Aa
hello everyone i am new and need help
So I am a 25 year old mother of 3 I weigh 196 ans I am only 5'1 I am.ready to start losing weight but I need some motivation I am always eating.. I don't know where to start what to eat or how much I should be exercising please help me out so I can get started thank you all
Thank u so much you are very helpful and yes I am busy so when my husband stays home I can go exercise.. I have a small gym where I live. What kind of sandwiches r ok to eat? I know whole grain bread but what else?
COMMUNITY LEADER
I commented on your other thread, but I'll comment here, as well. Since you have 3 children, this might be a good time to get the whole family involved in a healthy lifestyle. We see a lot of people dieting, fixing themselves healthy meals and letting their children continue to eat the packaged unhealthy food that got themselves overweight to begin with. It will help you to have everyone involved, plus it will teach your children to eat healthy, so they develop, and maintain, a healthy weight and attitude about food as they grow older.
As far as what to eat, each meal should be centered around a non-starchy veggie and a lean protein... say, broccoli and chicken... then you can build the meal from there. You can look for healthy recipes for both that will "dress" them up and make them taste really yummy and neither you nor your children will even think think about how healthy they are. Just don't dress them up with creamy or cheesy sauces.
You should eat plenty of veggies, lean protein (meat, chicken, eggs, fish), dairy, whole grains, nuts, seeds, fruits, etc.
If you drink sodas and other sugary drinks, those should be the first thing to eliminate, along with sugary snacks, white bread, white rice and regular pasta. Sounds like I'm asking to give up everything doesn't it? It's not so bad and it doesn't all have to be done at once; in fact, I don't recommend that you try to do it all at once, because most people who do, don't succeed.
The trick is to make small changes that you can stick to, over the long term. Work on a single change until it becomes habit, then move onto something else.
Like soda for instance... if you're used to drinking 4 cans/day, start out by replacing 1 can/day with a glass of water. Do this for a couple of days, then replace 2 cans/day with 2 glasses of water and so on. Same with bread. If you're used to eating 2 sandwiches at a sitting, eat just one - you probably don't really "want" the second one anyway; you're eating because it's there.
Learn portion sizes and try to cook just enough food for the portions you need for the meal. That way everyone gets "enough", but there's not enough food for anyone to overeat. It all takes practice.
For exercise, if you're not used to it, start slow and work up. You might start with a 10 minute walk every day and work up to a 30 minute daily walk. Since you have 3 children, I'm sure you're very busy, so if you can't carve out 30 minutes/day, try taking 3 to minutes walks and make them as brisk as you can. Take the children with you, if they're old enough to walk with you or bundle them up in the stroller (pushing the stroller will burn extra calories, so you'll lose faster), if possible. If it's cold where you live and you can't get out, check out YouTube for a wide variety of free videos from Leslie Sansone's walk in place, to a variety of yoga videos.
Here's one of my favorites:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndVjwkaLGDk
It's a short walk video, that starts out slow and picks up pace as it goes, but don't worry if you can't keep up right at first -- it won't take long to get the hang of it and you'll be looking for longer, more difficult ones.
Same goes for yoga... find short beginner videos and don't worry if you can't do what they right away; it won't take long if you stay with it and practice. You'll be looking for more difficult things to do.
I also recommend that you keep a food diary. MedHelp has an excellent one, that's easy to use. If you need help with it, I'm happy to help you. Often we eat more than we think we are, so writing it down keeps us focused.
We also have the weight tracker that's easy to keep track of your weight on, so you know exactly how you're doing.
We also have a New Year Weight loss Challenge in progress, in which we've each committed to losing 1 pound/week. We'd love to have you join us in that... You can access that thread via the following link:
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Weight-Loss--Dieting/Weight-Loss-Challenge-2015/show/2421436
Just post at the bottom to say you want to join and you're in.
In addition, be sure to look for the Sunday Weigh In thread that I post each week, in which we can all report on our success/unsuccess (I refuse to call it failure) for the week and reaffirm the upcoming week.
