Need to Lose 100 LBS -Robins Thread !

Kai, you are in my thoughts and prayers.

Linda

Oh, dear, Kai! Hope they figure it out and get you feeling better soon!

Well, folks, the results of "eat my goal calories" week are in. I had a couple of high days and a couple of low days, and my average over the week is just a skosh over my -20% target, so I consider that a success. And according to the ever-fickle scale, I've lost exactly 1 pound in the past 7 days. Which is basically perfect, and nothing short of awesome while breastfeeding. 1lb/week is actually the max recommended loss while nursing, faster has a tendency to cause supply issues. So, to my immense relief, I don't need to fiddle with my nursing allowance calories.

I think moving forward, I'm going to try a bit harder to avoid those low days. As a mom of two active littles, it is so very easy to just space eating until I realize it's 3 in the afternoon and I'm flirting with a migraine, and then end up 400 or so short because I just can't eat that much before bed. SO... no more forgetting to eat. Especially since my body doesn't let me get away with it; the next day I'm basically doomed to eat back those "missed" calories because I'm crazy hungry.

Good morning everyone.

Happy Bittersweet Chocolate Day
January 10, 2015
Today is Bittersweet Chocolate Day! Bittersweet chocolate is a sweetened form of dark chocolate made with cocoa liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, and vanilla. Unlike milk chocolate or white chocolate, it does not contain any milk solids. According to FDA standards, bittersweet chocolate must contain at least 35% chocolate liquor (a non-alcoholic liquid produced from cocoa beans).
Consuming bittersweet chocolate on a daily basis is actually quite good for you. All variations of dark chocolate contain antioxidants that lower blood pressure and help protect your heart. Other heart-healthy foods include green tea and blueberries!
In honor of Bittersweet Chocolate Day, treat yourself to a few pieces of your favorite variety!

“You've done it before and you can do it now. See the positive possibilities. Redirect the substantial energy of your frustration and turn it into positive, effective, unstoppable determination.” Ralph Marston

Tom

Just a quick post to let you know I haven't disappeared. Reading along, but no time to respond. Trying to fight off a cold, so I'm falling asleep earlier than usual.

Belated Thursday Truth: I shall never reach my goals whilst eating entire packages of string cheese.

Friday Fitness....um. Fitness has been almost non-existent this week. I burned some calories shoveling snow, and I walked around our new grocery store over and over checking things out and buying this week's foods. Going to have to do a little more next week if I don't want to shock my system with my half-marathon training later this month!

Saturday Success: I did pretty well with my week-day housekeeping each night, so I can have a pretty relaxing Saturday! Now, off to the shoe store for this week's weigh in...not too hopeful for a big loss with all the cheese and lack of exercise this week, but at least we're going!

Wow. Hit 70 lbs loss this morning! So happy with my progress. Of course, I still have 130 lbs to go...But I am beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel...So glad for all your support and encouragement. Thank you MFP friends and confidants!

@kaihuner45 - Thanks so very much for the tips. I am saving it to read again.
- Lori

Saturday challenge--I was a little concerned today about what I would find to eat for lunch. My husband and I had a function to attend with a catered meal. I ate a light breakfast, a poached egg and piece of lightly buttered toast with coffee. I drank a liter of water before going to the function so as not to be overly hungry. I was pleasantly surprised to find great, well balanced meal choices. I chose to fill half my plate with salad and 1 T of dressing, One quarter with mixed berries, grapes a 3 cheese cubes. The last quarter was a baked chicken breast, very dry and a bit too tough. So I ate less than half of it. I passed up on the breads, potatoes, gravy and other junk. I was full when done and not regretting my choices.
Friday--I wasn't feeling too great yesterday, a slight blood sugar blip, so no exercise, just rest. Today, I will try and make up for the lack of activity with some much needed housework and organization. Sunday, will do some online exercise videos.

@angiefaychai way to go on your weight loss journey so far. I have a bunch to go and hearing someone who has dumped 70lbs is so encouraging. Keep up that courageous work
@saggyandbaggy you are going to have to change your name soon, keep up the great efforts as well, 84 lbs is fantastic, I'm so inspired right now
@hansea47 good luck with your weigh in at the shoe store, hope you get a good result and get well soon
@marypoppinsIAint its such a joy to be able to nurse your own children. I used to have a difficult time making enough, my sister was always reminding me to eat well and drink plenty of water so I would have enough. Enjoy this time with your babes, they grow so fast. For late night cravings, make a smoothie with yogurt, banana, pineapple and spinach.
@Kaihunter45 I have you on my prayer list. Praying that you will be able to get through this health issue and for healing
@Melifornia way to go on 3 out of 3 days at the gym, watch out! Its becoming a habit
@170isreal I will be glad to friend you on here, I need to figure out how to have an open diary, but yeah, I record everything
@cuddle78 I just hate it when my weight won't budge. s000000 frustrating. be glad to help where I can. You can vent at me nannersp61 anytime
@bsracer I try to save something to eat for just the evening, a smoothie, some banana bread with peanut butter, a bowl of cereal with milk, I don't always have something, but when I am hungry, I eat. Helps me sleep better too. Sometimes I also have a cup of warmed milk with vanilla and splenda.

Hey y'all. New to my fitness pal and looking to get support. I have Lyme disease and it's a beast. Just need emotional support in the midst of it because I don't get it at home. Lyme can create weight gain and it has for me. Does anyone else panic when they get hungry? What do you tell yourself to calm down?

