Slow-paced dieters? Let's rally!!

Hi everyone!  I've read so many threads where people are dieting quickly and eating like 1300 calories a day and stuff like that.  I've got a very slow-paced goal for myself.  I want to lose 63 pounds but plan on doing so over the next 23 months.  I'm in no rush and don't have the discipline to "crash diet". 

I'm consuming 1700-2000 calories a day and trying to work out 20-30 minutes/day but I'm REALLY bad at motivating myself to do that, especially during the August heat.  I'll be doing more bike riding as fall comes closer. 

So, who else out there is dieting slowly?  Who needs motivation to work out?  Let's get on each other's friends lists and start supporting each other.

Yay for all of us who are bravely hitting the gym!  I have an embarrassing confession to make--I live ACROSS THE STREET from a YMCA and have largely ignored it, up to now.  For seven years!  And we've had a family membership since we moved here!  I always felt a little intimidated, but I was motivated to go try out the new training room recently (my younger daughter wanted to try it out, too) and I liked it--easy to use and largely peopled by folks near my age in the evenings.  They've seperated it from the free-weight room, so the body builders are elsewhere, now, which is also less intimidating for out-of-shape little me.  I've started going every other day, after a few starts and stops, and now my husband wants to work on his upper body, some, too, so he'll be going with me sometimes.  Oddly enough, I find I enjoy it, and I'm starting slowly enough that I'm not getting too sore or throwing myself into a flare.  My challenge generally comes when I really start to feel good from the mildly increased activity and I try to ramp it up too much, too soon.  I plan to be as sane and careful with my workouts, this time, as I'm trying to be with my eating.  And the treadmills are actually kind of fun--all kinds of bells and whistles and readouts and even little fans and cup holders.  :) 

The eating plan is also going very well, and I've lost another lb, which makes three in about the last eight days.  Total droppage so far since I got serious again is 11 lbs, and, really, I feel good, I feel like I can maintain this eating and exercise plan without any problems.  The frequent meals and snacks keep my blood sugar even, and the light exercise is energizing without being too tiring.  So far, so good!  

Hi everyone. my diet is still going okay, despite being in the US where the food is wonderful!

Tara- date is going fine.  Had to meet him at the restaurant at top of Empire State Building - nervous or what!  Dropped my fork underneath the table, which was embarrassing.  Luckily I didn't miss my mouth with the food or drink.   Okay so its 30 years on from when we last met but its good.  No he doesn't float my boat anymore, but very pleasant.  We have been to Central Park, theatre, ballet, and so on, and am off up to Vermont with him tomorrow, and then I fly back to London Tuesday and back to reality and work..........

I seem to have lost more weight but I think some of it is stress........and rushing around.  I still eat healthily and no more rubbish - sweets, cakes, biscuits, chocolate etc., and continue to loose maybe a pound every 1-2 weeks.  So its 19lbs so far which I am pleased with.

Report more when I get back to the UK, and when I jump on the scale next........

Wow.  This is some motivated bunch!  Maybe I'll have to think about going to the gym....next week.  LOL

The top of the Empire State Building?  Sound like an old movie, or two!!

Have a great day all.

A question for you guys: How long should I wait using a certain weight-loss routine (and nothing happening) before I switch something up? It's been 2 weeks now and nothing's happening for me. ): I'm fluctuating wildly between 159-161 lbs and it's so aggravating. XD I'd like to STAY in the 150 range for good!

 

I've been following CC's calorie guidelines for me...sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less, and working out almost every day. 2 weeks and no results...is it time to change something? 

Wow, everyone seems to sneak in here to gab at times when I'm trying to be responsible and work, work, and only work! Just got caught up, and am I ever feeling motivated after reading your experiences at the gym, kthompson, cc, Tara and others! You sound so enthusiastic! I just had a terrific yoga class today, came out feeling like Superwoman, and I'm hoping I'll have time to sneak off to Swimfit tomorrow morning--have been focusing on yoga this week and haven't gone to the pool all week. And while I was at the fitness centre I bought another 10-visit pass...I'm feeling committed now, but I suspect it's going to be reeaally hard to force myself out the door in January; I may just rely on my yoga and tai chi DVDs then. So I'll think on the three-month membership a while longer...!

