Unwrap the fat..lose 20+ pounds by Christmas

I think there is another group but it is closed...so I thought I'd start a new one. It really helps me to have some sort of accountability to a group when I want to lose weight. Even if its not really a competition, having others in the same boat helps me to keep going. Hey, I don't want to be the only one in the group who doesn't lose weight! This helps motivate me. Here is what I am thinking:

1. Weekly weigh in on Fridays.
2. Exercise at least 3 times a week. Post to let us know what you do, how long you do it, how you'd like to improve etc...
3. Keep track of your calories whichever way is best for you.
4. Have a reward picked out for your success at the end of the Challenge
5. BEGIN:Friday October 10, END: December Friday December 19th (10 weeks)

I'd like to keep the group not too large, that way we can really get to know each other and motivate each other. So, I will close it at around fifteen people or so. I know some people tend to drop out, so if we keep the group small enough, maybe we can help everyone make it to the end and reach our goal!

Together, I hope we can make it thru the Holidays. This can be such a challenging time to lose weight. With some support, and some structure, and some motivation.....I think that we can do this!

If you are interested....Post your introduction. Please include your current weight and your calorie target. Also, please post a little about yourself. I'll make a new post and go first!

Hey everyone! Sorry I didn't post on friday...or saturday :( But, I bought a scale today, and weighed myself ad am 142.5 this morning. Not too bad, for about 2 weeks of working on it! I had a bad week, too- working 9 hours left me tired and ravenous, so I ate a ton and only lifted twice this week--thank goodness I play soccer 3 nights, or I wouldn't do anything!! I did go hiking yesterday tho, maybe that helped.

Next weekend I am going to a wedding...Oh boy, I want to look good, but also, I plan on kinda going nuts. I haven't been drinking beer or eating anything too bad for me (Ok I had ice cream twice...) so I planned for this one day to be my crazy day for the month.

Do you guys think that maybe picking one day a month to go crazy is a good idea? Like, for November I would choose thanksgiving, cause hello! and then for Dec. maybe x-mas...This way you can tell you yourself, wait until thanksgiving for that dessert or something? I dunno, what do you guys do cheat wise??

Treenut - I don't really "cheat". I mean, yesterday, I had a starbucks salted caramel signature hot chocolate with whipped cream, but I don't consider it a cheat. Why? I ordered a super small, and budgeted half of the calories out of my normal daily allowance, and worked out longer that night to take off the rest. So its not cheating if you've made up for it!

If you budget for it in your calories, its not cheating. I don't ever count calories on Holidays like Christams or Thanksgiving. However, I will try to budget the Christmas Cookies this year! I have trouble counting the calories on the weekends. We did a hike with the kids for an hour today, so that was some good exercise. I carried the baby in her carrier. My back was killing me!

I wish I was not a stress eater. Obviously, food is somewhat of an issue with me or else I would be thin. It started with my pregnancy, which was super stressfull and emotional. I used food for comfort and now I am stuck with the bad habit. I need to do this, you guys. I hate looking in the mirror. My baby is six months old and I still fit perfectly into my maternity clothes! I need to kick it up a notch and count calories during the weekends and not let myself go. Ah well. Each day is a new day.

It's hard to count on the weekends, definitely! Especially if you go out to eat and the food isn't on the list here.I guess that goes for eating out in general. But on the weekends for me at least, I just tend to let it go...plus I don't love doing this whole dieting thing in front of my boyfriend, I don't know why!

Thanks for the responses on cheating! That is a good way to look at it, other wise it feels like deprivation

Lulu - I still emotional eat sometimes, its hard not to. But I've found that my food of choice has changed. I used to eat whole bags of chips, containers of ice cream, etc, just because it "felt good". Now, I go for things like a serving of sugrafree toasted coconut, an oz of white cheddar cheese (full fat and creamy - less than 100 cals, but melts in your mouth and makes you feel yummy), a serving of multigrain cheerios... Still comforting, and because its either a lot (1 cup of cheerios, if you eat them like a toddler, one by one, is a lot of food) or filling (coconut oils are seriously filling) or rich (After eating an oz of white cheddar, my taste buds are done for the night!)

Treenut - I think its a chick thing. We want people to notice that we've lost weight and look a whole lot better, but we don't want people to see the effort that's put into it. And most guys fall into two categories...

1. The supportive boyfriend who gets all gung ho about your efforts... He never wants to take you out to eat anymore, constantly asks about your exercise regimen, and starts to seem more interested in your weight loss than you are.

2. The boyfriend who doesn't understand it and constantly asks you if you eat pizza/mcdonalds/cookies...

The one thing I'll add to the "budgeting calories" idea is that you have to make sure you're not spending your whole budget on unhealthy items. I mean, if you eat 1400 cals a day with a good defecit and plan to have that all be in doritos, you may still lose weight (because of the calorie defecit) but you won't be as healthy because... well, all you're eating are powdered cheese and carbs.

Novi, so true, so true! We need to eat mostly healthy and budget in a few treats so we don't feel deprived or too much on a "diet", instead of just eating crap. And I agree with what you said about the choice of comfort foods. I have stocked up on sugar free pudding snacks (60 cal) and jello.

