Weight Loss Wednesday: Recognize and Record

Okay…..so I know the post says Weight Loss Wednesday and it is already Thursday.  I just want to give all of you who want to join us on this journey a chance to say “I’m in!” So, read on and leave your comment. I am praying for you!!!!

Oh gals, can you hear me shouting from wherever you are? I am soooooo excited to know that nearly 50 of us are beginning this journey together! In fact, just knowing that you all are on this same quest to see the scales go down helped me over the weekend.

I was at a fabulous family gathering and had MANY chances to eat lots of yummy food. However, I knew we are all counting on each other to provide encouragement, support and prayer and I thought of you many times when I wanted to dive into the cream cheese caramel apple dip (which I never did) or eat two whole pieces of tiramisu (I took two bites).

I know that without the accountability, I would have played the old mind game so many of us play.

You know the routine. You vow to start your diet tomorrow. Tomorrow comes. You eat a sensible breakfast. The mid-morning munchies soon set in and by noon you’ve “blown your diet”, so you vow, “I’ll start over tomorrow.” and promptly raid the fridge.

Tomorrow isn’t so hot either and by 2:00 pm, you are plum out of calories (not from eating plums, but from cramming cookies down your throat or opening the hatch and downing nearly a pound bag of peanut M & M’s!!) so you tell yourself, “I’ll start next Monday.” Then you eat like a pig until Monday comes, try to start over, blow it again by noon and promise yourself… “Okay, let’s try next month. Yeah, that’s it, I’ll start the first of next month…..” and on and on it goes.

But with accountability, it is so much easier to stop yourself. If we know we must check in each week and leave a comment with the honest results of our weigh in, we’ll be more apt to behave!

And to take it up a notch and ensure even more success, weigh in with a friend. That was the number one key component to the success God gave to me.  You cannot fudge when weighing in on the scales in front of someone else (after eating too much fudge!) You also cannot afford to blow it for days on end when you must weigh in in front of someone else. Were (and are) there times that I overate? You bet! But it was VERY short lived.

Maybe I ate 500 calories of junk one afternoon. But then I’d slap myself in the face and say, “You dummy! Why did you do that? You have to weigh in next Wednesday. If you keep this pattern up, you will see the scale go up, not down! However, if you stop right now and behave the rest of the week, you’ll only be over 500 calories for the week. Why, that is only about 70 calories over per day. That won’t hurt you. Stop it now, Karen!!” And my little self-talk worked! So, find a buddy! 

Now, here is the dealio. I know many of you have started already, but let’s make today the official beginning.

  • Weigh yourself today. Record it somewhere. (You’ll never have to tell us what you weigh).  Next week, I want you to comment and tell us how much you have lost.
  • Also, have someone take a “before” picture of you. I’m not going to ask you to post it. However, later when many of you have dropped pounds and pants sizes, we may have a before and after cyber show and tell! 
  • Then, your homework assignment for this week is to begin to recognize and record.

Recognize when you eat when you are not even hungry; out of habit or boredom. And record what you do eat. You can just write down calories. Or you can include carbs too or fat grams, if you want. But the most important facet is the calories.

Now, how many calories should you be eating? When I lost my 106 pounds, I pulled out a formula I learned years ago, but usually didn’t apply. That formula is to take your current weight and times it by 12 if you are sedentary, 14 if you are moderately active (exercise 2-3 times a week for 30-45 minutes) and 16 if you exercise an hour a day 3-5 times a week. That is how many calories you would need to eat each day in order to stay at your current weight. Then, subtract 500 calories a day for each pound you’d like to lose per week. (500 calories x 7 days=3500 calories. Every 3500 calories burned equals one pound)

So, lets say you weigh 200 (because it is an easy number to figure and I am not near a calculator!) You are moderately active. So, to keep at your same weight, you’d need to consume 2800 calories. (200 x 14= 2800) If you want to lose 1 pound a week, drop the calories down to 2300. Make it 1800 to lose 2 pounds each week. Drop it further to 1300 to lose 3 pounds each week. Most experts say not to drop below 1200 calories per day.

