In need of advise for not getting these lbs off About This Page:

[tinker_me_happy]

I had a huge problem with weight, and no matter what I tried, nothing worked! There have been many ups and downs, but what I have finally learned is I have a "sluggish thyroid" (not enough to need meds - sound familiar! ) I lost 70 lbs by staying away from all processed foods, bread and pasta. I have since learned that I have a low gluten tolerance, so I am able to eat gluten free pasta and bread, but I keep that to a minimum. I also try to minimize the amount of dairy I eat. As others have said, lots of fresh fruits and veggies. Frozen fruit is also good for you. Kefir is a yogurt like drink that is available at most large supermarkets and you can mix that in a blender with frozen fruit for a meal substitute. High protein and very filling!

Another thing that a lot of people are not aware of: Sugar substitutes like splenda, equal, nutrasweet etc will trick your body into "holding on to fat"!! Switch your sugar substitute to stevia, a natural sweetner instead! Stevia will not give your body the up and down glucose changes that the other sweeteners do which is what causes that problem. Diet sodas are not your friend! The sweeteners in that can break down to formaldahyde when heated to over 98.6 degrees (hmm what is your body temperature?) Gross! Stay away from low fat, and diet foods - they are not your friend! Just eat portion controlled whole natural foods and drink lots of water!

If it doesn't gross you out too much, my grandmother's recipe for good digestive health and to reduce hunger pains: 1 tbs organic raw apple cider vinegar with the mother (I like the Bragg brand) with 1 tsp lemon juice mixed in 8 oz water 2-3 x a day.
Try mixing up your exercise routine too. Your body becomes used to the same routine. Yoga worked great for me! The slow pace and holding poses was a lot harder than I thought it would be, but it built great core strength and I found muscles I never knew I had!

and don't give up!

[tinker_me_happy]

Oh... one other thought. "Hunger" is just a sensation. We tend to give in to it instead of "feeling" it. It will pass. If your body is not really in need of "nourishment" but you are feeling 'hungry', then it is time to start to use your brain instead of your mouth. Brush your teeth, go for a walk, drink a glass of water, etc... I know you've heard all the tricks. We all give in to those cravings at one time or another. I still get the "hungry horrors" and no matter how much I try to convince myself or how much I eat, I just can't seem to be satisfied. I still have days when I find myself "emotionally eating". It is a constant mind game. I try to be very conscious of every bite I put into my mouth, but as a nurse in a very busy er, a mom, a wife, a daughter, a friend, etc.. that is not always possible. You have to take the time for you!!

[Lumieregirl]

The only thing that has ever consistently worked for me is eating small portions of food every few hours. If I wait until a meal, I tend to overeat.

[Ashli]

Just wanted to chime in with talk to your dr. about what your protein intake should be before you go all-in on the low carb, high protein stuff. Some of the amounts mentioned here may be ok for the person eating them based on their weight/the amount of weight lifting they do, but could also be REALLY bad for another person's kidneys. Good luck! Personally, as far as eating, I've had the best luck with portion/calorie control.

[Starbright]

My weight has been as irregular as the gas prices...up and down lately. I am to my "max" for myself. I don't want to go beyond it. I am not overweight... yet. I watch my weight very closely but it has really been difficult for it to budge down even 1-2 lbs.

I am watching what I eat, now that Halloween is coming up and the temptations are greater. I am also upping my walking and biking. My energy is very low lately.

It is 10,000 steps that you are to walk in a day. A pedometer was my friend and I took off alot of weight with that on. I should do it again. Give it a try. I also watch the Biggest Loser for inspiration too. It seems on that show it is ALOT of cardio and weight lifting. The weights don't have to be anything in the gym. They use tires, even moving animal feed around. Anything to get your heart pumping and you moving.

I have to get my son to start watching his weight. Sad. He is husky but not super heavy. I don't want him to fixate on his weight and loose body image but I don't want him getting carried away and thinking he can eat whatever he wants. Today we are off to Subway since we have to be in town over supper time.

Good luck and this is a good thread!!

[pflamingo]

Originally Posted by 2Peanuts

Some things that have helped me:

(1) Focus on portion control. Instead of piling spaghetti on your plate, measure out just 1 cup. If you need more volume, try adding in some spaghetti squash or Shirataki noodles (made from soy) which are both lower calorie but similar to spaghetti. Another place where I use the measuring cup is with cereals --- I used to just pour into the bowl but now, I measure a true cup. It surprised me how little it is and also how little it takes to satisfy my appetite!

(2) Try to eat more veggies & fruits. You might already be doing this, but I've increased the amount of fruits/veggies in my daily intake & I feel like it's made a difference. One of my new faves is to use Belgian endive instead of chips/crackers with dip. Satisfying crunch without the calories plus some helpful fiber added in. Another favorite is to freeze bananas. They do the trick when I want ice cream & I've already had my daily quota (see below).

(5) Well, this works for me, but it may not work for you. Don't deny yourself any foods. I found low-cal ice cream bars and have 1 a day because I'm a total ice cream nut. If I don't get my ice cream, I get cranky! The key, though, is that now, I eat 1 of these low-cal bars as opposed to before when DH & I would polish off a pint of Ben & Jerry's. I still get the ice cream (and I like that bars automatically portion-control me) without going overboard. If I couldn't eat my ice cream every day, I'd be obsessing about it.

These all worked well for me, too.

We have a small kitchen scale, so I also started measuring portions for things like lunch meat, crackers, etc. Some of these portions are actually quite large and I even cut back to half portions. I always have a banana with my cereal. It's not the lowest cal fruit choice, but I love bananas and they make me feel full.

