I'm new- and I need help!

jessmew

Hi there! I'm Jess. I'm 20 years old.
I just signed up a couple days ago, and went out shopping for some health(ier) food. I have been a chronic junk food eater for my entire life, so this is really hard for me! I have been eating almost nothing but total crap my entire life,(and a lot of it, I've always eaten huuuge portions) so I literally have no idea where to start when it comes to eating healthier so I can lose weight.
I looked around this board a little before I went shopping and picked up a few tips. So far I've got a few things to last me the week, but I know I'm going to need some variety soon.

I've got some greek yogurt, but I don't really know what to do with it. (I don't really like it plain.)
I've got some of the healthy choice microwavable lunches. They're delicious, so I'm kind of wondering if they're actually healthy?
I've got some whole wheat ritz crackers and weight watchers cream cheese, for a little snack I've been eating 5 crackers with a little cream cheese on them.
Other than that I've got smart start cereal, some grapes, granola, bananas, and carrots for snacks...all pretty basic stuff.
Other than that I've been making sure to keep the portions small!

so basically my question is, what else should I buy? what has worked for you guys?

sunshyne_chica

Hi, my name is Tasha and I'm also new at this. I love food in general and I need to lose weight so that's why I'm here. I am planning on buying healthier food when I go shopping this Friday. I love fruits and veggies so I don't think that will be a problem for me. The problem is making meals that are healthy. I could use some help also. I like plain yogurt but if you put strawberries or some other fruit you like in it then I think it would be better. Maybe we can help each other in this weight loss battle. Good luck to you.

jessmew

Good luck to you too!

Help us out please!

Thriceshy

Steamed veggies are doing great things for me--I make sure that at least half my plate is taken up by steamed broccoli, grean beans, spinach, mixed veggies, etc. Sometimes I'll have three different kinds of veggies with one meal, plus a salad. I eat those first, then move on to any meat or pasta on my plate. Plus, I am not just watching portions, I am weighing portions, so that I know exactly how much of what and how many calories/carbs (I watch carbs because I am diabetic, so I have to keep within certain limits). I recommend icewater before every meal, and buying any treats in small, one serving portions. Buy a cookbook with lowfat, healthy recipes and stick to the recipes. Keep track of everything you eat--no fudging, no forgetting. If you decide to sprinkle cheese on top of something, measure that cheese out in a measuring spoon and then record it in your food diary. If you tend to really like chocolate, I recommend replacing one meal a day with a big (and they are BIG) Builder's Bar or a Slimfast Chocolate Royale shake. Also, Jello makes really low cal, tasty chocolate puddings, and two of those are enough to fill you up and satisfy you. Three will give you major diarrhea because of the sugar alcohols :-)

Experiment, explore, make this a new life. Start by switching out usual foods for healthier--like low calorie, low carb bread (I used Sara Lee Delightful Whole Grain), low fat/olive oil mayo, light hotdogs instead of full fat, etc. Increase your veggie and fruit intake. Make sure you're getting enough water. Cut out sugary drinks (including fruit juices, which are only marginally better than sodas) and replace them with water. Take a multivitamin.

You can do this. Go out on the web and really soak up information. Watch out for the "fad" sites that tell you to eat only one or two kinds of foods or to cut out ALL of something (even for a few weeks). It's about moderation, and if you like big portions, heap on the veggies before you move onto the main course, which will give you a big meal without a big caloric hit.

Good luck!

Kris


Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Weight Loss Tools

jessmew

thanks! + bump

BettyMargaret

Salads are very good just be careful what you put on them because thats where all the calories are! (dressings) I like rice wine vinegar, but be careful of the sodium. Good luck, ask questions and add lots of friends! You CAN do this!

TracyJaneLee

I'm also very new to this whole dieting & actually not lying to myself lark What i have been trying to do is not deny what i really want to eat, but in moderation now really. I have started having two handfuls of cereal in the morning (although im not a cereal fan usually), fruit for snacking on. Weightwatchers yoghurts for snacks etc I have a roll with whatever i fancy but half the portion i used to have a now add loads of salad. For dinner i am having whatever meat etc i fancy - tonight was lamb chops, but instead of potatoes etc i am having a mixed salad. I think denying myself what i want to eat, will be my downfall so have worked out a weekly meal plan of what i will eat. I have refused to buy my usual family pack of crisps and now buy 1 tin of pringles which i will only let myself eat 5 a day. I have switched from huge bars of chocolate to buying a small bournville chocolate bar and cutting it into individual cubes. 1 cube kills any craving for chocolate i might have.

katie_rn

I really like how much support there is for new members on this site - I've only been here 2 weeks and all the forums and posts have really been helpful, so you can look forward to lots of encouragement and new ideas!!
Portion control is probably the hardest part, and I love to eat good food and try new things. I'm looking for some low carb snacks since I tend to stuggle to stay under on carbs each day.
If you are trying Greek yogurt, you'll quickly find a brand you like better than the others - for me, Chobani flavored yogurt in individual serving sizes was my favorite. Watch with granola, it can be very high in calories and fat for the small portion depending on what kind you get.
** Thriceshy ** great suggestions! I have been debating getting a food scale for small things that aren't pre-portioned, any suggestions? The slimfast chocolate royale are good, and target has a dark chocolate equivalent that I even like the flavor of more and it has 10 less calories per can.
Good luck!!!

