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harold14370

Weekly Weigh-in Thread 2

harold14370
14 years ago

I'm starting a new thread because the first one is getting too long and loading slow on my dial-up internet connection.

As always, we invite everyone to participate. Thanks to all who have joined me. It makes a big difference to have some company.

I am weighing in at 240 today, a loss of 2 lb from last week. Still pretty good. I've lost a total of 35 pounds starting in mid-January. My calorie averages this week are 1627/day (food) and 433/day (exercise).

My next major milestone will be 220 lbs. That's where I cross the imaginary line between "obese" and "overweight." Using the Excel FORECAST function based on the last 30 days of data on my spreadsheet, I should be there on May 19. At the same average rate of weight loss, I would reach normal weight of 183 on August 1.

I had a thought the other day as I was poring over my spreadsheet trying to see if I could fit in another snack under my daily calorie budget. There is a story about an Indian who was puzzled by the white man's custom of eating meals at set times of the day. He said, "White man crazy, look at watch to see if hungry." If that Indian saw me, he might have said "White man crazy, look at spreadsheet to see if hungry."

Comments (48)

  • silversword
    14 years ago

    Congratulations on the 2lbs... I think I've also lost 2 but can't be sure. Could only be one. I've been going back and forth all week but think I've hit 138. Tomorrow on official weigh-in will be my determiner.

    Tried and tried to stick to the 1200 calories/day this week and did pretty well. Exercised a lot less because I got sick. But did get 1.5 hours of cardio on Friday and today... and then pulled a ncek muscle doing pushups!! Arrgghhh!!!

    So, here are my totals:

    Start: 155
    Current: 138
    Goal:125
    Total to date: 17

    I'm just about half way there!!! YAY!!

    did allocate calories today for chocolate... yummy!!!! 9 kisses!!!

  • harold14370
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Kudos for sticking to your diet on Easter, silversword. I can't say I did the same. I had a few more than 7 chocolate kisses. Hopefully not enough to gain weight, but I definitely sidetracked the diet for a day.

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  • silversword
    14 years ago

    Ended up eating jelly beans in bed later that night... Went a bit over my calories but not by a bunch. Super loaded up with eggs and toast before going egg hunting, and did 1.25 hours of cardio before going too, to speed up my metabolism...that helped me not to raid my daughters basket. Also took a super mug of coffee (black, how I like it) so that I was not tempted by sodas. Ate tuna fish with no mayo and tofu instead for lunch with another couple of pieces of my low carb bread, then had a protein shake with fruit and a scoop of peanut butter for dinner. Managed to convince DH to drink half of it, so that cut down on my intake too.

    I'm seriously wondering if I've reduced my calories too much. 1200 may be putting my body in starvation mode. What do you think?

  • eklektos
    14 years ago

    I was down a pound from last week today: 144.

    Start: 152
    Current: 144
    Goal: probably about 119, but mini goal is just to get out of the 140s!

    I was hoping to lose more than a pound this week b/c of being stalled last week at 145, and because mid-week weights were lower. But I ate a pretty big plate at lunch yesterday, so I should be glad to see a loss at all. I stayed mostly on plan, except for a few bites of a salad I think had some sugar in it, and just in general the volume was too much. Plus, it was Easter Sunday ham, which is loaded with sodium, so I might be retaining some water. If so, that should come off over the course of the week as long as I stay on track. We'll see!

    On Saturday, 3 people noticed that I had lost weight, so that was encouraging. That was a first.

    Harold, congrats on 2 more pounds gone. That's really good!

    SS, step away from the jelly beans! I doubt that 1200 calories is really too low for you, but with all that exercise, maybe it is. You could try to shake up your diet by having a little bit higher calories some days, just make sure it comes from proteins or healthy fats rather than easy-to-store foods like the sweets. I've heard that sometimes we have to trick our bodies in order to break a plateau. But it will happen. I know you won't give up.

    Where's jasmi?

