Weight No More Team Chat - February 2025
Megan_smartiepants1970
Posts: 44,209 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 - @micaroo4
Weight No More - @BodyTalking and @daria0919
WaistAways - @MaddawgMadsen
Shape Shifters - @LaurieWrobo and @Cyncia85
HOW IT ALL WORKS: The February challenge runs for four weeks, from February 2nd - March 1st.
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 February on the road!
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Hello February! 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 February! I'm excited to see where the new month will take us! 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: 184lbs
Lowest Weight: 6lb 10oz (August 28th, 1995)
Lowest Adult 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.
JANUARY - As of next week, I will be coaching four classes per week (Tuesday/Friday nights, early Wednesday mornings). Things have been going well, the members seem to have taken to me quite easily, and it's a great way for me to balance out my weeks. While I have been talking about doing more yoga, class times at my local studio do not work with my schedule and online sessions lack that extra something special.~ FUN NUMBERS ~Number of Spin Classes Attended: 1200
Deadlift Personal Best: 205 lbs (as of 12/16/24)
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. 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 -
The February Week 1 Group Challenge is open and ready to begin on Sunday, Feb. 2nd. Please join us for Back to Basics and start your month off right! Here's your link:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10932335/february-week-1-group-challenge-back-to-basics/p1?new=1
Looking forward to lively discussion this week. See you in the chat thread!
Jessica
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Weigh In Day: Sunday
PW (Previous Weight): 270.9
CW (Current Weight): 268.3
First time weighing in, hope I’m doing it right!4 -
Mizzmagenta
Weigh in day: Sunday
Starting weight: 145.7 lbs
Goal weight: 120 lbs
Previous weight: 126.9 lbs
Current weight: 123.4 lbs
Thankfully I’ve gotten back to my previous weight, 3.4lbs to go 🤞🏻2 -
BodyTalking
Weigh-in-Sunday 2nd Feb
Starting weight: 81.7 kg/180.12 lb
Previous weight: 78.5 kg/173.06 lb
Current weight: 79.3 kg/174.82 lb
BodyTalking
Steps 26 Jan - 1 Feb
Total: 50,646
S 6047
M 5320
T 5253
W 8502
T 10173
F 7758
S 7593
@minstrelofsarcasm @melaniedscott
An increase in weight unfortunately. I do feel that I'm only just getting started this year though.2 -
We went to a glass garden exhibition last night. Lovely glasswork but a terrible trek to get there. I live glad and have worked with glass in different ways, mostly stained glass, but never blown. Maybe one day.
I've decided that I'd like to go to some arty thing every month. Rome reignited my appreciation 🎨🎭
Wellbeing is not all about what we eat or the exercise we do. Sometimes, we need to explore other interests and I've neglected that part for a while.
What are your interests outside of mfp?
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Hi all,
Quick intro - I'm Shelli, 40s, and live in Edinburgh, Scotland. I was in this group a (long) while back, and it was great, but life and some health issues took over and I'm now at my highest ever weight. I desperately need to take control back - I want to feel healthier and feel better about the way I look.
I'm starting with small steps, so for now I'm just going to stay under my calorie count, aim for 3k steps a day (I'm hoping to increase this slowly, I've had back and hip problems which really hindered me doing any kind of exercise for a while), and no late night snacking (LNS) as this is one of my big issues.
I also have got myself a super cute rewards chart, and I get unicorn stickers when I make my goals! Do I have the mentality of a 5 year old - yes. Do I care - no!
I'm also in the process of thinking up 'rewards' for myself, which has been more tricky than I thought as they have to be non-food related.
Hope everyone is having a good start to the month - yay to those losing already!
@BodyTalking - those photos are amazing! I love artsy stuff as well. My friend has just been up visiting last week and we always do all the galleries nearby when he's here, but I def need to make more of an effort when it's just me.1 -
Hi Everybody!
Weekly Weigh In
Weigh In Day: Sunday
PW (Previous Weight): 250.2
CW (Current Weight): 250.4
Yesterday was Pinewood Derby which is potluck food and snacks all day so a little bump from salt isn't bad.
