Author Topic: Losing Weight in 2016  (Read 459544 times)

elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1650 on: May 15, 2017, 12:44:27 PM »
Well, you hit the nail on the head. I gained exactly 2 lbs. Not bad overall. Now it's just a matter of getting back on track.

Haha - I sure was exact :) It should fall off quickly if you get back to your regular (losing weight) habits.

I did pretty good over the Mother's Day weekend.

- On Saturday morning, we went out with my MIL - I didn't eat that much, but certainly more than normal. I skipped bfast to help with this.
- Saturday night was a homecooked, low cal meal...followed by 250 calories of yummy dark chocolate.
- On Sunday I skipped breakfast (slept in yay!) and had a light lunch.
- On Sunday night, DH took me out for a delicious steak dinner (and fed the kids at home!). Near the end of my portion of steak, DH asked me and I noted that I was really, really full. I was VERY tempted to keep eating anyway but upon further consideration, I was reaching the point of being uncomfortably full. So...I got a takeout box and packed away the last 2 oz of steak with half my twice-baked potato, the sauteed mushrooms, and a large wedge of delish bread. I really thought I should finish it since it's not a lot of food, but I'm glad I thought about it some more - the box is now sitting in my work fridge now for lunch tomorrow.

On the other side of the equation, I did a lot of physical activity over the weekend. On Saturday, I fit in a 1 hour walk followed by a 2hr bike ride (training for my adventure race). Then Sunday, we joined up with our best friends and took all the kids out biking. It was slow paced - but we ended up strolling/biking for over 2 hours. I rewarded us with ice cream so ate all the calories I lost lol.

Hope all the Moms here got treated well for Mother's Day!! :)

Runrooster

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1651 on: May 15, 2017, 05:16:38 PM »
Week1: -3
Week2: -5
Week3: -6
Week4: -7
Week5: -9
Week6: -11
Week7:-12
week8:-13
week9:-14
week10: -15

Week11:-16
Week12:-18

Hit 10% bodyweight, woot!  There's hot weather coming up so this may be all I get this spring.  Hot weather means less walking, which I'm doing primarily to fight diabetes.  My A1c dropped at least .3 points, hopefully more since my last test.

elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1652 on: May 16, 2017, 09:17:05 AM »
@Runrooster That's AWESOME!!!! Good job!

I'm a bit disgusted with myself. I was doing pretty well following my plan and everything. The few pounds I've lost is actually showing and I'm liking how my body is starting to look. Then last night, I sat down with a bag of chocolate covered almonds planning to have a handful. I ate at least 3/4 (prob more) of the bag! My rough estimate is about 750-1000 calories!!!! (it's 250 cals per serving - there were 7 servings in that bag). That's insane.  I woke up dehydrated and I didn't even dare to weigh myself this morning.

*sigh*

Crystal1588

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1653 on: May 16, 2017, 09:59:11 AM »

My goal weight is 140 lbs with a stretch goal of 135, starting 2 weeks ago (Monday after Easter), I was at 165. I am 5'6''

Weigh ins:
4/17: 165 lbs
4/24: 158 lbs
5/1: 156 lbs

I plan on weighing in weekly and posting my progress!

Happy Monday! Time for a weekly weigh in!
5/8: 152 lbs

Seems to be dropping off pretty quickly, but I made some huge changes to my eating so i'm glad it's paying off.
Hope everyone has a great week!
[/quote]

A little late on the update, but progress has slowed. I'm not too surprised because this weekend was not my friend food wise. Oh well!

5/15: 151 lbs

Down 14 lbs so far, initial goal is only 11 lbs away!

elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1654 on: May 17, 2017, 07:24:21 AM »
@Crystal1588 You're getting there! Maybe a bit more slowly, but the trend is great!

As for me, I stepped on the scale this morning and cringed. Still dealing with the aftereffects of Chocolate Almonds Overdose. Up 1 pound :( Oh well, I'm not going to dwell on this anymore. STICK TO THE PLAN!

On the great news side - last night, I was going to walk for half an hour. At the last minute, I decided to switch to a (excruciatingly slow) jog. I chugged along for 30 whole minutes without stopping (my best record yet!). Even better, about 20 mins in, I noticed I wasn't even breathing heavily and was finding it relatively "easy". So I picked up the pace to 5 miles/hr for the last 8 mins and while I was breathing hard, it was still manageable!

I was soooo thrilled. I am not a runner and usually, 5 mins is enough for me to be absolutely winded. Not sure what's been happening...but I've been adding 30 min runs 1x a week and been doing better and better each time. I'm not aspiring to be a runner - but it is nice to feel that if I need to pick up the pace, I can do it for a decent amount of time without feeling like I'm dying. I plan to sub today's 30 min lunchtime walk with a light jog.

I've tried this a few times over the years unsuccessfully. I'm thinking its a combo of having lost a bunch of weight and maybe my overall fitness improving.

rpr

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1655 on: May 17, 2017, 12:48:01 PM »
@ elaine amj -- I've had similar experience. Indeed, fitness slowly improves with decreasing weight and increased activity levels. I've been closely monitoring my heart rate with a Garmin Vivoactive HR. It used to be that even with moderate activity, my heart rate would spike up and also tend to stay high for quite a while after the conclusion of that activity.  These days, after about 6 months of monitoring, I'm noticing that it does not quite spike as high. Also it tends to come down much faster.

elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1656 on: May 18, 2017, 09:33:28 AM »
@rpr It's a wonderful feeling when you can do more than you think.

