Let me start by saying..I have another account on here and I think the world of all you ladies. You are all so great and helpful. Everyone has amazing ideas and you're all willing to share them with everyone else here..even your secret plans for your big day! Its like we're a BIG family!
But heres the thing...I'm a chubby bride. No let me rephrase that..I'm going to be a chubby bride if I don't kick my butt in gear! Weight is something that I've never been open to discussing (hence why there is another account not to be traced back to me..hopefully) But I figured this is a way I can get your feedback (because there are soo many girls here that have tried so many different diets and work out plans and such so you all have soo many opinions to offer) and maybe this will keep me motivated..and maybe it will hit home with someone else out there! If I have a place to be held responsible, to admit when I do bad or be congratulated when I do good I think it will keep me motivated.
A little background on me. For the past year I stopped "caring" I guess you would say about my weight. I didn't exercise..I didn't watch what or how much I was eating. But lately I've been...umm..disgusted I guess is the word..with myself. And upset that the people around me feel the need to point my weight gain out to me...don't you think I notice!!?? I need to do something. I come from a family where we are all bigger. My mom was smaller when she was younger but when she got older, had kids..the weight started coming and now she can't get it off. Thats what I fear right now. I've always been the smaller of the family and I fear that what happened to my mom is enividibly going to happen to me. I don't want that. So lets just say "its in my genes" to be chubby. But I'm willing to put up the fight!
I decided to start by admitting where I know I'm going wrong so here it is..
I eat when FH eats
I eat what FH eats
Fh eats junk
FH does manual labor all day and burns the junk off
I don't
(see the problem?)
Heres another one I'm going to admit..*deep breath* I'm one of those secret eaters :( I have gone threw the fast food drive thru gotten something to eat and then thrown the evidence away before someone saw it so no one knew I was eating it. But I was never one of those kids that did that. I barely ate as a kid. Maybe its all catching up to me now..in my ass!
So heres the deal. I joined a gym and am forcing myself to go atleast 4-5 times a week. On the days I don't go FH and I are going for atleast a 30 minute bike ride. Also a girl from work has offered to join me..maybe that will be encouragment to keep going too. Having someone else depending on me to be going!
First week at the gym....
Tuesday I did weights and 15 minutes on the elipticle. And then FH and I went on a 30 minute bike ride later that night.
Today I did 10 minutes on the elipticle then weights then another 20 minutes on the elipticle.
Start weight: 195
Goal weight: 150..for now
I figure start at a reasonable small goal first. I'm also going to set smaller goals "lose 5 lbs this week" and then do it again the next week
I use to be 150 and felt great!! But at my 5'4" height thats still considered "overweight"..but I figure I felt great so be it..plus I think I pulled 150 off pretty good!
I've also decided to stop cooking the crap that FH likes and we're going to eat healthier...together!
Wish me luck!
If you like white mushrooms.. not sure if you do... but studies show that people who eat mushrooms have a higher metabolism than people who don't. If you eat salads or something... toss some mushrooms in.
You may feel overwhelmed at first excercising, but as someone who once lost 60 pounds in about 3 months the healthy way... I can tell you that the first 2 weeks excercising were hell.. and then after that.. it became so normal that I seriously felt out of sorts if I didn't get my daily excercise. I got into better shape so fast and it just got easier and easier and I started to understand why healthy people have a hard time understanding why non healthy people can't get motivated. After I pushed passed my barrier... I felt great and I wanted to get everyone else to feel great. So... I know it can be done, because I did it! :)
Another way to help you lose weight is everytime you are about to sit down to watch tv, do 30 sit ups (or work up to it). TV is true evil ( It should have the devils horns sticking out). When you watch tv, its a good sign that your bored. Therefore try to find a different activitiy. With watching tv, normally comes the snacking cravings which lead to even more problems. An easy thing you can do is hide the remote. By simply making yourself have to physically get up to change the channel it will add the extra physical activity you need. Plus by having to physically flip through the channels you will lose interest faster and most likely reduce the amount of time spent with the box. An additional easy way to increase your physical activity is by parking your vehicle far away from where you need to go (example park your car a block away from your house). By adding up the 2 mins of exercise to get to and from your vehicle you will continue to burn weight, plus your less likely to get dings in your vehicle from people parking beside you.
