Weekly Post - 30.10 - 05.11.2017
Meghan509
Posts: 2,096 Member
Hi all!
Here we are at another week!
Starting the new thread and will be back in a few with a post!
Meghan
Here we are at another week!
Starting the new thread and will be back in a few with a post!
Meghan
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Replies
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Good morning and hope everybody is well for a Monday!
I saw your post on the last thread, @ryenday and I hope you had a lovely dinner with your family! I will check out that recipe you posted!
I love to cook with and for family too. Typically it is just for my guy and I, but when possible I like to bring a dish or a dessert places we go. I enjoy that. I have my Mom's pecan pie that I have had requests for during the holidays. If you guys are interested, I can share that some time. That won't be a link, it will be a quick type up as it is my Mom's home made recipe.
It was rainy and windy here in CT yesterday (still is today). The power went out for a bit last night. Some trees and branches down today. Some schools are closed because the power being out a little up the line from here. Yesterday afternoon instead of venturing out in the crappy weather we stayed in and cleaned the house. We organized more clothes! We put the space bags away and ran the vacuum around, did some laundry and all that fun stuff. Feels nice to have clothing organized and put away. Much easier to find stuff!
I made a new recipe this week for our Light Day dinner. It is called Winter Detox Moroccan Sweet Potato Soup. I cut it down to four servings at around 220 or a little under per serving, to make it 5/2 friendly. I reduced the amount of lentils from 1 1/2 cups to 1 cup, removed the carrot and celery (honestly getting tired of having those flavors in every single soup I make lately) and used four cups of low sodium vegetable broth instead of six. Probably could have even used two cups of broth and two cups water, now that I see how flavorful and thick it seems. I will know more when I taste it tonight. I will save this to our main links as well for anybody who wants to be able to refer to it later.
http://littlespicejar.com/moroccan-sweet-potato-lentil-soup/
Light Day today! Looking forward to my new soup tonight! Have a good one and I will check in with you guys soon!
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Good morning! Today is a light day for me as well. Last night I decided to set up a 1-hour interval run/walk on my Runkeeper app, and it was cold (well, cold for us, 43 degrees) and windy (25mph winds), so it was MISERABLE. I only lasted 40 minutes, and I'm actually surprised I didn't call it quits earlier. I didn't run the full intervals because it felt like I was running uphill with the wind, which seemed to be changing directions constantly and was never at my back
Regarding discussion late last week about logging, I log religiously during the week, including light days. I don't do as well with logging on the weekends, but I try not to go overboard. I have only lost 0.6 lbs the past two weeks, so I think I need to tighten up and log on the weekends (or do my best to log). I am at the end of Couch to 5K, so the workouts are just 25-, 28-, and 30-minute runs with no intervals. However I would rather be able to run/walk intervals for longer time periods than be able to run for 30 minutes at once and stop, which helps build my cardio base and just burn more calories overall, plus it's more time to myself to listen to music and be alone with my thoughts.
@Meghan509 be sure to report back on the soup!
@mamainthekitchen thank you for your recommendation of hot almond milk last week. I have a good amount of shelf-stable, unsweetened, vanilla almond milk (thanks, Costco!). What a great idea! Maybe I could add a little pumpkin pie spice... but I will definitely give that a try tonight 2 -
Light day for me. Went ok. Looking forward to tomorrow.
Here is a good article from the MFP blog about those who lost 100+ pounds. When you boil down the tips they all basically say the same thing - log what you eat. The comments, though, really flesh it out.
http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/14-top-tips-users-whove-lost-100-pounds/?utm_source=mfp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MFP_Newsletter_Main_20171030&os_ehash=55@sfmc:54597048
I think this tip sums it all up the best:
Jaime Riggins 142 pounds lost so far. Be faithful and honest in your tracking, you're only fooling yourself. Select fresh, real, nutrient dense food and measure everything. You'd be surprised how quickly a few extra bites here and there adds up. A diet with lean protein and low but good complex carbs is effective for me. Exercise consistently and always keep pushing yourself a little harder. Be kind and patient with yourself and your journey. This is a marathon not a sprint. Good luck and you got this!3 -
My light day is tomorrow. I’m having some difficulty fitting my eating in in a 16:8 schedule and it might end up 14:10. Not because I am too hungry on 16:8 but because the hours I work. The 5:2 is still going amazingly well, and I’m likely to buy dr. Mosley’s blood sugar diet book to take a look at what he has to say now.
Rambling, I need to go to bed. Hope everyone on a light day today had success!!3 -
Good morning everybody!
