Weight Loss PVP: 10 lbs in 10 Weeks! [4 Jan - 15 Mar, 2021]

[Elennare]

Last week I actually did pretty good sticking to my calorie goal. Then, the weekend hit, and I kind of didn't pay attention.  I mean, Valentine's Day I was already planning to do that.  Saturday, I just didn't track stuff.  But, I didn't really eat that much on Saturday, so chances are good I was actually still pretty close to my goal.  And I've been doing pilates every day.  Which all added up to a nice surprise with my measurements this morning!

 

I'm down 1.9 lbs this week vs last (2.8 from the start of the year), and lost half an inch off my waist!  Which is, I think, enough progress to show that I'm actually making some real progress rather than just fluctuating around the same weight.  Yesterday was also the first day that my belly has felt a bit smaller to me, so that's a pretty good win as well.

 

This coming week, well, tomorrow actually, I've got another planned day of not caring about how many calories I'm eating.  If I can actually get up early enough, I'm planning to start the day with a custard filled donut, or possibly 2, and then probably eat up most of the treats I have in the house that I can eat (which, really, isn't that many).  Yay Fat Tuesday.  But then, fasting day on Wednesday, so I imagine it'll all even out, and won't mess things up too badly.

[Elastigirl]

Weigh in was about the same as last week. Was down on Friday, but then Saturday and Sunday happened. Actually, I can't say Saturday was bad. I didn't track, but I think it was at least maintenance. We went snowshoeing. I have no idea what kind of calories that burns. We only went a short distance, but it was tiring. And then I shoveled snow. My plan was not to have a snack, and save that for the Valentine cookies I made. But I was super hungry . so I had a snack. Sunday I shoveled snow for about 15 minutes and went on a short walk. I had planned on only having two cookies, but had three. Which is decent.

 

I'm feeling very blah about my goals, and it is showing up in my effort. Part of me want to lose weight, and the other part is very likely to say screw it. I think I'm SLOWLY heading in the right direction. As in yesterday, I had a big breakfast, but then waited until I was hungry for lunch and dinner, and had sensible meals, plus the Valentines treats(homemade cocktails and cookies)  So, even when I say screw it, it's not  for the whole day. Not doing that great for this PVP though. I'm hoping that even if I just lose a little , soon spring will be here, I can go for more walks, and work in the garden, and that will help. 

 

 

[pureleeawesome]

4 hours ago, Rurik Harrgath said:

If victory is already nigh at the midpoint of our challenge, it sounds to me like you need to set a larger goal!   

 

Hey, I just went off what came on the box. Except it'll be 11lbs in 8 weeks

 

Considering I have another 55ish lbs to go I might extend though. Maybe aim for an extra 2lbs or something.

[Loveable_Bouncer]

7 hours ago, Rurik Harrgath said:

Coming right up... our new #WeeklyWin!

 

This time around I want each and everyone to focus on volume.  With that in mind, I am challenging all of us to consume 800 500g of fruits and vegetables per day!

 

Here is a link to the conventional 800g Vegetable Challenge (which people can still shoot for, but let's call it a bonus rather than the goal to keep operating costs down and start with a more reasonable target) for info and inspiration.  I encourage everyone who participates to take this opportunity to discover new vegetables or fruit, to try (and share!) new recipes with them, ask for/make suggestions, and to talk about your tips/tricks, wins and struggles alike!  I'm super excited to see how everyone tackles this challenge.  

Oooh what a challenge this is helping me reframe and actually start looking at macros that just calories. 

Have my protein goal and vegetable goal while also lowering my calorie goal a bit. 

 

---

I personally had a good week of figuring out "real food" and what I enjoy. I must have lost a lb at some point because my hormones ended up changing enough my cycle literally beat me up this weekend that I struggled (lots of ordering in) but was far more mindful than I've been previously. 

 

I didn't cook a healthy celebration, but was mindful when I ordered out several times. (I actually threw out fried pickles that were not worth the calories/salt). 

 

And said no to my mom ordering in pizza where I only had one serving as I figure out how to get my 500 g of freggies.

