Just Give Me 10 Days - Round 215

HSW: 211.6 lbs (Aug 2021)
SW: 191.1 lbs (Oct 2022)

Round 208 EW: 175.5 lbs (-0.5)
Round 210 EW: 173.7 lbs (-1.8)
Round 211 EW: 173.2 lbs (-0.5)
Round 212 EW: 172.0 lbs (-1.2)
Round 213 EW: 167.6 lbs (-4.4)
Round 214 EW: 167.1 lbs (-0.5)

Round 215 EW: 165.3 lbs (-1.8)

My goals for this round will be the same as the last round: to not eat my children's leftovers and to eat smaller portions for dinner. I am also very sedentary so I will aim to get my heart rate above 100 bps for at least 22 minutes each day.

Round 215 SW: 167.1 lbs

2/21: 166.2 lbs
My elliptical broke so I am going to struggle to reach my 22 minutes of a heart rate above 100 bps. I need to think of an alternative way to achieve that goal.

2/22: 166.4 lbs
Achieved my goals for the day. I really focused on walking fast yesterday and that was enough to get my heart rate up.

2/23: 166.7 lbs
Achieved my goals for the day.

2/24: 166.7 lbs
Ate within calorie limit and exercised but didn't reach 22 minutes of heart rate above 100. Going to pull apart my elliptical later and see if I can figure out how to fix it.

2/25: 166.7 lbs
It turns out my elliptical had a loose bolt that was causing the problem. It was an easy fix but I did have to take the whole thing apart before I realised what was wrong. I have been measuring my waist each week and in 3 weeks I've lost about 1 inch. It really does pay to take measurements so when you stall you can see that you still might be losing inches.

2/26: 166.9 lbs
Achieved my goals for the day. Not sure why the scale is going up but I think it is just water retention from my hormonal cycle.

2/27: 167.1 lbs
Achieved my goals for the day. I would be lying if I said I was comfortable with my recent weight gain. But I guess it is what I do in the face of an apparent gain that will determine if I eventually reach my goals.

2/28: 167.1 lbs
Le sigh. At least it isn't a gain. Got my 22 active minutes in (heart rate above 100 beats per second) but I did eat some of my youngest's leftovers. I really need to tighten up my calorie counting.

3/01: 166.2 lbs
Achieved my goals for the day. I am pleased I stuck with the plan despite my weight trend for the past few days. I hope this weight sticks. Consistency, persistence and patience are the keys to unlocking my goals.

3/02: 165.3 lbs
TOM hit with a vengeance. I guess that was the cause of my previous increase. Achieved my goals for the day. My last minute loss means I have lost 1.8 lbs this round. Don't know if my latest weight will stick but I guess I will find out next round.

Round 215
February 21 - March 2 , 2023
2/21 151.8
2/22 150.4
2/23 149.4
2/24 149.2
2/25 150.4
2/26 151.2
2/27 151
2/28 150.8
3/1 149.6 TOM
3/2 149.2
Total loss = 2.6

Christine from Burlington, Ontario, Canada 😊
5th Round
Age 53, 5’5”
Heaviest Weight: 345+ lbs (my highest known weight prior to gastric bypass in Aug 2005)
Weight in March 2022: 220 lbs
Weight beginning this Round: 150.6 lbs
Goal: Maintain 150 lbs

This round's daily goals:
1. <1500 cals per day - ☹☹☹<3<3<3<3<3☹
2. Jog/walking with dog every day - ☹<3☹☹<3<3<3<3<3<3
3. Zero work absences - ☹<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3

