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About 10 years ago I did jiu-jitsu for a few years, even starting it as an adult it was a blast, though I wouldn't call it a great workout. There is a difference between learning that stuff and sparring, a kickboxing workout class is probably what you want if you want that sort of style of workout.
Weight gained: I have been avoiding the scales, if anything it would be another lose but I prefer the delusion of remaining stable.
What (I|SO)'ve has been doing: You never know how much your lungs do for you until they aren't there. Tried to do some arm weight exercises with disastrous results. Now we are down to assisted walks around the block in the morning before my boyfriend goes to work and another when he comes home. Chest physio ever hour.
Good side though, low fat, low sugar, low everything diet. Boyfriend has been very accomodating with his cooking and then he had a stroke of brilliance. Super hot spicy food. Om nom nom so good, hack hack mucus, still no regrets.
Next weeks goal: Extend walks to 4 blocks. HOARGH!
Politics
@Ianea - I never thought of it that way before and that is brilliant. The doctor wants me to steer away from processed foods. I can't say how well I'm doing because I just had a strawberry toaster strudel for breakfast >.> But! I am counting my calories and wanted to share with you guys...
4.6 pounds lost! Whaaaat? Is this a fluke? Will it all come back? I don't know! I know my scales and the doc's scales said the same thing on Wednesday and now my scales say 4.6 pounds down! (#unsurehoargh)
Edit: I don't know how to make the ticker say 4.6. it keeps wanting to say 5.
"The smell of dusty fur, sweet smoke, waiting and patience, a thing that time cannot kill. The moth that candles won't burn."
Cause, what you're shooting for is however many calories you need to intake on a base level, so without exercising, and still maintain/achieve whatever is your healthy-goal weight. And then on days you exercise as well as eat reasonably, you can consume more. But, especially when starting out, don't ASSUME you'll burn those work-out calories. If you do that, and then exercise-motivation-fail occurs, you'll have accounted for more calories than you actually need, you can't un-eat those extra calories; however, you can always go and eat more to build up to your goal-intake.
EDITED TO AVOID DOUBLE-POST
Thanks everyone for the exercise suggestions/etc!
The nerdfitness stuff seems reasonable, but I am terrible at working out at home, I've tried it many times but never can manage to keep up with it for more than a couple weeks. I'm thinking I'll try the swimming thing - that it actually burns a not-terribly-tiny number of calories is reassuring, and the advice of "not just suffer through" seems good. I'll just need to find someplace to swim and hope I don't find it as painfully dull as running.
So I wanted to sort of disagree with the people above in that, just because you increase your activity does not mean you need to eat those extra calories. If you're at your healthy goal weight and want to maintain without losing more, then yes, but like me you're not and we still have a fair way to go. (We will get there though!) By not eating those extra calories it adds in you are creating even more of a calorie deficit in your eating which will lead to the weight loss. (Also keep in mind that it's guessing at the number of calories you've burned, it's not 100% accurate.)
On the other hand, if you've just worked out and really want some lean meat and veggies, I'd say go to town. But if you're using it to justify having cookies or a chocolate bar, not so much. I try to plan to be having a snack or a meal afterward, especially after a strength workout I'm normally starving.
The calorie deficit is why the 5:2 style is working for me and it's not suppose to be fast weight loss, it's sustainable healthy eating. Basically I'm eating 3000 calories less then I normally would each week and those 500 calories I am eating on those days are typically healthy ones. (lots of veggies, berries and some lean meat typically) There is a big difference between 100 calories of oreos and 100 calories of bell peppers. (Not to mention it's like 3-4 full bell peppers to even get to 100 calories. I like bell peppers because I don't mind eating them raw without dip, makes for a great easy snack.)
BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) = Calories you burn just to keep your organs functioning. These are the calories you burn just to be alive. This will vary based on age, height, weight and gender.
