tips for dieting ... would like some suggestions

[strider rose]

rubysmama im taking it very slow and just eating what i know is good for my crohns

 

[Lari]

I think just swapping snacks for less processed ones will help. You don't want to lose weight too quickly because that's not healthy either. Right now I'd aim for 1-2 lbs a week. And then when you get farther along you can look into teaching yourself a few easy recipes.

 

[strider rose]

Lari yeah thats my plan for now ... im feeling a lot less heavy now and dont feel so bad about myself ... today i had ramen for my lunch and not sure what is for supper yet

 

[furmonster mom]

It took me 3 months to lose about 18 lbs.

I was initially relying on my Fitbit to record foods and calories burned, but I was still gaining weight. I’m lucky enough to be able to afford a weight trainer who has been working with me, so we sat down and did some math and discovered that my Fitbit was not calculating things very well. So now I take the calories burned that Fitbit tells me and reduce it by 32% (or multiply by .68), then subtract my calorie intake. I really had to work at it to keep a 600 daily calorie deficit (more burned than consumed), which is generally considered the “sweet spot“ for losing weight.

There were a few things I did…

• Kept up my weight training to build muscle. Muscle will help burn more calories when I do other exercises.
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• Increased cardio. Started with more walking, worked up to adding little sprints, worked up distance. 2 days a week
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• Added home exercise. Pilates, Yoga, and some cardio exercises that my trainer gave me. 2 days a week.
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• Fruit, Veggies, Protein (simple dairy/plant) days: Twice a week (not back to back!). Only eat small, 4 oz portions, about 3-4 hrs apart throughout the day (5-7 portions for the day). No sugars, salts, or grains. This helped my stomach get used to having less food, and slowly shrunk its capacity. Large portions will stretch the stomach, so you end up continually eating until you feel “full”, even though your body might not really need all those extra calories (so guess what happens then). This also helped me wean the sweets and salts to lower levels. FVP days are usually low calorie consumption, so exercise is also low intensity.
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• Meal timing, and stop with the late night snacks. This was very tricky for me because I am a night owl. I wouldn’t get to bed until about 1:30-2:00 am. With dinner typically being 9pm, I’d invariably get a snack attack around midnight. I had to consciously work dinner to an earlier hour, and set a hard time for no more snacks (10:30 ended up being good for me). This step took time.
• Math! My trainer helped me with this. We determined that, based on my base metabolic rate, I was allowed to consume up to 1100 calories a day - as a maintenance budget without exercise. But if I wanted to lose weight, I needed a 600 calorie deficit, which would only give me a 500 calorie daily budget. It’s nearly impossible to sustain that and get all the nutrients your body needs. So my only option was to really work in the exercise so that I could have healthy meals. Since I knew Fitbit was lying to me about how many calories I was burning, I had to work up the math: 2100 Fitbit calories were really only 1428, minus 600 for a deficit, brings it to 828. That became my weight loss calorie budget. If I ate more (like going out), then I added in some extra exercise to balance it out.
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• Patience. Don’t get bent if I didn’t make a goal, or failed for a day here or there. Understand that a meal out usually means a bit more focus the next day. Keep realistic expectations, just keep working on it bit by bit. This can be hard sometimes. There were a couple weeks when my weight just wouldn’t budge, and I was so frustrated! But I kept working on it and eventually it started moving again.

Of course, every body is different, so each person needs to figure out what works for them. Hubby has the type of body that just burns everything he puts into it (so unfair!). I’ve learned that I really have to work at burning off the calories, or my body will just pack them away.

 

[iPappy]

Lari yeah thats my plan for now ... im feeling a lot less heavy now and dont feel so bad about myself ... today i had ramen for my lunch and not sure what is for supper yet

Weight can be a very sensitive topic, but you are definitely worth more than a number on the scale. Please remember to be kind to yourself.

 

[strider rose]

iPappy im feeling pretty good and im not skimping on when i am hungry , just not eating big portions is all

 

[neely]

im feeling pretty good and im not skimping on when i am hungry , just not eating big portions is all

Good for you not eating big portions. I think if you eat small meals throughout the day it will help curb your appetite. It sounds like you're on your way to losing weight sensibly.

 

[strider rose]

neely aww thank you hun , im certainly trying the best i can

 

[strider rose]

i weighed at the clinic today and i went from 315 to 311 pounds !

 

[strider rose]

today i got slightly discouraged when they weighed me ... the scale said 317 today and i thought that i had lost a lot more then that

 

[furmonster mom]

Could be anything; salty foods, a little extra sugar, water retention…. Just keep doing what was working for ya before. Usually when that happens to me, it adjusts back in a couple days. Hang in there.

 

[iPappy]

Not to be TMI, but it could be hormones or cycle related too. And certain foods that most people handle fine make me bloat/retain water. It's such an individualized trial and error. You can do it.

 

[strider rose]

iPappy i dont have menstrual circles anymore , i had a procedure to take it away a few years ago

 

[strider rose]

well i was sort of down awhile back cause i went back up to 315 but last week i was back down to 310 pounds

 

[strider rose]

i am down to 307 pounds now

 

[strider rose]

im now down to 298 pounds

 

[iPappy]

im now down to 298 pounds

Great work!!!

 

[strider rose]

iPappy thank you hun

 

[NekoM]

Sounds obvious - it starts with 100% commitment.

 

[strider rose]

oh im currently at 295 pounds now