On my way to confidence

The plan is just to make sure I do some form of physical activity every day, and to not eat any snacks. I want to learn to get most of my calories from my main three meals, and then I can add some small snacks later. And I want to learn to enjoy working out so I want to keep going. So far so good. Two days down! I'm looking forward to weighing myself. It's exciting to wonder what the scale might say.
 
Sounds good. I like to do these weight lifting workouts where I'm in and out of the gym in 15-20 min. Barely enough time to work up a sweat, but if you do it right, you are done. A real time saver when you are really crunched. Is there a gym at your school?
 
Yeah, there's a gym at my school. Not a great one, but I have to make use of what I have.

It's been going fairly well. I'm still really out of shape. Running is way harder than it used to be. I was doing well eating until this weekend. My roommate had three friends visit her from home, and we went on a wine tour and then to a couple bars. Of course accompanied by a lot of really bad food. I thought I'd get back on track on Sunday, but then my boyfriend showed up on Saturday night as a surprise. So we went out to dinner, and ordered dessert after. then I made pumpkin pancakes with a cinnamon apple sauce the next morning, then we had pizza for lunch. It was all really good. I'm really glad he came, because it had been a while since I'd seen him, and it really improved my mood. But unfortunately it did not improve my diet. But I've done well so far today. I worked out for about 40 minutes (run/walk on treadmill and bike), and I have yoga in about half an hour, and I've done fine with food. I really have to do well this week because I weigh-in on Friday. I'm really excited to see where I'm at.
 
oooh, wine tour. I love going to the vineyards. Especially at this time of the year.

Hey, weekends are always tough. That's why we have to be extra good during the week, right? Good workout today/
 
I cheated. I weighed myself this morning. I was 136. More than I was hoping for, but I guess I'll just have to go with it. Although I had just eaten a lot, so I'm hoping for 134 tomorrow, but we'll see. Anyway, knowing about what I weigh, I've been working on my plan. It's a long term plan to get me to my final goal, which I've changed from 125 to 120 pounds, ending on New Year's. The reason I changed the final goal was judging from when I was down to 131, I looked like I had more than 5 pounds to go. And for my height, I could probably go down to 115. So thats that. Here's the plan. 3 meals a day, I'm not going to count calories. Every time I've tried that before I'd end up giving up and then eating way to much if I went even the smallest bit over. But I figure I can't go too high if I'm only eating 3 meals a day. Saturday I'm going to fast. I know, I know, everyone will tell me not to do it. But I can say that the few times I have done it in the past I have felt more energetic, lighter, happier, and more confident. And it helps me lose an extra half a pound each week, which does stay off. I chose Saturday because I have no responsibilities. I can sleep in, go for walks, clean the house, and relax. It's wonderful, and I very much need and enjoy it. That day as far as exercise goes will be some light cardio and maybe some strength. Sunday will be my longer cardio day. I'm going to do a full hour divided between the arc trainer, bike and running/walking on the treadmill plus strength training. Monday I'll do a half hour of cardio plus my yoga class. Tuesday and Thursday I'll do a half hour of cardio plus my gymnastics class. Wednesday I'll either use as a rest day, or play ultimate frisbee until it gets too cold or dark out. Friday I'll do a half hour of cardio and personal training (strength). So, thats it. Let me know what you think
 
I'm not going to tell you not to fast. It works for some and for others it's just bad news. Since you've done it before, I'm guessing it wasn't too bad for you. Hopefully it will energize your motivation. Remember, though, it doesn't have to be an all or nothing thing. Broth and raw veggies is not that big of a concession and you will still get your kick start. Think about it.
 
Thanks Trops. I will definitely think about that. And most likely I'll give it a try, to see which I like, and which has more benefit.
 
I haven't been doing that well. I'm kind of surprised by that. I was all excited to start a new plan, but I just eat too much. I can't seem to keep anything in the house or I eat it all. The only way I can control it is to not keep any food in the house, and just eat from the cafeteria, which is really not very good at all. I really need to fix this problem. I need to figure out a workout plan as well. Right now I just go to the gym and do random things until I feel like I've gotten a good workout, run out of time, or just decide I don't want to do anymore. So I came on here, and read all the stickied threads in the exercise and nutrition forums, hoping to find some information that would enable me to make a plan. I'm just going to start over, and since I'm still really out of shape, I think thats ok to do.

