Weight loss: getting started

LemonyFresh

Hello all

Long time lurker on boards, first time poster. Big breath, here goes!

OK, I'm 20 now and have always been overweight, to varying degrees, since I was adolescent. Right now I'm back at my all time high again: 9stone 12lbs. I am female and 5foot 0 inches, so I can't carry the weight at all. I struggle with depression and have done for a few years, which has a direct affect on my weight. I comfort eat when I'm down and upset etc, hate the way I look and thus comfort eat again: vicious cycle which isn't achieving anything except making me fatter and more unhappy.

Re: exercise. I don't really do any. I walk for about an hour a day, a recent thing, but I don't know how effective this would be. I don't know anything about proper working out, like reducing arm fat etc or stomach or thighs, or even what's good for someone of my stature to be doing.

I went through a phase about 2 years ago where I lost 2 stone, was 7stone 13lbs. Felt I still had about a half a stone to a stone to lose to be really happy but overall I was much more body happy, and thus significantly less unhappy in general. Then something occurred in my personal life which triggered off more eating and I lost all my discipline and now I find myself back at square one.

I suppose what I'm seeking is advice re: exercise. I find fad diets so tempting but I know ultimately I'd pile everything back on and more, so painful as it is I've got to go the slow route again. What are good, realistic goals to set for myself?

Thanks for any advice:)

Hanley

VERY simply. The first step is eat less, move more.

Stop eating chocolate, or at the very least eat alot less than you do now.

No sugary drinks, coke, lucozade etc. Coke zero/Diet coke and those sort of things if you must.

Eat brown bread instead of white.

What did you eat today?

LemonyFresh

I wouldn't eat chocolate regularly at all to be honest. I only ever drink the diet version of fizzy drinks, I would very much like to completely give them up, but I guess it's true that they are very addictive because I can't shake the diet coke/coke zero.In general I actually drink very little, usually less than 750ml of any liquid a day, which is probably a bad idea. But I'm never that thirsty.

Today I had 2 slices of brown bread (soda) toasted with butter (not loaded on mind, but still)

M and S vegetable soup, apple

Chicken curry my mum made (peppers, tomatoes,bay leaves, dunno what else!) with basmati rice

Vitalinea yoghurt

I've a feeling it's a bit high carb and deficient!

tribulus

Yeah it's not great to be honest. You eat feck all unless your dinner is massive. If that's the case it's not good as you're not getting in much cals throughout the day then later on shovel a load of them into your body. Spreading them out more evenly through the day is better.

Have a good read of the nutrition stickies and they'll help you out a lot.

For starters, eat more protein, have it with every meal.
Don't be afraid of fat, good fats in olive oil, nuts, nut oils etc are important.
You don't have to avoid all carbs but it's a good idea to cut down on them and choose better sources.

The above is something to aim for, particularly the protein thing but just to start off as Hanley said, eating less than you need and exercising more is good.

eclectichoney

There's loads of great info in the stickies. Try the mysteriously hidden Diet & Nutrition forum as well. G'em is the uber-expert on nutrition, and I've learnt heaps.

Most people would say eating six times a day is optimal - breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack - ideally meals should be around the same size e.g. If you're going for 1500 calories a day, make each one 200-300 calories. It tends to stop you feeling hungry, which makes things easier! You definitely need to up your liquids though - sip 2 litres of water throughout the day.

I really love going to the gym, so that makes it easier, and I get a buzz from pushing myself that little bit harder each session. Also I find the whole area of fitness and nutriiton interesting so that's motivation in itself! Mind you my goal is fitness rather than weight loss.

It's always difficult starting something new, but stick with it and it soon becomes a habit and gets easier.

Good luck

LemonyFresh

Thanks everyone. Yeah I don't know if I could manage 6 meals a day between work and college! I'll have a look at the stickies and try and drink more so!

I have a thing about the gym. I tried it out when I was losing weight before, went regularly. Felt very uncomfortable and huge compared to everyone else there. Then I passed out in the weights area one day and haven't been back!

mack1

+1 for all the above advice - 6 meals a day, cut down on the carbs - especially later in the day. Avoid processed foods, foods with added sugar etc Stay away from the fad diets (you seem to have learnt this the hard way aleady, but still a good lesson to learn).

