Women 200lb+, Let's Be Magnificent This March!!!

tiffdaski

Good work in March ladies! You're all so inspiring and motivating Having somewhere to "check in" has really kept me on track these last couple of weeks. Thank you so much for that!

My weigh-in day is Friday but I wanted to report my March progress.

Age: 37
Height: 5'7"
SW: 280 (Jan 1, 2020)

Weigh-in Progress:
Mar 20: 237.6
Mar 26: 230.8
March 31: 227.8

GW for March: 230 lb - Did it!!
UGW: 199 (and maybe 190 after that)

I made my March goal of getting back to 230. Now just to keep relosing what I've gained over the last few months since Christmas so I can get back to chipping away at the "principal debt"

speyerj

@ladychr0nic - there is certainly a debate over whether to eat back your exercise calories. This is my stance on it: after letting Fitbit track my calories for the last 18 months, I can say that it is pretty accurate at predicting my burn. I keep my weight up to date in Fitbit and it has a heart monitor, which improves accuracy a great deal. I don't ever add exercise to MFP, but let Fitbit adjust my calorie goals. And I do eat back my exercise calories. If I didn't have an accurate device, I'd be hesitant eating back 100% of MFP entered exercises. When I look at other people's entries on my feed and I can see that some of them are inflated. If you don't have a tracking device with a HR monitor, you might consider only eating back exercise calories that get your heartrate into the Cardio or Peak zone for 30 sustained minutes or more. I wouldn't add in dog walking, normal paced walking or weight lifting - there isn't that much of an increased calorie burn for those activities.

You could also do an experiment and track your calorie intake and estimated calorie burn on a spreadsheet for 4 to 6 weeks and see how accurate your prediction is based on your average loss over time and then you will have better idea on how to adjust your calories for exercise.

kali31337

Name: Kali
Age: 33
Height: 5'7
SW: 232.2 (1/15/21)
GW: #1 Under 200 #2 180 #150ish

Weight tracking:
March 2: 214.1 <--had a jump last weekend after hanging with friends (my tiny covid bubble/daily accountability friends)
March 9 214.0 <-- haven't been able to stop eating so I'm revaluating my calories and debating about upping them incase what I was eating was too restrictive...plus there was an insomnia cookie situation this week...
March 16 211.4 <--super happy to see a drop although I did buy a dress that I have to wear on 4/9 that doesn't zip sooo let's see how much work I can put in to make that happen (don't worry there is a backup!)
March 23 209.2 <--while this is a GREAT loss for the week. I am having some weird bowel issues and have watched my weight jump 2 pounds in 3 days because of not going. So i'm off to add something new to my diet to move it along (prunes?) or go the pharmaceutical route as this only started after I fixed my diet and started working out.
March 30 208.4 <--my weekends are really screwing up my scale but when I compare it to where I was, this makes it sustainable. Yeah I'm not losing at a crazy speed (although last friday saw 205.4) but I am really happy because I'm consistently losing so it is what it is.

Inches lost in March - 7.2 total body which included 2 inches off my hips!

Excited for my official weigh in tomorrow to start April off right!

Fitness goals:
Weigh daily
Log EVERYTHING
11,000+ steps 6x week
Meal prep as much as possible
C25K 3x a week
30 day squat/pushup challenge <--NEW FOR MARCH --did not complete

MuttiNM

Wednesday & end of March weigh in

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)

2/28: 158.6
3/3: 158.2
3/10: 157.4
3/17: 157.2
3/24: 157.8
3/31: 157.4

March GW: 154.6
GW: TBD (probably somewhere between 130 & 150).

Well, I didn't lose too much in March but with all that's been going on I'll take it.

I'm looking at revamping my exercise goals/routine still. The exercise has been on & off because of all the trips to my parents but this past week I did get in 2 strength training sessions, 3 chair yoga sessions, did the step platform 3 times, the exercise bike twice, a 12 mile bike ride, a 3.5 mile hike, and a 5 mile hike. Not quite my old "usual" routine but not far off. The start of this week has not been good, though. I did something to my lower back yesterday afternoon and it hasn't improved today. I can't really walk without pain and can't really even stand up straight. I used to get this occasionally before losing weight and exercising but it hasn't happened for over a year now. I don't even know what I did to aggravate it. Hopefully it resolves itself soon!

My sleep has not improved too much. I'm still working on that.

My dad had his appointment with the pulmonologist. The news was not encouraging. He more or less said my dad was as good as he was going to get. He really is not anywhere close to where he was before he had Covid. He can't walk across the room without being short of breath and that's with using oxygen. He uses a wheelchair for all his appointments now because he just can't walk any distance at all anymore. He didn't use oxygen before and could do light yard work but now he really can't do anything. It's really hard for him and my mom. Wish I could do something but I know there's really no way I can change things for him.

Maybe April will be better. It's a time of renewal, right? Spring is always a lovely time of year.

Hope you all are well and have a good rest of the week!

holdthefries

Age: 54
Height: 5'9"
Year Long Goal for 2021 to lose 50+ pounds

Weigh Loss Progress: 13/50 pounds lost so far

3/8 - 1 pound down
3/15 - .3 pound down
3/22 - .7 pound down
3/29 - 1.6 pounds down
3/31 - 1.4 pounds down

Completing the month at 5 pounds down in the end. glad I counted those extra couple of days!

sarah12277

@ladychr0nic I do eat back most of my exercise calories. I have an Apple Watch that with the Pacer app updates MFP. I've found they've been accurate for me and between their estimated calories are real close to each other, along with the exercise machines, and don't double count. I don't log exercise directly to MFP, when I did I found it too high for me. I keep an eye on the Apple Health to see what it says for TDEE in case it starts showing me low. Certainly try out seeing if eating back some help. For me if I start binge eating I've been eating too low and need to eat it back, if not look to see about increasing calories in general.

misplacedmama

@ladychr0nic I have a fitbit, and I do log my exercises in MFP - however, I don't trust the calorie burn that MFP says. (I log it because I like to have a record along with my food, lol. I might try not logging next week to see what my fitbit says I burn.) I actually determine my calories by TDEE minus a percentage for fat loss. There are actually two methods to calculate TDEE (the calories you need to eat to maintain your current weight). The one that uses age, gender, and weight is the method most online TDEE calculators use, but it isn't as accurate for obese people. The other method uses your lean body weight - which means you need to know your body fat percentage. The latter method feels a little low for me, so I calculate both and split the difference.

