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!

welcome niehma. wow and i was all worried about my life. you go woman!!! FOREAL!!! that busy of a schedule and the babies. i am in aww of just that alone. i personally hate working out with other people. you might not know this, but i am fat. hehe ( i am funny) anywho, when i work out i tend to breathe very hard and  i feel  like everybody is staring at me thinking "oh god the fat chick is going to die" hehe. even worse i hate going with my smaller buds and i am panting away and they are trying to chitchat. but you know, now that i think about it, i am crazy. every time a go to the gym there is always atleast one person to cheer me on. it makes me feel good about myself. like they really believe in me. (wether they really do or just dont want me dying next to them who knows.) hehe. thank god i am in such a better mood now. prayer helps all. anywho back to the gym. after that i sorta feel like that person is supporting me and if i dont go back to the gym not only am i letting me down, but i am letting them down too. and in all honesty, getting there is the hard part. think about it. once you get there you are all pumped up to get your work out over with. and once you get started  you start to feel better so its not so bad.

and seriously, i just joined not to long ago, but come to this forum every day and this chicka will motivate the  heck out of you. i promise

niehma: I can't even begin to imagine how difficult your life is right now. I guess knowing it will pay off when you finish school is good though. If you have any free time, why not take a walk with your girls. That may be a good way to spend time with them. Walk to a park and run around and feel like a kid. :)

A big warm welcome to niehma! And give yourself a pat on the back for beginning this journey! You have so much going on, and yet you still recognize how important you are! I agree with ali about walking with the kids. That would be great. Especially if the weather is nice where you are (there's still snow on the ground here.)

I had my second session with my personal trainer yesterday. Verdict? Well....I hurt a lot, so I must have been working hard, right?

Fallon - you're going running today, right?

mladdy - you are so awesome! Two jobs?!?! Wow!

Suzanne - You are the reason this forum exists! THANK YOU! I'm sure many people feel that way too. I like the way mladdy put it too. Think about how your body is changing internally. Keep up the hard work and dedication. I haven't lost more than 2 pounds total since the 7th of March. So, it's quite a bummer. But we'll never get past it unless we keep pushing, right?

allydan!!!!!!!!! Under 200?!?! Amazing! Congrats!

Hope everyone has a good day. I'm going to do some cardio (Goal is to do Week 2, Day 3 of Couch to 5k, then 20 minutes on elliptical on interval, then 20 minutes on the Arctrainer for a total of 1 hour of cardio.) How is everyone else (that's doing it), doing on the Couch to 5k? I'd love to hear about it!

Good morning everyone!

Fallon, try to keep staying positive! We're all pulling for you to get the job! And while the weather's nice in H-town this week, I hope you get a chance to get out and run (the boys are out in Memorial Park, if you're around there, and OMG, it's worth huffing and puffing just to check out those goodies! lol!) ;-)

Mladdy, you go chica! Way to get not one but TWO jobs! You rock! :-)

Hi Niehma! Don't let the amount of weight overwhelm you... Every little bit of weight off will make you feel exponentially better! Just start a little at a time! Get out and walk if you can, but probably the most important thing to focus on is eating right. If you can eat better, it makes it easier to keep weight loss going even when you can't work out. Good luck! :-)

Danibelle, I'm sure with the help of your trainer you'll get over your plateau! Way to stay motivated all the way through! I had to restart the Couch-to-5K because I fell off the wagon after the first day, so I just finished up week 1 yesterday! I actually feel really good, and I've been reading some of the threads in Fitness about beginning runners to make sure I don't hurt myself. In the past I always over do it and end up giving it up really fast, so this time I'm trying to be really careful. At the moment, though, it's going great! It's crazy how it gets easier every time I get on the treadmill! I kinda like the feeling of becoming a runner! :-)

Good morning all...

Danibelle, I feel the same way with my trainer, after the first session I could not move the next day, this week I asked him to push me because I want to be in pain, I feel like it's working more, and he obliged, I am in pain :) but a good kind of pain!!  I'm going again today, I'm so looking forward, I'm traveling on April 15th and going to see my family, have not seen most of them in a long time and I hope I'm doing another size by then, keeping my fingers crossed, if I'm not it's ok too, I'm still a godd 30-40 pounds smaller than when I saw them last.

Though I think I need to throw out my scale, it get me down sometimes, like yesterday for example, I weighed and I had gained weight, but I'm hoping that it is muscle, becuase even with the gain my clothes are definately looser, so the numbers just screw with my head!!

Welcome Niehma, I'm with Allydan on this one, don't focus on the big number, it can get way to overwhelming, just start slow and what is really important to try and practice is that if you mess up, "its ok" it really is, dont let that stop all your progress in it's tracks, just move on, get back on track and write it off as a cheat day, which is a recommended thing too, every once in a while.

