Nearly 4 months in...

Piqueaboo

[Photo 1: October 2016 | Photo 2: this morning after working out]

So I've been logging for 114 days now and am down nearly 42lbs. I'm nearly halfway to where I would like to get to, and being on this board every day for motivation I thought I could perhaps do the same for others. I myself don't really see a difference, but I have people telling me quite frequently now that I've lost a lot of weight, so I know it's working!

What am I doing? I'm trying to stick to 1200 cals a day (occasionally I go over, like Sunday I really wanted pizza and beer so I had pizza and beer), and some form of training. I don't want to pay for a gym so I started C25K in November (it took me until 2 weeks ago to finish it) and just started the Kayla Itsines Sweat program for the next 12 weeks while I am attempting C210K. Running is great now, but I have no muscle so I'm hoping the Sweat program will help with that (the main feedback I found online is that it made people stronger).

I am aiming for a total loss of 106lbs because that would push me into the middle of the ideal BMI for my height, but if I feel comfortable before I'll stay there.

feefee84

Wow you have done so well! Really inspiring ! I need to lose 30lbs asap! Did you watch for saturated fats or low sugar foods or did you just watch the calories to help you lose the weight? MFP has given me 1260cals a day . I need some motivation! I can be really motivated 3 weeks then I get my monthlys and I undo all the hard work! I love chocolate since being pregnant and I've not lost that urge! Help!

SMurguia

You look amazing girl!

Piqueaboo

feefee84 wrote: »

Wow you have done so well! Really inspiring ! I need to lose 30lbs asap! Did you watch for saturated fats or low sugar foods or did you just watch the calories to help you lose the weight? MFP has given me 1260cals a day . I need some motivation! I can be really motivated 3 weeks then I get my monthlys and I undo all the hard work! I love chocolate since being pregnant and I've not lost that urge! Help!

I only counted calories and tried to stay in my macros. I noticed quite early that I'd rather "splurge" on fats and protein, so dialled those up and the carbs down. My favourite foods (currently) are spinach, feta cheese, spaghetti bolognese and chicken, so a lot of my meals are built around that. One piece of advice is not to cut anything out - I've done that in the past and the craving comes back with a vengeance, so if you like chocolate, keep on eating it, just make sure it fits into your calorie allowance. So it really is as simple as stay in your calories and move a few times a week, but I understand that motivation is difficult - I use Instagram for motivation and the boards here, they are fantastic!!

feefee84

Good advice as thank you replying ! Thank you. When I work out I don't have dinner because I do HIIT and makes me feel sick if I eat before. By time I get home it's too late. Not sure if that's detrimental to my weight loss journey or not ?

Piqueaboo

feefee84 wrote: »

Good advice as thank you replying ! Thank you. When I work out I don't have dinner because I do HIIT and makes me feel sick if I eat before. By time I get home it's too late. Not sure if that's detrimental to my weight loss journey or not ?

It took me a while to find the "perfect" workout for me. Why? I'm super lazy and I don't want to work out. That's why C25K was ideal for me, it's only 3 times a week, for an average of 30 minutes. If I step out the door at 20:00 I know I'll be back home at 20:30 and can do whatever I want. When I realized I need to build strength I groaned -I don't want to pay for a gym membership or buy weights I'll use at home once, and then never look at again. Then I found the Sweat program, 3x a week for less than 30 minutes each time. Perfect!

What I'm trying to say is that if you do HIIT and it's not working for you because you're not doing it, it's not the right program for you. Find something that you can do, want to do, and is sustainable. There is a TON of stuff out there, even little changes you can implement - I for example cycle to work instead of taking the bus. I hear the 30 Day Shred did wonders for others. Or check YouTube - there must be years of material available.

lynder64

Bravo!!! Wishing you well as you continue your journey...

naomillion

Fantastic accomplishment! I love how you listen to your body and find what works best for you! I think it is the most successful approach for a sustainable lifestyle and self-improvement. Keep up the great work!

lorepres

Great job!

Piqueaboo

Update:

It's been 174 days... So 60 days later, or 2 months. I'm currently down nearly 63lbs and not going as strong as I have before. Don't get me wrong, I'm still losing weight (last month even faster than I wanted, so I gained some back to slow it down), but I stopped nearly entirely working out. I can't find the motivation at the moment. Does this happen to you, too?

