Rachel's New Habits

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RachelAnne

New member
I'm 27 years old and about 15-25 pounds overweight. I was actually overweight as a child and teenager but lost at least 20-25 pounds in my early twenties by exercise and a change in eating habits.
I have not been working or in school for the past six months and am really struggling to find work and am feeling really crappy about not being in graduate school right now. I developed a bit of a drinking habit and was just feeling not so great the past few months.

I decided that I needed to lose weight seriously when none of my size 2 or 4 skirts were fitting and all of my shirts were very tight. I had a date the other night and finally decided to purchase a new skirt. I walked into the store and started checking out denim skirts and picked up a few sizes. The sales lady looked at me and said, "honey, these skirts run small..what are you, a size 12? let me see if I can find a size 15-16." She comes back, "sorry we don't have anything that big right now." I was so mortified.

I'm not losing weight just because of a rude salesperson, but I am truly not happy as an overweight person. After I lost the weight the first time, I recall how confident I became, how I was no longer trying to avoid having my picture taken, and how much energy I had. I really want to gain that enthusiasm and energy back.

I don't have a scale, but I may buy one. The purpose of this journal is to record the progression of my new short-term goal and to additionally add new ones, if appropriate.

My current goal: Exercise every day for at least an hour each day for the next 30 days.

I will come here and make a record and may also add a food journal later, and will write about other thoughts as well.

Today I used a stationary bike for 1 hour and did 50 minutes of yoga.

edit: I purchased a scale: weight is a scary 162 pounds. :eek:
1st goal accomplished and have extended it to two months. :party:
 
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Today I exercised for an hour on the stationary bike and have plans to do yoga before I go to bed for at least 30 minutes.

Food-wise, I tend to eat relatively healthy aside from the occasional ice cream, sweets, and processed foods like pretzels. At this point I'm cutting out all fried foods, pastries, ice cream and pretzels, as well as all non-wheat breads and pastas. This should be relatively easy for me.
My food problem is that I tend to eat very large portions. Right now, I'm not going to bother with controlling my portion size. I don't want to do too much too fast. I have decided though to post what I am eating in approximate amounts but I don't want to bother with counting calories just yet.

What I've eaten today:
1 1/2 whole wheat pitas
a few spicy peppers packed in vinegar
two apples
two big bowls of a brown rice, black bean, salsa and veggies mixture I made
I'll probably eat more apples tonight before I go to bed.
tons of water and unsweetened black and green tea.

The skirt I finally ended up buying was a size 8, and my goal is to get back to a size 2. I'm wearing size medium in shirts and even those sometimes are too small and I need to go up to a large. My goal is to go back to a size small and have the size fit comfortably.

I don't want to seem cocky, as today is only day 2, but I feel like this time will be the one that changes my life for good. :blush5:
 
Today is a good day so far. I did 1 hour of yoga so far. Last night I did an additional 50 minutes of yoga adding on to the 1 hour on the stationary bike. This evening I will also walk a total of four miles. I've decided to walk everywhere I possibly can which saves me money and contributes to my goal. In addition to the four mile moderately-paced walk, and the 1 hour of yoga this morning, I'd like to do the same yoga video I completed yesterday.

In case anybody is looking for yoga recommendations, I've been using at night which is challenging, but leaves me feeling relaxed in the evenings. In the mornings I like because it gives me a great deal of energy.

I have stockpiles of home exercise dvds, some weights, and an exercise bike at home to get me to my goal. I don't have any money to spend on a gym or group exercise courses at this time.

Foodwise, I'm starting to realize that I really do need to cut down portion size. This morning I had four whole wheat crackers (122 calories.) an apple and a pear. For my main late afternoon meal, I simply ate too much and was left feeling sluggish.
I had two veggie patties (110 calories each) on 2 slices of whole wheat bread (200 calories total) with organic sweet pickle relish and ketchup. I realize now that I would have been a lot better off eating one "burger" for lunch with a piece of fruit and another later. I think I'm going to try to actively cut back portion size, contrary to what I said in an earlier entry.
 
So far, so good!

Yesterday I exercised for 45 minutes on the stationary bike and walked 4 miles. I unfortunately didn't record what I ate, but it was mostly fruits and veggies and a little too much whole wheat pasta salad.

Today I took what turned into a four hour semi-vigorous walk. I stopped to rest a couple of times, but I was having so much fun just being outside and exercising that I forgot the time.
Today I ate a few pieces of whole wheat bread with hummus, two large salads with fat-free dressing, and a few apples. I may make some whole wheat couscous as well, but I'm trying to avoid the temptation to load up on carbs.

I am very happy with this new lifestyle choice and I know that if I have faith I can lose these extra pounds and live a healthier life!
 
Lessons relearned today:

I need to cut down on grains and starches big time. I am eating only whole wheat and multi-grain natural stuff, but I just don't feel great after eating too many grains.

I really really need to control portion size. This is such a huge challenge for me, but tomorrow I will not have second servings on lunch or dinner. Instead, I'm going to allow myself to munch on baby carrots, veggies and fruits as much as I want throughout the day. I also need to prepare smaller meals, so I'm not tempted to take a second helping.

I need to do the exercising as early as possible in the day.

Today I took a really long walk and did 1 hour of yoga.
 
hi, well done on doing great so far!!!

something to try to help cut down those portions...

always eat without distractions. ie. no telly, no reading, no music etc. this means you can stay focused on your food and really experience what it is to eat.

i've always been a big portions. second helping kinda gal, but if i do this consistantly it makes a massive difference. i get full a LOT quicker, often not even finishing one serve. if there's nothing to distract me i can really feel what my body needs and wants, it's amazing!!!

when i do eat infront of the telly now i notice the change straight away - i always want more.

try it for a week, see if it helps!!

good luck!!!
 
