50extra - My weight loss journey with all the embarrassing details
50extra
Posts: 751 Member
Ladies and Gentlemen, I originally had this journal in a different section so if you have already read it once I apologize, I will be updating it here from now on.
I will use this journal as my progress thread and I could use all of the support anyone is willing to give so please add me as a friend. No discrimination on anything for friends, younger/same/older, underweight/thin/normal/overweight/obese, yellow/red/black/white/brown/purple, I look forward to any and all people that would like to add me.
I did an introductory page so if anyone would like to see a short history on how I got to where I am at please check it out here.
community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10322348/start-of-my-journey
Again about me
I just turned 32
I am married with a 1 year old daughter
Weight as of January 12th was 242lbs
What i want:
My current goal is to weigh 199 pounds - I don't have a time frame in mind because this is the first time I plan on losing weight in a healthy controlled manner. I have been down below 199 before but it wasn't maintainable due to the drastic measures I took to get there. I want to lose weight for all of the reasons like health, longevity and being able to easily play with my kids as they grow but one of the big reasons I want to slim down is that my unbelievably gorgeous wife weighs all of 135 pounds and doesn't deserve to have an obese husband. When we got together I weighed in at 189 and she was around 128. In those six or so years i have put on 50 plus pounds, she has put on around 5, the difference is she has had a kid too.
What I am doing
1. I am eating a healthier diet - this doesn't mean that I am going crazy, I will still have beers once a week with the boys, and I will still eat normal food, this might all change if I decide progress isn't happening fast enough but for now I am taking it slow.
2. I am tracking my food to the best of my abilities on MFP. My current goal for calories is 1570, its been hard to stay that low but I am trying
3. While I am away at work (currently) my option for exercising is a stationary bike that I just bought, I will ride that as often as motivation allows me. When it warms up there are other options but for now in the Siberian winter outdoor activities are limited. There will be days where i miss out on exercise, a typical day at work for me is 13.5 hours sitting at a desk and some nights the motivation just isn't there.
4. While I am at home, I have weight training equipment that is covered in dust, a treadmill also covered in dust and a stationary bike. These will be used, if I can stick to it, I will get a membership at a gym. I have let myself down too many times in the past to spend the $600 a year for nothing.
What I vow to do on this page and with MFP
1. I WILL enter in food intakes on every day possible. This includes the day where I fall off the wagon, drink two dozen beer and eat pizza all night.
2. I WILL take pictures of myself and post them on here every Monday possible, starting last night. I am embarrassed with what they look like but I have hopes that by posting them on here it will encourage me to stay on track. The first set of pictures I took was with my iphone in a mirror, but since I swore to take pictures I used what was possible to stay on track.
3. I WILL update my weight once a month. This will happen on the day I get home from work, and again the day before I leave. I don't have a scale at my apartment in Russia, nor do I plan on buying one.
4. I WILL be honest with everything I say to people on here
What I ask of you
Please check in once in a while when you get bored, that's all.
Well if you made it this far, I would like to thank you in advance for helping me. Please add me as a friend and I will do the same to you. I am not a fitness guru, nor am I a health professional but I will give an honest try to help anyone in anyway that they needed.
Please note that I may sound harsh sometimes, this isn't because I am a jerk or anything, it is because I am honest to myself about the situation I am in. I have thick skin and will do my best to enjoy this entire process, both in the body that I am in now, as well as in the body I hope to be in down the road.
I will use this journal as my progress thread and I could use all of the support anyone is willing to give so please add me as a friend. No discrimination on anything for friends, younger/same/older, underweight/thin/normal/overweight/obese, yellow/red/black/white/brown/purple, I look forward to any and all people that would like to add me.
I did an introductory page so if anyone would like to see a short history on how I got to where I am at please check it out here.
community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10322348/start-of-my-journey
Again about me
I just turned 32
I am married with a 1 year old daughter
Weight as of January 12th was 242lbs
What i want:
My current goal is to weigh 199 pounds - I don't have a time frame in mind because this is the first time I plan on losing weight in a healthy controlled manner. I have been down below 199 before but it wasn't maintainable due to the drastic measures I took to get there. I want to lose weight for all of the reasons like health, longevity and being able to easily play with my kids as they grow but one of the big reasons I want to slim down is that my unbelievably gorgeous wife weighs all of 135 pounds and doesn't deserve to have an obese husband. When we got together I weighed in at 189 and she was around 128. In those six or so years i have put on 50 plus pounds, she has put on around 5, the difference is she has had a kid too.
