Let's lose together

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
New poster. Mid to late 30s, 5’7”, started at 205 on January 29th. I work outside the home 5 days a week.

I ordered some new pants in January. I knew I had put on some weight, so I ordered a size that I was bummed about but thought would the right size. Turns out, I could BARELY get them on.

The next day, I downloaded Lose It to start tracking my caloric intake. I am religious about logging every bite or overestimating calories if I eat out and can’t log the meal.

I bought a scale. I am logging my weight 4+ times a week. I had not weighed myself in a year; I put on 20 pounds.

I am riding my Peloton daily.

As of today, I am 199.6 pounds. It’s still a huge number. I’m working on it. My goal is 155. My app says I’ll be there next January.

That’s really amazing. I have been loath to count calories for a variety of reasons but it clearly works. Go you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
New poster. Mid to late 30s, 5’7”, started at 205 on January 29th. I work outside the home 5 days a week.

I ordered some new pants in January. I knew I had put on some weight, so I ordered a size that I was bummed about but thought would the right size. Turns out, I could BARELY get them on.

The next day, I downloaded Lose It to start tracking my caloric intake. I am religious about logging every bite or overestimating calories if I eat out and can’t log the meal.

I bought a scale. I am logging my weight 4+ times a week. I had not weighed myself in a year; I put on 20 pounds.

I am riding my Peloton daily.

As of today, I am 199.6 pounds. It’s still a huge number. I’m working on it. My goal is 155. My app says I’ll be there next January.

That’s really amazing. I have been loath to count calories for a variety of reasons but it clearly works. Go you!

Thanks! Counting calories is a lot easier than it was for me a decade ago when I tried. The databases are better, you can scan barcodes to see if a food is in the database. If I don’t find exactly what I’m eating, I choose one of the higher calorie substitutes. Lose It has a badge for foods that have verified nutrition facts.

I haven’t been under my target every day, but as long as I’m more under than over, I think that’s okay.

[Anonymous]

Nice! Your efforts are clearly paying off! Have you ever gone a few weeks without drinking — to see if it has a direct impact on your weight loss?

I’ve also felt very comfortable eating two meals a day most of the time. It kind of sucks that things that we were encouraged to do: Eat three meals a day, add more bread…. are actually not great for many of us. Do you have a sense of what’s helped your mood swings? Everything? Exercise? Something about your diet? In any case: Good for you!

I would like to say I have, but not since maybe around 2018 or so. . .

I think the consistent exercise and fewer blood sugar swings from eating more protein/veg and staying away from processed foods. That’s my guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
New poster. Mid to late 30s, 5’7”, started at 205 on January 29th. I work outside the home 5 days a week.

I ordered some new pants in January. I knew I had put on some weight, so I ordered a size that I was bummed about but thought would the right size. Turns out, I could BARELY get them on.

The next day, I downloaded Lose It to start tracking my caloric intake. I am religious about logging every bite or overestimating calories if I eat out and can’t log the meal.

I bought a scale. I am logging my weight 4+ times a week. I had not weighed myself in a year; I put on 20 pounds.

I am riding my Peloton daily.

As of today, I am 199.6 pounds. It’s still a huge number. I’m working on it. My goal is 155. My app says I’ll be there next January.

That’s great! You sound very focused and goal oriented— and it’ working well for you. Much applause for both your diligent efforts and your results! I bet it feels wonderful to see a number on the scale that starts with a “1”. 🥳

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Nice! Your efforts are clearly paying off! Have you ever gone a few weeks without drinking — to see if it has a direct impact on your weight loss?

I’ve also felt very comfortable eating two meals a day most of the time. It kind of sucks that things that we were encouraged to do: Eat three meals a day, add more bread…. are actually not great for many of us. Do you have a sense of what’s helped your mood swings? Everything? Exercise? Something about your diet? In any case: Good for you!

I would like to say I have, but not since maybe around 2018 or so. . .

I think the consistent exercise and fewer blood sugar swings from eating more protein/veg and staying away from processed foods. That’s my guess.


I think your observations are important ones, and now you have me thinking more about consistency. I didn’t gain weight by shoveling junk food at buffet tables — but by steadily eating a relatively small amount above my body’s needs pretty much every day. Intentionally doing the opposite: with consistent exercise and consistently avoiding processed foods, or whatever changes and tweaks seem helpful, probably is a good way to build sustainable changes. Thank you for sharing your thoughts— and for giving me a lightbulb moment of inspiration.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Nice! Your efforts are clearly paying off! Have you ever gone a few weeks without drinking — to see if it has a direct impact on your weight loss?

I’ve also felt very comfortable eating two meals a day most of the time. It kind of sucks that things that we were encouraged to do: Eat three meals a day, add more bread…. are actually not great for many of us. Do you have a sense of what’s helped your mood swings? Everything? Exercise? Something about your diet? In any case: Good for you!

I would like to say I have, but not since maybe around 2018 or so. . .

I think the consistent exercise and fewer blood sugar swings from eating more protein/veg and staying away from processed foods. That’s my guess.


