32 years old gee(zer)k aiming for lighter life

FallGirl84

Hi everyone,

so, this isn't my first tango with this one. I've been dieting for most of my life, but also destroying it all by too much and too (fatty) good food. I've tried Weight watchers, Dukan, low carb, low fat, forcing myself to eat only diet soups from a box... I have studied the calories, the fats, the carbs, you name it. I know all this, so I should finally be ready for kicking myself to actually start working on it for real.

The best results I had few years ago with Weight watchers, when I lost about 32 kilos (equal to 5 stones or 70,5pounds) in just over one year. But, as I knew very little of well-balanced diet back then, I ate everything back and some more. When looking back I know now, that I was eating way too little, chose wrong things to eat in order to eat as large quantities as I could and following the point program didn't give me any really useful info about what to eat after the program.

Now I'm putting all I've learned together and trying to form a new diet that works for me;
- I'm currently eating about 1 400 calories per day (my normal daily usage is about 2200-2600)
- I'm eating several small meals
- I try to avoid eating excess amounts of carbs but not leave them entirely out
- My focus is on lean meats (chicken, turkey, beef) and vegs
- I'll try to learn to drink more water (I always forget to do this..)

Also I'm aiming to create a diet where I would gradually learn to eat more healthy, but it shouldn't be too complicated and not too hard to follow. This is a really big problem with most of the diets and those who try to follow them - they're too dull and way too out there that you'd actually manage to keep with them.

Dieting shouldn't be something one would exercise every now and then, it should be something you could do for the rest of your life.

Phew. Sorry about the long intro.

TL;DR: Not dieting for a first time, now trying to make it more permanent solution rather than another failed attempt to lose weight fast.

unsuspectingfish

I'm not sure what type of geekery you're into, but you should check out Darebee. She does a lot of individual geek-themed workouts, ranging from comics to games to movies, and she has several different meal plans (along with recipes). She also has a Youtube channel to go with it, so you can see how each exercise is done, and there's a great community on the site. It's just a really great site all-around, and she provides it all for free.

kzzr

I'm on a similar path, it's about making it a permanent change. Add me if you would like, my diary is open

FallGirl84

unsuspectingfish wrote: »

I'm not sure what type of geekery you're into, but you should check out Darebee. She does a lot of individual geek-themed workouts, ranging from comics to games to movies, and she has several different meal plans (along with recipes). She also has a Youtube channel to go with it, so you can see how each exercise is done, and there's a great community on the site. It's just a really great site all-around, and she provides it all for free.

Thanks for the tip, for now I just concentrate on my diet rather than working out - after I've done some real progress on losing weight then I'll start with the exercise. I'm really lazy too, and I've noticed that forcing myself to do anything physical just makes me grumpy and want to treat myself with candy & chips more.

The only exercise for now is all about my central body; slowly activating my deep muscles in order to strengthen my back, since I do a lot of sitting and my back is the first one to cry out when I walk long ways.

FallGirl84

kzzr wrote: »

I'm on a similar path, it's about making it a permanent change. Add me if you would like, my diary is open

I added you, so you can also check out my diary - though it's mostly in Finnish, so you might not really get anything out of it Most of it right now is quark, chicken, veggies, berries and fruits so not missing much...

unsuspectingfish

FallGirl84 wrote: »

unsuspectingfish wrote: »

I'm not sure what type of geekery you're into, but you should check out Darebee. She does a lot of individual geek-themed workouts, ranging from comics to games to movies, and she has several different meal plans (along with recipes). She also has a Youtube channel to go with it, so you can see how each exercise is done, and there's a great community on the site. It's just a really great site all-around, and she provides it all for free.

Thanks for the tip, for now I just concentrate on my diet rather than working out - after I've done some real progress on losing weight then I'll start with the exercise. I'm really lazy too, and I've noticed that forcing myself to do anything physical just makes me grumpy and want to treat myself with candy & chips more.

The only exercise for now is all about my central body; slowly activating my deep muscles in order to strengthen my back, since I do a lot of sitting and my back is the first one to cry out when I walk long ways.

They have workouts you can do on your couch, and they also have some exercises that are specifically for helping out aching backs. I'm just sayin'.

You should definitely check out her diet plans and some of the recipes, though.

FallGirl84

unsuspectingfish wrote: »

You should definitely check out her diet plans and some of the recipes, though.

I did - while they look definitely sensible and smart, they're not really offering me anything new. I like to cook a lot and have done so for a while now, so naturally I've explored lots of different kind of recipes, ideas and how to substitute non-healthy things with healthier options.

But I'll have to see the exercises for my back, though I already have some instructions for it too. As I said earlier, this is not my first rodeo I've just been lazy making it all happen, even though there's lots of gathered information already.

Naruya

I can vouch for Darebee too! Even if you don't like exercising or think of yourself as lazy.. you'll be amazed by what you can/want to do when you find something you love. I'm not lazy perse but I usually don't enjoy exercise very much but with some of the Darebee programs I was actually looking forward to them every day. I guess I'm a sucker for nerdyness

Anyhow, focusing on food choices first isn't a bad idea as you can lose weight perfectly fine with just that. But I would add some exercise, even if it's just a short walk during lunch break, sooner rather than later or you'll lose too much muscle mass rather than fat. I've been there.. it's hell to get it back.

Good luck on your journey!

FallGirl84

Naruya wrote: »

Anyhow, focusing on food choices first isn't a bad idea as you can lose weight perfectly fine with just that. But I would add some exercise, even if it's just a short walk during lunch break, sooner rather than later or you'll lose too much muscle mass rather than fat. I've been there.. it's hell to get it back.

Trust me, I'm "painfully" aware of the benefits of exercise, but as I mentioned, I know myself too well. If I force myself to exercise, I gradually get frustrated with everything and start snacking again, like for extra treat for all the work. And that is precisely why I focus my diet on high protein, in order not to lose muscle mass over the fat, or at least not so much as I normally would.

Thanks for the good luck!

FallGirl84

Forgot to add, that so for now the whole exercise thing is a thing for the future. Because a) it will be easier to move around with less weight on my shoulder (and on my arms and legs and back and boobs and butt and...) and b) it will boost my weight loss when the progress will get naturally slower.

Naruya

You know yourself best and if that's how you end up spiraling it's smart to avoid it for now. As long as you're aware of the effects of weight loss without exercise there should be no problem. Keeping up protein intake is a good strategy. You can do it!

FallGirl84

Of course, there's also the thing with my usual activeness, which is close to zero. Always has been, so it's not like I would have much of muscle to begin with (so I can't blame the muscle being heavier than fat, lol) but I'm not really stressing out with the diet, I'm not in a hurry - my main goal is just lose the extra weight by sticking with the diet. I'm happy if it all happens as soon as possible, but I'm equally happy if it takes longer.