What I am doing
1. I am eating a healthier diet - this doesn't mean that I am going crazy, I will still have beers once a week with the boys, and I will still eat normal food, this might all change if I decide progress isn't happening fast enough but for now I am taking it slow.
2. I am tracking my food to the best of my abilities on MFP. My current goal for calories is 1570, its been hard to stay that low but I am trying
3. While I am away at work (currently) my option for exercising is a stationary bike that I just bought, I will ride that as often as motivation allows me. When it warms up there are other options but for now in the Siberian winter outdoor activities are limited. There will be days where i miss out on exercise, a typical day at work for me is 13.5 hours sitting at a desk and some nights the motivation just isn't there.
4. While I am at home, I have weight training equipment that is covered in dust, a treadmill also covered in dust and a stationary bike. These will be used, if I can stick to it, I will get a membership at a gym. I have let myself down too many times in the past to spend the $600 a year for nothing.
What I vow to do on this page and with MFP
1. I WILL enter in food intakes on every day possible. This includes the day where I fall off the wagon, drink two dozen beer and eat pizza all night.
2. I WILL take pictures of myself and post them on here every Monday possible, starting last night. I am embarrassed with what they look like but I have hopes that by posting them on here it will encourage me to stay on track. The first set of pictures I took was with my iphone in a mirror, but since I swore to take pictures I used what was possible to stay on track.
3. I WILL update my weight once a month. This will happen on the day I get home from work, and again the day before I leave. I don't have a scale at my apartment in Russia, nor do I plan on buying one.
4. I WILL be honest with everything I say to people on here
What I ask of you
Please check in once in a while when you get bored, that's all.
Well if you made it this far, I would like to thank you in advance for helping me. Please add me as a friend and I will do the same to you. I am not a fitness guru, nor am I a health professional but I will give an honest try to help anyone in anyway that they needed.
Please note that I may sound harsh sometimes, this isn't because I am a jerk or anything, it is because I am honest to myself about the situation I am in. I have thick skin and will do my best to enjoy this entire process, both in the body that I am in now, as well as in the body I hope to be in down the road.
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Replies
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Ok as promised, here are my starting pictures. I hope everyone loves my beautiful decor of my Russian apartment. My stationary bike is out on the balcony that you can see in the photos, when it was -38 outside, my workout area is about -10. Now that it warmed up to -25 or so its still cold enough in there that my sweat steams off my body!
I want to add that posting this type of thing on the internet is not something that I like doing, it is motivation because the least amount of time that I have to do it the happier I will be.
Pictures are from January 25th, my weight on January 11th was 242 pounds
I WILL keep this up.0 -
Honestly, you are looking good already. We can all improve ourselves but i wouldnt be embarassed by that photo lol! Good luck with your journey.0
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Well I sure do appreciate the kind words, but I will never feel that way inside. I figured I would pull out an old picture for a comparison, this is the summer of 2009 at 189 pounds. I wan't to get back down to this weight eventually but for now I am concerned about getting under 200. I was happy back then!
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Good luck on your journey! I think the progress pictures are a great idea. Sometimes we can develop a case of body dysmorphia, and then you just can't see that you have gotten smaller. Pictures help a lot with that. I'm going to start taking my own as soon as I get the ball rolling with this weight loss thing. 0
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Well last night I went out for drinks as I had planned. Although it was a great night and we had fun, it will be the last time that I drink any booze this trip. Today I feel gross, bloated and to be honest almost a bit depressed which is too bad because the sun is shining bright for the first time in a couple weeks. It could also be that it's my daughters 1st birthday today and I am away working.
I feel like one night of partying has ruined my last week worth of being healthy. I'm sure the 1600 calories worth of beer didn't help the situation but like I said I was going to be honest with my food diary and I did log it.
I am going to try and tone back the beer when I get home from work in two weeks as well. I believe that if I can keep making healthy choices for a month at home I will start seeing some positive results!
One thing that I do know already is that I need a scale for a constant reminder of how I am progressing. I will think about bringing one with me for my next shift.
