This ends today!

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parsons

New member
Well, more accurately, the beginning of the end began yesterday. At any rate, I'm here, and I'm going to try my darndest to get my life in order.

I've never really been on a "diet" diet-type diet. I did Weight Watchers for about a year a while back and lost almost 30 pounds, and have kept it off (more or less) since I stopped. I've been on an emotional roller coaster since then, after losing my grandmother, ending my long-distance relationship of 2 and a half years, blah blah blah whine whine whine, I'm just DONE. I'm ready to move on now, I'm ready to make things better. I'm ready for the new me. I'm tired of being "the fat friend," tired of feeling like there are things that I can't do because of my weight. I want to feel confident, instead of faking it.

My plan:
*No more soda or "empty calorie" drinks, which won't be hard, as I'm not too crazy about them anymore anyway. It's all about water and almond milk now.
*No more snacking on crap between meals (or, as has happened in the past, eating pretty much constantly all day long.) I think this one is going to help a lot, because before I started this plan I would eat just to pass the time until the next TV show came on. Trading chips or chocolate for grapes, carrot sticks, multigrain crackers and hummus. And I'm sticking to one snack session between breakfast/lunch and one between lunch/dinner.
*Get moving. I'm home from college for the summer, with nothing to do but sit on my butt playing video games. But I won't allow myself to do that. I'm going to try to get out and about every day, but if not every day, for sure every other day.

If you guys have any other good tips, let me know. I'm open and need all the support I can get.

So here we go. May 26, 2009. 274 pounds. LET'S ROCK.
 
Thanks for the well-wishing!

Today is day 3 of the new food lifestyle, and day 2 of the active lifestyle (I'm making a point here in not calling it a "diet" and a "program" because somehow those words make me feel like I could just stop). I'm feeling pretty great, a little sore, but really energetic. I'm often a little bit hungry between meals, but I just eat a few carrot sticks or grapes and then I'm back on track.

The last two mornings I've gone out on a really nice trail about 10 minutes drive from my house. The trail is 2 and a half miles (!!!) long, and has taken me an hour both times. I feel really good about it, especially because the whole first half of the trail is uphill. But once I get beyond the uphill portion I feel fantastic, and have nothing but flat and downhill to look forward to. And it is nothing but beautiful scenery. This morning I got about 6 feet away from two deer grazing in a field, and saw 3 small rabbits having breakfast. Even a quail. It made being out and walking (ugh) feel more fun (yay!). Got a problem with the new walking shoes, though. Or maybe I need longer socks. The back of my ankles were bleeding when I was done with my walk. I'm just rambling, now.

I have been drinking SO much water. And eating a lot less, as far as portion size and snacking goes. And I suppose this is true for almost every newbie to a healthier lifestyle, but I'm trying really hard not to step on the scale a million times a day because I know I'll be disappointed. I'm going to keep my weigh-ins limited to once a week.

I have a few questions for anyone to take a stab at: I'm mainly taking my hikes in the morning because it's a lot cooler and there aren't as many people around. I know exercise is exercise, but is it universally better to work out at one time a day as opposed to another? Like, in the evenings rather than in the morning?

I had another question, buuuuut I forgot it. I guess I'll save that one for another time. I'm gonna go make a smoothie now! Bye!
 
Hi parsons! :seeya:

I don't know the answer to your question about when it's better to work out, but my HO is mornings. Exercise releases adrenaline and endorphins and is a great way to energize your day.

It sounds like you've made a great start. Keep it up!

And in the words of the great Spock: Live long and prosper!
 
Sounds like you are making a great start.

Try keeping a diary of everything you eat, and all your exercise. It really helps to track and analyse your diet and activity.

I support only weighing yourself once a week. You don't want to be a slave to the scale.

Keep it up! We're watching you. :)
 
Thanks for the support, guys! I can't tell you how good it makes me feel to know that there are people rooting for me. I'm embarrassed to tell my friends about my weight loss plans, though I don't really know why. I guess I kind of just want to slowly become a thinner person without really mentioning it, and without them really noticing. I don't want me or them or anyone else to make a big deal about it. But then again, I feel like if I told them, they would support me as well and help me. Not really sure how I'd be received by my three best friends, who all weigh around 130 pounds. I just don't think they'd understand, because they have never been obese, they've never had to live with the insecurities that come with being so... huge. I know it's not fair to say they have no discomfort in their own bodies, but it's just different, I guess. But really, thanks you guys. It means so much more coming from people who understand what I'm going through than from some skinny girls who don't know what it's like.

