So, I’m 5’6 and I’ve been overweight basically all of my life…a mix of genetics, overweight parents who are GREAT cooks, living in the south with “soul food”, lack of exercise, emotional eating, social eating…the list of excuses goes on and on. Every January I make the same New Year’s resolution…to lose the weight and reach my goal of 145. The closest I ever got was 150..then gained 20 lbs. in a matter of months. This time, I am motivated and determined for things to be different. I’m now in my twenties and am realizing how important it is to be healthy and gain healthy habits, especially while I’m still young. Anywho…enough jabber, this is what I’ve been doing to reach my goal:

I’ve been keeping a daily log of what I eat, calories, and how many weight watchers (great program) points each meal contains. I also keep a log of my daily exercise and how many calories (www.caloriesperhour.com) I’ve burned..or atleast a close estimate. All of this seems to be working…My goal is to reach 145 by September 15th.

I started at 178 a month ago.
I am now down to 171…6 lbs. in a month. Of course I would have much rather lost 10 lbs., but I’d rather lose it slower and keep it off longer.

A sample of my meals today:

Breakfast: no breakfast..but sometimes Special K
Lunch: Ham sub from Subway and baked chips
Dinner: Porkchop sandwich, strawberries

Today I waitressed for 5 hours and being exhausted, I took a day off from extra exercise. I usually take a day off once a week if I have gotten my exercise in another way.

Daily I…

Walk/jog 2-3 miles on the treadmill b/t 3.2 and 4.0 mph.
Lift weights, squats, ab exercises for about 20 min.

I usually exercise for about an hour every day.

There are a few helpful tips that I have learned through magazines and other internet sites…

1. Drink a lot of water (I always order water whenever I go out to eat, because I am more likely to drink atleast 2 glasses, and at most restaurants, water is free…so it saves money too!)

2. Cut back on carbs at dinner. Eat breads, pastas, cereals and other carby foods for Breakfast and Lunch so you have all day to burn it off.

3. Exercise moderately atleast 3 to five days a week.

4. To lose a lb. a week, you must burn 500 more calories than you take in…this is where counting calories becomes helpful.

5. Weigh yourself once a week. This has helped me to see where I may be going wrong, or if I’m headed in the right direction..even it it’s only a few ounces lost. I feel that it keeps me more on track instead of weighing myself once a month. The best time to weigh yourself is right after you wake up in the morning.

6. This might be a little dumb, but it helps motivate me..I printed out a picture of someone who I would like to look like (www.virtualmodel.com) I posted it in front of my treadmill so whenever I feel like quitting, I can picture myself at my goal weight.

7. There comes a point where you have to realize we are not all made to be a size 2. Reaching a healthy weight for your height is what’s important.

8. The 3 day diet does not work…or atleast not for me..along with Low carb diets (made me lightheaded), the South Beach diet, the military diet…I think I’ve tried it all. However, Weight Watchers does work if you are strict about it. It focuses more on healthy lifestyle changes instead of a quick weight loss fix.

9. I am an emotional eater…I am also a college student…college can be extremely stressful and frustrating…boys are also frustrating…parents = frustrating…basically I used to eat whenever I was venting to my roommates or upset about something. This is something that is not fixed overnight. However, if you are an emotional eater, keep only healthy foods around. That way, if you have to go on an eating binge while you rant about how unfair your professor is or how invisible the guy you’ve liked for a billion years makes you feel….you don’t have to finish your rant feeling fat and gross.
(Celery and peanut butter = amazing…just don’t dig out the whole jar)

10. Don’t lose weight for anyone else but yourself. If you are only trying to gain the attention of a guy/girl..you are setting yourself up for failure. Now if you lose the weight in order to gain the confidence to go after the guy/girl..then that’s fine. But be sure you are doing this for you and for your own benefit.

I don’t know..maybe I wasn’t supposed to write all this, but I hope it may have helped someone.