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poplolly

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Hi!

This is my first time on a site like this but just looking round it seems to be pretty amazing and I think I'm gonna need to muster up all the willpower in the world so this is a great resource.

I'm 24 years old, 5'7' and I weigh 200 pounds. I wasn't a heavy child or anything and to be honest I was just lazy with poor eating habits so once I took control of my own eating (16+ to college) and stopped compulsory school sports my weight just slowly increased (beer + pizza!) then I gained a lot of weight my final year of college. Just grazing when doing exam revision really. I tend to gain all over (huge boobs) so I didn't really notice. I have pretty much maintained that weight since college. I know I should lose the weight and my family have been bugging me to go on a diet. The truth is I keep putting it off cos I like my food and I'm not a big exercise person.

But since my weight hasn't gone up at all in two years, and I still eat crap - McDonalds etc, I figured if I just really focus on it this year, I can lose all the weight I gained through exercise and still enjoy my food. I'm also back to grad school in Sept and don't want to gain any more weight while I'm there.

So I'm crossing my fingers and really tackling it once and for all. All the stuff on the site is so useful and interesting so thank you for even your help so far

I feel like short and sweet may be the best option for me and so am looking to combine a lot of jogging with an extremely restricted calorie diet. My goal is 135 pounds and I'm looking to do it by July. So if anyone is looking to buddy up, that would be awesome!

Thanks for listening!
 
whooh! you are looking at about 11 pounds a month =T mmm... its possible but definitely not going to be easy...

lets see... you should definitely calculate your BMR... which you can google a calculator for that... mmm it will help you determine how many calories you burn daily on your own...

then you need to decide how much of a calorie deficit you want to create... mmm i wouldnt go under 1300 calories or soo...

and then make sure you dont work out too strenuously in the beginning because ive found that i give up easier when i try to change too many things at once =P

good luck with jogging =P have you been doing that for a while?! i usually walk 4+ miles a day... and i will slowly add in more jogging as i become more fit...

hope i helped you^^ good luck and see you around the forums =D
 
Hi Angelica!

Yeah, I know it sounds drastic but I think it would be better for me than committing to something very long term. I'd rather get into a routine and be maintaining by the time I get to school.

According to a calculator my BMR is 1731.8. If I go to about 1000 or so, plus exercise I think I will be fine. I don't jog much but I have been living in NY the past year and I've walked everywhere. So I'm used to walking a lot for a long time and that's fine. I'm sure if I kick it up a bit it will hurt at first but I'm only 24 so probably the best for me.

I know it sounds drastic but I really feel like drastic plus quick results may help me not give up more than an incredibly long term plan. But speak to me in 2 weeks!!

I'm not even starting my weight loss plan til Feb 1st because I have 2 job application deadlines and 2 school application deadlines on Monday. So am sleeping terribly and staring at a computer screen all day. On the plus side I am walking and eating about 1400 calories. So will take the rest of this week to ease in.
 
well you know... i have officially lost 10 pounds in 2 and a half weeks =P sooo i promise you will lose alot at first lol... but it will definitely taper down after while. if only losing was that quick and easy =D but i guess by our bodies making it harder to lose than gain soo some of us will hopefully think twice before gaining it all back again lmao!!!
 
Hi Poplolly and everyone else, just joined this forum hoping for some inspiration, I have been overweight for a number of years and finally decided yesterday it is time to tackle it, will get back in touch when I've had a right good look through forum
 
Angelica,

I really enjoy your posts. You're really friendly, welcoming and an overall nice person. Kudos =)
 
Well, I'm not a fitness expert, but I've been in a similar situation to you. I remember thinking 'If it takes too long to lose the weight, it's just hopeless. I'll become discouraged because it's going to take forever, and I'll just give up.'

At the same time, I think your idea of 'too long' may be a bit much. It took me over a year to drop from 220 to 150, and it actually seemed pretty quick. Realistically, I'm not sure if I could have lost weight any faster than that - and if you can't, you may be setting yourself up for disappointment and discouragement if the weight doesn't go away as quickly as you want.

Second, trying a super restricted calorie diet has other issues. It's harder to maintain because you're eating less and you get hungrier, and your metabolism will drop down dramatically to compensate - which means that once your six month crash is over, it will be that much easier to put on the weight.

Some of it might be a matter of perspective - a year may seem like a long time, but you'll rarely hear someone say they 'only' lost 55 lbs in a year.

In any event, you may want to start tracking your calories now and try for moderate reduction to see how fast you lose. Then you can adjust from there. If you're already stressed and having trouble sleeping, freaking your body out by cutting way back on the food may not be the healthiest choice.

Good luck!
 
Hey there and welcome! You've set yourself some goals that are very aggresive, but that doesn't mean they won't be attainable.

According to my math, you are going to need a daily calorie deficit of about 1400 calories. That means at your BMR of 1732, if you eat 1000 you will still need to burn an additional 668 cals through exercise. If you eat 1200, you need to burn 868 and so on.

As you can see, this is very aggresive. But, it can be done. :) It's going to make you extremely strict on yourself.

Good luck and I hope you find a way that works for you!
 
thanks everyone

Really great posts, everyone is really helpful.

At the moment I have a ton of application deadlines and it is making me very stressed. It's just everything coming at once. I've just moved house three times in a month (!!!) and I'm not settled yet. I have to find a permanent job and finish my school apps by Monday, and I start a temping job too! Just horribly stressful really.

As for the diet how - I don't want to start and give up so I'm looking over the site and making some solid plans, buying some new trainers, and doing some walking to ease my body into exercise until next week. I ate about 1500 calories today without any actual restriction - just because there's nothing in the house really to eat. Trying to ease myself in and kick up a gear next week. That's why any advice is helpful.

I think the key for me is routine. I like cooking and I like food. Yeah I eat crap but I like baking, and I like sauces and 'dishes' and interesting food. Everyone else in my family eats the most boring food (same meal everyday) but is stick thin. Even though I'm 24 and the youngest, I design and supervise Christmas dinner for the whole family. Everyone says I'll make a great political wife one day, which I probably will. That's why I think that it is a real mistake for me to go into this trying to make 'interesting food' for myself and mess around in the kitchen a lot. It won't work. I'm creating a diet which I can just stick to so there's no thought involved. Yes it will be boring but it will be short term and so once it's done, it's done.

I'm thinking something like:

breakfast: porridge
lunch: soup
dinner: piece of meat or fish (love salmon!) + 2 cups of veg + plus 1 hash brown/cup of pasta/cup of rice
snack: 100 calories
reward: something special per every 3 days I don't use the treat.

total: 1000 - 1200? maybe less. will work it out. Already bought in 20 cans of soup.

I can probably eat that every day for six months but no longer. I agree though - there's no point talking hypothetically. I need to start up and see how my body responds. But if I feel good at a lesser size, I'm not gonna quibble about a few pounds here or there. 135 is a 21 ish BM1. But I think I might look too tiny at that weight. I mean I if I hit 150 and I feel good, I'm not gonna slit my wrists or anything. For me it's about dumping the bulk of the weight quick (happy to go from 'heavy' to 'thick' ) and then getting into good exercise routines so that I don't gain it all come grad school.
 
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