I'm 60lbs over weight and don't know where to start
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I guess its the same advice, take it one meal at a time, try not to stress over the immediate results. Weight loss is gradual, look for the trend! Good luck.0
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Stay away/don’t eat foods that have carbs and sugars such as pasta, white bread, and white rice, eat foods that have protein in it such as chicken, beef, seafood, beans, eggs, brown rice and nuts. Foods with Carbs and high sugars turn into fat if not used up by the body, moreover limit all eating foods after 6 P.M. and stay away from all soda to include diet, drink water instead. Good Luck
This is decent advice for a type 2 diabetic with no kidney problems or those with other specific medical conditions. For the general population, a more balanced approach is usually better.0 -
Don't set yourself an aggressive goal like losing 60lb in 4 months. Instead work on making habit changes that will help you the rest of your life. Set yourself some simple goals - exercise at least 30 minutes each day and eat under your calorie goal. If you do those two things you will be healthier and lose weight before your wedding.
Exercise can be anything. You can start by working your way up to 30 minutes of brisk walking or if you are capable it can be something more. If you are using MFP for estimating your calorie burns from exercise, try not to eat more than 50% of those exercise calories back. It is very common to overestimate exercise calorie burns.
Although I try to eat a lot of protein, I'm not a fan of eliminating foods from what you eat. If it fits within your calorie goals, it is OK. So rice and beans aren't bad, just work on eating less of them or eating them less frequently. I still enjoy pizza, ice cream and other 'forbidden' foods when they fit in my calorie goal.
You did not gain the excess weight overnight, so it will not come off overnight either. If you are dedicated and you make changes you can live with, it will eventually come off.0 -
It sounds like you have realistic expectations which is good. You can still eat rice and beans, you just need to eat a sane amount within your limits. Read the threads posted in the beginning of the thread and get to work. Good luck and update us on your progress.0
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Need2Exerc1se wrote: »DevilsFan1 wrote: »All the advice you've been given is good. One other thing: stay here and read this board. You will learn a great amount about healthy eating and healthy weight loss. You'll learn what is true (weight gain is the result of eating more calories than you expend) and what is false (birth control shots can cause you to gain weight). The only thing that matters when it comes to weight loss is making sure you are consistently eating fewer calories than your body uses in a day. That's it. No magic formula. It's up to you to accurately track those calories. Stay here and you'll be a pro at it in no time.
Whoa! It is not untrue that birth control shots can cause you to gain weight. They can and do for many people. It's only untrue that they can cause you gain fat. Weight gain from meds can be very significant and frustrating, mostly because it can't be lost by creating a calorie deficit.
No. The shots may precipitate a change in metabolism or a change in appetite. They do not contribute to weight gain or loss themselves though. Weight gain is stored energy. That energy must come from somewhere. A pill itself contains little to no stored energy? So where is the extra energy coming from? It's coming from the food you ingest.0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Muscleflex79 wrote: »she said she got one shot though - no way one shot would make you gain 30 lbs!! as someone pointed out above, ongoing shots could have contributed to an increased appetite which leads to weight gain - but no way that one shot put on an immediate 30 lbs!!
I don't know if that's true or not as I'm not familiar with the shots. My point was, meds can cause weight gain and that weight can't necessarily be lost by a calorie deficit. People on these boards too often dismiss that. All weight is not fat.
Weight is either fat, muscle, bone or other tissue. The easiest weight to lose is either fat or muscle.
When you say weight can't be lost by a calorie deficit, what weight are you referring to?0 -
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Stay away/don’t eat foods that have carbs and sugars such as pasta, white bread, and white rice, eat foods that have protein in it such as chicken, beef, seafood, beans, eggs, brown rice and nuts. Foods with Carbs and high sugars turn into fat if not used up by the body, moreover limit all eating foods after 6 P.M. and stay away from all soda to include diet, drink water instead. Good Luck
Nope.0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Muscleflex79 wrote: »she said she got one shot though - no way one shot would make you gain 30 lbs!! as someone pointed out above, ongoing shots could have contributed to an increased appetite which leads to weight gain - but no way that one shot put on an immediate 30 lbs!!
I don't know if that's true or not as I'm not familiar with the shots. My point was, meds can cause weight gain and that weight can't necessarily be lost by a calorie deficit. People on these boards too often dismiss that. All weight is not fat.
So what is it then? Muscle? Bone?
