I need some help to lose weight

foxy06

Hi guys I am very overweight and I want to start losing it. I am a female aged 26 with 2 small kids and I am 5ft 3. My problem is that I have been so confused through the years after reading diet book after diet book and they all say different things. I have joined curves and I know some people think that it is a waste of time but I couldn't face a regular gym yet until I get some of the weight off. I have an exercise bike that I could use also but I just need to get the diet sorted first.
Should I go low carb or low calorie. Curves have recomended getting rid of anything white and replacing with brown and cutting out potatoes. I do hate veggies so she recommended a homemade veg soup that I wouldn't mind eating. I eat lots of fruit but apparently I shouldn't be eating bananas. To be honest I don't know where to start! So much information!

juanveron45

First things first because you say your very over weight I can only assume that you eat alot of junk food and do no exercise.My advice to someone like you is that you can go along way very fast by doing the basics first.
And what do I mean about the basics

1.Cut out all junk food, you know what I mean.Cakes,biscuits,sweets,crisps,alcohol,takeaways

2.Exercise.This can be anything you want but make sure its vigourous and something you enjoy

Starting off this way will get you very far and once you plateau we can make further changes to a specific diet, theres no point in giving up potatoes,bananas and pasta if your still eating mars bars and macdonalds as these foods are beter than the junk as they all have nutrients

Post your actual diet and everyone here can make some suggestions

foxy06

well i've cut out all the junk and the alcohol so my diet was going to be this kind of thing from now on

Breakfast: Porridge with some fruit
Snack: low fat yogurt
Lunch : Sandwich on wholegrain bread with ham or chicken
snack: homemade vegetable soup
Dinner: Chicken carrots and potatoes
Snack: egg white omelette with small bit of cheese

with lots of water

I am about 5 stone overweight

timetogetfit

Hi Foxy

I highly recommend this program www.bodyforlife.com

and have a look at this site www.bfltracker.com which is a support site for bodyforlife

There ar elots of women over there on the tracker site looking for and giving support on that programme

Roper

foxy06 wrote: »

well i've cut out all the junk and the alcohol so my diet was going to be this kind of thing from now on

Breakfast: Porridge with some fruit
Snack: low fat yogurt
Lunch : Sandwich on wholegrain bread with ham or chicken
snack: homemade vegetable soup
Dinner: Chicken carrots and potatoes
Snack: egg white omelette with small bit of cheese

with lots of water

I am about 5 stone overweight

Sounds like you're on the right track there anyway. Your diet is good, and if you think the gym is working for you then keep at it. But why not add in a bit of walking as well? If you do that once each day for a good while you could really make a difference. A mate of mine wa sin the same boat as you, about 6 stone overweight, and decided he's start walking to work as well as making the changes to his diet. He's shed about 3 stone and he's chuffed.

Fair play to you for starting down that road. Before long you'll be taking a few minutes each day to see how many times you can lift your kids in 5 minutes!

ali.c

foxy06 wrote: »

To be honest I don't know where to start! So much information!

As roper has already said you seem to be on the right track, if it helps at all when it comes to assessing diet advice I go with basic common sense. Mostly is the advice/information being used to sell a product and does said advice sound reasonable.

As you progress you made need to make tweaks here and there but for the moment if its working keep doing it.

Congrats on making the decision to change your lifestyle.

Just one piece of advice, try to find good healthy foods that you enjoy and whatever activity you do try to enjoy that too, whether as a social activity or as a some "me time". if you dont enjoy it then its a lot harder to keep working away at it!

Good Luck with it and keep us posted.

foxy06

Thanks for the advice everyone! I've lost 4 Lbs in week one so I am delighted with that. My clothes feel looser already and I'm buzzing around the place. I am trying to eat more protein. Should I have my omelette after my workout?

foxy06

:DI am on high at the moment guys I have lost 8 lbs since starting my workouts and 15lb since the beginning of January! Still wondering about the protein thing. I am taking vitamins everyday and eating lots of fruit and porridge every morning. Don't think I fancy protein shakes quite yet but Will and egg white ommelette have a good effect after my workout?

wasabi

Hi Foxy - Good work on the weight loss.

Definitely eat some food with protein as soon after your workout as you can. An omelette would be fine, get some veg in it. Don't know when you're working out, but it would be a good idea to have your fruit after the gym, too.

As an aside, I'd personally have at least a couple of egg yolks in your omelette, that's the part of the egg with most of the micronutrients in. Appetite can be caused partly by nutrient deficiency, so it's worth getting them in. Also, the fats in the yolks are actually fairly good for you, particularly if the eggs are organic.

mack1

foxy06 wrote: »

:DI am on high at the moment guys I have lost 8 lbs since starting my workouts and 15lb since the beginning of January! Still wondering about the protein thing. I am taking vitamins everyday and eating lots of fruit and porridge every morning. Don't think I fancy protein shakes quite yet but Will and egg white ommelette have a good effect after my workout?

Well done, sounds like you are doing well, you're fine without the protein shakes if you dont want them - it's no big deal.

Egg white omelette is good any time of the day if you ask me, also as whites only can become a bit boring don't worry too much about sticking the odd yolk in there - 1 whole egg and 3x whites is what I usually do.

After your work-out it is generally recommended to have both some protein and carbs, as the carbs are used to replace glycogen stores. This is one of those times of the day (along with breakfast) when I think carbs are ok - so a slice of wholemeal bread along with your omelette after workout would be good. Also - dont forget the veggies, should be included in every meal - spinach goes great in an omelette!

Keep up the good work!

EDIT: I think I pretty much just took longer to say what Wasabi said - curse your faster keyboard fingers!

wasabi

mack1 wrote: »

EDIT: I think I pretty much just took longer to say what Wasabi said - curse your faster keyboard fingers!

Ah yes, my stumpy fingers reduce my typing ROM

Trev M

First off best of luck , I just wanna say about bananas.

I know people say that they have round 100 kals or whatever but I find one a day before working out really does the job for me... Im usually pretty wrecked leaving work goin to the gym, chuck the aul banana in and Im telling ya the thing works better than a red bull (nasty stuff). Maybe its just me but Im doin ok with a banana a day still losing the weight.

My diet has little variation last two weeks so probably need to look at it myself

Small bowl Cornflakes / Juice

Salad with Tuna / Chicken Breast / or fish with rice.

Soup / wholemeal sandwich, sometime just cereal and toast.

The odd banana, the odd few nuts here and there, the odd slice of Macambridges brown bread with butter(ooooo the controversy!)

Im not sure how great this is , but I tell ya what its a dam sight better than the crap I used to eat. 3 or 4 sessions in the gym a week with a mix of weights and cardio should see me right by all accounts.

Anyway best of luck, I think its as much about getting the head right first and as Dragan says being honest with yourself. The rest is getting a routine which to a degree is easy enough if youve really committed.

Best of luck , some great support to be had in this forum, I find reading it everyday helps ...surprising the things you learn.

Racing Flat

foxy06 wrote: »

:DI am on high at the moment guys I have lost 8 lbs since starting my workouts and 15lb since the beginning of January! Still wondering about the protein thing. I am taking vitamins everyday and eating lots of fruit and porridge every morning. Don't think I fancy protein shakes quite yet but Will and egg white ommelette have a good effect after my workout?

Absolutely fantastic.1 down,4 to go. So keep it up, keep it up, keep it up, keep it up.