Posts by deloughy

I recently got a new job that requires me to work in 12-hour shifts three days a week. Since the job is an hour away, I find myself waking up at 5am, too groggy to make breakfast, leaving my house at 6am, getting to work for 7am and working until 7pm, but that's not all.

Often times, I don't get out on time. Usually I end up getting out around 8 or 9pm, and sometimes I don't even get out until 12 or 1am depending on if there's a shift that needs to be covered (which there usually is).

My job doesn't have time set aside for people to go on lunch. You go when you get the opportunity and if you don't eat when you can, you might not get the chance, and so you're forced to order quick food and gulp it down as fast as possible because you never know when you'll be hit out for your next assignment.

Because we work in 12-hour shifts, we have to rely on eating breakfast, lunch and dinner at work. I do not have time to go grocery shopping; everything is closed before and after work because I have such irregular hours, so bringing lunch hasn't been an option.

Just wondering if there's anyone out there who can relate to this, and what advice they can offer. Maybe I need a new thought process.

Okay, that link doesn't seem to work....just go to "Groups" then find the Motivation & Challenges section, and then look for the Inspiration & Self-Improvement section. I believe I'm on the second page, the title of the group is the same as the name of this forum.

Hello everyone! Welcome to the group! I'm glad you guys joined. 

I bought a Wii Fit to motivate me to not sit around the house so much! So far it's working! 

I'm still a little sick (I think I have bronchitis, and it's lingering....) but I'm feeling much better than I have been all week.

With that said, let's get started!

My current weight is 168.8. I believe I said I wanted to lose 10 pounds by March, right? I can't read the previous posts when writing this, so I can't refer to it!

I was thinking of creating a group for this club, so we could have different forums and topics and other things, and it'd be easier to get involved in discussions when they are listed out for you and the number of posts is written next to it, so you know when someone replies.

ALSO! This group (like my last one) may suddenly be moved to another forum because I believe it belongs in the Games & Challenges forum. So another benefit to creating a group would be NOT losing this page! :)

Hey everyone,

Thanks to everyone who joined, we're going to have a great year! I'll address each one of you personally soon; I haven't been able to get on all week because I've had a bad cold - hopefully it goes away soon!

This post is just me checking-in to see how everyone's doing and make sure you guys are still interested! I'll be forming a group as soon as I get better ~ right now I don't fell well enough to sit in front of the computer any longer.

Member Name: Katherine
Height: 5' 6"
Starting Weight: 164.4 pounds
Goal Weight: 136 pounds

How will the info we log be monitored to know it is accurate? As far as I know, you can't view other people's calorie and workout info, and we especially won't be able to know each other's weight.

Being busy can be a real burden. It's so easy to settle for fast food and quick fixes when you're so pressed for time. I, however, work the opposite. The more stressed I am, the easier I find it to stick to my diet. If I am rushing around constantly, I don't have the time to overeat. When I'm home, I just grab something quick and healthy, like a chicken sandwich or snacking veggies and fruit. All I do is make sure my fridge is always filled with only healthy options. 

I don't buy cold cuts due to their high concentration of preservatives and artificial flavoring, and even sometimes, dyes. What I do instead is I got a membership to Costco and I will buy a huge fillet of salmon, a large bag of chicken cutlets and some whole wheat bread. I cut the salmon into 3-oz. portions and freeze each one in a Ziplock bag individually. The chicken cutlets are already frozen and they are already portion-sized. All I need to do is heat them up real quick when I want one of them and it takes about 5 - 10 minutes. I keep my bread refrigerated so that it lasts a lot longer.

For the remainder of my groceries, I get my vegetables, fruits and other items from my local grocery store. I live alone so I cannot buy many things in large portions unless it's something that can be frozen.

I normally buy mini Babybels, cheese strings, granola bars, baby carrots, raisins in serving-size boxes, various fruits and vegetables and some honey and usually I'm set whenever I need a snack or am running out the door. I hardly ever cook unless I absolutely have too. Buying food that is simple to heat up, or doesn't need to be heated up at all is very time-saving and has been a giant help to me and my diet in the past.

