Lenoriarose

I've been having some frustration losing weight and I am hoping to find some support. I have been using the site for a month, and seem to be staying stable with my weight. I am unsure if I'm doing something wrong, or if its the fact I'm gaining muscle. At the beginning of this week, I changed my exercise to walking 1.5 to 2 miles a day, at 3 mph.

My information

Weight: 230
Height: 5'2
Age: 28
First Weight loss Goal: 30 lbs
Daily Calories: 1500 - 2000 (worst day 2200)
Overall Weight Loss goal: 100

I am trying to change to a healthy lifestyle with walking. I am hoping to get to 175 by the end of March (or sooner..hehe) before my husband to be and I consider trying to have our first child.

Really, I'm also trying to find a bit of a support group. I put on most of my weight 10 years ago when I stopped being bulimic and was suffering from depression. I know I screwed up my body at one point and I am trying to face up with the consequences and change to a healthy lifestyle. If any of you have ever had an eating disorder, you may understand my fears of losing weight and going back ,so I want to make sure I do this right.

I feel a bit embarrassed posting all of this...

MischaKitty

I'm also off to a slow start (3 weeks with FitDay and still haven't seen a mesurable difference on the scale). I'm really interested to hear other people's opinions.

At the very least I have been learning what foods are more filling and when it's best to eat them. So overall I am eating much better than what I was 3 weeks ago and that is in itself a small victory.

gmantych

I am not the best person to give you weight loss advice on here as I am new also and learning more each day. But the one thing I wanted to tell you is never feel embarrassed by posting anything here, especially in the women only forum. Everyone talks about everything!

You should check out two threads here. October Ovations, this is the monthly thread for women who have around 100lbs to lose. There are many ladies there who have lost alot already and can give great advice. The second is the 7 day Motivational Thread. As per the title it goes weekly. We post goals for the day/week and update on our progress. For many of us, it holds us accountable for our eating/exercise plans! We would love to have you on both!

Congrats on the upcoming marriage!

Hunny24

Congrats on deciding to make a change in your life. Changing your mindset is the first step. Everyone here is so supportive and you can talk to them about anything. So its a great sounding board for anything you are going through. Stick with the tools that fit day provides...logging in all your stats, food, exercise, etc. With the right diet and exercise, you will see improvement week after week Everyone has bad days, weeks, etc but the main thing is to get back on track, forgive yourself and move on. Good luck and know that we are here for you

gallusgal

Hi lenore, welcome to the forum! Hunny is right, the mindset thing is very important without it you will 'trick' yourself and 'cheat'...and we all know we are only cheating ourselves when that happens!

I see from your post that you have suffered from eating disorders in the past, thank you for your honesty, and please don't be embarrassed here. We are all on the same page and we are here to support, not to criticise or judge.

You mentioned your calorie intake, but not what those calories consist of. I would recommend cutting processed foods, especially 'white' foods and rediscovering the joy of natural food like chicken, fish, fresh vegetables and fruit. Drink plenty of water too, and exercise to an extent that is comfortable for you at first and gradually build it. Don't knock yourself out too much to start with, it will only put you off!

I know you are worried about slipping back to your bulimia, but honey, after the first few days your body will love that you are treating it right again and work with you. (maybe it would be a good idea to talk to your Healthcare Professional as well though?)

When I started back in Jan, I thought back to a time in my life when I was happy with my weight and in tune with my body and tried to remember what I ate, what I did for excercise and how I felt. THAT's what I am working towards and that's what keeps me setting those ever-important goals.

I really wish you and all the other girls just starting out the very best, please keep us posted on your progress! You all have taken the first step, Fit Day is an invaluable tool, make the most of it! You won't believe the difference you can make! xxxx

Lenoriarose

Thank you for all the wonderful responses. In response to the therapy, I had been going to a counselor and recently stopped due to her thinking most of my issues are resolved. Now its just fighting getting the weight off and building my self confidence back

To help with my food, I have cut out soft drinks and tried to limit my coffee to one cup a day. I drink mostly tea and about a 1.5 liter of bottled water a day. I try to get my 25g of Fiber in a day and eat Whole Grain foods. I work from home so I"m able to cook all of our meals, so very little prepared food here. I usually try adding one two vegetables with each meal and love cooking fresh. I guess I'm a bit of a natural freak. We mostly eat chicken, lean ground beef, and fish.

From what I"m reading, I'm guessing my slow weight loss was due to not enough exercise. I started lifting weights this past week, as well as walking nearly 1.5 miles a day (taking two off). My first week (last week) I walked 11.5 miles. I haven't lost this week but it may be due to gain muscle, I'm not sure.

Sorry if I'm rambling. Its a late night getting to bed due to work ^^;;

almeeker

When I started my "healthy living agenda" I weighed a little more than you and I'm shorter by 1/4". If I can do this, you can too. You have to be patient, and you have to forgive yourself for those 2,200 calorie days. I start my diet over pretty much every meal. I concur with gallusgal, that it may not be your calories so much as what they consist of. I try to get my pie chart to 40-40-20 (carbs-proteins-fats) every day, worst cast scenario carbs are no higher than 50%. I've found I can eat a little more if I keep my proteins higher. I also agree with you on increasing your workout, although I think walking is a great way to burn calories (it's my favorite workout). But you may need to mix up your exercise routine, to keep the muscles working and guessing. The other thing I noticed is that you drink 1.5 liters of water every day, which is approx 42 oz. This seems low to me. The recommended baseline for weight loss is 64 oz + 8 oz for every 10 pounds you want to lose. So by my estimates you need to increase it to 144-152 oz /day, so 3-4 times more than you are getting.

Lenoriarose

That seems like an insane amount of water, but I will give it a try. I don't think I drink that much in fluids a day period. LOL

As for exercises, what would you recommend? I cannot afford gym membership (and my fiance outright refuses thinking its a money sink).

Lenoriarose

I also forgot to add that I'm more hiking every day rather than walking. There are about five nature trails in a nature reserve that I visit, where I am walking up hill on a mountain. Of course, some of the trails are more ofa workout than others. I do the difficult trail three days a week (climbing up and down rock at a slope). Two days a week I do a trail that does not have as much of a slope, giving my muscles a bit of a break. The other two days I've been taking as exercise breaks since I've read that is important to prevent muscle damage.

almeeker

When you hike, take a water bottle and swig often. I usually drink 32-48 oz during my workout, it's easy to guzzle that much while your working up a sweat. Then make sure you add a bottle of water between meals, it will keep you from grabbing for snacks and also aid in your weight loss. As for increasing your workouts without a gym membership, you might get some ankle/wrist weights and wear them while you're hiking, you might also stop along the route and do some squats, stretches, jumping jacks, whatever. Do you have a back pack? If so, put some weight in it and wear it during your hike. The other thing you might look into is getting a mountain bike, and use that on the trails. It's a completely different sort of workout than hiking, and it would be lots of fun too. Maybe the fiance would see the benefit of that sort of purchase more clearly? I dunno.