I hope this helps somewhat. I totally understand where you are coming from and have repeatedly gotten on and off the fitness bandwagon. Write a note to yourself about why you feel you need to lose the weight and what you hope will open up to you when do lose the weight. It's easier to maintain weight loss if you remember what your life use to be like. Because it is so easy to lose sight and start to fluxuate and gain it all back.
You can read that at http://fittobeeyed.livejournal.com/
You should not lose more two pounds a week. It is actually quite unhealthy. What a lot of people fail to realize is fat is essential for your body, and suddenly dropping large amounts of it can cause problems... your brain requires fat to function!
Worry less about how MUCH fat and think more about getting GOOD fat (omega-3s are a source of "good fat" you can get from fish, ot flaxseed if you're vegetarian/vegan. You can cook food in flaxseed oil instead of vegetable oils.) Omega-6s are also an essential type of fat, but most people get plenty of omega-6s (they are found in meat products and most processed food).
Another thing... try to replace the elliptical machine. Recumbent bikes and walking on a treadmill with an incline will burn more calories than the elliptical and are better for your natural range of motion. Cardio, ideally, should be done in the morning before you eat anything. If you can't do this, ALWAYS do cardio first. Doing cardio after weightlifitng is a big, big workout mistake. Cardio should be used to put your body in fat-burning mode, not as the fat-burner.
About a year and a half ago I was close to 220 lbs at 5' 6" ft tall, aka obese. I weighed more than I ever had before and was depressed. So, I stopped drinking pop and portioned my food, one item per meal (sandwich for lunch, chicken breast for dinner). That got me down to 185-190ish in 4-5 months. After that I had been on a plateau the rest of the time.
A month after I got engaged I decided that I wanted to be able to choose any style of wedding dress, which meant to me that I had to loose weight because big girls don't always look good in any dress.
I've been on phentermine for a month now. I started at 184.6 lbs and am now to 170.8 lbs.
I am not here to tell you to start popping pills.
I workout with my fiance A LOT! He too is wanting to loose weight for our big day, so that helps. There are nights where I don't want to go to the gym, but he goes to the door to leave and I want to be with him. I love being with him all the time.
I think you have the right idea. Work out together. Defiantly drink LOTS of water. Portion your foods and make sure they work with your body. Have a date night. That could be your guilt free rewarding night. You can choose one meal to treat yourself and enjoy it with your future hubby.
Thank you for writing this blog because the comments these ladies wrote are inspiring. Thank you to you all!
"your brain requires fat to function!"
This is not true. She probably meant to say "sugar" instead of "fat". I studied Kinesiology in university, and I'm here with my MOH, who is a biochem major. Your brain can ONLY run on simple sugars (unless in emergency situations, and the fat is converted into ketones for survival).
"The brain gets its energy from ketone bodies when insufficient glucose is available (e.g., when fasting). In the event of low blood glucose, most other tissues have additional energy sources besides ketone bodies (such as fatty acids), but the brain does not."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketone_bodies
"Acetyl CoA produces dissolved nutrients (Ketone bodies), which can be detected in urine and are used by the brain as a source of energy.
In terms of insulin resistance, starvation conditions makes more glucose available to the brain."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starvation
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Just a technicality, but I thought it was important.
Good luck, honey. If your FH is on board, you guys are a team! You eat healthy, and your body will thank you for it!
I am also overweight and i have 16 months until my wedding so the game plan is on!
I think that we should have a little section for people wanting to lose weight where we can go and get advice and support etc (and somewhere to moan when we are sick of the diet lol )
Good Luck! And keep us posted!
I might just start keeping a journal on here. Anyone with me??