Gretta's journal

Gretta

Gretta

New member
Hi all,
I wasn't gonna do this but I think it might help me focus so here goes. I am 42 yr. old 5' 4" female, 130 lbs. My weight is all saddle bags, love handles and belly. Since it's only gonna get worse, and my strength is a fraction of what it used to be, here I am. Plus, my cholesterol is way high and my dad had his first bypass surgery at my age. It's time to get serious, and so far so good. A whole 5 days now lol. I want to track my eating and exercise and have it in print! Edit--and BTW I'm gonna quit smoking on the 18th of Aug. I've done it before for 4 months and gained oh I don't know...a bit. But not with a strategy in place so....this time WILL be different.


-- How much weight do you want to lose? No idea. A few inches will be nice. I'm curious to see what I'll weigh with a nicely proportioned rock hard body!!

-- What is the time frame for reaching your target weight? Don't care.

-- How do you want to accomplish your goal (what methods do you want to use)? Calorie counting--exercise

-- Who or what can support you in reaching your goal? Nada--you guys? My hubby will prolly like it tho.:drool5:

-- How realistic is your goal? Totally!

-- When will you start? 5 days ago


1. What is your current height and weight? 5' 4' 130
2. If you were at an ideal weight now, what would that weight be? 115 maybe?
3. At what weight would you like to be at four months from now? un-flabby

4. Why do you want to lose weight? Lose fat and cholesterol, don't know about weight.
5. Do you want to lose weight for a specific life event such as wedding or reunion? If so, when is that event? Nada, not this time baby! Oh wait, I'm going to quit smoking. I need a plan in place!

6. What obstacles could get between you and your weight loss goals? Beer+I very intensely hate cardio.

7. Why do you think that you now have a weight problem? I have a shape/flab/strength/endurance problem.

8. What lifestyle changes do you think would help you lose weight? count calories and strength/cardio.
9. Have you lost weight in the past? If so, what has worked in the past to help you lose weight? Don't eat for a bit....bam 10 lbs. Not no mores tho! Heellllooo 40's!

10. Why do you believe that you did not lose weight or you gained the weight back? Oh maybe the 2 or 3 or 4 thousand calories a day! My metabolism has always rocked, but not anymore.

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? I still think I'm 20. I think I've always gone under what I need and therefore gain it back.

12. Would you try writing down all food and drink consumed for a given period of time? No...but I am keeping a running track in my head, honest.

13. Do you cook at home often?If so, what do you cook? Yeah, but trying to feed a picky skinny ass husband is tricky.

14. How often do you go out to eat? Where do you go? Yeah, never good.

15. What are your three favorite foods? Too hard

16. What are your three favorite restaurants? Skip

17. What are three things you can do differently when it comes to food? Think healthy/think skinny/think 40

18. If you woke up tomorrow and your body was exactly the way you want it, what would be different? Thin thighs/abs/waist/butt---buuff arms. I love arms.
19. Do you eat when you are not hungry? Not really. Does beer count?

20. Do you binge eat (large amounts at a time)? I will (used to) eat until I am completely stuffed and then some. Never considered it binging.

21. Do you hide your food or eat in secret? Nope

22. Do you eat when you are sad, nervous, or depressed? Just the opposite.

23. Do you eat as a reward? Nope

24. Do you eat while watching TV or using the computer? Always

25. What do you normally eat for a meal? Stuff

26. What type of snacks do you eat? Stuff

27. In terms of exercise, what, if anything, are you currently doing? Whole body stuff 3xweek, cardio 30 minutes 5xweek.

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

29. What, if anything, are your three favorite types of exercise? Lifting by far. Arms are my fav. Swimming. Yoga. Hate everything else with a passion.

30. What is your daily/weekly/monthly/yearly motivation to move towards your goals? I would love to not have bypass surgery. And oh boy, it would be nice to be a hardbody again.

31. Do you have rewards for certain goals? Looking in the mirror!!

Ok so since this is my very own thread, I'll continue on with my current habits in the next post. See you soon! (It's fun to talk to yourself ain't it?)
 
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Eating--

1400 per day.

Exercise-

Whole body/lifting--about 30 minutes--Lifting will add more sets eventually. Right now I'm at only 2 sets and almost failing on the last reps of 6-8. I'm totally not worried about bulking my arms. They just get real purdy.

1. Winsor Pilates abs/core. Six exercises, feel the burn. Plus, I can feel it in my legs too. (not following the video, just picked out my faves)

2. Winsor Pilates legs/buns--great stuff for those saddle bags. Also good for core work if I concentrate.

3. Dumbells--arms--biceps/tris/chest/back/shoulders

4. Squats and lunges. As per Steves advise to someone else, I am going to move these to the beginning because they are kicking my ass.

I know I'll have to change this up, and I'm going to learn some of the other lifts--namely dead lift. But for now=ouch enough.

