No More Excuses, I'm going to do this!

M

Munch1

New member
Hello everyone!


A little bit about me.. I'm 21 and female. Getting ready to graduate in May and get married in June. Wanting to lose about 35lbs and increase my fitness. I'm going to be calorie counting. I did this previously and lost about 8lbs. I maintainted that weight loss and am restarting at 165lbs. I know this will be a challenge with the holidays, but it's a challenge I want to overcome. I don't want to be one of those people who says they'll start at the new year. I don't have a lot of time to do this, so nows the time to get it started.


Today is Thanksgiving, but I had to work. My family is having our dinner on Saturday so I went and picked up some chinese takeout. Terrible for me I know. But other than 2 slices of ww toasts, I haven't and won't eat anything else.


I was going to go to the gym today, but was still very sore from yesterday. I wasn't even sure if my gym would be open so I just stayed home. I'm going bowling tomorrow, so that is going to be my exercise, aside from the walking I'll do at work.


Munch
 
Hi Munch!


We are about the same weight and goal :)

I started off at 194 on the first day of September, and now I am at 162. I am counting calories too...but I have found its best to eat small meals/snacks throughout the day. I know, everyone says that...but truth is, it works! so instead of eating one big meal, you should try to snack throughout the day...thats what I do, and really...its working....I am 5'4 and 23 years old. and also...FLOOD yourself with water, and nothing but water...I drink 80-100 oz of water a day, and I also eat more protein/veggies...and have almost completely cut out breads/pastas/sweets. Even with today being Thanksgiving, I just stuck to the turkey and veggies, and filled up on less than 500 calories and felt STUFFED...


and I LOVE chinese food...like crazy...but I have learned to substitute it for japanese hibatchi chicken, which is awesome, and has less calories :)


and I have learned to NOT go below 1000-1200 calories a day...thats how I gained so much weight...starvation mode...so not cool... Yea, you will lose weight quick, but it comes back +some REALLY quick...not worth it I promise :)


and I love the gym, I go everyday, even if I am sore, I still try to run on the treadmill! and I have found out for myself, that if I work out early in the morning, I dont get sore the next day!


Good luck! and stick with it! Your weight loss in your time frame is achievable!
 
Wow, you've done really well! I think I'll have to agree with you. Yesterday and today I had one big meal and have found myself munching away anyways. Tomorrow will be my Thanksgiving dinner but I think I have a plan. I'm going to go with smaller portions of everything I like. Limit myself to ONE hawaiin roll (this will be so hard!) and have ONE piece of sugar creme pie. Lots of turkey first though to fill myself up!


How did you cut out breads pasta and sweets? You must be wonderwoman! I LOVE bread and sweets... :/


Thanks for the support!


I'm not sure how to feel about today. I had two pieces of ww toast with butter for breakfast which was 140 cals. Then for my dinner I had some turkey, cornbread stuffing, two small pieces of bread, and a piece of apple pie. (leftovers from my fiances parents house) Oh, also earlier today I had a pepsi at the bowling alley. Ugh. After dinner there was a bag with some corn chips in it sitting on my desk at work. I don't even particuarly like these, but ate some anyways. I just threw them away so I'd stop eating them. Oh and let's not forget the bite sized butterfinger and crunch candies I just had. Ugh, FAILURE!


I keep thinking I'm doing well, but everyday it seems like I end up screwing up! I'm frusterated! I think I have a love/hate relationship with food now.. :(
 
Lots of lean meat first would be the best bet....protein fills you up, and keeps you full longer, and DONT FORGET THE WATER! lol, if you drink a bottle of water when you first wake up in the morning, it jumpstarts your metabolism :) and try to aim for 5 bottles of water (or more) a day....its rough at first, but give it a few days....water is truly the only "Magic Potion" for weight loss. And dont eat til your full, eat til your not hungry (at first, until your body gets used to it)

and smaller portions are best....try to aim for "half of half" (1/4) of what you would normally eat (the pie too, just get a half of a slice).Thats what I do if I just HAVE to have something....besides, this is a lifestyle change, and I know I cant go the rest of my life without the foods that I love, thats setting myself up for failure! When you do this, the craving for that particular food is gone, and you only have HALF the calories for it. and I LOVE bread too, and CRACKERS..gah.. but I am in weight loss mode, and until I get to my goal weight, I try to leave them out of the picture! If I HAVE to have them, I usually settle for some Triskets, but only limit myself to one serving (6 crackers)....I used to be awful about overdoing my breads....and I love those hawaiian rolls...and they also make them in wheat :)


