I have just found this forum today and think it is the most wonderful thing ever! It has absolutely made my day. I have decided to begin a journal on here as many of you have. It makes me feel kind of accountable to someone if I feel I'm putting it all out there for everyone to read. I'm 20 years old and just within the last two years I have really noticed my weight gain. I moved in with my boyfriend a year and a half ago and since then I have gained around 30lbs. I am 5'9 and currently weigh around 175. I purchased an eliptical machine about 2 weeks ago for our home. I plan to incorporate healthy eating and exercise to lose the weight. I plan on making a lifestyle change and know that I will not reach my goals overnight. I want to feel better about myself and have more energy. I promise to myself and anyone else who reads my journal that I will keep it updated and I am completely commited to taking this weight off.
Current weight: 175
1st goal weight: 165
2nd goal weight:155
3rd goal weight: 145
ULTIMATE goal weight: 135 :)

Hi Janelle!
Welcome to Diettalk..its a wonderful place to get support from people who really understand what the weight loss battle is all about.
You sound like a very smart girl..making it a lifestyle rather than a diet is a huge step in the right direction.that way you dont get mixed up in the yo-yo dieting thing..
health eating and exercise is where the key to success lies!
i look forward to watching your success.
hugs bell :)

Welcome. Yes, I agree, it's all about a lifestyle change. I can totally related, my DH enjoys food and I have a hard time. He eats junk and doesn't workout. He supports me but sometimes I feel like it's an uphill battle just the same. This is such a great place, you can do this! :)

Hi, Janelle!!! :wave: Congratulations on the good decisions you're making on a healthy lifestyle! And congrats also on your purchase of the elliptical ... having it in the home will be great and make things so much easier! I also look forward to reading about your success! :cheer:

:welcome:

you have a great plan !

You CAN do this !!!!!!!!! :)

Looking forward to getting to know you.........

Beth :not:

Thank you all for your support, I truly appreciate and it means a lot to me. :)

I had a great day today. I ate the following
11am- 1 cup cottage cheese- 220 calories
1:20pm- 1 lean stuff-260 calories
nutri-grain bar- 140 calories
5:45pm-1 apple-100cals
nutrigrain bar-140 calories
8:30pm-tuna salad made with spinach leaves and light/no fat italian dressing-240 calories
1 medium pear-100 calories.
So, that means I had a 1200 calorie day. Yipee! I'm going to try to stay between 1200-1500 calories in a day.
My only exercise was I jumped on my mini trampoline for 15 minutes.

Looks like a good day of eating, Janelle! :up: Keep a'goin! :cheer: The mini tramp sounds fun and a good metabolism booster. Have a great weekend.

Hey Janelle,

Welcome and I am sure you will find all the support you need to reach all the goals that you set!

-Adam

You are off to a terrific start. Good luck on your weight loss journey. Hope this is a great week for you.

It's so wonderful all of the encouragment that is shared in these forums. I've tried to go on diets before, but I can never stick to it. I'm so thankful that I found you guys!! Your my encouragment and my inspiration, and I know with all the support that I'm getting I will be able to do this!
I worked today 10-6:30pm, so my eating was structured around that.

9:30am-1 cup cottage cheese-220 calories
12:30- low carb protein bar-150 calories
2:30- apple- 100 calories
and a nutri grain bar- 140 calories
4:45-fruit cup-100cals
and a nutri grain bar- 140 cals
8pm- 1 chicken breast cooked in water/soy sauce-150 cals
and steamed vegetables-150 cals
Then I had a pear for dessert- 100 cals
TOTAL calories- 1250-
Second cheat free/guilt free day :)
Tomorrow is going to be the test though. I work 10-6:30 again, and so does Bruno. The last two Sundays he's asked me to pick up a pizza for dinner on my way home. He loves soft shelled tacos, so I asked him tonight if he wanted me to make those for him tomorrow night. He said sure, so I'm hoping I don't get a message on my cell tomorrow saying that he wants pizza! :c(

You're doing really great. :)

:super: going !!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Beth :not:

I've had another good day today :D :D
9:30am- 1cup cottage cheese-220 cals
12pm- protein bar-180 cals
2:30pm nutri grain bar-140cals
and an apple-100 cals
5pm nutri grain bar-140 cals
and a fruit cup- 100 cals
7:30pm- large turkey stir fry- 350 cals
and a mandarine orange 50 cals

