Weight loss, portion control and boredom!

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

If you eat when bored try celery or cucumber or carrot sticks. Celery I think is a "negative" food because you use more calories chewing it than you get from it...although this may be complete myth.

You and you fella could join weightwatchers, you get a book which tells you calorie content from the weight of the food you eat; it also gives you a recommended calorie intake for your own size. Doing weight watchers you can still have treats but you have to compensate for them. Also if you actually go to weightwatchers you get weighed once a week, it will give you the incentive to go if you are both doing it, you get weighed weekly so you can see the weight changes.

I used to do the same job. and yes it is very tiring but it does not leave you physically incabable of doing excercise even on your days off!

You could always (if you use the bus or train etc) if possibe get off a stop earlier and walk that extra bit home, walk up and down the street or around the block - whilst it's not 'physical' exercise it's still excercise. Make a point of walking up and down the stairs as an exercise (i.e. walk up and down 10 times and gradually increase that). If at some point you use the car for a short distance think it's ok weather I'll have a walk. If you walk with someone it's amazing how far you'll walk and not realise it.

[Bel Bel]

have you a picture of you at a weight you like
stick it on the fridge and all the cupboards
but some low fat, healthy eating recipe books, as you can already cook it won't be difficult for you to adapt
do not buy tempting foods
join a class that will help. i highly rate rosemary connelly and you will get motivation and support from them, plus tips and ideas from the magazinbe on food swaps etc. they also do fun excercise classes and everyone is in the same boat as you

you can't make you bloke do it but once your looking leaner and fitter he may well decide to join you and just changing the dinners for healthier ones will help

[Skarlet]

A good way to cut portion size is to use a smaller plate. This really works,because it doesn't 'look' like you are cutting the portions down. Drinking more water is a good thing, as we confuse dehydration for hunger. Soup is a really good food to eat, as it leaves you feeling fuller for longer- so you don't get so many hunger pangs.

I made lots of small changes, although I still have chocolate, but I don't eat crisps, I try and take the stairs. i pull my stomach in while washing my hands or drying them, or jsut when I am walking. I also cut out sugar from my drinks.

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

do not buy tempting foods

In addition to this, go shopping once you have eaten, you are far less likely to pick up 'rubbish' foods if you are full.

i highly rate rosemary connelly

My mam did Rosemary Connelly years ago and she bought some workout tapes and used to do it at home; she'd recommend her as well.

A good way to cut portion size is to use a smaller plate. This really works,because it doesn't 'look' like you are cutting the portions down. Drinking more water is a good thing, as we confuse dehydration for hunger. Soup is a really good food to eat, as it leaves you feeling fuller for longer- so you don't get so many hunger pangs.

This was all one a weight loss programme last week. The smaller plate is a good idea! Soup was only good if it was a chunky shop, not like liquid soup with bits in it, but all the bits blended into one to make a 'thick' mixture - it makes the water from the soup harder to digest therefore leaving the food in your stomach longer - hence you are fuller longer. Having food and water together does not have the same effect.

[Skarlet]

Yeah, I read about it on the bbc. I think bean soups or vegetable soups are probably the best to have.

Alot of the time it is the little things we don't even notice eating or drinking. Alcohol is another big culprit. A good way to see what you are actually eating would be to keep a food diary.

[Bel Bel]

also check calories on things as you may be surprised how much some things have
ok your first couple of shopping trips will take longer but it will be worth it
they say 1500 calories a day to lose weight as a woman.
you don;'t have to give up everything either. swap a packet of walkers crisps from any shop standard bag 181 calories for a multi pack with less crips 131 calories. 50 a day is 350 a week.
special k mini breaks the choclate ones are a great snack a 99 calories

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

Do you think I could get Jo to agree to a "Weight Loss" forum under physical? I cant be the only one in this situation. we could offer help, advice and support for free?? Is this a viable idea?

I'm sure she would; it might not be a sticky but it will always be there; you'll just have to make sure you update it.

As for weightwatchers, they do periods of free joining fee, see if you can join then, get all the books and stuff and then leave after a couple of sessions. You could always get a workout DVD for home to get the ball rolling.

[RagDoll]

Oooo this is weird, I have just posted something really similar in the 'cheer me up' forum, then came on here to see if anything new has been posted and found this thread! Anyway, I can definitely sympathise with how you feel Serendipity

[all_apologies]

Don't let your boyfriend's lack of willingness to exercise stop you, do it on your own! Maybe if you start losing weight and getting healthier yourself he'll get jealous and have an incentive to get himself moving

[rufio89]

Anyone have any advice on how to lose weight when you're really quite depressed?

There seems to be so much bad stuff going on right now, that it's a genuine struggle to get from one end of the day to the other, without having to think about how much or what I'm eating, not even mentioning excersize.

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

Anyone have any advice on how to lose weight when you're really quite depressed?

Personally I think you should be concentrating on yourself and your feelings rather than your weight; you said in other posts that you'd lost a bit of weight anyway. You need to make sure you are happy first.

