Hey there, SubC. I did mean under 200. Major typo there! I'm getting closer to my goal of being under 200. I'm up to walking 2 miles each time I get on the treadmill which is helping the stubborn pounds come off. My goal is to walk most days of the week, but I know that my body will sometimes not allow that. I'm ok with that, as I know my limits. I know I probably shouldn't focus on numbers, but for some reason I do.

Good morning.

My weight is holding ok and I made relatively good choices this week. I really need to do better about evening habits and dinners.

I also need to figure out a way to replenish my energy after school on Friday that feels like a treat or a reward but is not the bakery section at the grocery store or wine. I needed to stop for groceries on the way home yesterday - not a good idea on Fridays! And I succumbed to donuts.

I have done yoga six days in a row this week even with school starting, and today will make 7. So even though I'm having a bit of a slow start with my coffee, I'm committed to getting the mat out this morning so I can tell you I made it a whole week!

I've been getting a lot of exercise on the stairs at school, and my knees don't hurt! So that alone tells me my fitness level is improving.

I did yoga yesterday!

A whole week! And so far every day in September! I really don't want to break that streak! (Although the arrival of the new baby will probably break it.)

I have not been posting, but will be updating here as I declutter the pounds.

I am currently down 13 pounds from my high weight this year - which I think was in October.

I am glad because some of my clothes are fitting that did not fit before. I have 5 more pounds to hit my first goal and then I will be at my lowest weight since spring of 2023.

Good morning. Back on this.

After doing yoga every day in September, I just...stopped.

But I have gotten back to it - so far every day this year.

I am also working on my food choices - the easiest place to do that being the grocery store. The less packaged food I buy, the healthier my choices are, and the less packaging I have to process and recycle or take to a trash receptacle. I'd like to think it helps with the grocery bill, but it's winter, so I'm pretty sure focusing on fresh fruits and veggies instead of grocery clearance and discount carbs is going to be more expensive. But maybe not if I eat less.

I do have dried veggies to snack on in the pantry - I need to remember that and eat them instead of hoarding them. Like hiking, where they remind you that your water is more useful and easier to carry inside your body - so stop often to drink.

Anyway, after five days my weight has finally stopped going up. I got Birdy's doctor report this week from ddil and it included his weight. I need to lose an entire Birdy. It took Birdy 20 months (from conception) to get that big, so maybe I will set that as my goal to get that much smaller. Slow and steady.

SubC, stopping the gain is the first step in reversing it. Good job!

I am at -14 pounds now. Feeling good and thanking God for helping me stop my old habit of putting food first. My first milestone will be at -18, which puts me at an almost 2-year low. And way more clothes fitting.

Thought I would check in here.

I have gone up and down a few pounds over the last month, but right now I am at -17 from my high weight last year. Hey, that is pretty good progress! And, in one more pound I will be at my first goal. That one pound has been tough to tackle for some reason.

I am at 1/4 of my goal.

Mostly due to a rapid drop while I was most sick, but it is all mostly Covid related. I still have no appetite and chocolate doesn't taste right. I'm too tired to want to drink alchohol. I have been continuing to focus on eating fruits and vegetables and just not buying processed foods except for Dh (and store bread, but just regular bread, not bakery goodies) I did buy a box of sugared, high fiber cereal as comfort food.

My goats are dried off, so my dairy consumption is way down.

This week I discovered that if I wear my new "I give up, I'm fat, I have to have jeans that fit to go to work" jeans three times before washing them, they stretch out enough that on day 3 I need a belt. I am now only wearing them to work or when I have to look a little bit nice and I am wearing the largest size of old jeans at home or on casual errands (groceries, library stop.)

I am also still working on decluttering bad habits at the grocery store. I've been doing some research on calories and exercise, which is making me get a little more realistic about what I can accomplish. However, in light of what I am learning, I think the next bad habit I need to declutter is watching YouTube videos on the couch. If I ride even slowly on the stationary bike for an hour (which on average is less than I watch YouTube) every day, I will burn enough extra calories to lose almost a pound a month. Which doesn't sound like much, but that's ten pounds less this time next year. Poco a poco. It should also help my aerobic fitness at least a little.

