Miscellaneous Beings Intent on Losing Weight

[Sarah Barr]

EDIT: Want to join us? Here's our google doc! Introduce yourself here, and add your name to the doc!

FURTHER EDIT: We are many; if you sign up, you'll be sorted into a team! If you're put into team two, go over to this thread!

 

Hello!

 

I intend to lose some weight in a healthy, sensible way this challenge.

 

Do you also intend to lose some weight in a healthy, sensible way this challenge?

 

Then let us kick each other's rear ends for the next six weeks so that we stay on track!

 

 

 

I've never started an accountabilibuddies group before so this will be exceptionally ad-libbed, but to start us off:

 

1.)  Say who you are and link us to your challenge thread!

 

2.)  Think about your intended method of weight loss and check that you have SMART goals. Are you getting enough nutrients? Enough calories for your activity level? Are you going to make sure you're not going to be so hungry you gnaw your arm off sometime around mid-morning on Tuesday?

 

3.)  Tell us how you are intending to lose weight - be specific! Are you calorie counting? Or intermittent fasting? Or going paleo? Or cutting out soda? Or something completely different? BE MORE SPECIFIC! How many calories? How long are the fasts? Full paleo, or an intermediate stage? How are you weaning yourself off the soda?

 

4.) How are you tracking your progress? A weigh in, a tape measure, callipers, some sort of app, how your clothes fit, or simply how good you feel? Are you going to record things with a graph, a spreadsheet, a piece of paper onto which you plaster gold star stickers? (Trust me, gold star stickers are an excellent motivational tool.)

 

5.) What do you most want accountability for? (I'm currently planning on giving any hapless soul who posts on here a weekly prod to check you're still going strong; if you want something more/less frequent, or something more specific, let me know!)

 

 

 

Here's mine:

 

1) Hello! I'm Sarah, I'm a biology nerd from Scotland, and here's my current challenge thread. 

 

2) Checked; I realised I might not be getting enough calories on days when I lift, so I've increased my allowance on those days.

 

3) This challenge, I have a set weekly menu with the calories counted out. I'm aiming for 1500kcal/day, or 1700kcal/day if I'm doing strength training that day. I'm going to aim for 0.5-1kg of weight loss each week. Slow and steady. Which means I will hopefully be 3-6kg lighter at the end of this challenge.

 

4) I'm going to track my progress with a weekly weigh-in. My weight loss stats are in my signature - they haven't changed much since October but here's to a brand new challenge!

 

5) I'm starting this group because I often need a push mid-challenge to stop me falling off the face of the earth until the next challenge starts. If I've promised to give other people a push every week, then I have to stay on the forums every week, and that way, I'm not going to be able to disappear off to the Land of Pizza.

 

 

 

Let's do this!

 

 

P.S. If I have to spell accountabilibuddies one more time I may scream so I shall henceforth refer to you as my accountabiddlydoodlies or some variant thereof.

 

P.P.S. Also have no idea if you can add a team to the accountaflippityflap sign up sheet if there is only one member so far. Anyone?

 

Doodly.

[Retxab]

I've never tried one of these group things, this seems like a good place to start.

 

1) I'm Scott, from Vancouver, Canada. I started losing weight last July, and have lost a bit over 22 kg so far - about 50 lbs for those who prefer that sort of thing. That puts me about 1/3rd of the way towards getting to the healthy weight range for my height (about 1.8 m, started at 150 kg, most of the charts put the upper end of the non-overweight range around 85-90 kg). My challenge thread is here.

 

2) Pretty sure my goals are reasonable, as I'm in this for the long haul. I eat to the same caloric budget every day, and track everything on MyFitnessPal.

 

3) What's worked for me is counting calories and tracking macros, so I'm going to keep on doing that. Caloric budget is 2300 calories per day, I recalculate every time I drop 5 kg. The main macro I care about is protein where I target at least 150 g/day, I don't sweat carbs and fat too much so long as I get some of each.

 

4) Every day, I weigh myself first thing in the morning, post-shower. I enter that into a spreadsheet that keeps a 7-day rolling average, which is the number I actually look at to figure out if everything's moving in the right direction. I also use a tape measure to get an estimate of body fat percentage which goes into the spreadsheet, same 7-day average treatment, gives me an idea of how much actual fat I'm losing (though I suspect the estimate is off in terms of the exact number, I'm more interested in how it's changing than the absolute value). I also take note of how my clothes are fitting, and have started taking monthly progress pics. 

