Any More Chubby Twenties?

So I'm pretty new to this site; I just joined a few days ago and I saw this group and LOVE it. It's nice to know that support exists and others know what I'm going through.

I am 6' tall and have been an athlete most of my life; after a knee injury in college, I had to quit basketball and as a result, BLEW up from lack of activity. I lost about 50 lbs last year, but am struggling to lose my last 20 to be my "ideal" weight. I feel like I'm constantly dieting and constantly "trying," but really, I'm not. Everyone tells me how great I look after losing the weight, I know exactly what I need to do in order to lose the rest, but I just CANNOT stop eating! Although my family and friends are pretty supportive, I can tell that no one really thinks that I'm gona do it.

Today is a new day, however, and I am REALLY going to work at it. My goal: 175 by June 1st

There are some things that I've learned pretty much since birth that I'm having a hard time shaking. Like 'clean your plate'- I was always taught not to waste food. Sometimes I catch myself eating even when I'm not hungry because I'm not 'finished' yet. I am training myself to take smaller portions and eat off of smaller plates so that I'm not leaving anything behind. Also, I was always taught that if there is free food, you eat it. Doesn't matter if you're hungry or not- it's free! Buffets, potlucks, parties in general... I eat even when I'm full! So now when I go to someone's house and there's food, I have been reminding myself to say 'No, thank you" and to hover by the fruit and veggie platters.

Oh my those are my TWO BIGGEST PROBLEMS! something that helped - ali posted once that finishing all ur food will not help all those starving people out there. So don't feel guilty to stop when u are full andleave some on ur plate.

This is a great way to look at it....Thanks, now I won't feel as bad!

I'm anxious for my next weigh in Feb. 1st

Goal: 165- 02/01/10
Goal: 155- 03/01/10
Goal: 145- 04/01/10
Goal: 135- 05/01/10

Final Weight 127 by July 1, 2010

I'm 24 - 5'8" and 200lbs as of today(as of 21 days ago, i was 210 lbs.)

So I'm trying to get down to 135-125 (check my profile, see my virtual weight loss models, and before photos, that I just TOOK TODAY! ackkk.)

Anyway!

I'm starting the p90x dvds TODAY!
I'm SICK to death, and I mean really really sick, of being the fat friend.
Not a single friend of mine weighs over 160.
DEPRESSING!!!


So
30 Days - (Lets roughly say, end of February for good measure!) I would like to be 185.
60 Days - 170
90 Days - 150

wish me luck ladies! I would love to wear a nice swim suit, or a cute wife beater and shorts this summer.

GOOD LUCK LADIES AND GENTS! WE CAN DO THIS!!!

Welcome sara_lee and justsalad! You'll really like it here!

Kayt- Well I'm still all for a reward trip/get together. I think it would be fun if we all met up when we lost a bunch of weight!!

Jenn- Don't worry about succombing to temptation. I just wrote in my blog yesterday about how I totally binged on Chinese Tuesday and felt ridiculously guilty. It's a treat not a habit so you are just fine!!

Sarina- I think both of your guesses could totally be right. At least you see the problem and are fixing it! Like pattitricia said, weight loss can come in waves. Don't be too discouraged. You are working hard!!

I've really been watching my sodium intake the past couple of days. I really really think that is the kicker. I've backed off from weight watchers a bit and started recording my calories and sodium instead of points. I really hope this helps me stay on track and gives me a more accurate picture of what I need to do. Yesterday for some reason I couldn't eat all my calories which normally isn't hard to do at all. Kind of weird!! We'll see once what happens. It would be super nice to see at least a 2 on the scale this week. I just have to be good over the weekend!! Talk to you ladies later!

Mandi

I'm 24 - 5'8" and 200lbs as of today(as of 21 days ago, i was 210 lbs.)

So I'm trying to get down to 135-125 (check my profile, see my virtual weight loss models, and before photos, that I just TOOK TODAY! ackkk.)

Anyway!

I'm starting the p90x dvds TODAY!
I'm SICK to death, and I mean really really sick, of being the fat friend.
Not a single friend of mine weighs over 160.
DEPRESSING!!!


So
30 Days - (Lets roughly say, end of February for good measure!) I would like to be 185.
60 Days - 170
90 Days - 150

wish me luck ladies! I would love to wear a nice swim suit, or a cute wife beater and shorts this summer.

GOOD LUCK LADIES AND GENTS! WE CAN DO THIS!!!

hey girl, I think p90x is a great way to kick start ur weight loss journey. @ 5'8" u are super lucky to be so tall and I know u will look way thin @ 150. U are kinda lucky that ur fat storage is the way it is cuz then u can really focus on losing in the abdomen area where as I have to lose my big hips, thighs and big arms ON TOP of my belly. haha.
Good luck!

Kayt thanks, that's what I was thinking! I am always severly under my calories anyway, but I'm told not to worry about it on this diet, just that what I eat is low G.I. So I'm not thinking the McFlurry did much anyway...any I'm sure I'll burn it right off at Kickboxing tonight anyway! So are you at a resort there then? It sounds like paradise! And I think you deserve that waterproof mp3 player, you've been working soo hard and it would make your time in the pool even better!

Carrie - What's your address?? If you want me to send it send it to me in a PM. I have an extra...then you could take your frustrations out on yours with that baseball bat!! Congrats on your loss girl, your pics look fantastic, you must feel great! I think that you have to earn the stepping one on the Wii, it's just where you go side to side to choose the length then you can choose if you want it quick or slow...i did it quick one day during a show and ended up pulling a calf muscle, lol, so make sure to stretch well! I didn't know you could do it with the run too, I can't run for that long though, bad knees, the longest I can go is the island run, and I do that against Dr's orders, lol! That really sux that your HRM hasn't shown up yet! Gotta love the Canadian Postal System!!

Patti that's actually pretty funny that we had the same cheat! Don't feel guilty, I'm not! Just move on We both have the TOM excuse, lol..hard to resist! Have fun this weekend, I'm sure you'll look fantastic!

Mandi - thanks, I read your blog, well written, and I agree!! Normally when I indulge its the Breyers Fat Free, but this time was a treat for sure, a once in a while deal! I hear ya about not being able to eat all of your calories...I eat sooo much food and don't come close most days, its just that most things I eat are healthy and low cal, it makes it very difficult! :grumble:

I'm sneaking out early today so I'd better go do some work! Ttyl
Jenn :bigsmile:

Hello everyone!! I hope you are all having a great day!

Welcome to all of the new people! Every day I'm seeing more and more great people to talk to.

carrie- You are one organized lady. I can't bear the extra dishes to pre cook everything:laugh: but I have customized some of the food at my work so that I am eating stuff with less crap in it and I am a huge fan of the special k chocolate protein shakes. They are yummy and so good when I just don't have time.

Jenn- Glad to hear you are having so much fun with kickboxing still. And the wii fit sounds pretty fun. I haven't spent the money yet. I always find something that I want for my hubby or daughter more, and I have the elliptical. I am caving though on the hrm and getting one this month since I earned a pretty nice bonus last quarter.

mandi-How is the lower sodium going. Did you find anything helpful or anything that you liked? Keep pushing away at it. My husband is having the same issue right now. He went from being 2500 over to 1700 to 1500 and he's down in the 200's now. Practice makes perfect. I love deli meat and soup, but I've had to cut both of those out because of sodium. Mrs. Dash has a bunch of great spices without salt.

Kayt- Glad to hear you went for a hike. It sounds like it was gorgeous! I am really jealous. My basement wall isn't getting any prettier but I'm such a baby when it comes to cold weather.

Ughhh! I'm so mad at myself/frustrated! I decided that today I am REALLY going to put forth my efforts in doing exactly what I have to do. I went and worked out after work, I feel that I ate reasonably less and better than I usually do, but I went over my calories by like 186 calories. This is the issue I've been having; I try to restrict my calories and eat fiberous and more filling foods, but I am seriously hungry like, ALL the time! Now I feel guilty that I just ate a bowl of cereal, but I opted for that over some other snacky stuff (that would have been less calories) because I thought it might keep me full til bedtime.

Any suggestions?

TO CHERA 325: ugh I am ALWAYS hungry, and then when i eat til I'm "full" it's like, well awesome, I can't eat for the rest of the day unless it's something small like a banana! I think if you drink more water (or green tea) you fill up better?

Mandi, I am ALWAYS up for a vacay. Hahaha, I've lived on vacay for the past year--first in the rockies and now here :P As for seafood ideas, I like to chuck some shrimp into salads. A good way to cook them, though it is kind of high sugar, is to add a spoonful or two of orange juice concentrate, some balsamic vinegar and a little tiny bit of butter and cook! Popping that on a salad, the OJ/Balsamic/Butter mix cooks into a glaze that is great for a dressing substitute, and shrimp are lot in fat anyway so you don't need to feel guilty about the butter inclusion

Jenn, I guess it all dependson what you call a resort...I don't call it that, because I worked at a REAL resort in Lake Louise (I was at the Fairmont chateau, and we would always go party at the Banff Springs for super cheap becuase of our discounts too--now THAT is a friggin awesome resort hotel!) We're kind of a jungle retreat kind of thing. It used to be a coffee plantation before it was a hotel. You can take a look here: http://www.hotelcasagrande.com or look at some of the photos I've taken here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/11230553@N06/

How's your GI diet going? You've been at it for, what, a month now? Are you finding yourself well adjusted to it?


Keri, I'm a baby when it comes to cold weather too, that's why i fled south for the winter! (well, in actuality, it's more the 9 months of monumental snow I was looking at if I stayed in the rockies)

Chera325, if you're finding yourself ravenous, go to your tools and check your BMR. If you're well under, that might be why you're so hungry. I found that, while Iw asn't HUNGRY, I was SUPER CRANKY and really moody/depressed when I was aiming for only 1200cals. I've upped to 1400 and feel a lot better. If you're not eating your exercise calories, maybe try starting to do that, too. Don't beat yourself up for going over. Remeber that 1lb = 3500cal so going over by 200 isn't going to have your progress grinding to a halt. The advice my moms is always giving me when I'm feeling down and discouraged is this: Health, fitness and weight loss takes years, not days. Be patient and persistent, and you'll get there.

