Hi everyone! Newbie here

bababuey

Hi everyone! I actually joined this site via the iPhone app, Had it for 3 days now, and the calorie count in huge green numbers has been set in stone.

So here is my story:

Was a decent weight most of my life, 80kgs or so, a bit more or less.

The last 3 years Ive been ill, real, ill. And as part of my treatment I am on and off of anti inflammatory steroids as if they were water.

So now, I weigh about (if my math is right) 325 pounds. (I know)

I really havnet been able to do anything about it as being on those steroids make me want to eat everything. BUT, I recently got a surgery that will decrease my need for them, and in October, I get another one that will (God willing) get me off of them for good.

So since I am now on 1/2 the steroids I am usually on, Ive started working out and have the ability to say no to food sometimes.

Just cutting out crap I lost 10 kilos (22 pounds) in a month and a half.

So I have my 6 day old elliptical trainer, Ive been doing 20 minutes on it a day, burning 200 to 220 calories a day on that.

Been on a 1800 calorie diet, lots of grilled chicken, lots of steamed veggies.

I do have a few questions though, do these "shakes" and "bars" I see everywhere work? Obviously they must right? Anyone can suggest any good ones? I work 10-12 hours a day and so having a bar INSTEAD of lunch would help alot, as the healthy choices at work are slim.

Also, how do you mix it up a bit? I can see me getting tired of grilled chicken and wanting a whopper after about 4 days. What else would everyone suggest for dinner?

What drinks aside from water are good? I hate the taste of diet soda if that was one of the suggestions.

Thanks everyone, Just need some encouragement to get me going, but seriously, after 6 days, I'm addicted to my elliptical, so I hope, with your guys' help, I can keep going!

RuthWorth

:happy:
Welcome aboard. If you need a friend, add me

gillian_gail

Welcome. The site is great for motivation and can really help you in your journey. I really hope you enjoy yourself here, and anytime you need someone to talk to I'd be happy to lend an ear. Good Luck!!

Feel free to add me if you'd like.


In response to a few of your questions:

BARS/SHAKES - I've tried a few of them. I had been using Herbal Life which is a Shake system with pills and snack bars. I had some decent success on it, but couldn't afford to keep with it after a while. But I do actually really enjoy the Slim Fast system as well, I just can't afford it at the moment. I personally enjoy using that type of system, but only as a kick start. From my own experience, I wouldn't recommend using them for more than a month or 2 to get you going with your weight loss. The reason I say that is, eventually you're going to want to eat real food and the longer you're not learning what you really need to eat by just drinking shakes, I've found it's a lot more likely that you'll cheat and it will be with something terrible and you'll just fall back to where you started.

MIXING IT UP - I will admit, I do find it hard to stick with my diet. I have found that a treat every now and then isn't a terrible thing. I'm addicted to ice cream and pizza and those are the things I've had the hardest time giving up. But there are healthy alternatives out there. It's just something you have to look for. I've found that the pizza chain Papa Murphy's here has a really good veggie pizza on thin (wafer thin) crust that's not too hard on my diet if I only eat 2 pieces. But there are millions of companies that realize that people are trying to get healthy and are adding products accordingly. So my advice would be to do some research at the market or online and find places your can go in your area or foods at the market that you can buy. Plus I love looking up recipes and there's so many Websites and books that have low-fat/low-cal recipes. You just gotta search for it.

DRINKS - I am in love with the little packets that you add to your bottle of water. It helps me get in all my water for the day without having to deal with the lack of variety and flavor. My personal favorite is the Crystal Light Peach Green Tea. I was a major diet soda addict for a very long time, but I've actually learned that the artificial sweeteners in it can hinder your weight loss. So I've learned my lesson on that. Plus things like low/nonfat milk and fresh fruit juices work really well for me in the morning. The juice calms my sweet cravings too.

Hope that helps :happy:


-Gillian

aymetcalf

Welcome! :flowerforyou: