Sara's First Diary

S

shimeji_sara

New member
Hello! My name is Sara, I'm 20, and I'm from Portugal. I decided to start my own diary after being inspired by all the diaries here. I hope it will prove useful!

My height is 158cm, and my weight this morning was 59kg - according to an online unit converter, 5'2" and 130lbs. I don't know exactly what my goal weight is, because I don't remember ever being thin, but maybe at something like 115lbs I'd be happier :)

Maybe tomorrow I will post some more information about me, but right now I am really sleepy so I will just write my very first diary entry:

13/02/11

Breakfast: 1 plain yogurt (71kcal) with 4 chopped strawberries

Lunch: vegetable soup, grilled fish seasoned with lemon (I'm not sure of the translation, does grilled gilt-head bream make any sense?), 1 small boiled potato with a bit of olive oil, some salad (tomato, lettuce, rocket - again not sure of the translation - seasoned with olive oil and vinegar), and 1 apple

Snack: 1 cup skim milk (~50kcal)

Dinner: vegetable soup, 1 orange, 1 honey cookie

The cookies are just something I helped my mother bake yesterday, they're made mainly from honey, olive oil and flour. Typical from Portugal, probably. Maybe tomorrow I'll calculate their approximate caloric content.

Exercise: it was raining outside, so I tried some cardio DVD I *ahem* found on the internet. Basically, 30min of intense cardio followed by some 5min stretching.

And now that I finished this post, I am finally going to sleep :)
 
hi sara,

welcome and good luck!


you said you were too tired last night, but still managed to mention every bit of molecule you consumed :)

wishing for recent and old pictures! :reddevil:
 
Technically, not every bit of molecule I consumed, because I didn't mention the water :D

Pictures coming, maybe later today, but right now I have to study. I have an exam tomorrow...
 
Yey, pictures! Well, not really, because it's just one. It's in the album in my profile.

14/02/11

Breakfast: drinking yogurt (144kcal)

Snack: I was hungry, so I had a cappuccino from the coffee machine (probably ~50 kcal)

Lunch: vegetable soup, ham and cheese toast (no butter)

Dinner: vegetable soup, beef stew (2 pieces of meat) with mashed potatoes, 1 orange

And today I started a new strength training workout:

DB bench press
DB bent-over row
DB upright row
Close grip push-up (on knees)
DB curl

1 warm-up set and 1 set with 8-12 reps each. It's a two-day split, so this is just for the upper body. Do you think it looks okay? It was based on the templates on the ExRx website.

The worst part for me is lunch, because I usually eat at the college canteen and - believe me - it's really hard to eat something reasonably healthy, there. Which is weird, because it's in a hospital, so it should be healthy! Oh, by the way, I'm a medical student :D

I wanted to write some more about me, but unfortunately I *really* have to study for tomorrow's exam. Maybe tomorrow I'll have more time :rolleyes:

Just one last think, because I'm curious: to anyone in the USA reading this, does Portuguese food sound...normal? Because sometimes, when I read other diaries, I notice foods (and habits) which would be unusual here in my country. And I think it's interesting!
 
Haha I don't think the food you have mentioned so far sounds weird...but I am curious as to what food you have read about that sounds odd to you??? Just asking.
 
cute pic :smash:

anyway, I do believe that there can hardly be a bigger difference between mediterranean (sorry to include Portugal here, even though you're touching the Atlantic :blush5:) and Western food.

it's like the difference between Dutch kitchen and Sicilian or Greek kitchen.

oh wait, the Dutch don't have their own kitchen :sifone:

it's the old principle of 'artificial waste products' vs. 'real healthy food', so be happy you're on the good side :biggrinjester:
 
snapandpop, I wasn't very clear when I wrote that bit about weird food, sorry ^^'
The 'natural' food is the same, and the way it's prepared is also fairly similar. It's more the snacks which are very different, especially if we're talking about pre-packaged food (sometimes I google them :D). Some time ago, I tried using some website to track how many calories I was eating, and I gave up because I ended up manually entering a lot of information...
And then there are some habits which are typical of some countries, for example, here in Portugal, we usually eat vegetable soup before eating lunch or dinner, I don't think that's the norm in the US. I'm not saying that we eat better or worse, just that I notice some differences, and I just thought I would make a comment on that.

skunkrider, Portugal is a mediterranean country :blush5:
And I have no idea about Dutch food, I've never been there...

