Weight Loss Tips?

[Admiral_Young]

As some of you know I suffer from chronic back problems and a severe club foot that I had surgically corrected a couple years ago. I'm seeing the physio tomorrow about options to correct my twisting pelvis including possible surgery...but I was wondering if any of you had any weight loss tips? Workout routines you do, etc.

I'm at my all time high weight wise...around 260, my average standard weight for my height is supposed to be 185 so I'm nearly a hundred pounds overweight. The excess weight is effecting how I walk and my daily activities. I'm on disability and volunteer occasionally at the local community theater so I'm not that active. Also seem to have a problem controlling my appetite as of late which is unusual for me. So any suggestions?

 

[An Officer]

Try to eat fresh produce rather than pre-packaged foods, this way you'll know exactly what you're consuming. If you can't always manage that, do always read the contents of what you're about to put in your mouth so you can make an informed choice. Stay away from alcohol - the calories are ridiculous and not worth it. Generally speaking, stick to white meats, fruit and veg, and nuts and cereals. If you can do that, plus throw in some daily activities which make you perspire a little, then you ought to be well on your way to seeing dramatic and consistent results. Do not look on all this as a temporary diet, you must fix in your mind that it is a permanent change of lifestyle for the sake of your health.

If you are really serious about this, and want fast and lasting results, I would suggest you do as much research on nutrition as you can, so that you loose weight safely and do not compromise your health. Such information might also help you identify which particular foods you eat, or do not eat which might have contributed to your difficulties. Sometimes, it can be as simple as eliminating only one or two things, which you thought were harmless, but in actual fact you should not have been looking at with binoculars. Good luck!

 

[Adm_Hawthorne]

It's all about calorie intake. You should take a look at how many calories you should be taking in each day and set up a diet plan that incorporates foods you like into that calorie intake.

It's all about portion size in a lot of cases.

Your diet isn't something you get on and get off. It's how you eat all the time, and it can seriously affect you.

For example, a woman at my age and height should pull in about 1200 calories a day, minimum.

The average American drinks 400 calories a day. Drinks

It's about food awareness, man.

Exercise doesn't hurt either.

 

[TerokNor]

Like the other already said fresh food, lots of veggies, if you get the need to eat something inbetween don´t eat snacks like chips and chocolate, but eat red pepper, cucumba, carrots and such. Don´t eat soft white weat bread... eat black bread or whole grain bread or ..Knäckebrot (hmm..I dont know the translation). If you put butter or so at your bread and dont want to eat it without, then dont have it too thick on it.
Don´t eat too much at a time, eat smaller portions, eat slow, don´t eat meat with every meal, and no fat meat.
Drink a lot pure water, thats healthy and you are not as hungry. If you are tired of pure water then mix it with 1/3 juice (2/3 water), but only now and than.
Excerzise is great of course, so just be in movement, that can also be walking around in nature or wherever.
Oh and do try to never eat something unhealthy. If you want to eat a piece of chocolate every secnd day or such do it. Just dont eat a lot of it. However if you like to eat chocolate or so and you tell yourself you can never have it you will want to have the more...and loose the battle and then youll eat lots of eat. So better give yourself a little from it and not as inbetween food, but really conscious about that you eat it and enjoy it.

TerokNor

 

[Marie1]

Exercise.

Enough that you feel it.

S'what I do.

 

[Deckerd]

Sex is exercise.

 

[omgahitsbritt08]

Drink lots of water. That's a big plus. Is your problem eating or the things that you are eating? Hopefully, thats not confusing. The big thing, if you want to lose weight without much exercise right away is to eat healthy. All type of veggies...fruits. My big thing is fruits. My sister lost over 150 pounds eating regular meals, good portion sizes and eatin fruits and veggies all through out the day.

And if you need support, I know a few websites that help with the mental/emotional process. Its free, there are tons of people out there are in the same situation. And you all have one goal, to lose weight in a healthy way.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

If you're drinking soda, stop. And no, don't switch to diet: aspartame will probably make you feel even worse.

Favor complex carbs (starches) over simple ones (sugary things.)

As everybody else said, fruits and veggies are good.

Track your calories and try to eat on a consistent schedule. This regulates your metabolism and will help reduce weight fluctuation.

Exercise if you can. What I found is that you will lose some weight up front, and then level off or even go up again. Don't be alarmed if this happens! Chances are, you have replaced fat with muscle. It doesn't mean the exercise isn't working. Just keep at it and weight loss will start up as muscle mass levels off.

The key, of course, is to eat fewer calories than you burn. If you are sitting all day, try to fidget and otherwise avoid being totally still. You can burn hundreds of calories a day just fidgeting!

 

[Jetfire]

I lost alot of weight by eating fresh foods, no sugar & drinking mostly water...something I need to get back to when I can find work...right now I have to take what I can get food-wise. I should be exercising, I have gained so much.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Yeah I drink lots of water, and my problem is the foods I eat combined with portion problems. I already exercise but it's not been enough. I know I'm going to have to cut pop out of my diet, I don't drink diet pop because of the aspartame in the first place.

 

[UssGlenn]

A word meal sizes, make sure you aren't hungry when you leave the table, but don't eat until you are full. Just eat until you aren't hungry anymore. The need to snack later will be lessened, and not eating till you are full will combat overeating. Hope that's not more elementary than you were looking for.

 

[Kelso]

Yeah, you just need to burn more calories than you take in.

I've lost 55 pounds so far this year by sticking with fruit, veggies, salads, lean meats, and drinking lots of water. It also helps to know what you are going to treat yourself with and when. I really enjoy the Arizona diet green tea when I need something other than water and going to subway for a sandwich when I get sick of my usual diet. Try to treat yourself with things that are still healthier than what you would usually eat and be sure to eat slowly and control your portion size. Some people do okay with "cheat days", but I found that a cheat day can quickly turn into a cheat weekend. Though, I do set goals for myself with a reward at the end. "Ten more pounds and I'll go to Stevi B's!" That sort of thing. But I wouldn't do it weekly.

Also, if you're not a gym person (I'm not!) find simpler ways to increase the calories you burn. I started taking my daughter for nature walks, for example. It doesn't feel like exercise, but you can burn quite a few extra calories just walking for an hour every day (and carrying a three year old on your shoulders doesn't hurt either ).

Good luck!

 

[cultcross]

It all boils down to the energy balancing equation - if energy expended is more than energy taken in, the remainder must come from reserves. It's not as simple as just 'eat less' because your body is designed to be famine resistant - you will adapt to your new lower calorie intake and it will achieve nothing in the long term (don't be fooled by large early drops in gross weight, that's just reduced water retention). But you can counteract this by exercise. Good regular cardiovascular exercise will make sure you keep your calorie need up while you reduce your intake. Net effect - reduction of reserves.

 

[propita]

My cardiologist suggested the Atkins diet--it concerns the "glycemic index" and stuff. What you eat and when you eat it. It seems to really regulate what you eat, especially for the first few weeks. I bought the book months ago, but haven't done anything yet.

 

[Adm_Hawthorne]

I found that keeping a diary where I wrote down everything I ate each day helped me control portion sizes and just, generally, how much I was eating.

If you force yourself to be responsible for what you're doing by having it black-and-white, it does have a tendency to keep you from over indulging.

 

[hamudm]

Eat more produce, eat less total calories, make sure you do resistance training... lots of cardio too.