Welcome to the pack Janet. I'm not on a particular diet either. I'm really just trying to watch my portions and substitute the worst things I eat for something better. I've found it to be extremely helpful to write down everything I eat and really keep up with the calories pretty religiously. I use a site called Cyber Diet but most people here seem to use & like Fitday.com. If you aren't already doing that I highly recommend it. I had no idea I was eating as much as I was.
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Even more frustrating is that I just got back from an overseas trip where I ate pretty much whatever I wanted and still seemed to have lost 10 pounds, yet the minute I got back here the pounds seemed to start piling up again
That's the story of my life. I usually go to another continent once a year and always lose at least 5 lbs but then gain it back virtually the day I get home, wasn't such a bad thing when I was "just right" or a little underweight. {Edit: Except for the Mexico trip. Maybe the key is the different continent. } For me it might have something to do with being a very picky eater but I'm sure it's also all the constant walking/hiking/doing when I travel.
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Well, lo and behold, I had the little line!
I want a little line! I started doing squats the other day and I KNOW that it's too early to start seeing any results (I've only done 6 sets total so far) but I could swear that I can see a difference. Could be all the other leg work I've been doing and I'm just now getting around to actually looking at my legs.
I started out giving myself a free day but I still try to keep it under about 1700 calories so the cream cheese definitely wasn't on the menu. And no, the shrimp weren't really bad at all - some kind of red wine vinegar/honey marinade - which is why I ate so many. Everytime I wanted some of the other stuff I made myself eat one of those instead because they were by far the best choice.
Yesterday I got on the scale and saw that it had finally gone down to 139.5! Yea!!!! I thought I'd never see it go below the 140's!!! I don't want to "lower my metabolism" but I'm finding that plain old EATING LESS is the key - I'm eating less than 21 WW points - although yesterday, I made enchiladas for my family and some friends, and must admit that I ate some! HOWEVER... last night for a class I'm teaching, we ordered french fries with cheese on top and I didn't eat even one! And the scale this morning was still at 139.5. Also - don't you think that a "free day" on Saturday (eating whatever I want one day a week) keeps the whole metabolism thing from happening? Opinions anyone?
Does anyone know how many WW "points" a slim-fast bar or drink is? I'm trying to substitute a meal or snack with one of those during the day, but have no idea how much to count.
Today we take a group of young people to Mexico's famous pyramids, Teotihuacan, and we'll be eating out and there won't be any place to work out, however, there's so much walking and climbing involved, I'll probably walk it all off!
Have a great weekend everyone! Get your body moving and watch what you eat!
Congratulations Laura, that's excellent news! Kepp up the good work! I used to think the whole "free day" thing was a sham, but apparently it seems like it works. Marc (my fiance) is doing that - eating well and fewer calories six days of the week and on Sunday he can have whatever he wants. He's gone all out before and it doesn't seem to have had an impact (i.e., gaining more weight). Besides, I think it helps keep people sane to be able to treat themselves every once in a while. I like to think that we shouldn't be depriving ourselves when we eat better, so having a little treat now and then prevents a big binge down the road and throwing everything out the window.
I hope you had a good time, and keep it up. You're on your way!
Yipee! It's funny how some of those milestones can be so satisfying. Congratulations. It really is hard to keep at it when you can't see lots of results after feeling like you've worked so hard. I've been really lucky so far to keep seeing at least a pound a week (with a few exceptions) and it seems like the more of a difference I see, the more I don't mind the work involved.
Every time I've seen my mother the last few weeks she has acted all shocked and asked me how much weight I've lost, then followed up by saying that she can really tell...good ol' mom.
I just posted a newbie post and funny enough...it covered the same thing. I am down to my last 10 lbs. I am 5' 3.75" and have a VERY small frame and I weight about 127 now and would like to weigh 117...but the last 10 lbs just don't want to come off.
I'm not willing to "starve myself"...I've been there and it's not fun. I just need to know what to do to get these last 10 lbs off.
You know...at the end of losing weight it seems like every few pounds and someone notices. In the beginning, when you have 50 lbs to lose, it takes aa good 10-15 lbs for someone to notice. Towards the end....it seems like it only takes 3-4 lbs for someone to notice. If only we'd get such good feedback from the first week it would help keep the motivation going...lol!
