Welcome. I'm sure that people here can give you lots of good advice.

60 lbs in 5 months might be doable ... but it'll be tough and take real commitment, I think.

Something that will help us help you is to tell us what you weigh now, how tall you are, and what you *can* do as far as cardio and exercise.

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Sorry for saying but your coach needs a good slap. People like that just rub me wrong.

With that out of the way.. (hehe)
mydailyplate.com is a good place to keep track of your calories. It's super easy and free. Getting a work out... any kind of workout is better than no work out. If you can swim...swim, use the eliptical and anything else that wont hurt you. It's better than nothing... right? You need to start slow because of your shin splints. I'm sure you know you can't just jump back out there and jog like nothing ever happened to your knee. because you have a good amount of muscles, your body will burn calories pretty good, you just need to keep it up.

Also... are you sure you don't like veggies? I'm sure you hate some...but all? like potatoe...corn..peas...carrots,..cucumber? Veggies are good because they fill you up with VERY little calories. they also have all the things your body needs like vitamins.

For me, I could never do low carb. I can't stand eating meat more than 2 or 3 times a week. it makes me feel heavy and just plain nasty. but it it works for you in the long run, then that's good ^.^

seems a bit stressful to have the 60 pounds in 5 months on your shoulders, but I guess if you want it hard enough then you'll just do it. But please stay healthy. ^_^

My coach does need a serious slap! but its college so he is pretty much right no matter what; ahh the things i do to getmy school paid for..lol arent' potatoes really starchy though and not so good for you? I like carrots green beans, and i heard corn isnt really that good for you either but i like it; humf if i only had like a list of what to eat and I ate it everday same thing I could do that! i just dont know if the proportions are right; if im eating too much of one thing or not enough all together; this is where i get tripped up

I'm the same. eat the same thing for lunch every day. I never get tired of it and it's easy to keep track. I love having a list of "ok" foods.

my advice... start looking at serving sizes and measure everything out for at least a week. I did this, and it was a pain... but so worth it because now I know how much of what to eat and ever so often I measure stuff again to remember what 1/2 cup of cereal looks like.. what a serving of meat should be..ect.

Again, try the calorie website i gave you above. it's very simple and easy and it takes all the guess work out of wondering how many calories you ate and how many more you need. It also keeps track of the calories you burn from working out, how much of you calories comes from carbs, fat and protein.

Because you are on low carb, many veggies might not be a good choice. A little research will help you make a list in your head what is good and what is carb packed.

If this style of eating works for you, consider trying something like the South Beach diet. The book has meal plans and shopping lists in it that you can follow. Or register with a site like mydailyplate.com or sparkpeople.com and set your profile so that they put together a menu for you.

I personally can't eat to a guide like that. I like to cook and I crave variety, so I have to have the control that calorie counting gives me. I also can't eat the same thing over and over and over again (except for yogurt with fruit, which I never seem to tire of! ).

Also I'm sure many people here will help you develop a meal plan based on a reasonable number of calories and easy cooking and shopping.

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Hey!

You probably know a bit about discipline, right? So this is just another kind of discipline--just like working out. Again, you'll find thedailyplate or fitday are both good sites for tracking your calories and foods. And you'll probably have to track them for awhile until you get a handle on what a "serving" is.

The main thing is to watch your calories. You will be shocked at how many calories some foods have--I know I was. As for the nutrients--it's no mystery, you need proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. Freedieting.com has a lot of calculators that can tell you different ratios you could try.

If you like having group support, Weight Watchers is a good program IRL, or on line. Of course, we're happy to help you out here!

Because you're an athlete, you're probably used to working out really hard--but if you have shin splints, you need to back off on the extremes. Use an exercise bike, maybe, if it doesn't hurt. Use the elliptical. Don't run--that will make it worse. Go for length of time more, intensity less.

Those are just some ideas--I'm not a doctor or a trainer. I hope you can reach your goals!

Jay

Hi Softball Star! Welcome to 3FC!!!! Your post caught my eye cause my 8 yr old DD is starting softball this summmer! Woot for softball!

Anyway, congrats on the college scholarship! That is awesome! Unfortunately I can hear the pressure in your post. My dh played sports in college and it is some serious pressure to perform. In a way, it is your job. Your school is paying you a certain amount of money in exchange for your athletic skills, and I can't even imagine the pressure that puts on you.

But I think you can turn that pressure into motivation and discipline. I agree with the others---you don't get to be a collegiate athlete through a lack of discipline, so I know you have it in you!

There are about a million ways to reach your goal, but they all come down to calories in/calories out. I'd encourage you to check out some of the daily threads in the 100lb club, maintainers, Whole Foods, etc, to see what some of our daily menus entail. In general, a focus on fruits and vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains will help you get going in the right direction. Keep up with the strength training. Adding muscle will ramp up your metabolism. Softball, with its spurts of running, strikes me as a high-intensity-interval sport, so you may want to consider speed intervals on the elliptical. My older DD is a high school runner and she has been struggling with shin splints, so I totally hear you on that. Regular icing and stretching can be helpful. The most recent Runners World has a nice page on shin splints. You might want to touch base with your athletic trainers about them as well.

Try to focus on changing your habits and your body will obey the physics of weight loss. I have no doubt that you can do it! Post often....I want to cheer you on!

Hey, so I can competely sympathize with you as I recently graduated from college, was a DIII track athlete and am now a coach. I understand why your coach wants you to lose weight, but do not agree with his approach!

