Lose 15 pounds by Dec 31, 2014 -- google doc added!

[centwise]

I've had good success with exercise this week: two gym workouts, two extra-long vigorous dog-walks, and two exercise videos. I've been logging my food intake on My Fitness Pal and have come in under 1200 calories/day four days out of five. Tomorrow I'll see what the scale says and report back.

[kudy]

Anyone in Colorado should check out weighandwin.com - I signed up the other day, and I am hoping to earn $15 in the next 3 months.

I will join this challenge soon, when I am not at work!

[goldengrove]

Another forum lurker joining this challenge! I'm actually not really sure how much weight I need to lose, but it's probably at least 60 lbs total (thanks to combined undergrad/grad school stress eating). I'm aiming to lose at least 20 of that by December.

My plan:
1. Cut the sugar. I have the worst sweet-tooth ever, as in my first word literally was "cookie."
2. Paleo diet. Yeah it's trendy, yada yada, but I've dabbled in it before and I've felt amazing when I've stuck with it. Related: NO EATING OUT when I get busy!
3. Mindful eating. See "grad school stress eating" above
4. Exercise plan-TBD. I have no idea what my schedule is for the fall semester, so we'll have to see. The past month I've been swimming 1000 meters twice a week plus biking around 6 miles. While pool season is almost over here, I'm hoping to get a combination of hiking/biking going.

[Cherry]

I'm in too!  This challenge motivated me to start an account.  I had a baby at the start of July and I need to lose the baby weight.  I'm now at 163, and I want to get below 150. 

I need to cut out the sugar, get better sleep, load him up in the stroller more, and start some strength training. 

[kudy]

Okay, added myself to the spreadsheet.

I've actually been restricting calories since July 7th or so - using myfitnesspal to track rough intake of calories with a goal of 1.5 pounds lost per week (this has worked in the past, I lost ~28 pounds this way, but gained back 15 over the last year).

Also using my new road bike to ride more often so that I can really accelerate the fitness and weight loss process. Increased bike riding also lets me afford to eat more on some days (1500 calories is really hard!) and occasionally still drink alcohol :)

[Grid]

Another forum lurker joining this challenge! I'm actually not really sure how much weight I need to lose, but it's probably at least 60 lbs total (thanks to combined undergrad/grad school stress eating). I'm aiming to lose at least 20 of that by December.

My plan:
1. Cut the sugar. I have the worst sweet-tooth ever, as in my first word literally was "cookie."
2. Paleo diet. Yeah it's trendy, yada yada, but I've dabbled in it before and I've felt amazing when I've stuck with it. Related: NO EATING OUT when I get busy!
3. Mindful eating. See "grad school stress eating" above
4. Exercise plan-TBD. I have no idea what my schedule is for the fall semester, so we'll have to see. The past month I've been swimming 1000 meters twice a week plus biking around 6 miles. While pool season is almost over here, I'm hoping to get a combination of hiking/biking going.

Hello fellow grad student from Indiana!  Good luck with the weight loss!

[happy]

No loss this week, O well soldier on!

[centwise]

Saturday is my weekly "weigh day", so I went ahead and entered my new weight in the spreadsheet. I'm down a pound (for the two week period)! So despite some inconsistency with the diet, I'm hopeful that I'm headed in the right direction. I hope this thread will help me keep it up. Slow and steady!

[ender]

Down below the trendline even after a hefty and wonderful dinner last night which increased my weight by probably 1.5 pounds from where I was yesterday morning!

I've been eating a salad for lunch (which I like anyways) and lots of fruit with it. Great meal, enjoyable and wonderful.

Also been weighing myself more consistently during the week for sanity checking.

[ToughMother]

Woo Hoo!  Down a couple of pounds from my start.  While my exercise has been nonexistent due to a torn calf muscle 2 weeks ago, I've been cutting out the snacks and increasing the salads/veggies/fruits.  Had a very indulgent weekend, so must focus this weeks which will be extra challenging with work-related travel...  Go Mustaches!  Cut your budgets, cut your waistline (and in my case, my buttline).

[Zamboni]

I'm in, too!  Thank you for setting this up. 

I've also been using myfitnesspal, which I hated at first, but now it is part of my routine just like entering my expenses in a spreadsheet.  It's amazing how easy something is once it becomes habit.

My biggest key to weight loss has always been staying active and eating like a normal person (instead of pigging out.) 

Going to play beach volleyball for a couple of hours right now, so off to a good start!

[ruthiegirl]

My two meals a day approach is working just fine.   I am down 2.5 pounds in the first week. 

[TKE Super Dave]

That's two weeks I've stayed the same. Funny thing is I could have sworn I was going to be over weight as I did nothing but eat out this week as I spent most of the week taking care of my friends dogs who live on the other side of town and they didn't have food in their place.

