Weight Loss PVP: 10/12 lbs in 10/12 Weeks! [Mar 22 - June 7]

[Elastigirl]

On 3/26/2021 at 9:32 AM, Aquarii said:

 

Speaking of food scales, for those of you who own them or have owned them in the past, what are your all’s thoughts? I have been on the fence about purchasing one lately. I know they are not very expensive, but are they worth the extra time and effort to use? Do you use yours often? Has it made a significant difference?

 

On 3/26/2021 at 9:59 AM, Harriet said:

 

I use it all the time because I cannot be trusted to guess amounts. It gives me peace of mind knowing my calorie count for the day is probably reasonably accurate and I'm not wasting my time. ETA it takes a little time, but not much. Just a few more seconds.

Same here. It seems a lot easier to me than eyeballing things. I use it for protein and carbs, not veggies

[Elastigirl]

On 3/26/2021 at 9:44 AM, Shello said:

I also use it when I cook multiple serving foods that are hard measure so I can log accurately.  I measure the entire batch once it's done so I can determine how many servings.  Then I can log a single serving and not have to guess.  

This is genius!

[Elastigirl]

14 hours ago, Tateman said:

I remember back in the day being shocked at how much an actual serving size was haha.

 

I think realizing this was a game changer for me. Even when I'm just on maintenance, and not measuring, I realize that things like 1 serving of rice is actually fairly small. And like Rurik said, nut butters   add up quickly. And , the sadness of the small serving size of ice cream

[Rurik Harrgath]

8 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

And like Rurik said, nut butters   add up quickly. And , the sadness of the small serving size of ice cream

 

Please, just don't... can we not go there?  It's still too soon, my heart hasn't healed.  😢

 

Strangely I haven't missed peanut butter half so much as I expected and my tummy is glad for it, seems like.

[Eli Rokah]

glad to join this challenge!

my goal in the end of the year is to reach 84kilos, so if I make it to 87 by June, i will be super happy

plan: eat vegetables as much as possible, avoid bread/pasta/rice, 16 hours intermediate fasting (already on a streak), walk 8km a day, exercise 1 hour a day, and do 2 intense exercises weekly

[Tateman]

Will be entering measurement numbers in the morning.

 

[Harriet]

I couldn't face a two week diet break as planned. I just don't want to see the numbers stop going down for two weeks. So I got Chinese takeaway, split it in two, and am having two diet break dinners (still at or under maintenance, though). Weighing in today (Sunday, the day that feels like it should be weighing day) at -3lbs for this week.

 

[Harriet]

1 hour ago, Eli Rokah said:

glad to join this challenge!

my goal in the end of the year is to reach 84kilos, so if I make it to 87 by June, i will be super happy

plan: eat vegetables as much as possible, avoid bread/pasta/rice, 16 hours intermediate fasting (already on a streak), walk 8km a day, exercise 1 hour a day, and do 2 intense exercises weekly

Is this your first ever post and challenge? Welcome!

[Xena]

9 hours ago, Eli Rokah said:

glad to join this challenge!

my goal in the end of the year is to reach 84kilos, so if I make it to 87 by June, i will be super happy

plan: eat vegetables as much as possible, avoid bread/pasta/rice, 16 hours intermediate fasting (already on a streak), walk 8km a day, exercise 1 hour a day, and do 2 intense exercises weekly

 

7 hours ago, Harriet said:

Is this your first ever post and challenge? Welcome!

 

I'm glad you noticed that Harriet! Welcome Eli!!

 

[TiogaGirl]

Just updated the spreadsheet and I’m down, just under a pound. I’ll take it!

 

[Keladris]

Bahh I'm up 1.5kg. Could be the pizza last night 😮

I'm realising that the first half of my weightloss was the easy part. I got to really watch the little things now and really be consistent. Feels like there's less room for error (and less room for chocolate covered almonds in the evenings...)

 

Although my goal is 5kg, I'd be very happy with 3kg, that would put me at  74kg which was my original goal weight.

[spezzy]

On 3/26/2021 at 12:05 PM, Rurik Harrgath said:

 

My food scale is a little goofy like that.  I think when I washed it, some water got into the battery compartment or something but since I allowed it to dry and replaced the battery, all has been well, so.... *fingers crossed*

 

 

At least you'll be getting a new one soon

 

On 3/26/2021 at 12:32 PM, Aquarii said:

 

Speaking of food scales, for those of you who own them or have owned them in the past, what are your all’s thoughts? I have been on the fence about purchasing one lately. I know they are not very expensive, but are they worth the extra time and effort to use? Do you use yours often? Has it made a significant difference?

