Weight-Loss Summer Shake-Up Challenge Chat Thread

[Omega]

I freeze my four yoghurts and they taste very like ice cream. It is like I spend the middle of the day having an ice cream and fruit "all you can eat" fest. Sod the notion of sensible meals - it works for me!!!

It covers the calcium (I get it from natural dairy sources so if there is an enhancement to weightloss from that as some research indicates I get that too), helps a lot for the protein, and covers off the 5-a-day and fibre too!!!

Today I am having some sugar free jelly then with fruit thrown in during the afternoon too - how much like a children's tea party can my food go!!!!

 

[thecabbie]

Calcium is usually not an issue for me either. I've never actually sat down and counted it because I'm usually looking more towards protein content, but, I tend to eat a fair bit of yogurt, cottage cheese, and skim milk, so the likelihood is that I am receiving my daily dose pretty easily. I'll be paying more attention this week coming.

I'm having a hard time with the new vegetable bonus points. I generally tend to eat a pretty wide range of fruits and veggies as a rule so adding new things in, is kind of difficult given the range of products actually available. Oh well, I'll probably get a couple of points anyway.

 

[Omega]

Karl - if when you count it (and it is shown on fitday so if you log the info is all there) and the stuff that you have every day meets the quota without anything extra - then you just need to eat the normal daily stuff and you know that you are covered.... Then it is just money for old rope - you eat your normal stuff and know that your calcium is covered - and pick up your points.

I know whether I track or not that the brand of yoghurts that I have contain 229mg calcium each. Every day I have four of them. If one day I suddenly decided to have less I would have to look at what else I was having but I am such a creature of habit that it isnt really too likely... I enjoy them so am actually much more likely to have 6 (or even 8 if I feel greedy LOL).

Lets face it you are probably tracking for your calories and protein anyway. Most of us accept that we will be for challenges of this "party game" type.

The thing is that a lot of people do not get their calcium all in and they may well not know that it can have an impact on their weight - indeed some people think "dairy is fattening" and avoid the whole lot if possible.

A lot of new people on this forum I see seem to think that losing weight means simply depriving themselves of calories and that means depriving themselves of food.

I actually was chatting the other day to a new person who was eating so low on calories it was silly - and when I said "try between 8 and 12 times weight - start at 12 times and see how you go" he was convinced that I meant 12 times his goal weight and not his current weight. The notion of needing to deprive is strongly ingrained.

 

[Omega]

I've never actually sat down and counted it because I'm usually looking more towards protein content

It is funny that you should say that - there should be some more easy points coming up in the future for you - as I remember Kimberly setting a great protein challenge which I have every intention of plagerising over the coming weeks. I actually opted for calcium this week because I thought that it may fit in better with people - especially those away - particularly since I decided to allow supplements as an option.

I'm having a hard time with the new vegetable bonus points. I generally tend to eat a pretty wide range of fruits and veggies as a rule so adding new things in, is kind of difficult given the range of products actually available. Oh well, I'll probably get a couple of points anyway.

I normally eat a pretty wide range too. It is worth remembering that I decided to allow different varieties as that opens up options that you may think I would not allow. I am certainly making use of that - having counted green grapes and red grapes as different for instance...

It is certainly pushing me outside my normal zone and that is a good thing. Yesterday I actually had figs and it was the first time that I have had fresh figs when in England EVER. Naturally I have had them in Greece - but NEVER have I bought them in England...

For next week there is not the restriction that says x have to be veg. That way we can have 5 new fruit if we want. There is actually an enormous selection of fruit and veg out there - and I am looking at the list that other people are coming up with for ideas too. It doesnt have to be fresh - tinned and frozen work for the challenge too.

 

[cinderelly]

Well I havent posted in here yet...It has been all I can do to post in my own diary...My life is a bit crazzzy at the moment...


I really need to find some balance in my life before I crash and burn

I added water areobics into my schedule three times a week with a co-worker and it is a commitment...it is also something I need to leave the house for...

I added Bal into my life...We talk everyday...he wants to see me pretty much all the time...Which I love, I enjoy hanging out with him, Im starting to fall for him, I gotta watch myself...he is driving me crazy, lol...Id say on average we see eachother abt 3 times a week...He has me smiling more and more and he is on my mind more also...I know I will talk to him and see him tomorrow adn the next day adn etc ya know, it is a great feeling...this is through the week, in and around and above water areobics and work...

Im burning outfast...My only downtime is at work, sounds silly I know but i have the luxury of working alone...and I just dont feel like exercising when I come here, I NEED NEED NEED to get P90X in somewhere...I miss it.

