SW: 261.5
GW: 257.5

1: 260.5
2: 259.5

Thanks for the support everyone. That 30 pounds has been a long time coming...

I love that you've got a bunch of goals to aim for Lacerta. I need to set some short and medium goals instead of having the giant ultimate goal in the distant future. Thanks for pointing out my weekly averages. My Fitbit does it for me and I never look at them, but I absolutely should. I guess I lose better at university because I take food with me and resent buying anything other than coffee. Also, I don't eat breakfast before I go and just have a Nakd bar during the first break, whereas at weekends my mom always makes an effort to cook full-on meals and I don't want to turn them down, although I try and replace the carbiest of carbs with beans or broccoli.

I've lost another pound. I'm wondering if this is a delayed post-TOM whoosh because I've lost sooo much water in the past couple of days. I guess my calories have been much lower than the last few weeks and I've been walking more, but it definitely seems like water loss. I'm definitely not complaining!

Help with diet. Brand new here!
 

I would love to join this! I'm brand new. Have an exercise plan, but no "diet" plan. Not sure where to start. Any help? I will help anyone who needs support. Much thanks!

I've copied the calendar for Feb. Hope I'm doing this right!!

Week One
02: 214
03:
04:
05:
06:
07:
----------------------------
Total Loss for Week One:

Week Two
08:
09:
10:
11:
12:
13:
14:
----------------------------
End of Week One:
Total Loss for Week Two:

Week Three
15:
16:
17:
18:
19:
20:
21:
----------------------------
End of Week Two:
Total Loss for Week Three:

Week Four
22:
23:
24:
25:
26:
27:
28:
----------------------------
End of Week Three:
Total Loss for Week Four:

Well, I was thinking that I would only weigh in weekly, but I know myself. I am going to get on that scale every day anyway. :dizzy:
I am shooting for 5 pounds this month. My goal for last month was to reach 220. I didn't reach it by the 31st, but I did reach it this morning!
I hope everyone has a successful February! Stay on plan! We can do it!

SW: 220.8
GW: 215

Week One
01: 220.8
02: 220
03: 220
04: 220.4
05: 219.2
06: 219.4
07: 219

Total Loss for Week 1: 1.8 pounds

Week Two:
08: 218.6
09: 217.4
10: 217.6
11: 218.4
12: did not weigh
13: did not weigh
14: did not weigh

Week 3:
15: did not weigh
16: 220
17: 219.6
18: 220.4
19: 220.2
20: 219.4
21: 218.2

Week 4:
22: 217.2
23: 216.6
24: 216.2
25: 217
26: 216.8
27: 215.8 - so close to goal!
28: 215.8

Loss for week 4: 1.4 lbs

Total loss this month: 5 pounds

sgregg: You had an amazing month last month. Way to keep it going.

Jojobreeze: What is your diet like right now? Without knowing that, my first advice would be to start by looking for sources of sugar in your diet you can cut out (or at least cut back on). For many people, that means soda, for others, it is sugary snacks like cookies or candy. For me, it was huge amounts of milk and bread. You'll go through some sugar withdrawals, but once you get past them, it gets a lot easier. I wouldn't try to change everything at once, or you'll just get overwhelmed and frustrated and completely stop. Try to make sustainable changes that you could stick with forever.

Newlyn: Woohoo! I've been saying you were due for a whoosh. Love to see you down into the 250s. I have to remind myself about the average going down as well. Like this week, where I'm only 0.2 down today from where I was last Sunday. But my average this week is down a full pound from last week's average.

ophelia: Yay! Back into the 160s. Good luck getting down into that elusive "normal BMI" category.

ange: :o Thanks.

Week One
01: 198.6
02: 199.0
03:
04:
05:
06:
07:
---------------------------
Total Loss for Week One:

Ok, so last night, I was really hungry. I made up my leftover grilled chicken and roasted some potatoes and asparagus. I intended to refrigerate half the potatoes for today, but I was so hungry, I actually ended up eating ALL the potatoes. So I'm pretty sure I went over my TDEE yesterday and thus was not surprised to see a gain this morning. I mean, roasted potatoes are far from the worst thing I could binge on, but it was still a binge, which I'm not prone to. I've just been really hungry this week. I've made good food choices throughout, but I've been eating bigger portions (and then regretting it after, when it catches up and I feel overfull). Going to have to watch that.

