The Weight Loss Club Thread (No tomfoolery)

I have gotten on the Fitbit train, because graphs and numbers are fun. I was surprised to see that, apparently, I take a while to fall asleep, but once I do, I sleep like a fucking log. 99% efficiency aw yiss. Now I just need to think up ways to get to 10k steps even though it's freezing out (already went to the gym, which got me more than halfway there, but I don't think steps taken in Dark Souls are going to count).

Don't forget to link to your profile, (that's mine) so we can add you!

I have a silly advantage with the stairs portion of the fitbit. I don't think it's possible for me to go up and down fewer than 10 flights of stairs, as I live in a 3-story townhome.

Yeah I work on the 6th floor and I've made a point to go up and down the stairs instead of taking the elevator since I got my fitbit.

Curse your head start! I was only a few weeks away from being able to make that post myself. You continue to inspire us all, and I can say for certain that I'd never have done it without this community.

So, no weight change this week. When I was complaining to my SO about how I've been working my ass off, he said "Maybe that's the problem."

I've been using the elliptical a lot more because of the snow/weather, and I've been really hungry and tired a lot. Sooo ... I'll try adding some extra protein this week and see what happens.

I looked up various sources on the net to find out just how much protein you're supposed to be eating when you want to build yourself up to a general level of fitness, balanced with my weight, height and such...

... and ended up getting some whey protein supplements, because seriously man, I can only eat so much chicken/turkey and eggs in one day.

Today, I learned that it is totally possible to burn more than 1000 calories in a day without really doing much of anything. What does everyone here believe is like...the maximum of calories that should be burned in 24 hours?

It depends on how much you eat and how you feel. You need to make sure that you are getting a decent amount of calories overall or its going to really mess with you. The amount depends on your height/age/mass, but you should be getting an overall number well over 1000 once you've subtracted your exercise calories.
Don't let the endorphin rush you get from exercising trick you into thinking you don't need a rest though, your body will get its revenge tomorrow!

Update, two weeks after venturing into this thread: Current weight: 246lbs, down from the 252 from when I started. This is the result of skiing every weekend, paying a little more attention to what I'm eating (and how much), and my OFA course. Seriously, a week of pretending to save peoples lives, cleaning minor wounds, and packaging amputated limbs is a lot of exercise!

I finally weighed myself after being terrified of Christmas. I'm down 3kg from my official pre-Christmas weigh in. It's the same level that I was at after I was sick, so I'm happy enough. I really need to get over this plateau though. I think another few KGs lost and it'll be noticeable on how I look.

I'm trying to make a decision.

On the one hand, I see the people in this thread losing weight, and I'm jealous as hell, especially since I know I can do it when I put my mind to it.

On the other hand, ICE CREAM. Also, PIZZA. Yes, I know I can have both occasionally while losing weight, but not often enough for my gluttonous self.

I need to figure out a way to motivate myself.

I have attempted to get over this plateau by sticking a t-shirt on the wall. It's the biggest size the come in (I am a big person) but my belly is still to big for it. When I can fit into it I shall be generally happy. So I stuck it up this morning, and I shall gaze upon it when I'm considering food.

Pizza I can't help you with, I think that's just plain bad for you no matter how you go about it, but I actually had ice cream quite a lot while I was shedding most of my weight(and still do, i love ice cream). The thing is, I generally stuck to relatively low-calorie yoghurt based ice creams, had small servings, and generally only had 'em as dessert after dinner, not as a between-meals snack. For between-meals snacks I tend to go more for assorted unsalted nuts, that sort of thing.

I have lost 30 lbs since mid-October, when I started. I watched what I ate around the holidays, but wasn't on any particularly strict regimen, so weight gain was pretty minimal. I'm now starting to plateau, which is a bit discouraging, as I'm about 25 lbs from my goal. I keep telling myself that I need to stick with the plan. 30 lbs in just a bit over 3 months is pretty good, and all weight loss has plateaus. I'll work through this one.

I have a job interview on Monday morning. It's a newly-created job at my institution. I'm excited that I'll have a chance to make a better impression in my brand-new professional clothes. Most people won't have noticed that I have been losing weight, but the new jacket and trousers really show off the weight loss.

You have to want to lose the weight more than you want those other things. They may taste good in the short term, but losing weight feels good in the long term.

I hate that phrase "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" (because I hate the term skinny, and/or pro-anorexic stuff) but there is a kernel of truth in it.


I am also not saying you can never have those things again, you just have to save them for special occasions. I had pizza on the opening day of hockey, because that was special. I had ice cream at Christmas, and that was special also. I eat a piece of nice chocolate every night. You just have to eat them less.

I make pizza at home with a homemade dough crust, and with sauce, pepperoni, mushrooms, and spinach it clocks in at about 150 calories a slice. If you order from Pizza Hut, a slice of cheese of similar size is about 240 calories. You can still have a lot of the foods you love, but you may have to works little more to get a diet-friendlier alternative.

Ice cream, though. Eesh. That's all about portion control, and ice cream portions make me a little sad sometimes.

