Weight No More Team Chat - December 2024
Megan_smartiepants1970
Posts: 43,364 Member
Fat2Fit has five great teams. The group and team leaders are as follows - contact them any time!
Our Moderators:
Ashley - @minstrelofsarcasm
Jessica - @jessicakrall8
Lauren- @lauren_989
Megan - @Megan_smartiepants1970
Our Team Captains:
Downsizers - @Megan_smartiepants1970 and [open]
Mission Slimpossible - @Katmary71 and @trooworld
Weight No More - @minstrelofsarcasm and @melaniedscott
WaistAways - @ashleycarole86 and @lauren_989
Shape Shifters - @jessicakrall8 and @Pupowl
Our Team Motivators:
Mission Slimpossibles - @19shmoo69
Weight No More - @rachelrjh and @BodyTalking
WaistAways - @MaddawgMadsen
Shape Shifters - @LaurieWrobo and @Cyncia85
HOW IT ALL WORKS: The December challenge runs for five weeks, from November 24th - December 28th.
Everyone weighs in weekly on their chosen day right here in the team chat. At the end of each week, the tallies are done to determine the team and individuals with the most weight lost. The best losers are announced with full fanfare every Sunday. The team competition is all in good spirits - may the most losing win, and may everyone else get to work on next week!
We also celebrate those small, steady losses. If you lose, however small an amount, you are in the green! At the end of the month, we celebrate everyone who lost at least a bit every single week. You are heading steadily towards your goal even if you aren't at the top of the weight loss leader board. In March we are aiming for every team to hit 50% green every week - let's do this!
To make your weigh-in easy to find for your team Captains, please put it right at the top of a message, and use this format:
Weigh In Day:
PW (Previous Weight):
CW (Current Weight):
If you miss two weigh-ins in a row without asking for a break, you will be dropped from the team, so be sure to inform your team captain if you are traveling, sick, or just need some time off. If you want a break, you can be excused for a week or two, or can be moved to the Support Team for as long as you need. You still participate in the discussions, you can weigh in if you want to, but it will not count in the weekly tally. Don't worry! You can always come back even if you get dropped.
Once you reach your goal weight, you join the Goal Zone. You continue to weigh in every week. If you have 2 weeks above your self-defined goal zone, you go back to the regular team to lose that amount before it builds up. You will have a chance to hone those maintenance skills and stick with your team.
In addition to your own team, there are weekly F2F Full Group CHALLENGES. You can do all or none - it's up to you. Participating adds a lot to your success, so we hope to see you there often! These can involve anything fitness, health, or nutrition - and they’ll get you moving, thinking, and learning about this journey. Check the Announcements section for full group challenges.
Let’s show our fellow challengers some F2F love Introduce or re-introduce yourselves right away, and let's get December on the road!
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The December Week 1 Group Challenge is open and ready to begin tomorrow, Sunday, Dec. 1st and will run through Saturday, Dec. 7th. Join us for the Hello December Scrabble Challenge, a creative way to close out the year and begin 2025 with renewed motivation for your fitness/health journey! Here's your link:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10928188/december-week-1-group-challenge-hello-december-scrabble-challenge/p1?new=1
Can't wait to see you in the chat thread! Bring a friend!
Jessica
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Hi Team Weight No More, you have a new member joining. Please welcome @boymom20152017!
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Hello everybody! I accidentally posted in the wrong team chat, but now I'm back on course! I saw a strong start already with some great goals being posted! Consistency seems to be the name of the game.
My goal is to lose steadily. I have a conservative calorie deficit, and I want to keep it. Additionally, I am a distance runner and I'm starting a new training cycle tomorrow, so I want to have a steady first month there. Let's make things happen!
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@miscanon3617 well done on sharing your goals, I am also running and building up on distance but find it difficult to find motivation in the cold dark wet weather we get at this time of year. Would you mind sharing some tips please?1
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Missed my last weight in I was out of town for the holiday
Reteojoesales
Friday weight in
Pw 191.8
Cw 195.2
Well I knew holiday was going to add a few but I usually have a good bounce back weight loss hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.1 -
~ Important Note about Holidays ~
Remember that a single meal, even a full day of meals, cannot derail all of your progress!
We gain weight for a million reasons over a holiday. Rarely is everything gained pure fat.
If you consume more salt or sugar than usual, your body holds onto water to process it properly.