Anyway, this morning. I was surprised to find out that the blueberry swirl bread my mom bought :)banghead: more about her another time) only has 90 calories per slice! So I replaced my normal mini-wheats breakfast for two slices of dry blueberry toast and a glass of almond milk. It was quite satisfying.

And then instead of my normal hour-long 2.5 mile walk (because I've got nasty blisters on the back of my ankles from my new walking shoes) I went swimming for half an hour. I'm really lucky to live in an apartment complex with a pool, and even luckier that it's right outside my door. It's a very short walk of shame in my bathing suit... which, surprisingly, I wasn't too embarrassed to be wearing. Granted, it's a modest green one-piece with a tie-on skirt to cover my junk in the trunk (and elsewhere) and also, it was 7:30am so nobody else was out yet, but still. It was only mildly uncomfortable.

Today is probably going to be rough, food-wise. I have a friend from school coming to visit me today, and probably is expecting me to take her to my favorite restaurant for lunch. Also, tonight is the one night during the week when I get to see my dad, and we generally go out for dinner. GNYAARRHHHGHH! BOTH IN ONE DAY. THIS IS TERRIBLE. I should have realized this was going to happen when I was making plans with my friend. But I am going to try so, so, soooo hard to order smart, and to not overeat.

That's a big problem with me, whenever I go out somewhere. Even if I know I can box it up and take it home, I always just keep eating at the table. Even if I'm full to bursting, I just keep thinking "One more bite, there's hardly enough on your plate to take home!" It's not even that I'm worried about wasting food, I just love the taste of it so much that I don't want it to end. I've heard a good tip for that is to take more time eating, and to really taste the food in each bite you take. Does anyone else have any good tips for a perpetual over-eater?

Also: Thai food. I'm probably going out for Thai with my dad tonight. What's good (and when I say "good," I mean "healthy")? Brown rice for sure, but what about curry? (oh my god I love curry so much.)

Hopefully I'll be able to make good choices today, and maybe go out for a walk later on this afternoon. Wish me luck!
 
parsons said:
Thanks for the support, guys! I can't tell you how good it makes me feel to know that there are people rooting for me. I'm embarrassed to tell my friends about my weight loss plans, though I don't really know why. I guess I kind of just want to slowly become a thinner person without really mentioning it, and without them really noticing. I don't want me or them or anyone else to make a big deal about it. But then again, I feel like if I told them, they would support me as well and help me. Not really sure how I'd be received by my three best friends, who all weigh around 130 pounds. I just don't think they'd understand, because they have never been obese, they've never had to live with the insecurities that come with being so... huge. I know it's not fair to say they have no discomfort in their own bodies, but it's just different, I guess. But really, thanks you guys. It means so much more coming from people who understand what I'm going through than from some skinny girls who don't know what it's like.
Click to expand...

First off. Welcome to your new lifestyle. Glad you could join us.

Next,
I was kind of in the same situation as you I didn't want anybody to know I was trying to lose weight. I just wanted them to notice me once the pounds came off. In the same manner, I did let a couple people know just for the fact of hoping that they would provide some sort of support. Trust me it helps. Plus, if any of your friends also gets out and exercise, ask them if you could join them or have them help you out. It may be what you need to help keep you going.

Well it looks like your off to a good start anyways. Good luck, I'll be checking in with you to see how you are doing.
 
Hey there!

Wow, you've made a great start. Have your meals out and enjoy them. I'm not too familiar with Thai food but try not to eat anything thats obviously deep fried and stick with tomato rather than cream based curry dishes.

I'm with ya on the over eating thing - the one thing that I try and do is make sure half of my plate is veg or salad, so it still feels like I've had a plateful of food so the "visual" greed in me is satisfied. Also the old trick of drinking a pint of water before you eat might do the trick. You could also just order a child's portion or have a starter instead of a main - I'm thinks of what my thin mates do when we eat out!
 
Hi, Parsons. I just read through all of your posts and had a few things to say. First, and most obviously, is you definitely seem to be off to a good start. Second, your blueberry swirl bread discovery reminds me very much of my blueberry bagel with low-fat strawberry cream cheese discovery. It seems like it tastes too good to to be just over 300 calories. Third, I read somewhere on things to consider when eating out. The article said to never go out to eat on an empty stomach. Eat something healthy but moderately filling before you go out, so that you aren't starving and more likely to get what looks good, rather than what is good (healthy, that is). It also said to try and look at a menu ahead of time (preferably when you aren't hungry) and decide what you are getting, so that you don't even have to look at a menu at the restaurant. Another thing that has helped me in the past to not over eat when I'm out is to make a point of putting my fork down in between bites and take a drink of my water. This allows you to realize sooner that you aren't hungry any more, and also the water will help fill you up.

