GOAL: averaging under 1400 daily calories each week. Week 1
01: 1576
02: 1455
03: 1321
04: 1260
05: 1553
06: 1228
07: 1370
Average = 1395
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yangzter - I'm sorry to hear that! I can relate. I go through phases though. Sometimes calorie counting feels fine (I'm in that phase right now). Other times, it messes with the way I experience food. It starts to feel more like a numbers experience than just eating. That happened to me last time a few months ago, so I took a break from calorie counting for a few weeks. (I still estimated in my head, just didn't weigh food or write it down anywhere.) That break really helped me. I'll probably need another one eventually!
1: 279
2: 278.5 (have been on 279 for a week so I was due some kind of move)
3: 278 (still losing ovulation water weight)
4: 278
5: 277.5 Did 60 active Fitbit minutes yesterday and concentrated on eating protein and veggies
6: 278 Did no active minutes yesterday and only 3500 steps so not surprised there was a bump today
7: 278 Did 39 active minutes yesterday hauling my bags of slate and walked 5400 steps, but still no drop... My official weigh-in day is Saturday so I'll see what happens then.
Total loss for Week One: 1 pound
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8: 278.5 Did 33 active minutes and 6200 steps yesterday, but 1730 calories with lots of bread, so I'm guessing that explains the bump.
Steady as she goes for me. Really happy that i'm maintaining steadily. For the first couple of months of maintenance, the scale followed really closely what I ate, if I ate more I weighed more the next day etc, but now it's a lot steadier and i'm pretty much the same weight every day recently, despite whether one day is better than another. I still eat completely differently to before I started dieting of course, but those micro fluctuations don't relate to what I ate the day before as transparently.
I guess that means that my body has finally got the hang of the idea that we're here to stay at this weight (well that's the plan anyway...…), and it's not desperately trying to increase it immediately with any food/water blips that it can hold on to. So that's taken 3 months i'd say (quite a long time really?!). Don't know whether it means I can eat more now. More experimentation to come!
I'm taking a "no weigh in" day for the first time for technical difficulties. My scale this morning said I weighed in at 244.0. Given that I weighed 221.8 the last few days, I'm pretty sure I didn't gain 22 pounds since yesterday. So I'm guessing my batteries are going out, so I'm going to have to replace them.
1: 279
2: 278.5 (have been on 279 for a week so I was due some kind of move)
3: 278 (still losing ovulation water weight)
4: 278
5: 277.5 Did 60 active Fitbit minutes yesterday and concentrated on eating protein and veggies
6: 278 Did no active minutes yesterday and only 3500 steps so not surprised there was a bump today
7: 278 Did 39 active minutes yesterday hauling my bags of slate and walked 5400 steps, but still no drop... My official weigh-in day is Saturday so I'll see what happens then.
Total loss for Week One: 1 pound
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8: 278.5 Did 33 active minutes and 6200 steps yesterday, but 1730 calories with lots of bread, so I'm guessing that explains the bump.
9: 280 Did 85 active minutes and 11108 steps yesterday with lots of hills and steps so I'm not surprised that I'm retaining water. I'll do a moderate amount today and drink lots of water.
GOAL: Averaging under 1400 daily calories each week
Week 1 Average = 1395 Week 2:
08: 1430
09:
10:
11:
12:
13:
14:
Average =
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Ange - Congrats on reaching a stable weight in maintenance!
Darius - Hang in there, you know what to do! Sounds like it could be time for that precision you were mentioning recently. Do you have a food scale? They can help so much, especially with foods that are challenging to eyeball. I got mine off of Amazon. I think it was around $20, and it works great.
Chunkahlunkah: Great job on your average so far this month.
