Newbie Here!

[amandelirious]

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to make a post to introduce myself. Over the past 6 years I've creeped up a whopping 51 pounds! From 115 to 166 (I'm only barely 5'1") and I hardly noticed it was happening. I'm finally ready to get back down to where I was before all of this started. I'm at a great point in my life for this. I have a loving, supportive boyfriend who is going on a bit of a health kick himself, I have a job that I love, and all in all there isn't a whole lot in life that's stressing me out right now.

I want to look better and feel better. I'm 24 now and plan on having children in a couple of years. I want to avoid unnecessary health problems later in life and when we decide the time is right to start our family, I want to actually SEE the pregnancy happen instead of having it clouded by a fat tummy!

My goal for this weight loss is the end of the year. According to FitDay, that means I need to lose 1.83 pounds each week. I think that's a pretty healthy and obtainable goal.

I'm a complete carb addict. Pizza, sandwiches, soda, and breads of any sort are always my downfall. It's not as much the foods themselves as it is portion control. I can't have a slice or two of pizza; I have to have five. So for right now I'm cutting all of that crap out of my diet until I can trust myself to have it responsibly. An extremely low-carb diet would definitely take off these pounds quickly, but I know it's not something I can maintain as a lifestyle so I've chosen to stick to 1200 calories or a little less per day. I'm also upping my protein a bit and trying to stick between 20% and 25% fats, mostly unsaturated. I've switched to diet soda only and have cut back to one or two a day. I'd like to eventually eliminate soda completely, but I really want to start with small steps so that I don't overwhelm myself and just fall back into my old habits, which is what has always happened in the past.

I'm doing a 30 minute pilates video at home 2-3 times a week and I've joined a gym which I'm using for cardio 3-4 times a week right now for about 30 minutes each time. The temptation to push myself for more is there, but I want to work my way up slowly so that my exercise habits, like my food habits, become something I can sustain.

Any insight and help here would be greatly appreciated. I feel like I have so much to lose, but I'm really trying to stick with it this time. I've been sticking with this plan for a few days now and I do have to admit I feel better and more energized than I have in a long time. I always thought it was so cliche when I heard people say that, but I really understand now!

I guess I've rambled on enough, but I'm excited to be here. The more support, the better!

 

[madness1]

Sounds like you have a well thought out plan! It's pretty similar to mine (except I need a lot more calories since I'm 5'10"!). I had to cut out pizza all together until I got used to smaller portions. Now that I know better, I can eat just one or two pieces.

The only thing that I can think of is that you might look into adding some weight training. It really helps with weight loss.

 

[amandelirious]

Weight Training

Hi madness,

I definitely agree with you on the weight training. I'm going to be starting that next weekend. I have an appointment set up with a trainer at my gym for a design your own fitness routine session. He's going to help me with learning how to use the machines and how much weight, how many reps, and when I should step it up a notch. I don't want to do anything until then just because I've never done any sort of weight training before and I already have moderate sciatica so I want to be sure I'm doing it properly to avoid injury.

I talked with a nutritionist today too and she said that anything below 1200 calories can be potentially harmful so she said to shoot for between 1200 and 1500. I can easily live with that and to be honest, I don't mind if my weight loss is a little slow. I'm not trying to lose 10 or 20 pounds a month. I know that's unrealistic and I've heard time and time again that trying to lose more than a pound or two a week makes it much more likely that you'll gain the weight back.

Back to the weight training, I've heard that the way the body builds muscle is by tearing the muscle and having it repair itself with more muscle tissue. Do you know if this is true? There's so much conflicting information sometimes I don't know which way is up. I guess I'll have a long talk with the trainer I'm meeting with to determine what is the safest and best way to achieve my goals.