Weight loss journey as a busy waitress

flookie9

Hello! I’m 22 years old, 4’11” and ~150 pounds. I’m trying to lose weight and get healthy! I work all a lot, sometimes between 50-60 hours a week but usually about 50 hours that usually consist of about four 12 hour shifts (no break). Depending On the day I’m on my feet walking, carrying, and cleaning between 7-11 of those hours, usually around 9 hours. The restaurant that I’m working at provides food, (it’s a Chinese restaurant). The meals are usually soup for breakfast, some meat/veggie dish for lunch and dinner. I try to keep the rice at the minimum, eat a little meat and veggies with some soup. About half my plate is meet and veggies and the soup bowl fits on the other half of my plate. I try to keep my portions relatively small. In the morning sometimes I grab a coffee drink or something from Starbucks. Coffee is my main vice and is the hardest thing for me to quit. Im a sucker for sugary lattes, and I would really hate to cut them out completely. I also have started taking hydroxycut max for women. Since this I have seen minor results, but I feel the progress is much too slow. I would like to lose around 2 pounds a week. I would like to become fitter and healthier as wel but I’m usually too tired after a full day of work to exercise. I think, at least for the moment, a 3 day’s a week exercise program would be best, at least until I can adjust.

What changes Can I make to my life in order to reach this goal? Can I still eat the food I’ve been eating at work or do I need to start packing foods? How Can I workout on my off days and still benefit? What is a good program or guide to follow for my exercise?

ccsernica

The number one thing that caught my eye was the sugary lattes. Coffee per se isn't bad, and in fact contains a number of antioxidants and phytonutrients that are probably good for you. It's the fat and sugar that comes with those Starbucks drinks that get you. A venti Pumpkin Spice Latte has 400 calories, 470 with whipped cream. That's a lot for a drink with such little nutritive value. If you need coffee drink it black, maybe with a reasonable amount of cream (1-2 tbsp) but nothing else.

The other thing is to weigh your food portions, measuring only liquids like soup by volume. It's the amounts of food that affect your weight more than the type. Calories in < calories out = weight loss. It's hard to know what's really "relatively small" by eye without weighing it at least a few times.

Save your money on the Hydroxycut. To the extent it really gives you energy (and therefore helps with weight loss) it's the caffeine content. Might as well just have a second cup of black coffee. There's no evidence it helps with weight loss in humans.

As a very hard-working waitress, if you get your calories down you shouldn't have any problem losing weight. You're constantly on your feet and moving. It's those of us whose jobs force us to sit on our butts all day that must make a special effort to move. Focus on the amount of food and don't kill yourself trying to shoehorn more exercise into what is already an exhausting day.

But don't rush! 2 lbs/week may not be practical to you. And it's often more difficult for those who are less tall to lose weight. As long as the trend is in the right direction, you're good.

The only problem with restaurant food, particularly Chinese restaurant food in my experience, is the sodium content. It might or might not have an effect on your blood pressure, but what it will certainly do is make you retain water. This makes for a certain amount of illusory weight.

HellYeahItsKriss

While it sounds like you are doing a lot of walking, none of that walking matters if you aren't paying attention to your calories. Caloric density of the foods is not measured by the size of the portion on your plate.

I saw this picture posted on another thread, so im going to reuse it as an example.



You need to pay more attention to the calories in your food and not if a bowl of soup fits on the side of your plate.

Also, stop spending money on hydroxy cut, it does not work, as you have seen since you've stated youve had minor results, this is because you are eating too many calories.

NoxeemaJackson

You can search on here and elsewhere on the web to find good substitutes for sugary lattes.
I swapped my frappucino (around 400 cal) with an iced coffee with coconut milk (35 cal)
There are low cal versions people make at home and lots of lists with suggested substitutes.
So you wouldn't have to give it up - just swap it for another yummy drink!

Also a a chinese restaurant, the food is high in sodium - sodium doesn't make you fatter, but it does cause bloat.
Make sure you are drinking lots of water if you are eating high sodium food.

And lastly, honestly, because your food is being prepared at a restaurant, make sure you really know how much oil and fat, etc is used in what you are eating and track correctly. A small portion can still add up to big calories, depending on how it's prepared.

And lastly, you are on your feet all day - I honeslty think that makes estimating yoru calorie burn more difficult. I know I burn very little all day because I work in an office. Look around on mfp and other places online to see if you can get an estimate of your calorie burn working as a waitress, or get a fitbit type watch.
It's important that your estimate of your daily burn is right - too high and you will be eating too many calories, too low and you won't have enough fuel for your day.
You might have to play around with it to find what the right calorie burn number is.

Best of luck!!!!
(PS - There is no way I could lose weight working at a chinese restaurant, so good for you!!!)

jemhh

You are not heavy enough to sustain a two pound a week loss. One half to one pound is a reasonable rate at this point. That will decrease as you get nearer to your goal. That's just how it is for women--our calorie burns do not allow for two pound a week losses unless we are heavily overweight/obese--and it's better not to struggle to fight against it.

You are active at work. Cutting down on the sugary drinks will go a long way to help cut calories. Set a limit like once or twice a week, get a smaller size, etc. You need to experiment to see what gets you into a calorie deficit while still allowing yourself to enjoy life.

Oh, and I agree with the others. Drop the hydroxycut. The only thing it burns is the money in your wallet. You don't need it in order to lose weight.

WhereIsPJSoles

I don’t think you have to cut out Starbucks or switch to black coffee if that’s your treat. It’s mine too - probably have it twice a week, but I make sure it fits in my calories. Which isn’t easy because as a fellow short person you won’t have many to play with. But two days a week I’d rather have a 250 calorie drink than 250 calories of food. Your call.

Just make sure you log your calories in mfp accurately. You won’t lose fast if you’re doing it right so being as precise as possible is important. If you eat the food at work, do your research to figure out how many calories are in everything and you’re weigh your portions out correctly.

Also not to be an alarmist but hydroxycut will make you into a crazy person. Just stop.

DebLaBounty

I usually order a sugar-free vanilla latte when I'm at Starbucks. It's 100 calories for a 16-ounce grande, according to their website. You have a very active job, so I don't know that you really need to add in a formal cardio exercise program. I would recommend re-setting your weight loss goal to lose 0.5 to 1 pound per week. To bring down the calories in the Chinese food, I wonder whether you can ask the cook to prepare your meal without as much sauce?

ccsernica

ginababin wrote: »

I don’t think you have to cut out Starbucks or switch to black coffee if that’s your treat. It’s mine too - probably have it twice a week, but I make sure it fits in my calories. Which isn’t easy because as a fellow short person you won’t have many to play with. But two days a week I’d rather have a 250 calorie drink than 250 calories of food. Your call.

There's nothing wrong with a once or twice a week treat, but if a sugary Starbucks confection is the daily pick-me-up, it's certainly not helping.

collectingblues

ccsernica wrote: »

ginababin wrote: »

I don’t think you have to cut out Starbucks or switch to black coffee if that’s your treat. It’s mine too - probably have it twice a week, but I make sure it fits in my calories. Which isn’t easy because as a fellow short person you won’t have many to play with. But two days a week I’d rather have a 250 calorie drink than 250 calories of food. Your call.

There's nothing wrong with a once or twice a week treat, but if a sugary Starbucks confection is the daily pick-me-up, it's certainly not helping.

Well, it all depends on what the rest of the day's calories total. If she's got room for it, it's fine.

Is it filling? Maybe. Depends on the person.

ccsernica

collectingblues wrote: »

ccsernica wrote: »

ginababin wrote: »

I don’t think you have to cut out Starbucks or switch to black coffee if that’s your treat. It’s mine too - probably have it twice a week, but I make sure it fits in my calories. Which isn’t easy because as a fellow short person you won’t have many to play with. But two days a week I’d rather have a 250 calorie drink than 250 calories of food. Your call.

There's nothing wrong with a once or twice a week treat, but if a sugary Starbucks confection is the daily pick-me-up, it's certainly not helping.

Well, it all depends on what the rest of the day's calories total. If she's got room for it, it's fine.

Is it filling? Maybe. Depends on the person.

