So.. I'm what you would call.. over weight.. normally put.. fat. lol
Being so most of my life and finally reaching adulthood (ish) I had decided to change myself for the better. I want to be thinner, stronger, and mainly healthier.
I have just recently joined a gym, almost two weeks ago, and have been trying to go everyday, if not, every other day. I have also started to change my diet.. at least trying to. Trying to eat better and healthier.
There are just a few bad habits that I need to break myself of.
One is that I have bad sleeping habits. I'll either have a little case of insomnia and not sleep enough or I'll end up sleeping too much.
Another is my little midnight snacking right before bed. It just feels like I need a satisfied tummy to fall asleep. :sarcasm:
Also, I really don't eat enough times during the day. I usually eat just like once or twice a day and when I do eat, it's usually too much or something not healthy for me. I've heard you should have like 5-6 small meals/snacks a day.
I've been drinking a lot more water than I used to and am trying to stay away from pop and candy. Though this month is going to be horrid with Halloween coming up. :squee: lol
Hopefully I'll be down to a size I like by this time next year. ^_^

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Any suggestions or helpful tips?

Do you go to a gym or have an exercise routine?

Any bad habits?

Any success stories?

Any frustration stories?

If you're going to diet, you'd better stick to your diet. Because if you lose weight and you return to your old schedule, you're going to explode.

So binging is a NO NO, but so is starving yourself.

For diet and health purposes, I recommend eating small, healthy things throughout the day rather then 2 or 3 big meals. Skinnless chicken and fresh steamed vegatables are great, especially if you have a salad beforehand.

Whole grains are recommended. When choosing breads, I would choose a whole wheat bread. Warning; just because it says wheat doesn't mean it's WHOLE wheat. Check the ingredient list for what kind of flour it is... if it says enriched, DON'T EAT IT. 'Enriched' means that during it's creation, it lost a lot of it's goodies and they were artifically put back in. That makes it bad.

For juices, no drinky 'from concentrate'! That means they just took the flavoring of the fruit and added water! It's nooooo good. You want 100% juice. It's more expensive and it's harder to find, but it's worth it.

As for midnight snacks... if you MUST eat, eat something small, like a cup of yogurt or a granola bar or fruit. If that don't work for you, I'm sure a sandwich won't kill you... but perhaps you could counter it by doing some stretches and sit-ups afterward.

Thanks!

Yeah I actually do choose whole wheat and like # grain bread, if I do eat bread. Also brown rice instead of white and whole grain pasta instead of regular. Though I didn't know about that 'enriched' thing. Thanks for telling me about that, I'll have to keep a close eye on the bread I get.
I've also just bought a lot of little things to eat through out the day too. Like cucumbers to cut up, carrots, apples, and healthy granola bars that are high in protein. I also got one of those Go Lean cereals from Kashi that is high in protein as well. I don't eat meat all that often. So I try to find protein and iron in other foods.
But yeah, for the midnight things, if I do crave something, I usually get like an apple or a granola bar along with a small glass of skim milk.

^_^

I agree with everything Merrow says. it's important that you're not going on a diet, but rather slowly shifting your normal eating habits to something healthier. I'm on the same boat you are now actually. Staying away from soda is a good idea, so drink lots of water. It sounds like your midnight snacking is at least healthy, so if that helps you maintain good sleep, I would say to not try and stop right away.

As far as the gym, you don't wanna go each and every day because it's important to give your body some rest days to recover and build up. If you're going for overall weight loss, do something aerobic. Running.. ellipticals... swimming.. things that will work your whole body and get the heart rate up. Then for toning your muscles you're going to want to use maybe some light weight machines... do some situps with a medicine ball. On your off-days, even just some simple stretching is good.

sparkpeople.com is a good resource for food planning and exercise tracking. :)

When you're eating at proper meal times, try to spend more time chewing rather than swallowing. This gives your brain more satisfaction of the food that you're eating. Simply put, take your time over meals, no matter what other people say :)
Also, try not to eat anything after 7 o'clock. I know this will be hard after your routine of snacking before bed. But, the digestive system slows down after this time, and therefore digestion of food is slower too :) If you are really really hungry, have a drink or a yogurt.

But, don't cut yourself off from food completly! It's dangerous for your health, so don't go overboard ;) Reward yourself with new clothes when you feel proud of sticking to your regime for 2 weeks, 4 weeks, etc, then you'll really feel good about yourself :D

Bad habits for me? I eat too much junk food xD I can't resist the cheese toasties from my school canteen. Better than chocolate I suppose!

