IMPACT, I know that for a fact. Also the inconsistency with water drinking every day. I have got to get better about it.

• Side note for the above woohoo - I need to find my cloth measuring tape and take legitimate measurements and keep an eye on those more than the scale. Or in addition to, at least.

• We went to Sprouts last night because our Kroger produce SUCKS, but we got some great produce and some proteins for REALLY great prices. And it wasn't crowded and we didn't want to kill anyone. So we might've found a new grocery store, which I'm ok with. They even had some yummy healthy/organic prepackaged meals, too.

• I had a chicken caesar salad for lunch today and it was so goooodddd. I forget how much I love those. I could eat them forever.

• I've been .85 miles since starting this post. It's super hot and muggy in the house, though, so I feel DISGUSTING and sweaty and ugh

Yay! Lots of awesome WooHoos!

I have to admit ... I'm scared of virtual races. I don't know why, but the idea of them just freaks me out. So I'm always really impressed at people who can go out there and do virtual races and feel good about it ... because I know I'd feel like an idiot (and I know there's absolutely no reason for me to feel like an idiot). And I'm really excited for you, and I'm excited that you've got two awesome people doing it with you!

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No WooHoos for me today. It was not a good day, and I'm angry about a lot of things that happened today (and some things that didn't happen ... like half of my to-do list). I'm really getting sick of screwing up because it just makes me angry ... but for some reason there are just days when I can't get my **** together, and sometimes I don't even try. It's so frustrating.
Oh well, tomorrow is a new day and I still have a chance to end the month on a positive note.

 

[ski_mom]

Well, my WooHoo isn't a big thing, but at least it's something...

Wednesday is always my worst eating day through the week (not counting weekend meals out sometimes) and today was actually a good eating day. I made good choices throughout the day even though I didn't really want to lol!

For lunch, I was thinking about driving through Hardees to get chicken tenders, but I somehow willed myself to drive on by. Instead, I came home and ate a banana and the last small piece of the breakfast before we had Easter morning.

Then, after work, I was looking for a snack and spotted the opened box of girl scout thin mints, but somehow I ended up eating grapes instead! We then had a good dinner, so I've stayed within my calories all day. Most days I don't have a huge problem doing that but Wednesdays are my weigh-in day, so after that, I seem to tell myself that I have a whole week to fix my bad eating. This week I started out my new week on a good foot though!

 

[SarahDisney]

This Week’s Challenge:
For our final challenge of the month, we’re going a bit freeform.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines healthy as “in good health” … but what exactly does that mean? Healthy can mean something different to each of us – and we each need to focus on what healthy means to us individually. The dictionary cannot define our quest for a healthy life (and apparently it doesn’t even try) – only we can do that.

This week’s challenge is all about you and what “healthy” means to you. Is it fitting into your wedding dress or tux? Learning how to plan healthy meals? Running a goal race? Seeing a number on a scale that you haven’t seen in 20 years?

Share a picture that represents your view of healthy – or what you want your “healthy” to look like!

My original plan for this challenge was to do a collage of a bunch of things that I know I need to work on to achieve my healthy. But I just haven't had a chance, so instead I'm sticking to just one picture:

This picture is from March 2011. I was about 10 lbs above my goal weight, and I still thought of myself as fat.
I love this picture (because it's the Cat in the Hat and who doesn't love the Cat in the Hat?), but it's hard for me to look at it sometimes. Because I feel like I look so skinny in this picture, and I look fat now.
Thinking about it, I think this picture represents my true problem ... I'm not happy with how I look, and I don't know if I will be even if I reach my goal.

So to me ... healthy is accepting how I look, whether I'm at my goal weight or now. Yes, I do currently need to lose some weight. But once I lose that weight ... I won't be healthy until I can accept that I am where I should be. That may be at my goal weight, or it may be at a slightly higher weight. But until I look in the mirror and am comfortable with what I see, I will never be healthy.