Women 200lb+, Let's Be Unafraid This August!!!

Age: 33
Height: 5'11"
Start Weight: 200 lbs
Current Weight: 196 lbs
August Goal Weight: 192 lbs
Ultimate Goal Weight: 150 lbs

Thanks to all of you for your inspirational updates and stories. It's really encouraging to know there are others going through similar fitness journies.

My weight has fluctuated a bit down to 193 and now up to 196 today. Which is not surprising as we went away for a couple of days and I did indulge a bit and haven't really hit my groove again with exercise since getting back.

But, what is surprising is that for the last five almost six weeks I have drastically cut down my intake of refined white sugar. With now an awareness of the amount of sugar down to what is in my salad dressing and granola bars; for the most part I've been putting Olive oil and Balsamic Vinaigrette over my salads and having almonds or apples instead of granola bars for snacks. I do still manage to have a little maple syrup and honey.

Giving up so much sugar has been hard. I crave it some days. What has been nice is being less bloated in my tummy. And, I know I'm setting an example for my son who has been asking me - mommy, when will you have sugar again?

The answer is - I don't know. I'm trying to take it one day at a time. Honestly, I'm surprised I've made it this long. I still miss the Ice Cream, Chocolate, Cookies, Candy and all the other Cornucopia of sugar laden food available to us, but maybe, just maybe in the long run - less refined white sugar will be better for me. To be determined.

Weigh-in day!

Age: 30
Height: 5'3"
SW: 252.8 (11/13/2020)
CW: 216.4 (7/31/2021)
8/6: 216.4 or 215.8
8/14: 215.2
8/21:
8/28:
GW for August: 210
GW for 2021: 196
UGW: 144 by end of 2022

Back to weighing under my normal circumstances (Saturday morning, nude, right after peeing, with my fancy scale in the usual place on the floor) and I'm down somewhere between 0.6 and 1.2 lbs, which is right about where I want to be so that's A-OK. When I got up this morning to do that and feed the cats, I took one look at my bundle of gym clothes, ready to just grab and go on top of my dresser...and I reset my alarm and went back to bed. I didn't sleep great last night, so I wanted to see if I could claw back another couple of hours of precious rest, resolving to hit the gym "later today." I've also gotten ahead of myself in terms of meal prepping, so I actually don't have to chain myself to the stove today - just need to remember to move things out of the freezer for dinner this week.

It would have been so easy to get caught up in cooking for the week, or making lunch for today, or shopping for more workout clothes (my old Champion sports bras have finally given up the ghost, but to their credit, for a 3-pack of bras I bought 10 years ago for probably $6, they sure did give me my money's worth). But, when I grabbed my bag to head out to Target for said workout clothes, I also tossed my gym clothes bundle into my gym bag and took that with me. And I stopped at the gym on my way home, and I got my workout in. (As I was leaving I thought, hmm, I didn't really push myself very much today, and kind of felt like I'd wasted my time, but then I remembered I'd spent the whole session slinging around 40lbs like it was nothing for all the various weighted moves I did, so that's also worth acknowledging, I think.) A guy approached me in the parking lot as I was leaving and said he's proud of me, so uh, there's that? I'm just going to choose to accept the words of affirmation at face value, as if it's the universe telling me it's proud of me and using this random stranger as a conduit, and not read any further into that only-slightly-weird interaction. I'm normally part of the 6-7 AM crowd so I doubt I'll see him again, if midday is his usual workout time.

Age: 36
Height: 5'5"
⭐SW: ???
I've been up/down for so long, but "started" at 200.6 when I joined this thread last month.
My highest recorded weight was 225 (10 years ago at full-term pregnancy). With running, recumbent, various at home exercise programs and logging through MFP, I was around 168lbs 2 years later.
I had another baby 5 years ago and was 177 pre/post that pregnancy.
⭐CW: 200.0
⭐8/1: 200.0
⭐8/8: 197.8 (-2.2)
It's been a decent week! Really dialing in my nutrition (and my wine consumption) this coming week as I return to the office.
⭐8/15: 200.6 (+2.8)
So, yesterday was fun but that fun is very heavily reflected in this weigh-in. We went to a birthday party and saw family we haven't seen in a while due to the pandemic ... and I drank my fair share of beer. My husband and I had a no-holds-barred buffet for 2 last night ... and here we are.
This is the horrible dance/routine I need to break, though. I have been dancing between the same 5lbs for probably close to a year.
The only goal for the month I've been consistent with is reading. I haven't ran once this month, hitting my stepcount is inconsistent and I didn't make the time once last week to walk on my lunch at work, mostly because it was SO hot out.
I did meal prep healthy lunches for the week and stuck with them. I was within 100 calories of my target most days. I only had 2 glasses of wine one night with dinner.
⭐8/22
⭐8/29
⭐8/31

Goals:
- STOP working through lunch and walk 3x a week on work lunchbreaks
- 8k step count 5x / week
We should receive a foster dog this month who will depend on me for walks/runs, which should help stay focused!
- interval run 3x / week
- 10 pages of self-help reading / day
- focus on better sleep patterns: 7 hrs / night 4x / week, minimum

GW for August: 196
GW for 2021: 177
UGW: Undetermined

Starting weight: 270 March 2021

August Start Weight: 225.8
August Goal Weight: 220
Ultimate Goal Weight: TBD

I weigh in on Sundays.

August 1: 225.8
August 8: 224.2
August 15: 224.2
August 22
August 29:

I am noticing a pattern starting between last month and this month. I am doing everything correct. I'm monitoring what I eat, using a food scale, drinking my water (though I lacked yesterday), getting my activity in. I've noticed that some weeks no matter what I do the scale just does not move. Then the following week I have a larger loss. This week is just that pesky week that it is staying the same. Of course I am not going to let me down.

