DIARY FOR A NEW LIFESTYLE

I

issakova

New member
DAY 1


I found this list on Loch's thread. I hope you don't mind that I borrowed it Loch, I thought it would be a nice start:


-- How much weight do you want to lose? 15 kgs

-- What is the timeframe for reaching your target weight? As long as it takes

-- How do you want to accomplish your goal (what methods do you want to use)? Paleo/Atkins + exercise


-- Who or what can support you in reaching your goal? Seeing that scale moving back down again would be a HUGE motivation. And support from this forum's members

-- How realistic is your goal? It's very realistic.


-- When will you start? I will start immediately.


1. What is your current height and weight?
1m63 - 75kg (last time I checked, which was about 2 weeks ago, I was 75 kg. I will weigh myself officially tomorrow. DREADING this!)

2. If you were at an ideal weight now, what would that weight be?
Ideal: 56kg - Good: 60kg
3. At what weight would you like to be at four months from now?
60kg (it seems very reasonable. But I haven't been able to shift from 75 for the past 2 months. Maybe I'm not trying hard enough....)

4. Why do you want to lose weight?
To feel like myself again

To be able to play with my son without feeling self conscious

To be around my family without feeling like "the fat one"

To feel stronger and healthier

5. Do you want to lose weight for a specific life event such as wedding or reunion? If so, when is that event?
I want to lose weight for life
6. What obstacles could get between you and your weight loss goals?
Me, me, and myself.

And dealing with stressors: new big move (changing continents!), big financial strain, finding a new job/source of income, and illness in the family....

7. Why do you think that you now have a weight problem?
Because none of my clothes fit, even my "fat clothes" and because I'm miserable about how I look and that keeps me from living my life to the fullest
8. What lifestyle changes do you think would help you lose weight?
Cutting carbs and sugar. Not eating late at night. Exercising.
9. Have you lost weight in the past? If so, what has worked in the past to help you lose weight?
I have lost weight numerous times, only to put it back on again.

The most I've lost was 9 kilos on a high protein diet.
10. Why do you believe that you did not lose weight or you gained the weight back?
I gained weight because I would lose control of what I ate, I would give up all restraint.

I don't know why I haven't been able to lose weight recently, the only possible reason is that I'm not being strict enough. I'm fooling myself into thinking I'm doing everything I should be doing. I'm hoping this diary will change that.

11. What, if anything, has not worked for you in the past in helping you to lose weight? Why do you think it did not work?
What has not worked for me is going back to old habits. I have to make a lifelong change.

A lot of restriction also backfires, so I have to be careful not to feel too deprived.

12. Would you try writing down all food and drink consumed for a given period of time?
Yes.
17. What are three things you can do differently when it comes to food?
Cut out carbs

Cut out sugar

Cut out diet coke

18. If you woke up tomorrow and your body was exactly the way you want it, what would be different?
I would have my flat stomach again..

I wouldn't have a double chin, or fat on my back

I'd be leaner and happier

19. Do you eat when you are not hungry?
Always

20. Do you binge eat (large amounts at a time)?
Yes.
21. Do you hide your food or eat in secret?
Yes

22. Do you eat when you are sad, nervous, or depressed?
Yes.
23. Do you eat as a reward?
Yes.
24. Do you eat while watching TV or using the computer?
Yes.
25. What do you normally eat for a meal?
Anything. Everything.
26. What type of snacks do you eat?
Sweet and salty

27. In terms of exercise, what, if anything, are you currently doing?
3 to 5 times a week (I aim for 4): at least 45mn (max 60 mn) of fast walking + jogging/running

28. Where do you go for exercise? A local public gym? School/work gym? Home?
Gym in the building

29. What, if anything, are your three favorite types of exercise?
I can't associate any type of exercise with any of my favourite things!

30. What is your daily/weekly/monthly/yearly motivation to move towards your goals?
My weekly motivation is to see the scale move. It's as simple as that, because it hasn't moved in 4 months, I just want to see it move. DOWN. I want to see it move down! :) not up!

31. Do you have rewards for certain goals?
70 kg: I'll buy a nice outfit

65 kg: and another

60 kg: I will buy an outfit that I could never wear now and I'll go out for a special meal at my favourite restaurant with my hubby.


Here we go.....