If you are stressed or sick or sleep deprived, your body holds onto water due to inflammation.
Sure, you may have eaten more than you normally would...
But you also probably spent more time with people who care about you than you normally would.
You took a well-deserved break.
And now it's time to get back on it. You know what you gotta do, and you know you're not alone.~ Moderator Ashley (Resident Scientist and Certified Personal Trainer)
Team Results
By Percentage
By Pounds
Individual Results
By Percentage
By Pounds
Team Winners
Percentage of Members in the Green!
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Team Results
By Percentage
By Pounds
Individual Results
By Percentage
By Pounds
Team Winners
Percentage of Members in the Green!
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Hello everyone, I hope you all end the year with a great month 💖
BodyTalking
Weigh-in-Sunday
Starting weight: 81.7 kg/180.12 lb
Previous weight: 76.6 kg/168.87 lb
Current weight: 78.5 kg/173.06 lb
BodyTalking
Steps 24-30 Nov
Total: 26,8461 -
Pw 174.02lb 79.1kg
Tw 78.9kg 173.5lb - 0.299%1 -
Sorry I was in a rush this morning and wanted to make sure I posted my weight.purple1butterfly wrote: »Previous weight: 174.02lb 79.1kg
Todays weight : 173.5lb 78.9kg - 0.299%
Welcome to all new people 🤗
Everyone's supportive here.
@melaniedscott my steps
Wednesday 7,109
Thursday 2,774
Friday 14,239
Saturday 14,759
Sunday 3,636
Monday 9,1190 -
Welcome to all the new ladies & gents!
I'm Melanie, 48 (argh) and I'm from Kansas. I’m the other team Co-captain. Truly, Ashley does most of the heavy lifting. I generally do the steps challenge.
Welcome to December! Sometimes I post an intro and sometime I forget until the last week. I've been on MFP for a long time (more on that in spoilers, if you're interested). I am happily childfree, married for 24 years and I don't love exercise but I do like walking. I need to lose weight to aid medical conditions and because I don't like what I see in the mirror.
The rest is my standard stuff, read it or don't; don't if you've been around a while and already did, up to you.
My (really short version) storyOnce upon a time, I was very skinny and could eat anything I wanted and not gain weight. I was pretty active and took meds that probably ramped up my metabolism (and put me at risk of severe medical problems). But that was a long time ago and things are different. Now I an the opposite of skinny, stress eat and I look at anything yummy and gain five pounds. I need to lose 80 lbs.My special snowflake challengesI'm fairly significantly asthmatic (on meds all the time).What I do about it
I have terrible allergies, mostly mold. Which is literally everywhere. And cats. Anything that doesn't have square pupils (but not things with square pupils!?! I have no problem with squid, apparently!), including people sometimes.
I have migraines.
And I have connective tissue issues (not enough collagen, too stretchy, lots of joint slippage).
August 2020, I acquired some vertigo problems and persistent deafness on one side. Yay. Fall of '23 the ENT decided to call it Meniere's and recommend hearing aids, which are good.I take glucosamine and collagen supplements for the connective tissue problem. When I have bad days, I also drink collagen peptides (but I really dislike them). I've been supplementing with Vitamin C for decades, not really knowing why. In the past few years, I learned Vit C helps the body produce and process collagen. Suddenly, my lifelong obsession with the C makes sense.What is the point behind all this?
My neurologist recommended I take 500 mg of ginger and 400 mg of Vitamin B2 every day to reduce migraines, it has helped a lot. The migraines are so much better (almost non-existent) and manageable when they happen. The ginger also helps with the vertigo. I have no excuses for not doing exercise when the vertigo is managed, except for being lazy.
After adding some nasal sprays and sinus irrigation, adjusting my diet a bit, adding copious amounts of ginger, and stopping coffee (EXTREMELY, TERRIBLY sad), I’ve got the vertigo mostly under control.The special snowflake stuff is not woe-is-me drama llama. It is that everyone has to do what works for them now. The stuff a lot of people go on about (like HITT) are not good for me, and are sometimes dangerous, for me. Sometimes people get down on themselves because they don't do the stuff everyone talks about (HIIT, Insanity, stair steppers, etc). I not only don't do those things, I shouldn't. But I should exercise.My GoalsMy daily goal to get about 30 minutes of walking a day at least during the week isn't doing much for me. I try to get a walk in otherwise but frequently fail. Had a gym membership but wasn't using it and canceled it at the begining of the year. I have access to an indoor walking track for free at multiple rec centers and lots of workout equipment...I have no excuse, all I have to do is go.
