Author Topic: Losing Weight in 2016  (Read 459558 times)

swick

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #150 on: January 20, 2016, 10:51:41 AM »
Weight down to 143.8 despite my attempts to sabotage it by binge eating Nutella (my bane) all day. I don't understand why I feel the urge to choose sweet stuff when I know I shouldn't be doing it. Any ideas? :(


Hoping I have a better day today with regard to eating. I want to eat as clean as possible. I don't follow any diet or count calories but try to reduce sugar from diet because of the spike and how ravenous it makes me feel after eating. Here's to a reduced sugar day!!

You pretty much just answered yourself. Sugar is  AS ADDICTIVE AS COCAINE some studies say more than 8 times. Here is a sound bytehttp://hereandnow.wbur.org/2015/01/07/sugar-health-research and going off sugar, many people (myself included) had pretty horrible withdrawal symptoms - a good indicator of how addictive it is.

Also, willpower is a finite resource, the more decisions you have to make the more depleted you get, the easier it is to "switch off" and reach for the sweets.

Rightflyer

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #151 on: January 20, 2016, 03:15:19 PM »

@rightflyer you're almost there! It must feel amazing to know you are so close.


Yes, it does feel good. But the best part is having loose fitting pants (although it is a pain in the arse to keep my pants from ending up around my ankles!)

In all fairness, I picked 185lbs as it seemed doable. Now that I'm close, I suppose I need to move the goalposts (180).




- I ordered a digital kitchen scale last night to start weighing my food. My DH was vehemently against my spending the $10 for something like that - I am eyeballing and estimating - and just don't feel like I am accurate. I don't intend to count calories forever - but I really need to get a clear understanding of what normal should look like. 


That's a great thing to do. I think you were absolutely right to invest in a scale...you'll save far more than that just in eating less food.

When I started measuring our food, I broke down our standard, weekday type meals by ingredient and came up with a calorie count per serving.
So now when we have a meal, I know exactly how many calories I'm consuming.
I honestly haven't felt deprived or hungry at all. I just don't feel stuffed all the time.


Geostache

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #152 on: January 21, 2016, 09:15:52 AM »
I honestly haven't felt deprived or hungry at all. I just don't feel stuffed all the time.

That's where I am as well. I have two snacks a day, plus my three meals. Although they are all about the same amount of calories, so it's more like 5 mini-meals a day. Sometimes I'm sort of hungry, and sometimes I have to really think about whether I'm hungry at all, even if it is time for a snack or a meal. Portion sizes make a huge difference!

I had a small victory yesterday. It's been fairly cold here, so I've been wearing thermal underwear underneath my jeans. In an attempt to not wake my sleeping children (whom were in my bed, but that's a different story), I got dressed in the dark. I pulled on a pair of jeans over top of my thermals, and thought "man, I know I'm wearing thermals, but these things are snug!" I buttoned them up and went downstairs, only to realize that they were one size smaller. I couldn't even button them without thermals last week! It feels good.

FiguringItOut

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #153 on: January 21, 2016, 09:34:52 AM »
- I ordered a digital kitchen scale last night to start weighing my food. My DH was vehemently against my spending the $10 for something like that - I am eyeballing and estimating - and just don't feel like I am accurate. I don't intend to count calories forever - but I really need to get a clear understanding of what normal should look like. 


Scale is the best tool you can have.  eyeballing and estimating does not work long term, even if we start conservatively we tend to increase portions over time.  Our minds tend to make our estimates bigger than we think. 

When I follow my plan diligently, kitchen scale is my best friend, along with measuring cups and spoons.  Last night I measured out exactly one tsp of sugar into my grapefruit.  If I was eyeballing it would've been a lot more.  But my grapefruit tasted just fine with just enough sweetness.

FrugalWad

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #154 on: January 21, 2016, 10:05:10 AM »
I can directly trace my weight loss to my kitchen scale. Same with the amount of money I've saved on groceries. I've saved thousands upon thousands of dollars on groceries over the last several years because of my scale. Literally the greatest investment I've made; $20 returned thousands.

I love to work out, I'd do it a couple hours every day if I never had to move to do anything else again (can anyone say delayed muscle soreness?), but that's burning a few hundred calories. Maybe on an extremely vigorous day close to 1500 calories. I can eat that again in 10 minutes. I can wolf down 1500 calories for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack or two in-between. It's amazing how fast a sandwich alone can grow to be close to 1,000 calories.

With the scale, it's so much easier to know exactly how much I'm eating, and being more mindful of how much you're eating in turn makes you more mindful of how much you should be eating, and what a proper serving size looks like. As a side effect, it's also shown how wrong most foods are in stating the amount of servings in their container. Especially canned goods.

Last week I was hovering around 197-198. That stayed constant through the weekend, but today I'm at 194! Still keeping at 2200-1800 calories a day while being pretty sedentary overall, except for daily chores and cooking.

I've discovered how much of an appetite suppressant coffee is. Apparently the Spanish learned this way back in the day while visiting with Montezuma, and even by then it was old news to the locals, but I'm happy that a cup of coffee keeps me from craving food.

I know there are apps and sites out there for tracking weight, not to mention just making your own spreadsheet and graph. I've been using Livestrong.com.


jrubin

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #155 on: January 21, 2016, 11:16:27 AM »
Hi - I'm late to the game seeing it's already the 21st of January - but I figured better late than never. I've always been a big girl, but I currently weigh about the same as when I was 9 months pregnant with my 13 year old son, and more than with my 10 year old daughter. I am wearing larger pants than ever before, and I'm slightly horrified when I realize the chunky face in the mirror or pictures is my own. About 5-6 years ago I had great success with WW and when I turned 40 (I'm not 46) it was literally like a switch was turned off and I started gaining like clock work regardless of how little I ate. What I really need to do is exercise - but I'm really not a fan of it - at all... Anyway - I find the posts here very inspiring and helpful - and I'm doing what I can to get back on track. I know that tracking what I eat and weighing food has worked in the past and I'm starting to do that again these days. I also got a fit-bit for Christmas and seeing how little I walk (about 8,000 steps per day only) and how little good sleep I get has been interesting. I'm using the app to track food as opposed to MyFitnessPal only because they're linked. From January 2015 to January 2016 I had an overall loss of ~6 pounds. I would really like to lose ~30 in 2016 - that will still keep me in an unhealthy weight range - but if by chance I lose more - all the better. I have a big problem finishing off the kids plates, polishing off the leftovers nobody else wants (hate to waste food), and making healthy choices [oh, there's a handful of cheetos left in the bag - I'll just finish them; and don't toss your pizza crust - I'll have that too - with ranch dressing on it]. It's also affecting my 10 yr old who is larger than she should be - I need to help her learn better habits than mine - so I'm invested in this!
Ok - now the hard parts - ha ha! I'm a 5'9" female (slowly shrinking in height). Weight on 1/3/16 = 208.3, weight today on 1/21/16 = 206.8 - it's not much - but it's something, and in the downward direction! Thanks for the add - I'm going to aim for the recommended 10,000 steps per day, and make better choices - hoping this will keep me accountable!

elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #156 on: January 21, 2016, 12:44:07 PM »
Still going well. I'm even feeling stronger and my flexibility has improved. I'm very very very slowly increasing the intensity of my Youtube workout videos. Still sticking to low impact for now. The easy wins strategy has been working for me so far and I don't want to get impatient, push too hard, then get frustrated.

@FrugalWad I do think the scale will help - I'm getting a little frustrated in my attempts at calorie counting and not feeling like I can trust my numbers.

I'm already learning about better choices. Yesterday the family had frozen sweet potato fries. I thought of steaming a fresh sweet potato in the Instant Pot but then decided it would take too long. Instead, I carefully counted out a portion of fries and ate it with some portioned out mayo. It fit within my calorie counts - but by night, I went to bed hungry. If I had the same calories worth of plain sweet potatoes (which I love), I would not have been hungry later. I am not beating myself up about my choice - but I am acknowledging how it affects me.

This Saturday, I am hosting some folks over for dinner and I know I am going to eat a lot more than usual. I got a bit stressed about it - then I decided to figure out the calories of each dish (I'm cooking) and pre-log it. It turns out I'll end up with about 800-900 calories (i'm short - so my goal is only 1200 calories a day). So this week, I have been eating about a 100 calories or so less each day and on Saturday, I planned a very low cal breakfast and lunch (plain chickpeas and hard-boiled eggs). I am feeling so much better about Saturday :)

@jrubin Looks like food tracking really worked for you in the past and I bet it would work again. It's all those darned little things we don't pay attention to that should be "once in a while" but ends up being a daily thing. I've done so much of the "don't waste it - just pop it into my bottomless pit". I'm learning to pop it into the freezer instead :) Amazingly, we baked mini cheesecakes last Saturday and I had one on Sunday. I did have a few nibbles a couple of days later when DD was testing out toppings - but I managed to control myself and honestly just nibbled instead of taking a bite like I would normally do. And I left the pizza crusts alone - although I did have to tell DH to move it when it sat too temptingly in front of me!

I would say the fitbit app works just the same as myFitnessPal. I just set up a fitbit account solely so I could set up an account with trendweight.com - it smoothes out the ups and downs of your daily weight. Apparently it is more "accurate" over time - and I love to see the downward trend.

Jan 11 - 153.2lbs
Jan 21 - 148lbs (5.2lbs! YAY!)
Since these are early days, I'm sure a lot is just water weight although I am a touch concerned about losing too fast. Will be paying close attention over the next few weeks.

FrugalWad

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #157 on: January 21, 2016, 01:33:42 PM »
I'm already learning about better choices. Yesterday the family had frozen sweet potato fries. I thought of steaming a fresh sweet potato in the Instant Pot but then decided it would take too long. Instead, I carefully counted out a portion of fries and ate it with some portioned out mayo. It fit within my calorie counts - but by night, I went to bed hungry. If I had the same calories worth of plain sweet potatoes (which I love), I would not have been hungry later. I am not beating myself up about my choice - but I am acknowledging how it affects me.

I find this happening a lot. It's natural, but it can really suck. You're eating less than your body is used to, so it's like OMG feed me now! I've tried drinking a big glass of water before bed. That hasn't helped much. I've tried a few things, and I've found it just helps to eat a filling piece of fruit. A banana is awesome before bed when the stomach turns all masochist on me. 100 calories is a great light snack, and it's hefty, so it's filling. I've also made these 100 calorie black bean brownies that are filling (I just skip the avocado icing):

Black bean brownies and avocado frosting

swick

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #158 on: January 21, 2016, 01:51:30 PM »
I came across a prevention magazine article way, way back that really shaped how I view equivalent calories. There is a book called "Picture perfect weight loss" it shows up from time to time in thrift stores http://amzn.to/1ZF3Ydm

Basically, it visually demonstrates two comparable calorie value meals and how much more (often it is staggering) you can eat if the foods overall are lower calorie. SO say you could have a fat free, sugar free muffin for 720 calories OR you could have 1 pineapple, 1/2 a melon, 1/2 a kiwi, 1/2 a papaya, 2 pears, some grapes and 2 ww rolls for the same 720. Of course, you might finish off one or two muffins throughout the day as snacks. You would ever be able to eat that much of the fruit and rolls at a time.

I've never been able to eat a bagel without a touch of guilt since :) The visuals really help.

elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #159 on: January 21, 2016, 09:35:04 PM »
I love the idea of the picture perfect book! Going to have to keep an eye out for it :)

Well, after feeling so good for 2 weeks, I crashed earlier this evening. I have no idea what went wrong (although I did stay up way an extra hour last night...). Anyway, I did everything right - had a filling afternoon snack (1/2 cup of plain chickpeas). But when I got home after work, I suddenly felt completely out of sorts. In the terrible mood I was in, I knew I wouldn't be able to feel satisfied with my planned dinner (a small portion of spaghetti with 3 meatballs and 1/2 an eggplant). I scrambled around trying to figure out what to do - I was STARVING. Thankfully, I saw a black bean veggie burger in the freezer and had that with a burger bun and followed it up with an entire avocado. I was glad I did as this filled me up for almost the same calories.

But I was still out of sorts. I decided to just do my XBX strength stuff and skip my cardio workout. Then I got a text. A friend found out about a local group who rented a gym to play badminton two days a week. Asked us if we wanted to check it out - tonight.

This was absolutely perfect. I love badminton - I have forgotten how much (even though I'm not good at it lol). We ended up playing for 90mins and I only took one 10 min break. I had a blast the whole time and it was fabulous cardio.

