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toughcookies
New Member
| Joined: | 22 January 2012 |
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| Posts: | 16 |
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Posted: 22 January 2012 11:32 pm |
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I'm ready to make healthier lifestyle choices. I don't know whether I need to come up with a plan or just ease into it for now. And I need to find non-food ways to deal with stress. This isn't much of a journal so far, it is? Will post more details later. (Kids are forever needing me. *sigh*)
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toughcookies
New Member
| Joined: | 22 January 2012 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 16 |
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Posted: 23 January 2012 07:16 pm |
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Had some time to think about what needs to be done. There is a ton of stuff!!!!! Okay, breathe. I can do this.
First things first, my habit of going every other day to the grocery store for candy has to stop. Pretty obvious. In my wildest dreams, I envision a life where chocolate, candy, and ice cream are a seldom thought in my head. Until that glorious day, I'll settle for cutting down on the junk, sticking with buying one or two items once a week on my main grocery shopping day.
I think swapping could prove useful until I get more on board with a healthy lifestyle. Like, chocolate milk can substitute for ice cream and chocolate-covered bananas can substitute for candy bars. I've always eaten vegetables, but I could step up my intake to hopefully avoid some of the junk food. 5 cups a day is doable if I start including a salad or soup every day.
I don't know if I'm ready to count calories yet. It sounds like such a cop out, I know. But calorie-counting has become an obsession in the past. It messed with me mentally and actually brought on binges because I'd feel disgusted by not meeting my goal and throw in the towel. So, yeah, that's a no to calorie counting. For now, anyways.
Bought a Billy Blanks tae bo DVD today. Went through the tutorial for the movements. Will try the workout later tonight or tomorrow. Hoping for tonight, but it's hard with kids running afoot. Just doing the tutorial was a challenge, with my youngest doing it with me and nearly knocking into me a few times. At least the kiddo had fun. (But momma needs to burn calories, so give me some space!  )
Think that's it for now. If anyone sees anything else I should be doing, I'm always open for suggestions.
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toughcookies
New Member
| Joined: | 22 January 2012 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 16 |
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Posted: 23 January 2012 07:20 pm |
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Guess I should put my starting weight down. It's 220 lbs, size 20. My ultimate goal is 120, size 4-6. Maybe later I'll post some "baby step" goals.
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toughcookies
New Member
| Joined: | 22 January 2012 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 16 |
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Posted: 23 January 2012 08:21 pm |
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Typed out a meal plan for tomorrow. Eyeballed it at 1,300 calories. Can't see myself eating that little and wasn't aiming for that amount of calories, but figure it'll serve as a guideline. If I can stick to it, great. If hunger gets to me and I eat bigger portions of these foods, I'll still be better off than I was before. This is stuff I pretty much already eat, just without the awful candy.
BREAKFAST
3 whole eggs
1 slice bacon
½ cup bell peppers OR ½ cup cabbage
LUNCH
1 packet chicken broth
2 cups water
½ cup carrots OR ½ cup sweet potatoes OR celery
1 serving plain chicken
SNACK
2 cups romaine
2 ounces cheese
15 grams pecans
DINNER
4 cups low-calorie vegetable
1 cup tomato sauce OR 1 can tuna
SNACK
2 cups chocolate milk
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mollymoo24
Distinguished Member
| Joined: | 30 December 2007 |
| Location: | Chicago, USA |
| Posts: | 6301 |
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Posted: 23 January 2012 09:29 pm |
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Hi Toughcookies and welcome to CPH! Good luck achieving your goals! I am a long timer here who went from 202 to 123 pounds (size 18W to 4) in a little over a year, through changing my eating habits and taking up an active fitness regimen.
The first question which came to mind upon reading your post is whether your calorie target is realistic or in fact too low. Especially if you are going to be exercising a lot. If you plug your stats in here:
http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.php
you will get a reading for a basic rate (at your usual activity level) and you want to be 500 calories below that on a daily basis to lose one pound per week. It is generally recommended that you not aim to lose more than 2 pounds per week, and as you get lighter to taper that down to 1 pound per week.
And eating bigger portions of the 'good and the green" really helped me out too. The other thing I do is instead of 3 eggs, I will eat only 1 yolk but all the whites. That changes it from 240 calories to 120 - a huge savings and the protein still fills you up with less cholesterol.
I'm looking forward to seeing your progress!
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toughcookies
New Member
| Joined: | 22 January 2012 |
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| Posts: | 16 |
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Posted: 24 January 2012 10:30 pm |
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Molly, thanks for posting that link and for sharing your success. It is so helpful to hear that weight loss for 'big girls' is achievable! Sometimes I wonder...
Looks my RMR with activity is 2,600 calories a day. So I should be aiming for 1,600 daily to lose 2 lbs a week.
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toughcookies
New Member
| Joined: | 22 January 2012 |
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| Posts: | 16 |
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Posted: 24 January 2012 10:38 pm |
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Did my usual exercise routine (90 minutes a day/M-F) plus the warm-up/stretching portion of that tae bo video. It was only 7 minutes, but my body felt it. Especially my calves because there was a calf-raising exercise to do. My little one thinks tae bo is really fun and does the exercises with me, except he gets wild and often bumps into me. His energetic behavior has injured me in the past, so I need to wrangle him in before I get hurt again.
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toughcookies
New Member
| Joined: | 22 January 2012 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 16 |
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Posted: 25 January 2012 07:03 pm |
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Had a bit of a revelation today: Cardio has not been helping me lose weight. After so many years of trying to emulate a cardio bunny, it's clearly not been working. I see a pattern of me eating more when I do a lot of cardio, likely negating all the burn and then some.
