Good start. Other things that work:
Add more fiber to your diet. Natural fiber is great but that orange powder stuff is fine. Drink enough water.
Make a list of the 10 most fattening foods you eat: candy, chip, fries, ice cream, etc. Allow yourself 2 of them, then never, ever, let the others cross your lips. And, like Dangerosa wisely said- on those foods, substitute quality for quanity.
Alli has lost me 15#, with only a couple “bathroom emergencies”.
**Talk to your MD.
**
Walking is definately where you need to start. 45 minutes a day is perfect. If you do that daily, you will definately see results.
The only other thing you need to do is go here: How Many Calories Should I Eat a Day?
Figure out your BMR, multiply by the appropriate number to figure out how many calories you can take in to maintain your current weight. Stay under that number by 300-500 cals. Spread your cals out into 4-6 meals/day. This will prevent you from becoming over-hungry and binging all in 1 meal. Doing that is THE BIGGEST CAUSE OF WEIGHT GAIN. Imagine your metabolism as a campfire. If you try to throw a log onto a bunch of coals, it won’t burn well. If you throw a smaller log onto an already decent fire, it will burn in no-time. I’m seeing results like this personally, and it’s a very healthy, very proven method to losing weight without starving yourself.
That is it in a nutshell, but read on for a little extra information:
Start counting calories. You don’t have to get all hardcore about it, just know what you’re putting into your body and how many calories are in it. If you’re not sure, google search whatever it is and add “calories” on the end. You’ll find your answer quickly. Anyways, key thing is to stay about 300-500 calories under that number you find on that link i posted. As you lose weight, re-calculate. This will change as you lose weight (your body burns less calories when you weigh less, even without doing any exercise whatsoever). If you do that, I garuntee results. I’m only aiming to lose 15 lbs (from 195 - 180), and I’ve lost 5 already, in 2 weeks (it was actually 5 lbs in 10 days, but i’ve had no time to get to the gym in the AM this week). This is all with relatively low effort. I’ve always known how to lose the weight, I just haven’t had the motivation or the mental energy to plan it all out and be psychologically prepared for it. That is probably the most important thing right there. Staying motivated can be difficult, so make sure you give yourself quality R&R time. Take a good 30 minutes to an hour at night to do nothing but relax, and MENTALLY PREPARE yourself for the next day of exercise and eating right.
One other little tidbit… aim for 50% carbs, 30% protien, and 20% fat. Basically all you need to do here is aim for high protien foods, as it is easy to get the fat and carbs. This is relatively simple. It’s not a huge deal if you miss your numbers, as it’s more important to burn more cals than you take in.
Hi Lady ,
The problems you mentioned are very similar to the issues I struggle with . . . that is, eating for comfort/stress. This is what helped me reclaim my relationship with food; I got it from French Women Don’t Get Fat , which despite the hokey title, is a really good book with a lot of wisdom. Also, my mom and aunts are Indian, and until very recently, they ate A LOT and were all tiny. In fact, in many developing countries, the middle class tends to eat a lot more than many Americans, and they all tend to be very thin, and it’s not genetic, cause I’m Indian and pretty large. I think it has a lot to do with eating habits. I would also highly recommend reading this link: http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=56674. It opened my eyes.
Anyways, so, I think in our culture we’ve lost this basic idea that food = hunger, and nothing else. We use food to medicate EVERYTHING, from stress to loneliness to depression. I think it’s really important to bring food back to its natural role, which is to feed our bodies when we’re hungry. That’s not to say that food can only serve to satiate hunger; it’s also very pleasant to eat, which is why we do it so much. But when you eat beyond the point of being satisfied, it loses its appeal and becomes more mindless and compulsive. The book and link explain it better. But this is what I would suggest.
