21 Day Challenge

even though ive been dieting for 3 months already Id like to be part of this 21 day challenge to help keep myself motivated and help others. After 3 months you can become complacent.

Miles - 07 June 2009 08:08 PM

even though ive been dieting for 3 months already Id like to be part of this 21 day challenge to help keep myself motivated and help others. After 3 months you can become complacent.

Great Miles,

We’d love to have you. Today starts the second week and a perfect place to jump in. Let us know what goals you’re working toward. If this goes well, I’m hoping to have a monthly challenge where we work to establish healthier habits the first 21 days of each month. That way we can tweak our goals as we make progress.

Donna

Donna S. - 27 May 2009 12:33 PM

*Drink 8 eight-ounce glasses of water daily
*Exercise 3-5 days a week
*Only eat when hungry

Part of me wants to say I’ll exercise five days a week—but I’m trying to keep this realistic.

Donna

I’m checking in after my first week. I have to admit I hoped to do better, but I tend to be a perfectionist, which often causes me to quit trying. Instead, here I am checking in. That’s progress in itself!

Here’s how I did:

*Drink 8 eight-ounce glasses of water daily. - I did this one! Have to say, if I didn’t have this goal, it wouldn’t have happened. So many unexpected things popped up this week—but I did do it!
*Exercise 3-5 days a week - Did it. Hurray! I walked two days, and then on Saturday I went to the Renaissance Festival and walked for 5 hours! Counting that as exercise for sure. I was exhausted by the time I got home. Then Sunday, I put in an hour and a half in the garden. This was my hardest workout for the week. So the grand total - 4 days! Hurray!
*Only eat when hungry - Now here is where I didn’t quite make it. I did do better than usual—and practicing this will help me develop the habit. But the cookout on Friday, and the Festival…well, I could have done better. I ate just because I like the food…which is my basic problem. However, instead of focusing on the negative, I’m happy to say that I did eat less than normal most days, and I’m looking forward to practicing more this week.

Can’t wait to hear how you all did, too.

Donna

Im glad to be here and my goals are

workout 6 days a week
drink plenty of water
eat my veggies
try some new foods

I find that I have to constantly add new things to my diet or I get bored with my food. After 3 months its hard keeping it exciting. I will say though I eat a lot of the Cafe Steamers by healthy choice and find they are pretty good and take alot of the guess work out of my meal plans.

P.S. Hi everyone Im Miles by the way ive been on a 1200 calorie diet for 3 months now and have lost 90 pounds so it is possible. Stay motivated and sometimes it just helps to sit down and post your thoughts, it gives you perspective and can help you stick to your convictions. If by chance you slip and fall its ok just get back up and go again. Remember nobodys perfect!

Miles - 08 June 2009 06:00 AM

Im glad to be here and my goals are

workout 6 days a week
drink plenty of water
eat my veggies
try some new foods

I find that I have to constantly add new things to my diet or I get bored with my food. After 3 months its hard keeping it exciting. I will say though I eat a lot of the Cafe Steamers by healthy choice and find they are pretty good and take alot of the guess work out of my meal plans.

P.S. Hi everyone Im Miles by the way ive been on a 1200 calorie diet for 3 months now and have lost 90 pounds so it is possible. Stay motivated and sometimes it just helps to sit down and post your thoughts, it gives you perspective and can help you stick to your convictions. If by chance you slip and fall its ok just get back up and go again. Remember nobodys perfect!

Your goals are right on and show why you’ve been successful. I’ve had my best success following a 1200 calorie diet. The trick for me is to learn how to keep it off once I reach my goal. That’s one of the reasons I’m trying to learn to eat only if I am hungry. Still struggling to find that balance.

Donna

that is my problem keeping it off. I have to learn to keep the healthy habits and keep the excercise. I just have to tell myself there’s nothing more important than my health and I want to be around for my kids and wife for many years (even if they dont want me to be.LOL).

LOL Miles,

Health is the main reason I want to really establish these goals. Long term health benefits from making the right choices now may not seem important when you’re in your 20s but the older you get the more you realize what you take for granted. Energy and a feeling of a well being…being able to breathe when I bend over to tie your shoes, walking long distances….

I’m glad you’re here. You’ve encouraged me to keep going.

Donna

All and all I am pretty proud of myself.  I drank my water.  I exercised three times this week.  I did not do palates, but I am planning on adding that into my routing.  I did kick boxing and a lot of walking.  I was at the Relay For Life this weekend, so I walked a lot and I am very sore.  I did eat less.  I did not snack, but I did add chips and guacamole to my lunch one time last week and today.  One of my weaknesses.  Luckily the guacamole is all gone and I won’t be buying any more.  I don’t plan on weighing myself weekly.  I was, however, at my Mother-In-Laws house and she has a scale.  I lost 2 lbs.  Yeah!  I am pretty happy with my first week.

