I Need Help!!!
 

I've been off the dieting for a while and it shows!, but now I need to lose a whopping 30# by Feb. Otherwise I will be on a beach in Mexico in long johns!
I would never put on a swimming suit with all this blubber hanging around. At this point I have the motivation, but there are so many diets out there I dont know which way to go! Please help me! Any suggestions would be appreciated! Is it even possible?

easiest way for me, was just counting calories and like not eating when im not hungary, not easy but it works.. lots of excerise too... also not easy but worth is.. everything else to me is too complicated .. this is something you get used to and you can get what you want, just gotta pay attention to stuff that goes in your mouth.. which is actually quite enjoyable! you get to like experience food like a normal person.. not saying your not normal... im saying im not normal ;) haha if your motivated nothing will stop you.. Do it honey!!

I am hoping this doesnt come across as mean and harsh so sorry if it does...

You might need to lose 30 pounds, but do you think that 30 pounds is going to make you instantly feel better about yourself?

Sure I might be fat, but I wore bikni's on hot beaches weight much more then you - with fat hanging everywhere I am sure. Who cares? Did i care? NOPE! And neither did anyone else. I was happy with myself, and felt good... even if I was 'fat'. Would I have looked better to other people if I was 60 pounds lighter? OF COURSE! But I still would of been me. And the problem is, even if we lose the weight we remember being fat....

Do your best, work hard at it. You can lose the weight no problem. But also, don't be so hard on yourself. You are beautiful no matter what. And who cares if the girl next to you in skinner....

sorry
 

I really dont mean to offend anyone, but yes I actually think I would feel better and feel better about myself if I could lose the weight! No matter what I still wouldnt put on a bikini though...51 grandmother of 6 no I dont think so. But I am motivated now to try again and I really just need some helpful ideas on how to do it.:?:

I'm going to second the calorie counting.

Tell us a little more about you and maybe we can come up with just the thing for ya? What do you like to do for activities.

littlegg, I know how you feel. I honestly do feel better about myself now that I have lost most of the weight that I wanted to lose. I was not happy with myself when I felt fat.
As for what diet to try. I advise you not to diet because most diets fail and you end up gaining the weight back. Instead, try to change your lifestyle. Get healthy and in doing so, you'll lose weight. My doctor said several things to me over a few year period and finally I decided to put them into action. He said 1) get moving. If you're going out in the morning to get the newspaper, don't stop at the end of the driveway--go all the way around the block. Then increase the walk every few days. 2) don't eat "white." Meaning, don't eat super-refined food like white breads, white rice, pototoes.
I took his suggestions, coupled it with honest calorie counting and portion control and here I am. I suggest you go over to the whole foods area of the forum. We're really into healthy eating and there are a lot of great suggestions there.
Best of luck! Where in Mexico are you going?

Thanks!
 

I will take a look at the whole foods thread before I go to the store! We are going to Riviera Maya to celebrate our anniversary The Grand Palladium, it an Apple tour and it looks absolutely gorgeous!:wave:I just love these smilies.

My best friend is a 49-year-old grandmother of two, and she wears two piece swimsuits. Not bikinis (she said c-sections put an end to that in her early 20's!!) but she DOES wear a two-piece. Usually a high-waist bottom with a good supportive top. She exercises and diets like the rest of us; struggles, like the rest of us.

Just thought you should know that if OTHERS can do it... SO CAN YOU! :hug:

I'm 51 and wore a bikini last spring in Jamaica for the first time since I was 25. I probably wouldn't at my neighborhood pool, but I actually felt great about feeling good enough to wear one :o

I cut out all the whites, the processed food, sugar, and bread 5 1/2 years ago, and seriously watched calories and portions. I lost about 50 pounds in 4 months. Cardio and weightlifting helped take off the fat, and built solid muscle so I wasn't left looking "skinny fat" and wrinkled. :) Maintenance is just more of the same. As a previous poster said, pick a lifestyle, not a diet. Right now your goal is to look good when you hit the beach, but you want to stay that way for more than 3 days, right?