We're definitely going to chip in on this. It's $70pp for 2 nights a week from Sept - June. Best of all, it is at my DD's school - 2 blocks away :)


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Geostache

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #160 on: January 22, 2016, 06:53:07 AM »
I love the idea of the picture perfect book! Going to have to keep an eye out for it :)

Well, after feeling so good for 2 weeks, I crashed earlier this evening. I have no idea what went wrong (although I did stay up way an extra hour last night...). Anyway, I did everything right - had a filling afternoon snack (1/2 cup of plain chickpeas). But when I got home after work, I suddenly felt completely out of sorts. In the terrible mood I was in, I knew I wouldn't be able to feel satisfied with my planned dinner (a small portion of spaghetti with 3 meatballs and 1/2 an eggplant). I scrambled around trying to figure out what to do - I was STARVING. Thankfully, I saw a black bean veggie burger in the freezer and had that with a burger bun and followed it up with an entire avocado. I was glad I did as this filled me up for almost the same calories.

But I was still out of sorts. I decided to just do my XBX strength stuff and skip my cardio workout. Then I got a text. A friend found out about a local group who rented a gym to play badminton two days a week. Asked us if we wanted to check it out - tonight.

This was absolutely perfect. I love badminton - I have forgotten how much (even though I'm not good at it lol). We ended up playing for 90mins and I only took one 10 min break. I had a blast the whole time and it was fabulous cardio.

We're definitely going to chip in on this. It's $70pp for 2 nights a week from Sept - June. Best of all, it is at my DD's school - 2 blocks away :)


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Way to go! Good to hear you found a way to vent your frustrations, without turning to food to do it!

I had an ok weigh in today. 1.4 lbs lost, which I'll take given that I broke my 2-drink/week limit while visiting with a friend. My 3 week total is 10.8 pounds. I've got all sorts of yummy food lined up for this record-breaking snowstorm headed our way, and I'm looking forward to burning some calories doing some major sledding runs. Bring it on!

alleykat

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #161 on: January 22, 2016, 01:07:10 PM »
Well, all I can really say is this is going to be a bitch, but I am not giving up. It is just a goal for the year and not necessarily just for the month of January.  This is most definitely harder than I thought it would be.

I need to reduce my carbs for sure.  I just love carbs and in the winter my craving for them is worse.  So, I need to scale it back.

ZiziPB

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #162 on: January 22, 2016, 01:39:46 PM »
Well, all I can really say is this is going to be a bitch, but I am not giving up. It is just a goal for the year and not necessarily just for the month of January.  This is most definitely harder than I thought it would be.

I need to reduce my carbs for sure.  I just love carbs and in the winter my craving for them is worse.  So, I need to scale it back.

Alleykat, I feel the same way!  So far it's been a hard slog for me and not terribly successful but I'm not giving up!

And I hear you about carbs - same issue for me!!!

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #163 on: January 22, 2016, 01:56:13 PM »
*sigh* Does anyone else feel like this is the one area of their life that they just cannot get together? Don't get me wrong, I have LOTS of other things to work on, but this one - this one seems to be the hardest for me.

I was thin in high school without having to try, and once I was left to my own devices in college, I had no problem gaining the freshman fifteen. By the time ManSpice and I got married, I had managed to knock off about seven of those pounds, but then I went to law school. Lots of people report losing weight in law school, but I gained twenty pounds. Stress-eating. Oh, and no grasp of how to exercise and no appreciation for enjoying exercise, or any physical activity, really.

I didn't work out this week. I have no excuse for it, other than I couldn't get myself out of bed to do it. Eating was fine - we managed to stick to the meal plan this week, which is great. But I often find myself ravenous and having a mental duel with myself about whether I should walk to the cafeteria and buy a cookie (or five). I've also eaten some things I wish I hadn't, but I haven't gone off the deep-end calorie-wise.

So, exercise. How do you guys do it? If you dislike it, how do you make yourself do it? I have looked into whether there are any classes I could take in the early mornings before work, but there don't seem to be any nearby that don't run up against my work time and which wouldn't completely screw with our carpooling set-up. I am very open to ideas.

Weight Progress:
- 1/10: 133 pounds
- 1/18: 131.8 pounds
- 1/21: 130.8 pounds

elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #164 on: January 22, 2016, 02:15:16 PM »
I have an incredible win to report! Today, my boss treated the office to pizza for lunch. I decided to pre-log it to figure out what I could eat. I ended up eating just one slice of Hawaiian pizza (delish!), 3 cups of caesar salad and a diet coke. I figured the salad would fill me up a bit more than the pizza even though calorie-wise, it's rather a wash. I was shocked I managed to stick to my plans! What helped was to eat VERY slowly, drinking many sips along the way so I finished at the same time as everyone else.

The one thing I didn't like - after the meal, our VP started talking about how piggish she felt because she had eaten 4 slices. She started asking everyone else how many they ate (in a joking way). I stayed quiet but she asked me directly and everyone was shocked when i admitted I only ate one. They teased me a bit and then asked if I was still hungry. Actually, at that point, I felt completely satisfied and said so - pointing out that I did eat a fair bit of salad. I'm not entirely happy as I really didn't want to make a big deal about my weight loss plans until some more time has passed so I can feel confident that it's sticking and that it's not just a phase.

Is it weird? I haven't even told my closest friends yet. All have successfully lost a lot of weight and kept it off (for years). I'm kind of the last man standing. I feel awkward about it and not quite ready to admit it, even though I know they would completely support me and cheer me on. I'm going out with my two closest girlfriends next week and trying to figure out how to tell them what I'm doing. I'm feeling unaccountably shy about the whole thing. Thank goodness I have this forum as an outlet!


I had an ok weigh in today. 1.4 lbs lost, which I'll take given that I broke my 2-drink/week limit while visiting with a friend. My 3 week total is 10.8 pounds. I've got all sorts of yummy food lined up for this record-breaking snowstorm headed our way, and I'm looking forward to burning some calories doing some major sledding runs. Bring it on!

The weight is dropping fast :) Is that too fast or is it primarily water weight at this point? I do like the idea of upping the exercise to "afford" more food.

