Weekly Weigh In

[Move.It.Move.It]

I am weighing myself every Monday morning and I am going to log my results each weigh for accountability and support. Please feel free to join in.

Start weigh                   125.5 kg 14/12/2015

Now                              124.2 kg 11/01/2015

Loss this week             200g

Loss to date                 1.3kg

"Slow and steady wins the race"

[Dominique]

Haven’t been reporting for three weeks, so here are my numbers for August:

Starting 1-Jan-2017: weight 67.4 kg, BF 18.5%, fat mass: 12.5 kg
Previous 1-May-2017: weight 62.2 kg, BF 15.0%, fat mass: 9.3 kg
.

Previous 24-Jul-2017: weight 61.5 kg, BF 14.5%, fat mass: 8.9 kg

Previous 31-Jul-2017: weight 61.4 kg, BF 14.6%, fat mass: 8.9 kg

Previous 7-Aug-2017: weight 61.2 kg, BF 14.7%, fat mass: 9.0 kg

Previous 14-Aug-2017: weight 61.1 kg, BF 14.8%, fat mass: 9.1 kg

Previous 21-Aug-2017: weight 61.4 kg, BF 14.9%, fat mass: 9.1 kg

Current 28-Aug-2017: weight 61.1 kg, BF 14.7%, fat mass: 9.0 kg

Not much happening. I had two social events on the same week that caused some overshooting, but I’m now back on track.

Although I’m supposed to lose weight, I guess I’m more in maintenance. Or what can you say of a paltry -2 kg in six months:

 Not particularly impressive, right? On the positive side, I’m thinking I’m slowly establishing a new, lower "settling point" (I’ve become a big believer in this concept) and making it easier to stick to it. Right now I feel like 64 kg is the new top limit I’ll try not to exceed when I start bulking again:

I’m now pushing down maybe for a couple of more weeks and then will start massing for the rest of the year. Or maybe longer if I were able to gain as slowly as I lost during the past six months.

[AuroraKat]

Start:            253 lbs

Last Week:  127.8 lbs

This Week:  127.2 lbs

Change:       - 0.6 lbs

Total Loss:  - 125.8 lbs

Goal :           transition to maintenance (130-135 lb range) before starting a bulk cycle

Scale went down this week. I may need to add more calories, but my weight usually stabilizes after my cycle ends, so I'll have to wait another few weeks to decide. 

I scheduled another DEXA scan in mid-September. I figured it will be a good time to see what body fat % I ended up with after my weight loss. Will be very helpful before I start bulking.

[mattymoo]

Hi there everyone,

I'm very new here and I hope you don't mind me joining this thread - it helps me to stay accountable. I got my fitbit last week. I have had a very stressful year and after a couple of months of avoiding standing on the scales, I decided to pull my head out of the sand and face the music. Scales confirmed that I had put on a good 12lbs in just the space of six months - which takes me to the heaviest weight I've ever been. I didn't realise it was quite that bad. Although that day felt very bleak, I'm really pleased that I faced the truth and now feel motivated to do something about it.  I am going to set myself a series of mini-goals that will gradually take me down into the 'healthy' BMI range. It may be slow to start with because I have my honours thesis due in four weeks, I'm a full time mum, carer for my grandma, and generally super busy! BUT, no excuses for letting things get even worse. I'll be happy just to feel better and fitter in the next four weeks (rather than stress eating and being sedentary) and then once I've handed in my thesis I'll have a lot more space and time and mental capacity to really get down to business. Having the fitbit has been amazingly motivating - I am super competitive and competing with myself is like a great fun game!

I'm planning on trying to reset my 'setpoint' for weight by losing weight slowly. I think the recommendation is to lose 10% and then maintain for about 6 months before losing the next 10% - so I am going to try and lose 1-2lbs per week until I am down to about 144lb - then I am going to work hard to stay around that weight for around six months or so - then lose the next 10% - that should take me to a good weight range for my build.

So - here is my weigh-in for last monday:

Start weight: 162.1 lb

Current weight : 159.4

Mini-Goal #1: 155 lb

Ultimate goal weight: 135lb

Wish me luck!

[tamado]

@AuroraKat, I am wondering if you are finding what I did.  I had to set a weight goal but it was somewhat arbitrary as I had been overweight/obese for so long.  My weight loss was a combination of calories and macros/healthy calories.  IE: It seems that when I eat clean, my body naturally deals with over/under and maintains itself (makes sense as people have been healthy without exactly calculating inputs for thousands of years).  I found I overshot my target weight and my body just settled itself in to where it wants to be.  With continuing to eat clean and healthy, I am currently having absolutely no difficulty maintaining a weight 20 lbs lower than what I thought I would end up at.  So, while you may wish to bulk, I suspect your body is finding its natural weight, so enjoy it.

