Kate's weight loss diary!

katers

katers

New member
Hey everybody,

I'm starting a weight loss diary to help me on my journey! I guess I'll give you the story :p...

So hi my name is Kate, i'm 20 years old and have been overweight for pretty much my entire life. My highest weight ever was 207lbs when I was 18, and I thought that there was just no turning back from that point...that I was meant to just be "the fat friend" forever who accompanied my beautiful slim friends as they found boyfriends.

I did eventually find a guy who was the love of my life. Unfortunately, after 2 years of being together, he told me he no longer found me attractive because of my weight. This completely broke my heart...to know that the one person you trust, who was on your side and who was supposed to love you unconditionally and tell you that you're beautiful, no longer found me to be that pretty girl he thought I was.

As much as he broke my heart, he also made me realize that I don't need that kind of person in my life...and that there is no point of even finding somebody until I am personally truly happy with the way I look.

Since then, I moved from a dorm to an apartment in a new city and started walking downtown a lot more. I managed to lose about 21lbs naturally and since I have been blessed with that massive head start I think it's time for me to start taking it seriously and to truly become happy with who I am!

I have been working out at the gym for the past 3 weeks and I feel great - It's something that I am finally doing for MYSELF. I have reached a mini plateau now and need to keep it up so i'm hoping the diary gives me the motivation i'm looking for!

So words of motivation are very very welcome and I look forward to meeting some of you :)

Kate
 
Congrats Kate on the losing weight that you have done. I am sorry to hear about that guy breaking your heart due to your weight. That is so horrible. I am sure you are a wonderful person.

Keeping a diary is the best way to lose weight. You really want to write down every thing you eat and drink each day and what you do in the gym. If you have plateaued already after 3 weeks you need to change it up at the gym. I am not sure what you are currently doing, but if you are just walking on treadmill you need to do sprints, if you are running then you need to run faster even if only for 1 min or 2 at a time. If you are doing weights then you need to either do more reps, or you need to do use a bit heavier weight. The point is to change it up some.
Hope this helps.
 
That's great advice, thank you! I have just started to be able to run the past week or so...I couldn't even run for 30 seconds before without starting to feel itchy, now I can run for almost 5 mins straight (that sounds lame but, it's big for me haha!)

I will definitely switch it up, I'm thinking I need to write down every calorie I eat - it seems to have helped me in the past and I need to get back on that! The food diary should help.

Tomorrow is a busy day for me, i'm worried about fitting in the gym so that will be my no. 1 goal as well as eating healthy at work (I work at a beach club in a snack bar surrounded by tuna melts, grilled cheeses and cheeseburgers to name a few!)

Does anybody know of a good gym workout say for a week that switches it up?
 
Hey good luck with everything and to hell with that guy that broke your heart. I am currently engaged, but have my heart broken, too, and it sucks but after some looking back, I realized they weren't right to begin with. But good for you, getting healthy and thinking about exercise while you are young. Personally, despite my fitness ups and downs, it has helped that I had a basic habit of working out and if you start now, it will be a great foundation as you get older.
 
So here is day one of my diary! Knowing that I had to come back and write here this evening definitely helped me out in the way that I ate today. I feel good about it!

For breakfast I had 2 eggs and a piece of toast...the breakfast came out to be about 210 cal in total.

For lunch, as I was at work, I had an 8oz cup of minestrone soup. I have no idea what the cal count is for that but it was filling and tasty...and definitely a better choice than a burger or a tuna melt! I was also drinking loads of water today as I worked...kept me hydrated and not thinking about eating anything haha.

As soon as I got home from work, my mum told me that we were invited to a cook out. But I hadn't gone to the gym yet! I got changed as quick as possible and got to the gym for a workout before heading onto the bbq. I ran about 3.07 km today on the treadmill, did some rowing and then some weights for my upperbody just to build a lil muscle that should hopefully burn some fat!

At dinner instead of eating a burger or pasta or hot dog, I had a piece of chicken with salad. It was actually delicious and really filling, plus I think I deserved all that chicken - plus the dessert of raspberries with a small slice of angel cake.

Overall I think I was successful with my eating. I'm proud of myself for running that far, it's not easy for a big breasted woman to run haha...but i'm getting there!

