Sum Congratulations on your additional loss! There is hope for us all. As well, I'm sure to don't look as muffin-y as you percieve :) How was the bone marrow appt? I'm glad I'm now healthy enough to be able to give blood again, since I'm 3rd rare A- (anemia was a problem for a while).

Jo, congrats on your NSVs. Keep moving ;)
I am doing what several websites have suggested, which is to eat maintenace calories for the weight I WANT TO BE (for minimum to moderate exercise) so that it will be a life change and not a 'diet'. Early on, I did lower the cals for the initial weight loss, then when I plateaued, I changed to eating maintenance for goal weight, the weight I WANT to be, 167lbs(my " happy weight," when I feel really confident). I used to be very atheletic in school 20+ yrs ago, so my muscle tone was near excellent then at 155 lbs ( my vanity goal) That is all I will say about my age :) (Not just for vanity, but for identity reasons).

Good news, the last time I posted, the night before doctors appt, I had a whoosh! I was down to 181 on the downstairs scale,(-2lbs) and with clothes at the doctor's just two pounds more. Yippeee! I still want it to be back to the 179 and less, but the whoosh was an ego boost. You know what it's like when you don't feel like 99 luftballoons!

Krystal I have no intention of quitting or regaining more than water weight ;) You are so right about perspective. The fact that I have had to donate most of my clothes after my inital loss tells me how far I've come, and that it was once more painful to live in my body, 16lbs ago.

Having a great day in body, hope you are all having the same.

Hey girls!
Still trying to string together a good week here, one day at a time.
Yesterday was good, accomplished all the goals I wanted to, but still didn't get my protein up as high as I would have liked, but I tried!. I think it is the calorie restriction thing. I feel it is impossible to get much more in without giving up carbs all together and I am not about to do that.
Today is intervals (running), then some fat burning jogging and then if I have to make up some time or calories I will walk some too. I will shoot for 60 min. total. I am a little sore from weight lifting yesterday so the jogging will defo. help.

Deb, haha, I hear ya on the identity thing, and I graduated 20+ years ago from high school too and was pretty athletic. Maybe we played on the same sports team(s)!! Or maybe against each other, haha.
So I wasn't asking to be nosy, I was asking so I could plug your info into that calculator I was talking about because the numbers you were using seemed low to me. I just used the age 42, but even up to 46 the results were still within like 30 calories, so no big deal. That link is still in the previous post if you want to put in your true age.
Anyhow, it says if you want to weigh 167, your bmr (what you burn at total rest as if in a coma) is 1532. You should never eat under this number, this is what your body needs for all it's metabolic processes. Then it breaks your daily calorie goal into activity levels:
Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 1776
Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 2035
Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 2294
Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 2553
Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 2812

So if you are moderately active and want to eat for your goal weight of 167, you should be eating about 2300 calories a day! You may find you are not losing or losing too fast and have to play around with your activity levels, but you can see the numbers are much higher than what you have been eating.
It may help once you are at maintenance too.
I hope I am not annoying you with this, I just wanted to help and I hate to see people struggling.
Oh, and congrats on getting some of that water weight off!!!

I am eating under my bmr some days, but I am spiking on the weekend, so that makes those calories up. Just wanted to put that out there in case I say what my calories are and you think I am eating under bmr, it is purposeful in order to allow myself a spike day on the weekend. A whole other way of doing things. Otherwise, I don't believe in eating under bmr. It kills me to see people in maintenance eating at or under bmr and working out like crazy. Of course it is what they have to do to maintain, their bodies are starving! Easy for me to say, I suck at maintaining, but I have a lot more tools under my belt this time around, so here's hoping.

Sum, I laughed about the muffin top. I am the same way, I hate wearing anything a smidge too tight in the waist. I don't like seeing muffins, especially on me! I have a pair I keep trying on (NOT 8s), but still a little too tight in the waist and upper thighs. Getting there though. How did the tighter pants work for you? Were you able to reign in the hunger? I was a little more hungry yesterday too.

K9, that's great you converted your friend too. I feel her pain. When you have a lot to lose it can be very very daunting. Especially when trying to do it with a family in tow. The meal planning is daunting, getting the exercise in is exhausting and if she is working, that is a whole other ball to juggle along with it. In a year she will be glad, but looking ahead to this all taking a year really deflates the motivation right out of you.
Looks like you got in a good workout last night while I was sleeping!

