A Skinny Fat Girl's Journal
08-23-2012, 03:48 AM
#11
FitDay Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Westminster, CO
Posts: 965
Starting light is a great idea. Better to learn where you are lifting conservatively than to have an injury because you went to heavy too soon. I am doing the same with Deadlifts I know I can do more but am slowly increasing each week to avoid injury.
08-23-2012, 03:54 AM
#12
FitDay Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Westminster, CO
Posts: 965
Ron, welcome to the women section! I also took a look at the women's section of bodybuilding.com, but it seemed to have too much of an emphasis on supplements for my tastes. Then I tend more toward being a homebody than a gym rat. From my point of view a good place to start, for someone who hasn't done Pilates before, is the Pilates section of about.com: Pilates Exercises for Beginners
08-23-2012, 04:12 AM
#13
Super Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 4,083
Welcome!
New Rules of Lifting for Women is a great book. It should be in your library and available for purchase at all the usual sites or stores.
You are doing yourself a huge favor by doing this now. I'm about the same age as you, and given everything I've heard and read about what the next stage of life will bring, prevention is golden!
New Rules of Lifting for Women is a great book. It should be in your library and available for purchase at all the usual sites or stores.
You are doing yourself a huge favor by doing this now. I'm about the same age as you, and given everything I've heard and read about what the next stage of life will bring, prevention is golden!
08-23-2012, 06:32 AM
#14
FitDay Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 13
Baby steps, baby steps
I took a "before" picture of myself today, and took body measurements. I was so grossed out by how I look. And it's not just a distorted body image, trust me. Trying very hard not to be discouraged—it's easy to feel, at this early stage, that I have so far to go, and I worry that I'm not doing enough or doing it right.
Did five sets of squats and four sets of deadlifts at the gym. It was hard work, I was huffing when I finished. I am so, so so sore today. I'm glad! Almost every day I walk to the very top of the hill where I live (San Francisco, very hilly) which is quite vigorous and which energizes me and sets the tone for my day.
My food choices are quite good for the most part, eating less than 1500 calories a day, except for last night, when four (four!) glasses of wine took me past 1700. I'm not always sure that Fitday calorie counts are right; a lot of my foods don't appear here (whey protein smoothie, nutritional yeast, nut milk, etc) but I'm definitely being conservative. So I may be eating less than I think.
So far, I'm doing well, and feel good.
Age: 45
Weight: 115
Waist: a bloated 34"!
Thigh: 21"
Goal: 28" waist
Did five sets of squats and four sets of deadlifts at the gym. It was hard work, I was huffing when I finished. I am so, so so sore today. I'm glad! Almost every day I walk to the very top of the hill where I live (San Francisco, very hilly) which is quite vigorous and which energizes me and sets the tone for my day.
My food choices are quite good for the most part, eating less than 1500 calories a day, except for last night, when four (four!) glasses of wine took me past 1700. I'm not always sure that Fitday calorie counts are right; a lot of my foods don't appear here (whey protein smoothie, nutritional yeast, nut milk, etc) but I'm definitely being conservative. So I may be eating less than I think.
So far, I'm doing well, and feel good.
Age: 45
Weight: 115
Waist: a bloated 34"!
Thigh: 21"
Goal: 28" waist
08-23-2012, 06:48 AM
#15
Super Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 4,083
Congrats on that sore feeling! It is a blessing and a curse, I know!
In the interest of accuracy, you could make some custom foods here on FD with the labels of the foods you eat. Even if it's a food that's listed in our database, the calorie count might be more accurate if you take it straight off the package, if it's a significant variation from what is on FD.
You're off to a great start...keep up the good work!
In the interest of accuracy, you could make some custom foods here on FD with the labels of the foods you eat. Even if it's a food that's listed in our database, the calorie count might be more accurate if you take it straight off the package, if it's a significant variation from what is on FD.
You're off to a great start...keep up the good work!
08-23-2012, 06:56 AM
#16
FitDay Member
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Long Beach, California SoCal
Posts: 24
Hey twentythirteen. I'm glad you took the body measurements. The measurements with definitely be a boost at a time where you may feel like you're plateauing with the weight loss. Even though you may not be losing weight, you're probably gaining muscle, losing fat. The proof will probably be in the measurements. That's some advice that I've picked up from just luring around these boards on FitDay.
As for the calorie tracker, I know it can be difficult to sit down to figure it out and plug everything in, but if you can't find your food in the general foods list, create your own food. I just look for a nutritional calculator. Then plug in something like, Roma Tomato, and it will tell you how many calories, how much sugar, etc. Then just plug all of that information into the FitDay food thingy (I'm sorry, I seem to be running out of words
) and then you can add it into your calorie total for the day.
