PC's Super Ultimate Weight Loss Journal

Wow, your story is really moving! I've been overweight for most of my life as well, but nothing major. I've just had a belly since I hit puberty, but once I got out of my teens I started gaining weight. Thanks for sharing your story, and good luck on your journey.
 
Gaelicgirl, thanks so much, and good luck on your journey as well! I look forward to seeing how things progress for you.

…

This morning I did my weekly weigh-in, and I'm still at 159lbs. I also did some thinking last night, played around with some calculations, and I'm pretty sure I'm not eating enough.

This is a very strange idea for me, since it took me such a long time to STOP overeating. But even if I underestimate my calories burned, and overestimate the calories I've been eating, I'm still coming up with a calorie deficit of 1500+ on the days I've been working out. That, combined with the fact that I didn't lose any weight this week, I'm feeling fatigued and restless at night, hungry, and the many, many stickys and articles I've read about weight loss, makes me pretty sure that I'm forcing my body into starvation mode.

So, I'm going to try increasing my calorie intake. This should also help me to keep my calories consumed more regular, since I won't feel compelled to eat at weird times. I'm going to be more consistent with six meals a day, and aim for 1500 calories per day. I'll be going to the gym 5-6 days per week, and I will give myself one cheat day (which I didn't really get this week). I'll see how this goes for a week, and depending on (first) how I feel, and (second) how my weight does, I'll adjust.

Today is grocery day, so I'm going to stock up on Cliff/Luna bars, get some eggs, salmon, and peanut better for protein, and of course lots of fruit and veggies.

On a more positive note, I can say that some of my clothes are fitting better. I dragged out some stuff in anticipation for spring and tried on a few things that have been too small to wear comfortably – and they fit much better! So, small steps.
 
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Did 30 min on the elliptical at level 7, and 15 min on the treadmill just to try it out. Not a big fan. Higher level elliptical was pretty tough on my knee - I think level 5 was about right.

Not 100% on calories, but I'm pretty sure they're over 1600. Still feeling tired, but I've only just started increasing calories. As a side note, Odwalla food bars are not my favorite thing ever.

I'm also planning to order a food scale. Less and less of my food is pre-portioned, so if I'm going to accurately count my calories, I need to get one.
 
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You're doing GREAT!

Thanks for the encouragement! It really helped. :)

Keep going on your weight loss journey! You're doing so good!
:party:
 
Thanks for your support, Amy! It helps to stick together and see others working through some of the same challenges.

I just can't wait for these numbers to start going down!

...

Today's consultation was unremarkable. The same girl who did my orientation set up my exercise routine, and while she was nice I don't feel like she really gave it a lot of thought or is the most knowledgeable person.

So my routine is supposed to include a rotation of aerobic machines for five days, and then one day of class. Also, every day I'm doing strength training, alternating upper and lower body every other day. I don't have much of an opinion on this since regular exercise is new for me. I'll give it a try - it's not much different from what I was already doing, and then hopefully my monthly re-evaluation will be with someone new. Or I'll have found better information on my own.

As an aside, I'm going to try to make it to the gym EARLY in the morning. Today I feel re-energized instead of exhausted after going. It also makes sense for work purposes.

Food:

Breakfast – Luna bar – 190
Post-Gym Snack – Cliff bar and orange – 310
Lunch – I haven't eaten it yet, but I'll probably snack light (salad, fruit, etc) in anticipation of a heavy dinner – 250
Dinner – Going to a friend's house – 800 (estimated w/ drinks)

Total: ???? (went way over today)

Activity:

40 min on elliptical, strength training, and of course walking.

I would like to add, that, though I'm sure no one reading this journal would ever do such a thing, it's pretty atrocious to take a GIANT, RANCID DUMP in a public toilet in a women's locker room. I mean, sweet baby Jesus, it smelled like a sewer rat had exploded in one of the stalls. I didn't check to see if that was the case, but the lack of panic on the faces of women exiting the toilet area makes it an unlikely possibility.

Really. It was unholy. I'm just saying... you're only there for at best an hour. Maybe, take care of business before. Or wait until you're home. Or at least bring a can of air freshener. Please.
 
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So yesterday I definitely went over on my calories. I can't even guess how much. Dinner was two helpings of chicken pot pie (and not tiny ones either) with three glasses of red wine and a hot fudge brownie sundae for desert. It was delicious, and my cheat-day for the week has been had.

I slept great last night, but found myself napping early this morning. I'm starting to feel stressed out about “stuff”. This means I need to take action to fix what's stressing me out, but I'm very good at avoiding my problems. Sometimes when I do this I eat more, because food is a great distraction. I'm consciously making myself aware of this so I don't do it.

Food scale is on the way, and I'm excited about being more accurate with my calorie counts. When I lost weight before I ate almost entirely out of frozen food boxes and other prepared portions. My current food habits are more “natural”, and while frozen meals aren't out of the question, I'm kind of a snob and prefer my own cooking.

I also bought some (cheap) new workout clothes last night. I'm excited about sweating them in today.

And... I'm off to the gym. I'll post food later.
 
