30 pounds to lose challenge by March 2021

I’ll join you. My goal is to drop 15-20 pounds but to also build muscle mass.
Weight: 235
Goal: 217

Oh forgot. Starting weight at highest: 170. Now 165. Goal 140.

I'd love to hear your tips, especially recipes. One thing I have learned to do recently is to mix whatever I usually mix with mayonnaise , like tuna, hard boiled eggs etc. I now mix with Tzaziki sauce. It's in the section of your market near the hummus, usually, or one can make their own. It's basically Greek yogurt , cucumbers and some spices. It is really very good as your "mayo" in egg salad or tuna salad and much lower in calories.

I’ll join, although it may be a bit aggressive. I still would love the support and accountability.

5’1” F 33

12/5/20 Start Weight 146
4/30/21 Goal Weight 116

1/1/21 Goal 138
2/1/21 Goal 132
3/1/21 Goal 126
4/1/21 Goal 121
5/1/21 Goal 116

@JenT304, thanks for inviting us (on another forum) to drop in even if 30 lbs. by March is not our goal (My metabolism says 30 lbs. by summer is just doable). But the motivation here is great, and Ruby is wonderful at keeping a forum lively.

Since July 6, when I quit drinking alcohol, I've lost 31 lbs. So 6 lbs./month seems to be where my body is happy in weight loss. A couple of things that have helped me:

1. I created a graph for each month with the lbs. (by 5's) down the left hand side--with the top being a weight I knew I probably wouldn't exceed even with fluctuations--and the dates along the bottom. I weigh every day, so each day I put a dot where my weight is and then draw the lines between dots. Here is why that has helped me:
A. Each month, that top number I have to write in gets lower, so that's encouraging.
B. Looking back at the 5 graphs, I can see a lot of "M" shapes--where the weight jumps up (sometimes by a LOT, like 3 lbs. in one day) but then goes right back down, then up again, then down, then stays down for a while. It helps when I'm discouraged to look at those "M" shapes and realize they happen a couple of times every single month, so not to let myself panic at a jump. The scale definitely has a mind of its own. And I'm beyond menopause, so those jumps aren't the "time of the month" things.

2. For me, weighing every day is great. I know people say to weigh once a week, and I'm sure that is best for many people, especially psychologically. I just keep thinking, "But what if that weekly weigh-in falls on one of the "up" days of my "M" shape? I wouldn't know that I'd actually lost nicely during the week and that this is just a one-day blip."

Anyway, if anyone is a data nerd like me, the graphs are kind of fun. And the top number for December is way lower than the top number for July was. That's gratifying!

Goal: Down 5 more pounds by Dec. 31

It's crazy that we're doing this during the holidays, but with COVID, it's the perfect time. I'm thinking of this time as being in the cocoon--we'll emerge as beautiful butterflies one day.