Women 200lb+, Let's Amaze Ourselves This April!!!

@tuddy315 that is a great attitude to have. I find daily weighins help me stay on course but I do have to make sure I don't get discouraged by those fluctuations that you mentioned.

@misplacedmama just like you I wasn't fat growing up but I always though I was. I look back on those picture and think...OMG look how healthy I was. I wish for that body again. I think my weight loss journey is also because of my kids. My youngest is over weight and I need to model for her what is a correct portion of food to eat.

This week has been rough for me. I keep eating and eating. I feel like I'm craving something but can't figure it out. So I keep eating and eating. Today I'm going to break the cycle by drinking 16oz of water before I eat. Every time I do to eat I will drink the 16 oz first. Fingers crossed let's hope this works.

Age: 50
Height: 5'11"

SW (April 2020): 225
January 2021 end weight: 219.6
February 2021 end weight: 218.4
March 2021 end weight: 222.0

March GW: 217
Ultimate GW: 175

April 1: 222.0
April 8: 219.0
April 15: 216.4
April 22:
April 28:

Goals:
🌸 Dig deep into binging habits and do the hard work daily to finally, finally stop this 30-year cycle / making good progress on this, thanks to a book and podcast series that's been very helpful. I'm feeling calm and hopeful.
🌸 Log everything /Logged everything every day this month so far!
🌸 Stay hopeful /Yes!

Things I'm looking forward to:
I got one vaccination, and on April 27 I'll get my second one. Good things are coming and the light is at the end of the tunnel! I'm getting so excited for festivals, the gym, swimming, movies, seeing friends and family, and TRAVEL. Fingers crossed for a sense of normalcy by the end of summer!

I'm "drawing my way" out of my work slump. Last week I painted a series of mini paintings of capybaras (I'm obsessed with these adorable creatures) and sold all the originals, and this week I'm designing a line of vaccination pins which have been selling well. I think as long as I continue to draw every day and not get too obsessed with how slow business is that it will turn around eventually.

Here are some of my capy paintings - they're gold acrylics & Copic markers on 4x4" paper coasters

Hope you all have a great week!

@wanderinglight
Your paintings are soo cute!! love it!!

@JNettie73
Congrats on your blood sugars!! That's a huge NSV Also, beware of the second covid shot. I got pretty sick after. Totally worth it, though!

SW: 221.6
CW: 207.2
GW: TBD

I would like to get to onederland as my first goal. Hopefully within the next couple weeks. My weight fluctuates so much, up and down every day. I wish it was just a consistent slow loss...but at least it still is heading down eventually. Something about the sunny weather makes me want to eat healthier everyday. Maybe its the thought of summer clothes around the corner I've gotten to the point where I don't need to impress anyone. I have someone who loves me how I am, so anything I lose is a bonus! I just want to get healthy I work at the hospital and I see all these people with preventable health conditions, that could have been avoided with a healthy lifestyle. I really hope to turn my life around.

Almost the weekend!!

Friday weigh-in time!

Age: 29
Height: 5'3"
SW: 252.8 (11/13/2020)
CW: 234.6 (3/26/2021)
Weigh-Ins
4/2: 233.4
4/9: 231.4
4/16: 229.4
4/23:
4/30:
GW for April: Below 230
GW for 2021: 196
UGW: 144, end of 2022

My God, as soon as I think I have my calorie budget dialed in...My TDEE really must be a lot higher than I think it is for me to be eating as much as I am and still losing at this rate. This is the opposite of a problem, I guess? I just readjusted my calories last week since I hit the -20lb mark - your TDEE goes down by 5 cal per pound you lose, so -20lb is -100 calories. (And isn't that just the most annoying thing? It takes burning 3500 calories to eliminate that stupid pound of fat but only costs me five calories per day to keep it. Ugh, bodies, amirite?) I'd still be in a deficit if I stayed at the same calorie budget MFP originally gave me, it'd just be smaller so I would see things slow down some. I used a TDEE calculator and manually set my goal here rather than using the guided setup this time.

