Get healthy in 2016. Goal: Not caving in to self-tantrums and lose 40lbs in 4 month.

Thanks y'all, knowing somebody is checking up on me (my posts) helps me keep a little more disciplined, lol.
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That´s what the forum is for, even though we really should be doing this allllllll for ourselves and no-one else... That´s not how people work :) I think we´re all a bit disappointed when nobody responds to a post. Which is, of course, a thing that happens, especially during the weekend. You got this!
 
168.4lbs. Had a work dinner yesterday, which is why I wanted to fast beforehand, because I know I want to eat instead of being all grumpy about being on a diet. Had tuna and stirfried rice, great since my body was feeling a tad weak after the fast but IT WAS SO OILY. I hate how a lot of American restaurant think that you just need to use a ton of oil, soy sauce and throw in some sesame or "lo mian" noodles and it's instantly Chinese food. But it was expensive and they used sushi grade tuna so I ate it all (just a shame how they cooked it).

The good is that it curbed my craving for meat so I feel better about going vegetarian for the next few days. Now, I just have to figure out what green/leafy vegetables I want to eat that is not spinach, kale, turnip greens or cabbage...... O.O.....
 
I was just talking to a friend about how we judge most Chinese food primarily by how bad we feel after eating it. Why we continue to eat the stuff that makes us feel bad, who knows. Enjoy those greens!
 
That is a shame about the oily Chinese meal. I don't think I have experienced an oily Chinese meal, but some have way too much flavouring/sauce. I think Thai food is my favourite!
 
Chinese food doesn't have to be greasy and heavy and makes you feel bad! I can guarantee you that the Chinese buffet, fast food and half of the Chinese restaurants don't serve real Chinese food (Unless you go to the Chinatown in NYC or California). I'm Chinese and my parents are always seeking out new Chinese places to eat, their rule of thumb is that if the menu didn't have Chinese character and there's not a lot of groups of Chinese people in the restaurant, it's probably not real Chinese food. And we were right most of the times.

It's true that there's about 1034893 types of Chinese sauce, but the very basic/holy trinity of Chinese seasoning is garlic, scallion and ginger. Regular homemade Chinese food usually consists of stirfry the minced garlic with oil until fragrant, then add vegetables and salt, done. Sometimes we use scallion or pepper (sichuan or black), but ginger (and soy sauce) are usually reserved for meat. It is then complemented with steamed rice/bun, and leftover meat/vegetables get throw together with noodles the next day. Most homes will have 2 or 3 sauces they use sometimes, but not like what you see in most restaurants. Soy sauce is NEVER on the dining table, only salt, hot chili pepper oil and vinegar.

/end Chinese food rant. I'm watching my portions, but sugar is really difficult. X.X
 
Sounds sensible to me; over here what constitutes "Chinese" food is usually what Europeans in colonial times liked to eat while in Asia. Which... well...
 
Well, it's been awhile since I checked in. New month, time for a progress report (can't believe it's been 1 month already?!?!). Lost 6lbs out of 10.

Unfortunately I was unable to ignore the chocolate and nuts in the office and didn't lose 10lbs (goal). However, the one day waterfast I did helped to reset my expectation, gave renewed hope and determination for the weight loss....after the fast (I was sulking in my bed and wallowing in self-pity the majority of the day when I was fasting, lol, glad I chose a Saturday to do it).

I felt like a wreck and was convinced that my goals were going to be impossible and torturous, but now I feel mentally stronger and is no longer whiny about idea of weightloss. To help me with portion control, I bought some cute bento supplies and plan to focus on quality over quantity, to enjoy what I put in my mouth instead of just put everything I can get my hands on into my mouth.
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My goal for Feb is 10lbs. I don't know if I will lose 10lbs, but I know that I CAN and I WILL lose 6lbs at least without starving myself or complain about it. I've almost lost all the extra weight I gained last summer (gaining 20lbs in 2 month isn't very healthy...).

6lbs down, 34lbs to go.
 
Congrats on the 6lbs! 6lbs in a month is a great start and a good way to make sure the weight stays off.

Look forward to the February progress reports
 
Howdy AngryPanda! How much or how quickly you lose doesn't matter. Keep improving and forging those healthy habits and it will come off and stay off. You've done great! You'll never do perfect, but you don't need to either.

I accredit my weight loss to a whole foods plants based diet and daily exercise. Your pallet will adapt to your diet and eating healthy will be a joy instead of a chore. I've gotten lazy lately and stopped losing weight for months, but I haven't regained anything significant so it will be easier to cut out the bad snacking and overeating and move more. I think feeling confident in the healthy base I've established helped allow me to be this lazy this long.