2/21 – 150.6 lbs – WELP. I felt too gross to jog this morning, and I logged off work after lunch today because I felt so hateful (I didn’t sleep last night at all and when I did I had a lot of bad dreams – PTSD). I did manage to stay below 1500 calories, so let me try to focus on the positive. I have decided to keep my goals for this round very similar to last round. I have raised my calories up from 1300 to 1500, as I could not for the life of me stay at 1300 for some friggin mind-boggling reason. I kept the jogging goal as that is a new skill I am trying to incorporate into my life and I need to keep practicing it. It is my hope/belief that if I can do jogging every day, I may be able to maintain this weight for the foreseeable future (which I have never in my entire life been able to do). Also, I need to continue to work on not being absent from work, as the role I am currently doing is temporary and due to my absences, my manager is thinking about bumping me back down to my permanent role, which I would rather not do. (My current role is a more senior role; it is more challenging and aligns with my career goals and pays more.) I want to give myself a “shout out” for not missing any days last week. In the coming 10 days of this challenge I am scheduled for 8 days of work… please wish me luck/give me support to try to attend on those days. I really want to prove to my manager and teammates that I am worth keeping around. I am cutting myself some slack in that my goal is to just “attend”… not even to be 100% productive for those days. Just show up and do my best. Finally, you may notice that I have changed my goal weight from 145 to 150. I have been at this weight since February 2nd. Maybe I need to just accept that this is maintenance… ? Open to any thoughts or suggestions on this topic. 😊
2/22 – 150.4 lbs – Well, I attended the entire day of work, logged in on time and actually was a bit productive! I am really proud of that! I also did my walk/jogging, before the massive storm started. Unfortunately, I was SO hungry all day, I ate the entire house. And there likely won’t be much opportunity to exercise tomorrow, as the storm is expected to continue all through Thursday. I should do a “Grow with Jo” exercise video. I will still need to find a way to exercise my high-energy dog, nonetheless!
2/23 – 151.2 lbs – Okay, that is a problem. I was potentially adjusting to the idea of “maintaining” at 150 lbs. But I am NOT letting the scale go up. ABSOLUTELY NOT. I am NOT getting back on the emotionally draining merry-go-round of losing weight and then gaining it and then losing it and gaining it again… Yesterday I ordered Jenny Craig food. Not because I want to lose more weight, exactly. But more because my mental health has been all over the map lately and cooking has not been high on my list of priorities. I find that I have mostly been eating snacks, and the same things over and over again. I am hoping that using the Jenny food will help me have more of a variety of foods/nutrients, but also not go overboard on calories. In terms of my daily goals: it was too crappy for me to jog/walk this morning - too cold and also super icy. I also did not stay under my 1500 calories for the day. However, I did attend work and was able to do some work I was actually happy with. So there is the positive for the day. 😊
2/24 – DNW – Well, all I can say is that I woke up at midnight and did not get enough sleep and therefore felt kind of murderous all day. I did do my day of work and did as much actual work as I could and I got some positive feedback from my manager, so that was nice. I did not do my jog/walk as it continues to be very cold and icy. For the first time in months, I lost track of how much I ate and failed to log everything. I got so discouraged that I deleted all my entries for the day and now it’s a bunch of zeros. I know my calories were WAY over 2,000. Augh. TGIF.
2/25 – 151.4 lbs – Okay, the scale is headed in the wrong direction. I need to take action NOW. It continues to be cold and icy, so I can’t do my jog/walk. (I am too old to be falling on the ice.) So today I will bundle up and do a bunch of short walks with my dog. He didn’t get enough exercise yesterday and drove me up the wall with his whining and barking and shenanigans. (Poor dog.) I will also do a Grow with Jo video (she is on YouTube and I really enjoy her videos!). I also need to do a bunch of cleaning. So, that will hopefully help me get my steps in. (My daily Fitibit goal is 14K per day.) I will also pre-log my food and stick to the plan no matter how sore my stomach gets. (My body is doing this new thing where my stomach starts to hurt and nothing helps unless I eat something?) I’m going to post this now for accountability. (I usually only post the day after.) I need to at the very least get back down to 150.0 lbs by the end of this round. Feel free to cheer me on/chastise me. 😊 FTR, my TOM has been very irregular this last year, as I am hopefully approaching menopause. I am kind of hoping that the intense hunger/rage/fatigue I've felt over the last few days plus the weight gain is indication that I am premenstrual...
2/26 – 151.4 lbs – Well, the scale is the same as yesterday, but I am telling myself that if I hadn’t had a good eating/walking day yesterday my weight may have been even higher today, so I’m going to look at it that way. (I think we call that “reframing”! Ha!) I have 4 more weigh-ins this round to get back down to 150.0 lbs. I can do this! I did have a good day yesterday, as I had promised in yesterday’s post. I did stay under 1500 calories, I did pre-log my food and stuck with it, I got my steps in (over 20k steps), and did some cleaning. I also remembered to take my supplements, and got in decent fluids and protein, for which I should get extra brownie points. The only thing I did not do from my list yesterday was a Grow with Jo exercise video, but I actually got in a pretty good 90-min dog walk first thing in the morning, despite the weather, so I am okay with that. Actually, I just decided to give myself a “<3” on my chart above, as I did a good walk and jogging was not an option due to how icy the sidewalks are. Therefore, since I reached all my goals, I get to put a sticker on my calendar. Yes, I am five years old, why do you ask? 