March/April weight loss challenge

[Possegal]

No change for Tucker Cat. Probably because I can't resist when he meows so piteously for food.

But at least now he has to meow for it. It use to always just be there.

Veronica

It's tough, isn't it? I used to joke with my vet about how very painful kitty dieting was for me. My niece was living with me when Bailey was on his diet, I would feed him in the morning and she said he'd come to her when the bowl was clean and meow like he hadn't been fed yet, like maybe she didn't know better and she'd feed him too! We used to crack up!

Adding in this weeks updates!

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?k...tREx5VFE&hl=en

[erickkat]

161.2 for me. (yay)

[martinkap]

148lbs ...

Thanks for the chart,

Martina

[GLC1968]

163.1

I saw lower weights over the week, but considering that this is TTOM week, I'll take it.

[nico demouse]

156.

[tharley]

182.7 :d

[Catrin]

143 one pound at a time, quite literally this go-around! Guess I got spoiled when I lost on the average of 2 pounds a week for almost 6 months...

[bikerHen]

176.5 for me! Definitely the right direction. bikerHen

[ktbikes]

144.5 : )

[Jones]

171.4 I am going in the wrong direction and getting very frustrated. I thought about dropping out of this weight loss challenge but I really don't think posting my weight on TE has anything to do with me not losing weight. I have just been making bad choices day after day and finding any excuse to eat garbage, but I am feeling like making better choices. Yesterday was a good day and hopefully today will be too.

[GLC1968]

Jones -

Don't beat yourself up about it. For the first many, many challenges here on TE, I did not lose any weight at all. That's right. The first challenge I recall was in May of 2008 (two years ago now!) and I started at 168. That's the same weight I started at this time around, too. I even topped out at 174 somewhere in the past two years as well (right about when I opted to step away from these challenges for a few months!).

It's one thing to want to lose weight and entirely another to make it happen. Sometimes, as individuals, we just aren't there yet. I had a coach that used to call them 'false starts'. I had about a thousand false starts between 2008 and about a month ago when something just clicked. Until you get that 'click'...or that definining moment or photo or incident...it's almost impossible to force it. I just couldn't make myself take the weight loss thing seriously enough, for long enough, to get results. I would have one or two 'good days' followed by 2 or 3 bad ones. No results. Even the thought of wearing a bikini on a beach with 6 other thin, fit women (most of whom I didn't know), didn't spur me on. Training for my first tri didn't spur me on. Running out of clothes that fit me (I was too fat for my fat pants!), didn't do it either. Then one day, about 4 weeks ago, something clicked. My husband and I made the decision together and we actively set out to change our lives. We reworked our kitchen and pantry, we rearranged our schedules, we made the commitment. Now I'm down 12 lbs down from my highest and while I've still got a LONG way to go, I can speak honestly about what it takes to make the change. It takes a spark. Find your spark and you will do it. AND, in the meantime, don't beat yourself up about it! The fact that you are aware of your own desire to change is still leaps and bounds ahead of most of the population!

Phew - that got wordy. Didn't mean for that to happen!

[bambu101]

Good post, GLC1968! I agree 100% on the "click" part, and also had a similar epiphany, if you want to call it that, about 2 weeks ago. As one of my former co-workers used to say, "your head has to be in the right place". She lost 60 pounds 9 years ago, and has kept it off since.

I think that the motivation comes from within, and not from looking at pictures or trying to lose for a class reunion or whatever. There are lots of tools out there to help you lose weight, but you have to start the process yourself. It took me many, many false starts to realize that.

[Jones]

GLC,

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I guess my frustration is that it did click and I lost weight, 40 lbs, and the motivation just left. When I think about being on a diet for another year I eat. When I focus on being healthy or faster or feeling better I make better choices. I just want my click back and I want it to stick with me during the challenging times.

I did notice your weight loss, nice job!

Jones

[erickkat]

171.4 I am going in the wrong direction and getting very frustrated. I thought about dropping out of this weight loss challenge but I really don't think posting my weight on TE has anything to do with me not losing weight. I have just been making bad choices day after day and finding any excuse to eat garbage, but I am feeling like making better choices. Yesterday was a good day and hopefully today will be too.

Jones, don't beat yourself up. It's a LONG journey and it tends to come off faster in the beginning and then slow up. It's hard to make your head adjust to it and it gets really frustrating. You just have to try to keep in mind the progress you've made already and give yourself a well deserved pat on the back. Maybe back off the stricter diet thing for awhile and make a goal to just stay healthy. It can be daunting thinking of how long you need to do this for, and the reality is that it won't end. I made the mistake of thinking that I would get to a certain place in my weight and then I would never have to think about it any more. Wrong! It does get easier to know what to eat and make those healthy choices, but they never go away.

I've lost 113 pounds, but it's taken me since 2005. I lost 30 pounds in the first month, and a hundred in two years. But the 13 pounds have taken me the remainder of that time. It's slow going sometimes, and you go up a little, down a little. Don't think of it as failing, that always makes me want to pig out in despair. Just think of it as a side trip on the main road to where you want to go or a little breather.

I recently went through a really frustrating point where I was working my butt off and not seeing it on the scale at all. I was in tears every time I weighted because I was killing myself and nothing happened. Sometimes our bodies do that. Just keep pushing and something will click and your body will move forward again. For me, working hard not to get into ruts - both eating and exercise - is key. Change it up, try and make it interesting, and have fun.

[limewave]

Unbelievable.
173.6