OK, I've been here long enough without a diary that I think it's time for one.
I'm Phoebe, I'm 34, and I live in Oklahoma with my partner of almost 15 years(!) and our 4yo daughter. I started gaining weight when we started living together while I was in college, going from the 120s up into the 140s, then 150s, then 160s... Then somehow I woke up one morning at 5'4" and 194 pounds, and resolved that I was not going to be 200 pounds when I got pregnant.
Dropped back down to 145 over the course of a year (although most of that was in the first 5 months, before we started trying to get pregnant, and the last 15 pounds was over another 3 months while we took a break). Got pregnant, gained 45 or 50 pounds, and was down to 135 by the time DD was 6 months old. (She had allergies to wheat and dairy, and was sensitive enough that I couldn't eat them, plus I had gallstones necessitating a very, very lowfat diet. Restrictive diets are very good for short-term weight loss.)
And then I had my gallbladder out, and DD outgrew her allergies, and all of a sudden I could eat anything I wanted. Restrictive diets are very good for gaining it all back, too. Kept myself down to 145 or 150, so maybe a 15 pound gain in 18 months. Then we went through a rough patch in the relationship, and I went on antidepressants for 9 months. No weight gain while I was on them, but when I went off, I was at 155 - and 6 weeks later, I was at 195. Two months later, I was at 197, and ended up with new clothes so I had something to wear to meet with clients that didn't make me look like I was wearing clothes 30 pounds too small.
Those clothes fit great - but they were size 18-20 tops, and 18W pants. I got out of breath walking up the flight of stairs to my office. I couldn't keep up with DD on her trike. I couldn't fit into any of my jeans, so I was stuck wearing work clothes or stretch pants that clung to me like a sausage casing. So a few weeks before DD's 4th birthday, I resolved to lose 52 pounds by her 5th birthday, which would take me down to 145 - right at the border between normal weight and overweight. I'd been successful before with nothing but portion control and limiting refined carbs, and utterly unsuccessful with exercise, so I started with what I knew was likely to work for me.
For the first 4 weeks, I lost nothing. Not one pound, not one inch, not anything. And then the weight started to come off - by the 21st of July (2 month point), I was down 15 pounds. But by the 21st of September (4 months), I was only down another 12.5 pounds, rather than the 15 I'd hoped for, and I was still in really bad physical condition - winded after stairs, exhausted after doing 15 minutes of gardening. I'd also revised my initial goal from 52 pounds lost by the end of May to 70 pounds by the end of May, which would put me at 127 - a weight I haven't seen since I was 20.
So I added some exercise. I do the Hacker's Diet exercise program, which I suspect is far from ideal - but I haven't missed a day in nearly 2 months, which is darn good for me. And I can walk 3.3 miles in 52 minutes (3 laps around the park in enough time to be back when DD's ballet rehearsal is over) and still feel good at the end, so I know I'm in better shape than I was two months ago.
I also started tracking calories. A friend of mine who had lost 80 pounds and kept it off suggested a 1/3-1/3-1/3 (by calories, not grams) macronutrient ratio - I was skeptical at first, but gave it a try and really like it. I don't usually measure (although some things I eat all the time I have measured at least once, so that I know about how big to eyeball), and I have to eat food I didn't prepare myself all the time (work-related meals, plus my MIL lives with us and cooks), so while I do track calories, I don't worry about my count coming up low, because I figure between eyeball error and unknown ingredients, there's no point in eating more food than I'm hungry for.
I also don't worry about my count coming up high - I'm more likely to skip something caloric because I don't want to have to record it (and I do record everything, even if I have to guess what food in the FitDay database is the best match). And after two months of calorie tracking, I'm pretty good about going by feel - I ended up at Taco Bell for dinner the other night, and made the best choice I was able to, estimating I'd have 200-300 calories left after that. About 30 minutes after eating, I knew I'd mis-estimated, and actually had gotten all the calories I needed - and sure enough, when I looked it up online later, I'd guessed about 200 calories low.
Coming next: Tax Season (I'm a CPA, and only do taxes, but I do taxes full-time year round, and way-more-than-full-time Jan-April). I don't usually gain (all that thinking does burn calories), but I've also never lost weight during tax season, and if I want to hit my goal, I'll need to lose at least some. If I stay on track (not losing at the same pace, but with a smaller and smaller deficit and slower loss as I get close to goal), I'll be there by April 15th, which gives me 6 weeks of wiggle room if I don't stay on track.