Better record everything!


breakfast: cheese croissant (that was before I had decided to start this! but I figured why wait until tomorrow, I'll start immediately, even if I did have this croissant)

lunch: 3 mini burgers (no buns) they had a dollop of cheese inside and 3 triangles of cheese slices on top (1 1/2 slice)

snack: cheese cubes, cucumber, thyme dip

dinner: 4 egg and veggie omelette

snack: hot chocolate


past week's exercise:

treadmill Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday

min. 45 minutes max 55 minutes

average burn/session = 400 cal
 
DAY 1 (not counting yesterday cause wasn't a full "proper" day)


Day 1 was ok. I feel I ate a little too much in terms of quantity, but I was on track in terms of quality.


I had a small craving for sweets at night, made myself a hot chocolate with pure cocoa and half milk half water.


I'm motivated, so the first few days are usually the easiest. It's after 2/3 days that I need to worry about!


Anyways, today is also a tricky day, weekends are always tricky, nothing to distract me from food, and going out with my family for lunch outside, plus tonight we're going to a friend's house for a "drink"! so I'm going to have to be extra strong and focused today.


Again with the sweet craving this morning, it's always strongest in the morning and at night. Found an Atkins recipe for egg crepes and tried it out. It was NOT good! :( was a bit sweet but too eggy, definitely not worth it! Maybe I should just reprogram my mind not to expect sweet in the morning.


breakfast: 2 egg atkins crepe (not good!)

snack thyme dip with 1/4 green pepper

lunch (out) eggplant parmigiana, beef piccata with cream mushroom sauce

coffee with milk

snack grilled chicken cubes, cheese cubes,cucumber

evening (out) diet pepsi, 15 almonds, 5 canapes (no bread) cheese + mushrooms, mini carrots and cheese dip
 
Hey there issakova!


We're both going different ways about losing weight, but I think we can still support and motivate eachother. I'm a calorie counter, but I always fall victim to my sweet tooth everyday. The key for me is to have just a little something or if I'm able to, create room in my daily allotment to have a regular serving of whatever it is I'm craving. This has been working really good for me. Granted this is my first week back on calorie counting, but I feel I'm being successful. We'll see for sure on Sunday when I weight in I suppose!


Keep up the good work, I always think the first few days are the hardest, but you seem to be the opposite. Don't lose your motivation. Come here when you're feeling like you're running low on it!
 
Welcome issakova! I've cut sugar as well. It's not been easy and I do have the occasional splenda. But, I do feel better (cravings aside) and have lost some weight. I'm only 2 full weeks into healthier behavior. I'm hopeful the "sweet tooth", as Munch put it, will diminish over time.
 
Thanks guys, for the welcome and the support! Munch, I'm glad that's working for you, I would've liked it to work for me too, unfortunately I haven't mastered moderation yet! :)


Extra, yes, I know what you mean, and I do have splenda too, probably too much at the moment, but I consider this my way of "weaning" myself off the sugar! Hopefully once I'm more confident and comfortable with my changes, I'll reduce splenda too.


have a good day!
 
DAY 2


So before I write about yesterday, let me recount the "coat incident"...


It's getting colder here. We were going out last night so I got dressed (to go to that party where I was worried about temptation) and grabbed my coat. We went out the door, and I started wearing the coat in the lift...It was TIGHT! my coat was TIGHT!!!! on the arms and on the waist, I could barely close it on the waist. I didn't try hard because I didn't want to find out that I really couldn't close it at all. My God, I just felt miserable. How did this happen?? how did I let this happen? How did I not see this happen? I can't believe so much weight has crept up on me, and it feels like I've just noticed. I don't understand how I let myself go that way. I wore that coat when I was 4 or 5 months pregnant!! And I could close it, I have a picture to prove it!!


So that really bummed me out, like majorly. I was very silent in the car, trying hard to thinking about something else so I wouldn't start crying. But I was also furious, furious at myself for allowing myself to reach this point. And that anger fueled my motivation, so at least that is good.


So to yesterday's diary entry:


was worried about going out for lunch at a restaurant but I did fine. I did have sugar cravings right after the meal, from habit I suppose, but I handled it. And then later in the afternoon, as the evening got closer I was stressing out about going to our friends, where I knew there would be food, and sweets and alcohol, and thinking how I would resist. But i did! and I did quite well! I didn't even have any alcohol (normally when on a diet, and going out, I would have just one drink) but I didn't! I did have diet pepsi though, but I didn't want to just drink water all night!! I didn't have any diet for lunch, and that's going to be my tactic, unless at a party, no diet.


Oh, and I weighed myself to make it official this morning. I was DREADING it, especially after the coat incident. 75kg. (or a little under, sort of 74.5 but my scale is not digital so not very accurate). I've been at that weight for maybe 3 months now so no surprises. Kind of relieved I haven't gone up at least, but I also thought about the fact that this is just 5kgs under my pregnancy weight (at 9 months!!).


