Just Starting Out - Overwhelmed

You guys are awesome, so encouraged. Thank you Thank you!

My New Goals:
-Get a food scale
- Walk for 20-30 min 3x's
- Make peace with giving up soda (even diet soda)
- Tell myself, I can do this, because....I CAN do this.

So happy to have you all!

That is an AWESOME start!! YOU GOT THIS!!

I am a DietCoke-Aholic so I can relate to #3

Welcome to MFP! This is seriously the most supportive group of people I've met Feel free to add me, good luck. Don't feel overwhelmed!

Some things that have helped me while losing weight:

Plan ahead. I don't have kids at home, but I do work full time. I find that if I do things like pack my snacks the night before, portion out leftovers so they're easy to take for lunch, or make overnight oatmeal that I can have for breakfast with little prep in the morning helps me immensely. Then I'm less likely to grab an unhealthy snack/lunch and the only thinking I have to really do regarding food is when I get home at night and have to make dinner. Additionally, find healthy and flavorful meals you and your family love. Eating these kinds of meals will be easier to maintain because it will feel less like a diet, which is definitely better since no one wants to be on a diet forever after. Plus you should be making changes to your lifestyle, not just for now while you're losing weight.

Don't entirely deprive yourself of the "unhealthy" things you love. If you want a glass of wine with dinner, have one occasionally. If you want a cookie or some ice cream, have a cookie or a serving of ice cream. Just don't go crazy and have a whole bottle of wine yourself or an entire batch of cookies or a whole tub of ice cream in one sitting. If you're like me, depriving yourself of these kinds of things entirely and making them "forbidden" only makes me want to eat them that much more.

Drink lots of water. I bought myself a 32 oz water bottle that I can see through and watch how much I've had to drink throughout the day. I used to be horrible at drinking enough water, so I made myself a goal to drink at least 1.5 - 2 bottles every day while I'm at work, knowing I'll drink more when I'm at the gym later and while I'm hanging out at home for the evening.

If you can afford it, get a gym membership (assuming you don't have one already). The only reason I say this is because I have an easier time going to the gym than telling myself I'll work out at home. The gym I go to is $10/month and I pay an additional $10 to attend as many of their classes as I want - a lot of gyms have the same or similar deals. Some gyms also offer either kid fitness classes or day care. If they offer kid fitness classes, perhaps you could take your kids to that while you work out - then your family is getting healthy with you!

I find that setting smaller, more attainable goals for weight loss is easier for me. Think of it this way - if your stepping stone goal is 5 lbs this month and after two weeks you've lost 2 pounds, you've reached 40% of your goal. If you're looking at your overal 70 lb goal, that 2 lbs is only 2.8%. I'm much more excited about the 40%.

Finally, celebrate the changes and progress you've made. When you lose a pound, be happy that you lost a pound! That took work and it brings you one step closer to your final goal.

Don't try to add an exercise routine and fix your diet at the same time. Focus on one at first, and when you get comfortable with that, add the other. It is really easy to get frustrated and burnt out doing too much at once!

Pick an exercise routine that you enjoy. If you don't like it, you'll never stick with it. For example, I hate running and I hate cardio! So most of my exercise comes from yoga and weight lifting. I have a friend who hates lifting, so she mostly runs. People will say that X plan is more effective than Y plan, but when it comes down to it, the most effective plan is one that you will stick with!!

This is really good advice.

Also: Go back and read Trogalicious' post. There's a reason that he gets quoted over and over again.

I share your pain!

1. You work full-time; so do I. Sedentary desk job.
2. You have children to care for at home and find time at a premium; so do I - as a second-time around parent (caring for my granddaughter).
3. You have a long-term goal of 50+ pounds; likewise, at the start of my journey, I was at 194 and have been told my ideal weight should be about 120 lbs, so my overall long-term goal is 74 pounds.

I'm at 167.4 now. But it has not been a steady loss. Rather, I've had to plan my weight loss journey in stages.

I lost about 25 lbs... in about 14 weeks. That was stage 1. My employer had brought in consultants to motivate some of the heavier employees (myself included) to being healthier (and less costly on the health insurance). I use the space between stages as a time for my body to get used to the new weight, for me to reinforce improved nutritional/exercise/lifestyle habits, and to plan the next weight loss stage.

