Hello,

Looking for some basic advice and tips on getting started!

I have been very small my whole life from age 19-33 averaged between 103-106lbs with no dieting or exercising. Then I had a major health issue and became very incapacitated. I am doing some physical activity again but need physical therapy twice a week and am still on lots of pain meds. I also moved from NYC (a very active walking city with healthy food and small portions) to the south (learned drive & sit in a car everywhere, deep fried food, sweet tea etc) and in the course of a year and a half my weight increased by 14%!!!

I am short and have spinal issues and the added weight is a nightmare. My doctor and therapist want me to get it off asap but I have no idea where to start?

I used online calculators and they suggest a 1060cal a day diet. Which I have tried for two weeks but I feel so weak and tired, not to mention hungry all the time. Plus with my medication I feel nauseous without enough food. So I've been starving for 2 weeks and I checked the scale today and it hasn't even budged!

Advice??
Thank you!

take one day at a time
are you drinking enough water
smaller portions
fruits and veggies

Hi, New2Dieting. I'm also short so I sympathize how it can make weight loss through diet alone tough. I'm sorry to hear about your spinal issues. Are you able to walk for exercise, or is that too much at this point?

I also at one point went from living in NYC to the south so I understand how that shift could pack on pounds. Could you reverse as much of the environmental factors that caused the damage? That is, avoid fried foods & sweet tea and go back to eating like you did in NYC?

The weight will likely come off slowly but if you eat healthy food at portions that total 12 or 1300 calories a day, it will happen eventually.

I tend to be in the no diet camp especially with a 14% weight gain which would put you at roughly 120. Even short, that's not terrible.

I agree with the others: Reverse the environmental conditions as much as possible. Walk where you can. Ditch the sweetened tea and fried things, eat fresh foods, fruit and veggies instead. Eat smaller portions when faced with social occasions. Do what you can to exercise a bit. The loss will necessarily be slow but you will avoid the pitfalls of dieting (as you described) with a no-plan eating plan. Good luck to you.

Listen to your body. You've not completely recovered yet and you need your strength. Trust yourself to make the right choices, because from the sound of it, your weight gain is not from making the wrong choices, but from a combination of factors; your health, your medication, change in surroundings and being sedentary. That calorie intake sounds quite restrictive and from the sound of it, it's not doing your health any favours. Listen to your body and trust yourself, you know what your body needs right now. Once you've fully recovered you can be more regimented in getting the weight off, but baby steps for the moment. Good luck.



http://www.3fatchicks.com/diet-blogs...nyfriendnowfat

I'm just going to hit home what others have said, mostly that the environmental issues are withing your control. Certainly there are options to fried food ans sweet tea - make those choices instead. And as for walking, well, just walk! You might need a car to get to the store or to work where you walked to those places in NYC. If that's the case - drive part way and walk the same distance you would have walked in NY. If you walked 1/2 mile to work in NY, park 1/2 mile from your work now and walk. If that seems stupid, drive all the way to work and walk 1/2 mile in the parking lot before going in the building. It's the same walking as you did in the past.


certainly allow yourself to heal and only do what is safe for your health. And consult a doctor for more advice that is pertinent to your case. If you cut just 200 calories a day, you'll lose close to 2 pounds a month. I realize 14% seems like a lot to you, but it will be off again in a few months.

Welcome to the site and good luck.

Lin

Have your doctor and PT offered you any advice on getting the weight off or dealing with the effects of the medication?

I agree with the other posters. Listen to your body and try to mitigate the effects of living in an environment that's sedentary and laden with unhealthy foods. If you know any thin Southerners, take a look at how they eat and stay active. You'll probably find that they limit their intake of sweet tea, fried foods, and all that other junk, and that they either have active jobs or make a point of exercising. It's quite possible to lose weight and keep it off while living in the South; it's just a matter of figuring out ways around the destructive aspects of the culture and lousy/non-existent community planning.

Good luck!

1060 cals a day is not enough! Unless you are super vigilant, you cannot meet your bodies nutrition needs at that calorie level.

Given, that you are in the process of rehab, and you have moved, and so on and so forth.

I, just my opinion, would work on a lifestyle that works to get you back to good health.

Healthy foods, that will help you towards regaining a healthy body, and rehab and exercise that will also work towards a healthy body, and a good friend or therapist that will get your head back in a good place.

Thank you so much everybody for all the replies. I really feel clueless about all of this. Yes, I have cut out all my new "southern guilty pleasures" and I am trying to eat healthy again. As for the exercise I'm really nowhere near able to move the way I was. I'm not able to even work at the moment, let alone workout. That said I do do physical therapy and have started doing the elliptical there but its really more for rehab not weight loss (I'm only up to 8 minutes before my body gives out) so walking a mile or going to the gym is not really an option now.

This may be a silly question but what's a good low cal quick snack that gives you some energy? I feel so weak and hungry with the lower calories but not sure what will give me the most bang for my buck so to speak between meals.



I'm not sure, what is a good amount? I stop drinking soda, juice, alcohol, & sweet tea but I do now drink several glasses of crystal light and 4-5 cups of hot tea a day. Do those count towards water?

Also, does anyone have a sweetener to recommend? I know sugar is bad but I need my hot tea to function (splenda bothered my stomach), truvia? honey?

I just found this board recently but read a lot of advice like this. I see people cutting back a little and losing pounds a week! People doing 1300cal and losing pounds monthly. But I have done between 1000-1200 for two weeks now and lost nothing. Before this dieting attempt I'm guessing I was consuming between 2300-2700 so I've cut by over 1000 calories and weigh the same??

Yeah I'm kinda of feeling that way too and will check with my P/T on maybe a better plan. But what is a good target for calories if even with such a low number I haven't lost anything?

Thanks again everybody!! I'm learning tons.

It is possible to eat low calories without being too hungry (I can post a few days' sample menus if you're interested) but your body is telling you that you're probably under eating! What a shock to go from 2300 to 1000!

Try eating a moderate diet - maybe 1600 calories and see where that takes you.

After having my daughter, I went to weight watchers to lose the baby weight. Becoming point obsessed, I had a target point of 20 or so per day. I ended up around 10-12 each day and lost nothing for a week - I was advised to eat more. Once I went up to the appropriate target, the weight melted off every single week.

Yes, what you're drinking counts as fluids. I drink no plain water at all (just coffee, tea, soda/juice and wine) and I'm not dehydrated. As far as your diet is concerned, just be patient. If you continue to eat 1,200 to 1,500 cals per day for weeks and months on end, I can guarantee you'll lose weight. This is a marathon, not a sprint.

Freelance