New and feeling lost already...

Hi to you all out there. I just signed up today on the site and hope that this one will be the one to help me out mentaly and physicaly. I'm 25 years old, 5'7" and 176 pounds. I should also mention that I have two kids, 5 and 3yrs. I work all day as a daycare provider, which you think would boost my activity level chasing them around, but it doesn't really. That being, I also don't have the time to set aside to make special wheat pancakes or what not. Yes, I do try to balance my meals because of the daycare meal regulations, but it doesn't always mean it is the best for me.

 Does anyone have any ideas on what meals or activites would be best. I want to lose weight in a healthy matter but I also of course want the quick results so many of us wish for. The ND State Fair starts July 21st this year and I want to look my best (as possible)when I walk in the televised parade. Vain it may seem, but the higher my weight climbs the more I shy away from family photos, outings and of course as I'm sure you can tell... it doesn't help me with my confidence on how people see me. In the past year I have gained 15 pounds and when I am not carefull, like over Easter weekend, I went up to 181.5 (I cried a lot that night when I weighed myself). I seem to level out at 175 'ish most often than not. I just don't know where to start from and I feel so lost.

Also, I have a question regarding daily calorie intake.... Is the DCI amount required to make your body stop storing fat or do you have to stay UNDER that amount to keep your body from gaining more weight. I really don't understand it.

Thanks in advance for any help.

MEGAN

176.00 current, Goal weight they gave me 143.7- goal date august 16th... target daily calories to consume is 1700, I have a medium frame with seendtary activity.

Megan,

Congratulations on taking the first steps of the rest of your life.  It will definately make you so much happier.  The first thing I noticed was that your goal weight is due by August 16, 2007.  Which is not far off, so immediate results are not totally out of reach.  You do have an upper hand because not only is it going to be summer again but the kids LOVE to be outside and run around.  Incorporate children's activities into your daily routine. 

Go on a "field trip" to the park and play tag, ball, hoola hoop, etc, basketball.  KIDS LOVE TO RUN!

As for eating, if you can't fit in wheat pancakes thats okay as long as you keep what you are eating in moderation.  For me ice cream is my weakness in the summer.  Rather than buying a carton and keeping it in my fridge, I reward myself with a trip to McDonalds and get one of their non fat cones (also great for children treats) which is only 150 calories and much less than if I were to scoop my own ice cream and risk wanting more. 

By using the calorie tracker or if you are crunched for time, writing down EVERYTHING you eat in a day and the amount and doing it after all the kids are gone you will see what you are eating and can make changes from there.  Make sure to take a multivitamin and include calcium to give you a boost of energy. 

Hope some of this helps!  GOOD LUCK!

Given your height, weight, age and so on... I plugged it in and the best you can do is to get down to 159 by July 22nd.

And to do that you need to eat 1220 calories a day.

On days you exercise you need to eat 1220 + what you burn exercising.   This means if you go to the track and walk for 30 min and complete 2 miles ... then you can plug that in to a calculator (there are tons on the net) and figure out how many calories you burned.   The one I use says that would be 200 calories.

So that day you'd need to eat 1220 + 200 = 1440

Given you work in a day care and you are probably on your feet quite a bit it may be better to eat 1400 a day when you don't have any exercise... and then 1400 + calories burned exercising on the days you do exercise.

CARDIO is your best friend for losing weight.   Go find a local track that you can get the distance of a lap... get a stop watch (I use a $5 one I got at walmart that is a normal watch with stop watch built in)... and log how much activity you do.

The more you do the better you'll be.   If you can easily go 30 min... then go 45... go an hour... whatever.    And go atleast 3 times a week to do your cardio.

YOU CAN DO IT!

This diet has worked for tons of people including myself.


ONE LAST TIP:

Switch to water.   I know it'll be tough... it was so super tough for me to do that but I managed somehow to get there.   You will lose some water weight just doing that and also it'll help keep your system clean.

Hi Meg,

I thought that maybe I could help you out a bit, because we are very similar in age, weight, and height.  I started dieting/exercising about 3.5 weeks ago, and to date I have lost about 8 lbs.  I started at 174, so I know how you feel.  What I have been doing is trying to eat very healthy (I don't even log calories) but it could be helpful to you.  I changed my eating habits to eating only whole wheat, cutting out pretty much all soda (except diet ones once and awhile), drinking more water, and eating more veggies and a good dinner at night.  For breakfast, try to have something low cal with fibre - I usually have a whole wheat english muffin (130 cals) with a bit of cheese or jam.  I have a morning snack of carrot sticks, and lunch of usually a piece of whole wheat toast, with cheese, turkey, lettuce and a bit of mayo on it.  I have yogurt, and fruit too with water.  Afternoon snack is usually an apple or some kind of fruit, and for dinner I usually have Some sort of protein with lots of salad and veggies, and maybe a LITTLE bit of potato or something...really small on the starches though.  I try to do some type of work out every day.  I started out doing cardio 4x a week for 1/2 hour.  The exercise was what really kick started my weight loss, so make sure you are getting some cardio in.  If I get hungry after my workout I will have a small bowl of cereal or fruit...If you can do this I am almost positive that you will start seeing results soon.  Make sure you pack your lunches with only healthy food and you will be fine.  I haven't deprived myself at all.  You can do it!

If you want to add me to your friends list, go right ahead, we can keep motivating eachother and give eachother tips on our weight loss.  It's hard but just do it anyway even if you don't want to.  That's what I do.

Good luck.

Hi! I joined in the beginning of February, after making a New Years Resolution to lose weight, and starting to exercise in Jan (though I never counted cals). I am 5'6 and was 155 and lost 5 pounds in Feb, and 5 pounds in March and have lost 3 pounds so far this month :) My jean size has gone down and this is only my THIRD month!

I try to run at least 4 times a week, and if that is too hard I do the elliptical. I run for at least 30 min and I do a 10 minute mile, so that's 3 miles. If you've never really exercised a bike (or at the gym the aerobic bike) is a good easier way to start though it only burns about half the cals usually, so you might want to do it a bit longer.

Also weight training is a good idea to do for 10-15 min...situps and curls are some pretty easy workouts if you don't go to a gym. Buy 3/5/8 lb weights also. I haven't done this myself but I know of some people who get weights for their backpack when they walk around. It's a real pain but you're exercising when you aren't even really trying!

Dieting wise, you don't want to go BELOW 1200, and perhaps for your height going below 1300 isn't so good either. 1300-1400 is good, because if you're sedentary you're burning 1800 a day. a 400 calorie deficit PLUS 250-400 exercising will easily get you a 1 lb a week loss...make sure you sometimes eat a couple hundred more on exercise days so your metabolism doesn't slow down :)

Lastly, drink A LOT of water! You will lose a few pounds of water weight, and that's a good start! It's not coming from fat but it will take away bloat from you (your fingers will probably get smaller, since when your body retains water it bloats them) Try to aim for 10 glasses a day or so. I keep a large gatorade (4 cups of water worth) on me most times and when I go to classes I bring a water bottle...because when I'm bored I drink more water surprisingly :)

Good luck!! We're all in this together :)