ShellBell's Journal

ShellBell

ShellBell

New member
I've posted at the newbie page so go see if you like... otherwise:

-- How much weight do you want to lose?
I'd like to lose 35 pounds. I feel that 135 would suit my frame and it would raise my self-esteem.


-- What is the timeframe for reaching your target weight?
I don't need to lose it by any specific date but I know it helps for motivation so I guess I'd like to lose 20 by winter solstice and all 35 by spring break next semester (March 10, 2008)

-- How do you want to accomplish your goal (what methods do you want to use)?
I plan on eating smaller portions, eating til satisfied/not full, counting calories and exercising as often as possible.

-- Who or what can support you in reaching your goal?
My friends and this forum!

-- How realistic is your goal?
You tell me. I'm not sure, lol. I suppose it's relatively realistic and I'm trying to do it healthily which is the important part.

-- When will you start?
Now (as of 10ish tonight, but now I'm going to bed lol).

I'm not as pumped for this as I should be but I do want to take care of myself and improve my overall/longterm health as well. I'm hoping I can keep this up as long as possible. I would love to do WW but I can't afford it. I have several friends who have experienced success on WW or Jenny but I love to cook my own foods and it's just too expensive. SO here I am trying the old fashioned way. I'll keep you posted!
Shell
 
Good luck Shell. We're pretty much at the same place except I have eight lbs on you. I lost 30 lbs last year so I'm really hoping to do the same these next few months. Our weight lose goal date is actually the same so if you're looking for a weight loss buddy count me in. :D I'm going to Thailand for spring break, and I want to look my best. We're also going about losing the weight the same way, so here's to exercise and portion control!!
 
October 3rd, 2007 - Day 1

So I've started using the FitDay calculator and I found that thedailyplate.com also helps for finding nutrition facts that fitday doesn't have. I think my boyfriend thought I was a little nuts grabbing things out of the fridge/freezer, taking them into the office and typing up the facts. So here are my stats as of yesterday.

I ate 1686 calories, 24% fat, 20% protein and 56% carbs.
I think I want to eat fewer carbs but it's so hard! I love carbs. Plus I eat lunch on campus almost every weekday and sandwiches are so easy. I'm not much of a salad person - I find that when I make salads for lunch they're not appetizing, they don't fill me up and I just end up eating something else on top of it. Not to mention since the boyfriend doesn't eat salad, it tends to go bad before I get to it all.

I don't know if I'll have time to do any exercise today. Plus I'm sick and I never want to work out when I'm sick. I feel like it'll make it take longer for me to get well. Meh.

I'll come back on later after dinner to post stats for today.
Shell
 
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One more thing!

I forgot to post my heath issues.

I have a knee issue that started last semester that I talked about on the newbie page...

ShellBell said:
I lost weight last year while working out at least 3 times a week on an eliptical with interval training until I started having knee pain. I'm afraid to go to the doctor, which is really odd for me, because I don't want to end up with some crappy diagnosis like "just rest it" because that's all I've done since then!
Click to expand...


I also have weak ankles and wrists. I've sprained my ankles a total of 5 times (twice on left, three on right) and my wrists 3 (twice on right, once on left) which has pretty much all been during sports activity (gymnastics, badminton and once doing a step workout). So I've decided that sports hate my body. And don't play sports too often because of it.

Pilates worked for me last semester (some I think, but I was doing cardio too) and it is much better on my joints than some other exercises. I may start lifting since it seems like such a high recommendations around here. I never really thought it did much for me, but I didn't stick with it too long either.

I'm also borderline anemic (my lowest HCT was 33) and am taking iron for it, but not as much as I should be because it messes up my system.
Oh yeah! And I'm lactose-intolerant...but I can't live without dairy since I love it sooooo very much so I just take a lot of lactaid.
That's about it. Thanks guys.
Shell
 
October 3, 2007 - End of day 2

Holy crap there's a lot of calories in lemonade! No fair!

Anywho...my stats for today are:

1539 calories, 21% fat, 60% carbs, 19% protein.
Walking on campus for exercise and using stairs. Nothing else today guys, I'm super busy....

I bought a new scale today (I think mine was messed up...) lemme go get it and weigh myself...

*5 mins later*

And the new scale says I'm 165. I guess I'm good at approximating my own weight.
I just took some before photos, I'll post them on the before/after photos page.
I bought a bunch of healthier snacks to put me in a good mood and keep goodness in the apartment. I also found some dairy free ice cream that's 110 calories per serving (1/4 cup) which I think is pretty awesome (I'm also lactose intolerant so it's helpful). I spent more money than I should but hopefully I won't spend as much next month.

Time to go study, I'll post again tomorrow!
Shell
 
I love the daily plate! I find it easier to use and more helpful than fitday. I don't use it everyday, but on days that I am thinking my calories are getting a little high I will check it out to make sure I don't binge too much.

