New Year, new habits

lunch was cheesy salmon pie (338). Also had a 111 cal philly pack and a packet of crisps (87)

+ my own home made philly pack - 7 mini breadsticks (= 7 x 7 = 49 cal) + a philly mix (15g light philly (19) and 15g quark (11) + 10g salmon (20)) = 50 cal

Total = 100 cal

Total today = 903 (yikes). Technically I have 300 cal left though I may add another 100 because it is the weekend!
 
ended up eating my breakfast at 1pm (after going for a 1 hr 10 min jog) so have a lot of calories left over. Did some digging and found out that KFC chicken drumstick = 162 cal. So had two drumsticks and some salad for a mid evening snack (334)
 
535 cal left.

I realised that I don't log everything that I eat and drink consistently. I don't bother with logging side salad generally because it's just plain spinach leaves and it comes to about 10 cal per half pack and I eat half a pack with most meals when I remember.

I also don't track diet drinks.I dont drink many but diet cordial or certain diet drinks - as long as they are not going over 50 cal a day I don't bother tracking. When I am closer to my target weight, I will get more aggressive with it.

Gonna have a cheesy spinach pie for dinner. Have been looking at recipes and think I'm going to go to Chinatown tomorrow to buy some wonton wrappers to make pumpkin ravioli.
 
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Hey,
you post a ton and don't really have that many comments. That happens to me as well, but I know how good it feels when finally someone does comment. So here I am!

I am in a similar position as you, I am 25 (on tuesday actually), lived in London (I am now in Barcelona though) and I had about 45 pounds to lose. I am just about past halfway, it has been a long and interrupted journey but a good one in which I learned a ton. I quite admire you for running in London in this weather, I was just over visiting some friends and man was it cold. I could barely stand being outside!
I like how you are managing meals, I am doing it in a similar manner as I have no time to cook at lunchtime and I am too tired to cook much for dinner either (I work, study and dance almost every day so I am out of the house for 12-14 hours a day). However I live with too many people and our freezer is stuffed, so I cannot freeze stuff. I should really ask them to move their age old crap out of there but I am the "new flatmate" and I'd rather not get into fights.

One little thing I noticed, your calories are a bit low. I have to say, I am not an expert (though there are several on this board) but 1200 is already the absolute minimum, so it gives you no leeway. If you hit a plateau you would not be able to reduce it further, which I am always afraid of. I try to eat around 1500 and still managed to lose consistently 25 pounds, albeit slowly, but did not put them back on in the year and a half since I lost them, which is so important. It is your food and your lifestyle and everyone has to find their own way, but just something for you to think about. They say do your BMR, then with that calculate your daily caloric expenditure and then substract about 500. In my case for example I expend about 2200 cals a day, so I can eat up to 1700 and would still lose so, with an aprox. 1500 a day I am pretty much there and I am smaller than you and probably similarly active so yours would probably be even higher!
Again this is just a suggestion, for me weight control is all about knowledge, the more I know the better I can control my weight. So even if you chose to ignore this tidbit of information, you should at least know it I think.
Also if you are undereating your body will tire so much faster and you will need more rest days or even be unable to continue living this way. I always thought the less I eat the better but I actually am happiest and therefore more prone to be active when I eat a big more, which then leads to me losing more weight.

Well, I will stop rambling now, Have a wonderful sunday tomorrow, Camy
 
hi!
you're doing so well, keep up the good work :)
but how do you manage to jog for 1 hour and 1/2....I went jogging today and I couldn't stnd more than 30 minutes. I'm amazed.
 
Hi guys,

I never get any comments normally so two comments at once is :party:

amsterdam

Thanks so much for the encouragement! My tip: get a good workout soundtrack. It doesn't have to be dance music. I am right now listening to the Glee soundtrack when I run. I don't want to stop running because I'm enjoying it so much. When I hear a song I like, I download it and listen to it and that keeps my workouts fresh.
 
