35 Pounds To Lose! Everything to Gain!

[omgitsalliex3]

So, here's the scoop. I'm a young girl, 19 years young, and I'm 5'1". I currently weigh in at 145 pounds. During high school I was nearing 160 pounds and could barely look at myself in the mirror. I guess you could say I lost my "baby fat" and that's how I got to my current weight of 145. I've been trying to loose weight for a few months now with ZERO success. I just purchased an elliptical and should be arriving at my house in a few days. Are there any secrets to dieting? Anything fast paced? All of your stories have inspired me to lose the weight I want and hopefully I'll be posting my success story along with all of yours! So, my journey begins.

Bare with me, pictures will be up shortly.

 

[sinui]

First I'd like to say welcome there =D hehe

Ok so I'm afraid there aren't many miracles with losing weight except eating less than you use up.. calories in vs calories out.

But there's one secret: strong will (and maybe a food scale )

And plenty of tips that can help you stay focused, or forget you're dieting, exercise tips, cooking recipes etc.. basically little things giving you that extra push... and anything you might ever ask yourself on this forum.

I think this fits more in Before & After section tho O-O .. anyone can move it?

=3 and feel free to pop any questions!

 

[ahammad]

There is no magic pill I'm afraid.

You got an elliptical, which is an excellent step. You need to focus on the eating though. For example, I go to the gym about 4 times a week, and I end up burning roughly 400-500 calories per day. That's about half a pound per week, which is really insignificant.

I am losing weight at a steady rate of 2-2.5 lbs a week though, and it all comes down to cutting down on food. A trick that seems to work for me is repetition of some main items, mainly snacks. For example I used to eat fruit yogurt as a snack...the point of repetition is that eventually you get sick of it, and end up cutting it out completely. I stopped eating that stuff, even though it was a healthy snack, simply because I got sick of it.

You have to be careful though...repetition isn't for everyone and may cause you to become bored and give up.

In any case, best of luck on your journey

 

[sinui]

Repetition.. running is so boring especially on that dam-ed threadmill!!! ... =.= if I didn't have to run that marathon I prob would have never started.

actually repetition with food helps me. I get bored of the food and then forget about eating whereas before I'd constantly be trying to find new snacks and wondering about dinner. Where I live, food is boring and it's v helpful!

 

[omgitsalliex3]

Well thank you guys for your posts. I recieved (and built) that damned elliptical and have been trying my best with it. I get tired after 5 minutes! I guess I just have to get used to it and I'll eventually be up to a half an hour hopefully!

I've actually been on a "low" calorie diet since the end of April. I've successfully lost about 7 pounds on it, but... 7's just not cutting it, haha. My diet is as follows: Healthier food than what I used to eat (IE: no muffins from BJs, not a lot of baked ziti, fat free EVERYTHING). I am also trying to snack on 100 calorie packs, fruits, etc. every hour or two to keep my metabolism up.

I thought that I was doing a good job, but when I saw that I wasn't losing any more weight I was baffled. Damned diets!

 

[ewyrick]

One of the best things I heard when I was first trying to get better in all sorts of ways was "If it takes you years to get into the woods, you're not walking out in a day." Time takes time. It's not hard at all to lose 35 pounds fast. You can even do it eating Snickers. Here's the trick -- eat a Snickers a day, and only a Snickers a day, and you'll lose weight in a hurry. My guess, though, is that you will be miserable and won't be able to maintain the Snickers diet and will die sooner rather than later. Don't go for fast if you want it to last. (Wow - a rhyme!) A couple of pounds a week is ideal.

I agree with the idea of repetition. I call it my pattern. I have a Monday meal, a Tuesday meal, etc. I have a ten a.m. snack (apple), a 2 p.m. snack (orange), etc. I know the calories exactly. I don't want to have to think. Now if the same meal every Monday seems boring, figure out thirty meals that have the appropriate calories or 360 for a meal a day every year. By the time I eat I'm hungry enough to enjoy my Monday night meal every Monday. (Not starving - just appropriately hungry. I used to eat out of obligation, not hunger.) But, if that doesn't work for you, create as many meals as you must. Same with restaurants -- learn to look at a plate and know the calories.

