JenniferLuvsCats's Journal, 15 January 2014

YOU CAN DO THIS! Start small, and think about today only. Plan and account for everything you put into your mouth TODAY. If you make a conscious effort to hold yourself accountable for that, it is a great start. Once you feel like you have control over today, then move on to tomorrow, the next day, etc. DO NOT WORRY ABOUT FAILURE, DO NOT LET FAILURE BE FATAL, & DEFINITELY DON'T LET PAST FAILURES DEFINE YOU TODAY OR TOMORROW! The key to weight loss, and really anything in life, is to dream big, but start small. Set little goals to acknowledge the awesome progress that WILL be made, and then adjust it accordingly. Like I said, YOU CAN DO THIS! Lord knows if I can lose weight, ANYONE can. Good luck!!! 

I do the same thing. I make all these wonderful amazing plans that will change my life at night as I'm falling asleep with the resolve to get started the next day. But when the sun comes up I just roll over and go back to sleep. Its only been a week for me so I can't say the secret to long term success but some things that have helped me: 1) Plan meals in advance and stick to them. I make my meals on Sunday and eat them and only them no matter what 2) I spend as much time out of my home as possible. I found that when I'm home I get bored and naturally drift toward the kitchen. 3) I leave my money/cards at home unless I KNOW I'm going to need them that day for say gas. The temptation for me is too great to just swing by the drive-through because I have my card. 4) I realize the only person I'm doing this for is me. So I have to have the willpower to get up and eat ANOTHER small bowl of oatmeal for breakfast even though a sausage biscuit is calling my name like a long lost lover. You can do this. Take small steps toward your goal and you will get there. Start by sticking to a strict diet every other day. On even days you eat like you are supposed to, on Odd days you can eat like you used to. Even this is reducing your calorie intake. Try that until you can make it to eating better 5 days a week and you just "cheat" on weekends. Then until its only one day a week. Then one meal a week. Even small steps in the right direction are steps in the right direction. GOOD LUCK AND USE YOUR SUPPORT HERE ON FATSECRET! 

Focus on today only. Don't look and plan ahead into your calendar because, from my experience, temptation creeps up and can hit you along the backside when you least expect it/ thus demolishing the goals you had your heart set on. But if you concentrate and hold strong with today only, you will find yourself waking up the next morning with a smile on your face because you DID IT! And if you are stressed and feeling like you want to eat something unhealthy -- remember that 500 calories of veggies fill your stomach completely (wish someone had told me this years ago!). So instead of a candy bar (or anything similar) for that emotional relief; load up on veggies FIRST until you are full and THEN try to eat that chocolate you crave -- shall be hard to do because you will already be full and satisfied. I used to save veggies for last, but now they are always first... and it's a big difference on how fast I fill up now. 

Thanks for all the advice. :) I'm gonna keep trying, and do my best. I've been eating a lot more veggies. And trying to cut out bread products. I think bread products are my biggest problem.  

Bread is definitely my biggest problem! I've been trying to add fruits and veggies into my diet daily since a few weeks ago but they go so fast and then i'm dragging my feet to go to the grocery again...now i'm in the phase where I get chocolate cravings like crazy and it's so hard to ward them off! 

I know what you mean. I haven't had any chocolate, cake, chips, etc. For the past 2 weeks. I feel like I'm dying. I want a Milky Way sooo bad. Lol. I've been eating a lot of steamed veggies lately. And have been buying pineapples.  

I have had more fruit and veggies in the last 2 weeks than I think I did for the last year! I can tell that I feel better though. Now, it's about losing this extra weight. I am in 2 wedding this spring/summer and they are 2 of my oldest friends, so i'm going to be in a lot of pictures for a lifetime! That makes me nervous! I just had some pinneapples at work! Great snack! And every day we go to lunch so I look at the menu and decide beforehand so I stick with good choices because another problem I have is when I get to the point where I am starving I don't care anymore and will eat anything! So, that's definitely something I need to work on. I have 2 months to lose 30 lbs! Is that even possible? 

I'm sure it's possible. Just gonna be a lot of hard work. And yeah it does make me feel better when I eat more veggies too. I cut out red meat and stick to soy patties and grilled lean chicken. And I have less headaches, and my feet and ankles don't swell. I do the same thing when I feel like I'm starving, I eat anything because I don't care. Lol. I've been trying to chug water when that happens though. It seems to help. Drinking a bottle of water before meals helps me some too. It's just gonna take a lot of exercising, which I have to get back into. It takes time. :)  

Haha!! I'm glad i'm not the only one with this issue of getting back into exercising. I went last night and my legs hurt! I'm trying to go every other day and eventually every day. And I aim for 30 minutes/day too. I'm probably going to have to step it up once I get my endurance in check. I drink about 6-10 bottles of water a day, i'm worse on the weekends than anything about drinking water. Not that i'm drinking other things, I just don't drink a lot at home. I'm actually getting more headaches this week so i'm not sure what is causing that. 

