Time for change!

M

mskate

New member
Hello everyone!

I posted on the Newcomers section yesterday with a brief intro, I'm Kate, a 21 year old student from England. At 5ft 8, I currently weigh 207 pounds eeek.

I finish uni in a little less than two weeks, so big changes are ahead! I thought now would be the perfect time to finally knock my battle with the bulge on the head and kick the student lifestyle!

I was advised a diary would really help me with my own weight loss journey, so I can see what i'm doing right, where I've had a set back, share tips and hopefully make some new friends!

So here goes!


Today is the first day of my weight loss journey and I thought it's about time I took a long hard look in the mirror. For the past two years, I've been very reluctant to have pictures taken of myself, frightened of lumps and bumps, double chins...triple chins... you get the idea. I can't hide from it any longer, so I've attached a couple of photos of myself that I took this morning to finally see me as I am now and hopefully they'll spur me on to be the me that I want to be!

At my lightest I was 177 pounds just under three years ago, I'd love to get down to that weight again, maybe a little lighter (168 ish). I'm never going to be a skinny minnie, that just isn't on the cards for me, I have boobs and hips (and lots of 'em)! I just want to lose about 30 - 40 pounds, tone up and be healthy and happy!

I've dieted before, I always start off enthusiastic but after a couple of weeks, if I don't see the results I was hoping for, I lose interest! This has got to be a complete lifestyle change, something I can sustain. I'm not really sure how to do it, I've done a weekly meal plan and want to combine it with walking and cycling everyday, but am not sure if it's the right way to go about it?

I plan on writing what I've had to eat and the exercise i've done on here every night. I'm hoping that because it's public i'll be committed!

I'm very excited to start this new chapter of my life and hopefully gain some friends through it!

View attachment 15193 Me November 2008 - 177 pounds

View attachment 15194 Today - 207 pounds

View attachment 15195 Today - 207 pounds


Kate x
 
Well! Even buxom, you are gorgeous. Now i know why you give up after a couple of weeks. You already look great!

But anyhow, do it for your health if not for your looks.

But i would add, i don't agree that you can't be as skinny as anyone else. At the least aim to be in the healthy weight range, you know with a BMI less than 25. Overweight people have more health problems in the long term.

I think the program you outlined sounds good.

I think there's a few things to keep in mind to be successful for in the longer term. Stop looking for fast results.

Enjoy healthy food and eating less. Enjoy being fit and exercising. The longer you go on, the easier this will all become. Be committed. I think the diary and this forum will help you hang on a bit longer than usual. I have noticed that its easier for me and in at least one instance i got through a craving because of this forum.

We'll help you get your diet together if you have problems. Anything that's troubling you, comment or ask on and someone will jump in with some ideas.

And if you slip up, please don't give up. Just accept it and keep going. You know a bit of a binge really doesn't make that much difference to what goes on on the scales. It what happens day in and day out over months that matters. So the occasional blip is only a momentary crisis. Keep sight of your goal.
 
Thanks :) I'd love to get back to how I was 3 years ago, I know I can do it, just need to focus!

How's your journey going?

Thanks again for the great tips, my downfall is I'm always adamant that I have to start my diet on a Monday. I'm sure most people start on a Monday lol, but if I slip up in the week, have a lazy day, take away session etc then I have to start the week over. Every diet I've been on I start on a Monday, slip up mid week and then write off the rest of the week as a fail and start again the next Monday. I need to fight the urge to do that! :)
 
You look fantastic Kate, I have the same problem as you, Although im a male and I weigh 180lbs, I still dont feel confident in my self. I guess no matter how many times people tell you, you are beautiful it doesnt make a different on how you feel about youself. Good luck Kate, you can do it! x
 
Thanks Eric :) You're right, we've gotta do it for ourselves! Other people may think we look 'beautiful', 'fine', 'alright' and that's nice to hear, but it means nothing until we feel it.

How are you doing with your journey? Have you got a plan?

Kate x
 
good luck finishing off your last couple of weeks of Uni, I am looking forward to reading your journal :)
 
mskate said:
Thanks Eric :) You're right, we've gotta do it for ourselves! Other people may think we look 'beautiful', 'fine', 'alright' and that's nice to hear, but it means nothing until we feel it.

