Women 200lb+, Let's Jump For Joy This July!!!

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  • micwrites
    micwrites Posts: 123 Member
    KeriA wrote: »
    Thanks all for your support. I knew this was a possibility so I was somewhat prepared. My field is cyclical so I have been through this before but not with a pandemic thrown in.

    @mandti7213 losing weight is more about food but of course you need to figure in the exercise. With that much exercise you need to make sure you are fueling it enough as well.
    @CupcakeCruesoe I like that – weight loss is a marathon. Yes my kids were the same they wouldn’t eat a treat and it would be a temptation to me.
    @ChrysalisCove I have had smart watch issues too. Sorry.
    @cesse47 I listed some potential areas of focus now for me knowing I am not going right back to work and a lot was about decluttering. I think the transfer station is still closed but not good will. I do have experience teaching at the Community College level and I loved it. I also taught art to kids and home schooled a teen with autism. Right now I want work that is online/work from home with until the rate of infection slows way down. The schools here have just decided not to have in person instruction.
    Welcome new posters.
    @AlexandraFindsHerself I hate it when I forget to weigh! I love your cat descriptions. Our older kittens are almost twins. At first we couldn’t tell them apart well but now it is much easier. There are not many physical differences but a bunch of personality ones.
    @pamiede glad things are going again.
    @speyerj I hope you figure things out and feel better soon.
    @micwrites hope you had a great swim

    I did a lot of walking at the beach. My good knee is complaining a bit. I walk in the water at the beach and so there is resistance with each step. My legs and knees are not used to that and walking so long. Yesterday we had a shorter walk before driving home but I am sore and stiff. Thursday we had a short walk in the morning and a longer one in the afternoon. Hopefully my legs and knees will think regular walking is easier this week. I didn’t do any weight training but my legs did have that resistance work. I stayed under my calorie goal each day since I had all that walking despite all the yummy food.

    I am taking till the end of the month to consider next steps. Before my focus was on losing and getting stronger while I had the time in case I went back to work by Aug 1. Now I feel I can have a broader focus.

    So sorry to hear this news @KeriA. I am a real believer that the universe will bring you what you need when you need it. If there is a vacuum (loss of job), it will be filled. You seem to have a great attitude about it and I’m glad that you have some vacation time to rest and relax. Be good to yourself.
  • planktonbye
    planktonbye Posts: 65 Member
    speyerj wrote: »
    Only issue is that my blood pressure crept up this week and I started getting headaches. I've been off meds for about 7 weeks now. (Got taken off after a fainting spell when my blood pressure dropped too low). I'm frustrated by that. But I think I may know the cause. I stopped using my C-Pap machine about 3 weeks ago. I felt like I didn't need it since I'd lost so much weight. My occurrence of apneas during the night had gone way down and I thought maybe weight loss had cured me. Foolish Jane. I'm back to using it again and I'll keep monitoring and reach out to my doctor if a week of religious C-Pap use doesn't bring down the BP. I do not want to return to meds again!!

    Holy moley. Glad you're in close touch with your doctor! I agree, if you can control it without meds, best to do it that way.

  • changeforeverlj
    changeforeverlj Posts: 222 Member
    @cesse47 I love the tasks you set for yourself, you are so good at housework! Honestly, you put me to shame! I seem to be endlessly doing the washing, hanging up washing, folding washing, packing away washing, and then starting all over again!

    @pamiede What an amazing journey you have been on and the finish line is in sight, such sweet victory! I would love to read about the journey of your amazing loss of 121,4 pounds!! (When you get a chance) Sending you a virtual hug

    @BrownSugar174 What an awesome pic of you at the beach, fit and fabulous xx your smoothie looks delicious.

    @speyerj Oh, dear Jane that's not good news about your bp! Good thing you figured out what to do before having another fainting spell, I really hope it stabilizes so that you don't need to be on meds! Good luck with maintenance x

    @KeriA Glad, you got to enjoy your beach break and get some walking in! Praying that you are able to find another job that you really love soon! And that you will be ok in the meantime x

  • jm216
    jm216 Posts: 3,968 Member
    pamiede wrote: »
    @BrownSugar174 You look FANTASTIC!!!

    @speyerj I’ve has to really monitor my blood pressure as well. I’m still on BP meds, but my pressure will drop and I’ll have dizzy spells. My doctor has scaled back my meds twice. I’m hoping he’ll do it again at my next check up.

    Slowly but surely getting back to myself.
    fcbpjjr7pjtd.jpeg

    You look beautiful, smart, and fun in both pics...but healthier in the 2nd. 🥰
  • speyerj
    speyerj Posts: 1,369 Member
    BP was 121/74 this morning, so going back on C-Pap seems to be working.

