How do I lose weight without starving myself??

 I am 25 years old and in 8 months am going to be a bridesmaid in my bestfriends wedding.  I spent the majority of my life as a dancer/actress until severe knee problems halted that career.

Like many other performers I spent the majority of my adolescence with an eating disorder.  Four years ago i was 5'1 weighing 92lbs.  For years I ate less than 1000 calories a day, and abused diet pills. 

In the past 4 and a half years I've gained about 70lbs. I don't over eat, but I do love chocolate and bread, and unfortunately my metabolism is very slow because of years of abuse.

I don't know how to lose weight without starving myself but I've gone from underweight to overweight in a few short years. I need as many tips and advice as people can give me.

Exercise is a problem, because right now I can't afford gym membership and running is out because of my knee.  I don't know how to lose weight withhout starving myself. HELP

What is your goal? How many pounds in 8 months?

Have you already tried the calculator tool that tells you how many calories you need to eat per day to reach that goal?

Also - swimming laps tends to be easy on the joints...do you have access to a pool?

Hi,

You don't need a gym to lose weight.  At least I don't think so.

If you have some dumbbells at home you could use them to do some strength training. 

as for cardio bike is really good for the knees.  when i had my acl replacement surgery the physical therapists always put me on the bike to work my knee gently.  i used a recumbent bike for it tho.

also make sure that you are getting the your requested daily intake.  if you do feel hungry and  youve reached your max for the day then eat fruit or veggies.  its low in cals and it will help refresh you.

hope that helps some.

I strongly recommend yoga.  I started bikram (hot) yoga some time ago and it is the only thing I've ever tried that has made me stop craving food.  The workout itself is intense, yet gentle on joints.  I have a serious left knee problem that has been largely solved by going to yoga.  One of the best things about yoga is that it puts you into a more reasonable relationship with your body - so that you get bodily feedback and interpret it correctly.  So you don't feel like you're starving and when you do have a craving, it's for something you really need - like veggies and fruit.  

I know the cost of yoga classes can be prohibitive, but lots of studios have very cheap introductory offers and some cities have free community yoga classes like once a month.  Look into it.

Good luck!

There's a great channel called Fit TV where they have this great workout programs that you can easily follow from home, they have it all, from Yoga to meditation, to cooking healthy. It has become one of my favorite channels and the best thing is that it's completely free. For the workouts that I've tried all I needed were a couple of dumbbells and a yoga mat, I can eve workout in my pjs! For me it's great!

Thanks, that sounds like a really good idea.

hey! i think we come from similar backgrounds...i was a dancer, just retired, and after a disc injury a few years ago i gained about 15lbs (i had to sit and wait for it to heal for 9 months) and have been struggling ever since to lose that weight!!! i keep losing and gaining the same 8lbs...

i also understand how you must feel wanting to join a gym and the price.  suggestions: you might check with a local high school or community college, sometimes they will have open hours available to the public to use the pool.  swimming was one of the only things i could do during my rehab and it does help! i should probably start doing that again, actually!!! also, you could do pilates (i am a pilates instructor now and really see a difference in my muscle tone) from a dvd. (stott has good ones) and you can download yoga onto your ipod from itunes. they have free podcasts that you can get for free.  i know i have more suggestions...but that should be a good start. 

use the tools on this website to find your perfect calorie number and then start logging your calories.  having to put my numbers down keeps me honest...most of the time!! :)

Hey the good news is that burning calories is burning calories and walking or housework can do just as much good for you.  I am do no gym work, just walking and I have lost and am still losing weight.

Its basic.  Eat less calories than you burn per day and if you eat around 500-700 per day less than you burn you will lose around 2 pounds per week which means you will easily lose weight (healthily) in time for the wedding.

I found this site fantastic and use it to track my food exactly, know what cals I am going to burn for the day without any walking at all and aim to eat 300 cals less than my sedentary burn and then add in 1 hour of walking to up my burn to a deficit of 600 for the day.

Eat plants.

Whole foods, grains, beans, veggies. No processed foods.

The weight will fall off.

eat vegestable and yogurt that has 0% calories that helps for the night

during day time eat fruits and chicken or  any meat and exercise yourself

that will feel good

if you want more advice

jtaveras12@yahoo.com or send me a message i will glad to help you. i been through this too. dont feel that is just you

Here are my past mistakes:

1. Expecting to lose the weight quickly. It is simply not realistic to expect to lose weight healthily and rapidly. It doesn't happen. If it took a few years to put on the pounds, it will take much longer to take them off.

2. Doing to many changes at the same time. Do not try to give soda, coffee, junk food...etc at the same time. It took me a year to give up soda all together. Two years to give up drinking 10 cups of coffee with sugar. Two and a half to get used to eating brown rice, whole wheat pasta, Greek yogurt, and spinach.

3. Don't only count calories. Quality is as important as quantity for weight loss. Eating empty calories would not satisfy your hunger. It will frustrated you, and it will throw into yo-yoing.

4. Don't forget to fuel your body as you workout. Diet is most important for weight-loss, but physical fitness will aid you at reaching it. Therefore be mindful of your calorie intake breakdown in relation to your daily workout. That is, if you are going to do cardio one day you will need to eat more carbohydrates. If strength training then more protein.

5. Don't overdue it and do rest. I am goal oriented so when I started running, I would ignore my joint pains and finish the mile. At the end, I hurt myself and have to spend time recuperating, which of course, brought me back to the start. So take your time, pay attention to proper form rather than speed or number of reps. Do not exercise for more than 30 minutes daily, at least at the beginning.

As for non impact exercises, I would love to swim, but there is no a pool around that I can use, that is close enough or that I can afford, so I strenght train upper and lower body on different days, and abs every day for twenty minutes. Choose exersices that are tough yet won't put any pressure on your joints and use your imagination. I do push ups standing up facing a wall. I do crunches with my legs up resting on the couch. I do the superman, the hundred, the plank...etc.

Most importantly, don't focus on the scale, but on becoming stronger. Change your mindset to wanting to lose weight as a first step to getting healthier. Create a new-found respect for your body. In this journey, I have come to realize that our bodies, which carries us through life (and create life), is always there to support us not matter what we do. Our bodies are our temple, a vessel if you will, and we should love it, rejoice in it, and take care of it as a repayment for its years of service.