Thanks. That actually looks doable.
twicks, exercise-phobe
I tried that couch to 5K thing for a while. I really liked it.
But now I’m walking with hubby and he steadfastly refuses to jog or run. Mostly because he’s got a neuroma in his right foot that hurts if he jogs.
For now I’ll stick to walking.
Johnny L.A. you rock! Congratulations on 10 lbs lost forever!
Welcome cabdude it’s never to late to join the fray.
And anyrose it’s what GingeroftheNorth said. Men’s undershirt, not T-shirt but tank top style. Very light weight. They make excellent, inexpensive workout gear and are light enough to layer.
Thanks. I hope it is forever. Of course it will mean eternal vigliance over the next 40 or 50 years.
Today I’ve eaten a large bowl of salad. (I forgot to eat breakfast.) I did 35 sit-ups, 15 push-ups, and 40 reps with the 22.5 pound hand weights. On Monday I’ll aim for 40/20/45. I also did my 3 km walk. Ihave a route picked out that will be about 6.4 km. There’s another route that I still have to measure out.
I want to lose an additional 60-70 pounds. People always tell me they didn’t think I was that heavy. That’s good, since apparently I carry it well. But that doesn’t change that I want to get down to what I was before (or thereabouts).
Okay. It’s only Day 3 of my diet. Haven’t lost a pound. Here are the changes I’ve made:
Switched out most of our regular meats for vegetarian meat. Morningstar Farms? Gooood.
Added some legumes to the cupboard.
Bought a bag of apples instead of candy. I may not be able to eat much fat (health issue), but sugar was doing me in.
Bought some honey to use instead of sugar.
Bought dark, leafy green salad to go with dinner every night. French dressing or no dressing.
Today, buying some whole wheat flour and some wheat bran.
I’ve exercised for at least an hour every day so far, though I’ve been doing that almost every day since New Year’s, anyway. If I need to go anywhere, I walk. Everything is convenient, so I may as well take advantage of it.
Drinking four 16oz glasses of water per day, at least.
I wanted to keep a food journal, but when I went to the grocery store, they didn’t have any little notebooks. Imagine that! But they did have index cards. I bought a pack of 100. Each day, I take an index card, write the day (Day 1, Day 2, etc), the date, and my weight at the top of the card. Under that, I write what I ate in the morning, noon, and night, any snacks, and water. Under that I write how much exercise I got that day: how long and what did I do. There’s still room at the bottom of the card, and if there’s anything significant to report, I’ll write how I feel at the bottom, at the end of the day.
More vegetables! More water! More exercise! Come on scales! Budge for me!
FTR: I’m 5’7… and … gulp… 220 lbs! It must be muscle. 
Seriously, where the hell is all that fat?! I know it’s there, and I’m not lying to myself when I say, honestly, I do look chubby (see sig pic, taken not all that long ago - within a year). But I don’t look obese, and yet - there it is! My BMI is a ridiculous, scary 35.4! :eek:
It frightens me. If I wasn’t as… er… “active” as I am, I’d be 600 lbs! :smack:
Something doesn’t make sense to me. I’ve been eating healthy since July, with the exception of sugary food… and working out, pilates and such… *could * some of that be muscle? Or is the sugar really, truly killing me, here?
I’m going to join in here; hope folks don’t mind.
My story is:
25 year old male. In high school I ran cross country in the fall, and that was pretty much my only regular exercise. I was about 145-50 pounds then, which was pretty darned thin for my frame.
College came, and I jumped up pretty quickly to about 170. No huge worries there though. I went up to 34 waist at that point. For a few years I’ve hovered between 170 and 180.
For various reasons I spent most of last year pretty sedentary, and I stepped on a scale this past fall, and it read close to 190, IIRC. I kind of got off quickly and erased the number from memory. Plus, I was wearing clothes, etc etc. But, I do know that my 34 jeans are beginning to be less than comfortable, and some of the nice clothes I have had since High School (a suit, and a tux, for example) are pretty painful to wear, and I’m affraid I’ll break them. A lot of my shirts are just too tight to be comfortable.
