Motivation and Accountability - April 6-12....Don't Give Up!
 

Good morning Fitdayers :) I've been struggling for a few weeks and feel like I'm starting at the start yet again....I quite literally am since I'm still the same weight I was when I recommitted in January. I lose some and then gain some and never make any real progress. I'm quite tired of this cycle, but I'm not willing to give up. I'm going to set weekly goals again and check back in daily for accountability.

Wishing everyone a great week!

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Here are my weekly goals. Pretty much the same as previous weeks, but I added in staying off the scale! I plan to only weigh on Fridays for Friday Weigh Ins and on Mondays for the Canada Day/Independence Day Challenge.

Weekly Goals
track food daily:
72 oz. water daily:
max. 1400 calories:
min. 88 g protein:
max. 175 g carbs:
3 full body workouts:
3 cardio interval workouts:
2 steady state cardio:
Stay off the scale:

Hi ho, Fitday-ers! Start of a new week, yes it is. Thanks for getting the thread up and running, Debbie! Today is the start of your new Challenge, correct? Good luck!

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For the most part, I'm going to stick with the same strategy, even though it hasn't been the gangbusters, "drop the pounds!!!" weight-loss strategy I've been looking for...

My Strategy for the Week (April 6 - April 12):

• 7-day Rolling Average calories = 1200-1300:
• 7-day Rolling Average water/tea, minimum 2500mL (10+ 8oz glasses):
• 7-day Rolling Average sodium = 1000-1500:
• Extra Credit -- 7-day Rolling Average Sat-Fat = under 15g:
• Extra Credit -- 7-day Rolling Average Carbs = under 150:
• Extra Credit -- 7-day Rolling Average Fiber = 15g or greater:
• Extra Credit -- 7-day Rolling Average Protein = 50-75g:
• Explore! Try something new or do some nutrition-related research at least 2 times:

I'm not making many changes this week, except under the Carbs section. Before I can worry about Net Carbs, perhaps I should get Carbs in general under control. I'm also going to try a new approach to Carbs this week.

With the way I've been eating, you'd think the pounds would come off at a rate of at least 1 per week. No so. I honestly think I'm one of those people whose body is weight-loss resistant. Other people drop pounds, I dribble ounces. If that...

Even back in my gym-rat days, I never "dropped" pounds. Over the years, I've done all sorts of gym and/or exercise things, including building my own personal gym. At one point, I did a 6-month stretch where I worked with a trainer 90 minutes, 3x a week (yes, EXTREMELY expensive) AND ate fairly healthfully. In that 6 months, I only lost about 30 pounds (I was much heavier then than I am now). And most of the time, I felt simply awful because exercise and I just don't work well together. Exercise makes most folks feel great, exhilarated. Me, I feel like crap for several hours afterwards.

That's one of the reasons I'm focusing mostly on food-modification this go round. In my experience, for my body, exercise hasn't seemed to work very effectively for weight loss. I know there are other benefits, but right now, I'm focusing on weight loss. The other bits will come later.

Hehe ok, pity-party over! Sorry 'bout that!

Epixi: I understand your exercise woes! For most folks, it seems exercise gives them energy and hypes them up. Not me--it makes me sleepy! Trainers say exercise early in the day for best results and never late at night--well, if I exercise in the morning, I'm wiped out for the rest of the day! So, I usually exercise late at night and then go sleep like a baby for a few hours! Backwards, I know!
BTW--how do you manage to keep your sodium intake so low? I need some help with that.

Debbie: Last week I had a few down days, feeling like I wasn't making the progress I wanted to see as fast as I wanted to see it. I found a Hall's cough drop wrapper and it had printed on the side: Never give up on yourself! Then I thought about all the times I've been my own worst critic and decided it was time I really started liking myself. I may 'forget' that again in the future, so I kept that wrapper to remind me!

Vicki

Long Post - Goals Week 2
 

I’m new, started watching calories on 3/31, began dieting in earnest on 4/1, I’m not following any specific plan just working on cutting back on carbs, making better food choices each day than I did the day before and staying at or around 1343 calories a day. So far things are going pretty well. Because it’s my first week I’m not yet at a point where I need to consider changing things in order to keep meeting goals so for now I'll just re-commit to doing what I've been doing which is -

Dress, weigh – do BS checks, no excuses, no exceptions
Check BS upon waking, two hours after every meal
Eat on average 1343 calories a day for the next week between 3 or 4 meals
No food after 8pm
Drink 56 - 64 oz. of plain water a day
No more than two 14 oz. serv of tea or one 14 oz. serv of coffee per day
No caffeine after 6pm
No more than one can of diet soda per day
Continue to limit carb intake
Weigh things, it's not that hard, don't be lazy, kitchen scale can't work itself
Use measuring cups/spoons and portion control containers/dishes, just do it!
Plan meals on FitDay before eating them
Plan 3 extra meals per week, copy and save as resource for busy days
Keep hard copy of blood sugar/diet log to turn in as instructed by physician
Anytime weight goes up or blood sugar soars readdress strategy immediately
Otherwise if it’s working, assuming it isn't broken, don’t attempt to try and fix it, and just keep on keeping on.

