Tacha’s Journey/Diary

Tacha_22

New member
I wasn’t going to do a diary, because I am afraid that if I have a bad day or fail at something that I would have to fess up to all of you. But then I thought, it’s the best reason why I should start a diary. This way, it will help keep me on tract and knowing I have all of you reading in it will help keep me motivated to do it.

Alrighty, so a little about me:

My name is Natacha, and I am 20 years old. I currently weigh 195 lbs. I used to weigh 225, but I was able to loose over 30 lbs through eating healthy-ier… and exercising at home this past year. I lost motivation in the fall… I think it comes with winter hibernation up here in Canada…lol ;), just kidding. I have since put back on 5 pounds and everyday loosing weight has been on my conscience but it’s getting back started that is proving more difficult. Winter or not, no more excuses I need to get back on track now. I set my date for tomorrow and decided to start my first diary so that when tomorrow comes I will start and I won’t push it to the next day or next week like I have been doing this past month! Tomorrow I start and it’s final.

I have two brothers, and both are fit, including both my parents. I as well used to be fit during high school but lack of activity during the end and my bad eating habits have me in quite the pickle today. :)

My biggest problem I would say is portion control. I eat too much. I eat when I’m not even hungry, I reward myself by eating. I splurge on junk food while watching movies and overall… I’m a chocoholic and pepsiholic.
I am going to cut out junk food (including chocolate) & soft drinks.
I love water, so drinking it won’t be a problem for me.

It’s sad that some people don’t consider food an addiction, but it is. The only difference is that an alcoholic can quit drinking, no one can quit eating.
We need to learn and manage our food addiction to a healthier lifestyle. It’s easier said then done! ;)

I’ve gathered tips over time last year that I found helped to shed my 30 lbs. It is what I plan to include to loose the rest:
- 5-6 small meals a day.
- Drink a glass of water before eating (it makes me feel fuller longer)
- Eat on a smaller plate (trick yourself into thinking your eating more than you actually are!).
- Chew/Eat slower (If I remember they say it takes 20 minutes before your stomach starts to register how full you are).
Brush your teeth after breakfast, lunch, & supper (taking away the taste of food makes you forget about food and eating again). I have yet to try this one, but who knows!

Foods I am going to include are:
Fruit and Veggies:
Strawberries, Raspberries, Blueberries, Blackberries, Bananas, Tangerines, Cherries, Apples (green), Tomatoes, cucumbers, celery, broccoli, carrots, peas, spinach, salads (I will include others, but these are all my favorites).
For meats: the main will be chicken breast, turkey breast, & fish.
- Eat grain bread only (I already do ;) )… no white.
Include almonds & yogurt.

Exercising:
I am going to walk twice a day (30min each.) as well as a quick 10 min workout in the morning and 25min during the afternoon-evening with turbo-jam or slimin6. (I have tried slimin6 –I lost 30lbs with slim in 6, I just got turbo-jam because I was really bored with slimin6, turbo-jam looks fun and upbeat so I’m excited to try. I plan to alternate between the two to keep things fresh. Once I get into routine and on the “right” path, I would like to up my afternoon workout from 25min and go higher slowly 5 min each week until I am comfortably enjoying working out 1hr a day. But 25min I am very comfortable with for the moment. I plan to walk everyday 7 days a week, and work out 5 days a week.

Calorie intake at 1300-1500 a day.
I hope to loose 7-10 pounds a month, but any loss is welcome.
I weigh 195, my goal weight: 135. I have approx. 4 months to summer, and would really love to shed most of the pounds before. But i’ve finally understood that loosing weight isn’t about dieting, but having a healthy life-style; it’s not going to drop off overnight, just as it hasn’t appeared overnight, but one pound… is one pound less so I’m taking it one pound at a time. :)

Does my routine seem reasonable with my expectations? Any tips or advice I would love to hear! I am always looking for healthy tasty snacks… please share!

