March/April weight loss thread

[txred9876]

255.4

When I started posting to this weighloss thread I was not sure what to put down for a goal because I have not put a time frame on any so far. Even though I am not at the 250 mark I have now lost a total of 2-3 sizes and 28.6 lbs.This has been in about 11 weeks time.

Tina

[Susan Otcenas]

131.5 for me again. I'm good with that. The truth is, with my training ramped up as much as it has for upcoming triathlons, I've been eating more in a maintenance mode than in a reducing mode. When I'm hungry, I need to eat or I can't train effectively. I still need to drop a few pounds of fat off my stomach and thighs, but I think that with the continued tri training, this is going to happen even if I don't drop any more weight on the scale.

I'll still keep trying, though. My WW goal is tantalizingly close @ 130#, and I really want to achieve that at some point.

Susan

[Triskeliongirl]

Susan, you have done so well and look fantastic now!

I am also a WW lifetime member from way back (even though I don't eat that way anymore due to my impaired glucose tolerance that I've discussed before). Maybe at this point you could raise your WW goal so you can stop paying, but keep going to meetings for the accountablity and support which I think you have found helpful thus far.

If your plan is to just keep eating and exercising the way you are, then if your weight drops that's great, but then you don't have to waste money paying for the meetings. I think you are at a point where your problem areas will firm up over time, possibly even without your weight changing a lot as you work out more and shift more weight from fat stores to muscle (or even to glycogen stores in prep for your long rides, which can put on water weight but not fat).

I too am at a point where I would like to lose a little more weight, but there are also limits that I won't go below to do it. So, what I am now doing is eating ~1250 cal on days I don't bike to work, ~1450 on days that I do, and ~1650 on days I do long rides. I track everything, but rather than eating to fill an allowance, I try to choose foods that will let me feel satiated within my target range, and only eat when hungry. On days I don't bike I feel I don't need an afternoon snack, but if I have to ride home then I allow it because I get really hungry and feel I need it to get home. At dinner, I will allow treats, but not all in the same meal. That means I will have *either* beer/wine, or desert, or a large serving, but not all 3 in the same meal. By rotating these things I don't feel deprived. I use days I take long rides to feel a little more relaxed in my eating. My plan is to keep doing this, and weigh whatever my weight stabilizes at.

[Susan Otcenas]

I think you are at a point where your problem areas will firm up over time, possibly even without your weight changing a lot as you work out more and shift more weight from fat stores to muscle .

That's what I'm hoping for. Sad to say, I'm not 25 anymore. Even though I've lost alot of fat, the surrounding skin hasn't shrunk up/toned up much along with the weight loss. I know the skin will shrink up slowly over time, but I think I may never have the "tight" look I'd like to achieve. MY almost-40-year-old skin just doesn't have the elasticity it once did.

However, I *am* discovering that I seem to be capable of developing very nice looking abdominal muscles. I've always joked about wanting "six pack abs" and I now think I can maybe make that happen. I'm seeing very positive results from abdominal work I'm doing, and as the weight has come off my middle the results are becoming more noticeable.

Trisk, it sounds like you've worked out a very doable way of eating for life, which to me is the whole goal of WW. It's not only about losing weight (though we need to do that first.) It's about learning a way to eat for life that allows us to be fit, healthy & satisfied.

Susan

[Triskeliongirl]

Susan, your comments are interesting. You will see your skin firm up over time. I went from 175 to 140, and have maintained now for 2 years. And even though my weight hasn't changed during maintenance, I have slowly but surely seen a return of my skin tone (I even bought some bikinis last summer and think I look good in them, something I never thougt my 51 year old, had 2 children and was formerly overweight, body would be able to wear).

I go back and forth with the tracking. When I don't track, I find my weight goes up a little, but I have a range. When I get to the high end of the range I track and it goes back down. I am now thinking to maybe always track, so rather than gaining and losing and gaining the same couple of pounds over and over again, I might even be able to go lower. I just got a new program that syncs between my palm treo and desk top, making it really easy to enter things. And it tracks exercise as well as food.

