Hi everyone. I just joined this website and I would like to hear your opinion about story.
I'm 21 and weight's always been around 185-195 lbs for the last 3-4 years, but when I hit the 200 mark in late January this year, I decided it was time to lose weight! Being a college student I had no time to follow particular diets nor did I want to go to the supermarket and buy all sorts of fruits and vegetables every week!
And that's when I started to do something than should NOT have worked, but that in fact has made me lose 30 pounds in 6 weeks! What I did is pretty simple:
- hit the gym 3-4 times a week focusing on cardio (30 mins ranging from 3.5 to 6.5 mph). No more than 4 exercises after running, I'm really not planning to build up lots of muscles;
- no breakfast (I know this is bad but I'm just not hungry in the morning. I haven't had breakfast in 10 years);
- a protein bar with a glass of milk for lunch;
- a complete meal for dinner (it could be a steak or pasta or a footlong Subway sandwich or even 2 slices of pepperoni pizza. This is to say that dinner was nothing close to a diet).
That's it! No snacks, nearly no fruits and vegetables. The opposite of what I've always heard, "eat small portions, 5-6 times a day or even more".
Moreover, I know that dinner should be a small meal, so at the beginning I switched lunch with dinner, but I was terribly hungry having just a protein bar for dinner and I always ate something more before going to sleep! Since I moved to small lunch-big dinner, hunger is not a problem anymore.
All of this has worked incredibly good for me! I've lost 30 pounds, I've significantly increased resistance (recently cardio sessions have increased to 45 mins), waist size went from 36 to 32. All of friends have noticed weight loss, even those who see me every single day!
And on top of this, I feel healthy and full of energy.
original goal was 175 lbs, but it's been so easy to get down to 170 lbs that new goal is 160 lbs, which I guess I may reach in less than a month.
I would like to hear your opinion about story. I never imagined I'd have lost weight so quickly and, more importantly, so easily. I even forgot to mention that I drink at least twice a week, have ice cream once a week and honestly I eat whatever I want for "big meal" of the day, including In 'n out once every so often...
Thanks!
Opinions about weight loss
Moderators: Boss Man, cassiegose
Hi Marione,
Welcome to the site. I’m not an expert or anything… But from your story… It seems like you’re not eating enough food and your calorie intake is very low. You lost the weight so fast… you might have lost some muscle…. And might end up with loose skin….
As for Breakfast… I never ate them too and especially when I was in college, I always skipped them. But ever since I started to read about healthy eating… Eating a nice big healthy breakfast gives me lots of energy and keeps brain working too!!
(I wished I ate breakfast in college
)
Also eating breakfast and small meals every 2-3 hours helps keep your metabolism going!
Congrats on your weight lost. I want to loose weight you too… but healthy way…
I started at 187 when I came back to this site (December 2008)… and I just weighted myself today… I’m now 161 (April 2009) - 26 pounds!!!! Yeah, it was hard… and many times I want to give up because I’m not losing fast enough. But I’m always back in the site reading and talking to people… they give great advice, motivation and always remind me to be patient… slow and steady… With good clean diet & exercise (weights & cardio) I know weight will NOT come back!
Since you’re in college... Try to shop on the weekends and stack them up. Pack your food when you go to class and have a lunch bag… I’m doing that now… with 2 jobs… I shop on the weekends. I prepare food the night before… I know what I’m eating, how much I’m eating and I know how much I’m spending…
As for what to eat... check out the "Diet & Nutrition" section...
and read the sticky: Read Before Posting
Good Luck!
Nokie
Welcome to the site. I’m not an expert or anything… But from your story… It seems like you’re not eating enough food and your calorie intake is very low. You lost the weight so fast… you might have lost some muscle…. And might end up with loose skin….
As for Breakfast… I never ate them too and especially when I was in college, I always skipped them. But ever since I started to read about healthy eating… Eating a nice big healthy breakfast gives me lots of energy and keeps brain working too!!
(I wished I ate breakfast in college
)Also eating breakfast and small meals every 2-3 hours helps keep your metabolism going!
