ShellBell's Journal

Hey! Sounds like you are doing good! Being sick, going to school and trying to loose weight all at once sucks! I was sick for a couple weeks... it was no good.

I would definatly continue to weigh yourself in the morning. Your weight goes up throughout the day due to food, water, etc... I personally like my weight better in the morning :D.. although my evening weights have been going down as well.

Keep up the good work :D.
 
Thanks Tiffany! It is tough balancing all that...plus adjusting to moving in with the boyfriend on top (which has been super hard lately...I don't know if he was ready for this...).

I tried the FlatOut itallian herb flatbread from Safeway today. Man it was not so tasty. I imagine it may taste better prepared differently, but for like a sandwich wrap? Gross! I may have to switch to low-carb tortillas. I wish I could eat regular tortillas or pitas but they're so much higher in calories. Maybe I'll try wasa crispbread sometime soon...but it won't work for stuff like a wrap or PB&J. :( Subsituting my faves has become quite difficult. I think I may need to go out to dinner soon...sounds weird but one of my problems with losing weight in the past was depriving myself from things I love for so long that I go out once and then totally quit. I'll try to be sensible though. I can't just go out and always order salad like some people though...it just doesn't appeal to me. Except for a salad they discontinued at Red Robin (ceasar w/ pene(cold) tomatoes and parm) or the chicken fiesta ?(I think?) salad at apple-bees. Yum...but I don't think either of those are very good for me. Maybe I'll just go to apple-bees and order from the weight-watchers menus. Man when can I have a burger and fries again?! Lol. I'm going to be so screwed when the holidays roll around! We love to cook/bake around the holidays in my family. Like in over-drive. Lots of food, lots of snacking...fattening/sugary goodness. Not to mention my dad makes killer barbeque...I really miss his pulled pork...gonna have to figure out how many calories a pulled pork sandwich is... like 800? LOL. I'll be back on later to update on food.
Shell
 
Moving in with people whether they be your lover or friend can be so hard after a little while. My best friend and I found out a lot about each other once we moved in together. lol Thankfully, we're still best friend. Hopefully it will work out fine Shell.

Holidays are going to be rough for a lot of people I think. The family that I still see are all Mexican. If you know Mexicans you know how much they loooooooove to make crazy calorie foods and a lot of it. lol We have huge Thanksgivings and pretty big Christmas feasts as well. I don't even want to think about it right now. lol

One thing I learned from losing weight is you always need to leave room for the things you love. I would fit it into my diet because I knew once I got off the weight loss kick I would eat the things I loved again. If you over do it and give up lovely things you'll gain weight back when you're done. I still have burgers and things like that, but I just have smaller portions. :D
 
October 11th, Day 10

So my calories for today were 1288; 33% fat, 34% carbs and 32% protein. I know that's a little low for me, but it's not going to become a habit. We may be having company this weekend, boyfriend's best friend, which may involve going out and/or partying...so I figure it'll level out. I'm super sleepy so I'm not going to list food, but I know I did pretty well so I'm cool without. G'night!
Shell
 
October 12th, Day 11

Hiya. So I hopped on the scale this morning and I've dropped down to 158.6 ;). Awesome. I've lost over 5 pounds! Yippee!
My knee hurts REALLY BAD today so I made an appointment with the doctor on campus (wonder if he'll even tell me anything....gah.) It's for Monday, I'll let you know how it goes.
Today I ate 1397 calories, 49% carbs, 25% protein and 26% fat. Not too bad. I didn't drink quite enough water though. No company this weekend, he's going to a Seahawks game instead :p loser. I really think I want to go out this weekend. I may just make some white chicken chili instead (cooking light recipe). And I'm still sick. Bleh. So I'm off to bed. Good luck everyone! (Since I haven't been to anyone's diary lately...since I'm so bleh and tired.)
Shell
 
:cry: I got on the scale and gained almost a pound over the weekend...and I guess it was expected... but my calories were fine (maybe a little low on Friday) I was just really lazy (watched the entire first season of Heroes! really good) and ate the wrong things. Oh well. What's done is done. Let's hope I can get back soon and keep losing.
Today's my doctor's appointment for joint pain...let's hope they can actually tell me something...
So no calories for the weekend, just don't feel like posting them. So I'll post today later. Adios!
Shell
 
October 15th, Day 14

So calories today were 1446; fat 23%, carbs 65%, 12%. However... this morning my vitamin pill made me nauseous and I puked. Now before some of you freak out, let me explain... I have never been and will never be bulimic...that's horrible to your body and I hate puking. I know that some people have experienced this as well...some multivitamins , like "One a Day Weight Smart" note that you should take them with food. I always do, otherwise you puke it up in like an hour or less. I always take it with breakfast (usually consisting of cereal and yogurt) but sometimes, a few hours later, or rather if I haven't eaten again within a couple of hours, it'll make me nauseous as well...this happens a couple times a week and usually I get something in my stomach fast enough so that I don't puke...but today, my apple wasn't sufficient or I was just too late in eating it...and I puked. It was gross, but I felt much less nauseous afterwards. I need to be quicker about eating my first snack. So I don't know if that screwed up my nutritious breakfast/calorie intake of the day...but I don't really no so I'll just pretend it had no effect...moving on...
No exercise outside of walking on campus yet...I'm so close to being well! I can feel it...The boyfriend, however, has not been taking good care of himself (not enough sleep/food/liquids) and will likely be sick a while longer.
I went to the doctor today and he told me that the knee pain I have is very common among women and has to do with how our muscles in the leg align at an angle which isn't so awesome on the patella. He said that it's due to having wide hips. So there's the answer ladies. Damn men...they don't get this problem...Anyhow, he told me to do these hamstring exercises three times a day for 20 reps for 8 seconds each rep on each leg....OMG THAT'S A LOT...but I'm going to try. He said that it'll take like 3-4 weeks before I see any results, but it should strengthen something around the patella to minimize the friction and make the pain go away. He also said never do squats! It's bad on the knees (which is very sad because they can be so effective)! He also said to discontinue the activities that are causing the pain and try another form of aerobic activity...like swimming...woopie...Also, when doing the curls, lifts, and presses involving the knees, don't retract to a 90 degree angle of the leg...that's bad. He also said that I can continue to exercise for the 3-4 weeks of trying to cure my knee and if the pain doesn't go away to go back to the doctor....I'll let you know how that goes.
Now I really need to write my lab for tomorrow. Night all!
Shell
 
Oops

So I've been behind on posting but I watched my calories for the 16th and 17th, I was a good girl. I haven't worked out yet :S I've been so busy! This is going to be harder than I thought. I did drop to 157.6 though! Another 1.6 pounds and I'll have lost 10! That's pretty freaking amazing.
I'll post later tonight. Gotta go get ready for school.
Shell
 
October 19th, Day 18

OOPS! So typo/brain fart in the last entry, I need to lose 2.6 pounds to have lost 10 (well, 2 as of this morning :) ). I know I haven't been posting food/real calories lately, but I've still been good. Not posting actual calories lately is mostly due to the whole I'm too lazy to type in every freaking custom food that I eat so I calculate what I'm eating (usually this happens for dinner) and I know I'm approximately within my limits. I'm not drinking as much water as I was, so I need to up that. But it's hard... I miss juice :( . A lot. I love juice and now I hardly ever drink it. And tea cannot replace juice. Tea is awesome because it helps when it's freezing cold in my apartment (it got down to 60 last night before I went to bed...in the apartment... I'm not willing to turn on the heater yet and waste the money). But still, juice is too awesome and I miss it. I already drank light juice so that helps, but still way down on my juice consumption which sucks. I have learned that I can chug water like a champion without realizing it now lol.
A friend of mine who's trying to lose weight, eats about the right amount of calories and works out a lot (she's training for a half-marathon) doesn't believe me when I tell her it's just that she doesn't drink like any water. She drinks like a glass a day, and that's it. Maybe some tea every once in a while, but very little water. And she doesn't want to drink more water to lose the weight (not that she has a lot to use, she's little, perfect size in my opinion but she's unhappy with the pounds she's gained since high school). That was random, but decided to write it anyways lol.
Still haven't started working out yet. But it's gotten so cold so I don't want to walk around my neighborhood like I had planned and going to the rec would literally take two hours out of my day that I don't have...I'll try to work it in but I don't know how well that'll work.
The boyfriend's been good about me counting calories and things. I've gotten some flak from my friends about it, but he's been super sweet and understanding, so that's awesome.
I tried on a couple of skirts that I could hardly button by the end of the summer and they fit now! Well, they don't fit perfectly, but they fit much better and I don't have a muffin top with them as seriously as I did before. I bought them in high school and I'm almost back to my high school weight which is probably why they fit. Man I hope I can keep it up! I want to see what size my ideal (according to my standards) weight is. I was a 9 in junior high and I can't remember wearing any junior sizes before that so I'd love to get into a 7. That'd be awesome. 7-8 just sounds like an amazing number right now. I think I'd carry a 7-8 quite nicely and could be quite happy with myself at that size. Maybe I could even wear a two-piece suit at that size! Well, here's hoping!
Gotta get back to studying....
Shell
 
