Mary I am also Asthmatic. I have been really good about mine till over the winter months I had a borderline pneumonia and since then I have to use my inhaler before I workout. Im also in the process of finding myself a asthma doctor since I really haven't seen anyone about mine since I was in my teens lol.

Hi David! I'm just off a prednisone burst from bronchitis. I should probably talk with my pulmonologist about nebbing before I work out. Makes more sense than trying to pull back up afterwards!

Yeah, if you haven't seen anyone since you were a teen about it, I suspect you should see a doc. Of course, if it has been under control until this winter, there was no need to do it until now!

its great to see so many people responded to sonja's post...woo hoo...=)

Yes Beita, I'm so thrilled to see so many motivated people.

Ok...it's after 8pm. How did everyone do? I was tempted by some pasta, but I opted to forgo the unnecessary carbs.

One day down, 89 to go.

Hello all,
Glad to see so many others jumped on the Challenge! steady day for me, did as planned: ate 1450 in cal's; drank 2 litres of water; did 55 min's cardio; 40 minutes upper body weight training. It's my formula and so far it seems to be working for me. I went down 2.5 pounds today, due to fasting yesterday so I expect a correction tomorrow. Best to all and good luck.

Peace from a happy loser!

well today i took a trip to the gym as well, started off with half hr of cardio just to start the week. im going to do an hour of cardio for the rest of the week though. does any one have any advice or tips on how to avoid snacking on junk food, that seems to be a big problem for me. everytime i walk through the kitchen my sweet tooth takes control

I'd be up for this too. Sounds like a blast. I was going to put off starting for another month because... well I can. Next week is just as good. Actually it is better.

I'm in. I'm an asthmatic too, but it's running-induced so I've built up my lungs for the past 8 years. I weighed in 139.4 today and wish to reach the 115-120 range and I could used motivation. I eat about 1400 calories (I don't normally count, but I normally feel really full and sick if I eat too much in one sitting, so that normally keeps me in check) and I normally run anywhere from 20 to 50 minutes outside (2 to 4 miles - I take breaks and sprint on the longer runs with slow jogs). At times I get weird cravings for starches though, overeat, and then feel too sick to run, or have massive amounts of homework to do. And put of real dieting, so I hope this works.

I wish everyone the best of luck.

Pretty decent day for me. After a very long workout yesterday, today was a recovery day with less workout time and more calories. But I feel good!

Good morning all:

Welcome Ian. Please, don't put off joining us, if you can help it. Depending on how things go, this may turn into a healthy lifestyle for me, but I think it's critical that regardless to whether or not you start today, or next week, you commit to at least 90 days.

Welcome Anara. I'm glad to have you and everyone else. This really has turned into a wonderful little group we have here. I'm also glad that others can give advice on asthma; I don't know what to recommend, certainly don't want to give bad advice. Your cravings sound pretty normal. Especially, if you're burning up a lot of calories. Your body thinks that it "needs" those calories that your burning to survive and doesn't want to give them up without a fight.

Beita, I have the same problem...need to avoid snacking. It's especially difficult, because I still have to feed my son and I'll spot a small bag of chips, or some type of treat that beckons. What I have been trying to do is think of all of you, and keep my skinny jeans in my mind's eye. I just keep talking to myself and reminding myself that the snacking is probably how I got where I am today.

One other thing that helped is something that Glenda said, "...discipline of a Marine." That just stuck out and made me realize that I need to have discipline. Period. Otherwise, I'm going to continue feeling terrible about myself and I'll never return to the old, svelt me. Try to think of an outfit, or swimsuit that you really want to get into next time you are tempted to snack.

Ok...I'm going to work a little, hit the gym and I'll be back online later.

Please, don't be bashful people. If you're not having a good day, it's ok. That's why we're all here, to encourage, not to beat you up. ok?

Peace,

Sonja

Well, yesterday was day 1 ...I started so well. I planned meals, snacks packed it all up for the work day and off I went. Well, I did great...until about 10:30AM and had a latte. I did have it sugar free with skim milk though. I did ok the rest of the day. Then came dinner...My boyfriend couldn't decide what to cook so I did the worst thing I could do...I ordered pizza. I figured, for the most part I ate really healthy all day long, how much harm could pizza do? OH MY GOD!!! I used the pizza hut website for nutritional info (after the fact of course), 1200ish calories!!!!! That's crazy!! I mean, the pizza was good, but not 1200 calories good.