Congrats on your weight lost. I want to loose weight you too… but healthy way…
I started at 187 when I came back to this site (December 2008)… and I just weighted myself today… I’m now 161 (April 2009) - 26 pounds!!!! Yeah, it was hard… and many times I want to give up because I’m not losing fast enough. But I’m always back in the site reading and talking to people… they give great advice, motivation and always remind me to be patient… slow and steady… With good clean diet & exercise (weights & cardio) I know weight will NOT come back!
Since you’re in college... Try to shop on the weekends and stack them up. Pack your food when you go to class and have a lunch bag… I’m doing that now… with 2 jobs… I shop on the weekends. I prepare food the night before… I know what I’m eating, how much I’m eating and I know how much I’m spending…
As for what to eat... check out the "Diet & Nutrition" section...
and read the sticky: Read Before Posting
Good Luck!
Nokie
First of all, thank you both for replying 
What would you suggest to have for breakfast? As I said I'm not hungry at all in the morning. Also I wake up at around 9, and I can only have lunch at around 12.30, since I have class before and after.
Is there anything else you would suggest? I'm scared of things I've always heard like "the faster you lose weight, the faster it will come back". But again, I'm doing nothing to lose weight this fast. It just happens to be like this. Not that I mind that, but I know that such a quick weight loss may not be healthy in the long-term.
What would you suggest to have for breakfast? As I said I'm not hungry at all in the morning. Also I wake up at around 9, and I can only have lunch at around 12.30, since I have class before and after.
Is there anything else you would suggest? I'm scared of things I've always heard like "the faster you lose weight, the faster it will come back". But again, I'm doing nothing to lose weight this fast. It just happens to be like this. Not that I mind that, but I know that such a quick weight loss may not be healthy in the long-term.
*Fruits are always good!!!
*Eggs - whole egg is fine but I usually get egg beaters (eggs substitute) or egg whites.
(I try not to have too much yolk because there are a lot of fats in there)
*Oatmeal (can add protein powder or flaxseed if you want)
*Whole-grain Cereal
*Protein shakes (Not the meal replacement ones like Slim fast – they have too much sugar and other junk in their ingredients)
*Low Fat Yoghurt
If you’re hungry in class or in between... why not grab some fat free string cheese and nuts like almonds and put it in your bag… just a thought…
More good ideas what to eat & when to eat.. check out what swanso posted in the "Diet" section.
Nokie
*Eggs - whole egg is fine but I usually get egg beaters (eggs substitute) or egg whites.
(I try not to have too much yolk because there are a lot of fats in there)
*Oatmeal (can add protein powder or flaxseed if you want)
*Whole-grain Cereal
*Protein shakes (Not the meal replacement ones like Slim fast – they have too much sugar and other junk in their ingredients)
*Low Fat Yoghurt
If you’re hungry in class or in between... why not grab some fat free string cheese and nuts like almonds and put it in your bag… just a thought…
More good ideas what to eat & when to eat.. check out what swanso posted in the "Diet" section.
Nokie
-
cassiegose
- VETERAN
- Posts: 2525
- Joined: Fri May 09, 2008 6:06 pm
- Location: Prineville Oregon
Hi there,
It sounds like simply getting in the gym is helping that weight to come off. As Nokie pointed out... It also seems like youre not getting enough calories and that is also helping with the weight loss. If you want honest opinion, this is great that you've been losing weight... however without making more serious changes to your diet/exercise program the weight you have lost is most likely going to eventually creep back. It seems that you have shocked your body by beginning to work out (which is great) but keep in mind that the body has an incredible ability to adapt to changes that we make. Once your body gets efficiant at doing the workouts that youve been doing at the gym, you are going to find that it is increasingly more difficult to lose weight (unless you have some kind of thyroid or other health issue going on that is assisting in the sudden weight loss). You seem like you are enjoying your weight loss and would probably like to see it continue happening in the upcoming months. In order to continue to see changes, I would DEFINITELY (as swans and nokie pointed out) start eating breakfast every day. This is the most important meal of the day as it gets your metabolism going and will prevent you from binging later on. If you don't have time to eat before school, simply wake up a little earlier to something the night before. Even a simple lunch meat sandwhich on whole wheat bread, that you could eat on your way to school and make the night before, would be better than nothing at all. You could also buy some whole grain cereal (cheerios are great) throw them in a baggy and eat them while in class with a protein shake (protein and water) if you absolutely don't have time to eat before class. Bottom line, find a way to eat breakfast.
As for you not wanting to go to the store to buy fruits and veggies... I guess it pretty much comes down to how bad you want to lose the weight. Fruits and veggies are a VITAL part of a healthy diet. They provide vitamins, antioxidants, fiber, and offer a wide range of benefits. Also, the fact that you're a college student honestly shouldn't prevent you from being able to follow a healthy diet. For the past 7 years I have worked a full time job, plus a part time job while attending college. In that time I have made it a constant priority to eat healthy and exercise everyday. I think the heathly diet and regular exercise are actually the two major things that helped me get through college while keeping ridiculous schedule as the diet provided the energy that i needed to keep up busy routine and the regular exercise helped me deal with the stress that came with school.
As for the large dinner meal and no snacks eaten throughout the day.... as mentioned this is helping you lose weight right now as you are obviously restricting your calories so much that youre body is being forced to shed fat to keep you going. This will work for a while, however I believe you are only setting yourself up for failure as you are not allowing your metoblism to function at its full potential.
Just thoughts... I apologize for the blunt response here. It really is great that you've lost weight, however i think you would see much better results if you made some additional small changes to your lifestyle.
Cassie
It sounds like simply getting in the gym is helping that weight to come off. As Nokie pointed out... It also seems like youre not getting enough calories and that is also helping with the weight loss. If you want honest opinion, this is great that you've been losing weight... however without making more serious changes to your diet/exercise program the weight you have lost is most likely going to eventually creep back. It seems that you have shocked your body by beginning to work out (which is great) but keep in mind that the body has an incredible ability to adapt to changes that we make. Once your body gets efficiant at doing the workouts that youve been doing at the gym, you are going to find that it is increasingly more difficult to lose weight (unless you have some kind of thyroid or other health issue going on that is assisting in the sudden weight loss). You seem like you are enjoying your weight loss and would probably like to see it continue happening in the upcoming months. In order to continue to see changes, I would DEFINITELY (as swans and nokie pointed out) start eating breakfast every day. This is the most important meal of the day as it gets your metabolism going and will prevent you from binging later on. If you don't have time to eat before school, simply wake up a little earlier to something the night before. Even a simple lunch meat sandwhich on whole wheat bread, that you could eat on your way to school and make the night before, would be better than nothing at all. You could also buy some whole grain cereal (cheerios are great) throw them in a baggy and eat them while in class with a protein shake (protein and water) if you absolutely don't have time to eat before class. Bottom line, find a way to eat breakfast.
As for you not wanting to go to the store to buy fruits and veggies... I guess it pretty much comes down to how bad you want to lose the weight. Fruits and veggies are a VITAL part of a healthy diet. They provide vitamins, antioxidants, fiber, and offer a wide range of benefits. Also, the fact that you're a college student honestly shouldn't prevent you from being able to follow a healthy diet. For the past 7 years I have worked a full time job, plus a part time job while attending college. In that time I have made it a constant priority to eat healthy and exercise everyday. I think the heathly diet and regular exercise are actually the two major things that helped me get through college while keeping ridiculous schedule as the diet provided the energy that i needed to keep up busy routine and the regular exercise helped me deal with the stress that came with school.
As for the large dinner meal and no snacks eaten throughout the day.... as mentioned this is helping you lose weight right now as you are obviously restricting your calories so much that youre body is being forced to shed fat to keep you going. This will work for a while, however I believe you are only setting yourself up for failure as you are not allowing your metoblism to function at its full potential.
Just thoughts... I apologize for the blunt response here. It really is great that you've lost weight, however i think you would see much better results if you made some additional small changes to your lifestyle.
Cassie
Alright, I'm seeing many replies and this makes me happy! Thank you!
I guess I should provide some additional information to clarify:
- I've been going to the gym 3-4 times a week since August last year, doing pretty much the same amount of work I do now. No weight loss though.
- believe it or not, I would LOVE to have breakfast. I know how important it is. But I can't! It's not a matter of time nor cost. I would need to force myself to eat something in the morning, and I'm sure I wouldn't be able to do that for long. And this is not due to diet, since it's been like this for the last several years.