Good news. The Winter Detox Moroccan Sweet Potato Soup came out awesome! Both of us loved it! Cool thing that I liked and noticed is that the sweet potatoes totally broke down and all but disappeared! I did not noticed it earlier - after it was finished cooking. But the flavor they leave behind is amazing. The flavors in this soup almost remind me of baked beans. Very yummy. Also put the spinach in at the verrrry end after it had cooked. Literally just stirred it it. I didn't want it to turn to mush - that worked out nicely too. There are some nice pieces in there and they are not mushy. Two thumbs up and we would make it again! Will be Thursday's Light Day dinner too!
I know what you mean @RBXChas about logging. I do some free meals on the weekends and I don't log them. I do think that they can or will slow my losses a little if I go a little crazy with them. I sort of rely on the exercise to keep me honest and on track, but it is a slippery slope... I know I can be a tough loser and I have to be careful not to go crazy.
@jknight001 thanks for that cool link - I am going to check that out! Very inspiring to read I am sure. I agree that logging is important. Logging is what started to get my guy and I on track in the beginning. Then I read somewhere about 5:2 and we started that a week or two after. But logging in general was very eye opening especially to my guy because he hadn't realized how many calories he was consuming in a day. Every little thing (or big thing) adds up and it really puts the pounds on.
@ryenday so glad you are loving Dr. Mosely - isn't he the greatest!? Do let us know how you find the blood sugar book. I have heard good things too. Good luck with your Light Day today.
Just thinking back to our old days and how we used to sit down for dinner at home and have two big servings of pasta with sauce made with ground turkey. One bowl is high enough in calories, but with two BIG bowls, shredded cheese on top, plus a glass of wine or two, and a piece of bread - UGH. Then we had been ditching the gym for a while. This is how I had gained around 25 pounds back from my all time low. BF was at his highest weight too. Forget about the weekends! Pizza or Chinese take out at least one of the week nights, desserts, etc. etc. You get the picture. The all American diet. Not cool.
Hoping you all can stay out of the Halloween candy today! Just say NO! We have little bowls all around us it seems, at the office. But, I am refraining. I have two pieces that I was given by my coworker and have stowed away for Friday, after weigh in as a little treat.
See you all soon. Have a great day!
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Good morning everybody!
Good news. The Winter Detox Moroccan Sweet Potato Soup came out awesome! Both of us loved it! Cool thing that I liked and noticed is that the sweet potatoes totally broke down and all but disappeared! I did not noticed it earlier - after it was finished cooking. But the flavor they leave behind is amazing. The flavors in this soup almost remind me of baked beans. Very yummy. Also put the spinach in at the verrrry end after it had cooked. Literally just stirred it it. I didn't want it to turn to mush - that worked out nicely too. There are some nice pieces in there and they are not mushy. Two thumbs up and we would make it again! Will be Thursday's Light Day dinner too!
I know what you mean @RBXChas about logging. I do some free meals on the weekends and I don't log them. I do think that they can or will slow my losses a little if I go a little crazy with them. I sort of rely on the exercise to keep me honest and on track, but it is a slippery slope... I know I can be a tough loser and I have to be careful not to go crazy.
@jknight001 thanks for that cool link - I am going to check that out! Very inspiring to read I am sure. I agree that logging is important. Logging is what started to get my guy and I on track in the beginning. Then I read somewhere about 5:2 and we started that a week or two after. But logging in general was very eye opening especially to my guy because he hadn't realized how many calories he was consuming in a day. Every little thing (or big thing) adds up and it really puts the pounds on.
@ryenday so glad you are loving Dr. Mosely - isn't he the greatest!? Do let us know how you find the blood sugar book. I have heard good things too. Good luck with your Light Day today.
Just thinking back to our old days and how we used to sit down for dinner at home and have two big servings of pasta with sauce made with ground turkey. One bowl is high enough in calories, but with two BIG bowls, shredded cheese on top, plus a glass of wine or two, and a piece of bread - UGH. Then we had been ditching the gym for a while. This is how I had gained around 25 pounds back from my all time low. BF was at his highest weight too. Forget about the weekends! Pizza or Chinese take out at least one of the week nights, desserts, etc. etc. You get the picture. The all American diet. Not cool.
Hoping you all can stay out of the Halloween candy today! Just say NO! We have little bowls all around us it seems, at the office. But, I am refraining. I have two pieces that I was given by my coworker and have stowed away for Friday, after weigh in as a little treat.
See you all soon. Have a great day!
Yeah, I picked Halloween day for a light day! Good planning on my part I guess. Seriously it is easier to say no thanks on my light day to free candy than try to moderate the goodies on my regular days. lol.
@Meghan509 - your soup sounds simply wonderful. I’m going to try making it later on this month.
