Ok guys and gals, I need to lose some weight. I've always had to work harder than most to keep weight off, thank you crappy genetics and slow metabolism, and in the last 3 years its become increasingly difficult because I've been a bit limited in what I can do. For a long time I was a triathlete and competitive martial artist, but I got severely injured during survival training (ironic, huh?) in '08 and haven't been able to run or do super high impact stuff because of permanent ankle damage. I'm lucky I can still even fly...

So, I weighed in for the first time in a few months this morning and clocked in at 203.6 which is about 10 lbs above where I was in May. I'm 5'9" and have a super muscular frame, but when I was hard core working out before my injury I was keeping myself at a fairly lean (for me) 170-175 with no issues. I'm not always the best at accountability, but if I know people are watching over my shoulder I'm a lot better about it.

I have been road and mountain bike racing for the last couple years, but I moved in June and have had a hard time settling in with my new job and it's been dangerously hot around here. So, I haven't touched either of my bikes since the 100 mile race I did around Tahoe on June 5th. I finally dusted it off, lubed the chain, and did a nice little 16 mile ride last night with Aaron. Wasn't bad, but I need to bump it up. I've also been doing some martial arts as the ankle will allow, but honestly I don't do enough to get a good workout most days and Aaron and I only do it 2 or 3 times a week. He's so cute with it by the way, he's getting his yellow belt (1st promotion) tomorrow night

Anyway, the other thing I need to do is clean up my eating habits. Not going to lie, they've been atrocious since the move and with all the traveling we did this summer. I've been doing pretty well this week, and I finally told Aaron he can be picky all he wants but if he doesn't like what I'm cooking he is on his own. He's like a 4 year old when it comes to veggies. I made this awesome shrimp dish the other night and he picked out the shrimp and refused to touch the spinach or tomatoes The other big thing I need to do is cut out the alcohol intake. I've been hitting the beer pretty hard lately, and that really needs to stop. So, I'm going to bike more, eat better, and drink less beer, and then try to log a weight check once a week. If I think people are watching, I'll do it. I have about 12 weeks to go before our physical readiness test for the Navy, and a little under 6 months before the wedding. My goal for now is 180, and I'll update that as necessary after I do my first dress fitting in November.

Thanks in advance for all the support!

Good luck!!!

Ok I'm gonna get back to you at work with info! I'm on the treadmill right now! We are here to help you out

We're rooting for you! I find myself more motivated when I know people are watching too. Otherwise I lose my will power...what little there is to begin with.

Wow, that is picky! Lol My hubby will eat anything. I'm the picky one at our house. :p

Hopefully now that the weather is cooling you can get out biking more.

I need to work out too...I have like absolutely no motivation even WITH people watching me. I have hypothyroidism (really low metabolism, I take meds for it) and love food way too much so its really important that I eat well and exercise. Luckily, having my husky has gotten me up and walking/jogging probably more times than I have in the past year XD Some may think that getting a high energy breed was a bad idea considering I am so lazy and out of shape, but having a husky (or really any animal that depends on me for care that includes exercise) motivates me like nothing else. I am so looking forward to when I can take him biking with the WalkyDog

Good luck to you! Looking forward to hearing about your progress. Hopefully it will provide me with some inspiration

blueeyedghost wrote:

The other big thing I need to do is cut out the alcohol intake. I've been hitting the beer pretty hard lately, and that really needs to stop.

Ok, I think this the first time I actually admit this to anybody, but I know that I need to cut down on the alcohol intake as well. My hubby and I will have a bottle of wine almost every night. Given, that's only 2 cups of wine each, but sometimes we'll go through 2 bottles like it's water. I know it's just wine so that doesn't concern me too much, BUT I'm starting to think that I drink way TOO MUCH beer on the weekends!!! I'm always complaining on how I gained 2-3 pounds in 2 days and well...I WONDER WHY??!!? LOL!!! I just love beer...it's hard to not have it Other than that I LOVE FOOD, but I'm pretty good at not going overboard (during the week at least..lol).

I recently starting biking with my husband and the most we've done is 18miles. I WAS ABOUT TO PASS OUT!!! Girl, 100 miles is awesome!!!!!!!!!!

Having a working breed dog really does help to keep motivation. I lost 15 pounds last summer when I got Kale and I wasn't overweight! I weigh less now than I did when I was in high school! haha Weird to say that I weigh less as a college graduate than a high school graduate.

We're here rootin' for ya!! You can do it!!

