Author Topic: Losing Weight in 2016  (Read 459572 times)

rockstache

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1300 on: November 01, 2016, 08:06:31 AM »
First Tuesday of the month check in:

January 4: 153.0
February 1: 147.2
March 7: 140.2
April 4: 135.8
May 2: 134.8
June 7: 133.0
July 5: 132.2
August 2: 130.2
September 6: 128.8
October 4: 124.6
November 1: 124.6


Well! It looks like no movement, but most of last week I was measuring in the 123s, so I'm not too concerned about it. I have drastically slowed the weight loss down, partially due to busy-ness, and partially because I feel pretty good at this weight. So, I am trucking along, we will see how things go this month, perhaps I will be checking in at the same level next month, or maybe down a bit more. I am not being terribly strict with myself WRT anything except portion size. If I want it, I eat it, but just a small amount. I am also still tracking everything I eat, even on the high calorie days.

elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1301 on: November 01, 2016, 08:53:13 AM »
I've been off for a little while and I'm happy to see so many familiar names still sticking with this.

Confession time - this past two months have been rather bad. October has been even worse and I've been avoiding logging on to this forum even because I don't want to face myself. I haven't even been weighing myself daily because I'm scared to look at the numbers. I know I've put on about 3-4 pounds. Its crazy how quickly it happened.

I was feeling off so I gave myself permission to just eat whatever. But then it lasted more than a day. Then two days. Before I knew it, several weeks later and I'm STILL overeating. The worst part is - I can feel myself spiraling out of control again. It's become eating simply for the sake of eating. Not feeling good today? Time to go out and spend $20 on a big pile of chicken wings. Still not satisfied? Well, pick up a bag of cheetos on the way back to the office. Oh, there's an ice cream cake in the freezer? Yum! That was how the last couple of weeks have been looking *sigh*. Scarily, it looks a whole lot like last year when I piled on pounds really quickly.

I still haven't managed to get a grip on myself (after planning to eat only 2-3 little chocolates last night, I ended up chowing down 6-7 chocs). Feel like I'm floundering here and still not sure I can find my footing.

BUT...I decided enough was enough and at the very least, I was going to come on here and be honest.

PLUS (and believe me, I am really fighting against this), I am going back to logging on MyFitnessPal. I can't believe I am doing this. But, while writing this post, I wanted to look up a couple of things and after some clicking around, I ended up logging. I'm half excited, half scared. I KNOW it works for me, but also scared that I won't be able to have the motivation to stick with it.

Anyway, so what if i'm scared? Here goes!

Starting calories: 1260 cals (to lose 0.5 lbs a week - the fun of only being 5 ft tall!)
Exercise calories (been able to stick with biking 50 mins round trip to work and a 30 min lunch walk): +402 cals (woot!)

Breakfast: usual plain yogurt and granola, 244 cals
Lunch: leftover chicken fried rice, 458 cals (guesstimate)
Dinner: tofu spaghetti and 0.75 cups of homemade beef ragu, 205 cals
Gala event: champagne, 125 cals & hors d'eourves, 630 cals available :) :)

Hmmm...today may not be so bad after all. I was REALLY worried as I do want to have fun tonight. And I'm shocked that I am earning that many cals via exercise. I honestly don't consider my cycling much of a workout - but even when I say bicycling, light effort for 50 mins, MFP gives me 300 cals. I found MFP pretty accurate when I used it for 6 months. So I'm going with it :)

I'll report back tomorrow with how today went. I'm ending this post a little excited....

scrubbyfish

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1302 on: November 01, 2016, 09:55:01 AM »
Great going, rockstache and elaine amj!

Awesome on the maintenance, rockstache, of a "happy weight."

elaine amj, congrats on taking that big step of showing up and getting honest. That's the biggie :)

I continue to be 11 lbs down from my start, despite being inside of a three-week party.
I am bringing my scale, and my fancy, easy, loss/maintenance foods to the next location, even though my mum will mock me for them.
I am also committing to spending the $50 to continue swimming 3x week in another city.

rockstache

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1303 on: November 01, 2016, 12:44:41 PM »
Aww elaine amj, I'm sorry you've had a discouraging time. I know how that feels. It really does add up quickly for us shorties. I don't think I will ever be able to stop logging, or at least not until I have gone a year or two of getting it right. It takes a long time to learn new habits and tricks. Go easy on yourself. You can do this!

Scrubby, thanks for the encouragement. It is so uncomfortable when family is not totally supportive. Good for you for standing up to the scoffing. You will be happy with yourself, which is most important.

dragoncar

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1304 on: November 01, 2016, 12:51:37 PM »
I was doing well, but I'm kinda back to where I started now... Le sigh

elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1305 on: November 01, 2016, 10:15:48 PM »
I ended up running out of time so skipped dinner and so had extra calories for my gala event, which nice. I thought I did good. However, I just logged what I ate and am quite horrified at how the few small bites I had added up to about 1300 calories! So I am well over my MFP limit for the day. No wonder I feel so full!!

I have more pitfalls ahead tomorrow - having lunch with my son and then birthday cake at work.

