Women 200lb+, Let's Aim For The Sky This July!!!

@gbj4120 I just need to confirm that gbj does not stand for gay baby jail. You're young enough to have me questioning whether someone would on this site.

Great job reaching your goals. Also wow, steep loss this month!

@bojaantje3822 oh lol, I had to google that. No, these are my initials and my dog’s. And yup, I’m super happy with the progress for July! Summer is definitely helping me burn more calories. I have a desk job, so it’s hard to move much in general. But now, we go out every evening to play games outside and with our dog.

I came here and read posts yesterday but didn't post. We have some weeks before going to Hawaii for the funeral in mid August. I have an interview tomorrow. I am still orienting towards the job that doesn’t open until September and starts in November. I am hoping to make some progress losing weight and getting fitter by then. My youngest is going to be out tonight so less restrictions for tonight’s dinner. It is really hot but I need to go for a walk or maybe strength training. Wish there was a pool I could go to. I will do some prep for the interview too.

@bonniemcc4 you are making good progress losing. I think 4 lbs a month is a healthy loss and you have already exceeded that and the month isn’t over. But this isn’t just about weight loss it is about getting healthy. I hope for all the best with that too.

@JAC581 I think you will enjoy the next part of the move once you can get into your new place. Glad your bf will be there to help. For 1 move I went back to clean up the house on my own after we had moved out of state. I stayed with my sister. During the day I would clean up by myself and everyday I would just stop and cry for a while I was so overwhelmed. Much better to tackle moves with others if they are big. You will start to do well now I think.

@CupcakeCrusoe sorry about your toe. Funny I made tomato sauce and pasta last night too. It was good but not really like my usual sauce without the Italian sausage. Even though I could use chicken sausage to avoid the red meat it would still be salty. Only using some grated fresh mozzarella since it is the lowest salt cheese I can find. We mixed whole wheat thin spaghetti pasta with angel hair which is my youngest’s favorite.

Good morning everyone,

185.6 this morning, which I am still not worried about. Weight loss isn't linear, I'm very sore and feel very bloated, etc. I'll try to prioritize water today, been slacking for a couple days.

Tonight at the gym is poles and pole control, that hated class where we condition our sensitive skin to help us "stick" to the pole better. I'm excited, I'm better at pole than I am at chairs at this point. And it's easier to find videos about poles than about chair tricks.

I was planning on starting a diet break on Friday, but I feel like I could go a while longer in a deficit, even if the deficit is smaller, so maybe that's what I'm going to do. Give myself the room to make the deficit smaller (eat more) but still have a deficit. My big problem is I've been logging inexactly for the last few weeks, so I don't know what my actual maintenance number is. Got to get back to that. I've been swedging it and it's been working out alright, but it doesn't make for good data to make decisions with.

Played video games with some friends last night, that was fun. And I did make spaghetti, my kid was like "you always make spaghetti when it rains," lol. I swear I was planning on making it before I knew it was going to rain, kid! Tonight I'm probably going to throw chicken pot pies in the oven for the fam, and make something slightly lower cal for myself for dinner. The chickpea salad I've been taking with my chicken at lunch, while delicious, is higher calorie than I would normally do with my lunch chicken, so the tradeoff has to come from somewhere. I'll probably make myself a tuna salad wrap with my low calorie tortilla and greek yogurt instead of mayo. That'll be... about 250, and that gives me a little room for some chips (150), and then off to the gym.

Tag party time!
@bojaantje3822 sounds like an absolute win for listening to your body, and 1) feeding it when it needs fed, and 2) not feeding it when it's not hungry. Great job.

@KeriA angel hair is my favorite, too, although it's much harder to cook al dente, where I can cook spaghetti properly very easily. I hope things improve enough where you feel alright going to a pool soon. Freakin' covid and now monkeypox. For COVID, at least, an outdoor pool is a possibility, but monkeypox, ugh. I've been wiping everything at the gym down obsessively with rubbing alcohol.

@Alatariel75 I'm glad you've got long covid on your mind, so hopefully you won't push yourself too much. Take it very easy, so that you can recover soonest.

Have a great day, everyone! One day the hula girl will come back, but it is not this day, lol.

So the tdee calculator .net has always been wrong for me based on how much I exercise and I figured out how to make it right. I need to add my fat percentage. Now I don't know my fat percentage but I know my maintenance because I know how much weight I lost eating what. So based on that, I could figure out my fat percentage, as it gives the right amount of calories for the amount of exercise I do.

