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| Fri, 04-21-2006 - 1:15pm |
Hi everyone! My name's Holli. I have two wonderful boys, Liam (22 months) and Max (10 weeks). I've always been somewhat overweight, and having the boys really added to that. I've tried pretty much every diet you can think of, but haven't found one I can live with long-term. I thought that maybe making a series of specific changes and incorporating them into my life would be better. So DH and I gave up fast food (anything with a drive-thru) for Lent and haven't gone back to it. And starting on Monday, we gave up desserts. And I'm still within a 3-pound range of where I was when I started. I guess I'm not sure where to go from here. I've been taking the baby for walks almost every day, but until I go back to work (in 3 weeks!) I won't be able to go to the gym regularly. Any advice for what my next step/change should be? We've been trying to cut out processed foods and just make things ourselves too.
I'm glad this board is here and I'm looking forward to getting to know you guys.
Holli

First hello, and welcome. As for advice, I am not the best person in the world to give it but I will tell you what I have learned here in the last few months.
The only thing I know of to tell you is to watch your portion sizes, and count calories. Any exercise is a good start and then when you do go back to work and can go to the gym that will just up the ante. Like you I tend to bounce around in the 10 lbs range and I get so discouraged when I get to 10 lbs and just quit losing to the point I give up. Well I just started over 3 weeks ago, and unlike you I didn't want to give up my eating out or desserts..LOL I wanted to do it with exercise alone. I lost a whopping 3 lbs doing that in 2 weeks. 2 weeks ago I started concentrating on just drinking my water, and exercising 3 x a week. This week I cut my calories and I have lost a total of 4.5 lbs already since SUnday. I can't wait to see where I am at on Sunday. It is a slow process and I know I am so not there myself yet, but take it 1 step at a time. If you haven't already started doing this then I would suggest at least 8 glasses of water a day. It really does help. MOst sites recommend drinking half your body weight but I get physically ill if I try to drink that much water...LOL
The CL of this board who is on vacation right now...is always telling us that she loses slow but hasn't given up. Some folks just lose slow while other it just comes right off. If I continue on the track I am on right now I will be a lucky one but don't get discouraged if it is a slow go for you. Sometimes it just takes trying different things to see what works for you. Everyone is different. Start nice and slow and work your way up.
I wish you the best of luck and congrats on the bundles of joy.
Angela
259.5/252/200
Angela
Hi Holli--
I'm also pretty new to the board, only been here about 2 weeks, but it is a great place.
Hi Holli! welcome to the board :)
I don't have a lot to add to the advice already given and I too am in no way an expert, But here goes nothin!
If you drink soda or any kind of drink that would have calories you might considering either totally replacing it with water OR reducing the amount of high calorie drinks you do consume. Also I'm TERRIBLE at counting calories, I ALWAYS under estimate. Some of the ladies told me about www.sparkpeople.com it's totally free which is good. not only does it track the amount of calories you've consumed, but there's also a graph feature that tells you how much of each of the food groups you've eaten that day. It was a eye opener for me. I knew I loved bread, I just didn't know how much!!
also I know you're busy with a husband, 2 little ones and a job, but try to sneak in some extra physical activity each day. park far away from the building, take the stairs, walk at a lunch break. when I have a lull in the day at the office (and no one is watching) I'll do some crunches, use my desk to do tricep pushups, do squats or lunges. I try to practice perfect posture all day long (shoulders back- sitting or standing tall, abs tucked in) much harder than slouching so it has to be burning somethin- not to mention you look taller and leaner :)
so anyway.. that's my 2 cents.. hope it helps!
good luck and keep posting!
jess
My First 10% of Body Weight
Welcome, Holli!
Welcome, Holli! Based on your screen name, are you from Oklahoma? That's were I'm from originally, although I haven't even been back to visit for almost 2 years now.
I think the changes you are making are wonderful. Doing things gradually to get started can really keep you from getting overwhelmed. Just keep upping the ante whenever you get comfortable with each change. I started by casually walking, then vigorous walking, eating more veggies, etc. Now I'm up (or down) to 1200-1300 cals./day with no more than 30% from fat (monitored by journaling), 64+ oz. of water/day, and 4-5 days of exercise/week. I wish you all the luck in whatever road you take! Just do what feels right to you.
Laura
267/225/145
Acutally, I'm from Chicago by way of Indiana. My screen name is just a childhood nickname from my grandpa.
Everyone has had such great suggestions! I'm going to start journaling everything I eat and drink, along with exercise, today. The water thing is really hard for me. For some reason it seems like I never have enough time to stop and drink enough water when I'm at home (it's no problem at work because I just have it at my desk all the time) but I know that's just an excuse. Hopefully seeing everything in black and white will give me more motivation to succeed. I'm starting this morning at 5'10" and 292, so I've got a long way to go!
Holli