  • jasmi
    14 years ago

    I was weighing 146.4 on wednesday and I did more cardio fron wed- sat. I was so waiting for Monday morning to weigh in.

    This morning I was still at 146.4 :-(( So I didnt gain/lose any weight from wednesday.

    My current weight - 146.4
    My target weight - 139

    I would have felt better and motivated if I had lost some weight . How are you guys doing with your weigh ins???

  • harold14370
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Silversword,
    I'm not a dietician but from what I've seen, you can safely lose about 1 or 2 lb. a week. Here is a web site where you can plug in your stats and weight loss goal, it will tell you how many calories you should be eating.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Healthy body calculator

  • jasmi
    14 years ago

    Harold , how do you manage to lose so much weight in a week ? 2 pounds is still awesome.
    I somehow managed not to eat anything sugary this weekend. On friday , I just had one small chocolate. I dont know where I went wrong. But didnt see any changes in weight this week. Hoping to lose 1 pound this week . Also, I have to increase my water intake.

    ek and ss , I think you guys are doing great by losing so many pounds from the time you started. I am so waiting to get back to 130s . That would motivate me in a big way to set up my next target weight to 129 pounds.

  • harold14370
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Jasmi,

    You have to remember I'm a lot bigger than you, so I can burn more calories, and I have more fat to lose than you do. Don't try to match how much I lose per week. If you do, you would probably mess up your metabolism and end up with loose skin that would need a tummy tuck to fix.

  • silversword
    14 years ago

    BIG VICTORY TODAY!!!!

    I had to go in for my annual woman's exam and they weighed me... I was 140 with my clothes and shoes on!!! YAY!!! Which makes me feel like my scale is not off at home, at 138-139, because I had clunky heels on today and everything all together weighed at least a pound.

    Ekle, that's great that people are noticing. It's so wonderful when that happens! People are now asking me why I want to lose more weight, that I look great. Yes, BUT... (it's the butt that's the issue!!) just kidding. I'd be happy to be more toned and heavier than lighter and weaker. And I'd really love to be 130 again.

    Jasmi, don't lose hope. Some weeks are like that. Just keep moving and it will come off. The first two weeks I didn't lose a thing. It was really disheartening. I thought for some reason it would just start melting off...

    Harold, thank you for the website. Here are my stats:

    Your weight: 140 pounds

    Healthy body weight range is: 104 to 140 pounds
    This is a healthy weight for you based on your height and gender.

    Your BMI: 24.9
    Healthy BMI range: 18.5 - 25
    You are at a healthy weight for your height.

    Your Nutrition Facts
    Calorie Daily Value 1,383 Calories from fat 415

  • eklektos
    14 years ago

    Jasmi, hang in there! Weight fluctuates so much with water, hormones, the actual weight of the food we eat, etc. So there could be a lot of things going on. But I know what you mean about wanting to see the changes: nothing motivates me like seeing the scale go down!

    Do you keep a food journal of the things you eat? I used one when I first started this diet, and I go back to see what I was eating when I had success, and what I was eating when I stopped losing. I also start writing everything down again when I haven't lost in a while, so that I can account for every single thing that goes into my mouth, along with its calorie and carbohydrate amounts.

    Harold has developed a tracking spreadsheet that he uses, and there are websites to help too if you'd rather do something like that online. Fitday.com is one (I use that sometimes--and I have a weight goal chart there too.) Another is called "the daily plate." I don't know the address for it, but you could just do a search and I'm sure you'd find it.

    Hang in there! And maybe if you do journal for a couple of days, you could post here exactly what you ate/drank, and how much exercise you got. Then someone else might be able to give you pointers on what they'd do if they also weren't losing.

    Congrats, SS, on such a fantastic weigh-in at the doctors! I always dread that part, but maybe next time I have to go it won't be so bad. (I was back down to 142.5 again this morning--same as last Tuesday! Just can't get that low weight to register on my official weigh-in date of Monday. If this keeps up, I'm changing my weigh-in day to Tuesday!)

