Lose 30 Pounds By Christmas

Or if you don't celebrate, lose 30 pounds by December 25th.

I'm starting a weight loss club for people who wanna lose 30 pounds to look good around the holidays. It's a time of year when you're around family much more often, and see many people that only come around once a year. Wouldn't it be great to shock them this year with your new body?

We will have weekly weigh-ins to keep track of everyone's progress. And with everyone's support and encouragement in this group from their peers, we should all feel more motivated to reach our goals.

When joining this group, please post a little bit about yourself, your strengths, weaknesses and your expectations, so we can all get to know each other a little better.

WHO'S WITH ME?  :)

I'm with ya, and always have been!  My name's Patrick, started dieting around 2 years ago with Nutrisystem. I was 311 poounds and dropped to 255. I started doing heavy weight lifting and running to maximize my weight loss. I did bulk up in muscle and my wieght fluctuates now. I gotta see what I'm doing wrong. I still eat right and before 8pm.

But glad to be aboard!

@tyrdrop: Thanks a bunch for your congrats! It does feel pretty good to be out of the 120s! *happy dance*

@deloughy: Yeah, sadly it's usually how it goes. People sign up in the beggning for a bunch of different challenges and then only stick to a few, or then they forget about certain challenges because they forgot to tag them orrr..they found another challenge that suits them.  Like, a lot of times people start strong and start to wean off at the end. Why are hydrant kicks? That sounds kinda intense.

Happy Veteran's Day Everyone!

Pat,

Hi!!! :D First off, I used to diet for years and I never lost weight. I thought I was eating right and eating healthy. But I wasn't. I thought if I eliminated the majority of bread I'd be okay. That didn't work. I thought if I started eating clean, that would work. It didn't. Though I felt healthier, I didn't lose any weight. Why? Because I eat like a fattie, that's why. I'd eat six times the normal serving size. I'd eat salads with a ton of dressing. I'd eat a ton of chicken and egg salad and thought since I cut out the bread it was okay. 

Turns out even though I was eating healthy foods, I was eating around 3,500 calories a day. I have an insatiable appetite. I finally learned how to control it (somewhat). All you need to do is count calories. You can eat whatever you want, and still lose weight. It's sooooo simple. All you need to do is figure out how many calories you burn in a single day, and consume 500-1000 less than that. And if you want an extra boost, I can email you an ebook that will double or even triple your results~!

So welcome aboard! :D

Jenn,

Thanks! I gotta figure out the system here. so whatever I eat I should subtract that many calories from the exercises I do? So say I eat 2100 calories but I exercise and burn 1200 calories...so my net calorie intake would be 900 calories? Either thats really bad or really good haha!

All you have to do is go to the tools button on your home page and check out calorie target and enter your info accurately. It will tell you exactly how many calories you need to take in per day. Here is how it works for me to give you an example:

One a typical day, which includes two hours of moderate exercise, I burn 2300 calories.

My calorie target is 1345 calories per day.

That leaves me with a deficit of 955 calories. That's 955 calories LESS. For every 3500 calories you burn, you lose one pound. So if I am depriving my body of 955 calories a day, it'd take me about five and a half days to lose one pound (once I deprived my body of an overall 3500 calories). Follow it?

Now I'm losing about five to six pounds a week because I am limiting carbs. But this diet does not last long because your body cannot survive if you don't fuel it with the energy it needs!

Week 10: (Oct 24) 133
Week 11: (Oct 31) 130
Week 12: (Nov 7) 132
Week 13: (Nov 14)129
Week 14: (Nov 21)
Week 15: (Nov 28)
Week 16: (Dec 5)
Week 17: (Dec 12)
Week 18: (Dec 19)
Final Week: (Dec 26)

whoooO!!! I'm back in the 120's!!!! Finally!!! sooo happy

Original Post by jennlett:

@deloughy: What are hydrant kicks? That sounds kinda intense.

Jennlett, pretend you were to walk around on your hands and knees. Keep your knees shoulder-width apart and keep your hands pressed flat against the floor directly in line with your shoulders. Take your right leg and lift it up at a 90* angle and lower is back down. Do it about 20 times, then switch to the other leg.

This exercise sculpts the muscles in your glutes and helps tone your butt. :)

Original Post by deloughy:

Well, I guess it just gives us the chance to get to know each other better!  :)

 hi deloughy,  i must reply to this conversation....every week i enter my weight loss or gain, and i always write a little blurb for the page...2 weeks ago i  asked for some help pertaining to a struggle  i was going through, and i heard absolutely nothing...i have been in this group since it started... it is always the same peple talking to the same people..some of us do try to communicate but it hasn't worked. I just decided to continue on my journey on my own....i will succeed either way...and i still enjoy reading your entries, and i wish you all the best for your journey, and for the holiday season....

