Weight Loss, Life, Motivation and Random Stuff

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Jenniquest

Jenniquest

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Hello everyone :)

I'm Jenni, 42 years old, married with a 17-year old daughter. I live in southern USA. Personality wise, I would say I am very opinionated but also open-minded to opinions that differ from my own, an abstract thinker, a bit of a cynic, and possibly ADD. It's very hard for me to focus on things I'm not interested in, but I become obsessed with the things I do like. I'm a bit of an extremist, I suppose. I talk about myself a lot (probably too much).

I'm here because I want to lose weight. Not just that .... I want to live my life to the fullest and I feel like my weight is holding me back by making me sluggish, insecure, tired, and .... well, unhappy. Yeah, yeah, I know happiness comes from within yada yada, and my pants size won't change my happiness. That may be true for some, but being unhealthy affects me psychologically - and I'm self-aware enough to realize that my weight is also affecting my mental health.

I used to be an average weight. Then I was in terrific shape. Then I had some health problems and gained 60 lbs. Weight loss, for me, will have to become a permanent lifestyle change. I need to get off the couch. I am not working right now, and having no structure makes things difficult. Part of this lifestyle change will be changing my current routine. If I don't change anything then nothing is going to change. If you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you always got. Etc.

I think it will be helpful for me to not only track and plan my diet, but also to track and plan each day.

Goals for my diary:

1. Plan daily activities and diet.
2. Track successes and misses
3. Get honest about my flaws and how they prevent me from my goals
4. Be equally as honest about my strengths and how they can help me
5. Record weight weekly & measurements monthly

Weigh-in Schedule until Jan 1st:

Starting Weight: 198.6
Measurements:
Arm: 15"
Bust: 43"
Waist: 34 1/2"
Hip: 47"
Thigh: 26 1/2"


11/22/17:
11/29/17:
12/6/17:
12/13/17: Measurements:
12/20/17:
12/27/17:

I'll do my planning in the next post!
 
Welcome, Jenni! I just joined here again a couple of days ago, and the support here is amazing. Looking forward to seeing your next post!
 
11/15/17

Daily Plan:

Protein shake
Short walk for dog at 9:30
Gym at 10:00 a.m.
Grocery store
Lunch at dining table (not TV)
Clean floors upstairs
Call about volunteer work at homeless shelter
Call a friend
4PM Long walk for dog at park
Dinner at table (not TV)
Clean up for dinner
Family, TV, hot drink for snack


Daily Menu:

nAxiRBE.png


I'm ALWAYS open to suggestions on my activities and menu.
 
Hi Jenni and welcome to the diaries! I really like the sound of your dinner but breakfast and lunch would leave me starving, even though "black chocolate monster" sounds amazing :D Regarding talking about yourself a lot: that´s what you´re here for, so don´t worry about it.
Best of luck on your journey; we´ll be here to cheer you on :)
LaMa
 
Your day looks great! I think I'm going to a leaf from your book and start eating my meals at the table as well. It's one thing to count calories and ensure your meals are balanced, but to really appreciate them you need to step away from distractions, slow down eating and savor the food!

I hope today's plans were able to be followed through smoothly!
 
LaMaria said:
Hi Jenni and welcome to the diaries! I really like the sound of your dinner but breakfast and lunch would leave me starving, even though "black chocolate monster" sounds amazing :D Regarding talking about yourself a lot: that´s what you´re here for, so don´t worry about it.
Best of luck on your journey; we´ll be here to cheer you on :)
LaMa
Click to expand...

Hi! Thanks for reading :)
Breakfast and lunch did leave me starving! Actually, I ended up changing lunch because, yes, I was starved and knew that yogurt and berries were not going to cut it after the gym. It's a learning process, lol.


elizab3th said:
Your day looks great! I think I'm going to a leaf from your book and start eating my meals at the table as well. It's one thing to count calories and ensure your meals are balanced, but to really appreciate them you need to step away from distractions, slow down eating and savor the food!

I hope today's plans were able to be followed through smoothly!
Click to expand...

I ended up eating in front of the TV! I really meant not to because everything you said is so right (and I know that!) But, sheesh, it's such a hard habit to break. I'm trying again tomorrow, though. Even if I can get one meal in that would be progress ....
 
Today was fairly successful. My diet did change a bit. My goal is to stay under 1500 cals day, so I still met that goal - literally one calorie under at 1499!


Here's how the Daily Plan went down ...

Protein shake - Yes
Short walk for dog at 9:30 - Yes
Gym at 10:00 a.m. - Yes! This was the best part of my day. I haven't been to the gym in over a year and it really felt good to go. I did lower body:

elliptical - 10 min warm up
sitting leg raises - 20 each leg
clam exercise - 20 each side
leg lifts - 20 each side
bridges - 20
hip rotation - 20 each side
bodyweight box squat - 3 sets of 8
step ups - 3 sets of 10
hip abduction machine - 3 sets of 20
standing calf raise - 3 sets of 20
stair climbing machine - 5 mins on levels 3-4
stationary bike - about 5 min

The bodyweight squats felt great! I love to squat but I have a really bad knee. I'm just going to take things easy and see what happens. I was also thrilled to see the Y has a stair climber now. This machine is such a killer! My heart rate shot up to 180 in less than 3 minutes. It's not a "stepper" machine where you push down - it's like real stairs and you climb them like an escalator. Best damn cardio machine in the gym. Again, because of my knee I limited the time to 5 mins and we'll see what happens.

Grocery store - Yes. I was super starved after the gym. I knew my original plan of yogurt and berries was a total joke. I bought stuff for a chef salad and dinner.

