I am trying to track the food I eat - i find it to be terribly tedious and not a feasible long term strategy, but know it is good for establishing better eating habits. I am tracking calories, fat and protein. Here is what I have had so far today:

Cottage cheese 90
1/3 tbsp margarine 20
1 piece whole wheat toast 50

fruit snacks 80

vegetarian corndog 140
Pudding 120

3/4 pint strawberries 80

Total calories - 580, 12 g fat and 26 g protein

For the record, we have been out of town so the food I had up to the strawberries was leftover junk from 2012. I got groceries this evening and picked up healthier food to eat going forward. Like the bowl of strawberries I just had

Planning on trying for around 1500 calories a day. Going to eat a biggish dinner soon. This tends to be my normal pattern, but I cut down on the daytime snacking. Also need to cut down on night time snacking

Anonymous wrote:Good luck! I recommend c25k- it is awesome for new runners.

Thanks! I have tried C25K before but have had trouble sticking with it. I did actually finish a 5k but was one of the last people to finish This time I am hoping to do it a bit quicker.

Anonymous wrote:Kudos to you! I am truly inspired by your determination!

Have you considered weight watchers? It was the only thing that truly helped me deal with portion size and eat sensibly.

Look forward to reading your posts!

I have considered weight watchers but don't really know much about it. I hear that lots of people have good luck with it though so perhaps I will try it out.

Anonymous wrote:Good luck Olivia.

You will find tons of advice online. Here are some things I would like to add:

- Take it EASY on yourself. You want to lose 25 pounds this year? That's 1 pound per two weeks -- no need to starve yourself (you won't keep that up for 52 weeks).
- MEASURE your progress. I recommend to track your weight every day -- but only worry about the 10-day moving average. This works for people who like data -- ymmv.
- EXERCISE but do not expect that to make you lose weight. Typically, you won't burn that many calories and that's okay. Your FOOD intake needs to change for that. But exercise does make you live longer, happier and healthier.

I personally couldn't exercise 6 days a week -- and I'm a pretty good long distance runner. You might want to strive for 3 or 4 days a week.

Anyway, good luck.

Thanks for the pointers. I definitely plan to take it slowly - I hate the idea of dieting so want to make lifestyle changes.

I do plan on setting up a spreadsheet but may do like bi-weekly weigh-ins, as I get annoyed with the scale not moving fast enough when weighing daily.

I actually dropped about 20 pounds in 2012 from work-related stress and some due to the gym but I definitely learned my lesson about the gym not yielding fast weight loss - I was very frustrated at first! I do want to exercise for a lot of reasons though, many unrelated to weight loss.

Thanks for the support

Anonymous wrote:Good luck Olivia!! I am also making 2013 my weight loss year, I am determined. I will keep up with your thread!

From my past experiences with weight loss, I will recommend three things - vinegars, mustards, and lots of broth based soups. Flavorful and filling but low calorie counts.

Good luck to you too!

Thanks for the pointers. I like food (obviously!) so I do like to think of ways to find strongly flavored lower cal foods.

Anonymous wrote:Good luck.

But also be realistic. You have been very overweight for a very long time and very sedentary for a very long time.

Each of your goals above is good by itself by trying to do them all together will most very likely be overwhelming and result in a quick fail.

Do yourself a favor and concentrate on just changing one habit at a time. And when you have stuck with a new habit for 60 days, then add change another one.

Another thing I highly recommend is to wait until you have lost at least 10 lbs by diet changes first before exercising. If you start exercising like crazy and diet at first, the scale will not move as quickly and it will be easy to get discouraged.

I previously weighed close to 300 pounds but now am in the normal weight range for my height.

I have been very overweight for a long time but actually am not very sedentary - I have always done a lot of hiking and outdoorsy things and have made some headway at the gym for the past six months (seeing a personal trainer occasionally and taking some cardio classes). I do have tons of room to go though to be truly in good physical shape.

I definitely don't plan on tackling everything at once. Like I said, I plan to focus on a goal or so a week. Your advice about trying each goal for a longer period is good - I will think about it.

Congrats on your own positive changes

Anonymous wrote:Rooting for you! I agree with PPs suggestion to take things one at a time. I focused on losing weight first, now I will add exercise. I realized that exercising made me hungry and it was easier to lose initially without it.

I got a sporadic exercise regime going so now I am going to focus on the food and then also pushing my exercise harder. Good luck to you too!

Anonymous wrote:You can do it OP!! My cousin and aunt have been overweight their whole lives, and after doing weight watchers last year they lost a TON of weight and look awesome!!

Please keep us updated!!!

Thanks!!

And I am going to update this thread with my progress.

I weigh 260 pounds. I have been overweight my whole life - 142 in sixth grade, 170 by 9th grade, then it just kept creeping up. Now I am in my 20s and have weighed over 250 for some time. I hate it. Ive never really lost weight - only steadily gained since fourth grade.

I joined a gym a while back and enjoy going occasionally, but had trouble going regularly. My main problem is a tendency to eat exactly whatever I want, whenever I want. Cookies, candy, chips, fries, whatever damn thing I want. I know I have to stop.

I am going to track my progress here. My general plan is to focus on a few healthy habits each week. I hate the notion of dieting and want to make a lifestyle change. Changes I want to ultimately make:

-Decrease junk food (particularly fried food, chips and sweets)
-Decrease carbs and dairy
-Increase fresh fruits and veggies and whole grains
-Replace diet coke habit with water habit
-Exercise at least six days a week
-Run a 5k by the end of the year

Any support welcomed!