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

Good morning everyone!

Holding at 192.0. I had some very silly mfp app troubles last night. I usually log on the computer, right after I make these posts, and every night the app will send me a notification telling me I "hadn't logged any food," it's a synching issue, whatever.

Yesterday, I was looking to see if I could have ice cream using the app, and it told me I had 300 more calories. I synched it, all the food was there, but the app told me I had 300 calories left. I ate the ice cream. Get to my computer- over calories by the ice cream. Little ticked, but being 200-some calories over isn't going to kill my progress. Not trusting the app anymore. Which is, not great. But I have access to a computer both at home and at work, it's workable.

Tag party time!
@seltzer_lover I immediately saved the infographic to my computer, haha.

@goal06082021 your LOTR challenge reminds me of the Eowyn Challenge, which has been around for a while and that I have started several times and always punked out on actually tracking, haha. http://home.insightbb.com/~eowynchallenge/Walk/walk.html
This one's free, only you don't get prizes. It just tells you how many miles to what milestones. I use tickerfactory to set me a little tracker, but I always don't manage to count, haha.


@lmgoff232 I totally get the "gotta get rid of this food" urge before a move. And I'm a bit of a prepper, so I always have so much food on hand, usually carb based, like beans and rice Routines are great, habits on autopilot. I am a fan.

@ me, lol, that picture does not look as good on the computer as it did in my kitchen, haha. Whatsisface wanted some immediately, and he doesn't like breakfast food or spicy things. He told me he'd suffer, haha.

@Cluelessmama1979 Hi Sissy! Welcome to the thread! If numbers trip you up, there's no rule that says you have to make number-based goals. I personally am not making weight-based goals, like for April or whatever. As long as my weight is in a downward trend and I'm working on my habits, I'm happy.

@porquenoirl I love to hear that you're feeling better about the social situation, AND that you're going in the direction you want to go! I'm happy for you vicariously that you're finding so much joy in movement.

@jazzadesigns I hope you figure it out and it calms down soon! You might have already done it, but an allergy panel with an allergist might be helpful?

@NatashaA84 Get the kids out of the house so they can't destroy it... great idea! I should do the same. I'm happy to hear you're making the right choices for your goals while you're out, it can be so hard!

Alright, I hear the natives getting restless upstairs, time to get this day going. On the docket: getting the kids out of the house so they can't destroy it, lol, and packing for SC (never got there, yesterday). Oh, and drying my first harvest of green tea for the year. Have a great day, everyone!

Good morning ladies.

@NatashaA84 thank you! And great job on the salad! I know dining out is a huge struggle for me!

Anyway... I'm thinking about goal weights, and well, I tend to get in my own head and self-manipulate a lot, and I could use some outside insight, if yall don't mind?

So current stats...
Age: 42
Height: 5'0" or 5'1" depending on who is doing the measuring
SW 273 (04/04/2022),
HW 274.4 (04/18/2022)
CW 266.8 (04/23/2022)

Iirc, My "ideal" weight range is 112-122, depending on the calculator/who you ask. And that's what I set as my ultimate goal every time I have tried to lose weight.

But it never made sense to me. The only time I was ever in that weight range I was 12, a couple inches shorter, and still fairly flat chested. I wasn't overweight, afaik. Seems like it should be higher?

I did manage, the first time I tried to lose weight, to get down to around 175lbs. I felt great. I was happy. My maintenance calories at 175 are 1600-1700 depending on the method of calculation. At "ideal" range it's between 1200-1500.

I don't feel like that's sustainable for like... *forever*. Before, people always just said "well, but you'll be more active and have more calories" but I probably won't. I'm struggling to get UP to "sedentary".

So I kinda feel like "ideal" is an unrealistic
goal for me. If I had aimed to hit 175 and then *maintain*, 5 years ago, I would likely be 100 lbs lighter now. And maybe able to set a new goal once I had been maintaining for awhile?

I have more to lose this time to hit that same weight. My starting weight the first time was 220. I'm thinking about making 175 my goal. Hit 175 and then maintain.
For at least a year.
Then reevaluate.

But I also don't know if that's... idk... kind of a cop out?

What do you all think?

@Cluelessmama1979 I definitely agree, not a cop out at all. I think you have to do what makes you feel good. I'm the same - I don't think I've been in the target weight range since I was 13. When I look at pictures of me then, I was actually really small but with a bigger frame. I've got no desire to be tiny, just happy and healthy. I would say set a goal that feels achievable and will help you feel motivated and one that you will feel great about achieving. You've got this!