Surprisingly, I still feel motivated to log. I am going to skip breakfast tomorrow and hopefully that will help.


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elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1306 on: November 01, 2016, 10:17:13 PM »
I was doing well, but I'm kinda back to where I started now... Le sigh

It's so easy to fall back into old patterns isn't it? I thought I had conquered it, but it only took a few months for me to gradually go back to my old ways. I'm trying to shake myself out of that now.

scrubbyfish

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1307 on: November 01, 2016, 10:22:30 PM »
I was doing well, but I'm kinda back to where I started now... Le sigh

Many of us will understand that experience, dragoncar :)     We're here with/for you in any way we can be!

It is so uncomfortable when family is not totally supportive. Good for you for standing up to the scoffing. You will be happy with yourself, which is most important.

Thank you, rockstache! This eve I was out, even doing movement, and imagined ahead to my mum's mocking, and felt how sad I would feel. Then your words (which I'd read much earlier) came back to me and I felt happy and strong instead, and knew I could feel that way there too :)

rpr

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1308 on: November 02, 2016, 04:56:25 AM »
It's been a while since I posted in this thread.

It's good to see others both new and old.

Latest summary.

Date      Weight (lbs)
7/26/2015           145
11/6/2015           134
1/14/2016           128
4/11/2016           128
5/29/2016           124
8/20/2016           127
9/26/2016           130
10/30/2016         131

I guess it is somewhat steady.

I've had lots of travel recently both work and family. This is the hardest. Now I'm back and promise to be more aware of what I'm doing.

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1309 on: November 02, 2016, 08:45:46 AM »
Elaine amj - was thinking about you this morning and wondering how you were doing.  Welcome back on the wagon! 
rpr - good work - trending downwards is a good thing. 
Rockstache - impressive.

Weigh in is tomorrow for me - hope the kids will get that Hallowe'en candy out of the house soon.

rockstache

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1310 on: November 02, 2016, 09:24:13 AM »

Thank you, rockstache! This eve I was out, even doing movement, and imagined ahead to my mum's mocking, and felt how sad I would feel. Then your words (which I'd read much earlier) came back to me and I felt happy and strong instead, and knew I could feel that way there too :)

I'm glad I could help a little Scrubby. I think most people who tease others for positive life changes are just sad because they feel like they can't make any changes themselves. I always feel a little sorry for them, and it helps me to carry on my way, giving them less influence over me.

elaine amj

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Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1311 on: November 02, 2016, 04:40:02 PM »
@Frugal Lizard Thanks for checking in :) I did relatively ok today, all things considered. I just about forgot to log until I read your post and thought about responding.

I skipped breakfast. Lunch out was a fancy caesar salad but I estimate I ate at least 500 cals or more. Birthday treats was a blondie, a couple of maple cookies and a 1/2 cup of ice cream so about 700 cals. *gulp* No more cals left for dinner...but I'm eating anyway - a veggie curry with some quinoa for 500+ calories.

Looks like it is a maintenance day.


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financiallypossible

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1312 on: November 03, 2016, 12:20:13 PM »
Quote
For myself, I'm  6'0" and 246.8 lb. I'm at a pretty bad place with my fitness; running more than about 2.5 miles makes my lower back quite tight, and I'm sure I'm not going any faster than about 8.5 minutes per mile. But my weight is where I want to focus. My goal is to lose 1.5 lb per week until I reach 185. Most importantly is keeping that target pace  through the middle of September, which is the time of my wedding.  That would put me at 190-195 by September; I've looked good weighing as much as 210, but that was when spending 2-2.5 hours working out daily. I've done calorie counting before, but for me it makes my whole process less fault-tolerant, so I'm more likely to derail. This time, I'll be skipping that. My calorie deficit should be 750 daily for 1.5lb/week, so a good guess for ideal intake is 1500-1600.  My consistency will be sticking to my egg breakfast sandwiches (2 eggs, 1 slice bacon, half piece cheese, english muffin) which runs about 350 calories, and shooting for 500 in each of lunch and dinner, with the remainder being a beer or glass of wine while I work in the evening. My lunches are a piece of fruit, some carrots, and one of several stews that I make in large quantities for leftovers. I always want breakfast, but lunch and dinner sometimes don't happen. Outside of breakfast I avoid anything as processed as, or more processed than, bread. My general rule is that my tea and canned goods should be the only colorful packaging I buy.
I had been doing twice-daily weigh-ins for the same goal of reducing noise in my measurements, but for the sake of the trend I appreciate that once daily achieves the same thing; that's what I'll be doing in the future.

Great job starting this thread! It's a really good initiative.

How did you end up doing in time for your wedding in September?

You've got a good approach in calculating a calorie deficit in order to determine at what rate you can lose weight. On the exercise, did you find a cardio other than running which helped you burn calories efficiently?

On the eating side, alcohol would be one of the first things I'd cut out when attempting to lose weight as it doesn't provide nutrition and it can impact your judgement on other eating decisions.

The weigh-ins need to be a consistent time of day with bodily functions (pre or post) being consistent as well. This helps ensure you're measuring the same thing.