Last, but not least, I might recommend that you contact your doctor and ask for some simple blood tests to rule out medical issues that might cause weight gain/inability to lose. Those include, but aren't limited to hypothyroidism, insulin resistance and PCOS.
As far as what to eat, each meal should be centered around a non-starchy veggie and a lean protein... say, broccoli and chicken... then you can build the meal from there. You can look for healthy recipes for both that will "dress" them up and make them taste really yummy and neither you nor your children will even think think about how healthy they are. Just don't dress them up with creamy or cheesy sauces.
You should eat plenty of veggies, lean protein (meat, chicken, eggs, fish), dairy, whole grains, nuts, seeds, fruits, etc.
If you drink sodas and other sugary drinks, those should be the first thing to eliminate, along with sugary snacks, white bread, white rice and regular pasta. Sounds like I'm asking to give up everything doesn't it? It's not so bad and it doesn't all have to be done at once; in fact, I don't recommend that you try to do it all at once, because most people who do, don't succeed.
The trick is to make small changes that you can stick to, over the long term. Work on a single change until it becomes habit, then move onto something else.
Like soda for instance... if you're used to drinking 4 cans/day, start out by replacing 1 can/day with a glass of water. Do this for a couple of days, then replace 2 cans/day with 2 glasses of water and so on. Same with bread. If you're used to eating 2 sandwiches at a sitting, eat just one - you probably don't really "want" the second one anyway; you're eating because it's there.
Learn portion sizes and try to cook just enough food for the portions you need for the meal. That way everyone gets "enough", but there's not enough food for anyone to overeat. It all takes practice.
For exercise, if you're not used to it, start slow and work up. You might start with a 10 minute walk every day and work up to a 30 minute daily walk. Since you have 3 children, I'm sure you're very busy, so if you can't carve out 30 minutes/day, try taking 3 to minutes walks and make them as brisk as you can. Take the children with you, if they're old enough to walk with you or bundle them up in the stroller (pushing the stroller will burn extra calories, so you'll lose faster), if possible. If it's cold where you live and you can't get out, check out YouTube for a wide variety of free videos from Leslie Sansone's walk in place, to a variety of yoga videos.
Here's one of my favorites:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndVjwkaLGDk
It's a short walk video, that starts out slow and picks up pace as it goes, but don't worry if you can't keep up right at first -- it won't take long to get the hang of it and you'll be looking for longer, more difficult ones.
Same goes for yoga... find short beginner videos and don't worry if you can't do what they right away; it won't take long if you stay with it and practice. You'll be looking for more difficult things to do.
I also recommend that you keep a food diary. MedHelp has an excellent one, that's easy to use. If you need help with it, I'm happy to help you. Often we eat more than we think we are, so writing it down keeps us focused.
We also have the weight tracker that's easy to keep track of your weight on, so you know exactly how you're doing.
We also have a New Year Weight loss Challenge in progress, in which we've each committed to losing 1 pound/week. We'd love to have you join us in that... You can access that thread via the following link:
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Weight-Loss--Dieting/Weight-Loss-Challenge-2015/show/2421436
Just post at the bottom to say you want to join and you're in.
In addition, be sure to look for the Sunday Weigh In thread that I post each week, in which we can all report on our success/unsuccess (I refuse to call it failure) for the week and reaffirm the upcoming week.
Last, but not least, I might recommend that you contact your doctor and ask for some simple blood tests to rule out medical issues that might cause weight gain/inability to lose. Those include, but aren't limited to hypothyroidism, insulin resistance and PCOS.
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Weight Loss and Fitness Community
14 super-healthy foods that are worth the hype
Small changes make a big impact with these easy ways to cut hundreds of calories a day.
Forget the fountain of youth – try flossing instead! Here are 11 surprising ways to live longer.
From STD tests to mammograms, find out which screening tests you need - and when to get them.
Tips and moves to ease backaches
Here are 12 simple – and fun! – ways to boost your brainpower.