I need to hang on to that - especially right now. Last night I went canoeing and got tired much, much quicker than normal (we were out there less than 30 mins!). I think it was partly because I like to canoe for leisure (I happily paddle for 3 hours straight without stopping) and this time I'm training for a race. Paddling like that gets me very tense as I'm not naturally good at it. Got pretty annoyed with how weak my strokes were and now I'm going to look up what kind of strength training exercises I can do to muscle up. I have one month to go before my big race!

Last night was rough. After struggling so much with paddling, I came home tired out to a grumpy husband who was upset I haven't been doing as much as he'd like around the house (he cut his finger badly a couple of days ago and part of his irritation is because he can't do as much as he'd like either!). So I had a bunch of household chores-type stuff to deal with punctuated by disgruntled husband comments. During all this, my DD15 interjected as many comments about her day and questions on how to do XX or YY as she could (she's just like the classic story of the housewife who saves her thousands of words for when her husband gets home from work). It was just a barrage of stuff when I was tired and exhausted. I told DH he was being an idiot and thankfully he exerted some effort to tone down his crankiness and we worked together the rest of the night to do all that we needed to get done. I prepped half of dinner for tomorrow, and he's going to handle the rest.

I went to bed reasonably early (for me) and was asleep before midnight. Unfortunately, my dumb dog woke me up at 2am begging to be let out. He's done this for 3-4 nights straight now - which is probably contributing to my overall exhaustion. The dog woke me up yet again at 4am but this time I refused to let him out and made him get back into bed. I'm going to have to be strict with him again and say "no" to the middle of the night poop breaks (which does mean exerting a bit more mental energy in the middle of the night for a few nights - boo). 

Anyway, I'm still tired today and am dealing with temptation to ignore the salad in the fridge and go out to buy my favorite comfort foods. Ugh.

On second thoughts, I do feel better after typing all this out (thanks for being here guys!!) and I think I will stay put and eat the salad I brought instead.

elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1657 on: May 19, 2017, 10:35:06 AM »
For once, I am excited to post a Friday weigh in :)

Friday weigh-in

Jan 1: 139.6 lbs...Jan 6: 137.8 lbs....Jan 13: 139.2 lbs...Jan 20: 138 lbs.....Jan 27: 139.2 lbs
Feb 3: 138.6 lbs...Feb 10: 142 lbs.....Feb 17: 141.2 lbs...Feb 23: 140.4 lbs
Mar 3: 140.2 lbs...Mar 13: 144.6 lbs..Mar 16: 143.8 lbs...Mar 23: 140.8 lbs..Mar 30: 141.2 lbs
Apr 7: 139.2 lbs...Apr 14: 139.2 lbs..Apr 21: 138.4 lbs...Apr 28: 139.6 lbs
May 5: 136.6 lbs..May 12: 135 lbs....May 19: 135.7 lbs

Start weight: 139.6 lbs
Weight lost: 3.9 lbs
Goal weight: 130 lbs

A little bump upwards this week - darn those too-tempting chocolate almonds. but trendweight still assures me I'm on the downward trend. I've been exhausted this week but maintained a certain level of physical activity. I went to bed late (yet again) last night despite being in an exhausted fog all evening - but somehow had a good night's sleep and feel MUCH better today. Going to relax about eating this weekend - we're going camping and I'm planning for lots of hammock time!! I'm going to keep up with hiking though. The place we're going has 10 miles of trails on their property so I'm excited.  We also really need some time to reconnect as a family..its been a bit of a rough go for us lately with lots of general crankiness.

rockstache

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1658 on: May 19, 2017, 01:27:43 PM »
Wow elaine amj, you have a lot going on in life, and yet you are still trending down for the most part! Great great job! I'm so happy for you.

I am back from vacation and must pay the piper. I'm up about 6 lbs overall, and I think it will come off quickly, but it's still hard to get back on the wagon. I will take the weight from my next check in (first Tuesday of the month), as my real status, so I have about 2 weeks to sort it out. Sometimes mental gymnastics are what's needed to get me doing the right things, ha! Knowing that I have to post here will hopefully keep me eating well for the next few weeks.

elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1659 on: May 19, 2017, 09:49:22 PM »
@rockstache It's about getting back into the routine, right? But sometimes it is easy...and sometimes it just isn't. We're here rooting for u!


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Izybat

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1660 on: May 20, 2017, 07:55:28 PM »
Huge surprise at weigh in this morning. Not only were the 2 pounds that I gained from my vacation last week gone, but I was also down 3.4 pounds total since my last official weigh in two weeks ago. That means that I possibly lost ~5 pounds this week! I don't really trust it, as a lot of it has to be water weight. I only worked out once this week, and definitely didn't do anything all that different with my food. Either way, I'll take it for now.  I'm currently down 35.4 since mid-January.

rpr

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1661 on: May 22, 2017, 06:55:57 PM »
My randomly timed update.

Date          Weight
1/1/2017    130
2/28/2017  133.6
3/10/2017  132.2
3/16/2017  131.0
4/10/2017  135.6
4/28/2017  132.8
5/21/2017  130.6

It is getting down there slowly towards the goal. So it looks like it took about 6 weeks to get rid of all of the weight I put on during my three week work trip. From my one data point, weight is put on twice as fast as it can come off ;) Another 0.6 pounds to go to hit my goal of at least being less than my weight  on Jan 1st of this year. I have other goals but one step at a time.