Does anyone else sweat buckets when they workout? No one at my gym looks like they just went swimming when they leave. I feel like Aquaman.

Did 45min on the elliptical, 2 sets of 12 reps on four leg machine things.

Today's Food:

Breakfast – 2 scrambled eggs, 8 spears asparagus, goat cheese and an orange – 290
Lunch – Luna bar – 190
Post-gym snack – Odwalla bar (thank goodness I only bought three, ugh) – 220
Dinner – Pasta in homemade creamy shitake mushroom sauce with chicken, side of broccoli – 750

Total: 1450
 
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It's not my weigh-in day but I stepped on the scale again this morning. I felt like I'd been hanging on to some water weight and that it might have fallen off – but if anything, the needle looked closer to 160 than it did last time.

I'm not, however, too hung up on it. It's been about three weeks since I started working towards my weight loss goal again, and one week since starting at the gym. I feel like I can see some small differences in my body and my clothes fit a little better. My first inclination when I used to try to lose weight and the numbers wouldn't budge, was always to cut more calories. That's no longer a feasible option for me. For one thing, there are only so many calories to cut. It's obviously not healthy, and as I get older I feel more concerned about doing damage to my body – I'll probably want to use it later. And finally, most of the information that's out there indicates it'll be counter-productive to my ultimate goal (long-term fat loss) which my common sense agrees with.

I feel pretty good about my food yesterday. I'm working on balancing WHAT I eat (more proteins, veggies – less carbs) and having a consistent calorie intake to work with. I feel good about going to the gym, and I have no doubt that these things will add up to real weight loss.
 
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phatcat said:
Does anyone else sweat buckets when they workout? No one at my gym looks like they just went swimming when they leave. I feel like Aquaman.
Click to expand...

YES!! I drip when I do cardio -- I always have to wash my face afterr exercising.

Good job on getting a scale! I'm looking into one. I saw that youtube video where they showed the difference between the scales and measuring spoons and cups. It was certainly eye opening!

Cheers!
Amy
 
decayed_teeth said:
YES!! I drip when I do cardio -- I always have to wash my face afterr exercising.

Good job on getting a scale! I'm looking into one. I saw that youtube video where they showed the difference between the scales and measuring spoons and cups. It was certainly eye opening!
Click to expand...

I started bringing a towel. I'm glad I'm not trying to impress anyone when I workout!

Thanks, I'm pretty excited about it! Amazon has a decent selection, mine was just $22 and I bought some cheap measuring spoons to get free shipping. I saw that video, too, and totally measure my food like that. :blush5:
 
This morning on my way out I checked the weather and it said fifty degrees. Of course I was excited; I threw on a long sleeve shirt and rushed outside... only to find it was way below freezing and snowing.

Oh winter, you taunt me with false hope!

Today I did 10min on the elliptical to warm up, a round of upper body strength training (2x12 bi/tri, 3x10 abs/obliques), and 30min on the cross trainer. The cross trainer was fun, but hard on my knee. I felt like a little old lady dragging myself up the stairs when I got home.

Today's food:

Breakfast - Cliff bar - 250
Lunch - 2 peanut butter & jelly sandwiches - 600
Snack - Odwalla bar (last one!) - 220
Dinner - Salad w/ salmon, egg, bleu cheese, homemade croutons, and light balsamic dressing - 400
Snack - Peanut butter w/ graham crackers - 300

Total: 1770

Edited to say that the thing I'm calling a cross trainer is actually an arc trainer. It's like a weird stair master thing, and is supposed to be easier on joints than an elliptical. Go figure.
 
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phatcat said:
This morning on my way out I checked the weather and it said fifty degrees. Of course I was excited; I threw on a long sleeve shirt and rushed outside... only to find it was way below freezing and snowing.

Oh winter, you taunt me with false hope!

Today I did 10min on the elliptical to warm up, a round of upper body strength training (2x12 bi/tri, 3x10 abs/obliques), and 30min on the cross trainer. The cross trainer was fun, but hard on my knee. I felt like a little old lady dragging myself up the stairs when I got home.

Today's food:

Breakfast - Cliff bar - 250
Lunch - 2 peanut butter & jelly sandwiches - 600
Snack - Odwalla bar (last one!) - 220
Dinner - Salad w/ salmon, egg, bleu cheese, homemade croutons, and light balsamic dressing - 400
Snack - Peanut butter w/ graham crackers - 300

Total: 1770
Click to expand...

Good job on the workout!! And your dinner sounds to die for!!!Can I order me one of them?!?!?!?
 
Thanks sexee! Yeah I really enjoy a BIG tasty salad - I'll ship one over to you ;). The salmon might get a little funky, though.

...

Late night snacking is the destroyer of my diet plans. Sometimes I'll be laying in bed planning out the next day (what I need to do when I get up, what I'll eat, where I'll go, etc) and BAM! I want to eat something. Last night it was an egg sandwich. I just couldn't get it out of my head. But I'd already eaten more than my allotted calories, so I really didn't want to cave. Instead, I got up and started digging in my closet. I'm anxious for spring, so I've been pulling out warm weather clothes and trying them on to see what fits.

