New and starting today!

JAT74

Hi

I've just joined the site and as it's the 2nd Jan (after a day of New Year's Eve recovery!) I'm starting my new healthy eating regime. I've put on a lot of weight in the last 2 years (around a stone and a half / 21 pounds) and I was already a little overweight before so I really need to lose it. I also have a VERY high body fat percentage, and I've noticed it's crept up almost 10% in the last 10 years which is really bad as it was already pretty high. People tell me I'm not so big but they don't know how much fat I'm carrying (I'm really embarrassed to say it's not far off 40%). I'm not very tall, only 5'4" and I have quite a small frame.

I'm now looking to lose 28 pounds ideally in the next 8 weeks. I have done it before (in the past lost 4 stone in around 5 months when I was at my heaviest 10 years ago). I have always found that keeping a food diary really helps and I've used online weight trackers before and lost weight so hope it works for me again.

When I initially lost a lot of weight a few years ago I found it really easy as I was still in my 20s and before changing my diet and exercise I did 0 exercise and ate a lot of junk/take aways. Nowadays it's so much harder as I'm now 38 and have a slight knee injury so have to be careful about what exercise I do. I have a home gym and a diploma in Healthy, Exercise & Fitness (which I took to motivate myself to stay in shape!) so I know what I have to do, it's just doing it and sticking to it that's the problem! I have never really found that exercise helps speed up my weight loss anyway though, even when I was training twice a day and eating really well. Realistically I can manage 4 training sessions per week of 30-60 minutes and I am going to follow a plan designed for my (hourglass) shape with cardio and strength training.

I don't drink very often, only around once a week these days (usually 2-3 glasses of wine each time) but I love food and 'normal sized' portion sizes plus carbs like bread/potatoes/rice and sweets/desserts are my downfall. I'm now going to try and eat a low-carb diet and cut out my evening meal as I find this does me no favours but not sure how easy this will be. I tend to eat out at least 3 times per week usually at lunchtimes as I have quite long lunch breaks so making the right choices is going to be hard as a lot of the places I go to eat at include a 3 course meal for a set price and they're not always the healthiest places like Chinese/Thai or sandwich/burger places.

I know that if I stick with my plan my stomach will shrink and I won't get so hungry but until then (and especially with a partner who eats a lot of junk food!) it will be hard. I also find eating the same foods very monotonous and I don't have a lot of time to prepare elaborate meals so it will have to be quick and not too boring.

It would be great to have someone who can help motivate me and give me some tips which have worked for them or to find people with similar problems to me. I've never been able to eat 'normal' sized meal portions without putting on weight and in the past the only way I've been able to lose weight has been by sticking to a diet of under 1000 calories per day. In fact I'd say the ideal number for me is around 750 or 800 which I know some people would say is too low but I think it's right for me. Anything over 1000 calories and I immediately put on weight. I know that 800 calories will be really hard to stick to so realistically I can probably manage on 850-950 calories per day and if it's lower carb hopefully that will be enough.

My idea was to follow my current pattern of having breakfast (such as smoked salmon/eggs, fruit/nuts or a yogurt/cereal) of around 200 calories (containing some carbs) and make lunch my main meal of around 500-600 calories (keeping it as low carb as possible although I will include veggies). I would then either skip dinner or have a protein shake at 100-200 calories if I feel really hungry.

What do you think?

RosscoBoscko

Most people will say that your calories will be too low, but personally i think it depends on the person what suits them as long as you are not making yourself ill. if you are eating that little though ensure you eat back your exercise calories at least half.

Personally every now and then will have a few days at 1000 calories just to give my body a kick and then go back higher again, and am currently doing this after xmas excesses.

Wouldnt recommend skipping a meal, but when I am replacing meals I use promax diet shake which is only 224 calories per serving.

Easiest way i have found to eat larger meal sizes is to heap up the vegetables like green veg (spinach, brocolli, asparagus etc.) and mushrooms. aside from this vary up between grilled or steamed meat and fish and use stir fries as a filling meal.

Good luck.

JAT74

Hi Ross, believe me I've tried everything! I've struggled with my weight for 20 years now and for the first 10 years let it get out of control going from a size 10 to a 16. I got into diet/fitness when I met my current partner nearly 11 years ago and since then I've done everything you can imagine to get in shape. I did get down to a size 8 (8 stone 11) at one point and felt great but even then I had a lot of fat to lose which I could never shift. I'd say my lean weight would probably be between 7.5-8.5 stone if I could strip off the fat and gain some muscle.

I've done intermittent fasting before and had an eating window to try and have days when I eat within a short space of time to give my body periods of fasting which is supposed to allow you to eat more calories during that period. I've also tried low calorie diets with a 'cheat' day or two per week when I've been counting calories in the past and I find it just undoes everything I've worked for all week as my weight will be the same when I weight myself after the full week so it just doesn't work for me.

Even with exercise I don't find that I can increase my calorie intake as I usually only do around 30 mins cardio plus 30 mins strength or just the cardio/strength for 30 minutes in total. It's not enough to allow me to eat more (well maybe 1-200 calories more) but I don't have time to do more exercise than that. I've recently been exercising at least 3 times per week and the weight has still been creeping on so I know that small amounts of exercise don't help my weight loss. Now I want to try for 4-5 workouts per week as I need to increase my muscle mass and it will help me burn the fat too so maybe that along with eating less calories and changing my diet will help.

I also have promax diet shakes so that's what I was proposing to have for dinner but I usually just have half the portion size suggested to keep costs down and also calories.

