In order to keep this thread from growing to large, here is the December thread.
OK, I usually start these things the night before, but I’m going to be out celebrating my birthday tonight, so I’m starting it now. (I’m 46 tomorrow. Happy Birthday to me! Send cards)
My goal for this month is to do my best to stay status quo. I continue to do good lifts 3 times a week and using the Elliptical regularly.
Good luck losing everyone!
How stuck I am. I am so stuck. Look in any dictionary for the definition of stuck, and you’ll see a picture of me. I diet and exercise, diet and exercise, (pig out in all of November), diet and exercise, and where does it get me? Stuck.
But I’ve got muscle. Great shoulders, well-muscled legs, and an ass that you can crack a walnut on. And I’m getting comments. The other night I met a lovely lady, and somehow we got onto the topic of diet and exercise. When I told her of my success so far, she was duly impressed, and a little surprised that I ever had weight issues to begin with. She told me that I looked great.
I’ll take that over low numbers any day.
275/220/Nice
Happy Birthday, Khadaji! Don’t indulge TOO much…
I’m doing a good job of maintenance. Suck it, body.
Another great big happy birthday, Khadaji!
(I meant to tell you, am jealous that you’re so dedicated to your strength training - I’m okay with cardio, but strength training is my workout kryptonite. Good job!)
As much as possible, I’ll probably be in maintaining mode for this month. Well hopefully… 
I’m the opposite - I hate cardio and enjoy the lifting.
Thanks for the well-wishes.
Happy birthday, Kadhaji!! So you think there might be something between you and this gal? Don’t leave us hanging, now.
I also am planning to just maintain this month. Though I’m not currently in weight-loss mode, my body is losing inches. When I put on my belt, it now wants to slide a notch further than before, only there’s no more notches unless I make one. When I bought that belt last spring, only the first one was comfortable. Now there’s no more notches left. Yay!
tdn Did you ever consider that maybe you’re going for the wrong number? Maybe now that you’re working out a lot you’re building muscle while you’re losing fat. It’s interesting that I’ve been at this weight before but a couple of pairs of slacks I purchased when I originally reached this weight are a bit tight on me. I was muscle building alot more back then so I know the reason is that I weigh the same but I’m a bigger size because I have more fat and less muscle. Maybe the opposit is true for you. A muscular 220 lbs looks a whole lot different than a flabby beer gut 220 lbs. Crack those walnuts baby, you’re doing fine.
I’ve had a bad couple of weeks. Lots of excessive eating and drinking. No excuse, just holiday fun and reckless abandon. I’ll never get to my 10 lbs by New Year goal this way, I’m heading in the wrong direction.
I’m sure this will work itself out. I just need to put more effort into this. I’m so un motivated.
I weight train by going to a free weights class at my gym. The instructor varies the workout enough to keep it from getting tedious and push our bodies but a lot of the moves remain stable from week to week so people can increase weight and improve form. As someone who hated weight/strength training before, it’s probably the favourite part of my week. I’ve even got some pansy girl-guns now.
I ended up meeting my goals (size 4, under 130), though I haven’t participated in these threads for a long time. Holy crap I’ve worked my ass off for it, though. Literally. Heh.
I’ve been wondering about that. I’ve always held that at my weight, fat loss will have more effect on the scale than muscle building will. But maybe I’ve reached a weight where that’s no longer true. I very definitely still have some fat to lose, but I can feel my muscles getting firmer. There are definitely some changes going on.
And if my muscles are getting bigger, and I’m staying the same weight, then fat must be going, right?
First and foremost, happy birthday, Khadaji! Hope it’s a great one.
Holding steady here, still not losing. However, the new dress pants I just bought two months ago are already too big so I know something’s going right. I’m probably going to be snowed in this weekend so maybe I’ll take some measurements. I’ve done four workouts this week after giving myself last week off.
Very nice. What did you start at?