The exciting thing is that I've passed my halfway mark and can see light at the end of the tunnel. I still have a significant amount to lose, but I'm confident that I can do it. I'm "overweight" and no longer obese II, I don't have issues walking or running anymore, I can climb 5 flights of stairs without dying - amazing! I also get to wear the clothes I want to and don't hate myself in photos. I don't have a comparison picture for you this time, I don't really see the weightloss myself, but I've been measuring and there's a bit coming off every 4 weeks or so, so I know I'm making progress.

The working out is annoying me - I know the hardest part is to get out the door, but I've not been managing that lately. I'm on holiday as of tomorrow and I'm taking my running gear - I'm planning to go running a couple of times, plus the walking I'll be doing while visiting museums - I think my steps will be up there, but the key is that once I'm back I pull my finger out and get back to the program I had when I wrote the first post - it was so good and I consistently pulled it off for months.

tl;dr: I'm still going strong but sometimes it's hard.

Piqueaboo

Update:

It's been 242 days and I'm still logging every day. I'm currently 14kg (31lbs) away from my goal weight and I'm both excited and terrified because this is normally when you slow down, right? I don't want to, I just want to reach my goal and be done with it, but I know that's not how things work.

I've slacked off working out for a while, but now steadily back on my program - I restarted and am "back" in week 5. I feel that working out is so much more enjoyable now, even though it's not my favourite thing in the world to do.

I'm still not in the "healthy" BMI range, but it's not far. As I've created loads of mini-goals along the way, motivation hasn't really been a problem, as I hit a mini-goal every few weeks which is very rewarding. Anyway, here's a progress pic!

bluets2011

What a difference. Thanks for being honest about your struggles. Lovely to see your progress and strength. You will get there!

jbirdy76

Thanks for sharing your journey. You are so close to that goal. Hope you can enjoy the new life you are giving yourself!

cosmichvoyager

you're doing great! Let go of fear, it's the mind-killer

noellewolthuis

I had my son in December, and let me tell you, after 9 years of not being pregnant, this was a doozy. I'm also in my 30s, so the pregnancy took a toll on my body. After I came back from maternity leave, I weighed the heaviest I had ever weighed in my life... 222lbs. I was determined to get the weight off, since it only gets more difficult as you get older. The first month was great, as I lost the most weight and then gradually started losing less, but I average about 10lbs a month.

At the beginning I had 72 pounds to lose and I'm currently at 56 pounds gone. I'm sitting at 166lbs as of this morning. I can do the Manitou Springs Incline in 45 minutes flat (google it... it's a BEAST.) I can run around with my 8 year old and help her with her soccer, since she just made the competitive travelling team. (I played soccer at the college level.) I have more energy to keep up with my 6 month old son and I'm enjoying my life so much more now.

I'm confident, I'm stronger and as a result (in my opinion,) I've been promoted and my career is in full swing. This app and the community in it, has been a crucial part of my success. I look forward to updating again, when I've reached my goal weight (just 16 more pounds to go!!!)

Piqueaboo

I've been logging for 316 days and it's become really difficult now. It's not the food choices, or the logging, it's the fact that it now takes a very long time to lose kg/lbs compared to when I was a lot heavier. You know this'll happen, but when it does, it is incredibly demotivating (to me at least). I also think I've been on a plateau, so that isn't helping either.

I got injured shortly after my last post and couldn't work out for 6 weeks, and then life happened and I was stalled once more. I have workouts planned for each day this week, so I am hoping to get "back on track". I have only 12kg (26lbs) to go now - it's so close, and I think I can do it by the end of this year. I need to constantly remind myself that I have lost 80lbs since last November, because lately I look into the mirror and see my old self.

My BIG goal for this month is to enter the normal weight range. I'm so close. But it's challenging. Mentally more than anything else - I don't know if you guys have the same experience. I don't however plan to give up! Anyway, here's a progress pic!

HealthyAshes88888

You look amazing! Great job and keep on going girl! You've got this!

OpinionatedCyborg

Great job Pique!

enyagoboom

Great job!

