I am new to this board; I chose this thread because I am doing my own plan. After trying all kinds of plans, I've found that no one gives me what I need. So I had to make up my own!
I am 34. I've been sort of heavy most of my life but 1.5 years ago I went on a medication that made me gain weight like crazy. I got off that med in January. (I was gaining 4 pounds a month on that medication. It was horrible!) I stopped gaining when I switched meds, but it's taken me until now to start actually losing.
My husband and I are planning to try to have our first baby starting around November of this year, so I have until then to get as far with losing weight as I can.
My plan is basically counting calories (I try to stay over 1100 and under 1400 each day), fruit and vegetable servings (try to get at least 5 a day), and protein grams (at least 48 grams a day - I'm a semi-vegetarian and tend to not get quite enough protein in). I also take 500 mg of calcium twice a day and a multivitamin. I avoid saturated fats. I eat a lot of fish but keep varying the kind because of the mercury residue in them (a problem mostly in pregnancy but I am trying to learn to pay attention now.)
Here are the odd bits of wisdom that have worked for me:
1. COUNTING CALORIES BEGINNING WITH DINNER
This changed my life!!!! I have never before gotten through two weeks of a program without going over my allottment once. Now that I track each day beginning with dinner, I have! I begin my tracking days at 4 pm and they run until 4 pm the next day. This works so well, because my highest calorie meals are always dinner (cooking with my hubby, eating out, social events) and I can make up the difference with breakfast and lunch, where it's much easier to eat my own low-cal stuff. Plus I know that if I can just make it to 4 pm I get to start a new day!
2. IGNORING SOME DIETING CONCERNS
What I am ignoring right now: total fat, cholesterol, carbs, sodium. I don't count any of these things. I don't have high cholesterol, high triglycerides, or high blood pressure, so right now I am not worrying about that stuff. I have enough to keep track of! I'll add them in if they become a problem later.
(One big advantage of making up a plan yourself). I allow myself some olive oil, cheese, sugar, etc. when I want it, and it helps me stay in the calorie range with a lot less effort. And with less to track, I am less likely to give up tracking.
3. WRITING DOWN EVERYTHING I EAT
I track everythign in Excel. If I stop tracking, I gain, period. I think I will have to track everything I eat for the rest of my life, or I will gain back the weight. But I think I am finally OK with that concept. Excel makes tracking easy and it does not take too long now at all
4. A PERSONAL TRAINER
I can only afford to see him twice a month, or sometimes once a week. But he makes a huge difference. He is someone I feel bad for letting down, so it makes me work harder than I would on my own. Seeing him twice a month costs the EXACT SAME amount I spent belonging to Weight Watchers when I did that plan. My trainer is a much better value! He is cheering and encouraging; he makes me stick to my workout plan, and I feel kind of like when I was on sports teams as a kid. I have a coach again, and it is fun. I have to do many of my workouts without him, of course, but seeing him a few times a month is enough to keep me on track.
justme: I saw your post about sizes. You are so lucky! At my current weight (181.5) I wear a size 20 on top and a 22 on the bottom, and I am exactly your height, 5'3". I won't be able to fit into a 16 until I get down to 160. I couldn't wear a 9 unless I was about 130. It always amazes me how different people's bodies are even when they're kind of the same size.
tigerlily: you mentioned software for tracking. what worked best for me in the end was to make my very own excel spreadsheet with custom columns. It does not take knowing very much about excel to create one, or there are lots of examples on the web that you can download and adjust to fit your needs.
Sandset
Current goal (for Nov. 30): 155 Eventual goal: 125
Hi. It's great to hear from everyone. The one thing I wanted to reply to right off the bat was Willbethin. I don't think there's any need to apologize for being down. It seems this is a place to get inspiration AND support. Everyone is down sometimes and I find that it helps to say,"Wow. I feel really bad." and know it's heard. Often that's enough to turn me around.
