27 replies to this topic

[Leslie74]

Welcome to Week 6 of the SURVIVOR WEIGHT LOSS CHALLENGE!


Week 6 Mini-Challenge:
BALANCE! This week's Survivor challenges all had to do with balance. This week you get to decide what "balance" means to you and what you want to focus on to meet the mini-challenge. Maybe you have a balance ball you want to use? Maybe you want to focus on a more "balanced" food plan and menu? Maybe you want to focus on work/life/diet balance (for those of us who focus on others all of the time, maybe this week you balance that out with a big focus on YOU)?
So...this week.....you decide! Please post what you will challenge yourself to do this week, and keep us all posted on your progress!

And as always...good luck everyone and keep up the good work! Thinking skinny thoughts for everyone....

[Lisa Bilz]

Hi Leslie,

What a GREAT challenge!

I want to focus on balancing my work and family life. I feel like I have been so focused on work, what with all of the drama with the possible government shutdown and my travelling so much for business, I feel like my family has been severely short-changed. My poor dog mopes around every time I pull out the suitcase. My husband was making some pretty grumbly noises as well.

We are going to take a little mini vacation on the weekend with some great friends, and I am really looking forward to it. But it also becomes a balancing act between my diet and hanging out with friends. We are all huge "foodies" and love to plan and execute great meals. The good news is my bestie is on JC too, so we are supporting each other to make better choices. It is her birthday so I have been planning to do something fairly low calorie while still serving yummy food. Right now the plan is to wine-taste in the afternoon, then have a vegetarian ravioli dinner with a red sauce, green salad and garlic bread.

So, that's my personal challenge. In some ways this actually seems a lot more difficult that some of our physical challenges.

Lisa

[Leslie74]

Lisa - work/life balance can be really hard. It sounds like you are really thinking ahead about the menu which is a great idea! Stick to your JC food as much as possible, then enjoy the wine-tasting and yummy dinner plans. Keep in mind the best part is being with friends - not the food!


For me, I need to focus on balancing my diet plan. I have been doing a lot of "cheats" lately including drinking a lot of wine! So my goal this week is to not drink any alcohol and stick to plan as much as possible. So far this weekend I'm doing really well.


Hey all - I posted the week 5 stats - so be sure to check back on that post. I proposed that I join the Blue Team that way we can have 4 people on each team. Any objections?

Also, question for all: originally we planned this as an 8 week challenge. It looks like the Survivor Finale is on Sunday May 15. Any objections to making this a 10 week challenge so we end the same time Survivor does? We can always start up a new challenge with new teams after that!!

Let me know what y'all think. Have a great week!!!

[dietmama]

Hi again ladies.
A 10 week challenge works for me! This thread (although I don't watch Survivor) has really motivated to stay true to JC so count me in.

Leslie, totally fine with me about the teams.

As far as this week is concerned, I am definitely going to focus on balancing life. I tend to focus on everyone and everything else and although JC food is going great, I NEED to focus on the exercise as well. So I am going to definitely work on that. I will not be happy unless I make it to 5 workouts this week. Lately I've only been making 2 or 3 at best so 5 will be a challenge.

Hopefully my lack of exercise won't throw my WI off tomorrow by too much.

Have a great week everyone!

[Darbyk]

This is a great challenge, Leslie. I saw this earlier in the day and tried to let it simmer in my brain a bit. My challenge is to balance food and life. I've been claiming for years that "I just need a little extra time" so I don't know how successful I will be.

During the next 7 days, I'm going exercise 3x cardio, 2x physical therapy (which is like exercise in my book!), have one cheat meal for my birthday, have down time with hubby without doing work at the same time, and keep work in check; it can be all consuming. Oh and of course, keep to the JC plan.

I guess what I really need to do is be in the moment with good choices.

Have a great week everyone!

By the way...10 week challenge will work for me. It helps me stay focused!

