2011 HEATHY EATING ~ WEIGHT LOSS SUPPORT THREAD

[Frugal Nurse]

Jan 21, 2011 16:54:17 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

So, frugalnurse - here is my deal. I could lose 15 pounds too. I could probably lose 20 - but let's not get carried away.

So, today is January 21st. 15 weeks from now is May 6th. Traditionally, we have a Cinco-de-Mayo party which is the official opening of pool-party season. 15 weeks, 15 pounds. Bathing suit season.

Are you with me?

Oh, yeah! It is on! I ordered a new pair of Brooks running shoes and some workout clothes today, can't wait for them to get here! In the meantime, I'll be doing cardio on my stationary bike and pull ups on my total gym bar.

I had been holding off on losing the weight because we are trying to get pregnant again. i'm tired of putting it on hold though, and the less I weigh before I get pregnant, the less I'll weigh at the end!

[thyme4change]

No reason to wait. But, if you start feeling sick in the morning, you might want to hold back on heavy duty exercise.

Anyone else with us? 15 pounds, 15 weeks?

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

I'm in ~ but who knows if my body will cooperate?

I biked 18 miles today ~ with yesterday's 17 mile jaunt, that gives me 35 miles in two days, woo hoo!

Today's Proteins: salmon, egg whites, turkey, tilapia.
Today's Veggies: romaine, broccoli, carrots, jicama, orange pepper, zucchini, green beans, cucumber.

[lyn421]

Count me in! 15 lbs by May 6th sounds reasonable to me.

So far, I've lost 3 lbs on my One Diet. Pretty good since I just started this week.

No walking at the Mall today, as I spent the day with my husband. We were walking a lot though. I did adhere to my One diet. Tonight we shared an entree of Athenian Chicken at our favorite Greek restaurant. It has grilled chicken, humus, tomatoes, pickled peppers, olives on the plate and was served w/Pita bread and a salad.

Tomorrow, we'll hit a big flea market which will include a lot of walking.

[The J]

I'd like to lose more than 15 pounds in 15 weeks, but count me in too!

[Deleted]

Molly
I am so proud of you. I need to lose 100 or so pounds. It makes me feel bad to even type this. I've lost a few lbs. in a few days just by cutting out eating candy leftover from Christmas. My DH is a wonderful person and he just wants me to be healthy. I eat three healthy meals and a piece of fruit for afternoon snack a day.

[sidney]

I would love to lose 15 pounds but like Molly I don't think my body would let me.
Molly I know you have thyroid problems like me. How long did it take you to lose your weight? I haven't lost an ounce yet. My goal was originally not to worry about weight. But of course weight loss is always in the back of my mind.
I think I should go back to original goal and just work on getting healthy and in shape.

[dianartemis]

Ugh, I gained 0.5 lbs this past week. Maybe I was retaining water or something. It's 1.5 up from Thursday! How the @#$#@ is that fair? I didn't even do any binging over the weekend (I get bored, I need a weekend routine). I had pizza Sat. night (2 slices) and weighed Sun. morning. It's gotta be the pizza.

[Abby Normal]

Don't panic- it's probably the pizza. There can be alot of salt in the cheese and toppings.
Check again in another day and see if it comes down.

[rr234]

Hi all. I'm a lurking refugee from the MSN Midwest WIRR boards. I gained 28 lbs in 3 years of dating my now ex BF. In Oct he decided to bale without explanation. I lost about 13lbs from being depressed and not eating. I would like to get rid of the remaining 15, so count me in on the 15 in 15.

I'm doing yoga on Mondays and working out with a personal trainer a couple of times a month. Dusting off the treadmill and hopefully now that it's above zero out, resuming walking the dogs. The bike will have to stay in storage until at least March though.

[swamp]

Jan 21, 2011 17:27:54 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

No reason to wait. But, if you start feeling sick in the morning, you might want to hold back on heavy duty exercise.

Anyone else with us? 15 pounds, 15 weeks?

