Sorry, we aren’t. This morning it’s 170.
Hey Arien, I just wanted to say something about this. While changing your diet is obviously a must for weight loss, don’t underestimate how much a good exercise routine contributes to taking the pounds off. If you’re on week 6, then you’re doing like 2 and a quarter miles a couple of times a week. For me that would be about 250 calories. Doesn’t sound like much, but when you count in the fact that a diet change for me means that I’m eating lean cuisean for lunch, it means that I would have burned off my entire lunch with that amount of exercise. So keep it up!
I’ve found myself only doing so-so good on my eating. Not nearly munching as much as I used to, but still a bit more crap than I’d like. However I keep a strict rule about this…if I slip on my eating, I absolutly don’t scrimp on my running during the week. If I slip on the running, then I absolutly don’t cheat on the diet. Helps keep a bad few days from becoming a huge disaster to recover from.
I hit my 3 miles at a 10 minute per mile pace last Thursday, so I’m finally to the point where I can start really working on my running. I still need to get that extra mile in there so that I’m doing 4 miles a day, but at least I feel like I’m closer to my goals.
I am hoping to lose the 10 lbs and general flabbiness I put on going from a physical outdoor type of job to law school where I did, well, nothing in the way of excercise. I lost 3lbs changing my diet then plateaued for 3 weeks. I thought I’d like working with a personal trainer, because I have a laziness about me, but instead I started Karate, and I’m thrilled with my choice. I went 4 days last week (way more than I thought I’d go) and am hoping to keep up a steady 3 day a week schedule. The first class kicked my butt left, right and center but happily there was a large class of white belts sharing my pain. 
I’ve met a lot of nice people.
I thought it might be a bad fit, since I am uncoordinated, inflexible, have arthritis in one knee, am prone to tendon injury in my arms, and have terrible balance. But, its coming along well through dogged determination, and I greatly enjoy the mental aspect of the excercise (why do I always choose a sport that comes with homework?). I find I give it my 110%, whereas in the gym I give 80% on a good day.
Osu! (dojo mantra, short for “have patience.”).
(*edit: FYI: I found out Karate burns 500 calories/hour. woot!)
Thanks for the welcome, everyone.
Yeah, I was thinking of setting my goal a little higher but I didn’t want to disappoint myself if I didn’t attain it. It would be nice if I lost weight quickly but hey, I didn’t put it all on in one day so it’s not going to come off all at once either. I hope to average about a pound a week.
Thanks, Atrael. Congratulations on the running progress! Right now, I can only imagine the day I hit a 10 min per mile pace. I am at the point where I feel I can run more than the 3x a week I’m doing but I know I’m still a beginner and my body needs to adjust. I don’t want to hurt myself by running too much too soon. I have lost a few pounds just by doing C25k, which is nice.
Dang! I’m going to have to catch up (or would that be catch down?)
But good for you! I’m glad that your plateau is a thing of the past.
169.5 this morning. With the Tim Horton’s goodies arriving today with Mom and Dad, I don’t know if I’ll stay under 170.
You might not. But now you’ve been officially below 170 enough times that you know you can get back there!
Dang! I’m back up to 176.6! A few days ago I was at 174.8 and had real hopes of being down to 170 by July Fourth. Now I don’t know. This weekend was bad, topped off with both lemon meringue pie (a small slice) and cream puffs (3 since they were those small ones you buy frozen) for Father’s Day dessert. And guilt prevented me from really enjoying the cream puffs anyway.
The upside is that I bought some new pants at the thrift store yesterday (99 cents each with a purple tag) and while measuring them to be hemmed, I decided to measure my waist. My tape measure is one of those little automatic roll-up kinds and only goes out to 39 1/2 inches. In the 20-some years I’ve owned it, I’ve never been able to get it all the way around my waist or anywhere near to it. This time, I had two inches to spare. Woohoo!
So maybe I’m up by nearly two pounds, but I have positive proof that I’ve come a loooong way in my fight to be thinner. And I know I have the will to go even farther.
I’m back.
Recommitted since yesterday. Had been wavering around the lowest weight I’ve been in almost 10 years, but have really been slacking when it came to totally sticking with healthy eating- you know, telling myself it’s OK to eat a bunch of chips, or 2 pieces of garlic bread with dinner, etc. I saw the scale start to inch up, and since I’m still 15 pounds away from my original target weight, I knew I needed to get strict again.
Found a good web site that tracks progress, so I’m back to counting calories and adding up exercise.
Emotional eating is a real b!tch!
The new guy who works for me told me yesterday that his wife made him brownies for Father’s day. I teased him and told him that when I get brownies I always share!
