So, several people advised me I should start a journal thread. So here goes.

First, I should point out that losing weight for me is, in fact, a career issue. Right now, I work in television, but off-camera. My goal has always been to be on camera. I went to college for 4 years, learned weather forecasting, and graduated. But then, when I auditioned for jobs, was told I was, you guessed it, "Too fat for TV."

You can imagine the depression this caused, which, of course, only caused me to eat MORE bad food, which of course didn't help the situation. I eventually got as high as 320 lbs, but have sort of slowly fluctuated down to around 300. But I didn't go any lower.

So now, it's official. I'm really dieting. Really, seriously exercising. I'm done making excuses for myself. Regardless of what I eat, I will be in the gym or pool each day. If I eat too much, or the wrong thing, I'll be in there more! Simple as that. This is my boot camp, and it starts now. (Ok, technically it started earlier this week, but now I'm getting online support from the wonderful folks on these forums.)

So, how did BigGuy do today?
Calories: 2411 out of an allowed 2800

Fat: 74g out of an allowed 78g (limiting myself to 25% calories from fat to start)

Exercise: Swimming: 10 minutes breaststroke laps, 10 minutes crawl laps, 50 minutes leisurly swim. 10 minute walk from apartment to computer room.

Calories burned from Exercise: 1156
BEE and activity expenditure: 3277

Net: 2022 calories lost.


Not bad. But can it continue???


Heck yeah. :D :D :D

Heck yeah, indeed, Big Guy!!! :)

You're doin' great and have made the decision to begin your journey and it'll go on and on until you've got the job done and are in the career path you want to be in.

Believe it ... you can do it!

You're doing great!! You have a wonderful attitude ("Regardless of what I eat, I will be in the gym or pool each day. If I eat too much, or the wrong thing, I'll be in there more!") and if you just keep that you'll make it!

Not too bad today...about a 400 calorie breakfast, which I'm sure I've long since burned off by hauling cable around for an hour this morning. Considering a grilled chicken sandwich for lunch, but not real sure yet. Debating between swimming or going to the gym after work...I've been outside most of the day already, but that cool water sounds awfully good. Will update with lunch and dinner totals later.

PS: Athletea and JamieC, thanks for the support. Knowing people are reading this and supporting me gives me lots of motiviation. :D

Wow I wish I could eat 2800 cals a day.. I'd eat nothing but pizza and burgers, lol. Good luck with the weight loss, I'm sure that you are going to lose it fast

~K

Well...as big as I am, according to several different online calculators, I burn 3277 just living life. (Working, sleeping, etc). So at 2800, I lose 400 cals/day, and then throw in gym or pool time on top of that, and I have a net calorie loss anywhere between 500 and 1500 cal/day. Of course, as my weight goes down, the calories I'm allowed will go down too. And, 2800 is the absolute max. I'm trying to stay under that.

On that note, had a fast food lunch due to work schedule, so I'm now at 1526 for the day....light dinner or extra laps tonight!!!

Hello,

I can eat 2800 calories a day and still lose.. Makes you wonder how many I eat, eh? :o

Welcome to DT. :wave:

Corinna

Well I'm sure that if I went to the gym and burned 1000 cals everyday then I could eat 2,800 I find that I would rather just walk for the 40min-1hr that I already do and then eat less. Makes me happier. Besides, dancing tones everythin lol.

~K

I would dance, but every time I try, my wife laughs so hard she nearly falls out of her chair. Not because I'm big and look silly dancing, but because I have no sense of rythm and look silly dancing! :laugh:

And I generally swim more than I go to the gym. Just a personal preference.

Edit:
Just weighed in...back up to 293, from 292.5 yesterday. Not real concerned. I usually weigh before lunch...because of work, couldn't weigh until after lunch today...would probably be at 292 if I'd weighed at the normal time. Not a problem.

