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BlondieGal84

New member
Hi all!! I'm new to this whole blogging thing, so please refrain from reading the next few paragraphs!!

I'm a 23 year old nursing student who has struggled with my weight my whole life. From the time I was very little I was very conscious of my weight, and attended my first weight loss camp at age 10 before entering the 6th grade. My mother and father were both overweight while I was growing up, and I grew up in a household where the term "diet" was in everyone's vocabulary. I attended weight loss camp again at age 13 before entering high school, and attended for another 3 years until high school was over. I loved going, in fact, it was the best experience of my whole life. I met the best friends I have ever had, and was able to be myself for the only time during the year. I was very shy as a child and it wasn't until I attended a camp where there were other heavy kids that I really felt comfortable.

There were pros and cons to going to camp. I have already listed the major pro, the only con: I gained all my weight back and then some every school year. It was humiliating and I felt like I let my parents and myself down.

I think it is safe to say I have been dieting my whole life. Always on or off some new diet was just a way of life for me and my family. It wasn't until I went away to college that I was able to choose for myself what to eat and wat not to eat, and I didn't make the best choices. But here I am, almost 6 years later, and I am the heaviest I have ever been.

I made the decision that enough was enough. I am doing things differently now. I want the weight to come off, and I want to keep it off. That is the main reason why I joined this forum. I was support that I don't have at home. I want a support group of people who are going through the same things as me right now.

Any tips, tricks, good recipes, or exercising plans are welcome!!

Here is my plan so far:
Drink as much water as possible. I have a water bottle that holds 750 ml, so I drink at least two of those a day

exercising at least 60 min/day on the treadmill...trying to burn at least 500 cals/day

I don't have a plan as to how many cals I should be eating. I am estimating about 1200 depending on how much I work out that day.

Other than that, I'm really just winging everything. Anyone with additional advice? Love to hear it!!
 
Hi, and welcome. Congratulations on deciding "enough is enough." I know how that goes.

Water is good, you should probably try to drink at least 90 ounces a day, and more if you're exercising regularly.

1200 calories a day is pretty low. You should figure out your BMR and go from there. Read some of the stickies concerning calories/calorie intake.

You should look into incorporating weight training/resistance training with that aerobic activity. I don't mean that you should hold weights while you're on the treadmill, I just mean you should be doing both aerobic activity and anaerobic activity.

Remember to rest.

-Tamara
 
BlondieGal84 said:
I don't have a plan as to how many cals I should be eating. I am estimating about 1200 depending on how much I work out that day.
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Estimating based on anything in particular? Or just picking a random number? suggests more like 2,000 calories a day.

You need a plan you can live with, day in and day out, for the rest of your life. Not one that's unrealistic to the point of unmaintainable.
 
Thanks!!

Thanks for all the feedback so quickly guys!!

Tamara- I have found that my BMR is about 1800, so I thought 1200 was a good starting point. I also have to incorporate carbs into my daily intake since I am a diabetic, and eating a meal with minimum cals and high carbs just isn't an option for me. so I am eating lots of veggies and protein, not cutting out carbs completely, because that is just insane! Thanks for the tip on weight training. I have started doing that about every other day!

Ally- I think 2000 is too much for me! I know I sound crazy, but I feel like its just too much food. I'm struggling to get in 1200 every day since I have to watch my carb intake.

Merry- I'm definitly eating throughout the day...just eating when I'm hungry, and stopping when I'm full...which is a feet in and of itself for me!! But yeah, starving myself to save cals just won't work, then you end up going off and eating everything in sight!

Thanks again every one!!
 
BlondieGal84 said:
I have found that my BMR is about 1800, so I thought 1200 was a good starting point.

I think 2000 is too much for me! I know I sound crazy, but I feel like its just too much food. I'm struggling to get in 1200 every day since I have to watch my carb intake.
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If your BMR is 1,800, and you plan to exercise to the tune of 500 calories a day, and you plan to go on with normal everyday activities (which at your weight adds at least another ~400 calories per day), that means you need 2,700 calories to maintain your current weight.

Eating 1,200 calories a day when you're burning 2,700 is likely to leave you miserable before too long. A 1,500-calorie-per-day deficit is essentially 3 pounds a week; 1% of your body weight (which is generally considered "reasonable" puts you at 2.4 pounds a week. That 0.6 pounds doesn't sound like a huge amount, but it translates to an extra 300 calories a day, or 25% more food for you.

As far as "I can't eat that much" -- no offense (and I seriously am not trying to offend you), but you didn't get to your current weight by eating at a few hundred calories a day below maintenance. I know I sure didn't get to my high weight (twice! :banghead: ) by eating below maintenance.

That said, if you're eyeballing and estimating (as opposed to, for instance, eating prepackaged, preportioned food with a known calorie count), I think you've got much less of an issue.
 
...

whoa! Thanks for all that info! like i said earlier, I'm trying to burn 500 cals/day during exercise....trying being the key word. There are days when I burn only 300.

I know I said that 2000 is too much for me...but its too much for me now. Before I started this new lifestyle, I was eating crap. So while I was eating crappy food, it was the same amount in weight i guess you could say. I'm trying to eat a lot healthier, and that means bulking up a lot of my food with veggies and fruit and protein, instead of oreos and chicken fingers and french fries. does that make any sense? I feel like I am eating a larger amount of food, but the food I am eating is more nutrient dense, and therefore, it takes a larger amount of food to add up calories to 2000. Thanks for all the advice. I'm trying to eat some more food, and giving myself more options.