I think soon I will find a before photo to post up here, when I was at my heaviest. I might have to dig as I tend to hide those photos :p
 
Welcome Kate :D

Sorry to hear about your heart brake :( But you know, good for you for not letting that circumstance make you neglectful of your health. Instead, it sounds like it ignited something in you that made you realize that there are better things in life and set you on a path to obtain them. That certainly shows the kind of inner strength you have, so reaching your goals should be no problem :D

Although, the replies made in this thread have already provided good information on how to break through the plateau you're experiencing - you just have to mix it up a bit :)

Also, just curious, but when you use the treadmill, what speeds do you use when you walk/run? And what's your incline? Running for 5min is no easy task. It took me a long time before I could run for that long at my fastest speed! So well done :]

Btw, make sure you're taking proper rest days! You're body needs time to recover from your workouts and, if you're overdoing it, it can definitely lead to problems :\

Best of luck to you and keep us posted! :D
 
Frogged said:
Welcome Kate :D

Sorry to hear about your heart brake :( But you know, good for you for not letting that circumstance make you neglectful of your health. Instead, it sounds like it ignited something in you that made you realize that there are better things in life and set you on a path to obtain them. That certainly shows the kind of inner strength you have, so reaching your goals should be no problem :D

Although, the replies made in this thread have already provided good information on how to break through the plateau you're experiencing - you just have to mix it up a bit :)

Also, just curious, but when you use the treadmill, what speeds do you use when you walk/run? And what's your incline? Running for 5min is no easy task. It took me a long time before I could run for that long at my fastest speed! So well done :]

Btw, make sure you're taking proper rest days! You're body needs time to recover from your workouts and, if you're overdoing it, it can definitely lead to problems :\

Best of luck to you and keep us posted! :D
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Hey! Thank you for writing on my diary - you're a massive inspiration to me. I just spent the last 30 mins or so looking at your diary and you are SO close to your goal of being under 200. That is just truly amazing and good for you :D

Yeah I am definitely taking control of my life this summer. I'm away from the city I was dumped in for a few months until September, and I figure if I go back feeling healthy and happy then nothing can stop me in the future :)

As for the treadmill, I run at a 6-6.2 pace...i'm not sure if that is 6.2mph but that's the speed I set it at (still trying to figure out the damn machines at the gym ha!)

I don't run at any incline because at the moment i'm interested in running distance more than on inclines but when I am walking I usually power walk at an incline that goes from 1-4-6 and down at a speed of 3.8. - What do you think, does this sound like a good workout?

I find it hard to take rest days - I hate not doing anything; I feel so useless haha! But I do take rest days when I'm supposed to and if I feel like doing something on those days I usually take the dog for an extra long walk :) still getting used to it but i'm starting to have faith in myself for the first time in a long time and i'm gonna go with that feeling :)
 
katers said:
Hey! Thank you for writing on my diary - you're a massive inspiration to me. I just spent the last 30 mins or so looking at your diary and you are SO close to your goal of being under 200. That is just truly amazing and good for you :D

Yeah I am definitely taking control of my life this summer. I'm away from the city I was dumped in for a few months until September, and I figure if I go back feeling healthy and happy then nothing can stop me in the future :)

As for the treadmill, I run at a 6-6.2 pace...i'm not sure if that is 6.2mph but that's the speed I set it at (still trying to figure out the damn machines at the gym ha!)

I don't run at any incline because at the moment i'm interested in running distance more than on inclines but when I am walking I usually power walk at an incline that goes from 1-4-6 and down at a speed of 3.8. - What do you think, does this sound like a good workout?

I find it hard to take rest days - I hate not doing anything; I feel so useless haha! But I do take rest days when I'm supposed to and if I feel like doing something on those days I usually take the dog for an extra long walk :) still getting used to it but i'm starting to have faith in myself for the first time in a long time and i'm gonna go with that feeling :)
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Thanks again for your kind words regarding my little post :] I don't really update a diary, but I have a small blog where I keep my weekly totals current.

Your post made me blush a bit to be honest :eek: Growing up overweight, well, it goes without saying I was never called anything quite so nice :\ In fact, most people never had to say anything at all - their facial expressions when they looked at me told me everything I needed to know :\

Anyway, I've read somewhere that a good way to know if you're getting good cardio is, while you're in the middle of it, pretend to hold a conversation with someone (either real or imaginary). Although if you're in a gym surrounded by people, they might think you're a bit of a loon if you start talking to yourself about something random ;P

But, if you don't mind looking a little crazy and you're able to talk comfortably without much trouble, then you may not be pushing yourself quite hard as you should be.

