Author Topic: Losing Weight in 2018  (Read 245608 times)

Candace

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #550 on: February 19, 2018, 11:25:24 AM »
(snip)
The more I think about it, I think it has a lot to do with sleep and cold weather. Like, I have today off for President's Day. I haven't had to freeze my rear off on the walk to the train, and I slept until around 9:30. It's nearly noon, I've only had coffee, and I am not ravenous. I'm a little hungry but not starving and weak. The same thing happened yesterday - I got up around 10, went to a protest so I made myself eat some breakfast to avoid crashing mid-march, but honestly wasn't that hungry. If this were a workday, my stomach would be growling loudly at 8 a.m. as I haul myself to the train, and I'd be shaky. I get 7-8 hours' sleep a night but early mornings are tough on me. My body does not want to be up at 7 a.m., but that's what my job requires, so I guess it is what it is.
Very interesting that when you're able to sleep in, you feel less hungry in the morning. Also interesting about the cold weather. I know being outside in the cold takes a lot of energy out of me and lowers my resistance to things I shouldn't do, like eat for comfort. Sounds like you are zeroing in on some things that could help you. Do you have an extra layer you can wear in the morning? Keeping my core warm and having a hat and gloves really helps me when I'm outside in the cold. About sleep, I'm FIRE'd, so theoretically I can get all the sleep I want. But we get up at 7 to work out anyway. We go to bed 8 hours before we get up, but I get up to pee 3x/night which makes me feel like I haven't gotten the sleep the clock says I have. I can't remember the last time I slept all the way through the night, but it has to have been months ago.

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alsoknownasDean

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #551 on: February 20, 2018, 03:21:50 AM »
Starting weight: 120.7kg
Last week's weight: 117.5kg
Current weight: 116.6kg

I'm cheating slightly, as I have only had a sandwich for dinner and went to cricket training earlier on this evening (had plenty of water afterwards). Last night (after a big dinner but mostly meat and veg) I was 117.7.

Slow and steady does it :)

I'm having far less carbs with my meals, and surprisingly I rarely feel hungry, even on (usually) two (big) meals a day.
« Last Edit: February 20, 2018, 03:25:10 AM by alsoknownasDean »

asiljoy

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #552 on: February 20, 2018, 06:29:04 AM »
Starting weight: 120.7kg
Last week's weight: 117.5kg
Current weight: 116.6kg

I'm cheating slightly, as I have only had a sandwich for dinner and went to cricket training earlier on this evening (had plenty of water afterwards). Last night (after a big dinner but mostly meat and veg) I was 117.7.

Slow and steady does it :)

I'm having far less carbs with my meals, and surprisingly I rarely feel hungry, even on (usually) two (big) meals a day.

Are you swapping with more protein or just leaving off those calories entirely?

brute

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #553 on: February 20, 2018, 07:40:07 AM »
Doing a little better this year than last year in terms of pace. I lost 40, kept 30 pounds off in 2017. Here's to 30 more.

Date           Weight
1/9/2018   311.4
1/15/2018   310.2
1/23           315.4
2/12           308
2/20           300

My squat is back up to 475, and deadlift closing in on 600. I'd like to see 500/350/600 on squat/bench/deadlift at a bodyweight of 275 this year.

Tris Prior

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #554 on: February 20, 2018, 08:47:03 AM »
Very interesting that when you're able to sleep in, you feel less hungry in the morning. Also interesting about the cold weather. I know being outside in the cold takes a lot of energy out of me and lowers my resistance to things I shouldn't do, like eat for comfort. Sounds like you are zeroing in on some things that could help you. Do you have an extra layer you can wear in the morning? Keeping my core warm and having a hat and gloves really helps me when I'm outside in the cold.

Hahaha, you know the kid in A Christmas Story who can't put his arms down because he's so bundled up? That is me. I wear a RIDICULOUS amount of layers on layers on layers, topped off by a huge puffy coat, hat, scarf, gloves, handwarmers heated up in the microwave and shoved into my pockets. STILL cold all the time.

Today's going to be a rough day; rain was POUNDING on our bedroom window all night so I got barely any sleep at all. I am going to have to work really hard at not using food to keep from faceplanting on my keyboard at work. I can only drink so much coffee before the constant runs to the loo start ruining my productivity.

Candace

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #555 on: February 20, 2018, 09:38:43 AM »
Very interesting that when you're able to sleep in, you feel less hungry in the morning. Also interesting about the cold weather. I know being outside in the cold takes a lot of energy out of me and lowers my resistance to things I shouldn't do, like eat for comfort. Sounds like you are zeroing in on some things that could help you. Do you have an extra layer you can wear in the morning? Keeping my core warm and having a hat and gloves really helps me when I'm outside in the cold.

Hahaha, you know the kid in A Christmas Story who can't put his arms down because he's so bundled up? That is me. I wear a RIDICULOUS amount of layers on layers on layers, topped off by a huge puffy coat, hat, scarf, gloves, handwarmers heated up in the microwave and shoved into my pockets. STILL cold all the time.

Today's going to be a rough day; rain was POUNDING on our bedroom window all night so I got barely any sleep at all. I am going to have to work really hard at not using food to keep from faceplanting on my keyboard at work. I can only drink so much coffee before the constant runs to the loo start ruining my productivity.

Good luck, Tris! I hate those nights of little sleep. They make it tough to make good food choices -- as well as generally making me feel craptastic. You have my sympathy.

I'm still holding steady at 148. I plan to go for a jog this afternoon, which will sometimes result in a downward move on the scale. I hope so, because I have to be at or below 148 on Friday for my bet (three days) and I'm planning on eating pho with a friend tomorrow. I always get an appetizer-sized bowl, which is a reasonable portion, but it's salty. That sometimes makes me hold water. If necessary I'll go jogging again on Thursday. Meanwhile, DH wanted to go out for beer last night and my reaction was negative because of the diet and the bet. I'm going to have to learn to say yes, and then just drink a few sips of his beer when we go out. No being a killjoy allowed.

Yesterday I did something different-- made protein balls made of peanut butter, protein powder, rolled oats, chia seeds, cinnamon, honey and milk. They're pretty darn good, and I will substitute them as snacks for things that don't fill me up as well. I'll have to make sure not to eat too many calories. Replacing an apple with a couple of these should be a good switch. I'll also have to make sure my husband doesn't eat them all before I get some! Next time I make them I'll cut down on the honey, because they're more than sweet enough and I'm trying to cut out most added sugar. I also don't want them to be that much of a temptation.

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #556 on: February 20, 2018, 02:39:47 PM »
Week 1 loss 0.8kg. (1lb 12 oz)

alsoknownasDean

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #557 on: February 20, 2018, 07:19:25 PM »


Starting weight: 120.7kg
Last week's weight: 117.5kg
Current weight: 116.6kg

I'm cheating slightly, as I have only had a sandwich for dinner and went to cricket training earlier on this evening (had plenty of water afterwards). Last night (after a big dinner but mostly meat and veg) I was 117.7.

Slow and steady does it :)

I'm having far less carbs with my meals, and surprisingly I rarely feel hungry, even on (usually) two (big) meals a day.

Are you swapping with more protein or just leaving off those calories entirely?

Well generally I'm trying to add more vegetables in place of the rice/bread/noodles/chips. I tend to have plenty of protein anyway. Replacing x grams of chips with x (or even 1.5x) grams of vegetables is going to result in a dramatically lower calorie intake :)

Had a blood test a couple of weeks ago and everything was good, so I mustn't be doing too badly.

I might try and see if I can get away with smaller dinners. I had a sandwich for dinner last night and managed fine with a coffee and a banana for breakfast until lunch today.

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firelight

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #558 on: February 20, 2018, 08:41:16 PM »
I'd love to join too. I have baby fat to get rid of now that baby is five months old. I'm down 32 pounds from my highest of this year but that includes an 8 lb baby too, haha. I still need to lose 18 lbs for pre pregnancy weight and another 12 for my marriage wedding and another 14 for my ideal weight. I joined in 2017 and found we got pregnant. Hope to finish 2018 at my ideal weight. First goal is to get to pre pregnancy weight by end of March. Second goal is to hit wedding weight by June and to hit lowest weight by end of year (the hardest stretch which I hope to attack with established habits). Let's bring it on!


Like the idea of goals - here are our goals for Jan:
1) 5000 steps per day
2) 6 stairs per day
3) one meal of veggies and fruits only per day
Updating after two days:

I've lost two pounds - I'm sure it's more water weight than actual one but I'll take it :) I've cut out all carbs except for a tiny portion. Surprisingly it's not been that hard to switch. I've also noticed that I eat more sweets now (and ate some ice cream and sweets for new year). I usually hate sweets but developed a liking for them during my second pregnancy and am still holding on to it six months later. Time to kick the habit back to curb. My routine is crazy and I don't have much leeway into building in exercises. The only exercise I get is carrying a 17 lb baby. Has anyone lost weight only with diet changes? How important is exercise in a weight loss journey?
Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll concentrate on food changes till I can add more exercise in. I especially loved the suggestion to incorporate exercise into play and surprisingly my baby is loving it! I'm now trying to find more ways to add in fun exercise into daily routine.

My weight is down 3 lbs (mostly water weight because low carbs). I don't track my food but try to eat healthy (less carbs, more veggies and fruits) but looking at some of your meals, I think I just eat a lot. I've gotten used to eating more when pregnant (yep, fell for the eating for two advice.... not that I needed lot of encouragement)  and my stomach expects more food. Need to slowly dial down the amount to a normal person's portions.

Does anyone forget you are trying to lose weight? I completely forgot and ate a few cookies. Later when I was checking how I did at end of day, I realized I ate those cookies :( how do I remember all the time?
I'm still losing weight daily (goes to show how much crap I was eating before) but it has slowed down. My eating is still not good enough (I eat a serving of carbs at every course (and a bit more at lunch) and I eat ice cream or sweets because it is at home). My nemesis is sweets and ice cream. I can't resist it when it is at home and I can't stop others at home buying it. To add to the problem, I forget I'm on a diet and eat them. I'm considering figuring what I should eat all day and not eat anything not on that list. Will give it a try for a few days to see if I can continue losing weight.
Still on the losing trend. I was expecting it to stop since my activity level hasn't increased much and my eating is still not perfect. I don't count calories or have a chance to weigh  food since I don't cook or shop (visiting in-laws for a few months). I'm trying to eat healthier (less carbs, more fruits vegetables and protein - egg, fish, chicken) and reduce sweets (take smaller portions, being selective in what I eat). My culture (Indian) shows love through food, especially sweets. So every visit (even when visiting parents every day) leads to more sweets and hurt egos if we don't eat the sweets. So far portion control has been the key. I can't believe how much crap I've been eating before for the weight to come off so easily now that I'm eating healthier.

This thread is so motivating and reminds me to make healthier choices with food. I find that I eat healthy when I remember and this thread is helping me remember. Thanks everyone!
Ok now the weight loss has stopped. Time to really get into cutting calories or burning them through exercise. I don't have an easy way to estimate calories or do exercise which makes it tricky. I'm planning to drink at least a glass of water before every meal and snack (and ideally before anytime food passes through my lips). I think I eat more than I think I'm eating. The first eight pounds came off easy. Now the real struggle starts. I still need to cut 12 pounds to reach my first goal (highest pre pregnancy weight) and 18 pounds to reach my second goal (my normal BMI weight). Hoping the water trick helps.