SW 171.5
GW 167

Week One
01: 171.5
02: 172
03:
04:
05:
06:
07:

Jojobreeze The way I started was I evaluated what I was eating (a lot of junk, a lot of pasta, a lot of soda) and tried to go from there. I cut out my soda cold-turkey and now I'm working on cutting out sugar and limiting my carb intake to vegetables. Obviously there are days/meals when I fail completely but I just take it day by day. I also track my meals on MFP to keep me accountable.


SW 187.2
GW 180

Week One
01: 187.2
02: 188
03:
04:
05:
06:
07:

I'll take this +0.8 gain ... I ate too much of all the food yesterday. I think TOM may be on the way.

SW:143.2
GW:138

I'd like to be out of the 140s and in the 130s by the end of this month!

CW: 110.4
TW: <114

Bit of a hangover this morning although now i'm on to my second cup of tea it's easing off a bit. Yep, a few wines were had last night. That's ok, and enjoyed them, but I think i'll limit the alcohol days to just Saturday this week!

Jojo - yep agree with what others have said re the approach. I calorie-counted as I wasn't eating sweet food or drinks and didn't have a bad diet really to start with, but just too much volume of everything. Calorie counting is an effort to start with, so might not suit you just now, on the other hand you get regularly surprised about how many calories some things are and how few other things are!
I guess if you want to lose weight you have to do something different to what you normally do, so I quite like to review each day at the end and identify whether I really have consumed less than I normally would - if you're really doing something different to normal then results are guaranteed :)

Happy Sunday ALL!
 

Good MORNING ALL!! Thank you for all the replies and FEEDBACK! Yesterday was not a good day...did not exercise. Tried (a little), but I'm feeling much better this morning after a really good nights sleep!

LACERTA: Thank you for your interest!! I'm not a very good eater, which I guess is why I'm here! I usually don't eat dinner, but sometimes I do, because I usually cook every night (or at least every other) I do like sweets! ANYTHING CHOCOLATE! So, I think I can give myself one treat (reasonable) a week on a Sunday (but not today). I don't want to make it a "reward" but I guess it really is!! I don't eat out much, so a day usually is around 11:00 I eat my biggest meal, sometimes earlier. Sometimes its dinner from the night before, if I didn't eat dinner. I can pass by the chips and soda, so I'm good there. So, I think my first step is omitting the sweets and if I do it well, I will "reward" myself next Sunday with a large homemade brownie?! Does that sound ok?

Mrs. Deenze: THANK YOU TOO! I'm not a big eater. Although yesterday I was, at least for me. So I bombed out yesterday. I felt a bit shakey all day, so I thought I needed to eat. I'm pretty good with counting calories. Ill start that again today with spark people app. Thanks for that suggestion!! Mfp is great too!

Ange: Thank you for all the good info too! I'm going to "try" and plan each day in the morning and do the calorie counting. I have done this b4, but I usually fall short on calorie intake. I think this is my biggest problem. I'm trying to figure that out, and hasn't been easy. In the past, calorie counting I have shot for 1200 a day, and made it to 800 at best. I've heard "starvation" mode all too often. But I think ill have to work a bit and try for 1500 calories a day. If I gain, so be it. Then ill reduce it next week to 1400. I have to eat better first and get off the yoyo diet road.

How many calories do each of you reach for a day? What exercise plan do you all use? That might help a lot.

I'm 60 years old, menopause is bad! I'm 5'8" and I've never weighed this much in my life!! Its terrifying! I get fat shamed because I was so thin my entire life. People that know me a long time, even FAMILY, blurt out, "HOW DID YOU GET SO FAT?!" I don't think they are trying to hurt my feelings, they are just taken aback! So, I don't want to see anyone, as a result. But I'm tired of feeling this way: mentally & physically. Its time for me to "reinvent" me! I need an overhaul!

I use a combo plan for exercise: I'm starting today, lately I've been completely inactive! I like the bodbot app. Its free!

Thanks everyone! Have an AWESOME day!!



Week One
02: 214
03: 214
04:
05:
06:
07:
----------------------------
Total Loss for Week One:

Week Two
08:
09:
10:
11:
12:
13:
14:
----------------------------
End of Week One:
Total Loss for Week Two:

Week Three
15:
16:
17:
18:
19:
20:
21:
----------------------------
End of Week Two:
Total Loss for Week Three:

Week Four
22:
23:
24:
25:
26:
27:
28:
----------------------------
End of Week Three:
Total Loss for Week Four:[/QUOTE]

SW 171.5
GW 167

Week One
01: 171.5
02: 172
03: 172
04:
05:
06:
07:

SW: 261.5
GW: 257.5

1: 260.5
2: 259.5
3: 260

For some reason I was very dizzy yesterday afternoon so I napped for a few hours. It meat that I ended up with a very low step count and minimal activity but it couldn't be helped.

