Weight Loss Support Thread [edited title]

[sandra_nz]

Weighed in at 112.5kg this morning, 16.8g (37 pounds) lost since September.

I must admit I haven't been religiously tracking my WW points, I seem to have a pretty good sense of what is a day's worth of food these days. I will start tracking again this morning, though. I've lost a WW point so I need to make sure I take that into account.

It's starting to look like my goal to be at 110kg for July is possible, yay!

[VunderBob]

Weighed in today, and I'm down 3.5 since last week. That's my best 1 week loss since starting, and my lowest point so far.

The bad news is the chaotic up and down I'm dealing with, and the overall slow rate of loss. At this rate, I'll finally lose my desired 65 lbs. somewhere around Christmas 2037.

[sandra_nz]

Originally Posted by VunderBob

Weighed in today, and I'm down 3.5 since last week. That's my best 1 week loss since starting, and my lowest point so far.

The bad news is the chaotic up and down I'm dealing with, and the overall slow rate of loss. At this rate, I'll finally lose my desired 65 lbs. somewhere around Christmas 2037.

Great result this week! And better to be 65 lbs down than 65 lb up in 2037!

[Mikemike2]

Hit my lowest weight so far on my diet. I was happy as I had eaten a fair bit over the weekend, and was expecting some weight gain just from the extra food still in my system. I continue to track my weight each day on The Hacker's Diet Online. I really like how it smooths out your average weight. If you happen to be up a couple pounds one day, it is likely just a function as how much food and liquid your body is retaining, as you are not likely to really gain a couple pounds in a few days unless you are marathon eating. However it shows you within a couple days if you weight is starting to trend up.

[Angel of the Lord]

Hit 210 yesterday, and I'm comfortably in 14s. Which is funny, 'cause I was about 195 in high school, and I was in 16s/18s then. Odd what 11 years'll do to clothing sizes, huh?

So that's a hundred and fifty gone. Thirty more, and I'll have lost half my starting weight. Christ.

I'm not loving my loose skin. It seems to be tightening up some, but, man, my arms are really awful. I feel like I could glide on them or something.

Lately, my body's been bothering me. It feels completely different, and there are parts that are bony that weren't before. I used to be able to cross my legs at the ankles and rest them on my computer tower at work, but 16 pounds after starting here, I find that the point of the ankle isn't really comfy doing that anymore.

[MsRobyn]

Angel, I know what you mean. I have to bunch the quilt up between my knees so there's padding; otherwise, I have to contort myself so they don't hit together. And my ass has no padding, either.

I'm officially off the plateau! I started more and more intense exercise, and it made a HUGE difference. I lost 3.2 lbs. for a total of almost 88 lbs. The increase in exercise has had a rather good effect on my disposition, as well.

[sandra_nz]

Great result, MsRobyn!

I have finally had someone at work mention my weight loss. I know people worry about whether it's the right or wrong thing to say to someone, so I'm so grateful for this person actually saying something! We got into the lift together and she said, 'You've lost a lot of weight, haven't you? I noticed it a while ago but wasn't sure whether to say anything.'

So today I am one motivated bunny!

[One And Only Wanderers]

just 1/2 a pound on weigh in yesterday, but it's been a week of family gatherings etc so eating has been bad.

[Cinnamon Imp]

I've been a bit low (moodwise), so fell into the over-eating and drinking trap - I won't be weighing myself until I think I've undone some of the damage!

On the plus side, I've got out and starting training for the 5K, and am really enjoying jogging again. I'm having to resist from going out every night and over-training though

[MsRobyn]

Originally Posted by sandra_nz

Great result, MsRobyn!

I have finally had someone at work mention my weight loss. I know people worry about whether it's the right or wrong thing to say to someone, so I'm so grateful for this person actually saying something! We got into the lift together and she said, 'You've lost a lot of weight, haven't you? I noticed it a while ago but wasn't sure whether to say anything.'

So today I am one motivated bunny!

It's always nice to get compliments. It is a good motivator because, let's be honest, we're not just doing this for us, we're doing it for other people and it's great when our efforts are acknowledged. In fact, I got a good one a few weeks ago when Airman gave my jeans to the sprog because he had no idea that my clothes are now that small. (And those jeans are loose!)