One thing I learned is that rather than shooting for a definite goal of "X" pounds per week, plan for a percentage of your weight's weight loss. The experts that were brought in said that 1% a week is a good goal; Someone weighing, for example, 170 lbs should aim to lose about 1.7 lbs per week; someone weighing 280 should try for 2.8 pounds per week.

Log your food every day. But also be accurate in your logging; measure your food. Don't just eyeball it. A typical cereal bowl often can easily hold two or three of the stated serving sizes. If you have (or can afford) a decent food scale, get one and use it.

Exercise when/where you can; it doesn't have to be dedicated 30 minute chunks of time (although you'll get more bang for the buck by exercising and getting your metabolism up by doing 30+ minute chunks), if you can't snag 30 minutes at a shot, don't stress over it. Try getting up 15 minutes earlier than usual and using those 15 minutes in some form of muscle-building exercise at home (remember, muscle uses more calories than fat). You don't have to have a treadmill, elliptical, etc. at home. Instead, use those 15 minutes to do strength exercises. Got a couple of empty plastic milk jugs? Fill them with water to a comfortable weight, and use them to do various hand-weight exercises. Side benefit: as you get stronger, you don't need to go out and buy heavier hand weights; if you find having them full with water becomes too easy, switch to sand inside. Sneak exercise in when and where you can.... if you live in an area where snow keeps landing and usually have someone else shovel it, take that snowfall as a chance to do a workout with a purpose.

Make sure you are getting enough water AND also enough fiber. Both will help you fill up. A lot of people go by the 8 glasses per person per day guideline; others like the 1/2 ounce of water per pound of body weight rule. A 150-lb person would need 75 ounces of water; a 200-lb person would need 100 ounces of water. If you aren't a big vegetable eater, you can help supplement your fiber requirements by adding a tasteless soluble fiber product (example: Benefiber) to some of your food or water. Don't do a sudden increase; gradually increase it over a week or two until you're getting the recommended amount of fiber (1.4 grams per 1,000 calories eaten is a basic calculation).

Consider getting your Resting Metabolic Rate tested; many local YMCA's will do that for a relative pittance ($20 - $35). You'll know exactly how many calories your body requires to sustain itself if it was "at rest" 24x7, what your "maintenance" range of calories is, and what your "lose weight" range of calories is at. Don't assume that eating less is always better; if you drop too low, your body will start targeting to get its energy needs from muscle, rather than fat - and that's the opposite of what you want.

And speaking of the YMCA's - check to see if your local Y offers free child care while you work out. Many of them offer up to two hours of free childcare while you are in the building working out. That's a great time to get the cardio in, if you've been able to sneak in the strength training at home. If your local YMCA or other gym-of-choice doesn't offer childcare, it might still be worth it to get a babysitter (or friend/significant other/what have you) to watch your children for 90 minutes or so while you go to the gym, workout, shower and then come home.

Start out with small goals. Focus on week by week and not the big picture. I actually invested in a Wii and got the Wii Fit video game and me and my kids work on that together. So fun! The other goal I started working on was enlisting some new ideas for adding more "green" food to our diet. Keep it simple, make it fun and it won't seem so overwhelming.

I think the most important thing I did was to start slowly. I actually just logged without worrying about totals the first two weeks. It was a real eye opener to what I was eating that was high-density in calories that wasn't really worth it. And what was low-density that I loved and could ad more of.

Then I set myself up to lose ½ pound a week. Even though I had 161 pounds to lose. I thought it made sense to gradually get used to less and less food and more and more exercise. And it made sense to lose slowly and get used to the changes in my body and mind. Because there are changes you go through in how you view food, your body, your whole self.

I lost 61 pounds in the first 15 months. I've been resting for the past 6 (gaining and losing the same 5 lbs over and over) and am now ready to start down again. But note: I didn't stop losing and just throw in the towel. I stopped losing and maintained. And that is a huge victory. Don't think of plateaus as failure. They are just rest stops on the journey. I've learned a lot and gained a lot of confidence in these 6 months. And I couldn't be more thrilled with what I've accomplished so far.

Patience, self love, reason. All important in figuring it all out. Good luck.