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.

To Tara: I really just want to improve my overall lifestyle.  My weight/health have gotten out of hand in recent months because I was part of a lay off at my work and have been "officially" unemployed the last 2 months.  Eating healthier and exercising has helped to cope with some of the stress. 

My husband and I want to live longer and healthier lives.  With things like lung cancer, thyroid problems, diabetes, obesity, and heart problems in our families, we need to take better care of ourselves so we can be around a long time.  His major hurdle right now is quitting smoking.  Once he's mastered that, he plans to start working more on diet and exercise. 

For those of you who are religious, please keep me in your prayers.  I just interviewed today with a major insurance company.  If I get the job, not only wilil I have great pay and benefits but I'll have FREE access to their wellness center (workout facilities and exercise classes) during and after work.  How great would that be!

I'm glad I'm not the only one!  I just started a couple weeks ago, but I discovered within the first couple days that there was no way I'd be able to eat 1300 or 1400 calories a day for more than one day.  Since I started at the end of July, I've averaged about 1900 calories a day, which is probably more than I should be eating.  I'll aim for 1700-1800 for a while and see what that does.

I've decided to lose slowly for several reasons:

*  If I tried to eat 1300 a day, it would only last a couple days, and/or I would feel guilty all the time as I constantly went over.

*  I don't have a terrible amount to lose.  I'm 159 right now at 5'6" (so I've only lost 3 pounds so far), and I think my goal weight is around 135.  (I'll see, once I get closer.  I might be able to go smaller.)

*  I really do just want to be healthier.  I know that if I eat healthily for a while (and up my activity a bit), I'll drop 20 pounds or so, because that's what happened during my semester abroad (eating healthier/less processed foods and walking/biking more).  If I don't lose more than that, that's fine.  I don't have this mental image of me as a size 2 or anything, because I really can't ever see that happening, honestly.  I don't even really want to be that small. 

Whoo hoo for me!  I drank 64 oz of water today.  That is a major thing for me! 

Thanks for all the encouragement.  Let's do it again tomorrow, huh?

Sending prayers up for a job for kthompson.

I have a very stresful meeting at church tonight....that usually sends me to the comfort food.  Help.....

Shanelle

I hope just asking for help stopped ya sadiesmom...

You know... I find that I hit "sticky" spots in the same placed on the way DOWN as I did on the way up... about every 10 pounds or so!   I LIKED that on the way up... "Hmmmm I ate five pieces of pizza and I still way the same thing as I did a week ago!"  but I the way down!   DAMMIT!   I've been eating right all week and I'm still at the same place I was a week ago *lol*

Good morning everyone.........

I have been cutting down all week and still weigh the same - what a nightmare.  Okay so I guess by reading these threads I need to drink lots of water - how boring!

Cadburys do a chocolate highlights drink that only has 40 calories, so I find that one of these mid afternoon when the stomach starts churning and yearning for food, does the trick.  Yep, thick, chocolaty and gungy, but it stops the craving for food until I get home from work and eat a plate of veggies.......

I guess everyone else on this thread is in the US........??

    Tara
       &nb sp;      Aaaaaarrrrrrggggghhhhh!!!! :)

That's what I said this morning. For some reason I stepped on the scale this morning and it shows I gained. Normally I only do it once a week but I don't know what was going through my head. :(  I didn't eat crap yesterday!!  I did have 6 bottles of water, but heck, that shouldve been good!!  Dang it!!!! 

Hey there lynne I'm sorry your body is not doing what you tell it to, yet... but just hang in there and eventually it will... It has to... it's math... you eat less calories that bou burn.. and at some point the scale will show it, too... and yes more water...  I drink about 8 32 oz bottles a day... or more... Less sodium... avoid processed foods... blah, blah...(and I"m in the US)

tricia I'm sorry about your gain!   I gained Monday and Tuesday for no reason.  My calories were good... my food was good... but two days gaining... then, every day since then I went down... to below where I was on Sunday... that's why a lot of people choose to weigh once a week or less.. they get discouraged by normal body flucuations.  I't totally normal to gain or lose 1-3 pounds in the SAME DAY... it can be as simple as how you're standing on the scale... a certain type of food taking longer to digest.  Try not to worry about it and look at much LONGER terms than day to day.

Let's drink that water today, gals.  That especially goes for you, sadiesmom! :) 

Going to a potluck today which I know could be dangerous.  I plan to eat a small lunch before I leave (it's an hour drive away)  and then I hopefully won't be too tempted.  Wish me luck!

Drink, drink, drink that water, haha!! 

I guess I'd better since last night I drank 3 glasses of wine -- more than I'd normally have in a month, haha -- I just caved!! it was sooooo tasty.. oops!  And THEN I ate a whole serving of tirimisu @ 300 cal's -- *gulp*  OoOops.. great wine and fun company are terrible for watching your calories... good thing I paid my penance biking there and home (90 minutes total - whew!  that's a lot for me).