Oh and one more thing that I have decided is when I do a workout I am going to set the calories at 0. I know that the number that it shows I burn is a complete hoax and is providing me with a false sense of security on how much I can eat a day. I will be over my calories most days but I have my weight loss set at 2 pounds a week and calories at 1500. That's not very much food for a 240 pound man.0 -
Well last night I went out for drinks as I had planned. Although it was a great night and we had fun, it will be the last time that I drink any booze this trip. Today I feel gross, bloated and to be honest almost a bit depressed which is too bad because the sun is shining bright for the first time in a couple weeks. It could also be that it's my daughters 1st birthday today and I am away working.
I feel like one night of partying has ruined my last week worth of being healthy. I'm sure the 1600 calories worth of beer didn't help the situation but like I said I was going to be honest with my food diary and I did log it.
I am going to try and tone back the beer when I get home from work in two weeks as well. I believe that if I can keep making healthy choices for a month at home I will start seeing some positive results!
One thing that I do know already is that I need a scale for a constant reminder of how I am progressing. I will think about bringing one with me for my next shift.
Oh and one more thing that I have decided is when I do a workout I am going to set the calories at 0. I know that the number that it shows I burn is a complete hoax and is providing me with a false sense of security on how much I can eat a day. I will be over my calories most days but I have my weight loss set at 2 pounds a week and calories at 1500. That's not very much food for a 240 pound man.
I would suggest you eat half of your exercise calories back. That should be okay. I don't walk at a slow pace, I walk at a moderate pace yet i log it as slow, calorie burn is spot on when i do that. Don't feel too bad about the drinks, just get back on track as best you can. Remember that those days will happen after weight loss too when you maintain, getting backon track after they have happened is most important. 0 -
Yeah I am going to have to figure something out because i know with absolute certainty that 35 minutes of bike riding doesn't burn like 400 calories or whatever it says.
On a positive note, well at least I hope its a positive note. A guy showed up here today for his shift that I was talking about wanting to get healthier with just before Christmas. We seen each other for a minute and only had time to talk about work for a bit. That was three hours ago and he just called me and asked me how much weight I have lost because I looked a bit different. I don't know if hes just being nice or if its true, makes me want to get on the scale even more!
My short term goal for this shift is to lose 12 pounds. That is just over three weeks of working out. I don't think 12 pounds in that amount of time is unrealistic because the water weight will be coming off first. Two more weeks until I can find out!0 -
Yeah I am going to have to figure something out because i know with absolute certainty that 35 minutes of bike riding doesn't burn like 400 calories or whatever it says.
On a positive note, well at least I hope its a positive note. A guy showed up here today for his shift that I was talking about wanting to get healthier with just before Christmas. We seen each other for a minute and only had time to talk about work for a bit. That was three hours ago and he just called me and asked me how much weight I have lost because I looked a bit different. I don't know if hes just being nice or if its true, makes me want to get on the scale even more!
My short term goal for this shift is to lose 12 pounds. That is just over three weeks of working out. I don't think 12 pounds in that amount of time is unrealistic because the water weight will be coming off first. Two more weeks until I can find out!
Good luck with that! Don't be mad at yourself if it doesn't come off at a fast enough rate for you. Any kind of progress is still progress to be proud of. I just don't want to see you quitting when things don't seem to go the way you planned that's all 0 -
Yeah and its really hard to tell if what I am doing is working at all with no scale. I may have to travel around and find one for sale.0
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Taking measurements can also be of help.0
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Yeah I'm going to buy a tape when I get back home. I want to be a little discreet about it since my wife doesn't know I am doing this. She knows that I have been trying to eat a little bit healthy but that's it, I didn't even tell her I bought my stationary bike over here. Shhhhhh its a secret.0
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Hahaha I won't tell. I'm really good at keeping secrets...mainly because I have a horrible memory, Lol...0
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Why not recruit the wife as a motivational coach?0
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Because on days that I don't feel like doing anything it will be nagging not motivating. No I'm just kidding, I want to see how much I can lose before she says something. Since I can only talk to her on skype and facetime I just keep a beard so she cant tell if i am losing anything in my face.
Dropped a belt hole today, that's a good thing!0 -
Happy birthday to your little one - a healthy dad is a great gift for her.
I always log when I go over. Knowledge is power, and sometimes when I am thinking about eating something I will add it to my diary, see the number of calories and decide that its not worth it and change my mind.
