"Going it Alone" (Not on a Program) Fitness & Weight Loss Support - Page 5

[clothdipemomof2boy]

would love to join. I walk atleast three times a week. and do a food journal. I lift wieghts. I am doing this all on my own (even though hubby is a marine and could help ) anyway I dont know why Ifeel like nothing is happening. I feel that my lifting is doing something but as far as the walking not feeling it. I do it for about an hour a day three times a week since i have to walk my oldest to preschool which is about a mile and i do that going to school and back. what is going on :. I recently quit smoking and i know that helped put back on some weight but figured that is better then killing myself through smoking and it is better for my kids that i dont smoke anymore so i really started stepping up fitness with walking harder and faster for an hour. I have added about five pounds to the wieghts. I am getting sick of not seeing anything but cant give up. oh forgot I also do yoga three times in the week. and try to meditate for 20 minutes while my son is in school and my youngest is resting. If anyone knows what i can do feel free to tell me hehe thanks all

[always hope]

Hi girls,
I have been motivated reading this thread. I am preparing to try again for a baby after a loss last year. I put on about 5 kg when I was pregnant and want to lose that before I start trying. At the moment I am about 147 pounds and would like to be 130. I know it seems like a little amount but I am quite short and I have lost all my muscle tone. I know that with my body type this might be my last chance for a while to get fit and healthy. I would really like to be fit enough to excercise throughout pregnancy and I want to increase the odds of this next pregnancy ending in a healthy baby. I am also trying to support my husband, who needs to lose about triple what I do.

We are both doing the CSIRO diet (an Australian one which is high protien and low carb, low fat). It is good to have guideline to follow but I am getting really hungry and I struggle to get through all the protien. The good thing about it is I end up having at least 3 cups of veges and one of fruit each day.

My husband is really keen on sport and walks to and from work so he is doing the excercise needed. I find it really hard to get moving but reading about all your excercise is really motivating. I am going to try to go for a walk every day and try to do some excercises for my back too. I have chronic back pain and I don't want it to get any worse. Then 3 days a week I want to do some muscle work. We are on a tight budget so I can't join the gym but I figure if I can do it from home, then I can keep it up even when we are on one income after I have a child. It is hard to get up early each morning and it is summer here so if I wait till the afternoon it is just too hot.

I know I don't have as much to lose, but I think changing your lifestyle permanently is what we are all aiming for, and that is hard to stick to. So I hope you don't mind me joining in. One good thing about losing weight is it gives me something to focus on rather than my baby fever and the pain of having to wait again to TTC.

[spughy]

I'm really interested to see how this thread goes!

I'm trying to lose weight - I started just restricting calories/no snacking a bit, but that didn't fit my lifestyle well since I can't eat regularly (toddler. you know.) and I just couldn't eat *less* when it was 3 pm and I hadn't eaten since 8:30 am. So I went to a no starch, no sugar diet, which worked, but not quite fast enough. Then I read that new book by Gary Taubes called "Good Calories, Bad Calories" and I started to understand more of what was going on in my body, and I realized that not only was no-starch-no-sugar a good recipe for weight loss, but something I'd have to do for the rest of my life if I wanted to stay thin. And I'm ok with that. I highly recommend that book, btw - it's a slog to read, tons of statistics and medical jargon and it's almost TOO thoroughly researched, but it IS incredibly valuable for understanding obesity.

Right now I'm doing a 2-week super-low-carb stint just to see if I can get my metabolism more into burning fat. But after that I'm just going back to a no-starch-no-sugar diet (which is essentially low carb, but not hard-core (ie carrots are fine) ) and just stick with it.

I gained all my weight during a year-long episode of PPD. At my heaviest I was 170, I'm 155 now and I hope to get down to 125 eventually. I'm 5'0" and quite muscular, and I like the process of building muscle so I tend to choose workouts - when I can - that do that. My ideal body fat percentage is 25%, I'm at 38% now. So I've got a ways to go!

I have to say, though - I love eating this way. It is in no way a hardship. Eliminating sugar from your diet makes everything taste SO much better. I had some broccoli the other night and it was almost orgasmically good. I do miss bread, I'll admit, but not so much that I'm likely to go out and buy a kaiser roll just to binge on it.