Age: 52
Height: 5'5"
SW: 251.4 (March 25, 2021)
April SW: 248.2
GW for April: 242
Overall GW: 150

April weigh-ins (Fridays):
Apr 2: 248.2 (I knew I would drop quite a bit as I've just returned to weighing and logging)
Apr 9: 246
Apr 16: 246.4
Apr 23:
Apr 30:

April Goals:
- to log every day even if I am over
- to exercise at least 3 times per week
- to eat a fruit and/or vegetable at every meal

I am up a little on weighing day, but I was down a few days earlier, so I will take this. This has been a hard few days as I had to say goodbye to one of my two cats; her kidneys were just too far gone to support her anymore. I've taken a few days off from logging but I'm planning to get back on track today. Of course, this brings its own challenges, but I can only do my best.

Age: 27
Height: 5'10"
SW: 284.5
CW: 281.0
GW: 199.0

April 2: 283.0
April 9: 284.5
April 16: 281.0
April 23:
April 30:

April Goals:
🌻 Exercise 3x/week
🌻 Log consistently
🌻 Spend more time outside

Well, the weather hasn't exactly been cooperative. I don't think there was one day where it was above 50 and not raining. But I did exercise 3x last week, which was my goal. It's not anything lengthy or intense but it is a starting place - and I'm okay with that! My logging could definitely use some work. My lunches during the workweek are easy because I have the same pre-portioned things every day. Supper is harder by far. as I don't measure everything when I cook and I don't even always know what exactly I'm going to be making (general idea of what we're having that week but it's not day specific or anything). I guess that's next on my list!

Have a great week, everyone!

Friday weigh in! (A day late this week)

Age: 31
Height: 5’6”
SW 222 (Feb 10, 21)
April SW 201.2
April GW 190
UGW 170

April 2: 200.7
April 9: 197.5
April 16: 195.9
April 23:
April 30

I’m a day late this week with my weigh in because I flew from the US to Indonesia this week. I’m now doing a mandatory 5 day quarantine in a hotel before heading home mid-next week. I brought my food scales and workout bands though and am committed to keeping up with my new lifestyle! The past week was not a good one in terms of exercise - between packing up and saying goodbye, I only got in 2 out of 4 strength training days. I also gave myself a little lee way in my calories the day before I left (because gosh, they don’t make ice cream that good in Jakarta!) and while I was flying, even though I was committed to making the best choice possible with my food intake (but sometimes there just weren’t other options available). I scoured the Dallas airport for a place that served salads only to find that all the places they near me were closed and the Tokyo airport had nothing (quite literally), so I was glad I had brought some protein bars along with me.

My challenge this week will be eating healthy while in the hotel. They provide all your meals for you, so I have very little control over what is provided. My goal is to weigh and log everything and stop eating when I hit my calorie goal for that meal. One day down, four to go and so far it is going well! I also am limited to body weight only exercises as I don’t have any weights here. But I was excited to still see a drop this week (although to be fair, that drop was already there prior to departure but still!). I’ll be happy with a smaller loss this next week too, but still hoping to see one!

Hello everyone, this morning was my first weigh in and I am happy to announce that I have lost 6 pounds. In the last two weeks I have been eating healthier, going for walks everyday and drinking water. One thing that I would like to do is drink more water. I usually drink about 6 cups a day sometimes less. I will be weighing myself again in another two weeks. My goal is to lose 1 pound a week.

April 3 SW:241.2
17/4/21 235.2

Good morning everyone!

Just wanted to post an update here to try and regain some semblance of "normal". I haven't posted here since April 1st but I have been trying to read all your posts when I have time. As some of you know, I was spending a bit of time helping out my parents. My dad hasn't been doing the best since having Covid back in November. His breathing really does seem worse now than when I first took him to the hospital back then. My mom seems to be doing a bit better so that is good news at least. The end of March I threw out my back and it was bad for 5 days. That was kind of weird since I hadn't had problems with it for almost 15 months. Also, the pain usually only lasted a couple days in the past so 5 days was really unexpected. I was kind of hoping the weight loss and exercise had "cured" that problem but I guess not 100%. Then, a few days after my back was better, I went on a "test" 3 day backpacking trip with my son. I was debating the timing since it hadn't been very long since my back was bothering me but I decided to go for it anyway. We were less than an hour's drive from our city and we were camping at a state park so we didn't have to find a place to camp each night. We carried our packs each day like we were really backpacking but it was a way for me to find out if I could hike with a relatively heavy backpack without actually being on a trail in the middle of nowhere. Thankfully, my back (and the rest of my body) survived the experiment! Unfortunately, my fitness tracker died the first day we were hiking. I was kind of bummed because I'm pretty sure I would have hit a personal record for number of steps during those 3 days. Then back to my parents to help them out. On top of the back and traveling to my parents, my sleep had been terrible. I think I finally found the cure for that: the 2nd Covid shot. I was really dragging for 2 or 3 days after that shot but it helped me get more sleep than I've had in a while...even more sleep than hiking up and down hills with a backpack for 3 days!

