Am I over weight?!?

[hazleyez]

Hi sorry I have no idea how that other post got connected with mine.. but my question is How to go about eating healthier and lossing weight. I am 5`5 and weight 183lbs I had my daughter Dec 15.07 and I gained like 64lbz so I went from 170lb to 234lb but when I had her went to 199lbs and now 183lbs but its hard to continue lossing the weight. I ask my doc. for some advice but wasnt not helpful at all... I have been kinda dieting and hasnt done nothing not even 1 lb  I cut out all pop and candy and sweets _(i did eat cake once but that was my daughter 1st bday) and since then nothing its soo frustrateing and I guess im just asking how would i calucalte my BMI and what would eb a healthy range for me to weigh... I dont exercise but my 1 ys old is very active and I do clean the house like crazy.. so i get some sort of an work out...what do you all think? Thank you all in advance,.

[lucindamartinez]

Hi There!  I went through very much the same thing after the birth of my first child.  He is now 23 though.  When I was pregnant with him I gained about 75 pounds.  I was quite shocked at the time that when the baby was born that the weight did not leave me.  ; )  After that though...I was on a mission.  I began walking a lot.  I would put the baby in the stroller and take long walks.  I worked my way up to around two miles per day.  This took some time to build up slowly.  The baby also loved it!  This is a great way to begin with exercise, just by walking.  It requires no equipment and can be done almost anywhere...outside or many even inside at a shopping mall, etc.  

I began making small changes in my diet one at a time.  It's great that you have already started this with the elimination of pop and sweets!  Are there perhaps other things that you might be able to work with in your diet as well?  Maybe the elimination of certain fats and exchanging them for healthier things, such as trading butter for "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter", measuring portion sizes, and that sort of thing.  Try making small changes like this while also working on the walking and other exercises and I imagine that you will begin to slowly notice changes in the way you look and feel!  

In order to track your BMI...you could set up your weight tracker.  On that tracker it lists your height and weight and gives you a BMI reading as well.  Each time that you update your weight it also adjusts the BMI to your new level so that you can see your progress.  

Also...I would recommend to keep logging in to the group and being as active here as possible.  There are so many wonderful and supportive people here with fantastic ideas....you will just be amazed at the difference the support of others really makes!  

All of my best to you!  You have already taken the most important step of all...reaching out for help and ideas!  Great job Ms. Hazleyez!  ; )  

[Barb135]

Welcome aboard!!  Have you had blood work done to rule out any medical reasons?  Only reason I ask is because I'm have hypothyroidism (Hashimoto's), which is making it difficult to impossible for me to lose weight at this point, but I continue eating healthy and exercising and am hoping that once my levels get regulated, I will be able to lose.  

Like Lucinda said, start out slow and keep making small changes.  Make sure you eat a good mix of fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains, lean meat, low fat dairy, etc.  Watch your portion sizes - there are websites that will help you figure out how many calories you need daily, how large a "portion" of certain foods are, etc.  It might also be helpful to keep a food journal and record every morsel you eat - I started that and was pretty surprised at how many calories I was really eating when I thought I wasn't eating much at all.  

And of course, there's the exercise.  Walking is always good and the baby needs fresh air as well.  In bad weather, try mall walking if possible.  Check out your cable channels - some companies have special exercise channels; others have a yoga channel.  

There are lots of others here in the community who have lots of good ideas and we also have games and challenges to keep it interesting, so please do make yourself a regular and let us know how you are doing.  

[StarryNight23]

Cutting back on sweets and soda is definitely a great start! What helped me tremendously is watching my portions and weighing and measuring my food and also tracking all of my food in an online food journal. Weighing and measuring all of your food and logging everything your eat in a journal may be a bit time consuming and probably not the easiest approach if you have a toddler running around, but I would definitely recommened doing it adamently for at least a week, just to give yourself a better idea of how many calories you're actually eating in a day. Then from there, you can start reducing your caloric intake by "eyeballing" your portions and using your judgement about around what a cup looks like, what an ounce looks like, what a tablespoon is etc. Food journaling every day whether it be online or just the old fashioned way with a pad of paper and a pen is very effective so I would try to do that as often as possible. I'm 5'4 and am trying to lose these last 15ish lbs and I try to consume between 1200 and 1500 calories a day. There are all kinds of helpful websites you can find if you google "Weight loss calorie range" or a similar phrase and you can find different websites with features that can help you calculate your current BMI, what you're BMI should be and how many calories you should be eating to lose weight.