  • eklektos
    14 years ago

    Harold, I just pulled up my old Atkins thread. You had posted on it last, almost exactly 1 month ago.
    Man, you have lost 15 pounds in one month! You were stalled at that point, but you're way lighter now. That's impressive!

  • harold14370
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Thanks, all. Congrats Silversword. Actually, I think your shoes and clothes would weigh a couple or three pounds. No, wait. I'm thinking of the clothes you would be wearing here. You live in California don't you? :)

    Jasmi, you are certainly welcome to a copy of my spreadsheet. If you click on my profile you should be able to see an email address where you can send me a request.

    Another option for an online food journal is the USDA mypyramid.gov. You can do one day's menu without registering, or you can register. They don't require any personal info or even an email address to register.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Mypyramid.gov menu planner

  • silversword
    14 years ago

    growl... yes, I live in California. Although it was 50 degrees today... absolutely freezing!! I had to wear a coat!!

    I had on kind of clonker heels... I'll have to take them out to weigh them... hold on!!!! poo. they only weigh one pound total. That and light slacks, a light top. So 1.5 probably. I took the coat off.

    Weighed at 137 when I got home, totally starving this afternoon. Then ate like a fiend. Good stuff, but a lot. And had 4 hershey's kisses. And a jigger of vodka. Just stepped on at 140.

    I self-sabotage!!!! Only 1450 calories for the day, but still feel bad. No exercise. It was raining so couldn't go on my walk, and was too energy-less to exercise when I got home because I didn't have lunch. Dismal failure.

    I've fallen off the wagon and can't get up!! hershey's kisses are weighing me down!!!

    :)

  • harold14370
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Don't worry about it, SS. You can get away with an occasional pig-out. I did much worse on Easter Sunday, but I'm back on track now and actually think I lost another lb or two.

    Don't you have umbrellas out there in California?

  • silversword
    14 years ago

    Actually Harold, I do not have an umbrella. It's sad but true. And you're right, that was just an excuse. :) But when I got to my dd's after school activity, where I used to sit on the benches and chat with the other parents, but have instead been walking during those two hours... I just couldn't do it. Even if I had an umbrella. Part of my problem was I skipped lunch and was crashing. And I'm feeling a bit ill as well. We were sick all last week, so I'm hoping this isn't a relapse.

    Planning on going home today and doing cardio. Really need to motivate again!

  • eklektos
    14 years ago

    Thou shalt not skip meals!

    Never go more than 6 waking hours without eating something, even if you're not hungry. As you've discovered, 1) you can crash and miss your exercise; 2) you can panic and binge-eat later; and 3) you can slow down your metabolism because your body begins to think it really is starving.

    Now about those Hershey's kisses... Do we need to do an intervention?


    I was down to 142 today--a new low, and an official 10 pound loss!
    Yesterday I ate 1/2 avocado, salad, sauteed zucchini with a little cheddar on top, crock-pot pork ribs with a mustard sauce, and Total Fage yogurt. I am so in love with Total Fage yogurt.

    152/142/119? maybe?

  • silversword
    14 years ago

    YAY!!!!!!! I'm proud of you.

    Chocolate is my downfall. It's ok as long as I don't have an Easter basket in my room tempting me!!! But no fear. All that are left is those little nasty chocolate eggs... and I do have standards!

    Today I've had a banana, non-fat plain yogurt (1 cup) with strawberries, and two slices of my whole wheat bread (low carb) with a smidgen of peanut butter and honey. But I've been up and going since 5am. I'm not hungry, but I'm "snacky". grrrrrr. I need to make some green tea. Maybe that will take the edge off. The sauteed zucchini sounds good..I'll have to try that.

    You're well on your way! That is so great!!

  • harold14370
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Eklektos - congrats om tje 10 lb. I agree with you about the Fage, it's pretty good. I tried to use some as a starter for homemade yogurt but it came out kind of watery. I don't know if it was the Fage or if I messed up the processing.

