Tamara's Weightloss Journey!

tamwalt

tamwalt

New member
Welcome to my weight loss journey diary.

Let's dance...

:party::party:

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Start weight: 320 lbs.
Goal weight: 125 lbs.
Current weight: 252.2 lbs.
Beginning need to lose: 195 lbs.
Currently need to lose: 127.2 lbs.
(Updated at least once a week!)

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CURRENT GOAL FOCUS:
240lbs by September 16th (my birthday), that's just 16.6lbs in a month and a half,
I actually plan to surpass it, but just in case , and that will be a 80lb total loss.

225lbs is one of my starting reward mini goals! That is 15lbs difference from 240lbs.
I plan to reach this goal, if not surpass it by Halloween (I love Halloween! And this is
the first year my Son is old enough to celebrate it!), but if I can also lose 5lbs extra
before Halloween, I will be hitting my 100lbs lost mark (which is the third goal, hitting
my 100lbs lost mark by November 1st!)

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REWARDED MINI GOAL CHART:
306lbs to 290lbs = A new purse. (ACHIEVED JUN 13 08)
290lbs to 275lbs = Pat on the back x2, lol. (ACHIEVED DEC 4 08 & RE-ACHIEVED ON JUN 09 09)
275lbs to 250lbs = New digital camera, get rid of fat clothes!
250lbs to 225lbs = Getting a netbook on Cyber Monday(after Thanksgiving), but it can still be the reward, lol.
225lbs to 200lbs = One-derland!! Clothes? :)
200lbs to 175lbs = Go out with Hubby.
175lbs to 150lbs = Surprise from Hubby.
150lbs to 125lbs = Celebration dinner and new wardrobe, and get rid of the
rest of my fat clothes!!

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MY PLAN:
*Drink plenty of water.
*Eat as healthy as I can.
*Eat all of my WW points (but also stick to my 1600-2000 calorie range!)
*Exercise at least 3-5 times a week for 30-60 minutes, doing low intensity
cardio and walking.
*Use mini goals (and even mini mini goals if I need to), and reward myself along
the way (NOT WITH FOOD) to help me through this journey!
*To not deprive myself of foods I crave, but still try to stay in my calorie range, because
I'm more able to succeed that way.
*To help support and motivate anyone I can who is also on this journey.

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THINGS I NEED TO REMEMBER:
*Weight loss doesn't happen over night.
*If I screw up one day, just keep on going!
*You must begin to think of yourself as becoming the person you want to be.
*Your goals, minus your doubts, equal your reality.
*No matter who you are, no matter what you do, you absolutely, positively do have
the power to change.
*I shall shape my future. Whether I fail or succeed shall be no man's doing but my own.
I am the force; I can clear any obstacle before me. Or I can be lost in the maze. My choice.
My responsibility. Win or lose, only I hold the key to my destiny.


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My progress photos can be found here!
 
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Thanks Mal! It's good to be back.
Break down of my first week!

Thursday:
Breakfast: Everything bagel, cream cheese, hard salami, minute maid fruit punch drink.
Lunch: Slimfast.
Dinner: Voila, three cheese chicken. Cheddar cheese.
Snacks: Hard salami, 2 string cheese, sweet roasted pepper hummus, whole wheat crackers, tangerine.
Total Calories: 1617 calories.
WATER: 7 glasses.

Friday:
Breakfast: Cheerios, milk, yogurt.
Lunch: Pork sausage pizza with mozzarella and cheddar cheese w/ broccoli.
Dinner: Pork sausage pizza with mozzarella and cheddar cheese w/ broccoli.
Snacks: Minute maid lemonade, string cheese.
Total Calories: 1905 calories.
WATER: 5 glasses.

Saturday:
Breakfast: String cheese, hummus, whole wheat crackers.
Lunch: Whole wheat bagel, cream cheese, hard salami, smoked turkey and cheddar cheese.
Dinner: Pork sausage pizza with mozzarella and cheddar cheese w/ broccoli.
Snacks: NONE.
Total Calories: 1590 calories.
WATER: 3 glasses.

Sunday:
Breakfast: Homemade general tsos chicken w/ rice, watermelon, and honeydew.
Lunch: Homemade general tsos chicken w/ rice and broccoli, minute maid lemonade.
Dinner: Kielbasa with rice, spaghetti sauce, and broccoli.
Snacks: Banana, slimfast, peanut butter cup.
Total Calories: 1794 calories.
WATER: 5 glasses.

Monday is my weekly weigh in day!
According to the scale, I weigh: 306 lbs. :D
 
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Good for you for starting up your diary and good luck with your weight loss.

Where did you get the 1700-1800 calorie requirement from? I'm not an expert but that strikes me as low. I could be wrong. I just wanted to suggest that you calculate your requirements if you haven't already.
 
Welcome!!!

From what I've read on here and else where, thedarwinfish is right. Your calories sound a bit low, unless you have a medical condition and a doctor is telling you to eat that low, you can go much higher and still be in a calorie defiset.

I'm 249, and I eat way more calories then that. I bet you can be a little more comfortable during the loss, if you find out how much calories you can eat and still loose weight. There are calculators that can help you figure this out. Let us know if you need any help! To me it sounds like to much of a deficet.

We just want you to be comfortable and to loose weight in a healthy way.:)

There is a 200lb + club on here, we are a great group and you may want that kind of extra support on your journey!

You can do it!
 
Darwinfish: I used a BMR calculator and decided to cut my calories to that, is it too low? I actually just guessed, it's hard for me to even eat that many calories a day, so I thought it was ok, if you have any suggestions I'm game.

Hope2: Thanks, no, a doctor didn't tell me to eat that amount of calories, how do I determine what my defiset should be?
 
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When you did your BMR calculation, did you also take into account the physical activity you plan on doing and your regular day-to-day activity (on the job and such)? If so, then subtract about 500 from that number and that's a good place to start calorie-wise.

Those calculations aren't gospel but they'll get you started. If you find that you are not losing weight then you adjust accordingly, but that should get the ball rolling for you.
 
I have to admit that I am a bit confused about this, and really wish I was able to see a doctor about this, but my insurance refuses to pay for anything that has to do with obesity, so I found this site using Google: , though I'm pretty sure just going to work is considered "light" because I'm walking/running around most of the 6-8 hours that I'm there, could it be considered "moderate"? Well, anyway, I put "moderate" for when I'm working and exercising? (I'm waiting on a kit in the mail...because I don't like the idea of embarrassing myself going for walks).

So, the site I found above says this:
• You'll need at least 3,410 calories to maintain your current weight and activity level.

• Of this, 2,130 calories are required to meet your body's basic energy needs. That amount (your resting energy expenditure) is what you'd use up if you did nothing but lie in bed all day.

• To lose about one pound per week, you'll need to cut back to 2,910 calories per day.

In theory, a pound of fat cells stores 3,500 calories. To lose that amount of fat, you'll have to eat 500 fewer calories per day than you need to maintain your current weight. It's most effective to do this by cutting down fat, because fat calories get stored in the body more easily than calories from carbohydrates or protein.
Click to expand...

So if I go off of that, and I'm not even sure I can eat that much food without feeling bad about myself... no matter how many of the calories are fruits and veggies... anyway... should I just use that, or could I do like 2500, 2250, 2000? I always grew up hearing "no human being needs more than 2000 calories a day", than again, this was coming from the same person who thought "you would be beautiful, if only you lost weight" was a compliment, lol.

Thanks for any help anyone can provide!

So... here's a break down of today:
BREAKFAST: 457. Egg, toast, butter, watermelon, juice.
LUNCH: 620. 2 Mc chicken, no mayo, and I actually didn't eat the lettuce either.
DINNER: 910. Ground chicken nachos, coke.
SNACKS: 230. String cheese, ice cream.
Total: 2217 calories.
WATER: 5 or 6 glasses.

I have to admit, I was totally upset about the amount of calories I had today, and I realize I ate no veggies at all either.