Lulu - Keep your eye on the pudding snacks. The sugar free jello puddings that I've seen (The pre-made, refrigerated ones, not the boxed mix) are made with hydrogenated oils.

Advice? Every year its sorta a tradition that my family (the adult members, no kiddies) go out to eat at a very nice, somewhat expensive restaurant downtown. There would be absolutely no way for me to figure out calories for any of the dishes, and since its tuscan, there's lots of oil being used (the onions are carmelized, lots of oil-based sauces, etc). I'm almost sure that a dish from there would wreck me for a day. So, should I...

1. Eat a bowl of mixed greens while everybody else eats good food; be miserable.

2. Tell my diabetes AND my calorie counting to STFU for the day and narf down this whole bowl of pasta in oil sauce - try to work out later that night to get rid of it.

3. Get a small bowl of mixed greens, eat that, then only eat half of my pasta, and take the rest home for another day.

I like the 3rd option. Compromise. Eat the greens, still enjoy some of the pasta, and don't stress about it. Sounds good to me. I do not have diabetes though, so I am not sure exactly how that works. You probably need to be more careful, I suppose, in your sugar choices? Is it carbs as well? That might rule out option number 2!

Yeah, its carbs too. Eating too many carbs for me results in a horrible dehabilitating headache, which quite often can make indulging not even worth the hassle.

Hey everybody, sorry I haven't checked in.......I actually had "pink eye" and a cold on top of that.  My daughter's school had a break out.  My daughter did not catch it, but I did.  Go figure.  As of today, I am at 134.  I think that's about 1 pound up from last week, but I couldn't work out as of last Thursday so I think I did pretty good.  I'm cleared to go back to work tomorrow.  Finally, I was getting stir crazy!!!!!  I got to find the time to catch up on everyone's posts!!!!!!  I'll be better.........

We are leaving for Vermont on Wednesday, so I won't be able to weigh in this friday. My sister might have a scale, but I don't know if it is calibrated the same as mine. I think its best to stick to the same scale. I am going to try to pack healthy snacks so we are not stuck eating fast food the whole drive down. We are splittling it up into two days because I don't think I could stand going the whole way straight thru with the kids. We are going to take the laptop, so I will probably be able to check in here and there. Have a good week!

Lulu- Good luck in VT! Luna bars are amazing for travelling snacks--apples, almonds, and bananas travel well too, and are pretty filling for the calorie content.

Novi- I think you're totally right about what you eat and how much. I love doritos, but don't eat them on the reg like I used to. Going out to eat I always get a salad, ya know, they say people who eat salads eat less---Well, I don't. I actually think if I skipped the salad I would save those calories. I pretty much tell myself how much I can eat and stop when I am there when I go out. My problem is not stopping when I hit the full mark at home. Especially after a long work day!

Well, I must have had the stomach flu or something because yesterday, all I pretty much did was throw up. I only had about 400 cal that actually stayed down and that was breakfast. This morning I woke up weighed myself, I was 130. Down 4 pounds. I drank a LOT of water because i assumed I was dehydrated. Scale went up only to 131.

As glad as I am for the weight loss, yesterday was no picnic in the park and the weight loss probably won't last. It's weird because today I don't have much of an appetite. I've just been craving water. I don't know if it was food poisoning or what, but I feel fine today and my food is staying down.  Has anyone experienced this before where they were so sick one day and fine the next?

Treenut - I know how that is. If you go out to eat, you're served a portion of food. Once you eat it, there is no more food unless you order it, pay, wait for it to be prepared and brought out, etc. At home, all you have to do is walk to the kitchen!  

Melika - I had a stomach flu like that once? A day of rest, relaxation, and cartoons helped. But I wasn't watching my weight then, so I don't know how it fluctuated.  

Le sigh, and the bad part of weight loss begins... My belly fat is coming off in uneven patterns and it looks really gross... worse than being fat did. Can't wait for it to all go away!

Guys, I can see Friday from here:) Hope everyone's doing well and on track...

Hi Everyone,

I won't be around tomorrow so I'm posting my weight now. I'm 194 a whole pound down from last week. Hope you all have a good weekend.

Well, my weight this morning was 132, down 2 pounds, but I think i have lost muscle. I must be honest, I've totally fallen off the wagon. Not only have I been eating ****, but also I've totally abandoned my work out routine. I was working out A LOT and gained major muscle, but lost no weight. This discouraged me and i gave up.

This morning I've started off well with a healthy breakfast, and I hope to go to the gym tonight or do a video. I haven't worked out in 2 weeks!! :( I was doing so well for a month or so. I don't know what happened. I've had fun cheating, but time to turn back around again. I miss when I was so dedicated to losing weight, although I was a bit obsessive.

Well, good luck in your weigh-ins all!

I'm at 217.2... Only .8 of a pound? Horrible. And I honestly have no clue what I did wrong to not lose more. I think I'll try to shake up my diet a little, see if things change?

Melika - Losing weight is good, but I know what you mean about not wanting to lose muscle. I wouldn't want to look all scary and bodybuilder-ish, but lean muscle is much more attractive than just being skinny.

I'm still hanging around the 138-140's, despite going to the gym everyday for the past week. Still trying to get to 135 for my birthday next Friday. My clothes feel bigger than they used it, so I'm hoping that counts for something...