[firehawk]

Hello my 3 fat chicks (I mean it lovingly!)

I have unfortunately put on a bit of weight. quite a bit actually but I am not obese or "fat". I dont know what I weigh but know that I am now a Jean Size 38 and size large. it used to be medium and Jean size 34/36.

anyway I know the reason for my weight gain. it was due to some serious personal time over the past 3 years but now im beginning to move on and see the light at the end of the tunnel - all by myself without any support or help (which is always tough).

of course, this does have a major impact in my "social" side - that I am always single/rejected because I am not "sexy". But this is not the reason why I want to be on a diet and lose weight.

Ladies and gents, I am new at this. I do not know where to start in terms of losing weight and what exactly to eat?

I know I drink alot of bottled fizzy drinks but I am cutting this out. I am instead drinking flavoured mineral water (will be increasing that soon).

I am cutting back on sweets, this is good.

In regards to my meals, I normally dont have breakfast but instead have coffee/mocha. for lunch its a sandwich (from subway.... with the salads) and for dinner it can be anyone of the following:

take away
mexican bean soup (healthy options from the supermarket)
sandwich (I know, not really a meal!)
stir fry (I do this myself)
pasta
rice


I just dont know what to cut out or what to introduce and replace. I have to say that i am a vegetarian so instead of the meat stuff, I usually use the Quorn products (soya based?)

Any help is much appreciated. Please - I really would like to know what I should eat and how I can straight away lose weight.

Thank-you

[Snoofie]

Well, first of all, welcome to 3FC! It's great that you've decided to take this step, and hopefully you'll find all the support you need here on the forums.

So now, to the main points of your post. Let me preface all this by saying: I am not a doctor, a nurse, a nutritionist, or any kind of medical professional. I've only been doing the whole weight loss/healthy eating thing for about five months, but I have been successful so far, and I do have some advice for you.

First of all: You mentioned that you don't eat breakfast. Eating breakfast is a very important thing in terms of losing weight, because it helps kickstart your metabolism. No one's saying that you have to eat a five-course meal, but even a bowl of cereal with some skim milk and fruit would be better than just coffee or mocha.

Nothing wrong with Subway sandwiches, especially if you pile on the vegetables and try to avoid the cheese and bacon (which I'm guessing wouldn't be a problem for you since you're a vegetarian.) Do you eat them every day? You might try switching up your lunches every so often, to keep your body from becoming used to the things you usually eat.

Fast food is a killer when it comes to losing weight. If you eat a lot of it..well, that very well could sabotage your efforts when it comes to weight loss. And eating just a sandwich for dinner might not be enough. It seems strange, but sometimes not eating enough can cause weight loss to stall or reverse. Personally, I find that when I don't eat enough, my body's *really* reluctant to give up any fat! *L*

In terms of what you should eat to lose weight "right away"...unfortunately, there's nothing you really can do to guarantee you'll start losing right away. Of course, you can do things that will *help* in terms of succeeding right away (eating right, exercising more) but expecting to start losing straight off may only set you up for disappointment.

Good luck! Just make some small changes, and expect small changes in return. Don't give up if it doesn't happen right away (remember, Rome wasn't built in a day!) and remember that if you keep at it, you WILL see results.

[jillnicole03]

There is a book called the Dr. McDougall Maximum Weight Loss Plan, that has you eat vegan and you eat very healthy and lose weight on... that may be a start for you

There is also a website called fatfreevegan.com with some healthy ideas..

Soy is fatty so I would take that out while trying to lose weight.

You can also count calories everyday and eat whatever you want, obviously you can eat more of lower calorie foods.

Learning new ways to new veggies and fruits and having those be the main portion of your meal is always helpful.

[luckymommy]

I would recommend finding out your weight and figuring out how many calories you should be consuming every day. Then, count how many you currently consume. I'm so glad you're cutting out the fizzy caloric drinks. Something I've been doing with Subway is I get them to take out the internal part of the bread so there's less actual bread. Also, are you using mayo, oil, etc. on your sandwiches? That could have a big caloric impact.

Again, with the dinners you described, it's really hard to gauge how many calories are in there, but I can tell you that it's probably a whole lot of sodium and sodium can really increase your water retention. If possible, I'd suggest buying a bunch of veggies and cutting them up and then putting some sort of protein on like beans or tofu (be careful with the calories of these) and a healthy dressing (watch the portions)....if you can monitor your portions and calories, you'll see results much faster. At least do this for a few weeks so that you know how much you're having.

How about exercise? Do you keep an active life style? Can you take walks or do you have access to a gym? You may want to purchase an inexpensive pedometer and keep track of your activity level and then increase it slowly. The goal is to get in 10,000 steps a day.

I'm so glad you found this site! Welcome!!!

[JohnP]

I'd suggest you educate yourself as much as possible. Here is your first lesson and the one most important thing to understand.

In 99.9% of people fat loss or gain depends on one thing only. Energy. Energy is measured in calories.

Eat more calories than your body needs = fat gain

Eat fewer calories than your body needs = fat loss

If you don't get this part right everything else won't matter.

Goodluck!

[firehawk]

Thank-you so much for the delightful messages which involve alot of motivation Thank-you!!!

JohnP - thanks. yes, I do need to be educated about this stuff for sure - I just "dont know" anything when it comes to weight loss.

I just dont know where to start in terms of eating the right things to lose weight.

because I work hard and dont necessarily work where I live and travelling, it is difficult to know what I can "grab" or what I can make for myself which is not only filling, but also healthy and helps to lose weight. This is the biggest problem I am facing right now.

I dont have subway everyday. Maybe once a week or maybe twice a week but no more than that. Other times, I either have a sandwich from a sandwich store (prepacked fresh sandwiches - mature cheese and pickle with tomato and lettuce) or soup.

right now, I am making a shopping list of the ingredients / items / products I should buy.
From this list, is what I will start using to eat with (not the bit of paper of course!)

Can anyone give me food items/ingredients that I should buy? This will for sure indicate to me what I should be buying and using and divert away from unhealthy stuff!

I think I probably consume 1600 cal per day? Maybe less?

Today i was just taking a look past windows to see a reflection of me and jeez... did not like what I saw. upsetting really but I am commited to this.

[JohnP]

It takes some work and having to eat out a lot due to travel makes things more difficult. Just stick with it and it will get easier over time. If I could give you one rule of thumb try to get a decent amount of protein in every meal.

1600 calories is a decent place to start.