 

5) I really just want some folks I can talk with from time to time. I'm on a long journey, and it'd be nice to have some company.

[Sarah Barr]

Hey Retxab! Looks like a good challenge, have fun with the Krav Maga and yoga! 

[deftona]

I need an accountabiddlydoodlies group because that is one of the greatest words I have ever seen and also, I suffer terribly with the week three or four "meh"s. Boots in my backside around this time would be greatly appreciated! 

 

1.)  Say who you are and link us to your challenge thread! My name is Deftona and here is my challenge. My main goal is to lose quite a lot of weight. I did want to lose just upwards of 100 lbs but I haven't weighed myself in months so come Monday who knows what I will be aiming for, I just hope my measurement system is still going to be in pounds rather than tonnes....

 

2.)  Think about your intended method of weight loss and check that you have SMART goals. I plan to count calories and monitor freggie and water intake to make sure I'm not just eating 2000 calories of biscuits and stuff.  

 

3.)  Tell us how you are intending to lose weight - be specific! I am going to eat as many calories as MyFitnessPal and Fitbit recommend and I am also quitting cake. I cannot guarantee I will not be gnawing my arm off though. 

 

4.) How are you tracking your progress? I will weigh in at the beginning and also at the end and I am going to try and make this it as I don't want to weigh too often as slow progress makes me cry like a tittybaby. I have all kinds of apps for tracking my water and freggie intake and MyFitnessPal and Fitbit will help me track food intake and activity levels.

 

5.) What do you most want accountability for? Mostly for the shared experience because weight loss is hard. 

 

I will check out everyone's challenges as you post, let's go!

[Sarah Barr]

Yay Deftona!

 

Tittybaby is a good word; I intend on using it in a sentence sometime soon. I hear you on the mid challenge mehs.

[Terah]

Hi, I would like to join you!

I'm Dutch so bear with me if I don't understand all the funny words

I think I need a group like this to keep me focussed, this will be my first challenge so I hope I will learn from you all

 

1.)  Say who you are and link us to your challenge thread!

This is my thread: http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/58402-terahs-first-step-to-greatness/

My main goal is to lose 19 kg this year. I really want to look good naked (for as far as possible after having two children )

 

2.)  Think about your intended method of weight loss and check that you have SMART goals. 

I'm going to cut out sugar and wheat and I won't eat anything after dinner. I think those baby steps will definitely get me in the right direction. I believe I formulated my goals SMART, but if any of you have any suggestions I would like to hear it!

 

3.)  Tell us how you are intending to lose weight - be specific!

I'm cutting out wheat and sugar. And I'm not going to eat anything past dinner. I will also work out at least 2 times each week.

 

4.) How are you tracking your progress?

I will weigh myself every Sunday morning (starting tomorrow)

 

5.) What do you most want accountability for?

I want to stick with my quests and I want someone to give me a kick in the but when I'm not checking in regularly or failing my goals.

[miss america]

I think I'll join up with you as well! I never ended up joining a group last time around 'cause I didn't feel like I matched with any of the specific accountabilibuddy interests... so "Miscellaneous Beings" works for me!

 

1) I'm "Miss America" (Young Avenger, not beauty queen), and my current challenge is here!

 

2) I think my goals are pretty SMART! (I'm focusing on food tracking, BBWWs, and cardio workouts, graded on a simple scale of how often I do them.) I'm doing simple calorie counting for now—I will reassess my methods if/when I start to plateau. 

 

3) I'm limiting calories to about 1500 a day, a bit more if I'm exceptionally active. That usually results in a pretty steady loss progression for me, as long as I keep up with it. I also do walks most days, and will be doing a few cardio workouts and BBWWs—though diet is a much more important element of any potential weight loss for me!

 

4) I am tracking food in My Fitness Pal (which is one of my goals), and I put my weigh-ins there as well. I weigh myself most days, knowing that there's some fluctuation, but it actually helps me to do it MORE often so I can actually see that happening. I try to update on my thread here everyday, but I also just downloaded a simple habit tracker app to catalog all of my goals in one place—on the last challenge I kept having to scroll back through weeks of posts to do my tallies. I also try to do my measurements once a week or so, though I don't think I'm good enough at that yet to get a consistent reading from week to week

 

5) I was actually pretty good at staying on top of my goals last challenge, BUT I had also purposefully made them fairly easy so I could build up my habits properly. I'm mainly worried because before NF, when I'd start seeing that I was going to go over my daily food limit, I would just stop tracking for that day—with NF I tried to teach myself to log it anyway, even if it meant admitting I had an off day (though I didn't have a calorie goal in place, which was the point!). For this challenge, I've now added a calorie limit on top of my tracking goals, so I figured I could use the extra motivation to make sure I actually keep up with it!