Anyway, I've been with WNM for a long while now. Early days, I lost a lot but blah blah blah, it came back and brought friends. I changed jobs in April '24. The new job gives me opportunity to I move more but I also drive a lot and do a lot of documentation, so...sometimes don't move enough. Need to work on that.
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Emilienewme wrote: »I am also running and building up on distance but find it difficult to find motivation in the cold dark wet weather we get at this time of year. Would you mind sharing some tips please?
It's tough! So many times I look outside going "welllll I could skip this run..." Don't. Listen. to that. Voice. It's a constant battle! Over time, I have a lot of techniques. I'm guessing you know a few and could benefit more from encouragement, but let me know if you want actual practices I use. You've got this! There's no bad weather, just proper clothes! Feel free to check in with me for accountability, too!1 -
@melaniedscott the rest of my steps for last week
Wednesday 28th Nov 9536
Thursday 29th Nov 15192
Friday 30th Nov 7294
Saturday 1st Dec 16521
@miscanon3617 thank you for your encouraging message. It really is a battle! I am happy to hear of any good techniques you use to motivate yourself to go for a run at this time of year. First accountability message: yesterday I was meant to do a 1h goal pace repeats run, I really didn't feel like it as the wind was cold and it was getting dark but I got my lights and running shoes out and did it . 3 more 1h easy run to do this week (although I might split one to do parkrun and a 5k group run with another mum )0 -
Emilienewme wrote: »I really didn't feel like it as the wind was cold and it was getting dark but I got my lights and running shoes out and did it .
YOU DID IT! Fantastic! Repeats are no joke! Well now I gotta go do MY run that I'm procrastinating! Thanks for the inspiration!
Tip of the week for anyone trying to get out the door:
I remind myself of my favorite instructor saying: "you don't have to work out, you get to. And the only workout you regret is the one you didn't do." Every time I skip, and I do mean every time, I regret it. Also, skipping once makes it easier to skip the next time. That is not a habit I want to reinforce, so I push myself to get out there. Let's crush some exercise this week!2 -
miscanon3617 wrote: »Emilienewme wrote: »I really didn't feel like it as the wind was cold and it was getting dark but I got my lights and running shoes out and did it .
YOU DID IT! Fantastic! Repeats are no joke! Well now I gotta go do MY run that I'm procrastinating! Thanks for the inspiration!
Tip of the week for anyone trying to get out the door:
I remind myself of my favorite instructor saying: "you don't have to work out, you get to. And the only workout you regret is the one you didn't do." Every time I skip, and I do mean every time, I regret it. Also, skipping once makes it easier to skip the next time. That is not a habit I want to reinforce, so I push myself to get out there. Let's crush some exercise this week!
The key for me isn't getting out the door, it is not going in the door. Once I'm home from work, it gets really hard to go back out. If I go to to the gym before I go home, I am more likely to walk. So far so good this week!1 -
Tuesday weigh in
Pw 202.2
Cw 201
I am so close, and so scared! Trying to get back to onderland for the first time in 5 years. Of course I would be attempting this during the holidays. 😳 I need to get all of the holiday cookies out of the house!1 -
I am so close, and so scared! Trying to get back to onderland for the first time in 5 years. Of course I would be attempting this during the holidays. 😳 I need to get all of the holiday cookies out of the house!
@MoStacy - My trick is to always bring sweets into the office, or literally anywhere that is not my space. I can taste test up to four cookies, and after that the rest are for others (my boyfriend gets a container, I drop them off at friends' places (also a good excuse to catch up with friends!), I bring a container to the salon/the gym/my masseuse, etc.), no matter what. Putting them in closed and labeled containers always helps, portioning out exactly what you are treating yourself with is also a great strategy. You are strong, you've done harder things, you got this! We are always here for you if you need a place to vent out frustrations or celebrate victories.0 -
Before I completely forget...
Hello December! For those of you who haven't met me or would love a reminder: Hi, I'm Ashley. I'm one of the co-captains here at Team Weight No More, and one of the moderators for the Fat2Fit Challenge Group. If you fancy a bit of reading, here's my extremely long introduction post:Hey WeightNoMores! Welcome to December! I'm excited to see where the month will take us!
