Just Lost!

swest87

Hello Everyone!

My name is Sara and I have been with Fitness Pal for almost 3 years, but in those 3 years. I have been on and off Fitness Pal. Currently I am my heaviest a 270Ibs, and only stand at 5'6". My weight has never held me back from anything, Besides sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day. I try to get up and move around on the weekend or after work, but lately I just feel lost.

I have a gym membership, but never know what to do when I go there. I usually do a bit of the treadmill or elliptical and then some weights, but i always only go for about a week. Its hard to work out when you have no plan, and I don't even know how to start one. When I don't go to the gym I try to go for walks after dinner when I get home, and I go for about 2 mile walk. That just not enough for me.

I know my biggest issue is eating, I eat to much and to much of the wrong items. I have gotten in the habit of eating breakfast, I just have to figure out new options. Lunch is annoying, because I get tired of sandwiches and then I turn to Panera or Subway, and they are not too bad, but they get old fast. I can say that I haven't had fast food in two weeks. YAY me! Also haven't had any caffeine in about 2 months. This week I have had no pop. So I am making small steps, which is the best way to get going.

One of my bigger issues, is I work at my parents bars on the weekend, which is located in Wisconsin. So I drive up there and stay with my mom, until our summer place is open, then I stay there. All that is up their is bar food, unless we go grocery shopping, which is more plausible in the summer compared to the winter. I know saying that there is only bar food is an excuse, but town is a 11 miles way and my shift can go from 8 to 12 hours a day.

I guess I just don't know where to go from here. I have some of the motivation, but not as much as I like. I don't know if I should focus on my intake of food more, or my exercise more. Should I just focus on both. I feel like I have no idea what I am doing anymore!

Any help or suggestions would be wonderful!

wilsoje74

Focus on food intake. Log everything on here, even bar food. Stop when you reach your daily calories, and you should lose. You can lose even eating bar food, but you will not feel as satisfied and it won't be healthy. Try to plan buy bringing fruit, veggies, salad ingredients, lean meats.

norcalskater

You can lose a majority of that weight without even exercising. But if you want to eat more exercise will buy you a couple hundred calories. If you strictly use your food diary and eat with the correct caloric deficit the weight will melt off. The only way it will work is if you do it everyday and you log EVERYTHING. Even a ketchup packet, log it! Sometimes it helps to plan out your meals in the diary the day before. Add things that you want to eat and take away foods that are going to make you go over you limit. Set your fitness profile to sedentary and tell it you want to lose 1 lb a week. Stick to that : )

bpotts44

I would start by logging your food and developing a workout program.

blondageh

Food intake for sure!! Log everything!

leooftheyear

Focus on food intake. Log everything on here, even bar food. Stop when you reach your daily calories, and you should lose. You can lose even eating bar food, but you will not feel as satisfied and it won't be healthy. Try to plan buy bringing fruit, veggies, salad ingredients, lean meats.

^^this...also if your gu m offers any type of classes that might be a good place for you to start.

ShaunaN5

Definitely log, log, log. EVERYTHING. That has what has helped me tremendously this past week!

jonesin_am

As far as the gym...I recommend The New Rules of Lifting for Women or Stronglifts 5X5 lifting programs. Both are very good. I started with NROLFW and it helped with the exercises and knowing how to do what. I have moved onto the Stronglifts programs and love its ease and the phone app which makes tracking easy. But I also agree with other, you can work out until you're blue in the face and not lose if you're not tracking what you're eating and sticking to it. You don't have to make it complicated. My lunch consists of red peppers/carrots/celery cut up and dipped in guacamole (1 avocado, 3 plum tomatoes, 1 jalapeno, 3 cloves of garlic, juice of 1/2 lime, and cilantro). And a protein source like grilled chicken breast or turkey breast. You could even use lunch meat (I would try to get the one that's least processed...I like McKenzie brand if you have that around you). I eat eggs for breakfast and greek yogurt with Peanut butter and banana for snack. Don't make it complicated. For ease I tend to eat just about the same thing for a couple weeks so I don't have to think about it. I also make a lot of stuff on Sunday so I don't have to figure out how to find the time during the week. You could do this on the day before you leave for the weekend and bring all y our food with you in a cooler.

