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?

[shm]

I am slow posting again …. a long week.

Down 1.2 pounds.

Starting: 170

Goal: 164

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)

Week 4: 167.0 (1/29/2020)

Week 5: 166.0 (2/5/2020)

Week 6: 164.9 (2/12/2020)

Week 7: 163.7 (2/19/2020)

Week 8: 162.8 (2/29/2020)

Total = 7.2 pounds lost

Again, I'm surprised. I think being part of this challenge has helped and made a difference. I hope everyone is having a good week.

[Julia_G]

I haven’t posted in a few weeks because I have been away, without access to a scale.  

I almost always gain weight when I am travelling, partly because I can’t weigh myself every day (which is my normal routine) and partly because travelling usually means eating out, or at least a lot less control over your food, not to mention wanting to try special stuff...

So I guess I should be glad that this morning’s Trendweight put me almost exactly where I was on 2 January: 121.1.  

But I am back home now, and ready really to push it.  I am not going to make my goal of 116, that’s for sure, but still hoping for 118...

[Kanga999]

Start weight - 98.8 kg (218 lbs)

Goal weight at end of this challenge - 94.3 kg (208 lbs)

Week 1 - 98.8 (fitbit average) (218 lbs)

Week 2 - 99.1 (only weigh in for days)

Week 3 - 98.3 (fitbit average)

Week 4 - 98.6 (fitbit average) (217.3 lbs) ----- TrendWeight 98.6 kg

Week 5 - 97.6 (fitbit average) (215 lbs) ----- TrendWeight 98.0 kg

Week 6 - 97.0 (fitbit average) (213.8 lbs) ----- TrendWeight 97.5 kg

Week 7 - 95.9 (fitbit average) (211.4 lbs) ----- TrendWeight 96.7 kg

Week 8 - 95.8 (fitbit average) (211.2 lbs) ----- TrendWeight 96.1 kg

Week 9 - 96.0 (fitbit average) (211.6 lbs) ---- TrendWeight 96.1 kg

Well, that was not the plan! I went off the rails a bit, so I will have to re focus. At least TrendWeight thinks I am being consistent, if not actually losing weight 😬

[Kanga999]

Start weight - 98.8 kg (218 lbs)

Goal weight at end of this challenge - 94.3 kg (208 lbs)

Week 1 - 98.8 (fitbit average) (218 lbs)

Week 2 - 99.1 (only weigh in for days)

Week 3 - 98.3 (fitbit average)

Week 4 - 98.6 (fitbit average) (217.3 lbs) ----- TrendWeight 98.6 kg

Week 5 - 97.6 (fitbit average) (215 lbs) ----- TrendWeight 98.0 kg

Week 6 - 97.0 (fitbit average) (213.8 lbs) ----- TrendWeight 97.5 kg

Week 7 - 95.9 (fitbit average) (211.4 lbs) ----- TrendWeight 96.7 kg

Week 8 - 95.8 (fitbit average) (211.2 lbs) ----- TrendWeight 96.1 kg

Week 9 - 96.0 (fitbit average) (211.6 lbs) ---- TrendWeight 96.1 kg

Well, that was not the plan! I went off the rails a bit, so I will have to re focus. At least TrendWeight thinks I am being consistent, if not actually losing weight 😬

[Kanga999]

Start weight - 98.8 kg (218 lbs)

Goal weight at end of this challenge - 94.3 kg (208 lbs)

Week 1 - 98.8 (fitbit average) (218 lbs)

Week 2 - 99.1 (only weigh in for days)

Week 3 - 98.3 (fitbit average)

Week 4 - 98.6 (fitbit average) (217.3 lbs) ----- TrendWeight 98.6 kg

Week 5 - 97.6 (fitbit average) (215 lbs) ----- TrendWeight 98.0 kg

Week 6 - 97.0 (fitbit average) (213.8 lbs) ----- TrendWeight 97.5 kg

Week 7 - 95.9 (fitbit average) (211.4 lbs) ----- TrendWeight 96.7 kg

Week 8 - 95.8 (fitbit average) (211.2 lbs) ----- TrendWeight 96.1 kg

Week 9 - 96.0 (fitbit average) (211.6 lbs) ---- TrendWeight 96.1 kg

Well, that was not the plan! I went off the rails a bit, so I will have to re focus. At least TrendWeight thinks I am being consistent, if not actually losing weight 😬