Camy

So good to meet someone in a similar position to me (so jealous that you are in Barcelona!) I'm gonna make sure I post on your thread and hopefully we can encourage each other. I know what you mean about the fridge btw, I lived in a group house about a year ago and there was just no space to make a ton of meals. I live with one other person now and we have a spare freezer otherwise I think I'd still be screwed.

My aim is to really get to the point where I can roughly make meals with correct portions without having to measure. So hopefully I'll get to that point.

Good luck with your weight loss!
 
Way too few calories plus a late night last night means I feel terrible today. Gonna try to eat 1400 and go to bed early tonight.


TWO WEEK REVIEW

The key to making this work is continuous review, not just rigid rules. So far I've learnt some things.

Camy - your comment made some sense to me. Not because of a hypothetical plateau because I'm not sure I believe in plateaus). But looking at my actual rmr and how much weight I've lost so far without that much pain and gain makes me think I can relax my calorie guidelines slightly. I've been aiming for 1200 but often going lower not on purpose but because on weekends esp I eat fewer meals anyway.. When I go lower I feel awful. I think 1200 has to be my floor. I'm gonna aim for 1400 daily and try to max out at 1450. If I gain tons of weight next week then it's not that big a deal - it will just come off a touch slower. Also I'm not sure how big a difference it can make. Eating 1400 instead of 1200 means 200+ per day, 1400 per week so 1 pound less every 2-3 weeks. That is still low i know but I think it is doable long term. I can always raise 100 cal later on and up exercise. I think my maintenance cals are about 2500 a day so - 1000 is where I need to live to get my 2lb a week weight loss.

So how am I gonna do this well? One of the issues I think has been that my main meals are fairly tight in calories - 300 ish - and so my main meals plus breakfast = 867. I make up the other 350ish in snacks. I'm not changing this as a principle because I am a snacker and I need to build that into my diet. What I think I am gonna do though is up the cal content of my main meals to about 1200 overall. So up my meals to about 350 - 400 each day. I'm also gonna add a post run banana in the morning = roughly 1200. Then I'm gonna aim to hit about 200 in snacks.I've been able to stick to my cals and not be hungry for a fortnight now. I've lost 10 pounds and 7.5 inches over my body. I think that I've learned in some way what my body likes and doesnt like. I also haven't really worked my body to exhaustion at all. I haven't been sick or trembling after a workout. I can still talk. The main problem is that while my legs are taking all the load (and reducing accordingly) the rest of my body is not getting as thorough a workout. I think that's why I haven't lost any inches on my upper arms but I've lost 2 inches off my hips and an inch off my thighs. So am biting the bullet and joining a gym. On the days I don't jog, I'm gonna row? Or something. Cross training. Hopefully this is gonna mean that my upper body gets more toned more quickly and also gives a metabolic kickstart this week to offset the extra calories I'll be eating.

And I think re the diet I'm doing well enough. I've tried to substitute snacks for lower cal ones and that has worked really well.im trying to find specific types of snack so i can eat what i am actually craving. So weightwatchers mini choc bites have been a revelation for when I want chocolate. When I want something sweet - mini milks or satsumas. When I want something savoury - mini breadsticks and low fat cheese. Am looking for other things as well. I know the standard tack is to suggest almonds or some 'healthy snack' but I don't think it will work. I have never in my whole life craved nuts and so eating them would be beside the point. The key to snacking for me is substitution. So instead of cream crackers or pretzels (which I love) breadsticks. Low fat cheese for cheddar . Mini choc bites for chocolate bars. Satsumas are the only fruit I really enjoy unconditionally. I like many others a lot but generally I need to be in the mood for them.

I think I'm at the stage where I can add in some multivitamins. This is normally a problem for me. I've never been able to make them work. For the last few days I've been taking cod liver oil and glucosamine. I'm taking them when I get back from my jog and I'm going to add a multivitamin to that. Apparently they make a real difference and I'm trying to do the best for my body that I can.

So the new regime:

1400 cal per day
Meals of 400 + 400 + 267 = 1067
Snacks = 333

Exercise: every day exercise. Either running or going to the gym. Pilates as well.

