Question for People Who Have Lost 30+ Pounds in 6 Months

plaz58

I lost 35 pounds in 6 months starting last August. The Belly Fat Cure Diet by Jorge Cruise worked best for me. I limit carbs to 120 grams/day and no more than 15 grams sugar/day. I am never hungry, and really changed what/how I eat. I read all labels very carefully! Good fats like Almonds and Avocado are OK, good recipes, etc. Check it out it may work for you!

lyttlewon

No added sugar, like find the brand of canned tomatoes with no sugar added not necessarily artificially sweetened things. A minimum of 4 cups of vegetables a day. Three meals and three snacks. Whole grains, no corn and no potatoes. Unlimited lean protein. I did that with no exercise and lost 30 lbs. I added in Couch to 5k and yoga twice a week and have lost an additional 15lbs.

Shannon2714

The water with flavor are those little Crystal Light packs that you put in water bottles... just wanted to clarify. But yeah I know....... ^_^; Vegetables are better than chips. Which vegetables should I be eating? I already eat a lot of tomatoes and cucumbers. Onions go in the food sometimes... what else is there?

Just so you know, those little Crystal Light packets are pretty much nothing but artificial sweeteners. I've given up artificial sweeteners. The trainer I am working with said that REAL/NATURAL is always best. So, if you need something sweet, use a bit of sugar or honey. She recommends Sugar in the Raw.

Also, frozen vegetables are very close if not exactly like fresh. They are flash frozen when picked so the nutrients and things are still there. Frozen is definitely second best to fresh, but much better than canned. We eat frozen veggies all the time. We put frozen berries in smoothies!

lyttlewon

Are frozen vegetables the same as fresh ones? I always avoid them, thinking the nutrition gets removed during the freezing process...

Sort of. Often they are good in nutrition because they are frozen right a way close to the farm and many people buy food that has been trucked for miles and has lost a lot of its nutrients because it is old. I don't buy things imported from South America for this reason. I live in WA state so it has been on a truck for a long time and was likely picked before it was ripe.

FungusTrooper

I've lost 45ish lbs since the end of Feb this year.

Food:
I always eat roughly the same sort of stuff each day.
<=200cal cereal breakfast around 8-9am.
350ish cal lunch around midday, usually a sandwich/wrap with peanut butter, salad veggies and chicken.
500-700cal dinner, usually potatoes or rice, filo pastry veggie pie, fish, chicken, turkey, lean pork, etc. Planned and logged in advance so I know what I'm eating before I eat it, around 5-6pm
100-200cal dessert, low-fat yoghurt, healthy snack bar, bananas, grapes etc around 7-8pm

I track cals, fat, carbs, protein, cholesterol and sodium. Never, ever go over on cals/fats/carbs, make sure to balance sodium with lots of water, and try to go over on my protein by a little bit.

Exercise:
Started off by going for a walk each day. Bought a pedometer to track cals/fat burnt, and tried to do 300-400cals a day. Kept this up for about 3 months, then joined a gym about a month ago, and now burn 500ish cals 3-5 times a week, maybe throwing in the odd walk here and there.

Worked for me so far!

gatecityradio

You can look at my diary. I have mine set up for 1.5 lbs a week and I eat 1710 cals a day.

victoria4321

If you look at my diary before around feb, I lost the first 30lbs in about 6 months and I've logged pretty much everything I put in my mouth for almost a year. You can look at what I ate if you want. On the days I worked out, back then all I was doing was either jogging, going to a spin class, or using the elliptical.

Actually really look before November since I pigged out on all the holidays.

wingednotes

I don't crave sugar, so I can't help you with that one. But chips I have a serious craving for. I especially love to dip.
I've recently replaced chips with special k cracker chips. 27 chips for only 110 calories. And they have fun flavors.
For dip attacks, I've switched to veggies and hummus or salsa.
The calories can still add up quickly, but not as quick as with other chip and dip choices.