Birth control causes increased appetite. It doesn't create "weight" of any kind out of no where.0 -
DevilsFan1 wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Muscleflex79 wrote: »she said she got one shot though - no way one shot would make you gain 30 lbs!! as someone pointed out above, ongoing shots could have contributed to an increased appetite which leads to weight gain - but no way that one shot put on an immediate 30 lbs!!
I don't know if that's true or not as I'm not familiar with the shots. My point was, meds can cause weight gain and that weight can't necessarily be lost by a calorie deficit. People on these boards too often dismiss that. All weight is not fat.
Weight is either fat, muscle, bone or other tissue. The easiest weight to lose is either fat or muscle.
When you say weight can't be lost by a calorie deficit, what weight are you referring to?
Water weight, which is nearly always what meds cause.0 -
DevilsFan1 wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »DevilsFan1 wrote: »All the advice you've been given is good. One other thing: stay here and read this board. You will learn a great amount about healthy eating and healthy weight loss. You'll learn what is true (weight gain is the result of eating more calories than you expend) and what is false (birth control shots can cause you to gain weight). The only thing that matters when it comes to weight loss is making sure you are consistently eating fewer calories than your body uses in a day. That's it. No magic formula. It's up to you to accurately track those calories. Stay here and you'll be a pro at it in no time.
Whoa! It is not untrue that birth control shots can cause you to gain weight. They can and do for many people. It's only untrue that they can cause you gain fat. Weight gain from meds can be very significant and frustrating, mostly because it can't be lost by creating a calorie deficit.
No. The shots may precipitate a change in metabolism or a change in appetite. They do not contribute to weight gain or loss themselves though. Weight gain is stored energy. That energy must come from somewhere. A pill itself contains little to no stored energy? So where is the extra energy coming from? It's coming from the food you ingest.
You are saying "weight" when you mean "fat".0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »DevilsFan1 wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Muscleflex79 wrote: »she said she got one shot though - no way one shot would make you gain 30 lbs!! as someone pointed out above, ongoing shots could have contributed to an increased appetite which leads to weight gain - but no way that one shot put on an immediate 30 lbs!!
I don't know if that's true or not as I'm not familiar with the shots. My point was, meds can cause weight gain and that weight can't necessarily be lost by a calorie deficit. People on these boards too often dismiss that. All weight is not fat.
Weight is either fat, muscle, bone or other tissue. The easiest weight to lose is either fat or muscle.
When you say weight can't be lost by a calorie deficit, what weight are you referring to?
Water weight, which is nearly always what meds cause.
So you're saying that OP gained 30lbs of water weight and kept that water weight on for several months or even years? I call BS0 -
forgtmenot wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »DevilsFan1 wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Muscleflex79 wrote: »she said she got one shot though - no way one shot would make you gain 30 lbs!! as someone pointed out above, ongoing shots could have contributed to an increased appetite which leads to weight gain - but no way that one shot put on an immediate 30 lbs!!
I don't know if that's true or not as I'm not familiar with the shots. My point was, meds can cause weight gain and that weight can't necessarily be lost by a calorie deficit. People on these boards too often dismiss that. All weight is not fat.
Weight is either fat, muscle, bone or other tissue. The easiest weight to lose is either fat or muscle.
When you say weight can't be lost by a calorie deficit, what weight are you referring to?
Water weight, which is nearly always what meds cause.
So you're saying that OP gained 30lbs of water weight and kept that water weight on for several months or even years? I call BS
No, I never said or suggested that.0 -
baby steps just keep moving, dont get discuraged make this a life style change not just a diet..0
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Need2Exerc1se wrote: »DevilsFan1 wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Muscleflex79 wrote: »she said she got one shot though - no way one shot would make you gain 30 lbs!! as someone pointed out above, ongoing shots could have contributed to an increased appetite which leads to weight gain - but no way that one shot put on an immediate 30 lbs!!
I don't know if that's true or not as I'm not familiar with the shots. My point was, meds can cause weight gain and that weight can't necessarily be lost by a calorie deficit. People on these boards too often dismiss that. All weight is not fat.
Weight is either fat, muscle, bone or other tissue. The easiest weight to lose is either fat or muscle.
When you say weight can't be lost by a calorie deficit, what weight are you referring to?
Water weight, which is nearly always what meds cause.