Good luck everyone!

[mamamilkers]

Just catching up with how ya'll are doing!

I was recovering from the flu when I broke a rib Now I'm in so much pain I can barely move, let alone exercise. I'm so upset. I can't wait to get back to exercising! For the first time in my life I was doing great and then I got sooooo side tracked. Sigh.

[tri31]

GoodMorning Everybody

Hope the new day finds you all well. It's Monday and I have lost 1 pound this week.
starting weight 132 current 128

So that's 4 pounds. I work out everyday (30- 50 minutes). I'm trying to relax a little about counting my calories though. My baby boy is 13 weeks today. So yeah.

Best wishes to you all.

[mightymoo]

I've been really bad the last few days, haven't excersized and haven't tracked calories. Got to get the motivation back. I regained 1.5 pounds from my low so far. :P

One problem I have is that my elliptical has developed a squeak, and I can't stand getting on it if its squeaking. Got to do something though.

Now I'm not feeling well, I have a bad stomachache I've had since yesterday. DS threw up all over my car, DH is on a business trip, so I'm not operating under ideal conditions.

[CathToria]

Mighty Moo, I'm in a similar boat right now, dh out of town and my kids are sick sick sick... no exercise for 2 days straight. And I ate the frosting off half of a chocolate cake (Darn AF cravings, Costco coupon, and feeling lonely with dh out of town!). But we can't look back. Let's just take it 1 day at a time and pick up and get back on track. That's my plan, and I think it will work!

Can you spray some WD40 on your ellpti?

[mightymoo]

Oh it's been oiled up, but DH thinks hte squeak is due to the foot needing tightening, but we can't find hte right allen wrench to do it. :P

I am still not feeling well, I'm having kinda stomach and kinda internal lower back pain, I think I may just try the 'just my size' yoga video I got from netflix. Or I could go to the gym, but I'm finding I really like being able to watch a movie or something while I work out, which I can't do at the gym or if I'm doing an exercise video.

You are so right! It's not about whether we fall off the horse, no need to worry about what came before, just get back up. I think what got me really depressed is that I weighed myself yesterday or Sunday morning I forget and I was 181, so it took me 1 month to take off 12.5 pounds and 3 days to gain back 3.5. It just felt so hopeless, you know? I wasn't even *that* horrible eating wise, though I did have pizza twice :

The other thing that happened this week is that my classes started so I'm so busy its hard to fit everything in.

This morning I weighed in at 179 though and that made me feel a little better, perhaps I was high that day for other reasons. I gotta keep my eye on the prize.

[proudmamanow]

This is EXACTLY what I was looking for when I came here today! In the 2 years since dd was born I have gained & lost the same 20lbs twice. I want to lose it and more for good this time! I have recently taken up running, which I LOVE but find that it makes me hungrier, and if I don't reach for good things, then it's no good. I've tried WW Flex & Core & had short term success with both, but I want to do my own healthy long term plan this time, one that's easy to fit in with a busy life!
Looking forward to reading your stories & posting here!
Starting weight: 185 & most of my clothes aren't fitting--looking forward to getting into good shape & to having a good time on my 2nd 5K run on March 15th.

[Jane]

Originally Posted by mightymoo

...it took me 1 month to take off 12.5 pounds and 3 days to gain back 3.5. It just felt so hopeless, you know? I wasn't even *that* horrible eating wise, though I did have pizza twice :

I doubt you ate enough "extra" to gain 3.5 pounds. That's nearly 10,000 extra calories. If you're "supposed" to be eating 1500 calories a day, that means you'd have to have eaten almost 14,000 calories in 3 days to gain that amount of weight. It's possible, buy unlikely. Take heart - you can get back to it!

[Maltagirl]

Hello all,

I'll probably be lurking here a lot but I don't get much computer time so I don't know how much posting I'll actually be doing. I just read most of this thread and I'm so glad you're all here!

My name is Diana and I have 3 children -- my baby is 9 weeks old tomorrow. I am having a ridiculously tough time losing my pregnancy pounds this time and I am perplexed. With the first two, I was within 10 lbs. of pre-preg. weight by my 6-week check-up...now, I'm about 20 lbs. over which puts me almost 30 lbs. overweight! I have to weigh in for my job (I'm in the military) in June -- first week.

