It's me again, posting my exercise! So since I've started saying I would try to do some actual exercise vs being "up and busy" as much as possible around the house, etc...I have exercised again today with another video. This is the 5th time in 10 days. I posted the other day I was up to 164 and today it was 161.6 so I am all over the place depending on the amount of fiber, carbs, etc...I have had some recent compliments from the family..well one was "you look like you need some new jeans, those are too big." That is the sweetest thing someone can say.
KStrong Hope your eye procedure went well!

Thanks y'all!

Hi MomtoPandS - That is great about the walking group and your special goals!
L&L's Mom - 161.6! That is wonderful!!! Great job on all the exercise, too. That is fantastic about the compliments and they mean more from family especially the ones that see us regularly because sometimes the changes are so gradual that they don't always notice.

Carol - I haven't read the article yet, but I have seen lots written about the benefits of movement throughout the day verses hitting it hard.

Have a great week!

Kstrong,you can pass your 12's over to me! Ill fit into them soon. Glad to hear your procedures went well!

Speaking of age, DH will be 80 next month. When we shop at Wal-Mart he buys automotive products in aerosol cans that require age verification at the self check out. The clerk that came over for the approval said "I can tell you are old enough.". I said " He's only 16 but he smokes!". She did not see the humor of that comment. She is probably a smoker.

I've been on plan with food and weight has started slightly downward. I plan on starting the new year below 180. I hope we have this thread next year.

Hi everyone!

No real updates other than I have had some wild weight swings..I posted I was 161 and the next day up 5 pounds in one day? What the heck?? I looked it up and knowing my calories were OK I see what I expect, it can go up even 5 pounds with water retention from carbs, too much sodium etc...Luckily it was down 2 the next day and today it was down again. I do feel so much better equipped mentally to deal with the crazy numbers. Even if my calories were insane and I deserved a gain I know I can just get back in gear and get it in control again.



Wannabehealthy I get your joke and would have laughed, yes you never know either she's a smoker or doesn't get that smoking does age people or has no sense of humor? Oh well! Congrats on staying on plan! I plan to stay on this thread next year. Even when I get to a goal I know I will need to maintain it..each day we have to watch the calories and activity.


KStrong I'm so glad your procedures went well! I can see how you'd want to be back into the size 10's. I can wear some 12 jeans now that almost look like leggings on since they are snug...I will probably try to get to the 10's myself and then stay there. I know I will feel "skinny" as a size 10.


Looking forward to seeing great updates this holiday season, I agree we are worth it and can do this!

L&LSmom I have heard that weight maintenance is harder than weight loss. For one, when you are losing, you have the excitement of seeing the number on the scale go down. When maintaining you struggle to keep the number from going up. I also read that your body is constantly trying to recoup the weight you lost, and it will be a constant battle for about a year before your body accepts the new weight. So what you are experiencing is normal.

I probably asked you this before, but how long did it take you to lose all the weight? And what was your biggest struggle? Did you ever lose control and have a big regain? If so, how did you get back on track and how long did it take?

I feel that I'm getting better control of my eating. My weight is going down very slowly but no big bump ups. I think before I eat, realizing that if I indulge I will pay the price and be regretful. I want to get back to the point where I just don't eat the things I know are wrong for me. Hubby doesn't like this because I was his eating buddy. He still tries to tempt me but he is improving. It will be best if I can break him of this habit completely.

Wannabehealthy I believe you are probably right about maintenance vs losing weight. I'm still working on losing, but I guess it won't be much more than maybe 10 more pounds or so. The less we weigh then the fewer calories are needed to maintain that weight...we have to think "eat X amount of calories" daily for life. It has taken me just over two years. I started this time in August of 2020. I haven't lost control and had a regain surprisingly enough! I think it's because I have done it so slowly. In the past I have lost 50 pounds several times. I would lose that amount in like 6 months and regain it just as fast it seems once the "diet" was over. This time it's not a "diet" I can get on and off I am seriously just writing down what I eat and track how many calories it is and try to stay under my calorie goal. The most I usually ever go up to is 2000 (vs it should be more like 1600). My biggest struggle is not exercising...it hasn't become a habit yet. My biggest food struggle is not eating ice cream. I could eat a pint of Ben and Jerrys easily but know the 800 calories isn't worth it so I don't get it. I will get ice cream bars that are 180 calories instead and just have one a day when I buy those!

