So after 9 1/2 months of yo-yoing, it's time for a new plan. I am now back up officially (after birthday binge weekend) to the exact same number that I started at back in Jan: 186.6 lbs. *big sigh* So it's time to seriously reduce calorie intake. I've done this before and it worked for a while (maximum of 1.5 years) until I got fed up with being hungry all the time and never being able to just eat something bad without feeling guilty. That's why I was trying to avoid strict calorie reduction. But obviously what I'm doing right now is not working. So here's the new game plan for weight loss.



Cut calories to 1600/day on 5 days of the week. This will break down to



400 Cal breakfast

100 Cal snack

400 Cal lunch

100 Cal snack

500 Cal dinner

100 Cal dark chocolate



Wed will be an "up" day where I will eat 2,000 Cal. 100 Cal will be added to breakfast, snacks, and dinner. One meal per week, I can eat whatever I want. And one day per month, I can eat whatever I want. These "whatever I want" meals/days are to hopefully keep me from eventually going "I've had enough!! Give me FOOOOOD!!!" Hopefully in this way, I'll satisfy any bad cravings I have without destroying my diet or having to feel guilty.



Here is what the work out routine is going to look like at least until the end of the year (exact weight lifting routines may vary):



Sun: full body weight lifting (+ abs) with hubby

M: rest day (Bible study night)

T: full body weight lifting (+ abs) with hubby

W: interval swimming

Thur: full body weight lifting (+ extra legs lifting) with hubby

Fri: interval biking or running

Sat: yogalates at the gym (if I'm in town)



My goal is to lose 1 lb/week. I want to get down to 150. That puts me at my goal at the end of next June. Goals, eating, and workouts will be re-evaluated on a regular basis. I'll say once every 4 weeks.



I'm tired of being overweight. It really sucks. When I look back at old photos from my wedding/honeymoon, it makes me a little sad because I just feel like I might not ever get back there again.



I plan on posting progress daily on this thread and I'd love it if all of you would keep me accountable. If I come back and say "oh sad I ate waaay to much yesterday," yes I'm going to need some "it's okay, get right back to it" but I'm also going to need some "Rachael, how seriously do you want this? You need to focus." I need love and tough love. I appreciate everyone's help.



Oh and if you have any suggestions on how to improve the above routine, please let me know.



Thanks everyone!!

Good game plan, but you've neglected macronutrient ratios. Waaaaay more important than total calories. Make sure you get your protein and good fats in. And by fat, I don't mean you get to take a big bite of peanut butter - I eat around 35-40 gm of fat per day when I'm being strict, and a tablespoon of peanut butter will ruin it for me!



A little advice - nutrition bars are lifesavers at work. I generally eat Balance Bars or Zone bars for breakfast and snacks because they are balanced to the 40/30/30 ratios I desire. They are about as cheap as getting food out of the vending machine, and is an easy way to get the extra protein you need (you really shouldn't try to consume more than 30-40 g of protein at a time, so you have to divvy it out throughout the day.)



Controlling your hunger is a must, otherwise any diet will fail. Make sure you figure out what foods you can eat that hold you over the longest - this is where a little fat helps because fat turns off your hunger signal. (Ever wonder why a Big Mac lasts for hours????) Some days I will trade carbs for fat because it holds me over longer. and since I'm not doing any strenuous exercise I don't really need a huge carb load that day anyway! However, with your workout load you need to make sure you get some carbs in otherwise you'll crash.

As soon as I saw that you had posted, Angie, I knew what you would say. Yes I forgot to mention the ratios. I will not be counting grams of protein, but I will be making sure to get protein into every snack/meal. For example, this morning I had 1.5 cups of milk (1 of those was in my oatmeal) plus the oatmeal gave me 21 grams of protein. I just don't want to track ratios in such detail. I get bored with that quickly. It's good advice to track it all, but that just seems very taxing. Like I said, I'll re-evaluate in 4 weeks and see how the progress is going. If I'm still doing terribly while following this plan (or if I'm losing muscle mass), then I may just have to bite the bullet and track it all for a while.



Speaking of fat, it's hard to know how to get in good fat. There's PB, nuts, seeds, and EVO. Anything else?

I agree with Angie - Zone bars are a life saver for me! They are approx 200 calories but they really stay with you and keep you satisfied - and the dark chocolate ones are delicious. I get them for 69 cents each at a store in Delaware. The Acme carries them for $1.59 each. Anyway, I use them as a meal replacement and get terrific results - they are chock full of nutrients! The most important thing is to burn more calories than you consume. So keeping track of that is very helpful. You may find you won't be hungry at all! Good luck - you can do it!! And just remember there is no reason ever to give up. If you have a bad day, you go right back to it the next!

I'll have to check out the Zone bars sometime when I get a chance. Thanks for the encouragement Diane!

Because they are balanced, hmmmmmmm.

Hi Rachel, your plan sounds great... You said something on here before that really helps me stay on track so I'm going to quote it back to you now!



