Modest Goals

kalima

kalima

New member
1. What is your current height and weight?
5ft, 9.5"-10" (it's an argument) 160lbs.

2. If you were at an ideal weight now, what would that weight be?

140lbs

3. At what weight would you like to be at four months from now?

150lbs.

4. Why do you want to lose weight?

Felt, looked better at 140 than 160, was my effortless 'set point' for 10+ years

5. Do you want to lose weight for a specific life event such as wedding or reunion? If so, when is that event?

No

6. What obstacles could get between you and your weight loss goals?

Cheesecake

7. Why do you think that you now have a weight problem?

Not a "weight" problem as much as a fitness problem. Also, a great deal of obesity, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease in my immediate family

8. What lifestyle changes do you think would help you lose weight?

Exercise. Diet modification.

9. Have you lost weight in the past? If so, what has worked in the past to help you lose weight?

Exercise. Portion control. Junk food control. Wearing Invisalign for two years.

10. Why do you believe that you did not lose weight or you gained the weight back?

Had a workplace injury that limited my exercise, made me depressed, sleeping too late, eating too much & of the wrong foods.

12. Would you try writing down all food and drink consumed for a given period of time?

Oh, sure.

13. Do you cook at home often? If so, what do you cook?

Yes. Miso soup. Brown Rice. Pasta. Kick-ass dal curry. Amazing garlic beef with black bean sauce. Kimchi soup.

14. How often do you go out to eat? Where do you go?

Often. Burrito and good hamburger joints. Sushi. Green Valley Restaurant--steamers. Cafe Rosso at SFSU.

15. What are your three favorite foods?

steak eggs coffee. That's a lie. The food that's in front of me, whatever it may be.


16. What are your three favorite restaurants?

House of Sushi, EO Trading Company, Rosamund Sausage Grill

17. What are three things you can do differently when it comes to food?

Not eat the whole chocolate bar.
Not eat in front of the computer.
Eat more slowly.

18. If you woke up tomorrow and your body was exactly the way you want it, what would be different?

more muscle, less fat. Less pear shape. No cellulite. Legs I'm not ashamed to show. Less of a fat arse, waist. Stronger upper body, more flexible. No PAIN!

19. Do you eat when you are not hungry?

Of course.

20. Do you binge eat (large amounts at a time)

I can if I forget/skip a meal or sleep for too long

21. Do you hide your food or eat in secret?

I have no one from whom to keep a secret nor hide food. No.

22. Do you eat when you are sad, nervous, or depressed?

No, I'm a friggin ray of sunshine who waits for perfect joy to manifest at every bite. Duh.

23. Do you eat as a reward?

Food is its own reward.

24. Do you eat while watching TV or using the computer?

Non TV snob. Internet and food addict.

25. What do you normally eat for a meal?

I like salads, soup, pasta, cheese, olives, bread, rice, stir fries, sushi, odd pickled, fermented, salty, glutinous, raw, cooked, rotten stuff.

26. What type of snacks do you eat?

monthly cycling chocoholic. kettle chips. cheese.

27. In terms of exercise, what, if anything, are you currently doing?

run 30min 3x week.Daily yoga, mebbe20 mins. Gym--cardio machines, 40 min. No strength training since arm injury 8 months ago.

28. Where do you go for exercise? A local public gym? School/work gym?

Local gym/running trails. Yoga mat in bedroom.

29. What, if anything, are your three favorite types of exercise?

Yoga, running, elliptical.

30. What is your daily/weekly/monthly/yearly motivation to move towards your goals?

Daily, put the shoes on and run. Weekly, get on the friggin scale. Monthly, don't kill/eat anyone when I get my period. Yearly, holy sh*t, has it been another year already? I'm not 25 anymore, am I?

31. Do you have rewards for certain goals?

I avoided the classical conditioning model of child-rearing and education. I prefer endless, Sisyphean labor and enjoying wasted time, which then, of course, not wasted.
 
Slept past breakfast, had kimchi noodle bowl for lunch and one hard-boiled egg, washed down with strong jasmine green tea.

Went grocery shopping with roommate, ate 2 slices of cheese danish, probably all together the size of your average cheese danish. 1/2 cup Greek Gods full-fat honey yogurt, 6 oz low-fat milk. Oh, yeah--milkfat, starch, and sugar! Am in reclined sugar-coma position on bed right now.

No exercise today, rest day, legs are burning from running the day before last and from being on my feet walking around town 4+ hours yesterday.

Gonna make miso soup with good dashi stock, tofu, wakame, green onion tonight, and a pot of brown rice, which I will smother in shoyu and a bit of sesame oil, plus some nori on top. It will be divine. I'm gonna go soak some kombu, bonito, and shiitake now.

