I am really sick of binging and over eating. Whenever I exercise I feel really hungry and eat almost everything in my house. Is it possible to lose 10 to 15 lbs by Halloween of this year? I have an old costume that I want to fit into and also just need good motivation:/
I plan on losing 15 pounds by halloween, just to keep with my own schedule, so you have my support!
We can support each other!
What you need to tell yourself, is that you're just committing from now until halloween to eat as well as you can (no one is perfect). That will put the pressure on you to go for it. Anyone can do anything for 5-6 weeks! Just commit to doing your best for that amount of time, and then you can succeed, and take a few weeks off / slightly less intense, and do it again for another round of weight loss success.
Yes, you need to handle the binge eating. I'm not sure about your life situation, but for me, I would snack every time I cook, so now I only cook every two days and commit to working out extra the day i'm not cooking (hey I saved myself some time right?)
I am also calorie counting, and it was super hard the first week, then second week was better, and now i'm on week 4 of eating a low calories 1200 (though sometimes 1400 when i'm doing heavy duty running that day (heavy duty for me haha 2-3 miles).
I now tell myself on days I don't feel like "working out" that instead i'll take a 20 or 30 minute walk, which is better than not exercising at all. Walking is still good for you, and good for those days when you don't want to get super sweaty or just feel like taking a break from feeling like you need to do an intense hour of cardio or weights.
I don't know what else to say about binge eating, I feel calorie counting still lets me eat some treats (french fries are my weaknesses so I sometimes factor in a small fry from mcdonalds 230 calories into my day) but I don't keep it in the house. I have to specifically go out and get it. In my house, I have no trigger food or super intense trigger food for me. There are some "bad" items that belong to my boyfriend but I'm not really tempted and of course, he'll notice if I eat his stuff.
Anyway, you need to really figure out what works for you (so you can think of these 5-6 weeks as an experiment, remove some foods, add back in some foods if you really miss them, etc.) , if you are binging, figure out what is the cause and remove it from your life. That's the first step, the second step is of course dealing with it -- which is hard but something we all need to do.
OH I want to send you this link to an article I read recently (I can't yet post the link because my forum post count isn't high enough yet but Google: Details IS YOUR WORKOUT MAKING YOU FAT? the article is from Sept 2011) .
It says if you do a lot of super long low intensity workouts, like being on the elliptical for an hour, you're more likely to be hungry because your body quickly goes back to its preworkout state since you didn't work out that hard. So basically, we all need to do butt kicking workouts for only 20-30 minutes.
I also say, I work out in the afternoon, because then I know I will eat dinner right after. In the morning, if I work out, I tend to eat double breakfast, something a little before, and something a little after which is not good for the calorie totals of the day.
Hey solarplant, thanks for your post.I am happy to know that I am not alone on this challenge of 15 lbs by Halloween! I will definatly check back with you to see your results.
I tried calorie counting couple months ago, but it seemed to discourage me.In my previous thread I explained my situation, I worked out for around 3 to 5 hours a day (intensely) and kept a very strict diet.I lost and gained through out those 6 weeks and ended up not losing that much at all. The calorie counting made me feel bad because I felt like I wasn't eating enough(1400-1600 cals) and at the end I didn't see any result in any part of my body. I tried measuring as well.I am glad you could feed yummy foods into your diet, and you are lucky. I can't even look at fries because if I start eating those I'll end up buying oreos. That's the thing about me I can't just have 1 small bag of chips or couple cookies. My body like makes me eat everything I have in my fridge if I have what I want.Anyways, like I said I did do intense workouts and it didn't seem to help. I always put almost highest level on treadmill I'm not one of those people that go crazy freewheeling and almost falling off and thinking that they are losing thousands of calories (they always make me laugh lol).
I usually work out when I wake up. I would drink water and go work out for about an hour. After I drink a bottle of water and I don't feel hungry at all untill noon-ish.(11:30-12:30) I would have either a salad or cottage cheese with honey/strawberries. I would snack on fruits or crackers untill 4ish. Then I eat my lunch( I know that's kind of late) My lunch would be a small amount of what ever my mom made (While I do have a job I tend to not buy my own groceries lol). She usually makes pasta with meatballs or mashed potatos I know that's bad but I eat a little. I have somethin for dinner too but nothings big. I usually don't eat after 7. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but obviously it's something since it's not helping me lose any weight.
