Hi,

My name is Paul, I'm 38 and I've been overweight for far too long. I've finally changed my eating habits as well as my non-existing exercise habits.(I am walking 2 miles a day right now) I want to keep motivated to stick with this and not lapse back into old bad habits. I've been at this about 2 weeks now and so far so good. I'd actually lost more weight than the 3 lbs I already am counting but since I did not have an accurate scale I'm not going to guesstimate on those. I can be precise now. Going to only weigh myself officially once a week though. Unless it's better to weigh more often ?
I have read some of the posts on this site but need to read alot more. I want to get my calorie intake to about 1,500 daily . from what I have read that seems to be a healthy number. Right now I'm actually finding it hard to eat enough. I've got to get a steady routine in place of what I can/should eat everyday . I'm eating alot of the lean cuisine meals and I fine them filling and I'm not hungry but yet I'm not getting enough calories through them and I don't want to put my body into "starvation mode" from lack of calories. Any suggestions will be welcomed from anyone. Especially on what amount of calories is considered proper for weight loss. My normal calorie intake to maintain current weight would be around 2,500( ugh I hate even admitting that)
Thanks !

Friday , July 20 2007
I'm at 312 lbs ( -3 lbs from where I officially began weighing myself at 315)
This is the heaviest I've ever been. My short term goal is to get to 250 . No real timetable, just that I have to get there. Then I will start a new weightloss goal. I don't want this to be just another diet. I want it to be a lifestyle change. So far , so good.

welcome to your diary

Keep reading that's a pretty low number - check the thread in the nutrtion section on guidelines -you'll find a link in there on calculating your BMR -

Much success on your journey

Better to weigh in every day. You will see some unsettling ups, don't let it faze you but it also allows time to correct problems. Focus on incremental gains instead of the long haul, I celebrate every 10 lb. barrier broken.

Thanks for the input.
I have been doing some more reading and definetely it looks like 1,500 is too low.
It's a bit confusing as to what is the right thing to do. I used the calculator on this website Free Calorie Counter - Calories Burned, BMI, BMR & RMR Calculator
Then I read in another article that someone suggested that you should decrease your caloric intake by 500 calories below your maintance intake level.
In my case this would be around 2828-500= 2328 calories a day . That just seems like alot.
seems like there are so many theories and formulas out there on how to lose weight. I always thought if you simply ate less and exercised more you would lose weight . I'm finding there is more to it .

you might not want to jump to that number over night but definitely work towards getting yourself to the higher number, in the long run your body will appreciate it..

Upped my walking today since I didn't get to go yesteday.
Walked 3 miles and felt pretty good .

Reason I didn't walk yesterday was it rained like crazy but I also went out and we ended up at the Cracker Barrel . Oh the temptations! I admit I treated myself and I actually felt guilty about it. I did not eat everything on my plate though . I left some of everything and had no bread . I weighed this morning and no change so no harm no foul I suppose. I might start to treat myself to one really nice meal at least once a week . Just not go hog wild.

Walked 4 miles yesterday . Might have overdid it though.
Feeling good though

I should have been keeping track of this from the start.
Walking:
7/17-2 miles
7/18-2 miles
7/19-2 miles
7/21-3 miles
7/22-4 miles
total so far- 13 miles

Now, for today .
I ate 1,548 calories today after I have my 100 calorie bag of popcorn in just a bit. Sure would taste good with a Coke but I won't . Have not had a coke since 6/16 so it's been over a month . I don't think I've ever been this long without a coke or pepsi. Nothing but water from now on.
I walked 2 miles today for a total of:
15 miles walked since starting.

Walked 2 miles this evening after dinner.
17 miles total walked now in one week.

I think I might skip it tomorrow though . I haven't decided yet.
Today was a rough day for some reason. I was irritable and grumpy around 5 o'clock . I haven't been until today.
I suppose the fact that an ex girlfriend emailed me today out of the blue to tell me she was going to marry this guy she broke things off with me for didn't really help. Why in the world did I need to know this ??? Is it some subconcious way of her trying to get out of it ? Hoping I'll show up and object or something ? Fat chance! Pardon the pun .
I know what the first thing it made me think about though . Eating . Blowing my change in my diet. I literally thought about how comforting it would be to have a big glass of coke and some huge lunch full of greasy french fries and stuff. I snapped myself out of that though. I had an appropriate sized meal with water. I have not had a cola in over a month now. It alarmed me though how my wanting to eat would make me feel better though.
Oh well, rant over .
Another day down and the rest of my life to go!

well done walking each day, and well done resisting the coke with fries and choosing a healthy meal

Thanks Trusylver.




Walked another 2 miles after dinner tonight. Just got in before a huge thunderstorm.
19 miles walked total so far.

Looks like a rainy night in Georgia.

Keep up the good work, Paul! I was impressed that you resisted the comfort food after the ex-girlfriend's email. Way to go! Just keep up your focus and be determined and you'll get there. You deserve it.

Well, kind of depressed this morning . Today was my official weigh in for the week and nothing. No weightloss , not one pound. I was hoping for at least 1lb . I really felt like I had lost something . I suppose I could count tenths and view that as a positive but I wasn't going to be that detailed. If I look at it that way I lost 4/10 of a pound. I've been consuming 1500-1700 calories a day and was walking at least 2 miles a day each day except yesterday (it rained).
I'm not going to fall off the wagon but I guess there goes my treat meal for this week. I wonder if my body thinks I'm starving at this calorie level ? I'm scared to eat more than that though. I've been very comfortable in that range. Mostly salads, subway and lean cuisines this past week. Oh well .

subway and lean cuisine have a TON of sodium in them.. that might be a big part of the problem... not only females have water retention issues

have you done a calcution on your BMR to give you a general idea of how many calories you should be getting in a day? there's athread in nutrition that will point you in that direction..