Anyway, I'm Ashley, I'll be one of your two co-captains here to guide you through the month (and even longer, if you'll stick around with us).
While most of this information has been copied and pasted, I have updated some of my information to be more current and accurate. And if there are any questions, any at all, please do not hesitate to ask. I'm more than willing to talk about my struggles, my digestive tract, my sleep schedule, how there are very few healthy date foods and I don't want to look like that person around my boyfriend, how lifting heavy saves me from potentially beating up my coworkers, stress baking, stress eating... you get the idea.
There's a lot of content here, and it's spoilered, so it doesn't make a long post even longer. You get to pick and choose what you read.~ THE BASICS ~Name: Ashley
Age: 29
Pronouns: she/her
Location: Ohio, USA
Occupation: Chemical Engineer and Certified Personal Trainer (since November 2023!)
Height: 5'7"
Highest Weight: 234lbs
Current Weight: 182lbs
Lowest Weight: 6lb 10oz (August 28th, 1995)
Lowest Non-Infant Weight: 155lbs (although there were some heavy ED vibes, so I wouldn't romanticize that time of my life too much)
Medical Diagnosis: Multiple Sclerosis~ MY HEALTH STORY ~I grew up in a Clean Plates Club™ household, with the idea that food could stuff down any emotion and mask any discomfort. This led to being bullied as a child, expecting people to be mean to me in middle and high school (and then being mean to people first so they didn't have the chance), having an identity crisis in college, and being scared (ahem) poopless after a doctor told me I was on the edge of being pre-diabetic.
I used this fear to catapult me into fitness, starting with indoor cycling classes. I expanded into trying out OrangeTheory, Barry's Bootcamp, F45, and numerous smaller boutique fitness studios. Eventually, I landed on a nice gym that offers group fitness but also allows you to use their equipment for your own personal use. That, combined with having a personal training session once a week, leading three group fitness classes a week, and dropping into group fitness studios from time to time, has led me to have a balanced fitness routine.
In the middle of me getting my (ahem) stuff together, November 2019, I had my first major Multiple Sclerosis relapse and could not feel half of my body. At the time, I had no diagnosis and did not know what was going on outside of the sensation of pins and needles on my left side. After playing a rousing game of Musical Neurologists™, I found a doctor who did not believe my condition to be severe anxiety. He ordered an MRI and a spinal tap, and I was on my way. 14 vials of blood, 2 MRIs, and one spinal tap later, I had a diagnosis. My symptoms are mostly manageable, and my active lifestyle along with reasonably healthy eating has allowed me to continue on with my life without much interruption. My next MRI is in a week, and I hope it shows no further deterioration, as there is currently no cure for MS.
And now? Now I'm focused on building muscle, maintaining my cardiovascular health, and holding back the icky side effects of the autoimmune disorder. Losing weight would be fantastic, but it's not my focus anymore. I've also become a certified personal trainer, with the intent to make fitness more accessible for those with chronic illness. Oh boy, do I have some new fun facts bouncing around in my brain.
APRIL - The plan for this month is to find somewhere to take my personal training certification. My original lead did not pan out, for a myriad of reasons, so I am back to the drawing board.
MAY - I reached out to a local group fitness studio and threw my hat into the ring for becoming an instructor. Formal training won't start until the end of May, so I have the rest of the month to take classes and observe where I can to learn the basics.
JUNE - I edited this intro while going through instructor training, stay tuned for updates!
JULY - My instructor audition is July 6th! Wish me luck!
AUGUST - I have officially passed my audition and began teaching classes last week. It's going to be a fun new adventure for me.
NOVEMBER - I have been leading classes for several months now, and have a newfound appreciation for yoga classes. These classes have boosted my confidence in myself and challenged me to modify exercises for a large variety of different folks. I am really glad I bet on myself and took the risk to audition, and I can't wait to see where it takes me next.~ FUN NUMBERS ~Number of Spin Classes Attended: 1200
Deadlift Personal Best: 190 lbs (as of 12/2/24 - goal is to hit 215 by the end of the year!)
Squat Personal Best: 160 lbs
Fastest Mile Run: 6m 11s
Percent Body Fat: 28%
Times "Started Over": Too High to Count~ THINGS TO KNOW ~- I am a moderator for F2F, so if something doesn't look right, you can let me know and I'll take care of it.
