Today I was proud of myself because I went to the local high school track and walked 4.17 miles in 1 hour, 10 minutes. I easily could have walked a few more miles, but my kids were with me and I couldn't keep them out for too long in the drizzling rain. Tomorrow it's supposed to be pouring all day, but I'm still hoping I can get up at 4 or 5am to walk at least five miles around my neighborhood.
I'm a 38-yr-old, 5 ' 0 female with two kids (ages 9 and 7) whom I had by C-sections. I have hypothyroidism. Before I had kids, I weighed 105 - 110 lbs. I weighed about 141 lbs. when I had my first child and then I weighed 157 on the day that my second child was born!! Ever since then, as a single mom working two jobs and being a grad student as well, I've honestly eaten like crap every day and it's amazing that I don't weigh 400 lbs. just because of how terrible my diet has been, like I can eat seven donuts in one sitting without any hesitation.
My weight has remained steady between 135 - 142 lbs. for the past seven years, though right now I'm at 145 due to gluttony so far this week. I still feel pretty energetic throughout most of my daily activities, but whenever I try to run, I feel extremely out of shape (I've always loved running.).
The hard part is that...as silly as this may sound, I usually don't feel like I'm overweight. I know that I'm extremely chubby compared to what I looked like pre-kids, but when I look in the mirror, I often think my figure doesn't look that shabby. However, when someone takes a pic of me or sometimes if I try on new clothes, that's when I often cringe! I really want to buckle down now and put in a real effort to lose weight. My goal is to get back to 125 or hopefully even like 110 again. My question is, how many calories should I eat per day? 1200? 1500? I plan to walk at least five miles every day from now on and hopefully exercise in other ways too, but eating is the hardest part for me because I tend to be such an all or nothing person ("Oh, I just ate a cookie- well, now my diet is screwed for today"). Also, I've been a total coffee ADDICT in recent years (constantly making my own at home with a spoonful of vanilla creamer and 1/4 cup of milk in each cup), but I'm finally starting to get tired of it and I'd like to try to cut it out entirely.
I'm a 38-yr-old, 5 ' 0 female with two kids (ages 9 and 7) whom I had by C-sections. I have hypothyroidism. Before I had kids, I weighed 105 - 110 lbs. I weighed about 141 lbs. when I had my first child and then I weighed 157 on the day that my second child was born!! Ever since then, as a single mom working two jobs and being a grad student as well, I've honestly eaten like crap every day and it's amazing that I don't weigh 400 lbs. just because of how terrible my diet has been, like I can eat seven donuts in one sitting without any hesitation.
My weight has remained steady between 135 - 142 lbs. for the past seven years, though right now I'm at 145 due to gluttony so far this week. I still feel pretty energetic throughout most of my daily activities, but whenever I try to run, I feel extremely out of shape (I've always loved running.).The hard part is that...as silly as this may sound, I usually don't feel like I'm overweight. I know that I'm extremely chubby compared to what I looked like pre-kids, but when I look in the mirror, I often think my figure doesn't look that shabby. However, when someone takes a pic of me or sometimes if I try on new clothes, that's when I often cringe! I really want to buckle down now and put in a real effort to lose weight. My goal is to get back to 125 or hopefully even like 110 again. My question is, how many calories should I eat per day? 1200? 1500? I plan to walk at least five miles every day from now on and hopefully exercise in other ways too, but eating is the hardest part for me because I tend to be such an all or nothing person ("Oh, I just ate a cookie- well, now my diet is screwed for today"). Also, I've been a total coffee ADDICT in recent years (constantly making my own at home with a spoonful of vanilla creamer and 1/4 cup of milk in each cup), but I'm finally starting to get tired of it and I'd like to try to cut it out entirely.
. Thank you 