I've been so stressed out lately that my self-control has gone to shit. My midday and late night snacking have really added to my waist, and I'm actually a bit wary of stepping on the scale.

I just need shit to calm down a bit so I can have some energy to put into my will saves.

I have had pizza (home made) every Saturday since I've been losing because I go to the gym and earn it. Since I've changed to only trying to drop half a pound per week though I can fit it into my calorie allowance without having to earn it. If you're happy to play the long game you can take a slight calorie deficit and still lose.

If you wait for conditions to be 'right' (apart from following doctor's orders so you don't put your health at risk) you reduce the chance of getting the results you want.

My advice to anyone starting out: start small, stick to a plan, build from there. But start now, not next month, not next week or whenever it seem 'right'. Unless there's a medical reason to hold off, there's no good excuse to wait.

The plan can start as simple as 'Instead of eating six cookies a day (very bad), I'll only eat five (bad, but not as bad).' Keep cutting down the amount and/or portion size, let your body adjust to the difference and eventually it becomes routine and a lot easier to handle (how easy is probably an individual thing).

Seeing the weight come off will become its own motivator, too. Going from a size 34 waist to a size 30 one for me was awesome and Athryn is right about how it feels. It feels great. :)

Basically set a goal, however modest, work toward it, then set another and keep going until you get to the weight you want to be at. Don't get hung up on the short term (it took me awhile to notice that my weight regularly ticked up the day after a run before settling back down), stick to your plan, stay positive (reading this thread helps with that) and remember that the occasional indulgence is okay. We're not training to be monks. Well, I wasn't, at least. I'd make a lousy monk.

I have been saying this to myself (a variance of it, anyway) every time I've almost given in and eaten whatever it was I was really craving at the time. Turns out that cravings can usually be knocked out of the mind with exercise. Alternatively, drink lots of water and then the thought of eating anything will make you ill, haha~*

*Assuming you are talking about snacking for the sake of snacking; do not substitute water for meals.

All of that said, yesterday I was very good. Had a minor hissy fit because I really wanted a specific something and exercised instead. Didn't do the full 1000 calories because my knee started aching, but 750 isn't a number to laugh at. Felt incredibly proud of myself. As a plus, all of that exercising made me really sleepy, so I ended up going to bed at a reasonable hour, which knocked out the chances of me getting up to snack on something at an ungodly hour of the night. Whooooooo~

I've found several things that helped me, YMMV:
- Ultimately whether you lose weight is tied more to how much you eat than what you eat. You can lose weight eating pizza and ice cream. Just make sure you also eat mostly vegetables or whatever so you get enough variety of nutrition.
- Smaller portions taste just as good as larger ones! Eat half of what you're used for tempting but calorific dishes, rather than eat them less frequently.
- Find some vegetarian dishes that you like. Those can taste as good, and are generally healthier and less calories.
- When you snack try to make it vegetables or fruit, and save tasty things for meals and desert.
- Water. Things like Beer and Soda could well be a bigger portion of your calories than pizza and ice cream.
- I do my best changing my diet in the store -- once I buy it I'll surely eat it. If I have merely to walk to the freezer for ice cream I'm generally doomed!
- After I stopped eating so much meat I found myself no longer liking it as much -- other things replaced it in my preference. So it gets easier!
- Same is probably true for milk products like Ice Cream and Cheese, but I'm finding them hard to give up...

Well I'm super tiny. I'm only 4'8.

As for a minor update on my own fitness status. Official weigh in for the moment puts me at 144, which is so not where I want to be right now. I'm wishing it were less cold and windy as fuck so I could exercise outside, but I'll have to deal with just using the gym for the time being. I'm slowly working my way up to being able to use the elliptical for longer periods of time, and switch to walking on the treadmill when my legs can't handle it any longer, though my ankles have been hurting from that too. Glucosamine supplements are helping, but they still hurt a lot, which really i think more movement is probably what I really need, just gradually. I wish there was a rowing machine at the gym because that's what I used before when I was still in texas, because it's good for the back (and I have really bad back problems). I've also been taking a small notebook with me to record everything I do as well as note what exercises I need to do. I'm contemplating doing more lifting since I actually really enjoy it, even though it's tiring.


I also realized that part of the problem is that I'm simply not eating enough, or as regularly as I should. I've been battling with motivation/depression issues that are preventing me from really getting myself into healthier habits than just basically hibernating. I also have so little energy that it's not even funny. Part of the reason I've been trying to get back into shape is to help with that.

Also, husband got me a present, a gym bag with this design:

So, uh, it took me a few runs to work up to the full first run* for the couch-to-5k plan, but FINARLY I DID IT. The buildup had more to do with discipline than fitness, so it feels good to have powered through the few times when I just really wanted to stop. I know it's such a minor achievement, but I'm really proud of myself.

*I mean the first day, the walk/run intervals.

