Weekly Weigh In Challenge for June

b3achy wrote: »

Ladies, thanks for sharing your stories, and Mariecela - great pictures!! I'm probably not going to keep this short because of #6 in my list from yesterday

My Fitness Story:

I'm the complete opposite from most of you awesome women, I'm that one who grew up skinny...so skinny, when I look at old pictures and if I didn't know how much I regularly ate, I would have thought I was anorexic. But I played a lot as a kid, and I was a complete tomboy because I hung out with the guys (all the girls in my neighborhood smoked by 4th grade, and I thought it was stupid) and played basketball, kickball, raced bikes, climbed trees, etc. I was never an athlete per se, but I guess I just played hard and can remember eating entire bags of Doritos as a teenager (yes you can think ill of me now) and never gained a pound. When I went into the Army in my 20's, they lied on my form as I was checking in because I only weighed 98 pounds, and the guy put 100 pounds on my form because that was the minimum for my height. By the time I left ROTC/summer camp, I weighed 109 pounds (the only person in my platoon that gained weight; most of the guys lost like 25 pounds) because I had never exercised or ate so much in my entire life.

Since then I've never weighed below 110 lbs. At my first duty station there was lots of beer and ice cream, and I left there at about 120 lbs. I was sort of able to keep things in check due to the mandatory exercise in the military, but after I got out of the Army (26 years ago), I just had sedentary jobs, and rarely exercised. By my 40's I thought I was at my heaviest (135) and managed to lose 20 pounds doing the Six Week Body Makeover (for 13 weeks). However, that program was just too rigid for me to maintain long term. But it did teach me a lot about nutrition, and better eating habits. I eventually (over 7-8 years) put the weight back on, and then some.

Now, I'm in my 50's. When I quit my job last year to start my own business, I weighed over 150, which for me was now the heaviest I've ever been. I was able to get down to 139 using the 6WBMO alternate system - Food Lover's Network; however, still had a challenge maintaining it, and was probably way over estimating the portion sizes. I started racing Stand Up Paddleboards last year, and thought that would be enough to help me lose the weight. But over the winter, I put most of it back on 1) because I was lazy and barely exercised (too cold or windy to paddle), 2) I got depressed / stressed because none of my contracts for my business had worked out yet, 3) I ate like crap or frankly didn't eat at all (I tend to be an under-eater these days), and 4) dealing with peri-menopause hormonal fluctuations (OMG they are crazy). So the weight came back.

I got on a site called Fitocracy to track my workouts in Jan because I was convinced if I just worked out enough, I could lose the weight. They kept talking about tracking your macros and how it's all about the macros. I sort of rolled my eyes, but last month decided to give macro tracking a go, since nothing else was really working. That's when I found MFP, and started educating myself on proper calorie intake, macro ratios, etc. I've been tracking since mid-May and have lost about 4 pounds so far. I really wish I had learned about this stuff when I was much younger.

I want to lose to be faster on my paddleboard for racing (my two primary competitors are both all of a 105 pounds, and they are strong and super fast). I also want to fit back into my skinny jeans - I miss wearing my skinny jeans. I just want to feel better/healthier. I also want to stop thinking of it as exercise, and start to think of it as play time again. I had so much fun playing as a kid, that it never felt like exercise (which just seems like such a chore to me). I want that again too!!

Wishing everyone strength, tenacity, and dedication to see this through to your goals. You are worth it, and you can do it!!

the_raptor wrote: »

Is this challenge for weight loss only, or can those of us trying to bulk up also participate?