So, yesterday was a pretty bad day:

Breakfast: 1 honey cookie (around 100kcal each - I made the calculations) and some skim milk (~70kcal)
Snack: I had a cappuccino from the coffee machine while I was studying

Now for the bad part: I had an exam in the afternoon, and was really nervous and didn't really want to eat, but I knew it would be a bad idea to go to a 2-hour written exam without having anything for lunch. So a bought a kit-kat, and ate half of it before the exam and the other half after, so 230kcal. When I got home, I ate an apple, and then left again to go to the birthday dinner of a friend of mine - which was in an Italian pizzeria...so I hate half a pizza with water. But then, we went to a bar, and they had this awesome Viennese hot chocolate - I couldn't resist :D

To make things worse, I had no time at all to exercise. But I walked around a lot :angel:
 
Do you eat when you are not hungry? Yes.
Do you binge eat (large amounts at a time)? Yes.
Do you hide your food or eat in secret? Not recently, but yes.
Do you eat when you are sad, nervous, or depressed? Definitely.
Do you eat as a reward? Yep.
Do you eat while watching TV or using the computer? Oh, yeah.

My relationship with food is not very healthy. I think the answers to these questions - copied from one of the stickies in this sub-forum - represent my greatest challenge when losing weight. I am getting better at it, but I'm still far from being able to control my emotional eating, especially when I'm bored or depressed. Any suggestions as to what might help? When I'm bored, sometimes I'm able to find something else to do to distract me from the food, but if I'm sad or depressed...then it's a whole different story.

The last post was about yesterday, so here goes today's entry:

16/02/11

Breakfast: same as yesterday (hmmm, those cookies are good - I've only been eating one per day, which I think isn't too bad)
Snack: apple
Lunch: I was alone at home and didn't feel like cooking, so I had some weird mediterranean frozen fish (160kcal) with canned vegetables (74kcal) with a bit of olive oil and vinegar. Then I ate 6 strawberries (I love strawberries, even though they're not that good at this time of the year) and had a coffee and a chocolate (I just noticed I don't know how to translate this - the small chocolates, like those in boxes typical of St. Valentine's day?)
Snack: drinking yogurt (144kcal)
Dinner: vegetable soup, followed by turkey breast with mushrooms and (light) sour cream and maybe half a cup of white rice. And lots of salad. And an orange.

Today I did some strength training again, this time for the lower body:

DB squat
DB straight leg deadlift
DB standing calf raise
Sit-ups

Like the last workout, it's based on one of the templates at the ExRx website, so I hope it's okay. I had a problem though, the dumbbells I have are too light for lower body exercises. Maybe I should switch to bodyweight exercises, so I don't have that problem?
 
Hey there!

Welcome to the site!! It's great that you started your own diary!

I have to say that your diet and exercise seem great! You seem to be on a great path to reaching your goal!

I find i have a relationship with food too!

It's weird, I LOOOVE eating while I watch tv....and I know that's bad!

One way I've combating eating when I'm not hungry is coming on here! If I want food when I've just eaten or are not hungry, I come on here, read a few diaries! I'm either on here reading for a long time and the urge passes, or I end up being inspired that I don't want to eat and go to the gym :)

You're doing great girlie! And I hope to see you on here more!
 
Tik, thank you! I think the diary really is helping, now when I'm about to eat something I should't I end up thinking 'I don't want to log this in my diary!'
I love eating while surfing the internet...and I also know that's bad :p
And the suggestion about coming here to combat emotional eating is great, thanks! Oh, and just one more thing - your kitty is so cute! (I didn't have to read through your diary, but I did see those pictures)

And now, my day:

17/02/11

Breakfast: same as yesterday
Lunch: vegetable soup, veggie burger (98kcal) with some soy sauce, a bit of white rice and salad, and 1 tangerine - from the tree in my yard :D
Snack: same as yesterday
Dinner: vegetable soup, boiled hake (I'm not sure about fish names in English, I'm looking them up in wikipedia...) with a small potato, broccolli, half of an egg, olive oil and vinegar, and 1 apple

The weather is still pretty bad and I didn't feel like going outside, so for cardio I played DDR for 30min without pauses (endless mode) - it's not great, but it's definitely better than nothing. I really need to find a new gym - the one near my house closed down some months ago.

