Women 200lb+, Let's Make March Meaningful!!!

Happy Saturday!!

I have set my goals for April:
🌷Drink at least 40 ounces of water a day, preferably 80-120.
🌷Walk 30 minutes 5x/week
🌷Walk in the Kroc Center’s pool, against the River current, for 20 minutes twice a week
🌷Menu plan for April and grocery shop from that plan within the first week of April.

This last is important, because I’m on a low fixed income. Menu planning will help me eat healthier meals and stretch my dollar, as everyone is doing now.

My A1C in December was 6.0.
My fasting glucose sits around 111-115 now. Still quite manageable, but for me, a huge red flag to change my tune in how I’m eating.

My gallbladder was removed in 2016, so high fat foods/meals and I don’t get along, even though up until recently, they tasted really good.

I have been primarily vegetarian for roughly 4 years, with occasional meals of fish and seafood. I used to joke with my dietitian I am a Junk-e-tarian. 😊 Now I’m trying to make the shift towards whole foods plant based. I am currently roughly a size 24. I hate the BMI chart because my “ideal weight” is 120#. I doubt I will ever see that number again. The last time I weighed 120 I was IN my 20s. As someone who struggles with Bing-Eating Disorder, I expect to be on some type of medication long term. Currently that medication is Ozempic. Changing my eating habits is a slow steady process and I have to be gentle with myself.

Andi in Illinois

Good morning everyone!

174 still, which is fine. Especially since that grinder salad sandwich is full of sodium, my numbers must have been very high yesterday.

Gym was great yesterday, and I did manage to get a lot of cleaning done. Today is clearing the raised beds and planting potatoes. I'm probably going to make a big pot of chili on the crock pot for dinner, as that will have enough leftovers to be dinner again when I go to the gym tomorrow. The kids love chili, and it's so easy.

Meal prep for the week needs to happen today too: make another batch of overnight oats, as I've still got enough of our figs and the goat cheese from last week still at work to go with it. And lunches are going to be the leftover fajita chicken, so I'm going to just throw that in my bag along with a bag of spinach, and lunches are done. Meal prep is pretty easy this week.

Tag party time:
@dnunny70 slow and steady is the way to go! Losing slowly allows you to adjust your habits in a way that works and will be sustainable for you.

For example: I eat dessert every night. Some nights it's a serving of ice cream or half a serving of cheesecake, some nights it's just a small piece of candy, some nights it's greek yogurt with chocolate chips and 0 sugar syrup, all depending on how close or not I was to my goals (calories and protein) for the day. But nothing is off-limits. And I love dessert.

If I were to cut out dessert every night, I could lose weight faster, because I was eating less, but I would be miserable, and looking for the day I "could" eat dessert again. My failed weight loss attempts in the past came because I became too restrictive in my mindset around weight loss. "If I do x, I will lose, so let's do x until I lose" will work, for a time, but then eventually I either fall off the wagon hard or I have no idea how to live when I'm not trying to lose weight. It's so easy to say, "I'm not losing weight anymore, bring on x that I've been denying myself!" I know, because I have said that quite a few times. But if you don't deny yourself in the first place, you get a feel for how you can fit treats into your new life as a smaller you.

Anyway, sorry to write you a novel, and welcome! Feel free to share more with us, we love to chat.

@serenecompassion2663 I love to talk meal prep! The best thing about meal prep is that it takes so much of the thinking out of the week.

My worst meal prep failures were when I tried to make food that would be very cheap, but I wasn't sure I liked- turned out I didn't like it at all, and all that food went to waste. One example: I got a cabbage for extremely cheap, but I just left it raw (??????) and then piled just whatever on top of it, like kimchi that needed used up (??????????). I like cabbage, but usually roasted, and I like kimchi, but usually with Other Things, lol, and that whole thing was just a failure.