    SS- hope you didn't take that umbrella comment the wrong way. Just my way of joking. Sometimes it doesn't come across the right way on the internet.

  • jasmi
    14 years ago

    hi guys

    Thanks for all the encouragement and Info. I am swamped with projects at office, not finding time to anything.

    Since I was still at 146.4 on Monday , I weighed in again this morning . It was shocking to see my weight gone up by 1 pound. I was 147.4. It has been very depressing from morning . I have started counting calories and it is coming up any where around 1500 calories a day, on an average. I started working out religiously from last Monday and burn up to 250 calories on an average . I will put my food diary for couple of days on this thread and you can point out where I am going wrong.

    Don't know where I am going wrong. I need only 1200 calories to lose weight from harold's site. What do you guys think ?

  • harold14370
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Jasmi,
    I'm guessing that's a typo and you meant that 2000 calorie per day should be low enough for you to lose weight?

    I think the recommendations on the Mypyramid site will give you a very gradual weight loss. If you want to see faster results you might have to cut back a little more.

  • silversword
    14 years ago

    Hi Harold,
    No worries, I took it as a joke. Sorry if my response fell a little flat. It's awkward trying to convey emotions here isn't it?

    Harold: "don't you have umbrellas in CA?" (laughs, punches Silver on shoulder lightly, friendly smile)

    Silver: "no Harold, I don't" (abashed grin, rolls eyes, laughs at self)

    Jasmi, don't get down on yourself. Sometimes weight bounces around a bit before falling off completely. Last week I was at 140, then kept going back up to 143-ish, finally at the end of the week was solid 140, then 139, then bounced back up to 141, then down to 138, was 137 at one weigh in, but now am right back at 139. Dizzying, I know. That's why we shouldn't be scale-addicts!!! only weigh once a week, instead of 2x a day!!! (like I do!) Do you drink a lot of water? Maybe your body is dehydrated? Make sure the calories you are eating are solid, good calories rather than empty ones.

    I'm right on target for today. Entered my dinner and everything and still have 100 or so to spare for a snack. YAY. (That's if I can stick to it.) Last night made vegi burgers and tater tots for the family. I tried to eat a tot, but ended up spitting it in the trash. The grease was just too much for me. Plus I could only think of the 100's of calories that were in that little carbo-packed grease bomb!!!

  • eklektos
    14 years ago

    Most women will not be able to lose weight at 2000 cal/day unless they are super-active.
    Jasmi, I think seeing a couple of typical day's menus would be helpful. If you're eating 1500 cals per day, and your basal metabolic rate plus activity is around 1800 cals per day (which is pretty average for a petite woman), then realize that it will take about 11-12 days to lose a pound. But if you keep at it, you will lose. In the meantime, though, you will see a lot of ups and downs on the scale.

    If you're not already doing it, I for one would recommend cutting all sugars, (including fruit juices and dried fruits) and processed starches (like white bread, white rice, most packaged cereals) from your diet. Those are the easiest energy foods for your body to access, and you want to train your body to start using the fat stores instead of the instant energy.

    And just FYI: I used to do weight watchers, and at 146-148 pounds, I was allowed 23 points per day, which averaged out to be about 1350 calories. So that might be a ballpark figure to go on. Weight watchers doesn't disallow any particular type of food, but assigns a value to everything, even sweets and junky fats, so theoretically, as long as I stuck to my max points level, I could eat anything I wanted but I had to measure every portion. At that level, I lost about 1/2 pound per week on average while I was doing the program. (Some weeks I lost nothing; other weeks I might lose 3/4 pound or even occasionally a whole pound, but never more than a pound per week.)

  • eklektos
    14 years ago

    SS--we were typing at the same time!
    My weight ups and downs sound just like yours. I wish I knew how to import my "weight goal" graph from fitday into this thread, because it is so squiggly. In places it looks like stair steps, down, down, up, up, up, down, down, down, up, up...etc.