I honestly had them all figured out today before I went to work, but I wasn't able to eat anything but string cheese at work (because I was the only one working in my position and didn't have time for a real break) so I went to the store after work because I was craving nuts over caramel ice cream (it's a light version, and I was craving it because I work with ice cream!!!)... I decided to buy some stuff for nachos because I was hungry and at that time had only eaten 1157 calories and knew I needed some more... so, yeah...

Anyway, I'm not sure how to feel about the amount of calories I had today? Should I feel upset, sad, disappointed or feel ok about it?
 
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I thought this looked fun, so I did it...

Q. What is your current height and weight?
A. 5'4, 306lbs.

Q. If you were at an ideal weight now, what would that weight be?
A. 140lbs

Q. At what weight would you like to be at four months from now?
A. 250lbs.

Q. Why do you want to lose weight?
A. To improve my self-esteem, improve my health, and be able to keep up with my Son.

Q. Do you want to lose weight for a specific life event such as wedding or reunion? If so, when is that event?
A. No.

Q. What obstacles could get between you and your weight loss goals?
A. Time, especially the time I get home from work... usually 11pm-1am. I know people say don't eat after 7-8pm, but I don't wake up until 11am-12pm, because I go to bed at 3am.

Q. Why do you think that you now have a weight problem?
A. I've had weight problems ever since I was a 5 years old, I weighed at least 240lbs by 6th grade! I just think I've always had weight problems. I also think my eating habits largely stem from always being forced to eat all of my food on my plate, whether or not I was full... and that's always stuck with me.

Q. What lifestyle changes do you think would help you lose weight?
A. Now that I'm working again after having the baby I will have less time to eat out of boredom/depression, and when I add exercise to it too, it will leave me even less time to eat out of boredom/depression.

Q. Have you lost weight in the past? If so, what has worked in the past to help you lose weight?
A. Yes, somewhat. What worked was eating less, portion control, more veggies and fruit, watching my calories closely, drinking water, avoiding soda all the time, but not completely, and weekly weigh in's to keep my accountable.

Q. Why do you believe that you did not lose weight or you gained the weight back?
A. Because I was only eating one meal a day, definitely drinking a lot of soda (up to 6 or so a day), eating not so healthy foods, and my body was in store fat mode.

Q. What, if anything, has not worked for you in the past in helping you to lose weight? Why do you think it did not work?
A. 6 week body makeover. I was not eating enough calories! It barely worked, and I gave up on it so quickly because I felt like I was starving!! Or I always cheated and thought "if I'm going to cheat,then why bother?"

Q. Would you try writing down all food and drink consumed for a given period of time?
A. Trying to do that now.

Q. Do you cook at home often? If so, what do you cook?
A. Yes. I cook a large variety of things. Usually chicken, turkey, and pork, rice and pasta too, and veggies.

Q. How often do you go out to eat? Where do you go?
A. Usually a few times a month. It varies, Mcdonalds, Taco bell, Burger King, Wendy's, Pizza place, Chinese, like the other week we ate out like 4 times in one week!! Which is insanely too often, I felt so icky that week and the following week too.

Q. What are your three favorite foods?
A. Homemade pizza, chicken strips or shrimp & fries, tacos!

Q. What are your three favorite restaurants?
A. Taco bell (for their fiesta potatoes), Burger king (for their fries), and my fave pizza place (surprisingly for their pizza).

Q. What are three things you can do differently when it comes to food?
A. Drink water, smaller portions, more fruits and veggies.

Q. If you woke up tomorrow and your body was exactly the way you want it, what would be different?
A. I would feel beautiful and worthy of life.

Q. Do you eat when you are not hungry?
A. Yes.

Q. Do you binge eat (large amounts at a time)?
A. I do that when majorly depressed, but haven't done that for awhile.

Q. Do you hide your food or eat in secret?
A. I used to, but haven't in years!

Q. Do you eat when you are sad, nervous, or depressed?
A. Yes.

Q. Do you eat as a reward?
A. Yes.

Q. Do you eat while watching TV or using the computer?
A. Yes.

Q. What do you normally eat for a meal?
A. It really varies and depends on how I feel.

Q. What type of snacks do you eat?
A. String cheese with crackers and hummus, fruit, or yogurt.

Q. In terms of exercise, what, if anything, are you currently doing?
A. Working? Soon to be doing "the firm" videos with weights.