 

On 3/26/2021 at 12:53 PM, Rurik Harrgath said:

 

Mine has been a game-changer because I've been eyeballing peanut butter to the tune of 50-100% undervaluing for years.  When I found out how tiny 1tbsp actually is, my mind was blown.  It adds a minute to prep but chances are I'd be doing something else anyway so it doesn't add much time overall really.  At least I know I'm not accidentally eating my deficit up throughout the day!

 

I weigh everything, every single meal.  It's just another system in place by now.

 

A favorite image: 

 

 

 

On 3/26/2021 at 12:59 PM, Harriet said:

 

I use it all the time because I cannot be trusted to guess amounts. It gives me peace of mind knowing my calorie count for the day is probably reasonably accurate and I'm not wasting my time. ETA it takes a little time, but not much. Just a few more seconds.

 

20 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

 

Same here. It seems a lot easier to me than eyeballing things. I use it for protein and carbs, not veggies

 

 

Food Scale has been a game changer for me, even when I'm not counting or counting calories, and I have a lot of clients start weighing and measuring long before we even start talking about counting. 

 

I rarely use any sort of measuring cup or device (other than for spices, because spices I'm usually using such small amounts the scale isn't efficient) - and always just keep my bowl on the scale if I'm cooking, and just hit the tare button (zero out) in between every ingredient - and measure by weight.  This way I'm not dirtying a ton of measuring devices or bowls or cups - and my measuring is more accurate this way (interesting thing that Rurik found last challenge was that our 1/4 cup measuring cup we were using for oats was actually 1.5x the grams weight for the serving size for oats, even though it said 1/4 cup).  

 

Even things like sandwiches - if I'm putting mayo on the bread, I'll throw the bread on to the scale, hit tare, and just squirt the mayo right onto the bread until I've got the right amount for 1 serving. No mess and doesn't take any extra time  

 

But also just for keeping on track. I don't weigh veggies unless it's to make sure I'm getting enough (like right now it's 500g a day), or if I'm putting it in a recipe and want a specific amount. 

 

Everything else gets weighed - and I know that if I keep to my portion sizes throughout the day, I'll be on track at the end of the day. 

 

 

One thing that was a huge issue for me up in Canada was that Rurik's scale you have to completely turn it off to switch between ounces and grams. This really messed me up, as some recipes call for ounces, other grams (or some for both within the same recipes). Also, when finding foods in MFP, often they're listed in one or the other - so having a scale that easily swaps between grams and ounces WITHOUT turning it off is huge. 

 

I have an older version of this one - it's a bit more expensive, but the screen pulls out, which means that I can have a larger plate or bowl on the scale and still see the screen, and that's something I also really enjoy.  

https://smile.amazon.com/OXO-Grips-Scale-Pull-Out-Display/dp/B08F93MQ1X/ref=sr_1_21?dchild=1&keywords=food+scale&qid=1616952543&sr=8-21

 

 

On 3/26/2021 at 12:44 PM, Shello said:

I use mine often.  I use it for things that are hard to eyeball - I pack baked chips for lunch and I weight it to stick to the portion size.  It's so easy to go over.  I also use it when I cook multiple serving foods that are hard measure so I can log accurately.  I measure the entire batch once it's done so I can determine how many servings.  Then I can log a single serving and not have to guess.  

 

Tip here, if you use MyFitnessPal: Go back to a date before you started logging food (just for an empty date) and put in the bulk recipe there (that way it doesn't count towards today's food, since you're bulk making a recipe). From there (if you're on desktop), go to "Quick Tools" and then "Remember Meal" and give it a name.  Now you have a meal that has the entire batch in it. 

 

Then, go back to today, go to "Add food" only select the MEALS tab. From there, you can say that you ate ".25 of one meal" or ".10 of one meal" (for 4 servings per batch or 10 servings per batch, respectively). 

 

And then you have that meal saved if you ever want to make it again.