Another thing that's helped me stick to my weight loss plan for so long is not to deprive myself of everything I love! I've lost 143lbs so far but I save room almost every day for some kind of treat. I make sure that most of my diet is healthy and balanced, so I can squeeze those 200-250 calories (sometimes less, but sometimes more :-) ) for a not so healthy treat. I eat lots of fruits and veggies, whole grains, healthy fats from fish avocados nuts and olive oil, low fat or fat free dairy, lean proteins, minimally processed foods and I buy organic and/or natural whenever possible. If you're eating a healthy balanced diet, there's no reason you can't have a slice of cake, or a few cookies every so often. Once you start approaching this as a lifestyle change, rather than a diet, it will get a bit easier. And I don't know about you, but the more I tell myself I CAN'T have something, the more I want it! That's how I used to end up binging on a row and a half of oreos, or a pint of ice cream. Once I stopped depriving myself of stuff I'm truly craving, and I allowed myself to have it in moderation, I finally realized it's not impossible to stick with this for the long haul. I also prepare and buy some of my favorite "indulgence" foods in healthier versions so even if it's a treat, 9 times out of 10, it's still a healthier choice.

I can't even imagine how busy moms are with young children so there's no doubt you get a good workout in every day just being on your feet chasing after your daughter and cleaning up after her! But maybe you can buy a couple of workout dvds and pop one in when you can find the time. You don't even have to buy any kind of equippment to get a good workout in. Maybe just a couple of free weights or a resistance band, because as important as cardio is, strength training is too. Building muscle will give your metabolism a good boost which will help you burn more calories. And most lower body strength training you don't need any equipment at all. You can build a good amount of muscle just by doing some squats and lunges.

Good luck with everything and let us know how you're doing!

[hazleyez]

Thank you for your post I will try this out..... i also heard of acai berry have you? or ne other ladies??

[gokuangel]

I heard that acai berry is a rip off and it claims to make you lose all these lbs in a short time which un true and impossible!! on the site i do my food calorie is where i heard this and watch out for it!! For me just cutting bk on eating (1200 calories a day) and exercise has done the trick. the site i do my counter on its called spark people and the exercises videos they have there are really great! You might chk it out!

[StarryNight23]

I agree with gokuangel. I found myself starting to get sucked into the acai and goji berry hype for a brief moment until I went to Whole Foods and went to buy a package of acai berry powder to make shakes in the mornings and when I saw it was $50 for an 8 oz package I opted against it! I did a little more research on the internet to see what exactly is behind all this hype and I've found, all it is is just that..hype. Hype that the manufacturers and distributers create themselves to make those sales.

By any chance do you have an ipod or itunes on your computer? Because I subscribe to a few fitness podcasts and one of them is called The Nutrition Diva's Quick and Dirty tips, and she addresses issues and questions surrounding all kinds of foods and supplements. And one of her podcasts episodes is about acai and goji berries and she also came to the conclusion that the hype surrounding these "miracle super foods" is a crock. Although they are good for you, there is nothing about them that makes them any better than any other kind of fruit. They contain important antioxidants, but so do any other kind of berry and you're definitely much better off eating a wide variety of all kinds of fruits than any one type so you get the assortment of vitamins and antioxidants they all have to offer.  Bottom line is acai won't help you lose weight or keep you living longer any more than strawberries or blueberries will.

Oh and also like gokuangel I use spark people too to track my food and exercise. If you sign up there, you can enter your information (age, height, weight etc) and choose what goal weight you want to reach and when you want to reach it by and they will automatically figure out a daily calorie range for you to follow. If you exercise and track your workouts, your calorie range will increase usually, because the more active you are the more food you need to fuel yourself. I highly recommened checking that website out as well as coming back here to check in!

[Barb135]

I agree with goku and starry - the acai berry is just what starry said "hype".  I looked into it also and partly because of the price, I opted against it and did some more research.  There are just too many diet pills out there that either don't work or are down right dangerous for some people to take.  

It's much better to change your eating and exercise habits.  In order to keep the weight off, you will need to make "lifestyle" changes and diet pills and gimicks won't help you do that.  Simply eating healthy, tracking your food intake and exercise is the best way to "be kind to yourself".  

Hope to see you often.