New Year 2018 to Valentine's Day Challenge

[_Lilac_]

Welcome to the newest challenge! We are celebrating our scaled and non-scaled victories and progress. Following are some acronyms typically used by those who post. Some of us also track body fat or measurements, please add those as you wish.

USW - Ultimate start weight

SW - starting weight for the challenge

CW - current weight 

PW - previous week's weight

GW - goal weight for the challenge

UGW- ultimate goal weight

I hope everyone had successful and fun winter holidays. Many of us are continuing on or beginning again or newly starting our healthy journeys. Big reminders...have FUN, enjoy life, laugh every day, stay positive, drink your water, move your butt, come share with us.

To join, please simply post and you are in! Have a great time, let's get this going!

[Coracora]

First check in!

SW 171

CW 169

GW 163

UGW 155

I’m down 2 pounds, which puts me right on track.

I had a liver transplant 8 months ago, 30% of patients becone morbidly obese in the first year 50% in 5 years. A huge part of it is the meds, another is having no gall bladder.  I’ve had doctors, nurses and a PT tell me that 14 pounds over isn’t a big deal, but for me 14 leads to 28 leads to 56... I’ve also been told that with the meds I’m on the deck is stacked against weight loss.  But the kicker is once you get past the first year, the big concern in transplant patients is heart disease.  I’ve already beaten the odds on survival and have come back strong, I’m not willing to now eat myself to death, no matter what excuses I’m handed.

That being said, my body is totally responding differently and what I did in the past food wise to remain fit wasn’t working.  I’m finding I have had to change my workouts considerably and switch to the DASH diet with carb cycling to get any loss.  Ive been religiously tracking for a couple of months and changing the food and exercise this past week is the first loss I’ve seen, so I’m thrilled.

This group is a big help, just reading others life struggles and desire to be fit no matter the obstacles is inspirational!  Thank you all.

coracora

[RetiredMarine]

Greetings everyone, I'm a little late to the game here, but I am very close to my goal weight. I am here mostly to encourage others because I need to pay it forward. My wife supported me every step of the way, celebrated my success and encouraged me to push through the pain. She demanded I rest when I needed it, including training injuries, and kept me on track with my diet. So, I'm here to help and answer questions.

USW - 245 (6' 2")

SW - 195 (20.1% BF)

CW - 195 (20.1% BF)

PW - 196

GW - 190 (15% BF)

UGW- 190 (10% BF)

Two things that helped me the most so far are :

1. Portion control. I started using the "Kid plates" instead of the largest one we had. It looked like the plate held just as much as food, but was probably a little less than 2/3 of what I usually ate.

2. I weighed myself every day, and twice on workout days. I would weigh myself every morning when I woke up, and immediately after every workout. I didn't obsess over every pound lost or gained as long as I was trending downward. The post-workout weights were my inspiration to keep going because the water weight I lost through sweat showed me where I would be the following week. It was a mind trick that worked for me and I hope it works for you.

Have fun on this journey and celebrate every success, no matter how small; and forgive yourself when you fall, it happens.

[MarilynL]

This is so kind of you Retired Marine - paying it forward. I too weigh myself every day just to see that I am staying on track. I feel that the way to loose is 90% what we eat and so I am interested to find out what and how you ate? 

That said, it is very important to move for the sake of our health.

I have a couple of questions?

Which is the weigh in day of the week on this challenge? If there is not one I would like to suggest that we pick one so that we can have a measurable result each week.

The other question is , is there any way to post on this board with out replying to someone's e mail and if so how? Thanks 🙂

[RetiredMarine]

Marilyn,

I really didn't eat anything special or take any supplements or anything like that. I did eat a lot of salad and fresh fruit over the summer. (I started in May 2017) I also had a lot of grilled chicken and fish. I live near San Antonio so I can grill, comfortably, year-round; which helps. I also eliminated a lot of processed salty snacks as well as reducing my consumption, what I consider to be "heavy meats". Heavy meats are any meat covered in heavy sauces, like ribs, chicken wings or pulled pork. (I have cholesterol issues, so that helped out in that area as well) Other than that it was just moderation and exercise. I just turned 42, so it was very challenging at first, having been inactive for over 3 years. Food intake was really big part of my plan, and it was a plan. I really, really, really like to eat things like chips, and ribs, and wings, and steak and potatoes and..well you get my drift. I would use those items as rewards for certain milestones but didn't really eat them nearly as regularly as I did before. No sugary drinks, at all, except for the occasional diluted sports drink.

I don't know the answers to your other questions because I just posted for the first time this morning, sorry.

[_Lilac_]

@RetiredMarine  Switching to a lunch plate rather than a dinner plate was one of the very first things I did when I began my journey. It really does work to control portions.

[_Lilac_]

@MarilynL  To post here, you simply hit 'reply' on anyone's post. It doesn't show up as though you are replying to a specific person or post. It won't copy their post with yours. If you want to specify a person to speak to them, type the 'at' symbol and names will come up in a box below, you choose the one you want and the post will highlight them and email them that you are referencing them directly. This is what I did to let you know I was speaking to you here. I hope this helps.