Have a fun safe day, folks!1 -
I'm in trouble - we just hired a new paralegal, and her birthday was yesterday. She didn't say anything, and we didn't realize until late yesterday, so I brought in a cake today. I had a small piece, and then there's Halloween tonight. I had a very light lunch and will just have a light dinner to try to mitigate any potential damage. I have a ton of stuff to do when I get home, so I'll probably break a sweat, at least for a few minutes
Our kids' dentist will be doing a candy buy-back this weekend, so I suspect we will be attending, but that's still four days of candy that I have a hard time resisting! @ryenday you are brave picking Halloween for a light day! Probably very smart, though
I hope you all have a great night!2 -
Hi All!
Ugh, sounds like I am not alone with my sweet tooth! LOL I have hoarded a few more pieces now. People at the office keep bringing it by and I keep tucking it away. Sigh...
I love cake too. BF and I had bought a mini one recently at the grocery store. We cut it up in to four pieces and when we did that it came to around 220 a piece. Not too bad. Nice to have a little something once in a while when we can work it in to our calories for the day.
Good luck and be strong with the sweets everybody - we can do this!!
We bought the new Costco yogurts the other day - they came out with Fall Flavors. Today's flavor is Apple Cider! Other flavors in the Kirkland variety pack are Cranberry and Vanilla bean. Looking forward to those.
Not much else new here. Will be happy when all this Halloween candy goes away! Bah!
Just looked at the calendar and I see that Thanksgiving is three weeks away. OMG where did the year go? I guess I better start working on Christmas shopping. Not that I need to buy much, but I want to get started sooner rather than later.
Also, trying to figure out what to do that week about Light Days for that week. Typically Thursdays are the day for us but obviously that won't work if it is Turkey Day! Maybe do a Monday and Wednesday that week. We shall see.
Hope everybody has a great day and I'll see you soon!1 -
I thought about Thanksgiving week already and obviously will not be fasting on Thursday I can't win that week because I am only working on Monday and Tuesday, and I hate doing light days when I'm home, but it may be unavoidable. I briefly considered making Friday a light day but knew I would be really sad about that. We usually go see my husband's family on Thanksgiving, and since they all hang out together for the rest of the weekend and eat leftovers (we drive home for our sanity), we cook for ourselves on Friday (baked ham, usually) and eat that for the rest of the weekend.
@Meghan509 thanks for the heads-up about the Kirkland Greek yogurts! I would like to try those. I've never been a cranberry fan (except for cranberry-orange relish), but my husband would probably eat it.
But crazy how November has crept up on us. September crawled for me, but October flew by! Thankfully our families keep Christmas pretty easy. We have too many adults and too many kids for everyone to be buying for others/others' kids. It just gets to be too much. So basically we just buy for our kids. They are still young, so they are inexpensive for the time being. I can't wait for Christmas decorations and music, though!2 -
@RBXChas you know, I think keeping reign on potential Halloween snacking WAS curbed by it being one of my light days, something for me to remember for the future!
@Meghan509 & @RBXChas You may have noticed I’m a planner when it comes to my fasting, lol. I have given a lot of thought to Thanksgiving and I’m going to use my fall-back light day of Sunday that week. Personally I very much like keeping my light days one day apart, so I will shift to Sunday/Tuesday that week and maybe even an extra Sunday post Thanksgiving if I’m very bad on Thanksgiving day.
BUT that is it. I’ll try to be reasonable on Thanksgiving but I’m not going to give myself fits about it beforehand or afterwards. The whole reason I like this 5:2 eating is the freedom I have and feel, and that an occasion here or there is doable without angst. I had a very bad habit of beating myself up for not being able to stick to 1200 cal a day. I’m not going to beat myself up anymore if I can plan around it!
Talk of holidays had me wondering about Christmas and New Year’s. so I checked the calendar just now. I’m good because both of those holidays fall on a Monday – but if you two are still planning on 5:2 at that time you might want to give some advanced thought to those weeks as well. Personally I’m going to take stock of my weight loss before that week and might give myself a “diet break” for the last two weeks of the year.
But, time sure is flying, huh!1 -
welllll.... I've been bad. As some of you that have been around for a while already know, I am terrible at eating a lot of candy! Well, lets just say that Halloween is NOT a good day for me! I've eaten so much that today I had to drink one of those ENO drinks that settle your stomach!!!
oh, geez Yes, I've tried saying NO...! 
Today I've had a homemade muffin that is chalk full of fruit & seeds, carrots, apple, whole wheat flour etc.... that's all I've had and I still feel like I'm full of sugar! I have to make one of the kids a dinner, the hubs is doing his own nachos, and I'll just have a bit of chicken and some broth.... I'll fast tomorrow and hope I recover by the weekend.