I think your observations are important ones, and now you have me thinking more about consistency. I didn’t gain weight by shoveling junk food at buffet tables — but by steadily eating a relatively small amount above my body’s needs pretty much every day. Intentionally doing the opposite: with consistent exercise and consistently avoiding processed foods, or whatever changes and tweaks seem helpful, probably is a good way to build sustainable changes. Thank you for sharing your thoughts— and for giving me a lightbulb moment of inspiration.



Thanks. Where are you in your journey?

Honestly I am the complete opposite - go through periods of strict eating / measuring / tracking, then binging when triggered (by pretty much anything) or hormonal cravings. Two months of consistently slowly changing my eating habits has made a big difference. So has working with a trainer, and although she’s not a nutritionist, knowing I am weighing in every two weeks and have a little emotional support. It also helped to finally start seeing the results of the hard work, which I couldn’t really see until recently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok, it’s been a couple of months since I posted — and I forgot what name I chose to try to keep track here. Lol

Emotionally, things have been a roller coaster. One of my closest friends has been diagnosed with serious health problems, and several of my closest friends are caring for and supporting family members with serious health issues — so my support system is currently overwhelmed, and I’ve been trying to do what I can to support them.

Which makes it even more awesome that I’ve changed my eating habits during the last two months, and I’m fitting into jeans that wouldn’t zip a few months ago. Yay! 🥳. I don’t think I’ve had anything made of wheat flour since before January 1. I also usually eat two meals a day, and that’s kind of become the equivalent of lower carb intermittent fasting — a life style that fits me comfortably.

I’m deliberately not weighing myself. I’m very pleased that in the midst of difficult times, I haven’t turned to food as a solution, and instead have probably lost weight and definitely gone down a size. I’ve a long way to go to get where I want to be — and it feels wonderful to be headed in good directions.

Wow. You are doing amazing! What a fantastic check-in! You've been through so much in the last few months and you've made lemonade out of those lemons, go you!

Like you, I also switched to 2 meals a day that became a lower carb intermittent fasting -- for me it was a few months after I'd lost the first 20 or 30 pounds. I've now lost over 98 pounds and only have about 3 more to go to get to 155. I was stuck around 162ish for a few months over the holidays and it's so nice to be in the 150s. I know at 5 ft 7 I could lose more but I don't really think I need it. And my wedding band is so loose the diamond turns to the inside of my hand now sometimes, it's annoying -- I've tried a few different products to stick on the inside of the ring but I'm not loving them, they kind of irritate my finger or pull the ring out from the bottom.

Anyway, these are champagne problems ha -- congrats PP and keep going keep going! You are doing great staying off the scale and keeping to your resolve not to turn to food emotionally -- that's such a huge accomplishment!!! Go, go, go!!!

Thank you so much for your kind words! And thank you for sharing the — very impressive— details of your own amazing progress! It’s truly inspiring to hear how you’ve reached a point of “champagne problems” for yourself. 🍾🥂 I hope you feel awesome as you applaud the many many efforts and accomplishments that got you to this point.

As for your ring, if you got a smaller band that would fit more tightly on your now smaller finger, and wore it on top of your loose wedding band, would that hold the wedding band in place and keep it from turning? If that might work, maybe a celebration ring would be a nice idea? I’ve seen adjustable ring guards that might work — but I’m guessing that might be one of the irritating options that you’ve already tried.

I’m totally grinning now — and I’m sure that I’ll revisit your post for encouragement and inspiration.

Thanks so much for this lovely and supportive comment! I've come back to it a few times myself over the last few weeks, it was so kind! And now I can say that I finally, finally, finally made my goal of losing 101 pounds, yay! I started at the end of June 2021 so it took me nearly two years, slowing down especially here towards the end, but at 5 ft 7 I now weigh under 155 lbs, and am at what's considered a normal weight range for my height, and am now basically back to my college weight, which feels great!

I was sort of stuck for a while but a lot of stress at work while I still kept to my diet has been helping the pounds come off recently. I even took a trip for a week to be with my mom and lost two pounds on that trip! So I don't know what sort of weird mojo is going on but I'll continue to stick to the diet for now and ride the weight loss while I can, and then maybe take things a bit easier over spring break and start to see where I might add some carbs or desserts back in. I hope to be able to stick around 155 for a while, though I'm also okay with going back up to 160 since that's where I plateaud for a long time and seemed to be where my body was fairly happy. I know some folks might think that at 5 ft 7 someone could/should really be lower than 155, but I think I look really good at this weight!

I'm feeling pretty great and have a lot of energy! I kind of can't believe I did it. Good luck to folks also on this journey; if I can do this you can too!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok, it’s been a couple of months since I posted — and I forgot what name I chose to try to keep track here. Lol

Emotionally, things have been a roller coaster. One of my closest friends has been diagnosed with serious health problems, and several of my closest friends are caring for and supporting family members with serious health issues — so my support system is currently overwhelmed, and I’ve been trying to do what I can to support them.

