Realization

Sierrasmommy

Ok so i have come to a realization... Its not the exercise i have a problem with. Its the food!!!! I exercise to various things, zumba, leslie sansone, treadmill... BUT I am apparently having issues with my food. Believe it or nto, its not the overconsumption either, i think its what Im eating or the fact that Im not eating enough. So I would ask someoen to go peruse through my stuff, btu I havent been tracking it online, i found this diary at halfprice books and have been carrying it along with me in my purse so that I dont miss anything. Being a college student has made it much more difficult. regardless, I am not losing the way i would like to, and i am hoping for some input from thsoe of you who have lost quite a bit. What do you find is the best recipe on the food side of things... where do you allow your calories to go each day? Do you lean towards certain foods/ Do you allow yourself to eat whatever or are you strict and stay with one category, like salads and lean meats or fruits and veggies? Do you eat your exercise calories? Do you work out each day? So as you can see I am trying to figure out the right regimin because what I am doing isnt doing anything for me. I fluctuate each week, i lose 2 then gain it back, then the next week gain more, and the cycle proceeds... Im trying my bext to lose because I hate the way I feel and look, so any help is much appreciated!!!! I am going to go back to recording my intake and exercise on here though, even if I have to transfer it from my diary, so we will see what happens?

laDOLCEvita7

Hello nice to meet you!! Im Stephanie, I have been a member of this site since the end of September, but I am finally getting serious about weight loss since December 1st. I have started a group that will offically start on January 1st. It's called "NO MORE EXCUSES JANUARY, LOSE 10+ LBS" you are more then welcome to join. You can find it under the motivation and support message board. Also, I have been doing the "Flat Belly Diet" and Ive lost about 9 lbs so far this month. It isnt a fad diet really because it never tells you to cut out a certain group of food. And yes you can eat chocolate on it. for more information just go to www.prevention.com

posherspice

Hi Sierrasmommy - it is very personal what works for you, but this is what works for me! recording religiously on this site has really helped me (I'd lost 25lbs before starting here, but hit a plateau: now I'm only 4lbs from my goal). Regular exercise: I ride my bike to and from work every day (30 mins) and do yoga once a week, plus I swim 1 - 1.5 miles twice a week. I also try to walk at lunchtime although as I have a busy job this doesn't happen often. I do generally eat my exercise calories as I think it's important to develop good habits, not just lose weight; and also because I think it keeps your metabolism up. And of course it's rewarding to get out of the pool and know that you can have (more or less) what you want for dinner.

In terms of food, my problem was largely about portion size: I ate a good diet, but just too much of it. So for me it hasn't been about cutting much out (I wasn't a great chocolate, cheese or cookie eater) but about eating better portions and cutting out snacking between meals. So I have not generally felt deprived or miserable. I try and divide my intake roughly 30 / 30 / 40 between breakfast, lunch and dinner; and I don't drink alcohol during the working week.

Good luck - it's easy to feel helpless, but it's all in your hands! go for it and I'm sure you'll be reporting your success here soon.

alantin

I have taken a lot of time to get my eating in order and have lost about 33 lbs in about 6 months. In the beginning it was pretty fast but at about half way it grew harder. I would stay the same for weeks, then go up, stay there, come back down, and stay there again but with no new drops. In the end I just stopped caring about the weight so much and let it be where it wanted to. Now it has come down without me even noticing it so much. All it needed was time!

What I have been doing:

- I started with a big deficit (about 700 - 1000 Kcal) but I decreased it periodically (Now I'm doing about 400 - 500).

- I eat all my exercise calories. I train a LOT so I really need them and plain find it INSANE not to eat them! The real trick was to find out how much they really were without an HRM (and I'm still not sure..). All estimates seem to overshoot out of general principle and I ended up maintaining because of this too. Started loosing again when I got the exercise calories in order.

- Changed my eating habits one thing at a time.
1) Changed to low fat products.
2) Portion control.
3) No candy, unless it's a cheat day.
4) Started taking vitamin supplements.
5) Began eating more often (it was two meals a day without breakfast before..)
6) Started eating more fruits.
7) Started drinking more milk and eating yogurts for calcium.
8) Started adding olive and rapeseed oil to food for good fats
I still need to get more fish oils so I guess I need to start taking omega-3 supplements next..

- Stopped worrying about the scale. Weight is in constant flux anyway so if I don't see a noticeable drop in a month, so what! (Still I weight myself every morning! What a contradiction! :laugh: ) The funny thing is that, this summer I predicted where I would be by Christmas. I'm only about 1 kilogram away from that prediction!

- Take it easy and have cheat days. Actually, what I think of as a cheat day is not worrying about the quality of the calories, i.e. eating whatever I want but still staying within my calorie goal, but I don't sweat it either if I eat too much at a party or something. It is so infrequent that it doesn't mean anything.

- Read tons and tons about nutrition, general training, martial arts, body building, etc..

- I even found some motivational hypnotic self suggestion audio clip for exercise and weight loss and listened to it every evening for a couple of months! :laugh: It was great for relaxation too!


I think that pretty much covers it.. Hope it helps! :flowerforyou: