Needing to lose 60 pounds...any advice?

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rrcaudill
rrcaudill Posts: 87
in Motivation and Support
I have been on here since the end of December, but haven't made any headway. I am very much an emotional eater and I have recently been through a lot, in response, I ate my way through it. I am now saying enough is enough. I can't stay this big any longer!! I have contacted a childhood friend who also wants to lose weight and we're starting C25K together tomorrow. I have tried doing it on my own, but haven't stayed motivated long enough to make it past week 2. I measured and weighed today (yikes!) and will weigh in once a week and measure again at the end of the 8 weeks. I'm also going to be doing Zumba Wii. I'm looking for any type of help anyone can offer. :)

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  • zkm4
    zkm4 Posts: 3
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    I'm not sure what your eating/exercise habits are, but I'll tell you what I did! I implemented 60 minutes of vigorous cardio into my daily routine. I did elliptical specifically (adding resistance as the weeks passed) , but any kind of cardio should be fine. It's just and hour and it really does work. Watch a 1 hour show or make an upbeat 1 hour long music playlist to stay motivated. By doing that along with using this app on my phone to stay on track with calories, I lost about 50 pounds in 8 months.
  • leslisa
    leslisa Posts: 1,350 Member
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    Well, I always tell people to change the food they are eating and what they keep in the house. I'm a big advocate of low cal, low sugar substitutes for what we really want. Ideas for "non-intrusive" changes:

    Frozen yogurt: Ice cream
    Redi-whip between two graham crackers and frozen: Ice cream sandwich
    Fruit: Candy
    90% dark chocolate: Chocolate (careful cals on this)
    Sugar free jello: Jello
    Low cal popcorn: Butter popcorn
    Sugar-free pudding: Pudding
    Virgin chicken: Breaded chicken
    Fat Free Chips: Chips
    90 cal chocolate granola bar: Cookies
    Skim Milk: Whole Milk
    50 cal wheat bread slices (or potato or whatever you like that 50-60): White bread slices

    Also, get rid of the peanut butter and butter (literally throw it out if you have to) so you won't be tempted to eat it.

    Good luck. Hope to see your updates!
  • rayne78
    rayne78 Posts: 88 Member
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    I have been on here since the end of December, but haven't made any headway. I am very much an emotional eater and I have recently been through a lot, in response, I ate my way through it. I am now saying enough is enough. I can't stay this big any longer!! I have contacted a childhood friend who also wants to lose weight and we're starting C25K together tomorrow. I have tried doing it on my own, but haven't stayed motivated long enough to make it past week 2. I measured and weighed today (yikes!) and will weigh in once a week and measure again at the end of the 8 weeks. I'm also going to be doing Zumba Wii. I'm looking for any type of help anyone can offer. :)

    I'm sure people will agree with me when I say that the most essential component of weight loss and keeping it off is nutrition. Yes, exercise is great for you, but if you don't learn to eat properly, you'll have a hard time maintaining your losses. I say this not to be rude, but in hopes of helping. I've also always been an emotional eater, but in January something in me clicked where i became very determined to change things. So far this year, I've lost 52 lbs. I started out, in the first month, not doing any exercise at all, I simply changed the way I ate, and was determined to not give up or cheat. I decided to follow the 17 Day Diet way of eating and have really been enjoying it. After a month, I was feeling more confident (I was less worried about over doing it at the gym after not being active for a year-ish) and I slowly started going back to the gym. At first I just added in 2x week aquafit classes, and eventually elliptical and weight training. I still have a ways to go, but I feel i may have finally figured out this eating thing. Ie. Last week I had a bad couple days, and really wanted to go eat McDonalds (which I love), but I realized that although it would taste good, it really wouldn't fix anything, and in fact would make me feel worse for having eaten horribly. So, my advice to you, before worrying too much about sticking with the C25K program, is to figure out a eating plan that will work for you. Being focused on that will likely eventually lead to a desire to stick to your fitness goals. Hope this helps!
  • jtintx
    jtintx Posts: 445 Member
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    It really is all about creating a calorie deficit. You MUST get control of your diet first! Adding exercise will help you create that deficit and allow you to eat a little more than if you don't exercise.

    Go slow. I really can't stress this enough. If you only create a 200 calorie deficit a day you will still be 20 pounds lighter in one year. Now that might not sound like much but it really is. A 300 calorie deficit a day will be 31 pounds in one year. If you go slowly you can still eat and feel full and not deprived. It will be so much easier to stick with it if you just have to create a small deficit instead of a large one.

