25 years young, ready to get myself together!

priyasonty
priyasonty Posts: 14 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Hello everyone!

My name is Priya, I am 25, a 3rd year law student, living in Columbus, Ohio. I used MFP successfully in the past (before I came to law school) and lost 35 pounds - went from 170 to 135. However, I'll add a few disclaimers to that - I was following the slimfast plan (and eating lots of processed foods found in 100-calorie packs) and had copious amounts of time to workout. I was a school teacher (any Teach for America alumni out there?) in Memphis, TN, so the warm climate, regular hours of work, and the fact that I didn't really want to bring food into the building other than something in a can or a pre-wrapped bar (because of the mice!) made my routine a lot easier to follow.

I tried to keep up with my routine - I had a trainer for my first year of law school whom I saw once a week, but ate whatever I wanted and saw the pounds come back on. In law school, student organizations have their meetings during lunch and frequently order pizza, subs, tacos, etc. When you're stressed and famished because you are always studying and only put food in your mouth when it's available and easy to get, you eat what you're given. Furthermore, you start neglecting the amazing tool that MFP is because you don't have time to constantly track your food (or at least, you think you don't). Before I knew it, all the size 4 suits I bought to start law school had to go up to 6, 8...and a few weeks ago, I bought a size 14 skirt and 12 jacket. Wearing size 10 and sometimes 12 shorts and pants (keep having to go back every few months and buy new pants a size up), and I'm tired of it. I still have my size 4 clothes that I look at longingly, because I need the motivation to get back into them.

I've tried a few things to jump-start weight loss and health, but none have worked. I tried going mostly vegetarian for a little while, but to my roommates that meant a lot of cheese and pasta, and since they were cooking, that's what I ate. I tried to start running last October, and ran my first 5K pretty successfully, but signed up for my first half marathon which I completed last month and felt like I was going to die the whole time. I ended up walking a lot more than I planned and finished in just under 3 hours, about 13.5 minute miles, which is not quite where I wanted to be and I am tired of telling people "my goal was just to finish" - I could have done a lot better.

I'm back on MFP now after watching a bunch of documentaries about healthy eating on Netflix and buying Insanity and doing two days of it (and holy crap, am I sore!). I need to buy a scale, I have my heart rate monitor coming in the mail right now, and I'm ready to commit again while I'm working at a summer internship and am keeping regular hours. I'm hoping this can help me maintain good habits now that I will want to keep during the year. I only have a few friends (some of my sorority sisters from college), but would absolutely LOVE to have more - I want all the advice I can get and to help and support as many people as I can in return! We can do this - I did it once!

I am seriously considering going vegetarian or vegan - but I have been eating meat for 25 years, and am not entirely sure if I can sacrifice meat protein while I am doing Insanity and training (hopefully, I would love to have a buddy!) for a full marathon in late October. Really, I just want to eat healthier. I know a lot of the weight came back on after stopping MFP because I stopped logging, but more because I was drinking slimfast and eating really processed foods that weren't supporting my nutritional needs. Any advice on going vegetarian or vegan while following a literally insane workout program?

Also, I'd love advice on healthy lunches - I will scour the forums myself, but would love to hear personal thoughts (I think I will listen better if I know there's a real person behind the comment talking directly to me, haha). My problem now is that I eat lean cuisines for lunch every day. Great for the calorie count and quite delicious, but still overly processed and I am not getting my 5 fruit and veggie servings. Any thoughts on smoothies/juicing for breakfast? Or even throughout the day/week? Is it worth it to invest in a juicer?

Sorry, I know that was really long, but I wanted to provide all the appropriate details about myself. I am really committed and would love to be friends with you and combine our mutual support if anyone is willing. I truly believe anything is possible - I read a book and watched a documentary by the same name, called The Secret (I gather it was more popular than I thought), and while some people really doubt that you can achieve whatever you want, I need to believe that is possible so that I can have the life and body of my dreams. Maybe it is a little crazy, but the power of positive thinking is not!

Thanks for reading :)

Replies

  • kliermann
    kliermann Posts: 514
    i would never be able to go vegan i would feel...unsatisfied

    Also for a great breakfast try a 100 calorie tortil and lower fat penutbutter spread on it with a dash of cinnamin sorry cant spell hah and then wrap a banana in it its soooo good and it is more filling to me because it feels like your really eating a lot when your not

    easy lunches that helped me lose weight the first time are the smart ones microwave meals i know a women whos a teacher that lost close to 80 lbs in a year eating just them and didnt change her drinking habbits

    just a thought

    feel free to add me if you would like
  • priyasonty
    priyasonty Posts: 14 Member
    Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it! :)
  • wateryphoenix
    wateryphoenix Posts: 644 Member
    My mom hasn't eaten meat since she was a kid (except for seafood). So I grew up on mostly pasta and beans, with an occasional veggie thrown in. We ate fruit a lot, though. I try to eat fruit a lot now, too. Sometimes I'll eat them, sometimes they will go bad. For breakfast you can always have some berries and a banana and/or a piece of toast with PB on it.

    For lunch I do best when I eat a salad. A nice, big salad without a lot of dressing. For a while I was using a vinaigrette that was low cal and you don't have to use a lot of it to get a taste in each bite. Salads you can throw together at night in a container and bring it with you to work the next day. (If you have a fridge available, at least. It might be alright at room temp if it's cooler wherever you are). Also, if you still want to eat a lean cuisine, you can have a small salad with it.

    My b/f cooks, so I either have to stress to him to please cook healthier, or get in the kitchen and cook myself. I've had roomies before that cooked great food, but it was quite unhealthy. I gained a good 10-20 lbs with her staying with me.

    Smoothies are great. I'm not fantastic at making them, so my b/f does it. (I really do avoid the kitchen unless dishes need to be done, lol). We specifically bought a nice blender so we could have smoothies. I don't have a juicer so I couldn't give any advice on that.

    You could go vegan, you just have to make sure you eat specific foods to make sure you get all of your nutrients. You would lose iron, for instance, if you quit eating meat, so you would have to make up for that by eating beans, squash, nuts, spinach, etc. Add me (and anyone else can, too!) if you like to motivate/be motivated.

    ALSO: grats on running the 5k and half-marathon! Way more activity than I have. Stay active, and good luck!
  • andilion
    andilion Posts: 44 Member
    Adding you because I can totally relate. I also went from 135 to 170 during grad school and I am finally getting rid of the weight.
  • ShannonB06
    ShannonB06 Posts: 9
    Hi! Welcome back to MFP I am addicted to this app lol. I am pescetarian, I eat fish and eggs. I am always trying to find good easy, healthy recipes too maybe we can swap! Feel free to add me. Today my meal prep is mung beans (never had them before!) for a chilled salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, and parsley hopefully that turns out well. I made brown rice to pair with it as well. I'm also doing a lot with tempeh, it is so versatile and easy! You can bake it or saute it and add to salads or sandwiches. I couldn't live without my protein shakes though! Otherwise I try to stay away from processed foods, whole fresh foods are so much more nutritious.
  • KL124
    KL124 Posts: 44 Member
    Let me preface this by saying that I am by no means an expert. I'm definitely still trying to eat healthier! You may want to visit a dietitan to get a professional's input on what to eat.

    If you enjoy eating meat, I would just stick to eating lean cuts and grilling or baking rather than frying. Protein is what is going to make you feel full, so don't sacrifice meat unless you are excited to eat veggie burgers, beans, nuts, tofu, etc. I've found that eating healthy foods makes me feel full much quicker, even though I'm cutting my calories down. I feel more full eating one greek yogurt and some peppers and humus than I do when I eat a whole bag of chips.
  • dannyXoxo
    dannyXoxo Posts: 60 Member
    Are their reasons behind you choosing to cut out meat or are you just doing it for weight loss because you can still achieve amazing, if not better results with meat (no disrespect to vegans/vegetarians). My diet consists of 60% fat(mostly animal but also plant) and about 30% protein which is all animal based and I've not only been able to eat less but have lost weight and now have an athletic build... Not baggy just tryna show you that you can lose weight while eating meat. If you are going vegetarian for reasons aside from solely fat loss I would suggest lots of seafood and beans/lentils. It doesn't have to always be pasta and cheese :p

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