I was talking to my mum this evening and she has decided to really try and lose some weight, shes tried before and has given it up.. But this time she wants to really lose some weight and I wonder if theres any good information I can give her? She's not very internet wise so she wouldnt use the internet, so I want to get the information for her to read.

She is around 5'5"/6" and is obese for her height (don't know the exact weight, she didnt let on but shes a size 22) shes 42 and leads a sedentary lifestyle. I'd like to get good explanatory information for her to read on:

• Healthy foods
• Low Calorie snacks
• Staying within your calorie range
• Eating enough calories for your body to function without going into starvation mode and without overeating
• Eating little meals during the day to keep your body going
• Home exercises/Light exercises

And any other information you think could be useful for her as she really doesnt have any information as she seems to think that eating a slice of toast in the morning and a rice cake for dinner is plenty for her to live on a day!!!!!

I would imagine a good search of this site (coupled with printing of course) would help....

you could find specific threads to go along with those topics and print them out...

have you looked at this thread yet.

One thing I just learned since starting in August is that there is a minimum calorie deficit. I was just trying to get as big a deficit as possible but that is bad and may even be why your body fights you. Since I started maintaining a 1000 calorie deficit, life has been easier and I don't feel burnt out and tired all of the time. I started with 128lbs to lose and have lost 56 and the biggest thing that has helped me is counting calories. It is something I have resisted in the past because I am a reasonably healthy eater - but it turns out that even healthy foods add up calorie wise. So I started seeing where I could cut back (ex: do I really need a whole sandwich with two slices of bread at 100 calories a pop? Or two eggs w/breakfast?) Also, soda is all empty calories and I'd much rather actually eat something than have a soda. I lost 15lbs right off the bat when I stopped drinking regular soda and switched to Pepsi One with Splenda (only one or two a day though, and only after I drink all of my water so usually I am not even thirsty for it). Okay, and one more thing - even if it's just walking - you have to exercise and watch calories. It's important for your health and calorie counting alone could lead to a lapse once she has lost weight or even to plateaus. It really helps to get yourself to embrace a new lifestyle and not just diet. Well, good luck to your mom - hope this helps!

Perhaps if you use the suggestion of gathering information from this site, she might become interested to search herself.  Give it a try!  There are many opportunities to get information just from Calorie count. Exercise included.

Maybe you can create an ID and use it just for her and then log the information.  If you live close go over every so often and help her learn to update the information.  Hope this is helpful.

If she is an emotional eater - the book "Life is Hard, Food is Easy" by Linda Spangle is great for helping you identify and conquer your habits. It worked for me along with this website and I lost 41 lbs as of today in 10 months!

Take care and may you and your mother be blessed with health!

thank you for your help  and congrats of losing weight 1heavenlybody & cmiller.. I will let her read this, thanks once again youve all been such a GREAT help

I know I posted this a while ago but I would just like to thank u all for ur help and support... I saw my mum and gave her all in the info and she was very grateful  shes coming to terms with calories and that now and has lost 8 - 10lbs and she looks SO much better!! I couldnt believe it when I saw her, and shes so happy with it too. I just wanted to thank you all for your help and support, thanks