So I've had 1280 calories today!!! :)
Bruno didn't ask for pizza tonight, Thank God, but I was already on my way home when he called me on my cell. He said that he got some boneless, skinless turkey breast cut into cubes from his work. He said we should make a stir fry with it. How exciting, he wanted something healthy!! Certainly makes me life a bit easier. I think I'll make tacos tomorrow. I won't have the shells, I'll just make a salad for myself with the rest of the ingredients. I have the next 4 days off work, so this is going to be my real test!! Hope for the best :shrug:

First day of the week that I've had off is over. It went alright, I had my usual 1 cup of cottage cheese for breakfast. It's lunch time that I feel a tad bit guilty about :tomato: Bruno asked if I wanted to go out for sushi. When we go for sushi, we're talking really "going all out". By the time we were done, I'm thinking I probably had around 15 pieces of shushi :shrug: That was around 1pm. I didn't eat again till 7 and I had a taco salad. I had a bunch of grapes, and half a small papaya. That's it for the day. Everything was according to plan except the sushi. Well, tomorrow's another day, usually I would have given up once I had the sushi. I would have felt like I failed and just threw in the towel and come home and eaten junk food. Well, not this time!!!

Congrats for not falling in to the all or nothing thinking. I am guilty of that. If I feel I'ev eaten something outside my diet, I plow through the kitchen and vow to start over the next day. That really is a huge deal, good for you! :)

Janelle welcome and you are doing great. Some days you go over, thats just how it works. But dont let it control you, or worry you too much. You are doing great.

Sherry: I've always had that problem. It seems once I eat one thing that's on my "not allowed" list, I feel like it's all over and I might as well just eat all the junk food I want. Glad to see I'm not alone in that thinking, it's something that always hindered my diet progress, but I know I can overcome it :)

Elsie: Thanks for stopping bye and giving me encouragment. Coming to back to see that someone has taken the time to post something in my journal always makes my day :o

Today has been an alright day. I had yogurt for breakfast. Nutrigrain bar at 1pm, around 4pm I had half a small papaya, some turkey stir fry and a protein bar. I had two small mini belgian chocolates :c( Then for dinner I made curry turkey over rice and greek salad. Unfortunately I then ate 3 mini Halloween chocolate bars.
The good news is that when I got up this morning I got on the scale and it said 171. Down 4 lbs. YIPEE! I'm not weighing myself again for a week or so.

I'm going to get my hair done tomorrow. I haven't gone to the salon in a long time, so it's going to be a real treat for me. I'm just going to get a trim and get some highlites in my hair. How exciting :D

Alright, so it's 12 pm and I'm having a good day. Well so far anyways, the days has really just began for me, but I'm determined to not cheat today. I've had two days in a row where I have been kind of relaxed on my eating.

I talked to my dad last night and there coming for a visit in a week and a half. I really wish I could have lost more weight by the time they come. My father is a rather trim guy and always has been. Actually when he was younger he was very thin but he had muscles. My mom on the other hand is overweight. She's struggled with her weight all her life basically and after having 5 kids the pounds won that battle. I'm the youngest and the only girl out of 5 kids. My oldest brother tends to put on weight easily but he controls it by going to the gym and doing the atkins thing. He looks great! I don't want to be the only child who is a tad over weight.

I also unfortunately am dealing with my monthly friend today. Which makes it that much harder not to cheat :c( I'm determined to have a cheat free day today though. I've already lost a few pounds and they are never to return!!!!!!!! I'm going to the salon in a few hours, that is my treat of the day.

You really cant worry about being the "fat kid" because in no time you will be thin, plus we should never let our weight get in the way of our relationships. Next time they see you they can be in awe of how great you look, but for now, just appreciate them.

Thanks for stopping bye Elsie. Your totally right about just appreciating them, it's not like they really care what size I am they love me for me.

So the salon went good. I was there for two and half hours, but my hair looks great! I got the base of hair put back to my natural dark brown and now I have blonde pin strips all through out my hair. I haven't had my natural color in so long, its takes some getting used to, but I really like it.

I'm going grocery shopping today with Bruno. I'm going to make a list of healthy food that I'm going to get.