Stats :
Weight (taken first thing in the morning after getting dressed with slides on)
Starting - 228.7 lbs. 3/31/15
Current Weight - 220.3 lbs. 4/6/15
Blood Sugars (taken 2 hrs. after start of each meal)
Starting 3/1/15 - High 263 Low 183
Highest Since Starting Diet - 181
Lowest Since Starting Diet – 99
# BS Checks between 6 pm 3/31 and 2 pm 4/6 – 28
Average of All BS Checks To Date – 144.53571 or 144.5
Number Goals For This week - No blood sugar > 181, weight < 220.3 lbs. by end of week, daily carb intake <45 g per day

Thanks for starting the thread off I find the more people I tell/share my real numbers/goals with, reveal my plans to the better I am about staying on course and sticking with things.

RLSunday: Welcome aboard, so glad you're here! You're right -- what you've been doing has been working! Look at you -- 8 pounds lighter! I love the little affirmations after the bullet points ("kitchen scale can't work itself"... priceless!). You've got a great attitude!

Vicki: I've done workouts mornings, before breakfast, after breakfast, mid-afternoon, after work... for me, it never feels good :D. I won't say ALL exercise makes me feel creepy -- I love a good 9-holes of golf, walking the course, of course. And I usually feel GREAT afterwards, even though I'm a rather mediocre golfer. I used to enjoy aqua-aerobics, too, but I think that was partially because of a GREAT teacher (she made it like hip-hop dancing in water) and a really special group of regulars (we kicked serious butt in the pool and I was one of the young 'uns at 40ish). Sadly, I can't afford a gym/pool membership right now (I've moved away from that particular gym), nor can I afford to play a lot of golf. I live in an area now that has a nice, relatively inexpensive muni course, though, so I'm hoping I'll be able to do at least one round a week this year. I do like yoga -- hmmm perhaps I should get back into that, even though it's not really weight-loss exercise.

With regard to the sodium, I read labels like crazy and rarely eat out. I've eaten at a sit-down restaurant once in the past 6 months and have had fast-food 3, maybe 4, times in that same period. I don't cook with salt and add no salt at the table. I try my best to get low-sodium versions of whatever I buy (low-sodium stocks and broths are wonderful). I don't buy frozen meals or canned soup, either (have you seen the sodium content on those things??? :eek:). For things like butter or salad dressing, I try to limit myself to 1/2 the serving size. That way, I get the taste, but not as much sodium.

Interestingly enough, my palate is really sensitive to salt now, after a couple of years of watching sodium intake. I bought a rotisserie chicken a few months ago that was so salty, it hurt! And when I did have a Hamburger Happy Meal, I could taste the salt. Never noticed it before.

I just bought a new no-salt seasoning to use on chicken (as an aside, watch out for chicken that is brined -- it's very salt heavy). Can't wait to try it!

Hi all :) Checking back in for accountability.

Weekly Goals
track food daily: Mon-Yes
72 oz. water daily: Mon-80 oz.
max. 1400 calories: Mon-1293
min. 88 g protein: Mon-88 g (right on the money!!)
max. 175 g carbs: Mon-170 g
3 full body workouts:
3 cardio interval workouts:Mon-Yes
2 steady state cardio:
Stay off the scale:Mon-Yes

RLSunday - Welcome! I totally agree if it's not broke, don't fix it! It's good to give a food/exercise plan several weeks to really know if it's working for you before changing things up. Congrats on your weight loss!

Vicki - Thanks for the reminder that I we all need to like ourselves. I

Epixi - Fortunately, exercise makes me feel good...however by the time bedtime rolls around, I'm crawling up the stairs! ;)

See you all tomorrow!

Debbie: Fantastic work on those goals today! What a grand way to start the week and to start the Challenge! And lucky you, being one of the folks who get that post-workout high!

