Advice

Hey

I'm going into this on my own and trufully, I'm a little lost.  I've had a bad diet most of my life.  Although I was quite a skinny kid I was fed on crap like chicken nuggits and chips.  These days I can't put a chicken nuggit near my mouth without gagging and I'm not the biggest chip fan, but I am a bit of a carb junkie and like to binge on pasta and rice and I have put un quite alot of weight since I was about 13, 14. 

I've got to that time in my life where I've had enough of being overweight and unfit and I want to be able to keep up with my boyfriend and friends when we're out hill walking and I want to get to the top of that overhang at Sunderland Climbing Wall without giving up because I can't pull my weight up it.

I could really do with some advice from people who've been doing this a long time on how to go about this and acturly start to lose weight.

I don't want to be on a rabbit food diet and still want to be able to enjoy the things I love.  I'm a huge fan of italian food and the traditional sunday roast.  I also love fish although I'm not entirly sure what to do with it most the time.

I'm currently at 194 pounds and I'm desprate to be able to fit into a pair of size 12 jeans (USA 8)  this time next year and have a good fitness level.

Any and every bit of advice it welcome.

Thanks

Jenny xx

Actually Jenny, it's quite simple.  Eat less, exercise more.  Use the tools CC provides in the links above to figure out your approximate calorie maintenance level and your level for weight loss and then start tracking what you eat and try to maintain at least a 500 calorie deficit each day and you'll lose roughly a pound a week.  Start a regular exercise program.  Join a gym or walk or run, it doesn't really matter, so long as your heart rate is getting up there and you are getting a good sweat on. 

You can keep eating the foods you are eating now and lose weight, you don't have to change anything other than eating less.  If your goal is more than just weight loss but better overall health, you might want to consider eating some "rabbit food"....lol.  If you want to move towards a healthier diet you could do that too and it would help a lot because fibre intake, nutritional content, and overall health can make a difference in your weight loss too, but it's not mandatory.  

I know it's not flashy, but it works and it has worked for me and lots of other people around here as you will no doubt soon find out.

I guess the big question I'm asking is, what is a healthy balenced diet and how can I achive it while still having some of the things I love.

Well that is the eternal question isn't it Jenny.  To me, a healthy balanced diet consists of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, fish and lean cuts of meat, preferably organic.  And by fruits I mean an apple or an orange or a peach, not apple juice or peaches in a can with syrup.  Same with the rest.  Whole grains means brown rice, millet, quinoa, wheat berries, oatmeal..etc.  Even with healthy foods, I think processing, packaging and added artificial unnatural ingredients is the enemy.   

Now you can't go from what you are doing now to that kind of a diet over night.  What I would suggest is just trying out different things and slowly, one by one, adding new things to your diet and getting rid of some of the bad things along the way.  A slow, steady, long term approach is much more likely to work for you than just jumping in head on. 

A good way to start, if your lost.  OK,  Keep it simple if you don't know what healthy eating is.  Meaning getting back to the basics.  fruits, veggies,  yogurts,  meats for protein.  when I first started the cc I started with~~~ 

morning~slimfast

snack~ apple carmel rice cake

lunch~slimfast

snack~yogurt

dinner~ lean cuisine

snack~apple

Water, water,water   You can even still add 300 more calories to that diet and be great.   Be careful of calories in your beverages.  Go look and read the other blogs on food topics you will get tons of ideas.....

Wouldnt recommend the above....mostly processed and not natural.

I eat healthily and still have snacks etc

Breakfast  - Cereal....300kcal's worth

Dinner and/or Tea - Salad with chick, ham or cottage cheese or veg with salmon or tuna or chick, Jacket pot with prawns or beans, homemade cottage pie, bolognaise, lasagne with veg and or salad, homemade casseroles, stews minus the dumplings and pots...keep them seperate so you can count your portion etc.

Basically anything thats not processed and fresh as poss, main thing is to control portion sizes and have veg or salad with every meal.  Dont be affraid of pots to give you energy or brown rice or wholewheat pasta...just watch the portions.

I snack on fruit, great for a sweet fix, love cherries, oranges, kiwis and apples.  Strawberries and blueberries are great in the morning especially.  I love yoghurts, activia are great.