I wish you all the best ;)

I've been trying to eat healthier just so I can feel a bit better. While I'm not over-weight, being in the apparent 'average weight for your height/age' category, I do feel sick often, so I'm thinking it has something to do with my diet.
I snack too often I think, and although I ahven't changed the fact that I snack, I've changed what I'm snacking on, from lollies and junk food to apples and bananas and healthy food.
I also have two water bottles with me wherever I go, because I have this problem discerning between hunger and thirst. Whenever I feel hungry, I drink a little bit of water and it turns out I wasn't actually so hungry at all; just thirsty.
^^

Yeah, sorry about my rambling.
But seriously, the water idea helps.
Not to mention I'm feeling so better, and have lost two kilograms along the way.
-evillaugh-

Good luck!
I hope everything goes well.
=D

And I'm kinda glad we don't celebrate halloween all that much in Australia, as well as the fact that it's a twenty-two kilometre walk (or something like that) to the nearest house.
xDD

Dieting is a big comitment you know?
You got to stick to it. (:
If your the type that eats a lot of junk food, you could probably lose a lot of weight by exercising daily and not eating junk food at all.
You should never starve yourself.
Good luck! I think the tips you listed are very useful.
Usee themm ~ <3

Wow, thanks everyone for all the tips and support!!

As for going to the gym everyday, well lately it's been like every other day, lol. I usually just do cardio on an elliptical and then depending on what muscle set I did a time before, I would work on a certain muscle area for a few minutes. Then I get in the pool and do a few laps for a cool down.

Also, Aranel, that water thing seems neat. I guess that makes sense that you could actually be thirsty when you are hungry. I need to start carrying water around with me too.

Yep yep.
-nodnod-
I'm glad I could be of a little help.

I recently made a thread about the topic in the GD, I'm actually kinda concerned that I can't tell whether I'm hungry or thirsty.
-shrugs-
Guess I'll just keep carrying the bottles and diced apples around with me.
xDD

Also, go get the WiiFit game.
Seriously, not only is that game friggen addictive, but it works.
I've toned my legs up quite a bit and I've only been playing the thing for two weeks.

I also do push-ups, sit-ups and these funny leg exercises every night before I sleep and sometimes when I wake up.
I'd advise starting off with small numbers of them though, if you try doing too many to begin with it kills your muscles.
My poor muscles were burning for days after.
Dxx

Again; good luck.
I'm looking forward to hearing from you again.
=D

It sounds like you're doing mostly everything that you should to lose weight.

Here are some tips, though.

1. You need to do some sort of aerobic exercise everyday, because that burns more fat than strength training. So either walk, job, swim, etc.
2. Strength training is important too, even though it doesn't burn fat. It will make your body burn more energy while you rest.
3. Stretching is important.
4. Changing diet is hard, I know from experience. So I started by eliminating one thing at a time. So start by drinking less soda, then desserts in general, etc. Replace desserts with fruit, etc. Once you get in a habit it becomes much easier and eventually you won't have a desire to eat unhealthy foods anymore and you feel better all the time.

as for me and eating, with my various conditions, I'm too afraid to eat during the day and don't eat a lot usually till like 6pm. =( I know it's bad but I'm so afraid of getting sick I mean what if I have to drop out of school???? I can't do that! not after all the financial aid I have etc.

it's just a rough cycle ... *sigh* I hardly eat but with the cocktail of meds I'm on I remain at a healthy weight so my sickness doesn't show (last time I was 122 or something, maybe 123. I'm 5'5") but like .... being asked to change your diet so abruptly isn't fair. make the change gradual. with me I had to change my diet they said "no more dairy or caffeine or gum from now on" when I was 15. it's hard to just drop something you love after 15 years of being able to have it.

you'll be able to reach comfort levels with food and know when you're full. it'll be a long and drawn out messy process but it'll be okay if you just do your best.

I too, am overweight. I'm not fat, but my BMI is like a point over putting me in the over weight category. And I don't like that. Its all because I'm short. I have a friend who weighs teh same as me, but she's not over weight and thats beacuse she's taller tahn me. *Curse these genes* But anyway, I totally agree with everything everyone's said. Its all about burning more calories than you take in, and eating right. If you get a good amount of sleep, it will help you lose weight. Also, don't skip meals because it makes your body retain the calories as fat so it has something ot go on when you skip the meals.

