[Ahealthierme]

Originally Posted by Siren223

it is very hard do eat healthily for me because I am extremely busy and I cannot go out and buy fresh produce everyday...The produce is expensive, and doesnot keep long at all. I end up throwing out half of what I buy because it spoils so easily. One cannot live on brown rice alone. And I am not about to try seeing as that is part of the reason I have gained weight in the first place. I am trying to cut out the pasta and rice, or at least eat it VERY rarely.

I dont usually buy fresh produce unless I have immediate plans to use it. I generally buy frozen fruits and veggies in 2lb bags and eat it as I go along (SOOO cheap!) just an idea!

[aphil]

I would disagree about backing off on the exercise 100%. Also, you are burning a decent amount of calories doing the cardio (treadmill) 30 minutes a day, 6 days a week-but you are not actually going to have a lot of muscle gain-first because of the short amount of time you have been doing this, and second, because you are not doing strength training. Women do not have the hormone levels to have quick and dramatic muscle gain from exercise like men do-you are not going to gain 5 pounds of muscle mass that quickly-especially without strength training being involved.

[SOON2BE154]

Originally Posted by aphil

Actually, there are different studies that say different things. Some studies say soy could have dangerous side effects, and others have shown all of the numerous health benefits of soy. I personally have seen in my diet the wonderful things from eating soy. It is also very important for vegetarians to get protein, and soybeans, along with other beans and nuts, are the best way to go for that.

If you have a low thyroid soy can interfer with the medication for it.

[Ilene]

Originally Posted by Siren223

....then I went to get mexican food one night...and I tried being good by ordering grilled veggies....but now I gained the 5lbs back....sooo frusturating.

My take on your gain is that it was only water. Eventhough you were careful of your choices at the Mexican restaurant they still use MSG and a LOT more salt in their foods that we would. Your gain would be only bloated from the foods, drink lots of water for a couple of days...

I also agree with Aphil that you are NOT gaining muscle at all from doing 30 minutes of biking, even if it is daily. The new US govt guidelines are to exercise 60 to 90 minutes/day. You would gain muscle from weight training, and that would be a good thing because muscles would burn the fat when you are sedentary... Are you weight training Siren?

[Jennifer 3FC]

I'm chiming in about the exercise also. 30 minutes a day is not going to bring too much calorie deficit. It actually isn't enough of one. I do agree that you should build up on the exercise so you don't get burned out, but it takes 3500 calorie deficit between exercise and calorie cutting to lose a pound. At 298 pounds, 5 pounds in two weeks is right on target, and not indicative of too much calorie cutting, in my opinion.

As for the cost of healthy foods, try and look at the overall expense of your foods. Certain types of fresh produce can be expensive, and others can be cheap. I check out the sales and frequently let this weeks special plan my menu. Also, you are saving money on convenience foods and junk foods and restaurant visits. In my town, a Vegetarian B, diet coke and a tip can buy me a pound of bananas, a few bags of frozen mixed veggies, a carton of cottage cheese (great source of protein), and a container of oatmeal. I know it is really tough getting started, but keep your chin up, don't pay too much attention to the scale (like Ilene said, water can devastate the scale reading) and do your best. And don't be too afraid of soy. Unless you have uncommon medical conditions, soy is good for you. Anything in excess can cause problems, like too much salt, too much saturated fat, etc. Even too many carbs can be hard on the pancreas. I'm not a nutritionist, but I can for sure promise that some tofu will be much better for you than food at a mexican restaurant.

SOONTOBE154 - Do you mind sharing what cardio you were doing to burn 880 calories in 45 minutes?

[Lolita]

Siren223,

First off I wanted to commend you on trying to lose weight in the first place. Just starting is big deal! I too am a newbie.. one week in.

Here is an idea: I noticed you live in Houston, TX. Since it's the summer time, I was wondering do you have fresh produce stands anywhere in Houston ? I live in New Jersey (Garden State..LOL) and we have lots of fresh produce stands in my area. At the produce stands the prices are SO reasonable. I am talking dirt cheap. Like 2 dollars for 10 HUGE tomatoes. 2 dollars for a huge bundle of asparagus. Prices similar to that... Much less expensive than going into the supermarket. So maybe you want to try the produce stands in your area. You only have to go once a week and ONLY buy what you can eat in a week's time.

Also if you like salad, here is a trick to make the lettuce last longer that I use and it helps save money because you don't have to toss the lettuce out so fast. Chop up a head of lettuce and rinse it off really well. Pat it very dry with paper towels. Then take a plastic container with a lid and put the lettuce inside. Then take several ice cubes and put over top the lettuce. Place the lid on the container and refridgerate. Now you have fresh chopped lettuce any time you want and it will last a little longer than just chopping some off the head when you want some. And it saves you some time already having your lettuce chopped up.

I am having a hard time believing that you gained 5 lbs back that fast. Unless of course, you had much more than just mexican food. You may just have water retention.. is it around your cycle time maybe ?

I also think a good idea might be to up your exercise to 45 mins on the treadmill. I noticed for me 30 mins just wasn't cutting it. So I do 40 mins on the treadmill and plus I do some other activity as well besides just the treadmill. So I do the treadmill 40 mins. And then some other activity. One day it might be Yoga, another day boxing, another day speed walking in the park. I also have DVD's called, "Walk Away The Pounds". So I try to mix it up so I won't feel so devastated every time it's exercise time. I am even getting a bike this weekend so I can ride around.

It's okay to be frustrated and everyone has set backs, but you must get up dust yourself off and get right back on the horse. Stick to your goals and find out ways to MAKE TIME for you. If loosing weight is that important to you, you will find ways to make time for you to do the things you need to do to loose the weight.

Also find out how many calories you are intaking. And go from there. Someone told me about a website called www.fitday.com and it is one of the best tips I have ever gotten. You can find out how many calories you ate that day, keep track of your fitness, journal, look at a calendar, set up your target weight, and supplies you will also sort of interesting information with easy to read charts and graphs. All you have to do is right before you go to bed at night is log on to fitday.com plug in your info and then you have a record to see how you did that day.

Stay strong and keep on working out!

Lo

[jillybean720]

Just a quickie on the topic of calories burned during cardio--I burn a little over 500 calories using the elliptical machine for 35 minutes at the gym (you put in your weight and stuff so it gives you a more accurate calorie burning count, since everyone is different). So if I could get my butt in on there for an hour, I would burn well over 800 calories

I have also heard of Tae Bo being an amazing calorie-burning workout. I used to do it religiously every day, and even without cutting calories from my diet, I was able to lose some weight because Tae Bo kicks your butt, man!

[Lolita]

Jilly, I agree about Tae Bo.. It's really an incredible work out. When I did it in the past I felt like Billy Blanks was my own personal trainer because he talks like he's talking to you at home.. LOL! You gave me an idea to dust off the old tapes.. as a matter of fact, I am going to WalMart today and getting some Tae Bo DVDs! THANX!

Lo