If this site is even somewhat accurate, I went from a 47% fat percentage at 138kg (roughly 65kg of fat, phew) to a 43% fat percentage now at 123kg (roughly 53kg if fat). Now these percentages are very large but I also went from BMI 45 to BMI 40. Anyway, based on this, 12 of the 15kg I lost would have been fat. I think that's a pretty good percentage, 80%.

I've also learnt that my BMR is lower than it originally estimated. It should be around 1880 instead of 2030. I'm still going to keep eating a minimum of 2050 calories (though closer to 2700 for now 😂 on average) but it's good to know the occasional 2000 calorie day is okay. Yesterday was a 3700 calorie kinda day and it's interesting to me that such a big, daunting number is 1) still only 500ish above maintenance and 2) a tiny sedentary person could eat my "lose 2 pounds a week" calorie budget and be over their maintenance more than I was eating 3700.

I also learnt that my BMR at BMI 25 (76kg, around 160lbs) will be 1560 calories. I'm never not exercising knowing that. I cannot eat at the 1875 calories sedentary maintenance for that weight. This is based on the estimate without the fat percentage.
If I keep losing at 80% fat, 20% other, my body fat percentage at 76kg will be 21% (or 16kg of fat). This actually brings my BMR up to 1670 calories and sedentary to exactly 2000. I can live with this. Exercising the way I do now will give me a maintenance budget of 2875 calories! This would be a perfect scenario. I want this to become my reality. I figured out my end game.

So to achieve this, I will have to keep exercising the way I do (easy) and eat at a deficit that reflects a loss of max. 0,5% of my bodyweight, which means about half a kg a week at most until I dip below 100kg, then 1kg a month. Also acceptable: 0,25% of bw so 1kg a month now, 0,5kg a month when I dip below 100kg.
In scenario 1 I hit 100kg around the 17th of June 2023, then 76kg two years later so mid June 2025.
In scenario 2 I lose 12kg a year so I hit 100kg this time 2 years from now, July 2024, and 76kg 4 years later around July 2028.

In scenario 1 I eat around 2500 cals for a long time, in scenario 2 I eat around 2700 cals for a long time. Both are acceptable if I can keep a lot of my muscle mass but of course I don't want to be losing weight for 6 years, ugh. I'll be nearing my 33rd bday in July 2028.

Thanks for listening to my math talk. I had drinks with my new friend from the gym yesterday and it was great fun! I had an espresso martini, which was very tasty. She's 32 so we have a big of an age gap but I don't mind it and she seemed fine with it too. We went out around 8pm and she lives a street over from me so we got back around 12.30am. All in all very successful for a wednesday evening. She has an education-related job so she's been on holiday for a few weeks now whereas I was supposed to be working 30 minutes ago. Oh well.

I'll try to weigh in tonight or tomorrow to get a July figure before we go into my personal no-weigh august.

@CupcakeCrusoe – we love Old Key West. I have dreams of the tub in the 1 bedroom there. We stayed in a studio on our honeymoon and a different trip had 1 night in the 1 bedroom. Olivia’s for breakfast is great as well.

@The_Fat_Optimist – I need to get back to AIP myself. I had some allowances since I was doing it for a skin issue; caffeine wasn’t an issue there so wasn’t stopping my 1 day coffee. Are you following a specific site/book for your plan? I love Sarah Ballantyne aka Paleo Mom. Diane Sanfilippo I like as well

Vacation in the Adirondacks was okay. DH now knows he needs to decline any friends trying to jump on our vacation. The things that I said were requirements for them to come were lost on him or dismissed. I was uncertain for what I could cook vs what they’d want and they never really gave suggestions. So it wasn’t the best for all. Positives: Nice watching the lake on lazy moments. I did go swimming 3 times; 2 on one of the hot days. Food was fine but didn’t step on Mom’s scale to see if there was a difference. High sodium snacks got the best of me once I got home.
My gym friend had a great time when she wasn’t sure if she’d like being in the woods etc. She had more cell service than I ever had so that helped a lot. She was able to do some of the shorter trails.

I’ve fallen off my wagon this week and rather broke it; so figuring out what’s the next best actions for me to start moving forward again.
Next weekend is the wine festival that I’ve loved going to but I’m rather conflicted deciding to go this year. We’ll see

Plans for the next horror convention are being set. The one person DH wants to meet was just announced. He won’t let me tell him who so I have to tone down my excitement. That’ll be in Sept.

