2019 Weight Loss Group

[NeuroTypical]

Ok, things are going well for me.  Got my bad habits licked, my good habits are in full swing.  All the psychological horribleness has retreated for the most part.  It's less hard, more easy.  The last time I weighed this little, was September 22.  Twelve lbs down from when I started.

My usual diet tells me the first 10 are easy, the next 10 takes longer but is doable.  If I can lose 5-6 lbs in Feb, and do that again in Mar, I'll have reached my goal and can start plain old maintaining.

Dilly Dilly!

[anatess2]

14 hours ago, NeuroTypical said:

Ok, things are going well for me.  Got my bad habits licked, my good habits are in full swing.  All the psychological horribleness has retreated for the most part.  It's less hard, more easy.  The last time I weighed this little, was September 22.  Twelve lbs down from when I started.

My usual diet tells me the first 10 are easy, the next 10 takes longer but is doable.  If I can lose 5-6 lbs in Feb, and do that again in Mar, I'll have reached my goal and can start plain old maintaining.

Dilly Dilly!

GO GO GO, NT!

[seashmore]

On February 1, 2019 at 10:40 AM, unixknight said:

So I forgot to tell you guys... on Monday I went to the food court to get a supplement to lunch in the form of an Arby's salad.

Don't.   Just don't.  I bought this thing and here's what you get:  Some iceberg lettuce, a few bits of tomato, a sprinkling of shredded cheese, about a half of a strip of bacon (shredded) and two slices of deli turkey (shredded) and a big back of dressing.

For $6.

A salad I could have made at home for about 80 cents' worth of ingredients cost $6.  Now, yes, I'm perfectly well aware that eating out is always more expensive than making it yourself.  The complaint here is that it wasn't a good salad at all, it wasn't like there was any variety of quality ingredients, and it didn't even have  that mystique of being food from eating out that makes us not really mind the extra cost.  It's like buying a cup of chili at a restaurant and realizing it's just supermarket canned Hormel.  

Unpopular opinion: Arby's salads are a winter life hack for me. Here, they're closer to $5 and generally constitute a full meal for me. I look at the cost as a convenience fee. I don't have to prep any of the lettuce, tomatoes, or meat, nor do I have to clean up after any of it. The energy it would take me to do all of that is well worth the financial cost when I'm feeling a little lethargic. 

 

I've not been attending volleyball, as it has been polar vortexing so once I'm home, I stay there. I also haven't done any yoga since I got sick three weeks ago. Curling league returned this week after two off, and my stamina and stability are improving. The social and strategic aspects are also helping with my mental health. I've been eating less sugar and have been on a soup kick this month. I'm trying to stick with low sodium and veggie heavy options. Not as close to my goals as I'd like to be, but closer than I was a month ago.

[NeuroTypical]

Yesterday my leg healed up enough for me to brave the elliptical machine.  I did about a little slower, half the time, half the inclination and resistance.  Stopped when my back muscles started protesting.  I had been using a crutch for a week - it's odd to think I was giving back muscles a break that way.  It is so nice to just be able to walk around without concentrating.

This was my January. Just look at those fun and guilt-free cheat days!

Edited February 5, 2019 by NeuroTypical

[unixknight]

Well, the family and I got sick with a stomach flu for the last few days.  I haven't been dieting per se, just trying to digest what I ate and retain as many fluids as possible.  
 

I'm not looking forward to the weigh-in tonight, because my system isn't fully recovered yet and,  to put it gently... I'm still carrying around a lot of material, if you take my meaning.  I think once I get past that issue my actual weight can be measured.  My wife, who got it before me, just finally made it past that issue today, and tells me I have... much to look forward to.

[SpiritDragon]

6 hours ago, unixknight said:

Well, the family and I got sick with a stomach flu for the last few days.  I haven't been dieting per se, just trying to digest what I ate and retain as many fluids as possible.  
 

