Does anyone know a weight loss strategy???

[Sharmis]

Hi, I am 23 years old and have been gaining on pounds and this is getting to me. The thing is that after several efforts of exercise and dieting, I don’t seem to get any slimmer! There are many ways to lose weight, but I have exhausted all the ways I know. I have consulted a few people but all of them have been telling me the same thing. It isn’t helping me and only making my fears worse.

Is there some way to make me feel better!!!

[lovelorcet]

If you want to lose weight then you have to reduce your calorie intake and exercise more.

 

"Diets" may help you lose some weight but what it really comes down to is making sure you have the daily discipline to not over eat and to to get your body moving.

 

Maybe you are not actually even aware of how much you are eating. Think about starting a food diary for a few weeks and see how many calories you are actually eating every day. Your body needs about 1500 (+- 150) calories a day for its steady state metabolism.

 

If you don't want to compromise on food then go running more often, if you don't have the time then just eat less...

[Nevermind]

Note: the 1500 is what you need without any physical activity. It's just to keep your body working. You will lose more if you are really close (or under) that mark, but you will gain even more weight once you're eating normal again. You should find a healthy calorie intake and stick to eat. The weight loss will be slower, but permanent.

 

You can google for calorie calculators online. There you can see how much you need for your acitvity profile. Then stay under it, but don't go down too far.

 

Exercise. Not only cardio, but weights as well. For every pound of muscle you burn more calories, plus while dieting your muscles will decrease much faster.

[josie54]

I wholeheartedly agree with the suggestion that you keep a food diary. My guess is that you have no idea how much you are actually eating.

 

When I started to keep a food diary, I was amazed at how a simple sandwich and chips could add up to 500 or 600 calories! Once you know WHAT you're eating and HOW MANY calories that represents, you can make choices to reduce your intake. For instance, you can choose breads and cereals with fewer calories per serving, eat high-volume low-calorie foods (like fruits) to stay full, make sure you eat only ONE serving at a time, and balance larger meals (like when you go to a restaurant or party) with smaller meals for the rest of the day.

 

Just look at breakfast cereal. If you're a breakfast cereal eater like me, you probably just dump a bunch of cereal into a large bowl, pour in the milk, and plow in. But look at the serving size listed on the box. Often, that ranges from 1/2 cup to 1 cup. Take measuring cups out and measure that serving size, just to get a gauge of how much (or in this case, how little) that actually is.

 

When I did this, I discovered that I was usually eating more than two servings of cereal each morning. Once I added in the milk (also more than one serving usually) and the fruit and piece of toast I also ate with that, I was eating 600+ calories before I even got out the door in the morning. With my food diary, I found that I was eating more than 2,300 calories a day, way too much for me. I had to knock that back to 1,600 to be able to lose weight.

 

I didn't know why I wasn't losing weight until I began keeping a food diary, measuring serving sizes, and counting calories. There are great calorie calculators online to help you get started, and many restaurants have begun posting the calories for their menu items online as well. Also, this doesn't have to be a permanent thing. Once you do it for about a month or so, you'll get a better gauge for how many calories certain food items are and you can just keep your diary occasionally to make you're staying on course.

 

In my opinion, losing weight isn't about a certain diet, eating ONLY this and NEVER eating THAT. Eat whatever you want--just make sure it fits into a calorie count that allows you to lose weight.

 

Food diaries may sound tedious, but in my opinion, they're the only way to lose weight. Count up how many calories you're eating per day on average, and then knock that back by 500 or so. Do this and the chances that you'll lose weight are 100 percent. People just don't realize how much they're consuming until they see the numbers on the page.

[FleshNBones]

I think the best approach to weight loss is to first become physically fit. Once that happens, your increased metabolic rate should take care of the rest.

You need to be intelligent, honest, and serious about exercise if you are to have any hope of succeeding. It will take months to achieve a decent level of fitness. You need to eat the rights foods, and coordinate your meals with your routine. For cardio, you need to get your heart rate up (150-160BPM). I try to keep my heart rate around 150-170BPM for at least 30min, but I've been at it for nearly five months. Once you start feeling the endorphins (not during exercise), you will know you are doing it right, but be careful not to burn yourself out.

[sunshinegirl]

The "breakup" diet has always worked for me... I'm down 15 pounds in less than a month!

