Weight Loss

[TooPatient]

Fresh start weight: 239.8 (3/5/15)
3/23/15: 236.4

I have been very good eating salads and lots of veggies. Always coming in at 1300-1500 calories with a good balance of proteins and nutrients and all that.

Except today. Mega stress. Ended up eating a 6-pack of chocolate pudding, some cheese, gold fish crackers, a bag of dried apples, and half a 12oz bag of M&MS...

Tossed the other half of the bag out. Realized what 8 was doing and went for a short walk.

Back on track with dinner (chicken & broccoli) tonight. Tomorrow will be better. Will walk the stress away instead of eating.

 

[Phoenix]

So glad to see everyone doing well.

I wanna play too!

I keep telling ppl IRL I'm having a mid-life crisis, lol. So, what I've been doing:

(A) GYM WORKOUTS

- started working out harder and more *effectively* in Nov last year: hired a personal trainer, have been working out more (4-5 times a week, about 2 hrs each time), eat less carbs (still a HUGE amount, need the energy to work out) and way more fish (3-4 times a week, both for dinner and lunch).

- Have lost 12lbs on my tiny 5 1 3/4 inch frame since Nov. YAY!!

- Body fat gone down from 33% to 27%. YAY again!! Aiming to go down below 25% (closer to 20% would be ideal)

- Body metabolic age has gone down from that of a 46 y.o. to that of a 32 y.o.

- Muscle mass has increased significantly. I forget the numbers. My arms and legs and uhm...gluts are very toned and muscular now.

- Visceral fat has also gone down.

- Have dropped inches off my waist!!

Would like to lose another 3-4lbs if possible. If not, I'd be ok. Have to weigh up being more lean in the body vs. looking gaunt in the face.

(B) RUNNING OUTSIDE

- I recently ran 10k (well, walked about a third). But it was my very first!! And man, the heat was *horrible*!

- Training for my very first half- marathon. Trying to target July but that might be too soon. If not, I can try for the Dec one.

(C) TREKKING

- I walked up Mt Belumut in Malaysia. They said 1,000 metres. Liars!! lol!! I walked 4k up and 4k down. Didn't even reach the summit (that would have been 7k up and 7k down). The worst thing was the steepness of the steps and how high up the whole thing was. And I am absolutely *petrified* of heights!! I think I actually teared up on the way down - kept thinking I was going to fall down and break my neck and die!!

- Planning more treks and hikes.

 

[TooPatient]

Phoenix -- wow! Awesome work.

Scale still sitting at 237 (I'll take it after the cras I had Monday!) BUT.... My wedding rings went on my ring finger for the first time in months!

 

[diamondringlover]

my weight loss stopped, I literally stayed within a pound or 2 of the same weight I finally got the scales moving again this week, I lost another pound..I am only at a 16 lb loss, but I am finally starting to see some improvement, I have a pair of capri's my Mom bought me several years ago that was always too small, but I hung on to them because they were cute, I put them on yesterday and they now fit!! I am stoked..so now I need to keep going forward I am so looking forward to cute clothes..the clothes that fit me are ugly, I may be old and fat but I don't like dressing like it lol.

 

[Hospatogi]

Hi,
I was wondering if I could ask how you all stay motivated. I started the year off great. I joined a local gym and was going regularly until I got the flu in February . After that I just got out of the habit of going. Something would always come up or I'd just feel too tired to go. Now here it is almost April and I am nowhere near the 6 month goal I had set for myself. I definately need to lose weight to get healthy especially because I eventually want to start a family ( I'm 34). My husband works a lot so he can't be my gym buddy and most of my friends make the same excuses I do. What can I do to get back on track?
I bought a Vitamix recently hoping that at least healthy eating would be a good start. I normally leave for work so early that I skip breakfast, eat a very light lunch, so I'm famished by dinner. I'm usually so tired after work that I'm not in the mood to cook. Hubby or I usually end up ordering takeout or picking up food on the way home. I was hoping the Vitamix may help make it simpler and faster to make a healthy meal at home. It's too expensive a gadget to just end up collecting dust in my pantry. Help

 

[Jambalaya]

Phoenix - awesome work! You go, girl!

