Need to lose 50 pounds...

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carissaymb
carissaymb Posts: 2
in Health and Weight Loss
Right now I am 180 pounds... I would like to be down to 130. I have tried losing weight numerous times, ie: tracking calories, eating healthy, exercising... But I ALWAYS manage to give up within a couple weeks max. My problem lately is my busy schedule. I work 30-40 hours a week, and attend school about 35 hours a week. I don't drink much water at home. I love and prefer morning workouts, but I have such a hard time waking up :( I also have a gym at my school, however its an hour bus ride away.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

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  • NessaR2011
    NessaR2011 Posts: 184 Member
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    I'm 185 and looking to get to 135 =) We have the same amount to lose! I'm also a stay at home mom to a very active 3 year old so for 12hrs a day, I'm busy with him. I'm also not a morning person lol. I need 2 cups of coffee to even consider myself AWAKE and I rarely get out of the house so it's not like I get out to a gym or anything. I've been doing workout videos at home. Youtube has a ton on there that I can do in 30 min to 1hr while the kiddo is on downtime (he refuses to nap anymore). It's working for now. I need to invest in some weights to help tone and I'm sure once he goes to preschool I'll start hitting the gym. You're welcome to add me so we can kick that 50lbs together =)
  • raholden88
    raholden88 Posts: 34
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    I started out looking to lose 50 lbs as well. I am now nearly there at 44 lbs lost!

    I was 250 at start and am now 207/206.5, sometimes even about 205 after lower sodium intake days.

    All I have done is change my diet and add an occasional 15 minute walk with the dog after work to my routine, as I walk on average 3.5 miles a day to, at, and from work with public transportation. Which for me is also about 7500-8000 steps.

    First thing I'd suggest is cut out the following, or don't use them to begin with:

    Diet foods (Lean Cuisines, Marie Calender's)
    Diet Soda and Soda in general... just drink water or flavored waters (highly recommend Sobe Lifewaters with Stevia...I do this a lot because I love them...fruit tastes curb my sweet tooth and the extra vitamins can't hurt, and they're perfect for water refills)
    Anything else with Splenda, Aspartame, etc. (It's in everything and hard to avoid sometimes, so if you must, stick to only eating it in things like light breads, greek yogurts, the occasional diet drink, and the occasional coffee. Though really, just eat pure whole sugars when you can and just account for it in the log).

    What I'd suggest eating and what I eat for quick, nutritional, easy meals, dinners especially:

    Chicken or Fish baked, with roasted vegetables (namely asparagus, brussel sprouts, broccoli, carrots, potato, mushrooms)
    - Prepackaged chicken and fish single servings from Costco are a godsend, just don't get the chicken packed in sodium water unless you aren't watching your sodium intake. Each filet of either usually equals to about 100-150 calories.
    - If you own one, a cast iron skillet makes this meal prep simple. Well seasoned, you can just heat it on the stove top, toss in the chicken or fish and brown it, drain the juices, toss in the vegetables of choice, season them with pepper and onion/garlic flakes, and then put it in a 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes until done.
    - Portion and time wise, this is the simplest and easiest meal to make for dinner, and you can change up the combinations of vegetables and add lemon juice or paprika or other seasonings on the fly to fit your tastes. You can feed 1, 2, or 4 people with ease, and calorie totals for each portion/meal will only be 350-500, if not less for chicken and broccoli, for example.
    -Looking for more calories, throw low fat cheese slices on top when baking, it will crust the chicken or fish and create a cheese sauce when mixed with the water form the baked veggies, which is delicious!
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    I am 3lbs from 50lbs..

    all I did was eat at a reasonable deficet, added in exercise slowly. 20mins walks, Wii dance, 30 day squat challenage then moved to 30day shred....now I lift weights and do HIIT when I feel like it.

    I still eat lean cuisines...they are quick and easy when I am busy, I still drink my diet coke every night...there is nothing wrong with those foods and they wont prevent your weight loss if you are in a reasonable deficet on a consistent basis.

    It's not what you eat it's about how much you eat.

    If you are busy, too busy to exercise, then don't it's not necessary for weight loss.

    However there are a lot of short quick HIIT workouts on fitnessblender.com along with cheap videos that are short that you can do in under 30mins.
  • raholden88
    raholden88 Posts: 34
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    With a busy schedule and little spare time, and if not looking to do much exercise, just try adding walking into your routine everywhere you can! Every step counts!

    Get a step counter if you can. Cheap ones run $15. I bought the FitBit Zip for $50. It can connect with smartphones via bluetooth and connects with MFP easily and it'll account for this in my calories.

    I thought I walked at least 5000 steps at work and found sure enough I do, though usually it's more like 8000. However some days, especially Sundays, I only average 1500! Unless I go shopping or to the mall, my cleaning days on Saturday or Sunday I'll only average a mile of walking a day! And with Sunday also usually being a heavy dinner day, I wasn't making up the difference at all! Plus the weekends bring more snacking and couch time, so I've been more careful of this as well.

