10 pounds in 11 weeks... who's with me?!!!!

I'm sick of being thick! I'm 5'7", 140.6 lbs as of this morning, and I am going to get to 130.6 lbs by my birthday, December 14th. I have a small/medium frame and I feel like I have a tortoise-speed metabolism. I carry my weight in my stomach and thighs and am very annoyed by it. I'm planning on weekly weigh-ins (not very particular on the day.. right now I'm going with Wednesdays..) and maybe even weekly pictures.

No, I don't need to lose weight.. But I want to feel better about myself.

Vain? yes.. Necessary? not really... but I will be healthy, I want to be happy and I want to feel amazing! I lost 10 pounds about 2 years ago and have kept it off and now I want to lose the last 10 pounds I've been hating for 2 years. The lowest I've weighed was 133 but my eating habits weren't the greatest at the time so the weight immediately came back on during the holidays when I wasn't exercising as much... and drinking a lot... and eating too much... oops...  

PLAN FOR THE NEXT 11 WEEKS:

1500-1800 calories a day

Weight lifting (at least 15lbs) 3X per week
Intense cardio (Rollerblading or Turbo Jam) for one hour, 2X per week
Hike with my boyfriend 1X per week

NO CHIPS/PRETZELS/BAD SNACKS
NO SWEETS
LIMITED ALCOHOL (1 night per week with intentions of driving.. so I'm limiting myself to one or two drinks)

Any takers on kicking some serious butt over the next 11 weeks? When I reach my goal by my birthday, I'm going to celebrate with a nice dessert and a glass of wine at my birthday dinner :D

Also, any ideas on how you guys want to run this are welcome.. Daily menus? Daily exercise plans? Motivational quotes? Frequent kicks in the pants? :) I'll do what I can to stop in everyday, but I work full-time and go to school part-time so I'll pop in when I come to a brief pause in all that :)

Thanks for checking out my post and I hope to get some positive, motivated responses! :D

Today... 140.6... Emotions:  - Ready to start this!!

Quote: People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing. That's why we recommend it daily. - Zig Ziglar (feel free to add quotes as we go along...)
(My calories below are a guesstamate.. I may double check later, but it's doubtful)
Breakfast- Oatmeal with cinnamon and 1 tsp sugar (175)
  1 c. skim milk (110)
 Piece of whole wheat toast with butter shavings (100)
 Coffee w/half n' half and sugar (100)
Snack- Golden delicious apple (80)
Lunch- Ham and swiss with mustard on whole wheat bread (400)
 Salad (75)
Dinner- Pot Roast (300)
Veggies (75)
Snack- Coffee (100)
Grapes (60)
Water- 96(+) oz.

there it is... 1575 calories. No plans of exercise today because I have class from 530-930 tonight.

Let's go!!!!!

ugh... I was trying to reply before but site shutdown on me. anyways... I would love to join you.  I'm 5'6'' and weighed 154.6 last time I checked but that was like two weeks ago.

My goal is to be 130lbs by May 09, cuz i booked a cruise to the bahamas. I also bought a thong bikini  as extra motivation! I've also decided to reward myself with some vela smooth sessions if I make it to 140 by march. and with this challenge i may make it there way before then!

My food for today is ok up until dinner cuz I'm making tacos for my boyfriend and his friends.  I did however buy ground chicken instead of beef and one of those low cal avocados (even though i hate them), as well as fat free refried beans. I doubt they'll even notice.

B: egg white with cheese on an english muffin

S: Artichoke

L: porkchop stirfry with eggplant, snow peas, asparagus and onions

S: almonds or mango

D: Tacos

Maybe I'll have a taco salad instead so it won't be as many calories. Plus I'm sure scrambling to cook for all of them should burn some cals too!

Good Luck!! 

I am definately with you. I am the same weight. Well, 138 now. I am 5'3" so I really want to get down to 120 but right now my actual goal is 10 pounds in thirty days. Which is roughly two pounds per week. I am pretty sure I can do it. I've already lost two of the stubborn pounds. I was always really thin until I had my latest child and quit smoking all together. Its taken me about 6 months to lose 15 pounds with a pretty bad diet alone and almost next to no exercise.

My boyfriend should be motivation enough losing over 100 pounds in the last year. He has me on two - a - day workouts. So I do one hour of cardio on the treadmill in the moring and then either a weighted vest on the treadmill in the afternoon or the jumprope for 30 min. And no I can't jumprope for 30 min but I do as much as I can in the amount of time. Starting and stopping of course. I am a stay at home mom so I have the time to be as active as I possibly can.