So, I'm around 5-foot 1 inch, muscular build but right now I'm just big all around. My breasts are enormous but that's normal for me...it's not being able to wear anything but yoga pants that's starting to get to me. At least I'm using the breasts for a good purpose!

Top weight -- 161 (8 weeks postpartum)
Short-term goal -- 139
Goal for June -- 131
Dream weight -- 124 (I have a photo of me at this weight, 9 years ago, that really inspires me)

My body fat percentage is over 38 right now according to my scale, which I know isn't necessarily precise but it gives a ballpark figure and will help me see any progress I'm making.

I am on my treadmill 4x/week for around 40 minutes. I also do push-ups and sit-ups. I'm up to 9 push-ups (the real kind!) and 18 sit-ups so far. On that weigh-in day in June, I also have to do push-ups, sit-ups, and run 2 miles for the Army. Otherwise, I'd probably go out and buy some bigger clothes and not worry so much about my weight while I've got such a tiny sweet baby! I have to keep reminding myself that I did this twice already, I can do it again.

My mom is a breast cancer survivor (5 years!) and my dad is a type-II diabetic. My 2nd baby was over 9 lbs. so I feel like I have extra motivation to stay healthy and fit. I'd like to be around for a long time and I know preventing diabetes is a lot more fun than living with it.

I've read The Schwarzbein Principle and I'm loosely following that program...focusing on "real" carbohydrates (unprocessed) in small amounts but making the majority of my calories from protein. I'm finding it difficult to enjoy vegetables in the winter but I'm trying! I know I shouldn't have a ton of fruit but I'm really addicted to sugar and I figure a grapefruit is a better binge than a few muffins or some chocolate. I know after a few weeks of staying away from refined sugar and carbohydrates, it gets so much easier for me (just like someone mentioned above with broccoli tasting so delicious!) but I'm in that hard place now where I do feel kind of deprived.

The key for my success in the past has been staying consistent with the exercise (when I weighed 124, I was running 25-30 miles/week and in the gym 4 days...not sure I'll have the time for that until next year, but I'm in no big rush) and pre-planning my day's worth of food the night before (on a full stomach).

I find that if I know when my next meal is going to be and I know it's something I like, I'm less likely to stray and grab something on impulse, especially if I've spent time preparing and packing food.

Some of my favorite meals are steel-cut oatmeal with chicken breakfast sausage; dried apricots with a goat-cheese/cream cheese blend spread on them; lentil soup with lots of veggies and some shredded turkey or chicken breast; grapefruit and a rolled-up piece of turkey breast; an apple with some almond butter, or celery with almond butter and a few prunes; pot roast with a butternut squash, goat cheese, and leek gratin...

I love food, but I can't eat eggs, I can only have a tiny bit of dairy (both bother my little girl and me), and I have a nut-allergic child so I try to avoid nuts, as well. I do feel somewhat deprived which is why I need to plan my food ahead of time to prevent my grabbing something that won't help my progress.

I read "Muscle and Fitness Hers" magazine and find it to be very motivational because the women in there are real -- not stick-thin, but very muscular and in fabulous shape. I don't see myself ever aspiring to figure competitions or anything like that (the diet is way too restrictive for me not to mention I don't want to spend 2-3 hours of any one day in the gym!) but it's nice to see the end product of when someone eats cleanly and works hard.

OK, I think I've rambled enough! Good luck to all of you and I hope to post whenever I can (my baby is asleep in the sling right now, which gave me this amount of time!).

[anitaj71]

Mightymoo, take it easy and feel better soon.

Maltagirl, I agree with muscle and fitness it's my favorite fitness magazine. Even if I will never look as buff as some of those women!

Hello to everyone else !

I went to a bikram yoga class for the first time last night. I have never been to a yoga class bikram or otherwise. I really enjoyed it ! The heat was wonderful. It has been so wet and cold it seems I can never get warm. I am going again Thursday.