So I was digging around and found my swimsuit from a few years ago. I bought it for a trip, wore it once (with a wrap-around) and that was it. I decided to put it on, and it fit fine, which I expected. But I really noticed that my legs looked a little different. I'm pear shaped and carry a lot of extra fat in my legs. It's pretty embarrassing to me, and I don't even think about wearing short-shorts in public. But, last night, I kind of felt like they looked different. I could see a little (very little) muscle, and they looked more leg-shaped instead of blob-shaped. I got curious, and finally broke out the measuring tape.

I've lost over an inch around my thighs!

I haven't felt this happy about an achievement in a long time. My thighs are STUBBORN. It's hereditary - my mom (one of the skinniest women alive) even struggles with it. I'm so happy to see some fat come off my legs instead of my upper body for a change. And it really helps me to feel like I'm on the right track. No, the scale isn't moving, but I'd rather see the measuring tape tighten up.

Oh, and I had my egg sandwich this morning :).

Happy Friday everyone!
 
I hear you on that late night snacking, I went on a big binge last night, first one since I started..........but hey, the next day is one to get it all right, right? :D
 
That's definitely the right attitude, Dude.

Ugh. Speaking of binging... I DIDN'T, but I did eat more than my allotted calories yesterday. Again. I think I totaled out around 1900! This time I can trace the problem directly to a package of graham crackers. I know not to buy/keep around easy-to-consume foods. I try to only fill my house with things that I have to THINK about preparing before I eat them. That really helps keep me on track. Anyhow, I ate one whole package yesterday, not because I was hungry but just because I “felt” like snacking.

Not really a huge deal by itself, but for me, keeping habits is really crucial to success. So, today's another day.

Yesterday's gym trip was exhausting. I did 10min warm-up on the elliptical, then lower-body strength training (2x12 sets on 5 leg machines), then I started to ride the stationary bike (it's on my “program”) but it was SO boring I stopped after a few minutes and just did 30min on the elliptical. Aside from being boring, it had a much lower calorie burn than my usual machines, and I own a bike that I actually ride if I want to do that. So, yeah.

Today is my day off from working out. I'm glad. I like going, but I'm kind of sore. I really think that arc trainer thing kicked my ass. Hopefully into some kind of shape.

I haven't eaten anything yet. Since I'm not going to the gym, I don't feel like I need to fuel-up as much. I don't have much here, so I'm thinking about getting either a veggie sandwich or some sushi later. I've been craving both, and neither should be terrible calorie-wise.
 
Yesterday was another day where I wasn't too hot on calories. I'm not sure what my total count was, but I'm guessing around 1800-1900 :ack2:.

March 14's food:

Breakfast – skipped
Lunch – Veggie sandwich and GIANT salad w/ raspberry vinaigrette – 900 (guessing)
Rest of the day snacked: 2 pears w/ bleu cheese, walnuts, 4 graham crackers – 900

I also didn't go to the gym, as I mentioned previously.

Well, it's the start of a new week. I may or may not go to the gym today – we'll see how I feel later. Hope everyone's weekend has been great!
 
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Thanks Amy. I know habits take a while to build, so... yeah, I shall persevere.

Stepped on the scale today... it pointed all the way to 161. This was something of a downer. In fact it more or less set the stage for my own little pity party. I've been frustrated looking for work, trying to go back to school, I was recently dumped, my best friend's not talking to me, I have an achey tooth, etc, ad nauseum. And I'd like my health to be a starting point for me to be in control.

Anyway, I decided I should stop feeling sorry for myself and go to the gym. So I did. It was a good work out – 45min on the elliptical (it read over 600 on calories burned) and some upper body strength training.

Food:

Snackfast - 3 graham crackers and 1T peanut butter – 250
Lunch - Jimmy John's sandwich (I forgot to ask for a pickle :() - 580
Dinner – Omelet w/ mushrooms and asparagus, topped w/ goat cheese - 450
Snack - 2 more graham crackers - 120

Total: 1420
 
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If at all possible, try to avoid walnuts. Yes, nuts are good for you, but walnuts have an insane amount of calories. I like walnuts too, and it's hard to keep away from them sometimes because they're so tasty. Each nut has something like 100 calories all by itself.

Have you tried an Expresso bike? They're really cool. The gym at my school has them, and they're a stationary bike with a TV screen that shows you CG images of real outdoor places, and other bikers on a bike track. It's not great CG, but still. I agree that most stationary bikes are boring, but these kinds are pretty fun. You have something interesting to look at, and the other bikers can help boost your workout if you're the competitive type. :) Also, there's lots of different levels of workouts based on skill level, and difficulty.
 
Hi gaelic, thanks for the support! Yeah, I know walnuts are very high in calories. I've had the same bag for a month now, so I generally eat them in small quantities.

I know in general where my problems are. But I need to buckle down and stick to my plan. It's a work a progress, though - balancing out eating not too much/not too little.

That bike thing sounds cool. My gym is VERY cheap, and therefore has VERY basic machines. I'd probably enjoy something like that, though - I do get competitive! I am looking forward to real bike rides now the weather is warming up, though. :)
 
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