@Elizatayl -- You can do it with a lot of calorie restriction and exercise. I lost over 30 pounds in 3 months (but I ate no more than 1,200 cals a day and worked out at the gym for 3 hours per day / 6 times a week in the mornings). It will be the hardest thing you ever do for yourself, but you CAN do it if your mind decides that’s what it wants. The hard thing about aggressive weight loss, is that it comes back far too easily. I remember back in “that” day (only 2 years ago), how I absolutely LOVED waking up at 4:15am in order to get to the gym before 5am when it opened (this is what working out, consistently, hard-core, will do to your mind set; you'll leap out of bed to sweat it out before the birds even rise. It’s a fabulous feeling). Those were beautiful days. I am aiming to get back to that level of love and tenacity. However, for me, I need to make it work every single day, for the rest of my life. I can't do this yo-yo crap anymore. I'm getting old and my body is feeling it. If you can lose that amount in 2 months, then also have a maintenance plan ready (because you don't want to have to start ALL OVER AGAIN like I have to, again). When I stopped working out from the level I had been, the weight came back fast because my calorie count was conflicting with the lack of calories burned. It doesn't take a lot. I really mean this because I am a vegan, I don’t eat processed, fried or fast/junk food and the weight all came back (!!!!). This is a lifestyle change, but it’s also balanced dance in trying to find out the rhythm your body wants to move to. You can do this!! Remember, time does fly by so make every day count!!!! 

Thank you 1tallpoppy!! You've really re-motivated me today! It's dark, snowy, icy, and all in all a depressing day sitting at a desk! Thank you for that! I'm starting Sun/Mon only eating 1,200 calories/day, it's not going to be easy whatsoever! But, I am determined! However, I know I can't do 3 hours/day at the gym, right now I can barely do 30 minutes! My endurance level is really low and with a slipped disc in my back there are some things I cannot do. But, what workouts did you do? I know some things that my doctor's told me to do and not to do so I have that down but as far as cardio...I am lost!! Right now I am doing the eliptical because i'm not supposed to do the treadmill or stair climb and I can't run outside because it hurts more than it helps. I know it sounds like i'm putting a lot of excuses out there but i've learned from mistakes i've made with working out and i'm not going to do them again. AND I do yoga! That has to be the best workout I do! Cutting out carbs is going to be the hardest part of my diet because it's everywhere! I love meat and I love potatoes. Giving up caffeine is proving to be harder than I thought it would be too, headaches every day!!  

@Elizatayl, you really must to be super careful with a slipped disc! Our backs are the life-link to our legs!! It only takes a fraction of a moment to change all of that. There would be nothing more tragic if you injured yourself and couldn't continue to exercise in the way you desire. Listen to your doctor-- your doctor knows how fragile the spine is, especially yours. When I lost that weight as fast as I did, I had no medical problems or injuries. You know this more than me, I am sure, but please let me say one more time: BE VERY CAREFUL with your back. If I were wearing your shoes, I would take a more gentle path because even losing 60% of what you want for this wedding event will make you look ohhhhhh-sooooo-FABULOUS!! Having said that, my exercise routine was basically the same each day: 1 hour on the elliptical, 30mins on the stairclimber, 30mins walking on the treadmill, 30mins on weight machines, 30mins on the stationary bike (and then many days I’d top it off with an hour of either a spin class, a run outside or an hour DVD workout). As I said, it was pretty aggressive and impossible to obtain for a daily lifestyle. Yoga and Pilates will be your best friend. You really should focus on that (that and Barre -- pure barre and/or barre3 are the BEST) because it will strengthen your core which will, in turn, strengthen your back (a win-win!!). If I weren’t such an impatient person— I would have done it that way from the start with yoga (because I’ve SEEN body-changing results with friends). However, at the moment, I prefer pounding it out on machines (which will change soon enough as it’s starting to cause havoc on my joints. Getting old sux). No matter what; if you stick to a 1200/500 daily plan (1,200 calories to eat, burn no less than 500 calories in exercise) you are GUARANTEED drastic results in 2 months. Don’t be hard on yourself. Slow and steady wins the race. Remember, it’s a “lifestyle” change — you need to create a healthy way of living, for every single day, in order to keep the weight OFF. If you look at any thin/healthy person, you will notice they all do the same thing: they watch what they eat daily, and they workout 4 to 6 times a week. If you are like me, finding the balance is the hardest thing to do when you aren’t a lover of workouts (my dream days are curling up on the sofa and watching movies with glasses of wine and warm food). Taking a long time to recondition my mind. Anyway, you can do this with healthy options. However I would ditch the pineapple for this first phase you are in, it’s very high in sugar. Since you want to drop it for the wedding date: eat any and all green vegetables that you desire. Egg whites, soy, tofu, fish and/or beans for each of your meal proteins. Protein shakes for snacks. And oatmeal, grains and fruit before noon. You don’t want to cut out all carbs otherwise you will lose lean muscle (and that’s what you’re trying to build in order to keep your metabolism on fire so you will continue to lose fat!). Oh! And sweet potatoes are very, very good for you, just 1 a day tho :) 