I lost significant weight nearly 10 years ago and documented it here: http://www.financiallypossible.com/building-connections-for-bigger-changes/

scrubbyfish

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1313 on: November 03, 2016, 11:06:09 PM »
A friend made us a gorgeous cake—from scratch, with several hundred icing rosettes topping it. We all had some together, then Friend asked us to take the rest home. Friend couldn't eat more of it, as it would hurt Friend's belly.

I took it home, ate more over three days, and today threw the rest out. I couldn't think of anyone else to gift with slices because: Halloween. No one can take anymore sugar!

I felt very sad to have to throw any of it out. And I felt very proud that I managed to. The cake was amazing, the rosettes incredible, the love so awesome. And, just as Friend gets to love Friend's belly by sending the rest away, I get to love my body and brain by sending the rest-rest away. I will miss you, Beautiful Cake! Thank you, dear Friend! You're welcome, dear body!

rpr

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1314 on: November 03, 2016, 11:53:51 PM »
A friend made us a gorgeous cake—from scratch, with several hundred icing rosettes topping it. We all had some together, then Friend asked us to take the rest home. Friend couldn't eat more of it, as it would hurt Friend's belly.

I took it home, ate more over three days, and today threw the rest out. I couldn't think of anyone else to gift with slices because: Halloween. No one can take anymore sugar!

I felt very sad to have to throw any of it out. And I felt very proud that I managed to. The cake was amazing, the rosettes incredible, the love so awesome. And, just as Friend gets to love Friend's belly by sending the rest away, I get to love my body and brain by sending the rest-rest away. I will miss you, Beautiful Cake! Thank you, dear Friend! You're welcome, dear body!

scrubbyfish -- That is a great story. A lot of us grew up told that we must not waste food. The problem is that these days, we are making more food with larger portion sizes. When do we say enough? I'm so glad you did.

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1315 on: November 04, 2016, 02:15:28 PM »
I was supposed to check in here yesterday with a weekly weigh in.  I forgot to step on the scales first thing in the morning until this morning.
It said 128. 
Which means no loss again.  I know why - too dang much sugar.   Think I am just going to focus on eating it  getting the kids to eat it.

Really having a hard time getting back on track for the rest the way to my goal.  I am close enough that it doesn't seem as much as an emergency as it was in April when I started.  And I have been coming to realizations about my finances and maybe there is only so much energy in my head.

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1316 on: November 05, 2016, 03:31:28 PM »
Sporadic update.  I took responsibility for a new department at work, which ended up taking 12-hour days to acclimate to for the last week, and like 10-hour days for the two weeks leading up to that.  Not a lot of time left to focus on personal interests.

So I ate a lot of fast food during that time and the scale was slowly creeping up*.  Then a strange thing happened today.  A drop of of 3.5 pounds!  I don't believe it will last, but it was nice to see.  I hope to capitalize on this as the springboard for my next 10 pound** loss.



*The goal is to weigh daily, as that helps me understand the impact of the prior day's eating, it's been a good tool for me.  I have been stretched so thin recently that this is more like 3-4 times/week right now.

**I have lost about 10 pounds this year, if you average out the daily fluctuations.

rpr

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1317 on: November 06, 2016, 09:10:29 PM »
This past week I have been fairly aware of what I have been eating and also exercising regularly as well. The scale shows a loss of about 3 lbs from the week before (a lot of it is probably just water). Eating more healthy on average (lots of oats based recipes **). Don't feel as bloated.

I got this book "Outrageous Oatmeals" has lots of wonderful recipes especially savory ones.



elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1318 on: November 07, 2016, 09:49:42 AM »
@scrubbyfish That's awesome that you reframed the way you look at food and was able to throw out the beautiful cake. I have to admit, I still struggle a lot with wasting food. There are times I am able to just say "that's enough" and toss it/walk away and times where I just cannot let it go to waste. One thing I have done before with cakes is to freeze it. I don't mind them after they defrost and that helps me portion it out more slowly.

@Frugal lizard I hear ya - sometimes getting in the right mindset makes all the difference. Like you, I don't feel the urgency I used to feel. I think you're right about the energy levels available.

@oneday I have found the same thing - after going off the rails for a week or two, when I get back on track, I drop a lot pretty quickly. I think a lot of it is sodium. I have DEFINITELY seen the difference in my weight when I eat out vs eat at home. I mostly cook low-sodium meals at home and I know they have a heavy hand with salt in restaurants. I agree that weighing daily will keep you mindful.

@rpr yay to eating healthy AND exercising! Way to go on the 3 lb loss!!!

As for me, I've been doing OK. I successfully logged ALL last week. However, my weekend logging was all guesstimates since I have no clue. On Saturday, we had all you can eat sushi. On Sunday, I ate at a friend's place and didn't track what I ate. Overall, on average, each day I ate about 250 cals less than maintenance (sounds better than 1700 cals over my plan LOL!). I'm glad I logged every day and it is definitely helping me be more aware and make better choices. logging works for me. The trick is sticking to it.


rpr

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1319 on: November 09, 2016, 12:03:22 AM »
elaine amj -- Thanks. It is good that you are going back to logging. Even guesstimates are better than not.