My best meal prep successes have come when I've made sure that, even if I start with something very cheap as a base (overnight oats or barley or rice), I make sure that I'm putting something in there that I know I like (figs and goat cheese on my oats, roasted vegetables, feta, and chickpeas on my barley, lots of fresh herbs, furikake, and canned tuna on my rice). That way I can get the bulk from the inexpensive grains, but I get the taste of things I like on top of them, if that makes sense. In the fall, I love making just a ton of roasted root vegetables and experiment with seasonings and sauces.

Let me know what you're prepping, I love talking about food, lol.

@kelliward1 ooh, we used to have several people in the thread who loved Corrine.

People like @aliciap0116 and @mmdeveau maybe? I think about our alums on this thread a lot. @bluffgirl67 really inspired me to the benefits of logging everything in grams, @speyerj inspired me with her running and general great attitude, we've still got @pamiede whose smile I love to see, I wonder where our favorite model @BrownSugar174 went to, @AlexandraFindsHerself1971 's meal planning was always goals, and I've seen @Terytha on other threads sometimes, I hope she's doing well. A who's-who of the 2020 threads, lol.

Other posters I think about a lot, from the 2022-2023 threads: @KeriA @goal06082021 @Cluelessmama1979 @seltzer_lover @JAC581 @kenziestabes @justanotherloser007 @biohazardinc @tahitig @hap2go
I hope everyone is doing well, if we don't see y'all in the thread!

I love all the talk about Canva, I'll keep that in mind when I need graphics. @RavenStCloud

Anyway! Now that I've done essentially a mass-tag of a ton of our alums, lol. I've eaten some more fajita chicken, rice, and grinder salad for breakfast, looking forward to being outside for a while, getting the garden in ship-shape, and then relaxing a lot for the rest of the day, putting some laundry away. Maybe catching up with my guilty pleasure, Sister Wives reaction videos on YouTube, while I crochet, lol.

Have a great day, everyone!

Trying to start up again, I lost weight in college and was down to 230, which was the lowest I've been since junior high. Now I'm back up to 280. I'm a mail carrier and can very easily do 10,000 steps a day so it's the food aspect that's getting me.

@CupcakeCrusoe I'm about 6 or 7 podcasts in from the beginning. I've started doing meal planning, but I've always done planning of menus for dinner. Just haven't done a written out plan for breakfast or lunches. Usually have planned in my head the night before what I will throw in my lunch bag for work...if I have work the next day. If not it's some dinner leftovers or a sandwich. I got a little bullet journal book to plan out my day with food, things to do and such. Not into meal prepping...not into eating the same stuff everyday and don't really want to do a bunch of cooking all on one day either.

Today started off good..ate my breakfast and lunch as planned. Only had a peppermint at church because my throat was getting really dry after singing in 2 services. Had no interest in the donuts. Went to the grocery store to get some things we needed. Came home soaking wet and cold...got caught out in the rain. Had lunch...but was hungry again soon afterwards. Ended up eating 2 cookies as I was preparing the marinade for the chicken and veggies I was planning to grill. Still felt hungey so made me some greek yogurt with cut up strawberries, whipped cream and a drizzle od sugar free chocolate syrup...and then the power went out. So we ended up going out to eat for dinner and I caved and got a bacon 🍔. Been craving a good burger for awhile. I know I'll probably see that on the scale in the morning. So will have to readjust my meal plan this week to make the grilled chicken on Tuesday night.

Here is a picture of the bullet journal that I made:

Hey all!

I had a hugely busy weekend. Unfortunately, that meant I ended up bending my food boundaries all over the place. I won't say break, because I actually stayed somewhat true to what I wanted. I just went over at the very end of the evenings or past my cut off times. Nothing that will completely end all progress and not a full day of eating whatever I wanted. Just enough past everything to feel like a prick at my conscience. Actually, enough of a prick on my conscience that I didn't log into the community groups at all this weekend. Like hiding from accountability is going to alter what I ate. Anyway, just another day to pick myself up and start again.