    @pamiede - you look amazing. Looking forward to cheering you as you cross the finish line.

    @brownsugar174 - Looking fit and fabulous, as always!
  • wanderinglight
    wanderinglight Posts: 1,519 Member
    micwrites wrote: »
    I got my mug! Thank you @wanderinglight for the support, inspiration and great products! Every time I look at it I laugh. My daughter and I are fighting over it. New day here in every way. It’s 95 degrees but I’m out there in the yard doing things. Ready for a swim soon.

    So glad it arrived safely! And you are so welcome. Keep on rowing :)
  • mmdeveau
    mmdeveau Posts: 107 Member
    edited July 2020
    Welcome to all new posters on the thread!

    @SquidVonBob – sorry for your loss. It’s been a difficult time all-round this year, and it all seems to keep coming.

    @jspeyer – Hope controlling your BP is as “simple” as using your CPAP. I know how much of a pain it is but so many people realize huge benefits to using the CPAP. Sleep apnea not always weight-related. Even in my own family, both overweight and normal weight people need to use a CPAP.

    @pamiede – happy to hear you’re on the mend. You look great and now you’re so close to your goal, too!

    @KeriA – sorry to hear about your job. I’m glad you got some respite at the beach, and I hope you will find something soon! I think you mentioned you read that running actually helps knees. I have horrible knees, but when I run my knees feel better. I think it’s because my stronger leg muscles offer more support and take some of the stress off the joints. Of course losing weight helps, too.

    @AlexandraFindsHerself1972 – looks like you and your family – people and animals - are getting settled into your new place. It’s always a nice feeling, getting back on track.

    @puboochu – welcome! I had regained a significant amount of weight a little over a year ago and I had to start back slow. The first things I did: started exercising, started drinking more water, and started eating better. I know I lost weight, but I couldn’t face weighing myself. I started weighing again after Labor Day last year. Make small changes until they become habits, then add new changes. One day at a time.

    @BrownSugar174 - so glad to see your picture - you look great, and so happy on the beach.

    Height: 5' 6"
    SW (09/08/2019): 239.2 lbs
    July SW (7/1/20): 166.4 lbs
    7/5/20: 162.8 lbs
    7/12/20: 161.2 lbs
    7/19/20: 162.8 lbs
    7/26/20: 158.8 lbs

    July GW: under 160 lbs

    GW: 150 lbs – I’ll be happy when I reach this initial goal weight, because it’s when I will truly be half my size! But looking at myself now in the 160s, it looks like I have at least 20 more pounds to lose.

    Goals for July:
    • Running: I’ve been running or walking 3 or 4 days a week. I tried to run a long run yesterday, but I went out later than I planned and the heat just sapped my energy. I really need to start carrying some water with me, I think dehydration has been getting to me, even when there’s no heat wave. I did get a run in that was a bit longer than my “regular” 6-mile run.
    • Cross training: I cross-trained on the bike three days this week.
    • Weight training: I swear I’m going to start doing planks this week.
    • Water: Keep drinking water, at least 128 ounces a day – definitely tried this week to get more than the 128 ounces.
    • Skin: Still so bad with this.
    So last week I bemoaned that I wasn’t losing weight. I started to go in the wrong direction, again, in the middle of the week, then the next day the fates stepped in and I had a huge whoosh. I really hope it’s a “permanent” whoosh and not a fluke. The huge whoosh was followed with a surprise mini-whoosh of a 1 pound loss the next day, hopefully a bit of trend that will continue.

    Very glad to have met my weight goal for July, though I’m not ready to make it official until the 31st.

    I still struggle a bit with emotions surrounding my scale weight. The mid-week increase didn’t affect me the way it would have even last week, though. I hope I’m back to the scale weight is just a number mode. I listened to the Phit n’ Phat podcast this week and a lot of it was about the scale being tied to happiness, and how we need to watch our internal monologues because the language we use is important.

    I once read something about the connection between gut health and weight gain/control. I find it interesting that I has so much trouble after finishing a course of strong antibiotics.