For me, at the moment, I have to only take care of the food for one person (me as partner is out of town) and it is somewhat more in my control as to what I eat. But this past Sunday evening, I had a major crash. It was around 10 PM and I was feeling majorly jittery and so hungry and could not sleep. I then ate the following

-- One Bowl of cereal (hemp granola with pumpkin seeds) with milk -- 200 cal
-- 1/2 cup of Trail mix -- 200 cal
-- One Nature valley fruit and nut bar -- 140 cal

Total damage was 540 cal

I suppose all that sugar was probably not good. Not sure what exactly triggered this food binge. Maybe I'm just not getting enough food as I had done lots of exercise that morning (almost 1 hour running).  One indicator for this is that even with all of that bingeing I was only 200 cal above my allowed limit. 

For today things are back to more normal. Exercised a lot and ate healthy as well.


elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1320 on: November 09, 2016, 08:36:02 AM »
@rpr 200 calories over is not too bad at all. I think its awesome that you still manage to track the damage. You can easily make up for it by eating 200 cals less another day. Or just move on - since it was only a very little bit over.

I'm still logging and still mostly sticking to things. Some days its so easy to stay within my calories and some days its a lot harder. It depends on my food choices :) Today, we have birthday cake at work (all these staff birthdays really add up!). I worked it into my plans and should be OK though.

However...I just had breakfast an hour ago (my usual) and I AM HUNGRY AGAIN. I am already over my calories for today by a little - so I am going to do my best to tough it out for another hour until lunchtime. Normally, my usual yogurt/granola breakfast fills me up adequately so its rather annoying to feel hungry already. Oh well. bodies are strange things. And feeling hungry for an hour or two is not the end of the world.
« Last Edit: November 09, 2016, 08:38:01 AM by elaine amj »

rpr

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1321 on: November 09, 2016, 12:23:15 PM »
Today, we have birthday cake at work (all these staff birthdays really add up!). I worked it into my plans and should be OK though.

Those cakes at work are bad. We used to have those as well in the past -- one day a month we would celebrate all those who had birthdays that month. Sadly, the wonderful admin assistants who used to arrange these gatherings have retired. Now we have some newer staff who will probably take time to mesh in. The cakes are gone. Bad for office camaraderie and morale but  I suppose good for the waistline.

Quote
However...I just had breakfast an hour ago (my usual) and I AM HUNGRY AGAIN. I am already over my calories for today by a little - so I am going to do my best to tough it out for another hour until lunchtime. Normally, my usual yogurt/granola breakfast fills me up adequately so its rather annoying to feel hungry already. Oh well. bodies are strange things. And feeling hungry for an hour or two is not the end of the world.

For me that seems to happen with dinner. I feel like I eat a good sized portion at dinner but 3 hours later, if awake, I feel really hungry. The key seems to be able to go to sleep at a good time before the hunger pangs hit.

elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1322 on: November 09, 2016, 02:26:20 PM »

Those cakes at work are bad. We used to have those as well in the past -- one day a month we would celebrate all those who had birthdays that month. Sadly, the wonderful admin assistants who used to arrange these gatherings have retired. Now we have some newer staff who will probably take time to mesh in. The cakes are gone. Bad for office camaraderie and morale but  I suppose good for the waistline.


We celebrate EACH birthday - just had cake last week too! Oh well, got to make the diet fit with regular life.


For me that seems to happen with dinner. I feel like I eat a good sized portion at dinner but 3 hours later, if awake, I feel really hungry. The key seems to be able to go to sleep at a good time before the hunger pangs hit.

I think today is just a hungry day *sigh*. I JUST sat back down after eating a largish slice of strawberry shortcake. I'm still hungry and it is another hour to dinnertime at least.

Your timeline kinda makes sense since many people are typically hungry every 3 hours or so. I do find bodies run on a schedule so if you are used to eating at certain times, you'll feel hunger pangs then. I definitely find myself getting hungry if I stay up late. I used to raid the fridge almost daily at midnight. These days, I usually manage to convince myself that my bed is too comfy for me to get out. Of course, the best thing to do for my diet AND my overall health is to SLEEP EARLIER.

rpr

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1323 on: November 09, 2016, 03:05:19 PM »

I think today is just a hungry day *sigh*. I JUST sat back down after eating a largish slice of strawberry shortcake. I'm still hungry and it is another hour to dinnertime at least.


Stay strong. Rooting for you!

I am just eating lunch here. A big veggie salad with mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, black beans, walnuts and a dressing made with mustard and vegan mayo. Hopefully that should last me till the evening. Have a tangerine on hand for an afternoon snack.

elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1324 on: November 10, 2016, 08:16:29 AM »
Stay strong. Rooting for you!

I am just eating lunch here. A big veggie salad with mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, black beans, walnuts and a dressing made with mustard and vegan mayo. Hopefully that should last me till the evening. Have a tangerine on hand for an afternoon snack.