Troll

Hi there! I'm Jess. I'm 20 years old.
I just signed up a couple days ago, and went out shopping for some health(ier) food. I have been a chronic junk food eater for my entire life, so this is really hard for me! I have been eating almost nothing but total crap my entire life,(and a lot of it, I've always eaten huuuge portions) so I literally have no idea where to start when it comes to eating healthier so I can lose weight.
I looked around this board a little before I went shopping and picked up a few tips. So far I've got a few things to last me the week, but I know I'm going to need some variety soon.

I've got some greek yogurt, but I don't really know what to do with it. (I don't really like it plain.)
I've got some of the healthy choice microwavable lunches. They're delicious, so I'm kind of wondering if they're actually healthy?
I've got some whole wheat ritz crackers and weight watchers cream cheese, for a little snack I've been eating 5 crackers with a little cream cheese on them.
Other than that I've got smart start cereal, some grapes, granola, bananas, and carrots for snacks...all pretty basic stuff.
Other than that I've been making sure to keep the portions small!

so basically my question is, what else should I buy? what has worked for you guys?

Good for you for making the first steps!
Greek yogurt is great, if you like fruit add some berries. The plain is really good with low sodium hot sauce on sandwiches, mixed into pasta sauces, etc (if you don't like it straight up, hide it in sauces and smoothies)
Anything frozen can be a sodium nightmare. You don't need more than 1500 mg of it a day, so consider that if you eat them often. Most are around 500-600 mg per serving, almost half of the whole day!
I really suggest Kashi cereals (watch the sugar on a few, the rule of thumb is if it has more than 10g per serving, it's candy.)
Some of my favorite "junk foods" are protein bars (pure protein and elite gourmet are the best. again, more than 9-10 g sugar and you're eating a glorified snickers bar) seriously, they fill you up and taste like candy.
I like hummus and smoked (low sodium) almonds, or even the flavored ones if i really want a treat. The habanero BBQ blue diamond almonds keep me out of potato chips.
I don't know how you feel about vegetarian food, but MorningStar Farms has hot dogs and chicken nuggest that aren't as bad as the real thing (keep serving sizes in mind and don't eat them every day, of course). I adore them!

Hope this helps!

kimark1

I am still a carboholic and I can't imagine life without them so I have switched from regular potato chips to baked and other items like Popcorn Indiana's Buffalo Chips or Sensible Portions Straws with Sea Salt. Many of the Sensible Portion products have a large serving with not as many calories or fat. I think with the straws you can about 38 of them for 120 calories. I also enjoy Kashi granola bars. For desserts I like Skinny Cows and Blue Bunny Fudge Bars. I also like bagel thins for breakfast with some lite cream cheese. I have been told that it is not good to consume as many processed foods as I do, but I just don't see that the lifestyle that I have now that I could convert to only fruits and veggies as my snacks. I do suggest that you weigh and measure your food. What you think is 1/2 cup is probably more like 1 to 1 1/2 cups. Good luck on your journey. There is tons of advice on here. You have to just pick through it all and figure out what works best for you.

ceschwartz

Learn to make a couple basic stir-frys. Quick, inexpensive and it helps get the veggies in. Beware buying tons of processed food. They are full of sodium and hidden chemicals. A little is fine, but learning to cook a few things from semi-scratch will really help. My diary's open, feel free to look for a few things that sound good to you. (I am no saint. I love junk food too.) Good luck to you.

capricorn144

I have weighed and measured portions so I know sizes of things. I have reduced portions of real food, good food.
I had steak for supper tonight with a portion of grilled veggies. The thing is the portions...the steak was 4oz. just a piece cut off my husband's steak.

I had a tossed salad with it. I used a few sprays of olive oil and some wine vinegar and spices.

You have to eat well but small.

Plan snacks so you feel like you are not deprived. I like fat free sour cream and those soy crisp crackers Like Glenny BBQ flavor or even Quaker air baked snacks like Tortillaz ...so many options.

Frozen blueberries and yogurt or frappes with frozen containers of fat free vanilla yogurt and Almond Breeze chocolate milk ...
check out the recipes section. :O)
Prep a bunch of food for salads, veggies and chicken or ground turkey and have ready to eat meals. :happy:

good luck guys!

You can do it!

kyledc2000

If you are unsure how to make healthy meals, there are plenty of really good tasting fried meals that you can make that still taste great when you bake them instead. Baking food is 100x cleaner and healthier since there are no greases or oils involved. My family had a weight-watchers recipe of baked coconut shrimp and chicken tonight and it was amazing! You bake it with panko breadcrumbs so it is crunchy and it is really good and healthy. Here's the link below:

http://www.weightwatchers.com/food/rcp/index.aspx?recipeid=93701

Weight watcher's website has plenty of good recipes for dinner which use regular foods, not weight watchers brand stuff so you can buy the ingredients yourself and make it like any other meal.


Another word of advice when trying to eat healthy and lose weight: Our body is made to consume food for energy, not for entertainment. As much as we all want food to taste good, the fact is that there are hundreds of different foods that are really healthy, but don't taste good. As blunt as it is, some of us have to "suck it up" and eat healthy, which of course will sacrifice taste at sometimes. A lot of people like spinach, but I particularly don't enjoy it that much, but regardless it is one of the healthiest green vegetables that you can eat. Almost everyday I have some, usually sauteing it in alittle bit of olive oil and garlic which is still very healthy for you. Either eating it like that alone or with something else. Another recommendation you can try that I eat a lot of, is an eggwhite omelette with some low-fat cheese and a bit of spinach in it- it has lots of flavor, so you don't even realize it's only eggwhite!

This is my first post here, as I am relatively new too. Hope this helps a bit!

mom23nuts

50% 25% 25%

50% of your plate is green leafy low starch salady type things
25% protein the size and thickness of your palm no fingers
25% other veg or a small treat but it has to fit in that 25% not piling up or flopping off

that is a good start

greek yogurt with berries and ground flax seed or slivered almonds and unsweetened cocoa powder
almonds walnuts, brazil nuts, berries steamed green beans with a spritz of spray butter or italian dressing avacado slices smooshed on a low carb wrap with spinach turkey and cheese these are all my go to need a healthy quick fix things

Thriceshy

** Thriceshy ** great suggestions! I have been debating getting a food scale for small things that aren't pre-portioned, any suggestions? The slimfast chocolate royale are good, and target has a dark chocolate equivalent that I even like the flavor of more and it has 10 less calories per can.
Good luck!!!

We got this scale, and we're really happy with it--it does grams or ounces, and it seems quite accurate. It's easy to use, looks nice on the counter, though the bowl that comes with it isn't particularly high quality. Since you can use any bowl with it, I didn't think that was much of a problem.

Oh, yeah--the scale! http://www.amazon.com/iFits-Digital-Kitchen-Scale-EK3450/dp/B003BKT3L8

We use it for everything from meat portions to weighing my little red potatoes, and it really does make keeping track and keeping ON track so much easier!

Kris

onerom4

I have been using this website since April 14 and have lost 20 lbs. I am also seeing a nutritionist, who advised me to consume 80 grams of protein a day (remember 80 grams was for my weight etc.). She said every time you eat, to incorporate protein, which is not just meat. There is protein in nuts, cottage cheese, yogurt, and protein bars. Just read the labels and try to watch the sodium and sugars too. She also advised me not to eat anything that has sugar or a derivitive of sugar, if it is one of the first five ingredients listed. One of my favorite snacks is a rice cake with peanut butter on it! Sometimes I even slice a banana and put on top of the pb. Very satisfying!! Good Luck!

jessmew

wow, everyone here is so helpful and motivating, it's awesome, thanks so much. Lots and lots of good advice and things to add to my next shopping list.
Another question, I've seen a few people mention slim fast. I tried that stuff once a long time ago and actually thought it was pretty delicious, haha...so is the consensus that it's good stuff, not just a fad thingy that doesn't work?
I'm a little overwhelmed by all the information I've read on here today. I hope I can get used to all these rules!

kyledc2000

I would stay away from it as much as possible, but if you enjoy the taste, use it as a last resort. For when you don't have time to make a meal such as lunch for example one day, you can take one as a meal replacement. I wouldn't get in the habit of doing it every day though.

Thriceshy

wow, everyone here is so helpful and motivating, it's awesome, thanks so much. Lots and lots of good advice and things to add to my next shopping list.
Another question, I've seen a few people mention slim fast. I tried that stuff once a long time ago and actually thought it was pretty delicious, haha...so is the consensus that it's good stuff, not just a fad thingy that doesn't work?
I'm a little overwhelmed by all the information I've read on here today. I hope I can get used to all these rules!