@alleykat @ziziPB I've been reading The Hacker's Diet, which is based on calories in, calories out. It makes a lot of sense (it is the book trendweight and the like are based on). I like the lifelong sustainability thinking. Plus it  is pretty Mustachian in thought - based on efficiency. I'm not crazy about some of what he suggests (frozen food and diet soda), but he does acknowledge that low-cal doesn't necessarily equate to good nutrients and that while low cal, high sodium foods work for weight loss, they are bad for your heart.

@microSpice Exercise is very good for your overall health...but it's not particularly necessary for weight loss. maybe give yourself a pass and focus on the eating for now?  I did it by choosing routines that would give me easy wins to give me a psychological boost. I am doing the antiquated Royal Cdn Air Force XBX training. Just 12 mins a day focused on strength and flexibility. It's ridiculously easy in the beginning (it gets harder so gradually, you barely notice it) and that has helped me stick to it - 10 days in a row so far (and i'm terrible about sticking to these types of things). if anyone is interested in doing it, let me know. The charts in the book are a little clunky so I modified it a bit to make the charts easier the follow so I know what level I am at and how many reps to follow. Would be happy to share the file. Even when I was in a horrible mood yesterday and wanted to skip my cardio, I insisted on doing my XBX routine. The Hacker's Diet book I raved about above also has a modified version. Best part with all this is - it's free, which pleases my Mustachian heart.

The other suggestion is to find something you really enjoy - maybe a local sports league? I remember a ladies floor hockey group in my community some years back.

firelight

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #165 on: January 22, 2016, 03:53:32 PM »
Loss today: My weight went up a pound, due to some late night snacking. :(

Win today: took the stairs three times (I always use the elevator) and climbed three floors - that's three times more than ever. Very very small win, but I'm glad I got started. Also I realized I can walk a bit with baby in hand during early mornings (instead of rocking her to sleep) and that is some exercise (atleast more than before). I also was very conscious of what I ate today, didn't calorie count but definitely reduced quantity that I would've otherwise eaten. So maybe didn't gain pounds I would've otherwise gained?

Overall I'm not sure I'm going to see the needle go down tomorrow but I'm taking efforts.

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #166 on: January 22, 2016, 04:54:42 PM »
So, exercise. How do you guys do it?

Find a way of moving that you enjoy. Rock climbing (indoor or out), hiking, bicycling, kayaking, swimming, yoga, spin class, all kinds of different martial arts, all kinds of dancing, boot camps, taking up gardening, starting a dog walking service, crossfit, stretching toffee, skateboarding, rollerskating, walking; any form of movement that you look forward to doing is good exercise. And there are so many options, you just have to find the one(s) that you actually enjoy.

Ready2Go

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #167 on: January 23, 2016, 11:41:22 AM »

1/4  - 152
1/11 - 149

1/23 - 148

Have been hesitant to get on the scale. I don't know if it's colder weather affecting me or focus on eating, but I have had massive cravings for carbs. Bread, popcorn, rice, bagels! More! 

Next few days will be tough since we are in the middle of big east coast snowstorm. Nothing to do but shovel and eat popcorn while watching movies.  I'm trying to remember winter life before Netflix.  Should not complain. We're warm, dry, and the house has the lovely yeasty smell of hot bread. Off to make some apple bread while we still have power. 



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elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #168 on: January 23, 2016, 12:29:11 PM »


1/4  - 152
1/11 - 149

1/23 - 148

Have been hesitant to get on the scale. I don't know if it's colder weather affecting me or focus on eating, but I have had massive cravings for carbs. Bread, popcorn, rice, bagels! More! 

Next few days will be tough since we are in the middle of big east coast snowstorm. Nothing to do but shovel and eat popcorn while watching movies.  I'm trying to remember winter life before Netflix.  Should not complain. We're warm, dry, and the house has the lovely yeasty smell of hot bread. Off to make some apple bread while we still have power. 



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Well, fill up on popcorn today for your calorie intake :) Also, the more you shovel, the more u can eat. I would say that for every 20-30 mins of shovelling, u can eat a 100-150 calories of popcorn with no guilt :)


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elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #169 on: January 24, 2016, 09:55:31 PM »
Very pleased to report that the weekend was a win! As I mentioned before, I had friends over on Saturday and was stressed about the big meal. My prepping strategy worked! I ate under my calorie goals for the week (banking some extra calories!). Our the day itself, I worked out - burning about 200 calories (the counters say more but I prefer to underestimate) . 1200calories + 200 exercise = 1400 calories. Then I ate a small, low calorie breakfast and lunch followed by a clementine for a mid-afternoon snack (all totalling under 400 calories). That left left with an indulgent 1000 calorie dinner with absolutely no guilt. I didn't even need the extra calories I banked all week!

I must say, I have been feeling satisfied on 1200 calories. But now that I am actually eating about half my exercise calories every day (so about 80-100 extra) and counting calories on the weekly basis - I have room for treats and social occasions and don't have to feel bad about them. This is feel much more sustainable!

ZiziPB

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #170 on: January 25, 2016, 03:59:43 AM »
I did not have a good weekend.  Combination of stress, emotional eating and PMS...  I am going to try harder this week.

Cookie78

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #171 on: January 25, 2016, 08:56:14 AM »
My week was also not so great. I kept up with the running, despite the snow, but I was so hungry and going for the carbs right away instead of trying to fend off the hunger with fruit and veggies. Also Saturday I went out for lunch for a friend's birthday. Normally I wouldn't have, since I rarely go out to eat now, but it's a special friend. Gained 1.6 pounds back from last week, but I'm hoping a bit of that is from the extra salt from restaurant food. I find after a salty meal my weight is up artificially for 1-2 days.

On the plus side, now I'm more motivated for this week. :)


Monday check in:

Jan 4 Starting weight: 160
Jan 11 weight: 156
Jan 18 weight: 155.2
Jan 25 weight: 156.8
Goal weight: 130

peppermint

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #172 on: January 25, 2016, 08:58:27 AM »
I'm back up to 143 after the weekend, too, but I also went out to eat and am hoping some of it is salt weight.
Yoga tonight, have a healthy lunch packed for work, onward and upward.

yuka

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #173 on: January 25, 2016, 09:56:42 AM »
Update post-travels

1/2: 246.8
1/9: 243.8
1/16: 243.2
1/18: 247.2!!!!!
1/23 (interpolated): 244.7
1/25: 243.2

I mentioned last time that I had to travel for school. That was going to be Monday-Saturday living at a hotel and eating in restaurants (plus with a family I know in the area.) Fortunately I re-booked my flight home for a day earlier to escape the East coast blizzard. That coincided with my roommate asking me to join him for a weekend at Tahoe, so I guess all that activity helped balance against my week.