Fallon are you putting on your running shoes? :)

 

I just want to go back to Fallon since she felt attacked.

http://www.canadianliving.com/health/nutritio n/10_tips_for_healthy_eating_on_a_budget.php

http://www.thedietchannel.com/Meal-Planning-H ealthy-Eating-on-a-Budget.htm

Those are a couple of sites with good tips for eating on a budget. When I was in college, I worked 60 hours a week at the local state-run psychiatric hospital on top of 21 credit hours. This on top of running psych research experiments, having my own apartment (paying all of my own bills, five roommates to deal with, etc). Believe me. I know it's hard. There were times when I had $15 (or less) to last me the month for groceries (I was too stubborn to ask my parents for help). However, I made it work.

Frozen veggies are cheap. So is rice. Make stir-fry. However, if you're only needing to provide breakfast and lunch because you eat dinner with your mom that makes it a little easier.

No one was attacking you. I just know that when I was extreeemely strapped financially I wasn't going out drinking. *shrug* We all make different decisions.

random question...

my husband is a high school teacher, and he wants to chaperone his school's prom. Would it be totally cheesy if I went with him? From a high school kid's perspective, is that totally lame, for your geeky teacher to bring his even geekier wife? Or is this some lame attempt on my part to recapture my senior prom, which sucked and was awkward and boring?

It is a chance for me to dress up...

what do you guys think?

good morning ladies!  how's everyone doing?

i had to work really late last night so i didn't have time to go to salsa dance class.  was really bummed.  luckily, the partner was happy and thought i did a decent job though so that is good.  gotta bill my time for last week, make some edits, and meet with one partner about another project, then hopefully take a little nap on my floor before going off to dance class tonight (latin club).  going to try to do some weights tonight and maybe even swim too.  trying to keep the momentum going.  

i'm trying to think smaller goals  -- that is proving to be more difficult, however, because i keep wanting to think about the END and how soon i can get to the end and how i can maybe speed up the end or increase the rate and analyze the amount i've lost so far to figure out/estimate.  i realized all of this (after getting a wise email from one of you) is because i am scared i won't make it so, if i tell myself that the overarching goal isn't THAT far away, i feel like i will more likely succeed.

my "i'll be happy with my life" goal when i started all of this at 300+ was a size 14 which i'm told is about 190 lbs.  that's 75 lbs away but knowing i'm close to the halfway point is encouraging.  still, thinking "75 to go" is NOT that helpful.

feddie, i say go and have a blast, strut your stuff.  it's a great excuse to dress up and have fun with your husband.  i say tell him to rent (or maybe he owns?) the tux, you get the great dress you wanted, do the corsage thing, take the cheesy pictures, the whole shabang!

feddie, you'd BETTER go!!!!

i'm of the mind that once you're past 21, there's no such thing as geeky or cool. your husband's going to the prom! you wanna go, so you should go! you know it'd be fun, especially since you have the date you really want now!

few other things to add that i forgot about:

1)  CRAVING protein.  i ate 3 grilled chicken skewers yesterday (plain) with some BBQ sauce (love, love, love this!) for lunch.  today i just at like 4 oz of turkey (again, plain, no bread).  i'm CRAVING protein.  i don't know WHY.  i just want to eat protein constantly.  last night, i had eggs for dinners because i was craving them even though i had plenty of other options -- in fact, i had thought about having my special pakistani style chili with spaghetti and marinera sauce.  something wrong with me?  it's great for my PCOS that i'm not craving the carbs as much but i'm wondering if this is normal.  i've never heard of people craving protein.

2)  also, craving salt.  every morning, i get to work (after having eaten oatmeal or raisin bran for breakfast) and really want to have something salty.  i usually have a few salted almonds or once in a while make 100 calorie popcorn snack.  i've heard of salty cravings.  any idea how to stop them or why they are occuring?  i'm really bad about drinking my water. 

3)  i posted new pics from the wedding from last weekend.  not seeing the change other people have commented to me about seeing.  that is frustrating.  just when i think i'm improving i see these full body shots of myself and think, crap, i'm still THAT big?  "oy vey."

hi ennazus520,

I'm 36 years old and in the past 10 years i've gained 100 pounds on three seperate occasions, and lost 100 pounds each time as well.  I've gained back about 5 pounds in the last month, which is really freaking me out, which is why i came back to basics with this site. What i want to tell you, is that it is Completely possible to loose the weight, you're going to feel and look fantastic, and you're going to get an incredible amount of compliments when you do. Make Sure you get into a mode at the gym where you Really enjoy you're time there, i love the gym and i'm there 1.5 hours at least everytime i go...4 times a week and the other times i would walk in the hills about 50 minutes...i also had a personal trainer (who i did a trade with for massage...i know it's expensive, but maybe you can afford it or work something out with a friend who's really into it) Knowing what is proper for your body and how to do the excercised correctly really helps  a LOT.

