need to lose weight for health reasons.

last year I found myself in the same situation and did really well, however this winter have gained almost all my weight back.....but from lack of self control.

I found that counting calories (which was recommended by my dr.......I have developed diabetes) was the only effective way I have ever lost weight.

I stuck with between 1200 and 1400 calories daily.

300 calorie breakfast trying to stay around 45 carbs - no more than 60
100 calorie snack - 15 carbs
300 calorie lunch - 45 to 60 carbs
100 calorie snack - 15 carbs
300 to 400 calorie dinner - no more than 60 carbs
and a 100 calorie snack in the evenings if needed.

I would excercise 3 to 5 times a week.....found I really like the walking tapes by Leslie Samsone, which can be found anywhere. For someone who never regualary excercised, this is doable.

There are all kinds of free websights with meal plans for the week and several good receipes on this websight. Be open and try new things. My favorite sights that helped me get started and gave me ideas was "spark people" and "one touch gold".....however I prefer this websight by far for tracking my daily counts and encouragement.

Good luck.
Good luck, you can do this.

You are probably scared and really want to loose the weight quickly but losing too fast will be unhealthy too. I assume you are under a doctor's care so any advice you do get you should also discuss with your doctor before trying it out (especially on the exercise). I'm 39 and losing gets harder as you get older but if I can do it you can too!

I had been yo-yo dieting for years when I finally decided that slow and steady would be the best way to loose and keep of the weight. I started with small lifestyle changes in my eating and exercise habits. I started by cutting out all sauces,dressings, changed from cream to milk in my coffee (all those extras that add up), drank water instead of diet soda, and started walking for 30 minutes a day. I lost 5 lbs in 2 weeks just from that. Then I moved on to the carbs...I started by cutting my servings of carbs in half and increasing my vegetables to fill the gap. Another 12 lbs in 4 weeks. I was finally getting excited and knew it would work. Of course, I'd also weaned myself off the junk food which was easier to do than just stopping outright once I saw results . I started going to the gym and got a good strength training program as the more muscle you have the more calories your body burns, still did my daily walks, and continued to change my eating habits. Remember that as you gain muscle tone the scale may not show as much of a weight decrease so it's important to track your measurements. Often times you'll be losing inches but not pounds as you are losing the fat and adding muscle which is more compact and dense.

Instead of bread I started eating Wasa or Ryvita, a bit messier to eat tuna or egg salad with no mayo but a tsp of mustard helps it to stick together and gives flavor, Very filling and high in fiber. Getting over snacking was difficult so I started drinking flavorful herbal teas to help ease the cravings for those after dinner snacks. I now use a wide variety of spices to help flavor food...experiment and have fun. For example, to make a lemon chicken stir fry you need chicken, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, snap peas, lemon pepper seasoning, lemons (2), 1 tbsp of olive oil. Brown cut chicken in olive oil adding lemon pepper seasoning at the 1/2 way point, once brown cut and squeeze juice from 1 lemon over chicken, add vegetables, cut and squeeze juice from remaining lemon over the veggies, stir fry until veggies are at desired tenderness and serve. No rice as there are carbs in the veggies. No sauce but tons of flavor!

Make sure you are still getting enough calcium as this helps to eliminate fat and at our age we need to be concerned about the beginning of osteoporosis. Get a good supplement if you need to.

Again, talk to your doctor but getting a vitamin regime will help too. B vitamins help with stress and losing weight can be stressful. Especially if you are the only one in the household trying to change your ways. Inadvertantly my husband has also lost weight as he now basically eats what I do with the exception that he still eats bread and likes a carb (rice, potatoes, or a bun) at every meal. I just make an extra side for him and most days I don't miss it. It means that I'm now the one that does 95% of the cooking but it's for my benefit. With my schedule I'm not always home for supper so I will pre-cook and either eat before I leave or once I get home. Hubby likes it because after working he doesn't have to do a thing. Relax, don't panic, and stay focused. You can do this! :happy:

With my work I can't usually pack my own lunch so eating out can be challenging. Most restaurants, however are very accomodating. Generally I'll order some type of salad with no dressing and grilled chicken or salmon with no sauce and no bread (if they don't bring it to the table there is no temptation). Try to find a salad where they sprinkle with nuts or lots of other veggies. If I'm splurging and ordering a beef dip I'll order it with 1/2 the bun, and a salad (no dressing) instead of fries.

In total, at my lowest weight, I had lost 50 lbs. My problem now is that I still tend to bounce back up on occassion. My focus is now on getting down and maintaining. I have discovered though that if I consitently work out my body is actually happier at 5lbs higher than my lowest weight because I am better toned. Because I live in a climate with long, cold winters my exercise gets cut back, my eating quickly gets out of control over the Christmas season and it's hard to get it back in line. This year I'm determined not to let that happen! :mad:

Just remember there is no quick solution. As babies we have to crawl before we walk and walk before we run and this is the same way. Along the way we fall too. Just pick yourself up and keep trying! :flowerforyou:

Good for you in taking the first step! You can do it!

One of the best things for me is that it's summer, so the pool is open. My local pool had a class on pool workouts that helped me so much in trying to figure out what to do (even holding on to the side kicking burns alot of calories!) It's also great because it's low impact and I just can't take high impact stuff like kickboxing anymore.

As for menus and food, I've mostly done what others have said - substitute out bad for good. One of my family's new favorites is stuffed bell peppers for dinner (made with ground turkey). I don't put cheese on mine and add in a TON of veggies that I have thrown in the cuisinart to disguise (for my husband who thinks all veggies except potatoes are evil - shh, don't tell him that I put things like carrots and celery in there). It's flavorful and much better than eating hamburgers and fries or pizza!

I have cut down on the sodium and upped my water intake (Seltzer water, but it counts). I had no idea that we were eating that much sodium, and since I've reduced it in my cooking my husband's blood pressure has gone from high elevated to almost normal.

As for drinking the water, it helps me feel full. I was a big soda drinker, so having bubbles makes me happy (note that club soda has sodium though).

Oh, and when I really want something that I know is bad for me, I brush my teeth and rinse with mothwash. If I still want it after that, I wait an hour. Then I'll let myself have a half portion. It helps me train my brain and ease into the whole healthy eating thing.

I also invested in little cute food containers and put small (50, 100 or 200 calorie - different colors are different calories) portions of snacks in them. I spend about 2 hours one day a week putting it together and then I don't have to think as hard during the week when I'm tired. They have things like a strawberry-spinach salad, hummus with celery and carrot sticks, crackers and peanut butter, fruit and nuts, no-sugar applesauce with blueberries, all kinds of things. Since I already entered the snacks on MFP as my meals, they are also easy to add to my diary.

Finally, I try to think before I eat. One of my rules is that I try to enter my food BEFORE I eat it. Yeah, sometimes it's not possible when eating out, but you can usually look up places your family goes to and find a few things that are safe so you have a good idea of eating. I also keep a deck of cards in my purse to help me with portion size when eating out. (And hey, who isn't up for a game of cribbage anywhere, anytime?)