I love the ice cream bar idea. That helped me, too. Also, I don't drink diet soda - I like the full-sugar stuff and cannot give it up completely. But I did cut back to no more than 1 per day. I found myself really thinking about whether I wanted it at lunch or should I wait til dinner. I even managed to go without it sometimes.

I like Chobani yogurt - low fat, high protein, very filling, and delicious. You can put a little granola in it, too, (I like Kashi Crisp cereal) to give it some crunch. Ritz baked chips/crackers are really tasty. I like them better than potato chips now, and they're much lower in fat/calories. And I try to drink lots of water. I keep a water bottle with me all the time. I never liked drinking water before, but I keep it iced down so it's good and cold, and it really fills me up.

And walk as much as you can. That did more for me than any other exercise routine. You can't just shlep along, though. You have to walk at a fairly brisk pace.

Good luck with it! I lost 20 lbs at the beginning of the year. Unfortunately, I was a bad girl on our cruise and put too much of it back on. (But it was a two week cruise.) I have to get back into my good habits with the holidays coming up.

[simbarel]

I just lost a bunch of weight and still going. I've been going to the gym 2hrs 4x per week for a year and still things didn't get going until I dropped grains. Bread makes you fat, at least it made me fat. GL!

[Crocrafter]

You mentioned trying to get away from drinking pop - I was very addicted to Diet Pepsi up until a few months ago. I switched to seltzer (plain, unsweetened soda water) and now find I can't drink soda at all - yukky sweet! Perhaps it would work for you? My local grocery (Giant) carries their own brand of seltzer in 20 oz, 1lt and 2 lt bottles, resonably priced and comes in flavors like lemon-lime, lime, mandarin orange, black cherry and raspberry. Just carbonated water and flavoring, no sweetener of any type.

When I am traveling, I often can only find the plain Vintage seltzer, which can be just as boring as water, until I found www.trulemon.com and ordered a box of lime packets. (They also have lemon, orange and lemonade (sweetened) flavors.) I carry these everywhere. When eating out, I order "soda water with lime" and find some places do not charge for it, others charge the same as a regular glass of soda with free refills.

Good luck if you decide to give it a go.
Karin

[2Peanuts]

Originally Posted by Crocrafter

I switched to seltzer (plain, unsweetened soda water) and now find I can't drink soda at all - yukky sweet!

Oooh, I love seltzer! It's my go-to drink, especially when I want the "bite" of soda but not the sweetness or caffeine. I actually love Vintage seltzer --- I always get orange-flavored. At my local store (Wegmans) you can get a case of 12 liters for $5.

That said, I still can't give up Diet Coke.

Carol

[HollyH]

I lost 28lb from January to June of this year. I put 3 or 4 back on over the summer (cruising ) but they're gone now and I'm hoping to lose another 10 or so. This is what worked for me:
-Drink water. I have a glass of ice water with me all day. I treated myself to a nice Mickey design cup that I really like so that helps .
-Eat breakfast. I used to skip breakfast. A lot. Now I'm sure to eat a bowl of cereal in the morning.
-Cut back on Diet Coke. I was a Diet Coke addict. I drank it all day long. I now will allow myself a glass with dinner. Some days I don't even finish it.
-Salad for lunch every day. Not a wimpy salad, a nice big one, but with mostly greens and veggies. Portion the dressing and other higher calories items (like croutons, my weakness) carefully. My favorite is baby romaine with red onion, baby carrots, craisins, Paul Newman's Poppy Seed dressing and Chatham's Sea Salt and Pepper croutons. I find that works because there is a mix of crunchy, chewy,sweet, salty. If I add avocado, that adds creamy.
-Walk 10K a day. I bought a pedometer and made it a point to take 10,000 steps a day. That usually includes 2 miles on the treadmill. I have my treadmill set up in front of my tv in the basement and watching a favorite show helps the time go by.

Good luck!

[Teresa]

One thing I've found in talking to most women who are trying to lose weight and aren't succeeding that they're all doing incorrectly: they aren't eating enough!!
You need enough calories for your body to operate. Not too many, but not too few. Usually around 1200 calories a day is a good place to start.
Too few and your body will go into "starvation mode". It will adjust metabolism to keep from losing weight - and protecting you from starving to death. It's just the way our bodies are made.
My advice: go to a Licensed Dietitian to help you determine the best way to lose the remaining weight.

[angiek1024]

Just the food portion of losing weight isn't enough for me. I have really changed my workouts and finally I am starting to see real results. I was walking on the treadmill and doing some weight training but was frustrated with the little results I was seeing. I ordered the Zumba system and started it a few weeks ago combined with my weight training I was already doing. Finally my body is changing. I am seeing muscles I haven't seen in years...lol. I actually have fun doing the dvd's but it is quite a workout. I have bad knees and have to modify some of the moves but it is working quicker than anything else I have tried!

[Wendyismyname]

I was going to suggest to you that instead of cutting out your side completely, step it down gradually by weeks. If you drink 6 a day, cut it down to 3. Then a week later, 2 then 1 then 1/2. By the time you get to the 1/2 and you're leaving that other half in the fridge where it'll go flat, you'll not need it anymore!!

Eat on smaller plates, that helps too.

Now I need to get myself back on it.

[mom2twingirlies]

Lots of good advice here. Most of it I've heard before, but the reminders are always good. I've put on more weight than I care to admit since I hurt my knee last summer (2010). In the spring I had knee surgery that was complicated by a post op blood clot and for obviousl reasons my activity level dropped dramatically. Now things seem to be back on track, although my knee is still not as strong as I would like it and my stamina stinks! So, I've started walking more everyday and adding in some strengthening exercises. It's not going to be a quick road, but every little bit helps, right?

[Charlie97]

Good luck to you, and just remember to keep pushing yourself to do more.