[Move.It.Move.It]

Start 128.5kg

Last week 116.9kg

This week 116.5kg

Shrinkage 12kg

Mini goal 115kg

Desired 70kg

Got back to basics this week. I cooked all my meals, reduced my portion sizes a little and incorporated more fruit and vegetables. 

[AuroraKat]

@tamado that's possible, though I chose my goal weight less arbitrarily. I was 125lbs in college and felt really good, both health and fitness-wise. I do suspect, though, that my fat % is lower now. Most of my college clothes are too loose and I am not even 125 lbs right now. As a woman, I have to track my weight on a monthly basis, otherwise water weight fluctuations make it very difficult to see if I'm losing, gaining or maintaining. I look forward to mid-September when I will have a month's worth of data since I decided to stop losing. 

Bulk-wise, I really need to add some muscle to my upper body. I look pretty scrawny up top. It will also be nice to have my hard work with the heavy lifting actually pack on some lean mass rather than just maintain what I have!

[Dominique]

Everybody is welcome, @mattymoo, and folks here have been really supportive of each others! I guess I’m the one guilty for the recommandation you saw. Not that it was made by me, but I was the one who mentioned it in another thread titled The Dreaded Plateau. As some people can tell, I’ve become a big fan of Dr. Mike Israetel, who has a knack of explaining complicated things in a way people who don’t have his scientific background can understand. Anyway, all I wanted to say is the approach he advocates for losing weight (alternating phases of loss with phases of maintenance) isn’t THE only one that works. There are very good examples in this group of people who have been very successful with another approach. So it’s a matter of picking the approach you think is likely to work for you. A bit like with diets: some people believe in intermittent fasting, others in paleo, high-carb/low-fat, mediterranean etc. The best diet to lose weight is the one that puts you in a caloric deficit and you can stick to for long enough to reach your goal.

[mattymoo]

@Dominique- yes I was quite surprised to come across your video on that thread! I had originally heard about this through a radio program here in Australia, and then I read some scientific journal articles and then came across this website : http://www.bidmc.org/YourHealth/BIDMCInteractive/BreakThroughYourSetPoint/WeekOneTheScienceofSetPoin... . So I decided a while back that it would be a good thing for me to do. I think the science seems quite sound - and it also seems like a do-able plan for me. I have had luck in the past with intermittent fasting and 5:2 - and I think I will also do that from time to time, because I actually really like the way I feel when I fast from time to time - but I need something a bit more concrete for the long haul.

[EmjayH]

---

@tamado wrote:

@EmjayH I am Canadian and should speak metric better than I do but I am still stuck in lbs for body weight.  I suddenly realized the scale of your loss and did the math to gain perspective.
For the Americans and fellow metrically challenged Canadians on this page, you have lost over 100 lbs and gone from 270 to just under 170lbs in 10 months!  That's fantastic, I would love for you to tell your story some time.  Are you on a program or just on your own?  How are you eating?  Is exercise a major part of your loss?  Anyway, congratulations on an under celebrated victory due to you know...metric.

---

Mmmm. My story?? A lot of typing lol.

woke up one morning and everything seemed so **ahem**ed difficult. When you feel uncomfortable wiping ur bum after going to the toilet i think ur bodies telling you enough lol. So I started out light. Went clean and cut out anything processed or refined. Small changes. Walked a bit further everyday. Sat down less.

when I got my Fitbit that's when I really stepped it up. Knowing how much exercise i was doing and having a an idea of the calories I was burning really gave me a sense of empowerment over my own weight loss. 

Because of my job i was already a 10k a day stepper so gradually I increased to a 20k a day stepper. When something heavy needs to be moved at work I no longer get one of the guys to get it. I do it myself. I incorporate body weight exercises into every aspect of my life where I can.

once I got under 100kg I built up the courage to join a gym. Can't say how many gyms I walked in and out of lol. It was all so daunting. But I finally found a nice small gym where the staff were friendly. (Staff at other gyms were to say the least rude and self absorbed). They recommended a trainer who i met and talked with. I still have her. She's awesome. 

Pretty much I've stuck to the basic rules of eat healthy and move more. At first I did start with pretty low calories. Bout 1700 a day but over time with my trainers encouragement I've in creased them. I eat 2200-2400 a day now. Talia (my trainer) says that she wants to train my body to burn calories inefficiently. So in reality it's just wasting them because it realises that it doesn't need to store them. An idea im a big fan of lol.

so yeah that's pretty much what I've done. Lol boring story

[Baltoscott]

Not boring at all @EmjayH.  I admire your persistence in finding a gym and working up the courage to start the search for one.  Your trainer sounds like a great fit too.  I like the idea of burning calories ineffeciently!

