maybe too much to ask. Please help...

proudmommy1003

Hi I have a friend that weigh close to 300 lbs. She needs to lose weigh asap because she has troubles in both her knees and is getting hard for her to walk.

Does anyone would like to share a meal plan for her or any special diet? Unfortunately I don't have any advice for her on what to eat or what not. Her doctor is not helpful either he only told her avoid, sugar, fatty food and that was it.

She can't exercise much because she has troubles walking. So any advice for her would be very appreciated.

Clemsonmom

I have hurt my knee and not able to exercise but I have lost 20 pounds since September 10. The best advice my nutritionist gave me was to stay at 1600 calories a day and to measure, weigh and count everything that you eat. Too much of a good thing could still mean your calories are too high.
I have found recipes for Philly cheese steak, pizza, chilli beans and anything else that I have wanted. My key is that I always have good food waiting at home to eat. If I can be of any help, please add me as a friend or message me.

FitFabFlirty92

I would suggest lean protein, like grilled chicken or lean beef, and lots of fruits and vegetables if your friend is trying to eat healthier. But for weight loss, it's not so much a question of what you eat, but more a question of how much. She needs to figure out a healthy calorie goal for herself and consistently eat at that number. If she can do that, the weight should (hopefully) start to come off. Has she thought about joining MFP or a site similar to it? Weight loss sites like this one give so much more information than any one person could give you on this thread, and she would have a place to track her food.

mjrkearney

Yeah, that's the kind of advice that normally makes me want to kick a person. My doctor did the same thing but handed me over to a nutritionist afterwards. Try to get your friend to look more closely at what they eat. One plate of food should be more than enough for a meal with that plate being 1/2 brightly colored veggies and half other main food groups such as a lean meat, whole grain, dairy, whatever. They should try to have at least 3 food groups with every meal and always have one of those be a fruit or veggie.

If they're just starting out, there are a lot of simple swaps like 97% lean ground beef instead of 80%, ground turkey breast, romaine instead of iceberg lettuce, etc. Reading the nutritional information on something doesn't do a whole lot of you don't process it. Random "fatty" foods to avoid that I know I miss like hell: alfredo sauce, most sausages like brats, pepperoni, and hot dogs, chocolate covered cookies (or anything chocolate covered, really), ice cream, etc. Random "sugary" foods to be wary of: most things you drink, sweetened cereals, most granola or snack bars, etc. Random "salty" foods that will screw with your body and weight loss: pretty much the entire snack aisle, frozen entree's aisle, canned soup aisle, etc.

As for exercise, light to medium hand weights around the house, short walks around the block, just anything that involves more movement. As things progress with your friend's fitness level, they should obviously be able to do more.

Final point: Beware the salad dressing. IT LIES.

gmallan

Your friend should probably start with making small changes to cut back the amount of calories she is eating. Get her to start by logging everythign she eats for a week or two just to see how high her calories are. Work out what her TDEE is and educate her on how many calories a day she should be eating to maintain and lose weight. After this she could try making a change or two every week. For example:

1. Replacing sugary high calorie drinks with no calorie drinks like water, herbal tea, diet soda.
2. Drinking 8 glasses of water a day
3. Cutting out fried foods/cutting the amount of fried foods she eats in half and adding a healthy side
4. Eating a healthy breakfast
5. Eating 6 serves of fruit and veg a day
6. Going for a short walk every day and getting longer each week
7. Eating a serving of protein with every meal
8. Eating a salad or steamed vegetable with each lunch and dinner
9. Investigate low calorie options of her favourite meals and replace meals with these
10. No eating out/only eating out one or two times a week

Small goals like this will help her to make more sustainable changes and not be too drastic to begin with. Without actually providing a meal plan start cutting out sources of that are calorie dense with very little nutritional value and replace them with low calorie foods that she can eat more of to help her feel full. Work out what she can't live without and include this in moderation.

More veggies, salad, some fruit, nuts and seeds, whole grains, lean protein.

Limit fried foods, cakes, sweets, refined sugar, bad fats

Remember she has to want to make the change, that's the key

coolraul07

I would suggest lean protein, like grilled chicken or lean beef, and lots of fruits and vegetables if your friend is trying to eat healthier. But for weight loss, it's not so much a question of what you eat, but more a question of how much. She needs to figure out a healthy calorie goal for herself and consistently eat at that number. If she can do that, the weight should (hopefully) start to come off. Has she thought about joining MFP or a site similar to it? Weight loss sites like this one give so much more information than any one person could give you on this thread, and she would have a place to track her food.

*this* plus there are simple upper body exercises that can be done (dumbells, etc.) I was in Sears last night treadmill shopping and happened to see a "hand bike" (think pedals that sit on a table and you use your hands to cycle) for less than $30.

proudmommy1003

I would suggest lean protein, like grilled chicken or lean beef, and lots of fruits and vegetables if your friend is trying to eat healthier. But for weight loss, it's not so much a question of what you eat, but more a question of how much. She needs to figure out a healthy calorie goal for herself and consistently eat at that number. If she can do that, the weight should (hopefully) start to come off. Has she thought about joining MFP or a site similar to it? Weight loss sites like this one give so much more information than any one person could give you on this thread, and she would have a place to track her food.

Thanks

Unfortunately that is not possible. She doesnt have access to the internet

proudmommy1003

I would suggest lean protein, like grilled chicken or lean beef, and lots of fruits and vegetables if your friend is trying to eat healthier. But for weight loss, it's not so much a question of what you eat, but more a question of how much. She needs to figure out a healthy calorie goal for herself and consistently eat at that number. If she can do that, the weight should (hopefully) start to come off. Has she thought about joining MFP or a site similar to it? Weight loss sites like this one give so much more information than any one person could give you on this thread, and she would have a place to track her food.