AmyB69

Definitely doable! I started changing my habits on January 27th of this year at 172# and just starting to wear a size 14 in pants. I hit my goal just over 2 weeks ago. Today I weigh 126# and wear a size 4 in pants. I exercise 6-7 days every week for at least an hour, drink at least 9 glasses of water a day. I gave up pop 6 years ago. I have a salad everyday, eat lots of chicken, tuna, vegetables, some fruit. I've still had pizza every Friday night, I just don't go nuts. When I want chocolate, I have a little....only a little. I think if you give up every single thing you enjoy, you'd set yourself up for failure. With that being said though, you have to have smaller servings. It's a lifestyle change, you have to be able to do it from now on. I don't go over my 1200 calories, I don't eat back my exercise. Some people do and some don't. You have to do what's right for you.
You can do it!

itsjustdawn

I am trying to give up chips now, and it's hard, but slowly and surely, I am hoping to move to only one kind of chip, or even change them out for some good ones. I eat more fruits, and I wish I would eat more vegetables, but prices are high. I drink water with flavor (10 calories per pack! )) ), and a lot of tea. I am feeling this way of eating changing what I used to eat is being good for me.

A gentle suggestion: You mentioned that you don't eat enough vegetables because of the high prices. I suspect that if you have a look at where your food budget goes you may find that by not buying items like chips or flavoured watered you will be able to afford more vegetables. They are way more important to your well being than any processed product and would have a positive impact on your health. 100gms of chips will cost more than 100gms of most vegetables.

The water with flavor are those little Crystal Light packs that you put in water bottles... just wanted to clarify. But yeah I know....... ^_^; Vegetables are better than chips. Which vegetables should I be eating? I already eat a lot of tomatoes and cucumbers. Onions go in the food sometimes... what else is there?

Make salads with raw spinach and those tomatoes and cucumbers. Broccoli, green beans, squash, zucchini, peppers...

ShifuYaku

I don't crave sugar, so I can't help you with that one. But chips I have a serious craving for. I especially love to dip.
I've recently replaced chips with special k cracker chips. 27 chips for only 110 calories. And they have fun flavors.
For dip attacks, I've switched to veggies and hummus or salsa.
The calories can still add up quickly, but not as quick as with other chip and dip choices.

Love hummus and salsa! Salsa's expensive though... I wish I could make my own! ) I know a good salsa recipe, but not the exact way to do it.... only seen it done by my parents.

Jeyed

You're young, you should have no problem dropping the weight. I'm more than twice your age and lost 30 lbs in 5 months, with one month of that time just maintaining my weight loss.
Log all of your food, eat breakfast every day and stay away from the highly processed foods that you normally eat.
Keep it simple- lean proteins and lots of vegetables. Watch your sodium, along with your sugar intake and you'll be fine.
Utilize the MFP forums, the internet and books to educate yourself about nutrition. You can do this, good luck!

salgalruns

I've lost about 45 lbs since January 1st (so, 6ish months). Started with counting points, but then switched after a few weeks and have been counting calories ever since.

My "typical" day includes 1200 calories (2 lbs a week for me) - a few days are more, but most are less. I have a TON of veggies and fruit, very little red meat. Lots of chicken. Living in Southern California, I drive past fields every day so the produce is awesome. I also work out on most days. I also drink a TON of water - I log my water generally by mid day at about 9-10 glasses, and then generally don't touch that part of the login screen.

Obviously, I lose faster when my workout is better. If I run, I'm burning 850-900 calories daily, and otherwise, it's at least a 600 calorie day. I don't eat those calories.Workouts typically include at least an hour of cardio - I prefer running, but have also mixed it up with elliptical or swimming. I also take Body Pump classes and do resistance training DVDs (Thank you Jillian), but those don't burn as many calories overall - they're for toning and strength. I wear a monitor to see how many calories I ACTUALLY burn (BodyMedia FIT). Pretty amazing.


My calories for a typical day are:
Breakfast - anywhere from 175-250
Lunch - 300-350
Snack - 100-200
Dinner - 400

I tend to have the same things over and over, and I'm just cooking for me, so I know that makes it easier. My "go to" dinner meal includes grilled veggies (zucchini, LOTS of mushrooms, tomatoes, asparagus) with some chicken and topped with parmesean cheese.

Hope this helps - feel free to add me if you'd like!

gogophers

I started the paleolithic diet exactly 1 year ago today. I've lost 114-115 pounds so far. I didn't keep good enough track, but I think I lost my first 70 pounds in about 6 months. I didn't start exercising until I had lost 70 pounds. I slowly started adding in exercise (once per week or so) until I dropped another 20 pounds and counting the plateau at the end of the 20 pounds, that took me about 4 months. The last two months I've increased my exercise to the point where I'm now exercising everyday and I've lost another 25 pounds.

