Suz's Journey

SuzAtHome

SuzAtHome

New member
First I am going to paste a copy of my "hello" msg below here, and then start my diary from there.
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Ok, well now I got the ticker figured out, I'll tell you a little about myself.

I have been a yo yo dieter for many years - been through all the ups & downs, with my best success being about 15 years ago when I exercised my brains out and lost about 75 pounds, both through diet and exercise - but the crazy thing is I was exercising 2-3 hours every single day for years - to get it off and try to keep it off -and still struggled constantly with about a 15 pound fluctuation. I kept it mostly off for about 7 years - as long as I did the excessive exercise. I then started a job that just took over my life and I got out of my exercise habits and gradually gained it all back - and then some.

Now here I am some years later, so fat and miserable and really feeling the toll it is taking on my health. The worst part is my knees have gotten so bad and painful it is all I can do to walk around the house and yard. It makes it really hard to do any kind of exercise, and the job I am doing is very sedentary - sitting at a desk all day - which is good that I am able to still work, in spite of the pain, but doesn't help the weight issue one bit. I expect that if I could get a chunk of the weight off the knee pain would improve some and make it easier to do more exercise - but that means I have to really stick to a diet for a long while without the benefits of exercise to even get to that point. I know it is possible to lose slowly even without exercise - it just takes dedicationa and willpower to stick to it even when the scale is moving very slowly. Bike riding is even painful, but I am thinking about having my hubby move the exercise bike in out of the garage (where it will be too hot in the summer to use) and just bite the bullet on the pain and use it some.

My immediate goal: I would love to lose 15-20 pounds over the next 2 months so when we go on vacation I can buckle the airplane seatbelt! Last year I could buckle it on some of the flights and not on others and hid the unbuckled ends under my shirt on some flights - just could not face the embarrassment of not being able to buckle it and to ask for an extender or something. Of course there are all the other reasons too that I would love to lose some before this big vacation - clothes to fit better, walk with less difficulty, look a little better, etc etc.

Knowing how to diet is not the issue. I have used a variety of diets at different times, and I know a lot of different things work - if you stick to them. Sticking to is has been my problem. I can stick to it for 2-3 weeks and then end up getting discouraged or stumble and cannot get motivated to get right back on.

Hopefully with the encouragement here I can do better!!! I want to watch my ticker "tick down", help my health and appearance, and feel better about myself. It has gotten to the point that both my health and my appearance are keeping me from participating in things in life - activities I enjoy, and also going places and seeing people sometimes because I am so embarrassed to look this way.

Well I have rambled enough - told you more than you want to know I'm sure - but I will keep you posted here on my progress and maybe this little accountability will help me stick with it.
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1st Diary Entry - Day 2

Ok, so today was day 2 and I have stuck to the diet AND went for a nice bike ride this evening with my hubby. He hasn't gotten my exercise bike brought into the house from the garage yet but I will get him to do that asap so it will be in the air conditioning to use when I get time.

I plan to check out some of the exercise things on the On Demand TV listings, as my daughter did show me that there are ALL kinds of exercise shows on there to work out to at home. I can probably find something on there that I will be capable of without stressing my aching knees too much, but still get some activity and burn some calories. So when I get some time in the next couple of days I will be checking that out.

For now this will be about what I can handle for exercise. I am hoping that after I lose some that my knees will feel better and I can do more. At one time in life I was SO addicted to exercise I could never have imagined getting to this point in life, and sometimes now I even wonder if the OVER exercise in those earlier years added to my current knee problems - although I'm sure the excesss weight is the biggest culprit. For a number of years I did a couple of hours of cardio per day plus lifted weights - walking, running, stair climber, exercise bike, etc. I like what all that did for my body at that time, and yet I feel like it was overboard and excess. It seemed crazy to have to exercise that much just to even try to maintain my weight at the time. I know that I will not ever exercise that excessively in life again - but am hoping that with a moderate amount of exercise I can still lose weight and get more fit again.

I went to the site with the BMR info and figured out that I can only eat about 1450 calories per day just to stay the same - at my current sedentary state. To burn enough to lose pounds and still eat enough healthy food, exercise is obviously going to have to increase!!!
 
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Went on a long bike ride this evening - YAY ME!!! :) Is enjoyable to ride the neighborhoods and look at the yards, flowers, houses, etc. - but it felt good to be doing that for me - instead of sitting on my butt for the evening - after sitting on it all day.

I came home and searched through the On Demand exercise TV choices for an exercise program that does not demand you to be on your feet (straining the aching knees!). I have seen exercise programs for the elderly before that were called Sit & Fit, etc. where they did most of it from a chair. That sounds awful to admit it is what I need when I am not really SO old (getting there... at almost 52 - but not there yet!). I didn't find one of those kinds of programs on the On Demand.

Speaking of getting old, my mother is 77 years old and in much better shape than I am. I have seen those on here posting about not wanting to be or look like their mothers - but for me, I would love to be like my mom! She runs circles around me and is so active. She travels all over the world, and when she isn't traveling she lives part time here with us and part time at my sister's house and whenever we have her around she is such big help, getting house and yard work done, etc. I want to be just like here when I grow up! :)

Well, going to go browse the kitchen for a healthy snack. Later....
 
Down 2 more pounds today - YAYYYYYYY!!!!!!

Well I did it - went & joined a gym. I can hardly believe I am finally doing this! I have been away from any exercise now for about 10-11 years (and my body shows it!), where at one time I would not have thought I would ever quit - I was so addicted then.

If I were better able to walk (which is really hard due to the knee problems right now) I probably wouldn't have done this yet, but I find myself wanting to get in more types of cardio than just riding my bike, and am looking forward to using the eliptical equipment there, and will also start using the weight equipment also a little bit - and work into more of that as time goes on.

For now I want to focus on the cardio the most. So now that I took this giant step and actually signed up I need to start tweaking my work schedule to fit it in! I may not get there to actually start using it until about Monday, but signing up and paying $ for it will help to keep me from putting it off. Until I can get there (between their hours and my available time it is a matter of finding a match between those 2!) I will keep riding my bike as I have time - probably in the evenings again.
 
Just completed day 6 of my new life! I have stuck with my diet and exercise now for 6 days! Still only 3 pounds down, but feeling very dedicated to sticking with this.

The photos on the Before, During & After are VERY motivating for me. I know if I stick to it that can be me looking more wonderful and beautiful someday again.

I went to the gym today for the first time in 10-11 years. Finally. Used the circuit of weight training machines and did some cardio on the eliptical types of machines but couldn't stay on them too long. My knees (especially one) really hurt from some of the weight machines I tried out and I will be avoiding those particular ones in the future. I can get enough of a work out on the ones that are going to stress my knees too much, and then be more ready to stay a little longer on the cardio. But I also have been riding my bike every single day - sometimes twice a day.

I still feel very full and bloated from a big late night supper. I don't think I ate TOO TOO much except plenty of meat (beef short ribs that were wonderful!). Other than that I just had a salad that I made from cucumbers, tomatoes and raw cauliflower with a dressing on it that I mixed up from sour cream, dill, a dab of ranch dressing mixed in, etc. It was nummy, and had some honey dew melon for dessert. When I feel full like this it is hard to imagine the scale going down, but I know that I actually didn't eat much all total today. All I had the rest of the day before that was some sausage for breakfast, & smoked turkey for lunch with 1 - yes I said 1 - strawberry - the only one that was left from yesterday!

I saw the post someone one linked the Diet Power 4.4 - free trial version, on, and downloaded. A very very interesting tool. I downloaded it and watched the tutorial on it, but haven't had time yet to really try it out. Better get to bed. 2 am here and work "calling me" for a 9 am start time.
 
One whole week completed, eating right and exercising every day. If I can do it for a week, there is no reason I can't continue on & on. I really haven't felt deprived of anything. My husband bought some caramel praline icecream at the mall tonight - that was the tastiest thing I've seen that I really wanted. I took a couple of small tastes and that was better than none. but not TOO bad, along with the light eating I've been doing.

My knees are killing me - but I'm determined to exercise even if it hurts. Surely it will get better as my weight goes down. I just have to keep telling myself that.... Also, since my hubby has been bike riding with me on a lot of days, I am happy that this will probably help his health as well. He has just a little bit of a tummy that neither of us are a bit concerned about, but I like the idea of the cardio exercise helping him to be more heart healthy too, as I want him around with me as long as possible!

Am really enjoying working with the Diet Power 4.4 free 15 day trial that I downloaded, as per it's recommendation by another member here. It is a really neat little tool. Am not sure I want to spend $50 to purchase it though when the 15 day trial is over - haven't decided on that yet. It is a program that you enter your current weight, you goal weight, when you want to try to reach that weight,into, and it creates a graph of your progress, so you can watch if you are tracking to attain it by that date. It calculates how many calories you need to eat per day to meet that goal, and also lets you enter in everything you ate and drank that day - showing you the breakdown of calories and nutrients so you can not only see if you need to increase or decrease you amount of intake, but analyzes the breakdown of those nutrients and shows you how healthy or unhealthy that day's eating was. You also enter your water drank, etc and it monitors that too - telling you if you are short on water for the day. You enter each type and quantity of exercise you do and it also calculates how this will affect your calorie alottment for the day.
Would be interested to know if there are any other programs like this for less money. It seems kind of expensive, but maybe worth it - if it actually helps you stick to it all and also eat healthier.
 
One whole week completed, eating right and exercising every day. If I can do it for a week, there is no reason I can't continue on & on. I really haven't felt deprived of anything. My husband bought some caramel praline icecream at the mall tonight - that was the tastiest thing I've seen that I really wanted. I took a couple of small tastes and that was better than none. but not TOO bad, along with the light eating I've been doing.

