Are you looking for support on your health and fitness journey? If you are, then this thread is for you.

There are no expectations in this forum. Post as often as you like. Post anything that you feel is relevant to your own personal health and fitness goal. Here are some ideas:

• Monthly health and fitness goal
• Daily health and fitness goal
• Progress (or setbacks) in reaching your goal
• Personal stories about why you are joining this topic
• Healthy recipes that you feel others will enjoy
• Links to articles or books that you feel others would find helpful
• Food Choices (healthy or unhealthy)

Remember, your health and fitness journey is your own. There is no one program, method, or philosophy that is right for everyone. This thread is for support only.

My habit for December is to use my vibration plate for 10 minutes every day.

As of this morning I'm 234.2, so little by little it's still going down.

Hope everyone is meeting their weekly goals.

Well, I can't say that I have really made my goals into habits. A lot of them I did during the month I said and then let them slide. I have kept up on taking my thyroid med every day, so that is good. And I'm down about 13 pounds for the year, which is better than continuing to slide up. I found an old chart of my weight, and at the beginning of 2019, I weighed 250 pounds, and I got down to 216. But then the pandemic hit, and I did a lot of comfort eating, so the weight slowly came back on. So I started 2022 at 250 pounds. But I have not made losing a real priority, just not gaining, and adding health in other ways, since the main focus of the year is the big move.

I know that for me, one cause of weight gain is demon SUGAR. But I just don't do well at trying to track my food as I eat it. Therefore, for this month, I'm doing this:

Each day, I can buy no more than 10 grams of added sugar. I'll probably eat more than that on some of the days, since I have some stuff at home already, but if I don't bring more in, I won't eat much more! and if I have a craving, I'll use up what I have at home! I'll see how this goes. I started last week, and this rule has already kept me from buying several things that would not have been good for my health. I can manage this goal, because I already scrutinize labels thoroughly since I won't buy anything with too much sodium per serving, and I don't buy items containing gluten. Of course, some days, like yesterday, I don't buy any at all.

On a side note, I'm trying to keep up the walking, and yesterday I had over 10,000 steps with a good walk. But today it was too cold to walk outside, at least until I get a new coat, so I have been researching my options. I have never used a treadmill, because I just did my walking outside, or at my old job, I could walk around the building and once around was about 300 steps, and I did that when it was cold or rainy. I did some research, and I found that treadmills aren't a great idea in an apartment building due to the noise. I may try walking up and down the halls, but I'm not so sure my neighbors will like that, either. I'm considering a gym membership, but if it is too cold for me to walk outside, I may decide it is too cold to drive anywhere as well. The rec center is only $2 to go in the exercise room, but the hours are limited. Any ideas?

Vicki-yay for the pounds to keep dropping :)

Margaret-$2/day would be about $60 month which is a cheap gym membership if they have a lot you'd use. But if you're only looking for treadmill then Planet Fitness would be more cost effective. Now as for having a treadmill at your apartment, I can see that being noisy if you aren't on the ground floor. What about an eliptical, that's smoother & quieter...just a thought.

As Rob & I were getting ready to workout in the garage today I said to him..I haven't even weighed myself yet this month. So I'll probably weigh in tomorrow morning if I remember. I've been so busy it has just slipped my mind.

I will say my nemesis in December is egg nog. That yummy, high caloric, goodness! I love egg nog (a lot) & I only allow myself to have it in December. I wait 11 months for this & I always quit cold turkey Jan 1st :)  I'm going to try not to consume too much, but it's hard.

I have an elliptical. My daughter put it together for me over Thanksgiving. I tried it for the first time on the 29th. I woke in the middle of the night with excruciating leg cramps. Perhaps they were not related, but I have not tried it again, just in case!

Margaret, I will echo Shayla about Planet Fitness.  Only $10 for the basic membership.  $15 more if you want to use massage chairs, hydromassage beds, tanning, and be able to go to any club.

If you just want steps though - I get alot marching in front of the TV or walking around my house reading a book.  The walking and reading works best when it's an ebook on my phone.  If you are an audio book person that would work well.

The Planet Fitness (PF+) does seem like a good deal, because I would probably find the massage chair reward after a workout to be motivating. And I'd like to sometimes do some bike time as well as treadmill. I looked at the map app and the nearest Planet Fitness is a 20 minute drive away, so that's not a good plan.