So today he brought in brownies! :smack:
I feel doubly bad for both teasing him and because I didn’t *really *want one. However, he is new, he works for me and he went out of his way to bring me a brownie. I decided I had better have one. :smack:
I had a small one.
Gah!
I’m hungry!
But I’m resisting! 
Hi, everyone. My apologies for not reading the entire thread, but I have skimmed through it, and wanted to congratulate you all on your efforts, and on your weight losses, large and small.
That said, I was wondering if anyone would care to give me some advice. I have a bit of extra weight(I’m 5’1" 145lbs), and I’d really like to lose some of it, but I have some food issues related to depression. That is, I tend to fall into the habit of not eating because I don’t feel like it because of the depression(which I am on meds for, btw), and then from not eating I lose weight, which makes me happy, which makes me start eating again, which leads to weight gain, which depresses me… Obviously I’m simplifying a bunch. My weight is not the sole factor in my depression. But you get the point, I hope.
I also have some anxiety issues that make it impossible at this time for me to consider excercising outside or joining any kind of gym. I’m working on these things, but it’s taking time.
Ugh, I’m coming off as some sort of basket case. Anyway I guess my question is, where do I start, and how can I start out small, so as not to be overwhelmed? I get overwhelmed easily these days(basket case).
Hello Everyone, this is my first time in one of these weight loss threads.
Perhaps this question has been answered before but I’ll ask it anyways. I see everyone here is measuring their body weight with a scale and using the changes in weight as a gauge of success. Why not track body fat percentage instead of weight? As you exercise and participate in different sports, you would likely end up building some muscle while losing some fat. This can, at times, cause your weight to go up a bit because muscle is denser than fat.
I’m a recreational competitive cyclist and I weigh myself daily with a digital scale that also measures body fat percentage by sending an small electric current through your body. I concern myself much more with the changes in my body fat percentage than with my weight.
At Ms. Pumpkin, I have the exact opposite problem that you have. I tend to over eat way too much when I’m depressed. When I’m happy, I will lose weight or stay the same because I’m preoccupied with other things.
The first step is to realize that attaining and maintaining a healthy body weight is all about changing your life style. Dieting and short term exercise programs can give you short term weight loss but you’ll get it all back in the long run.
I’m wondering if you are involved with a sport right now. If you aren’t, you should really try to pick something that you like and push yourself to get as good at that sport as you can. For myself, I know that if I don’t exercise daily, I can get into some pretty bad depression because the daily exercise releases chemicals into your body that make you feel good. Perhaps that is all you need. Just get involved with an active sport and do it as often as you can. The high you get each day could help your depression and you’ll lose weight at the same time.
I recommend cycling
Ms. Pumpkin, I don’t suffer with chronic depression, so I may well be talking out of my ass here (but hey, that’s never stopped me!)
I do know, though, about having to force myself to eat when I don’t want to. Lately, I’ve been dealing with kidney stone issues (again), and it’s all but sapped my appetite. However, for success with the kind of weight loss surgery I had, it’s crucial to get in 90g of protein a day, which I can’t do without eating!
I’ve found that what I have to do is make it easy to eat. If it’s too much trouble, even though I know it’s important, I’ll just say “screw it”, and not be bothered. So, I’ve found a number of “comfort foods” that are easy as can be to whip up, and that’s what I eat when I don’t feel like eating. I can use cups of pre-made pudding, stir in a scoop of protein powder, and there’s 30g of protein. I buy individually vacuum-sealed steaks from Wal Mart (6oz. each; just about what I can eat in one sitting). I try to make sure I have one thawed in the fridge at all times. I can toss it in a frying pan with some butter, and serve it with steak sauce or teriyaki sauce. That’s 36g of protein. I can mix a can of tuna with plenty of mayo, some fresh-ground pepper, a spoon full of pickle relish, and a dash of Old Bay. I eat it on Ritz crackers. That’s 40g of protein. So I keep these things around. That way, I don’t have to think too much about it, and none of it’s difficult.
If you use Outlook as your email program, you can put “eating” in your Outlook calendar. That way, reminders will pop up. It will nag you until you “dismiss” the item. That may help, too.
Good luck!
Chasing Dreams, the scale I get weighed on measures body fat as well as weight. Don’t know about everyone else. But welcome.
Good morning everyone! I weighed 172 this morning, so I’m very pleased. I actually weighed 170 for like 10 minutes on Saturday but I knew that wouldn’t last. I can’t wait to see my doctor on Friday. She’s going to be so surprised (and pleased) that I weigh almost 20 pounds less than I did at my last physical a year ago.
Welcome to our newcomers.