Age: 42
Height: 5'4"
Start Weight: 119.5kg/263.4lb (4 July 22)
Current Weight: 114.6kg/252.6lbs (27 July 22)
Goal Weight: 75kg/165lbs


Well, I'm still here and still trucking along, I bent last night and had wine which gives me regret today, because it led to a less than great sleep and the one thing I need more than anything right now is sleep. I actually went to bed at a normal time last night too rather than super dooper early, so I'm hoping it doesn't bite me later this afternoon.

I kind of suggested that we might order in tonight after our fav pizza place sent us a 20% off coupon, and while I'd like to not cook I'm also not sure it won't knock me off track. One thing for sure is that if we do order, I'm getting the small so I don't have leftovers tempting me for days. We shall see, I do actually need to go to the store (gasp - first time out of the house in almost 2 weeks!) so if I find something yummy and easy then we might miss the takeout.

Looking at the July goals I set here a few weeks back, I can say I utterly failed LOL save for the tracking, but I can blame all of it on this dreaded virus which has utterly taken away my ability to move more than necessary. I don't even know how to set August goals, given that I still get puffed out walking up my own stairs. August's goals might be centred around tracking and mentality.

@karilbrandt – yum, that dish sounds fantastic! Evenings are definitely a danger time, especially after a stressful day. I have a store of really nice teas and herbal tisanes which I make a pot of, it feels decadent and has become a bit of a ritual and I find that helps.

@sandielewis2001 – Congratulations!! I love being an auntie. Your weekend away sounds idyllic and so worth it.

@sarah12277 – ugh, as much as I love my friends, I dislike holidaying with them. It can be so stressful. Oooohhhh horror convention! I love a good convention, and have missed them these last few years.

@The_Fat_Optimist – take care and definitely do what’s best for you! It’s no good adding to your plate with challenges that feel like a burden instead of an assist.

Well, yesterday was OK but not the best. I was not able to eat lunch as I had meetings from about 9:30 am until 3:30 pm. So, I was starving when I got off my last meeting. I have not had pizza since I started tracking and watching what I eat so I decided to get one. It was great and I don’t regret it as my calories were still fine and I did not have a drink with it. I just went through recipes and found a couple to make this weekend to give me leftovers for next week.

I am down for the month, but I did not lose as much as I wanted to. I will keep tracking and working to stay on target.

• Sticking to my plan 95% of the time. Only small variations.
• Lose 5 pounds (down to 246)
• Start more regular exercise again. I was doing something every other day, but I got out of the habit and need to get back.

7/1: 251
7/8: 252
7/15: 246.6 – Yay I am finally down!
7/23: 253.0 – I have been off plan since the 19th so I need to get back to work!
7/29: 249.6

Tag Party:

@Alatariel75 – Thanks for the suggestion. I do have some good herbal teas. That might help out.

@CupcakeCrusoe – That is basically what I did yesterday (eat less during day) and it did work out OK. I ate a bigger but very satisfying dinner and did not get a drink to help me relax. I still need to work on not letting the day get to me. I may try a guided meditation at the end of the day to help me relax and not let the day get to me.

I did my final weigh in today as well, I saw both 127,5 and 124,5kg within a minute so I'm gonna assume I weigh 126kg today.

I wore an old pair of leggings today, first to the store and then to my workout and my lower legs looked so good. The tape shows no difference but my eyes saw it. Then at the workout they kept moving, the fabric wasn't staying in place. They are big (adidas xxl so a 50-52 iirc) but they tie at the waist so I can still wear them and have worn them back in the day when I was 20kg lighter but only for running. I think it's time to retire them. It's just uncomfortable that the fabric keeps sliding up and down over my legs, hips, belly. It's not comfortable anymore. It's hard to let these go as they've been around for like 8 or so years so there's nostalgia attached to them.

The workout was 10 min of clean and jerks and ring rows so my arms are thoroughly exhausted and my wrists hurt. I only got in 4 workouts this week but I guess I needed the rest after the competition. Tomorrow I need to (desperately) clean the house and Sunday I'm having lunch with a friend.

My arm muscles are getting more pronounced and my arm measurements still haven't gone down. The upper arm keeps hovering between 37,8cm and 39,2cm and it was 38cm when I started this journey.

