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ASOIAF Weight Loss Challenge


Seventh Pup

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So what is one thing you can tweak this week. One habit that you can change and stick to for 12 weeks?

Raidne is sounds like you are off to an awesome start. Vacations can be really invigorating, and life affirming. That you are going on such an active vacation is awesome because it puts you in a great place. I'm going camping myself this weekend and swimming. I hope it gives me a good head start!

I am going to replace at least one meal each day (most likely lunch) with a salad. That will eliminate an enormous amount of calories because I don't even eat salad dressing (greens, a little bit of cheese and tomatoes are enough for me). I'm also going to eliminate pop except for one meal a week with pizza (to reward myself). I love pizza so much and I can't imagine drinking water with it, blech.

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Since it's routinely about 95-105 degrees here in August (feels like 130), I'll promise to walk up and down the 8 flights of stairs here at work instead of trying to sacrifice myself to the sun.

I'm sure the first few days will have me sounding like Darth Vader by the 5th flight, but I'll give it time to work up some stamina. (wow at the SW references, I 'm on a roll apparently, :ohwell: - where's the nerd smiley??-)

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Edit. You posted right before me!

The stairs are a great first tweak. It's amazing how intimadating they are, yet after a while they just seem routine. Keep us updated how your success with that goes.

Also I love the SW reference, they are impressive, most impressive.

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I'd like to join in. My career shift has been great for my mind but killer on my body. When I was an architect I was always on a construction site and got loads of exercise running up and down stairs all day long. Running straight up 50 flights of stairs, was nothing. Plus half the sites were isolated and there was never anywhere to go buy food so you had to bring it with you.

Then six years ago I went to law school and my life style totally changed and now I sit, sit, sit, all day long. Plus I am surrounded by tons of pretzels and chocolates and other snacky foods. And a whole refrigerator of free soda. And a million restaurants. And I have no willpower.

Also in the past year I've had two herniated discs and not allowed to work out. That is finally under control and I've just started with pilates.

So now I have a wedding to go to in October and a dress I own that I love but it is from pre law school days so it just looks at me and laughs right now. I'd like to fit into it in two months. It probably means 10 pounds have to go. Hopefully this thread will help motivate me to make it happen and find better ways to adjust to my desk job and say no to the endless supply of free chocolate and be proactive instead of thinking about it.

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I'd like to join in. My career shift has been great for my mind but killer on my body. When I was an architect I was always on a construction site and got loads of exercise running up and down stairs all day long. Running straight up 50 flights of stairs, was nothing. Plus half the sites were isolated and there was never anywhere to go buy food so you had to bring it with you.

Then six years ago I went to law school and my life style totally changed and now I sit, sit, sit, all day long. Plus I am surrounded by tons of pretzels and chocolates and other snacky foods. And a whole refrigerator of free soda. And a million restaurants. And I have no willpower.

Also in the past year I've had two herniated discs and not allowed to work out. That is finally under control and I've just started with pilates.

So now I have a wedding to go to in October and a dress I own that I love but it is from pre law school days so it just looks at me and laughs right now. I'd like to fit into it in two months. It probably means 10 pounds have to go. Hopefully this thread will help motivate me to make it happen and find better ways to adjust to my desk job and say no to the endless supply of free chocolate and be proactive instead of thinking about it.

If you are in Chicago you understand my restaurant dilemma - everything from Portillo's to fine dining, I partake in weekly. And now it shows.

I also have a wedding to go to at the end of October. I have a gorgeous dress that I'd like to fit into, but since buying evening gowns is my favorite expense, if I can get to my target weight I'm going to get a new one. Well, I guess if I can't I'll have to buy a new one anyway :frown5:

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Lady N can I put you on that list? Can you commit to change a week?

Yes, please do. And I will. I already walked past the bowl of Snickers just now and kept on walking.

If you are in Chicago you understand my restaurant dilemma - everything from Portillo's to fine dining, I partake in weekly. And now it shows.

I am so I totally understand. (I just ate at Portillo's on Sunday!) Do you work downtown? If so maybe we can meet up for a healthy portion controlled lunch as part of this challenge.

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Yes, please do. And I will. I already walked past the bowl of Snickers just now and kept on walking.

I am so I totally understand. (I just ate at Portillo's on Sunday!) Do you work downtown? If so maybe we can meet up for a healthy portion controlled lunch as part of this challenge.

I have zero resistance to Portillo's. I lived in Tinley Park for a while, just a few blocks from one - we ate it almost every night. Then I moved to the city and worked two blocks from the one on Ontario. Again, resistance was futile. Thank goodness I currently work from home (I live in Roscoe Village) but I'm interviewing at a few jobs and a couple are downtown - if I end up there again, I am totally down for some healthy camaraderie!

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I'd be down with this. Technically I actually want to gain weight, but from muscle weight, I have probably about 5-10 (ETA...okay more like 10-15) pounds of fat weight I also want to lose. So instead of setting a weight goal, I need to figure out a good way to calculate my body fat percentage (BMI maybe?) and set goals according to that.

I already eat fairly lightly, but I get very little exercise either; so I figure if I can just start doing more of that it should satisfy both goals.

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I'd be down with this. Technically I actually want to gain weight, but from muscle weight, I have probably about 5-10 pounds of fat weight I also want to lose. So instead of setting a weight goal, I need to figure out a good way to calculate my body fat percentage (BMI maybe?) and set goals according to that.

I already eat fairly lightly, but I get very little exercise either; so I figure if I can just start doing more of that it should satisfy both goals.

Your name has been added...

