The Biggest Loser Monthly Challenge!!

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TEAM: Gutbusters (August)

AB0215
AB0215 Posts: 7,141 Member
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Welcome to the Challenge new and returning teammates!! This is the conversation/weigh in thread for your Team :) Keep on losing because our first weigh ins begin THIS Sunday! I am here for you should you need anything - simply message me or tag me by putting an '@' just before my username (NO SPACES) and I will get to you asap! ~ Ashley @AB0215 or Craig @craigo3154 .
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Replies

  • sara41164
    sara41164 Posts: 16 Member
    Hey y’all I’m Sara I’m from Kentucky I’m 34 years old and am ready to be held accountable to help me loose some weight and get healthy. Me and my daughter have been having a hard time staying on track. She’s also joining this challenge but not sure what group she’ll end up in. Anyways I am bound and determined to get some of this weight off. I’m currently stuck in the 150’s and I’m not happy with it. Hope to meet some amazing people throughout this journey and learn how to live a fit and healthier lifestyle. Good luck to everyone and my message to everyone is “We Got This! “
  • biblebabe588
    biblebabe588 Posts: 27 Member
    Hi everyone I am Aimee. I am 29 year old turn 30 at the end of August. I have two beautiful girl one six year old and one year old. Right now, i have been doing my best. I just started working out again after 10 year of doing nothing. I just want to have people i can talk while going on this journey. I have started easy excersie on YouTub. Good luck to everyone! May the odds ever be in ur favor!
  • eevang
    eevang Posts: 187 Member
    @sara41164 Welcome to the team! I love your message.

    @biblebabe588 Welcome! I love using this forum as a sounding board and am glad you’ve found like-minded people to talk to on your journey—we are here to support you.
  • ahelgers10
    ahelgers10 Posts: 376 Member
    Hello everyone! My name is Amy and I'm a 32 year old mom of 3 from South Carolina. I started on my current journey June 10th and am currently down just over 20 lbs. I am currently dealing with some medical issues right and now more than ever is it important to get myself as healthy as possible. ( I should add my medical problems are thankfully not weight related.)

    Good luck everyone!
  • jacieretz
    jacieretz Posts: 7 Member
    Hello all! I am Jacie (JC), 45 years old, I have lost 50 pounds 6 times in the last 27 years and managed to put it on 7 times so here I am. Again! I am in the middle of going back to school and nursing school stress has been a big eating trigger for me. Between semesters I am great, but unfortunately I'm not done yet, and I really need to get a grip on this! I have a supportive spouse who is on board with healthy meals so I have no excuses. Don't go easy on me! I need to be pushed so I'm counting on my team to give me heck! I can do it! Thanks and good luck everyone!!
  • LesIckaBod
    LesIckaBod Posts: 719 Member
    Hi all! I'm Les. I'm 39, with a husband and two little dudes helping me along on this weight loss journey.

    I've been with Gutbusters since May, and I've lost almost 40 pounds since I started losing in April. So good news, I'm almost back to the weight I was at when, 14 years ago, I lost 20 lbs to get to a healthy BMI and vowed "never again!" to gain!

    So obviously that didn't work. Some things are different now, though. My motivations are my health and brain. My mom has dementia, and I realize now it's been a couple of years since she's really known who I am. I don't want my family to have to live with losing me in that same way, and I'm doing my best to get control of the metabolic factors associated with dementia. The good news is, the more positive changes I make now, the better our lives together are on all fronts, not just the brain-related ones.

    Additionally, when I lost 20 lbs before (and that was the most I'd ever lost), I really felt like it was impossible to ever do it again. I had a strict plan I was following, but I didn't understand about using macronutrients in the plan, and I always felt hungry and at the edge of losing control. I'm doing better with that this time.

    I'm also working hard to maintain or build strength as I lose this time. Every time I bend at the knees and spring my 40lb 4-year old up to my shoulders to carry him, I feel strong and happy that the day has not yet come that I can't carry him. Same for doing a couple front squats while holding my 65lb almost 6-year old.

    So....welcome everyone! I feel like this group has been really helpful for me these last couple of months, and I hope that all of you who are new feel the same way!