As far as the gym goes, I started out just going to lay in the tanning bed (love it), and eventually worked my way to the treadmill...at first, It was ALL I COULD DO to even walk a mile, now I usually run a mile/ 2 on the eliptical machine/6-9 miles on the bike.....everyday (except for my rest day). Still not where I want to be at, but a long way from where I started... and I also added in some circuit training (weights, etc..) to start toning up as I am losing weight....I have to have my music with me, and I picked up on reading to keep my mind from the exercising too...another nifty thing that I depend on is my heart rate monitor watch....if you keep your heart rate above 85%, your body is in "fat burning" mode...and I like the sound of that...kinda keeps me motivated...and the one I have tells me when I have burned a pound, sets my goals :)


Oh, and your pepsi had as many calories as my WHOLE supper had...just saying :) cokes are awful for you, and useless calories, and the cafeinne is addictive....you'll feel so much better after being unaddicted to them.


and for snacks, I usually keep a bag of beef jerkey or protein bars around (and they make some pretty killer ones these days)...and my breakfast most mornings is a protein shake...muscle milk is my favorite...its really not bad at all and has 20 grams of protein...I try to make it to 120 grams of protein a day, but I am not all the time successful...today I only had 96 grams, and only have 200-300 calories to finish off my day....and I am OCD about calories counting...I love my itouch, had all my trackers, music, and reading on it...lol
 
I'm working on my water intake. It's usually really good during the week, but harder to get as much on the weekend. As far as the pepsi, it was a deal with the bowling. Normally if I drink soda its the zero calorie kind. I've cut my soda intake a lot in the past few months. Just going from regular to zero calorie threw me for a loop. But I've gotten use to it.


I've already calculated my calories for what I'll eat tomorrow. And while I'm not going to halve the portion sizes of my dinner, I will halve the dessert. This will allow me to have half a piece of pie with dinner and half a piece later. I plan on going to the gym in the morning and having an awesome workout that way I don't feel guilty at all! When I've been going I was just sticking to one form of cardio, but I think I'll try doing some different machines each day, elliptical, treadmill, bike. Make things more interesting and burn some more calories!


Thanks for all the advice, it's really, really helpful! :)
 
Hey Much :)


We also have very similar goals and are close in age (I'm 22)! It's fun to keep up with someone who is in a similar place. And you are getting married! Congrats :) That is so exciting. I don't know how you feel about "nutty" tasting things but I've found that adding ground flaxseed to meals or snacks (I like mine in OJ or oatmeal) makes me feel very full afterwards. Plus, it supposedly has a lot of other health benefits. Just thought I'd chime in with that because it's something that helped me lose weight in the past and I actually really enjoy the taste.


I hope your Thanksgiving goes well today. Let us know how to goes later on. I look forward to keeping up with your progress! Hopefully we can motivate each other!


Ava
 
Hey Ava! I agree, it's nice to talk with people with the same goals and definetly the same age! I'm not big on nuts or "nutty" things, but thanks for the idea. I think I'm doing really well. I've been working on my portion sizing. I used to eat so much, but I've began going by serving sizes, which is how I'm able to count the calories also. It's been neat. I've found that when I have smaller portions, I want to eat much slower and enjoy it. This then leads me to feeling very full by the end of the meal. It's wonderful!


An update from my Thanksgiving dinner I had on Saturday. It went great! On my plate I had one serving mashed potatoes, stuffing, very small amount of baked beans, and a roll. Oh and can't forget the turkey. I loaded up on this. I'd say probably about 2 or 3 servings at 170 each. I only ate half the potatoes and stuffing, all the beans, the roll, and almost all of the turkey. I had a little bit more beans and couldn't resist two more rolls! lol. I love them and only have them about twice a year. Then to end my feast I had a piece of sugar creme pie, YUM!


Just so you know, the only thing I ate prior to this meal was two pieces of ww toast and butter for a total of 140 cals. While I can't give you an exact number on the calories, I'm pretty sure I ended the day at around 1600 calories and I estimated high on the potatoes and stuffing (I didn't eat all of it) I'm super proud of myself. Oh, can't forget I drank my coke zero! So no cals there.


Then on Sunday I had toast for breakfast, Gorton's fish tenders for lunch, and a hamburger, half of a medium fry with no salt, and a side salad with italian dressing from Burger King. I wanted to what my fiance got (two double bacon cheesburgers) but I would have felt awful after, sabotaging my diet. Then a little later that night I had a piece of leftover apple pie from Saturdays dinner. It was sooooo good! And calories for the day was 1500 on the nose! This is why I LOVE calorie counting! I can still have the things I love as long as I have room in my daily alotment!


Let's not forget on Saturday I went to the gym early in the day and had a kick-butt workout!


