Sound the trumpet, the fight's about the start!

T

Trumpeter

New member
Sound the trumpet, the fight's about to start!

I just hope i'm the winner at the end of it. :p

So, wow, where to begin? This is my first time doing something like this -- well, i mean, not so much keeping a journal? But keeping a journal about my attempts at weightloss and this sort of "war on fat". One of the reasons i've always been weary to start trying to lose weight or always failed at my attempts is that i'm pretty shy by nature. I never liked anyone knowing that i was unhappy with my size or that i was trying to get healthier or lose some pounds. I never even mentioned it to my closest friends or family! I'm sure this was part of the reason i never really succeeded in the past; this time around (even though i'm still a little tight-lipped about it), i've opened up to my mother and some dear friends about it, and i think that having a dedicated little journal to toss some thoughts into will help a great deal. So, here i am! I don't think i'll be able to update daily, but i'll be sure to keep this up to speed regarding my many boring trials and tribulations! :D

I won't drag on too much with any other stuff, but i'll just list some quick details to give you (and me!) an idea of where i'm starting here:

- I'm 21 years old, and around 250 pounds.
- My goal is to reach about a solid 160 pounds by the end of March 2008, which would be roughly about a year after i've started my work in earnest. I like to think it's pretty realistic, as long as i work hard and keep at it.
- I've been slowly weaning myself off of my previously sedentary lifestyle and into a much more active mindset. Since around February i've been hard at work by at least managing a half-an-hour to an hour on either the exercise bike, walking, or a mix of both each day.
- Similarly, i've cut back on the junks that made up huge portion of my diet and am drinking almost primarily water (unfortunately, there's always soda in the house; i'm pretty strong in the face of temptation, but sometimes i can't help but chug down a can once every other week or so).

Anyway, that's that! Let's get to the good stuff: what i've been up to!
 
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Hi Trumpeter,
Welcome to the WLF and to your new diary!

I can absolutely relate to your not wanting to tell too many people about your weightloss efforts. When I started, I told no one. For me, I didn't want any one "judging" what I put in my mouth, to think "well THAT's certainly NOT diet food!" ;) And no one did notice - my husband didn't notice until I lost almost 25 pounds! Let me tell you, I was hurt and annoyed!

I think once you've made up your mind that you are taking control - it won't matter who knows, and the more people who know it and accept it, the better. It took a long time for my family to *accept* the fact that fast food really wasn't an option. That bringing home pizza did NOT make me happy (one night when they did that I stormed off to bed and closed the door because I could smell it). It wouldn't have been bad, if I had planned for it, but I was at a point where I did NOT want the pressure, because at the time, I very well would have had 4-5 pieces instead of being satisfied with 2 (and yes, I did get to that point) ;)

What helped me was counting calories - I did NOT want to at first, went kicking and screaming - but it really is the best way of eating what you still want to eat, learning to control portions and knowing exactly what's going in your body. and are both sites for tracking calories, nutrition and fitness.

Best of luck to you - just remember you CAN do this, it's just one step at a time!
 
Wow. I've always heard them say in the movies how "this was a bad week to quit <insert habit here>", but if it was ever true, it has to be in this case.

As i mentioned earlier, while i've sort of been testing the waters and trying to get into a more active lifestyle for the past couple of months, this past Monday was the day i actually started getting serious about everything. Setting up some basic routines for myself, starting an account at Fitday and beginning to plan ahead and start really working at my goals. Monday and Tuesday were just perfect; i'm still a little in the dark as far as counting calories and picking out the right foods go, but i like to think i'm eating much better. Started off the day with a nice bowl of cereal, an apple and some water. Can't vouch as to whether it's a good start or not, though! Shortly after that, i decided to get in my morning exercises.

Without prattling on too much, one of my main problems when it came to exercising was the boredom; i could never manage very long without just seeming very tedious, nothing to keep my mind off of the burn. And then i realized it.