My knees are killing me - but I'm determined to exercise even if it hurts. Surely it will get better as my weight goes down. I just have to keep telling myself that.... Also, since my hubby has been bike riding with me on a lot of days, I am happy that this will probably help his health as well. He has just a little bit of a tummy that neither of us are a bit concerned about, but I like the idea of the cardio exercise helping him to be more heart healthy too, as I want him around with me as long as possible!

Am really enjoying working with the Diet Power 4.4 free 15 day trial that I downloaded, as per it's recommendation by another member here. It is a really neat little tool! Am not sure I want to spend $50 to purchase it though when the 15 day trial is over - haven't decided on that yet. It is a program that you enter your current weight, you goal weight, when you want to try to reach that weight,into, and it creates a graph of your progress, so you can watch if you are tracking to attain it by that date. It calculates how many calories you need to eat per day to meet that goal, and also lets you enter in everything you ate and drank that day - showing you the breakdown of calories and nutrients so you can not only see if you need to increase or decrease you amount of intake, but analyzes the breakdown of those nutrients and shows you how healthy or unhealthy that day's eating was. You also enter your water drank, etc and it monitors that too - telling you if you are short on water for the day. You enter each type and quantity of exercise you do and it also calculates how this will affect your calorie alottment for the day.
Would be interested to know if there are any other programs like this for less money. It seems kind of expensive, but maybe worth it - if it actually helps you stick to it all and also eat healthier. I think my daughter who is always so concientious of healthy eating might enjoy using it, even though she doesn't need to lose any weight - but I'm afraid it might make her even more obsessive with it all - she is strict enough on her and her family and how they all eat already!
 
Hi Suz, glad to see that you have had a good week, keep up the good work. Working out in the gym is a good idea, I try to go 3-4 times a week myself, but find that after a few weeks it can get a bit boring, so maybe I'll get a bike like you and vary my exercise routine a bit. That internet tool you've got sounds good, but expensive. I wonder if you could make something like it up from the tools available here on the site. Look forward to hearing how you get on next week.:)
 
Thanks for the encouragement Soupdragon!

Well I stuck to the diet and exercise for almost 9 days - and then last night we went to dinner at some friends house and I completely threw the diet out the window and ate everything they served - and not in tiny quantities either! I know what led me to do that. I was feeling discouraged because I had hung there for days and days of diet and exercising without the scale budging a bit. I lost the first 3 pounds in just the first several days of dieting and then it just wouldn't budge!!! I was getting very discouraged with it.

Now I know there are those out there that would say DON'T weigh every day, but there is this thing in my head that has always been there, where if I ignore the scale and don't weigh, I do worse - and I know myself and know it is true - but yet it was discouraging not to be making headway too. I kept telling myself it just HAD to work - it works for others, the same diet plan worked for my son to lose the 200 pounds - it HAS to work for me too!! But anyway, I did lose my grip on the control, and then the problem with me is trying to get back on the wagon! I have had a hard time now today getting back with the program after blowing it - and didn't weigh this morning. Lots of company staying here this week too, to cook for etc.

I know what I HAVE to do - weigh myself again and get back to it - cuz it isn't going to get any better otherwise!
 
Thats the spirit gal, get back on the horse that threw ya! Congrats to your son, great weight loss,:hurray: If it worked for him, I'm sure it will do the same for you. Don't be too hard on your self about breaking your diet. You lasted longer than me. When I got back from my holiday, ( I put on 11 pounds in just 2 weeks:ack2:) I lasted just 6 days. Just try to look at it this way. It took a lot of time to get to your highest weight, so know that you won't get to goal overnight, and learn to be gentle with yourself. If you are anything like most of us here, you will probably break the diet more than once. Its not realistic to think that you will not be tempted in the coming months. Just try to put the bad day behind you and concentrate on the 8 good days you have had.

I know what you mean about wanting to weigh yourself every day and feeling low when the scales show no return for all your good work. :iagree: Its really hard going to stick with the diet if you don't see a return. I'm in the middle of a plateau at present myself, and I have to keep telling myself that I have lost 31 pounds already, thats good going. Do what I did the other day, put the weight you have lost in a bag, and carry it around for a while. You will soon notice it gets heavy and you will be glad to put it down. Just think, if you keep loosing 2-3 pounds a week, you won't be able to pick the bag up in a few months. Keep going, it will be worth it in the end.:seeya:
 
Back at it again....

Well, it has been a long while since I even came to the forum, but I am finally back as I find it encouraging to read about the success so many are having and to look at the great before and after pics.
Was gone on vacation for a whole month, and actually lost a few pounds over that time. Was absolutely amazed, and happy about that.
Back to it here again, going strong!
 
Hey I saw your post on "pancake batter's" diary about the oopsie rolls. I hope she comes back soon :( Anyway, I've had the recipe but never got around to making them so glad to hear they are good. Let me know what other stuff you come up with. Welcome back :) ~Lisa
 
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