Did that again today. Todays cals are as follows


1 egg, small amount of syrup, and one piece ww toast: 163cals

one serving of turkey, small amount of baked beans, and one piece of sugar creme pie: 720cals

one serving turkey, small amount of baked beans.:420 cals


Total for day 1303 cals!

I might have a snack later or just drink water for the rest of the night, depends how I feel!


I'm sore from the gym earlier today and have a nasty headache. Hope it goes away soon. Can't wait to get off work tonight,go home and play some video games! I'm a dork! lol
 
Just had a snack of 1/2 serving of mm's. 115 calories added to my daily total. That makes 1418 for the day.
 
So it's rainy, nasty, and cold outside again today! YUK! So I'm going to take this as a rest day from the gym. I'm a little sore, but not too bad. I think I'll still pump out some pushups and sit ups, which will be good. For lunch I'm making spaghetti but this is the first time I'm making it where it won't be a huge pot. I weighed out the amount of noodles I needed and will add the appropriate amount of sauce once the noodles are done. I also made some garlic bread with two slices of ww 35 calorie bread. Added some butter and a little garlic powder. I'm pretty excited about this!


noodles: 210

sauce:70

bread:70

butter:60

garlic powder:???


total:410


That's so neat! lol I'm a dork and seeing that I can still have my favorite meals is just awesome! I love calorie counting.


Well, I'm off to finish my noodles and have me a good lunch. Hope everyone's day is going great!
 
After I got to work i had a plain spicy chicken sandwich from burger king. Later i had the same thing with some goldfish.


2 chicken sandwiches: 600 cals

goldfish: 200 cals

half a serving of candy corn: 75 cals (I had less but just easier to count a half serving)

half bag of bbq corn chips: 150 (same thing, had less but just easier to count half of the bag.)


Total of 1435 for the day. Yay!
 
Good job on thanksgiving! and calorie counting is addictive...I love my itouch, it has like every food/restaurant ever...and the calories of the foods...

Seems like I am always on that thing! Just keep at it!
 
MLB- No, they're on the Burger King value menu, so I think they're just a dollar. I order them plain, bc the mayo tacks on like 200 or so calories. Plus I've always like my chicken sandwiches plain. Weird I guess!


eviesmommy- I can see how that's addicting. I don't have any sory of app, just doing it the old fashioned way I guess lol! I've tried using one of those before and didn't like it very much. I prefer the ancient art of looking everything up and using a calculator.


I'm going to weigh myself tomorrow before I go to the gym. Meant to do it today, but I forgot and ate lunch. I always weigh on an empty stomach, so if I eat before I weigh, then it just gets moved to the next day! lol


Ugh, going to have to go to the gym early tomorrow. I shouldn't have skipped today. But oh well. My fiance and I have marriage preparation counseling. We're Catholic, so it's a requirement. I'm excited about it! Just not happy I have to get up earlier to go to the gym, I'll get over it I suppose!
 
Today has been a good day. The fiance and I went to our scheduled meeting but our counselor had a mix up with the time. We ended up going home for lunch. I made a frozen pizza. Calculating out the calories I had about 500. Then we got a call from the counselor and ended up going back at noon for out meeting. It went really well.


For dinner I have a Michelina's macaron cheese bake. I think it's 320 cals. I'm going to get a bag of chips or something from the machine. I have room to splurge so might be 300-400 cals. Then might have a small snack of somthing later. Maybe something sweet? I'm not sure.


Hopped on the scale this morning and was happy to see 161-162. My eyes are bad and the hash marks are so small I just have to guess. BUT I know for sure it was closer to the 160 than the 165 so that's success! I'm not going to officially record it until Sunday, so we will see. I'm feeling really great though!
 
Hi thanks for commenting on my thread :D youve done so well on your journey, why does the worst food taste THE best? it sucks especially when you get that crazy craving for chinese food or ice cream or pizza :l its such an intense mind game to ignore the callings of the bad food and substitute it for the healthy, SO KEEP IT UP! your doing great :D

_Zombie
 
Thanks Zombie! That's what I love about calorie counting. Plus, I'm a bit obsessive so it fits my personality. Yesterday I had two chicken sandwiches from burger king. No problem, as long as there's room in my allotment. I LOVE it! I've found letting myself have sweets, etc is good because then I won't pig out on them, I just eat a serving and go on with my day. Relearning portion sizing was probably the hardest part. That and trying to eat slower. Now that I do that, I find myself getting fuller on less, which is great!


For dinner I had the Michelina's macaroni bake (320 cals) like I said earlier. I goofed in heating it up, so it was a little over cooked, but still delicious.