That morrocan soup sounds delish! I just wish that my family would agree to trying that. Today I bought a spaghetti squash, but I'll have that tomorrow. It'll be my first one since last winter! I like those roasted in the oven then just plain tomatoe (with herbs & garlic) sauce over it... no meat or veg just keep it plain, then served with chicken along side. I'll probably do that for tomorrows fast day dinner.
Speaking of yogurts above,... I've never heard of Apple Cider flavoured... I wonder if our CDN Costco has those...? I like the greek lime yogurts, but I don't have them too often. At home, I prefer cottage cheese and some diced roma tomato, but if you're working it's probably hard to pack up.
Well, it's Nov 1st! my boy turns 21 this weekend and I'll be having one more indulgent meal! Then, it's back to strict 5:2ing!!!
Happy November everyone! It's a new month~! Peace out October! 3 -
Good morning! It has been another crazy week here. I am not immune to the Sirens' call of the candy dish, either. BUT, November is my favorite month of the year and Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday! I love it! What could be better than being grateful and having mashed potatoes and gravy?!
Today, I am thankful for my warm house.
Have a great day, y'all!4 -
Good morning everybody!
I have had a very frustrating day... UGH. Started out with hopping on the scale for a quick check in before weigh in day tomorrow and seeing that I am up a friggin pound. Why!!??
Then I had a crappy commute to work because of an accident - 18 wheeler vs. car (hope nobody was seriously injured). Why!!??
Then I came in and have been dealing with a piece of crap laptop / docking station issue so I am sitting here looking at a small screen instead of my nice big monitor. Why!!??
And today is Light Day and there are stupid little candy dishes all around me! Why!!?? Sigh... Breathe... Sorry needed to vent.
I will say it is nice to read all of your posts and to see that I am only human. And I am looking forward to a nice big serving of turkey and mash potatoes and pie on Thanksgiving.
Okay so back to Thanksgiving week! I was thinking maybe doing a Monday and Wednesday Light Day schedule. But, like some of the veterans having mentioned - a one day gap can be difficult. I do like the Sunday and Wednesday schedule like @ryenday mentioned. But, like @RBXChas mentioned in my case, one of those days is a day off for me - Wednesday! So will need to figure that out. Might just have to suck it up. LOL In any case, I am glad we are all here for each other. This is a great group!
Yes, thinking that the Christmas break will be a 5:2 break for my guy and I as well. We will be with family. Will probably just stick to an IF schedule and try and watch some calories but won't do any light days per se.
Okay everybody, be strong with the Halloween candy! We got this! The holidays are around the corner! Or if you do have some no more than a piece or two per day on non fasting days - how 'bout that?
Check back again with you all soon. Have a good one!3 -
Today I have officially finished four weeks of 5:2. Some of the light days were hard, but I did so successfully. So as I promised myself I am reassessing everything today.
I lost 7 pounds in the four weeks (167-160lb — The scale is teasing me. It kept going to 159.9 and then back up to 160 when I weighed myself this morning. It sure would’ve been fun to have had the weight officially under 160). I am still dealing with hunger issues, but everything is much better than when I was on an every day very restricted calorie allotment. I also have kept my calories at the same weekly rate 8400-9000 cal a week.
Before I read Dr. Mosley ‘the blood sugar diet’, I would’ve been worried that I was now beginning to lose weight too quickly. However, I now think that I am certainly fine at up to 2 pounds a week. I strength train, and swim and still have plenty of body fat so I should not be cannibalizing muscle on my diet unless I was losing significantly more than that. Even if I was sitting in my duff, 2 lb a week loss at my overweight BMI should not be a problem.
interestingly Instead of the oft believed “fast weight loss = putting the pounds back on”, Dr. Mosley quotes a study that suggests the opposite. People who lose weight fast at the beginning of their diet are as likely or more likely to keep the weight off.
So I’ve decided not to modify my diet. I will keep the same calories and keep doing 5:2 for another month. This month contains Thanksgiving, and I know I will be over indulging on that day. So I’m setting a calendar reminder to reassess things in December. December would be soon enough to loosen things up I think.
Furthermore, this thread is my rock. Today, light day, knowing that several of you are going through it with me, just makes everything better. So thank you all so very much!: @meghan509 @KateNkognito @RBXChas & @mamainthekitchen
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Oh, and I am beginning to wonder if those people who say Halloween is the devils holiday don’t have a point!
That Halloween candy is sure a tempting and devilish thing!
