I am 38 year old women with two kids, husband, full time job and a lot of weight to lose. I am 229lbs and have bought into every diet/exercise system on the market pretty much. Anything that I can afford I will look at (amazing how you find money when you are desperate). I listen to everyone .... and now I am so confused I have now idea how much I should be eating and what or even when. How much i should be exercising, what I should be doing or when. I am not after a quick for no effort. I will put the effort in but want to know what will work for good. Fed up with yo-yo dieting. Want to lose it for good. Already lost 74lb so far but have a lot more to lose and have stopped losing weight. I have been told recently, no caffeine, no wheat or starchy food, no carbs, no sugar other than naturally occuring sugar in fruit etc, only dairy I should eat is live natural yoghurt and if I really need a of cheese I should eat goats cheese but only a small amount. I really struggle with what to eat and am pretty bored if i am honest. Stressing this week as I am going to a party and I have no idea what I will be able to eat. Do I really need to drink 3 litres of water? I need direction an eating plan and exercise plan that works. Where can I get one that works and that is not going to limit everything so it makes it impossible to stick to.
Any help is appreciated.
Tiggy x
Newbie question that you have all heard before, no doubt!
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PuroRock327
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Re: Newbie question that you have all heard before, no doubt!
I am by far no expert, but I just wanted to comment and not let you wait too long for a response.
I DO know this much, though. Diet is going to be critical to your fat loss. Stop dieting and instead watch your diet. Each whole foods, with low fat and low calories.
Break down what you eat in a typical day. Count your calories for a few days, including what time of days you eat and write it down, or keep a spreadsheet (which is what I do).
In particular spreadsheet I account for:
1. Time of day I eat. I eat 5 to 6 meals a day, each meal about 3 hours apart. I try to keep daily calories around 3200 to 3500 daily. For you, this is obviously a high number. You'd probably want to keep your calories around 2000 or lower. That all depends on your activity level, I would suppose and how much you want to lose. There's a calculator on Shapefit.com that can give you a good idea of how many calories you might want to consider cutting down to. I believe there's a calculator that you can fill out when you join the forum that gives you a good idea of what your caloric, protein and carb intake should be.
Here's the link:
http://www.shapefit.com/calculators.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
or better yet...
http://www.shapefit.com/calorie-intake-calculator.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
2. Calories. Each of meals, to account for the 3200 to 3500 calories I need, are about 600 calories each. If your caloric goal is say 2000 calories, each of your 6 meals should be just above 300 calories each. That's not a lot of food, but if you eat the right things, like whole grains, protein and stick to eating every 3 hours, you will feel full and increase your metabolism.
3. Protein. I consume a lot of protein... protein helps with muscle growth and recovery and helps keep full. For you, your protein intake will differ. Proteins like meats (fish, beef and chicken) and protein shakes (shakes for quicker absorption after a workout) are main sources. The meats take longer to digest, keeping you feeling fuller longer.
4. Carbs. I also consume a lot of carbs to fuel body's recovery and exercise. Now I lift weights and do little cardio. For you your carbs and protein intake will differ. I make sure I eat whole grain foods; Wheat and bran, fruits and no white bread, no pizza, no regular enriched buns... if the first ingredient doesn't say 'whole grain' or 'oat', I don't buy it. Very little processed sugars like candy, but I do love chocolate in moderation... like one piece twice a week, maybe. Whole grain bran cereal, veggies, fruit and milk typically fill out the majority of carb intake. Whole grains contain fiber which aid in digestion, aid in heart health and also keep you fuller longer (or at least the sensation of being full). Whole grains also contain far more nutrients.
White bread and similar carbs elevate your glucose level quickly, increasing insulin which increases your appettite which continues a vicious cycle of wanting to eat more.
5. Fat. This should be a no brainer. Low fat foods are a must. indulgence is bacon... lol. Outside of that, for 3200-3500 calorie diet, Fat intake is usually around 50-70 grams daily. Most hamburgers give you that much fat alone. There are good fats out there that you need... like Olive Oil, avocado and others... in moderation. I also love ice cream, but that's hard to include in diet. I usually go with fudge pops which contain little sugar, fat or carbs. Fat free ice creams are available, I suppose, but still have lots of sugar. Stick to skim milk or 1%. Skim is best in your case I would guess. 1 or 2 tablespoons of natural peanut butter usually make their way in diet as well.
6. Sugar. I do monitor how much sugar I take in... again, milk is usually the main culprit for me. Milk and fruit. I stay away from processed sugar as much as I can and only eat naturally occurring sugar. If you have to drink soda... drink diet, but there are as many reports of diet soda being bad for you as regular. But the calories and sugar in regular soda are outrageous. I'd recommend sticking to water as much as possible. Whenever you're thirsty drink water. It will help you feel better, look better and will aid your joints, skin and diet with your plan.