In terms of eating back your exercise calories, once you have a scale its just a matter of managing your rate of weight loss. If you lose too quickly then you are more likely to be losing muscle as well as fat (which is not good). So I would suggest that you try eating back half (or none - whatever you like). and if you need to increase or decrease your rate of weight loss then you can adjust accordingly.
Congrats on the belt hole !!
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Yeah I need scale over here for sure. There is a sports store that might sell them over here but I will worry about that next shift. For this trip over I will continue to focus on eating around my allotment for calories and hitting the stationary as much as I can manage. I have also started doing a light shoulder exercise because pushups hurt my shoulders fast.
Basically the next two weeks are only to lose weight. It doesn't matter for me if I lose some muscle mass or not. I can put that back on in a couple of weeks. I have always been strong and if i lose a bit of strength its not an issue. I will be perfectly honest though, if I get home and haven't lost a measurable amount of weight this journey is going to get REAL hard to keep working on. What that will mean is that it doesn't matter if I faithfully eat 4000 calories a day of junk food or 1500 of healthier food, it makes no difference. I look in the mirror and haven't seen a noticeable difference yet so its starting to get in my head.
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I know what you mean - results can be such a great motivator ! and it can be frustrating when it takes a while to see them.
But as we all know, the method definitely works, and if you follow the principles of calories in, calories out then you will definitely lose weight.
I find it helpful to focus on the things that I can control (ie my net calories), and to try not to have expectations for when the rest will happen.
That way I can still be motivated when I see improvements, but since I'm not looking out for them, I don't feel disappointed if I don't see them (because, after all, that doesn't mean they're not happening - there are so many other factors involved.)
I just trust the process, and know it will work - all I have to do is keep going.
and going.
and going.
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Don't get discouraged so quickly. You need patience for this. It's easy to quit, but then you will never reach your goal. Rather keep going even if you don't see results (then reevaluate after a few weeks), then your goal might just be delayed a little, but you will still reach it.
I quit losing weight because others told me so. I maintained for 2 years, and I was miserable. I was really disappointed that I had stopped and I always doubted myself and my choice. If I had kept going, I would have been at goal by now.
Don't stop and regret it later. Keep going until you see results.0 -
QueenofHearts023 wrote: »Don't get discouraged so quickly. You need patience for this. It's easy to quit, but then you will never reach your goal. Rather keep going even if you don't see results (then reevaluate after a few weeks), then your goal might just be delayed a little, but you will still reach it.
I quit losing weight because others told me so. I maintained for 2 years, and I was miserable. I was really disappointed that I had stopped and I always doubted myself and my choice. If I had kept going, I would have been at goal by now.
Don't stop and regret it later. Keep going until you see results.
What a great way to look at it !
If results are what you want, then instead of quitting because you don't see them, just keep going until you DO see them.
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totaldetermination wrote: »QueenofHearts023 wrote: »Don't get discouraged so quickly. You need patience for this. It's easy to quit, but then you will never reach your goal. Rather keep going even if you don't see results (then reevaluate after a few weeks), then your goal might just be delayed a little, but you will still reach it.
I quit losing weight because others told me so. I maintained for 2 years, and I was miserable. I was really disappointed that I had stopped and I always doubted myself and my choice. If I had kept going, I would have been at goal by now.
Don't stop and regret it later. Keep going until you see results.
What a great way to look at it !
Instead of quitting because you don't see results...just keep going until you DO see results.
That should become a new MFP quote haha0 -
Or just sit in my steam unit for an hour and a half and sweat out all my bodily fluids so the scale says I lost weight haha. Just joking. I do have faith that what I am doing works but in today's society of instant gratification, I want, well you know, instant gratification.0
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Or just sit in my steam unit for an hour and a half and sweat out all my bodily fluids so the scale says I lost weight haha. Just joking. I do have faith that what I am doing works but in today's society of instant gratification, I want, well you know, instant gratification.
Society also said the world will end in 2012... Lol0 -
I lost 0.02lb this week... (water weight might be masking some) - I'm so friggen excited that I didn't see 62kg on the scale again!
small victories. 0 -
Sweet! 0.02 down is better than 0.02 up!0
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QueenofHearts023 wrote: »I lost 0.02lb this week... (water weight might be masking some) - I'm so friggen excited that I didn't see 62kg on the scale again! small victories.
small victories add up !
just keep going.