My NSVs:
- I wore a tank top yesterday to a party. This tank top is more fitted and I normally would never wear it out in public. Yesterday I put it on and felt great with my new body so I wore it happily.

- I find it easier to move in my own body. Yesterday we were at a pool party at a neighbor's house. I found it easy to sit on the side of the pool and get back up without looking like a seal on land. I also had so much more energy to run and fetch the beach ball when my daughter and the other children knocked it out of the pool. And lets talk about bending down to get it. I could bend down and not feel like my stomach was crushing my organs and making it difficult to breathe. As these things happened I smiled to myself as I made a mental note of the differences!

- All my leg exercises are paying off. I am noticing that my thighs are starting to feel more firm. I still have too much skin and fat to see my leg muscles when I flex but I can feel them!

- I decided to spice things up the other day and do 30 minutes of step aerobics then 30 minutes of my bike rather than 60 min of my bike. I worked up a nice sweat but I didn't get winded like I would have if I tried this back in March when I started on my journey.

- My NSV I am most proud of is I have a 27 day streak where I have met my daily step goal of 10K steps!!!

- Adding onto that... we have been going on family walks some nights after dinner if I have 2.5-3K steps left to get in. I am noticing my pace is a lot faster than it used to be. To me it is just normal walking however my husband and daughter are having difficulty keeping up with me.

- I can walk and talk at the same time or engage in a physcial activity and talk at the same time without feeling like I am having difficulty breathing. I believe I have mentioned it before, for years I have struggled with respiratory issues that always went undiagnosed. I had a chronic cough that made it impossible to do a lot of things - sing, engage in conversation, walk and talk. I often found myself just wanting to sit.... all the time. Since starting my journey my chronic cough went away, my respiratory issues have completely disappeared. I no longer feel the need to sit for my own comfort. I have a lot of energy and looking forward to engaging in physical activities!

- My last NSV - I am also most proud - my FBGL this morning was 101. (FBGL - fasting blood glucose level). This is the lowest I have ever gotten it!!! I usually test in the upper teens to low 120s. Compared to where I started when I was first diagnosed with diabetes to now this is fantastic!!!

This upcoming week I will weigh in on either Friday or Saturday (if I have time). We are leaving for vacation Saturday morning. I don't know if I will have access to a scale on Sunday to weigh in.

Wishing you all a week of nothing but greatness!!!

I would like to join this group! I'm 64, 5'4", mother of 4 great boys and a RN for 42 years and counting.

SW 9/14/21-255 lbs (Heaviest wt {second time}, Started new job, less stress, not having a micromanager anymore!) Started losing weight unintentionally, and then started to be more mindful of my choices.

UGW-122 lbs ( lowest wt 2009, kept off about 5 years, got lazy and then had a bad fracture and had to learn to walk again)
Surgery 5/3/21-240.5 lbs (emergency gallbladder, First attack and LAST!) While off reading up about post gallbladder surgery and some people gain weight. I was thinking, "Great! Just what I need!" So I started being careful while sitting around recovering and read up on Keto and decided this was a good time to start, while I'm off for 4 weeks. And started MFP app logging.

I wasn't losing as fast as I thought I should on a Keto diet and I was having a hard time getting in all the fat, from what I read, I should be getting daily. A person on The Low Carber forum told me not to worry about getting all the fat in daily, if I wasn't hungry, which I wasn't. So I strive for 1000-1200 calories with 15 grams Net Carbs. I know some people will think its very tight. But if I go over a few carbs once in awhile, I don't fret! I have other days I don't get quite 15. I get whatever fat I get and a decent amount of protein. I have been losing about 2 lbs/week or about 10/month since. I'm bull headed enough, if I can see progress, I can stick to about anything. And Keto friendly products help my sweet tooth!

My short term goals is to be under 200 lbs by the end of August. 190 lbs by the end of October. Figure my average weight loss will slow down sooner than later.

MFP SW 5/14/21-232.2 lbs
10/31/21 GW-190 lbs

8/1/21-212.0 lbs
8/8/21-209.2 lbs
8/15/21-207.8 lbs
8/22/21-
8/29/21-
8/31/21-
ML-
MLGW-199.9 lbs

9/5/21-
9/12/21-
9/19/21-
9/26/21-
9/30/21-
ML-
MLGW-195 lbs

10/3/21-
10/10/21-
10/17/21-
10/24/21-
10/31/21-
ML-
MLGW-190 lbs

Aug-Oct GWL-22lbs
Aug-Oct AWL-

@goal06082021 nice progress.

@JuneyCleaves your 1st Goal spoke to me. I did this the 1st 3 days of the week but not the last 2.

@stacey282012 Glad you found this group too. The point isn’t really how fast we lose weight it is finding a sustainable way to eat to get and stay healthy. Maintaining weight is not that much different than losing so we need to find something we can live with.

@JNettie3 Love all those NSVs

@sargemarcori 2 lbs a week for each of your team members is great!

I started this past week out well as usual with water and exercise. I kept my calories under my calorie goal except for one day which was still below my estimated TDEE. My weekly up pike was smaller and shorter. Hopefully my lows will get larger and longer. It has been harder to plan, cook home cooked meals everyday. I am distracted with my health issues. I hope to start off the week well again but expect that surgery prep will take over by the end of the week. I think I need to plan meals and buy groceries for more than a week since I will be recovering next week. If I was smart I would have cooked ahead but we are also getting our deck repaired now too.

PS. I thought I posted this but it was still in MS Word. So update is that I just got back from a 1 hour walk with my youngest. Before that I did most of the meal planning I need to do. So good start to the week.