Hi! I'm Cathy, 52 years old, mother of 2 kiddos - one in Philadelphia, one in Memphis. I don't have a huge amount of weight to lose, but these last 10 pounds are the hardest! I've been trying for several months and have hardly had any movement. For me, it's not the eating, as I don't really eat that much, it's the lack of exercise. I don't go to a gym, am uncomfortable looking stupid in front of everyone..... I recently had 2 stress fractures after starting to run on a treadmill, and then those healed and the treadmill broke! 🙃 This is pretty much how my life goes ha ha ha! Anyway, glad to be here and I hope I help the team instead of hurt our numbers!

12Sarah2015 wrote: »

heartofhearts wrote: »

Hey! I'm from VA. I'm a stay at home mom. This is my 1st challenge with this group. I miss going to the gym. I used to go a lot years ago but I'd go through periods of where I'd go nonstop for months then quit going. I miss going to Zumba class at the gym. So, when I have the extra $, thinking some dvds may fill my void. I've been at a high weight ever since I was a kid. I'm excited to give this an early start & keep it going into the new year. I don't have much social support at home, which is why I'm here.

I'm doing aerobics of YouTube this month. Maybe we can swap favourites?

@heartofhearts @12sarah2015 Hi mamas! I just finished a 60 min strength workout video from hasfit.com's free motive program, which is what I follow. My little dudes (4 and 6) were around me and crowding me the whole time, but although it's periodically annoying ("back up, I need more space!"), I've changed my mindset to see it as a good thing. They get to see their mom exercising and pushing past challenges, and I hope that my making this a routine means that someday when they're grown, they'll just see it as routine to exercise around their kids, too. Like it's not something you have to specially schedule to do for when the kids are asleep or at day care, but that you just do with the kids around, because it's normal to do so. So I feel good about exercising around them, even though it's sometimes annoying, because I feel like it's part of their life education to see exercise around kids as normal. Does that make any sense?

Anyway, I hope you get that same feeling from exercising with your kids nearby. I know mamas have to work around a lot of challenges and it's hard, but every time you make exercise happen, you're showing your kids how to live a healthy life, and I think that's a non-scale victory (NSV) every time!

dommylifts wrote: »

heartofhearts wrote: »

@LesickaBod So, if my weigh in day is Monday, do I post this Monday or next Monday? I'm still kind of confused OR is this Monday like starting weight & then the following Monday, 1 week's worth of weight loss?

I am also wondering this as my weigh in days are Sunday. I believe I am weighing in tomorrow.

@dommylifts You got it! Your Dec starting weight rolls over from the last week of Dec, and your first weigh-in is tomorrow, Dec 2. Check the spreadsheet if you have questions

amynew4u wrote: »

For me, mini goals are important. It isn’t just about the weight, though that’s certainly in the mix. The first six weeks were about portion control, water and logging every morsel.
Now I’m ready to add intentional movement. That includes what I’m calling GETOUT35. Not including my standard lifestyle craziness, I want to be outside, intentionally breathing and moving for the sole purpose of raising my heartbeat for 35 min. per day! Broken up into shorter increments or all together, just 35 no matter what. I can manage that, even in Minneapolis!
Not without notice, my weight loss mini goal is to be at 250. SW: 301. CE:285. 35# to lose to reach that goal —- GETOUT35.

@amynew4u I love your branding of your goal! Also, being outside is so good for the spirit, in addition to the body. @rocknut53 is an avid hiker in Montana. Our two northern US Gutbusters can be kindred spirits in overcoming the cold and enjoying your outside time this winter!

December 2
Week 1
Exercised. No
Calories No
Tracked. Yes
Still struggling with a cough and cold.

Hello team Gutbusters.

I will be your coach again for this month (when I can - I travel a bit and cannot always check in). My role here is to help motivate, encourage.

I am also moderator for the TBL challenge (but Ashley ( @AB0215. ) has been doing most of the heavy lifting recently with my work travel commitments being insane). I rely heavily on the support of the team captains to make this successful as it is too much for one person to do alone.

Les (@LesIckaBod.) has done an amazing job last few months and is continuing as captain for this month. As team captain, Les' primary role is to also help motivate and encourage the team. The captains secondary role is to keep the weight tracking spreadsheet up to date based on people's poset weigh in's. Les has gone from over 212.2lbs to 170.3lbs while in TBL. Lots of experience and worth listening to.