😊 The goal for today is to do exactly the same as yesterday: pre-log my food, stay under 1500 calories, jog and/or walk the dog, reach my step goal (14K), and finish my cleaning. I don’t think I’ll need to do a Grow with Jo video, as it is pretty decent out (-3 Celsius, or 26.6 Fahrenheit for my American friends!). I think it is still too icy out there to jog, unfortunately. I’m getting too old to fall, man!! I guess we are half way through this challenge, as of today. I was talking to my hubby last night and wondering aloud if I should actually be trying to get down to 145 lbs so that if I do happen to gain a pound I’m not so freaked out (and not over my goal weight). I am going to ponder that before we start the next round. I guess I’d have to lower my daily caloric goal, in that case. Mathematically, I’d need to stick with 1250 cals per day (if I did no exercise) to lose 0.5 lbs per week, which means it would take me 13 weeks to reach my goal. Holy hell. I hate math. Unfortunately, I tried to do 1300/day last round and was spectacularly unsuccessful. Augh. I’ll think about it. Anyway, let me focus on today. Like yesterday, I will post this now, so I feel compelled to follow through with what I posted here. Wish me perseverance! (Luck has nothing to do with this, y’all!!)
2/27 – 149.6 lbs – Now that’s more like it! I did all the things yesterday: ate under 1500 cals, did my 90-min walk with the dog and beat my 14K step goal for the day, pre-logged my food and stuck with it, and finished my cleaning. And it looks like it paid off! 😊 I’m so excited that I had two good days in a row! I think the Jenny Craig food is making things easier for me, too. No cooking and not much in the way of decision making. The weather was better yesterday and also I know that getting my walk in usually dramatically lifts my mood. I am all ready to start the week. Now I think the hard part for the next 4 days is going to be to attend my work and also try to actually do the work that’s necessary. I’ve been put in charge of a project and I think this is a little test on my boss’s part. (It’s a low stakes project, for the most part.) I will do my best to rise to the challenge. Okay, so for today: I’m going to pre-log my food and stick with it, eat under 1500 calories, get my 14K steps in, (I still can’t jog, it’s still too icy and people aren’t clearing their sidewalks properly), attend all 7.25 hours of work, and try to get at least a few things done. I am also going to post this early because it has helped me stick to the plan the last 2 days. Here goes!! 😊 Oh, and btw, I was right: TOM arrived. Explains a lot. LOL.
2/28 – 149.4 lbs – WooHoo! I’ve been sticking to plan the last three days and the scale is doing what I want it to! If I can end this challenge with even a tiny loss, it will be a major win! Considering the weather, my mental health and the fact that I have been needing to make my work a priority, I am really happy with my recent efforts. 😊 The plan for today is to keep it going: pre-log and stick to my food, come in under 1500 calories, attend all 7.25 hours of work and try to do a much as I can in terms of being productive, and attempt to get my 14k steps in. The only wiggle room I am giving myself today is that we are in the middle of a major snow storm and I don’t think the sidewalks are cleared yet (it has been snowing for at least 11 hours straight, at this point). So I may not be able to get much of a walk in. I’ll really only know once I get out there. If I can’t walk much, I will do a Grow with Jo YouTube video, but that will only get me about 2500 steps. So, we’ll have to play that one by ear. Again, I’m going to post this early so that I feel I have to stick with it! Wish me luck! Oh, yesterday I emailed my gym about reinstating my membership. When I first got my rescue dog on January 2nd, I put my gym membership on hold, because at that point he was needing a lot of time and energy (he wasn’t house-trained, he didn’t know how to walk on a leash, resource guarding, biting, and pretty much zero self-control). I knew I wasn’t going to be able to leave him alone to go to the gym 2-3 times a week, and that I was going to be investing a lot of time in training him and bonding with him. Well, fast forward to 2 months later, and he is doing great! I think at this point I can leave him at least 2 times a week for 45-60 minute sessions (he stays alone a lot longer than that when I go in to the office for work). Originally I had put my membership on hold until March 18th – hopefully the gym can work it out for me to come back sooner!
3/1 – 148.0 lbs -WOW!! Things seem to be going my way! Happy March, everyone! We made it!! 😊 My calories the last 4 days have been around 1350 and I’ve been walking between 16-22K steps. So that seems to be the sweet spot. Today’s goals: Stay under 1500 cals, try to hit 14K steps (although I have to work in the office today so I may not make that goal), pre-log my food and stick to it, (although there is a potential plan to have lunch with a colleague today, so…) and also to attend my 7.25 hours of work and try to be productive. I notice there is a lot of “try” in there. LOL. All I can do is my best. I am going to go ahead and post this early, again, as I have done the last few days, so that I feel compelled to stick with it - but I am going to give myself an "unhappy" face for "jog/walk" today as since I have to take the train into the city to go to the office, the dog-walker is going to walk my dog for me, unfortunately, today and tomorrow. I mostly stayed on track yesterday, with the exception of not eating the food I had pre-logged. Instead I only ate snack type foods all day (ask @GirlOnTheRebound, LOL!) Oh – my gym membership is sorted out so I can go back any time! Now to figure out where in my schedule that is going to work…
3/2 – 148.2 lbs – Well, a bit up from yesterday, but no biggie, and down 2.4 lbs from the beginning of this round, so I am pretty happy with that!

**thoughts for next challenge: journalling, meditation, affirmations, band/strength exercises, Grow With Jo videos on cold days, get back to the gym, X pages of reading

2/21 - 123.8
2/22 - 124
2/23 - 127
2/24 - 126
2/25 - 124.4
2/26 - 124.2
2/27 - 123.4
2/28 - 123.8
3/1 - 124.6
3/2 - 122

Round 210 end weight: 133.8
Round 211 end weight: 133.1
Round 212 end weight: 134
Round 213 end weight: 130
Round 214 end weight: 129.6

Ate over calorie limit frequently this round. Need to improve meal planning to manage hunger/overeating in the evenings.

2/21 129.7 (ate 575 cal over limit)
2/22 130.2 (ate 400 cal over limit)
2/23 130.5
2/24 129.6 (ate 1,436 cal over limit)
2/25 n/a
2/26 129.6 (ate 200 cal over limit)
2/27 131.8 (ate 427 cal over limit)
2/28 n/a
3/1 130.9
3/2 130.6