I wanna shed this weight, Im ready too, I wanna know Im hot, ya know...Not that that is what it is all about...You guys know me well enough to know it certaintly isnt...

Unfortunately running off of nothing has been having me turn to more caffine and sugar and carbs which isnt helping me any...Im drinking less water, drinking more coffee and even grabbing pop when I need to...

I dunno how to balance my life...I have so much in it...I dont wanna give anything up, and Bal is for me, LOL...he is the first selfish thing I am doing for me...


__________________

 

[cinderelly]

Margaret Im a little confused...Are we supposta be working on Calcium this week?

 

[Omega]

No calcium until this Saturday - just someone was going away and wanted me to say what we were doing in week 3.

====

Hey I just realised I'm on holiday from Wednesday till Wednesday and won't be able to check in next week! Would it be ok if I submitted them results the following week too as I'll still keep a record of what I'm doing.

Kirsty - I will try to get next week's challenge bonus announced on Tuesday so that you can play while you are on holiday. Tuesday is always a very busy day for me so I cannot promise - but I will do my best.

====

We are still doing week2 which is
5 hours exercise
Water
5-a-day
5 extra fruit/veg (at least 3 must be veg) not on last weeks fruit/veg list

 

[cinderelly]

not on last weeks fruit/veg list

That sucks lol!

 

[Omega]

Cerella - I am really trying to get us all to push our boundaries with fruit and veg. I know that it really hits those of us that ate a huge array of stuff last week - but the fun thing about challenges is that sometimes they make us do the things that we would never do otherwise.

The stupid thing is that I am hit as hard as anyone - it is not like I anticipated me doing it and "held back" last week. I had already announced it before Friday - then went ahead having things like mushrooms on Friday that I hadnt had earlier in the week, whilst having a huge box of them in the house so I knew that I would be eating them on at least two more meals this week. Beetroot was something else that I had at the end of the week....

The thing is that there is a vast quantity of fruit and veg out there which is unbelievably healthy for us - and we all basically ignore almost all of it and stick to the same few items - just because we are used to buying those.

I have watched lots of people who have always been skinny eating - and frankly - ok - Rod and I have big appetites - but plenty of those skinny people have big appetites too. I really do think that if we just get ourselves so that we fill up on the fruit and veg we are ok.

Slimming World produce huge lists of free food - and basically a huge amount of it is fruit and veg. Weight watchers used to have a plan that they called "core" which had a heap of free fruit and veg in it too.

 

[Omega]

Well I havent posted in here yet...It has been all I can do to post in my own diary...My life is a bit crazzzy at the moment...


I really need to find some balance in my life before I crash and burn

I added water areobics into my schedule three times a week with a co-worker and it is a commitment...it is also something I need to leave the house for...

I added Bal into my life...We talk everyday...he wants to see me pretty much all the time...Which I love, I enjoy hanging out with him, Im starting to fall for him, I gotta watch myself...he is driving me crazy, lol...Id say on average we see eachother abt 3 times a week...He has me smiling more and more and he is on my mind more also...I know I will talk to him and see him tomorrow adn the next day adn etc ya know, it is a great feeling...this is through the week, in and around and above water areobics and work...

Im burning outfast...My only downtime is at work, sounds silly I know but i have the luxury of working alone...and I just dont feel like exercising when I come here, I NEED NEED NEED to get P90X in somewhere...I miss it.

I wanna shed this weight, Im ready too, I wanna know Im hot, ya know...Not that that is what it is all about...You guys know me well enough to know it certaintly isnt...

Unfortunately running off of nothing has been having me turn to more caffine and sugar and carbs which isnt helping me any...Im drinking less water, drinking more coffee and even grabbing pop when I need to...

I dunno how to balance my life...I have so much in it...I dont wanna give anything up, and Bal is for me, LOL...he is the first selfish thing I am doing for me...


__________________

You know - I wont let you crash and burn... We all have times when things get hard.

You are always busy - but you know that your health is dependant upon you somehow finding some time to push your own needs first.

It is great that you are pushing to get the water aerobics back into your life - and looking for a way to get the p90x back in too. You know that exercise really makes a huge difference in the success of our weight loss projects.

I really do think that getting the exercise in place helps us when it comes to gaining a control over what we eat and drink. We can look at our efforts and see that we are making progress and it really does encourage us to keep on track. Not only do we rarely stuff our faces while we are actually exercising (giving us a non-eating window, and breaking a constant eating session if we are in one) - but we burn calories which effectively puts calories into the bank ready for when we do eat. We can eat more before it does damage to our project.

I am human and drink too much pop too - but I do always try to make it diet cola. I know that the chemicals do me no good and it certainly makes water consumption harder - but diet pop is going to do your weight loss project a lot less harm than the regular stuff.