 

Since MFP doesn't have an easy way to edit meals, I'll typically put the date that I input the ingredients in the name of the meal (So 'ProteinWaffles 20180118') so if I want to make edits to the recipe, I go back to 2018-01-18, make the edits, and save a new meal, instead of inputting all of the ingredients again or trying to remember the date that I put in that recipe

 

On 3/27/2021 at 11:06 AM, Xena said:

 

I use it all the time too. When counting calories I weigh lots of things. Even when not counting calories, I weigh out pasta and [I know this is weird] alcohol. If I want to have a glass of wine, I actually weigh out 5 oz (sometimes cutting it down to 3 oz if I'm really watching calories).

 

 

Doesn't sound crazy at all! Weight Watchers actually sells portion wine glasses:

https://www.weightwatchers.com/us/shop/ww-portion-control-wine-glass-set-of-4

 

And I love them for a lot of reasons - because you can easily see exactly how much you're drinking and it takes the guess work out  A bunch of my clients swear by these!

[Eli Rokah]

2 hours ago, Xena said:

 

 

I'm glad you noticed that Harriet! Welcome Eli!!

 

thank you both, much better to reach our goals together

[Harriet]

1 hour ago, Keladris said:

Bahh I'm up 1.5kg. Could be the pizza last night 😮

I'm realising that the first half of my weightloss was the easy part. I got to really watch the little things now and really be consistent. Feels like there's less room for error (and less room for chocolate covered almonds in the evenings...)

 

Although my goal is 5kg, I'd be very happy with 3kg, that would put me at  74kg which was my original goal weight.

 

Alas, pizza kilos! Yes, I imagine things get trickier as we get closer to our goals. Good luck for next week!

[Rurik Harrgath]

13 hours ago, Harriet said:

I couldn't face a two week diet break as planned. I just don't want to see the numbers stop going down for two weeks. So I got Chinese takeaway, split it in two, and am having two diet break dinners (still at or under maintenance, though). Weighing in today (Sunday, the day that feels like it should be weighing day) at -3lbs for this week.

 

Ooooh that's a legit brilliant idea.  Portion control win!  ... I'd probably still eat it all one night 😬

 

3 hours ago, Keladris said:

Bahh I'm up 1.5kg. Could be the pizza last night 😮

I'm realising that the first half of my weightloss was the easy part. I got to really watch the little things now and really be consistent. Feels like there's less room for error (and less room for chocolate covered almonds in the evenings...)

 

Pizza has a lot of carbs for the crust and carbs retain a lot of water weight.  Also the cheese is going to slow your digestive system down a bit too.  But I would imagine toward the end of the week most of that weight will have run through your system if you're on track otherwise!

 

The last 100m of the race, so to speak, is really the toughest when it comes to effort needed to reach goals.

 

Here's an interesting article from Precision Nutrition about that subject.

 

3 hours ago, spezzy said:

 

 

I feel like I've been measuring peanut butter long enough to suspect that is more like 4bsp and 3tbsp respectively rather than the 3/2 they're portraying 🤣

 

3 hours ago, spezzy said:

(interesting thing that Rurik found last challenge was that our 1/4 cup measuring cup we were using for oats was actually 1.5x the grams weight for the serving size for oats, even though it said 1/4 cup).  

 

You mean the bottomless chasm that is my 1/4 measuring cup?  🤣

 

[Aquarii]

Instead of posting a longgggg thread of quotes, I am just going to tag you all. @spezzy, @Elastigirl, @Rurik Harrgath, @Harriet, @Shello, @Xena, @Tateman, I am going to take all of your replies as a resounding and unanimous YES. I should most DEFINITELY get a food scale, especially if I am tracking calories/macros. @spezzy, Thanks for the scale recommendation and some tips on using it. If it helps cut down on measuring utensils and bowls and whatnot, I am all in!

[Aquarii]

Finallyyyyy took the time to do my measurements. I will probably only do a full measurement update every 3-4 weeks, because measurements move slow, and doing them every week would be like watching paint dry. And because taking measurements is effort, lol.

 

Anyway, measurements from today:

 

Weight: 130.2 lbs

Neck: 12"

L Bicep: 10.5"

R Bicep: 10.5"

Chest/Bust: 34"

Natural Waist: 24.5"

Belly button: 28.5"

Hips: 34"

Butt: 35"

L Thigh: 19.75"

R Thigh: 19.75"

L Calf: 12.75"

R Calf: 12.5"

 

Thighs, calves, and biceps, and butt taken from area with largest circumference. Goal is 5 inches in total down by the end of the challenge, but considering I am also building muscle, I would be happy with half that (and balancing out my uneven calves) as well.

