I need a plan. Can anyone help?

Cocacoladdict

This should be easy right?? Burn off more than you put in. So why is it so hard??

Ok I know I need to do it for me. I know I am more fortunate than some. I am healthy for my weight, I work from home and I am 31 so not old just yet

We have 2 children aged 11 and 6. I own zumba for the wii, davinas power of 3 dvd and rosemary conley dvds. My husband owns a rowing machine (I've never used it) and I have a beagle dog.

I work from home, though as a crafter my work means I spend my worktime sitting down.

My work is the only thing I really have to do while the children are at school and it can take anything between 2 and 4 hours, I spend the rest of the day either playing on the laptop or browsing shops. I eat out at lunchtimes a lot more than I should.

I don't make a lot of money so initially I am hoping to not have to join a gym (that said, the council run one here is £24 a month for off peak use of the gym, classes and pool)

My oldest child walks himself to school now but I still take my daughter. I drive usually, last time I walked it I got half way there and my calves just went rock hard and really heavy and felt painful. It made her very late and I was SO embarrassed. Its 1 mile (1.5km) from home.

Food wise I love pasta and we have 1 Chinese takeaway a week. I am a bit clueless when it comes to cooking and our budget for the 4 of us is £100 per week.
I bought a health grill yesterday though which is big enough for 4 portions of meat so hopefully that might help? There are a couple of things the children aren't keen on (tomatoes in salad and mushrooms mainly) but in the main they will eat whatever I serve up.

So. How would you do this? I don't want to fail this time. Thank you in advance for your suggestions xx

mambagirl

Eat what you can afford,just track it here.

Walk your daughter to school everyday to get that exercise.Its painful now but it will get better.

Maridar

start with a plan for one week and see how it goes. there is a website skinnytaste.com that has good low calorire but yammy recipes to plan all meals. Just stick to it and you will see results, it is never too late or early to change your life.

florymonde

Maybe you need to work up to walking your daughter to school. Plan your day so you can walk half-way there and back for several days in a row, and then do a test run walking all the way there and back during school before you try it with your daughter. (It'll also help you know how much time to allow.)

Maybe look around online for a menu-planner to help you get going. I just googled "healthy menu for the week" and it gave all sorts of links to free menu plans for a month or more. If you've been eating out, often just switching to home-cooked meals cuts the calories a lot!

Mcgrawhaha

Be realistic. Dont expect to see a 20 pound loss in the first couple weeks. I think this is the biggest problem which in turn forces people to give up and return to thier old ways! I did not pick any old plan out of the blue, I didnt just decide, ok, im doing "this diet" out of the blue. I did my homework, I read alot, and I took different ideas and facts and myths from many different plans, put them together for myself, and basically built my very own unique weight loss plan, that seems to be working well FOR ME! You have to create a lifestyle that will work FOR YOU! Good luck, keep motivated!!!

MiTime2016

Yup, Skinnytaste.com is awesome.
Rather than spend $ on lunch out find at least one recipe a week off Skinnytaste and make it for the family with the money you don't spend on eating out.
Do the same for a few weeks instead of Chinese takeout.
Since you didn't make it and were embarassed the last time you tried walking your daughter to school why don't you try starting with as much as you can get through on one of your dvd's? Or just set a goal of 5 minutes on the rowing machine every day? I bet in no time at all you'll be able to walk your daughter to and from school every day. And I'm sure the 6 year old would love to do the Zumba Wii game with you; I just bought that for my daughter (28 years old) for Christmas and her nieces won't leave her alone ... they want to do it with her.
Good luck!

JesterMFP

Start just by tracking what you eat. Eat what you like, and log it. Make it all fit your calorie goal. If you want/need to make changes to your diet, you can do that as you go along. You can still have pasta, just have a reasonable portion size. You can still have takeaways too, just fit them in. I personally have found it easier not to have takeaways as often as once a week, and I rarely even crave Chinese any more, but you might find it fits in ok to your lifestyle. If you like cooking and are happy to try new recipes, check your local library for healthier recipe books. I got a good Ainsley Harriott one out this time last year and learned quite a few new recipes that I use regularly now. Jamie Oliver is also good for healthier (but still yummy) meals.