Been doing a fair bit of activity this past weekend.

Saturday: 7 mile hike (level at elevation of 5000 feet)
Sunday: 2 mile modestly paced walk, 40 minute exercise class, 1.75 mile walk downhill into town, then 1.75 mile walk back uphill

Everything is so sore. My legs hurt as well as the behind. So stiff I can barely bend down to pick up stuff :( Maybe it was too much.

Rooting for all of us on this journey!!

elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1662 on: May 23, 2017, 08:24:31 AM »
@rpr Yay for getting that weight off! It sucks how much faster it is to gain weight than to lose it, doesn't it? That's an impressive amount of activity over the weekend!

@Izybat That. is. awesome!!!!!! I really think our body remembers what we do in "normal" life and if we're able to return to it, we never put on as much over vacations as we think we should.

I was shocked when I weighed in myself. I had dropped another pound between Friday and Saturday (down to 134.4 lbs woot!), finally getting rid of the chocolate almonds effect. But I was relaxed during our camping weekend and had a couple of bags of my favourite junk food (cheesies!!) along with the most mouthwateringly delicious beef brisket ever in a tiny town near Woodstock, ON. We drove 45 mins to get here on a rainy Sunday- and it was so worth it. Afterwards, my son was craving ice cream sandwiches so we swung into a Walmart to price match a box of ice cream sandwiches for $1.99(thank you rebee app!). I ate THREE ice cream sandwiches! On top of that, the crummy weather and my incessant need to talk for ages to everyone we came across on our hikes meant I only managed 1+ hours of hiking each day. I was pretty worried about what my scale would say.

So, this morning, it was the moment of truth. Amazingly enough...I clocked in at 135 lbs!! Only a 0.6 lb gain - which should easily drop off this week! I most likely dropped the water weight yesterday as I was very careful what I ate all day.

In other news, we were scrambling for something quick and easy to make for dinner last night. I ended up whipping up a Zesty Lime Shrimp and Avocado Salad from my fave cooking website - Skinnytaste.com. Check it out (not my image):



I didn't have tomatoes (skipped it), jalapeno (skipped it), red onions (replaced with regular yellow onions) or cilantro (replaced it with mint from my garden). I also skipped the olive oil, salt, and pepper. It was STILL delicious! It was sooo simple to make too. Chopped onions marinated in lime huice, then add chopped up cooked shrimp, chopped avocado, and some cilantro.

We have been eating a lot of tofu and I've been trying to reduce the frequency a little (too much of a good thing, kwim?) and this turned out to be healthy, low cal (under 200 cals per serving!!), filling, and super yummy. I was also short on shrimp so I made 2 versions - DH got the one with shrimp, and I made mine with fake crabmeat. Shrimp was better, but the crabmeat was still yummy. Anyway, I HIGHLY recommend this! I made extra for my lunch today and am very excited for lunch. Mmmmm.

Crystal1588

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1663 on: May 23, 2017, 10:04:33 AM »
Update time! Quick stats are 5'6'', 29 years old. 3 kids (5, 3 and 6 months) which is where my weight came from. Put on about 20 lbs since I got married in 2010, looking to lose all of that plus an additional 5-10 lbs :)

Starting weight on 4/17: 165
5/15: 151
5/22: 149

Goal: 140 lbs
Stretch: 135 lbs

yuka

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1664 on: May 23, 2017, 01:45:46 PM »
After being on a serious decline in weight for a few months, I think I had a slight upturn because my wife and I got a puppy who demands constant round-the-clock attention while she's so young (should've adopted an adult dog perhaps.) Sneaking off to work out has been hard, as has preparing good food.

Anyway, we redoubled our efforts and I think I'm on the right path again.
So:
February 28: 256.5
May 9:          236.4
May 23:        233.0

This is really cool. I remember at the start of lent thinking "it'd be amazing to get down to 220, and I'd be really happy, even if that's still 10% over my ideal weight." Now it's not looking so far away, and I don't see any reason why I can't keep flying right past it! Also I'm excited because I'm going to be able to join my family for a summer vacation that includes water skiing. Slalom skiing is a brutal, brutal activity, and I think of it as a hard test of my fitness anytime I can get around to it. Last time I did it I was ~240 and not much muscle. If I can get down to 220 and keep working out, I should be able to do quite well.

Izybat

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1665 on: May 23, 2017, 07:11:20 PM »
I'm a bit worried about my weight this week. I had a semi-uncontrolled food fest on Sunday, which put me up on the scale the next morning. Normally, that wouldn't be a huge problem as I would just eat really well the rest of the week, except for one thing. I've traveling for work and have very little control over the food (pizza for lunch today, Italian restaurant for dinner, sandwiches tomorrow, etc). Fingers crossed that I don't do too much damage, especially such a short time after my vacation gain/loss from a week ago.

elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1666 on: May 24, 2017, 08:31:07 AM »
@Crystal you're getting closer!Not much more to go now.

