Weight Loss Challenge - 2018!

[Ken]

I desperately need to start eating better - I'm at my all time max around 250

[Redbirds Fan]

I desperately need to start eating better - I'm at my all time max around 250

I challenge you to eat better!

The wife and I are going on an Alaska cruise for our 30th anniversary, so I've got until May 7th to drop 30 pounds. So I challenge myself as well!

[Sour Masher]

Thanks for the bump. I had forgotten when I hit my heaviest, and this thread provides the evidence that it was 2017. I'm at 173 right now, which is as low as I've been in over a decade. I would have thought was my end goal back when I was over 2 bills, but now that I am here, I realize that I really should be down to about 165 given my smaller frame.

I have stuck to an 8 hour eating window for the last few years, which has helped, but it does limit how hard I go on working out in the moring. Once I got to about 185, what I thought was a weight loss plan was really a weight maintience plan. I've had to kick it up a notch to get into the 170s and I really don't know if I will do what it takes to get down to 165, which is my new goal, but I feel good at where I am at. My hope is that as I easy back to eating a little more I don't backtrack too much. I'm always hungry on my current diet and constantly catch myself chewing my own tongue. It isn't fun, but I like feeling stronger and having more energy. It wasn't too hard being at around 180-185, so I think that is where I can stay without too much trouble, but for now, I want to see if I can get down to 165 to see what it feels like to get rid of the love handles.

[Sour Masher]

I desperately need to start eating better - I'm at my all time max around 250

Stress, I'm sure is part of it, for you. It is easy to not prioritize yourself when you have a lot going on with family and/or work. Stress and anxiety correlates heavily for me with weight gain. I'm an anxious guy and I don't think it is a coicidence that my peak weights have coincided with stressful periods in my life. But working out helps manage cortisol levels, so if you put the time into it, it gets better. It also helps with aches and pains. I have had to work through some injuries getting back into shape, but the overall graph has headed toward more health. I used to deal with lots of back pain and pain in my right knee. In fact, it was a main driver for me to work out more. I still deal with it--my back hurts when I stand for more than a few minutes and it tenses up with stress. But stretching it out and working the muscles have made it better. My right knee still pops and is weaker than my left, but I am surprised at the overall progress over the last year. I can squat and lunge now without much problem as long as I accept that my left leg has to do more of the work when weights are involved.

So, I am an advocate for exercise as being an important compliment to better eating habits, but, of course, diet is the biggest factor for weight loss, by far. A great place to start, if you haven't done this already, is intermittent fasting. Combine an 8 hour eating window with a focus on eating more protein (I have been a mostly vegetarian for 25 years, and being more mindful about protein has helped me a lot) and more whole foods and less processed foods will get you down to 200, I'd bet. Beyond that, being more methodical might be necessary, but it is really hard to consume way more calories than you need when you have an 8 hour eating window, you make an effort to get in 100 or more grams of protein a day (it fills you up more than carbs and fat, and for me, I overate,in part, because I was protein starved), and you reasonably limit processed foods, especially refined carbs. That is all I did for most of my weightloss and it was a slow process, but it worked until I got to about 20% body weight. My body does not want to be below 20%, so it got a lot harder at that point, but that is okay--I don't really want to go super strick and not have ice cream or pizza sometimes. 

Last bit of advice is make yourself realistic micro goals. My wife can keep a big number in mind and work toward it, but anything more than 5 lbs is overwhelming to me. It takes me at least a month to lose that much, so a one month 5lb goals is managable to me--anything more and I'd burn out and give up. At the end of each month, I decide if I want to keep going and so far, this is a far as I have gone in a long, long time. But telling myself that I just need to lose 5 lbs in a month and then reassess has made things more attainable. And some months, I just maintained, and called that a win. Instead of two steps forward, one back, I'd taken steady steps forward with very little backing up this year. I think/hope it is more sustainable, because in the past, I'd exercise and diet until I got to a goal, then I'd stop and balloon back up. Trying to avoid that this time with a slower pace. I've only lost 20lbs on the year, but it has been my best year since college in terms of consistent work outs and consistent focus on what I eat.

