Wanting to save my job...

Hello and welcome to MFP, the best website ever!!! You will love this site if you don't already. I love this site. It is so motivational, supportive, helpful, easy to use, and everyone is so nice and friendly. I just wanted to wish you a lot of success on your weight loss journey. You can do this!!!!!!!!!!! :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

I just love your post and your quote

Hi Misty! Your first step was admitting you want to lose weight :flowerforyou: I went from 189 pounds to 172.8 (I weigh myself every 15th of the month). I work for the Army/Civilian so don't salute me :laugh: I power walk 3 miles during my lunch hour (M/W/F), and I've added weights. Since we have a gym on post that is FREE, I do weights on Tuesdays (during lunch time, too) and I sit in the hot tub for 15 minutes to soothe my achy muscles. If you want to lose weight here are MY tips for you:

I KNOW you have restaurants on post and it's quick for ya'll to stop by for a quick bite to eat. No worries. Have your salad with NO dressing, or ask for a hamburger kid's/happy meal with NO cheese, and sub the french fries with apple dips, drink a diet Coke. When you go to subway ask for the chicken 6" sub, with NO dressing, on toasted wheat toast, NO cheese, and ask for all the fixings (including jalapenos), grab a bag of Baked Lays, and get one raisin cookie. If you go to the DFAC, go for the soup of the day and ask for a hot cup of water (to dilute the soup since it will be VERY salty), grab melba toast, your diet Coke, water, wheat bread, go for the fish/chicken (not fried), go for leafy green veggies, stay away from butter/margarine, and for dessert have jello, grab an apple/banana/orange (any fruit).

Drink 64 oz of water daily; work out 3 days a week for an HOUR (ANY cardio vascular exercise), your calorie intake should be 1,250, take your vitamins/supplements (I'm hoping you've seen the doc this year; making sure you're "fit" for PT), use extra virgin olive oil (this is yummy to dip wheat bread when you make your wheat spaghetti); speaking of "wheat" eat wheat products: bread, spaghetti, cereal, etc., eat fruits and veggies, snack on "any" type of nut (walnuts, almonds, and sunflower seeds are best), drink skim/soy milk, eat yogurt, eat fish/chicken/turkey/lean meats, have salads WITHOUT dressing (ask for extra virgin olive oil @ restaurants/use at home), stay away from POPS/SODAS (drink diet sodas/pops once a day if not, once a week), don't eat "fried foods" (french fries, potato chips, etc), try eating Baked Lays, air popped popcorn, buy a pizza stone ($29.99) and you can create your own delicious home made pizzas with Boboli wheat pizza crust (already made); veggies to your hearts content, one can of refried beans (protein), one can of whole kernel corn (drained), and lite mozzarella cheese...yum! You can eat the Oreda crinkle cut fries that you bake in the oven, stay away from the salt shaker, stay AWAY from processed foods, foods made with hydrogenated oils (cookies, cakes, pies, etc). For dessert you can eat a skinny cow chocolate w/peanut butter ice cream sandwich....yummy!

Stop eating 2-3 hours BEFORE you go to sleep. I learned from Oprah's Boot Camp you have to STOP eating 2-3 hours BEFORE you go to sleep because your metabolism shuts down (as everything does when you're in a REM (rapid eye movement). So if PT is at 3:00 am, you have to stop eating 12:00 midnight.

Go to www.prevention.com. They have yummy reicpes and is another souce of website for motivation. Did you know that if you pay for your subscription to Prevention they give you a free pedometer? One should walk/step 10,000 steps daily. Check them out! They have a free website w/the magazine there in front of you in case you can't suscribe just yet.

Don't drink COFFEE. Drink Chai black/green tea instead. Chew gum all day. It keeps your mouth "busy". I've also heard/learned that before you eat a meal eat your soup first since it helps fill you up before the main course.

Please, please, please weigh yourself "monthly". We women suffer from PMS, we retain water, mood swings, etc., two week before we mensturate. I swear (Eva crossing her finger and doing a "cross" by her ) you WILL lose 3-4 pounds every month. If you do the "math" that's THE average of 1 pound a week. This helps you from NOT getting discouraged IF, if, you weigh yourself daily/weekly as alot of women in this site tend to do (weigh themselves daily/weekly and then get discouraged and give up on dieting/exercising).

Thirty minutes before you work out eat one of the following (check out the OR), one apple, OR one small box of raisins with a handful of walnuts, OR soup, OR yogurt. Why? "They are packed with high-quality carbohydrates, which provide a quick source of fuel for your muscles, but they have just enough protein and fat to help you maintain a steady, elevated energy level" (source: Prevention Magazine April 2007).

AFTER your work out, drink a protein shake (Slimfast, Special K, EAS Myoplex, etc). Why? "After a workout, your muscles need protein to repair microscopic muslce tears, plus another shot of carbs to help restock energy stores. Cyclists who drank it after a tough racing session had improved endurance and recovered fast than those who drank an ordinary sports drink (which supplies carbs and electrolytes, but no protein)" (Source: Prevention Magazine April 2007).

Stay away from alcoholic drinks (includes wine). I know ya'll go to the Post Club to drink (off post, too). If you want to lose weight and have not, this is a sacrifice on your part by not drinking during the weekend.

Set small goals for right now. Start with the FIRST 10 pounds. If you work out and eat right (the first month WITHOUT cheating), you'll lose 5-6 pounds (mainly water retention weight) because you are flushing your body (detoxing). THEN the weight will be HARDER to lose. Remember, it's soooo easy to gain the weight, but hard to lose it. "No pain, no gain!" No worries if the weight is harder to lose since it means that it is time to "up" your exercise regimen (1 hour 4-5 days a week). When you've lost the weight, then you can go "up" to 1,500 calories (maybe for the last stubborn 10 pounds). If you closely watch "THE BIGGEST LOSER" they have to lose more than 50 pounds; their calorie intake is 1,000-1,100. Wow! Bless their for doing that!!!

If you want more "tips" let me know as you know how to reach me. Blessings and good luck!

Eva

Good intel. I know that feeling of bringing up whatever is in your gut at the end of a race just for the sake of time for the run. I switched to swimming the PFA the last 3 years in the Navy since the times have gotten easier to get an outstanding. Which by the way I taught myself to swim using the life guards at the base pool in my 30's and now I can perform all the strokes and swim the PFA with an outstanding. Before that I always would run the race. You can even bike or use the eliptical for your score now which for some folks has been a life saver. Good Luck :happy:

Welcome home Misty.

I've tried costly diet clubs, self-help books, calorie counting (without the cool tools) all just to be dissappointed in the end. I've been at this for 3 months and am down 16 pounds from when I joined (actually down 27 from when I first started by own thing). This is a great website. As I said, the tools are really cool and helpful and are great for keeping you on track. So...welcome and have fun.