One thing I found out is that I still have to stay within my daily allowance and use my activity points for one special thing, as opposed to using the activity points to go over one or two points or more each day. Advance planning is also important to help me stay within my allowance. I planned my breakfast and dinner last night, so I know how many I have for lunch. It just makes things a lot easier and more flexible, actually, than just winging it and hoping that I stay inside my allowance.

[John DiFool]

Down to 190, something I haven't been in 15 years. Shooting for 185-180, which would bring this 6-footer's BMI down into the "normal" range.

[Gleena]

Fantastic work, Angel! As to the lose skin thing if you find an answer let me know.

I'm likely getting mine cut off next year. I can live with the nana wobble arms, but the bum and tummy skin must go. It's weird because I can tell what's fat and what's not by how it feels - I actually am not upset with the truly fat bits anymore, I can fix those.

I'm with Ms Robyn, my bony bits are in uncomfy spots, but I'm happy to cross my legs at the knee like normal people and not have to sit on my leg with it underneath me anymore to be comfortable, so it's a tradeoff, I guess. I got sore sitting on a park bench, that never happened before, and its strange.

My traning for the Valley Stampede has hit a snag, I've got bursitis in one of my hips. I'll be bummed if I can't do it, because I psyched myself up to do this big scary thing that fat me would never have done, and now my body is letting me down.

(To be fair, I'm not skinny me, but I'm not fat me, either. Weird.)

[ZipperJJ]

That's funny you started intense training and lost 3 lbs, MsRobyn - I didn't exercise last week and I ended up losing 3 lbs (usually 1-2 lbs per week). It drives me nuts when that happens because you know it's bad reinforcement but the scale is moving and it's joyful!

I think my new GERD meds are making me sleepy so I have had no desire to go to the gym for 2 weeks now. Which is weird cuz I love going. A steady stream of 7:05 baseball games has made me sort of put it off too...

Oh well. It's not a race!

[lorene]

Originally Posted by Angel of the Lord

Hit 210 yesterday, and I'm comfortably in 14s. Which is funny, 'cause I was about 195 in high school, and I was in 16s/18s then. Odd what 11 years'll do to clothing sizes, huh?

So that's a hundred and fifty gone. Thirty more, and I'll have lost half my starting weight. Christ.

I'm not loving my loose skin. It seems to be tightening up some, but, man, my arms are really awful. I feel like I could glide on them or something.

Lately, my body's been bothering me. It feels completely different, and there are parts that are bony that weren't before. I used to be able to cross my legs at the ankles and rest them on my computer tower at work, but 16 pounds after starting here, I find that the point of the ankle isn't really comfy doing that anymore.

In the book Passing for Thin: Losing Half My Weight and Finding Myself, the author talks about some of the unexpected effects of weight loss. She, too, basically found herself a stranger in a strange land.

The reviews are very mixed about whether people liked or hated the book, but I found it a fairly compelling and brutally honest look at life as a fat person and then a thin person. (For the sake of completeness, I will say that she has another book out and acknowledges that she gained back about half the weight she had lost...and then worked on losing THAT weight, but I really don't feel that detracts from the accomplishment).

As for me (since I seem to be participating in this thread), I've found that exercise is not optional if I want to get to and stay in the lower range of my weight. I know everyone is different, but I'm thinner when I have a few days of running in. I just have to get better about varying my workouts because I have a history of running injuries (including surgery last December) and I know that I need to mix it up. Right now I just can't afford to belong to a gym any more expensive than my $10/month Planet Fitness membership, so I don't have access to classes.

[MsRobyn]

I'm not familiar with that book, but I recommend Half-Assed: A Weight-Loss Memoir by Jennette Fulda. Ms. Fulda also lost about half of her body weight, and describes how she made the decision to lose the weight, how she lost it, and the aftereffects. She's got a great sense of humor but doesn't pull punches.