For my diet I have managed to stay between 1250 and 1400 calories for a little while now. I eat Special K with 1/2 cup fat free milk and an egg in the morning. Then for lunch I usually have two corn quesadilias. Which usually averages out to be about 300 calories total. I think that is really good for a lunch. It has cheese, the corn tortilia, lettuce, tomato, sometimes salsa, and hot sauce. You can switch it up too and add a LITTLE black beans or a LITTLE rice.

So by the time I get to dinner I usually have about 600 to 800 calories to spare. There is a lot you can do with that. I have stuffed peppers with a small peice of chicken, or a nice greek salad with chicken. Or brown rice, chicken and vegetables. If anyone wants any good recipes; I have them. But mostly I keep my cooking as simple as I can. Less calories that way.

My snacks usually consist of low fat string cheese, apples, clementines, low fat pudding snacks, and extra gum.

Of course none of this is easy. Especially the exercise part but like I said I do have a pretty good motivator at home. I usually burn at least 1000 calories a day doing exercise alone. I was already partially a vegetarian and wasnt eating any meat except fish but I figured for this purpose only I needed more protein so I started eating chicken again until I get to my goal weight.

I am sure we can do it as long as we just stay focused!!!

I'm with you!

I'm a 130 lb total pear at 5'5... I was 123 entering September... that's just how bad my binge eating got! I'm really motivated to kick this horrible monster of a problem in the ass. And get back down to where I was.

I used to eat like this, and want to go back to it ASAP:

Breakfast:
Green tea, bowl of fruit, bowl of kashi go lean cereal!

Snack:
Apple

Lunch:
Tuna Sandwich

Snack:
Carrots

Dinner:
2-3 cups of vegetables and fish/chicken

Snack:
Cup of cottage cheese with jam :)

I'm a runner, and run anywhere from 18-30 miles a week (shows how bad my eating got to do that and still gain 7 pounds).
Once my knee heals more, I'm going to continue my strength training 3 times a week on my legs and arms.

JUST GOTTA STAY MOTIVATED! We can all do it if we set our eyes on the prize. :)

I am totally in it!  I actually started on Monday in coordination with a friend who is out of town...with an intense motivation to be focused and diligent in my attempt to drop 10 -15 lbs before my 30th bday...which is actually DEC 14th (bday twins yeah!)

I am in a similar boat...I am 6 ft tall (size 8/10) started (up a little) on Monday at 166lbs.  Am I overweight...no...but it is my personal opinion that there are things about my body I can work on!  I have some lbs I could do without and some areas I want to tone and define! LOL

So.. here is my info

I have been working out 4-5 days a week with a combination of cardio and weights...kickboxing, circuit, step, running and weight training.

I have been trying to keep my calories in between 1200 - 1400 a day, lower sodium and low fat.

I am running a 5k this Saturday this was a motivator to stay on track...hence the need to have a new goal which is now my bday! LOL

I am excited to have some partners in this attempt!  We can do it!

Looking to keep up with you all!

Cari

I am in the same situation. 5'3 128 lbs. I would like to 118-120 lbs by january. I don't really need to lose the weight but I would feel much better.

B - 1/2 serving frosted mini wheats w/ 1% milk 1 apple with 2T pb

S - whole wheat english muffin with a little butter and 14 oz O.J,

Thats all so far today mist likely a late lunch for me.

gooooood moooooorning!! I am oh so excited to see everyone here! how's everyone feeling this morning? lighter? ;) Personally, I feel like I need little mantras or easy things to say to keep me movitated while losing weight.. This time around, I find myself saying "I will lose 1 pound this week!" It's a little less daunting than "I will lose 10 pounds by my birthday.." and that would also make me think... well, I have till my birthday, so I can just work harder next week... NO! Work hard now! :) WE CAN DO THIS! Focus! Exercise! Keep your body happy and healthy! :D

girl- OMG! A CRUISE!? I think you have the best motivation here! Make sure you get that bikini hanging in view.. maybe stick it to your fridge.. lol! as for the tacos... when my b/f and I make taco salad I made a huge salad, use a little bit of taco meat, tons of tomato and onion, one dollop of sour cream and italian dressing... and maybe a few tortilla chips for a little crunch ;) yeah- still not the most figure-freindly but it's an improvement! How'd you manage last night? cooking better burn calories! gotta counteract all the tasting! :P

 carylin- I definitely think 10 pounds in 30 days is an attainable goal! it's nice that your b/f is helping you along! mine is trying to lose a little weight but mostly fat so he is right there with me as well! Just this morning I noticed he wrote his weight on the calendar yesterday! so.. I scribbled mine down too :) I like living with a workout partner, even if we don't workout at the same time! the quesadilla you make sound tasty! careful with the calorie balance.. your body may think it's starving and try to hang on to fat to get ready for hibernation if you only eat 1400 and burn 1000.. that only leaves 400 calories to run your vital organs and I don't think that's enough! I read a really good article the other day.. http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/syws/loseweigh t/loseweight.html not sure if that worked.. but google soyouwanna lose weight and it should be the first one.. it's pretty good!

