5'3" and 130-135lbs anyone?

I hate to be so specific on the people that I am calling in to this topic, but I find it so necessary.

I am 5'3 and stand at a current 131.6lbs. My goal weight is 115lbs but I've found it so hard to loose these last extra 15-16 lbs (like many of you.)

If you have a similar goals as I, join me in the fight to loosing at least 10 lbs by December 25th. Weigh in every Monday morning and post your successes and struggles. Share what is working for you.Let's do it people. (please, do not promote eating disorders but rather, promote a healthy long term lifestyle.)

Introduce yourself and post your stats. Keep in touch. GOOD LUCK!!!

Good morning (at least here in California)!!!!

Update: I've been doing fairly well. I've kept my calories low and have managed to work out almost every day (except monday and saturday.) Still, there is something bothering me in my stomach. It's bloated and it kinda hurts. I don't eat very much salt so i can't say it's cuz of that. I have been drinking lots of water (bout 10 cups a day) and exercising. I am not sure but I am hoping this will all end by this coming week. It might just be my stomach acting up. What ever. Anyway, I've kept a steady motivation. I am really hoping I can carry that throughout the weekend cuz weekends always kill me.

Alba: morning work-outs are the bomb!! I love them. I do wish I didn't have to work at 7:30am cuz I am currently waking up at 4:30am to work out by 5am. Sucks waking up so early but I love the morning exercises.

go: Even with stress, wine and cookies, you have not lost much. Keep at it. You still have 3 more days to kick it into gear.

ssdevine: omg girl, how horrible about your mom. I can absolutely relate. My mother has kidney failure and recently was operated due to a tumor on her brain. My father is diabetic. ugh!!!!! sucks. But girl, there is only one thing that has kept me from total depression. God. I don't know if you believe in him, but even if you don't, find that which gives you the energy to keep fighting. If you do believe in him.....hold on to him very tight. I swear he will never let you fall. All this is even more of a reason we should strive to be healthier. This should be our every day motivation so we can have the opportunity to see our children grow up (i don't have any but some of you do) and see our grandchildren grow, and die at a good age. I will keep you and your mom in my prayers. 

Happy Monday everyone! Weigh in day.

I am happy to report I am down again.... 134.0 this morning. I did a terrible job of keeping track of things this weekend. I didn't eat regularly and indulged in some treats on several occasions. I think the only thing that saved me was the fact that I was so busy this weekend that I ended up skipping a few meals. Not good I know but then my treats didn't impact my calories so much.

Biatchita: thanks for the well wishes. I do believe in God and I know that this is all part of His plan.

Ladies (and Gent) have a  good day.

happy happy happy monday! At least it is for me. I was worried that I wasnt going to lose any weight this week and when I stepped on my scale this morning, I was so surprised to see 135.8! That means that I lost 1.6lbs this past week. Needless to say, I totally did a little happy dance in my bathroom. I was amazed. Thank you all for keeping me motivated throughout the week and I hope to hear about your successes throughout this week! Good Luck!!!

Ladies.. May I ask you all a question.

I have been revamping my goals lately and am trying to determine my calorie goals. I am thinking I will aim for around 1400/day which with my workouts should give me a deficit of around 4000 calories a week equaling 1 lb lost.

What are all your calorie goals?

Hi!

I am in my late 20s, 5'3" and weigh 130, down from 136 six weeks ago.  I am getting married in March, and I want to be fit before my wedding! 

I was in the best shape of my life about four years ago, when I had a job that was not very demanding and could work out for an hour or more each day. Then I started law school and stopped exercising and started eating junky food all the time. 

At my fittest, I hovered around 124-126, so I guess that's my goal.  I don't want to be super skinny.  I had a lot of muscle and was very toned, and I was happy with how I looked and felt.

I started working out seriously and eating healthy about six weeks ago.  I started by biking and running with my fiance and doing bootcamp-style workouts at home.  It helps so much that my fiance is doing this with me.  It keeps me motivated to work out on days when I don't want to.  We weren't counting calories, but were just making healthy food choices.

We amped up the fitness program two weeks ago.  We've started doing the P-90X program (it's a home fitness program and nutrition plan).  It's made for people who are already in good shape and want to get in impeccable shape.  Both the workout and the nutrition plan are intense, but I feel a lot stronger and fitter already.  I've started keeping track of my food portions and my ratio of protein/carbs/fat.  The goal is 40% protein/40% carbs/ 20% fat.  It's actually been easier than I expected--though it calls for more expensive food.

The hard part now for me, strangely enough, is eating enough calories.  This program stresses that you should not run a calorie deficit because the workouts are so intense.  They claim that many people plateau on this plan because they don't get enough calories.  So, I'm trying to up my healthy calories, especially protein, to keep my metabolism high.

So that's my story.  I'll report my weigh-ins each Monday.  Today I weighed in at 130 lbs.  (One caveat for me is that I don't necessarily expect to lose a ton of weight because I'm focusing more on replacing fat with muscle.  But I'm too lazy to do inches and I don't have a body fat measurer, so weight is the easiest thing to measure.)