I guess I'll have to do the walking around my condo, which I used to do in my house in KY. The problem is that I'm still in the process of unpacking, so there isn't a very long clear path.

I checked the Planet Fitness app and did a search on my address and another location came up, 2 miles from me, in the mall. It says "online presale now" so I guess it is a new one that is about to open. But it doesn't say what the hours will be or when it will open, so I'm not going to do that!

Happy Sunday Morning. I'm 231 lbs. this morning so I had a 3 lb. loss for the week. I'm very proud of that.

Back when I needed to lose a whole lot of weight ( in the early 80's) I exercised to Richard Simmons dance/exercise tapes. But I also walked all thru my apt., counting steps til I had done 5000 steps. That way if I needed to sit down and rest, I could. I did that for a few months until I felt I could start walking outside, and then I'd walk miles daily. In 13 months I had lost 105 lbs.

Now many years later I'm trying to get the weight back off, post menopause (gained over 100 lbs. right after going thru menopause). It's taken me almost 4 years but I'm down 44 lbs. as of this morning. I'm still needing to lose no less than 50 lbs., 75 lbs more would be my ultimate amount to still lose from todays weight. So I'll continue to plug along but if I continue to lose as slowly as I have over the last 4 years, it's going to take me a long time to reach my goal. My goal for the rest of 2022 is to lose an additional 6 lbs.

Good morning! I weighed 119.4 this morning. I met my goal about two months ago and have managed to keep it off. It took me two years to lose 40 pounds. I don't exercise, but I do meet my step goal every day. My goal for this month is start stretching for 15 minutes each morning.

Congratulations to all who have met their goals! 

...the most beautiful words in the English language are "You've lost weight"... ~Christopher Buckley, "House-Guest Hell," in The New Yorker, 1995

Hi everyone.

Margaret, keep checking the PF.  They usually have pretty good hours.  Most here are 24 hour clubs, but your market may not support that if it's not a big city.

I'm sure you'll figure it out.  All movement can count too, so not just dedicated walking time.

I weighed in this morning for my official weigh-in (first for December) and I'm down .6 from last Sunday.  This time of year, I think that is a win.  :)

Vicki, you are doing great.  I think how fast we lose is less important than that we stop the gain and start the scale back in the right direction.  Took years to gain it, why shouldn't it take years to lose it.

I'm proud of myself for coming up with 12 new habits.  I don't do them all perfectly, and some I am not even doing all that well, but I'm definitely trending in the right direction.

Stay the course. . . . .

Last month I started the month at 126.2, lost a little throughout the month, gained it back, & ended the month at 126.2.

Today I weighed in for the first time this month & am at 125.2. So down a pound & I'll take it & run! :)

I found the place, I think, where the Planet Fitness will be. From the address, it's somewhere in the mall which is 2 miles from me. I drove over there last night to see if I could learn anything. I was hoping for a sign, like Coming in January, Planet Fitness...

I did find a big spot in the mall, all blocked off with signs like "Hard Hat area" and the place has been stripped. So that's probably it. The membership site says  that if I join now, fees start in March, so that is not promising for using it during the cold weather. Also, not so sure this would be good for me... it is next door to Barnes and Noble!

On the other hand, if I joined the one that is twenty minutes away just for now, how hard is it to change over to a new club if I wanted to change once the new one opens?

at first I thought 20 minute and back is a lot, but I looked again... I already go twenty minutes and back on the days I go to work, and from work it's closer. 20 minutes from home to work, 10 minutes from work to PF, 20 minutes back home, is only 10 extra minutes of driving in my day. 
 

that location is dangerous in another way... it is next to a JoAnn Fabrics!

as far as not buying more than 10 grams of added sugar in a given day, I'm going to have to allow myself to save up and use the allowance from a previous day, but no going ahead, because I can't but just a part of a loaf of bread, for example!

I didn't buy any added sugar 12/3, then yesterday I did buy a small loaf of the gluten free bread I like, 6 servings at 3 g added sugar was 18 g, so basically used my allowance for both days. Forgot to buys eggs and am craving an egg sandwich. Silly me!