Darius (and also anyone else discussing counting calories): If you're already near goal, this is probably different, but when you are just starting out and have a lot to lose, estimating can be good enough if you are a good estimator. I started at 267. So far, at my weight, I've been really just estimating. I tracked pretty closely for about a month to learn portion sizes and approximate calories. So now I know ballpark what the different things I eat have for calories, and I try to keep it between about 1400 and 1800, but I don't track specifically every day. Pretty wide range, but for the amount of weight I have left to go it is plenty of deficit for now. Plus, it lets me keep living my life without feeling deprived. Slowly and surely, I'm continuing to make small changes, so I'm ending up more often toward the lower end of that scale than the upper end, and as I lose, I expect that trend will continue. For example, when we make tacos, I used to always have 3 and then some dessert. Now I usually just have 2 (they are smallish, not the big flour tortilla ones) and no dessert. Eventually, I might work toward taco salad and skip the shells. Instead of 2 peanut butter sandwiches, I went to 2 open faced peanut butter toast slices, which cuts 2 pieces of bread and cuts calories by toasting. Lately, I've been finding that 1 slice is enough, paired with a slice of cheese and an apple. Pizza, I've gone from 4 pieces to 2 and we have it less often, I'm going to have to keep working on that one.. I've cut my morning cereal by about 1/3 and don't drink the leftover milk anymore. I keep debating changing to something else, but plain Cheerios are my life-thread and are not really that unhealthy. At least, one of the healthier cold cereals out there. I cut out almost all of the between meal unhealthy snacks. Now if I want a snack, I have a piece of fruit, or a handful of popcorn, almonds, roasted pumpkins seeds, or peanuts. Not great about veggies yet, so I'm still working on that one. I never did drink a lot of soda, but I've gone from maybe 2 a week to maybe 1 every other month. I've gone from 3 gallons of milk a week to about 1. I've gone from about a loaf of bread a week to maybe 1/3 loaf. I only have chips on my tuna fish sandwich (I like the crunch and hate pickles), so it takes me long enough to go through one small bag of Fritos that they go stale before I finish the bag. Also, when I'm going to have a big meal, like tacos or pizza, I usually just eat breakfast and then the big meal and instead of a 3rd meal, I just have a lighter snack, like a serving of fruit or veggie, handful of nuts and a slice of cheese. More than enough to be filling for the 3rd meal, without adding a lot of calories. So my average for the day stays acceptable.
These are not big changes, they are the sort of changes anyone could make, but they do all add up. As I've said, I'm not going for perfection, just improvement. One small change here, and then when I'm used to that one, then another small change over there. Once I get down into the 1xx range, I may have to get more precise and more discriminating, but I'm hoping that my "small changes add up over time" approach gets me there more naturally, and I don't have to force it. Every one of the changes I've made so far are things I can maintain my entire life. So that method may work for you as well. Either way, you need to remember that you aren't at boot camp anymore, so things will take longer. Remember that 1-2 pounds per WEEK is a good pace. Some days, you will be up, there is almost no avoiding that, but keep the trend moving down. I find tracking my weight so I can visually see the trend helps a lot in a "Sure, I might be up today, but look how much I'm down since last week, or last month" kind of way. It also helped me learn my patterns, both on a monthly basis and what foods make me retain water (see pizza above). Remember the goal is making changes you can live with long term, for long term success. Not depriving yourself today for short term success.
Newlyn: Congrats on staying active. I'm sure today's figurative bump is just from yesterday's literal hills. Hope you see a drop soon.
Ange: That's great to hear. Sounds like you've reset your "natural weight" to your current range. That is a HUGE accomplishment. From what I've read, a person is MUCH more likely to keep the weight off long term if they can keep it off for the first 12 months. You are 1/4 of the way there already.
Snowmama: You are doing so great already. I'm sure that it is much harder once getting down into the healthy range, but if you are strength training too and are maintaining more or less while doing that, then I'm sure you are losing fat still. Remember to either measure, or use your clothes getting looser as important gauges, not just the scale.
Week Two
08: NWI
09: 222.6
10:
11:
12:
13:
14:
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Total Loss for Week Two:
So this is my first Sunday - Sunday that I had no loss, which is kind of sad for me, but it had to happen eventually. The last two days were definitely not my best, eating-wise. At least I didn't have a gain, which would not be unusual going into the 10th of month for me. Fortunately, I'm not up for the month, so I won't have as far to go to get back on track after tomorrow. It really helps me weather these ups during the early part of the month, knowing that it is normal for me, and that after the chaos subsides each month, I can still lose a substantial amount.
Also, I was supposed to have to work all day today, but I was so efficient on Friday and Saturday, that I got enough done that I can finish everything Monday. So I get to take today off. Yay! Took advantage of that and went for a 3.5 mile walk by the river.