That’s what I think. There are simple ways to estimate your body fat percentage with a tape measure but they’re not all that accurate. You can also get a pair of cheap skin fold calipers for about $15. At this point you might want to start either taking measurements or using skin fold calipers to get a body fat measurement (the ones I had came with a booklet that told you wear to pinch and how to interpret the numbers). You can use the three measurements, weight, inches or clothing size, Body Fat % to get a more accurate picture of your progress. That way if the scale isn’t budging but your biceps are getting bigger and your gut is getting smaller and your girlfriend is using your butt cheeks for cracking walnuts you’ll know that you’re still on track.
Good for you anu-la 1979 that’s awesome. It’s always nice to hear from someone who’s been successful. Gives me hope, it does.
That’s a great idea - I’ve been thinking about signing up for a weight class. I know how to lift, just lack the motivation. I figure if I’m paying for it, that’s pretty good motivation.
And for what it’s worth, I think my goal for this month is to loose another six pounds by the end of the month, then maintain through January. I’m going to India for four weeks to visit my husband’s family. I hear they really like to feed people, so I think I’ll be doing really well if I come back at the same weight I left.
Happy birthday, Khadaji!
tdn, as I remarked when I saw you over the summer, you look great. The difference from the year before was impressive.
But I know stuck, baby. I know stuck. Ever since my running injury, the scale has only been moving in the wrong direction, despite efforts to exercise, and my clothes don’t fit the way they used to. Heck, some of them don’t fit at all. I’m hoping to be where anu-la is soon, back in the 4s. I hate how much harder I have to work at it than a few years (and a few babies) ago.
That said, I haven’t really eaten much in days. The recovery from the appendectomy is more difficult than I had anticipated. I’m all swollen, so I look kind of like a fire hydrant, but I hope to at least have a loss to show for all of this pain when all is said and done.
Not being able to work out is what’s really taking its toll on me, though. It feels like one step forward (back to running after 6 months recovering from a stress fracture! yay!), 2 steps back (acute appendicitis, boo!)
I just wanna feel better, in all ways.
I’ve finished Week 8 of working out 6 days a week. I didn’t even miss a day when we were up in MA for Thanksgiving. I made it through 4 weeks of not snacking after dinner by drinking tea or coffee or just water. I did occasionally eat 3 or 4 grape tomatoes, but I’m thinking that’s probably okay. I was scarfing down chips and crap before. And now I know that the steroid I’m on makes me hungry.
The next month I start working on dinner portion control. I’ve been doing that a lot already, but I’m going to keep a closer eye on it. Same amount of protein, less carbs, more veggies, more water. I’ve also started to wean myself off of the steroid. It has to go slowly, but I’ve got to stop taking this. According to the executive director of a foundation that helps people with my adrenal disorder, the amount I’m on is very high–she’s never heard of such a high dosage. She gave me the name of a doc to visit, so I’ll be making an appointment and getting a second opinion soon.
tdn I think you’re losing fat and gaining muscle too. If you can tell you’re putting on muscle and you haven’t lost weight, you must be losing fat. Good for you. Don’t get discouraged–pretty soon you’ll be doing Charles Atlas poses.
Alas, there is no young lady in the equation. I am going out for beers with some of the guys from work. My BDay is tomorrow and my boss’ is the day after. So we will leave a little early and tip a few.
Thanks for the well-wishes all.
After a week of clean eating, the 2 lb Thanksgiving scale bobble is gone and I’m back to 128. I have a big event for work in Vegas on Jan 3 (where I have to wear suits that fit perfectly at my current weight!) that allows NO room for error over the holidays. Feeling the pressure a bit I definitely want to get down to 126-127 before the holidays to give me a couple of pounds of “forgiveness” before the Vegas trip!
200/128/127
Excuse me?
Sorry, once again?
I’m a little deaf in my left ear, once more.
Ah, got it. Thanks!
I never get tired of hearing that.