  • ShareASmile
    ShareASmile Posts: 195 Member
    Hello! I'm Cathy, 52 years old and the mother of 2 grown kiddos. My weight is always fluctuating, but currently I'm at my heaviest in more than 20 years and am still gaining in spite of eating less and trying to be active. My goal is to lose 15 pounds, become and remain active, and eat healthier. Not too hard, right? I don't like to exercise, so motivation and great scenery is key! I'm so excited to be a part of this group and can't wait to see how we all do in the challenge. Regardless of our score at the end, it will be fun to meet and chat with all of you! Go Gutbusters! :smiley:
  • metubal
    metubal Posts: 290 Member
    Hi! I'm April from Idaho. I'm 47, married with a smarty pants 10 year old boy. I steadily gained 80 lbs in 10 years. I lost 30 of it several times and gained it all back.
    My son was born with several health conditions and three years ago he was diagnosed with a progressive lung disease. My life is full of doctors appointments, medical reports, and 24/7 care of my son. This has led to sleeping and eating disorders, and depression in the last 10 years.

    On March 3rd, I was diagnosed with diabetes type 2 and fatty liver disease. This was a big slap on my face because I was healthy all my life. I decided to make some drastic changes to turn my health around and go back to my healthy self.
    I set some rules and I have followed them about 90%. I reversed my diabetes diagnosis in 6 weeks with nutrition and healthy life habits. I am determined to reverse the fatty liver disease as well.

    I lost 22 pounds since March. My goal is to go to 130 lb. My healthy weight is 115 but with my age and the constant stress, I think 130 is a more attainable goal for me.

    Currently I'm following a ketogenic Mediterranean diet. I cut out all processed food about 6 years ago and sugar out about 15 months ago.

    My rules are:

    1) 2 meals a day, first around 11am and second around 6pm.
    2) no snacking
    3) only water after 7pm
    4) at least 12 cups of water, ideal is 16
    5) macros: 65% fat, 20% protein, 15% carbs. Most of my fat is from oils, avocados, nuts, seeds and eggs.
    6) go to bed before midnight. Rhis is a challenge since i have insomnia
    7) sleep at least 7hrs but this is a challenge, too.
    8) 30mins workout every day- currently on hold due to a shoulder problem
    9) 30mins "me" time for self reflection and decharging.

    This month has been tough with a wedding, a family reunion, and 3 birthdays. I'm off track. But I'll get back on.

    Good luck, team!
  • rawrxamberx
    rawrxamberx Posts: 646 Member
    Hello everyone! My name is Amber. I am 27 years old. I live in downriver area in Michigan. I have been overweight/obese since I was a kid. My whole family never knew portion sizes and I was taught to eat until you're full. I thought full meant when you feel overstuffed. When I reached the age to make my own decisions on eating, it was hard for me to change my habits because of the food addiction that I had. Whenever something went wrong in my life, I'd turn to food for comfort. I never wanted to admit that, but that was unfortunately what I was doing. Luckily for me, I haven't had many health problems. The biggest thing for me is my severe scoliosis that I got diagnosed with at age 11.

    My weight loss journey has had a lot of ups and downs. I started myfitnesspal in January of 2012. I was scrolling through facebook and this person I went to high school with shared how this website helped him get on track. At that point in my life, I thought "Well, why not?" When I stepped on the scale for that first time and it read 295 pounds, I felt so ashamed that I let myself get that bad. For the first two months, I didn't put a lot of effort in to trying to make healthy habits. This is why I always say my weight loss journey started in March of 2012 because that's when something clicked in me. I knew I had to actually try to see results.

    From March 2012 to November 2013, I lost 80 pounds. I went from 295 to 217. I was very proud of myself because I was finally feeling confident in myself and happy with the success that I had. I thought I had full control of my eating. In January of 2014, I lost my father due to end stage of COPD. That literally broke me inside. I didn't know what way was up or down. He was my greatest cheerleader in this weight loss journey. He was constantly telling me that I was doing a good job and that he was proud of me. It sounds silly, but it meant everything when it came from him. After his death, I had a hard time logging because I felt like I couldn't control how much I was eating anymore. I didn't want to log it because of how embarrassed I was that I let myself get back into my food addiction after so much hard work. Little by little the pounds came back because I gave up.

    Today, I am ready to lose everything I gained back and keep moving forward. The thing that changed for me is that I just feel ready to get back into the swing of things. I feel like you have to reach the point where you feel you want to do this or it's never gonna happen. I am already in love with this group and I just joined. Back in 2012, I had done biggest loser challenges and it helped me a lot!! It helped me stay accountable and it was fun! I was hoping these type of challenges were still around and I got excited when I found this group.

