Women 200lb+, Let's Shoot for the Moon this June!!!

We went to the gym for the first time since the end of February shut down.

I'm not even level one anymore. I'm like, level -2. I'm honestly crushed by how weak I am, how much progress I've lost.

I hit 199.4 lbs and am hovering. Hit 200 again a day later but I know that's not saying much... but I'm trying to stay positive, energized and on track. I just wish I'd see a little bit more of the results after punching up my exercise lately.

Age: 33
Height: 5'9"
Starting Weight on 4/16: 270

Here's what my weigh-ins look like this month so far (I weigh in on Saturdays)
-6/6 245.0
-6/13 243.4
-6/20 239.8
-6/27 238.8

My goals for June
-Log food every day and stay under 1650 calories check
-Drink 128oz of water per day check
-Stick to workout schedule
-Day 1 Chest/Shoulder, 30min treadmill check
-Day 2 Legs/Abs, 30mins treadmill check
-Day 3 Arms/Back, 30mins treadmill check
-Day 4 Rest day check

So I decided to recalculate my calories since I've lost 30 pounds and MFP set my daily limit to 1600 instead of 1650 so I'm going to use that amount now. One thing that I have really been thinking about lately though is what to do with exercise calories that it says I've earned. So far I have not eaten any exercise calories, I've always just stayed within my set daily limit. I've been doing strength training for a couple months, and just added the cardio in a few weeks ago. I feel tired all the time and it's getting harder to complete my workouts due to feeling drained before the end. Is it because I'm not eating enough? The other day I had a hard workout and a really busy day and MFP said I had earned 1400 exercise calories. I feel that's a little ridiculous, but I think I'm going to try eating a portion of my exercise calories every day and see if it helps.

Do you guys eat your exercise calories?

Isn't it time for this year to be over??????????????

My Mom died in early March out of state. Had to arrange to bring her back her for her funeral. This was the first week of Covid shutdown. Funeral could only have 10 people in attendance; sad for so many reasons and on so many levels.

Then into full isolation due to Covid. Everything closed. Groceries delivery only. Dealing with isolation, boredom, major "cabin fever", lack of physical contact with other humans, etc.

Then, hit with 500 year flood and it's aftermath. Three days of Flood Watch to determine if I would need to evacuate while worried about family who already had to evacuate twice from two locations. Brother's house flooded over 5 feet inside house totally destroying everything. Can't help with cleanup so volunteered to do laundry (SIL major quilter so trying to salvage her finished work as well as other sheets, bedding, etc). Also making daily runs to Flood Distribution Centers for cleanup supplies, food, water, etc.

Finally, about first of June, Michigan starting to slowly open back up. Restaurants having seating available while following distancing guidelines, etc as mandated by state. Thrilled I'm finally able to get a restaurant meal occasionally, but still playing it safe for the most part.

June 9-10, had inspectors come in and they determined I had black mold in the house ... which grows and spreads mega rapidly. So, due to lung conditions and allergies, I had to move out of my house. Since all cleaning & restoration services in our state are heavily engaged with flood restoration, they are hard to get booked. Most were quoting 6-8 weeks before they could start. Luckily, I had an experience last year with Modernistic and promoted them heavily for their excellent work so they graciously worked with me this time ... but it was still almost 2 weeks before they could get into my house. Then had a house cleaning service come in to clean my house top to bottom and do laundry for any fabrics (like bedding, drapes, etc) that may have been exposed to mold spoor. Since I had never had mold issues in the 40+ years in this house, the inspectors felt I may have introduced it with the black plastic bags of flood contaminated quilts, etc that I brought into the house. GREAT!! I created this mini disaster myself.

So, I am back home (after living in a 10-foot camper for almost a month. Have laundry to do, inventories to do -- so I can put in an order for delivery, and make to-do lists LOL.

