Frankies Diary

F

frankie1

New member
Well,

For a first day I achieved alot of my goals:
- I limited my carb intake to two slices of bread. For me this is a real achievement as I love bread. In the long term I would like to get this down to one slice of bread a day. I still had an apple and veges, but that's better than potato, bread, chips that I love.
- I drank lots of water
- I went for an hour and a half walk
- I had healthy fish and veges for dinner
- I arranged to meet up with a friend for some exercise today (tell you about it tomorrow)
- I didn't binge eat at night because I was home alone - this is a huge danger for me but just told myself you have eaten dinner and it's enough, so I didn't go to bed feeling so full I felt sick.

Baby steps Frankie, baby steps.

By the way everyone (if anyone ever looks at my diary) I am getting so much inspiration, motivation, support and valuable information from reading posts on this site. For once I feel like I am not in this alone.

My own commitment is to be honest on this site and in this journal.

Frankie
 
Hi Frankie

Well done for getting off to a good start. We are all getting there one step and one day at a time.

Going for a walk was a really good move. I do a lot of walking every day.

You may want to check out the different challenges that are going on. While the Christmas challenge is closed to new entrants it will contain a lot of tips for the person fairly new to the game. Currently bonuses are given for having 3 cups of veg each day for example.

Other challenges can be joined at any time.

It might just help to keep you focused.

Good luck with your project.
Best wishes
Margaret
 
Thanks for your advice Margaret.

I must confess, I spent hours pouring over the forums yesterday and read (believe it or not) alot of your journal. You really do like walking, and I can relate to that. I have no car ( a new problem) and so have recently started having to walk everywhere. I also have 2 dogs and so have just returned from their morning walk of just over an hour.

Before I lost access to a car I used to go to the gym and had a personal trainer. About 2 weeks ago when I found it too hard to get there with no vehicle, I put my membership on hold. I said to my trainer it was too hard for me to get there but that I would be upping my walking and try and encorporate other forms of exercise into my day. He told me walking was a waste of time and that I would never lose weight by walking. That's why I was so fascinated by your journal. I don't have a pedometer and I can't measure how far I walk, but yesterday I walked for close to 3 hours. My left hamstring is pretty sore so I have this ball thing I will spend rolling on it tonight in front of the tv to try and alleviate some of the tightness.

I want to show my trainer of over a year that I can bloody well so do this on my own two legs and without paying $60 a session and walk into the gym when I am halfway to my goal and just show him what walking can do. My longterm goal is to jog twice a week. I plan my first walk jog tomorrow and will let you all know how I do. Has anyone else found walking to be a good source of exercise?

Anyway, yesterday I ate to plan, and not one slice of bread. I am so proud - every day a step in the right direction is all I am after.

Aside from walking, I also met up with a friend of mine for some power yoga at the beach. Yes, I was the hugest by far, and it was my first time and I was sooooooo unco-ordinated, but I tried and it was a good stretch and was great being outdoors. After the power yoga we did 45 minutes of kayaking. Again, a first. Do you think I could get the damn thing to go straight? And boy, is it hard on the shoulders, but what alot of fun. I came off just about too many times - but I was soaked anyway so it wouldn't have mattered. I am going to do this combination twice a week, and have asked the teacher if he would give me a couple of lessons because I way sucked. Still, I loved it and walked home absolutely soaked.


I am the odd one out in the class - all the others are action freaks and can you believe 2 of the girls kayaked in their bikini???? I couldn't and yes, they looked amazing. Still, I have to start somewhere, and the good thing is I can walk here, and it gets me doing something I otherwise wouldn't have. And it will all add up right?

Needless to say, last night I slept like a baby - the first time in ages. Woke up a bit sore today, but am sure I will adapt.

Margaret, I will check out the challenges today and see if I can join one. Thanks for letting me know about them.

Frankie
 
The Valentine's Challenge hasn't been going very long, and it's open to people joining any time. You get points for each 15 min of exercise, and points for each half-pound of weight loss.
 
It's great to see that you've started a diary!

If you've been browsing lots you will see that there are also others on here who had lost phenomenal amounts of weight without a gym - usually walking a lot instead. I am not knocking the assistance a gym can give in the least - but you can most certainly do without one. Motivation matters more than circumstances.

Kayaking! What a blast!! I haven't done that but have had quite a few camping/canoing trips that I just loved. I love the beach too. I hope we get to hear more about this from you. It should help add upper body work to the workout you're giving yourself with the walking, and stretching as well! It sounds great.
 