You are all so lucky to have husbands who are interested in going to the gym with you. Mine is away a lot in the summer, but I'm trying to figure out how to get him thinking about losing weight again (he's really packed on the pounds ever since he quit smoking, and while I'm proud of him for doing that, I don't want him to die of a heart attack from being overweight, either!). If I can get him into that, maybe he'll want to do the gym with me too, this winter. I have mentioned to him that the fitness centre has open swims in the evenings and weekends that we could go to together, but then he's self-conscious about his belly and doesn't want to do that either. Ah well!

Lynne c, wow, that's some date! I thought it was a one-evening thing, but it sounds like a full-blown holiday! Glad you're having a good time. Perhaps it's a good thing that he doesn't "float your boat" anymore--without the stars in your eyes, you'll be able to get to know one another as people this time? Don't sweat the dropped fork! I don't know if it's subliminal, but all these years, my husband has had klutzy moments--on me! He's spillled his food on me more often than I can count, and once his cigarette burned a hole in the front of my dress while we were on our way to a friend's wedding! But I still married the guy...

 

dove, i wait until 4 or 5 days after ttom.  i always go up before and it comes off and some more after!  when i look back, my cals and weight loss match up, but that's the only time of the month they match.  otherwise it seems like i'm fighting plateaus or water weight gains...

i've been losing a lb a week, and it's finally starting to add up.  9 lb!  but...  it's hard those weeks when the scale holds or goes up!!!!  VERY hard!!! 

Remember, if we lost in a steady rate, 1 lb a week would mean 7 days at the same weight!

Slow & Steady Wins the race!  Hang in everyone :)

Great that you're finally heading accross the street, cc! Way to go! 

Wow, lynne_c, that's quite an elaborate date!  I hope it's fun -- Empire State Bldg -- doesn't get more romantic that that! Let us know!  Flurries of stress and activity can totally kill my appetite, how about you?

 Hi dovebunnie, you're wise to consider a change -- your body tends to be stubbornly attached to pounds and needs some crafty moves to help it let go sometimes.  Some ppl recommend always varying the number of calories per day, focusing on an overall number per week (not going below 1200/day, though).  There are lots and lots of ideas for busting through plateaus, such as on this thread called, "Waaaaaaaah, I'm on a plateau!", haha..

http://caloriecount.about.com/forums/post/555 17.html

I had to drop my cal's by just 200/day and that worked for a few weeks, until I dropped a lot of my normal exercise, and then I plateau'ed again.  Upping calories also works sometimes.. Varying the composition of your diet to favour protein also helps.

You could also take a look at the type of workouts your doing, for example if you're doing mostly steady-state cardio, consider intervals, HIT or plyometrics, or set up a circuit to increase the intensity and vary your heartrate.  Are you weight-training? More muscle revvs up your metabolic rate.

Keep switching it up!  Your body will get used to your new habits fast, and then you have to try something new again.

 

Hi everybody, I'm new here.  I started about 6 weeks ago tracking my cals and then have been trying to lower them to 1500 a day.  I have some health issues, so I am trying to excercise as I am able to. 

I am a 46 yo mother of 2 grown daughters, one teenage son and twin grandsons.

My current goals:

Walk 20 minutes a day

1500 or less calories

Eat lots of fruit, vegetables & whole grains along with some heart healthy fish (I'm a lacto/ovo/pesca vegetarain).

Keep my fat (healthy fat) 20% or lower, protein about 20% and the rest healthy carbs.

First goal 140 lbs, long term goal 130.  I am 5'2" and 157 lbs right now.

Someone here mentioned Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) which I loved to do before I got sick.  I hope to be able to return to dancing again

I look forward to getting to know y'all!

Hello, JR, nice to meet you!  I'm also 46 with two daughters in college and health issues that interfere with exercise.  I'm working on 1600 calories per day (500 less than my daily needs) and finding it not too difficult, but I'm doing Slimfast.  I've just added gym visits to my daily walking schedule--I love the outdoors and love to walk.  My daughters have DDR, and I've tried it, but since I got so large I find I have two left feet.  It's a great way to burn some calories though, lots of fun--if no one's watching.  *g* 

Do you get to burn calories chasing grandbabies?  That'll either keep you young or make you go gray, really quickly.  :)  How long have you been vegetarian?  Do you ever have issues with iron intake?  Mine's a little low, but I don't like iron supplements.  I'm working on adding more fish to our weekly diet.  What are your favorite ways to cook fish? 