Multivitamins every day.
 
Today
As well as breakfast (331) ate a moussaka from the sainsburys (550 cal). Also a maple syrup pancake from the tescos (105) and a large banana (135).

Total for the day = 1121
total left: 279
 
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Then ate 2 minimilks (62) and a choc brownie (29)

Then tons of snacks off the meals that I made for the week

So in total about 1400

Did no exercise because I was late for church!
 
Ok first day of the second fornight. It apparently takes a month to form a habit so we are getting closer to that at least.

Today is the first day of my new regime and so far it hasn't gone great (but I am not sweating it!). I rested again today - I was tired and thought I'd rather get a good night's sleep. I also had crazy work meetings all morning so I couldn't eat breakfast. So I am 300 calories down food wise and 600 or so down exercise wise. I may go for a walk tonight but honestly, I have salsa and then Glee is on so...

I have booked my gym induction however and I will be going out tomorrow morning for a long run. I am going to test this new regime for two weeks and compare the weight loss and how I feel and make a judgment.
 
Lol spoke too soon!

Gym induction clashes with pilates and the soonest they can do is in a fortnight! So will have to do some basic exercises but no proper cross training for a fortnight :cuss:

And checked the content of my meals and they are:

- Moussaka - 328 (still low)
- Fish pie - 396
- Broccoli cheese - 350
- Cottage pie - 466

Ugh - had the spare calories so thought I would have something I've just wanted to eat for ages and ages - so had a pack of mini creme eggs (245). Huge mistake. Sugar low is killing me. Like practically spots behind the eyes type stuff. Had a sandwich (213) to take the edge off and am drinking lots of water but may have to ride this out.

Total so far: 786. 614 left which I probably will need for the pub. Will drink a diet coke or something else low cal. crap.

And of course, now I'm meant to be going to the pub today! So that could get quite expensive. Definitely have to run tomorrow.
 
So went to the pub and did not do that well food wise. Is it bad that I don't feel that bad about it? I've been good so far every day and while I definitely went over my calories, I dont feel like I went over by 1000s of calories or anything. I had half a sandwich on my way from work cos I was still on a sugar low (107 cal). At the pub I had one jd and diet coke (70 cal) and one jd and coke (200 prob). Asked for diet but got regular and didn't want to make a fuss. Also ate 3 little chocolates a friend brought over - let's optimistically say 100 cal each. By now we've reached pretty close to my limit for the day. I also had half a small bowl of chips(?) with some mayo on them. They were fat chips not skinny but could be 300 cals easily. First time I've really gone over my limits since I started.

I will get up early tomorrow and do at least an 1 hr jogging. I know I should feel bad like I failed but I don't really. I think that in order for this to work forever it has to survive the occasional slip. Honestly I feel a bit happy. I didn't order anything too bad (usually get nachos) and only ate 1/2 a small bowl. Also jd and diet coke - 70 cals apparently. Brilliant. I feel completely full. Hilarious though. Haven't slipped for two weeks and now the week in which the new year challenge is counting calories, then I go over.

In fact if I hadn't had the evil chocs this morning I would not really be that bothered. That is the only issue with raising your calorie intake - leaves way less room for messing around. If your intake is at 1200 then you can mess up a few hundred cals before you are approaching a surplus. The higher you are the more careful you have to be. I'd think I'd rather be low than careful but I promised to give this new regime two weeks.

Got home and weighed - 202.8. Insanely happy with that. That's 10 pounds in 2 weeks and that has held for a few days now. I've decided to just weigh twice a week - thurs for the challenges and mon. This isn't really that much of a challenge. I just don't remember to do it at the same times and then it isn't consistent. This way I will be more consistent. I would love to hit 200 this week but I think maybe Friday at a push. In my own mind I was hoping to hit the 190s by mid next week.

