The Weight Loss Support Group

AbbysMom · Jun 14, 2013

Pam (Winchester) and I have been kicking around the idea of starting this group going again here in the Cat Lounge. We've decided to give it a go.

There are plenty of us crazy cat ladies (and gentlemen

) that would like to lose a few pounds and why not give each other a little push and some support?

Here are some thoughts so far:

Weekly weigh-ins. You would post how much you have gained or lost from the previous week. No, need to post your actual weight, because who really feels like doing that? :lol3:

Weekly challenges. Things like drinking a certain number of glasses of water per day or a certain number of veggies a day, etc.

We'd also like to share tips, ideas, recipes, etc. There are soooooo many different diets and theories out there and what works for one may not work for another. We'd like to know what is or isn't working for you.

Any other ideas?

If you want to just be part of the weigh-in or just part of the weekly challenges, that's fine, but if you aren't serious about this, then this isn't the thread for you. Sure, everyone has off days and falls off the wagon, but if all you are posting are excuses, you will get called out.

Some days I need to get called out. :lol3: Of course if you are happy with your weight and just want to cheer us on, c'mon in! :lol3: We'll take all the support we can get.

So who is in?

Winchester · Jun 14, 2013

Thank you, Karen! Please include me.

tammat · Jun 14, 2013

Yes please AbbysMom count me in. I've been counting calories since January. It's been going well and I'm very close to my goal but the last bit is hard. Your thread is just what I need. I already do my own weekly weigh in so I'm happy to share.

andrya · Jun 14, 2013

l'm in!

dejolane · Jun 15, 2013

I went to the doctors last Friday and I'm down to 213 pounds without trying. I know I can get lower if I put my mind to it.Good luck everyone.You can do it too.

Winchester · Jun 16, 2013

What day is our weigh-in day? When do you want to start? Ideas?

andrya · Jun 16, 2013

l'm glad you asked. l thought maybe you guys had started.

While shopping for Father's Day treats, l bought myself some English chocolate

so l'll start when it's gone. l've already stocked up on healthy foods and refrained from buying processed/prepackaged items.

Does anyone else have a preference of start dates?

l'm thinking of being brave and posting front and side before pictures in a snug shirt so l can do a series of "afters" and see the loss to keep motivated.

Would anyone mind that?

catsallaround · Jun 16, 2013

Andrya-that would work well as you know you have to put up a new one every so often and seeing the loss is great motivation!

I can't join you guys at this time but will be a supporter!!! I have battled weight all my life.

AbbysMom · Jun 16, 2013

Go for it Andrya! :bigthumb: I won't be doing the same though. :lol3:

As far as weighin, please not a Monday. :lol3: I eat the worst on the weekends. :lol3: I would prefer Friday, but any day other than Monday is OK with me.

Any other takers?

tammat · Jun 16, 2013

I'm ready to start. I just bought new batteries for my scales this morning. They weighed HEAVIER than yesterday! I think I like them better with low batteries lol! I have before and after photos. They are a great idea. My improvement is very slow but it's evident in photos. I went to the photo shop yesterday to have photos printed. My pics were up on a sreen that faced into the rest of the store. Next thing, there they were, close up photos of my big bum in a g string!!! How embarrassing!! Must erase them from the camera. Oh and I won't be posting them on this thread!

furmonster mom · Jun 16, 2013

This... might be something I should try.

Except I have never in my life owned a scale.

Thing is, my goal is to exercise more: walking, yoga, palates, gym weights and machines, and eventually back out onto the hiking trails. It's been a very long time since I've done much of that. I have a difficult time measuring progress by weight alone. If I'm exercising, then I should conceivably be building muscle, which will be heavier than the fat that I should also be losing. To my mind, measuring by weight alone can be misleading.

Mind you, I do need to be more careful of what I am eating. I just got off the phone with my dad, talking about diet changes. He's cut out sodas, chips, dips, & M&Ms; I've cut out sodas, juices, and a lot of processed foods. I make a lot of stuff from scratch, so I know what ingredients are in my foods. I keep things low salt and low sugar.

Cheese is my weakness.

Just call me Wallace... "cheeeeeeesse, Gromit!"

I think... count me in tentatively.

But I won't be able to do the weigh-ins.

tammat · Jun 16, 2013

Furmonster Mom said:
This... might be something I should try.

Except I have never in my life owned a scale.

Why don't you do a weekly measure then? Waist, hips and neck. If you are making progress your measurements will get smaller.

tammat · Jun 16, 2013

Does everybody know its best to weigh yourself first thing in the morning on the same day each week. Your weight can differ from day to day but this gives you a pretty good average. Your weight can differ throughout the day too so first thing is best.

Winchester · Jun 17, 2013

I have no problem with Friday morning being a weigh-in (actually, I weigh myself every morning, but Friday will be the official day). Works for me.

No pictures from here.....I'm too much of a coward.