Jojobreeze: You're welcome. Another question to help you figure out how to go about it: Are you better with eliminations or moderations? I find that if I eliminate foods entirely, I don't do as well. I'm better off to allow everything and just try to make healthier choices, so I'm definitely a moderator. For example, I actually eat chocolate every single day, but I keep it to just a small square, about the size of a Hershey's Kiss. Other people can't stop with just a small amount, and are better off eliminating. Do you know which you are?

As for your question, I don't actually count my calories most days. I did for about a month to start with to get a feel for actual portion sizes and calorie counts, but I tend to eat the same general foods each week and now that I have a general idea how much to eat to lose weight, I just do spot checks periodically to make sure I'm on track. My actual count varies a lot, but typically is between 1400 and 1800. Rarely, I go as low as 1200 or as high as 2000. Some people are a lot more strict about it and count every single day, but I find that my method is working for me. As I go lower on the scale, I'm going to have to watch those high days, and maybe adjust to being between 1200 and 1600 instead. But I'm also finding that as I lose, my portion sizes are naturally getting smaller as my stomach shrinks. So I think I'll get there fairly naturally

Also, you shouldn't need to go under 1200 calories a day. If you're gaining on 1500 calories a day, either one of two things is happening. One, you have a hormone issue and should see your doctor about possible treatments (being in menopause, this is a definite possibility), or Two, you aren't actually eating 1500 calories. From studies, most people VASTLY underestimate the calories they are eating. They misjudge portion sizes by up to (I think) 30% or they mindlessly snack and forget to count those calories (in some cases over 1500 calories a day in uncounted snacking). So get a food scale so you know exactly what a portion size looks like and spend a week or two tracking EVERY SINGLE BITE / DRINK that goes in your mouth. If you really are only eating 1500 calories a day and are gaining weight at that, see your doctor. I have both hypothyroid and PCOS and I didn't start losing weight until I got my hormones balanced. But also, watch the show Secret Eaters if you want to see some examples of people who are sure they are eating less calories than they are, and can't figure out why they aren't losing weight. It's a British show, but it's got many of the full episodes on Youtube.

Week One
01: 198.6
02: 199.0
03: 199.8
04:
05:
06:
07:
---------------------------
Total Loss for Week One:

I was quite concerned today that I was going to bump back up over 200, so while I was not happy to see the increase, I was glad to still see a 1. I've said before that when I'm sick, I either have no appetite at all and don't eat ANYTHING or else I go crazy and eat EVERYTHING. Well, hubby has had the flu for 2 days and now I'm coming down with it and I think that is why I'm eating EVERYTHING right now. I overate at dinner Friday and then Yesterday, I just couldn't curb my eating. I had 2 handfuls of peanuts, an entire bag of popcorn, about 5 times as much chocolate as I normally have, pasta, (all that on top of my 3 meals) and absolutely no fruits or vegetables the entire day. And I was still looking for more. I did manage to talk myself out of the frozen fudge bar I wanted at bedtime. WOW! First time I've gone over my TDEE in a long time, and I still wanted more. They do say "feed a fever" so maybe eating more is a good thing, but blah! Anyway, I'm not looking forward to the next few days, so if you don't see me posting a lot, that is why.

SW 187.2
GW 180

Week One
01: 187.2
02: 188
03: 185.2
04:
05:
06:
07:

Quick goal setting and then back to work. This week continues to be a busy work week, with lots of client meetings and deadlines, ending with our Christmas in February party on Friday. Still haven't had time to find a dress. Argh.

Setting my goal at a pretty challenging place - at my current weight that would be a 3.5% loss. I'm super excited to be within a couple of lbs of the 130s. It's probably been 7 years since I've seen this weight.

New thing which is now happening to me - well meaning people in my life telling me I shouldn't lose any more weight, I look fine right now, I'm sacrificing muscle, etc. I thank them for their "compliment" and move on. (None of them are doctors or nutritionists or even remotely related to the medical world - I see my doctors on a regular basis - just in case you were worried internet friend.:lol: )

Have a good on plan month everyone!

SW: 142.4
GW: 137.4