A girl's gotta lose weight! - Progress log

[AwakeDreaming]

How high are your carbs? Are you drinking alcohol? I bloat when I drink alcohol or have too much bread in my diet. Look back at your diet within the last week and see what has changed. Also, lower your sodium intake if you want to lose the bloat quickly.

Hello. My carbs are not that high, around 90-100g (max 120) most days, either rice or pasta. I did drink one glass of wine last week but that was pretty much it. There wasn't any big change in terms of the type of food I ate during the week :/
It is true however that my sodium intake was probably higher than usual these past few days since I ate with friends/out pretty often. I'll see if it gets better by going back to my normal diet this week!

[GirthRogers]

I really don't want to delve into the specifics and I'm begging you to not elaborate, but women gain and retain water weight during certain times of the month. If your scale is bouncing around for a few days here and there, it's best to take an average over the course of two weeks and see if it's moving in the right direction. Don't get confused if it reads higher one day over another. Long term progress is a better indicator of progress.

It seems like you are doing great to me, keep it up!

[AwakeDreaming]

I really don't want to delve into the specifics and I'm begging you to not elaborate, but women gain and retain water weight during certain times of the month. If your scale is bouncing around for a few days here and there, it's best to take an average over the course of two weeks and see if it's moving in the right direction. Don't get confused if it reads higher one day over another. Long term progress is a better indicator of progress.

It seems like you are doing great to me, keep it up!

Haha alright, thanks for the advice! I'll try tracking 2 weeks moving averages!

[AwakeDreaming]

Day 17

My legs are still extremely sore but, well, I can't rest forever so I still went to the gym for a back & biceps session (1h20). I think that the uphill walk to the gym was actually more painful than the training itself haha. I really hope it will get better tomorrow.

Food-wise, I had 1554 kcal - a bit more than I wished, but I had an unexpected slice of cake since my dad decided to bake today, which is super rare.

I hope you all had a nice day!

[AwakeDreaming]

Day 18

I didn't feel so well today so I slept quite a lot, taking naps here and there. I still went to the gym in the late afternoon for a chest & triceps session (1h10) and felt much better even though the weights seemed heavier during the training.
Food-wise, I had a bit over 1400 kcal today, which is good. I'm still "wasting" too much my allocated amount of calories on snacks than though, so here's where some progress could be made.

[AwakeDreaming]

Day 19

Rest day, ate a bit over 1300 kcal. Nothing special today.

[AwakeDreaming]

Day 20

Went to the gym for a legs & shoulder session (1h20) - was rather good, I managed to increase the weights a bit. Food-wise, I had around 1400 kcal, a bit more carbs than usual. I'm still feeling bloated and my stomach sticks out like crazy, which is inconvenient :/

[GirthRogers]

Write out your exact diet for the last two days. Maybe the forum can tell you where the problem is.

[AwakeDreaming]

Write out your exact diet for the last two days. Maybe the forum can tell you where the problem is.

Alright, here you go:

Saturday
- lunch: 60g pasta, 103g chicken breast, a handful of cherry tomatoes
- dinner: 60g chinese noodles, 100g chicken breast, paprika
- snack: 50g chocolate

Sunday
- lunch: 60g pasta, 140 pork cutlet, tomatoes, 30ml low fat cooking cream
- dinner: 250g ravioli light, 60g tomato sauce
- snack: 60g m&m's

I used a bit of fish sauce and maggi to cook and also some pepper.

[AwakeDreaming]

Day 21

Very busy day travelling for meetings once again so I didn't go to the gym but only walked around as much as I could. Food-wise, I had a bit under 1400 kcal.

[AwakeDreaming]

Week 3 - Recap

Starting weight: 70.0 kg
Week 1 weight: 69.1 kg (-0.9)
Week 2 weight: 68.9 kg (-0.2)
Current weight: 69.3 kg (+0.4)

I'm not really sure why my weight increased this week, I ate better than the previous two weeks (less eating out) and still went to the gym 4 times (weight training), same as last week. This is quite depressing as I have the feeling of working hard (legs days are sooooo painful) for nothing and will never reach my goal :/
In addition, my stomach is still bloated like a huge balloon, which is really annoying. I wonder whether it's because it's that time of the moon soon but I never got that kind of pms...

Anyways, I'll try to hang in there and keep doing my best with going to the gym and eating 1200-1400 kcal a day. I really hope to see the scale move in the right direction again this coming week!


Also, below is my workout routine. Each session takes around 1h15-1h30 and I try to rest approximately 45 seconds between each set. I use weights as heavy as I can even though they are probably not heavy for most people haha. I also add a cardio session here and there, when I feel like it.

