I Am On a Strict Diet...Starting Tomorrow.

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Starting tomorrow because I am going grocery shopping tomorrow morning. Laughing

Ok, so with my recent issues with weight and the knowledge that the last 6 weeks were completely wasted, I've decided that enough is enough; time to play hard ball. Tell me what you think.

We are going somewhere warm in September (Jamaica maybe!) and I can't very well wear a sweat suit. So....I need to lose some weight.

I want to be at 115, but this isn't realistic for September so for that goal, I am shooting for 2 lbs per week or 15-20 lbs before then.

Tonight is the first night I start my resistance training (yes Slappy, I know...I should have been listening to you all along!).

Monday, Wednesday and Friday are Cardio, 30-40 minutes.
Monday and Friday are 20-25 minutes resistance training.
Friday is weigh in day. Today is the first day I log my weight. My starting point. *sigh* I'm depressed already.

Anyway, to lose weight, I need to be on a 1300 -1400 calorie diet.
I am switching to whole grains.
I am replacing my ground beef with ground turkey.
I am eliminating as many processed foods from my diet as I can (afford and stomach!)
5 small meals a day, 5-6 12oz bottles of water every day. I am on the end of bottle number 2 so I'd better pick it up here...but I hate having to pee every 10 minutes!!
I am allowing myself one day of flexible (not stupid) eating. Like one day I can have pizza delivered for dinner.
I am allowing myself to eat a sweet midday snack as long as it's 100 calories or less.

Breakfast = 200 calories
Lunch = 300 calories
Dinner = 600 calories
Mid Morning and Mid Afternoon snacks = 100 calories each

Do these measurements seem reasonable? I ran around crying yesterday and feeling bad for myself and today I have to pick my fat ass up and start doing something about it.

This is going to be a long, bumpy road.

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Bella,
Two pounds per week sounds like a reasonable rate. I have heard some doctors recommend losing one pound per week. Also, if you weigh yourself first thing in the morning, every morning, it may be more encouraging.

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i don't want to start fixating on the actual weight thing. Muscle weighs more than fat and so I might not lose any weight one week but have slimmed down.

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Quote:

I am allowing myself one day of flexible (not stupid) eating. Like one day I can have pizza delivered for dinner.

Only after you come back from the vacation.

Joe(get tough)Nation

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I wish you luck, and understand what you are going through. After about three years of procastinating and reading about how to diet and deciding what I was going to do after I started, I finally started about a month ago myself.
Opinions differ as to what works and what doesn't, but you definately nailed the important parts for consistent, sustained weight loss. One thing to bear in mind is to not get discouraged if you can't hit the time limits you set for yourself on the exercise. I set 30 to 45 on my bike for myself, and can barely get to 30 without killing myself. But I know it will get easier with time, and you need to keep that in mind as well.
Whole grains? Good idea.
Ground turkey? Also sound. Better for you.
Eliminate processed foods? Best advice you can give yourself.
5 small meals a day and lots of water? From what I hear, it's the way to go. It's what I'm doing, and it seems to be working.
One cheat meal? Great idea. Keeps the temptations at bay. I would advise mixing up that day, too. Don't keep it the same meal on the same day all the time. Keep your metabolism on its toes by varying.
Allowing yourself the sweet midday snack? With the 100 calories or less restriction you should be fine.
The 600 calorie dinner is a bigger number than I would have expected, but coupled with the other numbers you should be fine. To again draw parallels to what I'm doing, I take in about 300 calories at each meal and two or three snacks a day at about 100 calories a piece. I also can't live without my milk, so I needed to leave a little extra room for the calories taken in by drinking that during the course of the day.
One piece of advice? Keep a food journal. And be honest in it. It forces you to take a look at what you are eating during the day, so you can see how often you cheated (hopefully not at all!) and what it does to your goals. I track calories and fat in mine as well as food eaten, then add up total calories at the end of each day, subtract what I burned by exercising (I found a site online that gives you a general idea of how much you burn during activity - let me know if you want it) and total it all up. It shows me everything, including if I was just too darned lazy to exercise and forces me to look at that and know that I skipped a day.
It will be a long road, but hopefully it won't be too bumpy. Just stick with it and know that you can turn here for encouragement any time you need it. You're not in it alone, and you can do this.