Since I've been staring at my goal weight, I've gotten a lot of well-meaning but useless advice about how to get there. My mother-in-law suggested that I do the induction stage of Atkins to nudge myself. Uh, no. I can't follow it; for one, Atkins disallows some of the foods that have been the basis of my weight loss so far, and it requires far more calories than I'm now used to eating. My aunt suggested a particularly strict version of Overeaters Anonymous that requires its members to report their food to a sponsor every day, and if they gain or eat one of the disallowed foods (wheat, sugar, and alcohol, IIRC, but there may be one or two more), they have to go back to the beginning and find a new sponsor because they just weren't working hard enough. The plan seems a bit extreme to me, and I don't like the idea that I'm a failure because I can't control every single variable. (A friend of mine who is in regular OA once described it to me as "the perfect diet for control freaks". I believe him.)

Ultimately, whether I lose weight comes down to my own choices. Last Friday, I went out for dinner with my usual group of friends. I had a healthy dinner of fish, vinegar cole slaw, and broccoli. I was debating whether to get any dessert. None of the cakes in the dessert menu appealed to me, so I asked if they had red velvet cake. They didn't, so I settled on a single scoop of sugar-free butter pecan ice cream and thanked the waitress for saving me from what could have been a very bad decision. I got dessert, stayed within my daily allowance, and I was happy. And I'll probably lose again on Tuesday.

Sorry for the blog post. I just had some stuff I wanted to get off my chest, and this seemed like a good place to do it.

[The Devil's Grandmother]

Back up four pounds this morning. Weekends are so hard.

[ZipperJJ]

How many calories do you eat now, MsRobyn? When I'm not exercising, I'm eating about 1,600 calories a day while on Atkins. That's for my 280lb body tho. How many calories do you think you'd be eating on a week of Induction?

I missed the gym for another week straight. Lost 3 lbs for another week straight. Having weird reactions to GERD meds. Getting depressed. Tired of being sick all the time. Grr.

[MsRobyn]

Originally Posted by ZipperJJ

How many calories do you eat now, MsRobyn? When I'm not exercising, I'm eating about 1,600 calories a day while on Atkins. That's for my 280lb body tho. How many calories do you think you'd be eating on a week of Induction?

I missed the gym for another week straight. Lost 3 lbs for another week straight. Having weird reactions to GERD meds. Getting depressed. Tired of being sick all the time. Grr.

I'm eating roughly 1300 calories a day. I'd estimate that I'd be eating around 2000 calories a day on Induction because I'm used to eating a fair amount of fresh fruit and I wouldn't be allowed to eat that on Atkins. It's also more math than I want to do; part of the appeal of WW is that the points are all the accounting I need.

At weigh-in this week, I lost another 1.6 lbs. for a total of 89.4 lbs. I went on a two-hour ride that was mostly trail and mountain biking, so I got a buttload (23, to be exact) activity points. I may do it again tomorrow or Thursday. It depends on how my knee is doing; I took some Aleve when I got home and I'm being gentle with it. If it hurts, I'm taking tomorrow off (or at least sticking with walking); otherwise, I'm doing it again tomorrow, weather permitting. The exercise really seems to be doing the trick, along with not doing anything stupid, food-wise.

One thing I'm starting to do is label some foods as SEA-food, where "SEA" is an acronym for "Someone Else's Ass." These foods are foods that I might be able to eat, and may even have the points for, but they're better on someone else's ass than mine.

[MsRobyn]

Last week, my scumbag body decided to be a scumbag once again. I stepped on the scale at home and found that the number was quite a bit higher than it should have been. I'd been, um, having some digestion issues and it's that time of the month again, so I was feeling lousy to begin with, but seeing that much higher number just made it worse. Since I'm not about to torture myself, I decided not to weigh in, and it turned out to be the right decision. And of course my body decided that about two hours after weigh-in, it was time to resolve those digestion issues. The scale is down by a fairly significant number, so I know I'm OK; it was a temporary fluke, not something that's going to crater my efforts.

I'm still planning meals, which is helping, and I'm still biking. This week's meeting topic was about exercise and I got a lot of information that will help me figure out my activity points more accurately; I was giving myself far too many points than I actually earned. I also bumped up my weekly activity goal from 14 points (an average of two per day, which I can get in my sleep) to 28, which is more realistic.

