35lbs to lose by the summer help

AFlexitarian

Many thanks for sharing all this. Really, really helpful.

whoffmann wrote: »

You can do it! I lost 35 pounds in 12 weeks, although I started a bit higher (289) and am much taller. But that was also a lot faster than you want to lose.

IANAD, but here's what I did:

1. Count calories / weigh food. Can't emphasize this enough. You can't judge how much you're eating from looking at it, at first. A "serving" in packaged food is probably a quarter of what I would typically eat. So, yeah - four servings at a time adds up. I was hitting 800-1200 calories most days, others 1500 or so net.
2. Cut the sugar and starch. This will be HARD for 2 days, while your body purges itself and you get over the addiction. But it WILL get easier, I promise. NO soda, candy, donuts, cookies, muffins, pancakes, waffles, chips, pasta, juice, french fries, cereal, ice cream. I also suggest cutting down (if possible, to zero servings; if not, 1-2 MEASURED servings per day) of: white rice, bread, fruit. Limit the use of oils in your cooking as much as possible, one tablespoon of olive oil has 120 calories - there goes a tenth of your daily allotment on basically nothing at all.
3. So what's left to eat? Well...it is a change, for sure. But there are palatable options once your taste buds adjust and you get rid of the addictive craving of sweets. If you're not vegetarian, it's a hell of a lot easier. Lots of salads/greens, beans, mushrooms, yams, squash, other fibrous veggies. Broccoli and cauliflower are very substantial in the stomach. Red peppers add a great sweetness without a lot of calories. You can eat a HUGE salad that will forcibly fill you up with relatively few calories (as long as you don't load it up with packaged dressing). Throw in some hard-boiled egg and cheese for protein/fat and flavor. Sunflower or pumpkin seeds. Packaged salads are a huge help for me - love the chopped salads or little packaged salads you get at the grocery store. And you can just take it easy on the dressing, or use ranch instead. Quinoa and brown rice are great for a carb base, but be very careful with portion size. Brown rice, in particular, has a fair amount of calories for Berries in moderation. Nuts in moderation (they are healthy but have a lot of calories, be VERY careful of serving size here. Half a tin of cashews and you're done for the day. Alcohol? Honestly, I'd still have a couple of beers or a glass of wine once or twice a week, while socializing...but the problem is, it tends to drop your inhibitions, so you find yourself eating a "couple fries" and next thing you know how many calories whazzit anyway and maybe just one more beer and there goes the week. So, be careful there (although see CHEAT DAY below). Very dark chocolate in tiny moderation if you like it and can eat it without restarting the sugar engine. A good alternative: protein bars, very treat-like. One or two a day maximum, though - they can add a bunch of calories better spent on actual food. If you're not vegetarian, any non-processed meats are fine, although lower fat meats have fewer calories via science. Again, portion control: a 12-oz steak is too much. Eat one chicken breast. Or a half. Your body WILL adjust to these smaller portion sizes, believe me. After a couple weeks, you can't even finish a typical restaurant portion. So, basically: eat a lot of staples, get used to eating real food, and then you can adjust and add foods back in as necessary, once you know what a portion is. It's not so bad, and better than feeling fat and tired and basically falling asleep in the afternoon at your desk (speaking from experience). Sriracha! Seriously--it adds so much flavor we barely use salt any more. Lots of stir fries with mainly veggies, but also some meat or tofu.
4. Cut out breakfast. It's a heck of a lot easier to eat fewer calories in a day when you eat one less meal a day. For me, it's breakfast. Don't believe the hype - you do NOT need to eat breakfast to have energy. Or I don't, at least. If you really really love breakfast, and can live with a lot of eggs, cut out lunch or something. But cutting out breakfast worked great for me.
5. Intermittent fasting (IF) - for me, this idea was the inspiration for cutting breakfast. Basically, I eat for 7-8 hours a day. Lunch at noon, maybe a protein bar around 3-4 if I was hungry, then dinner around 7. Perhaps a little post-meal treat. Then NO snacking in front of the tv at night. There are giant threads about IF, I won't go into the full idea here. But it did/does work for me. Even when I stopped restricting my calories so crazily, IF helps me maintain. 16 hours no eating, then 8 hours during which I eat. Plus, it's a heck of a lot easier than trying to eat 6 small meals a day or whatever. Eat a meal. Eat a snack (sometimes). Eat another meal. Don't think about food again until the next day. Pretty nice, and pretty easy once I got used to it.
6. Cheat Day!!!! Mmm hmm, this makes it easier, just being able to say: on Saturday, I'ma eat breakfast, eat lunch, eat dinner, drink a beer, eat some dark chocolate almonds, live a little. It makes things vastly easier at first, to know that you can eat your fill once a week, feel truly full. And, over time, that becomes less important. First of all, your stomach is smaller, so even if you sit down in front of a rack of ribs, you can't finish it. And it's better in the relationship, too, to have a day where you're not calorie policing yourself in front of the wife/hubby/SO/fam, and you can just hang out in a social setting and have a meal. NOTE: Do NOT activate your sugar cravings on this day! NO candy. NO soda. In fact, pretty much try to leave everything in the point #2 NO list out. Cheat w/quantity and satiety, not by eating the crap you used to eat. But, yeah, once a week, have a slice of good toast with breakfast, maybe some hash browns. Eat a burger for lunch. My cheat days were about 2000 calories, not 4000, so don't go crazy and end up eating every calorie you didn't eat the other days, but have some fun once in a while.
7. No change in exercise. It's hard to change multiple habits at once. So, keep doing what you're doing exercise wise, unless you already have a yen to amp it up. I just wanted to try losing the weight without complicating things. Once you change your exercise level, it gets a lot harder to judge what's going on. Exercise adds muscle (which adds weight), changes your metabolic rate, etc. Exercise is great, don't get me wrong, but you DO NOT lose weight through exercise. It is diet and calorie control, through whatever methods you need to take. Period. (Again, I Am NOT A Doctor - this is what works for me.)
8. And, finally, a philosophical note: Don't worry too much! Nothing is set in stone, and screwing up doesn't invalidate what you do right. When I started losing weight, I ate ice cream every night one week because it was going to waste in the freezer (a single, measured & weighed portion). It's fine. You have 2 cheat days one week because you go out twice - it's fine. Don't give up...but also don't decide that every exception is ok. It's sticking to a plan that will let the calories come off. If you wanna work out, great, your body composition will change and you may look and will feel better, but you may not lose the full 35. And that's ok. :-)

