seeking ultimate fitness

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bigcitylife

New member
I am 25, female...I don't consider myself fat (okay, maybe a little bit), but I want to really be much more fit and more toned. I know that shedding pounds and gaining stamina help me look and feel better on every level. I also have PCOS so I need to lead a healthy lifestyle to avoid diabetes.


I have four goals at the moment. I gained some 10-15 pounds whilst travelling this summer.


Goal 1: Lose 15 lbs. I am about 140 lbs (I think) and I want to get back to being 125 lbs. (I am 67 inches tall)


Goal 2: Build stamina - Hit the gym for an hour four times every week at the least...switch around with exercises


Goal 3: Get a flat belly - i.e. lose belly fat


Goal 4: Sculpt body/figure - especially arms, back, thighs


So far, last week, I went to the gym four times. Today, I spent one hour on the elliptical trainer and lost 500 calories and worked out for about 4.5 miles.


I've been trying to wean myself off of sugar, but it just doesn't seem to work. My work always has these wonderful middle eastern lunches and I just cannot resist the baklava and today I even had a large piece of bread. I am also trying to largely give up wheat or make it scarce in my diet. However later, I had a chicken burger without bread or cheese and a bowl of yoghurt and bran flakes. After exercising, I also had a glass of milk but I added a tablespoon of sugar syrup.


Any tips on giving up sugar and staying motivated to exercise....or any fun new ways to work out that you can suggest for someone living in Manhattan.
 
I may talk big but losing those 15 pounds is not turning out to be easy. I started the day having a large glass of blueberry milkshake with a friend who was visiting for breakfast. For lunch, I met some more friends at a Middle Eastern Restaurant and had, yes I did, had a few french fries and a couple of pieces of falafel and a samosa. Topped it off with watermelon. After finishing with all the fried foods, I had a naturevalley fruit and nut bar. For dinner, I had a bowl of steamed veggies topped with more than necessary of nuts and dried fruit. All this with no gyming...just a little bit of walking around the city...maybe 2 1/2 miles max.... I feel full and fat... :(


Also does anyone have suggestions for how one can add crunch to fruits without getting the excess calories that come with nuts...?
 
You're absolutely right, losing 15 pounds isn't the easiest thing in the world, I've lost 11 pounds in about 6 weeks, the first 6 was from the first 2 weeks but I'm alot bigger than you so naturally you lose it faster the bigger you are, especially in the beginning. I haven't done the greatest since I started I've ate fast food way too many times and just junk, I love chocolate and chips and all that junk food.


You're doing good going to the gym, that will be a HUGE help, everyone is different and will lose the weight differently just stay positive and keep it up is what I keep telling myself, I've quit so many diets before because I wasnt losing fast enough and that only hurt myself because I gained even more. So I'm sticking to it even when I have a bad food day.


You may have to experiment with a few things to see how your body reacts to certain diets or ways of eating, I'm in the middle of experimenting with some new ways of losing because counting calories was hard for me. The main thing of course is drink LOTS of water, eat more fruits and veggies, your on track with the no bread thing, that will help alot and basically just cut out most of the bad things you've ate in the past and you will see a change and you will lose.


Keep it up!
 
Thanks Jessica.


You make some wonderful points! and thanks for the encouragement. Congrats to you for losing 11 lbs...just stay on track. You're on your way already and have made, by me, significant progress. You're right everyone's body reacts differently. I know weight loss is quicker when you're a bit bigger, but changing habits is difficult at any stage...changing a lifestyle, breaking a habit...takes will power so I admire everyone who holds strong and see her/his way through. I like the junk food too...but I've come to realize that a granola bar or a banana is much better than stuffing oneself with chocolate. I also have insulin resistance, so I am always struggling to wean myself from sugar and sugary snacks and anything that contains sugar. Chips and bread, I am currently substituting with a handful of cashews, almonds, and walnuts. Though probably not saving enough on calories with all those nuts...so I would prefer to find another crunch substitute.


At this point, i'm finding my biggest problem to be not being at home most times and having to eat outdoors. A banana and a granola bar does not make a good lunch and sometimes one just picks up the hummus and bread pieces laid out in one's work lounge. I hit the gym today and worked the eliptical trainer for 45 minutes for 450 calories, but I did also dig into a few of those bread pieces and hummus earlier. And then a granola bar...nature valley for one...does contain sugar. Still looking fot substitutions. How do people give up sugar and wheat? I find it very impressive...
 