asciiqwerty

so you probably already know this:

weight loss <> calorie deficit

what you eat is less important than how many calories of it you eat >> for weight loss

what you eat will have an effect on how you feel and how much energy you have and how healthy you are

but you can still work with what you've got

I love been and we eat out at the pub every week or so, I'm not willing to give up on things i like, this is a journey for me not a short term thing so I have made going to the pub work for me

you can do the same

the key is being honest with yourself about what you are consuming
the easiest way to do that is to track it accurately eat it >log it

at a bar it's harder > sure - but it's your folks bar so you may be able to talk to the cooks to find out the actual portion sizes
when in doubt at hte put I go for something like an 8oz steak with salad and chips, i eat the steak and the salad and then I have one or two chips, i would rather drink the ale than eat the chips that's just me

good luck

kjo9692

I understand your struggle. I must say though that for weight loss there isn't "bad food." All you need is to eat at a calorie deficit and you'll lose weight. Doesn't matter what you eat. Get in the habit of logging everything you eat and weigh all solid foods that you eat with a food scale. Don't miss the foods you love to lose weight, all you have to do is eat less of them. First try to focus on getting good at logging everything and then focus on hitting your macronutrient goals (protein, fats and carbs) to have a balanced diet.

If you need some sort of "plan" try looking for workouts that do just that. For example, Jillian Michaels has lots of workout DVDs (I just download that stuff from either youtube with atube catcher or from uTorrent - I'm a pirate har har), and there are a lot of things you can try like the 30 Day Shred, or Ripped in 30, etc. and that gives you some sort of plan. In regards to lifting weights, you can check out Strong Lifts 5x5. There's a group here in MFP called Strong Lifts 5x5 for Women, it has a summary of what you have to do. It may be confusing at first but with each workout you do just come back and you'll learn a bit more everyday.

For now, the most important is focusing on logging your intake, and trust me you can still eat what you usually eat, just make sure is not too much so you still have a reasonable calorie deficit and lose weight. About the pop though, that's good for you because I, for example, avoid drinks so I can save up more calories for things that are more filling than a drink that just goes right through me lol. Good luck OP!

cuinboston2014

Hi! I'm from Wisconsin (Milwaukee) so naturally I get excited to see that you come up here. lol.

In any case, all bars should offer grilled chicken sandwiches which aren't very bad for you at all, once you remove whatever creamy dressing they add on it. They usually come on big buns but feel free to get it sans bun or even eat half the bun. There are ways to get lower calorie bar food - just don't get the deep-fried goodness!

Why don't you pack a cooler befor eyou head up to the weekend? That way you can get fresh fruits/veggies/lean meats slice them up and have them ready to go. If you chop up a few different veggies, portion them out, you at least have some snacks. Same with fruit.

I have no lunch suggestions as I am a lunch failure and 90% of the time rely on a protein bar or Lean Cuisine.

As far as the gym goes - is there a personal trainer that can do a one time consultation and show you around the machines at all?

if it helps you feel better, I've always been active and been going to a gym religiously for the past 5 years. I still get nervous in the weight section sometimes. I find that even if I try one new lift every other week I am making progress in getting more comfortable in that area. It does always help to have a plan, like you mention. But, start simple with things you can/know how to do. For example, tell yourself you will walk/run/elilptical or whatever for 30 minutes and then you will do 3 sets of bicep curls, tricep kickbacks, and a shoulder press or something. Start simple until you start to feel more comfortable. If you go at the same time on the same days you will porbably see the same people there. At first, that intimidated me but now they are part of my comfortable zone.

LVCeltGirl

Log everything, the good, the bad and the ugly.

As to the gym, all gyms I've been to have instruction. Even though they have you sign a liability waiver, they don't want the liability of you hurting yourself on their machines. Take advantage of that, ask for instruction on the machines. It is said here (and I've heard it elsewhere too) that cardio is for your health while weights (strength training) is for how you look. That means for extra calories (so you can eat more), do the cardio (treadmill, elliptical, bicycle) and to tone your body as you lose the weight, strength training is the way to go. Classes are great too. Take advantage of the gym. Don't let the excuses get in your way (since you're paying for the membership and if you're like me, you don't like to pay for something you don't use).

I'm definitely an 80/20 person. I eat healthier and fairly good for me 80% of the time and the other 20% is junk food, ice cream, all those type foods that you need to watch (I don't believe in cutting anything out unless it's for personal reasons or medically recommended usually by a dietician or nutritionist). I've lost close to 50 lbs (I was over 50 lbs lost for a few days after gallbladder removal surgery) by logging what I eat, being aware of my macros (fat, sodium, protein, carbs) as well as calories and drinking my gallon of water daily (for me half my body weight in ounces daily is just under 1 gallon in ounces so I just make the gallon my goal and it just makes sense for me, you could be different). I still drink Coke Zero, tea and sometimes juice but all of that is on top of my water.

You can do this!!!!!!

C3001

What about signing up for a 5k run in the fall and then following a training program? I like Hal Higdon (Google his name and 5k training). This is great motivation to exercise.

