There are two dates that I have in mind, March 28, 2010 and August 1, 2010. These two dates are going to be the most important in this next year. One is my birthday and the following is the Chicago Rock N' Roll Marathon. I am pretty sure you can conclude as to what two things I want to get done before I turn 21.

I am currently 19 years old and weigh about 165 pounds. I have struggled with my weight for my whole life and have tried everything imaginable. The heaviest I was was about 180 and the lowest being 148. I have fluctuated in and out over the years using crazy methods but now I have educated myself and want to start fresh and clean. These two dates stand for goals that I want to accomplish on an external level to prove so much more on an internal level.

My goal is to lose about 25-30 pounds by my 20th birthday in March. I feel that it's an attainable goal since I like to run and exercise, it's just about starting up my routine again and keeping it going with a new lifestyle change when it comes to diet.

Although I have wanted to lose fat my whole life I have never focused on a clean diet and I have learned that that is my biggest challenge. I have learned overtime that changing my lifestyle when it comes to the food I eat will be my ultimate challenge and I am up for it. I am up for it only because I know I can exercise and attain my fitness goals when I put my heart into it, its just the food issues I have that are the biggest problem.

My most recent weight loss was in these last two years with poor diet changes but intense exercise which allowed me to lose weight. Sadly it came right back on me this last, stressful school semester and to top it off my motivation wasn't helped by the fact that I had fallen for a guy who, before the gaining back of the weight, I knew I had a chance with. :/

But now I have taught myself that its not the BEST idea to look back anymore. it's important for me to learn from my mistakes and to go on and fix my lifestyle to be better than before and make sure that it lasts. I also appreciate all the help and support that I have seen on this website. I am still a fairly new member but I feel as if this will be my place

I am going to list the goals that I have set for myself in these next few months and I will try my best to keep everyone updated with the weight loss and such! Thanks again all!

DREAMER'S GOALS:
1. Lose 25-30lbs by March 28
2. Create and keep a consistent 1300-1500 calorie diet consisting of the right protien, nutrients, fiber and low carbs
3. No sugars or major carbs
4. consistent training for marathon with cardio everyday.
5. strength training 3-4 times a week
6. hopefully to be prepared for the marathon in august!
7. have a six pack by december [or even earlier] in 2010!

Welcome dreamer, looks like you have the right plan and attitude to go for your goals so You are doing great When I was reading your post I was thinking this is so similar to me ,like losing weight with dieting and exercise and then gaining back........But we seem are very well determined to shoo off the past and invest in the present for a great future So I will surely check out on your updates dear

Hey, I'm 19 and I'm restarting too Good luck !!! Your plans/goals are great, I know we can both do it.

I wanted to begin this entry with a Thanks to both of you that replied! I appreciate the kind words and will definitely keep you updated with the ups and downs of the journey!

As for today, it was the last day of nasty junk food eating! That was a promise to myself because I don't think I realize how much weight I really gained back but like I have said earlier I have to keep myself from looking back into the past.

As for tommorrow I am going to start my cardio with a warm up run for the official marathon training which starts on Monday. My workouts will begin tommorrow as well but I will be focusing on the upper half of my body and work through the rest of it in three days time. As for my diet, I think I am going to try my best to focus on protein and water for the next few days only to retox my body and then hopefully by next week i will start up a fairly clean diet where I will prolly be eating three times a day and as my metabolism increases I will add food to it as well. Wish me luck! and any suggestions would be appreciated!

Another thing I have come to realize about myself is that I pay way too much attention to what other people say or think. it's more unnecessary rationalizing on my part. I think that it adds to my impatience to see quick results, which is a feat that I really need to work on BIG TIME. I have to remember it took me 6 months to get out of shape and gain back the weight and more, so I have to work just as hard to get it off again and keep it off. Again, I know my biggest trouble is diet. There is soo much out there sometimes I wonder if anyone, even the professsionals know what they are talking about.

That's all for today, and i will DEF. be filling you in on my workout tommorrow morning. hopefully the weather is nice enough for me to run outside!!
peace & <3

So today was another day of contemplating. I know I should have done something but I didn't. My fault I know. I didn't feel so well and I didn't want to risk that with final around the corner.

I feel like that's more of an excuse which makes me even angrier :/

Tomorrow is the big day though! I start my marathon training tommorrow. I waited for monday cause it works better with the schedule. I plan on running the three miles and then doing strength training in the upper half of my body as well. It's been a while since i have done any of this so I am defintely nervous :/ but at the same time im thrilled to push myself!

I also joined one of the challenge groups here and am excited for that! Im kinda nervous for the first weigh in though cause i feel like i gained weight since i last weighed myself :/.

wish me luck--update yall tommorrow on the training/workout!

Good luck tomorrow, I will check up on you then

Hey welcome to the forum.
Your attitude to loosing weight and how you are gonna do it is great! And marathon training, thats amazing and its really gonna help you reach your goal!
Food was probably my biggest obstacle, I used to have whole pizza's or fry ups for dinner thinking it was normal but now if I have a Mcdonalds my stomach feels horrible for a day or two. So once you've been eating better for a while you'll wonder how you ate so much or crap quality food before!
Anyways good luck and I'll check in again soon

You guys are great! thanks for the input!

Well today was the official start to my marathon training! Even though it was just stretching and strength training, i decided to run a mile and i loved it I really do miss running and I cannot wait to get back into shape and run again at the pace i was at 7 months ago.

