NEEDING SOME WEIGHT LOSS ADVICE!!!

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Leesa808
Leesa808 Posts: 40 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi,

I've been on this weightoss journey for.....EVER!

Ive been up and down with weight loss for years, lose 80 gained 80 lost 40 gain 40 lost 40 again gained 40 lost 25 gain 25 and so on, for probably the last 6 years...

so i've got my head on staright start educating myself on healthier lifestyle choice and have been commited to reasonable workouts daily. taking one day off a week, sometimes 2.

so ive been working REALLY hard and havent seen the results I expect to see at this weight, i'm tyring different exercises and foods. and still just a 1 lb loss every week..... not saying i dont love seeing a loss. its just I would expect a 1 lbs loss, 25 lbs from now.

can anyone give me some pointers on how to fix my metabolism and jump start this weight loss?


thanks!!
Leesa.

Replies

  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
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    Just carry on as you are. Obviously all the things you did in the past didn't work long term so how about slow and steady this time and learn to make it a lifestyle instead of a crash diet that as soon as you stop doing it all the weight comes back? A pound a week is a good loss and allows your body time to adapt.
  • Leesa808
    Leesa808 Posts: 40 Member
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    Thanks! I am really happy with any loss, but it sometimes seem i'm putting more work into this without gett theing result i expected. The weight i am at right now i feel as though i should have at least a 2 lbs loss for a few weeks. I'm still happy with any loss though:)
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    you are a lot more likely to maintain a pound loss each week...

    think healthy, happy lifestyle, weight loss is just an added bonus.
  • Leesa808
    Leesa808 Posts: 40 Member
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    that's my goal! but i am over weight, so I just want to make sure i'm making the right choice.

    I recently started to cut some carbs, i was eating "healthy" but my carb intake was ridiculously high i was feeling sluggish and tired all the time not to mention super BLOATED, so thats helped a bit but i still feel like theres so much more to learn!

    any tips would be great:)
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    2 things... Diet and reasonable expectations.

    Make sure your diet is correct. Start with the basics: reasonable calorie intake and a reasonable balance of fats, carbs and protein. Once you have that down, then you can worry about the finer points.

    Make sure you have reasonable expectations. yo-yo dieting is generally the result of A) overly restrictive diets, B) lack of commitment/dedication, C) both A and B. Slow and steady wins this race, especially given your history.
  • Leesa808
    Leesa808 Posts: 40 Member
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    Thanks! I was concerned that I may have done some damage to my metabolism from all the restrictive dieting and over exercising in the past (whish I obviously could not maintain)

    I feel completely dedicated and motivated and not one bit restricted at this point. especially since I cut carbs, it seems as if I get to eat soooo much more. never hungry and the craving have stopped, probably cause i'm not hungry.

    I have about 85 lbs left to go.

    Is there certain foods and/or exercise that I should be incorporating ino my life, that could help me more in the right direction??
  • angelamangus1
    angelamangus1 Posts: 164 Member
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    2 things... Diet and reasonable expectations.

    Make sure your diet is correct. Start with the basics: reasonable calorie intake and a reasonable balance of fats, carbs and protein. Once you have that down, then you can worry about the finer points.

    Make sure you have reasonable expectations. yo-yo dieting is generally the result of A) overly restrictive diets, B) lack of commitment/dedication, C) both A and B. Slow and steady wins this race, especially given your history.

    ^^^This^^^
  • angelamangus1
    angelamangus1 Posts: 164 Member
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    Is there certain foods and/or exercise that I should be incorporating into my life, that could help me more in the right direction??

    Lean meats (Chicken, fish, lean beef, lean pork...etc),
    Complex carbohydrates (Sweet potatoes, quinoa, brown rice, steel cut oats...etc)
    Veggies (Spinach, Romaine, Carrots, tomatoes, Broccoli, Peppers...etc)
    Fruits (Blueberries, strawberries, bananas, melons, apples...etc)
    Lots of water (flavor it with fresh lemon or cucumber if you need flavor.

    Find out what works for you in regards to your macros. I do 40 carb, 30 Protein, and 30 fat. If I am going to be doing an intense workout I will eat more of my carbs for breakfast to full my work out. After I will have a protein shake. Now this works for me and may not work for you. Everyone is different some people like to workout on an empty stomach. Find what is right for you.

    Exercise would be cardio and strength training. cardio to melt away the fat and strength training to maintain lean muscle mass, plus this helps in boosting your metabolism (takes time to repair muscles). Cardio 3-5 times a week. and Strength 2-4 times a week.

    Keep researching and trying new things. What works for some will not work for others. you need to find you happy mix. Finding your ideal of a healthy lifestyle will assist in you keeping with it! I cannot stress enough that everyone is different and you really need to find the best things for you!
  • FitCurves444
    FitCurves444 Posts: 169 Member
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    Sounds like to me..... you finally figured "this" out.

    The issue is not your weight. It never has been. The issue has been your lifestyle and the weight is a symptom of your lifestyle. Even when you have lost weight, that did not necessarily indicate that it was a good "side effect", just a side effect.

    What you are doing now not only seems to be working, but it also seems to be something that you are able to keep up on a regular basis..... or something that you can "live with".

