It's Wednesday weigh ins! 2007-2022

[Alan]

Vinny, DSL, welcome to the thread. Achieving FI and RE is not much use if if we aren't healthy enough to enjoy it. Hence we have this support group within a support group - a bit sad possibly, but this is a group that is hoping to FIRE and be healthy enough to enjoy it.

May be it should have a snappier name than Wednesday Weigh In's such as "Weight, Weight don't tell me"

 

[maddythebeagle]

I guess that I will join in...I have been using a combination of stairmaster and incline bike as well as making some subtle changes in my diet (allow cheese once a week and avoid sugar and control portions) since Easter and am down around 20 pounds...would like to lose another 40 by the end of the year...

 

[SecondCor521]

184.6 this morning. BP was 108/76 last Saturday. Only posting when I have good news to share ;-)

2Cor521

185.0 this morning. BP was 108/76 yesterday. I sorta fell off the wagon for the last few months -- eating due to work-related stress -- but am back on now and have "re-lost" about 8 pounds in the last few weeks. Still want to get down to 174.

2Cor521

 

[Kronk]

1/23: 196.8 17.1% body fat.
1/30: 196.0 16.6%
2/06: 198.2 16.9%
2/13: 194.8 16.4%
2/20: 191.8 16.5%
2/27: 192.0 16.6%
3/05: 190.0 16.3%
3/12: 192.8 16.2%
3/19: 191.2 15.8%
3/26: 193.2 16.4%
4/02: 192.6 15.6%
4/09: 193.6 15.8%
4/16: 187.4 16.2%
4/23: 193.6 15.4%
4/30: 188.8 15.9%
5/07: 190.0 15.7%
5/14: 191.0 15.7%
5/21: 190.0 16.0%
5/28: 193.0 15.9%
6/04: 193.6 15.4%
6/11: 192.0 15.5%
6/18: 192.8 15.7%

Goal: 185.0 15.3%

Over the last week, fat percentage has been down, though it spiked on the day that I publish my weight. Shows how accurate these things aren't -- a day or two ago weight was a pound higher and fat percentage was at 14.7. I measured my waist-to-hip ratio yesterday. I came out with a .85 (34 waist, 40 hips). Anything below 1.0 is supposed to be good for men. So at least my weight isn't being carried in the wrong place.

 

[Sarah in SC]

157 today, that is 12 lbs above where I need to be. The only good news is that we went out last night to eat with friends, and I managed to only drink one beer (and lots of water) and had a salad and gazpacho instead of the other offerings.
Worked out every day this week but boy, we are fighting the motivation monkey big-time! It is so hard to look at this as long-term lifestyle change and not feel depressed that we'll always have to watch what we eat and work out all the time. Oh how I long for my 20s....

Kronk, that is good waist to hip--I think you are probably in a good weight range right now, gonna be hard to push it down in the 180s consistently, but I admire you for working on it!
2Cor, yeah, stress eating--I know it! Helps to find some other distraction, if only for a few minutes until the impulse passes.
Maddy, that is amazing that just a few tweaks to your diet, and adding in the cardio
to your routine has made that much difference!
Alan, yeah--name change, and maybe make it on Friday so we'll weigh before we fall off the wagon over the weekend!

 

[RetiredGypsy]

268.5 (+.5 lbs).

It's odd, my diet's good and I've been doing weights and cardio every day, but I seem to be at a sticking point. Over the next month, I'll be changing my diet almost completely; rice, beans, fish, fruit with little meat and moderate amount of veggies versus lots of red meat, chicken and fruit with moderate amount of veggies and little rice or beans. I figure there will be me protein overall, a whole lot more fiber, with better kinds of fat.

 

[FinanceDude]

My BMI is 23!!!! 5'10, 160, but I'm 27 and I can run a 5k in 18:30 and I can bench 225 about 8 times (it used to be way better back in the day:-((((((( ) But I'm not FI, so you guys win!!!!!!!!! Damn it! Care to trade?

Ah....to be 27 again..........

I couldn't bench 225 when I was 27,but my PR for the 5K is 16:30.........

 

[simple girl]

Worked out every day this week but boy, we are fighting the motivation monkey big-time! It is so hard to look at this as long-term lifestyle change and not feel depressed that we'll always have to watch what we eat and work out all the time. Oh how I long for my 20s....

Boy, I can relate to that! It is depressing to think about how much long-term dedication and self-control it takes to maintain your goal weight. However, it's the cold hard truth!

