I sat down and set up some mini goals that will require some type of "bigger" reward on my path down the scale. I'm pretty close to the first one (out of 300s)! The others are my previous low, onederland, and when my classification on the BMI scale changes.
I feel like I'm really ON IT right now, and I'm not even tempted a little bit to mess up. I am aware that likely won't last, but it feels good for now. Especially when I realized I was able to eat *one* PB M&M and walk away from the candy jar (that sits in our living room!!!)... and that I hadn't had one in like a week. Normally I'd sit and snack on them like chips, or *with* chips because I like salty+sweet.
Wrench in the works though. Mother nature says "no gym for you!" tonight because there's some thunderstorms and that means no walking the quarter-mile trip to the gym. SO, gotta improvise. Might just pace the floor in my apartment for a while. FitBit syncs to MFP... and I have negative calorie adjustments enabled. Meaning, when I'm super lazy, my calorie goal of 1740, can become 1620... being lazy takes my calories away, being active adds to them. I'm currently sitting at 131 lazy calories, instead of exercise calories. Ugh. I want my ice cream sammich. Better get walkin.
I feel like I'm really ON IT right now, and I'm not even tempted a little bit to mess up. I am aware that likely won't last, but it feels good for now. Especially when I realized I was able to eat *one* PB M&M and walk away from the candy jar (that sits in our living room!!!)... and that I hadn't had one in like a week. Normally I'd sit and snack on them like chips, or *with* chips because I like salty+sweet.
I'm cruising too! Tonight, I was serving potato chips with dinner. I really wanted them. So, I measure out a one oz serving, which was 150 calories. Then I thought to myself, no, I'd rather spend those calories on the nice olive oil vinaigrette that I made for the salad. So I poured the chips back in the back. Instead of eating a serving, I decided to put one piece in my mouth just to cut the craving. Guess what? It was stale anyway! Normally I would have eaten two or three servings stale or not. Instead, I ate the green salad with the vinaigrette.
Sandi! It is so great to see you posting. I had actually thought about doing a search for both you and Jessica to see if you were still active, but hadn't gotten to it yet. You have always been a 3FC hero to me. Excited to have you here.
Uber - WTG on the potato chips. I know exactly how you feel. I am so fortunate to be in that stage with you and Mandy where nothing is really tempting. It helps that I've given myself permission to eat whatever I want during my "eating window," so I know that I can have it if I really want it. I just rarely end up really wanting it.
Mandy - So excited for you to hit the 200s. I LOVE those milestones. I am a big book reader too. I know this probably isn't something that you hadn't considered, but sometimes, on days when I can't get in my planned exercise, I will just do a quick Youtube exercise video or even just some body-weight strength training. Ice cream sandwiches can definitely be worth it!
jbf - I feel your pain. I had lost about 100 pounds, and law school killed it for me. Even though I had stints where I would get back on it, it was really hard to maintain in law school. Right now, I'm thinking about leaving my comfortable firm job and starting my own practice, and am worried about a repeat. But I keep telling myself that even though law school me didn't make it work, sole practitioner me has learned much from my younger self, and has the tools to make it work.
Getting used to the IF. Gonna start trying to get off work at a more reasonable time so that I can exercise earlier, and eat sooner. I actually ate a small bowl of cereal at 5:00 yesterday to avoid a repeat of the "didn't eat until 8:00," and that helped a little bit. But by the time I got out of the gym yesterday, it was 9:00 before I took in any substantial calories, so I am eating my calories in too concentrated of a time. I'll figure it out, though. For now, I am regulating my calories relatively painlessly, and can eat whatever my husband is eating.
SANDI!!!! I'm so excited to see you posting! I've always enjoyed what you post and I'm happy to see you! I'm sorry about the regain, but boy can we all understand. You can do this again, and we'll be here to support you.
LaurieDawn: Oh, don't you love the tweak, tweak, tweak involved with all of our eating plans? Ha! You're doing great and you'll get it all figured out.
Uber: Good choice on the salad instead of chips. And, really, you were doing the right thing anyway with measuring it out. Awesome! But, still, good for you for going away from the chips to the salad. I'm impressed!
Mandy: You are so close to the 200's, I'm sure you're excited! And, only one m&m. Wow! That takes strength!
JBF: Welcome! We can all relate to the regain. I'm glad you are joining us! We're here for you!
As for me, I'm obsessing a little bit on the scale, and that's ok for right now. I only went up by .8 at the last weigh in, but it can't become a habit. Part of my obsession is that if I can get to 253, then I've lost the regained weight and I'll finally be working on "new" pounds. And, the other part of me really wants to get into the 240's, just to be on the low side of the 200's. I know, it is silly, but that's a goal. I was thinking of mini goals and they are all kind of close right now. The 253 is one goal. Then, 249.5 is what I have recorded as the lowest weight that I was at in 2005 (my record keeping is out of control). So, those are pretty immediate goals. Would love to be down to 244 because that would be 50 pounds off, but then the next goal is way far away. I'd like to get down to 212, which is what I weighed when we got married, 27 years ago. I'd be so excited.
