10 key lifestyle changes to lose weight

yellow hen

Since I had a child two years ago, i let my diet slip and I don't exercise so weight has crept on and I now need to shift it. I am very aware that I simply need to burn more calories than I'm taking in but if you had to give 10 key tips/golden rules for weight loss, what would they be? E.g cut down/remove carbs from your diet

BelleOfTheBall

Download fitness pal and run keeper!!get u started best of luck

pwurple

Get a calorie count app going. Myfitnesspal for example.
Make arrangements with friends to meet and exercise... A run, a class, whatever you like. If you make plans with someone else you will feel like you will be letting them down by not showing up.

Celly Smunt

Eat only what grows in the garden or ****es in it.

Add 100-200 metres on every session of running and before you know it you'll be clocking up kilometres in no time.

yellow hen

I have fitness pal and will start tracking again. Also thinking of buying a smoothie maker but maybe a cheapie as I have enough faddy kitchen gadgets!

Getting time out is hard as my husband works until late and I have to do crèche runsbut I'm going to try use work lunches and weekends. Made a start today by making a huge pot of squash soup and homemade tomato bolognese for freezing. It's been so long since I watched my weight that I've forgotten all the basics. I only have about a stone to lose but I know I'll have to work hard to shift it.

Lisha

Drink more water
Reduce carb intake
Maximize intake of clean/healthy Foods
Brown pasta/rice instead if white and limit portions. Completely Ban white versions esp bread.
Plan your days menu in advance, shop accordingly and stick to it. Batch cook and freeze if possible
Don't have rubbish food at home.
Examine reasons for emotional eating and deal with them.

Eat as clean as possible and eat proper portions.

TimeToShine

Only go shopping when you're full.

eviltwin

Keep a food diary

Slydice

yellow hen wrote: »

Since I had a child two years ago, i let my diet slip and I don't exercise so weight has crept on and I now need to shift it. I am very aware that I simply need to burn more calories than I'm taking in but if you had to give 10 key tips/golden rules for weight loss, what would they be? E.g cut down/remove carbs from your diet

I found it hard to reduce the amount I ate. I filled up with salad to try and keep the belly happy.

After that, I found running to be the biggest user of calories. It made the most noticable dents in my fat.

About that though, the fat left everywhere except the belly first. Arms and legs got skinny. Legs weren't too bad cos I was running and cycling. Arms had people making remarks.

You could try some arm work to build up muscle through exercises like push ups (this will need around regular 8hrs sleep and protein sources like meat/eggs). Careful if you do arm work. I think doing it wrong can cause you bad injuries.

I think Lisha gives reasonable advice on diet above. Also try adding green leafey veg (cabbage/kale etc) into your meals. Definitley drink plenty of water if you get into running.

Crappyghost

1. Cut out as much processed food as possible, i.e. chicken goujons, waffles, chips, flora, soft drinks, microwavable food, breakfast cereals, actimels etc.,

2. Avoid low fat products and crappy health products from tv. i.e cholesterol yogurts... they are also processed, laced with sugar, dont keep you full and have little or no real health benefits

3. Prepare all/most meals from fresh ingredients.

4. Dont be afraid to consume more cheeses, eggs, nuts and meat, they help keep you full.

5. Eat a more solid breakfast such as eggs or avocados or fruits, nuts and greek yogurt.... instead of cereal, toast etc

6. Drink plenty of water

7. If you want to loose fat and not muscle include some weights/resistance work into your exercise

8. When drinking stick to something like spirits mixed with diet drinks... no sugar

9. Practice making your favorite takeaway from scratch... for example i have become very good at making taco chips and cheese, and burritos from scratch.

10. Avoid snacking and eating between meals as much as possible, have maybe 3 or 4 decent meals a day and eat until full. If you absolutely must satisfy a sweet tooth, eat things like dark chocolate, diet drinks, peanut butter or coffee and cream. Little or no sugar in those.

yellow hen

Thanks everyone. I can't get out to the gym anymore but I used to use Davina mccalls weights workouts at home so I might give them a go again. I'm hearing you all about the processed foods. I'm emptying the freezer and trying to cook more dinners for freezing for the nights when I don't have time to cook. I thought my diet today wasn't bad but I put it into myfitnesspal tonight and I had used almost all my calories by dinner time. I'll post it here soon for comment. I clearly don't understand good food

Crappyghost

Just a tip OP, Dont spend your time worrying about calories and my fitness pal, it can be very frustrating and disheartening, and is DEFINITELY not absolute

Start small by changing one meal at a time..... Start with breakfast maybe. Cut out crappy cereals like special k, toast, low fat crap etc,. Try having 3 or 4 scrambled eggs (microwave them to save time), very healthy and filling.