Isn't it amazing how different things work for different people. We're all so unique, it's no wonder most of us have tried 100s of diet plans to no avail. I think that learning about our own bodies and our own personal pitfalls is the key. I personally am a breakfast and lunch skipper. The snack box at work doesn't count, for either, but naturally I get hungry throughout the day so end up filling up on junk food, candy, etc. Since my body craves real nutrition, I come home and eat 16 dinners! Well, that may be a slight exaggeration, but you get the picture. I HATE fixing myself breakfast and lunch in the morning before work. I know it's not a way I want to eat forever, but I've taken to having Carnation Instant Breakfast for those 2 meals. Then I take a couple of pieces of fruit to eat during the day. When I get home, I'm ready for a healthy dinner. The lunch and breakfast also satisfies my constant chocolate craving! I'm going to work on fixing myself a sandwich a couple of days a week for lunch for a start. With whole grain bread and LOTS of vegies! I know I'm doing it backwards. I would probably lose more if I could make my lunch or breakfast my largest meal, but it doesn't work for me right now. Anyway, as long as I walk several miles in the evenings after dinner, it seems to be working for now.
Hey, this is a really long post. I guess I'll give it up for a while. Happy Sunday to all!
Good Morning All! I hope everyone has had a nice weekend. I have been MIA for a few days and wanted to catch up. I will be going out of town Wednesday for some much needed R&R and was trying to get my house cleaned and everything ready to go. Unfortunately I didn't get everything finished because I was moving some furniture on Sunday and my knee went out. Hurt like a son of a gun too so I guess that means I will not be doing any walking for a few days. The scale is still not moving but right now I am not too concerned. I am just thankful for the 15 lbs I lost initially and when I get back from out of town I will reevalute my plan and see where I am going wrong.
Welcome Sandset - good to have you here.
Willbe - we all get down and you will get back up. This is a difficult journey and that's why we are all here....to support one another.
Justcuz - congrats on the 2 lbs! You are doing great!
Jen - whatever works for you is what is best. I think we have all come to the realization that what works for somebody else may not be what will work for us. My best friend and I joined WW at the beginning of the year (I joined at the request of my doctor) she lost 14-16 lbs and I just couldn't do it. Only stuck it out for a few weeks.
If I missed anyone, I am sorry. Have a great day all!
LJ
225/210.5/130
PS That 2 lbs I lost last week must have been a figment of my imagination since I got on the scale the following day and the scale showed the 210.5 again.....yes I am a scale hopper.
good morning everyone, thanks for the encouraging words, it really does help to come on here and vent and get the support that is much needed to not give up.
welcome sandset, your plan sounds great and very realistic. hope you will stick around the support on here is terrific, through good days and bad.
huntress, sorry to hear about your knee. hope ya feel better soon, that stinks when you have so much to do. hang in there. great attitude for be satisfied with the 15 lb lost, that is a great loss and cant weight till i get there.
jen, thanks for the kind words, and you sound like you are breaking old habits, this is what we all have to do, little by little, as far as food choices for breakfast and lunch, it can be whatever, i eat out of the box all the time, i could eat anything for breakfast. as long as it is healthy , go for it.
lizzo and tif, hope you had a great weekend and all of us have been checking in and giving each other the support we need, but i think i can speak for all of us, we did miss you guys. oh and we got someone new(sandset) but you probably already read everyone's posts.
me?? i had a pretty rough couple of days, the scales say the same this morning, i am not surprised. although i know i didnt eat healthy all of the time, i also know i am retaining water from pms, that is not an excuse, unfortately it is a fact, i did take some pms pills hoping to get rid of the"bloat"
i woke up with a great attitude(alright, good) attitude this moring and looking forward to getting back on track and having a great week.
Hi all!
Sandset--I LOVE your system of starting with dinner!! That makes SO much sense! I tend to eat lightly for breakfast and lunch, "banking" my calories, but it makes more mental sense to start the day's counting with dinner and make up the difference with breakfast and lunch. It's the same idea, but a new spin. Thanks!
Hope everyone is having a great day!
Good Morning! Monday again. It just keeps coming back!
Weekends go too fast.
I weighed in today. Down 2lbs to 193. That give me a total loss of 8.5. Chug'n along. I hope after what I ate yesterday, I don't see a gain in a couple of days.
For Father's Day, my mother bought Dairy Queen ice cream cakes and my grandmother made a fresh rubbarb pie. It was too much for me to resist. I know it's what we eat CONSISTANLTY that matters. Icecream cake and rubbarb pie are not constants, so trying not to beat myself up.
Sandset, welcome! Great idea to start counting calories at supper time! I think I may give that a try. I also only track calories and fat grams for the time being.
