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cgolden1701

Hi,
I'm 29 and I weigh 235.5lbs 5'9. I woke up the other morning feeling very crappy about myself. So I decided that it is time for me to lose my belly, and get healthy. So I just started this the other day.
Two really good friends have been running and biking for about a year now. They told me the other day that they would start this with me. So with there help and the help from MFP, I know I will make my goal. Oh my goal is to be 175lbs by my 30th birthday on 8/26. So I have about 5mos to make it happen.
If anyone has any ideas to help me make this please let me know. If there are any cook books I should look into, or exercise plans I should try, anything you can help me with please.

Thank you all.

kaeleenr

Hey! Good Luck on your goal!. I first started my weight loss battle in December. I gained about 80lb in a year due to a medical condition. I made an ambitious goal of losing 70lb in 7 months. Since December I have gone to the gym 5-6 days a week for 2-3 hours. I chose to work part time this winter so I would have the ability to spend so much time at the gym and focus on my self. It was hard. I had to move in with my parents and put off buying a new car, but I knew that if I was going to do this for my self I had to make sacrifice and really go in all the way. So far I have lost 20lb in 3.5 months... just over half of what my original goal was. Everyone plateaus, and I knew it would happen to me, I just thought that I would be able to shred a few more pounds before it happened.

While I haven't been reaching my lb goals, I am in soooo much better shape than i was before. I am working on strength training, and endurance right now to help me off this plateau. I shaved 2 minutes off how long it takes me to run a mile, I can lift twice as much as before, and I love trying new exercises that before were way to intimidating. So I wish I was about 15lb smaller (I have a really really sweet bikini I want to fit into by July) I know that I am much healthier than I was 4 months ago and that keeps me going to the gym and sucking down those Kale shakes.

I hope my welcome wasn't discouraging, I was really discouraged for the first part of this month when I went almost 2 weeks without losing a pound, but I changed it up a bit, tried a new diet and some new exercises, and last week I lost 1.5 lb.

Couple more things I have learned in the last 4 months.....

1. Have 1 cheat day a week. - Usually make it a day when you make it to the gym to make you feel better. This really really helps me stay on course. There are 3 things I love more than life it's self.... Beer, Cheese and Hot Wings (ok yes I am from WI). Once a week I can have one of the three. It keeps me motivated, I still get to enjoy my favorites once in a while, and it prevents me from going on an all out binge and giving up. I also have milestones. Every 10lb I lose and keep off for a week I get to go out for a burger. Treat yourself, but keep it a treat.

2. Change it up. I am constantly changing my diet. This upcoming month I am doing 2 meals a day with smoothies for breakfast/lunch and then a dinner of lean meat. Last month I went completely vegetarian. This allows me to eat really healthy without getting super bored with my diet.

3. Protein Powder .... not just for building muscle. This is where you have to be careful. A lot of protein powders have lots of cal/carbs/fat/suger because people use it to gain weight/muscle. If you are losing weight use low cal/carb/suger/fat and take right after your work out. This will really boost your metabolism while it is already going from your work out. I use NOW Pea-Protein. Low Calorie, Very Low Carb, No Suger and 24g of Protein. http://www.nowfoods.com/Sports/Products/Protein-Powders/protein


Well, good luck and keep in touch about you progress!

socajam

Looking at your diary, I would give up Subway - way too much sodium. I would decrease my sodium intake to 1800. I try and eat a lot of protein and fiber keeps be full for a long time. I have made black lentils (9 grams of protein) and yoghurt, tuna (in olive oil), I hate tuna in water as some of the stapes. Black lentils with red onions, chopped tomato and one teaspoon of olive oil along with 2 tbs of peanut butter, 8 ounces of milk and one banana (peanut punch) is something I take with me if I plan on being away from home for the whole day. This stops me from buying food especially when shopping. I hardly ever eat out whilst I doing MFP, every thing is cooked at home, I even bake my own cakes thus allowing me to control the sugar and other ingredients. You are going to have to totally revamp your way of thinking and eating which calls for a lot of planning. You can have a look at my diary if you are interested, send me a request.