Anyways, I hope things are going well for you and I'm looking forward to seeing more from you. Keep up the good work!
As for the calorie tracker, I know it can be difficult to sit down to figure it out and plug everything in, but if you can't find your food in the general foods list, create your own food. I just look for a nutritional calculator. Then plug in something like, Roma Tomato, and it will tell you how many calories, how much sugar, etc. Then just plug all of that information into the FitDay food thingy (I'm sorry, I seem to be running out of words
) and then you can add it into your calorie total for the day.Anyways, I hope things are going well for you and I'm looking forward to seeing more from you. Keep up the good work!
08-24-2012, 07:04 AM
#17
FitDay Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 13
It's gonna be a rough day!
Today is my man's birthday and we're having a party. This means I'll be cooking delicious food all day (deviled eggs, peach tarts) and night (homemade pizzas) and it will be really hard to keep track of my foods.
I recently made my journal public so there's no hiding! And I made the commitment to myself to be honest even if it's only five corn chips or something like that. But I just wanted everyone to know—today will probably be an overeating and underreporting day. I know there are just going to be days like that and it's one of the things that will keep me sane. The truth is, I wouldn't be able to survive the thought of never indulging. I love food too much. Today I'll try really hard to keep it within reason.
I recently made my journal public so there's no hiding! And I made the commitment to myself to be honest even if it's only five corn chips or something like that. But I just wanted everyone to know—today will probably be an overeating and underreporting day. I know there are just going to be days like that and it's one of the things that will keep me sane. The truth is, I wouldn't be able to survive the thought of never indulging. I love food too much. Today I'll try really hard to keep it within reason.
08-29-2012, 05:02 PM
#18
FitDay Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 13
Frustrated with FitDay!
Overall I'm doing pretty good. I'm doing great with exercise, a last count it's been four days in a row. Sometimes I even do two workouts in one day, one a little lighter (I walk up the hill from my house, eleven minutes of very vigorous climbing and 20-30 of easy flat or downhill) and one a little heavier or longer (90 minutes of low intensity fat-burning or an ass-kicking yoga class or weights).
I'm doing ok with food. Exercise makes me SO much hungrier and I overeat a little bit, maybe 200 calories more per day than I want (I'd like to stay below 1200 a day which seems like a very low amount I know, but I'm very small, just five feet, so I don't burn very many calories!). I also psych myself out (in a bad way) and start getting that desperate, deprived feeling that makes me want to hide in the closet with a whole pizza.
The worst part, though, is FitDay! I'm no tech geek but I know my apps and have high standards for interface, features, and performance. FitDay crashes a LOT, especially in mobile. A lot of the features (like "remember me" at login) don't work. I've had to uninstall and reinstall the mobile app. There's also no tablet app. I have to log in to mobile each time I use it, which shouldn't be the case for a mobile app with no personal info. I end up logging in about ten times a day—whenever I eat, whenever I do any exercise, whenever I journal, etc. Worst of all, what makes me most frustrated, is that I know a lot of the food and exercise calorie counts are way off. Calorie tracking is really inconsistent. For instance, "pasta with vegetables, no sauce or fat added" is like 350 calories a cup, yet when I add the ingredients (plain pasta, various vegetables) separately the calorie count is much lower. Tons of really common foods aren't listed. Most of the foods seem centered on name brand fast food and yet very common foods are missing. There's also no natural language processing—for instance, it should know that "spagetti" is "spaghetti" or that "chocolates" refers to "chocolate." I know I can input custom foods but I don't want to waste hours inputting extremely common foods that are in many other sites' databases. Also, the exercise calorie counts are just pathetic. There are very few types of exercise available. It's as if this is a site built by people who don't work out at all.
The end result is that I don't know how many calories I've consumed or what I've burnt off in exercise. I don't want to start all over with a new app or site. I'm totally willing to pay for an upgrade but I seriously doubt the calorie counts are more reliable, that there are more exercises listed, or that there is a better food database. Anyone want to weigh in on that?
Anyway, sorry to complain. Thanks for listening.
Post script: I couldn't even post this reply. Thanks, FitDay!
I'm doing ok with food. Exercise makes me SO much hungrier and I overeat a little bit, maybe 200 calories more per day than I want (I'd like to stay below 1200 a day which seems like a very low amount I know, but I'm very small, just five feet, so I don't burn very many calories!). I also psych myself out (in a bad way) and start getting that desperate, deprived feeling that makes me want to hide in the closet with a whole pizza.
The worst part, though, is FitDay! I'm no tech geek but I know my apps and have high standards for interface, features, and performance. FitDay crashes a LOT, especially in mobile. A lot of the features (like "remember me" at login) don't work. I've had to uninstall and reinstall the mobile app. There's also no tablet app. I have to log in to mobile each time I use it, which shouldn't be the case for a mobile app with no personal info. I end up logging in about ten times a day—whenever I eat, whenever I do any exercise, whenever I journal, etc. Worst of all, what makes me most frustrated, is that I know a lot of the food and exercise calorie counts are way off. Calorie tracking is really inconsistent. For instance, "pasta with vegetables, no sauce or fat added" is like 350 calories a cup, yet when I add the ingredients (plain pasta, various vegetables) separately the calorie count is much lower. Tons of really common foods aren't listed. Most of the foods seem centered on name brand fast food and yet very common foods are missing. There's also no natural language processing—for instance, it should know that "spagetti" is "spaghetti" or that "chocolates" refers to "chocolate." I know I can input custom foods but I don't want to waste hours inputting extremely common foods that are in many other sites' databases. Also, the exercise calorie counts are just pathetic. There are very few types of exercise available. It's as if this is a site built by people who don't work out at all.
The end result is that I don't know how many calories I've consumed or what I've burnt off in exercise. I don't want to start all over with a new app or site. I'm totally willing to pay for an upgrade but I seriously doubt the calorie counts are more reliable, that there are more exercises listed, or that there is a better food database. Anyone want to weigh in on that?
Anyway, sorry to complain. Thanks for listening.
Post script: I couldn't even post this reply. Thanks, FitDay!
08-30-2012, 05:09 AM
#19
Super Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 4,083
twentythirteen, I'm going to copy your post into the FitDay 2.0 feedback section so hopefully someone will see this sooner than they would here. Thanks for the information!
I know that they are working on improving the exercise aspect. I'm sorry I don't have a timetable for that, but I do know that one of the things being considered was an option to customize an activity, much like the custom foods. I personally would also like to see this! Thanks for hanging in there as they work on resolving these issues, and glad you're doing well so far!
If you have a particular page that's a problem, please try to post a screen shot for the tech people; it helps them figure out what the deal is.
I know that they are working on improving the exercise aspect. I'm sorry I don't have a timetable for that, but I do know that one of the things being considered was an option to customize an activity, much like the custom foods. I personally would also like to see this! Thanks for hanging in there as they work on resolving these issues, and glad you're doing well so far!
If you have a particular page that's a problem, please try to post a screen shot for the tech people; it helps them figure out what the deal is.
Last edited by cjohnson728; 09-03-2012 at 03:42 PM.
09-05-2012, 10:32 AM
#20
FitDay Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 13
Frustrated with MYSELF
I weighed in yesterday at 115.5 pounds which is a two pound gain from last week. I'm exercising a lot but I guess I'm not burning off as much as I'm eating. That's no surprise, I guess: there are a couple of things working against me.
One is that exercise makes me really, really, hungry. It's SO hard to watch calories when you exercise vigorously.
Another is that if I DON't really pay attention I get better results than if I do: when I count calories I get all hyperconscious and just automatically start feeling deprived, but when I just eat what I feel like usually eat just a little more but don't think about food all day. It's like a some kind of ugly feedback loop. Thinking about my weight makes me anxious so I don't really lose any.
It's possible that slight gain is because of TOTM. Don't anyone tell me it's muscle gain because no way did I gain two pounds of muscle in a week.
But I really did overeat this week: my man was off and at home and we ate out a lot and drank a lot and were relaxed about everything...so maybe just a little more effort this week will make a difference.
I keep trying to remind myself that it's a process. It's going to take time. It's more important that I'm gradually changing my habits to include daily exercise and healthier food than that I'm losing weight. The one is a permanent lifestyle change, the other is a fast result that may not make any difference in the long run. Patience and fortitude, right?
One is that exercise makes me really, really, hungry. It's SO hard to watch calories when you exercise vigorously.
Another is that if I DON't really pay attention I get better results than if I do: when I count calories I get all hyperconscious and just automatically start feeling deprived, but when I just eat what I feel like usually eat just a little more but don't think about food all day. It's like a some kind of ugly feedback loop. Thinking about my weight makes me anxious so I don't really lose any.
It's possible that slight gain is because of TOTM. Don't anyone tell me it's muscle gain because no way did I gain two pounds of muscle in a week.
But I really did overeat this week: my man was off and at home and we ate out a lot and drank a lot and were relaxed about everything...so maybe just a little more effort this week will make a difference.
I keep trying to remind myself that it's a process. It's going to take time. It's more important that I'm gradually changing my habits to include daily exercise and healthier food than that I'm losing weight. The one is a permanent lifestyle change, the other is a fast result that may not make any difference in the long run. Patience and fortitude, right?