WilmaValley

Wow, amazing! Congrats on all of your success!

sallvcg1862

Awesome! You look great!

shaunshaikh

Great job, looks like you're already pretty close to a healthy body fat % if not there. I also got to a place where I was happy to average 0.5 a week to 1 pound a week, which is difficult because the noise on the scale is so much larger than the weight loss. That being said, I was already well within a healthy body fat so my goals started to transition to more fitness related goals and more focus on body composition.

ldtamika31

Awesome dedication

Gaia85

Wow! I loved seeing your progress as I went through the thread! You look awesome! I know the feeling of being so close to a normal BMI and it taking forever! I'm 4 lbs away and it's just not happening quick enough in my mind.

But we'll both get there!

Amry1213

Piqueaboo wrote: »

Update:

It's been 242 days and I'm still logging every day. I'm currently 14kg (31lbs) away from my goal weight and I'm both excited and terrified because this is normally when you slow down, right? I don't want to, I just want to reach my goal and be done with it, but I know that's not how things work.

I've slacked off working out for a while, but now steadily back on my program - I restarted and am "back" in week 5. I feel that working out is so much more enjoyable now, even though it's not my favourite thing in the world to do.

I'm still not in the "healthy" BMI range, but it's not far. As I've created loads of mini-goals along the way, motivation hasn't really been a problem, as I hit a mini-goal every few weeks which is very rewarding. Anyway, here's a progress pic!

WOW you are definately an inspiration!!! you're killing it!

RunStart34

Your progress report is awesome!! I also get discourage because the goal is so close yet so far away. But one thing I keep telling myself, " I've had this weight for over 10 years, the fact that I am losing it in this amount of time is alright." You got this!! Your determine!

FattieBabs

Very inspiring and you look great. I like the fact that you listened to what your body required and didn't do anything faddy... I am getting there but slowly but can stick to one square of chocolate a day as a treat and am no longer tempted to binge. Cheese is another matter so is banned until I can control myself!

Unknown

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Piqueaboo

Two and a half years later I wanted to update this thread once again, I’m sure some of you have been in the same place as me and may be able to share your experiences.

I came so far. I did so well, I even joined the ranks of the Success Stories (read mine here), and then, well, then I took a break.

In the beginning, my weight didn’t budge, I was good, I had this. I was in a happy place, on top of the game and then everything started unraveling and falling apart. It was the whole thing, job, personal life, I moved to a new city – not of all of it was bad, but I think it was a lot of change at the same time. I didn’t notice my weight increasing, but I do take full responsibility for stopping to pay attention to what I was eating, working out consistently for a week and then taking a three-month break, not to mention the millions of excuses I thought up time and time again.

I’m back close to the weight that I was when I made my original post in this thread – with 54lbs to lose to reach my goal weight. The crushing part is that I'm back in "obese" territory, after being so proud to enter the normal weight range. To imagine that once upon a time I was only 15lbs away from my actual goal weight blows my mind – any other self-manipulators out there?

The plan is to take back ownership of my weight loss, I clearly did it right the first time, I’m in a stable place now so the previous factors have been removed – I should be able to do this again. It’s scary and daunting, but re-reading what I wrote previously, it wasn’t that difficult in the end, the main challenge was the eating aspect, and working out is just 20% of the overall success, right?

marty_smith

For people like us relapsing is incredible difficult, especially when you reach your starting point again. I have just come through the other side again (lost loads 4 years ago and slowly regained) and since January i have been on a massive health kick to the point i am running further than ever and looking better too. I have lost more fat than last time aswell.

It was daunting, but I looked back to how long it took me to reach my goal weight four years ago and it took 10 weeks to get there. When i realised that I committed to a 10 week challenge to do exercise and eat well and literally week on week i lost exactly the same amount and it worked to perfection, only this time round i kept pushing myself by joining a running club and now this month me and my partner are doing 100 burpees a day for 30 days, combined with good eating (under 2000 calories a day mostly) and going for a run/jog 3 times a week.

Im sure you can do it, you know yourself you can. Its all about getting into the routine and your body adjusting to its new demands. It becomes normal and very manageable once you’re in the flow of it. By the end of week 2 you’re well on your way to the end goal.

Anahita4444

Looking great!