Please suggest other tricks that have helped in reducing food portions (basically tricking myself to eat less and eat healthier) or exercising more (moving more). I currently walk 7k steps a day and do 5-10 stairs.
Thanks a lot for the suggestions. I especially love the eating fruits instead of sweets and using  shape wear ideas. I've also started concentrating on adding more protein to my diet (changed macros). My weight is still at standstill but it's at least not going up any more. I had one day (DH bday) where I had some cake but otherwise I'm starting to not be super tempted by sweets. I'm liking the progress even though the scales don't show it.... yet.

I'm also experimenting with eating only upto 80% of my stomach's capacity. Due to pregnancy eating, I fear my stomach has increased in size and I now need more food to feel satiated. I need to eat less to reduce it back to normal size. Will report back soon on its effects.

Thanks for the exercise tips. I'm an absolute beginner when it comes to exercise. So I'm starting with the walking videos and hope to increase from there.

Weight - still at 8 lbs loss from New year, no gains, no loss from last time.

Any app recommendations to log weight and get trending weight for a period?

I've started eating more frequently (breakfast, 11, 1, 4, 6 and 8) but lesser portions. This has helped me keep hunger at bay while tricking my stomach into eating less at every meal (and not worry too much if I don't eat to max since I know the next meal is just two hours away). I hope this reduces my stomach size and bring it back to normal (from pregnancy size). I'm also drinking more water than before.

Exercise is still not happening yet :( got a jump rope to see if I can make myself use it.

Managed to knock out three more pounds after hitting a plateau for a week or so in between. That brings up tally to 11 pounds lost since new year. Hope this is the start of a new losing streak.
Checking in here. Still at the 11 pound loss, inching towards 12 pounds. I think I've finally found a way to figure out how much food is right for my stomach. I've been experimenting with food portions and frequent small meals with each time being less than my palm keeps me sated while not overloading my stomach. I also like the feeling I get when I don't stuff myself. Now to remember it for all the hard times (party, buffet, mom-cooked delicious dishes). A pound more to my first half goal. So close!
Welcome everyone! Especially new moms :) I'm one too and my goal is to lose pregnancy weight and get to a healthy weight now that baby is seven months and starting on solids. I still breastfeed exclusively but no longer have the pressure to be the sole food provider.

Weight still in the decline. Down 13 pounds from Jan 1 and I've reached my first goal. Now to stay here and lose more to reach my second goal of prepregnancy weight which is 6 pounds lesser. My eating has slacked a bit this week and I've been eating cakes and sweets more than I like (to celebrate my first goal). Need to get back to careful monitoring. I guess my weight loss rate would reduce a lot once I reach my prepregnancy weight since that is my usual weight range. But I want to lose another 15 pounds from there to get to my comfortable weight. I've always been lackadaisical about weight loss once I reach a healthy BMI but this time I'm going to try and lose those last 15 (those are my freshman 15 and have been around 12 years now).

I've also started doing mini exercises after trying to do dedicated half an hour to an hour of exercise and failing miserably. So far it's going good. Will report back next week if I can sustain it.
Holding steady at 13 pound decline. Not sure if it is a new plateau but I'm chalking it up to bad sleep due to baby being sick. As a result, I'm craving simple sugars to keep my energy going. That doesn't help in weight loss either. I've also taken to eating some almonds or cashewnuts when I wake in the middle of the night or as snacks which my body is not too happy about. Need to cut those extra calories and see if I can drink more water since my water drinking rate is abysmal.

The mini exercises are sticking! I have a goal to hit 5k steps before lunch and 8k by 8 pm and hopefully 10k by end of night. I do power walks to hit these goals. They won't strengthen muscles but my Fitbit shows my heartbeat rising enough to be classified as fat burn or cardio. I now need to find some strengthening exercises and work them in as mini exercises. Would love to hear if anyone does mini strength training exercises and what your experience has been.
Weight still holding at 155-156 (13-14 pound loss since Jan 1) for the past week. I think I'm at a plateau and am concentrating on more mini exercises. Sadly my food tracking and control has gone way down since I discovered cooking as a hobby (bad time to do it but I'm enjoying making new dishes for the family). Need to rein it in a bit. But I'm happy that I'm hitting my goals of 5k steps before lunch and 8k or 10k steps by nighttime. I've consistently gone over 8k that I'm considering upping it to 10k or 11k steps by nighttime. This will force me to get off my behind and actually play catch with my preschooler every evening.
Started downward trend again albeit slower this time. At 154 today.

My first goal was to hit 156 pounds (my heaviest before pregnancy), my second goal is to hit 151 (my weight before baby#2), my third goal is to hit 145 (my normal BMI), my fourth goal is to hit 138 (my lowest in the past 8 years) and my final goal is to hit 129 (the weight I feel most comfortable in). I'm happy to hit any of these weights but prefer to be around 130s and have exercises and food changes to be lifestyle changes rather than a one shot thing. To give some perspective, my highest was 199 lbs at 40 weeks pregnant.
Hit 153 after a few ups and downs (at 17 pound loss since Jan 1). So close to my goal#2 (151 pounds).

I've learned to add exercise to my schedule.
Back story: I hate exercise and just couldn't find time to do exercise every day. My toddler and baby served as convenient excuses. However, I also know I need to do it to keep myself toned. So I started running around the house every time I wanted a snack for 5-10 mins. I run in whatever clothes I'm wearing (mostly pajamas or home clothes) and since it's for such short durations, I don't put up big excuses. Also I don't have to look for childcare (my biggest excuse) since I can plop my toddler in front of an activity and my baby in crib with a toy and run (more a jog but it gets my heartbeat up at cardio levels so I'm not complaining). But my Fitbit confirms I'm getting 30 minutes of exercise which is 30 minutes over nothing.

Another awesome thing is my snack craving changes to water craving after a 5-10 minute run/jog. If it persists then I eat something.

Time to up Fitbit goals - upped exercise to 20 mins minimum and days of exercise to 3 days minimum, upped number of steps to 9k minimum per day and calories spent to 2k per day. I know it's a bit less than what I spend regularly but I want to be sure I'm hitting goals before I up them again.
Phew!!! Hit 151 finally! Finally at my prepregnancy weight, 8 months after my baby was out. I rapidly lost weight in first few weeks, then stalled for months at 170 and lost again starting this January (19 pounds). Hit a few plateaus but managed to lose again. In all, down almost 50 pounds (which included a 7 pound baby).

I think the mini exercises did the trick for me after my last plateau. I'm sure the exercise purists would balk at it but it works for me and avoids my excuse zones. Even though I would like to be one of the people that goes at a set time to the gym/home workout, my current lifestyle doesn't aid it. I'd rather do it this way than wait for the gym/home workout lifestyle to start.

Onward and upward to my next goal on list - 145 lbs which would mean I'm at the normal BMI after nearly two years. Can't wait to get there!
Was stuck at a plateau at 151 for a few days and then had one cheat day where I ate as usual but added a few sweets and BAM, back at 154. Feeling a bit down because of how easily I gained back the weight. I'm holding at 154 for the past two days. This is despite doing the mini exercises both days and being extra careful with eating.

The only silver lining is I'm going on a liquid/soft food diet for a week per doctor orders and I hope that moves the scales a bit closer to 140s.

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #559 on: February 21, 2018, 07:14:58 AM »
@Tris Prior - I am just wondering if you have had a thyroid function check up lately.  I am not a doctor but I have had one friend mention that maybe I should get my thyroid function tested when I was complaining about stuff not unlike some of your issues.  My turned out to run of the mill perimenopause symptoms.  My family doctor was totally on board with the mention of testing. 

I had a horrible eating day yesterday.  Super stressed. Today I am getting back on track.  Scales have started to creep back up with me morning weighins all over 135 for the past five days. 

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #560 on: February 21, 2018, 07:38:47 AM »
I've been sick with a cold since Sunday and have had no appetite. Monday and Tuesday I lived mostly on hot water with honey and lemon, with a very small dinner. I saw 143 on the scale this morning.

I don't recommend illness as a weight loss strategy, and I know the loss won't stick around.

This did get me thinking. The last time I was under 138 I was super busy with work and was not doing any exercise except walks. After a while I just did not have an appetite, so I must have naturally eaten fewer calories. That's not a healthy way to live, so I don't want to repeat that, but it does bring up the relationship between activity, hunger and calories consumed. Trying to balance those three elements is tricky.

Candace

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #561 on: February 21, 2018, 07:43:29 AM »
Was stuck at a plateau at 151 for a few days and then had one cheat day where I ate as usual but added a few sweets and BAM, back at 154. Feeling a bit down because of how easily I gained back the weight. I'm holding at 154 for the past two days. This is despite doing the mini exercises both days and being extra careful with eating.

The only silver lining is I'm going on a liquid/soft food diet for a week per doctor orders and I hope that moves the scales a bit closer to 140s.

Hi Firelight! I hope your special diet isn't for something serious.

A diet guru named Stephen Gullo ("The Thin Commandments Diet", "Thin Tastes Better") wrote that when you fall off the wagon, the most important thing is to pull it together for the rest of that day and the entire next day. That is supposed to prevent one splurge turning into a series of them, which often turns into giving up. I've found this "commandment" to be right on point. When I fall off the wagon, it turns on the cravings, and the next day or so is really tough. So good luck.

Frugal Lizard just posted about getting a thyroid check. Good idea. Has yours been checked? I'm on thyroid medicine for hypothyroidism. My doctor runs tests every six months. It's all a giant PITA and always costs me money, but the medicine keeps me functional. I once was off it for a week, when I ran out and didn't think it was a big deal. Now I know better. After that week, it was tough to drag myself out of bed until I started back on the medicine again. If we ever have a major event like an EMP strike, the first thing I'm doing is raiding the pharmacy. I don't know if I could live a decent life without that medicine.

In general, I'm with you. It's so easy to gain the weight, and soooo hard to peel it off. I finally lost another pound, down to about 147. That was after yesterday being a day of excellent eating choices, plus a "triple shift" of exercise: our normal 4x/week morning workout, plus a jog in the afternoon which was probably about two or two and a half miles, plus a three mile walk in the evening. Whew. It's a slog. It increases my resolve not to let things go again once I make it down to whatever my best weight turns out to be. I let myself eat holiday food, about one extra portion a day, all through December and part of January, and gained about six pounds. Right now I'm back down to where I was at Thanksgiving, but I had already let myself gain five pounds before that as compared to where I was during the summer.

So in general, it is much easier to be vigilant about not gaining in the first place than it is to try and lose, not that you didn't know that already! Another mental trick I use, whenever I feel mentally tired from thinking about food and calories so much, is to tell myself that I'm going to be focused on food whether I'm fat or thin. It's a lot nicer to be that way while I'm thin.

Please let us know how it goes with the soft food diet.

firelight

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #562 on: February 21, 2018, 10:06:46 AM »


Was stuck at a plateau at 151 for a few days and then had one cheat day where I ate as usual but added a few sweets and BAM, back at 154. Feeling a bit down because of how easily I gained back the weight. I'm holding at 154 for the past two days. This is despite doing the mini exercises both days and being extra careful with eating.

The only silver lining is I'm going on a liquid/soft food diet for a week per doctor orders and I hope that moves the scales a bit closer to 140s.

Hi Firelight! I hope your special diet isn't for something serious.