You may have heard all this before, but I know that it helped me in the past, so I just wanted to pass the info to you.

Good luck with the dinner and lifestyle change in general. :)

Oh and I'm also home from college. What year are you?
 
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Hi and welcome! Congrats on your lifestyle decision!

On the Thai food.. Thai Curries are made with Coconut Cream, and are pretty calorific - one serve would be like 700 or more calories plus the rice, plus whatever else you had. Coconut milk is also very high in saturated (not good) kind of fat - about 80% of those calories would come from Fat, which is too high for any one meal.

A much better option at thai restaurants would be a stir fry with ginger or basil (without any coconut milk) or the Thai salad with beef or chicken or shrimp etc.

Hope you had a great night and enjoyed your visit with your friend! :)
 
@GreyGhostHunter Thanks for the support. I might eventually tell a friend. Everything is so new right now and I want to be 100% sure this lifestyle is going to stick. That's the main reason I joined this forum was in hopes that the people I meet online will keep me motivated and strong. Thanks again.

@Fat to Fab Those are some great tips. I'll keep them in mind! Thanks!

@WittBound Thanks for those wonderful tips. I just finished my sophomore year of college. You?

@Kori Awww darn, no more curry for me then. :( It just figures something SOOO DELICIOUS would be soooo calorific (haha that's a great word). Luckily, my dad ended up having to cancel on me last minute so I wasn't tempted. But thank you for the prompt answer before I went and overstuffed myself on my favorite food. And thanks for the delicious and wiser option! You people are all so helpful!
 
Hey Parsons, No problems! Sorry to disappoint you.. but curries and Asian food in general are really "my thing" I cook a lot of them, and have spent a lot of time studying and doing Classes with different Chefs on how to cook them, I mainly do Indian curries of various kinds... this is one I do all the time, as it is very low cal being tomato based...

http://weight-loss.fitness.com/604159-post49.html

If you want to make Thai style curries at home you can make them a lot lower in calories by using light coconut milk and not as much of it, or even coconut flavoured evaporated milk (never tried that as it sounds nasty to me)

..but in restaurants, low calorie is not their priority.. they are as tasty as possible, which means "Super Calorific - Extra Pounds - Atrocious!!!" LOL hehehehe
 
Weight loss and Aunt Flo

Yesterday was a lot of fun. My friend came over in the morning and we went to an outdoor mall and walked around for a good 45 minutes. Nothing strenuous, but it was better than sitting on our butts at my house. We ended up going out for Mexican. AUGH MEXICAN FOOD, MY OTHER WEAKNESS. I ordered a nacho plate and it was soooo gooooood... well, the half of it that I ate was soooo gooood. I spent a lot of time in between bites listening to my body, trying to determine if I was still hungry or not, and drinking a lot of water. Also, I stuck mostly to the salsa fresca rather than the guacamole and sour cream. I stopped halfway through the plate and decided I had had enough. I was really pleased with myself for being able to stop. But THEN, dang it, we went next door and I was convinced to get ice cream. See, THIS is why it's complicated when you're trying to lose weight without telling your friends. However, I managed to just order a small scoop (of mint chip shhhhhhh) in a cup, so there were no extra calories in a cone. We took our ice cream and walked around town a bit more before heading back to my house.

Dad ended up having to cancel on me for Thai last night, which I'm actually pretty thankful for after what happened for lunch. I was actually really full from lunch and didn't eat any afternoon snack. Dinner was pasta with mushrooms and sauteed zucchini, and for dessert...... two Dots gummy candies. 22 calories haha! Overall, I'm happy with how yesterday went.

Last night, though, I did get a little depressed for no real reason. But I chalked it up to my hormones running wild because it's that time of the month... which made it REALLY hard to get up and going today. I almost convinced myself to take the day off because of my mood, but once I got up, got dressed, and got to the trail I started feeling quite a bit better. I got through the whole trail and felt pretty good. I'm still kind of pointlessly bummed out, but it'll pass. I'm just hoping I can get through this funk without a binge sesh.

I've got another question for the ladies. Does anyone else get seemingly insatiably hungry before their menstrual cycle? In the past during PMS I could just eat forever and still be hungry. How should I deal with this if it happens in the future? I think what got me through it this time was all the water I was drinking. Does that sound plausible?

Well, ok. I'm going to go make my brunch smoothie now. Hope you guys are having a great day.
 
