Re scales/weight loss/monitoring issues
I am a newbie on the South Beach--my husband and 25yr old daughter all started Aug 16--I did not know exact weight because we have not owned scale in some time until I bought one after we were two-three days into the diet--figured about 204 start weight from my last visit to dr for bad case of the shingles earlier this month.
I have been weighing in the morning before I eat anything and sometimes at night before bed--I know that weight will be heavier than the start weight, but I monitor from night to night the change/if any. My husband and daughter as not as heavy and do not need to lose as much--he weighs in the morning--I don't think she has weighed more than once so far...
I need/want to lose about 50 lbs--took a long time to put on and intellectually I know that it will take a long time to take off--but what I read in the book about early weight losses is making me feel like I have reached a plateau before the end of Phase I is over--have only gone down to 198.2--and except for drinking lots of water (which I HATE) I have been the Diet ****, according to my daughter. I have tried to follow all the rules and have even been walking for 15-20 min daily--which I never used to do at all.
I am taking a med called neurontin for a case of the shingles--and that calls for extra fluid intake also. Does anyone know if that might be partly responsible for the slow loss--
and I guess I am jumping the gun about the plateau-thing but to have really increased the excercise level and cut back on the bad carbs/fats--loved snacking, never drank a diet soft drink, liked wine and beer--(I was very self-indulgent)--feel like I will have difficulty with making the grade and staying on this diet or any--
I can cook healthy, we love almost all veggies, and now that I am retired it won't be a problem to cook better meals like it was when I was teaching--but it is a lot of work w/o much reward from where I am sitting now.
Any insight or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Vicki
Vicki...you are already on the right track. In your estimation, you have lost about 6 pounds on SBD. WTG, girl. Start to celebrate each success, even if it is only .2 of a pound. It is still a weight loss and in the right direction. Don't obsess with how far you still must go to reach goal...that can be very overwhelming.
For you, you might want to set a series of mini goals for yourself. I can see that one such goal has already been accomplished - you have moved from the 200s to the 100s on the scale. Woohoo!!!! I concentrate on each 5 pounds and don't look at the total amount to lose. My goal is to reach the next 5 pound marker on the downward direction. I celebrate when I reach it, and then set a goal to reach the next one. The weight loss has seemed to slip by quickly and I am just about on the homeward stretch now. I have also set goals to weigh less than DH, move from the obese category to just overweight, to move from overweight to the normal range, etc. This has made the whole process do-able.
You can do this. If I can, so can you. Good luck on more successes.
For me, my "official" weigh day is each Monday and that's the result I write down for my records, but I do weigh every morning.
Like most others that said they do this too, I rise, use the restroom and then weigh before dressing. Sometimes, though, after I stretch a little and get moving, but before coffee or clothes, I will jump back on there again and the scale will read .5 lbs higher than it did 5 minutes earlier. Does this happen to anyone else? I just put a new battery in it so I don't think its that. I don't stress about it but find it to be a strange thing to happen. Just wondering.....
Unfortunately, I also weigh myself at night. I have done this for such a long time that I know how much more than my morning weight I should be to be losing/plateauing/gaining. For me, this is an indication of my successes during the day and also a motivation not to engage in my favorite pasttime - evening snacking.
You know, when I first read this, I thought, WOAH! Not a good idea!!! But when I read the rest, I realized that I was acting in just the way that the evil nutritionist was! Looking at the action, not at the psyche of the person using it. Peggy, it sounds like you have a very good head on your shoulders and that a bad weigh in at night is only going to drive you to do better by yourself, not drive you to engage in self-harming behviors, like bingeing! Good for you!!!
I guess what I truly believe, at heart, is that if it is working for us...and by working, I mean that it is encouraging us to partake in healthy behaviors, then it's an okay thing to do...whatever "it" is!
Despite the run-on sentence there, I think you get the idea.
Me too. I usually weigh in every morning. I have never ever measured.
