New week, new diet!

lisacon

Hi everyone

So have been putting off the whole losing weight thing since new years and blaming study for exams or I had xy and z coming up with up with work so it was pointless, and then this morning woke up and decided enough is enough!

So, would like to loose about a stone. As I'm short (5 foot)pound or two makes a big difference! I'm 25, a size twelve,10stone 3,.....the weight doesn't bother me, my size does.....so now down to the gritty

Diet, currently eat no brekkie, wedges/noodles for lunch and something high fat, high carb low protein for dinner and I won't even mention my snacking.....

I know what I should eat but I am fussy, for brekkie what should I eat, I don't like bread/cereal/diary/that just leaves fruit, is that sufficient enough? This would be at 8am

Lunch is at 1, so will start on the homemade veggie soup and cracker breads (is the gap between meals too long) am not a fan of salads without a mayo/coleslaw aide so am going to omit these

Dinner, 6.30ish, I will eat any veg/meat so that's ok, however I hate dry food so can anyone advise of a low cal/carb sauce to cover my veg meat? and am I ok to eat carbs at this hour or say goodbye?

Snacking - fruit, crackerbreads - need more suggestions

Also, am a massive fan of nuts. All types, but have a concept they are fattening so should I just avoid? If not how much should I eat daily?

PORTION CONTROL IS MY ISSUE ALSO!!!!! Will be buying smaller plates today

Gym will be about 8pm, 4 times a week, the gym I have access to is not monitored so I not sure what I should be doing, Would normally do 30 mins cardio and 30 mins weights, is this the route to go down for weight loss?

Last question, should I be taking any supplements? Currently take only calcium as I dont like dairy.

Thank everyone and anyone who has any sort of guidance/feedback/criticism! :-)

Pixie Girl

Hi Lisa! Congrats on deciding to get healthy and lose weight!

In my opinion, diet is 90% of the battle... you need to cut down your calories, generally, women should not consume any less than 1,200 calories per day.

I would suggest you sign up to My Fitness Pal, you can track your food and exercise on that (you can add me as a friend on it if you like, I can PM you my username if you do decide to use it).

Try to eat clean i.e. whole, natural foods such as fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and complex carbohydrates.

Try to eat some form of a breakfast... the reason you are snacking so much is because you are skipping meals. Do you like eggs? 2 hard boiled eggs and a piece of fruit normally keeps me going til lunch time. Or you could try porridge with some honey and fruit.

For lunch, homemade soup would be very good, make sure the crackers are whole grain. For a salad dressing you could try balsamic vinegar, I find it gives my salads a nice kick!

For dinner, the meat/fish with veg you said is a good option, you can have carbs if you like (whole wheat pasta/brown rice, etc.) but make sure its a very small portion. As for a sauce, generally homemade tomatoe based sauces are the healthiest option. A very basic one can be found here http://simplycooking.wordpress.com/2006/10/16/tomato-sauce/

For snacks, I would suggest any fruit, any veg with hummus, popcorn, multigrain crackers, nuts (you dont have to avoid them just try to eat a small portion), raisins, dark chocolate, homemade smoothies, frozen grapes or blueberries or an apple slice spread with a tbsp of peanut butter.

As for the portions, invest in a weighing scales and for the first week try to weigh everything... after a while you will become a better judge of portion control and serving sizes.

4 hour long sessions in the gym a week sounds good, maybe join a class (spinning or kettlebells) to keep you motivated! Find something you like doing and that you can see yourself keeping up!

Best of luck