Good luck kthomspon!!  It would be awesome to have a free way to work out -- I'll be rooting for you!!!

Hope things go well tonight shanelle -- you can get through it --

lynne -- don't cha love all the peer pressure to get chugga lugging that H20??  :o)  I drink all day out of a Nalgene.. ho hum.. But it's soooo much nicer if I make a big glass with ice, a lemon wedge and a bendy straw... (this doesn't often happen, haha..) Wish I had one of those fancy ice-and-water-dispensing fridges! 

I'm in Canada, eh -- anyone else from up here?

Arggghhh!!  (that's for plateau-ing) ... it goes on and on...year after year it seems...

I actually read some cool stuff yesterday about busting plateaus - one suggestion was to be a little inconsistent in your calories for a week or two -- it keeps your body guessing... you don't have to go too high or low, just range between 1400 - 2000. It all comes out in the wash over a week.   Might try that!

On the Oxygen forum there's a lot of stuff about trying to lean down for a competition -- one common word of advice was to be sure to eat enough -- keep it under 2000 cal/day or so, but always stay above 1600.  They said any fewer cal's slowed down your metabolism too much and caused muscle loss. 

Above 1600 has worked REALLY REALLY well for me.. I"ve been doing it for about three weeks now... and losing about 3 pounds a week... Before that I had been OBSESSIVELY staying at 1200... and only losing about half a pound a week... tbe body is a weird thing, isn't it?

I hope you don't mind if I jump in here. I couldn't believe when I saw a thread for people who actually EAT! I have not been able to do the standard-weight-loss-1200 calorie thing since I was 15 years old. And that was almost 10 years ago.

I actually started binging eventually from doing that and gained about 25 lbs from the time I was 17-23 years old which I wasn't able to start taking off until the last couple of years. I basically gave up dieting and ate a lot more during that gaining phase, which I think re-energized my metabolism. Before I would have gained before eating 1800 calories. Now I lose weight on 2000. I was never that heavy but at 5'2.5 my highest was 145 lbs and currently I'm about 133 lbs.

My reasoning for going up to 2000 calories is simple. Don't the 'experts' always say a woman (not teenagers nor seniors) generally needs 2000 calories to be a healthy weight?  Why, then, do they recommend 1200 to lose weight when the success rate of that is extremely low for keeping off weight? I don't understand why they don't say eat 2000 calories (adjusted slightly for different people) and eventually balance out to a healthy weight? Perhaps it is just ignorance on my part, but if one is quite overweight or even underweight, there calorie levels must be equivalent to that weight. If you eat a natural, normal amount, the weight is surely to follow. My experience has been this, but I do acknowledge that metabolisms are different. My definitely slowed when I staved and binged as a teenager. It tooks years of almost overeating to bring it back up to par.

I am happy now eating a decent amount and even losing weight at this amount. My work outs are walking my dog. Thank God for him otherwise I probably wouldn't do much.

It's just great to finally relate to people who are enjoying food and not going hungry while we lose weight. This journey should be fun, too, right!?!

Hiya girls,

Thanks for responses.   I just got whisked off to a lunch at the local pub and actually sat and watched my boss stuff his face with a bruchetta covered in mozzarella cheese, peppers, etc etc and french fries.  I declined - how brave.  Sat there with my stomach rumbling, and him saying "you will fade away" - yeah, I wish! 

But........I did have two glasses of wine so tonight it will just be vegetables vegetables vegetables - all steamed and I guess loadsa water. 

And yes I still have a date in the next couple of weeks with a Colonel in the US Airforce (currently based in the UK) so I gotta get that flat stomach, slim rear end and whatever else.......thank goodness of Bridget Jones knickers!  LOL

lynne--A date.. how exciting!   I have one next Friday, too.. with my husband... :-)  It's our "6 month anniversary" figure we can celebrate that as newly weds...but I gained 30 lbs since we got married... and have since lost 22 of those pounds... BIG YO YO!   Regardless, I told him he gets to see me in lingerie again!   *lol*

Don't sweat the wine... I"ve been averaging two -three bottles a week and it hasn't hurt anything... I just log the calories.

Bekk... I KNOW .... isn't it WONDERFUL!   That had ALWAYS been my problem in the past... I would be chugging along really well for a month... and sometimes even two... and then I'd have ONE day when I went up to like 2500 calories and FLIP out about ruining everything... try to get back on the wagon... but never did... and gain again.  Not this time... 2000 calories is just fine for me... I aim for 1600... but don't blink an eye at 2000.  I'm such a totally different person than I was before.  I have no fears about this not working because i don't care about WHEN I hit some imaginary magc number.  I'm going to eat appropriately... eat healthy "clean" foods... (with the occasional BITE of something else... but I"ll never inhale a POUNDER bag of Ruflles again!), and workout every day... forever, and ever amen!   *lol*... and this thread is so wonderful because it's others with the same mindset.  You can't starve yourself if you're changing your life for real.  I  LOVE iT!

beckkk- We're so glad to have another Eating Dieter (maybe that's what we should call ourselves). 