    So to add in extra steps, besides dog walking for 15 minutes (which adds about 1500 steps to my day alone), I tend to do more of the following.

    -Pace the house during phone calls with my parents. 5 or 10 minute call = 500-1000 steps!
    -When doing laundry and carrying it up/down stairs, I march in place at each step 3-4 times. With a heavy hamper it's a good workout! 3-4 trips to the machines and I average about 200-500 steps plus get a good burn carrying the hamper.
    -Get off the couch during commercial breaks, sometimes even pause the DVR, and walk around the house, or play with the dog for a bit. Or I'll do a set of 5 or 10 push ups.
  • raholden88
    raholden88 Posts: 34
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    Oh and on the note about Lean Cuisines...yes they're easy and quick, and I ate them a lot early in my diet program, but for the cost, they're not filling and I found myself usually even hungrier after eating them. They are also really high in sodium, which can lead you to having trouble seeing changes in your weight, and they have a great deal of filler and artificial sweeteners.

    I was weighing on average 240 to 245 when I was eating them everyday for lunch, plus my snacks. Week after I cut them out I dropped to 235 on average. Never went back to them again and never will.

    A 250-300 calorie Lean Cuisine has usually 500mg of sodium. Plus they contain Corn syrup as sweeteners and aspartame, and can be somewhat high in cholesterol! 30-50mg in the average meal.

    So now for lunches instead I usually pack about 500 calories worth of snacks, which I eat over the course of the day whenever I feel hungry, such as a fresh fruit or two, usually an apply, banana, or plum, and grapes when they're on sale. Then I'll have a Chobani Greek yogurt, which uses Stevia not aspartame, and usually a carb of some sort. Sweet potato chips (where only ingredients are sweet potato and salt), 100-150 calories of popcorn (air popped, not the bag kind, usually 2.5 cups worth), or crackers and cheese. Then too I've been eating Quest Bars lately. They're filling, high in fiber from whey, and come in many great flavors. Ingredient list for those is fairly simple, and they're sweetened with sugar alcohols and stevia, which will probably one day come out as being as bad for you as any other sugar substitute. But, whatever. For the time being Stevia doesn't give me the same issues as Splenda/Aspartame did, and I am feeling great. So that's what's important.

    And yes, the Quest Bars are also fairly high in sodium, at about 200mg a bar. However they're twice as filling as a lean cuisine, have twice the protein and fiber, and many of them, twice the taste, with the same amount of fat or less, the same amount of carbs, and for most, a fifth or more the cholesterol!
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    Oh and on the note about Lean Cuisines...yes they're easy and quick, and I ate them a lot early in my diet program, but for the cost, they're not filling and I found myself usually even hungrier after eating them. They are also really high in sodium, which can lead you to having trouble seeing changes in your weight, and they have a great deal of filler and artificial sweeteners.
    you are also a guy of course a lean cuisine isn't gonna fill you up but that plus a greek yogurt is a good meal maybe even a piece of fruit afterwards...

    Today I am eating cheese, crackers, canned crab meat with mayo and canned soup...yup sodium but it doesn't hinder my fat loss...why because I eat at a deficet...and I drink my water...

    I like the chicken in wine sauce one...it's got 160 calories and 14g of protien...good ratio...520mg of sodium, which is half of what the ham has that I will be eating for supper...

    sodium, sugar etc is only an issue if you have high blood pressure and/or diabetes...otherwise eh...

    again it's the quantity of the food you eat that causes weight gain not the types of food you eat...
  • alex6971
    alex6971 Posts: 51 Member
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    Ive just hit my 50lb target anf thought i's share my experience.

    I like you tried may diets before and failed until i found MFP. I found that i could eat what i wanted just in moderation and that worked for me. I am not one that likes to be told what I can and cant do. It f there are foods that are forbidden then it just makes me want them more. A trick i learned was to buy fun size or snack size versions of chocolate bars etc that way i had my chocolate fix but under 100 calories.

    I was never a morning person but i set my alarm 30 minutes before i was due to get up and went onto my treadmill for a brisk walk. I then began attending a fitness class that lasted 30 minutes and this worked into my busy schedule.

    My stats were 197lb and i wanted to be 147lb. 12 months later and I am now 147lb. It has taken a while to get the 50lb off but i didnt change my lifestyle drastically. I ate 1500 cals per day plus half of any exercise calories i have gained.

    I also have bad days. For example yesterday was a VERY VERY VERY bad day :cry: I dont recommend doing this very often but if you do you just have to wake up the next day and forget about it and try again.

    I wish you all the luck in the world and remember you are hopefully changing your eating habits for life so dont restrict yourself too much. Life is for living. :drinker:

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