The weekly weight loss check-in and encouragement

[Jennifer]

Oh poopy! I am up one pound from my lowest point. But on the bright side, I am still down by 11 since I started.
Next week I hope to have better news.

Jennifer

[Pippa]

Joining in as I need to lose some of the spare tyre around my waist.   I tend to look at body shape rather than weight and last year slimmed down significantly by watching my diet and exercising ( a lot of cycling).   Over the past few months, I have gone through a pretty stressful time and turned into a bit of a couch potato.   I have lost my job and I am currently taking legal action to get my contractual redundancy pay plus compensation for constructive dismissal.

Now it is time to get rid of the pounds and to try to obtain a more feminine figure.   I estimate that I need to lose about 15 - 20 lbs but I am worried that by losing the weight, I will lose some of my b cup boobs.

I have started by cutting my calorie intake and by doing some simple exercises.   When the weather (currently snow) improves, I get get my cycling gear on.

Two really useful tips, eat soup at lunchtime as you will feel fuller longer.   Your stomach takes longer to get rid of a soup suspension than it does solid food.   A protein rich diet will also help hunger pangs.   Secondly eat low fat dairy such as skimmed milk and yogurt as this decreases the amount of fat absorbed by your body (it's something to do with the calcium).

[xAndrewx]

Looks like everyone is working hard   Well, I'm at 208.3 this week. I'm on T now and working harder than ever. Now to find some affordable but decently healthy things to eat. I'm going for a eating less but not entirely changing my diet approach for now. Good luck everyone! 

down-7.3 lbs in about 10 days

[Jennifer]

     I see that I checked in but didn't offer any encouragement: Welcome Sigmafan, glad you joined in. You too Rob, it's never too late to start eating right. And Madelyn I agree, keep checking in even if you have a little setback (like I have), you set a great example for us all. Andrew, as always I love reading your posts, and wow, I want to lose that much too! Great job! By the way, what is P90X? Also, hi to all the newcomers I didn't mention. Thanks for all the great weight loss ideas.

Jennifer

[regan]

By the way, what is P90X?

A fate worse then death.    I know several people that started it, but I don't know any of them that have finished it.

I start a "boot camp" tomorrow.  Got my measurements today, lets just say there's plenty of room for improvement.  The trainer assures me my numbers will go down.

[sigmafan]

I'm now down to 311, so that's good.  I just hope that these next two weeks don't screw me up that bad.  But I'll make the most of it.

[Double_Rainbow]

I've been working on my weight as well.  I am 6'1 and weigh around 220 lbs.  Down 20 lbs from mid last year!  I don't really eat much, but when I do its just like 1 big meal and maybe a few snacks here and there.  I've been trying to balance out my meals so that my metabolism is stable.  I've also been doing moderate exercise, like jogging!  But not regularly enough...   I'm really trying to get down to at least 185. 

[regan]

I've been working on my weight as well.  I am 6'1 and weigh around 220 lbs.  Down 20 lbs from mid last year!  I don't really eat much, but when I do its just like 1 big meal and maybe a few snacks here and there.  I've been trying to balance out my meals so that my metabolism is stable.  I've also been doing moderate exercise, like jogging!  But not regularly enough...   I'm really trying to get down to at least 185.

We have essentially the same goals, we should make a point to keep eachother motivated.

[Robert Scott]

I have so been down in a dark hole and not worried about losing weight ... I didn't even want to live ...

However, I seem to be escaping from my hole ... my weight is way up ... but I have gone to the gym two days in a row now so I hope to get back on track

[regan]

I have so been down in a dark hole and not worried about losing weight ... I didn't even want to live ...

However, I seem to be escaping from my hole ... my weight is way up ... but I have gone to the gym two days in a row now so I hope to get back on track

Everyone has to start somewhere.  I started working out last month and I can at least sense a difference already.  It does get to be second nature when you get on a schedule.

[Robert Scott]

Everyone has to start somewhere.  I started working out last month and I can at least sense a difference already.  It does get to be second nature when you get on a schedule.

I know ... I had been going to the gym 5 days a week for the last 4 months .. and then the holidays hit and bam!  I just stopped doing everything

[Adabelle]

Well, I have a bit of good news to share.

