Posts by breesar1662

Thank you everyone for responding to my post :) I aplogizing for it (and this reply) being so egotistical-- I really do appreciate all your help!

amethystgirl: Thank you for posting the article :) I read through it once, but I think I need to read it again to fully understand the implications, as well as the practical applications.

devilish_patsy: First, I want to say that you are very fit-  you look great!- those are the kind of muscles I would like as well :)  Thank you for the advice :) Actually, it's funny you mentioned measuring myself-- I had just done it before I posted-- but you're right, I didn't do it when I first began working out, etc. It seems like a much more accurate way to determine progress.

As far as what I have been doing so far, I am going to put it in order, since I sometimes combine weights (circuit) and cardio (sorry in advance that it is too long).

Sundays: "lift" weights on a circuit (about 10 machines- takes about 30 minutes)-- I do 3 sets of 15 reps at 30-50 lbs. for arms and 70-90 lbs for legs (I may have been buying into the pink dumbbell theory which seems to be hotly debated on this site-- when I upped the lbs. when I lifted six months ago, I did believe that my muscles were getting bulky, but it could have been the shock of the change- idk); I then do 40-60 minutes of cardio (usually the elliptical, but I occaisionally do 10 minutes on the rowing machine as well)

Mondays: run/jog-- I am currently at 1.50 miles and plan to gradually increase the distance; I then do cardio (elliptical again) for 40-60 minutes

Tuesdays: I take a class that includes 30 minutes of toning (lots of squats, dead lifts, etc. with a 12lb bar weight-- I think I will try 15lbs soon). We then do 30 minutes of cardio kickboxing.

Wednesdays: Same routine as Monday (I sometimes substitute an hour of racquetball for the cardio, but do the run as well)

Thursdays: same routine as Sunday

Fridays: 1 hour of racquetball and run 1.5 miles (before or after racquetball)

Saturday: rest

Now that I look at my routine, I seem to do a lot of elliptical-- I'm not sure what to switch it up with though.

pettypetty: I've been doing circuit training (the machines). What kind of weight training have you done? I think it's awesome that you can show off your muscles to your boyfriend lol. Thanks for the advice on working the lower back and the crunches-- I'll try to add them into my workout routine, although I am not sure which exercises work the lower back.

karozel-- thank you for the advice :) I did read through some of the pink dumbbell post, but I wasn't sure exactly what it all meant in regards to losing fat-- your explanation actually helps quite a bit. So, once I reach  my goal weight or am happy with my body, do I stop limiting my calories but continue lifting to build the muscles?

Hi Sparkle!

I used to absolutely despise running (and all sports that involved it) and while I cannot say that I truly love it, I sometimes find myself enjoying the feeling of pushing my body.

I used the Couch to 5k plan that dispatchn mentioned above-- here's a link to the plan: http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.s html

Honestly, when I started it, jogging for a five minutes was difficult for me (mostly mentally-- because I always wanted to quit).  This plan did help me get into running and I made it up to 3 miles straight and ran a 5k-- which was amazing for a girl who wouldn't even do the mile in high school gym class (I walked it because I, too, was embarassed).

My best advice would be to push yourself to finish the time for the week, but not too far beyond that (unless you are really ready for it). If you push yourself and give up, you might not go back to it (or at least that was my experience). There were a few points where I would repeat a week over again since it was still difficult to me.

I did stop running for about 6-8 months because I got too 'busy'-- but I am now back up to 1 mile straight and will continue to push myself further (adding about .25 miles every week or so).

Good Luck! Feel free to message/add me if you have any questions or just want to talk about running-- it kind of sucked for me at first-- but it's not so bad now (I may actually enjoy it on occaission lol).

Dear Techdog--

Congrats on losing 90 pounds! That's amazing!

Thanks, Feanor :) It's good to hear that it might not affect my "health plan" (i.e. weight loss). I usually don't get to bed until later (after midnight) so eating at night usually doesn't affect that.