Have to agree with this-I had an acquaintance who sadly lost her battle with cancer in her 30s. Before she passed on she was on all sorts of medications (several which were experimental), and it was crazy to see how much weight she gained due to them. One week she added so much weight due to the meds, that she was almost unrecognizable. And that was in a week's time (I saw her every Sunday at church). Obviously she wasn't gaining the weight due to eating at a calorie surplus/gaining fat, but the meds were doing crazy things to her system.0 -
The good news is that if some of the weight gain due to meds is water, then it will come off more easily than fat will.
Agree with the poster who said it's all about portion control. Invest in a little food scale and see how much you're typically eating. It'll be eye-opening. Then go right ahead and continue to eat your favourite foods; just eat less of them at a time.0 -
Hi OP!
The great news is that this sounds like this is the first time you will be restricting calories.
You want to benefit from this and make sure you avoid setting yourself up for more rounds of the same!
Take a couple of days now and log a couple of your "normal" food days, just for comparison sake. Don't worry, just knowing you're logging them will already make you eat a bit less, so its not like you won't be working towards your goals.
Start thinking about maintenance!!!!
Well, we all know that you will reach your goal; but really, maintenance is where you will win the life-long battle.
At least in the beggining do not eat less than what your long term maintenance calories will be. Eventually you may have to, but do that for the least amount of time that you can.
Look at your day and figure out when/how you can be more active. Loving exercise and the gym are both great things; but, injuries and life do happen and people sometimes stop going. However, replacing some TV watching with a walk (or later on a jog) is probably something you can do longer term. Or go dancing with your fiancé, or...
Don't feel compelled to change everything you eat right away. Look at your portions, and look at how you eat and cook and if you are getting good value out of some of the things you eat (good value defined as feeling full longer for a given amount of calories, of course!)
Then make small changes that add up.
In the six months before MFP I bought 2 bottles of olive oil (down from double that during the previous six months). Since realizing how many calories I was getting from oil I still have more than 2/3 of the bottle I bought just before starting MFP! Rice and mash potatoes were other eye openers for me. 2 cups were just the starting sides for my protein... and had as many (or more) calories.
Don't feel the need to permanently ban any food. This doesn't mean you continue to eat the same amounts as before. Or as often. It just means that if you can fit it in your day (or your week) and you really really want it... go for it.
And don't be overwhelmed. Pick a reasonable small goal. Meet it. And then another. And another.
Take care!0 -
Great advice. The OP should avoid high carb foods and instead eat protein foods like brown rice and beans.Stay away/don’t eat foods that have carbs and sugars such as pasta, white bread, and white rice, eat foods that have protein in it such as chicken, beef, seafood, beans, eggs, brown rice and nuts. Foods with Carbs and high sugars turn into fat if not used up by the body, moreover limit all eating foods after 6 P.M. and stay away from all soda to include diet, drink water instead. Good Luck
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Need2Exerc1se wrote: »forgtmenot wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »DevilsFan1 wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Muscleflex79 wrote: »she said she got one shot though - no way one shot would make you gain 30 lbs!! as someone pointed out above, ongoing shots could have contributed to an increased appetite which leads to weight gain - but no way that one shot put on an immediate 30 lbs!!
I don't know if that's true or not as I'm not familiar with the shots. My point was, meds can cause weight gain and that weight can't necessarily be lost by a calorie deficit. People on these boards too often dismiss that. All weight is not fat.
Weight is either fat, muscle, bone or other tissue. The easiest weight to lose is either fat or muscle.
When you say weight can't be lost by a calorie deficit, what weight are you referring to?
Water weight, which is nearly always what meds cause.
So you're saying that OP gained 30lbs of water weight and kept that water weight on for several months or even years? I call BS
No, I never said or suggested that.
Are you skipping the step where BC can increase appetite which can cause overeating which causes weight gain? Or are you saying that the hormones change our basic physical makeup so we use less energy for the same tasks?0 -
Eat less and move more. Don't over think it. Find an exercise you enjoy doing, anything that gets you moving and do it.