Hold on @Meghan509 - and please go ahead and vent. Some days venting is the only healthy and productive response, and it sounds like one of those days!2 -
@ryenday you are awesome! 7 lbs in 4 weeks is fantastic
@Meghan509 don't sweat it. I have had one of those days so far, too, and it's a light day for me as well, which is just UGH on top of it all. The candy isn't all around me at work, but it's right there on the kitchen counter at home. The kids hauled in more than we gave out. Surely I am being tested. (I even went to church yesterday-- WHY, GOD, WHY?!?) I have definitely given in. I think I am going to move/hide it until the candy buyback this weekend just so that it's not in sight every time I am in the kitchen or even looking in the general direction of the kitchen (wide open from the family room). I am planning on running tonight, since I haven't done it since Sunday night. Weather should be good, and it will be nice to get out there and get moving, get my mind off work, stress, etc.
Anyway, ranting/venting can be good! I am very grateful to have all of you to "talk" to as well as to "listen" to.
As for Christmas, I know myself and that if I don't plan to stick to 5:2, I will go off the deep end, plus it will be harder for me to resume in January. Even if I only do 6:1, I still need that structure or I'll undo all of my hard work so far!0 -
Hi all!
Wow @ryenday that’s awesome!!! 7 lbs in one month! Congrats!
Meghan your day sounds hilarious.... although I was reading about it while curled up on the couch with my tea! Those days make the other ones feel fantastic! So all is good 0
@RBXChas you sound like you have way more willpower than me so that’s inspiring!! I also own a Golden so I love your avatar
Today I’m fasting, sticking to my plan! I just enjoyed 2 eggs over easy and a little Miscela on top (Mediterranean olive oil/black bean& veg condiment -1 T = 35 cals) and sprinkled cumin over it all... very delish! I plan on sticking with my spaghetti squash tonight and I know I’ll be having my almond milk later as a treat too. Ok I should not use that word treat.... reminds me of something else!!
It’s pouring rain here but I must get out shopping!! No bday present for my son yet!!!! Yikes!
Have a great day people0 -
Just a quick note to say I enjoyed my spaghetti squash! It was pouring rain here and after getting drenched with my dog for an hour, all I was really wanting was some spicy soup instead of my pre planned squash & tomato sauce..... so, I combined my idea! I opened my tin of this new soup by Campbell’s I bought last week... Moroccan 8 veg black bean spicy soup... simmered that until squash was ready then I topped my squash with the soup!! It sounds weird but it was fantastic!!!! No kidding! I also added some more cumin on top because I’ve been on a spice kick lately, but I would recommend that idea with whatever soup you like... it just stretched it if ya know what I mean, and I was fuller and felt like I was chewing more with very little added calories.
I had 3 candies but I logged them ;-)2 -
Had a light day myself today. Made it through.
As far as Halloween, it is such a crazy holiday. Like @RBXChas as said, the amount of candy the kids bring home is insane (my lose translation). If the neighbors gave away cigarettes instead of candy we would all be aghast. But give the kids enough candy to permanently blow out their pancreas and we all consider it a great holiday. 
We gave away pretzels for Halloween so that kept us from having candy in the house before Halloween and my husband has already hid my son's candy. So fortunately I have not been terrorized by the holiday as you all have been. HOWEVER, we did Trick 'O Treat with friends which included dinner out AND last night we went over to friends' house to watch the World Series (
What happened Dodgers???) and had take-out with them. So while I did not succumb to the dreaded candy dish, I am hoping restaurant food didn't do me in this week. We shall see in the morning. On a happier note, I went for my annual gyn appointment today and found out that I am just a tad outside of a normal BMI. Getting to my normal BMI is my first goal!
@Meghan509 - my condolences on your crappy day. Never fun to run into roadblock after roadblock. However, I noticed it did not appear you used the bad day as a reason to eat more than you needed to. That is a WIN in my book!
@ryenday - Congratulations on your 7lb loss! You rock, girl! Keep up the good work one day at a time and you will be at your goal weight before you know it.
Was thinking about Thanksgiving tonight on my walk. I can't imagine doing the prep work for Thanksgiving on a fast day. Tuesday is the day after the Monday fast so that wouldn't work and Sunday is a family day. Might just do a 6:1 that week and if I gain, I gain.
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Morning, all y'all! We have unexpected dinner guests! I knew they were coming, just didn't know they were coming for dinner. So, beef stew is going in the crock pot. Not the light day I was hoping for, but it works. Maybe tomorrow.
I hope you all have a lovely FRIDAY!
Today I am thankful for my crazy family... even of they don't give me a heads up when they are coming. LOL1 -
Good morning everybody! Thanks for letting me vent yesterday. LOL
I am down a pound this morning, which I am very happy about. I am happy. I will take it. TOM is around the corner. Apologies to any guys who are reading this. LOL
I am grateful to each and every one of you. Like @ryenday said this is a great bunch and a great group. I love coming here and getting a little lift from what you guys have to say! Very motivating!
Lately I have been struggling a little bit. I have been getting a little bored with 5:2 and Light Day meals in general. If I go back and think about it, BF and I have not missed a Light Day since we got back from vacation in mid-May. That is six months straight of 5:2. Before that all we missed was our week of vacation in early May. We had gone straight through not missing any days since we started in late March. That is a long time. I can't even say I am hungry or anything, on my 500 calorie days. I think it is just time to take a little break and do a mental reset.
With that being said, for the week of Thanksgiving I am going to eat at maintenance calories for the week. And yes, I will enjoy myself for the day on Thanksgiving! We will still hit the gym each day since we will be local, so it won't be a free for all. I would like to let my body reset and hopefully jump start my losses again. Things have been a little slow lately, which I don't like. I know for a fact that my body loves the lower 170's. Here I am at 171 and if I go back to the early 2000's there was a time when I was low carbing and I was stuck at this weight for TWO YEARS LOL. I don't want to have that happen again.
I am also thinking about tweaking my calories on regular days to see if that helps get the losses flowing better. @ryenday can I ask you about your calories since you were in a similar boat as me when you were starting last month. My stats: 45 years old, 5 feet 4 inches tall, 171 pounds as of this AM. Currently eating around 1400 calories on regular days. How many calories did you end up eating on your regular days? Was it 1600 after all? The burning question is always, how many is too many or too little. I have been at around 1400 for a few months and I don't eat back any of the 500-600 that I burn via the treadmill six days a week. I do two "free meals" on Friday and Saturday nights.
Also going to mix up the gym workouts and do less cardio and add weights. I know that muscle burns more fat and these arms of mine are NOT ready for prime time. They are looking pretty flabby. They need some weights. Thinking of dropping down to 30 minutes of cardio and 15 minutes (give or take) of upper body weights for now as my legs are in pretty good shape from walking fast on an inclined treadmill.
@jknight001 so sorry about your LA Dodgers. Sports losses stink. Good luck with your weigh in. Hope it goes well! Yes, a normal BMI is what my goal is too. 31 pounds to go... Thanks for your kind words. Yes, I didn't give in yesterday, I stayed tough.
I won't shout out to everybody or else this post will be even longer LOL But, hope everybody has a good Friday and weigh in day and stays strong with the candy dishes. I will check back later on you all.
Have a good one!0 -
So, @Meghan509 I took a good look over my October progress. My weekly calories ended up at close to 8500 calories. I didn’t sweat the day to day amount and that my five-day cal fluctuated anywhere from 1100 to 1700.
I have NOT been eating back exercise cals except if my protein is low on a given day. Then no matter what my cals that day were, I finish the day with a protein powder drink.
A few points I’ve gathered from my research:
1: A diet break ( two weeks at maintenance cals) or Carb refeed (two days of intentionally high complex non-refined carbs but leaving fat low and maintaining protein level) might be beneficial to dieters especially when they have been dieting for a while, are now closer to normal or lean weight, or exercise cardio vigorously and may have depleted glycogen. I don’t understand all the theory but I’ll find a link to a discussion thread with some good info.
2. Strength training: even if you are happy with your leg strength, if you are going to start any weight work, I recommend you at least think about full body workouts. The biggest muscles in the body and metabolically most significant are in your rear and legs. If you are going to add strength work, why not try full body (a good workout routine full body will probably take a similar amount of time for working arms only!) for a month and see what you think.
3. Your calorie burns for treadmill work seem a tad high in my news feed compared to other walker/runners I have in my feed. How are you determining them/ and or have you recalibrated them for your current weight and fitness level? When I started swimming at the beginning of July at 185 lb my Apple Watch gave me 500+ calories for my half hour swims. At 160 lb the watch is now estimating I’m only burning 270 calories for my half hour swim Monday.
4. This one is just something to think about. I am starting to incorporate HIIT workouts this month. Dr. Mosley, two rehabilitation trainers I know, and woo convinced me that 20-30 minutes a week doing these intervals is such a small commitment for the potential very high benefits- both health and metabolic. Honestly, I feel silly doing them. They drain me completely but for just a short time and generally without the sweat (which I hate!!!) because of the extremely short time of high intensity. I can’t believe they will make any difference at all, but I’m giving it a go to keep my body guessing!
Really, Meghan, after my discouraging 5 months at the beginning of my diet, I’m just trying to keep mixing it all up. Throwing something new into the mix (last month 5:2, this month HIIT) and if it is working I’ll be sticking it in as a regular. 5:2 is probably for life. I just love having the more calorie available days, and if the light days are what I’m going to have to pay for that privilege- I’m willing to do it.
