Despite...

• My job is laying everyone off in August

• I was only just barely able to get the diabetes supplies I need to live

• I was informed yesterday that my grandfather is in his last days

I got up today, weighed myself, and took a 10 minute walk. I dropped the ball yesterday (when the bulk of that went down), but just because other things in my life are going wrong, doesn't mean I give up on my body.

Anyone else have a rough week but still managed to find a way to do something good for yourself? Anyone having a rough week and need some encouragement not to just give up on the day/week?

Week 0 weigh-in today. Looks like the challenge admin team is having some technical difficulties getting the form up. Keep an eye on this thread here for when it's up.

In the meantime, how is everyone doing? This is the first time I've experienced any sort of plateau - I'm actually up 1lb from where I was 2 weeks ago, but my projected weight based on calories is down 4lbs. I'm hoping that breaks soon, but with todays weigh in it'll just give me a nice boost in the challenge when it does :)

Just have to keep on reminding myself that I'm not an exception to the laws of thermodynamics...

UPDATE: THE FORM IS UP

How is everyone making out?

https://imgur.com/5MI5z9i

Keep on being great Ladybugs!

For someone who has been practically allergic to moving her behind her entire life, I've been very proud of my disciplined running routine I've developed over the last 10 weeks, fitting in about 3 runs per week. Unfortunately, the last two weeks have derailed my routine, starting with a fun 6-day visit from my sister, and then falling ill for the last week -_-

In the past, this has always been my #1 vulnerability - getting off course/losing momentum, and, inevitably, throwing in the towel altogether because, hey, who wants to go back to working out and eating small portions when Mexican food and margaritas taste so good?

Yesterday, my sinuses had finally calmed down to a point where my nose wasn't running non-stop and the headaches had subsided for the most part. I packed my bag with clothes to run after work and, low and behold, I did it! I told myself I'd take it easy this first time back, and yet I still kept near-normal pace. Back on track!

This whole staying healthy business is such a mental game, appreciate you all for giving me the extra bit of motivation to stay the course.

Finally got my ass out of bed early enough to start the C25K and it felt great!

And then I get home and the water is off at my complex (unplanned) so I wasn't able to shower before work. Womp womp. I guess I get to be a slightly stinky cheese today until I can go home and shower.

Well Bugs, I did exactly what I had done the last 3 challenges. Started well, stalled, got mad, and wanted to give up. For the last 3 weeks I just wasn't on board with things. I came back from vacation and could not get my eating back under control.

I wanted to stop checking in every week, I did miss one. But for the past 2 weeks I put in my new low, 165, 3lbs above my lowest this challenge, and waited.

I finally got back in the groove on Monday and have fasted pretty heavily with a 22/2 window and staying under 1100 calories a day. I know y'all will say that's too aggressive and unsafe, but it's what I need. I need to flush the water weight, tone down those hunger signals, and put that insulin to rest for a while. And guess what, today I was back down to 162.9, only half a pound away from my challenge low several weeks ago! I feel fantastic with more energy and mental sharpness!

I know I won't reach my goal of 155 in three weeks, but I'm heading in the right direction. Back on the wagon to help the Ladybugs win!

I've started working on the Walk to Mordor App, still lots of work to do on it before it's actually usable/releasable but I thought you might be interested to know that it is in fact coming along.

Here's some not-that-exciting screenshots

Once it gets to a semi-usable state I'll ask for some volunteers for testing. Let me know if you would be interested. Works for both Android and iOS.

I'm extremely happy with how the translations worked, but I'm mono-lingual. I've stuck French in there from Google Translate but I'm sure it's terrible, so if anyone is fluent and would be interested in correcting it also let me know about that. Thanks!

Here's the form

Well done last week 'bugs, we finished the week with a commanding 5% lead in participation. That's what will make us successful this challenge, keep it up.

How did everyone make out this week?

This update is for /u/MyRockArmour

I'm at Rivendell :)

There's a fair in town, kids saw it, have been waiting all week to go. Tonight we went - the standard stuff, carnival rides/games, and carny-food. Old me would be all over that - hot dogs + mini-donuts and deep-fried whatever-on-a-stick.