Jo: Thanks for posting the above info on BMR & eating at maintenance. I needed that this a.m.

Krystal I am so glad that your friend is wanting to do this! -- I feel her pain, tho. -- I remember when I was 160-165 and feeling miserable and depressed about the weighloss ahead; I kept reminding myself that each pound made me feel lighter and happier and I tried not focusing on the end goal. -- You can tell her about me, how happy I was when I stayed under 150 after pigging out :) I was sincerely happy, still 25 pounds from the goal. -- Yesterday those tight fitting jeans made me feel good; funny thing...I remember when I bought them and that size 8 :rofl: made me feel miserable... isn't funny how we look at things differently. Good luck to her. I am glad she has you as her friend and motivator.

Jo Do you like cottage cheese? Yogurt? I sneak those in for my protein. -- How did your hubby like the lasagna? -- I am eating too many calories; I am eating the ones that you are leaving behind :rofl: so it is all balancing out :D You are welcome :D :D

Deb I love when I have the whoosh! Congrats! It is a such mental boost!

--------

My day was kinda off. The-muffin-top-jeans worked until I just became too uncomfortable in them :dizzy: I cooked some more for the freezer and I kept sampling too much. I did not tally up my bites here and there, but I know I was wayyy over my calories for the day. -- I think I am close to TOM. My daughter and I, our bodies are wanting to go on same cycle. She was 10 days late and I think I will get mine early. -- I am eating like I do when PMS:ing.... -- I used to use NuvaRing and only get my period once in every 3 months (I had some issues), that schedule was hard on my daughter's cycle :rofl: and to help her out I went off BC. Now for the past 3 months we have been kinda messed up...we need to get in sync and all will be bliss :devil:

I had my blood drawn for the bone marrow;they are checking if I can be a match. -- I saw doctor and she explained the procedure, what to expect etc. -- It is scary, but I would feel like a jerk if I were to bail out now when someone needs me; just because I am scared. I am not dying, and the person who needs it may be. So if am a match, we will go forward.

I will do my very best to stay OP today; I need it!!
I am lacking will power :( My hubby :drill: works from home, so he is dragging me out for a walk...if it was left up to me, I would skip today...it would be my 3rd day :( I am glad he kicks my butt when needed :^:

Okee off to get dressed for the walk.

Have a FAB day girls! :hug:

Why am I my own biggest enemy? Each time I reach 150, I start eating like mad...as if I need to see how fast can I pack on the pounds again... I ate over 2100 cal on Tuesday and over 2200 cal on Wednesday.

Support me here...kick my a$$...give me some hard love!

I was 148.5 pounds this morning. I was 146.5 on Monday :mad: I don't want to go back, but why, WHY can't I stop sabotaging myself??

Someone tape my mouth shut, better yet...use stables!!

Hello girls, How goes your day so far?

Sum, I hope your bone marrow will find a match soon. Great feeling to be able to help someone in need, isn't it.
Jo, Sum is right, greek yogurt works well for me to get my protein in. I have been making a point to eat a beef stir fry once or twice a week ( I usually make chicken)

That is astonishing! Fat2Fit gives me almost 500 cals more than FreeDieting.com/tools for maintenance and about 200 more for weightloss! I feel stuffed when I eat 1600-1800 cals a day!
At first I thought you might not have checked the 'female' box, but that is for a female. At least now I won't beat myself up so much when I eat pizza on the weekends!

Krystal, Seems we both got insight from Jo today :)

Woohoo, had an awesome workout today!
Snow shoveling x 20 min
Running intervals x 15 min (1:2 ratio)
(rest 5 min.-supposed to help burn the circulating fats from intervals
Jogging x 20 min
Walking x 25 min
Total calorie burn according to bodybugg=just under 900, but I only logged part of that for fudge factor.

Thanks for the protein ideas girls! Need to cook up some MEAT! I pretty much like everything you mentioned except cottage cheese, due to the texture and taste, pretty much makes me want to ralph. Funny that Deb mentioned stir fry, I just pulled some pre-cut/marinated chicken chunks from the freezer to stir fry up tonight! Yum. Just have to hit the fresh market for some veggies. I seem to be on a cruciferous kick, I am loving me some cauliflower and cabbage mmmm. Ooops, I am supposed to be focusing on MEAT! I am also thinking of making quinoa for the first time to serve with it. Just trying to figure out if I can make it in my rice cooker.

