When You Stop Losing
 

Looking at our numbers on our Biggest Loser Challenge, it seems that we started out strong, slowed down, and now have come to a screeching halt this last two weeks.

Any thoughts?

All I can do is speak for myself. I am a calorie counter and have to record every morsel. I, too, started out losing 3lbs, then 3.8, then in the last month, a pound or less each week.
I am still recording calories, but a month ago I started weening our baby. We have been completely done for 3 weeks, so I think it's time to cut some more calories to make up for that additional burn.

My plan:

Cut another 200 calories - going from 1600 to 1400 per day.

Continue to exercise, but make a concerted effort to get 40min a day - 6 days a week.

Eat cleaner. I am SO sensitive to sodium. I need to be more aware of the lunch meats, lowfat cheeses, and pretzels that I consume and trade them out for lowfat yogurt, carrots and grilled chicken or lean beef sliced thin.

Attempt to stay "regular". Another chick mentioned how her inability to "go" may have caused a problem with her weigh in today. My guts are so slow unless I have 40g of fiber or more per day and drink 2l of water.

So - my fellow slow losers - any plans to ramp up the loss?

My plan is to not let my emotions and stress get the better of me. Right now, my strength against certain foods is weak, so I need to stear clear of them.

Eat clean, 1200-1400 cals and workout 40min week days and 60mins weekends. One day of rest. I'm in the final 22lbs so it's getting tough. Especially since I'm now going to focus on weight training to build muscle.

I know I can do this. I deserve it!

More exercise!!!!! I think this will really help me keep going.:)

Maybe we could use some new healthy recipes in our arsonal? For dinner tonight I made a Black Bean and Corn Vegetarian Chili.:chef: Was dee-lish and so easy on the bank account! And I have 4 meals of it leftover for busy weeknights!

http://www.eatbetteramerica.com/

I had signed up for the Pound for Pound Challenge sponsered by the Biggest Loser and I get an email once a month with a few receipes in it. The Veg chili was in one and just looked so good that I explored the website a bit more and love it. There are ratings and reveiws as well.

Just thought I'd share!

Thanks Jenn!! I love veggie chili. That's just the sort of thing that I was huntin' for on this thread.

Seems like folks stop loosing and say "I just don't know why!!" What really happens is that slowly, they stop writing down food, slack on exercising, and the weight comes back. I KNOW this song! Sing it myself from time to time. ;)

Originally Posted by mortonpixie:
Thanks Jenn!! I love veggie chili. That's just the sort of thing that I was huntin' for on this thread.

Seems like folks stop loosing and say "I just don't know why!!" What really happens is that slowly, they stop writing down food, slack on exercising, and the weight comes back. I KNOW this song! Sing it myself from time to time. ;)

Veggie chili would not work in my house. DH is an affirmed carnivore; the only time he doesn't eat meat is at breakfast and if I cooked it, he'd eat bacon and sausage every day for breakfast. He doesn't "do" vegetarian and truthfully, neither will I. I went vegetarian for 2 months and gained a lot of weight.

I know why I gained this week- a combination of boredom eating (that 3 hours before dinner and hour and a half after a snack), bad food choices (I didn't need the entrees, just the mains when we went out) and not tracking calories (I didn't have internet access in Wellington despite the amazing number of internet cafes).

I've been doing really well over all, just about a pound per week, which was my goal. I'd have to starve myself to get more than a pound and a half.

So, this week, I'm back on track with a vengeance and posted a loss this morning on my scale; first one in a week. I'm cardio training a little bit harder and I'm back on weights, instead of focussing on my cardio. I need to lose that last 8 pounds before 1 April. I'd like to weigh in at the gym in the 70s, not the 80s.

I would have to agree that everyone knows why, it's just a matter of coming to terms with it and doing something about it!

I love veggie chili too and make it usually once a week, I love the recipes I can add homemade black beans too, it's a great way to get fiber. I make whole wheat chipotle black bean quesadillas for example. I am by no means a vegetarian however with things like veggie chili packed with so much goodness, or the quessadillas I mentioned there has yet to be a time that I missed the meat. I personally think beans are the way to go when it comes to filling up, getting enough fiber and being able to leave the meat out once in awhile :)

On to another subject, I really am ok wtih .5 loss or more, however it's time for me to buckle down on every single thing I put in my mouth. I generally do a good job, but there are times that I slack and as a calorie counter, it is not productive... I'm sure plenty of us have been there!

That eatbetteramerica.com site is pretty cool, thanks for sharing :)

I don't do veggie chili either, BUT i use ground turkey. It cuts the calaroies almost in half. Yes, it is not as tasty as beef (YUMMY), but in my opinion, better then the veggie, and my hubby will eat it because there is meat in it.

I love veggie chili, but DH says it's not chili if there's no meat in it. He's right, 'cause chili is actually supposed to be no beans - just meat, so he makes me call it bean soup. Anyway, I keep a big glass jar full of dried beans (bought a bag of every kind of dry bean I could find and mixed them up), soak them overnight in the crock pot, and make a mean veggie chili with them. Then I buy turkey italian sausage, brown some, and add it to the chili for DH. Then we're both happy.

Another good thing for chili lovers is a crockpot recipe for chipotle chicken stew - it's really good, and just as satisfying (I think) as chili with hamburger. :)

Originally Posted by kuchick:
I love veggie chili, but DH says it's not chili if there's no meat in it. He's right, 'cause chili is actually supposed to be no beans - just meat, so he makes me call it bean soup. Anyway, I keep a big glass jar full of dried beans (bought a bag of every kind of dry bean I could find and mixed them up), soak them overnight in the crock pot, and make a mean veggie chili with them. Then I buy turkey italian sausage, brown some, and add it to the chili for DH. Then we're both happy.

Another good thing for chili lovers is a crockpot recipe for chipotle chicken stew - it's really good, and just as satisfying (I think) as chili with hamburger. :)

I have heard of and plan to make chipotle pork stew, the chicken stew sounds great too!

Great idea for a thread! I need to stop with the weekend sabotage! For two weeks I've had Fri weights that were much better than the Monday ones...this week I vow not to let any junk food/alcohol calories creep in there...

I just plain fell off the bandwagon for 3 days this week. Before that I was already on a plateau. I'm just going to go back to counting everything and step up the workouts again. (I eased off a bit when I got the AF off my back...I need to kick my own butt now!)

I have always lost weight slowly. It's the main reason why I usually fail, I get so frustrated I give up. I had to come to terms with the fact that I can do everything right and still only lose .5 a week. DH and I had a discussion last night about it. He said I can keep at it and weigh over twenty lbs less at the end of the year or I can give up and weigh 20-30 lbs MORE at the end of the year. No thanks, I take the twenty lbs less.

what I need to do
 

My struggles are always the same and I just need to keep them recognized:

1. I only make good food decisions when I plan ahead (what's for dinner? what am I taking for lunch? what is my mid-afternoon slump snack?)

2. Everything counts - every minute on the elliptical, every extra set with weights, every little tidbit I eat when making kids' dinner.

3. Food won't make me feel less sad or stressed.

4. And my favourite from my Mum: "a moment on the lips; forever on the hips"

These are my "retraining" regime for my healthy-living life - today and future.

B.