My Journey :D

Hi everyone! I'm a newbie, so I'll just introduce myself here and keep on updating as I go along.

Back in Junior High I *think* I was over 200lbs. We never had a scale at home so I weighed myself at a friends house and get a major shock. That was my heaviest ever, and I was only a kid! My mom really enjoyed buying junk food, and that's pretty much all I ate. I got really depressed and was a lot throughout my teen years. When I was a senior in High School I got my first job, which was a chambermaid in a crummy hotel. I worked there for 2 years and was able to drop some weight. Throughout that job I was also taking in a heavy load at art school, but eventually flunked out because it was just too demanding. After a period of absolutely nothing (6 months), I got my current job which I have been at now for almost 3 years. It's extremely physical and I have been able to drop even more weight without hardly even noticing. It's an 11pm-7am job, so I haven't had a lot of time to just sit and eat like I used to.

In September, my dad, my absolute best friend in the world, had a massive heart attack and died unexpectedly. Depression was bad again and I didn't want to live. I don't have any 'regular' friends, so I pretty much just work and sleep. I figured I could take two routes. Let the depression and anxiety kill me, or do something about it, and raise my self esteem because nobody else was going to do it for me. I decided that I was finally going to eat better, count my calories and start working out (more than my 8 hour/day job). I was just sitting at 140lbs and it wasn't budging. I started all of this in the beginning of February and I have been good since. Sure I let myself have a little chocolate here and there (It's Easter time!) but I have been having more fruits, yogurt, brown rice etc. I'm so proud of myself, I used to be a junk food junkie!! I also used to be addicted to Pepsi and would have up to 5 cans a day, and now that's out, and water is in. I find I crave water now, and I love it.

I bought my first elliptical machine (one of those walmart cheapies) 2 weeks ago and I've been using it soo much, burning as much as I can, and really pushing myself. I'm actually in the middle of a workout right now, wearing shorts :coolgleamA: And I just feel so good. Right now I'm at 135lbs (the 5 pounds I lost was water weight) but I'm starting to see good definition in my arms from my weight lifting and I can feel myself getting stronger. At work they call me "the machine" and "muscles" :rotflmao: I don't have a specific weight 'goal', but I'd like to raise my confidence and love the way I look. I would love to be athletic and toned. I do enjoy playing sports, but I was always too heavy and got out of breath when I would try. I used to rollerblade a lot, and this summer I think I'm going to take it up again since we have a lot of paths around my small city.

Ultimately I just want to be happy. I am in a long distance relationship with a guy that I have been talking to for 10 years now, and hopefully we are going to meet soon. I just want to be the best I can be! I'm tired of living in my room and unhappy. I have to push myself even more now that my dad's support is gone. I miss him a lot, but I decided I'm going to make him proud.

Thanks for listening, now back on the elliptical!!
 
Hello and Welcome!!
WOW, you have been through alot. sorry to hear about your dad, mine passed in 03 so i know what your feeling. CONGRATS on the 5 lbs so far, seems liek you have a really good plan that works for you! I'm glad to see that you started a dairy, this is great support!! Good luck to starting your joureny!!:waving:
 
Let me add another note of welcome. I think it's wonderful that you've decided to take control of those things that you can control to feel better about yourself.

We're all behind you!
 
Thanks for the welcome AmberNC and jw372!

I worked out today. I love the feeling of working out! But I'm not exactly sure what to think with everything that I've been doing.

January 21st is the day that I started my "lifestyle change" and have cut out all of the junk and started exercising. That's when I immediately lost 5 pounds, just in the first couple days. Since then - NOTHING! Not even 1 pound. Why? I know it's possible that I lost fat and gained muscle, since I have been weight training, but it's not like I notice any new muscles popping up anywhere.. I've been trying to eat enough calories (I think 1400ish is what I'm supposed to eat) and throw all the food groups in there somewhere, and it's not uncommon for me to burn 900 cals every 2 days on the elliptical combined with situps, pushups, lunges, weights.. You think I would see at least a pound difference on the scale. In fact all last week I had gained a few. From all the reading I've done, I hear that's normal, but I still don't like it! I guess I have gone down 2 dress sizes.. But since when..

Babbling, I'm just a wee bit frustrated. If I saw at least a pound lost on the scale then I would feel better and keep going even harder. I'm not going to quit quite yet though, I'm determined and this is the longest in my life that I have been able to stick to this healthy living thing.

I have noticed that my arms have been shaping up quite nicely. The weight I have been using to do curls with is.. My laundry detergent bottle LOL And now that's getting too light and my reps go on forever, so that has got to be good right? I think I'm going to pick up some real weights so I can challenge myself. And maybe a resistance band.. And a new heart rate monitor. The one I have is extremely wrong. I'll be on the elliptical on P2, which is waaaaay too easy, and according to the monitor my heart rate is blasting away in my chest at 198bpm. Uh I DON'T THINK SO. The monitor on my elliptical is also extremely wrong, but in the opposite. My heart will be pounding and it will say it's at 89. Pfft.

I have a question, and I guess I could make a thread, but I'll just put it out there in here in case anyone stumbles upon here. I'm 5'6" and 135 pounds. So I don't have much to lose, but I'm just extremely "soft" everywhere. The fat I do have is very jiggly and won't seem to go away. I can yank it away from my body and it doesn't hurt or anything. What's up with that? And on my arms by my armpit it's almost like loose skin up there.. But I'm not sure. I can pull it, twist it, make it into odd shapes and I barely even feel it.. If it's skin that's never going away, I'm gonna be pissed lol...

12:32pm, almost bed time for me. Have to be up at 10pm! Can you believe that I overslept last night? I usually leave the house by 10:45pm, and I woke up at 10:49pm. eek!
 
I love working out! It just makes me feel so good and happy about myself. I haven't updated in a while so here's how it's going so far.

I'm totally seeing results! The scale isn't budging, but that's not what really matters, my body looks different in the mirror and I FEEL thinner. I have so much energy now and I feel strong. Hell, I am strong, my 15lb dumbells are getting quite easy with the bicep curls.

I have been sticking to this stuff since the end of January, but for a couple weeks my diet starting sliding a bit and I was having more and more chocolate. Today I gave the rest of my crappy food to my brother and went shopping. All I basically bought was produce, yogurt, cottage cheese.. And I have some lean cuisine frozen meals in the freezer. I've still been guzzling my water. Takes a few tries to get the diet that works for me right? I find that I snack when I'm bored, so I bought baby carrots, strawberries and grapes to reach for instead of cookies and crackers.

I know I don't have that much weight to lose, but I would really like to have an athletic body with definition everywhere. At this point in my life I am finally ready to do all of this and completely change my lifestyle for the better. When I was a teenager I would get frustrated, give up the junk for maybe 2 days, then head right back to it. Now I don't even have a desire for that. If my elliptical broke I would freak out! lol

I know this probably won't get read, but I just want to thank this wonderful community for the inspiration, I come here several times a day and I have learned so much. :)
 
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