Weight Loss Challenge

[dbhost]

I am still working doubles, or worse. Haven't been to the gym for 2 weeks, and really haven't done much in the way of tracking. I am trying to at least chose wisely, but admit, I have fudged a bit. When working 23 hour shifts, Mountain Dew is about the long legal thing to get you through...

[Black wallnut]

It is hard for me to use so much discipline and skip so many treats but it is working. I would much rather eat pizza more often but cannot afford the calories if I wish to keep losing. My weightloss is paying off with faster times on many segments I ride where I can track my speed for a selected distance or hill climb. This morning I was down to 231.6 and because of my long ride will end the day under my calorie budget.

The two biggest reasons I am staying on track is the use of MyFitnessPal to track calories and knowing that I will have to explain myself if I do not keep losing due to this thread. Come on guys and Melissa we owe it to ourselves to do this for us!

[woodturner]

Posted my weight, Black wallnut is winning now.

I was doing well, but seem to have plateaued and crept up a bit. Too many dinner meetings I have been keeping up with the exercise and eating carefully, but still not dropping like I was. Some of it might be exercise and building muscle, but I don't think that is all of it.

[cwsmith]

I haven't made an entry into the spreadsheet in all too many weeks. I've been hitting the scales a couple of times a week but seriously haven't made much in the way of any gain on the objective of loosing weight. But honestly these past few weeks have been filled with other challenges.

But, I am happy to note the this morning I hit 183... that's a loss of only five pounds since the start of this challenge. Not much, but still a move in the right direction.

CWS

[dbhost]

I've been working doubles, trying to get things moving on the upgrade here, and working with my BIL in his shop for the last couple of weeks... Haven't looked at the scale until this morning. 339.2... It's not going down fast, but it IS moving...

[Black wallnut]

Stayed even this week. Too much compensating with increased bike riding. It will take a few weeks to stabilize hunger vs increased riding.

[Rslaugh]

I'm up 2 lbs this week. I'm surprised it isn't 5-10 with what I ate while on the road this week. I'm normally pretty good but 6 hours in the car to Roanoke and then back the next evening - I just craved some French fries. And it is so hard to take the time to stop and eat a salad and I can't eat a salad in the car and eating the meat out from between the buns is difficult while driving and 47 more excuses I will post to the interwebs at some time in the future. Back on the wagon.

[Black wallnut]

Down to 234.2 pounds this morning. Just for entertainment I watched Fat, Sick and nearly Dead last night. Darn show made me hungry. So far this month I've cycled 210 miles. Will be going for a 35+ mile ride shortly. Because of the weight loss and my anticipation of burning plenty of calories today I ate a good breakfast. I am within $100 of meeting my goal for the Tour de Cure ride and that is part of my motivation. Friends believe in my cause and me enough to donate I believe I should put out substantial effort to prepare for the ride and better manage my disease.

[atgcpaul]

I went to breakfast with the guys Oh, wait, you said lose weight Dohh!!!

Seriously, I will be riding the exercise bike later today. If ever warms up and the snow melts, I'll be able to ride outside.

I like riding and it is an exercise I will actually do. Riding the stationary bike is kind of boring though. Next plan is to set up the stationary in front of the TV, so I can watch TV while I ride.

Yeah, apparently I didn't do much to lose weight recently.

I, too, am looking forward to the spring thaw. I have my bike on a trainer right now but I just can't motivate myself to ride indoors. Even with something on the tablet, it's just too blah. I like riding on the road because it just clears my head. I could be having the crappiest day at work, but when I ride home, my head is just so much clearer by the time I get home. All I have to worry about it staying upright and not getting hit by a car. Which is actually less stressful than work...and I know I eat when I'm stressed.

Our daughters go to different daycares now which means I can finally get the single kid seat and drop one or the other off. I have a dual kid trailer but it was a lot of effort to get it setup in the morning, leave it at the daycare, and then get to work.

[woodturner]

What have you done today to lose weight?

I went to breakfast with the guys Oh, wait, you said lose weight Dohh!!!

Seriously, I will be riding the exercise bike later today. If ever warms up and the snow melts, I'll be able to ride outside.

I like riding and it is an exercise I will actually do. Riding the stationary bike is kind of boring though. Next plan is to set up the stationary in front of the TV, so I can watch TV while I ride.

[Black wallnut]

What have you done today to lose weight?

[Rslaugh]

....

We have two new scales, both supplied through our healthcare plan. They are these new digital glass-plate types that sell between $25 and $40 depending on where you buy them. In this day and age, one would think they would be significantly accurate.