The weigh in day is whatever you choose. Many people use Sundays or Mondays. Or, just when you see a significant drop. I have a weight loss pattern of 9-10 days...so I'll be the same for that long then drop suddenly. I post when I see the drop, rather than on a specific day. I've been on a plateau for months so I don't even bother posting my weight...during this time I try to concentrate on non-scale progress like step counts, how good I feel, etc. It helps me stay motivated and on track. 

[ucan2]

Passed up getting my feel good desert while out on the road today. No judging now, but I love McD ice-cream soft serve. Proud to move on past the thought! Steel cut oatmeal & blueberries for am, Greek salad for lunch, kind of new for me. Hoping to make my daily step goal of 13,500 steps. About 8,000 to go. Better get moving. Bye for now. Lisa

[khreed]

Do you mean 13,500 steps? I'm confused.

[ucan2]

Yes,  13,500.thanks for noticing.

[ucan2]

Yes, thanks for bringing it tom my attention. Take care.

[RetiredMarine]

@_Lilac_I agree completely. Now I cant even finish a lunch plate full of food.

[khreed]

Well, I haven't done well with my weight. In fact, I'm up a pound to 197.6. I may have mentioned that beginning today, I am participating in a study and I have been assigned to the exercise group. I did go to the gym today where I did 20 minutes on the rowing machine, 20 minutes on a stationery bike, and 5 minutes on a walking path. I hope I can get it together. I had a reasonable dinner tonight.

[Tybokitty]

Here is my weigh in for this week.

USW - 172 (since I started last year)

SW - 169

CW - 168.8 (1/9) 

PW - 169 (1/4) 

GW - 164

UGW- 140

Not much but will take it.  Shows I lost a little. I need to get out and walk in the evening since it has gotten nicer and we don't have that freezing weather. Ya'll have a great week.

"I'm not where I need to be, but thank God I'm not where I used to be. Joyce Meyer".

[khreed]

I'm trying to focus on exercise for the next 12 weeks. It's something I did
and then let slide for probably 7-8 months. I know from past experience that
it's not the most effective thing for weight loss, but it has other
benefits, especially on my mood.



Today's weight 195.6.

[carolinajourney]

That motivational phrase was what I need today. Thanks.

USW - 159 (72 Kg)

SW - 147 (67 Kg)

CW - 146 (66.3 Kg)

GW - 141 (64 Kg)

UGW- 132 (60 Kg)

[erinwdesign]

Guys, I was so down yesterday. I weigh myself every day (sometimes twice) because it helps me identify if I'm heading in the wrong direction earlier, but I totally saw the downsides of it. I somehow went two steps forward and one step back, and it was really bumming me out. I was looking at the scale, wondering if I should come back and adjust my goal (already!) to just 1 lb/week instead of 2 lbs/week. But then I went to spin class and the instructor encouraged us to shed what was holding us back, push through it. So I'm trying to push through my self-doubt, and this morning like magic I'd lost all that I'd gained back plus half a pound! So to anyone else out there struggling to believe you can do it, I think you can. Just push through. 

[Jasmine333]

Hi everyone!  Well.....I intended for Mondays to be my weigh in and post day but I had a week of not eating my best and not exercising as much as usual.  I told myself I would give myself one more day and weigh in on Tuesday instead.  

So......my weight is the same as last week - 174.  I will take that!  

Here is to a better week!

[khreed]

@erinwdesign When I was really serious about this process 2 years ago, I
weighed every day. I had to fight through those ups and downs. I found out
not to let a pound up or a pound down make any difference. It's hard, but
once you've experienced it frequently, it gets easier to ignore the blips. I
still weigh every day because I'm afraid what will happen if I don't.

[RetiredMarine]

@erinwdesign, @khreed is right about worrying over every little pound. Your weight can change a pound just by changing your water intake, or even eating a high sodium meal. Great job pushing through!

[erinwdesign]

@khreed I do this every time I'm on my grind, so I'm simultaneously totally used to it, yet somehow never immune to its effects. It's really important for me because I can lie to myself so well, the scale is what keeps me honest that a meal or a day of eating badly does have an impact and isn't okay to do too often. It definitely can drive me crazy sometimes though. I actually just noticed today that the fitbit display averages your weight across a week, I think that's a nice touch to keep folks like me seeing that from week to week, we're trending in the right direction.  

And @Coracora I meant to mention, I'm sorry to hear about your liver! I've had problems with my pancreas for the last year and a half, and wound up having my gallbladder out last spring. It's so hard to lose on the low-fat diet required to keep that stuff in check! I have some similar motivators—the danger of me getting diabetes is something like 2.5x more likely than the general population over the next 5 years due to the damage to my pancreas. At the same time, I absolutely cannot withstand another attack of pancreatitis of that severity, so zero alcohol and low fat are my #1 and #2 priorities. Good luck staying on the good side of the stats.