  • silversword
    14 years ago

    Too funny!!! And we said similar things too :)

    I don't even enter my daily weight into my-calorie-counter.com because of just that reason. I do it once a week. But I do know (as you do!) how Jasmi is feeling. It is so frustrating to step on the scale after I've been trying so hard and have the weight be higher. Depressing, because when it's lower I want to work out more...keep it going!!! and when it's higher I feel like sitting on the couch and eating ben & jerry's.

  • jasmi
    14 years ago

    hi ek and ss
    I get your point. I don't eat any sugary foods like cakes, candies, muffins,milk shakes,ice creams. I do eat white rice but I have really controlled it a lot these days.I think I eat a lot of cereal in the morning . I am so addicted to Kellog's honey bunches. I tried oatmeal today ( the quick instant packs you get ). It is 130 calories per pack. I will stop eating cereals in the morning and see if it makes any difference. Thank you again for your support. I will also make a point not to weigh in every single day.

    do you have recommendations for breakfast that would trigger my metabolism ? I heard protein filled breakfast is the best .

  • eklektos
    14 years ago

    I like a 2-egg omelette, with a dash of hot sauce and a couple of asparagus spears in it, cooked with butter-flavor cooking spray. It's about 150 calories and a perfect blend of protein and natural fat to sustain energy levels and keep me feeling satisfied. I also usually drink a big cup of coffee (half decaf) at breakfast, with a dash of cream (20 cals) in addition to at least 20 ounces of water.

  • silversword
    14 years ago

    Hi Jasmi,
    If you like white rice try Basmati. It's better tasting (I think!) and is better because it is lower on the glycemic index than white rice. A diet made up of mostly low G.I. foods can help the dieter regulate the appetite so they generally consume less energy over time. Here's a website about glycemic food and diet

    If you are eating the instant oatmeal (probably has added sugars?) try going for the 5 minute oats. Boil the water, mix in the oats, bring to a boil again and then remove from heat. 5 minutes later they are cooked. If you like fruit in your oats like raisins, you can add them with the oatmeal in the water and they will come out plump and juicy. Add cinnamon for even more weight loss stimulation.

    Oatmeal is very good in the morning. But cereal (IMO) should be treated like a snack later in the day than as a meal in the morning.

    YUM Ekle!!!! That sounds like a good breakfast. Today I ate two eggs and two slices of my homemade low carb bread with hot sauce and with a travel mug (average size) of black coffee (luckily that's the way I like it!). No butter on the bread (!) but I sop up the egg with it and it's easy to forget. It's 330 calories total, which sounds like a lot, but it sustains me for so many hours that I don't tend to snack in the morning when I eat that breakfast.

    Or, scrambled eggs, and toast, or I stick an egg in my oatmeal water before setting to boil, then mix in oatmeal around it and let it stay in until oats are cooked. Resulting in a sort of poached egg that I can then eat with my oats. Simple (as I have to get up and go in the mornings!)

    If you can stand it, eat your dinner for breakfast. Steak, chicken, etc... are good boosters in the morning. Eat your high calorie, high protein meal in the morning, and your "treat" breakfast at night, like your cereal. You may be less tempted to eat a dessert that way too.

    I find that if I drink my protein shake (protein powder and a banana or other fruit for the carbs) in the evening, after I work out, then I'm less tempted to eat a sugar snack because I feel like I just had a nice, sweet treat. Also, I drink a ton of water before my shake so I fill up faster and am not tempted to chug it down. Add some peanut butter, and use frozen bananas for a really yummy "milk-shake" taste.

    Also, if you can, do jumping jacks or stretches or jump rope in the morning for a few minutes. That will rev up your body for the day and get your metabolism in gear!

  • silversword
    14 years ago

    How To Correctly Weigh - A Complete Guide to Weighing in for Weight Loss

    How to Weigh:

    You will need to use the same set of scales each day if possible for weighing.

    Weigh at about the same time every day (or once a week, minimum) - ideally in the morning before breakfast, and before getting dressed.

