Motivation, Success and Frustration Sharing!

good for you memegirl77 & welcome. I have 7 more lbs to go go from my original goal but making it 10 for wiggle room. My grand dtr's 4th B day party was very nice. It was halloween theme, so I went as a cat. Im rather an introvert so I feel uncomfortable in crowds, but I did talk to the lady I sat next to & she lost over 100 lbs so far. Her friend sat down soon after so we didn't talk any more. I decided to eat all I want, so I had 3 slices of sandwhich. They were about an inch thick each, pasta salad, beans, potato salad & rice crispy treats with top dipped in chocolate & eyes on them, like little ghosts & one cookie. I left at 5 when they were doing the pinata & cake after so no cake. I was SO exhausted when I got home. this morning I felt like i have a bad hangover. No I don't drink but it felt like I did along with the headache, messed up stomach & hard to be in the light. I also had to leave to feed some cats asap after getting up, we still have a few pet sitting clients from when I had my business. Hubby didn't come, he was not feeling well. Today's a day of recovery, a little dog walking & cleaning & cooking. I bought some ground chicken instead of ground turkey so will be making patties & having veggies with them.

Hi all -

I have struggled with weight for pretty much my entire life (I can remember being teased about it as early as 2nd grade and going on a diet), and I feel like I'm finally ready to make the changes needed to make this stick.

I'm hoping that joining a support group will be helpful for me. : )

So often, I find that it's in my nature to retreat and not talk about my struggles, so I'm trying the opposite now!

Some info about me: I'm 30 years old, live in Indianapolis (I will be relocated to Colorado Springs in a few months), am married with no kids and am vegan.

I figure skate competitively (I started taking lessons at the ripe age of 27!), which is one of the reasons I would like to lose weight. I want to be able to do jump higher and get to higher level jumps (and maybe get a chance to do jumps with 2 revolutions!). And as you know, the costumes in figure skating leave little to the imagination.

I also enjoy mountain biking, hiking, kayaking, traveling and I do a lot of active volunteering with animals. All of these activities would be more enjoyable with less weight to carry around.

If I had to guess, I probably have about 60 pounds to lose, but I'm curious to see how things go.

I don't LOVE the idea of tracking my food, especially since I can't imagine doing it for the rest of my life, so I'd love other thoughts on how to make weight loss work without tracking.

I have a new trigger... Being sleepy. I am tired now and want to eat everything in sight. I am only 230 calories to my goal and it is not even 5pm. Looks like I will be doing some exercising after I watch these 2 kids. I did eat a snack sized bag of Doritos... Make that 90 calories left.

Hi, everyone! I'm new to MFP. In a nut shell, I'm a 42 year old, married mother of 3 awesome human kids, 3 crazy dogs and 4 cool cats. My husband and I just celebrated our 16 year anniversary. I recently resigned as a director of a dog rescue after 4 years of dedicated service and am now a SAHM.

I am about 85 lbs overweight. I have been contemplating weight loss for a long time, but after my second child it was really a struggle and I lost all motivation to try. I'm chock full of excuses...I'm genetically predisposed to being heavy. I love to cook and to eat. I like to exercise but find it hard to make time and get going. It's a challenge to prepare healthy meals that will make everyone happy. I loathe tracking food and counting calories. It's October and I'm already thinking that I don't want to "diet" during the holidays so I'll just wait for the new year to start...wash, rinse, repeat.

But I read an article this morning that the CDC has found evidence that obesity increases risks of cancer. This came as absolutely no surprise to me, but the article had a link to MFP. It looked easy to use and had an app for my phone so I decided to give it a try. I got set up and entered what I'd eaten so far this morning. I had consumed more than 75% of the daily calories I'd need to maintain my weight before 10am. Yikes! I guess it's time I start counting those dreaded calories!

After my first child, I successfully came within 15 lbs of my "ideal" weight. I followed the South Beach diet very strictly instead of counting calories, got up at 4am every day to exercise and joined an online support community. I hated the food I ate and I was exhausted, but I looked fantastic. The support community was probably the only thing that got me through. I'm not torturing myself this time, but sharing support and motivation with others is a must!

@Rachel0778 - the SIMS meme is what caught my eye. SO TRUE! Your mood today is completely understandable. Moving is stressful in itself, not having the support of your SO is crushing. I had a similar situation with mine. He also did not help unpack anything and two months later is still complaining that he can't find anything. I wish I had words of wisdom to impart, but the best I can offer is that you are NOT ALONE!

@Evamutt - your info re: doggie OTCs was great!

Did someone say Shepherd's Pie??? Next up...researching recipes!!!

Hi, everyone!

I'm back. 2 consecutive days of feeling healthy after more than a month!

Life is a lot at the moment. Uni is a handful, exams start soon, trying to organize the move to Canada which is in 11 weeks already, struggling with not liking living in France and missing UK, missing family is starting to creep up on me as I realize I'll see them only in May 2018.
With being sick and not working out, I didn't track food or logged just bits here and there for 18 days!! Now back on tracking and cut out dairy, all the French cheese and not working out got me +1cm in all places! Did a cardio workout today, planned to fit in workouts on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays in October. Starting slow, cause I feel the sickness hit my fitness levels hard.