Anyway, today is my 2 year anniversary of trying to become healthier. (My MFP anniversary isn't until July. I started out just logging my food in a spreadsheet until I found MFP.) I can't believe how different my life is from 2 years ago. When I started, I made of list of things I wanted to do if I could lose weight and improve my fitness level. Looking back at that list, I am amazed to see that I have achieved most of them. The ones I haven't (besides learning to kayak and to snowshoe) are delayed due to Covid shutdowns or not seeming prudent until there is the hoped for herd immunity, like going to a movie theater or flying in an airplane or volunteering at the local library or school. Some of the things on the list that I've achieved are buying clothes at a "regular" store, getting my first pair of jeans in at least 20 years (probably longer), buying shoes that aren't "old lady" shoes--even though I am an old lady , not having to worry about fitting in chairs at the doctor's office (or if I might even break them), being able to clean my condo without having to take a break after just 5 minutes, stop walking with a cane, fitting better in my car, riding a bike, start hiking again, etc. I was able to check one more off my list this week. After my 2nd shot, I went to the grocery store for the first time since Covid. I normally do grocery pick up but I wasn't sure if I'd feel like doing anything the day after my shot so I thought it would be okay to run into the store to pick up a few things to tide me over until I knew I felt okay to drive for a pick up. Anyway, I had to walk the entire (big) store to get what I wanted. It wasn't until the next morning that I realized I had done that without even thinking about it. One of my goals was to be able to go grocery shopping without getting all sweaty and out of breath, just like a "normal" person. I couldn't believe I achieved that goal and it never occurred to me that it was a big deal, something that I couldn't do 2 years ago.

Over the last few weeks, I missed logging my food for a few days when I was hiking (didn't always have service) and while traveling to my parents (too busy/tired to even think about it). Those were the first days I missed in 2 years. I even logged during a road trip to Colorado in 2019 and our biking trip to Florida earlier this year. I was really bummed and felt like I failed. Logging my food was not even a goal anymore because I just did it every day and then to miss a couple days felt weird and uncomfortable. I have to learn that being "perfect" doesn't determine my success. It's the consistency over time. There are going to be times in the future where I won't be able to log my food. I just need to accept that it will happen occasionally and it doesn't mean that I've somehow "messed up". I also have to make sure I do log whenever I do have service so I don't let not logging become acceptable. I know not logging will very likely lead me down the path to weight regain.

So I'm trying to tweak my goals and/or determine new goals so I don't feel totally off track when life is different than normal...like when I can't exercise because my back is bad for 5 days, when I can't log my food because I'm hiking or biking where there's no cell service (& I'm too tired to care about writing it down so I can log it later ), or when I'm exhausted from not sleeping and still driving back and forth to my parents' town to help out or take them to their appointments. The rest of April will continue to be "not normal" for me. More trips to my parents, an actual 5 day backpacking trip with my son (hopefully I can make it!), and a short visit to my daughter in Indiana. Hopefully all the non-routine days don't totally derail the good habits I've built over the past 2 years! I probably won't post again until sometime after May 1st (with hopefully new goals/plans in place) but I will read all your posts as time permits and be thinking of you all during your struggles and successes.

Okay, done rambling!

2 years later and over 255 pounds lost (and over 275 from my highest ever weight) and a whole lot of life experiences gained. Have a great weekend everyone!

So I weighed in. I’m the exact same weight as yesterday. So that means that my weight yesterday was accurate and I probably lost more weight from yesterday. This will help me stay on track for today. Weekends are always harder to stay in my calorie goal.