As for why I didn't exercise at the beginning, the number one reason was that I was lazy. However, I've been told that it was probably better to not start exercising until I got down to a manageable weight. I'm not sure I really believe this, but I don't think anyone really knows whether or not that's true yet. I do know for a fact that I lost a significant amount of muscle in those first 90 pounds, and now I wish I was paying more attention to it back then as I now have to build the muscle back up.

mcarter99

Frozen vegetables are totally as healthful as fresh. Sometimes more! Canned tomatoes are actually better than fresh because fresh ones are picked before they're ripe, to allow for transport time, so they never fully ripen like they would on the vine.

I lost 35 lbs. in under 6 months a couple times. In 2010, I did it by walking 10,000 steps a day and eating about 700 calories on average less than I burned (according to Fitbit). In 2005 or so, I did it on Weight Watchers Core program, which you'd have to read about, but it was unlimited produce, lean protein and small amounts of 'treats' and grains. No calorie counting, though.

abbybean11

I lost 40 pounds in 8 months -
Food: 1200 to 1500 calories/day, mostly fresh healthy food (fruits and veggies etc.).
Workout: at least 300 minutes a week of moderate to intense physical activity, including 4 hours of cardio (mostly cycling to and from work, maybe an interval run or elliptical), and 4 sessions of circuit training.

Here and there I had an off day or a weekend trip where I ate a bunch, but 95% of the time I followed what I did above. Feelin good and lost crazy inches!

PS: I don't at my exercise calories. On occasion I will eat a snack if I'm really hungry, but I never eat all of the calories back.

KJs_Mommy

My advice to you is PORTION control. If you eat at least 1,200 healthy calories per day and exercise at least 4 times a week, drink plenty of water you would bee a difference. What I started doing was substituting my breakfast for a home made smoothie, for lunch and dinner i'd have 2 cups of veggies, 4 oz of lean protein (grilled chicken breast, grilled salmon, etc) and a serving of fruit. Water is very important not the Crystal Light. Pure water. I also started doing Insanity Workout now but back then I did the gym only and within 7 months Iost a total of 47lbs.

aprice3320

I have a weakness for sweet, salty and crunchy. One thing that has helped me is Sensible Portions Veggie Chips. They come in different flavors. My favorite is Sweet BBQ potato straws. 38 straws are 130 calories.

Shannon2714

I don't crave sugar, so I can't help you with that one. But chips I have a serious craving for. I especially love to dip.
I've recently replaced chips with special k cracker chips. 27 chips for only 110 calories. And they have fun flavors.
For dip attacks, I've switched to veggies and hummus or salsa.
The calories can still add up quickly, but not as quick as with other chip and dip choices.

Love hummus and salsa! Salsa's expensive though... I wish I could make my own! ) I know a good salsa recipe, but not the exact way to do it.... only seen it done by my parents.

There are websites all over the internet that can give you amazingly delicious and healthy AND simple salsa recipes!!!

yayam28

I"ve lost 52 pounds since the first of the year and I have to say that on Thursday I weighed in at 198.6 making it the first time in 15 years I've been under 200 so it's a huge accomplishment for me. So it's been 5 months and I have to say it's dedication both to accurate calorie counting (I weigh EVERYTHING!! even the milk I put in my coffee) and I try to keep my calories to 1400 a day. I think you can view my food diary, if not let me know and I'll open it up. Basically, I eat what I want and save enough calories for a treat at the end of the day, and I never feel hungry which is a big one for me. My downfall is sweet stuff, so I make sure I get something sweet everyday....my new favorite is the 100 cal pack of white fudge drizzled caramel corn; they are awesome

I'm also dedicated in getting to the gym. I'm a nurse and work shift work, so I don't always get there 5 times a week but that's what I aim for. I do an hour of cardio (elliptical making sure I hit at lest 85% of my max heart rate for most of my workout) on cardio only days and every other day that I"m at the gym I cut my cardio down to 40-45 mins and then do weight training; my exercise diary doesn't show my weight training because I can't figure out how to put it in, but I add a note to my food diary when I do it. When I started doing weight training, I hated it....really really hated it. My start weight was 250.4 and so I felt like a goof at the gym. My biggest obstacle ME. Once I started seeing a difference when I walk past a mirror, I started feeling better at the gym and now I really miss it when I have a busy week and can't get there.

Good luck on your journey!!