Thanks again :)

Hi...

 I lived in Japan for about 5 months and while I was not dieting at the time-- I found that I was eating very heatlthy food. I was spoiled in the fact that I had a host mother who was an amazing chef (Japanese, Chinese and Western cuisine, her specialty was pastries!)-- but I still loved to eat mikons (similar to mandarin oranges-- sweet and very easy to peel) and I loved all of the fresh seafood and tofu. I also loved the kabocha (pumpkin) which should still be available this time of year. Miso soup was very filling and I do not think it has an incredible amount of calories or fat. Again, my hostmom cooked, so I did not have to prepare my own fish or anything-- but if you're a fish person, the salmon, shrimp, ika (squid), etc. is amazing.

Thank you Spoiled Candy and RW-- both of your responses were very helpful! I think I will try to start my day off positive tomorrow and take away my opportunity to binge (i.e. my cash-- the stores on campus don't accept debit cards or checks). Hopefully, I can drag myself out of bed to do some ab/bun exercises-- those always make me feel like I can see improvement-- haha. I think the problem before may have been that I was too strict on my diet and did not allow myself any sweets at all (my "guilty pleasure"- was a chocolate chip rice cake). Even though I wanted this to be a long term lifelong diet/lifestyle change-- I don't think it was probably sustainable...bc of my tendency to binge when i feel deprived.

I will start over tomorrow :)

RW--- you and I are about the same height and weight-- can I ask you about how many calories you usually allow yourself on a non-binge day? I was restricting myself to 1200 a day-- but I didn't know if that was not enough or even too many. i will definately have to get back into the exercise groove (i did it monday-- but was off and on right b4 that). 

Thanks again both of you :)

Thank you, Dscoot. You have def. articulated what it is I fear about losing weight-- a related thing I fear is how are the ppl who already know me going to react? In high school, I had a friend who lost a lot of weight and began hanging out with the "cool crowd" and kinda left the rest of us behind--- of course, we called her a b*tch and a traitor. I really don't want to be that person or seen that way-- is it inevitable? I mean life isn't always like high school but sometimes it seems like it.

Thanks again for letting me know I am not the only one who is scared of this!

Name: Sarah
Age: 23
Height: 5'10"
Start Weight: 165
Recent Weight: 155
Goal Weight: 130
Pounds till Goal: 25
Give a brief bio of you/how your diet is going/how your day is going:

This week has not been too bad of a diet week. I have not had any alcohol this week unlike last week (I had drank on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of last wk bc I went out with friends and everyone kept buying me drinks or they were free! and I just couldn't resist). I may have a glass of wine with supper tomorrow night-- but other than that no empty calories. My ankles have been hurting when I walk/jog sporadically so I took today off instead of my usual Saturday. I only lost one pound this week-- but it is still something. I experimented with my calories this week-- instead of eating 1200, I ate 1400 since I exercised-- but now I don't know if that is too much or too little- it seems I will never get it right. Also, for the first time in probably 10 years, someone asked me if I had lost weight! yay! I can't notice it on myself-- but at least one person did. How is everybody else doing?

Hi... I hope it is not too late for me to join! This is the perfect group for me, since I do my weigh-ins on Fridays anyway and everybody seems so friendly :D

Here are my beginning stats:

Name: Sarah
Age: 23
Height:  5'9.5
Start Weight: 165
Recent Weight: 158
Goal Weight: 130
Pounds till Goal: 28
Give a brief bio of you/how your diet is going/how your day is going:

I just began my diet/exercise plan about 3 weeks ago. I recently moved across the country from Iowa to Maine and have always wanted to lose weight (well since I was in high school--- I gained 30 lbs my freshman year of high school and never lost it--just stayed at 165!)-- and this seemed like a good time to start. I am living with a roommate who does not have junkfood lying around (like my last roommate) and the university has a great gym (even though I am not naturally inclined towards exercise). I actually really enjoy walking- sometimes long distances and that is how i started this diet.