@yuka It's pretty amazing when the weight starts moving isn't it? Rather like a snowball gaining momentum. It feels sooo good to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

@Izybat Work travel is rough for my waistline. I have such a hard time turning down free food! Case in point, I was working an event yesterday evening and my boss said we could expense dinner. I promptly got a large box of nachos (topped with ground beef, lettuce, shredded cheese and sour cream) for dinner. Ack - I rarely ever eat nachos! Then rounded it off with a 250 cal Tim Hortons Iced Capp because it smelt too good when I walked past. Darn free food.

On the good side, I only went slightly over my calories for the day so still lost weight - I'm back down to 134.6 lbs - which is close enough to my Saturday weight before the long weekend eating fest.

On the bad side, I'm back to my terrible sleeping habits. I didn't sleep until 1am Monday night so I was exhausted on Tuesday evening. Curled up in bed at 10pm promising myself that I would sleep early. Then started reading the ACA debate thread here on MMM and was up until 2am when I finally forced myself to put down the phone! I have read a ton of articles on American health care and the American viewpoint still fascinates me. I know Canadians still grumble about our universal healthcare up here in the Great White North and there are certainly improvements to be made but as an immigrant from the Third World - I absolutely love the single payer system and really appreciate not having to worry about healthcare here. It's not as fancy or as quick as it is in the US (DH worked as a nurse in the US for 20 years), but I personally feel we are pretty well taken care of. It's also great from a humanitarian point of view to know that as a country, we can ensure everyone can get a decent level of care.

Wow - I went off in a wild tangent (see why I was up until 2am?!). Back to weight loss! I am pretty excited seeing my trendweight numbers. I am currently trending at a loss of 0.8 lbs a week. Would like to see that go up a week bit but overall, it is very close to my 1 lb/week goal and it's good. It's only been 5 lbs, but I can see my body is trimming up and I'm feeling good in clothes again. Weird how 5 lbs made such a massive difference in how I look. I think it's because this weight range is my teeter point. Under 135 lbs and I look reasonable (IMO) and you can see my waistline while I look fat at 140 lbs.

elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1667 on: May 25, 2017, 02:33:50 PM »
So apparently I indulge in wild mood swings and crazy binges. Yesterday, I ate one square of dark chocolate. Next thing I know, I ate the whole bar. Today, I wolfed down a large bag of cheesies. I think its that TOM. Ugh.

Tomorrow is another day.

On the good side, I'm doing great at actual meals and my general habits (still bike commuting despite the gloomy rain yesterday and today). Just need to stay away from the crappy junk food.

StarBright

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1668 on: May 25, 2017, 03:10:41 PM »
Friday Weigh-In:

Start Date: Feb 24: 155.4 lbs
March 3:    154 lbs
March 10: 151.6
March 17: 150.6
March 24: 150.2
April 3: 149.4
April 7: 148.2
April 14: 147.8
April 21: 147.2
April 28: 147.2
May 8: 143.8
May 13: 145
May 25: 144

Logging my weight today because we are getting take-out tonight and I know I'll be retaining water tomorrow. I've actually weighed 144 for the last 9 days so maybe I'll get another woosh in a week or so? Nice to see consistency in any case.

The weather has become gorgeous and springlike so I've spent a lot of time in the garden and just taking walks after the kids go to bed and DH is playing video games. Walks are a habit left over from my teenage years for sure. Whenever I was bored my mom would say "so go take a walk." I'm so thankful our new house is in a very walkable/bikeable area.

@elaine amj - I'm the same way and I've felt a binge coming on for the last couple of days (hence yummy take out). I've eaten an entire pint of Halo Top over the course of the week because I'm feeling crazy for sugar. The good thing is that it passes :) Also that shrimp/avocado looks amazing and I think I'll make it next week.

@yuka - Yay puppy! We keep thinking about getting a puppy but I'm not ready for the time commitment right now.

@Crystal1588 - great loss - especially with running around after 3 kids!

@rpr - Hiking is so great for your whole body! Good for you.
« Last Edit: May 26, 2017, 10:56:07 AM by StarBright »

rockstache

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1669 on: May 25, 2017, 08:05:51 PM »
@elaine amj - I feel you. Yesterday I ate an (entire) old Hershey bar that had been sitting in my cabinet since last summer. I don't even like Hershey. Today I got my period. Oy.

yuka

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1670 on: May 26, 2017, 04:21:13 AM »
@StarBright: if I were to do it again, I'd find a 12 week puppy or maybe an adult. We've had her for two weeks, just now reaching 8 weeks, and it's been rough. Their mothers and litter mates are really the only ones equipped to handle them at this age, and they're capacity for learning this young is somewhat limited. She is cute though. Also, if you get them super young, you should just add $200-600 to their price because of vet visits.

elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1671 on: May 26, 2017, 09:22:06 AM »
@yuka She's adorable!! I considered it - but not for long and ended up adopting a 4 yr old adult. Simply couldn't bear the thought of the crazy puppy stage - especially with all of us gone most of the day. But...but...puppies are sooooooooo cute!