I WILL LOSE THIS WEIGHT!
 
Weight 74.5 - 75 kg


DAY 3


breakfast: modified atkins crepe (1 egg instead of 2) much better!


lunch(out): 2 mini skewers haloumi and tomato (3 haloumi cubes on each) with creamy pesto sauce

cheese burger (no buns)

had 1/2 a diet pepsi as a distraction from the huge envy I had to eat at least 2 more burgers.

My appetite is out of control. it's almost like it has a mind of its own, "feed me! FEED ME!" it screams.... It's not normal to want to eat this much. I'm thinking (hoping) it's out of habit, and that it's a habit I can break eventually.


Coffee, then coffee with milk.


dinner: cheese (eating too much cheese!) 1 cucumber, thyme dip, leftover chicken casserole (about 3 tablespoons)

could eat twice as much but left the table and got distracted by a movie. Always good!


tea.


Exercise:

60 mn + 3 mn cooldown.

28 mn running, the rest power walking with incline. (interval runs> 12mn, then 6, 5, 5)


calories burned: 508
 
Day 4


Ahhhh!!! I just found out milk is not included on phase 1 of Atkins!!! should've have done better research....


no breakfast


lunch: Omelette and chef salad (at work)

cappucino (milk!!!!!)

black coffee

evening: grilled salami slices (will count how many next time!)

3 cubes of stewed meat with 4 okra.

1 slice of white cheese

1 tbsp whipped philadelphia cheese

homemade dessert 2 tbsp cream, pure cocoa, splenda (was good!)

3 dark chocolate squares

(pattern developing: when I eat something sweet, I get carried away!)


Just did a Fitday log of yesterday, the milk (in 1 coffee) took my carbs up from 17 to 28!


note to self: stay away from the milk


exercise: 50 minutes

20 mns run, the rest power walk

calories: 402

today's exercise was tough, I wanted to quit after 10 minutes! but I pushed through, well done me!
 
Day 5


I binged yesterday night... Not on any junk but it still was a binge, because it followed

the same pattern. Eat sweet, then salty, then sweet...etc

Was definitely brought on by eating sweet. Made low carb choc mousse

and jello and ate dark chocolate. Too many sweet treats.


Breakfast: egg crepe

lunch: salami with cheese and tomato - a little bit of grilled fish

snack: sugar free jello, 3 squares of dark chocolate


Dinner: chicken ceasar salad (no croutons), grilled fish with veggies. cheese with thyme dip, 1 cucumber.

Had sugar free low carb choc. mousse again, but only 1 serving.


Got home at 9 tonight mentally and physically exhausted. Had 2 3-hour classes back to back. It's very demoralizing to teach

to lazy, underachieving, spoilt students!!


My legs are sore from yesterday...
 
Hey Issakova,

Congratulations on the decision to lose the weight and welcome to the forum! Your body will love you for it! I've noticed that we're similar in terms of the sweet tooth...I've had to just go cold turkey stopping on processed sugars and try to quell my "thirst" for sweets with the occasional fruit. My 2nd big deal is portion control...and that is where I'm having the biggest challenge...it's tough, but so far so good. For me it's all about choices and time management. I do not eat after 6:00pm, which means sometimes I don't eat dinner...at first it was tough, but now, it's normal...and when I see that scale go down, I'm lovin' it! In the evening, I drink hot green tea..no sugar..it's an acquired taste, but I'm used to it now and it is quite soothing and seems to make any hunger pangs go away. My goal is 68kg...and right now I'm at 95kg (I started at 122kg), so I've got a much farther way to go than you and I can tell you it is doable...tough, but doable! For me, I know that diet alone would not do it...I needed to add exercise, so now I'm up to 1hr each day on the eliptical (didn't start there...worked my way up to it!) I saw where you're exercising...the key will be to stay with it..no matter what!

So hang in there and think about how you're going to take this journey...it is a process not an event...tough for me to remember that some days!

Sarah
 
Day 6


I'm soooo sore from Sunday's exercise! I don't understand why...I've been doing this treadmill thing for 3 months now, and I didn't push myself hard (I only did 20mns run and 50 mns overall).

Maybe it's because i'm eating very low carb? could that be the reason? Will monitor how I feel the coming days. Today's exercise session is going to be tough!


breakfast: atkins crepe (I'm getting better at this. Either that or else I'm getting used to the taste, and each day I imagine it's tastier than it actually is!)