Anyway, I went off the reservation on a two day mess from 1/16 to 1/18, and now I'm back where I was two Saturdays ago. It's not progress, but in a sense it's important to me because it's sticking to a lower weight. As always, I'd be much better off if I could give up sugar! Although I've got a habit of getting one of my favorite treats, rice pudding, for ski weekends.. At least I'm balancing it with activity.

rpr

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #174 on: January 25, 2016, 11:23:33 AM »
One issue is that your weight can easily fluctuate by a few pounds each day depending on a number of factors. One good technique to see if there are any longer term trends is to use a  3-day or 7-day "Moving Average". See the blog below.

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/health-fitness/healthy-eating/weight-fluctuation-how-much-is-normal


lbmustache

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #175 on: January 25, 2016, 12:41:33 PM »
Have been eating better and working out, it seems that some bloating has gone down at the very least. (I hope it's not me being delusional. I don't weigh myself).

Anyway!!! For those not wanting to pay for WW, my friend told me about an app called "MyScorePlus." It's $2.99. It will calculate your Points Plus based on your weight, height, etc. and set your points. Then you enter the foods or nutrition values and it will calculate how many points you're using. So far so good...

FiguringItOut

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #176 on: January 25, 2016, 02:09:56 PM »
I'm down 2 pounds since last week, I weigh on sunday mornings.  Last week was much better than the one before, but still a far cry from perfect. 

I noticed that when I am good, I'm really good.  But when I'm bad, I dive in head first; usually into a bread basket.  And that bread then requires a bunch of other stuff for a filling and less than healthy sandwich.

I'm glad I am finally recognizing this pattern.  I need to stay away from carbs as much as I can.  I am ok if I over do it on protein or fruits/veggies, but carbs are my downfall.

I wish I could just get rid of them completely, but I can't, other family members will be protesting.  Loudly.  Loud enough like only two slighted teenagers can.  So carbs are here to stay, but I will be practicing to stay away from them.

elaine amj

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Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #177 on: January 25, 2016, 09:08:02 PM »
Some really great reports!! And +1 for average weight trending. I am using TrendWeight and love it - I weigh daily but am not focused on daily numbers.

After such a great weekend and a positive day, I crashed badly this evening. I was super hungry after dinner but was already over my planned daily calories. It became this awful cycle where I was mad with myself for being hungry but then was too mad to want to exercise to get my numbers back to where I wanted. I got so frustrated I could no longer think straight or make logical decisions. DH and I were grocery shopping and I was a scattered mess. Thank goodness for grocery lists!!

I gave up and decided to eat some cottage cheese (low cal and filling). Before I did that, I decided I would do my short 12 min XBX routine. Amazingly, that completely changed my mood and I jumped into a 30 min cardio workout. I felt so great after that I didn't eat my extra snack.

So. Very. Surprised.

Will add a workout hack to my water hack!


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alleykat

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #178 on: January 26, 2016, 04:40:34 AM »
Well,  I have not been doing so good still.  I realize I need to break the habit of eating.  5 or 6 small meals a day is not working because it keeps me in the eating mode and it makes it tough. Yesterday, I have started intermittent fasting.  You eat lunch and dinner within 8 hours of each other and the rest of the time you can have water, black coffee and herbal teas.  I do have coffee in the morning with cream so I am not doing it perfectly, however, if I can skip breakfast and start eating at lunchtime, I think that will be good.  Yesterday, I did eat a good lunch and dinner.  It has only been one day so we will see but good so far.

I ate lunch around 11:30 and dinner around 5:30, however, I want to start eating dinner at 6:30 but that will take a minute since I am so use to eating early.  I am looking forward to seeing how this works out.  I like it already.  I did bring a piece of fruit with me yesterday morning just in case but I didn't need it.

I read about intermittent fasting on leangains.com, but I first came across it from The Minimalists website.
« Last Edit: January 26, 2016, 04:42:40 AM by alleykat »

elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #179 on: January 26, 2016, 09:11:05 AM »
Well,  I have not been doing so good still.  I realize I need to break the habit of eating.  5 or 6 small meals a day is not working because it keeps me in the eating mode and it makes it tough. Yesterday, I have started intermittent fasting.  You eat lunch and dinner within 8 hours of each other and the rest of the time you can have water, black coffee and herbal teas.  I do have coffee in the morning with cream so I am not doing it perfectly, however, if I can skip breakfast and start eating at lunchtime, I think that will be good.  Yesterday, I did eat a good lunch and dinner.  It has only been one day so we will see but good so far.

I ate lunch around 11:30 and dinner around 5:30, however, I want to start eating dinner at 6:30 but that will take a minute since I am so use to eating early.  I am looking forward to seeing how this works out.  I like it already.  I did bring a piece of fruit with me yesterday morning just in case but I didn't need it.

I read about intermittent fasting on leangains.com, but I first came across it from The Minimalists website.

@alleykat there are lots of different ways to lose weight and lots of things that work. I would suggest you find something that works for you (i.e. doesn't leave you feeling deprived/starving all the time) and stick with it. Just like passive investing and compound interest, it's going to take time and patience and a trust in the process you have chosen. I know some people who do intermittent fasting and it works really well for them and their lifestyles. The thing is - is this something you are going to do for the rest of your life? (some people do) If not, what then? What happens after you lose the weight and return to your normal eating habits?

For me, counting calories is something I can see myself doing for the rest of my life. I may not always count meticulously, but then again, if i need that external reinforcement, I might stick with it. It's still very early days yet for me to know - but so far, this feels right for me. And logging daily is getting easier over time. My main goal is to learn proper portion sizes.

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #180 on: January 26, 2016, 11:02:23 AM »
I don't have a weight report today, but I am feeling a little better since my last post. Feeling a *tad* less sorry for myself. Thanks to everyone who made suggestions and gave encouragement.

Since I haven't seemed to have the willpower to pull myself out of bed for early morning workouts, I decided that I will start taking walks at lunch time around the beautiful surroundings I have right outside my office (though, it is cold, and I wear business attire, but I packed a pair of flats to avoid walking in heels).

I want to do a more intense workout on Saturday and Sunday morning, and then see if I can keep the momentum going from there, even if I don't get up super early those days.

Food intake is still going pretty well - we had some fast food at the end of last week, and it actually made me ill. Turns out my body knows what it likes, and I just need to start listening to it!

I am really impressed at everyone's tenacity. This stuff is really hard in the beginning, when you're trying to change a potential lifetime of habits, but I know that it's possible (I know people who have done it!) and all of you are helping me out with that.

alleykat

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #181 on: January 26, 2016, 11:03:39 AM »
Well,  I have not been doing so good still.  I realize I need to break the habit of eating.  5 or 6 small meals a day is not working because it keeps me in the eating mode and it makes it tough. Yesterday, I have started intermittent fasting.  You eat lunch and dinner within 8 hours of each other and the rest of the time you can have water, black coffee and herbal teas.  I do have coffee in the morning with cream so I am not doing it perfectly, however, if I can skip breakfast and start eating at lunchtime, I think that will be good.  Yesterday, I did eat a good lunch and dinner.  It has only been one day so we will see but good so far.

I ate lunch around 11:30 and dinner around 5:30, however, I want to start eating dinner at 6:30 but that will take a minute since I am so use to eating early.  I am looking forward to seeing how this works out.  I like it already.  I did bring a piece of fruit with me yesterday morning just in case but I didn't need it.

I read about intermittent fasting on leangains.com, but I first came across it from The Minimalists website.

@alleykat there are lots of different ways to lose weight and lots of things that work. I would suggest you find something that works for you (i.e. doesn't leave you feeling deprived/starving all the time) and stick with it. Just like passive investing and compound interest, it's going to take time and patience and a trust in the process you have chosen. I know some people who do intermittent fasting and it works really well for them and their lifestyles. The thing is - is this something you are going to do for the rest of your life? (some people do) If not, what then? What happens after you lose the weight and return to your normal eating habits?

For me, counting calories is something I can see myself doing for the rest of my life. I may not always count meticulously, but then again, if i need that external reinforcement, I might stick with it. It's still very early days yet for me to know - but so far, this feels right for me. And logging daily is getting easier over time. My main goal is to learn proper portion sizes.

@Elaine amj, honestly, I don't know that I am particularly going to stick with anything once I lose the weight.  I am trying this intermittent fasting option so that I can break the habit of reaching for food/snacks every time I am bored, stressed, etc. I am a snacker for sure and there isn't one snack I don't like.  Once I break the habit and increase my exercise, I really should be okay.  I am not looking to be "pure" in my intentions.  Once I lose the weight,  I want to eat healthy 80% of the time and the other 20%, whatever I want (within reason).  I don't intend on tracking my food intake but just subconsciously make better choices. 

I know what they say about making it a lifestyle change and something you will keep doing and I wholeheartedly believe that.  If this intermittent fasting works for me, that is great, but it doesn't mean I am restricting myself to that specifically. I hope that made sense.

I liken it to my shopping.  Right now, I am trying to break my shopping habit. So, I am restricting what I buy for however long it takes to break the habit.  Doesn't mean I will never buy anything again, but I want to shop mindfully.

Like this morning, I couldn't hold out and had a banana around 10:30.  I think that is okay as long as I don't let it pull me back into my old habits. 


elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #182 on: January 26, 2016, 12:21:10 PM »
@Microspice I went on a 30 min lunchtime walk down our riverfront today (right outside my office door!). I've avoided it for so long because it gets so breezy by the water. Today, I pushed myself to get out there and just deal with frozen ears! It was great and I was so proud of myself. Looking forward to hearing more about your lunchtime walks.

@alleykat we're all here rooting for you!

On a personal note, someone brought in Timbits to the office today. Sure it looked good, but I have had no cravings to reach for it. Wooohooo!!!

DollarBill

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #183 on: January 26, 2016, 08:13:13 PM »
Ok, I'm back! I made some great progress by keeping myself accountable by posting each month. I lost close to 60lbs in 2015 but gained a few after going home over Christmas. My goal is to get down to 165-170 range before Apr-May, then maintain for the rest of the year. At the end of Feb I plan to take a month or two rode trip, so it will be interesting to see what happens when I'm gone. Best of luck to everyone!

Starting point for (2015): 233 lbs
Starting point for (2016): 180 lbs
Total: 0 lbs

Geostache

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #184 on: January 27, 2016, 07:20:02 AM »
I have an incredible win to report! Today, my boss treated the office to pizza for lunch. I decided to pre-log it to figure out what I could eat. I ended up eating just one slice of Hawaiian pizza (delish!), 3 cups of caesar salad and a diet coke. I figured the salad would fill me up a bit more than the pizza even though calorie-wise, it's rather a wash. I was shocked I managed to stick to my plans! What helped was to eat VERY slowly, drinking many sips along the way so I finished at the same time as everyone else.
Congrats, Elaine! That's a huge success! Planning goes a long way toward reaching goals.

The one thing I didn't like - after the meal, our VP started talking about how piggish she felt because she had eaten 4 slices. She started asking everyone else how many they ate (in a joking way). I stayed quiet but she asked me directly and everyone was shocked when i admitted I only ate one. They teased me a bit and then asked if I was still hungry. Actually, at that point, I felt completely satisfied and said so - pointing out that I did eat a fair bit of salad. I'm not entirely happy as I really didn't want to make a big deal about my weight loss plans until some more time has passed so I can feel confident that it's sticking and that it's not just a phase.

Is it weird? I haven't even told my closest friends yet. All have successfully lost a lot of weight and kept it off (for years). I'm kind of the last man standing. I feel awkward about it and not quite ready to admit it, even though I know they would completely support me and cheer me on. I'm going out with my two closest girlfriends next week and trying to figure out how to tell them what I'm doing. I'm feeling unaccountably shy about the whole thing. Thank goodness I have this forum as an outlet!

I think it's weird that your VP was asking everyone what they ate. It sounds like normalizing behavior to me. It suggests she was trying to make herself feel better by justifying what everyone else ate, too. And don't feel like you have to tell anyone about your plans. Do it on your own time, at your own pace. Having a few close people in your circle can help, though. Especially if they can be a sounding board if you find that you're being too hard on yourself.


