Women 200lb+, Let's Jump-Start This January!!!

Tarzan37

My newsfeed has been blank all day and a post I tried to make never showed up. Thank you for letting me know that I'm not the only one experiencing these issues. I think I am still the only one in this group who is having a problem (for about a week now) with not being able to delete food entries. I did post to a thread talking about issues with the site but I don't know if they're doing anything about the issues. I heard the site has gone downhill since it was purchased by Under Armour and I think that's true. I don't remember having these issues in my early days of using this site. Such a shame.

Reachbrenda

I’m still reveling in onederland. This 190s is where I usually quit. It’s so good to have my BFF and I trying to lose weight at the same time. Both our birthdays are this month, and it has taken some serious commitment to stay away from bad carbs. Having friends online or in the real world do make the difference in holding you up toward your dreams. I want to look forward to and celebrate the 180s, something I’ve never celebrated as an adult!
CW:198.6

sharpdust

@Tarzan37 I wonder if maybe the app needs to be updated. I know when my apps start acting funky its usually because they need to be updated. Either way, do what you need to do to be successful

@L2HS You can use this calculator https://tdeecalculator.net/ to help you calculate your caloric expenditure in a day (how much calories you burn just by being alive plus exercise). It will calculate your maintenance calories, or how many calories you need to maintain your weight where it currently is. By seeing your maintenance caloric levels you can then subtract some calories (like 500 is a good start) to get a deficit and go from there. As you lose weight you can to adjust your levels, because the lighter we are the less we calories we need to consume. Hope that is helpful.

Tarzan37

@sharpdust - I'm using the website... I downloaded the app on my phone yesterday and it hasn't worked for me so I don't think it's an issue of needing to be updated? I already uninstalled it from my phone. lol

sharpdust

@Tarzan37 Ooooooh I see. How strange, but it doesn't seem like you are the only one.

Lasmartchika

Tarzan37 wrote: »

My newsfeed has been blank all day and a post I tried to make never showed up. Thank you for letting me know that I'm not the only one experiencing these issues. I think I am still the only one in this group who is having a problem (for about a week now) with not being able to delete food entries. I did post to a thread talking about issues with the site but I don't know if they're doing anything about the issues. I heard the site has gone downhill since it was purchased by Under Armour and I think that's true. I don't remember having these issues in my early days of using this site. Such a shame.

@Tarzan37 Oh yeah... I hadn't complained in this thread, but I have posted on some other thread as well, all the problems I've been having with the food diary - several issues. In the meantime, I try to figure out how to make it work... I mainly use the website (I hate the app), but sometimes if something doesn't work on the website, I try and use the app and it works there or vice versa.

speyerj

Week 3 Update:
Height: 5' 9''
SW: 286.5 (June 3, 2019)
12/31/19: 215.8
1/8/20: 216.6
1/14/20: 211
1/22/20:211.1

GW: 180

Goals for January:
Strength train 3 x week: 9/9
5K training 3 x week: 9/9
Get 10000 steps a day: 17/21
Eat no more than 100 grams of net carbs (Carbs - fiber): 20/21
Eat more than 100 grams of protein a day: 20/21
Drink 150 oz of water a day: 17/21
Log accurately every day: 21/21
Lose 6 pounds: 4.7

The scale has been a roller coaster this week! I started to weigh in daily after adding the Libra app to my weight management repertoire. Here's my daily weigh in for the last 5 days:
1/18: 209.3 - I'm thrilled to see single digits.
1/19: 209.7 - a tad bit of weight gain, no biggie - I'm still in single digits.
1/20: 211.2 - Holy crap! Where did that come from? I'm sure I'll be back down tomorrow.
1/21: 212.3 - What the heck??
1/22: 211.1 - okay, I can live with that

So in the course of 3 days I gained 3 pounds. All while having a nearly perfect week re: food, water and exercise. I didn't go out to dinner, travel on a plane, or have muscle soreness - all the usual suspects. I think this is just normal weight fluctuations and that I am due for another whoosh later in the week. Thought I'd share this because a lot of us are going through the same thing - we are doing everything we should, but the scale hasn't gotten the message yet. When I take the long view though, I've lost an average of 1.5 pounds over the last 3 weeks. So, I'm very much on track.

bluffgirl67

@L2HS If you put the info into mfp to get your calorie guide then you need to be eating at least half of your exercise calories back (half to allow for tracker etc overestimation). For example when you eat 1200 and worked off 400 per fit bit then you are only netting anywhere from 800-1000 calories depending on exercise accuracy. I say eat more. Slow is the way to go.