I had 2 small cookies at the potluck I went to today but since I also loaded up on fruit and downed two 20 oz. bottles of water, I don't feel guilty.  Dinner tonight will be whole wheat, organic mac n cheese and veggies. Plus lots of water, of course!! 

I'm glad there are other sensible, reasonable dieters out there.  We're bound to have a lot more long-term success than those others out there.  Let's keep moving forward with our goals to change our lifestyles and be healthier in the long run.

sadiesmom- I haven't checked your journal yet today.  How's your water intake?

Water intake is at 60 oz today so far so I should get to my 80 oz no problemo ! ( I am so proud of myself!!!)

I'm STARVING and dinner isn't for another hour.  I'm sitting here watching Oprah and munching on some baby carrots, which I LOVE. 

In a diet book or something, I read that another reason we have problem losing weight is that we don't chew our food thoroughly.  We should be chewing each bite of food 25-30 times before swallowing so that we digest all the vitamins in nutrients.  It has to do with how saliva aids in the digestive process.  I've been trying to chew my food more but have no way of knowing if it's helping or not.  Just a thought worth sharing.

Yeah, I was reading someone else's post today that reminded me again to SLOW down and enjoy my food.. I SCARF it... I don't know if it comes from being a teacher and having 22 minutes for lunch... OR if it comes from being 343 pounds... and you HAVE to eat fast if you're going to try to get in 7000 calories a day *lol*

But I"m having leftovers of my husband's AWESOME lo cal enchiladas tonight... two of 'em... and tomato cucumber salad with guacamole dressing (400 cals TOTAL)... but Im going to make sure that it takes me AT LEAST 30 minutes to eat it... even if it has to go back in the microwave...

Hey kt... you know they say the best thing to eat when you're hungry is protein or fat... staves off cravings longer... like string cheese is good... slice of turkey... that sort of stuff.

Hi All~  It's so great to read what everyone writes and to get ideas and clarification about things I've been thinking.  For instance, I am thinking more and more that I should have a RANGE of calories to eat each day, not a specific number to hit, say 1700-2100 (for now).  I really do think that one of the things that has been making me lose weight is the fact that I keep surprising my body. 

My mom agreed with this when I mentioned it to her today.  She has always been successful at keeping her weight down.  For the record, she is about 5' 2" and weighs about 120 (give or take).  She says that when she wants to lose weight, she "limits" her calories to 2000 a day!!!  Granted, she gets a lot of exercise from her daily life (walking a lot, and she does her morning calisthenics) but she doesn't work out at a gym or anything.  I think people's metabolisms can vary SO much.  And I think my own metabolism can vary so much, depending on what I am eating, how much of it, and how much muscle I have at a given time...

Maybe I'm stating the obvious, but it gives me hope! 

Also, Beckkk, I'm glad you didn't feel guilty about a few cookies!  Heck, I am trying to realize that guilt should have nothing to do with food!  Sometimes we over-indulge, (which, by the way, I don't think you did with 2 cookies) but I think as long as we are aware of what we're doing, it's such a small event in the scheme of things.  I really relate to the people who say that sometimes a binge led to quitting; I don't want that to be my pattern any more.  I don't have the same cravings I do when I am eating a ton of sweets, so it's not as big an issue, but I find that if I just keep the stuff out of the house and enjoy it FULLY and ENTHUSIASTICALLY when I am out to dinner (or whatever) then it's fine...

:) Wendy, drinking her 3rd 32oz bottle...

Hey, Eating Dieters, hee hee.. how do you guys feel about "Cheat Days"... ?  My formerly chubby hubby swears that it's really important to overeat one day a week to keep your body from kicking into 'starvation mode'. 

You add about 15-20% more cal's once a week, either in treats, or if you don't want to consume any high-cal high-fat or sugar foods, you just take larger helpings of your normal 'clean' foods.  

There are 2 caveats -- you have to 'cheat' on a workout day, and you should consume the extra calories before mid-day, so you have time to work it off, and so you're not going to bed on a full stomach.

There's only one problem, I can't do it!!!!  I work so hard all week, exercising and eating right, and when my husband starts waving ice cream bars around, I just feel like it's gonna undo whatever I've accomplished.  Rice cakes!!  Give me rice cakes! ! (just kidding -- I don't eat those things.. )

Big strong men who can afford more like 3000 cal's/day have lots of room for a little dessert now and then, heh heh..... but I'm thinking that I shouldn't go over my normal cal's by more than 300/day, and that ain't room for no ice cream sundae, haha.. Not even a muffin!  More like a little glass of juice and an extra piece of toast, big deal.

What say you guys?

:o)


Tara