@1tallpoppy, first of all thank you so much for all the advice you've given me! It's really helped me to develop a plan, not just a goal! I went to the gym Saturday morning and only for 20 minutes on the elliptical, i'm thinking that I can't use that machine for more than 15 minutes and will have to switch to the bike because it bothered my back so much. I'm going to look up Barre, i've never heard of it before but if you recommend it I certainly will try it out! I was out with one of my friends this weekend and she is so tiny but eats whatever she wants, I believe the core to her being so thin is that she takes FOREVER to eat! She never rushes eating to go somewhere or in the car because she's so much in a hurry. In the past I never had the ability ot do that because my life was go go go. Now, I think I can learn how to eat slowly and let myself fill up and not be stuffed. I've never had tofu.....how do you even cook it? And I hate beans, except green beans, the texture drives me crazy. haha! But, I am going to try Soy milk, what about almond milk? My problem is that a lot of what i'm supposed to be eating I don't like, I have tried to branch myself out but a lot of food textures weird me out! I have also tried switching from ranch dressing to a vinagrette on my salads and I cannot do it! Vinagrette dressing is wayyyyy to sweet for me, it overtakes everything else on the salad! So, I like to eat cottage cheese on my salad, just a tablespoon but it tastes much better for me. My goal this week is to work up to 30 minutes at the gym, it's a lot harder than we think it is when we just let ourselves go for too long.  

@Elizatayl Well done! Starting is the hardest part! You are on your way!! As long as you train no less that 30 minutes a day-- the benefits are surmountable! If you can only do 20 minutes on the elliptical, you can do a better 20 minute workout by doing 5 minutes on the elliptical like a speed demon, then jump on the treadmill or stationary bike for 5 minutes in power gear, then jump back on the elliptical for 5 minutes, back on the treadmill or bike, etc. When you break it up like that-- you are not only raising your heartbeat super fast with cardio-- but you are giving your back, feet and joints mini-breaks (juxtaposed to pounding it out for a solid 20 minute stretch). Then push yourself for an extra 5 minutes with some weights to finish it out. Try it, it really feels easier AND you will burn more calories than doing it the other way. Look up Barre on YouTube. You can see if you'll like it there, it's basically ballet-- tones you up and leans you out :) It will make you sore for days (I love that feeling). I understand about food textures (I don't really have them except with 1 food item: okra. So I get it), yet I only mentioned beans previously as a protein/fiber option (I utterly love them; especially lentils!) but since you like green beans-- have you tried French Green Beans (Haricot Verts)? They are my new french fries! I put them on a cookie sheet, spray them with some olive oil, season with salt and pepper, bake for 18 minutes or so at 425 degrees (moving them around once, mid-way, so they roast evenly). And then when you eat them lukewarm-- they taste like french fries (or how I remember real french fries tasting as I haven't had french fries for over 10 years). But what I also love about it, is that there's hardly any calories and it fills me up for hours and hours. As for tofu, I don't eat it often (because I prefer fish), but there are lots of ways to cook it (there's also soft and firm varieties). Best way is to google some recipes and test a few out with your favorite food choices. I think Almond milk is delicious (I have it on my oatmeal every morning, yummy!), I'm not into Soy but I hear I am in the minority with that. With all things, you gotta try it and experiment because this is a "life-style" change. I like your idea with the cottage cheese for salad dressing! I will test that. I usually used cottage cheese mixed with a can of tuna to make a sandwich (I pretend it's my mayo). I don't care for any kind of store bought vinagrette, I always make my own salad dressing too. I do mine one of is 2 ways, either 1) 2Tbs white vinegar + 1Tbs honey + 1Tbs olive oil + a splash of soy sauce and salt & pepper… heat that up a little and pour over a big bowl of raw spinach, or 2) balsamic vinegar with french mustard an a dash of olive oil. Both different but healthy and yum. I envy your friend. I have a few like that myself. My metabolism was never blessed like that and I think it's because I was never consistent with how I ate/ matched with my lack of steady exercise. It was always "all of nothing" with me. And that can burn you out when you do it to yourself for decades. I only recently got it in my head that it has to be a way of living that I must maintain daily, year in and year out. I have also discovered when I focus on only today, my chances of being in control of tomorrow are more successful. 