One warning: do everything in your power to gain not to gain the weight back!!  You're body will likely bounce back w/ not alot of sag, especially if you excercise, bc you're young, etc. But after 3 times of loosing 100 plus pounds, i'm not terrible at all bc i've excersized, but i've definitely got some extra skin i'm not in love with. Don't let this happen to you!  Listen to all of the good advice, and know that we are supporting you! Try some Overeaters Annonymous meetings, just to get extra support. Good luck!! you can do it!

watchme, cut it out! last night i ate 3 pieces of fish and a pork tenderloin for dinner. nothin' but meat! i love love love protein of all kinds, and will  take it over most any other food (save dark chocolate!) and salt? i've been stuck on salt for months now. it's bothering me b/c i don't want to develop high blood pressure or start to retain water (maybe that's why i didn't lose weight for weeks!)

but here's my theory: we're craving salt and protein b/c they're the closest thing to the fat we're no longer eating. what i mean is, fat is filling. so is protein. fat can be salty, like salt. so eating those two things might be a substitute for the reduced greasy food factor. maybe.

interesting theory, dalma.  glad to see i'm not alone.  in terms of fatty salty food though, you're right.  i used to eat doritoes and junk like that and now, no more.  maybe that's what my body is missing.  hmmm.  this low fat popcorn is great... i add a few chocolate chips to make it salty AND sweet and i'm in heaven.  need to make it more often since it's also got 4 g of fiber but i don't get around to it during the day ever.  am going to make a concerted effort to fill up my water bottle and drink more water.  i drink 2-3 cans of diet pepsi a day (not good!)

We have a water machine at work. It filters and chills the water so it's easy to keep up on the water-intake. Some days I buy a 2L bottle of water and drink it in class. My students think it's hilarious (no Korean drinks water like I do). "OH ttteeeeacher. Water... SOOOO big! oh my god!" haha
I had to draw them circles on the board showing my love of water vs my love of coffee (which I drink almost everyday in this one class). The kids' reponse... "wow...teacher loves water"

Now this is funny because I was just complaining last night about how sick of protein I am and here you girls are saying that you can't get enough! Maybe it's a mental thing for me since my trainer is telling me that I have to have a certain amount of protein so therefore I set myself up for failure by not wanting it????all I can think about is carbs carbs carbs---good thought though..

I honestly don't think that one needs to go to the gym to get a good work-out. I have been walking around my neighborhood and I also go for hikes ----I think that it's just as effective if not harder than the gym---and I also like that I can be away from the gym , away from all those people,sometimes it gets to be too many people for me and they start to bother me-- so I like to take it outside--find some stairs to go up and down--find a school track to go to--find a little hill to go up and down--I think that there are many possibilities for outside--and outside it's also easy to involve your family!

Ladies hope you are having a good day! Everyone is doing great & amazing! I woke up this morning very tired but I got my butt up and went to a one hour spin class. I pushed myself to go eventhough I didn't want to and I feel so much better---I feel like I can accomplish a lot today! Hope you beautiful ladies have a great day--you will be in my thoughts and prayers!

feddie, you HAVE to go!  when I was in high school, some of my teachers brought their wives to prom and it was so fun!  they had a blast and the kids loved seeing them.  I hope you have a great time!  I take just about any excuse to dress up!!

ali: hahahahahaha!  Your story reminded me of my senior year of highschool.  One of my friends had a Korean foreign exchange student and she would laugh and laugh and laugh about how much water we drank- that was when I was in my prime fitness stage.  She'd always tell us how big our bottles were and laugh some more.  I miss her!

Welcome Niehma!  Going to the gym by yourself can really suck and it IS very hard to motivate yourself, I know... just know that deep within you, you have the power to do anything you want.  Once you have the resolve, there's no stopping you!  I also hope you're able to draw power and motivation through this forum... this is a great group of women!

Danibelle: i'm not doing the couch to 5k, but it sounds like you're doing awesome!!  Keep it up!

I'm sitting on a big plateau between 181-184.  my weight will bounce around in the sector throughout the day, but not budge below it.  I'm off to join the Y (finally!) and I'm hoping that the new classes I'll be doing will help push me over the edge.  I'm hoping to do aqua fit, group groove and group centergy as well as my cardio, strength training, yoga and pilates.  

Ah! Where are my posts????? I posted 2 pretty long posts today. They were there when I posted them! Now they are gone!

I am going to have to try to remember what I posted and do it again?

I would just like to say that my diet soda has 10 calories. I feel jipped!

(I'm kidding. I'm just feeling silly.)

Also... I'm so goofy. I picked out a dress I want for my one year out of college prom ^_-

The Dress

I am a bit worried about the size, as my hips and tummy are definitely 2x, but my boobs are not. *sad face*

also, Ennazus, that sucks about your posts! I hate when that happens! grr!

and... can't you guys tell I don't have work today and now I don't know what to do with myself? LOL

hope you're all well and more productive than I am today.

that's a perfect prom dress, feddie! it's cute! a word of caution, though. i bought a dress from ebay, and asked the seller for the measurements. she only sent me the waist measurement. that was big enough, so i figured the dress would fit. got it and it was like 5 sizes too small! but, i did buy it from the uk, and maybe she was just too dumb to convert from the metric system correctly. get the measurements first!