Another attempt at trying to loose weight...

evil-monkey

Been trying to loose weight for years. I wouldn't call myself obese, but I am overweight.

So, gona see if all you good people at boards can help me out.

Weighed in yesterday at 196lbs. Gona weigh myself every Friday. I'm not really active at all, and what can I say, I love food.

So...any tips??

peanuthead

what kind of food do you love? Can you post a typical days menu?

evil-monkey

peanuthead wrote: »

what kind of food do you love? Can you post a typical days menu?

well you see there-in lies my problem. i'd be grand for a few days, too busy to eat much and would eat, generally, fairly healthily. but once the weekend hits i pretty much go mad - for anything, especially fine restaurant foods. i love a good meal out.

i also really enjoy the whole cinema thing, and peanut m&ms and popcorn are a lethal combination!! i eat a lot of bread, really like sandwiches. i could cut out the snacking on sweets and crisps etc ok if i wanted, i'm not mad about them, but burgers, chips, steaks, stacks on bacon on cream cheese, chinese food...

and i don't do any exercise bar surfing. and that's not really exercise being honest.

Today I'm a bit under the weather so so far I've eaten only a bowl of soup and two slices of dry toast.

Macha

evil-monkey wrote: »

Gona weigh myself every Friday.
...
but once the weekend hits i pretty much go mad - for anything, especially fine restaurant foods. i love a good meal out.

Probably not a good combination. I'd suggest you weigh yourself every Monday instead.

evil-monkey wrote: »

So...any tips??

Read the stickies! They're full of useful information.

evil-monkey wrote: »

and i don't do any exercise bar surfing. and that's not really exercise being honest.

If you don't do any exercise and are attempting to overhaul your diet, I would suggest that you don't try doing everything at the same time.
So maybe spend one week focusing on your breakfast, then the next week either tweak another part of your diet or try to exercise for 30 minutes one day. Then the next week, etc etc.

g'em

moved to main forum

corkcomp

sorry OP, but this is starting off the same as hundreds of other threads .. i.e. The i love junk food, i eat it regularly and i do little or no exercise, any tips??

It might sound harsh but you need to cut out (or reduce to once or twice a month) the cinema type munchies until you are up to speed with a good exercise program ... If you try to rely on diet alone to loose weight i would say you should forget that type of food, period ... You say you could cut out the snacking on crisps and sweets if you wanted, this would be a great start best of luck ...

Sapsorrow

hiya, i'm three years into a nutrition degree and trust me it can be so easy to lose weight (i know this from personal experience too) but you have to be serious about it and really really want it. Golden rules are: cut out all sugar, make sure you read all labels as sugar is in virtually everything including risen bread such as sliced pan. So go for yeast free unrisen bread liked mcCambridges. No sugar means no processed 'white' food either. for example white rice, white bread and white pasta. You can get wholemeal alternatives in the health food shops and they taste great too. Honey, maple syrup, grape juice concentrate, fructose etc all count as sugar, these are just clever tricks the food companies put on the lables to make you think there's no sugar in thier food but it's all broken down to glucose in your body just like plain old table sugar. Second cut down on wheat, most ppl are intolerant to wheat for genetic reasons in this part of the world and it makes us bloated and is full of calories! try spelt bread instead or rye, in good food markets and healthfood stores you can get lovely freshly baked breads from these grains as an alternative. Third cut down on meat and if possible cut it out completely, it's full of saturated fat and if you don't eat meat you'll naturally move towards meals that are based on beans and veg which are VERY low in calories! In other words eat what you like and as much as you like of these. Fruit wise cut down on the really sweet ones, cos it's still sugar making them taste like that, like pineapple and grapes. Rule four don't eat after eight in the evening, it messes up your metabolism for the next day and virtually every last calorie you eat at night goes stright into your fat cells cos you don't need em to do anything at that point in the day. fifth rule is don't leave big gaps between meals and always eat breakfast, if you let yourself go hungry for a while your metabolism switches over to starvation mode and starts desperately trying to save every calorie you put in your mouth when you do eventually eat again and you know where it tries to tuck them away? your fat cells! sixth rule is to try and exercise and do it in the morning, it speeds up your metabolism for the whole day making you burn calories faster for the rest of the day, also try and execrise around 3-4 hours after eating to boost it even more.
seventh rule Cutting out dairy or limiting it is a great way to avoid lots of fat which is the same thing as lots of calories, natural yoghurt with sugar free jam is ok though as is cottage cheese.
eight rule is cut down on salt, another reason to avoid processed and ready made food is it's full of hidden salt, most of the salt we eat comes in food we buy not what we add at the table, it makes your body retain water and so you become bloated!
Rule number nine is drink lots of fresh water and herbal teas, avoid normal tea and coffee and fruit juices! Green tea has been found to have a possible positive effect on weight loss so give that a go too!
Finally get a good nights sleep, while you sleep your body makes a hormone called leptin which helps regulate our appetite and reduce cravings for unneccesary calories during the day.
If this is all to daunting, try makng one change at a time, start with sugar for the fastest results though, and when you're used to that adopt the next rule into your life. All these things are addictions and it's hard so take your time, you can still have things you like as treats anyway. If you can't cook i definately reccomend takin up a cooking class cos everything in the shops from ready made pasta sauce to ready meals are full of sugar, fat and other processed crap that is gonna clog up your whole system and stop you from reaching your ideal weight. Your weight is important for your health too don't forget not just for your looks. If you post your height in metres and your weight in kg I can determine your BMI for you to give you an accurate idea of how serious the extent of your excess weight is. If you manage to incirporate these rules into your life i gaurantee the pounds will be falling off in no time, more than likely you will need to have your clothes taken in weekly at first. I suppose i should say to always check in with your GP though when undergoing a radical change in diet such as this!

