How Kathar Shall Regain Her Old Self Back

Wow, you can do that?

Yep. From the Foods tab, click the Go button next to New Custom Food. Or you find something close, and edit it.

I try to set stuff up by cup or ounce, rather than by "serving." With the exception of single-serve prepackaged stuff.
 
I'll start that tomorrow. I also need to weigh myself sometime soon. Hopefully I'm back down below 140, although I still think I look fatter.
 
I'll start that tomorrow. I also need to weigh myself sometime soon. Hopefully I'm back down below 140, although I still think I look fatter.

Perception is a tricky thing! Sometimes its just all in our heads, i have fat days where I feel like I am 10kg heavier but its never the case.
 
So far:

Total: 559
Fat: 14g, 23%
Carbs: 71g, 38%
Protein: 52g, 39%

Breakfast: 1 cup cereal, 136 calories

Lunch: Wrap (100 calories) with 4 oz. boiled chicken (183 calories), 4 romaine leaves cut up (6 calories), 2 tablespoons of Chavrie goat cheese (50 calories), and 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard (10 calories)
Lunch: 2 tangerines, 74 calories
 
Total: 559
Fat: 14g, 23%
Carbs: 71g, 38%
Protein: 52g, 39%
Looks pretty good so far, Kathar! I understand why fitday would seem like a waste of time if you couldn't add your own foods. I know I wouldn't use it if it didn't have that option. I am cooking-impaired, so a lot of my foods are prepackaged and I just input the info as a custom food. The carb/fat/protein distribution is probably well-debated & I'm no expert. I'm sure with some trial and error and some research, you could figure out what the right percentages are for you. I've gotten really into tweaking my diet lately & while sometimes its a drag, it can be uplifting because I have documented proof of how well I did on a given day. And you can also ask yourself "this hasn't worked for two weeks, how can I change how I've been eating?" I believe its a really useful tool. I've been trying to input my foods the night before and stick with the diet the next day and that's been helpful. Just some ideas to throw out there. Have a great holiday weekend.
 
So we're going out tonight, but it's to Ruby Tuesday, where I can get something reasonable (tilapia with green beans). After dinner (and counting the granola bar I just ate):

Total: 1096
Fat: 40g 34%
Carbs: 95g 27%
Protein: 101g 39%

So when I get home I'll probably have a piece of fruit or something.
 
Oh yeah, and tomorrow's an unavoidable cheat day - we're going out to an Italian restaurant for my mother's belated birthday. I'll just not eat anything else that day except possibly vegetables, try to limit bread and (sigh) their really amazing fried polenta, and order fish. The fish has bread crumbs, but at least it isn't fried, or anything with pasta.

The meal will probably look like:

- Salad with vinaigrette. One slice of bread. If I absolutely must eat the polenta I'll stick to one cube (about the size of a die) but that's dangerous thinking so I probably will just abstain. If I can go to a Mexican restaurant - twice - without eating any chips, I can go to an Italian restaurant without eating any fried polenta.

- Fish, sauteed with bread crumbs, unless I can find anything better. I'm kind of motivated to, since this is one of the more expensive things. Maybe chicken. I don't know.
 
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Good luck at the meal you seem to have everything planned really well :) Just remember enjoy yourself :)
 
Final totals for today:

Calories: 1314
Fat: 40g, 29%
Carbs: 135g, 34%
Protein: 118g, 37%

Not quite what I expected... To be fair, this isn't a typical day.
 
Honestly, that looks really good. Decent macronutrient ratios, calories are within the range you've said you're aiming for. If every day were like this, you'd get to goal probably in about 15 months, even with no exercise.

Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Better to have 400 good days in a row and be at goal than to give up because you couldn't get to perfect. Nobody else is perfect - don't beat up on yourself if you aren't, either.
 
15 months to lose 30 pounds? That seems a bit...slow, no? Really depressingly slow? That's about half a pound a week. That's over a year. That means I won't be thin in college, won't be thin next year when I finish. I torture myself every day for this?!

And I know I won't be able to stay on it tomorrow, which means it'll be even slower. To be honest, that depresses the hell out of me. It makes me want to just give up. I just want my clothes to fit and to not feel fat all the time. I want to be able to look at myself without wanting to stay inside all the time where nobody can see me.

I'm not trying to be dismissive. It's just hard not to focus on the perfect when faced with the prospect that even if every day was perfect, I still won't be thin in a year. A year is forever.
 
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I was calculating on 40 pounds. So a year for 30 pounds. And that's with no exercise. If you stay in your calorie range and exercise, it'll go faster.

Ya know, a year is going to pass regardless. Would you rather be your current weight at the end of the year, or would you rather be 20-30-40 pounds lighter?

So what can you do to help yourself stay on track tomorrow?
 
Oh, OK. That's more encouraging. I am exercising - I'm trying to get 5 days a week now.

There isn't a whole lot I can do tomorrow, unfortunately. It's my mother's birthday. I have no right to criticize her choice of restaurant. (And it's a REALLY GOOD restaurant.) I guess I can skip the bread altogether and just order a salad, but it's going to be really hard after my salad is finished and everyone else gets their meals.

Wait a minute, I just found the menu online. Apparently the fish is only for dinner. So in that case, here's what I'm choosing between:

1. "Grilled chicken breasts with mixed greens on top" - The problem here is that it's undoubtedly sauteed in something, and the fact that it's breasts as in more than one. I guess I can not eat all of it, but then I have leftovers that can screw up other days. It would also come with a salad.

2. Garden salad - Romaine, escarole, arugula, radicchio, endive, cannelloni, beans, roasted peppers and marinated mushrooms. This might be my best bet if I can get it without the peppers.
 
