Women 200lb+, Let's Make It Count This January!!!

I'm going to be weighing every Saturday. My immediate goal for this week is to get into the habit of recording my calories in, water consumption and exercise. As I do this I believe the motivation will grow to become better at planning meals and routines. I think I've got about 50 lbs to lose, and that is going to take some time. Longer term goal is to be able to walk 3 to 5 miles at a time and bicycle 10 or more miles, hoping to hit that by summer and keep up the momentum. Eventually, I want to add in weight training and gain muscle that I've lost. I'd like to fit into a size 9/10, currently fluctuating between a 14 and a 16.

In 2019 I started losing weight without trying, losing a total of 12 lbs over the course of 6 months. The reason was likely because it also coincided with my volunteering to do childcare for two grandsons, age 4 and 7. We were very active and having fun! I was beginning to feel really good. In 2020, when Covid-19 hit, I couldn't do the childcare anymore and went into lockdown with my spouse. I gained the 12 back plus some from stress eating, boredom eating and just plain sitting on my fanny too much!

aubintex wrote: »

Hello! After wondering why my wedding ring was painfuIly tight, I weighed myself Monday and was shocked to find the scale at 217, the most I've weighed since pregnancy. 😢

I'm am going to log every day and try to keep it to around 1000 calories and not eat back exercise calories. I'm hoping to be at 199 by the end of Jan. We'll see - that might not be realistic.

My ultimate goal is 170. I'm 5'11" so that's a healthy weight for me.

I've lost and gained weight quite a few times in my life - my goal is to get better at maintaining. I'm actually worried that my weight gain has made my blood pressure rise, so I need to realize that weight maintenance is a matter of life and death.

It's frustrating to be here again, but I know that every day I'll get healthier!

Welcome!

I don't mean to discourage you or anything, but I just wanted to mention that 1000 cal/day is really, really low for someone your height - I'm 5'3", and people my height need more than that to maintain, even the slim ones. You might have more success with a higher calorie goal, like 1500.

Also, losing 18 lbs in 4 weeks is...a lot, more than 4 lbs per week. That's not a safe rate of loss for anyone, but especially not someone as small as you are - you only have 47 pounds between you and your goal weight. 4 lbs a week is Biggest Loser/My 600 Lb Life territory, medically-supervised inpatient clinical setting kind of thing, and you simply aren't there.

If you're the kind of person that sets "shoot for the moon" goals and judges your progress by how close you came, then get on wit' cha bad self if that works for you. But, IME most people tend to do better when they set goals that are more attainable. A UGW of 170 is totally fine, just, you're setting yourself up to be disappointed and discouraged when you're not there by Easter. You might-could get there by about Halloween, though. Losing 47 pounds in a year is absolutely doable; doing it in 4 months is not.

I have enjoyed reading all of your posts. I went for a walk in the rain with my family. We stopped when we were soaked which meant it was shorter than I had hoped for. I see it will be raining all week so I might do some indoors strength training tomorrow. I hope I do a better job checking in to this thread more regularly this month. It usually helps.

Yesterday I worked but also had some downtime. So I set up exercises I can do at my desk. I started putting it together on another day I had some downtime and so yesterday I just completed it. I also brought my weights and resistance bands down to my art room/home office the day before to use during work breaks easier. I listed goals for the year. Some were financial and decluttering but most had to do with health and fitness. I am not getting as much sleep as I was before now that I am working fulltime and that affects weight loss. I also haven't been doing meal planning as well so I plan to do that this weekend. I did plan the meals for the long weekend already.

@aubintex think about starting to eating now the way that is healthy for you for the rest of your life. You need to find something sustainable for you for the long term. Maintenance isn’t much different from losing weight. Also it is an average of the week that matters for weight loss. I have some days I am not that hungry and not that active so I too only eat 1000 calories some days. However other days I have more calories when I am more active and if I feel hungrier but I stay below my calorie goal which gives me a healthy deficit. However I am shorter and heavier than you so lower calories are less a problem. I try to set my calorie goal between my BMR (calories you need when you are in a coma) and my TDEE (calories you need to maintain your weight). That way you have a deficit and will lose in a sustainable way. Then when I reach my goal weight I will adjust my calories to my TDEE so hopefully I won't gain.

I am relieved that after today we will get back to normal eating. I still need to adjust to working full-time again.

Hi there ladies! It's been a while. I took a bit of a break from MFP, but I missed you all and am trying to catch up. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season.

I don't usually make New Years Resolutions but I did last year and I have to say, making them kept me focused through a rotten year and helped me to accomplish more than I ever expected was possible. My resolutions were to run a half marathon and join a rowing club. Well I did both last year and it was life changing. So here goes for this year:

Resolutions

1. Run another half marathon
2. Keep rowing when it returns in the spring
3. Stay healthy
4. Get a COVID Vaccine as soon as I am eligible
5. Maintain my weight below 165

So now with the check-in:

Name: Jane
Age: 55
Height: 5' 9''
Starting Weight: 286.5 (6/3/19)

Weight Goal: Maintenance at or below 165
Jan 1: 162.3
Jan 8:
Jan 15:
Jan 22:
Jan 29:

@RavenStCloud Thanks again for creating the Jan 2021 group. I love your resolutions!! I love to paint (started with paint 'n sip classes) it relaxes me. I want to learn to knit/crochet/sew (my mum sews), but, will have to wait till I am done with this term at least). You have a great health plan.

