Justina: Back to square one - very excited & determined to do this right

Justina

New member
Hi you all!
I was here in 2011 - and lost 30 lbs in 3 months! & I had a great time in this community. The support here is amazing!! It makes a difference, at least to me.
I also like the fact that I can keep track of my achievements: see where I go wrong & what i do right.
I just read my diary from 2 years ago & I totally inspired myself :hurray:

My basics:
31 years old
5'8 tall
274 lbs

I don't look THAT fat - i don't know how it works out...5'8 is not THAT tall - I seem to expand in every direction - lol. But yeah, I m considered obese. & I have zero health problems ( i do eat super healthy most of the time) where i go totally wrong is excercize, or rather the lack of it, I literally sit all day, every day.
{EDIT - I am looking at my pictures from January - I DO look fat!!! I still do & I lost over 25 lbs (May 9 2013)}
If you were around 2 years ago & read my diary - you'd know that i was a sportoholic!! i was excercizing like crazy and I loved it!!! I enjoyed going to the gym and spending min. of 90 mins to 3 hours there at a time doing different classes/activities. I had a fab time.
so what changed?
well i got married. i moved to the US (from Spain) & I started a totally new life style...in Europe i walked everywhere. Here we live in the middle of nowhere, and the only places around here are fast food restaurants. My husband and i share a car. I couldnt get a job...so i sit around the whole day...there is no public transport...anyway..yes, i agree with you: excuses...I found (find) it hard to adjust to a new life style & I really miss the old one.
So going from 3 hr of excercize a day to zero made me pile up the weight, about 60 lbs....in about 1,5 yr.
I am really upset about it as i love pretty clothes, be active, socialize etc...but with my current weight they are all too hard.
I also do realize that carrying around this much excess weight is not good for me in the long run.

So what am i gonna do about it?
I bought some excercize dvds - not as motivating as a class..but it has to do for now.
I gonna try to get to the gym 3 times a week - see whether i can take my husband to work and use the car (he has random hours)
I already eat fairly healthy & nutritious food - almost zero processed/diet food - loads of fresh fruit & vegetable. So i will carry on with that with a few added rules:
- no refined carbs after 2pm
- no eating after 7pm
This worked for me in the past - so that's the way I am going to do this.
I also might do a detox thing - juicing, etc. to kick start my weight loss. Again I do realize some of you have issues about it/don't think it works etc - I achieved amazing results doing this in the past, it totally helped me.

Goals:
My immediate goal is to lose about 40 lbs by May. It might be pushing it a bit, I have to see how things go. It's roughly 10 lbs a month.
We are invited to a wedding, so I really wanna look good.


I will try my best to stay up beat about my new healthier life style - it will make things a lot easier.
Well thank you for reading my first post in this diary. I hope to see you around!

:hug2:
 
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Hey, good luck Justina!

I feel your pain on adjusting to being in a rural environment. It so much easier to be active with all the options of a city. You have a solid plan though. Thanks for stopping by my log. I need all the encouragement I can get.
 
Hi, Justina! Thought I would stop by your diary and check it out. Looks like you have a good plan. Good luck to you! I look forward to ready your updates!! :)
 
Being in the middle of nowhere should open up a whole different set of exercise opportunities :)
 
I completely relate living in the middle of nowhere!!! I'm currently stuck in a small mining town, the nearest town is 2.5 hours away. It sucks!!!! I don't work either due to knee and hip problems so I'm also fairly sedentary (though I'm very slowly getting more physically able, it's just taking a long time!) It's really just about getting a routine going... If I skip my routine a day, then it's so easy to not even bother showering until 4pm haha!

Sounds like you have a good plan to start off with! If you're juicing I'd stick to vege based juices, too much fructose can affect your weight loss in a big way.
 
Welcome back to the forum, Justina.
I'm looking forward to reading about your progress.
 
Hey Justina,
Just like you I went back to (almost) square one, and back on here a couple of weeks ago for moral support and motivation.
I'm a bit of a sportaholic too ...I used to jog, and go to the gym 5 times a week but now I'm hooked on workout DVDs... So much cheaper and I like the way you can customise workouts more easily to fit your particular needs.

So good luck with those -- and driving to gym classes 3 x a week will make make a huge difference.

Actually, living in the middle of nowhere would give me an incentive to go out jogging again - right now I'm feeling way too selfconscious to do that, but I live in a big city and so I cringe at the thought of subjecting loads of people to the charming vision of my chubby self panting down my street. Shame because I love jogging and the feeling of freedom and the 'high' it gives me. But how about giving that some thought, as another option?

By the way, you have great goals, esp. no eating ref. carbs after 2 and no food after 7 so I think that you will have some very positive results soon. Best of luck!! :)
 
Hi Justina, Good luck with your journey! As others said, use the rural card to your advantage :) Sure you must have some pretty countryside to hike/jog around!

Steve
 
Good luck Justina.

I feel your pain on the middle of nowhere stuff, never really been my cup of tea , so I've stuck mostly to the big cities (grew up in Chicago).

But there's still a lot you can do. Cooking at home helps a lot, not just with what you eat but especially how much of it. Being a great cook is hard, but being a passable one is pretty darn easy after a month or so. And every little bit of exercise you give yourself that you weren't getting before will be a great help.

Anyway good luck and the biggest thing is, no matter what, don't quit. Keep at it.
 
Oh wow you guys ROCK!!! ALL OF YOU. Thanks for your support!!! :grouphug:

MrVee: I am a different kind of cook..If I must I am happy to make some traditional dishes (thanksgiving etc), but i am a bit of health nut when it comes to cooking. My cooking style is totally alternative. I agree it's absolutely an advantage that I have the possibility to cook at home & I dont have to eat out!! :) I love eating fresh!