[Baltoscott]

Goal --157 lbs

           TW               

12/29: 162.8 lbs       

1/5:     162.9 lbs       

1/12:   162.2 lbs       

1/19:   162.0 lbs       

1/25:   161.7 lbs       

2/2:     162.5 lbs       

2/9:     162.0 lbs 

2/16:   161.3 lbs   

2/23:   161.3 lbs

2/29:   160.7 lbs

I'm slow posting too @shm ...

About 1/2 lbs off last week.  That's my general target, (I believe slow weight loss is more sustainable) but I've only achieved that amount about 1/2 of the weeks of this challenge. Can't get too worked up about it though since I'm already in a healthy weight range.  🙂

Total loss for the challenge is  2.1 lbs, or 1.3% of my starting body weight.

[Kanga999]

Start weight - 98.8 kg (218 lbs)

Goal weight at end of this challenge - 94.3 kg (208 lbs)

Week 1 - 98.8 (fitbit average) (218 lbs)

Week 2 - 99.1 (only weigh in for days)

Week 3 - 98.3 (fitbit average)

Week 4 - 98.6 (fitbit average) (217.3 lbs) ----- TrendWeight 98.6 kg

Week 5 - 97.6 (fitbit average) (215 lbs) ----- TrendWeight 98.0 kg

Week 6 - 97.0 (fitbit average) (213.8 lbs) ----- TrendWeight 97.5 kg

Week 7 - 95.9 (fitbit average) (211.4 lbs) ----- TrendWeight 96.7 kg

Week 8 - 95.8 (fitbit average) (211.2 lbs) ----- TrendWeight 96.1 kg

Week 9 - 96.0 (fitbit average) (211.6 lbs) ---- TrendWeight 96.1 kg

Week 10 - 94.8 (fitbit average) (209.9 lbs) ----- Trendweight 95.4 kg

Pheew, back on track!

[Baltoscott]

Goal --157 lbs

           TW               

12/29: 162.8 lbs       

1/5:     162.9 lbs       

1/12:   162.2 lbs       

1/19:   162.0 lbs       

1/25:   161.7 lbs       

2/2:     162.5 lbs       

2/9:     162.0 lbs 

2/16:   161.3 lbs   

2/23:   161.3 lbs

2/29:   160.7 lbs

3/8:     160.9 lbs

Whoops.  Up a bit this week.

[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

Week 4, 27-Jan-20: 62.6 kg, 3044 cal, 20.9k steps, 15.7%, -0.77 kg

Week 5, 3-Feb-20: 62.0 kg, 2685 cal, 15.8k steps, 15.9%, -0.59 kg

Week 6, 10-Feb-20: 61.8 kg, 2837 cal, 18.9k steps, 15.9%, -0.20 kg

Week 7, 17-Feb-20: 61.5 kg, 2702 cal, 16.5k steps, 15.7%, -0.29 kg

Week 8, 24-Feb-20: 61.7 kg, 2692 cal, 15.8k steps, 15.5%, +0.20 kg

Week 9, 2-Mar-20: 62.1 kg, 2612 cal, 15.7k steps, 15.6%, +0.37 kg

Week 10, 9-Mar-20: 61.7 kg, 2677 cal, 17.2k steps, 15.6%, -0.40 kg

I didn’t report last week, which wasn’t great (+0.4 kg increase). The past week has been better (0.4 kg), but I’m still more or less at the same point as one month ago, so not really happy about it. Total loss since start of the challenge is only 2.3 kg, i.e. a paltry 0.23 kg average loss per week, which is now below the lower end of my target range. I’ll try to do better during the last three weeks of this challenge.

[Kanga999]

It seems lots of us have had minor slips in the last few weeks.

