[rileysbabe]

Hi everyone!!! I'm new to this site but I'm in need of some help. I am now 21 years old. When I was in high school I weighed 175 pounds and I'm 5'1. I stopped drinking soda and did a daily taebo workout for three months and lost 30 pounds. After high school, I purchased a home of my own and began a very mature career for my age. I then lost another 20 pounds. In the past few months I have been highly stressed and gained a lot of it back. I work 12 hour graveyard shifts and its hard for me to find time to work out. For the past two weeks I have been working out 5 days a week for at least 60 minutes (running on the treadmill at 6mph for at least half of the time and walking at 4 mph and then squats or light lifting) I have a hard time dieting also because of the shift that I work, I try not to eat more than 1200 calories a day but with little snacking here and there, it probably comes out to be a few hundred more. On my days off I sleep A LOT A WHOLE LOT and i think its due to switching y schedule so much. I Haven't weighed myself becasue I get so depressed when I get on the scale. Does anyone have advice? It so hard with a live in fiance who eats the most delicious looking foods. I think my biggest problem may be that I eat right before I sleep and Im a midnight snacker. I wish I had a workout buddy, but once again due to my schedule its hard. I think I just need support. Any advice would help. Thanks

[jellydisney]

Welcome to 3FC!

Planning and organization of what you're eating and when can go a long way to keeping you on track and avoiding temptation. Some examples:

It sounds like you don't know exactly how many calories you are eating. You could try to keep a food diary, or utilize an online food database like fitday.com to track all of your calories.

Plan ahead of time what you're going to eat and when, and bring in those lunches and snacks to work so you stay on target.

How does your fiance obtain those delicious tempting foods he's eating? It it food from the grocery store, or fast food? What would make him do this less often? For example, in my house I do all the shopping. So as long as I don't buy the goodies in the first place, DBF won't be able to eat something tempting in front of me!

It can be difficult, but weighing yourself regularly can also help keep you on track.

You mentioned that you cut out soda. Are there any other problem foods you can identify that you can modify or give up? Simple substitutions can go a long way (Like replacing the cream in your coffee for skim milk, regular cheese for light cheese, etc).

I'm sure there will be lots more responses with helpful ideas.

[JayEll]

Hey rileysbabe!

If you started at 175 and lost 50 pounds, you would now weight 125. That gives you a BMI (body mass index) of 23.6, which is in the NORMAL range for your height.

So, maybe you do not need to lose weight?

My guess is that 1200 calories is not enough for you to be eating at your age and with your stressful job. It especially is not enough given all the exercise you do! You can probably eat more than that without gaining, but you'll have to track calories for awhile before you find out the number that's right for you.

Also, you need to make sure you are getting enough protein for all the exercise. If you feel tired a lot, it could be because you aren't eating enough, aren't eating enough protein, and are overexercising.

Take it easy--step back--track your calories, as jellydisney said.

Cheers!
Jay

[rileysbabe]

thanks for all of your help... i actually am back up tp 134 now. How do i fugure out if that is a normal BMI. Im just so afraid of getting back to 175 again that as little as 10 pounds sounds it's a lot. My fiance buys his own sweets. He always has to have LOTS of sweets in the house. He is one of those annoying people that eat like crazy and stay in great shape!LOL! I have recently asked him to "hide" the sweets for me. I can resist not buying the food but if it's in sight, its all over. Im also a vegetarian so you are probably right I must need more protein. I read this Raw Food Diet book and now I have all these crazy ideas in my head like certain foods can't be eaten within certain times of other foods. Like fruit for example should never be mixed with any other food. I was going to try something like Hydroxycut also but I read a few reviews and it sounded more like horror stories! Im glad I found this website I think it will help motivate me. Thanks everyone!

[JayEll]

Hey again,

At 134, you are just barely in the "Overweight" range.

If you search on "bmi calculator" in your browser, you'll see a lot of links to free calculators. BMI is just a rough guideline based on height and weight--there are better ways of measuring these things. Body fat percentage is another very good measure of healthy weight, but you need to have that done in person, either on a "resistance" scale or by being measured with calipers or tested in a pool. But I am getting off topic.

I'd say don't waste your money on any over-the-counter weight loss aids. They aren't worth it, and some can be dangerous.

We have lots of resources here on 3FC! From the main page, you can go to reviews of books and products, information on weight loss and fitness, and much more. We also have a forum for vegetarians:

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=121

And you can read about calorie counting tips here:

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=120806

Hang in there! Good for you for asking your fiance to hide the sweets!

Jay