Cluelessmama1979 wrote: »

I have more to lose this time to hit that same weight. My starting weight the first time was 220. I'm thinking about making 175 my goal. Hit 175 and then maintain. For at least a year. Then reevaluate.

This is a great plan!! You are doing something you think is doable for the long term. That is the goal, maintenance! I would definitely do that!

This sounds like a plan for success, instead of a rage quit deficit that is too hard. One poster said, "Start small, you can always add stuff later AFTER you have the little thing under your belt." Not an exact quote, but you get the idea. I also, plan for maintenance. What I have learned about the past year, is that I actually can eat forever at the 1500 mode if I really wanted to, I have over the whole year changed the way I eat (more for cheese allergy reasons, then added "oh well, since I am here, weight/fitness" reasons).

In fact, when I go into maintenance, I go maintenance at my "goal weight" instead of maintenance at my current weight. I ended up walking more than I ever thought possible and keeping it up. That wasn't until I was in a deficit for 8 months though. So after 8 months of deficit, I added exercise. I also thought I would be sedentary forever, but it turns out that I had it in me (that was an incredible surprise!). But you don't have to sort that part out now. You can be all, 175 is reasonable - gets you to a weight you know you can maintain forever. That is incredible progress!!

Not everyone can exercise, I know that. But you can cross that bridge when you get there, when you are smaller to see if it is possible for you then.

Good morning!

Still no weigh-in for me today as I'm working through a maintenance break and traveling. I weighed myself on my parents' scale Wednesday before I left to go see my brother and it had me at 249 (their scale consistently weighs about 2 - 3 pounds heavier than any other scale I've ever been on). This morning, it still had me at 249, so I'm probably sitting between 246 - 247, which is (a) where I was before I started retaining alllll the water and going on this maintenance break and (b) means I maintained through 2 travel days, 1 large kiddo birthday party, 2 meals out, and my SIL's amazing freaking cooking!

That alone is a major victory!

I'm traveling yet again today after I WFH for a bit, and then it's back to a deficit tomorrow or Wednesday, depending on what I can get planned.

I'm behind on reading posts, so I'm going to try to get to some replies out later today.

Goals for April:

🍎 Increase daily fruit and veggie servings (currently hitting 2-3/day and aiming to reach 3-4/day minimum)
🧘🏼‍♀️ Continue exercising 2-3 times a week or more
💭 Start seeing a therapist for talk therapy
⬇️ Lose 7 pounds (but I’ll be happy with any loss)

SW: 288.8
CW: 276.8
GW for April: to get under 270

3/28: 276.8
4/4: 275.4 (-1.4)
4/11: 274.2 (-1.2)
4/18: 272.2 (-2.0)
4/25: 270.2 (-2.0)
Total loss for April= 6.6lbs

That is super close to my goal of 7lbs and only a third of a pound away from being under 270. I'm super happy with that. I'm not going to reflect on the month until the 30th, but this is my last weigh in for the month. I'll start May's weigh ins after my next one, I won't be counting this coming week in May's total.

I met my fruit & veggies goal for the week. I ate 4-6 servings of fruit and veggies, except Sunday when I got 3. I did meet my fiber every day and even hit 30-40g most days. I exercised once because that’s all I could do and that’s okay.

I also set up an appointment with a therapist. There were so many places to choose from, I don't drive, getting rides is complicated at the moment because the main person doesn't have a car available during the day, and I wasn't sure whether I wanted to do telehealth or in person. I decided to just go back to the place I used to go to in 2016 to make it easier on me. They have many therapists there so if I don't connect with one, I can easily ask for another. I decided telehealth and then i reconsidered and decided to go in person so I can see better if I connect with my therapist. It feels good to have that done after putting it off for a month.

Today is my fourth day of having significant hip pain. It's not as bad as it could be, so maybe the voltaren is helping them, but I don't know. I don't usually have four days of significant pain in a row. I'll usually have one or two, then regular pain days after that.

My calories have been lower than the 1.5lb per week loss goal this week due to new guidelines my doctor sent me on Friday the previous week. The good news is that I was still eating enough technically, and eating the level I would be if I had set it to 2lbs a week. She wants me limiting my fat to 30%. That has been a challenge for me. I feel very restricted. I'm trying to embrace it. She also wants me limiting sugar, even natural sugar, but I was already doing that. I did share with you guys last week that she had said to avoid white flour (rice & pasta etc). I did all week, I believe. I replenished my brown rice and got some more sweet potatoes this week. I'm really enjoying them with adobo seasoning.