Do you have physical trainers that you can talk to and look for advice from? I trained as a physical trainer as well and can say that one big cause of shin splints is not stretching your calves enough. I'm a big girl as well who had to do a lot of plyos and explosive sprints to train as a thrower, and I learned that I had to spend at least 10 minutes just focusing on stretching my calves. Chronic shin splints should also be iced after every exercise whether they hurt or not (preventative). Also, home remedy for shin splints: freeze aloe in an ice cube tray, then rub the aloe cubes on your shins until they have melted and absorbed into your skin.

Activity~ Do you have a bike? I just bought one and love it! Throw on a back pack, pick a destination and go there. If you choose a store, then you can throw whatever you get in your back pack. Swimming is also great therapy for your legs as well as a full body workout! As mentioned by others, interval training is also great. How about weight lifting? I loved weight lifting in college and developed into a much quicker athlete as well. If you need weight lifting exercises to build your explosiveness and quickness, let me know and I can post some stuff.

I know one big problem I had was eating in the college dining hall. If I didn't have a specific plan of what I would eat before I went in, I would grab whatever junk I could find. Print out a menu each week and pick out what your going to eat, so you have a plan before you go in the dining hall, eat out, or wherever.

Good luck, think positive, you got this!

Some college athletic programs have a dietitian on staff. If yours does, see him/her. Ditto what Kim says - does your program have physical trainers? Does your school supply medical treatment? If so, see their physician. I wasn't there, so I don't know exactly what your coach said, but you might want to talk to him again and get his input on managing your weight. It seems to me that he needs to provide some direction.

Welcome!!!

First off I envy you, I played softball for 9 years, all star, travel ball, never good enough for a scholarship of sorts, but loved it none the less. Anyhow onto your little snag....Like JAYEII said you already know about discipline, and that is what it takes.

I would take a weekend and really research what all these ladies have talked about, dailyplanet.com or fitday.com is what I use to log your food, it really helps, then set a healthy goal for yourself. Oh and as far as green veggies go, I do spinach in a smoothie in the morning and I blend it with some frozen berries, wheat germ, banana, and some organic apple juice not from concentrate. It gives me two servings of veggies and I did not even taste them.


Also a good substite for potatoes is sweet potatoes (love these) Trader joes has a precut bag of sweet potatoes and I put some nutmeg and cinnamon, and bake them, they still have have some starch but are loaded with good stuff for ya!!


I know you can do this!! so just do some planning and then gogogo!!
I will live vicarously through you:P

I feel you. I play D3 basketball and volleyball and am a starter in both sports. In college I put on about 25 pounds from the end of basketball freshman year until sophomore. I got up to 250 pounds. One day my assistant coach (who happens to be very blunt) pulled me aside from practice and told me my weight was getting unhealthy and that I shouldn't be a college athlete and that I was killing my joints and body carrying the extra weight around.

After that I cried and thought a lot, and decided to change my life. I started running and lifting and eating healthier. Before I knew it I was coming back from that summer 37.5 pounds lighter.

This season our team won our league and became the first team from our school to make it to the NCAA tournament. My coach says my weight loss was the change our team needed. I'd like to think losing those extra pounds helped us do that.

You can definitely lose the weight if you just put your mind to it. Just think about how much more powerful, agile, fast, and successful will be.

Yep, with my schedule what works for me is to eat the same thing, every day during the week, that way I know EXACTLY how many calories I've eaten and it allows me to make cool delicious dinners at night. I'll sacrifice my "day foods" for big, delicious awesome dinners. Or smaller dinners and a "treat" now and then. I've lost 44 pounds in just over 4 months... and I haven't been exercising too much at all.

I think it's possible for you--- you have a LOT at stake, so that should be a mega driving force for you!!!!

I calorie count and measure everything--- I don't leave ANYTHING to chance or guesswork-- I know the calories of everything and the sizes of everything that goes in my mouth. It's the only way to be sure.

If you want that bad food, you better look it up online first before you go out and get it--- you might realize that the food you want "costs" 1,000 calories and you can't "afford" eating it b/c you won't be able to AFFORD SCHOOL if you do!!!!

You can do this--- don't do too much weightlifting--- you don't want to build too much muscle weight--- stick with cardio (I have horrible knees too from years of playing varsity basketball and volleyball) so I LOVE the elliptical.

Thank you so much everyone for all your help; I feel like crying because I its nice to hear positivity surrounding weight loss instead of an ultimatum. Thank you midwife for all your awesome suggestions, I need to spend a couple days researching all this wonderful information. KimL1214..oh my gosh thank you for the shin splint advice and everything else you said; I dont know why but it makes me feel so much better that your a coach (doesnt matter if your a softball coach or not) and your giving me HELPFUL and ECOURAGING advice rather than belittling statements. I totally understand that i need to lose weight and I want to. I have gotten a lot of distractions out of my life now and life by myself instead of with roomates so I can control what food is in my place. Its time for change and ya'll are all awesome! I really appreciate every one of ya'lls posts. OH ya and I have team of trainers available to me; they have been in charge of me rehabing since knee surgery -job well done - but I am not getting the nutrition info that i need. I met with the school dietician but was still confused about stuff. I think I need to go back and talk to her now that I have such a sense of urgency and maybe she will be able to help me out; plus I was kinda shy about seeing her the first time. okay so if I weight 290 right now and I need to be 220 by September that is 70lbs - I have 18 weeks; thats 3.8 lbs a week. So how do lose 3.8 lbs a week. I can eat healthy and workout but how do I know how much to do to lose that much or more a week? Thats a great question lol anyone have advice on that? I know that the people in Biggest Loser lost that or more in 15 weeks so I need to knwo what their doing lol