Get to slinky again and staying there ......

I had an overnight woosh of 1.8lbs when I last posted here and then was back up higher for a bit - no nutritional reason why. The body is just not a machine. It was a bit disappointing on the daily weighing - but I knew what I was eating and the scale jumping back up was not food or portion related. Daily weighing keeps me focused.

Mondays are formal weigh in days for me on the Team 50 Challenge. I've shed 1.8lbs this week which takes me to the milestone of over that 10% of starting weight (10.23% precisely) which is meant to have a real impact on health. The loss is slowing down - just 4.4lbs the last 4 weeks.

1626682044029.png


So 32.6lbs lost in 119 days - 2 stone 4.6lbs in 4 months - 286lbs. A bit less achey most of the time but I rIcked my back 3 days ago so not enjoying easier movement at the mo. The lymph on my left leg isn't clearing so I'll book in to see my GP.

Edited to add: My trews are loose at the waist but not the calf. They are threadbare at the thigh rub! One pair has already been retired. My tunic tops are still OK but 2 need replacing and another 2 are also very tired so I will need some new clothes. The first new clothes in maybe 2 or 3 years. The charity shops here aren't great so I will probably order some new tops on line and replace my jeans with the same style one size down. Annoyingly, I think 2 sizes down will be too tight, and I can't yet wear the clothes I have stored away. I do have one pair of smartish trousers I will be able to wear again. I'll delay the jeans ordering to just before I go to Manchester, earlier if the thighs go!

So now I am thinking about clothes. I love linen tuncs - but don't love ironing. I wonder if they look good unironed. I like tunics I can hang up n the airing cuboard after washing and they'll be dry in the morning. I like a long line - down past my butt - and prefer a v kneck with 3/4 or full length sleeves, especially in spring colours - teal smokey or turquoisey blues, sea greens & purples. I never wear black. So I often find it difficult to find clothes I love. https://www.kettlewellcolours.co.uk/season/spring-palette

22 Mondays until Xmas - so sustaining 1lb a week will get me over 50lbs lost by Xmas. If I can do 1.5lbs, that would double my weight loss this year - 33lbs or 2 stone 5lbs in the next 5 months would take me to 4 stone 9.6lbs shed, down to a healthier 18 stone something, nearly half way to goal.

I have some travel - to Manchester via London next month. I wIll be in a timetabled environment and won't be able to drink and eat at will. So I will need to sort out a routine that works while staying away. Maybe there will be some good charity shops with plus size clothes in central Manchester - if Covid hasn't shut everything down by then.
 
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you're making great progress, and it's nice knowing it's time to get a few new clothes. I do wear black sometimes but I also like the colours you mentioned. I'm in white and blue today.

Maybe you'll be 2 sizes down by the time you want to order the jeans :)
 
Well done on achieving 10% loss, although the weight loss is slowing you’re still getting losses and all the experts tell us that slow weight loss is so much better for our bodies. So keep going and you’ll soon be in those clothes you have stored away 🤞
 
10% is such an achievement! Well done! It’s nice thinking about new clothes and what would look good! You seem to be very much under control. Don’t mind the daily fluctuations it’s the darned whoosh playing havoc creating plateaus to challenge us.
 
@Shrinkingvioletnomore 's NSVs have made me think.

It took 3-4 stone down before people I knew noticed when I was on a vlcd. I think my family and friends have this all purpose image of me being big - the actually quantity of bigness is not clear to them! It's strange - the last taboo n my family is talking about weight gain. They didn't talk to me about getting fat - and when I lost weight and got down to size 14-6, they didn't ask why I was putting weight back on again. I also think I have body dysmorphia - I really didn't perceive myself as fat as I am. In fact, I think I am now realising how very fat I am. It's like I am seeing my body for the first time, as overweight as it is. I wonder if that is why I am keeping on shedding weight right now.
 
I think a lot of people genuinely just don't see it, I know I have family and friends who've gone up and down in weight and for the most part I only notice if they draw my attention to it. Unless it's been a while since I've seen them and it's a big change. I notice it more in myself when I wear something different to my usual clothes.

I think it's a shame it's a taboo subject, I think it's a shame LOTS of things are taboo subjects, I think if more people understood about obesity properly they'd have a lot more empathy and a lot less judgment and us fatter folk would have a lot less negative feelings like shame.

bring things out into the light of day I say, lets have more meaningful chats.
 