This, on top of the fact that recent attempts to play sports have left me feeling winded and sick way too quickly has given me a mission.
The plan is to drop (ultimately) to 165. I figure, knowing that I fluctuate weight season to season that I’d love to have my ‘peaks’ be at 170.
Challenges include:
-A job plus commute plus hobbies that all involve sitting. I figure that on a given weekday I spend between 11 and 13 hours sitting. Add 6-8 hours asleep, and an hour or so at the computer, and there’s not a lot of activity going on there.
-A home where I don’t have physical room to do exercises. There is not adequate floor space in any room in my apartment for me to, for example, do push-ups. This situation will probably not change in the immediate future.
-A home where the kitchen is often unusable. Without getting into too many details, the person I live with regularly and consistantly leaves enough of a mess in the kitchen that I typically need to spend 1/2 hour cleaning dishes/counters whenever I want to prepare anything slightly involved, which is time I don’t have.
-A very busy and irregular schedule. Many nights a week I’ll leave home at eight in the morning and not get home until 11 at night. Because of this, and because this is an erratic schedule, my eating is usually of the ‘on-the-go’ variety. Pre-made and quick with high caloric content.
To help with this all my first step has been to join a gym. I was able to find one with only a $10 a month membership; it’s a pretty limited facility, but they have a cardio room and a weight room, which is all I really need. They open on the 3rd of Feb, at which point I suppose I’ll try to hammer out a regular number of times to head to the gym. I’ve never really done that before, so I’m not totally sure how to set goals for it.
And, anyone with suggestions about food for the irregular eater please, I’m all ears.
Sorry for the length of that. It was helpful for me to delineate the different components of my current lifestyle that deserve looking at.
Anastaseon the food journal will help you pinpoint where your “extra” calories are coming from. Just be diligent about quantities. I realized that I actually need to weigh some things so I got a little digital kitchen scale. But the none scale rule is a piece of meat no bigger than the palm of your hand (including thickness) and starchy side dishes like rice, pasta, potato no bigger than your fist. Personally I think all non starchy vegetables are unlimited.
Good luck. Now that you know where you are you can plot a course to where you’re going.
Eonwe The salad bar at your local grocery store is you friend. The Albertson’s near me always has lots of stuff on the salad bar including chopped chicken breast, tuna, krab salad and ham so you’re not just eating greens.
And I used to buy a rotisserie chicken every week and then just pick at that all week. Chicken and salad or chicken and a can of greens or green beans when I got bored with salad. Canned veggies aren’t as bad as they used to be and you can heat them up in the microwave with nothing more than a can opener and a bowl.
Fruit is another item that’s grab and go with no preparation needed.
There are lots of exercises you can do in your apartment. If you have room to stand up you have room to move. Squats or knee bends are good. How about just marching in place lifting your knees up as high as you can? Arm circles, or pushups against a wall. Anything that gets you up and moving is better than sitting. You can sit on the couch or a dining room chair and do leg lifts to work your abs if there’s not room to lay down. How about pushups on your bed?
Oh, but now I see, on preview, that you joined a gym so never mind 
Good luck.
velvetjones’s suggestion about the salad bar is a good one – or you can do something equivalent in your own fridge. Buy some lettuce and a couple of veggies you know you like, plus maybe a can of garbanzos or something. Broil a couple of chicken breasts. Keep all this stuff in the fridge, and then you can make yourself a big salad every night by just putting this stuff together (tear off a couple of handfuls of lettuce; slice off another couple inches of the cuke, another chunk of tomato, then rewrap; chop some broiled chiken; toss. Add something crunchy on top (I like chow mein noodles); I’ve been adding a tablespoon of crumbled Gorgonzola, which adds a whole lot of flavor; add a wee bit of dressing. Yummy, filling, and you don’t need to get into a whole cooking thing with it, other than broiling the chicken on day one.
