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[erika]

So, basically I have decided I need to lose weight & get in shape.

There are a couple of reasons.

1) I saw myself on that Today Show thing and it was, to be frank, not the way I want to look. I don't care if the camera adds 10 pounds; I looked a lot more than ten pounds overweight.

2) I'm not planning to take classes over the summer (although this may change), and I need something to do at least semi-daily.

3) I can see my stomach over my tits. (Hey, it's my personal measure of flab.)

4) Blah blah dietician blah blah failed glucose test blah blah medical rationale blah.

5) In Seattle, I had to climb up a lot of hills. It sucked, and my lungs felt like they were on fire by the end of the first block. I want to be able to climb up hills, do flights of stairs, have athletic sex, and get back into refereeing soccer.

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I'm guesstimating I need to lose somewhere between 60 and 80 pounds—I'd be very happy with 80, as that would be what I weighed in the middle of high school*, but 60 would also be fine. Depends on how bored I get with this. We'll assume 80 is the goal for now.

* (or roughly so, far as I know, since my family didn't own a scale
until I bought one a few months ago)

I'm going to try to lose about a pound a week—that's a 500 calorie deficit every day, plus whatever exercise I do, so it should be fairly easy to meet that goal in general. After a year, that's 50 pounds gone, and that would mean by the start of 2013, I'd be my goal weight—just in time for the world to end, whee.

I'd also like to be able to run a 5k in 6 months. That would be September, and there happens to be a 5k in a small town about 5 miles away (North Liberty, for those of you who know the area) on September 16th.

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I plan to start following the No S diet, mainly because my brain is overloaded and I can't handle anything more complicated than 15 words, and this diet clocks in at 14. Woo.

First thing to go: my sugary sodas. Sadness.

Second thing to go: Junk food.

Third thing to change: Must eat 3 meals a day. Must eat breakfast in particular.

That's probably enough for now.

Comments

[shanaqui]

I lost weight very quickly when I got my metabolism on track by eating my three meals every day at regular times. I haven't even really had to stop snacking, though I should. I've given up sodas for Lent (as a sort of experiment: if I stop missing them by the end of Lent, it's proof I can stop altogether!), so we share that goal!

exercise_every_day might help. And there's various simple training programs I've done (pushups, situps, Couch to 5k) that might help, if you want the links?

A pound a week is a sensible goal; you can lose 2-3 pounds a week healthily, if I remember rightly. Make sure to weigh yourself at the same time each time -- towards the end of the day you will be heavier.

Good luck!

[erika]

I'm not giving up soda ENTIRELY, just sugary soda... I plan to switch to diet, even though there's evidence that's not very good for you either, because my other beverages that I enjoy are chai, which is sugary and calorific, and regular tea, which I like with, you guessed it, lots of sugar.

EED looks like a great community, thank you! And the pushups and situps link would be great.

[shanaqui]

Pushups, situps. It sounds like a lot at first, but I worked through both programs at the suggested speed, on the lowest levels, and could do it. It's just keeping it up now...

[rydra_wong]

FWIW, you can get teabags of green tea (or black tea) flavoured with the chai spice mix -- might be worth a try? I rather like them, though I tend not to like milky drinks anyway.

[erika]

Already tried them, doesn't taste right without sugar and milk.

I think the solution here is to keep it a treat drink, maybe? I don't even know--is it super horrible to drink, say, 8 cups of skim milk a day? I think this might be something to ask my dietitian.

But thank you for the suggestion!

[rydra_wong]

I don't even know--is it super horrible to drink, say, 8 cups of skim milk a day?

I suspect it depends completely on your individual body and metabolism.

After wading through a lot of nutritional advice, my entirely unqualified opinion is that different people's bodies react completely differently to things like carbs, sugar, dairy, etc. (and this can also be affected by various psych meds, for added complications). So ultimately you have to experiment and figure out what fuel your body runs best on. Tinker around and see how changing one variable affects your energy levels, mood stability, food cravings, etc..

[rydra_wong]

I know a bunch of people in runners are doing Couch To 5K, if that's something that appeals. And I second the rec for exercise_every_day (which doesn't require you to exercise every day -- rest days are encouraged).

If you have any interest in weight training (including bodyweight stuff like push-ups), lifting_heavy_things is full of good resources and a great place to ask questions.

(Oh god, I've turned into an exercise geek. I still can't quite grasp how that happened; I spent a solid two decades avoiding all sports with fear and loathing after school. Then I fell in love with climbing. And I discovered that movement and strength are intellectually hackable.)

[erika]

It is so awesome that you have turned into an exercise geek. I'm hoping to get there myself.