Women 200lb+, Let's Be Mighty this May!!!

RavenStCloud wrote: »

So here is how I'm trying to be mighty in May:

🏵️1st: I am trying a No Meat May challenge. I just bought tofu for the FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE and I'm researching ways to prepare it. If anyone, has any tips and tricks to help me along this month, I would greatly appreciate it! I have never had any compulsion to be vegetarian, but lately cooking raw meat/poultry has been really off-putting. So I figured, hey, let's give this no meat thing a shot for 30 days.

🏵️2nd: Barring any Covid flare-ups in my area, I will start back up at the gym for the first time since January (was sick the first two months of the year, then corona hit). And I will be going BEFORE work, at around 6:30am. I am, by nature, a night owl, but quarantine threw off my schedule and I've been waking up super early lately, so I might as well take advantage.

🏵️3rd: It looks like I have a three month mini-goal of getting back in shape for the beginning of August. Some work friends are planning a week long vacation (once again Covid-permitting) to a place that has at least one steep hike and lots of outdoor activities. And right now I get winded going up a flight of stairs. So that should help me stay focused.

I will be posting detailed weekly stats on Monday, but I wanted to talk about my big monthly plans first. Happy May, everyone! 💜

I've done tofu a few times, and when I don't want soft tofu texture, find the key is to make sure I dry it as much as possible before marinating it/cooking it- so I usually put the block between paper towels and put a heavy pan on top of it to squeeze the moisture out. For things like tofu scramble, I don't do that, because I want that softer texture.

Can’t believe that tomorrow is May 1st!
It’s hard to keep track of days in quarantine.

Age: 50
Height: 5’8 1/2”
SW April 13, 2020: 229.8
First GW 199
Second GW 185

April 30th: 227.9

My May goals are to kick being in a funk on grey or rainy days. Keep moving at least 5 if not 6 days a week. Be in the yard in the sun as much as possible.

Here’s to a marvelous May! 🌸

Jill

Hello everyone,I'm new here.Just diving right in i'm having an extremely hard time losing. I just bought a scale for the first time in a few years and even though i thought i was losing i ended up being 15 lbs heavier than i originally thought.
My big goal is to lose about 84 lbs.My small goal is to lose anything at this point.
My workouts are 7 days a week and weight training is 3 days a week.Monday,wednesday,friday kickboxing.Tuesday and Saturday is power zumba,Thursday is barre and sunday is cardio dance and yoga.
My eating has stayed within my caloric requirements but i would like to goal to use a food scale and to not eat after 9 o clock at night.ALso going hand in hand with that to not go to bed at 4 am anymore and get a good nights sleep.

Oh and tofu can be really fantastic.Get the extra firm and dry out as much as possible>Then it can get nice and crispy on the stove.You can use in stir fry with veg in peanut or coconut curry sauce.You can also use it on salads with ginger.You can use it to thicken smoothies so they are velvety. Because it's so bland it can take on whatever flavor profile you'd like.

@RavenStCloud You asked a question or 2 in your intro that I am taking seriously. I think since I have had time and needed to confront just this.

What things have helped get you through these tough times?
I have been listening to Corinne Crabtree’s Phit n Phat podcasts Usually while on my Gazelle and find a few things helpful although I am not that much of an emotional eater.

She emphasizes being kind to yourself and having helpful internal dialog. I agree with this but it isn’t that much of my issue since I had to learn to do this much earlier in life. Instead of getting down on ourselves when we don't meet goals evaluate non-judgmentally what adjustments to make.

She emphasizes making changes that you will do for the rest of your life. Don’t wait to live until after you lose weight. Start living healthy now for the rest of your life. This is something I believe too when I have lost weight.

She also emphasizes something that I did the 1st time I wanted to lose weight after Grad school. I read about how skinny people eat. Don’t eat unless you are hungry and stop eating when you are satisfied (not really full). One other thing that she doesn’t mention so far is if you do eat until you are full or beyond it is okay. Just wait until you are hungry again to eat again. Chances are it will take a while to be hungry again and then just eat until you are satisfied from then on. Also eat food you like. Don’t deprive yourself. Learn how to eat them more sensibly. Yes there are those food we decide are just not worth it. Or we just can’t have in the house. I do not know why I didn’t really focus on this the last time I lost weight. It is really working for me now.

She doesn’t believe in counting calories. I believe that having information on what is working and what isn’t is helpful so I log. I have a spreadsheet as well as using MFP and I have a weight APP on my phone to help me deal with weight variations. I used to have a Fitbit Versa but it was irritating my skin. The watch face is too big. I guess I need to just go back to a simple fitbit.

She says that exercise can be a distraction from losing weight. Do it only if you want to for your own reasons other than losing weight. I think she has a point. However as an older woman exercise helps my slowing metabolism and exercise is part of being healthy and that is why I am losing weight. I want to be healthier and frankly I want to be stronger. So I will continue to work on this. She is right though if it is getting in the way don’t focus on exercise right away.

She emphasizes routine or daily routines. She says our brains need this. I think she has another point. This is a big issue for us Stay At Home and temporarily furloughed people not to mention those who have been laid off in general due to COVID-19. She offers the idea of starting with a very short to do list and then prioritize 1 or 2 things to do that day to get started. There were a few days I need(ed) this idea. However I used bullet journaling to help me with this issue. I use One Note on my computer. I used to do bullet journaling before it was a thing. When I was a studio artist I had a sketch book in my purse. Every day I would journal and sketch and organize using this. I had weekly schedules, monthly schedules, to do lists, shopping lists mixed in with my sketching. If I met someone I handed them my sketchbook so they could give me contact info in it.

