My Motivational Diary

S

slimjim24

New member
After lurking here for a little while I've finally decided to start my own diary in order to motivate myself to track my eating and exercise habits along with my feelings about what I have accomplished and hope to accomplish in the future.

When I first started losing weight I peaked at 230 pounds. This was okay with me at the time because it was during football season, but now that it has come and gone I've decided that it's now time to get myself into shape. I'm 6'1" and currently weigh around 210 pounds, but I'd like to be about 175 when this is all said and done.

I make it an everyday goal to eat healthy and exercise, but one of my biggest problems is overeating. This has always been a problem since I was a younger kid because the rest of my family doesn't really pay attention to what they eat. Now that I'm finally starting to, they all say that they are going to start, but have yet to actually do so. For this reason I have decided to take matters into my own hands and make sure that I lose the weight that I don't want anymore.

With this diary I hope to be able to track my eating habits and hopefully receive some feedback from other people who have had success in the past. I really don't know exactly how many calories I should be eating, but I figure it's somewhere around 3,000 based on some of the internet calculators. In order to lose weight, I've been eating what I believe is around 1,800 calories per day, and hopefully I'll be able to confirm my beliefs by tracking my meals through my diary.

I'll be back tomorrow to update my first day of eating, and until then I hopefully won't be eating too much. In spite of the fact that I'm upset about my late-night peanut butter cravings :drool5:, everything is always better when the Cavaliers win.
 
My food intake for the day:

1 bialy with peanut butter and jelly

6 cucumber slices

1 pickle

1 Lean Cuisine: Beef Chow Fun

2 Pieces of homemade smoked sausage with barbecue sauce

1 Apple

8 Strawberries with 1 packet of Sweet N Low


My thoughts:
Today is what I would consider an okay day. I regretted eating the bialy for breakfast but it was sitting on the counter and was just calling my name. I also have a weak spot when it comes to eating peanut butter, and after I ate some for breakfast I promised myself that I wouldn't eat any for the rest of the day. It took all my power not to open up the jar when I began eating my after-dinner apple. My meals were a little off today, however, because I got to sleep in until 10:30 and didn't want to have to eat lunch a mere hour after eating breakfast. I'm going to try to develop a better sleep pattern so that I can develop better eating habits.

Daily Exercise:
Today was really supposed to be a day off, but I was being so lazy around the house that I figured I would make up for it by going to the gym for a nice run. I ended up running 4 miles in 40 minutes and burned 618 calories according to the treadmill. Not bad for a day off I guess, and it helps me to not think about food :)
 
Well, it's another day in the books. I feel pretty good about what I ate today, but unfortunately I made a bad decision that I may regret later in the night. I've decided that my punishment will be no more eating for the rest of the night, and I'm going to brush my teeth right after I write this just to prove to myself that I ain't kiddin' around. So, without further adieu, here's what I ate today with the calories that I can count:

BREAKFAST (365)
1 Fruit / Protein smoothie (~265 calories total)
- 1/2 cup blueberries (~40 calories)
- 1/2 cup blueberry pomegranate juice (25 calories)
- 1 scoop whey protein powder (120 calories)
- 1 light n fit yogurt (80 calories)

1 apple (100 calories)

1 Post-workout whey protein shake (120 calories)

LUNCH (436)
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast w/ 2 tbsp ketchup (~300 calories)

2/3 cup green peas (70 calories)

10 black olives (66 Calories)

DINNER (628)
1 tuna sandwich (508 calories total)
- 1/2 can tuna (135 calories)
- 2 tbsp hummus (33 calories)
- 2 slices whole wheat bread (190 calories)
- 1 onion cooked in olive oil (~150 calories)

1 corn on the cob (120 calories)

SNACKS (725)
20 strawberries with 2 packets Sweet N Low (~100 calories)

10 cucumber slices with hummus (~40 calories)

1 Piece whole wheat bread w/ 2 tbsp peanut butter (285 calories)

3 barbecue baby back ribs (300 calories??)


My Thoughts:
Today's meals equal about 2,154 calories. I'm trying to eat around 1,800, so I'm not upset that I went a little over, but in the future I'm going to try to limit my snacking because I can see that that's where the majority of my calories are coming from. For some of the items I may be rounding up slightly for the calories, but I think that it may help me limit my extra food intake and therefore help me get to 1,800 on a regular basis. As I'm typing this I know that my stomach feels full, but I can't help but think that I'll be hungry within an hour. I'm going to try to just limit myself to a glass of water or something so that I can achieve a feeling of fullness without actually eating anything. This whole counting thing should really come in handy in the long run when I'm getting to those final few pounds.