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I'd be down with this. Technically I actually want to gain weight, but from muscle weight, I have probably about 5-10 (ETA...okay more like 10-15) pounds of fat weight I also want to lose. So instead of setting a weight goal, I need to figure out a good way to calculate my body fat percentage (BMI maybe?) and set goals according to that.

I already eat fairly lightly, but I get very little exercise either; so I figure if I can just start doing more of that it should satisfy both goals.

heavy lifts at the gym, I started doing it about a month ago and have been gaining roughly 1 lb a week

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heavy lifts at the gym, I started doing it about a month ago and have been gaining roughly 1 lb a week

That probably would be the best move, problem is that between work and school I don't have much time to get to a gym. I am going to try to make the effort though, since real results will require it.

In the meanwhile i'm trying to incorporate more exercise into my every day schedule. I already walk about 1.5 miles a day, and I've recently stopped using elevators. Just this week actually I've started a policy of doing push-ups until I collapse each night before going to sleep. And 3 minutes ago I ordered a $20 chin-up bar to put up in a doorway at home to start using. I'm hoping all that (and anything else I can think of) will make up for probably only being able to get to a gym once a week.

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Guest Raidne

I guess my tweak will be to avoid beer. I've been enjoying Sierra Nevada Porters way too often.

Oh, I'm in need of greater specificity here. Is this like, well I was avoiding the beer but it tracked me down!!! What are you thinking? One free beer day a week? I'm having a hard time with this one myself - trying to figure out what would be a tweak but is still reasonable. I mean, I probably have at least one beer 6 out of 7 days a week right now.

I suspect that a huge factor is that I eat more if I drink more.

This is true for my sister also. But I tend to actually not eat when I drink. But I also drink good beer a lot of the time. Do you know how many calories a Kasteel Rouge has? It's not insignificant. Mmmm...Kasteel Rouge...

Raidne is sounds like you are off to an awesome start. Vacations can be really invigorating, and life affirming. That you are going on such an active vacation is awesome because it puts you in a great place. I'm going camping myself this weekend and swimming. I hope it gives me a good head start!

Seriously, you must be the nicest person in the entire universe. Thank you! That helps me feel very motivated to make it about being active and not about roadside exposure to fast food that I haven't seen in forever and big steaks. Honestly, I actually felt a little bit gross as I typed the last part of that sentence.

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That probably would be the best move, problem is that between work and school I don't have much time to get to a gym. I am going to try to make the effort though, since real results will require it.

In the meanwhile i'm trying to incorporate more exercise into my every day schedule. I already walk about 1.5 miles a day, and I've recently stopped using elevators. Just this week actually I've started a policy of doing push-ups until I collapse each night before going to sleep. And 3 minutes ago I ordered a $20 chin-up bar to put up in a doorway at home to start using. I'm hoping all that (and anything else I can think of) will make up for probably only being able to get to a gym once a week.

I only go to the gym once a week, twice max. I do a total of 60 reps while I'm there. After every workout I drink a protein shake. I'm in school and working now too, I realize how tough it is. Maybe since everyone else here is planning to lose weight, but you and I are planning to gain it we should keep each other accountable w/ updates and plans and stuff.

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Thank goodness I currently work from home (I live in Roscoe Village) but I'm interviewing at a few jobs and a couple are downtown - if I end up there again, I am totally down for some healthy camaraderie!

Well best of luck with the interviews! And let me know if you get downtown. I walk past Portillo's every night on my way home plus a good dozen other tempting restaurants. And three cupcake bakeries. Why oh why did Sprinkles feel the need to move in on the Chicago market? I don't need them here!

Okay so what am I committing myself to? Not snacking on endless free work snacks. Stopping with soda except for an occasional treat. Working on portion size. Continuing with pilates. Starting with yoga. And getting back into stair climbing.

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I only go to the gym once a week, twice max. I do a total of 60 reps while I'm there. After every workout I drink a protein shake. I'm in school and working now too, I realize how tough it is. Maybe since everyone else here is planning to lose weight, but you and I are planning to gain it we should keep each other accountable w/ updates and plans and stuff.

I'd be down with that. Before going to a gym at all though, I need to seriously work on my upper-body strength a little bit on my own. I don't want it to be seen in public how little I can dead-weight lift. Catch-22...

Ideally I want to gain about 20 lbs of muscle weight, but also lose about 10-15 lbs of fat weight, so I need to balance those two goals.

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Well best of luck with the interviews! And let me know if you get downtown. I walk past Portillo's every night on my way home plus a good dozen other tempting restaurants. And three cupcake bakeries. Why oh why did Sprinkles feel the need to move in on the Chicago market? I don't need them here!

Okay so what am I committing myself to? Not snacking on endless free work snacks. Stopping with soda except for an occasional treat. Working on portion size. Continuing with pilates. Starting with yoga. And getting back into stair climbing.

I live above a cupcake shop. . .

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Oh, I'm in need of greater specificity here. Is this like, well I was avoiding the beer but it tracked me down!!!

Yes, sometimes they do. As in, I turn around and my husband has poured a beer into a frosty mug for me. I guess what I mean, is...... no beer.

There, I said it. :leaving:

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Oh, I'm in need of greater specificity here. Is this like, well I was avoiding the beer but it tracked me down!!! What are you thinking? One free beer day a week? I'm having a hard time with this one myself - trying to figure out what would be a tweak but is still reasonable. I mean, I probably have at least one beer 6 out of 7 days a week right now.

Think of maybe cutting the number in half. Say only three beers a week. Or limit it to a specific day (say Friday), or after you've done an x amount of working out.

One tweak you can start with (and remember you are only starting) is saying something like "I have three beers a week. I will make them all good beers, so that I enjoy them." Then think about things that are coming up in your week that you might want to have beers with. :)

Let us know how this goes while you are camping!

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