Women 200lb+, Let's Stay Fired Up This February!!!

Hey guys!! I’m looking to add some pcos friends with similar goals and start weights and struggles. I started last February (2019) after TTC for over a year. The gynecologist suggested I lose 100lbs before getting serious about ttc with clomid or anything like that so that’s how this started.

Starting weight: 282
Current weight: 251.6
Goal weight: 170

Basically I’m counting calories, trying to make healthier choices but not doing anything too restrictive for sanity and sustainabilities sake. I also have been doing fitgirls guide 28 day jumpstart at home workout which I love. But I’m kind of on a weird break right now because I got my tonsils taken out on the 19th so there isn’t much I can comfortably eat and working out is kind of off the table for now.


Anyway!! I’d love to add some friends if you’re interested!!

Last February check in, with a week to go. I don’t know how anyone else feels, but I really notice that extra day during the leap years!

Welcome all newbies and welcome back to all who’ve had to take a break! The important thing is that you’re getting back to business, and you didn’t let a setback be the thing that derailed your efforts completely.
I will once again echo other’s sentiments in that it’s so hard to address everyone on the thread specifically. I tip my hat to those who can! I think it would be easier for me if I had time to respond during the week. I can read during quick breaks at work so I can keep up that way. I get so happy and excited by all the good things happening for a lot of you, and can empathize with those who aren’t making the progress they want.

@speyerj – so sorry to hear about the water retention uptick. I was hoping part of the uptick might have been due to some muscle soreness post 5K. But it does seem to be resolving, and you are better off in the long run without the medication! Congratulations, that is a great milestone to have achieved!

@cupcakecrusoe – thanks for the encouragement with running. I remember when you commented about boring people with running talk and I could 100% relate! I try to rein in the running talk a bit, but it’s hard.

@brownsugar174 – Wow, wow, wow! Look at you! Such great progress. Have a great time in New Orleans!

@svm569 – 14 pounds in a month is a fantastic loss, particularly with a weight in the low-200s. I don’t know who is losing 20 pounds a month, but unless they are super morbidly obese and/or under a doctor’s strict supervision, here’s what I do know: their rate of loss is not sustainable and it is unhealthy; they’re likely losing muscle mass along with fat; and they are doing something I am unwilling to do in order to lose weight. To lose weight and keep it off, my philosophy is that I need to follow a program I’m willing to follow the rest of my life. I love hearing other people’s ideas and think about how I might be able to incorporate that in my plan if it works for me. But say that idea is a Keto Diet, I already know that’s not for me and I won’t do it. In that sense, I “keep my eyes on my own paper” when it comes to my weight loss. Comparison is the thief of joy! There will come a point in your weight loss journey when losing 14 pounds in one month will seem like the good old days. Losing about 10 pounds a month is more reasonable and as you approach your goal there may be months you’ll struggle to lose 4-5 pounds. Also it really does help to remember that you didn’t wake up at your highest weight overnight, so it’s going to take time to get back to your ideal weight. I am impatient myself, but I know in every cell of my body that this time has to be the last time, so I keep my eyes on the prize.

Height: 5' 6"
SW (09/08/2019): 239.2 lbs
February SW (2/1/20): 192.0 lbs
2/2/20: 189.8 lbs
2/9/20: 187.6 lbs
2/16/20: 184.0 lbs
2/23/20: 182.4 lbs
February GW: 186 lbs
GW: 150 lbs (then reconsider)

My goals for February are:

• Cardio for 45-60 min, 5-6 times a week, 3 of the sessions Couch-to-5K workouts – check. I stuck with C25K week 5 workouts on the treadmill, but yesterday I did week 9 of the couch-to-10K for the longer trail run.
• Increase walking distance to 8.5 miles for one workout a week – Check. Did another 8.5-miler last week. Toying with the idea of increasing to 9 miles this week. It’s another gorgeous day here. We’ve been uncommonly lucky here this winter with the mild weather. It's going to be busy on the trail today.
• Core exercises at least 3 times a week – check. In conjunction with measuring, I’m thinking of upping the lifting program.
• Lose 2 inches in my measurements – today was measurement day. Apparently lost 6 inches in 4 weeks. Since it’s hard to maintain consistency with measuring, especially without a measuring assistant, I think maybe some of it can be chalked up to how I measured myself. But I’m definitely feeling the difference in my clothes. I ordered 4 more pairs of pants last week when they went on sale. It is good news, but when I look in the mirror I don’t recognize any difference in my midsection – even though this is where I lost the most inches this past month.
• Take better care of my skin in hopes it will start to regain its shape. – Was horrible with this all week.

