Okay keep in mind Im taking it slow for the first couple months, and then kicking it into overdrive when summer rolls around. ok so...

Breakfast: I piece of white bread with enough butter to scrap over one side of it.

Lunch: Sandwich(turkey, onions, lettuce, 2 slices of cheese and spicy mustard) about a cup and a half of salad with ranch dressing, and half pint of chocolate milk.

Dinner: I medium piece of bonless skinless chicken and half cup of peas.

Snack: One bag of microwave popcorn

Keep in mind people Diet pepsi is like my heroin, so I dont even keep track of how many I drink. lol.

Well I hope I didnt do too horrably my first day. Its better than what I was eating. (cough 3 burritos last night cough)

Ok so maybe I lied about having chicken for dinner....BUT you see that but that but is helping me get out of this sticky situation, I am going to the gym tonight and from my calcualtions what I ate (to ashamed to say what it is) will cost be about 800 calories, so *does calcualting things* All I have to do to burn 850 calories is do 33 min of vigerous exersize on the stationary bike. So..... yay me.

That looks like some of my diet attempts when I was younger - not enough food. I estimate the calories to be:

Breakfast: I piece of white bread with enough butter to scrap over one side of it. 150 calories

Lunch: Sandwich(turkey, onions, lettuce, 2 slices of cheese and spicy mustard) about a cup and a half of salad with ranch dressing, and half pint of chocolate milk. 400 calories

Dinner: I medium piece of bonless skinless chicken and half cup of peas. 300 calories

Snack: One bag of microwave popcorn 100 calories

about a 1000 calories

This is for life, you need to be able to stick to this. In my experience, if I restricted too much, I binged. Binging made me feel bad. I felt like an out of control loser most of my dieting life.

I was finally successful when I started eating. I stopped binging.

Sample menu with 1600 calories

Breakfast: 2 pieces of whole grain toast, 1 tbs natural peanut butter 300 calories

snack - cup of plain fat free yogurt, 6 oz raspberries 150 calories

Lunch: Sandwich(turkey, onions, lettuce, 2 slices of cheese and spicy mustard) about a cup and a half of salad with ranch dressing, and half pint of chocolate milk. this is fine (try to skip the ranch, go for low fat or put it on the side, skip the chocolate milk, drink water) 300 calories

Snack - carrot sticks/sugar snap peas, 1/4 cup hummus 200 calories

Dinner: I medium piece of bonless skinless chicken, 1 cup peas, 1/2 cup whole wheat couscous 400 calories

Snack: baked apple with 1/2 cup blueberries - 150 calories

I started dieting in high school by just not eating very much, I ended up eventually gaining more weight. I wish someone had told me back then the secret to long term successful weight loss was eating enough foods to keep me happy and satisfied. Eat less bad foods, eat more good foods, exercise! Don't starve yourself.

I agree. I would be absolutely famished!!! Eat a little more, don't starve yourself. Especially if your exercising, your gonna need a little extra fuel. I found that when I was in college, I ate healthy, and when I would eat a salad, I would use full fat ranch, and still lose weight. Your body needs a little fat to absorb the nutrients in your food, and a little ranch (other other favorite dressing) may actually be a blessing.

Hi there. I've been working on my "life-style change" (I don't say "diet") for just over a year now and have lost 47 lbs so far - yahoooo. What I've been doing is eating what I normally eat but HALF of it. I'd put my "normal" portion on a plate and then put 1/2 back. I found that the more I thought about, gee, what am I allowed to eat, the more I thought about food, and the more I wanted to eat. I also make sure I have more fruit around for snacking on. I also go for 3 walks a day - 1 first thing in the a.m. on the treadmill (gets it out of the way), and during our 2 breaks at work. Feels good to get some fresh air and get the blood moving.

Well, hang in there and chip away at it little by little - you can do it!

I agree with everything that's been said so far.

The only meal you mentioned that struck me as healthy was your lunch. And since you lied about your dinner... I don't know what you really ate, but the fact that you said you ate a lot of calories proves that you probably didn't eat enough during the day.

I would try making your breakfast a little bigger, try some whole grains, and maybe some protein (the peanut butter was good, measure out a table spoon) and then a piece of fruit. That way you'll feel nice and full for school.

Just try to evenly distribute your calories.

And if you aren't used to exercise don't push yourself too hard that first day, start out nice and easy, so that you don't over exert yourself and decide "ugh. I can't do this. I hate exercise." Try to start making exercise a part of your daily life.

knoxjill, that's Great!! Congratulations!

