My Weight Loss Tips

[TheWife]

OK, sorry it took me so long to get to it. I may have to add on more as I think of it, but for the most part, this is what helps me be the most successful at weight loss.

First, there is the math. An average male of average activity level, can consume around 2000 cals a day, and maintain his weight. Females are more around 1800. To lose a pound a week you need burn an additional 3500 calories that week. That's 500 a day. So you need to reduce your caloric intake by 500, putting you around 1300, or increase your activity level to burn an additional 500 cals. If you want to lose 2 pounds a week, which is the most you should try for, you'd need to burn off 1000 cals a day. About 20 minutes on the treadmill, with a short warm up and cool down, and working up to full incline, or no incline but running, burns around 200 cals. So what I do is reduce cals to 1200, that's 800 less a day, and then the treadmill takes care of the other 200. If I do that consistently, I ALWAYS lose 2 pounds a week. But all it takes is eating out, having junk food, etc. and there is no loss, or worse, a gain. So that's really all there is to it, it's just math. But, here are my strategies for reducing cals and increasing exercise in the easiest ways possible:

The first thing I did was change all food products that I possibly could to reduced fat, fat free, sugar free, etc. It takes some trial and error to find brands that I like. Cream cheese, salad dressing, milk, and pudding I can do in fat free. Cottage cheese, mayo and sour cream I do in reduced fat cause the fat free is just weird. Every morning I have a sugar free Carnation Instant Breakfast with skim milk. I used to drink the regular kind with 2% milk, but by changing it to sugar free and skim, I reduced my calories by over 100 a day, and that was just breakfast. There are only a few things that I can do sugar free, like Jello and the instant breakfast. A lot of sugar free things have a very strong taste of artificial sweetner.

Add veggies anywhere you can. Most veggies when raw are considered negative calorie foods, meaning, it burns more calories to chew them then you take in. So you don't have to count any calories when you munch on cucumbers, celery, etc. Of course not all are like that, olives are high in fat, but it's good fat, but you still can't just eat all you want. We are supposed to get 5 servings of veggies a day, but that's a minimum. You can not have too many veggies so eat up!

Get rid of the things in your house that will tempt you. I do not have any ice cream, candy, potato chips, treats, etc. None. Zero. I know it's kind of sad. But there are enough opportunities in life to get little treats here and there, like at grandma's house, or on a special occasion. So I don't feel totally deprived. Yes, I'd love nothing more than to shovel my mouth full of junk all day, but that's what got me here in the first place and in the long run it's not worth it. I don't have any beverages other than water and milk and 100% juice either. And juice is very high in sugar, at least it's natural, but still high, which means high calories. So no more than 4 oz a day. I know to most people this sounds very strict, but my will power can only go so far, and if it's there, I'll eat it. If I have a bag of treats, I can't stop with just one. So I just don't even buy stuff like that, and rely on others to occasionally treat me lol. And the reason we don't drink anything else, like pop or koolaid, is because it is just too hight in calories. It's very hard to only take in 1200 calories if you consume 1/4 of it just in beverages.

1200 calories doesn't seem like much, and it's not if you are eating junk, or a lot of meat or carbs. But if you eat in the portions that you are supposed to, meaning 5 or more veggies, whole grain carbs, and lean protein, you will be full and satisfied, and need less and less food to get and stay full.

I also avoid anything I can w/ corn syrup or hydrogenated oils. Those are really bad for you, corn syrup is carbs, hydrogenated oils are trans fat and the FDA recommends that you do not consume ANY. But it's in almost anything that is good lol. Even spaghetti sauce and salad dressing and canned fruits are full of corn syrup. And even products that say they are trans fat free, may contain hydrogenated oil still, if it's less than 1 gram. Well, less than 1 g isn't a big deal, but if you eat 10 things in a day that contain less 1 g, then you are about to 10 grams and that is NOT good. So if it's got corn syrup or hydro oils, try really hard to not buy it.

I track my cals the best I can everyday, because you would not believe how many cals most people consume. On another board I go to, we've had several weight loss competitions. One of the things we did when we started, was to have everyone write down EVERYTHING they ate, and then guess how many cals they had. Most people guessed they had around 1500-2000, but most actually consumed well over 2500. When you start counting EVERYTHING, like every bit of mayo on a sandwhich, every handful of crackers, every teaspoon of butter, you will not believe how fast it adds up. I use www.nutrisystem.com to add up my cals. It's free, you do not have to use their food. There is a food diary and you can add your own food. I have added up everything I eat the most and entered it in. I enter in the whole thing so I don't have to do each item. Like for a ham and cheese sandwhich, I have added it all up, it's 275 cals the way I make it, I do it the same everytime, and then I just click on Ham n Cheese instead of having to daily enter "mayo, bread, meat, cheese..." etc. Once you get enough things added, it takes like no time at all. Every morning I plan out my day, just click on what I'm going to eat until I get to 1200. Actually I aim for slightly less than 1200 so that I don't have to measure every single thing, just to give myself room for the extra dollop of sour cream or whatever. But I try really hard to keep it all in check, and the better I do, the more I lose. If I know I am going out to eat, I try to plan ahead by looking at menus online and then reduce my cals earlier in the day so I don't go over. Almost any fast food place and resturant has their nutrition guides online.