Donna S. - 08 June 2009 03:44 PM

LOL Miles,

Health is the main reason I want to really establish these goals. Long term health benefits from making the right choices now may not seem important when you’re in your 20s but the older you get the more you realize what you take for granted. Energy and a feeling of a well being…being able to breathe when I bend over to tie your shoes, walking long distances….

I’m glad you’re here. You’ve encouraged me to keep going.

Donna

I know the feeling of bending over and being winded, I used to get tired taking a shower how sad is that. When I first started exercising 3 months ago I could only walk on my treadmill for 20 minutes at a very slow pace, now 3 months later I do an hour at very fast pace at full incline. It helps to chat with people who are dealing with similar issues as myself.

Miles - 08 June 2009 05:30 PM

I know the feeling of bending over and being winded, I used to get tired taking a shower how sad is that. When I first started exercising 3 months ago I could only walk on my treadmill for 20 minutes at a very slow pace, now 3 months later I do an hour at very fast pace at full incline. It helps to chat with people who are dealing with similar issues as myself.

It helps me, too. I walked 40 minutes today, and so far my eating is in line. That’s huge!

Another motivator is that my son-in-law is flat on his back on the floor. He’s been there for over 24 hours now because his back went out. He’s had the chiropractor in but they couldn’t get him up. It’s a wake up call for all of us. He’s now taking muscle relaxers to try to get the spasms under control, in hopes he can get his legs under himself and stand up because we can’t get him up. Once he’s up, we all plan to get our fork to mouth under control, too.

Donna

I’ve upped the ante on my 21 day challenge and now added exercise. I read somewhere that without a plan and just an intention to exercise, you never really get to do it. So I actually wrote down what I would do, when I would do it and for how long. So far so good and we managed to walk 3 miles on Sunday night on a new trail that opened near our town - really nice!

Donna S. - 09 June 2009 08:10 AM

Miles - 08 June 2009 05:30 PM

I know the feeling of bending over and being winded, I used to get tired taking a shower how sad is that. When I first started exercising 3 months ago I could only walk on my treadmill for 20 minutes at a very slow pace, now 3 months later I do an hour at very fast pace at full incline. It helps to chat with people who are dealing with similar issues as myself.

It helps me, too. I walked 40 minutes today, and so far my eating is in line. That’s huge!

Another motivator is that my son-in-law is flat on his back on the floor. He’s been there for over 24 hours now because his back went out. He’s had the chiropractor in but they couldn’t get him up. It’s a wake up call for all of us. He’s now taking muscle relaxers to try to get the spasms under control, in hopes he can get his legs under himself and stand up because we can’t get him up. Once he’s up, we all plan to get our fork to mouth under control, too.

Donna

It definitely is a motivator, Heart disease runs in my family my Grandpa had a heart attack, 3 of my uncles had heart attacks one of them died, and my dad has had a heart attack so I need to stay committed and do this.

Jeanne Grunert - 09 June 2009 10:45 AM

I’ve upped the ante on my 21 day challenge and now added exercise. I read somewhere that without a plan and just an intention to exercise, you never really get to do it. So I actually wrote down what I would do, when I would do it and for how long. So far so good and we managed to walk 3 miles on Sunday night on a new trail that opened near our town - really nice!

Great plan, Jeanne. Writing down goals is one of the reasons I like the 21 Day Challenge. It helps me move from thinking about it to actually making a commitment and a plan. My exercise and water drinking are coming along but my eating is struggling. I think I will revert to counting calories during the day. Miles has inspired me. It’s working for him and I know it works for me. Maybe at least until I break my bad eating habits.

Donna

Jeanne Grunert - 09 June 2009 10:45 AM

I’ve upped the ante on my 21 day challenge and now added exercise. I read somewhere that without a plan and just an intention to exercise, you never really get to do it. So I actually wrote down what I would do, when I would do it and for how long. So far so good and we managed to walk 3 miles on Sunday night on a new trail that opened near our town - really nice!

Writing things down seems to bring an amount of accountability to things, so thats a great idea. Another thing you can do is right it on a wall calendar and cross thru the days as you complete each days excercises and after a few days you can look at the calendar and see all the check marks and have a real sense of accomplishment.

Miles - 10 June 2009 03:11 PM

Writing things down seems to bring an amount of accountability to things, so thats a great idea. Another thing you can do is right it on a wall calendar and cross thru the days as you complete each days exercises and after a few days you can look at the calendar and see all the check marks and have a real sense of accomplishment.

Hi Miles,

You’re more of an inspiration than you realize. I’ve recently been unpacking a box of journals from the 1980s and 1990s. I struggled with some of the same issues then as I do now, but found success in writing down what I ate and counting calories. I’ve been avoiding this, but after seeing your success, I think that’s the direction I’m heading again.

Donna