- you're right, I can't be sure that health is perfect. But I am sure that I feel as good as I did before starting to diet, if not better. I can keep concentration for hours, and of course I'm pleased to see how weight is going down, giving me even more motivations and making me overcome the hunger that sometimes I have (quite rarely though, I guarantee).
With this said, I'm here to learn more about diets and good eating habits, so I will do best to follow your suggestions, which totally make sense to me and that I've heard before tons of times.
What I want to do is reducing dinner so that I may be a little hungry in the morning. I know calories intake is quite low already, but I think that's the only way I'm going to be able to eat something in the morning!
Moreover I'm increasingly enjoying a full mug of reduced fat milk every day. I should probably have two mugs a day so to increase proteins intake too, which I think it's too low, considering the stress muscles are subject to.
And I need to add that the problem isn't really going to the grocery store. I do that at least once a week. Rather I should say that I don't really love vegetables. I like tomatoes, but I can't say I'm a big fan of spinach, courgettes and similar...
I guess I should provide some additional information to clarify:
- I've been going to the gym 3-4 times a week since August last year, doing pretty much the same amount of work I do now. No weight loss though.
- believe it or not, I would LOVE to have breakfast. I know how important it is. But I can't! It's not a matter of time nor cost. I would need to force myself to eat something in the morning, and I'm sure I wouldn't be able to do that for long. And this is not due to diet, since it's been like this for the last several years.
- you're right, I can't be sure that health is perfect. But I am sure that I feel as good as I did before starting to diet, if not better. I can keep concentration for hours, and of course I'm pleased to see how weight is going down, giving me even more motivations and making me overcome the hunger that sometimes I have (quite rarely though, I guarantee).
With this said, I'm here to learn more about diets and good eating habits, so I will do best to follow your suggestions, which totally make sense to me and that I've heard before tons of times.
What I want to do is reducing dinner so that I may be a little hungry in the morning. I know calories intake is quite low already, but I think that's the only way I'm going to be able to eat something in the morning!
Moreover I'm increasingly enjoying a full mug of reduced fat milk every day. I should probably have two mugs a day so to increase proteins intake too, which I think it's too low, considering the stress muscles are subject to.
And I need to add that the problem isn't really going to the grocery store. I do that at least once a week. Rather I should say that I don't really love vegetables. I like tomatoes, but I can't say I'm a big fan of spinach, courgettes and similar...
I think the reason you aren't hungry in the morning is because you have such a large dinner (especially if it's after 8pm). When I have a big dinner I'm usually not hungry in the morning. Try having a smaller dinner and you will start getting hungry in the morning. I also didn't eat breakfast for years, but I forced myself to and now I'm just simply hungry in the morning.
I think you just need to give your body some time getting used to eating breakfast, since you’re not used to it…. You can start slow.
Like… have a fruit (apples, pears, strawberries…etc….)
Once you get used to having something in your stomach in the morning…
then start adding some proteins… Like eggs, lean meat… etc… and carbs (wheat bread, Whole-grain Cereal, oatmeal… etc…)
First 2 days or a week… eat fruits or low fat yogurt
Second week… have fruits (wait 10-15mins) Then add some eggs (1 whole egg and 2 egg whites)
As for dinner… Maybe have steam veggies and lean meat… try to limit your carbs at night… maybe it will help you be hungry in the morning…
Just need to start making your body get used to eating a certain time… and once its set.. You’ll be hungry.
So, I hope something like this will help you get started.
Nokie
Like… have a fruit (apples, pears, strawberries…etc….)
Once you get used to having something in your stomach in the morning…
then start adding some proteins… Like eggs, lean meat… etc… and carbs (wheat bread, Whole-grain Cereal, oatmeal… etc…)
First 2 days or a week… eat fruits or low fat yogurt
Second week… have fruits (wait 10-15mins) Then add some eggs (1 whole egg and 2 egg whites)
As for dinner… Maybe have steam veggies and lean meat… try to limit your carbs at night… maybe it will help you be hungry in the morning…
Just need to start making your body get used to eating a certain time… and once its set.. You’ll be hungry.
So, I hope something like this will help you get started.
Nokie