As said above, when you feel a need to eat because of stress, replace it with something else! It’s hard when you have kids and are busy, I know, but distract yourself with a ten minute walk around the block. Exercise is a great appetite suppressant and you’ll come back feeling very energized and in a different mood altogether. If you are still wanting food when you get back, ask yourself if it’s from hunger from working up an appetite walking, or if you still haven’t destressed enough. If the latter, back out you go. If it’s genuine hunger, go for a healthy snack. I find that hunger from exercise leads me to want to eat real, substantial, healthy food, whereas depression/stress hunger just means a whole bag of cheetos.
Eat 3 meals a day, and 2 snacks if you like, at regular times. Plan these times out, write it down, and don’t eat outside of those times. If you plan it out properly, you shouldn’t get too hungry. If you do, allow yourself a piece of fruit or something healthy.
Eat every meal and snack sitting down, at a table, with cutlery and linens out. Besides conversation with other people at the table, don’t do anything else while eating. Enjoy each mouthful and eat slowly, and stop when you’re genuinely satisfied. Serve yourself a portion before the meal, as much as you think you need, and don’t go back for seconds.
Try to cook everything as naturally as possible, and as organically . . . try to avoid overprocessed food, although I find that particularly hard.
Develop rituals around food. One thing that helped me a lot; my parents come from a culture where they had tea with 1 biscuit every day after work. I started doing this as well, and it really helped with the otherwise compulsive “omg, have to eat everything at home” feeling I used to get coming home.
Make sure you really enjoy your food. In most cultures globally, food is an art and a passion, and people are thin. In America, oftentimes it’s just processed frozen crap that takes 10 mins to prepare and no one appreciates it so they overconsume. I know it sounds contradictory, but again, my friend from Paraguay was telling me that her (middle-class) family basically loved to eat, it was their passion, her mom would start cooking days ahead for anything, but they were still all thin. This attitude is true in many countries, yet America, where we make all our meals five minutes beforehand, is the fattest country on earth. It’s hard when we’re all so busy, but it can be done; maybe you can involve your kids in cooking and it can be a family thing. Just my $.02.
Never skip meals. You probably already know this, but when you go hungry, you basically are setting yourself up to ultimately gain weight because you slow your metabolism down.
Try to avoid counting calories, just overall eat healthy. I find that obsessive calorie counting can be unproductive.
I think my overall stance would be, “Own food, don’t let food own you.” Don’t let it take over your life or be something you can’t control.
The exercise is great too, and try to incorporate into your daily regimen in other ways, like taking stairs instead of elevator, walking across the office instead of using interoffice mail, etc.
You can definitely do this, as long as you have the confidence, and I think by asking
here you’re taking the right first step.
Gestalt.
Exercise is great and will definitely make you healthier but it may not do much for your weight. I know a ton of fit but fat people. I exercise way more than the average person and I have to constantly watch what I eat. Not to be discouraging, just to warn you that walking won’t make the weight fall off.
Portion control and calories are much more crucial. Start off with a food diary, either a paper one or one of the online ones like Fitday. Find out how many calories you’re really taking in and teach yourself how many calories are in the foods you usually eat. At your height and weight, you probably only need 1500-1800 calories. It’s really easy to eat that much in a single meal at some place like Olive Garden.
Add whole foods to your diet and cut out the processed. Nothing, absolutely nothing, made with corn syrup is good for you. Honestly, most stuff made with white flour (including pasta) doesn’t do a lot for you nutritionally either. My favorite trick for when I need to drop 5 pounds is to eat half a pound of vegetables followed by a lean protein and then a fruit to finish off the meal. Sounds like a lot and it is but if you force yourself to do it for a while, you’ll get used to the taste of vegetables and fill yourself up with healthy foods. (and, btw, I always eat tasty fresh vegetables, I can’t stand frozen and I never worry about the olive oil used in cooking) Either teach yourself healthy recipes or find a place that has healthy take-out. Americans spend less of a percentage on income on food than does any other country; buy the healthy stuff and make an investment in your health. Also, research healthy eating. You’ll learn a lot and gain renewed motivation to eat healthier.