@rockstache I give up on the dieting thing again today. Still needing my comfort food!


elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1672 on: May 26, 2017, 09:25:02 AM »
Friday weigh-in

Jan 1: 139.6 lbs...Jan 6: 137.8 lbs....Jan 13: 139.2 lbs...Jan 20: 138 lbs.....Jan 27: 139.2 lbs
Feb 3: 138.6 lbs...Feb 10: 142 lbs.....Feb 17: 141.2 lbs...Feb 23: 140.4 lbs
Mar 3: 140.2 lbs...Mar 13: 144.6 lbs..Mar 16: 143.8 lbs...Mar 23: 140.8 lbs..Mar 30: 141.2 lbs
Apr 7: 139.2 lbs...Apr 14: 139.2 lbs..Apr 21: 138.4 lbs...Apr 28: 139.6 lbs
May 5: 136.6 lbs..May 12: 135 lbs....May 19: 135.7 lbs...Mat 26: 135.8 lbs

Start weight: 139.6 lbs
Weight lost: 3.8 lbs
Goal weight: 130 lbs

Not so good weigh in. That TOM is coming and I've been gorging on junk and sneaking in naps whenever possible. Just seems so weird that after training hard for the past few weeks, that I've mostly taken this week off. Other than my bike commute, I've done just about nothing extra and eaten lots more junk food. Oh well, I declare a dieting break until my body gets back to more normal operations! Feeling guilty about lack of training through....my big race is in just a few more weeks!!

rpr

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1673 on: May 27, 2017, 04:34:27 PM »
@ elaine amj -- On a weekly basis lots of things happen. If you compare it to a month ago, you've done very well. Almost 4 lbs lost is damned good. Give yourself both a pat and a break. You will come back energized.

I did weigh myself today and it was 129.2. This is the lowest it's been in almost 6 months.

Date          Weight
1/1/2017    130
2/28/2017  133.6
3/10/2017  132.2
3/16/2017  131.0
4/10/2017  135.6
4/28/2017  132.8
5/21/2017  130.6
5/27/2017  129.2
 
Initial Goal < 130.0
Updated Year End Goal < 125.0


Most of it is probably water loss from dehydration. I'd gone for a 4 mile walk/run. I'll take it. Now to make sure that it stays below this.

I have added a stretch goal of 125 lb. It is at that weight that my tummy starts to not look as prominent on my rather small frame ;) It is likely doable but needs lots of focus.

yuka

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1674 on: May 28, 2017, 05:18:06 AM »
February 28: 256.5
May 9:          236.4
May 23:        233.0
May 28:        236.0


Sooooo, that's not so good. What happened?

Well, I got in the mood to bake things because it's a beloved hobby of mine. My wife and I made bread and pizza. Both came out of the oven excellent, but then we ate them... not so good. To say nothing of the facepunch-worthiness of using the oven in South Carolina in the middle of the summer.

Anyway, I'm sure those 3 pounds are mostly glycogen stores (I don't normally do bread) rather than fat, but I'd rather they not be there, because that's the road to frustration and re-gaining weight. I think I'm going to do a 24 hour 'fast' from dinner tonight until dinner Monday. I suppose that's sort of the opposite of a normal Memorial Day weekend, but I don't have many friends in SC anyway.

Izybat

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1675 on: May 28, 2017, 06:06:04 AM »
Well, I didn't go to my official weigh in yesterday because I ran a 5k instead, however unofficially I'm up at least 3 lbs this week. It was a perfect storm of emotional eating (due to various factors), travel for work (where food was largely out of my control), and then visitors in from out of town for memorial day weekend. I need to get back on track.

rockstache

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1676 on: May 28, 2017, 11:03:14 AM »
Sounds like everyone's going a bit off the rails so I'm in good company here. I ate a ridiculous amount yesterday and the weekend is not over, and I have two enormous cupcakes on the counter that I will definitely not be letting go to waste. Sigh. My weight is creeping up, and even when I don't weigh myself I can feel it on my body. I'm going to have to double down in June.

elaine amj

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1677 on: May 28, 2017, 12:37:51 PM »
Well, we r all in good company then!! Looks like it was just that kind of week.

On to good news - I think my binging is over. Today I have had practically no cravings.

Also, I went for a 3hr training session this morning. My teammate and I biked and hiked. I was drained after about 2 hrs because I didn't stop to snack. Thankfully, my friend immediately pulled over and ordered me to eat (I was going to muscle through). I had a 100-cal homemade energy bite and started feeling better 15-20 mins later. All in all, a good training session and I ended it with plenty of juice still left in me. A bit achy and tired now, but not completely wiped out.

Next week, we are going to planning a 2hr bike ride with a 1hr paddle in between.

Yes, this is what we do for fun :)


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Frugal Lizard

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1678 on: June 02, 2017, 10:15:36 AM »
Just posting to let you guys know I am still sort of working this thread.  I have been trying to just hold my weight steady until I have brain capacity to focus on this aspect of my life. I think this time of year is easier for me.  I joined the thread just over a year ago and the pounds fell away without too much sacrifice.  Then at the end of summer they found their way right back to my belly.  Most of them came back in November and December.  I think I have a propensity towards hibernation.

Well spring is back. My gardens are starting to produce really tasty snacks. I tend to stroll out the door instead of to the fridge when I am resting my eyes from the screen (procrastinating).  I am happier. My husband is guarding the kitchen in the evenings again (ie he is not at work and can see me sneak in there).  He is doing some of the shopping so the type of treats entering the house is not my choice.  He is eating dinner with us every night and that motivates me to make veg and salads because he really likes them.  I am getting a lot more exercise with all this gardening and renovating and just being outside.

I have been getting on the scales for about six weeks now but not wanting to post the same 135 pound weight but in the last three weeks the needle has been moving slightly down and now I have had three readings of 133 in the last two weeks.  This morning it was 132.  I am back on track and now I am way more aware of the fall loading that comes my way. 