I wonder if the drama around Covid19 is giving us the jitters? It is hard to ignore with news bulletins having it front and centre, and in Australia at least, panic buying toilet paper to the point of punch ups in the isles of supermarkets.

[shm]

I am even slower posting this time …. but pleased to say I’m down another 0.9 pounds.

Starting: 170

Goal: 164

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)

Week 4: 167.0 (1/29/2020)

Week 5: 166.0 (2/5/2020)

Week 6: 164.9 (2/12/2020)

Week 7: 163.7 (2/19/2020)

Week 8: 162.8 (2/29/2020)

Week 9: 161.9 (3/06/2020

Total = 8.1 pounds lost

[Baltoscott]

@shm -- looks like you've passed your goal for this challenge.  Are you going to continue to see how low you can go, or are you trying to level off?

@Kanga999 -- I don't know if my slow progress is a result of Covid-19, but it is surely set to have an effect on all our lives of the next few months.  My office has canceled three in-person meetings for groups we support that are supposed to be held the first week of April (working on virtual alternatives now), and I'm pretty sure my wife and I will cancel our mid-April trip to the Netherlands 😞 

[Kanga999]

@shm  Congrats on the weight lose!

@Baltoscott  Well, Trump has just decreed about travel to Europe for the next 30 days, so it looks like your predictions for your trip have come to pass 😞

I, in theory, have a trip to Paris in April which is looking dodgy right now. And I have three other trips (2 x UK, 1 x Iceland) booked and paid for for later in the year. I get an annual travel insurance policy because I travel quite a bit and it comes due in about a week. I will renew, but it might well be money down the drain as it will probably not cover much in the current climate 🤔 and flying over the next year may be curtailed. I know, first world problem...

[Baltoscott]

@Kanga999 -- yeah, the travel ban to/from Europe takes the issue out of our hands. I'm bummed, but also feeling a bit lucky that I wasn't in the middle of the vacation when he made that call.  Also feeling grateful that I'm not sick!

[Kanga999]

@Baltoscott  Yes, so much better to be safe than sorry. And it is almost easier that the decision has been made for you. Floundering with travel indecision over here! You are right, being stuck overseas healthy OR sick would be awful, particularly as you would probably have to self isolate again once you finally got home.

I was going to make a 'witty' remark about the aptness of the header for the Get Moving challenge, then realised that there really wasn't a joke to be made.

Off to wash my hands, again 😬

[Julia_G]

Well, my TrendWeight is finally in the right direction!  It even says I will reach my goal by 1 April, but I am not so hopeful of that:

@Baltoscott, my understanding is that Trump’s ban on travel from Europe does not apply to returning Americans, just to non citizens.  Still, it is probably not the best time to travel.  

[Baltoscott]

Nice end of the challenge effort @Julia_G.  Yes, you are correct that the travel ban doesn’t apply to US citizens abroad, but I suspect a lot of transatlantic flights will be canceled as a result of the ban which may make getting back more difficult.  As @Kanga999 says, first world problem ... 

[shm]

Hi @Baltoscott. I am going to just keep doing what I have been doing. When I started this challenge my real goal was to focus on making a serious commitment to some needed lifestyle changes - eating within a reasonable range of calories everyday, tracking what I eat/drink to keep myself honest, and walking an average of 5 miles a day (about 11,000 or so steps) - nothing extraordinary and it hasn't been perfect that's for sure. I figured if I did those things consistently I would lose about 2 pounds a month - hence the original 6 pound goal. I still have quite a bit of weight to lose, so I am going see this through to the 1st of April and see how low it goes ...  2 1/2 weeks to go!

[shm]

Down another 1.2 pounds.

Starting: 170

Goal: 164

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)

Week 4: 167.0 (1/29/2020)

Week 5: 166.0 (2/5/2020)

Week 6: 164.9 (2/12/2020)

Week 7: 163.7 (2/19/2020)

Week 8: 162.8 (2/29/2020)

Week 9: 161.9 (3/06/2020

Week 10: 160.7 (3/14/2020)

Total = 9.3 pounds lost

BMI is still in the overweight zone but getting closer to a BMI in the normal weight range.

