Sick of the shakes, weight watchers and other plans...

laralosingit42
laralosingit42 Posts: 84 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am sure I will get made fun of for being so stupid to think any shake weight loss plan could work but I have now fallen for it twice. Once because I truly was sold on the idea of shakeology / beachbody ( like their workouts but honestly would rather go for a walk or run outside.
Secondly, one of my online Facebook friends started hounding me about Isagenix. This was actually a friend of mine and she just kept selling it to a point where I was like " fine! I will try it". My problem is I get bored of eating the same thing daily and drinking two of my meals daily does work but bores the tears out of me. I went on the Isagenix cleanse and went all out and on two shakes daily but then I started my women's cycle early and something in their products makes me bleed out of control ( sorry TMI) and have my cycle too often and even spot in between. I am usually the opposite and have trouble starting my cycle . Even after finally stopping the products my cycles took two months to go back to normal . I know they are full of herbs but for me those herbs were harmful, if I had kept on that program I would have ended up anemic.
I am trying to hard to find a program that is convenient for me to lose. I have a lot to lose but the weight loss industry has gone a bit nuts with all these shakes for the past few years, super low carb diets , and things like weight watcher points becoming so complicated that their plan feels too much like an actual " diet" and not a way I could live my life.
Sorry for the rant but I used to be super healthy and at a good weight. I got into some bad habits and gained a lot ( also due to a medical issue that is now resolved ) . I just want to eat good foods but keep it simple and convenient because of my job I do not have time to cook and am a really bad cook too ( that is why I thought shakes would work well for me). I used to do very well on weight watchers before they changed their structure and make their points so hard to undestand it was ridiculous . I want/ need support and ideas for easy lunches ( my most difficult meal of the day because I am not creative with food and my work makes it hard).
I am just having a hard time finding a good plan and way to eat to help me shed pounds fast. Something where I don't have to spend hours figuring out meal plans: easy ideas.. I also want support where I can go weigh in somewhere weekly and be supported or be part of a group to feel accountable. I just do not know where to start. Help?

Replies

  • crazyycatladyy1
    crazyycatladyy1 Posts: 156 Member
    edited May 2017
    Weight loss happens when the correct calorie deficit for your weight loss goals happens. It really is as simple as that.
  • crooked_left_hook
    crooked_left_hook Posts: 364 Member
    I don't follow any plan, just eat the foods you like, measure them accurately, log, and stay within your calorie goals. I second @cmriverside on the simple meals. You can throw a chicken breast and a bunch of broccoli and cauliflower in a casserole dish, cover, and bake at 350 for 30 minutes for starters. My boyfriend ate that every night for a year after his divorce until he met me and we started learning to cook together. Chilis and crockpot stews are also great, simple options.

    As far as cooking goes, after I got divorced two years ago I couldn't cook either. I signed up for Hello Fresh to learn (meeting my boyfriend was the motivation). Within 6 months I was modifying recipes, now I make up my own recipes that friends and family ask for. I still use the service two weeks a month for new ideas. Sometimes the calories on the meals are high, but if you sub cooking spray for oil it brings almost all of them within a decent range. If your just one person the two person plan is dinner one night, lunch the next. You might consider trying I to help demystify cooking which makes things a lot easier.

    Another thing that helps me is to enter my meals into MFP on Sunday for the entire week. This is how I give myself structure so I stay focused. I use recipes that I can eat for 2-3 meals (3 is my max) so I don't have to cook as often. Pre-planning helps me make sure I stay within my calorie goals, I know I have something good on hand to eat, and I only buy what I need for the week (less impulse buys in the cookie isle).

    Hope this helps!
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
    edited May 2017
    I started out eating what I normally, just pre-logged everything when I could to make sure it fit my calorie goal. Then I tweaked it slowly over time to eat more veggies (because they have fiber and volume for low cals) and then to increase protein (because it makes me feel fuller). I just eat regular food in appropriate portions. I find batch prepping and pre-logging really helps.