Hi Frankie

I have just put something in my diary for you - part of it is quite relevant to your comment here:

Omega said:
I have every confidence that walking will work for you. It honestly is the only difference between this project and so many failed projects of the past. I started many of those if anything more determined to succeed - and counted calories so studiously. I even started walking on one of them and stopped when told that walking at any pace that I could manage could not help.
Click to expand...


One person that comes immediately to mind that does walking a lot is Maleficent. She has already lost more than I aspire to lose - and I am delighted by my loss. Looking at a posting of hers - her start weight was 383 and he current weight is 193 towards a goal weight of 145. She has lost 190 pounds.

Not on this forum but mentioned in my diary is Charlie Walduck. If you didnt see the mention you can check out his results on the following link:



I am not a member of a gym and have not been at any time during the duration of this project. In all honesty I was a member years ago and my experience was that I went a reasonable amount in the first few weeks of membership - then stopped going and kept paying out of habit. I must have wasted a fortune in gym fees over the years. Gyms are like banks - they make a great deal of money out of people's apathy. I often hear that people are more likely to change their partner than change their bank.

I do go to two exercise classes per week at the local adult education centre (these are cheap to go to - £6 or £7 per lesson). One is for keep fit and one is for yoga. I will certainly continue the keep fit next term. I may do the yoga or I may see what else is on offer.

There are people on this forum who go to gyms a great deal and seem to get a lot of benefit from the classes that they attend and the advice that they get there. It is not by any means a necessity for losing weight. Felici us right "motivation matters more than circumstances".

There are plenty of mat exercises etc with things like restrictive bands and wrist / hand weights that you can do at home and not require any of the gyms facilities regarding getting toned too. This is the reason I go to the keep fit.

I havent got a car either - but it doesnt matter - if I need to get anything I just do my walk in that direction instead.

Pedometers are really cheap - so it is well worth getting one. I didnt think that I needed one at first - as we measured the distance of the main walks that I do in my husbands car. The nice thing about a pedometer is the buzz that you get when you see how all the little bits of walking add together. You go from thinking "I am a fat person that walks quite a lot" to "I actually have the stepcount of an athlete - I might be this shape now but this will change".

I watch Binge Britain and Diet Doctors programs on the television. They often have professional athletes (olympic medallists and the like) that they use as guinee pigs and give a crap diet to for 14 days and show how their health, weight and measurements suffer. They say "authorities say that we should all do 10,000 steps per day - so-and-so normally does 25,000 - 30,000 steps per day but for this experiment he is going to do the UK national average which is 5000 steps per day". I sit there saying "I average 30000 steps per day - see I'm an athlete". Daft - but it amuses me.

I am sorry about your hamstring problems. Did your trainer teach them some stretches to try and stop them developing. It is probably worth doing them before you start a long walk as well as more intense exercise.

The power yoga on the beach and kayaking both sound great fun. Never worry about your size - with focus and effort that will change very soon.

As for challenges:
Pedometer buddies can be joined at any time - it really is just an opportunity for a few of us to post our mileage.
There is also the birthday challenge.
Each month there tends to be a couple of monthly weight loss challenges going on.
The road race is very near completion. It replaced something similar - so you never know - a new one of those may be starting up soon.

Take care
Love
Margaret
 
Wow Margaret,

Thanks for the post, and yes, I visited your diary, so thanks for that too. That link was amazing - what an amazing story. I think I will keep to my walking and am so happy to find it has worked for so many people, including you. I have already been out for a walk this morning with 'The Boys' as I like to call my dogs. They keep me real honest as it is the first thing they want every morning. It was raining but that does not matter - once you are wet you are wet right? Before I started this journey I used to walk 5 minutes to the park we have right by my house and let them off lead and they would do all the running and I might have walked a couple of times round the park. But now we all do the walking, and it is just becoming part of my routine.

Yesterday food was pretty good, I had a yummy dinner. A toasted sandwich (my bread for the day) with no butter, a bit of pesto, small amount parnesan cheese and tomato. A real treat for a friday night. I could easily have had 2 no problem but am proud I stuck at one, especially because I was home alone and noone else would have known.

I didn't walk as much as I wanted as I had classes in the afternoon so didn't have as much time as I would like but still managed just over 2 hours. Today I should be able to do my 3 hours.

My husband is away on business at the minute so tonight a girlfriend is coming over to stay the night and keep me company so even though I have already walked for an hour 20, I plan to walk to the shops to get the ingredients for dinner and take the long way home so I get the rest of my exercise in. In fact, that's what I plan to do as soon as it gets to 9.00am here. We are just going to be boring and watch some dvd's and I may even have a couple of glasses of wine as a treat. I am allowing myself one night a week to have alcohol as part of my journey.