Basically, I'm struggling with life at the moment, bit of a Bridget Jones phase , but I'll get through it. I'm still motivated, fighting all the setbacks. If I got through the summer one, I can get that 1cm off, get in a fitness routine again and finish what I started. 11 months of battling the extra pounds this Sunday!

I'll read what everyone else is up to when I get my head above the water! Best of luck!

I am going to be completely honest with everyone, I am way too lazy to read all these books! I will say that after grazing through I am hoping everyone can find that kick in the *kitten* they are searching for. I am desperately trying to get off mine. I am still losing, officially 18lbs down! I have only exercised twice since starting this journey, and I am losing in all the wrong places. My booty is shrinking, but I want my tummy and arms gone more than anything. The only way to do that, exercise. and like I said, I am lazy. Watching what I eat is easier, unless I am down. Thanks for reading my book

@cayladebra You hit the nail on the head. If you're not doing any exercises to enhance your "*kitten*"ets, they will shrink with weight loss I highly recommend weight lifting, especially weighted squats for booty preservation. Congrats on 18lbs down!

@Evamutt

Welcome @Momofthree224! Glad to have you in the group! It sounds like you have a much more manageable long term plan this time around.

Welcome @AshEvelynn ! I definitely don't have a plan in the bag, but I've made a lot of progress on habit changes so that I'm much closer to a healthy lifestyle now than I used to be. Don't get upset if you can't do everything perfectly from the get go. Small sustainable habit changes over time is key. There is no finish line in a weight loss journey so you have to do things you're okay doing for the next 60+ years if you want to be successful.

Welcome back @gymprincess1234! Grad school and moving are both stressful and being sick on top of it definitely doesn't help! You'll get that 1cm off in no time!

Happy Wednesday! I have literally no ambition right now, both the SO and I are feeling really burned out. On the bright side, I had a great workout yesterday and am feeling really body positive today so I'm hoping to keep that ball rolling! My healthy lunch is packed and I have a big *kitten* salad at home waiting for me I'm currently on the 2 days per week plan with Crossfit so I feel like I need something else in my workout queue to fill up the rest of the week since I'm sick of workout DVDs and it's about to get very VERY cold where I live. But with just buying a house the budget is a bit tight. I might just have to suck it up with online workouts this year and find something great for next year.

@rachel0778 Great job on the packing and healthy meals. Sounds like your emotions are settling down. I would be irritated with my SO as well. My ex was like that, and I have moved friends who weren’t packed yet. I told her after that, to not ask me to help her move unless everything was in a box. My current guy is super organized, so our last move was smooth. We moved in 3 hours’ time.

@jessicalifford. You can do this, don’t worry if you mess up some. Just keep trying and you will eventually get there. I live in CO, just NW of Denver. About a 2 hour drive from the Springs. You will love it, it is so beautiful down there. I have a friend in the Springs area that works at a dog rescue place if you are looking for a place to volunteer when you are down here.

@rachelbachel32 I know how you are feeling. I am struggling too. It is hard to stay positive when the scale is going up, and you know it is because you haven’t been doing what you are supposed to be doing. I love your 10 week challenge.

@memegirl77 Hang in there. Look to some low calorie snacks to help out. Usually you have between a 250-750 calorie deficit that MFP gives you to lose weight. So even if you go over by that much you will still be within maintenance. If you aren’t sure what I am talking about feel free to PM me and I will explain.

@gemwolf110 SO good to see you back. Sounds like your life is hectic as usual. Wish I knew you were in CO, You could have met up for a hike/dog walk.

@momofthree224 Welcome! You can do this. One thing you will see stressed on MFP is that this isn’t a diet. It is a life style change. So start out small. Spend your first week logging everything you eat. You will be amazed at all those calories. The next week look at some of the easiest things to change. Maybe one less pop (140-180 calories per can.) 1 less piece of pizza. A walk (pacing the living room) during a commercial break, walking while you’re cooking. Check out the recipe section. There are some great crock pot threads over there.

@ashevelyn Welcome to MFP, this thread and a new road.

@gymprincess123 So glad to hear you are feeling better. Sounds like you have a plan in place. You can do this.

@cayladebra Hang in there. Watching your food is the most important part anyways.


Well this week I fell off the wagon head first. I think I have finally been able to roll over and sit up. Trying to find the motivation to stand up and chase after the wagon. In 10 days I have gained 2.5 pounds. I am really hoping it is water weight. I ate a lot of salty food this week, and forgot my meds last night. One of them helps get rid of the water in my body.
Happy Thursday all my friends.

Thanks for the warm welcome! You're all amazing!

I'm diggin' the mobility of this app...before I put something horrendous in my mouth, I can check to see how bad it will hurt first. Talked myself down from a venti mocha with whipped cream to a tall almond milk latte yesterday. It was still delicious and, even better, guilt free.

