Girls in their 20's who want to lose about 100 pounds

Hi, my name is Suzanne and I am 23 years old. I weigh 258.3 pounds(yikes) and would really like to get down to between 140 and 150. I was wondering if there was anyone else out there in their 20's who has about that much they want to lose. We could work together and stay motivated to reach our goals!!! Also, if there is anyone in their 20's who has lost that much and wants to share their success story, I would love to hear it! Thanks!

i would like to join the challenge too!!!  i'm gonna say 20 hours!  exercise is my weak spot... i can count calories and eat healthy with no problems, but HATE going to the gym!!!  hopefully this will help!

i've really missed everyone and am so glad to be back home and back on CC. 

dalma - i LOVE that bikini!!!  you're going to look FABULOUS in it!!

Hello Everyone and Happy New Year...

I joined CC last May, and then stopped visiting around July.  I stepped on the scale this morning, and I'm beyond embarrased on how I've done.  I'm ready to get the ball rolling again.

I've been on this post for awhile, mostly just reading the accomplishments, struggles and challenge losing weight is to of you all on here!

I wish the best to all of you in 2009, and good luck with all of your goals!!

 

Happy Monday, everyone!

Ash, I totally understand the horrors of attempting to be healthy and eat well around family that doesn't!  I'm sure that 6lbs will come off in no time! :-)

OMG, Hi Suzanne! I was hoping you'd come back around for the new year!  Welcome back!

Welcome Blondie, Photokat (kassi)! 

Kassi, several other girls on here have PCOS as well, and can offer you FABULOUS support!  Totally ask any questions that may come to you, and I'm sure they can help! :-)

Liza/Topeze, I hope you're feeling a little more upbeat, and your back is feeling a little better... Did you guys end up getting  your daughter a cell phone?  Even if you don't get to talk to her everyday, I'm sure she'd love a a text message or two, especially since she's probably missing ya'll as much as you miss her.  In any case, now is totally the time to pick up new stuff, if you can... There are still some awesome sales going on!  And yay for continued 2009 success! :-)

Liza and Watchme, that's a pretty awesome way to look at weight... I think I'm at my 1998 weight, but I didn't really weigh myself regularly in HS so I can't really be sure.  I'm probably a little heavier, since I can fit into the clothes from then, and Watchme's point about muscle is so, so true; I'm probably slimmer at this weight now than I was on the way up.  It's kind of a discovery process, though, since my body wasn't an adult body at that age, so everything is distributed a little more differently than it was when I was 15!

And Watchme, you can totally be down to 1997 weight by your reunion!  

Welcome back Jessica!  You look awesome! :-)

Dalma, I'm totally into bikini-fest 09 with you!  And I love, love, love that suit!  I'm going to have to look into finding one that's almost as fabulous to wear this summer too! :-)

Hi Feddie! Congrats on the first pound of the year down! :-)

Ana, I noticed drastic weight training results in 5 weeks, which is the amount of time that I go between measuring myself.  I'd lost almost 2in off my hips from one measuring period to the next during those first few weeks!  I've heard that arms are quicker to show results than legs even, so you might see results even sooner!  And you should definitely join the bikini-fest!  You're gonna wanna rock your hot bod all summer long! :-)

January 2009 Exercise challenge goals:

 

Ally - 20 hours

Ana - 20 hours

Ash - 20 hours

Blondie - 15 hours

Boots - 40 hours

Buxomgrl - 22 hours

Dalma - 20 hours

Watchme - 25 hours

 

If I'm missing anyone, or anyone wants to join in, let me know and I'll add you! :-)

I would like to join that challenge!! But how in the world do you guys find the time to get that many hours in at the gym/working out??

I won't lie, it's really hard for me, but I've started trying to fit in exercise everywhere.  Like after lunch I'll walk around the building for 15 minutes, or do 10 minutes of sit-ups and push-ups at night before shower and bed.  It doesn't have to be gym time... Anything that gets you moving counts as exercise!  I really only hit the gym like 3-4 times a week for 60-90 minutes each time... The rest of my hours are improvised.

I really only hit the gym like 3-4 times a week for 60-90 minutes each time

Omg Ally, I read that and laughed....seriously, only???  That's 3-6 hours/week right there!!!  If only I were that good. 