[Keladris]

I'm trying to eat more veggies in general, following a rainbow diet checklist thingy... I like to think big overall picture in terms of my food, and eating mostly veggies seems a good overall goal.

But weighing all that veg sounds like a bit of a pain in the butt.

Today I had:
lettuce (~ 1 cup)
carrot (~1 carrot)
red cabbage (no idea how much! less than the lettuce)
sweetcorn (~1/2 cup)
tomato (~1/2 tomato)
cauliflower (~1 cup)
broccoli (~ 1 cup)
banana (1 banana)

Which I imagine is close? But maybe I'll weigh it all tomorrow and report back xD Didn't get round to the bean brownies but still want to cycle back to last week's weekly win at some point!

[Kestrel Grey]

Is 100g about a cup of veggies/1 piece of fruit? I don't use a kitchen scale.

[Renate]

17 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

This is brilliant! I have a premade Paleo pancake mix that I make as a minute muffin in the microwave, and it's so much easier than pancake.s

 

Ohhh! Did you make it yourself or store-bought

[Renate]

17 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

This is brilliant! I have a premade Paleo pancake mix that I make as a minute muffin in the microwave, and it's so much easier than pancake.s

 

Ohhh! Did you make it yourself or store-bought

 

Also love the new weekly win. The thing with freggies I have to peel is always convincing myself it's not such an annoying chore as my brain makes it out to be  I've fought bigger fights with some candy (bag) wrappers than the effort it takes to peel a carrot.  They are extra tasty this time of year. And I get fond memories of often asking for carrots and pretending to be Bugs Bunny as a kid.

[Loveable_Bouncer]

Me weighing in this morning. 

As I said in my last post and griping all weekend about my hormones going crazy in a way usually due to weightloss.

The scale dropped from 298 to 292 in a week!!

And 1.5 inches lost on my waist since the beginning.

 

So sticking to MFP tracking, I don't hate it like I used to and am slowly figuring out my macros.

[Mr_Willes]

On 2/15/2021 at 7:00 PM, Rurik Harrgath said:

So dinner was corn tortilla steak tacos with all the fixings, a hand-picked charcuterie board, brussel sprout chips, and cookie dough cheesecake

 

Please marry me!

[Shello]

The weekly Win challenge got me thinking.  I've already planned the week and did my batch cooking and I shoot for 4 servings of freggies a day as it is.  Assuming a serving is about 80grams, the challenge would be about 6.  I decided to weigh some of the freggies I am eating.  I have a banana every morning and a bunch of grapes and strawberries with lunch.  I count them as 3 servings total.  They weight in at 350grams.  So that leaves only 150g from the rest of the day, typically veg at dinner.  This week I have vodka pasta sauce, that has a can of crushed tomatoes divided into 8 servings and a pile of spinach, and chili that has a zucchini,  bell pepper, carrots (I know. I was using up leftovers), tomatoes, and V8.   I've been counting the pasta sauce as 2 servings and the chili as 3 but I never really know how to tell when it's mixed in.  

[Endor]

On 2/16/2021 at 7:00 AM, Elastigirl said:

snowshoeing. I have no idea what kind of calories that burns

I reckon that would be pretty high,  looks like hard work!

[Loveable_Bouncer]

On 2/16/2021 at 3:11 AM, Kestrel Grey said:

Is 100g about a cup of veggies/1 piece of fruit? I don't use a kitchen scale.

I honestly google when I don't want to deal with my scale (was met for oz over grams) to find a reasonable estimate 

 

 

8 minutes ago, Endor said:

I reckon that would be pretty high,  looks like hard work!

Also agree, would be difficult to measure also on what type of snow and trails you were on!

 

 

----

Yesterday was able to easily get to 600 as long as I intentionally adding a serving to everything I ate. 

 

Last night though, I was reminded I could eat veggies and fruit to fill up on especially when I hit my calorie goals. 

Honestly a bin full of apples never looked so good. 

 

[Elastigirl]

16 minutes ago, Fairly_Bouncer said:

so agree, would be difficult to measure also on what type of snow and trails you were on!

 

 

30 minutes ago, Endor said:

I reckon that would be pretty high,  looks like hard work!