HIIT is something I’m throwing into the mix this month. Next month at holidays is my maintenance level diet break. And I’m considering modifying the Blood Sugar Diet to suit me for Jan/Feb. If I’m still a good distance from goal in March/April I may try water fasting for a four day period each month. Or maybe that carb load refeed.
All I know is my body resisted classic calorie restriction dieting. I do believe that in order to lose weight my caloric intake must not be less than the energy I use, BUT I also believe that is not enough for my body to stop storing fat. What I’m trying to do is find the ‘what else’ AND roadmap a sustainable path for my future. I had a great month, for sure, but I’m still shocked it worked, and feel totally clueless as to whether I need to prepare for it to come to another screeching halt or extreme slowdown.
Even when successful- the losing weight process is tedious and annoying and boring - yet unpredictable, frustrating and maddening, isn’t it?3 -
Well I did it. I am officially out of the 160's! I am so thankful!!!
@Meghan509 - Yes, sometimes we need to shake it up, don't we. You have done a great job sticking with 5:2 since pretty much last March. When I read your post, I thought about how it was important to take some time and really think about exactly what the boredom with 5:2 is about, i.e. the fast day itself, the rate at which you are losing weight, etc. If you narrow it down to the real reason you are bored, you will remedy the most important issue and that will lead to greater success. Just my two cents. Please ignore if I don't know what the heck I am talking about. I did think though you had some really great tweaks in store. Great ideas. I agree with @ryenday about the strength training. The muscles all work together to hold the body up so strengthening the whole body leads to better body function. In addition to the legs and glutes, the abdominals are also important because that is the center of the muscle system. It holds everything together. Strengthen that and you will go on to do other things you never thought you could do. I used to trip and fall a lot. Just thought I was a klutz. But since I have been doing my whole body strength training I rarely trip and even more rarely fall. I am able to catch myself now before I go down due to a stronger core. That is the thing I thought I could never do. Does your gym have classes? If they do have a weight training class, your instructor will take you through the whole body in a safe way. I also wanted to comment on your appreciation for this group and say I appreciate you taking the leadership in making these weekly posts possible. I know you make an effort to get them on MFP every Monday morning. Let's just say I believe you are reaping what you have sown!
@ryenday - LOVED your post. When I was reading it, I thought it would be a good one to pin at the top with some tweaks regarding the specific comments to @Meghan509. Some great points in there about dealing with plateaus that I think the group and future members would benefit from. I wanted to know more about HIIT. I have heard a lot about it but am not quite sure how to apply it. How do you apply it in your workout?2 -
One thing I have been meaning to mention to the newbies, something that someone else in this group told me years ago, is that if you are logging produce and meat you can add the keyword USDA and you will get entries for just the plain item. For example, search "peaches" will get you peaches, peaches in syrup, peach cobbler, and a bunch of other random entries. But "peaches usda" will bring fresh peaches to the top of your search. And the other bonus is that the USDA entries have all sorts of great measurements such as cup, oz., lb. and gr. So much nicer than the member defined foods.1
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The promised link to refeeds and diet breaks thread discussion https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks#latest
And: Congrats @jknight001 yay on the weight milestone! And, I join you! 159.7 officially this morning! 2 -
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Wow, I missed a lot since yesterday! Just checking in to say hi - it’s been a busy day! Will try to write more later today or tomorrow 0
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Hi guys!
First congrats on your losses!! Good job!
Thanks for getting back to me and giving me great advice! I appreciate all of your information, kind words and taking the time to write from the bottom of my heart... I think it is a combination of tiredness with the food I am eating and the slow losses lately. The Negative Nelly in me says why should I have to eat 500 calories of rabbit food and stuff I am sick and tired of if I am only going to see a crap result on the scale? The sluggish losses make me think about calories and too little / too much. All of this screams - time for a reset...
Regarding the question you had for me on my workout:Your calorie burns for treadmill work seem a tad high in my news feed compared to other walker/runners I have in my feed. How are you determining them/ and or have you recalibrated them for your current weight and fitness level? When I started swimming at the beginning of July at 185 lb my Apple Watch gave me 500+ calories for my half hour swims. At 160 lb the watch is now estimating I’m only burning 270 calories for my half hour swim Monday.
Here is how I arrive at that. I have been exercising for 45 minutes on the treadmill for the past few months, I have been walking at 3.8 mph on an incline. The incline will vary from 3% to 15% grade. In the last week or two I have increased my speed to 3.9 mph and as I to push myself harder I will "stay" at a minimum 9% grade or higher for the full 45 minutes. So that is why I will burn around 500 calories at a minimum. If I walk slower or do less of a % of a grade, I will burn less. Sometimes that happens if the particular machine I like is full and I use a different one. But, since I don't eat any exercise calories back, I take exercise burns in general with a grain of salt.
