Weigh-in Week of January 28

[kelownagirl]

I decided I'm going to start weighing myself on Saturday mornings. I'm always lighter on Saturdays and heaviers on Mondays. :p

I tried hard this week, did 3 strength workouts, rode the trainer twice, and went for a run once, plus I play volleyball once a week and participate in the PE fitness loops twice a week with my students. So this weekend, I was down to 123.8 I have lost 2 1/5 lbs since January 8th. Not a ton, but it is a loss, and in another .8 lb, I'll meet my Feb 1 goal is 123. Mar 1 goal is 119.

I have to stay below 124 EVERY morning after the Feb 1st or I have to give DH a 30 minutes back massage. I will likely starve myself for the next 4 days. :D

So how's everyone else doing? I find I am usually good for the month of January and then the resolutions start to wear off. What can we do to keep ourselves motivated?

[matagi]

Well it finally happened .... after 6 weeks of staying stubbornly on the same weight, the scales finally moved down 1.5 pounds this week!

Must be the stress of starting a new job. Unfortunately, I know work variable hours, so getting out on the bike as much as I would like is going to be a bit of a challenge.

[SalsaMTB]

Matagi, congrats on getting over the plateau! I would give yourself credit instead of saying it was from stress!

This week, I'm down 1.6 lbs from last week. I'm finally below the weight I held consistant for about a year (until I ate terrible and gained more over the last 6months)

To date, I've lost 11lbs from the day that initiated the diet. I think about 3 of those pounds were bloat, so in reality, I'm confident saying I'm down 8 pounds. I'll have see at my next cycle how much weight I actually do gain from bloat to have a better understanding of where I actually started.

I never knew losing weight could be so much fun! I'm really enjoying improving my diet to a healthy lifestyle!

ETA: I also did the four rides I had planned last week. I felt really strong for all the rides and it seems to be feeding my addiction to ride more.

[mtbdarby]

I'm at 151 - down 4 pounds in 3 weeks but up a pound from my first weeks 5 pound loss. I got my period last week and it ended yesterday so I'm hoping I can budge this week. I had company this weekend so a little alcohol was consumed:p But I ate pretty good and got my workouts in by not my bike rides. Eating well is second nature now, so I'm hoping I'm gaining muscle mass and the fat should start coming off next.

[snowtulip]

Well I didn't lose anything last week, but I also did not exercise like I planned (work stress). But I'm off to a good start this week, so I'll jump back on the wagon.:o

Good job everyone!:D

[kelownagirl]

Jump back on Snowtulip! That's what I do all the time.

Good job everyone. Keep up the great work!

[khgulledge]

Hi Ladies,

Hope it's ok if I join in...

I started 1/1/07 at 212 and I have been riding my trainer 3-4 evenings per week as well as doing a longish (40+ mi) ride on Saturdays. There were about 2 weeks, where I didn't get any trainer workouts (this week included) and I think that really slowed my weight loss down.

Anyway, as of this morning, I was 207, so I've lost 5 pounds for the month. I think I could've lost a little more if I had been more active those 2 off weeks. I am going to try to lose this 7 pounds by March 13, which is my son's 16th birthday. Daylight savings time starts then, so that will help a lot as far as me being able to possibly get outside to ride in the evenings.

My goal is to be 180 or less by July 1. I think that I'll will be able to reach that goal. It will be easier once I can start riding outside more :)

Oh yeah, I also weigh every day in the mornings after my shower. Lets me know whether I need to watch more closely what I'm eating during the day and it's just habit now.

Karen.

[Offthegrid]

I lost 1.75 lbs. of the massive gain I had last week. So still a few pounds to get to where I was two weeks ago. New boyfriends are bad for your waistline!

[bike4ever]

Down 2.4 this week for a total of 10.6.

Boot camp and multiple indoor rides seem to be working at the moment.

[GLC1968]

I'm *still* the same as prior to the holidays, but I've got a fresh wind. I've learned a TON about why I do the stupid things I do (nutritionally) and it's really, really helped me even out my intake. I'm definitely on a roll and it's going to pay off soon.

I'm expecting big things with next week's weigh-in.
(You can quote me on that! ;))

[Wahine]

OK, so I haven't signed in because I'm completely befuddled. I weighed in on Tues last week at 143.2 lbs. Then I started to drop a pound a day over the next two days, down to 141.2 lbs on Thur. Friday, I crashed, felt like crap and like I might be fighting a bug and I felt bloated. I can't remember what I weighed on Fri. I did not workout on Fri, did weights only on Saturday, ran 10.25 mi on Sunday and rode my bike for 1:45 on the trainer. I weighed myself at work on Monday and I was 145. WTF. So yesterday I was 144 lbs and Today I was 142.6 lbs.

I feel like I was dehydrated last week when I crashed and a little over trained as it was a peak week for me. I feel well hydrated right now and have only done Yoga and a 45 min swim in the last 2 days because I'm now on a rest week. I can't figure out what's going on. I think I'm losing weight but I'm not sure. I seem to be having these wild fluctuations in water weight.