HappyandHealthy: I'm going to try that, thanks! I was actually munching on something when I read your message and put it down until after I get off the computer.

To check in: I did 1 hour 10 minutes of yoga today. In a few minutes, I'm going outside to take a long walk.

Nutritionally, I'm seriously considering taking on a macrobiotic diet to some degree. I'm going to do more research about this tonight and maybe begin to implement some of the suggestions. I simply don't want to take on too much too fast. I feel like changing my whole life overnight is much more difficult than taking small, deliberate steps.

One thing is for sure, I feel really great since making the daily exercise commitment!
 
Today I did 1 hour of yoga. It was really difficult to get this exercise in today. I haven't been in a great mood this afternoon and evening, and I can't pinpoint exactly why.
 
Yesterday I did 1.5 hours of yoga and felt absolutely amazing afterwards. Today I've completed 1 hour on the stationary bike and would like to do another yoga video if possible.

Thoughts about my personal nutrition plan:
I've decided against the macrobiotic diet. It seems like a path to wellness and health, but I think this stems less from the fact that the diet has unique qualities but that it follows the common sense approach of eliminating dairy, meat, and refined sugars as well as most carbohydrates.
I think I'm going to take parts of the macrobiotic diet that I find intriguing, mainly focusing on chewing food more thoroughly and eating more whole grains like brown rice, barley, bulghur, and couscous instead of bread. Also, their approach of modifying types of food and methods of preparation depending on the season is also something I'd like to incorporate.
There are other aspects of the diet that I feel are a little funky...

For my 30 day "challenge" I've decided to continue eating the way I've outlined in other posts while incorporating aspects of the macrobiotic diet that I like. I'm also working on drastically reducing portion size which still remains my Achilles heel.
 
Yesterday I did 50 minutes of yoga and walked several miles. Today I walked a few miles and exercised for an hour on the stationary bike.

I'm still eating well!
 
Good job keep it up! Your goal to exercise at least an hour a day is very inspirational, I might try the same :)
 
Thanks for stopping by Pixienerd...I've been reading your journal also. Best of luck!

Anyway, I've yet to do any exercising today, but I stopped by to give myself a big congrats! I tried on one of my old skirts that used to be a bit big on me but I haven't been able to wear for the past 8 months because I "grew out of it" It now fits almost perfectly (only slightly tight around the waist) I'm wearing it today and my guess is that it is about a size 6.

Now that I'm beginning to see results I've decided to up the ante. My goal for the next 17 days is to exercise for 1.5 hours every day. I know that I can do this...it's only 17 days!
 
I finally bought a scale and did a weigh in. I'm 162 pounds. I've decided that my goal weight is 127, because that was my size after I lost all of the weight and I don't think I could go any lower and still be healthy. I have quite a lot of muscle already and hope to gain more eventually, so this is a realistic goal. I also copied pixienerd and got one of these cool avatar thingies.
 
Today I did over an hour of yoga. I think I'm going to cheat a little with the 1.5 hours thing and include housecleaning. It's not that I'm unable to do 1. 5 hours of exercise, but I'm having a shortage of time. next post, coming up with more effective ways of managing time!
 
So I've been exercising everyday still. Today I walked a total of 8 miles, did 150 crunches, and exercised for 50 (+-) minutes on the stationary bike. Food-wise, I am starting to control my portions by making less food at once. I've also noticed that when I'm faced with large portions of meals, I don't necessarily eat huge amounts of food like I used to.
I did break an eating rule twice but it was not so dear. I went to a restaurant with a friend and ate some non-whole wheat bread. It was a small amount. The same thing happened again eating at another restaurant. I usually would have eaten the entire portion of bread I was offered but instead I held back which made me feel great.

I'm sort of regretting buying the scale. :( I weigh myself frequently and the number is not going down. My figure is definitely better though and I'm getting a lot of compliments.
 
I really don't want to exercise today, but I'm going to force myself to do it right now! Don't want to break the chain...
 
The first few days of my 30 day exercise challenge I felt amazing. Now I'm back to feeling lethargic and bloated. I cannot be exactly sure why this is, but I've decided to make some dietary changes for the remainder of my 30 day challenge. I have a feeling that I may have a problem digesting grains and starches so I'm going to try to minimize them and see what happens.
Here is my nutritional outline:

no more than 2 cups of caffeinated tea per day (I drink green tea which is relatively low in caffeine anyway). Everyone seems to say that caffeine is bad but I'm not buying it at this point. I'm willing to experiment though which is why I'm limiting it.
no wheat products, including whole wheat.
no meat or dairy (haven't had any in years anyway)
no breads, crackers, pastas, etc..
no potatoes or corn
no refined sugars

I'm going to try to eat mainly fruits, vegetables, quinoa and brown and wild rice.

I really hope I'm able to see some changes. O.K. off to do my daily exercise.
 
Oh I forgot to mention that I'm also eating soy (although I try to limit it because it doesn't agree with my body in large amounts) and beans.
 
Day 22

I did my exercising: a yoga video.

:rant:

I don't seem to be losing weight according to the scale. I'm pretty sure after the first week, I noticed some changes and so did others, but I'm starting to feel stuck.

I know that if I want to lose weight and get fit quickly and safely, I need to do more exercise. Somehow I manage to waste so much time that I can't fit in two hours per day or I have some excuse.

I know that if I could force myself to do two of these yoga videos per day I would get myself where I need to be :banghead:

I'm still unsure if giving up wheat has helped me yet. I did purchase an overpriced food-based multivitamin and a sublingual B12 vitamin to supplement my vegan diet. I'm hoping that these vitamins will give me more energy.

Hopefully tomorrow I won't be in such a negative mood. I just want to see results. :nopity:
 
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