Hey SSdevine,

I was eating 1500 when I started running every night.  Then, I started eating more calories (between 1600-1700) and my weight actually came off faster then.  Generally, I stay around 1600 but if I am hungry after dinner still, I will eat a small snack.  I'm trying to listen more to my body than to what my calories say...  I've been steadily losing since I started doing this, so I am going to stick with this plan.  I think that as you get more and more into the program your body changes metabolism wise, so you eat differently than the way you did when you first began.  At least that's my theory.  :)

Welcome to the group sadirosie!  Good Luck!

I did not weigh myself today because I was running l,ate to work this morning!  I will definitely report in the morning though.  :)  I hope that everyone had a good weekend.

I'm happy to report I lost another 1 1/2 :) I wish I could get it off faster but I know this is healthy. I find myself doing really great during the week but then my husband gets home on the weekends and the eating habits fall a little. He is the type that does not have to be as strict as me and he'll still take off weight. I'm at 144 today and that's the smallest I've been in over a year (since the birth of my second son). My goal is 130 but I have a goal of 135 by December 12th. I've done the math and if I keep taking a 1lb to 2lb a week I'll reach it. I have a formal event with my hubby that date and I want to look as best I can! I'm glad to hear everyone is doing well.

Have a great week!!

Peanut- Thanks for the info. I think I am going to try upping my calories to 1500 this week and see how I do. Maybe that will help with my snacking.

Sunday was my weigh in day, but I wasn't able to post my results.  I lost 2 lbs this week, so I'm down to 147 from 149.  Yeah!  It was my birthday week, so I did indulge from time to time, but I made sure whatever I ate was a small portion.  My goal this week is to exercise more.  Having a full time job and taking care of two children leave me little time, but I'm going to try during my lunch break.  I have 5 more pounds to go before I reach my Christmas goal.  I think something is clicking in my brain this time around.  

Good monday girlies,

I am so excited to hear about all of your losses. Mmalens, Go and Ssdevine, CONGRATULATIONS!!! How exciting!

Sadie: Welcome. Can't wait to hear your updates!

peanut: 1600 cals a day is awesome. I wonder if I will loose at this number as well?!

Me? Buuuuhh! I weighed the same. 130. No loss....no gain. Good? Bad? I don't know but one thing I do know is that I am going to add more calories in my diet. I was eating about 1300 cals. I am officially going to 1400. Or what? Should I do higher. What's yall take? Again, I am 5'3, 130, small frame, and exercise about 35-60 minute cardio, and 30-40 min weights about 4-5 times a week.

On another note....what do you guys think about this...? Weekends seems to be the worst for me cuz I don't count calories. You think that I should save up some calories for these days? For example, if I decided to eat 1400 daily...should I eat about 1300 daily and have those extra 500 cals for the weekend?

Hello everyone!

I'm new to the group, and was very happy to stumble on this thread, as it describes my situation very well.  I'm 5'4" and am not fat, but have been having more and more difficulty fitting into my clothes.  I like to look young and professional in the office, but I'm getting down to only a few suits that really fit well and I don't want to "give up" and be a different size forever. 

I was between 105 and 115 all through high school and college (which I think was a bit too skinny) and then between 120-135 in law school/after, when I stopped walking around all the time and playing volleyball 5 days a week.  Most of law school I weighed 120-125 which wasn't bad, but after being a summer associate at my current law firm (free dinners = danger) I got up to 135 and easily lost 10 lbs w/ calorie-count + exercise.  The other 10 lbs were harder to lose and I haven't been below 123 in a while.  But I was doing a lot of Pilates, which didn't lower the number to my goal weight, but I think made me look really good, so I didn't mind.

My biggest problem now is that I work 8-10 hours a day sitting on my butt, and it's much harder to squeeze in a workout.  Also my boyfriend is understandably much less concerned about his health/weight than I am (and also doesn't particularly care what I weigh, which is good!) and does NOT share my willingness to eat healthy.  He requires carbs at every meal and cooks the most deliciously unhealthy things (his is the best chicken-fried steak ever).  BUT I have convinced him to share in my first goal: to lose 10 lbs by my birthday, which is Jan 9.  Considering that there are 11 weeks until then, I think I can do it, even considering Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Sorry that I missed Monday, but I will post my start weight: 133.4.  I'm actually slightly pleased with that since I just got back from a 10 day trip to Paris where I did NOT diet, calorie-count or avoid delicious, delicious French wine.  I did walk my butt off, so I think that counteracted a lot of what I ate.  ALSO, one thing that I was reminded of in France is portion control.  A lot of the time, as an American in Europe, we look at the portion we've been brought, translate the Euros or Pounds into Dollars and think "man, I'm not getting much." BUT I think eating smaller amounts of much more delicious food is so much more satisfying and not necessarily as bad as you think. 

