Posts by melly991

I don't have a ton of pics yet, but I posted a few more afters.  I really have almost no "before" pics because I avoided pictures like the plague, but I had to take a picture for my employer's website and that one is from the photo shoot. 

As for height, I am 5' 3.5"  As for exercise, I did tons and tons of exercise.  At the beginning, I kept my daily calorie intake around 2,000 calories and probably worked out on average 1.5 hours per day, 6 days per week.  I always had one complete cheat day as well and I always took one rest day.  I also did one superlong workout day per week, where I would go to the gym (usually on Sundays) and work out for 3 hours plus.  It was usually, long, slow cardio like walking or elliptical with no resistance.  I also lifted weights 2-3 times per week, along with starting a running routine.  I trained for a marathon and my running mileage eventually has gotten up to around 40 miles per week, but that takes a long, long time to build up.  This past six months or so I have reduced my caloric intake some, because my lowered weight it harder to lose weight at 2,000.  I now aim for around 1,700 to 1,800.  One thing I did that really helped was to have my resting metabolic rate tested, and found out that it is actually fairly high for my size, much higher than the online calculators indicated.  This means that it would be really unhealthy for me to eat below 1600 calories.  I did have a fairly significant plateau, and honestly I have been plateauing for the last several months, but that is because I have been working more on maintaining weight and adding muscle and increasing my fitness level rather than losing weight.  I still want to get to my goal of 135 eventually, but it is not my main priority.  Don't worry about asking questions, I'm  happy to answer.

I started in mid-January at 208 pounds.  That was a wake-up call!  Since then I have lost more than 50 pounds.  This week my weight is fluctuating around 157.  In addition, if you look at my profile, you can see my inches lost.  I had a personal trainer who took my starting measurements and we've continued to take them throughout the process.  As of August 23, I've lost 53.5 inches over my entire body.  I stil  have about 22 pounds to lose to reach my goal of 135.  I've been counting calories and exercising, no gimmicks.  Actually, I eat more than most people on this site probably, usually around 2,000 calories.  But I make up a deficit with exercise.  I have a high resting metabolism, though, and this is what my doctor and a nutritionist told me to do.  Hope that helps!

I ended up substituting weight loss for smoking, in a sense.  I quit smoking last December 24 and started my weight loss in mid January.  I never gained any weight (that I know of) during the first few weeks, or if I did it was minimal as I was quite overweight at that point already.  Instead, I focused on how much healthier I was feeling - I could breathe!  I decided I wanted to become truly healthy and take control of my own body in every way.  Since quitting smoking I've lost 46 pounds.  It can be done.  There is no rule that you will gain weight.  Good luck!

Add in my 47.6 to = 5426.6

Another thing to keep in mind is that the one thing I have read over and over again is that exercise is the variable that often indicates whether someone is able to keep weight off or not.  People that stop exercising, or who do not exercise as part of their weight loss, are much less likely to keep weight off.  So if the health benefits don't inspire you, this certainly should.  Also, every calorie you burn is just that, a calorie burned.  It all adds up, and will certainly help you los weight more quickly.

Blech.  I hate all olives.  I think they taste like I imagine someone's sweaty foot would taste.  Aren't personal tastes funny?

Hi there - I believe that your weight loss may have slowed or stopped because you are not eating enough.  I am 5'3.5", and started at 208, and I never ate less than 1600, and actually for most of my weight loss have eaten more like 1800-2000.  It depends upon how much you are exercising, but if you are walking 5 miles a day, then you are getting more than 1 hour of exercise per day.  I would suggest increasing your calories to around 1700 to start.  Also, throughout my weight loss I have always had at least one meal per week where I ate whatever I wanted.  It helps keep me from cravings and binges and supposedly helps fend off plateaus.  I just recently had my first real plateau of about 3 weeks, which broke last week for a 3.5 pound weight loss in one week. I started eating a bit more and trying to change things around a bit and it seems to have worked. I have lost about 42 pounds, fyi.  

Hmmmmmm.

Green Giant Frozen Green Beans with Almonds (no sauce)

Balance Bars (Trail Mix kind with low GI).  I eat these in the morning before early workouts. 

Fage 2% yogurt with strawberry

Chicken Sausages

Almonds (I love Vanilla Bean Almonds, Wasabi and Soy Almonds and Garlic and Onion Almonds)

Oooh, and Snyder's Soy Crisps in Parmesan, Garlic and Olive Oil (a tasty snack that satisfies my salty craving but add protein and fiber)

And, for me, frozen meals of a million varieties.  I work in an office, and have a 2.5 hour commute. I pretty much always make dinner, but these are my go-to for lunches b/c they enable me to have portion control, plus I'm not troubled by sodium.

Good quality milk and dark chocolate (I eat maybe 3 tiny squares a few times a week at night for a treat)

Morningstar Farms Cheddar Burger veggie burgers and mini corn dogs.

Ok, that's more than 5, I'll stop now!

Also, I can't believe it, but I have actually lost 3.6 pounds this week, putting my plateau firmly behind me.  It's been such a long time since the scale kept moving down every day that I was quite shocked.  I just wonder how long this treat will last :)  I imagine or hope that at worst I will go back to my normal 1.5 pounds to 2 pounds a week next week.  But if my body wants to keep this up, that would be great! 

I broke through my plateau!!!! I've been stuck for three weeks fluctuating between 169 and 170 pounds.  As of this morning I am 166.6.  I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it. 

Also, my 10k race this past weekend was awesome. It was crazy hot and humid, and the course was, as someone else who wrote about it put it, "grueling", with lots of hills and stairs to climb. I finished in 1:24, which put me ahead of like 30 women in my age group.  My boyfriend says my new nickname is "The Flash".  Hardly, but I'll take it.