 

Hello all and I'm excited for the challenge to start!

[Sarah Barr]

Hi Terah and Miss America!

 

Terah: Yay, first challenge! Your challenge goals look nice and sensible, too.

 

Miss America: I like your challenge rewards, and your life mission!

 

Yay, we have a team! 

[little_S]

Room for one more...?

[Kohl]

Ello

 

1.)  Say who you are and link us to your challenge thread! Heya, I'm Kohl, I've been much heavier and far thinner, and currently can stand to lose a few more pounds. My challenge thread is here. 

 

2.)  Think about your intended method of weight loss and check that you have SMART goals. Pretty sure it's largely reasonable and mostly sustainable. 

 

3.)  Tell us how you are intending to lose weight - be specific! I don't count calories, exactly, but I am aware of the rough amount my foods have. Portioning and portion control would be the main engine of the weight loss, it's been proven that as long I record and mind my food I'll lose weight. My brain have stored all the info and know the right choices, it's just very easy to slip.

 

4.) How are you tracking your progress? A digital scale, weighing everyday, with a table that records every weighing and changes (if any). Also I keep a locked private journal for my food log.  

 

5.) What do you most want accountability for? That I'm still logging my food. I'm more prone to eat too much/ things I should not when I don't record them. 

[Sarah Barr]

Hi SarahSmall, there's absolutely room! 

 

Hi Kohl! I find a food journal really helps me too, good luck with your first challenge!

 

So that'd be... 7 of us altogether (Retxab, Deftona, Terah, Miss America, SarahSmall and Kohl, plus me). I think we can manage one more accountaboodlybunny, if there's anyone reading who wants to jump in.

 

I've subbed your threads, let the challenge commence!

[lolavictrola]

1.)  Say who you are and link us to your challenge thread!

Hi! I'm lolavictrola! I'm over 100 pounds overweight. I do theater and musicals. I sing. I do arty things like knit and draw. I also play video games. My birthday is next month, and I'll be 28.  

http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/58411-epic-adventures-in-zombie-survival-lolavictrola-ch6/

 

2.)  Think about your intended method of weight loss and check that you have SMART goals.

My Goals: 

Current Weight:  358

Goal #1:  335 by 3/27/15

Goal #2:  310 by 6/27/15

 

3.)  Tell us how you are intending to lose weight - be specific!

Daily Calorie Target: 1600, working towards "cleaner eating". 

Exercise:

        Cardio:     C25K Program 3x a week, plus one alternate workout (barre class, hike, etc)

        Strength:  2x a week, 30 minutes

        Dance:     1-2x per week for 1-4 hours

        Steps:      Weekly goal of 28k steps ( 4k per day average)

 

4.) How are you tracking your progress? 

 

I will be tracking my steps, exercise, and food intake with my FitBit app!

Weight tracking will be done on the app AND a handy-dandy graph I stick on my fridge.

 

 

5.) What do you most want accountability for?

Getting to the gym. I'm a teacher, so I'll get a lot of steps. And I'll get dance through rehearsals . But I just invested in a gym membership, and I want my money's worth!

[Sarah Barr]

Hey Lolavictrola! Ooh, good luck with C25K! Also, I like the gratuitous use of Buffy gifs on your thread.

 

That's 8 of us! 

[Terah]

I weighed myself this morning: +1 kg since two weeks ago

Well that is 20 kg's to lose in stead of 19

Hoping the scale will be nicer to me next week.

 

I'm following all your challenge threads, hoping to get to know you all well in the next 6 weeks.

Good luck to all of you! 

[little_S]

Woohoo! Hi team

1.) My name is Sarah and I live in London - my challenge thread is here: http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/58679-sarahsmall-taking-on-the-challenge/(on my phone with terrible internet so no fancy linking for me at the moment

2.) What I'm doing wrong at the moment is eating too much of the wrong things, so my way of losing weight is going to be through portion control, limited to no snacking and being aware of needing to eat more freggies (LOVE this new word - thanks Deftona!) and less cake like things. My goal is to lose a dress size over the six weeks, but do it healthily in a way that makes me feel good and act in a healthy way that can become a habit, not just a six week fix. The aim is to lose 2-3 lbs a week.