So far, I've been maintaining at 128# by being good on the diet during the week and livin' it up a little over the weekend. I have only been working out 2 times a week due to major stressors lately - lucky I haven't put extra weight on. I know I can't keep that up and hope to maintain at 128#. I hope to get back to my normal life within the next month or two.

I do weigh myself every day (at the same time) and that really works for me. It makes me think daily about how much I'm eating/exercising. I know people say not to weigh more than once a week, but I disagree. It helps me stay focused.

 

[Sarah in SC]

SimpleG, with all you've got going on, I'm totally knocked out that you've made it to the gym at all. Tough times.

We were doing the good during the week/bad on weekends and it just got away from us, ie, 12 lbs worth. If you don't weigh every day, you can make believe you aren't adding lbs. I even write it down, however painful.

 

[Vinnyfrombrooklyn]

221 and bmi is 31.7 I lost only 2 pounds but my bmi droped a full point? Does that sound logical. I am 5 10, I really need to lose 30 pounds

 

[Alan]

175.5 today. Still a touch over the top of my 170 - 175 range, but not bad.

I confess that I weigh every day - being an engineer I believe in control loops and I prefer daily measurements of the measured variable

Kronk, that's a great ratio. While I was losing my 40lbs a few years ago I measured my WH ratio regularly and was delighted when I got into a healthy range. I started at 210 and had a 40" waist and was more pleased actually with losing 6" on the waist than the 40lb.

SG, I ditto Sarah's comments - great effort.

Vinny, don't knock the calculation - it is what it is, knocking a whole point off your BMI is great progress.

 

[Vinnyfrombrooklyn]

Actually redid the measurements with last weeks total and dropped it to .40 instead of 1 % point so my math was bad when I posted last week. I would take a .40% loss every week though

 

[Kronk]

I'm in the "weigh every day" camp, too. Harder to fool yourself if you keep a constant eye on things. Yeah, some days will be higher or lower, but if you have 2-3 days of higher weight, that's a trend.

When I was at 260, my waist was around 40". Feels much better now. Thanks for the kudos. I still have a tux I bought in the closet. With suspenders, the pants are kind of like the clown pants that stick out all around. ;-)

Kind of nice that this thread is keeping people on track.

 

[RetiredGypsy]

I weigh myself twice a day, once in the morning (after the usual male morning routine ) and once after my nightly workouts. I'm beginning to wonder how accurate my scale has become, after being close to 10 pounds off the scale at work; the kind with the have the slide rule they have at hospitals. Then tonight it shoots up 6 pounds from this mornings weigh in and then drops a pound when I try again a few minutes later. The typical difference is a pound one way or the other. I eliminated the usual suspect--not putting all my weight on the scale by an odd stance--by trying several different measurements all with the same result, so I'm thinking it's time to get a new one. I don't know what the typical life of a digital scale is, or even if that's the best choice to begin with, but this one has to be close to 10 years old by now.

 

[Sarah in SC]

RetGypsy, I think you might try a new scale, but be warned, I bought a new one (cheap, though) and when I calibrated it with some weights, it was way off. I returned it and revived the old scale, which seems to be working fine.
Do you happen to have any weights (like from a weight bench set) to test your scale? Or can you sneak a couple out of the gym for a night?

 

[Danny]

I do weigh myself occasionally at the Y on an electronic scale...but the one method I find the best everyday gauge is how loose or tight my pants are throughout the day..the day my jeans hang down below my hips is the day I know I met my weight goal!

 

[Sarah in SC]

Kronk, since you commented that this thread is keeping people on track, I did look back to my first post, well more than a year ago, and felt better about my progress, especially since my goal weight at that time was 150, not 145. I see that my beer habit and sighing habit have not changed in the intervening months!

Joining late, but down to 179 today from a high of 204 in November. About 1100 calories a day, 2x week personal trainer, new bikes! A challenge from my insanely healthy boss; who pays for the trainer. Hoping to get to 150. 5' 8" 36 yrs old.
If only beer had no calories....sigh.

And T-Al, how are you liking that scale you got for Christmas, as RetGypsy might be in the market?

 

[Alan]

RetGypsy, I think you might try a new scale, but be warned, I bought a new one (cheap, though) and when I calibrated it with some weights, it was way off. I returned it and revived the old scale, which seems to be working fine.
Do you happen to have any weights (like from a weight bench set) to test your scale? Or can you sneak a couple out of the gym for a night?

When you use the weights to check accuracy, also test at the top end, ie weigh yourself without them then pick up 10/15/20lbs and weigh again.

