Help me get off the merry go round please!

111YoYo111

Good morning, I am new here as MFP is one of the things I am trying to do differently to stop the cycle of insanity.I have probably lost weight 15 times in the last 20 or so years since I quit smoking and first gained.It was 25 lbs back then now it's more like 50.:sad: I am seeing no success at all so far so I am getting very frustrated.:explode: I would love to find some friends for motivation and ideas. My current issue is all the travelling I do for work. How to lose weight while eating out? If you have room for one more friend please add me.

embracethepainfitness

Traveling would be tough on the healthy eating side of things.
Is there a way you can take your lunch with you? If not, when eating out, I try to stick to grilled chicken and salads. But even then, salads can really rack up the calories if you're not careful. Add in all the cheese, dressing, croutons and bacon bits and you've got yourself a whole bunch of calories you don't need.
And don't be ashamed to ask for the menu that lists their calories. Most restaurants will have a master list of all the calories per meal in a binder in the office. I actually asked for the this before because the menu didn't list any calories whatsoever. I wanted to know exactly what I was eating.
Best of luck!

annpatalexa

Good Morning

First off- Way to go Quitting smoking! :flowerforyou:

This is my second time losing weight. I managed to lose 40 pounds, then I started grad school and gained most of it back and now I'm getting back on track. So this is what I found works better for me.

I found that starting small worked best for me. First thing I did was cut out soda and LOTS of sugar from my coffee and switched to water. I still drink coffee with sugar, but I only put 1 maybe 2 sugars in it. And if I have more then 1 cup, anything after the first is 1 sugar.

After you're caffeine headache goes away and you're drinking your water (aim for 8 cups to start), buy an expensive pair of running shoes. I suggest this because I feel guilty if I spend $100+ on a pair of work out shoes and don't use them. My current pair was $90 but I've also bought them at $160. Wake up an hour and half earlier then normal and go for a walk. The cost of this activity is the cost of the running shoes you're paying off in mileage. A good pair of shoes will last you 300-500 miles or nine to fifteen months of constant use. Walking will make them last longer. You can get fancy toys like a FitBit (i love mine) to track your movement and distance, but free aps on smart phones work just as well. RunKeeper will track mileage on your walk and it hooks up to MFP.

Track everything you eat. If it goes into your mouth, it goes on your tracker. When you're traveling make smarter choices. If the hotel has breakfast take advantage of fruit, yogurt, ect. Most hotels I've stayed at didn't care if you took a banana or yogurt for the road.

My Old job had me travel for work. Depending on how long I was gone, I would stop at a grocery store and pick up a few items for snacks throughout the day or bring them with me in my bag if they didn't need to be refrigerated.

Eating Out- I'm 27. My friends pass times include fancy bars and parties. Look for lower calorie menu items. Salad with grilled chicken - dressing on the side is always a good option. Some of the chain restaurants have menu items marked as "healthy choices" and they're actually pretty good! Avoid places like the Cheesecake Factory if you can. We found there was a 1,000 calorie salad there once- and that was a lower calorie item.

OH do your research- If you know you're going out to a specific place, look up the website to see if they have the nutritional information available on the website.

You can lose weight. This is a SLOW process. At best to lose 50 pounds, it'll take between 6 months and a year at 1-2 pounds a week. You don't want to lose more then 2 pounds a week because its harder to maintain in the end.

CKMillson

If you know where you are going in advance check the restaurants websites, lots of them have their menu and nutritional info on their websites. It allows you to take the time to really think about what you are eating.

I take a small cooler with me when I travel because I like to have water with me at all times,I have also discovered not all communities have good water and I hate paying 2-3 dollars for a bottle. Apparently I am a heavy drinker!I now add cut up veggies and fruit, I often drive for many hours at a time and munching on cucumber slices makes me feel better than chips and chocolate.

111YoYo111

Thank you ladies, I wasn't aware that restaurants posted nutritional info, I'll have to look into that.

Greenlola

Hi, I have been frustrated as well with the yoyo factor. I lost almost 60lbs before I got pregnant with my daughter who is soon turning 8. After the delivery I lost some of the pregnancy weight but never got down to where I was prior. So now I'm getting back on the wagon and trying to make this a long term loss and more about lifestyle change.
So what has worked for me so far

1. no late night eating at least 2-3 hours prior to bedtime (most say 8pm I guess if you have a regular 9-5 that might work for you)
2. no carbs at dinner
3. tons of water at least 3 liters per day (you can work yourself up to this one, I have no issues with this one)
4. log everything into MFP the night before for the stuff you know you are going to have, then for any restaurant meals you will know how many calories you have left for the day...... and yes check the websites and menus for the calories on each food, also MFP does have a lot of restaurant meals on their lists.
5. start looking at options of where you can exchange a bad food for a better option (eg. pop/water, cappuccino/black coffee, white pasta/whole grain., lasagna noodles/zucchini etc.

Congrats on the quitting smoking, that is a huge achievement, you can do this.
I'm sending you a friend request as well