[jhimli]

Hi everyone, I have been really obsessed with my weight problem. I am a 33 year old female and have gained 90lbs which makes the count to 210. I recently took out some of my summer clothes and they don’t fit me anymore!!! This is a real tragedy for me. How can I not wear the ones I adore...moreover the new look is getting me mad (with the comments from my friends). I know quite a few ways to start losing weight…….but I don’t really feel that, with so many people failing using these methods that I will make it through. Does anyone know a proven way to reduce the weight?

Please help me…..this is killing me!!!

[Rodja]

There are 3 things you must have for a successful weigh loss program:
1. Exercise, both cardio and resistance training
2. Clean diet
3. Patience

When these 3 are working together, then you will achieve your goals.

[jsp0882]

eat less and move. most people fail because they go on a diet and lose weight and then go back to eating the same way. u have to have willpower, and u have to have a life style change. u can't just go on a certain type of diet like atkins. u need to change the way u eat always.

[Nole1]

EAT - eat clean - eliminate sugars and refined foods. No sodas, juices, white starches such as rice, bread. Eat 4-6 SMALL meals a day - totalling approx 1600-1800 calories. Each meal should contain a lean protein source, but probaby no more than 4-5 oz. Chicken, turkey, beef, fish. Green veggies are also great, as well as low GI carbs, such as Sweet potatos, brown rice and oatmeal.

EXERCISE - if you are doing nothing now, start walking. When that is easy - walk faster, or jog. 30 minutes a day minimum. Try resistance training - if you don't know where to start, then join a gym. Many women are more comfortable at a Curves or something like that. Resistance training will help you build muscle, which makes your body more efficient at burning calories. Plus you'll fee so much better after your workouts that they will become almost addictive. A natural high.

SLEEP - this is one that many people just don't get. There is no TV program in the world important enough to rob you of your sleep. Get a minimum of 7 hrs - shoot for 8. Your body NEEDS that time to recover. There are dozens of studies showing that obesity is higher in folks who get less than 6 hrs of sleep on a regular basis.

Good luck - there are a billion places on the internet to get information from. But above are the real basics. Don't waste your money on fad diets or fatburners unless your diet is 100% in check. Google body recomposition and you'll find some more info as well.

Nole1.

[sethroberts]

Originally Posted by Rodja

There are 3 things you must have for a successful weigh loss program:
1. Exercise, both cardio and resistance training
2. Clean diet
3. Patience

When these 3 are working together, then you will achieve your goals.

Stress the patience. Weight loss takes time and perseverance. Most people fail because they expect immediate results.

[Reaper329]

Originally Posted by Rodja

There are 3 things you must have for a successful weigh loss program:
1. Exercise, both cardio and resistance training
2. Clean diet
3. Patience

When these 3 are working together, then you will achieve your goals.

well said.

also, one issue that needs to be addressed is how much time can you put into exercise, and what exactly are you doing?

of course, that is above and beyond the diet aspect, which is issue #1 imo. You need to make sure that what you are eating is what you truly need to eat to achieve your goals

[rick055]

I have lost 60 pounds since November.

You absolutely must keep track of calories; I don't care how exotic the diet, if you consume more than you burn, you won't lose weight. Dietary strategies within that framework (i.e. higher protein, lower fat) can help you burn healthier and quicker, but calories count.

I do step aerobics 4 days a week for an hour, and I do a simple 2-1, 2-2 training split; big movements, heavy weights.

Look for 2 pounds a week.

Weight Watchers can be a really valuable tool to help you with the calorie count.

[RenegadeRows]

Originally Posted by Nole1

There is no TV program in the world important enough to rob you of your sleep.

Nice quote.

[EasyEJL]

Originally Posted by jhimli

I know quite a few ways to start losing weight…….but I don’t really feel that, with so many people failing using these methods that I will make it through. Does anyone know a proven way to reduce the weight?

the methods don't fail - the people fail to follow the methods.

eat healthier eat less, make smarter food choices, exercise. Guaranteed to loose weight that way.

try getting or looking in the library at this book

http://pictureperfectweightloss.com/

heres an example






this is what it is all about in reality. Its not about loosing x number of pounds in x amount of time. Its about making a habit and lifestyle of eating more realistic food choices.

[jsp0882]

most peoples problems aren't what they eat, just how much they are eating. u look at ice cream and say hm... 150 calories isn't bad. but nobody ever looks that the serving size is half a cup. now who eats a half a cup of ice cream. also pasta doesn't look that bad until u realize that 2/3 a cup is a serving size. a lot of the times u can eat what u want and just keep the portions down to a normal size. unless ur looking for under 12% body fat and a 6 pack. but if ur just trying to lose weight watch ur portions that can go a long way.

[crader]

Clean up your diet first. Six meals a day get protein in each meal, make your carbs oatmeal, whole grain rice and sweet potatoes. Drink plenty of water.

Hit the weights. Muscle burns fat at a resting rate much faster than cardio. But until you get leaner add in 3-4 days of cardio around 30 min a day at least.

Do not cheat on the above, you will be what you put in to it. It has to become a life style. The weights will become a passion and the results you get will fuel you to keep going!! And put a log up here with pics..It tends to hold you accountable and makes it fun to have your family here cheering you on. You may let yourself down every now and then but you never want to let the people who put so much time and thought into your logs down!!

[tuberman]

jhimli,

The thing about the sleep is so important, that if you need to you should add a natural sleep aid to get deeper sleep such as melatonin or 5 htp.

Yet I'm going to add to that here, stating that your last meal should be eaten at least three hours before going to bed. Food digestion will get in the way of sound sleep, body repair, and FAT BURNING.

People burn the most fat from fat cells during the long hours between meals during sleep and the time before breakfast. That is not an excuse to not eat breakfast. The suggestion here is to try to wake up early and go for a walk during prime body fat burning time. This should be at least 30 minutes if possible. Next, eat a high protein breakfast to speed up metabolic rate.

If you do the above, along with good clean foods and some resistance exercise you can lose over three pounds of actual fat a week.

You might check into natural supplements that hold onto muscle while losing weight.

I've used this nutrient timing trick and it works extremely well.

I lost 114 pounds in less than 5 months using that trick, and was much healther after too. And not physically weak either.

[tuberman]

crader,

I concider your advice to be great for a recomp diet, but not for someone desperate to lose a lot of weight.

I was in the hospital at age 56 and my weight had reached 356 pounds. I had several nasty complications with this weight, including developing an infection that needed to be lanced.

I wanted to get the weight off quick, so I proceed to alternately eat 3 meals one day and just two meals the next. I'd get up in the morning at 4:30 am and walk for two hours before breakfast (I took a two month medical leave from work to get started). I would add another two hours or so of walking during the rest of the day.

I had about 75 grams of protein on the two meal days, and about 105 grams on the three meal days. After a couple of weeks on this diet and some research I added 600 mcg of chromium and about 20 grams of Leucine a day to this diet.

Of course, I did lose muscle, but not near as much as conventional wisdom said I should. I figure I lost a little over 20 pounds of muscle out of the 114 pounds lost.

I was now almost 57 and my weight was now 242 pounds. I was still pretty heavy and was starting to get a little weak. This pushed me to starting the conventional wisdom diet exactly such as you advise. The results weren't bad, but not as good as I hoped for at that point.

In the next full year I typically ate 6-7 small meals a day with 250 grams of lean protein. I lowered my cardio to 40 minutes a day and picked up intensity. My weight workouts became much more intense.

Results of this phase two of my diet after one year of the 6-7small meals a day plan, I had lost just 7 more pounds of weight, yet I believe I had actually lost 25 pounds of fat. I gained back all my physical strength I had lost during the phase one part of my diet (I could bench about 275 again, and had even stronger legs than before the diet started).

My point is it took a whole year lose 7 pounds on the scale, and this would be very depressing to a typical person looking for fast weight loss. They would give up after a few months. I had actually planned to do a phase two recomp early on in my phase one fast loss part of my diet, but I think I shoud have put it off until I got down to 200 pounds.

[EasyEJL]

Originally Posted by tuberman

crader,

I concider your advice to be great for a recomp diet, but not for someone desperate to lose a lot of weight.

I was in the hospital at age 56 and my weight had reached 356 pounds. I had several nasty complications with this weight, including developing an infection that needed to be lanced.

I wanted to get the weight off quick, so I proceed to alternately eat 3 meals one day and just two meals the next. I'd get up in the morning at 4:30 am and walk for two hours before breakfast (I took a two month medical leave from work to get started). I would add another two hours or so of walking during the rest of the day.

I had about 75 grams of protein on the two meal days, and about 105 grams on the three meal days. After a couple of weeks on this diet and some research I added 600 mcg of chromium and about 20 grams of Leucine a day to this diet.

Of course, I did lose muscle, but not near as much as conventional wisdom said I should. I figure I lost a little over 20 pounds of muscle out of the 114 pounds lost.

I was now almost 57 and my weight was now 242 pounds. I was still pretty heavy and was starting to get a little weak. This pushed me to starting the conventional wisdom diet exactly such as you advise. The results weren't bad, but not as good as I hoped for at that point.

In the next full year I typically ate 6-7 small meals a day with 250 grams of lean protein. I lowered my cardio to 40 minutes a day and picked up intensity. My weight workouts became much more intense.

Results of this phase two of my diet after one year of the 6-7small meals a day plan, I had lost just 7 more pounds of weight, yet I believe I had actually lost 25 pounds of fat. I gained back all my physical strength I had lost during the phase one part of my diet (I could bench about 275 again, and had even stronger legs than before the diet started).

My point is it took a whole year lose 7 pounds on the scale, and this would be very depressing to a typical person looking for fast weight loss. They would give up after a few months. I had actually planned to do a phase two recomp early on in my phase one fast loss part of my diet, but I think I shoud have put it off until I got down to 200 pounds.

you are really wrong there. Crader's plan doesn't make mention of what calorie target to use. There is nothing intrisic in the 6 small meals idea that limits a person to 7 lbs in a year as what results you got, its about caloric defecit. So 6 meals that add up to 500 below maintenance once exercise is factored in is good for a pound a week.

The original poster probably has 60-70lbs to loose, so a pound to pound and a half a week while building habits of eating healthy is ok. Expectations of more than that are unhealthy, and mean doing non-sustainable dieting or activities.... Which means far more likely for the weight to go back on afterwards.

I definitely commend you on your progress, but the original poster is in different shoes than you were.