Finally, I've become more mindful of fiber and protein consumption. Thanks, JJ, for that suggestion. Full-on Atkins is probably not going to do it for me, but bumping up my lean protein will. I think I'd been skimping on both, so I'm making much more of an effort to cut back on carbs, making the carbs I eat count a little more in terms of fiber, and doubling my servings of protein. I'll see how that goes and report back.

[ZipperJJ]

Cool, glad you found a happy medium MsRobyn. Eating a lot of lean protein just gives you more "bang for your buck" when it comes to consuming food. I eat a lot of soy, whey and Greek yogurt with red meat maybe 1 or 2 times a week. It's the satiation of protein that I'm after.

I was off going to the gym for 3 weeks and lost 6 lbs. Then I went off plan for 2 days (Memorial Day and the next). I seem to have put back 3 of those lbs. Ugh!

But I'm not too worried. I'm not in a race. I hope to lose 100 lbs by the end of the year and I'm nearly halfway there and the year is not half up. So I am on track.

Back to the gym yesterday. I was very happy that it wasn't a problem for my body. I did have one little episode with my heart racing, and my stomach felt pretty awful but I'm hoping it'll settle down by this time next week. Since I have the gastroparesis I might have been exercising on a full stomach from the day before!

Now that our thread is bumped, how is everyone else?!

[The Devil's Grandmother]

I'm doing better, back down to my 152 pounds of "maintenance mode" weight. I hope to lose another 20 pounds when I go back into "reduction mode" in September.

[gallows fodder]

Yesterday I had my first meeting with a dietician. I had my basal metabolic rate tested via a little machine that you breathe into for 12 minutes, and we discovered that my BMR is ~1500 calories, and my maintenance level is ~1800 calories, so I'm to aim for eating ~1300 calories a day.

My first appointment to set up a meal plan is in a couple of weeks. I'd like to lose about 25 pounds by Christmas, so here's hoping!

[ArrMatey!]

Huh. Sounds like an interesting machine. Wonder how it works / what it's based on. Any idea?

Apparently being nauseous and having a tooth-ache for a week did have a tiny positive effect; I'm now at 72.5 pounds lost (goal being 150 pounds). I've finally gotten to the point that I'm walking 3 days a week, and I'm now up to a mile without tiring out, a trick I haven't been able to do in over a decade. I'm rather pleased with the progress.
I've been doing free-weights at home as well- just something to do when I don't have anything else to do- but I've laid off them for a couple of days, as I did myself some shoulder damage (completely unrelated to the weights). I'm hoping to get back to them in a day or two.

[gallows fodder]

My dietician said it was a mini version of the machine they use in the hospital to test the BMR of chronically ill patients -- that's all I know. I had to wear plugs over my nose so that all of my breath would be forced through my mouth and into the machine, and she also said that even the short walk from my car to her office probably raised the reading level a little. Apparently, the machine is most accurate when you've been completely calm and still for a while. I also had to abstain from food, beverages except water, and exercise for four hours prior to the test.

We haven't yet started the meal plan, but I thought I'd start tracking my usual food intake just to see where I'm currently at, and after lunch I will have already eaten 991 calories between breakfast, lunch, and a snack of almonds. If I were on the meal plan, that would leave me 310 calories for dinner. I'm going to be hungry on this diet.

I loved being on the South Beach diet (and lost ~30 pounds) because I didn't have to count anything -- I just ate from the list of approved foods. I tracked what I ate just out of curiosity and found that I tended to stay around 1400-1500 calories a day. I also found that I stopped losing weight after I stopped tracking, even though I thought I was eating the same things in the same amounts. Not being accountable leads to slacking, I guess (duh, self!).


I'll post my beginning stats just as a marker for future progress (this is what my dietician printed out for me):

Height: 5'4"
Weight (with clothes): 164 lbs
BMI: 28.1
Body fat: 33.4%
Waist: 33.75"
Resting metabolic rate: 1429
Med gem calc* : 1510
AF*: 1.2

*I don't know what these abbreviations stand for.

