Women 200lb+, Let's Seize the Day This September!!!

@RavenStCloud, thank you for creating this space for us!

Hi everyone! I know I have been absent the last two months on this wonderful thread, but I am hoping to be active again for September.

SW: 272
CW: 240
GW: under 240 for September

Summer was ROUGH for me, hence the dropping off forums for two months. I started slipping with my eating habits, falling back into old habits that I know are not healthy for me, and just a general depression. I work full time, I'm in graduate school, and I am a step-mom to three young kiddos. Life got the better of me and I needed to get my focus back. I finally feel like I am in a good spot again and I have started regularly tracking my food as well as exercising again.

My goal weight for September is just under 240. I find when I give myself a specific number I start to feel pressure and then am more likely to self-sabotage. Losing weight has been as much of a health journey as well as a mental health journey. I am learning more about my triggers and what I need to do to make my weight loss successful.

September Goals
*Continue exercising 3-5x a week, preferably 4
*Track food daily, even when over calorie goals
*Continue practicing self-kindness when working on relationship with food

September GW: 191.4
8/31: 201.4 lbs
9/8: 199.6 (-1.8 lbs)
9/14:
9/21:
9/28:

Moving in the right direction, but that September goal is looking pretty far off lol. But will keep pushing! The 4 week bike program I started this month is kicking my butt, but I will keep at it. These past few weekends I haven't done a good job with food or water. I feel like it's almost derailing the success I'm having during the week - gotta get a handle on it.

The other thing I noticed this weekend is visibly I'm starting to see changes - which is great. But I almost feel like in some ways it provides a reason for me to slack off if that makes sense? A reason for me to not be as committed because hey if I'm seeing results and not going 100% its okay because obviously it's working. Last time I lost weight I was down to about size 10/8 but I still was nowhere near a healthy weight. I think because I reached a point where I liked what I saw in the mirror, and I slacked off. So yes of course ultimately I want to be happy with what I see in the mirror, but I also want to be closer to a healthy weight. So I need to focus on embracing the journey and celebrating the changes I see, but also keep my eye on the long term goal.

Age : 30 Height 5'5”
Highest weight: 214.2

CW:212.6
9/1: 212.6
9/8: 213.0
9/15:
9/22:
9/29:

Slightly Revised Goals:
💕 - 8 glasses of water a day
💕 - track my food intake daily, and push myself to not “give up” if I overeat at one meal/one day
💕 - avoid late night unhealthy eating by substituting fruit/moving from the couch

38 years old
Height: 5' 7"

SW (6/9/2020): 330.0 lbs
September SW (8/29/20): 278.4 lbs
Goal weight: 180 lbs

9/6: 276.2 lbs
9/13
9/20:
9/27:

Goals:
* Keep logging in MFP
* Continue and complete the next weeks of the T-25 Beta cycle and start the T-25 Gamma cycle
* Make time for me to relax even though classes have started again
* Continue with my Duolingo streak for at least 3 of the 4 languages I am trying to learn

A quick pic of our baby Airstream, Wanda 😍

Hello,

This is my first post since 2017. I'm a serial (re)starter. Last time I was here I lost 70 lbs and subsequently gained 100 back (unfortunately not the first time I've done that). I'm starting again at my highest weight ever looking to lose about 125 lbs.

Age 52 (In 2 weeks), Height 5'10"
Highest weight: 324lbs (9/1/2020)
Lowest weight: 212lbs (10/2009) - recently 230 (10/2017)

CW:
9/1:324
9/8: 320.3

I suppose my goal for the month is to get my wedding ring on without jamming it on my finger.

Weigh in Wednesday:

49 years old; 5'6"
SW: 236.4 (9/8/19)
8/31: 189.9
9/9: 190.7
9/16:
9/23:
9/30:

Gah!! A bit annoyed with my gain this week as my low was 187.3. But I know the scale plays trails and am feeling good about my progress.

Intermittent Fasting: I have mornings down but need to cut off food by 8 pm.
Diet: Per my cardiologist, I will follow a Mediterranean diet. This has been going fairly well with the exception of having a hamburger at my mom’s house. I have been much more attuned to saturated fats and oils this past week.
Weight loss: I am shooting for an average of 1400 calories per day. I was actually closer to 1800 per day; still adjusting to what I can fit in my budget.
Exercise: 40 minutes on the exercise bike during the work week. I did this 4/7 days and for 1 hour 2 of those times!
Sleep: Restart using my CPAP. Yes!!
Relaxation: Meditate twice daily. Need to incorporate.

This has been a really tough week and I am proud of what I did accomplish. My son and husband had a bike accident last Wednesday. Thankfully my son is fine but my husband is in the hospital with 5 fractured ribs and a punctured lung. He is in surgery as I write this for his 3rd chest tube. We are hoping the procedure is successful and that with proper placement they can drain the air from his chest cavity and his lung can start to heal property. If not they may have to put a patch on the lung. At first i was coming everyday to see him but we have been limiting my visits recently because of Covid risk. I’m here now trying to distract myself.

I feel silly posting this week in light of all of that. Fitting in a few workouts and extending them beyond my 40 minute goal was a major accomplishment for me. My body feels stronger. Also not eating my feelings and not medicating stress with unlimited food was a big accomplishment. Which is not to say that I have been perfect but I am proud I did not backslide completely.