Now, once you lose 10% of your starting body weight (in our example that would be 20 pounds) stop and re-figure this all over again. Now you’d take 180 pounds, re-crunch the numbers and aim for another 10% gone. Keep doing it until you are at your goal. I am no fitness expert, but this worked like a charm for me! And breaking it down in chunks helps to keep it from seeming like a daunting task. I could wrap my brain around 10%. It seemed doable. When I thought of losing 100 + pounds, it seemed overwhelming and I wanted to reach for a fork and a cheesecake!

So this week, get yourself a cute little notebook and record, record, record!!!

Also begin to move your body. We’ll talk later about exercise. Just start doing something. Walking is a great start.

Next week, you will leave a comment with how your week went and what the scales did. Today let’s leave a comment about what your toughest time of day is; when you eat because you are bored, lonely, stressed or just because ‘something sounds good’. Maybe it is when you are feeding your kids lunch with creamy peanut butter and homemade jam and you want to make yourself a sandwich with a thick layer of both. That is my greatest tempting time.

Then, feel free to hop on and encourage each other. I’ll hop on as much as I can too to offer my two cents worth.

Ready?

Recognize….

Then record…

Can’t wait to see those scales going down, down, down…..

Scale-plummeting Blessings,

82 Comments

  1. I’m in. Got a handy little notebook. I am not really great at keeping track of calories but will give it another try since it seems that it will help me focus on what I am eating. My worst time for eating is at night. Especially if I let myself stay up too late. I find that I like to “sneak” to the kitchen for a late night snack when everyone else is sleeping. The old “if no one sees you eat it, it doesn’t really count, does it?” This lack of a good sleeping habit tends to affect all other areas of my life, including healthy eating.

  2. Just getting started with ya’ll today. I’ve been recording what I have eaten for the past month for my doctor to keep tabs on my blood glucose levels, so all I have to do now is check the calories. I never believed that keeping a record would realy work but it definitely has with my sugar levels. It has me aware of the foods that I put into my mouth. Now if I can just watch the amounts and calories, with extra help from all of ya’ll, maybe I can lick this devil (fat). The hardest thing is eating when I’m not hungry. Wish you all luck, sj

  3. All I can say is “wow”! God knows what I need, when I need it! Why that surprises me, I’ll never know….He knew I needed this today! I suffer from many health issues and have been told that I need to lose weight. I always have good intentions, but, alas…I always seem to find a “good” excuse to start “tomorrow”. The hardest time for me is evenings. I’m not hungry but my mouth wants something, anything, usually sugary and that’s not good for a diabetic. Now with someone to be accountable to, many who are in the same situation, I am encouraged! Thanks!

  4. I am so in….I weighed yesterday at the doctors office and so far I have lost 5 pounds over the past 2 weeks. Girls I know that we can do this. Let’s keep the encouragement coming.

  5. I’m in. Was “skinny” the first 25 years of my life. The second 25 years have yielded about 60 pounds. I am that girl that always ate exatly what she wanted and never gained a pound. Talk about lifestyle change. I need spiritual help as well as accountability. Let’s go girls!

  6. I’m in. So down this morning. I’ve been laid off work for over 4 months now. Thank God for Proverbs 31 Ministries. I’ve battled weight gain my whole life. I was ready to give up all together, until this morning.

  7. I will weigh in the morning,(I have a notebook), and check with my eye surgeon to see if I can start water exercises again. I keep forgetting(?) to call. Have had two corneal transplants that I have to keep the chlorine out of. I’ll wear goggles. Need to be held accountable and this will do it…even at age 72. Want to feel good again.

  8. I just started back to Weightwatchers last Thursday so I will be weighing in every Thursday. I will let you know how things go. I weighed in at 178.2 last week and my goal is to get down to 145. My weakness is night time snacking but this week has been good in this area. It’s good to know that there are gals out there who will be praying for me. I will look for you on facebook.
    In His Service,
    Kathy

  9. I am not sure if I am signing up correctly or not. I am excited about getting help and encouragement to overcome a weight problem that I have battled with for many years. I have prayed for a long time for God to help me to overcome my obesity—I know I have to become obedient to Him in this area. I am so enouraged about the support and sincere heartfelt help that we will receive.

