Starting to diet......

[TexAnn]

Well, I am going to do it.
I am sick and tired of how I look and feel...
Any succesful tips out there?
Please share ideas...helful hints.
I know about drinking lots of water...portion control....cutting back on sugar & carbs... Exercize...
I should be able to do it if I just do it...lol!
I am like a junkie to food...that's why it is so hard.

[nommie]

Re: Starting to diet......

I lost 40lbs before I went on prednisone (now have gained it back) I used ww points system and wrote everything down. I posted lots of recipes in the diet section. I always tried to have food low in points but filling. Good luck-I need to get back to it. We used to have a daily diet thread and that helped.

[TexAnn]

Re: Starting to diet......

Thanks Nommie...that is about how much I would like to lose. I don't know about weight watchers and cant afford to register or join them. I am 54 & going thru the change and have recently experienced a rapid weight gain...well over the past year. I am not on any meds that would make that happen..actually not on any meds at all right now...Thank-you God! I have heard that menopausal women often experience sudden weight gain. I don't even take hormones...
Basically in pretty good health...just getting older...

[nuisance]

Re: Starting to diet......

One Of The Best, Healthiest Diets Is A Diabetic Diet, When I Send You Your Purple 9"er, I'll Send Info On It. I've Never Made It To Wal-mart Or Anywhere To Get Mailers Yet, They're Still "in The Mail" So To Speak! Lol

[TexAnn]

Re: Starting to diet......

Oh Thanks Sis! That will be really nice! I do need to learn more about diabetes too. My family usually suffers more from heart problems, kidneys,ect & cancer. I am willing to try anything to get this extra baggage off...thanks for thinking about me.

[nommie]

Re: Starting to diet......

Thanks Nommie...that is about how much I would like to lose. I don't know about weight watchers and cant afford to register or join them. I am 54 & going thru the change and have recently experienced a rapid weight gain...well over the past year. I am not on any meds that would make that happen..actually not on any meds at all right now...Thank-you God! I have heard that menopausal women often experience sudden weight gain. I don't even take hormones...
Basically in pretty good health...just getting older...

I did not join weight watchers-I lurked on their boards and any others that had info on ww. I weighed weekly and kept track of my loss. dLike I wrote earlier-the daily diet thread on here helped alot!

[AllieK]

I'm dieting now and I have to tell you, cutting out "all" caffeine helps. It seems I'm not so jittery and don't start craving food as much. Give yourself a week to get over your sugar and carb. cravings. After that, it isn't as hard.
Go back to basics. That's about all you have to do. Eat more "green" than white vegetables. Only whole fruit. natural vegetables. No gravies or sauces. Absolutely no processed foods. Whole wheat, nutritous bread (but no more than a slice or 2 a day) If you want soup, make your own. You have to get away from the msg and chemicals in canned and boxed soups.
Sugar substitutes can sometimes make you gain more weight, so a little sugar is probably better for you.
Make sure that you take a good quality multi-vitamin. You need proper nutrition for your body to work at it's best so it can let go of it's excess.
Do not try and cut your calories too much. if your body isn't getting what it thinks it needs, it will go into starvation mode and hang on to every pound.

[TexAnn]

Re: Starting to diet......

Thanks Allie!

[GayleTX]

Re: Starting to diet......

Something that has helped me stay on track is logging all my food on a website. A couple of the good ones are www.fitday.com and www.the dailyplate.com. (the second one has a lot of brand names on it, makes it easier in some ways). I use it every day, every meal...if it goes in my mouth, it goes on fitday.

They automatically track your calories intake as you eat and also the amount of protein, fat, sugar, etc in each thing you eat. Helps you keep your diet balanced and healthy.

I work to keep my proteins up to at least 60-80 grams/day, and I eat proteins first at every meal. I keep my carbs under 50 (and I only eat good carbs...very few evil white carbs like pasta, rice, potatoes, white bread, corn, etc) and, of course, no sweets. (fitday.com does not show the difference between the good and bad carbs, that's up to you, but you can keep it low by eliminating the white stuff...it's all refined, processed foods, anyhow and nothing we really need in our diets). I try to keep fats to less than 25 grams. I always get a minimum of 64 oz wate/tea per day and I never drink carbonated drinks of any kind.

No more than you need to lose, you may not have to be this strict with yourself, but I had a lot to lose when I began doing this 2 1/2 yrs ago and I've lost 160 lbs.

You can also enter your weight on the website ..... it's fun to see the graph chart go down each week when you enter your weight every few days/weeks. Kinda motivational to me!

Best wishes to you......

[AllieK]

Re: Starting to diet......

another thing I found useful and keeps "the diet" fresh in my mind. Every morning, before you put anything into your mouth, before you put your clothes on, and after you go to the bathroom to get all the excess weight off of you as you can...weigh yourself. That is the point that you will weigh the least. After a week or so, you will start to see a trend and you will get a handle on how your body works...so if the scale is a little more one day (or time of the month), you will know it is not something you are doing wrong. Seeing that scale go up can shake your resolve to continue the diet, but once you see that weight loss is not consistant every day, you will ease up. Water retention can play with the numbers...it has nothing to do with gaining fat back.
Also, we all cheat sometimes and it is OK, but make rules for yourelf. Tell yourself that I'll eat this, but I'll cut back on something else to compensate. Just don't let that be the rule...let it be the exception. Maybe pick one day a week to have your one serving-size treat.

[TexAnn]

Re: Starting to diet......

Thanks Peach I like how you explained things the way you did!
TY ev'1 for your ideas..

[tweezybird]

Re: Starting to diet......

I've been doing Atkins and have lost 36 lb so far. I've found it very easy to follow as I love meat, eggs, cheese, cream, etc. After I read the book a light bulb went off and I finally understood why I gained weight when I ate low fat.

[Bella]

Re: Starting to diet......

The only thing that has worked for me has been Weight Watchers. If you stick to it, you will lose weight for sure. I was doing so well last year on it, then we moved, I got a new job, and I quit counting points and started eating a lot of fast food. I've almost gained all of it back. I am with you on this, I am going to start it over when I get back from out of town (I really want a Texas burger from TX). The first week you drop your most weight and boy do I sure wish I still fit in my pants lol. The self confidence boost it gave me wasn't so bad either...

[TexAnn]

Re: Starting to diet......

I went to a quick weight loss center many years ago and dropped some weight off, kept it off a long time too.
I got tired of driving to BFE all the time to weigh in and it was costly too. They wanted you to buy their suppliments and they were costly too.
When I decided that I had reached my goal, they nagged me...I didn't appreciate that.
It was well worth it at that time...I had money to do it.
I got hungry sometimes.
I found a free website today that looks like what I am looking for. You all have been awesome with your responses.
Many thanks to you all...((((Hugs & Kissies)))))