I'm new on this site
 

Hi everyone! My name is Kristyn, and I'm 28 years old. I've always struggled with weight, but have been on a yo-yo my entire life. My biggest vices are that I hate to exercise, and love to eat. :-)
I hit a point right after my wedding in September where I figured I could pig out because I didn't have to fit in my wedding dress anymore (not that I lost a bunch of weight for the wedding anyway). I quickly ballooned even more and ended up 30 pounds over the weight I had told myself I would never allow myself to get to. It still didn't bother me too much...until 2 things happened at once: 1) my friend's 4 year old daughter asked me why my belly was so big (although it was kind of funny to hear her say it), and 2) when I got winded walking through wal-mart. So I began eating healthier and getting more active. I picked up snowshoeing and bought a wii fit. But I still couldn't lose weight. I didn't understand how I could gain weight if I was eating WAY less than before.
Then I found fitday. For the past two weeks I've been recording everything diligently. I absolutely love it. It helped me realize why I wasn't losing weight, and at least now I have an idea of what I'm consuming vs. expending. I find it's much easier to have those tangible numbers.
So far (in the past month) I've lost 15 pounds (13 according to the wii fit, but I'm gonna go with my other scale :-)....) (I was 214 and my goal is 135) I feel better already, and have more energy. I even joined the Y and am excited to get back in swimming.
I'm looking forward to hearing other people's stories and supporting one another through this process.
Thanks!
~Kristyn

Hi Kristyn, and welcome! Congratulations on your weight loss so far! I was happy to find another snow shoe buddy. I just recently started snowshoeing again myself. At 400 cal. burned per hour, it's hard to beat ( and it's really fun compared to being stuck in a gym!) Logging everything I eat has been very helpful for me as well. Good luck! :)

I agree...I love snowshoeing. I never thought I would, but it's great. I take the dogs with me, and if my husband's not working he comes as well. I really enjoy it.
Thanks for the support. Let me know how you're coming along. :-)

hey girls! Great job! I live 5 mins from a ski hill so i go skiing about twice per week. That is definitely the key finding something you don't view as a being a chore. I have been on this site for a month and so far have lost about 5 lbs. Slow and steady I know. I have now about 25 lbs to go. Good luck to all ! :-)

Hi! I'm also a new to this and all forums. I am 35 and my starting weight back in the beginning of January was 189.5 (yes, I had to put the .5 in there). Now I weigh 178.5 and feel terrific, only 11 pounds later! I enjoyed reading your posts. I feel like nothing really 'happened' to make me start this, other than I was just sick and tired of gaining weight, eating to cope with life and still not coping very well. So I made the change. The key for me was also to find a physical activity I really look forward to doing everyday - my Kathy Smith videos!! Eating less calories is far easier than I had ever hoped it would be. Because I see results every week, it doesn't take much to motivate me to stay away from the empty calories. I just LOVE losing weight. I don't understand plateaus though...is it really possible to plateau if you are still spending far more calories than you are taking in? Although I feel fairly confident that if I continue this way I will lose all the weight I want to by September, I am in constant fear of plateaus. Should I start a new thread? :)

Hi foodfrenzied, I am also in dread of plateauing. I was also doing what you were, about 1300 calories a day, but just past week I learned about calorie zig-zagging that is supposed to prevent or help you break through plateaus. I have done it for about a week (as of tomorrow). Kathie and Michelle (Scndtonun) have also commented on it a lot and may have more experience with it than I do, if you poke around and see the thread on calorie cycling. Basically, you vary out your calories to equal the same each week as you would for 7 days of 1300 (or whatever), but some days you eat well under that and some days well over. This prevents your body from getting in the same routine and prevents your metabolism from adjusting to it (so it would always expect those 1300 calories).

If you Google "zig zag calories," you can get to a website where you put in your height and weight and it will give you a sample of how many calories for each day of the week to maintain, lose slowly, or lose rapidly.

The low cal days are kinda tough...feels like a really strict diet...but the high calorie days are like cheat days and I can get in some foods I ordinarily didn't have the calorie "budget" for.

Check it out if you're interested. Everbody is different and it may work for you; maybe not. Sounds like you're doing great...keep it up! :D

Here's a site to start with. There is also a thread on calorie cycling in the Food section (I think that's where it is).

Calorie Calculator - Daily Caloric Needs

Thank you, cjohnson728!!

I checked it out, and on that website for extreme fat loss, I'd have the same minimum calorie intake I have now (actually a little more) and 2 days out of the week I can cheat and have up to 200 extra calories to "fool" my system. I like!!!!

For now, I will stick to my plan, which is varied anyway - I am not really that great with keeping my diet at the exact same amount of calories every day. Maybe I will get better at this with time.