I'm off to water aerobics - for those of you needing motivation and feeling frustrated, I'm sending you good vibes and hopes you'll have an easier day today!

@cayladebra Congrats on your loss! I definitely lost in my boobs and butt, even with working out. I should have known my boobs would shrink, since they were always smaller before I gained weight. My goal is to build a butt once I reach my goal weight, and I'm not eating in a deficit anymore.

@Rachel0778 I would be very frustrated about the packing thing too! I hope you're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. You will be so relieved once you're all moved in! We had a lot of stress while closing on a house/moving too. I know it's hard, but try to focus on the exciting parts. In our case, we hadn't lived together yet, so we were all giddy and excited for that. What are you each looking forward to most about being in our new home? Try to think about and talk to each other about those things. And I would definitely skip the housewarming!

@jdelaroy I fell off the wagon hard too. I'm sure a lot of your gain is water weight! I had initially gained 4.8 lbs, as I mentioned before. Now I'm only up 2.2 lbs. Some of that could be a legitimate gain. I'm not beating myself up over it. I'm taking steps to get back on track, and 3 weeks of struggling with diet and exercise doesn't eliminate my almost 6 months of hard work.

@Momofthree224 It is definitely really nice to have real-time ways to check how much of an impact a certain food item will have on your goals for the day!

I am happy to report that I have been to the gym every day this week. It has been rough. It's crazy how you can go consistently for so long, and only a few weeks can really set you back. I am really glad to be back at it, though. My husband missed Wednesday and will miss tonight, but he volunteer coaches high school football, so those time-conflicting practice/game days take priority over working out. And he already has to get up at 5 am to get to work, so I don't expect him to go to the gym before that. He would be quite crabby.

My weight has been steadily decreasing, and I'm excited to get back to my pre-wedding/honeymoon weight. Only a couple of pounds away! I am recommitting myself to hitting my goal weight in the next 6 months. I am about 20 lbs away. I am also still hoping to do the Tough Mudder in July 2018. At this point, it seems next to impossible, but that just means that I have to stay on top of my fitness and challenge myself.

Tonight, I'll be watching the HS football game that my husband is coaching at. Tomorrow after the gym, we're finally going to paint our master bedroom and bathroom, then we'll have a date night. We're going to Texas Roadhouse (gift cards, YES!) and to a movie. And Sunday is all about relaxation! I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

My mother in law ended up needing to go to the hospital yesterday morning. So spent all of yesterday with her. Did a few errands this morning and now back at the hospital. My Bf doesn't do well in hospitals and a whole lot of work. So I am the designated family member for this visit. Have to leave in a few hours to do my youngest's birthday party. Then probably back to the hospital

It went ok today. She wanted to go to Carl's Jr. I got a regular cheeseburger in lettuce wrap Then I asked her if she wants to come to walmart with me for a few things.She was very happy to do that as she doesn't get out much. I asked her if she remembers how to drive the electric basket cart since last couple times with me, she almost ran over ppl & bumped into a few isles but this time she drove very well (she can only use her left hand/arm) she said the main care giver doesn't let her drive those lol so we talked a little & I left. All in all, it was all good. I was doing something or driving almost the whole time. Id rather be busy than not doing anything

Today, Sunday I took my big dog, Grizzly for bike run then walked the rest of the dogs then me &hubby put in 3 fence posts. He was waiting on one of our sons to help but hurt his back so it's been over a week of waiting so WE did it! The holes were already dug. I mixed cement, he held wheelbarrow & I scooped the cement in. Now we wait 24hrs then he can secure the fence to it & be done. We both feel so good that we worked together doing this. Went over said sons for BBQ ribs, mashed potatoes & chili beans. Don't know how many calories I had but I may not have gone over my allotment. I just guessed & logged it.

@MomofThree224 Your dogs are going to love all the extra walks! Great job keeping track of things this weekend!

@Evamutt Great job putting in that fence! I bet you did just fine at the BBQ, especially with all those extra cals you burned with the fence. Sorry to hear you have to go back to the part time job, thank goodness it's only for a few extra hours every week!

Welcome @heathervo and @Corima30!

@jdelaroy How is your mother in law doing?

@rachelbachel32 I am definitely taking your advice for the housewarming, I hate having mass amounts of people over! I am excited for the yard for the dog, I hope his happiness is contagious! How did the weekend go? Great job getting back on track after the wedding!

This week is testing week for Crossfit so I'm going to be pretty sore for our move this weekend, yikes! I've packed almost everything I can pack that we don't use on a day to day basis, but I still feel like there is so much left to do. 3 days until closing, eek!

Walking the dogs hasn't worked out with my schedule yet this week. I just can't seem to drag myself out of bed at 5:30 to make it happen. But, tomorrow is a new day...

@Rachel0778 Good luck with closing and Crossfit testing!

@rachelbachel32 Hope you're feeling better! Keep up the great work!