I started a weight loss journey

I completely understand what you are going through hun, after going through a long weightloss journey of my own. I've struggled with my weight my entire life. It is one hell of an emotional roller coaster, but stay strong, know you're worth it and you CAN do it!

Congratulations! I wish you the very best of luck and courage...because, yes it does take courage to decide to do this. It's not easy (if it was, none of us would be overweight).

I did it. Lost 76 pounds, through a lot of perseverance and determination. And I know you can do it, too! If you need to "talk" or write or whatever, I'm around. And I'll listen.

You can do it!!!! You are worth it!!! It is a VERY difficult, emotional rollercoaster and I wish you the best of luck in your weight loss journey, one day at a time. I just tell myself these words over and over again. Determination, dedication and being really focused on the end result. Takes alot of work, I know, but you can do it.

I started my weight loss journey a couple months ago. While I am not too
overweight, I was on my way there. I had a lot of bad days at the start and still do from time to time but I've lost just over 10lbs and still have 20 to go.

I take pictures of my belly once a month. That helps keep me motivated.

It's not easy but once you get into good eating habits and find a good exercise routine, it gets easier.

I have the Hip Hop Abs program on DVD and follow some youtube videos as well.

Be glad to help you if you need any advice or encouragement!. Best of luck to you.

It took me a little over six months to lose 76 pounds and that probably about 8 years ago. A lot of frustration and a lot of nights where I just gave up and went to bed because I wanted to eat ......something! I've gained 15 pounds within the past year, largely because of knee issues where I couldn't walk. (Knee surgery last year, followed by stress fractures at the tibia every time I started to walk again. It's just been since March that I've been able to walk more than two miles a day without pain. And those pounds are slowly coming off again.)

I found that walking is the best exercise for me. All it really takes is a good pair of shoes and good socks. You can walk anytime, morning, lunch time, evening. You don't need a treadmill, you can walk outside. Or at a mall. Or on any walking trails in your area. I do have a Bowflex in the basement and an elliptical in the bedroom and I use both of them, but I just love to walk. Oh, I also have the FIRM workouts, but my knee is still not ready for a lot of twisting and such...I still have to be a little careful. I do use dumbbells for my arms and shoulders. I follow a lifting program three times a week, nothing spectacular, but it's OK for me.

I also found that I have to weigh myself every single morning of my life. If I don't, the weight comes creeping back. And it doesn't take long. I know how many calories I can have throughout the day and I really try to stay within that range. Sure, there are times when I'll go over my limit, but those times are rare. I try to cook healthy, not only for me, but for DH, too.

I keep a food and exercise journal. Every day. I record my weight for that day, everything I eat, and what I did for exercise. For some reason, it keeps me motivated. And I'm a person who really needs motivatiion....I have to see where I've been and what I'm doing in order to keep up with everything. Not everybody is like that. Some people consider it a pain. I don't. I figure that, if being healthy is important, so is marking it all down. Last year when I had knee surgery, my doctor actually went through my exercise journal, just to get an idea of my activities.

It's not easy....heck, if it was easy to change your eating and exercise habits, nobody would be fat! I'm going to PM you with my email addy and such. If you want to talk, I'll be there.

LuvMyParker, congrats on your 10-pound loss! That's great news! I never thought about taking pictures of my belly. The only way I would do that is if they were burned immediately after I look at them!

I think we should start a little weight loss/exercise group for people on the board who want to lose a few pounds!

I lost 60 pounds in about 6 months, went from 220 to 160. For my height 160 is not too bad, but I still wish I had lost another 15-20 pounds. I did all the wrong way though, I ate so little!! I ate two meals a day, and it was either a Campbell's soup, or a lean cuisine meal, that was it. So that would be an average of about 500 calories per day, which is awful and must have put my body in starvation mode, which is why I'm now dealing with metabolism being too slow...
I kept it off for about 2-3 years, and now my weight is starting to fluctuate a lot, I really need to get myself in gear and eat normal amounts and exercise because that's what's healthy...

Anyway good luck and keep us updated!!!

Winchester: Thank you! To be honest, I don't like the pictures...but when you get to the point that you can actually see the differences, it's really a great motivation booster.

I never really thought about keeping a journal but it is a great idea and I think I will start. I may even print off my pictures and add them to it.

Recently I started jumping rope as well. Easy on the knees/ankles, very hard to do but is soooo worth it. I can only jump for about 30 seconds at a time
but the amount of calories burned while skipping is amazing. Something like 15 calories per minute. I like it because its inexpensive, effective and you can do it anywhere. I even skip on walks.