With the carbs, it just depends on where they are coming from. I eat a lot of fruit, but hardly ever eat bread products and my carb % is always high.

Welcome to WLF... we look forward to hearing more from you :D.
 
Hey Shell,

Don't hate the carbs. There are good carbs and bad carbs, but unless they are the really evil ones carbs really help do cool things for the body. I'm not a big fan of "low carb" diets because our body does need them. :)

Wow, your knee problem sounds like it really sucks. So jogging is out, what about walking? How does that go for you? It's a great form of exercise. Any "low impact" workout should be good for you. Maybe you could look up stuff on low impact workouts.

Good job with your calorie intake. :)
 
October 4th, 2007 - Day 3

Thanks for the input guys.

Still sick :( Bleh. So I haven't worked out much yet but I'm keeping my calories down. I suppose I can log what I eat in here every once in a while. I'm keeping it all on track on FitDay though. The one thing about FitDay is that it doesn't track sugar...so anywho, this is what I ate today:

BREAKFAST:
Two egg omelet with bell pepper strips and fat free mozzarella cheese - 69
yoplait light strawberry yogurt - 100
Emergen-C (Which has calories! Wouldn't have guessed) - 25
Airborne (Again...has calories! huh..) - 5

SNACK 1:
grapes - 104
tea - 0

LUNCH:
Tortilla roll-up with reduced fat provolone, grilled chicken strips, and pepper strips - 273

SNACK 2:
apple - 80

DINNER:
Leftover baked ziti - 352
Mixed Veggies - 33

So that's so far 1123 calories...

...which is far lower than I expected and lower than my goal (I shouldn't go that low, right?) so I'm going to try some of my new soy frozen yogurt which has 120 calories for 1/2 a cup! Isn't that awesome (so long as it tastes good, I'll let you all know)? Oh, and I recommend Foster Farms Grilled Chicken Strips! They're breast meat, cut into strips, grilled and frozen! So easy to just toss in a pan to warm up or in the microwave! And there only 100 calories per serving. :) Makes me happy. Oh and I drank a lot of water today, or at least more than I usually drink. I drank just over half a gallon of water today. I was trying really hard... I don't drink water much out of habbit >.< I should, I know.
Woohoo Grey's is on tonight! :)
I'll catch you all later!

Shell
 
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I hope you feel better soon! I know how hard it is to get up and going when you're sick. I'm sure it isn't that good to over work yourself when you're sick as well. Here's to better health!

They say you shouldn't go any lower then 1200 calories, but if your soy yogurt worked out maybe that put you in the right spot. Let me know how it went...I like soy. The chicken you mentioned sounded pretty good too. I'll look into that next time I'm at the market.

I know what you mean about elliptical machines btw. I love them. They are my favorite when I'm at the gym.

I forgot you're a science major...the whole vet thing should have clued me in. I'm a Social Science major, so I guess it's my little Social working thing kicking in when I'm telling people not to forget the good things. tehehe In the science department you know much more than I. Different sciences huh? :D

I use to dislike water myself, but because of my job I got really into drinking water. I work outside so during summer times water became a god send. Now I drink it pretty often.
 
ShellBell said:
I've posted at the newbie page so go see if you like... otherwise:

-- How much weight do you want to lose?
I'd like to lose 35 pounds. I feel that 135 would suit my frame and it would raise my self-esteem.


-- What is the timeframe for reaching your target weight?
I don't need to lose it by any specific date but I know it helps for motivation so I guess I'd like to lose 20 by winter solstice and all 35 by spring break next semester (March 10, 2008)

-- How do you want to accomplish your goal (what methods do you want to use)?
I plan on eating smaller portions, eating til satisfied/not full, counting calories and exercising as often as possible.

-- Who or what can support you in reaching your goal?
My friends and this forum!

-- How realistic is your goal?
You tell me. I'm not sure, lol. I suppose it's relatively realistic and I'm trying to do it healthily which is the important part.

-- When will you start?
Now (as of 10ish tonight, but now I'm going to bed lol).

I'm not as pumped for this as I should be but I do want to take care of myself and improve my overall/longterm health as well. I'm hoping I can keep this up as long as possible. I would love to do WW but I can't afford it. I have several friends who have experienced success on WW or Jenny but I love to cook my own foods and it's just too expensive. SO here I am trying the old fashioned way. I'll keep you posted!
Shell
Click to expand...
Hey.. I posted this Tarrish's diary, but you might want to heed this advice. .or better ..ask Steve .. He will get back to you asap!
I think your caloric intake may be too low, you might want to ask Steve in his diary .. usually you times your weight * 12 = your caloric intake. Take off thirty percent and thats what you should eat for calories to lose weight ..don't want to go too low ..or your body will kick into over starvation mode and when you do eat ..it will pack on the weight ..but if you eat a little through out the day and keep your calories where they should be your body wont really go into starvation mode ...

best wishes
natalie jo :hug2:
 
October 5th, 2007 - Day 4

Thanks for the concern Natalie Jo. I checked with Steve today and he says I'm at a pretty good calorie intake for me right now. He did tell me that when I start exercising more (since I'm sick right now) then I should up it to make up for the difference keeping the 30% deficit. I really do appreciate your input. Thanks! See you around.