A diet guru named Stephen Gullo ("The Thin Commandments Diet", "Thin Tastes Better") wrote that when you fall off the wagon, the most important thing is to pull it together for the rest of that day and the entire next day. That is supposed to prevent one splurge turning into a series of them, which often turns into giving up. I've found this "commandment" to be right on point. When I fall off the wagon, it turns on the cravings, and the next day or so is really tough. So good luck.

Frugal Lizard just posted about getting a thyroid check. Good idea. Has yours been checked? I'm on thyroid medicine for hypothyroidism. My doctor runs tests every six months. It's all a giant PITA and always costs me money, but the medicine keeps me functional. I once was off it for a week, when I ran out and didn't think it was a big deal. Now I know better. After that week, it was tough to drag myself out of bed until I started back on the medicine again. If we ever have a major event like an EMP strike, the first thing I'm doing is raiding the pharmacy. I don't know if I could live a decent life without that medicine.

In general, I'm with you. It's so easy to gain the weight, and soooo hard to peel it off. I finally lost another pound, down to about 147. That was after yesterday being a day of excellent eating choices, plus a "triple shift" of exercise: our normal 4x/week morning workout, plus a jog in the afternoon which was probably about two or two and a half miles, plus a three mile walk in the evening. Whew. It's a slog. It increases my resolve not to let things go again once I make it down to whatever my best weight turns out to be. I let myself eat holiday food, about one extra portion a day, all through December and part of January, and gained about six pounds. Right now I'm back down to where I was at Thanksgiving, but I had already let myself gain five pounds before that as compared to where I was during the summer.

So in general, it is much easier to be vigilant about not gaining in the first place than it is to try and lose, not that you didn't know that already! Another mental trick I use, whenever I feel mentally tired from thinking about food and calories so much, is to tell myself that I'm going to be focused on food whether I'm fat or thin. It's a lot nicer to be that way while I'm thin.

Please let us know how it goes with the soft food diet.

Candace thanks for your suggestions. I love the idea of getting back on track even if I let it slip for one day.

My special diet is for a small surgery I had in my mouth which makes it necessary for me to eat liquid diet or soft food diet for some time till the incision is healed.

I like the idea of getting thyroid tested. It's been more than a year since I checked last and I can make sure things are in order there. I also have insulin resistance (thanks PCOS) so weight loss is harder.

Congrats on hitting below 147. And the amount of activity is awesome! Keep going!!

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #563 on: February 21, 2018, 10:28:29 AM »
The numbers:

11/30/17:  Starting weight
12/27/17: -8.80 lb

1/28/18: -11.6 lb

Hit burn out on tracking everything. I'll go back to it, as it helps me be mindful or portions, etc. but a break from it is OK too.  As I noted earlier - I'm trying to establish healthier habits for long-term benefits, not just a temporary diet change.

2/21/18: -11.6 lb

I am really happy to be steady since I haven't been tracking what I've been eating since I burned out on that.  I had a week where I was really hungry, so I did eat more (including snacking).  I feel like I am ready to start tracking again after having a reprieve and loosening my grip for a bit.

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #564 on: February 21, 2018, 12:31:16 PM »
I'm in as well!

I started counting calories 10th of januari, and also started exercise more at the same time.

Aming for 3 times weight lifting per week.
Walking regularly. Every lunch break and a longer walk on the weekend.
Doing daily short yoga passes and once a week a longer one ( I am also very inflexible and this will help with that).

All in all, I don't do everything I intend, but i do enough it seems (and feels).
I don't count calories anymore, I have gotten a good grasp on how much I should eat per day.
 
I have started to adapt a stoic mindset on life, and it has helped immensely this far. Especially with not overeating and getting my ass to the gym!

I started out at 120 kg and want to get down to 80 kg in the future. First goal is to get to 100 kg in August.
So far I've lost 4,3 kg and already feel a lot more energized at work and at home.

Wanttobehome

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #565 on: February 23, 2018, 04:58:06 AM »
I've started healthy eating hope to lose 14 lb
Jan 8th = 185
Jan 15th = 183     -2lb
Jan  25th = 180    -3lb
Feb.  22nd =  176.   -4lb

9lb down
5lb to go

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #566 on: February 23, 2018, 05:59:58 AM »
Curious how many in here have been overweight their whole lives and so have no real idea what their final weight will look like. I’m in that camp myself. I’m close enough at this point (6 feet, 209, very stocky body type). I can sort of guess but a lot depends on how much lean mass I end up with and my body type really skews the BMI because I’m not lanky at all.

lexde

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #567 on: February 23, 2018, 06:16:09 AM »
2/1/18: 140.2. Going for 5lbs this month.
2/7/18: 138.6 (-1.6)
2/16/18: 137.8 (-0.8 ) 2.4lbs down total.
2/23/18: 136.2 (-1.6) 4.0lbs down this month, on track to hit my 5lb goal!

Morning Glory

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #568 on: February 23, 2018, 08:14:32 AM »
I am going to try to get back on track starting today. No more going over the calorie goal or waiting to log until the next day. I love the mini-workouts idea too. I spent 15 minutes doing ab exercises and squats before leaving for work this morning. Today I weighed in at 7 lbs above goal, but my weight has been bouncing around all month with no real progress.

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #569 on: February 23, 2018, 09:38:13 AM »
I won my bet this morning, which was to be at 148 lbs or below. I'm at 147. I haven't made much progress on the scale for the past two weeks, but at least I don't have to play Katan!

The last week has been pretty tough. The thought of having to play board games if I missed my goal was very motivating. I've been really good, and not much happened until I went for a jog the other day. I don't like to do that more than once a week, but may end up going twice a week in the coming weeks and months. I've cut out almost all bread, rice, potatoes and such, and my portions are pretty small, at least I think so. I even cut down on apples, substituting a protein ball or two for a snack. The protein ball makes me feel a lot better than the apple.

We'll do another three-week bet, and I guess I'll set the goal at 146, but intend to lose two pounds (145).

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #570 on: February 23, 2018, 10:01:39 AM »
I've been a rollercoaster with weight.  Right now I'm at the top.  In 2016 I got down to around 200, but right now I'm at 243.  My goal is consistent exercise, limit fast food, bring lunch.  I just found a gym that offers the class type that I enjoy, so I'm optimistic right now.  I don't really have a goal weight, but the BMI scale says I should be about 175 at the top end.  I'm going to set my goals like this:

End of March, drop a pants size.
End of April, can run 6 miles
End of May, can run a 10k at/under an hour.
End of July, <200 lbs
End of December: <190.

As mentioned above, first weigh-in:
2/23: 243

SquashingDebt

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #571 on: February 23, 2018, 05:09:20 PM »
Curious how many in here have been overweight their whole lives and so have no real idea what their final weight will look like. I’m in that camp myself. I’m close enough at this point (6 feet, 209, very stocky body type). I can sort of guess but a lot depends on how much lean mass I end up with and my body type really skews the BMI because I’m not lanky at all.

This is the case for me.  The lowest weight I can really remember (in junior high, when I was already fully-grown height-wise) is still 25 lbs above a "healthy" BMI.  The lowest I've gotten to as an adult was very briefly 10 lbs under that.

Based on that, I have my "realistic goal" which is that junior high/lowest weight, and my stretch goal, which is at the top of my healthy BMI range.  It's really weird to imagine what that would be like.

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #572 on: February 24, 2018, 03:54:51 AM »
I'd love to join too. I have baby fat to get rid of now that baby is five months old. I'm down 32 pounds from my highest of this year but that includes an 8 lb baby too, haha. I still need to lose 18 lbs for pre pregnancy weight and another 12 for my marriage wedding and another 14 for my ideal weight. I joined in 2017 and found we got pregnant. Hope to finish 2018 at my ideal weight. First goal is to get to pre pregnancy weight by end of March. Second goal is to hit wedding weight by June and to hit lowest weight by end of year (the hardest stretch which I hope to attack with established habits). Let's bring it on!


Like the idea of goals - here are our goals for Jan:
1) 5000 steps per day
2) 6 stairs per day
3) one meal of veggies and fruits only per day
Updating after two days:

I've lost two pounds - I'm sure it's more water weight than actual one but I'll take it :) I've cut out all carbs except for a tiny portion. Surprisingly it's not been that hard to switch. I've also noticed that I eat more sweets now (and ate some ice cream and sweets for new year). I usually hate sweets but developed a liking for them during my second pregnancy and am still holding on to it six months later. Time to kick the habit back to curb. My routine is crazy and I don't have much leeway into building in exercises. The only exercise I get is carrying a 17 lb baby. Has anyone lost weight only with diet changes? How important is exercise in a weight loss journey?
Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll concentrate on food changes till I can add more exercise in. I especially loved the suggestion to incorporate exercise into play and surprisingly my baby is loving it! I'm now trying to find more ways to add in fun exercise into daily routine.

My weight is down 3 lbs (mostly water weight because low carbs). I don't track my food but try to eat healthy (less carbs, more veggies and fruits) but looking at some of your meals, I think I just eat a lot. I've gotten used to eating more when pregnant (yep, fell for the eating for two advice.... not that I needed lot of encouragement)  and my stomach expects more food. Need to slowly dial down the amount to a normal person's portions.

Does anyone forget you are trying to lose weight? I completely forgot and ate a few cookies. Later when I was checking how I did at end of day, I realized I ate those cookies :( how do I remember all the time?
I'm still losing weight daily (goes to show how much crap I was eating before) but it has slowed down. My eating is still not good enough (I eat a serving of carbs at every course (and a bit more at lunch) and I eat ice cream or sweets because it is at home). My nemesis is sweets and ice cream. I can't resist it when it is at home and I can't stop others at home buying it. To add to the problem, I forget I'm on a diet and eat them. I'm considering figuring what I should eat all day and not eat anything not on that list. Will give it a try for a few days to see if I can continue losing weight.
Still on the losing trend. I was expecting it to stop since my activity level hasn't increased much and my eating is still not perfect. I don't count calories or have a chance to weigh  food since I don't cook or shop (visiting in-laws for a few months). I'm trying to eat healthier (less carbs, more fruits vegetables and protein - egg, fish, chicken) and reduce sweets (take smaller portions, being selective in what I eat). My culture (Indian) shows love through food, especially sweets. So every visit (even when visiting parents every day) leads to more sweets and hurt egos if we don't eat the sweets. So far portion control has been the key. I can't believe how much crap I've been eating before for the weight to come off so easily now that I'm eating healthier.

This thread is so motivating and reminds me to make healthier choices with food. I find that I eat healthy when I remember and this thread is helping me remember. Thanks everyone!
Ok now the weight loss has stopped. Time to really get into cutting calories or burning them through exercise. I don't have an easy way to estimate calories or do exercise which makes it tricky. I'm planning to drink at least a glass of water before every meal and snack (and ideally before anytime food passes through my lips). I think I eat more than I think I'm eating. The first eight pounds came off easy. Now the real struggle starts. I still need to cut 12 pounds to reach my first goal (highest pre pregnancy weight) and 18 pounds to reach my second goal (my normal BMI weight). Hoping the water trick helps.

