Holiday weight spike!

12346

Replies

  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,515 Member
    @SnifterPug : happens to me quite frequently and I celebrate in my mind!

    But, I try to remember that downward spikes are still spikes and it is the average over several days that matters.
  • MikePfirrman
    MikePfirrman Posts: 3,307 Member
    edited January 2020
    Got on the scale yesterday and I'm back under my "red line" of 195. I've been not eating till after my lunch workouts (at 1:30 PM). That sounds drastic to some of you, I'm sure, but I'm a natural night time eater. I like to have a snack before bed. Looking to lose the last seven or eight now but the belly is mostly under control again.

    Man, losing five pounds in a month is no joke! My wife and I talked about how overboard we went this year. I'm severely gluten intolerant and she can't have cow dairy, so we're quite the pair. We normally don't eat that many sweets unless I cook them. I made 10 pies for Thanksgiving for 9 people. Also made X-mas cookies and fudge and a Dairy Free/GF White Chocolate Cheesecake that was to die for, if I say so myself. We just are going to control all the sweets better next year. We're taking a hard look at what we need for company versus excess.

    Sweets are great for a bit but so not worth it when you add the hard work back in to lose it.

    @jm_1234 -- I went to Belgium and Paris six years ago, when I still could eat gluten (or more likely was in denial that I could!). OMG, the Belgium Waffles with Chocolate were the best thing I've ever eaten!
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,515 Member
    Superbowl party, oh no!

    drinks.gif
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,515 Member
    I got a great low number on Saturday morning after a 7 mile run. If I can get that number to repeat, I'm within 3 lbs of my goal this time around. How's everyone else doing?
  • MikePfirrman
    MikePfirrman Posts: 3,307 Member
    191 today. First time, in a while, I've seen a number that low. That was after my row (which I do fasted at lunch). I didn't sweat that much today because I did it outside, so I'm at least well under my redline of 195 again now. Comfort zone is more in the high 180s, but I still have about a month till I hit that.

    Continuing with not eating till after my lunchtime workout and really asking myself if I need a night time snack. Now, I'm eating a LOT for lunch and dinners, but I go into lunch with at least an 800 deficit (from an hour row) and try to eat most of that back for recovery purposes. That still leaves me 1700 or so calories for dinner (and snack if I want one). Might have lost a bit too quick -- 9 lbs in six weeks, but I need to lose a bit.
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,515 Member
    @AnnPT77 : I should try looking at a long-term trend like that, it's really cool!

    @MikePfirrman : Sounds promising. Are you going to try to crack 190?

    I give you both the super happy banana:

    ban-woohoo.gif


    My weight trend looks pretty good for a cut. Note that the horizontal lines are 2.5lbs, so it's coming off very close to 1lb per week. I have to say, I've been hoping for more, but at least it's working. (Garmin has been doing the calorie estimates which sometimes give you extra just for "being you." And sometimes not!)

    I challenged myself to work out every day in January and I've kept going into February. It's actually been pretty fun! Losing even small amounts of weight is very good for swimming, riding, and especially running!

    otmhkcsbjv20.png
  • MikePfirrman
    MikePfirrman Posts: 3,307 Member
    edited February 2020
    @Jthan -- that's great work from you. Yes, losing just a bit helps performance tremendously, especially endurance sports. For me it's indoor rowing. Now, at least, my gut isn't in the way any more.

    I'm not sure if I will get much below 190. I have quite a bit of muscle, which is odd, because I'm really not all that strong (I guess over the years from all the rowing). But I'm only around 20% body fat now. When I get down in the 180s, the BF gets down to around 17 or 18 percent. For me, that starts to be really veiny and the wife doesn't like the look!

