My first 90 days: Right on track

segacs

About me: 5'1", 34 years old, SW 155, CW 135, GW 115.

Today makes 90 days since I (re-re-re-) started at MFP. Unlike the previous attempts, when I focused on excuses and quit after a few weeks, this time I know in my bones that I'm in it for good and that I will succeed.

So far, I've accomplished:

• Daily logging and tracking -- albeit only very loosely during my two weeks of vacation.
• 20 pounds GONE! That's halfway to my goal. 20 down, 20 to go.
• Nearly 2 clothing sizes down -- depending on brand, I went from a 14P to a 10P in pants and skirts, and from a L to a M in tops.
• Body fat percentage reduced by 8% (roughly -- caliper estimation done at the gym by the same person each month).
• I'm 3 pounds away from moving from "overweight" to "normal" on the BMI scale... yes, I know BMI doesn't mean much, but it's symbolic!

I'm only halfway there in terms of weight, and probably only a quarter of the way there in terms of time frame. I expect the second 20 pounds to be much slower to come off than the first ones were. But that's okay. I see this as a lifestyle change. Healthy habits for life. I'm not on a schedule.

For whatever it's worth and for whoever this helps, here are some of the things I've learned over the past 90 days that seem to be working for me. Yes, it's about Calories In < Calories Out, but I've used some strategies to help apply that concept and make it a lifestyle for me. While I recognize that these tips won't apply to everyone, I'm sharing them in case they are useful for anyone else:

• Pre-planning my weeks on Sunday. Every Sunday, I break out the food diary, check my calendar to see which meals I expect to eat at home versus out, and sketch out a plan. Then I grocery shop, and cook a few pre-portioned things ahead for the week. Sure, things change sometimes, and I just adjust on the fly. But having a plan set out of what I intend to eat each day -- one that fits my calories and macros -- helps tremendously.
• Working treats into my plan. I have a sweet tooth and -- more specifically -- a chocolate addiction. Going cold turkey on chocolate would never work for me. Instead, I've learned to plan for a small amount of chocolate in my diary on most days. I look forward to it and enjoy it more, and I also splurge on the higher quality stuff 'cause I'm eating it so slowly that I can afford to. Besides, chocolate is good for you in moderation!
• Not trying to change too many things at once. I've done really well on diet. A bit less well on exercise. I've been a bit inconsistent about workouts, but I'm giving myself permission to build up to them slowly. I started off just with food. After a few weeks I started adding exercise in slowly, by increasing walking (public transit vs. driving to work, walks at lunchtime, etc.) and other forms of exercise. When it comes to actual workouts, mixing it up -- some spinning classes, some skiing now that it's winter, some circuit training, some home workout videos -- helps.
• Sticking to the foods I like and not trying to change my diet too drastically. I've made small, incremental changes to better stick to my macros and micros. But I haven't introduced any protein powders, diet shakes, weird foods, or many things I wasn't already eating before. I added a few recipes and modified a few others, reduced the quantities of things like cooking oil, etcetera. But for the most part, I'm eating foods I enjoy, just in smaller, more controlled quantities. I also don't eat all that much meat, so I've been alternating 3-4 vegetarian days per week with 3-4 days with poultry or fish. I see no reason to change that.
• Setting realistic (for me) macro ratios. I love carbs and I would never be able to maintain a low-carb diet, so I haven't tried. My protein goal (set to 0.8g/lb of LBM) is lower than what the "bros" would recommend on MFP, but I've felt full and satiated and had no problems fuelling workouts on it. It works out to about a 50/30/20 c/f/p split, and that suits me just fine for now.
• Weighing everything on a digital food scale. That tiny little food scale is my best friend. Seriously. I weigh everything when I'm at home. I've learned so much in the past 90 days about portions and estimation. This helps when I'm in restaurants or out at other people's houses, since my guesstimation skills are vastly improving thanks to the scale too. I'm pretty small and my daily target doesn't allow for a big margin of error, so it's extremely important for me to weigh things.
• Using the TDEE method. I started off using MFP's pre-planned goals and tracking and logging workouts and eating back calories. I found it really hard to adapt to a plan when I didn't know in advance how many calories I'd have to work with each day. Switching to a TDEE-20% fixed calorie goal, which averages some workout days and some rest days, has helped me tremendously, since it lets me plan out in advance what I'm going to eat, and takes away the stress of logging or trying to calculate exercise burns.
• Daily weigh-ins to better deal with fluctuation. I know this is counter-intuitive for most people. But I find that, by weighing in daily, I minimize the importance of each weigh-in in my mind. If I were to wait to weigh weekly or monthly, I'd probably build up a huge expectation around the number and be disappointed if I didn't hit it. Daily weigh-ins help me see patterns (e.g. time of month water weight) and deal with the inevitable ups and downs in perspective.
• Feeding my data geek tendencies. In addition to logging daily on MFP, I created an Excel template to graph and chart out my weight, daily calories, and actual observed TDEE over 7-, 14-, 30-, 60- and 90-day moving averages. I've graphed all these out to smooth out the variations and to see how I'm actually doing. Since I'm a geek, the numbers sort of gamify the whole thing for me, making it easier for me to stick to it.
• Getting support from the community. In the past, my shame around weight and weight loss kept me from telling anyone at all when I was trying to lose weight. It was as though I was setting myself up for failure from the start. This time, I added a great bunch of friends on MFP, and started two motivational groups. We keep each other motivated, and it's really helped!
• Making my weight loss fit my life, not the other way around. If I want to go to a restaurant with friends, I go. If a business trip derails my workout plans, no problem. I just did a great two-week vacation to Mexico and actually lost 4 pounds while I was away. I wanted to learn to make chocolate truffles, so I went to the workshop and sampled the chocolate and still stuck to my calorie goals. It's all doable! I don't want to be a thin lab rat living in a sterile, controlled environment, who freaks out every time something throws off my carefully controlled plan. I'd rather make choices that fit my lifestyle and embrace life. After all, that's kind of why I'm losing the weight in the first place -- so I can enjoy the things I love in life more.