Please suggest other tricks that have helped in reducing food portions (basically tricking myself to eat less and eat healthier) or exercising more (moving more). I currently walk 7k steps a day and do 5-10 stairs.
Thanks a lot for the suggestions. I especially love the eating fruits instead of sweets and using  shape wear ideas. I've also started concentrating on adding more protein to my diet (changed macros). My weight is still at standstill but it's at least not going up any more. I had one day (DH bday) where I had some cake but otherwise I'm starting to not be super tempted by sweets. I'm liking the progress even though the scales don't show it.... yet.

I'm also experimenting with eating only upto 80% of my stomach's capacity. Due to pregnancy eating, I fear my stomach has increased in size and I now need more food to feel satiated. I need to eat less to reduce it back to normal size. Will report back soon on its effects.

Thanks for the exercise tips. I'm an absolute beginner when it comes to exercise. So I'm starting with the walking videos and hope to increase from there.

Weight - still at 8 lbs loss from New year, no gains, no loss from last time.

Any app recommendations to log weight and get trending weight for a period?

I've started eating more frequently (breakfast, 11, 1, 4, 6 and 8) but lesser portions. This has helped me keep hunger at bay while tricking my stomach into eating less at every meal (and not worry too much if I don't eat to max since I know the next meal is just two hours away). I hope this reduces my stomach size and bring it back to normal (from pregnancy size). I'm also drinking more water than before.

Exercise is still not happening yet :( got a jump rope to see if I can make myself use it.

Managed to knock out three more pounds after hitting a plateau for a week or so in between. That brings up tally to 11 pounds lost since new year. Hope this is the start of a new losing streak.
Checking in here. Still at the 11 pound loss, inching towards 12 pounds. I think I've finally found a way to figure out how much food is right for my stomach. I've been experimenting with food portions and frequent small meals with each time being less than my palm keeps me sated while not overloading my stomach. I also like the feeling I get when I don't stuff myself. Now to remember it for all the hard times (party, buffet, mom-cooked delicious dishes). A pound more to my first half goal. So close!
Welcome everyone! Especially new moms :) I'm one too and my goal is to lose pregnancy weight and get to a healthy weight now that baby is seven months and starting on solids. I still breastfeed exclusively but no longer have the pressure to be the sole food provider.

Weight still in the decline. Down 13 pounds from Jan 1 and I've reached my first goal. Now to stay here and lose more to reach my second goal of prepregnancy weight which is 6 pounds lesser. My eating has slacked a bit this week and I've been eating cakes and sweets more than I like (to celebrate my first goal). Need to get back to careful monitoring. I guess my weight loss rate would reduce a lot once I reach my prepregnancy weight since that is my usual weight range. But I want to lose another 15 pounds from there to get to my comfortable weight. I've always been lackadaisical about weight loss once I reach a healthy BMI but this time I'm going to try and lose those last 15 (those are my freshman 15 and have been around 12 years now).

I've also started doing mini exercises after trying to do dedicated half an hour to an hour of exercise and failing miserably. So far it's going good. Will report back next week if I can sustain it.
Holding steady at 13 pound decline. Not sure if it is a new plateau but I'm chalking it up to bad sleep due to baby being sick. As a result, I'm craving simple sugars to keep my energy going. That doesn't help in weight loss either. I've also taken to eating some almonds or cashewnuts when I wake in the middle of the night or as snacks which my body is not too happy about. Need to cut those extra calories and see if I can drink more water since my water drinking rate is abysmal.

The mini exercises are sticking! I have a goal to hit 5k steps before lunch and 8k by 8 pm and hopefully 10k by end of night. I do power walks to hit these goals. They won't strengthen muscles but my Fitbit shows my heartbeat rising enough to be classified as fat burn or cardio. I now need to find some strengthening exercises and work them in as mini exercises. Would love to hear if anyone does mini strength training exercises and what your experience has been.
Weight still holding at 155-156 (13-14 pound loss since Jan 1) for the past week. I think I'm at a plateau and am concentrating on more mini exercises. Sadly my food tracking and control has gone way down since I discovered cooking as a hobby (bad time to do it but I'm enjoying making new dishes for the family). Need to rein it in a bit. But I'm happy that I'm hitting my goals of 5k steps before lunch and 8k or 10k steps by nighttime. I've consistently gone over 8k that I'm considering upping it to 10k or 11k steps by nighttime. This will force me to get off my behind and actually play catch with my preschooler every evening.
Started downward trend again albeit slower this time. At 154 today.

My first goal was to hit 156 pounds (my heaviest before pregnancy), my second goal is to hit 151 (my weight before baby#2), my third goal is to hit 145 (my normal BMI), my fourth goal is to hit 138 (my lowest in the past 8 years) and my final goal is to hit 129 (the weight I feel most comfortable in). I'm happy to hit any of these weights but prefer to be around 130s and have exercises and food changes to be lifestyle changes rather than a one shot thing. To give some perspective, my highest was 199 lbs at 40 weeks pregnant.
Hit 153 after a few ups and downs (at 17 pound loss since Jan 1). So close to my goal#2 (151 pounds).

I've learned to add exercise to my schedule.
Back story: I hate exercise and just couldn't find time to do exercise every day. My toddler and baby served as convenient excuses. However, I also know I need to do it to keep myself toned. So I started running around the house every time I wanted a snack for 5-10 mins. I run in whatever clothes I'm wearing (mostly pajamas or home clothes) and since it's for such short durations, I don't put up big excuses. Also I don't have to look for childcare (my biggest excuse) since I can plop my toddler in front of an activity and my baby in crib with a toy and run (more a jog but it gets my heartbeat up at cardio levels so I'm not complaining). But my Fitbit confirms I'm getting 30 minutes of exercise which is 30 minutes over nothing.

Another awesome thing is my snack craving changes to water craving after a 5-10 minute run/jog. If it persists then I eat something.

Time to up Fitbit goals - upped exercise to 20 mins minimum and days of exercise to 3 days minimum, upped number of steps to 9k minimum per day and calories spent to 2k per day. I know it's a bit less than what I spend regularly but I want to be sure I'm hitting goals before I up them again.
Phew!!! Hit 151 finally! Finally at my prepregnancy weight, 8 months after my baby was out. I rapidly lost weight in first few weeks, then stalled for months at 170 and lost again starting this January (19 pounds). Hit a few plateaus but managed to lose again. In all, down almost 50 pounds (which included a 7 pound baby).

I think the mini exercises did the trick for me after my last plateau. I'm sure the exercise purists would balk at it but it works for me and avoids my excuse zones. Even though I would like to be one of the people that goes at a set time to the gym/home workout, my current lifestyle doesn't aid it. I'd rather do it this way than wait for the gym/home workout lifestyle to start.

Onward and upward to my next goal on list - 145 lbs which would mean I'm at the normal BMI after nearly two years. Can't wait to get there!
Was stuck at a plateau at 151 for a few days and then had one cheat day where I ate as usual but added a few sweets and BAM, back at 154. Feeling a bit down because of how easily I gained back the weight. I'm holding at 154 for the past two days. This is despite doing the mini exercises both days and being extra careful with eating.

The only silver lining is I'm going on a liquid/soft food diet for a week per doctor orders and I hope that moves the scales a bit closer to 140s.

Hit 150! (20 pounds down since January) Mostly it's due to the liquid/soft diet, so I'm guessing I'm drinking less calories than eating them. Doctor took me off it since I don't need it any longer. Now the challenge is to maintain/lose from here and not shoot up again even though I eat normal food.

I've always been chubby thanks to Mom and aunts and grandmothers who feel a chubby kid is a healthy kid, so even my lowest weight that I can remember is on the higher side of normal or even above normal. I currently have a goal of 129 which is in the middle of my BMI range. However I'm not sure if it's my final right weight. Would be interesting to know for sure.

This also means I'm just 5 more pounds to my third goal (145#) which would put me at the very top of normal. I usually swing between 140-150 pretty easily. So anything below 145 would be hard to lose and won't be in the same speed as what I've done these past two months. Oh well! One step at a time. Time to pedal towards 145.
« Last Edit: February 24, 2018, 03:59:34 AM by firelight »

StarBright

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #573 on: February 24, 2018, 07:22:17 AM »
Doing a little better this year than last year in terms of pace. I lost 40, kept 30 pounds off in 2017. Here's to 30 more.

Date           Weight
1/9/2018   311.4
1/15/2018   310.2
1/23           315.4
2/12           308
2/20           300

My squat is back up to 475, and deadlift closing in on 600. I'd like to see 500/350/600 on squat/bench/deadlift at a bodyweight of 275 this year.

awesome job @brute !

StarBright

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #574 on: February 24, 2018, 07:41:27 AM »
Weekly Weigh in:

December 30: 145
January 5:      144
January 12:    143.4
January 19:    143.8
January 26:    143.2
February 2:    142
February 15:   145
February 24:  143

Between work and kids my day starts around 5 am (6 if I am lucky) and ends between 11-12 pm. I really just can't fit exercise into my day at this time (other than my prescheduled walks with my older kid) but I need to constantly remind myself to not feel guilty about it.

This week I began to look at other weapons in my healthy life arsenal. I had a leftover gift certificate from Christmas so I bought a light therapy lamp to use in the mornings. Apparently one of the hallmarks of low level seasonal depression is craving simple carbs. Let's see if the lamp helps!

And this is not mustachian at all, but I bought a float therapy membership. I've done it several times as a gift and have found it to be such an amazing, stress reducing, and refreshing experience. I cancelled a monthly food service membership (like dream dinners, but premade and ready to pick up) to make room in the budget for the floating.

I'm maintaining but it is such a fight and takes up so much mental energy for me that I'm going to focus on supporting my mental health. Who knows? Maybe it will help. In any case, it is good to keep trying things.

MaybeBabyMustache

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #575 on: February 24, 2018, 08:06:20 AM »
I'm on the super slow & steady train, but have done a good job of increasing my workouts quite a bit, & slowly whittling down my calories. I'm now down 3.6 lbs from the first of the year. My goal is to lose 4 lbs in March, which I think is reasonable now that I'm (a bit) more toned & have my eating in check

Candace

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #576 on: February 24, 2018, 02:43:35 PM »
Hit 150! (20 pounds down since January) Mostly it's due to the liquid/soft diet, so I'm guessing I'm drinking less calories than eating them. Doctor took me off it since I don't need it any longer. Now the challenge is to maintain/lose from here and not shoot up again even though I eat normal food.

I've always been chubby thanks to Mom and aunts and grandmothers who feel a chubby kid is a healthy kid, so even my lowest weight that I can remember is on the higher side of normal or even above normal. I currently have a goal of 129 which is in the middle of my BMI range. However I'm not sure if it's my final right weight. Would be interesting to know for sure.

This also means I'm just 5 more pounds to my third goal (145#) which would put me at the very top of normal. I usually swing between 140-150 pretty easily. So anything below 145 would be hard to lose and won't be in the same speed as what I've done these past two months. Oh well! One step at a time. Time to pedal towards 145.
Go firelight! Happy for your success so far.

Thegoblinchief

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #577 on: February 26, 2018, 07:03:19 AM »
Lost enough weight since last year (the last time I tried it) that I can appendix carry my CCW pistol pretty comfortably now. It was super uncomfortable when I tried it previously. (Appendix carry puts the holster inside the waist band in the front with the sights of the gun lined up with your belly button.)

neophyte

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #578 on: February 26, 2018, 07:37:42 AM »
Jan 30:  178
Feb 12:  174
Feb 19:  174
Feb 26:  174

I was seeing 173-172.something most of the week so I'm assuming the 174 again this week is a temporary bump from going out last night to celebrate my friend's 30th. I'm feeling much more optimistic about it opposed to the last week which was fueled by sugar and alcohol all week.  I also walked 6 miles yesterday (normal commute is only 4) and started getting back into doing body weight exercises. I expect it'll be back down within a day or two of keeping to my calorie goals. Now if I'm not down next week I'll really have to eat crow and buckle down!