    You don't have to clean up your diet all at once! Just try to make one smarter choice a day. Cut back on the "treats" but don't try to eliminate them totally. Nobody can live the rest of their life without " insert favorite treat here " .

    Don't be hard on yourself. If you have a bad meal or a bad day just let it go...don't trash your whole week over it. If you get a flat on your car you don't total the car, right?

    I wish you the best. You will feel fantastic when you succeed!!!!
  • envelope
    envelope Posts: 13 Member
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    C25K is wonderful! You may not believe it on the first day, but you CAN do it!
  • ZipperJJ
    ZipperJJ Posts: 209 Member
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    I'm sure people will agree with me when I say that the most essential component of weight loss and keeping it off is nutrition. Yes, exercise is great for you, but if you don't learn to eat properly, you'll have a hard time maintaining your losses. I say this not to be rude, but in hopes of helping. I've also always been an emotional eater, but in January something in me clicked where i became very determined to change things. So far this year, I've lost 52 lbs. I started out, in the first month, not doing any exercise at all, I simply changed the way I ate, and was determined to not give up or cheat. I decided to follow the 17 Day Diet way of eating and have really been enjoying it. After a month, I was feeling more confident (I was less worried about over doing it at the gym after not being active for a year-ish) and I slowly started going back to the gym. At first I just added in 2x week aquafit classes, and eventually elliptical and weight training. I still have a ways to go, but I feel i may have finally figured out this eating thing. Ie. Last week I had a bad couple days, and really wanted to go eat McDonalds (which I love), but I realized that although it would taste good, it really wouldn't fix anything, and in fact would make me feel worse for having eaten horribly. So, my advice to you, before worrying too much about sticking with the C25K program, is to figure out a eating plan that will work for you. Being focused on that will likely eventually lead to a desire to stick to your fitness goals. Hope this helps!

    This is a great post!

    Exercise isn't a "magic bullet." Super-hard exercise that you can't stay motivated to do is death to dieting. You might say "oh I can't keep up with this exercise I'm going to quit trying to be healthy altogether!" or you might use exercise as an excuse to eat more.

    What worked for me is sort of opposite of what rayne78 did. I got used to exercising without changing my diet (she changed her diet first). After it was a regular part of my life, I just kept up with it as I started dealing with my eating. It was a relief to not have to push myself to work out - I could just concentrate on what I ate and the base of exercise was already there.

    I think if you've had a history of not being able to stick with one or the other - eating better or getting active - it's not a bad idea to start with just one and get comfortable with it, then ease in to doing both at once. It's like starting with juggling 2 balls and then easing in to 3 and 4.

    One big thing - if you end up not liking the exercise program you chose, change it. Don't just say "oh I don't like exercise." Keep trying different stuff until you find what you DO like. The best exercise is the stuff you stick with!!!
  • rrcaudill
    rrcaudill Posts: 87
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    Thanks for all of the advice. I didn't go into much detail in my original post about why I was doing a lot of emotional eating. My mom got really sick with breast cancer. She had it for 15 months and passed away at the beginning of May. I had started eating better just before she started getting bad. My eating is much better right now. I didn't log much recently, but I'm going to make it a habit so I can see what still needs to change in that department. Today, when I get hungry, I have been eating vegetables or when I wanted something sweet this morning, I had watermelon. I did eat two cookies this afternoon, but if you deprive yourself, you'll just want it that much more. I learned that the hard way. I didn't see any weight changes after week 1 of c25k, but week 2 day 1 is done and I feel really good about myself today. Again, thank you everyone for your advice. It has really helped. :)
  • leslisa
    leslisa Posts: 1,350 Member
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    Thanks for all of the advice. I didn't go into much detail in my original post about why I was doing a lot of emotional eating. My mom got really sick with breast cancer. She had it for 15 months and passed away at the beginning of May. I had started eating better just before she started getting bad. My eating is much better right now. I didn't log much recently, but I'm going to make it a habit so I can see what still needs to change in that department. Today, when I get hungry, I have been eating vegetables or when I wanted something sweet this morning, I had watermelon. I did eat two cookies this afternoon, but if you deprive yourself, you'll just want it that much more. I learned that the hard way. I didn't see any weight changes after week 1 of c25k, but week 2 day 1 is done and I feel really good about myself today. Again, thank you everyone for your advice. It has really helped. :)

    So happy to hear that you are doing better. Keep going. Keep us posted.

    Cheers!!

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