With your hubby losing his eating buddy I think knowing the issue makes it easier to fix. He will adjust soon enough, they say it takes three weeks to make something a habit. I bet a solid month of you tracking all your food etc.. and he gets used to it. I understand...we are all creatures of habit.

I had been thinking about whether we'd do this thread again in 2023. If y'all and the site plan to still be around, so will I and will make a new thread at the end of December 2022! I've already thought more about my goals in terms of pounds/inches I want to lose and not just numbers on a scale since my body is so bizarre. I have to get my Driver's License renewed and that will give me some incentive to not go off the deep end during the holidays.

Carol - I would have laughed at the hubby being 16 also. Some people have no sense of humor! Both of my husbands and my closest friend were all heavy smokers, but I never really smoked. I'm sure the second hand smoke was bad enough though! I wish I could give you my 12's but they are the only thing comfy right now and I decided to keep one size up for the "fluffy days". Thank goodness we can wear jackets now so I can hide my mushroom top!

L&L's Mom - That was a big water jump for you so I'm proud of you having a good attitude about it. Now that you are getting close to your ultimate goal, I can't wait to see what kind of plan you land on. Also extra kudos on always staying below 2000 calories. We know that if we had always done that then we would not have had to fight so hard for so long! It is good that you did this with not under eating because I think your metabolism is much healthier than mine is!!!

Have a great week everyone!!!

Kstrong, what did you eat with your low carb wraps? I hope answering that does not stir up your cravings. I used to buy them but found I was just finding things to eat them with so I stopped, but I don't miss them. With the holidays. coming I'm going to miss crackers, because I used to make cheese balls and other spreads for "when company came." Unfortunately I didn't want them to go to waste so I finished them off after the company left. So no more crackers and spreads. I need to serve things I don't like if there is such a thing.

I understand your struggle over the years and commend you that you never gave up. I'm reading a book that dieters hate. It explains that diets don't work and less than 5% of dieters maintain their loss long term. Some parts I agree with and some I don't. Its pretty much saying that thin doesnt necessarily equal healthy and overweight doesnt mean not healthy, and evrryone is not going to be able to reach a normal weight. I've come to the part where she discusses Intuitive Eating. She says you should sit down to eat when you are hungry, eat something you like not something you think you should eat and stop when you are satisfied, not when the food is gone. I am trying to do this. So I'm not always eating when my husband wants to eat, but I get to eat a hamburger once in a while. A homemade hamburger, not McDonalds. I would like to get my eating under control, and then maybe I can lose.

L&Ls Mom, I hope you continue to post here next year because I think it will help you maintain and maybe even continue down.

I've noticed other posters here from time to time and I hope they continue, too.

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Carol - I usually made one low carb wrap into a meal. I loaded it up with anything from salad stuff to deli meat. They are only 45 calories but the keto friendly ingredients always cause me to retain water. I normally eat cleaner and avoid processed stuff or I bloat up but I really enjoyed it and plan to behave better through November...I miss crackers and bread also and all the things you can eat on them.
I wish you good luck with the latest book but I'm not a good candidate for intuitive eating because I don't really get hungry on clean, zero or low carb and If I eat carbs, I have no "I'm full, stop eating" until I've eaten way too much.unfortunately. I agree with all that you mentioned though!

Good morning!

My current spreadsheet says that I should have lost 1.8 pounds so far this month, but I've gained over 5 pounds (net) and that is after two days of water losses!!! So bizarre. Anyway, no sense pouting as we know how dumb my body is. We have been especially chilly for this time of year with a possibility of snow this weekend so my exercise has been limited. I remember when I loved walking in these kind of temps when I was younger and fluffier, but I'm still doing what I can and have done my lifting twice this week.

I hope everyone is having an excellent week!

Hi everyone! Happy Saturday!