illingal- man you're a running machine! I used to be a pretty consistent binge eater.. 2 things I did to fix it.. Started eating more (went from 1300-1700ish) and I took it one day at a time. One day at a time of picking something up to scarf it down and stopping, thinking, and putting it back in the cabinet... I've been known to eat entire boxes of cheerio's... no more! what happened to your knee?! I hope it gets fixed up soon! love to see the strength training in there! wtg!

cvob- hey twin!!! the one thing I'm not looking forward to hearing is.. omg, are you losing weight? WHY? I don't feel like explaining it.. I have one friend who is just a b i t c h about things like that and would be a snot... oh well.. my body, my choice.. 6ft? My goodness! I thought I was tall ;) yay to you too with the weights! I feel like a hardcore woman when I do that stuff! have fun with the 5k!

leighlee- that's a good goal! I think January 1 is a good date to set also...  bring in 2009 with a new you! what does your workout routine consist of?

well.. my abs are stilll sore from my workout Tuesday but I'm doing weights again tonight. Food today is relatively the same as yesterday. Nixed the toast in the morning and I'm making spicy chicken for dinner... not sure what to make with it b/c we don't have much food or money to buy more food.. yay for a failing economy... I think I'll do sugar snap peas and salad as sides... I'll also be cleaining and doing homework... blah.. but that's ok b/c I'm on a two-week break from school! yay!!!

all right ladies! WE CAN DO THIS! 11 WEEKS! 10 POUNDS! It's gonna be tough, it may suck, but it will sooo be worth it in the end!!!!! 

Hey guys

Can I join too? I have done quite well as I started at a porky 165 in May, but I'm stuck around the 142 - 144 mark. Have lost motivation and slipped slowly off the wagon and back into bad habits (cheese and ham croissants are the work of the devil).

133 is my goal. Gonna weigh myself tomorrow morning and hope the pixies have made off with a couple of lb of lard!

Cx

Hey guys

Can I join too? I have done quite well as I started at a porky 165 in May, but I'm stuck around the 142 - 144 mark. Have lost motivation and slipped slowly off the wagon and back into bad habits (cheese and ham croissants are the work of the devil).

133 is my goal. Gonna weigh myself tomorrow morning and hope the pixies have made off with a couple of lb of lard!

Cx

Krrpt08 - Alright I have a question. The logic that I have been using is this. If I burn about 1000 more calories in a day than I take in, then in three days I have 3k in calories which supposedly is about a pound. Well, I think its actually 3500 but you see my point? So, then every three days that should be around a pound. So in thirty days thats 10 pounds. So, far it has been working but I definately don't want to be starving myself. I don't feel that way. The only thing I have noticed is that I am a lot more sore than I usually am. My b/f says I should try drinking one of his protein shakes for lunch. That maybe I am not getting enough protein.So, I am going to try that.

And that is an excellent article for anyone who wants to read it. It kind of does put this whole calorie thing in a better light. The main thing is I feel good. Thats what people really should go by. If they feel like crap all the time then maybe something isn't right.

I am really excited to get this done. I love exercising and I am excited because maybe in 6 months I can do maintenance calories! Oh what I could eat with 500 more calories!!!!

Everyone keep it up. Oh and if your interested, we have another forum going where we post what we do in a day for calories burned. Your more than welcome to come post with us. Just look at my post's on my page.

5whisperer- welcome aboard!!! cheese and ham croissants ARE the devil!! ;)

carlyn- sounds like you are on the right track! From what I've researched/learned/experienced your body needs AT LEAST so many calories to just run its normal course.. keep the heart beating.. keep the muscles moving.. keep the brain thinking and so forth.. from what I've seen, 1200 is the minium after exercising... so, if you are burning 1000 calories per day, you should be eating 2200 calories... see? Our bodies are clever devils and still stuck in the caveman eating era... If you eat too much, your body thinks a starvation period is coming up so it holds on to all that extra food and stores it as fat... (curse outrageous portion controls here) if you eat too little, your body DOES believe it is starving so it holds on to everything you eat PLUS what you eat after going back to a healthy amount of calories (which is where you could potentially get stuck down the road)... So, somehow, you have to find a balance where your body realizes it is getting the correct amount of food, and will be, so it starts shedding the fat its been saving for when we would be foodless... lol.. does this make any sense? it's all been kind of coming together for me recently... kind of :P keep on keepin on if you feel good and if it's working, but there may come a time when you hit a plateau b/c your body thinks it's going to starve.. isn't it amazing how the human body functions??!! not trying to preach or throw a "holier than thou" speech at you or anything so I hope it doesn't sound like that... just trying to relay what I've learned!!! :D and protein shakes sound like a really great idea!

