FitAnn Weight Loss Diary-

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Getting Fit

Member
Hello, I am a long time dieter, I have lost weight on WW, Atkins, starvation, you name it but I never kept it off because I looked at a 'DIET' like one would look at an anti-biotic, something you take/do for a specific condition, then you end it when you are 'cured." So I never changed my ways of eating or wanting foods and I spent most of my dieting days thinking about what I could eat when I was thin. Of course that led me right back to being over weight. I am tired of it. I am also too old for it. So now I am on a food plan that is my plan for life. to keep it sustainable, I find ways to make food that I like, that do not leave me feeling deprived or punished. My focus is on low carb because carbs are a big trigger for me, a little pasta is not ever enough.

-- How much weight do you want to lose? I need to lose 80 more lbs.

-- What is the timeframe for reaching your target weight? With how slow I am losing at my age, I am almost 67, I hope to be there in April 2023

-- How do you want to accomplish your goal (what methods do you want to use)? I log every bite into Fitbit, I keep my calories around 1200-1400 per day and keep my carbs below 45 gr, sodium below 1600mcg. I also try to get in enough fiber to keep my system happy. I started my food plan in December 6, 2021 and I started out at 242.6 lbs. I lost 10 lbs the first month but I have struggled for the last 2 1/2 months to lose the next 10. But I am not giving up, I am working to get in more steps each day, using my recumbent bike to strengthen my knees. I have severe arthritis in both knees and both are pretty much bone on bone. Knee replacement is in my future but I want to put it off as long as I can, In good weather I can get in 10k steps a day, in winter 3500 is my goal.

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Welcome to the forum :)
 
Hi, Ann & welcome to the forum. I don't think there would be many of us who have not lost their excess weight at some time in our lives at least once & then not ended up putting it all or most back on again. We never stop learning & the habits of a lifetime are harder to change the older you get. It can be done though. I think maintenance is much harder than losing. When I get back to my "happy weight" this time around I am going to be much stricter on weighing myself regularly & limiting sweets & wine. Slow & steady is how I am losing at the moment too. It's much more doable & sustainable long-term.
I look forward to getting to know you & following your progress.
 
Yesterday was a good but typical day.
Breakfast : 2 eggs 1 link of chicken sausage, 1/4 c reduced fat shredded cheddar
Lunch: 2 Atkins snack bars
Dinner: 2 low carb Flatout breads, 3 oz sliced turkey, 1 Tbls vegan mayo and lettuce
Snack: Keto ice cream
Totals were 965 calories, 58 gr carbs, 35 gr fiber,
3405 steps. Fitbit says I burned 2045.
Scale today is 222.2 so it is finally moving downward. I am losing very slowly, sometimes a week or two my daily weight is bobbing up and down with a 4 lb swing, I just keep on my plan and weigh every day. Today is the lowest I have seen on the scale, so I am over 20 lbs down and it took me 3 1/2 months to do it. But, my food plan is for the long run, it is sustainable, I do not feel deprived, Better to lose slow than to keep on creeping up like I have the last 10 years.
Today I will be more active, I am going through kitchen cupboards and packing up dishes I dont use and storing in basement , Other items I need to take out to garage. Warmer weather here in NH for sure, will be in the 50's the next few days.
 
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Tuesday is a day I want to repeat
Breakfast: 3 eggs and 2 slices lean bacon
Lunch; 1 cup of Keto icecream
Dinner- portabella burgers- ,8 oz lean burger mixed with 3 oz chopped portabella mushrooms, salt , pepper, i slice chopped bacon, this makes 2 large burgers, I had with no bun, just sugar free ketchup.
Totals under 1000 cal, 10 gr carbs, 7 gr fiber.
I was very busy all day and got in 5200 steps. and burned 2400 calories.
I spent most of the day cleaning out kitchen cabinets. I have a bag of canned food that I will not eat so I will drop off at food pantry. I find a lot of items stuffed in cupboards I don't use or need so I am packing into a tote and putting into the basement. If grandkids ever move out on their own, I can give them a lot of stuff.
I got a lot of steps in , part of it was walking around the yard, as the snow is melting it is nice to be out there, hoping the squishyness will go away as the ground thaws.
I am feeling positive, and hopeful since the scale showed a new low yesterday. I lose slowly so I expect to see it bob up and down before I see another new low. but there is no choice. My body is going to lose fat at the pace it has decided. With just the 20lbs gone I see a number of differences I can enjoy. My winter parka zips up with ease. no more worrying about it getting a shirt caught or popping, I have gotten rid of 6 pairs of jeans that were too baggy and now can wear some pants and tops that have been sitting in my bureau and closet for quite some time. I had planned to buy myself a reward for the 20 lbs loss, but I really could not think if anything I really wanted or needed. I certainly will not be food!
 
Getting Fit said:
My winter parka zips up with ease. no more worrying about it getting a shirt caught or popping, I have gotten rid of 6 pairs of jeans that were too baggy and now can wear some pants and tops that have been sitting in my bureau and closet for quite some time.
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It's great to see the rewards from losing that 20 lbs. It must feel much better. I lose slowly too but am starting to feel much better with each kilo lost.
 