For exercise - you don't need to join a gym. I'm not a gym member. You can walk, you can run (if you've never run before, try the C25k programme, it's a very gentle start), you can do exercise DVDs, or there are lots of free videos on youtube. Use the wii, use the rowing machine. If you're unsure of how to have the proper form, I'm sure you can look up videos of that too. If you have no health issues, walking 1 mile should not be a problem. That other time was probably a one off, although I can understand why it would put you off now. Honestly though, you can easily work up to walking a mile. Just practise by having shorter walks while the kids are at school until you're ready for the walk to school. What a great example you'll be setting your daughter when you can walk her there instead of driving!

If you want this, you can totally do it. It's so easy to while away the day on the internet, but if you have trouble getting into the exercise habit, maybe write yourself a timetable to make sure you do something. Try not to look at it this massive thing you have to do, but look at ways of making small changes that you can live with.

Cocacoladdict

thanks for your responses. really helpful x

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

Start just by tracking what you eat. Eat what you like, and log it. Make it all fit your calorie goal. If you want/need to make changes to your diet, you can do that as you go along. You can still have pasta, just have a reasonable portion size. You can still have takeaways too, just fit them in. I personally have found it easier not to have takeaways as often as once a week, and I rarely even crave Chinese any more, but you might find it fits in ok to your lifestyle. If you like cooking and are happy to try new recipes, check your local library for healthier recipe books. I got a good Ainsley Harriott one out this time last year and learned quite a few new recipes that I use regularly now. Jamie Oliver is also good for healthier (but still yummy) meals.

For exercise - you don't need to join a gym. I'm not a gym member. You can walk, you can run (if you've never run before, try the C25k programme, it's a very gentle start), you can do exercise DVDs, or there are lots of free videos on youtube. Use the wii, use the rowing machine. If you're unsure of how to have the proper form, I'm sure you can look up videos of that too. If you have no health issues, walking 1 mile should not be a problem. That other time was probably a one off, although I can understand why it would put you off now. Honestly though, you can easily work up to walking a mile. Just practise by having shorter walks while the kids are at school until you're ready for the walk to school. What a great example you'll be setting your daughter when you can walk her there instead of driving!

If you want this, you can totally do it. It's so easy to while away the day on the internet, but if you have trouble getting into the exercise habit, maybe write yourself a timetable to make sure you do something. Try not to look at it this massive thing you have to do, but look at ways of making small changes that you can live with.

This. Start with just logging your food. Then as you go you'll learn about which food choices help you accomplish your goals. There's no reason to completely restrict any food groups, you just have to learn how to have an appropriate amount. I've lost weight all through the holiday season because I carefully log everything, even when eating out or at someone else's house. For weight loss, all that matters is calories in/calories out.

TavistockToad

ditch the weekly takeaway to start with! walk your daughter to school... allow more time while you are unfit, you will soon get quicker. good luck!

caroleannlight

You mention you have a wii so I recommend getting walk to the beat / step to the beat on the wii to build up your walking. I really enjoyed that as a primer prior to buidling up outside. Others have had success with leslie sansome - find on youtube or dvds

Maybe try walking to the school in the afternoon leave lots of time and have a rest/ coffee before walking back with your daughter or taking a bus or lift back??.

Good luck you can do this

Zommbunny

Ok so you have the means at your disposal already -
Start off slow, you can't change a whole routine overnight you just wont stick to it
To start out just wath your portion sizes and start tracking calories, make a little time to either do a fitness DVD, row or walk your dog - i would start out aiming for 30 mins 3 times a week to get you going but remember even if it is only 10-15mins your getting done to start off your still beating everyone on the couch.
Slowly increace your activity and track food more strictly as you begin to get the hang of it(invest in food scale it really does make a difference)
I personally have started setting myself a small weekly goal to acheive and feel ticking it off really motivates me.
Most of all if you need suposrt or help ask someone(feel free to addme)
xx

WendyTerry420

I see it a little differently. Rather than "burn less than you eat," I view it as "eat less than you burn." I started keeping track of everything I eat back in July. In doing so, I have calculated the approximate amount of calories that I burn daily. So I keep of deficit of 300-500 calories, sometimes more, occasionally a little less. In fact, for the holidays, I allowed myself to go up to my maintenance calories. I changed my calories goals in my settings to my maintenance calories, which is an interesting an approach. So the "You have XXX calories left" message that I see when logging in is the amount of my daily deficit.