On the other hand, if I joined the one that is twenty minutes away just for now, how hard is it to change over to a new club if I wanted to change once the new one opens? - Margaret, I actually had to move my membership to a different club and it took about 3 minutes at the front desk of the new club.  They want you to do it yourself in the app, but I told them I'd rather they just moved me and gave them my phone with the app open.  Anyway, super simple to move your membership is the answer.

I laughed at the reasons those locations are dangerous for you.  My PF is right by a Freddy's Frozen Custard place - very dangerous for me, and it just seems wrong to put a Freddy's in the same parking lot as a gym.  Lol

So I explored a little more and the Planet Fitness that is close to me is taking memberships now, just not open yet, and if I get the 25/month one, I can use the other one, or the one in a completely different direction that is a little farther but a way easier drive. So that would be the route to go, because it said you can't change clubs till you have been a member for 90 days. But there is a fee if you go to a different club too many times in a month. More thought needed. 
 

Mom said to check out joining the University gym, so I did, but I think I might be intimidated by all the kids, and it turns out to be $89 per month anyway.

Margaret, the advantage of Black Card that allows you to go to any club is what makes it worth it to me.  When I travel, I can go to a club where I'm visiting, or when my trainer is gone, I can go to another club near me for a class.  I appreciate the hydromassage and the massage chairs, but I don't always have time to indulge in them, and so I'm paying that extra $15/month more for flexibility.  My silver sneakers only pays the basic membership, but some silver sneakers pays the whole thing, including black card.  Depends on your medicare plan, but I don't think you are medicare yet.

I think maybe I did know you couldn't switch your "home club" for at least 90 days.  But, if you are Black Card you can just go to another club until you can switch.  I've never heard anything about a fee for going to clubs other than my home club too many times.  Clubs tend to be in 'regions' and the way they operate within a region is usually consistent, but not necessarily consistent with other regions.  Does that make sense???

I read this today & thought I'd share: the greatest gift you can give your family & the world is a healthy you. 

Hey everyone, looks like I'm retaining some extra fluid today as I'm back up 4 lbs since Sunday. Hopefully I'll drop it again by my official weigh in on Sunday.

Keep up the good work everyone. You can do it !

Weigh ins so far: started the month at 126.2, on Dec 4th I was 125.2 & today I was 124.6. I like the downward trend.

Well, I'm up a full 5lbs. from last Sunday. Sure hope it'll be back down next Sunday. It's my own fault. Been eating a good bit of high sodium foods this past week. Hopefully that'll change this week. But until the 1st of the new year I'm not going to overly stress about it. Getting thru the holidays again alone is stressful & sad enough without beating myself up over the few pounds I gain. If I don't get back on track this week, I know I will once the holidays are over.

I hope everyone else made their weekly goal.

Tricky to get in here.  Apparently the certificate has expired and so I had to click advanced and "accept the risk" to get in.

Up 3.8 pounds from last Sunday, but like you Vicki, it's my own fault.  Lots of eating occasions last week and I didn't exercise much restraint at any of them.  Will try to get the scale to move down a bit this week since I don't have all those parties and events.

I do see a direct correlation between my eating discipline and all the other disciplines.  When my eating is off track, so is everything else.

Hoping everyone has a good week.

I just realized I hadn't watched this month!  I'm stuck between 201 and 202.  I think I've gotten careless. I've eaten out at restaurants a couple of times. Bought some sugar cookies, bread, Lactaid eggnog.   I also have been eating more frozen entrees, which, although they are portion controlled, contain more sodium than I have been consuming.  And as long as I'm being honest, upon reflection I see I've been adding to the entrees, cheese, sour cream, squash.  I will take charge again today!

Teri, it's soooo easy to get careless.  I'm impressed you are 'taking charge again today.'  I think I've allowed myself to have a mindset of 'don't worry about it until January.'  Unfortunately, I know I can do a lot of damage in a months time.

Maybe I can be inspired to take charge again right now.

Lisa, maybe I can get a grip quickly because I just can't bear the idea of regaining 50 pounds. Besides the psychological impact, regaining weight carries significant health impact. I have 50 more pounds to lose. I can't lose my focus.  Does anyone else here want to lose 25+ pounds?