Push (chest & triceps)
Barbell bench press – 3x12
Dumbbell flies – 3x12
Dumbbell bench press – 3x12
Barbell inclined bench press – 3x12
Butterfly machine – 3x12
Chest press – 3x12

Barbell overhead triceps extension – 3x12
Triceps pushdown (rope) – 3x12
Triceps pushdown (V-bar) – 3x12
Skull crushers – 3x12
Dips (triceps) – 3x12

Pull (back & biceps)
Assisted pull-ups – 3x12
Wide grip pull-down – 3x12
One arm dumbbell row – 3x12
Cable row – 3x12
V-bar pull-down – 3x12
Dumbbell shrugs – 3x12
Hyperextension – 3x12

Dumbbell biceps curls – 3x12
Dumbbell hammer curls – 3x12
Straight bar cable curls/preacher curls – 3x12
Rope cable curls – 3x12
Underhand cable pull-down – 3x12

Legs & shoulders
Leg press – 3x12
Walking lunges – 3x walking across the cardio zone of the gym (around 24-26 steps each way)
Leg curl – 3x12
Leg extension – 3x12
Calf raise (leg press machine) – 3x12
Adductor machine – 3x15
Abductor machine – 3x15

Arnold shoulder press – 3x12
Side lateral raise – 3x12
Overhead press – 3x12
Front dumbbell raise – 3x12
Upright barbell row – 3x12
Barbell military press – 3x12

[AwakeDreaming]

Day 22

Wasn't so motivated today but I still went to the gym for a cardio session - 1 hour of rolling hills on the elliptical. The hot weather is really killing me these days. Food-wise, I had a bit under 1400 kcal.

[AwakeDreaming]

Day 23

I spent the day with friends so no gym, we went for a long walk though. Food-wise, I don't have a precise calorie intake since we ate at a burger place for dinner. However, I tried to limit the damages (while not eating just a salad) by not eating the top bun and half of the fries. I also only drank water rather than soda or alcohol.
Managing those days where I eat out is pretty difficult, especially since the place we go to is super unhealthy most of the time. I'd feel bad to refuse all the invitations though, especially since I just moved back in my home country. I need to find a way to manage these days out/find how many times I can do that while still losing weight.

[AwakeDreaming]

Day 24

Went to the gym with a friend today and I did a training a bit different from what I normally do but it was fun - back & biceps (1h30). Food-wise, I had a bit under 1400 kcal, which is fine. I really hope to see some progress this week. Not always motivated, but still gotta do it.

[AwakeDreaming]

Day 25

Went to the gym for a chest & triceps session (1h10). For some reasons the weights seemed heavier than usual even though I didn't increase them this week. Also, I'd really like to be able to do dips without any assist from the machine, hopefully I'll be able to do a series of 10 by the end of the year! I'd also love to be able to do pull-ups without assist but that seems way to hard for now haha.
Food-wise, I had 1366 kcal, which is fine. Tomorrow, I'm gonna have a cooking night at a friend's place. He is planning to do pizza and desserts, which is not great for my diet plan once again ><. Well, at least it's gonna be home cooked. I'll try to stick to small portions!

Have a nice weekend you all.

[AwakeDreaming]

Day 26

Today was a rest day since my arms feel pretty heavy due to the two previous days’ training sessions. Still, I went for a walk to get at least 10k steps a day.

Food-wise, as planned, I went for a homemade pizza party at a friend’a place. I ate 2.5 slices (each pizza was cut in 8), which is fairly reasonable I think.
Still, I felt really self-conscious the whole night because all the people present were pretty thin. It didn’t help that I was wearing a mini-short...it hurts to think that I was wearing a size S (or even XS for some brands) a few years ago, whereas I am wearing a size M now ><
I can’t help but always be thinking that people are just thinking « how fat she is » when looking at me... I really need to succeed in my fitness journey, for myself, in order to not be self-conscious anymore.

Have a nice Sunday y’all!

[AwakeDreaming]

Day 27

I didn't feel like going to the gym today so I just went for a 1 hour tennis session with a friend. It was great and I had fun, but it also made me realise how much stamina I lost over the past few years. I was so tired at the end of the session! Will definitively do it again though.

Food-wise, I had 1415 kcal today, which is not too bad. I wish I could eat a bit less but there is so much temptation in the house and when I spend most of the day at home, it's hard to resist sometimes.

[AwakeDreaming]

Day 28

Long day spent outside with friends so no gym but a lot of walking. I ate reasonably as well. Probably gonna go to the gym or play tennis again tomorrow, I'm not sure yet.