Wednesday was another good day. I only got in 3700 steps because I spent a bit of time driving to town to pick up some items I needed, then I worked in the house and I sat on the couch watching mindless TV. I got some things done that have been on my list for quite some time. I always avoid the task of taking things down to the basement, Not sure why, so I timed how long it took. All of 6 minutes to take the totes down the stairs, put away on shelf and come back up. I will remember this next time I put off this task.
Food was about the same as Tuesday. Calories 1187, Carbs 37 gr, Fiber 20 gr
One big thing I did when I started this food plan was to give up alcohol. For the most part it has been easy, but there are times when I would love nothing more than to sit back and have a vodka and tonic or 4. Yesterday I fought the urge to go and buy alcohol. I have a lot of stressors in my life and this while not a coping mechanism, I have used it to give me an occasional escape from it.. Working hard to move my mind onto other things.
Lots of plans for today, I have a new mop and plan to finishe cleaning mudroom and kitchen and wash the floors. Going to have nice weather so I plan to do a lot of yard work-I have branches down all over, and then organize and get my woodshop ready to use.
Happy dance today, scale was 221.0 after several weeks of bobbing up and down it is finally moving slowly but steadily down., It pays to stick with it, no matter what the scale says. I log every bite, every day and get on the scale and record it every day. I am used to an uptick of 2-4 lbs overnight- I don't panic , I just realize that water and undigested food will affect the scale, I just record it and keep doing the right things, The graph of my daily weigh ins looks crazy, wild swings BUT still trending down.
 
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Getting Fit said:
One big thing I did when I started this food plan was to give up alcohol. For the most part it has been easy, but there are times when I would love nothing more than to sit back and have a vodka and tonic or 4. Yesterday I fought the urge to go and buy alcohol. I have a lot of stressors in my life and this while not a coping mechanism, I have used it to give me an occasional escape from it.. Working hard to move my mind onto other things.
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This is so important. For the last 3 days, I have felt stressed & at the end of the day, I have had 2 glasses of wine. This morning I have bounced back up 1.5 kg. No wine today. It hasn't helped anyway. It rarely does.
Getting Fit said:
Happy dance today, scale was 221.0 after several weeks of bobbing up and down it is finally moving slowly but steadily down.
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Well done!
 
LLama- thank you, you got that right, I try to focus on the positive and revel in the rewards of hard work.

Cate-still fought with myself about alcohol, I have diet tonic here and I did have 2 glasses over ice but just isn't the same. they have rum flavored extract, coconut, vanilla. why not vodka? It might help me to fool myself. I have a partial bottle of red wine in the fridge, doesn't interest me so today when I clean out the fridge, I will dump it.

Meals were good again yesterday, I have Atkins bars and shakes on hand, when I started in December I went right to doing Atkins old keto plan. I transitioned to low carb in January, for sustainability. The bars come in so handy for me and keep me out of trouble. I buy the snack ones that are 150-170 calories and high fiber. Although I am not a big sweets eater, I find these so satisfying when i want something, quick and filling. I often have 2 as a snack, they keep me full for at least 4 hours.

Calorie wise yesterday was inline with every other day. I got in 4500 steps, I had planned on doing a lot of yardwork and 7500 steps but the rains came. I cleaned my oven and range hood instead. Kept busy and washed floors, today I will clean the fridge. Spring is coming and there is just so much to do here. Most of the snow is gone, but I have a lot of dead branches to pick up and some raking to do.

My day and my food is planned, I also plan to get my lazy self on my recumbent bike. I got it in January at the recommendation of another person who has arthritis in knees. he said it helped his pain and is able to put off a second knee replacement. I do feel it has strengthened my legs and keeps knee in position, I have been pain free 99% of the time and it has certainly helped me to get in more steps. I will open windows this afternoon, I am going to wash my bedding so I wish I had a clothes line to hang the sheets out in the sun.
 
Getting Fit said:
Cate-still fought with myself about alcohol,
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I did too & lost. I won't have any today or tomorrow.
Your weekend sounds productive. I'm getting stuck into some Springcleaning today too, but it's Autumn here. Cleaning the oven & range hood is long overdue :svengo:
 
Very happy with yesterday, spring is coming along and I enjoyed being outside. I have 7 raised bed gardens I made in 2020. I turned over 4 of them, pulled a few weeds and raked them smooth. I planted 1/4 of a bed with snap peas, carrots, with a few radishes thrown in to mark the rows. I took a hike out to the game cameras I have in the woods and swapped the SD cards. I got 2 videos of a large coyote and one of a ruffed grouse. Food was good, I got in over 5500 steps.

Heavy rain this morning, and 20 degrees cooler than yesterday. I was planning on cleaning up my workshop so i can start using it but it might be too cold and damp. I have a large extension on my garage and I make things out of old weathered barn wood to sell. I have a big craft fair coming up early April and I want to get more picture frames made.