I'm a sugar monster and one thing that has really helped me limit sugar intake is having a bowl of fresh berries with a Truvia packet sprinkled over it. It's delicious and usually satisfies my sugar cravings. I don't know much about insulin resistance, so I don't know the effect of different sweeteners with that, but if it's okay for you to have sugar substitutes, you should give that a shot and see how you feel! As for crunchy things, I buy a big box of 100 calories bags of popcorn from Costco or any grocery store should have them. A popped bag of those has a lot of volume, so it kinda tricks me into thinking I'm eating more than I actually am and that helps me with satisfying my cravings for chips and whatnot. Also, Popchips are good! You can buy them in 100 calorie bags and those are super yummy! Another trick for me is just sugar-free gum and lots and lots of water to fill me up between meals if I'm feeling hungry.


Having easy access to delicious food at work is something I struggle with as well! There's always cake and sandwiches and soda and other sweets at our office meetings. My solution (although it is a struggle sometimes): bring lunch from home! Not only is it healthier but it also saves me money from grabbing lunch out.


Anyway, just wanted to welcome you here and say hi! We have similar stats so I'm looking forward to your updates!
 
Le_squish, hi! Thanks for the welcome and all the suggestions. I browsed your journal and, indeed, we have similar statistics and similar goals. I like the popchips idea (or it occurred to me that there are some soy chips as well), so I'm hitting the grocery store tomorrow to buy some popchips! I think sweeteners should be fine but I'm scared of using too much of them...so for now I'm trying to make it into an occasional treat. Bananas and strawberries are pretty good so far...but oh, the sweet sweet granola bars! :(


You've made a lot of progress, so many congrats! I hope I'm able to sustain my routine towards my goals and towards a better lifestyle. I look forward to reading more of your updates as well. I am glad to find someone else who enjoys exercise and flexibility.


Today was a difficult day but I got through somehow. A member of one of my academic groups was supposed to complete a project for tomorrow and dropped out last minute leaving it on me. I have another deadline day after tomorrow, so I panicked and started craving comfort food...a pizza slice or frozen yoghurt, anything warm wheatey or sweet to stuff my face with. Anyway I reasoned that there are several physical pleasures that bring comfort/happiness: food, affection, exercise, sleeping, hot luxurious showers/baths...and for me frequently also aesthetic pleasure (not physical)...indulging in music or poetry or art... Anyway food is certainly not the best of them, though its the most accessible. After considering other options, I decided the only real solution to panic is working through my obligations an hour at a time. So even better, I am pulling an all-nighter tonight to get the work done. I came home listening to music and thinking through how food won't help the storm pass. Now, I've had my healthy dinner of a ground turkey/spinach/strawberries/olives/tomatos salad and I feel calm enough to post here. :) No gyming today and probably none tomorrow...but at least I haven't broken my food regimen so far.
 
So I had a couple of rough days with all-nighters and work...and usually when I'm underslept, I eat a lot to keep myself awake. It was a weightloss disaster, but I still didn't go to a point where I ate much beyond my BMR. I did however eat more than I should for sustained weight loss and change of lifestyle requirements. One of these days, I ate two gluten free cookies...so it was a bye bye to no sugar. And later I had a few tortilla chips, so a bye bye to no wheat. Gluten v. sugar is such an issue because most gluten free things contain sugar and vice versa. No exercise for two days...and very little sleep. But thankfully now that the marathon is past, I did go to the gym once and have been keeping to healthy eating.


Now for the new dilemmas: How does one eat out and do brunches and dinners whilst eating well. Last night I went to a cute french place with a friend for dinner. I had a glass of white wine and orange and caramel crepe. This morning again, I was out to brunch with a friend at a nice italian place...and had a ricotta crepe with berries and mint tea. I don't know how crepes stand on health scale. Any ideas, anyone?


I am proud of myself for not digging into any bread and olive oil though this place is famous for its fresh italian bread. I live in Manhattan and hanging out means eating out...and that happens all weekend. Any ideas on where people go to eat out and what one should eat?
 
P.S. one measure of getting somewhere in these last 2 weeks: I fit better in some of the jeans that I had outgrown. But I still look a bit fat in them. I should hit the scales one of these days...but perhaps looking at the scales is only worthwhile when you think the numbers will reflect how good you feel. I still have a while to go until I get there...losing at this slow, rickety pace...
 
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