CWS

I quit using our $50 scale because it wasn't repeatable. Step on, step off, step back on and see a 4-5 lb difference. Even though my wife went from a size 22 to 12 she was obsessed with the scale and getting frustrated because it was all over the place. So I threw it out.

We saw a doctors office style balance beam scale while going through an antique shop. We both stepped on it and it was in the range of reality for both of us. There is a small calibrating weight which moves on a screw which in fact adjusted the reading so it looked to be functional. We bought it and set it up at home. I used some gym weights to calibrate it to 150 lbs. Two months later it is off 1/4 lb from that calibration weight.

You can weigh yourself, go to the bathroom, come back and see a 3/4 lb difference. This has put an end to the battle of the scale numbers. One just has to realize that you can have a 4 lb difference in water weight from one day to the next so don't get hung up these numbers. As Mark says it's the trend. My best measurement is my belt.

Also digital scales - just because it has a fancy digital readout has no bearing on how accurate or repeatable it is. That is dependent on the sensing mechanism. I love technology but nothing beats a balance beam scale for simplicity and repeatability.

[Black wallnut]

CWS there is absolute accuracy and repeatable accuracy. The former is nice but the latter is more desirable IMHO. It is long term trends that really matter as day to day there are simply too many variables for a pin point weight to matter. My Dr.'s office has an electronic scale on one side of their clinic and a balance beam type on the other side; I prefer the electronic as it seems to show lighter weight by several pounds.

Tom best of luck with what you are going to do. My former DR. went on a similar program, if not the same one, not really sure. He lost a bunch of weight. I've read success stories where people change they way they think about eating and it makes for big changes. I'm too weak to try something so severe. MFP has me on 1400 calories a day before exercise offset and that is hard enough.

[cwsmith]

Well, I went to the Doctor yesterday for my quaterly checkup. Surprise (not really), but I got on their scales and it said I weighed 186 lbs.... fully clothed, with my shoes on. That morning my home scale showed 186.4 fresh from the shower!

I figure my clothes with shoes and including a sweater probably adds up to at least four lbs, if not five. So that would put my weight somewhere in the neighborhood of 181.

We have two new scales, both supplied through our healthcare plan. They are these new digital glass-plate types that sell between $25 and $40 depending on where you buy them. In this day and age, one would think they would be significantly accurate.

CWS

[TB Roye]

I am not a part of the weight loss challenge, due to the fact that I and my wife will be participating in Medically monitored weight loss program through out health plan. The program start April 9 and continues for 18 month. The program is not covered by our health insurance and is not cheap $400+ a month for each of us and $90 a week for the for the for each of us. My Doctor is one of the monitors which is the medical supervision part of the program we will have a physical and blood work every monthw for the first 4 months.

The program consist of 14 weeks of meal replacement of 980 calories a day for the rapid weight loss there are also required weekly meetings part of which of BP and weight checks. I should lose between 40-50 pounds in 30 weeks. They are calling the program a life style change where we will be taught the correct foods to eat how and what to by and how to cook healthy. Exercising is also a requirement as is keep a log on what we eat(after the 14 weeks) and our aactivity level

Currently I weigh 195 so i am considered overweight not obese. My wife on the other had
is obese and needs to loose 60-70 pounds. I am also border line Diabetic which after loosing my youngest sister and a cousin to Diabetes is part of my motivation. My goal is to get down to what I weighed when I got married. I am also doing this to support my wife who has an emotional attachment to food and wine (bluntly she is addicted) and knows it.

I am 71, 5'-8" and this extra weight is in my GUT and is putting a strain on my back, legs and feet. Can't stand buying EXlarge shirts to fit over my gut or having to have help buttoning my dress shirt collar when wearing a tie. The gut gets in the way when working around the house especially now that I am laying Laminate flooring through out the house.

This is a radical program and is a alternative to the various weight loss surgeries.

We had our physicals yesterday and we both were told that we will be getting off most of our medications as we go through this. The only one I might still be on is one for my blood pressure as it also control my heart rate by the dosage might be lower. We also will be required to clean out the pantry and refrigerators (2) as we will be starting over, so the local food closet will benefit. We figured out that our weekly cost for food will be covered by not going out to eat and not buying groceries. We also figure part of our monthly fee will be cover by not eating. We will be using the Optifast meal replacement. For those of you who might interested in see what we will be doing go to.
www.kphealthyweight.com

Tom