Good morning!

@allietuge, great progress pix!! Congrats on all your hard work!!

Today we’re looking for weigh-ins from:

@abigail659
@audreypawdrey
@BB_1033
@Coccolino30
@Kaj848
@lacatgirl
@looneycatblue
@metubal

Please post using this template:
Username
January Week 1
PW:
CW:

WI: Jan. 6 - 172.8
SW: 175
GW: 135

SillyCat1975 wrote: »

Did I exercise for 20 mins ? Yes, my dogs thought I was crazy because I walked around my living room at a fast pace like a lunatic, then I went bowling for 2 hours. I've almost got my 10K steps in for the day. Should have it completed before midnight.
Did I stay within my calorie budget? Yes!
Track? Yes.
AM I TIRED? Heck yes! I will be glad to hit the hay!

You are so funny, but I can totally relate... I do that at home too when I am close to my steps goal... my cats just watch.

@SillyCat1975 I should have done that too... but I was very lazy yesterday.

looneycatblue wrote: »

I think I am ready to bite the bullet and buy a food scale, I have just been eyeballing so far.
I have never purchased one before, does anyone have any recommendations?

Not really a recommendation but make sure your scale is large enough to hold a plate and that you can then reach the buttons. Mine is a little small where my plate covers the buttons.

matthewsfive wrote: »

craigo3154 wrote: »

January 5
....

The first mini-challenge is to commit to weigh every day at the same time (ideally in the morning before eating anything).


The ONLY figures to take note of is the 7 day average. Which means you need 7 successive weighs to get any meaningful value.

Why weigh every day?

I would live to try this but seeing the numbers go up and down during the week will drive me crazy. How do you get through the days that the scale jumps up when you know you haven't eaten poorly?

@matthewsfive. Recognise some truths (and mentally some of this months exercises are to work on this):

1. Your weight is not a measure of personal worth.
2. Water weight goes up and down A LOT and has a significant impact on the number the scale shows.
3. The AVERAGE of 7 days is the ONLY important number.

Expanding on the last daily weight fluctuations. These are my last 5 days weigh in numbers: 140.4, 141.3, 139.7, 139.7, 140.8. I have been keeping to my plan the entire 5 days. Why is there 1.5 lbs difference between the two highlighted days.

Water.

Your bodyweight (excluding clothing) will vary by up to 5 lbs each day on a normal day. MOST of this fluctuation is water.

By pure coincidence, I was curious yesterday so I weighed myself before going to bed (must have known this question was coming). Between when I went to bed last night and when I weighed myself this morning there was 1.5 pound difference (You lose a lot of water overnight through exhalation, perspiration and urination).

Measuring bodyweight is like trying to measure the level of fluid in a water tank on the back of a truck while its driving down a winding dirt road. It goes up and down A LOT. Only by taking a lot of measurements and averaging do you get a true value.

I weigh, pick up phone, put number displayed by the scale into the MFP app on my phone, switch to MFP food tracking screen and close phone. I then pay no more attention to the number until I need to use it again later. As I do this EVERY day, no one number really sticks as it is part of habit and I have done it hundreds of times. It took a while to form this physical and mental habit.

It's like trying to remember what you had for lunch a week ago last Thursday without looking at tracking. Unless you have an identical lunch each day, or some notable other event occurred, most people cannot recall.

Getting into the mental side:

Irrespective of whether you are 100 lbs heavier than you want, or at your ideal weight, you will still be the same person. You are still valuable to your family and friends. You will still feel the same way towards yourself. You will still have the same personality.

The ONLY thing that really changes as you change size is your ABILITY to do things.

Reaching goal weight is an achievement, and one to be proud of, but it is the START of an ongoing process that will continue for the rest of your life. It is the first waypoint of a long journey.

The MEDIA portrays it "sexy" and "glamorous", but they are SELLING. The media lies to try get you to buy. (I can say this because as a man who has had a visible 6 pack for over 2 years it has not made the opposite gender more interested in me one bit - I have also been happily married to the same lovely lady for 29 years, so to be honest I am not looking for such attention anyway).

It is true you can DO more when ideal weight, size and fitness. You will live longer. You get less aches and pains. Climbing stairs is not a chore. Your chances for a better quality of life is much better. But all this will not make you an overall happier person.

super proud of all you Gutbusters.

metubal wrote: »

I'm not losing weight but I feel good. I did another dog walk yesterday. Didn't snack. Sleep is 6hr and some minutes, need to work on that.

I feel like that's always the first thing...you just start to FEEL better...the weight loss is really secondary to that; your mental health is where it's at! CONGRATS!!! Keep it up!

~ 6th of January ~
Exercised?: yes - around 45 mins walking
Within calories?: yes
Everything tracked?: yes

Had a long 9 hours of travel today as I went back to uni after the holiday break so I didn’t get as much exercise done as I wanted and didn’t eat as healthily as I should have. Tomorrow will be a lot better though for sure

Exercised?: Yes 32 swimming laps. I am going to try to increase by one minute per day till I reach 45.
Calories?: Yes
Tracked?: Yes

January 7
Exercised?: Yes (7 km walk in 55 mins)
Calories?: Yes
Tracked?: Yes

Longer walk today than usual. Felt short changed yesterday as I was late and had friends over. Wanted (and needed) the extra time today.


The third mini-challenge is to Track all that you eat and drink.

Only if you truthfully know what you are consuming can you see where things can be changed and/or improved. You can find the "hidden calories".

Note this is not to stay in a self set budget or track super accurately (and weigh everything you eat/drink). Best estimates are fine. Even if you are going to go over budget, still record it.

The main objective is to get into the habit of collecting data.

Methods for improving it's accuracy can be worked on later. Just need you to track.