2017~~52 Pounds in 52 Weeks Challenge

Starting weight: 198 lbs
Goal weight: 146
Current weight: 166.4
Total weight lost: 31.6
This week's successes: Joined a 12 week challenge group that incorporates some weights. I am excited to learn!
This week's challenges: Wanted to bake a pan of brownies really badly this week but so far I have been strong...

RayvenSkye96 wrote: »

Starting weight: 198 lbs

This week's challenges: Wanted to bake a pan of brownies really badly this week but so far I have been strong...

Seriously...the Fiber One desserts are pretty tasty. Microwave one of the brownies, and you will get the smell and ..80% of the satisfaction with only 10% of the guilt!

Starting weight on January 11th: 289.7
Current weight: 238.8
This week's loss: 2.6
Total weight loss: 50.9

This week's successes: I did my first 45-minute hike in several years. Another day I rushed up a steep hill to meet a friend and it did not kill me. Before MFP I would have had to stop every few minutes.

This week's challenges: Need to be better on my sugar intake. Eating several pieces of fruit each day is putting me over my sugar goal pretty consistently. It would be ironic to lose all this weight and throw myself into pre-diabetes.

How you getting on? What diet/exercise you using?

A third of the way through I thought it would be useful to find out how you're getting on and what you're doing to lose weight. We might be able to pick up tips off each other?
I'm four pounds behind schedule, which isn't insurmountable, and is due to too many treat days. I'm using MFP with Slimming World Healthy Extra principles, namely only certain amounts of dairy and wheat type products a day. I have one treat day a week (sometimes!) where I can eat and drink what I want. As I've progressed I've swapped Takeaway for Fakeaway for which I find inspiration from Slimming Eats. I go to the gym 2-3 times a week, nothing too extravagant, just work up a sweat on treadmill or bike. Also love the pool and sauna afterwards.
One thing I'm really pleased with is that this is taking no willpower and is now embedded in my shopping and cooking.

Toxtethogrady wrote: »

How you getting on? What diet/exercise you using?

A third of the way through I thought it would be useful to find out how you're getting on and what you're doing to lose weight. We might be able to pick up tips off each other?
I'm four pounds behind schedule, which isn't insurmountable, and is due to too many treat days. I'm using MFP with Slimming World Healthy Extra principles, namely only certain amounts of dairy and wheat type products a day. I have one treat day a week (sometimes!) where I can eat and drink what I want. As I've progressed I've swapped Takeaway for Fakeaway for which I find inspiration from Slimming Eats. I go to the gym 2-3 times a week, nothing too extravagant, just work up a sweat on treadmill or bike. Also love the pool and sauna afterwards.
One thing I'm really pleased with is that this is taking no willpower and is now embedded in my shopping and cooking.

A third of the way to my 52 pounds in 52 weeks and I am a little ahead of on track! I expect it will be harder once we are post the halfway mark, but so far so good.

I have had two vacations during this period. I ate well both times. Both involved lots of food and adult beverages. One was a 5 day cruise and the other was a trip to Key West with fun loving family food and wine lovers. I tried to choose my meals carefully and I was active! Not burpee at 5 a.m. active but always walk everywhere active. I also tried to go into these days a few pounds ahead of schedule, so If I did have a real gain it would not hurt as much psychologically.

For me diet is critical. I have never been a regular exerciser and I am older (more on this later.) I follow CICO and the daily calorie calculations given from MFP work for me. ( I sometimes check Scooby too.) I am pretty meticulous on tracking. Pretty much everything I eat goes in my log. I weigh food. I weigh liquids - especially my wine, rum and vodka. I check values on the USDA Food Search site so I know I am counting correct calories on whole foods. I often weigh pre made servings - like bread slices. If I need to guess I try to overestimate. I do not eat out often, but when I do I eat what like but try to choose wisely. One naughty dinner will not my life ruin.

I treat calories like a budget and I work on a cash system, not accrual. If I can I will prelog my day, but it is subject to budget adjustments. For example:

• Didn't eat that apple I left in my desk drawer at work? Ooooooh maybe I can skip butter on my spinach and have some ice cream tonight.

I try to pre plan dinners about three or four days out; knowing whats for dinner lets me know how to spend my budget during the day. And I always have salad fixings at home. If I overspend during the day I can fall back on a huge salad for dinner, with a wine vinegar sprinkled on. (It helps that I like salad and the tartness of vinegar.) I eat what I like - I think this is crucial - but I try new things and find that I like a lot. It also helps that I lean to the savory as opposed to the sweet for satisfaction.

Exercise. I have always treated exercise like a red-headed step child. I have active vacations with things like hiking and swimming, and we have 20 acres we have to perform outdoor maintenance so I am not a complete blob. But no real intentional exercise schedule existed in the past. I live in Florida and when we step outside at 5 in the morning we get a sweat walking to the car. It's the humidity. That's one. Two = I have and have always had big boobs. Even when I was young and thin I had big boobs. It's a curse, especially where exercise is concerned. Three, until recently I was a mom to non adults and the primary bread winner. So my life had been consumed by job and children's lives. (I'm still mom but now they are (legally) adults and a little more on their own.) Four = The last five years or so work got intense, and I got particularly desk bound, and really really sedentary.

So why did my attitude to exercise improve? Well, my blood pressure became kinda high, I had a hard time on my last waterfall hike, and I was just getting fatigued with the least exertion. I cannot go into my 60s and retire in this shape. I have worked too hard to not be able to continue doing the things I want to do. It is within my control to fix this. I know I was blessed with great genes and I have no excuse for letting myself go.

