patesq Member

I go to the gym every morning except Sunday and do an hour of fairly intense cardio. I push myself to do more every day. About a month ago, I started alternating the steady state cardio with high intensity interval training. On the HIIT days, I do about a half hour of HIIT and follow with about a half hour of moderate…

I waited for that first comment because I wanted to know the loss was visible. I wasn't seeing any loss so it made it seem more real when others could see it. I still (84 lbs of loss out of 112 I hope to lose) really don't see a loss.

I wish I had known to take "before" pictures and measurements. I wish I had known to take regular progress pictures (weekly?) and measurements (monthly?). I did finally start with both of these but I'll never know how big my waist was at the start. I wish I had known I didn't have to deny myself anything to lose weight.…

I couldn't eat just before working out, especially my morning workout which is just cardio. I roll out of bed, put on my workout clothes, brush my teeth and go, before I have a chance to think about it. If I wanted to eat first, I'd have to get up a couple of hours earlier which would provide too many opportunities to…

I think this is a victory - my own phone didn't recognize me! DH and I had a formal event last weekend and we got friends to take some pictures because we hadn't been dressed up like that since our wedding 21+ years ago. When I posted a couple to Facebook, it offered to tag people in the photo for me. I clicked on DH's…

Wow, you look great! You've already achieved an impressive result and it sounds like you will have no problem reaching your goal. So impressive.

I feel like mine is pretty accurate. I've been losing at a fairly steady rate. The calorie count is lower than the bike I ride at the gym. We were out of town this weekend and the hotel gym was closed so my only option was to walk and do some body weight only exercises. I was surprised at how many calories I burned just…

I just assumed it was because at my highest weight, the skin was stretched tight and held everything snug. Then, when I started losing weight, there was less volume underneath so the skin wasn't stretched as tight and things seemed more wobbly/wiggly.

I didn't know how odd it would be to realize that when I meet new people now (80+ lbs down, 31 lbs to go), they will never know me as obese. We were at an event this past weekend where I met colleagues of my husband that I hadn't met before. It was nice not to stand out as being huge. I felt so much more comfortable…

Fantastic! This is something I didn't do - you will be so glad you have current "before" pictures. Also, take your measurements. You don't have to update them often, I do it once a month so there's a measurable difference. Good luck! Can't wait to see your successes.

Thanks for all of the kind thoughts. We braved the storm and made it there and back. I have a couple pictures but they're not great. The picture on the left is the most recent "before" picture I have and it's from November 2014. The pictures on the right are from this weekend. And yes, I'm wearing my FitBit!

I squatted my goal weight today - 10 times!

No, no aha moment here. I still don't know why I started or why I've kept at it for 6 months this time. I'm more than 2/3 of the way to my goal (down 77 lbs) but I really can't pinpoint a specific reason. I did lose weight many years ago for my wedding but nothing else has been that inspiring. I certainly am happy with the…

Here's an NSV update: Those jeans from December 14th are now big enough that I will put them in the dryer for the next wash. And, the 12s that I ordered as inspiration jeans that night now fit and are far from snug. It won't be long before 10s are the norm around here. I love wearing jeans again.

My daughter looked at me and said, in a surprised tone, "Mom, you have cheekbones". My husband is receiving an award for martial arts training and there's a fancy, black tie optional banquet. I would normally have refused to go because there is no decent formal wear for people the size I was. We went shopping yesterday and…

A couple of recent ones. First, I can now get into my car with one hand! An odd one, I know, but I drive a large passenger van that is high off the ground. Before, I had to put everything I was carrying inside and then use a hand on the door and a hand on the steering wheel to get in. This was not fun in the rain or a dark…

Wow, impressive! You do look younger. Fantastic progress.

Thank you!! I can't believe how excited I was. And, today, finally, I am actually wearing those jeans and here's proof, compared to what I looked like in November 2014 (most recent "before" picture I can find)! And that's a size large on the polo, not XL, not XXL, just plain old large!

Wise thinking. I've lost 67 (45 to go) and I think a big reason I've been able to stick to it this time is that I haven't denied myself anything. I am not quite as disciplined as you in logging before I eat but I eat what I want as long as I can stay within my calorie goal. I have found that "what I want" has changed some…

So glad you posted this - I hadn't even thought about this. I've lost 67 lbs and have 45 to go so it definitely will make a difference. Have to make a mental note, just in case. Most meds that are supposed to make you drowsy don't for me, or at least they didn't.

Me too. I've never done anything to work out my forearms until recently when my husband showed me a few exercises. After just a couple of weeks, I noticed some real definition in my forearms, something I had never seen before. Definitely going to keep working on those.

One of my goals has been to get back into jeans - I haven't worn them in at least 25 years. My daughter and I went to Old Navy today and I decided to give it a try now that I've lost 67 lbs. I pulled a 16 and an 18 off the shelf and headed to the changing room, hoping that one of them would fit. I pulled on the 18 and it…

These are great! 1. Do an unassisted pull up. I finally got brave enough to try the assisted pull up machine last week and am more than half way to my goal weight. 2. I want to be able to steal clothes from my daughter's closet and wear them. Our styles don't really match but I'd like to know I could. 3. I want to wear…

Same here. My husband and I both have the Charge HR and MFP hasn't pulled in any exercise info since before 7:00pm.

The guy that runs the gym was helping us with a new way to do an exercise last night. He pulled out a 55 lb dumbbell to lift up our feet. When we were done, I picked it up to put it away and noticed the 60 lb dumbbell right next to it. I've lost 61 lbs so I wanted to see what that feels like. It took effort, and careful…

I was just short of morbidly obese - it's a nice feeling, isn't it? I've got 30.5 lbs to get within the normal range which didn't seem possible at the beginning. I can't imagine what the doctor will think when I'm there next. I had just started this the last time I was there.

My posts don't seem to be showing up, sorry if this is a duplicate: 3 recent ones: 1. I stayed under my calorie limit on Thanksgiving! 2. I had a dress picked out for Thanksgiving that I hadn't been able to wear for a while. I was afraid it was too small but it was too large. I went ahead and wore it because I wanted to…

Two new ones this week. I did 300 lbs on the leg press! Last night, we decided to try to new the new Fuddruckers. I managed to resist the roll and just eat my burger with jack cheese and jalapenos. As good as it smelled, it just wasn't worth the calories. I even had enough calories left beneath my goal so I really had to…

This time last year, I was 57 lbs heavier and basically sedentary. My BMI was 39.6, bordering on morbidly obese. This year, I work out twice a day, cardio and weights. My BMI is 30.4, bordering on just overweight! I'm still wearing most of the same clothes because I have a long ways to go and don't want to buy several…

I will try to smile next time! I think I have the selfie thing figured out now. At 51, I'm not part of the selfie generation :)