Gotta keep trying, eh?

Kitty, you recognize the problem and are willing to do something about it. Those are the first two steps. The final step is to start implementing it.

When I started on my new "lifestyle" in June '06, I weighed 218 in a 36" pant size and was in crappy condition. Now I weigh 202 in a 33" pant size. I was slow to embrace proper eating and still don't always. But, like you I first realized my weaknesses and slowly started implementing it rather than go cold turkey. I think for me this allowed me to integrate this into my day to day life and not just something that you do for an intermittent period.

I think you'll be fine. +1 rep for honesty.
 
a thought that I try to remember that helps me with this stuff.

"I am tryin to be in shape to live better" not "living my life to try and be in better shape"

it relieves a bit of the pressure cooker.

stay firm with yourself, but don't squeezt the life out of the experience eh.

;)

FF
 
kittyhartman26 said:
Man, I just went back and read my old journal. No wonder I didn't lose weight, I was an IDIOT. Everyday I was like, "Oh man, I didn't exercise and I had eight margaritas." Then I'd eat like 200 calories the next day, then I'd eat five big macs. I mean, I just had no control. With each admission of the junk food I ate I could remember the social event that I ate that at.

Well I've certainly learned from that.

I'm thinking about doing a food journal in here, but I'm a little hesitant, because I don't want to start being obsessed with charting my food.

I think I will. I may change my mind. Opinions are welcome. Please submit them in the form of a Haiku.

Breakfast: Two egg whites RAW! Just kidding they were scrambled. And two pieces of toast.

Lunch: Whoops I forgot to eat lunch. But I had a few pieces of candy downtown before the symphony. They were free!

Dinner: Turkey chili! Pretty good, a little watery. Oh and a few crackers. I am obsessed with crackers. I'm trying to cut down but I eat a few every now and then or else I'd go crazy.

Then we went out, and I had two vodka crans and a small soft pretzel with a bit of cheese sauce. I feel bad putting it here because I was JUST talking about how I was so dumb before about acting like I was eating healthy when I was really eating crap.

I almost deleted that last paragraph.

But that would be lying.
Click to expand...

You need more protein, most of your diet there is carbs. Nice new avatar by the way.
 
That's a great thought, FF, and thanks for the Haiku Focus:).

One of the things I try to remember when I feel guilty about things like pretzels is that even though I'm not eating great, I'm still eating waaay better than I was a month ago, so there's still improvement!

I was trying to eat protein with all my meals, Usually I wouldn't have eaten eggs, I would have just had toast, and I had turkey chili. I tend to not like things that have protein in them, how much more would you suggest? I have chicken and porkchops in the freezer, but I'm just not a huge fan, so I never want to cook them. And fish is way expensive, and it's never on the 'almost expired so it's super cheap' rack. I know last time someone suggested low-fat cottage cheese, which I love, so I could pick up some of that.

If anyone has healthy bargain suggestions, I'd love to hear them, my food budget is VERY low.

Today will be hard, football today you know, all of my friends will want to go to Wendy's and order pizza throughout the day, but I'm going to be a total dork and pack a lunch:D!

I hope that turkey chili wasn't one of the *****y food choices, because now I have a whole bunch of it, and I'm about to eat it for breakfast. No actually, it's fine, the nutrition facts came with the recipe, and the only thing I changed was from white beans to red beans because there was a can of red beans in the dented can bin for 49 cents.:)

Thanks for the support everybody!
 
Ok, well I weighed in this morning....at 167. Which is five lbs less than last week, for those of you who don't want to scroll back and find the last number.

I want to be excited to be in the 160s, but I know five lbs in one week is a lot and I don't know, I feel...hesitant to celebrate.

For those of you who know me (and I guess also if you don't) I promise you that I'm eating entire meals, eating when I'm hungry, and eating enough to keep me going.

Also, though 5lbs seems like a lot for someone my size in one week, the fact that I'm not eating any fast food is a MAJOR change. I mean, we used to eat it CONSTANTLY. Well, my friends still do. I mean, I was just eating so much fat and sugar and sodium and nasty crap...I was reading the nutrition facts online the other day and I can't believe I was eating all that.

So I just have to remember not to get disappointed when it starts to level off to 1 or 2 lbs a week.