When I get to 199.2 - basically that would be a stone gone. It would be 1/5 of the weight gone. I've budgeted about 7 months of hard dieting for this diet. Not just to get to 150. I'm gonna diet hard to where I feel happy and then spend July and august hopefully in maintenance in time to move at the end of august. So so far I think I've done well. I think it's important to be firm but not crazy with yourself. Everything I'm doing I think I could do forever - is completely sustainable.

I totally agree with camy that knowledge is the key here. Because life is not about being afraid of food and feeling miserable in order to be thin, right? It's weird but I am now feeling freer. I generally have more energy, feel less crappy after eating and clothes are fitting better. But also getting the calorie info means that I dont feel despair after eating 'off plan' because I know roughly what I am eating even if it is high cal. Like ordinarily I would feel like a McDonalds and think 'eating badly is eating badly'. But a McDs could be 1500 cal+ whereas this was prob max 400 cal over.
 
Just a reminder to myself for later - want to change up my exercise program in two weeks - begin cross training

Then in another 4 weeks - HIIT
 
Pooey - slept through my alarm and only jogged for 15 min this morning. On the plus side I did it much faster than normal. Sweating and a bit more out of breath. It's quite interesting how quickly your aerobic capacity (?) increases.

Anyway today I have eaten all of my food so far

banana = 135
porridge = 267
cottage pie = 466
3 choc bites = 87

have 445 left so will have Moussaka and a snack I think.

Or sausages (210) and mash (120) and onion gravy (80?) plus a mini milk (30?)

This website is amazing btw -
 
For 10 pounds of weight loss

You entered 10 pounds (5 kilograms).

10 pounds is the average weight of 4.83 quarts of water.


How Much Fuel Is That?
To lose that amount of fat would mean to burn 35,000 calories or 146,440 KiloJoules! That is the equivalent of 1.13 gallons of gasoline. Humans, however, are far more efficient than cars, getting about 912 "miles to the gallon". If you could dump this many calories into the tank of a Honda Civic, you would be able to drive it about 38 miles before running out of gas!

Let's see how your goal would convert to other forms of fuel. 35,000 calories is equivalent to:

1.13 gallons of gasoline, or
12.54 pounds of coal, or
17.44 pounds of oven-dried wood, or
1.53 gallons of propane
This amount of energy would ...

Brew about 98 pots of coffee, or
Light a 60-watt light bulb for 678 hours ( 28 days = 0.13 years)

Cutting 35,000 calories is the same as saying "no" to:
438 apples, or
350 bananas, or
2,059 cups of cabbage (whew!), or
241 baked potatoes, or
438 large eggs, or
292 cups of 2% milk, or
25 pounds of ground beef, or
402 glasses of wine, or
108 Snickers bars, or
146 Clif Bars ( 194 Luna Bars), or
252 cans of Coke, or
206 pints of Guinness beer, or
71 Big Macs, or
68 Quarter Pounders with Cheese, or
50 Whoppers, or
106 Subway 6" Oven Roasted Chicken Breast sandwiches, or
206 Taco Bell crunchy tacos, or
149 slices of pepperoni pizza from Pizza Hut

What it Takes to Burn 35,000 Calories
To burn 35,000 calories, a 190 pound male would have to:

Backpack for 58 hours (2 days) nonstop, or
Walk for 134 hours (6 days) at 3 mph straight, or
Walk 402 miles (251 kilometers), or
Bike for 101 hours (4 days) at 10 mph, or
Bike 1,014 miles (634 kilometers), or
Play basketball nonstop for 56 hours 2 days), or
Play billiards for 162 hours (7 days), or
Go bowling for 135 hours (6 days), or
Stay on the golf course for 101 hours (4 days), or
Spend 45 hours (2 days) playing competitive football, or
Jump rope for 43 hours (2 days) straight!
You would have to walk the length of England about 0.73 times to burn 35,000 calories.

How Long it Will Take?
The range for safe weight loss is about 1 to 3 pounds of fat per week. It could take anywhere between 3 to 10 weeks (1 to 2 months) to safely and reasonably lose that amount of weight.
 
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