Hi Everyone, this will be my main thread for keeping track of my efforts.

Just fyi for background:

I'm 5'2", 39 yr., small framed woman.

In 2006 I think I was about 150+ pounds. I joined the other weight loss group at that time, and lost some of it. But then I hit a plateau and could never get any farther. Personal life and health was also keeping me from getting anywhere. I eventually gave up.

October 23, 2007 I started trying to get fit and lean again. I *think* I started out weighing at least 146 in October - but I don't know for sure because I wouldn't get on the scale. I only got on the scale once I felt like I was going to make it with this plan. So I start my ticker at my first weigh in of 144 below.


My calories and exercise over these last weeks vary as follows:

Tuesday October 23, 2007
Walk 10 mins afternoon, bike 10 mins evening

Wednesday October 24, 2007
Walk 15 mins afternoon, bike 15 mins evening

Thursday October 25, 2007
Walk 15 mins afternoon, bike 15-20 mins evening

Friday October 26, 2007
Calories 1262 calories 37.6 grams fat (27% fat)
walk 15 mins afternoon, bike 15 mins evening

Saturday October 27, 2007
Calories 1407 calories 43.5 grams fat (28% fat)
bike 30 mins evening

Sunday October 28, 2007
Calories 1232 calories 36 grams fat (26% fat)
Exercise not recorded

Monday October 29, 2007
Calories 1179 calories 45.2 grams fat (34.5% fat)
Walked 20 min afternoon, unwell no bike evening

Tuesday October 30, 2007
WEIGH IN 144 lbs,
Calories 1259 calories 50.7 grams fat (36% fat)
Walk 20 mins afternoon, bike 20 min evening

Wednesday October 31, 2007
Calories 1274 calories 52.25 grams fat (36% fat)
exercise not recorded

Thursday November 1, 2007
Calories 1096 calories 33.1 grams fat (27% fat)
Walk 20 mins afternoon, nothing evening (ill)

Friday November 2, 2007
WEIGH IN 143 lbs,
Calories 1457 calories 44.9 grams fat (27.7% fat)
Exercise not recorded

Saturday November 3, 2007
Calories 1410 calories 46.7 grams fat (29% fat)
walk 20 mins afternoon, bike 20 mins evening, lots of extreme housework 2-3 hours, new stretches/isometrics

Sunday November 4, 2007
Calories 1769 calories 51 grams fat (25.9% fat)
walk 24 mins afternoon, bike 30 mins evening

Monday November 5, 2007
Calories 1369 calories 40.9 grams fat (26.8% fat)
on feet cooking for 5 hours afternoon, bike 30 mins evening

Tuesday November 6, 2007
WEIGH IN 142.5 lbs,
Calories 1210 calories 37.7 grams fat (28% fat)
walk 15 mins afternoon, bike 20 mins evening

Wednesday November 7, 2007
Calories 1450 calories 45.1 grams fat (28% fat)
bike 30 mins evening

Thursday November 8, 2007
Calories 1423 calories 42.3 grams fat (27% fat)
bike 35 mins evening

Friday November 9, 2007
WEIGH IN 141 lbs, YAY!
Calories 1357 calories 33.75 grams fat (22% fat)
walk 30 mins afternoon, bike 15 mins evening

Saturday November 10, 2007
Calories 1614 calories 47.1 grams fat (26% fat)
no exercise - due to health

Sunday November 11, 2007
Calories 1695 calories 61.6 grams fat (32% fat)
bike 30 mins evening

Monday November 12, 2007
Calories 1265 calories 32.6 grams fat (23% fat)
walk 30 mins afternoon, bike 30 mins evening


Tuesday November 13, 2007
WEIGH IN 140.2 lbs, (scale needle a hair over 140 darn it!
Calories 1315 calories 36.3 grams fat (25% fat)
Walk 30 mins afternoon, bike 40 min evening

Wednesday November 14, 2007
Calories 1268 calories 40 grams fat (28% fat)
bike 15 min evening - due to health

Thursday November 15, 2007
Calories 1397 calories 40.5 grams fat (26% fat)
Walk 21 mins laps at Walmart + grocery shopped another 30 mins afternoon, bike 35 min evening

Friday November 16, 2007
NO LOSS - Increase cals today & tommorrow so metabolism doesn't think I'm starving,
Calories 1638 calories 58 grams fat (32% fat)
bike 40 min evening

Saturday November 17, 2007
Calories 1742 calories 63.7 grams fat (33% fat)
no exercise (not sure why - got busy - this was an oops!)

