Hello All

Hello All.  I am new to the site, but I love it so far.  I've never put any effort into tracking my foods, or my activity before, so this is all new to me.  I don't have any problems losing weight.  But I do have problems maintaining it once I get where I want to be.  I know that I have bad eating habits.  I eat foods that are bad for me, and I stuff myself when I eat them.  But that has changed so far this year.

A group at work decided to have a weight loss challenge.  Kinda coinciding with the Biggest Loser TV show that is on right now, but not doing percentages (which is okay with me).  It is a partner event and the team that loses the most total weight at the end of 3 months wins some money.  I had planned to try to lose some weight as part of my NYR this year anyway, so this just gave me some extra motivation and (hopefully) an extra reward.

I didn't think i looked all that bad, but the Sunday before the challenge began, I asked my wife to take my picture wearing just shorts.  I plan to take the same pictures every 2 weeks to see my progress.  When I looked at the pictures, I realized just how bad I looked.  Don't get me wrong, I was 5'10", and weighed 230 lbs.  Not tremendously obese, but definitely the heaviest I have ever been, and not handsome in my own eyes.  I expect better of myself, despite the fact that I didn't take care of myself.

My goal is to lose at least 35 lbs by the end of the competition (April 6th, I think is the final weigh-in).  I know it sounds lofty, and some might say unhealthy, but I eat when I'm hungry, I get lots of fluids, and I don't overexert myself when i exercise.  I've only been tracking my foods for 3 days, but so far my highest calorie intake is just over 1050 for a day (don't yell at me, it's not intentional that I'm eating so few calories - I'm not starving myself).

I know that some will say it is way too little, and I tend to agree, but i am not starving myself.  I am eating lunch and dinner (just like I always did), and an occasional breakfast.  The difference is that now, instead of drinking 5-8 cans of soda a day, I drink almost nothing but water (those headaches were horrible the first few days after giving that up!).  Instead of eating fast food lunches every day, I have soup, or dinner leftovers from the previous night.  Basically, I'm just not eating all the junk I used to eat.  I also am simply making better food choices.  Maybe not the best choice every time, but a better choice than I would have made a month ago.

So far i have lost <gasp> 19 lbs in 10 days.

Don't yell at me.  And don't necessarily try to copy me.  I was a wrestler in high school, and know all kinds of crazy things to lose weight, but i haven't done any of those things and I don't want to.  Dehydration and starvation do not provide healthy long term results - in fact, they can cause pretty severe damage.  But, I know my body, know when I am hungry, and knows when I am just eating because the food is in front of me.

Any time I have tried to lose weight before, it has only ever been about 20 -25 lbs at a time.  As I said earlier, losing that much is not difficult for me.  Two years ago, I maintained a weight of 185 lbs for nearly 6 months before I took up my old eating habits again.  I don't plan on doing that this time.  I know that the first 20 have come off easy.  The next 15 will be very difficult.

Don't yell at me, don't criticize me, don't try to copy me.  Just wish me luck and support me.

I wish all of you the best of luck in your weight loss efforts as well.

LOL. It's funny how you asked us not to yell at you several times in your post!

I am not going to yell at you at all! My nutritionist says you should eat only when your hungry and drink lots of water and you are doing JUST THAT. Congrats on cutting out the sodas which I know must have been hard. And congrats on the 19lbs (that's insane, I wish I could do that).

You might want to also consider eating some snacks like fruits in between meals even if your not super hungry only because that might give you a FEW extra calories and also boost your metabolism. A few fruits can't hurt. I'm not yelling, just a suggestion =o)

Keep it up and win yourself some money!

Hay yay yay!!!! LOL, you are hilarious (in a good way!)

You know, you are lucky. How many millions of people would love to loose 20 lbs in a short period of time?!! It's amazing how the metabolism works but in your case, you should really be thankful and take advantage of that (as you are already)

Congrats on your dedication and commitment to yourself. I do agree with the previous reply about adding a few calories with snacks here and there. No Candy!! More like nuts, maybe some string cheese, or even fruit. You will see that these cals will only help you, instead of not.

I am excited to see your progress. Stay with it.