Got up late today, so need to get a move on!
Hope everyone has a great day!
First of all, welcome Sandset! Great to have you here...
Second, Lizzo, hope you had a wonderful weekend also, the weather was great, and I had a blast!!!
Short update...I did much better on the eating thing than I thought I would. My Dad likes to EAT! We went to a seafood place and I hate fish but his fried shrimp and fried okra sure looked good. (I ended up having a salad with grilled chicken on it and sampled one piece of okra)
I also went to the store and picked up a couple of lean cuisines and had them while everyone else was having ribs and fried potatoes, etc. The family knew I was dieting and they were very accomodating. I did eat fruit and veggies at my Dad's 50th party and did have a few chips and olives, etc...and had a turkey sub the next night for dinner (footlong and saved the other half for my ride home today!)
So, I weigh tomorrow and hope to see a loss. Discipline is a gift from God and I slipped a few times, but heck...I was on a mini-vacation!!!
I apologize for not acknowledging you all individually, you know I always try to, but I only have a minute. I haven't even unpacked yet!!! (priorities!!!)
We are also unplugging this computer and moving it upstairs tonight and the DSL guy is coming in the morning sometime to get us hooked up. So, I will check in tomorrow and go over your posts in more detail, there is so much praise for all of you and your hard work to be said and I don't want to let it slide.
Thanks for the kind words, I missed each and every one of you too, and thinking of having to log in here and be accountable for my actions made me really think this weekend about what I was eating. I didn't want to lie. To myself or you, that isn't what this board is about and I am so proud of all of you for having the courage to admit when you falter as well.
Oh heck, I am getting all misty-eyed and I am rambling as usual. I will be here tomorrow!
welcome back tif, so glad to hear you did so well, you are awsome, what control!!!!! i could take a lesson or 2, as a matter of fact i think i am .
i figured out the main reason i keep messing up, those protien plans keep jumping up and down in my head. i keep telling myself there are certain foods that i cant or shouldnt have, and i just keep setting myself up for failure, so today i let myself have some of the things i thought were triggering me to over eat, and i was in control i enjoyed it and i stopped at a reg serving. i have to learn to be in control. i cant tell myself i cant have a certain food, than you just think about that food all the time. i am learning, i may be a little slow, but i am learning. i will get there, with hopefully no more setbacks, i have to go forward, i wasted to much time already, i have to get more energy. i am teaching my daughter to ride her bike without training wheels and my back starting hurting and and i was starting to get out of breath, but i didnt let her know, i let her decide when she wanted to stop, this should be a happy experience for me, instead, i was very uncomfortable, that should be incentive enough to lose this weight. i am so glad i can come here and vent, this is a very big help. i did good today, with water, excercise and food. hope everyone had a great day.
Hello everyone. I got back yesterday but didn't post. Sorry. I did good on the eating, not perfect, but very well, so I am happy. Didn't work out at all Saturday or Sunday.... bleh! So I wasn't expecting good things when I weighed in and measured this AM. But, I must be doing okay overall!!! So far, I've lost a total of 8.5 lbs... who else had that total? Sorry I can't remember who said that. (I'm awful, I know!) And a grand total of 12 inches!!! I'm so excited.
Woke up early this morning to work out but had awful stomach cramps. I just knew that if I did my tape I'd be throwing up. So, I figured I had to go to work and all. So, I went back to bed for an hour. Felt better when I got up. But, when I got home I put dinner in the oven and got to working out. So it's done now.
Sorry I can't do shout outs to everyone. But.... Tiff... yeah! The weather was amazing. Love those weekends in the summer down here when we get a break from the humidity! Made the Braves game that much better!
Hi ladies, I am having some trouble. I don't think I am eating enough. I try to eat a little something for breakfast. But, I always end up skipping lunch. It always seems that around that time I am too busy or just not hungry. Or I wait too long and it's too close to dinner to make lunch. As a result, I think I am slowing down my metabolism throughout the day. Anyone have an suggestions on skipping meals? Does anyone else seem to have this dilemma??
hi!
justme, i sometimes skip breakfast, but not on purpose. i do think it slows down the metablolism. i'm planning on picking up some breakfast bars for those days. could you stash some bars somewhere for the days you don't have time to eat? or maybe keep some V8 or other drinkable on the shelf?
another idea. realizing that our bodies are our first priority. taking care of them (our bodies) will help us be that much better at the other things we do. So, feed that body healthy!