I'm not looking forward to the weigh-in tonight, because my system isn't fully recovered yet and,  to put it gently... I'm still carrying around a lot of material, if you take my meaning.  I think once I get past that issue my actual weight can be measured.  My wife, who got it before me, just finally made it past that issue today, and tells me I have... much to look forward to.

I thought you were going to pleased a la those following the diet in this video:

 

[unixknight]

6 minutes ago, SpiritDragon said:

I thought you were going to pleased a la those following the diet in this video:

Dude, that made my day.

[unixknight]

Wednesday weigh-in: 4 more lbs down, putting me at 346.

 

[SpiritDragon]

2 minutes ago, unixknight said:

Wednesday weigh-in: 4 more lbs down, putting me at 346.

 

You're doing great on the outcomes. I haven't noticed any updates on behaviours in the spreadsheet though, how are those going?

[unixknight]

Badly, to be honest.  I mean, at least this last weekend I have an excuse, but other than that, I've just been trying to make the most of opportunities to walk around, like shopping or whatever.

[anatess2]

15 hours ago, unixknight said:

Badly, to be honest.  I mean, at least this last weekend I have an excuse, but other than that, I've just been trying to make the most of opportunities to walk around, like shopping or whatever.

Hey Unix... my husband is walking 5Ks with me every other day.  We spend the time talking about everything (which is really difficult when you can barely breathe after a mile or so).  Yesterday was my first time with any exercise activity since Thanksgiving and I barely couldn't make it.  Now, my husband is 14 inches taller than me so his slow walk is a fast walk for me... my regular walk would be him barely moving.  And, as is our normal even when just being tourists, he sets the pace and I try to keep up.  Anyway, I thought my heart was going to give before we got back home but amazingly, I made it through.  So that was good.

Anyway, I'm telling you this because... if my husband does not push me to do it, I wouldn't do it.  So, guess what, if you don't have someone at home that will be your exercise pusher, I'm going to push you.  So, tonight, we're not doing it (my legs are actually a bit hurting right now.  @SpiritDragon, do you have tips on how to ease after-exercise ache?).  But tomorrow we're doing the same 5K route.  So, you have an assignment from us - map out a walking route - 5K is actually not too bad (that's just a little over 3 miles).  Or you can map out a time target instead of distance... you're going to walk 30 minutes this way, then retrace your steps back to where you started.  Anyway, you map out that route today.  Then tomorrow, you and I are walking virtually together.  Oki doki?

[anatess2]

15 hours ago, SpiritDragon said:

You're doing great on the outcomes. I haven't noticed any updates on behaviours in the spreadsheet though, how are those going?

I think I missed the spreadsheet thing.  Is this something for me too?

[unixknight]

29 minutes ago, anatess2 said:

So, you have an assignment from us - map out a walking route - 5K is actually not too bad (that's just a little over 3 miles).  Or you can map out a time target instead of distance... you're going to walk 30 minutes this way, then retrace your steps back to where you started.  Anyway, you map out that route today.  Then tomorrow, you and I are walking virtually together.  Oki doki?

Sounds great... though in my defense I'll say the wall for me recently was the cold snap (I'm way north of you) and the stomach virus diet I'm just getting fully over.  (Which is good 'cause I don't want to miss my Temple recommend interview on Sunday!) 

There's the bike trail nearby that I've mentioned before.  My plan has been to bike it.  Would that suffice?  

[anatess2]

17 minutes ago, unixknight said:

Sounds great... though in my defense I'll say the wall for me recently was the cold snap (I'm way north of you) and the stomach virus diet I'm just getting fully over.  (Which is good 'cause I don't want to miss my Temple recommend interview on Sunday!) 

There's the bike trail nearby that I've mentioned before.  My plan has been to bike it.  Would that suffice?  

I love Florida. 

Ok, you bike, I walk.  I'll try to work up to a jog but doubt I'll be able to do that for at least a month.

[unixknight]

Just now, anatess2 said:

I love Florida. 