Hospatogi - it can take weeks to recover from the flu. As to motivation, I don't have any magic words, but when I used to be fitter and healthier I just MADE myself go. The motivation, if there was any, was to remember that I had never regretted a workout in my life, and not once have I ever felt worse afterward, always better. So it was motivation to remember that I ALWAYS felt satisfaction afterward and that all I needed to do was just go.

But it sounds as if your eating habits are sapping your energy and making you too tired to exercise. If you skip breakfast and have a light lunch then you won't have the energy to work out. I'd have a proper breakfast - cereals and fruit, or eggs - and you could make large pots of dinner at the weekend and then heat them up in the week. Like casseroles. Or, grilling some salmon and vegetables is easy. I'm going to make like Phoenix and eat more fish.

 

[Jambalaya]

OK, having started this thread ages ago, I'm ready to begin. I suffer from depression due to the isolation of caregiving and seeing a lot of illness and death from being deeply involved in the senior community, so I have good days and bad days. I comfort eat.

But anyway, I'm ready to begin. I'm 191.6 pounds - actually last week I was 194 so I've inadvertently lost a few already.

Cooking healthy meals and long walks, here I come.

 

[Jambalaya]

diaondrnglover - 16 lbs! Way to go! I bet you look cute in your pants!

 

[Jambalaya]

TooPatient - so cool about your wedding ring! Great work!

 

[manderz]

Hi,
I was wondering if I could ask how you all stay motivated. I started the year off great. I joined a local gym and was going regularly until I got the flu in February . After that I just got out of the habit of going. Something would always come up or I'd just feel too tired to go. Now here it is almost April and I am nowhere near the 6 month goal I had set for myself. I definately need to lose weight to get healthy especially because I eventually want to start a family ( I'm 34). My husband works a lot so he can't be my gym buddy and most of my friends make the same excuses I do. What can I do to get back on track?
I bought a Vitamix recently hoping that at least healthy eating would be a good start. I normally leave for work so early that I skip breakfast, eat a very light lunch, so I'm famished by dinner. I'm usually so tired after work that I'm not in the mood to cook. Hubby or I usually end up ordering takeout or picking up food on the way home. I was hoping the Vitamix may help make it simpler and faster to make a healthy meal at home. It's too expensive a gadget to just end up collecting dust in my pantry. Help

Having someone to hold me accountable helps me a lot. I meet my dad at the gym for classes 3 times a week, and I also enjoy swimming, so I go on my own to swim once a week, too. I find that the more I tell people about it, the more I do it, so that in case someone asks me about how my swim was, or how was the last class I went to, I'll feel like an a**hole if I have to tell them I skipped. As far as food goes, I use my fitness pal, and I try to eat better, but if I slip and have some junk, I either don't get anything else after my calories are up, or I go to the gym and earn some more for dinner. Ultimately, I am going to be in my brother's wedding this summer, and I ordered my dress in my goal size, so I have about 20 pounds to go before the end of August. I have to get there, lol! (I work better under pressure, and understanding what motivates you is kinda key).

 

[Phoenix]

Thanks, ladies!

I too have had some personal issues too, and for a while was drinking quite a bit and piling on the weight. The wake-up call for me was when I tried on a dress and the only size that would fit was a US 8!! A size 8? I'm not even 5'2" and have a tiny frame! Prior to that, I also had a check-up and my cholesterol was high - not horribly high but high enough to make me sit up and take notice. Given that my mum had a stroke and a heart attack, and suffered from ill health over the years, I didn't want any of that ill health to happen to me.

So I'd say my motivation is two-fold: vanity and a desire to be healthy.

I started slowly but surely. I'd never been completely sedentary (well, perhaps just for a short while); but my workouts even when I went to the gym were not hard enough and the weight was not been shifting/ shifting very slowly. When I tried on the aforementioned dress, I felt really upset and decided to kick things up a notch. I hired a personal trainer. Now, I understand that not everyone is willing or able to afford a personal trainer (due to time, cost.. whatever) and indeed I only had/ have him once a week. The rest of the time, I work(ed) out on my ow;n and over time, I was able to incorporate some of his workouts into mine. But all in all, I'd say it was mostly my own doing - ie. wanting to be slimmer (I now wear between a 0 and and a 2, depending on the make) and feeling good about looking good. What also helped me was watching music videos and see all these beautiful women dance around and that made me feel more determined to lose weight and have more energy.

