ASOIAF Weight Loss Challenge

[smegma]

So I just found out that I may have a gluten intolerance. This is going to drastically change my diet. I have to give it two weeks with no gluten at all and then my doctor wants to see how I react. She thinks that part of the reason that my thyroid is not reacting right with my medicine is that gluten resembles thyroid cells and that my immune system is attacking them. We'll see. If it's going to make me able to lose weight and stop losing hair, I'm willing to try anything.

Oh and I AM down 3 pounds, but it may be a cycle fluctuation or due to getting off the pill. But I'm trying to be more active too. Going for a swim later today.

[BlueRose]

I had a pretty active weekend, I took some small dogs to a beach with a friend, walked to the grocery store twice, and was just generally out and about a lot more than normal. And then, I smashed my toe badly on a door, so the gym will have to be delayed another day or two.

I've been surprised how easy it was to give up sugary juice and drink way more water. Also, I need to get a scale so I can see if I make any progress. Maybe a soft measuring tape too!

Edit: I guess its a new week, but I'm sticking with the 'gym twice a week' tweak since I havent really started it yet.

[cjfshaw]

Yes, form is important! You don't want to hurt yourself so that you can't work out at all. Where do you work out? Is there a trainer that you could ask?

My school gym, and surprisingly, no there is no trainer. It would probably be a good addition to the gym though, moreso than the useless rock climbing wall and attendant for said rock climbing wall.

[Jaxom 1974]

Just reporting that, despite four days in Ohio visiting the in-laws (including a trip to the Great American ballpark for a ballgame and all that goes with that), I've neither lost or gained any weight in the last week. So that's something, eh?

[Zoë Sumra]

My school gym, and surprisingly, no there is no trainer. It would probably be a good addition to the gym though, moreso than the useless rock climbing wall and attendant for said rock climbing wall.

Is it practical for you to make a one-off visit to another gym with a trainer who could check your form?

[QuietColours]

Down about a half pound from last week. Which, considering I still ate a considerable amount of sweets (just after the good stuff), I can live with. I'll work on cutting down on the sweets consumption after the move. I'll see if I can keep up the fruit/vegetable consumption this week--we're more or less living off frozen dinners (yuck!) at this point, as all the dishes, pots and pans, and storage containers are packed.

My tweak for this week is to do ten minutes of core strength training and ten minutes of stretching a day. I'll build on that foundation for exercise when I'm in a better position to start a real routine.

[cjfshaw]

Is it practical for you to make a one-off visit to another gym with a trainer who could check your form?

Do gyms usually have trainers that are just there to help the clientelle? I mean I've only ever really used my college gym so I'm not sure what the deal is with trainers.

[delete this account pls]

For me, I'm going to keep on truckin'. My new tweaks are to add a set of push-ups and sit-ups and take a day off exercising sometime this week to give my poor ageing muscles a rest. I might try and cut back on the spreadable deliciousness that is peanut butter as well.

[Kymeera]

My next tweak is cutting down on after dinner snacks on weekdays (weekends as well if I'm feeling up to it). I'm not sure if it's true that all that late night food gets packed away as fat, but it can't hurt. My late night snacks tend to be really fatty foods, so I'm expecting good results.

Also, here's some more evidence that this thread is helping. As I spent all morning and part of the afternoon trying to deal with a flat tire that quickly turned into a comedy of errors, my silver lining was that it killed my appetite for the day and I couldn't wait to post about it.

[Commodore]

I've lost 20 lbs in 3 months, simply by limiting my calories to 1500 per day, not changing what I eat, just how much. I never thought I would have the will power and it sucked at first, but eventually I just got used to a certain level of hunger, it felt normal.

I'm 180 at the moment, hoping to lose 30 more.

[Angalin]

If you really feel like you need another week to adjust to your previous week's tweak, and can't imagine making anymore changes in your lifestyle at the moment, then just explain that in a post. Let’s say everyone gets two of these catch up weeks in the Challenge to be used at will. You don't have to use your catch up weeks, if you don't feel you need them. But change is hard, and some people here are making big changes, I want to support that. :) But you still need to do updates!

I still need to work on going to bed earlier and drinking more water - not much success at either - and will add eating more fruit & veg for the next week, inspired by Mashiara. :)

I know that this can get old, but one of the best strategies is Subway, both from a health perspective and a financial perspective.

I like Subway, and they even have kids' meals now which are sandwiches about 4", a juice (could be better, could be worse) and a fruit snack which has 23 ingredients, including tartrazine, and only one ingredient is fruit-related. As a company, they're now on my list to harass, because it wouldn't take much to make that snack healthier and would fit their overall Subway=healthy eating message much better.

[lokisnow]

one weekend is all it takes to undo progress. ;) though I do know the number on the scale isn't real and it didn't fret me (though it did surprise me), I'm interested in seeing what it says for tomorrows weigh ins.

Things this weekend I did wrong:

1. not enough water (while walking around DLand/Cali Adv too, so I needed more than usual and drank less than usual)

2. Margarita + Corona + chips + fish taco plate w/rice and beans (though to be fair this was more or less my only meal on Saturday).

