The journey begins

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danloto73

New member
Hello everyone. Just joined Weight-loss Fitness yesterday. I hit rock bottom last night when I got on the scale and saw 200. I thought I was fat and ugly at 160 so you can imagine my horror when I saw 200. I was so angry and disappointed in myself for letting my health get so out of control. My first instinct was to go to the kitchen for comfort food but instead I sat at the computer and browsed the internet for help. That's when I found WLF. It's my first time joining a weight loss community. I'm hoping that by sharing my journey to a healthier me with people who are living the same challenges and difficulties I am, that I'll find the support and motivation I need to stay on track. Any advice you have would be welcome.:newbie:
 
welcome dan!


im a newbie myself and have found this forum very helpful. a few tips based on what has worked for me:


keep track of what you eat by either writing it down or using an app. i use loseit on my iphone and it is very helpful and educational.


drink lots of water. i was surprised to learn how important this is. i used this: http://nutrition.about.com/library/blwatercalculator.htm and was surprised to see that I should drink 100oz of water a day versus the 60oz I have heard as a general rule. This has been tough to keep track of and follow through with.


set some goals. i have set 1-2 month goals for the entire year that I feel are doable if I work hard. i weigh in once a week to keep track of my progress. i am planning to post measurements once a month.


reward yourself. in addition to my goals I have added a reward for each time I reach a goal. none of them are food :)


post questions, progress, frustrations, and everything in between here. the people reading are very kind and helpful. it is nice to not feel alone!


congrats on deciding that you would like to change and doing something about it! i look forward to watching your progress.


~Alice
 
Hi Alice,


First off, congrats on your weight loss. Are you following a special plan? You mentioned that you keep track of what you eat. Is it so you can count calories, points or simply have a visual reference to insure you have a balanced diet. I tried Weight Watchers I while back and kept a good food journal but I hated counting points. I don't want to be doing that again. But, I would be ready to use the food journal as a tool to help identify problem areas. I do drink plenty of water throughout the day, always have but I'm definately going to go check out the site you mentioned to see why this is so important.


As you recommended, I've also set some short term goals for myself that seem more attainable and might keep me motivated to stay on track. I'm really looking forward to rewarding myself as I reach those goals. What a great idea! I don't know that I'll be weighing in every week because that's usually been my downfall. I don't like what I see so I give up knowing full well that it's normal at times to have a slight weight gain or no change at all since by being active your building muscle mass which weighs more than fat. I will however take my measurments and maybe weigh in every month.


Thanks so much for all your advice and words of encouragement.
 
Well today was a pretty good day. I did something I haven't done in a long time which is exercise. 45 minutes of Tae Bo to be precise. I thought I was going to die during the workout but felt amazing afterwards. I ate sensibly all day and come evening stayed away from the televison because that's usually when the munchies stike. All in all, I'd say day one was a success.:hurray:
 
Day two was a pretty successful day as well. I find the first week to be the toughest so if I can get through it then I should be o.k. after that. I'm keeping very busy so as not to think about food. I haven't had any major cravings so far which is excellent. I'm keeping up with my water intake (peeing a heck of a lot though - feels like I've dropped at least 5 lbs just in water). I'm also sticking to my goal of at least one hour of activity a day. Yesterday I walked for 30 minutes and then later in the evening did 35 minutes of cardio. I feel great and I'm sleeping better! I still haven't taken my measurements so I should get that done today.


food intake for 02/21/12


b: one egg on 1/2 whole wheat english muffin and 2 pieces of turkey bacon @ 7:00 (was quite hungry when I got up)

l: egg salad wrap on 9 grain tortilla with low cal. mayonnaise @ 12:30

s: fat free yogurt with low fat granola @ 5:00

d: spaghetti squash with tomato sauce sprinkled with fresh parmesan cheese @ 8:00


My mood: happy all day with a sense of accomplishment. Thanks everyone for you support. This is a lot easier with you advice and words of encouragement
 
Today started off pretty good. The sun was shinning, the birds were singing and I was in a good mood. Come afternoon however the sun gave way to the clouds and everything went downhill from there. Right now I'm in a really crappy mood so I'll be brief.


B: oatmeal @ 9:00

L: egg salad wrap with fresh veggies and dip (made from fat free sour cream) @ 12:30

D: chicken chow mein @ 6:30

S: couple of rye crackers with cheese


E: 45 minute walk


It is worth mentioning that I was out with a friend earlier and she stopped in at McDonald's for a quick bit. I was a good girl and didn't order anything. Hooray for me!
 
B: 2 pieces Weight Watchers whole wheat bread and about 1 tbsp pb @7:30

L: Salad with mixed greens and balsamic vinaigrette @ 12:30

S: fat free yogurt

D: left over chicken chow mein from last night's dinner (homemade without the fried Chinese noodles approx. 1 1/2 cups) with a Diet Coke @ 7:00


Water intake 1.5 litres
 
Originally Posted by einszwei


Hello



Great to hear you are finally ready to take action and lose some weight.Drink plenty of water and eat fruits and vegetables it is important to stay hydrated. Set yourself a last goal and mini goals before that and work hard towards reaching them. Remember to stay focused in reaching your goal by remembering how you feel when you finally lose weight, it will keep you motivated. Keep at it!
Click to expand...



Hey there,


Sorry it took so long for me to reply to your post but I'm still learning the ropes. I just now figured out how to respond to a specific message. This is going to make things so much easier. Thanks for the advice and kind words of encouragement. I've been doing pretty good so far. I drink 1.5 to 2 litres of water per day. I do fairly well in the fruit and veggie department. I have set a goal weight but I've yet to make myself some mini goals to help keep me motivated along the way. I should really stop procrastinating and get that done. Thanks again:seeya:
 
Hey there,


I don't have a specific plan like weight watchers or atkins or anything. Ive done a fair amount of research about nutrition and balanced diets so I have just severely altered my eating habits. I keep track of calories using an app on my phone and work on eating lean protein as often as I can. I think just writing things down will help you hold yourself accountable! Nice job on the tae bo! Any amount of activity will make a huge difference in your progress!




Originally Posted by danloto73


Hi Alice,



First off, congrats on your weight loss. Are you following a special plan? You mentioned that you keep track of what you eat. Is it so you can count calories, points or simply have a visual reference to insure you have a balanced diet. I tried Weight Watchers I while back and kept a good food journal but I hated counting points. I don't want to be doing that again. But, I would be ready to use the food journal as a tool to help identify problem areas. I do drink plenty of water throughout the day, always have but I'm definately going to go check out the site you mentioned to see why this is so important.



As you recommended, I've also set some short term goals for myself that seem more attainable and might keep me motivated to stay on track. I'm really looking forward to rewarding myself as I reach those goals. What a great idea! I don't know that I'll be weighing in every week because that's usually been my downfall. I don't like what I see so I give up knowing full well that it's normal at times to have a slight weight gain or no change at all since by being active your building muscle mass which weighs more than fat. I will however take my measurments and maybe weigh in every month.



Thanks so much for all your advice and words of encouragement.
Click to expand...
 
ok after you get rid of all the fat free stuff, stop buying it, you want to have full fat when you eat as well as let your mind know when its full, if you eat non fat or low fat your mind doesnt tell you. Also, you want to put some more protein in your diet, you are leaning more in the carb direction and you dont want that. The more protein the higher your metabolism and it helps to burn....Also, stay away from weight watchers stuff it tends to lean towards carbs tooo....Remember when you start feeling down to find something to pick you up, I am still waiting for the 2 things a day that you were suppose to write that were good about yourself and your reward for the first 10 lbs gone....let me know... Lynda
 
Originally Posted by Lynda Roes


ok after you get rid of all the fat free stuff, stop buying it, you want to have full fat when you eat as well as let your mind know when its full, if you eat non fat or low fat your mind doesnt tell you. Also, you want to put some more protein in your diet, you are leaning more in the carb direction and you dont want that. The more protein the higher your metabolism and it helps to burn....Also, stay away from weight watchers stuff it tends to lean towards carbs tooo....Remember when you start feeling down to find something to pick you up, I am still waiting for the 2 things a day that you were suppose to write that were good about yourself and your reward for the first 10 lbs gone....let me know... Lynda
Click to expand...

Hi Linda,


What? Get rid of the fat free stuff? You lost me. I thought we wanted fat free and low fat. Guess I was wrong. I know I have too many carbs in my diet so I'll make it a point to work on that this coming week. I'll also try to increase my proteins and I absolutely need to find something to pick me up when I'm down. That's the reason I didn't write down my food intake yesterday because I was too ashamed. My week just went from bad to worst and last night I went on a binge. Of course I felt lousy afterwards but the damage had been done. As for the things I like about myself, well right now I'm not liking myself very much so I have trouble finding even one let alone two things that are good about me. I'll sleep on it and let you know in the morning. I did however work on a list of rewards for each of my 10lbs loses:


List of rewards

10 lbs - Cirque du Soleil tickets

20 lbs - new camera

30 lbs - clothes

40 lbs - a day at the spa (I've never been)

50 lbs - session with a professional photographer for my dogs and I
 
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