Tracy,

I'm sorry you feel that way, but I did not think you were looking for a personal reply. I gave general advice when I got back from my vacation that addressed the groups' needs as a whole - "How can I stop overeating, how can I be motivated to work out again, what should I do if I gained weight," etc. etc. When I got back from vacation, there were over 50 posts of people asking for advice. I couldn't reply to three weeks' worth of questions individually! :p

I do try to reply to everyone when I can. If you are looking for a response from me on something and I don't get back to you, you can always email me. I have posted my email, IM and Facebook pages on here so people who are looking for a little extra advice, or just want someone to talk to, can do so outside the forum. Several people have contacted me already; it's the best way to get my attention because there can be so many posts in the group. 

Aside from all that, according to the post you were referring to, it sounds like you have a sweet tooth. So do I. I often find myself unable to stop eating candy, ice cream, cakes, cookies, brownies, etc. :) I actually keep a ton of candy in the house now, and I hardly eat any of it. I know I have a problem - so what I did is I bought bags of candy where the pieces are small and individually wrapped - i.e. hershey kisses, reese's miniatures - and when I am craving something, I take one just to satisfy my craving. Once I have that taste in my mouth, I don't need to keep feeding it. 

If I am still craving candy after that, I simply remind myself that it's not worth it. I look at all the weight I've lost and tell myself all my hard work will come undone if I eat this. It actually works for any type of food you want that you think will be detrimental to your dieting success. 

Also, if you are looking for a jump-start at losing those extra four pounds, try (if you can) limiting your carb intake to 20 grams a day - but ONLY for a week. After that, start your diet from where you left off before you gained the four pounds. 

I'd like very much for you to stay, but if you don't, I'll understand.

Here's my weigh in, the same as last time. 

HW: 140lbs

SW: 128lbs

Lose 30 Pounds By Christmas

Start weight (Aug 22): 128lbs

GOAL: 113lbs

• WEEK 0 (Aug 25): 128lbs
  
• FIRST weigh-in (Sept1): 126lbs
  
• Week 2 (Sept 8): 125lbs
  
• Week 3 Sept 15): 123lbs
  
• Week 4 (Sept 22): 121lbs
  
• Week 5 (Sept 29): 123lbs
  
• Week 6 (Oct 6): 121lbs
  
• Week 7 (Oct 13): 118lbs
  
• Week 8 (Oct 20): 118lbs
  
• Week 9 (Oct 27): 119lbs
  
• Week 10: (Nov 3): 121lbs
  
• Week 11 (Nov 10): 116lbs
  
• Week 12 (Nov 17): 116lbs
  
• Week 13 (Nov 24):
• Week 14 (Dec 1):
• Week 15 (Dec 8):
• Week 16 (Dec 15):
• Week 17 LAST Weigh in (Dec 22):
  

Total Weight Loss: 12lbs

@deloughy: :P I can totally relate to ya on the eating a lot!! I eat healthy but eat a lot sometimes! I'm still working on my portion control/appetite.  I'm always learning from mistakes and trying new things.  So I hope we both continue to do this and see what works for ourselves. ANDDD I totally know what hydrant kicks are, lol! The name totally fits the exercise, hehe.  But yeah, doing a lot of them hurtt!

@tracy: I'm sorry, I don't want you to feel excluded at all!! Sometimes I get absentminded and pass over posts thinking I've replied and read them already. How are you doing right now?

@gurl: Congrats!! Woo woo!

Welcome aboard Patrick!!

Start weight on CC (March 13, 2008) 230

Starting weight (this challenge): 194
GOAL (for this challenge): 175

• FIRST weigh-in (Sept1): 194
• Week 2 (Sept 8): 192.5
• Week 3 Sept 15): 192 
• Week 4 (Sept 22): 192.5
• Week 5 (Sept 29): 191.5
• Week 6 (Oct 5): 189.5
• Week 7 (Oct 12): 186.75
• Week 8 (Oct 19): 185.5
• Week 9 (Oct 26): 186.5
• Week 10: (Nov 2): 185.25
• Week 11 (Nov 9): 184.5
• Week 12 (Nov 16): 183.25
• Week 13 (Nov 23):
• Week 14 (Nov 30):
• Week 15 (Dec 7):
• Week 16 (Dec 14):
• Week 17 LAST Weigh in (Dec 21):
• Total Weight Loss: -10.75

Wow, great new pick deloughy! I'm up to 159.0 (from 158) but I'm not overly concerned, considering ohw much crap I ate last week.