Not too much to report really, so I am just checking in. The same old same old is going on basically. I am up a bit, down a bit...nothing too crazy. Today was 164.8. I think it's mostly water retention from sodium. With that said tomorrow for once I am going against the norm for me...I will definitely have more than 2000 calories. My daughter's 18th birthday is this coming week. She wants to visit The Yard Milkshake Bar. We haven't been there before but we know it's a caloriepalooza. LOL Here is a link to get an idea of this place (ours is in Virginia Beach VA).

https://www.theyardmilkshakebar.com/

The vegan milkshake alone is 2000 calories so I know I will be WAY over tomorrow. Oh well, Monday I will get back on track and hopefully get exercise in too!


KStrong I vote to keep the thread going next year! It helps keep me accountable. Even when I am no longer trying to lose I will still have to keep tracking my calories to maintain. It's good to share the ups and downs, what works and doesn't work for us, etc... I am sorry you've been struggling! I know you will hang in there and have great scale news to report soon enough.

L&L's Mom - You have been so good for so long that you deserve that milkshake!!! I had not heard of The Yard so I checked out the menu for the closest one to me. Luckily, they aren't super close because I can see that being a special treat for birthday or ANY DAY. We used to always go to BR on whoever's birthday it was and get three scoops of whatever we wanted. For $17, I can only imagine how good those shakes are!!! I saw so many of my favorite NON LOW carb dessert stuffs.

So, I'm back up again to my highest of the year. I'm too embarrassed to say the number, but I know it isn't from the calories.
Have a great week everyone!

p.s. I did lift this morning (also did my 3x last week) and will get my minimum steps in today as we are rainy this morning.

I'm surprisingly holding below 185. Just barely. I'm the same Kstrong, its not calories but ice cream. DH bought it knowing I would eat it.

Maintaining is hard. Very hard. You've both lost so much and I don't think our bodies ever stop trying to hold onto the fat. Unfortunately we will always have a constant battle. We are up for it!!

I'm so glad we are continuing next year.

I survived "The Yard." We went there and told them we wanted the vegan choice and we had the choice of milk shake or ice cream. We both chose ice cream. It's ice all vegan...ice cream, whipped cream, a cookie, sprinkles etc... It was good, but honestly not as great as we built it up in our heads with all the pics we've seen of it from friends who've been there and posted their close ups of the food there. It's more about the experience. Plus we have the cool souvenir mason jar. LOL

Amazingly enough, I didn't even gain weight yesterday (the day after). I think partially because my weight was up I feel do to sodium. I had made soups recently we know how much sodium is in broth alone. Now we have Thanksgiving and the left overs coming up, but yet again we know it's only a few days and then back to normal again.


KStrong Thanks for giving me permission to splurge. I said it was OK but it's probably not fair since I am sure the non vegans are living in hog heaven there. All the ice cream and toppings etc...they have. We are glad they even had THE choice for us. Most places probably wouldn't. I agree you know how to lose, I know you don't want to put the number down officially online but at least even saying you are up is admitting it and maybe it will help with getting things back on track? I hope so. And as always, great job on the exercise.!!

Wannabehealthy I am also glad we are keeping our little group alive next year!! Yes our bodies are on survival mode. It thinks if we eat too little (say under 1200 calories) that we are literally starving in a famine or something and it needs to hold on to every calorie to keep us alive. Ugg. The battle continues! I can tell you my mom who is 77 is doing great on her weight loss. She is keeping it off. She is the opposite of me as she is low carb-keto. We've got this!

Carol - great job on maintaining! That is so hard even when we aren't in the holiday season.

L&Ls Mom - You are still the of the Losers on any day but to go to that totally decadent place and not gain. I bow! I had a sugar rush just looking at a couple of the local menu pictures and had to turn away pretty fast. And you got a trophy jar too.

I had a nice walk this morning as the temps are back to normal but the rain is heading in again with the mildness for the next few. I'm going to try to get another walk in in the morning before the showers start. I made my last grocery run for November and am proud that I only left with a head of cabbage. I wanted cauliflower but the heads were tiny so I couldn't justify that expense for 1-2 servings. So, to summarize, there are only on plan foods in the house, the cheese and deli meats are gone so I should be good for a Whoosh Fairy visit. For a few days anyway.

I hope y'all that celebrate have a nice holiday!