All these do's and don'ts

Hey everyone, I just joined here about a week ago, and have to say I have never seen a site so supportive and helpful as this one...I weigh in at 247 lbs. (250 when I started )  and I just want to get back to my pre-babys, pre-marriage, pre-stay at home mom weight of 176 lbs.  (I am 5'11" and 170 looks good on me.) Anyway, I started really simple, drop the junk, cut back on portions, eat more raw veggies and fruits (up to 8 servings a day now) and exercise.   I am really overweight, so my exercising is only about 30 mins. of walking, between 2. 5 mph, and 3.4 mph and thats about all I can handle.  I also do about 20 mins. of weight training 3x per week.  So I'm thinking to myself, yeah, I'm on the right track...keeping it simple.  But then, cause Im a computer junkie, I started looking at different diet plans, reading about how your heart rate should be at a certain point while your exercising, then you should eat carbs before you exercise, and protein after you exercise, and then don't weight train cause it will just make you have hard fat, then do weight train cause it will help you burn more fat, then eat 1000 calories per day, then eat 1700 calories per day, then eat more carbs, then less carbs...I gotta say, I am really getting confused.  I thought this would be pretty basic, and I am finding that it is not.  Am I kidding myself that the small changes that I am making are going to do a thing?  I see posts on here where ppl are working out for one or two hours a day!  Whew, I just can't handle that.  I don't know what I am suppose to do.  I find myself wondering if I am in for a big surprise here when I can't lose weight.  Any advice would be appreciated.  Thanks guys!

Hi Hagia and welcome!

Here's the bottom line:  in order to lose weight you must burn more calories than you take in.

How you do it is up to you -eat less or move more (both is even better)

It's impossible to follow every guideline written, but if you follow the cardinal rule above - you will lose weight.  Guaranteed.

Hey welcome to the site-I just joined last week myself. I think the best part of this site is you see how many calories you should eat and what is good and what is not. I never realized how many of the foods I was easting were just crappy and high in calories. I just joined a gym and I am making a point to get there 4-5 times per week to work out. It sounds like you are off to a good start so far--as you keep walking, it is only going to get easier!  The weight training is good also because it burns calories and tones you up! Plus there are long term positive effects for women..which is awesome. I am doing alot of cardio and some weight training also--it's only been a few weeks and I am seeing an improvement in my arms already! Good luck and keep tracking your foods as it really helps! I had a real eye opener last night looking up fast food stuff as I tend to eat that 1-2 times per month mostly when i visit my family. Check out some of the other posts as everyone here has so many good things to say!

Hi Hagia,

Here are some basics that I've used so far to lose 15 pounds (12 more to go):

A) Drop ALL Soft drinks - (after I did this at least pounds came righttt off). Your new drink is WATER and juice and actually just top off the water with a BIT of juice if you want to cut the taste (Cranberry works as well).

B) Try not to eat in excess of 1500 calories a day.  The basic rule however is that whatever you weigh (in my case it's 187) you add a zero and you must eat less than that in calories per day to LOSE weight (in my case it's 1870 although I try to eat less than 1500 to accelerate the process).

C) Eat 5 meals a day but the same amount of calories.  Rather than making your body feel it's constantly starving it will feel it's constantly nourished and this way your body won't STORE fat thinking it's starved when you eat a few times a day.

D) You should eat protein within 20 minutes after your workout to gain the muscle (and when your muscle repair themselves they will burn calories even while you sit!)

E) For the first 30 minutes of weight training: ALL you burn is CARBS.  (i.e. work out 31 minutes you only burned 1 minute of fat). Therefore weight train FIRST.  This way you work your muscles which will later burn calories repairing themselves. THEN do your cardio for another 20 - 30 minutes and you'll be burning pure fat. **Notice FAST results this way.  I know I have!  (Also it's nice to not be exhausted to weight train after cardio!!)

F) WATER WATER WATER -- Bring a water bottle with you everywhere you go and drink at LEAST 2 Litres of water a day (this will grow on you, Trust me!)

G) Have vitamins everyday - They help your body repair itself and lose weight faster!

H) Eat Fruits and Veggies (I see you're doing this already! Great!!)

G) Cardio 5 days a week.

I) Sleep at least 8 hours a night. Rest means a lot!!

Now I don't claim to be an expert but these things are what I've learned from going on many sites (notably bodybuilding.com and fitday.com to keep track of my calories) for help and inspiration.

Good luck and I hope you reach your target weight in no time!

mtlguy- good advice on everything except that second one.. i weigh 290 lbs so if i added a zero i'd be eating 2900 calories a day.. i KNOW i don't burn that much in a day.. maybe that guidline is for if you are closer to your goal weight.  just wanted to clear that up for those of us who are severly over weight.  :)

I think you were totally on the right track in the first place.

Make healthy changes to your lifestyle, and the pounds will go.

Keep up the great work-and take most of the stuff you read about weight loss with a dose of skeptism.

^_^

hagia,

You are off to a great start.  I couldn't do an hour or 2 workout everyday.  I started off walking a mile and now I am up to 3 miles it takes time to build yourself up and you don't want to overdo it.  You are doing a great job and you will be able to see a difference.  You can go to many websites and find different advice.  Do what works for you and that may take awhile to figure that all out but you will get there. 

Good luck to you.

Hagia,

I agree with cheatingirl about the calories in and calories out. But, there is one more rule to remember:

If you ask five people (even professionals) the same question, you will get five different answers.

So do what you can and see what happens. If you don't lose 1-2 pounds a week, then try something different.

Good luck!

the tips do really work....and I was on the right track but then I caught a terrible cold - knocked me out for a week or two. so I gained almost everything I lost in 3 weeks.  So how do you keep the immune system strong? any suggestions? thanks 

Wow, see, I told you this site was great....thanks everyone for your advice and encouragment.  I am just going to keep on doing what I'm doing for now...maybe later afte more of this weight has come off, I will have to shake it up a bit, but for now, this seems to be working....and amkoffee, I totally agree with you, oppinions are like you-know-whats, everybodys got one!  LOL!  And thanks mtlguy, for your detailed advice....  I dropped the soft drinks, going on eight days now ( I used to drink 3-5 cokes a day) and boy has that been tough.... I now drink about 125 oz of water ( I read somewhere that you should drink about half your weight in ounces of water per day.)  But you know what works for me?  I keep a 12 pack of coke in the cabinet.  I know its there and I tell myself that I can have one if I want one, so when the craving comes on, I know I am only a glass away from satisfaction, but I can fight it easier.  Go figure, it works for me.

Also, I wanted to ask if anyone has used V8.  I found this fruit fusion from V8 and I like it but wondered if there were any downsides to it that you all know of.

Thanks again everyone for your advice and support!

Sue
There are some things you can do to restore the immune system.  Take Vitamin C.  You can take large doses of it as you cannot overdose on it.  Do mega-doses of vitamin C for several days.  Also, take the supplement Echinacea it is an herb that naturally boosts the immune system.  If you are still trying to clear the yucky stuff out of your system you may want to take a goldenseal/echinacea combo for like ten days. 

Also, eat garlic which is a natural blood cleanser and immune system booster.  Yogurt or other foods with live cultures will help restore the digestive system to have healthy amounts of intestinal flora, particularly helpful if you were put on any kind of antibiotic.  Avoid refined/packaged foods and step up the fresh fruit and veggies for awhile also. 

Hope you feel 100% again real soon :)

Hi Hagia,

My very good friend started on an ellyptical trainer and could only do 5 minutes per day when she started - a couple of months later she is doing 65 minutes per day!!  The important thing is to keep on doing it!  What I do, is when I lose a pound I increase the intensity of the work out - just a bit!  I do this because you burn less calories as you get lighter!  Just try to make common sense choices - if you want pasta - get the whole wheat kind and start with a cup and then wait a bit and see if your still hungry - if you are try a second helping of vegetables - if your still hungry - have a 1/2 cup more - if you need a sweet - don't deny yourself - but make a healthier choice than you have in the past - get low fat, sugar free - the better choices WILL ABSOLUTELY pay off.  We will all get there - don't worry!

Hi ..I've just joined today _ Nice to meet you all *waves*:o)
I have a question, is it possible to cut carbs from your diet when weight training? - I have been exercising for 9 mths at the gym ..weight training and cardio.
Last week I went to buy some new clothes and was gutted to find that I'm still "big". I know I have toned up in my legs and butt but my stomach is still big.
I was so disheartened, totally gutted. So I thought maybe I could do the SureSlim diet and continue to train, but I'm wondering whether it would be effective for my ,muscles to do that.
 It will end up being ...Fruit and yoghurt/or egg omelette for brekky.Lunch: 3 cruskits and vege/salad chicken or cheese or tuna for protein, or persian bread wrap with salad and protein. Dinner is most meat..vege...and fruit for dessert. 2 litres of water a day and LSA seeds for omega oils. Eating every 5 hrs .
I'd  appreciate your thoughts.
thx
Winnie

Hagia~ Welcome. We love to help, And we love to give help and tips. Take all you need from us. We are here to help.. Welcome and good luck on your weight loss..

hi and welcome

good advise from a lot of good posts i think. i like the idea of weight training to burn carbs, but in the morning there are no carbs, so you will be burning fat if you do your cardio before you eat in the morning and wait one hour after before you eat.

That aside. My honest advise is to not concentrate on looking great and all the other balony. Do not worry about losing 2 lbs a week so you can look good by june. Do not worry about attracting that pretty blond (my wife is blond so im partial) .

Instead, come to peace with permanently changing your life and eating habits. Take the eating habits prescribed here, and what the computer tells you, and just move on with your life. Challenge yourself to figure out why you overate in the first place, and find different ways to live .

If you put all your energy into that and drinking 2 litres of water instead of coke, milkshakes and everything else, all will fall into place. Permanently.

You will lose weight, you wont have to worry about it. You will look great, given time. It will take care of itself. Remember, unless we commit ourselves to this way of eating permanently, we will gain back the weight and more once we dump the diet.