I've signed up for the March weight loss challange with a goal of 5 lbs. although I'm actually hoping for more. I've also promised myself I'll spring for Botox once I hit 160. Non-mustachian, but I've been wanting it for a few years now.
« Last Edit: February 26, 2018, 07:43:53 AM by neophyte »

alsoknownasDean

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #579 on: February 27, 2018, 04:06:38 AM »
Starting weight: 120.7kg
Last week's weight: 116.6kg
Current weight: 116.1kg

Hooray, progress! My original goal was to get below 115kg by the end of February, which is unlikely to happen now, but that's OK. I'm going to set another goal and try and get down to 110 by mid-April.

Already noticing that a couple of pairs of pants are getting looser.

happy

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #580 on: February 28, 2018, 03:16:46 AM »
Week 1 loss 0.8kg. (1lb 12 oz)
Week 2 loss 0.8 kg .................total 1.6kg

lexde

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #581 on: February 28, 2018, 05:29:38 AM »
2/1/18: 140.2. Going for 5lbs this month.
2/7/18: 138.6 (-1.6)
2/16/18: 137.8 (-0.8 ) 2.4lbs down total.
2/23/18: 136.2 (-1.6) 4.0lbs down this month, on track to hit my 5lb goal!
2/28/18: 135.0 (-1.2) 5.2lbs down this month, met my goal of 5lbs. Next goal is 4lbs for March.

asiljoy

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #582 on: February 28, 2018, 06:43:08 AM »
So far this year I'm down 0.4lbs. After great progress Nov-Dec, I was irregular with my diet and exercise for most of Jan and Feb, and gained 2lbs which I've since lost again. Now I'm struggling with impatience to see progress beyond what I had already lost. I'm back to getting tons of exercise and know that so long as I'm diligent with my diet that the weight will come off, but being less than 4 lbs above my next milestone (healthy BMI range), I want it now! Any tips on how to be more patient with the slow progress would be welcome!

I'm having similar troubles. Any thoughts help would be appreciated! 

Right now I think my big problem is focus since it can take a couple weeks to lose a pound and one bad day can throw me off so much, so I'm testing out an app meant to help you form habits. My thought being it'll help me stay focused if I see that I've hit my workout goal or skipped sugar for X days in a row or whatever. So those will be my 'wins' vs whatever is on the scale.

lexde

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #583 on: February 28, 2018, 06:51:44 AM »
@asiljoy — what app are you using if you don’t mind sharing?

firelight

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #584 on: February 28, 2018, 07:48:47 AM »
I'd love to join too. I have baby fat to get rid of now that baby is five months old. I'm down 32 pounds from my highest of this year but that includes an 8 lb baby too, haha. I still need to lose 18 lbs for pre pregnancy weight and another 12 for my marriage wedding and another 14 for my ideal weight. I joined in 2017 and found we got pregnant. Hope to finish 2018 at my ideal weight. First goal is to get to pre pregnancy weight by end of March. Second goal is to hit wedding weight by June and to hit lowest weight by end of year (the hardest stretch which I hope to attack with established habits). Let's bring it on!


Like the idea of goals - here are our goals for Jan:
1) 5000 steps per day
2) 6 stairs per day
3) one meal of veggies and fruits only per day
Updating after two days:

I've lost two pounds - I'm sure it's more water weight than actual one but I'll take it :) I've cut out all carbs except for a tiny portion. Surprisingly it's not been that hard to switch. I've also noticed that I eat more sweets now (and ate some ice cream and sweets for new year). I usually hate sweets but developed a liking for them during my second pregnancy and am still holding on to it six months later. Time to kick the habit back to curb. My routine is crazy and I don't have much leeway into building in exercises. The only exercise I get is carrying a 17 lb baby. Has anyone lost weight only with diet changes? How important is exercise in a weight loss journey?
Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll concentrate on food changes till I can add more exercise in. I especially loved the suggestion to incorporate exercise into play and surprisingly my baby is loving it! I'm now trying to find more ways to add in fun exercise into daily routine.

My weight is down 3 lbs (mostly water weight because low carbs). I don't track my food but try to eat healthy (less carbs, more veggies and fruits) but looking at some of your meals, I think I just eat a lot. I've gotten used to eating more when pregnant (yep, fell for the eating for two advice.... not that I needed lot of encouragement)  and my stomach expects more food. Need to slowly dial down the amount to a normal person's portions.

Does anyone forget you are trying to lose weight? I completely forgot and ate a few cookies. Later when I was checking how I did at end of day, I realized I ate those cookies :( how do I remember all the time?
I'm still losing weight daily (goes to show how much crap I was eating before) but it has slowed down. My eating is still not good enough (I eat a serving of carbs at every course (and a bit more at lunch) and I eat ice cream or sweets because it is at home). My nemesis is sweets and ice cream. I can't resist it when it is at home and I can't stop others at home buying it. To add to the problem, I forget I'm on a diet and eat them. I'm considering figuring what I should eat all day and not eat anything not on that list. Will give it a try for a few days to see if I can continue losing weight.
Still on the losing trend. I was expecting it to stop since my activity level hasn't increased much and my eating is still not perfect. I don't count calories or have a chance to weigh  food since I don't cook or shop (visiting in-laws for a few months). I'm trying to eat healthier (less carbs, more fruits vegetables and protein - egg, fish, chicken) and reduce sweets (take smaller portions, being selective in what I eat). My culture (Indian) shows love through food, especially sweets. So every visit (even when visiting parents every day) leads to more sweets and hurt egos if we don't eat the sweets. So far portion control has been the key. I can't believe how much crap I've been eating before for the weight to come off so easily now that I'm eating healthier.

This thread is so motivating and reminds me to make healthier choices with food. I find that I eat healthy when I remember and this thread is helping me remember. Thanks everyone!
Ok now the weight loss has stopped. Time to really get into cutting calories or burning them through exercise. I don't have an easy way to estimate calories or do exercise which makes it tricky. I'm planning to drink at least a glass of water before every meal and snack (and ideally before anytime food passes through my lips). I think I eat more than I think I'm eating. The first eight pounds came off easy. Now the real struggle starts. I still need to cut 12 pounds to reach my first goal (highest pre pregnancy weight) and 18 pounds to reach my second goal (my normal BMI weight). Hoping the water trick helps.

Please suggest other tricks that have helped in reducing food portions (basically tricking myself to eat less and eat healthier) or exercising more (moving more). I currently walk 7k steps a day and do 5-10 stairs.
Thanks a lot for the suggestions. I especially love the eating fruits instead of sweets and using  shape wear ideas. I've also started concentrating on adding more protein to my diet (changed macros). My weight is still at standstill but it's at least not going up any more. I had one day (DH bday) where I had some cake but otherwise I'm starting to not be super tempted by sweets. I'm liking the progress even though the scales don't show it.... yet.

I'm also experimenting with eating only upto 80% of my stomach's capacity. Due to pregnancy eating, I fear my stomach has increased in size and I now need more food to feel satiated. I need to eat less to reduce it back to normal size. Will report back soon on its effects.

Thanks for the exercise tips. I'm an absolute beginner when it comes to exercise. So I'm starting with the walking videos and hope to increase from there.

Weight - still at 8 lbs loss from New year, no gains, no loss from last time.

Any app recommendations to log weight and get trending weight for a period?

I've started eating more frequently (breakfast, 11, 1, 4, 6 and 8) but lesser portions. This has helped me keep hunger at bay while tricking my stomach into eating less at every meal (and not worry too much if I don't eat to max since I know the next meal is just two hours away). I hope this reduces my stomach size and bring it back to normal (from pregnancy size). I'm also drinking more water than before.

Exercise is still not happening yet :( got a jump rope to see if I can make myself use it.

Managed to knock out three more pounds after hitting a plateau for a week or so in between. That brings up tally to 11 pounds lost since new year. Hope this is the start of a new losing streak.
Checking in here. Still at the 11 pound loss, inching towards 12 pounds. I think I've finally found a way to figure out how much food is right for my stomach. I've been experimenting with food portions and frequent small meals with each time being less than my palm keeps me sated while not overloading my stomach. I also like the feeling I get when I don't stuff myself. Now to remember it for all the hard times (party, buffet, mom-cooked delicious dishes). A pound more to my first half goal. So close!
Welcome everyone! Especially new moms :) I'm one too and my goal is to lose pregnancy weight and get to a healthy weight now that baby is seven months and starting on solids. I still breastfeed exclusively but no longer have the pressure to be the sole food provider.

Weight still in the decline. Down 13 pounds from Jan 1 and I've reached my first goal. Now to stay here and lose more to reach my second goal of prepregnancy weight which is 6 pounds lesser. My eating has slacked a bit this week and I've been eating cakes and sweets more than I like (to celebrate my first goal). Need to get back to careful monitoring. I guess my weight loss rate would reduce a lot once I reach my prepregnancy weight since that is my usual weight range. But I want to lose another 15 pounds from there to get to my comfortable weight. I've always been lackadaisical about weight loss once I reach a healthy BMI but this time I'm going to try and lose those last 15 (those are my freshman 15 and have been around 12 years now).

I've also started doing mini exercises after trying to do dedicated half an hour to an hour of exercise and failing miserably. So far it's going good. Will report back next week if I can sustain it.
Holding steady at 13 pound decline. Not sure if it is a new plateau but I'm chalking it up to bad sleep due to baby being sick. As a result, I'm craving simple sugars to keep my energy going. That doesn't help in weight loss either. I've also taken to eating some almonds or cashewnuts when I wake in the middle of the night or as snacks which my body is not too happy about. Need to cut those extra calories and see if I can drink more water since my water drinking rate is abysmal.

The mini exercises are sticking! I have a goal to hit 5k steps before lunch and 8k by 8 pm and hopefully 10k by end of night. I do power walks to hit these goals. They won't strengthen muscles but my Fitbit shows my heartbeat rising enough to be classified as fat burn or cardio. I now need to find some strengthening exercises and work them in as mini exercises. Would love to hear if anyone does mini strength training exercises and what your experience has been.
Weight still holding at 155-156 (13-14 pound loss since Jan 1) for the past week. I think I'm at a plateau and am concentrating on more mini exercises. Sadly my food tracking and control has gone way down since I discovered cooking as a hobby (bad time to do it but I'm enjoying making new dishes for the family). Need to rein it in a bit. But I'm happy that I'm hitting my goals of 5k steps before lunch and 8k or 10k steps by nighttime. I've consistently gone over 8k that I'm considering upping it to 10k or 11k steps by nighttime. This will force me to get off my behind and actually play catch with my preschooler every evening.
Started downward trend again albeit slower this time. At 154 today.

My first goal was to hit 156 pounds (my heaviest before pregnancy), my second goal is to hit 151 (my weight before baby#2), my third goal is to hit 145 (my normal BMI), my fourth goal is to hit 138 (my lowest in the past 8 years) and my final goal is to hit 129 (the weight I feel most comfortable in). I'm happy to hit any of these weights but prefer to be around 130s and have exercises and food changes to be lifestyle changes rather than a one shot thing. To give some perspective, my highest was 199 lbs at 40 weeks pregnant.
Hit 153 after a few ups and downs (at 17 pound loss since Jan 1). So close to my goal#2 (151 pounds).