    I can't wait to see everyone's success and we are gonna kill it!!

    Feel free to add me if you like. I love meeting new people!
  • cheeso1
    cheeso1 Posts: 11 Member
    How are we doing girls x
  • WishfulThinning18
    WishfulThinning18 Posts: 125 Member
    cheeso1 wrote: »
    How are we doing girls x

    STARVING!!! I don't know what it is with today but I just can't seem to get to the okay I'm hungry but i'm okay not eating level. I've been doing fine this past week and all of a sudden BAM! I think my body is fighting me in week 2.
  • biblebabe588
    biblebabe588 Posts: 27 Member
    cheeso1 wrote: »
    How are we doing girls x

    Well I am week three on my adventure and i have stop loosing the weight. I have been doing cardio for the last two weeks and been watching my diet to a T. And it hasn't budged on the scale at all. So hopefully this week i will try strength training to get things moving again. Feeling very frustrated.
  • rawrxamberx
    rawrxamberx Posts: 646 Member
    cheeso1 wrote: »
    How are we doing girls x

    I'm doing good so far!! This is basically week one for me and I have so much motivation and I feel really good :)

    Hopefully it continues !
  • LesIckaBod
    LesIckaBod Posts: 719 Member
    WishfulThinning18 wrote: »
    cheeso1 wrote: »
    How are we doing girls x

    STARVING!!! I don't know what it is with today but I just can't seem to get to the okay I'm hungry but i'm okay not eating level. I've been doing fine this past week and all of a sudden BAM! I think my body is fighting me in week 2.

    @WishfulThinning18 I don't know if this will help you, but when I was starting out, I think I had the same kind of super hungry feelings, even when I was eating the recommended allowance of calories. Have you tried taking notes on what times of day you feel really hungry? If you can find some correspondence between what you eat, your activity, and your feelings of hunger, you might be able to reduce the hunger.

    What worked for me was that I started leaving notes to myself in MFP about how hungry I was at different times of the day, but especially at those times when I felt like gnawing off my arm. Initially, about 3 hours after breakfast was a bad time for me, but I discovered that if I had a protein shake, it shook the hungry feeling and I was on track again for the rest of the day. That worked for a while, and then I started feeling okay during that midmorning time, and I found that I really needed the shake post-workout in the afternoon instead. I would also add some fiber to the shake in the form of ground flaxseed (recommended to me by a dietitian) and if I felt really low, I'd add yogurt for fat or a banana for carbs. So, just one protein shake a day, but I went from having it at midmorning, to having it after my workout instead, and I determined this just based on those notes on what I ate and how hungry I was feeling.

    I hope that makes some sense. Let me know if you try it -- maybe it will work for you, too?
  • sgrebensteib
    sgrebensteib Posts: 17 Member
    Hey everyone im Steve. Looking forward to losing a bunch and having fun while doing it. Challenges are awesome! Should keep me motivated and on track.
  • ShareASmile
    ShareASmile Posts: 195 Member
    cheeso1 wrote: »
    How are we doing girls x

    So far so good! Still frustrated that I'm really watching my calories and trying to at least walk 20 minutes a day, but not seeing much change. Today, though, I lost .7 lbs since my last weigh in which doesn't seem like much, but up to this point, I was continuing to gain even though I was doing everything i was supposed to. Maybe this is the start of something good!
  • eevang
    eevang Posts: 187 Member
    @WishfulThinning18

    @LesIckaBod has some great suggestions!

    I’ll add that I, too, have found better ways to manage my ravenous days through trial, error, and observation.

    For me, I noticed that my hungry days often followed days of weightlifting or strength training. Other days appeared random, though.

    I realized that it wasn’t a lack of calories that was causing me to think about my hunger all day. It was a lack of protein and fat in my diet. I now try to never eat a full meal unless I can get close or over 20 grams of protein. This keeps me full and energized for longer periods of time. I switched to fat based snacks (nuts, trail mix, etc.).

    I’m not sure if it’s my eating habits that alleviated my hunger or my body adjusting to weight loss (I imagine a combo of both with more emphasis on the former), but I now only have about two “hungry days” a month. When I was in the first four months of weight loss, I had about two a week. It’s much easier to manage when it is so rare!
  • eevang
    eevang Posts: 187 Member
    @biblebabe588 Strength training is awesome, and I’m sure you will beat this plateau soon.

