Downsizers Team Chat - May 2025

lauren_989 · May 1

Here is your Team chat room for May 2025. This is where you weigh in, post your goals and progress, discuss any issues or topics of interest, share ideas, support your teammates, receive help when you need it, and dream big. Try to post often, and help each other succeed! Bookmark this thread to make it easy to land here any time.

Fat2Fit has five great teams. The group and team leaders are as follows - contact them any time!

Our Moderators:
Ashley - @minstrelofsarcasm

Jessica - @jessicakrall8

Lauren- @lauren_989

Megan - @Megan_smartiepants1970

Our Team Captains:
Downsizers - @Megan_smartiepants1970 and [open]

Mission Slimpossible - @Katmary71 and @trooworld

Weight No More - @minstrelofsarcasm and @melaniedscott

WaistAways - @ashleycarole86 and @lauren_989

Shape Shifters - @jessicakrall8 and @frankwbrown

Our Team Motivators:
Mission Slimpossibles - @micaroo4

Weight No More - @BodyTalking and @daria0919

WaistAways - @MaddawgMadsen

Shape Shifters - @LaurieWrobo and @nancyinmiami

HOW IT ALL WORKS: The May challenge runs for four weeks, from May 4th - May 31st.

Everyone weighs in weekly on their chosen day right here in the team chat. At the end of each week, the tallies are done to determine the team and individuals with the most weight lost. The best losers are announced with full fanfare every Sunday. The team competition is all in good spirits - may the most losing win, and may everyone else get to work on next week!

We also celebrate those small, steady losses. If you lose, however small an amount, you are in the green! At the end of the month, we celebrate everyone who lost at least a bit every single week. You are heading steadily towards your goal even if you aren't at the top of the weight loss leader board. In March we are aiming for every team to hit 50% green every week - let's do this!

To make your weigh-in easy to find for your team Captains, please put it right at the top of a message, and use this format:
Weigh In Day:
PW (Previous Weight):
CW (Current Weight):

If you miss two weigh-ins in a row without asking for a break, you will be dropped from the team, so be sure to inform your team captain if you are traveling, sick, or just need some time off. If you want a break, you can be excused for a week or two, or can be moved to the Support Team for as long as you need. You still participate in the discussions, you can weigh in if you want to, but it will not count in the weekly tally. Don't worry! You can always come back even if you get dropped.

Once you reach your goal weight, you join the Goal Zone. You continue to weigh in every week. If you have 2 weeks above your self-defined goal zone, you go back to the regular team to lose that amount before it builds up. You will have a chance to hone those maintenance skills and stick with your team.

In addition to your own team, there are weekly F2F Full Group CHALLENGES. You can do all or none - it's up to you. Participating adds a lot to your success, so we hope to see you there often! These can involve anything fitness, health, or nutrition - and they’ll get you moving, thinking, and learning about this journey. Check the Announcements section for full group challenges.

Let’s show our fellow challengers some F2F love Introduce or re-introduce yourselves right away, and let's get May on the road!

lauren_989 · May 2

Welcome to May 2025 🌺

I am Lauren, co-captain of team WaistAways, but filling in for the wonderful @Megan_smartiepants1970 She has unfortunately been sick for the past few weeks, but hopefully will be back here before we know it!

I am 38 years old and from North Carolina, USA. I have been on a weight loss journey most of my adult life. I have done a lot of the yo-yo thing, losing a lot of weight in 2012 and then gaining it back. Over the last few years, I seem to be gaining and losing the same 10-15 pounds.

April was a great month for me! I feel like I started staying within my calorie range goal and started my 5k training again! I am going to do a 5k on July 4th, just trying to decide which one. My goal for May is to lose 5 pounds by tracking every day, getting 7,000 steps daily, and getting more sleep by not being on my phone in bed.