(When we had a fat cat and were trying to get its weight down, that was how we used to weigh the cat).

 

[Calgary_Girl]

It's good to see everyone's back on the wagon

As for me....

End of week 14: down 1.6 lbs
Total Lost: 26.8 lbs

 

[Alan]

End of week 14: down 1.6 lbs
Total Lost: 26.8 lbs

That is a near perfect weight loss rate over the last 14 weeks, well done.

 

[simple girl]

So far, I've been maintaining at 128# by being good on the diet during the week and livin' it up a little over the weekend. I have only been working out 2 times a week due to major stressors lately - lucky I haven't put extra weight on. I know I can't keep that up and hope to maintain at 128#. I hope to get back to my normal life within the next month or two.

I do weigh myself every day (at the same time) and that really works for me. It makes me think daily about how much I'm eating/exercising. I know people say not to weigh more than once a week, but I disagree. It helps me stay focused.

127# today, yippee! Thank goodness I do weigh myself everyday...over the weekend I shot up to 130# 2 days in a row This immediately put me on the warpath. No beer or eating out starting Saturday, and I worked out really hard 3 days in a row. Hopefully, I caught the weight gain in time before it had a chance to settle firmly on my hips

We were doing the good during the week/bad on weekends and it just got away from us, ie, 12 lbs worth. If you don't weigh every day, you can make believe you aren't adding lbs. I even write it down, however painful.

So true! I weigh every day, but DH and I have also been weighing weekly for about 5 years now and tracking it in excel. When you graph that chart, it's really something to see the trend of weight gain over the years. Sobering. Makes you take action.

Kind of nice that this thread is keeping people on track.

I agree. This is the first time I've maintained my weight loss for this long.

That is a near perfect weight loss rate over the last 14 weeks, well done.

Calgary Girl, ditto to what Alan said!

 

[Kronk]

1/23: 196.8 17.1% body fat.
1/30: 196.0 16.6%
2/06: 198.2 16.9%
2/13: 194.8 16.4%
2/20: 191.8 16.5%
2/27: 192.0 16.6%
3/05: 190.0 16.3%
3/12: 192.8 16.2%
3/19: 191.2 15.8%
3/26: 193.2 16.4%
4/02: 192.6 15.6%
4/09: 193.6 15.8%
4/16: 187.4 16.2%
4/23: 193.6 15.4%
4/30: 188.8 15.9%
5/07: 190.0 15.7%
5/14: 191.0 15.7%
5/21: 190.0 16.0%
5/28: 193.0 15.9%
6/04: 193.6 15.4%
6/11: 192.0 15.5%
6/18: 192.8 15.7%
6/25: 193.0 16.0%

Goal: 185.0 15.3%

Well, since I've plateaued (at best), I'm attempting to change up my diet. I'm adding more fruit, really trying to make my grains whole grains, and trying to get around 120 grams of protein per day. Anyhow, I expect my weight to fluctuate for another few weeks (and then there's the diet-busting July 4th weekend coming up). So I'm not going to be too concerned about a couple of pounds either way until things settle down.

At this point I think I'm actually more interested in fat percentage and increasing muscle mass a little bit than I am in dropping weight. The scale isn't terribly accurate (fat was at 15.4% yesterday), so that part doesn't concern me this week, either.

 

[RetiredGypsy]

Well, the scale's about as accurate as the weatherman here, so I'll be holding off on weighing myself until I go buy a new one. Any particular brands or price ranges you would recommend?

 

[TromboneAl]

Any particular brands or price ranges you would recommend?

I do not recommend the Health-o-meter digital scales, here's why:

1. They lie. I evaluated one at a friend's house by weighing myself 5 times in a row. All times the weight was exactly the same. That sold me.

I've since discovered that the scale remembers the last weight, and repeats it unless it changes by more than a pound or so. I could get on the scale weigh myself, then pick up a bottle with 16 oz of water, weigh myself and get the same weight. Weigh something else, then get back on with the water and I weigh more.

IOW, it's designed to make you think that it is more accurate than it is. If you weighed yourself three times and got three different readings, differing by a pound or more, you would not buy the scale.

The displayed weight depends more on the luck of the draw than you realize.

2. I discovered a way to stand on it that subtracts almost two pounds (I'm not telling). IOW, my weight depends on exactly how I stand.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Please tell your secrets Al! I need them right now! I know I start off on my "lucky foot" in hopes that it will help.

154 today, still working my way back to the goal weight of 145.