Hi everyone, this is my first post here. I chose not to post this in the introductions section, because I also have questions, so I hope that's all right.
At the beginning of March, I re-committed myself to my weight loss goals. In the last year I went down from 230lbs to 183 lbs, but then life and loss came in the way, and I ended up getting all the way back up to 225lbs. Needless to see I'm pretty disappointed/disgusted with myself.
My current weight (measured about two weeks ago) is 219lbs, and my goal weight is 120. So I have ~99 pounds to lose. I'm 25, 5'9 and my body is meant to be small framed/petite. I've been working out like crazy, and I seriously love it. I do a mix of Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred and Zuzana's ZWOW's on YouTube (If you've never heard of her look her up, she's amazing).I'm also having problems with my knees, but I really think that'll go away.
What I'm worried about though, is my diet. I've heard so much conflicting advice, and even browsing through the threads, I'm a bit confused.
I've been trying to cut out sugar and HFCS from my diet. I'm also attempting low carb/high protein. I'm not following any specified diet plan, but I've completely cut out sodas, juices (except Welch's Grape) fast food, fried foods, most red meats, bread, rice etc.
I'm worried about my pre-workout meals in particular: I eat some carbs and protein before working out, but I read somewhere that my body will seek out the carbs to burn first, and then fat. So is it just like I'm doing nothing.. ..eating carbs before a workout? Will it just burn the carbs and leave my fat at the same level?
I also eat a lot of fruits: for instance, my stomach cannot stand too much in the morning so I have a mixed berry/mixed fruit (Dole Wildly nutritious frozen fruit) smoothie. Am I having to many carbs a day if I also have carbs before and after my workout AND so much fruit? Are the fruits adding too much sugar to my daily diet?
I hope this post isn't too much too soon. I've been lurking the forums for a few days and you all seem like an intelligent helpful bunch.
Well, fruit are carbs, as are veggies; but you can eat what you want. I don't know anything about that carb and workout theory; and we have to be careful about not over-analyzing things, I think. Maybe limit yourself to 2-3 fruit servings a day while trying to lose and see what happens.
I only say that becuz you said you want to go lower carb; if you were calorie counting, I might say 3-5 fruit (including berries) and lots of veggies, if sugar isn't a problem for you. Some say to eat less fruit while you are trying to lose, others say eat more; so it is a bit of trial & error on your part, and depends on the program you are trying to follow. As for your eating plan there are some similar plans here, like Atkins and others in Diet Central you can look at.
I am wondering if 120 lbs is a bit low for someone 5' 9" even if you have a slim frame; why not make your goal higher and adjust it as you go? Wait and see how you feel at 160 lbs first, and so on ... just an idea.
Glad you enjoy your exercise. Hope this helps a bit ...
Last edited by Justwant2Bhealthy; 03-19-2012 at 08:05 PM.
If you want to know about how many carbs and what not you are consuming, you could try keeping track of what you are eating for a week or so using a site like myfitnesspal. You can choose what nutrients you want to count (calories, carbs, protein, fat, fiber, iron, etc.). There is a huge database of foods with nutritional info, and if you are cooking, they also have a tool to calculate nutritional info for a recipe. And bonus: in the goal section you can set nutrient goals, like say only 40% of your calories in carbs, and it will keep track of how many more grams of carbohydrates you can eat for the rest of the day.
Hi, and welcome to the forum. I'm not an expert on what burns first, last, or in between. I do know this, though. Cutting the "white" carbs like rice, potatoes, bread, and pasta has huge impact on how you lose weight. For most people, anyway. Carbs from fruit and veggies are not usually the problem.
This is what I did. It might not work for everyone, but it worked for me. I started losing last year in January by cutting those carbs I just mentioned out almost 100%. I cut back on sugar, salt, processed foods, and fat. I stayed around 1500 calories a day, but didn't pay too much attention to calories from veggies. I felt that I was eating in a sensible way that I could do forever. I went to the gym almost every day and did cardio, yoga, body sculpting, and a little bit of strength training, but not a lot. I lost 90 pounds in 8 1/2 months at a steady pace of a little more than 1% of my body weight per week.
I think the key is realizing what a healthy diet looks like. Unfortunately, it isn't what we want to think it is. Fast food, junk food, processed food - all that is just not what our bodies need. It really is kind of intuitive. If you have to question whether or not something is OK, it probably isn't. You're so young. you have a lifetime of good health ahead of you if you can learn this now. I'm almost 61, and I was over 250 pounds for 25 years, and it's tough to change old habits. You have the advantage of being young. It sounds like you have a good idea about what you need to do. One thing, though - unless you're doing super heavy workouts, I don't think it's necessary to load up on carbs before a workout. You should get extra lean protein after one, though. Whey protein shakes are great for that - just keep the calories in mind when totaling up the day.
As someone else said, 120 seems a bit low for your height, but you know your body better than we do. My advice would be to set a goal, but be flexible. I set 100 pounds as my goal and when I started to get discouraged by baggy skin at 90 pounds, I quit - at least for the time being. It was very hard to stop short of my goal. I felt like I had given up. Just don't lock yourself into something you can't change (in your head, that is.) Be flexible. Set reasonable goals. Set weight and fitness goals both. Judge success by how well you do in staying on plan rather than by what the scale says. Come in here often for encouragement and for praise. Brag about what went right. Talk about what went wrong. Own it. You can do it.
The ONLY thing to remember is that you need to take in less calories than you use in order to lose weight (provided you take in enough that your body doesn't slip into starvation mode).
How you do that....low carb, high protein, vegan, etc...that is trial and error to see what works for you!
I agree with the others that 120 is very low for someone who is 5'9"...maybe as you get to 130, you may want to see your doctor to see if it would be healthy for you to continue down to 120.
I do have a list of mini goals along with my weigh in dates. I might bump my gaol weigh to a range of 120-135, but that's probably the highest I'll put it to.
I've been using livestrong's MyPlate on and off. It just told me I went over the daily recommended carb intake for women. Sigh. And my calories were 1639. waaay over my 1200-1400 limit. One day at a time, I guess.
My work outs are usually supper intense. when I'm not doing Jillian Michaels, I'm doing high intensity interval training, but I may cut back on the carbs even more and just stick with my high protein/veggie sort of diet. I'll definitely hang out over in the diets thread to learn more about eating right. It's the biggest challenge for me
Thank you, Lin for that last encouraging paragraph. It made me hopeful
In theory, calorie counting is the only way to lose weight. Consume fewer calories than you expend and you lose weight. If you examine them closely, almost all diet plans limit calories. I feel that I'm too stubborn to be told what to eat, so my best hope for success was to do what I knew was healthy and intuitive. I think you'll find a lot of successful people in here have been counting calories. One huge benefit is being able to adapt to any social eating situation. Especially if you take several days at a time into consideration, for example, allowing 5000 calories over 3 days rather than 1600 per day. Go very light the day before and the day after a big night out, perhaps. Because, after all, isn't that what thin people who seem to effortlessly maintain a low weight do?
You're going to do well this time because it just sounds like you have the right mind set. Getting fit and healthy - not just losing weight.
New, and a little confused.
on YouTube (If you've never heard of her look her up, she's amazing).I'm also having problems with my knees, but I really think that'll go away. 
. If you want some muscle you can't do it at 120, trust me!! I'm a size 6/8 at 175... if I lost 55 lbs I'd be invisible.