I'm trying to get dear Richard involved a little bit, too. We've both fallen off the wagon this month and it's not been pretty. His doctor finally got tired of his cholesterol levels and prescribed a statin; he has to pick it up at the store today. His level isn't terribly bad, but it is over 200. All those cookies and such. Rick's got a terribly sweet tooth and if I don't bake, he'll just get it from the store.....or the snack machine at work. I'd rather bake; at least that way, I know what's in his cookies. But we need to stop that, too, for awhile, and treat cookies and such like the treats they really are.

I'm wondering if I started walking at night again, especially now that's it getting very warm during the day to walk over lunch, if I could talk him into walking with me. We used to walk all over the place, but he may have walked once so far this year and that was just down to the stop sign and back, about 1.6 miles. I could still walk in the morning, but then walk again at night....and see if that would get him moving a bit. Our problem there is that we have so much stuff to do at night that exercise always takes a back seat. There's just no time for everything anymore. I will say that he has a fairly strenuous job, where he's on his feet all day and he is constantly moving, so that's good for him.

And we used to do Meatless Mondays and sometimes on Fridays, too, but I forget when the last time was we even thought about it. So not only do I need to get back on track, but I need to get back to cooking healthy for both of us. I'm sure there will be complaining from my other half

, but he'll get used to it again. Maybe we could do a meatless challenge every so often where we have to make at least one meatless meal during that week.

ETA: Rick and I are driving to Wisconsin around the beginning of August. He is going for union stuff and he said that if I came along, we could drive; it's a two-day drive for us. He has a retirement party we have to attend after his meetings and I'd like to look decent for that. So there's a goal for me now. Just not sure how much I can realistically lose by then.....be nice to lose 15 pounds anyway.

andrya · Jun 17, 2013

Friday sounds good to me. l haven't been able to find my scale yet (it was never unpacked after the move, so it's in one of the multitude of boxes in the basement). So l'll have time between now and then to buy a new one.

After checking the height-weight charts for women, l can say l have 60lbs to lose

Wow! l'd like to lose maybe a little more than 60 for appearance sake, but that is my health goal, and is the mid-range weight for my height.

My first month or so, l'd like to see if any weight is lost by diet alone - cutting out chocolate (by far my biggest indulgence), fatty foods, processed and prepackaged foods, and these meal replacement drinks l have for breakfast almost every day.

Switching to basic meat and vegetables and starting to drink water daily must have some health benefits, and l'm hoping they'll show on the scale.

l've had a full physical in the last couple of months so l know l'm healthy enough to start a diet and exercise program. l might walk daily, but full-on cardio can wait until l've shed a few pounds.

Winchester · Jun 17, 2013

Furmonster Mom said:
This... might be something I should try.

Except I have never in my life owned a scale.

Just call me Wallace... "cheeeeeeesse, Gromit!"

If you don't want to do measurements and you don't have a scale, check the way you clothes fit. I can tell what's going on simply by the way my jeans fit (and right now, they're a wee bit tighter than they used to be). You can use that as a monitor with your diet, too.

We'd love to have you with us!

AbbysMom · Jun 17, 2013

So at this point we have me, Winchester, Tammat, Andrya and Furmonster Mom is a maybe. Does that sound about right?

Weigh-in day will be Friday. Some of you will not be weighing in, but will be joining in on the rest.

So for this week, we will just watch what we are eating, tell a little more about ourselves and see if we can pick up some more members. Does that sound OK?

Friday we will weigh in. Some of us will know what the difference is form last Friday, some of us won't, but we will have a starting point then. Friday will also be the first day of the weekly challenge, OK? I have picked out starting this Friday and then we will take turns. Does that sound OK to everyone?

I was reading something this weekend that hit home with me. In order for a weight loss plan to stick, it's not always best to go cold turkey on everything, because you will just start feeling deprived and will fall off the wagon fast. Some people when they fall off don't get back on. I was one of these people. I'm SO much better about it now. I used to have one bad meal then say "Oh well" and then start eating hog-wild. I don't do that anymore. I will have a bad meal and then get back into eating better. Those occasional treats are what keeps me sane. The article stated that it is better to eliminate things one by one so you don't feel deprived all at once and after a while you don't really miss some of them.

The challenge I was thinking of to start this Friday is to take one of your bad eating habits and not do it for the week. For some it may be ice cream, or sneaking potato chips, or you may want to skip sugary drinks, snacks between meals, fast food drive thru, Big Macs, etc. If we can give it up for the week, maybe we can give it up a little longer?

For me, I have had a habit lately of running into a bakery and getting a cupcake or a piece of bakery pizza or even driving through Taco Bell and getting a chicken quesadilla. I've been doing it 1-2 times a week, I want to not run in or drive through for any of these impulsive snacks/meals for a week.

Does that sounds like a reasonable first challenge to everyone?

AbbysMom · Jun 17, 2013

Tammat said:
I'm ready to start. I just bought new batteries for my scales this morning. They weighed HEAVIER than yesterday! I think I like them better with low batteries lol! I have before and after photos. They are a great idea. My improvement is very slow but it's evident in photos. I went to the photo shop yesterday to have photos printed. My pics were up on a sreen that faced into the rest of the store. Next thing, there they were, close up photos of my big bum in a g string!!! How embarrassing!! Must erase them from the camera. Oh and I won't be posting them on this thread!

:lol3::lol3::lol3: There is NO WAY i will ever be taking pics like that! :flail:

Furmonster Mom said:
This... might be something I should try.

Except I have never in my life owned a scale.

Thing is, my goal is to exercise more: walking, yoga, palates, gym weights and machines, and eventually back out onto the hiking trails. It's been a very long time since I've done much of that. I have a difficult time measuring progress by weight alone. If I'm exercising, then I should conceivably be building muscle, which will be heavier than the fat that I should also be losing. To my mind, measuring by weight alone can be misleading.

Mind you, I do need to be more careful of what I am eating. I just got off the phone with my dad, talking about diet changes. He's cut out sodas, chips, dips, & M&Ms; I've cut out sodas, juices, and a lot of processed foods. I make a lot of stuff from scratch, so I know what ingredients are in my foods. I keep things low salt and low sugar.
Cheese is my weakness.
Just call me Wallace... "cheeeeeeesse, Gromit!"

I think... count me in tentatively.
But I won't be able to do the weigh-ins.

Like Pam said, how your clothes are fitting can also be used as a guide.

I agree that some of us are going to plateau and it will be a time of muscle gain and not weight loss. Did you see we also have an Exercise thread?

Tammat said:
Does everybody know its best to weigh yourself first thing in the morning on the same day each week. Your weight can differ from day to day but this gives you a pretty good average. Your weight can differ throughout the day too so first thing is best.

I have a morning ritual and weighing myself is part of it so I weigh myself at the same point every day.

Winchester said:
I have no problem with Friday morning being a weigh-in (actually, I weigh myself every morning, but Friday will be the official day). Works for me.

No pictures from here.....I'm too much of a coward. :anon:

I'm trying to get dear Richard involved a little bit, too. We've both fallen off the wagon this month and it's not been pretty. His doctor finally got tired of his cholesterol levels and prescribed a statin; he has to pick it up at the store today. His level isn't terribly bad, but it is over 200. All those cookies and such. Rick's got a terribly sweet tooth and if I don't bake, he'll just get it from the store.....or the snack machine at work. I'd rather bake; at least that way, I know what's in his cookies. But we need to stop that, too, for awhile, and treat cookies and such like the treats they really are.

I'm wondering if I started walking at night again, especially now that's it getting very warm during the day to walk over lunch, if I could talk him into walking with me. We used to walk all over the place, but he may have walked once so far this year and that was just down to the stop sign and back, about 1.6 miles. I could still walk in the morning, but then walk again at night....and see if that would get him moving a bit. Our problem there is that we have so much stuff to do at night that exercise always takes a back seat. There's just no time for everything anymore. I will say that he has a fairly strenuous job, where he's on his feet all day and he is constantly moving, so that's good for him.

And we used to do Meatless Mondays and sometimes on Fridays, too, but I forget when the last time was we even thought about it. So not only do I need to get back on track, but I need to get back to cooking healthy for both of us. I'm sure there will be complaining from my other half :heart3: , but he'll get used to it again. Maybe we could do a meatless challenge every so often where we have to make at least one meatless meal during that week.

ETA: Rick and I are driving to Wisconsin around the beginning of August. He is going for union stuff and he said that if I came along, we could drive; it's a two-day drive for us. He has a retirement party we have to attend after his meetings and I'd like to look decent for that. So there's a goal for me now. Just not sure how much I can realistically lose by then.....be nice to lose 15 pounds anyway.

Any pound is better than no pounds, right?

Hopefully you can get Rich walking with you. :nod:

Andrya said:
Friday sounds good to me. l haven't been able to find my scale yet (it was never unpacked after the move, so it's in one of the multitude of boxes in the basement). So l'll have time between now and then to buy a new one.
After checking the height-weight charts for women, l can say l have 60lbs to lose

Wow! l'd like to lose maybe a little more than 60 for appearance sake, but that is my health goal, and is the mid-range weight for my height.

My first month or so, l'd like to see if any weight is lost by diet alone - cutting out chocolate (by far my biggest indulgence), fatty foods, processed and prepackaged foods, and these meal replacement drinks l have for breakfast almost every day.
Switching to basic meat and vegetables and starting to drink water daily must have some health benefits, and l'm hoping they'll show on the scale.
l've had a full physical in the last couple of months so l know l'm healthy enough to start a diet and exercise program. l might walk daily, but full-on cardio can wait until l've shed a few pounds.

You would be surprised how much of a difference walking alone will make. :nod:

andrya · Jun 17, 2013

Now l'm getting excited about this - it's amazing what having a goal can do to your motivation.

Scale is bought, cats are weighed

, Tanner has gained weight thankfully - up from 7lbs 7oz to 8lbs 12oz.

ls anyone going to share their starting weight/height? That's something that would be easier to do after losing the weight

l'm game if anyone else is, but l'm not going to be the only one. l'll keep a Word file of weights and pictures otherwise, and post them once my goal is reached.

AbbysMom · Jun 17, 2013

I'll PM you my weight if you want, but I will not post it here! :flail:

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