As far as water consumption goes - it is not the end of the world if you drop one or two challenge points. I am giving out so many that everyone will drop some before the end... I am pretty likely to be dropping a few - I have a wedding anniversary and my birthday this month plus a trip to Newcastle. I would be stunned if I stay 100% on track...

It is great that Bal has become part of your life. You deserve someone special in it. If he is worthy of you - he will understand that your weight control project is important to you and will encourage you to spend time and effort on it. That does not mean that you have to spend time apart - just that he could maybe accompany you on exercise walking or one of your other fitness activities. A key part of having someone special in our lives is having someone who is supportive of our needs.

Rod has many of his own issues with food, exercise and weight control - but he is happy to be in my company while I am on the treadmill, he does sometimes come out for a walk with me in the country (although his fitness level obviously dictates the speed that we walk together).

We all deserve to feel good about ourselves. We have already lost some weight. We know that we have some limitations - no amount of weight loss can make me look as young as I honestly feel again. We do deserve to *know* that for a woman our age we look pretty damned hot. We can all be like that butterfly emerging from a cocoon.

 

[bikinibound]

I have discovered a great source of calcium. This morning while having my daily yougurt I checked the label to see how much calcium is in the Weight Watchers yogurts. Usually 6oz of yogurt has 150-250mg. I was delighted to see the WW yogurt has 300mg. Not only that, but it has 3g of fiber as well (I'm sure a fiber bonus will be coming up soon)--which is unusual to find in the average yogurt. So 100cals per 6 oz, 300mg of calcium, 3g of fiber and only .5g of fat.

Margaret--How many calories are in you yogurts? Mine are all at least 80-100 and that's as little as I can find. If I ate 6-8 100 cal yogurts, it'd be 600-800 cals of yogurt so I might as well eat ice cream..lol.

 

[Omega]

I have discovered a great source of calcium. This morning while having my daily yougurt I checked the label to see how much calcium is in the Weight Watchers yogurts. Usually 6oz of yogurt has 150-250mg. I was delighted to see the WW yogurt has 300mg. Not only that, but it has 3g of fiber as well (I'm sure a fiber bonus will be coming up soon)--which is unusual to find in the average yogurt. So 100cals per 6 oz, 300mg of calcium, 3g of fiber and only .5g of fat.

Margaret--How many calories are in you yogurts? Mine are all at least 80-100 and that's as little as I can find. If I ate 6-8 100 cal yogurts, it'd be 600-800 cals of yogurt so I might as well eat ice cream..lol.

My yoghurts are really yummy and are 74 calories per 120g pot containing 229mg calcium, 3.0g fibre, 8.0g protein. They are labelled "fat free" despite containing 0.2g fat of which saturates 0.1g!!! They are a lot thicker and nicer than the WW ones too.

They are Shape by Danone. For me 4 of them is 300 calories really well spent each day. It is not too often that I go above that - but it has been known!!! The problem with eating 300 cals of ice cream is that it would probably not hit the same levels in calcium, protein, fibre, fat.

LOL - A fibre bonus is certainly on it's way.... I'll bet you can predict the wording - although I will probably (try to remember to) change the spelling of fibre.

 

[thecabbie]

Wait a minute... List? Do we have a list of veggies we are supposed to be generating? I haven't truly written down a list, I simply know what I normally have, so stepping outside that is something new for me... Where do we track new fruits/veggies if we are generating a list?

 

[bikinibound]

The problem with eating 300 cals of ice cream is that it would probably not hit the same levels in calcium, protein, fibre, fat.

Yes, unfortunately, this is true.

Another great source of calcium is in fortified orange juice. In my experience one 8oz cup has 300-350mg of calcium--but you have to get the kind that says with calcium on it.

Did so-so on eating today, and got in a 30min walk.

 

[thecabbie]

Had a totally F'ed up workout today. Raining agin (I know, big shock ) Did some walking around the indoor track, then hit the rowing machine for a bit. Did easily 45 minutes of weights (did a 2 part session), because my wife wanted me to go to the gym with her and teach her how to use some of the equipment. baby steps, I was just happy to see her go...

Tried to get a ride in. Decided that the rain wasn't going to stop me. Rode about a 1/4 mile and broke a spoke... Had to turn around and head back.

Altogether probably an hour and 15 minutes total.

 

[Omega]

Did so-so on eating today, and got in a 30min walk.

Congratulate yourself on the walk though... You know that I have always said that if I get in my walk I am having a good day on my project - whatever happened with my food. You had a good day.

