Weight loss

Im 75 lbs above where I want to be. I should be small based on my bones, but I use food as a comfort. I have a lot of thing to modivate me long term to loose the weight (skating, guys, finding clothes that are cute, being able to wear friends clothes, exc) but short term its hard and seems impossible. Any tips for getting through the day and saying no to high cal foods from someone whos been there?

Since 1/1/02, I've lost 115 lbs. I have 15 more to go to hit my healthy target. So I know from whence I speak. This is what has helped me (none of it is earth-shattering. You've probably heard it all before. But I speak from experience that it works):

I struck the word diet from my vocabulary

I focused on behaviour modification - re-examining portion sizes
followed the basic Weight Watchers program (although I didn't continue to re-enroll once I got the basic concepts)

I went cold turkey on not drinking soda. I just have it when I go out to eat. I was never a coffee drinker anyway. I switched to water, and Crystal Lite ice tea.

Exercise - I used Walk Away the Pounds series for much of my weight loss. Now I got the courage to sign up for aerobics classes

I park far away from store entrances and my workplace. I haven't entered a elevator in two years...anything to walk more. If you don't like to walk for the sake of walking, tell yourself it's for a purpose. Don't put your mail in your mailbox, walk it down to the post office. Don't drive to your ATM, walk there.

I journal everything I eat. It helps keep me on track.

I make sure that I still eat all my favorite junk food....just in moderation. If all I have is a 1/2 cup of icecream, I use a baby spoon to eat it. It really makes it last longer. If I buy pretzels, I portion them out in Ziploc bags so that I don't have the big bag as a temptation to eat more.

I bought low-fat cookbooks and rediscovered my love of cooking.

I cook enough dinners to use through out the week to avoid the temptation to eat take-out. So if I pass Wendy's on the way home, I tell myself "nope - your dinner is home in the fridge waiting to be heated up".

I bring my lunch to work everyday. Again, to control what I am making.

I keep low-fat snacks at my desk: popcorn, rice cakes, a bowl of apples, granola bars, cheerios, etc.

ALWAYS EAT BREAKFAST! And I find eating six small meals every 3-4 hours much better than 3 big meals a day.

The important thing is baby steps. Form healthy habits that will last. Pick one or two changes and do just those things for two weeks. Then add another healthy habit for two weeks, then another, etc.

Good luck!

Skate Sandee
Congratulations on your weight lose. I need to loose twenty pounds but I will prefere to loose 30 pounds. I don't really care for food very much. If I could have anything I wanted for dinner tonight, I wouldn't have a clue what to have. I guess my problem is that I drink two 20oz Cokes every day.
Daniel and Little Lulu
PS
Lulu doesn't really care for food that much either. She would rather play. However, she is only six pounds. She eats less that 1 cup of dry food each day. She has no desire to eat anything else.
D & LL

skatepixie:

I "feel" for you! I have been a weight watcher all my life - I only have about 10 lbs to lose - but I am "well endowed" - like Lonnie Anderson or Dolly Parton - so it always seems like more! Anyway, "the battle of the buldge" is a tough one! Hang in there! Find a program that works for you and stick with it. I found weight watchers and the diabetic eating plans are the best to follow. That way you get food from all the food groups and they are not these crazy fad diets. Also get moving! Exercise is the key! Get off the couch when you feel like snacking and go for a walk or call a friend and go shopping - only resist those Latte's!

skatepixie:

I "feel" for you! I have been a weight watcher all my life - I only have about 10 lbs to lose - but I am "well endowed" - like Lonnie Anderson or Dolly Parton - so it always seems like more! Anyway, "the battle of the buldge" is a tough one! Hang in there! Find a program that works for you and stick with it. I found weight watchers and the diabetic eating plans are the best to follow. That way you get food from all the food groups and they are not these crazy fad diets. Also get moving! Exercise is the key! Get off the couch when you feel like snacking and go for a walk or call a friend and go shopping - only resist those Latte's!

Curbing the appetite is not easy - but takes a lot of self-control. Eat healthy snacks - carrots, celery, etc. Drink plenty of water!

All the best in your efforts! It's worth it!

Skatepixie, I think you are half the way home. Your wanting to loose the weight is the most important step. Good for you. I, too, have struggled with weight problems most of my life. You have been given a lot of wonderful advise here, so chin up and do it.