[Knightwatch]

Hope everyone had a good week 1!  As of yesterday, things were trending in the right direction for me, but I didn't weight in today.  I'll take an official reading tomorrow AM and update the spreadsheet!

 

I think this is the longest stretch I've ever managed to track my food.  I haven't been perfect, not by a longshot, in either food choices or in weighting everything all proper like, but it's getting easier each day to do it automatically.  Creating "recipes" that I repeat often has been a gamechanger for me in MFP.

 

Training has gone pretty well!  I hit a hit more conditioning this past week, and hope to continue that trend this week.  We shall see!

[Tateman]

Got in some measurements this morning for the start of my challenge. I suspect I will have pretty big weight loss over the first week or so. I'll be dropping that water weight haha

2 hours ago, Rurik Harrgath said:

Pizza has a lot of carbs for the crust and carbs retain a lot of water weight.  Also the cheese is going to slow your digestive system down a bit too.  But I would imagine toward the end of the week most of that weight will have run through your system if you're on track otherwise!

There are ways to make pizza with much lower carbs too. I've made Cauliflower crust, Cheese crust, and chicken crust before. There is fathead dough as well. I have seem people using wraps to replace a pizza crust.  

 

4 hours ago, spezzy said:

Food Scale has been a game changer for me, even when I'm not counting or counting calories, and I have a lot of clients start weighing and measuring long before we even start talking about counting. 

 

I rarely use any sort of measuring cup or device (other than for spices, because spices I'm usually using such small amounts the scale isn't efficient) - and always just keep my bowl on the scale if I'm cooking, and just hit the tare button (zero out) in between every ingredient - and measure by weight.  This way I'm not dirtying a ton of measuring devices or bowls or cups - and my measuring is more accurate this way (interesting thing that Rurik found last challenge was that our 1/4 cup measuring cup we were using for oats was actually 1.5x the grams weight for the serving size for oats, even though it said 1/4 cup).  

 

Even things like sandwiches - if I'm putting mayo on the bread, I'll throw the bread on to the scale, hit tare, and just squirt the mayo right onto the bread until I've got the right amount for 1 serving. No mess and doesn't take any extra time  

 

But also just for keeping on track. I don't weigh veggies unless it's to make sure I'm getting enough (like right now it's 500g a day), or if I'm putting it in a recipe and want a specific amount. 

 

Everything else gets weighed - and I know that if I keep to my portion sizes throughout the day, I'll be on track at the end of the day. 

 

 

One thing that was a huge issue for me up in Canada was that Rurik's scale you have to completely turn it off to switch between ounces and grams. This really messed me up, as some recipes call for ounces, other grams (or some for both within the same recipes). Also, when finding foods in MFP, often they're listed in one or the other - so having a scale that easily swaps between grams and ounces WITHOUT turning it off is huge. 

 

I have an older version of this one - it's a bit more expensive, but the screen pulls out, which means that I can have a larger plate or bowl on the scale and still see the screen, and that's something I also really enjoy.  

https://smile.amazon.com/OXO-Grips-Scale-Pull-Out-Display/dp/B08F93MQ1X/ref=sr_1_21?dchild=1&keywords=food+scale&qid=1616952543&sr=8-21

 

 

 

Tip here, if you use MyFitnessPal: Go back to a date before you started logging food (just for an empty date) and put in the bulk recipe there (that way it doesn't count towards today's food, since you're bulk making a recipe). From there (if you're on desktop), go to "Quick Tools" and then "Remember Meal" and give it a name.  Now you have a meal that has the entire batch in it. 

 

Then, go back to today, go to "Add food" only select the MEALS tab. From there, you can say that you ate ".25 of one meal" or ".10 of one meal" (for 4 servings per batch or 10 servings per batch, respectively). 

 

And then you have that meal saved if you ever want to make it again.

 

Since MFP doesn't have an easy way to edit meals, I'll typically put the date that I input the ingredients in the name of the meal (So 'ProteinWaffles 20180118') so if I want to make edits to the recipe, I go back to 2018-01-18, make the edits, and save a new meal, instead of inputting all of the ingredients again or trying to remember the date that I put in that recipe

100% agree. I got the red version of this scale https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KA7WL7W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1 It can switch between grams and ounces. I really, really, really with everyone just converted to grams for recipes. I hate seeing add a cup of this. A cup can be different weight. 