Speaking of my 3 events in 2 days over the weekend.... I am hosting my neighborhood book club for movie night tonight. We read The Bone Collector earlier this month and so we will watch the movie tonight. I'm making a potato bar, a skeleton shaped veggie tray, popcorn, and Scooby snacks (since they look like bones). I'm eating light until tonight so I can account for enough calories. As I don't know what others will be bringing to share. Also, this is how I ended up bending my boundaries. Food at every event and too many in a row. I'm great with planning for one or two things days apart. It was having everything back to back.

@RavenStCloud I love Canva. When I sold for Pampered Chef and Jamberry I used the free version constantly for things. Even running the food trucks at my neighborhood I used it a lot to make the event announcements on social media. It’s so fun! Also, yay for going to the gym to work out your frustrations!

@dnunny70 Welcome!!!! No worries being a slow loser. I’ve been actively going up and down (thankfully more down than up) for over 15 years and I still haven’t fully hit my goal weight. I’m finally almost there though. We all have different motivations, speeds, and journeys.

@serenecompassion2663 I hope your menu planning goes well. What do you plan to make? I love seeing other peoples meal plans and lunch/dinner ideas.

@CupcakeCrusoe I need to make fajitas soon. Your posts have me craving some, for sure. I love your mass tag party. LOL.

@dmegk5 Welcome! I used to know someone else who was a mail carrier. They have retired now but they always had interesting stories.

@mling84 I love your victories!

Hello again, ladies!

High Weight: 245.3 lbs.
CW: 238.1 lbs.
GW: Not sure. 150 to 165-ish?

2023:
SW: 244.7 lbs.
Jan 31: 241.9 lbs.
Feb 28: 239.5 lbs.
3/20/23: 238.1 lbs.
3/21/23: 239.3 lbs.
3/22/23: 237.4 lbs.
3/23/23: 235.9 lbs.
3/24/23: 234.1 lbs.
3/25/23: (Didn't weigh)
3/26/23: 237.3 lbs.
3/27/23: 238.1 lbs.

My goal is to be at or under 235 by the end of March. I was under it at the end of last week - but as usual, the weekend is my weakness. I've got to do better!

Love to hear all of your victories!

Good morning everyone!

Had a weight spike yesterday, but I'd only gotten a few hours of sleep thanks to Kiddo having a stomach thing going on, so. This morning it's much more reasonable, although still a little high. Still waiting for sharks, don't know what's taking so long.

Because I didn't get a lot of sleep, I skipped the gym yesterday and gardened instead after work, and talked to my bestie on the phone. I always forget how nice it is to be outside and gardening. Something about taking care of plants. Anyway.

Today, my planned breakfasts, overnight oats, figs, goat cheese, fajita chicken, spinach, and a tortilla with cheese and pico, and then for dinner, I'm making cemitas for my family, and putting mine in another low-calorie wrap.

Tag party time!
@swimmom_1 love a long weekend and a hair appointment!

@dmegk5 oh man, yeah, mail carrier's got to be a very active job. Welcome!

@RavenStCloud oooh, air fryer salmon sounds so good and congratulations on your workout by yourself!

@kelliward1 oh yeah, preparing dinner is one of my hardest snacking times, because I come home SO HUNGRY, lol. I need to get better about having vegetables to stick in my mouth while I'm cooking so I don't snack on something I don't have the calories for. I love your bullet journal! I used to bullet journal, I've transitioned to traveller's notebook with different inserts type planners instead.

@mling84 there is truly a great feeling to look at your shopping at the end of your trip and see how you're choosing to feed yourself, I always give myself letter grades, like, if I go into the store hungry, I'm more likely to have a C or lower, but if I buy only what's on the list, I can usually score in the As and Bs, lol.