My body fat was measured by a little machine that I held in my hands (I don't know how it works). My BMI puts me in the overweight category, and my body fat % puts me in the obese category. My current goals are to be under BMI 24.9 (<145 pounds) and under 31% body fat (in the acceptable range).

For anyone curious, the ranges for fat % are as follows:

Women
Essential fat: 10-12%
Athletes: 14-20%
Fitness: 21-24%
Acceptable: 25-31%
Obese: Greater than 32%

Men
Essential fat: 2-4%
Athletes: 6-13%
Fitness: 14-17%
Acceptable: 18-24%
Obese: Greater than 25%

[gallows fodder]

Missed the edit window. To anyone interested in doing something like this -- don't go to a nutritionist, go to a dietician. Anyone can call themselves a nutritionist. In the US, dieticians go through accredited education programs, have to pass qualifying exams, and have to be licensed.

Originally Posted by wikipedia

Dietitians are registered with the Commission on Dietetic Registration (the certifying agency of the ADA) and are only able to use the label "Registered Dietitian" when they have met specific educational and professional prerequisites and passed a national registration examination. Besides academic education, dietitians must complete at least 1200 hours of practical, supervised experience through an accredited program before they can sit for the registration examination. In a coordinated program, students acquire internship hours concurrently with their coursework. In a didactic program, these hours are obtained through a dietetic internship that is completed after obtaining a degree.[18] In both programs the student is required to complete several areas of competency including rotations in clinical, community, long-term care nutrition as well as food service, public health and a variety of other worksites.

Once the degree is earned, the internship completed, and registration examination passed, the individual can use the nationally recognized legal title, "Registered Dietitian", and is able to work in a variety of professional settings. To maintain the RD credential, professionals must participate in and earn continuing education units (often 75 hours every 5 years).

In addition, many states require specific licensure to work in most settings.

[sandra_nz]

So how's everyone doing this week?

I weighed in at 111.1kg this week, taking my total weight loss to 18.2kg since September of last year. I seem to be on track for hitting 110kg in July, which is very pleasing!

A lot of my clothes are too big now, so I have invested in a sewing machine. *gulp* I want some nice a-line skirts but my waist is two sizes smaller than my hips so I can't get anything 'off the rack' at the moment.

[MsRobyn]

I gained the same damn pound and a half at last week's weigh-in. I've been gaining and losing that pound and a half for a while, and the reason why is because I've been dipping into my exercise points and using them as an excuse to eat food that I shouldn't, like sugary desserts.

This week, I cut out the sugar; sugar-free snacks and desserts are OK because artificial sweetener doesn't trigger a craving like sugar does. I've kept the protein up, and I've been exercising like crazy.

This past weekend, though, I was at a convention out of town. I wasn't sure how I'd be able to stay on plan because the convention was at a college campus and I'd be eating at the dining hall. Fortunately, I didn't have a problem because there were acceptable foods at all three meals and the convention itself didn't offer coffee and snacks between sessions. I also wasn't sure how much exercise I'd be able to get, but that also turned out not to be a problem because the dining hall was 0.4 miles from the dorm and I found myself going back to my dorm after meals, then to the conference center, which was another half-mile or so. Saturday, I did enough walking to earn nine points, and I earned another four yesterday. (I brought my pedometer.) Oh, and I've been making sure I'm drinking water and iced tea so I don't dehydrate.

So far, it seems to be working. My bathroom scale shows that I'm down from last week.

[gallows fodder]

I've been doing terribly this week. My birthday was on Tuesday, and due to not being able to coordinate with everyone's schedules, I ended up being taken out for dinner in celebration three times -- once this past Sunday, once on Tuesday night, and my family is doing something for me on Saturday. I don't even give a shit about the birthday itself (34, whoo.), but everybody loves an excuse to go out. Fortunately, the restaurant I went to on Sunday and the restaurant I'm going to on Saturday are on the "all local seasonal foods and all entrees under 500 calories" bandwagon (uh, sure, plus appetizers and drinks), but I did some damage on Tuesday. I tracked everything I ate, and calories came to around 2100 that day.