That sounds yummy AND healthy!

I somehow managed to hang in there yesterday. I stayed hungry all day unfortunately (was SUPER hungry after dinner), but somehow managed not to eat anything more although I kept digging through the fridge/cupboards. My husband even ended up passing me several different types of "healthy" crackers. But I was in a weird mood where most things were not appealing, so I didn't end up eating anything...even though it was right in front of me!

I was rewarded this morning...another small drop. If I keep going like this, I should hopefully wrap up this week with about a 1 lb loss.

I'll put it all back on next week though - I'll be in DC/NYC for a week! With my mom...who I haven't seen in nearly 2 years. So excited :) Especially since after the trip, she comes back home with me to stay with my until after the New Year. Anyway, that's why I've been trying to be so disciplined this week, want to minimize the damage.

rpr

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1325 on: November 10, 2016, 12:23:34 PM »

I somehow managed to hang in there yesterday. I stayed hungry all day unfortunately (was SUPER hungry after dinner), but somehow managed not to eat anything more although I kept digging through the fridge/cupboards. My husband even ended up passing me several different types of "healthy" crackers. But I was in a weird mood where most things were not appealing, so I didn't end up eating anything...even though it was right in front of me!

I was rewarded this morning...another small drop. If I keep going like this, I should hopefully wrap up this week with about a 1 lb loss.

Good for you that you held off. Regarding the scale, I tend to find that weight fluctuates a fair bit on a day to day basis and thus small changes of 1-2 lbs may not be true. I suppose something like a moving average or a trend weight may be more accurate.

Quote
I'll put it all back on next week though - I'll be in DC/NYC for a week! With my mom...who I haven't seen in nearly 2 years. So excited :) Especially since after the trip, she comes back home with me to stay with my until after the New Year. Anyway, that's why I've been trying to be so disciplined this week, want to minimize the damage.

Family visits can be the worst in terms of trying to stick to a plan. Keep healthy things at home when your mom visits.  Enjoy the time with your mom as much as you can. The weight and the scale will take care of itself.

Today another healthy day has been planned so far --
Lunch is Rustic Hummus on a tortilla with red and green bell peppers, sweet peppers, spinach and cucumber. Afternoon snack is another tangerine from my yard.

rpr

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1326 on: November 13, 2016, 10:48:35 AM »
Last week was fairly good in terms of what I ate. While the scale did not move much, I am happy with it staying where it is. One thing I have actually done is increase my total calorie intake by about 15-20%. While that may seem like a lot, a majority of this increase has gone more towards whole grains, vegetables and fruit.

In addition,  exercise and general physical movement have also been increased this past week. I have been walking a lot instead of taking the car. My work place is about 1 mile away and I've been walking to and from work every day last week (helped that it was a short week). Just last week alone, I ran/jogged/walked outside for a total of almost 18 miles. This does not include time on the treadmill.

Aside: I am thinking of becoming somewhat spendypants and getting a Fitbit Charge 2. Lusting a little bit for it and have watched lots of You tube videos and read lots of reviews. Most seem positive. Now I have been mostly using my iphone Health App to track steps/distance on a daily basis and the Runkeeper app for distance runs/jogs. Maybe the Fitbit App will be a better way of keeping track.   Any thoughts?

Wishing everyone a Healthy week ahead!

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1327 on: November 13, 2016, 09:07:19 PM »
Weight loss does such weird things to body perception.  This evening I tried on most of my clothes with my boyfriend to help me figure out what fits and what doesn't. I am really having trouble seeing it and according to him I am wearing everything a couple sizes too big.

It's such a strange thing.


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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1328 on: November 14, 2016, 12:12:33 AM »
Ok. Time for me to own up to a bit of a fail.

Since April(?) 6 months ago I was 75kg. I'm now up to 80kg. And it's not the good muscle type weight :(

Too many sugary snacks at work, too many sweet desserts and too many packets of chips.

Time to reverse this trend. Posting here to have sort sort of accountability.

Putting on weight sucks :(

1 week since the above and I've lost 2kg. Down to 78.

Now to lose the next 3kg

Scales on Saturday said 78.5... after I had drunk 4 litres of water in the afternoon and evening while out playing sport.

On Sunday it said 77.... so I think I'm at least holding steady from the posts above.

I've also re-started using a pedometer to track my steps. Got pretty lazy-couch-potatoish over August-October... time to get back out there again. 21,000 steps on Saturday, only 4,000 on Sunday, but today isn't over and I've already got 12,280.

Currently on a very long commute home, because one train was slow I missed my connection and have to wait another 20 minutes. Which eats into gym time :(

Also I'm suddenly very hungry.... I ate brekkie at 5am, and because of that, lunch at 9:30am. It's now just after 6pm... stomach is grumbling loudly.

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1329 on: November 14, 2016, 10:51:07 PM »


Scales on Saturday said 78.5... after I had drunk 4 litres of water in the afternoon and evening while out playing sport.

On Sunday it said 77.... so I think I'm at least holding steady from the posts above.