I also look at all the things I buy and see if there are lower cal versions. IN breads, you'd be amazed, it ranges from 70 a slice to like 250 a slice. So I buy the 70 cal Sara Lee whole grain wheat bread. I was super excited the other day when I found tortillas that are only 54 cals instead of the standard 130. And sometimes low cal stuff tastes like crap and I can't eat it, but just try a few things and see what you do like, so you can reduce the cals in every way possible.

Don't be fooled by things that seem healthy. Most people figure a salad is pretty healthy. Well, once you cover it with peas, corn (not veggies, these count as starches), cheese, croutons, bacon bits, and a 200 cal dressing, you are really in trouble. I use fat free dressing, and fat free croutons, and only a small amount of things that are not under the negative calorie veggie chart. Speaking of salad, it is so hard to do all the prep for a good salad. So I do a lot once a week and put it in divided tupperwares. It takes me about 45 minutes once a week to chop tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, broccoli, etc. and put it all into containers. Then during the week, it takes me literally like 3 minutes to throw together a salad or a stir fry etc.

I also only buy lean turkey or ground beef. You can really cut out a lot of fat and cals by going from the 15% fat to the 3% fat. I'm not a meat lover so it's pretty easy for me to skip out on steaks and things like that.

I don't really LIKE exercise lol, I know some people do but I'm not one of them. So I've had to do things to my exercise so it's entertaining. I read while I do the treadmill, it makes it go by way faster. And at night, after the kids are in bed, I watch a Tivo'd show while I do pilates or weights. I memorized the moves so that I don't have to watch a work out DVD or anything, just do it while I watch tv. I'm a total multi-tasker lol.

Of course we all know the tips like park farther from stores so you have to walk more, go for walks at night, dance, etc. That will all help burn calories and keep your metabolism up.

I've learned the hard way that you can NOT push it harder than 2 pounds a week, and you can not eat less than 1200 cals a day. It's just impossible to stay full on anything less. I've tried to double my treadmill, it just burned me out big time and I ended up hating it and stopped doing it, which caused me to lose all the muscle I had gotten, and went back to flab. So I only do it for 20 minutes now, that seems to be the perfect time for me. I have also tried only eating about 800-1000 cals and it just doesn't work. If I can get through a few days, I'll intitially lose an extra pound or two, but after a few days your body adjusts and starts storing everything. Or you get too hungry and end up binging. It's just not worth trying to do it any way other than the safest way of no less than 1200 cals and not too much exercise. The biggest problem is the harder you try, the more you'll gain back if you have an off day or fall off the wagon. The slower you lose, like just doing 1 pound a week, the easier it is to keep off because it was a more moderate change to your lifestyle. But of course that will be a very long term change and you can't expect major results or miracles.

Another website similar to the one I use is www.sparkpeople.com I haven't personally used it just because I already have all my stuff entered and don't need to make a change really. But it's also free and looks more fun than the other one.

The most important thing is to remember that this is not just about weight, it's about the health of your internal organs, your increasing your ability to chase your kids down, increasing how you feel about your appearance will improve your self esteem and may increase your sex drive, your skin and hair will be healthier also! It's so hard to not indulge, but it's so important to be healthy, and be an example to your family. My goal is to help raise up a healthy generation of children. I don't want my kids to be a part of the obesity epidemic, of generation "child diabetes".

Also remember that it takes time, be patient! Take your measurements so that you see changes in inches, because pounds can fluctuate greatly due to water retention, building muscle mass, etc.

That's all I can think of for now, I'll add more later if I need to. Sorry it's so long, it's hard to explain without a lot of typing. Good luck! Maybe we should have a weight loss competition here too if enough people want to!

[TheWife]

Oh, and I eat every 2.5-3 hours. I have small meals, and snacks. If I get hungry in between, I drink a glass of water and that holds me over until I am full. I also chew a LOT of gum. As soon as I finish eating, I start chewing it. The chewing tells your brain you're still eating, so you stay full and you are not going to reach for second helpings if you've got a minty mouth!

(I want to invent gum that tastes like chocolate, that is calorie free lol. Wouldn't that make me millions? If you could get through your chocolate craving w/o swallowing it? LOL)

[Kristie]

Michelle, was there a particular reason you put this in the members only section? if i could, i'd like to move it out to raising family or the food section for more exposure to the outside folks.

[TheWife]

Oh sure, I didn't really think. I guess my brain just went for this forum cause that's where the other thread was that I brought it up in. Put it where you want.

[Kristie]

Thanks!