If anyone has suggestions or ideas to help me understand this, I'd love to here them. This is the first time I've ever tried to manage my weight with a dietary change as well as exercise (usually I've just managed naturally with my high activity level) so I really don't understand this much at all.

[Veronica]

Wahine, it's the weighing yourself every day. I know my body weight fluctuates two pounds either way. Of course when it's fluctuating down I'm kind of happy.

And do you really think you need to lose any weight? It sounds like you're wicked active and the low 140s may be right for you.

V.

[kelownagirl]

Mine too! I lose 2-3 lbs every night - I weigh myself at night and again in the morning - it's crazy.

My normal official weigh-in is Saturday morning. My weight always goes up during the week, but down on Saturday morning. It was really getting frustrating until I looked only at the last 4 Saturdays and sure enough, there was a gradual loss every week. So I TRY not to worry too much what I weigh during the week and just focus on doing my best and recording it on Saturdays. If I don't lose one week, I keep going and usually lose more the next week.

Keep trying!

[Wahine]

I didn't really word that very well. I started weighing myself every day to monitor my hydration levels. What was alarming me, wasn't so much "am I losing fat" but what the... is going on with my hydration. It seems bizarre to me that you can lose that much water in one day, and how can that be good for you?


Wahine, it's the weighing yourself every day. I know my body weight fluctuates two pounds either way. Of course when it's fluctuating down I'm kind of happy.

And do you really think you need to lose any weight? It sounds like you're wicked active and the low 140s may be right for you.

V.

You're right. I am very active and low 140s this time of the year is not a bad weight for me. Usually once I start my truly long bike rides, I'll drop another 3 to 5 lbs in a month or 2. I am hoping to be happily hanging out at 135 come race day. I think this is pretty reasonable, I still have some trouble spots that have the good ol cottage cheese look and when I was 25 or 26, I weighed 125ish lbs at 5'7" and 14% or 16% body fat, (I can't quite remember).

If I don't get down to 135, that's OK. I'm not going to be upset. But there are a lot of hills at IM Canada and my strength to weight ratio could use a little help. Notice that I am not part of the climbing club, because my climbing sucks.

The other option is to drink beer like a feind and hit 150 lbs. That would land me in the Athena category. What do you think? :D :D Just kidding. I love the Athena athletes and what they are doing. I don't think it would be very cool of me to purposefully gain weight just so that I could sneak in at the bottom end of the category.

[velogirl]

Down 50 pounds! Yup. But I had gained about that much over the course of 3 years. In April 2002 I weighed 144. By May 2005 (after finally being diagnosed with a thyroid condition and then having two major surgeries), I weighed over 190 -- all the while eating right and riding 15-20 hours a week.

By Feb 2006 (9 months later), I was down to about 155 (about 35 pounds of weight loss). I fluctuated a bit last season (back into the low 160s). On Novemer 13th, 2006, at 159 pounds, I decided the last 20 pounds had to go. I began a serious caloric restriction program -- deficiting myself 500 - 1000 calories a day. I've been losing about 2 pounds a week since then and am now down to 141. I think I'll cry the morning I step on the scale and it reads 130-something.

My original goal was 140 by Feb 28th, but I revised that to 130 by March 31st, so I've got 11 pounds to go. I finally look like myself again and I can finally climb hills again, too!

[kelownagirl]

Well I'm just here to pout that I weighed exactly 124.0 this morning. If I had been 123.9 I wouldn't owe dh a back rub tonight. I told him it was going to be a rough one because I need to burn off some calories. :D

[Wahine]

Wow velogirl, that's amazing. congratulations!! I'm glad they figured out what was wrong and that you've been able to fight to get back to where you want to be. That's some pretty amazing discipline to restrict your diet by 500 to 1000 cal less a day. Yikes! I hope I never have to do that. I love eating too much.

Edit: sorry you have to give the backrub KG. Maybe you should go out and buy one of those hand held massagers, they require significantly less effort. There was nothing in the deal that said you couldn't right?

[velogirl]

Here are my lessons from this process (well, a few of them anyways). All of this assumes a normal, functioning thyroid. Although I work in the industry and studied nutrition and physiology, these were big lightbulbs for me, probably because this was the first time in all the years I've used a food and activity journal that my body has done exactly what it was supposed to do.

#1 -- Our bodies are extremely efficient. If we follow our gut instincts (pun totally intended) we will eat exactly the number of calories we burn each day. When I plateaued in February, this is exactly what happened to me.

#2 -- We over-eat for emotional reasons -- loneliness, sadness, celebration, boredom, fatigue, etc. Over-eating is not a natural physiological response. Our body doesn't want us to injest more calories than it needs and you can feel the negative physical effects when you do.

#3 -- It is extremely hard to under-eat/deficit. This takes discipline, commitment, and the ability to make rational desicions (even when you're glycogen-deficient). Each night I review my food and activity journal and make a conscious decision not to over-eat.

But the good news is that once I reach my goal weight, I can go back to scenario #1.