Weight Loss Challenge

[dbhost]

The numbers aren't moving much, a victory, albeit a small one to report. Actually 2...

The first is, clothes are getting looser. Specifically I can no longer wear a particular pair of swim shorts as they will now fall off... So those get retired... I am also noticing some better definition under the excess...

The second is a numeric victory, albeit a small one. Anyone who is doing / has done Weight Watchers will know this one.. My Daily Points Plus target got bumped down this week! it's a small victory to be sure, but I'll take it!

[atgcpaul]

Am I too late to join? If not please direct me to the Google doc., or required procedure to get entered.

It was decided early on the cutoff was Feb 28, so you're in. Woodturner is the keeper of the log and I'm sure he'll send you a PM soon with the link to the Google doc.

[Woodboy]

Am I too late to join? If not please direct me to the Google doc., or required procedure to get entered.

[Woodboy]

Grand idea gentlemen.

Woodboy is in - time to stop the slide. I am a tad over 6 feet and weighed around 224 last time I checked - would love to be 200 or below for life (that's my goal). The waist size has to start with a 3 and preferable be 38 or below. Otherwise call me muffin top.

Agree with Woodturner's general comments, but I will go with the flow. % weight loss seems to be the best benchmark, but let's all post stats in a common database - weight, key dimensions, etc.

[cwsmith]

Finally I'm seeing the scale moving in the right direction... but I'm only down about a pound and a half from the start. Still, it's good to see the move in the right direction.

Problem with me is that the first forty years of my life I was thin, and in the first thirty years, I was down-right bone-showing skinny. I could eat what I wanted and never had any concern with it at all... though maybe I should have.

In any case, with the advent of the computer I found myself quite sendentary, which is not something that I ever was. But, excuses are just that, excuses! So today I'm Type 2 diabetic, but it is well controlled with just a pills and watching what I eat. But that poses some challenges as I don't eat very much at any sitting, but I find I have to snack in between meals just to keep my sugar from dropping... which on really busy days it has a tendency to do, like down below 60. (I've learned that I have a lot more concern for hypo-glycemia, than I do from too high levels... as I've never been over 200.)

The snacking is more difficult to control for me, I think as I'm a person who has a headache almost every hour of every day. So physically, I get the feeling that maybe I need to eat something... or should I. I have having to walk around with the glucose monitor every hour.

I do a lot of label reading, as sometimes those so-called "healthy" foods have far more sugar and other carbs then I need to partake of.

But at least I'm now in the right direction with the scale... can I keep this up? We'll see, but obviously I'm going to be way in the back of the pack of runners. Some of you folks are showing remarkable effort, and I hope you keep up the great work.

CWS

[dbhost]

Sorry about the blanks in my sheet entry. I am just going to be honest here. I am staying steady, not losing. I have had some difficulty with WW since the change in plans, and FINALLY got an answer to my inquiry. I have made adjustments and the weight is starting to move now...

Now while weight isn't moving, I am dropping sizes. My pants are fitting looser, and I had to drop down into a size smaller swim shorts to keep going with my workouts.

LOML and I are hitting the gym 3 to 4 times a week. doing laps in the pool, or cardio / weights depending on the night. We keep it mixed up so that the body doesn't get too used to the routine.

[Black wallnut]

Hank I think that is due to marketing. Restaurants want to give their customers value for their money. Add to that the higher calorie demand when we were not such a sedentary society. Reasons aside it is a shame. When I was a young boy and when we traveled my parents would split every meal between two or more of us when we ate at a restaurant. If only I would have made that a life long habit........

twistsol congrats!

I ate way too much in the last half of last week. Gained a few pounds. Time to try harder.

[twistsol]

It's been interesting tracking what I eat for the past few months. I started in Early November. One of the benefits of working in California is that most restaurants post calories for every item on the menu. I makes things much simpler to figure out.

I have been shocked by some of the things I've seen.