How are you doing with your journey? Have you got a plan?

Kate x
Click to expand...

I started it today, Im doing fine upto now. Im following my own plan. If you check out my weightloss tab, You can see what ive ate today. I dont know if its to little or too much? Im very motivated at the moment, especially with this forum to help me along the way! x
 
You're so pretty!! I want your bra!! Can never find cute stuff for huge bussoomas!

Well done for starting a diary, am very excited to watch your progress :D

If you check out my weightloss tab, You can see what ive ate today
Click to expand...
.

I might be being reaaaaally stupid, but where is this? Either way, you need at least 1200 calories but should work out your BMR (google it) to find out how much you should be having!
 
Thanks everyone for the lovely comments! I feel so enthused about this and I think it's all down to this site! Everyone is so supportive, I hope over time I can help people too :).

Thanks Trusylver, fingers crossed the next few weeks go smoothly. I've loved my course but the past few months have been tough and I'm ready for some new challenges!

Eric - We're both newbies then! I'll just check out your diary now, do you feel happy with how your first day is going?

Sunflower - Thanks :) I get most of my bras from M & S, they have some pretty nice stuff in at the moment, but if you wait a few weeks for their sale (they have one pretty much every month) the discounts are great. I think the set cost me £5 in the sale and it's tres comfy!


Jen_Renee - Thanks - I need to stick to this one! :)

I'll post again later with how i've got on today!

Kate x
 
Hello Everyone,

Right then, the first day over and done with...how did it go? Well I still feel positive! That's something right?

This morning was going fine and dandy, until the postman came...gah! As i finish uni in a few weeks I've been manically applying for jobs. I work part time at the moment in a shop so I have something to keep me going if I can't find work straight away, but I applied for a Publicity and Partnership Development Co-ordinator for a local volunteering group - something I'm really passionate about; and if i'm honest I actually thought I had a shot at getting it...well at least an interview! But to no avail, just a brief letter saying I was unsuccessful, pretty gutting. Now normally i'd be reaching for the chocolate, slamming on the F.R.I.E.N.D.S. (had to do it ;-)) boxset and settling down for a day of pure nothingness, NOT THIS TIME!


Screw it, there will be other opportunities, I just need to persist, and instead of getting into a melancholic state, I focussed on my new lifestyle changes and did a bit of uni work - so for me, a relatively productive day!

As for my meal plan, I've planned every evening meal for two weeks. Kind of a rota, so when I get to day 14, I'll be back at day 1 again and so on and so on.

Right, so below I've jotted down a list of what I've eaten and the approximate calories consumed. Now I'm no weight loss expect, heck I'm not even an amateur; so I'm not really sure If my calorie intake is correct for my height and weight and whether the type and amount of exercise is actually going to shift the pounds? So if anyone has any suggestions I'd really appreciate it :).

Breakfast

2 Slices of Seeded Bread (toasted), with a thin layer of butter - 310 calories

Morning Snack

1 Banana - 95 calories

Lunch

Pasta with Tuna and Light Mayo and a few peppers and one cherry tomato - 250 calories

Snacks

2 Digestive Biscuits - 140 calories
1 Cup of Green Tea - 0 calories
1 Cup of Tea (semi-skimmed milk with 2 sweetners) - 14 calories
1 Tracker Bar - 125 calories

Dinner

Chicken Breast (skinless and oven cooked) with New Potatoes and Salad and Light Mayo - 325 calories

I've drank about 3 litres of water as well.

Total Calories = 1259

Now exercise wise, I decided to break up my time 'slogging' away at essays by going for a walk. So I did a 2.5 mile walk around where I live, which is slightly uphill and I burnt off 328 calories. Oooh also I think I've discovered a new tip for walking weight off, because I drank so much in the morning, when it came to my afternoon walk, half way into the walk It suddenly hit me how badly I needed the toilet (sorry for TMI lol) but it sure made me walk faster! Heheh

I also did 4 miles cycling on our previously very dusty, exercise bike and burnt off 210 calories so i'm feeling pretty invigorated, but again I'm not sure if it's the right type of exercise for me?

Total calories burnt off through exercise = 538

I thought it might be a good idea to take my measurements so even if I don't lose weight, there might be a difference inch wise. I'm planning on updating this every week.

Chest - 42 Inches
Waist - 34 Inches
Hips - 45 Inches

Eek... hopefully next week they'll be a difference *fingers crossed*

As you can tell by the length of this message, I love a good natter, so any feedback, messages or general chit chats I'm all for! How's everybody else done today?

Thanks for the support,

Kate x
 
Your exercise looks good but you are probably over estimating the calories used.

take a look around some of the other diaries for more meal and exercise ideas :)
 
Howdy!

Day 2

So i'll try and keep this short and sweet (quite a challenge for me). Today's gone pretty well ...I think. I'm lucky because my mum is also trying to shift some pounds so we're in it together. So when I can't get to the lappy it's nice to know she's there if If I want to rant and need support, and hopefully she feels the same too!

Food wise, I've eaten slightly more today, i'm not sure if it's too much or not enough. I don't feel hungry so i'm taking that as a positive! :)

Breakfast

1 and a half slices of seeded bread (toasted) with a thin layer of butter = 232.5 calories


Lunch

Chicken soup and half a small white baguette = 321 calories


Snacks and Drinks throughout the day

Tracker Bar = 125 calories
Green Tea x 2 = 0 calories
Cup of Tea x 2 = 36 calories
Weight Watchers lemon slice = 80 calories
Banana = 95 calories


Dinner

Chilli Con Carne with Rice and 2 tacos = 547 calories

Total calories = 1436.5

I've drank a little less than 2 litres of water today


I've hardly had any fruit and veggies today, which I usually love! I'm blaming it on the only fruit we had left were brown bananas and shriveled grapes ...yum! But I went food shopping today and for the first time in my life I must have checked every pack for calories, sugars, fats, I'm actually a little proud. It feels like this IS a real life change now! So from tomorrow it's more fruit and veg!

I didn't go for a walk today, kinda didn't feel like one. But i've done 11.5 km on the bike today and a little bit of weight stuff. I'm planning on doing some crunches before bed... but I've set my absolute fave show to record tonight: THE APPRENTICE *uber excited* so we'll see whether I still fancy it after the next hour of screaming at the telly! :)

Kate x

ps. thanks Trusylver, i'm really getting into it now!
 
Well done on the food intake, that looks reasonable apart from the lack of fruit and veg (but I'd turn my nose up at what you're describing too).

I love the feeling of walking through the supermarket with a trolley full of healthy things. I went through a phase when I started of noticing other people's trolleys, thinking "what are you eating?!" (not saying anything, just semi-automatically processing what other people were eating)

What recipe did you use for the chilli?
 
for the first time in my life I must have checked every pack for calories, sugars, fats, I'm actually a little proud.
Click to expand...

I think that is an excellent thing to do. It really helps you make good choices.

About guessing the calories of your food. I think this is a risky practice. Either run them through a program properly or just eat according to what you think is sound, measure and moderate your portions accordingly. We could tell you if it wasn't enough or if it was too much but really i think you do need to count calories at some point in your dieting career. That said, some things must be easy to get right if the calories are listed on the packet.

I'm surprised how much the seeded bread is. Was that a guess or taken from the packet? I Know some seeds are high in fat but it's good fat so i wouldn't worry too much about that.

You also need some dairy or at least some good source of calcium in your diet daily. Please read up on calcium as its vital for strong healthy bones in the long term. You don't want osteoporosis in your old age or even younger. It means bone breaks and other problems. We ladies need 1000mg every day. Of course you can get it in a pill but there's pills and pills and none of them are as good as food.
 
Andrea, the seeded bread I've seen (it's what I used to eat before I started calorie counting) contained between 110 and 185 calories a slice. Butter is about 50 calories for a thin spread, so I can easily see how she got that number.

Kate, have you calculated your daily calorie requirements, using a BMR calculator which accounts for your activity? If so, I'd recommend you do that to have a guide as to how much you should be eating. For calorie counting, I'd second the recommendation for a program, they're really good (I use one called cron-o-meter, which can be downloaded for free- see it in action on these two posts- http://weight-loss.fitness.com/weight-loss-diary/48726-zandolas-diary.html#post780112 and http://weight-loss.fitness.com/weight-loss-diary/47948-amys-weight-loss-diary-22.html#post780236 . Others that are recommended a lot around here are fitday and myfitnesspal). On my program, once the thing you want is in the system (there's a bit of work involved entering things to begin with, but once they're in, they're in- and it even comes up when you enter a portion in order of how much you use it, so milk is always the first one suggested to me). I'd also recommend scales (I got mine- digital, which I'd also recommend- from Argos for a tenner- on sale, they're 15 now, but very much worth it), so you can keep a good track on how much you're eating.
 
Evening!

Thanks guys, I'm pretty chuffed I've started calorie counting, i've never really looked at packets before but every time I pick something up i'm doing it heheh, it actually feels like it's working!

Thanks for the tip on the BMR calculator, I've worked it out and it's 1776.35, to maintain the weight i'm currently at with light exercise I need 2442 calories a day. I had a look to see what my daily calorie intake should be to lose weight and it said to take between 500 - 1000 calories off so I should be aiming to be between 1442 - 1942 per day. It's nice to know what I should be aiming at now!

I'll put the recipe for the chili up here tomorrow when I have a little more time but it was quite nice.

Thanks Fourtyfour, i'm not a big dairy lover unfortunately but I'm trying to eat more yoghuts and have cereal with milk for breakfast more often. I'm actually allergic to cheese, very odd but I guess I'm quite lucky because it probably would be a diet downfall!

So today I've felt like I've eaten loads, but intake today is slightly lower compared to the other days! I think I might need a little more tomorrow.

Breakfast

Branflakes with milk = 170 calories
50 grams of rasperries = 12.5 calories
50 grams of blueberries = 12.5 calories
2 tablespoon of low fat Greek yoghut = 38 calories


Lunch

1 and a half ham sandwich with lettuce and very light mayo = 245 calories
Half a packet of crisps = 62.5 calories


Snacks

3 x cup of tea = 54 calories
2 x apple = 94 calories
2 x rich tea biscuits = 76 calories
A banana = 95 calories


Dinner

Oven cooked skinless chicken breast with 2 roast potatoes (roasted in 1 cal spray), sprouts and carrots = 355 calories


Total cal = 1214.5


Exercise wise, i've only done 13 minutes on the exercise bike today, I need to kick it up a notch tomorrow! Fingers crossed it doesn't rain I might go on a little walk again tomorrow.

Thanks for all the advice,

Kate x
 
apart from the crisps, it looks good although possibly still a little low on the calories :)
 
I agree with Trusylver (although I'd add those tea biscuits as things to be avoided as well). Looks healthy, but you should be eating more or choosing higher calorie nutrient rich foods to get to your target. You should look at 1442 as your minimum.

But otherwise, well done, looks good :)
 
Some suggestions for more calories:

Try adding more vegetables to your diet especially at lunchtime. If you allowed more salad on your sandwich, you probably wouldn't have felt like those chips. I like my salad sandwiches to be at least 1.5 inches thick in the middle. Otherwise i feel like i am eating just bread with flavouring.

You can probably go more bran flakes (I don't know if they are very nutritious but if they are ok, then eat a bigger serve of them). If they are loaded with sugar, maybe find another type of breakfast cereal.

I eat oats now but i know to get the equivalent satisfaction to eating half a cup of rolled oats, i'd need to eat at least a cupful of cornflakes or rice bubbles and i wouldn't feel the slightest guilt doing it. In fact with the rice bubbles, i think i'd go two cups. I need to feel full after a meal. And they are mostly air anyway.

All bran is a good cereal solution. Its about the lowest GI cereal out there. That means the energy and satiety you get from it lasts longer. Be warned that there is sugar in it but not a decadent amount i think.


Nice reporting style you've got going there. You are an :Angel_anim:
 
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