- As a chemical engineer and certified personal trainer, I am VERY familiar with a lot of the chemicals we put into our bodies, and numbers are my friends. I also do research for a living. You want facts? I'm your girl. I am always (ALWAYS) happy to explain the science behind something.
- I used to have a blog on MFP before they removed the blog feature. I didn't save everything I ever wrote, but you can find some of it here: LINK
- I am an open book. You want to know about life with MS? Just ask. You want to know when my last bowel movement was? Just ask. You want my maple donut cookie recipe? Just ask. There is not a single topic I am unwilling to chat about - all it takes is asking the right questions.
~ CURRENT STRUGGLES ~My weight has been slowly increasing over the past year. And even though I know there's been quite a bit of muscle growth, and plenty of sources of water retention, it's getting to me.
In an attempt to quell my anxieties, I ordered a new scale.
I know what you're thinking. Obsessing over my weight even more will not help.
But that's not why I ordered a new scale. This new scale has a couple built in features I'm excited to try out, tracking a dozen more metrics than a standard scale, including BMI, body fat percentages, muscle mass, etc. I am hoping (HOPING) that these new numbers will help me re-center myself and trust that this slow process is working for me, that my plan to build muscle to increase my basal metabolic rate (BMR) while losing fat from a slight caloric deficit has been benefitting me.
Because sure, my BMI claims I'm overweight. It's been decades since I haven't been overweight. But I know I'm more muscular than I've ever been at 180lbs, and I've been here several times before. And I know I can do far more than I ever could previously.
So, it's going to be okay. But my brain needs a few more numbers, just a little more data, before it believes that.
UPDATE - OCTOBER 2023: The new scale was incredibly helpful. Here's what I posted soon after testing it out:minstrelofsarcasm wrote: »~ New NSV!!! ~
I mentioned in my long rambling post about myself that I ordered a new scale to better track the numbers in a way that matters, and oh boy was that a smart idea. I have the results of the InBody scan I did way back in May last year, when I was actively participating in a challenge at my gym at the time, F45. And while there are some things to be wary of when comparing two different methods of obtaining these numbers, I am still ridiculously proud of how far I've come.Let's take a look...
May 9th, 2022
Weight - 177.1 lbs
BMI - 27.7 kg/m2
Skeletal Muscle Mass - 74.3 lbs
September 8th, 2023
Weight - 179.4 lbs
BMI - 28.2 kg/m2
Skeletal Muscle Mass - 88.2 lbsBut what does this mean?
So here's the thing. My weight went up. For a lot of people, this is a huge no-no. And because my weight went up, so did my BMI, because BMI is based solely on weight and height, not levels of health. I wrote a blog post back in the days when MFP still had the blog feature (I was smart and made a copy of this blog, so if you want to read it, you can click here).
But let me draw your attention to what I'm actually proud of: Skeletal Muscle Mass. According to what my special scale told me this morning, I've gained almost 14 whole pounds of muscle over the past 16 months. And if I gained 14 pounds of muscle, but only 2 pounds of weight, that also means I've lost approximately 12 pounds of fat, give or take a pound or two to account for hydration levels and how much heavier my hair may have gotten.
All of this is to say that the number on the scale isn't the whole picture. I can already see a couple issues I have with the measurements my new scale has taken, because there's way too many variables that could affect the values they're giving me, but it's a lovely way to compare my values one day to my values on another, and that's a better picture than a standard weight-only scale could ever provide.
UPDATE - November 2023: I still have a couple issues with the numbers I've been seeing, but the slight shifts from day to day have aligned reasonably well with my eating/exercise habits, so I can't complain too much.
UPDATE - December 2023: I've been out of control with my eating recently, but I think I've discovered several of my triggers to overeat, and I have a plan to regain control. It's just a matter of doing the damn thing.
UPDATE - February 2024: My weight has mostly stabilized, so now I'm focusing on the little details and paying attention to their impact on my weight, essentially treating my body like a science experiment. Stay tuned.
UPDATE - November 2024: It's been a while, but my weight has not shifted much in a while. My proportions, however, absolutely have. My personal trainer and I took progress photos yesterday and it is clear I have put on a bit of muscle and lost a similar amount of fat. Consider this a friendly reminder that the number on the scale is not the whole picture, and there are a million different metrics to track progress through.0
