This may not be the best message board to post this on but …
I have gained so much weight lately due to it being summer and so many great restaurants are around me, me and my boyfriend are constantly eating out.
I exercise and don’t eat past 6 but still nothing works …
Ladies … Any secret to how to lose rapid weight ?
If this thread bothers you … I apologize lol.
Is your goal to lose some weight quickly, and then gain it all back? Because that’s usually what happens when you try to lose weight quickly. Instead, change your eating habits and equip yourself with knowledge to make the right choices.
Eating out is fraught with peril, since most dishes cooked at restaurants aren’t prepared in a healthy manner. There’s tons of butter and oil in there, and that’s why they taste so good. Learn how to order healthier options such as ordering things “dry”, sauces on the side, no bread at the table, get a garden salad or clear soup course to start. Have them bring a take away box when your order arrives and immediately pack up the extra food for later rather than leave it on your plate.
Take a look at your other meals and keep track of your caloric intake for a couple of weeks. You’d be surprised at how many calories sneak into your diet without keeping track of them. I’m a big fan of healthy snacking during the day but that doesn’t work for everyone - find what works for you.
Quick fixes don’t work - at least not in any long term way. Make some sustainable changes that don’t leave you feeling deprived or constantly hungry.
Welcome to the SDMB, wollyisdope. Threads asking for advice, including dietary and medical advice, go in our IMHO forum, so I have moved this there.
twickster, Cafe Society moderator
Don’t eat as much…
…and less often.
Eat whatever you like when you are hungry and stop when you are not hungry. And walk outside at least an hour every day.
Food cures hunger, and nothing else.
Incorporate as many small changes as you can, like getting off the elevator one floor early and walking up, or parking your car further away, speed walking this stretch or that, lift something heavy whenever a commercial comes on, etc. you’d be surprised how effective such simple changes can make, but you have to make them habit.
When you’re hungry, but don’t want to eat, chew gum until the hungry feeling goes away!
Good luck, it’s never easy!
I think this is where people go wrong most often. If the changes you’re making don’t leave you feeling deprived or hungry then you’re not really trying.
If you’ve resolved to lose weight by eating less, you’re going to feel deprived and hungry for some parts of the day, every day, until your stomach and eating habits adjust to the new healthier lifestyle. This can take a couple of weeks to a month for each new set point but adjust you will. Then you’ll have to reset to a still lower caloric intake and take time to adjust to that new level. All until you’ve reached your desired weight and found the right way to eat that maintains that weight.
Weight Watchers is an excellent program. I lost 75 pounds over the course of a year and change. You will learn portion control and how to make better choices. Also, most of us overestimate our activity and underestimate our eating. The Weight Watchers point system helps with that.
(And I’d like to add to previous remarks that rapid weight loss is NOT the way to go. Slow loss while you learn better habits is the best road to long-term success.)
I disagree that you must feel deprived in order to lose weight. (Most) fruits and vegetables are “free” (0 points) on WW, so you can fill up on those. I keep grapes, apples, and steamed broccoli ready to go in the fridge for snacking. Also baby carrots and Greek yogurt dip (or salsa). A salad for lunch every day.
Usual disclaimers apply (I have no financial interest in WW, just a very satisfied customer).
Know yourself and your own patterns first.
I have had success by smaller portion sizes at dinner, something I can’t manage at breakfast or lunch. I’m a morning person, though, and I think that’s key.
Also, weighing myself daily has helped a lot. But then, I like games a lot, and “beat the scale” is fun for me to play. I have realistic expectations, and I can sustain this over a long enough term to see changes. For someone else, daily weighings might be terrible advice.
I’m trying to do the same thing with a carrot-and-stick mental game for healthy food vs. fast food, but I think I need more complicated rules: it’s not fun enough to sustain right now!
Sadly, I’ve let myself slip a bit, but this thread has inspired me again. Thank you, and good luck!
Secrets?