Original Post by krrpt08:

illingal- man you're a running machine! I used to be a pretty consistent binge eater.. 2 things I did to fix it.. Started eating more (went from 1300-1700ish) and I took it one day at a time. One day at a time of picking something up to scarf it down and stopping, thinking, and putting it back in the cabinet... I've been known to eat entire boxes of cheerio's... no more! what happened to your knee?! I hope it gets fixed up soon! love to see the strength training in there! wtg!

Ahahahaha, that's so funny you mention the box of cheerios... The other night I did the same thing ahahaha, they're soooo good. That's totally what I'm like... Cheers to you for kickin the habit, I'll take your ideal into mind... "one day at a time" I hope I can work up to doing the same... STOP, THINK, PUT DOWN, lmao. Aghhh I got typical runner's knee. Probably because I upped my mileage... but also my speed at the same time. SO my knees just went on strike for the last few weeks. It's getting better though.

Hey guys! I'm in need of some motivation as well. December 30th I'm heading to Central America for 20 days and I'd really like to feel better about my body while I'm there. I've been trying to drop some weight since the beginning of this year but keep getting off track. The beginning of June I started getting serious again and I weighed 158. I'm 5' 7-5'8 ish and currently at about 148, but I'd really like to get down below 140 by the time of my trip!

I try to get to the gym for a weighlifting class about twice a week and try to do cardio 3-4 times a week. Unfortunately, I haven't been to the gym in the past week because I've been sick with a cold and its hard to exercise when you can't breath! So hopefully I'll be back there by next week.

I usually try to shoot for 1500, a little more if I'm exercising -does this sound about right?      &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;               &nb sp;              

Today I started out pretty good - 2 poached eggs and 2 peices of deli turkey. Then I got talked into trying out this Mediterranean Cafe for lunch and got a plate of rice, cucumbers, tomoatoes, lamb and beef with that cucumber sauce stuff. I'm thinking it wasn't that healthy...it was very filling though. I'm thinking about just having a small dinner.

Keep up the good work everyone!

*I will lose one pound this week!! I WILL!!*

happy Friday!! the weekend is coming up! this part takes a lot of focus! watching out for extra snacks... extra booze.. lots of extra b/c of extra time... BUT that also means time for extra exercise!! Tomorrow I am planning to lift weights in the morning and go on a hike in the afternoon! I hope it stops raining eventually... Tonight I'm going on a walk with my sister and my two nieces :) Just a relaxing, low-impact night... exciting! She is bringing over dinner tonight and I can't be picky b/c I'm broke with no money for food... so I'm doing salad for lunch today since I don't really know what to expect... I'm thinking one of those heart-stopping pasta things from pizza hut.. ugh.. but that's ok.. moderation is key and I just have to stop after a small portion.. I'll let you guys know the verdict tomorrow :) Yesterday I made a super simple dinner with pre-marinated chicken, sugar snap peas and I had about 3 tiny spoonfuls of Spanish rice. Go me! The chicken was a pretty decent size.. probably 4-5 oz.. but it was filling and delicious :)

illingal- so, how'd you do yesterday? binge-free?! another thing, if you do end up binging, don't beat yourself up about it... just accept it, move on, and aim to do better next time.. It will get better! I promise! my favorite cheerios are apple cinnamon and fruity.. I could probably do some damage with the frosted ones but I know better than that to even buy them!! I still don't know if they're allowed back in my apartment yet! lol! Not sure what I'd do!! But hey, at least it's cheerios and not a bag of lay's; right? ;) bummer about the knees.. I loathe running.. I jog, I don't know, once every 4 months, maybe? lol.. I hate cardio in general... I finally found 2 things I can tolerate.. Turbo Jam class with 2 friends that go also and rollerblading... but boy do I look a little out of date rollerblading.. lol.. I don't care though.. let 'em laugh ;) I love hiking too but that isn't a get-your-heart-racing, totally-sweating session like I need :) but I do it anyways! take care of the knees! that would suck if you ended up seriously injuring yourself!

katalina- you also have great motvation! It took me about a year to lose 10 pounds so I can definitely relate.. just focus through these 11 (almost 10!) weeks and I think some good things will happen! I think 1500+ is a good calorie range; I've put the 5'7" and 140 lbs in many calculations to see how many I burn if I were to lay in bed all day, and it's about 1500.. so I build off of that. Today I'm aiming for 1600 b/c I'm just going on a walk (probably not fast paced either)...  Defenitely stay away from the gym till you get better! Give your body time to get over that cold :)

keep on keepin on!!! WE CAN DO THIS!!! ONE POUND, ONE WEEK, ONE DAY AT A TIME!!!