So far I have lost 3 lbs. Not a lot . . I was 'bad' this past weekend. I couldn't turn down the chinese food.:

I am noticing when I get off track I cheat more . . . I justify it by thinking well, it's just this once and while I'm at it I'll have more . . . I'll be good again tomorrow. I have to read all your posts again and remind myself to stop sabotaging all my hard work!

[spughy]

Bumping!

So my super-lo-carb 2-week stint resulted in a weight loss of just over 4 lbs. I've added the banana back to my morning smoothie and the odd nibble of fruit, so we'll see how it goes from here. Last night was Chinese New Year dinner (gung hay fat choy everyone!) so LOADS of cornstarch in everything, bleh - but yummy, of course! I ate a tiny bit of rice but it wasn't very good.

I have to work on doing my moderate exercise every day - this past week has been SO busy I've neglected it

Anyway, total weight lost so far: 17 lbs. About 25 left to go.

[Jane]

Wow Spughy - nice work so far!

I still haven't lost any weight, really - and I'd like to complain. I've been averaging 1500 calories - definitely less than I was eating. I weigh almost everything I eat, so I'm pretty sure my numbers are accurate. At the most basic level of monitoring, I'm 100% sure that I'm eating less food than before. After 4 weeks - I'm down perhaps, 1/2 pound. It's very frusterating. I'm gonna stick with it because I think eventually something will happen. :

[katiemerchant]

i dont have a fitness program but i do try and run for two days then have a day rest. I push the stroller with my 9 month old while i run so i don't think i go very fast. I'm going to run a 10K with my husband in a few weeks and he is going to push so hopefully it'll slow him down enough that i can keep up! i find it really hard to get around to doing weights or other exercises as i always seem to have other things to do when im in the house.

[CathToria]

How's everyone doing? I'm down 8 lbs since 1/1. That's the best weight loss that I have had in about 20 years. I'm psyched. The novelty of my gym workouts are starting to wear off though. I'm still going, but I'm not as excited or energetic as I was in the beginning. How do you keep your drive and excitement up?

[allgirls]

Can I join? I am an emotional eater, am trying to get that under control but my health also dictates that I lose some weight.

I am using Spark People to keep track of things. I don't weigh myself, just am aiming to get into a size 10 pair of pants which generally is a healthy weight for me.

I had done really well before Christmas, was down to a loose 12 and now am a tight 12 again and starting to feel as unhealthy as I was before. The symptoms are all coming back.

I also have some SAD symptoms which of course do not help with the emotional eating .

I think this would be very helpful in addition to SP to keep me motivated and on track.

Looking forward to getting to know you all

[wrzos]

I should probably sub here as well. Just joined curves, and am trying to hit them for the 30 min work out 5 days a week. We'll see...

I'm not really addressing my intake yet (though I need to!). I want to get the exercise down and then move onto diet - although I did give up chocolate for lent, so that has to be helping some, kwim? LOL

I weighed in right around 190 which is what sent me over the edge. short term, I'd like to drop 20 lbs. Long term, 40 is what I'm dreaming of! :

[mamaley]

Can I join? My weight has been creeping up for the past 6 months, and I've gained almost 10 lbs in that time. Obesity is common in my family, and I want to reverse this before it gets out of hand.

I've dealt with this off and on for a long time, but this is the highest my weight has been, except for during pregnancy/postpartum period.

I was talking to my friend who has lost 10 lbs in the past month from eating 1500 calories a day and walking 10000 steps every day, or doing some form of exercise. It motivated me, so I'm doing it too (not the 10000 steps, but other exercise. I go to the gym).

[CathToria]

Originally Posted by wrzos

I
I'm not really addressing my intake yet (though I need to!). I want to get the exercise down and then move onto diet - although I did give up chocolate for lent, so that has to be helping some, kwim? LOL
:

I was suprised when I started entering even a few of my meals at an online tracker (I use spark people). I have always been very "nutrition aware", espec when it comes to pregnancy, bfing and toddler nutrition. But my diet was REALLY high in fat, a lot of it good, healthy fat, but it was adding up to too many calories fro me to lose weight. Anyway, I highly recommend it, even for 2 days, b/c it was real eye opening for me.

HTH