Ok, you bike, I walk.  I'll try to work up to a jog but doubt I'll be able to do that for at least a month.

I've decided on how to address the "dilemma" of the hill between me and the trail.

Until I'm fit enough to bike up and down that hill, I'll just have to suck it up and either walk the bike or put my bike rack on my car and drive over.  There's a parking area by the trailhead.

[SpiritDragon]

4 hours ago, anatess2 said:

I think I missed the spreadsheet thing.  Is this something for me too?

Absolutely, I thought I sent you a PM link - let me send it now (possibly again, possibly for the first time)... Sorry about that.

[SpiritDragon]

4 hours ago, anatess2 said:

@SpiritDragon, do you have tips on how to ease after-exercise ache?)

The best thing to do is prevention by easing into activity gradually enough. I recall a finding that omega 3 fatty acids taken on a regular basis could diminish DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness), but it was a pretty weak effect. I think similar findings have been made with antioxidant supplements such as vitamins E and C. The fact of the matter is exercise scientists don't even know what causes DOMS, it used to be thought that it was from lactic acid build-up, but that is now firmly proven not to be the case. The prevailing theory is it is caused by microtears in the muscle fibres which simply take time to heal. The biggest mystery with that theory is that tears should hurt immediately, so why don't we feel the pain for 8-12 hours after, sometimes peaking as much as 72 hours after exercise? 

Perhaps when we can figure out the cause of DOMS we can figure out a more effective treatment besides trying to prevent it. Anecdotally, there are those who swear by stretching, foam rolling, epsom salt baths, heat and cold, menthol rubs and so on. Personally, I kind of like a little DOMS, but not too much, and only time helps. 

[SpiritDragon]

3 hours ago, unixknight said:

I've decided on how to address the "dilemma" of the hill between me and the trail.

Until I'm fit enough to bike up and down that hill, I'll just have to suck it up and either walk the bike or put my bike rack on my car and drive over.  There's a parking area by the trailhead.

That's some great problem solving!

[SpiritDragon]

3 hours ago, anatess2 said:

I love Florida. 

Ok, you bike, I walk.  I'll try to work up to a jog but doubt I'll be able to do that for at least a month.

I like this teamwork approach. I'm looking forward to seeing how it works within the online setting.

[anatess2]

18 hours ago, unixknight said:

I've decided on how to address the "dilemma" of the hill between me and the trail.

Until I'm fit enough to bike up and down that hill, I'll just have to suck it up and either walk the bike or put my bike rack on my car and drive over.  There's a parking area by the trailhead.

Oh yeah, we don't have those hills in Florida either. 

So, tonight's the night!  5K for me with my husband as pace car ... what's your target?

[anatess2]

15 hours ago, SpiritDragon said:

I like this teamwork approach. I'm looking forward to seeing how it works within the online setting.

Who else will join us?  @zil?

[unixknight]

8 minutes ago, anatess2 said:

Oh yeah, we don't have those hills in Florida either. 

So, tonight's the night!  5K for me with my husband as pace car ... what's your target?

None.  It's raining.  I will however, start using my heavy bag again as the thing to do when the weather is bad.  I'll just do it before my kids go to bed.

Edited February 8, 2019 by unixknight

[anatess2]

2 minutes ago, unixknight said:

None.  It's raining.  I will however, start using my heavy bag again as the thing to do when the weather is bad.  I'll just do it before my kids go to bed.

Okay.  We need to add this goal to everyone's list as the first task to accomplish:

Move to Florida.

 

[unixknight]

1 minute ago, anatess2 said:

Okay.  We need to add this goal to everyone's list as the first task to accomplish:

Move to Florida.

 

Hhaa no.  I hate humidity.  I hate humidity so bad my long term goal is to move to Wyoming.  (Not a joke.)

[anatess2]

3 minutes ago, unixknight said:

Hhaa no.  I hate humidity.  I hate humidity so bad my long term goal is to move to Wyoming.  (Not a joke.)

This is Wyoming.

 

This is Florida: