Advice from experience counters pretty please?!

Hi everyone,

I'm 28, 5'6" and weigh 136lbs. I have always been naturally slim but last year I had the contraceptive implant put in and I put on a staggering 14lbs in 4 months!! Since I had it taken out my weight has gone up and down between 132-140lbs (it had taken me 5 years to put on a stone before that - beware girls!!) so for the last 2 weeks I have been on a health kick in an attempt to get back down to 126lbs by the end of september but apart from feeling less bloated i havent really noticed much of a difference so far. I know these things take time but would just like your input to check im on the right track?

Im a small build and would guess i would be somewhere between sedentary and light activity... in the last 2 weeks I have made an effort to go running (well my version of running lol but a combo of very brisk walking, jogging and running though aiming to run more as my fitness improves) for 30 mins 3 times a week - I have a v hectic social life so its difficult to find the time to do more.

Diet wise im roughly around 1300 cals a day.... 50% carbs, 30% protein and 20% fats and my typical diet is weetabix for breakfast with semi- skimmed milk,  one slice of sesame seed ryvita with cottage cheese and fruit for mid morning snack and salad with baby potatoes or wholemeal pitta bread, cottage cheese or low fat cream cheese and low fat ham with an apple or a few clementines with a handful of sunflower seeds for lunch. I have either fruit or another ryvita slice for a late afternoon snack. Dinner is usually either a fillet of oily fish like mackeral or tuna steak or lean chicken or pork with veggies and small portion of potatoes or salad.  After a run I'd usually have a low fat yoghurt. I also have to point out that im this strict during the week - friday to sunday although I watch what Im eating Im not so strict.

I also try to drink lots of water and drink green tea at least 3 times a week.

Any input/suggestions or opinions would be much appreciated! thanks so much for taking the time to read this! x x x

Well, your overall diet sounds like your on the right track, but I'd have to recommend decreasing your carbs and increasing your protein; having a 40% carbs, 40% protein, and 20% fat is hard, but it's a great thing to do since protein releases the most of the "I'm full" hormone that tells your brain to stop.  Cut out the bread in your breakfast and just leave the skim milk, cottage cheese (1% or fat free I hope), and a small portion of fruit.  Instead of that "lowfat ham", go with some tuna.  An easy, good midday snack is 5 oz canned tuna with 1 oz fat free shredded cheese melted on a piece of wheat bread.  For your midmorning snack, try eliminating those foods and going with a protein shake or some other filling, low carb liquid of sorts.

Great suggestions thank you! I was wondering if I should decrease my carbs so thats good to know! I read somewhere though that if you are trying to get into a running routine that you should aim for 50-60% carbs - does anyone have any info on this? Or do you think that only applies to dedicated runners and not unfit amateurs like moi?

I tend to stay away from having much bread and any that I do have is wholegrain or seeded, weetabix is a breakfast cereal but yeah I could cut the carbs in that out for fruit or an egg - that would increase my protein wouldnt it?

Your tuna/cheese lunch sounds lovely thank you, I will def try that for my lunch on monday   

The protein shake will be difficult tho I will give it a go lol my problem is that Im always hungry (or greedy!!) and I dont know if that would fill me up? Im doing ok with the diet and portions above but think I would struggle if I had to cut much else out...... if anyone else has other suggestions of where I could get protein from low carb foods please let me know! x x x

Protein shakes are wonderful for breakfast or for a snack.  I take some low fat milk, some frozen peaches or rasberries, some protein powder, sometimes some fiber (either Fiber-sure or some ground up flax seed) and sometimes some ice cubes if I am using a piece of fresh fruit or a yogurt in place of frozen fruit)  and a few drops of liquid stevia and blend it.  Sometimes I add my "green stuff"--  Read here:  http://nutrition.about.com/od/healthyfoods/gr /greensfirst.htm  ;

The result is it feels like a milkshake while being very good for me.  :)  See what you think.  :)

Here is a wonderful little cookbook filled with healthy high protein low carb snacks or meals which are easy to make:

http://www.amazon.com/Diet-6-Minute-Meals-6-P ack-Great-Tasting/dp/1594865469

Watch out when it comes to eggs, if you eat the yolk, you get a lot of fat and cholesterol.  Egg whites are an excellent source of protein.