Greetings newbies! I'm wowed at how many fresh faces we keep getting, it's great!

Good Morning everyone!! Yay it's Friday!!! This morning didn't get off to the greatest start... my cousin had her baby this morning and he is very sick The delivery went great, but he came out blue, they couldn't get him to take a breath. They found out its not his lungs, its his heart. A team from Mary Bridge Childrend Hopsital is coming down to get him and bring him up to Tacoma close to where I live, my fam lives about 2 hours south. So... the whole family is completely terrified, I still don't know the whole story, I am just getting bits and pieces from my Mom. I guess his heartrate is WAY too high, and oxygen level bery low, I don't know what all that means.
Mandijo- An HRM is a heartrate monitor. Its monitors your heartrate and can give a more accurate estimate of the calories you are burning. The best kind come w/ a comfortable chest strap, and a stop watch that you can enter all of your info in and it wil record all the info... very cool if you are tired of guessing how many caloies you burned from exercise (most machines are very off, so is the MFP database I noticed) Also, I love cooking seafood, its my fave. Do you like salmon? A lot of people think they don't b/c in a lot of parts of the country 'farm raised' is the norm. Wild caught may be hard to come by in the midwest. I live in the Pacific Northwest, so there is an abundance year round! YAY!! Never ever buy farm raised!!! The taste is horrible and the fish are diseased and yucky swimming in those fish farms. BUT if you do come across wild caught salmon I live to mix some fat free sour cream w/ some fresh topped dil and few squeezes of fresh lemon, just spread it on the fish. Then bake in the oven. VERY yummy, or if you want a more simple approach squeeze lemon then season as you like. Most seafood counters have some spices on the counter that are special for whatever kind of dish you are preparing. Also, you can try this w/ halibut! Halibut is delicious, and has a more hearty less-fishy than most flavor. Here is a great shrimp recipe my husband and I made last week, it was really yummy, we added more shrimp though FYI I have heard shrimp and crab are pretty high in cholesterol so if that is something you are concerned about then you may not want to have it more than once a week...
Shrimp in Tomato Sauce over Pasta
*Prep time- 15 minutes Serves 4

1 tbls olive oil
1 small bunch scallions
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
3/4 cup dry white wine ( I only had red wine and it turned out great, if you don't have any wine at all that’s fine too)
1 tbls sugar
3/4 cup chopped flat leaf pasta or basil
12 fresh or frozen shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used a lot more than this, I used a whole frozen bag from the store)
8 oz whole wheat pasta (your choice!)
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1. Warm oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add scallions and garlic. Cook until scallions begin to turn golden
2. Add tomatoes, wine, sugar, and parsley or basil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 20-25 minutes, or until sauce is slightly thickened.
3. Add shrimp and return to simmer. Cook until shrimp are cooked (and opaque in color)
4. Cook pasta according to instructions. When done drain and add sauce to pasta.
5. Sprinkle w/ parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

Nutritional Information
1 Serving: Calories 380 (Calories from Fat 60); Total Fat 7g (Saturated Fat 2g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 65mg; Sodium 650mg; Total Carbohydrate 59g (Dietary Fiber 6g, Sugars 10g); Protein 19g Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A 30%; Vitamin C 30%; Calcium 20%; Iron 35% Exchanges: 2 1/2 Starch; 1 Other Carbohydrate; 2 Vegetable; 1 Very Lean Meat; 1 Fat Carbohydrate Choices: 4
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Chera325- I wouldn't worry about 186 calories! That is actually REALLY good for a beginner, trust me it gets easier. And MFP already created a 500 calorie deficit for you, so you didn't gain, you are still losing at that rate!
Ashmarie- you are welcome to join... there aren't any rules or challenges on this thread we just chat it up. Some of us make monthly goals ( i think its monthly) but we don't 'check in' or anything we just support eachother.

I paid about $120 for my polar F6... you can get it cheaper if you shop around on ebay or amazon. I think they are comfortable, I forget the chest strap is on sometimes when i get home. Totally worth it if you have the extra cash

HAHA! I just realized that the site put stars because it thought I was using profanity! I was asking if D i c k s Sporting Goods carried the monitors!

Mandi--I actually do eat quite often throughout the day. I read in one of my fitness magazines that a fairly large breakfast is best for weight loss (balanced of course). I snack throughout the day on healthy little snacks as well, and I try to eat a lot of fiber. I still find myself getting hungry though, and today, I noticed that even though I am working out and getting plenty of sleep, I am still quite tired. I really feel that I may not be consuming enough calories throughout the day to energize me. I am going to keep trying to get as close as possible to my goal calories for the day for about another week (hoping that my body adjusts), but if it doesn't get any easier, I may have to reconsider my daily caloric intake.