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Why do you think the last six weeks were completely wasted, though, Bella?

Our bodies naturally fluctuate all the time -- you mentioned that when you were weighed, it's was the time of the month when women tend to be heaviest (retaining water, etc.) Can the trainer guy differentiate between water and fat? It seems (I don't know) like he'd just be finding muscle and not-muscle.

So, it could be that if you hadn't been exercising for those 6 weeks, you would weigh say 3 pounds more than you did. Or to put it another way, if you keep at it for another 2 weeks and weigh yourself then, it might be 4 pounds less than when you weighed yourself at the beginning of the regimen.

That's not going into the muscle weighs more than fat stuff. I'm on week 8 of my regimen, and while my weight went up at first (I don't know if it's gone down yet, haven't checked for a few weeks), I'm definitely seeing results in terms of how fit I look (not to mention how I feel, which is way better).

Plus there is the whole metabolism aspect.

This stuff isn't a quick fix, it takes quite a while, but it works and it's worth it.

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Re: I Am On a Strict Diet...Starting Tomorrow.

Bella Dea wrote:

Tonight is the first night I start my resistance training

i started my resistance to training years ago and have been very happy

best of luck

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To help with drinking all that water, add Crystal Light or 4C. They both make those little packets that are cylindrical in shape, it's just enough for a 16.9 oz. bottle of water. Only 5 calories. The pomegranate-cranberry one (made by 4C) even has antioxidants - but it's also very red so you'll get a red tongue. I'm drinking the orange right now and it's kind of like virtuous Tang. Anyway, I find it helps to add a little variety, even to that.

Also - try to eat more vegetarian - lots less fat (usually) and cholesterol (found in animal proteins). Do watch the cheese, however.

You can do it!!! Good luck!!!

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sozobe wrote:

Why do you think the last six weeks were completely wasted, though, Bella?

Our bodies naturally fluctuate all the time -- you mentioned that when you were weighed, it's was the time of the month when women tend to be heaviest (retaining water, etc.) Can the trainer guy differentiate between water and fat? It seems (I don't know) like he'd just be finding muscle and not-muscle.

You must not have seen my other post...my body fat index went up. Mad

They did the pinch test. I made her do it twice. Laughing

sozobe wrote:

That's not going into the muscle weighs more than fat stuff. I'm on week 8 of my regimen, and while my weight went up at first (I don't know if it's gone down yet, haven't checked for a few weeks), I'm definitely seeing results in terms of how fit I look (not to mention how I feel, which is way better).

I don't look any more fit... Sad

My trainer was pretty much baffeled as well.

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jespah wrote:

Also - try to eat more vegetarian - lots less fat (usually) and cholesterol (found in animal proteins).

One quick little blurb to add to this - great advice, but know that you are cutting some good sources of protein out by going more or completely vegetarian. You can compensate for this in several ways, with protein shakes or cottage cheese (excellent source) or even egg substitute (also great for protein). But you body needs protein for muscle growth and repair, so it's something you need to watch.

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No, that's what I'm saying -- what does the pinch test do? Does it isolate fat qua fat or does it isolate muscle from non-muscle? If it's the latter, how do you know it's not just bloating?

I only really started to notice things in the last couple of weeks -- as in, right about at the 6-week mark -- and I'm on a much more rigorous regimen than you are (in terms of what I do when I'm at the gym, anyway).

The point is, I think it's pretty unusual for anyone over 25 anyway to have ANYTHING happen that soon -- if nothing has happened yet, that doesn't necessarily mean anything. You can fine-tune of course, resistance training et al may well help, I dunno -- I'm just saying that in the two times that I've exercised to lose weight aftere 25 (way easier beforehand), it took me a lot more than 6 weeks before I really got anywhere.

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You may also find that it's really tiny victories. As in, fitting into a pair of pants or fitting better in them or even just seeing little bits of definition in places where they weren't before.

I lose weight in my waist first, you probably lose it elsewhere, so you can use that as your initial gauge.

PS More vegetarian protein is tofu or tempeh. Just add whatever sauce you like and cook it.

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jespah wrote:

To help with drinking all that water, add Crystal Light or 4C. They both make those little packets that are cylindrical in shape, it's just enough for a 16.9 oz. bottle of water. Only 5 calories. The pomegranate-cranberry one (made by 4C) even has antioxidants - but it's also very red so you'll get a red tongue. I'm drinking the orange right now and it's kind of like virtuous Tang. Anyway, I find it helps to add a little variety, even to that.