Thanks @ChilliQueen . I agree. Obesity has such a lot of moral baggage. I am surprised to realise how I didn't percieve how fat I am despite knowing how high the scales are. I am finding it hard to realise that reality. I am not repulsed - just rather sad about how fat I am and how I have abused my amazing body by not taking action. I hope my gut bacteria is recovering too, to be the micro biome of a thinner healthier person.

I am pleased today. It's been 4 months and I have checked in every week on the Team 50 by Xmas thread since I recommitted to weight loss in in March 2021. Previously, I have always dropped out when doing this by myself.

This time, I have remained motivated over the past 4 months and I am down 1.8lbs down this last week. That's 34.2lbs lost in 126 days - 2 stone 6.2lbs - 10.73% so 96.4lbs to go to goal and 15.6lbs to 50lbs shed by Xmas. My little ladybird is ticking along the tickerline - over a 1/4 of the way down.

I needed new jeans as my old pairs are worn through by thigh rub- so I have a new pair of jeans - size 24. Just the one pair as I still have one pair of smarter trews that fit. I want to be wearing 22s again soon - September, I expect. I haven't bought new tops yet. I need to, before I go away next week - a day trip to London on Sunday and then 3 days in Manchester, because my tops are years old and getting worn out!

1627280874137.png

Mr AG has been in hospital for a week - so this is a big success for me that I haven't sought comfort in food and snacking. I put his sliced bread into the freezer so I wasn't tempted by toast. It was a white sliced loaf - so really good I did that before having an egg mayo sandwich (yup - really compelling!) or white toast. I no longer have marmite in the house as toast and marmite is also really compelling. I now know where he keeps his chocolate as I needed to go through his drawers for things to take to him in hospital and I haven't raided them. I am eating well. I have dark chocolate, a high protein ice cream, nuts, almond flour, cheese and alcohol in the house - so I have old style "treats" and the makings of sweet and savory goodies in the house but haven't abused them. This week, I had no alcohol or cheese.

I've also had a reasonable mood - not relapsed into depression and/or my bed. I was very sad one night - and think that was an understandable grief about Mr AG's llness and the impact on our lives and the things we haven't done because he hasn't recovered from Lyme disease 16 years ago. Grief, and feelng that grief was normal and healthy for me. I then emerged, feeling better and resolved. Research is showing that depression is a chronic inflammatory disease - so I wonder if eating anti inflammatory low carb has helped me avoid slipping into a depressve state and takng to my bed.

I look at the ladybird ticker and feel I have the knowledge I need to shed the next 90-100lbs. How long will it take? I don't know. A year, 2 or 3 years, maybe. Could I go faster?

Yes. I could do a vlcd agan - that would speed me up to 10-14lbs a month.

But what I lke about low carb is that I am learning to live in a sustainable way so won't regain. I probably would lose more by weighing & tracking my food - to ensure I am always under 20 g of carb (and lower total calories too). I also could be doing longer fasts.

Now I fast naturally - usually around 16 hours a day - with an eating window of 8 hours. It's not a big effort, so I am nt n danger of failing. I am shedding the weight without pressure while living well - so I will continue this way at the moment. These extra tools are there when I need them.
 
I'm sorry to hear MrAG is unwell and has been in hospital, you've done so well at avoiding all the pitfalls that could have brought.

I agree that depression CAN be linked, I think all things can be linked in the body and mind.

I think lots of us who are overweight have managed to successfully block out how obese we are/were but if you genuinely think you have an issue with dysmorphia - even if you just think you might - I think you should have a chat with your Doctor. I don't know about where you are but in Scotland we can access some counselling on the NHS. It may be worth pursuing as it can be a dangerous thing and may flip as your weight goes lower to never being slim enough, or causing you to regain as you feel too slim when really you've become healthy. These things are always easier to explore and learn coping mechanisms when we're not in the full force of the delusion they bring.

If you wanted to focus on other things to speed up there's nothing wrong with that and you could even do something more focussed perhaps once a month or something? However I don't think it's necessary. I think doing it slowly over an accepted long term is actually better, I think we're all more likely to make it this way. Also - as we're mostly doing here - it's learning to enjoy the journey and not allow life to stop whilst we wait to get to the destination. Focussing only on the destination in this type of journey is surely the death of joy and therefore motivation.

The journey is where it's at! And every step is progress, to be celebrated.

I hope you're really proud of yourself Ali.
 
No Monday weigh in for me as I'm away without scales. I suspect I'd have been maybe a STS (stayed the same) or 1 lb either way. No whoosh this week.