Eat less/better foods and exercise more. Sadly, no matter what anyone says, there is no “secret” - you need to find what works for you. Some people do really well on rigid plans like Paleo/Primal, Atkins and Isagenix, others need more flex.
You need to find what works for you. I will say one thing - find a fitness plan that you like. If you hate every second that you are doing it, you’ll drop it like it’s hot as soon as you can. Incorporate weight/strength training along with cardio. That is the quickest route to lower body fat, but it’s not a magic pill. it takes time and effort.
Stop eating out.
You’ll save money as well, which you can use to treat yourself in other ways to motivate you to eat better.
Agree with this. It’s OK to not feel satiated all the time, but if you are feeling hungry and deprived you will not make good food choices. It’s important to know what good, low calorie but nutritionally worthwhile foods will keep you feeling good throughout the day.
For many folks they just can’t go hours between meals and expect to function properly. Rather than wait until dinner, a healthy afternoon snack can keep you going without blowing your diet for the day.
(Another satisfied WW alum)
I really did well with Atkins. I did it strictly for about a month, then I added more carbs in with whole wheat bread and fruit, even though I wasn’t at the weight I wanted to be.
Once I got to the weight I was happy at, I became a lot more vigilant. Where before I would let a couple of pounds creep up on me, now I immediately go back on Atkins for a couple days and get back.
Simply saying “stop eating out” won’t necessarily save money.
This should be changed to: Eat out less, and buy smart at the grocery store. Because not spending money on going out to eat, and buying tons of food only to have it to bad on you, so that you need to buy more…is just as bad
Atkins. Not the packaged stuff. It can be a bit costly, but it works. Read the book to learn the science behind it and you’ll never diet any other way.
This is not true for many people, and this kind of advice is facile, and frankly, kind of rude. If it were that easy for everybody, none of us would be fat.
For whatever reason, that thing in their brain that should say “okay, you’ve had enough food now. Stop” doesn’t work correctly This is why programs such as Weight Watchers work well for many people. WW imposes portion control while allowing some flexibility.
Some people also have issues with compulsive eating. “Stop when you’re not hungry any more” simply does not work here.
And yes, some eat too much as a way of self-medicating and dealing with emotional issues. That’s a bad habit which is VERY hard to break. Willpower isn’t always enough.
In the absence of complicating medical factors, “eat less and exercise more” is always the answer. The hard part is for each individual to figure out HOW to accomplish that.
You can eat out wisely, and venues such as fast food and buffets are not necessarily bad.
I like to stop at Taco Bell after my Weight Watchers meeting. Hardy har har, you say. Well? It’s dinnertime (5:30 pm) and I’m hungry. I love the Chicken Gordita Supreme, which is 7 points (I get 26 daily points, plus 49 weekly points to divvy up throughout the week). Great deal. A Crunchwrap Supreme (14 points) with a side of Nachos BellGrande (20 points) or even Nachos Supreme (11 points)? Not so much. It’s all about choices.
Don’t judge when you see me at A&W either. I’m just stopping in for a small diet root beer float (5 points). A little bit of a splurge, but I went for a run this morning and earned 8 activity points. A Wendy’s broccoli & cheese baked potato (10 points, 12 if I add sour cream) is an awesome recovery food after a long run. (Did I mention I run half marathons and marathons on a regular basis now? Just did half #27, and I’m running marathon #4 next weekend. Yes, I run so I can eat. But I’ve also made some awesome friends. Runners rock.)
I love Golden Corral because they have a decent salad bar and lots of fresh cooked veggies. And I can choose a bite or two of a few “sinful” favorites such as mac & cheese, instead of ordering a whole plateful.