or

Strawberries, blueberries, nuts and Greek yogurt

or

2 weetabix made with hot water and an avocado... Granted weetabix is a cereal but it has the least impact on your blood sugar, ready break also

yellow hen

Crappyghost wrote: »

Just a tip OP, Dont spend your time worrying about calories and my fitness pal, it can be very frustrating and disheartening, and is DEFINITELY not absolute

Start small by changing one meal at a time..... Start with breakfast maybe. Cut out crappy cereals like special k, toast, low fat crap etc,. Try having 3 or 4 scrambled eggs (microwave them to save time), very healthy and filling.

or

Strawberries, blueberries, nuts and Greek yogurt

or

2 weetabix made with hot water and an avocado... Granted weetabix is a cereal but it has the least impact on your blood sugar, ready break also

Thanks for taking the time to post such helpful messages.


Mon-fri I eat breakfast in work as I usually start v early. Normslly it's porridge with a tablespoon of jam but I can substitute the jam for fresh berries. For lunch I just had a small salad with homemade squash soup. I'm going to bring a bean and egg salad tomorrow as it might fill me more. I was totally famished today and I know I'm more likely to fall off the wagon if I'm hungry.

Crappyghost

Been there OP, Yeah your right about the lunch, salads are great but they dont have much energy and are not as filling, include some chicken or tuna with your salad, maybe some cheese also and you will have more steady energy and be fuller for longer. Your less likely to snack later in the day

sheesh

get smaller plates

yellow hen

sheesh wrote: »

get smaller plates

Actually we did that a few years ago. I honestly have no concept of portion sizes. I cook for the masses..:(

If you think portion sizes are an issue then address it. Also, be honest with yourself. If you're snacking or getting a couple of takeaways a week that will likely counter-balance any efforts you're making for the rest of the week.

Lisha

I just lost a reply I typed so this is being typed very quickly. Apologies if it comes across a bit curt.

Op why a small salad ? Eat a big salad include good quality protein and small brown carb.

I know the purists here will find plenty wrong with my daily diet but believe me its a hell of a lot better than before.

Breakfast
Weetabix/porridge and fruit
Fruit spoon granola and yougert

Lunch
2egg omelette, cheese melted on top, salad veg. Brown Pitta bread or wrap or ryvita . Tin salmon/tuna

Dinner
Potato, Briwn pasta rice Veg and protein

Plenty water, 2 snacks, Apple n peanut butter, few raisins, coffee, oat cakes

Most important think is that meals fill yiu and that good food is to hand at all times. Plan your daily and weekly meals and stick to them . It is so worth sticking to it
Best of luck

newbee22

My biggest tip is eat little and often ie breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack!
Another thing that has really worked for me is cutting out carbs after 5pm, cannot believe the change it has made to my weightloss!
Plenty of water.
Start everyday with a green tea.

GalwayGrrrrrl

YouTube is your new best friend. There are loads of fitness videos on there- I find it great if I want to squeeze in a workout at home while kids are sleeping or watching tv. My favourites are Leslie Sansone walk away the pounds and Jillian Michaels 30 day shred.

Frigga_92

Drink water, drink herbal teas, if you drink coffee drink it with cream instead of milk.
Try to cut down your sugar intake as much as possible.
Get a proper night's sleep, some people can function fine on 5 hours, some people need 8, I need 7 hours sleep and I bounce out of bed, figure out what you need and make sure you get it.
One thing that has really helped me is a weight loss tracker app. You input your start weight, your goal weight and whenever you weigh yourself you input your weight and it shows you your weight loss on a graph and when you will reach your projected goal weight based on your weight loss so far. I find it really helpful to keep me motivated and keep me on track towards my goals.
Definitely have a look at your portion sizes. I used to have a medium sized breakfast, medium sized lunch and a large dinner and when I inputted all the food into myfitnesspal I was shocked by how many calories I was consuming everyday, even though it was good healthy unprocessed food, I was still eating too much of it. I really had to work hard at cutting down my portions, cutting down my consumption of food and learning to be sated by the amount of calories I needed to keep losing weight (I worked this out using the scooby calculator).

hardCopy

Porridge for breakfast

Add veg wherever you can. Salad leaves are good but chunky veg is the best for filling up. Actively seek opportunities to add them to every meal, a handful of peas can go into almost any dish.

Get a kitchen scales.

Myfitnesspal.

Make your own lunches.