I'm proud of myself for this next bit, I chose pretzels from the machine which was only 230.

And of course my coke zero!


So for the day that's 1050. I'll have a small snack later. Not sure what. If I don't get anything here at work, I'll pry end up with two slices of ww toast and butter for 140 cals. I love bread, so I buy this 35 cal/piece kind so if I feel like just eating a slice of bread, it doesn't cost me 100 calories!


Time to get some work done!
 
I just had two fun size kit kats. 140cals


Brings my total to 1190. I'll be eating two pieces of ww toast with some butter when i get home to bring my calories up.


Total then should be 1330.


SUCCESS! :)


So I don't think I've mentioned this, but I'm getting really excited because Saturday I'm going wedding dress shopping!!! And going to eat at Olive Garden. I love italian. I'm going to splurge a little that day, but will make sure I stay under my 2000 cal maintenance. I've been doing so well lately, plus it's a girly day out!
 
OMG, OMG, OMG wedding dress shopping?! How exciting!! I hope you'll post pictures, I'd love to see :D


Haha, I'm surprised to see that you don't like calorie counting apps, I'm totally addicted to mine! I just scan everything in, so easy, revolutionized calorie counting for me.


So many big changes coming for you with graduation and getting married, I can't wait to read about your journey :) What are you studying?
 
Thanks Sparked! I will post pictures of the dress if they let me take some of it. Some of those places are very picky about that. If I don't get to this weekend, then whenever I get the dress, I will post them.


Yeah, it's weird. I'm not sure why, but I just rather look up the things I need to, or I just check all my packaging. I have a smart phone, but to be honest, I hardly use it other than checking email and my facebook occasionally. I'd have to say my most used app is my flashlight! lol


Yes, lot's of changes coming. I'm studying Criminal Justice. :) That's the biggest reason for really wanting to slim down and get into shape. I have to take a physical fitness test as part of the hiring process and it's a pass or fail test. You have to complete a 1.5 mile run in 16 mins and xx seconds (I can't remember the seconds!), sprint a certain distance in a certain amount of time (again, can't remember specifically right now), 29 sit ups in one minute, 25 pushups (the regular kind, no girly ones sadly) with no time limit, and jump 16 inches. Needless to say when I started working out about a month or two ago, I couldn't do even part of some of these things.


I've been progressing though. I can actually do some regular pushups now! After starting by doing the girly ones, I was able to start doing a few regular ones. It's still really hard, but it's progress. I still need to work on getting lower, since during the test I'll have to lower my chest to someones fist. (Maybe I should stuff my bra that day!!!! lol, I'm just kidding, but having bigger boobs would definetly help in this situation! HAHA!


I actually just got back from the gym. It was a so so day. I haven't been feeling well lately when I wake up. Usually a headache and a sore throat. But I made myself get to the gym today since I didn't go yesterday or the day before that. I hopped on the treadmill intending to run 1.5 miles, but ended up stopping at one mile. I was exhausted and my head was pounding. I'm not usually this fatigued after a mile, so I'm gonna chalk it up to not feeling very well. I decided to finish my cardio on the bike. I did two miles. To end my workout I did some pushups (both regular and girly lol) and two sets of sit ups. Usually after I complete these, I'm really feeling sick so that was it for me today.


Anyone have any tips for how to not feel sick at the end of your workouts? I've started eat two pieces of toast before I go workout, but that doesn't seem to be helping me much.


I'm really not sure what I'm going to do for lunch today. I hardly have anything here at home. Well, I do, but none of it is appetizing. I'm craving chinese food, but want to save it for a treat day in the next few weeks. Hmmm, what to do?


I guess I'll settle for a chicken patty I found in the freezer. Not the best, but it will do. Now I've got to plan ahead for dinner. I'll probably pick something up on my way to work. Maybe subway?


Well, I've got an hour to relax before I have to start getting ready for work. I'll update later with calorie counts for lunch and dinner.
 
My niece is studying criminal justice. I didn't know you have to pass a physical. That's probably good motivation. I'm a total wimp and have to condition my body so that I can run again. Years of being sedentary (sitting at the computer) is not a good thing. I'm starting out with 1&1/2 min of walking and 30 sec min of running intervals on the treadmill (for 20-25 min) and hoping I will slowly be able to run more and walk less.

Your progress is inspiring.

I've never felt sick at the end of a workout, but that might just be because I don't push myself hard enough to feel sick. Another thing is I don't go to a gym. I usually try and get my exercise in first thing in the morning before I eat. I don't know if that has anything to do with it or not. Or could it be digestive issues?


Best of luck to you with everything. It sounds like you've got a lot of exciting stuff going on.
smile.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top