Do we have a step challenge going as well?
Hope everyone is having an awesome weekend1 -
@melaniedscott my steps for the week
Sun 26th 10562
Mon 27th 14001
Tue 28th 12365
Wed 29th 19030
Thu 30th 15327
Fri 31st 10025
Sat 1st 111340 -
Welcome to all the new face that have joined us here
@melaniedscott
Sunday 1,484
Monday 27th 17,274
Tuesday 1,262
Wednesday 3,581
Thursday 4,185
Friday 3,722
Saturday 6,585
Sunday 2,160
Can I change my step down to 5,000 as I've not been feeling well with my asthma.
I will post my weigh-in tomorrow0 -
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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jennyell85 wrote: »First time weighing in, hope I’m doing it right!
@jennyell85 - Yep! That's exactly how it's done! Welcome to the team!tokyotfrog2 wrote: »Do we have a step challenge going as well?
Hope everyone is having an awesome weekend
@tokyotfrog2 - We do! My lovely co-captain @melaniedscott takes care of the step challenge for us. Results posts for the previous week go out every Wednesday or so. The results for last week (Jan 26th-Feb 1st) should be coming out on the 5th or 6th this week.
If you would like to participate, be sure to share your steps (either as a weekly total, or Sunday through Saturday) no later than Wednesday (Feb 5th). She'll take care of the rest!purple1butterfly wrote: »Can I change my step down to 5,000 as I've not been feeling well with my asthma.
@purple1butterfly - Absolutely, I can change that for you. Is there something new agitating your lungs?
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Weigh In Day: Monday
PW : 173.5lb 78.9kg
CW : 174.0lb 79.1kg
Put on a small amount this week.0 -
WEIGH IN DAY MONDAY:
CW: 180.5 lbs
PW: 179.8 lbs
Beyond furious.
Tracked all week. Even yesterday it was my nephew’s 21st he came to ours for a family dinner and I even had a piece of cake (which I weighed and tracked accurately), took me over my calories to 1650, which should still be at maintenance or below.
Lifted heavy weights twice at the gym as didn’t manage to get my third trip in but I did some resistance bands at home instead a couple of days.
On one other day this week I hit 1700 calories so I’m definitely not under eating. Most days I eat between 1350 and 1450.
I even measure out the milk that goes in every cup of tea.
I don’t eat after 7pm so I have a 14hr fast each night.
Half way through this week I stopped using protein powder to hit my protein goal as I think it was messing my blood sugar up.
My macros are:
130g protein which gives me protein 40%, healthy fats 30%, carbs 30% (usually around 100g per day so not super low).
I track and weigh everything never estimate.
Could my maintenance calories actually be around 1400-1500 due to years of yo-yo dieting? Reluctant to go lower if I’m lifting weights as all the advice says not to go too low.
PS I am getting slightly stronger each week so I’m gaining a bit of muscle which I know will offset the scale but I have 28lbs of pure fat still to lose it’s not like I’m already fairly lean, my husband says I ‘feel’ different, my clothes are not any looser though. Helllllllllp2 -
PS just to add that I’ve now weighed roughly the same for a month so it’s not a one week blip0
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Steps
Sun-2,575
Mon-11,623
Tuesday-9,210
Wed-7,201
Thursday-8,569
Fri-8,728
Sat-5,4470 -
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Weekly Weigh In
Weigh In Day: Sunday
PW (Previous Weight): 200
CW (Current Weight): 198.2
I’m a new MyFitnessPal member and I’m trying hard to log everything accurately as best I can. It’s helping. The advice to log ahead (when I remember to do it) is super helpful! It’s saved me from a couple of terrible choices.
I was sick a few days last week so my steps went from a low of 2045 to a workday 12,739 Saturday.2 -
Weigh In Day: Monday
PW (Previous Weight): 221.8
CW (Current Weight): 219.42 -
fknlardarse wrote: »
Even yesterday it was my nephew’s 21st he came to ours for a family dinner and I even had a piece of cake (which I weighed and tracked accurately), took me over my calories to 1650, which should still be at maintenance or below.
