Stihl

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Stihl

Postby Stihl » March 17th, 2009, 8:28 am

Hi all. I am a restarting college male.

Long story short - I started, lost weight, got busy, got off plan, and gained my weight back (I hadn't lost everything I wanted - only about 30 pounds). Once my busyness was over, I tried to restart.

But for whatever reason, I kept putting off restarting - oh, I'll just start after Thanksgiving. Oh, I'll just start after Christmas. After New Years. Once school starts. Etc.

Once school started, I really wanted to make the most of this semester.

So, what I did is I wrote down three goals that I wanted to accomplish this semester. I wrote them, taped them to my desk, and try everyday to work towards the accomplishment of those goals.

One of those goals is to get into better shape. I started Medifast in early February, at approximately 290 pounds. Since then, I have been more or less compliant, and am now in the 255 pound range.

I think writing down the goals and taping them to my desk has helped me. Every time I am tempted to cheat, I look at the goal and ask myself why I'm even considering it.

When I say more or less compliant, it reminds me of how I seem to function - if I were to use a different username here, it would be something along the lines of "Master Rationalizer." What would happen is I would be on plan for maybe a week or so, and then the scale would stall. When it did, I rationalized allowing myself to eat off plan because I always had big drops after restarting from being off plan. And in one way, it worked. After every time I cheated when I stalled out, I lost more weight than what I gained back. The thing is, it was taking me 3 days or so to lose everything I had gained from my day of non-compliance. So I was losing weight - just not quickly or effectively.

The next time the scale stalled, I decided to be absolutely compliant, and continue. It stalled on the second day, but on the third it began to drop and continues to drop, more or less. I have been totally compliant since 3/3, so for 2 weeks. In those two weeks, I've managed to lose 9 pounds.

In terms of my weight loss goals/numbers:

I started this out at 290

I am currently at 255.8

So, up to this point I have lost 34.2 pounds (wow, kinda neat saying that)

My goal is to get to about 150-160 pounds.

I am probably going to write down timetable goals for my weight loss goal and post them next to my other goals on my desk. For me, they'll be:

By the end of the semester (Mid-May), I want to be down to 225. That gives me about 8 weeks to lose 30 pounds, or 3.75lb/week

By the end of summer (beginning of Sept), I want to be down to 180. That gives me 14 weeks to lose 45 pounds, or 3.25lb/week.

By Thanksgiving break (end of November), I want to be down to 150. That gives me 10 weeks to lose 30 pounds, or 3 lb/week.

I'll probably miss those goal dates by a few days, but if I stay compliant I see no reason I shouldn't be hitting those goals.

The other thing that I think has made this SOOOOOOO much easier to do is the bars. Frankly, it was a bit of a pain in the ass to make the shakes/mix the oatmeal etc. I mean, yeah it only takes two minutes but it was just an extra reason to not be compliant. Also, my shaker jar started to smell pretty bad
:shock:

I love the new bars. I just put another order in last week, which should arrive today. I ordered basically all bars (and a cappuccino).

My favorites are:

Smores
Strawberry Crunch
Lemon Meringue
Choco Mint
Cinnamon Roll
Oatmeal Raisin

Probably in that order.

I was a big fan of the PB ones, but they just started to smell/taste like old popcorn rather than anything Peanut Buttery. I don't know why. When I chewed it slowly it was good like Peanut Butter, but when I just took bites and chewed "normally" it seemed like an odd sort of popcorn.

The thing is, when I lost my 30 or so pounds when I originally started, I could definitely noticeably see it on my body. Even though I've lost more weight on the re-start, I'm not sure if its as noticeable. I can notice it, I just don't know if its as much. Oh well.

One of the REALLY nice things was that I just fit into a pair of size 38 jeans (barely - they're very tight and I can JUST fit my hands into the pockets). I haven't been under 40 for a few years now, and when I started was in 44s. It's cool, but not as good as I would hope, I think. I realized that the size 38 jeans are "relaxed fit." I honestly have no idea what that means, but I assume that it's not a normal 38. What I'll do is I'll head out to Wal-Mart, buy a crappy $8 pair of 36 jeans, and try them on every morning. I intend to do that with every new jean size I achieve.

Anyway, I'm on plan, I'm working, and I'm going to be done with the overweight part of my life by Thanksgiving. That's for damn sure.
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Postby ChynnaDoll » March 17th, 2009, 9:40 am

Hi there! Well it looks like you're off to a GREAT start. Congrat's to you on your acheived losses.

YOU CAN DO IT:+)))...and what a nice NSV (nonscale visual) you had with the jeans..lol! i'm also hearing you about the new bars...they are TERRIFFIC aren't they! I love the Chocolate Mint:+)...seems easier with the bars...takes care of my sweet tooth!