Also - try to eat more vegetarian - lots less fat (usually) and cholesterol (found in animal proteins). Do watch the cheese, however.

You can do it!!! Good luck!!!

Water Sensations is 0 calories and tastes fabulous!

I LOVE cheese!!!! I will miss cheese...the low fat stuff tastes like crap.

I was given a great suggestion by my trainer for my ranch dressing obsession.

Fat Free sour cream with a packet of the ranch dressing. I haven't tried it yet but we'll see...

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sozobe wrote:

No, that's what I'm saying -- what does the pinch test do? Does it isolate fat qua fat or does it isolate muscle from non-muscle? If it's the latter, how do you know it's not just bloating?

I only really started to notice things in the last couple of weeks -- as in, right about at the 6-week mark -- and I'm on a much more rigorous regimen than you are (in terms of what I do when I'm at the gym, anyway).

The point is, I think it's pretty unusual for anyone over 25 anyway to have ANYTHING happen that soon -- if nothing has happened yet, that doesn't necessarily mean anything. You can fine-tune of course, resistance training et al may well help, I dunno -- I'm just saying that in the two times that I've exercised to lose weight aftere 25 (way easier beforehand), it took me a lot more than 6 weeks before I really got anywhere.

That's actually helpful..... maybe you are right. I hope something has happened.

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That sounds good and would probably be very good a la cholesterol.

I'm big on spices. Fresh garlic, fresh cilantro, that sort of thing. Thanks for the tip re water sensations.

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But if it was that time of month, you're holding more water, so I'd think the pinch test would be affected too. You may want to go all out and find someone that can do the body fat % test they do in water, it's the most accurate. The pinch test can be off by something like 3-5%, which is a lot.

As you get into the groove and become more comfortable lifting weights, you may want to shift it into doing it 3 or 4 days. Yea, I know you're a GIRL, but it's the hands down best way to change your body composition.

Or just go on some clenbuterol....oh wait, that's illegal and going to make you a jittery mess.

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Like Jespah said about the water...

I LOVE this lipton green tea and honey that comes in little single serve packs, you drink a lot more more when it tastes different.

I know you said snacks of 100 calories. Me, I need a snack of 200. I just realize that give me enough that although I may want more, I OK with stopping....at 100, I just end up taking a 2nd one Very Happy

Morningstar Farms makes there really great soy corndogs. I never had corndogs growing up, so I can compare, but my husband ate a whole box of 4 watching TV. They are 150 calories, but when you eat one, you really feel like you ate a whole lot more. I don't eat them every day, but it's a fun mini-meal.

Have you ever had jicama? It's this root vegetable, hard like a turnip. you peel and then cut into slices or sticks. They are full of fiber and water, plus they are crunchy (CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNC). They are a nice change from carrot sticks and such.

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Slappy Doo Hoo wrote:

But if it was that time of month, you're holding more water, so I'd think the pinch test would be affected too. You may want to go all out and find someone that can do the body fat % test they do in water, it's the most accurate. The pinch test can be off by something like 3-5%, which is a lot.

Maybe there is hope for my not having wasted 6 weeks!

Slappy Doo Hoo wrote:

As you get into the groove and become more comfortable lifting weights, you may want to shift it into doing it 3 or 4 days. Yea, I know you're a GIRL, but it's the hands down best way to change your body composition.

Or just go on some clenbuterol....oh wait, that's illegal and going to make you a jittery mess.

I can do it 3 times a week without any extra gym time. So maybe I will.

Smile

Does the peeing ever stop??? I've peed something like 8-9 times today. On 3rd 12oz bottle of water as we speak....going to only pee more.

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You're body is just not used to the extra fluid.

Within a few days, you're cells will hydrate and you will be able to hold more.

If I were you, I'd stop the heavy fluid intake after 4 or 5 o'clock...you don't want to be getting up all night.

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Good for you with all the drinking. That's definitely my weakness, I'm never thirsty it seems like, have to remind myself to do it. Always get a bottle of water to drink while I'm exercising, that part's OK, but I really gotta drink more over the course of the day. Bleh.

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I Am On a Strict Diet...Starting Tomorrow.

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