That is an excellent idea. It certainly helps to have other people going through the same thing. I'd be down for that.

Congrats to you guys that have lost weight so far!

Congrats on the 8 pounds! What a great start! Just remember.....you didn't gain that weight overnight and you're not going to lose it overnight. Just take it one step at a time and you'll do fine.

It really doesn't take much to get your heart rate and BP down. I found that ten minutes of brisk walking twice a day will do wonders for my BP. That's only 20 minutes a day! 20 minutes! Same thing with your stationery bike. It can be great for cardio.

Kudos to keeping a food journal, too. I think it's important for all reasons I stated in an earlier post. And for the daily weigh-in. Keeping a record and actually seeing your weight decrease will motivate you to keep going.

Oh, and you might want to consider buying a nutritional scale. It weighs portions and will give you the calories in that portion. Mine came with a very nice booklet that lists all kinds of foods, which is really nice if you have a chicken breast and you've no idea what it weighs. Or if you want to know just how many grapes you're eating. For example, I know that a 4.1 ounce Granny Smith apple has about 73 calories. Makes it so much easier to keep track of your caloric intake. My scale also tells you the amount of protein, potassium, sodium, etc. It's really interesting. It's from Salter.

One cautiion: I don't think 1,000 calories is enough food in a day. You may end up starving yourself during the day and then you may binge at some point at night. I guess I shouldn't say that, but that happens to me sometimes when I try to stay around 1,000 calories; not everybody is the same. It's just not enough food. Just my opinion. Figure out how many calories you need for your ideal weight and then start there to figure out where you can cut calories.

I'm a treadmill hound....just love my treadmill. I'm not supposed to use it much anymore since knee surgery, but I keep going back. We bought an elliptical last fall and I do use it, but I just love my treadmill. Usually I do about 3 miles on the treadmill and about 1.5 on the elliptical....it should be the other way around. I work out with lighter dumbbells three times a week. We have a Bowflex in the basement, but I don't use it that much anymore, probably because we don't have a tv down there and I need something to watch while I'm exercising. (Treadmill is in the basement, too, and I listen to my iPod while I'm walking.) I keep my exercise mat in the bedroom and do exercises for my stomach and my legs, and especially for my knees now. A GF gave me her Ab Lounger and I've been using it, but to be honest? Not all that impressed with it. I do crunches on the floor. The elliptical is in the bedroom and I watch DVDs while I'm using that.

I feel so much better when I'm exercising regularly. I just do. I don't have all those darn aches and pains and I seem to have more energy when I work out. It's not a particularly fun thing to do sometimes, but DH always tells me that the best time to exercise is when you don't want to! And there have been times when I haven't done anything all day...I'll go to bed and that darn elliptical is right there. I think about getting on it and then I think, nope, too tired. But it's still there and it's waiting. And before I know it, I'm on the thing!

I'm not doing the exercise routines that others on the board do. Really wish I could, but my knee simply won't go there. I can't do a lot of twisting or running or anything like that. So I just do what I can. Every little bit helps.

Oh....and you're not a fat cow! You may be overweight, but you're not a fat cow!

Well I would just like to say good luck to all those who want to loose a few pounds or in my case kilos.
I gave up smoking 5 months ago and now I find that the weight is sneeking on so I said to the OH that the next time I shop thats the end of all the snacky stuff and the icecream. So I am with you girls lets go for it

Nekomania

First off, you're not a disgusting fat cow. I've learned that being mean to yourself doesn't help. You have to happy with yourself and with your progress. You have to tell yourself how great you're going to look when you lose the weight.

Just keep at it and keep your chin up. And if it'll make you feel better, I'll post my before/after pictures when I reach my goal too.

Oddly, what worked for me was cabin fever. I barely got out all winter, would buy enough meat and veg to last a month, same with other things including catfood. My diet all this past cold winter consisted of (brace yourselves) dry fried pork chops, steak, chicken. the odd feed of shallow fried liver, and steamed veg and milk when I had it and some dessert type stuff. My junkfood went down to popcorn (air popped) only as it isnt as bulky as most stuff. I would sometimes misjudge the weather and would subsist on tarted up rice and noodles, mostly veg added, sometimes tinned fish. Never kept a journal, but that always present fear of not getting out was the prompter of reducing food intake drastically. Lost at least 40 pounds over winter and it is staying off.