Sadly my grandbabies are in another state. boo hoo!

I've been vegetarian for over 2 years now.  The thought of meat sounds pretty gross to me, which is good cuz if I feel anything is denied me then I sometimes want it so badly!  Also thankfully some things I've tried recently I didn't like anymore, like apple pie.  Sugar is one of my downfalls!

I used to have a lot of trouble with my iron, I would get anemic very easily, but since I've been vegetarian I haven't had as much trouble.  On CC+, you can do an analysis and then hover over the date and it will give you a nutritional breakdown and my iron hasn't been too bad.

I do mostly grilled salmon, but recently I had some Alaskan Salmon that was done in a wood oven, oh YUM!

When I started DDR, my daughter and I used to do it at an arcade.  We were the only women for a while and we just had fun with it.  We would work on a song at the basic level, then when she had it down, I would go to the next level while she stayed at that one so that I could learn it without us failing, then she would bump up and I would carry her until she got it, etc.  For Christmas a long time ago, they got me the home version, then the nice metal mat.  I would dance and dance and then when I quit and tried to step off I found my legs wouldn't support me.  I just enjoy moving to the music.  I lost a lot of weight doing that.  Then I noticed that I was having trouble with my legs not doing what I thought, often falling over and hurting myself.  It was confusing.  Then I was failing songs that I knew I shouldn't.  They did find I needed a stent in my leg, but that wasn't the problem.  All this time later the most they know is that I have some sort of muscle disease.  It goes in cycles, so at it's worse I'm in a wheelchair and can't do much, then progress to a walker then without and able to do some excercise, but nothing like I could before.  Yesterday when I went to see one of my docs, I'm currently walking alone.  She looked at me with a big smile and said "So are you dancing yet?"  She knows how much I want to be able to!  I think this weekend I will try to do a little and see how it goes.  If I manage to do it, having fun and without getting hurt, it will be a big success!

Hmmm... it just occured to me that my DD is going to Hawaii for a week and I'm babysitting her 2 big dogs.  The evening walks with her 2 and my 2 are gonna be interesting!

Welcome!

I'm so sorry for your troubles.  I have health issues too (fibromyalgia) and I understand your frustrations being able to do something on one day and not the next.  Just take it one day @ a time.  Good luck on walking the dogs

JR, like DG I have Fibro, along with CFIDS and EDS, and I understand the ups and downs of being able to do things at times that we're not able to at others--so frustrating.  I hope you're able to dance, again, soon.  I love the story of you and your daughter playing arcade DDR together--that's wonderful.  They keep us young, don't they?  :)  I miss my girls while they're at school, but I'll have both of them here this weekend, yay! 

The site's fly-over nutrient counts were where I saw that the diet I'm on is a little deficient in iron--not at lot, and since I don't cycle I'm not experiencing any loss, but I should probably try to boost it, some.  Do you get yours from spinach, for example?  I love raw baby spinach in salads, but a bag goes soggy fairly quickly.  

I love salmon, too.  I'm going to make some croquettes this weekend--one of my eldest's favorites.  

The gym is still going well.  My husband and I have decided to take turns going this week when we have my step daughter.  I got today and likely won't get a chance to go tomorrow.  I'm ok with this and am working on some toning exercises at home I've learned in my CORE class and from my personal trainer. 

Weight is still kind of holding steady.  Since I've been going to the gym, I've noticed myself consuming more calories.  I need to start watching what those calories are and cutting back on them.  Please give me some encouragement on this.  The other part of it is that since I've gone back to work, I've had more fast food lunches than I should.  There's no place to eat at the office so it's bring a lunch and eat in your car, drive 15 minutes to my house, or fast food.  I need to start picking healthier fast food options when I do go for that choice.

