Quote:
Originally Posted by winningbylosing
Not sure if this is in the right board. Pretty new to this site as a member but have lurked for a while.
I have about 120-130 pounds to lose. I have been overweight my whole life.
I have been eating healthy consistently ish for about two and a half months. Exercise is not so consistent. Some weeks I go 4 or 5 days and some weeks I only go 1 or 2.
I am busy: I have a job and I go to grad school full time but I know much busier people can make it work
My problem is I always feel like I'm starting over. For example, this past week it was TOM so I overrate on Healthy food and didn't work out
This kind of thing happens a lot and I feel like I'm losing and gaining the same couple of pounds.
Anyone have any advice for staying consistent?
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This is what i would do if i were you.
Given that i don't have complete information its still a bit of a stab in the dark. First off is being really organised. And allow serious time off regularly. you know the occasional weekend away and things of that kind where you can chill out and regroup.
1. height, weight, age, what's your maintenance calories? work that out on a calorie calculator.
2. start by eating well at that calorie range. Get to see what it feels like. Monitor your weight daily. obviously you will have to count calories to get this right. And make sure that your proportion of proteins carbs v fats is in order. It should be something like 25% 55% 15%. It can vary a bit but protein should not go below 15% and fats should not go higher than 30%. Make most of your fats vegetable fats not saturated fats.
After you've' done that for a bit, reduce your calories as little as possible whilst still noticeing in weight reduction. I mean if you find you are stable at the recommended weight, then lower it by 200 calories per day or pick some other number but not too much. Just a slight reduction. This will help you avoid hunger, keep you well nourished and minimise the chances of plateaus and hunger rebounds. You will need to readjust your calories downwards from time to time.
Don't be in a hurry. Focus on your studies and just try to have a good solid diet plan so you can have more time for your studies because generally most of us when we diet seem to need a lot of time thinking about all that.
3. Avoid your danger foods completely. if you binge, quit the foods you binge on like high fat take aways, and high refined sugar type foods. cheese if its a problem. Down the track you may be able to bring them back but for now, give them up. Give up sweets because these seem to trigger bad eating behaviours. Quit bags of potato chips, anything highly salted and processed. Maximise unadulterated and home cooked foods. Develop a mindset of resolve against breaking your rules. It helps to have fruit around and other foods that you won't feel guilty or worried about later. I mean if you eat a salad sandwich outside of your meal plan, you are not going to feel bad about it. But if you find your self starving and all that's around to eat is cake, then you eat you will probably feel worried or guilty about it. I mo not saying you should feel guilty about it but lots of people do and once they start to go down that path, they find they are doing it more and more often and then back to square one again or off the wagon.
4. don't forget to factor in alcohol. count the calories in that if you drink.
5. Don't bother with formal exercise unless the mood takes you. Instead wear a pedometer and monitor your steps. You may find you are doing a fair bit of walking throughout the course of your day anyway. When you have time for recreation make it stuff that is fun and active as much as possible. A bush walk. trip to skating rink, you know that sort of thing. Or just don't bother with it if you are not interested in that sort of thing. Yoga on the other hand has dimensions to it not found in gym and a lot of other types of exercises so considering a weekly class of yoga or tai chi or one of those types of exercise which include mind training and awareness. These things teach you skills like relaxation and self awareness and so on. Or when you get to a point where you think yo can do it, join a sporting group a team sport.
6. when you are have TOM, go easy on yourself. Its ok. You are hungrier. Your body will hold more water. You are more moody or emotionally fragile so don't try to force yourself into some model that considers you to be in optimum condition all the time.
7. Get lots of sleep. After dinner at night, set a time for when you must be off the computer. you need time to wind your mind down in order to go to sleep easily and its better to go to bed a bit earlier than pushing yourself into the wee hours. Apparently without eight hours sleep a night, the body isn't as efficient as processing your food and losing weight so make sure you get your sleep.