After shopping I have a very boring saturday planned working on an assignment for school all day. Thank goodness the weather is yukky so I won't feel like I am missing out on too much.

Oh, and I am so sore from kayaking all along my shoulders. I am hopefully kayaking tomorrow but have yet to hear from the instructor, so we'll see. Otherwise I am doing it monday in class again.

Thanks for your encouragement and support, I really need it, and it means so much to me. Oh, and I thought I would post a typical day for food for me so you get an idea of my meal plan:

Breakfast;
Tony Ferguson protein shake (if you haven't heard of him he's a weight loss practitioner here in Australia and I am using his products, well some of them)
or: 1 piece of toast w a spread of choice, or: 1 piece of toast w poached egg, or :fruit and low fat yoghurt

Morning tea:
1 piece of fruit, or: tub low fat yogurt, or: celery/ carrot sticks w low fat cottage cheese, or: handful of seeds and nut mixture

Lunch:
Tony Ferguson soup w salad, or: sandwich w salad and protein, or: tuna salad, I may also have a piece of fruit

Afternoon tea:
Same choices as morning tea

Dinner:
Protein and salad/ veges

See you all tomorrow,

Frankie
 
Hiya Frankie,
Thanks for stopping in my diary, I desperately need support. Can't quite get myself out there, or couldn't, until today. I haven't trully walked for a month and I bike rode a couple days for a half hour or so, but that was when I was with my ex. And that was only two days. I need to do the exercise almost everyday, if not definitely everyday.

You inspired me to walk tomorrow, because all you have said about walking. I know walking can work. It was working for me. When I stopped, after a while, I gained back weight.

So thanks for coming into my diary...


love yas
always
natalie jo :party:
 
Hi Frankie

Thanks for visiting my diary and congratulating me.

I am so pleased that you are really walking every day now. It can be a habit like any other - but a very positive habit. I am sure that it will pay dividends.

I looked over your food and it certainly looks like a healthy plan. I like to ensure that I get cereal, skimmed milk, protein, fruit and veg every day. In addition I have a little olive spread as fat 2 or 3 times a week.

I am sure that you will have a fun time with your friend. Just because we are trying to lose weight - doesnt mean we cant have a social life. We just plan our diet and exercise so that we can afford the extra calories.

I havent noticed you mention water. A lot of us struggle with our water on this forum. The recommendation is that we should all try and drink 2 litres or 64 fluid ounces of cold water every day. I find it so hard to do this. I fill an old pop bottle with water at the end of the day and keep it in the fridge. All through the day I drink it until it is gone - at which point I fill it up for the next day. Some people swear by adding a few drops of lemon juice to it.

The trouble with drinking that much water is that it makes you want to go to the toilet a lot.

The benefits of drinking water include that it helps your stomach to feel full, also it helps stop constipation, and it helps your skin cope with things (hopefully it will have some shrinking to do). I take starflower oil capsules for my skin too.

Take care
Love
Margaret
 
I hope your weekend went well. More kayacking tomorrow?

It sounds like you're studying (or teaching?). What area are you involved with?

Well done on sticking with your plan. That matters!! Lots!! Especially when there's no one else in the house. :D
 
Hi Margaret, Felici and Nataliejo,

Sorry I haven't been around but I have been working on an assignment for school and that has kept me tied up. I still haven't finished but hope to have it nearly completed by the end of today.

I am actually studying to be a naturopath and the assignment is for nutrition. My hasband had to keep a diet diary and I am analysing it and making recommendations on a nutrition plan for him. It's really interesting but quite indepth and there's alot to say. Next week are end of year exams and so am studying for them as well.

Margaret on the water intake I am a water baby - it's something I have with me all the time.

On the eating front, when my girlfriend came to stay on saturday we had thai takeaway - bad for me but yummy. Since then it's been back on the plan. On the exercise front I have not done as much as I would like - this is the third day in a row it is pouring. I took the dogs out this morning and we all got totally soaked. So have just had a nice hot shower and will get stuck in to some study and then try and finish my assignment.

This afternoon I plan on having a break and going for a long walk so I hope this rain stops!!!

Frankie
 
Hi Frankie

I am pleased that you automatically drink lots of water. It is really good for you.

Your course sounds interesting. If your exams are coming up you will be very busy preparing for them. I am surprised that you are getting time to pop into the forum at all.

I hate walking in the rain too - especially if the rain is really heavy. There are some days that I have got totally drenched. There is nothing to do but put on a waterproof coat and sturdy shoes and go out in it. Then get changed when you get home. I think that I will manage the rain well enough - I have handled enough of those days and I am still out walking every day. I am dreading it being too icy underfoot. I am just hoping that we will have an extra mild winter this year and not have any of those days. We normally dont get too many - but I want none.