3. drinking an Old Fashioned at the bar Saturday followed up by a trip to the gelato place.

4. Cookie Sunday at church, Brownie sunday at Dland, Bacon Cheeseburger at Dland and a few sips of my girlfriends various softdrinks at Dland lunch

5. 3 course meal + pint of hefe at California Adventure. So much dessert om nom nom. and I ate all the mashed potatos, and at least half the bread basket.

But hey, how often do you go to Disneyland anyway? But still, four drinks, a lot of unhealthy food, and more carbs than I've eaten in the last seven days combined added up to a very bad weekend.

but I don't know if going from 206.0 on Friday morning to 212.4 on Monday morning was worth it. we'll see how the weight shakes out tomorrow morning after I've rehydrated today and got in a cardio session after work.

[delete this account pls]

I've lost 20 lbs in 3 months, simply by limiting my calories to 1500 per day, not changing what I eat, just how much. I never thought I would have the will power and it sucked at first, but eventually I just got used to a certain level of hunger, it felt normal.

I'm 180 at the moment, hoping to lose 30 more.

Nice work, dude :thumbsup:

It sounds like it's working for you, but I was thinking, if you were willing to change what you eat just a little, I think you could easily work it so that your still not exceeding the 1500 calories, and not being hungry all the time.

[Zoë Sumra]

Do gyms usually have trainers that are just there to help the clientelle? I mean I've only ever really used my college gym so I'm not sure what the deal is with trainers.

Dunno about the general range of gyms. At my gym I could sign you in as a guest and as a separate issue pre-book you a half-hour or hour-long session with a self-employed trainer based out of the gym - the trainers are not gym employees. Arranging a training session might be more hit-and-miss if you signed in yourself on a day pass (but the latter is easy) as it would depend on whether a trainer had a spare session slot available on the day. It should be possible to contact a trainer and book a session in advance of signing yourself in for a day, though.

[Seventh Pup]

For me, I'm going to keep on truckin'. My new tweaks are to add a set of push-ups and sit-ups and take a day off exercising sometime this week to give my poor ageing muscles a rest. I might try and cut back on the spreadable deliciousness that is peanut butter as well.

Brady this is a great example of a tweak of a tweak. You get a gold star. You tried something that didn't work out for your body. You explained why it did work, but then came up with an alterative; you didn't just abandon it; you are obviously taking this seriously. This is exactly what I'm hoping people will do if a change just doesn't work for them, and they can't foresee themselves handling it for 12 weeks, (and 84 straight running a huge commitment, and I’m not sure it is actually good for your body). Good job Brady you are quite a Crocodile Dundee if you don't mind me saying.

Can I make your reducing spreadables your second week tweak?

I weighed 155.3, so I am down exactly 3 lbs. Yeah for a strong start! I realize that next week will probably not be as big of a weight loss, but I am slowly inching my way down. I admit I can't weight to get under 150. At my height 150 is the official line between normal weight, and overweight so that is my first big goal. Next week will probably be slower. But such is life. I am very pleased with myself. :smug:

[delete this account pls]

Can I make your reducing spreadables your second week tweak?

Yep, definitely.

And great job, by the way :)

[lady narcissa]

Nice to see such good results with people in this thread from their first week!

If yesterday was any indication, this second week is going to be a long hard week for me. My stomach spent all day trying to convince me it was absolutely starving and that the world would end if it didn't get more food ASAP. This was silly because it got sufficient food so it was all in my mind. But it was really distracting and I ended up caving a tiny bit and having four pretzels and a juice in the afternoon.

I also had work commitments last night and again tonight which are interfering with exercise time. I hope things clear up by Wednesday so this week can be salvaged.

[Callum]

Good to hear about everyone's success. I improved a little, but not as much as I would have liked. My tweaks will be the same, in addition to push ups and sit ups each night. Hopefully. :P

[Seventh Pup]

I also had work commitments last night and again tonight which are interfering with exercise time. I hope things clear up by Wednesday so this week can be salvaged.

Lady N I love your commitment. I love that you are looking ahead and seeing obstacles then planning for how to compensate for that. I love that you are letting a difficult start turn into a disheartening week. It's wonderful when we can be inspired by those around us; and you my friend just really inspired me. :bowdown:

[Phoenix]

You guys are all so impressive! And I'm envious of your results! I finally got this week's weigh-in done (it should have been Sunday, but we got back fairly late from our various adventures) and I basically didn't change. Scale says down 0.2 lbs. However, my work pants felt a bit looser yesterday morning, so my body is certainly changing. I'm hoping to see better results this week, I'm hoping my body starts to catch up with the adjustments I have made. Otherwise, I will have to take a more aggressive approach.

I was feeling pretty disheartened after getting off the scale. But I did my Wii Fit workout, and found it really helped my mood, and the deep stretching felt terrific.

I just keep repeating to myself not to lose heart and that I will see results.

Thanks for giving me a place to share this experience. Keep up the amazing work, all, you make me stay dedicated!