Diane: Perfectly ok to obsess over the scale. You are SO CLOSE to 253 and getting out of the "losing the regain" and into "real losing" will be such a good feeling. I am dying to get below 259. That is how much I weighed after my big regain. Since then, I've yo-yoed up and down from there but never gotten back down below. I'm also dying to get back down to 230. That's the point where I start fitting into smaller clothes and generally feeling like my loss is more noticeable. No worries about the tiny bump. You'll see 253 this week for sure and I expect dancing carrots for that!
LaurieDawn: glad the bigger dinners are working for you. I find that in general the less often I eat, the better.
I'm doing fine around here. I realize that it is time for me to start getting some exercise! So my goals right now are: complete second month on plan and incorporate exercise. Hoping to get back into the 260s soon.
I woke up this morning to the news that my kitty (the one in my pic) had to go back to the vet because there was some blood in her pee and she was straining over the litter box. She just had surgery for a never-ending infection and what they expected to be a stone (but wasn't) in her bladder.
My poor Boo... she has another infection. She just got all the hair back on her belly from after surgery and they shaved her again to do another ultrasound. They are keeping her overnight, because they want to consult with an internal specialist. They saw the same thing in the ultrasound that they saw before the surgery and thought it was a stone, but they don't know what it is. I'm a sad kitty mama.
Mandy - So sorry about your baby kitty. Hope she feels better, and that you can minimize your stress through this.
Uber - Look at you go. Those first few months are so very hard. I love that I am able to follow you through them, as you fearlessly beat the path to victory.
Diane - Scale obsession can be highly motivating. You are so close to so many of your goals. The scale can be finicky, as you know, but I am hoping that it cooperates and rewards you for all of your consistent, hard effort.
Sandi - Can't help but cheering once again for you rejoining the fight! We so got this!
I made the mistake of stepping on the scale. It had been extraordinarily kind to me last week, and I should have been suspicious. Instead, I just celebrated and moved on. This morning, I was up five pounds from Monday morning. I'm either going to decide to pack the scale away and totally ignore it -- cuz even though I know that I have done really well with exercise and food this week, it still makes me want to throw my hands up and say screw it -- or get a reliable scale and really use it. For today, the goal is to not let it mess with my head and to stay on plan. Yesterday was a lifting day, anyway, and water retention from sore muscles could account for a lot, though probably not FIVE FREAKING POUNDS.
Hope today is a success for everyone, however it's defined for you.
Uber: Good job with adding in the exercise. And you are really close to going into the 260's! That's awesome.
Mandy: Sorry about the kitty. You feel so bad for them when they are sickly. I hope it turns out ok!
LaurieDawn: No way that the 5 pounds can be right, so you're smart to not let it get to you. It is so easy to let our mood be determined by the number on the scale. I know it is for me anyway! We just need to keep charging ahead!
Went to Body Pump today and increased my weight in a couple of areas. I'm probably going to be sore. I can feel it already, but I also know it was time to move up. I had the shakes on some of the lifts just from the extra weight, ha! So ready for this week to be done though!
It's tough. I have 2 cats, and love them both to death... but Brownie, she's my Boo! My husband hates that I call her that, and that she responds to it. Critters generally pick one human to bond with, and she's "my" cat, the other one, Pixie, is a daddy's girl. Brownie sleeps on my feet and climbs all over me. Pixie will only lay in his lap and not mine. It's weird how you get so used to something that might annoy other people. Every night after I get in my comfy spot, she jumps up on the bed and either lays along my leg with her back up against it, or curled up with her head on my ankle so I can feel her purring. I had a hard time getting to sleep last night because she wasn't there. Hoping to hear something soon, so we can go get her... and that they figure out what's causing these infections.
I feel like a lump. After skipping the gym last night, I gave in to a desire for some comfort food, and baked a corn dog (180 calories) and 2 breaded mozzarella cheese sticks (also 180 calories)... and ate them, along with an ice cream sandwich (150 calories) at almost midnight last night. They fit in my calories, but UGH trying to go to bed wasn't fun after that, guess that's why I didn't make it to bed until 6am. Hoping to flush out the resulting bloat from the sodium for a good weigh in tomorrow. Hoping for 308.4 so I can post a 2 pound loss for the week.
I'm sorry for all rambling. I'm exhausted and I tend to babble.
Have a good day y'all!
Last edited by FeraFilia; 06-26-2014 at 01:13 PM.
Reason: words are hard.
LaurieDawn: Nothing worse than scale issues! Maybe you should consider investing in a new scale-- I am so neurotic that I absolutely have to have one that will weigh the same even if I step on it four times and move it around on the floor. No way that you bounced up 5 while on plan!
Diane: Good for you for taking on more weight! You rock!
So, I've realized that I'm tweaking my plan a bit. The last time I lost 110 lbs I was terrified of being hungry, and I was also terrified of bingeing. So, my plan focused on large volumes of low calorie foods and almost total avoidance of the kinds of things I tended to overeat. This meant a lot of lean protein and veggies, some fruit, and not much in the way of rice, pasta, or bread, no sweets or baked goods. I like lean protein and veggies, but it does get monotonous, and it really didn't address my fear of overeating the foods that I really love.