The nutrition forum was great. I need to get a food scale so I know how much I'm eating, and I need to start tracking my calories again. However, I'm not going to set a daily limit, because I know what happens when I go over it even the slightest bit. I will try to eat mostly fruits and vegetables, and try to eat more protein than I normally do.

I still need a little help with the exercise piece of it. I want to do cardio probably 6 days a week because I want to lose fat, but I'm not sure how much to do. Currently I can only run 2 minutes at a time, and I usually don't do more than 2 or 4 minutes total, just walking the rest to get to 20 minutes. Then I usually spend 10 minutes on the bike or arc trainer. I somehow get the feeling that this isn't enough, but I don't think I can do much more. For strength, I do gymnastics twice a week, and yoga once a week, and I know for sure that I'm building strength from those activities. But I want to add in a couple days of weights. I really like body weight exercises because I know what to do, and I can do them at home. But I really really lack the motivation to do them. Since I'm not doing those, I'd like to try some weight lifting at the gym, but I'm too nervous to start. There were good suggestions in the exercise forum, but I don't know if I could make myself go in and do them. I'm afraid of looking like I don't know what I'm doing, or getting in someones way, or wasting my time because I'm not doing something correctly. I'm more apt to use the machines, which are in a different area of the gym than the free weights, but I think I've read that they're not as effective. So, I'm not sure what to do. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. I'm going to post this last part in the exercise forum as well, so I can hopefully get help from people who don't read my diary.
 
Hey, Gonna. One thing I've been doing and it helps immensely, is jumping rope. It's something that anyone can do just about anywhere, but to do it well it takes a bit of work. It's also one hell of a workout. Do it for five minutes and you'll really feel it.
 
I really haven't been very good about keeping up with this diary, have I? I've done very well the past couple days. I'm proud of myself, and it feels really good. I'm finally getting back into working out. Both Thursday and yesterday I did 5 minutes walking alternating with 5 minutes running at 6.5 MPH, and I did that 3 times. It was hard, but I pushed through and it felt so good when I was done. I'm so much more motivated now. I hope it continues. My diet has been not great, just ok, but I'm focusing on exercise right now so I'm trying not to dwell on any diet mistakes I might make.
 
Alternating the running with walking is great. Pretty soon you'll be alternating 5 min running wth 4 min walking, or 6 min running with 5 min walking.
 
I'll be taking a little bit of a break. I'm not sure when I'll be back. I have to get away from the weight loss thing for a while. I hate my body, myself, and my life, and has mostly to do with my attempts at weight loss. I'm taking some time to get my life together. I'm not going to start eating horribly or stop going to the gym. I just need to learn to live first, and who knows, I may even lose the last 5 pounds that way. Thank you all for your help. I'll be back at some point.
 
Hey, Gonna. By all means take a break. I really hope things work out for you. Feel free to come back any time, though.
 
I came by to say hello. I see you are in the birthday challenge! Sorry to hear you are feeling overwhelmed. Dieting is really stressful.

I hope you are feeling better about yourself. I totally know what you mean.
 
Hey everyone! Thanks for the comments. It was great to take a mental break from losing weight, and I feel like I've got things more under control now. I don't snack obsessively, and I've really gotten into cooking, making my meals much more interesting, and more satisfying. I feel really good. I weighed in at my lowest weight ever this morning! I couldn't be happier. I've started weight training a few times a week, and doing cardio a few times a week. I'm only going to the gym once a day (instead of 2 or 3 equalling burnout). The weight seems to be just falling off. I feel different this time. I feel like I'm finally doing it right, and because of that, I really think I'm losing it for good.

I'm excited to start posting in a diary again. It will be fun to have a record of my journey.

Until next time,
Ginger
 
Ginger, glad that you are back, but even more glad that things are going so well for you. Once a day at the gym is just right. No need to burn things up, right. Welcome back.:cheers2:
 
Thanks for the welcome back Trops.