Hey there BigGuy!!!!!!
always like to see a new face here at the journals. sounds like you have a great attitude going which is a big help on this journey!
I look forward to watching your success and seeing you on the other side of the camera!
hugs bell :)

Thanks, bell! Everyone here's been very welcoming and supportive, which is very helpful.

As for todays totals:
Blew it on calories, nearly 3500 with a goal of 2800. :down: But, a huge part of that came from several glasses of wine with my wife. Very rarely do I drink, though, so it's kind of an anomaly. Still, I probably shouldn't have done that. Extra exercise tomorrow!!!

Speaking of which, good swim today...15 minutes of moderate crawl stroke, 10 minutes of fast breaststroke, and 5 minutes of light backstroke. In between, treaded water for about 30 minutes total. Had to park around the corner from the apartment so I got some extra walking in that way.

Still ended up with net calorie loss of 867. Not bad considering how bad I was with eating today. Still, plenty of room for improvement. Rice cakes are the order of the day tomorrow.....good thing I like them!

Sounds like you are doing well on your journey, just keep it up. I know you said you like swimming, and I think any excercise is great, but you dont lose as many in the pool because of the temp... but like I said, I am a fan of any type of excercise. Soon you will have to start decreasing those clories, becuase you are going to lose so much weight, that you wont need them anymore. And then we wont be --as-- jealous as we are about how many you can eat in a day.
So how is your wife in all of this? Is she supportive? Is she jumping on the new lifestyle bandwagon, or just laughing as you dance? :)

She's, well, semi-supportive. I'd like her to do this whole thing with me, exercising and so on, but she's just not terribly interested. She thinks it's great I'm trying to lose weight, though, and likes to remind me: "If you eat that, you owe another 7 laps." :laugh:

Not too bad so far today...had the rice cakes for lunch...not bad. Not great, but not bad. I don't get off work until late tonight, pool may not be open, but I'll have to see.
Quiet, boring day at work, so not burning any calories by hauling camera and cables around. :(

Hi, BigGuy, it looks to me like you are doing just fine.

I tend to think that one problem with losing weight is that it becomes so very dull. No one pays much attention to what we are doing, and the sameness wears on us. The whole thing becomes a bit boring.

The point is, just take it a day at a time, if you make a mistake, start over. You are human and things happen in our lives. But each day we are provided with the opportunity to begin again, and so often we need that.

So continue with what you are doing, and enjoy life along the way.

Looks like you are doing a great job - keep it up! :)

Corinna

Thanks everyone! The support is really helpful, and a big motivator. :)

Tonight's total:
Calories: 3069 (2800 allowed)... X-( Bad BigGuy
B.E.E. Activity Expenditure: 3291
Calories burned in Exercise: 769 :D good BigGuy!
Net Calorie Loss: 991

Not too bad, but not quite as good as earlier in the week. Weekend work schedule makes it hard to eat as light as I should. But now, 5 days of excuse-free eating ahead. :)

Way to go !!!!!!!!!!!!!! :super:

This is a learning process especially at first - and you have learned that weekends are your rough times....... plan ahead before next weekend :)

Your doing great ! :D

Beth :dance:

Evening update:
Bacon and eggs breakfast, probably not the best for me, but it was really more of a brunch. Wasn't hungry the rest of the morning or afternoon and had just 2 rice cakes for lunch.

Salad with some grilled chicken is the dinner plan.

Weight back down to 292 after slight bump up to 293 earlier.

Total calories are only at 692 out of an allowed 2800...with dinner still on the way. Feel great about how the day is going...its so much easier to behave myself when I don't have to go to work!

Not quite as much time swimming laps today, but spent time chasing wife around the pool and splashing her, still very good exercise, and lots more fun!!! :laugh:

Hi BigGuy! Thought I'd drop in and say hello. Looks like you are off to a great start! I got my degree in media too (though not TV!). I think it's a great goal that you want to be ON screen. I wish you lots of luck!!! You can do it!