    Start by just accurately logging what you usually eat. Then take a look at your log and start to tweak your meals so you can hit your calorie goal. Allow yourself treats every once and awhile. Get a food scale. For weight loss calories are king. Good luck!
  • laralosingit42
    laralosingit42 Posts: 84 Member
    Thank you. I need to lose 100 lbs at least.i am upset that I let myself get like this but ready to do something about it. The old things that worked for me years ago like weight watchers has gone to crap. Smartpoints makes no sense and they do not have a good forum
    Anymore for support. I like myfitnesspal pal but feel like I want to join some sort of support group and get recipe ideas and have support with the same group weekly. I know Facebook has pages like that but I need to find a true home of people I can talk to about my weight loss struggles. Get encouragement and motivation. I like this site so much but not sure which group would be right for me. Suggestions ?
  • spiffychick85
    spiffychick85 Posts: 311 Member
    Take a deep breath...you can do this. I didn't teach myself how to cook until I was 30 and wanted to surprise my hubby on Valentine's Day...seriously I had never cooked meat of any kind before this :D Now I'm the only cook in the house. I use food blogs for recipes with nutritional info to get me started. Skinnytaste.com, skinnyms.com, hungrygirl, emilybites...pinterest is great to look at too for more options. I sit down on Saturday mornings with my cup of coffee and print out my weekly recipes...then make a grocery list...then shop. If there is meal prep involved I use Sunday as a head start. Any recipes my family likes as a "keeper" I place in a binder for future use. Good Luck! :)
  • Luna3386
    Luna3386 Posts: 888 Member
    My faves are the precooked Tyson chicken breast strips... So quick to warm up. I have quesadillas, sandwiches, salads with those. Or I make lean beef and have tacos or taco salad all week.

    Overnight oats for any meal or snack- oats, protein powder, Greek yogurt and blueberries.

    Cottage cheese with parmesan cheese or blueberries. Greek yogurt with fruit.

  • laralosingit42
    laralosingit42 Posts: 84 Member
    spiffychick85 wrote: »
    Take a deep breath...you can do this. I didn't teach myself how to cook until I was 30 and wanted to surprise my hubby on Valentine's Day...seriously I had never cooked meat of any kind before this :D Now I'm the only cook in the house. I use food blogs for recipes with nutritional info to get me started. Skinnytaste.com, skinnyms.com, hungrygirl, emilybites...pinterest is great to look at too for more options. I sit down on Saturday mornings with my cup of coffee and print out my weekly recipes...then make a grocery list...then shop. If there is meal prep involved I use Sunday as a head start. Any recipes my family likes as a "keeper" I place in a binder for future use. Good Luck! :)

    Thank you. The issue is my husband says to me literally daily " how much weight did you lose this week" and I find myself so anxious that I did it or a small loss I go off the rails and binge eat. He tells me I stopped caring how I look but I know he means well. He watched me gain weight for the last 10 years and he never started being hard on me until the past two years as he is worried about my health. But I get angry and rebellious like " he is not going to tell me what and how to eat" and I eat bad things almost in rebellion.
    He is under the impression I need to be vegan, use shakes, or something drastic to lose this weight fast. I keep telling him that it will take time and I do not want to be vegan, etc. if I eat two eggs and log it on here he thinks I am eating bad stuff ( eggs are bad?). But again in his defense he got very sick years ago and is just hyper sensitive about what we put in our bodies. Anyway, I cannot blame him for what I have let myself turn into. But for some reason I end up resenting him but think I am just using that as an excuse to not truly making real changes , not just be on a diet but a new way of eating I can live with forever.
  • crooked_left_hook
    crooked_left_hook Posts: 364 Member
    laralosingit42 wrote: »
    spiffychick85 wrote: »
    Take a deep breath...you can do this. I didn't teach myself how to cook until I was 30 and wanted to surprise my hubby on Valentine's Day...seriously I had never cooked meat of any kind before this :D Now I'm the only cook in the house. I use food blogs for recipes with nutritional info to get me started. Skinnytaste.com, skinnyms.com, hungrygirl, emilybites...pinterest is great to look at too for more options. I sit down on Saturday mornings with my cup of coffee and print out my weekly recipes...then make a grocery list...then shop. If there is meal prep involved I use Sunday as a head start. Any recipes my family likes as a "keeper" I place in a binder for future use. Good Luck! :)

