Staying the Course -- 8-24-2015

[Superbob]

Started to say this is the final Stay the Course Monday in August -- but it's not. Next Monday will be August 31. It is like a bonus day of August -- oh joy. Hey each day is a blessing. But I am so ready for September! I miss my Sadie dog.

On a positive note, remember Monday, September 7 will be our first monthly weigh-in. If you want, you can take your baseline weight (I took mine last Monday), write it down, and then report how much weight change you have on weigh-in day.

Don't know that I'm doing a lot for the weight cause so far. Got the grandkids a cherry pie as a treat yesterday -- they ate most of it, but there was that leftover piece staring at me late last night, and, well, you know what happened. Oh well.

I need to get back in better walking shape! Doing the Heart Walk for Mended Hearts on October 17. Looking forward to nice cool, crisp walking days.

What's up along the course you all are staying?

Stay the Course,

Superbob

 

[Duffey]

Well it looks like I'm back just before I take off again. I will have access to scales on the 31st, but that's it until mid-September. I'm not sure how the monthly weigh-in is set up, so I hope someone will bring me up to speed. My weight loss motivation is high, and I'm ready to start walking again. Bring it on!

 

[epstns]

I'm still working at it, but probably got blind-sided this week. Business lunch yesterday - at the boss' favorite Chinese restaurant. Too much food, too much salt and oil, and just over-all, more than I'm used to. I'm up about 1.5 pounds overnight, most likely fluid. Will have to watch it for a bit.

On the calendar, I don't really feel ready for Labor Day. That always means the end of "official" summer, and here in Chicago that means that cooler, then cold weather is coming. I don't relish that. This has been anything but a normal summer. First, spring was so rainy we didn't see the sun for weeks. We started out with near record precipitation totals for June, then went into the inferno when it was too hot to do anything outside, and the last couple of days it has felt like early October. I have no idea what the rest of the summer and fall might be like.

Other than going out East to see our grandson, we haven't taken any time off to enjoy summer. Might do something over Labor Day weekend, and may get up to Wisconsin in the fall - we like to take little "adventures," driving into Wisconsin, Indiana or Michigan. Lots of fun day-trips around the area, and those don't take any real advance planning. Just a tank of gas and the desire to go.

 

[honeybunny]

Just want to share that my daughter bought me a FitBit last night as a "reward" for doing so well on my diet and being tobacco free for nearly six months. So I have a new toy

 

[Duffey]

Just want to share that my daughter bought me a FitBit last night as a "reward" for doing so well on my diet and being tobacco free for nearly six months. So I have a new toy

I was thinking today that I sure would like to have a FitBit. Congratulations on both the smoking cessation and your diet progress. Good going!

 

[dornole]

Congrats honey bunny on both! Let me know if you want to be fitbit friends, I can invite you to step challenges and stuff.

I'm doing great!! Really good week with tracking and exercising. I'm sure I'll be able to report progress by Sept 7. Pre-tracking my food on Fitbit the night before or first thing in the morning works really well for me. I've been able to keep my calories around 1350 and still be able have some fun this way. (BLT yum) I also give myself an extra 500 calories on weekends but this weekend I didn't even need it and I still had waffles mmmmm. Lifted weights 3x and 10000 steps most days. I'm on a roll!! Fitbit thinks I should lose 1.5 pounds a week.

 

[Superbob]

Great to hear from you all, and love the reports of good trends. I want Fitbit on my own gift list -- I will have to drop some hints with my family members. A good thing to keep the old man amused and active.

Duffey, I thought I would start a monthly weight-in the first Monday of each month -- September 7 being the first. I took a baseline weight, jotted it down, and will report pluses or minus. My goal is to lose 10 pounds before Christmas (and then limit any holiday gain to 3 pounds)....start anew in 2016 on a fresh goal.

Others can do a monthly weigh, or a weekly, or none at all, as they wish. We are here for more than the weighing -- instead weighing in with great thoughts as well, our philosophies of life, our cosmic thoughts; how we stay the course... : )

 

[honeybunny]

Not sure I'm up to be a FitBit buddy just yet; I'm at only 3000 steps. I'll do some treadmilling when I get home but won't be anywhere near 10,000. What other type of challenges do they offer?

 

[dornole]

One thing you can do is a "goal day" challenge where everybody just tries to meet their own goal that day. Or just see how your friends are doing and be encouraging.

 

[Superbob]

Just couldn't resist temptation last night. No I did not go to a "gentleman's club." ; ) I opened a huge bag of potato chips that had been sitting around since our last family party. Popped it open and ate a good many chips ("you can't eat just one") while watching MLB-TV. Goal: Do better today. Cheers to all. Stay the Course.

 

[dornole]

Great minds? I *might* have eaten some late night candy last night. Here is my "Get Back on Track" self-talk card:

If I've eaten something I shouldn't, I haven't blown it. It's not the end of the world. I can start following my plan again right this minute. Just because I made a mistake doesn't mean I should keep on eating. That makes no sense. It's a million times better to stop now than to allow myself to eat more.


Overall I am still doing really well. I am looking forward to weighing in Sept! and honeybunny and I are fitbit friends now yay!

 

[Dodger Fan]

I have a fitbit. Message me if you want another fitbit friend.

 

[Cooker]

Took my baseline this morning.... don't plan on being very active here but need some accountability .....peace out

 

[harrietW]

What is a fit bit ? Just checking in l am quite sure l've gained 10 lbs since Bob invited me to stay the course. Just 2 weeks ago !
Honestly couldn't be more frustrated.

 

[pellicle]

What is a fit bit ?

https://www.fitbit.com/

activity tracker ... I us a Garmin but depending on how tech you are you'll either love it or hate it.

If you don't use a Mac or iPhone you may be frustrated with the experience

 

[harrietW]

Thx pellicle l am familiar with the Garmin somewhat. And no on the iPhone or Mac lol
Totally in love with Galaxy

 

[Dodger Fan]

I use a Garmin Forerunner for running and a Fitbit Charge HR for every day movement/sleep tracking. When I run, I am wearing both. I use my Fitbit with my Galaxy S5.

 

[pellicle]

Hi

Thx pellicle l am familiar with the Garmin somewhat. And no on the iPhone or Mac lol
Totally in love with Galaxy

well I've found that you need Android 4.4.2 or higher (KitKat or Lollipop) to get reliable operation of the Garmin. I assume that the others (Fitbit, Jawbone ...) which also rely on Bluetooth LE to operate will have a similar story.

I picked my Garmin (vivofit) because I *really* value the longer battery life (a year between charges). You have to manually sync (press a button) and as I don't need to be obsessive/complulsively checking the app to see how many steps I've done that's ok with me. The memory of daily activity is 30 days (15 if you're training every day). The vivofit also has a HR monitor component available so when I go jogging I can actually see my run data too. It reports HR and divides into multiple (I think 6) zones.
Eg

 

[dornole]

Somebody tell me to stop eating candy. Oh wait I already ate ALL THE CANDY.

Somebody tell me not to buy any more candy.

 

[Garserin]

Don't buy any more candy, dornole!