Lena's journey to Skinnyland :)

transformer1

transformer1

New member
Hi, hi, hi :)

I am so glad I found this forum and a place for me to write about my progress and my weight-loss journey in general.
Before I start sharing my story, I would like to let all of you know that I would really appreciate any kind of feedback that you can give me - be it constructive critique, support, advice. After all, the reason for writing this here instead of choosing a private diary is the possibility to connect with people that are or have been going through the same stuff. :)

So, let's start. I've been overweight almost my entire life. I started gaining weight since I was around 10 years old and after that the weight kept going up. I am currently at my highest weight ever - 128kg. I weighed this much in high school also, and then when I went to college I lost some weight (around 20kg) and I got it all back.

I started going to the gym maybe a week ago, and I have already lost 2kg. What's concerning me is the fact that I can't seem to get my shit together - the right diet, the right workout routine and what's really depressing sometimes is the fact that I have a loooooong journey ahead of me. I know, I know, getting me in this condition took a long while too, but, all the same, it really does feel demotivating sometimes.. Ok, that's it for now.
Looking forward to meeting new people and hearing you opinion. :)
 
Hello, and welcome to the forums.

Would you mind sharing a few more stats so we can get a better idea of where you are right now? Height, age, exercise routine and about how many calories you're consuming right now (if you're keeping track at all).

I did the math and you're only 7lbs (3kg) heavier than where I was back in June. We'd be happy to help you get on the right path if you hang around. We have a good community here of very supportive people.
 
Thanks for such a quick response :)

Height: 1.71 (meters)
Weight: 126kg
Age: 21

My exercise routine is basically this: go to the gym every day and do cardio. I usually spend around 20 minutes on the treadmill and 20 minutes on the elliptical. I usually have intervals of, for example, a minute or two of intense workout followed by two to three minutes of rest. The rest of the time I spend in the gym is spent on either doing crunches and trying out different exercise machines.
When it comes to calorie counting, you are right, I don't know exactly how many calories I am consuming daily, but I can tell you what I ate today - a banana for breakfast, veggies for lunch (rice, tomato, eggplant,olives and zucchini) with some cheese (greek feta cheese, but just around maybe 50grams and for dinner I had tomato salad. I also had some fruit for a snack, maybe half an apple.
 
Hi, Lena, & welcome to the forum. I have protein with each of my meals, including breakfast. Some yoghurt with your banana would make it a more balanced meal. Proteins are the building blocks of life & you need protein to help your body repair cells and make new ones. Are you counting calories? Don't go below 1200 a day. Your body needs a certain amount of calories to carry out vital functions. If it does not get those calories from the diet, it can start to break down its own tissues for energy. To lose weight, aim to eat around 500 fewer calories per day than your body needs to maintain your weight. Eating less than that will lead to side effects. There are many tools you can use to help you count calories. Many here use My Fitness Pal.
There are some really nice, supportive people here in the forum. Welcome to our community Lena. Cheers, Cate
 
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Hello and welcome

I agree with Cate- add some protein to your meals.

And if you can afford it seeing a personal trainer you're comfortable with a couple of times could help you create a good exercise plan.

I saw a nutritionist as well because Im vegetarian and its helped so much...i thought I knew what I was doing but I really had no clue... I didnt get much protein in among other things and was feeling tired all the time

Good luck
 
Thank you very much for the warm welcoming, Cate and Katy. I can already see that there's plenty of nice and supportive people here. To be honest, I didn't expect this amount of responses in such a short amount of time. I feel really grateful. :)
 
Hi Lena and welcome to the forum :)
Everyone else covered the important things for me so I can just congratulate you on having started to make your health and well-being a priority. Right now it doesn´t matter all that much what you do at the gym (as long as you don´t overdo it and get sick of the whole thing) just as long as you get a good feel for the place. A personal trainer can definitely help with that, but if that´s a problem you can also look up the exercises you´d like to do online to find out what to look out for. Best of luck on your journey!
LaMa
 
Thanks, LaMa :)

When it comes to the gym, right now I'm focusing on trying to make a habit of going regularly, on some days I push myself more and when I really don't feel like going I go anyway, but I push myself less, just because based on my previous experience, I tend to quit when things get too tough. For now I'm relying on myself only, the very beginning is more of a psychological battle and that's something that me, myself and I have to work on together :D However, I do plan to exercise with a personal trainer, but I'd planned for it to be a reward for myself when I reach my first goal weight: 100kg. Do you think that's a good idea?
 
