help!

randa589

How did you all begin just want to know if I am on the right track?

acmanna

It is a mindset. Know you can still eat the foods you like and lose weight. Buy a food scale and track/log everything. Don't expect to lose super fast and be patient. I started at 190 and now am at 157. Also it is good to incorporate exercise but you don't have to for weight loss. Start slow with exercising if you haven't in a while, ie walking.
I started by guessing calories and half exercising. Now I weigh/track my foods, walk a lot, and workout about 5 times a week.

Patttience

So many different ways to know what you mean. However i think you are asking, what approach did you take at the beginning.

This is what i did:

First of all its probably worth knowing that i don't eat meat or chicken (except on occasion)

Key elements of mine approach in the beginning were:

1. Do not cut calories radically. I started off at 1650 calories per day for my 180pounds and 5'5" height and age 50, female. This meant that i could avoid getting hungry.

2. I ate three meals a day ever day. And as nutritiously as i could. I knew i had to eat more vegies. And of course i never stopped eating fruit. I had breakfast when i got up, lunch about 3-4 hours later, and had an early dinner at about 5-6pm Or had a glass of wine or a snack at about 4pm and then dinner a bit later.

3. I weighed every day.

4. I did not bother with exercise. This is the first time i decided not to make exercise an essential basic part of my diet and it was deliberate because in the past at some point i would stop exercising and my diet would then fail and i would regain.

5. I did not eat low fat food.

6. I quit sugar because sweets foods are a problem for me. I have rules around eating sweets but i won't' go into them right now. But if you need my advice on this subject because you have the same problem then you can pm me. That said i believe its almost essential to replace sweet foods with fruit because total abstinence from sweetness wouldn't work for me besides fruit is good for you and low calorie.


7. I started cooking again and cook everything mostly from scratch.
8.

8. I kept a food diary.
9. The other important element of my diet was psychological. I new that being optimistic and avoiding d expression and stress was critical to my success so this year i have gone to see a councillor whenever i had problems. Mainly also because i don't have anyone else to talk my troubles over with who can help me.

As time went on the main thing i needed to change was some of the elements of the food in my regime, and of course as i lost weight i had to cut back on my calories but i only did it gradually. Its essential to avoid hunger. Nutritionally the main thing i changed was to try to eat more protein and to try to eat it at each meal. I still don't really eat enough protein but there have been periods in my diet when i have had enough.


I also introduced other foods such as nuts, seeds and more cheese and re-introduced dried fruits. These things have to be eaten with caution. hOwever they have an important place in a diet because its important that you enjoy the food you eat and if you cut out all the flavoursome foods you will give up on your diet when you get bored.

Patttience

I just had a look at your diary for 19 December. Its good you have kept it open. What you are doing if that's going to be your routine, is completely unsustainable.

fearlessleader104

Eat the same stuff as before you started mfp, but lesser quantities.