My first (and hopefully last) attempt at a personal metamorphosis.

A

alice29

New member
OK here's the scoop:


I'm a 29 yr old female who has been overweight/obese since middle school. I have never attempted to lose weight and always used the excuse "you only live once" when it came to food more times than I care to admit. In November 2011 I owned the fact that I ate complete garbage and have no one to blame for my personal unhappiness but myself. I like fruits and veggies so what exactly is my issue? First and foremost I was/am ignorant when it comes to nutrition. I chose not to read labels. I was an athlete, but that was 12-15 yrs ago and I never remember a coach saying anything but eat tons of pasta before a game. My mom is a huge health food nut but I have never been very interested in being like her ~ probably another reason I made certain food choices. I remember hiding lots of candy around my room as a kid and getting caught. I felt ashamed, my parents were obviously confused, and still I learned nothing. I've had very few physical relationships and none that lasted for more than a few months. I have tons of friends, but at a certain point you want/deserve more.


So after making small choices as far as diet and losing 10lbs in 1.5 months I went on vacation. I gained it all back in a week. I knew and told my friends as we cooked fried food and baked goods that I had lost 10lbs and was literally gaining it back as we talked. They didn't seem alarmed. Some of them are more obese than me and are obviously in my old mind frame of "you only live once". I returned home determined to lose it all and then a whole bunch more. Having friends in the obese boat who literally don't care (or at least claim to not care) is challenging.


I have been trying to track my food using the loseit app on my iphone. It works great, sometimes it is just hard to input certain foods. I'll get better at it with time. I'm on day two of completely tracking everything including water. I made a goal that I feel is very realistic and meaningful to me: I want my BMI to be out of the obese range by my 30th birthday in mid March. Depending on where I am at then, I will make another goal. I started going to the gym two weeks ago and have gone 3x per week so far. I have been doing 70 min on the elliptical or swimming (I used to swim competitively so this feels great!). I want to add in weights starting this week. I have been reading a ton of blogs and forums to get advice and stay motivated. I wish I had someone in my life who could keep me motivated in person. I've decided to try to keep a journal on here for now in an attempt to hold myself accountable. Here's some stats that I will update as time goes on:


Age: 29

Height: 5'10"

Starting Weight: 240 (12/24/11)

228 (1/15/12)

227 (1/22/12)

224 (1/29/12)

223.5 (2/5/12)

220.5 (2/12/12)

220 (2/26/12)

218.5 (3/4/12)

217.5 (3/11/12)

216.5 (3/25/12)

215 (4/4/12)

212 (4/21/12)

207.5 (5/11/12)

205 (7/24/12)

Current weight: 196.8 (2/24/13)

I will try to add photos and measurements at some point this week.


I am very open to any and all suggestions/advice. Thanks for reading!
 
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Hello Alice and welcome to the Forum. Congratulations on making the decision to take charge of your life. I think you will find there are many encouraging people here who will help you along...but at the end of the day it's you who must do the work. I think it's great you've set yourself a mid-term goal with your BMI, and the other good news is that you have made the decision to do this while you are young (not like me, who is doing this at 51!...trust me...it's never easier, but it is easier the younger you are!). I'm 5'7 and I'm still in the "obese" category, but hopefully in the next couple of months, I'll get down to the "overweight" category, on my way to "normal".

I encourage you to post here every day...no matter what...hold yourself accountable to this forum...good days, bad days, etc. We're not here to judge you or criticize you..you can say what you really feel...most of us have felt some of the same things you may be feeling right now and have found ways through it without resorting to food as the solution.

I saw that you are exercising...also an excellent decision! I've found that for me, exercise is the key, in addition to good food choices to losing it..diet alone wasn't getting it for me, so I had to pump it up to get the old metabolism going!

I look forward to reading your future posts and I'll help you any way I can!...I've still got about 50 pounds to go before I get to my maintenance weight...so I'll be here awhile!

Sarah
 
Oh to be 29 again. That was my favorite year of life. You sound like you have a solid plan and reasonable goals. Good luck, we are al, here to support each other so I'll be checking back in here, hope you post a lot!!
 
Thanks for the kind words of support! I feel really good about posting on a regular (hopefully daily) basis so here goes:


I'm a bit distracted by "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" on the tube right now. It's an episode partially about going to the gym. In case you haven't seen the show, the main female character going to the gym looks like a skeleton with skin. Im glad there is a wide variety of body types at the gym I go to. I am really starting to feel like I belong there. It's big enough where I can get lost in the crowd. I'm not the fattest, I'm not the skinniest. Somewhere right in the middle. Now to just get to a place where I'm happy with me :)


So anyways a bit about my day. I did a good job keeping track on the Loseit app. Here's a summary of my calories:


Breakfast:

Homemade chai latte: 199

3 clemantines: 104

16oz water


Lunch:

Homemade broccoli cheddar soup: 475

16oz water


Afternoon snack:

Coffee ice cream with reese's pb cup: 520 (I know! Coupon for a free one from cold stone, I didn't feel guilty. It was delish!)