Goals for the upcoming week:
🍎 Keep hitting 3-5 fruit & veggie goal each day
🧘🏼‍♀️ Exercise twice if I’m able to
🥦 Keep getting enough fiber each day
👩‍⚕️ Prepare for and hopefully have a good appointment with new rheumatologist

@Cluelessmama1979 As a fellow shortie (5'3" on my best day), I've decided to hell with what the BMI charts and calculators think I "should" weigh. I've never been below 168 as an adult, and even then I was still fat, so I cannot conceive of being 125lbs, which is what the most generous calculator I've found says I "should" weigh - most of them want me closer to 110, even more inconceivable to me. Instead, my approach is to just keep aiming for a particular rate of loss until I get to a point I'm happy with. I also fully intend to be way more muscular than those calculators expect a woman to be, which means I will be heavier even if my external dimensions are what the calculator anticipates (muscle is denser than fat).

My 2022 GW of 145 is entirely mathematical - losing 1lb per week for a year is -52 lbs from my starting weight, so for 2021 I aimed for a goal weight on 12/31/21 of 196lbs, down 52 from 248 on 1/1/21. 196 minus another 52 is 144, so that was my goal for 2022. When I set those goals I didn't count on things like my period coming back, my husband needing surgery that left him unable to do much in terms of household chores for months on end, etc. Picking a number that's in the general direction you want to go, and figuring out next steps when you get there, is 100% a valid approach.

The other piece I wasn't counting on when I set my goals, and to your point about "working UP to 'sedentary,'" was coming to terms with how active I need to be in order to eat the way I want to. I love food and cooking, I cannot subsist on 1200 calories per day no matter how you slice it, and I'm married to a 6' man who loves pizza and beer as much as I do. So, as a short woman, I need to be active and build as much muscle as I can so that I can eat the things I want and not get FOMO over some damn buffalo wings. Find ways to be active in your everyday life - park further from the entrance, take the stairs, take the long way, all the classic tips. A step counter has been really helpful; I resisted for a long time, and then joined a challenge on Reddit that involved tracking steps among other metrics, and it's become much easier to quantify how active I am on a given day and adjust as necessary. If you're able to incorporate deliberate exercise, maybe after increasing your general non-exercise activity, definitely do that. For women especially, resistance training is really important - I love feeling strong, but it's also good for our bones, helps prevent osteoporosis.

goal06082021 wrote: »

As a fellow shortie (5'3" on my best day), I've decided to hell with what the BMI charts and calculators think I "should" weigh. I've never been below 168 as an adult, and even then I was still fat, so I cannot conceive of being 125lbs, which is what the most generous calculator I've found says I "should" weigh - most of them want me closer to 110, even more inconceivable to me.

Not sure what calculator you're using, but at 5'3" a weight of 125 is typically around a bmi of 22 (which is considered ideal for the average adult woman) 110 would put you at around 19.5 which is like... barely above the dangerously underweight category.

Obviously there's no calculator which can be 100% accurate guessing your bmi, but yeah no... unless youre using that "better bmi for tall people" thing. I'd suggest not. That does work for short girls but... not us... specifically only applies to women under 5 ft, lol.

I pretty much exclusively use sailrabbit now. The options are more customizable and specific!

But yeah, if you're more muscular, the numbers on the scale would be higher anyway!

...my concern with the "stop at 175 lb" plan is that 175 for me is around 33 bmi... like... it'd be like you at 190 lbs. Which is still obese category of bmi so i was thinking maybe im just lazy. Maybe i need to go a lil further and get under 30 bmi?

Your 168 lowest would be 155 for me, which is only 20 lbs more than I'd planned, but... idk. I don't want 20 lbs to steal all my motivation lol...

goal06082021 wrote: »

The other piece I wasn't counting on when I set my goals, and to your point about "working UP to 'sedentary,'" was coming to terms with how active I need to be in order to eat the way I want to. I love food and cooking, I cannot subsist on 1200 calories per day no matter how you slice it, and I'm married to a 6' man who loves pizza and beer as much as I do. So, as a short woman, I need to be active and build as much muscle as I can so that I can eat the things I want and not get FOMO over some damn buffalo wings. Find ways to be active in your everyday life - park further from the entrance, take the stairs, take the long way, all the classic tips. A step counter has been really helpful; I resisted for a long time, and then joined a challenge on Reddit that involved tracking steps among other metrics, and it's become much easier to quantify how active I am on a given day and adjust as necessary. If you're able to incorporate deliberate exercise, maybe after increasing your general non-exercise activity, definitely do that. For women especially, resistance training is really important - I love feeling strong, but it's also good for our bones, helps prevent osteoporosis.