    When we skip weighing, we allow room for our diets to gallop out of control. It's a bit like the individual who doesn't want to go to the doctor because they fear the doctor will uncover health issues. If we don't weigh - what we don't know can't hurt us.

    Thin Thin - Diet Fables, Diet Labels, Diet Tables, Diet Able Keep in mind that if your scales indicate a sudden jump upwards and you have been watching your diet, odds are the weight is temporary.

    It may be related to any of the following:

    - monthly periods (unless you're a guy)

    - overdose of sodium (salt) in the daily diet

    - if you're working out, you may have put on muscles which tend to weigh a bit heavier

    - constipation can also make the weight scales sluggish

    - humidity

    - bad scales - check the batteries

    Here is a link that might be useful: Thin Thin Website

  • harold14370
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    I apologize in advance for the following boring dissertation. Being a nerdy engineer, I could not resist crunching a few numbers, regarding the question of how many calories to eat. The linked web site has a table of calorie requirements versus weight and activity level.

    Let's say I weigh 240 lb and my activity level is moderate. That means I can eat 3600 calories per day without gaining weight. Eat your hearts out, ladies.

    Now we know that a pound of fat equals 3500 calories, so to lose a pound in 7 days you would need to eat 500 calories less than the amount listed in the table. (500 times 7 = 3500 = 1 lb of fat.) This means if I eat 1500 calories per day less than 3600, i.e., 2100 calories, I would lose 3 lb a week and at 1600 calories per day I would lose 4 lb a week. Well, guess what, I've been around 1600-1700/day and losing 3-4 lb a week. Works out about right.

    Now how about Jasmi. At 146 lb, if moderately active, she burns 2190 calories, according to the table. Eating 1700 calories, she would have a deficit of 490 calories per day, and should expect to lose about a pound per week, maybe a little less. To lose 2 lb per week would require a limit of 2190-1000=1190 calories and 3 lb per week would require a 690 calorie limit. That's starvation territory.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Calorie requirement table

  • jasmi
    14 years ago

    hi ek and ss
    Thanks for the information on the breakfasts and weigh in scales.
    I found a site and calculated my BMR to be 1423 calories. So I am trying to create a deficit of atleast 300 calories per day with my food intake and exercise. Lets see if counting calories makes any diff for me.

    harold, I hope the numbers you gave are correct in my case. If so, i should be losing at least 2 pounds this week. I also wonder if I fall under moderately active category. From past 6 days, I have been working out for at least 45 minutes daily. lets see what I weigh on Monday.
    You guys have a good weekend !!

  • eklektos
    14 years ago

    Sounds good, and matches well with the guidelines weight watchers promotes, so I'm sure that is a good rule of thumb for the average person. But unfortunately, the human body isn't quite as consistent a machine as we'd like it to be! Are there factors for insulin resistance and metabolic resistance in there somewhere too? For glandular functions (like suppressed thyroid)? Those are hard to predict, but very real factors for many, especially for women. Then there's the whole water retention thing which can interfere short-term with the appearance of weight loss...sometimes it just seems like you can get one component going well and another leaps up to sabotage you! I never lose at the "average" predicted rate, no matter how closely I adhere to whatever program I'm on. I just don't have the metabolism I'm supposed to have for my size and activity level.

  • silversword
    14 years ago

    Happy friday friends!!!!

    Harold... I'd eat my heart out but I'm sure that would take me over my caloric intake for today ;)

    That sounds about right though. The problem is that so many sites have differing opinions on how many calories I should be taking in...

    Example:

    Harold's link above (thank you!) at Healthy Body Calculator

    Age: 31
    Gender: Female
    Height: 5 feet, 3 inches
    Weight: 140 pounds
    Activity level: Sleeping 7 hours
    Sedentary 8 hours
    Low activity 7 hours
    Active 1 hours
    Very active 1 hours
    Weight goal: Lose 1 pound per week
    Calorie Daily Value 1,324 (deficit included)

    Next:

    Calorie Needs Calculator

    Â To lose about one pound per week, you'll need to cut back to 1,605 calories per day.