    Thank you. The issue is my husband says to me literally daily " how much weight did you lose this week" and I find myself so anxious that I did it or a small loss I go off the rails and binge eat. He tells me I stopped caring how I look but I know he means well. He watched me gain weight for the last 10 years and he never started being hard on me until the past two years as he is worried about my health. But I get angry and rebellious like " he is not going to tell me what and how to eat" and I eat bad things almost in rebellion.
    He is under the impression I need to be vegan, use shakes, or something drastic to lose this weight fast. I keep telling him that it will take time and I do not want to be vegan, etc. if I eat two eggs and log it on here he thinks I am eating bad stuff ( eggs are bad?). But again in his defense he got very sick years ago and is just hyper sensitive about what we put in our bodies. Anyway, I cannot blame him for what I have let myself turn into. But for some reason I end up resenting him but think I am just using that as an excuse to not truly making real changes , not just be on a diet but a new way of eating I can live with forever.

    Honestly, talking with a counselor might help you figure out why you over eat and how to deal with your husband. I would start by being very honest with him that his comment are hurting you and making you feel resentful, but then tell him what he can do to help. Neither I nor my boyfriend were eating well when we met so I used eating better as a reason to learn to cook. Seeing him eat more consistently (he ate only once a day!) and hearing him say how much he appreciates my cooking and helping him eat better motivates me to keep at it. Then he started helping me cook and it's turned in to a thing we enjoy together. The one thing I learned in my ex-marriage that you have to be direct about telling your partner how you feel AND what you need from them for support, otherwise you can't get mad when they don't get it right.

    Also, this weight loss journey is yours and only yours. You eat what YOU need to to lose weight, not what he thinks you need to eat. Your body, your goals, your decision. This change in eating habits has to be for life so if your "diet plan" isn't something you are willing to live with forever, it's not the right one. For me it simply means eating my normal foods (including fast food, bread, rice, meat, butter, sugary foods, and processed foods) in smaller amounts.
  • MissusMoon
    MissusMoon Posts: 1,900 Member
    Buy a food scale, find a community, don't pay for woo, scams, or things that are charging you for CICO. I've lost 151 pounds eating whatever I wanted, and I have been through absolute crisis the last four months. You don't need anyone telling you one food is the devil, or you need to pay for their "magic". You need to weigh and log your food, move more, and do you.
  • spiffychick85
    spiffychick85 Posts: 311 Member
    [quote= Thank you. The issue is my husband says to me literally daily " how much weight did you lose this week" and I find myself so anxious that I did it or a small loss I go off the rails and binge eat. He tells me I stopped caring how I look but I know he means well. He watched me gain weight for the last 10 years and he never started being hard on me until the past two years as he is worried about my health. But I get angry and rebellious like " he is not going to tell me what and how to eat" and I eat bad things almost in rebellion.
    He is under the impression I need to be vegan, use shakes, or something drastic to lose this weight fast. I keep telling him that it will take time and I do not want to be vegan, etc. if I eat two eggs and log it on here he thinks I am eating bad stuff ( eggs are bad?). But again in his defense he got very sick years ago and is just hyper sensitive about what we put in our bodies. Anyway, I cannot blame him for what I have let myself turn into. But for some reason I end up resenting him but think I am just using that as an excuse to not truly making real changes , not just be on a diet but a new way of eating I can live with forever.[/quote]