Food Regrets:

None, really.  I have been doing a good job overall, and although some days I eat into my deficit a bit more than planned, it's not something I regret, just something to keep an eye on.  I splurge at least once a week and that seems to have kept me from binging or anything.

Goals:

The goal I have to pay the most attention to still is being nicer to myself.  I'm feeling so good today that this won't be a problem!

Pickles:  I like pretty much all pickles, but particularly my Mom's Bread and Butter Pickles. I  love to make quick pickled onions for my salad.

Congratulations Molly!  That is an amazing accomplishment.  You are a testament to the power of hard work and dedication!  Take a well-deserved bow, and then maybe a nap :)

Edited to add answers to questions:

Re Restaurants:

At first, I was terrified to go out to eat and I only wanted to go to chain restaurants where they have posted nutritional information so I could be confident.  Now I feel a bit more confident that there are certain things I can eat while still losing weight (since I have done so).  One of the commitments I've made is to cook dinner and not go out to eat during the week, which  I've pretty much kept up with.  Once in a while we get Chinese take-out on a weeknight, but I always get the steamed chicken and veggies with sauce on the side. 

We usually go out to dinner once on Friday and out to lunch on Saturday (which is when I have my "I can eat whatever I want" meal).  At Friday dinner I have things like a vegetable and tofu stir fry at my favorite Thai restaurant with about half the rice or I get a spinach and apple salad with grilled chicken, candied walnuts and craisins with about half the dressing, or if we go to our favorite pizza place, I get the salad bar (making good choices of course :)) and we order a pizza and I eat one slice with my salad.  On Saturday lunch, it's no holds barred.  What I've found that's funny though is that even though I don't worry about having a deficit on Saturdays, I often do, because after my big lunch I'm usually not very hungry for dinner. 

Celebrating weight loss:

You know, I really haven't come up with any one thing I want to do to celebrate meeting my goals.  I wonder why I can't think of anything.  Still, I imagine there will be much jumping around and whooping.  I would like to buy myself a fantastic pair of expensive designer jeans.  You know, the kind where they really only make small sizes.  This means, if you fit into them, you are going to look great.  That's not until I reach my final goal though.  I need to think more about how to celebrate my summer goals.

I think the quote is right in many ways.  I waited forever to find the "motivation" to get healthy.  In the end, I think I only found the motivation once I had started acting healthy.  In other words, fake it till you make it.

I am incredibly frustrated right now since I seem to have hit the dreaded plateau.  I've been going since mid-January with no real plateaus but now it's been two weeks fluctuating between 169 and 171 with no movement. I know I'm still exercising a ton.  I work out an average of two hours a day!  I'm not eating too little, because I've kept my calories around 1900-2000 and sometimes a bit higher on big exercise days like my Dr. told me.  So what did I do to deserve this?!  I haven't gone off the wagon on my eating either. I've been eating well and staying around my calorie goal.

Is it possible that this is due to muscle gain from increased protein intake?  Or am I just kidding myself?

Aaaaargh.  I just keep telling myself if doesn't matter.  My body is just doing what it needs to do.  That I've lost 39 pounds (or 38 or 37 according to the day) so far and I'll lose the rest by being patient and keeping on keeping on doing what I'm doing.

I feel great in so many ways, so this is just a minor obstacle.  It still sucks though!!!!!!

For me, it's definitely mid-late afternoon.  I tend to eat every few hours.  But in the afternoon I'm always butting up against the number of calories I need to leave for dinner and that's really the time of day when I get bored and restless, which for me means I want to eat.  Also, any time I am home alone is a potential problem, although I've really managed to avoid binging for so long I'm kind of hoping maybe I'm cured :)  Wishful thinking, perhaps...

Oooh, me too!  I'm 34 and I've been CC'ing it since mid January.  I've lost 39 pounds so far (currently at 169) and I'm feeling great.  The more support the better.  I'm 5'3.5" and I'm aiming to get down to 135.  No kids and no husband, but I'm in a committed relationship of almost 3.5 years and we live together with our 3 insane cats. This seems like a great idea. 

Catching up on questions of the day/weekend:

Do I tell people about my diet?

Yes, I pretty much tell everyone everything.  I tell people my weight and body fat percentage (except my boyfriend, who does NOT need to know that I weigh more than him).  I'm not really sure why, except that somehow being more open about it keeps me accountable.  It's funny how often people ask me how I'm doing it and when I say eat a bit less, exercise a lot more, they get this look on their face like they are so disappointed.  This seems to be  common phenomenon.

Do I eat differently in the summer?

Well, I signed us up for a community supported agriculture program where we get a bunch of different locally grown produce every week, so we are definitely eating more seasonally, although our unseasonably cold May has meant that we keep getting winter greens.  I'm really sick of kale and collard greens.  If anyone has any recipe suggestions I would be quite grateful.  I also find myself eating tons of strawberries and cherries now that they are in season.

My June starting weight is 169.4.  I hope to lose at least two pounds this week since the week following my ttom is usually my best week for losing weight.

Have a great week everyone!

Well, I'm happy because I just hit the 160s!!!  I weighed in at 169.6 this morning.  This is approx. a 1.5 pound loss from last week which I guess is pretty good considering I just got my ttom yesterday.  I just realized that my loss this month has been a total of about 6.2 pounds (although May isn't over yet so perhaps I will lose a little bit more), which is definitely a slow-down from earlier.  Yet, this means I've lost about 18.5% of my starting weight, so I know I'm ripe for a plateau (knocks on wood) and I should be happy that I'm still losing.  So there it is, generally good news for me!  Off to drink some water :)