Some helpful information/tools:

Posting your daily updates
We know from experience that posting daily (or as often as you can!) makes a huge difference to your success. Use any format you like to let everyone know how you are doing on your daily goals and habits. You can report on food, exercise, water, sleep, or whatever you are tracking and trying to stick with. While you're there, talk about how you are, ask questions, and if you can answer someone else, please do! Congratulate others, commiserate, enjoy someone's rant, or go ahead and rant yourself. It all helps make the kind of community where we are in each others' heads when the hand is reaching for that off-plan snack, or the couch is feeling way too inviting...

Weighing in
Please try to weigh in on time (but don't sweat it if you have to use a different day sometimes)! Put your weigh in at the TOP of a message, so it is clear and easy to find. If you cannot post your weight for whatever reason, you can request a week off, or if you need a longer break, you can be moved to the "Support Team" where you still participate but your weigh-ins will not be part of the weekly tally. This is where members who are ill, on vacation, or just needing a break can hang out for as long as needed.

The F2F Habit Tracker
If you want a simple place to track your most important habits, give this a try:

May Habit Tracker

Step Challenge

Anyone is welcome to join our weekly step challenge! All you have to do is pledge a number of steps (set a goal) of how many steps you would like to get a day. Then at the end of the week, post your steps! You are challenging yourself and staying active is one way to hit your health goals! 🚶‍♀️

So everyone, tell us a bit about you, your goals, what steps you are going to work on. It's fun to know your name and where you live (if you're willing to share that), what brought you here, how your weight loss journey has been, and where you are headed now. We all have information to share, things we can learn, and lean on each other as a team for a successful month!

lauren_989 · May 2

Also, would anyone be interested in signing up as co-captain or team motivator with @Megan_smartiepants1970 ? She does an AMAZING job, but it's always a team effort here!

RunawayCurves · May 2

My name is Laura

I am 44 and live alone on South coast of England.

I have numerous health issues that would take too long to go in to but add up to often losing the will to live. I have turned to food as comfort since childhood and lived with binge eating disorder since then also.

I have been yoyo dieting since the age of 10 and lost over 100 lb several times. My weight yoyo's between 160's and 340lb which is am extreme amount to be going up and down between. I have got myself in to lots of problems doing different food plans trying to get help over the decades. I have learned very slowly that for me the only way to go about weight loss safely is slow and steady.

My focus now is on building sustainable healthy living habits.
My weekly goals are
* Walk 30'000 plus steps over the week
* Eat 75% wholefoods over the week even if not every day
* Eat portions appropriate for a human being

I am looking forward to staying accountable and getting to know others working on improving health.

fatgottago · May 2

@RunawayCurves Happy May! I am so happy you are on our team! I bet living across the pond is exciting! I have never left the United States! I have struggled with weight my entire life, so I get it! Good Luck this week!

fatgottago · May 2

Hello Everyone!!!

My name is Tressie and I live in South Alabama. I moved here from Louisiana in 2020 right when covid hit. It was the first time that I lived alone, because I was recently divorced and my children are grown. I met a man, don't laugh, on Farmersonly.com. We talked about 5 years and I decided to move closer to him and see where it went. Fast forward to today and we have been married a year! When I moved to Alabama, I lived in an apartment on my own. I didn't have to cook for anyone and the house stayed cleaned. It was AWESOME! I dropped 60 pounds and felt great! Life is hard and I gained it all back plus some. I am hoping that this group will motivate me to stay with it!!!!

I weigh in on Monday! My goals this week are as follows:

Steps: I can't really walk right now because I just had ankle surgery. I will try and do squats and arm exercises at least 4 times a week.

Calories: Stay within my calorie range and make sure to get my protein in.

Mental: Stay focused and remember why I am losing weight. ( I will turn 50 in September and want to have it gone by then!) I

Don't drink cokes!

That is all for now! I can't wait to meet everyone. Good Luck!

smila1202 · May 2

Chloe, 37, Yorkshire, England.