    Third: About.Com

    You need 1897.2 calories per day to maintain your current weight without exercise.

    If you reduce your current caloric intake to 1397.2 calories per day you will lose one pound per week without exercise.

    And the final:American Cancer Society

    You need approximately 2355 calories per day to maintain your current weight, based on your current activity level.

    (less the 500 deficit = 1855 to lose one pound a week)


    UMMMMM............. does anyone else find this frustrating??????????????

    I have, in order, four different answers:

    1324
    1605
    1870
    1397.2

    Ok, two are close. But, and I swear, I entered the same info on all three. You can double check me.

    I am eating aroudnd 1200-1400 calories per day, exercising 1 hour of vigorous cardio (Ripped 1000 with Jari Love DVD) three times a week. I am losing 1-2 lbs a week. I am not complaining. But I am. The conflicting info is enough to drive anyone up a wall.

    And, adding in Ekle's additional criteria, and adding in the adding muscle weight as opposed to fat weight and it's a wonder anyone can figure this out!!! I know it's as simple as calories in/calories out... but c'mon.

    Jasmi, you are not alone. Know we are here frustrated with you. :)

    I am concerned that I'm not taking enough in...(maybe secretly wishing that were true?) Ok... not so secret. I'm jealous of your 3600 limit Harold!!! But I won't trade my 140 for your 230 to get it!! (how tall are you, btw?)

  • harold14370
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Silver,

    I always say I'm 6' 0" but my daughter says I seem to be shrinking, because she's almost as tall as me. I guess that's possible. I haven't measured my height lately.

    I have to admit, that's a big discrepancy between the different sites. I guess the only answer is to find out from experience what works for you.

  • silversword
    14 years ago

    6' and 240 is just about the same as my dad. He needs to lose weight too, but I can't get him motivated. But it doesn't look all that bad. He's been losing and gaining a lot lately though. I'm a bit concerned.

    It's working for me, but I'm agreeing with Ekle and Jasmi, that it's really hard to get that "magic number" of calorie that we are supposed to eat in order to lose :)

  • harold14370
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Silver, keep after your dad to lose the weight.

    Well, it's weigh-in day again. Another 4-lb week for me. Calories were up a little, mainly due to the Easter Sunday pig-out.

    Weight: 236 lb
    Lost this week: 4 lb
    Lost since January: 39 lb
    Calories this week: Food - 1737/day, Exercise 447/day
    Projected date to 220 lb (going from obese to overweight) May 24
    Projected date to 183 lb (normal weight) August 14
    Milestones: This one is a little silly. The numerals 80, representing 280 lb have rotated completely out of view in the window of my bathroom scale. I hated looking at those numbers. They were frighteningly close to the center hairline of the scale just a few months ago.

  • eklektos
    14 years ago

    "The numerals 80, representing 280 lb have rotated completely out of view in the window of my bathroom scale."

    Harold, I don't think that's silly at all. I can completely understand the delight in seeing those disappear! My scale is digital, so I don't have a rotary image to watch change. However, I do periodically weigh myself late in the day, fully clothed, just to be sure that 150 will never again show on my scale, no matter what the other factors may be!

  • eklektos
    14 years ago

    Monday morning weigh-in: 143.5
    That means I'm down .5 pound from last week, and feeling a little grumbly about it. Since I saw 142 on the scale last week, I was hoping for a bigger official loss, but it came back up. It always does that--goes down, then back up, before it goes away to stay. But if I'm down again tomorrow morning, then I am officially going to change my weigh-in day to Tuesdays. I need the motivation of being able to claim the lowest weight each week that I can, and I think something about the change of routine over the weekend must be messing me up somehow--causing retention or something. I do think the meats we eat on Sunday afternoon are typically richer or more elaborate than other days, so even though we don't have 3 meals on Sunday (we skip dinner and usually have just a small snack), it still must stick around more than the more basic weekly meals.