Sunday November 18, 2007
Calories 1290 calories 42.25 grams fat (29% fat)
Walk in place 10 mins / bike 10 mins / walk stairs 10 mins afternoon, bike 40 min evening

good job keeping track of your progress! it really helps us know what works and what doesn't...the calorie cycle is definately a great idea. :goodidea:

Thank you Shy!!!

I'm in the experimental stage ... which is a little scary .. .lol. Then again, I think the entire time I'm going to lose weight it will be one long experiment. I figure if I talk the talk of eating more calories when people plateau, I better walk that walk and do it as proof. Fingers crossed that I've got it right. lol

welcome & good luck!

:bouncy: I hope the very BEST for you Featherlitegal, you can do it!! :cheer:

I loved reading all that and it's interesting info! Can't wait for your next weigh-in.

:yourock:

Wow great progress! :thumbsup:

You're doing great! All the best. :)

Hi there...good luck and look forward to seeing your progress. You sound really determined and are keeping some detailed logs which is always a great thing :happydance:

Thank you all so much! It is so surprising to see so much support from so many people. Thank you. :)

Sarah! I remember you too from the other board last year. I'll try to catch up with your threads this week. (My week is a bit nutty here)

I'm going to post my stats once a week because they're easier to look at in a lump, I think.

A question ...
My scale wouldn't zero this morning. I kept pushing it all over on the floor thinking it would zero but it wouldn't. When I'd step on it, it would give me my same weight again. No gain no loss. But I hated looking at the 2 pounds over zero on the needle. So I eventually just adjusted the needle. Of course, it now shows me under 140 by a hair. I don't think I can count this as a loss. So I'm going to have to wait and see what Friday brings.

hmm, well if your scale was showing 2lbs as the zero weight, wouldn't you just subtract 2lbs from whatever your weight was?

i remember i had the same problem with my dial scale, it would never go to zero and i was always have to readjust the needle. You could always test the scale with something of known weight (dumbell or bag of flour etc)

It's okay. I'll just assume that I'm at the exact same weight and I won't move my ticker until I see a solid loss from the number I get now. Scales are annoying, at best. I can tell my body feels about the same. I can always feel it when I've had a true loss of even a pound, and I really don't feel that right now. I'll just sally forth!

I'm glad I didn't just subtract the 2 pounds without adjusting the scale needle. That would have allowed me to say I'm 138 pounds - and I'm not that lucky. :)

When it was zero-ing on its own, it was giving me a hair over 140. Now that I've recalibrated it, it is continually giving me a hair under 140. I think I"ll accept that this is my correct weight. I'm not down to 139 by any means, but I think the reading is accurate. Something must have had the scale off kilter and adjusting it seems to have settled it down. Onward....

I forgot to note: my goal for fat intake is 30% daily. I currently don't track protein and carbs. Maybe later. Right now it is time consuming enough to track what I do.

Okay here comes the latest round of numbers ...

Note I've added "rocking" as an activity. See my entry in the general section for why and how etc.
>>Forum link: Rocking Chair: sneaky way to burn a few more cals?


Monday November 19, 2007
Calories 1615 calories 53.83 grams fat (30% fat)
Walk in place 10 mins / aerobic activity 10 mins afternoon
bike 60 min evening
(note this wasn't supposed to be a high cal day, but I made a mistake with some dessert bars)

Tuesday November 20, 2007
Calories 1164 calories 31.6 grams fat (24% fat)
bike 60 min (2 sets of 30 mins) evening

Wednesday November 21, 2007
Calories 1630 calories 58.5 grams fat (32% fat)
Exercise not recorded
(note this high cal day was not planned, but there were too many pre-Thanksgiving day desserts and I was very stressed out.)

Thursday November 22, 2007
Calories 1573 calories 56 grams fat (32% fat)
2 hours rocking / bike 20 min evening
(note expected much higher calories but had bad reaction to msg hidden in food today. What a way to not enjoy Thanksgiving!)

Friday November 23, 2007
Calories 1210 calories 36.8 grams fat (27% fat)
Walk in place / march 15 mins afternoon / Bike 15 mins evening and 2 hours 30 mins rocking
(Note Friday and Saturday were almost impossible days to eat, I don't know how I managed to force 1200-some calories down. Still ill from the MSG reaction)

Saturday November 24, 2007
Calories 1283 calories 31.83 grams fat (22% fat)
Bike 15 mins evening (might have been longer) and 2 hours 30 mins rocking

Sunday November 25, 2007
Calories 1493 calories 45.5 grams fat (27% fat)
Walk in place / march 15 mins afternoon / Bike 30 mins evening and 2 hours 15 mins rocking

Monday November 26, 2007
Calories 1349 calories 54 grams fat (36% fat)
Bike 60 mins evening and 30 mins rocking

WEIGHT 139
I'm not making a big deal of the 139 for a few reasons.
(1) It has been slow coming off. (2) I had a scale recalibration and this isn't as big of a loss - maybe only 1 pound since last weigh in. (3) I feel like I've plateaued again like last year and it is freaking me out. Then again, my cals have been a little higher than I'd like, too.