Ok Meredith here i go...
first i will say that once an athlete always an athlete so your body will remember your "lean" time and with a "lifestyle" change you can get back there. just depends on how committed and strict you can be. i just lost 45lbs in 7 months and i was super strict with my food and work out.
first off give up the alcohol, i know its hard for some it was not for me as i only drink like one drink like a month so no big deal.
i know with the ankle your limited but can you get into a pool to do some laps or water work out? community center or gym? the biking and walking Ghost is good as well. i think the biggest thing is the food if you change how you eat you can still loss with out a hard work out.
i think i have a sample of my food in my log but if not here is a good guide.
morning
protein, carb, fat and fruit ( i have 1 hard boiled egg, on sarelee 45cal bread, lightly spread with smart balance light butter and a sprinkle of morton light salt. and 1 serving of your fav fruit.

snack
i do a protein shake under 110 cals with 8oz of fat free milk

lunch
6 oz of either Face greek yogurt plain or 1% cottage cheese, serving of carbs 50 cal or less, i use melba toast or wasa bread or the sare lee. and 1 serving of fruit to mix into my yogurt or cottage cheese. with the yogurt i mix in 1 packet of stevia sweetener and with the cottage cheese i sprinkle in some of the light salt.

snack
i do a protein bar- i like the pure protein- 180 cal 20g of protein and its a boost before my work out. kashi also makes a good snack bar. and i add in my 3rd fruit here, i like oranges

Dinner
6oz of fresh chicken, or 5oz of fish, or any meat you like that = 1 serving, you know the whole deck of card palm of hand serving trick.... i don't use any olive oil or seasoning with added sodium. mrs dash makes a good mix of seasoning with no salt and the spray pam works wonders. i eat my 3 serving s of veggies at dinner so with a salad or grilled.

ok the break down is
3 servings of protein
3 servings of fruit
3 servings of veggies
3 servings of carbs 50 cal or less
2 snacks under 200 cal
8oz of fat free milk
80oz of water or more

the trick is to NOT eat out of a box, you want to prep all your food fresh, you don't want added sodium and carbs sneaking in.

i also take a mulit vit., fish oil, calcium with vit D
we have a good recipe section as well to check out for ideas

as far as soon to be hubby goes, your right if he does not like it he is on his own! thats what i did with ken, he either ate what i was making or fended for himself, still does but now he eats more veggies then he used to

Nice start, Meredith!
Knowing where your weaknesses are, and knowing what areas can be improved on is a very good start!

Exercise is key, but a solid nutrition plan will be your foundation for a healthy weight loss. Everyone's metabolism is different, so balancing your food is going to vary.

I have several friends that are fitness competitors and the bulk of getting their bodies in shape depends a lot on what and how they eat.

One summer, I started with P90X and lost 17 lbs in 90 days and a total of 24 inches. I followed that up with P90X Plus and Insanity and although I gain 3 lbs after Insanity, I still managed to lose a few more inches. And I ate 5 small meals which kept me satisfied throughout the day.

I stopped all that when I adopted Ginger, and slowly went back to eating normal - not that the diet plan that came with those workouts was not normal - and walking a few miles a day with Ginger still allowed me to maintain what I had achieved.....until Thanksgiving and Christmas. I'm still carrying those 3-4 extra lbs, but I know what I need to do to drop it.

Alcohol slows the metabolism down. Which in turn, does not help your body burn calories effeciently. So maybe allow yourself 1 beer a week instead? With your ankle, like Jenn said, swimming is excellent! So is biking!

And as Jenn pointed out, we do have a recipe section that has some good alternatives.

I could never eat the meal plan that Jenn is on, and therefore would fail horribly because I would never be satisfied and I would crave food. I'm too much of a 'foodie', so for me, I had to find ways to eat what I loved while making them more 'diet' friendly. And if you'd like some ideas, I can help you change some of your favorite foods to make them 'healthier' - just let me know.

First off, you guys are awesome. I'm so glad I stumbled into this forum. I forget what I was googling that led me here in the first place

We do have an outdoor pool on base, and there is a small university about 15 minutes away that has an indoor pool that they let military use. We also have some decent bike trails, and once you get away from downtown Milton the roads are pretty lightly used. I've heard there's a huge system of trails through the Blackwater State Park, and I need to get out and explore a little. Thankfully the heat has broken and I haven't seen it get above 81 yet this week. After being used to the nasty heat we've had, I find that I'm tempted to grab a sweatshirt at like 75

I appreciate the words of wisdom from everyone, and Jenn thanks so much for the menu ideas. The biggest obstacle for me with menu planning is going to be proper nutrition for my job. With my old airplane it was a large passenger jet with communications gear instead of a couple hundred seats, we had 2 fridges and I could eat anywhere on the jet. So, I could snack appropriately during a long mission flight and I wouldn't have any issues with inadequate nutrition unless I had a surprise flight or I failed to plan appropriately. My new plane you don't so much sit in it as much as wear it. There's no room for food and I can't stuff my pockets because I have to wear a G suit and survival vest. Our flights are only 2 hours long, so I can keep stuff at the squadron and grab food between flights. My biggest problem is going to be finding healthy stuff to eat that keeps me full enough I don't get sick in the plane. I've been flying for 6 years, and I still get airsick in high dynamic flights if I haven't eaten enough (the crappy part is carbs work best for that )

I saw the recipe section, and I will definitely have to make some additions. When I actually have time to cook, I love doing it and I enjoy trying new recipes. I've found some really good ones over the years (like the shrimp one that Aaron wouldn't eat). I love pretty much all veggies, I just have an issue with mushrooms so I generally avoid them. Other than that it's pretty much fair game.