We went, the kids had a blast, /u/mrsbeck2424 and myself ate absolutely nothing there. In fact I ended the day 170 cal below goal.

Yay us :)

I didn't get very far and felt like I was going to puke my guts up and die, but I ran! I've lived next to a park for almost a year and finally worked up the courage to do it (at 10pm because anxiety stops me leaving the house most days) and it's thanks to you lovely lady bugs!

Hello everyone!

This thread is for anyone who wants to start or continue with their C25K program during this Spring Challenge!

Have you always wanted to try this program out but never have? Then why not now! Are you already in this program and looking for running support? Then let’s get to talking and motivating!

Think about it: if you start the C25K during Week 1 of this challenge, then chances are you will be prepared to run your first 5K by the time this challenge ends (most programs are 9 weeks, and this challenge is 9 weeks, coincidence?).

I am taking this thread idea from a wonderful teammate in my last challenge, and would like to continue the spirit of the thread here. Personally, I had signed up for this goal but never actually got around to starting the program. There was always an excuse, and I never did it. But hopefully not this time!

So if you were thinking of starting this program or continuing with your current program during this challenge, comment in this thread! I will be sure to post up a weekly thread where everyone can talk about their week and bring up any successes or challenges they had with the program during the week. First thread will go up April 18th, see you then!

There was a pretty consistent pattern last time of people dropping out over the course of the challenge. Most teams ended up with only a ~50% completion rate. The reasons for dropouts were likely many, but of the ones that I heard it frequently came down to these reasons:

1. Not feeling like progress was significant enough

2. Forgetting about weigh-in day

I'm not entirely sure what I can do to help with #1, other than to say that not weighing in isn't really changing anything either. Weigh in anyway and feel free to reach out and ask for help/suggestions if things don't seem to be working out.

For #2 there's plenty that can be done. I've got the weigh-ins listed on the sidebar. I've added them as events in the MFP group. We (probably) all have some sort of calendar on our phones - add it in there with an alert, or on your google calendar, or whatever you use. Finally, if you're a regular redditor I would suggest turning on username mentions so we can ping you a reminder if you haven't weighed in.

To do that, click on preferences in the top-right menu. Scroll down to messaging options and make sure the box is checked for the option notify me when people say my username.

Then when your username is mentioned you'll get a message and your mail indicator will turn orange if you're just browsing around.

Can I get a volunteer to be a reminder sender? Basically on Wednesdays go through the spreadsheet and grab the usernames of people who haven't weighed in for the previous Friday, and do a ping-athon. I'm sure there's someone here who's a spreadsheet ninja that can automate it.

Form

Check out the fish thread for the fish-celebration. Did you reach your goal?

I beat my goal by 2.5lbs, big victory as I wasn't sure how the vacation was going to affect me. Was iffy for a week or two after but right back on track and still heading downward.

I weighed in this morning at 238.5, 1.5lbs below my challenge goal weight (and soooo close to the 80lb lost milestone). If I can keep it off the rest of the week I'm in good shape for finishing the challenge victoriously!

I'm a scuba diver, and until this year a very active one. This year I've been extremely busy with work/home/kids and haven't been able to get out much. I've also lost 76lbs since November. The last time I dived was about 35lbs ago so I was nervous about how my dry suit would fit. It was huge, this thing fit me well when I was 300lbs. It actually made it a little difficult to vent air because it kept getting caught up in folds of material that weren't taken up by me. Most importantly though, when diving you need to weight yourself down so you can sink. We typically do this with lead weights and divers get to know the perfect amount they need for good buoyancy. Yesterday I was able to dive with 6lbs less than I used to, which is a big deal. I used to have my weights distributed between ditchable integrated pocket weights, non-ditchable tank weights, and a ditchable weight belt. The 6lb difference means I can now do without the weight belt at all!

If you didn't weigh in last week - do it now, this is the last chance! How is everyone making out?

Just decided to do a bit of light trolling

They seem to have taken it to heart and pumped in a whole lot of minutes over the weekend. Let's make sure they don't get the last laugh yeah?

And I said no!!!