@pamperedlinny it is so hard with events, and especially back-to-back, with no breathing room. But you're absolutely right, every day is a new opportunity to meet your goals

@serenecompassion2663 oooh, the yogurt and raspberries (and dark chocolate) idea is great. I also really love the idea of using spring produce, it's tiiiime, hahah

@tiffanylacourse weekends tend to be harder, and it takes a while to find your groove in dealing with them. For me what works is having a later breakfast, small snack in the middle, and then earlier dinner that I look forward to, but I'm also someone with an extremely early bedtime- 7-8 during the week, so I naturally eat dinner early every day. Ymmv, as they say.

@pdd1216 a pound a week is a great rate of loss! Congratulations!

Have a great day, everyone!

That table looks awesome!

I can’t say I’m into the meal planning, but I have changed my shopping list, so there are healthier grab-foods, like baby carrots and blueberries — along with some new staples. “Palmini” is a brand that makes hearts of palm into very satisfying versions of noodles, but at incredibly low calorie count. I ordered a case of it online. Freshe makes tins of super tasty tuna caponata that, added to Palmini noodles, creates a filling lunch for 150 calories. Coupled with a pescatarian approach to dinners, it’s helping push me forward toward my goals. SW 279, CW 228 and GWs of 225, then 199, then 165 and finally 135.

Good morning everyone!

173.4 today, we're back, baby, although still waiting for sharks, which is nerve wracking.

Yesterday was full of cleaning before the cleaners come, but after that was done, I was able to relax a little.

Today, the girls have little gym, and our trees should be coming- three varieties of pomegranate, and three shenandoah pawpaw trees. I'm excited to plant them and watch them grow, alongside our gala apples, black arkansas apples, pecans, figs, persimmons, black cherries, and mulberries. Wow, now that I talk about it, that's quite a lot of trees. My childhood dream of having an orchard is coming true.

Our raised beds have potatoes, corn, beans, cabbage, peas, and cotton growing and we're cleared out for the rest. I need to clear out the blackberry bed. Our blueberry bed looks pretty good, and we're planting raspberries next to our big fig tree this year. Our strawberry plant has a strawberry on it already!

All this, and you'd think I have a lot of space, but we're only on about a .3 acre lot, lol. And I've got plans for more! Neither Whatsisface nor I are big on lawns. Just enough grass for the playset and for Kiddo to practice her cartwheels is all we need.

I'm excited for the house to be clean when I get home from the gym tonight, and to see our baby trees. And then to work on a blanket I started last year and never finished, before it gets too hot out to even think about knitting a blanket.

Tag party time!
@pamperedlinny that spread is SO. FUN! I love that! And again, trivia night sounds awesome. Sounds like a stressful situation with your parents coming over. There are quite a few google results when I did "Christian Music Zumba," so hopefully you can find a couple videos you like.

@onhaltn they say being pescatarian is so good for you. I've definitely decreased the red meat consumption in my house by a lot (red meat is expensive), but I don't think my family is ready to make that leap (or me, to be honest- I eat a lot of chicken). Tuna caponata sounds so good.

Have a great day, everyone!

Good morning!!!

Yesterday I got a call that a friend was going through something so my calories were higher than planned with wine and snacks. However, it isn't too bad. About 2,000 for the day. It could have been a lot worse and being there for a friend is way more important that an over calorie day.

Today I'm hoping to get to my Zumba class. I'm also so tired though so we'll see how it all goes.

@CupcakeCrusoe I’m so jealous of your trees and raised beds. I can never get anything to grow. I mostly only got a couple things to grow when I was in Maryland. Since moving to South Carolina, the soil is so different that it really is true. My husband can’t even figure out how to get grass to take in the back yard. Stupid red clay.

@serenecompassion2663 I hope you find that happy medium. I did water aerobics and aqua Zumba when I was pregnant. It was so fun! I thought about joining up again last year but my YMCA has it when I’m either at work or at the same time as my favorite cardio class. I hope one day they will add another time in.