Enjoy the Riviera Maya :sunny: I was there three years ago before a lot of resorts were wiped away by 2 devastating hurricanes. It was a wonderful vacation. Enjoy it-

Mel

I would just add that if you DO want to do this for life and not only for your anniversary, not to worry if you haven't lost all the weight by then! A lot of people set deadlines for weight loss and then give up when they don't make them. Start making those eating and exercise changes, lose what you can before then, and no matter what, enjoy yourself!

Also, while some people can jump in with both feet and make tons of changes all at once, others feel more comfortable taking "baby steps" -- again, the choice is yours, but don't get discouraged if you can't do it all at once!

I have a 30 pound goal for febuary too! Valentines day is the 6 month mark since the start of my new life of eating and exercise. So I would like to lose 50 pounds by then. I have lost 20 pounds in 11 weeks so far. I calorie cycle.
Heres what I did:
for 3 days I wrote down everything I ate
Then I decided to cut alot of calories out. Through the help of the people on 3fc, I realized I went way too low. Right now I eat 1200 calories 2 days a week, 1400 calories 2 days per week, 1700 two days per week and the last day I either eat more or less depending on what my average of the other 6 days was (incase I eat too much or too little) I make sure my average is around 1430-1450.

I also workout 60 minutes per day/ I started at 15 minutes and added 2 minutes(to each workout) a week until I felt comfortable at 30 minutes, then 2-5 minutes until I reached 60 minutes.

I really give a lot to my success to 3fc, If it wasn't for logging in here everyday and remembering I can do it, I probably would have given up at my first little stall!

calorie cycling
 

Ive tried cycling calories in the past it really does work. Tell me do you write everything down in a notebook or what, how do you keep track?
I am really impressed with your weight loss you are doing great. Can you give me an example of a 1200 cal day? that seems very low!

Hi littlegg,

When I decided to lose weight, it was because I was terrified that I was diabetic (I wasn't, but was certainly on a path of self-destruction). Motivation #2 was cosmetic. I changed my way of eating and exercising completely overnight-- I had to make a total break with the past. No baby steps, no cheats. This doesn't work for everyone, as wyellen said to you in her post.

I'm 5' 3 and started at about 180. I was already fairly active by most people's standards. I walked about 3 miles a day and played tennis 2-3 times a week.

I started out doing "SugarBusters" diet very strictly. No white flour, no white potatoes, no white rice, no added sugar, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, or anything else ending in "ose" (sugar). You can have 2 servings of starchy carbs per day at different meals, and two servings of fruit (at different meals). As many green vegies as you want. 1 serving of lean protein at each meal. The book was vague on fats, but I tried to keep them low.

Eventually, I switched to eating 5 small meals per day (or 3 meals and 2 snacks). Here's what a day looks like for me now (averaging about 1300-1500 calories).

Breakfasts: Fruit Oatmeal-Eggwhite Pancake (there are lots of different recipes all over the forum).

My version of the Protein-Fruit Pancake:

4 egg whites
1/4 c. oatmeal flakes
1/4 c. fiber one cereal
1/3 c. cottage cheese
vanilla, cinnamon

Wing it around in a blender until batterish, then pour into a preheated non-stick sprayed skillet. I sprinkle about 1/2 diced apple or the equivalent other fruit on it while it is cooking. Cook 5 minutes at medium temp, flip, cook. Sometimes I add 1/2 c. pumpkin puree to the blender and about 2 tbs. water and pumpkin pie spices. SF syrup if you aren't adverse to artificial sweeteners.

Fruits that work well cooked in: peaches, apples, pears, pitted cherries (frozen), blueberries.

Fruits that are better sliced on top after cooking: mandarin oranges, strawberries, bananas, melon....

Oatmeal and Cottage Cheese

1/2 c. oatmeal dry nuked in LARGE bowl with 1 cup water.
add lots of cinnamon, 1/2 c. cottage cheese, sprinkle of blueberries and some sugar free syrup.

Egg White Omelette
5 egg whites, lots of vegies (or 1 whole egg and 3 whites)
1 slice whole wheat toast or 1/2 whole grain English muffin

Cottage Cheese, yogurt and Cereal
1/2c. cottage cheese
1/2 c. kashi Go Lean or Fiber 1
1/2 c. nonfat plain yogurt or non-fat sugar free yogurt


10 AM snack

Protein shake totalling about 180 calories

Lunch

Lunch and dinner look a lot alike.
3-4 oz. lean protein (turkey breast, chicken breast, lean steak, tilapia, salmon, tuna, pork tenderloin) roasted, grilled or cooked in nonstick pan with quick spritz of olive oil
loads of salad- 1 tbs. Newman's Own Vinaigraitte dressing or Annie's naturals Ginger non-fat
1 small serving of a starchy complex carb- 2-3 tbs. brown rice, or 1/3 c. sweet potato cubes, or small whole grain tortilla, or 1/2c. chick peas, etc.

4pm Snack

If I'm working, I eat one of my home made protein muffins:

Banana Nut Muffins

Ingredients

1 cup dry old-fashioned oatmeal, ground to flour in a blender or food processor
4 scoops vanilla protein powder (I use HDT Problend 55 Alpine Vanilla)
2 tsp Baking powder
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1 T cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
************************
2 med ripe bananas
1 egg
4 egg whites
1/2 cup natural applesauce
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 c Splenda
1/4 c chopped walnuts

Procedure
Mix dry ingredients and wet separately. Add wet to dry stuff, mix up. spoon into muffin tin that has been sprayed with Pam.
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes...or less, I like them browned on top.
I wrap each and freeze in a freezer bag.
Make 12 sm. muffins. A serving is 2 muffins for me.
Nutritional Information
· Fat: 35g
· Calories: 1446
· Protein: 147g
Carbs: 143g

I usually sub 1 cup of pumpkin puree for the bananas- it lowers the sugar content and the calorie and carb count quite a bit.

If I'm home, I might have the yogurt, cottage cheese and cereal concoction, or some cottage cheese and half an apple.

Dinner
Repeat of lunch- basically a lean protein and LOADS of non-starchy vegies. Skip the starchy carb.

If I'm on plan and it's been a low fat day, I'll have a tablespoon of natural chunky peanut butter. And then my husband hides the peanut butter jar!

Exercise: I do about 30-45 minutes of intense cardio 5 days a week. Get sweaty!
I lift weights(heavy as I can) 4 days a week- different body parts each day.

If you want to start lifting and have no idea how to start, Body For Life is an excellent starting place for an introduction to this way of life. Most women need more cardio than he suggests and 5 meals instead of six, but if you are currently sedentary and not eating very well, it's a great place to start. The "challenge" length is 12 weeks which fits well with your goal- given that you have to deal with Holidays and Thanksgiving in there. If you do decide to do BFL skip the free day and have a treat meal. Free days have led many people into major compulsive eating disorders or have undone all the work they accomplish in the preceeding 6 days.

OK, I just wrote you a book :o What I did and still do looks pretty extreme to most people, but it's what I had to do for me. At this point, it's second nature and I enjoy it. I certainly enjoy being the smallest strongest 52 year old I know.

I think I'm going to post this in your thread- I get a lot of PM's asking me this question!

Mel

That was an awesome post Mel! Thanx for taking the time to do it!

Hi Littlegg (cute name),

I just got back from a beach vacation and I gave myself a couple of months to get a little toned up- I didn't just want to look "thin" in a swimsuit, I wanted to look good. I know what you mean, I'm at a healthy weight, but I wanted to feel comfortable in a 2 piece (a lifelong goal!). I think these ladies have offered some great advice (def look at the whole-foods section:)). I would just add to not forget about exercising and strength training- that was probably my biggest help in getting "beach ready". have fun on your tip, it sounds like a blast!