Wednesday weigh in

Highest weight: 435 (11/1/18)--lost 50 lbs. by the end of 2018 but got off track and gained back almost 31 lbs.
SW: 415.8 (4/17/19)

8/26: 213.6
8/31: 211.2
9/2: 210.4
9/9: 209.6
9/16:
9/23:
9/30:

Sept. GW: 204.2
GW: 160 (then reevaluate)

Weekly exercise goals:
- bike ride or exercise bike 5 times per week - 5/5
- strength training (including core specific exercises) 2 times per week - 2/2; added a new exercise this past week
- chair yoga 4 times per week - 4/4
- steps onto aerobic step platform twice a day at least 3 times per week - 4/3; increased reps this past week; plan to increase reps again this week

A small loss again this week. My pattern lately seems to be a smaller than projected loss followed by a larger than projected loss to catch up to about where I should be and repeat. I still wish the losses would be more consistent but as long as I eventually get to where I "should" be, that's what really matters...or so I keep telling myself.

Only 1 planned trip to help my parents again this week means another week where I should have no excuses not to hit my exercise goals!

We went from really hot weather to cool and rainy. And with the rain has come the winds. We can use the rain but a couple days would be enough! It looks like I'll be doing the exercise bike more than riding my bike outside.

I have to renew my driver's license tomorrow. I guess I'll put my real weight on it...probably for the first time in about 20 years! I'm well below the fake weight I put on it last time. I kind of wish I had reached onederland before having to renew but hopefully next renewal, if I'm still around then.

Good luck with your goals this week!

@tnkshozi glad you have a better work environment now
@iloveeggnog Happy 100th! Congratulations on this success. What a post!
@ThisMagicMoment I hope you have a great month. But 1st have a great week.
@torihudson6 I agree I think of my monthly weight goal more as a range. For now mine is to get in the mid 240s and stay out of the 250s. In my usualy variations I did hit 250 so that is gone but I can get and stay in the mid 240s anyway since I got to 246.6. Lower 240s would be great! You are doing a lot. Just keep doing your best to take care of yourself. I like fall too but we are having the hottest September and now we have smoke from eastern part of our state.
@motivatedsister I started reading your post but stopped and got some water. Thanks! I am struggling again with this?! I think we shouldn’t be thinking of this as a temporary thing. So that there shouldn’t be any slacking off even when we reach our healthy weight. We just will then switch to maintaining a healthy weight and I suspect I will be working on quite a bit of toning. This is about healthy eating and being fitter not about reaching somewhere and slacking off. However I am not saying what you are talking about is not totally normal. It is but I think that is because so many of us aren’t really approaching this as a permanent life change but as a temporary life fix.
@lilann1961 I know how are we in Sept already and yet when will we get through 2020 already? You are inspiring me to get on my Gazelle a poor woman’s elliptical. I would like to work up to 30 min any day I don’t do my strength training routine or go on a walk. Mine is really cheap it doesn’t even have resistance but then I do. 100 lbs but now it isn’t really 100lbs and that is progress. My heel starts to hurt when I get past 15-20 minutes. Today I will try with my new shoes. I will think of your bees when I do my Gazelle today.
@wanderlinglight great check in. Love your baby. So cute. Now I want to see inside.
@amina71016 I wouldn’t call it very indulgent Labor Day Weekend for me but it still set me back a bit.
@aliciap0116 Hope your husband is doing well.
@MuttiNM Yesterday I spent time trying to develop a resistance band workout because in straightening up and decluttering we found mine. In my research I kept thinking of you. Things you are working at to get strong kept coming up. Like chair yoga and step aerobics even though I wasn’t looking for them. You have given getting stronger a lot of good thought and work. Congratulations for putting your real weight on your driver’s license.
@AlexandraFindsHerself You reminded me that I could have some muscle holding water issues this morning too? Last week I didn’t exercise and yesterday I did my strength training. Fitting into jeans you didn’t last week to me is a much bigger indicator of progress than the scale so congrats! Glad you are having a better week. I feel like a nap after going to the grocery store these days. Wearing a mask and having to go the right way down aisles and just trying to get out of there fast. I have been able to avoid it more with ordering for pick up and our weekly dairy order. I need the activity but not the risk.

I read all of your posts.

We got caught up in our cleaning, straightening and de-cluttering this weekend and didn’t get to the grocery store. So we got caught getting take out. We got Pho Tai and Banh Mi. We live near a place that has great Banh Mi (Vietnamese sandwiches). It even made it into the top ones in the city that were reviewed by our local paper. In fact I was able to change a friends mind about Banh Mi because of this place. She lives in Houston for most of the year and she said she didn’t like them, had tried several times and said that Houston has a big Vietnamese community which it does. I was shocked. I love them. She said they were dry. I said dry?! Then you need to try the ones we get. They aren’t dry. We ordered out for a social distancing picnic in our backyard. She liked them. However this weekend they did me in. We each got Pho Tai and our own Banh Mi. I usually just share a Banh Mi and I get a small Pho. Pho is a rice noodle soup. I had leftovers but then that meant that I had more for lunch yesterday extending the impact further into the week. Anyway that is over with. My husband picked up the items on the shopping list last night.

However I am still happy about progress we made on rooms we needed to de-clutter this weekend. We found things we were missing. One was some resistance bands I had. So one thing I did yesterday was research on exercises using them. I also tweeked my strength training routine which includes free and body weight exercises, etc. I am continuing to work on the things we started last weekend as well which are more active tasks. I also got in my strength training session which I try to do 1-2 times a week but last week didn’t get any exercise between Drs and job appointments. I broke in my new Brooks. So I plan to get some exercise in each day this week. I also need to step up the water intake again.

One find while straitening was a whole set of new cookware which was like a reward for all my work doing deep cleaning of the kitchen. Not to mention all the home cooking I have been doing since March. It was a gift my son didn’t want which we had stored. We actually need new cookware that works better with our new range which this does. So today I will make what I planned for Labor Day. So I better get my exercise in now. I should really check in here in the mornings. Lots of insights and inspirations you have really help. I also have one de-cluttering task to do today too.