Help! I need to lose some serious weight!
I got on the scale yesterday (was afraid to do so) and I discovered I need to lose close to 30 pounds.
I always say I will change my eating habits but don't. I always say I must exercise but don't.
Please offer some good eating tips and exercise tips.
I know lack of sleep and stress make you hang on to weight. I sleep about 4 hours a night and am trying to change that. My goal is 6 to 7 hours.
Not sure how I will work on lowering the stress in my life right now.
Any suggestions for low calorie meals, exercise motivation and more sleep hours would be highly appreciated.
I do not like to cook. So I snack. I find making lunch a chore although I want to start making my lunches and bringing them to work.
I am ovo lacto so do eat cheese and dairy although I hate milk.
Please guys, offer some suggestions. I can't fit in to any of my clothes. I am disgusted with myself that I let myself get so out of control. I don't even eat a great deal but obviously what I am eating right now is not good for me.
I also drink and know if I cut down on that, calories would be saved. This is egg nog season and I love egg nog. Both the types. Non veggie and soy nog. The rum doesn't help the equation.
I do not make New Year's resolutions so need to get my eating habits in check before January 1st.
Thanking you in advance.
Di
Another option for the baked potato for breakfast (my mom used to do this in the winter) is to put it in the oven over night at the warm (ie 100* F). I recommend brushing the skin w/ some EVOO, and then sprinkling garlic/onion salt BEFORE wrapping it in the foil (this trick got me in the habit of eating the skin)! This way, when you wake up, the kitchen is warm in a cold home (this may help to "brainwash" yourself into WANTING to cook/stay in the kitchen more?) and you have your breakfast already done!!
Also with the cheese thing....I have to agree with everyone, after a serious health crisis, I was told by doctors to give up CHEESE AND CHOCOLATE!!!! However, them not understanding I was lacto-ovo, thus cheese being a major fat source in my diet, caused me to to lose TOO MUCH weight! Try treating cheese like a sweet. I like the idea of having desert at the end of the week, maybe have a cheesy thing (but ONLY ONE!!) on Wed?
Here's some advice I got from a friend, and it seems to help: Eat your main meal for breakfast. Or as she put it, "Eat your supper for breakfast". A hearty breakfast gets you going and fills your needs after a night of nothing. And yes, you can eat anything you want for breakfast. Spanish breakfasts are usually cookies or plain old toast and I find that just yuck for breakfast. So I've been doing this for a week, as the old Victorian saying has it: Breakfast like a king, lunch like a yeoman, dine like a beggar. And I've lost a whole pound, which given my slow metabolism is nothing short of miraculous. For supper I mostly have had hot soup, which is satisfying and doesn't have to be too calorie-laden.
We pretty much have a similar expression. Breakfast like a king, lunch like a queen, and supper like a pauper.
Great advice but if anyone thinks I am getting up earlier than my already early 6:10 am to eat a big meal....ain't happening. I don't even like eating that early. I prefer to eat breakfast a couple of hours after I get up. The bright side is we can eat at our desks. So in the new year, I am going to start bringing breakfast to work. We have a toaster, microwave and fridge. I can bring high fibre cereal, oatmeal if I try it again tomorrow and decide I finally like it or any sort of food.
My good friend at work also wants to lose weight so we have decided to bring our lunches to work, four days a week which is four days a week more that I usually do. We will plan the day we don't bring it as the restaurant downstairs posts on Friday, their specials for the following week. Particularly good are their grilled veggie sandwiches and their chicken fajitas. Many people laugh when I go in and say, chicken fajita please. Hold the chicken! Of course, the ladies that work there all know what I eat and don't eat. Another one of their specials is rice done in a rice cooker/noodles and stir fried veggies. They include broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and celery. They know I can't eat raw carrots and can only tolerate a couple of steamed or cooked carrots so I get way more broccoli and the other stuff. They usually put about two pieces of carrot in it because I LOVE carrots.
For supper, I will make a valiant effort to make some nutritious meals. I am going to look for my rice cooker's instructions as it is a fuzzy logic rice cooker and I really have never used it and don't know how to. I love rice so if I make a pot, can incorporate rice in some lunches and dinners.
I love soup and although I said I don't like cooking, I like making a big pot of soup. As winter is here, I like soup even more. Such a comfort food.
Once again, I want to thank everyone for their suggestions. This board is the greatest!
hugs
Di
Take a microwaved potato to work with you...add a few toppings and zap it in the microwave to warm. Like a tupperware with some lentils you've done in that rice cooker, or some hummus (black bean hummus is WAY better than chickpea, hee hee hee), or something like that.
Having a friend lose weight with you always helps. My best friend and I did it togehter (even from 2 different states away!) and we were both successful. When I would have starving jags I'd call her instead and vice versa.
As for quitting smoking, I used Chantix and it worked, it also worked for above mentioned best friend's husband. However, I do know several people I've recommended it for that it didn't work for. Zyban didn't work for me.
The thing is tho, if your not ready your not going to quit. You might hate it, feel embarrased by it, etc etc but if your not mentally and physically ready it's not going to happen.
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