[FleshNBones]

The "breakup" diet has always worked for me... I'm down 15 pounds in less than a month!

I think you need a deficit of 2500 calories to lose 1 pound of fat.

Four pounds in a week would be about 10000 calories. I think you are burning muscle, and dehydrating yourself.

[sunshinegirl]

yeah, no kidding. i'm not claiming it's healthy. it was a dose of irony in a thread that perhaps didn't need it. apologies.

[yongyong]

look closely at your eating habit. maybe you tried only short amount of time and went back to old habit?

 

I complain about not gaining weight. But if I look at how many times I eat, it makes sense.

 

you can blame your gene or anything you want but it won't make the difference

[Suiyobi]

If you want to lose weight fast then I would agree to following some of the suggestions posted here. Otherwise, just keep a positive attitude and a mindset that you CAN lose weight eventually. For some people, losing weight is easy, and for others, it'll take some time and effort. Go with your pace, maybe increase it a little as you go further, but don't expect to see results overnight. It's unhealthy and unrealistic to think that way.

[electric_sheep]

You are not the only one having problems trying to lose weight, without any success. I know that it is very frustrating to try all sorts of things and still be in the same shape…..I too have faced that!!! Just a couple of weeks back I came across Weight Loss 2008 that not only made me glad I did (I finally got a product that does the real thing) but got the work started. It has been a great way for me because it doesn’t throw up obstacles but gets the job done.

 

I'm glad that worked for you, but I wouldn't trust a site like that. Anyone professing to have the "secret" is likely full of bull, if you ask me. I think lovelorcet, nevermind, and josie54 pretty much said it like it is.

 

The WAY to do it isn't the mysterious or difficult part. It's the actually doing it and sticking to it that's hard.

[redfathom]

You have to burn approx. 3500 calories to burn a pound and if you want to keep the weight off you should aim for no more then 2 lbs a week.

[Taramere]

Hi, I am 23 years old and have been gaining on pounds and this is getting to me. The thing is that after several efforts of exercise and dieting, I don’t seem to get any slimmer! !

 

I wonder if you overdo both the dieting and the exercise and can't, therefore, sustain either beyond short bursts?

 

Say you cut down your daily intake by 1000 calories and do a punishing work out every day that increases your calorie burning rate by 600 (taking account of the increase in your metabolism post-work-out). Ten days - if you can stick to such a "put my life on hold" regime - 16,000 calories burned. Around 4.5 pounds of fat loss...which you might not see on the scales due to increased muscle tone. All that effort and deprivation probably won't seem worth it.

 

The mechanics of losing weight are simple. Eat less, exercise more. Overcoming psychological barriers to weight loss is the hard part. A lot of those psychological barriers are maybe caused by people taking a punitive approach to themselves. "I'm fat. I must repent through deprivation and boring, soulless treadmill pounding." Also, unrealistic expectations of very rapid weight loss.

 

People who invent popular diets tend to be off-puttingly zealous and controlling towards the reader, in my opinion. There's often a sense of "Cancel all your plans: Your life is mine for next 6 weeks" about them.

 

A more realistic and sustainable approach would be "here are lots of low calorie, healthy recipes. Try to use these for a minimum of 8 meals a week, eat what you'd normally have for the other meals, and make some effort to avoid snacking between meals. Find ways of incorporating exercise into your social life or as part of relaxation so that it's fun rather than a chore.

 

In doing that, you re-educate yourself into a healthier lifestyle that you can sustain long term...rather than getting into that deprivation of starvation/gluttony of rebellion cycle/self-loathing/comfort eating pattern that keeps so many people unnecessarily overweight.

[Elyssa]

Taramere has it right. In essence, eat healthier low-cal meals, cut out the unhealthy snacking and exercise moderately.

 

I would suggest you find a good low-calorie cookbook (I'm partial to the American Heart Association One-Dish Low-fat meals book) and construct weekly menus based on the recipes off the cookbook as you make a shopping list of what you will need.

 

I've lost 82 pounds since I changed my lifestyle 7 months ago and that's how it started. I got scared because my husband's cholesterol had turned out to be much higher than it should be, so I made a decision to change his diet to improve his heart condition. As a result, mine changed as well. He lost 65 pounds of excess weight, I've lost more since I was more overweight than he was.