I look forward to your successes! Congratulations on a great start!
 
Great plan Panda!

Where do you find your motivation? How do you beat your self-tantrums and cope with the increased anxiety/stress/craziness that comes with the whole process?
 
Great plan Panda!

Where do you find your motivation? How do you beat your self-tantrums and cope with the increased anxiety/stress/craziness that comes with the whole process?

Howdy! It haven't been easy. I've been "losing weight" for 7 years. I love food and eat anything/everything tasty without regards for portion and consequences for years. I would gain weight, then lose weight (with difficulty), then when I'm almost at the goal, get laxed and ignore my weight/diet again. So the process repeats until I feel like I'm eating all the time and that weight loss is hopeless since I'm gonna gain it back anyways. The first two weeks have to be thanks to my parents. I visited home for 3 weeks and they were shocked at how fat I became so they only cooked vegetables and whole grain, no sugar or meat and very little fat. That was kind of their diet but needless to say, it was a drastic change for me and I was angry at them, hated the diet, felt energy-less and spent the whole two weeks plotting how I'm gonna binge on meat and cakes when I get back....

....but in those 2 weeks, I was forced to examine how terrible my dieting habit was, how it was and probably will affect my life, and the fact that being fat/unhealthy is not gonna make me any less stressed/happy than being thin and fit. I have a better idea of what type of person I want to be and why I should do it, but easier said than done. I told myself that I WILL eat crappy food (like McDonald big breakfast, or 3 big slices of cake for dinner) once every few weeks if I truly craves it. I'm not going to feel guilty about it, I will enjoy every bite of it, and I WILL eat healthy food/stick to my diet the rest of the month. I am tempted to give up whenever I fall off the good diet/habit wagon or don't see my weight decrease for awhile, but I can either start again immediately..... or give up and let myself become a balloony mess then start again years later like I've always done.

I keep a paper/pen food journal and weigh myself everyday, writing it out letter by letter let me become more aware of when I'm getting lazy/overate so I can't avoid/lie to myself. I still lose motivation quite often and it's easy to get lazy, so I give myself a mild peptalk/scolding then write about my progress here, to my friends on Fb, and on my blog. You can lie to yourself, but there's no point lying to strangers, lol, and your friends will see through your lies so it keeps me on track. It took me awhile to find a comfortable zone since some place go too crazy (with counting calories or exercise 4hrs a day, which stresses me out) and some friends only complains about how they can't lose weight and how difficult it is whenever the topic is mentioned (too depressing, I'm already negative enough). Being able to stick to/finish a 1-3 day "severe" diet makes me feel more confident in myself, and enjoy the healthy food I'm eating for the rest of the month more, and the 1-2 indulgence/junk dinner per month helps me to not feel deprived.

TL:DR basically setting clear goal everything in moderation and good balance makes me feel not deprived. Supportive people and knowing why I should do it motivates me. I still get angry/cranky sometimes, that's why I usually try to be more lax on Monday and more strict Thurs/Fri so the peak of my moodiness/self-pity hits on Sat/Sun (but make sure there's no junk food like cookies/chips at home that you might binge on in a moment of weakness). I can't help getting stressed/depressed/cranky about my diet sometimes, but at least this way I'm not lashing out on people.
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Some day, I hope I can pose like this. But that is goal for another year, lol.
 
Yay finished military diet and lost 3lbs. Boo I overate the day after and gained 1lbs back.... to be fair there was a power outage and I had a lot of dairy in my fridge so I overdosed on those since I don't want them to go bad. My reference for the 3 Day Military Diet: http://www.skinnybitch.net/the-3-day-military-diet/

I like this military diet better than fasting, it's healthier since you are eating food (revs up the metabolism, and you get protein, carbs, fiber/veg, sugar and a little fat all in 3 days). I lost weight eventho I didn't follow the eating time exactly, but the small portion size and no snacking is probably what helped. Some of the food are a little difficult to stomach (1 cup of tuna with no veg or carbs to accompany it?!?! 1 cup of cottage cheese???) so I think I'm gonna losely try it again with some food substitution but keeps to the same small portion and healthy low fat diet.

I was 163lbs yesterday, 164lbs today but hoping to stick to a good diet/exercise routine and continue downward. Cheers!
 
Ok, after reading through your journal so far I just have one question, a very IMPORTANT question...

...did you choose your username and then pick your avatar? Or, did you choose your avatar and then pick your username?
 
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