Theo166 wrote: »

kimbermak wrote: »

I am feeling awesome today. Today was the final weigh-in for our 8-wk at-work weight loss challenge and I won!!! It was close, there was only .35% between 1st and 2nd, but I was able to sustain a steady weight loss for 8+ weeks. Not only was it the satisfaction of winning (I am very competitive), but it came with $150 prize. I lost a total of 23lbs which was 3lbs over my target loss. Now the harder work begins - to sustain a weight loss without the competition.

Congratulation on kicking *kitten*!!!

Look at joining several of the challenges in that subforum. They won't carry the same intensity as your work competition, but they'll help keep the competition with yourself spirit fired up.

Thanks for the info - I found one - 21 lbs in 21 weeks. I am shooting for more, but maybe it is the accountability I need.

I think I'm feeling so discouraged these days because I seem to work so hard, for so little. I just walked 21 minutes and I get 157 calories. Fitbit gives 202. But still...I'm sweating my butt off - (I wish) for 150 - 200 calories. My morning yogurt is more than that! It's just very discouraging to work that hard for so little. I'm not a fan of exercise to begin with...so I want some darn return on investment!

I know, it's only one part of an entire lifestyle to end up more healthy. I KNOW. Intellectually, I know this. I just really want the scale to tell me. Worst part is I don't have a scale to go by at home (ours goes to 300 and gives me the big EEE ) so I know two weeks ago what I weighed at my doctor. One week ago at a different Dr., I weighed 1 lb MORE! This weekend - at the Y, exactly the same as Dr. #1. So the plan is to make the Y scale the "official" scale...but still...I'm at the position of knowing that I've been PERFECT for two weeks - exercise and diet and eating at a calorie deficit every day - and I have nothing to show for it. I KNOW it could be a scale difference - but it's so ...terrible.

To know that I have to lose a bunch before I can even log my weight because I REFUSE to add another pound to my profile...that sucks even more. If I could see a change, maybe I'd start feeling more hopeful. Right now, it's really bothering me.

What's worse is my husband is dropping weight like crazy.

So...Today I feel like crap. I ache all over, for no reason at all - I've been working out every day for two weeks and I shouldn't still be sore! And I'm just kind of depressed and hopeless. I've been here before. I lost 100 and gained 85 back - but it just seems so much harder this time.

gazellefish wrote: »

I worked out consistently for four+ months and gained weight (about five to eight pounds) the first go 'round.

Also, give yourself rest days, girl! Your muscles retain water when they're healing, and it sounds like you might be overworking.

You went 4 months and GAINED? I'd have been a basket case! BRAVO to you for sticking that out!

I was in such a mood yesterday it was "poor pitiful me" mode. I was just aching all over. I have some arthritis in my shoulders and I think I overdid on Sunday because I was aching all over and I kind of had been all weekend.

I don't actually think I'm overdoing it. I do 15 to 18 minutes on the elliptical 5 days a week before work, walk a mile at lunch, park my car further away - anywhere from a block to 1/2 mile depending on the time I have...my job is incredibly sedentary, so really, just the getting up and walking 250 steps an hour - thanks entirely to Fitbit nudging me - is a huge change in my routine. We just joined the Y and will be talking to a trainer next Sunday to start some strength training. Saturdays are pretty much a day of rest, unless we do something fun now that the sun is shining and the weather is better.

I think the problem is it just seems harder this time around. Last time, close to 10 years ago, the first 40 lbs just kind of fell off - I didn't even exercise until I lost 30! I lost 70 in a year quite easily then fought tooth and nail for the next 30. That I gained it back after 2 years of work to get there makes me just so aggravated with myself! But 9 years and menopause later and this just isn't the same body that lost that weight before.

Thanks so much for responding...I'm better today.

@LadyLilion I'm sorry to hear you're feeling discouraged. I remember when my fiancé and I were starting out on this, he would drop pounds like they were going out of style. It was a bit discouraging for me because I was working my butt off and he was still eating the same just cut out soda. People just lose at different paces, and the work ethic you're learning now- ie, walking, diet, etc. will produce results because you're changing your lifestyle for the better. Hang in there! I would also suggest taking measurements and logging them as faithfully as you would your weight changes. Scales may sometimes refuse to show our hard work but measurements can remind us how our bodies are changing. I totally understand feeling like you want to see a "return on your investment", this journey is definitely a roller coaster. I hope you are feeling better.

So does anyone else here actually enjoy logging every bit of food and measuring every serving? I really enjoy that extra bit of security to the point where I won't eat something if I can't find at least a passable estimate. Today my lab partner said "it's okay, I won't judge" jokingly today when I was entering in my sandwich. Frankly, I don't care if he does. I love this app

I am pretty OCD when it comes to my food diary. I go to great lengths to log accurately, even logging breath mints...I feel confident when I'm able to track my macros and calories. But there are occasional times, like this past weekend, where I will opt for "lazy keto" and not track but make sure I'm still making healthy decisions. I feel like thats ultimately what I want for myself- to have it so ingrained in my lifestyle that I become my own "food diary". If that makes sense...

Lately I've been happy with my progress but also dealing with some perfectionism-based self-criticism.

The worst is restaurants and eating food other people make. I HATE estimating and guessing on this stuff. I really want to bring my food scale with me everywhere I go and make people give me itemized lists of ingredients, but I don't want to be that kind of person, so I have restrained myself and just done my best when logging.

But then I know that my food diary is WRONG and the rest of the day is spent in a spiral of doubt and frustration. And of course I know that I can't be expected to be 100% accurate at all times, so I should go easy on myself. It's a whole big thing.

I'm also proud that I'm only a day away from being vegetarian the whole month of March! But I'm worried that when omnivorous April comes around I might go crazy with the freedom of eating whatever I want.

Okay, that's my current tangle of emotions, thanks for letting me vent. I love this group.

Kimbermak, that bugs me, too! It especially annoys me when there are a bunch of identical entries but none of them use grams or milliliters as measurement.

A cup or teaspoon is one things, but how am I supposed to know what "one container" of something is? Just give me the numbers!

omgstfualready wrote: »

Someone mentioned about being afraid of losing weight and I have a similar issue. When I get to about a US size 12 I get treated very differently. Last time I lost a lot of weight I hoped it wouldn't be the case because I'm older but it still happened. I am a huge introvert and I do not want that attention. I'm extremely 'curvy' so that's the root of what is the problem. And it isn't random bull$hit stupidity that women have to face regularly. It's more than that. The weirdo in guys come out and the things that are said are so disturbing. That happened to me so often that I'm actually afraid of losing weight. I even tried a therapist not long ago to talk to them about it and give me some tools to handle it when that time comes and it was a true failure. I'm sick of hearing how it's a compliment and all that crap. It minimizes my issues and I have yet to find a single person that really understands my struggle so I fear even talking about it. But I thought I'd just put it out here in case someone somewhere understands.

Since your health is important but men will be men, I see only one option that doesn't require you to wear gunny sacks to hide your curves.

You need to master the defense technique called RESTING *kitten* FACE

So these past couple of days I've been lacking energy (women problems lol). How do I make myself get up...and not eat everything I crave? Ugh.