1.) Age? 26

2.) Height? 5' 8"

3.) Weight? 160

4.) Goal Weight? 136

5.) What is your daily/weekly exercise? Gym 2.5 hours per day/5 days a week - 35 minutes elliptical, 20 minutes weight-training, 10 minutes calisthenics, 5 minutes on treadmill @ 3.0 mph, 5 minutes on treadmill @ 3.5 mph, 5 minutes on treadmill @ 4.0 mph, 3-minute cool down from 3.5 - 3.0 mph, 15 minutes hot tub, 30 minutes swimming, 15 minutes sauna, DONE! :D

6.) About How many calories do you eat a day? Around 1300. I LOVE to eat, and usually keep it CLEAN & HEALTHY, so I find it easy to keep it around 1300.

7.) What is the most you've lost in a single week? 7.9 pounds

8.) How much have you lost since you started losing? 14.4 pounds

9.) If you have any VERY useful tips on losing weight... DON'T starve yourself, DON'T eliminate any food groups, DON'T follow trend diets, DO focus on eating what makes you feel vital & alive, DO exercise on a regular basis, DO reward yourself with things other than food when you reach your goal (mine is a new car)!

Hey guys,

thanks for your concern and kind words. :) Anubis is a little drowsy and out of it, but overall he seems okay. I took him to the vet today and they absolutely love him there, everyone knows him and the vet even treated him for free today because they feel so bad for him! So that was the first good thing to happen to me all week. :)

I have had an AWFUL cold for the past week, and that on top of Anubis being sick, it's been hell. Not to mention I entered a circuit-training competition. My arms are STILL sore from Thursday. THURSDAY!!! This is the first day I can fully straighten my arms out. They still hurt - but now I can be productive and do things because I can use my arms finally! WOOO!! So yeah, I've been Out of Order for a bit. ;)

I haven't been cooking too much because I've been to paranoid of contaminating my food with this weirdo disease. It sucks because going out and getting food is really bad! I thought McDonald's did away with trans fats - NOPE! I have to get back on track this Thursday when I come home from work. Once I get my house cleaned up, sanitized, and organized, and once I can see Anubis showing some improvement (as long as I'm stressed about this I will put off everything else) I think I'll be okay.

Today is the first day I've felt better from my bad cold/competition, so hopefully I'll still be feeling good by Thursday so I can get these things done. :) Even if I get down to 150 by Christmas, I'll be thrilled.

Thank you guys all for sticking through this! Keep up the good work!

So this week has been a hellish nightmare for me what with my cat, the holidays and my family staying for a few days and going out to eat every morning and night.

I also basically didn't get paid last week because all my money immediately went toward bills and vet expenses, so I haven't been grocery shopping and instead of having fresh, healthy food I've resorted to eating prepackaged frozen crap that is deep fried, breaded and loaded with carbs (i.e. pierogies, chicken fingers, pot stickers, chicken pot pie).

A typical diet on any day my parents are visiting goes as follows:

Breakfast - Jumbo bagels loaded with cream cheese, hash browns or home fries, scrambled eggs with milk & cheeses added, pork roll (Taylor ham), bacon, chocolate chip pancakes or french toast - OR - we all go to ihop where of course, no one can resist the stuffed french toast (though I have been avoiding it successfully for over six months now).

Lunch - Foot-long subs with extra meats and cheeses, usually Italian, with bacon added, extra mayo, on regular white bread - OR - fast food. And who can resist the plethora of barbecued potato chips when subs are around?

Dinner - We always - ALWAYS go out to eat. Where do we go? TGI Friday's, Applebee's, the diner, where everything ordered is going to be high in calorie content. Even Friday's has a low-calorie menu, but the meals are still around 500 calories. This throws you off severely if you are trying to consume around 350 calories per meal and are already almost at your limit - not to mention soda adds another 300 or so, and appetizers, well, let's just not even get into those.... And the diner here has portion sizes that could feed ten people! It's no wonder America's fat! The plates are about a foot in diameter - maybe even more. Even a salad at the diner is over 700 calories. And who wraps up a salad? The dressing would destroy the lettuce in an hour or so.