I will hopefully avoid the entire chocolate bar, but we'll see.

I probably need to up my protein, which would control the sweet urges, I've read. I usually do a whey powder drink after my running--not today.
 
I've kept my running schedule one day on/one day off in the past week. Distance and endurance is improving, and my body is firming up--legs especially. Weight hasn't budged, really--I go up and down 2 lbs. or so, but I'm sticking around 160lbs.

The last time I got down to 150lbs was similar--I lost inches, got more solid muscle on me, but the # on the scale stayed the same. Then, since muscle burns more calories than fat, I eventually started to lean out slightly & lost a bit of weight. I don't think I could seriously cut calories and increase exercise without gnawing my arm off ravenously. So bless all you who manage to do it!

Mainly, I've cut out junk--no sugar in my coffee or tea, replaced butter with olive oil, full-fat with non-fat milk. I started eating a large mixed green salad everyday, and am limiting some carbs, but not to keto levels. More along the lines of having brown rice instead of polished rice, and not having so much bread as a staple. I've also started having a post-run isolated whey protein shake. This should work considering my weight loss goal is modest.

If it turns out my body really doesn't want to be 140lbs, I will focus on fitness and running endurance, improving my body composition, rather than a goal weight.

I would really love to be long and lean again, though!
 
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Eating/snacking late (past 10PM or so) seems to factor in on my weight gain. If I have several small meals during the day, keep up with my exercise, and avoid junk food, the 2lb loss seems to hold steady, rather than go back up to 160 again. Scale said 156.5 today, so that's closer to a 4lbs loss, but I think I'll likely waver slowly, up and down a few lbs., as I learn to nip my sweet tooth and maintain my exercise routine. I also retain a bit of water the week before my period, but I don't factor that in as a problem to be overcome. It comes and goes.

Exercise routine is holding steady. I'm having surgery on Tuesday, though, so I'm not going to be able to run for a week or so, I guess (elbow surgery). I've never had surgery to know how it would affect me. It would be nice to begin upper-body weight training, but I've just not been able to with my arm being messed up. It will be nice to be able to support weight on my right arm again. Hopefully, I'll heal up well and be back to work soon!

I've read the recent study on older women and exercise, and they say women gain, on average, 1.5lbs every year after age 25, and I fit that average perfectly, but most of that gain was in two years, not twelve. Women in their 50's, they report, have to do 60 minutes of exercise, 7 days a week just to maintain their weight, but this is without considering special diet. So I'm hoping now to get steadily get myself to a lower-weight set point, so I'm not spinning my wheels and/or starving myself to stay a healthy weight when I'm 50.
 
My elbow surgery went well, but it set off my body's "tired and hungry" meter. The weather's cold and rainy, I'm still groggy and odd from anesthetic, and I think it's likely I'll stay indoors eating and sleeping all week. Oh well! No defeatism--I will pick up where I left off as I heal.
 
I bought an Acumen basic heart rate monitor for $20 at Marshall's--I was surprised to find my rate goes up to around 170bpm for most of my run. Based on less-accurate gym machines, I thought it was 140 or so. I don't feel winded or tired at all, and my resting rate is around 50bpm--a nurse measured it at 44bpm before my minor elbow surgery last week. I really don't consider myself terribly athletic, but my heart is happy, I guess.

I also had my first 30 minute run with no stopping off to walk a bit this week--I went all around the island!--a little more than 3 miles, I guess.

I've found my hip pain is diminishing since I've become a tiny bit more conditioned and lost just a few lbs. The last time my weight got higher than it should, I had hip/knee pain, then, too.

Eating has been OK--I've found the whey protein shakes do help with sugar cravings. I read that upping your protein will do this, and so far, it's working out.

Cellulite seems to be diminishing a bit, too, but my legs are still blinding white! Oh well. I don't think I want to turn orange in my "after" pics like alot of people seem to do, LOL. Whatever suits you, I suppose.
 
kalima said:
6. What obstacles could get between you and your weight loss goals?

Cheesecake
Click to expand...

You are hilarious!

I skimmed by and noticed you struggle with eating at night. Try to not do it for a week straight - i swear it gets easier after only a few days. And honestly, I dont care what any study says - it works somehow. Good luck!
 
^ Thanks for the encouragement! I'm too much of a night owl since I've not been working, so I eat too much at night. Once I'm back at work, which should be soon, I'll be more disciplined with that due to scheduling.

