jmpaterno Member

I'd definitely suggest measuring yourself or taking progress photos once a month too. My thinking is that you could lose weight in places that won't affect your dress size, which could be discouraging (at least I'd be discouraged). For me, my face got thinner before anything else did, and I lost more than 20 lbs before…

I was really afraid to weigh myself when I started losing weight. When I finally did, the number was way higher than it should've been, but I felt like, "Okay, now I know what I'm dealing with, and I'm gonna fix it." I felt like I was taking control. I'm still afraid to weigh myself sometimes (like after a vacation), but I…

Keto is a low-carb diet! Some people are really into it (I know there are Keto-specific groups on here), but I just like it because it makes it a lot easier to stay around my calorie goal. Congratulations on your loss--every little bit counts! I know what you mean with worrying about meeting the goal before the big day.…

Yes! I'm getting married in October 2017! I started losing weight a few months before we got engaged, but I still have a long way to go. My fiance started doing Keto a while back, and now I'm doing that along with calorie counting after a few months of goofing off (and gaining back six pounds...) We're doing engagement…

To your last post--yup! So the rule of thumb is to create a deficit of 3500 calories a week to lose one pound a week. So if you burn 2150 calories every day, you could eat 1650 every day (500 under what you burn) and average one pound lost a week, which is great and sustainable! (That's assuming that the calorie-burned…

If you're logging accurately (and you seem to know what you're doing!), you should definitely be able to lose at 1400 (assuming you're not very, very short). You could be retaining water from eating more, though, or from changing up your exercise regimen. Mostly, don't be down on yourself! This too shall pass. You've done…

I could be wrong, but I think this really depends on height. I'm 5'3" and have lost 23 pounds, and my fiance is 6'2" and has lost 19. People have really noticed my loss (even I can see it now), but his is less obvious. I feel like my weight has fewer places to go, and it's really obvious when I gain even 5 or 10 pounds.…

Hi! I'll friend you. I started at 203 and am now 183 with a goal of 130ish. Im also 5'3". I probably won't be done by August--I'm moving pretty slowly--but it'll be fun to be friends!

I'd like to join too please!

I try to exercise and try to eat smaller meals so that I can fit in snacks I wouldn't normally eat (chocolate or chips for the win)! If I'm really feeling crappy or hungrier than usual, I just try to be nice to myself and may go past my calorie goal. I figure that one almost-maintenance day won't kill me, and as long as…

Age 26 Height 5'3" SW: 203 CW: 183 GW: 133-138 Hope my MFP twin finds me!

OP, you may be able to eat more than 1300 (and certainly more than 1200), especially if you have a bit of weight to lose. I'm 5'2" and started at 203, and my goal is 1430 calories a day. Eating at that goal (and, frankly, up to 1600/day some weeks), I've lost 20 pounds in 5 months.(Christmas and the holidays slowed me…

Totally know how you feel! When I started losing weight I would weigh in during my TOM, and it always made me upset (doesn't help that I'm always a little extra emotional that week). I knew weight loss isn't linear, hormones can affect it, blah blah blah, but it can still be hard to see a bigger number when you're trying…

I've also found it's really important to be nice to yourself and to not beat yourself up if you go off track. If you go back to "your old ways" for a day or two, don't give up, don't punish yourself by over-restricting, and don't get down on yourself. The important thing is to get back to your new ways the next day. You…

Oh, I'll be indulging fully on Christmas. But I'm also eating 100 fewer calories than normal for a dozen or so days this month to give myself a little wiggle room :)

If it's not a chain, I get simple dishes--meat, potatoes, and vegetables. Then I ask the server how large the piece of meat is (usually they'll be able to tell you how many ounces it is) and ask if I can have extra vegetables in place of potatoes.

Since you're technically a student, is there an on-campus gym you can join? It would probably be a lot cheaper (or free?) and could offer classes that you could pencil into your schedule each week. Even if it didn't have classes, you could always make an ongoing date with a friend to go twice a week or even just add "go to…

This is exactly what I came here to say! I'm 5'3" and started at 203 lbs, and I'm eating 1400 a day, losing at a nice rate, and not going crazy. Definitely up your calorie goal a bit, at least while you get used to this. Losing 1 lb a week is definitely better than overrestricting and quitting!

Oo! I'll join. I'll shoot for 10, would love 12, and wouldn't be mad at 8!

The only thing I can really think of (and what I do before events) is to cut down on your sodium intake the week before! That'll help with water retention and keep you from feeling bloated.

My go-to excuse is "I'll try a bite of Boyfriend's when he has some!" That's been working for me, but your friend does seem to be pushier about this than my friends and family are.

My boyfriend took a few pictures of me on a hike this morning, and I love all of them and can really see a difference!

This thread is so wonderful! I've always loved reading, and I basically work as a bookworm (well, I work as a manuscript editor, but close enough)! I really love it, but it's made me supersedentary (part of why I'm here), and I don't read for pleasure as much as I'd like to because I read for work all day. I did just read…

I've given myself little breaks for stress reasons--I actually did it for maybe the third time last week, and it worked out well for me. I had a crazy rush job at work that took every second of my time, and I just felt too sleep deprived and stressed to meal prep, cook, and really focus on staying on track. So I gave…

I've done the fast weight loss thing…and I ended up back on here, twenty pounds heavier than I was when I started losing all that weight. At this point, for me, I know it's either stay where I was (my starting weight), or be patient. It doesn't feel like a choice to me--if I don't lose weight slowly and sustainably, I'm…

I'm in a somewhat similar boat. My BF is considering dieting with me, but even so, he'd have a lot (like six or seven hundred) more calories to work with each day. In the meantime, I've found some cooking strategies to make sure I stay on track. Sometimes we'll eat the same thing in different ways. For example, we'll make…

What time do you eat dinner? I used to eat a lot (like, a lot) of calories at night, but then I started working late and eating dinner later, and it helps a lot. I eat a filling breakfast, a late lunch, and an afternoon snack, and then I eat dinner between nine and ten. For me, this really cuts down on my snacking, because…

I like to bake it in the oven and put it in a giant Greek salad with lettuce, feta, cukes, tomatoes, peppers, and a dressing made of olive oil (1 tbsp per serving at most), mustard, spices, and white wine vinegar. I set the oven on about 300, throw it in with a little bit of dressing, and check it every five or so minutes…

Yes! Budget Bytes is the best! Actually made a BB recipe tonight :) OP, the website's chickpea curry is, in my opinion, really good, and it's vegetarian!