Dont worry about the Thai food - we all have moments of sin.

Take care
Love
Margaret
 
frankie said:
Hi Margaret, Felici and Nataliejo,

Sorry I haven't been around but I have been working on an assignment for school and that has kept me tied up. I still haven't finished but hope to have it nearly completed by the end of today.

I am actually studying to be a naturopath and the assignment is for nutrition. My hasband had to keep a diet diary and I am analysing it and making recommendations on a nutrition plan for him. It's really interesting but quite indepth and there's alot to say. Next week are end of year exams and so am studying for them as well.

Margaret on the water intake I am a water baby - it's something I have with me all the time.

On the eating front, when my girlfriend came to stay on saturday we had thai takeaway - bad for me but yummy. Since then it's been back on the plan. On the exercise front I have not done as much as I would like - this is the third day in a row it is pouring. I took the dogs out this morning and we all got totally soaked. So have just had a nice hot shower and will get stuck in to some study and then try and finish my assignment.

This afternoon I plan on having a break and going for a long walk so I hope this rain stops!!!

Frankie
Click to expand...

Hey Frankie,
I am happy you are doing well! It was raining here too ... sucked, but back to the walking tomorrow!
I hope you are doing well .. I shall stop in when you write another journal entry ...

always
natalie jo :Angel_anim:
 
Thanks for stopping in Margaret and Natalie jo.

Yesterday was pouring again and I got soaked - twice. Ah well.

Food was OK and spent most of the day working on my assignment and studying for my exams, as I will today, but have had a VERY frustrating morning. I have school today - nutrition. Hubby is away and so called for a cab an hour and a half before class (we are only half an hour from class). Public transport where i live is very difficult and I am actually unsure how I would get there - 2 buses at least. So, cab is just easier. Do you think it showed???? No. And I called the company four times, and they just said they couldn't get a driver - more likely that they didn't want the smaller fare. I actually cried in frustration. Thank goodness I only have one more week of term. Next week hubby will drop me so I know I will be OK.

Frankie
 
Hi Frankie

You did very well to keep your food ok in such trying circumstances. The old me would have eaten something fattening as soon as something got so stressful - and I bet the old you would have too.

Feel proud of yourself for keeping your food ok.

Take care
Love
Margaret
 
Thanks for your support Margaret, gotta love this forum.

Yesterday was another good day for getting soaked, on the positive side I got quite a bit of study done. I also thought about things to aim for for christmas. We have my hubby's family coming to stay so I have just sarted prepraring all the linen. Not one of my favourite things. Also, a friend of ours is going to take me to get a real christmas tree on saturday and I am going to get some real gorgeous decorations and have the tree ready for sunday night when hubby comes home as a surprise. We are looking at moving to Singapore in the new year, so this may be the last christmas here for a while, and I want to make it special.

Today the sun has finally decieded to make an appearance and so have had a great time walking the dogs and then down to the beach and yoga and kayaking. I cut my foot on the oyster shells getting the boat in, but it should be alright.

Anyway, best I get stuck into some study, and do some more washing.

Frankie
 
frankie said:
Thanks for stopping in Margaret and Natalie jo.

Yesterday was pouring again and I got soaked - twice. Ah well.

Food was OK and spent most of the day working on my assignment and studying for my exams, as I will today, but have had a VERY frustrating morning. I have school today - nutrition. Hubby is away and so called for a cab an hour and a half before class (we are only half an hour from class). Public transport where i live is very difficult and I am actually unsure how I would get there - 2 buses at least. So, cab is just easier. Do you think it showed???? No. And I called the company four times, and they just said they couldn't get a driver - more likely that they didn't want the smaller fare. I actually cried in frustration. Thank goodness I only have one more week of term. Next week hubby will drop me so I know I will be OK.

Frankie
Click to expand...

Wow! That was rough - with all the work you are putting in too - I reckon I would have been View attachment 5181 too. Margaret was right. You are doing well.

frankie said:
Thanks for your support Margaret, gotta love this forum.

Yesterday was another good day for getting soaked, on the positive side I got quite a bit of study done. I also thought about things to aim for for christmas. We have my hubby's family coming to stay so I have just sarted prepraring all the linen. Not one of my favourite things. Also, a friend of ours is going to take me to get a real christmas tree on saturday and I am going to get some real gorgeous decorations and have the tree ready for sunday night when hubby comes home as a surprise. We are looking at moving to Singapore in the new year, so this may be the last christmas here for a while, and I want to make it special.