Anyway, my husband is in need of some advice and I thought you folks might be able to help.  He is struggling with late night munchies for things like cake or ice cream.  He's at a loss for how to satiate himself and my suggestions that work for me (chocolate milk, teddy grahams, frozen fruit bars) aren't cutting it FOR HIM.  Any ideas out there? 

well, i have to take a week away from the exercise class for time reasons; takes 3 1/2 hours of my day to go :(  and this is a bad week....

my brain is doing the happy dance ~ which figures since i'm a couch potato.  the rational part of me realizes i should be going.  it's a weird sort of feeling...  never quite had it before.

was down 10 and then zoom, up 3 :(  Sometimes I wish this was just a straight line downward.  And fast. Like 1 lb a day.  That would rock!

You know, bodies are strange.  I started this round of serious dieting because I dropped an unexpected 5 lbs after stepping up my activity level and being more careful with my eating.  I mean, DROPPED them, as in, suddenly they weren't there.  It was something of a shock, and it also threw me into a flare that had me on the couch for a week--deep, deep fatigue.  I imagine my touchy metabolism saw the sudden drop and said, "Starvation!  Dive!  Dive!  Dive!"  And I did, hard and deeply.  But when I came out of it, the five lbs were still gone.  I thought about it, tweaked what I was doing, some, so that I'd be in a more "slowly, carefully" type of plan, lost a few more lbs, found this site while looking for the calorie count of something, and here I am, down about 15 lbs total.  That's a good thing.

What's strange is the way my body decides to lose weight.  People have talked about the weird physics of weight loss, how 3500 calories doesn't always seem to equal a lb lost but sometimes less, or more, how doing everything right doesn't always make the scale move, etc.  I find that I'll cruise along for several days without any loss, then suddenly, bam!  Two lbs overnight.  It can't really work like that, can it?  I mean, where do they go?  Do I poop them out that morning?  Did they evaporate off my body while I was sleeping?  Due to the Fibro, I'm very sensitive to my own systems and can feel when things are happening in my body that might not be apparent to most people.  Sometimes, I can feel myself losing weight.  No, seriously!  It's a weird feeling, sort of a buzzy, fatigue-like hum that precedes or follows a loss.  I'm feeling it right now, and I'm down about three lbs in four days.  Why?  Why in gobs and jumps, sometimes, instead of a steady slide?  The body should burn steadily, right?  Take what it needs as it needs it, sort of in sips?  Does it actually take huge gulps when it feels a deficit? It's weird, and a little creepy.

This may sound like a whine over losing weight, which it isn't meant to be.  I'm concerned because, with Fibro, sudden drops in weight are NOT good for my body; it goes into screaming defense mode and puts me on the couch for a week.  I started to feel over-fatigued and dangerously achy last weekend, so I didn't do any cardio or weights at all, just took it easy all weekend, and started fresh with a couple of walks, and then weights and treadmill last night.  Now I have this weird "weight loss" feeling, again, which, if I'm not careful, can be a precursor to a flare, I've found.  It's frustrating.  I cut back the weight work a little and took the incline off the treadmill, and kept the whole workout under an hour.  I've stepped up my outdoor walks just a bit, but nothing too hairy, maybe five minutes total added with another small hill.  I'm wondering if I need to scale back again. 

I'd really like to feel excited and "whee, it's working!" about the weight loss, but if I'm hurting myself, it's not a good thing.  Trying to gain fitness and lose weight with Fibro is such a tricky, unpredictable, new-to-me thing (I've spent YEARS just not trying), and it's frustrating to make gains that end up hurting me, or not make gains at all, and then, pow!  Drastic, unpredictable change.  I feel like a stranger in my own body, sometimes.  Scary, creepy feeling.

Thanks for letting me rant.  I know you're not going to have all the answers for Fibro issues and I don't expect you to, that's okay--it's just nice to have a supportive place to vent where people will listen.  You guys are pretty cool.  :)

cc, I'm sorry to hear about your enforced balancing act with the fibrio (geez, it's like you're being punished for doing things right!), but I can certainly relate to your ponderings about the physics of weight loss. I've performed this very same "rant" about the way things work, numerous times. You made me laugh with " I mean, where do they go?  Do I poop them out that morning?" though I can report (having weighed myself before and after in a fit of desperate frustration) that pooping doesn't work!