I read up on heart rate training zones and it appears that 170-180 is in the anaerobic zone, not that that is bad, but today I aimed for a rate in the aerobic zone between 150-160 and ran twice as long, timewise, took on my first hill, and felt great at the end. At the higher rate, I could only manage a half-hour or so, with a little walk break in the middle. I think I'll mix it up, do more high-intensity interval training sort of work as I become more conditioned.

I also bought two medicine balls--6 and 10 lbs.--and am alternating run days with in-home workouts. My arm is a bit wobbly and sore to be doing much lifting work, yet, but I've read that strength training helps a great deal with weight loss. I'll need to psych myself out for indoor workouts--not really happy with standing in one spot grunting over weights. It makes me cranky.

I haven't stood on the scale today, I'm a little leery of what it might say. I'm near my period, my clothes feel tight, so I'm sure it's back up to 160 or more again. Oh, well...I ran for an hour and feel great!
 
Still around 156. Upped my runs to include some hills. I'm out for more like 45 minutes than 20 minutes, closer to a 5 mile run than a 3 mile run. Dailymile.com has a neat mileage tracker, course mapping program. Legs and butt are getting more toned, waist a bit smaller, but my weight hasn't budged in a week. It's okay. I don't feel as if I've been overindulging, but I haven't been writing everything I eat down.

I am cleared to return to work on the 19th, so I'll be able to add in more workouts there. I'm liking my progress so far and enjoy how running makes me feel and look. There's a more accurate digital scale where I work, and my school has a BodPod to measure body fat %. I'm interested in discovering what both of these might reflect over my regular old-school home scale. I guess I'm the average 30% fat most fairly semi-sedentary women are, still.

Not too keen on the home medicine ball workouts, as my arm is improving post-surgery. I think I'll take to it better when it's completely recovered.
 
It's looking like the truth of "exercise and diet" is apparent if I want to lose weight at all. It's not really budging, even though I'm fitter. My BMR and Harris Benedict puts me around 2300kcals for maintenance, as I'm a big and active girl, so eating 300 to 500 less--1800-2000kcals total--would put me at a deficit. Today I had my protein shake, a banana, some orange/carrot juice, Indian restuarant entree (the buffet! didn't have seconds!)--I'm not feeling hungry. There's no way all of that was over 1800 calories. I'm eating clean, no junk, no great amounts. Meals, of which I generally eat three, are around 500 calories, snacks from 100-200.

Today I ran 4 miles and walked probably 5. Tomorrow will be my strength workout, light cardio, no long run though (do that every other day).

The scale at work, which is digital and accurate, put me at an afternoon weight of 158lbs--showing a 2lbs. loss from my starting weight, not a 5 or 6 one. But since the scale I usually weigh myself on is inaccurate, then I weighed more than 160 to begin with, so the total weight loss holds. It just makes the goal further away by a few pounds.

My muscle tone, balance, and strength have improved. My jiggle factor is down a bit. The last time I was down to 150, it took a few months of steady progress. I know as you lose weight, your calorie requirements also go down if you want to continue losing weight. I don't know how long it will take me to get to 140--or if I even want to get to 140.

I don't know if I can be that rigid with myself, or if that kind of slenderness would look good on me at age 37 as it did at age 25. I want to look healthy and strong, lithe and lean is good, too, but not if it's gonna make me look and feel drawn and haggard. Working at a gym, I see women who push themselves hard to meet an artificial ideal, and they don't exactly ooze health and sex appeal. So, slow and steady it is.
 
Reset my little ticker to show what the scale at the gym says; my home scale is off. I'm keeping up with my fitness workouts and running, but I'm enjoying food aplenty. I'm a bitch when I'm hungry.

This was my first week back at work and I'm more concerned with hitting my stride between school and work load balance--I'm hoping to keep my exercise routine stable, and hopefully come summer, I can focus in on my diet better than I've been. I still don't see how I'm eating any more than 2000kcal--and I should be maintaining at around 2300kcal for my height and weight.

No one guesses that I weigh 160lbs at all. At 5'10, I'm around the height and weight of the "average man" rather than woman. I could probably take the average man in a fight, too. Yeah, actually, I've done that, I recall. ;)

Hoping to hit the pod pod body composition analysis at SFSU kinesiology and fitness lab sometime this week to puzzle over my muscle/fat ratio next. They do vo2/max testing, lactate threshold, all that lovely stuff, too, but I'm not training for some elite event. I just want to know what percentage of my ass is fat, and see how I can improve on it.

I ain't taking another photo of myself until there's another 5 lbs lost. That could be ages at this rate.
 