For when i fancy chocolate or cake etc i will have some but just a small portion and try n pivck the healthiest/low cal option.  Weight Watchers cakes are good, i like light Rich Tea bics too. However you can have anything in moderation.

Exercise whenever its made possible aswell.

Might not work for anyone else but just thought id say in case and because it does work for me really well..

It is true also that when you start to feel bit hungry have a drink first to see if its that...i like green or nettle tea aswell as the fruit teas, strawberry n mango is yumm lol.  I do have a serious love affair with proper freshly ground coffee, a treat for me lol or if i have few cals left a hot choc.

I think this has been succesful for me because i have not felt restricted in any way shape or form i can have what i want, its only me that tells me i cant, not a book or a diet kinda thing!

The main thing thats made this work for me, i think, is the portion control and becoming aware of the healthier option.  Im lucky because i love all the healthy food too so its not too hard for me.

Dunno if thats helped or not at all but thought id offer it anyway lol  :0))

Personally, I think it is possible to lose weight and eat the foods you enjoy. How (we hear this all the time)? Moderation. You can still have pasta and rice, but maybe cut it down to a few to a couple times a week? Also, try brown rice and whole wheat pasta. I really can't tell the difference between white and brown rice, but the pasta took me a while to get used to. You may find it easier to stay within your calorie goal by adding some "rabbit food" to your diet, but some of it's actually pretty good :) Drink plenty of water, eat good amounts of fruit and veggies, make sure you're getting your protein, and please don't do the slim fast drink diet... I've never had any experience with it, but I don't think it would be very comfortable taking in all you calories through drinks when you could use them for yummy carbs :) And  good ways to fish fish are to add your favorite spices, maybe some olive oil, and poach it, broil it, bake it, steam it, etc. 

My advice is closer to mars.  I have found it impossible for me to stay on any kind of regime without eating some of the foods I like best.  I still eat deserts, I just eat much less in quantity, not skipping them.  I agree with the whole grain change over.  I now really don't like white pasta, but if you can't cultivate a taste for the whole grain, be sure you limit the pasta, which you have to do with whole grain also.  For me, exercise has been a real big part of weight loss. 

I am a hiker also so I understand your comments about hills.  I hated sweating!  I hated breathing hard!  After losing almost 30 lbs. and exercising daily I am not brething as hard hiking and we will see what happens when the heat of summer returns!

I would also recommend that you never go totally away from your healthy eating habits.  You can sure over eat occasionally but do it in moderation.  In other words, for me, this means if you eat a whole piece of pie, don't think "well I ate that one, I might as well have another piece".  As inane as that sounds in the past I have done just that.

Good luck with it!

Hi Jenny,

I know exactly what you're going thru! I grew up with the same food being shoved down my throat. My parents idea of eating healthy was to take macaroni, drown it in cheeze whiz, add chopped up hotdogs (that's my gag food now) and then add brocolli, cauliflower and carrots to it! EWWWWW! My dad is a bit better now,hot dogs is still a staple food (shiver),  but my mother doesn't cook anything that can't go in the microwave. Hmmm, and I wonder why I battle my weight now? Anyway!

I know it's been said, and I'll say it again, you can do this while still eating the things you like, and probably finding some new ones that you would never even have considered... I've found out that my 7yr old son and I both LOVE spinach salad! He asks for it in his lunch box now!

But my advice is the portion control part... If you have larger plates in your cupboard, find a smaller one just for you, I started eating off the kids plates so that I wasn't looking at this tiny portion of food on this massive plate. Also, for the 1st little while at least, measure everything! I've found that by doing this, I can include my treats every once in a while, and not feel the least bit guilty! My kids actually laugh at me because I eat my 1/2 cup of Fat Reduced, sugar free Cherry Vanilla ice cream (sigh) right out of the measuring cup! 1- it's less dishes ;o) and 2- then you can't play that mind game with yourself that one more scoop into the bowl isn't going to make that much of a difference. You have filled your"bowl" and that's all you need!

I've tried the slimfast thing in the past(shake for breakfast, bar for lunch) and although it did take the pounds off at the time, it didn't give me the tools that I needed to stay smaller, learning how to eat properly! Which I guess is why I'm here now ;o)

Good Luck! And hang in there!