    Ok...so, First off this needs to be for you! Not your husband...I get trying to make him happy (I'm a wife too :) ) but not to the extent I feel l guilty. You haven't done anything wrong...even if you gained a bunch of weight...there's nothing "wrong" with it...you just ate at excess and you'll lose in a deficit...period...it's science...you will lose it in a deficit. Don't resent him or yourself....do this for you :)
  • laralosingit42
    laralosingit42 Posts: 84 Member
    crooked_left_hook wrote: »
    laralosingit42 wrote: »
    spiffychick85 wrote: »
    Take a deep breath...you can do this. I didn't teach myself how to cook until I was 30 and wanted to surprise my hubby on Valentine's Day...seriously I had never cooked meat of any kind before this :D Now I'm the only cook in the house. I use food blogs for recipes with nutritional info to get me started. Skinnytaste.com, skinnyms.com, hungrygirl, emilybites...pinterest is great to look at too for more options. I sit down on Saturday mornings with my cup of coffee and print out my weekly recipes...then make a grocery list...then shop. If there is meal prep involved I use Sunday as a head start. Any recipes my family likes as a "keeper" I place in a binder for future use. Good Luck! :)

    Thank you. The issue is my husband says to me literally daily " how much weight did you lose this week" and I find myself so anxious that I did it or a small loss I go off the rails and binge eat. He tells me I stopped caring how I look but I know he means well. He watched me gain weight for the last 10 years and he never started being hard on me until the past two years as he is worried about my health. But I get angry and rebellious like " he is not going to tell me what and how to eat" and I eat bad things almost in rebellion.
    He is under the impression I need to be vegan, use shakes, or something drastic to lose this weight fast. I keep telling him that it will take time and I do not want to be vegan, etc. if I eat two eggs and log it on here he thinks I am eating bad stuff ( eggs are bad?). But again in his defense he got very sick years ago and is just hyper sensitive about what we put in our bodies. Anyway, I cannot blame him for what I have let myself turn into. But for some reason I end up resenting him but think I am just using that as an excuse to not truly making real changes , not just be on a diet but a new way of eating I can live with forever.

    Honestly, talking with a counselor might help you figure out why you over eat and how to deal with your husband. I would start by being very honest with him that his comment are hurting you and making you feel resentful, but then tell him what he can do to help. Neither I nor my boyfriend were eating well when we met so I used eating better as a reason to learn to cook. Seeing him eat more consistently (he ate only once a day!) and hearing him say how much he appreciates my cooking and helping him eat better motivates me to keep at it. Then he started helping me cook and it's turned in to a thing we enjoy together. The one thing I learned in my ex-marriage that you have to be direct about telling your partner how you feel AND what you need from them for support, otherwise you can't get mad when they don't get it right.

    Also, this weight loss journey is yours and only yours. You eat what YOU need to to lose weight, not what he thinks you need to eat. Your body, your goals, your decision. This change in eating habits has to be for life so if your "diet plan" isn't something you are willing to live with forever, it's not the right one. For me it simply means eating my normal foods (including fast food, bread, rice, meat, butter, sugary foods, and processed foods) in smaller

    Thank you for everyone's input !
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
    edited May 2017
    laralosingit42 wrote: »
    spiffychick85 wrote: »
    Take a deep breath...you can do this. I didn't teach myself how to cook until I was 30 and wanted to surprise my hubby on Valentine's Day...seriously I had never cooked meat of any kind before this :D Now I'm the only cook in the house. I use food blogs for recipes with nutritional info to get me started. Skinnytaste.com, skinnyms.com, hungrygirl, emilybites...pinterest is great to look at too for more options. I sit down on Saturday mornings with my cup of coffee and print out my weekly recipes...then make a grocery list...then shop. If there is meal prep involved I use Sunday as a head start. Any recipes my family likes as a "keeper" I place in a binder for future use. Good Luck! :)

