Today
 

Today was a little harder for me. I probably didn't eat as well as I could have.

m330 - Thank you for the advice. I will check it out the next time I'm free. Probably a little later in the week.

staceyalberta - Thanks for being one of my cheerleaders. :p I appreciate it. It really moves me to keep going. I DO take measurements. I find that when the scale doesn't move I probably lost an inch somewhere instead.

Deanna0404 - Good luck to you! Please post your progress or link me to where you're keeping track of it. :) Thanks for the support.

canary52 - Thank you so much! I'm sorry about your daughter. I can sympathize with you. My younger sister is a bit over 300 pounds. :( She's 17! I've tried convincing her to exercise or go places with me, but she refuses. They have to learn on their own and want to change I suppose.

Sorry my replies are a bit short. I'm exhausted so I'm going to bed. Goodnight everyone!

"Today was a little harder for me."

"I'm so tired; I just want to crawl into bed and under my covers and sleep for 3 days. Haha."

Jordan ~ that's great that you are taking measurements & your right if the scale is slow moving at some point i'm sure your inches will be down & that's a great movitator.

I Had A Good Day Today
 

Today I took it a little easy with exercise. I had been running on the steepest incline setting on my treadmill because I figured when I kept it flat, it would be easier to run that speed for a certain amount of time. Well it was! A little too easy, so I might have to adjust my time/speed, but it was relaxing. :)

canary52 - I thank you again. I love logging onto the forums and seeing more support. I think if it weren't for me putting myself out there like this I would have already been discouraged. I'm still going strong though. :cool:

staceyalberta - I have already lost inches in some places (spoiler), but I'll save the details for when I put pictures up on Sunday. I'm so excited!

I hope you all don't find my once-a-day forum posts annoying. It keeps me accountable.

Some parts of my journal entry for today:

"I noticed a small difference today; my tummy jiggled, but it jiggled less."

"I still have yet to lose a pound, which discourages me a bit, but the little progress I have made keeps me going."

"My new sleeping pattern is really setting in. I love going to bed early and waking up early now."

Hi Gunna...

You are doing awesome! Great strong start for you on your new healthy lifestyle. I wish I had had the foresight to do it at 18 instead of waiting! You will get back into those jeans in no time. Keep it up!!

You are right about the accountability. That is really key for some of us. Keep your eyes on the prize, girl! :D

GunnaLose80, I quickly looked at your fitday (I hope it's OK!) and I think you are seriously undereating proteins. They have only been 12-13% of your daily intake since you started your diet, and this way you are going to lose muscles.
Are you a vegetarian? If not, I see no red meat or white meat, and your proteins are only coming from milk and eggs sometimes.
Maybe other people in this forum can give you their opinion too.
Hope this helps!

Jordan ~ well gees spoil the fun can't wait to read the exact details. i love your daily posts & keeps you accountable then that's what you got to do. i love reading the details of your journal i'm writing more in mine as well. are you using the journal tool here or do you have a special book you write in? just being nosey...lol. that reminds me that i haven't written in mine yet....lol

Hmmm...
 

I had a decent day. I was being lazy with exercise, so I ended up doing it late (I just finished). I did it though; that's what counts. I hope everyone else is doing great. :)

cjohnson728 - Thanks for the support! I love when people cheer me on. It makes me feel good that I'm not all alone.

vsabino - You had me all scared and worried for half the day (I read posts throughout the day and reply at night)! Then I thought about it. Are you talking about the pie chart? At first I thought you were right, but I looked at my nutrition daily values report thing. I'm averaging just a little over the recommended daily value. I looked at the pie chart, read the description, and felt like slapping myself for worrying. The pie chart represents the number of calories FROM that part of your diet. So using your example, about 12% of my CALORIES come from protein. I'm not undereating them though (thank God). To answer your other questions... No, I'm not vegetarian, but I don't eat a lot of meat. I only have burger patties to eat for now until my dad comes home from Colorado. I ate one today to make you happy. :p I totally don't mind anyone looking at my FitDay. That's why I put it into my signature. I ENCOURAGE people to look at it. Thank you so much for your concern. If I had been undereating proteins I wouldn't have known otherwise.

staceyalberta - I write in the journal on here. It saves the paper from being wasted. Haha. When I write how I feel, it helps me let go of some things on my mind so I sleep better. Good for writing in yours more. :)

Today's most relevant thoughts:

"I never thought Spandex shorts could get too big... But mine fell off my butt while I was running on the treadmill (literally)."

"I'm doing good so far."

