Alright, so I'm just getting started in here. I'm currently 5'4" and weigh about 170 lbs... I would love to be at 150 lbs. Mainly I'm concerned about my problem areas of my mid section and thighs... so i'm planning on exercising and trying to eat healthy - which i do fairly well at. I'm hoping that this diary will enable me to keep track of what I am accomplishing on a daily basis, as well as encouraging me to keep at it! I'm going to try to post each day what I have eaten, as well as what I have done to exercise.

Today:

Breakfast: bowl of peanut butter Captain Crunch w/ milk and a cup of tea

Lunch: cup of tea, popcorn, apple (i had breakfast really late)

Dinner: Spinach salad w/ tomatoes, chicken, cheese, mushrooms and some triscuts

Exercise: 20 minutes on the gazelle

**had 4 beers out with friends**

Breakfast: Yougurt with Strawberries

Lunch: Lean Pocket - Chicken Fajita

Dinner: Pad Thai w/ Chicken, strawberries and vanilla ice cream for dessert

Exercise: Jumped Rope for 10 minutes w/ 25 pushups and 25 crunches
walked to and from class (15min each way)

Breakfast: bowl of grape nuts with milk

Lunch: chicken pot pie, salad, fruit, cookie

Dinner: Pasta with beef and tomato sauce, one slice grilled bread, glass of milk

Exercise: 20 minutes of jumping rope w/ situps and crunches during breaks; walked to and from class (30 min total)

** had two beers out with friends**

Breakfast: bowl of grapenuts

Lunch: didn't make time... had a cookie, and a granola bar between breaks

Dinner: Leftover Pad Thai, Apple,

Study Break: two lattes, pumpkin muffin

Exercise: none

Today wasn't a good day for me... I slept in instead of working out this morning (which probably was good b/c being tired isn't good either) and I didn't make time for lunch b/c i had too many errands to run. I need to drink more water throughout the day and make sure I eat square meals! otherwise I tend to snack on things that aren't healthy for me! Once I get my semester into a solid routine, I think it will be easier, but as this is the first week, things are a little off. Note to self: pack a lunch on Thursdays!

Breakfast: spinach/parmesean bagel with sundried tomato cream cheese, coffee

Lunch: Salad (chicken, spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms, french dressing), cranberry granola bar

Dinner: Chicken Alfredo Pizza Bread (with broccoli and mushrooms), milk, ice cream with strawberries

Exercise: Walked to and from school (30 min), Jump Rope routine

** had a beer at a party**

I had forgotten about the drinks I had had this week and so edited my entries to include them.... i usually don't drink this often, but since i just got back, I kept having social events to go to - usually the bar. Note to self... this probably doesn't help the whole weightloss thing!

Breakfast: Honey Nut Oatmeal ( I have a bunch given to me by my dad that needs to get eaten)

Lunch: Chicken Quesadillas with peppers, onions, tomatoes

Snack:cranberry granola bar

Dinner: bacon cheeseburger and fries (went out to eat) and 3 beers

Exercise: Rope Jumping Routine

It's been hard to get through my jump roping, b/c my shins have been hurting a bit... i need to stretch better and try out the calf exercises someone told me about. I feel better and healthier though, but it's hard when i want instant gratification with my looks. I'm thinking about checking out a weight loss supplement pill, like Dexatrim, just to give me an added boost. My boyfriend is coming to see me in two weeks (we are long distance) and i'm hoping he'll be able to see even the slightest change. He has been really supportive, and I told him about his forum last night and he was glad that I have found a way to help organize myself and keep myself motivated. He's great, b/c he never has called me overweight or fat, and always lets me know how beautiful he thinks I am.

Congratulations on starting on the new you, it looks like you are doing really well from your diary.Im sure your boyfriend will notice something.

Breakfast: Honey Nut Oatmeal and a cup of Green Tea

Lunch: Chicken Fajitas (tortilla, red,green,yellow peppers, chicken, sourcream), glass of water

Snack: cup of green tea, some triscuts, celery sticks

Dinner: baked potato w/ homemade chili topping, cheddar cheese, some sour cream

Exercise:

Breakfast: grapenuts w/ milk

Morning Snack: apple with a cup of green tea

Lunch: chicken fajita lean pocket, glass of water

Snack: soft pretzel (bad idea, but i was very hungry and forgot my snack at home) and a glass of V8

Dinner: Chicken Alfredo with broccoli, glass of water, small bowl of ice cream with strawberries

Extra Snack: Studying went late tonight! 2 cups of jasmine green tea, one special k bar

Exercise: walked 45 minutes, 8 min abs, 8 min legs, 8 min arms

*edit* i went through and figured out today i had about 1900 calories... which means other days... whew! i need to pay more attention and really try to make this work.

I don't know when you started your diet, but have you lost any yet? the reason i ask is because i noticed that you are eating alot of very high calorie foods, such as bacon cheeseburger, ice cream, baked potato with all the toppings. etc. not trying to discourage you. just trying to bring it to your attention. i know you are exercising but maybe not enough to burn off the calories from those high calorie foods.

i just started this past week, and as far as I can tell, i haven't... but I just bought a scale today, and so i'm not exactly sure how much i weighed prior to this week... and i also haven't been watching what I eat as much as I should. I should have had a nice salad when i went out, instead of the bacon cheeseburger and fries. I'm kind of torn about the baked potato... yes, it was probably alot of calories, but i made the chili from scratch, with onions, celery, only 1/2 pound of hamburger (and i still have 3/4 of it left) and some chili beans... oh, and salt and pepper... and i didn't have alot of either cheese or sour cream, just enough for flavor. I'm not sure exactly what i'm doing nutrition wise however, b/c i have never counted calories before, any help you can give would be much appreciated. I also need to stop going out for beers, although, that was a very rare week from my school experience thus far. Usually, i'm only out at the most once a week. Thanks so much for your help and comments!

okay, yeah, i just looked over what i have been eating again, and i could cut back a bit... like have ice cream only once a week, and have drinks only once a week... preferrably not on the same night. Perhaps it could be my reward and motivation for keeping with the program the rest of the time.

i was worried about replying to you because i didn't know how you would take it, but i guess that's why we are here. sometimes others can see what we are doing, when we can't. i think realizing that using some of those as rewards is a great start! also, replacing the really high cal stuff like cheeseburgers with a salad. i do eat cheeseburgers too but no more than once a week. i just started counting calories today and feel like i am eating all the time. i am only having 1200 cal/day. if you don't know how many calories something has, someone posted here about the website caloriesperhour.com and you can find out even at different restaurants. hang in there. we can do this.

Alright... i weighed myself this morning, naked, after i woke up and peed... after reading some other postings, i realized that i wasn't ever looking at the scale at the same time, so this is a new start for weighing, and i'm also going to start counting calories... Oh, the result of the weigh-in was 169 lbs.. and i'm going to aim for 1500 calories this week.. b/c i know i have been eating way more than that...

Breakfast (10:30):
Bowl of peanut butter capn crunch w/ skim milk 150 (grapenuts was 250!)
cup of green tea with honey 60

Lunch (1:00):
chicken broccoli cheddar lean pocket 260
water

Snack (2:45):
Triscuts (9) 180
Celery Sticks 8

Dinner (? ):
Raisins 130
Chili 331
over Spinach 6.9
water

Evening drink:
green tea with honey 60

Total Calories: 1186

Exercise:
3 rounds jump roping w/ 25 upper 25 lower ab crunches
walk to and from school : 15 min each way

hey that means you are down a lb right???? Its a step in the right direction!!!!!!