I think I'll see how I get on with my current plan this week and if it doesn't work I'll have to think of a plan B! I know that some people just can't eat certain foods and this is something I've never really seriously looked at. My mum lost a lof of weight and was practically skin and bone a few years ago when she had gallstones as she had to cut out all fat and basically ate only plain wholegrains, lean chicken and fish and vegetables. I've always had the mentality that low carb is best but low carb doesn't always mean low fat so maybe I'm approaching things in the wrong way and need to rethink things.

I love flavour including olive oil, sauces etc. so find it really hard to eat steamed/boiled or other plain bland food. I know I can season things with garlic, herbs and spices bit I find it really hard work to eat that kind of food.

RosscoBoscko

I know what you mean with the flavour, but when I grill the meat or fish(which is the option i usually take over steaming for exactly this reason), i will usually marinade it first, so lime and chilli with chicken, honey and mustard pork, sweet chilli salmon etc, something to make it more exciting and can usually be done whilst still keeping cals low.

Personally did the very low carb approach previously and while it did work, the weight came back on again, although I do now eat less carbs naturally as a result due to the change of habit, have found the calorie control more effective in the long term, and within this I can still intermittently cut the carbs significantly if i feel then need, but at the end of the day they are all part of a balanced diet, just like cutting out fats isnt a good plan, just kept in moderation.

andiechick

Hi welcome to MFP. I'm also 5"4 and want to lose around 15lbs but I eat around 1400 cals a day although there are some days I don't eat them all. Any less than that and I feel like I'm not eating enough. I have tried losing weight on less calories but for me it doesn't work. Personally I feel less than 1000 is too small a number, especially if you are exercising. Is your diary open? You'll find that people can be pretty helpful on here with suggestions, if they are able to see what you're eating If you are gaining weight by eating slightly more than 1000 cals could it not be your choice of food causing you to gain 'weight' or fluid rathing than the number of calories you are eating.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no where near perfect, but I'm trying my best to make smarter choices, as I too struggle to fit in regular exericse due to the demands of kids/work/etc.

Good luck with your journey. I'm on here everyday so feel free to add me and I'll do my best to support you. Andie x

JAT74

Hi Andie, you sound quite similar to me having read your profile. I have had the same problem for years, taking weight off and putting it on again on an annual basis and I'm going to be 39 this year so it's getting harder to lose!

I haven't counted calories for a while (probably a year and a half now) so maybe that alone will help but thinking about how I got to my current weight my diet really hasn't been that bad.

Before starting today I only ever had a bowl of cereal (high fibre) for breakfast every day made with either skimmed milk or low fat yogurt or 3 rivitas with low fat spread like marmite and maybe one or two days per month I'd have toast instead or a small English breakfast. For lunch I probably had my biggest meal with the highest calories but rarely ate bread so it was usually rice based or pasta based although I kept the portions fairly small and always included vegetables. I rarely ate chips.

I hardly ever ate desserts and always stick to diet drinks so no sugar most days except for maybe a half glass of fruit juice. I have sweetners in tea/coffee as well as skimmed milk so not many extra calories there. As for dinner, most evenings I only have a small snack like a bit of ham, slice of cheese and some raw veg with two rivitias with pate or an egg, some ham and salad etc.

This is how I've gained the weight slowly believe it or not and then at weekends I usually eat one bag of low cal crisps plus a bit of chocolate and maybe have a bigger meal in the evening with some wine.

RosscoBoscko

When I first started on mfp i cut out full fut fizzy drinks in favour of diet versions, until my housemate (who is a personal trainer) sent me this link.

http://news.menshealth.com/diet-soda-ingredients/2012/11/10/

Definitely something to consider.

nycmark

Hi Andie,

My name is nycmark and I woke up this morning deciding to finally make the commitment needed in order to lose weight. Even though it was barely 5am here my eyes opened up like saucers when I got on my scale. My goal is to lose 30 lbs or so and I am determined to count those calories and to go to the gym several times a week.

On mfp is there a section where I can see the nutritional content of most foods or is it necessary for me to type in each individual food in order to get the calorie count etc. I am still finding my way around the site and to be honest I am not even sure how I found you here..oh I see..I must have gone on a message board.

Have you lost the weight you were trying to. What are you losing on a weekly basis. I am not sure what is proper to ask here so if you feel I am being offensive in asking that then I apologize.

Anyway..I just wanted to introduce myself.

Thank you,
Mark

Jayla_fit

Hello everyone!

My journey began 3 years ago. I started out 242lbs, hired a trainer and went down to 179lbs. Unfortunately through life issues and lack of a trainer I have gained most of the weight. I am currently 233.4lbs and need all the support I can get :embarassed: .
My long-term goal is 150lbs or measurements 34-25-38 which is a pretty good for my height 5ft 6in and body built (hour glass shaped).

Starting out is the most difficult part for me. Lack of motivation, dificulty breathing( recently quit smoking), and low stamina. I know once I get the hang of things I will be just fine. I once loved working out for hours my only hope is that I reach that euphoria soon :bigsmile:

I am pesco-vegetarian and working on going strictly vegetarian or vegan. My diet is pretty good. But I am one of those people that will not lose weight solely on eating healthy. I need to incoporate a workout regimen as well.

Im starting out fresh this year. Mind is dedicated now I need my body and lungs to cooporate :laugh:

Im ready for this challenge I hope you are too!!!
Happy new year!

Jayla

RosscoBoscko

Hi Jayla,

I wouldnt recommend going vegan, my sister was and out of choice still would be, but she found it too difficult to get enough or the correct nutrition, so she is now vegetarian but replaces dairy with soya in some cases.

JAT74

Hi Ross I know that diet drinks aren't good for you but I've automatically switched to them in order to save calories and now I can't drink the full fat versions. I've also got a bit of a caffeine addiction which I know isn't good but when I try and cut down on caffeine I get terrible headaches which are unbearable so I usually drink coffee, tea and diet coke every day.