Wl-chllng #2!!!

[kjay]

Bummer . . . no change. Am biking on a five-day tour next week, so maybe that'll have some effect. I hope, I hope . . .

[GLC1968]

Hey all!

Sorry I've been MIA lately! We just made the final decision to move across the country this month, so I've been a little busy!

I will post an updated spreadsheet tomorrow. For me, this week's weight: 161.0 lbs. I'm actually fine with this though, because my weight loss efforts have totally been put on the back burner for awhile. In the midst of everything that I have going on, I'm going to be happy to maintain this month. The last time I did a major move (FL to NC 3+ years ago), I gained. My goal is to make NC to OR have less impact on my body!

Oh, and personally, I think everyone is doing really, really well. Even if we aren't losing, we keep tracking, checking-in and trying. Half the battle is not giving up...and I think that's worth a pat on the back.

[PinkBike]

i'm 138.4, which is down .6, this is soooo slow. but i'm ok with that! i rode my bike to work all 4 days this week and also did 3 spinervals an hour each. i've been so good on my weight watchers, but today i'm going out for mexican with my family who's visiting for the weekend, then tomorrow i'm going to a super bowl party so i guess i better just do what i tell my kindergartners: make good choices.

[snowtulip]

Great job everyone! Even if you aren't losing weight, our bodies are finicky things. I've been on the gaining or maintaining side since this challenge has started, but finally, I'm heading in the right direction.

2/2 - 115.5

Yipee!

Flybye -thanks for sharing the info. But I'm confused, I've always been told that you should decrease your calorie intake by about 300 calories if you are trying to lose weight regardless of exercise. So I should be adding 400 calories if I exercise (or whatever I burned)? Doesn't that basically zero it out and I'm back at no weight loss? Just curious since I have been having a hard time losing and I might have my formulas all messed up

[deedolce]

I've read through this thread with great interest!

I also read weight loss threads on other forums where the 'losers' are not athletes...and they aren't having the difficulty in general that there is here. At least the ones that post in their numbers in those other forums ...it's how many full pounds are lost, not in 1/10's, and it comes for them from something like cutting out the soda, or walking after dinner, working up to a mile or two!

I think we've trained our bodies are to be extemely efficient, or: after a few hundred miles of cycling a month, in comparison to 'walks around the block' we'd wither to nothing but tendons and bones if it worked that way with us. We use our fuel well.

I think of weight loss as a curve, and a changing one at that! It changes with age, with weather and season, with your level of fitnes. And the curve is pretty darn shallow at the top, when you're near your ideal weight. I don't believe in the simple calorie count.

..and personally, I don't mind a little cushion. In case I get in a bike accident. I may need that bodily reserve of fat!

Cheers, everyone!

[Triskeliongirl]

I think the problem here is that most of these gals are already quite lean. I find for me its extremely hard to get below 22% bodyfat, but with that being said I feel really good at 22% bodyfat so I don't mind. I also think some of these women are making a mistake to track pounds rather than body fat, which is what really counts.

[Starfish]

Triskeliongirl...not attempting to be contentious...I tend to agree with most of what you wrote.

But, I know that I am nowhere near fairly lean. Although it has been awhile since I've had my body fat tested, I know from those experiences, and what I can readily pinch all over my body now, and how my clothes fit, that my body fat is a good 10 points higher than what I would like it to be. And, I am shooting for a very healthy, normal number, nothing low.

For that reason, it is a lot easier to track pounds for now. In about 20 pounds, it will be time to have body fat tested again to see where I'm at...

[kerrybelle]

.....making a mistake to track pounds rather than body fat, which is what really counts.

Agreed, I am trying to lower my body fat, which seems to be an even slower process. I am at the high end of the normal range, now and would like to be at the middle of that range. Not expecting miracles, but I know it won't get any easer as I get older!

[CyclaSutra]

..and personally, I don't mind a little cushion. In case I get in a bike accident. I may need that bodily reserve of fat!
!

Or in case of a famine ... or a recession ... or a natural disaster ... or if I lose my job and can't afford groceries ... or if I get lost in the woods for a week ... or in case science finds a way to use fat cells to save baby leukemia patients ... I've got a million excuses for my extra fluff.

Oh, BTW, my DH was in a catastrophic snowmobile crash about 13 years ago, two years before I met him, and the doctors told him he prolly wouldn't have survived were it not for a little extra cushion. I wonder if that's psychologically affecting his motivation for keeping more weight on. Therapy!

[Triskeliongirl]

Oh, I don't mean to be contentious either, just helpful. I did not mean everyone, but I am surprised how light *some* of the gals are that are trying to lose weight here, that is all, and was trying to respond to the posters query as to why more gals on this board are struggling than on others.

I also can't help but wonder if those gals that are struggling don't have some degree of impaired glucose tolerance. Of course, I am relating to my own experience, but if you *gained* weight when you started cycling, and also *thought* you needed to eat a lot of carbs to do it, so you could be a candiate. I'm not gonna repeat my personal story, just something to think about. I personally think a high protein/low carb diet is just an *easier* way to lose weight because it puts even a normal person in a biochemical/hormonal state that favor fat burning. So, I am just throwing this out for those of you that are restricting calories but not seeing a loss.

And lastly, congrats to all of you that are making healthy changes, even if the loss has been slow. Slow loss and/or maintenance sure beats a gain now, doesn't it!