[jes2444]

Hi everyone, I just joined this forum and am looking forward to finding support here.

I'm no newbie to dieting - Since I was like 14 years old, I've suffered from extreme diet/eating disorder habits, and only in the past couple years have I finally freed myself from all that. I am not super thin or in shape anymore, but I also no longer hate my body, refuse to do things because I'm not skinny enough, ever skip a meal or eat just a couple hundred calories a day, or go crazy if I can't get to the gym. I don't really do any formal exercise, just whatever walking I do on errands or cleaning, and I just eat whatever I feel like! That part is all awesome. I'd never choose to go back to my old extreme methods to drop the weight quickly and be super skinny (even if I could anymore), because it's definitely not worth it.

I'm here because I would like to lose a little weight, for the most part simply for health reasons. I want to feel a bit more energetic and healthy day to day. I'm past thinking that being skinny or toned will make my life better, and I'm definitely not desperate about it, but I would also just like to look a bit better for my personal aesthetics too, I guess, just to enjoy the way clothes look on myself, etc. Nothing judgmental about how I look now, and I'm not super unhealthy or anything. I just want to make a few changes for the better!

My question is, any tips on how to ease into doing this sanely? What I DON'T want to do is make any huge changes all at once, count calories, or make any absolute rules to follow...I just want to find some new sustainable habits to start and keep up forever! I know ALLLL the technical stuff about how to lose weight (it used to be practically my whole life!), but I really want to kind of start new, if that makes sense, and not go back to the old crazy. I no longer have the power or the desire to exercise for an hour a day, eat a 500 calorie dinner, or refuse dessert. Anyone have any good advice? I'd appreciate any thoughts at all!

Also, to add: I'm currently around 62kg, where I've been maintaining around for a couple years, like I said, without exercising and eating whatever, having something like 3000 calories a day, if I go back and count. Until then, I'd always maintained closer to 50kg and about 17% body fat at my adult height for years and years, but that was with being very serious and disordered about weight control, so I don't know if it's reasonable or healthy to expect or try to be quite that thin again...just some middle ground would be nice.

[Palestrina]

Having suffered from ED myself I don't know the right answer to this question. Just choose something small that you can do every day and do that. I don't know you so I don't know what that would be. I know for me starting small meant cutting out soda, wearing a pedometer so that even when I wasn't exercising my movement counted. Find an activity you like doing like bikeriding, hiking, walking, dancing, whatever it is and do it for FUN, not for exercise.

One rule that really helps me is that I have to eat colorful food. I want my diet to be inclusive, not limiting. Before when I was eating anything and everything I wanted my diet was extremely limited! I ate lots of bread, cheese, junk food, everything I ate was brown with an odd veg here and there. Now I want my food to be colorful.

[Tweetie]

I hope you're having success with getting started on the right track! I have also descended upon the weightloss path (again) recently, and have read a few things to get started. They may or may not apply to you, but it could help. Try a new one to add to each week

1. Try to have a real fruit and/or veggie with every meal (fresh or frozen)
2. Cut out fast food
3. Give up white breads and grains, and only eat whole grains (whole wheat bread, brown rice, quinoa, whole wheat pasta, etc)
4. Use a fruit or veggie as the base to every snack (feel free to pair with healthy proteins)
5. Give up sugary drinks!

I hope some of these help. Good luck!

[gardenerjoy]

I'm a librarian. As usual, I have a book suggestion.

Bethenny Frankel wrote a book called Naturally Thin: Unleash Your SkinnyGirl and Free Yourself from a Lifetime of Dieting. It offers pretty much what you asked for -- a bit of attentiveness but nothing that resembles a diet.

[JohnP]

For exercise as it relates to health - you need to raise your heart rate 3 x a week for at least 20 minutes. Brisk walking is fine for this.

As for diet - so long as your diet is based primarily around whole foods you'll be fine. How you decide to restrict calories is up to you. Most people find that limiting carbs is the easiest way. Fruits and veggies being your primary source of carbs makes it much more difficult to over eat.