Cate-I gave in and picked up some hard seltzer and had a couple of them. It affected my sleep and I wish I had not bought them.
 
How high are your raised beds, Ann? They will be very productive by the sounds of it. We're coming to the end of our growing season now 😥 but I will love to hear about yours. I admire people who are crafty. I don't think I have a crafty bone in my body, but I admire people who do. It would be fun to have a game camera. I might check them out. I would put one near our house & maybe one in deep down in the bush.
Re: the hard seltzer (I had to look that one up.) I didn't have any wine last night & I slept like a log. I think I sleep much better without any alcohol, but it has taken me a very long time to work that out & make changes to my habits.
 
Cate, 2 years ago when the virus was first here I was afraid I would not be able to get fresh produce. I decided to construct a veggie garden, I had raised beds years ago but just free form. I bought cedar boards 1 x 6 8 feet long, I made the beds 4 ft x 8 ft and 11 inches high. I got a dump truck load of loam. Since I put the beds on top of existing lawn, I covered the grass with heavy cardboard, then just added the dirt. I made 4 the first year and 3 more last year, I seem to fill them quickly. One has become a strawberry bed, another is home to blueberry bushes. But I still have plenty of room for 3 kinds of pole beans, heirloom tomatoes, garlic, onions, basil, peppers, peas, carrots, broccoli, beets, swiss chard. I plant a lot of flowers in my veggie gardens between the plants. Last year I also planted Jeruselem artichokes, they grew over 10 feet tall with beautiful black eyed yellow flowers. I had about 50 lbs of them and gave a lot away. I left a few clumps in the ground so I will have them every year. 2 years ago I grew purple potatoes, it is fun giving away unusual varieties. I have red Vietnamese garlic I planted last year, hoping it will be ready to harvest in July.
You said the bush, are you in Austrialia? I am in the North East US
 
Your garden sounds absolutely wonderful! I live in Tasmania, Australia & live on 50 acres in the bush. It's a haven for wildlife & it's hard to keep them out of the garden.
 
Cate said:
Your garden sounds absolutely wonderful! I live in Tasmania, Australia & live on 50 acres in the bush. It's a haven for wildlife & it's hard to keep them out of the garden.
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I can't imagine what your area looks like, you have so many animals that we don't have here, it must be beautiful there.
Llama said:
Your garden sounds amazing and I'm so jealous!
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It is a labor of love for me, back when my kids were young, we had laying hens for eggs, raised pigs for meat. For the first 8 months after we bought this house I had no cooking stove, a friend gave me an old wood burning cook stove. Since the oven was always hot I learned to make bread. since we had all the fat from the pigs I learned how to make lye soap, I canned over 100 jars of food, made jam and jelly. My garden is much smaller now but I really enjoy watching things grow, I give away a lot because there is no way I could eat it all. I was going to put in a pollinator garden last year and I started 40 pots of flowers. I never got around to making the garden so I stuffed the flowers among the vegetables, it was really pretty.

Yesterday was a down day for steps and activity. It was in the low 40's rainy and gloomy. i spent far too much time on the couch watching TV, but I did get on recumbent bike and do a session. I also saw another new low on the scale. Never quite sure if it is real but I record it anyways. I weigh record every single day.

Looks like today will have some periods of no rain, but no sun either. I am going to clean out the fridge, I had planned to do it earlier in the week but I put it off. I really dislike that job.
 
Congrats on the new low. A day on the couch occasionally is what we need. Days like that I escape into a book.
Getting Fit said:
I am going to clean out the fridge, I had planned to do it earlier in the week but I put it off. I really dislike that job.
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I really dislike that job too. I do it in parts now, but it sure is time to do the door shelves. If you keep these spring cleaning tasks up I'll end up with a clean house :)
 
Cate, I will do my best so you get your house clean too! Spring is just here and with all the yard work, -I mow 2 acres, trimming, gardens and my work shop I spend as little time in the house as possible. so the deep cleaning now is just so I can go a long time with minimal cleaning. BTW I didn't touch the fridge yesterday.

I spent the dry parts of the day cleaning up dead branches from the winter. I had a huge pine branch about 25 feet long, it was a bit of a struggle to haul it off over the bank, but I got it done. I got a new table saw for Xmas and I hadn't finished putting the table and accessories together so I puttered and got that done as well. I cut down some grapevine, I am going to soak them until pliable then fashion them into globes. I will stuff with some dirty alpaca wool I was given and hang them out. The birds will take the wool to line their nests. I also have a project to make and hang up about 20 birdhouses for various birds that are in my area. Will be interesting to see what actually nests in them, Today I am going to make an owl box as they are mating and nesting from now until mid April. Getting it 15 feet up a tree is going to be the tricky part.

Food was good but low in calories, I got in under 800, steps were almost 5000.

Today I have to get rid of trash, and pick up the lumber I need for birdhouses. I am going to strip my bed and wash all bedding, but other than that, I will be out in the work shop. I also need to pull some barn boards off and get them ready to become picture frames and clo ks.
 
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