    One very odd benefit for me, yet an important one, is I snore at night. I have a snoring app, believe it or not, called Snore Lab. It records how much you snore at night and allows you to test different things to reduce it. When I gain 10 lbs, my snoring goes through the roof! My snoring is down around 15% or more since losing most of the weight back. And rest is incredibly important for endurance sports/performance. Another odd trend related to that is I snore less after my two hard days -- Tuesday and Thursday. Those are the days I do a hard interval workout and an Anaerobic Threshold workout. My snoring dips both nights. Just something I never expected. If it were up to my wife, every day would be interval day or fartlek day.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,724 Member
    @AnnPT77 : I should try looking at a long-term trend like that, it's really cool!

    That graph is from Libra, which is for Android (and free). People with Apple devices can use Happy Scale, which is similar. Others can use Trendweight (requires a free Fitbit account, don't need a Fitbit device), Weightgrapher, or others.

    It's easy. I just put in my daily weigh-in, and it does the rest.

    I challenged myself to work out every day in January and I've kept going into February. It's actually been pretty fun! Losing even small amounts of weight is very good for swimming, riding, and especially running!

    Good show: That's gotta be great for your CV fitness, as well as the contribution to your weight management!
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 12,945 Member
    I got a great low number on Saturday morning after a 7 mile run. If I can get that number to repeat, I'm within 3 lbs of my goal this time around. How's everyone else doing?

    I keep losing the same five pounds over and over and over. My "holiday spike" was more of a slow, steady climb starting in October and stopping last month. My scale weight has been at or below my goal eight times in 2020 and within a half pound eleven additional days (19 days total). Not bad, but my trending weight has only been within a half pound of goal ten days. I guess that's not bad.

    0gay9swpcwyd.png
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,515 Member
    mtaratoot wrote: »
    I keep losing the same five pounds over and over and over.

    Totally true for me as well! Why does this keep happening? scratchhead2.gif
  • fitnessguy266
    fitnessguy266 Posts: 150 Member
    edited February 2020
    mtaratoot wrote: »
    mtaratoot wrote: »
    I keep losing the same five pounds over and over and over.

    Totally true for me as well! Why does this keep happening? scratchhead2.gif

    I am trying to convince myself this is what successful maintenance actually looks like. Because it IS. It's getting a little bit easier. I don't know why it bothers me; it shouldn't. Oh well. Silly brain.

    This is absolutely what I consider successful maintenance! The natural human drive to indulge, but also the commitment to stay the course. I purposely allow a fluctuation of 1-3 pounds on ocassion, over and over again :)
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,515 Member
    @SummerSkier : I agree totally. I have aloweed things to slip many times and ended up needing to lose 10+ lbs so many times (like since 1/1 this year). For me, that's ~3 months of cutting. It's so much easier job if I catch it sooner, but there it is! 6 more weeks to go!
  • MikePfirrman
    MikePfirrman Posts: 3,307 Member
    I normally "allow" myself around 3 to 5 lbs over the Winter. This Winter, I got way carried away and before I knew it, it was like 12 lbs. I'm back down to around my baseline weight of 192 now. My "ideal" is 187, not that I've seen that in a while.

    As for the 5 up and down, it really, for me, comes down to how much I'm willing to buckle up for vanity. I think for health, I've got it down. It's does the defined six pack matter at 55? For me, most of the time, it's strain hard enough to nearly blow a nut, in just the right lighting and "oh yeah, I can see that six pack!". Now, let's have a brownie!
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,515 Member
    @MikePfirrman : I can strain and strain, but that 6 pack remains well hidden. I think that only a surgeon could reveal it!
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,515 Member
    So, now I have a cold for a few days. I was a little off last week, but I was still carrying on as normal. I went on a run in the cold air about 4 days ago, then got up early the next day to fly out on a business trip, where I started to feel much worse. Lying in a hotel room far from home feeling sick really sucks! But, I did what I went to do and made it back home OK.

    I've had to suspend exercising and it has been difficult to log, as I've been eating restaurant food (my sympathies to all who travel for work frequently). I'm attracted to sweet tea when sick, so I indulge in that. Also, it's easier to digest carbs than protein, so I just go with it. But, I try to keep a lid on it overall.

    The net result has been fine from the weight prospective, although I bet I'm losing both muscle and fat temporarily. It has only been 4 days and it feels like forever!