Video games! See, i'm a huge video game player; i love them, which probably accounts for what i like to call my "gamer's physique". To make a long story short -- and i don't know why i didn't think of this -- but i didn't have to give up one for the other, since i could easily do both! This resulted in me setting up a little kiosk in the basement and pulling both the exercise bike and the treadmill in front of the PS2 and TV. The first few times i tried it, i easily managed nearly an hour at a steady pace without once getting bored. The minutes just flew by! And for the first time, it really seemed like i could do this.

Wednesday's when it almost hit bottom. One of my favorite foods was made for dinner, and as much as i tried to convince myself over the course of the day to stay strong and ignore the temptation, i couldn't, and i ended up gorging on five huge homemade burritos and a Dr Pepper. :(

This wasn't all bad though! In fact, it was sort of a revelation. Since i've started using Fitday, i've been coming in at a good 1800-2000 calories a day. This seemed normal to me, and i was surprised at why i've always had trouble losing weight, since this was what i "thought" had been my normal eating habits. After Wednesday, i had easily taken in close to 4000 calories without batting an eyelash. It was then i realized how easy it was to go overboard without ever even thinking about it. It was honestly pretty shocking.

Thursday was thankfully back to business, coming in around 2000 calories and taking a brisk hour long walk in the evening. Unfortunately, the rollercoaster hadn't yet come to an end. Friday is typically a pizza night. I behaved myself much better than i had on Wednesday, but it still was a little overboard. Still, i'm not going to give up. I've done that too many times before, and just because i'm off to a rocky start doesn't mean it'll be this bad forever. I also hit the movies with some pals, so we shared a tub of popcorn. :eek: Although, however bad i might've been feeling about how this week has been playing out was totally put to rest; sitting down next to a friend, he not only admired a new shirt of mine, but said the words i'm sure we all want to hear: "you look good, have you lost a little bit of weight"? Suddenly, i was glad i started walking more and getting on the bike and drinking all that water those two months ago.

Today, i kept it under control once more; i was feeling a little off and quite frankly very sore so i took it pretty easy. Came in a little over 2200 calories today, but that mostly the leftover pizza from last night.

I'm a little worried about tomorrow (Easter, of course). Like i said, a pretty bad week to start, right? Either way, i'd like to think of this as a baptism-by-fire. I've gotten things thrown at me this week that a year ago would've just convinced me not even to bother trying to lose weight, but i'm not giving up this time.

Tomorrow, once i get a little free time on my hands i'm going to finally make a post in the Weight Loss through Exercise forum and ask for some tip and suggestions as to what i can start doing on top of the walking and biking (since i'm pretty much completely clueless as to what to do and how to do it), and i'm going to get right back on the track to getting healthier and losing weight.

Anxious to see what next week holds.
 
M2M said:
Hi Trumpeter,
Welcome to the WLF and to your new diary!

I can absolutely relate to your not wanting to tell too many people about your weightloss efforts. When I started, I told no one. For me, I didn't want any one "judging" what I put in my mouth, to think "well THAT's certainly NOT diet food!" ;) And no one did notice - my husband didn't notice until I lost almost 25 pounds! Let me tell you, I was hurt and annoyed!

I think once you've made up your mind that you are taking control - it won't matter who knows, and the more people who know it and accept it, the better. It took a long time for my family to *accept* the fact that fast food really wasn't an option. That bringing home pizza did NOT make me happy (one night when they did that I stormed off to bed and closed the door because I could smell it). It wouldn't have been bad, if I had planned for it, but I was at a point where I did NOT want the pressure, because at the time, I very well would have had 4-5 pieces instead of being satisfied with 2 (and yes, I did get to that point) ;)

What helped me was counting calories - I did NOT want to at first, went kicking and screaming - but it really is the best way of eating what you still want to eat, learning to control portions and knowing exactly what's going in your body. and are both sites for tracking calories, nutrition and fitness.

Best of luck to you - just remember you CAN do this, it's just one step at a time!
Click to expand...




Hello, and thanks so much for the welcome!