I can hardly wait till I'm out of the 170's. I just need to stay motivated! I was watching on Oprah yesterday this guy was saying how if you drink green tea every day, in a month you will lose 10lbs guarenteed. I though that was very interesting so last night I drank a cup of raspberry greentea. :shrug: Who knows, it's worth a try right? 8-|

You have a GREAT attitude ! :)

I have lost more weight by NOT dieting then I ever did by dieting....... in other words if I want a bite of something I have that bite and get right back to my plan........ NO more "I will start on Mondays" lol I had a LOT of those...... :shrug:

It is great to hear your positive attitude and how well you are doing :D

Beth :not:

Beth: Thank you so very much for posting. Your encouraging words are so wonderful to read, I've had a bad night! Seeing your post did brighten it up some for me though.

I was doing good all day, I was around 1300 cals . Well, around 10pm I got in a bit of a fight with Bruno. Nothing major, but I just can't stand when we fight. He went to bed, and I went to the kitchen :c( I feel so horrible now, I probably just ate about 800 calories in disgusting, high fat foods. I never really made the connection before, but I think I realize now that I am definetely an emotional eater. I was fine before all that happened! I have that disgusting stuffed feeling, I just want to cry :c(

It's like I just can't stay on track for very long. I swear it's like I have a mental block or something. Once a certain amount of days has gone bye, or a certain amount of pounds are gone I just let go and eat whatever I want.

I know there's a skinny person inside me just dying to get out by I keep drowning her with food. It's like in my mind I sabbotage myself because I'm afraid to be small again.

Is anyone else like that ??? Please don't tell me I'm alone :c(

I sabotage myself too. I've thought about reasons why and for me, I think I know. I do well on my "diet", then I eat everything in sight. I am the kind of person who thinks that being "perfect" will also give me the perfect life. So after I eat so much, I vow to go on another diet. Another diet makes all kinds of promises,ie, I'll be thin and happy this time, this time will be different because I didn't do it right before. I'm not a big fan of Dr. Phil but when he says that after you lose the weight, the bad stuff will still be in your life, you'll just be thinner, I totally get that.

I also tend to eat when my husband and I have an argument, even minor ones. I feel like he's not listenting to me so I eat to hold in my anger. Then I get anrier at myself.

It's wonderful that you recognize you're an emotionl eater because it does help manage those times of eating. I find that sometimes I don't stop overeating, but I am always aware that I am eating for emotional, not physical, reasons. That's a big step you've made because that is a hard thing to recognize and accept about oneself. Take care.

Sherry: I'm so much alike you in what you said. I always think that when I'm the perfect weight that magically any problems I have will go away to and I'll just have this great life. Maybe that's why I sabbotage myself. Deep down I know that when I'm skinnier I will still have the same problems and my life wont be perfect. But until I reach my goal weight, I can make believe that a perfect life awaits me when I lose some lbs. Perhaps that's why I do so well and then when I do start to lose, something inside snaps and I go back to binging. Very interesting! I don't know if that made any sense to anyone else, but it made a lot of sense in my head.

I never really considered myself an emotional eater, but I definetely can say that I admit it to myself now. I often eat out of boredom too. I'm such a closet eater though. I hate eating out so much, I always feel like people are watching me and judging me. When Bruno and I first started dating I would hardly eat anything in front of him. I am still very much like that now, but I will eat regular meals with him. I do all my junk food eating alone though.

Alright, enough of the jabbering already! Today is my first day completely back on track. I had cottage cheese for breakfast. Protein bar and a apple for lunch. A protein shake midway through the day, and lamb stew for dinner. I'm going to venture a guess out there at about 1400 calories today. :D

I'm not going to weigh myself untill next Monday the 20th. I'm probably back up to at least 175 again. So, my goal for next monday is 170lbs maximum.

Great job! It feels good to get right back on track and not stay derailed. :)

I know I said I wasn't going to weigh myself till next Monday, but I just couldn't help myself. 8-| I got on the scale this morning and to my surprise, my scale said 171. I am so happy!

So, now my goal for next Monday is a going to be a little different. Since I'm 171 now, by Monday the 20th I want to read 168. That's only three pounds, I know I can do it! I wanted to set my goal at 165, but I know I have to do this slow and steady. I've done it that way too many times before. I try to lose 10lbs in a week by starving myself and then it all comes back in a week anyways. Not this time, I'm going at this in a REALISTIC manner.