"You're either in control of your diet and training... or you're not"



Love it, it's so simple... best of luck

Good luck Rachel!! This looks like a great plan, especially with taking time and opportunity to continually re-evaluate. It's important to keep dedicating ourselves to a healthy lifestyle, and I've been neglecting that myself the last month!



Keep us in the loop, I'm interested to know how you're doing.

So true, Rosanne! I feel like I've been in control lately, but I'm afraid that perhaps I've been deceiving myself.









Thanks!!







Will do! In fact, here's yesterday's report:



B: Oatmeal nuked in milk with cinnamon, brown sugar, salt, and blue berries (400)

S: 1 2% cheese stick and 2 dried plums (100)

L: 4 pieces of Boar's Head low sodium ham, 2 slices of FF American cheese, 4 large pieces of lettuce, 1.5 T lite mayo, .75 cups bakes beans, small apple (400 Cal)

S: lite vanilla yogurt (100 Cal)

D: baked chicken, 1/2 medium baked potato with FF sour cream, FF cheese, the 5 Cal butter stuff (what is that stuff made of??), salt, and pepper, and boiled cabbage (500)

Dessert: 2 squares dark chocolate (100)

Total: 1600 Cal



Exercise: none (Bible study night)

Weight this morning (I don't typically weigh on Tuesdays, but I was pretty upset about yesterday's weight): 183.8. Nice! Turns out that most of the weekend's debacle was lost in a day. So I can deal with that.

Rachel... How tall are you? I'm pushin' 180... OMG... not a number I ever imagined that I'd be at... Not without twins in my belly...



Well... I think I actually get to start the gym this week... although I've most recently been sick... so I'm making sure I'm not cootie ridden before I go...



I'm taking my diet direction from the Book... Eat to Live (I had started on it in the past with great success...but let life's stress give me permission to eat a bunch of crap. So that is ending. (It's a struggle. but it's coming to an end!)



Good luck to you!!!! Keep us posted...

B: 3 nuked eggs with FF chedar on top, each egg had a different seasoning (salt & pepper, oregano, and Greek) and 1 cup natural apple juice (400)

S: 1 2% cheese stick and 2 dried plums (100)

L: 4 pieces of Boar's Head low sodium ham, 2 slices of FF American cheese, 4 large pieces of lettuce, 1.5 T lite mayo/spicy mustard combo, .5 cups bakes beans, medium apple (400 Cal)

S: almonds, grape tomatoes, and baby carrots (150 Cal)

D: Small riblet, steamed broccoli, and 1/2 a small baked potato with FF sour cream, 5 Cal butter, and FF cheddar (500)

Dessert: 2 squares dark chocolate (100)

Total: 1650 Cal



I was sooo hungry by the time I got to snack #2 that I macked out on baby carrots and grape tomatoes adding an extra 50 Cal to my day. I think I need to make lunch later in the day to prevent such ravenous feelings.



Exercise: Weight lifting full body with abs emphasis with hubby.

Oh, and 1 goal I forgot to mention is that I want to limit my bread intake (even wheat) to 3 servings/week (excluding splurge meal).

Rachael...I'm not sure how you feel about tortillas etc, but I recently started using the Mission carb balance tortillas, even my "I'm not going to diet" man likes them, they seem softer than regular ones. They do not however work well for quesadillas, they're too crispy when cooked for that. But for a bread replacement I love them.



Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 tortilla

Amount per Serving

Calories 110 Calories from Fat 25

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 2.5g 4%

Saturated Fat 0g 0%

Cholesterol 0mg 0%

Sodium 330mg 14%

Total Carbohydrate 18g 6%

Dietary Fiber 11g 44%

Sugars 0g

Protein 5g 10%

Vitamin A 0%

Vitamin C 0%

Calcium 8%

Est. Percent of Calories from:

Fat 20.5% Carbs 65.5%

Protein 18.2%

Try adding a little more fat to your lunch Rach - replace FF cheese with low fat cheese. Also, I don't know how big those slices of Boar's Head are. The fat will help hold you over.



Replace apple juice with water at breakfast. The apple juice will shoot your blood sugar up and could have contributed to the hunger you were feeling a few hours later. You need to replace the juice with a carb though - so maybe eat a piece of fruit (apple, grapes) instead. (Juice has much higher effect on your blood sugar than raw fruit does, because there is absolutely no fiber in the juice.)



I would also recommend eating just a tad more protein - you are working out pretty hard, and by my estimate you might be about 20 g shy of what you actually need (you are about my same height and weight - I'm basing this off of what I would eat with your workout level.) Why not cut back on the almonds for your second snack, and eat another cheese stick? Then eat another one for your before-bed snack.

I know that I'm not getting enough fat, but I feel like adding bad fat isn't the solution either and it's so hard to get good fat. I could do some low fat cheese though.



The apple juice is so easy and delicious, but you are right, fruit would be better. To get 100 Cal of apple juice, I can chug a cup. To get 100 Cal of apples, I would have to eat 2 apples and that takes like what 5 minutes if I really inhale it. Haha. Maybe I could do raisins or some other dried fruit.



More protein? Okay, I'll try to get some more eggs in. I already ate an omelet for breakfast this morning so I think I'm off to a pretty good start.