I miss by daily weighing. It punctuates my life - keeping me focused. I don't like not knowing!

Today, my jeans felt loser - but that might just be that I've worn in my new size 24 jeans, bought to replace 2 sets of size 26s that have worn through at the thighs. I am glad I didn't buy any other clothes - as clothes don't seem to matter where I am working.

So when I do buy new clothes, they will be a smaller size - maybe a 20-22, not 24s. I think the clothes in mycupboard

I'm in a budget hotel - very committed timewise on a solo volunteer project. So no companions - but run to an institutional timetable. There's no fridge in the offce nor the hotel so I'm eating a curious mix of supermarket & take away protein and salad, some peanuts, olives and coconut (don't ask!).

Yesterday - breakfast and dinner. Today - lunch and supper.

Tomorrow - who knows? I will also have a long evening drive home. I'm trying to eat when hungry. I prob could have eaten later today - but had my provisions with me and a break so I broke my fast at lunchtime. I've been drinking too many cans of zero pop. I've eaten more than I would normally now - mainly because it is eat it or bin it, and am a post war child. Waste not. Want not.

And this is a major win! Why?

Because for years (decades in fact), I have always eaten chocolate and sweet and savory treats/snacks n hotel rooms and my car. Often when away working, I'd also have steak & chips with bearnaise sauce (with a hot bread roll or two and butter) and a pudding, and maybe a breakfast (the works including that so called healthy freshly squeezed OJ) in the morning in my hotel room. It was strange being in Sainsburys' yesterday and Tesco today and not buying chocolate, baked goods, crisps etc. So a bit of overeating some protein is a major win considering the carb fest I used to have.

I am so struck by the high carb of most of the food available. Almost everything has sugar or carbs like bread, pasta, rice, pastry and potato, and there are sugary coffee bar hot drinks everywhere. Even some of the cooked meats have sugary glazes/sauces. I see so many fat people on the streets as I go to the office - and am no longer suprised. Even tiny little servings of snacks in Tescos are high carb. We have become a nation fuelled by carbs and it has made us fat. It certainly has made me very fat.
 
AliGal said:
No Monday weigh in for me as I'm away without scales. I suspect I'd have been maybe a STS (stayed the same) or 1 lb either way. No whoosh this week.

I miss by daily weighing. It punctuates my life - keeping me focused. I don't like not knowing!

Today, my jeans felt loser - but that might just be that I've worn in my new size 24 jeans, bought to replace 2 sets of size 26s that have worn through at the thighs. I am glad I didn't buy any other clothes - as clothes don't seem to matter where I am working.

So when I do buy new clothes, they will be a smaller size - maybe a 20-22, not 24s. I think the clothes in mycupboard

I'm in a budget hotel - very committed timewise on a solo volunteer project. So no companions - but run to an institutional timetable. There's no fridge in the offce nor the hotel so I'm eating a curious mix of supermarket & take away protein and salad, some peanuts, olives and coconut (don't ask!).

Yesterday - breakfast and dinner. Today - lunch and supper.

Tomorrow - who knows? I will also have a long evening drive home. I'm trying to eat when hungry. I prob could have eaten later today - but had my provisions with me and a break so I broke my fast at lunchtime. I've been drinking too many cans of zero pop. I've eaten more than I would normally now - mainly because it is eat it or bin it, and am a post war child. Waste not. Want not.

And this is a major win! Why?

Because for years (decades in fact), I have always eaten chocolate and sweet and savory treats/snacks n hotel rooms and my car. Often when away working, I'd also have steak & chips with bearnaise sauce (with a hot bread roll or two and butter) and a pudding, and maybe a breakfast (the works including that so called healthy freshly squeezed OJ) in the morning in my hotel room. It was strange being in Sainsburys' yesterday and Tesco today and not buying chocolate, baked goods, crisps etc. So a bit of overeating some protein is a major win considering the carb fest I used to have.