Track these and other aspects of your diet and make changes. It will be eye opening how much fat and sugar you can probably cut down on.
As for workouts, I'd start with diet first... and include walking or jogging. Take stairs instead of elevators. Walk more. Get on a bike, either stationary or real. Get your metabolism going and start burning calories. It takes discipline and self-motivation... then get into finding workout plans that require body stress. Or, some might say to seek a trainer or get on a rigorous workout regiment. I suppose you can buy any workout video and go at your own pace, but you might find starting slow with running/jogging/walking and increasing either the distance or decrease the time in which you cover that distance and even adding wrist/ankle weights might help.
I don't personally recommend, and this is from experience, getting into elaborate movements like squats or bike crunches or pushups with extra weight... you're putting extra stress on yourself. I would lose the weight with diet and light ot moderate, consistent exercise so you can get to the point where many movements are less stressfull on your body and heart.
Be blessed and all the good things in the world to you.
I DO know this much, though. Diet is going to be critical to your fat loss. Stop dieting and instead watch your diet. Each whole foods, with low fat and low calories.
Break down what you eat in a typical day. Count your calories for a few days, including what time of days you eat and write it down, or keep a spreadsheet (which is what I do).
In particular spreadsheet I account for:
1. Time of day I eat. I eat 5 to 6 meals a day, each meal about 3 hours apart. I try to keep daily calories around 3200 to 3500 daily. For you, this is obviously a high number. You'd probably want to keep your calories around 2000 or lower. That all depends on your activity level, I would suppose and how much you want to lose. There's a calculator on Shapefit.com that can give you a good idea of how many calories you might want to consider cutting down to. I believe there's a calculator that you can fill out when you join the forum that gives you a good idea of what your caloric, protein and carb intake should be.
Here's the link:
http://www.shapefit.com/calculators.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
or better yet...
http://www.shapefit.com/calorie-intake-calculator.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
2. Calories. Each of meals, to account for the 3200 to 3500 calories I need, are about 600 calories each. If your caloric goal is say 2000 calories, each of your 6 meals should be just above 300 calories each. That's not a lot of food, but if you eat the right things, like whole grains, protein and stick to eating every 3 hours, you will feel full and increase your metabolism.
3. Protein. I consume a lot of protein... protein helps with muscle growth and recovery and helps keep full. For you, your protein intake will differ. Proteins like meats (fish, beef and chicken) and protein shakes (shakes for quicker absorption after a workout) are main sources. The meats take longer to digest, keeping you feeling fuller longer.
4. Carbs. I also consume a lot of carbs to fuel body's recovery and exercise. Now I lift weights and do little cardio. For you your carbs and protein intake will differ. I make sure I eat whole grain foods; Wheat and bran, fruits and no white bread, no pizza, no regular enriched buns... if the first ingredient doesn't say 'whole grain' or 'oat', I don't buy it. Very little processed sugars like candy, but I do love chocolate in moderation... like one piece twice a week, maybe. Whole grain bran cereal, veggies, fruit and milk typically fill out the majority of carb intake. Whole grains contain fiber which aid in digestion, aid in heart health and also keep you fuller longer (or at least the sensation of being full). Whole grains also contain far more nutrients.
White bread and similar carbs elevate your glucose level quickly, increasing insulin which increases your appettite which continues a vicious cycle of wanting to eat more.
5. Fat. This should be a no brainer. Low fat foods are a must. indulgence is bacon... lol. Outside of that, for 3200-3500 calorie diet, Fat intake is usually around 50-70 grams daily. Most hamburgers give you that much fat alone. There are good fats out there that you need... like Olive Oil, avocado and others... in moderation. I also love ice cream, but that's hard to include in diet. I usually go with fudge pops which contain little sugar, fat or carbs. Fat free ice creams are available, I suppose, but still have lots of sugar. Stick to skim milk or 1%. Skim is best in your case I would guess. 1 or 2 tablespoons of natural peanut butter usually make their way in diet as well.
6. Sugar. I do monitor how much sugar I take in... again, milk is usually the main culprit for me. Milk and fruit. I stay away from processed sugar as much as I can and only eat naturally occurring sugar. If you have to drink soda... drink diet, but there are as many reports of diet soda being bad for you as regular. But the calories and sugar in regular soda are outrageous. I'd recommend sticking to water as much as possible. Whenever you're thirsty drink water. It will help you feel better, look better and will aid your joints, skin and diet with your plan.
Track these and other aspects of your diet and make changes. It will be eye opening how much fat and sugar you can probably cut down on.