On the POSITIVE side however, it does feel neat to be over 10 pounds lighter than I was in spring of 2006. I do look much better and feel more nimble at this weight. It is easier to move. My clothes hang much nicer. Sweaters that made me look like a dough-girl now fit pleasingly. It is a good start. I'll try to not worry about the niggling negativity of the above paragraph. ;)

Onward ...

:cheer:

I think your cals and zig zagging look good Feather..keep it up for a couple more weeks before you change to much. Your exercise is looking good! :cheer:

Thank you Purrrple and Teach. There were a few more high days than I would have liked, but I guess this is an experiment yet to figure out what works for me, so maybe I should not freak out over it. I'll try to keep to the plan through Christmas. If I made it through Thanksgiving, I should be able to plan my big cal days around the feasting. I sure would like to see 2 pounds a week dropping off again -- but I think I have my best losses when I can walk outside every day for 30 minutes. Since we've started getting snow, I don't do that anymore. I sure will be glad when spring comes!

i also think you are doing great :huggs:

the zigzagging calories looks good, and actually if you have some weeks where there are more high calorie days, and some weeks with more low calorie days, this is likely to just trick your body even more :happydance:

Looking good FL! I like the way you are tracking yourself - easy to see what you did each day! Great idea!

That's :fantastic: - keep it up! :cheer:

I hope you're feeling better now.

Thank you very much everyone. *hugs* back to you.

Well, if you won't celebrate the 139, I'll do it for you!

:happydance: :happydance: :happydance: :happydance: :happydance:

Moving into a different "decade" is cause to celebrate, as is being down 10 pounds!

Your program looks very good -- great job!

I agree with Sarah! :danceparty: :danceparty: :danceparty:

Thank you for your support everyone (here and in my other threads). I had to take a little time off to deal with some things that were distressing me. I haven't fixed everything, but I am trying to put on a positive spin. Hope to get caught up here soon.

We're here for you whenever you needs us Feather :huggs: :huggs:

Yes we are! :huggs: I hope things work out for good and you are OK :huggs:

:huggs: :huggs: :huggs:

i'll be thinking of you :huggs:

Thank you, Ladies, very much.

My goal currently is to hold onto 139. It is going to be very tough right now. I'm over my head with other stuff.

I stepped on the scale this morning and I'm still at 139. Thank the heavens for that.

Here is my current set of numbers .... there was some fretful eating and some indulgences and I really don't care that I did it. I'd do it again and have no remorse. I plan to do more of it. I made sure the splurges were very tasty things for the most part. If I'm going to eat a calorie, it better taste superb.


Tuesday November 27, 2007
1789 calories 73.75 grams fat (37%)
Bike 30 mins afternoon Rocked 2 hr 15 min evening


Wednesday November 28, 2007
1399 calories 41.45 grams fat (26.6%)
No Exercise today


Thursday November 29, 2007
1448 calories 50.5 grams fat (31%)
Bike 1 hour afternoon / Rocked 1 hour evening


Friday November 30, 2007
1749 calories 62.75 grams fat (32%)
Rocked 3 hr 15 min evening


Saturday December 1, 2007
1851 calories 70.2 grams fat (34%)
Bike 1 hour afternoon / Rocked 1 hour evening


Sunday December 2, 2007
1834 calories 65 grams fat (32%)
Bike 30 min afternoon / Rocked 1-1/2 hour evening


Monday December 3, 2007
1443 calories 51.85 grams fat (32%)
No exercise

Tuesday December 4, 2007
1387 calories 46 grams fat (30%)
Bike 1 hour afternoon / unwell evening


Wednesday December 5, 2007
1583 calories 38.2 grams fat (21.7%)
Rock 2 hours evening


Thursday December 6, 2007
1640 calories 56.75 grams fat (31%)
Rock 2 hours evening

PS: I discovered that 1 teaspoon of cocoa powder (hershey's natural) mixed into cooked oatmeal makes it taste like a warm chocolatey dessert. (1/3 cup dry oatmeal, 1/3 cup whole milk, 2 teaspoons brown sugar + 1 teaspoon cocoa). I usually like dried cherries in my oatmeal but am too broke to buy them right now - hence the cocoa experiment since it is already in the cupboard. Adds almost no fat and almost no calories.