Im sure everyone's already said all that, but I just wanted to put my two cents in.

i'm happy you joined a gym and started working out! muscles weigh A LOT more than fat so don't EVER look at the scale, just at yourself.
muscles tighten your body which makes you look thinner, also doing a lot of AB / side AB workouts will make you look slimmer.

the sleeping habits you might have to talk to your doctor about because insomnia is a serious issue. without proper sleep your body can't function correctly, and if it can't function correctly you can't get results as quickly as reasonably possible.

NO! no eating before bed D:
you don't even burn that stuff so it goes right to your midsection / all sections.
if you have to do snack eat something like fruit. fruits have natural sugars that are easy to break down by the body. or try vegetables, because the vitamins can help you out.

small meals a day isn't really good. it should be small snacks, because most people forget what a serving size REALLY looks like. restaurants, fast food places, everywhere EVERYONE oversize and get's way too much than what their body really needs.
meat should be no bigger than a deck of cards.
it's also best to eat SLOWLY because it makes it seem like you have more food and your body will be able to tell you it's full sooner. eating when you're already full is not a good idea because you're just stretching your tummy. even eating smaller meals you might feel like you're starving yourself, but your not. feeling full and feeling satisfied are two very different things.

water is the best thing you can drink!
soda is just tons of calories that don't even do anything but stay there D:
even diet soda's arn't good for you.
if you miss soda get Italian soda, it's basically mineral water with fruit juice. still has calories and sugars, but they're easy to digest.

remember, when working out think small weights with tons of reps. this also raises your heart rate which helps you burn more fat.


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i might be skinny, but i know i'm not healthy. i don't work out mainly because i live in texas and i have a bad heart, so when i have the free time i try and do yoga.
i drink some soda but i mostly drink water. it just gives you more energy.

i want to work out to better my heart, but i admit it's hard work D:
i just need to eat better than i already do.

I want to lose weight. I've always wanted to, but I'm so bad at it. I don't eat much food, usually only once a day, but about half the time it's something bad for me. I also don't exercise as much as I should...like, at all. I spent about eight months doing nothing but sitting around my house all day and I gained like 30 pounds. I'm only just getting used to going to school again. I want to make a habit of walking my dog every day, but she's lazier than I am! XD

One thing that prevents me from losing weight is Dr. Pepper. I am addicted to Dr. Pepper. :sarcasm: No, really. If I don't drink it I get shaky and feel ill. I've been trying to sort of wean myself off with the diet kind - regular, diet, regular, diet, back and forth. Then I'll switch to only drinking regular a few times a week, then hopefully only once in a while. I've also been drinking juice more, but the kind I like makes me cough.

I try to eat stuff like fruits and grains and chicken, because it's supposed to be good for you, right? But then I look up how many calories are in what I'm eating and I don't know what I'm doing wrong because it's always more than I should be having. I guess I'm just bad at dieting. :(

Eat more fruit and veggies. Avoid junk food at all possible costs. You might want to not eat those midnight snacks, you shouldn't eat two hours before bed. Otherwise your body can't digest it.

I did have a successful workout and I did lose weight till I gave up. I walked to and from school ((45min walk)). Then 100 sit ups, 40 reverses, 40 stretches, and 20 push ups each night. It was hard to keep up.

Mizure

juice = sugar.
try water, and flavor it with a sugar free flavoring thing.
a lot of grains are very fatty so just look at the box before you buy/eat it.
and your dog might be lazy because she hasn't been walked a lot?

For one, i have the same issue of midnight snacking. What me and my friend pushed each other to do was to not eat after 8 at night unless you need to.

2. like someone said before, try to eat fruits and veges more.... look up different recipes that look apetizing that contains stuff like that [did you know taco bell is one of the healthiest fast-food places?]

3. running... everyone hates it, but i find it very helpful. Try to run 15 mins a day, or every other day. another thing could be just simple crunches or leg workouts. try to get some friends invovled; me and my friends have so much fun searching ONDEmand for exercise activities, especially the karate taeo bo stuff.

The last thing i can think of is what my 9th grade teacher told me. A normal calorie intake is based on 2000 calories. What he siad was to cut down to 1500 cals a day and exercise for 15 mins. By doing this, you can loose 3-4 pds a week, or something like that.... but i did it during the track season and diving season and it seemed to work, even a little bit [though i cheated]


thats all i can think of, hope at least some of it was helpful =D