I've learned to add exercise to my schedule.
Back story: I hate exercise and just couldn't find time to do exercise every day. My toddler and baby served as convenient excuses. However, I also know I need to do it to keep myself toned. So I started running around the house every time I wanted a snack for 5-10 mins. I run in whatever clothes I'm wearing (mostly pajamas or home clothes) and since it's for such short durations, I don't put up big excuses. Also I don't have to look for childcare (my biggest excuse) since I can plop my toddler in front of an activity and my baby in crib with a toy and run (more a jog but it gets my heartbeat up at cardio levels so I'm not complaining). But my Fitbit confirms I'm getting 30 minutes of exercise which is 30 minutes over nothing.

Another awesome thing is my snack craving changes to water craving after a 5-10 minute run/jog. If it persists then I eat something.

Time to up Fitbit goals - upped exercise to 20 mins minimum and days of exercise to 3 days minimum, upped number of steps to 9k minimum per day and calories spent to 2k per day. I know it's a bit less than what I spend regularly but I want to be sure I'm hitting goals before I up them again.
Phew!!! Hit 151 finally! Finally at my prepregnancy weight, 8 months after my baby was out. I rapidly lost weight in first few weeks, then stalled for months at 170 and lost again starting this January (19 pounds). Hit a few plateaus but managed to lose again. In all, down almost 50 pounds (which included a 7 pound baby).

I think the mini exercises did the trick for me after my last plateau. I'm sure the exercise purists would balk at it but it works for me and avoids my excuse zones. Even though I would like to be one of the people that goes at a set time to the gym/home workout, my current lifestyle doesn't aid it. I'd rather do it this way than wait for the gym/home workout lifestyle to start.

Onward and upward to my next goal on list - 145 lbs which would mean I'm at the normal BMI after nearly two years. Can't wait to get there!
Was stuck at a plateau at 151 for a few days and then had one cheat day where I ate as usual but added a few sweets and BAM, back at 154. Feeling a bit down because of how easily I gained back the weight. I'm holding at 154 for the past two days. This is despite doing the mini exercises both days and being extra careful with eating.

The only silver lining is I'm going on a liquid/soft food diet for a week per doctor orders and I hope that moves the scales a bit closer to 140s.

Hit 150! (20 pounds down since January) Mostly it's due to the liquid/soft diet, so I'm guessing I'm drinking less calories than eating them. Doctor took me off it since I don't need it any longer. Now the challenge is to maintain/lose from here and not shoot up again even though I eat normal food.

I've always been chubby thanks to Mom and aunts and grandmothers who feel a chubby kid is a healthy kid, so even my lowest weight that I can remember is on the higher side of normal or even above normal. I currently have a goal of 129 which is in the middle of my BMI range. However I'm not sure if it's my final right weight. Would be interesting to know for sure.

This also means I'm just 5 more pounds to my third goal (145#) which would put me at the very top of normal. I usually swing between 140-150 pretty easily. So anything below 145 would be hard to lose and won't be in the same speed as what I've done these past two months. Oh well! One step at a time. Time to pedal towards 145.
Finally broke into 140s (149 today - lost 21 pounds since Jan 1). But I can see it's already harder since my weight has been jumping to 150-151 with even a small change from diet or exercise. I find I do best if I do one fairly longer mini exercise (atleast 20-25 minutes long - enough to get my heartbeat up at cardio levels for at least ten to twenty minutes) than do the same amount of steps broken over smaller mini exercises. However getting that 20-25 minutes is the hard part since I try to time it for baby sleep while kiddo is in preschool. A hit or miss most days. Trying to figure out if I can do it late in the night so I can get to it after everyone sleeps. But that is when my will power is lowest and I can't push myself to start. Well, I guess I need to haul myself and just do it.

Sunhat, I'm 4 pounds above my normal BMI (my next goal) as well and I can't wait to get there.  However I've learned that to keep the weight off, it's better to lose gradually than do a sudden jump. What has helped me was to make sure I give myself mini treats if I do my exercises or stick to my diet for x number of days. Usually the treats are a new book, a massage, y amount of kid and baby free time, etc. I also identified a bunch of clothes in smaller sizes that I love and every time I reach a smaller size, wear them with pleasure. As a result, I love dressing up now and feel so happy that I'm able to fit into my favorites. The rest, well I'll get there soon.

Candace, thanks for the encouragement!! Truly means a lot to me.

Candace

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #585 on: February 28, 2018, 08:17:49 AM »
{snip}
Finally broke into 140s (149 today - lost 21 pounds since Jan 1). But I can see it's already harder since my weight has been jumping to 150-151 with even a small change from diet or exercise. I find I do best if I do one fairly longer mini exercise (atleast 20-25 minutes long - enough to get my heartbeat up at cardio levels for at least ten to twenty minutes) than do the same amount of steps broken over smaller mini exercises. However getting that 20-25 minutes is the hard part since I try to time it for baby sleep while kiddo is in preschool. A hit or miss most days. Trying to figure out if I can do it late in the night so I can get to it after everyone sleeps. But that is when my will power is lowest and I can't push myself to start. Well, I guess I need to haul myself and just do it.

Sunhat, I'm 4 pounds above my normal BMI (my next goal) as well and I can't wait to get there.  However I've learned that to keep the weight off, it's better to lose gradually than do a sudden jump. What has helped me was to make sure I give myself mini treats if I do my exercises or stick to my diet for x number of days. Usually the treats are a new book, a massage, y amount of kid and baby free time, etc. I also identified a bunch of clothes in smaller sizes that I love and every time I reach a smaller size, wear them with pleasure. As a result, I love dressing up now and feel so happy that I'm able to fit into my favorites. The rest, well I'll get there soon.

Candace, thanks for the encouragement!! Truly means a lot to me.
firelight, you and I are similar in weight, height and activity level, so I feel a kinship. I don't have the kids to deal with, though, so my hat is doubly off to you. You are almost at normal BMI! You'll be there soon! I love the idea of going into your closet and finding the next clothes you want to fit into. Talk about incentive. I bet the mini-exercise sessions you're doing are building muscle, which will in turn help you in keeping the weight loss going as you get closer to your goal.

I'm hovering at about 146 lb now. My next milestone will be breaking 145. Can't wait to get back on that side of the line. I plan to go for a jog this afternoon, which seems to be what it takes for me to get the scale to move more than infinitesimally in one day. DH and I did our third workout of the week today (of four that we do each week), and we walked three miles last night, three the night before, and four the day before that. We're on track to complete our goals for the week, which are four workouts and ten miles walking, starting from Monday.

We're having friends over for dinner tonight, which is a fun thing I love to do, but it means I have to be conscious of any "extra" food I eat since it's a semi-special occasion with more food than normal. I'm trying to get into the mindset of eating like a person who's already thin. That means that even though I'm cooking up a semi-special dinner tonight, and we'll have a pretty nice and calorie-rich cocktail made too, my strategy will be to keep portions small. Our cocktail is called a Painkiller. I made a big batch for a social I hosted back in December, and we still have some ingredients left over, looking for an occasion. There's a specialty item called cream of coconut, which has been sitting in my fridge waiting for an excuse since then, plus cans of pineapple juice. The other ingredients are rum, orange juice and a sprinkle of nutmeg. So as you can tell, these are not diet-friendly. I will allow myself ONE as a treat.

I'm making whole wheat sourdough fermented bread, which is rising as we speak, and pork loin with sweet potatoes and pineapples. Our friends are bringing roasted Brussels sprouts. It will be good and relatively healthy with no white bread, no white potatoes, and no white rice. So I just have to not over-serve myself. If I keep the portions small, I should be able to eat a little of everything. I'm hoping to go for a jog this afternoon, which is kind of an extra exercise session for me, to help me not gain weight from this dinner.

Next bet ending date is March 16th, when I have to be at 146 or below. I do hope to beat that by a pound or two since I'm there now But the bet puts a floor on how badly I can screw up. At this point, it means I can't *gain* weight. So, it's not so stressful, but it serves a purpose.

asiljoy

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #586 on: February 28, 2018, 08:29:46 AM »
@asiljoy — what app are you using if you don’t mind sharing?

Momentum. I've only been using it a couple weeks, so I don't feel comfortable giving it a standing ovation, but it is working for me right now. The free version only lets you have 3 habits, which is enough for me to focus on.

rab-bit

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #587 on: February 28, 2018, 03:01:58 PM »
Time for my monthly weigh-in:

11/26/2017     253.4
12/31/2017     242.6
01/31/2018     234.8
02/28/2018     224.8

Another 10 pounds this month (with an assist from a mild case of the flu) and 28.6 pounds overall. I've been surprised that my rate of weight loss hasn't slowed down yet, but I'm not complaining!

LifeHappens

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #588 on: March 01, 2018, 05:56:29 AM »
1/1/18 - Weight 146.6, Waist 31 5/8"
2/1/18 - Weight 145.6, Waist 31 9/16"
3/1/18 - Weight 144.4, Waist 31 9/16"

Notes: this was a bad month. The first half was going well, then I got a cold/flu thing which has been persisting for almost two weeks. I lost a slight amount of weight, but in every other way I am less healthy than I was a month ago. My strength and stamina are down, my nutrition has been poor and I'm still sleeping 9-10 hours every night. March needs to be a rebuilding month. I'm going to focus on nutrition and getting some cardio and strength back... if I'm ever healthy again!

dreadmoose

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #589 on: March 01, 2018, 12:03:21 PM »
DateWeightBody Fat
May 2017190 lbs23.7%
June 2017183 lbs22.4%
July 2017180 lbs21.9%
Aug 2017176 lbs21.1%
Sept 2017171 lbs20.4%
Oct 2017165 lbs19.3%
Nov 2017161 lbs18.6%
Dec 2017160 lbs18.4%
Jan 2017155 lbs17.5%
Jan 2017152 lbs17.4%38 lbs down

Currently at 1800 calories a day (adjusted for activity), been bumping against my target weight of ~150 and then I'm switching 2500 calories and keeping my weight-lifting habit of 5 months every second day. So soon I will be tracking my weight on an increasing count and may be disqualified from the thread.

I track body fat with a cheap impedance scale so I'm sure it's way off but the trend seemed helpful at the start, less so as I move forward here.

Candace

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #590 on: March 02, 2018, 08:23:56 AM »
Well, in the last week I've gone from 146 lb to 147.5. Hmmph. Frustrating. I've hit all my exercise goals, which is a morning workout 4x/week, walking ten miles, and going for one jog. I've also been very good in my eating except for Wednesday night when we had friends over. I had a couple of cocktails and ate more than usual. But that's the extent of my sin. I don't think I ate 1.5 x 3500 extra calories! I'm carrying some extra, er, "stuff" right now, so hopefully that accounts for most of it. But it's times like this that I start to get frustrated, because I'm doing everything pretty much right, and yet the scale goes in the wrong direction. When I get frustrated and feel hopeless, that's when I tend to throw up my hands and eat chocolate. I actually don't feel tempted by that right now, because I haven't been eating (almost) any added sugar for weeks. Yesterday I felt like I was eating some extra food in the afternoon, but it was an extra apple and some broccoli and tofu soup. These things are supposed to be almost free. Then I ate half a cantelope for dinner, which seems like a low-calorie and healthy thing to eat. The only thing I had after dinner was a shot glass of Sambuca that I sipped over half an hour.