Wendy, may I ask why you have never measured? I was terribly afraid of doing it when I started, so I didn't until several months later. I just measured again, and am amazed at all the inches I have lost! It really is worth it to do...and a great supplement to weighing...giving you other information.
beachgal, I'm not sure why I never measured, to be honest. Well, partly cause I didn't have a tape measure when I started and I never remember to buy one I weigh myself and also go by what size clothes I'm in and by how long it takes me to get down to the next size. Getting into smaller clothes is the best motivator in the world for me.
I've never ever in my life measured myself. I am very small up top with a big booty (just my natural build no matter my weight is) and I guess I just don't wanna know!
I am totally a scale ho. I weigh myself multiple times throughout the day. I know the morning one is the only one that really counts, and that I WILL weigh more as the day goes on, so it doesn't really bother me to see the numbers go up. I write down my weigh on a calendar every week or so to keep track of my progress.
...feel like I have reached a plateau before the end of Phase I is over--have only gone down to 198.2--and except for drinking lots of water (which I HATE) I have been the Diet ****, according to my daughter. I have tried to follow all the rules and have even been walking for 15-20 min daily--which I never used to do at all.
I am taking a med called neurontin for a case of the shingles--and that calls for extra fluid intake also. Does anyone know if that might be partly responsible for the slow loss--
Vicki, welcome! Please do start a new thread and tell everyone all about yourself, in case others may not read this thread. I know everyone will want to welcome you too!
CONGRATULATIONS on getting to ONEderland...the land of the 100s!!! That is fantastic!!! And since the published average (which many say is too high) for Phase 1 loss is 8-15, you are doing FANTASTIC!
I know the journey seems long when you look at the weight you have to take off, but it really won't be...and Peggy is right...you need to set some great mini goals to help you get jazzed about losing each part of the weight!
There are some great threads in here on rewards, use the search thread function to ferret them out. Personally, I bought a silver charm bracelet when I started SBD. I add a charm every five pounds and am thrilled to have finally earned a charm that says "50" for my fiftieth pound lost! I have a lot more to lose, but the bracelet really helps keep me on track and makes me feel very rewarded. The tinkle of the charms reminds me to stay OP, and the little charms, which represent things I will be able to do when I lose the weight, like ballet and having a baby, keep me feeling inspired.
Here's hoping that you can celebrate both in reaching your goals and in the journey there. We are learning to eat healthy, act healthy, BE healthy. It's a good thing. :
For me, my "official" weigh day is each Monday and that's the result I write down for my records, but I do weigh every morning.
Like most others that said they do this too, I rise, use the restroom and then weigh before dressing. Sometimes, though, after I stretch a little and get moving, but before coffee or clothes, I will jump back on there again and the scale will read .5 lbs higher than it did 5 minutes earlier. Does this happen to anyone else? I just put a new battery in it so I don't think its that. I don't stress about it but find it to be a strange thing to happen. Just wondering.....
A Broad Abroad, you would need to talk with a nutritionist to get the real answer, but I would surmise that while you are sleeping, your body isn't really holding on to the water it has. Then you go to the bathroom, and your body panics because it realizes it has lost liquid with none to replace it, and it starts holding on to what water is left. Perhaps that makes you weigh more. Even that doesn't really make sense to me...but the intricacies of weight as measured by a scale seem to be unfathomable to us mere mortals. You know?
Looking at the action, not at the psyche of the person using it. Peggy, it sounds like you have a very good head on your shoulders and that a bad weigh in at night is only going to drive you to do better by yourself, not drive you to engage in self-harming behviors, like bingeing! Good for you!!! 
I weigh myself and also go by what size clothes I'm in and by how long it takes me to get down to the next size. Getting into smaller clothes is the best motivator in the world for me.
Please do start a new thread and tell everyone all about yourself, in case others may not read this thread. I know everyone will want to welcome you too!
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