I'm Phoebe, I'm 34, and I live in Oklahoma with my partner of almost 15 years(!) and our 4yo daughter. I started gaining weight when we started living together while I was in college, going from the 120s up into the 140s, then 150s, then 160s... Then somehow I woke up one morning at 5'4" and 194 pounds, and resolved that I was not going to be 200 pounds when I got pregnant.
Dropped back down to 145 over the course of a year (although most of that was in the first 5 months, before we started trying to get pregnant, and the last 15 pounds was over another 3 months while we took a break). Got pregnant, gained 45 or 50 pounds, and was down to 135 by the time DD was 6 months old. (She had allergies to wheat and dairy, and was sensitive enough that I couldn't eat them, plus I had gallstones necessitating a very, very lowfat diet. Restrictive diets are very good for short-term weight loss.)
And then I had my gallbladder out, and DD outgrew her allergies, and all of a sudden I could eat anything I wanted. Restrictive diets are very good for gaining it all back, too. Kept myself down to 145 or 150, so maybe a 15 pound gain in 18 months. Then we went through a rough patch in the relationship, and I went on antidepressants for 9 months. No weight gain while I was on them, but when I went off, I was at 155 - and 6 weeks later, I was at 195. Two months later, I was at 197, and ended up with new clothes so I had something to wear to meet with clients that didn't make me look like I was wearing clothes 30 pounds too small.
Those clothes fit great - but they were size 18-20 tops, and 18W pants. I got out of breath walking up the flight of stairs to my office. I couldn't keep up with DD on her trike. I couldn't fit into any of my jeans, so I was stuck wearing work clothes or stretch pants that clung to me like a sausage casing. So a few weeks before DD's 4th birthday, I resolved to lose 52 pounds by her 5th birthday, which would take me down to 145 - right at the border between normal weight and overweight. I'd been successful before with nothing but portion control and limiting refined carbs, and utterly unsuccessful with exercise, so I started with what I knew was likely to work for me.
For the first 4 weeks, I lost nothing. Not one pound, not one inch, not anything. And then the weight started to come off - by the 21st of July (2 month point), I was down 15 pounds. But by the 21st of September (4 months), I was only down another 12.5 pounds, rather than the 15 I'd hoped for, and I was still in really bad physical condition - winded after stairs, exhausted after doing 15 minutes of gardening. I'd also revised my initial goal from 52 pounds lost by the end of May to 70 pounds by the end of May, which would put me at 127 - a weight I haven't seen since I was 20.
So I added some exercise. I do the Hacker's Diet exercise program, which I suspect is far from ideal - but I haven't missed a day in nearly 2 months, which is darn good for me. And I can walk 3.3 miles in 52 minutes (3 laps around the park in enough time to be back when DD's ballet rehearsal is over) and still feel good at the end, so I know I'm in better shape than I was two months ago.
I also started tracking calories. A friend of mine who had lost 80 pounds and kept it off suggested a 1/3-1/3-1/3 (by calories, not grams) macronutrient ratio - I was skeptical at first, but gave it a try and really like it. I don't usually measure (although some things I eat all the time I have measured at least once, so that I know about how big to eyeball), and I have to eat food I didn't prepare myself all the time (work-related meals, plus my MIL lives with us and cooks), so while I do track calories, I don't worry about my count coming up low, because I figure between eyeball error and unknown ingredients, there's no point in eating more food than I'm hungry for.
I also don't worry about my count coming up high - I'm more likely to skip something caloric because I don't want to have to record it (and I do record everything, even if I have to guess what food in the FitDay database is the best match). And after two months of calorie tracking, I'm pretty good about going by feel - I ended up at Taco Bell for dinner the other night, and made the best choice I was able to, estimating I'd have 200-300 calories left after that. About 30 minutes after eating, I knew I'd mis-estimated, and actually had gotten all the calories I needed - and sure enough, when I looked it up online later, I'd guessed about 200 calories low.
Coming next: Tax Season (I'm a CPA, and only do taxes, but I do taxes full-time year round, and way-more-than-full-time Jan-April). I don't usually gain (all that thinking does burn calories), but I've also never lost weight during tax season, and if I want to hit my goal, I'll need to lose at least some. If I stay on track (not losing at the same pace, but with a smaller and smaller deficit and slower loss as I get close to goal), I'll be there by April 15th, which gives me 6 weeks of wiggle room if I don't stay on track.