I got to thinking, what did I do 100 lbs ago to stay in shape? I ran and lifted weights. Running is out of the question, with winter conditions and my heavy weight. So that leaves weight training. My new plan is to quit my usual stepping routine for cardio, focus only on doing the tae bo video (working up to a full session), and start weight training.
It's been so long since I last worked with weights. I don't even know where to begin anymore. So off I go to hunt for a beginner's routine. I'm so excited! 
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toughcookies
New Member
| Joined: | 22 January 2012 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 16 |
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Posted: 25 January 2012 07:33 pm |
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Figured out a weight training plan. It's a full body routine, 4 days per week:
Mondays & Thursdays:
bench press
lat pull down
leg press
Tuesdays & Fridays:
incline push up
bent over row
step up
For cardio, that tae bo video will be king until I can safely run again. I may start taking a nightly or early morning walk around the neighborhood, too. If my brain can hack getting up early/staying up late.
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mollymoo24
Distinguished Member
| Joined: | 30 December 2007 |
| Location: | Chicago, USA |
| Posts: | 6301 |
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Posted: 26 January 2012 01:59 am |
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Its great to read that you are so excited and motivated! How about logging your measurements for yourself, to see your progress as you get going with the weights? It starts out slow but seeing those changes occur over time can really be motivating. It's not all just about the scale.  Keep at it!
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Hiker
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 26 January 2012 11:08 am |
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| Hi Toughcookie, it does sound like you have a really good plan set out. As for the cardio I look for things that are fun, in fact thinking up fun ways to enjoy my cardio is becoming a new hobby. Anyway I won't post them here but if you get a chance and are interested my 1/23/12 entry has some fun cardio ideas, there might be something there you would like to do? Anyway, I am sure you will find what is best for you, you have a good start.
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toughcookies
New Member
| Joined: | 22 January 2012 |
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| Posts: | 16 |
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Posted: 29 January 2012 12:10 am |
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Molly, I did take my measurements. Too embarrassed yet to post them here, but am looking forward to seeing those inches get smaller!
Hiker, I will check out that post of yours. I could use a go-to list of exercises. It's easy for me to get stuck on doing one type of exercise for months at a time.
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toughcookies
New Member
| Joined: | 22 January 2012 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 16 |
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Posted: 29 January 2012 12:19 am |
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Been sick for the past couple days. Got it from one of my kids, like always. This is some weird stuff because it started as phlegm in my chest. Not really up for doing much exercise, just a few minutes at a time here and there because my throat starts burning. Did do a weight training session and the tae bo video (warm up + 10 minutes) on Wednesday before the sickness hit, so that's a plus. Forgot that the tae bo workout called for hand weights. All I had lying nearby were 5 lb weights, but will have to remember to use lighter weights next time. Billy doesn't go slow for nothing!
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mollymoo24
Distinguished Member
| Joined: | 30 December 2007 |
| Location: | Chicago, USA |
| Posts: | 6301 |
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Posted: 29 January 2012 07:29 pm |
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Hi TC,
I'm glad to hear you took your measurements! You will be glad later. I will encourage you to post your measurements here anyway...because it is SOOOOO satisfying and motivating when you read back to the beginning of your journal and can see how far you have come. If you keep your stats here, it also helps you come back to the site and write in your journal regularly. Just offering up something for you to consider.
Way to go on doing "something" even when you are under the weather. Every little bit helps and keeps you going in the right direction. Shows that you are motivated.
And yeah, 2 pound handweights are quite plenty for me when I haven't been doing arm workouts in a while. Then 3, then eventually up to 5. I think it takes me about a month to get there.
Thanks for coming by and lending your support in my diary!
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toughcookies
New Member
| Joined: | 22 January 2012 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 16 |
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Posted: 30 January 2012 08:52 pm |
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Gained 3 lbs from last week! So shameful, especially when I joined a challenge on here and had to report my weight change today.  I've cut down on calories, so that's not the culprit. I did trade in my usual 90 minutes of stepping a day for a more relaxed plan of weight training and tae bo, so that probably didn't help. Guess maybe the calorie reduction isn't worth as much as I thought it would be. Oh and plus TOM came. That's always worth a few water weight lbs.
I'm still feeling terrible with this upper respiratory infection. Hard to get in deep breaths with all the congestion, but managed to do the warm up + 15 minutes of the cardio bootcamp workout. Used 3 lb hand weights for the 1st 10 minutes and switched to 1 lb weights for the last 5. Billy goes so fast, accuracy of the moves have to come before poundage.
I have a weight training session planned for today. My body is aching so much from being sick, but my mind is like go go go, let's do this! We'll see.
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blackwidow1169
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 30 January 2012 10:22 pm |
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| I just wanted to stop in an say hello! It looks like we are on the same level... i also weigh 220.. though I am not looking to get down as far as you .. im looking more at 150! So we are in this together...
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missfit
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 31 January 2012 03:39 pm |
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| Just wanted to stop by and say hello. I wish you Good Luck in your journey. Whatever you do, don't give up on your goals!! With myself, I noticed it's taking a lot longer than I had hoped, but I will get there.
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mollymoo24
Distinguished Member
| Joined: | 30 December 2007 |
| Location: | Chicago, USA |
| Posts: | 6301 |
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Posted: 3 February 2012 12:51 pm |
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| Just wanted to stop by and give you some encouragement TC! I hope you are feeling better from your respiratory infection by now. Keep on plugging away and you will see results soon.
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