alabamaangyl

Just out looking for advice. After losing 110+ lbs, I have hit around the 315 mark, more or less a couple of yo-yo-ing pounds that I have attributed to water weight gain (I have to take the water pill HCTZ for this problem). I work out two to three times a week, an hour at a time, on the elliptical and stationary bike (30 mins each device). I’m eating the same as I have eaten to lose weight in the past, and for awhile I even cut calories more… but I feared that I might be hurting myself more than helping if I made my body go into starvation mode, so I went back to my normal eating habits. Basically, I eat everything in moderation, focusing more on eating lean beef and chicken, veggies, and allow myself starches like potatoes and pasta only occasionally. I can’t figure out what I am doing wrong, or why I have hit this rut.

Any advice on boosting my metabolism or giving myself a weight lost boost?

I had been doing so well! I don’t understand where I went wrong. I turned down the store-bought tyson chicken nuggets with 4 grams of fat per bite, in lieu of more veggies like celery and carrots, and I’ve been working out an hour at a time twice a week now. I’m using ellipticals on easy (as I’m just starting out on them) and stationary bikes set to 5, which is right in-between the lowest and highest setting, a good medium, I thought.

I’ve been eating my veggies like celery and carrots as snacks, but I guess the ranch dressing did me in. I immediately got rid of it and now substitute it for low-fat ranch dressing to dip my veggies in. I can’t go to fat-free, not all at once. I’ll have to gradually decrease my way down.

I can’t imagine such a simple thing as dressing could be the whole culprit, however. I mean, I know my sister got married, and we had a great cookout on the grill, with hotdogs, lean deer meat sloppy joes, sausage dogs, and hamburgers, but I ate in moderation. I figured since I had been so good all week, and since it was a celebration, that I could enjoy myself a little. But really, 9lbs?

I guess I’ve just got to be more careful about eating good things in moderation, and stick to my raw and cooked veggies even moreso now.

I wish I had time in my busy schedule to fit in a third workout a week, but I’m not sure if it’s possible. Time to do some rearranging of scheduling to see if this can be worked out. I can’t imagine what my schedule is going to be like once college starts this fall!Yikes!

One good thing came out of all this… my husband’s dad found a scale for his family at Harbor Freight Tools that goes up to 330lbs, for only $15! We went and bought one, so now there’s no embarrassing walking around in public trying to use the GNC bioweigher scale and wasting that .50 cents!

If anyone out there has any tips to maybe boost my metabolism and get it in gear, I’d sure appreciate it!

So, I’ve decided to start using buddyslim again as a tracker, after having lost 110lbs! I’m now down to a size 24! I’m down 10 sizes from last year! Woo-hoo!

I attribute all the weight loss success to my job as a Shoney’s hostess. It keeps me running and on-the-go. The cardio I get has me feeling so fit! I feel so slim and trim now, it really is an amazing thing!

My goal is to get below 250 by the end of summer (mid-to-late August) and to celebrate with a trip to Six Flags! This goal feels attainable to me now. I never would have thought this possible if you had told me I would be this slim by now!

I had a question out there for people who have undergone (or are losing) alot of weight like myself. I’ve gone from 430 to 370-ish so far, and after new years I am starting back on my diet. But I am absolutely terrified of the idea that when I lose all I need to lose (I want to get down to 200, which is an almost 200lbs loss), that I will have all this sagging skin.

I am afraid of plastic surgery to fix my sagging chest (read: boobs), because I’m proud of what my chest looks like right now…  I don’t think some of these plastic surgery ones look very realistic… plus theres all the scarring.

And then there are my arms, which sag right now anyway, and my stomach (which is sagging as it is, too). Plus I’m afraid ofhow my legs will look…

Are there any good luck stories from people who lost150-200lbs and didnt have issues with sagging skin?

Thanks for letting me know!

Okay, so about a year ago I went from 430 lbs to 380 lbs by going on what I call the soup and wyler’s diet (I will explain this later - it really works!). But then life happened, and I quit my diet for awhile. I had to deal with some online bullies for awhile, and my weight loss suffered as a result. I now weigh about 370 lbs, and am starting back on my diet. The great thing about this diet, is that I lost 50 lbs in just three months by my diet I made myself.

The trick to my diet is to cut out all sodas and milk and switch to sugar free drink additives like wyler’s brand, crystal light, or even the walmart generic (and cheap for those on tight budgets) brand. Just so long as it’s sugar free. And then you eat all the soup you want. Mind you, I don’t think this would work with creamy soups and the like…. I used condensed Vegetable Beef from walmart (the kind without the noodles/alphabet). I stayed away from breads and pastas (only eating some spaghetti maybe once a month as a treat), and cut down majorly on snacking on sweets… when I got hungry, I ate soup… as a snack, as a meal, all the time… it was all I ever ate (with as many veggies as I wanted as well).

Hey, it worked for me! And because I ate as much soup as I liked, whenever I liked, I was never hungry. I made sure to take a multivitamin with calcium and also a fiber supplement to make sure I was getting the nutrients that I needed, and if you do this diet, you should do the same.

Good luck everyone!