16oz water


Dinner:

Salmon taco with whole wheat tortilla, spinach, and pineapple/mango salsa: 571

16oz water

16oz water


Exercise:

30 min swimming: -489

35 min elliptical: -443

After gym snack: clemantine: 35


I have the app set to "lose 2lbs a week" and so for today I am 697 calories under budget (1,669). Thank god for exercise!


So swimming. I would swim everyday if I could find the time. By the way the gym is a 30 min drive from my house (I sort of live in the middle of nowhere, but it's beeeeautiful). While I would love to go to the gym everyday, (a) I don't think that's entirely healthy and (b) that's an hour of driving everyday plus gas is expensive. So for now it will be 3-4 times per week. Back to swimming ~ I used to competitively swim when I was 10-14 yrs old. I remember loving it until it literally got too hard. The high school coach was a bitch and would make us swim underwater for a good distance multiple times (like 20 lengths of the pool in a row, coming up for air at each wall). If we came up too early, she would add another one for the whole group. Yeah, she was one of those. I decided this was more than I can handle. She took the fun out of it completely. Thanks for nothing Coach whatever your name was.


Swimming is one of those things I feel you can't forget how to do. I became a lifeguard 6 yrs ago for my job and since have only jumped in the pool to save someone's life (6 lives saved to date!). I'm planning to become a lifeguarding instructor this spring so I can train and certify my staff. Being back in the pool and actually doing laps makes me much more confident that I can pass this course no problem. Knowing I will have to be in a bathing suit in front of my staff for a week makes me happy I'm losing weight! I do not want to be the fat boss anymore.


I've swam at the gym twice so far and have yet to see anyone else do laps. Instead there are a good number of guys who hang out in the hot tub (right next to the pool) and they rotate between the hot tub, pool (jump in, jump out), and sauna. They do this rotation multiple times and I have yet to figure out what that's all about. They also often dive into the pool, which is 4 feet deep and has no diving signs everywhere. Don't worry 24hr fitness, this lifeguard is ready. I am thinking about sitting in the sauna after swimming next time. I used to love sitting in the sauna after swim practice as a kid. I'll just have to double my water intake.


I asked the gym people how long the pool was and they had no idea. Im going to call the manager tomorrow in hopes of finding out. I want to set some goals like "I will swim one mile per week" but without knowing the length of the pool that is impossible.


Anyone else swim as part of their routine? If so how far do you swim? Do you mix up your strokes? Do you use kickboards or other equipment?


Oh and I need to drink more water. blah.
 
Originally Posted by alice29

Instead there are a good number of guys who hang out in the hot tub (right next to the pool) and they rotate between the hot tub, pool (jump in, jump out), and sauna. They do this rotation multiple times and I have yet to figure out what that's all about.
Click to expand...


Hot tubs heat you up (resulting in the tub feeling cooler) and the pool cools you down (resulting in the tub feeling hot again), That's all.


Tourny
 
Hey Alice,


Congrats on losing 12 pounds already!


I used to be a competitive swimmer as well until I hit 13 and swimming was taking so much time out of everything else I was doing at the time. However, looking back, that was the start (albeit a slow start) to putting on weight as I had never had problems with weight at all while I was swimming! One of my 2012 resolutions is to get back into swimming, even if it is only 1 day a week. I was thinking I might try and rehash some of the squad lessons I used to do and try and build up till I can do one of them.


Good luck with keeping up the momentum :)


Andie x
 
I used to be a manager for the swim team in high school...because my brother was a star swimmer and there was this hot guy named Josh on the team that I would drool over while I folded warm towels. Ahhhhhh...swim team....
 
Good day today. Here's the breakdown:


Breakfast:

3 clemantines: 104

16oz water


Lunch:

Homemade Broccoli Cheddar Soup: 475

Coca Cola: 146

16oz water


Dinner:

8oz orange juice: 110

egg white omelet with bacon and cheese: 270


Snacks:

Hummus: 70

Carrots: 32

dark chocolate covered raisins: 190

16oz water


Exercise:

70 min on the Elliptical: 887 (~5.2 miles)


So it all broke down to being under by 1,159 calories. I'm a little concerned that this is so high. I know if you don't eat enough sometimes it can make losing difficult. Thinking I will add in some tuna salad/ green salad with chicken/ or some pasta in the future. Good part is I didn't feel hungry.


Tomorrow I am going with friends to fondue for dinner. No gym, just delicious melted cheese/hot oil/and liquid chocolate. I'll be sure to report on my self control :cool:
 
OK, fondue is amazing. I feel like I did pretty well until dessert when my self control went out the window. But it's over, my friends kept saying how grateful they were that I put the whole night together, and tomorrow I can get back on track. No more off track days this month. Might do an extra 30 min on the elliptical tomorrow just to make up for the last bites of cheesecake and brownies I dipped in chocolate/peanut butter melted goodness. I think I would have to do an extra few hours, but we'll get there. I'm not going to bother posting my food for the day since we all know it was well over the budget (and how do you calculate fondue anyways?).