@barbara--Yes, GO PACK!!! (sorry kelley)

@2laugh—sorry you don’t get support at home. It took my husband some time to adjust to my new lifestyle—especially b/c he’s the primary cook in the house. He loves to cook and thinks feeding me is the way to take care of me. At first he would get this hurt look if I didn’t eat something b/c it was too high in calories or if I only took one helping. But I just stayed strong and kept saying, “I don’t have enough calories left to eat that.” He learned to adjust recipes so they are lower in calories, and when he really wants to cook something decadent he gives me a day or two’s notice so I can plan to fit it in my food diary (or go to the gym to earn back some extra calories).

@teresa—congrats on skipping the cheeseburger! Mac n cheese is one of my favorites, so when I’m craving it, I make a similar dish, but with quinoa instead of macaroni. I also add some asparagus to mine—it’s delicious!

@nanner—if you haven’t figured it out already, you can open your diary by clicking on “settings” near the top right (next to “help”), then click on “diary settings.” Scroll down and you should see the various options there.

@tammy—congrats on the new bike! Also loved hearing about your animals.

@kai—my first thought was the same as kelley’s—that it might be fibroids. I don’t suffer them myself, but my sister does, and your symptoms sound just like hers.

@laura—we also went back to school this week, then promptly had 2 emergency closings. So much for routine.

@tom—bittersweet chocolate is my absolute favorite. I will make sure to celebrate.

@melifornia—I think it’s so neat that you have all of your nieces and nephews over on Saturday nights. What great memories you are creating for them with all of their cousins and their aunt sissy!

@marypoppins—I also find I’m extremely hungry the next day if I’m low on calories—especially if I have a big workout and then neglect to eat back those calories I burned. Also, thanks for the commiseration about teachers. Before I worked in a classroom, I worked in the private sector as a director of a tutoring center. I took about a 50% pay cut to become a classroom teacher, and have no regrets. I’m actually pretty lucky that my area pays teachers better than a lot of areas around the country. That being said, I still make a lot less than I should for the amount of education I possess. My biggest issue is those restrictions you mentioned—the trend in education is to standardize everything: curriculum, teaching methods, and assessments. I recently saw someone describe this one-size-fits-all approach as resulting in “polishing pebbles and dimming diamonds.” What an apt metaphor that applies to both the teachers and the students.

@lori—yes, this cold weather makes it hard to psych myself up to leave the house as well. I skipped it today, but will go tomorrow for sure. I stalled out for quite some time right around 200 lbs, but I just kept at it and eventually my body let go of the weight and let me enter Onederland. You will get there too.

@kaye—I hope you had a better day today.

@rozie—so sorry about your mother.

@klp—I’ve never tried Medifast, but have done nutria-system and several others. I tend to have the same mindset as holly (mnwalking)—I believe all diets work for the short term, but once you’re “done” the weight typically comes back on. This method of eating real food within my calorie allowance is the only thing that’s ever worked for me long-term.

@mkknits—I’m not familiar with the misfit—sounds like it’s tracking your movement to give you the proper calorie allowance. Your BMR is merely the amount of calories your body needs to survive if you weren’t moving at all. If I had a device that tracked my movement, I think I would set my activity on MFP to “sedentary” and then eat back all of the calories the misfit adds. I’m assuming you have your goal set to give a calorie deficit already—“lose 1 lb (or 2 lbs)/week” which means MFP has already figured a deficit of 500-1000 calories/day. You don’t want to create a bigger deficit by not eating back activity/exercise calories.

@toots—LOL, thanks—too bad I only have that discipline when it’s something I don’t like. Congrats on 8 lbs lost—what a great start to the year!

@holly—so true about male vs. female maturity.

Welcome to all of the newlings! Sorry if I missed you on this round of personals—I had a lot of catching up to do.

Friday Fitness:
Made it to the gym for my 2 runs this week and even ran hills! I have 4 gym days scheduled for next week—it’s a pipe dream, but at least that should help ensure I make it there twice.

Saturday Success:
Went out with friends after work yesterday and resisted the high-calorie bar food. Instead came home and ate a healthier dinner here. Weight has continued to hover between 182-184 which is fine but would really like to see a number that begins with a 1 and a 7 by Spring Break.
Another success is that I signed up for 2 races—an 8k in May and a 5k trail run in June. The trail run is in Lake Geneva, so if any of you Wisconsin folks want to join me, let me know and I’ll post the link.

2015 mantra = "Just 15 minutes"

January Challenge:
Under calorie goal: 9/10 days (goal is 28/31 days)
All-in: run 2 days/week: week 1 = 2/2, week 2 = x/2, week 3 = x/2, week 3 = x/2
8k at end of month (not sure what day) in 56 minutes (Thanksgiving 8k = 56:49, NYE 8k = 57:47)

Grading Goals:
1. 14/66 AP essays
2. 14/30 Scarlet Letter essays
3. 10/66 AP journals
4. x/60 SL annotations
5. SL test corrections DONE
6. Tone test corrections

Exercise Goals:
Sun--walk gunner + gym
Mon--walk gunner + gym
Tues--rest day (meeting)
Wed--walk gunner
Thurs-- walk gunner + gym
Fri--rest day
Sat--walk gunner + gym