Les is looking for a co-captain. As Les has been doing this for a while, I'm assistance would be appreciated.

As coach, I am running an optional mini-challenge within the Gutbusters team again this month.

Now an introduction:

I am a happily married 50yo father of one. I live in Melbourne Australia. I am passionate about helping people. Late August last year I passed my minimum goal weight (70kg - down from 91.5kg) and am now trying to maintain without bouncing back too far. I achieved the reduction in 4 months (so 40+ lbs in 4 months). I have kept the weight off for over 12 months now.

As I am now actively trying to NOT lose weight. At BMI 20.6 and less than 8% body fat, it would be crazy (if not dangerous) for me to try lose more weight.

(Why would someone not losing weight want to help run a weight loss challenge? Because it helps so many people and I feel I have so much to share. I learned so much losing weight that I seems a shame to not have it benefit others.).

About the mini-challenge.

First and foremost is that participation in this challenge is optional. It's up to you as to whether you want to try this. (If you take the attitude that "this is not what I signed up for", that is up to you).

I used the principles of this challenge to win July (6.29% - down 10.8 lbs) and August (6.44% - down 10.4 lbs). Following this challenge does work.

The challenge is based on another challenge on MFP called UAC (ultimate accountability challenge). The way UAC works is that the aim is to follow 5 basic rules.

1. Track EVERYTHING you eat that has calories on MFP.
2. Stay inside your allocated daily budget.
3. Do at least 20 minutes of activity a day (anything: walk, run, cycle, swim, gardening, housework, yoga, gym, etc.. As long as it gets you active and off the couch)
4. 1 pass day permitted per week (went over calories, could not track, not enough exercise, intentional pass)
5. Check in daily (tracking yes/no, calories yes/no, exercise yes/no).

End of the week. those who have managed to keep to plan for 6 out of 7 days are recognised in the thread as being part of the weekly "winners circle".


Using this strategy of consistent tracking and minimal exercise I have set a lifestyle plan that should keep me in my target weight range. (has for the last month )

I liked this strategy as:

• No dietary restrictions. (fine for vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, paleo, carnivore, etc...)
• Works with whatever strategy you may want to follow. (keto, 5:2, 16:8, atkins, etc..).
• You set your own daily budget (MFP helps with this).
• You choose you own exercise and intensity (no step limit, no exercises you cannot or should not do, 20 mins of gardening counts as much as a 10mile run).
• Is not weight based (as weight fluctuates day by day).
• Can continue beyond weight loss.

Daily check in keeps you in touch with those doing similar. Longer term weight management is hard to do on your own.

It also has frequent resets (as in a circle each week).

It works on an honor system. Being honest with yourself and others is a key to making things work.

Consistency and new habits have been shown the only long term successful way to change weight. We all want the progress made here to last a lifetime.

You will find out more from me as the weeks go on. I have done A LOT of research into weight loss, diets, health and strength. I will happily share what I have learned with the group.

My commitment to this group is to post my daily results for this accountability tracking (and help out where I can).


So welcome December Gutbusters.

ShareASmile wrote: »

LesIckaBod wrote: »

ShareASmile wrote: »

Hi! I'm Cathy, 52 years old, mother of 2 kiddos - one in Philadelphia, one in Memphis. I don't have a huge amount of weight to lose, but these last 10 pounds are the hardest! I've been trying for several months and have hardly had any movement. For me, it's not the eating, as I don't really eat that much, it's the lack of exercise. I don't go to a gym, am uncomfortable looking stupid in front of everyone..... I recently had 2 stress fractures after starting to run on a treadmill, and then those healed and the treadmill broke! 🙃 This is pretty much how my life goes ha ha ha! Anyway, glad to be here and I hope I help the team instead of hurt our numbers!

@shareasmile You said it's "not the eating, as I don't really eat that much", but have you tried to play around with what you're eating? I know for me, getting more of my calories from protein is better for weight loss. Same calorie deficit, just different macros. What are your current macro targets?

@LesIckaBod That's a great point! I don't have any macros goals, as I don't know how to manage those. I am only watching calories, trying to stay at or below 1300/day, so maybe that is the problem. Is it okay to go above calories if they are proteins or do I still try to stay at the same calories level?

@shareasmile. Punching numbers into a calculator, I come out with 1200 per day to loas 1lb per week (sedentary lifestyle, female, 30, 5"2').

