How long should it take? / Ideas for exercise (and amount)
 

I started out at 234 around the holidays of last year, went on a diet and continued walking last year, writing down what I ate for about 3 months. I kind of gave up after a while because I didn't have significant weight loss, got very depressed, and kind of got busy with other things. I've read posts (on here too) where weight loss has been 100+ lbs in a year, even with hormone troubles (I also have menstrual cycle issues) so I think it should be doable for me as well. The year before I tried dieting and exercise, I tried only exercise and ended up gaining 15 lbs. I had a lot of stress throughout the whole experience. I figure this was all learning experience and in the long run, worth it to teach me a lesson / make me earn the weight loss. I'm trying to stay positive.

I have a wonderful relationship currently, though it is long distance (and he honestly doesn't seem to mind my weight, though it makes me very unhappy to be this big). After looking at recent photos of us, I noticed something. I was not in the photos, but rather Jabba the Hut was in my place (oohh-wee-juuu-chewwbacca). I decided I needed to try again with my weight and do everything and just stick with it. One thing I really needed to change was in sleeping better. A member here told me that she'd lost some weight just from getting a better night's sleep. I started at 222 lbs this time (was 218 last year after the diet efforts but had gained some back somehow).

So what I'm trying is:
Exercise by walking / jogging on a treadmill at least 5/7 days a week (speed 3.0 usually for an hour, sometimes having a 1.0 incline--it's tough enough that I sweat a lot)
Walking around the neighborhood some days (3-4 days a week)
Writing down everything I eat in an excel sheet again
Going to bed and waking up earlier
Actually eating breakfast (I am not really a breakfast person but I keep hearing that's a big help...usually it is a serving of cereal with some milk or belvita whole grain breakfast crackers)

Today is day 19, so it's been almost 3 weeks. There's a 7 lb difference between when I started and what I am now, however, I seem to be staying at the same weight (215) for the last week and a half... I'm not really sure why this is. I'm glad it's not more than that, but what should I be doing? Do I need more exercise? Eat less? My portions have been very reasonable--a non-breakfast meal is a can of tuna (in water) + two pieces of bread or a can of tomato or chicken noodle soup, etc. My boyfriend suggested that I try not eating meat to see if that helps.

Ideally I would like to weigh in the 130's range (I have a medium frame and I used to weigh 150 a few years ago...even then, I had a jiggly tummy and upper thighs and wore a size 10-12). I'm very tired of looking like I do, and I would really like to lose the weight and the "shame" I feel about looking at myself. The only way to relieve this seems to be to get into the frame of mind that I'm working on my weight--but seeing no results is frustrating!

Some thoughts

1) Weight loss should not be confused with fat loss. Your weight will vary due to water flux while fat loss is an equation of energy. Try to learn about and understand the difference. There is a good sticky on water.

2) Don't bother writing down what you eat. Log it in a free calorie tracker program. There are many you can use. Fitday is the one I used to use. Understand that calories dictate fat loss or gain.

3) You don't have to eat breakfast. I've only eaten breakfast a handful of times in the last 2 years. There is an intermittent fasting thread if you're interested in learning more. It makes no difference to your metabolism.

4) The exercise you're doing is great. Ideally I would suggest you do weight lifting but not everyone wants to.

5) Your goal weight of 135 at 5'9" is pretty unlikely to happen. That would be extremely thin with very little muscle. I'd highly suggest you not focus on weight - rather that you take pictures and measurements every couple weeks. Weight can jump all over the place.

Why? I don't actually feel that this would be extremely thin at all...Like I've said, I have been 150 with some visible weight to lose before. I know that frame size makes a difference.

I would be a lot happier than I am now, being 150 though. The number 135 isn't as big of a deal as getting into a healthy bmi range.

150 muscular looks a heck of a lot different than 150 with more fat. My goal at 5'9" is 160 to start, then 150, but it depends on how much muscle I have. I know that for size, muscle is more dense, and I have a medium frame, so if I am super toned and weigh 160 that's fine. One of my teachers is my height and weighs 170 and she is what I would call fairly fit looking. She works out a lot and has a pretty flat stomach! I think if you took some measurements you might find that helpful because body composition can shift without significant number change on the scale.

Agreed...135 is the lowest you can go without being underweight. You stated that you have a medium sized frame but were still jiggly at 150 pounds. Weight loss won't help that. You need to lift weights. If you starve yourself down to 135, I can pretty much guarantee you'll have little or no muscle mass and will still look untoned

You've already lost weight so your plan is working :) but weight loss isn't a straight downwards pattern. Your weight will stall, and you will gain some weeks even if your doing everything right. 1 1/2 weeks isn't really long enough to say you've stalled. Keep at it and the weight will come off. :) Good luck

Maybe get to 150 and get a really accurate body fat measurement if, at that point, you are unhappy with the "jiggles". It will give you a good idea of what the issue actually is. I know that I've been different sizes at the exact same weight just because of that exact thing!