 

Now we do exercise but we don't over-do it. He runs 2 miles and swims a few laps at least three times per week. Myself, I swim 1 mile three times a week (about 80 laps in a 75 feet pool). It's worth noting that this is a fairly recent development and for the first four to five months of our change, we did no exercise whatsoever and still lost weight through reduced calorie intakes.

 

Weight loss is about as simple as math gets. Calories in < Calories out. Too simple to work? Try it yourself. You just have to understand what your body's needs are (1500 calories a day seem a very reasonable starting point) and be very disciplined and realistic about what you put in your mouth. Consider whether the calories you're about to eat are worth it. Sure, you can eat that candy bar for 250 calories... or you can have a salmon steak sprinkled with paprika with a side of marinated mushrooms. What do you think? To me, the choice is clear.

 

Lastly, invest in a good bathroom scale. If you are very overweight, you will not begin seeing the progress in your body until you've lost a good amount of weight. The bathroom scale will keep you motivated because it will show you the progress and keep you in the right track.

 

Best of luck!

 

-E

[Trialbyfire]

Avoid processed foods, especially fast food or soft drinks. Your body is getting less than nothing from these types of foods. Reduce excessive carb intake like the second serving of pasta, unless you need it to run a marathon.

 

Graze on healthy foods such as uncooked veggies and some fruit, instead of eating large meals, and your stomach will shrink accordingly.

 

Exercise! It will do your mind and body good.

 

Healthy weight loss requires will power until your habits and tastes change to the point of becoming a lifestyle change.

 

Btw, caesar salad dressing is a killer for calories.

[sumdude]

I went from a flabby 270 to a pretty svelt 207 last year... partly the divorce diet hehe.. but I also changed my eating and exercise habits a lot. I lost 50 lbs in 6 months. I cut my meal servings back a lot.. gave myself sunday cheat days. Worked out either at the gym or a bike ride at least 5 days a week. Now I'm back up to about 220 and holding I have a large frame with a lot of muscle under a slight layer of paunch.. barrel chested you could say...

 

Main reasons for some regain? Lots of stress, hard to find as much time. I'm over the 'breakup stomach'.. and I like beer too much lol... Still after almost a year and a half of the changed lifestyle I still keep most of it up. I manage 3 - 4 workouts a week. Now if I don't I feel like crud.

 

I think the most overlooked part of a diet is liquid calories...and many foods that are marketed as dietary aren't. The formula remains simple calories eaten/drunk - calories burned. Muscle weight burns more calories than fat so the more you exercise the more calories you burn at rest.

 

1 can of soda = 120 cal

1 Beer = 100 - 200 cal

1 small mixed drink = 200 cal

cup of juice = 120 cal

bottle of Gatorade = 120 cal

 

If you have say 6 in a day of non-diet non-water drinks it's like a whole extra meal. Keep an eye on the labels of things like Gatorade... they'll give you the one serving calorie count and then you'll see one bottle has 2 servings in it.

[Independence_Day]

I think you need a deficit of 2500 calories to lose 1 pound of fat.

Four pounds in a week would be about 10000 calories. I think you are burning muscle, and dehydrating yourself.

 

Actually closer 3500 calories, but yeah, a LOT.

[SugarKiss]

First of all 1000 calories a day is insane, it is unnatural and even dangerous. do not try to lose fat at more than 2bls per week. that is a healthy way to lose fat anything more is not good and you will gain it back double time when you do go back to introducing other foods to your diet again.

 

the best way to lose fat is is through healthy eating, do count your calories and keep it around 1200-1600 calories a day (depending on age and gender in your case it would about that) and exercise. there is no other magic potion.

 

do count your calories though so that you are hyper aware of what you are consuming. often times we eat things under the impression that we are eating healthy and we are not.

 

I used this tool before to journal my calorie consumption, and it is amazing. it's called a calorie control calculator (use the enhanced one) and you can keep track of all your daily food intake. do a test right now of all the stuff you consumed all day and you will see just how many calories you are conusming. we often think we consume around 1200 or 1500 calories per day but when you count every single bit you put into your mouth you will be shocked HOW MUCH MORE we actually consume.

 

http://www.caloriecontrol.org/

 

 

 

I posted this in another thread...

