Women 200lb+, Let's Shine This September!!!

What has somewhat stopped me from daily snacking on the bad stuff is having one cheat day a week built in - so I use Saturday. Saturday I can eat one really bad meal, and a really indulgent dessert. If you're sticking with something like a 1200 calorie count all week, and know that on Saturday you can have the cookies or the pizza or whatever, it reduces the urge to have it now or every day, and it doesn't make you feel like you'll never have it again. I REALLY look forward to Saturdays.

Another option is to have a forbidden bin in the pantry -- this is a sealed container that you can't see through. Line it with cardboard if you can't find an opaque container. Put the junk food in that and keep it in the back/top shelf/out of direct site. Yes, at first you'll know it's in there, but over time, you forget there's junk food hidden. Out of sight, out of mind can help. Especially if you have to have things in the house for others, but you don't want to see the temptation.

Do these things work all the time? I wish. But every little trick right now is helping me.

As for keeping motivation, I don't have a ton of suggestions. I really dislike logging my calories, but I kind of do it as a game at this point -- can I be full and stay at my target calorie count? If I want that 140 calorie cookie pack, then I have to do another 30 minutes on the treadmill -- lots of bargaining with myself. I have a notebook where I track things in addition to MFP -- so I get to check off if I work out, if I logged my calories, etc. It's just something else I can use to feel like I am working at my goal.

Some people use a vision board to visualize a healthy weight -- putting up realistic pictures of what type of body weight they want and pictures of clothes they'll buy at that weight. Right now, fitting into my existing clothing is what is my motivation -- when I can start to see progress (can fit into different jeans, notice my face a little thinner, etc), that helps, or has in the past. I'm at the beginning of this journey again, so I have yet to reach these milestones.

I don't know if any of this is helpful. Feel free to use/ignore as it relates to your goals.

YIPPEE!
I finally got below 200 lbs today! 199.4 lbs 6 days shy of my goal of 9/1/21 but I'm happy anyway! 55.6 lbs!

Starting late, but the first week went to plan - just need to keep it up.

Height: 5'9"
SW: 234.6 (08/19/2021)
CW: 231.0 (09/07/2021)
GW for September: 224
GW for 2021: 210
UGW: 155 by end of 2022

Weekly goals:
* MFP logging daily
* 2 HIIT workouts, Walk daily
* 80 oz of water a day
* Maintain 18:6 fasting schedule

I'm struggling to eat all my calories, so try out some new protein sources. Also losing about a pound a week. Think 1.5 is reasonable to shoot for.

5'3" 48 yo September!
9/1 196.4
9/8 197.6 (with cycle water weight this is actually still great!)
9/15
9/22
9/29

1250 day calories, and 1450 Sundays, going perfectly. Added 50 calories daily to help me account for the MCT oil which is 130 cal I didn’t have previously in the diet! So I was losing 7 lbs a month, maybe this will be closer to 4 lbs a month which seems super reasonable to me. I also am responding to some earlier posts because life got real busy.

As for the mind fog, I eat lots of protein - usually by lunch I am over 100g protein. I started the MCT oil, grass fed beef, daily avocados (this is the alzheimer trio) and the mind fog is really clearing up. Making me wonder, do I have dementia? And is my diet staving it off for now? I plan on seeing my Dr. to work up a panel. While I feel like I did this 6 months ago (I did), to be fair my GP was all about “dealing with the cancer” and put everything else on the back burner. So maybe he will be a little less panicky now, and we can investigate what is going on.

I got blood work done at the oncologist yesterday, and they are only testing my iron. But my blood pressure is being uber weird! Since I stopped taking muscle relaxers at night, due to PT and icing which seems to really work well for me crazy enough. I stopped taking the blood pressure meds and now check it like a hawk. But it has been low, low, dangerously low, and low but close to normal today. I figured with stopping the bp meds, and with the IV iron the blood pressure would go up? I am beginning to think I wasn’t having seizures for the past two years (I had them in my 30’s). I am beginning to think I was passing out due to low blood pressure!!?