@1tallpoppy, well I have taken some of your advice! Monday I tried doing 5 minutes on different machines for 20 minutes and then I did arm workouts for the last 10 minutes! Then I went home and did some of my yoga to stretch out my back and some crunches that are safe for me to do. I looked up Barre on YouTube and it looks very interesting! I think I may try that out starting this weekend, i'm trying to ease back in to doing as much as I was doing before. I'm also going to try that Almond milk out this weekend too! You're right, it is a way of living. Unfortunately I live with my grandma and dad and they buy doritos, pizza, and brownies! I've done my best to stay away but my cravings for ham & cheese sandwiches, chocolate, and pizza are so strong! And I haven't been bad this week but I don't know what to do with that! I am trying to focus on 1 day at a time. So far that has worked with giving up pop, that wasn't nearly as hard as ham & cheese sandwiches and pizza, I don't get cravings for pop nearly as much. I have also been going to Museums and walking 3-5 hours on the weekend. My motivation to stay on track gets stronger every day but these cravings are killing me! Any suggestions? 

@Elizatayl Oh gosh, you are doing very well! You should be really proud of yourself!! You really will be a different person come the wedding (and thereafter). I always think the exercise part is the hardest-- so bravo! As for cravings, that's just as much of a mind set you have to control as getting yourself to exercise daily, I feel. Cravings WILL & DO pass. I think my cravings have died 95% of the time now that I've been watching a lot of food documentaries on Netflix, listening to Dr. Oz, eating whole foods, YouTubing weight success stories, learning tips from Biggest Loser, etc. All things motivational and educational keep me focused. The minute I'm not focusing, is the minute I stop thinking and slip away. I look at ingredients in a whole new way now, never like before. That doesn't mean I am "chocolate-free" but I am nothing like I used to be with sugars (I used to be especially addicted to caramel, but I'm thankfully in control of that… now I tackle peanut butter). It's a 1-day-at-a-time kinda story (many days I found it to be "1-breath-at-a-time" depending on how strong the cravings were, it can be a battle!). Step by step though. You have a tough situation at your grandparents; when you look at doritos, pizza and brownies in the pantry-- remember first the goal you set for yourself, be responsible for it, and think a minute, take a step back, talk your brain down, examine your hunger, ask yourself: Am I hungry? If you're hungry, fill yourself up with tons of veggies first. If you are super full, you won't be able to eat the pizza. That's what I am doing. Your stomach will actually fill to capacity on 500cals of veggies, and your metabolism will work like a furnace burning that up because they aren't empty calories (empty calories are fat calories, fat calories have no nutritional value= pizza, doritos, brownies). If you're not hungry, then get out of the room that is wanting you to binge. You're breaking the old cycle, you are creating a new habit. Hold firm on what you're building! It won't always be hard, it will shift where food doesn't scream and control your boredom. And look forward to a treat meal (not treat days) and keep reminding yourself: How badly do I really want it? There are some people out there that think the cost of fitting in exercise or the cost of not being able to eat whatever they want/whenever they want is too high compared with the payoff of being healthier, looking fit, feeling confident and all the other benefits that come along with such a lifestyle change.  

@1tallpoppy, Thank you! I tried Barre last night! Holy cow! It doesn't look intense but it sure is!! WoW! I could only make it through 1 round, my goal is by this time next month I can make it through all 3. I just need to get a weight. That's a good idea to watch and read about things, I do that sometimes but I will definitely look on Netflix for shows too! That's what i'm trying to do now, fill up on fruits and veggies first but the craving is still there. It's mostly as work when i'm hungry sitting at my desk. I brought apples and peanut butter today for a snack though! It's really hard to break a habit you've had but I was at one point really good, I just have to find my way back. I will never be someone who lives at the gym or eats nothing bad for me but I sure can be half of that! It's been soooooooo cold outside it's hard to get the motivation to go back out to the gym, that's why I did the Barre excerises last night and let me tell you....I am still feeling it! 12 hours later! In both weddings i'm in both Brides are trying to lose weight too so i'm giving them pointers and they are giving me some too! It's such a great bond to do this with them because we give eachother motivation! And I will have some of my favorite foods, just in moderation. I can't wait to see how I will look 2 months from now in my bridesmaids dress fitting! 

I know! Barre is HARD! I have a whole new perspective when I look at ballerinas-- I knew they were amazing, but they are the truest of athletes. I'm cheering for your over here! It's all mental management: If you can do something or not, it's all IN YOUR HEAD. Always remember this reality!! :) And at work, don't give your employer 60 minutes an hour-- this is your life! Take 5 minutes and walk, jump, something! A new medical study was released last week that proves even if you exercise 4 to 5 times a week; if you sit at a desk 8 hours a day, you will shorten your life by 40% for women and 30% for men. That is crazy scary fact. 

Thank you so much! You've really been a huge help and sounding board for me!! I really appreciate it!