Hey Floppymouse - welcome aboard. I checked out your other post and unfortunately I don't really have a lot of advice to give. Sounds like you have a pretty good plan going. It said that you don't count calories but you may want to record them even if only for a few days to get a good idea of how many you are consuming. Cutting back on sodium that much sounds like it might be hard to get in enough calories. You might also try adding some more resistance training. With the exception of the spots where I tend to hold fat, I'm becoming quite the hard body (and even in those spots I can tell that once the fat is gone there's going to be some good muscle showing through ). I'm loving my weight lifting routine. I do go to a gym but you could get the same workout at home with some ankle weights & a couple of 10-20# dumbells.
How long have you been at 127? Could just be a natural plateau and you just need to keep doing the same thing - or switch things up ever so slightly. And...the lower you get the harder it is to keep losing so maybe you got a little spoiled to seeing it dropping off relatively quickly when you were heavier?
I use some resistence bands, but I actually find them to be a little awkward on my joints and I was thinking of switching to dumbbells. I was actually thinking last night that perhaps I have hit a point where I need to build more muscle in order for it to be feasable to lose more weight (Since they burn 50 more calories per day). My body fat is at about 24%, so clearly I could use some hardening up still.
When I first started trying to lose weight (the right way), I did keep a log of my calories for a week, just to see where I sat. It seems that by watching my sodium intake, I end up consuming somewhere between 900-1300 calories a day. So I actually make an effort to keep my calories on the high end. During the intial onset of my illness, I had enough losing hair, fainting spells and cracking fingernails to know what anorexics feel like and that was enough for me. I think 1300-1500 is right around what I consume right now, but I think your right....its probably time to find out for sure again.
Congrats on becoming a hard body....I think that is one thing I would really like to achieve. I have lost a lot of weight the "wrong" way and I think because of that, I need to repair a little lost muscle tissue.
Oh yeah.... I have been at 127 for about 4 weeks now. Is that considered a plateau? I never know about these things...lol.
Check out the Ladies Who Lift forum under exercise. There's a couple of "chicks" who are personal trainers (after having lost lots of weight) so there's a good supply of real life knowledge about weight training. Depending on your age 24% is not bad at all (I'm at about 31% now ) and I'm aiming for 25% by the end of the year.
I've seen a couple of people on different forums (fora? ) saying that when they hit a plateau they call it training for maintenance, don't worry about it, and eventually the loss gets going again. Sounds like that may be where you are now.
I haven't been able to post since my son's Bar Mitzvah at the beginning of July. The whole event was wonderful. Living with a 13 year old can be challenging! We had lots of leftover food from the event--most of it was sliced fruit, veg. and cold salads so it was easy to eat healthily and not cook for an entire week. We also had some leftover cheesecake which I stuck straight into the back of the freezer.
I am actually much more of a salty food person, so the cheesecake wasn't a huge temptation. The whitefish salad was--so I gave a lot of that away to various friends and relatives and kept a reasonable amount for myself.
Now life is starting to get back to normal. We have a family vacation at the end of this month. I am at a weight that feels comfortable. I would like to be getting to the Y more often and have to figure out how to squeeze that in. I know it won't be from waking up extra early so I can work out before getting my kids ready for day camp. I always go to kickboxing class and try to exercise 2-3 other days/week. I have a stability ball, resistance tube and free weights at home. The truth is, my "workout personality" is more one of--go to the Y and do an aerobics class or do a cardio + strength workout there. I don't really use my home equipment (except the 1st week after I buy it). But I'll take the resistance tube on vacation and I will use it then.
Hi there everyone! I was out of town for a week and then when I got back, my computer went down - turns out it was only the power supply, thank goodness!
Anyway, I haven't dieted or exercised much either for that matter, and have pretty much stayed at my same weight (140). I was sure hoping that I'd be lower than this when we go visit family in the USA next weekend, but alas, at least I'm down a little and I can definitely see it in my clothes. My FAT clothes are normal, and I can almost button my skinny pants! Why do we DO THIS to ourselves!!!! When I reach my goal weight, can I make myself THROW OUT MY FAT CLOTHES - so that when I gain even a tiny bit back, (okay - IF I gain ) I won't have anything to wear, so I have to get those few pounds off!
I'm fighting some kind of crummy illness that my hubby already had and gave to me - scratchy throat, and have that VERY sexy low low low voice - but not on purpose! I feel big lumpy glands in my throat so probably this is not the time to jump back on the exercise wagon after falling off for a couple of weeks.
Glad the bar-mitzvah went well, and I know what you mean about certain foods NOT being a temptation.... it's just that there's always SOMETHING that IS!