Do you like counting cals? I find it easy, though it was hard at first. Wow, swimming is something I'd really like to get into. No indoor pool in our town, though. (not even at the high school! :O ) I think swimming does burn lots of cals. Keep it up! You're doing great! :)

You are doing good, just keep excercising. I am glad your girlfriend is supportive. It is hard because I think most of us here are trying to lose weight byut our sig others are not. If they were, chances are there wouldnt be so many of us here. I wish there were classes for the partners of dieters, to help them understand that sometimes when they think they are helping they mihgt not be. Though I know for me I used to think similarily to your girlfriend about the laps. I know if I wanted something like a hershey's kiss I would think it was 25 calories, and it takes me 2 minutes to burn that on the eliptical. And was that kiss worth 2 minutes, usually I decided it wasnt. It worked for a great deterant for me, but if my boyfriend said that, I think I would kick him in the crotch, lol.

Well, my wife has been pretty helpful so far, and, on the rare occasion when she does say something un-helpful, I try to remember that she's trying. So it's working well, so far.

rikkij, I do my swimming in an outdoor pool at my apartment. ..not sure what I'm going to do when the weather gets cold. Some health clubs here in town have indoor pools, but they, of course, cost lots of $$$$. :(

Yes, I understand the cost of health clubs! We only have one here. No pool. Not much at all. I think we get a pretty good deal through DH's work, so it's only like $12/month for each of us. Not too bad. I wish we had a pool. The health club is actually part of the physical therapy department through the hospital. THey were talking about getting a pool, but the PT department will not share with the regular club members. :( Oh well.

Have a great day! :)

Morning weigh in:
290.5 :dance: :mus:

It's actually working! :laugh:

Congratulations on the success you are having. Your program sounds like it can be sustained. Keep up the good attitude.

Carol

WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!
awesome job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Keep up that hard work...the results are happening.
hugs bell :)

Thanks, everyone! Like I've said before, the support makes things much easier. :)

When I looked back at my food diary for the past week, though, I found that while I was meeting my calorie goals, most days, I'm still over my allowed fat content. X-( So this week (Wednesday is the first day of my workweek) my goal is to knock those fat totals down. Mini-goal is to keep it under 30% of all calories, real goal long-term is to get it under 20%. 30% is very doable.

Exercise program is working great. Can now swim between 12 and 15 pool lengths without feeling winded. When I started, I'd have to stop and rest after 7.

Will check in with the weigh-in when I get off work. :)

Congrats on the loss, BigGuy! :) :1stprize:

Way to go! Sounds like you are doing great!

:D

Rough day today. Food-wise was ok, fairly close to calorie goal (slightly over).
Got a nice, friendly rejection letter from a job app saying I'm still to big for on-camera work. X-( That kinda stuff makes me wanna quit trying. Sigh...oh well. Tomorrow's another day of thankless work behind the scenes. :(

Sorry to bum everyone out...just in a bit of a depressed mood today. I'll be better tomorrow.

I think. :)

Sorry you had a rough day. Please dont' quit! Just think how awesome it will be to get to goal and decide which TV station YOU want to work for... and YOU'LL be getting to do the rejecting!!! But don't lose sight of who you are inside too. I know this is totally "after school special" but it really is important to be a great person on the inside too. Although, I've found that losing weight has helped me be more the person I WANT to be: Friendly and outgoing.

ANyway, keep up the great work. You're still doing awesome! :dn

Doing much better today. Through lunch, have only had about 950 calories. (2800 is my goal to stay under). It's a little cool outside for swimming, so I'm not totally sure what the exercise plan for this afternoon is.

All, in all though, much better day today than yesterday. :)

Sorry you had a rough day and CONGRATS on your loss! :)

Corinna

Thanks for the encouragement everybody. I feel a lot better than I did a couple days ago. Still doing pretty well as far as sticking to the diet. Yesterday was my b-day and I managed not to go over on calories, despite the mandatory birthday cake. :D

Hey, hope you had a great Birthday! Happy belated! :balloons:

Happy belated birthday! :)

Corinna

Latest weigh-in: drumroll please........................