    Someone mentioned listening to podcasts. I don’t listen to as many, but I found the “How Did This Get Made?” podcast. They discuss bad movies and it’s hysterical. Like many other podcasts, there’s a bit of a language warning. I don’t know if anyone remembers the website Television Without Pity, but How Did This Get Made? reminds me of that site. I do miss Television without Pity…

    Five more days to go in July. Good luck wrapping up this month and hopefully meeting your goals. I feel like we all deserve some sort of prize for getting through each month of 2020!
  • orangequilt
    orangequilt Posts: 4,723 Member
    Age 51
    Highest weight 105.5kg (aug 2018)
    Lowest weight 94.7kg (march 2020)
    Goal weight 80kg
    start weight 99.2kg start of month
    Goal weight 98.0 kg end of month
    actual weight 100.2kg

    July goals

    💛 To plan my meals in advance for the week have just started this

    💛 To keep snacks under 25% of cals wk 1 - 35%, wk 2 - 25%, nearly there! wk 3 - 24%, yay!, wk 4 - 25%

    💛 To keep average for the week under 2000 cals gross wk 1 - 2381, wk 2 - 2133, wk 3 - 2044, wk 4 - 2307, didn't make it this month

    Weighed in the same this week as last.

    However, I did have a think about @wanderinglight 's post about willpower, and I sat down and had a think about it. I think for me (and everyone is different), I need to keep my focus on eating healthier, and not try to achieve lots of other goals. Other goals, such as exercise, normally lead to me eating more. I do a fair amount of exercise anyway, I walk everywhere because I don't have a car, I like to swim a couple of times a week and I like to do yoga or a dance class once or twice a week. If I do more than this, I tend to feel like I need a 'reward'. Plus the more time I am outside the house, the more likely I am to have a meal out, or to buy snacks. So if I'm going to lose weight it needs to be my primary focus.
  • AlexandraFindsHerself1971
    AlexandraFindsHerself1971 Posts: 3,106 Member
    edited July 2020
    I saw Hana today crouched with wiggling rear as a squirrel sat and calmly ate dropped seeds from the bird feeder three feet from her through the glass of the sun porch. Nyx chittered at a red-bellied woodpecker that was eating peanuts. They spend a lot of time out there and seem to be happy.

    I still have to rework my pantry. It's not quite right yet. I have some risers coming for the cans and boxes of food, and that will help, but I just have to figure out what needs to be on what shelf so I can find what I need and not get bogged down in the stuff that I use once a year.

    Today I went to the store and did some precooking for next week; a half-batch of beef enchiladas, a bison/pork meatloaf that is still in the oven, and plenty of hot and mild taco beef, which gets used in tacos, fills enchiladas and chimichangas, goes into taco salads and burritoes, etc. I can't take the heat, so mine is mild and Boyfriend and Girlfriend get the hot, and I put Rotel tomatoes in the hot so that I can tell it apart at a glance when the mise en place is set to make things. I have peppers out that I need to dice for the next quichecake, but that may get done tomorrow morning; I'm running out of steam.

    I've felt hot and miserable all day. I don't know if it's just the heat or if it's triggering off hot flashes (cause I get those too) but feh. I strongly suspect the next few weeks are going to be me drinking all the ice water and doing the bare minimum and sleeping in the afternoons, cause this is not comfortable. Yes, we have air conditioning, but even with the door shut to the bedroom, the window unit only got it down to 80 while I was napping. I had to take a cold shower when I got up.
  • planktonbye
    planktonbye Posts: 65 Member
    edited July 2020
    KeriA wrote: »
    I do have experience teaching at the Community College level and I loved it. I also taught art to kids and home schooled a teen with autism. Right now I want work that is online/work from home with until the rate of infection slows way down. The schools here have just decided not to have in person instruction.

    I did some online tutoring with Brainfuse for a time (chemistry and math, but there are lots of other subjects). The pay was pretty rough, $12/hr, but when you consider no commute and no work clothes/food, it looked a little better. A lot easier than babysitting at $15/hr...ask me how I know. The forums at https://www.wahm.com/ were good to get me started looking for something, but it seems like they may be less active at the moment. Less successfully, I did some transcription for Appen Butler Hill (it was fine, it's just that the pay was even lower). I believe I went through the hiring process to do search engine annotation (word choice?) for either Leapforce or Lionbridge, but I never actually worked for them.

    This is going back several years, though, so I bet by now there are some real living wage remote jobs out there. I'm sure you'll find something great!

  • AlexandraFindsHerself1971
    AlexandraFindsHerself1971 Posts: 3,106 Member
    I got the dishes done from last night's precooking event, and did lunch and cleaned up after it, and shoved a path through the boxes so that when my sons come down (25 and 20) they can put the air conditioner in the window of the sewing/guest room. That will help the upstairs in general, and in specific it will make it possible for me to work in the sewing room and get it guest-capable. It is so not there yet. (sigh) Also got one room dusted and swept. That's good for as hot as it is. I'm going to sit in front of the fan and drink cold tea and game until the boys get here/it's time to cook dinner.
  • BrownSugar174
    BrownSugar174 Posts: 311 Member
    Today I was introduced to MisFits Market! Here’s what the company is all about/their mission:

    “We believe everyone deserves access to affordable, fresh, and healthy food. In America, many of us still don’t have access to high-quality fresh fruits and vegetables. We waste as much food as we eat. Almost half of what our nation’s farms grow is never eaten. Much of this is due to modern-day beauty standards for food. Funny-looking fruits, misshapen vegetables, and delicious but odd-sized produce are squandered at every level. It’s not healthy, it’s expensive, it’s a problem at a huge scale, and it doesn’t fit with our view of the world. It’s why we started a company to do something about it.