    Thank you. The issue is my husband says to me literally daily " how much weight did you lose this week" and I find myself so anxious that I did it or a small loss I go off the rails and binge eat. He tells me I stopped caring how I look but I know he means well. He watched me gain weight for the last 10 years and he never started being hard on me until the past two years as he is worried about my health. But I get angry and rebellious like " he is not going to tell me what and how to eat" and I eat bad things almost in rebellion.
    He is under the impression I need to be vegan, use shakes, or something drastic to lose this weight fast. I keep telling him that it will take time and I do not want to be vegan, etc. if I eat two eggs and log it on here he thinks I am eating bad stuff ( eggs are bad?). But again in his defense he got very sick years ago and is just hyper sensitive about what we put in our bodies. Anyway, I cannot blame him for what I have let myself turn into. But for some reason I end up resenting him but think I am just using that as an excuse to not truly making real changes , not just be on a diet but a new way of eating I can live with forever.

    I have major issues with this. Your husband should be SUPPORTING AND ENCOURAGING YOU not making you feel BAD or guilty or anxious.

    My fiance loves me as I am. Hell, even my *kitten* ex loved me as i was, and that was 80 pounds heavier. My fiance wants me to be healthy, regardless of weight. Maybe im lucky, but he knows how long it took me to lose the 80 pounds i lost (2 years) and knows losing the rest is also a slow process. He also knows I know FAR more about ALL of it than he does. He sees me go to the gym every day (well, ive had hell the past year and been bad about it but slowly getting better about it again lol), watch what I eat, get regular check ups, etc. He knows my blood work and vitals are TEXTBOOK perfect. He only wants the best for me, as I do for myself.

    Fortunately, hes not a dick about it (cause if he was, I wouldnt be with him).

    Take care of you. Keep going. If you are not already, weigh all your food on a digital scale. Learn how to find the accurate food entries in the database. Get regular exercise.

    Eat REAL food. not shakes, not fad diets. REAL FOOD. Lean proteins, veggies, fruits. Eat as little as possible from processed convenience items. I eat different food, every night for dinner. My breakfasts and lunch are usually pretty standard day to day. Planning meals in advance can help.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    laralosingit42 wrote: »
    I am just having a hard time finding a good plan and way to eat to help me shed pounds fast. Something where I don't have to spend hours figuring out meal plans: easy ideas.. I also want support where I can go weigh in somewhere weekly and be supported or be part of a group to feel accountable. I just do not know where to start. Help?

    You can have fast OR you can have healthy.....you can't have both. Contrary to sales pitches made by companies selling diet products fast weight loss is always a massive calorie deficit. They only time that can be healthy is when you are obese.

    You don't need a plan. You just need to tweak your current diet. Make improvements; smaller portions, more whole foods, fewer snacks (if that's an issue). A plan makes all the choices for you, then when you get to goal what is your maintenance plan? A large majority of people fail at maintenance. Learning how to change your current diet gives you knowledge for maintenance.

    There are GROUPS here (menu above). I'm not sure if you will find something with active weekly weigh-ins or not. An in person group for weekly weigh-ins would be Weight Watchers.
  • tealtortoise
    tealtortoise Posts: 53 Member
    It sounds like you feel you need some kind of actual program. What about a program like Jenny Craig. You have someone to hold you accountable and I think you get all the food there...that way you don't have to cook from scratch. I don't know too much about it...just an idea.
  • vivelajackie
    vivelajackie Posts: 321 Member
    I think your husband means well, considering he went through his own ordeal with health... That being said, you need to sit him down and tell him his approach is detrimental toward your own success and experience regarding food. Too often we glorify the quick weight loss and demonize foods as being bad. At 100lbs to lose, you can safely lose 2lbs a week but I wouldn't push for more to keep you at something sustainable. Also, there are going to be weeks where you don't lose even at a deficit, but it'll show later. Weight loss is strange like that.

    There are accountability groups here in the forums and recipe advice. I went from being intimated by food to excited to try new things. It just takes practice, which is the same for logging what you eat. Good luck!

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