Lose 30 Pounds By Christmas

Start weight (Aug 26) 215

GOAL: 185

• WEEK 0 (Aug 25): 215.6
  
• FIRST weigh-in (Sept1): 216
  
• Week 2 (Sept 8): 215
  
• Week 3 Sept 15): 212.8
  
• Week 4 (Sept 22): 213.2
  
• Week 5 (Sept 29): 212.2
  
• Week 6 (Oct 6): 211.8
  
• Week 7 (Oct 13): 210.4
  
• Week 8 (Oct 20): 211.2
  
• Week 9 (Oct 27): 209.6
  
• Week 10: (Nov 3): 211.0
  
• Week 11 (Nov 10): 209.8
  
• Week 12 (Nov 17): 209.0
  
• Week 13 (Nov 24):
• Week 14 (Dec 1):
• Week 15 (Dec 8):
• Week 16 (Dec 15):
• Week 17 LAST Weigh in (Dec 22):
  

Total Weight Loss:-6

Life has been getting in the way but I'm still trying.

ETA: I've been getting overwhelmed by household chores - just never seem to be able to keep up while working full time- and the kitchen always seems to be the worst.  If it's messy then I don't want to clean just to have dishes to dirty again to make dinner.  That's when I start looking for quick fixes or eating out.

On Monday I discovered that our basement had flooded so my husband and I just grabbed a pizza so we could spend the rest of the night (and Tuesday) on going through whatever was damaged by the flood.  I've still got laundry to do tonight (I had multiple piles and baskets on the floor ready to do this week).

My cat (almost 20 years old) has been in declining health since Labor Day and that is taking a huge toll on me emotionally.

Somehow I need to find the strength to overcome all that life is throwing at me.

Start weight (Aug 26) 283

GOAL: 253

• FIRST Week (Sept1): 278
• Week 2 (Sept 8): 277
• Week 3 (Sept 15): 275.5
• Week 4 (Sept 22): 275
• Week 5 (Sept 29): 276.5
• Week 6 (Oct 6): 272.5
• Week 7 (Oct 13): 272.0
• Week 8 (Oct 20):  271.7
• Week 9 (Oct 27): 271.9
• Week 10 (Nov 3): 270.0 
• Week 11 (Nov 10): 269.0
• Week 12 (Nov 17):  268.5
• Week 13 (Nov 24):
• Week 14 (Dec 1):
• Week 15 (Dec 8):
• Week 16 (Dec 15):
• LAST Week (Dec 22):

Total Weight Loss: 14.5 lbs

Punkrockriot - Congratulations! Keep up the good work! Any tips or advice you would like to give the rest of the group to motivate everyone? :)

Chaotickitty - Sorry to hear of your troubles! I was never a cat person, but two years ago I had a tiny little stray kitten that kept following me around, so I kept him. Now I'm in love with him. I don't know what I would do if I ever lost him. I will keep you and your family in my prayers. :)

Some "Positive" Thinking:

As many of you know by now, I have the tendency to overeat - A LOT. When I went out to eat back in my fat days, I would order an appetizer that serves three-to-four people, a meal that fed four people, and a dessert that fed two-to-three. I would eat them all on my own. Forty-pounds later and I realized I was a pretty big moron, murdering my good health with excessive amounts of fat and sugar. Now it's a pain to lose all this weight. I've got almost 15 pounds down - but can I lose another 20? Maybe even 30? Here are some things I say to myself and do when I am thinking about straying from my good habits:

• My pants are torn because I am too big to fit into them. No, I won't just keep buying bigger pairs, because before I know it, I'll be a size 14. I'll keep these until I lose enough weight to buy a smaller size. The more uncomfortable I am with my clothes fitting on me, the more driven I am to lose weight, and the more I realize how bad my weight really is.
• Don't ever say, "I'm not that bad," because I AM that bad! That's how I got here in the first place! Make it very bad to be where I am! By saying, "Oh, I'm not that bad," I am ignoring the severity of the problem, and that is why many people stay where they are.
• I eat like a pig. No, I'm not going to sugar-coat it or use a better animal as a reference to describe my eating habits. I'm going to see it for what it really is, and only a pig would eat this much food.
• Every day, I see my goal date on here get pushed further and further back. I never see it go down. I lose a bunch of weight, then gain some, then lose some, then gain some. At this rate, my goal weight will be unattainable.
• Don't let friends bring you down! I look at my friends who are overweight and I look at their eating habits. They go out to TGI Friday's every other night and eat a big deep-fried meal at 10:30 at night, then go straight to bed after. When they ask me to go with them, I either tell them I can't, or I go and I drink a water. It's really not that difficult to just say no. Just. Say. No.
• DON'T LOWER YOUR STANDARDS to make it easier to accept where you are.
• My clothes don't make me look fat. I make me look fat. It has nothing to do with what I'm wearing. If I lost weight, I'd be happy with anything I am wearing.
• I want to date someone who cares about what they look like, and takes care of their body properly. If I continue to neglect my body's health, I will find someone who also neglects theirs.
• I don't want my husband/fiancee/boyfriend finding other people more attractive and desirable than me.
• I don't feel like going to the gym today. Wait, I can't start that nonsense, because then it will become a habit and I'll get comfortable with not going anymore.