[All-in-Ang]

Hi everyone,

This week I'm going to focus on the one thing in the Food/Exercise/Sleep balance that always seems to get left out with me...and that's sleep!!!!

Starting tonight, I'm going to try and get at least 6 hrs of sleep a night....that's huge for me since my average is usually between 4 and 5:)

yaawwwwnnn...and as I want to be in the office by 5:30 am and I'm on the east coast I'd bettwe drag myself to bed shortly.

Night Night!!

PS. Leslie, no objections to either of your proposals!!

Cheers,
Ang.

[Ladybug 88]

I am going to go with 2 challenges for myself:

1) use balance ball min 15 mi 5 x this week

2) try to balance my eating out with my Jenny plan. I really wish i could get out of some of my "food" obligations - so i could just do jenny - but this is what my week looks like:
Sunday - family dinner (managed this by making fajitas and eating my own - yay!)
Monday - evening business reception with wine and appis & desserts (planning to eat dinner at lunchtime and try to not eat more than lunch & snack at reception)
Tuesday - biz dinner meeting at Moxies (going to look at their menu online if i can, to prechoose)
Wednesday - Meetings all day - catered brekkie & lunch (bringing honey oat bar so I can just eat fruit at brekkie, will try to choose well at lunch and hope my favourite brownies are not there lol). Fancy dinner out with team - if I can skip this one I will!
Thursday - meetings only until early afternoon (hoping no brekkie provided so i can just eat my own, and then just have to worry about lunch) I will probably eat a Jenny lunch for dinner at home - to help "balance" things out! lol
Friday - ahhhh TGIF, so far this looks to be an all Jenny day!!

I discussed this all with my JCC, and she reminded me not to look at whole week and feel overwhelmed, but to remember it is one meal at a time, so I have my overall plan in place and just look at each meal as it comes up.

I really, really, really want to make my Cuba goal and need to stay focussed on losing this week. Leslie - I fly out on May 8th so will be MIA for the last week, but is OK with me to extend until Finale. Makes more sense anyways to end then!

[All-in-Ang]

Arrrggggh!!
Not even 24 hrs in and already blew the challenge this week. 2hr, 34 minutes of sleep last night.
Unfortunately, being in the IT industry and having blood that that's half made up of caffiene has conditioned my body to minimal rest:)

Hopefully I have a good WI tomorrow. 0.8 lbs away from my 20lb mini goal and those Ray Bans:)

Happy Monday everyone!

Cheers,
Ang.

PS. Ladybug...stay strong...I know that you can do it!

[All-in-Ang]

OK...so I decide to WI today due to my workload tomorrow...and guess what?? I lost 1.6 lbs...which means I've lost 20.8 lbs!! YEAH!! FINALLY, I get my sunglasses:)))

They also did my measurements....I've lost 7.5 more inches since m last measurement session which is a total of 17.5 inches so far.


YEAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!


Just wanted to share:)

Cheers,
Ang.

[LoseItIn2011]

That's great Ang!

I don't mind going 10 weeks or even longer. I really like our weekly challenges. This week is definitely a balancing act for me. My husband is out of town all week so it's just me and the kids. Which also means I can't go to the gym before work. So today I went at lunchtime. It took a little longer than one hour to get there, workout, shower, and get back to my office. My goal is to go 2 more times this week at lunchtime.

[Lisa Bilz]

Hi Everybody,

I agree with the extension and Leslie's move.

Congratulations Ang!! That is awesome! I had my WI last night too. I am down 2.6 lbs and 8", so my total weightloss is 11.2 lbs! I feel really good, especially with all the travel this last two weeks. It really helps me see that it is possible to stay on track even when I'm away.

Have a great week everyone!

[Leslie74]

Ang - first - congrats on the weight loss and the inches! That's so amazing you made that goal for yourself! (We want a picture of you in the Ray Bans! LOL) second - 2.5 hours of sleep in a night! OMG I would be death warmed over. I don't know how you do it. I'm an 8 hour a night minimum girl. I love to sleep. It is my friend.