I've also re-started using a pedometer to track my steps. Got pretty lazy-couch-potatoish over August-October... time to get back out there again. 21,000 steps on Saturday, only 4,000 on Sunday, but today isn't over and I've already got 12,280.


The long term trend is what's important. I can easily see daily variations in my weight of 3-4 pounds. Depends on when and what you ate and drank, pooped and peed. A fair bit is also water weight. 

So far been using my iphone to track steps. Not sure how accurate it is.

oneday

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1330 on: November 15, 2016, 03:44:19 PM »
Weight loss does such weird things to body perception.  This evening I tried on most of my clothes with my boyfriend to help me figure out what fits and what doesn't. I am really having trouble seeing it and according to him I am wearing everything a couple sizes too big.

It's such a strange thing.

You are so right.  As I gained weight, I did not update my perception and for many years would wear things that were too tight around the middle.  One day I caught sight of my reflection unexpectedly in a shop window & it finally hit me!  I wonder if I will have the same struggle on the down side.  I have not lost enough weight to change size in clothing yet.

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1331 on: November 18, 2016, 06:59:33 PM »
I didn't even bother to get on the scale yesterday for weigh in - I know that it isn't pretty.  But I am going to keep hanging out here because I don't want to find myself back where I started in April.  I am still in a much better place even if I am only holding steady at around 127 pounds. 
This whole month I have felt super stressed and was trying to figure out why. I have been really pushing myself with work on my finances. I have also had such a nasty virus that I think it was the flu and I am working on some hard projects. I think I can only do improvements in one area at a time.  So I am going to continue to cut myself some slack, get through the shorter dreary days, Christmas holiday minefield of my relatives and my own expectations and hopefully not turn back into flabby person. 

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1332 on: November 21, 2016, 05:45:37 AM »
Hi all. It's almost the most magical day of the year, Turkey Day!! Anyone have any strategies for managing? I will go for a run that morning but really want to enjoy the day. I don't like pie so maybe I will skip that.

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1333 on: November 24, 2016, 04:10:12 PM »
Hi folks, long time no see.

No significant weight loss to report, but i feel much better these days after finally figuring out what i can eat without pain and bloating. So my diet is officially clean of the upsetting stuff. Still need to work on the portion sizes and reducing the carbs. I blame the carbs for recent weight gain, but at least they don't cause me pain. Sigh. Food is a minefield.

In other news, i had a full medical checkup, and the gp says there is nothing wrong me. As i can't blame anything else for this excess weight, i hired a personal trainer to help me with the exercise bit as i was afraid to do it without supervision after my back injury. She is great and well worth the money. I do circuit training with her once a week and she designed a workout plan i can do at home. Plus i swim 2x a week at work. I can't walk as much as i want in this heat and humidity, so i need to increase the time spent in the gym.

Hope everybody navigates the eating season successfully!



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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1334 on: December 05, 2016, 12:45:50 PM »
Update. In January I signed up on a website that lets you make weight loss bets. One of them let you do custom bets against the house and I received my check from them today. Little over a thousand dollars. Easy money given that the outcome is entirely within your control. I had to lose the weight because I couldn't afford not to, made it pretty easy to stay on task.

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1335 on: December 05, 2016, 01:53:26 PM »
Welcome everyone and welcome back. I popped out for a bit too, but I'm back on track and will be checking in with my last 2016 weigh in tomorrow. Ok, I will be weighing tomorrow but probably won't post it tomorrow. How are you all doing? Are you gearing up for a new surge for 2017?

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1336 on: December 05, 2016, 08:56:27 PM »
2016 weight loss was a success for me. I'm 5'4" I fluctuated around 163-167 in December 2015 and wore a size 14 in Eddie Bauer and Gap jeans. This December I fluctuate between 135 - 138 and wear size 6 at Eddie & Gap. I've been steady for about 6 weeks.  I am now considered a healthy weight and proportion.

I scared myself a few weeks ago, discovered that I accidentally was eating dangerously few calories. I've been trying to reassess and figure out where to go from here. I think I would like to hit 125 by May (which is still in a healthy range for me), but I'll be taking things very slowly in order to stay healthy.
 
I've built good food habits and shifted my lifestyle to include more exercise.

It feels good.

Edited to add:

I didn't post here often but definitely benefited from regularly reading about everyone's ups and downs. It really helped me keep things in perspective. Thanks.
« Last Edit: December 05, 2016, 09:14:01 PM by PMG »

brooklynmoney

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1337 on: December 05, 2016, 09:05:28 PM »
Congrats to everyone who had success or even started the journey this year. I am happy I ate and drank a lot on Thanksgiving but survived with no weight gain. Going to be mindful in days when there are no holiday parties which is most days and then enjoy myself on the special occasions.

elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1338 on: December 06, 2016, 09:24:45 AM »
This is the final month of the year! I love all the awesome success stories that have been reported. At the end of the year, it will be awesome if everyone posts a recap on their year, what worked, what didn't work...and their plans for an amazing 2017 ahead!