Q. Where do you go for exercise? A local public gym? School/work gym? Home?
A. I would like to stay home.

Q. What, if anything, are your three favorite types of exercise?
A. I personally used to love hiking (when I didn't need to catch my breath every 5 minutes or less), swimming, and riding my bike.

Q. What is your daily/weekly/monthly/yearly motivation to move towards your goals?
A. None yet.
 
Hey Tamwalt,

We have VERY similar goals it seems!!! Nice to find you here. :) And it looks like you're doing great so far!!! I will definitely be coming back around to check you out. Hang in there!!!

Dani
 
Hi Tamara :) Sounds like you have the motivation down, and as long as you stick to the new "lifestyle" and stay focused, things will work out for ya. Welcome to the forum, looking forward to seeing awesome results!
 
tamwalt said:
So if I go off of that, and I'm not even sure I can eat that much food without feeling bad about myself... no matter how many of the calories are fruits and veggies... anyway... should I just use that, or could I do like 2500, 2250, 2000? I always grew up hearing "no human being needs more than 2000 calories a day", than again, this was coming from the same person who thought "you would be beautiful, if only you lost weight" was a compliment, lol.
Click to expand...

It looks like you should be consuming what it told you to consume. You need to think of food as fuel, not a mortal enemy. For your body to function properly you need to give it a certain amount of (healthy) fuel. If it doesn't get it it will not 'work' like it should. That could mean holding onto the weight you are trying to lose, it could mean digestive problems, decreased immune function, etc.

If that seems like a lot then choose some good fats to consume during the day. Almonds, sunflower seeds, fish, peanut butter (natural). Those are all very healthy fats for you and high in calories so you get the benefits of the good fat and it helps you reach your caloric needs.

So how about you try your damnedest to eat as close to 2900 as you can but no less than 2500. Try eating that and getting your exercise in that you have planned and see what happens after two weeks.

Our bodies are all different and react differently to different changes. The calculators on those sites are a good place to get you started but also require some fine tuning based on your real-world results.

Good luck! You can totally do this.
 
I just wanted to pop in and say hello and welcome.

Read the stickies in the exercise and nutrition forums if you haven't already.
Good start, great attitude.
 
Thanks Bigguy!

So here's a breakdown of today.

B: Egg, two pieces of toast, cheddar cheese, watermelon.
L: Ground chicken nachos.
D: Kielbasa w/ rice and spaghetti sauce, small salad, little ranch, cottage cheese doubles.
S: String cheese, 2 scoops of ice cream, one had some chocolate sauce on top, english muffin with some cream cheese, serving white cheddar popcorn.
Other: Minute maid lemonade, Diet root beer.
Total: 2723 calories.
Water: 3 glasses.

I feel like I ate too much crap today, obviously not enough fruit or veggies, but at least I got some in, too much dairy for being lactose intolerant, feeling all gross after having that second scoop of ice cream later after work with chocolate sauce. Today though I bought a little more fruit and loads of delicious veggies! Mushrooms, peppers, broccoli, peas, carrots, lettuce, cucumber, celery, radishes! Yummy!! :D I think I'm just going to try to figure out tomorrow early tomorrow morning because I'm too tired from work to stay up and do it now, oh and I definitely need to drink more water!

Work was super hard tonight though... we were packed at the restaurant and my left hip and knee hurt before my shift, but right now they hurt so badly that I want to cry! My lower back hurts terribly too... *sigh*. How am I going to pull off excersising before, or especially after work if it hurts too much just to move before and after work without the exercise? Ooo... a bubble bath sounds awesome right now! Then I'm heading to bed.

All in all my opinion of today? Could have been better... but, it could have been a heck of a lot worse too!

I also came up with my first mini goal! 16lbs. That will leave me @ 150lbs left to lose. So I'm going to be realistic... by the end of May? Yeah, that sounds reasonable to me! Hmmm, and I don't need to reward myself with anything else but seeing "150lbs to go" on my ticker!
 