corkcomp

khrystyna100 wrote: »

hiya, i'm three years into a nutrition degree and trust me it can be so easy to lose weight (i know this from personal experience too) but you have to be serious about it and really really want it. Golden rules are: cut out all sugar, make sure you read all labels as sugar is in virtually everything including risen bread such as sliced pan. So go for yeast free unrisen bread liked mcCambridges. No sugar means no processed 'white' food either. for example white rice, white bread and white pasta. You can get wholemeal alternatives in the health food shops and they taste great too. Honey, maple syrup, grape juice concentrate, fructose etc all count as sugar, these are just clever tricks the food companies put on the lables to make you think there's no sugar in thier food but it's all broken down to glucose in your body just like plain old table sugar. Second cut down on wheat, most ppl are intolerant to wheat for genetic reasons in this part of the world and it makes us bloated and is full of calories! try spelt bread instead or rye, in good food markets and healthfood stores you can get lovely freshly baked breads from these grains as an alternative. Third cut down on meat and if possible cut it out completely, it's full of saturated fat and if you don't eat meat you'll naturally move towards meals that are based on beans and veg which are VERY low in calories! In other words eat what you like and as much as you like of these. Fruit wise cut down on the really sweet ones, cos it's still sugar making them taste like that, like pineapple and grapes. Rule four don't eat after eight in the evening, it messes up your metabolism for the next day and virtually every last calorie you eat at night goes stright into your fat cells cos you don't need em to do anything at that point in the day. fifth rule is don't leave big gaps between meals and always eat breakfast, if you let yourself go hungry for a while your metabolism switches over to starvation mode and starts desperately trying to save every calorie you put in your mouth when you do eventually eat again and you know where it tries to tuck them away? your fat cells! sixth rule is to try and exercise and do it in the morning, it speeds up your metabolism for the whole day making you burn calories faster for the rest of the day, also try and execrise around 3-4 hours after eating to boost it even more.
seventh rule Cutting out dairy or limiting it is a great way to avoid lots of fat which is the same thing as lots of calories, natural yoghurt with sugar free jam is ok though as is cottage cheese.
eight rule is cut down on salt, another reason to avoid processed and ready made food is it's full of hidden salt, most of the salt we eat comes in food we buy not what we add at the table, it makes your body retain water and so you become bloated!
Rule number nine is drink lots of fresh water and herbal teas, avoid normal tea and coffee and fruit juices! Green tea has been found to have a possible positive effect on weight loss so give that a go too!
Finally get a good nights sleep, while you sleep your body makes a hormone called leptin which helps regulate our appetite and reduce cravings for unneccesary calories during the day.
If this is all to daunting, try makng one change at a time, start with sugar for the fastest results though, and when you're used to that adopt the next rule into your life. All these things are addictions and it's hard so take your time, you can still have things you like as treats anyway. If you can't cook i definately reccomend takin up a cooking class cos everything in the shops from ready made pasta sauce to ready meals are full of sugar, fat and other processed crap that is gonna clog up your whole system and stop you from reaching your ideal weight. Your weight is important for your health too don't forget not just for your looks. If you post your height in metres and your weight in kg I can determine your BMI for you to give you an accurate idea of how serious the extent of your excess weight is. If you manage to incirporate these rules into your life i gaurantee the pounds will be falling off in no time, more than likely you will need to have your clothes taken in weekly at first. I suppose i should say to always check in with your GP though when undergoing a radical change in diet such as this!