I’ve got kitchen scales, and don’t eat much meat to begin with, and lean if at all. It’s probably starches and sugars in the end. Sugar adds up fast, calorie-wise.
Either way, many changes are coming. More dark, leafy greens. Trying to fall in love with spinach all over again.
I never ate much meat, eggs, nuts, seeds… I can’t eat butter, mayo, oils, fatty dressings, fried foods… you’d think I had it made, weight-wise. I guess not. 
Cripes, bodies are hard maintenance. Chocolate should be a fruit. A Terry’s Choclate Orange should have the same nutritional value as an orange! And the raspberry…
Okay. I’m going to derail myself if I keep that up. Spinach! Spinach! Spinach is delicious!
I’m plateauing this week and haven’t lost anything since last Friday despite keeping to my diet. I’m not worried 'cause the last time this happened, a couple weeks ago, I dropped about four pounds over the weekend. My body’s trying to trick me but I’m not going to let it.
Starting: 360 lbs
Current: 225 lbs
Goal: ~150 lbs
It was not a good week.
Sunday: Steeler’s playoff party. Indulged in way too much beer. And pizza.
Rest of the week: Well as I mentioned before, last week I was laid off. This week we had going away parties and thank-you-for-your-hard-work donuts and interview lunches and potential business dinners and, well you get the picture I ate too many bad things all week.
I *did *manage to excercise almost every day.
I am not too discouraged though. These things are part of life and what I am aiming for are life-time habits. There will be weeks when we have these things. As long as I jump right back into it I will not be upset.
I haven’t even weighed myself yet today, so I can’t report.
My first report. I signed up early, but came late to the party. I was wrestling with some other demons, too. Now that I am starting to sleep again I feel like I have the energy to diet and exercise. So starting last Saturday I have been on my stationary bike every morning. Up to 55 minutes (14.3 miles), having started at 20.
Concentrating on fewer fats and more whole grains, fruits, and veggies. I have learned that a grapefruit can make a perfectly adequate lunch when it’s all you allow yourself.
So my statistics would be 275 / 271 / 170
My bad news is that I start traveling again for work on Monday. Hello Chicago. So irregular schedules, airport and hotel food, and dining out portions will be my enemies. I hope I can find places and time to eat reasonable meals. Looks like I will be out for a week and home for a week alternating, so I hope I can balance it out.
The end of week three. So far, pretty good. There have been slips, for sure: a lot of wine one night, and when my “oriental chicken salad” at lunch one day out with my husband was awful, I ate more than I should have of his battered popcorn shrimp and slab o’ fries. And I tasted his chocolate milkshake three times. (My husband has about the same eating habits as I have–er, used to have.) But for the most part, I have been filling up on veggies, raw and cooked, fruit, and lean protein. I love cheese, and I got some at Costco in little portions–I can grab two or three in the morning and have something reasonably portioned to nibble on, with fruit, at work for a snack. I don’t want to make anything ‘forbidden’, I would like to make my indulgence in high-calorie, high-fat foods to be much, much more moderate and occasional.
What has surprised me is the way I feel. I’m down 11 pounds from January 1st, but at night, after work, I’m feeling… More energetic. I’m not as dragged out, tired, and dispirited in the evenings. I feel better. (If this is pyschosomatic, don’t tell me!)
A co-worker said to not think of it as “losing” weight, but removing it. If you lose something, it’s easier to “find” it again. Dunno if she’s right, but it’s my thought for the day.
I’m baaack.
My HMR liquid fast doesn’t begin until Wednesday, so I’m starting a bit late compared to you others. Last week I met my instructor for the next 13 weeks, and I think she’ll be great. I read the binder full of info, had my EKG and bloodwork, and met with the doctor, who wants me off the BP diuretic while I’m fasting, due to the rapid waterloss that’s expected. Wow, barely begun and Ill be off one of my meds!