I leveled up to the couch-to-10K program because of three things. One, last week’s Saturday run taught me that I had it in me to run longer distances and for longer times than I thought I could. Two, during my Friday treadmill workout at the gym, I ran for 36 minutes because I could. And three…

I won the lottery!!!! I got into the Broad Street Run! The first Sunday in May, bright and early in the morning, I will be running 10 miles down Broad Street!

Therefore I need to up my running game. There are many training programs for couch to 10K, but I stuck with the Zen Labs’ app I use for the week 9 intervals. That’s 10 minutes of running, 1 minute of walking, repeat 3 more times. Except I was able to repeat for 5 more times to get to the distance I wanted – so I ran 60 minutes in 10-minute intervals. I’ll stick with the full week 9 program for my treadmill workouts all week at the gym.

Totally off-topic, but at least one person offered encouragement: I’m pretty sure the guy at the gym still keeps eyeing me, and I tried to offer some non-verbal encouragement, without result. Hmmph. (And I did check – no wedding ring, but I know they come off and probably come off at the gym for some very practical reasons.) I studied his behavior a bit this week, and I think he may have been strategically picking certain machines for a better view? I’m not really the type to make the first move, and what I went through with my last romantic entanglement has me seriously questioning my judgment.

Last week in February, I’ll be looking ahead to what I want to accomplish next month. We can all finish February strong!

@BrownSugar174 and @mmdeveau for your responses to my post. I really needed to hear it and have that reassurance that what I’m doing is ok. I’m well aware that slow and steady weight loss is the way to go and I most certainly don’t want to be dropping the weight so quickly either. These massive weight losses I keep seeing are on fb support pages and are of people that are around my starting point or less which really stumps me. A lot of the types of weight loss ‘diets’ don’t suit me in the sense that I know I won’t be able to sustain it once I’ve reached my goal and that is certainly something I don’t want as I don’t want to go back to where I started. I’ve been clean eating since day one, making sure I’m in a caloric deficit everyday (even bought kitchen scales to weigh everything) and exercise 6x a week (with a light stroll at a slow pace on rest days). I think the damaging thing I’m doing to myself without realising it until now is my daily weigh ins which seems to be messing with my head. I understand the body fluctuates but it isn’t helping me to see that so I’ve decided to start weighing in less often. So an extra new goal for this week will be to weigh in on the 26th (which will be the day I complete one month of this journey) and again on the last day of this month for the February total. Then from then on do a weekly weigh in only.

@sharpdust I don't know if you would call it urgency and get it off as quickly as possible. I just know it needs to come off and I need to stop messing around and do it. The changes I'm making now are with food. I really don't like counting calories, but I hope I can atleast make better food choices now and cut out desserts, junk, and anything else bad. 2 lbs a week is sufficient for me, I just want to feel better. However a long term goal is I hope I can get up to 1 hour of exercise 5-6 times a week, that's the ultimate goal. I used to be there I just hope my stamina isn't to far off. Yesterday I did really well. It was one day, but I'll take it as a win. LOL. So I'm going to focus on one day at a time and when I weigh in I'll reflect on the week. I'm going to also check-in here everyday to stay accountable. I'm totally going to do this!!!!!! We all can do it!! Here's to a new week. GO US!!

