Figured I might as well start the next one of these.
Last month suuuuuuucked. I hurt my back doing nothing in particular, so no major exercise, and I travelled, which was nice but always results in increased caloric ingestion, even though I keep my general dietary guidelines intact. I only lost a couple of pounds in June. I want to get a breast reduction done and have to lose 20 more pounds to get it covered by insurance, which will hopefully only take me to the end of the year to do at worst.
I’m doing a program this month called the Whole 30, which is essentially strict paleo. No legumes, grains, alcohol, dairy, sugar, or sweeteners of any kind. I’m also supposed to keep off the scale for a month, which might actually be hardest of all to do. I’m hoping this kick-starts things a bit. It’s going to require a ridiculous amount of cooking, which I’m mostly okay with. I already eat like this for the most part, minus the dairy and booze restrictions, and a little bit of honey or dark chocolate and the occasional Coke Zero. I’ll miss cheese and wine, I’m not gonna lie. Thankfully, my husband is doing it too, so I have someone to suffer with.
So far, lousy. My weighted average went down nearly 4 pounds in June, but it has gone up slightly in these first couple days. I wouldn’t worry about it except that I will be away for 16 days (8–24) in July and I never lose when I am away. I will likely gain a pound or two so if I break even for the month, I will be satisfied.
I gained a pound last week, but considering that a) it was my birthday and I indulged a little more than I should have, and b) I was retaining more water than the Hoover Dam, it’s not hard to see why. This week, I was much better about what I ate and exercised a LOT. (Trips to the local amusement park will do that.) I think I’ll show a healthy loss when I weigh in on Tuesday.
Woohoo woohoo woohoo! 198! I now weigh less than I have in two decades. Probably two and half decades.
Of course, as one of my friends pointed out today, although I now weigh less than when he met me, I was much better built back then and so I am not in as good of shape as I was.
None-the-less, I am very pleased. Only 8 more pounds until I hit my firm goal and 18 until I hit my soft goal.
Well, not emotionally. Sometimes it really just sucks. I feel like I’m really making progress, and I know I’m holding my head higher and smiling more and feeling pretty. I can wear some of my nicer clothes and somehow my hair’s even behaving. But then my little girl took a picture of me and what I saw made me so sad. Even though I’ve been trying to hard, I still look like shit. It feels really hopeless sometimes. Losing weight makes me look older. Losing the plumpness of my cheeks has made them start sagging. My body, while it’s not looking swollen anymore, still looks grotesque.
I know I went in to this for my health, but it really stinks to feel this unhappy about my freakin progress. I try to look at the positives, like the fact that I’ve been able to control the binging and I have so much more energy. I’m not giving up. I’m satisfied with how I’ve been eating and all that. I’m not wanting more crap food. I just want to SEE something. I don’t see any difference in that picture. But then maybe I didn’t realize just how bad off it was before. Saying I lost twelve inches in my waist is fine, but the fact that I lost twelve and still look about the same breaks my heart.
I’m sorry I’m whining. I’m proud of myself. I’m just beating myself up over how far I let it get before I finally did something about it. I have few regrets in my life but eating myself into whale-like proportions is one of them.
I promise I will not be this negative next time I check in.
Last month sucked indeed. I’m back on the wagon, having weighed myself on Friday for the first time in weeks (I believe it’s called ostrich syndrome) and was back up to 73kg. 10 to lose. Again.
This is my first post in one of these threads. I follow them and cheer people on so I thought I would join. I am also doing the Whole30 this month! I had a false start on it before. I know there are no “slips”- I like their philosophy on that. I was not ready before, but I started in earnest yesterday after shopping and planning. It is teaching me cooking already(learned lemon pepper chicken, turkey burgers and sweet potato fries). I hope I can learn by the end to eat for hunger and health, not to satisfy cravings. Fewer mood swings, more energy and some weight/ inches lost would be good too.
For those of you starting the Whole30, I finished it several days ago. The first week is the hardest since you’re getting all your staple foods together and you’re not quite used to the routine, but after that it was actually pretty easy to follow. I am a cerealaholic and I love milk, but I skipped both during my Whole30 days and I still haven’t indulged in either. I thought after I was done, I’d be gorging on all the foods I’ve missed, but I’m surprised I haven’t really missed them. Since finishing, I’m still eating approx 80% Paleo and I want to get backto 95-100%. Tonight I had a bag of microwaved popcorn and that was a huge mistake. It made me sick to my stomach and now I feel sluggish and crappy. I really felt great eating Paleo and for me it’s totally doable for life. I hope it helps those who are trying the Whole30 program and makes you feel great too.
Thank you for that! It is barely day 3 and I keep having random cravings or just image flashes of delicious non Paleo foods in my head. TV commercials for pizza and candy do not help! I am pretty dizzy every time I stand up - I think I am just adjusting. An anemic hypothyroid carboholic like myself will probably need a few low key days.