    OUR MISSION
    Bring delicious, fresh, and affordable rescued produce to people everywhere and reduce food waste at a scale that creates positive and lasting impact. Unlike other brands, we aren’t focused just on dense urban areas. We are made to go to every zip code in the states we serve, and be within reach of every household. We are putting fresh produce that might not check all the boxes for perfection into boxes, and sending it straight to you. Sooner than you’d be able to buy it at a store. For half the price. And most importantly, our location is your location. Whether you’re next door to a fancy grocery store, in the middle of a food desert, or somewhere in between. Every box of Misfits Market produce you order benefits farmers, helps prevent food waste, and ultimately helps save our environment. Our rapidly expanding Greater Philadelphia-based operation rescues produce from regional farms and distributes it throughout the Northeast, South, and Midwest in three business days or less.”

    I ordered our first box and it should be delivered soon!!👏🏽👏🏽

    https://www.misfitsmarket.com/collections/the-misfits-boxes
  • KeriA
    KeriA Posts: 3,338 Member
    @BrownSugar174 Nice picture and you are look great.
    @pamiede nice results medication and pictures.
    @mmdeveau glad that swoosh came.
    @orangequilt I agree about focus on one main thing. I did that this month not that it worked that much.
    @snaileatsplants One idea about setting your maintenance calorie goal is to use a TDEE calculator. Just like when you are losing you need to truth test things a bit since these calculators just give you an estimate. When I took a break from a deficit I went up to my estimated maintenance calories slowly. I didn’t just start eating them. I actually started to lose. That is why I think it is a good idea to intentionally have breaks from a deficit when you are losing a lot. It helps you learn how to eat at maintenance. I don’t think it is that easy at 1st to do that. As to some of the other issues you mention I think you need to determine what you feel is a healthy weight for you. It sounds like it will take some adjustments to figure that out. We are all different and what is healthy for one may not be for another. You shouldn’t judge by others but that means figuring out what you think is healthy and comfortable. You shouldn’t let others make you put the weight back on either just to rebel against their prejudice. I definitely think most of us will have that decision to make what we feel our ideal weight is. I think I would get to that goal you decided on or another that you think makes more sense and try maintaining there for a while then decide if it is right or not for you. One thing I know is that even when I gained back weight I was healthier than I was before because of changes I made to my diet and because of exercise. I have less inflammation. I can see the health as I lose. I am not sure that it is as obvious when you are younger. Don’t just think about yourself now think about yourself through the years. Think about the quality of life you want to have not only now but in the future. I read a book about 8 years ago by a doctor who saw the quality of life diminishing in his patients as they aged so he researched what would help them to feel better and not get injured or ill. There is an amount and intensity of exercise that actually helps our bodies to have regenerative qualities. There are foods that keep our minds healthier. Strength training once or twice a week helps. Listen and see your body and get to know it and keep nurturing it.
    @changeforeverlj you and @BrownSugar are making me already miss the beach. I can walk a lot farther on a beach although I was really sore and stiff when I got back on Friday and Saturday.
    @AlexandraFindsHerself Seattlites don’t do well with heat. We are such wimps. It was in the high 80s and it was hard on us. I did exercise anyway and made Tortilla soup.
    @planktonbye thanks for the ideas.

    I had a good, productive day and got a strength training session done. Unfortunately I waited until it was the hottest time of the day. We are having what is for us a heat wave. This weekend I had planned meals and ordered groceries to be picked up for the 1st time. So that is taken care of. I have been keeping calories low for the last few days and have kept below my net calorie goal even when at the beach. So hopefully there will be a bit more loss before the end of the month. I was able to drink more now that I am at home.
  • AlexandraFindsHerself1971
    AlexandraFindsHerself1971 Posts: 3,106 Member
    The heat wasn't as awful today. I need to call the company that made our patio enclosure and see about the screen panels. The previous owner had a large dog, and there are a lot of squirrels in the back yard. So all the screens are torn. I need to find out if we can pop them out of the tracks to replace them or if the company does it.