Those of you who are tracking calories, etc. via online sites like sparkpeople.com or myfitnesspal.com, how do you handle restaurant entrees that aren't found in their database? For example, I went to a non-chain restaurant and had the chicken marsala, and on myfitnesspal.com, I see a huge list of chicken marsalas I could enter -- some with ~600 calories a serving, some with ~1100 calories a serving. My meal didn't come with pasta -- it was just chicken, marsala sauce, and mushrooms -- so I went with a lower-calorie entry on the site. Is this what you do, or do you think it's safer to overestimate what you ate and choose a higher-calorie entree?

[ZipperJJ]

I'm still good. Had a perfect week, exercise-wise (hit all my gym days) and am going for a second perfect week in a row. I lost 2 lbs last week and I see I've lost 2 inches on my waist. I didn't lose any inches when I was not exercising while I was sick for 3 weeks.

My stomach has felt pretty great and the pills that make my stomach feel great are no longer making my body feel bad, so I am super happy.

Decided to start looking out for saturated fats so I switched from swiss cheese for breakfast to mashed avocado with Splenda and almond milk. Pretty good. Now eating low carb, low sodium and low sat fat. Quite a feat!

gallows fodder I use MFP and I gave it some thought and I actually haven't had to deal with non-chain restaurants much. But when I do, I wing it and add ingredients as if I was making it myself. About 8 oz of chicken, about 1/2 cup zucchini, about 1/2 cup squash, olive oil, salad, etc.

[The Devil's Grandmother]

Up and down, up and down. Trying to stay thin-ish is really freaking hard.

[MsRobyn]

I am happy to report that I did, in fact, lose 1.6 lbs. last week. I'm still not eating sugar and have actually been pretty good about it.

Unfortunately, my knee has made it difficult to get good exercise. I have had patellofemoral syndrome forever, thanks to a nasty injury I had about 20 years ago. (Who knew human knees were never meant to make hard contact with a steel ship deck?) I've been taking it easy and taking anti-inflammatory drugs to make it feel better. Sadly, I know this flare-up is due to overuse. Airman adjusted the seat on my bike so it's higher, which in turn, will be easier on the knee.

We'll see how it goes on Tuesday. I'm still losing because I'm being so anal about my food, but I miss not exercising.

[MsRobyn]

My knee is much better now. I've been taking meloxicam daily instead of as needed, and it's really made a big difference. I was able to do 20 miles today and my knee barely feels sore.

Second, I finally broke the 90 lb. benchmark, with a total loss of 90.8 lbs. Giving up the sugar really really seems to help, and I don't miss it all that much. I also gave up bacon, at least for the duration, and I miss that a lot more.

[The Devil's Grandmother]

20 miles on your bike? That's great!

I've found trying to stay away from both sugar and flour has helped a lot.

[MsRobyn]

I told a friend tonight that my divorce from the pound and a half I couldn't lose is final. It got custody of the dessert and bacon.

[ArrMatey!]

Man, that had to be a hard custody battle!

I'm -so- close to 75 pounds down, but it keeps yoyoing. Been fluttering at 71-74 for over a week, and starting to get frustrated about it.

[ZipperJJ]

Originally Posted by ArrMatey!

Man, that had to be a hard custody battle!

I'm -so- close to 75 pounds down, but it keeps yoyoing. Been fluttering at 71-74 for over a week, and starting to get frustrated about it.

Is it something about those milestone numbers?

I have been hovering around 50. Going up and down 1 and 2 lbs for a couple weeks for no discernible reason at all.

About to cut off a foot. That weighs about 2 lbs right?

[ptr2void]

Does anyone know if there's a means to calculate the weight of loose skin after a 150 pound weight loss on a 6'1" male? I'd really like to know if I'm at an appropriate weight.

[gallows fodder]

I had my first meeting with my dietician today to set up my meal plan. I've lost 4 pounds since I saw her two weeks ago, despite going out to celebrate my birthday with cake three times last week. 15 pounds to go, and I'll be in the healthy BMI range.