[kjay]

I won't be completing this, so just ignore my name. I've not been able to lose weight "by myself," so am beginning a medically supported program. I'm looking forward to seeing results for once and for all. Good luck to all the gals here.

[txred9876]

you ladies are doing great!!

I know things have changed as far as inches go. I even had the pharmacist ask me if I had lost weight!!! Slowly but surely it will come off (I keep telling myself that as I drive many miles on my bike weekly!)
Tina

[lauraelmore1033]

254.2. Im just thankful I didn't gain. I'm having a hard time figuring out how to eat now that I'm increasing my mileage. I thought the formula of 100 extra calories per hour of exercise worked well over the winter when I was only averaging 1-2 hours at a time, but now that it is 2-5 hours, it isn't anywhere close to cutting it.

[Veronica]

Bear in mind everyone is different. I work out on average 90 minutes to 2 hours six days a week. I eat 1500 calories a day while working out that much.

When I go for a longer ride 3+ hours, I will increase my calorie intake only by what I eat while on the ride about 100 calories per hour of riding. But only if I'm out 3 or more hours.

Veronica

[jobob]

I stayed at 151. I'm okay with that. My skinny jeans are too big and require a belt to stay put now.

Woo-hoo, V that's fabulous! Yeah, it's not all about the weight.

I haven't been weighing myself lately, so I've been pretty much out of this challenge. Eh, I'll deal with this stuff later.

(as I have a bagel with Nutella for breakfast )

[Possegal]

Adding in the updates.

I will be posting over the weekend or start of next week to see who wants to join in for the next 8 weeks. So look for the May/June thread soon!

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?k...pm_7PeY5pbsKDg

[channlluv]

245

Okay, so last Monday, after having ridden 15 miles on Saturday and another 15 on Sunday, I weighed 240. I couldn't believe it. That's the lowest I've been in, I'm not kidding, since longer than I can remember. I think I was in the 230s when my daughter was in Kindergarten. She's 11 now.

So there it was, 240, on Monday, and again on Tuesday. Wow!

And then I got cocky. Or stupid. Or something, and I ate bagels (two) on Wednesday - birthday breakfast at work - and then this absolutely lucious chocolate cake that they had at lunch, and then after my night job, I was hungry, so I stopped and got a chicken sandwich at Jack in the Box...stupidstupidstupid...oh, and there was the London broil I made for lunch, with sauteed mushrooms...stupidstupidstupd...so Thursday I was back up to 246. I figured it was all water weight. At least that's what I told myself.

I went for a 15 mile ride yesterday and a one-mile walk around the neighborhood, but this morning, weigh-in day, I'm back at 245. Same as where I started March 1. But for two days, it felt really good, and now I'm wondering why I sabotaged myself, because that's exactly what I did.

I need to get back on my No Fast Food plan. Fast food does not exist for me after Wednesday.

Roxy

[lauraelmore1033]

Bear in mind everyone is different. I work out on average 90 minutes to 2 hours six days a week. I eat 1500 calories a day while working out that much.

When I go for a longer ride 3+ hours, I will increase my calorie intake only by what I eat while on the ride about 100 calories per hour of riding. But only if I'm out 3 or more hours.

Veronica

yeah, I've tried to go that low, but it makes me a very unhappy person and doesn't really result in increased weight loss. Sometimes after a long ride (50+ miles) my whole body will ache or I will feel nauseated until I eat more. Plus, I can't keep up with the faster training group on a hilly ride unless I eat more than 100 calories in an hour.

[Jones]

185.6. Thank you to everyone here you have all been an inspiration to me. I look forward to the next weight loss challenge.

[Karma007]

Everyone here is awesome! I'm at 143. I have new motivation, so the #'s should start improving soon. I'm getting all wild and crazy and hitting the gym before I have a beer tonight (vs just not going). Wish my bike would be back from the shop; I'm ready for a good long ride...