Lila,

I am right there with you - I know exactly what happens when I quit trying. I am still not back down to where I was before vacation.

If I don't pay attention all the time, the weight piles on, the stuff piles in, and the basic needs of the household for cleanliness and supplies fall apart.

Yesterday I did well, choosing carrots and watermelon for snacks.

Lila, how are you doing? I know this has been a rough patch for you. I just hope you are caring for yourself in as healthy a way as possible.

After bouncing up and down, I am more than halfway to my goal! I am planning to do a big clothing declutter when school ends in May

I have not started riding the bike, but the farm work has picked up, I am doing yoga fairly consistently, and I am watching less YouTube. My diet also continues to improve. This week I indulged in an Irish soda bread at the grocery store. It was deeply disappointing - it tasted like chemicals to me. - the cleaner I eat, the less appealing the processed stuff becomes. Win!

I am noticing that I have more energy, but that might just be spring.

I feel like a hamster on a treadmill.
Except an actual hamster on an actually treadmill would probably get more fit.

Got groceries today. 4 kinds of fresh fruit and salt. (I was out of salt)

Veggies are coming in from the garden, milk and eggs are coming in from the barn, we have plenty of carbs in the house.

I have camp this week. I will not be able to snack during camp and I am going to work on packing healthy lunches. The fresh fruit is for those and breakfast.

hi SubC. Wow, you are doing amazing!! I am so happy for you! I sort of stopping thinking about it with all the other stuff, but I managed not to regain. And lost a couple more. Today I am -19 pounds from my recent high weight. I also feel better, and have more energy.

I am telling myself, "Eat what you have! Stop letting good food spoil while you keep buying pies and cheese and crackers!" So I am doing that. I have veggies and fruit I am eating before they spoil before I buy more. I mean, I will buy kiwis or berries and let the oranges and apples sit for months. Silly. So I am eating what I have. This also applies to other foods. I really want bread, but instead of buying it, I tell myself, "Look, if you want bread, make it from what you have. Or settle for crackers." Mostly I am settling for crackers, so they are not going to go stale.

I am also walking a lot more. Almist every day I go for a walk, unless I am doing a lot around the house and am already tired/sore.

Keep going, we've got this!

Good heavens. I am up 4 pounds from my high weight in June. And I didn't even eat everything I wanted to. This is not good.

I mentioned on the other thread that I am starting a few sessions at the gym next week. Hoping that will help me feel better enough to exercise, and TRY.

Good job Lila! I guess like the hoard, the first step is to stop things coming in.

Dh took me out last night for wine and a fried appetizer I really like. We got too big a plate (the large instead of the small) and I overate. My body complained about it this morning and I had a two pound bump, but I did enjoy them. Next time - the small.

I fed my bread craving by making cornbread today. I am also trying to work through my pantry and fridge (mostly pantry. Fridge is pretty light, except, ironically, eggs.) I need to get back to baking more (breads, not cakes!)

Lila, I am sorry you are feeling discouraged.

My weight has finally budged down out of my yo-yo zone. The key factor seems to be Dh being gone, when Dh is gone I hardly cook, so I eat a lot of light snacks and raw food and few meals with almost no sauces. Also, I don't want to go anywhere, so if I run out of a packaged food, I just stop eating it. Also, the things I feed myself are good, but not so good I want to keep eating them after I am full. Dh cooks late - so by the time dinner is ready i am super hungry, and tasty, so i eat too fast and too much.

Also, I think I need to never buy anything from the bakery discount section again.

Anyway, I have to renew my driver's license in the fall. Four years ago I gave up and raised my weight (I should have done it eight years ago, but then i still had hope.) if I can stay on track, I will be close enough to what my license says to not feel like i have to raise it again. Small victories.

This morning it looks like the weight I gained at my son's house was basically water - because it is gone already! probably more salt in the cooking. A pleasant surprise.

I stopped at the grocery store yesterday and bought fruit, nuts, cheese, mushrooms, and some easy vegetable ravioli. I resisted everything in the bakery section and the discount Easter candy.