I also get stupidly hungry when I'm "on". I think it's because I think if I eat, the pain will go away.
I generally get through it by eating healthy alternatives such as bananas and yogurts, and drinking plenty of water. But I have to make sure I stay well away from the chocolate!
 
parsons said:
Thanks for the well-wishing!

I have a few questions for anyone to take a stab at: I'm mainly taking my hikes in the morning because it's a lot cooler and there aren't as many people around. I know exercise is exercise, but is it universally better to work out at one time a day as opposed to another? Like, in the evenings rather than in the morning?
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Hey Parsons,
I'm not an expert but from the reading i've done it doesn't matter when you do your exercise. I do mine at night b/c it fits into my schedule best (and it's when most people are home watching tv or spending time with their families). It is harder to fall asleep if your body is still hot from working out so i make a point to get my core temperature down before even trying to sleep.

Also for most people i hear it works best to work out during the day for the extra energy from adrenalin.

Sounds like things are going well, you seem to be off on a great start!!

I feel the same about my friends, i don't want them to know i'm trying to lose weight; i just hope i slowly lose weight and one day they'll be like "wow you look really good".

see ya around :bigear:
 
Happy weekend, everyone! But just because it's the weekend doesn't mean that I can slack off! I almost fell into that hole this morning, but I realized that if I didn't get out and do something, I probably wouldn't have left the house all day. So I got going a little later than normal, 8:30, but I still got out on the trail. There were so many more people out today than during the week, but I've noticed that they are all really nice. Everyone smiles and says hello, and that just keeps me going even more.

I did get my Thai food last night! My dad took me out to a concert which was awesome (we talked to the mandolin player afterward. Looking into getting me some lessons), and then we went to a new Thai restaurant I hadn't tried before. I was there with dad and his girlfriend Kim. Dad got red curry with chicken (ahhhh god whyyyyyy, but he did get brown rice rather than white), Kim got basil prawns with veggies, and I got Thai fried rice with tofu and egg, and we all shared. I only had like *that* much curry, and I was surprised that it really satiated my desire for it. Plus, there was some leftover friend rice so we packed that up and I took it home, for lunch today.

Today, mom and I are going to go to the "apple store", which is a fresh produce store in my hometown. Gonna pick up some more fresh fruit for smoothies and veggies for salads and snacks.

I bought like half a pound of this awesome chai from Teavana a couple weeks ago. It's labeled as an energizer and an "appetite suppressant", though I mostly got it because it smells sooo good and is freaking delicious. I've been drinking a cup of that in the morning, and a cup of some different kind after dinner before bed. I generally use just a little bit of honey as a sweetener. So what's the verdict on tea? Good idea/bad idea/doesn't really matter?

Also, I'm interested with exactly how water helps with weight loss. Everybody says to drink lots and lots of water. Hydration is healthy, but what are the other benefits?

Thanks guys, hope you're having a nice weekend!
 
Soooo, apparently, Sunday is a day of rest. I didn't get up for a walk this morning, but I feel kind of okay with that. I've been out for a walk every day this week. And I wanted to take it easy on myself today because I started feeling a little bit ill last night, and I want to be 100% sure I know I'm not getting any sort of bug.

GOD I HAVE PEED SO MUCH IN THE LAST 4 DAYS. I've been drinking at least 64oz of water every day, which I know is good, but it's kind of inconvenient to be getting up to go to the bathroom every half an hour.

I have been craving chocolate like never before. Before starting this new lifestyle, I would eat chocolate or candy pretty much at least once a day, where as for the last week or so I haven't had any candy bars (I did eat a couple of Dots candies) and only one small serving of ice cream, plus the one spoonful I had today. Probably not so great to go completely cold turkey on that front, but I'm afraid if I started eating chocolate, I wouldn't be able to stop. I'd put it away for like an hour and then just break it out again and eat all of it. I'm such a problem child lol. To try to satisfy my sweet tooth, I've been chomping down the fruit salad I made yesterday. It has blueberries, strawberries, pineapple, watermelon, and mango. It's really good... not as good as chocolate, but still really good.

I'm really interested in the idea of chewing sugarfree gum between meals to keep my appetite down. I got pretty close to falling off the wagon today, where I just wanted to kick back on the couch and eat all day, with one difference: I've been snacking a lot healthier. But still, I don't like the feeling I get when I eat all day long, physically and mentally. I feel like chewing gum would satisfy my "need" to chew on something, so perhaps I'll go pick up a pack or two of something sugarfee and delicious today.