I might also mention that I believe it’s impossible to lose weight without ever being hungry. Hunger is your body telling that you are losing weight. Don’t let yourself get famished but a edge of hunger between meals is a good thing, not a cause for panic.
It’s a constant battle. I have days where all I want to eat is cheese dip and chips. And so I might for one dinner. But I’ve gotten so used to eating healthy, that a crappy meal like cheese dip leaves me feeling icky and I get back on track the next day.
If you’re like me and tend to put off any serious exercising, try doing a fun workout.
I like using my “bean” chair. It’s not hard, doesnt seem like you’re really doing anything (main exercise is ab crunches). I did it for awhile, and only a few minutes a day. I didnt think it was working because I never got sore, but kept doin it because of the stretches. Then one day, I put on my pants and walla - I was needing a belt!
I seriously need to start using my Bean again - I miss it!
Oh, and I wasnt dieting either (of course I didnt go overboard on sweets and junk, but I didnt refrain from them either. And Dr Pepper (not diet) is a “pry it out of my dead cold hands” kinda luv!
OK, I’m going to break this post down into a couple of parts. The first part will deal with behavior modification, the second with changing what you eat.
Step One: Change How You Eat
I’m putting your weight at 200. Let’s say you walk 45 minutes and find yourself next to Dunkin Donuts. You earned it, right? 45 Minutes is a long time to exercise. So you grab a chocolate glazed donut. Just one donut won’t hurt, right?
45 Minutes of walking at 3.5mph burns approx 288 calories. One of those donuts is 290 calories. Sucks, doesn’t it?
The point is, the changes to your diet don’t even need to be large changes. You need to drop that mindless margin of extra calories that you could cut out without even noticing. Research shows the average person can consume 200 less calories per day than they’re used to and never notice. That’s twenty pounds in a year.
What you need to do is put yourself into situations where you don’t snack. It’s not reasonable to expect to exert your willpower every minute you’re awake; your brain simply can’t handle the stress. Instead, you need to rely on tricking the unconscious thought processes that signal that “it’s time to eat.”
First, raise the barrier to snacking. If you have candy on your desk, keep it in an opaque jar that you have to get up to access. You will eat less candy. Keep unhealthy foods out of sight and keep healthy ones in the front of the cupboard and at eye level. The first thing you see is what you’re most likely to eat. Personally, I’ve made a commitment to only eat when I’m going to pour a full glass of water, put whatever I’m eating on a plate (even if it’s just crackers) and sitting down in the kitchen to eat it. I often find I’m not hungry enough to go through with the ritual.
Second, your eyes are a lot better at telling you when to stop eating than your stomach. Pre-plate your meals before taking them to the dining room. If you buy crackers, bag them into individual servings. Cook healthy meals ahead of time, bag them into individual servings and freeze them.
Third, smaller containers! Eat on smaller plates, drink out of tall, skinny glasses. Even eperienced bartenders pour on average 20% more into short, wide glasses when asked to pour one shot. People given a large bowl and large ice cream scoop ate on average 57% more than people given a small bowl and small scoop, while both parties reported being equally full. I could go on, and on, and on.
Fourth, keep a visual cue of what you’re eating. If you’re drinking wine, don’t refill the glass or clear the old one. Keep the dirty glasses around and that will serve as a visual aid of how much you’ve drank. If you’re eating pizza, keep the crusts on the plate. If you’re eating wings, leave the bones where you can see them. You will eat less.
Fifth, don’t eat anywhere it’s not appropriate to. Don’t eat at your office desk, don’t eat on the couch, don’t eat in the bedroom. This is known in psychology as state-dependent learning. Much the way soft jazz, candles, and bright, contrasting colors signal to your brain to eat more or faster, if you build up a mental association of sitting on the couch and eating, your brain will trigger the “get food” impulse much more readily.