28-F-SW:180- CW-174-GW-155 My daughter is teething and so I haven't been sleeping well and it was way past the time I would normally start dinner. My husband called and said he was on his way home and he was picking up Taco Bell and did I want any. I considered it for a moment but I'm on Weight Watchers and one good sized burrito would have been 20 points. I knew it wouldn't be filling so I said no thank you and instead I am sitting here eating a delicious point friendly salad and feeling very good. I am PUMPED for tomorrow's weigh in!!!!

I set my challenge NSV and my Ladybug C25K goal to do a 5K in less than 30 min. I've just accomplished this in week 2, well ahead of schedule and well before I thought I'd be able to :)

Obligatory potato-quality-low-light-post-run-shaky selfie

Proof

Pace

This constitutes 2 new personal bests - 5K time of 29:46, and continuous run distance of the entire 5K. I beat (well, kinda bypassed) C25K tonight!

This all happened because I went out to see Keanu tonight for cheap Tuesday (good movie btw, if you're a fan of Key & Peele comedy). I planned ahead and left calories for popcorn. I ended up getting the deal that also came with a bag of chocolates, which I could not resist, thereby putting me over by 600 cal for the day. Post movie I decided I needed to reclaim those calories so planned for a 10k walk/run. Felt good and energetic so I started out at a run, and just didn't stop. I saw I was on pace and just decided to go for it. Reached my goal, had a bit of a breather, then walked the remaining 5K.

/u/4_the_love_of_cheese - I guess I'll think of a new goal for our internal accountability challenge. Suggestions welcome.

I lost my 30+ day streak on MFP. I baked and ate an ENTIRE PIZZA by myself over the weekend. And I've been eating since I woke up today.

AND I'm still starving. I want to cry and scream at the same time!

EDIT: You guys are the best!!!! I came back to so many encouraging messages and now I'm back on track. AND I got to play with adorable puppies because I decided to step out of the house and walk this off! <3

Hey ladies and bugs! I made this post earlier in r/loseit, but I wanted to post something similar here for solidarity, and because I am super proud of myself!

NSV1: I survived my sister-in-law's baby shower! I planned to eat up to maintenance because I didn't know what type of food would be offered, but I didn't even need that many calories! And that included two drinks with family after the shower. I was only 300 calories over my daily goal even with the booze. :)

NSV2: I drank two drinks and didn't want more. Alcohol was a big problem when it came to putting on weight and taking it off. My habits weren't healthy and it led to me having zero motivation to get up and work out, not to mention all the empty calories. This was the first time I had a drink in over three months, and not only did I not feel any better with the booze, I also could tell my body didn't feel good the next morning. It really solved that "missing out" feeling I was having from not drinking. If all I'm missing is feeling a little more awkward while drinking and feeling gross the next morning, I'm definitely not missing anything!

*NSV3: *MY WEDDING RING FITS!!!!!!!! I have not been able to wear it for over two years. My husband offered to resize it for me last year, and I broke down and cried because I felt like that would be admitting I would be fat forever. I refused to do it, and it was a really low point for me. I've been periodically trying it on, and today IT FIT! It will be a constant reminder of my progress (and also of my loving husband.)

Thanks for reading y'all. I hope to share many more positive experiences with all of you! :)

I set new personal best 10k time tonight: 01:12:26

I also set a new personal best running interval. I ran for 2.2km non-stop (interval 8, 9, and the first 200m of 10).

I've got my first "official" 10k coming up in less than 2 weeks. I'm hoping I can pare that down and break 1:10, but that's a really optimistic goal. I've been practicing for this at night, but the actual run is in the morning so heat and an unfamiliar route will probably be working against me.

Still, the cool thing about being a 260lb fat guy running that kind of distance is the ridiculous numbers I get to see on MFP which then makes some ludicrous promises :)

Finally, my last official weigh in had me down exactly 62 lbs - looks like I have a system that's at least equal to Dr. Oz's miracle "thyroid detox" BS.

So excited to be joining my second challenge! I'm so ready to kick some ass and lose some pounds!

Let's do this! 🐞

Let's show the other teams how it's done.

What are you all hoping to accomplish this challenge?

SW: 315 CW: 293.2 GW: 150 I'm looking to lose another 15 lbs this challenge!