I have been on this weight loss journey for about three years. Starting at 207 and presently 142. I also had a poor diet growing up, not terrible, but not great. And when I was on my own it went from bad to worst. When I first started to lose weight I depended on a lot of processed foods. I felt comfortable with seeing the information right on the package... but was really only looking at the calories, not the rest of the nutritional information. I did see success, but learned more and more about nutrition and began to experiment more with my foods. My old favorites included tacos, mac and cheese, fried fresh fish, french fries, etc. I have made changes to how these foods are prepared and still enjoy them.

Taco's - Now are taco salad. Tons of veggies, a half ounce of cheese, half cup of Yves Mexican ground round (or extra lean beef), one taco shell, and mix salsa and fat free sour cream as my dressing. Gives me that taco taste, but a heck of a lot less calories then the 4 plus overfilled tacos I used to eat.

Mac & Cheese - whole wheat pasta, cheese sauce made with light margarine, skim milk and light cheddar, broccoli and cauliflower - equal parts veggies to pasta. Just Awesome.

Fried fish - learned how to bake fish. I love it, instead of a breading or batter I use spices and herbs. More flavour then my old fried friend.

French fries - I still love them. But now I bake them. Put them right under the broiler to get crisp. Don't notice the difference, still feel satisfied.

Oh and my old friend pizza... yup I still eat that too. I will pick one up in the freezer section every once in a while. Now I choose one with whole wheat crust thin, low fat cheese, and veggies. And instead of eat the whole thing, I will have half with a salad. And salad... I only used to like them with full fat creamy dressings. Now I just use vinegar, love red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar.

So my best advice for a more healthy diet is to learn to make small changes to your favorites. It doesn't matter how healthy a food is if you don't enjoy eating it. You need to feel satisfied from what you are eating. Find recipes that make your favorites healthier, or products that are an improvement on what you were eating... like my whole wheat pizza. Find fruits and veggies that you enjoy... I never thought I would be excited about fruit, but knowing that I have some fresh pineapple in the fridge for dessert makes me happy. Find healthy snacks that you enjoy. I never ate nuts, but now I love them.

Best of luck to you.

I think a healthy lifestyle is a journey. When I started I also didn't want to change my lifestyle completey. And I would never last long on an eating plan. I looked at the amount of calories CC suggested and just tried to keep within that with my regular food. I learned quickly which foods were high calories that I ate regularly and that helped me to look at a better alternative.

Just analysing what I ate opened up my eyes. I always thought that wraps were a better alternative to burgers, but no they have a higher amoiunt of calories. The food analysis also helped me to look at my fibre, and that improved my digestion. But it all took time and I am still learning.

I think when you really look at what you are putting in your body and what it does, it will help you in making better decisions. Knowledge is power!

Good Luck!

Thanks loads guys for the help.  Learnt quite alot from just reading what people have to say.

Think pizza nights are going to be a bit different now.  Think I'll just make lots, stick them on the table, and fill my plate with things other than pizza.  Btw, I make the best pizza bases ever if anyone ever wants the resipie.

I guess I'm going to start making a few changes and hopefully give my boyfriend a little bit of a push to help me out with them.  Think I'm going to have to sacrifice a bit of my money aswell to get some nice fruit and veg into house and anyone dares touch my bananas they will die this time.  Same for my oranges.

All great advice.

My feeling is you should jump right in.  Keep a journal, track your calories, track how many calories you burn a day for a least a couple of weeks - and when you clearly see the relationship between eating calories/burning calories the calorie deficit will show up on your bathroom scale.

It really is easy, follow your common sense.  The more carbohydrates you eat, the more carbohydrates you'll want, so cut them down.  Start walking every day and make exercise a permanent part of your life.  Cheat occasionally.  I think this is really important.  You have one life.  If there's a perfect pizza waiting for you at your favorite pizza place, I say go there every couple of weeks.  Same for anything else, every couple of weeks have a weekend of eating what you'd like.  Or break it down to how you want to do it - eating what you'd like every weekend is probably fine because after eating healthier food (less processed or not processed) for awhile you won't want that stuff as much anyway.

Good luck.  Don't forget the exercise.