 

what WILL get rid of the fat is doing cardio that works your leg muscles, the legs have the biggest muscles in our bodies therefore we burn more calories when we work those muscles. if you build leg muscles it speeds up your metabolism therefore you burn more fat. but the key is diet. you must diet on a mediterranean style diet, fish/poultry very little red meat, all veggies, legumes, and fruit, little dairy little carbs very little carbs in fact unitl you reach your desired weight and some wine.

 

lastly the way fat loss works is that your body is designed to lose weight all over not just in one specific area if you do spot training so keep that in mind.

 

PS forget the protein bars, shakes, forget the suplements forget ALL THAT CRAP, your rule of thumb when eating should be "if it comes in a cellophane wrapper, skip it. it is is NOT natural and it is not good for you. eat natural foods and you will find how satisfying it is, your blood sugar levels will be evened out hence you will have less cravings and you won't feel hungry all the time.

 

also when doing your grocery shopping always shop the bulk of your food from the outer parts of the store all the stuff that is good for your is along the 3 walls that make the store up, so

 

wall 1 fresh produce

wall 2 meats

wall 3 dairy / breads/ grains

(wall 4 being the checkout wall)

 

all the inner isles of prepackaged stuff is mostly crap, no matter how low in fat the labels state

[lemony fresh]

Here is how I went from 137 to 127 this spring. I was already considered thin (I'm 5'8). People started noticing a difference after 2 weeks and I totally toned up, too.

 

Breakfast:

1 packet of Quaker Weight Loss Oatmeal, 1 piece of fruit or one Activia Lite yogurt

Coffee, with skim milk and Splenda

 

Lunch:

Turkey sandwich - consisting of 2 "light" whole wheat/whole grain bread slices, 1 slice lowfat swiss cheese, mixed greens, a light slathering of lowfat mayo.

Possibly a bag of baked Lays if you're still hungry

Water

 

Post workout snack: small bowl of frozen blueberries

 

Dinner: chicken breast sauteed with Pam spray. Veggie of some kind.

Guess what, you CAN still eat fastfood and lose weight. The Southwest chicken salad at McDonalds with grilled chicken is awesome, just cut the dressing packet by half (or not, it's only 50 calories and lowfat anyway.) Or go to Quiznos and look at their lowfat/low calorie options. You can get a great toasted sub form 400 calories and not much fat, also. You can replace the lunch or dinner with a lowcalorie fast food option.

 

Workout (keep it simple, I hate weight training so why suffer and burn myself out on a major weight training routine?)

 

1 hour on the elliptical 5 times a week, or 30 to 45 minutes 7 times a week.

100 pushups a day

Your arms will get toned and it's really not that bad.

 

If you don't feel like going to the gym that day, do a video at home.

 

This is what I did. I am toned and look better than ever. I am not one who believes you have to do major ab work. If you're doing the elliptical, you are also working your abs.

[katie1487]

try and only eat food that contain less than 3% fat per 100g.

 

have a look at the food in your fridge and you will be suprised at how high the fat content is.

 

also the old classic of cutting back on sugar.

 

dont eat any.

 

sugar (like you put in your coffee) cannot be broken down by the body and is stored as fat. google that if want a better explanation.

 

also take a look at the food that you do eat....if your not eating as much as you used to or not at all...your body goes into starvation mode and stores any food that you do eat so be careful of fad diets!!

[SugarKiss]

Breakfast:

1 packet of Quaker Weight Loss Oatmeal, 1 piece of fruit or one Activia Lite yogurt

Coffee, with skim milk and Splenda

 

junk junk

 

Lunch:

Turkey sandwich - consisting of 2 "light" whole wheat/whole grain bread slices, 1 slice lowfat swiss cheese, mixed greens, a light slathering of lowfat mayo.

Possibly a bag of baked Lays if you're still hungry

Water

 

Post workout snack: small bowl of frozen blueberries

 

Dinner: chicken breast sauteed with Pam spray. Veggie of some kind.

Guess what, you CAN still eat fastfood and lose weight. The Southwest chicken salad at McDonalds with grilled chicken is awesome, just cut the dressing packet by half (or not, it's only 50 calories and lowfat anyway.) Or go to Quiznos and look at their lowfat/low calorie options. You can get a great toasted sub form 400 calories and not much fat, also. You can replace the lunch or dinner with a lowcalorie fast food option.