[AwakeDreaming]

Week 4 - Recap

Starting weight: 70.0 kg
Week 1 weight: 69.1 kg (-0.9)
Week 2 weight: 68.9 kg (-0.2)
Week 3 weight: 69.3 kg (+0.4)
Current weight: 68.7 kg (- 0.6)

This week I once again went to the gym 4 times but did a bit more cardio than usual (2 weight training sessions + 2 cardio sessions). From now on, I'm planning to play tennis more often so I need to adjust my weight training plan accordingly. I think I will remove legs day completely and do a shoulder & abs day instead since training legs means that I can't possibly play tennis for 2 days straight afterwards, which is inconvenient.

Weight-wise, I am happy to see a decrease even though it's slower than I wish. Hopefully it will continue to decrease in the coming weeks. The problem with my "diet" is that I eat clean as long as I am at home, but when I eat out with friends (2-3 times a week), it's always unhealthy options. That's probably the reason why my weight is decreasing so slowly :/
I can't throw away my social life though, and I don't want to impose healthy food choices on my friends.

Anyways, let's hope I'll be in the 67.X kg in a week, I haven't seen this number on the scale for quite a long while!

[AwakeDreaming]

Day 29

Played tennis for 2h30 today (not at an intense match pace though, a medium one I'd say), which felt good despite the heat. I also realised that I haven't had any weight training sessions in almost a week so I'll head to the gym tomorrow.

Food-wise, I ate a bit over calories at 1509 but I was quite hungry after coming back from tennis.

[cartman417]

Don’t give up. 2.3kg in a month is not bad. You’ve probably dropped more than that and added some muscle.
I bet you’re down a good amount of bf %
Another 2.3kg in another month and youlll be feeling great

[AwakeDreaming]

Don’t give up. 2.3kg in a month is not bad. You’ve probably dropped more than that and added some muscle.
I bet you’re down a good amount of bf %
Another 2.3kg in another month and youlll be feeling great

Thanks for the encouraging words! Yeah I won't give up, baby steps are better than no progress at all anyways. Some of my clothes are also fitting a bit better so it's not too bad

[AwakeDreaming]

Day 30

Back to the gym today for a shoulder & abs session (1h10) - I was experimenting a bit with different abs exercises so it wasn't the most intensive workout ever but it was still good. Food-wise, I ate too much today because there was cake in the fridge - a total of 1550 kcal (it's not awful but I really didn't move a lot today). I'm really weak to sweets :/

[AwakeDreaming]

Day 31

Today was once again a tennis day - I played for almost 3 hours. It was nice but super duper hot! I'll probably going to hit the gym tomorrow or on Saturday, we'll see.
Food-wise, it was an uncertain day since I wasn't the one cooking. I tried to eat fairly reasonable portions and limit my snacking but I really can't say the number of calories :/

[AwakeDreaming]

Day 32

And I went to play tennis again today - we played for 2 hours at a moderate pace (not a match). As usual, it was fun but also super hot. I feel bad favouring tennis over the gym over the past few days though, but I really love it! Still, I need to hit the gym this weekend, at least once if not twice. I really don't want to lose my progress at the gym and taking a long break would mean DOMS when starting again so...no thanks!

Food-wise, I ate a bit more than I wished (in the 1500's kcal) but I was really hungry after playing tennis for two hours straight in the heat :/
I really hope I will see some weight loss this week but I'm a bit scared after the big increase in weight this morning (almost 1 kg). It's probably due to yesterday's food though, I wasn't the one cooking and it was pretty high in sodium. It's also that time of the month, which doesn't really help. Oh well, we'll see in 3 days!

Have a nice week-end y'all!

[GirthRogers]

Tennis is an excellent sport to get in shape. Don't feel bad favoring it over the gym; as long as you are being active, anything will work! If you could get your diet on point, you'd be making huge gains!

[AwakeDreaming]

Tennis is an excellent sport to get in shape. Don't feel bad favoring it over the gym; as long as you are being active, anything will work! If you could get your diet on point, you'd be making huge gains!

Yeah, I guess you're right about tennis. It also helps me stay motivated more easily since I enjoy it more than going to the gym ^^

I'm trying for the diet but it's hard since I'm living with my family and they stock the house with a ton of chocolate, chips and other yummy unhealthy stuff. I'm progressing bit by bit though, have replaced my old chocolate snacks by watermelon so at least it's healthier. Hopefully I'll change my diet step by step and manage to get a 90% healthy one by the end of the year.

[write2staceyz]

Just here to cheer for you! I think consistency is the key but very hard to do =)

[JRsworld]

Keep it up!

[AwakeDreaming]

Just here to cheer for you! I think consistency is the key but very hard to do =)

Keep it up!

Thanks for dropping by guys
Good luck with your own fitness goals too!