I have to tell myself that this is a temporary setback, and that I'm doing things right, so if I continue to do things right, I should continue to lose weight. I've gone from 153 to my current 147.5 since about January 15th, which on the whole, is very good for a mostly sedentary 51-year-old female who's within about 10 pounds of my goal weight.

What kinds of workouts is everyone doing? My goals are just to keep a good level of strength and flexibility as I get older, and to have a decent amount of muscle to burn fat. My morning workout consists of:

stretching and warmup
20 military-style pushups

First set (of two) of 16 compound squats with 30-pound kettlebell
First set (of two) of 16 two-arm swings with 30-pound kettlebell  (these two exercises is a pretty good interval for me)
Walk around and pant

First set (of two) of 12 overhead two-arm tricep extensions with 25-pound kettlebell
First set (of two) of 12 two-arm bicep curls with 25-pound kettlebell

16 lat pulls on each side with 20-pound kettlebell

Second set (of two) of 16 compound squats with 30-pound kettlebell
Second set (of two) of 16 two-arm swings with 30-pound kettlebell
Walk around and pant

Second set (of two) of 12 overhead two-arm tricep extensions with 25-pound kettlebell
Second set (of two) of 12 two-arm bicep curls with 25-pound kettlebell

45-second plank

Short yoga sequence, two times through

Let's hear from some of my fellow over-50 ladies here. Commiseration is welcome.

LifeHappens

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #591 on: March 02, 2018, 08:44:13 AM »
@Candace, water weight can really mess with your mind. 1.5lbs is well within normal water weight fluctuations. I know it's frustrating, but try to stick with your plan (and maybe have a piece of chocolate a couple times a week :)

Candace

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #592 on: March 02, 2018, 09:26:53 AM »
@Candace, water weight can really mess with your mind. 1.5lbs is well within normal water weight fluctuations. I know it's frustrating, but try to stick with your plan (and maybe have a piece of chocolate a couple times a week :)
Thank you, @LifeHappens! I know you're right about the fluctuations. About chocolate, the only kind I'm eating right now is a daily protein bar from Costco (Kirkland brand). Chocolate is my downfall, and aside from the protein bars, a big trigger food. As in, once I eat a little, it just snowballs and then I have to deal with cravings for days. So I pretty much stay away from it. Somehow the Kirkland protein bars make me feel like I'm having chocolate without triggering cravings. I usually eat one per day in the late afternoon as a snack.

I'm literally munching raw broccoli right now. It's left over from the broccoli and tofu soup I made the other day. I feel virtuous, and it's tiding me over between breakfast and lunch. That, plus the latte I drank. That obviously has milk, but no added sugar. Breakfast was two scrambled eggs. So my eating plan is mostly protein and veggies, with some "good" carbs. Trying to cut out almost all white bread/white potatoes/pasta types of foods.

asiljoy

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #593 on: March 02, 2018, 10:09:29 AM »
Per Happy Scale I've lost 2 pounds. Logging food before I eat it seems to be an effective way to get myself to evaluate if I really need that blizzard. I didn't get to the gym 3 times last week, but I did do a class, lift twice, and did the walking desk enough so that beat my calorie burn goal each day. So gonna say yay for that.

Part of me wants to get really aggressive with this, but past habits tell me that's when I yo-yo. Yes 2 isn't a lot. Yes this is going to take time. It's about building a sustainable lifestyle and just making it a habit I don't even think about. I can do this. Stay the course!
Down 4 pounds in 18 days. So close to under 190. It's been slower than I'd like, but frankly it hasn't been that hard either. I think the forced logging before eating has been a good change for me. Usually when I have a crazy week at work, like this one, I would have gained a couple pounds through stress eating. While this week I didn't get the exercise I'd like, at least that stopped me from gaining weight.
Down 5 pounds in 30 days, but on the bright side I've also lost 1% fat. These changes are sustainable for me, BUT SO SLOW.
February was meh. Down another 1.5 that's permanent /non water related, but 28 to go.

Bright side? I think I found a routine that's sustainable workout wise and I'm starting to feel in control again. So yay! The habit app is stupid simple but apparently wanting to increase that bright green bar is enough to get me off my butt and the yoga app's 20 min sessions are really easy enough that I have no excuses.

Goal for March is 3.5 lbs, which will put me at 185, and to complete 18 yoga sessions. 1 down, 17 to go.

lexde

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #594 on: March 02, 2018, 02:06:54 PM »
@candace — weightloss is not linear. Make that your mantra. Say it. Feel it. Love it. Chart your weight and only concern yourself with the overall trend.


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firelight

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #595 on: March 02, 2018, 07:37:40 PM »
I'd love to join too. I have baby fat to get rid of now that baby is five months old. I'm down 32 pounds from my highest of this year but that includes an 8 lb baby too, haha. I still need to lose 18 lbs for pre pregnancy weight and another 12 for my marriage wedding and another 14 for my ideal weight. I joined in 2017 and found we got pregnant. Hope to finish 2018 at my ideal weight. First goal is to get to pre pregnancy weight by end of March. Second goal is to hit wedding weight by June and to hit lowest weight by end of year (the hardest stretch which I hope to attack with established habits). Let's bring it on!


Like the idea of goals - here are our goals for Jan:
1) 5000 steps per day
2) 6 stairs per day
3) one meal of veggies and fruits only per day
Updating after two days:

I've lost two pounds - I'm sure it's more water weight than actual one but I'll take it :) I've cut out all carbs except for a tiny portion. Surprisingly it's not been that hard to switch. I've also noticed that I eat more sweets now (and ate some ice cream and sweets for new year). I usually hate sweets but developed a liking for them during my second pregnancy and am still holding on to it six months later. Time to kick the habit back to curb. My routine is crazy and I don't have much leeway into building in exercises. The only exercise I get is carrying a 17 lb baby. Has anyone lost weight only with diet changes? How important is exercise in a weight loss journey?
Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll concentrate on food changes till I can add more exercise in. I especially loved the suggestion to incorporate exercise into play and surprisingly my baby is loving it! I'm now trying to find more ways to add in fun exercise into daily routine.

My weight is down 3 lbs (mostly water weight because low carbs). I don't track my food but try to eat healthy (less carbs, more veggies and fruits) but looking at some of your meals, I think I just eat a lot. I've gotten used to eating more when pregnant (yep, fell for the eating for two advice.... not that I needed lot of encouragement)  and my stomach expects more food. Need to slowly dial down the amount to a normal person's portions.

Does anyone forget you are trying to lose weight? I completely forgot and ate a few cookies. Later when I was checking how I did at end of day, I realized I ate those cookies :( how do I remember all the time?
I'm still losing weight daily (goes to show how much crap I was eating before) but it has slowed down. My eating is still not good enough (I eat a serving of carbs at every course (and a bit more at lunch) and I eat ice cream or sweets because it is at home). My nemesis is sweets and ice cream. I can't resist it when it is at home and I can't stop others at home buying it. To add to the problem, I forget I'm on a diet and eat them. I'm considering figuring what I should eat all day and not eat anything not on that list. Will give it a try for a few days to see if I can continue losing weight.
Still on the losing trend. I was expecting it to stop since my activity level hasn't increased much and my eating is still not perfect. I don't count calories or have a chance to weigh  food since I don't cook or shop (visiting in-laws for a few months). I'm trying to eat healthier (less carbs, more fruits vegetables and protein - egg, fish, chicken) and reduce sweets (take smaller portions, being selective in what I eat). My culture (Indian) shows love through food, especially sweets. So every visit (even when visiting parents every day) leads to more sweets and hurt egos if we don't eat the sweets. So far portion control has been the key. I can't believe how much crap I've been eating before for the weight to come off so easily now that I'm eating healthier.

This thread is so motivating and reminds me to make healthier choices with food. I find that I eat healthy when I remember and this thread is helping me remember. Thanks everyone!
Ok now the weight loss has stopped. Time to really get into cutting calories or burning them through exercise. I don't have an easy way to estimate calories or do exercise which makes it tricky. I'm planning to drink at least a glass of water before every meal and snack (and ideally before anytime food passes through my lips). I think I eat more than I think I'm eating. The first eight pounds came off easy. Now the real struggle starts. I still need to cut 12 pounds to reach my first goal (highest pre pregnancy weight) and 18 pounds to reach my second goal (my normal BMI weight). Hoping the water trick helps.

Please suggest other tricks that have helped in reducing food portions (basically tricking myself to eat less and eat healthier) or exercising more (moving more). I currently walk 7k steps a day and do 5-10 stairs.
Thanks a lot for the suggestions. I especially love the eating fruits instead of sweets and using  shape wear ideas. I've also started concentrating on adding more protein to my diet (changed macros). My weight is still at standstill but it's at least not going up any more. I had one day (DH bday) where I had some cake but otherwise I'm starting to not be super tempted by sweets. I'm liking the progress even though the scales don't show it.... yet.

I'm also experimenting with eating only upto 80% of my stomach's capacity. Due to pregnancy eating, I fear my stomach has increased in size and I now need more food to feel satiated. I need to eat less to reduce it back to normal size. Will report back soon on its effects.

Thanks for the exercise tips. I'm an absolute beginner when it comes to exercise. So I'm starting with the walking videos and hope to increase from there.

Weight - still at 8 lbs loss from New year, no gains, no loss from last time.

Any app recommendations to log weight and get trending weight for a period?

I've started eating more frequently (breakfast, 11, 1, 4, 6 and 8) but lesser portions. This has helped me keep hunger at bay while tricking my stomach into eating less at every meal (and not worry too much if I don't eat to max since I know the next meal is just two hours away). I hope this reduces my stomach size and bring it back to normal (from pregnancy size). I'm also drinking more water than before.

Exercise is still not happening yet :( got a jump rope to see if I can make myself use it.

Managed to knock out three more pounds after hitting a plateau for a week or so in between. That brings up tally to 11 pounds lost since new year. Hope this is the start of a new losing streak.
Checking in here. Still at the 11 pound loss, inching towards 12 pounds. I think I've finally found a way to figure out how much food is right for my stomach. I've been experimenting with food portions and frequent small meals with each time being less than my palm keeps me sated while not overloading my stomach. I also like the feeling I get when I don't stuff myself. Now to remember it for all the hard times (party, buffet, mom-cooked delicious dishes). A pound more to my first half goal. So close!
Welcome everyone! Especially new moms :) I'm one too and my goal is to lose pregnancy weight and get to a healthy weight now that baby is seven months and starting on solids. I still breastfeed exclusively but no longer have the pressure to be the sole food provider.

Weight still in the decline. Down 13 pounds from Jan 1 and I've reached my first goal. Now to stay here and lose more to reach my second goal of prepregnancy weight which is 6 pounds lesser. My eating has slacked a bit this week and I've been eating cakes and sweets more than I like (to celebrate my first goal). Need to get back to careful monitoring. I guess my weight loss rate would reduce a lot once I reach my prepregnancy weight since that is my usual weight range. But I want to lose another 15 pounds from there to get to my comfortable weight. I've always been lackadaisical about weight loss once I reach a healthy BMI but this time I'm going to try and lose those last 15 (those are my freshman 15 and have been around 12 years now).