Lunch: 5 homemade mini chicken burgers (Yum!) with mustard, mayo, 1 cucumber.

snack: 2 servings choc mousse

Dinner:2mini burgers with cheese, 2 tbsp cabbage salad, pickled chilis, 5 salami chips

1 serv. choc mousse


exercise: 60 mns. (only managed to run for 15mns though, and not even straight run! intervals: 5+5+5).

calories burned: 420

Today was really hard, almost as hard as the first time I went up on that treadmill. Except the first time I never would've lasted an hour, and I wouldn't have run. But it was a struggle. I wanted to quit about 5 times.


Lessons learnt:

1- when you think you can't, you can!

2- the ipod shuffle is one of the greatest inventions of all times!

3- so is music!


I HAVE TO DO SOME WORK ON MY PHD PROPOSAL TODAY. The deadline is LOOMING!!!


Going to uni now, because I can't get any work done at home, too many distractions. Wish me luck!
 
Day 7


Not a good day. I'm feeling down today, and of course, when I'm down, all I think about is food. And not just any food, but everything I can't eat, high carb, high sugar junk.


Watched stupid program this morning, Mystery Diagnosis, which got me all upset. It was about a couple who had a child, and he had all sorts of weird symptoms. For 5 years, the doctors kept telling them he was ok. But I recognize the symptoms half way through. It was Marfan disease. My friend died of it. At least they got him diagnosed in time, he will be monitored all his life, but at least they caught it soon enough.

Watching that really upset me. Thought about my friend, thought about my son, and how he has to be monitored for life too. I shouldn't be watching things like this. No more Mystery Diagnosis!


Then went to the dentist, that's never fun. And haven't done anything constructive since. Ate 2 big servings of choc. mousse. But feels like I ate nothing, like I could eat a bucket and still feel empty. Today's a blah day. I should at least do something productive, correct exams, work on my proposal. I definitely have to go to the gym, because I won't be able to fit any exercise before Saturday.


breakfast: atkins crepe. ok, bored of that now, have to find alternative

lunch: 4 egg omelette, with cheese and hotdog. pickled chilis.

2 big servings of choc mousse. maybe 3.

dinner: 6 bite size pieces of chicken, cheese and thyme dip, 5 olives, 1 cucumber


exercise: I really, really, really, didn't want to exercise today. So I forced myself to go down to the gym. i told myself I'll do 45 mn, without running. My legs are too sore. Then I ran 5mns. I thought 5 mns was better than nothing. Then I added 5 mns walking. Then I went up on the elliptical and did 5 more mn. Then I went to the door but stopped and thought 5 more mns and I would've done an even 60 mns. So went back on the elliptical and did 5 more mns. I thought "There, I did it. F*** you!" I don't even know who I was talking to!


So.....60 mns. 400 calories burned....


still feeling blah though slightly better now that I worked out.
 
Aw, I'm sorry your having a down day.. :( I know how those are. Not fun. I also know how bad sweet cravings can be, ugh! Just keep getting yourself back on track after you slip up, after awhile hopefully you'll be able to resist them more often.
 
Originally Posted by Munch


Aw, I'm sorry your having a down day.. :( I know how those are. Not fun. I also know how bad sweet cravings can be, ugh! Just keep getting yourself back on track after you slip up, after awhile hopefully you'll be able to resist them more often.
Click to expand...



Thanks Munch. Trying...hopefully tomorrow will be better. Hope you're having a good day..:)
 
I've decided to set myself some milestones and goals for motivation:


70kg: get myself a ticker

67kg: add fruit to my diet. I will have to go slowly and test my threshold.

65kg: buy a new pair of jeans

60kg: buy a great outfit for going out. Something I could never

wear now or even at 65kg
 
the good, the bad and the ugly....



Day 8: the good


Started well. The usual breakfast, got very busy during the day, managed to write 1 page for my proposal, woohooo!!!! needs to be re-written, but it's a start. Then took my son to a friend's party and had 2 chicken nuggets. Not good but not terrible. At night, we went out to dinner with friends, and I resisted all temptations. I did have a latte before I remembered I shouldn't have milk, but that was unintentional...


Day 9: the bad


Skipped breakfast, then we went out to this outdoors company camp, it took us an hour and half to get there, it was terrible, but at least my son had fun. We didn't, and we both got stressed and on edge and upset, because we feed of each other's negative vibes, so not a good atmosphere.