Biatchita: In law school, I was able to see the university hospital nutritionist and she said for my weight/height/activity level (which all sounds like yours), I should aim for 1400 calories/day.  I happily went off and tried to stick to that, but I noticed that on the days I did just Pilates or just walked to class, etc. I was only eating 1200 calories (and totally full), BUT the days when I ran 3-5 miles or did heavier weights, etc. my body craved closer to 1700 calories - and I felt guilty for that, but still didn't want to starve.  I discussed this with her and she said to go ahead and stick with it as calorie cycling is really helpful because your body doesn't know what's coming next, i.e., you don't go into "famine" mode.  She said I should aim for more of an average of 1400 calories a day over the course of the week.  AND she recommended a cheat day for my sanity and so I would stick with everything.  I also found that once I had cemented in my healthy eating habits and had my healthy options stocked in the fridge, my cheats weren't nearly as bad as I thought they were.  I would show her my calorie-count food logs and she rarely ever rebuked me for my choices on cheat day.

Another helpful thing she told me is not always to go with the fat free option.  For example, I love sour cream, but the fat free just isn't tasty enough.  She pointed out that the calorie counts are virtually the same and that for me, I wasn't really eating anywhere near too much fat, so I wasn't really "benefitting" from the low fat option.  She said that if I ate the low fat and didn't really like it, I'd be more likely to eat a second snack that would be worse than if I'd just eaten the full fat.  I still buy low fat yogurts and skim organic milk, because I can't taste the difference, but where taste matters and calories are pretty close, I just "indulge" in the full fat.

Hey Ladies:

This is a great idea to chat. I'm a teeny bit taller than you 5'4" and I weigh 134 lbs. This is a shocking weight for me as I weighed less when I was nine months pregnant. What I've found is that now that I'm in my mid-forties, the weight has creeped on and doesn't want to leave! I'd like to be between 120 and 125.

I love the calorie counter and think that it will help me to manage my food intake.

Keep in touch. I look forward to reading about your progress.

Snemazee- Nice to meet you. My situation is very similar to yours. I'm 5'4" and 134. I have the same challenge as you with a husband that is not concerned about his weight and diet. My way of overcoming this is to "save" calories. I typically try to stay in the 1400-1500 calorie range. I will eat very low calorie breakfasts, lunch and snacks so that when supper rolls around I still have 500+ calories left. This allows me to cook a not so low cal supper that he will enjoy also. If I have a day that I can't save up enough calories I just practice strict portion control and add a salad to my meal to fill me up. I do however make some low calorie suppers a couple times a week. It doesn't hurt my family to eat a couple of healthy meals now and again. So we compromise : ). Maybe some of these tips will work for you.

And Lindajean- nice to meet you too.

Good luck to both of you ladies. Can't wait to hear more about your successes.

Thanks for the tip about "saving 500 calories". My guy just said this morning "let's go out for dinner tonight" and I thought "what will I eat?" But you're right with some planning I should be able to eat light today and then enjoy dinner out - no dessert!

Hi, my name is Cindy and I am currently 5' 3 1/2" tall and I weigh142 right now. I work in an office and dont have much time to work out, (my schedule is from 10 to 7pm mon-fri), I have two daughters, a 4 yr old and a 7 month old. I have already lost all the baby weight, but I was already overweight before I had my daughter. Any healthy suggestions for breakfast? I know that if you have a good breakfast, by the time lunch comes around, you wont be as hungry :)

I love that everyone is doing so well!! I'm going through some tough times and it's so nice to come here and read all the great positive posts.

My frustration coming up is Halloween. I'm not as worried that I'll eat sweets rather all the drinking :( My husband and I have an adult costume party tomorrow and then a kid birthday themed Halloween party Saturday. Does anyone has any suggestions on how I can cut the calories a bit during the day to make up for the calories I'll inevitably have during the evenings??

I hope everyone has a blessed & safe Halloween!

go_aves- I get your frustration. I like to socially drink on the weekends with my friends and that I think has been one of my struggles. I'm also trying to find ways to cut the calories during the day. I have no suggestions so far other than sleep in?? haha. Have a great Halloween

I hope that everyone has a great Halloween!  My husband and I decided to go on a small vacation at the end of Nov. now.  Basically, I want to lose about 3 more pounds by then... that's resonable right?  We've been together for twelve years and I can't remember the last time that he's seen me in a bikini :)

As for the whole drinking thing that everyone's been discussing...  I completely feel your pain.  My friends and I go out a lot, so it can be pretty difficult sometimes. I gave up beer and that's helped me a little???  or maybe that's just all in my head?

So, it's weigh-in day, right?  I weighed in at 131, pretty much the same as last week.

I was not as good this week as I have been in previous weeks.  I was too busy to work out Thursday, and too tired Friday.  Also on Friday, my friend had a dinner party, and she makes a flourless chocolate cake that's just ridiculous, and so I had too much.  I was back on the wagon Saturday and Sunday with intense workouts and healthy food.  We'll see what happens next week!