Ms. Pumpkin, I see you have some issues about exercising outside of the home, but I agree that exercise would be of great help to you. In addition to helping you take/keep the weight off, it gives you a boost mentally as well. I’m not a very happy person in general but I find that I’m happier when I’m exercising regularly. Maybe you can find some type of video you can do at home? I’m not doing any videos right now personally, but I know some of our other members here do and might be able to offer suggestions. You might also be able to find something on demand or on the fitness channel.
Chasing Dreams, I also measure my body fat percentage and take measurements, I just don’t post them here. In the past month I’ve knocked off another 2% body fat and lost inches/half-inches here and there. I enter my results into an online program so I can track them easily. It’s interesting how I can pretty closely predict now what my body will do. I always lose the inches first, while my weight stays the same for two-four weeks. Then suddenly I drop two or three pounds almost overnight. Then I stay at that weight for a while while I lose inches and the cycle continues.
The Leslie Sansone Walk Away The Pounds videos are excellent for a number of reasons:
One, they are very time-flexible. If you only have 15 minutes to devote to exercise, you can do the 1-mile walk program in that time.
Two,They require very little space. If your floor space is limited, you can still use these.
Three, they are very adjustable to many fitness levels. Throughout the workout, she talks about how to bring the workout up or down to your own level of fitness.
Four, they can be found for a pretty low price on places like eBay or Half.com.
Meantime, Yellowval, many congratulations on the new low numbers on the scale! I know many people (myself included) who seem to lose inches at different times from when they are losing pounds. So this is not an anomaly.
I’ve been using a Tanita scale since last Christmas and I do pay some attention to the body fat %. I also note that it changes quite a bit from morning (after toileting) weigh-ins (low body weight, low water %, high body fat%) to evening (after dinner) weigh-ins (high body weight, high water %, low body fat%). The trend I did notice was that I have dropped from about 33-36% (Christmas) BF down to 21%-27% BF (currently). At this current time, I do focus heavily on weight with the understanding that water % and body fat % will always affect the weight measurement from daily activities…I’ve had weight swings as great as 7 pounds , 6% water weight, and 8% body fat IN ONE DAY. This doesn’t alarm me any, it’s just my body responding to the daily activities. I do pay greater attention to my day to day weight (example - yesterday mornings v. this mornings weight) and even more so to a weekly span of weigh-ins, and adjust accordingly. It may sound like I’m obsessing over my weight (that’s what my wife tells me), but in actuality, I am learning how my body responds from day to day activities (exercising v. yard work) or (eating salads with chicken v. chicken dinner that includes salad). The morning weigh-in usually dictates whether I eat about 2000 calories or 3500 calories or something in between, but whatever the amount is for the day, I make it a point of eating things with the appropriate calories so I do not starve myself during any part of the day. Hence, I get into a cycle of sorts (morning weigh-ins followed by the major activity of the day):
6/1 - 243.0
6/2 - 244.2
6/3 - 243.6
6/4 - 242.6
6/5 - 240.8 (1105c on elliptical)
6/6 - 240.0
6/7 - 240.6
6/8 - 243.2
6/9 - 243.6
6/10 - 243.0
6/11 - 243.8
6/12 - 243.0 (1100c on elliptical + upper body machines)
6/13 - 241.0
6/14 - 238.8 (1104c on elliptical + curls + crunches) (That one’s for you, tdn!)
6/15 - 239.4 (1104c on elliptical + curls + crunches)
6/16 - 241.0 (kids baseball party/picnic)
6/17 - 242.8 (father’s day = eating at several places)
6/18 - 243.8 (a wonderful BBQ chicken dinner that I made for the family!)
6/19 - 245.0 (had a high water % as well…time to get crackin’)
6/20 - 243.6
The weekends are usually higher, because I do not workout on those days and I take the wife out to dinner or have some family activity that includes food.
I have a pocketbook calendar that I write the daily weigh-ins on, but I should take it out of my car and into my bathroom so I can write all the other percentages, so I have a greater picture of what’s going on. The pocketbook itself and my daily tracking of my weight has been one of the best methods for me in losing weight. It makes me more conscious on a day to day, meal to meal, snack to snack basis. It ain’t perfect, but it’s working for me where other methods have failed.
~310/243.6/~200-210
Heh, forgot to address your post:
To answer your first question, Chasing Dreams, when I had a high body fat percentage and weight, I did not want to keep the weight and just lower the body fat. When I was that big, the weight had to come off first, so I could exercise more effectively (arthritic knee(s) suck). My success had to be weight oriented first, and then body fat % second, once I became able to exercise without killing my knees. I think that holds true for many of our Dopers here as well.
~310/243.6/~200-210
Excellent point. At my highest, I never, ever said (or thought), gee, 345 would look okay if I could get down to 18% body fat. . .
Just because we don’t post it often, does not mean we don’t. For example, I have lost over 11% body fat. Pounds are just easier to show progress.