All of this is boiling down to this: changing our habits is hard. You can’t change your entire lifestyle in one day. Behavior analysts tell us that it takes about 28 days to form a new habit. Make a monthly chart of three new positive habits you’re going to form, and check off the days that you successfully followed your new habit. After about a month it will be nearly effortless. You can change three small behaviors in your life in a month.
Read Brian Wansink’s Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think. You might know him from the “bottomless soup bowl” experiment for which he won an ig nobel.
Changing Your Food:
Eat 5-6 small meals per day and never skip breakfast. Breakfast wakes your metabolism up and eating small bits throughout the day will keep it going on steady burn and prevent you from overeating when it actually is time to eat.
Avoid processed sugars and high starch foods. This is new research for weight loss, but it’s been known to diabetics for ages. Check out the glycemic index. Essentially, foods that are high in starch and sugar cause insulin spikes, which both promote the storage of fat and inhibit the burning of it.
Switch to whole grains when you can and increase your proteins while cutting down the saturated fat. Follow the “half plate” rule–half your plate should consist of vegetables. The other half can be a starch (bread, pasta) and meat.
If you get a sweet craving, grab fruit. It’s plenty sweet and loaded with good stuff. Just don’t buy the unhealthy stuff–if it’s not in your house, you can’t eat it.
Finally, just let loose. Don’t restrict yourself to never do something–that will only make you want to do it more and make you feel terrible when you finally do succumb to the urge.
I was really and truly shocked at the calorie count in some foods–I mean, I knew somewhere in my pea brain that french fries were high in calories but I’d never actually taken the time to learn how many calories they actually have. Wow was that a shocker–500 calories in a small serving of Wendie’s fries. That’s almost 1/3 of my daily calorie budget, so if I choose to eat fries, you better believe I have to cut back elsewhere.
Getting educated about the calories was such an eye opener and I really do think it’s much like learning how to manage my money–the investment principle is similar in that I’m doing this for the long term benefit. So yes while counting may be tedious, its still necessary, just like brushing my teeth every day.
Well I dunno if it’s a battle but it’s sure constant! 
I started an account with Calorie Count, and I think that having a visual food budget will help. I would generally try to keep a mental count of what I ate, but that’s obviously not working. I definitely like knowing what’s left in my budget.
A lot has changed with my new job: I don’t graze all day (I did that so I could stay awake at work), I eat breakfast, I eat lunch, and since I do those things, I’m not famished when I get home. And I dropped a pants size just doing that.
Luckily, I don’t eat out a lot since I just don’t have the money for it. I’m definitely going to nix the processed foods from the store and make more things myself. Another good thing is that I don’t usually reward myself with food after I exercise, so that’s one less habit I’ll have to break.
I figure that I’ll just take it one day at a time.
I can’t really pose as an expert, since I haven’t lost any weight doing these things. I have, however, limited my pregnancy weight gain to about 13 pounds, in accordance with my midwives’ instructions, and I just FEEL so much better mentally about my weight, eating, and exercise. So here are some ideas.
I learned that I am very reactant when it comes to weight loss issues. I have in fact, made what I called a pan of “Fuck You, Mom” Brownies. But it’s not just my mother’s influence I resist - I tend to be reactant against Weight Watchers guidelines and the angel on my shoulder as well. But mostly it’s when those things are telling me what I can’t have. So my big diet thing is to focus on foods that I’m trying to **add **to my diet. When I eat the recommended amount of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, they naturally nudge out the red meat, sweets, and refined carbs, without making me focus on the deprivation factor. I also like to focus on the long term health impact, rather than calories. It’s so much easier for me avoid donuts and fast food on the basis of trans fats than on the basis of “that’ll make (keep) you fat.”
Also, since I’m sooo much bigger than a healthy weight, I can probably lose weight eating at least 500 more calories a day than WW and similar programs allow. They cut drastically so you’ll have dramatic results, but at this point, I just want to have some deficit every day, and eventually I’ll get there, without feeling too deprived or hungry and quitting. (WW really works for some people, though, I’m not knocking it, except as it applies to me and how my brain works!) If I want to track calories, I will use Fitday instead, and I get to control how much of a calorie deficit I want to aim for.
Similarly, I like to exercise because of what it adds to my life, not for the number of calories burned. It controls my depression, gives me energy, and makes my aches and pains go away. I also like training for events, rather than just exercising for the sake of exercise. Even at 200 pounds, I jog-walked a couple 5Ks, and it was a blast.
Also, realizing your quirks and working around them, rather than butting your head into them. I’m never ever going to like whole wheat pasta, or give up red meat or sweets entirely, so I don’t try to force it, just to limit the less desirable stuff I truly love to reasonable levels, and not waste my time with unhealthy foods that aren’t completely delicious and satisfying. Likewise, I hate the recumbent bike, so I avoid it, even when it’s recommended due to my joint problems and whatnot. I’d rather hit the pool or deal with the sore butt from the upright bike than force myself to do something I hate.
Also, a few book recommendations:
Emotional Eating
Feeling Good (do-it-yourself cognitive behavioral therapy)
Eat, Drink, and Weigh Less (I don’t care for their 21 day menu plan, but I like the ideas about improving diet, and the “Body Score” they use to assess your diet and exercise.)
Good luck!
I would recommend adding some resistance training to your walking regime, to build muscle mass and raise your metabolic rate so you burn more calories while resting.
Do a set of push-ups (do them off your knees to begin with), crunch-style sit-ups, and some back exercise (lie on your face and raise your right arm and left leg off the ground, hold for a second, and then do the other arm and leg). Do this every fifteen minutes during your walk. Grab a can of soup in each hand and do curls and shoulder presses while you walk.
Go easy at first, and stick to it. Set up the long term goal as a series of interims, and do something nice for yourself when you reach one - NOT food-related.
It has been a little over twenty-two years since my brother lost 117 lbs.
Regards,
Shodan
If I don’t make something into a routine I don’t do it. Basically I have to get to the point where it’s easier to do the thing that’s good for me, than not to do it. So I have a number of healthy routines that, if they’re interrupted, I pay the price.
I have a dog. I have to walk him a lot or else I pay immediate consequences. This gets my heart rate up at minimum three times a day.
I ride my bike to work. I’ve been doing it so long that the ride itself isn’t a problem and I’m quite accustomed to all the other accommodations that have to be made (leaving clothes at work, etc). Now that it’s so much a part of my routine it feels very strange (and expensive!) to get to work any other way. So basically I have to bike to work too.
I have a smoothie for breakfast every morning. I found a recipe I like (banana, frozen berries, yogurt, pomegranate juice) so shopping is incredibly easy and I get a good breakfast every morning. The alternative is to not eat breakfast (but why would I do that? I have everything I need in my house) or to eat something else (again, why would I do that?)
Salad. This is my newest one so I hope it works. I buy one of those big plastic containers of organic prewashed greens and I have a handful every night (topped with whatever other veggies, nuts, seeds and meat I have lying around). So even if I can’t get a proper dinner together at least I have my roughage, and I’m less likely to get so hungry I have to eat something gross. If I don’t do this every night I’ll have to (a) be hungrier than otherwise, and (b) toss out a lot of rotting greens, and since I love salad it’s not too much of an imposition.
I’ll second (or third) the vote for WW. I joined their online program in October and have lost almost 20 pounds. I’m finally down to my pre-pregnancy weight, though I’m still planning to lose 30 more.
I’m pretty knowledgable about nutrition and exercise; however, staying on track is hard when you’re not accountable to anyone else. It’s even harder when your husband isn’t watching his weight and you have a kid to run after, leaving you little time to watch yours. Even being accountable to an online program is effective for me. What I like best about WW is that, even though I know how to lose weight, I don’t have to think to do it. I enter in what I eat and how much I exercise and I don’t have to calculate calories, grams of fat or anything. Just watch my points. Plus, I don’t even have to limit what I eat - mostly it’s how much of it that’s the issue.