286

I can't believe it!

Thanks for the birthday wishes, btw. :)

CONGRATS!!!!!!!! Make sure you change your stats and ticker to reflect all your hard work! Keep it up! :up:

Wow, Big Guy, 286! That's a pretty awesome birthday gift you've given yourself. :) Way to go!

wow, less then a hundred to go, hope you stick with it will be well worth it.

:cheer: :cheer: :cheer: :cheer: :cheer: :cheer:

Back up to 287 today....just the typical day to day fluctuation...nothing to get frustrated with. Yet. :)

I nearly fainted when I saw 286 yesterday...it had been a couple days since the last weigh-in (was really busy on my days of)...I was hoping for 289 or so. So being in the 280's at all means I'm on track, and losing at a good pace. I plan on making another big calorie adjustment when I get to 250 or 260.. (right now I'm burning between 1000-2000 cals a day, or so my computer says...probably a little less).

Still, I haven't been this excited about losing weight in a long time. I spoke in my first post about really taking things seriously this time, and this forum has helped me SOOOOOOO much. You guys are great!

OK, now I have a problem. Thought my little jump to 287 was just a day to day fluctuation...today's reading: 288.5!!! X-( X-( X-(

I know small gains are common, and maybe I'm building some muscle mass, but jeez! This is very frustrating. I stick to the calories, see a nice loss for awhile, and now, no discernable loss in over 3 days. X-(

I'm about to go nuts with the frustration. Sigh....

NO NO NO NO NO ! DT members are not allowed - read this - NOT ALLOWED to go NUTS :caf:

It's a rule ! lol

OK really - seriously - Hang Tough - really ! :)

Your body is still saying things like " what the heck is he doing to me & who does HE think HE is, feeding me this healthy food - I'll show HIM who is boss" No really our bodies think that way....... OK - they may not THINK that way but they sure do ACT that way at times - like a spoiled brat not getting their own way and it is up to us to get it back in line and do what it needs to do........ :whip:

SO don't quit ! PLEASE - Hang Tough :D

We are here for you !

Beth :dn

Oh, I have no intention of quitting. I'm being to stubborn this time for that. :laugh:

Being stubborn is good! Good for you on not quitting. I know you've got better sense than that!!! :)

Just keep on keeping on. The scale will cooperate eventually!

The climb up seems to have leveled off around 288 or so. Usually Mondays and Tuesdays are days when I see big losses (I have to do a lot more at work on the weekends, probably accounts for some of it) so hopefully today I'll be back down in the mid 280s...still a lot lower than when I started. :)

Also reember its more about food. Its about when you go to the bathroom, when the last time you ate, and loads of other factors. You will keep losing, but you will see a constant fluxuation depending on the time of day. Just keep up the good work.

Right...fortunately, I'm still able to see the overall downward trend, which is encouraging. Weighed in yesterday back at 286. And this morning, for the first time, a coworker said he could tell I've lost weight. Rock on!

COOL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :super:

Beth :dn

COOL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :super:

Not sure how I got a double post in lol 8-|

Beth :dn

That's ok...more posts makes me look more popular! :D

Went over calorie goal for the first time in 2 weeks. X-( X-( Arrrrrrgh! Weigh-in tomorrow morning...will see how that goes.

You are doing SO well! Keep up the amazing work..

Corinna

That's awesome about the compliment. I think it keeps us motivated! Keep it up! :1stprize:

Morning weigh-in is 285.5, so only down a half a pound in the last week. Hello, plateau!!! Of course, I didn't get in nearly the amount of exercise this week that I had been doing previously, so that hurt. This week, back on track. Starting today. Under calorie goal by 500, and swam for 20 mins. :)

Wow...off for a week due to weird work schedule...weight it still around 286-287, but haven't been exercising near as much. Back on a normal sched. now, so that will help. :)

Still at 286-287 this week...feels like I've hit a plateau..but that happens, I guess

Keep up the positive work on yourself and you will lose the weight. :)

Corinna

Okay, so you're probably wondering where I've been the last few weeks. Well, my in-laws live in New Orleans, and my wife has several friends there. So, most of our online time has been in trying to figure out where everyone is, if everyone is ok, etc.