So while I'm here I might as well update for today. I had 1423 calories, 21% from fat, 56% from carbs and 23% from protein. I did pretty well. I didn't drink nearly as much water as I should have, but I'm still working on that with tea so we'll see.
I guess I kind of like writing what I actually ate so deal with it :jump:
Breakfast: cheerios, skim milk, airborne, alkaseltzer cough/cold, strawberry light yoplait, water
Snack 1: 1/2 cup golden raisins mixed with dry unsalted roasted peanuts, orange
Lunch: Leftover baked ziti and an apple, water
Dinner: Leftover baked ziti with california mixed veggies and tea
I had no time for a second snack because I was at my internship (which spans 3 hours plus to and from time). It's ok though because I was already at my goal for the day.
I'm very tempted to try my new south beach 100 cal pack cookies though... I'll try to avoid it.

I'm going out of town for the weekend. I'll be headed to San Diego for my cousin's wedding. I'll have to take my laptop with me anyhow to study for my parasitology exam so I'll pop in and update when I get the chance. I'm worried though because wedding food is so rich and so high in calories! I'm worried that I'll totally overdo it or my parent's will think I'm not eating much (because I'll be eating even smaller portions to make up for the extra calories). They don't know I'm trying to lose weight. Not that it's a bad thing, but it's just not something I feel like discussing with my parents.
Oh I guess that may not make sense if you don't know that I don't live with my parents year-round, as a student at a university across the state from my parents, I only really see them on breaks. I live off campus with the boyfriend (as I've noted before) of three+ years. And my mother has been extremely successful at losing weight these last few years by eating along the South Beach Diet guidelines (which would be too hard for me to do with the boyfriend to feed as well). She's not super nice to me about being heavier than she is so I just don't want to talk about it with her. I rather just lose the weight and wow her later.
Back to the wedding bit... Traveling also makes it hard to eat right without a kitchen etc. I'll do my best though. I'm so early on my diet too... I'm worried I'll blow it. If do end up totally splurging this weekend, I can always pick myself up again, right?
Time for more tea. Talk to you guys later.
Shell
 
Hey Shell,

I know what it's like traveling. I'm really worried about my Vegas weekend coming at the end of October. I'm going there for my birthday, and I know I'm going to splurge. With that said I'm going to have to work a little harder the week before and the week after with my exercise routine. A little break once in a while won't kill us I guess, and it is for my birthday. A wedding doesn't happen everyday either so as long as you don't eat the whole cake I think you'll be good. hehe

Have fun at the wedding and don't be to bummed if you go a little over on your calories. If at first you don't succeed dust yourself off and try again. (I was just listening to that song in the car. lol)

PS: I can dig the family thing too. My grandmother use to make not the most flattering comments about my weight, but my mother talked to her about it so she doesn't do that anymore. She wasn't doing it to be mean, but it came out so wrong. I think it will be great when you can just wow your mom instead of giving her the heads up that you're going to lose all that weight. I know you can do it!
 
October 8th, Day 7

Finishing up week 1! YAY! I lost 2 pounds last week...which I suppose I could be excited about, but I don't know if it was just fluctuation since I usually do fluctuate within 5 pounds or so. But I changed my ticker anyhow.

So I'm back from the wedding weekend and started out alright...but definitely lost track and gave up. I just decided that Saturday was my splurge day and left it at that. Sunday I think I stayed within my calories or maybe just a little over. But I didn't spread those calories out...we went to Denny's for breakfast and then I ate once more for dinner on the plane. No snacks throughout the day and I didn't drink nearly enough water. Oh well, what's done is done. At least I spent a lot of time walking around (traveling...airports, shopping etc.) and I still managed to lose 2 pounds so I suppose I shouldn't kick myself too hard. I'll just try to stay on track for this week.

I'm still sick, which sucks. I feel like I'm getting better though so that's good. It may be a few days before I'm 100% but as soon as I am I'm going to try and work out 4 times a week (at least) and work up to 6 days a week. I miss having a workout buddy though. When I lived with 3 friends last year, one always came to the gym with me in the mornings before class. I still haven't figured out when I plan on working out...I seem to be more likley to get it done if I do it in the mornings before school, but that's harder now because I'm living with the boyfriend. And my days are drawn out at school until 5ish and then I have homework or studying to get done. I'll figure it out somehow.