That's normal, and I can be patient.

Patient patient patient.

No extreme diets. Repeat repeat repeat.

Starting - 175
1/14/08 - 172
1/21/08 - 167

Oh and for those of you who wanted to know, my frame is on the larger side, I'm 5'8".
 
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Good girl. :D

Also remember to be patient and/or work harder when it levels off to what seems like nothing. What stingo said about protein. I'm sure you already know this, but I want to emphasize it. Macronutrient balance.
 
Yeah, but wouldn't you rather go to fashion jail than regular jail?

I bet Martha would. XD

All those drab colors... and not a decorative piece in sight.
 
But in fashion jail the inmates would be so tacky!

Ok anyway, today my clarinet lesson got canceled so I hit the gym. yay! I thought I'd post my workout on here like I've seen some other people do.

A trainer on here last time I was here told me that to build muscle I should be lifting as much weight as I can and it should be a struggle to get those last few up. So I've been doing that.

15 min on Elliptical, cross training, the kind the varies resistance.
Bicep curls 2 x 12 @ 20 (actually on the last set I could only get to 9 reps, I thought it would be better to do 20 and have it be too hard for the last three than do 15 and have it be too easy, but if I'm wrong, feel free to let me know)
Triceps extentions 2 x 12 @ 20
Leg extentions 2 x 12 @ 30
Leg curls 2 x 12 @ 30
Chest press 2 x 12 @ 20 (too easy, I will try more weight next time)
15 min on elliptical, intervals, the kind that varies incline

You may have noticed there are no abs, it's because the weight room has no ab machines that I can identify, and I'm not sure what kind to do, because I heard you're supposed to several different kinds to target all your abs. I have a stability ball in my apartment, so if anyone has ideas, feel free to share.

Anyway, comments are always welcome, and thanks again for the encouragement folks!
 
A boost for the Sista!

Kitty is very PRETTY and does not self PITTY and is very WITTY as she dances toward her goal CITY

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.

(Helen Keller)
========================================================
We have eyes, but sometimes we cannot see. We have ears but sometimes cant hear. And, we have a mind we sometimes fail to use correctly. As you progress on your path toward your goal, keep your eyes, ears, and mind open. Be keenly aware of where you are and where you came from and use this to see open doors that would otherwise appear closed to you. Helen Keller was blind and could not hear; however, she could see and speak very plainly. Your internal spirit is strong and bright and will bring much fright to your fat fight and this surely will bring your skin very tight.

YOU ROCK with seeing, hearing, and using your mind to catapault you to new heights of success!


ROCK ON!


Best wishes to you my friend,


Chillen
 
Whoah, that was like a SUPER one! Thanks Chillen!

Sara, they're all on machines, I don't know how to do compound exercises, in fact, I've never used free weights before and I'm afraid I'll hurt/embarrass myself. The freeweight room is a very scary place.
 
Well I had a workout buddy today. My roommate came with me. It was fun to have someone to walk there with but I felt pressure to cut my workout short because she was done (the machine she wanted was open way earlier than mine). So later I told her I usually do more than that and she said, ok, next time we'll stay longer.

Kind of a pointless story.

I finally killed off the last of that stupid turkey chili. I also managed to spill it all over myself and the couch, and then all over the room as I realized it was scalding me and began frantically flinging it off of my leg.

I almost ate a snack cake today but then I didn't. Nice!

I need to stop feeling guilty when I'm full. Just because I'm not hungry doesn't mean I'm not healthy. Full does not equal fat! Yeah I was thinking of these during orchestra today.

Feelin' good, feelin' good.

Someone noticed I'd lost weight yesterday!
 
AAAAAHHHHH IT IS FRIGID IN HERE!!

The heat is broken in our apartment! The thermostat is on 40. I've been wearing a coat and hunting cap all day. I need to go work out but I just want to shut down and huddle somewhere. I'm going to put my sweat pants on with the motivation that it will be warm in the gym.

Even my tampons are freezing cold!
 
kittyhartman26 said:
AAAAAHHHHH IT IS FRIGID IN HERE!!

The heat is broken in our apartment!

Even my tampons are freezing cold!
Click to expand...


