Need to lose forty pounds and stay healthy!

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Alexzandrealee
Alexzandrealee Posts: 5 Member
in Getting Started
Looking for tips support whatever!! I just want the weight gone! In nursing school so it's hard!

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  • Derf_Smeggle
    Derf_Smeggle Posts: 610 Member
    edited October 2015
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    Calories In, Calories Out (CICO) is the "not-so-secret" secret.

    * Eating habits are key
    * Weigh/measure your food
    --- Don't guess/estimate
    * Eating fat does not make one gain weight
    --- Eating too many calories does
    * Log everything

    The personal habits that I'm building that work for myself are:

    * Eating 5 to 6 times.
    * Drinking water, water, water
    * Cutting out my extraneous sugar/sweets
    * Cook in large quantities because I can't cook everyday.
    * Veggies stir fried with butter or coconut oil, small quantities of chicken with skin, or beef with some fat on it.
    --- The fat keeps me satiated longer
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    Eat right, exercise and GET ENOUGH SLEEP. Input that in big letters because 1) It's important and 2) Students never do! So, try.

    I'm thinking that while you're in school, they'll cover how to eat right and a little bit about why it's a good idea. Pay attention. :) You have to take a PE credit or two, right? Take swimming. Burn those calories off! :)

    Good luck in school and on your weight loss journey.
  • Alexzandrealee
    Alexzandrealee Posts: 5 Member
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    Thanks!! No we don't have to take a P.E. Credit. But I joined the gym Friday and plan on going every morning and evening. I gave up Mountain Dew that was my biggest problem.
  • FarewellBlues
    FarewellBlues Posts: 66 Member
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    Hey! I'm going for my PhD in physics right now -- it's really hard to balance everything with erratic school schedules, teaching or work commitments, getting enough sleep and still having enough energy to make healthy stuff and exercise.

    Some things I've been doing, that have been working so far:
    -I park my car farther away and walk in (it's up big hill so I feel like I get a mini-workout) or I just walk from home.
    -I cook a giant batch of something on Sunday and then eat it for most of the week.
    -I do a quick 20 pushups, 50 situps, and 50 lunges/squats before bed (and in the morning, when I wake up in time!)
    -I've stopped eating out, and keep nuts and veggies in my office for when I'm snacky. **This is a big help.
    -I weigh almost everything on a food scale. (I'm a little OCD, but I'm a short, not-that-big person to begin with so I don't have a huge margin of error if I'm trying to eat in a deficit). This also really helps with portion control.
    -I usually only eat 1-2 meals/day. Some people find that eating more often helps, I find it just makes me hungry more often. Play around with this and find out what works for you.
    -I keep this really cute dress that's a bit too small hanging on my bedroom door. I want to wear it!

    Make small changes in your habits that will eventually just become a part of your daily routine. But most importantly, don't make all of them at once! Take on one or two a week, and add more on as you become more comfortable with them. Same goes for eating good, nutritious food -- if you focus on adding it in instead of eliminating empty calories and restricting "bad" food, eventually the healthy stuff just displaces most of it. It will just come naturally.

    I added you as a friend, hopefully we can support each other. Good luck!
  • lisathestylist2
    lisathestylist2 Posts: 6 Member
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    Good luck you can do it just keep your calories in check it's hard to get started but once it's a lifestyle the rest will fall in place
  • healthy_lovez
    healthy_lovez Posts: 36 Member
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    Good luck! I'm on the same journey just a little more weight to lose. Feel free to add me. I am on here daily :)
  • shagoaly
    shagoaly Posts: 8 Member
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    Cut out as much sugar and carbs as you can . Sugar drives you to want more .

    Live by your daily goals set here on MFP. If you are given 1500 calories try to stay in that range.

    Prep your meal it can be daily every other day or weekly it really helps you stay focused and less stressed about eating right.


    Dont beat up your self your journey is only as strong as you continue to be. If you want to cheat just remeber portion control we all dip and dab in things we want or need to cut out .

    Start activities-walking cardio lift anything to ger to moving .

    Best Wishes
  • smozingo100
    smozingo100 Posts: 2 Member
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    I can relate! Nursing School in a hard thing to do on its own, without adding something like increasing exercise and changing eating habits. One thing that helped me was applying what I learned in school to my own life.
  • dubird
    dubird Posts: 1,849 Member
    edited October 2015
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    1. Start by weighing and logging EVERYTHING for a week. This will give you a baseline on what you're doing now, and help you identify patterns you need to change. It will be a shock to see where you're at, but keep in mind you're going to change that! Then, start with one change. Swap out a high calorie food for a low calorie food, or maybe teach yourself what a single serving of a couple things are and stick with it. Once you get used to it, change something else. This doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing change! It's perfectly ok to start slow and build on it. And yes, it's a very slow process! But in doing so, you're learning what proper portions are and retraining your brain and body to see that. That's how you will keep the weight off when you hit your goal.

    2. There are no magic foods or magic diets to make it easier. Yes, a lot of the diet plans will help you lose weight, but once you hit your target and go off them, the weight comes back. What you need to do is change your eating habits to something that you feel comfortable sustaining. I'm not saying don't try the low carb, or Atkins, or whatever diet plan you want. It's fine to try things, but if you do one for a week or two and hate it and can't see yourself continuing it for the rest of your life, it's not for you. Remember, losing weight is simply a function of burning more calories than you consume. HOW you do that is up to you.

    3. There also are no evil foods. Some people have allergies or sensitivities to certain things, and yeah, they gotta avoid them. But sugar or carbs or whatever don't make people gain weight in and of themselves. It's the AMOUNT that's the problem. If you find you can't eat just one breadstick, cut them out for a while until you've learned better habits. If you find that you open a bag of cookies and finish it off, banish the bag of cookies from your house. Not saying you can't have a cookie, but if you really want one, go to the gas station and just get one or two. That's much easier to fit into your daily calories and you won't binge on them. Remember, it's not the food itself that is the problem, the problem is you've gotten used to eating large amounts of that food and you need to train yourself to better eating habits.

    4. You will make mistakes. Everyone has off days, unexpected dinners out, celebrations and holidays, days where you just don't care. That's fine, it's normal, just log it and start fresh next day. Going over doesn't make you a failure and won't sabotage your progress. Just makes you human.

    5. Exercise isn't necessary for weight loss. You can lose weight just by controlling your calories in. Now, exercise is good for a lot of other things, so if you can add something, go for it. It's ok to start that slow and build on it too. But if you can't or don't want to add exercise at this point in time, you can still lose weight. Focus on learning how to control your calories in for now, and add exercise for heath reasons when you can.
  • CampLondon
    CampLondon Posts: 239 Member
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    You can join my Super bowl weight L challenge it is nearly halfway through.
  • jimsetzer
    jimsetzer Posts: 3 Member
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    Hey there, please add me...

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