AmberSD
New member
I’ve been lurking on here for a while and reading A LOT of posts by everyone. I love how people here are losing weight the right way (healthy eating and exercise). I get so sick of hearing co-workers trying fad diets or pills and trying to get me to do them. I don’t believe in taking pills, I don’t even like taking a pain pill if I have a headache. However, I do believe in my one-a-day multi-vitamins and “fish pill” as I call it 
Ok so here’s my life story:
I am 5’3” and weigh 125-128lbs; I feel like I weigh 150 and I think I look like I weight that much too. Ten years ago I would only eat fast food and restaurants and I was a slim 105-110 lbs with a flat stomach. Eating like that has caught up with my slowing metabolism as I’ve aged. For the past five years, I’ve been slowly gaining weight (I blame it on getting married and becoming comfortable lol). I’ll go a few months eating at home but then I get cravings and eat diner out 6 days a week. One of my problems is that I like margaritas a little too much. I’ve been drinking Friday nights and Saturday nights for the past year and sometimes I would even drink during the week
Fast forward to the current time:
Since May 27, 2009 I’ve been eating better, not healthy, but at least I cook at home and only eat out once a week, sometimes less. I also started counting calories. This is where I get confused…to maintain my current weight without doing any activity, the calculators online say I need any where from 1400 – 1800 calories a day. So to lose a pound a week I cut 500 calories off of my daily caloric intake. I’ve been eating anywhere from 1100 calories to 1600 calories a day (margaritas included) and I lost 3 lbs from 6/1/09 to 6/20/09, down to 125lbs, on 7/3/09 I was 126lbs, and on 7/4/09 I was back up to 128lbs ARRRRG!!!!
Yesterday I said screw this and decided to start working out….again. (Earlier this year I was doing cardio and lifting weights and saw major improvements in my body….why did I ever stop!!!) I have 5lb free weights I use on my arms, chest and back; I also have 10 lb weights I will use once 5 lbs get too easy. To work my legs I do lunges, squats, and some other things on my workout ball to get my stomach, back and core. I plan on cutting back my drinking A LOT!!! I’m talking about only having ONE ok maybe 2 drinks ONCE a week. I also plan on using the Sneaky Chef books to get fruits and vegetables in my diet. (For anyone who has trouble eating their veggies…check out The Sneaky Chef books. I am not affiliated with the author what so ever, I just like the way the author sneaks in veggies that I would not normally eat).
My plan is to walk my dogs for 30-45 mins at a very brisk pace until I can get up 1 hour. Once I can get up to one hour I will probably walk the dogs for 30 mins, go home and get on the treadmill so I can walk for 5 mins, run/sprint for 30 seconds, walk for 5 mins, run/sprint for 30 seconds and so on for the remain 30 mins and eventually get up to running for an hour or more. The weight lifting part of my plan is to do upper body one day and then lower body a different day 3-4 days a week until I feel comfortable doing the whole body in one day.
I don’t really have a goal weight in mind but I do have a goal of what I want to look like…flat stomach, slimmer thighs, a lot smaller hips, no flab on arm. I want to be able to confidently sit in a chair in a bikini and not have to worry if my tummy is rolling over itself.
Let my journey begin...
Ok so here’s my life story:
I am 5’3” and weigh 125-128lbs; I feel like I weigh 150 and I think I look like I weight that much too. Ten years ago I would only eat fast food and restaurants and I was a slim 105-110 lbs with a flat stomach. Eating like that has caught up with my slowing metabolism as I’ve aged. For the past five years, I’ve been slowly gaining weight (I blame it on getting married and becoming comfortable lol). I’ll go a few months eating at home but then I get cravings and eat diner out 6 days a week. One of my problems is that I like margaritas a little too much. I’ve been drinking Friday nights and Saturday nights for the past year and sometimes I would even drink during the week

Fast forward to the current time:
Since May 27, 2009 I’ve been eating better, not healthy, but at least I cook at home and only eat out once a week, sometimes less. I also started counting calories. This is where I get confused…to maintain my current weight without doing any activity, the calculators online say I need any where from 1400 – 1800 calories a day. So to lose a pound a week I cut 500 calories off of my daily caloric intake. I’ve been eating anywhere from 1100 calories to 1600 calories a day (margaritas included) and I lost 3 lbs from 6/1/09 to 6/20/09, down to 125lbs, on 7/3/09 I was 126lbs, and on 7/4/09 I was back up to 128lbs ARRRRG!!!!

Yesterday I said screw this and decided to start working out….again. (Earlier this year I was doing cardio and lifting weights and saw major improvements in my body….why did I ever stop!!!) I have 5lb free weights I use on my arms, chest and back; I also have 10 lb weights I will use once 5 lbs get too easy. To work my legs I do lunges, squats, and some other things on my workout ball to get my stomach, back and core. I plan on cutting back my drinking A LOT!!! I’m talking about only having ONE ok maybe 2 drinks ONCE a week. I also plan on using the Sneaky Chef books to get fruits and vegetables in my diet. (For anyone who has trouble eating their veggies…check out The Sneaky Chef books. I am not affiliated with the author what so ever, I just like the way the author sneaks in veggies that I would not normally eat).
My plan is to walk my dogs for 30-45 mins at a very brisk pace until I can get up 1 hour. Once I can get up to one hour I will probably walk the dogs for 30 mins, go home and get on the treadmill so I can walk for 5 mins, run/sprint for 30 seconds, walk for 5 mins, run/sprint for 30 seconds and so on for the remain 30 mins and eventually get up to running for an hour or more. The weight lifting part of my plan is to do upper body one day and then lower body a different day 3-4 days a week until I feel comfortable doing the whole body in one day.
I don’t really have a goal weight in mind but I do have a goal of what I want to look like…flat stomach, slimmer thighs, a lot smaller hips, no flab on arm. I want to be able to confidently sit in a chair in a bikini and not have to worry if my tummy is rolling over itself.
Let my journey begin...
Last edited:


just to see how long I could go...and yeah, that was about it! I guess I should mention that I have NEVER ran before! I'm 31 years old and the last time I ran was in 7th grade! I then did 3 mins at 4mph and jogged for 1 min at 5mph from the 12 min mark up until the 30 min mark. Then when it hit 30mins I ran for as long as I could...I got to 32 mins and then I cooled down.
