New approach

blueviolet20

Alright, so, I've been trying to lose weight for up to a year now, and it has not happened. I've actually gained over the past year. So...I'm going to try something that I haven't done yet as an accountability exercise. I'm going to post pictures, weight, and measurements on here, and update in a month (Weight will be weekly). So, on November 19, 2011, you will see an update, hopefully in the success stories rather than in motivation. I will post it in both though. And, I will record my food and my exercise every day, so anyone who cares to can call me out on days that I'm not up to par. I'll be doing a lot of TurboJam. So, without any more jabbering, here's some stats and pics.

Weight: 172.0 lbs
Chest: 39 in
Waist: 38 in
Hips: 40 in
Right Thigh: 22 in
Left Thigh: 22.5 in
Right Arm: 13
Left Arm: 12.5

And now, before pics, October 19, 2011:



Thank you for your support, and hopefully, I'll have some good news in a month!

H_Factor

I like your new approach. I also recommend trying the exercise in my will power blog below.

good luck to you.

blueviolet20

Sweet! Thanks. I could use some good will power exercise, so I will look into that.

blueviolet20

Well, Turbo Jam kicked my butt today. Oofda. hmalin1, I think what I'll do is write out my answers to the points you put in your article, and post them on here later. But, so far, I'm staying on track for the day.

blueviolet20

Okay...how do I get myself to stop overeating?

blueviolet20

Slowly getting myself to stick to my calorie budget. I couldn't do TurboJam today though, cuz my blu-ray player is not playing dvds right now. Oh, the suffering I must endure :laugh: Although, if you're a gamer and you keep losing on League of Legends...it gets really frustrating. Anyway, I'll have a weight update tomorrow...

blueviolet20

Okay...I forgot the weight update yesterday. But this morning, I weighed 172.8...not the direction I want to be heading. So, I need to step it up a notch...or several. Any ideas?

blueviolet20

Tried to have fun with my sister tonight by going out for halloween weekend. Didn't work. :frown:

blueviolet20

Weight today....172.4....progress...0%

jlcampbell2008

Keep trying. I know how hard it is. I was down to 205 about 6 months ago and life got in the way because I let it and I'm back up to 218ish. I'm discouraged but I'm going to keep trying. You have a great approach. Don't know if you've done this or not but look into these:

1.) Cut out any type of caffeine (even decaf coffee has caffeine)
2.) Remove one serving of bread, pasta, etc and replace it with an apple or banana.
3.) Measure EVERYTHING! It's amazing how much food is in one cup or even 1/2 a cup. Weigh your meat portions, I usually weigh about 4 oz. for my husband. (I'm not big into meat right now)
4.) Increase your water intake, make sure you drinking about 1/2 your body weight in ounces of water per day.
5.) For you it may work to eat every 2-3 hours. It seems like a lot but when you break down your breakfast into 2 very small meals it's not that much.

I hope this helps you. Now,just to take my own advice!

blueviolet20

Thank you for your advice...right now I'm kind of addicted to caffeine, so it would be good for me to get rid of it. I'm also bad about eating fruit, so another good thing to try out. I stink at drinking water and measuring things...so I will try those out. I already eat every 2-3 hours...I just need to cut my portions down. My husband actually recommended I just eat one food item around 60 calories every hour of the day until I go to bed, and just have little 200-300 calorie breakfast, lunch, and dinner, because I have such an issue with binging. I tried that for a day, and I didn't like it much, but it did work. I didn't binge at all that day. So, I might try that approach tomorrow.

blueviolet20

Okay...just so that anyone who knows me or is following this knows...I am taking up an overnight job, so that is why I changed my eating schedule the way that I did. I start next Monday, so I'm trying to get my body to switch to night time awakeness. But, in the process, my eating habits might be a little...weird. So, if my eating is all over the place for a while...that is why. I'm very much going to try to stick beneath my calorie goals from 12 PM one day to 12 PM the next, but weight loss might not happen because of the time shift. Anyway...I view it as a chance to start fresh on my eating habits, cuz my body will be adjusting so much that I'm hoping it won't mind how I switch up my eating. Hope to give you some good progress for next time. Thanks!

blueviolet20

Okay, so here are month one's unsuccessful results. But I am going to keep working. Measurements:

Weight: 175.4 lbs
Chest: 39 in.
Waist: 38 in.
Hips: 41 in.
Right Thigh: 22 in.
Left Thigh: 22.5 in.
Right Arm: 13 in.
Left Arm: 13 in.

Pictures:




As you may be able to tell, I'm not a very happy camper today. But, I will keep working!

dovesgate

How much are you trying to lose?

I just looked at your diary and I am confused. Are you trying to zigzag calories or is there a different reason you are listed at different calorie goals nearly every day? You also have quite a few days that you are not logging at all.