Instead here are a few victories:


Yesterday a friend commented that she thought I looked thinner. Mind you I have been talking to her about my efforts, I am kind of her boss, and she was probably just being really nice. It made me excited for when the first person who doesn't have a clue that I am trying makes a comment. I realize how shy I am at times like this. One of the main reasons I want to lose the weight gradually is I don't like to be noticed that make. May sound super strange and who knows, maybe some of my insecurities may be shed with the pounds. Let's hope so.


I wore a pair of corduroys that I have not worn for at least 4 years to dinner tonight. 4 years. I am a hoarder of clothes meaning over half of my clothes are too small I just could never bear the thought of getting rid of them. I love these cords. Like love them. They fit almost perfect again and I have two more pairs in the next smaller size. So much to look forward to!


I also wore a cardigan to dinner. I have a daily uniform - hooded sweatshirt and jeans. I have a casual work environment and no one to impress there and we often are outside and getting dirty. I am so self conscious about wearing anything that shows any shape. I already feel that (very slowly) fading away. I am excited to dress up a bit for work every now and then since I have a number of tops in smaller sizes that will fit in the future.



Long day of work tomorrow with traveling, presentations, and then some gym time. Know how motivated I feel by all of you just reading my words.
 
OMG, we wear the same uniform!! Actually, I hid all my hoodies a few months ago because I was depending on them too much, like a security blanket. Now I own cardigans and vests and sometimes wear my coat all day long in the office because I'm cold. I was wearing hoodies so much that people didn't even know I owned shirts.
 
It is very possible I have a hoodie for every day of the month. Where I work they make a new one every 3-4 months at least so I have no less than 20 just from that. So sad!


One pound up so far after to fondue frenzy. Not too bad, definitely enough to make me not want fondue very often.
 
I don't know if I have a hoodie for each day of the month, but certainly have one for each day of the week (lather, rinse, repeat).
 
It's been a bit of a challenging week, but I am finishing out with 1lb lost. Here are the biggest challenges of the week:


Fondue, enough said

Missed a workout due to bad weather

Had a lot of trouble meeting my water goals every day


I had a big realization this week that my weight loss is dependent on three different things: drinking lots of water, eating smart and recording my diet, and regular workouts. Without even one of these I can feel my progress slowing. I'm going to sit down tonight and plan out my week based on my work schedule.


A few goals for next week:


take measurements (still have not bought that tape measure!)

take photos and share

4 workouts

eat salad for one meal each day

100oz water per day


Only 19lbs to my first goal!
 
I totally agree that it is fun. Its like an internal competition where you have to not go above your daily calories. I love when you enter exercise and the number jumps back up. Big workout days = 1,000 calories under the daily limit - those are the big accomplishments!


daily breakdown:


Breakfast

fat free yogurt - 195 (switched to fat free this week and it tastes better than i expected)

clemantine - 35

16oz water


Lunch

orange/apricot bread from local bakery - 300 (complete guess)


Dinner

Big salad! Cucumber, snap peas, spring mix, pecans, grilled chicken breast, goat cheese, light dressing - 776

16oz water


Snack

Chai Tea Latte - 240

Choc covered raisins - 190


Exercise

Housework (if it goes in the app, it counts!) between work and home, I literally cleaned all day.

2 hours - 453


so for the day I was 216 under. thank god i left a week+ worth of dishes, NOT.


next few days i will be on the road for work. the only plus is my job pays for meals and so i will be dining at whole foods most likely. now to find time to go to the gym while im away ~ at least once ;)
 
I bet that salad has less calories in it...unless you weighed and measured everything, then wow, BIG salad, lol!


I love a good chicken and goat cheese salad with balsamic on it, the balsamic and goat cheese do something magical.
 
I thought it would have been fewer calories as well but the chicken and pecans alone was over 400. The you add dressing and goat cheese and it quickly adds up. That's alright though, it turned out to be my one big meal of the day.
 
Maybe my frozen chicken breast isn't the best choice :). I'll have to do some comparison shopping once its gone.


So the app I use has be down to 1,649 calories/day. If you told me when I first started that I could make it with only that much in a day I would have said forget it. When I started a month ago my allowance was 1,749. The busy season at my job starts Wednesday so I'm a bit nervous that I will be so busy I'll go back to old terrible habits. Drinking tons of soda was my MO. Just have to keep my eye on the prize. I have definitely discovered a few new food brands that have helped me with cravings here on this forum and other places like pinterest. Some of my faves are Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches and Laughing Cow light cheese. I also have rediscovered that I like raisins and they aren't a bad snack. Anyone have any other brands or favorite snacks they have discovered since starting this crazy journey? I'm open to trying almost anything! (except mushrooms, bleh)


I weigh in tomorrow and will post measurements and photos. I wish I had taken photos in the beginning, bah!
 
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