Sometimes I go to HuHot (Mongolian barbecue, choose your own ingredients) with a relative who also struggles with weight issues, and our meals are like night and day. I take one bowl at the start of the buffet and fill it with a little tofu or seafood, no noodles, and a ton of veggies. I choose lemon/lime juice, garlic broth, ginger broth, soy sauce, and maybe a dibble of sesame oil for flavor as my sauces. No rice, perhaps a sprinkle of chopped peanuts after it’s cooked. My relative takes two bowls to start and goes heavy on the meat and noodles, some veggies. Garlic oil, peanut sauce (very fatty), two ladles of sesame oil. Rice and lots of chow mein noodles. I usually estimate my plate at around 7-8 points (sometimes I splurge and add a few rice noodles, so make it about 10). I don’t even want to try to tally my relative’s plate. Same options in front of us, very different choices.
When I was losing weight, I ate pizza and gelato. But not all the time. It was a treat, once in a while. And I switched from thick crust meaty pizzas to thin crust with veggies. It’s still pizza, and done right it’s just as tasty. I learned to try new foods (strawberries, Greek yogurt, mushrooms) because they gave me more bang for my pointswise buck.
It’s all about choices, and they don’t have to be hard ones. Just different ones.
I’ve been a compulsive overeater all my life. At one time I weighed more than 160 lbs (I’m not quite 5’2"). Right now, in what I tell myself is late middle age, I weigh about 130, which I’ve stayed at for decades. It isn’t thin, but it is not real unhealthy and it is stable.
I did not stop being a compulsive overeater. But I did create habits which in turn made my weight manageable. Including:
I stopped thinking about it. I just don’t think about my weight any more at all. Nor do I think very much about my food. I just think about the way I feel physically.
I very rarely eat out, but when I do, I eat whatever the hell I want. By ‘very rarely’ I mean anniversaries and birthdays. If I have to eat away from home I pack a lunch.
I don’t buy any processed food except cold cereal with little or no sugar in it, like cheerios or shredded wheat, which we eat as snacks, not meals. If there are cookies or the like in the house I eat them until they are gone, so I just don’t have any binge type foods in the house. If you want a dessert here, you’ll have to bake it first. Since I generally binge because I’m tired and stressed, it isn’t likely I’m going to bake anything under those circumstances.
If I feel the need to eat a whole lot of something, I eat a whole lot of fresh fruit or a huge salad. I never measure or weigh portions, it just makes me obsess about food, ugh.
I walk at least an hour to two hours a day, every single day. I like walking so it is something I look forward to. I totally fail at any other kind of exercise, so I’m glad I like walking.
I only keep whole grains in the house – 100% whole grain bread, whole wheat noodles, etc. Exception is rice because I really dislike brown rice. Whole grains don’t give me the carbo lust that white flour does, and I stop when I’m full, more or less.
Things I have never been able to get good results from: dieting in any form. attending meetings. special lo-cal foods. being mindful about eating (I hate being mindful, screw that).
Those could all work for you, but I just want you to know that habits work a lot better for me than what most people tend to recommend.
Friend of mine lost about 100 lbs on Atkins ten years ago and has consistently kept 80 lbs of it off since then. Plus her need for insulin (she is diabetic) was drastically decreased. She and her husband packed on more weight than they are comfortable with over the winter, so they’ve been doing the Atkins "induction"diet for the past three weeks or so. Saw them this morning - she has lost about 10 lbs, and he a little over 20 lbs.
Anyway, they have found that overall eating fewer carbs and sugar does the trick, and doing the Atkins induction really knocks the weight off fast.
I think eating a generally lower-carb diet, reserving junk/fried/meat/sugary foods for occasional treats or in smaller quantities, while eating a LOT of legumes, pulses, vegetables and fruits is a workable plan. Works for me, anyway - at 56 I weigh what I did at 15, but I have changed my diet a lot over the years and no way do I eat as I did 20 or 30 years ago. I’ve long joked that one benefit of a high-fiber diet is that I can eat an entire pint of Ben and Jerry’s in one sitting and because of all the fiber, it moves through my system too quickly to stick anywhere. 