I have been trying to reduce stress and make lots of profound changes in the last year and I think I can handle a "vigilant monitoring" of weight creep now.  Not ready for active tracking and striving for my goal quite yet.  I am hoping that my shoulder and foot feeling a little better also means that I can start to add more fitness activities to my day.  Am going to go really slowly so that I am not re-injuring myself.  Have to be able to hike a bit by the end of summer for a camping trip with my son.

StarBright

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1679 on: June 02, 2017, 10:27:32 AM »

Friday Weigh-In:

Start Date: Feb 24: 155.4 lbs
March 3:    154 lbs
March 10: 151.6
March 17: 150.6
March 24: 150.2
April 3: 149.4
April 7: 148.2
April 14: 147.8
April 21: 147.2
April 28: 147.2
May 8: 143.8
May 13: 145
May 25: 144
June 2: 143.8

Ha! Based on my losses from Feb to April I thought getting to 140 would be a piece of cake - I suspect i'll be losing about .5 pounds a month from here on out. I'm just not active enough (and at this point of my life it isn't possible to add more activity in) and I am not willing to cut my calories below 1400 a day (and I'm hungry on that).

My doc just added a daily fish oil supplement too and it is 50 calories! 50 calories gone in a teaspoon.

Hi @Frugal Lizard - good to see you!

Hope everyone else is doing well.

Also- does anyone here use a food scale? I'e avoided it and I'm generally pretty good at eye-balling servings but think I am close enough to goal that a food scale might make the difference. I appreciate thoughts, recommendations, etc.


yuka

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1680 on: June 05, 2017, 01:06:24 PM »
Weigh-in this morning after spending a weekend walking around and eating too much with my brother who came to visit:

February 28: 256.5
May 9:          236.4
May 23:        233.0
May 28:        236.0
June 5:         235.4

I was a little lower (maybe 233) going into the weekend, but the bottom line is that bread needs to be kept out of the house for a while. It's just too effective a tactic for me to discard.

@StarBright Your recent (gentle) roller coaster looks a bit like mine. I use a food scale, but it's about 50/50 for cooking and for portion control. It's good if you're portioning nuts (super dangerous in relatively small weights) or snack foods (why do I do that to myself?) and want to actually know the servings. My scale is not the result of any research, but if you're trying to pick a good one, I'd send you to http://thesweethome.com/reviews/best-kitchen-scale/

Izybat

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1681 on: June 05, 2017, 05:21:16 PM »
I forgot to post on Saturday after my weigh in, but after two weeks of eating and drinking pretty much everything, I gained 7 lbs. It's a big gain, but I just have to remind myself that if I wasn't on this journey, it would likely have been bigger, because I wouldn't have stopped myself. Though, I have to admit, it's been much harder to get back on track than I was thinking it would, especially since I'm on a strange restricted diet this week from the doctor.

Oh well. Tomorrow is another day.

rockstache

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1682 on: June 06, 2017, 06:04:50 AM »

First Tuesday of the month check in:

2016
January 4: 153.0
February 1: 147.2
March 7: 140.2
April 4: 135.8
May 2: 134.8
June 7: 133.0
July 5: 132.2
August 2: 130.2
September 6: 128.8
October 4: 124.6
November 1: 124.6
December 6: 123.4

2017
January 3: 127.8
February 7: 122.8
March 7: 123.0
April 4: 123.0
May 2: 122.6
June 6: 129.4

Well, I've been reporting the good all along, so it only seems right to report the bad too. I've been back from Hawaii long enough to know this is clearly not water weight anymore. Sigh. I'd better get back on the program before I get over 130 again.

Crystal1588

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1683 on: June 06, 2017, 09:31:03 AM »
Update time! Quick stats are 5'6'', 29 years old. 3 kids (5, 3 and 6 months) which is where my weight came from. Put on about 20 lbs since I got married in 2010, looking to lose all of that plus an additional 5-10 lbs :)

Starting weight on 4/17: 165
5/15: 151
5/22: 149

Goal: 140 lbs
Stretch: 135 lbs



6/5: 147 lbs
Moving in the right direction!

Dicey

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1684 on: June 06, 2017, 09:49:27 AM »
I love how supportive this group is! I need a little help and I hope the collective mind will have an answer. I am a vegetarian (not vegan) and I'd like to knock off about ten more pounds. I've lost about six pounds since January, but it's not enough yet. I walk at least 10-12 miles per week.The weight gain came from marrying into an instant family and cooking all of our meals at home. My peeps are not vegetarians, so I make meals with meat on the side. Help!

What's a vegetarian who wants to lose some weight to do?

rockstache

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1685 on: June 06, 2017, 10:24:33 AM »
Hi Dicey, welcome!

I'm not a vegetarian, but if I were I imagine I would fill up on carbs such as rice and pasta. Do you think this is one of your tricks? If so, it might be a good place to start. Also eating vegetables is also low calorie and super healthy until you start adding high fat dressing, lots of nuts etc. Even though they are healthy, I have found that the calories add up quick. Does any of this sound accurate? What sort of meals do you cook most often?

Also, I have had great luck with the (free) tracking app myfitnesspal. When I quit using it, that is when my weight starts to drift back up. It's pretty great, and you can add your home cooked recipes in pretty easily. Maybe you could look into it?

rpr

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1686 on: June 06, 2017, 10:58:19 AM »
Hi Dicey -- Welcome from me too. That you have already lost 6 pounds shows that whatever you are doing already works.