My body really doesn't want to lose weight. Did the whole Harris Benedict BMR, I should be losing at 2000kcal a day, but I ain't seeing it. Near my period again, I'm a bloated and grumpy. Haven't stood on the scale in a week, clothes don't feel any different. My legs and hip hurt from running and returning to work--even with downtime I'm still sore. I will keep active and maintain healthy eating habits. I said originally it could take 4 months to lose 10lbs, so be it.
 
I've been having some achilles/plantar problems with the running, so I've gone to recumbent/elliptical indoor low/no impact for my cardio. I've also checked out The New Rules of Lifting for Women and am hoping to implement more weight training into my fitness regimen. Also, my roommate is a certified Iyengar yoga teacher, and we've been sharing workouts lately.

Eating is enjoyable and I do it well. I haven't stood on a scale in ages, but I'm guessing it's still around that trusty 160lbs. area. Clothes fit the same & all. God knows if I'll ever lose weight, but I'm firming up and my mood, sleep are good.

I think I have some kind of food sensitivity, specifically milk, as it makes me gassy and bloated. Wheat is kinda funky. also. I've noticed if I replace dairy with soy and wheat with rice, my belly isn't as round/bloated and I'm not as terribly rumbling and flatulent.

Not eating late nights is also a bloat-fighter.

I'm really happy with my body in my home mirror, but the young and fit at the gym befuddle me a bit. I can't really focus on them, though.

I've lost 10 lbs before through diet and exercise, I will do it again.
 
Hi, you have a great attitude and although you might not be losing as much as you want you aren't letting it get you down. It's a lot more important that you are getting fitter and healthier so just keep up what you're doing and you will lose the weight eventually. :)
 
^Thanks, eyckmans! I did my 3rd first stage New Rules of Lifting for Women workout today--I've been super sore for a week now!--but today I noticed my pants are looser in the waist/butt. I haven't stood on the scale, but I'm feeling strong & pleased with myself for beginning and sticking with a program. It's a great book; women on another forum I visit had been singing its praises, so I thought I'd check it out. It's more focused on healthy eating, heavy lifting, and not drastically cutting calories. Building muscle through heavy lifting and adequate diet creates a stronger body and better metabolic rate for burning fat. The workouts are about 40 minutes, hard but doable, and I feel like jello after them. I sleep great, too!

I'm hoping to get back to some running, but I'd been having trouble with my right achilles and plantar pain. I've found yoga and proper stretching has helped with this in the past few weeks, but it's been about a month since I've gone on a run. I like watching the scenery pass by and feeling the air in my lungs, so I hope I can get back to it soon.

This is turning more into an exercise than diet diary. Today, I had a bagel with a tiny shmear (teaspoon) of cream cheese, coffee, a Muscle Milk, a beer, a bowl of chicken penne with red peppers, another whey shake, and that's all. Could've had a salad, too, for the veggies, but I'm wiped out.

Two shakes, 350 apiece = 700 cal
Pasta, at least 600 cals
Beer, 200 cals.
Bagel/cream cheese = 300 cals

Even if I add another 200 cals to the pasta, (which is doubtful) I'm still at 2000 calories, which is around where I should be.

As long as I don't get an urge for a quart of yogurt at midnight, I should be fine.

I need to stop buying Kozy Shack pudding, too. That stuff is dangerous! No self-control when it comes to Original Rice!
 
I want to start doing weights now that I am nearly down to goal so that I can tone my body up. I'll look out for that book.
 
I'm house-sitting, so no roommate-offered food temptations. I've been sticking well to the New Rules of Lifting for Women program and am down to 157lbs from a high of 165lbs this past winter. I've upped my protein and lowered my carbs, am waking earlier, exercising consistently and hard enough rather than inconsistently and too hard. No running until my heels feel 100% better--I may not go back to running at all because the results from lifting heavy have been faster and less painful than running.

I'm thinking alot of the progress is controlling my portions and how late I eat. I can really eat alot if I let myself, then rationalize that a hard workout makes up for it. It doesn't. I also have cut out caffeine, sugar, most bread products. I have a whey protein shake in light soy or almond milk (some sugars there, but I'm not adding it!) after my workouts, a spinach omelet for breakfast, tuna in large green salad with cut broccoli, cherry tomatoes, and a nice blue cheese dressing. I've discovered cottage cheese, 1% milkfat, fresh produce, lean chicken and fish, brown rice. I drink a bit of green tea and alot of water with fresh squeezed lemon juice.

When I get home, I'll pose for another pic and see if I look any different than the two months (March and April) where I looked exactly the same after all that running! My focus is still on building muscle/gaining fitness and strength rather than dieting/losing weight, so slow and steady I go! If I lose too much too fast, I'm afraid I'll lose muscle rather than fat, and I don't want that.
 
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