Oh, i know exactly what you mean. I just wanted to avoid all the questions and strange looks that would've come with such an announcement, especially coming from the guy that was famous for eating notoriously unhealthy foods! It was just way more trouble than i wanted. Another big factor in that was other people; by that, i mean there were a few folk in our old high-school class who left for summer vacation after junior year in the mid 200's and came back in the fall a hundred pounds later; the talk that permeated the halls was enough to make me just want to not even try unless i was in some mountain retreat all alone with no one to face afterwards!

Boy oh boy, the fast food thing...i definitely know where you're coming from. We're a family big on fast food and pizza - every Friday is pizza night, and more often than not if it's a busy evening dinner is going to be Burger King or Wendy's brought home late. It's tough to say no to it, but i've been really proud of myself! I've either abstained completely, or gotten a small sandwich and a water as opposed to a Big sized value meal. I can't get too mad since i know it's mostly out of convenience for the rest of the family (who, surprisingly, don't have any kind of problems with their weight!), but it's mostly just troubling on my side as a sort of temptation.

Fitday has been like a Godsend! I mentioned in my last post about how i've had a huge revelation when it came to counting calories; i couldn't believe how quickly they piled on! What i thought was certainly a little overeating was like opening my mouth and letting someone pour a dumptruck full of junk down my throat! After that, i'm definitely going to be a lot more careful.

Thank you so much! I know i can do this, i just have to stay strong even through the rocky days.
 
Kaitie said:
Hello Trumpeter and welcome to the forum!

Do you play the trumpet?
Click to expand...

Hello to you, and thanks so much!

And unfortunately i do not, haha. I have absolutely no musical talent. :(


---------------------------------

So, some updates!

Easter wasn't nearly as bad as i figured it would be, but that doesn't mean it went exactly splendidly. Even with cutting back the amount of food i'd normally stuff down my throat i still easily tossed back 2500 calories more than i should've, even counting the little bit i've "allowed" myself to go overboard with. A bit disheartening, but i'm not going to let it get me down.

Monday went much better, with the exception of an impromptu trip to Burger King with the guys for lunch. I'll admit readily that i wasn't quite strong enough to stave off temptation, but instead of getting a whole huge meal i just got a sandwich and a small cup of soda. Not ideal, but better than a big sized value meal! A little more junky eating over the day brought me to around 2700 calories total for my intake. Sigh.

Today was the kind of day i strive for. Woke up early and had a good breakfast, and strolled downstairs to get my exercise on. Not much; around 40 minutes on the bike and some...well, miscellaneous work on the Ab Lounge Ultra, which i'm sure likely did more harm than good. Later in the evening i went for brisk stroll (again for about 40 minutes or so), which seemed like a good way to wind things down. Today, i came in at my sort of "caloric goal": 2000 calories and change. After seeing how high my intake was with my usual eating habits, this is a good 2000 calories or so less; it's what i hope is a good start. Truth be told, i'm still not positive on how to figure out exactly what my intake should be or how much i should be burning off daily or pretty much anything,but i've gotta start somewhere. I was just tired of doing nothing but complaining.

I haven't mentioned it yet (i don't think!) but i've recently been looking for a new job, preferably employment that will have me a lot more active as opposed to sitting behind a desk all day. More than that, i'm looking for places that are within a good walk from my house: it's not the best of choices so far, but at least temporarily i'm planning on applying at some places in our local mall. I'm hoping specifically for warehousing or pick-up work in some of the bigger department store, but as long as i'm standing and moving all day, i can't complain. Also, i've strolled on up our mall on occasion; it's a solid thirty-fourtyfive minute walk, almost entirely uphill.

Well, that's it for now! I'm off to the Weight Loss through Exercise forum to look for some pointers on what i could possible do or add to my admittedly meager routine.
 
Hey! Congrats on getting started! Easter is always tough (as are most holidays). I just started on with this online journal/support thing too. I like the idea of being motivated by others...but hate talking about weight loss with people i know. My mother is ALWAYS on a diet and is NOT very motivating as she is into fad diets etc.

So, keep up the great work! So far everyone here seems really nice!
~nicole~
 
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