Today the sun has finally decieded to make an appearance and so have had a great time walking the dogs and then down to the beach and yoga and kayaking. I cut my foot on the oyster shells getting the boat in, but it should be alright.

Anyway, best I get stuck into some study, and do some more washing.

Frankie
Click to expand...

You have had a lot of rain for November Frankie!! Which part of the country do you live in?

Sorry about your foot. :( (I guess if you bothered to mention it, you also bothered to take care of it! ) But a great time is a great time!!! It sounds like you have a body that is thanking you for all the movement!! :D NICE!!
 
Hi Frankie

I am pleased that you are still walking - it has been very effective for me and can be for you too. It is a shame that you are getting rain - it should be getting summertime for you I imagine.

Well done for doing the yoga and kayaking too. You are bound to lose weight with all that exercise.

I am sorry about the foot injury. We need to look after our feet - they can bring us a long way.

A move to Singapore sounds very exciting. That will take quite a bit of planning and organisation.

It may be worth taking some favourite / diet food with you when you go. When we were in Greece there were all sorts of things that you couldnt get hold of that we really missed. We used to put requests in to people coming out on holiday - saying bring a jar of this / that. When we came back a number of people were interested in several half jars in our food-cupboard.

Good luck with the studying but remember to keep up the exercise where you can and keep an eye on your food. That way you will get great results in every way.

Take care
Love
Margaret
 
Hi Felici and Margaret,

Thanks so much for dropping by. I had a fabulous day yesterday - even with my cut toe. I got blood all over the decking where we put the boats away, but still walked the half hour home. All up yesterday, I walked for about 4 hours, plus did the yoga and the kayaking. I was exhausted by 8pm and went to bed, but I have so much on my mind at present and was obviously overtired - do you think I slept???? Isn't that frustrating.

Also for the valentines day challenge I weighed myself - this time last week it said I weighed 76.5 kilos (my goal was to get to 70 kilos by v.d) and yesterday it said I was around (can't quite remember what it said exactly) 85?86? kilos??? So that means there is something up with the scales and I don't know which is correct. But I just put the weight in the journal. Funny thing is I think I have definitely lost weight - can tell in my clothes. But still don't know what weight I am. Hubby is away at present and have no car so can't buy new scales as yet, but aim to after I have finished exams next week. Until then, the yo-yo scales will have to do - sorry.

I am onto the fourth change of bed linen, so the spare bedrooms will be ready for the incoming family members by the end of this week. So I can tick that off my list of things to do, but there is still alot more. Ordered a turkey for christmas day yesterday. And also bought some new nice t-shirts. At the minute I live in sweats and old scruffy t-shirts, the ones I bought are nicer to go with shorts and the like.

Oh, Felici, I live in Sydney, and for this time of the year we have had alot of rain, it's quite a tropical weather pattern. We need rain desperately for our farmers who are really struggling as we have been in drought for years, and our dam levels are very low. So I just hope there has been some rain in the catchment areas that need it. Today is fine again, and so the next thing we will have to worry about is bush fires. From one extreme to the other.

Thanks for the tip on foods Margaret - I think I will have to think about that. Hubby had a meeting yesterday in Hong Kong with his potential new boss and I was already in bed when he rang to tell me about it but he texted saying it went well. No doubt when I speak to him again I will learn more. Actually, this move (potential) is one of my motivators as from what I can gather, there aren't many larger people in SIngapore, so clothes shopping and lingerie shopping is pretty difficult if you are a larger size.

Anyway, walked the dogs for about an hour and a half this morning from 5.30am so feel great for that. The Biggest Loser is on tonight so that takes care of my evening and enough motivation for me to keep on track for another day. Just had my brekky, will have a shower and get stuck into some study - chemistry - yuk, and herbal medicine - great, but quite difficult to remember all the botanical names and what part you use and what for.

Thanks everyone,

Frankie
 
Hiya Frankie!
Wowser .. you sound like you are really motivated ..
you should take care of that toe ... a staff infection has been running around here... you never know ... treat it with peroxide and a good ointment and put a bandaid on it ...you will thank yourself later!

I hope your toe heals quickly .. kayaking must be so much fun! I hope I get to do it someday ..my sister has told me its a lot of fun .. I just hope I lose the weight to be able to have that kind of experience ...

You are an inspiration to me as well as the other girls .. you all rock ..walking in the rain is incredible .. I never walk in the rain ..don't have a rain jacket and I keep forgetting to get my umbrella out of my mother's car ..but WOW walking in the rain ..you are awesome!

Walking is a good way to go .. I lost nineteen pounds walking ..so keep it up ...
wishing you the best
keep treacking
always
love yas
natalie jo :seeya:
 
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