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My Strategy for the Week (April 6 - April 12):

• 7-day Rolling Average calories = 1200-1300: 1189
• 7-day Rolling Average water/tea, minimum 2500mL (10+ 8oz glasses): 3962
• 7-day Rolling Average sodium = 1000-1500: 1295
• Extra Credit -- 7-day Rolling Average Sat-Fat = under 15g: 15
• Extra Credit -- 7-day Rolling Average Carbs = under 150: 133
• Extra Credit -- 7-day Rolling Average Fiber = 15g or greater: 11
• Extra Credit -- 7-day Rolling Average Protein = 50-75g: 57
• Explore! Try something new or do some nutrition-related research at least 2 times:

Although I'm not at all dissatisfied with today's eating, it doesn't translate well into the 7-day Rolling Average. Too much red up there. Looking on the bright side, though, it gives me lots of room for improvement!

Hehe wouldn't you know it -- as soon as I pat myself on the back for buying low sodium items, I pull out a pack of frozen Brussels Sprouts tonight. They aren't my usual brand and I bought them in a hurry, not reading the package. I mean, come on, it's frozen Brussels Sprouts, what could go wrong, right? Sadly, I didn't see the tiny, tiny print underneath... "in butter sauce". Gah! 180mg sodium per cup :mad:. Sneaky butter sauce! And I wish I could say it was worth it in terms of deliciousness, but, honestly, it tasted fake. Real butter would have been so much better (and probably better for me).

Oh well, lesson reinforced. Read the packages, Epi!

Epixi, I disagree. Yoga can be a very good weight loss exercise. I've seen lots of people turn their weight around by getting in regular good yoga workouts. I'm going to try it too.

Hi RLSunday! Very nice to meet you. Great job so far. I totally agree with you that changing a bunch of things too soon is the wrong thing to do. Way back when I first started I changed one thing about every 2 weeks.

Debbie, I hear you about salt. I rarely cook with it, and even more rarely add it at the table. I'm not as diligent as you, but I do notice the saltiness in foods. I love Mrs. Dash salt free seasonings when I cook.

Hi Vicki!

I'm in a better place today than I have been lately. Not perfect, mind you. I made some pretty poor choices, but I also made some very good ones.

Bad choices today: a lot of soda, I had an egg mcmuffin...however, an egg mcmuffin from McD's is surprisingly not that different in calories than an egg/sausage sandwich made at home. I shouldn't have had it, whether from McD's OR from home, but there's nothing I can change what I did this morning now.

Good choices today:

• I did NOT order any apple pies to go with the egg sandwich
• I did NOT get anything from the take out this afternoon while out and about
• I did NOT get a smoothie or shave ice from Bahama Buck's when I took my daughter for a treat (I had a single taste of her shave ice...birthday cake flavor of all things! lol) and I took one little sip of my other daughter's berry smoothy.
• I did NOT have a lot of pasta or rice tonight at dinner. It was leftover night and we had a tray of taco pasta and a tray of chicken/broccoli/rice/cheese. I didn't have any rice and only a few bites of taco pasta. What I DID have was the leftover fajita pork. Granted, I had two (on small tortillas), but I did get in good protein.
• ALSO, went grocery shopping and did NOT buy any candy, cookies or sweets. I bought cheese-its, sun chips, and goldfish crackers for the kids. I also bought blackberries and bananas.

I also made a decision that I'm going to go back to diet soda. I know the aspartame and other chemicals are not good for me in the long run, but all my good choices are being UNDONE by the regular soda I've been drinking. The water experiment didn't work this time around. AND instead of eating any junk food today I drank my atkins w/ milk.

I feel really good that my good decisions outweighed my bad decisions today.

I also left messages for 2 therapists to try to get started. I'm going to have to see if I'd be able to go 2x/month instead of every week because the copay is $40/visit!!! ouch. With Jeff being unemployed again, $40/week would just be too much to swallow.

I feel good today. More positive than I have in quite a while.

Debbie thanks for getting this started yesterday. I am having a lot of the same feelings you are. I will not give up but am getting a little tired of starting back at square one so many times.......I know I am in control of that.....I need to do a better job of dealing with hectic schedules and unexpected happenings.

I was doing really well last week and felt great. Then..my step counter got misplaced, I didn't have time to log on and track my food and then, the big family dinners came....three days in a row.

I am ready to be back on schedule again.

I am keeping my same goals as last week. Other then not tracking yesterday - not sure why I didn't do that - I am off to a good start!

I hope you all have a great week!!

Jennifer


7 day average calorie count deficit of 500 - didn't track Monday :(
7 day average exercise 30 minutes a day - M-35 min
7 day average for step count: 10000 a day 10647
water intake - 70 ounces a day - 80
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