AF Biggest Loser/Fitness Challenge-May 3 to Whenever We're Not Fat Anymore

[Shell B]

Going by the plan, I can't. Fruits and veggies have their own separate category, so I'm supposed to make sure I have a certain amount of both. It's all low-carb veggies too, which blows.

[Whateverist]

I'm definitely a bit jelly here. We've got all this food (most of it snacking stuff) left over from our annual spring party and I've indulged. You keep heading in that direction of the scale and I'll catch up as soon as possible.

[The Industrial Atheist]

I'm down about 8 pounds in two weeks now. Might be over two weeks. I'm not paying that close attention. The system definitely works. Every now and then, I sneak a bite of something of Tibs' plate or substitute a plan snack with something a little cheeky, but other than that, I'm right on track. Sick of vegetables, though.

That's awesome that you're losing weight so fast, Shell B! 

You got this!

I don't know why I started my maintenance calories before I got back to strength training. Maybe I'm using it as an excuse to eat more. But in a few more days I will be strength training again and maybe I can gain back a pound or two of lean mass.

At least I haven't lost much size from my arms in a long time.

My biggest fear here is that I gain back mostly fat. If it's completely neutral than that's sort of ok, and almost worth it to be able eat more for a while.

[Shell B]

As long as you work out hard enough, you will gain back muscle. If you gain back fat, you know how to lose it now.

[The Industrial Atheist]

So first week of maintenance calories I gained back .2 pounds, all lean mass. I haven't even gotten back to strength training after my monthly break yet. So I'm quite optimistic.
Perhaps I bump them up further to 10-20 calories above maintenance, after I get back to training on the 1st.

[Shell B]

Yoga, hiking, football games . . . it's fucking feeling like summer! I'm so pumped for it this year. Getting in lots of activity, though I'm at a plateau on my weight loss. (grumbles)

[Joods]

Not sure if I feel like giving up or not. Seems like every single effort I make into trying to get my health to improve, I suffer a major setback AND I end up gaining weight in the process.

Surgery is fast becoming my only option.

[Mystic]

^What happened?

[Joods]

^What happened?

Had a scare where I thought I was having a stroke. While in the hospital, tests showed nothing except that my LDL (bad cholesterol) was way high so I was started on a statin and then taken off of it. Now I don't know what my doctor is supposed to be doing or what I'm supposed to be doing. When I get stressed out, I can literally feel my blood pressure rising. I'm not losing any of the weight I gained when I quit smoking 10 months ago. 

I'm just at a point where I'm completely frustrated with myself and my utter failure to actually accomplish anything as far as getting healthy goes. Not that I'm going back to smoking, because it's disgusting, but I'm starting to think that maybe because I smoked for so many years, that the smoke was what was keeping my health in check. You know, sorta like when you see a really old apartment complex and you can just tell there are tons of coats of paint on the walls so you joke and say that the paint is the only thing holding up the walls. 

Yeah. I'm starting to feel like that.

[Shell B]

No point giving up, but I don't think surgery is a bad option. I've seen it work wonders.