I know it's % calories in the pie chart! Still 12% is very little (you're eating about 45 grams of proteins a day).
If you really hate meat, you can try eating beans or eating more eggs. I can't see your micronutrient bar chart, but I would suggest you to take a multi-vitamin supplement, just in case you're low in something.

I'm curious to know what everyone else thinks about your protein intake? Do you guys think that 45 g a day for a 18-year old who runs for 1-hr a day is enough?

The ongoing protein dilemma...
 

There are two schools of thought on this (probably more; as a matter of fact, everyone who pays attention to what they put in their mouth probably has an opinion on it). One is the "Americans eat too much protein" argument, supported by the government-established RDA limits and data from people in other countries who eat very little meat; the other is the "protein builds muscle tissue and helps you lose weight more than eating carbs and fat" argument, supported by all the low-carb folks.

I've said this before and I'll say it again. You can find anything to support any position on the internet, in books, on TV, from dieticians, whatever. So pulling out various pieces of information to support any position is basically an exercise in futility. My bottom line is, and has always been, that you have to do what works for you.

I know when I started losing, I was focused only on the calories in vs. calories out. Once I got used to that, I focused more on the pie chart, playing around with it. I tried a lot of different proportions and I finally settled on about 25%-30% protein. More than that and I didn't feel my best, and it wasn't a way of eating that was sustainable for me, thus setting up a derailment. Less than that gives me too much room for fats and carbs, which, I believe, are more prone to turn to fat if you don't burn the calories. Many people on the boards have commented that the higher they take their protein, the quicker the weight comes off, but YMMV. It is very individual. It is worth thinking about playing around with, though, as you go further into your journey. And (sounding like commercial here), it couldn't hurt to check with you doctor since you are starting a weight loss and exercise program, and he or she could possibly address this issue.

Right now I think it's important to start to build good habits and be aware of what you're eating. Trying to change too much too soon may send you off track and be overwhelming. As you feel comfortable in your new habits, you can fine tune them. It's a process. Experiment. You will hit on the ratio that makes you feel best.

And last but not least, don't eat something to make somebody else happy! That's part of why we have food issues in the first place ;). Eat it to try to see if anything changes with how you feel or your weight loss, but don't eat for somebody else.

Sorry this got so long; hope you have a great day!!

Worry Worry Worry
 

All I've been doing is worrying today. It's no help though, because I can't do anything about the problem. Ugh. I worked out twice today. I tried eating a little better, and while I ALWAYS stay within my planned calorie intake, I was craving mac and cheese. So I had some. :) Best part of my day I'd have to say.

vsabino - You make me worry. :p I know all of your intentions are good. I may not have explained myself well enough. Let me try again. I am home alone until next week Friday about. My dad is in Colorado working. We live in Wisconsin. He left no money. I don't have a job yet. My mom is an alcoholic who only cares for my sister 'cus I'm technically not her responsibility now that I'm 18. So there are eggs and green beans and burger patties here that I'll surely get to eating when I'm not too lazy to make them, but as for the supplements, I have to wait for my dad to come home. I've already asked him to go shopping with me when he does. To make this a little more positive (so I stop worrying while I wait), what do you recommend I should put on my shopping list for healthy, nutritious, and protein-filled foods?

cjohnson - I would have to talk to my mom about seeing my doctor. She has me under her insurance still I believe. Ick. I will soon though, because my yearly exam thing is around September. So while I am examined I'll talk to my doctor. They told me everything was fine last time I went, so I figured it would still be fine now that I'm a bit healthier, but I'll still ask. I'm good with sticking to calorie intakes, but I never really worried about what I was eating 'cus I never really ate anything bad unless I was at a friend's house. Soda, candy, pizza, etc. The foods I've been eating in the last week are what I would just normally eat (and it's all I really have until my dad gets home).

canary52 - I ALWAYS tell my dad to buy whole wheat. He doesn't listen unless I'm with him. So when he gets back that's one of the first things I'm getting. Cereal is my addiction. Haha. I'm trying to have only one bowl a day for now. Once I go shopping I want to try my hand at cooking breakfast for my dad, my sister, and I. Thank you for your kind words of advice. :) I'm trying to take it a little slowly, so it overwhelmed me today when all I could worry about was how there's hardly any protein here. I'm ok for now though.

Boy, I feel like I'll be learning a lot over the next few months.

"I hope I'm doing this whole thing right."

"It's going to be a long journey, but I want this more than anything else right now."

"I think I'll give myself off on Saturday."