Good foods to help me with me ? -starting out

I want to start eating healthy before officially exercising again and I want to know, what are some good foods? Portion control? Foods to stay away from? And a simple exercise to start out with for someone who has please and thank you. been as sedentary as I have?

Replies

  • futuremanda
    futuremanda Posts: 816 Member
    Foods aren't necessarily good or bad. But you will find there are better and worse choices, for you personally. You'll have to try things out.

    You can Google portions. If you don't have one, I really recommend getting a kitchen food scale -- they aren't too expensive. Your logging will be WAY more accurate, and you can figure out your portions more easily.

    Stay away from foods you want to stay away from. Eat the foods you want to eat, within your daily calorie goal, that fit any/all of your other goals (goals re: hunger, nutrition, enjoyment, etc). You can look up meal plans if you like, just to have something to start with, and then make changes as you go. Some people benefit from following a structured plan (I do, for a variety of solid reasons) and others find it unsustainable. Or you can eat what you always have, just less of it, and make little changes here and there for your hunger. Getting fat & protein at every meal is a good start.

    Exercise should be enjoyable! And I recommend starting lightly. You have your whole life, you know? Taking your time in the beginning will not matter down the road, what will matter is whether or not you stuck to it. I stopped exercising around September 2014 and started again mid-Jan. I started with a 30 days of yoga (Yoga With Adriene on YouTube) and that was great, very gentle, and I saw some great gains in strength and flexibility. But you can start by walking, or whatever you like. Just don't go ALL OUT and hurt yourself.
  • Sandcastles61
    Sandcastles61 Posts: 506 Member
    I started off by logging everything I was eating for about 4 days to see where I actually was.... Then I got serious focusing on reducing calories, focusing on lean meats and fish, reducing starchy carbs (one of my problems LOL) ... And weighing and measuring and logging everything and getting as close to my macros as possible. I learned nothing has to be off limits so long as you stay in your calories and macros, but you get a lot more calorie bang for the buck with some foods rather than others that's for sure! I focused on food issues only for about a 5 weeks until I got comfortable.

    Then I bought a pedometer and started tracking my daily steps as I went through my every day life (I am also very sedentary :\) Make an effort to park farther from the door, take the stairs when you can and the steps start to add up.

    I'm 45 days in now, closing in on 17 lbs and next week will start some strength training. Someone told me about Fitness Blender on YouTube that has a range from beginning beginners like me up to advanced as a good place to start. I also have started going to the community pool once a week to start.

    I'm taking it slow and there's nothing wrong with that! I agree the secret to the exercise is to find something you like. There are a lot of free things you can do including walking, body weight exercises and yoga that you don't need equipment for and don't have to spend the money on a gym.

    You can friend me if you'd like. My food diary is open to friends and I'm in this for the long haul :)
  • I try to have a lot of my plate to be vegtables or fruit with some sort of protein and a filler. For breakfast I have oatmeal filled with fruits like berries or bananas and then put a dash of honey and a small amount of nuts. For lunch I usually eat a salad or sandwhich that is loaded with veggies and some meat. And for dinner I eat rice with chicken and veggies. I hope this helps.