Posts by deirdre_g

At your age, you're probably still growing.  We grow until we're about 25 years old, even it we're not gaining height.  I didn't stop developing until I was about 23, my hips and chest both got bigger, and by 25 I had gone from about 110 at 16, to 125.  I'm 5'3.5", and I was not overweight, at all.

I think your weight is perfect for your height.  If you look at the BMI charts, you're just exactly where you ought to be.  I can't guess at your sister's motives for commenting the way she did, but it doesn't sound fair to me.  How do you look in the mirror?  Be objective!  I'll bet you're just lovely.

Please eat.  Be sensible about your food, get lots of water, sleep and exercise, and you'll always be fine.

I like it fine with grilled chicken, or fish.  I might do an asian style marinade, for fish, teriyaki: (2 parts sherry or sake, 1 part shoyu, 1 part mirin, garlic and ginger), or for chicken, thai style (1  part fish sauce, 1 part lime juice, basil, kaffir lime leaves, chopped fresh chilis, sugar to taste), and then some sort of a salad, even a simple one of vinegar and sugar over sweet onions and cukes, with a bit of chopped chili, or a sesame/vinegar flavor over tomatoes and thinly sliced onions, both very goo.  I like to serve both meal types with brown basmati.  I use it in place of Jasmin rice on all my Thai meals.  

A good place for yummy Thai recipes is thaitable.com.  I avoid the coconut milk based recipes, but most of the other ones fit nicely into my caloric needs.

Congratulations Pat!

Excellent strategies, and all three worked for me.  Especially: Planning.

I lost my first 35 lbs by planning ahead several days.  Once I got a handle on it, I didn't plan so far ahead, and started to average my calories, as you suggested.  It works so well!

I always count exercise as bonus "burn" rather than bonus "eat" calories.  This helps me keep the focus on weight loss rather than expecting a treat for something I should be doing anyway.

Have you tried pool running?  It's not nearly fun as road running, but it takes the pressure off your feet.  You can do it in the deep end, or slow swimming lane with a belt, or in the waist deep area of the pool, for less impact.  I often pool run when I don't feel like dealing with the weather.  Last winter I was replacing as often as one run per week with a pool run.  It didn't seem to affect my goals in an adverse way, either.

Or, you could try cycling.  I find the cardio benefits can be just as good as with running, and you can thrash yourself pretty good on a hilly ride.

I agree with everyone: walking is fine.  I often have a walk break or two, over 5km, even though I've raced 12 without stopping.  And I was going to recommend finding a running program, but bluedawg did it already.

Congratulations on getting back into the swing of things!

Yummy topic!

Grains: Cooked Oatmeal, bread, granola, box cereals (Special K, Red Berries), brown basmati rice

Vegetables: tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, green beans, avocadoes

Fruits: apples, bananas, green grapes, real strawberries (not genetically engineered), peaches

Dairy: Skim Milk, whole fat yogurt, Dairy Queen Soft Serve (ooh--hhhhhh), 1% cottage cheese, cheddar

Meats/Proteins: chicken, salmon, snapper, dungeness crab, prawns

Fats/Sweets/Oils: chocolate, wine, peanut butter, butter, maple syrup

Congratulations!  That's inspirational.  Not a lot of people can claim to have done that.  Such a feeling!

Good luck!  Go well hydrated and have a lot of fun!

1. Tomatos

2. Bananas

3. Apples

4. Oatmeal

5. Bread

6. Yogurt

7. 1% Cottage Cheese

8. Grapes

9. Cukes

10. Green Beans

Everything I've ever read has recommended not attempting weightloss whilst engaged in heavy training.  

That being said, I'm in the same boat as you, I have 10lbs to lose, and am training to PR my 10K, in September, and run my first half marathon race (have done the distance, but never raced it) in October.

This is my plan:  I thought I'd keep track of my calories, in and out, throughout this process, and maintain a deficit of no more than 200 calories per day.  I'll also try to keep that ratio of 2:1:1 for carbs, protien and fat, using nutrient rich foods.  If I find my energy levels are suffering, I'll up the calories.  I'd really like to lose this weight, as I know I was faster when I was 5lbs lighter than now, and I've had more training since, but am 2 minutes slower over 5Km.  

I'm sure some of the running magazines and their related sites probably have some good advice on this.  I think the July issue of Runner's World has an article on weightloss, too.  I'm not sure if it's training related, though.

Good luck with your goals!