Sometimes I know that I look at things not positively. Here is what I am trying to say---last year I was having a lot of respirtory problems and what helped that was steroids. For most of the year I was on steroids and gained about 40 pounds. The hard part is trying to loose weight when you have medication working against it. When I said I didn't look at things positively, I meant I would be so satisfied to be at the weight I was before I started the medication. Right now, I am using an inhaled steroid, Advair and it seems to help a lot but the struggle in loosing the weight is very, very difficult. I have been watching what I eat since March and to date have lost about 15 pounds. I am very happy about that.

Let us know how things are going for you.

Dee

Definitely give up the soda and the juice! You will be amazed at how just doing this will help. It not only cuts out tons of sugar from your diet, but it also helps curb cravings. I love water with lemon or Crystal light. When you snack, make sure you eat some protein (like cheeze, a hard boiled egg, piece of chicken or turkey, or peanut butter) to fill you up. Veggies are great, but won't keep you full. Try celery with cream cheese or peanut butter, for example.

Whatever you do, start slowly. Giving up too much all at once will only make you want to quit. I lost 30 pounds in the last year by quitting most white flour products, and that has been great for me. However, it may not be for you. Find a way of eating that you can stick with FOR LIFE, not until you can fit into a certain size.

I have become a great smeller - meaning I only smell the cake or donuts and remember what it tastes like. This has become good enough for me. I also have educated myself on nutirious foods (this takes a while to do), so I now eat whole grains and have sugar free vanilla soy milk in my sugar free cereal. It sounds better than it sounds ! Don't eat any of the fake fat free processed foods in market. Eat real foods that taste good!

What really works for me is www.weightwatchers.com. You can do the program online-works wonders for me because I am too busy with work and little ones to go to meetings. The points system really works-go to the website and check it out. They also have community boards that you can go to to get in touch with others that are going through the same things you are. It has been a great support system! I have lost 8 lbs in a month-nice and steady.

What makes it work is you can have pizza, cake, ect.-you get 35 "flex" points a week that you can use for anything. So if you have a birthday, special occasion or just a plain bad day-you can have those foods. I have always failed on diets because they want you to give up the foods you love-impossible!!! I love food, but now it doesn't control me.

Good luck to you!

I highly recommend Weight Watchers, too. Took 20 plus pounds off three years ago and have kept it off. (Even with some gains, I remain below my goal weight). I did it via meetings, and I found them helpful and enjoyable.

One of the most helpful things about Weight Watchers is the journaling. Even if you don't do "points" like WW, you can really get some some insight into your eating habits if you record everything you eat. And I mean every "BLT"---bite, lick, taste!!!

Another helpful site (geared toward those on WW) is Dotti's Weight Loss Zone:

www.dwlz.com

Even if you don't do WW, there's lots of helpful info here.

Another important thing is to look at your stress triggers. I'm up a few pounds over the past two months due to less careful eating and lots of stressful events (Employee losses at work, death of a very close friend, other stresses). I've gone back to journaling and cutting back on my points to nip this in the bud. I've also rejoined a gym, restarted middle-eastern dance classes and added a stretch/flexibility class this summer--plus skating season is restarted and I'll have twice or more the on -ice time from now on, so I'm making a good head start to get the gains in check. (I'm also in my mid-forties now, so certain "womanly changes" are starting up and I'll have to be extra diligent about my weight). Don't let little slips up discourage you. Don't give up, even when you gain, hit plateaus, etc.---the best thing is to just get back on track. Like Dotti says, "One day at a time, no guilt, move on." Good Luck, Pix, you can do it!!!!!

I also am about 75 pounds overweight and I recently started going to Curves...an all women's gym. I feel much more comfortable there than I would at a regular gym with all the guys lifting weights and whatnot.

So, I have the exercise part down and the next thing I have to work on is my eating habits. I haven't really changed much regarding what I eat so that is my next step. I am very interested in Weight Watchers...but I just can't afford it right now unfortunately.

WW never worked for me. I trtued it 3 times. As far as excerisze goes, i dont have time to add anymore. I skate 3.5-6.5 hrs a week and strech everyday. Ive been cutting back on food and its been working...but its hard. Mostly i need like modivation tips.