So yeah, needless to say, it is quite difficult sticking to my diet when my family is around. :)

Either way, I told myself I'm starting to focus on myself and only myself until Christmas, or until I reach my goal. I can't keep putting off my diet day after day just because of certain circumstances, otherwise I'll never reach it. And with the added pressure of being in a group of people who are all expecting you to do what you said you would do, that helps too. :)

I signed up for a competition at the gym tomorrow at 11am. The competition runs all week and you work with a personal trainer who times you on 15 different exercises at 50 reps each. At the end of the week, the times are calculated and whoever has the best timing wins! :)

"Thank you" to those of you who expressed concern for my cat, Anubis. The vet called and said he is improving, and they also told me his bloodwork came back negative for Leukemia and AIDS, so that's good. But the results of his biopsy aren't in yet and I am hoping it's something that can be cured or fixed. I'm really hoping he is gunna be okay. Usually I generally only hear the word "biopsy" when it's associated with something terrible like cancer. I don't even wanna know what the cost is gunna be...he's been there for three days now and the cost has since gone up. I'll let you guys know how he turns out. :)

Hey hey guys! Glad to see you sticking through this! It's very admirable!! :D

I haven't been logging my weight regularly because I figured I might as well only log when I notice a difference. So yesterday I weighed 160.8 and this morning I weigh 160.4. So I'm moving steadily along. :) I have carb-up and carb-down days which I think is helping a lot. I also try to go to the gym twice a day. This can be difficult depending on my sleep schedule, as although they are open very early until very late, they do still close at some point. This would be much easier if I could find a 24-hour gym!

I have another 24 pounds to lose before I reach my main weight-loss goal, but I think only another 15 - 20 until I reach this challenge's goal. I don't remember what my specific starting weight was when I started this challenge, all I know is I've been stuck at 175 pounds for about the past two years. It feels good to not be so blubbery anymore. Well, maybe just a little blubbery! :)

Some "Positive" Thinking:

As many of you know by now, I have the tendency to overeat - A LOT. When I went out to eat back in my fat days, I would order an appetizer that serves three-to-four people, a meal that fed four people, and a dessert that fed two-to-three. I would eat them all on my own. Forty-pounds later and I realized I was a pretty big moron, murdering my good health with excessive amounts of fat and sugar. Now it's a pain to lose all this weight. I've got almost 15 pounds down - but can I lose another 20? Maybe even 30? Here are some things I say to myself and do when I am thinking about straying from my good habits:

• My pants are torn because I am too big to fit into them. No, I won't just keep buying bigger pairs, because before I know it, I'll be a size 14. I'll keep these until I lose enough weight to buy a smaller size. The more uncomfortable I am with my clothes fitting on me, the more driven I am to lose weight, and the more I realize how bad my weight really is.
• Don't ever say, "I'm not that bad," because I AM that bad! That's how I got here in the first place! Make it very bad to be where I am! By saying, "Oh, I'm not that bad," I am ignoring the severity of the problem, and that is why many people stay where they are.
• I eat like a pig. No, I'm not going to sugar-coat it or use a better animal as a reference to describe my eating habits. I'm going to see it for what it really is, and only a pig would eat this much food.
• Every day, I see my goal date on here get pushed further and further back. I never see it go down. I lose a bunch of weight, then gain some, then lose some, then gain some. At this rate, my goal weight will be unattainable.
• Don't let friends bring you down! I look at my friends who are overweight and I look at their eating habits. They go out to TGI Friday's every other night and eat a big deep-fried meal at 10:30 at night, then go straight to bed after. When they ask me to go with them, I either tell them I can't, or I go and I drink a water. It's really not that difficult to just say no. Just. Say. No.
• DON'T LOWER YOUR STANDARDS to make it easier to accept where you are.
• My clothes don't make me look fat. I make me look fat. It has nothing to do with what I'm wearing. If I lost weight, I'd be happy with anything I am wearing.
• I want to date someone who cares about what they look like, and takes care of their body properly. If I continue to neglect my body's health, I will find someone who also neglects theirs.
• I don't want my husband/fiancee/boyfriend finding other people more attractive and desirable than me.
• I don't feel like going to the gym today. Wait, I can't start that nonsense, because then it will become a habit and I'll get comfortable with not going anymore.