I think it´s a great idea but you definitely deserve rewards earlier as well. I seem to remember from my WeightWatchers days that they celebrated every 5 kilo achievement. Doesn´t have to be something big, of course, but remind yourself that you´re doing the right things and deserve credit along the way.
 
Diary entry number 2

I had a moderately active day today. I tried to be more active, tried not to be active only when in the gym. I've been feeling a bit hungry since I started, not because I don't eat at all, but because I'm used to eating way more than I am eating now. Been resisting all kinds of sweet and pastry, there are some on the table right in front of me now, but I don't even want to eat it. I have this new mindset that I am trying to adopt, which is basically not to feel like I'm missing out on the food I like and I'm used to eating.
What keeps me going, even though I know I have a long journey ahead of me is that I already feel so much better about myself.
 
transformer said:
What keeps me going, even though I know I have a long journey ahead of me is that I already feel so much better about myself.
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& that is the best motivation. I find it really hard to keep going if I'm feeling negative about myself. You're on the right track Lena & I like your attitude. Cheers, Cate.
 
Thanks, girls!

Today is officially the end of my first weight loss week. I introduced something to my routine - a cheat day :) I plan to have one every Sunday. Rest and cheat day. That is part of my new mindset - I don't want to feel like I'm missing out - so I have this day to eat the stuff I like.

I didn't go to the gym today, but I did a lot of cleaning, cooking and grocery shopping (I went for a walk instead of using a car, I didn't need loads of stuff from the store so it was achievable).

I ate roast with cabbage salad for lunch, no bread. I am a student, I live with two friends, so it really felt nice to sit down and eat together, my eating schedule is usually different from theirs.

I think I'll skip dinner tonight, don't want to feel guilty tomorrow. :)
 
Joint meals are the best way of socializing, especially if you can eat them guilt-free. Maybe have a small dinner instead of skipping it altogether. I tend to sleep badly if I´m hungry.
 
Joint meals are sociable. It doesn't sound like you overdid it Lena. Having just a light salad for dinner or fruit & yoghurt would be better than skipping it. Congratulations hon on a successful first week xo
 
I can't even begin to explain how thrilled I feel every time I read your posts :) I'm not exaggerating, literally, whenever I see there's a response it's the same feeling like when you're waiting for your crush to reply and then, suddenly, you see a new message :D

That being said, I have to address also the shadier part of my day. In my head, this cheat'n'rest day was supposed to be basically chill Sunday. What I've realized is that I've had too much 'chill' time in the past and I can't quite enjoy it the way I thought I could now that I'm trying to change. I was okay during the first half of the day, because I was ACTIVE and when I had my cheat lunch I enjoyed it, because I had a level of control (didn't eat bread ) and then when I was supposed to sit down and relax, my demons kinda started messing with my head. I felt like a failure, a liar. One negative thought leads to another and I ended up regretting having a cheat day. In a way it is good that this happened, because it makes me feel happy that FINALLY I feel bad about doing nothing, for so long I was so indifferent. I also have to mention that I drank some Coke and had some cake. I made the cake for my friends, it's not even on my favorite food list, I made it for them because I know how much they like it. After I ate a slice, I felt terrible because I felt proud of myself for preparing 'dangerous' food and not having the desire to eat it. When my friend asked if I wanted a piece, I said yes, and I swear it felt like somebody else was talking instead of me. Afterwards, I felt bad, but not because of the amount of the calories, but because I didn't even enjoy it, it was just a force of habit. What makes me feel good about this weight loss thing is not the fact that I'm losing weight, but the fact that I'm in control, not my habits, I'm finally beginning to feel like I get to take decisions instead of feeling like a puppet. It improves my confidence and it took me so long, almost my entire life to finally understand that it's easy, I just have to say NO to things that are making me unhappy.

To conclude - tomorrow is a new day! The time for a new and hopefully brighter diary entry :) It's a good thing today was a cheat day, because usually when I binge I tend to stay in that negative mood and just quit, but that's not the case this time. Everything seems so right this time, I really believe that I am going to succeed, I finally adopted a more positive perspective and I'm sticking to it no matter what!!! It's better to feel bad once in a while than to feel bad all the time, right? Also, I enrolled in a Turkish language course, just for fun, and it stars tomorrow, feeling excited :)

Over and out :D
 
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I think it's wonderful that you know this time is different!
It is much easier to say no than we think.
Well done :)
 
Dealing with your demons is one of the most important parts when losing weight. Learning the balance between rest and activity is hard, and feeling you deserve something can be, too. It´s good to have a diary to get rid of some of that stuff in, too, especially when you´re excited about it ;)
 
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