New Year to April Fools weight loss challenge, weekly weigh-in

[Dominique]

This is a spin-off of the venerable Weekly Weigh In topic that now has 2500+ posts spanning over four years and is therefore a bit crowded. The idea is the same: to provide accountability and motivation to fellow community members who wish to shed some weight over the next three months.

The rules are flexible: to report weight (and any other metrics) on a weekly basis (you can pick any day you like). I’ll personally report average weight for the previous week every Monday, starting next Monday (Dec-30, so technically not quite New Year). This coming week will provide the baseline/starting point.

I’ve been steadily gaining about 4 kg (8.8 lbs) over the Fall, from about 60 to almost 64 kg (141 lbs):

It’s now time to get back to a leaner level, ideally around 60 kg.

Is anyone else game for this?

[Dominique]

@Glenda : one thing worth noting about studies on intermittent fasting is they are usually conducted on overweight subjects. You, on the other hand, are trying to go from thin (BMI: 22) to very thin (BMI: 20). The findings of IF studies (e.g. the alleged benefits of IF on health) may therefore not apply to you. And as you noticed, you have none of the ailments IF is supposed to fix. That being said, if IF as a way of eating works for you for weightloss, go for it! It just means IF puts you in the caloric deficit needed for you to lose weight.

[Julia_G]

Well, I am still on the up, but last week I had a visitor, a post Christmas party and a couple of meals out.  Hopefully this week will start my turn around.

Start weight 121

week 1 weight 121.1

Week 2 weight 121.7

I keep meaning to try 16:8 but I do love breakfast.  Also I am not sure how absolutely strict I would need to be.  I can give up breakfast, but I’d hate to give up milk in my morning tea...

My blood pressure isn’t high, but it is definitely consistently above ideal levels, so that could be a very positive benefit for me.

[Julia_G]

@Glenda , you may be interested in this very balanced article from National Institute on Aging:  https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/calorie-restriction-and-fasting-diets-what-do-we-know

[Glenda]

@Dominique  Thank you for kind comments however I am not thin.  My ideal weight when I was 30 years old was 108 and I had muscle then.  Now after losing 30 % of my muscle I should weigh less not more.  I think about a 100 now would be right.   Most old people think they should weigh more than when they were young.  I don't know why.  They didn't get taller.  They will just be fatter.    They will be fatter even at the same weight.  You know that is true Dominique.  

[Julia_G]

@Glenda , I am not sure how old you are (younger than I am, I am sure!), but if you are simply considering health issues (rather than how you think you look) research shows that there are clear health risks when seniors are underweight.  Furthermore, the less muscle you have, the more BMI is likely to overestimate your body fat (suggesting that older folks may actually be most healthy at a slightly higher BMI).

At 5’1.5 and 100 lbs you would only just be in the healthy range for a young person.  It might easily be too thin for someone in later middle age - if your goal is maximum health and longevity.

It’s a bit of a Goldilocks thing - not too fat and not too thin...

It is especially hard for women to grasp this.  When I was 30, at 5 foot 3 (I’ve shrunk and only claim 5 foot 2 now, but I definitely used to be taller) I weighed 112 lbs and thought I was fat.  I found a photo of me at the beach in a bathing suit, holding my first son.  I wish I had known then that I was not at all fat!

These days I very much want to be 116 (so yes, a little more than I weighed when I was younger), but if I go below that people start to tell me I look “gaunt” - even though I still feel fat.  And I know from research that this is actually more healthy for my age group than a lower BMI - in fact, it is already on the low side, statistically, for mortality rates.

[Glenda]

@Julia_G @Dominique   Thank you both for your comments and the link.  You are right that I'm not what most people would consider to be fat especially when you look at all the people around us.  And I'm not at risk of losing  weight this week for sure.  I was cleaning out some of the stuff in the pantry and ate a bunch of gift  Christmas candy.  And today I ate more of that and cookies.  I usually never eat junk food like that.  Just have to get used to the limited hours of eating and also eat my more usual very restricted calories.  At least restricted compared to the crazy stuff I've been eating on the 8 / 16 diet.  I did put lots of candy in the trash but not enough.  I ate an easter bunny I think I've had for over a year.  Ridiculous.    Julia you didn't say how old you are but I'm 77.  I am so very fortunate to be in such good health.  I have exercised every day for many decades because years ago I thought it helped with weight control.  So I probably improved my health by accident or mistake.  Now I think it is all about what you eat.  I still gt on my treadmill every morning to read the newspaper though.  I know higher intensity is recommended bu I do walk on a grade of 7. Part of the reason I feel flabby and out of shape is that I had lots of radiation  that pretty much destroyed all the muscle on my backside from the waist down.  

              You shouldn't take those statistics too seriously about fatter people living longer.  The reason that is true is because when people get sick they lose weight.  So that increases the number of less fat people who die even though the person who died was previously fat.   My husband lost 100 pound his last year and died slim.  

[Julia_G]

@Glenda , I thought (from your picture) you were much younger!

And you are right, of course, that the age statistics are a little skewed: sick people do often lose weight.  Still, I think even corrected for that there is something in the notion of a little “fat insurance”...

Don’t waste away!

[Glenda]

@Julia_G I have a bunch of pictures posted on the internet the one here was when I was 65.  I have one when I was 18 that looks amazingly similar.  I look older now,  but not at all like a lot of women in the newspaper my age.  But they are mostly very overweigh or something.  Hair can make a difference.  I look taller because I never wear my hair flat against my scalp on top.  I don't care what the style is that everyone else wears.

[Whyshoshoni]

very happy with 1 lb loss this week!  On track as far as weight loss.  Other metrics down from previous week tho. 