Still haven’t bought scales, but since moving last month, I have been sorting through bins and bins of crap. (I think it multiplied while I wasn’t looking.) Some of my clothes haven’t been unpacked in 3+ years, thanks to some weight gain, then pregnancy. I’m unpacking and sorting now.
Being the realistic sort, I’ve ditched the size sixes - despite being the whitest white woman around, I have acres of ghetto booty. It’s not gonna disappear, and size 6 pants are literally size anorexia nervosa for me. And some of the eights - because I’m a bit old for the Lycra mini with the silver stars. Some of the tens are fitting though, and I’m feeling so pretty when I get dressed. I guess that I didn’t think I deserved attractive clothes at larger sizes, or that I was too self-conscious to feel like I looked okay at a size 16 or larger. Objectively, I probably was okay, but my Inner Fat Kid will always speak louder than my Objective Adult Voice.
Hubby continues to lose weight also, even though he claims he doesn’t really see a big difference. I’d guesstimate him at minus 25 pounds or so, and I can see a visual difference.
Haven’t posted in one of these in I think a year, since I had my lapband and then had it taken out.
110lbs gone now, and these last 40lbs are seeming to take forever. Losing about a pound a month, but it’s still going. Tracking every calorie is second nature, and it works a treat. I could go faster, but I like what I’m eating now and I’m not willing to go below 1500 cals a day. I can have my half a pack of M & Ms, even, so long as I’m running that day.
Running more, up to 6k. When I started I couldn’t do 10 min on a treadmill, so there’s that. It’s been about 18 months now. Mostly I just want to be finished, but realistically if I just do something to finish in the form of a special diet, I know I’ll be screwed in the long run, it will put me off track.
I’m trying to lose these last 5 lbs for a final weight of about 130. It’s going very slowly. I got to about 133 at the beginning of May then I gained back a few pounds. Now I’m finally starting to lose again. I joined a new gym a few weeks ago and started a basic free weight training plan. I realized that while I’ve lost weight with just cardio and calorie restriction, I’m still soft and kind of flabby so I’m hoping to gain a little muscle and lose fat. I was never athletic before I started trying to lose weight so it’s not like I had a great body with just some fat over it, I just had a lot of fat and no muscle.
Any other ladies do the free weights? It was intimidating at first because that section of the gym is mainly populated by ripped dudes but I don’t think they care what I do. I also go when it’s a little less busy.
Been a while since I participated in these threads (since I never had anything to show for them except good intentions).
But last month, I really took this effort on in earnest and dropped 12lbs in June! I don’t remember the last time I weighed this little (10yrs perhaps?), and I only have 4 more lbs to go before I’m in my comfort zone.
The key was going back to the exercise videos (OnDemand) that I enjoyed doing periodically, but being more consistent about it. And then kicking carbs to the curb, with a more protein and fruit in my diet, lots of hydrating, and no grazing.
They always say that the guilty pleasure you’re tempted to eat never tastes as good as the feeling of not having the lbs. on anymore, and they’re right. As much as I miss certain foods, I really do feel fantastic and that feeling alone keeps me away from temptation. Having found some easy solutions to satisfy some basic cravings and staying married to those as also helped immeasurably.
So, 12 down, 4 to go. My target was mid-July and then just stay that way for as long as possible. We’ll see (these last four would truly go into territory I haven’t been in in ages), and this weekend was the first real test for me (County fair, BBQs, etc), but I’m very happy with how things have gone so far.
So far, so good on the Whole 30. The hardest part so far has been avoiding alcohol (4th of July weekend without booze was a trial) and staying off the scale, amazingly enough. I snuck a peek this morning–I’m down about a half pound since the 1st.
Since January, I’ve lost 4 inches everywhere. Boobs, hips, and waist. This is depressing, because it means that I haven’t lost a single cup size. I went from a 40H to a 36H (I wear a 38G because I can buy it without having to scour the internet and pay $100 per, but that won’t last much longer). I need to lose another 20 pounds before insurance will even consider me for a breast reduction, which is a damned shame because the back pain is really starting to take its toll on my life. My husband has to do pretty much everything around the house, I can’t lift my daughter, and bending over to pick toys off the floor is damn near impossible–bending forward at the waist is the most painful thing for me. Physical therapy starts on Friday, and I’m going to try to take nightly walks now that I’m well enough to take them. It’s kind of discouraging–I feel like this should be getting better as I lose weight, not worse.
Hey, Drain, check in to what your insurance company’s appeal process is. The website I linked to in the BR thread has info on how to do this, IIRC. It’s worth a shot. Put it in writing, have your doctor and your physical therapist help you, and cc: your boss, the benefits adminstrator at your job, and the insurance commissioner in your state. I did this and got my second surgery approved.
ETA: I posted my appeal letter on that board when I did it. Let me know if you’d like me to find it.
I gained a pound this week. :mad: My clothes do fit better, so maybe it’s just my skin catching up to the lost fat. It’s still pretty depressing, though.
