New Idea
 

OK so I have tried everything, but can stick to nothing! I know that everything is about calories in vs. calories out. It all is just so overwhelming sometimes. :?: when I get overwhelmed I give up. I really want to change the way I do things, and I am coming to grips with the whole "it is not going to happen overnight" idea. I am a total instant gratification kinda girl. ;)

So I guess my question is where to start? Should I start by limiting calories or start with taking a week and keeping track of what I eat now, and adjust from there?

Any advice would be most helpful!

Thanks

Track what you had today, and if you remember, track what you had yesterday. If you have an idea of how many calories you should restrict your diet to, start that tomorrow!!

When I first started using MyFitnessPal I'd punch in 'hypothetical' meals that I'd eaten in the past to see if I need to skinny them down a bit or if they'd fit into my day given all of the other stuff I eat. After I've punched them in to see how my 'hypothetical' day of eating looks, I'll decide whether it works or not, tweak it, and then delete it frpm the log (since it's just a test).

I am also very result motivated! It's hard to stay motivated without it for me. That said, I recommend just simple "portion control" or "calorie control" for you. Most people your height/weight seems to lose well around 1500-1700/day. That seems to be a good place to start. Think about it this way...if you just eat less of what your already eating...you WILL lose weight. NO special diet is really necessary. As you progress and you see the scale flying down at about 2 lbs/week (which can add up rather quickly), you'll be motivated to make further changes (like adding exercise and more veggies):)

Oh and don't forget to enjoy the foods you eat...make them tasty!:D You'll be more likely to stick with something you actually enjoy.;)

I think you should track it for a while first. Really to get a feeling for what's calorie dense and what isn't. Also, it's easier to eat less calories when you know which foods te avoid, obviously. You can't expect to make good choices when you don't know what your choices are.

When you track what you eat, try and use an app like fatsecret or any other and also pay attention to the nutrional value in the things you eat. I noticed that I ate a lot of sodium, and had too little proteine in my foods. It sounds like a lot to do - but just google and surf the boards to get a better feeling for what's "normal" calorie intake and what your body needs. And then after a while when you feel up to it, change a few things. Or everything. Whatever you feel like!

If you don't set super high expectations and start slow to set yourself up for succes instead of failure.. you are gonna do GREAT! :D

Goodluck, and just check in on the boards if you don't know how to do something. Plenty of helpful people here!

Thanks!

I love veggies and "healthy" stuff. But I also have a huge like HUGE sweet tooth. Not for candy on the go kinda sweets but for baked goods and homemade icecream kinda stuff. I guess the trick there is just not to make it! HAHA. Fairly obvious I know.

2lbs a week DOES add up quickly and when I am actively losing its fantastic. Then something happens and I totally go off the rails. Generally its some foodie type trip the hubby and I love to do. Food and Wine Festival, or dinner with friends, something like that. Once it starts, its just a very slippery slope and I have zero willpower on my own.

Its like quitting smoking. When I did that after 25 years, it was easy when I did not have another smoker around me, now four years later its second nature to not smoke. Hubby does not smoke and no one at my office smokes. Dieting is a bit different. Everyone wants to sabotage! LOL

That's where meal planning is IMPERATIVE to success! I had lots of people inviting me to stuff too...AND I live with a skinny lil' 12 yr old who loves junk food! AND I LOVE SWEETS! As a matter of fact I'm like you...homemade goodies thrill me! Not sure which I like better...the baking or the eatin...maybe a bit of both!:D

If I were asked to pinpoint the single most important thing I changed in my life that made the most difference in me reaching my goal, it would be meal pre-preparation...hands down!

For instance...me daughter and I are going away for the weekend. I plan to pack our large cooler and take enough of my frozen meals, frozen grilled chicken, bag of salad, dressings, diet soda, water and cookies/muffins/desserts so that I don't have to eat out one day. I do this because 1) it's habit now; and 2) I enjoy my cooking more than any restaurant and 3) I'm cheap! :wave:

Since you like to cook, maybe try making your meals a week or two in advance and freezing them. You'll be surprised how easy this will make the process of saying NO to eating out.:)

that is an excellent idea!
We live in the desert. Literally HAHA. and we love to hit the beach once a week in the summer, and camp at the river etc as well. It is super easy to throw a cooler together, I just usually do not plan it out more than the morning we are leaving (it is a two hour drive to any sort of water, that is changing in 10 months) so planning ahead for things like that is a super good idea. That avoids the whole spending $50 on chips and crap at the store on the way out of town!

The trick with the baking is that I do it as a side business for friends, family and friends of family. I shall have to be very good at limiting the tasting and only taste if its a new recipe that I have done. I mean I know what my vanilla cupcakes taste like already! HAHA

I have lost and gained weight quite a bit, and I have to say that the only way it works for me is to track food. I lose a good amount and then I think, "I know how many calories are in just about everything I eat, I don't need to journal to track them, I'll just keep a running estimate in my head." Then, I start "estimating" everything quite generously and I feel like I'm constantly on a diet because I'm always thinking about calories, but somehow I'm gaining weight. Hopefully this time I will get it through my thick head that I need to food journal- maybe not for the rest of my life, but for longer than I keep thinking I do.

