18 years old, my weight loss and fitness journey

[anon98]

Hi there,

I'm an 18-year-old female and I currently weigh in at 9st4. I'm 5'3", and although I am within my healthy BMI this year I am aiming to lose weight and get more fit. This is partially for my own self-image and how I feel, partially because I want my boyfriend to see me looking as good as I possibly can, and partially because I am going hiking in Asia this summer and need to be fit enough to complete a month of hiking in difficult weather conditions!

My goal weight is 7st6, the lowest weight I can be while still maintaining a healthy BMI.

I want to keep track of my weight and fitness journey here because I feel as though I'll be so much more likely to reach this goal if I'm being held accountable by other people!

My plan for losing weight and getting fitter:

- Daily run OR HIIT session, or both if I have the time and energy
- Mainly vegetable and protein based meals
- Only drinking water, green tea, and black coffee
- Only fruit or veg as snacks between meals
- No sweets
- Eating a good breakfast every day
- Aiming to get 8 hours of sleep every night (obviously, this won't be possible most weekends but I'm going to try to maintain it throughout the week)
- No bread
- No fizzy drinks
- Drinking lots of water
- Carrying water and a healthy snack (fruit or veg) with me at all times
- Keeping track of my calories on the 'LoseIt!' app (which I would highly recommend)

I'm also already a vegetarian (& have been for 6 years), which I find really helps with my general well-being

I'll try to post in this thread every day with what I've eaten and how much exercise I've done.

I would appreciate it SO much if you could comment if you have any tips or advice, or just if you want to offer encouragement. Even better - if you're on a similar fitness journey we can encourage each other and help each other to achieve our goals, or maybe you want to try to follow the rules that I have set myself and see how it works for you!

IMPORTANT: although the diet rules that I have set myself may seem restrictive, I am going to make sure that I have nutritious meals and still enjoy my favourite foods from time to time (notice that chocolate isn't on my list of foods that I can't eat!)

Thank you in advance for your support and, if you've set yourself a similar challenge, good luck!

 

[Cate]

Hi anon & welcome to the forum. By my calculations, your goal weight will have you underweight. Eating healthy & getting fitter sounds like a good plan. I would recommend aiming at that. Add a little weight training perhaps. Your 'diet' already sounds very healthy. All the best, Cate.

 

[anon98]

Hi anon & welcome to the forum. By my calculations, your goal weight will have you underweight. Eating healthy & getting fitter sounds like a good plan. I would recommend aiming at that. Add a little weight training perhaps. Your 'diet' already sounds very healthy. All the best, Cate.

Hi Cate, thanks for your reply! I used the NHS BMI calculator and it said that 7st6 was still within the healthy weight for someone of my height? I'll be careful and obviously if I start feeling weak/less healthy than I currently do then I'll modify my goal weight, but at the moment I really want to get down to that.

Thanks again

 

[allcdnboy1]

I've said it 1000x time, but ignore the scale. Every one has a totally different body and a weight that looks good on you is different than someone else. It is also impossible without a professional to measure your muscle / fat ratio, which is what is more important than actual weight.

And, on that note, I didn't see anything about weight training? If your only focus is to lose weight, you will never be happy with yourself in the mirror because you will end up being skinny-fat. You need muscle tone to get rid of that flabby look ... can't be done otherwise. Weight training will also expedite your weight loss. Muscle is what burns calories, so more muscle = more calories burned.

I would keep up the HIIT but replace most of your run with weight training.