We are keeping a lot less in the fridge these days. Dh likes it. I need to clean the freezer out soon before I start milking goats again (mid to late April).

Wow, that's great SubC, to not really gain from that trip! Excellent.

I am in bad shape about back to where I started. My doctor says my TSH is very high and my ESR is elevated, inflammatory markers high and my blood glucose is 102, a bit high. I really need to edit the way I have been eating, and start moving more.

Easter is a hard time to cut sugar but I am cutting it on Monday. Back to black coffee, maybe a splash of cream but nothing sweet.

Okay, time for a fresh start.

I can't even remember where I started on this thread, because I was too embarrassed to share my actual weight, so I only posted pounds to lose. I need to be accountable so I currently, as of this morning, weigh 250 pounds. This is not the highest I have ever weighed, but it is close to the highest in recent history. My goal is 225, at least short term, if I could maintain that weight I feel so much better and many more clothes fit. I got down to maybe 230 a few months ago. So I am starting again, today, cutting out 90% of sugar and sweets, and junk. And trying to move more and take walks.

0/25

Fresh start is working. I am just trying to say no to junk most of the time, and drink more water. I stopped putting sugar in my coffee. Down 1 pound.

1/25

How is it going Lila?

I am still doing well at the grocery store. Mostly avoiding bakery clearance and various snacks on sale.

I'm keeping too busy to snack much and the physical labor demanded by spring is helping. I moved the nuts to the back of the basement pantry, stopped baking except with Bean and I send everything home with him, and only buy Dh and Bean treats I don't like. My weight is trending down again.

Like the hoarding, the biggest helpers are "don't go to places that you will be tempted, don't bring it home" and "keep doing something."

Perhaps we will have "the great wardrobe project of 2024" by the end of the summer.

Lila, I hope you home gym helps you! It sounds like you have great support for working out!

I'm not actually swimming yet. I still weigh three pounds more than the last time I squeezed into my bathing suit for laps. I also dislike being cold. Getting into the water is always hard. Getting out of the water is always hard. but after the first two laps swimming is heavenly. I can get lost in the rhythm and lose all track of time. I also often lose track of my laps, which is annoying.

I can't see the clock from the pool. Actually, I can't see the end of the pool from the pool. Or the part of the lane lines that are blue and white.

You have to drill into your brain that those treats belong to your grands. You would not take their treats away from your grands, right?

I made some extra effort for a student to get a piece ready for her mom's birthday this week and when she came by to pick it up yesterday she brought me a chocolate. I stopped at Trader Joe's and bought cheese I can eat and some spicy nuts on my way home and ate about 3x my allowance of nuts. Then I had another chocolate from the treat bowl at the place where I got my summer job offer, and I had a small glass of wine with Dh with dinner.

The scale this morning says I didn't do any notable harm though. I can't just give up all my treats. I need to find a way to live sustainably.

I bought the cheese as a potential reward. When I lose one more pound (new low) I get to either pick up breakfast at Starbucks again (if it's a school day) or have cheese and crackers with a diet soda for lunch.

SubC, not going great. I am about 3lbs heavier than when I started. I am eating out of avoidance and feeling low. I do think of you in the evening and try to drink tea instead of eating a snack.

I am on a bingey roll right now, feeling weird and having time to do things but not doing them. Here is my problem. Today I have eaten:

2 mugs of coffee with oat milk and honey
one egg scrambled with green onions and butter and cheddar, with a slice of thin wheat toast, buttered, and an orange

leftover cold latte

5 small squares of thin crust cheese pizza and two breadsticks, and Coke

4 chocolate chip cookies, 2 Dove candy eggs (larger sized ones), and a mango

a slice of cheese, half a Cadbury fruit and nut bar, 3 or 4 potato chips

I might have mindlessly eaten a few more things but I think that is it, and this is before dinner. I have a real problem with sweet stuff and junk.

Cheese and crackers is such a delicious thing. I bought some extra sharp white cheddar on sale the other day and might have a few thin slices with crackers and fruit.

I weighed today and am back down a hair, to 3 pounds over my START point (at the beginning of this thread. I will keep working at it. This morning I had coffee and a small lowfat yogurt for breakfast.

