Need a good diet

Ok I really need to get serious about losing weight.  I want to lose 22 pounds.  I was a big soda junkie (until it started giving me major stomachaches)  and I love candy and all sorts of junk food.  I know I need to cut all the out and eat healthy.  I've already started with 2 bottles of water a day. I don't want to join a gym (I did one time and they screwed me over majorly money wise)

Does anyone want to be weight loss buddies?!  I need motivation from someone. I've tried following my mom's diet but its all fish! And I can't stand fish.  I eat chicken just about everyday.

Any advice or suggestions anyone has I would greatly appreciate it.  I'm sick and tired of feeling yucky in regards to me weight.

[888mom]

If you want caffeine without the soda, switch to tea or coffee, but watch the sugar you put in it.  I have heard diet soda isn't great either because of the carbonation, but it at least has less calories than regular.  I think we are supposed to have 6 to 8 glasses of water a day, that would be 8 ounces in a glass.  You shouldn't drink too much more than that though unless you are running a marathon or something because if you get over 10 or 12 glasses of water, then your body can have water intoxication.  Some dieters go way overboard on water.  If you don't like fish, if you can afford some supplements that have the omega fish oil, you could try that.  

There are a lot of diets out there.  Some are lower calorie, some are lower carb, some are a mixture of both.  It's bad to go too low carb if you are skipping out on the soluble fiber and just fiber in general.  Just make sure you get enough calories in your day.  If you don't eat enough, your body switches to starvation mode, so what little you do eat your body stores.  Also if you skip breakfast that can mess your body up too.  

Oh, losing weight, I think weight watchers and most doctors recommend women lose 1 to 2 pounds a week at most, so they don't rebound and gain it back.  I think men can lose more quickly because they have higher metabolisms.  Anyways, it's healthy to lose it slowly.  I have to lose 70 more pounds or so, and I'm losing about 1/2 to 1 pound a week, but over a year, that's still 25 to 30 pounds or so.  In three years, I'll have it off.  The other thing to do is feel comfortable with who you are now, and focus on the fact that you are trying to lose weight.  Good self esteem is good in life.  Also, if you cheat, don't beat yourself up over it, start dieting again immediately and don't do what I've done before in the past which is think, well, I've had a donut, so I've ruined it for the day so I might as well eat whatever else I want to eat the rest of the day now.  Not a good thing to get into because then you end up gaining.  I find if you cheat once, get back on track, you're okay.  Also if you feel you need to have a treat now and again, plan for it.  I usually try to have a goodie once a week.  Something really good.  I portion control, very important.  But I find allowing myself a food once a week is a lot better than forbidding it.  At least personally I find forbidding anything on a diet, I can't stick to it very long.

[peekawho]

I agree totally!

We're all diet buddies here.  Post anytime.  The more you write, the less you "bite".

[Yan1983]

dear hisgirl1010,

did you know about "low energy diet" that allow the dieters only consume 1200 until 1500 k calories a day? I think it's very useful diet for you. food composition of this diet is:
300 grams of rice, or 600 grams of potatoes
150 grams of red meal or chicken without skin
1 pcs. of chicken egg
200 grams of fruits (orange is recommended)
300 grams of vegetables, (you really need this one, specially vegetables with lots of fiber)
2 glasses of non-fat milk, and
1 cup breakfast cereals, such as oatmeal

in the theory, this diet can reduce your weigh 2 pounds a week.

you can stop this diet if your weigh is equal to your ideal weigh based on your "Body Mass Index"

I really hope that this diet can work to you

[Barb925]

I agree totally. I drink about 8 glasses a day. I hardly drink anything else but water. Yes weight watchers is a good plan. I suggest that you eat a balanced diet and exercise approx 3-4 times a day for 30 mins  a  eveery time. please post anytime. We are all hear to suppot each other.

Good Luck

Barb

[hisgirl1010]

Thank you all for the advice! I like the "Low Energy Diet".  

I tried to be healthy today- I brought fruit  instead of pretzels for my snack.  Water instead of soda or chocolate milk.  But I had to bring my chicken and pasta for lunch.  But I could not stop myself from eating some candy.  But I felt good about it because instead of eating the whole bag, I ate only a few Skittles! Yay for me!

I need ideas for lunches though.  I guess I can bring brown rice and some pork for tomorrow? (We don't have any chicken...and if I've heard brown rice is healthier- duno how true that is)

Is Ice Tea healthy?  I prefer Shop Rite brand.  What about Peanut Butter? Hmm I'll have to check the container. Sorry just rambling now!

[peekawho]

Peanut butter is high in sugar and fat.  Use care and moderation with things of that nature.  Nuts are good in limited amounts.

Remember, "too much healthy" can contribute to being overweight, too.  Follow a balanced, low fat diet and exercise every day, even if its just a walk.  

5 serving fruits and veggies a day (use more veggies than fruit)
2 servings of low or no fat dairy a day
2 tsp of healthy oil (such as olive or canola) a day
2 servings of healthy grains a day (such as brown rice, quinoa, couscous, bulgur, barley). If you have pasta, make it whole wheat if you can.  1 cup is a reasonable size!
2-3 servings of protein a day.  A serving of protein is usually as big as a deck of cards.  That's not very big.