Here's how today went.
Food:
breakfast- apple, oatmeal with peanut butter, honey, and milk
snack- one oatmeal currant cookie, one oatmeal raisin cookie
lunch- salad, grapefruit
dinner- homemade chicken soup (yum!), toast, grape juice
snack- two cookies

Exercise:
10 minutes each on the arc trainer and bike, 30 minutes on the treadmill (5 minutes running X2, the rest walking)
strength training- I'm following a plan that Steve helped me with. It's in the first sticky in the Advanced Weight Loss forum if anyones interested.

Thoughts:
Not a great day today. My food was not normal. I woke up feeling shaky and weak so I ate the apple. then I decided I wanted some peanut butter for protein but I wasn't sure what I wanted it on. I don't know if the oatmeal was a good choice, but I ate it anyway. Lunch was weird too. It was right after I got back from the gym, and I didn't feel like eating anything, but I knew I should. No protein though. I've been trying to include some in every meal. Dinner was good although I try not to eat too much butter, even though I love it. And the cookies... oops... my roommate made them, and they're not bad as far as cookies go (made with honey, lots of big walnut chunks), but still, I don't usually eat cookies. And did I really have to have 4?! I'm really happy with my workout today though. I didn't go at all yesterday, so I knew I was going to have to get a good one in today, and I did feel really good as I left the gym. All I did today was study. Blah. My roommate and I took a needed short break to the outlets where I bought a pair of shoes I've been wanting, and I decided I would buy them for myself as a reward for hitting a new low weight. I also got a pair of earrings. Then we went to the grocery store and just wandered around because we didn't want to go back home yet. I really enjoy spending time in the grocery store just hanging out, walking the aisles, looking at things, taking it all in. I wonder if thats weird. Oh, and watching people. Thats really fun too.

The scale still said 131 this morning. I'm not really surprised. I wonder if there is any truth to the idea that its easier to lose weight that you have lost before. And now that I'm into numbers that I've never seen before, its proving harder. But my body fat was 20.2% this morning. Thats a little progress. The best part about it is, and I still can't believe this myself, I'm starting to like the way I look. When I looked in the mirror this morning I thought, I don't look too bad.

I'm going home on Saturday for a week. I'd really really like to be under 130 and under 20% by then. Thats only a pound, so I should be able to do it.
 
Ok, well, today wasn't the greatest day either. But weekends are hard for me because there isn't any structure. Here's how it went:

Food: I ended up eating a lot today during my first two meals especially, but I kept thinking that maybe it will raise my metabolism and jump-start my weight loss again. I was still 131 as of this morning. Thats 3 days now. Anyway, food:
breakfast- scrambled eggs with spinach and onion, 2 tall glasses of grapefruit juice, granola with yogurt, 1 cookie
lunch- shepherd's pie, apple with peanut butter, 1 cookie
dinner- pesto chicken pasta, salad
wow, seeing that all written down, it is a lot. oh well. I'll do better tomorrow.

exercise:
I felt pretty good about my workout today. I did 40 minutes on the treadmill (15 running), 10 minutes on the bike. And my strength training workout B. I wouldn't normally do strength two days in a row, but I have 4 tests in this coming week, and I don't think I'm going to be able to workout at all until Wednesday, so I just thought I'd get it in now. I think I'm going to be sore tomorrow though.

Thoughts:
Eh. Not horrible. I just keep reminding myself that this is a slow process, and I can't expect myself to be perfect every day, nor can I expect to see a lot of progress every day. The numbers are a little frustrating, but I know they'll drop down eventually if I just keep doing what I'm doing. I'm a little worried that I'll gain a few pounds back over Thanksgiving break. I think the only days I'm going to be able to do any exercise are Tuesday and Wednesday. I'm just going to have to really watch what I eat. I do want to enjoy myself on Thursday though.
 
131.5 this morning, and 20.8% body fat. I'm gaining?!?! I know I didn't do all that well this weekend, but I didn't think I had done bad enough to generate a gain. Ahhhhhh! I don't know what to do.
 
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