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Ah, sorry - I'd lost track of dates, this is for the birthday party Italian restaurant dinner.

If it were me, I'd eat a normal-sized breakfast and lunch. If you have ~800 calories early in the day, you've still got room for ~500 calories of dinner, which is a reasonable-sized dinner. Plus you won't be starving, so won't be as tempted to go overboard. Order something that you'll enjoy, even if it isn't the absolutely-lowest-calorie choice available. Eat small bites, chew slowly, savor what you're eating. If you're going to use a big chunk of calories on something special, get every bit of enjoyment you can out of those calories, rather than feeling guilty, because guilt is going to make that food taste like cardboard, and cardboard is not worth the calories. Take a sip of water between bites. Pay attention to your body, and stop eating when you're satisfied (which will happen before you're completely full). Take the rest home if you don't want to waste it, or leave it there, or let someone else finish it. If everyone else is getting dessert, and you want dessert, order something you'll enjoy, and do the same thing - small bites, savor your food, stop when you're satisfied but not completely full.

If they have steak, and you like steak, a grilled steak that you trim the visible fat from is usually a relatively low-calorie choice. (Says I, who loves steak.)

I personally will have a bite or two of something unhealthy that I really like, because I don't like having a "I can't eat that" mentality, and because I know I can stop at a bite or two. (There are some days, with some things, that I know I'm going to mindlessly snarf, so I don't have even a bite or two.) I do salad with dressing on the side, and do the "dip your fork, then stab the salad" thing, to save on dressing calories so I can use those calories for something I like better. (Vinagrette is usually 2 parts oil to one part vinegar, so a tablespoon has 2 teaspoons of fat.) I'm not a huge fan of bread, so I'd swap my bread calories for polenta calories if it were me.

Worst case scenario, you have, what, 1,000 calories for dinner. Puts you at maintenance calories for the day, which makes it a good day.
 
1. "Grilled chicken breasts with mixed greens on top" - The problem here is that it's undoubtedly sauteed in something, and the fact that it's breasts as in more than one. I guess I can not eat all of it, but then I have leftovers that can screw up other days. It would also come with a salad.

Nah, that's not a problem at all. Grilled = grilled, not sauteed in anything. Here, go to , and click on Entrees and on the Ensenada Grilled Chicken Platter. Click the little red dot to the left of the Creamy Lime Sauce to take that off. What you're left with is essentially two marinated and grilled chicken breasts and a pile of greens, same as what's on the menu you have. Take off the tortilla strips, too, if you like, or leave them there as fudge factor. Then click "Nutrition."

415 calories, 62g protein, 12g fat. You've got plenty of room for that. Add on 100 calories for salad dressing, and you've still got room for a normal breakfast and lunch. Eat the whole thing and enjoy it. Or take one of the breasts home and have it as part of lunch the next day, which gives you calories for a few bites of dessert or a snack.

2. Garden salad - Romaine, escarole, arugula, radicchio, endive, cannelloni, beans, roasted peppers and marinated mushrooms. This might be my best bet if I can get it without the peppers.

Cannelloni (pasta tubes) and beans, or cannellini beans (big white beans)?

I vote for the chicken. You've got plenty of calories for it, the protein will keep you feeling full, and you'll be able to eat something that feels like a real meal, rather than feeling like you need to deprive yourself.
 
I was thinking the chicken too, but it's definitely sauteed in something, or served with a sauce. I've had similar things there before and they always come that way. Not that I blame them - whatever they use is really good - but it makes it difficult. I guess I can ask for the sauce on the side. They're usually good about those kinds of things. It's supposed to be a cheat day/meal in any case.

Ugh. Trying to figure calories for this is just giving me a headache. My best option is just to stay away from the bread and (sigh again) the polenta, eat the salad, and not eat all of the chicken.

On the bright side, I weighed myself after dinner today (yes, I know you're not supposed to do that) and I was 141, which means I'm probably a bit less. I still look fatter, but right now that's to be expected.
 
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Kathar i have been calculating the time it would take me to lose my weight and it came in at 3 yrs! :( but dont let the idea of a year to lose get you down as you are losing weight and every mth you will be thinner than when you started and you will feel loads better with yourself :D
 
OK, back.

I had one small slice of bread and I didn't eat any polenta. Didn't miss it either.

I had a small portion of salad to start out with - just lettuce with vinaigrette. The chicken was two grilled chicken breasts, pounded flat, with the same salad on top, with vinaigrette. Quite a bit of salad. No sauce, though. So I don't know. I did end up eating the entire thing. (It was also really good and the best thing I've had there, incidentally.)

I'll probably just have vegetables for dinner, maybe a small dessert item (a <100 calorie cup of something or another), but as far as cheat days go, this wasn't too bad.
 
Not related to food, but I do have a job in the afternoons starting on Tuesday. That's good news. The bad news is I had to go buy pants and now wear a size 10. I used to wear an 8. A long time ago, I used to wear a 6. This is depressing.
 
Hi Kathar!

I just joined yesterday and read bits of your diary. I feel bad that you are so hard on yourself!! Please don't be :) Like everyone has said before, weight loss takes time. It took me four years of college to get to where I am now! (22yo and 220lbs! I used to be 160 at the end of high school) I admire your dedication and you haven't given up yet!! And you were brave enough to even go lift weights at the gym! I had a gym pass once and I NEVER went to go lift weights because it was teeming with good looking muscular guys - EEK! hahaha

HANG IN THERE!! Feel free to PM me or anything, its nice to see how other people our age manage to lose the weight.

PS. I'd LOVE to be a size 10, though I'm sure that's annoying to hear, but at least you are where someone wants to be :D
 
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