[shallwe1234]

anyone have ideas on the diet where you eat like 5 times a day , to kick start your metabolism , what exercises can u do in the house to stay in shape , i want to walk but freezing outside , everthing else just doesn't keep me intrested to keep doing it , i need to loose my gut i have about 15 to 20 pounds of doughnut around me my legs are skinny ,no butt , my upper body is in shape , i do have really big boobs though .. any advice on how top tighten them up ?? or get them smaller ??had two kids and breastfeed ..

[hisgirl1010]

I have big boobs too and I need to tighten them up!! If you figure out how to, please let me know!  I don't have time to exercise except some walking during the day at work. I need some ideas of simple, quick, easy stuff to do.

[nuyou]

There are three terms that you have to understand in order to take control over your weight, and they are: Fat, Fiber and Carbohydrates. Fat is pretty straight forward. Fiber is anything that grows out of the ground... mainly fruits, veggies, nuts, grains and berries; and the important thing to know about fiber is that the digestive acid in your stomach won’t break it down, so when you eat fiber, it fills you up faster and keeps you feeling full longer. Finally, Carbs are foods that are naturally sweet, or anything made with sugar or flour.

If you ever heard that by eating low-fat or no-fat foods you can lose weight, well in reality, that’s just half the story. Most people, when trying low-fat diets, go to the store and start reading labels and look for zero-fat products. Well, what if you love spaghetti – on the label it says, “zero fat.” So then you start looking at the spaghetti sauce and it has almost no fat... and then there’s the “no-fat” cakes and cookies – and all that other stuff. So then people think, “Great, I can eat all I want.” They eat almost no fat at all – and end up GAINING weight  That’s why you need to know the other side of the story.

If you eat only low-fat foods, most of them are low in fiber and also very high in carbs. Because they are low in fiber you have to eat more to feel full. It’s like trying to fill up a sink that has no stopper. Eventually you can get it to fill up – but it takes a lot more water to do it. So, when you eat more, you take in more calories than you need and your body stores the extra carbs and calories as fat. That’s the other side of the low-fat diet. Unless you eat low-fat and high fiber, at the same time, you’re not going to lose weight.

Another big mistake that lots of people make is skipping meals. Our bodies are designed with the idea that we  have to expend energy in order to get food.  I mean, if you think back a hundred or more years ago, if you wanted to eat something you had to either go hunting or grow your own food. That’s a lot of work (hunting or farming) – a lot of physical activity – and even though we no longer have to do this, it doesn’t change the fact that our bodies are still designed this way. So, when you skip a meal, your body actually thinks that you’re out in the wild, and, for whatever reason, food is hard to come by. This is a survival mechanism that we all have – it’s built in. So, when your body thinks food is hard to find, it does two things to protect you from starving. First, it slows your metabolism causing your body to burn less fat. Second, the meal you eat after skipping a meal will be converted almost entirely to fat and stored.... to protect you from starving. So, if you skip breakfast, for instance, almost all the food you eat for lunch will be converted to fat. We think we’re taking in less food but in reality we’re causing our bodies to store fat. If you want to lose weight you need to eat at least three meals a day, on a regular schedule. You have to let your body know that there is plenty of food available so that your metabolism stays up and meals are not stored as fat, but rather used for energy.

Then, there’s the subject of exercise.... So many people assume that in order to lose weight, they have to constantly do strenuous exercise....And in reality, this isn’t the case either. Now, to understand how exercise effects weight-loss, you have to understand how your body creates energy, and there are only 2 ways it does it. One is by burning fat and the other is by burning blood sugar, or glucose. Even when you’re not doing anything strenuous your body still burns fat. It’s known as “Resting Metabolic Rate.” So, when you’re sitting at a desk, driving a car, watching TV, or even sleeping, your body is still burning fat. But, as soon as you increase your level of activity, like when your heart starts beating faster and you have to breathe heavily, your body will stop burning fat and instantly begin to burn blood sugar – because blood sugar can be converted to energy much faster than fat; so anytime your level of activity suddenly increases your body stops burning fat and burns only blood sugar.

And, when it comes to exercise, most people trying to lose weight make a big mistake of doing the wrong kinds of exercise. Jogging, biking, and aerobics are great for the heart, lungs and circulation, but they do not burn fat or condition the body to burn fat.

Now, the ideal approach is to lose weight without a lot of hard exercising. We still encourage people to exercise – after all, it’s good for you... but it’s not mandatory. Some people find that once they start losing weight quickly and feel great – they actually WANT to exercise.

Now, if that’s the case, what they should do is called Anaerobic exercise, or exercise that increases your heart rate, but not too much... and two of the best kinds of exercise for losing weight are walking (at a nice steady pace) every other day... and weight lifting. These will condition your body to burn fat And when I say”weight-lifting,” I’m talking about getting a couple of small dumbells and working out slowly for 20 minutes every other day (biceps on Monday, triceps on Tuesday and no exercise on Wednesday... Biceps on Thursday, triceps on Friday and nothing on Saturday, etc. This builds lean muscle and muscle burns fat. The more muscle you have, the more fat your body will burn.

The approach I take is No exercise... replace 2 meals a day with healthy meal-replacement shakes and protein snacks in between.