Lisa - awesome weight loss! Way to go!


Thanks all for agreeing with the 10 weeks. GO BLUE! And RED! This is so much fun! I love knowing that when I have a free moment or are having a particularly rough day, I can come on here and KNOW that I have friends to read about and share with. I love you all!


I convinced my mom to join JC today! She has an appt at 3:30 - she lives in Oregon and gets to use my friends and family coupon. I'm so excited to see her start on the program.

We had a horrible night last night. 16-year-old step son had a full blown temper tantrum for not getting his way on something and it turned ugly fast. OMG! It was like the exorcist was in our home! He was throwing every mean insult and teenage manipulation at us. Some of it was hurtful, but we were trying to blow it off as typical teenage-dom and he didn't mean most of it. Some good stuff came out of it - he broke down and shared some frustrations he was having that he's been keeping inside for a long time. But it was hard and ugly ugly ugly. He ended up fleeing to his mom's house and we were left with..."what the heck just happened?"
And instead of reaching for the cookies and chocolate covered pretzels in the house, I drank a glass of water and after calming down, since I hadn't eaten my "dessert" yet, I ate a 100 cal Vitamuffin brownie. The JC brownies are better in my opinion. But that was it. I didn't pig out to deal with how upset I was. I ate the brownie, watched some TV with hubby so we could zone out what happened, then went to bed. Teenagers are hard enough. Being a step-mom makes it twice as hard if not more. sigh. A lot of this is my fault too. Now I gotta figure out how to pick up the pieces without "giving in" to his tantrum.

[djanson24]

Hi everyone,
Been a little MIA this week. I've been suffering from episodes of vertigo for the last 4 years, and in the last 6 months the episodes have been more frequent. I had a bout of it last week and it lasted longer than it ever has...4 days. By Saturday morning I was ok, but then went up to my bedroom to grab something before going out. one minute I was fine, the next the room was spinning and I was so disoriented I couldn't stand. I then started vomitting. My poor kids were scared, but we got them to a friends and my hubby took me to the ER. After doing an EKG (b/c women present differently w/ heartattacks) and CT scan, I came out w/ a referrel to the ENT and the same diagnosis of Benign positional vertigo. I did go to the ENT yesterday and he's pretty confident that it's Meniere's disease, however b/c after doing a hearing screening, I have a nerve hearing loss in my left ear, he wants to rule out a neuroma (benign tumor in the inner ear). I also have lots of pressure in my ears right now. So for now, I'm on 7 days of high dose prednisone and then 6 more days of weaning off it. I will be going late next week for an MRI to determine if there is in fact a neuroma. Until then, I take antivert as needed for dizziness, and zofran for any nausea. UGH! I'm only 34...and I've have always been pretty healthy...so this all throws me for a loop. I've never been on any meds really except bc pill. It just stinks!

So I guess right now I'm trying to balance life...I'm a SAHM, but volunteer a lot at school and have positions on the PTO, and my mothers of multiples group. This week, just trying to keep my head above water!

Awesome job ladies on teh weight loss. I have to get my measurements done again, at last check I was down 28 inches...10 of them off my waist!

I have a WI tomorrow morning and will update you all! So what happens after this challenge? Will there be another? Having you guys here has really helped me get remotivated to finally get the rest of the weight off.

[All-in-Ang]

Thanks everyone for the encouragement...there have been plenty of times that I logged on to these boards when I wanted to binge, and all of your stories have inspired me to make the right decisions! Not to feel good immediately but to feel good for the long haul!

Great WI Lisa! Keep it up!

Leslie, that must be tough. I hope that things get better soon!! Hopefully your hubby steps in on this one as it's awkward for you to be the disciplinarian as you're the "step" mom. Crappy but true.

DJ...I'm sorry to hear about your vertigo. My dad developed it as a result of scarring in his inner ear...no where as bad as you though. Can it be treated permanently?