I'm in. I'm down 7 pounds since Jan 10. It will be nice to have to report to someone.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

My body has the ability to retain water at the drop of a hat. In fact, my "superpower" is "The Human Sponge!" (seriously!) I can see the scale bounce up pounds overnight with water retention ... and then it s-l--o-w-l-y goes away. With the emphasis on SLOWLY.

It's important to remember that a gazillion things can impact the scale and our weight loss ... in addition to the obvious: calories in, calories out. I have a metabolism that's been screwed up and slowed down by decades of yo-yo dieting, not to mention taking Predisone for 20+ years for asthma, not to mention my underactive thyroid (T3 and T4). In addition, there are any number of medications that can impact weight loss ... you can always Google whatever you may be taking to see if weight gain is a known side effect.

But I've found it helpful to focus on what I can control ... how many calories I eat, how much fiber I get, how many servings of veggies I choose, how my calories are broken down (fats/proteins/carbs), and how much (or how little) exercise and activity I get. Of course there are things I cannot control: namely, how slowly the scale will respond, how my metabolism is doing, and physical limitations which may be impacting my ability to exercise.

Most doctors agree that for long-term, sustainable weight loss, the most successful people are those who changed their lifestyle (rather than adopting a temporary "diet") and who lose about a pound a week. (And often that's 2+ pounds per week when first getting started ... but weight loss really does taper off after those first glorious 7-8 weeks or so.)

There's really no one-size-fits all answer to weight loss ... you really just have to choose an approach that works for your lifestyle, and then stick with it ... forever. For some, that's low carb. For some, it's Weight Watchers. For some, it's nothing white/nothing fried. For others, they just cut out sodas, sweets and junk food. For others, it's more involved ... calorie counting, carb counting, portion control, eating out less.

But we can do this!

[Abby Normal]

And often that's 2+ pounds per week when first getting started ... but weight loss really does taper off after those first glorious 7-8 weeks or so

I lost about some weight a while back. That is how it was for me. The first 10# were easy. After that, it was much slower. I've keep it off and am now trying to loose the rest that I need to. I wanted to adjust to the new lifestyle before tackling the rest. I was really happy that I kept it off and finally realized I was ready to tackle some more. I'm hoping for the initial 10# burst again.

[thyme4change]

So today I decided to measure my cereal. I have shared before that about 10 years ago I went from eating 2 bowls every single morning to 1 bowl. A surprisingly huge change. It was a total mind-shift for me, and every morning for months I left the breakfast table sure that I was so hungry. I always told myself that if I was still hungry in an hour, I would eat a piece of fruit, and I rarely did eat that piece of fruit. So, this morning I decided to take that "bowl" down to an actual portion. Guess what - I was hungry when I walked away from the table. I probably only reduced it by 20% ish, but I was sad when I reached the end of the bowl - I wanted my 5 more bites. I told myself that if I was still hungry in an hour I would eat a piece of fruit - and put an extra piece of fruit into my lunchbox. Not only did I not eat the fruit this morning, but I was pretty surprised when I realized it was noon, and time for lunch.

Leaving the table hungry sucks. But the feeling is often temporary.

Portion control saves lives!

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

I use a measuring cup every morning for my cereal and for my unsweetened vanilla almond breeze.... it keeps me "honest" (and I suck at guesstimating!)

[thyme4change]

I will be honest that I wasn't as far off as I thought I would be. But, if I round up by 50 calories at 4 - 6 things a day, that would be a difference of 2 pounds per month. (Right?)

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Yep. I measure things that are calorie dense, or which I am tempted to overindulge. I don't worry about measuring my non-starchy veggies .... I refuse to believe I will throw off my diet by eating too much raw broccoli or bean sprouts or an extra large cucumber v. a medium one!

[Abby Normal]

We have some small bowls that I use for cereal. They hold a 1 cup serving perfectly (looks like a heaping bowl). I use that so I don't have to measure on the mornings I have dry cereal. You can't over fill it or the milk runs over. Automatic portion control. I usually eat hot cereal though and I measure that when I cook it.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

I have a happy lime green cereal bowl, too ... it's a nice size

[sidney]

finally started so not as starving anymore. Thank heavens for that. I haven't even looked at the scale because I'm sure I had lots of water weight. Worked out Monday and will again today. That's an accomplishment for me. When it's that time of the month I'm so tired I can barely walk up the stairs.