I'm off to beat up on Aaron for a couple hours at karate tonight (it's so much fun to hold it over his head that I'm a 2nd degree black belt and he's a little yellow belt. Yeah, I'm mean...). Tomorrow is a no fly day for my squadron because we are having a change of command, so I'll only be at work for a couple hours at best. Hello LONG bike ride

Here are a couple pictures. The first was in May '06 as I was finishing a half ironman, the second was at the finish line of the 100 mile ride I did in June. There's about a 20 lb difference there.

its crazy how the weight can just creep up on you, being a women sucks! the iron man is no game, good job with that and the 100 miles!

another suggestion for food ideas is the body for life cook book called cooking for life
http://www.amazon.com/Eating-Life-Bill-Phillips/dp/0972018417/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1315521218&sr=8-1
i will start to cook from that again now that my loss is over and i need to start maintaining and can add more foods into my daily meals, KEN even liked the foods from that book!!!

as far as flights go the protein bars would be good and i have found the light cheese sticks are a good snack and are ok warm.

the diet i listed keeps me full with doing 5 days of 30 min cardio in the morning as well as 2-3 nights a week of 1 hr lifting. you can "carb up" on the 45cal bread slices i bet... sara lee 45cal is the best tasting around. also peppers are a good fill up snack.
were all here to keep each other on track!

So, here goes a little truth in reporting. I decided to move weigh ons to Monday to discourage the weekend binge eating, and well, it didn't work very well this weekend...

I did 28 miles on my bike on Friday, nothing on Saturday, and a hike with Ghost yesterday. I wasn't terrible on food, but I had, well let's just say it was more than my 1 allotted drink on Saturday. We went karaokeing, which I don't do sober. Long story short, I'm a bit heavier today than I was Thursday, though I attribute most of it to water retention since I didn't drink enough water and got sunburned as hell on Friday ( hence no workout Saturday). I am doing some better meal planning and will get a workout in every day.

Today, 9/12 - 206.6

I'm sitting in class all day for the next 3 days. I'm an hour in and already looking for a sharp pencil to ram in my eye. Thank God I have this forum to entertain me

Yay class!

Nothing quite like 2 hours of the psychology of flight instruction... it also really doesn't help that I'm pounding water to flush my system from the weekend and keep myself awake.

X_X. One hell of a weekend.

I can't imagine how you could possibly be falling asleep during the Psychology of Flight Instruction!!!
It sounds so....so...
so........
Interesting? O.o

It's absolutely riveting Next up is how to fill out student grade sheets and the grading standards.

And yeah, Saturday was a good time

Meredith,
i HATE monday weigh ins.... dont freight it, Lindsay and I are ALWAYS heaver mondays after a weekend of hiking, we drop back down by Wed. just be good this week and try to carry it into the weekend. Good for you to get out there and bike!

Boy, I sure wish I was you in that class right now! Sounds exciting!!!

thanks Jenn. I'm not overly worried about it, because I normally gain a little on weekends. I'm doing a bit of a detox today and we'll have to see what the scale says tomorrow. tonight is karate, but I teach more than participate anymore. if I get out of class early I'll probably hit a few miles on the bike. I also have a feeling Aaron is going to be on his own for meals a lot this week. hello veggies!

So, I was finally able to knock off the weekend gain and I'm sitting at a 0.6 lb net loss. Not too shabby for a little less than a week, and I'm so happy to be back on my bike after a 3 month hiatus. I did an hour of karate on Monday, as hard as the old ankle would let me, then pounded out 29 miles on the bike at a pretty good pace. I've been on the bike 3 times in the last week, and I'm already seeing my average speed creep back up towards where it should be. I also made a pretty good mental leap this week, and I'm able to go workout or cook a good meal without worrying about Aaron. He's been a little upset that I've gone riding without him a couple times, but if I'd waited I wouldn't have been able to go at all. I also got him to take a couple bites of squash last night too

On a side note, I think I'm turning into my mother. I bought a Woman's Day and Family Circle magazine for recipes the other day...

blueeyedghost wrote:

On a side note, I think I'm turning into my mother. I bought a Woman's Day and Family Circle magazine for recipes the other day...

I enjoy www.allrecipes.com as well.

I have even used the feature of typing in a couple ingredients that I either have in my pantry or that I am craving and, voila!, this site suggests some recipes that meet my criteria!

Congrats on the weight loss, too!!

Thanks Lisa! I also use www.allrecipes.com, and have found some awesome stuff. I really enjoy cooking and trying new things, so a lot of times I'll make something once or twice then start tweaking it.

http://tastykitchen.com/

i love this site as well pictures are my thing for cooking! good job on the work outs

Thanks Jenn, I will have to take a look at that. Pictures are always good. I think I'm going to hit up the pool today, since I can wait for Aaron and we won't have to worry about daylight on the bikes.

www.cooks.com

Been using this site short of forever.