I'll write again later after dinner and post my calorie intake. Check out the recipes I posted for some light desserts! I got views, but no comments. So sad. lol.

Shell
 
Ugh, trying to workout and juggle everything with school is hard! I will be lucky if I get one workout in this week.

There has been a sickness going around over here as well. Keep your water up and drink lots of tea (my cure for everything).

Congrats on the 2lb loss! I know its hard to know that it is for real at first, but the scale will keep going down and then you will start believing it!

Sorry I can't write more, HW is calling. Hope you are having a good day!
 
Thanks Tiffany! I have been drinking a lot of tea...it's helping me consume more water without any calories.
So I didn't log on last night because I procrastinated on a lab and then got super emotional and just went to bed. The emotional issues, however, caused me to eat a couple more hundred calories than I wanted to... I was just under 1600 by the end of the evening so I suppose that wasn't too awful.
I need to go finish some school work though so I can't write more. I'll log on later with calories etc.
 
October 9th, Day 8

Hi there. So I got to the end of eating today and realized I didn't eat enough calories! Man that's a good feeling hehe. So I ate some grapes and toast. I even ate ice cream earlier (the real stuff... ok so it was light) and stayed within my limits!
I ate 1433 calories; 24% fat, 24% protein and 52% carbs. Not bad for having such an emotional evening last night. Going straight to bed was a good idea. I got up this morning and just kinda laughed it off. Still sad about a few things but they're not things I have any control over so I moved on with my day.
I drank tons of water today too! About 3/4 of a gallon.
I'm still sick damnit. It should be over by now... I've been sick for over a week! I'm so sick of being sick! :cry:
I have a parasitology exam tomorrow! Wish me luck!
 
Sorry for your emotional day. I hope you had a better day. Still sick huh? Well, it should be gone any time now as long as you're getting enough rest.

Good luck with your test tomorrow. :)
 
Thanks Tarrish,
Yesterday was better than the night before and today should be even better. I have been getting plenty of sleep. That's definitely key because I only tend to get sick when I lose sleep. I have to get 8 hours every night and I'm pretty good about that. I feel like I'm getting better but I'm still hacking up a lung every once in a while...lots of congestion. Grossness.
I stepped on the scale this morning and lost a couple more pounds! Yippe. Should I be weighing myself in the evening rather than morning? Or is morning fine? As long as I'm consistent?? I'm not sure. But I seem to like the results in the morning better than evening.
 
I hear that we are a little lighter for some reason in the morning, but as long as you weigh your self at the same time it doesn't matter whether you weigh yourself during the morning or evening. Consistency is the key, you got it Shell. :D Good job on your weight loss. You're doing great.
 
October 10th, Day 9

I'm pretty perky today which is great! I took my exam which was super easy. I'm pretty positive I got an A.
I've eaten pretty well today. I've been craving fish lately so I finally broke down and bought some salmon. Farm grown so not nearly as expensive, but still expensive. I baked it in some white wine and lemon slices. Boyfriend even liked it! Which is great because he's so damn picky...cooking for him has been quite the challenge. Anywho this is what I ate today:

Breakfast: Yogurt, honeynut cheerios, skim milk, emergen-c and airborne, water
Snack: red grapes
Lunch: Peanut butter and sugarfree blackberry jam on light whole wheat bread, tea
Snack: Safeway low fat apple berry chewy bar, yogurt *only 'cuz it dropped and popped a whole in the lid right after returning from the store...i couldn't waste it
Dinner: Baked salmon with roasted red potatoes, glass of wine

Calories: 1432; 18% fat, 60% carbs, 17% protein and 5% alcohol

Not too bad. I may have a 10 cal sugar free jello later too while I'm watching private practice.
Still sick so no extra exercise. I climbed more stairwells today than normal though.
I'm glad I've lost 4 pounds...but I'm almost positive it's water weight (since I never used to drink enough water). I can't let myself get too used to losing 4 pounds in 10 days lol it seems too easy with not working out yet. I gotta work for the hot bod that I want though, right?
Thanks for the notes. Tarrish: I may just go out and buy a pedometer...I probably would like it. Like you, I enjoy having a number to look for/something to beat. I saw on food network once that a healthy goal is at least 10,000 steps a day so I'll shoot for that if I get one. I'm just so broke lately that I'm trying to save money so we'll see.
Hopefully by tomorrow I'll feel 100% and I can go work out! I think I have to suck it up though and get a doctor's appointment about my knees. We'll see what one workout does to them first though. *crosses fingers* maybe it was just a fluke? (I still get pain sometimes, so probably not). I may end up swimming instead...who knows.
Shell
 
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