View Full Version : Here it goes.....My Journal


tlihel
08-05-03, 08:46 PM
Hi All,

As you may have noticed I have been lingering around this site, but this is the first time I have started a journal.

In case you didn't know I am a 21yo guy from Australia......

Anyways, last year and early this year, I lost 90 pounds, which was good, but I stalled and lost focus around February. However, I have decided to get back on track and lose the last 15-20 pounds and finish off the job!!!!

You may be asking how I lost the weight in the first place?

Well, one afternoon, I looked in the mirror and thought, hey! this gut of mine is getting pretty big! Having quit smoking successfully the previous month, I thought, well, if quitting smoking is easy then then I'll give this weight loss thing a try.

Having no real idea about how to go about losing weight, the next morning I woke up and went for a small walk. I figured that walking was one thing that couldn't harm my weight loss. After walking, I hopped on the net and found heaps of sites, with load of calorie information, tools and calculators. Believe it or not, I did not know that the basic premise to losing weight was to eat less calories than you consumed. It seemed to me that I had to cut out fried foods (I already knew that) and sugary foods. I also found this site.

I started out surprisingly well, following a very strict reduced calorie diet, walking more and more everyday. In fac, I was losing about 4-5 pounds a week! However, a couple of weeks into the journey, I struck a major obstacle - candy and chocolate!

My previous attempts at losing weight had all ended within a few days, because after 1 or so days, I would just give in, eat the junk and give up. However, this time I was determined to succeed. Knowing that 1000 or so calories would not undo what I achieved, I ate the chocolate and candy - it was good!

However, 1 hour later I was out walking again, and the next day I was fully back on track. These stuff ups happened about once every 1 or 2 weeks, but I always just got back on the horse and continued galloping away.

Over the next 5-6 months I walked more and more and began bike riding. At the end of January, I ditched walking all together and replaced it with bike riding (20 miles per day). This coincided with me deregistering my car and fixing my old (better) bike, so I could start bike commuting.

Anyways, around about February, I lost track of my diet, and whilst I still rode heaps, I wasn't able to lose any weight. The good thing is I didn't gain any.

Now, I have decided to finish off the job I started last year!

So, here it goes!!!

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It is 7:30 in the morning and is quite cold outside (it is winter here). However, I have my window open to let fresh air in.

I managed to go for a jog at 6 this morning, it was still dark, but there are street lights so it was all good. I started jogging last week. I started with a short 10 minute run, as my legs absolutely killed me. This week, my legs are getting better and have managed to go an extra couple of streets to take the total time up to 14-15 mins. I hope to increase this in the coming weeks.

For breakfast I ate my usual "Wholewheat Biscuits". They are the generic brand wholewheat (der?) cereal that cost half of what the name brand does, however, I reckon they are the same because they taste the same and have the exact same nutritional values.

My plan to lose the last 15-20 pounds is to cut out "white" carbs and to eat more protein. I am (and have been all my life) a vegetarian, so an Atkins-style diet is out of the question, therefore I eat only unrefined, whole-food carbs, like whole wheat, corn, fruit and vegetables.

Also, speaking of generic brand foods, I recently switched cottage cheese brands from a name brand to a generic brand. The generic brand, whilst it has a little less protein, is absolutely delicious!! Also, I have yet to find a non-meat food that has more calories from protein that cottage cheese - 100 grams of it has between 12 and 16 grams of protein.

Anyway, enough yacking on for now, I guess I shall be posting tomorrow......

Minnie mouse
08-07-03, 01:10 AM
Hello and welcome!!!

first i must say i am impressed by your story and find it to be very inspiring as i struggle with food daily. the exercise is easy for me and the water too but i am a sweet tooth and sometimes the temptation is too strong. i have good days and bad but manage to stay on track after having slipped off it many times but determintation has kept me going.

I love to walk. i walk outdoors alot and i also have indoor walking tapes by Leslie Sanstone the walk away the pounds. i have an indoor bike i ride and i do AB crunches and light weights for toning.

your determination will get the last pounds off. you are doing so good.

we all have off days and it is normal.

on weekends i have a treat day that i eat without counting ww points. i dont go crazy just a diet free day for me.

i am a huge ice cream fan which is hard to resist in summer but been doing well with it.

I also buy alot of generic and think most are very good if not better than some name brands.

well enough of my rambling. take care and best wishes on the rest of your journey.

Tryin2Looz
08-07-03, 01:54 AM
:peace: Cool Story...Ya might try Soy for a good source of vegetable protien or maybe some Whey Protein Powder you can mix with water and drink...any way, You inspire me! Thanks!

tlihel
08-08-03, 07:05 AM
The last three days have been really good, food, exercise and water wise.

As per usual I had a big wholewheat breakfast everyday.

On Wednesday morning I cooked some polenta. I had this with cottage cheese, olives and herbs and spices for lunch and dinner on Wednesday and Thursday (I had to finish it off). For those of youu wondering, fry (with cooking spray of course) the polenta, broken into 4 bits. I then put chilli powder and herbs on it. Afterwards, I put cottage cheese of 2 bits and olives on the other 2. I also, finished off the bean salad I made on Tuesday and am down to my last 10 or so oranges.....

Today (Friday) I made vegetable and lentil pastie type-thingies. Just lentils, zuchinni, carrot and spices mixed together and put into dough (wholemeal flour and water) and then baked. I had these for lunch and there are 2 left so I will have these for dinner.

Overall, I would estimate I ate around 1700 - 1800 calories.

Yesterday, when bike riding I crashed into a pole. :( Fortunately, it was only a small pole, and I managed to get away with only a scratch to my leg - though my shoulder is quite sore. I didn't do much damage to my bike, just the handlebars got out of line, as well as the front brakes. I couldn't be bothered fixing them yesterday, so I rode my other bike today (I have 3). For those of you wondering how I crashed my bike, I was playing with the gears (on most road bikes you have to look down) and WHAM! straight into a pole.

I have also continued my jogging. My legs are still hurting a little bit, but that should be gone soon.

Anyways, cya all in the near future!