I've always been a little on the overweight curvier size and shape, although I've always eaten pretty well and been pretty active. I was a lone parent for a long time and as the kids got older and I didn't need to run around after them so much, so I first used the time to further my education and pass my driving test then after finishing my studies I decided to join a gym to get 'Fit' that was back in 2017 and it was all going so well until my PT left quite suddenly, I tried going alone for a while but the pressures and anxieties crept in… I then met my soulmate… so a new relationship, a car, no longer going to the gym and then covid! I work in the health department and while many people were not able to work, my hours pretty much doubled with the role out of the vaccination programme, I put on a lot of weight (for me), the most I'd ever weighed, So last march I decided I was going to do something about it and have been slowly losing the weight since, I'm 24lbs down and back to my 2017 weight, I would still like to lose another 20lbs my aim is to get to a healthy BMI and be fit by the time I'm 40 for my future and my families.

I wish you all the best on your Journeys, We've got this 💪

lauren_989 · May 2

@smila1202 wow you must have been very busy working at the health department during covid. I was working as a nurse at the hospital then and it was crazy! Great job losing 24 pounds over the last year! That is awesome! 🥳

@fatgottagoThat's a great story about meeting your husband! I met mine online as well and we have been married the last 6.5 years. Don't hurt your ankle with the squats either! Just focusing on your upper body and nutrition while you heal is perfect!

@RunawayCurves that is a great plan for the next month! How do you plan on tracking your goals?

candice_dawkins7 · May 2

Hi everyone. I introduced myself in the April chat but I'll do a more in depth into here for the challenge. 😁

I'm 30(turning 31), mother of four really wanting to shed the last 30-40lb (15-20kg) depending on how I feel when I get there. I started my weightloss journey at 134kg(294lb) and currently weigh in at 78kg(171) on a good day and Ive remained there for the past few years. I work part time and I'm studying in the health field.

I hail from Australia, hence the metric numbers. 😅

My goals are 3 workouts of some variety a week, I recently joined a gym and a mums fitness group 1x a week.

Ideally I'd like to maintain a regular calorie deficit, but I struggle with snacking at night and staying motivated. 🤦‍♀️ So we will see how that goes.

I'd also like to drink more water. I think my current consumption is less than substandard, at probably one glass a day.

(( If I can find my Fitbit I'll join the step challenge. But who knows where that's gone 🤣 ))

Thanks for having me in the group, I look forward to it. :)

jimboden3 · May 2

JimBoden3
Weigh-in Day: Friday (May 2, 2025)
PW: 243.8
CW: 243.9

Sorry for the lack of an introduction but I just have a few minutes.

Please skip me for the next 2 Fridays as we have our son's college graduation followed by a trip to Japan and the Philippines but I'll be back just in time for the 5/23 weigh in!

veronica1359 · 8:21AM

Sorry, wrong group

RunawayCurves · 11:13AM

In reply to Lauren
"How do you plan on tracking your goals?"

* Walk 30'000 plus steps over the week.
I have a tracker on my phone that measures my steps, distance covered and it calculates my calories burned based on my physical stats that I update. I also input my activity on the exercise bit of MFP diary.

* Eat 75% wholefoods over the week even if not every day
I enter what I eat in to MFP food diary and although not an exact science I can roughly gage how much of what I eat is from whole foods. What I eat at home is almost all wholefoods apart from my yogurt. I eat a few things out during week but not loads so am confident I can keep track if processed stuff creeps up.

* Eat portions appropriate for a human being
I consider an appropriate portion of food for a human being to be one that is in keeping with calorie needs based on personal stats and activity levels.
I weigh and measure all my portions at home and log them. When eat out I order single person portions and eat one of things instead of ploughing my way through multipacks. My aim is to lose weight so I know I need to be in a calorie deficit across the week even if not promising to be in one every single day.
I use myfitnesspal to see the calorie balance at end of each day so can easily see if across the week I am in a calorie deficit as planned. I am ok with eating back some of my exercise calories as long as still in enough of a calorie deficit each week to lose some weight.

jessicakrall8 · 12:25PM

The May Week 1 Group Challenge is live and ready to begin on Sunday, May 4th. Join us for the Move It in May Challenge!! Get a good 4 of 7 days of activity and post your adventures! Here's your link:

May Week 1 Group Challenge - Move It in May — MyFitnessPal.com

Looking forward to lively discussions! See you in the chat thread!

Jessica