Trust me, it works. I'm not saying degrade yourself at every chance you get - but if you change your perspective on things - the perspective that very well may have led you to being overweight today - you may find new insight and gain more willpower to follow through and reach your goals. :)

Tracy,

I'm sorry you feel that way, but I did not think you were looking for a personal reply. I gave general advice when I got back from my vacation that addressed the groups' needs as a whole - "How can I stop overeating, how can I be motivated to work out again, what should I do if I gained weight," etc. etc. When I got back from vacation, there were over 50 posts of people asking for advice. I couldn't reply to three weeks' worth of questions individually! :p

I do try to reply to everyone when I can. If you are looking for a response from me on something and I don't get back to you, you can always email me. I have posted my email, IM and Facebook pages on here so people who are looking for a little extra advice, or just want someone to talk to, can do so outside the forum. Several people have contacted me already; it's the best way to get my attention because there can be so many posts in the group. 

Aside from all that, according to the post you were referring to, it sounds like you have a sweet tooth. So do I. I often find myself unable to stop eating candy, ice cream, cakes, cookies, brownies, etc. :) I actually keep a ton of candy in the house now, and I hardly eat any of it. I know I have a problem - so what I did is I bought bags of candy where the pieces are small and individually wrapped - i.e. hershey kisses, reese's miniatures - and when I am craving something, I take one just to satisfy my craving. Once I have that taste in my mouth, I don't need to keep feeding it. 

If I am still craving candy after that, I simply remind myself that it's not worth it. I look at all the weight I've lost and tell myself all my hard work will come undone if I eat this. It actually works for any type of food you want that you think will be detrimental to your dieting success. 

Also, if you are looking for a jump-start at losing those extra four pounds, try (if you can) limiting your carb intake to 20 grams a day - but ONLY for a week. After that, start your diet from where you left off before you gained the four pounds. 

I'd like very much for you to stay, but if you don't, I'll understand.

All you have to do is go to the tools button on your home page and check out calorie target and enter your info accurately. It will tell you exactly how many calories you need to take in per day. Here is how it works for me to give you an example:

One a typical day, which includes two hours of moderate exercise, I burn 2300 calories.

My calorie target is 1345 calories per day.

That leaves me with a deficit of 955 calories. That's 955 calories LESS. For every 3500 calories you burn, you lose one pound. So if I am depriving my body of 955 calories a day, it'd take me about five and a half days to lose one pound (once I deprived my body of an overall 3500 calories). Follow it?

Now I'm losing about five to six pounds a week because I am limiting carbs. But this diet does not last long because your body cannot survive if you don't fuel it with the energy it needs!

Well, I guess it just gives us the chance to get to know each other better!  :)

Good afternoon everyone and thank you to all of you who have stuck with this challenge so far! Dedication is the key ingredient to success. That and lots and LOTS of patience. ;)

Today I am 163.2. I didn't expect to lose to much overnight this time because I accidentally went over my carb limit yesterday. I thought I added everything correctly in my head, but then when I went to log it in, the stuff totaled up differently. Oh well, I'll just have to be extra careful today~! :)

Here is a new recipe I found in Women's Health this month. I haven't tried it yet, but I am definitely going to when I get to the grocery store next week!

Belly-Stuffing Peanut Butter

Oatmeal baked with eggs, peanut butter and soy milk packs enough protein to keep you satisfied until long past your lunch hour.

Preheat oven to 375. Coat an 8 x 8 inch baking dish with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of old-fashioned oats and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon. In a medium bowl, beat 2 eggs and 2 cups of vanilla soy milk, a cup of water and 4 tablespoons of natural peanut butter. Add to the oats, pour mixture into dish and bake for 20 minutes. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons agave syrup.

• makes 6 servings
• 253 calories per serving
• 10g fat
• 1g saturated fat
• 30g carbs
• 96mg sodium
• 3.7g fiber
• 11g protein

And there you have it! A breakfast that is packed the the nutritional equivalent of TNT! :D