Success... yet to come...
Hi, this is Maria , and this is my first post in this diary... i yet havent devised a plan for myself... by starting from this month onwards i hope to succesfully change my lifestyle and accomplish weight loss.. i would appreciate any feedback, tips and advices... I have lost upto 40 pounds in the past but i cant even remember what made me do that .. or how i did that... all i know is that i lost weight in one year.. from 190 to close to 148 .. right now i weigh 167 , one month ago before joining the gym i was 157 , i still dont know if the 10 pounds are fat or the muscles .. it frutrates me as after joining the gym instead of losing the weight i gained 10 pounds.. there are no difference in the inches... I am desperate to lose weight but i just dont know how to start or what to do... what kind of diet to apply on me and how often should i work out.. i have a lot of belly fat and thats the major issue in my weight as i look bell shaped..
i need motivation.. or maybe liposuction.. i yet dont know what to do.. please advice me so i can start my own weight loss succcess.
thank you for your time.

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Take a look around and read read read. Find out how many calories you need to eat a day (usually times your weight by 10 and this is a good amount to lose weight).

Start up some walking every day or join a gym. You'll be happier and sexier in no time!

Good luck to you xox

Hi Maria! welcome

The most important aspect of losing weight is your nutrition, so it is possible that since you joined a gym and have been exercising, you assumed you could eat more or unknowingly eat more because you were hungry after working out. So, to begin, you might want to start writing out what you eat for the next few days or past few days if you remember and use something like Free Diet Plans at SparkPeople or calorieking.com to figure out the calories you are getting daily. I have lost 40lbs so far without really focusing on exercise. My caloric deficit has come through reducing the amount of calories I eat, not through increasing exercise.

Different bodies distribute weight differently. I have most of my fat on my hips and thighs. This also means that as you lose weight your body will decide for itself where it wants to take the fat from first, you can't spot reduce. So, by creating a caloric deficit your body will use the fat for energy, which will eventually lead to belly-shrinkage . So that is my advice for now. First look at your eating habits, then you can examine your exercise routines. Hope I helped some

thank you for your replies... yes i really didnt cut or control my calories , thinkin i am working out anyways... thats the big issue i hope to surrender to it soon... this site is awesome.. and everyone here is so supportive .. thank you for the help..

I'm glad I could help

so as the beginning of the new month has come... i'm vowing to b regular tot he gym.. at least 5 times a week. and do the 20 minute pilates every other day...the gym session would include 30 mins cardio and weight training.. the diet will be recorded as it comes through.. for sure.. sugar is out of the lit. i hope this works better..

Hi Maria, sounds like you're off to a good start. I started where you are in terms of weight and nothing really worked for me until I started calorie counting. Before that I was "watching what I eat" yet I wasn't really taking off any weight. Once I figured out how many calories I was consuming, I realized I was eating to maintain rather than to lose. It got easier to figure out once I started logging my calorie intake and calories burned through exercise. Best of luck with your plan .

we got same weight and same ticker.. wow i wish i was at ur cw... anyways i know heard bunch about calorie counting.. but how do i do that.. i tried it once long time ago but never understood how to figure out what has how many calories... having a very busy schedle i eat mostly from outside.. foods without any labels.. a salad always seemed good but i enevr understoo how much calories does it have in it.. i guess i need a lot of research on that.. maybe i need a diet plan.. what did u do ?? what should i refer to ??

Hi Maria!

For calorie counting, I found that FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal was extremely helpful.

Other than that, it sound's like you're off to a great start!

If you eat at a lot of restaurants, you can usually find information on their website for the calories in different things. Salad is usually a good option if you like them. You just have to be careful with the dressing. A lot of times restaurants will drench the salad in dressing that has A LOT of calories. So, you have to make sure to get light or fat free dressings in order to get less calories from them. Its tough with restaurants, though, cause you never know if there are added calories in things (i.e. if you get pasta, how much oil they added). CalorieKing - Diet and weight loss. Calorie Counter and more. has a lot of nutrition information for different fast food places and restaurants. You can look up the calories for pretty much any food on either calorieking.com, sparkpeople.com, or fitday.com.

Hey Maria, that IS cute about our identical tickers .

Miz somethingnew (hi ) took the words right out of my mouth about the salad dressing and looking up restaurants. Maria, you'll notice that you tend to eat at the same places or eat the same things. At least for most people that's the case. There's just not that many choices and we tend to like our habitual favorites. So when you have some time you figure out the calories of the things you usually eat; go to calorie-count.com or just type the name of the food plus the word "calories" and you'll find out (or go to the restaurant's website).

Looking up the food is what you need to do to get your "reality check" about what you're eating. You may find the foods are great and to keep them up, or you might be shocked at the amount of calories in some of the things you're eating. If that's the case, then you find substitutions at the place you go to or find other places. Decide ahead of time what you'll be ordering next time you go to X restaurant -- after you've looked up the calorie count if possible.

Yes, this will take some time but its worth it to understand how you got to your weight and how to get it off (and KEEP it off).

Check my diary if you want to get an idea of what I'm doing .

thak you for your help.. i'm planning to start a fit day account. it is so exciting as i ve never done anything like a log ever.. it sounds very promising.. something tht tells you stright up wwhat you are inputting and how much to work on it... sounds simple ... yeah i looked at the websites of various restaurants they all have an exact calorie count. thanks ya'all.. maybe i need to do something like no eating afte 7 p.m or something.. hoping to lose.. thanks for support.

I think its a good rule of thumb to try not to eat too late, but if you are hungry at night, don't torture yourself trying to go to sleep with a growling tummy. Just try to make smart choices about what you eat later at night. I like to eat an orange after my nightly walks and usually that tides me over until the morning. But the rules about not eating late have some scientific backing, but it wont make that big of a difference. It's all about calories in and calories out, your body doesnt have a cut-off where it stops burning calories for that day. I'm actually not sure how it works that you arent supposed to eat late...I might have to go look that up.

I think this theory came from the gospel called Oprah..LOL. Or maybe it was her guru Bob Greene. Whateva! I really dont have that much will power like Oprah, not even to have "one little grape" after like 5pm or whatever she does. What works for me is to have healthy snacks so I can still eat but not eat up too many calories. Of course tonight I bought myself a pack of Junior Mints, but I couldnt get down the nasty dinner I made. LOL (I tried making meatloaf with turkey and it came out awful this time).

so i signed up myself on calorie-counter and fitday.com ..looks really really good.. the only one issue... whats my serving size ?? i had a home made quash soup today.. (for the first time) and i have no idea what the serving size should be.. or the cucumber slices i had.. is it 1 serving or 2... still figuring out..
thanks for our support.