Going to Lose: My Weightloss Journey!

ok. i had my weigh in day today. it was awful. i gained a pound. im back at 210. and i’m definitely not going to meet my mini goal, which is horrifying. so, from this point on, i’m doing two things.

1) completely changing my calorie goals

2)setting a new mini goal, from 6 weeks from now, to reflect my calorie changes. and hopefully to remotivate me. if i dont set a new goal and remotivate, it will be hopeless. so i have to look at this positively and say HEY! it’s time to eat some more food, and try going a different route. because as a couple of people have been pointing out in my blog. this not a quick fix solution. this is longterm, and should be a process. so im going to make it long term. and not look for the quick fix….SOOOO new calorie goals are: 1450-1650 a day, with the ideal range of 1500-1600 a day. i know it kind of seems like a lot to me too, but I’m going to try this for a month and see what happens. if nothing changes after a month, I’ll have to readjust again, but I really just need to find out where my body is happy losing weight at.

So my general breakdown will be:

bfast: 150

snack: 100

lunch: 500

snack: 100

dinner: 550

snack: 200

total: 1600

and obviously these are all flexible, in the sense that if I eat less at breakfast, or have no morning snack, i can have a bigger snack later etc. but this is just a guideline/general breakdown.

also, when i do my calories left thing, i will alway base it on 1600, and then if i go over a bit, that’s when i use my 1650 limit. and i dont really see any issue with getting to 1600 a day, so i wont really talk about the lower limit at this part. (also to anyone who thinks 1600 might be low, i actually want to keep it there for now, because since i dont weigh or cook any of my food, my calorie estimates are just that, estimates. so in reality i might be eating actually somewhere between 1600-1700 a day, but i dont want to move my limits that high, because then i might end up eating closer to 2000. just want to explain that.

So i’m resetting my mini goal! I’m currently back at 210. So I’m changing my mini goal to be when I get down to 198! which will be a great accomplishment, and the time for me to get my reward. 6 weeks from now will be April 10. So, my goal is to lose 12 pounds by april 17, and be at 198. this is definitely going to be a challenge because i will be home for spring break during these 5 weeks, so i will really have to focus and continue with my exercise etc, and I really dont want any set backs.

SO new goal: 12 by 4/17!

ok i’m pretty motivated, considering my bad outcome, so i’m hoping for the best. and hopefully i’ll see positive results with these new calorie adjustments. i’ve also decided to start holding myself account about sleep. i need to get 8 hours a night, and recently ive been getting 5-7. so from now on i’m adding sleep from the night before to my journal. to make me go to bed earlier, and hold myself accountable for that too.

ok let’s hope this works!!

breakfast: 1 yogurt (70) and less than 1/2 a banana (40)-breakfast total: 110

snack: 1/2 cup of kashi (70)

lunch: chicken noodle soup (~200), 2 saltines (28), some seedless red grapes (~125): lunch total- 353

Snack: 1 green apple (35)

Dinner: chinese chicken salad (lettuce, chicken, peanuts, crunchies, dressing on the side) (200), beef and broccoli (400), brown rice (220) -820 total

Calories eaten so far: 1388 Calories left:12–aka done

Workout: 40 minutes on the elliptical, 10 min of treadmill, 25 minutes of weights/abs and 5 min awkward conversation with a guy who approached me. (im not someone who likes to chit chat at the gym.  i like to be by myself and alone in the zone…it was sufficiently awkward…great)

WI day tom AM. ahhhh wish me luckk

So, assuming my weight doesnt really go down this week, which I’m not expecting it to, there are two paths I can take to try to remedy the situation:

1) lower my calories goals back down to a strict 1300 calorie a day goal (but I think I always eat a bit more than that considering the nutrition elements of my diet are mostly estimated)

OR

2) raise my calorie limits to something like 1350-1500 (maybe even 1550) a day.  Because most of the calorie calculators say I need some # over 2000 calories a week to lose 2 lbs a week, there is also the slight, but possible chance that I am just not eating enough to lose weight successfully.  I do exercise quite a bit 5-6 days a week, bike to class etc, so I would say I’m moderately to highly active.  But I do definitely want to be on a plan where I can consistently lose 2 lbs a week.

SO, lovely 3fc bloggers and readers! what do you think? assuming i dont lose weight this week, which i doubt I will, should I lower my cals back to 1300, OR do the total opposite and raise my cals a bit, in the hopes that my body is yearning for more food/energy/nutrients?!?!?!

Let me know what you think!!! What has worked for you!? what has worked for people you know!? what have the things you’ve read say?!?! this issue is constantly plaguing me, and I just dont know what to do! so, any and all advice, thoughts, and info is appreciated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Breakfast: 1 activia yogurt (70)

Lunch: Small creamy turkey vegetable soup (146) a few bites of wheat bread (20) and a cup of fruit salad (105)-lunch total: 271

Snack: 1.5 SBD snack bars (150), some almonds, walnuts and a few wheat thins (170)-total: 320

dinner: salad with one egg white (35), small amount of orange chicken (300), some vietnamese chicken rice soup (35), small amount of brown rice (~100), some tofu (60), a few french fries before i felt guilty and threw them away (20), and a teeny amount of froyo with some oreo crumbs (40)-Dinner total: 590

Snacks: 1/2 banana (55), 2 saltines (28), some jiff peanut butter (190), and 1 bite size baby ruth (52) -yeah i know i went off track…..blahh, but i was super craving peanut butter–total: 325

total calories eaten today: 1576 Calories left: none, went over by 176…

Workout!!: I had an awesome workout today! 33 min on elliptical, 16:40 on treadmill did exaclty one mile, I think within a few weeks I can be down to a 15 min mile, and 20 min of weights and abs.