With my strength training I focused on the upper half of my body, mainly the arm muscles and some in the back. It was definitely a workout and there were several occasions where I knew I was working hard cause I couldn't pick up the weights anymore! It was worth it though, I am just nervous about how sore i will be tommorrow hahaha. It was kinda sad though, I mean I only used 8lb free weights and that became harder during my sets. I was just surprised because not even a year ago I was working with a 25lb free weight and thought it was easy! even thought that makes me angry it motivates me to keep it going.

Like I stated earlier, exercise isn't my challenge, it's the eating. Today I was planning on sticking only with 1300 calories but was more around 1500. I think I will stick with that amount for the next few weeks and then cut down only because I am going into this with a lot to change again. Today I did try to keep my protien intake greater than my fat and carb intake and was about even in all three categories. One of my future goals though is to cut down on carbs big time and leave only good carbs from fruits and whole grain. Another things i noted was that I really need to control the dairy intake and focus more on veggies! i love veggies, I guess i just really pay attention to what I eat because most of the dairy was cheeses.

So all in all, what i eat is the thing i really need to keep up with the most. Tommorrow I am going to have to keep it light with most veggies cause I will be doing the three mile run at night! I am excited to see how much endurance I have yet to build up again! I think I will add some lower body strength training to that as well. Wish me luck!

Thanks to you all who take your time to read my thoughts! Will definitely keep you updated!

peace & love

Hey dreamer6

We've got the same b'day !! my first one was a bit before your's though

good luck with starting your new lifestyle.... well done on the workout today.

Ana

Looking good, well done

Hey girl!

I just wanted to pop in and wish you luck with your goals! It seems like you have a great plan and the will to do it which is all you need! i wish you only the best

you guys have been too great. Thanks for all the help and the feedback!

The week had started off great but i kind of crashed half way through:/ It wasnt because of the lack of motivation, there was just too much going on with school, life and health. I know that shouldn't be an excuse but there was literally no time for me to do anything really. I have been a lot more alert with what I eat though but still am struggling. I realize that I have really been abusing my body for some time now and I feel guilty putting the nasty things that do go into my body. I had to go to the doctors in the middle of the week and i have an appointment with a dietician early next week cause I think I just need help with figuring out how to eat not only to lose weight but to be healthy as well. I want to have a great body and be happy with myself. I am sick and tired of not being happy and I really want to change so I am happy that I will be going to see the dietitian to see what she can help me out with.

I don't know if this has happened with a lot of people but i have always had weight problems and have grown to hate food, even though i really need to teach myself that its actually my friend and I have seen soo many cases that good nutrition will lead to the right results. But i just don't know where to start. Hopefully my goal for next will be to get the right nutrition plan down that i will be following hopefully for the rest of my life.

as for the marathon training, I had four papers and a major exam this week so unfortunately that was pushed aside. :/ i didn't like it but the semester and this crazyy bad year is almost over so I know what i have to organize and prioritize for next year and that is to have a body that I have never had before and I just need to make sure to be patient with all of that. [march28 is still a good time away and i KNOW i can lose the fat i want to by then ]

Sorry if this entry was really boring but once i reorganize myself this week for the next few hell-weeks before winter break i feel like life is going to be a bit hectic, but to lose a couple pounds wont kill me either

thanks again guys

I think that's pretty common with a lot of people. Have you checked out all the stickies in the nutrition section? Or tried logging your food in a site like fitday? I used both of those when I started and it really helped me see where I needed to improve. 1300 calories seems a bit on the low end, especially once you start running. I'd start off higher and then cut calories as I progressed and the weight started coming off if it were me. I like having room to improve down the road, plus I always have trouble when I try to restrict myself too much, and then I often end up eating more. I think a lot of the hate for food comes from an attitude of not allowing oneself to indulge. Chocolate or a cheeseburger isn't the end of the world (though I used to think so). Once I accepted the fact that I just have to try my best to eat healthy, and that I will occasionally not eat perfectly, I really developed a much better relationship with food.

I make my running a priority now, and that seems to help me. I've finally gotten to the point where it's just something I have to do, not something I have to try fit in. It's harder in college for sure though. Keep it up and you'll hit your goals!

Thanks for the input! I have actually increased the calories to about 1500.

As for the relationship with food, today I did try my best to work on that today.

As for my workout today, it was fantastic! I ran and it was a breeze and i did weights and was able to increase the amount a bit, and i think i will continue to do so everyday. I am excited for tommorrow as well!! I think I will go and workout in the morning, hopefully. Tommorrow though is going to be more lower body weights and a jog since i have to do the three mile on tuesday.

as far as food goes, its DEF. frustrating. I can't wait to meet with the nutritionist on tuesday. Hopefully she can help me out with a problem that i have never been able to deal with my whole life. but i am trying!!

thanks for reading!

peace.

Ok so for the last few days I have had pretty good workouts. Keeping up with the marathon training and at the same time I am also adding a little bit of my own stuff. I am excited because I feel much happier now that I have started to run again!! I realized how much i really missed it and im so glad im doing it again, i cant wait until this semester ends and when i can run EVERYDAY at home

As for the nutrition, haha its getting there but I am proud because its happening s l o w l y but surely! I mean i realized that its going to take time to completely cut out the nasty foods since it took about 6 months worth of nasty eating to get all the fat back onto my body. I have my appointment with the dietitian today so hopefully I can get life changing advice? haha

by the way if anyone reads this i need some advice on something. This weekend i have two birthday dinners to attend and they arent the most fab places in the world :/ indian and thai foods idk how to avoid the foods and i dont want to completely ditch them either. So i was thinking of eating a bit before going but at the same time what do i tell the people i will be with?

also i have my three mile run today and im excited!!