Another thing that helped me was my experience during the last big economic downturn in 2009ish. I got laid off and my field was hit in 4-5 ways. It was impossible to find work. I had just started to exercise and lose weight when that happened. So I started to exercise every day. I did C25K and ended up doing interval walk/runs, continued aquafit, started weight training. I lost 40 pounds. I gained it back when I started working/commuting again. But I am using lessons from this time. I was told I should change careers unless I had stellar credentials. I did and when the economy picked up employers called me. However this is a different time than then. Gyms are not open and I can’t even take junk to Goodwill. I have to find ways of getting healthy foods to my home in a safe way. I do not have the same body. I was in my 50s then and didn’t have any health issues or injuries. I now have really only arthritis to deal with but it is a limitation. I am lucky if I am careful I don’t have flare ups. I miss aquafit but I needed some other exercise to supplement it so this has been good. Once a week I do a weight training, exercise and stretching plan and otherwise walk or use my Gazelle which I can set up in the living room now that no one comes over.

What changes to goals for the month?
Well since I lost some weight I lowered my weight goal down . The other change was I added a goal related to evaluating my progress each week. I also wanted to up the amount of exercise. I read an article on MFP about exercise and obesity and am using 150 minutes a week as my goal to exceed. 150 minutes was found in studies to avoid obesity. However maybe I should just do what I want to do for the rest of my life. Maybe I should just do 150 minutes.

I have read a book about instead of aging we can actually kick in things in our bodies to not maybe live longer but to live younger. It was called Younger Next Year. It suggested we needed over 45 minutes ever day or at least 6 days a week to kick in these mechanisms in our body that help our cells to rejuvenate. It was written by a Doctor that wanted to help his aging patients live healthier lives. Unfortunately it was rather male centrist. So I used to use this as my exercise goal but for now I think I will start with the 150 minutes. As I remember he also emphasized healthy fats.

Name: Jane
Age: 54
SW: 286.5 (6/3/19)
GW: 180

4/30: 185.3
5/2:
5/9:
5/16:
5/23:
5/30:

Goals for May:
1) Reach my goal weight!! Then I'll decide if I want to push for 170 or maintain
2) Keep logging
3) Get 10000 steps/day
4) Finish a 9 mile run
5) Stay well

In answer to your questions "What things, mental or physical, have helped to get you through these tough times?"
Appreciating my good fortune - that I remain healthy and have a job that is not at risk nor puts me at risk. That makes me especially privileged in these times. I know it isn't that way for others, so remembering that helps me manage the stress from this global calamity.

"And have your goals, long or short term, changed for this month?" - for those of you who've been on this thread a long time, you know that I used to set a lot of really specific goals and then measure my adherence to them weekly. I'm not doing that so much anymore and goals I've set are more relaxed. But it's still working for me. I still try to drink lots and lots of water, but I'm not stressing if I don't hit my goal. And I still strive to eat under 100 grams of carbs, but I also allow myself to have a good old carb fest here and there so long as I stay within my deficit range. I've relaxed a bit, which I think is important for my mental health, but also to prepare me for maintenance.

Want to call a shout out to @Terytha for being Overweight! Congratulations!

So.... April goals.

Weight down to 264.
Full yoga routine daily at home
Bodyweight routine if not able to gym.
Obtain size 14 jeans to have available for the next drop. Yoga pants fit through two sizes.

This morning I weighed 269, after an entire month spent between 272 and 270. I'm going to put that down to the situational depression I've been having. I'm sure that once gyms can reopen I'll be able to go work out and feel a lot better, especially if my boyfriend can continue working from home.

I do some yoga every day, but not the full practice. I'm going to take that, because the depression makes it hard to do things. Same with the bodyweight work.

I do, however, have jeans a size down and the size after that waiting in my closet. I need to get a couple of new sweaters that are smaller, too.

I'm just going to keep on keeping on and see how much I can get done despite the depression, because I am NOT going to let this beat me. I want to be muscular and powerful and slender. This is the way I do it.

And on that note, I'm going to bed before eating something else seems like a good idea.

@Wyattmami10 - why are you trying to lose weight so fast? I hope you understand that the only way you could accomplish that is by dropping water weight. To lose 13 pounds of fat in that short a time, you'd have to eat at a deficit of 2400 calories a day. That would be dangerous.

Age - 51
Height - 5'6
Heaviest weight - 105.5kg (Aug 2018)
Goal weight - 80kg

23/3 94.7kg
30/3 94.8kg
6/4 96.5kg
13/4 96.6kg
20/4 97.7kg
27/4 97.2kg

May goals
Get under 94kg
Average total cals under 2000 -
Average snacks under 20% -
Yoga at home at least 2 times a week -
Meditation at home at least 2 times a week -

Well, everyone here liked the menu for the last five weeks so well that I'm just going to change the dates on it and reuse it, so I'm good now til 6/14.

I've started managing my gut better and that has made me feel much better. I have constipation-prone IBS, and having kids did some damage down there, so getting that smoothed out is going to help me feel a lot better.

Going grocery shopping today. I put it off yesterday because I didn't feel good, but we're out of stuff and it needs to happen.