The other thing for me is that I'm very goal-oriented. My initial goal was to reach a 0 or a 2 dress size and a certain weight range. Now, I'm more or less there, I feel that I need the next target and also have/ had a huge amount of energy I thought I'd lost since entering my 40's. So, when I saw the ad for trekking up Mt Belumut, I signed up for it, not knowing if I could do it. But I worked towards that and did manage to do the trek. Granted, I never climbed up to the top. But it wasn't b/c it was physically tiring (in fact, I felt fine afterwards - the physical exertion was not bad at all). As I mentioned, it was my fear of heights that stopped me from going up further. I felt a little disappointed but didn't beat myself up, b/c I know that I'd done my very best and there was no way in the world I could climb up further those horrible high steep steps.

So my point is: Set yourself some hard targets. Try to achieve them, if you get manage to get there, be proud but don't beat yourself up if you don't completely achieve your targets. Anything above 50-60% of your set targets, you should pat yourself on the back and move forward and set new targets.

My next target, as mentioned, is a half-marathon. I don't know if I'll be able to do it, but for sure I'm working and training towards it. I fully intend to do a few 5k and 10k between now and then. Those are great targets to strive towards.

RE food, I've always been a healthy eater but I completely understand being tired and not wanting to cook. It's true, grilled fish and a salad is sooooo easy. Also, cooking plenty at the weekend and eat it over the next few days. Brown Rice/ pototoes/ pasta and cooked vegetables can be prepared a few days in advance. And if you don't have one already, get a pressure cooker. That thing shaves off so much time and effort! And fruit, there's never any excuse not to eat fruit - all you need to do it buy it, wash it and eat it! Voila!!

Desserts, cookies etc. I might as well throw those out there (pun fully intended, lol). What puts me off sweets is: tooth decay and ageing!! Sugar is soooooo bad for us!!

Breakfast, I never used to eat breakfast and it was a habit over 30 yrs. I finally broke it and now would immediately eat a piece of toast with my coffee/ tea upon waking. I also have 2-3 portions of fruit at breakfast and sometimes would snack on fruits and also NUTS (love them!! esp almonds and macadamia). I know they can be high in calories but they're packed full of nutrients and vitamins!! I'm also wary of the sugar content and would never consume anything other than freshly squeezed juice and even then, only 1 glass. I prefer to eat whole fruits for the fibres.

Veggies, eat as much of them as possible, of whatever kind. Mine are sauteed, with a little olive oil and plenty of garlic! Have them however you like, but go sparingly on the butter and cheese (none if you can take it, or slowly cut them out).

Water, drink as much as you can. Buy a filter, never drink bottled!! And herbal teas! I love peppermint, chamomile and lavender!!

That's all I can think of. Good luck and be healthy, girlfriends!

As for alcohol, I'm working towards either giving it up totally or drinking only 1 or 2 glasses of wine a week (at the moment, I'm still drinking every day; not as much as before, but still 1 or 2 glasses each day). This, I find the hardest!! I've done it before but went back on it, after a year. If anyone has any advice, I'd love to hear.

 

[Phoenix]

Typo in the above post:

I meant if you manage to achieve about 50-60% of your set target(s), you should be very proud. Obviously, 100% is ideal but can be unrealistic. Better to set harder targets, IMO.

 

[TooPatient]

Motivation (in random order):