Today is the end of another week. How did everyone do? I am telling you this starting the week off on the right foot is easy to do but ending the week is a different story. Thinking I am so burned out on dieting most of my life that I give up somewhat.
In a few weeks I have a physical and will be having my thyroid checked to see if my medication for my hypothyroidism is working. I think that is one of my biggest problems is working hard and eating right, is will I actually be able to loose anything really at all because my body won't let me? Very frustrated about it. Planning on talking to my doctor about other test that need to be done so maybe finally I can see my hard work payoff. It really stinks when I see after I finish my daily food longing, what I should weigh in five weeks however it doesn't happen. Sorry, I am trying not to be a downer. It does help me alot getting on here and seeing everyones success stories, maybe that is something that I should do when I am giving up. That could be one of my Emini goals is getting on to the community part of this every other day at least.
As of now 252 lbs, 5'5"
By weeks end would like to be 248
GW 160

Got to the end reading all the posts! I'm on my phone so I have a hard time tagging, but I'm here supporting all of you.

Special tags for @BrownSugar174 -well done! And yum, new orleans!

@speyerj I read about your water weight bounce back, and it made me think that maybe part of my signal noise might be the days I forget my meds, so thanks for the sharing, it helps! You're doing great!

@svm569 I know it seems like everyone's losing more than you, I totally feel that way sometimes. As you go on, you'll be a victim of your own success because weight loss will slow as you get closer to goal. But that's just another challenge- how to do this for the rest of your life painlessly. And you can do it.

I've had a good weekend, staying at about calorie goal every day, even in the face of fast food my brother brought us 🙈.

I'm looking forward to seeing what this week is going to bring. Today was running day and so is tomorrow, I've got food pre-logged for tomorrow, and it looks delicious.

I scored tickets for a podcast live show in a couple months that I cannot wait for. Already thinking in my head what Future Hotter Me is going to wear. 😂

Another week ahead! Let's kick it!

Morning all, I have a plan. I'm noticing my weight loss is still happening after a mega loss in January but it's levelling off a bit and when I stand on the scales and they go down I'm happier and when they go up I'm a bit deflated. Sooooo I'm thinking in March I keep logging, I keep exercising but I hide the scales away for the month. Maybe I should start slower and go for a week!

SW 105.5kg (aug 2018)
CW 95.6kg

goals for 2020
to get under 90kg,
to change my relationship with food
to handle anxiety better

goals for february
to get under 96kg -yes!!
average weekly cals under 1950 -wk 1 2223, wk 2 2186 wk 3 1976 - a big fat no
average weekly snacks under 23% -week 1 yes 21%, week 2 yes 15%, week 3 yes 14%,
meditate 3x week -not at all unfortunately
run 5k in under 40 mins - still working on this

Really happy to be under 96kg!!!

Monday Weigh-In!
SW 1/6:260.4
1/31: 244.8
2/10: 242.2
2/17: 239.6
2/24: 239.5
Feb. GW: 234.8

So I had a MUCH smaller loss (is it even that??) this week than I expected. This past week was TOM for me, so possibly that made a difference. I also did have my Father-In-Law's birthday last night, where I did have dessert but stayed in my calories for the day. Possibly just not enough time passed from my bigger meal/dessert last night to my weigh-in this morning. However, I do tend to get on the scale almost daily and didn't really see it moving this week, which could go back to TOM. So??? I did exercise 4 days this week, and felt like I really pushed it hard on 2 of the days. I have a friend that I exercise with and I say she's my very own Jillian Michaels so I know I'm not slacking there. It's a new week though, so even though I'm a bit deflated because I'm most likely not going to hit my February goal weight, I know that I'm down over 20#'s and it's a marathon, not a sprint!
Have a great week everyone!

This week I'm experimenting with snacking.

I usually hate snacks. I feel like they just make me more hungry by reducing the pool of calories I can use for meals while also not being satisfying at all.

But I've just been getting so hungry every day at like 2-3 pm. Which has resulted in some unfortunate chocolate binges when I get home.

So I bought grapes. They're somewhat more filling since they're fruit and only 70 calories per 100 grams. Also they last in the fridge longer than a day. I prefer raspberries but they sure don't last at all. Plus, expensive.

@AlexandraFindsHerself1971 oooh paranormal romance! very cool genre.

@fitchick37 I'm having those feels right now. Hopefully going weekly will help you!