That said, I better go eat breakfast!
bleah, just got back from a sort of difficult gyn appointment. I just changed insurance, so this is a new doctor. I told her we were planning to try getting pregnant at the end of the year, and I got lectured on being fat and being old! (I'll be 35 in November.) She told me that I wasn't quite heavy enough that being pregnant would be dangerous for the baby, but that it would be bad for me, and that I should lose as much weight as possible. And then she said, "well, you should really start trying to get pregnant right NOW though because you are so old!" So which does she want me to do? I can't lose 50 pounds instantaneously!
And then she made it even more confusing: she told me that if we waited to try to conceive until November, when I turn 35, I would automatically be labeled a "high risk pregnancy" because of my age, and it might be better financially because my insurance would cover a lot more if I were technically "high risk". Yuck. I don't want to be "high risk". It sounds scary.
Also I have to give up my good antidepressant as soon as we stop birth control, because the one antidepressant I finally found that works and has no horrible side effects is not yet known to be safe for pregnancy or for nursing. So I'd have to go back on Prozac or Zoloft for that time, both of which make me gain weight like crazy, and are why I went from 130 pounds to almost 200 pounds within 1.5 years in the first place. Or I can go off my antidepressant entirely and hope that exercise and counseling will work well enough.
The situation is scary to me because it seems like no matter what I do it will be wrong and make me fatter, more depressed, or both! I know it is worth it to have children, but arrrggh.
otherwise though, I am having a good day, nice and sunny out. I did some weights at the gym and then went for a 1 hour walk. But I am behind on by to do lists. I have to do a ton of laundry tonight!
Thank you all for the welcomes. Everyrone is so kind and supportive, it's great.
tigerlily - congrats on your 2.5 lbs! Rhubarb pie sounds like it is so good it needs to be fit into your life one way or another!
huntress - owww, there is little worse than hurting yourself when you are on an exercise program. So frustrating. Hope it is better soon.
willbethin - glad to see you feeling a bit more up. Avoiding foods totally never really works for me (unless it's a food I don't like); i get resentful about not being able to have something. There is only one food that is such a trigger I can't have it in the house, and it is weird: not chocolate, not ice cream, but Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal. It's my downfall. I will eat the whole box!
tryinhard - seems like your name should be "DidIt" instead! How neat to see your success. Congrats! As to the counting with dinner thing, I really recommend it. One big advantage is that if you do go right to your maximum calories, you don't have to make it all the way through the evening and night to be allowed to eat again! I'd always be stuck with only 300 cal left for dinner, and if I did eat early, then I'd be at my max at 6 pm and have to stay away from even a snack all evening. I found that SO hard. My total calories are just the same this way, but I am having a much easier time.
Dinner is really important to me and my husband. It is our time together, and we cook and take some pains with it each night. Somewhere on the net I read an article about the fact that many docs no longer think that eating many of your calories late at night makes you fatter. That helped my late dinner guilt a lot. If I can find the link I'll post it.
Grrr...Today was weigh in and last night (yes, I peeked) I was down 2 #s. This morning when I got on the stupid scale it said the same thing it did last week. Arrrrrrgh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That scale must be a male. It is making me mad on purpose. Just trying to make me run the the fridge. BUT IT AINT GONNA WORK. I kicked the scale into the corner and called it some good names and then went outside and cleaned the garage.
Damn scale shouldn't have this kind of power over me!!!
Will, I read through your posts, and I was sorry to see you struggling for those few days. But, your last post was very positive and it seems like you have a handle on things again. Good for you. I think we all have a few days where we go temporarily insane and feel like crap and look in the mirror and hate what we see and all of our clothes look terrible and we think about saying "The **** with it" and giving up. But coming here and talking to us is a great thing to do. You may notice that the date under my name is 2000, I came here then, tried to lose weight for about 2 weeks, didn't hook up with any groups, so I kind of felt like I was floating around in outer space with no support and I quit. Quit trying, quit coming here and now...I logged in here in 2002 at 265 pounds and decided I would find some support or die trying and it has made ALL the difference in the world! (As you already know!) This is a lifesaver and a wonderful tool and there is always support here for the asking. Good for you for getting things pulled together~!!