Tarzan37

Okay, I managed to get my food all entered today - hooray for small victories! Ha!

My hunger levels have been a lot better today. I started the morning with drinking 18 ounces of water and then ate part of my breakfast (yogurt with granola) once I got to work instead of right after I woke up. This seems to have helped a lot. I think I will continue to do this, or to sprinkle snacks into the mornings before lunch, and hopefully I won't experience the crazy hunger again! I know this seems like common sense to most, but I guess I am a bit slow in figuring out what will work best for me. I want this to be a long term change also, so I am making changes to my diet gradually.

aliciap0116

My daughter got these Skinny Dipped Almonds for me for Christmas and think this is a better solution for my sweet tooth than other options. They are very flavorful and decadent but the almond offers good fat and fiber so an improvement over pure chocolate. Portion control will be key though!

GroverBlue78

Hi All,

January so far has been a challenging month. Work and life has been crazy, so this past week it caught up to me and I stress ate. Putting me right back at zero lost. Despite all that I have been sticking with my weekly dance class, so a small victory there. It makes me so happy.
This BIG gain this week has not got me down, I have not lost my commitment. So this week back to tracking and hopefully things will get better. My other goal is to incorporate one more day of physical activity.

Jan 2; 241.4
Jan 8: 240.0 (-1.4)
Jan 16: 237.8 (-2.2) -3.6
Jan 22: 241.2 +3.5
Goal was to get to 235 by end of Jan.

MuttiNM

Weigh-in Wednesday

Highest weight: 435 (11/1/18)--lost 50 lbs. by the end of 2018 but got off track and gained back almost 31 lbs.
SW: 415.8 (4/17/19)
1/1: 297.6--finally made it out of the 300s!
1/8: 293.6
1/15: 290.2
1/22: 287.6
1/29:
1/31:
Jan. GW: 287.6
GW: 160 (then reevaluate)

Non-scale goals for January:
- exercise bike 5 times during the week - done
- short walking videos twice a day 5 times during the week - done
- 2 strength training sessions - done
- chair yoga 3 times during the week - done; added another new exercise
- work on my sleep schedule - more progress but still room for improvement

Well, this week's loss is closer to what I expect. The losses for the prior 3 weeks were more than I projected based on my calories for those weeks. I'm going to give it 2 more weeks and if the losses (hopefully there are losses!) are higher than projected, I will up my calories a bit. It is weird for me to have larger than expected losses 4 weeks in a row. I usually have smaller than expected losses for 2 or 3 weeks and then larger ones for 1 or 2 weeks but, based on my tracking, it usually ends up as expected over the course of a month. Like I said, this is unusual for me. Maybe I need to start eating back some of my exercise calories. When I added exercise, I didn't eat any extra calories because I was doing so little exercise, it didn't make a difference. A couple more weeks of tracking should tell me if I should eat a bit more or if the past 4 weeks were a fluke. I prefer a little slower loss as I feel that is more sustainable for me. Like @bluffgirl67 said above, slow is the way to go!

Hope everyone is doing well. Posting later than usual because I had to go to my parents' house to take my mom to the doctor and take my dad for a haircut and to get groceries. I wish I lived closer to them so I could help them out more easily. My mom has been having health issues on and off for a couple of years now and my dad doesn't drive any more because of macular degeneration. I live an hour and a half away which isn't bad but makes it hard to help with last minute appointments and things like that.

kali31337

My weekly weigh in

SW: 228
GW#1: 200
1/9/2019 - 216.1
1/15/2019 - 212.1
1/23/2019 - 209.7

It's been an interesting week. On Monday I was down almost an extra pound but on Tuesday I woke up to a 1 pound jump on my scale (even my scale had to verify it was me because it didn't believe it!) which I chalked up to some extra sodium and then a possible TOM sighting. Welp, On Wednesday, TOM decided to show his ugly head and be a little bit more ugly than usual but despite the pain, I've surprisingly been able to stick to my calories without any surprise cravings. I was still a little down this morning about the scale not moving yet but when I look at my last weigh-in, I'm right on track to where I'm supposed to be so that's reassuring. Hopefully, we get moving back in the right direction as I have my last exam on Monday and then headed to The Netherlands for a concert.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

snaileatsplants

I don't actually care about weight loss. I consider myself an activist against fatphobia. I just want to reverse my insulin resistance. However, I've been told that giving up part of myself if the only way.