I have been MIA for the past few weeks and have gained a few pounds :( That said, I am resolving to be kind to myself and celebrate that in 2016, I managed to lose 20 lbs - a big victory for me considering that my weight has been creeping upwards consistently since I started having my kids . Considering my DD is 15 and my DS is 14, I simply cannot hang on to the baby weight excuse anymore!!

I have let myself go over the last few weeks - a lot of stress eating with things being super busy at work and at home. I got scared when I stepped on the scale and saw 137 lbs last week (so mad since I did attain my goal weight of 130 lbs) and was finally able to stop myself. I'm seeing about 135 lbs or so on the scale this week. Going to try to maintain this through Christmas and go back on serious weight loss mode in January.

You know what's scary? A few months ago, I said there was NO WAY I would return to my old habits and let that weight get back on. Well, the last few weeks, I easily slipped back into my old ways. One day of binge eating is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. But it quickly became binges every day. I just ate, ate and ATE some more. When stressed, I would go hunt for my favourite chicken wings and binge eat 20+ large wings in a meal. For a few nights, it was chocolate and I raided my house for chocolate bars, wolfing 1-2 bars a day for 3-4 days (until every chocolate stash was emptied). Even worse, I started eating in secret again. On the way home from work/errands, I'd stop at a drug store and pick up a chocolate bar and finish the entire thing in my car....all while my husband was texting me worried because I was so late.

This is not the me I want to be. Treats (even chocolate and chicken wings!) are fine in moderation - but of course, the last few weeks did NOT involve moderation and any form of control *sigh*.

Anyway, onwards and upwards! Today is a new day. I had a simple spinach omelette this morning, frozen spinach cakes for a quick lunch, and a reasonable beef & broccoli dinner planned for tonight. I also packed some delicious cherries for an afternoon treat and plan to resume my lunchtime walk today :)

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1339 on: December 06, 2016, 03:18:20 PM »
Congrats PMG!! That is so great! You have a good perspective on the slow loss. I hope you will come along for 2017 too!

Elaine...ugh. I've had some weeks like that too. They have sometimes set me back a little and sometimes set me back a lot but that part doesn't really matter.
Mentally we (both? All?) have to learn to deal with the underlying issues. I'm sure that's different for everyone but it can be so hard to think you have it figured out and then hit a wall and fly into an emotional eating tailspin. I don't have a lot of advice but I'm with you. You've done an amazing job this year and inspired me along the way and probably lots of others too. Sending you thoughts of love and grace for yourself tonight.

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1340 on: December 06, 2016, 03:23:28 PM »

First Tuesday of the month check in:

January 4: 153.0
February 1: 147.2
March 7: 140.2
April 4: 135.8
May 2: 134.8
June 7: 133.0
July 5: 132.2
August 2: 130.2
September 6: 128.8
October 4: 124.6
November 1: 124.6
December 6: 123.4

Doing ok. My goal for 12/31 is to check in at or under 123.0 to cap off 2016 with a 30 lb loss. That will likely be the only good thing about 2016.

elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1341 on: December 09, 2016, 10:31:08 AM »
Doing ok. My goal for 12/31 is to check in at or under 123.0 to cap off 2016 with a 30 lb loss. That will likely be the only good thing about 2016.

I'm so so incredibly impressed with the work you've done this past year. your numbers look great!

That said, I'm so very sorry that 2016 hasn't bee a good year for you ((hugs))

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1342 on: December 11, 2016, 02:58:53 PM »
This is the final month of the year! I love all the awesome success stories that have been reported. At the end of the year, it will be awesome if everyone posts a recap on their year, what worked, what didn't work...and their plans for an amazing 2017...

This is not the me I want to be. Treats (even chocolate and chicken wings!) are fine in moderation - but of course, the last few weeks did NOT involve moderation and any form of control *sigh*.

Anyway, onwards and upwards! Today is a new day. I had a simple spinach omelette this morning, frozen spinach cakes for a quick lunch, and a reasonable beef & broccoli dinner planned for tonight. I also packed some delicious cherries for an afternoon treat and plan to resume my lunchtime walk today :)

Elaine Amj, I totally feel you on the binge eating. Around September last year, I got to my ideal weight of around 105lbs and maintained it for a while, but... in recent months, my weight has been gradually creeping up. When I get stressed, I binge eat uncontrollably. The other night I had several See's
chocolates and a large box of cashew brittle, and ate it all. The worse part of it was, I knew I was doing something doubly wrong- spending $$ on empty, fattening calories, and eating it without restraint. Not MMM at all. And I've been doing it more and more.

But as you said, onwards and upwards!  I've got a bunch of healthy, yummy food options in the pantry that I need to work on eating. And to stay far, far away from the sweets and unhealthy junk I've been consuming.

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1343 on: December 12, 2016, 11:20:18 AM »
I've found this thread late, but was directed from another thread.  I shared my story there and figured I'd share it here.

I've been working with a nutritionist for the past few months and it has been very eye opening to the amount effort it is going to take for me to get my weight down in a manageable way.  I've lost weight various ways in the past and can lose it fast (once I lost 30lbs in a month), but it never stayed off.  It was interesting to learn that I was actually under eating for the amount of work that I do accompanied by some binging, so ultimately I was gaining weight even though I thought I ate relatively healthy with "some" cheat meals.