That was my method, and I was completely strict all the way through my losing phase really, because I wanted to know exactly what I was consuming. Towards the end I eyeballed veggies a bit because I always steam them and they don't contribute much. It does sound boring, but I was motivated to know, and I was shocked at how many in cereal! And how many in meat! As Lacenta says, little changes with the high ticket items give significant rewards, but it helps if you know how much you're saving yourself because then you can pick and choose more knowlegably where to make the impact.
1: 279
2: 278.5 (have been on 279 for a week so I was due some kind of move)
3: 278 (still losing ovulation water weight)
4: 278
5: 277.5 Did 60 active Fitbit minutes yesterday and concentrated on eating protein and veggies
6: 278 Did no active minutes yesterday and only 3500 steps so not surprised there was a bump today
7: 278 Did 39 active minutes yesterday hauling my bags of slate and walked 5400 steps, but still no drop... My official weigh-in day is Saturday so I'll see what happens then.
Total loss for Week One: 1 pound
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8: 278.5 Did 33 active minutes and 6200 steps yesterday, but 1730 calories with lots of bread, so I'm guessing that explains the bump.
9: 280 Did 85 active minutes and 11108 steps yesterday with lots of hills and steps so I'm not surprised that I'm retaining water. I'll do a moderate amount today and drink lots of water.
10: 280 Still holding onto water, which is annoying, but at least I know it's not a real bump.
Lacerta Totally agree about calorie counting. I have a range rather than a set number, because it's more flexible and I don't get discouraged if I go over a fixed amount for some reason. When I first started doing it, back in the day, I weighed all of my food and calculated the calories of what I normally ate and it was shocking, but at least I knew where I was starting from and what I could/should change. It means that I can eat chocolate or whatever, and as long as it fits in with my calorie range and my macros, it's fine, and I feel in control, but it doesn't have to be rigid.
Week Two
08: NWI
09: 222.6
10: 224.0
11:
12:
13:
14:
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Total Loss for Week Two:
Ugh. Now I actually AM up for the month. However, I had to weigh in almost 2 hours early and I haven't had a BM in 3 days now. So I'm not really concerned that there is any real gain there, and I'm sure it will come back off quickly once today's stress is over with and my systems and schedule go back to normal.
ok, i'm going to sign up with a local gym tonight! Have scammed 3x freebie classes there now, and i'm keen to get in to regular visits, so time to take my credit card along this time. Did a spin class last night and worked hard, and it felt really good to be able to do that. Weights class today. Problem is i'm working overseas for the next two weeks, so will start my membership for when I get back, hopefully. It's a nice 10min walk away too which makes life easy (only problem is I have to walk past a lot of bars and restauraunts on the way home and they all look so inviting!!)
Week Two
08: NWI
09: 222.6
10: 224.0
11: 223.2
12:
13:
14:
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Total Loss for Week Two:
So I'm back to where I started the month, which is ok for me for the 11th. Not the first time I've been exactly here, and then gone on to lose a lot the following days. So I'll work for that. The loss today was because I finally got my gut moving again. However, I'm pretty sure I'm still retaining water today. I had the worst craving for Chili yesterday (the canned stuff, not homemade), which I've been avoiding because of the HUGE sodium count, but I gave in yesterday. Bam, 2200 grams of sodium in one sitting. OUCH! Then I topped it off with some popcorn last night, for a bit more sodium. So with all that, I'd be surprised if I WASN'T retaining a bunch of water.
Plus, to make it even worse, I strapped on the new bra and did Week 1 Day 1 of the Couch 2 5k program, so my legs are a little sore today, which could be even more water retention. I managed to jog 30-40 seconds out of every 2 minutes and wasn't even out of breath. The program calls for 1 minute jogging out of every 2.5, but since I've never been a runner, I figured I shouldn't push it for my first time out, but it turned out I probably could have done that. Today will be a rest day, but either Wednesday or Thursday, I will probably try for that. Of course, my jog was so slow that I didn't even change the treadmill pace. I jogged at the same speed I was walking. Apparently my speed walk and my slow jog are the same pace, because it felt totally natural. I'm working on endurance first, I'll work on increasing speed later. The great thing was that the bra was completely comfortable and for the first time in my adult life, my boobs didn't hurt after a jog.
Sounds like it could be time for that precision you were mentioning recently. Do you have a food scale? They can help so much, especially with foods that are challenging to eyeball. I got mine off of Amazon. I think it was around $20, and it works great.