After having a somewhat rocky holiday season where I gained some weight back I have finally been able to work that off and then dip a little below my weight before the holiday.

My previous lowest was 191.8lb and this morning I hit 191.0lb

I'm very happy, and now suddenly I'm afraid to put any more food in my mouth for fear I'll go back up!

Hang in there everyone, you can do it!

[Jennifer]

That's awesome Madelyn! I am still hanging steady at 177, three weeks on this plateau after losing 11. Better than gaining it all back again, but still hoping for another losing streak. I can do it. Right?

Jennifer

[Adabelle]

I can do it. Right?

OF COURSE. I hung out at 193 for several weeks and then finally dropped down again, and just dropped again a little. I really hope next week I can drop below 190. This will be the first time I've been that low for about 12 years, it's really hard to believe.

[sigmafan]

Ugh.  Gained 3 pounds this past week.  Not good, even though I'm doing the right things.

[regan]

I've lost about 12 lbs since the holdays.  Just trying to do the right things,  I think its probably mostly water weight or whatever it is when people get serious about losing weight.  But I'll take it either way, its been a while since I've been under 230.  I know I can get back to 200ish (i've been there lots of times), I'd really like to be under 190 with my goal being around 170 before I go full time (still preHRT so its a ways off).  Maybe that's a little skinny, but I want to compensate for my height by being skinny.

Best advice I've had though is don't worry as much about what the scale says as much as how your body looks.  The numbers on a scale don't really reflect the weight of muscle vs body fat well and its deceptive just to judge your efforts by the numbers on a scale alone.

My boot camp now starts Monday (due the the storms this week), I'll be interested to see just how much "my numbers" go down over the next month.

[niamh]

Ugh.  Gained 3 pounds this past week.  Not good, even though I'm doing the right things.

Cut out dairy, oils, salt and sugar.

Then see how you are a week later.

[Jennifer]

OF COURSE.

Thanks Madelyn, you're right, we can do it if we stay on task and don't lose hope.

Jennifer

[Adabelle]

Here's what's working for me:

• Tracking my calories daily on LiveStrong
• Drinking at least 8 glasses (64oz) or water daily (also tracking my water intake
• Trying to get as close to 8 hours of sleep as possible at night
• Limiting salt, processed sugars, and wheat (bread is my addiction)
• Increasing my intake of fruits, veggies, beans
• Eating more soup. (Great way to get more beans and veggies, and makes me feel full.
• Keeping in mind that I'm doing this to become the person I've always wanted to be.

Here's what's not working:

• Any days that I forget to track calories or water I am over on calories, and under on water
• If I eat a lot of salt, I find that food moves through my system a lot slower and it makes me end up feeling bloated.
• When family comes for a visit food is a huge part of our activities - so I'm less likely to track, and more likely to go over on calories.
• Eating out at restaurants is hard - I'm amazed at how calorie dense restaurant food is!
• If I forget why I'm doing this, and get depressed or feel like a failure it undermines my progress.

In reality if I could only choose ONE thing that works for me it's tracking what I eat. It is amazing to me how if I just am aware of what I eat how I maintain SO MUCH MOE control over myself.

I also am finding myself turning food away now (?!?!?!?!?). I have this little internal evaluation that goes on that goes something like this:

"OMG, look at those cookies right there."
"How many calories is in there?"
"500?! Forget it, they aren't 500-Calories-Good. I'm only like 6/10 desperate for them right now."

There are some days where I want the cookies so bad it's worth the 500 calories and I'll give up my big bowl of soup for the cookies. But whereas before I'd just eat the cookies, now days I do this mental check and see how desperate I really am for them, and if I'm super desperate then I go for it and cut other things that day - but most of the time I end up opting for something that's a better calorie-to-pleasure ratio. It's super easy on things that I only moderately like that are also calorie dense, like ginger cookies - these are never a high enough calorie-to-pleasure ratio for me to eat.

Okay, just thought I'd share what is working for me at the moment.

[Double_Rainbow]

Well I'm not making any progress since I last posted.  I drink up to 4 energy drinks a day which is most definitely part of the problem.  I eat relatively healthy but the energy drinks seem to be countering the effect.  STILL, 1 serving of my energy drink of choice has less sugar than the same size Mt. Dew!