I have done well with replacing high calorie items for different “treats” like fruits, or fruit smoothies with veggies in it, or “vitamin veggies” yes they are as exciting as I make them sound. I ask myself “Am I hungry?” when I want to snack over the plan. Turns out, I never am hungry. Sometimes if I ask myself that, it is easier to talk myself out of eating. Unless it is my cycle, at which point - last night I had 12 oz of cherries instead of my normal 8 oz and I had 2 containers of meringues which were 45 cal each container. So while, I guess I binged, for me - my calories were 1240 for the day! Kind of meticulously planned binging. Lols. I had never eaten a meringue in my life until I read the volume eaters thread, mad props to whoever they are. Someone had it on the thread, and I went to the store to tried it. It is okay. Which is pretty much all I need to eat anything anyway. I am just more interested in my health, and my sustainability than I am some mysterious taste thing that just isn’t ever satisfied. This is the longest I have actually dieted consequentially, read consistently since February. This tactic has just served me well.

@pandemonium1997 I am so happy you figured out the meds made you sick. Boy did they make you sick! My mom has a lot of the same issues, and usually meds don’t fix everything BUT they make everything just a little bit easier to control. Read prevents you from going off the deep end, but does not make everything sunshine and rainbows. We tried to think in increments to prevent her deep frustration with meds not fixing all the things. Maybe think about it that way? She is the same way with antidepressants. They prevent the constant suicidal thoughts, but don’t really make her feel the way she thinks she should feel while taking the meds.
@JustJ2014 wow, that is amazing!! You are doing great!!
@sargemarcori that is a bunch of responsibility! You are a busy lady. Hmm, walks for you are probably about more than “just exercise” they sound like a retreat away from the bustle of daily home life. For your mental health I think they are a need not a want. Not that they have to be an hour every day, but maybe 30 mins? Hang in there Sarge, you got this!
@renewed2021 You learned some important things. Doing great. You got up, dusted yourself off and the next day is a new day! Brand spanking new! People have great ideas with the teas and drinks. Tips and tricks. You got this! You can do it!
@kenziestabes You are so strong and fast! You go girl! Need to put them zombies through their paces, they can’t catch you!!
@girlinkaz Love to you too! You are doing amazing! You are so close to maintenance. Very exciting!! I wonder what kind of activities you plan on doing? Weight training? Parkour? Ballet? Gymnast!! Ya never know.
@swanjun About the snacking. Hmm, it all depends on your meals really. Like if I am having a 200 cal breakfast and a 250 calorie lunch then a 300-400 cal dinner I know that I will have calories for cherries which is my “snack” after dinner. I usually don’t snack after lunch. I usually have a mct oil coffee as a snack for breakfast. So maybe a much lighter snack than cheese would be appropriate. Also, you might need to talk to yourself. What is going on? Because it sounds like you aren’t just having a snack. It sounds like full out grazing. That is why I recommend the “talk”. Are you hungry? Are you bored? Are you just really tired? Try to find out what is driving the behavior. As in: it is okay to have a snack, but it is not okay to just eat whatever you feel like having. Think of something you would say to a kid. I am probably explaining this horribly. My .0005 cents.
@goal06082021 Orbweavers, they sound like the garden spiders we have here in texas. When you get to nature, those webs are huge!! But yeah, face full of spiders x 5 times on one walk can get sooo crazy! I saw a nice 4ft rat snake (odd name since they usually eat small birds), around the duck pond on my walk yesterday. It was hilarious to me because I was like “I see you, checking out the ducks and their eggs” I bet we might also have a number of missing baby ducks cuz he was kinda big. You see tortoises on your walks? Where are you located?
@Aswennu Hey, I know you! You are doing awesome so far. I believe I have seen you run a time or two? That is always impressive! Doing great!
@roz0810 Rockin it!
@swimmom_1 You are doing great!! Also, 8 miles in 97 minutes!! Working for a marathon next? That is pretty amazing wow!!!

Keep it up ladies, we are smashing those September pumpkins!!

I am now back on thyroid hormone, which should help my weight loss, but also I am apparently in need of having the other half of my thyroid removed, as it has grown large nodules and they are still growing. The surgeon's office will call me to schedule it. I was not expecting that! Fortunately I've had the surgery before (when they removed the left half of my thyroid) so it's not unknown territory and I can plan for it.