Which makes it even more awesome that I’ve changed my eating habits during the last two months, and I’m fitting into jeans that wouldn’t zip a few months ago. Yay! 🥳. I don’t think I’ve had anything made of wheat flour since before January 1. I also usually eat two meals a day, and that’s kind of become the equivalent of lower carb intermittent fasting — a life style that fits me comfortably.

I’m deliberately not weighing myself. I’m very pleased that in the midst of difficult times, I haven’t turned to food as a solution, and instead have probably lost weight and definitely gone down a size. I’ve a long way to go to get where I want to be — and it feels wonderful to be headed in good directions.

Wow. You are doing amazing! What a fantastic check-in! You've been through so much in the last few months and you've made lemonade out of those lemons, go you!

Like you, I also switched to 2 meals a day that became a lower carb intermittent fasting -- for me it was a few months after I'd lost the first 20 or 30 pounds. I've now lost over 98 pounds and only have about 3 more to go to get to 155. I was stuck around 162ish for a few months over the holidays and it's so nice to be in the 150s. I know at 5 ft 7 I could lose more but I don't really think I need it. And my wedding band is so loose the diamond turns to the inside of my hand now sometimes, it's annoying -- I've tried a few different products to stick on the inside of the ring but I'm not loving them, they kind of irritate my finger or pull the ring out from the bottom.

Anyway, these are champagne problems ha -- congrats PP and keep going keep going! You are doing great staying off the scale and keeping to your resolve not to turn to food emotionally -- that's such a huge accomplishment!!! Go, go, go!!!

Thank you so much for your kind words! And thank you for sharing the — very impressive— details of your own amazing progress! It’s truly inspiring to hear how you’ve reached a point of “champagne problems” for yourself. 🍾🥂 I hope you feel awesome as you applaud the many many efforts and accomplishments that got you to this point.

As for your ring, if you got a smaller band that would fit more tightly on your now smaller finger, and wore it on top of your loose wedding band, would that hold the wedding band in place and keep it from turning? If that might work, maybe a celebration ring would be a nice idea? I’ve seen adjustable ring guards that might work — but I’m guessing that might be one of the irritating options that you’ve already tried.

I’m totally grinning now — and I’m sure that I’ll revisit your post for encouragement and inspiration.

Thanks so much for this lovely and supportive comment! I've come back to it a few times myself over the last few weeks, it was so kind! And now I can say that I finally, finally, finally made my goal of losing 101 pounds, yay! I started at the end of June 2021 so it took me nearly two years, slowing down especially here towards the end, but at 5 ft 7 I now weigh under 155 lbs, and am at what's considered a normal weight range for my height, and am now basically back to my college weight, which feels great!

I was sort of stuck for a while but a lot of stress at work while I still kept to my diet has been helping the pounds come off recently. I even took a trip for a week to be with my mom and lost two pounds on that trip! So I don't know what sort of weird mojo is going on but I'll continue to stick to the diet for now and ride the weight loss while I can, and then maybe take things a bit easier over spring break and start to see where I might add some carbs or desserts back in. I hope to be able to stick around 155 for a while, though I'm also okay with going back up to 160 since that's where I plateaud for a long time and seemed to be where my body was fairly happy. I know some folks might think that at 5 ft 7 someone could/should really be lower than 155, but I think I look really good at this weight!

I'm feeling pretty great and have a lot of energy! I kind of can't believe I did it. Good luck to folks also on this journey; if I can do this you can too!

Yay! You DID it!!! 🥳. That’s fantastic! It’s awesome that you feel energetic— which is a great ongoing reminder that you’ve achieved your goal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
New poster. Mid to late 30s, 5’7”, started at 205 on January 29th. I work outside the home 5 days a week.

I ordered some new pants in January. I knew I had put on some weight, so I ordered a size that I was bummed about but thought would the right size. Turns out, I could BARELY get them on.

The next day, I downloaded Lose It to start tracking my caloric intake. I am religious about logging every bite or overestimating calories if I eat out and can’t log the meal.

I bought a scale. I am logging my weight 4+ times a week. I had not weighed myself in a year; I put on 20 pounds.

I am riding my Peloton daily.

As of today, I am 199.6 pounds. It’s still a huge number. I’m working on it. My goal is 155. My app says I’ll be there next January.

That’s really amazing. I have been loath to count calories for a variety of reasons but it clearly works. Go you!

Thanks! Counting calories is a lot easier than it was for me a decade ago when I tried. The databases are better, you can scan barcodes to see if a food is in the database. If I don’t find exactly what I’m eating, I choose one of the higher calorie substitutes. Lose It has a badge for foods that have verified nutrition facts.

I haven’t been under my target every day, but as long as I’m more under than over, I think that’s okay.

Another 19 days later and I’m down to 197.5 (7.5 down from my highest weight). This is so slow, but I think it’s better to take it moderately and keep myself sane so I don’t binge. I haven’t cut out my morning bacon habit, but I am mostly eating salads with chicken breast for lunch.

Peloton is no quite happening everyday, but I haven ridden 145 miles so far in March. I wish I could WFH so I could get a ride in every day, but I think I’m doing okay overall.