[fuhrdog]

I started again in Febuary and went until the end of July. I only counted calories and I mean every calorie. I didn't eat food I didn't make to make sure I didn't guess, even bought a food scale. I started at 1700 calories per day but late in the game went up to 1900. I cut out chocolate, chips and most snacks and Diet Dew. I went from 243 to 193 and my pants size went from 40 to 34 as I said I wouldn't quit until I lost 50, Unfortunately like most diets from August until now I'm back up to 208. I just had to buy some 36" jeans so after the holidays I will need to go back on it for a couple months before this gets any worse. I guess my willpower just ran out

[Gregg]

I decided to weigh myself before the start of The Eating Season. I am 207.8 Lowest I have been in over 30 years. Mostly a combination of not eating until full, smaller meals more often, and a change in meds (made about a 5 lb difference).

I decided to check in here to see what I was last time we reported. Pleased with the results.

With the eating season over I decided to weigh myself this morning. I was 207 even. I am happy about that.

From Thanksgiving to Jan.2nd I ate whatever I wanted, whatever was put on the table and whenever I wanted (snacks and leftovers). The difference this year over other years is I stopped well before I was stuffed. I took smaller portions and went back for seconds if I wanted. But not full plates. When we went out to eat I would say I ate about half and took the other half home. I do eat much slower and try to savor the taste rather than to pack as much in as I can in a short time.

I had a physical on Dec.20th. My fasting blood sugar (with meds) was normal. My A1C was down a full point. They still want me to drop it one more point (that scale keeps sliding down over the years) Still not bad considering the eating season. It will be interesting to see what it is in April.

[Ken]

With the eating season over

Dang did I miss a rationing announcement? We don't get to eat anymore?

[Gregg]

Dang did I miss a rationing announcement? We don't get to eat anymore?

eating season - Urban Dictionaryhttps://www.urbandictionary.com › define › term=eatin...
The period of time from Thanksgiving (or perhaps as early as Halloween depending on regional traditions) until Super Bowl Sunday, where every event involves ...

[GwynnInTheHall]

I'm also at 207, but I want top drop 27 by end of May.
seems impossible


But here goes.

[Moonlight J]

Not impossible, brother.

I dropped 40 lbs from 1/1/21 to 8/1/21. I tracked, and still track, everything I consume on LoseIt app and I do 45 min of exercise (gym, walk, hike) 5 days a week. Combining a 2.5 mile walk to my favorite local bar is just some good habit stacking

[GwynnInTheHall]

Thanks for the info--I'll give it a go, though I might have to cut back on my evening bourbon....

[Gregg]

Not impossible, brother.

I dropped 40 lbs from 1/1/21 to 8/1/21. I tracked, and still track, everything I consume on LoseIt app and I do 45 min of exercise (gym, walk, hike) 5 days a week. Combining a 2.5 mile walk to my favorite local bar is just some good habit stacking

Congrats! This is awesome!

[Teenwolf]

I am so heavy right now! I wanted to start a 2023 weight loss challenge thread.

Sitting at 202. My healthy weight is around 170-175.

Was sitting in the 180's most of last year, but ballooned up in the fall and through xmas.

Would love to start running again. Maybe a new thread would motivate me to do so. Time enough to drop 20+ by opening day.

[Gregg]

205.6 this morning.

[Sour Masher]

Just bumping to see how everyone is doing and feeling. I've continued to fluctuate around 170-175 since my last update, but the last few weeks, I've put the work into finally getting down to the 165 goal. I'm at 167 now. No reason I shouldn't finally see 165 on the scale by the end of the month. I'm doing a 20 year vow renewal in a couple of months, so I will focus on staying at that level until then. After that, I will probably let go a bit and getting back into the 170s. I plan on continuing to make 175 my cap, so when I get up there, I'll continue to get back down a few pounds to give myself some breathing room. As long as the range is within 5-10 pounds, I don't think it is yoyoing as much as just seasonal variation.

A few months ago, I stopped being a vegetarian after over 20 years. I have a small frame and it is really hard for me to gain muscle. I don't think I have ever eaten enough protein and now at 46, I decided getting more protein varieties was needed, so I'm now a pescatarian. It definitely has opened up way more variety in my diet, although I try to not go overboard and I still eat vegetarian about half the week. I eat brainless bivalves one a week (oysters, clams, mussels, scallops), which is what I started with under the justification they don't have brains and are sustainable, but more recently added other seafood. I'm still not adding muscle mass, I don't think, despite regular weight training, but I've enjoyed the variety after so many years of the same veggie protein options.