I’m psyching myself up, buying flavorings and sugarfree jello and pudding mixes to add to the shakes for flavor and texture. I have a PC game that I’m totally immersed in, to take my mind off the first week or two of discomfort. I’m visualizing myself 13 weeks from now, realistically 25 or 30 pounds lighter, buying high heels and pretty skirts and taking Tango lessons.
brightpenny, sorry if I missed it earlier, but what’s HMR? And what’s this liquid fast?
My reward will be an authentic reproduction of a WWII RAF sheepskin-and-fleece ‘Irvin’ jacket. I already have a less-accurate one, but I’ll need one in a smaller size in several months!
I lost a fraction of a pound since yesterday. Still calling it ten pounds down since 27 December. I weigh myself at the same time and under the same conditions each day: Unclothed, after coffee and/or tea, after using the toilet, and before I eat anything.
HMR is a medically surpervised liquid fast program during which you attend a weekly class and learn about proper eating habits and better nutrition - because unless you retrain yourself along the way, when you bring real food back into your diet, you could put all the weight back on.
Been there, done that, 3 times.
By the way, I’m totally with you. My BMI puts me in the obese category (172-ish, 5’3) but, while I do want to and need to lose some weight, I’m in no way actually obese. Maybe we just carry it well?
I finally made it back to WW. I had great designs on starting back up on the 3rd, but I ended up working late. Then I was up at Lake Tahoe for a week with my best friend and our kids. She is a health fanatic so I ate really well, but didn’t go to WW.
I weighed in for the first time since 11/30 this past Tuesday to find that I was down a pound! I’m sure it had to do with my friend and her good influences. I’m back on track and journalling my food and counting points. It actually feels good to be eating right.
My stats for this week:
238/212/145 ~ down 1lb.
You look like me! I mean, that’s how I look - not obese. And yet I am. I think mine is all in my ass. 70 pounds of pure ass. And hips. And boobs. Okay, maybe I’m finding mine.
Day 4 for me, I just got back in from my walk to the grocery store (extra weight to carry on the way back! Woo!) My scales told me I gained a damn pound this morning… but I feel really good. I don’t feel heavy, and my pants feel the tiniest bit more comfortable. My muscles are aching, since I’ve been keeping up the exercise every day since I began; no excuses, no getting out of it. I walk every day, I did some aerobics a couple days ago and messed up my knee - low impact from now on. Yesterday when my husband was home, I suggested we keep busy and active, and I walked uphill for a half hour and downhill the next half hour (living in lower Ballard is advantageous 
), then my husband took me golfing - not heart racing, but I did realise how out of shape I’ve gotten when I got winded from driving for a short while. I kept it up and improved my drive, though. We did the mini golf course too. Just being outside in the fresh air makes a huge difference, I find.
And I must confess, I know where that one lousy pound came from: I went out last night to meet my husband’s coworkers (first time in two years, they were upset that he was keeping me hidden all this time - but I’m usually such an agoraphobe…) It was fun, but I knocked back a couple of Guinness and according to my food diary/index card, I consumed: “2 1/2 beer, one or two nachos that might have contained cheese, some fries, and a crawdad of the cajun persuasion”. I might have been a little tipsy. But there’s my extra pound.
Just did my weekly weigh-in.
This week: -4. YTD: -4.
It definitely helped that I had a root canal Thursday – didn’t eat much that day except some yogurt and then an omelet for dinner. Plus I think my stomach has finally shrunk.
My diet tip for the week: when you think you want something to eat, wait five minutes to find out if you’re actually hungry or not. Sometimes at dinner, I’ll finish but not realize I’m full right away. Plus for snacks, sometimes I’m just bored.
OTOH, the other night I wanted some hot chocolate while I was watching TV. I did the “wait five minutes” four times, but still wanted some hot chocolate – so I made a nice mug and savored every little bit of it. Yum.