I have a lot of trauma that the idea of weight loss brings back for me from a time when I was in a relationship with someone who regularly beat me for being fat, and it took me a long time to learn to love my body and feel protective toward it instead of partly blaming it for the abuse. I've dealt with so much discrimination for it, so many false assumptions about my lifestyle and willpower, and now I feel like whether I lose weight or not, I define myself so much by this body and by the things I've suffered in this skin that I am just as afraid of losing it as I am of discovering that it really is impossible, as I've always believed based on the fact that any lifestyle changes I've ever made to shrink myself smaller to appease those who have hated and hurt me have ultimately had the opposite effect long-term, causing metabolic harm in the process.

In not even sure how. When I do things that work for others, those same things don't work for me. I exercise every day, enough to make me sweat, usually for an hour or more. I fast-walked for over 13 miles yesterday. I don't have a problem with food temptation. I can easily choose how much of what I eat, and I can easily restrict down to a point where my app tells me it's unsafe. I don't eat added sugar or drink juice or soda. I avoid oil. I'm primarily whole foods plant based. The problems people usually have don't seem to apply to me, so the solutions that work for them don't work for me.

I don't even know how to do this, and part of me really doesn't want to. Being fat feels like something I've earned the right to, something I identify with and take a kind of "I deserve equal dignity" pride in. I don't even know who I would be if I lost that. But now I'm in a position where I'm supposed to become someone else, where I'm supposed to try really hard again to look the way my old abuser demanded, except this time for my own reasons.

So I guess my resolution is to heal psychologically enough to not be destroyed by this, and to learn everything I can that might give me a chance of avoiding diabetes. I feel like I'm going to be psychologically ruined if this is successful, and physically ruined if it isn't. I just need to find a way to be okay, either way.

AlexandraFindsHerself1971

@snaileatsplants: First of all, here's a hug if you want one. I have no great words of wisdom for you except that for people like you and I, who have a lot of emotion wrapped up in our weight and shape, weight loss is a psychological journey as well as a physical one. I'd recommend a therapist to be there for you during that process.

Caseyloupuckett

Hi, I just got the news from my doctor that surgery is no longer optional. So I'll be starting the process.

I'm 29 and feel like I've failed not being able to lose weight on my own. And now my blood pressure is at critical levels.

On top of that I have a stomach condition that my doctor said we are going to figure out. So there's going to be lots of testing for that as well.

One of the things she wants me to test is gluten free for two weeks.

And I'll be scheduled for a colonoscopy.

I'm scared about both processes. The weightless surgery and the one to find out what's wrong with me.

But I'm at my highest weight. And I'm tried of being sick all the time.

Not even sure how I've gained the last 30 pounds since I throw up often.

Anyway, I figured this was a good time to come back to mfp and I could really use some support.

Cw 358
Gw 145-150

Thank you for reading this

aliciap0116

@snaileatsplants thank you for opening up and sharing. I'm sorry you have been though so much pain and I think a lot of us can relate to things you included in your post. I know I, for one, started binging when I was unhappy in my first marriage with the hope he would leave me. It didn't work and I had to leave him but that former "fix" is now something I have to struggle with, decades later.

I agree with @theleadmare that working with a therapist would be good for you. This is a great time to start your healing. Try to clean out negativity from your life - partner, friends, family, jobs, and activities that bring you down, make you feel bad about your self, or pigeonhole you as this or that, even if it is a temporary break. Focus on getting healthy and strong, not on losing weight or staying fat. It sounds like you have a lot of great habits already, so check with a doctor to make sure you don't have a thyroid problem or some other medical issue that is holding you back. Do things you love; be kind to yourself.

And don't let your abuser define your future. It sounds like that person is still wrapped up in you right now - whether you choose to gain, maintain, or lose. But you and your body are now independent of that person. Figure out how to let go of that person's hold on you. Write a letter and burn it, therapy, etc - so you can focus on your health and your future. And I think you need to let go of identifying as anti-fat phobia advocate so it doesn't hold you back. It served an important purpose at one time - to fight back at your abuser. But now, focus on being advocate for all people who suffer from discrimination and find out how you can make their world a better place. You as a person are SO much more than an label or category - work to find your true, full identity.