Btw I am from Bay Area too
I've been doing a challenge to lose 10 lbs in Sept and so far this month, I have lost 9 lbs. So yes, it's possible to lose 10-15 lbs in 6 weeks.
BUT I weigh a lot more than you and that is usually a pretty big factor in losing weight more quickly. When you are smaller, it's almost always going to take longer. However, the flip side is that when you are smaller, a smaller loss will usually have a much bigger visible impression. So even if you lost "only" five pounds, you'd probably start to notice a change in how your clothes fit.
Personally, rather than put the pressureo n of losing a certain amount of weight, I'd make a commitment to stay on plan every day with eating, exercise and water. I can pretty much guarantee that if you do that, you'll be happy with the results by Halloween, regardless of exactly how many pounds you've lost.
The other recommendation I would make is to consider cutting out sugar completely. Extreme yes, but I found that after just a week or so, I don't even crave it any more at all. I have a young kid and there's always stuff in the house and I have no problem ignoring it all. It's no super human will power, it's that the cravings go away when you get through that first week.
April Snow: Congratulations on your 9 lbs! That's very good =) Do you mind sharing your diet? I really would like to know what to eat that makes you feel full..and doesn't have any sugar in it. I've watched a documentary and it said that sugar was basically in EVERYTHING. I know it will be hard to cut out.. DO you mean the sugar in fruits as well? Every sugar there is?
I am doing the Dukan Diet. It's a very low carb plan. You eat 2 tbs of oat bran a day but no other grains, starches or sugar, including fruit. You eat lean protein, low/no fat dairy and veggies.
It's definitely pretty extreme but it's not forever. It takes the weight off fairly quickly and then you move to the next phase where you start to add back in fruit and grains - but slowly, to give your body a chance to get used to the new weight. And I am amazed at how easy it's been for me to stay on. I'll hit 4 months in a couple of days and I've been on plan the whole time.
Let me know if you have more questions - for me it's been so great that I am very enthusiastic for anyone who is considering giving it a try!
pointless2011: When do you wake up? That's awesome if you can walk in the morning.
I say you need to eat something right after your walk aka breakfast. I imagine that's somewhat early in the morning (9-10?) then you should have a medium sized lunch at real lunch hours 12-2pm, and not graze all afternoon, but have a portioned snack if you're hungry. If your mom cooks late in the day for what you consider you lunch now, just wait and eat it later at 5-6 and make that dinner. Then you won't need to eat anything afterwards. While it's good you're eating less of that, you probably should enlist your mother into cooking something healthier for you. Example, if she makes pasta and meatballs, then just eat the meatballs and cook your own wheat pasta, or don't eat pasta and eat the meatballs with vegetables and salad.
If your mom does the grocery shopping yeah I can imagine it can be hard to eliminate the trigger foods from your diet if she likes to eat them but you can go shopping with her and get some healthy things for you to make for your lunch.
Sometimes I buy lean cuisine to make for my lunch, but I don't have that all the time. Otherwise, today for example, I didn't have time to go make my lunch, so I went to subway and had a small 6 inch turkey sub. 340 calories. Not bad, and i'm still full.
Anyway, I only really started losing weight after I started cooking two different meals. I made lasagna for my boyfriend last night, so he has dinner for tonight as well but *I* did not eat that. For dinner last night, I had a piece of toast and an egg white omelet with broccoli. That was less than half of the calories of what I estimate was in the lasagna I made.
Count me in.. I would LOVE to lose 15 by Halloween! I could finally wear this cute dress I made for myself a few years ago and then didn't get to wear because I was sick on Halloween!
I'm quite new to this side and now it's time for me to take action. Even my favorite pair of jeans are getting too tight!
I lost about 15-20 lbs last year with working out about 4-5 times a week and no real diet but "eating in moderation". Got a new work schedule and started slipping. Gained about 10 lbs back and they have to GO!
Count me in too! I really want to lose 10 -15 by Halloween! I have MS and I struggle with the energy to exercise, but I'm going to really give it a shot! I'm tired of being embarrassed by the way I look!!!