Help me lose weight please

[tamith]

Hi everyone!  I am wanting everyones opinion regarding the best weight loss diets.  I am 51 years old.  5'4" and 248lbs.  My health issues are:  Hashimotos Thyroid/arthritis in both knees/hypertention/borderline diabetic/degenerative disc disease in lumbar sacral area, with a herinated disc.  I usually don't.eat breakfast and very little for lunch.  Most of my calories are consumed in afternoon until early evening.  I usually don't eat after dark.  I am considering lap band or bypass surgery.  But need to try to lose weight on my own first.  Any ideas or diets would be greatly appreciated!!!  Oh yeah, I'm addicted to.Diet Coke!!  lol

[New_Me]

Hi Tami,

Loosing weight is hard. Its 90% about mindset and taking control of the calories in and the calories you burn out.

Rather than a diet try changes in lifestyle that you can continue without feeling like you are depriving yourself or working really hard for the small and slow benefits that can feel very unbalanced.

My advice is:

Drink more water -  8-10 8oz glasses spaced through the day

Make your protions smaller -  often its easier to use a smaller plate -  it fools the mind.

Increase your protein intake and lower your carbs (don't cut them out)

Don't eat or drink for the 3 hours before you go to bed.

Make sure that you do some form of cardio exercise for 30 minutes straight every day -  brisk walking is fine.

Make sure that you MOVE every hour -  even if it is around your home, up and down stairs. Just dont stay still for more than 50 minutes uness you are in bed asleep.

Keep snacks to a minimum - allowing the body to rest between digesting meals helps.

When you feel peckish or hungry drink water before reaching for food.

If excercise is daunting or hard because of your health -  remember that any increased movement to what you are doing now will help. Take it day by day, be sensible and slowly increase what you do.

You can do it -  good luck :)

[tamith]

Thwnk you!!  I really appreciate your suggestions!  Hopefully when I get knee and back fixed, aI can excerise more!  I have a ruptured disc with exposed nerves ans several disca around it.  Two disca are dessicated, meaning dryed. Up.  Not fun.  Also having knee surgery next Wednesday.  I plan on getting my body fixed first then excerising.  Ian goint to eat thee times a day.  I think skipping meals is my downful!  Good luck!


TAMI

[TenshiAi]

I can't have ANYTHING diet. I am allergic to artificial sweeteners. I found that out when Crystal Light was first put on the market, back around '84-'85. My mom put me on a slim fast diet, even though I only weighed about 125 lbs and  5'6" tall. I wasn't overweight. I just walked heavy but she put me on a diet anyways. Well the sweetener back then in Crystal Light caused my throat to swell and I couldn't swallow and ended up going to the ER for it. Oh, and I forgot to mention in my previous message that I usually eat 2 boiled eggs for breakfast and 2 cups of coffee, a salad for lunch and a regular meal for dinner, with an apple or some fruit to snack on. Since I started my diet on Tuesday, the 29th (6 days) I have lost 6 pounds. I am walking about 6 miles a day, not all at once though and I feel more energetic and more focused. Drink plenty of water. Also, check you BMR (basal metabolic rate-what you burn when you sleep, basically) every time you lose about 5 pounds. The lower the number, the better off you are. Don't be scared if it's around 1800-2000. I kinda freaked out when I saw mine was 2128.8 at first but not, mine is at 1735.5. I hope this shelps some. Good luck :)

[tamith]

Thanks everyone for the great tips.  My doc is keeping me hyperthyroid right now, he says not everyone is the same.  He goes by symptoms first.  Which I like.  Apparently up to 5% of people don't fall into the TSH rangs either they run above or bwlow the normes.  I will try giving up diet coke...boohoo lol

[Barb135]

Make sure your thyroid levels are good for you (not just in range), because we are all different and we all need different thyroid levels. I've struggled with this for years.

Agree that diet soda can cause weight gain.

[espgnp]

Lots of research that diet soda leads to weight gain.  I have club soda sometimes, diet soda rarely, and focus on water, green tea and coffee.
I used to drink 6 cans of diet coke daily and I do not miss it.
Good luck!

[espgnp]

Try eating 300 calories, five times a day.
In each meal have about 100 calories of a natural carbohydrate (not bread, crax, rice, sugary foods), 150 calories of a lean protein, & 50 cal of a good fat, like nuts.
I have been eating like this for two years and it is easy to maintain my weight without feeling deprived.  I make up all my meals for a week and there is no thinking needed.
Also, find comfort/entertainment in something other than food.  

[tamith]

Thank you for the pointers!!  I hope your testing turns out good. LP's are not fun.  Let me know what you find out.  Take care!

[TenshiAi]

I started a diet 3 days ago. My starting weight was (yes, I said was) 228 but in 3 days, I've lost 4 pounds. No, I didn't celebrate with food. I celebrated with low impact aerobics. I have sleep apnea and I get migraines a lot too. My neurologist is doing an LP (Lumbar Puncture) on me next week and then, the week after, I'm going for my 2nd sleep study. For now, he has me on 1 liter of oxygen every night. He suggested I diet and exercise. A few years ago, I was walking 6 miles everyday so I started doing that a few days ago, and if its raining, the local mall has a mall walkers club and has an outline of the mall and the distance as well, so its easy to keep track of how much I walk. I also count my calories, which are just under 1000. I quit soft drinks and fried foods. I hope this helps. Good luck!!!