I need help. I've been going to the gym, trying to eat better.
I want to go from 215 pounds to 130 pounds. I am 5'6.
I was thinking about using Milk of Magnesia to lose weight, since it's not a stimulant laxative. I was planning to do it safely, and not exceed the limited dose on the bottle. But, I was planning on to take it every day. But I still have no idea if that's safe .
And I don't know what exercises at the gym I should do. I just kind of choose a machine and use it. I've been putting in cardio, but I don't know how much I should put in, or how much calories I should be burning per gym session. I usually jump on the treadmill and go for 20 minutes doing 2.5 to 3.4 mph. Then I'd go to a machine and do leg lifts, or those bicycling things.. the one standing and sitting up. I have no idea what I'm doing.
I don't even know how many calories I should be intaking or burning, or what foods to avoid at all costs.
****, I don't even know how often I should be going to the gym..
Welcome VexatiousRainbow, I've been looking at your post for about an hour trying to figure out what advice to give you. First things first....PLEASE don't rely on any kind of laxative to lose weight, I mean sure you'll lose SOME weight, but it won't be fat you lose, just water. We're all different, we all have our routines that help us, there are loads of dieting blogs and vlogs out there. Study them in your free time, try several things out 'til you find what's right for you. You can get a fitbit or a phone app that tracks the kcals you burn. It's all trial and error to find what's right for you, and only you have the answers because your body will respond when you give it what it needs.
Sorry. I know it sounds like I'm being obtuse, I don't mean to be annoying. There's a lot of advice out there and some of it will be right for you, and even more of it will be complete rubbish. If you give it time, you'll figure it out. There's loads of great advice on this forum, go through the archives, they're very informative.
First of all, take DLS1’s advice and forget about Milk of Magnesia. Using that on a regular basis will do you far more harm than good. Second, there are all sorts of “formal” diets out there. Explore this forum and you’ll find plenty of information on all of the more popular ones. If one appeals to you, hop on board.
You can also follow a less formal diet…if you simply use up more calories than you eat, you’ll lose weight. You don’t say how old you are or what you do for a living (both of which will impact how many calories you require in a day). I’ll assume you’re about 25 and don’t have an active job (office worker or similar). If those assumptions are wrong, write back. On those assumptions, and forgetting about exercise for a minute, you should be eating around 2,100 calories per day (approximately)…that’s your maintenance level. If you eat that amount each day and do no additional exercise, you will neither gain nor lose weight.
For each pound you want to lose per week (on average), you need to cut 500 calories per day from your maintenance level, either by eating less or exercising more. For example, let’s say you’d like to lose about 1.5 pound per week (which is a good target). You will need to “get rid of” 750 calories per day (500 x 1.5 lbs. per week) – either by eating less or by exercising more. So, for example, you could reduce your calories by 500 to 1,600 per day and then exercise to burn another 250 calories every day. The internet (and this site) contains all sorts of information as to the number of calories in various foods and/or how many calories you burn doing exercise.
A few other points. When reducing your calories, eat healthy foods and get plenty of protein (seafood, lean meats, chicken and eggs are a few good sources). You should also change the way you cook foods (i.e., steamed or grilled, rather than breaded or fried). Also, drink lots of water, which is much better than Milk of Magnesia. As for exercise…pick something you enjoy doing. If you don’t enjoy it, you won’t stick with it. Try out the various pieces of equipment at your gym and see which one(s) you prefer. Or perhaps you might enjoy other forms of exercise that don’t involve the gym (tennis, running, power walking, bike riding, etc.). According to my son (who was a personal trainer for about 10 years), free weights are the best form of exercise to both build muscle and aid weight loss. However, you’ve got to enjoy lifting weights (and, no you won’t look like Mr. Universe by lifting weights…don’t worry about that). That said, for me, working out with weights is about as exciting as watching paint dry…so I don’t use weights (even though I probably should). Good luck!
One of many problems with laxatives is that soon you won't be able to "go" without them, either!! Try an enema. Not for weight loss, but to flush toxins out of our system. Our colons only hold ten pounds of weight AT THE VERY MOST, so forget it.
