Carmen's journey to 199 Lbs!

[Under200]

Hi all My name is Carmen.

I am returning to this forum (Actually don't remember my last username)

I was successful in losing around 40 pounds after joining this forum, but fell off the wagon...

My goal for now is to be under 200 pounds. I'm currently 260 pounds at 5 ft 8 (Female). Ultimately I want to get down to around 150 but for now my goal is to reach 199. I haven't been under 200 pounds in over 10 years and I felt so alive when I was down at 219 just last year.

What I've learned about myself when it comes to weight loss:

- Diets that restrict me to certain types of food don't work for me as well as counting calories does
- I always get a little paranoid about hitting a plateau and not being able to lose more weight
- I cannot successfully cut out carbs. Pasta, rice, chicken, steak are really the only foods that fill me up.
- I can successfully keep a 1,200-1,400 per day calorie diet.
- I eat my biggest meal at night

(Any thoughts on these btw? opinions or tips or things that you think would be helpful if I Tried harder to change?)

A few things that I've observed about myself which I hope to change:

- I've realized that I am an emotional eater. When I'm upset and mad at the world I drive to the nearest Wendy's and order $6 worth of fast food.
- I center too many things around food. I look forward to that one big meal I will have for dinner, all day.
- When I have a little bit of a cheat during the day, I sometimes use it as an excuse to just have a poor eating day overall rather than just during one meal
- I do not drink enough water

Hardships in eating healthy (I would love advice!!)
- My parents are strict vegetarians and don't like meat being cooked in their home. So unless I'm bringing food from a restaurant, I'm not allowed to make grilled chicken for a salad for example.
- I started working a job that's from 10-7, it's a sitting at my desk job with very little exercise. There are several vending machines and my cubicle mates snack through out the day on cupcakes, candy, brownies etc. It's VERY hard to not eat anything while at my desk.
- I am usually too exhausted to work out

My plan on losing 60 pounds:

I eat a lot of Chipotle. And I've lost weight eating it in the past (counting calories). Does a plan that involves a heavy dinner and a very light lunch make sense? 200-300 calories for lunch and maybe around 1,000 for dinner? I don't sleep right away after dinner. I'm still awake for around 3-4 hours.

According to myfitnesspal, I would have to consume 1,480 calories a day in order to lose 2 pounds a week. But I believe in the past I was aiming for 5 lbs a week and eating around 1,000 calories a day. Any suggestions on where to start?

I have heard that changing it up after the first 20 lbs are dropped makes more sense. So eating 1,400 per day at first and then dropping to 1,200 or 1,000.

Also in terms of working out, I'm not currently working out because I'm energyless but I know eventually I have to start. I was thinking I'll start at working out 2x a week. And gradually increase the rate. Is there logic or truth in the theory that not working out at the start is ok because you'll still lose weight. But after a certain point you should start to? Am I making sense?

I am so open to any of your comments, insight, opinions, and just general hellos! I am tired of dreading summer, dreading going anywhere because I don't know what to wear. I hate not liking going shopping because I'm scared of how things look on my body. I'm tired of being the biggest person in the room. Of people looking at my body for the wrong reasons. I'm tired of not being taken as seriously or being viewed as less than I am for my weight!!! Most of all I'm just tired of spending everyday indoors because I hate going anywhere, being in photographs, or even looking in the mirror. It's no way to live and starting tomorrow I really hope to make a change in my life that will last.

 

[AthalaRanger]

Welcome back to the forum!

A couple thoughts;

* I've learned that cutting food groups isn't necessary useful for weight loss. Since it's calories what matters in the end, It's kind of a myopic approach that doesn't work very well. If you need to restrict any foods do it for health reasons, but not in the name of losing weight.

* At your current weight you could probably eat more than 1200 - 1400 calories and lose weight just fine. It still depends a bit on your activity level, but I'd say try 1800 or even 2000 Kcal and see how that works before going lower.

* If you are an emotional eater and really want to eat something, do it, but make sure it fits into your calories for the day. If it doesn't you can always have it the next day!

Are your parents just (ovo-lacto) vegetarians or are they vegans? Do they mind you having eggs or skim milk? Since you can't eat meat at home, both of those items could help you get a bit more protein into your diet.

As for your work, if you can bring some low-calorie snacks or salad that would probably help you avoiding the other stuff there.

Exercise isn't very practical, specially at higher weights, since the only people who can burn a good amount of calories by it are the ones that don't need it (Athletes and such).

If you could form the habit though, that would be great. Maybe some leisure walks or something you enjoy? - Just don't let it become a chore and try to enjoy it. Over time you can progress to more intense and longer duration stuff, focus on forming the habit first! Exercise will help as long as your calorie intake is static (I.e: it doesn't make you compensate or eat more than you should).

I still think you should go a bit higher on calories. Try a higher number and see how that works before going lower. You don't want to be eating 1200 or 1000. Just make sure you stay within your daily limit every day (It's important!) and a higher should work fine.

Good luck with your journey!