So, this time, I'm trying something different. I'm including pasta in my weekly meal plans because normally, when I'm not trying to avoid pasta, I make it once or twice a week. I'm making recipes that I LOVE. I'm counting up the calories per recipe, and sticking to a serving size. (I used to strictly avoid recipes with multiple ingredients because it's harder to count calories) For breakfast and lunch, I'm trying to keep it simple-- I don't cook those meals, and having a few go-to things seems simplest. Right now, I am going European and just having coffee with steamed milk for breakfast, I'll tweak if I get too hungry.
I'm trying to adopt the following habits:
1. no grazing
2. breakfast and lunch, simple, repetitive, and relatively low calorie.
3. prepare delicious dinners and control portion sizes.
4. Enjoy a restaurant meal once every 10 days or so, and be able to eat a few extra calories without having it ruin my overall progress.
Maybe THAT will be sustainable over the long haul.
Just talked to Brownie's vet because she heard from the internal specialist. Brownie's going to have surgery (again) tomorrow... This time so they can take some bladder tissue for biopsy. Doctor said, and I quote, "Cancer is low on my list of possibilities because she hasn't lost weight or her appetite and is so active, but unfortunately it is on my list."... They are going to send all the various test results from the last couple months along with the biopsy to the internal specialists to see if they can put the puzzle together and find out what's wrong with my Boo. We don't get to bring her home until Saturday.
She just had surgery six weeks ago... I don't like this. My kitty is not a science project.
Mandy - So easy to do the comfort food when things are going badly. Great that you stayed in your calories regardless. Hope your kitty is doing better soon, and that you are able to get some rest and take care of yourself.
Uber - Definitely thinking about a scale. Maybe next payday. Maybe. Also really glad you're investigating other ways of eating. I have found that, too often, what worked "before" doesn't work now, but sometimes it's fun to find what works "now."
Diane - You're a rock star! I love heavy lifting, and I love it the most when women of all ages embrace it. You're only 50 now, but I can see you still cranking it out 20, 30, 40 years from now.
I ate stuff yesterday that I shouldn't have eaten. Stayed within my general calorie range, but it was a "twinkie diet" kind of a day where my calories were comprised of processed, nutrient-light foods. And I'm okay with that, for one day. Back to more selectively choosing my calories today. And I'm on day 2 of c25k, and I'm going to rock it. =)
Laurie: How awesome that you are doing C25K! I find it very motivating. Bummer about the "bad calories" but if you stayed in your range that's the most important thing.
Fretting about the scale this morning. I'm just bouncing up and down at 271.2 271.4. I keep thinking I'm going to see a drop, but not yet. Official weigh in isn't until Tuesday. I'm being careful with my calories-- and nothing off plan. Going on vacation in early August, and I want to be fit enough to enjoy long walks.
Thanks for the warm welcome back everyone!! Happy to be back! Glad to see so many familiar faces (as well as new ones!)
I realized this week that my biggest problem really is sugar. I am a food addict, but what I really am is a sugar addict. When I get really on plan, I can walk past cookies and doughnuts, but they are also the 1 thing that sends me off plan. So even though some of that stuff fits in my plan sometimes, it's a no-go for me. I just have to find a way to become the person who just doesn't have the sweets no matter what. And I am wondering if the diet pop just isn't helping the situation either. Today I have to go the Candy store and buy gummies to make drunken gummies for the 4th of July. I won't be having the drunken gummies, don't even like them, but others do! The plan is gummies and that's it. i won't food porn you with what I would like to buy! I could have someone else go, but I work 5 mins away. Plus, I am going to have to live my life and learn to be around the stuff. I need to put my big girl panties on and make good choices!!!
Right now I am making it to the gym 3 times a week and weightlifting. Once with a trainer and twice on my own. Although I feel like this is enough for my program, my stamina still stinks. In 6 weeks we are taking a vacation and going to spend a few days in Chicago doing Michigan Avenue and the Museums. My husband indicated that he was worried about me being able to do all that walking, so I need to start working on that so I can be in better shape by August!
Now the admin stuff...this thread is way too long. Soon I will start a new thread. I will give it the same title, just add an 02 to the front. I will wait a few days so that everyone sees this and knows it's coming!!
Mandy - Sorry to hear about your kitty. I get just sick to my stomach when my dog is sick, so I feel for you. Poor baby!!
jbf - welcome!! How is it going?
Uber - I did not realize our previous stats were so close. I also lost 110 and got to 259 before I lost my freaking mind and gained it all back! I eat 3 meals and 2 snacks. I find that I am just a grazer and that instead of fighting it, I just make it fit! I also include "normal" family dinners in my plan, i just tweak them so fit.
Diane- Good luck getting into new lbs lost! That would be so awesome. I think we are all a little scale obsessed. I am a daily weigh-er while I let the good days carry me, I try and be logical on the bad days (knowing that I did what I was supposed to and the gain wasn't because of me!)
Laurie - Thanks! 3FC has always felt like home!! Like I said to Diane, if you did the work, let the guilt go. Our bodies don't always make sense. Do you think you need a new scale? BTW, I am always up after I lift!
I'd be so excited.