Just wanted to chip in to endorse what others have said about Weight Watchers. Looking at my dieting friends, it seems to be the only programme that the successful dieters have managed to stick to – not just to lose weight but to keep it off long term (i.e. years). It’s doesn’t demand huge sacrifices, you don’t have to give up chocolate or wine or whatever you love, it just trains you to understand food better and to keep a check on yourself. And they publish some great easy to follow recipes that will suit the whole family.
My friends who have followed it all seem to have a great idea of the calorie content of food and can tot up the ‘points’ value in anything, so don’t have to get their books out when they dine out.
The weekly public weigh in is also a huge incentive!
You might want to get yourself a pedometer. They’re cheap, and you can wear one on your waistband or belt to track how many steps you take each day. Aim for 10,000 steps each day you’ll almost certainly see results.
It’s amazing how motivating those little doodads can be. I bet you that you’ll start choosing the stairs over the elevator, or to park further away, just to get those few more steps into your day.
I want to add on to this that for me, exercise has to be entirely enjoyable. So spinning class is right out for me, I get the giggles thinking about the classes I’ve seen–yes yes I know it’s a worthy (aka effective) exercise but to me its just the silliest thing.
OTOH I am a Pilates and yoga fiend. I started doing Pilates after my 6th major abdominal surgery because I had NO muscles left and was just desperate to get some muscle tone back. Wow has Pilates helped me a ton.
I also really love running outside, weather permitting. For me it’s a great way to stay connected to my neighborhood and to the seasons. When it’s too cold to run (which it has been now for 10 straight days) I do aerobics. I don’t enjoy that as much but it’s a decent substitute.
I have the same user name on CC and post there from time to time. Be warned, though, few people write in complete sentences there.
I found some cheap ones on ebay; will a no-frills pedometer do? Should I look for one with any particular…doodads? I’m looking at this one in particular.
For me it took monitoring every single bite I put in my mouth to lose weight (Weight Watchers online). Exercise didn’t do it. I gained as much weight as you did while also maintaining a 6-hour-a-week exercise regimen. I don’t exercise for quite as many hours now (closer to 5 now), but I jog or walk uphill (incline trainer), which is a more strenuous workout. I don’t exercise for the weight loss (though the few extra WW points it gives me does let me have a little more junk food each day) but for the health benefits.
Just remember that any changes you make that help have to be permanent. You can’t go on a diet/exercise program, lose weight, then stop what you were doing that made you lose weight and not expect to gain it back.
Yup, that looks just perfect. Hope it makes a difference for you!
Hi
I lost about 50 pounds last year and walking was/is a fundamental component of my regime. I try and walk to work and back at least 4 times a week, which is 7-8 miles round trip. I also carry one of those hand exercise thingies so I can work on forearm muscles at the same time.
But in the end the exercise only helped. It was the whole ‘eat less’ thing that was the main cause. Exercise is no substitute for the will-power to eat no more than 1500 calories a day.
I found I just had to tell myself ‘no more crap’ and then force myself to stick to it. Three healthy meals a day. No snacks, no ‘treats’, no alcohol no matter how hungry, bored or depressed I was.
But - I only had 50 or so pounds to lose and a single lifestyle that made it easy to make changes. I understand this doesn’t apply to everyone but I do think there’s too much floundering around for diets and systems and other fads in the hope that there’s some sort of magical way we can lose weight painlessly while still snacking away on crap. But whatever works works.
Losing weight, eating less calories and more healthily is just plain hard.
I’m looking out my office window at the rain and metaphorically holding a gun to my head and saying ‘walk you bastard’ at this moment. 
Best of luck.
Check to see if your library has any books by Geneen Roth. She writes about conquering emotion eating, about how to eat what you want when you want because you are hungry.