As others have said, log EVERYTHING here for food intake. Even the 15 calorie gum. You don't have to go all in at once giving up foods or making tracking calories difficult. Ease into it and after a couple of weeks, you'll likely start getting used to the calorie tracking. It doesn't have to be intimidating. We are all different but I lost weight eating bar food and fast food... I don't feel like crap. I also don't weigh my food. I am very aware of portion sizes and just guess and slightly over estimate on my intake. At any rate, start making 1 healthy choice a day. One step at a time. If we can do it, you can do it. Commit to 1 month, you'll see results.

susannamarie

Start with your food. If you can get your calories under control, you'll start losing weight.

As you start losing weight, it'd be a good idea to incorporate exercises, and healthier food, but imo you should focus on one thing at a time, and the most important thing for both your health and your weight loss is to get your calories under control.

swest87

THANK YOU THANK YOU!! ALL OF YOU HAVE GIVEN ME SUCH GREAT INSIGHT!

Nice2BFitAgain

No time for the gym? - fit in quick 30 minute workouts that you can do at home - body weight exercises. Need help forming a plan? Here is a great website that another successful MFP'er used to help: http://neilarey.com/programs.html - it is free and has A LOT of great workouts for you to pick form. Also great fitness and nutrition help as well.

You can do mostly good eating at the pub - keep your food choices to mostly protein and veggies - you own the place, can you ask the cooks to throw a salad with grilled chicken together for you? Have a burger with only the bottom bun and eat it with a fork instead of picking it up. Small changes make a difference. You are on the right track cutting the pop.



Whatever you do don't give up! Good luck!!

fireytiger

I feel your pain on the lunches!!! That's been my downfall for so many "diets" in the past, is getting sick to death of feeling like all I ever eat is sandwiches. I've found making extra food from dinner the night before and taking it to lunch works wonders for helping fix the "I hate sandwiches" feeling. Also like others have pointed out, you shouldn't make any specific food off limits if you're making a lifestyle change. I love to hit the drive thru, it's comfortable and convenient for me, and makes me feel "normal". I feel like i'm depriving myself if I ONLY order a salad or some small thing though, so sometimes I just get the dang meal. I get a side salad or fruit cup instead of fries and a drink, and then I tend to get some sort of chicken (chicken strips, nuggets, grilled chicken sandwich, etc) and usually iced tea. It still ends up being healthy enough, but I don't feel like I'm depriving myself of something that I find comfort and convenience in. I've still managed to lose over the course of the last 2 months and don't feel my willpower slipping.

As far as the gym, you probably already know this but you need to make a plan. My gym has an indoor track that I love, so what I do is go in, do a weight lifting regimen (I like the stronglifts 5x5 program, but you can use the machines at first if it makes you feel more comfortable), and then afterwards I do my run/walk on the track. Sometimes I take a dip in the pool afterward for a few laps, sometimes I don't, depending on time and whether I feel like dealing with a swimsuit (ha). Hope this all helps!

ndj1979

did not read responses but here is my suggestion.

get a food scale and weigh most of everything that you can.
log everything that you eat consistently.
get on a workout program that has you lifting heavy with compound movements. Starting Strength, new rules of lifting for woman, and 5x5 are great programs < you already have a gym membership so why not take advantage of the free weight section?
if you want to do cardio, do it; if you do not, then do not...it may be beneficial on off days to increase burns...
eat in a 500 calories per day deficit.
do not restrict any foods, you can eat what you like, just have less of it.
set your macro % in MFP customer setting to 40 protein, 30 carbs, 30 fats...

repeat until you get desired results..

QuietBloom

Shoot, I think we all feel like this from time to time. I used to be a serious gym bunny, and now I walk into a gym and go "ummm....". *scritch scritch*

The hardest part is getting the momentum going. Once you manage that, and begin to look and feel better, it is MUCH easier. You got lots of great advice here, I just wanted to let you know I feel your struggle!

emtjess

I have a big struggle as well, but I have learned that if i log every single item I eat, that I am much more aware and that I lose weight =-D!!!!!!!!!! so log it! log it all =-D

amyx593

You sound like you're off to a great start! Continue starting out slow....

Cut out soda or opt for diet, cut out fried foods, if you don't know how to lift, go to the gym and at least do the elliptical/treadmill and make your goal to go longer each time, log EVERYTHING every single day, say no to dessert, or have just a bite or two.

You CAN do it. You'll be so proud when you start to consistently make better choices.

kmurph_910

I was like you with the gym situation.. I'd get there, go on the elliptical for a bit, wander around and leave. I never really got in a good workout because I didn't have a good routine. One day I ordered a few of Jillian Michaels DVDs online one day and just started trying to do them every day.. they are great because it's circuit training so you get both cardio and strength training, and most of them are done in just 25-30 minutes. It is DEFINITELY a great starting point!

Keep trying, with motivation you'll get there!