@Tarzan37 I know right? MFP is so glitchy and terrible these days. Hopefully they're just working on a rebooted, better site.

@orangequilt congratulations!

@mmdeveau I really appreciate your medical perspective, just wanted to put that out there.

@vegasgirl0825 I feel this. Try not to let it get into your head, just keep trusting the process and you'll come out on top!

@bluffgirl67 I really think of you like our thread cheerleader, and if there's a person that deserves a break, it's you. I'm glad you feel refreshed and ready to tackle it all again.

@terytha I am a snacker extraordinaire. I do find it helps not to be HANGRY when I approach my meals, just kinda hungry, so snacking helps me that way a lot! When I'm hangry, poutine and ice cream look much more appealing.

@gorgeous2343 I'm glad you're feeling good about this. We're here for you.

I had a good day (prelogging my food and tweaking as I go helps me a lot for macros). My running has suffered a bit lately. I think it's because I'm prioritizing protein, because of lean body mass, etc. The running side of me wants CARBS. Which is fine, but for now, I think I'll stick the course. The scale is being mean to me, but when is it not . I know with consistency I'll get there, and if there's one thing I am right now, it's consistent.

Hope you all had a lovely day, it's another day tomorrow! Lifting day! Maybe I'll actually get to the squat rack!

Down another pound today, which was good, because I had a lot of fibromyalgia pain and stiffness due to the weather. (My body hates rain and chill.) Not too productive a day for me, but since staying on track is pretty much the default, it wasn't a problem.

I will admit that one of my meds has appetite suppressive qualities. And the condition that it is supposed to be treating has as one of its symptoms hyperfocus. I'm not surprised I forgot, just bemused.

Working out how exactly to handle the bid on the new house, and waiting for packing boxes to arrive from Amazon. Given that it's supposed to rain tonight, tomorrow, and Wednesday, I'm hoping they shrink-wrapped the stack.

Starting a new workout plan tomorrow; I'll work out on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. This works round Boyfriend's work schedule with the car; when he works downtown, I take him to the bus stop on Tuesdays and Thursdays and pick him up from there, and thus have the car for errands and shopping those days. We have one car for three people, so it will get REALLY interesting when Girlfriend starts taking classes that aren't online.

Hey y’all!! I went on a cruise and did not gain back any weight! I will take that as a win!!!

@BrownSugar174, you look wonderful! I can see the joy in your smile.

@lbostic89, I am sending good vibes for you and your family. Also, great loss!

@AlexandraFindsHerself1971, I hope it goes well! House hunting is rough.

@speyerj, you got this. I can't imagine how discouraging it would be, but you got this.

@KeriA, well, happy early birthday!

@svm569, great loss! I also struggled with cravings the last few weeks, so that has been rough. I hate pushups, lunges, anything that makes me feel "heavy"

@angelexperiment, @jguldi11, and @ericak6722, great work with the losses!

@kaitlinjcarlson, welcome! I'll shoot you a friend request. I am also hoping to lose around 100lbs, we can do this.

@mmdeveau, sounds like you've been rocking Feb! Also, congratulations on being accepted to the run. Good luck!

@gorgeous2343, welcome! Taking it day by day is a win.

@VictorSmashes, fluctuations are wild, they can be so discouraging, but I just try to remind myself that if it is a true fluctuation, it will come back to what it was originally.

@Tattoomama4440, we will all be here when you do decide to log on. I hope the conversation with your doctor goes well.

@shrinkingshorty37, welcome!

@fitchick37, the scale can really suck sometimes. Do you take measurements? That can be a better indicator of progress than the scale sometimes.

@orangequilt, woot! Great work.

@vegasgirl0825, a loss is a loss! If you did push hard, your muscles can retain water from being sore? Also my TOM really throws off the scale for me.

@bluffgirl67, welcome back, we missed you Have a great week!

@mmccloy12, sometimes our bodies just need a little break and a reset, especially with the stress you're experiencing at work.

@takera16, welcome! I have also struggled with my weight for as long as I can remember.

@flimflam87, woo!

Have a great week everyone!