My first goal this week is to actually use my elliptical trainer. It's been gathering dust upstairs and I feel horrible about it. Not to mention Bruno jokes with me all the time saying "do you have clothes hanging from that thing yet?" So, going with the slow and steady progress, my goal is to use my elliptical three times this week for a half an hour each time.

My second goal this week is to drink more water. I hate to say this, but I don't drink any water. Bruno and I always drink juice, or I buy diet pop and drink that. A couple a years ago a trainer at the gym told me that if I started drinking water that my bodys fat percentage would drop dramatically, and I would probably lose 10lbs just from the intake in water. So, having said that, my goal each day is to drink two, 500ml bottles of water. I know, I know it's not much but it's a start right?

So there you have it. 168lbs or less on Monday the 20th, 1000ml of water a day, and 30 min of exercise a day, three days a week.

Today was a good day. I ate cottage cheese for breakfast, a protein shake for lunch, around 4pm I ate 8 terriyaki chicken wings, and for dinner I ate turkey breast with veggies. I had low cal pudding for dinner.

I drank my 1000ml of water today :D Yipee! I didn't use my elipitical, but I promise I will later in the week. Overall I had a good day, and am looking forward to tomorrow. This is the third day in a row with no binging :)

I had another good day yesterday. I ate cottage cheese for breakfast, a chicken donair for lunch, a yop yogurt for a snack, and for dinner I ate 2 chicken fajitas. For dessert I had about 3 dried apple rings. Yummie, I love those things!

Yesterday made 4 days in a row with no binging. That makes me so happy :D I only drank about 500ml of water yesterday, but I will drink 1000 again today.

I stepped on the scale today just to peek and it still says 171. That's alright though, I have till Monday to get down to 168. I'll be so happy when I break out of the 170's for good :o

Well, I was doing good today untill about half an hour ago. :c( It's not all that bad I guess, I ate 4 mini Halloween size chocolate bars. I know I shouldn't beat myself up over it, but I really do feel horrible now.

I'm going to go upstairs and do 20 minutes on my eliptical. Not as punishment, but because I haven't used it yet all week and I said I was going to. Plus, maybe it'll burn off some of those nasty calories I just comsumed. They didn't even taste that good!!!! It was so was not worth it!

Will somebody please smack some dam sense into me!!!!!!!!!! Why do I have to crave junk food so badly? Sometimes I just hate myself so much! I'm at the house by myself, Bruno left about a half an hour ago, and that's when I started eating. I always do it when I'm alone.

I think it was because I haven't eaten anything since breakfast. We were out all day, I ate dinner when I came home. As soon as he left I hit the junkfood. He's always buying this crap food and then I'm the one who ends up eating. If it was just me I know I could contol this because when cravings hit I wouldn't have the junkfood in my house to eat. I take responsibilty for my actions, but it would just be so much easier to say no if I didn't have it in the house. I'm just so disappointed in myself :c(

I work tomorrow so my eating will be more structured. I have to get out of this rut! I just cant stand myself like this anymore.

Alright, so I'm doing better now.

Yesterday I had 1200 calories, and today I had around 1500. I wish so much that losing weight was as easy as putting it on! Life would be so much easier.

I've been kind of stressed out at work. I've been getting bad hours, and I don't especially care for one of my coworkers. I've actually started looking for another job, which in itself is extremely stressing.

Friday I used my elliptical for 30 minutes and then I did a pilates tape which I think was around 45 min. I really felt great afterwards. I'm a tad bit sore today from the pilates, but its a great feeling. It's weird, but I actually enjoy the sore mucsles you get after you workout. It reminds me that I actually did something.

Alright, till tomorrow. :D

Yesterday was another good day. I had about 1500 calories. I got on the scale this morning hoping that I would meet my goal and it would say 168. Well it didn't, it says 170. I want to be out of the '70's so badly!!!!!

I used my elliptical for 20 min this morning and then did my pilates tape. I'm feeling extremely tired today.

My dad was supposed to call me at 10am, and it's now 12:30pm. There in town right now and this is there last day here. I don't know what there doing, but I'm starting to get a tad bit annoyed. I had stuff I wanted to do today, not sit around waiting for a phone call.