Forget the 100 calorie snacks if they contain sugar or saturated fat. Those things create cravings. I don't have cravings any more, but one brownie creates them. I eat my brownie on Sunday, my day off, and it's good as long as I eat only one, but I have to struggle a bit even after all these years. If I ate 100 calorie brownie bits every day, I'd be craving all the time. Yuck. Eat an apple. You'll get to where you look forward to them. Really. I'm not kidding.

This is getting too long, but one more thing. If you want to maintain your ideal weight you need to change more than eating and exercising. If you're like me, you eat to change your feelings. Depressed? Eat ice cream- preferably from the caton. Anxious? a milk shake's good. If you don't find ways to change your feelings other than eating, you're doomed for ultimate weight failure, I think. (Don't do alcohol or drugs either. There are better ways.)

It sounds like you have a lot of "want to." My experience is "want to" doesn't mean much. What makes a difference is "willingness." To be successfuly you must have the willingness to be patient, work hard, take suggestions of people who have been successful over time. (Don't just take their word for it.)

Good Luck,
Ed

 

[Camy]

I totally second Ed, it takes time and dedication and 100 calories of apple (one and a half apples) is way better than 100 calories of chocolate (which is like 2 tiny pieces) because it keeps you full for longer!
Get educated about food, understand what you are eating, what you want to eat, understand what you are putting in and what you are getting out of your body, that is a way to have a nice sustainable weight loss that will stay with you for life because once you learn something it is harder to unlearn.

About the elliptical, for me in the beginning 5 minutes were a huge acomplishment! Then I started going to the gym when "friends" was on and I would be able to do 25 minutes easily! So I say if you have a TV put the elliptical in front of it, and even if you don't go really fast or really steep on it, you are doing more than you would be doing if you were just sitting there watching TV!
Have a great week, Camy

 

[Brett]

Good job with investing in an elliptical. Over the past year I've been researching constantly and trying to be as educated as possible with fitness. What I've found is that in order to successfully lose a significant amount of weight you need to 4 things. 1. Diet 2. Cardio 3. Lift weights 4. STAY MOTIVATED. I've always been very active in sports and weightlifting, but I never could lose weight. And I came to the conclusion that even if you work your tail off, it's all about what you eat. I know it is important you get all the daily minerals and vitamins, but my diet doesn't really revolve around eating a huge variety of foods and getting all the minerals and vitamins. For that I'm investing in vitamins. The way I do my diet is that I find my BMR, which is the amount of calories your bodily burns throughout the day WITHOUT exercise. Then I cut that by about 3-500 cals. * It is very important you eat above 1200 calories a day or else you may damage your body and or not see ANY results because your body goes into starvation mode and stores all food to fat. By cutting about 500 a day, you lose a pound of fat a week (7x500=3500 and there are 3500 calories in a pound) without exercising!! And as far as exercise, I go to the gym (or my friends house) and lift about 4-6 times a week. You don't have to go crazy with the weights, just enough to get a sweat going and feel like you've had a good 30-60 minute workout. This alone burns calories and spikes your metabolism. Muscle burns calories just sitting there and helps shape a very sexy, well shaped, and healthy body. And btw for you muscle maniacs trying to lose fat, stay away from excess protein and creatine because it adds a lot of water weight and delays the fat loss program. Do what I'm doing and lose the fat you want to lose then hit up the creatine and protein. For cardio, I'm not one of those people that can just go get up and run for miles and be happy. So my solution is to find a sport you love and do that. MY sport is ultimate frisbee. And if you think that running is the best solution (running is GREAT cardio btw) then maybe bring an mp3 player or a friend to run with. If you have a balnce of dieting, weightlifting, and cardio, you will see results (only if you do it right! if you cheat you're only cheating yourself!!!) I've been doing this for about 6 weeks and ive lost roughlt 15 pounds. I still have about 10-12 pounds untill i get to my overall goal and be about 12% fat with well defined muscles and a great healthy body. Oh and by the way, I drink basically nothing but water. A small cup of milk in the morning with cereal but thats about it. IF you EVER want to talk about fitness and dieting with me, my email is itzakers@aol.com and my AIM s/n is itzakers. I can talk about this all day because I love it and I'm sure you figured that out already if you read this lengthy post hahaha. Good luck everyone!