I am using MFP to learn and to get some schedules for exercise. I have participated in two groups so far that have really helped me. I was in "The Amazing Race group" this winter. Loved it. Each week we had a nutritional goal and exercises to perform. Now I am enrolled in the "Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." It is only week two of six but I think they are trying to kill me. Killer exercise, but I do my best. And the role-play is nice (but not required.) By participating in these groups it helps me find web sites with exercise plans for my future use, it introduces me to new exercise, and it also motivates me to perform, because I do not want to let my team down.

As far as logging goes, I do not usually log my exercise, unless I need to eat the calories. If a miracle ever happened and I exercised enough that I was really burning substantial calories I would consider regular logging.

MFP has been critical to my success because it has created a structure for me that is easy to follow. I have occasional days where it all goes wacky but I don't let those be a stopping point. I pick up the next day and move on. I am doing this!


TLDR: CICO and learning to exercise

Overall starting weight: 192lbs(June 2014)
Challenge starting weight: 151lbs
Goal weight: 99lbs

01/05/17:150.8lbs(-0.2lbs)
01/12/17:149.4lbs(-1.4lbs)
01/19/17:149.4lbs(0lbs)
01/26/17:147.8lbs(-1.6lbs)
02/02/17:147.8lbs(0lbs)
02/09/17:148.4lbs(+0.6lbs)
02/16/17:148.4lbs(0lbs)
02/23/17:148.2lbs(-0.2lbs)
03/02/17:148.4lbs(+0.2lbs)
03/09/17:149.4lbs(+1.0lbs)
03/16/17:149.4lbs(0lbs)
03/23/17:149lbs(-0.4lbs)
03/30/17:148lbs(-1.0lbs)
04/06/17:147.2lbs(-0.8lbs)
04/13/17:150.4lbs(+3.2lbs)
04/20/17:149.4lbs(-1.0lbs)
04/27/17:151.6lbs(+2.2lbs)
05/04/17:151.6lbs(0lbs)
05/11/17
05/18/17
05/25/17
06/01/17
06/08/17
06/15/17
06/22/17
06/29/17
07/06/17
07/13/17
07/20/17
07/27/17
08/03/17
08/10/17
08/17/17
08/24/17
08/31/17
09/07/17
09/14/17
09/21/17
09/28/17
10/05/17
10/12/17
10/19/17
10/26/17
11/02/17
11/09/17
11/16/17
11/23/16
11/30/17
12/07/17
12/14/17
12/21/17
12/28/17
01/04/18

Total challenge weight lost: +0.6lbs
Total overall weight lost: 40.4lbs

Toxtethogrady wrote: »

How you getting on? What diet/exercise you using?

A third of the way through I thought it would be useful to find out how you're getting on and what you're doing to lose weight. We might be able to pick up tips off each other?

I should meet the challenge goal of 52 pounds within the next two weeks. I set myself a goal of 2 pounds per week and am happy to report that this has been pretty much on target.

While I have started walking, the results are largely due to using the food diary as a planner and trying to stay right around 1200 calories every day. This is the calorie goal MFP set for me. I was surprised how much food you can fit into 1200 calories if you leave off packaged foods and sugar.

In the beginning I found that I was so concerned with being under my calorie goal that I was going under too often. Psychologically being under my calorie goal is important to me. I decided to manually raise the goal to 1300, but still aim for and usually make 1200. If I have a few more one day, that doesn't bother me.

I am eating a relatively balanced diet: a couple of pieces of fruit, four to six portions of vegetables, 100-150 grams of fish, chicken or lean beef, a non-fat yogurt per day, and an ounce of cheese most days. I have 3 oz of red wine most days and I found a chocolate covered cookie that is 119 calories for two. That gives me my sweet. For snacks, other than the two cookies, it is hummus and vegetables or nuts. I occasionally have potatoes and very small portions of quinoa, pasta or rice. I also have the occasional smoothie. One meal is usually either a soup or a large salad with either cheese, shrimp, tuna or chicken. My diary is open to anyone who wants to have a look.

One thing that helps me to control the calories, is that I cook from scratch, so I control what is in the food. I have found lots of tasty recipes on the internet. My slim husband is happily eating the same food, just more of it and adding starches.

I weigh everything and love my scale which switches from ounces to grams, which I find much more accurate.

My secret weapon is a low-calorie dressing that I make with a ratio of 2 tablespoons of 60% fat-free mayonnaise, 1 tsp of whole grain mustard, 1 tsp of white balsamic vinegar, and 1-1½ tablespoons of water, garlic salt and dillweed. (People who are keen on mustard might want to reduce the amount.). I use that on salads, in place of sauces on fish and chicken, and even on baked potatoes. It is tasty enough that I rarely use butter any more.

I am continuing to enjoy my social life - eating occasionally in restaurants and at friends' homes. I have even had a few weekend trips. What has worked for me is that I plan ahead and lower my calories earlier in the day or even the day before. I refuse seconds and if there is dessert, ask for a small or half portion.

I know plateaus lie ahead, but for now I am pleased to be on track.

I'm totally joining this!!!

Starting weight: 158
Goal weight: 115
Current weight: 158
Total weight lost: 0
This week's successes:
This week's challenges: The weekend is always my challenge need to stay on track and work out creating a routine is probably going to be what's best for me

Starting weight: 231
Goal weight: 186
Current weight: 215
Total weight lost: 16
Weekly loss: 3.5

This weeks successes: As I hoped for, a bit of a woosh week, so working nights does have one advantage I suppose.

This week's challenges: Big, big treat day today so will have to up the exercise to balance it back.

Thanks to whoever it was that said, "Weight loss is not linear" (I'm sorry I cannot remember who you are) as that little pep talk came just as my motivation was beginning to wane. Firmly back on track now