Exercise:
I'm currently doing the routines from the book "The New Rules of Lifting" and I'm on Fat Loss 1. I think that this has been working really well for me and I'm going to be moving on to Fat Loss 2 in the near future. It's nice that the routines incorporate weight training as a way to lose fat (but not necessarily weight because one can achieve fat loss without losing weight) because I want to maintain my muscle while losing the excess fat that I have. I'm really starting to enjoy my exercising and I can see myself doing it for fun in the future once I've met my weight loss goals.
 
Last edited:
After some thinking I've decided that I should work on a plan that I can trick to on a daily basis while at the same time allowing myself to be flexible regarding what I'm actually eating. In turn, I've developed this system to help me stick to 1,800 Calories per day.

9:00 AM - 300 Calories

12:00 PM - 300 Calories

3:00 PM - 300 Calories

6:30 PM - 600 Calories

10:00 PM - 300 Calories

I used this today and it really helped me to see what 300 Calories really is. For instance, I, for the first time EVER, actually measure the cereal that I ate before eating it along with the milk that I used. I must have been eating about 2 servings of cereal per bowl in the past, and each meal would have 2 or 3 bowls of cereal. It's no wonder I wasn't really losing too much weight. From here on out I will be measuring all of my food so that I know exactly what I am eating. So, here's what I ate for the day:

9:00
1 serving Kashi Island Vanilla cereal with 1 cup skim milk (280)

12:00
1 piece whole wheat bread with 2 tablespoons peanut butter (280)

3:00
11 Strawberries with 1 packet Sweet N Low (50)

1.25 Cups Chocolate Cheerio's with 1 cup skim milk (250)

6:00
1 Post-workout protein shake (100)

6:30
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast with 2 tablespoons ketchup (300)

1 whole broccoli stalk (100)

10:00
1 can Campbell's Select Harvest Mexican Style Chicken Tortilla Soup (280)

MY THOUGHTS
Today's meals put me at about 1,640 Calories for the entire day, and I feel nice and full as I'm currently typing this up on the computer. It's nice to be able to cut back on intake while still maintaining some feeling of fullness, which is why I'm going to continue to spread my meals out throughout the day. One think that I'd like to do is up my intake of veggies because I'm clearly lacking a little in that category. Otherwise, I'm pretty happy with how the day went and I'm looking forward to another good day tomorrow.

DAILY EXERCISE
Today at the gym I did the workout Fat Loss 1B from the book I previously mentioned. It, in my opinion, is harder than workout A, and I left the gym with a great sense of accomplishment and a shirt soaked in sweat. I don't think that there's any better feeling that walking out of the gym with sweat dripping everywhere after a long, satisfying workout. Only two more workouts left before I move on to Fat Loss 2, and I pleased to say that I can't wait.
 
Slim Jim,

Great work in identifying the fact that you need to

1) Eat under budget to lose weight

2. Exercise

You need to figure out how many calories your body needs for energy balance and eat a few hundred calories less than that. By knowing your weight, height, age, gender, activity level, you can figure out what your balance point is. What is it for you?

Frank
 
dobner said:
You need to figure out how many calories your body needs for energy balance and eat a few hundred calories less than that. By knowing your weight, height, age, gender, activity level, you can figure out what your balance point is. What is it for you?
Click to expand...

Frank - I have listed my info below. I've typed my information into numerous websites and they all tell me that I should be eating over 3,000 Calories per day. That seems like an awful lot of food to me, but then again it could just be my limited experience in the world of weight loss.

Male
17 years old (18 in a couple of weeks)
6'1"
210 LBS
Exercise at least 6 days per week

I ate a little bit more than I would have liked today but it was all healthy food so I don't think it was so bad for me. I was really trying to up my protein intake and also eat some more vegetables, which I was able to accomplish with a slight Calorie increase. Here's what I ate today:

9:00
1.5 cups Chocolate Cheerio's with 1 cup skim milk (290)

12:00
2 slices whole wheat bread, 4 oz thin sliced turkey breast, 1 tbsp honey mustard, 3 pieces lettuce (300)

3:00
1 can tuna, 1.5 tbsp light mayo, 1/2 chopped red onion, 4 lettuce wraps (300)

6:30
2 slices whole wheat bread, 2 tbsp peanut butter, 2 tbsp grape jelly (470)
2/3 cup green peas (70)
10 strawberries with 1 packet Sweet N Low (50)

9:30
1.5 boneless, skinless chicken breast (400)
Misc roasted veggies / pineapple (100)

MY THOUGHTS
Today's meals total 1,980 Calories. I thought it would be a lot more while I was eating it, but it doesn't seem so bad as I look back on it. I guess it felt worse because I didn't exercise today, but I really think that my body deserved a day of rest after working out for 5 straight days. I was able to take a great nap and rest up so that I can get right back to the gym tomorrow and have a great workout. I finished off the peanut butter with my sandwich that I had for dinner tonight, and I think I'm going to try going a few days without it so that I can prove to myself that I'm not addicted to it. I'm not sure how much healthier it could be, but I may look into buying some peanuts and making my own peanut butter so that there aren't any additives in it. All in all, I think I had a pretty decent day and I'm looking forward to getting right back at it tomorrow.
 