1. My rings fit (some days anyway) with me exercising and losing some weight
2. My pants almost fit again (which is great because they are the last size before having no choice but to shop plus size)
3. Feel so much better with lots more energy after exercise
4. Can actually sleep at night if I exercise in morning
5. When I go exercise, DH comes with me so he has more energy and is able to sleep and do other things
6. My back hurts less when I do yoga
7. The yoga room has a wall of floor to ceiling mirrors and I have to see myself
8. My thighs rub holes through pants (especially since I won't buy any more in this size than I have to so it is the same 2 pairs of pants in rotation)
9. When those holes are rubbed, I have to go buy new pants and see my naked body in floor to ceiling full room surround mirrors
10. My heart rate is unhealthily fast, my lungs struggle to keep up, my joints ache
11. My entire stomach, arms, breasts, hips, etc are getting an increasing number of stretch marks
12. I'm sick of counting shaving my legs as an aerobic exercise
13. The clothes in my size are not as cute as smaller sizes
14. I hate having a 2X (or is it 3X?) jacket because that is all that would zip this last autumn
15. I hate going in to a jewelry store and not being able to try on bracelets because my wrists are too big for any in stock
16. I'm sick of having people assume I'm pregnant (and I will admit that my stomach looks bigger than a lot of the ladies who post pictures at 6+ months)

Plus a bunch more that I've probably forgotten or lumped in rather than calling out individually.



Today:
I didn't get to go exercise today but did do about 30 minutes of aerobics at home. Had a gigantic pile of broccoli (OMG that fills you up!) with a bit of cheese (measured at 2 oz) for added protein and calcium.
Dinner was a bit of fillet with another pile of broccoli, mushrooms (only a little butter & splash of wine), and brown rice (filled with shredded carrot, baby tomatoes, and peas).

Planning to walk a bit tomorrow then do a bunch out in the yard (huge amounts of raking and moving big rocks to do). Will also check my weight to see how I'm doing.

 

[TooPatient]

Oh!

And really important for me to keep at it is you guys!
When I know I'm going to be good and come back to this thread, I feel like I really need to be consistent with my exercise and have something to share. Even if the scale doesn't move, I like being able to have a positive thing to update. Rings fitting, more energy, healthy choices are all great!

I may not know any of you in person, but I feel like I'm letting myself and you all down when I make an unhealthy choice. I will still have a treat, but I factor that in to my day. Oh, and when I have a bad day I try to bounce back as soon as I catch myself.

 

[TooPatient]

Small changes keep on helping!

Fresh start weight: 239.8 (3/5/15)
3/23/15: 236.4
3/29/15: 235.4

 

[Jambalaya]

For the first time in months, I had minimal candy yesterday. For me, this is progress. A step in the right direction. Still feeling down about things - a woman I've known my whole life had a heart attack the other day and survived but is sick. I know of two other people who have recently become very sick too - which is not really a surprise as they're elderly, but I knew them when they were young, so it's sad.

Am going to give the house a nice good clean today and try not to think about things. And not have pasta, chocolate croissants, fried food, or any of that bad stuff. No siree.

 

[baby nurse]

It's nice to hear about how people are remaining positive and motivated.

I'm a little bummed because my clothing's tighter than ever and according to the scale I've gained another pound, despite watching what I eat and going to the gym 4 days/week. On a happier note, I did two hours of walking today and have made mostly healthy food choices. Baby steps...

 

[Phoenix]

Jambalaya, I've also been hearing about friends and friends of friends who are not old getting sick - cancer, diabetes etc - and some other people dying. It's scaring the heck out of me!!

On a more positive note, it's my second day of absolutely no booze! YAY!! I'm determined to stick with this. One day at a time, baby steps!

Also, I ran 4 km (2.5 miles) in 30 mins on Sat plus a hour of very heavy weights. On Sunday, I ran 8.2 km (5.1miles) in an hour plus also an hour of heavy weights. Yesterday, I did half an hour elliptical (on the weight loss setting) and moderate weights. Today is another fairly easy day ("rest" day basically). Tomorrow I'm back to intense/ fast running and heavy weights. Thurs, same run and weights. Friday, lighter exercises or complete rest. Sat is another tough day, and this time running outside in the heat. Half-marathon here I come!

I've also been reading this thread from beginning to end. Not quite finished yet. But it suffices to say that I'm inspired by some of the stories and appreciate the exercise & food/ eating tips offered. I hope that my posts will be of some help to some of you. Losing weight and staying fit has never been so important, not just for sake of slimming down and physically fit but for our mental well-being too.

I also note that switching up exercise routines helps to kick up the metabolism a notch and that in turn will help burn calories and fat. Our body apparently gets used to the same exercises and thus refuses to burn fat once it's got used to certain routines. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, I'm sure.

 

[Phoenix]

Five continuous days of no booze, YAY!!