My diet is going okay this week-- I added a bit of running to my walk and have been doing a bit of stationary biking-- and I can actually feel that i've worked out.I still worry i'm not doing enough- but I will always worry that. The first 2 weeks I was only eating 1000 calories a day of very healthy food (mostly veggies, less fruit)-- I lost 5 lbs the first week and then only 1.5 the second-- I know now that 1 to 2 lbs a week is considered successful-- but it made me realize that my body is probably in starvation mode. I have tried to bump my calorie intake up to 1200 a day-- but I have only been successful today. For some reason it was hard the first couple days to eat more than 1000 calories! esp. after only eating 1000 or less for 2 weeks. my biggest problem is that i don't eat during the day-- but want to eat at night-- when I know I should not be eating the majority of my calories.

Today was probably my best day so far on my diet. I had a little over 1200 calories- got a grade of A on CC and exercised for an hour and a half or so. I also got in some situps!

Sorry I'm so long winded. I look forward to checking in on Friday and being a part of this group/post :D

I'm not sure I understood all this-- and I was actually curious about it too. i'm not much for math lol Can somebody please help me figure mine out? I'm hopeless lol 

so, normally I try to eat 1200 calories-- which can be hard because i feel guilty after I eat 1000 and i eat a lot of veggies esp. mushrooms and green peppers (not too many calories--now that I've started my healthy eating-- b4 i have no idea how much i ate-- a lot).

I am 158 lbs and 5"10 and want to lose 2 lbs a week (1lb a week would work) and I've been walking fairly briskly for one hour and 20 min or so (5-6 miles)-- I try to do a tiny bit of running as well (maybe a total of a half or a quarter mile)...then I do 10 or 15 min on a stationary bike-- low intensity-- so I may burn from 300-400 calories, I think.

Would I need to eat any of those calories back? If I am understanding what you are saying-- i would eat 100 or 200 more?

 Another related question, if I don't eat those calories back (if I should) -- does my body go into starvation mode like it would if I only ate 1000 calories?

I'm so new to this-- and a little confused. I do feel a little hungrier since I added the bit of running, but maybe my body is still adjusting to the original calorie change from my old eating habits (I am on my third week now).

anybody know what I should do? Thank you for your help!

At the beginning of my freshman year of high school I weighed about 125 or 130 (at 5'10") and by the end of that year weighed 155 to 160. I thought I was huge when I was 125 and then just hated my body after I gained all the weight.

I have averaged about 160 - 165 since then (I am now 23)...so I didn't really gain after my freshman year-- and even have a few of the same shirts lol, but really want to get that extra 30 lbs off.

My BMI says that I am average weight and not overweight--- but I def have a belly and feel fat. So, basically, not much has changed for me since high school.

I am definitely in as well. I am 5'10" and 158.5 (I just weighed myself on Friday), started out as 165 two weeks ago. I was hoping it would come off faster than this, but I know how unrealistic that is.

148 by Halloween would be great! I just started my health plan (not a diet hehe)...and have been only eating 1000 calories a day-- but I might bump that up to 1200-- as I heard 1000 is too low. This is mostly fruits and veggies with some poultry, bread and fish, and of course milk. I have completely cut out red meat-- mostly bc i never liked it anyway and it is too time consuming to prepare.

 I have been walking for about an hour and a half a day (5 or 6 miles, I think)...but want to become more active. I have done a little bit of stationary biking as well.  I hope what I am doing is enough right now-- as i don't want to shock my body too much. When should I bump up the exercise? I know this is off topic- sorry.

But good luck to everyone!

I was really upset this week because I only lost 1.5 lbs and I had restricted myself to around 1000 calories a day and exercised at least an hour each day. Is this why I did not lose much weight? because I only ate around 1000 calories?

I am 5'10 and weigh 158.5 and thought the weight would be coming off quicker than this. I just started 2 weeks ago (just finished my second week)..the first week I lost five pounds (started at 165) and then just stalled. How do I fix this?