I am so struck by the high carb of most of the food available. Almost everything has sugar or carbs like bread, pasta, rice, pastry and potato, and there are sugary coffee bar hot drinks everywhere. Even some of the cooked meats have sugary glazes/sauces. I see so many fat people on the streets as I go to the office - and am no longer suprised. Even tiny little servings of snacks in Tescos are high carb. We have become a nation fuelled by carbs and it has made us fat. It certainly has made me very fat.
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Well done and yes low carb is an eye opener. It struck me recently in Dublin how few obese and overweight people there were compared to the uk and even Belfast. I was at a funeral and looked around and actually it was so bad for women most (including myself were overweight). Big business has a lot to answer for
 
I'm a daily weigher too, it keeps me focussed. Those small gains mean extra effort for a loss at the end of the week. Irish people are becoming very overweight too, I'm one I know. And I would say half of the people in my office are overweight. My only experience of being with a large amount of English people was when I was in the Canaries. The majority of guests were English and a lot overweight but they were very overweight. I was especially surprised at how young some of the very large people were. But I could see why, chips, burgers, pizza, crisps and beer from 9am to the following 2am continuously. Lying by the pool but never getting any exercise. I know they were on holidays but it wasn't an overnight change, they were obviously used to consuming this amount. Next door to the hotel was a scooter rental place but most of the rentals were mobility scooters, you could even rent extra large double mobility scooters. People hired these just to get around the hotel. It was an eye opener for me. I ate very well on that holiday, gazpacho, ham and eggs for breakfast while there were complaints the toaster queue moved too slow. Yes, this high carb culture is causing a lot of problems but it seems that the health educators are still more focussed on lowering fat than carbs. We do have some education now on reducing sugar but not carbs in general.
Sorry @AliGal rant over, my long winded way of saying I agree with you and well done on your positive approach while working away.
 
Thanks for your comments @Shrinkingvioletnomore and @ChilliQueen, your rant is appreciated. We've normalised very unhealthy eating. think we are fat and health blind. And we've demonised healthy fats too.

My trip back from Manchester was uneventful. Again no sweets and choccie things in the car. Goodness - I used to eat a load of carbs when I drove long distance.

This trip, I had a camembert that was on offer (very ripe!!) in Tescos, some peanuts and some diet colas. I thought 'd get a hamburger no bun on route - but did't need one. I didn't eat the tescos hard boiled eggs either.

Yesterday - egg mayo salad with one slice of bread. I was making a sandwich for Mr AG - and made a slice for me. Lazy thinking. Not a habit to fall into. Later on some emergency hot chcken in a veggie sauce ( a bit of rice sticking to the chicken as I extracted the chick from a rice meal made for Mr AG), a bowl of strawberries and rasberres with cream and in the evening 4 rashers of great streaky bacon from the butcher.

Scale news! Having had another pee this am, I am actually down 1.6lbs in 12 days - so pro rata, my Monday weigh in would have been just under a lb. That's a bit of a surprise as I was at or above the prior Monday's weigh in yesterday.

Status report - 282.8 - 35.8lbs lost in 137 days - 4 1/2months - 2 stone 7.8lb - 11.24%

50lbs by Xmas just 14.2lbs to go & goal 94.8lbs to go.
 
Scales news: I have been using a cheap electric cellulite massager (thank you, Lidl!) and scrubby mits with shower gel in the shower to get my lymph moving. I went to the nurse yesterday after a call with my GP. She examined my legs and did a blood test (to check I don't have a deep vein thrombosis). I'm impressed this can be done with a little blood test on a little test plate for blood proteins with some reagent, I suppose, in a small rural town surgery. I have now been referred to the lipoedema clinic. Not much to be done apart from manage it - and shed more weight, especially around the tummy to help the lymph flow and use my legs more and get the blood and lymph pumping).

So I have peed a bit more yesterday and this am. I also ate very few carbs yesterday (probably under 700 calories - and yet comletley satsified) and I find I am 2lbs down on yesterday.


.
1628332833795.png


More on lipoedema - I've known I had it - mildly even in the 1980s when I had swollen puffy lower calves. never had "shapely" ankles. My mum and one of my sisters have that too. Mine is worse. I've just have taken no action because my old GP wasn't interested. I think I also thought it would sort itself out when I shed weight. And now I know that's unlikely.

I am wondering if keto will help. Dr Fung talks about the relationship of inflammaton, metabolic syndrome and obesity (and cancer). Maybe getting my body healther using protein and fats will help.

Dr Fung thinks cancer is also an endocrine disease - not just a genetic one. https://foodmed.net/2017/09/cancer-fung-genetic-endocrine/ I am more aware now than I have been in the past that losng weght will reuce my risk of cancer. I've known that in the past - it just was disassociated from my lfe. so not motivating. Odd - as I'd expect someone else who smoked to stop because of the cancer risk - yet I've accepted the cancer risk of overweight and not been able to sustain a healthy weight myself.