Tiger, how was your family thing emotionally? You said the eating thing wasn't too bad, but did things go well for you otherwise? Those things can be rough!
Just Cuz...52 pounds???? GIRL, you are my HERO!!!!!! You can be our model of perfection!!!! We will hold you up on a pedestal of what we would like to achieve!!!! GOOD FOR YOU!!!!!!!!!!!! AWESOME!!!!!!!
Just me, are you feeling better now? I think I read that you were sick...the only good thing about being sick is not being hungry!! Woo Hoo!!!! As far as skipping meals, I agree with one of the girls, try sipping a slimfast at lunch if you aren't overly hungry or meal replacement bars...something small that packs some calories and other nutrients that will carry you through!
Sandset, I am so jealous...a personal trainer!!! If he looked like Brad Pitt, I might go dig under my couch cushions and try to russel up enough cash to get myself one. Yummy. I wouldn't get to agitated about the "high-risk" LOTS of women have babies over 35 and are healthier than a lot of women in their 20's.
***** Side Note ******
I was a surrogate mother last year. I carried a baby for a couple who were unable to carry one for themselves. They were in their 40's and we used his sperm and a donor egg and they transferred 5 embryos into my uterus and one decided to stick around and I gave birth to their beautiful baby in October 2001. At my heaviest during that pregnancy, I weighed in at around 280. And I was fine! I had a healthy baby (although he weighed 11 pounds!!!) The doctors watch you SO closely these days anyway, so not much will get by them!
Anyway, your depression may be fine using the Zoloft or Prozac during the pregnancy, and then after delivery you can go back on your regular med. Pregnancy can be so wonderful and exciting that you may not need the extra boost from your regular medicine. At any rate, the high risk label is to make them feel better and make you feel like crap.
Jen, it's good to see you posting again! Come around more often. I like to see everyone else talk besides me. Good Lord, I am long winded these days.
Huntress, hope your knee is feeling better and things are rolling along smoothly for you!
Tryinhard....I agree with whoever said that you should change your name to I DID IT!!!!!!!! By the way, you are up there with Just Cuz on that pedestal! I love happy endings. Makes me believe that I can get there too.
Well, there are my shout-outs to everyone that I missed so much while I was away and if I missed anyone, I didn't mean to and I missed you too.
Well, off to exercise. I WILL make this scale move this week.
You know, I was being more careful about eating foods that were over 30% fat and I have been letting that slide and just watching calories and fat, but I think I need to get back to what worked for me, so I will be whipping out my calculator again and getting serious!
Tiffany,
you are so funny! I don't want to be on a pedestal although I thank you for the compliment.. I'm proud of what I've been able to accomplish for the very first time in my life and I know that with the support of this group I will get to my goal. I know all of you will too!!!
News Flash!!! Judy, yes that's me Just cuz... went shopping for a pair of white summer pants last night and for the very first time in her adult life, she tried on and purchased a pair of sleek white pants in the (drum roll please!!!) Misses dept!!!! Everything in the Women's dept was too BIG!!! I did cartwheels to the car!!!! (not really I think I'd hurt myself if I did that.. lol)
Tonight I was still so pumped looking at those nice pants (that I'm wearing to work tomorrow hehe) that I walked 3.5 miles just because I could. The new clothes sizes, the compliments from coworkers and friends and the new found energy I have are all so motivating I can't wait to get to the next level so I can bask in the glory some more. I wish I could bottle this feeling, I'd give you each a bottle to splash on yourself when you are feeling low. Sometimes I feel bad cuz I am so pumped and happy and I hear some are having a hard time.. I surely hope that you don't EVER think I'm bragging as I just want to share the good stuff with everyone in hopes that it will motivate someone to keep trying because the good stuff does come, you just have to be persistant..
new here
I begin my tracking days at 4 pm and they run until 4 pm the next day. This works so well, because my highest calorie meals are always dinner (cooking with my hubby, eating out, social events) and I can make up the difference with breakfast and lunch, where it's much easier to eat my own low-cal stuff. Plus I know that if I can just make it to 4 pm I get to start a new day!
You are doing great!
I know it's what we eat CONSISTANLTY that matters. Icecream cake and rubbarb pie are not constants, so trying not to beat myself up.
thanks