October 21, Day 20

I feel accomplished - more so that I studied a lot today than anything weight related lol. We went to the store...it takes so much longer now that I pay attention to labels...not to mention I think I'm spending way more on food than I used to. Sacrifice I have to make I guess, plus living with the boy I can't buy quite as many things in bulk like I did last year with 3 roommates.

I've done fine on calories, still no extra exercise. It's hard sometimes to figure calories out when the boyfriend cooks, but I think fit-day and my estimations are all about right. I try to be brutally honest when estimating since I don't want to cheat myself the extra 200 calories or anything throughout the day, everything adds up. I've been bouncing around 157-158 now and I still think it's partially due to not drinking enough water. I should go drink some now.

One of these weeks I'll find some extra time to go work out. I've slacked off on my knee exercises too, but it's soo much and soo often! It's harder to bring myself to do those than it is to go to the gym (compared to when I used to go last year lol...seems harder...man that sounds lame...I need to go to the gym lol)!

Well I'm off to write this paper and get some sleep. Night all.
Shell
 
I totally understand the gym struggle! I always feel like its a choice between studying/getting a paper done and going to the gym. The gym always looses in that choice. I know if I go to the gym I will feel better, but I always seem to stress about what I am not doing when I am there. I find it helpful if I can get a walk in. Even if its just around my apartment or around campus. I always feel like maybe I got a little exercise in then.

Hopefully you got your paper done! Sorry I don't check in much... but I have been buried at school as well.
 
October 22nd, Day 21 - Three weeks and counting

Thanks Tiffany!

So still bouncing around 157-8...kind of annoying. I know if I could get to the gym it'd help, but I seriously don't have the time to right now. I hope it'll get better, but I don't know when. Until I can work out, I'm not going to be super strict on making it to 1400cals, I think between 1200 and 1400 seems reasonable - but I will up it when I start working out.

Today I ate well, drank tons of water, and had 1228 calories, 32% fat, 25% protein and 43% carbs. Fat could be lower but I had guacamole - which is high in good fats so I think that was why. I had my favorite salad for dinner which was awesome - super easy too! Romaine lettuce, guacamole from a package (I buy "Wholly Guacamole" from Safeway - it's surprisingly delicious and not too expensive), Safeway's sowthwest medium salsa, a little bit of light ranch, some foster farms chicken strips and it's amazing! I add some southwestern mixed veggies sometimes from the bag - black beans and corn and something else I can't remember - but not today. Anyways it was delicious!

Oh and I bought this Sunmaid raisin cinnamon bread that's only 100 cals a slice! Pretty good deal with some lowfat creamcheese.

I'm tired, and have an exam tomorrow, so night all!
Shell
 
Hi Tiffany
you gave ShellBell the tip to drink lots of water and tea. I know that you should drink lots of water when you want to lose some weight. And tea as well. But what about sugar? Is is possible to drink tea with sugar, because I really don't like pure tea. Or am I also allowed to drink a few cups of coffee instead of so much water and tea?
 
Hi Tiffany
you gave ShellBell the tip to drink lots of water and tea. I know that you should drink lots of water when you want to lose some weight. And tea as well. But what about sugar? Is is possible to drink tea with sugar, because I really don't like pure tea. Or am I also allowed to drink a few cups of coffee instead of so much water and tea?
Hi Jane, This is actually my Journal (ShellBell) but I can provide an answer for you to the best of my ability.
I drink a lot of tea, and tea by itself has no calories, but as soon as you add sugar, it ups the calorie intake pretty fast. As long as your keeping that in mind, and counting those calories as well (if you count calories) then there's nothing wrong with drinking tea with sweetner. You could try a no calorie sweetner, I use equal, some people like splenda etc. Coffee is fine too, it's calorie free until you add things to it. Tea is typically decafinated nowadays so if you're worried at about caffeine, tea may be the way to go.
I've been told that the majority of liquids you drink should be in the form of plain water. I always try to drink half my weight in ounces (I weigh about 160, so 80 oz) of water a day. If sixteen of that or something is tea, I include it in my daily intake. Drinking plenty of water keeps the body from retaining water and helps you lose weight("water weight").
Hope that helps, if not you can ask on the nutrition threads.
Shell
 