I had an ok weigh in today. 1.4 lbs lost, which I'll take given that I broke my 2-drink/week limit while visiting with a friend. My 3 week total is 10.8 pounds. I've got all sorts of yummy food lined up for this record-breaking snowstorm headed our way, and I'm looking forward to burning some calories doing some major sledding runs. Bring it on!

The weight is dropping fast :) Is that too fast or is it primarily water weight at this point? I do like the idea of upping the exercise to "afford" more food.


I think the first week was water weight. I have been following clean eating very closely* and am not surprised to see such a dramatic drop in weight. I was eating and drinking way too much for my body. The change in eating habits is reflected on the scale, I think. 

*Until Snowzilla hit, that is! I was at home from Friday afternoon until yesterday, and although I kept my portion sizes in check, and didn't have any sweets, I still had a few nights where I had a couple of drinks, and made some not-so-clean eating dishes (paella anyone?). Thank goodness for that 10 day average! It's still going down, so I'll take it.

elaine amj

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Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #185 on: January 27, 2016, 09:46:58 PM »
Had another staff lunch today - this time, fish and chips. I was surprised to find that each piece is only around 300 cals. I asked for a baked potato instead of fries (which I am not crazy about anyway). Worked it into my calorie plans and still ended up only a tiny bit above my 1200 calorie limit - taken care of when I worked out at night. Very happy I can still manage social eating.

And yes, the whole office knows now and the VP teases me good-naturedly a lot (she works hard on her diet too). It's actually working out ok since now I would be hopelessly embarrassed to quit. It's kinda cool to be "the healthy one".

The scale has gone up and down this week - been feeling bloated many days. So compared to last Wednesday, I am down only 0.2lbs. BUT - TrendWeight says I am down 1.5lbs. I like TW's numbers better and am glad it is helping me not to panic.

@Geostache The paella sounds delish! I like the 10 day average ....so much better than getting frustrated with yourself. After all, this has to be sustainable, right? Keeping your portion sizes in check is an awesome win!


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« Last Edit: January 27, 2016, 09:49:30 PM by elaine amj »

DollarBill

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #186 on: January 27, 2016, 11:09:39 PM »
Had another staff lunch today - this time, fish and chips. I was surprised to find that each piece is only around 300 cals. I asked for a baked potato instead of fries (which I am not crazy about anyway). Worked it into my calorie plans and still ended up only a tiny bit above my 1200 calorie limit - taken care of when I worked out at night. Very happy I can still manage social eating.

And yes, the whole office knows now and the VP teases me good-naturedly a lot (she works hard on her diet too). It's actually working out ok since now I would be hopelessly embarrassed to quit. It's kinda cool to be "the healthy one".

The scale has gone up and down this week - been feeling bloated many days. So compared to last Wednesday, I am down only 0.2lbs. BUT - TrendWeight says I am down 1.5lbs. I like TW's numbers better and am glad it is helping me not to panic.

@Geostache The paella sounds delish! I like the 10 day average ....so much better than getting frustrated with yourself. After all, this has to be sustainable, right? Keeping your portion sizes in check is an awesome win!


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Be careful of this! I felt the same way in the beginning then it became self-destructive to me. I have so many Friends/Family that make comments to me that at times I lose my cool or tend to eat more in front of them.   

bloomability

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #187 on: January 28, 2016, 02:35:16 PM »
Had another staff lunch today - this time, fish and chips. I was surprised to find that each piece is only around 300 cals. I asked for a baked potato instead of fries (which I am not crazy about anyway). Worked it into my calorie plans and still ended up only a tiny bit above my 1200 calorie limit - taken care of when I worked out at night. Very happy I can still manage social eating.

And yes, the whole office knows now and the VP teases me good-naturedly a lot (she works hard on her diet too). It's actually working out ok since now I would be hopelessly embarrassed to quit. It's kinda cool to be "the healthy one".

The scale has gone up and down this week - been feeling bloated many days. So compared to last Wednesday, I am down only 0.2lbs. BUT - TrendWeight says I am down 1.5lbs. I like TW's numbers better and am glad it is helping me not to panic.

@Geostache The paella sounds delish! I like the 10 day average ....so much better than getting frustrated with yourself. After all, this has to be sustainable, right? Keeping your portion sizes in check is an awesome win!


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Be careful of this! I felt the same way in the beginning then it became self-destructive to me. I have so many Friends/Family that make comments to me that at times I lose my cool or tend to eat more in front of them.   

I don't understand why there is so much food judgement in public / at work. Short of 'oh, that looks good, where did you get it?' why must people comment on food? I have to explain almost everything I eat when on a diet. Argh.

MicroSpice

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #188 on: January 28, 2016, 02:51:49 PM »

[/quote]

I don't understand why there is so much food judgement in public / at work. Short of 'oh, that looks good, where did you get it?' why must people comment on food? I have to explain almost everything I eat when on a diet. Argh.
[/quote]

I feel the same way! I was eating some toast with avocado on it for breakfast last week, when MIL arrived to watch BabySpice for the day. She scrunched up her face at me and said, "What ARE you eating?!" I wanted to say, "What BUSINESS is it of yours?!", but I was able to bite my tongue and calmly explain what it was. Fortunately, my co-workers are more discrete.

bloomability

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #189 on: January 28, 2016, 03:13:02 PM »


I don't understand why there is so much food judgement in public / at work. Short of 'oh, that looks good, where did you get it?' why must people comment on food? I have to explain almost everything I eat when on a diet. Argh.
[/quote]

I feel the same way! I was eating some toast with avocado on it for breakfast last week, when MIL arrived to watch BabySpice for the day. She scrunched up her face at me and said, "What ARE you eating?!" I wanted to say, "What BUSINESS is it of yours?!", but I was able to bite my tongue and calmly explain what it was. Fortunately, my co-workers are more discrete.
[/quote]

Avocado on toast is the best. Some days I add an egg, some days I add cheese, some days I add crushed red pepper, some days I add . . . the list goes on!

Heaven forbid we eat green food at breakfast!

MicroSpice

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #190 on: January 28, 2016, 03:20:43 PM »
@bloomability - Right?! I LOVE avocado. I've been putting it on some of that Udi's Chia bread in the morning, and then just sprinkling with salt. So delicious.

