hi, all--

i'm new here...i joined saturday night, but haven't been back until now....every day i tell myself i'm going to start dieting again (i exercised and dieted this summer and had fantastic results, but when school started back in August, everything fell apart), but i never quite make it....(like today, i did reeeally well until i ate onion rings and lemon meringue pudding....late afternoon/evening is the worst for me)

i'm getting reeeally discouraged and so i thought i'd come here to get some encouragement.....

i'm 22 and a senior poli-sci major...i have about 25 lbs to lose....i don't mind exercising, but i had a nasty accident sunday night and hurt my back so i can't do much for the next week....i would really like to get in shape by spring....but i don't know where to start....there are so many diets out there now (this summer, i drank a gallon of water/day and diet sodas, and i ate a lot of salads...no candy or desserts....), but i dont know which one to choose....does anyone have any suggestions?

i feel like i have lost all self control because i can't seem to make it through one diet day.....at least lately, anyway.....

Vidablue: Welcome and you have certainly come to the right place. Please take a peek at Time for Serious Fun on the support forum. We have several ladies in college there and our emphasis is on making losing weight FUN! We would love to have you! Again, welcome!

Faye

Do not think that one “bad” meal or one “bad” treat means you failed. How many “good” choices do you make in a day compared to your old routine of eating or exercise? Did you a more balanced diet today? Did you exercise this week more than usual? Did you eat one more veggie than usual lately? Don’t discount 11 hours of honest effort because of one off hour. Only count the good things you do for yourself in a day. Each week, try to top last week.

Vidablue you sound just like me. Can't committtttt, I have every intention to do well but I cave in to the stuff that is bad. I am 32 and am looking to lose between 20-25 pounds.

It is so frustrating.

First, head to a library. Check out every diet book they have and bounce them off each other. The main thing is to find a plan you can stick with. Drinking lots of water & diet sodas & eating lots of salads is good, but most people cannot sustain it over the long term. More important than diet books, though, is to obtain information on nutrition. Does your college have a dietician or something of the sort that you can speak with?

It's very difficult to sort out fact from fancy when it comes to nutrition, but some things will always show up. Chief among them: eat your vegetables. If you cook for yourself, you can stretch your food & your budget by adding in vegetables, and cut calories that way. A book that makes very good points in that regard is Volumetrics, unfortunately I don't recall the authors, but see if you can find it in the library.

Don't get stuck in one eating plan. Read a lot of stuff and develop your own plan. I come closest to following SugarBusters but I've mixed in elements from the book I've mentioned earlier & from The New Glycemic Revolution, which includes a Glycemic Index in the back of the book. (SB is great, but some of their glycemic index info is outdated.)

Walk whenever you can. It's the cheapest exercise, one of the easiest on the body, and very effective. You don't have to power walk. Walk to all your classes when you can. Buy a pedometer; you can get one for $5 - $10. Measure your distance walked over a few normal days, then try to work in an extra mile or so as you go along.

Set reasonable goals. Losing a pound a week is perfectly reasonable, and losing 2 pounds a week is workable if you're willing to be more restrictive in your diet & exercise. Getting in shape "by spring" probably isn't going to happen if you're counting on losing that entire 25 pounds, but you can probably lose 10 pounds by the beginning of March. That's a pants size or two. (It's different for everyone.)

Don't beat yourself up over percieved failures. Start out by trying to eat healthy for whatever your biggest meal of the day is, and work up from there. Check in to 3FC often; the support is great.

You could try swimming in the campus pool and riding a bike around on nice days. If you've hurt your back, watch how much weight is in your school backpack. That can give you sciatica if you are walking around a lot. If the campus has a gym, look for an elliptical trainer or something similar that won't stress your back or your joints. Try to get in 1/2 hour of exercise just about every day. Don't give yourself excuses about this, it's critical.

As for eating, honestly, forget "magic" diets. If you train yourself to eat less fat and sugar, while getting more veggies, and balancing your diet, the weight will come off. That means cut out sodas, fried foods, ice cream, pizza, huge burritos with extra cheese and sour cream, "coffee" drinks that are really warm milkshakes, all that sort of campus food that really piles on the pounds. Also beer, if you drink-- that's why they call it a beer belly!

That doesn't mean you never, ever have any of this fun stuff for the rest of your whole life, it means you eat like that maybe once a month, not once a day. Try to train yourself to have a non-neurotic attitude toward food. If you succeed in exercising every day and keeping a balanced diet, you won't have to be on the weight roller coaster for the rest of your life.

When I was younger, I had some pretty good habits and managed to keep my weight reasonable for a long time. But gradually I got out of those good habits, and into bad ones, and ended up with a lot of weight I'm currently losing by slowly getting the good habits back. If I had been smart I wouldn't have to do all this work and make sacrifices now. I was stupid, and I'm paying the price. Be smart, and you won't end up like me. Good Luck, hope your back gets better soon!