I'm a vegetarian as well but vegan at home. 

For me going from vegetarian to vegan really helped. When my vegetarian sandwiches became vegan by removing the cheese, the calories dropped by at least 30%. Choose lower calorie spreads and condiments. I also slowly increased my fiber intake by moving up to more whole grain and whole plant based products. I am currently aiming to reduce oils even more by cooking with very little or even just water/broth. 
 
I agree with @rockstache regarding MFP. Tracking really helped me figure out how much calories I ate. I figured out how many calories I needed to eat in order to maintain my weight  assuming a sedentary lifestyle. I then aimed for a little lower (about 10%) for weight loss. I did this tracking for a few weeks with my usual foods in order to get a good idea of the calorie contents of things I ate. I did not track non starchy veggies.   

One other thing that is motivational and works for me is to get something like a Fitbit or  Garmin activity tracker and consistently meet or beat the goals these set for you. Your smartphone can also do the job provided you have it with you all the time. These things also calculate calories burned but I find that number to be completely unreliable.  On a sedentary office day for me (computer desk job), I was taking less than 3500 steps with no other exercise activity. I aimed to at least double that to start with. If possible get a fitness buddy or someone you can be accountable to.

Walking 10-12 miles a week is quite good. See if you can increase it slowly to 14 (2 miles/day).  You can do it. I have found this thread to be quite motivational for me.


yuka

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1687 on: June 06, 2017, 12:38:39 PM »
Welcome Dicey! I'm not vegetarian, but a lot of my meals could be if I didn't add meat at the last moment for the texture.

Anyway, my intersection of cheap and healthy (which is vegetarian, naturally) is chickpeas, beans, and lentils. They're more filling than rice and pasta, and they go really well in stews.

Izybat

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1688 on: June 06, 2017, 05:27:42 PM »
I'm vegetarian too, but as I've discovered, you can both gain and lose weight on a vegetarian diet just like on a non-vegetarian diet. I gained somewhere near 30 lbs in the year after I turned vegetarian (I wasn't watching what I ate at all, and was eating like crap), but now since January, I'm done 28 pounds.  I totally agree with more vegetables, fruits and whole grains. I find that most vegetarian recipes are actually shockingly low on vegetables, so we add them into pretty much every dish we make.

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1689 on: June 07, 2017, 10:33:50 AM »
I'd like to join this thread too. I had a moment yesterday of "this weight is a hair-on-fire emergency!" I am married with two kids under 5. I work part time and run a side Etsy business. Life is fairly busy but I need to get used to making time for myself to exercise.

Current stats: 160.5 lbs, 39.3% body fat (ouch) if the Fitbit scale is to be trusted
Goal: 145 lbs, under 30% body fat

Plan: yesterday I re-downloaded the My Fitness Pal app since calorie and macro tracking really helps. I plan to get my calories on track and drink at least 8 cups of water a day. I have been half-assed exercising for months, so I need to up that. I aim to do strength training twice a week and cardio (probably jogging) twice a week. That feels doable with my life right now.

My issue is I "know" what I should do, it is just having the willpower to do it. I was 138 lbs going into my first pregnancy a few years ago, so aiming for 145 right now feels good. My family is pretty much all obese other than my siblings and I, and I do not want to follow in their footsteps. Pretty much the entire older generation has multiple health issues.

I did the Whole30 in the fall and lost 8 lbs (was down to 151 lbs), then regained it and more. I didn't do the reintro phase properly but did learn that legumes, soy and some veggies (broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage) make me super bloated and gassy and I've cut them from my diet. The strict eating will not work for me long term, so I want to find a balance where I can have a drink/dessert once in awhile and be okay. I did struggle with an eating disorder in high school (was underweight) so finding a balance without going nuts it key.

Looking forward to posting updates and following along!

StarBright

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1690 on: June 07, 2017, 07:27:57 PM »
Welcome Welcome Dicey and NorthernDreamer!

StarBright

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1691 on: June 09, 2017, 01:28:04 PM »
Friday Weigh-In:

Start Date: Feb 24: 155.4 lbs
March 3:    154 lbs
March 10: 151.6
March 17: 150.6
March 24: 150.2
April 3: 149.4
April 7: 148.2
April 14: 147.8
April 21: 147.2
April 28: 147.2
May 8: 143.8
May 13: 145
May 25: 144
June 2: 143.8
June 9: 143.6

I'm hanging in there! I've been solo parenting all week and my work schedule has been out of control so I actually upped my calories for the week to allow for a couple of comfort food meals.

I will also actually have time to grocery shop next week so I'll go back to putting in real effort :)

Hope everyone had a better loss than me this week!

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1692 on: June 10, 2017, 06:38:08 AM »
It is definitive - down to 132 for a whole week now.

I have a very sore mouth - must have eaten some gluten so I can barely eat at the moment.  Trying to see this as a reset week.

Izybat

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1693 on: June 10, 2017, 08:26:03 AM »
After being up by 7 lbs last week (over a two week span of time), this week I weighed in and was down 4.8 lbs. I'll take it, but I know it's not really anything I did, as I had a medical procedure this week that messed with my diet and body all week long. Hopefully, the weight stays off now that the medical thing is over.

rpr

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1694 on: June 11, 2017, 11:38:37 AM »
I too have been holding steady. This week was a mixed one in terms of exercise. I had a few low activity days followed by a huge one at almost 35000 steps. I walked everyone yesterday -- to the market, the ocean, the movies at night. It feels good to be up and about.