Fortunately, I have good news: everyone we know seems to have escaped without significant injury. The maid of Honor from our wedding was one of the unlucky folks stuck in the SuperDome, but she's in Houston now and doing ok.

With all this going on, my diet was, I thought, completely ruined. I'd found myself munching junk food, and I was WAY over my calorie goals most days.

And yet.......

Weighed myself yesterday. 286. Haven't gained a pound, despite 2 weeks of bad food habits. And I'm not sure why. But I have a theory: looking back at the food diary, I see that while I have been eating high fat/high cal foods this last 2 weeks, I haven't been eating as much of them. For example, I used to put away a whole large pizza for dinner. So when my wife and I order pizza, I usually get 2 larges, and we have a few slices left over for lunch the next day. Last week, we did this, and had an entire pizza still left over. So, even when I was eating the not-so-good stuff, I was eating less of it than I used to. PROGRESS!

So what's the overall lesson? A couple things:
1. I probably have my calorie goals set slightly too low, as I seem to still lose weight if I go over them.

2. If I stick to the lower calorie goals, I'll lose more weight, so no need to change them.

3. Missing the calorie goals for a day, a couple of days, or even a week is no reason to get discouraged. Sure, this last 2 weeks was time wasted when I could have been losing weight, but at least I held steady.

Anyway, enough rambling from BigGuy. Good to be back!

Hi Big Guy. I'm glad that everyone is ok. That would suck to be stuck at the superdome, but I'm glad your friend is doing well now. What a scary experience!

But that is progress that you have been keeping track of your food, and you realize that you eat less. How funny that you had a whole pizza left over! That's cool. You're doing so well. Keep up the good work! :D

Welcome back and thank goodness your friends and family are safe and sound.. The superdome thing sounds scary and nasty!

Corinna

This week's weigh-in: still 286. But I've been doing really bad about exercising the last few weeks: pool was closed, so I can't swim laps. Have to shift to walking. Which isn't bad, I'm just not used to it yet. Still, I've been maintaining, not gaining, so no problem. No doubt I'll be starting downward soon.

Get thyself out walking before you let yourself slide back (and maybe I should take my own advice. Hehehe)

You should post here more.. We're motivating people. :)

Corinna

Latest weigh-in: 280.25!!! Talk about getting over a plateau! That's almost 5 pounds in 2 weeks time. I am now a much more happy camper!

Wooo-hooooo!!! :dc

Way to blast-off! Off the plateau, that is. NASA has nothin' on you. :)

Hope the pool re-opens soon...

Yay! :) You're off and running again! Now I just need to break through mine! :D

Now that I've broken through this plateau, the weight seems to be going away quickly. Down to 274 last week! I didn't think I'd hit that until the end of the year, the way things were going.

I'm so happy that you've broken the plateau!!! Keep it up! Are you still swimming and stuff?

They closed the pool at my apartment, so I haven't been swimming. I've tried to walk some in the evenings.

But, I've been a lot busier at work lately, which means I spend plenty of time hauling a heavy camera around town...which makes up for the lack of other exercise.

CONGRATS on reaching 274! :cheer:

I guess the camera-hauling has done the trick... but too bad about the pool.

Ok, so after a LOOOOONG time, I have returned. I haven't exactly been sticking with my routine as well as I should, but yet, I've lost a little more weight, down to 273!

I think some of my bad habits have finally gone away without me really thinking about it, after I stuck to a rigid, strict diet through the fall.

So, time to start gearing up, methinks, 'cause I'm going to start going 110% in the new year! :)