Hi everyone,
I know I have more then 15 lbs to lose. I was hoping I could join you all. I just started getting back on track a week ago. I am currently doing Tae Bo and also walking 3 miles a day. I decided my free from exercise day is on Sunday's. My husband told me it would be god to take a day off. So today is the day. I was worried about doing it because I know the way I am, if I don't exercise for one day I get lazy. So tomarrow I will fight myself to go out and get fit again.
As for my diet:
Breakfast: fiber cereal w/ 2% milk
Lunch: white rice with top romen noodles w/ steemed cabbage
Dinner: meat w/ veggies
Snacks: yogart w/ grapenuts
Drinks: coffee w/creamer and equal. And diet soda from walmart. also Water
Is there anything wrong with my diet. I was asking because I have been doing this for about 2 weeks. I weighed myself this morning, it said I gained 1 1/2 lbs. Am I doing something wrong?
Feeling discouraged.
Hi and Welcome - Good luck on the new start! I was wondering what diet you followed to have already lost 30 pounds? Are you counting calories or following a particular plan? It's hard to say about the diet because you didn't say how much of all that you are eating. I'm using the WW point system to see if I'm eating too much (or too little) and that helps me get a realistic picture of what I'm really taking in. It also has a plan for exercise "subtraction points."
If you've already lost some weight then you know that us ladies can really fluctuate with our cycles. Could that be it? I'm sure you must be discouraged, but remember that it's LONG TERM HEALTH that we are after, and eventually, with eating right and exercising, you WILL slim down! (I'm telling myself that as well - I've been a little discouraged lately when my hubby loses three or four pounds, and I'll have lost 1/2!!!)
Good Luck! Looking forward to hearing from you!
Laura Y
Well I'm kind of using Dr. Phil's program. The rice I will only have a cup and thats all for the day. Meat its only one the size of my hand or I'll just get whatever is the smallest. Any carbs (bread, sweets or potatoe) I'll eat before 1:00pm. I try to load up on the veggies. That is something I learned form Dr. Phil diet.
Quick question. I read somewhere that in order to lose weight you should workout 3-4 times a week, Does that sound right? B/c I worked out 6 days this past week, I have no idea if I'm doing something wrong. How many days do you work out?
PS. Laura Just wondering what made you move to Mexico? If you don't mind me asking. I told my husband that several years ago I thought about doing that but at the time I was single with a 4 year old daughter. How is the weather and the job market out there? I'm sorry for being nosey. Thank you.
Rachel
Hello everyone! I started 2 weeks ago on a 1200 cal. diet (medical supervised) coz I had to drop between 26 and 33lbs. I was in an average of 105 lbs. from my teen years, to the end of 2003, when I was adviced I had some problem in my uterus, and the doctors prescribed to me a lot of medications, so I gained about 20 lbs. in less than a month of treatment. So, when I get married, last year, my husband and I were living in Canada, and I gained 8 or 10 lbs.more. So, now we are back in Mexico, and we can eat more fruits, and stuff, so, I'm walking since the last week to complete my diet, and I lost 1 lb in my very first week, and 4 more this one! Tomorrow I gonna start with 30 min/5 days of pilates, plus my walking routine.
I hope you can send me messages to cheer me up, coz sometimes I see my clothes at the closet, and I think I never will fit any of them again I don't wanna be like a stick again, but I know I can lose some weight to look better, and be healthier.
By the way: Congrats 2 everyone who have reached his/hers goals! I know the last ones are the more difficult, but sometimes, the first ones are too heavy as well.
} For me it might have something to do with being a very picky eater but I'm sure it's also all the constant walking/hiking/doing when I travel. 
Seeing the scale drop
Yea!!!! I thought I'd never see it go below the 140's!!! I don't want to "lower my metabolism" 
I used to think the whole "free day" thing was a sham, but apparently it seems like it works. Marc (my fiance) is doing that - eating well and fewer calories six days of the week and on Sunday he can have whatever he wants. He's gone all out before and it doesn't seem to have had an impact (i.e., gaining more weight). Besides, I think it helps keep people sane to be able to treat themselves every once in a while. I like to think that we shouldn't be depriving ourselves when we eat better, so having a little treat now and then prevents a big binge down the road and throwing everything out the window.
) and I'm aiming for 25% by the end of the year. 
Hey Everybody!
Have a great weekend!
Counting Calories???
I'm very excited
Tomorrow I gonna start with 30 min/5 days of pilates, plus my walking routine.
I don't wanna be like a stick again, but I know I can lose some weight to look better, and be healthier.