Awesome Griot,

I bought a new bike for Christmas- I just told everyone in my family- no socks, no games, no "...Mike is a gamer geek, he will like this..." stuff, just give me money for a new bike. It worked! So happy to be back riding. Sunday was my longest ride so far- 9.8 miles- so pissed I thought I would hit 10. Anyway not bad plus the fact that I live in a totally hilly area so for example the last 2 miles was all up hill- not steep but a definite incline.

I am so much happier now that I actually do exercise- from someone that has always been plagued by low energy, no wind to speak of and persistent low back pain, well even 20 minutes a day makes a huge difference.

Congrats, Griot!

I tracked my food today. I admit to having a Drumstick ice cream cone for lunch instead of real food, but it's 10:30 and I still have 500+ calories left which is good because I usually eat a small meal about 11:00. (One, I don't go to sleep until 2am or so. Two, I have this weird problem where if I don't eat reasonably close to bedtime I wake up dry-heaving in the morning.)

pfft, that's not a Minor achievement. Nice job dude.

Being able to follow through on c25k is actually one of my main goals this year, so you're already doing way better than I am.

As for the whole ice cream discussion, the only thing that keeps me away from ice cream is that I'm mildly lactose intolerant, but that never completely stops me. I haven't had cake since my husband's birthday though, and whenever I feel like I want some...well, I just haven't wanted any bad enough lately to want to dick up my diet plans. That's a good thing I guess, because the cake at the nearby bakery is so damn tasty.

Dammit, still plateauing. This may be the byproduct of hormones at work. Or at least I hope so. It's hard to be good when the scale isn't budging.

Still, I had an interview yesterday and felt that being slimmer helped give off more of a professional vibe. The committee all know me and my work. However, my current job doesn't demand a professional wardrobe (if I get this new job, I'll have to go buy clothes), so it was important to show that I can dress like a grown-up.

I read about walTer getting a bike to ride and was reminded of how much I used to love bike riding. I had to stop, though, because the slow down from pedaling to zero would give me serious problems. Sometimes, I'd have to sit down for minutes at a time to catch my breath. And it's not like I'm winded when I'm actually riding, it's just when I'm stopped. Made me faint once. Anyone know what could be making that happen?

Been doing DDR every single day faithfully. Even though I'm kinda sickish today, I still want to do at least a little. Still fighting the urge to do a sweets binge. Peanut butter on wheat bread with sliced apple, honey, and cinnamon is incredibly sufficient, though. C:

12.1 pounds lost since I got my Withings scale just about exactly a month ago, and probably about 20 pounds down total since I started again in earnest a few weeks before that. Slow and steady wins the race. I will be a skinny, skinny tortoise!

My life is in a place right now where it's easy for me to tightly control what I'm eating, and I'm getting to the gym every night, alternating bike/elliptical with weights. Pretty much, I'm in a place where I'm able to do everything exactly right, and I'm taking advantage of the opportunity.

That's... very strange. Only thing I can think of is that maybe you're unconsciously holding your breath when you brake?

Fecking all time low was a blip, damnit.

A day after my all time low I was up 2kg. I must have measured the low after losing a lot of water. I'm now back to within a half kg of it, but it's still annoying.

Day three of tracking my food. Came in under my limit the last two days. Today I'm probably coming in just at the limit, because there was pasta for dinner...

Pasta can be brutal. I love the bullshit on the boxes about how a serving is 2oz. No, it's like. 1.25 to 1.5. 2oz of pasta is fucking ridiculous.

I could literally run in circles squealing right now oh my god.
So my weight is actually up a little. However, my measurements are down aaahhhh~~~ <333333333333333333333333

Waist and hips are down by a whole two inches.
i can't breathe all i can do is bounce up and down in my seat and smile at my dog. unfortunately, my mom heard me being happy and started being all surly and nasty towards me because idk that is just the person she is, but i don't care because i lost two inches oh my god oh my god oh my god

Awesome news MulMizu, you've obviously been working on them muscles!

So apparently this thread is now a whole year old!

Happy Birthday weight loss clubbers! May all your strategies for a healthier, slimmer, happier version of you continue to score positive results for many years to come.

OH JUST HAVE A SLICE OF CAKE ALREADY IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY.

Pasta people ---- REJOICE

I give you (I think I mentioned this before) Dreamfields Pasta! Low carb and low sugar pasta. I love this stuff mostly because I can actually eat a bowl of pasta and feel good about it- stuff IS pasta, just they way they do it, you only digest a small portion of the carbs- like 4 or 5 grams in a serving!!

http://www.dreamfieldsfoods.com

A bowl of this with a bit of sautéed chicken with mushrooms on top- you will feel like you are cheating. And they sell it at "normal" grocery stores so it is generally not hard to find.

Please link me to the right thread if this is the wrong place, but my Withings scale will vary by two pounds depending on precisely where I stand on it. It reads heavier if I stand a tiny bit back, and lighter if I stand a tiny bit forward. I don't really get that since my full weight is on it regardless. Anyone else with this scale have this problem and know what to do? I have been thinking that it doesn't really matter as long as I'm consistent in where I stand on it, but A) I would like to know my actual true weight, and B) this morning I had trouble figuring out exactly where I stood yesterday.