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Introduction Text Hi I joined SparkPeople in September 2010 but until January of 2016 I was just an occasional "participant" and never seemed to be able to stay the course for more than 2-3 months. By the end of 2015 I'd reached my highest weight ever. I became a consistent "Spark user" in January 2016, becoming more involved with teams and challenges including the 5% Weight Loss challenges. I made a strong commitment to developing an exercise "habit" and with better diet and exercise, lost about 62 pounds, coming within 6 pounds of my initial goal weight. That's where I sat for the rest of 2017. Unfortunately, over the course of 2-3 years some of that lost weight (close to 20 pounds) came back. During 2020 I worked harder towards losing those extra pounds and hope to be back to my initial "lowest weight" by the end of the Winter 2021 challenge. While I have good general health, I knew that excess weight and lack of activity were not conducive to staying healthy long term. As the grandma of an active 8 year old grandson, I want to be around for a LONG time and be able to keep up with him. I have done five 5% Challenges since the spring of 2016 as a member of the Awesome A's team and made some great Spark friends during that time. I was thrilled that I not only made my goal of losing 11 lbs in my first challenge but surpassed it by a little bit! The challenge motivated me to bump up my exercise which probably helped me to reach my goal. Unfortunately I haven't quite made it to my goals in subsequent challenges although I did lose just over 50% of my goal in the Winter (2020) Challenge and 25% of my goal in the Spring challenge. In the 2020 Fall challenge I lost just over half my 5% goal and got close to my earlier weight. During the Winter 2020 challenge I accepted another challenge - that of becoming an EL (extra leader) on our team and I have had fun working with our leadership team in the challenges since then. Why do I continue to do challenges? I find that they keep me motivated to keep exercising and eating mindfully. I probably exercise a little more and track more carefully during challenges because I want to have a loss - or at least no gain - on weigh in days. And they can be lots of fun as I meet more people and try to do a bit better with each week.

Work toward getting back to my lowest weight Continue to maintain an active lifestyle with regular exercise Stay committed to my goals!

Exercise 5-6 times a week (daily cardio + strength training 2x a week) Track food and exercise daily Eat more veggies and fruit.

From Orillia ON Retired from teaching 13 years ago. Married to my hubby for 42 years.

I enjoy reading, knitting and computer games - not very active pastimes! Pre-COVID I attended a monthly book club, and a weekly knitting group which meets at our local library. I am able to walk to the knitting group each Tuesday. I enjoyed singing in and conducting a small choir that visits several nursing/retirement homes each month from October to May. I'm a big CFL (Canadian Football League) fan and enjoy following my favourite team during the season, and off-season too! My DH and I try to attend a couple of their games each season. I hope to resume all of these activities when life finally gets "back to normal" - whatever that will look like.

Add a Link Sue Orillia Ontario (Canada - Eastern Time Zone) I just wish people would realize that anything is possible if you try...dreams are made if people try. - Terry Fox Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a battle. - John Watson What you will do matters. All you need is to do it. - Judy Grahn If you don't do what's best for your body, you're the one who comes up on the short end. Julius Erving EL for the Awesome A's 5% Challenge - Winter 2021
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