I'll try to post some pics in the next couple of days. I start vacation tomorrow (YEAH) and should have some good down time:)

Cheers,
Ang.

[Leslie74]

Danielle - so sorry to hear about the medical problems - that sounds scary! Try to stay positive, one day at a time. Deep breaths. It will all work itself out. Hopefully the heavy meds are only temporary.


My saga still continues...the teenage boys aren't talking to us right now. Hubby is going to try to get them to talk to him this afternoon sometime. We are looking into family counseling options, but unfortunately we can't force them to go - they have to be willing. At least hubby and I can go and get advice.


Ang - vacation! WOO HOO! Have fun and enjoy yourself!!

[Ladybug 88]

Danielle - don't get discouraged if the medications cause a blip in your weightloss journey, I believe prednizone can cause that, but you will be off of it before you know it and gone too any weight it may cause to show up! I sure hope you get a proper diagnosis so you can get on with handling/treatment. Glad you were able to get all those tests lined up so quickly! I pray you receive complete healing!

Leslie - I had a horrible time with my son when he was 15-16, he even kicked a hole in the front door one time - was absolutely mortified to have that happen, and have it there patched up until I could get a new front door (only a few days, but still!!). An former coworker had her marriage break up, and her son was so upset about it - he took it out on her, and barely spoke to her for over a year. it broke her heart. I am very happy to tell you that in both cases our relationships with our sons have been restored! My son has begun to mature nicely into a decent young man. I would go for counseling for sure. I loved the counselor, just to help me to feel a bit grounded instead of floundering in this angry sea I had never had to navigate before. And parenting is not easy - and i do not envy you in the stepmom position, to be sure. But keep the faith and help your husband to persevere, show them how much you both care to have a relationship with them, don't give up but don't let them walk all over you either, just for the sake of temporary relationship - children (even teenagers - or perhaps especially teenagers) do need boundaries. I feel for ya, at the time you cannot see how it can end well, but it take comfort as it usually does and counselling will help for sure with your conflicting emotions and especially help you and hubby to be on same page.

So far i think i have done really well balancing all the meetings and off program eating - I did have a glass of red wine one meal, and then that day was high in calories, but we are allowed to have a splurge so I did. The balance ball part I am a little behind on, but working at it - so on track for my challenge i think. My home scale is just not budging and that is 2 weeks in a row it is just waffling around the same weight so hoping it is my lack of sleep lately that may be the culprit.

But my lack of sleep is nowhere near the level of Ang's - I definitely could not function on 2.5 hours more than one night!! I literally run a fever when i do not get enough sleep.

And Lisa - you had a great WI, and doing that with all your travelling you are taking away my excuses my friend and that is fine by me - because i want to be successful like Lisa is!

Well i hope all who are watching have had a chance to see tonight's episode of survivor - I always feel safe posting after the show out here on the wetcoast! What is up with Redemption Island?
Phillip may be smarter than we have given him credit - but not if he makes a move against Rob - I think he would have a shot if he waited until he was pleading his case to the jury and was all calm and rational -explaining this was his strategy to get to final three (being the obnoxious one that others would want to take to the end) and calmly state he had "out witted & out played" Rob - that might actually work! But I think he really is losing it - not all play acting!
I wonder how long Rob can hold them all together? Seems pretty solid right now! Go Rob!

'night all

[Leslie74]

So I feel like I have done really well with the challenge this week so far. I have been eating on plan. I have my meeting tonight with my JC counselor and when I was putting my food order together, I realized I only had 1 left-over from this week which is a big accomplishment for me! usually I have 3 or 4. I did opt out of my lunch meal one day this week and got a Carls Jr Turkey burger. I had a higher calorie day that day than normal, but I still burned more than ate. I have not had any wine so far this week even with everything going on. We did buy some walnuts in the shell this weekend at the farmer's market so I have snacked on them off and on this week, but usually only a few at a time - they are more work than reward! LOL But all in all, I have really kept my focus on my food menu this week and when I have gone off the menu, it was calculated and purposeful.

