Losing Weight! Any ideas?

[serama hen]

Hi, Im trying to lose weight but I have been having a hard time with doing so. Then I read that support from others help alot so I turned to my chicken freinds for help. I thought maybe some people would also like to join me so we can write how much we do like how much calories we each can burn. We can compete and at the end be proud of eachother and ourselves. Staying healthy is important to living a long life. So wanna give it a shot anyone?

 

[serama hen]

I will start with what i did today.
my morning meal consist of cheerioes with fat free milk.
at school my school lunch was fatty chinese food so I didnt buy it.
i came home and ate 2/4 of a full cup of rice with a small peice of lean chicken meat.
i finished the other half at 6;00
at 7 i ate boiled eggs and now i will be going to the gym in 10 or 15 min

 

[Happy Chooks]

Congrats to you for working on making yourself happy.

I'm down 24 pounds and still have a 4 more to be at my goal weight. I've been doing interval training for cardio - mixing it up so my body never knows what to expect. Weight training as well. My strength and endurance have increased dramatically. I work out 1 to 2 hours, 5 days a week.

I gave up starches completely in the beginning. (I've added some back in now, but in small quantities) No bread, pasta, rice, etc. Cut out alcohol. Cut my meat portions down to the size of a deck of cards. I never drink soda, so that wasn't difficult to give up.

My meals now usually consist of:

Breakfast - 1/4 cup oatmeal (measured uncooked) - I just cut it down from 1/3 cup because it was feeling like too much lately. I add fresh fruit (about 1/4 to 1/2 cup) like blueberries to it and a bit (1 tsp) of honey. (avoid raisins, they are loaded with calories) Coffee with a bit of creamer.

Snack after workout - hard boiled egg and a small apple

Lunch - salad with chicken, veggies, spinach and light raspberry vinegarette on it with some pepponcinis on the side because I love them.

Snack - piece of fruit, usually around 2-3pm.

Dinner - 1 portion meat (size of deck of cards), veggie sauteed in some coconut oil or salad (light ceasar). There is something about the crunch of a salad that satisfies you - sounds stupid, but it's true. Occasionally I'll have a bit of rice or homemade bread. (once a week or so)


I'm not one that likes to count calories, but I did for a while to see if my portion size was off. (it was) There is an app for the Iphone called myfitnesspal. It makes counting calories super easy.


Keep it up - you can do it!

 

[serama hen]

ok well so far this morning i ate half a small bowl of oatmeal halfof a half of a tuna sandwhich on hard bread at 12 00 then 3 40 had the other half of a half i came home and at five ate 1/3 of a cup of boiled rice with a little tiny peice of chicken and 2 peices of diced fish around 6 40 i ate a tiny peice of tuna on wheat and later for dinner i will eat baked fish everyday i cut my portions even more then the last day getting my body used to eating like this i will first drink water and eat slowly

 

[Happy Chooks]

With fish you can have more to equal the same ounces - size of a checkbook. The first 2 weeks are the hardest - then you don't have the cravings and feel like you are depriving yourself.

You can also eat on a salad plate to help with portion sizes - you can't fit as much on a salad plate.

 

[serama hen]

i will try it because i want to run up and down the stairs 20 to 30 times

 

[Mattemma]

Do you like hummus? That is a good option on rice cakes or wasa crisps.My dd likes them with mini carrots in her lunch. For the rice chop up the chicken and maybe add some chopped red pepper,green onion,scrambled egg to make a fried rice.Tuna is pretty low cal.Add some lemon pepper seasoning and eat it with some wasa and sliced tomato or red pepper on the side. Try some of the progresso low calorie soups. I usually add some more water to the soup and toss in some plain oatmeal,barley,spinach,okra,corn,mushrooms,or cooked lentil to make it more filling.

I try to look for low calorie options that I can eat more of,so that the hunger urge is satisfied.I do the same for the kids.A twinkie is over 200 calories,but will leave you feeling very hugry. Better to find subs for it. Oh the Eat this not that books can be useful.Seeing pictures of substitutes can help.

 

[RunningRabbit]

Coming from my personal fitness trainer friend, you'll want to do some sort of strength training in combination with eating right. Taking in less calories is fine, but your metabolism benefits best when you eat 6 small meals throughout the day. Doing so keeps your metabolism fired up and burning calories at optimum efficiency.

Buy some resistance bands and do 3 or so sets of 10-20 reps a day/every other day.

I just started up the whole renovating my body, myself.

Let me tell you a good way to ax extra calories; is to drink exclusively water or green/black/white tea. If you can't handle it straight brewed, put in some honey (organic or raw) or natural sweetners like stevia or cane sugar. Toss in fresh squeezed lemon juice in your tea or water, and the acidic properties will help flush your system out, in turn boosting your bodies weight loss capabilities.. Does tea make you lose weight? It's debatable. I've seen research that goes both ways, and it won't hurt you to try it out. I've personally lost 5 or so pounds just by switching out my beverage choices and not doing anything different. Make sure you are getting 8 hours of sleep as well. A tired body and mind don't burn the same amount of calories as a well rested one. If you can, walk at least 30 minutes a day.

Don't try and go cold turkey and quit all of your favorite foods at once. Weaning yourself off slowly, will give your body (the cravings) the opportunity to adjust to less sweets, sugars and over processed foods. Also, give yourself a cheat day. Mine is Saturday (my first day off of my work week), use that day to treat yourself to something sweet. That way, you won't feel like you have to deny yourself the things you want to eat, and are less likely to fall off the healthy bandwagon.

Don't beat yourself up if the cravings cause you to chow down. It happens, and really won't hurt your goals to lose weight.

If you need a buddy through all this, I'll gladly volunteer. I've gotten too fluffy for my liking and could stand to lose 25 or so pounds.

 

[serama hen]

thanks you guys keep me intact im gonna get more serious because in my mind after i lose weight i can eat whatever i want and once a person loses weight they dont wanna stop. This monday everything will be 1/3 for 6 meals every 2 or 3 hours.

 

[ScottnLydia]

What really helped me lose 60 + pounds was learning to read labels. I read the whole thing. I was addicted to pastries, but it was the 'High Fructose Corn Syrup' in them that kept me feeling hungry! It seems that the stuff 'turns off' the system in the brain responsible for feeling 'full' or 'satisfied'. I finally understood why, when I ate certain things, I couldn't stop. Even when I was full to the point of bursting, I would try to eat a little more! I wouldn't just eat a danish, I would eat 8. I would eat a whole pie between lunch and supper. I knew I was in trouble when I started going to Costco to get their giant sized pies and pastries, and they would be gone before Lydia got home!

When I started reading labels, I found high fructose corn syrup in some of the craziest places, not just sweet things, but soup and saltine crackers! When I started shunning all of those products, I found it easier to control cravings. Portions were easier to control. I also ate lots of tiny 'snacks' though out the day, like a handful of nuts, or a couple of olives. This also made it easier to eat smaller meals.

While I was working on this, we would have curry occasionally. I really like curry with chutney, but all the chutney we could find had the HFCS in it. Thinking that just this one little bit couldn't hurt that much I ate it anyway and guess what? I couldn't stop eating until I was gorged, again! We make our own chutney now, with real sugar.

I've found that more and more manufacturers are removing HFCS from their products these days. A trend that I hope continues. Hope my story might help a little, good luck on your journey!

~S