Cardio --ewww ickk puke...Ok I give in...it's necessary for me if I want a strong heart and lungs. BTW I am quite the active type person in that just being me burns a lot of calories. But I've come to the dark realization that that doesn't necessarily help your heart.

20 or 30 minutes of swimming. Only now starting to work with heart rate. I am just trying to swim till I breath a little heavy and then throw in some sprints. I live in Phoenix so yay. Pretty soon tho I'm gonna have to find an at home cardio that's not the pool. EWWW IIIICKKK PUKE. I like to bike, but that ain't gonna be easy enough to get up and just do. Jumping jacks??

BTW--Like a dumbass i tried to do some HIIT. OOPs...couldn't breathe for 2 days ( I have asthma, but it never bothers me). I think we'll just save the balls to the wall exercise for at least more than 3 days after I've gotten back into being active. Dumbass. You're NOT 20.
 
Ok let's talk food. Like I said, I'm aiming for 1400. That's about 11 times my weight. I can't decide what to do. I know I've been eating/drinking way way more than that (at least double) and I swear my body wants to stay at 130 no matter how much I eat. I really don't want to go to low here. 1300 sounds better, but I'm in no hurry. I have bounced around the ten pounds many many times and I always end up at 130. I used to bounce around the ten pounds and end up and 120. (I thought I was fat then) and I was. Right around the hips/belly/thighs. Ok...I'm going to stick at 1400 and have wiggle room both ways. I really want to do the zig-zag but for now I'll wait. BTW that dang calculator has me at 1570 per week at 11x. Either I'm crazy or that thing has a bug. I can do the math myself tho if I really apply!

Morning:
1/2 cup all bran--80
1 cup skim--80
1 cup berries blue/straw-100
6 almonds--40
Stevia
=300 calories

or

1/2 cups low fat cottage cheese--90
4 tbs oatmeal raw--75
6 almonds--40
Cinnamon
=205 calories

or
1/2 cup egg beaters--60
1 oz. low fat cheddar--80
1 tsp. olive oil--40
1 cup blue/straw mix--100
1 slice wheat.--70
=350 calories

lunch
3 ounces tuna/salmon/chicken=whichever
1 wasa cracker--35
berries--100
almonds--40
about 300 calories?

Still working on some other lunches. For now I'm going to stick to this.

Snacks
Green chile and crackers. Switch that to wasa crackers and I'm good!

Yogart--plain low fat--1/2 cup-75
cottage cheese--low fat--90
berries 1/4 cup --50
6 almonds-40
stevia
=255 calories OK need to cut down the portions on that one.

Other snacks on hand
Beef jerky
Low fat string cheese
berries of course and apples and nectarines and oranges and wasa crackers and almonds.
Boiled eggs.

I need to bag these with calories attached to take to work.

Dinner--whatever I cook and eating what portions I can considering calories left over that I need to consume. I have been good about adding lots of greens and veggies. Minus of course how many beers I can have. Is that bad?...lol

This helps...It's all good stuff and I find it pretty easy...more later.
 
Well it's time for measurements. Reading here has solidified why I'm doing this. My waist and thighs are bigger than girls that have 50 lbs on me. When I think of the challenges some of the people on here are facing, there really is no excuse for me to look and feel like I do. And last time I quit smoking, I ballooned! No more of this "I'll quit when I drop a few pounds" BS. I have my quit date and now the race is on to stay ahead of the fat!

These measurements are from a few days ago and I'm trying to wait at least a week lol. It's hard because I am feeling nice and tight today. It feels so good that it makes me wonder why I always quit exercising through the years.

Ok here goes. 7/30 129lbs. 22% body fat according to the calculators. I don't believe it. I think it's really higher. Cholesterol 262.

Neck--12.5
Bust--36
Chest--32.5
Waist--28.5
Stomach--34.5 (holding taut but not sucking in...not sure how to do this one)
Hip--40
Thigh--23
Forearm--9.5
Upper arm--10.5
Knee--14.5 (they bug me)
Calves--12

Oky doky then...off to eat even tho I don't want to. If I don't I'll prolly pig out later.
Allbran, skim, berries, almonds. I'm possibly not getting enough protein but I can't even begin to think 40/40/20 yet. I'm just hoping that having some of each every meal will be ok until I can really get it together.
 
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ok then...good for me. I only have one day left of vacation and then back to school. I'm a teacher and we start earlier this year. The good news is that I'm a general music teacher for k-4 and some days are like teaching aerobics all day. That'll be nice, but I'm worried about being so wiped out I don't exercise. Gonna have to really start biting the bullet 'cause I can always convince myself I'm too tired. Problem is, sometimes it's true.