My BF does the same workout as me on the treadmill. Sometimes we will walk on treadmills side by side if they are available. Yes, we are dorks. LOL
Since he is a 6 foot tall male and he weighs around 230, even though he walks slower than I do, he will burn around 700 most days. He does not eat any exercise calories back either. So I think the calorie burn is probably pretty accurate for the machines we are on.
Thank you! Yes, I agree with both of you ladies regarding the strength training! I need to focus on the full body, even though my legs are in good shape from walking they will still benefit from a full body weight training. Good point. I am going to talk this over with my guy and maybe see if he is on board for starting a newer routine where we mix up the week a little better - do a little less cardio and add in some weights. Yes, I can do it alone, but we like to do stuff together and if my calculations are correct he has around 30 pounds to go as well. Wow. Time really flies and it is scary... Yes, my gym does have classes and I have quite a few good ones to choose from. That is a good option. There are personal trainers there too who could show us a few things, there might even be a free session that we had never signed up for that we could use. I also have familiarity with weight training from many moons ago when I tried the Body For Life plan back in the early 2000's after I fizzled out on the Atkins Diet. I am going to see if I can find my old book somewhere as there are good exercises in there. If not, the weights are the weights and our gym is pretty low key, so I am not intimidated. I will do a little research about which body parts to do together and when and jump in.
HIIT - this is another topic that I had wanted to get in to but haven't. Shame on me. I tend to get in to a routine and then I have trouble mixing things up. I have a Fast Diet book at home by our beloved Dr. Mosely that has a special second half about exercise. Do you think I read the second half yet??? UGH. I read the first half about the diet but didn't get to the exercise part. Got going to the gym and never got to it. In that second half he gets in to HIIT. This is a good idea and another way for me to mix things up. I will add it to my things to read. I will put it in my work bag so I can read it during lunch, that is a good way to get me to read it. Evenings and weekends are tricky.
Calories, carb loading, and mixing things up. Thank you for your advice. And thank you for making me feel like I am not crazy. LOL So two weeks to mix things up. I will think about that and process it for a bit. Scary but exciting. I had planned to make two of my favorite dinner recipes that I am not sick of for the next two weeks, and then try and find a way to tweak lunch because the salad is getting boring and burning me out. Then taking the week of November 20th off. I am going to think all of this over and see what makes sense.
Maintenance calories are scary to me as well because let me be honest, I have never in my life been able to maintain a weight loss. Always came right back on eventually. But, I never reached a goal weight I threw in the towel and went back to old habits. This feels different this time. I feeel like this is a way of eating that I can stick to. I don't mind the fasting and like I mentioned before haven't even been hungry. Just time for a little reset.
Thank you for your kind words and your understanding. This is the best little group on MFP - just sayin'! LOL0 -
Just wanted to say that even though I have been struggling, I do have some good news that I forgot to report. LOL
Lately all of my work pants / trousers seem to have gotten big. Some of my size 14's are really big and can't be worn. Some of them went in the space bags to be stored for who knows when. My size 12's are loose and now the few size 10's I have are also getting loose. *screams* I am not going to have any work pants soon!
So I went over to Old Navy to see if I can pick up some of their Everyday Bootcut Khaki pants to get me by. They look nice and they are not expensive. Low and behold - I fit in to a size 8! Yes, the thighs are a little snug but they look pretty good! I do have a little muffin top but with most of my sweaters being on the looser side lately, you can't tell! These will work nicely!
Probably going to pick some up tomorrow when I have a coupon starting.
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@Meghan509- Yes, this is the best group on MFP! I thought the same the first time I did 5:2. Some of the other MFP groups can get quite judgemental. In 5:2, everyone is here to help. Love it. BTW, you and your BF exercising together doesn't spell dork to me, it says you really care about each other. Most people would do anything for that kind of relationship. I also despise the weighing and measuring. I am not the type of person that likes to eat the same meal every day so most meals have to be w & m. My poor family is starving to death as I take 20 minutes to carefully and accurately assess my calorie intake. But that is probably why I am here - my refusal to admit that I have caloric limitations. Regarding the weight lifting, if it were me, I would start with the classes since they are FREE and they should get you where you want to go. Oh, and if you don't like one class or teacher, try another until you find your fit. I belong to 24 Hour Fitness and love their Bodypump class and my teacher. Then if you feel like you want some specific a training, go for the trainer. Again, just my two cents. Oops, I think this group is going to get rich off of my frequent two cent contributions. 2