Maybe it's just the extra carbs in your system, as your body stores each gram of carbs that doesn't get used for energy with 3g of water attached to it. I find the day after I eat more carbs than usual my weight will go up but it's temporary and goes back down after. Lifting can also cause the scale to go up. And sometimes bodies don't respond in the way we expect them to.
Also, maybe I've misunderstood something but with your weight and amount of body fat you mentioned, it seems to me like you are fairly lean? I'm not an expert or a dietitian, but just based on my quick math.
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Weigh in day - Monday
PW - 240
CW - 235.8
This was quite a nice surprise since I only started adding the steps on Saturday and had a blip day on Friday. I do tend to have quite good losses the first 1-2 weeks though and then it goes way down, so we'll see how it goes!
Def haven't got my steps in today (had to take my friend to a hospital appointment so way too much waiting around). I'm going to try and manage at least a walk round the block after dinner, but my totm has decided to start today, so the motivation is very low and I just want to snuggle with my hot water bottle *sighs*
Congrats to those posting losses today! And if the scales are being mean, then hang in there x
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Hey @podperson1 I'm from Glasgow 👋😁 but I live in Prague now. I haven't been to museums and galleries here for a while either. I can't remember the last time I went to one in Glasgow, far less Edinburgh! When I come over for a visit, it's all about seeing family and friends.
Welcome back to the group and welcome to all our new members 🤗0 -
Here are some current steps. I can't remember what I have shared lately. If I am missing any dates or just ahead of the game just let me know.
01/28-10,671
01/29-9,930
01/30-9,846
01/31-8,528
02/01-9,866
02/02-6,378
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~~ Step Challenge Results - January Week 3~~
Jan 19th-25th
Team Statistics -
Total Steppers: 6
Total Steps: 408,727
Average Steps Per Stepper: 68,121 - ( 48.07% more than last week!!!!!)
Individual Statistics -
@Emilienewme - 97,524 total | 13,932 average - Most Consistent!!!
@purple1butterfly - 71,551 total | 10,222 average - Most Steps in One Day!!!
@blessedgrandma5 - 58,369 total | 8,338 average
@Ljdanny - 51,675 total | 7,382 average
@BodyTalking - 40,888 total | 5,841 average
@daria0919 - 34,926 total | 4,989 average
Way to (heh) step it up this week! Melanie is not feeling well, and I'm out on a work trip, so there will not be an in-depth analysis of your work this week (sorry!), but I hope y'all will keep up the excellent work! The final step counts for the year will come out later this week, so be sure to get your step totals posted soon!2 -
Oops, I noticed an error in the above steps report. My average daily steps is correct but the total makes me look too good 😊
BodyTalking
Steps 19-25 Jan
Total: 40,888 (avg 5841)
@minstrelofsarcasm0 -
May all your workouts be fun today!!
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A BIG CONGRATULATIONS to our top three winners for highest % weight lost this past week!!
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Ooh, congrats to the winners!
@BodyTalking - yay, another Scot! (well, I'm technically English, but have lived here a loooong time now, so I've been told I have honorary status lol). Prague sounds beautiful though, someone that's on my list to visit.
The eating has been going fairly well - stayed under my dailies since Friday. The steps not so well. I think because the temperature has dropped way into the minuses and I'm struggling with motivation to leave my nice warm house
Really makes me wish I had a treadmill or something, but I'm in a flat so very short on space. The scales are still behaving, so I shall try not to stress over it too much just yet.
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BodyTalking wrote: »Oops, I noticed an error in the above steps report. My average daily steps is correct but the total makes me look too good 😊
BodyTalking
Steps 19-25 Jan
Total: 40,888 (avg 5841)
@minstrelofsarcasm
@BodyTalking - Whoops! Good catch! I have no idea why the formula decided to be weird (and only for you!). I've fixed it, nothing else needed to change.1