 

[Omega]

Karl – Well done on the exercise session and trying to get your bike ride in. Sorry about the broken spoke and the rain. My shoes are still drying out from my rainsoaked outdoor walking at the start of the week. Sometimes we just have to thank goodness for your gym membership and my treadmill!!!

Very well done for getting your wife to do some exercise. It is a huge breakthrough when we see these signs from those that we love. As we become fitter we become ever more aware of how unfit we were – and therefore how unfit those that we love are. We dread losing them….

Pop back now and recreate a list of what you had in week 1. You probably have a very good idea of what you have regularly. The wording when I announced the week 2 bonuses last Thursday was to think back across the week and create one. Obviously it would have been easier for you had you spotted that since you would have had a week less to play tricks on your memory. It really only arose when I realised when we were chatting in this thread how much we all like to stick to the same tiny subset of “the fruit and veg that I eat”. I am such a creature of habit that despite hitting a wide range I am probably the worst offender at this…

Check bold italics

ADDITIONAL ONE-OFF WEEK 2 BONUS ADDED
Many of us eat from the same limited range of fruit and vegetables – despite there being many out there that we haven’t tried. We can think that we do not like vegetables for instance when the fact is that we have only tried a few types and have no idea about the rest. If we list at the bottom of our scoresheet the fruit and vegetables that we have eaten during week 1, I will give 2 points for each different item of fruit /veg that we eat a portion of during week 2 – maximum 5 items – at least 3 of which must be vegetables. Portion sizes were given in the week 1 challenge. Check my scoresheet to get the idea…

 

[San2]

Okay, I have a bit of a problem here....I'm eating yogurt, loads of it, the pure kind, and add fresh fruit. I checked, but there is no mention of how much calcium is in it at all. And I tried the different pages people mentioned, and none of them has exactly that variety....and numbers I got were from 80 - 350 mg / 100 gr. So, that doesn't really help.....*sigh*

Also, surprisingly enough, other than on my milk (which I don't drink very often, I admit), I can't find Calcium contents at all.... Is there a trick to figuring out how much calcium is in a certain food item? I must admit I am rubbish at this - the only thing I pay attention to is the calorie content, I haven't made it beyond that yet....

 

[Omega]

Okay, I have a bit of a problem here....I'm eating yogurt, loads of it, the pure kind, and add fresh fruit. I checked, but there is no mention of how much calcium is in it at all. And I tried the different pages people mentioned, and none of them has exactly that variety....and numbers I got were from 80 - 350 mg / 100 gr. So, that doesn't really help.....*sigh*

Also, surprisingly enough, other than on my milk (which I don't drink very often, I admit), I can't find Calcium contents at all.... Is there a trick to figuring out how much calcium is in a certain food item? I must admit I am rubbish at this - the only thing I pay attention to is the calorie content, I haven't made it beyond that yet....

Calcium is easy if you log your food in because it has a whole heap of basic foods already loaded in (like "yogurt") - and when you have something that is packaged (like my Shape yoghurts) you can add that as a custom food. It means that on the first time you have such a packaged food you sit keying in all the nutritional stuff on the label - but then it is in there forever. Not only is the calcium in there - but all the other nutritional bits that we try to remember to keep an eye on and ensure that we are getting at the right levels...

After entering your food you click on the nutrition tab and the calcium total is there. Since 1000 is the standard recommendation it highlights it in red if you do not get there. You can even enter 1000 calcium as a custom goal as I do to have it easier to spot on that tab.

Fitday does so much more than just count calories - it allows us to hone our diet for maximum health and diet effect.... In my experience it tends to be very handy for this style of challenge....

I am sure that some of the old hands will be very amused at me saying this - because I always had a major aversion to counting calories - and tried to avoid using fitday for quite a long time (because I viewed it as a calorie counter). Kimberly finally broke me down by setting challenge after challenge where it was just so much easier to use fitday than to try to work out individual values.

I think that one of the links that I included in the challenge is a calcium calculator and I seem to remember that if you go into that it lists a whole heap of things that include calcium.

Remember - I am not giving points for calcium until Saturday - but it is always a good idea to keep your eye on these things - and get ready for the Saturday start. I certainly am having my 1000mg of calcium every day this week - I want the weight loss/maintenance benefits that it brings.

 

[cinderelly]

Hey Margaret thanx for your kind words, I forget how supportive you areI feel bad Ive been so busy Ive had no time for support...not even myself,LOL

As for Bal he is actually working on loosing weight as well...He is 6'4 and weights 250, He was 300 so he is into diet pop and sweetener for coffee etc etce etc...so it is nice that he is health conscious...to a point...I toldhim Im not really for eating out lots because youhave no control over the prep off the food ya know, sodium and etc...