Yeah, I legit cannot imagine eating at 1200 for life lol

Sedentary, at 116 lbs (my 22 bmi) my tdee would be 1350, also unfathomable ...

Unfortunately, I have disabilities (unrelated to weight) which will never let me get much beyond sedentary, so ...

Idk, maybe I just need to pick a calorie range somewhere along the way which I *can* eat at forever... at 175 *sedentary* my tdee is between 1669 and 1805 depending if using hb or mifflin to calculate.. that seems so much more reasonable to me lol.

(If I never make it to sedentary, like, if I can't regain any mobility, it'd be between 1530 and 1655, which sucks)

I have more things I wanna talk about but I been typing too long so my back is screaming so imma leave off here..

Anyway, thank you for sharing your numbers/experiences with me. Something about talking to people with similar stats makes it seem ... idk ... closer to home? It helps a lot! Makes me start thinking more in depth I really appreciate it

When I was working we had to go into the office 1 day a week. I like ice water and I didn’t like the way that ice was available at work. So I bought a huge thermos type water bottle. I would fill it with ice and water. It made it hard to lug in with my lunch and laptop. This weekend every time I picked up my glass of water to take a sip the ice would be melted. I realized I missed my thermos bottle which kept the ice for 2 days. So today I filled it up. I used to think water tasted better in glass but it tastes really good in this Hydro Cell bottle.

Last week I walked every day from Sunday to Thursday when I posted then no walk for 2 days. Again I walked yesterday and today. Hopefully I will get to Thursday or beyond this week. As to the hot water tank they found a cheaper version of similar quality and available sooner and so they are putting it in today. I was planning to get an ebike for my birthday last month but may hold off on that for a while.

For me it isn’t really just about de-cluttering. During the economic downturn we got behind on home maintenance and couldn’t make progress on consumer debt. We had to get 2 kids through college without too much student debt. So it was nice to finally be paid what I should be and we got rid of the debt and have continued to repair our house. We painted a few years ago and then redid the bathroom. Then last year redid our deck. We expanded it just a bit. Next is the kitchen. We need to replace all the blinds in our home and paint the inside but we can do that. So that is why I am not quite ready to retire. The thing is that sometimes you only see what needs doing and forget all that you have done.

@justanotherloser being overwhelmed - Yes that is when it started for me. I realized it is important to take small steps but your insights explain why. 1 area I need to improve on is NEAT and cleaning and de-cluttering is just the thing for that. It is a double reward. You talk of eating at maintenance at your goal weight. Many people use that method to lose weight. It definitely isn’t maintenance for many. For some it is a bit of a rest from a larger deficit but for others it could actual be below their current BMR. I would like to use this method to lose but it wouldn’t be enough calories for me yet and I would hit a wall. However once one has lost a lot then it would work really well.
@ros0810 nice steady progress.
@CupcakeCrusoe My youngest uses a different app too. I am glad that they are getting more exercise and even using a scale. They graduated during the pandemic and couldn’t find a job until almost a year later and taking a coding camp to keep their hand in after graduating. They seem to really be taking their life in hand now that they have started a great job. Hope Macrofactor works for you.
@Clulessmama1979 I think you are right the ideal could be unrealistic. I do not think it is a cop out. Get down to a healthy weight and see how you feel. In fact it is good to plan interim goals and take a maintenance break too. I love your saying I’m struggling to get UP to sedentary. I keep getting back to being able to walk longer then I get sick and have to build up all over again. Don’t let trying to be perfect keep us from making progress.
@goal6082021 like reading your approach to setting a weight goal.

I read all of your posts but I ran out of steam so I know that I read all. Hope we all have a successful week.