Drink plenty of water - there really is no need to be drinking that fizzy ****e, drink water and unsweetened tea.

Exercise - anything is better than nothing, but when you say you walk for an hour how much effort is that really? If its a stroll then it's really not doing a lot for you - you need to up the intensity, and hour walk should at a good pace would be good. Also, try and mix it up a bit, nothing kicks the body into shape better, try a cycle in there now and then too.

Best of luck with it all.
M

Canis Lupus

I'm no fitness guru but I would have to agree with spreading the eating out over the day.

Recently I was breakfast, starve till 12 (and feel starving as well) then sandwich and soup and starve till 5.30 earliest (usually later) and then have dinner then later a snack (toast usually) then bed.

So I my day was stuffed, starving, stuffed, starving.

In the last week I've changed it to breakfast at 8, apple/banana at 10.30, lunch at 12 but not all at once, I'll have half a sandwich at 12 then finish it at 1 (Alternatively if I have 2 sandwichs I'll spread it out even more). Then I'll have more fruit around 3-4 and then home.

What's so great is that I'm constantly satiated so don't feel like running for a choccie bar or munch on the unhealthy crap.

My diet is far from perfect to be honest but for steps in the right direction spreading out your eating throughout the day, less crap and more exercise should help (Is something like buying a bike to commute with a realistic option etc rather than bussing it? etc etc)

blorg

Definately drink more water, although I am not of the opinion that diet sodas will do you any harm, if you like them they may help you avoid consuming other foods/drinks with calories.

rubadub

You can get water into your diet too- more soups, diet cupasoups, hot drinks in winter like water with honey& lemon. And fruit is nearly all ~85% water.

I would strongly advise lifting heavy weights for fat loss and boosting your metabolism. You dont have to join a gym, just start out doing body squats, and pushups, chin/pullups if you can manage any, you could do them on the stairs landing if you have one, or get a chinning bar. Once you can do more than 12 of each you might get some weights- and not pink dumbbells!

These
http://www.argos.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=30001&langId=-1&catalogId=1500000801&productId=1500119829&clickfrom=name

or these
http://www.argos.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=30001&langId=-1&catalogId=1500000801&productId=1500101907&clickfrom=name

Matamoros

FWIW, although I am a guy and a bit older than you. I have been comfort eating for years and suffer varying degrees of depression. I was around 103kg and unfit and feeling terrible about it, ashamed really. So, just in the last few weeks I've started to play five a side football with my workmates and that has spurred me on a bit to do a little running and some resistance training. I have slowly increased little by little over the last month my intake of fruit and veg and slightly cut down on the stuff I shouldn't eat. My point is that because of the exercise I feel better and that feel good factor is helping make better food decisions too. I am now 98kg and visiting a gym tomorrow with a view to joining.

I'd love to here how you get on and hope that you keep learning more about nutrition and fitness. Good luck.

Odysseus

LemonyFresh wrote:

I comfort eat when I'm down and upset etc, hate the way I look and thus comfort eat again: vicious cycle which isn't achieving anything except making me fatter and more.

As well as all the excellent advise you got so far, this is something you will need to address, sometimes the psychological side of things can be so strong that you just can't overcome it by yourself. I don't know you so this may or maybe not the case. However if feeling down is what provokes a cue for eating you need to break the association being feeling down and eating, easier said than done. However without doing this it is going to be very difficult. You are not just talking about changing your eating habits but additionally how you react to your psychical reality as well as external reality. Best of luck with it.

davyjose

The thread is titled "getting started". well the answer is anywhere. Change one thing, then change another; fitness is a self-motivating endeavour. So just get started on the diet, throw in some exercise, and who knows, you could turn out to be a fitness-aholic.