Try to maintain a point where it's difficult, but not impossible, to form complete sentences without taking several breaths. Though if you find that you can barely breath, then you might be pushing yourself a little too hard ;)

Also, have you checked all the usual things like your BMI (Body Mass Index), BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate), and RHR (Resting Heart Rate)? Those are all good to know :]

6mph+ for 5min is great! I usually keep my incline at a 4, but do whatever feels best for you :)

Rest days can be hard to deal with sometimes. If you have to, yeah, just do something minimal :) A nice, carefree walk is never a bad thing :D

And you should have faith in yourself! Everybody should! I'm glad for you, Kate :D

I know we'll see great things from you!
 
Hey everyone :)

So today I had a pretty good day eating wise, mood wise not so much but I think i'm just exhausted and waking up at 6am for work in a thunderstorm to find out that you don't need to go into work today because it was closed due to inclement weather didn't really help :p

Aaaaanyway!

For breakfast I ate one packet of Kashi oatmeal - I'm not too sure what the calorie count is for that, but it was quite filling. I got ready to go to work and then got a call from my boss that the bar was closed on the beach today. This made me remember that the gym closed today at 1pm instead of 12pm due to the holiday...so it actually all worked out pretty well.

I drove to the gym and ate half of a protein bar on the way. That was 100 calories for half of it, and it helped me with my blood sugar too (I have low blood sugar and it gives me massive migraines!)

The gym was PACKED! God damn, i've never seen so many people in there before, and I practically live at the gym these days. I'm guessing that all the people who usually run outside couldn't because of the storm, and also slept in a little because of memorial holiday. That's ok though, I managed to grab one of the only 2 treadmills left and ran 3.86 km in 30 mins. I worked really hard at that, especially since I was in a bad mood haha, so i'm slightly impressed with myself :p

I wanted to stay and do a little bit more cardio, but honestly, the amount of people in the gym was making me nauseous so I just came home and ate a lunch of salad, with a dessert of 10cal jello cup.

I played with the dog a bit, took him for walks to get some more exercise in and ate the other half of my protein bar.

Later on my grandparents came over for a visit, so I ate a special K bar at 90 cal instead of joining them with their huge Big Y blueberry muffins...and then this evening I was invited to a bbq.

I'm starting to realize that summer brings BBQ and good food, so it's all about making the right choices. I had 4 shrimp and one tiny slice of steak, then the rest was a green salad with tomatoes and no dressing.

Of course I cheated at dessert with a 170cal almond icecream bar, but I was honestly so hot and needed it haha. It wasn't too bad since I did pretty well with the rest of my eating today...and I hardly ever cheat like that.

I lost 1.5lbs since last week now, and all night people were complimenting me on my figure. I think it's because I went shopping and bought size 12 jeans and medium shirts instead of 14 and large that have been making me look a bit bigger than I actually am. It was nice to be complimented by them, especially my older cousin who is absolutely stunning and I have envied and looked up to her my entire life!

Alright so that's about it for today, hope everybody elses days have gone well too :)
 
Frogged said:
Thanks again for your kind words regarding my little post :] I don't really update a diary, but I have a small blog where I keep my weekly totals current.

Your post made me blush a bit to be honest :eek: Growing up overweight, well, it goes without saying I was never called anything quite so nice :\ In fact, most people never had to say anything at all - their facial expressions when they looked at me told me everything I needed to know :\

Anyway, I've read somewhere that a good way to know if you're getting good cardio is, while you're in the middle of it, pretend to hold a conversation with someone (either real or imaginary). Although if you're in a gym surrounded by people, they might think you're a bit of a loon if you start talking to yourself about something random ;P

But, if you don't mind looking a little crazy and you're able to talk comfortably without much trouble, then you may not be pushing yourself quite hard as you should be.

Try to maintain a point where it's difficult, but not impossible, to form complete sentences without taking several breaths. Though if you find that you can barely breath, then you might be pushing yourself a little too hard ;)

Also, have you checked all the usual things like your BMI (Body Mass Index), BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate), and RHR (Resting Heart Rate)? Those are all good to know :]

6mph+ for 5min is great! I usually keep my incline at a 4, but do whatever feels best for you :)

Rest days can be hard to deal with sometimes. If you have to, yeah, just do something minimal :) A nice, carefree walk is never a bad thing :D

And you should have faith in yourself! Everybody should! I'm glad for you, Kate :D

I know we'll see great things from you!
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I have to say, I think you were very handsome before you started your weight loss but your facial expressions seemed unhappy with the way you looked (I understand this feeling well). I'm sorry to hear about the people who looked down on you in any way...you know what, I think it's time to start realizing how gorgeous you are! Get ready to hear it all the time :)


Haha I heard about the having a conversation while working out thing...I do try to talk with whoever is with me at the gym, and when I am by myself I try to sing a song in my head...it may seem easy but it's just as hard to do it in your head than outloud hehe.