Photo, I think a lot of it is making it fit your schedule.  I know that when I tell myself I'm going to get in 3-4 days of cardio and 3 days of weight training, I wind up making sure I fit it in (most of the time, minus when I go off track for like, oh, I dunno, 2 weeks!!!)  I've noticed for a lot of the girls in here, it's all about setting the goal or even scheduling it in that helps them get it done.  I'd say figure out how you make other things work.  I know I tend to do my best work (cleaning the house, working on papers when I was in school, baking, etc) at night.  So, I'm much more likely to do it at the end of the day anyway.  And I personally need a TV or it'll be too boring to even think about.  I don't do the 20-40 hours that others are doing, but I try my best.  And if I remember from all I've learned from this group, with PCOS, isn't exercise, espeically cardio, really key in making weight loss happen?

And on that note, I don't know if I'll try for a certain number of hours.  I need to get back in my good habits (food has been good today so far!) and want to make sure I don't hurt my back just as it's getting better.

Watchme, so cool to be at 2001 weight!

WB Jess!  And you are looking fabulous!

Dalma, you will totally rock that bikini!  You and all your hot goal clothes are awesome!  I have a goal shirt that I don't know if I'll ever get to wear it before Summer comes in March.  Maybe April.  Only thing holding me back are the damned arms.

Ana, I don't know about seeing a difference, but I could feel a difference within a short bit.  I have way too much fat in that area to see much of anything but fat.

Welcome smilin!

Ally (again)...we did get the cell phone, but no texting.  She doesn't need to get started in all that already (she just turned 10), but besides, it's a pay per text thing too which is attached as an additional line on the grandparents' plan since our cell service sucks out there.  I haven't talked to her since we dropped her off.  Apparently, the other parents have had her turn the phone off unless she was calling somebody at the time.  The reason is apparently because they didn't know who she was allowed to call or get calls from.  (Did I mention that I had already pre-programmed all the numbers in her phone, including speed dial??)  Weird thing is that normally I wouldn't have spoken to her this quickly from when I last saw her (calling was difficult enough for hubby to get through previously when they lived here), but the difference is that I know I won't see her until April.

Sorry so long, but I'm back in the mindset again.  :)

I'd like to join the January Exercise Goals..

For January 20 hours.

 

 

mornin' all!

i just blew my MIND!!!

this time last year i was a size 22. i ended the year at a size 16. even though i had a million weeks of plateaus, that's not bad progress! and if i repeat last year's weight loss, i could maybe end this year in a size 10. what?!?!?

it's incredible to me that i have the ability to work myself down to that small a size by year's end. it's wholly possible, completely doable, but just the thought of it scares me. i thought i was over the whole "fat girl" mentality, but apparently i'm not. i so can't imagine myself any smaller than like a 14. something in my head thinks that's the last stop. after that, a wall comes up that i'm not supposed to go over.

i think it's because at a size 14, whenever i get there, i'd feel thin, even though i'd still be very overweight. maybe b/c it's the smallest size in the plus-size stores? i don't know, maybe. but i really, really wanna see that size 10 this year! so i'll try to force myself to get over this whole thing and make it over that wall!

what are you guys doing to lose weight? How are you eating/what are you eating? How are you exercising and what are you doing?

Also is it 20 hours a week or 20 hours a month?

hey ladies!

I just got back from doing a little exercise. I'm moody today (PMS?) just like yesterday so I decided to take a run and sweat a bit.

dalma, I'm now a size 14 and still feel big. I see almost no difference in the mirror, but I do notice the changes when I compare old and new pics of myself. My family does notice though, and clothes sizes have noticed too! I'm trying to change this mentality slowly, just yesterday I noticed that Old Navy plus sizes start at 16, so that's the first store I'm not a plus size anymore :) And in no time you won't be a plus size there as well!

topeze, I hope you get to call your daughter soon.

 

Hi peoples, it has been a while...it's been a stressful couple of months, haven't been around much...and I totally missed all of you, especially since every time I stop logging on here my weight doesn't budge or goes up! :( But now I'm back and back on track....I can't guarentee I can catch up on things in everyones life hope you forgive me :)

Ally, I'd like to join, i totally need a little kick to get to the gym these days, so put me down for 20.  Thanks.

hi hi everyone!! how are y'all?!?

havnt been able to catch up ( & i really hope too soon)  but i have good news...........I got into the CDIS undergrad program and finished the semester with 3 A's and 2 B's!!  18 hardest hours everrr lol yayyyy 

annd i started jogging and was able to jog 3/4 of a mile w/ out stoppin! total record for me since i hate joggin/running and was able to do it!!

hope everyone had a fabulous break!!!!!

Hi everyone!