I've also started doing mini exercises after trying to do dedicated half an hour to an hour of exercise and failing miserably. So far it's going good. Will report back next week if I can sustain it.
Holding steady at 13 pound decline. Not sure if it is a new plateau but I'm chalking it up to bad sleep due to baby being sick. As a result, I'm craving simple sugars to keep my energy going. That doesn't help in weight loss either. I've also taken to eating some almonds or cashewnuts when I wake in the middle of the night or as snacks which my body is not too happy about. Need to cut those extra calories and see if I can drink more water since my water drinking rate is abysmal.

The mini exercises are sticking! I have a goal to hit 5k steps before lunch and 8k by 8 pm and hopefully 10k by end of night. I do power walks to hit these goals. They won't strengthen muscles but my Fitbit shows my heartbeat rising enough to be classified as fat burn or cardio. I now need to find some strengthening exercises and work them in as mini exercises. Would love to hear if anyone does mini strength training exercises and what your experience has been.
Weight still holding at 155-156 (13-14 pound loss since Jan 1) for the past week. I think I'm at a plateau and am concentrating on more mini exercises. Sadly my food tracking and control has gone way down since I discovered cooking as a hobby (bad time to do it but I'm enjoying making new dishes for the family). Need to rein it in a bit. But I'm happy that I'm hitting my goals of 5k steps before lunch and 8k or 10k steps by nighttime. I've consistently gone over 8k that I'm considering upping it to 10k or 11k steps by nighttime. This will force me to get off my behind and actually play catch with my preschooler every evening.
Started downward trend again albeit slower this time. At 154 today.

My first goal was to hit 156 pounds (my heaviest before pregnancy), my second goal is to hit 151 (my weight before baby#2), my third goal is to hit 145 (my normal BMI), my fourth goal is to hit 138 (my lowest in the past 8 years) and my final goal is to hit 129 (the weight I feel most comfortable in). I'm happy to hit any of these weights but prefer to be around 130s and have exercises and food changes to be lifestyle changes rather than a one shot thing. To give some perspective, my highest was 199 lbs at 40 weeks pregnant.
Hit 153 after a few ups and downs (at 17 pound loss since Jan 1). So close to my goal#2 (151 pounds).

I've learned to add exercise to my schedule.
Back story: I hate exercise and just couldn't find time to do exercise every day. My toddler and baby served as convenient excuses. However, I also know I need to do it to keep myself toned. So I started running around the house every time I wanted a snack for 5-10 mins. I run in whatever clothes I'm wearing (mostly pajamas or home clothes) and since it's for such short durations, I don't put up big excuses. Also I don't have to look for childcare (my biggest excuse) since I can plop my toddler in front of an activity and my baby in crib with a toy and run (more a jog but it gets my heartbeat up at cardio levels so I'm not complaining). But my Fitbit confirms I'm getting 30 minutes of exercise which is 30 minutes over nothing.

Another awesome thing is my snack craving changes to water craving after a 5-10 minute run/jog. If it persists then I eat something.

Time to up Fitbit goals - upped exercise to 20 mins minimum and days of exercise to 3 days minimum, upped number of steps to 9k minimum per day and calories spent to 2k per day. I know it's a bit less than what I spend regularly but I want to be sure I'm hitting goals before I up them again.
Phew!!! Hit 151 finally! Finally at my prepregnancy weight, 8 months after my baby was out. I rapidly lost weight in first few weeks, then stalled for months at 170 and lost again starting this January (19 pounds). Hit a few plateaus but managed to lose again. In all, down almost 50 pounds (which included a 7 pound baby).

I think the mini exercises did the trick for me after my last plateau. I'm sure the exercise purists would balk at it but it works for me and avoids my excuse zones. Even though I would like to be one of the people that goes at a set time to the gym/home workout, my current lifestyle doesn't aid it. I'd rather do it this way than wait for the gym/home workout lifestyle to start.

Onward and upward to my next goal on list - 145 lbs which would mean I'm at the normal BMI after nearly two years. Can't wait to get there!
Was stuck at a plateau at 151 for a few days and then had one cheat day where I ate as usual but added a few sweets and BAM, back at 154. Feeling a bit down because of how easily I gained back the weight. I'm holding at 154 for the past two days. This is despite doing the mini exercises both days and being extra careful with eating.

The only silver lining is I'm going on a liquid/soft food diet for a week per doctor orders and I hope that moves the scales a bit closer to 140s.

Hit 150! (20 pounds down since January) Mostly it's due to the liquid/soft diet, so I'm guessing I'm drinking less calories than eating them. Doctor took me off it since I don't need it any longer. Now the challenge is to maintain/lose from here and not shoot up again even though I eat normal food.

I've always been chubby thanks to Mom and aunts and grandmothers who feel a chubby kid is a healthy kid, so even my lowest weight that I can remember is on the higher side of normal or even above normal. I currently have a goal of 129 which is in the middle of my BMI range. However I'm not sure if it's my final right weight. Would be interesting to know for sure.

This also means I'm just 5 more pounds to my third goal (145#) which would put me at the very top of normal. I usually swing between 140-150 pretty easily. So anything below 145 would be hard to lose and won't be in the same speed as what I've done these past two months. Oh well! One step at a time. Time to pedal towards 145.
Finally broke into 140s (149 today - lost 21 pounds since Jan 1). But I can see it's already harder since my weight has been jumping to 150-151 with even a small change from diet or exercise. I find I do best if I do one fairly longer mini exercise (atleast 20-25 minutes long - enough to get my heartbeat up at cardio levels for at least ten to twenty minutes) than do the same amount of steps broken over smaller mini exercises. However getting that 20-25 minutes is the hard part since I try to time it for baby sleep while kiddo is in preschool. A hit or miss most days. Trying to figure out if I can do it late in the night so I can get to it after everyone sleeps. But that is when my will power is lowest and I can't push myself to start. Well, I guess I need to haul myself and just do it.

Sunhat, I'm 4 pounds above my normal BMI (my next goal) as well and I can't wait to get there.  However I've learned that to keep the weight off, it's better to lose gradually than do a sudden jump. What has helped me was to make sure I give myself mini treats if I do my exercises or stick to my diet for x number of days. Usually the treats are a new book, a massage, y amount of kid and baby free time, etc. I also identified a bunch of clothes in smaller sizes that I love and every time I reach a smaller size, wear them with pleasure. As a result, I love dressing up now and feel so happy that I'm able to fit into my favorites. The rest, well I'll get there soon.

Candace, thanks for the encouragement!! Truly means a lot to me.
Checking in with weight at 146 (24 lbs down from Jan 1). I'm starting to get impatient as I get closer to my next goal (145#) but I realize that I need to enjoy this weight instead of getting frustrated since it might be quite sometime before I hit and STAY there consistently.

Candace, +1 for weight being nonlinear. It is frustrating to see a higher weight on the weigh in day since my weight sometimes goes up a pound or more and then settles down closer to new normal. I've started tracking my weight and taking a moving average so I don't get disappointed(and binge eat) if the scale moves in the wrong direction. Good luck!
« Last Edit: March 03, 2018, 03:11:16 AM by firelight »

SquashingDebt

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #596 on: March 02, 2018, 09:00:47 PM »
Ok, I'm declaring this week "Back to the Basics" for myself.

It's been 2 months of working on my healthy habits (meditation, physical therapy exercises, food tracking, and exercise classes) and I'm starting to get a little too lax.  I think it's because I'm a little bored and also because it's been extra-stressful at work.

This is the point where I will often keep backsliding until I'm not doing any food tracking, etc. and have totally derailed.  That means I need to consciously work to prevent it by going back to the basics.  This is especially important because I'm going on vacation in less than 2 weeks and am dangerously close to not fitting into some of the clothes I need for the warmer weather.

Here goes!  I'll report back next Saturday.

Apple_Tango

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #597 on: March 03, 2018, 10:53:25 AM »

Starting metrics in black, Last update in Green, New update in RED
Starting weight (Dec 26, 2017): 241 : 236 ; 230
Starting pushups: 0
Starting mile pace: 16 min. : 15:35!
Starting bench press: 55 pounds : 60 pounds

Short term goals:
Goal 1: work out 4 days a week, an hour per day.  3 days per week
Goal 2: drink 8 glasses of water per day : 8 glasses, goal met
Goal 3: eat 50 grams of fiber per day (fruits and veggies); crushing this goal, 50 g achieved as a daily average for past month
Goal 4: 14 min mile by July 2018
Goal 5: 220 pounds by July 2018

Nothing's really changed in my fitness...because I haven't been working out. The most I've been doing is walking 2 or 3 miles a few times a week and I want to change that. My rotator cuff in my right arm has been bothering me, so I haven't been doing pushups or bench press right now, but I might try to follow along with some at home workout internet videos for cardio. I am down to 230 though! So I have lost 11 pounds since December. Mostly because I'm sticking with counting calories.  Also because cheap, unhealthy food is not really in the budget. If being in between jobs has a silver lining, it's that I've been learning to coupon and look for sales, and not waste so much money on food that was making me sick. All the prepackaged foods...even the vegan stuff. They taste great but boy are they unhealthy.

I hope that when my new job starts I can keep up with cooking my own food, because it's really helping my waistline.
« Last Edit: March 03, 2018, 10:55:21 AM by Apple_Tango »

Candace

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #598 on: March 03, 2018, 01:59:48 PM »
Thank you to everyone who chimed in with encouragement. It actually does a lot of good to see people speaking reason on here when I'm frustrated.

Last night, after being really good all day, we went out to a Mexican restaurant. Chips, salsa, and white sauce. I abstained for most of the time we were there, but after I took the first one, well, you know. I also had about half a beer. For food, I ordered a chicken, cheese and onion appetizer in a cream sauce. Very filling, and I only ate half of it. While it was a larger than normal dinner, it was pretty good for the occasion. I left feeling more satisfied than a normal dinner, but not full.

Then, I gained another pound on the scale this morning. {Face palm} Back up to 148. I was 146 a week ago.

What's ironic is that I feel thinner than a couple of weeks ago, even though the scale doesn't indicate it. So I'm thinking of that as a win, and trying not to let go of the discipline I need at this time.

G-dog

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Re: Losing Weight in 2018
« Reply #599 on: March 03, 2018, 02:14:56 PM »
Thank you to everyone who chimed in with encouragement. It actually does a lot of good to see people speaking reason on here when I'm frustrated.

Last night, after being really good all day, we went out to a Mexican restaurant. Chips, salsa, and white sauce. I abstained for most of the time we were there, but after I took the first one, well, you know. I also had about half a beer. For food, I ordered a chicken, cheese and onion appetizer in a cream sauce. Very filling, and I only ate half of it. While it was a larger than normal dinner, it was pretty good for the occasion. I left feeling more satisfied than a normal dinner, but not full.

Then, I gained another pound on the scale this morning. {Face palm} Back up to 148. I was 146 a week ago.

What's ironic is that I feel thinner than a couple of weeks ago, even though the scale doesn't indicate it. So I'm thinking of that as a win, and trying not to let go of the discipline I need at this time.

You probably are actually thinner now.  Lots of things can make you retain water weight and the like.  The day-to-day scale numbers are just one, imperfect measure.  Keep making mostly good choices, and you will be fine.  Last night choices were fine.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!