Hello Lisa,
Late last year I got bad news from my Doctor. And I had to change my diet and I had to start exercising. I was 281 lbs. Today I'm 222 lbs. I'm still going to lose more and get under 183 is my goal for now.
I started in October 2015. So I'm going to give you a few tips.
First things first log every single calorie you eat. And then setup a 250 calorie deficit to start. Once you get used to that and are always under for the day, change it to 500.... then 750 and then 1000. EAT a ton of vegetables. They have next to no calories, and you can eat a ton of them to feel full, even when you eating a deficit.
Start off exercising every other day. Walking is the easiest and cheapest for of exercise. Get a couple of great pair of walking shoes 1/2 size bigger than you normally wear. This gives your toes wiggle room when you walk. Having different brands of shoes ie New Balance, Nike, etc. and randomly pick one or the other will help avoid blisters. With so much weight to lose, do not start running! It will put a lot of strain on your joints, tendons, and muscles. Just walk until you lose at least 40 lbs. Try walking every other day for at least 30 to 120 minutes each day. Around 3 to 6 miles is great. Put start slow. My first day I walked 1/4 of a mile. It was all I could do. It was a month before I could walk more than a mile. 3 months before I hit 3 miles... A month later I hit 6...
Once you get to 4 to 6 miles every other day, switch to 3-5 miles every day.
Liston to your body, if you are really tired or sore, then take a rest day. But try to walk every day. Walking is great exercise, you have to walk twice as long, but you burn about the same calories walking as you do running. There is not much difference between running 3 miles and walking 3 miles.
Once you get good at walking every day, you can switch it up. Go swimming some days, or cylcing, or a cardio class.
You do simple weight training to help keep your muscle strong. But doing just weight training will not lose much weight. You have to get the heart rate elevated to burn fat.
Get a clothing tape measure. And take your measurements weekly. So many people lose weight at first, but gain muscle weight. And end up losing nothing. They fail to notice that their clothes fit better.
Which brings up the evil scale. Weight your self daily, but look at weekly averages, not daily results. It can be beyond discouraging to go walk 5 miles, 15000 steps, and get on the scale and be 1/2 lbs heavier. Ignore the scale. Water gain, not going to the bathroom, and because you are a woman, weight gain to your cycle.. You have so many things that will try to discourage you. IGNORE THEM!!!
If you saw my weight lost chart, you would see weeks I lost more, weeks I didn't lose, weeks I gained... I just keep going, doing the things that I needed to do, and I ignore the scale. Yeah it's great when you hit a new low... But then the next day it goes up and you are like WTH?
The scale is your enemy! Look at your measurements, how you clothes fit, and how do you feel as much better gauges on your weight loss.
Don't drink any soda. Diet including. Just drink water or milk at breakfast. Drink tons of water.
Understand with diet change start it slow. Remember nothing is off limits, but you obviously can only eat so many calories a day. You can eat a gallon of ice cream, and then have nothing to eat for the rest of the day. Or you can have a small serving of ice cream, and a ton of fruit and vegetables and be full all day long.
Avoiding sweets is good, but if you avoid the food you love, you will be miserable, and probably quit. It's all about moderation. I love mac and cheese. But I when I do make it, it's now eaten over several meals, and not just the whole meal...
Start you diet changes slowly. For me I went from 1/2 lbs burgers to 1/3 or 1/4 lbs. If I order fries I ate only half. If I choose a baked potato instead of the fries I did that. If I could choose apples slices instead of fries... My foot long sub became a six inch sub. My chips became apple slices...
At home I eat 2/3 of my meals I try to eat vegetables. 1/3 will be low fat meats, pork, chicken...
I've keep a diet around 20% protein, 25% fat, and 55% carbs. You will see people here stressing low carb diets, or fasting. While I see merits with these ideas. I like to eat. So I choose to just have a balanced diet. 59 lbs lost so it's clearly working.
It will get harder and harder to lose weight. And once you get under 40 lbs from your goal, you may find your self having to exercise every day, just to be able to make your goal. Then you may find yourself unable to make a 1000 calorie deficit. So at 40 lbs to goal, you will probably have to change your deficit to 750. At 20 lbs to goal change it to 500. And then at 10 lbs to goal you will need to change your deficit to 250.
If you try to maintain a 1000 calorie deficit all the way to goal, you will start to lose mostly muscle and very little fat. So as you get closer and closer, your deficit has to come down so you can still lose fat.
But that also means that you can adjust your diet and when you finally get to your goal, your new diet will help you maintain your weight loss.
Keep logging your food even after you reach your goal. And monitor your weight. If you can keep it off for 2-3 years, you should be able to keep it off forever.
Your old diet, the one you eat yesterday. You cannot got back to it. EVER. There are no diets. NONE. You change your diet forever. Do it slowly. Find new ways to improve it every week. Use your fitbit app to log your food, and to make good eating choices at home and at when eating out.
Bottomline, you can do it. Start slow, increase it, then slow it down at the end, and maintain it.
I'm at the slowing it down part. It will talk longer, but hopefully when I get to goal, my metabolism will be ok and I'll be able to maintain my weight loss.
So get out there, keep active, and make it happen. YOU CAN DO IT!!! And when you get discouraged, keep at it. I'm going to send you a friend request. Feel free to contact me if you need advice of encouragement.
John | Texas,USA | Surge | Aria | Blaze | Windows | iPhone | Always consult with a doctor regarding all medical issues. Keep active!!!
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