[firehawk]

All,

I was here a few months ago saying that I need to lose weight and what to eat etc....
I got GREAT responses. But sadly one thing led to another and.... I didnt stick to my plan.

I HATE myself. I am currently in the US for a business/pleasure trip. LOVE it. women are so awesome and ... hot

but seriously - its wanting me to look much better.

a couple of TShirts and 1 shirt I used to wear, dont fit now. I am hidious and mad at myself.

So, this is what I am asking:

1) how can I get myself into losing weight?
2) i am a vegetarian. I do eat eggs. just no meat. So, what can I do to flatten my stomach and lose weight? Can someone tell me what foods to eat, how often etc... etc...? I really have no clue about this stuff.

I have stopped with the fizzy drinks (gas/pop/soda) and the sweets. so thats good. but I do sit all day as this is my work nature.

can anyone give me some encourging words/support and advice please? I REALLY want to lose weight immediately.

thanks all.

[Porthardygurl]

You want to lose weight the fast way? Some may object to what im going to tell you..but i find it works really well...

1)Drink lots and lots of water, your body needs to flush itself out!
2)Cut down on fat grams, and refined carbohydrate grams...exont go eating smokies and hot dogs and beef burgers..there is nothing wrong with beef, if its lean... Forget bread, pasta and stuff that contains anything white aka: White flour, white sugar, white bread, pastries, cakes,cookies.
3)Eat lots of colorful veggies, you need the fiber.
4) Exercise daily..Get 30 minutes in..thats it..start there and work your way up..And when i mean exercise.. i dont mean lollygagging around.. i mean really giving it your best.
5)Continue to keep soda out of your diet..if you have to..drink diet.
6) Get at least half you weight of protein grams in your diet.. Here is an example:

breaky: 2 egg omlette with a cup of veggies and some skim milk cheese shredded

Snack: Pickles or veggies along with a protein shake ect.

Lunch: Sandwich on whole grain bread or lettuce roll up(aka..lettuce as your bread) including low sodium lean deli meat, pickles tomatos... OR ...tuna or chicken salad.

Dinner: 8-12 oz of protein(weigh this before its cooked) Make sure your calorie count for your meat isnt above 300-400 calories or its too much fat.
Include a side green salad with a vinegrette or cook some veggies with a tsp of olive oil and have on the side.

Dessert: Try a sugar free reese penut butter cup or a sugar free jello cup..

If you are in search of a diet thats going to help with your belly..it needs to be a lower/moderate carb diet... But it also needs to have a lower fat content..because calories still count.

As far as getting yourself into losing weight: That comes from the inside, no one can make you lose the weight..no one can be your excuse not to and no one can do it for you..YOU have to do it for you because you want to.

PS: your vegetarian..sub the meat above for veggie/soy products and eggs..

There are lots of options out there and lots of diets, you have to find what works for you and stick to it.. So in the words of NIKE "JUST DO IT!"

[JossFit]

You need to do research.
Instead of going online and having some random person post up a diet FOR YOU, you have to get down to the basics.

Find out how many calories someone your size/age should be eating to establish a baseline (Just do an internet search for calorie calculators and look for the Harris Benedict formula)

Once you know how much you should be eating to lose a safe amount of weight per week, start making better choices. Don't focus on being perfect, just focus on eating mostly whole nutritious foods and leave yourself a bit of wiggle room for small treats.

Start small - Just becoming more aware of what you are eating will be a huge help. I like to use www.myfitnesspal.com to track my meals, but others use Lose It or other programs. I even recommend an old school notebook to jot things down. Whatever the method, be accurate and spend a few days writing down what you eat and how many calories you eat.

Once you know where you ARE, you can decide how to get to where you want to be.

[BusyB]

I agree with both of the responses above. You have to make a lifestyle change that will work for you today and 5 years from now. Dieting doesn't work, once the diet stops the weight will return. Do some research and change your relationship with food.

No one can give you the answer, we can say what works for us, but you're a different person than me.

You have to be committed, you have to stick with it. Go for a long walk, use the hotel gym, take the stairs...

If you want to start losing weight now, start by making the decision to commit to change.

[firehawk]

Thank you all.

so, I came back from the US 3 days ago. And for some strange reason, I have lost weight! I was only there for 10 days. I lost my man boobs (and they were getting pretty big) and my belly flab. im so happy but not sure how or why.

I was eating for breakfast virtually everyday:

scrambled eggs with potatos
1 glass of Orange Juice
wholewheat toast with butter.

for lunch - whatever was possible such as a sub sandwich or pasta.

for dinner - pasta and 1 glass of lemonade and orange juice.

I guess given the heat, I did not eat all that much but still no snacks, no sweets, no soda pops. im really happy with that but now I am back home, I fear I will go back my old ways.

I love what happened. I just want to know what it was and what I should do to continue down that route and lose weight.

[JohnP]

Read post #3 in this thread.

[beariebearie]

I would suggest trying different things because it took me about 4 years to lose 25 pounds. I would do the same diet as my friend and while she would lose over 10 pounds, I would lose maybe 3 and we were both around the same weight. She has already reached her ideal weight of 110 lbs which she reached over a year ago but I still have 25 pounds to go.

I tried Atkins and was eating low carbs but still didn't lose weight. I tried the calorie counting and didn't lose weight either. After trying this and that, I realized that I have problem with thyroid and insulin. I also realized that I would have to adapt a life style to lose weight so diets wasn't going to work for me. Only after this realization am I finally beginning to lose consistent weight by eating low gi foods.

Anyhow, good luck to you and nothing is as motivating as initial weight loss to jump start!

[beccaboo19842]

Do you like smoothies? If so, make a green smoothie. Not sure if you know what that is, but it's a fruit smoothie but then you add spinach to it. With mine I do 1/4 of a cup of non fat no sugar added greek yogurt, a serving of spinach, and then raspberries, blackberries and blueberries and a little bit of cherry pomegranate crystal light powder. The raspberries overpower the spinach taste and the blueberries change it from green to purple and I like blackberries so I add those. I'd suggest buying the fruit and freezing it, or buying bags of frozen fruit, that way you don't have to add ice, cuz' ice waters it down. The reason you add the crystal light powder is cuz' it needs a little extra flavor or it won't be all too yummy. You just blend the fresh spinach with the yogurt and water until it's all blended and is a liquid, then throw in the frozen fruit, whichever kinds you like, just remember you want fruits that are powerful such as strawberries or raspberries, that way your smoothie tastes good and not like spinach. You can also add some fresh fruit if you want. Anyway, I am doing this every day for breakfast and one big smoothie is about 200 calories, sometimes less, no fat, and has a ton of nutrients because of the fruit and spinach. Hope this helps!

[3CatsMeow]

I fully agree with the above posts about doing your own research, and testing out what works for you. The phrase 'weight loss is about commitment, not perfection' or something like that, is also very true. It is probably true that some weight loss methods are more efficient than others, but as long as you stick to some kind of calorie defecit most of the time, you are going in the right direction.