There is something about having to write down everything you eat that helps you cut back. As much as a pain as it sounds like, measure your food out (you can get a basic food scale for $5) and track everything you put in your mouth. I have complained for years that I just don't eat that many calories but it's soooo hard for me to lose, when really the truth is probably that I eat a lot more calories than I realize when I don't journal. It seems like you can eyeball things- but if you think you're putting 1 Tablespoon of coffee creamer in your morning coffee and you're really putting in 3, it adds up fast!! Same goes for "tasting" while you're cooking, adding "just a little" oil to a frying pan, or finishing the rest of a kid's pb&j! It just sneaks up on ya!

lol I'm a professional baker and like you, I always taste, taste, taste. But I've tasted my cakes a million times you'd think i'd control my impulses... Only new recipes from now on (rushes off to bake something new...;))

I, too, am an instant gratification girl (isn't everyone these days? haha) and have had problems with giving up my eating regimen if I feel like I'm not making progress. What has solved this problem for me and kept me on track is creating a spreadsheet in Google Docs where I track my daily calorie totals and weekly average and total. This way, if I have a "bad" day, I don't get too discouraged because I can see that my daily average is still on target as long as I have a couple of stricter days. At the end of each week, I also input my current weight and a short "journal" entry so I can look back and see what exactly is happening. It really helps me to keep everything in perspective and not beat myself up if I go overboard, or even if I am having a slow loss - I can still see that there is a loss, even if just 1 lb a month, it's something!

If this is something you might be interested in, I can upload a sample later to clarify.

Fellow baking ladies- do you ever go on Cake Central? One of the tips I picked up there was to chew gum while you're baking- then less temptation to "test"!

Thanks kristen. I too like visual results. I have a crazy spreadsheet with graphs and averages as well. But please upload a sample, yours may be a bit easier to look at :)

I would just start logging to get a good idea of where you are. Include every single thing you ate and quickly you will see where you are losing the battle. I quickly saw that having something sweet with lunch AND dinner was really hurting my efforts, and alcohol on weekends is going to make getting to goal really hard. Just take some time to figure out what your bad habits are so you can begin to correct them.

I know that logging and seeing all the nutritional information can be overwhelming. One way I try and make things more manageable is by setting one or two goals for the week. For example, I'll say that this week I need to get 100% of my fiber every day. For me, this makes things a bit less overwhelming and I can start making good habits slowly. It might not work for everyone but I am liking it. Then you start to get to know foods that are high in fiber (or whatever goal you're trying to meet) and can work them into your regular diet.

OO good idea. That would totally help with the "old" recipes. You know the ones I have already worked the kinks out of!:carrot:

Yeah when I go to the store today to get cat food (of all things lol) I am going to pick up a small notebook that will fit in my purse.I will actually start tracking everything tomorrow, without paying attention, and do that through Saturday. (grocery shopping day) Small goals are good. I get less discouraged that way.

There are many ways to go about this, so there's no one right answer. My suggestion is to start at 1500 calories a day, and do that for a week and see how you feel. If you're working out, maybe make it 1700. After a week, adjust as necessary.

I agree completely. I've had to accept that fact that I'm just not good as estimating. Actually, I wonder that it took me so long to realize this as the same applies to other things in life---e.g., I'm not good at guessing people's ages, weights, etc. Also, I'm ALWAYS very early for appointments because I don't do well at estimating time (at least I'm early rather than late, though! :) ). So, it just makes sense that I don't do well with estimating food. I tend to underestimate, though, and when that happens, I become frustrated because I don't feel I'm eating enough, and I give up the whole "eating healthy" thing. As such, I calorie count so that I can eat all the food that I'm "allowed" to with my calorie allotment.

This is my first time calorie counting using an app. I am finding it SO much easier than when I used to write down my calories. In fact, it's sort of fun! To the OP, I highly recommend using a journaling/calorie counting app if you have a smart phone. I use a free one called CALORIE COUNTER. I think it's great! I know that many others here use one called My Fitness Pal. I'm sure there are many good journaling tracker apps out there.

I agree 100%. Cooking and freezing full meals and packing my entire day's worth of food is the key.

I need to do this. It'll make things so much easier when school goes back in so I can just grab something frozen and I'm all set. Is there anything you've found that doesn't freeze very well?

I haven't found anything that doesn't freeze well just yet - I freeze different kinds of bean mixtures (for rice and beans), soup, chili, rice/chicken mixtures, turkey/zucchini meatballs, homemade sauce, homemade veggie burgers, turkey breakfast sausages, frozen sliced bananas, and more.

I also make super fast meals by:
-Keeping roasted vegetables handy
-Baking potatoes/sweet potatoes in the microwave
-Using instant brown rice
-Using frozen vegetables
-Cutting my cheese into measured portions
-Keeping low calorie flatbread on hand (pizza), low cal wraps (burritos or sandwich), small tortillas (quesadillas)

I work late often and I'm a single mom to a three year old, so we are all about planning. I always plan my meals for the next day, and sometimes for the next few days or week.