Liza/Topeze, I know it sounds kinda warped, but it doesn't feel like I'm being that good... I work out two days out of Friday, Saturday and Sunday and one additional day during the week. Occasionally I'll make it to the gym twice during the week, but I'm not really all that good at getting to the gym after work unless it's a Friday and I know I can go home and do whatever I want. It's kinda stressful to me to not get home until 7pm, and not get dinner until 7:30 or later. But then since I don't have kids or anything, my weekends are wide open, and I can exercise at my leisure. I agree with you about the TV, though... I have to have a TV to look at AND music to listen to! This is why I do so well at the gym, but probably wouldn't last too long running or biking outside: it's not stimulating enough to make me forget that I'm exercising, lol! And I'm sorry about the phone situation with your daughter... Email maybe? :-/

Dalma, I think the "fat girl" mentality sticks with us long after the weight is gone. Maybe I'm a bratty, spoiled, anal, perfectionist whiner, but I'm a 12 now, and I still don't feel thin. I still see rolls and think about all the things I CAN'T fit into. Logically I know I'm much smaller than I was at this time last year, and I know I'm not obese any more, but I'm still kinda self-conscious and sometimes forget that people don't see me that way any more. I'll occasionally even fall back into making sarcastic, self-deprecating remarks about myself being fat, when, even though I'm overweight, I don't think I'm unusually fat at this point. *sigh* It's a process, babe... I'm beginning to wonder when or if I'll ever be happy with myself! In happier news, I gotta say that I think you might even be smaller than a 10 by this time next year! Remember, the smaller sizes are closer together! And I'm sure that when you're rocking your bikini on the beach this summer, the "fat girl" mentality will be the furthest thing from your mind! :-)

Photokat/Kassi, I'm trying to keep myself to a 500 cal a day deficit (so I'm eating around 1200 calories a day), and I'm eating a lot of veggies, complex carbs and lean meats. I like cheese and chocolate too much to give them up completely, so I work them into my calories for each day. :-) Let's see... I try to drink 8 glasses of water a day, and keep a 30/30/40 fat/protein/carb balance. My body loses weight best when I limit processed foods, and eat a lot protein and veggies, so I stick with what works. Different things work for different people, though; Boots is having great success with a vegan diet. You just have to find what works for you. Oh, and I'm also working out... I try to work out 3-4 days a week, with a good combo of cardio and weight training. Weight training especially helps me out... It seems that even if I eat badly for a day or two, if I've done weight training sometime over those few days, I can still have a loss, since it helps my metabolism so much. Once again, everyone's different, though. I know Watchme gets much better results scale-wise from cardio. I'd say, try a combination of things to find what your body likes best and go from there. Oh, and the exercise challenge is the number of hours you can do this month... There's no way I could fit in 20 hours a week, lol! :-)

Ana, NY&Co, Gap, Target and H&M also have regular sizes that start at a 16! Go crazy, chica! :-)

Welcome back Fayny! I've added both you and Smilin to the exercise challenge list! :-)

Miabel, congrats on a fabulous fall semester! Good for you! :-)

So the BF has (at least for the last few days) completely embraced the healthy eating! He's so awesome! I actually had to make him eat MORE calories last night because he'd skipped his snacks and was way short for the day! Yay him! He's motivating me to keep on the straight and narrow, so it's doubly good that he's getting into it! I'm hoping that he sees good results these first few weeks... He's working so hard, and I know he'd be completely frustrated and give up if the scale doesn't respond. I'm hoping the scale is nice to me, too, for that matter! Today is my first weigh in of the new year, and I'm hoping to see something smaller than 164...

Happy Tuesday! :-)

photo, I'm trying to eat around 1500 cals a day. My focus right now is not to be over the limit and to distribute it in three meals and two snacks. And I drink my eight glasses of water a day. Of course getting used to do all of this didn't happen overnight. The first couple of months were getting used to have defined meal times and snacks (and not eat whenever I wanted to), the next few months were dedicated to start drinking more water and lately I've started to do regular exercise.

miabel, that's awesome! you did great last semester!

welcome back fayny!

ally, I had totally forgot about those stores, lol. Well, we'll just have to add those to the list.

photo - i find it easier if i exercise in the mornings, but when i was working i wasn't able to do that so i went after school (i was a teacher).  i also take the stairs instead of the elevator and park far away when i go shopping and stuff.  i figure every little bit helps.  i also have something fun and fast to listen to when i'm walking or using the elliptical machine.

watchme/liza - i like thinking about my weight that way... i'm not sure where i'm at... i stopped getting on the scale, but i know it's somewhere around 2000. 

ally - i try to get in 60-90 min. a day 5 days a week... it is such a struggle for me... i really don't like going to the gym but do it anyway!  when you go to the gym what do you do?  and it's awesome the bf is counting calories too... my hubby eats what i eat and goes to the gym with me... it REALLY helps keep me on track!