Good morning!  I hope that everyone had a fabulous week and stayed on track as much as possible!!! Glad to meet you all!

New idea:

I think I am upping my calories next week a bit now that my body has gotten used to functioning at this level while exercising...I think I may be holding on to the lbs tight bcuz I am not getting enough "burn" calories....it is just really hard to mentally allow it when you aren't hungry for more.  Hmmmm...we shall see how this goes.  I am not seeing much pound loss over the last several months but notice more in my clothes and the shape of my body due to the workouts....although it would be REALLY nice to actually see the scale number lower itself!  So frustrating when you are working soooo hard! LOL  Has anyone else experienced this fall out?

I won't lose motivation though...it will all work out in the end to get a smaller and more fit me......

Right????? LOL ;)

Good luck to everyone....ran out of time to comment on all, but I am truly glad you are here. It helps to have others trying to achieve similar goals!

Let's do it! Have a great weekend!

Hi everyone!

10/2/08 weight 156lbs .  I'm gonna assume it has a lot to do with the work party where I gorged myself on wednesday. Ehh I'm not happy but I'll survive.  Didn't plan out my food very well today, work up late.  

B: Thus far it's been coffee with skim milk, and a quarter of a bagel with lte cream cheese 

S: Mango

L: I have a lunch date with a co worker at a bar/restaurant sooooo that's gonna be rather unhealthy fare. I'll try and get a salad or something, but I know I'll definitely be getting a beer.

S: popcorn or almonds

D: who knows

Hope everyone is doing well.

I had a treat today :) a chocolate cookie with white chocolate chips! I forgot about my no sweets thing.. oops.. I don't really eat them that often; usually only when someone is offering them and that isn't too often.. well, the woman I share a cubicle with came back from lunch with cookies! So I had one :) It was tasty.. and I'm still right around 1400 calories... but I'm going to have coffee.. so make it 1500 ;) I'm going to not drink tonight.. Planning on watching a movie with my b/f.. American Gangsters... Should be a relaxing night :)

cvob- try just adding little things to up cals.. I started putting deli swiss or provolone on my sandwiches.. that's about 100 cals right there.. or munch on some almonds... looseness of your clothes is always a good thing! here's to hoping the increased cals work for us! smaller and fit here we come!!!

girl- work parties are dangerous!! careful!

Everyone have a good weekend! Mondays are my weigh in days so we'll see how that goes. My weekends I take off from vigorous exercise and just hang with the family. Maybe do some shopping. Next week im going to add protein shakes to up the calories a small amount and see how that works for the second Monday's weigh in. Im among the ones who have lost a lot in size but no pounds. Really does bug me but at least my jeans fit. I've been at this thing for a while with jogging but I just now started watching calorie intake. So, hopefully that'll do it. Good luck everyone. We will get this done!

I hope everyone's weekend if off to a good start! I've successfully avoided the temptation of drinking tonight; there people over at my house playing beer pong but I've opted out. I'm a little worried about tomorrow though, my unversity has a football game at 7 so I'm sure I'll end up drinking. Hopefully I'll be able to stay within my calorie limit. Does anyone else have problems on the weekend with friends expecting you to go out and drink?

Yes! Binge free! And today too! :D Tomorrow's the big hurdle... I usually break after 3 days... :| My favourite is actually the classic honey nut cheerios! :P I just love honey.. mmm.. yes, better than lay's.. better than the nachos my mom just shone in my face a couple minutes ago :O Rollerblading's great! I love it, kudos to you, no one should laugh, everyone should weep because they're not rollerblading right now, hahaha.

How's everyone doin?! I hope everything's going well... I just had a nice girls movie night... keheh, it's been a while. No ice cream though... thank god ahahaha.

Katalina, I have that same problem every weekend when my friends just want me to come party and drink the night away... It's always hard to say no! I just come up with little excuses because I kinda don't wanna admit I'm trying to lose some extra poundage. I try and change the subject or distract them with something else. Endless boozefests ain't my thing anyway. I can have fun without the liquid courage :) I hope everything goes well tomorrow!