[Cassie]

I lost 4 pounds in 10 days. I am watching what I eat, exercising, etc.  I have a Fitbit and if it quits syncing with your computer there is a way to reset the device & re-sync. I love it as it lets me track my exercise at 3 different levels, # of steps I take, calories, burned, the food I eat with calories, fat, etc.  If I find I have not burned enough calories for the day I just march in place briskly while I watch TV & then go check how I have done.

[Thegoblinchief]

Heh, I've put on weight since starting the challenge. Added a waist and gut measurement to get some idea if my weight gain is muscle or fat. It was probably a bit of both since my legs would have wanted more muscle after my epic 58 miles hauling the kids and gear... (a load greater than my body weight)

[fecklesslayabout]

I've added myself to the google doc!

[neophyte]

After a weekend out, it's my birthday :) Uhhhh, cake and ice cream and all that.  See you guys next week.

[frizzywhiskers]

Whoot!  Down 4 pounds in a week!  Ate only whole, healthy food.  example:  Spinach, Kale, Mushrooms sauteed in olive oil and homemade pork sausage for breakfast.  Salad and fish for lunch.  Protein and veggies for supper.  Fruit for snacks.  No coffee, no alcohol, no junk food!  Happy Monday!

[apfroggy0408]

Glad this is still on going! Down to 165.6 as of yesterday halfway through the month halfway to 160, might not get there by month's end but that's fine!

[horsepoor]

Heh, I've put on weight since starting the challenge. Added a waist and gut measurement to get some idea if my weight gain is muscle or fat. It was probably a bit of both since my legs would have wanted more muscle after my epic 58 miles hauling the kids and gear... (a load greater than my body weight)

In the same quandary here.  I weighed in 4# up from when this challenge started.  And I've been VERY active, and don't believe I'm overeating.  Need to track more closely with the calipers and waist measurement, I guess.  Pants are all fitting good.

[MandyM]

Ugh, one weekend visiting family and eating garbage and I'm up 2 pounds. I paid for my bad eating in more ways than one - I felt shitty on my 6 hour drive home and ended the day with a massive headache. I still feel the effects today.

[FrugalZony]

I was out for 9 days, with 3 meals a day, trying a ton of new and interesting food and snacks.
Did some hiking too, but probably less physical exercise that I would normally have had.
Happy to report, I am down slightly. Not a full pound though.
Thrilled I did not gain weight, because we had quite a bit of wine and alcohol usually messes with my metabolism plus adds a ton of empty calories.

[mrsggrowsveg]

Down two pounds.  I have really been tracking my calories in and calories out and doing tons of extra walking.

[frogger]

Up two this week during vacation--not the direction I wanted to go, but not terrible considering there was so much wonderful food. I tried to minimize portions and take bigger servings of veggies and things, but we were doing so many things (both physical and mental) I was always hungry and ended up inhaling my plate every meal. But it was a great time and there was almost no junk food (and definitely no fast food) so I felt great the whole week.

I feel inspired to cook wonderful things now, but there's a bunch of family stress suddenly happening and the new semester is starting soon, so it will take a lot of effort to get that going amid the chaos. Posting for some accountability this week.

[tanhanivar]

I appear to be about 95kg, down from 97 - so that's 2kg/4 pounds.

I don't actually feel like I've lost weight, my clothes fit much the same, but I definitely feel a bit fitter from cycling. And sorer, from falling off or onto the bike.

[ohyonghao]

Wow, there certainly is a lot of you now, I updated the dropdown to include everyone again.

I finally started dropping weight again after nearly a week.  Having a visitor really wrecked havoc on my routine.  Should start seeing steady progress again soon.

[MariaSouth]

Up three pounds. Not good.
Three days of travelling and getting together with family. Ate like a hungry pig. But no regrets. Had a wonderful time and grandma cooked her old recipes.
This week should go down, no excuses.

Congrats to all of you who went down!

[abuzzyisawesome]

I added myself to the sheet. I need to get serious. I am the heaviest I have ever been. I struggle with emotional eating and drinking. I am in heavy debt-repayment mode, and I stress. I stress over each bill, each interest rate, each payment. I calculate nickels and dimes constantly for max payments to my debt. I come home from working all day and clean house or cook and try not to lose my mind. How do you stay sane? I drink that $14 box of wine to make my worries go away, but the calories are not helping my weight. I feel overwhelmed most of the time.

[ohyonghao]

I added myself to the sheet. I need to get serious. I am the heaviest I have ever been. I struggle with emotional eating and drinking. I am in heavy debt-repayment mode, and I stress. I stress over each bill, each interest rate, each payment. I calculate nickels and dimes constantly for max payments to my debt. I come home from working all day and clean house or cook and try not to lose my mind. How do you stay sane? I drink that $14 box of wine to make my worries go away, but the calories are not helping my weight. I feel overwhelmed most of the time.