@Acria Welcome!! You can do it!! This is a great group for motivation and support.

@orangequilt Those are good goals. I think I will stop syncing my exercise calories to MFP. I noticed that I tend to eat a little more if I see that I burned a lot of calories!!

@MuttiNM You've had an awesome loss over the past couple of years!! Very inspiring!! So glad you and your parents are getting better.

@goal06082021 Love the goals and congrats on the loss.

@changeforeverlj Awesome recovery!! You are amazing!!

@AlexandraFindsHerself1971 Awesome goals. I am not sure what exercises you can do, but here are some youtube channels I like and I do them at home (You can definitely modify the workouts to your comfort level)
1. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3lEhUBNqIrFMatB9Zgxo0g - Reps to the Rhythm for walking and getting steps in (He is always smiling and makes me happy)
2. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3wm6Rex4kcvOVpqxNHeAqg - Up to the BEat Fit for dancing and getting steps in (She is fun and has a lot of 5 minutes or less workouts if you want. I prefer the ones that are at least 1 mile or 18 - 30 minutes long).
Let me know if you try them out and how you like them.

@MaxCat1000 December was a challenging month. Great job getting back on the bandwagon. You can do it.

@IsETHome Nice goals. What exactly is water jogging? I miss being able to go swimming.

@inky92 So with you there. My portions have been increasing and I have been slacking off on logging my snacks!! Got back into the bad habit of eating late. Going back to my intermittent fasting 16:8.

@osier5 Nice goals. You've got this!!

@southernmissgirl Great goals. I am trying to stop drinking water just before or while eating.

@finngirl61 Thanks for the great quote!!

@aubintex Welcome!! I feel you on the not eating back exercise calories. We've got this!! I would probably see what the caloric tracker and maybe your doctor estimates is safe for you to consume daily. I use this to try to estimate my nutrient needs and then follow the advice of my doctor and listen to my body. Remember, to lose 1-2 lbs a week, you need a caloric deficit of 500 calories daily.
This is the link to tell you how much nutrients you need.
Interactive DRI for Healthcare Professionals
https://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/interactiveDRI/

@KeriA With all the events, I think you did a great job keeping your gain low. You have great goals and I know that you will crush this year!!

@VickyEltonGreen Hello!!

@GrammaLisaGetsMoving Running around with kids does help you lose weight. I keep trying to get my niece to do my dance workouts with me again since they are so much fun when the kids participate.

@christina6198 Welcome! Feel free to add me! I'll check on you if I notice you haven't logged into MFP in a while.

@Candyn617 Great goals!!

@kellyjheath4221 Welcome back!!

@speyerj Welcome back!! Awesome resolutions.

Thank you for your concern, everyone.

@goal06082021, I did not mean to imply that I expect to lose it all in 4 months. I'm 43 and have been on this weight loss journey since I was 14. I know that what works best for me is to start off on a very low calorie diet for the first 3-4 weeks and then increase calories gradually. Otherwise I tend to lose momentum and give up early. I know that I didn't say that, so I can see how you would assume that I intend to stay on 1000 calories for the entirety of the weight loss.

I should also explain that I very suddenly shifted from a beer and cheeto kind of diet to a very clean, low calorie diet. In my experience, that kind of change tends to cause a big drop in the beginning. I also started with a 3-day water fast to cleanse my system. So that is why I think it may be possible to get down to 199 by the end of Jan. But as I said, I know it may be unrealistic. As long as the scale starts moving (I'm waiting 2 weeks to weigh myself), it will keep me motivated.

@IsETHome - Thanks!

I lost 110 pounds in 13 months, so roughly 2 pounds a week. I was on a 1000 calorie deficit (and I did eat back exercise calories) so surprisingly, the math actually worked out perfectly, even though it didn't seem like it at the time. The last 15 pound loss occurred after I declared maintenance in July of last year. A lot of people report continuing to lose once they eat at maintenance because it's hard to know exactly how many calories you need. I had a fear of regaining, that I tended to err on the side of caution those first months. So between July and October I slowly dropped another 15 pounds (3 pounds a month). I liked what I saw, so now I'm trying to maintain that weight. I'm bouncing between 160 and 165. I have some days that go over 165 - that's usually caused by having a carb fest the day before. If I tighten up my snacking, the weight goes back down. I have to say, maintenance is boring.

Regarding running - I would not say that helped me lose weight. I lost most of my weight when I was too heavy to even attempt running. I believe that weight loss is 90% about food. Running has definitely helped me in maintenance though. When I was 285 pounds I would burn 3000 calories a day without any additional exercise. Now, on days when I don't do any additional exercise, I burn 1800 calories a day. I don't want to live on 1800 calories every day, so running gives me a bigger budget.