Ooh I also did my waist to height and waist to hip measurements. My waist to height puts me barely in the very obese category and like yeah? BMI 40,2. I belong there surely. But I'm only about 3cm off from dropping into the extremely overweight category and the normal/healthy range starts at 87cm so that's very big still. I'm surprised. That's size EU44/US12/UK16. Anyway, very doable.
My waist to hip ratio actually got worse asI lost weight! It was 0,79 when I weighed 138kg, which is in the average category (which is still too high but not that bad) but I lost way more off my hips than my waist. You can see my front on my ig so you can see that my waist is straight/small from that view but from the sideview my belly makes my waist much bigger and I haven't been losing much there at all so now that ratio is 0,82. That's not awful but it would be better if I started seeing some loss in that area before my hips get even smaller. Part of the problem is definitely my lack of butt but barring a ton of squats (which I can't do rn because of my back), I can't really change that.

@ktilton70130 it does sound like a lot! And you've already lost 55 lbs, that's amazing! Welcome to the group

MFP check in today. I was honest with myself and did it so the tracking has my high for now. 228.2 this morning. Oofph. I'm really hoping TTOM comes and for that to be the reason. BUT I know I had a lot of high sodium this week. Also thinking the Gatorade I got might contribute too being sodium.

Having deep thoughts in reactions to everyone's posts on what does ON PLAN mean to me. I have really liked the stance for MFP that unless it's a health issue reason, there's no bad foods except for being over calorie maintenance. Past diet sites the chat discussion groups, didn't discuss items that might be perceived as "unhealthy" so I've really appreciated being able to discuss my good and bad days; instead of just the good on plan.

Yesterday thought I should try different mediations on the FitOn app; as I got the reminder of the renewal. Thinking that might help a bit. First one was very on topic that if that's the only one I see it's good to do daily - You're Good Enough. I've always struggled with those feelings via many events so definitely what I need to remind myself. Seeing I can access via my tv as well I wanted to try more yoga and strength as I need to do those more frequently.

Keri
69 years old
5'6"
SW: 266ish
CW: 248.8 (I got down to 247.6 last month) new scale weighs me 6 lbs heavier than old one so not sure about how much I have lost.
Halfway GW: 199.5
UGW: 150 (healthy weight) then reconsider
July GW: get into the mid 240’s

I post weigh- in when I lose.
7/2: 248.8
7/13: 248.6
7/15: 247.4 (new low)
7/22 247.2 (new low)
7/23 247 (new low)
7/24 246.6 (new low)
7/29 246.4 (new low)

🌻 July GOALS! 🌻
🟨 Log daily on MFP and track on my spreadsheet Yes
🟨 Keep making progress with walking longer and walk 6 days a week It has been very hot here so only had a walk early evening.But getting some NEAT
🟨 Add strength training (weights, body weight and stretching)
🟨 plan and cook healthy meals at home Yes
🟨 Eat at a sensible deficit Yes

I am glad I am still going down. I eat lower calories most days but seem to lose the morning after the days my calories are on the higher side. The interview went well not that I am saying I will get this just that I did well. Although I didn’t check in here yesterday I am checking in more often so that catching up with posts is easier. Yesterday I went shopping for a dress for the funeral because it should be white ( a Chinese thing) and I do not wear white - Doesn’t look good on me. I haven’t been to a mall since pre-pandemic. It tired me out and I didn’t actually go into the mall - Just one store. I was able to find some underwear to fit unlike the ones I ordered online. Not that I tried them on but they have my brands and I know how they fit. The clothes I ordered online recently have fit me too big so I was curious about my size now. I found that my usual size is big and looser but not too big so I just bought the dress I found. I think I am transitioning to a smaller size. The place I ordered from may just be bigger in its sizing. I still need shoes.

Yesterday I felt tired and it is really hot here and Seattlites aren’t used to it even when they were born in Texas. We did get a portable AC but it uses the sliding glass door in the kitchen so it doesn’t do much for the bedrooms etc. We blow out the hot air at night and use fans and little swamp coolers. Anyway not walking much this week. It isn’t as bad as other parts of the country but we usually don’t get this hot here except for a day or two every other year.