Sourdough bread adds 460 calories to my favorite sandwich vs whole wheat.
The one that really blew me away was at Chipotle when getting a burrito bowl instead of a burrito. The tortilla alone is 300 calories.

After a couple of weeks of too much working and not enough working out, I've finally resumed the downward path.

[leehljp]

You can't out exercise a diet that provides more than you need. That is less than 2 pounds a year which is less than a teaspoon of sugar a day. MyFitnessPal has taught me rather quickly how much I have been over eating. It really is no wonder why I have not lost much weight in the last year and half. BTW I am now losing again.

Looking at the spreadsheet though Cochese and Woodturner are kicking butt! Well done guys!

One thing I have always wondered about - just about every restaurant, except high end coat and tie restaurants, serve an over abundance of food as a serving IMO. And this includes fast food. The $1.00 menu is more than enough for me, but I don't like them. When LOML and I are traveling and there are no "dollar" meals available while we are on the go, we will order a single regular order and split it. And still gain weight. When given a choice of small, medium or large, I always get a small. If LOML is with me, I will sometimes get a medium and split it. Chili's, Applebe's, Out Back, Red Lobster, steak restaurants - too much!

I hate wasting it and won't eat it if I take it home.

[atgcpaul]

Great job everyone!

One thing our WW team leader told us is that once you hit the 5% mark, you'll feel physical benefits. I felt mine around 7% but otherwise she was right.

My knees didn't ache as much going up and down stairs. My feet didn't hurt as much after a day's work (even with custom orthotics). I was sleeping better at night. I have sleep apnea and I was noticeably less tired in the morning and I didn't wake up with as dry a throat. I also had more energy. Once I was off WW, though, and dipped back under 7%, I felt them coming back. I'm right on the cusp of that 7% from when that first WW weigh in, so I'm looking forward to it.

I'm going to the bike shop after work to buy a handlebar tablet holder and front wheel stabilizer. I've been using the lack of those as excuses for not getting on my bike trainer.

Paul

[BigguyZ]

My loss is slowing, though, and I am concerned. Must be the exercise building muscle, couldn't possibly be all the pizza at meetings .

I hope the 96.6 loss posted by BigguyT is a typo. If not, there is no way I can catch up!

Yes that's a typo! Unfortunately, the part where I gained weight wasn't.... I've found that you won't loose any until you're really ready to do so. And at that time, I wasn't ready to lose any. But now I'm down 3-4 lbs this week... Only 100 more to go...

[woodturner]

Looking at the spreadsheet though Cochese and Woodturner are kicking butt! Well done guys!

My loss is slowing, though, and I am concerned. Must be the exercise building muscle, couldn't possibly be all the pizza at meetings .

I hope the 96.6 loss posted by BigguyZ is a typo. If not, there is no way I can catch up!

[Cochese]

I'm going to edge back up this week. Not a lot of activity.

[Black wallnut]

Hank,

Thanks, but at least you have a reason for any weight gain (inactivity). I've been outside almost every day over the last week, shoveling snow. Not only do I do my double-wide sidewalk, but I also am shoveling the neighbors too!

Maybe I need to have the LOML, stop cooking for a while.

We're married forty-six years, and over that period I've gained 71 lbs.

CWS

You can't out exercise a diet that provides more than you need. That is less than 2 pounds a year which is less than a teaspoon of sugar a day. MyFitnessPal has taught me rather quickly how much I have been over eating. It really is no wonder why I have not lost much weight in the last year and half. BTW I am now losing again.

Looking at the spreadsheet though Cochese and Woodturner are kicking butt! Well done guys!

[cwsmith]

Hank,

Thanks, but at least you have a reason for any weight gain (inactivity). I've been outside almost every day over the last week, shoveling snow. Not only do I do my double-wide sidewalk, but I also am shoveling the neighbors too!

Maybe I need to have the LOML, stop cooking for a while.

We're married forty-six years, and over that period I've gained 71 lbs.

CWS