October 23rd, Day 22

So today I've been pretty good. I totally aced my comparative phys exam (I think). No extra exercise - way too much to do for school this week + clean the house (probably without any help from the boy).
This is what I ate:

Breakfast: cinnamon toast crunch, skim milk, slice of raisin bread and a little Neufchatel (sp?) cheese

Snack: Satsuma

Lunch: Turkey sandwich with light mayo (No cheese 'cuz I forgot my lactaid :( )

Snack: Apple

Dinner: Chicken taco salad with black beans, romaine, tomato, onion, salsa, fat free sour cream and guac and the shell of course

Dinner took about an hour to make but it was SO worth it! And I have leftovers!!! I definately had to cut a bit out earlier in the day (just a little) to be able to have it...but I love taco salad! It's so yummy!

Total cals: 1308, 30% fat, 31% protein and 39% carbs.
Drank lots of water and noticed I am thirsty (noticeably!) a lot more often now - which is good because it keeps me drinking water. I wonder if that's just my body getting used to the amount of water that I drink and telling me when I'm low...I'm such a biology student! LOL. I still have a review for an exam to go to so I'll probably drink more water yet!
Hopped on the scale this morning and weight 155.8! .8 til 10 pounds! Well, if I keep it off and it wasn't just a fluke. We'll see! :) I'll be so happy to go home for thanksgiving break if I've lost 15-20 pounds!!!! I'm sure mom'll take me shopping! LOL. Gotta go get ready for the review.

Shell
 
Hi ShellBell,
thanks for you answer. So I can keep on drinking tea and coffee. I used to add sugar to both drinks. I have never tried to use something like splenda, but I am going to buy some later! And maybe I can also cut down my consumption of coffee and tea a little bit and replace it buy water! Thanks again for your help!
 
Man...I'm having an emotional day - which sucks because I totally don't have time to have an emotional day.
I got on the scale this morning and JUST KIDDING I wasn't down to 155.8 yesterday, my scale was just unbalanced. This morning I was 157.2 which is about the same I've been for the last week. I really should work out, but don't have time.
I really really really want a trip to redrobin - with a margarita and cheese sticks and a teriyaki chicken burger....definitely the margarita. I feel super down and it blows. I'm not going to explain all of it because I'll just start welling up and I have to go to lab soon so that's not acceptable. I think that time of the month is kinda part of it - I should be starting in about a week and this is when I get all emotional - but only if there's something to trigger it.
Blah. I'll be back later.
 
Hi ShellBell,
oh no days like this are horrible. I have had so many of them before. And some friends also told me about those days during their diets. But just don't give up! You will definitely make it!
And thanks again for the idea to take some splenda instead of sugar. I tried it out and there is no real difference! So I think I will keep on using splenda!
 
October 24th, Day 23 (Last night)

Thanks Jane, and I'm glad you liked it! Splenda can be used in baking too (if you like to bake anyhow). Holidays are coming up, I bet I'll be breaking it out in a couple weeks or so. :)

Yesterday I did fine on calories, about 1207. And I still had taco del mar for dinner! They post all their nutrition info online, wasn't as bad as I thought having a "mondito" instead of the full sized burrito. Scale said 157 again this morning, I really need to work out. I know stress has an affect on your cortisol (lol I just had an exam on this in comparative physiology) which affects your weight loss/gain. I've been super stressed out so I wonder if that's why I'm maintaining and not dropping. Plus I'm PMSing so I don't know how that corresponds to it, but I know it has some sort of effect. Gotta go to school. Adios.
Shell
 
Hi Shell!

Thanks for posting to my before and after pics!

Hope the rest of your week turned out better for you. I was super stressed these past weeks trying to get ready for a special event I had. I didn't lose much weight but I managd to make my chin breakout! :doh: We all have our off days though.
I find that exercise helps with stress so even a 15 minute break for a walk could help.
 
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