The days that you are barely over your calories don't concern me too much. The days that you are 600+ under calorie and then 1000 calories over do. Do you know that if you binge and starve, binge and starve, all you're doing is creating a vicious weight gain cycle that takes gaining even more weight to fix?
Here's why you MUST net at least 1200 calories a day:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

Or you may just not be logging everything you eat. Log it. Every single bite. No matter if you're over your calories or not. Especially when you are just getting started, if you log it then you will see where and what your weaknesses and strengths are (such as, if you can have Reese's Peanut Butter Cups in the house - I cannot. I know this now lol).

Once you have a good pattern in your diary, you can look and see what changes you can automatically make i.e. how you can save calories off different foods such as no butter with your eggs or diet soda instead of Mountain Dew (diet Mtn Dew is pretty good actually). Excluding my coffee creamer, I refuse to drink my calories since 170 calories or more for a can equals a serving of Wheat Thins and a Laughing Cow wedge. Water is also essential to losing weight so it can flush sodium out of your body. I had to work on it gradually - I had to make myself drink one bottle a day and work up to 1.5L.

Also, with how your hours are set up - when do you sleep? The hours you have listed ought to count those hours in because you shouldn't be eating while asleep (choking hazard yanno :P). Maybe try a 3 meal 3 snack set up? When you get up is breakfast time, 2-3 hours later is 1st snack time, 2-3 hours later is lunch, 2-3 hours later is 2nd snack time (if you need it), 2-3 hrs later is dinner and your last snack is for before bed if you need it. I generally get up between 6 and 7, have breakfast by 7:30, have a snack around 10 or 11, lunch is noon or 1, dinner is around 6. Occasionally I need a snack around 3 but not often - those are calories I save for after dinner if I want something sweet or I use them to have a bigger or more caloric dinner.

I can binge eat too so I understand where you are coming from. I also used to work swings and graveyards so I understand that too. Good luck with your journey. /off pulpit. :flowerforyou:

blueviolet20

How much are you trying to lose?

I just looked at your diary and I am confused. Are you trying to zigzag calories or is there a different reason you are listed at different calorie goals nearly every day? You also have quite a few days that you are not logging at all.

The days that you are barely over your calories don't concern me too much. The days that you are 600+ under calorie and then 1000 calories over do. Do you know that if you binge and starve, binge and starve, all you're doing is creating a vicious weight gain cycle that takes gaining even more weight to fix?
Here's why you MUST net at least 1200 calories a day:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

Or you may just not be logging everything you eat. Log it. Every single bite. No matter if you're over your calories or not. Especially when you are just getting started, if you log it then you will see where and what your weaknesses and strengths are (such as, if you can have Reese's Peanut Butter Cups in the house - I cannot. I know this now lol).

Once you have a good pattern in your diary, you can look and see what changes you can automatically make i.e. how you can save calories off different foods such as no butter with your eggs or diet soda instead of Mountain Dew (diet Mtn Dew is pretty good actually). Excluding my coffee creamer, I refuse to drink my calories since 170 calories or more for a can equals a serving of Wheat Thins and a Laughing Cow wedge. Water is also essential to losing weight so it can flush sodium out of your body. I had to work on it gradually - I had to make myself drink one bottle a day and work up to 1.5L.

Also, with how your hours are set up - when do you sleep? The hours you have listed ought to count those hours in because you shouldn't be eating while asleep (choking hazard yanno :P). Maybe try a 3 meal 3 snack set up? When you get up is breakfast time, 2-3 hours later is 1st snack time, 2-3 hours later is lunch, 2-3 hours later is 2nd snack time (if you need it), 2-3 hrs later is dinner and your last snack is for before bed if you need it. I generally get up between 6 and 7, have breakfast by 7:30, have a snack around 10 or 11, lunch is noon or 1, dinner is around 6. Occasionally I need a snack around 3 but not often - those are calories I save for after dinner if I want something sweet or I use them to have a bigger or more caloric dinner.

I can binge eat too so I understand where you are coming from. I also used to work swings and graveyards so I understand that too. Good luck with your journey. /off pulpit. :flowerforyou:

Thank you for your response. I'm not trying to zigzag my calories, but because of my infrequent workouts and my frequent weight changes, that messes with my calorie goals. And yes, I need to start logging every single thing every single day. It's been a couple of really difficult days for me, and tonight I start my night shifts, so it should be interesting.

I need to work on the water as well. For some reason, I'm having a difficult time with this. I used to drink a lot of water. The reason I set my hours up the way I did is because there have been some times when I'm just up all night, and all day. I know that's not good for you. It happened while I was trying to adjust my sleep schedule. But, what I should do is list them as meal names with times. With the night shift, I'll have to push everything back about 10 hours....and my breakfast and supper will be reversed. I'm also setting up some guidelines for myself concerning certain food items so that I am eating more healthy foods. Couple examples, one pop a week, no more than 20 oz, one dessert a week, no more than 300 calories/5 exchanges, etc. I haven't really starved myself....it's kind of like a constant binge :huh: In any case, I'm putting that to a stop. I'll revamp my meal listings, and work on my habits (eating, exercise, and sleep) to get them in line. Thanks again. Hope to hear from you soon.