Mageeg, there's a diet idea--"Poop Away the Pounds!"  :)  Not that that's an attractive idea, even if it would work--I have a LOT of lbs to lose.  Erg.  *g*  And I've weighed before and after, too.  I bet most people have tried that. 

"Poop Away the Pounds" from About.com..   *haha.. * you guys make me laugh so hard.. haha.. **

Ok I really want ppl to laugh so I'll let you know that my entire weight loss goal was 5 pounds, haha.. and I have spend all this time (3 months?) trying to do that.  I just gained 3 pounds overnight, so I'm not too thrilled about that, but what it means is that I need to take a longer view.  I'll get there.. just not when I thought I would.  This process certainly isn't predictable, is it?

You folks losing dozens? Kudos.  I don't know how you do it.  It's so hard to keep going when you're watching the process you think is working suddenly reverse itself and, for no apparent logical reason, you start regaining weight you so painstakingly dropped. 

Every pound means hours at the gym when you could have been with friends, or relaxing with a good movie.  Every pound represents delicious bites of dessert you passed up, the toast you drank with water instead of beer or wine.   Just to get to the gym, people skip their lunch hours, eat in their cars, spend twice the commuting time, work around injuries and illness, etc...  they do all this for their health.

I need more emoticons!!  *cheers!* -- you guys rock!

kthompson --  if you're starting regularly at the gym, your body will naturally start to retain a bit more water, which often causes weight plateaus. Plus, you'll actually be losing fat but gaining muscle, which is denser.  Don't worry about the scale for a while!  Glad you're enjoying it!  It is SOOO hard not to eat way more -- When I'm working out I'm hungrier too!!  you can stick with it... stash those healthy snacks around -- in your car, etc --.  Oh -- and your metabolism is revved up right after the gym, so if you're going to eat something, that's the time.  You need to replace your lost carbs and a little protein anyway. For your hubby -- that's so awesome he's trying to take better care of himself!!  I'd say he's having a low-carb moment late in the day -- maybe looking at a higher-volume, higher fibre supper?  Something that won't lead to rebound crashing later.  Also -- keep nibbling on healthy stuff right up 'til bedtime, if need be, so there won't be that 'I'm starving!' pig-out potential.  It'll take a while to unlearn those habits.  He needs to be patient with himself.  We make blended shakes a lot with Splenda (Splenda is my saviour for sweet cravings!), skim milk, ice, and cocoa.  It's a chocolate milkshake full of antioxidants, but very low in Cal's.  Dairy Queen makes deliscious low fat/sugar free chocolate ice cream bars too -- yum yum!  Good luck!

Well, my husband and I have gotten a bit away from our gym routine the past 3 days.  It's MUCH harder this week because we have my stepdaughter and our gym is kid-free minus the nursery for infants that they charge you $5/visit for.  So, trying to take turns didn't go as well as planned, especially when a few unexpected things came up (a friend needing help with painting a nursery, our other friend needing friendship/comfort because his dad is dying, etc.).  Friends and family have to come first so I've tried to watch what I eat, especially when I can't get to the gym.

I've started adding Benefiber to my water and such to increase my fiber intake for the day.  That seems to be going well.  

Gotta run now.... time to pick up the kiddo from dance class.

I had a happy surprise, today.  I ate out for dinner with my daughters at a Noodles & Co, and I had a trio of Pad Thai, tomato and cucumber salad and a serving of grilled chicken breast--a three-on-a-plate special that gives you smaller portions of each dish.  I began to log my foods, tonight, intending to search out someing similar in the database to the nutrition info I found online for the Noodles dishes, and I found nearly the entire menu already in the database!  No guessing, just selecting and sizing the portions.  Easy!  Second nice surprise--my dinner was only a little over my 500 calorie dinner limit, which is okay because I'm always a little under or over that number, and it averages out.  Heavy on the carbs, of course, and rice noodles aren't the best sort for diabetics (semolina is much better, slower digesting), but 40% carbs for the day, while high, isn't going to be a problem.  So, yay!  Is it obsessive of me that I'm considering always eating at chains with nutrition info already in the database?  *g*  As rarely as I eat out, it might be possible.