Reg'stoy

Hi Lemonyfresh,
I get the feeling that you're like me, someone who just wants to look a little better and feel a little better about themselves.
I had a two week holiday earlier this year (may) and I'll be honest both ate and drank a lot as we all do on holidays. When I arrived home a t-shirt I had ordered off the net was waiting for me, now I should have pointed out that I'm a man, anyway I tried on my size L t-shirt only to find I had suddenly grown Moobs (they had been there all along, I just never admitted it to myself) and the t-shirt didn't fit. it was that road to Damascus moment that made me decide to do something about my weight and general lack of fittness.
There is a great line about the ideal diet and that is "eat a little less and move a little more" which is what I did.
I sat down and recorded on paper all I had ate and drunk the previous week and what if any exerise I had took. As you can imagine the list was a bit lob sided.
Set yourself a goal be it a certain weight or I want to fit into a dress by a particular date. Now be realistic, it won't happen over night, it's taken me four months and yes I do now fit in that t-shirt but I had imagined I'd be like yer man off the malteasers ad.
Now I firmly believe the slower it comes off the more likely it is too stay off and I'm delighted to see you are not falling for a fad diet. Lemony invest in your health and by this I mean either join a gym or buy equipment I decided for the latter and bought the crosstrainer from the vhi website. I also got some stretchie bands from argos for toning but the most vital thing I got was a heart rate moniter.
This is the most important piece of equipment you will have, listen to it and let it! be your guide. There are enough sites about heart rate training look at them and learn. When I first started on the cross trainer I had to stop and rest after 3 mins because my heart rate got so high, this morning I jogged for 42mins non stop keeping my rate around 165 at it's highest it was 181.
I'll never look like yer man from the ad, but I do feel better about myself and my wife thinks I look better :cool:
So my message is to you Lemony be realistic and don't forget about living just because you need to lose some weight, I still have a few pints and most of all I still have my Chinese (chicken balls and all :eek: ) every now and again. Screw those who say drop them, remember if you're exerising and eating right during the week then we deserve our treats.
The first time someone says "hey girl have you lost weight" or you need an extra notch on the belt are great moments and use them as a impetous to keep it up.
The best of luck girl and if you should fall off the wagon ever now and again don't break yourself up about it but do be prepared for the expense of all the new clothes you will soon be buying

Cheeky_gal

Reg'stoy wrote:

So my message is to you Lemony be realistic and don't forget about living just because you need to lose some weight, I still have a few pints and most of all I still have my Chinese (chicken balls and all :eek: ) every now and again. Screw those who say drop them, remember if you're exerising and eating right during the week then we deserve our treats.

Excellent point...there needs to be more people like you! All this lark about cutting out "food you enjoy" is such bull****....OP eat well, eat less, more around a bit more, then weekends go all out! It's great having something to look forward to so that'd be my advice!

g'em

Cheeky_gal wrote:

Excellent point...there needs to be more people like you! All this lark about cutting out "food you enjoy" is such bull****....OP eat well, eat less, more around a bit more, then weekends go all out! It's great having something to look forward to so that'd be my advice!

Cheeky_gal, why exactly do you keep hanging around the fitness forum if you hate the advice so much? And I'd love you to find me a post that says you should cut out foods you love, I don't believe that's the regular tactic that's advocated.

Making informed choices and being responsible about your eating habits is, to my mind, the way the majority who are happy with the way they are go about it.

LemonyFresh, I completely agree with Odysseus. I think it'll be really important for you to get to the root cause of what's causing you to overeat. Plus, if you're on medicaction for your depression, certain AD's are known to cause weight changes, sometimes very dramatic ones.

I was very severely depressed for a couple of years, weight fluctuated quicker than my moods, and I was a big-time comfort eater too. It's taken me years to come to terms with why I do it and it's still something I deal with now and again, but personally I've found that really knowing the basics about nutrition and what foods can do for you has helped me make informed decisions about what I want to eat.

The one biggest 'learning curve' I went trhough was realising that every time I tried to diet, the mindset I placed myself in was my one biggest downfall. I'm all for setting goals, they keep you focused and determined, BUT you need to be careful that they don't set up a win-lose situation. That is, there'd often be times I'd tell myself that "I will lose x lbs by x date", but if I didn't achieve that goal I'd get down and miserable and feel horrible and eat more, ending up heavier than I started!!