I hope this helps. You inspired a rant. I guess this was waiting to come out. Cheers and good luck! (You can even learn to like kale - I did!!!!)

animatorswearbras

Lean chicken, fish, prawns, egg whites (or whole eggs if they fit in your cals) peanut butter and banana as snacks (although make sure to weigh as peanut butter is super dense calorie wise) quorn mince, mushrooms, spinach, beans, yoghurt and swap any white refined foods (bread, pasta, rice) for wholemeal versions. Off the top of my head.

crooked_left_hook

amandabrookshaw wrote: »

Getting there but getting the protien is hard any tips

What kinds of foods are you eating? I struggled with this at first because I couldn't make myself eat enough eggs and meat to get enough protein. Greek yogurt and cottage cheese are good sources of protein. Quinoa, farro, and nuts are other non-meat options and I have a protein shake as part of my breakfast. I don't follow any special diet plan, but I try to make sure protein is 25-30% of my calories. My diary is open if you want to take a look at what types of things I eat.

amandabrookshaw

I have a big carb intake and dairy but trying to cut those back and eat more fruit and veg but thats still carbs

LessCookiess

amandabrookshaw wrote: »

I have a big carb intake and dairy but trying to cut those back and eat more fruit and veg but thats still carbs

Actually their is nothing wrong with eating fruits abs veggies and also in my opinion you can eat high carb and still lose weight if that's the plan you want to follow. I believe in the concept of portion control and I still think since I lost posted seeing a registered dietician or a nutritionist would be good for you.