3.) I'm going to limit my snacking completely when I'm at work because I have a desk job the requires ZERO active-ness. I'm also going to try and limit my calories to 1,500 a day (500 per meal maximum) initially but because I'm out a lot for work dinners etc where I can't just be the one on water and salad I'll have to work really hard at keeping to this on those days.

4.) Very much tempted by the gold stars! But will probably be swayed instead by a Monday morning weigh-in on scales, and then of course going and buying some clothes as a treat at the end with (hopefully!) a new number on the label!

5.) I'm the master of evasion and excuses - 'I had a really busy day and I don't have time to cook' or 'someone came round with birthday cake and it would be rude to say no...' - the worst being along the lines of 'dammit it's 11am, I've had breakfast and I'm bored so I've eaten a pastry so I might as well give up for the day' eek. So anything along the lines of making me feel bad if I've had more than one bad day in a row and pushing me to keep going would be great!

Really looking forward to having a bit of teamwork towards this - it's a lonely ole journey alone.

[deftona]

Hi everyone! I think I have caught up with all of your challenges now and I am excited to start tomorrow. Go Team Miscellaneous! 

[jmk]

Would you make room for one more?

[Syren]

Would another be too many?

 

 

1.)  Say who you are and link us to your challenge thread!

Heya! I'm Syren from the Gulf Coast US, and I'm a Marine Biologist in advanced training. My challenge is here.

 

2.)  Think about your intended method of weight loss and check that you have SMART goals.

My goals focus on getting back into the routine I was on before school let out. I let my swimming and healthy eating go lax while on break. I am trying to move a lot, so that my joints are not so creaky. Transforming some of my pounds into muscle or water will definitely help with the rice crispies sounds coming from my knees. I started a point system for food this challenge, because food is always my biggest challenge! I love food, but sadly my choices do not always do me good.

 

3.)  Tell us how you are intending to lose weight - be specific! 

Eat clean! I want to make substitutions, rather than just say don't eat this or that. Good substitutions, like an apple instead of a muffin, are worth points, bad choices, like a soda, subtract points. I am also going to move a lot more in a variety of ways, but still keep swimming a priority since it is my favorite way to move.

 

4.) How are you tracking your progress? 

I am the master of the spreadsheet. Or I like to think that I am. But I love my records and formulae. It is satisfying to see how I progress throughout the weeks with a spreadsheet. I may make a weekly graph too. 

 

5.) What do you most want accountability for? 

Because my eating habits are my weakness, I think that I might benefit from some help keeping me accountable for my behavior. I am also insanely excited for this challenge and have what feels like boundless energy today, however I will probably need a kick around week 3 or 4 when I start to get lazy.

 

[Linsanity]

Are you guys full already??

[Terah]

Maybe the three of you can start a misc. group no 2?

Then we can keep the groups small enough to not lose track of every member and then there can join even more misc. creatures

 

It's just a thought. Final decision is up to Sarah Barr off course.

[Shello]

I want in too.   I'd be down to split into another group.  maybe we could all post to this accountabiddlydoodlies group but have Team A and Team B so we only need to follow our own team?   

 

I had great success with one of these groups on my first challenge and I'd love to recreate that.  

[deftona]

I can't see that it would hurt having more than eight members in a team. The more the merrier as far as I'm concerned but if everyone wants to split into two teams I am fine with that too. 

[goodbye_farewell]

I could use some accountability this go 'round. I'll look for the spinoff group (assuming it gets created) and post in there! Good luck to all...

[goodbye_farewell]

Double Post. Nothing to see here. Seriously...

 

And yet you are still looking...

[Sarah Barr]

(Oh, that's weird, it didn't post my reply earlier!)

 

Welcome, lots of new people, looking forward to nosing about through your challenges!

 

I'm going to super-colour-coded-spreadsheet this up when I get home from work so I can keep tabs on who's who and who wants what, and that way it can work as one group!

 

A splinter group is a great idea, though, so if it does get too hectic after the first week, we can split into Team A and Team B and compete to see which team has the best average challenge-completion score!