I keep telling myself what I need to do to lose weight. It’s pretty simple. I know exactly what number of calories I need, and how I shouldn’t go over that amount. I know I need to stay away from certain foods like starches and high carbs… I know I need to eat healthy. I know how much exercise I need to work my way up to… I know I’m starting off small with 15 - 30 minutes and work my way up to two hours a day… but it’s like I can’t get started anywhere. I’m still eating the same, and I’m still not getting any exercise… they say it takes 30 days to make a behavior a habit… well, I can’t make it past day one!

There’s got to be an easier way… but there isn’t. Ugh.

And I really want to make it down to 250 lbs by November… in time for my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary trip to Gatlinburg, TN. The whole family will be there!

Anyone have any ideas on how to give myself a jumpstart?

I have to admit, I fell off the diet train back in May after my family reunion… you know, one of those reunions where everyone brings a favorite family dish? lol… well, I’m back on again, and that’s what counts, right?

I have decided to make a slow start, going right into a harsh diet… I’m limiting myself to 1400 calories a day, and then will follow with working my way up to a two hour swim workout, and an hour to two hours of walking a day. I think it’s a healthy start, and am hoping this will allow me to lose from 380, down to 200, by November… just in time for my parents big 50th anniversary blow-out bash/vacation my siblings and I are taking them on to Gatlinburg, TN!

To be honest, I’m not expecting that dramatic a weight loss, although it would be nice, so I have to say, I would be happy just getting down to 250 or so… that’s only a little over a 100 lb weight loss.

Wish me luck!

Once I started actually using Buddy Slim’s many tools, like the food tracker and exercise tracker, and posting my blog every two days or so, I’ve really been feeling more motivated!

I was using Fitday, but I find Buddy Slim is much more effective and much more correct when it comes to calculating my caloric intake, with my BMR (basal metabolic rate) , and adding in my exercise calculations. I’m able to calculate what kinds of exercise I need MUCH better every day.

Say I decide to eat something extra, Buddy Slim let’s me know when I need to work out a little extra, and when my BMR will take care of it. I love that feature!

I’ve noticed how hard it is to keep track of every thing I eat. I’ve recently started taking account of EVERY single thing, even a dab of peanut butter, or a bit of sauce. Like I had nuggets the other day, and never before had thought of taking into account the sweet and sour sauce I get from Mcdonald’s! It has a surprising amount of calories!

A couple of sites that are great (especially when you have to add in custom foods to your food tracker, like I do), are:

http://www.calorieking.com

http://www.nutritiondata.com

And this one is GREAT for calculating calories burned according to weight. Heavier people like me burn more calories, and this is a great site for those kind of calculations!

http://www.caloriesperhour.com/

Hope these links help you as much as me! I know it seems hard to keep a journal of food and exercise, but let me tell you, you REALLY see a difference! (and it’s made much easier by Buddy Slim! hehe)

As you know, me and three friends have joined Alabama’s second annual Scaleback contest! (groups of four people each, competing for a $4000 prize!) Today was our group, the Pet Peeves’, first weekly meeting, and we went on the first hike I’ve had in four years! I haven’t walked a mile and a half in four years, and it HURT so bad! But afterwards, let me tell you, I felt energized and great! They were afraid I’d be really sore and stiff afterwards, and I was for a few minutes, but now, about an hour afterwards, I feel fantastic, and more energized than I did when I started!

I can’t wait to work out more tomorrow! I’m gonna go to the YMCA and walk another mile and a half to keep it up! I’m aiming for about four miles a day by a month’s time from now, when we go back and try for the 3-mile hiking trail, which is harder.

Next week’s group meeting: tennis lessons!

Exercise Log

Well, I’ve decided to get serious about my doctor’s advice, a whole three months after seeing him, and only two weeks before I go see him again (for those who read my earlier blog, he’s gonna see my the 24th of this month).

He put me on certain restrictions. Limits are as follows: 1600 calories, 45g of fat, 50 protein, and the hardest of all, 2000mg of salt per day. Actually, I’ve been trying to follow te salt thing ever since I saw him last, and it is just SO hard! I rarely, if ever, salt my food, but have you looked at salt content these days?

Frozen boneless chicken breast, for example, has 450g of salt per half breast before I have even cooked it or done anything with it, or seasoned it, or anything! (and I love lemon pepper seasoning, which is also LOADED with salt, and I haven’t been able to enjoy in months because of this.

There’s got to be an easier way to go about this? Basically, it seems to me, that I am limited to plain veggies, with no seasoning of any kind, and beef, chicken, and fish with no seasonings of any kind, and water… because that’s the only way I can see to stay away from the salt. Just drinking a simple glass of orange juice, it seems, can ruin this new “diet”.

I am confused here… I am going to be trying VERY hard to stick to it, but thought someone could offer advice? Ask everyone you know to comment to this blog… I would really appreciate it!

Forgot to add: some of my favorite foods are vegetable beef soup, grilled chicken with lemon pepper seasoning, and italian dishes, like rotini with tomato and meat sauce… all loaded with salt, if you buy store bought packages. I also, don’t have much time for cooking things from scratch, but am planning to start, if I can… but I’m not the best in the kitchen, so I guess I keep finding it easier to just pop open a can, or cook something from frozen… ya know what I mean?