1 year progress report : 50+ and 30 pounds gone! :)

hello MFP friends-- this is my one year anniversary of using MFP and i am here to share my progress pictures. Can't remember how I came across this site, but boy am i glad that I did!

This time last year, I realized I had gained 50 pounds in 5 years... how the heck did that happen?? ... and me not notice... even when I had to start buying bigger clothes (note to self next time!). I was squeezing myself into 16P and looking back I was probably even closer to 1X that i would like to admit to.

I didn't feel completely unfit, but again, looking back, i wasn't a picture of health either! I think I finally got the message in my head when I noticed my blood pressure numbers going up... that scared me A LOT.

Fortunately, I already had pretty good diet (calories aside), cooked at home most days (haven’t been to a mickyD’s in 33 years, except to use the toilet in europe), very rarely snacked, and regularly worked out a couple of days a week. My biggest challenge was my WINE intake… that was my only shocker!!

So, I embarked on this journey... lost 15 pounds by FEB, but then got distracted between MAR-MAY... didn't log consistently... and ending up gaining back some of that hard earned loss (not all of it though... WheW!).

In May, a blogger that I follow (CHEESESLAVE) mentioned a "Fitbit" in one of her posts which intrigued me, because I knew although I was working out twice a week... I had a desk job and wasn't moving nearly enough throughout the day. So, I got a Fitbit ONE... and confirmed the ugly truth... i was walking less than 4K steps A DAY... YiKeS!

I worked up to 10K steps a day, then in JUNE, CHEESESLAVE hosted a walking challenge (the winner would receive $125 gift card from amazon)... let's just say i am very competitive ;-p I upped my walking to at least 20K a day, sometimes 25K, I even got a 30K and 40K day in there (my coworkers thought i was nuts when i would walk around the room during meetings). I also have a rebounder, which I use whenever I watch the television.

I won the 6 week challenge, but only lost 4 pounds... which is always better than gaining... but i was working at 1K calorie deficit. huh? I kept at it, and lost a couple of more pounds, but kept thinking to myself... am i going to have eat less and less... how will i exist on less than 1200 calories a day?? is that what happens when you get older (and menopausal)??

Then in SEP, complete plateau... nothin'... even though I had added additional workout day in AUG, and my step count was hovering at 15K per day. Although my weight report shows me dropping from 172 to 170... i was consistently 172 the whole month (i weigh myself everyday (i know, i know... trying to break that bad habit)). i recorded my lowest weight "fluctuations" and kept them there because... well, i don't know why because!

I am a total lurker on the threads (i find them entertaining, informative, but sometimes a little sad). i found a couple of threads that discussed "eating more" and "IIFYM"... and both ideas really got me thinking... so i decided i needed to figure out my calorie maintenance level... so i decided to eat at maintenance (around 2100 cal/day) and eat back my exercise calories... and guess what... i didn't gain… even when eating 2500 cal/day!

I didn't lose either, but what a relief it was for me to know that i wasn't going to be stuck at 1200 calories for the rest of my life. Also, i changed my goal from 2lbs a week to .5lbs a week, because, although i would really rather the weight went off quickly, i needed to pay attention to my protein intake in order to maintain my lean muscle mass (this is definitely something you don’t want to lose at my age).

At the end of OCT, I went to Hong Kong for three weeks… and didn’t log a thing… but i didn’t go crazy eating either, no wine, and only a few beers (after logging consistently, i think i have a feel for things, but wouldn’t depend on this method long term).

We walked consistently 20-25K most days and i took the stairs any time we used the subway… also, note that HK is a very hilly place.. i regularly got 50-75 floors, sometimes 100 and even hit 125 and 150 ! (love my fitbit)

When i got home mid-NOV, i weighed myself… 6 pounds down.. I CAN lose weight… WhooHOO!

So, now my challenge is to figure out the proper deficit to lose more consistently and at a rate that will maintain my muscle mass… but at least i know my metabolism isn’t “broken” ;-p

I still have 20 pounds to go to meet my goal… and I fully expect this to take another year. I plan to continue with my 3x weekly HIIT classes, add 3 days of resistance training and keep my step count up to 20K, while keeping close watch on my macros: 30% protein, 25% carbs, 45% fat (yes, 45% fat because good healthy fats are your friend, but they MUST be healthy… absolutely NO vegetable oils for me apart from virgin olive oil from reputable supplier… ghee, coconut oil, lard and tallow from pastured animals for frying.. i even make my own mayonnaise! /end of fat rant).

The takeaway from all of this is to learn to use whatever tools you have at your disposal to learn about your body… and what works for your body. What works for me will not work for you (except the fat rant, please learn about healthy fats!)… and even though i have aways to get to my ultimate goal, i feel so good about taking action and making progress… MFP is AWESOME!!

Good luck to everyone on your weight loss adventures… i will continue to lurk and learn!! ;-p

stats:
age: 52
height: 5'4"
SW: 196
CW: 167
GW: 145