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I would add you as a friend but have no idea how to do that. I too want to lose roughly 50 pounds this year. I'm not as sure of myself to risk putting myself out there as you have, but in 2015 I lost about 40 pounds so I hope I can continue to slowly work toward my goal. Being so far from family takes an emotional toll. I'd probably be sitting in my bed with a bag of cookies missing home if our positions were reversed. Good for you making this commitment and congratulations on your progress. You're inspiring.0
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Hey Genevieve, I added you as a friend, you should have a notification at the top of your screen if you are on a computer, or in the "more" section at the bottom of an ipad app.
My entire reasoning for putting my embarrassing pictures on here is because I hate doing it. I hate even going without my shirt in the summer time. If I force myself to post my embarrassing pictures on here every week, I hope that it will inspire me to put in the time and effort that is needed to make a real change. Trust me, I am not the kind of person to take a selfie in a pair of underwear.
Working away has its ups and its downs. Being away for a month at a time sucks. That's the down side. Oh yeah and I work in a brutal place that is hot in the summer and stupid cold in the winter. The temperature range that I have worked in over here is -52C without accounting for the wind chill and the hottest is around +42. My apartment is warm enough in the winter but in the summer it is unbearably hot.
The good sides of working over here is I have over six months off a year. During these six months, other than an hour or two worth of emails a day, I am home doing whatever I want. My Mrs. went back to work in the first week in January so I am able to raise my daughter on my days off. Missing things like birthdays and anniversaries is tough but part of the sacrifices we chose to make when I signed up for this. ( I still like to complain about it though) As for missing home, I do every day that I am here but its part of life now. As of tomorrow I have been rotating over here for 6 years. The first few shifts definitely involved some sitting on my bed pouting and stuffing my face with comfort food.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting. I highly recommend starting a journal of your own so that the community here can help you along.
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Well these last two days have been kind of a struggle for me. Let me explain.
Yesterday I just wasn't hungry and didn't come close to eating my calories. I ended up adding 400 fast calories to my diary just because MFP got mad at me and told me to eat more. Because of the lack of food (i assume) I got home from work and had zero energy. I washed all the dishes and even went grocery shopping at 930pm just to try and waste enough of the night that I wouldn't have time to ride the bike. I came home and was commenting on some motivation journals and posts and decided that if I was going to be qualified to give advice then I had to take my own own and do some cardio. I ended up having a great ride.
Now today, I woke up tired and my legs were killing me. All day I told myself that I could have the night off from riding because I was going to take last night off and didn't. The difference from today and yesterday is I got home and was starving. I ended up eating over my calories, which I am not dissapointed in because the food was half decent and because of that forced myself to ride tonight. I only went for 31 minutes and refuse to take the over 400 calorie burn that MFP tells me so because of that I posted over. The reason I felt the need to post about tonight is this.
I DID NOT want to ride, when I got on the bike, my butt was sore and my legs felt weak. I didn't ride near as hard as last night but it wasn't until about the 25 minute mark that I realized that the "easy" pace and resistance I was riding at was higher than I could maintain only a couple weeks ago. That is a huge accomplishment for me and it shows that even if I am not losing weight or inches (even though I have no scale or measuring tape), my body is progressing. I am getting stronger and more fit already.
Then... to top off the night. For the first time in my life I tried planking. I never realized that it was so hard. I ended up doing five sets of 20 seconds on and 30 seconds rest. I was shaking so hard I was laughing. Although it was only 100 seconds total of planking, my core was burning. This is definitely something that I am going to try and continue doing one my core stops hurting.
Tomorrow is my next round of pictures. I was looking in the mirror today and I don't see any changes. That doesn't change the fact that when I started down this road, I promised myself that I would post unflattering pictures of myself for strangers to see.
There will be new pictures up tomorrow night!
Hope everyone had a great weekend and have some successes of your own!0 -
Sounds like you are doing great, in spite of the challenges.0
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WOW, I just realized I am in denial about the true size of my body and it's not a good thing. I took an electrical cord and wrapped it around my waist (where my jeans sit below my belly) and measured it with a tape measure. It might not be 100% accurate but its close. I figured I would be around a 36-37". I usually wear a 34" relaxed fit pair of jeans with a belt as well as a tighter fitting 36" jean. Nope I have a 39" waist. So then I decided to go around my belly at my belly button and was disgusted with myself. 42" I HAD NO IDEA!
Hopefully this gives me some motivation to kick it into high gear.0
This discussion has been closed.