We went for lunch at an Indian restaurant, where I let go of my frustration by eating loads of food I'm not supposed to eat:


Lunch (at 4pm): butter nan, black dahl, yoghurt, rice and indian chips, followed by 2 scoops of haagen daasz ice cream....no comment


Afterwards I felt very uncomfortably full, I had a MASSIVE headache, and felt like I had been given 5 sleeping pills. I could literally feel my lids closing down on my eyes. it did NOT feel good. and the worst part is even thought I felt stuffed, half an hour later all I could think about was food! I had a few handfulls of coco puffs at 9, even though I promised myself I wouldn't eat anything...




Day 10: the ugly



Again no time for breakfast this morning. I had to rush to location, we filmed a special effects shot for our movie. A test. Filming went well, now I have to composite it and see how it goes. But didn't eat anything until 2, where I finally had lunch totally not paleo, nothing paleo about it actually. there was nothing else on offer, but I could've chosen to limit the damage, but I didn't:

manti, stuffed eggplant, lentil kebbe, salad, yoghurt, followed by half a chocolate fondant.


I will NOT have dinner or anything to eat tonight. It will be difficult, because I will be working late, but I commit, right now, not to have anything until tomorrow morning.


Lessons learned:


1- never skip breakfast

2- never let yourself go hungry!


THE GOOD NEWS...because there is some good news...I lost 1 to 1.5 kilos. Not great, but not bad. At least the scales moved down, and that's what I was aiming for.


So....


previous weight: 75/74.5 kg

current weight: 73.5/73 kg (I wish my scale was more accurate, and stopped oscillating like a pendulum!)
 
Hey Issakova...good bad and ugly...followed by great! Now that's a handful..real life and I understand it! Congratulations on the weight loss...even amidst the schedule busters. If your schedule is unpredictable, you might consider having some fresh fruit (apple, or something portable) stashed away so that when everyone else orders desert, you can have fruit...and satisfy the sweet tooth without totally wrecking your diet. For me, if I eat that chocolate fondant (or whatever high charged sugar thing), it starts my body up and tells me "I want more"..so for me, it's better to quell that sweet tooth early on!

Sounds like your exercise program is going well...you're probably a little sore because you hadn't been pushing it before...now, you're pushing it and I feel that when I push it, I've burned fat, not just the carbs that were hanging around my system. I don't know if there is any scientific study that would back that up, but it keeps me motivated!

So, hang in there and keep at it...you've made it 1 week, and have seen results...remember, it's a journey, not an event! My journey is going on 7 months now..and I still have "the good the bad and the ugly"...but they are much less dramatic than they used to me!

Happy eating and exercising!

Sarah
 
Day 11


I didn't eat yesterday night. And I managed to finish compositing my shot and it looked good!!


Breakfast: subway salad: chicken breast, beef bacon, cheese, cucumber, pickles and olives

Lunch: chef salad

Dinner: beef stew, a little bit of cheese with thyme dip. 1/2 cucumber

snack:low carb/sugar fee choc mousse


I was supposed to go to a Zumba class, but I'm still in school, working on my proposal. This has to be my priority now, I have less than a month to finish it....
 
Day 12


Breakfast: Atkins crepe

Lunch: 3 mini burger meats, chef salad

Dinner (out): grass fed fillet with pepper/mushroom sauce, pan roasted carrots. Dinner was delicious! Best beef I've ever had! (or maybe I was just very hungry!:)


I'm getting somewhere with my proposal. I still have a long way to go, but I have a more defined subject now!!
 
Day 13


It's funny, I just realized it's December 13th and it's my 13th day....Ominous or auspicious?


It's that time of the month, feeling bloated and craving sugar like CRAZY.


I had a chef salad for breakfast!! the guy at the counter must have thought I was mad. I miss normal breakfast. I want something sweet.

I need to get busy...


I will shcedule my day, maybe it'll keep me focused on something else:


10:00: read more articles and refine my proposal

12:00: class

13:30: lunch / maybe chicken salad from subway

14:00: read more articles

15:00: attend conference on Arab Spring

16:00 - 18:00: read more articles and WRITE something!


There....no space for junk in this schedule. STICK to it!


So far so good. I like this idea of writing my schedule. It's now 4:30. Just came back from conference which was vaguely interesting but by no means enlightening.


This is my schedule for the rest of the day:


16:30 - 18:00 research and attempt to write something

18:00 to 20:00 go home and spend quality time with my son.

20:00 to 21:00 after he's alseep, have low carb dinner with hubby and relax

21:00 WRITE
 
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