    Stats: 152/143.5/119 or something like that. Still seems like a LONG way to go at this rate... :(

  • harold14370
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Hang in there Elecktos. At least it's going down, not up. I wonder if it could have something to do with the amount of salt in your weekend food, that would cause more water weight. My weight is up today, but I already weighed in.:) Thinking about it, I had some ham yesterday and some canned soup. Salty.

  • jasmi
    14 years ago

    Hang in there ES. I can image how you are feeling ..

    My weight last monday was still at 146.4
    This morning I was 145. I cant explain how I am feeling to finally see 145 on the scale.

    I was hoping to be somewhere in 144s. Hopefully I should be seeing that weight in the middle of this week. May be not. Because I ate lot of meat and chips on the weekend. :-((

    So, My current weight = 145
    Mini Target Weight = 139

  • silversword
    14 years ago

    I tracked my weight at www.my-calorie-counter.com     Calorie Diary

    So 136... yay!!!!!!!!

    START: 155
    Current: 136
    Pounds Lost: 19
    Goal Weight:(mini-goal = 130, maxi-goal = 125)

  • harold14370
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Way to go, Silversword. 2 lb this week.

  • jasmi
    14 years ago

    2 lbs is awesome, silver .

  • silversword
    14 years ago

    Thank you!!! I've been working really hard. Keeping my calories to under 1300 and exercising 3-4 days a week, going on hikes 2-3 days a week... I feel like I should be losing more!!! But 2lbs a week is good. At least I'm not gaining. And I'd rather lose slow and steady than a bunch at once and then bounce back up.

    Honestly, I can't believe I've lost almost 20 pounds. It's really crazy. Thank you for your encouragement, this thread has really helped keep me on track.

  • jasmi
    14 years ago

    Losing 20 pounds is a big deal. Keep it up.

    From the time I started on this thread, I make sure I go exercise daily because I have to come back on Monday to update my weight loss. This thread is keeping me stay focused too.

    Are you doing cardio for 3-4 days and also going on hikes for 2-3 days. Can you tell me how much time you are spending on exercising and hiking ? I would love to lose another 5 pounds by the end of May .

  • eklektos
    14 years ago

    SS: 136!! Holy cow, that's such a little number. Congratulations!
    Jasmi, congratulations on your loss too. That's no small thing.

    I am officially changing my weigh-in day from Monday to Tuesday. I was at 141.5 this morning after being at 143.5 yesterday. I saw it. I claim it. I weigh 141.5.

    152/141.5/119

  • jasmi
    14 years ago

    Wow... eklektos, you are going strong too.Enjoy your weight loss. I should target to lose atleast 1.5 pounds per week. I am so waiting to go back to 130s. I was weighing 147 this morning and it startled me ... I better take care of my water intake and stay away from my scale until Monday . 140 was my pre-pregnancy weight. So reaching it would bring lot of motivation for me :-))))

  • silversword
    14 years ago

    Hi Jasmi,
    I do Jari Love's Ripped 1000 three days a week for one hour. I do little half hours here and there on my exercise ball (sit ups,etc) or weight lifting while I watch TV (10 lbs). Then I go hiking 2-3 days a week for 2-3 hours. I found a friend who wants to lose weight too, so it works out well. We were up to six miles a day last week, but I took a week off because my husband was going out of town and I wanted to spend those afternoons with him. We want to go hiking this afternoon but it's 90 degrees out. I'm not doing anything this afternoon!!! Maybe lift some weights tonight when it cools off.

    But I'm also concentrating in other ways. Walking to pick up my dd at school (1/2 mile round trip), parking furthest away from the shopping center, gardening, walking the dog, etc. I stand up at work and do jumping jacks when no one is in the office. Sounds silly, but it revs up my metabolism.

    I also eat a big breakfast. I've heard that's really good to do. I have a hard time eating in the morning, but i force myself to do it, and I think it helps get me going on burning calories because my body knows it has enough and doesn't feel depleted.

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