Hello Everyone! I'm currently 25 and I need to lose weight and maintain it by Dec 5, 2010

Today I will start this journey to lose 40 lbs and I will track my current weight *or try to* using this thread

I have seen so many inspirations in this forum! Good luck to everyone!

What kind of plan are you following to reach your goals? And if you don't mind me asking, what is the reasoning behind the date you have chosen to reach your goal by?

Hello I don't have a set plan to follow but I am going to lessen my calories and exercise when I can. 3-4 times a week?

Also my reason is that December is my transition phase in life: graduating College, finding a job (maybe transferring to a new place), etc. And I want to celebrate Christmas with a new me

And then another reason is that my bf is visiting me after 2 years of not seeing him, although this is a motivation, I'm doing this diet mainly for me, not just to look good for him. I would like to wear clothes that I feel sexy in, and I'm tired of always wearing a jacket all the time I want to have a great self esteem and feel good all the time

Good luck kitkit! I can't wait to see your progress. We're about the same height and have the same goal weight!

You can totally do this by December. Persistence will be your best friend!

Wow! I'm glad I found you who's someone in same level as me! Woah 119 now? how did you do it? thank you so much for wishing me well. You're an inspiration! you're almost there I'm kinda jealous! hhehehe

I'm doing a meal-replacement program called Medifast. Definitely not for everybody, but it's working for me and I love it!

I'm using it to zip my way down to 105 and then start re-introducing normal foods back into my diet and exercising to get down to 95 (however long that takes).

I wish I had done what you're doing at your age - I just turned 29 and decided I wasn't going to leave my twenties at an obese BMI!

I'd say the best things I've learned losing this weight that might help you:
-Sugar is not my friend and keeping my carbs under 100 helps me from being hungry and having cravings.
-Water is my friend! I drink at least 64oz a day (and plan my life around bathroom breaks).
-Veggies are delicious and so low calorie! I just had a ton of asparagus with my dinner and it was like 50 calories for a whole bag of frozen asparagus.
-If my weight loss stops, it's ALWAYS because of that TOM. I just stay persistent, and the weight starts to fall off again eventually.

Thank you so much for the great tips! I'll keep those in mind hehehe, I don't know about asparagus though I have never tried it before. I can prolly get carrots or something else I can manage to eat what's TOM? also I know gaining muscles might contribute to gaining weight or stalling the weight loss so shouldn't be worried much if you know you gained some muscles.

Hehe, TOM = time of month! I started tracking my cycle really closely, and right around when I ovulate, my weight stops in it's tracks for at least 10 days. :P

Exercise has been a challenge for me because it makes me so hungry. I feel like I'm just endlessly hungry and nothing satisfies the hunger! Plus my diet plan is really restrictive, I'd rather just wait until I feel like I can have more "real" food before starting my exercise regime. I know it's not the best way to go about it, kind of backwards - definitely not what I'd tell anyone else to do LOL!

Asparagus is really good, it's one of my favorites - I just look for it to go on sale at the grocery store. I just toss it in some olive oil, salt, and pepper and put it in the oven at 425 degrees for like 10-15 mins. Yum! Really so many veggies are good like this - zucchini, bell peppers, green beans, broccoli...

kitkit, good luck on reaching your goal. It seems that you had given yourself plenty of time...and what better time to feel great about yourself then the holidays! Christmas was actually my turning point (complete with photo that shall live in infamy)!

The advice that chickpea has given is pretty good. I, too, am drinking crazy amounts of water (having given up sodas and sweeteners) and eating plenty of veggies. When looking toward veggies, though, it is important to try to go as natural as possible...sodium is another enemy to weight loss, just like sugar. If you find that eating raw or plain veggies just isn't your thing, consider modifying chickpea's recommendation just slightly: when baking veggies with olive oil, adding a no-salt seasoning (Mrs. Dash, rosemary and a tiny bit of garlic, basil, etc.) can create great flavor, without as much sodium. Also using Sea Salt, rather than traditional table salt is great.

Also, switch it up! Raw veggies one day, roasted/baked the next, then sauteed. I found I love broccoli with a bit of tomato sauce over it, which is really low calorie. I also love it with Greek seasoning, which is almost a totally different side. And that's just frozen broccoli heated in the microwave! LOL

If you like tomatoes, they're really low calorie and sweet. I find they're my favorite snack, and I often slice tomatoes (and cucumbers or mozzarella) and drizzle them with salt, pepper (fresh ground is best), olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. Yum.

Everyone has given some really great advice. I will add my tip of using salsa. I use it on my veggies, baked potatoes, fish etc. It's really good and low calorie. It adds lots of flavor. I also use it instead of salad dressing sometimes.

Salsa is fantastic, especially if you can get ahold of the really fresh stuff! OMG, I want salsa now! lol

I love to make fresh salsa cant wait til summer and veggies from the garden!

Thank you soo much to all you girls! <3

I read all of what you said! Veggies baked sounds like a fantastic Idea! I'm gonna try doing that w/ some then! Also thanks for the insight about sodium o: I didn't know that! I usually pour soysauce all over my meal! Oh no! I need to start refraining from that! Thank you so much everyone!

I think I'll weigh every week, just like in Biggest Loser lol. I love that show!


Also what other raw veggies is good to eat? I only like carrot so far. But I can try pickles or cucumbers?