I seriously don't have the energy or time to read all the posts I've missed so will just start from here. Congrats to all who have lost during this time! Hang in there to those who've been maintaining or gaining!! Welcome to any folks who are new or who have returned after a time away.

It's great to be back. Hope to restart my new normal in this unnormal time we're living in right now. Hope y'all have a great day!

@cesse47 - Oh my goodness. I am so sorry. You have had a rough month. You were putting so much energy into helping others that you ended up making things worse for your own situation. May all the wonderful energy you created helping others be returned to you during your struggle getting your home back in order. (((Hug)))) ❤

@Tazaria87 - regarding eating back exercise calories: I've been training for a half marathon. If I didn't eat back exercise calories my body would be forced to burn muscle - that could cause permanent heart damage. So, if you are exercising with any level of intensity, yes, you should be eating more calories on days you work out. The question is, how many? MFP and exercise equipment tend to overstate how many calories you burn. Fitness trackers that measures your heart rate continuously and are programmed with your height, weight and gender do a much better job of calculating burn. I don't log my exercise in MFP, but I sync it with my FitBit HR and it does a pretty good job of calculating. I probably eat back about 2/3 of what I burn, but some days, I'm just hungry and I eat them all. I am still losing. If you feel wiped out after exercise, I would surmise that you are either not fueling enough before and after exercise or not hydrating enough. When I'm adequately hydrated and refuel before, during and after exercise, I am tired after a 2 hour run, but I still have energy. If I don't do those things, I'm a complete couch potato for the rest of the day, and even the next day. Look, we all want to lose weight, but there is no prize for getting to your goal a or two month earlier. It's better to lose weight slowly and sustainably and in a way that supports your exercise goals and that means eating back at least some of those exercise calories.

@cesse47 You've gone through so much, but look how strong you are in doing so! That's really inspiring. Sorry for all the hardships you're facing though, those must be super difficult to navigate right now. But you're going to be OK and 2020 may have a few months to go but here's to hoping things quickly turn around.

Name: Jane
Age: 55
SW: 286.5 (6/3/19)
GW: 175
5/31 weight: 179.3

Weekly tracking
6/6: 180.1
6/13: 179.1
6/20: 176.9
6/27: 176.0
6/30:

Goals for June:
Run 11 miles on June 22nd ✔
Walk for 45 minutes a day ✔
Get 10,000 steps a day ✔ - missing one day this month.
Maintain a 500/calorie deficit/day ✔
Maintain below 180 ✔
Stay well heal my injuries/Stay safe/Not sick - So far so good. I'm back to running and trying to practice social distancing.

Had nice drop! Weight loss has slowed way down per my plan, but even so, it's still going in the right direction.

I'm now within my temporary goal to maintain between 173 and 177 through the summer. I might restart weight loss again in the Winter or Fall - but right now, I want to stay my current size so I don't have to buy new clothes! I still plan to keep tracking my food and weigh myself daily. This will be an interesting experiment to see how many calories I need to maintain.

Last Saturday I went out and ran the 1/2 marathon course - ran most of it anyway. I ended up walking the last 2 miles, but it was an 11 mile run. I was pretty sore afterwards, but I am confident now that I can run the whole thing next weekend. This week is just short gentle runs, and hopefully lots of sleep. Plus, carbo loading!! Yum!

My husband and I are on a little weekend getaway on the Oregon Coast in Depoe Bay. (I'm sure @shorepine knows where that is). It's a great spot for whale watching - we saw several yesterday just hanging out at the sea wall. We are eating in restaurants for the first time since March 14th. Last night's choice was not a good one. The food, service and view was fantastic - but way too many people. While tables were 6 feet apart, we were all breathing the same air while dining. It felt too risky - fortunately the food came quickly, so we ate efficiently and got the heck out of there without lingering. Tonight we have a reservation at a smaller place - they only have a few tables so I am hoping it won't feel like I'm taking my life in my hands and can actually enjoy the experience. Tonight I plan on getting dessert! After all, I need to carbo load, right?