MIL doesn't eat very many things that are green, so it probably freaked her out.

RonMcCord

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #191 on: January 28, 2016, 03:21:03 PM »
I've already signed up to the Strength and Fitness 2016 challenge, but weight loss is a big part of my goals so I might as well sign up here.  I'm 5'8, was 150 in high school, got up to 180 in college, bought a suit for job interviews, then after several months I was about 210-215 and I couldn't fit into it anymore.  I really didn't like the way I looked and realized I needed to make changes.  I started working out, cut out snacks and drank more water and in six months got down to 175 and can fit into the suit again (pants are a bit tight though).  I still have a slight gut and I'm still not entirely happy with myself, so I got a vivofit2, a couple fitness apps, and I'm planning to get down to 145.

Checking in.  Currently weighing in at 169.  I'm 4 pounds away from having a healthy BMI.  I'm surprised that I lost as much as I have this month though.  Attended a bachelor party eating massive Costco steaks, corn on the cob, brownies, and way too much booze.  I pretty much gave up trying to use MFP that night because I knew I already blew it around lunch time when I ate a massive portion of Indian food.  Then the wedding was catered by Olive Garden and the wedding cake, which the caterers brought way too much food and we ended up taking a lot of it home with us.  Still managed to lose a pound that week.

elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #192 on: January 28, 2016, 10:40:02 PM »
@Ron You still managed to lose a lb that week - even after all that indulgence? That is awesome! You must have stayed well within your plan during all the other times!

@DollarBill I'll watch out for how I handle the food comments at work. I sure don't want to sabotage myself!

@microspice just plain avocado on toast? I might give that a shot one day. Right now I mostly eat the avocado entirely plain all by itself. I have used it to replace mayo in egg salad/chicken salad before though and love it.



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Geostache

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #193 on: January 29, 2016, 08:51:28 AM »
Checking in. Today's weigh-in netted a 4 lb loss. That's 14.8 for the month. I managed to keep the snowzilla snacking at bay. Huzzah! I'm thisclose to reaching my first mini goal of 10% weight loss. I hope to get there in the next two weeks (another ~3.8 lbs to go).

@bloomability and @MicroSpice, I've never tried avocado on toast. I'll have to try that sometime - sounds delish!

@elaine amj: if you have any secrets to beat the bloat, I'm all ears! I'm struggling with that myself. I just started taking probiotics, so I'm hoping that is going to help out.

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #194 on: January 29, 2016, 01:09:48 PM »
Gang, I haven't made any progress.  PMS and sugar manage to derail me every time :-( 

On the suggestion from another Mustachian, swick, I am going to do Whole30 for the month of February.  I need to reset my sugar /carb cravings.

Geostache

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #195 on: January 29, 2016, 01:41:13 PM »
Gang, I haven't made any progress.  PMS and sugar manage to derail me every time :-( 

On the suggestion from another Mustachian, swick, I am going to do Whole30 for the month of February.  I need to reset my sugar /carb cravings.

Good luck! Sugar is the devil, for sure.

firelight

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #196 on: January 29, 2016, 07:20:47 PM »
Checking in... Went up to 145 mid week and down to 144 now. Net loss - 0.6 lbs.

Bought a fit bit charge to better track activity level. I realized I don't even walk 2500 steps a day (recommended is 10k/day). Using that fit bit has motivated me to walk around 4-5k now and climb stairs. My goal is to walk 10 floors daily and hit atleast 5k steps/day. Once I do that, I'm going to increase it to 8k steps/day. By end of Feb, I want to walk 10k steps/day.

So pumped!!

elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #197 on: January 29, 2016, 09:48:33 PM »
@geostache no secret to beating the bloat - I'm accepting it as part of the normal rhythms of my body. I know when I eat more sodium, I will retain more water and see that on the scale. I am working on patience as it eventually goes away on its own. I am using TrendWeight to help with the patience - focusing on the steady loss I see there vs the crazy ups and downs on my scale.

@zizipb hope Whole30 goes well for you!! We're all rooting for u.

@cutenila yay to more moving! Just remember not to overcompensate on the eating side. When I used to train hard, I always sabotaged myself by eating more - so instead of losing, I would gain :(


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1967mama

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #198 on: January 30, 2016, 12:40:28 AM »
cutenila - I got a Fitbit from my parents for Christmas and was similarly shocked at how few steps I was taking each day. I have become pretty sedentary following 2 surgeries in the past 2 years. I have been doing more and more walking each week and the results are showing in how well my clothes are fitting.

I'm doing The Whole 30  (its my 3rd one since October) and I honestly can't believe my eyes when I step on the scale at the end of it! Nothing has ever worked for me ... ever. And here I am, 40 pounds lighter than I was I was in July:-))) I lost 10 pounds on my own and then 30 pounds on Whole30, so far. I still have about 40 pounds to go before I hit my ideal weight.

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #199 on: February 01, 2016, 12:52:32 AM »
I used to weigh 260lbs 2 years ago, and my original goal was 180lbs. I now weigh 190lbs and have stopped actively losing weight because I feel comfortable in my body now. Right now my goal is to maintain a healthy body.

Some things I learned along the way:
Calorie budgets are the *only* way to lose weight. Just like making more money than you spend is the only way to save money, burning more calories than you consume is the only way to lose fat.
Don't fall for those "low-carb", "low-fat", paleo, or any other restriction diets.
Eating less is a *lot* easier than burning more. If exercise is your thing, then power to you, but it's way easier for me to not eat a hamburger than it is to run 2 miles. Saves time too.
Eat food you like - in realistic portions. Don't try to eat nothing but soybeans and rice or starve yourself. You'll go nuts and binge.
Packaged food is designed to be addictive. Try to cook your own meals. It's also cheaper. I'm terrible at this lol.
Use "filler" foods. Lettuce and most veggies will fill you up, but have virtually no calories. Same goes for unsugared liquids, so make sure to drink enough.
Only eat when you're hungry. And don't force yourself to eat breakfast if you aren't hungry in the morning.
Celebrate every 5-10lbs - but not with food (maybe a little is ok...)
Don't snack when you're bored.
Count. Every. Calorie. After a while you can accurately guess, but I know when I started I had an unrealistic perception of how much I was actually eating!

Good luck!