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Ok, so I think I did ok today, I'm happy with my amount of calories, but not entirely happy with how I ate my calories... you'll see what I mean....

Breakfast: String cheese, mango, english muffin.
Lunch: Salad: Lettuce, bell pepper, cucumber, mushrooms, carrots, radishes, crutons, cheese, imitation crab, fat free ranch.
Dinner: Pork chop, box broccoli in cheese sauce, cottage cheese double.
Snacks: Chips and cheese dip, string cheese, 2 scoops of ice cream with chocolate sauce.
Drinks: Diet root beer, little more than a 1/2 can of coke.
Water: 1 glass.

Calories total: 2593.

Oh, and I am ashamed of the amount of water I drank today too, it's not that I wasn't thirsty or that I didn't want water, I just didn't have much of any free time tonight at work because we were packed! I didn't even get my break, so I had to eat dinner like 15 minutes ago (like 12:15am!!). I consider my calories through my sleep schedule because of how late I get out of work.
 
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I've been known to enjoy a scoop or thirteen of ice cream here and there, and one thing I've learned- those 40calorie chocolate popsicles are amazing! Low to no sugar, low calorie, low in fat generally, they help with that need for sweet, even if ya eat two of them.
Try try try to get more water in!! You're body needs it lady!
 
My wife goes ape over Skinny Cow Fudge Bars. A big ol' bar is only 100 calories. With a bit of searching you can find REALLY REALLY good food that is healthy enough to fit into your plan. Last week I discovered Chapman's Yogurt+ Dark Chocolate frozen yogurt. For any Canadians in the house, GET IT! Holy hell. It's amazing. So just keep an eye out for the little treats that will help keep you on the straight and narrow!
 
tamwalt,

I think your doing really great, and I am so happy that you uped your calories! It will be way easier for you to loose now whithout feeling deprived!



I eat what I want. If I want ice cream, or pizza I eat it. BUT, most days I do not want those things, because I rather spend my calories on things that are going to help me reach my goals. I get to eat a lot of food when I spend my calories that way. If you spend them on unhealthy food, they don't go as far, and the food doesn't help your body as much. Around here it is sugested that one day a week you should grant yourself permishion for a special treat. So saterdays are my what ever night. I still make sure I count the calories, but I plan for it and leave myself some wiggle room for later in the night. tip (keep sauces like dressing to 2 tablespoons)

Something to consider. ;)

Water is really important, it doesn't look like you drink anything really, all day?

Keep up the good work!
 
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Jess: Thanks! I love dairy! But dairy hates me! :( I'm lactose intolerant, but can't stay away from it! I seem to be fine when I eat small quantities at a time throughout the day. So my scoop here or there along with some cheeses are fine, as long as I don't drink milk! I don't plan on eating ice cream every night, lol, but the last couple nights I was craving it so badly! I think next time I buy ice cream, I'll buy fudgesicles, I think they only pack about 80-90 calories, I forgot which. I did happen to buy some awesome looking frozen yogurt too when I bought the ice cream, but both per 1/2 cup pack 150 calories. Oh, by the way, I just noticed your from Montana, I grew up there! :)

Darwinfish: Thanks for the tips, I actually haven't tried Skinny Cows Fudge bars, though there ice cream sandwiches rock!

Hope2: I should probably do that, but like two nights a week, lol! And yeah, I really don't drink much of anything throughout the day! I need to really work on that...

Awesome news though!! I got my workout system thing today in the mail! I bought the FIRM cardio workout system. It looked like something I could try, that would help me tone my body too! Besides everything else I looked at like the Air Climber or other climbers I either didn't meet the weight requirements or I was afraid I would break it! This doesn't have a weight requirement though! :)

Does any one ever eat veggies and instead of filling you up it just makes you hungrier? Except for my huge salad I ate yesterday, it took me an hour to eat it! Who knew so many veggies would take so long to eat?

I'm also having the hardest time not jumping on the scale to if I've lost any weight or not!
 
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