So in a normal day you will have:
BMR calories + Daily Activity = Total Calories burned
To lose weight you need to have a deficit from your Total Calories Burned. MFP bases your daily goal off of an estimated number of calories that you will burn. This is also known as the NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis). When you add in exercise, your Total calories burned for the day increases and to maintain the same deficit you need to eat more.
Now doing it this way will help get to a lower number on the scale, but not necessarily the body you want to have. That is where exercise comes in.
Basically MFP already has a deficit estimated in place. You can choose to eat those calories back, and still lose, or you can create a bigger deficit.
EDIT:
Also. I picked up some crystal light for my water because I had gotten into the bad habit of sneaking soda at work. I ..ended up drinking 3 liters of water + because of it.
I also hate breakfast. I always have. I'm not a huge huge breakfast person. I hate eggs, I can't eat biscuits, or hashbrowns, or pancakes, or waffles, without making a big sacrifice. What's the point of breakfast. T_T
I just end up eating a hummus snackpack. Yesterday was difficult, I was hungry a lot, regardless of the amount of water I drank. Why is it so much harder the second time going!
"To be awkward or unkempt, to talk or move wrongly is to be a dangerous giant, a destroyer of worlds...any accurately improper move can poke through the thin sleeve of immediate reality." - Erving Goffman
"The smell of dusty fur, sweet smoke, waiting and patience, a thing that time cannot kill. The moth that candles won't burn."
As for breakfast - without getting into details that I've already mentioned aren't super duper necessary, I'll just say that breakfast is so important. If you can't bring yourself to eat, at least have a shake or a meal replacement drink or something. You absolutely need to kick start your metabolism in the morning, and regularly throughout the day. If you're eating one or even two or the basic, touted three times a day to try and lose weight, you're doing it wrong and not helping yourself.
Water, water, water. Someone already said salt, and that's true a lot. Just as often, when you wake up or get snacky it's because your body isn't separating thirst from hunger.
If you aren't sleeping enough, you're doing nothing for yourself. I've been told countless times by professional nutritionists, coaches, trainers that if you're not getting the rest you need, there isn't even a point to working out. Sleep is recovery, and recovery is at least half of your battle. You should consider it a -job- to get enough sleep. Plan your day for it. Sleep also lowers cortisol levels, which is a big culprit in working against you and doing all sorts of counterproductive things to your body.
I can't stress enough the importance of just working out and being active. All the healthy eating in the world isn't doing anything if you're not doing things.
Throw a backpack on your back and walk. Get an iPod or something, put a book on it. Find a trail and just walk for an hour, two hours, three hours. Add weight gradually. You will burn -thousands- of calories in a week just by walking every other day for an hour or two with just a little bit of weight.
That's just an example, for people who hate running or aren't really capable of running for long enough to make it a worthy endeavor. You can do bodyweight work that will spike your metabolism pretty easily, too. There are so many ways to be active and work your body, and they'll just add up to being able to do more and being encouraged.
For what it's worth, I'm reasonably knowledgeable on the whole subject re: eating healthy, but mostly working out and fitness. If anybody needs or wants ideas or help, hit me up. I only charge in emotes.
Downside of the week: I've been feeling rather out of control of things in my life at the moment in many big ways, it's been very stressful. (It's also most of the reason I've been scarce from Aetolia, I've been playing Sims 3 where I can rigidly control everything.) Sleep is nearly non-existent as is energy or motivation to workout.
Upside of the week: I've still been doing good with what I eat, it's one of the few things I can make sure of right now. I did see someone that I haven't seen since April and they commented that I look like I've lost a lot. It made me feel good.
Status of last week's goal: Didn't workout. I really need to look into other workout options. Hopefully at my daughter's next pediatrician appointment in October they will come up with another option to try to help her sleep.
Goal for next week: Maintain control of what I can for now. And try to look into some more inspiring exercise options.
Total pounds lost: 18 Over a third of the way there. Woot!
Pounds remaining: 32
Downside of the week:: There wasn't any big downsides beyond the usual struggle of. WANT FOOD. Especially food I shouldn't eat, like that blueberry pie in the fridge. I LOVE BLUEBERRY PIE, and they suddenly deviate from their usual apple pie.
