Time2change journal

Time2change1

Time2change1

New member
I wanted to wait a week or so to start my journal. I've been working out every day for a week so far. Yeah!! I'm going to write this journal to myself, and if others want to read or offer comments, great! I'm going to be brutally honest with myself.

Ok, so I came to the conclusion that I was huge! I guess I just didn't see it until one day it hit me. I looked at a photo of myself and was in in for a surprise. A sickening realization. It just crept up on me over the years. Either my eyes, or the mirror has been lying to me. It was only when I noticed that big roll of fat hanging off my chin that everyone else could see, but I could't. Until now.

So, I've been on the treadmill for 20 min every day. I am short, and I find that my legs have to move much faster to keep up. So, I started out at 2.0 speed and over the week, I've moved up to 2.3. I have been walking .75 of a mile every day. Then I get on the exercise bike for another ten min. I startedDay 1 with 20 situps. Then I did 25, then 30, then 35, and last night my husband pushed me. I did one set of 35, then a set of 30, then a set of 15. So, I did 80 situps. My stomach has been feeling it!!

I've been drinking Crystal light. I am addicted to pop, and so I'm trying to wean myself off it. For now, I allow myself one in the morning when I first wake up, and one in the evening. I know that may seem like a lot still, but I was drinking between 4 and 5 pops every day. It's a start. I am drinking at least 2 quarts of Crystal light each day.

I feel much more energy after I've worked out. I get my mp3 player and crank out the music and the walking is getting easier every day. I noticed I cannot workout without music. I need a beat to keep my legs moving. It royally pisses me off when I'm in the middle of my treadmill workout and the station goes to commercial break. I'm all into it and then, wham! I lose site and my legs start to feel like bricks. Come on already! Put the music back on!!!!

I'm going to try to walk a mile today. I don't care how long it takes me, I just wanna hit that mile mark.


My husband is out of town ( again!) for the week, so I'm working out alone. That's not really a problem, but he does push me to do more and I will have to push myself, instead.

So, that's it for now. I'm gonna head out to the garage to get my daily workout.
 
I cranked the treadmill up to 2.5 and OMG did my legs hurt! The back of my calves hurt SO darn bad! They hurt last night too, and my husband told me I needed to stretch. I thought I stretched enough before I got on the treadmill, but I guess not. OMG that hurt! I only went .75, but it only took me abt. 18 min, instead of the 20 min it has been taking. I didn't reach my goal of a mile today. :mad:

I did the exercise bike for a little bit longer than yesterday which is good.

And.... I was able to do 3 sets of 30 situps today. That is an increase from yesterday.

Weird thing.....last night as I was watching tv at about midnight, I had a strong urge to go out to the garage and do the treadmill. Hmm... I should have gone. Next time I get that weird urge, I'm gonna go for it.

Now I'm off to shower. Boy, do I need it!
 
In reading some journal entries I see a lot of you posting what you ate. Well, I guess I should do that too.


Breakfast: banana
Lunch : 2 pieces of white bread/toast with 2 slices of veryyyyy thin polish ham. Just toast and ham.

I'm thinking about setting out some frozen cabbage rolls for dinner....haven't decided yet.
 
Ok, so I ended up defrosting the cabbage rolls and had two of them for dinner. I originally put 3 on my plate, but couldn't finish the last one. I just cracked open my second and last pop for the day. It tasted soooo sweet on the first sip. I'm thinking maybe I'll just drink half. I'm trying to wean myself off it. I drank up the last bit of Crystal light for the day making it 2 quarts that I drank.

I may do some situps while I watch tv tonight. I have all our workout equipment out in the garage, and currently we don't have cable out there. So, I can't use the treadmill while I watch tv. I can't do that anyway. I have to listen to music while I do the treadmill.

Ok, I guess that's it for tonight.
 
Hi Time2change,

I just wanted to wish you good luck with your project.

You have made a good start. You know where you want to be. You are aware of your food and drinking. You know a major dietary downfall - many of us share the love of diet pop. It is so easy to convince yourself that there is no harm in it and so easy to be addicted. I love diet cola and struggle with it myself.

You have started an exercise program. I am a great fan of walking. I built up my walking from zero at the start of the year. You just have to determine to walk so far every day. As you get better - increase the distance or speed. I find that my walking has been the difference between this weight loss project and many others that I have attempted over the past twenty years.

I will check in on your diary every so often to see how you are doing.

Best wishes
Margaret
 
Omega,

Thanks for stopping my my journal. :) I wanted to point out that it wasn't diet pop I was drinking 4-5 cans of....it was regular old Mt. Dew. There's *a lot* of sugar in those darn sodas! But I guess we all know that. ;) Thanks for your support, Omega!


Last night I hopped on the scale and it read 195. This morning it said 190. I don't trust that scale. Maybe I might invest in a better scale. When I first started my workouts I weighed myself and it said like 189. If that's true, then I gained a pound in the end. Hmm.. I don't think I like that.:mad:


I guess I gotta go find something to eat for breakfast. I never usually eat breakfast, but I know people say you gotta eat.

Ok, so I'm off. I'll write later after my workout.
 
It took me 25 min, but I walked a mile today! Yeah!
My legs are killing me, but otherwise, it wasn't too bad. I don't have time to do my bike and situps because I gotta shower and get my daughter to school. I'll write later.
 
Then it is an even better improvement in your diet turning those high cal pops into water. Very well done!

Keep walking. I promise that it gets easier in time.

Best wishes
Margaret
 
I had a little bit of mac and cheese for lunch and for dinner, I made a huge salad. I wish I had more veggies to put in it, but all in all, it was pretty good and filling.

I ran out of Crystal Light today, and I found some generic stuff in the back of my cupboard. Yowwwww!! It was awful!! I'm going to have to make a trip to the store tonight. I can't drink that generic crap.

I think I am going to go out into the garage in a little while and do some more walking. I'm not going to concentrate on how fast I can get the treadmill going, but rather how long and far I can walk. Since I already walked my mile today, anything else is a plus. Thanks to Omega, who is a huge inspiration!

My husband started working out the same day I did, and since he is out of town for the week, he called me today and said the hotel he was staying at had a gym, with weights, so he's happy about that. My husband has more willpower and motivation than any person I've met. He used to work out hours a day and had a buff body. He ran 8 miles a night, on top of the other workouts. Then he had back surgery and well, he stopped working out. But he's back in full force now.

We are both determined to lose weight before his company's Christmas party.

Ok, well, I'm not getting much done sitting here, so I'm off to walk on the treadmill.
 
Hi Time!!

Excellent posts so far! It's great that you have so much motivation! I drink tons of pop too, so I know how you feel trying to ween yourself off. Crystal Light is excellent for that. I use the single pouches and slip them into a bottle of water, or if I don't have any, I like putting lemon in instead. It's great that you have your own little mini gym in your garage, you can go out whenever you want

Look forward to reading on your accomplishments!
~star:cool:
 
Omega said:
What a sweet comment.

When I first started walking I started from a zero start. I left my last job a few years ago and had spent two summers in Greece - there is a village there where I have always felt very comfortable. I felt less comfortable when I returned to England. I got so that I rarely left the house - it ended up so that apart from visiting friends and family I was going out of the house / garden once a week by car to go grocery shopping. That is what I mean when I say a zero start. I doubt that my step count got up to 1000 most days.

I suddenly determined that things were to change.

At first I just left the house and walked round the block. The road that I live on is a crescent and it comes from a straight road forming a capital D shape. I now do a number of these every day. I am not sure exactly how long it is but I guess it is between 0.65 to 0.75 miles. I didnt care about speed. All I really cared about was getting from A to B. Whatever the experts say, in my experience a stroll is vastly better than nothing. I built things up. I had so many days when I did that - then I stretched it and went along the straight bit as far as a newsagent shop. Then I increased it again - be it twice round the block or as far as a little parade of shops and back (0.8 miles each way). Slowly things built up. You see my stamina was improving. Also in a matter of a few weeks I found that I had speeded up a bit.

I certainly do not jog now. In fact I suspect that it would kill me to jog - I am not going there at this size. Dont believe anyone who tells you that you have to jog / run to lose weight through exercise - I am living proof - but you do have to put in time. I do step out quite quickly and I do go as far as gives me aching legs. Then I rest for a couple of hours and go back out again. I am very fortunate in that I am still not working so not having to juggle earning a living into my quite gruelling schedule. I compare myself to an athlete in training - the biggest athlete that is ever seen.

I would strongly suggest that you get a pedometer and if the weather is fine go out for a walk. Then your body will dictate the speed - not a number on a treadmill. When you find the right speed for you in a natural environment maybe you can find it on a treadmill.

Go for the longer hours approach and see how it works for you. It has certainly worked for me.
Click to expand...

I put this in my diary for you - but thought that I would put it here to make sure that you got it.

Well done for going back and doing some more walking. I am sure that it will help you get the result that you want.

Take care
Love
Margaret
 
I am happy to report I just finished walking another mile! Woo Hoo!! I also did ten minutes on the bike and I did 3 sets of 30 situps. Two miles in one day, wow!

The bike I have has long handles that you have to push along with pedaling your feet. So, my arms get a workout as well as my feet.

Starryeyed---Yes, we have all our equipment in the garage. I have a treadmill, a bike, a sit up bench, and some other weird machine that I'm not sure what's for, a stairstepper, and a weight bench with tons of weights. I don't do the weights.

I'm finding it easier to not want the pop. I didn't want to quit cold turkey because I know I will get a massive headache. I've had one pop today and I think I won't drink the second one.


Omega---Thank you for posting that in my journal. I read it in yours earlier and I was so glad you replied back to me. By the way, I am 42, so I'm close in age to you.

I did not mention that I am a smoker. I am going to work on getting in the habit of exercising, so when I start my quit smoking plan, I will already be exercising and hopefully I won't gain weight. I've been smoking for 22 yrs. :eek: I have noticed that I have been smoking less since I started to work out.

And, Omega....I didn't pay any attention to how fast I walked. I started it at 2.0 and walked the mile in 28 minutes. I went from .75 of a mile to a mile and that is an improvement to me. :)

Thanks to all of you for your support. :hug2:
 
Hi Time2change

Well done for doing the extra walking and the other additional exercise too - and I am so pleased that you see an improvement already. You see - it is like I said - your stamina is improving. It just builds up a bit at a time if you just keep on doing it every day and see if you can do a little bit more. I found that I speeded up quite naturally but I didnt set out to do that.

If you havent seen him already (I am always mentioning him) Charlie Walduck is a major inspiration to me. I check out the website every few days and think "If he can do that - I can do this". He lost 420 pounds through diet and walking alone - and it was followed by an English daytime television program. When you see his weights referred to - remember that 14 pounds = one stone so he moved from 616 pounds to 196 pounds.



I am sure that the walking will help you smoke less. It certainly helps me nibble on food less. I can understand you wanting to quit smoking - but I understand from friends that have tried that it is very difficult. I think that you are wise not to try and struggle with everything from the word go. Rome wasnt built in a day - and everything doesnt have to be achieved on day 1. If you cut down naturally through walking and other exercise it will mean that it will be easier when you come to try to stop altogether.

Take care
Love
Margaret
 
I just finished walking a mile! Took 26 minutes @2.2 speed. I am afraid I might be holding water because I'm near my period and I always hold water around that time.

Margaret, I did do a search on Charlie Walduck after reading your journal. It is amazing how much weight he lost! He is a great inspiration!

I have to get a quick shower so I can drive my daughter into school. I'll write later. :)
 
I went out today and bought a new pair of walking shoes. They feel SO much better than my old ones. I also bought a jump rope, and a set of 3 lb weights and..... a new scale. I'm NOT liking what the new scale says. To be sure it was accurate, I put the 2 - 3 lb weights on it, and it said they were 5.8 lbs....so I guess it's pretty accurate. I also bought a new seat for my exercise bike. The old one hurts so bad!

I'm going to walk another mile in a few min. and do some more exercising.

My sister and I went to lunch today and I had soup and salad.

Ok, I'll write again later.
 
My new shoes were scrunching my left foot something awful. I had to stop during my walk and check it out. The sock seam was curled under my toe and causing the trouble. It is funny my sister and I were just talking about sock seams when we were out shopping today....lol. For some reason or other I am not able to type an apostrophe. When I hit the key my cursor runs across the screen.

Anyhow, I walked my second mile tonight. I also did ten min on the bike. Unfortunately, the new bike seat I bought will not fit my exercise bike. :mad:

When I pulled out the small 3 lbs weights, my dogs thought they were dog bones and it took every thing I had to get them away from them!! LOL
They are kind of shaped like a dog bone, but they are green and heavy for them to carry in their mouths.

It took me 26 min to walk the mile. When I was done, my daughter began to walk her mile. She got to .86 and we smelled burning rubber. Then the treadmill stopped and the digital numbers went blank. UH OH!

I was at Walmart today and I stocked up on Crystal Light. It's much cheaper there than at the grocery store. It has aspartame in it, and I didn't know that. I don't know if I like that or not.

My new digital scale shows your BMI and it will keep track of your weight loss. I just have to figure out how to program it.

And, I think that's it for tonight.
 
Oh gosh! what an odd day! the dogs, the exercise bike. and the shoes and treadmill. hopefully tomorrow will run more smoothly. did you end up buying the crystal light? how was the pop intake today?
hope tomorrow goes awesomely :rotflmao:
 
Hi

It seems like you have made some positive changes for the day (well done for those) - but a lot of odd things happened too.

- well done for doing the walking and bike riding. I am sure that it will be doing you good.
- we all hold water about the time of a period. There is nothing wrong with that - you probably can predict about when it will happen and just factor it in when looking at your weight. I check my weight every day - I know that I need to keep an eye on things as I can put on so much weight in a week.
- with scales some people forget that they work best by going on a solid flat surface (better if not on carpet) and it is best to have them in the same place every time.
- it is very annoying about the treadmill having gone wrong. While you wait for it to be repaired you can go out walking like I do. Before I got the pedometer I measured the distance that I was walking using the car tripometer.
- maybe a cushion could help the bike seat while you get one that fits.
- I like my feet to be as comfortable as possible when I walk. I often wear sandals (with socks currently as it is cold). Walking the distances that I do - I sometimes get blisters which hurt too. I take a needle to them and bandage them up with lots of padding. Then I find that I can walk on them fine. Sometimes it is a question of refusing to let a problem get in the way of you getting the result that you want.
- I have no idea about Crystal Light - although I have seen several people say that they get it. It may be worth posing a question on the "harsh truths" section. A very well read person called Steve often gives his spin on things posted there.
- It sounds like both you and the dogs got some extra bonus exercise with the new weights.
- you were good with your food at lunchtime with the meal that you posted.

Take care
Love
Margaret
 
I weighed myself on the new scale and it said 197. :mad: This morning after I woke up, I weighed myself again and it said 194. I guess I'm going to have to adjust my ticker and get over the fact that the new scale added a few lbs. to my weight.

It is a yucky, windy, raining, gloomy, and cold day here. I hope my treadmill will work for my mile. I'm going to take a look under it and see if I can find the problem. If I can't get it to work, then I will walk up and down my street until I hit a mile. I hope that's not the case. In this kind of weather, it will be easy for me to catch a cold.

I didn't realize I had so many problems yesterday until I reread my post. :) I try not to get little things like that get in my way.

I have no pop in the house, so I think I'm going to try to do without. Starryeyed...I bought 4 pks of Crystal light ( $3.97ea) and I also got one individual pack($2.50ea). I used one when my sister and I went to lunch instead of drinking pop with my lunch. My sister is doing the treadmill too. She is 5'2 and weighs about 155, so she is much smaller than me. It's too bad she lives 45 min from me, or we might could work out together.

I need to get off my butt and walk my one dog. She has a low thyroid and is very overweight. She is on meds, but currently she weighs about 90 lbs. Her top weight was 93 lbs. She eats hardly nothing but she can't lose the weight! I was going to put her on the treadmill like Ceasar Milan does. I wanted her to get used to the sound of it and ok with being near it first so it didn't scare her. Keep your fingers crossed that my treadmill works!!

I've got to leave to pick up my daughter from school. I'll write again later.

Thanks Margaret and Starryeyed :)
 
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