Any advice to "keep it off" ?

trying2bepretty · February 2011

I'm 5'6", I used to be 165 a week ago. I've been doing 5 days a week on my treadmill for 45 minutes, hardcore walking. I've been drinking a lot of water and avoiding sugars/fattys/fast foods. I've been eating mostly fibers/proteins/vegetables. I have lost 2 pounds bringing me down to 163 so far.

Today was my "treat" day and I had fish and chips for dinner.

Next week I plan to get down to 162.. 161 perhaps. How do I make it so I keep dropping.. not go up one, down one? I want to make sure they keep dropping!

familyfit808 · February 2011

Have you looked into a meal replacement? I have tried it, and I lost almost 10lbs doing that for a month.

trying2bepretty · February 2011

Meal replacement? As in protein shakes? Yeah I make them a few times.

DenShort · February 2011

if you are good, track absolutely everything and are completely honest with yourself you will pretty much always drop. time of the month may be a challenge but other than that you should be fine!

good luck and keep up the good work

xx

bmmadden · February 2011

Maybe do a little more time on your workout if you've been doing the same routine and times

kdiamond · February 2011

Personally, I would stop the "treat" days until you get to where you want to be. Unfortunately those meals could be sabotaging your efforts. Stick to what you're doing, 1-2 pounds per week is reasonable and you're doing great!

taletreader · February 2011

At your weight and height, being only slightly overweight, maintaining 2 lbs/week will not be easy, especially if you want to avoid losing muscle (which I imagine you are). Right now, you seem to be doing really well, which is great. But be aware that even while doing well, your weight will fluctuate. The difference between my highest and lowest weight over the last 2 weeks is a full 6 lbs, and I'm losing just under 2 lbs/week right now. Fluctuations are completely normal and no reason to get frustrated, though some people will.

Regarding treat days, I don't like the term very much (though it's better than "cheat days") and don't really practice them, but have a slightly different perspective to the previous poster: If something is part of your lifestyle, you should include it even while dieting, otherwise maintaining will be harder. So for example yesterday I went to an event that came with a buffet dinner. I didn't obsess, ate only an energy bar and an apple for lunch (which left me about 850 calories for dinner), had 1 glass of wine and went very lightly on the starchy sides and the sauce, but DID enjoy my salad (with a little grated cheese and olives), a mountain of roasted vegetables and two slices of excellent roast beef. (I'm 2 pounds... DOWN today --> fluctuations can go either way!).

So nothing wrong with fish and chips if you limit the amount of chips and are aware how large / greasy the fish is. And yes, logging calories is the key for many of us (you didn't say if you did that).

SugarHighAbbie · February 2011

I would advise taking it slowly. Fast weight loss is likely to mean you'll put the weight back on.
I'm losing about a pound a week by eating 1200-1400 cals a day and walking at least 45 mins a day. Not much exercise really, and quite a bit of food but I'd rather it take time than have it pile back on over Summer. 2 lbs seem a realistic weight loss,but dont be disheartened if you only lose 1lb one week, its still a success!!

Treat days are fine,I just make up for it the day after. I believe in not 'forbidding' anything...it makes you want it more!! Just have the food in moderation. I buy snack choc bars or Weightwatchers cakes and sauces cause theyre half the fat but taste the same

Good luck!!

bad6402 · February 2011

To ensure that you will drop weight consistently, you have to be sure you eat clean and train consistently as well. Use this site to determine your net calories and keep track of everything. It's also smart to change up your routine so you're body doesn't adjust. Try walking for 3 minutes, jog for 1 and alternate between the 2 until you reach 30 minutes or so. Also be sure to include weight training!

trigrrl · February 2011

like everyone else ( and a tale of a wise turtle ) i agree with slow and steady
by 2 cents would be regarding the walking...set the treadmill to a variable incline setting so it ranges up and down..you'll be amazed at the difference in calories being burnt

jane77 · February 2011

You need to change up your routine you can't do the same thing all the time. Add some weight lifting to your workouts.

britt_fit · February 2011

Just track everything and try to meet or stay a little under your calorie goal. I think it's a lot easier for sure to stay under goal getting in regular exercise (even weights). I say eat some sweets if you want them, but just try not to go over your calorie goal. I LOVE sweets (probably why I'm where I am lol), so depriving myself would just make me go crazy when I let myself have them.

hemlock2010 · February 2011

I agree with a previous poster about treat and cheat days (that they might end up sabotaging your efforts). My way of dealing with special occasions that involve food has been to save the calories the day before. I'm sure there's some reason why that's not as good as not eating them to begin with, but psychologically it helps me to stay within reasonable limits during the next day's treat. Also, SAYING you're going to make up for today's extra calories by eating less tomorrow is much easier than actually DOING it--at least for me.

martynepugh · February 2011

I don't believe in dieting, I lost my weight by cutting my portion sizes down and exercising regularly. So my message is fairly simple. There is no such thing as "cheating" you can have food that is high in calories but I would only have it once maybe twice a month. It also depends on how many pounds you want to lose.

So if you eat healthy food all week and get to saturday night and have fish and chips you are not going to put on 3lbs overnight. If you eat the whole portion of fish and chips and its fried in proccessed vegetable oil then its going to be high in calories. If you want the "treat" of fish and chips then thats fine but I would say eat about half the chips you get and perhaps just over half the fish.

I would also suggest using kitchen towel to take off the excess fat that the meal is cooked in.

There is no magic formula to keeping weight off, it really depends on what your body needs, every person is different what works for some may not work for others. A perfect example of this is myself, my weight loss has gone from losing 4-6lbs a week to 1-2lb a week for the last month and since last Monday I have done only 1 full gym workout where in previous weeks I did 3-4. You would expect me to stay the same weight this week or even gain a pound but I have lost 5 or 6 pounds this week???

Long response this BTW!! so sorry

So how do you keep it off ? short answer keep your body guessing do more one week less the next, eat your max calories one week try and lower it by 500 calories another week. I am currently looking into the science of this theory so please don't consider my theory correct if you dont want to but having lost nearly 125 pounds I think I am mostly right

OK everyone you can all wake up now I have stopped talking

Any advice to "keep it off" ?

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