I don't know how old you are are, but as I am getting older, I am not seeing my weight as an issue of how I look or what I am supposed to me as much any more. I feel like I need to prepare my body to be as strong and healthy as it can be as this aging process takes over. I can't tell you how many friends, family that are/were active and healthy have had unexpected health scares and, in some cases, died. I don't want to do this out of fear but I'm excited to become a strong warrior so I can handle whatever this universe throws at me. I think it might help if you approach this process from a position of strength and power instead of defeat. And you have found an absolutely amazing group of women here to support you on your journey.

torih941

@sharpdust, go you! You're rocking your goal and I'm glad to hear you're also feeling good as well, that's the best part. I have enjoyed this process so far, but my favorite is that I just feel better and have more energy.

@L2HS, great progress! I wish I was able to provide some advice about eating too little, but echoing everyone else, I was also told to make sure I am eating at minimum what my BMR (basic metabolic weight) since that is what your body needs to exist.

@Candyn617, go you! And exactly, you are not competing against anyone...I have to remind myself of that sometiemes especially when other people are having better "luck" than I am.

@Tarzan37, MFP was acting up for me too yesterday. Glad to hear your hunger levels are getting better! I really struggle with feeling hungry at night, especially when I'm tired. I usually try to drink a big glass of water and that helps. If the hunger doesn't pass then I usually have a small snack, but most of the time, I'm just tired and need to sleep.

@Reachbrenda, I would be reveling, too! Congratulations. I am doing my kickboxing class with a friend and that has really helped my motivation.

@speyerj, thank you for sharing because it is so easy to get wrapped into our thoughts when the scale isn't moving like we want even if we are doing everything right.

@aliciap0116, that looks yummy! I need to invest in more snacks, especially ones that I can get decent nutrition from versus just feeling full. Also, great job on your goals this week and your progress. It can suck when the scale doesn't move as much as you want, but you still made progress!

@GroverBlue78, great job sticking with the dance classes, especially during a time where you were feeling stressed. Don't let it get you too down, you slipped up, but you're ready to get focused and back on track, that's all you can do.

@MuttiNM, Looks like you're having a steady decline, great idea monitoring how your losses are going and adjusting accordingly.

@kali31337, I haaaate weighing close to my TOM because I know I am going to be up 2-3lbs. It looks like you're also having a steady decline. It can be hard to tie our emotions into what the scale is telling us.

@snaileatsplants, I think your resolutions sounds like an attainable goal for you, not that I am in a place to give advice, but have you considered having someone to talk to while you're losing weight? I am currently doing that and it has benefited me in ways that I could not begin to imagine, especially with repairing my relationship with food.

@Caseyloupuckett, welcome! I am sorry to hear about the health issues, but do not be too hard on yourself. You're taking the steps that you need to.

aliciap0116

@caseyloupuckett welcome to the group. It sounds like you have a lot going on and I am glad that they are running tests to figure out the details.

I haven't had the surgery but others here have done it. But I have gone gluten-free and done the colonoscopy before. These days, going gluten-free is surprisingly easy - you'll have to check for it in things like salad dressing but just plan out your meals and get gluten-free replacements for what you want to keep in your rotation. Avoid eating out for hidden sources. Trader Joe's and other stores have lists of products you can look for: https://www.traderjoes.com/dietary-lists/gluten-free. Two weeks will fly by and it is actually really cool to see if you have a negative reaction to gluten. I do feel like it makes me foggy.

As for the colonoscopy, well, the prep really sucks but its only 16 hours or so, and part of that you are sleeping. Make sure you don't get dehydrated. The procedure and recovery are a breeze and practically fun on laughing gas, so you will do just fine.

I know it's scary to find out what is going on but it is your first step to taking care of yourself and reclaiming your health. We are all here to support you.

speyerj

@snaileatsplants, it sounds like your goal isn't to lose weight but to help your body process the insulin it produces more efficiently. That's a great goal. You may accomplish that goal without losing weight, or weight loss might be a side effect of the changes you make to your diet to support your medical condition. But even if you do shed some pounds, you will still be you.

If you live in the United States and have been diagnosed with Diabetes, your insurance should pay for visits with a registered dietitian who can help you design a plant based eating plan that supports your pancreas. They may also have a diabetes prevention program that will provide ongoing professional support. Check with both your health insurance and your endocrinologist to find out what additional resources you can obtain. This is a medical condition that needs to be monitored by professionals.

And I also echo what the wise women, @theleadmare and @aliciap0116 have said about seeking therapy to help you overcome the trauma you carry.