 

I also use Chronometer for tracking. You can create your own recipes, and it makes it much easier to make a batch of something, then get the macros when you track a serving.

[Keladris]

2 hours ago, Rurik Harrgath said:

The last 100m of the race, so to speak, is really the toughest when it comes to effort needed to reach goals.

 

Here's an interesting article from Precision Nutrition about that subject.

Thanks for this. It's deffo food for thought (pun intended). To really have that 'fit' shape you gotta sacrifice things. It makes me wonder where my preferred level is really... I definitely don't think I could maintain the 'athletic' diet forever. I also really can't do 60mins a day of exercise! My currently 5 week challenge is to walk everyday Mon-Fri , and then extra exercise 3-4 days/week feels doable, but not more than that. I wanna do other things like socialise, play music, do acting classes, play videogames!

 

I do still want to lose some of this bodyfat, but I really don't think the 'ripped' look is my priority. Mostly I wanna be strong enough to do my dancing well and support my body in day to day life.

Right now I really wanna eat junk food! The cravings a real!

[Kestrel Grey]

As far as responsible eating goes, my inner 3 year old has overwhelmed my inner adult these past few weeks. I've called in reinforcements.  A friend of mine that I share gardening supplies with is going to be my accountabilibuddy; every 14 days that I eat like an adult wins me seeds. There are 8 weeks to the May long weekend (when it is traditionally safe to start planting) so I can earn 4 more things to plant in my veggie garden. First up: golden beets!  Dreaming of my garden is all that has been keeping me going this long cold winter so it should be super motivating and fun.

[Rookie]

16 hours ago, Aquarii said:

Anyway, measurements from today: ....

Stealing this  I really need to take measurements haha

 

--

 

Hey all! I weighed in and I am 1lb lighter but for me getting back to 250lbs will be easy peasy. After that will be  more challenging haha. I realized that the way I set my "food" based goal for my challenge was too vague and causing me more problems which spurred on a great discussion about dieting/calories/etc in my challenge thread and it gave me some things to think about. I ended up doing some reflection over what worked for me in the past and what did not.

 

Just reading the replies in this thread are starting to spark that competitive community feels with me.   

 

 

 

[Harriet]

7 hours ago, Kestrel Grey said:

As far as responsible eating goes, my inner 3 year old has overwhelmed my inner adult these past few weeks. I've called in reinforcements.  A friend of mine that I share gardening supplies with is going to be my accountabilibuddy; every 14 days that I eat like an adult wins me seeds. There are 8 weeks to the May long weekend (when it is traditionally safe to start planting) so I can earn 4 more things to plant in my veggie garden. First up: golden beets!  Dreaming of my garden is all that has been keeping me going this long cold winter so it should be super motivating and fun.

 

Oh, what a nice programme!

[Keladris]

Um so today I weighed myself again and I'm back to 77kg... Apparently the 1.5kg gain over the weekend was entirely pizza... Can I update the spreadsheet accordingly? I hate to see a minus % in the progress column xD

[Rurik Harrgath]

19 hours ago, Keladris said:

I do still want to lose some of this bodyfat, but I really don't think the 'ripped' look is my priority. Mostly I wanna be strong enough to do my dancing well and support my body in day to day life.

 

I think for 99% of people it's just a matter of finding a balance of health they can live with.  That probably isn't abs, it probably isn't 7 days/week exercise, just a flatter tummy and not feeling winded running up the stairs or from playing with the kiddos.  That said, I sure do want to see abs at least once in my lifetime   so let's get after it.

 

4 hours ago, Rookie said:

Hey all! I weighed in and I am 1lb lighter but for me getting back to 250lbs will be easy peasy. After that will be  more challenging haha. I realized that the way I set my "food" based goal for my challenge was too vague and causing me more problems which spurred on a great discussion about dieting/calories/etc in my challenge thread and it gave me some things to think about. I ended up doing some reflection over what worked for me in the past and what did not.

 

I didn't really have much to add over there, but I just wanted to let you know it made for some interesting reading this morning!

 

2 hours ago, Keladris said:

Um so today I weighed myself again and I'm back to 77kg... Apparently the 1.5kg gain over the weekend was entirely pizza... Can I update the spreadsheet accordingly? I hate to see a minus % in the progress column xD

 

Use the frustration at that -% to really dial in your goals this week!  That's exactly what I did, and despite a really bad eating day, I still managed to lose 1.5lbs 💪

 

I have no doubt you can bring it back!