30lbs to lose... Started AGAIN yesterday (Darn Lockdown Snacking)

Y'all I buckled under curiosity after 3 solid days of unwavering 191.4 and stepped on my scale again... 189.9! I broke into the 180s! Goodbye 190s... let's hope I never see them again (realistically in a couple more weeks cause weight fluctuation...). That was a victory I needed to help me finish off the week strong! Happy friday everyone!

Made my calories goal today and found some exercise routines I think I want to start with, but also passed out on my couch watching them on youtube... gotta work tomorrow so I think I'll just go to bed early. Not eating enough protein in my meals this week and its making me kinda sluggish on top of the lack of committing to a decent bedtime.

Planning to go for a hike Sunday in one of our great state parks. Gonna head out early and get a long hike in before its too ungodly hot. This has been a very long week and I'm mentally exhausted. Kinda sad I'm gonna give up sleeping in Sunday to go hiking but I'll reward myself with a nap when we finish... lol

@mammagemz way to remember to take breaks to move some! I get hyper-focused on tasks and wont move for hours on end. I am quite productive during those times but also quite still.

@clutterqueen eyes on the prize... or something like that.

I don't really know what I want my end goal to be for weight... I was 145 in high school and despite being an athlete I wasn't really skinny at 145. I had myself fooled once that I'd be happy at 165 and probably look great. However I hit 168 once (about 6 years ago) and I felt great but was still chubby looking and not in shape by any means. So now I'm thinking maybe I need to try for 145 and see what I look like and feel like... I haven't grown since I was 13. So 145 may be even still overweight. I worry though, why in high school as an athlete was I not less than 145? And why was I still the slowest runner on the basketball team despite attending practices like everyone else... are my genetics stacked against me? I mean I don't wanna be a marathon runner or anything, but if I was active at 17 and still 145, how tough is it gonna be to get there and maintain that? I don't think I had been eating to maintain 145... pretty sure I was a very hungry teenager thinking I could get away with eating whatever. Big pints of chocolate milk and hefty servings of dinner...

Realistically I had set a goal for 160 then I thought "well, let's do 150", but I guess I'm not gonna know til I get closer and find out what's manageable. For now i think 150 is a good number. Some "top of the hill" to look at as I go. Good night all.

Calories check
4500 steps (not my 6k)
Bed by 1030 check

@MommaGemz stay safe with the storms and good luck with your projects this weekend!

I am down from 160 to 157.5 this week. Not a bad restart. I was really good the past few days. Today I exercised but still didn’t hit my step goal. We went to visit my parents so were in the car a lot. Even with the pizza I stayed within my calories though, so I guess that’s something.

I posted that my goal was to lose 20-25lbs. I’m hoping to do that my upping my water intake to 72oz a day (I know random, but it’s my 3x my water bottle), exercising at least 30 min 5x week, and keeping to my calories. My husband is trying to lose weight as well so we try to be each other’s cheerleaders.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Haven't been posting very much because I've been hugely frustrated by my weight. I had one horrendous week where after hitting my target, my weight increased every single day (and I was continuing to do all the right things).

After a period of self-reflection, I don't think I actually gained any weight, I just don't think I lost it in the first place. If I remove that week from my stats, my overall trend looks normal. I think I simply sweated off a huge amount of weight during the heatwave, and when I thought I was lighter, I was just severely dehydrated.

I feel marginally better in assessing that I didn't lose the weight in the first place, as opposed to gained it back.

I've also been struggling with putting up my calories. I went from 1,200 to 1,300, which seemed to trigger a backlash from my body. I think that's now calming down, but that was also hard to deal with. It's made me realise that I don't want to get to my goal weight eating at around 1,200 calories - I want to gradually up what I'm eating along the way so when I hit goal, I won't be much below maintenance.

1,200 was right for me at the start of this and I'm grateful for how much I've managed to lose, but my body needs to understand this is is me eating at a deficit, this isn't my forever allowance, and the day I finally hit a BMI of 24.9, I am going to start eating at maintenance rather than continuing to lose. This is going to take more gradual progress - I've conquered mind over body in getting to this point, but now I need to think about the body as well. I can't just decide later down the line to go from 1,200 to 1,800 - my body needs more time to understand that message.