[pinkroses]

I shot up from a size 10 to a size 24 after my pregnancy and found it really hard to lose the weight, although I have lost quite a bit since then,I still need to lose about 3 and a half stone to get to my so called healthy/target weight. I used to be a member of weight watchers in the past and also more recently slimming world. The great thing about clubs like these is that you have to go get weighed every week and its the real accomplishment of having lost some weight. Also the slimming world that I went to everyone took something in, whether it was a piece of fruit or bubble bath and it would all get put in a basket and given to the person who lose the most weight, so it really makes you want to do well. IAlso its a great opportunity to meet other people and to make friends. I buy the slimming world magazines because I really like the before and after stories, I find them quite motivating.
I'm not really one for going to the gym as I find it a bit boring,so I tend to stick to things that I really enjoy and for me thats dancing and walking, so if you want to exercise then just do something that interests you and that you would see as less of a chore.

[kerrie24]

I dont know if anyone on here has the nintendo wii but I got 'my fitness cooach' (you dont need the fit board) and you put in your sex,weight it tests your resting heart rate and your ability on sit-ups/press-ups etc,then you tell it which days of the week you can commit to a workout and it works around you.Iv progressed from 15 mins workout(very intense) a night to 30 mins and it really makes you feel like youve been to the gym its too soon for me to get weighed but I feel fitter already and every morning I can feel the ache from the muscles I used.Im finding it much easier and more enjoyable than going to the gym.

[Josie]

I agree with someone else on here who said ignore your boyfriend and focus on it by yourself; it's enough to have to be egging yourself on without having to drag someone else along! As Pinkroses said, I have weight to get rid of since my pregnancy, I'd like to lose about a stone and a 1/2, though even a stone would be great! Though I can fit in my pre-pregnancy clothes, I just know myself that I'd like to be slimmer. Here's what I do; a fast 4-mile hilly walk pushing the buggy with my twins in -- i've been doing it every day but now I've realised I was overdoing it, so now every other day. Also, just watching portion sizes as you are trying to do -- I HEART my food so this is HARD!!! But so worth it. You start realising you were eating til you were way too full, and you notice how much better you feel when you cut down. From having the twins I also have very slack tummy, so I do 100 sit-up every second day. Believe me, once you start noticing the difference you are making from your new exercise routine, it becomes so addictive and you get such a kick out of it! Good luck and I will check in on here to see how you're doing! x

PS forgot to say that my boyfriend needs to lose 3 stone, and I do ask him if he'd like to come with me on the walks but he is rarely bothered! So I just leave it and then go myself and tell him how great I'm feeling! I'm hoping it eventually works and that he'll want to join! But I don't bother nagging

[Millenia]

When i was 12 years old i was around a size 20 and then when i got bullied in school i decided to just stop eating which lead me to 6 stone, a size 8 and in the hospital because i was killing myself. I will never loose this eating disorder easily, from leaving school i was a size ten crawling up to a size 14 which i am now.
Loosing weight is always a problem for everyone, it takes time and effort.

I studied a 2 year diploma course on healthy eating and after that it opened my eyes to the way in which people eat, so if anyone needs advice on anything let me know, i can help produce a plan for you if you like and i can be there for support as well as the rest of the nice people on here.

What people need to learn is it's all about balance. You don't have to deny yourself treats and thing's you like it's just about having it in a balance. I mostly use the Scottish slimmers plan where one check is equal to 25 calories, and for my weight im allowed 45 of them. You are also allowed a free portion of fruit, and a yogurt that is under 150 calories.
My day of eating would work out like this usually: Breakfast: Cup of tea: poached egg on toast (8 checks), lunch: weight watchers soup ( 3 checks) banana and yogurt (free daily checks), dinner : whatever i have left with my checks. See that i have used only 11 checks so far so i have 34 left to spend on what i want for dinner. Usually it's home cooked meals like lasagna, chicken and rice those types of things which lead to about 20 checks and 25 if i have bread with it.
In the end whatever checks i save i keep them for when i go out so i can have a mean burger and chips with my friends and still keep in check!

I'll also do a 'bad day' of my diet if i tend to go off the rails: which people do!
Breakfast: roll and bacon (15 checks), Lunch: subway (20 checks) dinner: Indian takeaway ( 40 checks). As you can see in this case i am over by around 30 checks.
The way i would look at this to reflect back on it is that if i swapped my roll and bacon for a slice of bread instead of a roll, i would have saved 5 checks so breakfast was now ( 10 checks). If instead of walking into the subway, i could have made my own sandwich ( 13-14 checks), and with the takeaway - I could have made my own curry, even if it is bought form a jar with rice it would come too around (18 checks) or if i still wanted a takeaway i could have had a Chinese curry which is (22 checks). So my 'bad day' could have only cost me 46 checks, only being over by 1 check instead of 30.

I hope from that example you guys can see that it's small changes that make a difference at the end of the day, you can still eat your favorite things.

If anyone needs help, like Serendipity if your short on money i can help you make a plan for yourself if you like, and guide you along the way.

Millenia