*this* plus there are simple upper body exercises that can be done (dumbells, etc.) I was in Sears last night treadmill shopping and happened to see a "hand bike" (think pedals that sit on a table and you use your hands to cycle) for less than $30.

Thanks. Something like that would be very helpful. I will research online about it

3foldchord

Can she do water walking? Walking in the pool?

She may not have Internet, but she can manually track food nutrients. Paper and pen is how I used to do it.

RockstarPunch

check out the fit and fab group on here, theyre doing a clean food challenge check it out

huge2fan2

Tell your friend to try water exercises and to begin tracking everything that she eats. She should probably meet with a dietician/nutritionist to come up with a healthy eating plan. Continue to encourage her and when she starts seeing results and feeling better she will be well on her way to her desired results. She is blessed to have a friend who cares so much about her well being! Good luck!

MeesesCheekie

Hey... for someone in her situation I would really recommend weight watchers. It helped my aunt lose 140 pounds in 2 years. It was really an amazing change and I think their program requires relatively little exercise. It also helped my mom go from a size 16 to a size 6 over the course of a couple of years with no change in exercise. While I have never tried it, i think it provides the structure and support a lot of people need

sjmichaels1

Refer your friend to Dr. Joel Fuhrman's book Eat to Live. The food plan is very simple and can be found on pg. 216 of his book. There is a great deal of good, recent nutrition information in the book. It is best to read it from beginning to end. The rationale for his recommendattions is backed up by solid science. I've lost 25 pounds in 5 months - a slow, but steady weight loss. You can increase the speed at which the weight comes off by following his vegan plan. I chose to lose more slowly, and I incorporated animal protein and wheat flour into my food choices. Best wishes for successful weight control for your friend.

jheye

I suggest she try a low carb approach- it's easy and will help her lose some weight quickly while she Figures out a way to track her food intake, exercise, etc. There are several low carb diets to choose from ( Atkins, south beach, protein power, etc) but my husband and I have had great success with the following simple rules.
Meat, poultry, fish, eggs, bacon, sausage- enjoy, just don't prepare breaded or fried dishes ( no fried chicken or fried shrimp)
Vegetables- as much as you want; you can have them with butter or salad dressing, just no seet sauces ( like honey glazed)
Salad- eat up; use as much regular ( not low fat) dressing as you like as long as it isn't a sweet dressing, like honey bacon
Avoid bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, etc.- it will be hard at first, but after a short time she won't miss these; avoiding them entirely will help get her losing weight quickly, and she can slowly introduce these later
Beans and fruit- both have carbs but are okay in moderation ( 2 bites a meal)
Cheese, milk- most people do fine with these, but some are better off limiting them; avoid fruit yogurts
Drink plenty of water- unsweetened tea is fine, but avoid soft drinks, beer, wine, etc. I suggest avoiding diet sodas as well- I think they trigger hunger even if they don't have a lot of calories.
If she cuts carbs abruptly she will be tired for 2-4 days, then once she's adjusted will probably feel very energized. A more gradual reduction in carbs will work also, just not as quickly.
I know lots of MFP users don't like low carb, but it has worked well for us and been very easy to follow. also, both of us have good reports on triglycerides, cholesterol, etc.
Good luck to you friend- hope this helps.
Even a little exercise ( walking shot distances) will help.

mareeee1234

Maybe order a Clean Eating diet plan for her to follow. She would need support ect whilst following them, considering it would be a big change for her

Here are two Australian ones I know of that you can order

http://sophieguidolin.com.au/clean-eating-diet-plan/

http://fitspo.com.au/

djc315

How do your plan your meals? When you are planning your grocery shopping, give her a similar list. She can alter it to what she likes (say you want turkey but she prefers chicken). Maybe you can help plan meals with her, too. Get together once a week and make a meal plan and you both follow it.

What is her downfall foods? Don't eliminate them completely, it will just make it miserable, but instead, maybe she can plan to have a certain craving food the first of every month and that's it. Is she heavy because of her diet or another reason?

Another thing she can do, although I wouldn't do it forever, is something like nutrisystem or JennyCraig. If she can lose even 20 pounds it will be easier on her to do things. But maybe if she starts something like that it would be motivating to her to continue on with something else and more likely/easy to continue for the rest of her life. Or if she doesn't want to order foods, she can do lean cuisines and the likes. But like I said, I wouldn't do any of those things for every meal forever, everyone needs to learn to eat normal. I don't see an issue with using it as a stepping stool.

And walking does help. I have a dislocating knee and I started walking just 10 minutes a day, it's doable. Even if she goes down to a local school and walk the track once to start, slowly building it up and adding more laps. Maybe you can go with her, too, it would probably be nice to have someone telling them they CAN do it and you believe in her.

proudmommy1003

Thank you all for your help. I already read to her all your recommendatiosn and we're working on a meal plan.

Thanks again I really appreciate it.

nxd10

I have hurt my knee and not able to exercise but I have lost 20 pounds since September 10. The best advice my nutritionist gave me was to stay at 1600 calories a day and to measure, weigh and count everything that you eat. Too much of a good thing could still mean your calories are too high.
I have found recipes for Philly cheese steak, pizza, chilli beans and anything else that I have wanted. My key is that I always have good food waiting at home to eat. If I can be of any help, please add me as a friend or message me.

Exercise in the water is much easier on your body than other types. Swimming can be tough on knees because of the flex, but walking in the pool or aquacise in the pool is great because you are buoyant.

deannakittygirl

Can she do water walking? Walking in the pool?

She may not have Internet, but she can manually track food nutrients. Paper and pen is how I used to do it.

I was going to suggest swimming too but water walking is great too! also they have great great calories counter books. if she is serious she can do it. tell her step away from the fast food if she eats it and cook at home.