It was just around our neighborhood, but our neighborhood is hilly.  Just now googled it and it says about 240 calories per half hour. I'd say we did it for about 20 minutes, so maybe 200 calories.

[Kestrel Grey]

These weekly mini challenges are too much of a distraction for my fragile food habits. 😆  I am gaining weight because I do silly things like prioritize eating massive amounts of veggies over eating balanced meals then end up ravenously binging at midnight, or spend three days baking healthy versions of treats (and eating all of it) instead of just accepting the one small unhealthy dish.

 

(I am laughing about it now, but there were depressed frustrated tears this morning.  As of today I have gained back 100% of what I spent the first 5 weeks losing.)

 

This isn't actually anything to do with the weekly challenges.  It's just that my grip on eating for weight loss is so tenuous that any change destroys it and I gain back so quickly that trying seems pointless.  Okay, maybe I am still more sad/frustrated than laughing.

[Loveable_Bouncer]

26 minutes ago, Kestrel Grey said:

These weekly mini challenges are too much of a distraction for my fragile food habits. 😆  I am gaining weight because I do silly things like prioritize eating massive amounts of veggies over eating balanced meals then end up ravenously binging at midnight, or spend three days baking healthy versions of treats (and eating all of it) instead of just accepting the one small unhealthy dish.

 

(I am laughing about it now, but there were depressed frustrated tears this morning.  As of today I have gained back 100% of what I spent the first 5 weeks losing.)

 

This isn't actually anything to do with the weekly challenges.  It's just that my grip on eating for weight loss is so tenuous that any change destroys it and I gain back so quickly that trying seems pointless.  Okay, maybe I am still more sad/frustrated than laughing.

Can I ask what was working the first five weeks? Or the struggle of maintaining the main pattern.

 

I know you said your blood sugar dropping creates your anxiety to get out of hand (correct me if I misinterpreted).

 

I personally am also sensitive to my blood sugar dropping, and the battle of "feeling safe with my food choices because my mood can drop" with my blood sugar or losing weight... Finally making sense of something's but will have to see how long my inner child will "stick along".

[Elastigirl]

1 hour ago, Kestrel Grey said:

These weekly mini challenges are too much of a distraction for my fragile food habits. 😆  I am gaining weight because I do silly things like prioritize eating massive amounts of veggies over eating balanced meals then end up ravenously binging at midnight, or spend three days baking healthy versions of treats (and eating all of it) instead of just accepting the one small unhealthy dish.

 

(I am laughing about it now, but there were depressed frustrated tears this morning.  As of today I have gained back 100% of what I spent the first 5 weeks losing.)

 

This isn't actually anything to do with the weekly challenges.  It's just that my grip on eating for weight loss is so tenuous that any change destroys it and I gain back so quickly that trying seems pointless.  Okay, maybe I am still more sad/frustrated than laughing.

Sorry it's frustrating. I am feeling frustrated too. You may have a good insight into what works for you. If you know what works, just focus on that instead of messing with it. 

[Kestrel Grey]

2 hours ago, Fairly_Bouncer said:

Can I ask what was working the first five weeks? Or the struggle of maintaining the main pattern.

 

I know you said your blood sugar dropping creates your anxiety to get out of hand (correct me if I misinterpreted).

 

I personally am also sensitive to my blood sugar dropping, and the battle of "feeling safe with my food choices because my mood can drop" with my blood sugar or losing weight... Finally making sense of something's but will have to see how long my inner child will "stick along".

If anything I've figured out might help you, I'm happy to share. 

 

What seems to work for me:

1. Eating every 4 hours and making sure there is some carb, fibre, and protein in each meal. The carbs and frequent meals seem important for my mood, and the protein and fiber keeps me satisfied.

2. I've used MFP in the past so I know which meals are low calorie. Breakfast especially I can save calories on easily and without getting hungrier later.

3. Finally I have to recognize when I'm snackish for reasons other than hunger and find something else to satisfy that need.

 

The things that can derail me are:

1. Any change to my schedule. Once I get off my 4 hour intervals I end up snacking or hungry for the rest of the day.

2. Being on the road for errands or work. I end up getting calorie dense drinks (habit because I want the treat in exchange for having to be out), snacks, and random cafe meals.

3. Staying up late. It makes me tired in the mornings and I don't do the necessary meal prep. When I'm hungry, food has to be ready or I'll have snack foods.

 

[Yasha92]

I’m with you kestrel on feeling frustrated and yucky. My food logging on my challenge reflects my rebellious tantrums and heavy leaning on takeout. I haven’t even weighed in this week because I know I will be upset.

 

I did get in 800g of freggies on one day though, so that was nice.

 

Hinestly I need to just get my shit together , (roughly) follow my meal plan and actually go shopping for ingredients. Every meal I get takeaway because we “have nothing in the house” just rewards bad behaviour . Blegh.

[Endor]

8 hours ago, Kestrel Grey said:

my grip on eating for weight loss is so tenuous that any change destroys it

Routine is massively underrated. Some people label this consistency,  it's the foundation of successful weight loss whichever method you choose. Unwavering. If i give up one time it snowballs.  

[Rurik Harrgath]

On 2/17/2021 at 10:06 PM, Kestrel Grey said:

These weekly mini challenges are too much of a distraction for my fragile food habits. 😆

 

They're completely optional!  I only added them as a bonus lesson to anyone looking for new strategies to employ against their goals  

 

But please please please don't add them to your routine if those bonuses cause any extra stress. What is currently working for you is much more important!

 

On 2/18/2021 at 1:14 AM, Kestrel Grey said:

2. Being on the road for errands or work. I end up getting calorie dense drinks (habit because I want the treat in exchange for having to be out), snacks, and random cafe meals.

 

I bring bottles of flavored water with me when I'm on the road for work, which is probably 15-20hrs of driving per week.  My rule is one sugar free energy drink (usualy Reign because they're a teensy bit more health conscious and flavored well) alongside 3L of BCAAs to ensure I'm having some fun while getting my H20 in.  This week's flavors are a caffeinated grape and blue raspberry! I find plain water hopelessly boring, but I try to drink 1L of plain water to every 2L of flavored.

 

The energy drink is my reward for 4hrs+ of driving haha.

 

On 2/18/2021 at 6:51 AM, Endor said:

Routine is massively underrated. Some people label this consistency,  it's the foundation of successful weight loss whichever method you choose. Unwavering. If i give up one time it snowballs.  

 

Routine/consistency/foundation, whatever you choose to call it, is everything!  It's incremental progress over time and that is the key to success in a healthy lifestyle, whether its getting fitter/stronger, gaining or losing weight, building muscle, etc.

[Keladris]

This week I'm up half a kilo again, which actually evens out that fact I lost two kilos last week lol! Bodies are weird. I guess progress isn't linear. Each time I don't lose, I go back to calorie counting and that seems to help.

 

It could also be muscle growth too. I'm deffo feeling stronger with my strength training, and the bod is looking quite good if I do say so myself!

[DarK_RaideR]

Starting weight: 96.9kg

End of W1: 96kg

End of W2: 94.9kg

End of W3: 94.9kg

End of W4: 93.6kg

End of W5: 93kg

End of W6: 93kg

End of W7: 96,7kg

 

This week was a hot mess and the uptick finally showed up. Really struggling to keep going till the end of the 10 week period.

[Shello]

Starting Weight: 265.8

W1: 264.6 (down 1.2)

W2:  264.2 (down 0.4)

W3: 262.6 (down 1.6)

W4: 262.4 (down 0.2)

W5: 264.6 (UP 2.2)

W6: 259.2 (down 5.4)

W7: 258.8 (down 0.4)

 

My body insisted this was a maintenance week.  My weight just fluctuated around the same range all week.   Food choices were right on the money 90% of the week but not enough for any movement on the scale.  The loss for this week  just reflects a downtick day but I'm not sure I'm actually losing at the moment.  I'm not concerned though.  I'm right a 7 pounds for week 7 and the trend is still in the right direction.  

[Kestrel Grey]

6 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

 

This week was a hot mess and the uptick finally showed up. Really struggling to keep going till the end of the 10 week period.

From everything that I've read, there is usually a struggle week either around week 4 or 7.  Things should get smoother again.  Don't give up!