Macros are VERY important. Generally higher % protein and/or fat, and lower % carbohydrate seem to be the keys for most people to lose weight. Be sure to include all you drink and weigh food for the first couple of weeks till you can accurately estimate.

The other good thing about higher % protein and/or fat, and lower % carbohydrate is you generally get less hungry. Ideally carbohydrates you have should be from non-refined sources (vegetables, etc). These have the fibre still in them and also assist in satiety (feeling full).

High sodium (salt) tends to store extra water weight. So try limit the salt where practical.

If you increase protein %, also ensure you drink plenty of water, as protein produces more waste product and you need to keep the kidneys healthy.

If you are comfortable with weighing daily, do this for a while and track a 7 day average. It is a far better indicator than a once a week weigh-in.

Last point is to experiment. Find a combination that works for you. Change one thing at a time for a week and see how things go. Ensure any change is able to be maintained permanently (not as a phase for this week), as if it works, you want to keep it going.

(By experimenting, I found I was gluten sensitive - makes me tired. I also know a high carbohydrate diet adds about 2kg (5 lbs) to my stable weight - this drops again once I return to my usual low-carb eating habits).

December 1
Exercised?: Yes
Calories?: Yes
Tracked?: Yes

We had a storm pass the night before and I spent a 30 minutes cleaning the pool of leaves and picking up debris in the yard.

craigo3154 wrote: »

ShareASmile wrote: »

LesIckaBod wrote: »

ShareASmile wrote: »

Hi! I'm Cathy, 52 years old, mother of 2 kiddos - one in Philadelphia, one in Memphis. I don't have a huge amount of weight to lose, but these last 10 pounds are the hardest! I've been trying for several months and have hardly had any movement. For me, it's not the eating, as I don't really eat that much, it's the lack of exercise. I don't go to a gym, am uncomfortable looking stupid in front of everyone..... I recently had 2 stress fractures after starting to run on a treadmill, and then those healed and the treadmill broke! 🙃 This is pretty much how my life goes ha ha ha! Anyway, glad to be here and I hope I help the team instead of hurt our numbers!

@shareasmile You said it's "not the eating, as I don't really eat that much", but have you tried to play around with what you're eating? I know for me, getting more of my calories from protein is better for weight loss. Same calorie deficit, just different macros. What are your current macro targets?

@LesIckaBod That's a great point! I don't have any macros goals, as I don't know how to manage those. I am only watching calories, trying to stay at or below 1300/day, so maybe that is the problem. Is it okay to go above calories if they are proteins or do I still try to stay at the same calories level?

@shareasmile. Punching numbers into a calculator, I come out with 1200 per day to loas 1lb per week (sedentary lifestyle, female, 30, 5"2').

Macros are VERY important. Generally higher % protein and/or fat, and lower % carbohydrate seem to be the keys for most people to lose weight. Be sure to include all you drink and weigh food for the first couple of weeks till you can accurately estimate.

The other good thing about higher % protein and/or fat, and lower % carbohydrate is you generally get less hungry. Ideally carbohydrates you have should be from non-refined sources (vegetables, etc). These have the fibre still in them and also assist in satiety (feeling full).

High sodium (salt) tends to store extra water weight. So try limit the salt where practical.

If you increase protein %, also ensure you drink plenty of water, as protein produces more waste product and you need to keep the kidneys healthy.

If you are comfortable with weighing daily, do this for a while and track a 7 day average. It is a far better indicator than a once a week weigh-in.

Last point is to experiment. Find a combination that works for you. Change one thing at a time for a week and see how things go. Ensure any change is able to be maintained permanently (not as a phase for this week), as if it works, you want to keep it going.

(By experimenting, I found I was gluten sensitive - makes me tired. I also know a high carbohydrate diet adds about 2kg (5 lbs) to my stable weight - this drops again once I return to my usual low-carb eating habits).

@craigo3154 Thank you so much, this is so helpful! I may finally have some insight into why I've had trouble losing. I appreciate your help very much!

LesIckaBod wrote: »

Our Sunday weighers are:
@Dommylifts -- way to go on being so close to your ultimate goal! Are you looking to make it this month?

I would love to make it to 140 by Dec 31st, however, my goal is to get around 143. If I get to 140 awesome, if I don’t it’s okay as long as I get to 143. If I get below 140 that would be THE BEST. I’ll have to set a new goal. My ultimate goal is maintaining around 140, but I would be happy between 138-140 as I don’t like when my weigh fluctuates above the number I want.