Today was a tough day for dieting. I completely forgot that I had a scholarship reception to go to, and on top of that I also had to go and buy some new clothes because none of my old ones fit me anymore (it's a good thing!!). I didn't really know what to expect while clothes shopping because I can't really see any dramatic chance in my body shape, but I can now fit into a 34 waist (from a 38 back in February), so obviously something is working! This experience has made me feel really good about myself and it is a reminder of why I am currently doing what I am doing. I try not to think of cutting Calories as a way of torture because I know that my hard work will all pay off in the long run. Since my diet was so out of whack today, I'm going to let myself off the hook and not count my calories (even though they shouldn't be that bad.

9:00
2 whole eggs + 2 egg whites, 1 Light N Fit peach yogurt

1:30
12" Oven Roasted Chicken Breast Sub from Subway
-Italian Bread
-Chicken
-Lettuce
-Onions
-Black Olives
-Spinach
-Cucumbers
-Sweet Onion Sauce

4:15
4 slices of thinly sliced honey roasted turkey breast

((Shopping for new clothes and scholarship reception - no time for regular meals))

9:00
3/4 Chicken Breast cooked in teriyaki glaze
1 cup whole grain brown rice

10:00
1 Light N Fit peach yogurt with 3/4 cup oats / granola cereal
2 bowls Chocolate Cheerio's in 1.5 cups skim milk (yes, the big bowls :( )

MY THOUGHTS
Overall it was not a terrible day considering my hectic schedule, but I definitely could have done better regarding my late-night snacking. I think that the only reason I feel slightly bad about it is because I was once again unable to get in any actual exercise today. On top of the weird schedule, I wanted to give my lower back some time to rest after a vigorous workout on Tuesday. I've had lower back injuries before and all I can say is that they are NO fun and I hope I never have to deal with one again. That being said, I'm kind of glad that I took another day off because the LAST thing I want to do is hurt my lower back.

I really like eating at Subway, but I don't think that it can really be considered healthy considering that there's so much bread and the chicken is highly processed. It does, however, taste pretty darn good and I didn't even get cheese on it (I also got regular Italian bread instead of Italian Herbs and Cheese). In order to fit the giant sub into my diet plan I just combined my lunch calories and my post-lunch snack calories, which is why it is not such a big deal in my mind. Whatever the case may be, it's all said and done and I'm looking forward to getting back on track tomorrow.
 
The Cavaliers suck. Moving on, I had a pretty good day today and I finally got back into the gym after a nice 2 day break. Life is getting harder without peanut butter, and I'm turning to foods that I wouldn't normally eat if I had peanut butter in the cupboard. I can't think of much else to talk about right now (did I mention that the Cavs suck?), so here's what I ate today:

9:00 (244)
2 eggs + 2 egg whites (194)
10 strawberries with 1 packet Sweet N Low (50)

12:00 (310)
1 Lean Ham Steak (250)
4 tbsp ketchup (60)

3:00 (280)
1 Planter's peanut, almond and cranberry bar (160)
2 Pudding cups (120)

6:00 (100)
1 Post-workout protein shake (100)

6:30 (610)
~8 ounces lean ground beef cooked on George Forman to remove fat (~340)
2 slices whole wheat bread (180)
4 tbsp ketchup (60)
1/2 red onion and 4 pieces lettuce (30)
2 pickles (0)

9:00 (365)
1 Pudding cup (60)
10 strawberries with 2 packets Sweet N Low (55)
1 can chicken noodle soup (150)
? thinly sliced turkey breast (100?)

MY THOUGHTS
Things that I ate too much of today: pudding, ketchup, and sodium in general. I did eat a lot of protein, too, but that's definitely not a bad thing considering I had a really good workout today (more on that later...). Calories from ketchup can really add up if you don't pay attention, and it's important to keep track of how much you eat because it can make up a substantial amount of calories in a diet. I felt like I ate too much today, but it doesn't seem so bad as I look back on it now.

DAILY EXERCISE
After being out of the gym for 2 straight days, I was really considering keeping the streak alive by taking a nice long nap to eat up my free afternoon. Instead, I opted to head for the gym to complete my second-to-last workout of Fat Loss 1. It was really warm in the gym today (it was unusually hot here in Cleveland), so I got a nice sweat worked up and I was pumped up all throughout my workout. I can't wait to go back tomorrow and put Fat Loss 1 behind me so that I can move on to the more challenging and intense workouts that lie ahead in Fat Loss 2. This both excites me and scares me because I'll be getting a more intense workout, but at the same time that may lead me to have an increased hunger. I guess I'll worry about it when it actually happens.
 
Today was a good day... until I cheated.

I don't want to relive the horror, so I'll lust leave it at that and move on to tomorrow.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top