[Baltoscott]

Goal --159 lbs

           TW               

12/29: 162.8 lbs       

1/5:     162.9 lbs       

1/12:   162.2 lbs       

1/19:   162.0 lbs       

1/25:   161.7 lbs       

2/2:     162.5 lbs       

2/9:     162.0 lbs 

2/16:   161.3 lbs   

2/23:   161.3 lbs

2/29:   160.7 lbs

3/8:     160.9 lbs

3/15:   160.5 lbs

Back down a bit this week.  I've adjusted my goal (originally 155 lbs, lately 157 lbs) to 159 lbs by the end of this challenge.  That is still a bit more aggressive than my trend throughout this challenge, but 1/2 lb a week is consistent with my philosophy that weight changes around my long-term maintenance level (between 155 and 165 lbs) should be gradual so as to not harm the good habits I built while losing weight a few years ago. The changes I made to my eating habits to drop weight in 2017 have stuck and my I think my weight trend shows that (eat enough during meals = no snacks outside of mealtime; drinking less; a lot more veggies at every meal and a lot less eating out; more whole foods, no alcohol 3 or 4 days a week).

But I noticed something interesting in looking at my historic trend.  In the chart below you can see a pretty steep drop roughly this time last year (spring 2019); about 10 lbs in a couple of weeks.  That is when I got a severe case of the seasonal flu.  It took about a month to pass and for at least 10 days I got night sweats so badly I had to lay down bath towels every night so we didn't continually change the sheets every day.  It is hard to eat enough when you are sick, are coughing all day, and can't maintain a stable body temperature. What it amounted to was my involuntary experience with fasting.  I definitely lost weight quickly (and I certainly didn't feel hungry!).  But of course I didn't keep it off.  What is interesting to me, though, is that the increase after being sick was a lot flatter than the sudden drop (I got about half of it, 5 lbs, back quickly, but that probably reflects that amount of weight change due to water loss and gain; after that the gain was gradual).  I think the main reason the curve up didn't directly mimic the curve down is that I easily slid back into the good long-term habits I've been living since 2017.  I am not particularly against diets that eliminate certain types of food, (i.e., keto, or plant based), and I think it is a good idea to experiment as you try to figure out what works, but based on my own experience, it is hard to imagine being successful long-term if the diet and habits you use to lose weight are not pretty much the same as what you plan to do the rest of your life to maintain a healthy weight. 

[Baltoscott]

@shm -- I started tracking everything I ate on My Fitness Pal when I began to lose weight in 2017 and kept it up for 18 months (about a year into my maintenance phase).  It seemed like a lot of work at first and required commitment, but it really raised awareness and helped me build related habits; it is easier to log if you don't snack!).  The steps you've taken seem sensible and sustainable.  Keep it up! 🙂

[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

Week 4, 27-Jan-20: 62.6 kg, 3044 cal, 20.9k steps, 15.7%, -0.77 kg

Week 5, 3-Feb-20: 62.0 kg, 2685 cal, 15.8k steps, 15.9%, -0.59 kg

Week 6, 10-Feb-20: 61.8 kg, 2837 cal, 18.9k steps, 15.9%, -0.20 kg

Week 7, 17-Feb-20: 61.5 kg, 2702 cal, 16.5k steps, 15.7%, -0.29 kg

Week 8, 24-Feb-20: 61.7 kg, 2692 cal, 15.8k steps, 15.5%, +0.20 kg

Week 9, 2-Mar-20: 62.1 kg, 2612 cal, 15.7k steps, 15.6%, +0.37 kg

Week 10, 9-Mar-20: 61.7 kg, 2677 cal, 17.2k steps, 15.6%, -0.40 kg

Week 11, 16-Mar-20: 61.6 kg, 2923 cal, 20.3k steps, 15.5%, -0.09 kg

Hardly any change during the past week (-0.1 kg), but at least it’s a loss. Average loss so far is only 0.22 kg per week, which is disappointing . However, there are still two weeks left during this challenge.