@bojaantje glad you are looking ahead to when you are on maintenance. Hope the meet up went well.
@CupcakeCrusoe “My highs are getting lower as we go, and I've seen some new lows in the last couple weeks. Consistency and sticking with it means more to me than seeing a lower number on the scale all the time.” You could write my post for me. Nice NSV with smaller measurements where you want them.

@sandielewis2001 congrats on your new nephew. Glad you were able to enjoy the peach daze with an old friend.

@sarah12277 best with figuring out the next steps for now

@The_Fat_Optimist I don’t see this thread as a challenge although there is no reason one couldn’t approach it that way if it helps. . It is a place to get support at achieving your health goals.

@Alatariel75 Listen to your body as you recover. I agree sleep is key.

I'm having weird body changes. When I am lying down on my back and lift my leg to about 45-60 degrees and let my foot hang, my lower leg looks scary skinny and right below the knee there's a dip on the inside so my lower leg looks slimmer than my knee.

And in side-view there's a bunch of something hanging down by my calf, like a sack of water, and in the middle of the side view between the top part that has my shin and the bottom calf sack there's a dent. It's so weird. But then when I flex, part of the sack becomes a muscle and moves from the calf region to the side of my shin. And the fat part still hangs below but is more jiggly than it used to be. The side view is crazy. This is the first time I'm seeing this.

I know it's related to fat loss and the fat is redistributing and whatnot but the visuals are creepy af. There was a thread somewhere on here about these changes and how you look worse before you look better but it never happened to me until now. And it's nice because the scale is still fluctuating like crazy and I don't see lows as consistently as I used to and measurements fluctuate as much as the scale so it's hard to see changes even though I'm definitely in a deficit.

There's also the fact that I'm working out so much so seeing my muscles helps me visualise what I'll look like later. My quads and calves are already playing peek a boo, they are visible about half the time, even when I don't flex and my biceps are contouring more than they used to.

The only other time I lost weight I wasn't actively trying and my workouts were far more cardio-focused than they are now so I never saw these changes. At the time I did see more changes in my belly though, that I'm not experiecing now.

I was lying on my side earlier and my side fat felt way jigglier than it used to. It's hard to accept that I can feel my ribs and I still have quite a lot of side fat at the same time. It feels like these realities shouldn't exist at the same time but they do.

Very early on I lost 2cm off my ankles and my shoes got looser, though I can't size down because my feet are long, I have high arches and my feet are wide. But they look so bony and skinny now, I find it hard to believe they carry my whole body around all day.

I also have a bunch of loose skin. It's not like actual hanging flaps or anything but when I push some skin on my arms or legs to the side, there are all these wrinkles that weren't there before. It's not bothering me but my skin does look a little worse except seeing my muscles move does look really good and exciting so it kinda compensates. I'm 26 so I am a little surprised by the amount but so far it doesn't bother me too much.

I also feel like my stretchmarks got less visible. There used to be indentations all over my belly that were quite a dark reddish pink and now they're more a beige-y pink and they no longer dip into my skin but it's more even, just a different texture and shade. I went into this without any expectations so I'm just curiously logging my observations. I would prefer to avoid a lot of flappy loose skin but I wouldn't mind if the stretch marks stayed. They don't bother me.

Now I'll stop procrastinating and start cleaning. Have a lovely weekend, everyone!

@Alatariel75 if you're getting burnt out from all this, is it maybe time for a diet break? Or a slightly less steep deficit? Even if just for a week, it might help you feel less bad? I don't think weightloss should make you feel miserable.

I don't think my casual approach of 'try to stay under maintenance but avoid hunger so if a few days are over maintenance it's fine as long as the weekly average is maintenance or below' is right for you if you're this stressed about one pizza (I had 3 pizzas in the last 2 weeks) but it might help to see that even with this approach a person can be consistently losing, which I am, and in a healthy way.

Where does the 'I screwed up, what's the point' feeling come from? And why is it seemingly linked to pizza? Maybe pizza isn't the most nutrient-dense option but it's not an evil food either. Skinny people eat pizza. Fat people eat pizza. People losing weight eat pizza. People gaining weight eat pizza. People maintaining their weight eat pizza. Pizza is just a food and if it was delicious and fit into your calories, why does it make you feel bad?

Finally, if the scale isn't budging, are your measurements? How do you look? How do your clothes fit? Are you noticing differences in fitness? How much did the scale move in the past? Is one week of the scale not moving so awful that all the weeks of success preceding it no longer matter?