Try a Plan or simply eat and exercise in a certain way so you don't have to even think about it. If you're Raw Vegan, for example, and run your jogging route each day, not much to think about! Of course, step on the scale once a season or so to see if what you're doing is working. Good Luck!!
There is no food you should "avoid at all costs," and going down that route of thinking gets most people into trouble because we end up longing for what we can't have. Diets cause more weight gain than weight loss so try not to worry about food. Eating balanced meals is what's most important, and eating fresh foods. If you can make it a rule to eat your veg everyday and limit processed foods you'll be in good shape.
As for exercise, try taking a class at your gym. There are usually many to choose from. Don't aimlessly hop around from one machine to another, lifting weights without knowing how will result in injuries, sometimes lifelong injuries. My gym for example has classes for Zumba, yoga, Pilates, kickboxing, HIIT, cycling, strength training and more. You can get instruction without having to pay for extra fees for a trainer.
Welcome VexatiousRainbow! I'm pushing 50 now and I have spent the latter half of my 30's and all of my 40's being either overweight/obese. I have to agree with the others above that you really do need to figure out what works for you and unfortunately, it's not going to come from Dr. Oz's latest miracle weight loss in an expensive bottle.
Some folks find very regimented diet plans to be best for them but they're difficult for me right now. Some people would find a forbidden foods type of eating plan torture, but it works for me. Inkrid suggested trying Vegan and that might be great for you. Everyone I know who commits to vegan loses a good deal of weight. Since I'm one who does very well with the idea of eating as much as I want so long as I just don't eat certain foods, it seems like a vegan plan would be a good fit for me. But I know Vegan wouldn't work for me because I'd be missing meat and eggs. I could never maintain that diet so there's no point setting myself up to fail. Always remember that healthy weight loss and maintenance is all about what works for YOU.
Having said that I think you need to examine your lifestyle and determine if there's an outright bad habit that you've got that could be sabotaging you. For me it was an addiction to Diet Coke (aspartame). It took me two months to give it up and not crave it. During that time I didn't lose any weight, but I did substitute my desire for Diet Coke with little packs of Famous Amos cookies I also amazingly didn't gain weight although I was probably eating more calories than I had in years. Once I cut out the sugar the weight started to come off. I know there had been many weeks (when I was still on the aspartame) that I had eaten similar amounts of calories and not lost weight. Likewise, there might be something in your life causing your weight to stay high - if not artificial sweeteners maybe eating too many refined carbs versus proteins and fats or simply eating your calories too late in the day are just two possibilities that pop into my head.
So figure out what works for you - daily/weekly/monthly weigh ins (when I first started losing I needed to be a committed daily weigher, now I haven't weighed myself in two months and won't do it again for another month), an eating plan with cheat days/no cheat days, low carb/no carb, etc. it's all about what works for you. For me, I knew I needed exercise but I dreaded it so I started slowly. I bought a fitbit and just tried to get in 10,000 steps 5 days a week. In the beginning I mostly failed to hit my target. Tomorrow I will complete my couch to 5k program. Who'd have ever thought I could run a 5k again!!!! I don't know what I weigh right now, but I can fit into one pair of my size 10 jeans and I'm only a few weeks away from two of my other size 10's! One thing I know for sure, if I can do this after more than a decade of obesity and failed weight loss attempts, YOU CAN SURELY DO THIS!
ETA: Hah! I see I said what works for me is what Palestrina said never works! I agree with her in the sense that if you told me I couldn't have chocolate chip cookies for the rest of my life I'd probably be eating them right now. But after Easter I'll go back into more of a maintenance/super slow weight loss mode where I allow myself a treat or two on the weekends. But I can say with certainty that Diet Coke is gone forever and overly processed food, while maybe not officially banned forever, holds no appeal to me anymore and so things like Twinkies - while not expressly forbidden - are unlikely to be found in my mouth again. But that's how it is when you start eating healthier.
I don't know where to start