Karen0 -
I can only speak from my experience but these are the things that helped me start. I made a motivation board and posted it in my bathroom to look at every morning with a pound count down. I weighed myself every morning just to remind myself that I should make good choices for the day, I created a list of 300 calorie meals high in protein for breKfast and lunch so that I just had to portion control whatever was for dinner. Examples include (Greek yogurt granola and berries, toast with peanut butter and bananas, cottage cheese avocado and tomatoes, boiled eggs and salad ) I worked out to create a calorie deficit if I went overboard on eating. I cut out cream and sugar in my coffee and pop. My first 3 months I lost 45 pounds. I've kind of tapered off since then but that largely due to some inconsistency on my part. I wasn't going to count calories in Las Vegas and I'm focusing on strength training0
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Need2Exerc1se wrote: »forgtmenot wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »DevilsFan1 wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Muscleflex79 wrote: »she said she got one shot though - no way one shot would make you gain 30 lbs!! as someone pointed out above, ongoing shots could have contributed to an increased appetite which leads to weight gain - but no way that one shot put on an immediate 30 lbs!!
I don't know if that's true or not as I'm not familiar with the shots. My point was, meds can cause weight gain and that weight can't necessarily be lost by a calorie deficit. People on these boards too often dismiss that. All weight is not fat.
Weight is either fat, muscle, bone or other tissue. The easiest weight to lose is either fat or muscle.
When you say weight can't be lost by a calorie deficit, what weight are you referring to?
Water weight, which is nearly always what meds cause.
So you're saying that OP gained 30lbs of water weight and kept that water weight on for several months or even years? I call BS
No, I never said or suggested that.
Are you skipping the step where BC can increase appetite which can cause overeating which causes weight gain? Or are you saying that the hormones change our basic physical makeup so we use less energy for the same tasks?
No, and no.0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »forgtmenot wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »DevilsFan1 wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Muscleflex79 wrote: »she said she got one shot though - no way one shot would make you gain 30 lbs!! as someone pointed out above, ongoing shots could have contributed to an increased appetite which leads to weight gain - but no way that one shot put on an immediate 30 lbs!!
I don't know if that's true or not as I'm not familiar with the shots. My point was, meds can cause weight gain and that weight can't necessarily be lost by a calorie deficit. People on these boards too often dismiss that. All weight is not fat.
Weight is either fat, muscle, bone or other tissue. The easiest weight to lose is either fat or muscle.
When you say weight can't be lost by a calorie deficit, what weight are you referring to?
Water weight, which is nearly always what meds cause.
So you're saying that OP gained 30lbs of water weight and kept that water weight on for several months or even years? I call BS
No, I never said or suggested that.
Are you skipping the step where BC can increase appetite which can cause overeating which causes weight gain? Or are you saying that the hormones change our basic physical makeup so we use less energy for the same tasks?
No, and no.
What other way could a pill cause weight gain in a caloric deficit? I'm honestly confused.
ETA let me rephrase: In what way do birth control pills cause weight gain in the absence of any behavioral changes?0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »DevilsFan1 wrote: »Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Muscleflex79 wrote: »she said she got one shot though - no way one shot would make you gain 30 lbs!! as someone pointed out above, ongoing shots could have contributed to an increased appetite which leads to weight gain - but no way that one shot put on an immediate 30 lbs!!
I don't know if that's true or not as I'm not familiar with the shots. My point was, meds can cause weight gain and that weight can't necessarily be lost by a calorie deficit. People on these boards too often dismiss that. All weight is not fat.
Weight is either fat, muscle, bone or other tissue. The easiest weight to lose is either fat or muscle.
When you say weight can't be lost by a calorie deficit, what weight are you referring to?
Water weight, which is nearly always what meds cause.
I guarantee OP didn't put on 30-60 lbs of weight from water retention. It's almost certainly fat to which birth control injections/pills contribute nothing. You're going off on a tangent that is completely irrelevent to the discussion.
I've seen way too many people who confuse water weight with fat (for instance, those people who think they've lost five pounds of fat after their Bikram yoga session). Water weight is easy to shed and has nothing to do with a healthy body composition.0 -
Congratulations on your upcoming wedding! So exciting! My advice:
1. Don't let MFP (myfitnesspal) choose how many calories you should eat by how much weight you ultimately want to lose. Instead, use MFP to find out an estimate of how many calories you need to "maintain" your current weight. This number will be useful for reference.
2. Start tracking what you eat everyday, and see how your intake on a typical day compares to your "maintenance" level of calories. Are you regularly eating at maintenance? Or higher/lower? (In my case, I was often eating quite a bit higher!)
3. Once you have an idea of how many calories you're eating on a typical day, manually adjust your calorie goal to something sustainable. What does that mean? If you're regularly eating more calories than needed for maintenance, you may be able to lose weight just by aiming for the maintenance level of calories or just under! If you're already eating around the suggested maintenance level, then aim for a couple hundred calories below that. This may not seem like a big calorie deficit, but it's sustainable and the weight will come off.