But, today is a new day, it'll be better

Oh, I did exercise yesterday, i did some stregnth training, and went to the circuit. I was hoping to do the elliptical after work but was just to exhausted. I wish i had though...darn pizza

How many lbs must I be looking to lose to join? I have 15 lbs more to go to get to my target weight of 130. Sonja, I see that you are 5'7"...perfect, because I am 5' 6.5" and I too was underweight at 104 before I had my first baby. My Mother and Mother-in-law are freaking out about my losing weight, because obviously they don't want me to go there again. So, if you don't mind me asking, what is your target weight? Around mine? This would give me ammo to those who are telling me to stop trying to lose. My husband's family are the most unhealthy people I do believe I've ever met. Hoping to be some sort of inspiration to them. Unlikely, but hey, ya never know! : )

Oh yeah, my target date is June 5th--the day before my 8th wedding anniversary. I think it's 66 days away, not 90.....That ok?

Vy-Dana, it's ok. You slipped. Dust yourself off and get back on the weight-loss wagon. You worked out, so that's the day wasn't a complete loss ;)

Hi Julie! Wow, you sound a lot like me. I am setting mini-goals. My first goal is to lose 40 pounds, to bring me down to about 130-135. However, I have a very small frame (I can wear toddler bracelets), so after I reach the first goal, I'll reassess and determine how much more I need to lose. I think that I may try to stabilize my weight at around 125, but definitely no less than 120.

My family was the same with me...you're too skinny, but now they're all concerned with the extra weight (rightfully so). I used to say that I weighed 110 lbs, but in actuality, I'm sure I wasn't even close

Yep, it's ok if you don't go the 90 days. The important thing is that you have support. Also, don't be fooled. The less weight you have to lose, the harder it is to get off. While it may seem like my pounds are just falling off, you may run into a stumbling block...but keep moving and it will certainly come off.

Vy-Dana,
I have found that planning the night before the day ahead and leaving myself NO choice but to follow (ie deferring my latte until it is planned into my eating plan) the eating regime (gosh I sound so militaristic don't I?) helps to keep me on track. Also doing it this way eliminates the big surprize of "oh goodness a pizza slice is that many calories!?" Planning ahead is critical when you feel hungry, headachy, and unresolved to your goal...because you don't need to think. Also, it removes the chance you will be derailed by someone else's food choices (ie the boyfriend who can't decide what to eat), which are likely not compatible with your own at this time anyway. Hope this helps, and best of luck to you today.

Peace,
Glenda

Thank Glenda, that helps a lot! I did ok today, mind you there are a few hours to go before the day is done.

I knew the pizza was bad, I mean it is pizza. I was just thinking like 600-700 calories...never 1200, that's just crazy. Pizza is good, but certainly not 1200 calories good. Well, lesson learned...I have got to start planning.

Thanks for the encouragement, you guys are awesome!

Sonya, thanks for the reply. I am such an impatient person, I hate the thought of setting mini-goals. It's almost painful for me. I like to get things over and done with! I know exactly what you mean about the last pounds being the most stubborn because as of last July I weighed 170. I dropped 33 lbs in about 2 months. I think I got spoiled, and then I put on 8 or 10 lbs (depending on the day) after the darn holidays and I wish to god I had never eaten one peice of pie, it's so not worth it to me. What's worse is I'm setting my sights 7 lbs lower than last time so now I have 15 to lose instead of 8. It's not coming off as quickly, it will probably take me just as long to lose this as it does you to lose 40. : ( Perhaps I should aim for the 8 first to bring me down to my previous weight, and then focus on the other 7. I honestly never thought of doing it that way. Arrrgh. Good advice, Sonja, I'll mull it over.

i was wondering how often everyone weighs themselves. i dont know if i should weigh myself everyday or once a week. after taking a look at what i have been eating, ive decided to start planning out my meals for the week. ill let you guys know how that goes.

I'm in!

Beita: I weigh myself everyday, knowing my weight will flucuate. I don't like weighing once a week because on that one day you could be retaining water or something. Then, you can average the previous seven days and use that figure as your weight. That's just me though

You can count me in as well, I would like to be down another 40 lbs by the end of this 90 days.

Good luck all!

Fred

Hi all! Welcome to Juliana and Fred. Would you guys mind sharing your plans; your diet and workout routine?. I hope I didn't miss any other newcomers.

Ok...by bum HURTS!! Did I mention that my bum HURTS?!

I only did one class yesterday, spinning. Honest to goodness, my bottom is so sore. I've been told that it could take a couple of months to get the used to riding. Geesh...I'm in a world of trouble.

However, I did take 2 aerobics classes this morning. I was trying to take the spinning class, but was in too much pain. I came straight home, showered and took ibuprofen.

Julie C. The more you write, the more you sound just like...ME LOL.

I nursed my son, so the weight seemed to literally fall off. I went back to work when he turned 4 months and lucky me, had my first experience with food poisoning...dropped another 10 pounds in one week. Do not ask me how the weight jumped back on. I noticed things changing for the worst, when I quit my job a year ago. I was too close to the fridge and kinda started going stir crazy. I'm now working from home, on my own schedule, so hopefully, that will help keep me outta the fridge. I'm all about small, reasonable goals. I tend to have an all-or-nothing attitude and it's failed me, in regards to slimming down again. So, I'm trying anew approach.

Ok...on today's menu:

I had a small bowl of kitchen-sink salad and about 4 oz of cranberry juice.
I think I'm going to have an apple (great source of fiber and not too many calories). I'm not sure what I'm having for dinner, but it's going to be very light.

Glenda, that's great advice! I actually applied the planned-technique last night. We were out and my DH wanted a slice of pizza. I was so proud of myself, because I watched him and my DS eat it and I didn't cave in. I knew that I had some great grilled chicken awaiting me at home...so I didn't fold.

Beita, I weigh in everyday. I think I may have a touch of OCD, so I cannot walk past the scale without wondering. Some say weigh daily, others say once a week. If you are compulsive and it works against you, in the way that it makes you feel defeated, then don't weigh yourself everyday.

How is everyone holding up with their asthma? I hope you are all ok, Mary, David and Anara (Hugs).

Ok, good people...I'm going to get some work done.

Sonja

I'm a big believer in once-a-week-weighing, mainly for the mental health benefits it provides. Yes, occasionally I'll have an odd day (two weeks ago I was +4 pounds from today, last week I was + 6 pounds) but by weighing at a stable time and date, these risks are minimized and, in any event, your readings will show change over time.

Weighing every day can be downright frustrating, or give you a false sense of accomplishment. It's just not worth it to me.

With regard to spinning, keep up with it! BEST workout in a gym. Very good fat burning, cardio and metabolism gains with no excessive wear and tear on the body. If you aren't cheating yourself with the resistance nob, you'll burn tons of calories (I always wear a heart rate monitor, and I average between 650-1100 calories in a 45 minute class).

Yesterday was my off-training day, but decided to further restrict my calorie intake (with the exception of a late dinner that involved unnecessary melted cheese). Back to spinning today! Good luck to all!

Yesterday was bad for me. I didn't feel well, and it was too much to work out.

Today I am TRYING to work out, and have been interrupted repeatedly. I am going to continue, but sheesh!

Mary

Hi All,
Yesterday was a fairly good day. Stuck to the food plan, no problem. I am striving to keep my fat percentage to about 30% and made some switches in food choices: oatmeal instead of eggs; turkey/chicken breast instead of thigh meat. As i was so busy throughout the day I procrastinated on exercise and drug my butt to the treadmill at 10pm!!! And walked until 11:00pm...uuugggg...didn't like that, but the point was:
EXERCISE DAILY...NO EXCUSES.

A typical menu for me (I seldom change up what I eat):

1 cup oatmeal with cinnamin, fruit & fat free soy milk for breakfast

-.5 oz. almond snack-

2 cup salad
3 oz turkey
small fruit shake with soy isolate (to hold me through afternoon)

- .5 banana snack

3 oz turkey
3/4 cup wild & brown rice
grilled carrots, asparagus, bean, garlic cloves
.75 T. olive oil

And that's pretty much what I've been eating for the last month, with minor tweaks. I keep pre made meal replacement shakes in the fridge in case of food craving attacks, but so far haven't used them. Drink tons of water and green tea, tea, tea. I love coffee but try to only indulge a cup or two in the morning. Eat your snacks, even when not hungry, they keep your blood sugars level, and that famished feeling at bay, so you feel more satisfied throughout the day.

Best to all...and have a great day...make a plan and stick to it...