8. Make avoiding unnecessary stress a priority. REcognise when you are stressing and learn how to deal with it. Cognitive behaviour therapy skills are worth knowing for this. You can learn from books. I know when studying there will be stress. That's why yoga and meditation and things of that kind can help. Be really organised and include time to de-stress.
9. When people say they are eating healthy, we've only ever got your word for it. Your healthy might not be my idea of healthy. But even though i think i know a lot about nutrition and what is healthy, every time i start a diet, i learn more stuff about nutrition and tweak my meals to make it more balanced and healthy. More nutritious. More natural. CAse in point. some people think bread is not healthy. Others think gluten free is more healthy than wheat. Some people think bacon is healthy. Others disagree about whether dairy should be low fat or full fat. Some think you've got to eat super foods and then go and eat a whole load of other obvious crap but somehow they think its still ok.
10. you have a problem, get seek help asap from a counsellor. Or if its about a difficulty with your studies, see your lecturer.
don't be in a hurry with all this. You will get better at is as you go along.
11. EAt your meals fairly close together e.g. breakfast before 9am, lunch between 12-1pm. Dinner finish before 7pm but start at either 5 or 6. I usually have a glass of wine around 5pm and sometimes 4pm. It helps me leave dinner to 6pm other wise i wouldn't make it. Or work out some other schedule that you think should work for you but if you know you can't get dinner in early, consider a bigger lunch and think about where you are going get some good food in before you get home for a lighter supper later on. Or something like that. anyway work out a style of eating that you think will work for you and your routine.
This is my list of healthy and regular foods.
any fruit or vegetable even potatoes and aim for a variety of both every day.
Any dairy but butter and cheese in small quantities only. I use small amounts of strong flavoured cheese like fetta, parmesans and hard cheddars to make my salads and other meals more interesting.
seafood
low fat meats - but i don't eat them cause i try to be a veggo
beans lentils and things of that kind which i try to eat a lot more of now.
eggs
nuts and seeds in small quantities. I add them to my meals rather than snack on them.
spaghetti and other pastas but not in unlimited quantities
wholegrain bread but not in unlimited quantitates
basmati rice and other rices and again all these sorts of things can be limited by increasing the amount of vegies in the meal
extra virgin olive oil is my mainstay of oils. It tastes the best in my view.
Red wine and balsamic vinegars. Make salad dressings yourself using these two and olive oil as your base but keep it to minimum quantity.
herbs and spices fresh and dried.
any other condiments like soy sauce, fish sauce tomato sauce, all are ok since only small amounts are used.
asian noodles are also ok.
Things i avoid at all costs: peanut butter, jam, honey, any sweets that are industrially made, all ice-cream. My out clause for this stuff is this: if i am out at restaurant with with other people i can have dessert. Or if i am out at someone's house or an event and someone offers me home made cake or pie or dessert of some kind then i can have one piece. If i'm at an event and i am not committed to one piece, its better to have none. I haven't done any of that yet but its an option. sushi from sushi train restaurant is off my list. All sorts of smoothies from public eateries because they have added sweeteners and are basically junk food. All sorts of flavoured milk drinks.
things that are safe for me to eat occasionally: any other sort of takeaway since i am not a big takeaway eater. I've never been a burger eater. But i haven't been tempted on any of these things and am generally avoiding them. Fruit juices. If i was a big juice drinker they'd be on the list above. A daily hit of alcohol (wine) is permitted and more than one glass on social occasions). Anything that comes already prepared in a packet or can is only an occasional food and is not ok on a regular basis. I will eat less of these while i'm in weight loss phase than i would be able to afterwards but they will never be a big part of my life. If they were a risk, i'd ban them until i thought they were no longer a risk. I have learnt that sweets foods will always be a risk for me that's why i intend to never even try again to eat them in moderation. I've learnt i can't.
This is basically what i mean to eat for the rest of my life.
I am sure i can think of more stuff but this is what i would do for starters. Take what you want. Good luck.
I feel like I keep starting over.