Plus, I can now eat 1400 calories a day instead of 1300, if I add strength training to my exercise routine. And I can have fruit and starches again, which I had been denying myself for well over a year. I'm so happy about this! On the way back from the appointment, I went to a local produce farm and bought local apricots, strawberries, plums, and cherries. I had a piece of Ezekiel sprouted grain bread at lunch today, and I might have some rice for dinner. Aah, "forbidden" food.

I'm still going to stick to lower-GI starches, like sweet potatoes, and not go nuts with the wheat products like pasta (my downfall). The meal plan also allows me to eat sweets if I count them toward my starch and fat limits, but I'm going to keep avoiding them, too. I went to the dentist yesterday and got a clean bill of health for the third time since I gave up sugar. Before that, I always got lectures about my swollen gums and had an occasional cavity or two. I haven't changed a thing about my dental hygiene routine, either (still brush twice a day and floss...when I can remember); it was just the change in my diet that has improved the health of my teeth.

Also, I had a blood test done last week and my cholesterol levels are excellent, and I no longer have a vitamin D deficiency.

I'm feeling really good right now.

[Drain Bead]

I am finally losing weight again, after an 11-month (seriously) plateau. I had to give up dairy in order to start losing again, but I am. And now that I have, the weight is just melting off. I may have gotten 200 calories a day in from dairy before--not much at all, I'd imagine, compared to some others, and I always tried to stay within my calorie goal no matter what, so I think the dairy was doing worse things to me than just the calories. In almost two weeks of no dairy, I've lost five pounds on the nose, my energy levels are through the roof, and I no longer have chronic constipation. I started this as a 30-day trial of giving up dairy, just to see if I could, but I think that I will continue it as much as I can. I certainly won't eat as much of it as I used to.

I am officially "overweight" rather than "obese" now. Yay!

[ZipperJJ]

Great work MsRobyn, gallows fodder and Drain Bead!

[gallows fodder]

Thanks, I need the encouragement!

In the two days since I posted, I'm having a devil of a time working this new diet plan. It's become so ingrained in me to see protein as something I can have as much of as I want, and starches as something to avoid at all cost. Now I can only have 6 oz of meat a day?! I was used to eating 4-8 oz of meat at one meal, twice a day! I have to have 6 servings of starches a day now! I...I don't want to. I'm afraid I'm going to start retaining water and get blood sugar spikes again.

I loved eating low-carb. Loved it. Besides the weight loss, my skin cleared up, my menstrual cycle regulated for the first time in my life, I had consistent energy levels throughout the day, I never felt bloated and tired after a meal, my teeth and gums were healthy...you get the idea. I don't want to rebel against my dietician and keep doing my own thing, especially since my weight loss was stalled for over a year so something was going awry, but...this is tough.

Also, since I have quotas and limits on all the food groups now, I've found it's actually hard for me to eat up to my calorie limit -- e.g., yesterday, I only had 1100 calories instead of the allowed 1400, because I couldn't think of a way to get those extra 300 calories without going over my fat and protein limits, which were already maxed out. I could have eaten 300 calories of high-fiber cereal or something, but I'm so resistant to turning to carbs. I had already eaten over 100g of carbs yesterday!

This is the other reason I loved the South Beach diet: I get kind of mental (i.e., obsessive and anxious) when I have to count things. On South Beach (at least the way I did it), I didn't count anything, just ate from the list of approved food. I'm going to have to go slowly with this change.

[perfectparanoia]

gallows_fodder, why did you start a new diet plan? Was the old one not working anymore?

If you were feeling good and losing weight, I would just stick with what you were doing.

It seems strange to me to cut down on protein and raise up your carbs. Carbs make me (and many others) feel like crap and protein gives me energy and makes me feel fuller.

Eating too little because you can't have more protein seems crazy.

[VunderBob]

After two consecutive weeks of 1+ lbs loss each, followed by 0 net change, I gained a half pound this past week. Damned pizza over the weekend...