Upside of the week: Jogged every day from Thursday to Saturday, rested on Sunday (besides work). I only went outside my calorie limit 150ish yesterday, but was under the two days prior, so it all balances out. I also stayed under 100 carbs every day, which was the main thing I focused on - low carbs, high protein, which was a goal in mind I had. Tuna is amazing for this. I've also drank plenty of water each day - most of that accomplished with the help of crystal light. The wild strawberry is good. So my food, my exercise, and my water intake is all good! But it's only been three days, and there's still a long road left to travel.
Status of last week's goal: Complete
Goal for next week: I just want to continue this trend.
Total pounds lost: 5lbs
Pounds remaining: 17lbs
Much like Nola, eggs don't really sit well with me, and yogurt and I similarly don't get along (I just feel... really... unwell for a couple hours after eating too much of either). However, for whatever reason, I can generally eat a whole little tub of greek yogurt without discomfort, so on the off-chance I'm hungry or gonna do more than sit for 4 hours until lunch, that's what I'll try to force down my gullet. My mother swears by a handful of nuts as breakfast. But.. meh. I don't like eating nuts unless I'm drunk. And if I'm drunk at breakfast time, there's all sorts of other issues going on there...
Okay - now that I'm back into a swing-ish of things:
Starting weight: 191
current weight: 183 (I am finding this easier than remembering "pounds lost")
Desired weight: 155
Downside of the week: Kept forgetting to bring my lunches to work and ate breakfast every day because it -was there- Ack.
Upside of the week: Was calorically careful when going to grab lunches, Boyfriend helped me avoid impulse buying donuts
Goal for next week: save up all that money I'm blowing on lunches for a community center fitness pass (this forces only home-brought lunches, of course.) Should be able to afford it with what I'm blowing on food in at LEAST 2 weeks.
Downside of the week: Settling in at my new place means less moving about and more eating, so things have sort of stopped moving in any direction right now. I'm hoping that will change soon again.
Goal for next week: Pick up walking and perhaps (!) start on a personal ab challenge.
The good part was that while I was moving I managed to drop some in weight, so it means I'm down 5 kilos from the start, which was more than I had thought it would be.
Total weight lost: 5 kilos
Left to go: 10 kilos (at least)
Keep it up, people! It's fantastic to get this kind of motivation from you guys!
@Teani you can do it!
@Ianea - nab an exercise ball! They're fun and you can bounce while you play sims or Aetolia. Good core motion that you're not even noticing.
@Nola - That's impressive jogging! I'm not a blueberry pie sort of eater, but they totally had cookies in the break room. I didn't give in, but it was damn close. You can keep on!
@Gwenith - If you want to gain weight, don't you need to be eating protein-like things? I don't know, this is what I hear from others. I hope you're feeling better!
Weekly check in tomorrow, I am excited ^-^
@Aryanne - that's a good idea, saving up for a fitness pass. After you buy it, you can squirrel other money away for something else. Reward based losing = best losing (I am easily motivated by shinies)
You guys all keep up the amazing work though, I am really excited reading about your progress and goals, and when I am feeling better I want to contribute and be peer support for those goals. Chin up you beautiful people. You are doing amazing things not only for yourselves but for each other.
UPDATE TIME
Weekly Wrap-up: Oh man, this week has been a wild ride. from my my mom going 'YOU HAVE TO EAT MORE' when my goal was set at 1350 calories to getting a new bicycle seat to ride into glory, only to realize that holy fuck I'm out of shape *wheeeeze*. No giving in though! I rode for 1.9 miles last night (found an app to track this).
Weight lost: 8 pounds down! I was 8 pounds down yesterday and today the scales say I'm 7 pounds down instead, I'm going with the 8 pounds though, because tomorrow I will be 8 pounds down again ^-^
Downside of the week: Pining over every food I can't have and wishing I could just stuff my face with them.