I've been hungry almost all day.
Breakfast:
Allbran-skim-berries-almonds.=300

lunch consisted of snacking the rest of the day!
1 oz. beef jerky
string cheese
1 boiled egg
1/2 cup skim
6 almonds
=300

4 oz. wine...mmmm bad girl 100

dinner:
3 oz stir fry beef=160?
1 tbs sauce -40
bell peppers, onions, broccoli 100
2 low carb low fat tortillas 100
1/2 cup skim-40
=440

Total today-1140. So I've got 200-300 to play around with. It's tempting to stop here but I really want to stick with 1400 for a while and see if that lets me lose. Maybe some more wine? hehe

Boy I really didn't plan on writing everything down. I keep a running total pretty easily right now, but that might change when I get busier.

Exercise-Hard today 'cause I'm quite sore. I got it done tho and I feel much better.

40 minutes- leg/ab work/dumbells
30 minutes swimming.

I hope I can keep this up. It feels good!
 
those breakfasts sound really good...

as for your measurements... doesn't really matter wher you take them - as long as next time you take 'em... you're in the same spot...

YAY for feeling good :)

play calories are always good for some wine :) that's called planning ahead :D
 
Yay for planning ahead! Thanks for stopping by. And OMG I just noticed your avatar. Mind telling me where you found it? I'm thinking ice cream now. In the blender with the wine?
 
Wine Smoothies!! A woman after my own heart! Mal there is the destresser you were looking for earlier. Do you have any play calories left for the day?:cheers2:
Welcome to the forum by the way. I am pretty new here also. And a recent non-smoker, so I can relate. Great support here and I would suggest a fitday.com account also if you haven't already. Your off to a great start!
 
Thanks for the welcome:) My quit date is the 18th. My husband is going out of town and we're both quitting. He'll be gone for 5 days so that way we might both survive. Perhaps I'll be hitting you up for some non-smoking support as well. How long ago did you quit?
 
5 months 1 day 10 hours and 13 minutes ago.....can you tell it is still a little fresh? LOL...I keep a silkquit ticker in my toolbar.....I smoked 1 1/2 - 2 packs a day for 35 years.....If there is anything I can do to help, just let me know.
 
Well I seem to be losing a little bit of steam but I'm in this for the long haul right?

Aug. 5
1oz jerky 80
1c berries80
1 wasa cracker35
½ cup skim40
=200
30 min. cardio

Left over fajitas
=200

Leafy greens/radishes
Tuna
1 boiled egg
¼ cup 2% cheese
1 tsp. olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
=250-300

3 wine=240
Jerky=80
Cheese=80
Almonds=40

Aug. 6th--1st day back at school sitting on my ass for meeting after meeting. I'll be glad when the kids get back.
1500 calories—no exercise-even tho I was supposed to.

Aug. 7th
Breakfast—cereal/fruit/almonds-300 calories
Lunch—PTO fed us today. Damn
1 large taco
1small enchilada
1 large tequito
Small beans/rice
Small salad w/ dressing
Calories???? Probably 1200?? No idea whatsoever

Oh well it was really good.
Exercise—full body/weights
20 minutes swimming
1 beer

So I guess tomorrow I’ll do like 1000 calories and pretend I’m zig-zagging!
Bummer 'cause this morning I lost my 1st solid pound beyond the 5 that seem to come and go week to week.
 
I like reading through your progress, you are motivated! thats great!


Keep it up! it will be second nature in no time !:patriot:
 
Hey Gretta!

I just had to stop by your diary and say hi... Our stats are almost identical and our eating ( and drinking lol ) habits too!
I'm 5'4" around 125 pounds and used to eating around 3000 calories a day In the past.. but everything is changing now that I'm in my 40's ( I'm 44) I'm shooting for the neighborhood of 115 too...
Good luck to you!
 
artmonster said:
I like reading through your progress, you are motivated! thats great!


Keep it up! it will be second nature in no time !:patriot:
Click to expand...

Hi artmonster,
Thanks for reading. You've helped me get re-motivated! It's really easy to write stuff down that makes you look motivated. Living this thing day to day is definitely not second nature yet, but you give me hope! BTW I was born in Alamosa. :waving:

Christy----that's a little spooky because my name is really Christi. :eek:
 
Ok, pretty lazy about the food today but got in a good dinner.

Breakfast slim shake--170
South beach bar 140
=310

Snack--2% mozzarella cheese--80
1 cup blueberries--80
=160

Snack--1/2 oz. Jerky=40

Dinner--4 oz. scallops sauteed in butter (MMMM)=120?
1/4 cup brown rice=85
1 cup broccoli=80
Salad w/ balsamic and 1 tsp olive oil=50
1/2 cup skim=40
=375

total=885
+4 beers (eventully)=1285 So much for pretending to zig-zag.
30 minutes cardio (swimming)

Geez, it's Friday night after all and I did manage to get SOME good food in me! Gotta love working in a school. I've had a welcome back candy bar in my mailbox for the last 3 days from different organizations. Fortunately hubby likes candy bars.

OK then bye. :willy_nilly:
 
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