[Angel of the Lord]

Hit 200 on Friday. Hoping to hit 199 in the next few days. Having McDonald's last night probably didn't help, but I was exhausted. I had Chipotle the two nights before, but made choices to keep it under 600 calories, and thus within my daily limits (soft corn tortillas, tacos, no cheese or sour cream), so it wasn't as bad as it could be. My dad's been in the hospital, so I've been hella busy and exhausted. I tend to forget to eat and/or not be hungry in this kind of situation, even when I was much heavier and otherwise ate a ton. Christ, I turned down Lou Malnati's on Friday for a protein shake and a Cliff bar. Something's totally wrong with me.

Also, I saw 150 calorie a pint ice cream on Reddit. Bought a couple of them--one Mint Chocolate Cookie, one Cookies & Cream. Ate them both. They were pretty decent for 150 calories, though doing it two days in a row made my stomach a bit ishy. Link here.

[gallows fodder]

Originally Posted by perfectparanoia

gallows_fodder, why did you start a new diet plan? Was the old one not working anymore?

If you were feeling good and losing weight, I would just stick with what you were doing.

It seems strange to me to cut down on protein and raise up your carbs. Carbs make me (and many others) feel like crap and protein gives me energy and makes me feel fuller.

Eating too little because you can't have more protein seems crazy.

Right -- I lost weight steadily for about 5 months and then plateaued (and gained some after my mom died) for the next 16 months. I wanted to find out what my BMR genuinely was, rather than go by a calculation formula (that is a little different one every website that offers one), and work from there. That was one of the features this dietician offered, and I signed up for being regularly counseled since my insurance covers it.

Like I said, I've lost 4 pounds (probably more like 5-6 pounds without clothes) since I first saw her, so something is working. If I plateau again, I'll talk to her about upping the protein quota and lowering the carbs. They make me feel like crap, too!

On her list of food groups and their serving sizes, under starches is listed "one 4.5" pancake," "1 oz pretzels," and "1/2 cup of kidney beans." I'm going to make the choices I know to be beneficial to me and ignore the junk carb options and stick to the beans.


Also, just a general FYI: adding a tablespoon of ground flaxseed meal to your food is a really easy way to get your Omega 3s and a little extra fiber, and it is surprisingly filling for only 30 extra calories. I added some to my Greek yogurt at lunch.

[ArrMatey!]

As of this morning, I've lost 76.5 pounds. Half-way towards my own self-stated goal. While I should be elated, I'm looking at the long road ahead and shaking my head sadly. I'm having a moment of doubt as to whether all the self-sacrifice and discipline is actually worth it.

[sandra_nz]

Here's what those 75 pounds look like. Want them back?

http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_pu...log_id=2386654

I'm expecting to stay the same this week, following last week's gain. My eating hasn't really been under control and I've gone over my points.

I had a really weird moment yesterday when I had some crisps for the first time since before starting Weight Watchers in September last year. I measured out 45 grams and was happy to have that, but after eating the crisps, I felt really amazingly grumpy and just wanted food food food. I ended up scrambling a couple of eggs and eating those, then I felt much better.

[ArrMatey!]

I could take that llama, it's kinda cute!

And I've been in the same place- I think it's just the taste-centers waking up and saying, "Oooh, hey, we used to eat much more back when we had these. Are we doing that again?" I've found, oddly, that just finding something else to work my mind on gets me back on track (reading, writing, exercising, what-have-you.)

[ZipperJJ]

Originally Posted by ArrMatey!

As of this morning, I've lost 76.5 pounds. Half-way towards my own self-stated goal. While I should be elated, I'm looking at the long road ahead and shaking my head sadly. I'm having a moment of doubt as to whether all the self-sacrifice and discipline is actually worth it.

ZOMG me too! And I'm only 1/3 of the way there, 50 lbs. I actually went a little batty the other night and went out and got some snacks and had a right old snacky time. Then the scale went down instead of stayed the same or up like it had for a week. Talk about negative reinforcement!

Also I take my measurements and they stay the same, or go up. Like wtf? And of course the scale...

But eventually I just shake my head and say "Of course, idiot. Of course it's worth it."

Congrats on being on the other side of 75

[ArrMatey!]

Thanks. I'm just honestly not sure I can take 9 more months of this (and that's if I manage to keep at the same rate).
(And I'm completely there with you about the measurements and scale thing. There are weeks I wonder if I'm delusional about my diet and exercise)