Manimal Learns How to Eat Right & Exercise

Manimal

New member
How much weight do you want to lose?
38 Pounds. I want to weigh 180. Ideally I think I should be 170, but 180 is my target for now.

What is the timeframe for reaching your target weight?
December 1

How do you want to accomplish your goal (what methods do you want to use)?
Eat right and exercise. Simple enough, right? That can mean many different things to many different people. I don't like diets that limit you to certain types of food. I like sensibility. I like it so much that I avoid it like the plague when it comes to eating. Since I'll have nothing to do with a commercial diet, my focus will be on learning portion control and choosing the right foods. This means staying away from the worst parts of my current diet (fast food, soda, and junk food) and avoiding eating until I'm stuffed. I also plan to log everything that I eat. I need to figure what sort of calorie intake I need to lose 2-3 pounds a week.

Who or what can support you in reaching your goal?
My wife and this forum.

How realistic is your goal?
It seems to be very realistic. 2 to 3 pounds a week is not an unrealistic amount I don't think.

When will you start?
I'm already on board.
 
How do you want to accomplish your goal (what methods do you want to use)?
Eat right and exercise. Simple enough, right? That can mean many different things to many different people. I don't like diets that limit you to certain types of food. I like sensibility. I like it so much that I avoid it like the plague when it comes to eating. Since I'll have nothing to do with a commercial diet, my focus will be on learning portion control and choosing the right foods. This means staying away from the worst parts of my current diet (fast food, soda, and junk food) and avoiding eating until I'm stuffed. I also plan to log everything that I eat. I need to figure what sort of calorie intake I need to lose 2-3 pounds a week.

Hi there and welcome to the WLF. :) I just wanted to drop you a line to congratulate you for starting a journal. It's the first step to keep you accountable with everything you eat and everything you do. As to figuring out what sort of calorie intake you'll need to lose 2-3 pounds a week, 3500 calories= 1 lb, so theoretically if you were to workout and burn 7,000 cals in a week you'd lose 2 lbs. Make sure to also figure out your BMR prior to really kicking things into gear. You wouldn't want to be either overeating or undereating while trying to lose weight. My suggestion to you is to create a free food calorie counter at or even I've been using spark people and love it! Anyways, wishing you the best and good luck!

-Sheryl
 
Hey there,

Welcome to WLF! Congrats on deciding to change your life. This journey can be rough but we'll always be here to help you.

Listen to Sheryl... she gives awesome advice... like the advice she just gave you.

~Jenna
 
Welcome to WLF!! I wish you the best success on your new venture. Your right in that 2 pounds a week is just fine! The slower it takes to come off, the more likely it is to stay away. It's great to hear that you already have family support. Good luck to you and I can't wait to hear about those pounds melting off. Have a good weekend!
Kim
 
Thanks for the suggestions and encoouragement

Kim and Jenna, thanks for the support. Sheryl, thanks for pointing me to SparkPeople. I’m a little confused there, but I managed to get things set up fairly well. Is BMR the same thing as BMI? If so I calculated it there, but I can’t seem to get back to look at what it is. I’m sure I’ll figure it out.
I ran 3 miles today. I’ve been runnig for the last several weeks and this is the first time I’ve gotten under and 11 minute mile. I’m pretty happy about that. I’m planning on running 3 miles MWF next week and try to get down to a 10 minute/mile pace before upping the distance to 4.
 
Hey manimal welcome....... BMI is a calculation of body fat based on height and weight, BMR is a determination of calories needed to maintain your current weight.... He is a link with some tools I use.....
 
Hey manimal welcome....... BMI is a calculation of body fat based on height and weight, BMR is a determination of calories needed to maintain your current weight.... He is a link with some tools I use.....
Thanks for the clarification. It looks like to lose 2 pounds a week, I need to be eating about 1800 calories a day :eek2:
 
Thanks for the clarification. It looks like to lose 2 pounds a week, I need to be eating about 1800 calories a day :eek2:

It doesn't sound like many calories but if you stay away from fats(remember some fats are good for you), complex sugars and limit things like white starches(just remember your body loves to turn white starches into sugar) it's really a lot of calories.
 
August 13

Not the best weight loss weekend. I have a hard time getting online on weekends. That's probably not the biggest problem though, it's more of an inability to exhibit any self control. Oh well. Live and learn. I need to focus on today and making the right decisions.
I didn't have any breakfast this morning. I kind of felt lousy, probably from eating something I shouldn't have at 10:30 last night. So, that wasn't a great decision, but I also didn't swing by a fast food joint for a fat bomb either. I'm going to run 3 miles today. That should help me feel better and clear my head a bit.
 
Great job, not stopping for that FAT BOMB!! See your already making that small change. WAY TO GO!! Are you drinking a lot of water?? I know that helps curb my cravings through the day. I also found these GREAT snacks, they are only 100 calories per bag. One is Chex Mix snack packs, mmm they come in chocolate and caramel flavor, so worth it if you want something sweet, yet you don't want to pack on the calories. The second one is a little package of MINI RICE cakes, oh yeah, I hate regular rice cakes but these are by Quaker and they are only 90 calories a bag and they come in different flavors like Chocolate and Cinnamon/sugar I think, there are several different ones. They are worth a try and once that bag is gone, that's it. It's not like grabbing a big bag of something out of the pantry and eating until half is gone. It really works, I just wanted to give you a little something that might work. Good luck this week, and keep up the running, that's AWESOME!!
Kim
 
217 lbs. I lost 1 pound since Friday.

I ran on the treadmill today- 3 miles at 30:30. I'm very happy with that pace. Including my cool down, Mr. Treadmill says I burned over 500 calories based on weight an age. Not bad. I'd love to get down to under 30 minutes.

Miss Ladybug thanks for the tips. I bought some 100 calorie baked cheetos this weekend. to help with those afternoon hunger bouts. It sounds like those chex mix packs would be really good also. Rice cakes.... maybe in time.
 
Welcome to a wonderful site. Writing in a journal is a great way to keep yourself accountable. Good luck in reaching your goals. Have a great day!

David
 
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