Tonight's a big night. Mom and I are going out to dinner (don't worry, I've got it under control, and mom is watching out for me now haha) and then to San Francisco to see Spamalot. I've been looking forward to this night FOREVER, so hopefully it'll be a lot of fun, and then tomorrow morning, it's right back to work.
 
First weigh-in

Today is Tuesday, and Tuesday is weigh-in day for me! I wasn't too nervous because I really have been sticking to my plan and I've been walking a lot. I was excited to see the scale drop by 3 pounds! 3 whole pounds! It was really encouraging to see that, moreso than I thought it would be, mostly because I know that I did that, that I have made the choice to eat more healthy and to do more physical activities, and this is the payoff. It feels especially good because I had to make a million little cupcakes yesterday, some for my friend's birthday and some for my mom's coworkers as a thank you gift, and I had one or two myself... they're so tiny it almost feels like nothing :blush5:

Spamalot was FANTASTIC, and if you enjoy Monty Python even half as much as I do, you should definitely go if you get the chance. I must have lost all the weight laughing. ;)

This next week should be interesting. My mom and I are going back up to school tomorrow to look at apartments for next year. 6 hour drive = road trip food, ack. Hopefully I'll be able to convince her to take us somewhere where we can have more options, rather than to the traditional McDonald's bleh. Here's hoping! See you guys again soon.
 
parsons said:
GOD I HAVE PEED SO MUCH IN THE LAST 4 DAYS. I've been drinking at least 64oz of water every day, which I know is good, but it's kind of inconvenient to be getting up to go to the bathroom every half an hour.
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LOL! I know how you feel I try to drink a gallon a day but how embarrassing when you have to get up every half hour to go! I'm told your body gets better at holding it in.
 
Saturday

I'm back after my jaunt up north to find an apartment. It's looking pretty good so far. We applied for two places and we're hoping to hear back in the next 3-7 days about whether we'll get a place or not.

Yeah, it's a stressful situation, but I'm trying to keep positive, as well as keep my weight-loss goals in mind. It's kind of hard, considering there is so much good food in that little town up north. But luckily, since we were so busy bustling around looking at apartments, there wasn't a lot of time for between-meal stress-eating, and I managed to stay strong and not go down to the hotel vending machine to get chips, candy, or soda. We did go out for almost every meal while on our trip, but all I had to drink the whole trip was water. On the way up we stopped and I ate WAY TOO MUCH club sandwich, but instead of potato salad or chips I got a side green salad. Luckily this kept me full for the whole afternoon and I didn't eat again until dinner, where I had half an order of Japanese vegetable curry from a noodle house in town. Took the rest to the hotel for later. Thursday morning we went out and had a BIG BREAKFAST. I had a mushroom and jack omelette with hashbrowns and sausage links, and again was full until lunch, when I had the leftover Japanese curry and some of my mom's soup leftover. And dinner was sushi. GOD I EAT SO MUCH SUSHI. And I think I really need to start laying off the avocado. My rolls got to me at dinner and I realized that both of the sushi rolls and the hand roll all had avocado in them. As delicious as it is, it has sooo much fat in it. AUGH I just can't win. Then yesterday for breakfast I had a jalapeno bagel with cream cheese, guacamole (IT'S EVERYWHERE), and lox, and for lunch a tiny salmon burger (no cheese) with half an order of potato salad. Dinner was back at home and I had two Trader Joe's tamales. It was probably more calories than I should have had in one day, but I did hardly any snacking in between. I had like 7 crackers between breakfast and lunch, and some cherries between lunch and dinner.

One thing I didn't get to do too much of was exercising. We did walk around a bit, but most of the trip was sitting in the car on the drive up, driving around town looking for places, and sitting in the car on the drive back down. To make up for that, I'm planning on going to yoga with my dad today (I have a few classes that are already paid for that I didn't use last summer) and go for a walk each morning until my next weigh-in on Tuesday.

I have been noticing that I'm able to better sense when I'm hungry, vs when I just want to eat for the heck of it. Also, I've noticed that it's harder to eat as much as I used to eat. I used to treat my stomach like it was a bottomless pit, and even though I was full and my stomach was already hurting I would continue to eat more. But now my desires, a long with my portions, are getting smaller. I still get hungry, often ravenous, but it's taking less and less to fill that hunger.

Mom and I bought the book version of the Lifetime series "Cook Yourself Thin." It has a whole mess of great-looking, easy recipes, as well as good tips for healthy weight loss. I'm excited to try some of the recipes.

Wahoo! Going to go see Wicked tonight! That's not really anything weight-loss related, but hey, at least that's another few hours where I won't be tempted to eat chips in front of a television screen! :)
 
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