Edited to add: this morning after my walk I weighed 127.4. The lowest in months. Likely to be mostly water but we will see.

@ NorthernDreamer -- welcome. This has been a supportive thread for me.

@ Frugal Lizard -- good news on the loss front.

@ Izybat -- Sickness can indeed cause changes, some of them dramatic. The question is how to keep that off. Good luck.
« Last Edit: June 11, 2017, 02:51:05 PM by rpr »

wintertell

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1695 on: June 12, 2017, 07:35:10 AM »
Weight Log
12/6/16  ~265
1/7/17      256.4   
2/3/17      251.6
3/10/17    242.2
4/7/17      235.8
4/19/17    232.8
5/4/17      230.0 (-2.8)
6/12/17    227.2 (-2.8)
Total Loss: 37.8 lbs
Total Percent: 14.2%

Checking in again -- I've been struggling lately, but am finally back on track. I was a bit too restrictive with my diet. Plus I had been making a ton of changes even when life was getting crazy, which caused me to burn out. To recover, first I worked on getting out of my mental funk and then I took a maintenance break for a week, two separate times. The second maintenance break went much better than the first and was a true mental break because I went on a work trip and left the scale at home.

This week seems to be fairly low key, so I'm aiming for weight loss again. When life gets busy again or I have a ton on my plate I will switch back to maintenance. I only programmed a 300 calorie deficit this week to slowly get into the swing of things again.

Izybat

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1696 on: June 12, 2017, 04:51:52 PM »

I've been struggling lately, but am finally back on track. I was a bit too restrictive with my diet. Plus I had been making a ton of changes even when life was getting crazy, which caused me to burn out. To recover, first I worked on getting out of my mental funk and then I took a maintenance break for a week, two separate times. The second maintenance break went much better than the first and was a true mental break because I went on a work trip and left the scale at home.


I might need to take a page out of your book. I've been struggling a lot lately, not just with my diet, but with life in general. I have been eating and drinking things I shouldn't, not exercising, not doing my usual hobbies, etc. I've been really frustrated with life and since I'm an emotional eater, I just stop caring about being healthy and eat whatever I want to. I keep trying to get back on track, and then something will set me off again (usually just my brain thinking stupid thoughts).

I have to figure out something to snap me out of this funk or it could be much worse in the long run.

wintertell

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1697 on: June 12, 2017, 07:38:43 PM »

I've been struggling lately, but am finally back on track. I was a bit too restrictive with my diet. Plus I had been making a ton of changes even when life was getting crazy, which caused me to burn out. To recover, first I worked on getting out of my mental funk and then I took a maintenance break for a week, two separate times. The second maintenance break went much better than the first and was a true mental break because I went on a work trip and left the scale at home.


I might need to take a page out of your book. I've been struggling a lot lately, not just with my diet, but with life in general. I have been eating and drinking things I shouldn't, not exercising, not doing my usual hobbies, etc. I've been really frustrated with life and since I'm an emotional eater, I just stop caring about being healthy and eat whatever I want to. I keep trying to get back on track, and then something will set me off again (usually just my brain thinking stupid thoughts).

I have to figure out something to snap me out of this funk or it could be much worse in the long run.

I cannot recommend a maintenace break enough. The first time I was like a tiger let out of the cage; I went on a rampage and ate like crap. I then went into a deficit for a week to recover. Then, I did true maintenance. I planned my meals and tracked, but not super closely. I didn't weigh myself. I focused on other things going on in my life. I realized that I only have so much bandwidth. The reason I was getting burned out continuously, so much so that even rest couldn't fight the burn out, is that I was putting too much pressure on myself. So I adjusted my expectations and kept with maintenance until I was able to do my normal weekend routine of meal plan/shop/prep on the weekend, thus setting me up to succeed this week. The mental break was so worth it and refreshing!

Plus, doing it for a week or 2 can jump start your weight loss again as it helps your metabolism reset rather than having to cut down on calories more and more as you lose weight.

Frugal Lizard

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1698 on: June 12, 2017, 07:59:35 PM »
I too was having a bandwidth deficit.  Resetting my eating, buying and saving habits and de-cluttering and lowering energy use and learning about banking and investing and small appliance repair and trying to get off the track all our friends and family are on is overwhelming.  So I had to dial back on some things.  I was feeling completely panicked and suddenly I was headed right back up to where I started a year ago.
I lowered my sights to not gaining all the weight back.  It took me 12 years to put it on so I am cutting myself some slack but not letting go completely.
I think that I may never meet my goal - but hey - I won't ever let things get so far out of hand again. 

Crystal1588

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Re: Losing Weight in 2016
« Reply #1699 on: June 13, 2017, 07:53:42 AM »
I think it's any step in the right direction of changing your lifestyle and being more healthy is awesome. Little changes yield huge results over the long haul. It's a marathon not a sprint!

I think everyone is doing fantastic and I find this thread to be so inspiring!

Now for my update, a little late

Starting weight on 4/17: 165
5/15: 151
5/22: 149
6/5: 147
6/13: 145 lbs

My initial goal is 140 and my stretch goal is 135. We'll see how hard it is to lose the last 5-10!

 

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