On the note of the protein shake, I recommend Whey protein as it is very easy for the body to absorb and utilize; American Whey is the best.  For combination shakes, try one of two things:  Two sccops Double Dutch Chocolate American Whey with 1 tbsp reduced fat peanut butter, .75 cup of ice, and 1 cup of skim milk; 2 scoops Vanilla American Whey with 1 cup skim milk, .75 cup of ice, and 1/2 a serving of two fruits you like.

Thanks that does sound really good and def something I could make at home - any thoughts tho for low carb/ high protein ideas that I could quickly prepare at work for a late afternoon snack?

Considering that takes 2 minutes with a blender, it doesn't really get much quicker than that.  You could also very easily make it at home, store it in a thermas, and have it at work.

If you have that shake for you mid-morning snack instead like I do, go for turkey + swiss roll-ups that I've been having lately.  You need 4 slices of Honey Roasted and Smoked Turkey Breast (http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/item/82066.h tml) and 2 slices of Borden Fat Free Swiss (http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/item/101851. html).  Take half a piece of the swiss and roll it into the turkey, it's quite good and shoud hold you a minimum of 2.5-3 hours.  If you really need it, make it a sandwich, but in that case, only use 3 pieces of turkey and 1 piece of cheese and throw on some oregano; the best bread when it comes to a good balance of taste/nutrition is Nature's Own Honey Wheat Bread (http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/item/108885. html).

new and fabulous to my routine...nature's own LIGHT wheat bread...awesome! half the calories and sugar and all that good stuff!

Original Post by tiada1210:

new and fabulous to my routine...nature's own LIGHT wheat bread...awesome! half the calories and sugar and all that good stuff!

 I can top that.  Aunt Millie's Healthy Goodness Fiber for life whole grain bread. 35 cals a slice, 3 grams of fiber 2.5 of protein.

I would suggest trying to keep a steady heart rate when you exercise. As a beginner its great to just get exercise at all (your combo of running, jogging, brisk walking) but if you really want to burn fat calories you should try to keep that heart rate steady...even if its brisk walking for 1 hour if you can't jog for 30 min straight. Your heart rate should stay steady for atleast 30 minutes (the more the better) inorder to really burn fat.

Good luck. My stats are pretty similar to yours. I am 5'6 and weighed 135 when I got married. My goal was 125 but I ended up loving exercise & eating right soo much that I dropped to 110. It took me roughly 10 months to lose 20 lbs. Now I am 4 months pregnant with my second so I am up to 121.

I hope you have fun while losing your weight. It will make you feel better just to get active...even if you don't see results right away. It's a slow process and as long as you're doing something good for your body you'll probably FEEL better about your body.

It's amazing (and sometimes frightening) what hormones do to our bodies!  I'm a 5'7, 135 lbs, 37 y.o. mother of 3 who has struggled with side effects of birth control hormones for years.   Last month I finally went for an IUD hoping to find relief.  To my surprise and chagrin, my weight hasn't changed but I've put 2 inches on my hips! :(  I had hoped for the opposite when I quit the estrogren, but my body's going through a major adjustment period.

I do high impact step aerobics 3x/week and toning at least twice per week with other cardio.  I keep my caloric intake between 1200 and 1500.  I guess my point is: keep in mind your body's adjusting to some major new stuff and it may take some time to even out.  Don't get frustrated or think your efforts aren't worth it!

Thanks Sarjane and Dday  Thats great info to know about my heart rate  - will def keep that in mind when I'm out tonight and wow well done to you Sarjane for going well over your goal!! Thats amazing. Congrats on your 2nd also!

Dday - honestly im so mad at those hormones for messing up my metabolism - not so long ago I was underweight!! You're right it is frightening.... you have to wonder what other damage they are doing to your body. I didnt feel I had many options as I cant take the combined pill due to migraines and hated the idea of the coil so.... we decided to go for the fertility awareness (taught by a specialist) method of birth control. It was v scarey at first as you feel like you're not using anything but both myself and my bf are very confident and happy using it now. Its so clever and interesting - it just takes a minute each morning when you wake up to record your observations of temperature and icky stuff (!) but best of all no nasty hormones to muck up our bodies!

Yeah I have been feeling great since I started exercising regularly and paying proper attention to what im eating. It makes life a lot easier to discover that I like cottage cheese, sunflower seeds and green tea lol Im feeling less sluggish and I've even managed to get a few like minded friends out running with me! I am starting to notice a small difference in my body but its so small that only I would notice - def encouragment tho that Im heading in the right direction even if the scales are not agreeing at the moment!!!

 Thanks girlies for your words of wisdom and encouragement!!!