As for workouts, I'd start with diet first... and include walking or jogging. Take stairs instead of elevators. Walk more. Get on a bike, either stationary or real. Get your metabolism going and start burning calories. It takes discipline and self-motivation... then get into finding workout plans that require body stress. Or, some might say to seek a trainer or get on a rigorous workout regiment. I suppose you can buy any workout video and go at your own pace, but you might find starting slow with running/jogging/walking and increasing either the distance or decrease the time in which you cover that distance and even adding wrist/ankle weights might help.
I don't personally recommend, and this is from experience, getting into elaborate movements like squats or bike crunches or pushups with extra weight... you're putting extra stress on yourself. I would lose the weight with diet and light ot moderate, consistent exercise so you can get to the point where many movements are less stressfull on your body and heart.
Be blessed and all the good things in the world to you.
-
PuroRock327
- SOCIAL CLIMBER
- Posts: 57
- Joined: Sun Aug 08, 2010 12:48 am
Re: Newbie question that you have all heard before, no doubt!
In defense and before anyone else decides to jump on me, I did state that diet is also not good for you and I recommended to drink water as often as possible.First, do NOT drink diet soda as the previous poster recommended...that stuff is straight up poison.
Re: Newbie question that you have all heard before, no doubt!
For someone in your position, I totally agree with PuroRock327's post. He's done a good job letting you know what you need to do.
only addition would be to say that you don't (and probably shouldn't) try to do everything in the diet suggestions all at once. If you could, that would be perfect, however, in the real world if you try to do too much at once, you generally will fail unless you have absolute iron willpower. Try to focus on one or two things a week...for example, one week you could try substituting whole grains for enriched in the breads, pastas, rice, etc. that you eat. Next week try switching in water or tea for any sodas you drink. The week after that, try having fruit as desserts or treats instead of cakes, cookies or whatever it is you might generally have. Take it slow and document what you eat and the calories you're consuming. I don't know if everyone would agree with this advice, but I just think it makes the whole process more of a lifestyle change instead of a diet (which is another concept to wrap your head around -- this is not a diet, it should be a permanent shift towards eating and being more healthy)
only addition would be to say that you don't (and probably shouldn't) try to do everything in the diet suggestions all at once. If you could, that would be perfect, however, in the real world if you try to do too much at once, you generally will fail unless you have absolute iron willpower. Try to focus on one or two things a week...for example, one week you could try substituting whole grains for enriched in the breads, pastas, rice, etc. that you eat. Next week try switching in water or tea for any sodas you drink. The week after that, try having fruit as desserts or treats instead of cakes, cookies or whatever it is you might generally have. Take it slow and document what you eat and the calories you're consuming. I don't know if everyone would agree with this advice, but I just think it makes the whole process more of a lifestyle change instead of a diet (which is another concept to wrap your head around -- this is not a diet, it should be a permanent shift towards eating and being more healthy)
Re: Newbie question that you have all heard before, no doubt!
Thank you all. Spending a lot of time on this formum, reading lots of the posts and getting loads of ideas. I will let you know how I get on.
Thanks again
Thanks again
Re: Newbie question that you have all heard before, no doubt!
Well I don't think i need to say anything else but I wanted to say CONGRATS on the lost weight so far.
You are certainly in good hands and I'm happy to see other people chipping in here, as it is good for strength in depth of understanding and also empathy / compassion.
I know that if you believe you are worht the time and effort you CAN succeed. The worst people could arguably be not those who don't try, but those who try then give in after 4-6 weeks.
You have already come so far and deserve to be so proud of yourself and if you continue to make progress and give yourself the time, patience and understanding to progress, it will only be a matter of time, before you are someone that could be cited as a rolemodel to others.
I wish you a lot of luck. You have shown yourself to be someone with the right attitude to be part of our community and we will do what we think is best to help you, support you and look out for you as well
.
Take care, best wishes and do kepe us posted yeah and anything you can say to others here can be a big help. Knowledge is good, but sometimes a little empathy, humility, humanity and compassion go such a long way and can make a small but appreciated difference.
I'm others would really appeciate a little bit of your time and heart now and then.
You are certainly in good hands and I'm happy to see other people chipping in here, as it is good for strength in depth of understanding and also empathy / compassion.
I know that if you believe you are worht the time and effort you CAN succeed. The worst people could arguably be not those who don't try, but those who try then give in after 4-6 weeks.
You have already come so far and deserve to be so proud of yourself and if you continue to make progress and give yourself the time, patience and understanding to progress, it will only be a matter of time, before you are someone that could be cited as a rolemodel to others.
I wish you a lot of luck. You have shown yourself to be someone with the right attitude to be part of our community and we will do what we think is best to help you, support you and look out for you as well
.Take care, best wishes and do kepe us posted yeah and anything you can say to others here can be a big help. Knowledge is good, but sometimes a little empathy, humility, humanity and compassion go such a long way and can make a small but appreciated difference.
I'm others would really appeciate a little bit of your time and heart now and then
.