Glenda

Sonja,

I will be glad to share my plan, thanks for the interest. From an eating perspective I am a dedicated low-carber. Which is to say I am a dedicated one now, not when I put on the weight. What my diet is not is a slab of bacon and stack of steaks everyday, instead I enjoy a wide variety of lean meats (mostly fish and fowl) and low GI vegetables (cauliflower good, potato bad). I have not been eating any refined carbs with the exception of the 2 grams a day in my post-workout protein shake.

I work-out six days a week and have been changing-up my routine every 3 weeks. Currently I am lifting and doing speed work (jump rope, sprints, jumping, etc) M-W-F. T-T-and one weekend day I will do my body-weight exercises (pull-ups, pushups, un-weighted squats, etc), abs work (bicycles, swiss ball transfer, 45 deg weighted crunch, etc), and more speed work.

Mt heaviest known weight was 313 around Thanksgiving last year. I made it through the holidays down to 300 lbs. Since Jan 1st I have lost 37 lbs. My goal for now is 215, at that point I will re-evaluate and see where I want to settle (likely in the 195-205 range).

To address beita’s question form my point of view. I prefer to weigh myself daily at the same time. I go to the gym first thing in the morning and I do it as soon as I get there (they have a triple-beam scale). As it is done consistently under the same conditions (beginning of day, prior to any food consumption, after visiting the restroom) I have found this daily feedback to be helpful to me in adjusting my daily food choices (I do like to mix up my menu quite a bit). You will have to prepare yourself for some fluctuation; weight loss is not a linear function.

Anyway, good luck to all. Hope to see less of you in 86 days.

Fred

Here's my plan...and i'm finally kind of sticking to it (I rarely change my diet):

Breakfast: Cheerios with 2% milk (they're whole grain)
Morning snack: baby carrots (about 2 servings usually)
Lunch: 1/2 turkey sandwich made with mustard (no mayo) and my sunflower/flax bread. Then two servings of a steamed veggie (normally grean beans, but it varies). I don't put anything on the veggies, but I like them plain
Mid-afternoon snack: peanut butter ...takes care of that sweet craving like a charm. I have about 1 tbs of chunky low fat peanut butter.

Dinner: it varies (my boyfriend cooks). Usually some sort of meat and salad or a steamed veggie. Every once in a while we'll have noodles or rice with it, but not often.

That about does it for me. I'm trying to do stregnth training in the early morning, circuit training over my work lunch hour, and elliptical or some other sort of cardio in the evening. I'm going to do my elliptical tonight, I may not do my leg exercies in the morning tomorrow though....my legs hurt so horribly bad. I swear every muscle in each thigh hurts really really bad. Most of it feels like normal muscles soreness, but my right thigh, where it connects to my torso in the front hurts really bad if I move my leg forward. It's not the same as normal muscle soreness, but I'm sure it is and it'll probably go away in a day or so.

Anyway, things seem to be going ok for me. Yesterday I didnt' cheat at all!!! woohoo!!! Today I had 3 m&m's. I ate those out of habit, I'm used to grabbing a couple when I'm in my boss' office. Before I knew it they were gone. But, it was only 5, I just need to be more careful in the future.

Hope things are going well with everyone else

hi everyone, today i did an average job with my food intake. Ive been really interested in diet pills, I know they wont work for the long run, but Im getting very impatient with myself. wow, who knew my first obstacle would be so early in our challenge...

Beita,
So sorry to hear you are feeling impatient with yourself. Personally, diet pills scare me a little bit, so I might consider talking with a pharmacist or naturapath about safe herbal alternatives. You know I picked up Body For Life today and read it cover to cover today. This approach starts with asking you to identify what is motivating you to undertake this transformation of your body and write your reasons down; next it asks you to identify 5 things you feel must attain over the next 90 days to be happy with your body and life. Then it asks you to transform these 5 things into concrete goals ("get thin" becomes: "lose 20 pounds of body fat"); finally it asks you to identify your top 3 barriers to meeting these goals and 3 solutions to overcoming them. I wrote all this down on a recipe card and read it several times today. And, the author advises you revisit your motivating reasons; goals & barrier solutions daily to help stay on track. Maybe this might help you with your personal health goals. I know our relationship with food are very personal, so what works for me may not for you.

Best Beita & remember every moment represents a new opportunity to turn it all around!!!!!

Glenda

I'm definetely in I think its a great idea.YAY FUN TIMES WITH GROUP DIETS!!! So I'm thinkin you guys totally already started the diet but I am going to start the day after easter I hope thats okay...I mean I already workout and try to eat right, but obviously I will go on a real diet starting this monday.I'm so excited!!!hehe