    I generally see a bump in my weight for the days following strength training bc of the water retention from small muscular tears (all normal and good things). This weight bump isn’t “real” since it’s generally just water weight if the diet is right. The weight loss will show on the scale after your body adjusts. Just wanted to share in case you didn’t know—I don’t want you to become discouraged if you see a bump after lifting.
  • eevang
    eevang Posts: 187 Member
    Confession time: yesterday was not one of my better days.

    Normally I buy those frightfully expensive little pints of ice cream bc I find the visual aspect really helpful. I will eat half the carton or a quarter depending on my calories for the day. Generally I get lighter choices for my pints (less than 150 cal per serving).

    Yesterday I went to the store and chose to buy a bigger container at 120 calories per serving. I could handle that, right? I wanted the cheaper option. I told myself I’d scoop out the right amount with a measuring cup and be good.

    This did not happen. I probably went slightly above maintenance calories for the first time in a good while. I definitely struggle with self-control with desserts. My sweet tooth is fierce and eating a dessert daily is actually one of the things that really works for me—keeps me going with the weight loss. So I’m not going to cut out dessert or anything. But I’m recommitting myself to doing things that work for me. Even if it costs more, I think it is ultimately very worth it.
  • WishfulThinning18
    WishfulThinning18 Posts: 125 Member
    @eevang

    I def think it’s a fat issue. As soon as I ate the peanut butter cups, my hunger went away... and it’s not like those two pieces of candy are oh so bulky. I think I need to figure out how to incorporate more of it into my diet. I do have peanut butter daily... but maybe I need to add oil or maybe avocado somewhere in my day
  • biblebabe588
    biblebabe588 Posts: 27 Member
    eevang wrote: »
    @biblebabe588 Strength training is awesome, and I’m sure you will beat this plateau soon.

    I generally see a bump in my weight for the days following strength training bc of the water retention from small muscular tears (all normal and good things). This weight bump isn’t “real” since it’s generally just water weight if the diet is right. The weight loss will show on the scale after your body adjusts. Just wanted to share in case you didn’t know—I don’t want you to become discouraged if you see a bump after lifting.

    Thank you for that encouragement. I ended up doing yoga yesterday for the first time and was finally able to drop that last pound, for my first goal. so grand total before signing up for this i have lost 14 pounds. So now i am working on the next five. I want to continue doing small goal then big one so i can continue on. I also looked up strength training episode on uptube and i found several. so i will start with those and see what i can do this next week.
  • biblebabe588
    biblebabe588 Posts: 27 Member
    @WishfulThinning18 I have avocado almost daily with some type of meal. If your having a sweet tooth issue try maybe fruit i know it has lot of sugar but might get you over that hump for the sweet tooth. If not dark chocolate.

  • WishfulThinning18
    WishfulThinning18 Posts: 125 Member
    So my plan today was to get my new house put together as far as yard work.... I bought a typical sized house/lot in a city.... 2 HOURS just to ONLY mow the backyard. The grass was up to my knees... I should have just hired someone to do it the first time and get it under control. My arms are so sore. And it’s still not great looking... I said screw the trimming/weed whacking along the fence. I’ll save it for next time.

    The front yard, overgrown tree pruning, weeding (both planters and gravel driveway) are going to have to wait for another day. I’m sure I’ll get my workout that day too!
  • sgrebensteib
    sgrebensteib Posts: 17 Member
    Eating today has been pretty good. When I get hungry or think I'm hungry anyways, I have a salad with balsamic dressing.
    Walked 3 miles after work with a sore foot. Not sure what's up with it but it needs to go away. Today while walking was the first time I've felt worn down. My calories are down lately but I'm eating pretty good. I don't feel like I'm starving myself in any way. Just eating better foods. I think it's lack of sleep. Last 2 nights I've stayed up later than usual.
    Grilling some chicken breast now with green beans. Also butternut squash that's mashed like mashed potatoes. Yum. We will see how I feel after dinner. Water intake is great. I try to make sure I drink plenty just to make sure I'm not mistakin thirst for hunger
  • metubal
    metubal Posts: 290 Member
    I'm doing good. Need to increase fat intake to accelerate weight loss. I don't feel hungry since i adopted a modified Mediterranean keto-ish eating style. Actually I find it difficult to eat my 1200 calories😜
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