Anyways, I determined to make this a low calorie day, no matter how I'm feeling.

Well, I checked the scale again today and it still says 170. It's really starting to get to me. I used my eliptical for 25 minutes this morning. I know I'm doing all the right stuff, I just have to be patient. Its so hard sometimes.

I just keep thinking of how great I felt when I weighed 139. I was wearing a 28" waist, and I felt like I was on top of the world. I just want to be like that again.

I want to feel good about myself again. When I look in the mirror I hate what I see. I just see my stomach and want to die. I've noticed my face shows a lot of the weight too. I've never really had any problem in the leg area. I've got really long skinny legs.

Last night Bruno called me a Goon. He was just kidding, but that hurt me so badly!! I don't know if he really meant it as saying that I'm fat, but that's sure how I took it. It made me feel horrible. I couldn't even finish my dinner after he said that.

Well, tomorrows another day, and one of these days I know that stupid scale is going to say less than 170!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Janelle!!

You're doing GREAT. I know it's hard sometimes.....and believe me, we all slip up, but as long as you get right back on the wagon, it'll be fine!! You'll be out of the 170's soon. I tend to get stuck every 10 lbs or so, and I'll stay there for a week or two.....and then the scale starts to creep down again. I'm a sucker for instant gratification though (who isn't, lol) so it always just about kills me when it happens.....

Just keep up the hard work, if you have patience, it'll pay off in the end! We're too much alike.......I'm also an emotional eater. It took a few months to get that out of my system, but now I have very few times where I'm out of control. You can do it!! We're all here for you!!

ps.....I'm sure Bruno didn't mean anything derogatory by calling you a goon. But no matter what, do this for YOURSELF. I'd been called all kinds of rude things (in particular by homeless people who asked me for money and I didn't give them any, lol) so I know how much that sucks......but you have to make this change for yourself, if you do it for someone else or to make someone else happy, it just won't work.

Take care! :)

Hi, wow great workout! How do you like the pilates tape? I saw one in a store and wondered. I told myself I could not buy ANOTHER thing to lose weight. It seems like a nice toning system, though. That is so important with weight loss, too.

Hope you have a great weekend. Put the scale away a couple days. You will see results! :)

Geolokim: Thank-you for your kind words. I know that scale will budge, I just have to give it time. I'm such a slave to the scale, but it's like you said, it's instant gratification. Thanks for pointing out that I am doing this for myself and no one else. Sometimes I get a little caught up and everything and forget that.

Sbraun: Thanks for stopping bye. The pilates tape is really great. The day after I used it, I could really tell that I had worked the muscles. My abs were a bit sore, even more shoulders were tender from holding some of the poses. Overall, I definetely recommend it. They say it elongates the muscles. Ha ha, hope I spelled that right. :D

I had a pretty good day today. My calories were around 1600. Little bit higher than what I would like, but it's still within a decent range. I did 25 minutes on my eliptical today. Yipee. Some days I can do cardio no problem, and other days it feels like torture. I'm working on making those torture days a little less frequent. :)

Bruno and I discussed today what our plans for new years were going to be. As long as I can get the time off work we have decided to go to a rave. He used to go to them all the time, and then when he met me he stopped going to them. I went to last years Halloween party. I had an absolute blast at it. Last year when I went, I was 15lbs lighter. So, I am officiall making that my goal. To be the same weight I was last year at the party. I'm sure I can do that. 15lbs in 35 days.

YIPPIEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I got on the scale this morning and it says 168!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so freakin happy right now, I don't know what to do with myself. After I got of the scale I did an hour on the eliptical. I have to go to work soon, but I'm in such a great mood right now. Finally I'm out of those 170's forever!!!!!

YAYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm soooooo happy for you........I know I was stuck at 170 for a while and when it finally changed I was sooooooooooo excited........

Congrats!! :D

Just keep your eyes on the prize and YOU WILL GET THERE! :)

I was stuck for awhile, but now the weight is coming off a little easier. I weighed in at 166 this morning. I was a little bad in my eating today, which included candy and cookies, so we'll have to see where that leaves me. Anyways, woo hoo, I'm almost, so close to 10lbs down and gone forever.