Here's hoping for a successful weigh in this afternoon!


Survivor: Ladybug I totally agree with you - Phillip is definitely acting a bit, but I do think he is off his rocker like Rob said. Your idea is brilliant - I can't imagine him holding it together enough though to be "normal" at the final tribal council - but how HILARIOUS that would be! And OMG - I really wanted Matt to go all the way on Redemption Island, but now MIKE is there and he is SOOOOOOO nice to look at! I do NOT want to see Mike leave! But Matt winning and coming in at the end would be the BEST story! And 3 people on RI? I wonder what they will have to do next week??

So there was another obstacle course this week with digging, water, and a puzzle. There was another challenge with hanging on to a pole with your legs. Are they purposefully making this hard on me to come up with something new for us to do next week? LMAO!!!

ANOTHER NOTE: Is anyone watching "Addicting to Food" on the OWN channel? It is a new show - started last week - have had 2 episodes. It is VERY interesting. If you haven't checked it out and you get Oprah's new channel, I suggest taking a look at it. It goes into the psychology of food addictions, following a group of overeaters and bulemics at a treatment facility in Texas for 42 days.

[Darbyk]

Hi all,

It's been a long week of imbalance!!! so that means I didn't meet my goal. Looking back at it now and I think it was a bit lofty, but oh well...I'm ready for the next challenge!

So much has been happening with everybody... Let's see, kudos to the weight loss for Ang and Lisa. Just to read your success gives me quite a boost!

Loseit - Good for you for getting exercise in at lunch. That takes dedication!

Leslie - when I read your post my eyes started to water. I can vividly remember an episode like that with my stepson, actually...episodes. It is definitely not an easy role as a stepmom. I always had issues because of cinderella and the mean old stepmom. When my son was going through his phase, I was so devastated and couldn't figure out where we went wrong. My friend kept telling me that it was just a phase and he'll pass through it. She said the problem was I didn't have any other children to focus my attention on when he was going through the "phase". Years have passed and he has finally made it to the other side. My husband and I sometimes still can't believe it. Counseling sounds great if you can all agree to see one; we couldn't seem to get an agreement in our scenario. Time will make a difference and a lot of deep breaths. Hang in there!

Ladybug - good for you for staying balanced so far. I know its frustrating when the scale hasn't budged, but keep your eyes on the prize. It's going to happen!

DJ - I get vertigo every blue moon and it is no picnic. I'm so sorry to hear you have to deal with this. No one likes to have meds, but hopefully the docs will figure it all out soon and you will be cured of your dizzy spells. When you think about it, it is pretty darn amazing how far modern medicine has taking us. Hang in there!

If I missed somebody, sorry about that. I think I'm going to have to take notes as I read along! Here's to a great Friday everyone!

[All-in-Ang]

Hey everyone,

So as you know I'm on vacation (ahh..it's been 24 hrs since I answered a work email..blissful!).
Heading out of town tomorrow..so I weighed in today and then will weigh in again on April 25th when I'm back so as not to go too long between WIs.

I expected a small loss since I just weighed in on Monday...but I lost 2.6 lbs! Incredible...hummm...maybe there is something to be said for getting sleep:)

I'll be keeping up with everyone as I'm bringing my laptop with me..just wanted to share!
Leslie..maybe you can use today's WI as my WI for next week since I'll be out of town?

I'm going to make getting my BMI in the 29s by the end of the month my mini-goal. Hopefully that keeps me focused on vacation.

Cheers,
Ang

[Leslie74]

I lost -1.8 pounds at my weigh in last night!

Also, I did my measurements for week 8. IN total, I have lost -15.3 inches!! In these past 4 weeks, I lost 6 inches around my waist ALONE!

WOO HOO!!!!!

I am SO CLOSE to making the 20 pound weight loss mark - I will make it next week for sure!!!