Of course, but this is a shorter person with not that much weight to lose, and it's an obvious (and relatively easy) cut to make.

collectingblues

ccsernica wrote: »

collectingblues wrote: »

ccsernica wrote: »

ginababin wrote: »

I don’t think you have to cut out Starbucks or switch to black coffee if that’s your treat. It’s mine too - probably have it twice a week, but I make sure it fits in my calories. Which isn’t easy because as a fellow short person you won’t have many to play with. But two days a week I’d rather have a 250 calorie drink than 250 calories of food. Your call.

There's nothing wrong with a once or twice a week treat, but if a sugary Starbucks confection is the daily pick-me-up, it's certainly not helping.

Well, it all depends on what the rest of the day's calories total. If she's got room for it, it's fine.

Is it filling? Maybe. Depends on the person.

Of course, but this is a shorter person with not that much weight to lose, and it's an obvious (and relatively easy) cut to make.

If she wants to.

There's nothing inherently wrong with Starbucks. There are lots of places you can make cuts.

WhereIsPJSoles

Yeah I just mean it’s the one thing she mentioned she hopes she doesn’t have to give up completely and luckily this whole CICO business makes it easy by not making you give up anything you really want.

ccsernica

ginababin wrote: »

Yeah I just mean it’s the one thing she mentioned she hopes she doesn’t have to give up completely and luckily this whole CICO business makes it easy by not making you give up anything you really want.

I agreed that a couple of times a week is not a problem, so I have no idea where "give up completely" comes from here. Really, if you have to ignore half of what someone says in order to make a snappy comeback, perhaps you should be putting a bit more effort into it.

I will, however, admit that since I despise those drinks as the vile concoctions they are, it's much easier for me to suggest cutting back on them than actually doing so would be for someone who likes them.

Since most of what she has available to eat is restaurant food, portion control isn't as simple as it might be. One could suggest ignoring the free food at work and bringing her own meals in, but that might be too unkind to the budget.

WhereIsPJSoles

Give them up completely comes from what the original post said. Where she said she hopes she doesn’t have to give them up completely. Jeez.

HellYeahItsKriss

Semantics people. Regardless of what the OP does...calories need to be cut from somewhere.

dwilliamca

Have you calculated out how many calories you are budgeted with per day? Being short means not being able to eat the amounts of food you see others eating. Even meats and vegetables can add up quickly especially when you include the sauces that Asian restaurants usually use. Find a way to figure out exactly what your meals contain in calories and start logging them. You may be surprised at how much you are eating calorie wise.

lucerorojo

I would cut the Starbucks drinks to one a week or every two weeks, or switch to using Stevia and not adding milk/cream.

darlibby

Being 4'11" and trying to lose weight is tough, I am 5 feet and it is a struggle. I usually cut down to 1000 to lose a pound a week.

sksk1026

Firstly, you don't need to eat healthily to lose weight - you just have to eat fewer calories than you burn up. So you need to track your calories in MFP. Put your details in and see how many calories you get. Then track the calories of everything you eat, as best you can. Starbucks is easy to track because they list their calories. You can estimate your restaurant meals based on similar meals in the MFP database. Once you've done that for a few days you can see where you can make cuts. You might just need to make a few small adjustments like a smaller latte, for example. Generally asian clear soups have fewer calories than a creamed sweetcorn soup, for example. Fish has fewer calories than chicken which has fewer calories than beef. Steamed food will likely have fewer calories than fried food. Don't try to change everything at once or you'll risk making yourself miserable and giving up! If you want exercises there are free apps like bodyspace and jefit, for your phone. Strong Curves does a great bodyweight workout you can do at home - you can get the pdf free online - it's also already entered in the bodyspace app. It's done 3-4 days a week. Remember, baby steps and good luck! You're already very active and seem to be eating real food, not junk, so I think you've got a great start!

laurenebargar

I still go to starbucks maybe once a week, but I make different choices, for instance instead of the full fat lattes (especially the winter ones) I get a coconut milk cascara latte, closer to 120 calories, and tastes just as good if not better

whitpauly

Starbucks once a week is a great idea,it's what I do and I look forward to it,I think I'd get sick of it only a daily basis though too doggone sweet for me!