Good Luck on this journey. We're right here with you!!

Chynna

PS: What are you majoring in?
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Postby nickieluv » March 18th, 2009, 9:31 am

I think relaxed fit refers to room in the rear and thighs, not the waist. It probably really is a 38, if that helps any. :)

It sounds like you're doing great - and you are doing what I do, which is cheat and think it means you'll lose faster afterwards. Good for you for realizing that it only SEEMS faster because you're dropping the water weight all over again. Stay the course - it's not easy, but it is the fastest and surest way to meet your goals.

Have a great semester!
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Postby Stihl » March 18th, 2009, 8:06 pm

I am majoring in Government, Economics and taking a lot of classes in Psychology and Philosophy. I plan to go to law school when college is over (though I have no intention of becoming a lawyer - I want to work on the Hill)

Down to 255 today, so -.8. Just 30 pounds to my first goal.

The annoying thing is, I've actually weighed 255.8 since Monday. My problem has been I've had terrible, terrible sleep. I'm one of those people who think that sleep is the most essential thing on this program (except for staying on plan). So the last few days, I would fall asleep accidentally at like, 6pm, wake up at 7pm, and not be able to go back to sleep. Then I would go to sleep around midnight, wake up at 3am, and not be able to go back to sleep until midday (thankfully I'm on spring break right now). Today, I forced myself to lie in bed until I went asleep, and I finally got a decent bloc of sleep (even though I wake up every 2 or 3 hours.)

My sleeping is super weird. No matter what I seem to do, I can't seem to fall asleep for more than 2 to 3 hours at a time. If I were to sleep for an 8 hour bloc of time, I might wake up 3 or 4 times during that 8 hours, but then fall back asleep within 5 minutes. I don't really know why - maybe I need to pick up the exercise to make myself more tired.

Anyway, at the end of the day I finally got decent sleep and finally dropped some weight.

And thanks Chyna and Nicki for the support
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Postby nickieluv » March 19th, 2009, 7:37 pm

When I was in college (not all that long ago ;) ) I used to sleep like that during finals week. I couldn't stay asleep for long without waking, but after a few minutes I'd be asleep again. Then I'd catch up over the break and be back to normal by the start of the next semester. I hope it evens out for you - not sleeping is awful and not just in terms of the diet.
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Postby Stihl » March 21st, 2009, 10:21 am

Hey all.

So, I've had some more sleep issues. Same ones - its really quite annoying.

This last day though, I was determined to get good sleep, and was able to sleep relatively normally, getting about 5.5 hours and sleeping until 9AM. Hopefully I'll be able to stay awake until midnight tonight, and then I'll be back on a solid sleep schedule.

Having said that, I'm only down to 254.4 - so just another -.6 the last few days. I attribute this to the sleep issues - hopefully my body will have gained some karma though and next week when I am on good sleep I'll sustain extra losses.

I've literally been 100% compliant this entire week. Its hard to deal with that I haven't lost any weight (well, 1.4 lbs isn't nothing, but in one way it is nothing). Its alright though - just power through.

I am sooo in love with the smores bars. Best part of my day.


OrigAu - that's pretty funny about your husband - not because its funny that he's learned to abuse food, but because that's where my weight issues started. I was a state-caliber high school wrestler, and then after the season I just ate a ton - not because I wanted to, but because I finally could (for those who don't know, wrestlers have to make certain weight classes during the season. This means that we eat very little while also burning a few thousand calories a day at practice - we would literally weigh ourselves before and after practice, and would lose anywhere between 3-6lbs of sweat, even while rehydrating. Crazy stuff)

As for law school, right now I'm looking at Harvard Yale Stanford and Columbia. It'll be hard to get into those schools, but my grades are in line and my LSAT (the law school SAT, basically) is just a few points from their middle 50%. That and the fact that I'm just a sophomore makes me hopeful that I can pull it off.


One thing I've been thinking about is opportunity costs (I am an economics student after all...) So I was thinking of all the costs associated with going off plan...

-Weight gain
-Feel terrible/sick
-I don't know about the rest of you, but when I go off plan I tend to have digestive issues
-Losing out on pounds that could have been lost
-Losing money having to buy more medifast food to make up for going off plan

Just more reasons to not be off plan, even if the scale isn't cooperating.
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Postby Stihl » March 21st, 2009, 10:35 am

For those who haven't seen the movie "Super-Size Me", I just found it online for free to watch. It was the first time I had seen it and it's really quite good.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/63283/super-size-me
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Postby nickieluv » March 21st, 2009, 5:28 pm

It was a good movie. But odd. You'd think I'd never eat fast food again but I guess I wasn't grossed out enough....

Hope you get better sleep tonight. I know when you can get more sleep you'll see better losses - it's always happened for me.

And those are very good economic reasons to stay on plan. Good thinking!
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Postby Stihl » March 22nd, 2009, 7:25 am

Yeah, I could see myself, after this is all over, eating fast food maybe a few times a month. But its pretty scary that within 3 weeks you can develop health problems that take 8 months to fix.

I think the more interesting thing was how the food contributed to his mood and lethargy.

Anyway, got decent sleep and I dropped another 1.2 lbs to 253.2

Since last Sunday, I've managed to lose 3.4 lbs. Considering that Monday (255.8 ) - Friday(255) I only lost .8 lbs, I'm actually fairly happy with this weeks results. I feel like I couldn't possibly do worse than this week in terms of stalling/sleep issues, so hopefully its only up from here.

So my semester officially ends on May 15. That gives me 54 days to hit my first goal of getting down to 225 lbs. That means I need to lose .52 lbs/day or 3.64 lbs/week. Considering that this week I lost 3.4 when everything went wrong, I like my chances.
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Postby oksoonergirl26 » March 22nd, 2009, 10:49 am

Thank you for giving me tips about eating the right amount of meals. I like the way you set your goals. I go for a weigh-in on Thursday and after I conquer this first week, then I am setting more specific goals. The current broad goal is 50 pounds by July 26, after that we will see. I like your very focused approach to your goal setting, but try not to over think so much! I know b/c I tend to do the same thing! I am glad that you provided the link to "SuperSize Me". I showed parts of that film to my classes while we were studying arguments and rhetorical strategies. I had seen the movie several times before and I must admit it didn't turn me off completely, but it made really think about having anything from McDonald's or similar establishments. My students were really fascinated with the school that goes with the organic programs and wanted to try to start something like at our school. Unfortunately we are too dependent on government funds and crappy government provided lunches to break away. Sorry, didn't mean to rant.
3/18/09
228/175/125
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Postby ChynnaDoll » March 23rd, 2009, 5:09 pm

Hi'ya Stihl!...just dropping over to say hello. How are doing? How's Spring break going? Well, your cheerleading sure helped me..i only have 2 pounds left to go..it's HARD, tho it seems like it's SO easy...NOT..lol!

Ok buddie, take care...will drop over again soon!

Chynna
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Postby Stihl » April 4th, 2009, 11:58 am

Hey gang - sorry I haven't been around too much, just insanely busy with schoolwork right now.

Anyway, it seems like I've definitely hit one of those weight-loss plateuas. And it stinks.

The good news - I've hit the 40 pound mark and am into the 240s (249.4).

The bad news - when last I posted, Sunday the 22nd, I weighted 253.2.

That means that in the 13 days since then, Ive only lost 3.8 pounds. (I know 3.8 is good, but for two weeks I had expected more)

All the while I've been completely compliant

The last few days I picked up the exercise - everyday for the last 5 days, I was either lifting or swimming.

Ugh, I hate this plateau... can anyone give me tips on how to get over this? I really don't know whats up.

I think I might try to use 3 momentum products today to see if that stirs anything. And I guess I'll take a break from the exercise today to give my body a chance to recover. And for dinner, no bbq sauce with the chicken, I'll just have it plain.

What else can/should I do?
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Postby Karli » April 4th, 2009, 12:04 pm

Hey Stihl,

3.8 is reasonable for two weeks actually, as it is nearly 2 pounds per week still ! My first reaction though is that it may be the lifting weights, especially ! IF you are gaining muscle, that will obviously affect your weightloss, but even aside from that, when we are lifting our muscles are actually getting slightly "injured" as they grow and change, and our body's natural reaction is to send its resources (=water retention) to those areas to help them heal (that is actually how we build muscle and get stronger ... putting some stress on those muscles, jolting their system a little, and then letting them heal ... and then building on that over time with the same kind of process).

Those are my thoughts for now ! There is another option but maybe that would be for desparate measures !
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Postby Stihl » April 5th, 2009, 1:55 pm

Thanks Karli. I know 3.8 over two weeks isn't bad, its just lower than the rate I want to be going.

Good thing is that from yesterday to today I dropped another 1 pound. That puts me at 248.4 (-4.6 for this past week, -4.8 for the last two weeks), or 42.6 pounds total loss

Hopefully this plateau is finito!

(And also, I'm starting to feel/see the outline of clavicle... :shock: )
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Postby nickieluv » April 5th, 2009, 5:06 pm

Sojo alert! (Sojourner was a poster who went gaga over clavicles.) :lol: But it is a nice feeling when they start to appear.

I'm glad you dropped another pound and I hope the plateau is indeed history! -4.6 sounds pretty great. Hope you have another great week this week.
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