Pathetically Criminal... Some good ideas from Glory87 and others. Even things out. Eat better balanced meals and snacks, like Cats tongue says. A piece of bread and butter for breakfast just doesn't have enough nutrition, IMHO. I'd be starving!

Also, try to do the exercise for the purpose of getting more fit, not to "make up" for eating too much. That becomes a sort of cycle...

The most I seem to be able to burn for half an hour of exercise bike is around 130 cals, so you must really be pushing it! Do you watch your heart rate at all? Some people think that's a good idea, because if your heart rate goes up too much, it means your body isn't getting enough oxygen to burn fat.

Anyway, just some ideas... Hey, you got through one day! That's good!

Keep going!
Jay

Glory87: Thanks for the tips, You did name a few things I like, but most I dont like and 1 or 2 I have never even heard of XD lol. I am really trying to cut a lot of fatty foods out of my diet. And Im just not hungery in the morning but I do make an effort to eat something.
cytheria21: Oh I know! Once my mom started compairing the regular dressing to the fat free dressing, It turned out that the regular was better for you. lol. Yeah the only other dressing I like is ceasar, I dont like any vinagret or clear dressings unfortunatly.
knoxjill: I have seriously considered that and have actually had a friend who did that the entire summer and she lost like 50 pounds. I was shocked. I try and walk as much as I can, but I am trying to do other methods to get my weight down first so that it easier for me to walk for a long time. I can go for about 45 minutes at 2.5 mph, although It goes up and down the fastest I can go is 3.0 mph. thanks for the tips.
Cats tongue: Thanks for the tips, I like the breakfast Idea you had. and yes I do exercise regularly, I have to get back in the habit because last tri I didnt have gym but yesterday was the first day of new tri and I have lifetime sports (old folk sports aka tennis, golf, ex.) and thats for an hour a day, and Im thinking I will still go to the gym during the afternoon (I have a membership might as well use it)
JayEll: Yes I do watch my heart rate it should be between 180 and 185 and I do keep an eye on it. When it starts to go down I work a little more vigerously, if it starts going up i go a little slower. Try and maintain. Im sure you already know that the heavier you are the more calories you burn when you exersize in a smaller amount of time. You are about half has heavy as I am. So, that may answer that question. And you are right about the making up for eating to much thing, I was just feeling kind of guilty and I didnt end up going to the gym yesterday.
Everyone:I dont think yesterday was a great day to start my diet. I was really stressed out over my new classes, and I didnt get a lot of sleep so I just felt really sluggish. And I never ended up going to the gym I was just to worn out. Today will be better, I think. Thanks for everybodys support. I will post todays meals when I get home from school today in the same forum. Wish me luck.

That's too high! That sounds like your maximum heart rate! For weight loss, your heart rate should be something like 110 to 120, depending on your age. So take it easier!

Jay

Shhhhh! Stop saying the word "diet"! No no no. Repeat after me......

I am NOT on a diet. This is a lifestyle change. D-I-E-T is a 4-letter word. I will never say it again.



And yes, yesterday WAS a good day to start. You will always have stress and things that bother you. Saying "yesterday wasn't a good day to start my d... d..." (see, I can't even say it, haha) will set you up for saying the same thing tomorrow. And the next day. And the next day.

Just sharing a little mentality of mine that got me through this and kicked me in the bum.

PatheticallyCriminal, welcome aboard and good luck to you with your weight loss goals! Making lifestyle changes at an early age will help set you up for a longer, healthier, more active life.

I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around burning off 850 calories in a half an hour. How are you measuring this? Are you going by the counter on the bike or do you have a formula you're figuring?

Lol ok so Lifestyle change....>.> <.< but that sounds so corney!

Good luck to you. Only one suggestion. Read, read, read. Read books by authors who know what they are talking about. Like Doctors who use research to back up what they are saying.
3 great books that I have read that do that are YOU on a diet by Dr. Oz and Roizen and SuperFoodsRX and SuperFoods Healthstyle by Dr. Steven Pratt.
You can pick them up on Amazon.com cheaply and used.

I dunno I found this calculator and used it, I did find it on a pro-ana website so i dunnno, I heard about them and went to a couple out of curiosity.

LOL, well, I look at it this way; I'm in this for life. I can't just go on a "diet", lose a few pounds, then go back to my old habits. What I did to lose my weight is something I'll have to continue doing for the rest of my life in order to keep from putting the weight back on. "Diet" just sounds so temporary.

Lifestyle change is permanent

Again, it's a mindset. Once I got out of that "diet" mindset, I was able to focus on the long term and finally pulled it off when I'd tried for YEARS to "diet" on a regular basis and nothing ever worked.