[dianartemis]

Confession - I'm an emotional eater <<<waving hand, pointing at self>>>
I had an audit at work yesterday and I had a frozen pizza last night...I could've had the healthier option, but I went w/ the really not healthy option. I don't even like that type of pizza and I ate it anyway! That audit was a major stressor for me. I had brought my lunch to work, so I didn't eat junk then, but I stopped by the store on my way home.
Sad thing is, that's an improvement. 6 months ago, I would've had a couple beers, the pizza, and probably a bag of chips or a big bowl of ice cream.

[chiver78]

Jan 26, 2011 14:05:10 GMT -5 dianartemis said:

Confession - I'm an emotional eater <<<waving hand, pointing at self>>>
I had an audit at work yesterday and I had a frozen pizza last night...I could've had the healthier option, but I went w/ the really not healthy option. I don't even like that type of pizza and I ate it anyway! That audit was a major stressor for me. I had brought my lunch to work, so I didn't eat junk then, but I stopped by the store on my way home.
Sad thing is, that's an improvement. 6 months ago, I would've had a couple beers, the pizza, and probably a bag of chips or a big bowl of ice cream.

improvement is improvement, take credit where you deserve it. and you do deserve it. work is a crazy stress-inducer when we let it be. just this morning, I could have hit the roof and gone off because of an email that came in from my boss. instead, I vented to an appropriate outlet (his boss, who I used to pub-hop with on another project many years ago...) and went on my merry way.

for me tonight - I am repeating last night's dinner of montreal-seasoned tilapia and a salad. tonight's tweak: since all my cutting boards are in the dishwasher that I'm too lazy to unload, the "salad" is greens, dressing, a few croutons, and a sprinkle of shredded parm. oh, and I went back for seconds of the salad. that's OK, right?

[lyn421]

Question: Is the thread "15 lbs in 15 Weeks" the same challenge as the one on this thread? I've been posting on the former one.

[The J]

It's the same. The idea was thought up here, but then a new thread was started.

[sidney]

Ate Kashi go Lean cruch for breakfast.
Brought left overs for lunch Grilled porkchop and rice and peas.
Dinner will be leftover Beef stew with lots of veggies.
I have an apple and yogurt for snacks.
I feel much more in control of my eating.

[chiver78]

breakfast was a slice of whole wheat toast with some low-fat cottage cheese. oh, and my daily medium coffee with just milk. nobody's taking that away from me. lol...

lunch will be a turkey sandwich on whole wheat with provolone, tomato, and the last of the pesto I made this weekend. water to drink, and either a clementine or a cup of soup if I like what the caf has to offer.

dinner will be salad plus probably some homemade pizza. I haven't thought too far ahead yet, but there's some things in the fridge that need to be used or tossed.

[Abby Normal]

and my daily medium coffee with just milk. nobody's taking that away from me. lol

I think we are related. I went in to see a new Dr last year- my old one left the area. She started asking how much coffee I drank. I told her " I don't smoke. I rarely drink alcohol. I don't drink soda and I'm watching what I eat. Leave my coffee alone."

SHe laughed and said she could live with that.

[chiver78]

haha, right? I only drink that one cup in the morning (hot when it's cold out, iced when it's warm out!) but I have to have it. I'm really grumpy when I don't have my coffee. and nobody wants that.

[Abby Normal]

hot when it's cold out, iced when it's warm out

Ditto. Though for me it's usually 2 cups, plus an occasional splurge on a latte.

My boss once brought me in a latte in the afternoon because it had been so busy I hadn't gone out to get one. (during audit season, I drink them more than occasionally). He announced that if agilemom isn't caffeinated, no one was happy.

[dianartemis]

I'm down 4 lbs from the beginning of Jan. I'd like to think I'm on a roll!
66 more to go.