 

[diamondringlover]

Five continuous days of no booze, YAY!!

This is a awesome start, keep it up and I understand your struggle, I too drink a little more than I should and it does pile on the weight! I have taken to not drinking at all Sunday thru Wednesday (unless special occasion or we go out to dinner which both is rare, than a glass of wine only) then on Thursday thru Saturday I usually have 3-4 mixed drinks or wine a night..I am trying to cut that donwn as well but I have alot of stress in my life and its either drink a few or eat sweets..I choose drink lol...you can do it and it will help with any weight issues....

 

[Phoenix]

Five continuous days of no booze, YAY!!

This is a awesome start, keep it up and I understand your struggle, I too drink a little more than I should and it does pile on the weight! I have taken to not drinking at all Sunday thru Wednesday (unless special occasion or we go out to dinner which both is rare, than a glass of wine only) then on Thursday thru Saturday I usually have 3-4 mixed drinks or wine a night..I am trying to cut that donwn as well but I have alot of stress in my life and its either drink a few or eat sweets..I choose drink lol...you can do it and it will help with any weight issues....

Thank you for your words of encouragement.

Yes, I don't have a sweet tooth (Thank Goodness!); but I do actually like the taste of alcohol, mostly champagne and (sparkling) wine. I do agree that stress is the WORST thing, it really does take its toll.

Here's to hoping that both you and I succeed in our quest.

 

[random_thought]

I have no way, no how read this entire thread. That being said, I hope it's ok if I jump in I'm aiming for a 71 lb weight loss and so far I'm at 8lbs down. I've only been doing this for about a week so mostly water weight. I have a trip to vegas in November with the girlfriends and I want to get back into a cute black dress to wear

 

[TooPatient]

I have no way, no how read this entire thread. That being said, I hope it's ok if I jump in I'm aiming for a 71 lb weight loss and so far I'm at 8lbs down. I've only been doing this for about a week so mostly water weight. I have a trip to vegas in November with the girlfriends and I want to get back into a cute black dress to wear

Hi RT

Great start! Great motivation too!

 

[random_thought]

Thanks! I've been doing 5 minutes of climbing stairs at work throughout the day for a total of 30 min and doing zumba on the days off. I'm more out of shape than i thought lol

 

[telephone89]

I've totally dropped out of this thread lol. I totally fell of the wagon and gained bout 5 lbs.

 

[TooPatient]

Thanks! I've been doing 5 minutes of climbing stairs at work throughout the day for a total of 30 min and doing zumba on the days off. I'm more out of shape than i thought lol

Nice work!

 

[TooPatient]

I've totally dropped out of this thread lol. I totally fell of the wagon and gained bout 5 lbs.

Never too late to climb back on.

Little changes that become routine seem to work best for me. Then I can add another little change until it is routine too. Even swapping a 100 calorie drink to replace a 300 is a great thing. No need to give up all the yummy stuff. Just small changes that you are happy to live with.

 

[manderz]

I bought some new work pants, and they were THREE SIZES smaller

 

[telephone89]

I've totally dropped out of this thread lol. I totally fell of the wagon and gained bout 5 lbs.

Never too late to climb back on.

Little changes that become routine seem to work best for me. Then I can add another little change until it is routine too. Even swapping a 100 calorie drink to replace a 300 is a great thing. No need to give up all the yummy stuff. Just small changes that you are happy to live with.

I have cycles of motivation, and it's almost a binging/purging feeling. I never actually purge in the typical sense, but I will be super 'healthy' eat only chicken, veg, etc, meal plan/prep, excersize, not eat any treats, and this goes for about 3 weeks, until I crash, and spend the next week eating all the crap I can find! Then I feel bad, take 2 weeks of eating normally, and start the cycle over. It's not very healthy, and it's not working either LOL. I just want instant results. I want to be skinny now! So after my 3 weeks of being sooo good and not seeing the results I want I get so discouraged.

It's weird, because I even know this, and it still happens. I'm not a slow and steady kind of gal, more an all or nothing it seems =\

 

[random_thought]

I bought some new work pants, and they were THREE SIZES smaller

That's AWESOME!

Is anyone here doing C25k?