Trust me, it works. I'm not saying degrade yourself at every chance you get - but if you change your perspective on things - the perspective that very well may have led you to being overweight today - you may find new insight and gain more willpower to follow through and reach your goals. :)

1. Hey, I just felt like coming back on here.  I already lost 30 pounds, and am actually now up to -38 pounds.  I don't know.  Old rituals do die hard, I guess.  I'm at 212 when I started at 250.  I probably have about 30 to 40 more pounds to lose, but it's not really all that hard to do.  I find that since I've kept myself pretty active with my two jobs, I don't really overeat all that much, and when I do eat something, it's generally a small amount and it's fresh, you know, enough to be satisfied.  I guess a diet is really just that, a diet, and I need to keep track of what I'm doing.

• Although, my body is weird, and I didn't truly start losing weight easily until I went a week eating 20g of carbs or less.  That was able to make my body deplete its glycogen stores and go straight to fat for the fuel source.  That was when I noticed I was actually losing weight by the golden rule of burning more calories than consumed.  I wouldn't recommend anyone doing this more than once every 3 months though because it's pretty brutal and it's HARD to go a week like that.  But after that week, you can pretty much relax a little bit and try to avoid starches the best you can.

1. But see, my body is weird and the thing that makes me lose weight is eating a lot for a few days and generally being really lax in what I'm taking in.  Then the next time I have to go to both jobs, I'll usually not have time to eat enough, and I'll eat some chicken and broccoli for dinner and oatmeal for breakfast.  Then I'll drop all the weight I gained from eating poorly, plus a pound or two more.  Seems to work every time.  I am down to 212 pounds after all.

• WEEK 0 (Aug 24): 169.5
• Week 1 (Aug 31): 167
• Week 2 (Sept 7): 169
• Week 3 (Sept 14): 166.5
• Week 4 Sept 21): ?
• Week 5 (Sept 28): 165.0
• Week 6 (Oct 5): 164.0
• Week 7 (Oct 12): 163.0
• Week 8 (Oct 19): 160
• Week 9 (Oct 26): 162
• Week 10 (Nov 2): 160
• Week 11: (Nov 9): 158.0
• Week 12 (Nov 16): 159.0
• Week 13 (Nov 23): 159.0
• Week 14 (Nov 30):
• Week 15 (Dec 7):
• Week 16 (Dec 14):
• Week 17 (Dec 21):

Total Loss: 10.5 pounds

posthumanfetus- my only concern with the way that you are eating is that when you drop weight, it might not be fat mass, but rather muscle mass tends to be the first to go when you limit your calories to a great extent like that. Just something to watch out for....

I'm not too disappointed that I'm staying at 159, mostly because I have been having a hard time staying motivated, and have eaten at or a little above maintenance almost all week, even though every day I have the intention of eating less.

However, swim practices are picking up and I'm going to my aunt's house for a few days.  They are a skinny family and its because of what they eat and how they eat.  I tend to mimic things like that, so hopefully, even though its thanksgiving, I'll either lose some or stay the same...

Didn't log in last week because I have been afraid to step on the scale.  I overate more than I'd like to, and did not count cals this week.  Only 1 month left and i need to lose 8 lbs. After that I want to lose 7-12 lbs to reach my ultimate goal of 135-140. I'm glad to see so many hanging in there.  Good luck this week with all the food we are to be bumbarded with!  Anyone have any plans on how to get through Thanksgiving without over doing it or will you just eat and not worry about it? 

SW 177

CW 155

GW 147

My plan is this:

Eat a good, hearty meal at thanksgiving.  Go for lots of veggies, turkey, gravy, mashed potatos, and limit myself to one piece of pie!  I'm staying at my aunt and uncle's for thanksgiving, and their theory is thus: skimp on breakfast to save room for turkey, and afterwards, you're so full, that for dinner (thanksgiving = around 1 pm) just have a small turkey sandwich

(sandwich = around 300-400 calories, plus breakfast at about 200 calories = 600 calories for non-thanksgiving food, so depending on your consumption, you get at least 1000 for thanksgiving. I try to eat around 2000 calories per day so that'd leave me with 1400 calories for turkey + pie, etc.  Its quite hard to eat good, healthy food in one sitting that's equal to 1400 calories.... although pie is not healthy, pretty much everything else is...)