That IS a big difference! Well, maybe split the difference and see what that does for you. Oh my gosh, 1600-1800 is nothing! Just add in some more calorie dense things to get it a little higher, a serving of nuts, nut butter, healthy oil, avacado, dark chocolate that kind of thing. I am always amazed when people say they cant eat more. I typically eat at least 3000 calories or more on my spike days and I think the calories go so darn fast! Sometimes I wish I was a guy so I could eat 4000-5000 calories on those days, that would be cool! I could have my chocolate and my wine in one day, OMG that would be amazing :lol:

Try being short Jo.... It sucks! My hubby eats non stop and all this good stuff like cheese and ice cream and strawberries with whipped cream :D -- We just walked... I burned 559 cal, he burned nearly 900...NOT FAIR!!!! :tantrum::tantrum::tantrum::tantrum: I am far more active doing household chores as well. Sucks to be a woman at times :D

Hey girls, hope your Friday is going well!

Had a good day yesterday, met all the goals I set out to.

Today I will get in my weight lifting, and then maybe a walk for some added calorie burn, but for sure the weights. Kind of a late start for the day, kids are off for a 4 day weekend, so I splurged on some much needed sleep. Still feeling kinda out of it, blek, must be TOMs friend PMS being a bad influence on me.

Sum, I can't even compare myself to DH with eating or weight loss or anything, just makes me mad. I know I gained weight because I ate with him/like him a lot. I always need to keep in perspective that I need smaller amounts than him to be healthy!

K9, did a week go by already or did you pick up an extra shift? I will be spiking sun too, haven't figured out what yet.

Jo: I picked up an extra shift last week! & yes! :yes: time does fly when we're having fun!! :lol:
It is funny you mention the portions/eating habits of you DH. That is the main reason I gained 20 lbs. mine loves to eat out & always expected me to go, order, & have dessert!!!
Glad that activity changed before 20 turned into 40,60,80....

I am having totally out of control week.

I am feeling sick today, not from eating, but overall I don't feel well. -- I feel like I am having a lupus flare up; my joints are killing me and I am totally drained. I hope it is just a cold, or some drive by virus :(

I did not even log my food in today, but I am sure it was another 2200 + calorie day :mad: Why can't I stop???

Tomorrow I have another long day in a car; DD is applying for the Honor's program at her future college and she has to take an on-site test. Hopefully 7 hours in a car will help me to cut this cycle. I won't bring any snacks along for me.

I hope the rest of you are staying OP.

Kristiina: I hate to hear this!! I hope you feel better soon. Thinking of you, gf.

I had a rough day yesterday too filled with absolutely no energy. It was all I could do to get through my weight lifting workout, then I tried to walk, but quit at 15 minutes. I then did what I had to do for the house, vacuuming, a little dusting and only one bathroom. It's got to be PMS draining me. It was really weird, as you know I wear a bodybugg, so I can see how many calories I am burning by the minute. Usually with lifting weights it is 3.5-5 per minute, cleaning house 3-4 per minute, walking 4-6.5 per minute and running 6-11 per minute. Yesterday, during all of my activities I burned a whopping 1.5 calories per minute. It never changed whether I was on the treadmill, lifting weights, vacuuming or sitting on my arse! I think it got up to 1.8 at one point but that was it! Unbelievable! Not sure I have ever noticed that before, but I will be watching more closely right before TOM next month. My body was trying to tell me something.
I stayed within my calories yesterday, but can't say I didn't want to eat a heck of a lot more than I did!
I hope today is a better day, I want to get in one more good workout before taking a rest day tomorrow. Oh, and tomorrow is my official weigh in day, last chance workout, :lol:.
Still don't know what I am having for spike day tomorrow. Well, I guess I do have one individual serving size bag of cadbury mini eggs ready to go and a bottle of wine chilling, but other than that, I don't know what I am eating.

Kristiina, I feel ya, :hug: Try to do one thing better than you did yesterday. I hope you feel better soon!

:wave: hi Deb and Krystal. Hope all is well with you guys!