 

 

 

SUPER junk.

 

sorry but this is not a good diet at all

[SugarKiss]

try and only eat food that contain less than 3% fat per 100g.

 

have a look at the food in your fridge and you will be suprised at how high the fat content is.

 

also the old classic of cutting back on sugar.

 

dont eat any.

 

sugar (like you put in your coffee) cannot be broken down by the body and is stored as fat. google that if want a better explanation.

 

also take a look at the food that you do eat....if your not eating as much as you used to or not at all...your body goes into starvation mode and stores any food that you do eat so be careful of fad diets!!

 

 

exactly fad diets just don't work and when you go back to eating normally you gain weight two fold!

 

also looking at fat alone won't cut it, calories turn to sugar which turn to fat.

[lemony fresh]

A Quizno's sandwich on wheat bread with turkey, veggies, lowfat mayo is not junk.

Splenda is not "junk" as it is not sugar, and therefore isn't going to form as fat.

McDonald's grilled chicken sandwich is grilled chicken with leafy greens, not iceberg lettuce. How is that junk? Just because you see it's McDonald's you think "unhealthy." It's perfectly healthy and balanced salad, you're stupid if you think it isn't.

Also I said you don't have to eat it everyday, it's an option. I think you might need reading comprehension lessons.

 

Look up the nutritional and calorie/fat content online.

You have no idea what you're talking about, sorry.

My scale and toned, lean body say it all. Oh yes and I've had all the bloodwork done, my doctor says I am in excellent health, low blood pressure, low cholesterol.

Oatmeal is not junk, just because it's pre-packaged. check out the fiber content in the oatmeal for one package - 7 grams.

Again, you are clueless. If you read your Health Magazines, they will agree with me.

[josie54]

[/b]

 

junk junk

 

SUPER junk.

 

sorry but this is not a good diet at all

 

Not to be confrontational, but if Lemony Fresh's diet is "junk," what do you consider "not junk"? She describes a diet that's heavy on fruits and vegetables, with low-fat dairy and whole grains, with some form of protein in each meal. That's a nutritional, balanced diet. Plus, her calorie count is well within the weight-loss range that the OP was asking for.

 

You might disagree with the diet for yourself on some minor points (pre-packaged oatmeal and yogurt, or the presence of sugars, for example), but your complete dismissal of her approach was uncalled for. Everyone has to do what works for them individually. Not everyone can go cold turkey on sugar or fix every meal from scratch. Great for you if you can, but for those who can't, Lemony provides a workable, effective approach that's NOT going to take a non-dieter from burgers and beer to lentils and lettuce in one fell swoop. That will never work, and the OP will be right back where he started.

 

Disagreements are fine, but please keep it respectful.

[electric_sheep]

sugar (like you put in your coffee) cannot be broken down by the body and is stored as fat. google that if want a better explanation.

 

That's not true at all. In fact, simple sugars are perhaps the EASIEST macronutrient for the body to use. It's like the bodies jet fuel. Why do you think kids go crazy and get sugar highs? There blood sugar levels go up, and all that glucose hits their brains and they simply go bonkers. The reason you have sugar in your blood to begin with is so your bodies tissues can absorb it for energy if need be (particularly the brain). Eat too much sugar, and your body will turn it to fat. That goes for anything you eat... protein, fat, sugar, carbs. There is a pathway for every macronutrient to turn it into fat, if need be.

 

There seems to be so much conflict over the right macronutrient ratio it's just plain silly. Of course, the right ratio for health isn't necessarily the right ratio for dieting. Some of these "gimmick" diets do work, for example the Atkins, but they may not be healthy long term.

 

Anyway... I think sumdude made an excellent point. Beverages can have an enormous amount of energy/calories, and people tend to drink them all day. It's sort of deceptive. When I was 16 I used to actually sort of live on cokes. You can do it, believe me! I'd basically just drink cokes all day, and have a couple of snacks, then maybe dinner. Just gives you an idea of how many calories they have.

 

I'd say drink like an "adult". Tea, coffee, water, wine or beer. Not too much of those last two. Tea, coffee and water have no calories if you stay away from the sugar and cream. Give it a try... after 2 weeks you'll wonder why you had always been using cream & sugar. Make up some iced green tea with mint for the summer. It has no calories at all.