4. Try to get at least a half hour of walking everyday. It doesn't have to be speed walking, and it doesn't have to come all at once. You can walk for five minutes here, ten minutes there, etc.
I lost over 20 pounds in 6 months just by eating about 100 calories under my suggested "maintenance" level. Not super fast weight loss, but I never felt like I was starving and I've been able to maintain the loss without much effort!
Good luck, and I hope the rest of your engagement is not too stressful!0 -
alyssajesse4ever wrote: »alyssajesse4ever wrote: »So, I'm 60lbs over weight and don't know where to start. I'm getting married in 4 months! I could literally cry how much weight I've gained in such a short amount of time. I graduated in 2012, weighing my lowest of 114lbs, felt great.. But come on, it was high school.. Never really are out back then because we were kinda poor and ate homecooked meals on the daily, and not healthy ones, I'm hispanic so rice and beans are a must..as of 2015 I'm 60lbs over weight.. Getting married and have horrible eating habits. I think once I left the nest and was on my own my fiancé and I ate out often, on dates and just to do it. I did take one shot of birth control that many women said made them gain at least 30lbs. I'm convinced that's what made the 30lbs come and the other 30 from me just not being healthy. Anyway I have no idea where to start. I've already switched up my diet and added more salads, love them for lunch. But I don't know what do do at all I've never had to loose weight like this before. If anyone has tips please help me out! Thank you!
I forgot to make it clear that I do NOT expect to lose all 60lbs in 4 months!
I would be completly happy even if I lost 15. I just need a little help on where to start because I've always been pretty small my entire life and have never had to lose weight much less 60lbs.
You've got a great attitude and that is half the battle! When I started using MFP last October I didn't know where to start either and by February (4 months) I'd lost about 18 lbs., had run my first 5K, dropped several sizes and felt great! You can definitely do a lot in four months, but the best thing in my opinion is to do whatever it takes to make this experience as pleasant as possible so you are happy to stick with it!
I also love my beans and rice. To be honest, I do eat a lot less of it since I started logging everything, especially if I don't know how it was made, but I will make my own cilantro rice and grilled chicken tacos are a staple in my diet.
For me the key has been logging EVERYTHING for the first time in my life. Logging 75% of my meals didn't cut it, neither did logging most days. It wasn't until I started logging EVERYTHING that everything really started to click. The Sexypants link someone gave above is awesome, but dont' get overwhelmed, just start! In four months, you'll be so happy you did! Best of luck!
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+1forgtmenot wrote: »Stay away/don’t eat foods that have carbs and sugars such as pasta, white bread, and white rice, eat foods that have protein in it such as chicken, beef, seafood, beans, eggs, brown rice and nuts. Foods with Carbs and high sugars turn into fat if not used up by the body, moreover limit all eating foods after 6 P.M. and stay away from all soda to include diet, drink water instead. Good Luck
Please don't take this person's advice. This is literally all BS.
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I read someone here say that you're probably feeling a bit overwhelmed and they're right - It can be such a daunting thought and the numbers are what make it feel worse. Realistically, you could lose up to 32lbs in the 16 weeks you have running up to your wedding. That's a healthy, 2lbs a week loss that will stay off longer than anything you lose using a dangerous fad diet. Trust me - it can be done. I've been on this site for 12 weeks and it would be great to make some friends. If anyone want's to add me so we can help each other then please do!0
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I started out 60 lbs overweight too. Almost 3 years later I have lost all but 10 pounds of it, and have not gained it back -- the most important part. I made vegetables and salads the main dish at every meal and taught myself to eat mostly the most nutritious foods possible (all sorts of vegetables and fruits, lots of different beans and legumes, nuts and seeds, a bit of grains like rice and quinoa, whole foods over processed foods) whenever possible. I highly recommend the Forks Over Knives website for some great recipes! It took me awhile to learn to cook nutritious meals, learn about high-nutrient, low-calorie foods, retrain my taste buds, figure out how to control my cravings and to work exercise into my daily routine. I'm still working at it, and probably will for the rest of my life. That's okay by me. I'm at a healthy weight now and I feel so good! So find something that works for you, that you can maintain for the rest of your life, forget about ever going back to the habits that got you fat in the first place, and start looking forward to teaching yourself how to live healthy long into old age. If an old dog like me can do it, a young pup like you can do it too.0
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