Having a birthday during a pandemic was also a little tough. (Your BMR goes down for a start! Bloody unfair!) But as I've said, I've had some time for self-reflection. I've evaluated my goals, and I'm anticipating getting to where I need to be in time for Summer 2021, which is later than I was originally planning, but in my view, more realistic. It also allows me time to conquer some non-weight related life goals - for example, there are some exams I want to sit between now and then.

I guess I feel more comfortable having reviewed and modified my goals - and I'm looking forward to getting there with a renewed determination.

Welcome to @jroy1999! Congratulations to everyone for the progress you've made since I've been hiding, and I see I'm not the only one who has been making some keen observations and reflections on goals.

Here's to the start of a new, great week for everyone..

I gotta quit hitting done instead of post reply... sigh.

@thelastnightingale Glad to see you back posting! Sorry you've had some frustration, but remember we are also here to help each other make it through that. You don't only have to post when you are making progress... sharing your struggles will help anyone reading know they aren't the only ones. It's human to feel frustrated. Glad you talked yourself through what happened and have a new resolve to move forward! Welcome back!

@clutterqueen nice job on those check marks!

I ended up with 18.9k steps today... our shoes and socks got soaked from the dew on the grassy trails in the first hour, so that part wasn't great, but the hike was lovely. So not ready for Monday, but I bet I sleep good tonight. Here's to a good week ahead guys!

You guys seem amazing and I want some of that motivation! Feel free to add me!

Hi all,
Busy week and TOM coupled with a bit more back pain (probably due to TOM cramps blagh).
I’ve kept up my calorie intake goals.
I’ve kept up my workout routines as planned and that makes me feel good!
Weight has stayed between 152-153, again TOM and hopefully workout recovery.
@thelastnightingale you’ve done some serious self-reflecting! Congratulations on reassessing what your body needs!!
@MommaGemz i didn’t see a loss this week either, it’s sometimes hard to remember that weight loss isn’t linear! But you know in the big picture you’re in the right track.
Everyone is doing great keeping with goals and lovely hikes!! And welcome to some new names!
I’m hoping to be more focused this week!

It’s late so I’ll wait until tomorrow to post messages.

Exercise:✅
Tracked: ✅
Under: ✅

Hey! Add me if you'd like! I'd love to be friends and we can support each other! Anyone else on this thread who would like another friend add me as well!

@MommaGemz I feel like the scale is either kind or horrid to us at the same time... after last week's unexpected spike up, my weight has finally gone back down to where it was last fortnight (less a tiny faction further), so I'm back to a BMI of 29.9. We've had some lovely storms (the good kind, not the destroy-everything-in-sight kind) and I feel lighter within myself, so it feels more real this time.

My body seems to have finally accepted the slightly increased calorie allowance, which is good. I'm now toying with having one treat day a week where I eat closer to maintenance (I have MFP premium so can in theory set custom goals for different days of the week), but I'll see how I get on. @clutterqueen I've had a few of those days lately too, where I've just wanted to eat and eat, which is why I'm considering the one 'day off'. However, a controlled day off where I don't lose, but I don't gain, as opposed to one where I don't count anything.

Mentally, the last fortnight has been hard, but I made it through to the other side. Now to keep going...

@kcd394 I used to struggle with free lunches at work on the occasions they were provided... I wanted to be grateful and enjoy the food, but I also felt apprehension at not being in control of how many calories I was eating. Sounds like you've got it down though, with the extra treadmill and adjusting the rest of the day - I think that's an achievement in itself, because it shows you can take the unexpected food things in your stride (quite literally, with the treadmill as your exercise!) and not freak out.

I still haven't been out for food or had a takeaway, but mentally, I'm getting closer to the place where I can do that without freaking out.

Short-term/medium-term goals:

- Continue to get used to eating above 1,200 calories
- Work on sleeping at night, and sleeping for longer uninterrupted
- Consider a regular maintenance day
- Eat a takeaway without feeling guilty/without feeling out of control

Perhaps not your traditional diet goals, but this is supposed to be a lifestyle change not a diet, and I think those goals fit within that mindset. I don't just want to be thinner, I want to be thinner, healthier and happier. It's about more than sticking to a calorie allowance...

Have a great day, everyone.