Onward.

+3/20

So nice to know someone is thinking of me in the evening!

So the connection of this to decluttering is to remove the items and triggers that cause you to snack. But you have other people living in your house. So that is hard.

Also try to replace foods and habits. Like the tea for snacking.

I have been using two mental tricks. Whenever I look at snack food I think "that is Dh bag of chips" or "those are Bean's cookies." Not when I want to eat it, when I buy it, when I unpack it, when I open a cabinet and see it - it helps put my brain in a space where that food is not something I can eat. Because it is not my food.

Also, I tell myself I have to eat things - like "I have to eat these carrots and a banana today" then when I want to eat, I already have a healthy focus on something to eat. And there is less room in my stomach for the other things.

And I'm sure that it helps that now that it is spring I am very busy doing physical labor.

Yesterday was difficult.

It was a craving comfort food day and Dh brought home pizza. I also skipped yoga. I had a lot of tasks to do that sapped my executive function.

I am still "carrying around" cookies and donuts from Valentine's Day at school. (My dad calls them "dough-guts")

But today is a new day and I have already done yoga and am ready to refocus on new good habits. My banana, apple, and grapefruit are lined up on the counter in case I need a snack and even though there is leftover pizza, I have put it under other things in the fridge and cleared away all signs of pizza eating.

I will try that, SubC... I do think of things as someone else's, sometimes, but can do better about it. Also, I like the planning of "I will eat x and y today" so that I have something to focus on eating that is healthy, instead of gravitating towards the junky snacks.

I do think thing where I think "I have to eat everything I have that is junk food and THEN I will start eating healthy tomorrow, and not buy anymore junk." So I eat a ton of junk in a day. But then later in the week I crave cookies or chips and buy more. This, I need to get a grip on.

Most of my clothing is very tight, and I am panicking a bit. I admit this week I spent a few hours looking at clothes on Amazon, and ended up ordering a few things to try. I will probably send it all back, but might find one item to keep. Mainly it is stuff I could layer over my shirts to look nicer and dress things up a bit. I have too many sweater cardigans so was looking for lightweight things for summer. Amazon is not going to get me good quality clothes, but I just want to look okay.

I found this one item I LOVED and was about to buy it when I realized it looked very similar to the one I donated because that dude made fun of me in it, and then I was sad because I did love it and I wish I had kept it, but in fact if I had, I would be to self conscious to wear it... so, I didn't order that thing. Anyway. The cycles my brain is in!

I am getting frustrated.

I've cut out all but one "dessert" a day - and by "dessert" I mean less than 150 calories of wine, chocolate, or sweetened/jam/butter bread.

I've cut way back on nuts and carbs, and I am eating mostly whole foods. (I am also now really angry at the number of times and ways I had to edit that statement to keep the computer from turning my words into a grocery store with capital letters.) I am hungry a lot. but my weight is still creeping up.

I'm probably sitting too much - I did do all that computer work the last few days, and it has been too cold and wet to do much outside, but I am also going to pay closer attention to my food. Maybe I'm doing something counterproductive without realizing it.

I am trying so hard and getting nowhere 🙁

250 - 254 - 253 - 254....

I hope the fitbit will help. Obviously I am some kind of sugar addict as well and I threw away some candy I had here. I just need to make better choices but it is hard when I am stressed. I am definitely moving more with the fitbit and step goals.

Well, yesterday I had a "no dessert" day and was active with Bean and the scale moved in the right direction again. Not quite back to my most recent low, but at least I'm no longer feeling discouraged. Attitude is important.

I stopped at the grocery store to restock Dh cereal for him and also bought more apples, crackers (whole wheat)(which I'm trying not to eat too many of, but they are salty and crunchy and a few with cheese or hummus are a good complex snack.) hummus, and some more diet sodas.

I'm still feeling conflicted about the sodas, but I've been down to one a day lately. I'm trying to drink more (mostly herbal) tea, but the soda feels like a treat, and I think for now I need to hang on to them.

It's hard to set your "new normal" too far off your former normal.

I resisted the clearance valentines candy (and toys) and the bakery clearance.