March/April weight loss challenge

[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

[GLC1968]

Jones - I did that once, too! I lost 30 or so lbs - still had 10 - 15 to go and I just couldn't make it happen. I think I was just over it, you know?

In fact, that was when I bought my first road bike and since then, I've done nothing but gain!

I honestly believe in the value of taking a break though. That same coach I mentioned above used to refer to fat loss as paddling a kayak upstream. In order to make any headway, you have to paddle very hard. If you only paddle lightly, at best you can hope to stay in one place. If you lift your paddle out of the water altogether (ie, give up), then you'll quickly start moving backwards. So my thought is if you just don't have it in you to paddle hard right now (we all get tired, right?!), then just paddle lightly and keep yourself where you are for awhile to rest. Once you are ready, you can start paddling hard again to make more progress.

Whatever you do, don't do what I did and pull those oars out of the water altogether!

[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

[Possegal]

Friday updates rolling in!

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

[Veronica]

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.


Jones

Don't think of it as being on a diet. If it's a diet, when you stop, the weight comes back. You have to be honest with yourself and make changes that you can live with.

For me it was easy to give up the 3 - 4 Red Bulls I drank most days. Giving up my daily homemade chocolate chip cookie was much harder.

Have a plan to deal with those challenging times. I know at staff meetings there will be a ton of junk food - teachers love junk food. I bring my version of junk food those days - peanuts, cashews, almonds, dried cranberries and chocolate chips - in a measured amount.

Good luck!


Veronica

[Veronica]

Tucker is at 15.25. Sometimes I think the vet was wrong and he is not suppose to be a 13 pound cat. I've cut their food from 1.5 cans per day for both of them to 1 can per day. Tucker's weight has barely changed in two months. Cassie has stayed the same.

They are eating a high quality canned cat food with human grade chicken. Tucker had been over 17 pounds at just a year old when he was eating dry food. He was tubby! Too many carbs for that baby.

Veronica

[limewave]

I agree that it is overwhelming to think about dieting for another year. I focus on one meal, one snack at a time, one moment at a time. And I don't beat myself up if I have a bad day. Getting healthy is not a race to a finish line. As my uncle always likes to tell me, By the inch, it's a cinch, by the mile, it's a trial.

[Veronica]

Change is hard.

It has taken me 43 years to figure out that I should just not eat potato chips. C'mon potato chips, they are so good, crunchy and salty... it doesn't matter how many I eat, they always make me sick later. It doesn't matter what kind they are... I get sick later. But, I love to eat potato chips.

43 years to finally say, "That's it. I am done eating potato chips. No matter how tasty they are, it's just not worth wanting to barf two hours later." I had this epiphany April 2 after potato chips with a sandwich at lunch.

I guess when it comes to food, I'm a slow learner.

Veronica

[martinkap]

148 lbs.

Thanks for the chart.

[GLC1968]

Yay, Limewave - you made your goal! Good job!


I'm taking a pass on today. I did weigh myself, and it wasn't pretty...and it SHOULD be, so I'm going to give my body one more day before I share a number for the week. If I was on the biggest loser, I'd be leaving the ranch. Damn.

That said, I agree that thinking about it being a whole year before you get to your goals is depressing. At my current rate of loss, summer will come and go before I'm at my 'goal' and that's kind of a bummer. BUT, I'm working VERY hard right now to focus on the small little changes. I like how eating this way makes me feel. I like watching my 'muffin top' vanish. I like feeling a little hungry because it means that my body is accessing my fat stores. I like that I can now use a new hole on my belt and that all my pants feel mysteriously longer. I'm looking forward to all the changes headed my way and I'm going to focus on each and every one (no matter how small) instead of looking towards my end goal. It's about transforming my life - not my body. My body will just be coming along for the ride.

[Catrin]

143...again....sigh