Lunch at dining table (not TV) - No. I ate my salad and watched last night's Voice episode. I'll try again tomorrow (maybe).
Clean floors upstairs - Sorta - I did the master bed and bath but not the whole upstairs. I was super tired and wanted to lie down.
Call about volunteer work at homeless shelter - No. I took a nap.
Call a friend - No. Still napping.

4PM Long walk for dog at park - Yes. Almost flaked out on this but ended up doing it because my dog was so starved for exercise. Don't take that the wrong way! I walked her in the morning and I usually walk her every day, but she is a super active dog. She is a rescue and when I got her I had no idea pitbulls were sooooo active! It's good for me, though. And I just love her to pieces. But yeah, she gets really annoying if she's not exercised. She'll follow me around the house and even start barking right in my face!

Dinner at table (not TV) - No. No excuse. Just didn't do it.
Clean up for dinner - TBD.
Family, TV, hot drink for snack - TBD.

Overall, I feel like planning out my day had a positive effect on getting me off the couch and that's really the ultimate goal, right?
 
Well done getting to the gym! Do keep taking it easy on your knee for several weeks at least. Injuries and pain would make things harder for longer than taking time to adjust. Also: good job hitting your calorie goal. Eating too little rarely works in the long run.
 
Trusylver said:
Welcome to the forum :)
Click to expand...

Hey, thank you very much! :)

LaMaria said:
Well done getting to the gym! Do keep taking it easy on your knee for several weeks at least. Injuries and pain would make things harder for longer than taking time to adjust. Also: good job hitting your calorie goal. Eating too little rarely works in the long run.
Click to expand...

Good advice on the knee! I have tried to do too much too quickly before and it always ends badly. This time I am going to be overly cautious. If it takes me a year to graduate to doing squats with actual weight then so be it. For now I'm sticking to body weight and adding one rep each week. If things go well, that will put me at 20 bodyweight squats in 12 weeks.
 
Good morning! :D

Woke up a bit sore from the gym yesterday and I couldn't be happier.

11/16/17

Daily Plan:

Protein shake
Short walk w/dog @ 9:30 a.m.
Gym @10 a.m.
Grocery store
Lunch at table (no TV)
Call about volunteering
Text friend and set up girl's day at spa
Call about classes at college
Pay lawncare company
Clean rest of floors upstairs
Clean up kitchen for dinner prep
Long walk w/dog at park
Dinner
Meeting
TV, Family time

Menu:
pNb1oPX.png



Another project I have in the works is we are building a new home! It's quite exciting, but a little stressful - and we haven't even broke ground yet, lmao. I designed the house plan. I'm not an architect, but I have been drawing house plans since I was a kid (I probably should have went into architecture).

Anyway, here is the first floor. There is also a bonus room above the garage for my daughter that has a huge room, walk-in closet, full bath with washer and dryer (so I don't have to do her laundry anymore - yes!!) Next, there's a cartoonish looking elevation which is pretty close but the roof is a tad different on the actual drawings.

bJvrcJF.png


ipqgtGv.png


I had to have the draftsman redraw this floorplan twice (stress + $), the price of the house went WAY up on the second draft (stress + $$$$), then I had to fight the architectural committee in our neighborhood to get the setback a little closer than they wanted. Now I'm just waiting to hear from the bank. As soon as they give us the nod, we will clear the lot and start! So be prepared for lots of pics of the house in progress. :D
 
DietAccountability101 said:
Welcome to the forum :) I like your idea of adding in non-diet related challenges into the mix. Really stresses the point of a lifestyle change rather than just a diet.
Click to expand...

Yes, that's the idea! :)

LaMaria said:
Ooo, house building IS exciting! Looks like you´re going to end up with a lovely home.
Click to expand...
Stan said:
Loving the house plans Jenni, can't wait to see pics of the construction phase now!
Click to expand...
cate said:
I'm looking forward to following the progress of your house building too. It's stressful, but so worth it!
Click to expand...

Thanks everyone! It is pretty exciting and I can't wait to finally start. I'm hoping we'll break ground in December.
 
Just got home. Sitting here with my hot cocoa :) I am terribly sore from yesterday. It's pitiful. I can barely sit because my quads are burning like crazy.

Anyway, here's how the Daily Plan went down:

Protein shake Yes
Short walk w/dog @ 9:30 a.m. Yes
Gym @10 a.m. Yes - here's what I did:

Elliptical – 10 min warm up

Cable press 3 x10 (20 lb)
Bench 3 x 8 (Oly – 45 lb)
Flys 3 x 10 (8 lb)
Incline bench Mach 3 x 10 (15 lb)
Overhead DB press 3 x 10 (10 lb)
Kickbacks 3 x 10 (8 lb)
Cbl Pulldown 3 x 10 (30 lb)

Stair Climber – 6 min Level 3

Grocery store Yes - change of plans for dinner. I was craving cabbage for some odd reason. But I kept the cals below 1500 - around 1436.

Lunch at table (no TV) YES!!!!
Call about volunteering No. Embarrassing but true. Instead, I meditated ...
Text friend and set up girl's day at spa No. Still meditating.
Call about classes at college Nope.
Pay lawncare company Yes. Did it in the morning.
Clean rest of floors upstairs No. Decided laundry needed it more.
Clean up kitchen for dinner prep Yes. Cleaned it spotless.
Long walk w/dog at park Yes.
Dinner Yes.
Meeting Yes. Saw my girlfriend and we made plans for dinner and pedicures on Sunday.
TV, Family time - TBD

It seems I struggle the most after the gym and lunch. I feel tired and either want to nap or meditate. This means things like phone calls get pushed to the back burner. Maybe tomorrow I'll try just putting one on the list - that way it won't feel too time-consuming if I am tired.
 
Maybe it would help to give yourself a choice: either set an alarm so you won´t sleep or meditate for more than half an hour or make one of those calls before you do the thing you want to do.
 
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