Also, I'm counting EVERYTHING. If I can't find out the caloric content, I won't eat it. I know it sounds a bit crazy, but for right now, I need to know what is going in. Maybe later I can be a little bit more relaxed with the calorie counting, but that is when I'm more familiar with portion sizes.

I will definitely give what you said more consideration and try to add some more cals to my diet, I dont want to go crazy!!

Thanks
-Laur
 
Merry Maiden said:
do you have any suggestions/ideas of food that is higher in fat and protein, but low in carbs? My target precentage of my daily diet is approx. 20% from carbs, 30% protein, and 50% fat. I find that on the Fitday food analysis, I usually get enough carbs and not alot of fat.
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Meat, eggs, and full-fat dairy. Avocado maybe. Nuts are going to end up too high-carb if you're already getting all the carbs you want. Flax - most of its carbs are fiber.

My sister was doing low-carb at one point, and she mostly ate raw veggies, veggies sauteed in olive oil, and meat. I know she had a low-carb-specific forum she hung out on to get ideas - I think it even had a tracker for making sure you got the ratios you were aiming for. So you might Google for something like that.
 
Merry Maiden said:
Since you are following a low carb/ diabetic diet like me, do you have any suggestions/ideas of food that is higher in fat and protein, but low in carbs? QUOTE]

Honestly, I don't think one fruit is better than another in terms of carbohydrate content. Obviously the bigger the fruit, the more carbs and sugar it will have. Because I am diabetic, I have a set amount of carbs for meals and snacks, and I don't go over that. If I am going to have fruit with a meal, I take that into consideration with what else I am eating, and make sure to have less carbs in other foods so that the whole meal totals a certain number of carbs.

As for foods that are low in carbs...I love these bran crackers. I am not sure of the name, so I can get back to you on that, but they are like almost 100% fiber, so in terms of net carbs they don't count, and its just like eating a cracker, without the carbs. Also, I love to have laughing cow cheese with celery. Its only like 1g of carbs for one wedge, and they come in different flavors, super yummy! I also like the traditional celery with peanut butter, and also celery with hummus. As you can tell, I love celery!! But the hummus is lower in carbs, and has the protein and fat you are looking for!

Hope I was some help!
Laur
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Welcome again

I am somewhat in your shoes. I am 25 with lots of work/school stress. I go up and down ridiculously with my weight.

I am back on the running bandwagon and use the sight for motivation
 
Hi Blondiegal, welcome! I know it's hard to keep your calories at a certain number when you are not eating fast food or carbs. Try eating smaller sizes, every few hours if possible and drink plenty of water. I know this is hard, too. I notice the more water I drink the fuller I am, but I am losing weight slowly, by eating better and exercising. Try mixing up your caloric intake, meaning one day at 1400, one day at 1500 or what ever your intake should be and go from there. You do not want to go into starvation mode. I found that a lot of information is out there and none are the same. Just remember too believe in yourself and the lbs. will come off. Good luck!
 
thanks!!

thanks for all the motivation guys!! I am doing my best with counting and water. I am drinking about 48 oz. every day, about 1.5 L. And my counting everything is good. i did go out to eat last night, I ate sushi with my sister...so counting was hard, but I made sure to pick out all the right things, which isn't that difficult at a Japanese restaurant!! I'm also trying to eat more cals, but with healthier foods, which is hard....any one have good snack ideas?

laurie
 
Try looking for Wasa Crackers... they're a high fiber cracker made from all natural ingredients -big and substantial... the sourdough flavor is quite tasty.., and are good with cream cheese, or laughing cow cheese, or anything creamy - with some sliced veggies on top -makes for a subtantial snack...

anything really can be a snack - grill up some chicken breasts and leave them in the fridge then use them in whole wheat pita breads or high fiber tortilla wraps..
 
BolondieGal84:

You mentioned that you count all your calories. Awesome! So do I. If you are being as mindful as you say you are, I suggest you get a scale (One that measures in grams and ounces would be ideal, though weight in grams is more accurate.) and ditch the spoons and cups. Many times, the amount a person measures using cups will be more than the serving size, so using a scale is so much more accurate. Before I tossed the cups I think I was eating anywhere from 100-300 more calories per day than I thought. That can add up to 2100 more calories per week, which equals 3/5 of a pounds of fat.

Just my two cents.

-Tamara
 
Here are a few good snack foods, try almonds, yogurt, apples w/peanut butter, pears, pita w/hummus, V8 juice, etc. Weighing your food instead of using measurements sounds like a great idea! Might have to get one of those.
 
Yea...I just bought a real fancy scale. Its quite amusing to use, and it tracks everythign I eat for the day. Plus, its very easy to transport so I bring it back and from from work to home. Great investment. Thanks for the tip on weighing everything, I never though of doing that!!

Laur
 
Merry Maiden said:
I ate raisin bran the other day, and it said I had not met any percentage of my fiber intake.
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Nah, it said you didn't get any percent of your calories from fiber, because it counts fiber as having zero calories. Likewise, if it says 10% next to saturated fat, that means 10% of your calories from the day came from saturated fat, not that you only got 10% of the saturated fat that you should get.

As an FYI, if you add up the calories in the top section, and compare to the calories in the bottom section, they won't match, because the top counts fiber as zero. The bottom counts fiber as caloric for foods in the database, but mostly noncaloric for custom foods. It's weird. But hey, it's free, so what are ya gonna do?

I don't get so much fiber in a day, and don't hold myself to a strict enough caloric goal, that I pay attention to whether fiber "counts" either for carbs or for calories. If you low-carb, fiber generally doesn't count as a carb. I have no clue whether they count as carbs for diabetic purposes.
 
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