I'm not one to give advice on debt since I've never been in debt, but I have seen people who have to worry about making payments and having their water cut off was an every other month occurrence.  Exercise can be a good stress reliever, and seeing your net worth slowly go up, even if it is still negative, can be a motivator.  As you approach $0 net worth you'll find it is less stressful, not without stress, but less stressful, then you get to start seeing that number go up.

A nice benefit of losing weight is that you are probably becoming more conscious of what you eat, eating better, and spending less on food.  This will help increase your net worth, lower your costs, and most of all, lest you think this is all about money, increase your happiness.  There's a certain joy that comes when you are on the right track, and putting your name on that list means you have taken a step in the right direction.

[ohyonghao]

abuzzyisawesome

I also just came across this guess post on MMM (reading through from the beginning):
Why Is It So Hard To Downshift?

Worth a read.

[Thegoblinchief]

I added myself to the sheet. I need to get serious. I am the heaviest I have ever been. I struggle with emotional eating and drinking. I am in heavy debt-repayment mode, and I stress. I stress over each bill, each interest rate, each payment. I calculate nickels and dimes constantly for max payments to my debt. I come home from working all day and clean house or cook and try not to lose my mind. How do you stay sane? I drink that $14 box of wine to make my worries go away, but the calories are not helping my weight. I feel overwhelmed most of the time.

Challenge yourself to go an entire month without alcohol. At the end, you will feel better, have lost weight (drinking has calories, but it also feeds into snacking), and have LESS stress.

It's taken me a long time to realize this myself, but alcohol is NOT a stress reliever. It's just not.

[goldengrove]

Hello fellow grad student from Indiana!  Good luck with the weight loss!

*waves enthusiastically* Hello, Grid! Thank you, and good luck with your goal as well :)

[goldengrove]

I added myself to the sheet. I need to get serious. I am the heaviest I have ever been. I struggle with emotional eating and drinking. I am in heavy debt-repayment mode, and I stress. I stress over each bill, each interest rate, each payment. I calculate nickels and dimes constantly for max payments to my debt. I come home from working all day and clean house or cook and try not to lose my mind. How do you stay sane? I drink that $14 box of wine to make my worries go away, but the calories are not helping my weight. I feel overwhelmed most of the time.

Challenge yourself to go an entire month without alcohol. At the end, you will feel better, have lost weight (drinking has calories, but it also feeds into snacking), and have LESS stress.

It's taken me a long time to realize this myself, but alcohol is NOT a stress reliever. It's just not.

I second Thegoblinchief's response about alcohol not being a stress reliever. What came to my mind was one of MMM's old posts on habit formation. Personally, I think it's really easy for the wine to become a habit. At that point it's DEFINITELY not a stress reliever, as drinking it becomes mostly an unconscious process and the worrying continues regardless.

 I've replace almost all alcohol with mindfully drinking cups of tea-healthier, cheaper, and I don't feel gross afterwards. Perhaps find some other (healthy) beverage to replace the alcohol, and go to it immediately when you feel stressed? That (plus lots of deep breathing) is what I've done, and it's worked really well for me. I know it's a tough situation, but it's possible to get out. Don't lose hope! We're cheering for you :).

[Thegoblinchief]

Plus, if you think of stress in physiological terms, ingesting a known toxin just compounds whatever stress you're currently undergoing.

[ender]

Plus, if you think of stress in physiological terms, ingesting a known toxin just compounds whatever stress you're currently undergoing.

Especiallly if you feel guilty about drinking it.

[soccerluvof4]

I am computer illiterate it seems. I tried to enter my info to no prevail. And i hope i didn't mess up anything. Can somebody be more specific on how to enter info or enter mine?  Soccerluvof4  249/230/  8/20/2104.  Thanks in advance

I couldnt figure out how to add and typed over first column but it didnt save.....

[aj_yooper]

We did the Dr. Hyman 10 Day Detox and I lost 9.8 pounds.  Need to lose more, but the whole food idea, no caffeine, alcohol, dairy, gluten, and legumes has been an eye opener.  I feel energized.

[Thegoblinchief]

I am computer illiterate it seems. I tried to enter my info to no prevail. And i hope i didn't mess up anything. Can somebody be more specific on how to enter info or enter mine?  Soccerluvof4  249/230/  8/20/2104.  Thanks in advance

I couldnt figure out how to add and typed over first column but it didnt save.....

Added you (allllllll the way to the right) and fixed the damage to the sheet (from what I could remember)

We did the Dr. Hyman 10 Day Detox and I lost 9.8 pounds.  Need to lose more, but the whole food idea, no caffeine, alcohol, dairy, gluten, and legumes has been an eye opener.  I feel energized.