Run.

dines08

Apologies if already mentioned but I just did a bit of skim reading. Biggest tip I can give is take a photo in the mirror on day one and at steady intervals in between. Say every week/fortnight/month. Amazing how seeing the changes can inspire you to achieve more. You won't notice it as much day by day but when you compare your body a month or two apart it can really motivate you to keep going

Tarzana2

newbee22 wrote: »

My biggest tip is eat little and often ie breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack!

This wouldn't work for me at all, I think it overall increases the calorific intake for the day. I think it's better to get used to sometimes feeling a bit hungry and realise that it's not the worst feeling in the world. The pangs do pass!

dines08 wrote: »

Biggest tip I can give is take a photo in the mirror on day one and at steady intervals in between. Say every week/fortnight/month. Amazing how seeing the changes can inspire you to achieve more. You won't notice it as much day by day but when you compare your body a month or two apart it can really motivate you to keep going

+1, this is a great tip. I actually mentioned elsewhere on this site today that I do this. I find it really, really motivating. To add to your tip, take the photo in identical lighting conditions, in the same place, the same distance from the camera each time. This cuts out all variables, and allows you to make an objective observation between pictures. I do it monthly. I stand in the bath and put the camera on the shelf above the loo, at the edge, so same distance each time. I wear the same bikini each time. The bathroom is windowless and I go flashfree. I take a back, profile and front pic.

Typer Monkey

Hi Yellow Hen. I'm pretty sure we had babies at the same time as I recognise your username from the pregnancy forum. I put on almost 5 stone when I was pregnant due to absolutely eating rings around me. I lost it all within 9 months. I won't say it was easy, it took plenty of will power but the following is what worked for me:

Myfitnesspal! I can't sing this apps praises enough. I think you can't hope to loose weight unless you know exactly how much you're eating. Keeping a food diary means you know exactly what's going in and it keeps you accountable. I got a small digital scales to keep portion size accurate. If you work out your calorie needs to maintain your current weight (lots of websites to do that for you), deduct 500 calories and use myfitnesspal to make sure you eat that many calories you'll loose a stone no problem.

I did a big shop once a week and planned my meals in advance. I do 10 hour shifts with various start times so if I didn't bring my meals to work I'd be eating junk and fast food.

Everything in moderation. Excluding food groups just doesn't work for me. Carbs are calorie heavy so I naturally reduced them to stay below my daily calorie limit but I never cut them out completely. I generally had porridge with water for breakfast, a 'slimbo' with eggs and salmon/meat for lunch and a dinner of stirfry, meat or fish with salad (just regular dinners with extra veg instead of the spuds/rice/pasta) Some people do really well on zero/very low carbs tho so that will depend on your own preference.

I had one treat meal a week to keep me on track. I really looked forward to it and it helped to keep me focused for the rest of the week.

I lifted heavy weights. I learned to lift from a PT and I found a real love for weight lifting. I used to dread running (cardio in general! ) but look forward to weight sessions. I would say though that pick something you enjoy and can fit into your lifestyle as that's what you'll stick at. 'Biggest Loser' style beasting sessions aren't necessary to loose weight.

Hope that helps. Good luck

El_Dangeroso

Great advice from crappyghost above.

1. Prioritise a good night's sleep, I know it seems weird to focus on a non-food activity to lose weight but it really is the cornerstone to keeping on track.Lack of sleep means increased hunger and reduced willpower.

2. Keep stress low as possible, easier said than done but stress increases hunger too.

3. Don't let yourself get too hungry. Have at least two quick things to eat on hand at all times, plan ahead to avoid your only option being what comes out of a vending machine

4. Prepare most of your own meals. Food you eat in restaurants (even things like salad) is designed for taste, not health. By all means treat yourself but make at least 80% of what you eat at home.

5. Protein intake is really the key to feeling full while reducing calories. High protein diets always do the best in weight loss studies for this reason. Fibre is also key for keeping full so eat veggies in abundance.

If I stick to the above rules I lose weight, when I don't I gain. They are also backed by solid science and will make you feel less miserable on a diet.

Juan8

BelleOfTheBall wrote: »

Download fitness pal and run keeper!!get u started best of luck

Can you get an app for this? Or one like it?

Alf Veedersane

Juan8 wrote: »

Can you get an app for this? Or one like it?

MyFitnessPal and Runkeeper are both apps.

Bruno26

One key change to lose and maintain weight is all that is required.

Limit or remove sugar and grain.

Chancer3001

Food diary x 10

Don't have breakfast cereal.


Cut down on bread. And pastries of any kind.

Try to eat loads of veg.

You don't have to have breakfasty foods for breakfast

yellow hen

Bruno26 wrote: »

One key change to lose and maintain weight is all that is required.

Limit or remove sugar and grain.

Grain? So bread, cereal etc?