    I tell people that losing weight is the easy part. The difficult part is maintaining the weight loss. With this new "thing" you are doing, you will be likely to maintain your weight loss and never have to diet again. I don't know.... sounds like a fantastic thing to me! You should be posting advice, not asking for it.

    Keep on!
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    so ive been working REALLY hard and havent seen the results I expect to see at this weight, i'm tyring different exercises and foods. and still just a 1 lb loss every week..... not saying i dont love seeing a loss. its just I would expect a 1 lbs loss, 25 lbs from now.

    can anyone give me some pointers on how to fix my metabolism and jump start this weight loss?

    Be more realistic. 1 lb per week is a good weight loss rate. Your metabolism is not broken if you are consistently losing at that rate.
  • Brandolin11
    Brandolin11 Posts: 492 Member
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    so i've got my head on staright start educating myself on healthier lifestyle choice and have been commited to reasonable workouts daily. taking one day off a week, sometimes 2.

    so ive been working REALLY hard and havent seen the results I expect to see at this weight, i'm tyring different exercises and foods. and still just a 1 lb loss every week..... not saying i dont love seeing a loss. its just I would expect a 1 lbs loss, 25 lbs from now.

    Dear Leesa: good news! There is a VERY simple solution to this, which, unless you have some sort of out-of-control thyroid disease, will work like a charm. :)

    The first thing I'd advise is for you to change your thinking from, "I should be able to step on the scale each Saturday and see at least a 3-lb loss!" to "over-all, long-term weight loss can only be measured by long-term averages".

    In other words, that scale is going to go ALL over the map every week. But once you hit your goal, and you average out the loss-per-week, you're going to see that you lost the weight quite steadily and that it didn't matter whether it was 1-lb last week and .5 lbs this week and 2.2 lbs next week...what matters is that at the END...you lost it steadily.

    Now! That being said, you CAN lose weight faster (again over the long-term average) if you so choose. The key is doing the math properly. It's ALL about calories in/calories out so you must be in the "zone" that's right for YOUR body to achieve steady weight loss.

    How do we do this? First, by calculating your BMR. We then use your BMR to determine exactly how many calories you need to put in your body each day based on the output of calories you expend while exercising.

    This is where it gets EXTREMELY easy: all you have to do........is eat that number of calories every day.

    That's it. :)

    I'm going to give you an example of this in the next post. But before I go any further, would you be willing to private message me your height, weight, age, and how many times a week you exercise and for how long? Or, if you want to just post it here, that's fine too, just didn't know how private of a person you are. I'd be happy to customize the below example for you.
  • Brandolin11
    Brandolin11 Posts: 492 Member
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    Okay, here we go with the example. I did this for another gal yesterday:

    ===============================

    Let's pretend your BMR came to 1440.

    If you were COMPLETELY sedentary, here are the *exact* number of calories you need to eat a day (i.e., not over, not under)...

    ...To lose .5 lbs a week = 1,478. This means that if you wanted to lose 15 lbs, you'd reach your goal by June 5th of next year.
    ...To lose 1 lb a week = 1,228. This means that if you wanted to lose 15 lbs, you'd reach your goal by February 20th of next year.

    You cannot go any lower than 1,200 cals/day and be safe and healthy so we'll stop there.

    If you took on a regimen of 3 cardio workouts a week, here are the exact number of calories you need to eat a day (not over, not under)...

    ...To lose .5 lbs a week = 1,730. Again, to lose 15 lbs, you'd reach your goal by June 5th of next year.
    ...To lose 1 lb a week = 1,480. Again, to lose 15 lbs, you'd reach your goal by February 20th of next year.
    ...To lose 1.5 lbs a week = 1,230. You'd lose 15 lbs by January 16th!

    Its as simple as picking which of these options you prefer. Then DO IT.
    Don't "guesstimate" your calories - log them, every one.
    Don't cheat - stick to the plan with your eating and exercise (if you choose it).

    That's it. Think you can do it? :)
  • Brandolin11
    Brandolin11 Posts: 492 Member
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    I should mention that the gal I did this example for only had 15 lbs to lose and was only able to exercise 3x a week.

    Since you've got more to lose and are exercising way more - you'll get a LOT more calories a day - just wanted to make that clear.

    But of course, we won't know EXACTLY how many until you tell me your stats.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    Thanks! I was concerned that I may have done some damage to my metabolism from all the restrictive dieting and over exercising in the past (whish I obviously could not maintain)

    I feel completely dedicated and motivated and not one bit restricted at this point. especially since I cut carbs, it seems as if I get to eat soooo much more. never hungry and the craving have stopped, probably cause i'm not hungry.

    I have about 85 lbs left to go.

    Is there certain foods and/or exercise that I should be incorporating ino my life, that could help me more in the right direction??

    At this point, make your food and exercise decisions with long term sustainability in mind. Ideally you want a balanced diet made up of real food. Most people don't do that though, so do the best you reasonably can to get sufficient protein, fruits and vegetables. As for exercise, ideally you want a good balance of strength training and cardio, but again... keep it reasonable so you can stick with it long term.

    As you develop good habits you can further refine things if you so choose, but start with the basics.

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