  10. 5 yrs, ago, I adapted a change in lifestyle, (not a diet) after trying every diet I heard about. In 17 months, I had lost 70 pounds. The last six months, 8 lbs. has reattached itself to my frame. I know what I need to do, cut back on simple carbs, and every day I try again. Some days I manage ok but other days I think ” Idid real well yesterday, haven’t had much today, this sugar free cookie won’t hurt” and I fail again. One cookie always leads to something else. Being my normal weight after being heavy for 40 yrs. was sooo rewarding but I have this fear that I am slowly slipping back into old habits. Thanks for giving me someone to be accountable to.

  11. OK. I figured my calories, got a notebook, will weigh in the morning and begin to recognize and record.

  12. I just need help getting this weight off as I am sick and tired of being down right FAT!!! I would love to look good for a change and wear some clothes that look good and fit good, besides those that look like I have on a tent and I’m talking circus tent here.
    Please I need all the encouragement and support I can get.
    That’s all my problem is I don’t have encouragment or support and then I get discouraged and eat and eat some more, and it’s mostly the sweets that I go for. They are a comfort food for me.
    I guess I need to get rid of those from my shelves so I won’t go there.
    Please just help me,be my help, my encouragement, my support. Thanks I appreciate it very much.
    I will try and help others as we travel on this journey together because together we can do this !!!!!!!

  13. I’m a yo-yo! Yo-Up / Yo down; Yo-Up / Yo Down! I’m pretty good at it too. What God is telling me now is that my battle is a spiritual one not a physical one. I need to let God have control of my eating. I’ve started a group at my church and I think your blog will help us so much. My worst time of day is when I get off work. I live alone and food has become my way to get through the night. So – I’m in and I intent to fight this battle to the end. Now, I just need to establish my three banded cord.

  14. I don’t know how to even get signed up – but I need help getting healthy. I am in some life situations that are a bit stressful and would love to keep myself healthy… but what I reach for is sugar in anything!!! Yikes… well, here goes…. I weighed in and I have my book.

  15. I’m in! Food in general is my problem, my “addiction”. We have a mutual bond, and tend to stick together quite well, although my thighs disagree. :o) With doctors help I managed to pull off 15, but ran into unrelated medical problems, and ceased all help…I still have 20 + a few I’ve gained back to loose. I’m a year away from 40 and know this battle won’t get easier…I need accountability…

  16. I just found this through P31- after years of stressing over no time to do what I need to to be healthy, I just decided to DO IT. I walk a mile with a Leslie Sansone DVD at 5 am- it’s a really easy way to start exercising. I used to try to do my devotions first, but was too drowsy! Exercising wakes me up! Then I do a mile on the treadmill in the evening. When you work that hard, you think twice about what you put in your mouth! I also found a Bible study at settingcaptivesfree.com that speaks to the addictive aspect of overeating. I highly recommend it. I set a goal to lose 10 lbs. in the month before visiting my daughter in FL last week, and I did it! Praise God!

  17. I have left comments on other posts so here I am again I am in I am trying to be inon everything that gives me accountability and encouragement and ideas.

  18. I’ve done WW and been successful. I met my lifetime goal about 17 months after joining. I lost a total of 90 lbs. That was 19 months ago. I had done pretty good keeping my weight at least within 10 lbs. of that goal until the last few months. I really need to recommit myself to eating healthy again. Why is it that it’s so much cheaper to eat unhealthy foods? I am going to try to keep up with this. I really need to kept accountable. My husband joined WW with me and did well too but, backslid and I think after awhile I backslid with him. I think I’m up about 25 lbs. from where I was so I really need to get back on track! I know that I’ll feel better once I do!

  19. My worst 2 times of day are mid-afternoon (usually when the kids nap) and just after they go to bed. I think it might be because I’m so busy with them when they are under my feet that I don’t think about food. When they are not there and I have a little down time, it’s all about grabbing a snack.

  20. I have finally gotten myself back on track from Christmas. i lost 43 lbs. last 1 1/2 years ago and have gained back 15 – 20 lbs. I worked so hard to get it off that it becomes very frustrating.

  21. OK…I am on board with this…hope to have dropped enough weight to actually LIKE to go swimming w my kids this summer!!

  22. Began moving more
    Cleaned pantry 
    Did some exercise on wii with family
    Tried having only 3 meals 1 snack
    Stopped asking kids to get things for me
    Had only one big slice of pizza instead of four
    at one meal
    Cleaned house more
    Lost 3 lbs.

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