Steve: thanks for stopping by! Yes we have countryside around us - but i need the car to get to it. lol. We live in an apartment complex - we have highways left and right - and not much else. I look forward to spring when i can plan some weekend hiking tours!!

Sophia - thanks for the inspiration!!! We gonna get to our goals - even if we had to start from square 1 again!! I understand how you are self conscious about jogging. uff!! can't you go to a park near you?

Luzdafuzz: Daily routine sounds like a good plan...i m thinking about doing an online course (coursera) - it's free, but i still kind of feel useless. I NEED to incorporate physical excercize into my routine, so badly!!! Vegetable based juiced sound good too!! i actually really love the taste of fresh veggie juice - only wish that I didnt have to do the dishes after the juicing. lol!

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I had a great first day.
For a start a weighed myself as i was not sure about my weight, it's pretty much what i thought it was : 272 lbs.
I won't be weighing myself every day - I probably make Sunday a weigh-in day.
Today my menu looks like this:

Breakfast: Latte ( I am working on replacing this with something else), 2 pieces of wholewheat toast with jam

Snack: Banana

Lunch: Rice salad (cilantro, spring onion, tomato, pepper, olives, tuna, green peas & rice with a homemade lemon/e.v.olive oil dressing)

Snack: Mandarin - few walnuts

Dinner: Sweet potato salad (spinach, onion, feta cheese with a home made balsamic dressing)

Drink: oops....I really should catch up on my water!! & some tea later (unsweetened)

Excercize: 1 hour in the gym - I MADE IT!!!! I so wanted to give up half way - I got so bored...but ended up doing 30 mins Eliptica, 30 mins bike

As you might notice I don't count calories. Everyone has a good way/method that works for losing weight. I try to have a balanced diet, making sure i have all vitamins, minerals etc I need.
The late afternoon is upon me... I must make a cup of tea so I stop myself from getting hungry until dinner time.

Take care of you all!! Hope you had a good day!! :seeya:
 
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Hey Justina ! ... moving from Spain to USA, getting married , moving to isolated rural - huge changes for U- but so glad to see U have come back to this site & the great support here. ...

Sounds like U are finding your inspiration ( & some perspiration).... good plan for success !

Having the motivation of the wedding in May will be a good thought/goal to keep your focus and make those daily healthy choices... keep your eye on the prize ! .... 10lbs/loss/month will be a steady pace- but if U work hard - U can do it.
View attachment 19640

A nice warm cup of tea is a great low-cal hungry-tummy filler ... I even have a bit of milk in my tea - bit more filling than just the black tea.-

Good work on 1 hour at the Gym today .... don't overdo it & get too sore - but what a great start !

wishing you lots of success - so U will rock that Wedding in May gal .

cheers
maryann C.
 
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Could you post some recipes of stuff you make, Justina?
I love cooking, and I'm always interested in other styles of cooking than my own. Plus, I'm becoming more and more of a health nut myself.
 
THANKS GUYS for stopping by!

I am soooo excited about this WL competition. i think it will be great motivation for me. :)
& in May i have my first mini goal too...the wedding I have to attend...I want to look pretty!!!

Yesterday was the first full day of my new healthy life style & I was a bit struggling in the evening. I WANTED TO SNACK ON SOMETHING sooo bad!!
Even half an hour after dinner. I think it's a habit, because I should not have been hungry. & it's one of my rules that I dont eat after 7pm.
I am sure in a few days I will be ok about it.

TODAY is a brand new - very rainy - day. & i have quite a few errands to run. I do have the car - but i won't be able to make it to the gym. Instead i ll dig out my old belly dancing dvd!! haha! I used to go to lessons back in Europe. It was super hard - but oh so effective. It looks so easy, but it is really demanding - especially if one neglects excercize for a long time like i did....so that should be fun!! I ll let you know how I get on.

Food...
Breakfast: toast + jam + latte
Snack: blueberries
Lunch: greek pasta salad (spinach, onion, tomato, olives, pasta, e.v. olive oil, feta cheese)
Snack: defrosted fruit mix: strawberries & mango
Dinner: Pinto bean salad (pinto beans, spinach, cucumber, olives, spring onions, pepper + home made dressing)

Excercize: bellydancing!! ;)
 
Model height! Work it girl :) I also do not appear as fat as I am...I'm short but my frame is really tiny, they always guess me 50-100lbs lighter at the doctor's office...maybe they don't see too many obese people :p
Your workout sounds tremendous! GREAT JOB:party:


Edit:
We were posting at the same time and OMG I just saw your last post....I LOVE bellydancing :D:D:D We have too much in common, girl! Keep it up, you are sure to meet your goals.
 
Here's one of my favorite songs to bellydance to
[video=youtube;laQ4U-1EGuc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laQ4U-1EGuc[/video]
let me know what you think.
 
Hey Xenon!! model height but not model weight, lol! Dont think i ever want model weight. I would be more than happy with healthy weight for my height!

Love the Turkish bellydance song!! Thanks!
I might do a kick ass make up too to go with the dancing :p
 
Hey Justina! Wow, lots has happened in the last year or two! Huge changes! I'm glad you've decided to knuckle down and give weight loss another shot - yob did so well before...you know you CAN do it...just got to be motivated enough (I am writing this sitting in bed hungry determined not to go downstairs and get something to eat!!!)

I think it sounds like you got to put some thought into what kind of exercise and where and when will suit you. I mean, to be honest, you could do it at home -squats, press ups, can of beans as weights etc... Or great DVDs nowadays... I suppose I'm trying to say, if you put your mind to it, you'll find a way. My downfall has been finding reasons for myself not to do things - like its a bit too dark to go out for that run!!

Anyhows good luck, keep at it and the results will come and remember just how supportive the guys here are!
 
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