Dr Hyman... </snicker>

[abuzzyisawesome]

No wine last night, drank hot tea. 1300 calories, 95 g carbs. Two workouts, first 25 minutes, second 35 minutes. Body Bugg says I burned 2645 calories yesterday. Thanks everyone for the motivation. The post about down shifting struck a cord with me quite a bit. I took a hot bath, read a book (re-reading Outlander) and went to bed early.

[nyxst]

I am late to the party as usual :) but I'm in.  Biking more, eating less, exercise and tracking calories.... ready... go!

[birdman2003]

I've been around the 290 - 291 number for the last two weeks.  I have seemed to hit a plateau.  Dropped like crazy at first, but then it leveled off.  Some of that was due to eating fried food (Iowa State Fair!) but I also had a can of vanilla coke.  Been too sick to exercise.  Resolved to go to the doctor this week and get some antibiotics to get rid of this cough so I can work out again.  In the meantime, I've got to keep a laser focus on zero fast food and zero soda/beer/juice.

[ohyonghao]

I've been around the 290 - 291 number for the last two weeks.  I have seemed to hit a plateau.  Dropped like crazy at first, but then it leveled off.  Some of that was due to eating fried food (Iowa State Fair!) but I also had a can of vanilla coke.  Been too sick to exercise.  Resolved to go to the doctor this week and get some antibiotics to get rid of this cough so I can work out again.  In the meantime, I've got to keep a laser focus on zero fast food and zero soda/beer/juice.

I've given myself an incentive for beer by only drinking when I lose 1kg (about 2lbs).  This works out to about once a week, and only a single beer.  I feel you there with the illness and all, myself I hurt my foot hiking which basically wiped out most of my exercise routines.  Luckily biking wasn't affected by it.

Hope you start feeling better soon, don't stress too much about losing weight while sick, your body needs nutrients to heal.  Hope to see you around OpenDiet again soon too.  We've been making some more improvements to it lately.

[NinetyFour]

I tried to enter my info to no prevail. And i hope i didn't mess up anything. Can somebody be more specific on how to enter info or enter mine?  Soccerluvof4  249/230/  8/20/2104.  Thanks in advance

Wow--that is some long term goal!!

;-)

[soccerluvof4]

I tried to enter my info to no prevail. And i hope i didn't mess up anything. Can somebody be more specific on how to enter info or enter mine?  Soccerluvof4  249/230/  8/20/2104.  Thanks in advance

Wow--that is some long term goal!!

;-)

haha!! computer frustration! haha

[soccerluvof4]

Thank you for whomever put my stats in google Docs!  :-)

[ohyonghao]

I tried to enter my info to no prevail. And i hope i didn't mess up anything. Can somebody be more specific on how to enter info or enter mine?  Soccerluvof4  249/230/  8/20/2104.  Thanks in advance

Wow--that is some long term goal!!

;-)

At that rate you would have to run a daily calorie deficit of 2 calories to meet your goal :-D

[Bob W]

In!   217 August 22,  male 5'8",  Paleo like diet has been working great.  I'm going with fat loss of 15 instead of body weight.   I might gain 5 pounds of muscle in the next 4 months.  54 yrs old. 

By the way my Paleo looks like this.   No wheat, no dairy,  no beans (except when I eat those of course).   2 or 3 eggs for breakfast.   Big man salad for lunch.  (lots of spinach and veggies plus meats of choice with lots of olive oil and balsamic vinegar).  Dinner meat/fish plus as much veggie as I desire.   

Last night it was spaghetti squash with meat sauce. 

I'm feeling and looking better while ever so slightly dropping weight.  No calorie counting,  no guilt.  Easy peasy. 

[birdman2003]

I've been around the 290 - 291 number for the last two weeks.  I have seemed to hit a plateau.  Dropped like crazy at first, but then it leveled off.  Some of that was due to eating fried food (Iowa State Fair!) but I also had a can of vanilla coke.  Been too sick to exercise.  Resolved to go to the doctor this week and get some antibiotics to get rid of this cough so I can work out again.  In the meantime, I've got to keep a laser focus on zero fast food and zero soda/beer/juice.

I've given myself an incentive for beer by only drinking when I lose 1kg (about 2lbs).  This works out to about once a week, and only a single beer.  I feel you there with the illness and all, myself I hurt my foot hiking which basically wiped out most of my exercise routines.  Luckily biking wasn't affected by it.

Hope you start feeling better soon, don't stress too much about losing weight while sick, your body needs nutrients to heal.  Hope to see you around OpenDiet again soon too.  We've been making some more improvements to it lately.

OpenDiet site is looking good.  I just went in and entered my weight log. I like the graph it produces.

[FrugalZony]

Weigh in today!!
Down 15.4 pounds since I started and 3.4 since I joined the 15 pound challenge!!
Lost more than a pound this week, despite farewell lunch for a colleague yesterday.

[happy]

A good week for me - didn't do anything different and a loss of 2.6lbs. I found the graph function, thats cool!