Thanks for the suggestions guys!  I don't think anyone on here means to yell, but somtimes their suggestions are more forward than others'.  :)

There are not many fruits that I like, but I do snack on vegetables sometimes.  Carrots and celery mostly, but an occasional banana if I have a fruit.  I know that I can't keep up this rate of weight loss (nor would I want to . . . yikes!  I'd be a stick!), but I do want to get back to a healthier weight, and a better appearance.

One thing I've started doing that kinda helps is I brush my teeth earlier in the evening instead of right before bed.  That way, if I see a bag of chips in the cupboard or something, instead of eating the whole bag, I can just say "can't have that, already brushed my teeth".  Most of it is junk food anyway.

Thanks again for the support, and good luck to you both as well!

WOW!!!  I am reading this and thinking, is this my husband???  He is also 5 10 and a wrestler (well, now a coach) and the same bad habits you had. 

Isn't it amazing how losing the soda makes such a difference in weight. Anytime he wants to drop some weight fast (not wearing a plasic suit or spitting in a cup) he just drops the soday and he tries not to eat after 5pm. 

I wish I could drop weight as fast.  Since we are in our early 40's weight comes off slower but just dropping the soda REALLY makes a difference. 

Good Luck to you! 

PS...you could still eat lots of oranges

Update:  I've lost another 5 lbs since my first post.  That brings me to 24 total.

I had my wife take pictures of me again this past weekend, and I could see the difference already.  It was cool to see a change so quickly.  But it was nothing like the ads on this site portray, of course.  I find the ads funny.  'Lose 18 pounds in 4 days' . . . and underneath that they have a 'before' and 'after' picture of the person who supposedly lost the 18 pounds.  Yeah, right!  Those people are at lest 50 pounds lighter.  Plus they are all tone and have sculpted abs in the 'after' picture!  I laugh every time I see them.  If I offer one word of advice to newbies it is this:  Don't believe the hype on those ads!  Diet, exercise, hard work, and determination will take you where you want to be.

I haven't increased my exercise much, but I have started doing little things during commercial breaks while I watch tv.  Nothing big, but maybe 20 sit ups, or 20 push ups, or something along those lines - just to get my heart rate picked up for another couple of minutes when it would have normally been wasted time listening to people drone on about the Sham-Wow and the Snuggie Blanket.

I have a charity softball tournament this weekend in the snow, so I'm counting on burning a lot of calories on Saturday and hopefully Sunday if we make it that far.  It's sponsored by a local bar, so I'll have to avoid having too many beers between games, and that deliciously greasy bar food and I should be okay!

By the way Yulonda, I was a wrestling coach for a while after I graduated as well.  But I started working 2nd shift a few years later and had to give it up.  I'd love to get back into it, but my schedule just doesn't let me do it right now.  Although, I don't know if I could hang with those young kids now!  Maybe after I get back into another shape besides round!

Update:  2 weeks have gone by since my first post.  I've lost an additional 8 pounds since then.  Overall, I'm down 27 lbs, with 8 more to go.  The competition at work is not very competitive so far.  There is one other person who is around 20 lbs lost, but his partner is not doing well at all.  The next closest team has lost a combined 20 lbs.  I'm feeling confident at this point that my partner and I will be making some money off of this.

On a different note, I had my wife take pictures of me after the first two weeks and I could already notice a difference in my profile pictures.  I'm planning to have her take pictures again this Sunday, which will be the 4 week mark.  I know I must be losing inches, because my pants are getting too big.

I'm remembering lots of great foods that I like, but just never used to eat.  Things like apples, peaches, yogurt, and jello.  I've been getting the light and/or sugar free varieties, and I can't even taste a difference.  And, since they have some natural sugars, it quenches my sweet tooth too.

My exercising has slowed a little, because my knees feel sore.  So instead of running on the elliptical, I've been focusing on my stomach area and my chest/arms.  Sit-ups, bicycles (ouch, by the way), push-ups, light free-weight exercises (bicept curls, tricept extensions, etc.).

I'm still only getting around 1200 calories per day.  I'm just not hungry enough to get to 1500.  Don't get me wrong, I'm sure I could if I ate different foods, or stuffed myself at mealtime again.  I've also started taking a daily vitamin to make sure that I get all of the good things I need on a regular basis

How is everyone else doing?