[EmjayH]

---

@Baltoscott wrote:

Not boring at all @EmjayH.  I admire your persistence in finding a gym and working up the courage to start the search for one.  Your trainer sounds like a great fit too.  I like the idea of burning calories ineffeciently!

---

Honestly joining a gym was the hardest part in the journey for me. I felt that I just didn't belong. I was too fat to be seen in such a place. Funnily enough it's now one of my favourite places to go to when I just want to  get away. It's a great place to just switch off. 

[Daves_Not_Here]

Here's my latest.  Keeping my fingers crossed to not pig out over Labor Day!

[Dominique]

@Daves_Not_Here: 25 lbs in 8 weeks is truly impressive! Do you plan to keep the same pace for much longer? Has your step count changed much during that time?

[Daves_Not_Here]

@Dominique - thanks for the encouragement!  My plan is to sustain my behaviors, observe the results, and whatever happens, happens.  After the initial water loss, I'll probably settle into 2 pounds per week.  Fortunately, I don't have any hunger or diet fatigue (yet) and I'm loving how I feel physically and mentally, so I'm optimistic.  I'd like to start ski season under 180 pounds and get to 160 mid-winter.  My cardio and strength are as high as they've ever been -- it's just the extra weight that is slowing me down on the bike, particularly on climbs.  Basic kinematics.

As to changes in step count - no change.  I'm taking it pretty easy during the week and playing hard on the weekends.  My feeling is I can either lose weight or properly recover from strenuous exercise, just not at the same time.  So my calorie deficits are 5 days on, 2 days off.  Again, thanks !

[Dominique]

Thanks for the link, @mattymoo! It’s good to see Harvard Medical School makes the same recommendation as the meathead professor .  No wonder since it appears to be backed by science. There’s one small difference: Harvard talks about "set points" for your body weight, meathead talks about "settling points". I’ve seen both mentioned and used in other sources and I’m not 100% sure about the exact difference. Maybe the set point is more final/permanent, where your body weight should ideally be for health, whereas settling point is more temporary in nature, the level where you will let your body use to its new, lower level (while eating at maintenance) before you head for the next, lower settling point (or final set point, if you’re already that close to your goal).

Btw, since you’re from Australia, it’s perfectly OK to be metric here: there are lots of us from outside North America, and even North Americans (those who log) do measure their foods in grams anyway, not in the silly "imperial" units.

[almost_where]

CW - 272 +6     8 WEEK AVERAGE +2.625 LBS (+21)  USW - 363 3/9/16

PW - 266 +4

PW - 262 +23

PW - 239 -2

PW - 241 -5

PW - 246 +2

PW - 244 -0

PW - 244 -7

Posting the + s are not fun but are important. Have a good weekend everyone.

[Dominique]

What is happening, @almost_where? Even after the recent rebound, you’re still about 100 lbs lighter than one year ago, so don’t get discouraged and stay strong. Could it be a good idea to stabilize at this level for a while, before going for loss again? 

[Dominique]

Here are my latest (TrendWeight) numbers for August:

Starting 1-Jan-2017: weight 67.4 kg, BF 18.5%, fat mass: 12.5 kg
Previous 1-May-2017: weight 62.2 kg, BF 15.0%, fat mass: 9.3 kg
.

Previous 14-Aug-2017: weight 61.1 kg, BF 14.8%, fat mass: 9.1 kg

Previous 21-Aug-2017: weight 61.4 kg, BF 14.9%, fat mass: 9.1 kg

Previous 28-Aug-2017: weight 61.1 kg, BF 14.7%, fat mass: 9.0 kg

Current 4-Sep-2017: weight 60.8 kg, BF 14.6%, fat mass: 8.9 kg

I already had a few scale readings below 61.0 kg, but it’s the first time in my entire Fitbit history (4 ½ years) I broke through 61.0 in TrendWeight:

I’ve been pushing a bit harder with the weight loss, having a low calorie day (less than 1500) every other day. I find it’s the approach that works best for me for a limiting amount of time (up to 4 weeks). I’ll continue this week, and maybe next if I still feel good.

[EmjayH]

USW (pre Fitbit) Nov 14 2016; 123kg

SW (Fitbit) March 2 2017;         97.7kg

PW August 07;                         78.5kg

PW August 14;                         77.9kg

PW August 21;                         77.3kg

PW August 28;                         76.9kg

CW September 04;                         77.7kg 😳🙈

800g gain this week 😱

Mini goal; 70kg by Christmas 

ooops lol. Not sure what happened. I have been doing a lot of double shifts at work lately so have been eating at the resteraunt a lot. Maybe too much sodium. Time will tell. For now ill just tighten up my nutrition to be safe. 

[Dominique]

It’s still 20 kg off since March, @EmjayH! So I wouldn’t worry about a weekly gain of a few hundred grams. Btw, we’re now in September!