So sick of the extra few stone-just want them gone.advise/motivation needed please...

bigalee

Hi All,
well just to let you know the whole story, Im a 30 year old mum 5ft 4, and weigh 12 stone. this is heaviest i have been and ideally would like to be about 9 stone. main reason is to be healthier and clothes to fit better etc. I am also trying to concieve another baby but having no luck despite ttc for over a year now. was hoping that losing the excess weight might help. am booked into galway fertility clinic for may hoping that i could have made good progrss by then so that weight wouldnt be an issue. I had a baby just over a year ago and during that pregnancy lost over a stone due to morning sickness, eating healthy etc, but it wasnt something i wss trying to do. by the end of the pregnancy i was about 9 and a half stone, but i was breastfeeding an baby wasnt putting on weight, i was being told by everyone nurses etc to eat more to get more calories into milk, long story cut short, i did. ate two dinners etc etc and by end of it i was putting on lots of weight, baby wasnt-she was severely lactose intolerant that was reason. anyhow that was sorted, but i had the weight all back on and more since, so now i just want to feel more like myself and not be continously wanting to lose weight but not actually doing anything about it. I know a fair bit re nutrition, fitness etc but while i can tell other people all abou it, i dont seem to have the motivation to do it myself. I have a very sweet tooth, love diet fizzy drinks, spicy foods , fried foods, etc. i work night full time and busy life with family and also studying part time so im frequently tired, so then i end up reachin fo sugar for energy.
I love exercising once i have the time and motivation to do it, right now im lacking in both, but know it is essential if im going to make this work.
i guess what i was hoping is that by recording progress here and getting tips etc from others i might become more moivated. I have family event in may would love to have made progress by then. perhaps if there are others in same boat we might motivate each other.
thanks for your time and if you feel you can offer any advise on how i can make this work id be so grateful, and look forward to hearing you own stories also.
thanks again:)

marathonic

The main thing is getting started. Although you say you know a lot about nutrition, reading this Nutrition Sticky won't do any harm - you'd be surprised how many things people assume is fact that is actually myth (such as high-fat is bad, etc).

You already list the things that you know are bad (diet fizzy drinks, spicy foods , fried foods, sugar, etc). The first step is to minimise or eliminate these. Then look at the rest of your diet and start making healthier choices for each meal.

After that, add in some form of excercise - noone can tell you what type (the best type is the type you like as you're more likely to stick at it). The excercise comes after as diet represents the vast majority of the effort in losing weight.

Weigh yourself weekly in the morning after going to the toilet. Don't worry if weight increases from one week to the next - it's the overall trend you need to look at.

If your weight increases two weeks in a row, have another look at your diet as this is where the problem is (it's not with the excercise because you should be able to lose weight through diet alone - excercise is just a supplement). If you are cheating, try to be more strict. Otherwise, get yourself a set of food scales to make sure your portion sizing isn't out of whack.

With all the above in place, you should be able to lose an average of 2lb per week safely (some weeks more, some less). You could lose more and some people aim for more due to impatience - but 2lb is a nice safe, manageable amount and results in the loss of over 1st 3lbs in just 2 months. If the weight took so long to put on, how do some people expect it to come off in weeks?

Regarding the motivation to do the above, some people do it in different ways:

1. If the poor foods aren't in the house, they won't be ate. Always have a nice healthy meal before going shopping because, if you are craving sugar when you shop, you'll end up with multi-packs of chocolate bars or crisps
2. When the pounds start dropping off, that in itself will be a motivation
3. I know of one person that actually goes out and buy herself a nice dress a size too small (well, she used to but is at her goal weight now). That may work for you.

bigalee

Hi Marathonic,
thanks very much for your very deatailed reply thats a great help to me, and just what i need to hear. I read the nutritional page you pointed out, and it is very useful, as you said there are lots of things there i wouldnt have thought of.
So i think what i will do is post up here regularly what exactly im dong in terms of diet, exercise etc, and hopefully i might get some tips/encouragement off others who are more knowledgable in this area. Marathronic, id be really delighted if you could get a chance to check in an odd time and give me a few pointers on what im doing.
thanks very much for taking the time to read and post a reply, its very much apreciated.:)

RobAMerc

hiya, why not also try http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

It's a handy if not infallible way of recording what you are eating vs spending on a day to day basis. I find seeing it in writing motivates me. I also find that once I've got closer to my goal it makes me work harder to achieve it rather than give in to temptation and waste the hard work I've put in. ( you'll crack plenty of times don't worry, but get at it again )

please don't fall foul of fads or gimmicks looking for a quick fix, remember output must be greater than input, it's as simple as that !

Rossin

thanks rob, just joined that site and got the app as well, looks the biz!

mark....

i found that starting with classes at the gym really helped...mix that with watching your food and it has really worked...mind you exercise becomes addictive ; find kettle bells is a great place to start because it mixes aerobic exercise with some strength work. if you are a bit unsure where to start do a few private lessons first to give you more confidence..

bigalee

thanks all for the replies, robamerc and marc excellent advise im going to do what you said. would be very grateful if you could follow my posts let me know what ye think as i go also,
thanks again, and roissin, we should encourage each other along the way:)
thanks all again

traco

Another thumbs up for myfitnesspal Really good when you get your food into it as you'll find yourself eating similar stuff every few days.

I've found it great and the only advice I would have is don't add exercise to it and use these as credits for extra food. Set your target weight over time at a low activity level and work to that odjective on the calories consumed alone.

Learn to use the breakdown analysis and understand carbs, protein and fats. Use this to keep you average carbs down to sub 150g per day or sub 100g if really working towards a gaol (I've been targeting 80g). I find the weekly summary the best info as if you slip one day you can be more careful over teh next few and hit the average you need. NO skipping or correcting what you enter, if you have a coke/sweets/crisps, enter it, learn to see the damage that things like that cause as its only when you understand that, that you'll see why you have to resist them. It won't be easy but the honesty will bring the reality of it home and from there you have a starting place.

Remember its a long term project and will take time so stick with it. I've been really strct since Jan and dropped from 108kg to 98kg. I've another 3kg to go and that app has been the best tool I've used in terms of understanding what I eat. I started in Jan 2011 at 119kg, was working out and thought I was eating clean - I wasn't.

Start on cleaning up the diet and introduce the exercise, the body will react over time and the changes will happen.

set up one of these tickers so that you can see your progress everytime you post. Don't weigh yourself every day, I do it every few weeks and update then, I just make sure I've been on track diet wise for several days before and weigh first thing in the morning.