My legs feel stimulated - like they did when after the endermologie lipo massage treatment which helped my skin retract when I did the vlcd (and shed 8 stone). So I will continue using the massager and scrubby mits.
 
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I've never had slender ankles either and they're always chunkier by the end of a day as opposed to the beginning so I probably have a mild version. Weight can affect so many different things.
 
Endermologie lipo massage is a kind of prickly massage machine that is rolled over your body while you wear a body stocking. When I did a vlcd at a clinic, they said it helped the skin retract and improve lymphatic drainage. I had that weekly, with a sort of fat melting ultrasound machine (plates claped to areas of fat). I lost 8 1/2stone in my 50s - skin retracted and bulgy fat reduced significantly (see my old thread here).

It was medically supervised with monthly blood tests. If I was close to a clinic and had the funds, I'd do it again - and be better at mantaining. I'd have shed 4-5 stone by now. So instead I'm doing low carb and will be more likely to stay at goal because I am sustaining a different way of eating now.

When I have a bit more cash, I'll go to a local woman who does some sort of treatment as I'd like my skin to retract as I shed the weight.

So my 2 week update is 4.4lbs - average of 2.2lbs a week for the past 2 weeks.

38.6bs lost in 140 days - 2 stone 10.6lb. That's 12.12% of my starting weight.

They say 10% makes a real difference heath wise. I can't say I'm noticing much change - maybe a bit easier to go up stairs but that still hurts my hips and knees.

Very pleased with that - no real explanation why I've shed more than in recent weeks. I reckoned I was probably more or less STS when I was away and then whoosh. Maybe it's doing the DIY lymph massage. Maybe not. Weight loss is just not a straight line process.

Next week, into the teens!

1628505652109.png
 
AliGal said:
Endermologie lipo massage is a kind of prickly massage machine that is rolled over your body while you wear a body stocking. When I did a vlcd at a clinic, they said it helped the skin retract and improve lymphatic drainage. I had that weekly, with a sort of fat melting ultrasound machine (plates claped to areas of fat). I lost 8 1/2stone in my 50s - skin retracted and bulgy fat reduced significantly (see my old thread here).

It was medically supervised with monthly blood tests. If I was close to a clinic and had the funds, I'd do it again - and be better at mantaining. I'd have shed 4-5 stone by now. So instead I'm doing low carb and will be more likely to stay at goal because I am sustaining a different way of eating now.

When I have a bit more cash, I'll go to a local woman who does some sort of treatment as I'd like my skin to retract as I shed the weight.

So my 2 week update is 4.4lbs - average of 2.2lbs a week for the past 2 weeks.

38.6bs lost in 140 days - 2 stone 10.6lb. That's 12.12% of my starting weight.

They say 10% makes a real difference heath wise. I can't say I'm noticing much change - maybe a bit easier to go up stairs but that still hurts my hips and knees.

Very pleased with that - no real explanation why I've shed more than in recent weeks. I reckoned I was probably more or less STS when I was away and then whoosh. Maybe it's doing the DIY lymph massage. Maybe not. Weight loss is just not a straight line process.

Next week, into the teens!

View attachment 199770
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Yes they do I think it’s the health we can’t see, the bp, blood sugar, blood health, pressure on organs etc

I’m lucky I can literally across the river see a brilliant aestheticians place. She only does advanced treatments and I can nip to her on lunch ( I live up in the mountains so normally you’d have to travel for treatments like this) she does my laser and my facial rejuvenation for rosacea so must ask her about something she has similar. Though I see a salon in a local town offering it. I’ve lost 50 and same to go again and while I’ve never suffered I definitely think tummy and thighs will need help this time. Even if I only do once a month to help !
 
Into the teens this am - just! By 0.4lbs - 19st13.6lb

One more lb down to 40lbs and 3lbs down to 3 stone shed.

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A whoosh - and I am 40lbs shed. So all I need to do is rinse and repeat 2 and a bit more times!

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So I was pleased with the tick down today and still being in the teens in stones. (Yes - I did weigh twice this morning after ablutions ...)

I'm doing my lymph massage once or twice a day. I use variious methods: my hands, my cellulite massager, mitts in the shower and a brush in the shower. I've misplaced my dry brush - and will add that to the mix when I find it. I wonder if the whoosh is lymph related.

But then my new size 24 jeans feel loose at the waist so that's good. I need some size 22s at the waist - but not yet at the thighs! My thighs are very solid. Well actually they are very soft. I've always been soft fat not hard and solid fat.
 
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