New but lacking motivation

KatSmith86

I've slowly been adding the kgs over the past 5 years or so and have got to a point where I've teetering on the next size in clothes and I'm feeling really uncomfortable.
I have a daughter I run around to after school activities 4 days a week so time is something I also lack.

Looking to get some ideas on healthier eating for people on the go and exercises I can do at home that are going to help lose the weight

Panda8ach

Hey Well done for joining and wanting to make a change. You don't actually need to exercise to lose weight... You just need to be in a calorie deficit Exercise boosts it and helps you feel good Skipping, trampolining... Anything like that you can do with your little one As for healthy snacks on the go... I started with my usual food, ate less and slowly started to learn what was good for me. We're all different Are you in the UK?

Tanukicana

I have very little time (full time work, studying full time outside of work) so I end up eating these for most of my daily meals. I'm trying to keep under 1700 calories per day so carbs have to be restricted, and cooking times, if any, kept low!

Breakfast:

Weekdays I will have a pot of porridge oats from Tesco, takes 2 minutes to "prepare" and is tasty, keeps me full until about an hour before lunch, and is only ~200 calories.

Weekends I will have some kind of eggs, usually boiled, with perhaps a slice of toast. Eggs tend to be 60 cals each and bread is substantially more, so I'll either have many eggs or less with the toast. No butter though!

Lunch:

Weekdays will usually be either a pot of soup (300-500 calories depending on the type) and a small bread roll, also no butter. Alternatively, I will make myself a salad with various leaves and veggies, chicken, and a small amount of dressing (1tbsp is a surprisingly large amout of dressing but also a surprisingly high number of calories - if you can eat salad without it, do! I can't so I just make sure to have a small amount).

At weekends I will have more time and will generally make whatever I fancy at the time, which usually involves some meat, vegetables, and potato. Just have to make sure you get a good lean meat and plan out the portion properly.


Dinner

Omelettes have become my best friend whilst trying to lose weight. With my non-stick pan I don't need to worry about using oil (100~ calories per tbsp, crazy!) so I can have a good number of eggs, cheese, and whatever else takes my fancy. Otherwise again I'll make a nice square meal consisting of meat, veg, and potato or pasta.


Snacks

A few snacks don't hurt as long as you're counting them. I usually have a piece of fruit or two, but if I've done some exercise I might reward myself with a small bar of chocolate.



I would say the main thing that will help you decide what you want to eat is to understand what foods are high or low in calories and start building ideas in your head of what you want. Make a habit of looking at the nutritional information for everything you eat, I reckon you'll be surprised at how much you've been eating without realising it.


As for exercises, it's all about what you enjoy doing. You don't need a huge amount of time to go for a 15 minute run, or to do 30 minutes of swimming, or a bike ride, or some tennis, or indeed anything else. If you can't even find time to get out of the house (which I understand, I sometimes find that too), why not try doing a "HIIT" session every other day? 15-20 minutes of on-the-spot aerobic exercises, things like running on the spot, high knees, burpees, etc. In only 15 minutes you can really burn some fat fast and even increase your metabolism which will help burn fat quicker. Just remember: more intensity means more weight loss, unless of course you over-eat as a result! Make sure you always count the calories.

renatawiles

Hi Kat, I'm not an expert but I find that what I eat impacts my weight more than what I do - have you heard the saying "you can't out run a bad diet"? I've recently started snacking on foods that are high in water content and mostly fruit or veg as the calorie count is so low, and they fill you up a lot more than sugary snacks anyway. Some of the snacks I'm loving at the moment are cherry tomatoes, grapes, beans & carrots (with a little bit of hummus as its very high in cals!), and I can snack away on these during the day guilt free Also, try and up your water intake as this can help a lot with preventing hunger and helping you lose weight. For me I find that its little changes that make a difference as I can (hopefully) keep these habits up long term. Hope that helps?

ISweat4This

Maintain a calorie deficit to lose weight. Try FitnessBlender for exercises you can do at home.

KatSmith86

Thanks everyone.
I've started STEPTEMBER today, committing to taking 10,000 steps each day for 1 whole month to raise funds and awareness for the Cerebral Palsy Alliance and obviously to get me moving more (if you wanted to get involved you can donate here - https://goo.gl/eMwuY9).

I've got an Ulla which is reminding me to drink more water - and it works! Kicking Diet Coke will be the hardest, i get massive headaches by lunchtime if I haven't had it!

Ive started usinf the app to track my eating and wow I never knew how much was in what ai was eating! Based on current weight amd how much I want to loose I'm on 1250 calories. If you have any tips on how I can better utilise this app to get the most out of it I'd love to hear.