Upside of the week: Steadily losing!
Status of last week's goal: Still slightly congested but I can hear again for the most part, 8 cups of water a day or more is being handled. I did the exercise goal too!
Goal for next week (Sept 10- Sept 17): Ride the path I took last night until I don't have to stop in the middle and I don't feel like passing out up the hill. more 1 mile walkies! Continued weight loss and not weight gain. Find an exercise ball work out vid to do. Use exercise ball more than comfy chair for Aetolia-ng.
The reminds me of a fun little app I had called "Zombies! Run!" It's one of those 5km in 5 weeks training courses but with a little story behind it. Good for anyone who can't one, but wants to learn.
Politics
Proud of myself. Okay, on to why I'm actually posting:
I've been indulging in tasty-but-calorically-unfriendly drinks lately (mostly booze or juice or mixed drinks) Not that juice is BAD for me, but ya know, not low-calorie. Anyway, so I've found that Club soda (which is super cheap, double bonus) plus squeezing in half a lemon, it absolutely delicious to me! Fresh squeezed lemon is pretty darn low calorie (lime is also good for when no lemons), and being all bubbly, the club soda and lemon mellow each other out to not be so bitter, and it totally satisfies my "NOMMY SWEET BEVERAGE!" craving.
I really dislike crystal lite or mio or any of that, so I'm thrilled for this discovery!
Also I wanted to point out that just because it's called breakfast doesn't mean you need to eat traditional breakfast foods. If yogurt and eggs don't agree with you, there is nothing wrong with reheating leftovers from last night's dinner. (If it was a balanced, good for you meal the night before at dinner, it's still a balanced good for you meal in the morning.) Personally I'm a pretty big fan of soup for breakfast, especially in the winter.
That sucks that you're sick @Aarbrok and I can sympathize. The only time in my adult life that I was ever within my bmi was after becoming severely anemic, to the point where I needed a blood transfusion. Not a healthy way to go at all and I am very happy with my slow and steady that will get me there eventually.
I think for the exercise I really need to find something more tangible then 'get healthy'. I'm giving it some thought, hopefully I'll have something for my check in sunday night.
Though my daughter is feelings better so hopefully I will get more then the average 3 hours of sleep and thus will have more motivation to work out. I really need a better outlet for worry stress and exercising makes me feel better and sleep better during the short bits I do get but when I'm exhausted motivation is low. So low.
"The smell of dusty fur, sweet smoke, waiting and patience, a thing that time cannot kill. The moth that candles won't burn."
I was in the middle of whining to myself today that I was too tired to work out when I just kind of went.. No, if I can only do 5 or 10 minutes then it's at least something. I ended up doing a bodyweight workout for 20 minutes then stretched and danced around for another 20 or so with my daughter. Now I feel happy and proud and I actually have more energy then I did before working out. I always seem to forget that last bit when I'm making excuses to myself not to do it.
I'm eating 'breakfast' right now. Smoked salmon (that my husband made) after a sweaty workout.. heaven. Plus raw tomato and yellow pepper with a little salsa and then some sweet potato. Mmmm. I am happy. Delicious meal on my fast day. (Edit: And all for less then 150 calories.)
I've been going strong again this week, proud of me! Ate my from-home lunch every day and have trimmed down breakfast quantity and upped the quality from cheap-fast-food-crap.
Need to get exercise again today, though. Thank you for the unintended reminder on the front!
Weight lost: 3.5lbs
Upside of the week: Lots of various exercises both fun and laboruos. Did well in all things, overall, with only one day as a bit of a break for my best friends birthday.
Downside : I didn't get to jog as much as I'd have liked to, but I feel like I made up for it where I could with various yard work ectr.
Status of last weeks goal: Yes.
Next weeks goal: the same as before, except, tomorrow is my birthday so I expect some halts in progress this week or even a bit of backtracking if I'm not careful.
Total weight lost: 7.5lbs
C
Current weight: 153.5lbs
Goal: 140lbs, 13.5 more to go!