Just a little wonder...

Melissag1984

Wondering, well I KNOW to lose weight its mostly all about in the kitchen...I have NO idea what to eat (the duh, junk, sugars, processed crap, sodas, etc.) but I have no clue what to eat (I do but don't) or rather how much, portion size may be the issue?? I'm just having trouble in that area.....I do workout, I currently am doing the 30 day shred....
what's funny is that I've lost weight before, 162lbs to 135lbs, and maintained my 135 up until I got my new job and gained back to currently weigh 150lbs...I stupidly didn't chart my previous efforts, and I want to keep this weight off, so I need to get this into high gear.
Serious answers please, I don't need to be made felt worse then what I am. I am trying, but I'm wondering if there is anyone else that has been through this and could give some advice. Please!
Maybe I eat to little? I eat 3 meals, kind of...and to eat up to 5 meals/snacks a day...what qualifies as a snack? and is it enough for a snack...trying really hard to understand this, because like I said, I did it before and I'm doing the same things I did before, its just not doing the job. ...which is some sort of results, not even so much on the scale, but in inches and clothing fitting loser.

Duck_Puddle

Step 1-take a deep breath...or a few.

I will say that I eat mostly "good" stuff, but I am not one that can go for the rest of my life without what some consider "bad" foods. My plan includes "bad" foods within my calorie goals. I personally am of the opinion that no food is "bad", but that's my opinion. I also am on a plan that is how I will live for the rest of my life. I am not doing one thing to pose weight with the assumption that I'll go back to "normal" after. This is my normal. If you're ok with these, I'll tell you what worked for me.

I started by just logging what I was actually doing already - no changes to diet or exercise. Well that was certainly an eye opening experience lol. This was valuable not just because I learned I was drinking 800 cal a day of coffee (not even fancy flavored one), but it gave me a baseline for where I could make changes. Obviously, coffee was first on my list. I can't live without coffee-so I switched to equal & fat free cream. Tastes the same (to me) and now my coffees are 100 cal a day. Well that was painless, what else can I change? And I moved on to the next. I incorporated more fruits & veggies, more yogurt, more lean meats (lots of fish & chicken), found ways to make tasty food that wasn't slathered in sauce, and added exercise.

I still eat crap-had 1/2 a pizza for dinner a few weeks ago (and not a little pizza-1/2 a 16" pizza-with everything). It fit my calories, so I ate it-not an ounce of guilt. But the bulk of my food is fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean meats, dairy and substituting lite/low fat/fat free versions of things when they taste the same and it's worth it to me (calorie & nutrition wise).

I'm 13 months in and down 75 lbs and can absolutely see myself living this way forever. What you should eat is food you like, preferably stuff that's filling and nutritionally dense (make your calories count). The possibilities are endless really.

mmddwechanged

Eat whatever you want. If you are confused about how much have 3 or 4 oz of protein or meat, half a cup of grains or potatoes, as much as you want in veg. Measure and weigh everything!!! Eat again in two or three hours if you are still hungry or longer is fine too. Check your calories at the end of the day then you'll have a good idea how you are doing. The portion sizes may be just right or you may need to have larger ones, possibly even double. Or you may think you need more frequent meals or less frequent meals. Many people skip meals and do well or gave six meals a day and do well. Once you figure out your calorie and portion sizes, if its your goal to lose weight and you are at a deficit guess what? You will. It really does work. If you dont lose it may mean that you need to make a change ( but only after diligently and accurately logging for a month or more). I don't have much to lose and when I was losing it was at a rate of about half a pound a month some months. It would have been easy to get frustrated and start believing that I was a failure but this would have just been a good excuse for me to sit around and eat a variety of different brands and flavours of potato chips with diet coke. Instead I believed in it and I'm feeling pretty successf these days:)