I could probably tell a million jokes here...but I won't. :cool:

Seriously...I've been reading your thread...congratulations on your progress. I fight many of the same demons (except, obviously, the cold feminine hygeine products).
 
You know, the more I read, the more everything seems impossible. I'm glad that there are people out there trying to set people straight, but it's like you can't ease into anything. I feel like I'm working hard but when I read these articles I feel like I'm doing everything wrong. It's like taking small steps will get you nowhere, it's either all or nothing. I certainly don't intend on taking small steps forever, in fact I really feel like I'm making progress all the time, but to measure out everything and only eat certain foods at certain times and take a million supplements and weight train feverishly with a million different exercises just isn't practical for me. Don't get me wrong, I admire and respect people who can devote themselves to fitness, but trying to implement all of that is just a recipe for disaster for me. I'm sure you don't need to do a million exercises, actually I know you don't, but boy is it hard to sort them out if you don't know any better. But am I dumb for thinking I can have a nice, healthy body without going balls to the wall?
 
kittyhartman26 said:
You know, the more I read, the more everything seems impossible. I'm glad that there are people out there trying to set people straight, but it's like you can't ease into anything. I feel like I'm working hard but when I read these articles I feel like I'm doing everything wrong. It's like taking small steps will get you nowhere, it's either all or nothing. I certainly don't intend on taking small steps forever, in fact I really feel like I'm making progress all the time, but to measure out everything and only eat certain foods at certain times and take a million supplements and weight train feverishly with a million different exercises just isn't practical for me. Don't get me wrong, I admire and respect people who can devote themselves to fitness, but trying to implement all of that is just a recipe for disaster for me. I'm sure you don't need to do a million exercises, actually I know you don't, but boy is it hard to sort them out if you don't know any better. But am I dumb for thinking I can have a nice, healthy body without going balls to the wall?
Click to expand...

Nope.

As Berardi says, merely following the 7 habits is enough for many people. Assuming you have some sort of healthy activity into your lifestyle and get out of the habit of eating more than you need. But, this isn't as easy as two sentences.

Would you be dumb to think you can have a nice, healthy body without correcting bad habits (making "sacrifices")? Yep. That's not how life works, anywhere. Work and value go hand in hand.

The most valuable diamonds are generally the ones deepest in the earth, but even the cheap stuff takes some real effort.
 
kittyhartman26 said:
You know, the more I read, the more everything seems impossible. I'm glad that there are people out there trying to set people straight, but it's like you can't ease into anything. I feel like I'm working hard but when I read these articles I feel like I'm doing everything wrong. It's like taking small steps will get you nowhere, it's either all or nothing. I certainly don't intend on taking small steps forever, in fact I really feel like I'm making progress all the time, but to measure out everything and only eat certain foods at certain times and take a million supplements and weight train feverishly with a million different exercises just isn't practical for me. Don't get me wrong, I admire and respect people who can devote themselves to fitness, but trying to implement all of that is just a recipe for disaster for me. I'm sure you don't need to do a million exercises, actually I know you don't, but boy is it hard to sort them out if you don't know any better. But am I dumb for thinking I can have a nice, healthy body without going balls to the wall?
Click to expand...

Yes, I think you can. As with most things in life, there are "easy" gains (or losses) with moderate effort but the biggest gains take a lot of effort, which I think you are unwilling to exert, which is okay.

For example, for a woman to get down to 18% body fat is very good and doable with moderate effort. To get down to 14% bf, requires considerably more effort.

I think it is in your best interests to back off a little and do moderate effort at this time and make good gains than get overwhelmed, quit and make negative gains.

Watch your diet, which is something everyone should do anyways, but don't weigh portions. Have cheat meals 10% of the time, which have been shown to have no significant detrimental effects. And, use the compound machines because you don't know how to use free or body weights. The compound machines will provide you with good gains, just not the great gains that free or body weights would have.

Personally, I don't all that I should. I use the Smith Machine regularly and some machines and don't watch my diet as closely as I should. I have more than 10% cheat meals. But, for a 48yo, who is on calcium channel blocker which suppresses my max heart rate, and was not active 18 months ago, I am well on my way to being competitive in a series of triathlons this year starting in March.

Moderate effort > zero effort
 
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