@mmdeveau sounds like we had a pretty similar journey, comparatively, lol

Re: your things learned: (replying individually so that i will have to think about each thing)

- "high weight/water"
- Yeah, I breath caffeine, and smoke too much and have hyperthyroidism? Hypothyroidism? The less dangerous, more weight-friendly one, and I always struggle with a mtn dew habit, so usually the first weeks of eating better, switching pop for water, the lbs melt off. Like, this week, I went over goal, but right around maintenance the first few days, yet I'm averaging over 1lb per day weight loss (274.4 when I started logging a week ago to 265.8 this morning). It's almost entirely water weight, lol, but it helps encourage me

- "bad foods"
- So... to get this info out of the way so I can't use it as excuses later... this bit hits on the bulk of my problem. It's pretty convoluted...

I have diagnosed autism and (unrelated) severe ptsd... so obviously I stress eat, but also, as part of my diagnosis, I have *extremely* minimal impulse control (think of your average 12 year old). Added to which, I hyperfocus on things and either forget to eat, or eat without realizing it. And I know all the science, so I end up lying to myself, making the math work in my head and then...

I tend to get a craving, say I won't give in, end up binging, don't want to self-punish, so I move on, forget to eat a few meals, finally remember to grab something, forget what I'm doing, and eat it all. Fun times.

These are obviously things everyone deals with but like... magnified, lol. I was just frustrated because I had decided that this time I just wouldn't bring the higher calorie, lower nutrient foods into the house. But here they are, and I'm not in a position to throw them out. So... for now my 13 year old is in charge of the snacks... she has them hidden. I'll update yall on how that goes, lol.

-"short-term goals"
- with the above mentioned early weight loss results that gets hard lol. When I started logging again a week ago, I was like, "okay 1 lb per week... that means, 3lbs lost by the 1st, and 7 lbs gone by memorial day." Planning to hit 267 by the end of May. I'm at 265.8 today. The lbs plateau and loss slows .. occasionally go up 1 or 2 lbs randomly... the math always averages out *eventually* but short term goals are rough for a couple months.

I suppose, considering the rate I lost at in the past, I am expecting ... 260 by May 1, around 235 by June ... 225 by Independence Day? That's around 50lbs the first 3 months which sounds nuts, but follows trends... then I usually plateau for like... 3 more months, lol. So...

Goal-wise, I guess, no matter how fast or slow it goes, if I am at 225 in mid-October? Then it should stabilize, 1-2 lbs per week, about 11 weeks .. say.. 210 by the New Year? And like 4 lbs per month after that... so September 2023 for 175 lbs. That's all guesswork till I have a couple-few more weeks of daya, though... factors have changed, so this time could be different, lol.

This was actually really helpful, I will make up a mini-goal list before bed, thank you!

-"non-scale goals"
- ugh. So. These are hard because, medical/mobility issues... I have fibro and a nerve in my back with a literal hole in it. I can barely walk at all. Just starting to try to push limits for movement today, tbh. Clothes are already super baggy cause sensory stuff. And I don't have the mobility to take measurements yet.

I do have non scale goals, but they are mostly good and movement related. I want to get into a pattern with my breakfast/lunch/dinner, at least... I am probably always going to struggle with snacks... don't want to struggle with meals too. I am once again swearing off Mtn Dew... that's a huge struggle for me. And trying to drink more water and less coffee and coke zero. Trying to do the small movements routine I posted to hopefully regain some mobility. And trying to force myself to eat a small amount of veg twice per day... I have... texture issues with them. Have succeeded since thursday, lol. I should write those down too.

-"guilt/shame"
- no worries, I don't tend to feel either of those often, lol. Actually I'm usually pretty proud of myself. I've had enough doctors therapists and social workers ask me how I'm still alive that I can feel proud of how well I do all things considered. I DO get mad at my own stupidity or lack of self-control a lot, but tbh I'm too lazy to hold on to that for long, either.

But you also mentioned cars and convenience... I'm pretty limited, shopping-wise. Poverty, ofc, but also I can't drive, don't have a car even if I could, and even if I could walk short distances... closest anything is 2 miles away, lol. I have a social worker who takes me shopping *usually* twice a month, but between her, me and my daughter, with illnesses, other obligations, her vacation days, etc, sometimes it's more like every 3-4 weeks. So... lots of non-perishables.

I *do* have a jetson bike (electric and pedal) but I'm too big for it. Hoping when I do get down near final goal I will be able to use that for occasional trips for a few small things, or even just for exercise but idk.

-"consistency"
- lol, my mortal enemy. I've yet to learn to be consistent with anything. Awful, I know. I'm working on it

@KeriA lol thanks, I'm told I often have a unique way of phrasing things. I'm glad to hear you're getting your water heater! Hopefully things start falling into place!