I don't rely upon it, but it's a great alternative for me when I'm craving something filling and chocolate-y. It doesn't spike my blood sugar, and I do like the taste :-)

Kris

myfarm4me2

I have just started too. I have been eating greek yogurt, Chobani brand, They have several different flavors. I like to cut up apples and dip the apple slices in the yogurt. Yummy!. I have been supplementing meals with Adkins shakes and protein bars. They have carb control which is awesome. I eat lots of fruits veggies and almonds as snacks. I have try to stay away from carbs as much as possible. I try to have protein with every meal and snack. I have lost 5 lbs in 4 weeks. I go to the gym 1-2x a week, not as much as I like but its all I can get in. Using myfitnesspal really helps me keep track of my calories! I like to watch the progress I make. It helps to keep me motivated. Good Luck!

jessmew

does anyone have any good suggestions of home workouts?
It would be awsome if anyone had suggestions of some kind of work out I could watch online, maybe on youtube or something, and do in my home daily?

if not, how much walking or running do I need to do for it to really make a difference? I'm on my feet all day, I hardly ever sit down, but I don't feel like that's enough.

joeljohn

Jess if your interested in jogging/running you should try 'Couch to 5K' its a great running program iam following...

http://www.fromcouchto5k.com/articles/training/the-couch-to-5k-training-plan/

here is a podcast with music that will instruct you through the intervals while you run...

http://www.djsteveboy.com/intervals.html

I am also new... just started yesterday...

Good luck!!!

Troll

Truthfully, Insanity and P90X changed me whole outlook on being healthy. And as for walking/running, i hate to say- i have three large dogs that i run with daily for about 10 miles...and it never made a difference in my weight or fat loss. Walking and running has to be more of a hobby than a fitness choice, because you have to log in the miles like crazy for it to lead to serious weight loss

murphysraven

does anyone have any good suggestions of home workouts?
It would be awsome if anyone had suggestions of some kind of work out I could watch online, maybe on youtube or something, and do in my home daily?

if not, how much walking or running do I need to do for it to really make a difference? I'm on my feet all day, I hardly ever sit down, but I don't feel like that's enough.

My suggestion is find something that you find fun to do to keep you motivated. Even if it's something like playing your favorite music and dancing in your living room for 30 min. I love bellydancing and some yoga, I've also started running using the couch to 5k program. I also do a little weight lifting at home using a program involving a sledgehammer (I know it sounds weird, but I hate having a ton of equipment around!) Here is the site explaining the sledgehammer. http://www.shovelglove.com/

Just make sure to be careful and listen to your body!

fionat29

Any exercise that is over what you normally do will help.
Anything that gets your heart rate up and makes you sweat.
Even playing on a games console, if you get hot and sweaty enough will do the job.
There are also plenty of DVDs on the market, if you look at the 30 Day shred thread (try saying that fast! Lol) there are loads of advice.
Good luck, keep going!

iamMaLisa

Hungry Girl is a great website, for taking high fat food and making adjustments to make them low calorie and better for you.
I get daily emails from them.
http://www.hungrygirl.com/

freebird240

Hello,

Well here goes my eight hundred millionth time trying to lose weight again. I seem to motivate my self for a while and then just lose it. Or a friend trys to motivate me and then they disappear or they been have been at their goal already....sdo not like we are doing it together... I don't know... would be nice to have a work out buddy or some motivational helps and walk through at tough moments. So if anyone need a support buddy let me know????


Justina

reviens

Hello! I am new as well, my sister has been on for over a month and I finally looked into it.

With the greek yogurt...a very helpful simple tip is add one splenda packet! It makes it have a sweeter flavor so it isnt so bland and mixing it with fruit is a great idea as well!

lilRicki

make sure you learn how to read labels...what's 'high' and what isn't bad. Lots of fruits and veggies, minimize the pre-packaged stuff...buy the good bread not the cheap bread. If you're anything like me I hate to drink my calories, so I only keep water and green tea in the house. Also if you have the munchies, buy mini crisps or pita chips, and count them out...add some humus and tada you have a great snack...I personally love kashi honey flax crackers and almond butter when I get home from the gym...it fills me up and repairs my damage lol. As for online workouts, I don't know much about them, but if you walk, and do some squats/pushups/jumping jacks/etc you'll be fine. Go to bodybuilding.com (don't be afraid of the title, they have lots of beginner work outs too) or Women's Health is my other favorite, there's tons of work outs there too. Trust me, this takes practice...you might have to learn how to cook a little, but there's lots of recipes on here and on Hungrygirl.com. You'll do awesome

jessmew

Jess if your interested in jogging/running you should try 'Couch to 5K' its a great running program iam following...

http://www.fromcouchto5k.com/articles/training/the-couch-to-5k-training-plan/

here is a podcast with music that will instruct you through the intervals while you run...

http://www.djsteveboy.com/intervals.html

I am also new... just started yesterday...

Good luck!!!

ooohh! this is neat. I'm going to try this. thanks!

joeljohn

^^^ glad you like....