Tacha

p.s. sorry for the looooong posting!
:leaving:
 
First Day,
Went ok. I didn’t meet my expectations, but atleast I’m off!
I had an appointement today, and got so caught up in reading a book last night that I hit the bed 3hrs later than originally planned! So when morning came… I was too tired to get out of bed and snoozed longer until I had just enough time to get ready and out the door… I grabbed a piece of cheese and headed for the door. I drank water while I was out, help substain my hunger as i passed a few chocolate bars in the store… and held strong and walked right by.

Got home in the middle of the afternoon and had lunch. Took a 10 min walk and then worked out for 25min. My muscles feel beat up, I expect to feel pain in the morning. :( It feels like i'm starting all over again... well i am, it just shows how a few months on the bench can make you feel. My arms were killing me, but i pushed through it... if it's burning... then it's working! ;)

I had wrote down yesterday exactly what I was going to do today in eating wise and excersizing. It think it will help writing what I am going to eat down, this way when I am hungry I know whats on my list, rather than ransacking the cupboard! I ate healthier and counted my calories and did excersize (although I planned to walk for 1hr today, turned into 10 min, it’s ok, tomorrow is another day!) :)

Calories: 1370
Worked Out: 25min
Walked: 10min
 
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DAY 2
Waking up… yawning… stretching… ouch ouch ouch! Lol, my muscles in my buttocks, thighs and upper arms are all sore. Not my stomach so I worked harder on that tonight.
Today was a good day, I had no with drawls from diet pepsi since I stopped drinking it on Sunday. I don’t even miss it… which is odd because normally I crave it so much and get a headache when I go without. Good Riddance. ;)

I saw these Kaichi (or Kachi) bars the other day that are 130 and have dark chocolate and coconut… I know it’s not the wisest choice, but it really does “fill” the chocolate craving, and I have that occasionally, mostly at night. I’m a night owl and snacking at night is what this owl does. ;)

I went for a 1hr walk today. Our road is uphill all the way with one very steep part; I get out of breath during the steep part. It’s awful, but soon enough I’ll walk up it with no problems.
I used to want to loose weight to look good, even though I am 20, and I don’t have any health problems, but now it scares me because I know that if I don’t change the way I do things now I will be even more overweight 5-10 years from now and I WILL be facing health problems. So that’s why it’s important to me to do this, for my health and my future.

I really feel like writing this out for all of you to see helps. It does give me more confidence in writing it down to make me stick to it. I pray this is the last time I fall off the wagon and finally get the rest of the 60 pounds off forever. It will be an everyday battle, but one I must make.

This is what I ate today:
Tuesday 9th, February 2010

What I’m going to eat today:
Breakfast: Cheerios 170
Snack: Peanut/Nuts Bar 130
Lunch: Wheat Bun with turkey & spinach 325
1hr Walk
Supper: 2 Whole Wheat wrap, chicken breast, spinach, onions, green peppers, tomatoes 500
Snack: Kaici dark chocolate nut bar 130, yogurt and strawberries 70
25 min work out (turbo jam or slimin6).

Daily Calorie Intake: 1325
 
Day 3:
Went really well. I feel like now I’m getting more into routine. My muscles are not as sore today. Went for a 40min walk, and did a 25min workout. I feel happier because I feel healthier even though it’s been only 3 days! It feels like spring out, so maybe that’s why I’m in a brighter mood today! Today I didn’t plan what I was going to eat and when I got a little hungry I drank a glass of water (it helps alot to make you feel full!)
The bad thing is that i went below in my calories, usually around supper I calculate to make sure what I have left for snacks or so that I don’t go too much over. I must have miss-calculated because I ended up below the minimal. :smash:

The good thing is that I’m feeling really good, I thought it would have been harder to get into it, but for me it’s just the starting that was hard, once I was off, it’s been going well so far. I had no major cravings YET…lol, and I’m not starving all the time like I thought I would be.

Maybe what feels different this time is that because I’m so not a morning person (I’m a night owl) I hate to exercise in the morning. I was told that it’s best to exercise right away in the morning on an empty stomach because you have nothing in your stomach so your working off your fat, which is true, but for me instead of dreading the morning workout, I decided that this time I’m going to work out any time of the day as long as I do it once a day for 5 days a week. Better than nothing right? Soooo tonight, I felt like working out at 11:00pm!

What I’ve noticed is that how well I sleep… I don’t wake up for boo! :)

See you tomorrow!:seeya:

What I ate today:
Breakfast: Cheerios 170 with Honey 60
40 min Walk
Lunch: Mushroom Soup 90cal and glass 1% milk 100cal
Snack: Strawberries 50
Supper: Whole Wheat wrap 90, chicken breast 100, spinach 15, onions 16, green peppers 15, 25 min work out (slimin6).
Snack: 1 Bowl Cheerios with Honey 60

Daily Calorie Intake: 1172
 
Hey Tacha,
nice to read you and welcome to your diary. You already lost 30 pounds which is amazing so you know how it is done, now it is not so much a new race you have to learn to run the turf on but a marathon! I am also in that phase and I have days where I would literally eat anything in my sight. It is not real hunger just wanting to eat until I feel full and yucky...

Well have a wonderful weekend, I hope you come out of hibernation like the groundhog and start on the right leg, Camy
 
Day 4:
Thanks Camy! Speaking of those days… I had one today,…lol, I believe because I lacked sleep last night (I got 4 hours of sleep) and I just felt really drained and tired all day.
I didn’t feel like exersizing, although I gave it much thought throughout the day… I just couldn’t put one foot forward. It’s ok though, I used to beat myself all the time sabotaging myself for screwing up but that got me no where, but quitting. Tomorrow is always another day. Instead of dwelling on today, I’m thinking about tomorrow. :)
I walked for 30min this afternoon, these past few days have been beautiful out.

Total calories for today:
Breakfast: Tim Matin, which was a BIG no no. I looked it up and they are 410cal… yikes!
Lunch: Spaghetti 250, Grain bread slice 120, Drink 5,
Quick snack: Yogurt 80
Supper: Brown Rice, Shrimp, Veggies, and mushroom soup. 400,
Snack: Nut bar 130

It seems I started the day off bad… and slowly it got better, even though I stayed in my calorie range.

Total Calories: 1395
30min walk
 
tacha! it seems like you're doing great! keep up the good work! i have a similar goal to yours, i hope we both get there :) it's great that you're really pushing yourself to exercise, and monitoring your calories. good for you! the one thing that i noticed that i personally would do differently, though, is try to take in more vegetables and fruits. if this doesn't really fit into your tastes, a multivitamin is always a good idea to make sure that your body is getting the nutrients it needs to be healthy and strong. you're doing great, though! keep up the good work!
 
Thank you hearmeout for the great tip. I was actually thinking about that the other day, about buying vitamins. ;)

I do love vegitables and fruits. Guess thats what you get when your parents make sure you eat your veggies. lol... The only thing with me is that in winter i hate to eat stuff thats cold so i rarely eat fruits in winter, but i bought some strawberries the other day and had some and they did taste sweet :) But yes you are right, i should put more into diet!
I also thought about making a kind of healthy smoothie thing in the morning, i saw once on tv someone who buys a ton fruits and blends them all up in the morning for breakfast... i'm sure it must taste good... i'll have to give it a try someday.

Today i really didn't feel like working out...again. I don't know why. I promised myself i would only weigh in on Mondays, but since i wasn't feeling motivated i decided to "sneak in" a weigh in... and i lost two pounds! I weighed 196 on Monday, and today Friday i'm 194. I know it's water coming off but i'm happy to see it go down.

I am really happy i found this board for motivation and i find it helps 10times better to write a diary. I'm glad i started one.
Thanks for stopping by! I know we'll both get to our goals, one pound at a time! ;)

I'm off for my walk!
 
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Monday Weigh in: 192!:hurray:
I lost 4 pounds in 7 days! wow... i'm really happy. I would have been happy with just 1, but i'll take four... he he.

I know its water you loose in the beginning, i'm just happy for any loss!

I worked out on friday 25min, walked 40min.
Saturday and Sunday i didn't excersize but i walked 40min everyday.

Today its both, walking and working out.
Check in later!
 
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