It seems that right now my BMI is 29.5 which categorizes me in the overweight section...which is better than the obese category like I used to be in! The BMR and the RHR (so many 3 letter words hah) I have no idea about honestly...i'll have to check those out!

Thank you so much again for writing to me, your words are kind, inspiring and motivational and it means a lot!
 
Day 3

So Day 3:

Let's just do the run down of food cause i'm a lil concern at how little I ate today and how unhungry I feel...

Breakfast: Kashi Oatmeal - 150 cals (made with water)

Snack: 10 cal jello cup

Lunch: Sandwich made up of 100 calorie whole weat thins, 1 slice of 25 cal turkey bologna, 1 slice american cheese (no idea what the cals is but if I look it up I would say around 100 calories) and arugula, with a bit of mustard, making the total most likely around 250-275 ish.

No snack inbetween cause I wasn't hungry!

Dinner: My bro made some buffalo chicken out of 3 boneless skinless tenderloins and put it on top of a green salad...like I said I'm not too sure about the cal count but maybe around 400 with the dressing, the marinade and the chicken?

Then I ate a medium sized banana because...I felt I just didn't eat enough today and i'm worried about it!

So the total is about 900-1000 calories for the entire day...PLUS I worked out in the gym, I ran 3.3km and I rowed for 2km, did some weights etc. which means I burnt some cals.

I'm not starving myself, I eat healthily when I'm hungry, I even snack when i'm not so i'm not depriving my body of anything...maybe it's just one of those days.

Is that normal? haha I am such a health newbie, I need help!

Other than that, the gym was ok...full of teenage girls getting ready for prom and complaining about how fat they are and how much they have to lose before next week when they all collectively probably weigh 92lbs :p

Ah well, tomorrow is my running rest day - i'll probs get to the gym to finish weights as I didn't do many today due to all the girls guarding them with their life, and maybe so a lil bit more rowing as i'm growing to love it as a workout!

Hope you all had a happy and healthy day too :)

Kate
 
Hey Kate!

I know what you mean about not feeling hungry. Sometimes I have to force myself to eat a snack even though I'm not hungry, simply because I know I need to keep my blood sugar as stable as I can. If you make sure you eat something every 2.5-3 hours, I think you should be fine.

May I ask how much weight you've lost so far? :)
 
wiresandwood said:
Hey Kate!

I know what you mean about not feeling hungry. Sometimes I have to force myself to eat a snack even though I'm not hungry, simply because I know I need to keep my blood sugar as stable as I can. If you make sure you eat something every 2.5-3 hours, I think you should be fine.

May I ask how much weight you've lost so far? :)
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Hey! Thanks for the advice, you're right I do need to keep mine stable too. If I don't eat I get really crabby haha...people around me need to watch out ;)

And yep! My heaviest was 207lbs when I was 18...I stayed around 195 - 201 for the next year or so. Then last fall I moved to Montreal and I guess living in a city again (FINALLY!) as opposed to a small college campus in upstate new york, made me walk a lot more and living by myself with no meal plan, i naturally over the course of 6 months or so I lost 20lbs without trying TOO hard.

I also believe that I lost a lot of weight due to having my implanon removed last summer (the contraceptive implant). I think that when I had it put in, in the summer of 2009, I gained about 10 - 15lbs.

Now I weigh 177lbs which makes the grand total from 200lbs, 23lbs.

Phew...sorry, I know you just wanted to know how much I lost...I don't know why I ramble so much!!
 
Wow, that's fantastic! Congrats!! You're almost halfway to your goal! That is something to be really proud of.

It's awesome that you enjoy working out so much - for me everything's so difficult at this point that I dread it. But after working out you definitely feel awesome!

I will die if I ever get to the 100's (that's definitely in the very, VERY distant future, lol).
 
wiresandwood said:
Wow, that's fantastic! Congrats!! You're almost halfway to your goal! That is something to be really proud of.

It's awesome that you enjoy working out so much - for me everything's so difficult at this point that I dread it. But after working out you definitely feel awesome!

I will die if I ever get to the 100's (that's definitely in the very, VERY distant future, lol).
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Aw thank you so much! Yes, when i'm down to 169lbs i'm taking myself for a massage...I've never had one before because I felt very insecure about laying there and having people play around with my fat haha...but I think with all this working out, i'm a lil bit slimmer, i'm tighter and also, SORE. You need to treat yourself once in a while, right!