liza - i hope your back gets better soon!!!  i hope you get to talk to your daughter soon... i know it is hard on you and your hubby.  hopefully it will be april before you know and you will be able to spend some time with her!

dalma - it IS absolutely possible for you to be a size 10 by the end of the year... i hope to have in 2009 the determination and success you've had in 2008!  and i know what you mean about the "fat girl" mentality.  i never really feel like i've lost weight or look any different.  people will say "you look so good" but i don't feel any different.  i think it's from years of seeing myself overweight... i just can't let it go.

well i'm happy to say that i've lost 4 of the 6 pounds i gained at christmas!  it's also that TOM so that probably has something to do with it.  my hubby and i started our "detox" monday and it hasn't been too hard, and i know it will be worth it.  lots of fruits and veggies... stuff i need to be eating anyway!!!!  the hardest part is the lack of salt!  i found out that i really like scrambled egg whites... i've never tried just the whites before, they're pretty good!  LOL!

Dalma, how very cool will it be when this time next year, you are a size 10!!

Photo, I think what you eat depends on what and why you ate before.  I still pretty much everything I used to, but I eat much less of the bad stuff (whatever kind of chocolate/candy/sweet yummy stuff) than I do now.  I eat cheese, but get the babybel or laughing cow pre-portioned cheeses so I know exactly how much I have.  I love the fiber one bars.  But, my biggest problem has been and still is portion size.  So, I can for the most part still eat what I want but I have to take the right amount before I start to cook or eat it.  Which includes weighing/measuring it out.  But, I'm big on fish and chicken most of the time, only 90% lean beef when I use it.  Granted, there is definitely some emotional eating for me when this all goes out the window, but I'm aware as I'm eating it why I'm doing it.  My suggestion would be to figure out what gets you up and over the calories...do you have difficulty with portions like me (since I rarely feel full)?  Are you strictly an emotional eater?  Social drinker?  Oh...and water.  Lots of water.  For some reason, I lose much better when my water is like 80-100 oz a day (non workout days).

Everyone, I did talk to my daughter later that day.  We'll be calling her later today cause it was her first day of school there.  Oh, and Ally, she is rarely allowed on the computer.  Maybe they're afraid what might pop up.  Who knows.  It's all good (or as good as it gets).

WB fay and Miabel!  Grats on getting into your program, I know you were stressing over it.

Ally, awesome the BF is doing the healthy eating!  That's quite exciting, since I think half the time we're eating so well and they are still scarfing the junk.  Just cause they don't gain doesn't mean that the blood pressure and cholesterol aren't high!  And I'm sure you'll see 159 or lower soon enough!

Qt, grats on losing almost all your holiday weight!  That's my goal now.  I can't quite do pure egg whites, but I do like the egg beaters with the yolk in it, just enough that it's good enough.

Today has been a good day.  Unfortunately, money is super tight due to unexpected circumstances (including lawyer fees...now why didn't I become a lawyer and make lots of money???)  But the good part, we're planning meals out again.  Mainly to minimize cost but it makes it easy to come up with the healthy meal before having to toss something together.  We did better for us dinners when we planned them out.  And, I tested the weight this morning after only 2 days of eating right again, and I was exactly 299.0.  So, about 5 lbs higher than my lowest, but still, I didn't see that damned 3 in front!!  And thinking of working out tonight.  The back is not really bothering me unless I move wrong or twist around weird (and why would I do that?) so I might try working out tonight.  We shall see.

thanks for all the cheers, girls! the possibilities still blow my mind. i'm gonna use ally as my template for this year. i can do it, too!

jay was so sweet today. he bought me a giant exercise ball, the kind you can sit on, a pair of weights, and a fancy pair of tennies. his support is awesome! but he has the WORST sweet tooth! he always has some kind of chocolate stashed somewhere. thank god he doesn't eat it around me, 'cause i don't know if i could take it.

just saying hi to all of you lovely ladies! (just 'cause I'm trying to break my habit of being neglectful!)

not eating as well as I need to be, but I keep on telling myself that these are just baby steps getting me ready for that big giant lifestyle change I need! yes!

but I'm walking a lot, and already it's getting easier so that's good! yay!

hope you all are well and enjoying your new year! loves!

hey ladies!

So today I noticed I noticed I had a grocery bag full of leftover Christmas candy. Usually by this time there would be nothing left, but right now I was just so tempted by it. So after eating only one snickers fun size bar, I took the lot to my current job (copy store) where they have this giant bowl of candy for clients. I feel less tempted... Still I'm craving for cake, I think is just my hormones.

dalma, congrats on the new presents!

topeze, I also need to do meal planning to stick to my diet. If not I'm thinking about food all day long.

nice to see you, feddie