Hmm. Well, this might be harder than I expected. Yesterday I ended up re-injuring my back - more accurately, I think something is pressing on a nerve. I'm having a whole lot of pain. I'm all too familiar with what to do and I'm doing it. Luckily, it seems to be working. I think all the stress, some unexpected snow shoveling which I wasn't supposed to do, and my fibromyalgia all ganged up on me at once. Having some pains elsewhere that hadn't been bothering me for a very long time. It doesn't help that I ran out of ALL of my various supplements at the same time - which have always been key in keeping my symptoms almost totally in check. I can now vouch for the fact that they work, because if you take all of them away from me at the same time my body falls apart. Ugh.

So anyway - no exercise until this is healed. I can't even rock in the rocker because sitting is the worst.

So my calories are up, my exercise is gone .... this is a recipe for disaster and I know it, but I can't change it. If I take away food right now I'll hit the roof.

On the positive side ...


My back and other pains are greatly improving tonight. Greatly, greatly improved! I can envision being able to at least rock in the rocking chair within a day or two. Thank heavens for that because my food today was quite bad. Was out of cash and had to settle for balogna for lunch, fatty meatloaf for dinner, and you just don't want to know the rest. My cals were under 1600, but wow, the fat. Yikes. My fat percentage today is about 43%. I have to laugh because that's such a ridiculous number. I pray I can hold onto 139 this Friday, that would be miraculous.

Oooh the chocolate oatmeal sounds yummy and I am so happy your back is feeling better!!

:huggs: i am so glad your back and other pains are feeling better today!

here's to a good weigh-in Feather :cheers: go 139...go 139 :cheer:

Thanks Teach, Shy and Purrrple. I am going to TRY to be a better eater again the rest of this week. I feel less freaked out today and feel like I can concentrate again. Fingers crossed, I don't wanna let go of 139. I hadn't seen it in years and I don't want to say goodbye to it unless it means I'm heading toward 130 instead. We'll see!

Tonight is the FIRST night I've been able to even rock in the rocking chair since my injury stuff. Wahoooo. 15 mins is all I rocked, but it's such a relief. Last night I tried it and my calves cramped like mad. Progress. Slow, but progress. I've been very faithfully doing my old yoga-like exercises to fix my back and they are working. I'm embarassed to admit I am supposed to do them every day of my life and I had not done them in months and months and months. Bad girl, I let my back muscles get weak - that's when injury strikes. In a weird way though, i think this back thing was sent to make me pay attention to my neck. I have a problem with it, but I wasn't addressing it. This back thing forced me to address my entire body ... which is making me look at the neck problem. I guess it's what I always say, when you don't pay attention to the smaller signs sent from the divine force of the universe, you'll get bigger signals until you HAVE to pay attention.

Tomorrow morning is the dreaded weigh in. I figured I better post my stats now before I chicken out. High cals and lots and lots of fats. :pig: I wouldn't be quite so concerned but I haven't been able to exercise and I REALLY didn't want my fats that high. I prefer 30%. So, yow! I anticipate tomorrow's weight will be up - but even knowing that I'm still upset by it. But what's a person to do? I'll just have to try again.


Friday December 7, 2007
1627 calories 60 grams fat (33%)
Rock 30 mins afternoon / Bike 1 hour evening / Rock 2 hours evening



Saturday December 8, 2007
1710 calories 55.25 grams fat (29%)
Zero Exercise / Injury


Sunday December 9, 2007
1675 calories 68 grams fat (36.5%)
Zero Exercise / Injury

Monday December 10, 2007
1534 calories 70.25 grams fat (41%)
Zero Exercise / Injury

Tuesday December 11, 2007
1282 calories 39.05 grams fat (27%)
Zero Exercise / Injury


Wednesday December 12, 2007
1434 calories 65.5 grams fat (41%)
Rocked (slow and gentle) 15 mins evening / + 15 more minutes later


Thursday December 13, 2007
1617 calories 63.25 grams fat (35%)
Rocking 1 hour plus (slow and gentle)

I know exactly how you feel... we *know* what we have done and that a result will occur, but we are still upset about it... I am just happy for you that you are able to get back to your rocking... slow and steady girl!

Thank you, Teach. This is still all a weird experiment. I don't quite know what my maintenance cals are. I don't know if rocking has any effect on my weight - although it does seem to work legs, hips and stomach from the feel of it. I don't quite know what my old fat % of cals might have been before I started making an effort to curb butter and excessive fats. It is such a pain to not be able to walk outside again until April! But I'll just keep chipping away as best I can I guess with the tools I can use.

Today's weight: 139.
Can you believe it?

So maybe my maintenance diet without exercise if 1600-1700 cals? Not sure.

I feel blessed to have been able to hold on. Everything else in life is so bad right now, this is one area that is at least maintaining!

Oh that is wonderful featherlitegal!! :clap: Congrats on maintaining!!