Now, instead I see it as a gradual process, and a lifestyle alteration. Over the months and years I've made small changes that collectively have made massive differences such as:
* drinking 1L of water before leaving the house
* then making sure I drink 2L of water (total) by lunch
* then getting 3L of water in before dinner-time

* cutting out junk snacks in the afternoons
* replacing the junk with oatmeal biscuits/ fruit/ yoghurts
* treating myself to some dark chocolate every so often to indulge myself and say well-done for all the hard work put in.

If I felt like comfort eating I'd ask myself why: if it was just boredom I'd chew gum or get off my bum and go for a walk. Five minutes in and I'd feel refreshed and energised and food was the last thing on my mind. If it really was because I was upset I might have a small natural sugar snack, like raisins or fruit salad with yoghurt to help me feel like I was having a treat but would still nourish my belly and not just my conscience.

But by far and away the biggest change I made was to start exercising regularly. Now I have an appreciation for what my body is capable of and having a squishy bit here and there really isn't that important to me because in the grand scheme of things it's not a big deal at all. Instead of getting upset about the 5% of me that I wish I could change, I appreciate and enjoy the 95% of me that works perfectly well and allows me to lead the life I have.

It's a daunting task getting through something like this, that's a certainty. But I promise you it gets easier once you have a few little coping strategies in place. If you want to talk about it anymore or want to ask any questions, please feel free to PM me, I'd be delighted to help

Cheeky_gal

G'em, what makes you think I'm referring to you when I passed that comment (which btw I think is my FIRST comment regarding this issue).....

I think your advice is dead on so no need to pick me up wrong now...

You're very quick at making accusations which aren't true.
I've always replied to your advice showing my appreciation so next time, before you make me come across as some unappreciative self centered person, think...

g'em

Cheeky_gal wrote:

G'em, what makes you think I'm referring to you when I passed that comment (which btw I think is my FIRST comment regarding this issue), I think your advice is dead on so no need to pick me up wrong now...

I don't think you're referring specifically to me at all, it was just your apparent attitude towards the board advice in general. If that's not the case, my apologies. You made another similar comment on the 'How much have you ever eaten in one go' thread you started (or whatever it was called). So all this 'lark' that you're referring to, if it's not this forum then what is it?

No-one's saying you shouldn't eat a little of what you fancy, not at all. There's virtually always room for treats in a diet. But it kind of irks me when people say that regulars here are advocating super clean diets 100% of the time and then get criticised when they admit that they're actual regular people and they like the odd take away too.

But there's a difference between the odd take away and having one or multiple take-aways every week. The former is a treat, the latter is sheer laziness.

And I haven't made you come across as anything. That's your own perception.

If you have further issues to take up with me, PM me and let the thread go back on topic.

hardtrainer

Lemonyfresh,

Firstly, forgive the cheesy american infomercial saying, but you have taken the first really positive step. Half the battle is admitting that you want to change things and being honest with yourself. By telling all here, however anonymous, you are putting it down on the record that you want to do something to change your predicament.

All the advice has been great so far. I would just add extra emphasis to the one step at a time mantra. Rome wasn't built in a day. You're 20 and you have your whole life ahead of you (I'm sorry, this is making me sound so old and mature...I'm not). One thing you should focus on is the fact that you successfully lost all that weight before, so you know you can do it and you know how much better you felt then.

Walking for an hour a day is great and will make a real difference. You don't need to join a gym. If you can set aside that hour each day to walk then you will see results. I would suggest that you get someone to walk with you though, it will give you more motivation to go and you can both encourage each other to keep the pace up. Over the course of a month or so you can increase the intensity of the walk, getting a little faster and helping to burn even more calories.

Good luck with it all.

Cheeky_gal

g'em wrote:

And I haven't made you come across as anything. That's your own perception.

If you have further issues to take up with me, PM me and let the thread go back on topic.

haha must say you're a gas woman g'em....a gas woman!