I’m feeling better and more motivated/on track today, but I still need to figure out what to do calorie wise after the weigh in. I feel like if I do raise my calorie levels, it could lead to a bit of a weight gain, which would not be so good…well, i have a few days to think about it…

I’ve gotten to the point where I’ve lost the great sense of self control that I had earlier.  I also think I’ve already plateaued and I really feel/know that I’m not losing weight anymore.  I’m horrified, that I actually up-ed my calories to 1400 and im gaining slightly and not losing.  I was so motivated before, and was losing consistently everyweek.  That weekly weight loss was really a motivating factor to keep me on track and kept my self control in check.  Now tonight I had a dreadful dessert/snack, I went hugely over my calorie limits, and I just dont think I’ll be down at all on Thursday weigh in.

I’ve gotten to that point where I just get incredibly overwhelmed and frustrated about the process.  I’m exercising a ton, but obviously I’ve lost that great self control that I had before.  Also, I’m getting frustrated and worried that I cant lose weight with the situation I live in.  The blatant truth is that I am not in a situation where I can cook for myself, and I wont be for at least another year +.  Therefore I must somehow try and figure out how to lose weight entirely based on portion control, and good choices (which there usually are), and consistent exercise (which I can control).

Ugh, I know everyone has set backs and this and that, but it’s really discouraging that I probably wont be able to make it to my 2nd mini goal by the time it’s set for, which is next Thursday.  I thought I was so close to getting to my next reward.  Ugh. I’m just disgusted honestly.  Well, I’ve decided I’m going to lower my calories back to 1300 starting this thursday, if I don’t hit at least 208 on the scale.  I think maybe moving my limit up was a bad choice, this early in the game and process. ugh. well anyways, tomorrow is a new day. i definitely have the gym scheduled in, and now i just need to figure out how to get back on track foodwise to hopefully do some damage control before the weigh in.

blah, i should just go to bed. i’m so annoyed and feeling hopeless.

night.

yay new week. informal weigh in, and the scale is still higher than it should be, but at least way lower than yesterday. just gotta work super hard for thursday and hope there are some positive results!

breakfast: 1 activa (70), 1/4 cup of kashi golean (35)-total 105

Snack: one green apple (35) and one cup of sugar free hot cocoa (60)-95 total

Lunch: teriyaki tofu and snap peas (150), 1/4 cup of brown rice (100), 1/2 cup of whole wheat penne with some cheese (150), a few french fries (70)-total 470

Snack: string cheese (60), rice cake (30) and 5 almonds (35)-snack total 125

dinner: 1.5 pieces of cheese pizza (maybe ~250 a slice?) (375) and a small bite of gnocchi (75) dinner total: 450

Disaster: ciao bella green tea gelato, probably 3/4 a cup (315), some chocolate chips (47) and a few tortilla chips (50)-disaster total: 412

Total calories consumed today: 1657 Total Calories left: NONE! i went 257 calories over.

Workout: 45 min elliptical, 25 min weights

this weekend hasnt been so good food wise. ive eaten out a bunch with friends and just havent been tracking this well. then this morning i got on the scale as i always do, just to have an idea (on thursday is official) and i saw a weight that i was shocked to see and really unhappy with. it could be a water weight thing because i havent been drinking a ton of water, so i have to step that up and also didnt go to the gym much this week. anyways i really need to get back on track this week, to hopefully have a great weigh in on thursday. my mini goal is supposed to be met a week from this thursday and i really want to try and not fail it. ahhh so much pressure. so im really going to try to get back on track foodwise and gymwise this week to reverse any negative stuff that might be going on.

so anyways:

sunday:

brunch: 1/2 a wheatgerm,raisin, walnut,blueberry pancake (230?) and some potatoes with eggwhites mushrooms, sausage and cheese (450?) -total ? 680? no clue..

snack: small banana chocolate chip cupcake with no icing (?100?)

Dinner: some oven fried chicken (186), red potatoes (86), some broccoli (15), braised tofu (50) and some salad (60) and non fat frozen yogurt (100)-total 497

snack: 1 green apple (35), 1 rice cake (30) and 5 almonds (30) 1 piece of dark chocolate (30) and some rice crisps (35) -total 160

total calories eaten today: 1437 total calories left:done! +37 extra cals, but no biggie

workout: 45 elliptical, 45 min weights and abs.

breakfast: 2 egg hard boiled egg whites (35), some lf cottage cheese (70), some turkey (60), and some water melon (15)-total 180

lunch: 2 chicken tamales, 180 each so 2 for (360) and some tortilla chips (55) and a bite of flan (50)-total 465

snack: 1 green apple (35) and SBD cookies (100)-total 135

Total calories eaten today: 780  Total calories left: 520-620. and i might go slightly over tonight because i’m going out to dinner with my friends, but at least I’ll be aware of it, and it’s good to know what I’ve eaten so far today.

sadly, no gym today do to extreme tiredness and time issues, but FULL workout tomorrow.