there is a lot of good info above but for somebody studying to be a nutritionalist you are a bit off with some advice (IMO) - the cut down on saturated fat may be a good idea but there are LOTS of lean meats out there and its not necessary for most people to cut out meat .. also, cutting out wheat may not be necessary for most people, wholegrain is defo better but wholegrain wheat is fine for most people. Also, the eating after 8 pm rule doesnt suit everybody, e.g. those with strange working hours or who train late, lean protein and complex carbs are fine as long as someone isnt going mad on calories ...

p.s - > BMI calc can be found here http://www.fitnessireland.ie/bmi.php

Sapsorrow

hiya ya the advice i posted is an ideal senario and it is a plan for ideal health as well as an ideal body weight. Statistically the wheat intolerence as opposed to wheat allergy thing does apply to most people and if someone were to give it up for two weeks they are likely to feel better for it. A well thought out vegetarian diet has been consistently shown to help people attain a healthy body weight as i said by tipping the focus of the meal away from potentially fat laden centrepieces which usually come with some sort of sauce or fat based cooking medium towards very low fat low calorie plant based foods.

whiteandlight

Hi evil-monkey, gonna try and pull this thread back to you! I'm pretty much the same as yourself, though I started off at 203 pounds. I'm down 18 pounds in just over two months.

You seem to be pretty similar to myself in that I totally love food, had no concept of what was good/bad for me apart from stuff that made me feel guilty, didn't exercise, hated my weight but ate more as a consequence and generally had no conecpt of healthy eating.

Like you I had done ww before. I hated the meetings so this time round I joined online this time and track my own weight without needing to queue up etc. I also keep a food diary here in the food diary forum and I find this totally invaluable. Its only when you have to write down everything you eat that you realise what you are putting into yourself. If you do decide to keep one I'd also advise you give the address to your friends/family so they can support you while you work at it.

The biggest change I found was finding out what I could snack on so that even if I was having a terrible day I no longer fall off the wagon completely. Also make sure you assess how hungry you really are before you snack, there are times when you genuinely will be hungry and a snack won't cut it, you'll just end up snacking again half an hour later. Learning to assess your hunger was one of the first things I had to learn but after two weeks or so I had it pretty sorted.

The first few weeks will drive you nuts no matter what type of dietry changes you decide to make. The reason for this is generally that you need to learn quantities and content of a lot of food types which can take a while (I follow ww so it took a bit to learn the points for fruits etc) there's some great advice in the stickies and some of the previous posters advice to on changes that may make a difference. I'm not here to promote ww, it works for me but its not for everyone. I also found that I was obsessing over food but again that passes.

I'd take it one step at a time. For example if you love coke or soft drinks then work on cutting that out in one week. The next week take on a new challenge such as cutting out white breads. Stick to small steps that build up over time into a healthy diet and you should get there.

Smile and stick to it! You've already taken the biggest step by admitting you'd like to change.
Best of luck

BraziliaNZ

evil-monkey wrote: »

and i don't do any exercise bar surfing. and that's not really exercise being honest.

Jesus, surfing absolutely WRECKS me, more than any other exercise!