With the first method (Harris-Benedict), my TDEE comes to 2714 calories. The second (Katch-McArdle) has me at 2302. I used "moderately active" as my activity level, though I'm somwhere between that and "very active." A 25% deficit for the Harris-Benedict method is 2035 calories. According to the Katch-McArdle method, 1956 calories is only a 15% deficit. I decided to try 2000 calories to see if it was both a good deficit for fat loss and sustainable for me. (I'd been eating 1600 calories previously, but I didn't have stamina for my workouts, was dragging every day, and was still prone to binges.) I set MFP to only a 0.5 lb weekly loss - so the number looked a little closer to my target - and I'll be honest, because of following more restrictive diets off and on over the last decade, I mentally freaked out over eating "so much." And it did feel like I was eating all the time at first. But I've adjusted to it. I'm actually considering increasing my calories again because I've upped my activity level (athletic background, I love working out).

I also do track macronutrients, shooting for around 40% carbs, 30% protein, and 30% fats. I find it helps a ton with feeling satiated and not shaky. I eat pretty "healthy" for most of the day, and then usually have what my family is having for dinner - healthy or not! But I plan for it and track it. Sometimes I will have something different if I don't feel like dinner is worth the calories. Usually that has to do with how the food makes me feel physically rather than fear of going over or triggering a binge. (Again, I'm considering adjusting my macros since I've added more cardio. I need some more carbs! Lol!)

Speaking of bingeing, I haven't had any problems since I upped my calories - after the first couple of weeks. That was more to do with the mental freak out over eating so much, the fear that I would gain weight. I no longer feel like I'm gritting my teeth to get through the day. I don't think about food all the time. Yes, I plan out my meals more than I've ever done in the past - and I do measure all the things (because I still have a tendency to under estimate portions) - but the rest of the time, I'm not constantly thinking about what I can and can't eat, or how much I want to eat something that is "going to undermine me." I stopped having powerful cravings, and I'm not hungry all the time. I've lost 5 inches in my waist and last week alone I dropped 6.7 lbs. (Which again has me thinking my calories are still too low. I'm shooting for 1-2 lbs per week.)

Good resources for more information: Kiki Smith ("Eat More to Weigh Less" or "Crushing the Diet Mentality" - for a Google search) and Tom Venuto ("Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" - though he comes at it from a more traditional body builder background and suggests eating super healthy 90% of the time, which is not sustainable for me, lol. 80/20 is a better fit for my lifestyle. But he is super thorough with both science and 20+ years of experience as a natural - no supplement - body builder and does a good job of teaching you how to track data and make adjustments for your unique needs.) Andrea Allen (deliciouslyfitnhealthy) also has a great podcast on counting calories and tracking macronutrients. (I also recommend her podcast on training for your body type.) And Jordan Syatt has a YouTube video (without cursing, as I recall) about why the scale fluctuates - "The Science of Weight Fluctuations"

Everyone has to find what works for them, but I want to share two things that have made all the difference for me in this process. First was to stop treating weight loss like it's a timed test that I can only pass or fail. And treat my measurements (scale and other body measurements) solely as data points to help me make adjustments as needed, not an indication of my ability or inability to take better care of my health. I remind myself that I wouldn't expect to pick up a violin and play like a virtuoso without a single lesson or practice. Why would the process of getting and staying healthy be any different that someone learning to play an instrument - or learning to do anything for that matter? I'm going to hit the wrong notes a lot in the beginning. It's going to be awkward and bumbling and ugly. But as I keep working at it, I will get better over time. I only fail if I give up.

Sorry for the long post!

speyerj

@misplacedmama - really helpful post! Good insights too. Especially the last line, "I only fail if I give up".

Here's another helpful post that links to a google doc spreadsheet that can help you calculate your TDEE and track it over time to see if the prediction is close to accurate:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10287502/just-my-tdee-please#latest

misplacedmama

@speyerj Oh, that's an awesome resource! Thank you!

roz0810

Apr 1: 254.8

Been a hard week but I've made it. 1.8lbs down on the scales wooop 😊

uyister

@Spotteddingo Thank you!! So far they have gone great and to top it off, I just weighed myself and I lost weight.

Time to look for the April thread. See you all there!!

RavenStCloud

💜Hey, ladies!💜

Next month's group has been posted in the Motivation and Support forum. See you there!


🌻Women 200lb+, Let's Amaze Ourselves This April!!!🌻

Spotteddingo

@RavenStCloud
Thank you for starting the April group!

changeforeverlj

@speyerj Great March Jane! I think you should go for it! You've had a month of great discipline, so keep up the momentum! I have not been great with logging as accurately as I have been in the past. Would like to go back to being more disciplined and focused! I have about 12 pounds to go and I'm stretching it out too much now!

ladychr0nic

Thanks for everyone's advice on eating back your exercise calories!!

hap2go

Link to new board: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10829032/women-200lb-lets-amaze-ourselves-this-april#latest