You can do it, I have complete faith in you. You're gonna look fabulous when you're even close to the 100's. You're lucky that the curves suit ya, I wish I looked like that honestly!

As for working out...i HATED it...i especially hated running. I always said that running was my last last resort...as in, ONLY if a mad man was chasing me. But walking just a little everyday for a couple of weeks on the treadmill gave me the courage to start a small jog and it's helping me drop the pounds!

So even if you feel useless, start small. I always say, it's better than doing nothing and once you get going, and see the weight coming off, you just wanna do more! AND it gets easier :D

good luck girl, I know you can do it!
 
katers said:
Aw thank you so much! Yes, when i'm down to 169lbs i'm taking myself for a massage...I've never had one before because I felt very insecure about laying there and having people play around with my fat haha...but I think with all this working out, i'm a lil bit slimmer, i'm tighter and also, SORE. You need to treat yourself once in a while, right!

You can do it, I have complete faith in you. You're gonna look fabulous when you're even close to the 100's. You're lucky that the curves suit ya, I wish I looked like that honestly!

As for working out...i HATED it...i especially hated running. I always said that running was my last last resort...as in, ONLY if a mad man was chasing me. But walking just a little everyday for a couple of weeks on the treadmill gave me the courage to start a small jog and it's helping me drop the pounds!

So even if you feel useless, start small. I always say, it's better than doing nothing and once you get going, and see the weight coming off, you just wanna do more! AND it gets easier :D

good luck girl, I know you can do it!
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Thanks so much for the encouragement!

A massage is a great idea! I had a full body massage for the first time about a year ago and I was REALLY self-conscious. The lady even went, "Wow, you hardly have any stretch marks!" What a backhanded compliment, haha. It would have been a much better experience if I had gone in confidently, but I find I have zero confidence because of my weight.

I hate running right now, but in the future I'm hoping to become better at it. Maybe one day we could end up running marathons, who knows? I've heard running is quite addictive. The longest I can run at a time right now is probably 3 minutes or so at a measly 4.0 mph. It's hard lugging this big body around, lol! :D

Can't wait to hear more about your journey!
 
Wow! I feel like we are so similar! I have been teetering around the 197-202 numbers for the last year and am finally sick of it enough to actually commit to a healthy lifestyle. I haven't weighed myself since about 2 weeks ago but I've completely commited to the South Beach (phase1) diet and haven't cheated once. I've also worked out 10 of the last 11 days and can tell I'm improving, so I am hoping for a good number when I get on the scale this weekend! You are such an inspiration. My goal weight is around 140 so I can totally relate to your struggle. Thanks for keepin me motivated! =)
 
Alright so day 4 food diary:

Breakfast: kashi oatmeal 150cal

snack: banana 120cal

Lunch: sandwich thin 100
turkey bologna 25
arugula 0
organic mustard 0
slice cheese 107
TOTAL: 232 cal

snack: jello cup 10cal
banana 120cal

Dinner: full chicken breast cooked in white wine with artichokes, pepper and sundried tomatoes. cal: ??? (let's say 700 tops cause, that was a BIG chicken breast lol)

todays cal count TOTAL: 1332



I did pretty well eating today...no cheating, and drinking a lot of water - which is good for SO many reasons; it's hot as hell here!

I went to the gym, even though it's my rest day. I know, BAD Kate...but I didn't get to do weights yesterday because the gym was packed. So I did some weights and also rowed 2km.

Took the dog for a walk of course, which I guess plays in with my exercise at some point! Especially since he saw a rabbit and took off which meant I had to go for a lovely run after him...how kind, Duffy.

Alright so nothing too much to report today other than to thank you for all writing to me and supporting me. I can't get over how friendly you all are and what a GREAT help you have been to me! Words can't express how much I appreciate it.

So Sunday is my first weigh in day - i'm going to be weighing in each week on the same day, loss or gain - obviously, we prefer the former ;) and I think I will take some progress pics every other week or something like that.

Ok now i'm going to respond to you all!

Kate

ps: Tomorrow on my running plan I have to run for about 20 mins, (running 3 mins walking 1 min, 5 times.) God I am scared!
 
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I hate running but I haven't done it in a while. I used to have a similar running plan and I never felt comfortable running, so I gave up before I made a dent. And to think one of my lifetime goals is to complete a marathon! Just stick with it and think of it as a challenge, like a video game level you need to beat, instead of a fear. Just like in a video game if you don't do it great the first time there will always be next time to do better. That helps me.

Good luck and well done on eating well! :)
 
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