And now I'm going to sleep - right now, it's midnight in Portugal -because I have an exam tomorrow and I've already spent too much time in here... I can't wait for the end of all these exams!
 
ee! thank you for hte kitty comments! I'm bias...so I think he's the cutest cat ever! Right now he's sprawled across my feet in a coma!! hehe

OK! HOLD UP! Tangerine tree in your yard!!?!?! Too cool! Wow! I think that is amazing!!! You must love it!

It's great that you're still doing cardio when the weather outside is crummy! Like you said, ANYTHING counts!! Just getting up, and getting moving burns those calories :)

Good luck on your exam!!

You're doing fantastic! I like the variety in your diet too! it sounds yummy!
 
Tik said:
OK! HOLD UP! Tangerine tree in your yard!!?!?! Too cool! Wow! I think that is amazing!!! You must love it!
Click to expand...

There are no more tangerines! That was the last one :cry:
Oh, well. I still have the orange tree - with oranges :D

And the exam was actually okay! Now I have to worry about the next one, on Monday. Hopefully, it'll be the last one this semester.

18/02/11
Breakfast: same as yesterday - I can't resist those cookies :blush5:
Lunch: vegetable soup, small whole wheat baguette with lettuce and fresh cheese
Snack: apple
Dinner: I wasn't hungry - I wasn't feeling so well, actually - but I was having dinner with my parents, so I had to eat something (but I definitely didn't feel like eating the lamb cutlets they were having). I ended up making a salad with lettuce, rocket, tomato and fresh goat cheese seasoned with a bit of olive oil and vinegar. I ate so much cheese today! It was fresh cheese, but still... Oh, and after the salad I ate half a banana.

Today I did the same upper body workout I did last Monday, but with more reps. Too many reps, in fact! I either have to buy some heavier dumbbells (heaviest I have is 4kg or ~8.8lbs), start using the resistance bands I already have, or find some harder exercises...but hey, I guess that's a good sign!
 
danwoodrich1 said:
I know some diet pill on that area. Are you known with caralluma actives? I thought it is good for suppressing your appetite and you will lose weight naturally. Am I right?
Click to expand...

I'm not interested in diet pills, I just want to eat better and exercise more. Besides, the effective ones have lots of (possibly dangerous) side effects!
 
Looking good on the exercise, ExRx is a very good reputable site, but your right, you need much heavier weights.
 
Trusylver said:
Looking good on the exercise, ExRx is a very good reputable site, but your right, you need much heavier weights.
Click to expand...

I thought so...right now I'm still a bit lost regarding exercise, especially strength training :(

Yesterday I was *very* bad:

19/02/11

Breakfast: 1 plain yogurt (56kcal) with 3 chopped strawberries and half a banana
Snack: coffee and a honey cookie (~100kcal) -> last one! The jar is finally empty! :D
Lunch: vegetable soup, grilled flounder (with a bit of lemon and olive oil), 1/2 boiled potato, salad, 1/2 slice of bread, and 1 orange
Snack: 1 apple
Dinner: this is when the disgrace started. It was my niece's birthday, so I went to my sister's house for dinner, and ate a lot. Then I got home, with that awful feeling of 'since I've blown it for today, I might as well eat some more'. I couldn't resist and ate some chocolate cereal (from the box...) while I watched TV. By then I was feeling so sick, I vomited.

During the afternoon, it was raining again, so no cardio outside. And honestly, I didn't feel like going outside, since I had to study, so yesterday I played DDR again, this time for 40 minutes (with some small pauses, since I was doing courses - 4 songs in a row and then I would pause to select a new course). After playing, I stretched for about 10 minutes.

The only good thing is: today was weight-in day - that's Sunday morning - and the scale said 58kg! (128 pounds) And it's now been I week since I joined this forum and started this diary! Though it feels like much longer already :hurray:
 
Congrats!! You're doing great!!
*happy dance*

You should be very proud!! :)

I love that you play DDR! What a fantastic idea! that sounds like a fun way to get cardio!!

