ME:
53 yrs old woman. Canadian. Menopausal but still fun to be around.
🙂
Goal: BMI target of 21 from 36. Projected total weight loss of 90 lbs.
Health issues: Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, lower back issues, arthritis (shoulders/knees), Allergies – Pollen/perfume.
No current prescriptions.
Daily vitamins taken: D, B50 complex and C.
Was doing cardio/light weights at gym 3x week for 4 months (Dec. ‘17 to March ‘18) but my weight did not budge. I did get toned tho and it helped me get in shape to get in shape.
April 7/18: Started with cutting carbs.
BMI 36 / Start Weight of 240 – Clothing size 20
Started with just cutting out carbs – particularly yeasty/gluten breads, sweets/ processed sugar products. Sugar cravings bad for the first couple of weeks, then disappeared. Once past the initial sugar cravings my hunger in general diminished and it was much easier to get on the fasting plan.
Dropped ten lbs (mostly water I expect) within a month, then plateaued.
I did find a shot (1 tbsp) of apple cider vinegar in a glass of cold water every morning helped a lot with suppressing hunger and I experienced much less knee pain as well.
May 7/18 : Started FASTLIFE
BMI 34/ Start Weight of 230 – Clothing size 18
Started on the 5:2 fast diet. No prob fasting for breakfast or lunch, but evenings were problematic.
After a couple of weeks switched to a 4:3 schedule – Monday/Wednesday/Friday to allow for inaccurate calorie counting and weak moments.
150 cal breakfast. Skip lunch, then 350 cal dinner worked best for me.
Tried to reintroduce a bit of gluten but found any yeasty bread product or gluten beer makes me ill almost immediately.
Gave up ACV for a week but found the knee pain returned and was harder to manage hunger.
Made a list of the most common foods I was eating and figured out their calorie count in realistic portions so I could reckon meals in my head quickly.
Made allowances for a ½ glass of wine before bed. Because…wine.
Needed to find a HIT routine that did not aggravate my shoulders or knees.
Started doing HIT at gym – crosstraining machine – 11 mins routine:
Walking ten minutes to gym then 1 minute warm up and HIT for alternate full minutes then 1 minute cool down. Afterwards did Strength training (weight machines) for legs one day, arms the next. HIT became a lot easier after about two weeks.
Added biking on local river path for 12 kms, at least once a week on a fast day, weather permitting.
Taken over lawn mowing duties to get more active as well.
Ready to up my HIT to 16 minutes 3 x week. Investing in a skipping rope.
Almost two months in:
So far lost 20 lbs. Current Weight 220 lbs – BMI 32.5
Generally sleeping better tho I do occasionally get “cold flashes”
Thigh measurements up a bit due to muscle tone from biking.
Down almost two full clothing sizes from a snug 20 to a snug 16.
Definitely not feeling as much pain in my knees and shoulders. Used to have to take stairs one at a time and had trouble getting out of chair. Now nearly pain free. Haven’t had to take painkillers for weeks. Feeling “lighter” and definitely much healthier.
Allergy symptoms – watery eyes sneezing, etc. are gone. Can wear perfume again!
So… 70 more pounds to go to reach my target BMI of 21 or around 150 lbs.
Cheers!
7:47 pm
2 Jun 18