The first month with the nutritionist, he had me eat alot, more than I feel like I've ever eaten, around 4,000 calories a day.  Granted these were good foods.  Lots of Chicken, eggs, bacon, avacados, spinach, greens, yogurt, etc etc.  He called this the reset, to get my body back to functioning in a normal manner.  I remembered reading an article about sugar addiction.  The author had a comment along the lines of "see if you have sugar cravings after eating 4,000 calories worth of healthy food"  That hit home because I had no cravings for anything, I didn't even want to eat the food I was supposed to because it felt like so much, but I did.

The best thing I got out of the reset is how I felt.  I felt great.  My workouts were great.  I noticed a huge reduction in muscle soreness and recovered faster.  Overall energy levels are way up too.

Now I'm tapering down from that amount of food, so I'm eating less and it doesn't feel like such a chore.  Right now my goal is losing 5-10lbs a month.  The nice thing about working with someone is they tell me what to eat, how much, and when.  Which is really what I need. 

elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1344 on: December 12, 2016, 02:15:27 PM »
@Crocmaster Glad to have you here!! This group has helped me so much in the past year :)

Weekend musings....I have eaten a fair bit. On the other hand, they were all conscious decisions to enjoy the treat, not the uncontrolled awful guilt-inducing binges I had before. To accommodate that, I was very careful about my regular meals and stuck within what I wanted to eat.

This was yesterday's breakdown (keep in mind my maintenance as a 5ft woman is about 1700 cals/day:
Breakfast: slept in, so skipped
Lunch: a 2 egg mushroom and onion omelette (abt 200 cals) and a 200-300 slice of Pannetone bread (a Christmas indulgence - YUM!)
Dinner: super indulgent turkey dinner with all the fixings at a friend's place that ended with a delicious cheesecake. (maybe 1200-1500 cals??)

I was very full at the end of the day, but felt good that all of my choices were deliberate. My rough guess is that I ate at about maintenance, even with the indulgent dinner.

This morning...I actually dropped a wee bit of weight (not entirely sure why lol!). On the good side, it means that I was able to balance my indulgences. Which is a victory in my book!

oneday

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1345 on: December 13, 2016, 11:19:27 AM »
Sporadic update...the scale was slowly creeping up..Then a strange thing happened today.  A drop of of 3.5 pounds!  I don't believe it will last, but it was nice to see.
**I have lost about 10 pounds this year, if you average out the daily fluctuations.

Well it's been over a month. I'm still working crazy long hours, but have been able to maintain my 10-pound loss, so while I'm not exactly HAPPY about the plateau, I'll take it, since the alternative would realistically be a gain.

Had vacation for one week last month and was able to convince everyone to get off their duffs for at least an hour a day.  I wanted to get more running done, but ended up doing massive walking instead.  It was what the group wanted, so at least I had a lot of support!  And it seemed easier not to overeat for some reason.  Less stress maybe?  If that's the case, then the next month will be difficult.

Happy/sad to see so many familiar posters here.  Happy in the sense that you/we are still fighting the good fight, but sad that we are still in that fight.

elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1346 on: December 13, 2016, 11:49:14 AM »
Good news about sticking to maintenance!

I figure I do my best to stay on maintenance through Christmas and get back to work in January. Would be REALLY nice to drop the 5 lbs required to get me back to my original goal weight....and then maybe another 10 lbs past that. I hope I can mentally gear myself up to drop 15 lbs to get to my ideal weight.

oneday

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1347 on: December 13, 2016, 12:27:53 PM »
We celebrate EACH birthday - just had cake last week too! Oh well, got to make the diet fit with regular life.

Can you decline the cake *sometimes*?  Like, if you just had some last week?  You might start a trend at your office!

elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1348 on: December 13, 2016, 02:44:05 PM »
We celebrate EACH birthday - just had cake last week too! Oh well, got to make the diet fit with regular life.

Can you decline the cake *sometimes*?  Like, if you just had some last week?  You might start a trend at your office!

My problem is that I really, really like cake :) So it's hard for me to turn it down. I do sometimes manage to summon up the willpower to ask for a small slice instead. Otherwise, I just make it work. If I'm following my plan otherwise, I don't typically find it a big deal. It's when I have too many treats all in a single week.

Hoping to maintain through Christmas although I'll give myself a pass during Christmas week itself. My mom is visiting right now (first time in 12 years!) and she's a baker (by passion - it is her hobby business in retirement)...so we're cramming in as many delicious baked treats as we can in the next 4 weeks! On the good side, in the interests of health, she switched her specialty from sinfully rich chocolate cakes to spectacular looking 3D jelly cakes. Jelly is SO much kinder to the waistline :)

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1349 on: December 13, 2016, 05:02:58 PM »
Ah, I love cake too.  So it was just an idea that occurred to me in the moment and I thought I would toss it out there. 

Have fun with your mom!  It's great that she's revised her style to be kinder to the waistline!