1/1/2020 weight - 128.8 lbs,  4/1 goal weight - 122 lbs

1/1/2020 - 128.8 lbs 

1/8/2020 - 128.3 lbs
1/15/2020 - 127.3 lbs yippee!

1/8 thru 1/14       averages:          daily goals:

                        13365 steps         15000

                           2065 cal              2020

                           54 active min          60

Getting back into routine after holidays. I’ve been lacking in veg and fruit the last couple of months with all the heavy, rich food so working on getting more back into my diet.

[shm]

Down 0.3 this week (pounds). I have to admit I was hoping for a bit more. However, I am glad I am moving in the direction I want to go. I haven’t seen the 160’s in a very long time.

Week 0: 170 (1/1/2020)

Week 1: 169.3 (1/8/2020)

Week 2: 169.0 (1/15/2020)

Total = 1 pound lost

For the last 15 days, I averaged 1,515 calories eaten per day. I have been walking an average of 5 miles a day/10,000+ steps. My goal going forward is to keep logging what I eat, to substitute 1 day of walking with hiking (with hills) to increase intensity level, and to do at least one hour of weight lifting a week.

We’ll see what this next week brings.

[Glenda]

@Dominique @Julia_G   Dominique and Julia,  Thank you both for your comments and the link.  The most valuable thing for me in the 5-2 diet and the 16-8 diet is that they both hit me over the head with the fact that I don't need and shouldn't munch my way through the day.  On the TV show about the 600 pound people they are told "no eating between meals".   Psychologically I may have done better on the 5-2 diet because I have definitely been eating less nutritiously and more on the 16-8.  Possibly because I started this experiment  just after the holidays when I was eating anything and everything already.  

              I think I have to try to do something differently.  I enjoyed and appreciated the link.  One error in it though.....The man who "invented" the 5-2 diet said either way worked but he said "NON-CONSECUTIVE  2 days is what he did and recommended .  The article said consecutive.  The little bit of advantage in the nonconsecutive days is that you keep up the speed of metabolism better I think.  The value of the 5-2 being better than dieting all the time is that your metabolism doesn't slow.

      I went on a 500 calorie diet every day for a month or so and lost weight very fast.  But I took weeks to add the calories back 200 at a time for periods of 3 days.   The body can handle that increase without gaining.  Otherwise you gain the weight lost back.    

[Glenda]

@Whyshoshoni @Julia_G Good job ladies.  I'm very relieved to be able to post 114.8 this morning since on Jan.8 I was at 117.2  I'm going to stick with the 16-8 diet a bit longer as I think I may be learning to eat more reasonably.  I think I can avoid eating stuff just because it is during the hours I can eat something.  So silly.  I have at least learned not to munch along all day.  (I'm only 5'.1.5" )   I took a current picture to put on here for you Julia but I'll have to figure out how to post a picture again.  I've forgotten that.

[Baltoscott]

Goal --157 lbs

12/29: 162.8 lbs

1/5:     162.9 lbs

1/12:   162.2 lbs

1/19:   162.0 lbs

I'm down 0.2 lbs this week.  My initial goal was 155 lbs, but I"ve adjusted slightly to 157 lbs since the weight is coming off pretty slowly.  I'll adjust my diet a bit more, but my habits are generally good so I don't want to stray too far from them.    

[Dominique]

Goal: lose between 0.25 and 0.50 kg per week (i.e. down to 58-61 kg).

Week 0, 30-Dec-19: 64.0 kg, 2594 cal, 14.9k steps, 16.3%

Week 1, 6-Jan-20: 63.7 kg, 2781 cal, 16.8k steps, 16.2%, -0.36 kg

Week 2, 13-Jan-20: 63.3 kg, 2853 cal, 17.7k steps, 15.9%, -0.37 kg

Week 3, 20-Jan-20: 63.4 kg, 2901 cal, 20.0k steps, 15.9%, +0.09 kg

Very small increase (+0.1 kg) since last week, in spite of increased activity. I need to focus more on how much I’m eating.

[WendyB]

Down 1.5

[shm]

I am down 0.5 pounds this week.

Week 0: 170 (1/1/2020)

Week 1: 169.3 (1/8/2020)

Week 2: 169.0 (1/15/2020)

Week 3: 168.5 (1/22/2020)

Total = 1.5 pounds lost

So far, I am on target to reach my April 1st goal of 164.

This feels so slow but as long as the weight is coming off, I am just going to stick to what I am doing for now, try to be patient, and let the “plan” that I made for the “New Year’s to April Fools Challenge” work.

[Whyshoshoni]

A little backsliding this week, up .4 lbs.

1/1/2020 weight - 128.8 lbs,  4/1 goal weight - 122 lbs

1/1/2020 - 128.8 lbs 

1/8/2020 - 128.3 lbs
1/15/2020 - 127.3 lbs yippee!
1/22/2020 - 127.7 lbs, uh oh! Up .4 lbs since last week, but still minus 1.1 lb for 2020.

improvement from last week for all other measures, just not the one that counts 

1/15 thru 1/21

averages          daily goals

15471 steps         15000

2173 cal                 2020

80 active min          60

Time to get serious and pay more attention to what I’m eating, and to eat less of it.  Have a good week everyone!

[Glenda]

 Friday January 17 2020  I weighed 114.2 ...........& today Jan 24  I'm at 113.8 at least not gaining. !

[Dominique]

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@Glenda wrote:

 Friday January 17 2020  I weighed 114.2 ...........& today Jan 24  I'm at 113.8 at least not gaining. !

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You’ve leapfrogged us all, since you started at 119 and have thus dropped more than 5 pounds in less than a month!

[Glenda]

@Dominique Well that was the Christmas / load of extra calories  and water to process it.  But I'm working hard to get back to where I was in October......110