Lazz5k

great job! keep it up. stay motivated and help us all not have to start all over again and re re re try myfitpal

sarahschmiechen

I like your attitude! I feel the same way on a lot of points - it has to be something I can stick with, and there will be weeks when the schedule is all mixed up. I have seen a few people mention TDEE - any good links for reading up on what that is?

segacs

sarahschmiechen wrote: »

I have seen a few people mention TDEE - any good links for reading up on what that is?

TDEE is Total Daily Energy Expenditure. In short, it's how many calories your body burns every day. It's made up of two components: Your BMR, which is the number of calories your body would use every day to stay alive if you were basically in a coma, plus the amount over and above your BMR, which is how much energy you consume by *not* being in a coma (i.e. your normal daily activity plus your workout burns).

There are a fair number of calculators out there that can estimate your TDEE based on your current height, weight, age, activity level, and (if you know it) body fat percentage. Here's one. Here's another.

The idea is that you calculate how many calories your body is burning on average. Then you subtract a deficit from it -- 20% is recommended for most weight loss goals -- and that gives you the number of calories you consume every day. Then, you stop logging workouts in MFP, because you've already accounted for them in your TDEE. And you just eat the same amount, roughly, every day -- or if you fluctuate or cycle calories, you aim to average out to the goal over the course of, say, a week.

All calculators use formulas, each of which has different pros and cons, and none of which will be entirely exactly accurate for your specific body. Which is why it's important to adjust based on real-world results. So, let's say you calculate a TDEE of 2500 and you subtract 20% from that to give you 2000 calories/day. That's a 500 calorie/day deficit, which *should* give you an expected weight loss of 1lb/week. If in actual fact you lose 0.8lbs per week over the course of the first 60 days while eating 2000 calories/day, then chances are you've overestimated your actual TDEE. If you actually lose 1.5lbs/week, then you've underestimated your TDEE. (Or, as is often the case, mis-logged your food. But that's another story.)

alltheweigh170

Well planned and the results speaks for itself! Congratulations! I agree with most of everything you have written.

ncwingnut71

Great job! Congrats!! People ask how I can eat the same things so much, but like you, I stick with what I like.

segacs

ncwingnut71 wrote: »

Great job! Congrats!! People ask how I can eat the same things so much, but like you, I stick with what I like.

Oh, I like variety too and I'll happily change it up. I just don't believe in the need to eat "diet foods" or to totally cut out certain foods or eat other foods with touted magical properties. I happen to think the healthiest ingredient in any weight loss or nutritional plan is a healthy dose of skepticism.