Good luck with your exam this week!! :)
 
Thank you! I don't usually play DDR, though, it's more during exams when I have little time for exercising. Hopefully when the exams end (which is tomorrow *my turn to do the happy dance*) I'll be able to get back to karate! I stopped a few months ago, when the gym where I trained closed down, but now I've found a new gym - it's further from home and the schedule for the practices isn't great, but I'll give it a go :rolleyes:

20/02/11

Breakfast: 1 plain yogurt (56kcal) with 5 chopped strawberries and a bit of (reasonably healthy) cereal sprinkled on top
Lunch: pan-fried beef steak (~3 oz) with "esparregado" (117kcal) -> I don't think this has a translation, it's basically cooked spinach which is grinded with a bit of vinegar and flour. We buy the frozen variety, which only needs to be heated for some minutes until it's ready, so it's very practical. After that I ate a banana
Snack: cappuccino made in my espresso machine (skim milk, 1 packet of sugar which is ~7g) and a chocolate and hazelnut cereal bar (88kcal). I love these, they taste great!
Dinner: vegetable soup, salad with lettuce, tomato and fresh goat cheese (with olive oil and vinegar) and a banana - the reason for all the bananas is that they're almost spoiled

No exercise today, but it was my official rest day.
 
karate!!!!? that sounds like so much fun!!! I've always wanted to do martial arts! I took a kick boxing class last semester and loved it! So much so that when I'm done with my personal trainer (and get in a bit better shape), i really want to join a boxing club! I found boxing is such a good aggression release!! LOVE IT!

I am wishing you uber good luck on your exam today! I hate exam time! It's very stressful! But you seem to be handling it so well! I think working out helps with the stress!!

Good luck! And hopefully you'll be doing the happy dance tonight :D hehehehe
 
Phew, I finally have some free time to post here. The last couple of days were hectic...

On Monday, after my last exam this semester (yaay!! exam time is officially over!) I ended up going out with my friends, and I ended up deciding that I would take a break from logging my food/exercise that they, even though I knew I shouldn't :rolleyes:

Yesterday I did write down what I ate, I just didn't have the time to post since I really had to finish the analysis of some data for a research project. So, here is my diary for yesterday:

22/02/11

Breakfast: 1 banana
Lunch: there was basically no food at home, and I didn't feel like going shopping, so I sliced half of a red pepper and dipped in a ketchup and mayo sauce (~155kcal), an orange, and the 5 strawberries left in the box
Snack: cappuccino made at home (skim milk, 1 packet of sugar) and 2 raisin cookies (~60kcal)
Dinner: vegetable soup, beef stew with rice, and 1 banana (they really were getting spoiled)

Yesterday I felt like trying something different for strength training. Since I don't have much equipment at home, I tried doing a circuit based on bodyweight exercises:

Pushups - 8/4
Negative pull-ups - 3/4
Bodyweight squats - 25/25
Hamstring curls - 10/10
Pike press - 4/4

This circuit was based on a workout I found on a book. It was supposed to be repeated 3 times, I managed to complete 2. I also didn't do all the reps: the pushups were supposed to be 25, I managed 8 the 1st time and 4 the 2nd. I did negative pull-ups because I'm not able to do a regular pull-up (I did those on the door, in absolute terms I guess I'm pretty light), and even then I didn't do the 8 reps specified in the original workout. The squats and the curls I did all the reps, the pike pressed I wasn't able to, since they were supposed to be 10.

After that, I did a quick core circuit. I also did it 2 times:

Crunches - 10/10 (stopping for 3-5s at the top of each rep)
Lying hip swing - 20/20
Plank - 60 seconds/40 seconds -> by this time my abs were killing me

All in all, I guess it was a more intense workout than the one I did last with with the few dumbbells I have. My arms are still aching today...but I liked the exercises!

Oh, and after that I stretched for 10 minutes (the 2 circuits only took half an hour to complete).
 
Great workout!! That's a nice well rounded workout too!!

I absolutely love doing circuit/strength training! I find it's a lot of fun, and can be paced out so that I can take my time and complete the exercises :)

Congrats on finishing your exams! wooot!!! You must be so happy they're over! :) What kind of data analysis and research are you doing?!!

Great work!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top