Chook Me!

Advice on dieting and losing weight? I have always been chubby.?

OK, I am 22 years old, Im a size 16, i am five four,, and I weigh 200 lbs. I want to lose eighty lbs. I have went on Atkins before and i was very successful, I lost 40 lbs in a month (then i gained it back when I went off it). This is the thing, the biggest thing on me is my stomach. I have always been muscular all over but my belly is not proportional to the rest of me. People come up to me on a regular basis and ask me if I am pregnant or how far along I am. (they ask me this seriously). I have always been a little bit chubby and in the past four years I've put on a extra twenty lbs, and now I am a whopping 200 lbs. I live on a 3rd floor apartment and by the time i get up the stairs to my apartment I am trying to catch my breath. I am way too young to be feeling this way and I know I need to lose the weight. I know that permanent weight loss has to do w/real change, change you can actually do, like no crazy starvation diets or anything like that. Here is what I know about weight loss: Stop eating at 7 or 8 pm. Drink water. Exercise half an hour a day. (?) Cut out fried foods/salty foods/sweets Eat slowly and drink lots of water in between bites. thats pretty much what i know. there are all kinds of horrible diseases that run in my family, like diabetes, colon cancer, high blood pressure, etc, and I want to avoid them, and I know I'll be more successful in doing that if I just lose this extra weight. the weight im supposed to be for my age and heighth, is 140 lbs. i just want to be healthy, really. I want to be able to take a run and not fall out on the ground gasping. I also feel like guys dont look at me b/c I am fat, b/c of my gut. Its like whatever I eat seems to go right to my gut. I also have extremely large breasts, a big butt, and I could lose some off my inner thighs. Most people only guess that i weigh around 160, but I really want to lose this weight. So my question, what is a good way to go to lose weight? I was thinking about eating only salad, grilled chicken,and vegtables and fruits. Honestly Ive always had a distorted image of what food should be. I started binging a few years ago and Ive never stopped, like i will go into the kitchen and eat and eat and eat. I dont throw it up, but I am definitely not hungry while I am having this eating fests. I have an oral fixation, its like i always have to have something in my mouth or something to drink or chew, like gum or candy. I really thought that by age 22 Id have lost this baby weight. I appreciate any advice you all have for me. and one more thing, I feel like i gained the last twenty lbs of this weight by eating fast food all the time. ive been w/my boyfriend four years and he goes out to eat 3 times a day everyday. Now we hardly ever go out to eat, we eat in all the time, a lot of Stoffers Lasagna dinners, chicken wings, pizza, browinies, soda, hamburgers and hot dogs. I know this diet is terrible and obiviously not working. Is it unrealistic to make a goal to lose 100 lbs? for my heighth? I am 5 4.

Public Comments

1. You need to cut out all of the stuff you are eating. You will not lose weight on lasagna, pizza, chicken wings, brownies, soda, hamburgers, or hot dogs. Try switching to diet soda, grilled/baked chicken breast, lots of greens, and fruit, wheat bread, wheat pasta, red potatoes, etc.
2. Food is too steadfast. Food is so much more dependant
3. You should not set a goal of 100 pounds, your ideal weight should be about 115 to 120. Start by changing your diet completely, eat protein with vegetables and fruit, cut out all junk food and soda, do continue drinking plenty of water. Next start an exercise schedule, 30 minutes each morning and evening, this can be floor exercise such as leg lifts, sit ups, jumping jacks or whatever you choose. Add to this a routine of taking a brisk 30 minute walk each day and do not miss these routines. Good luck to you, you are making a great decision that can add years to your life. You should also have a medical check up, see how you are doing health wise, this is important and the doctor will also give you some good advice. You have to change your life style to loose this weight and restore yourself to good health. Good luck, do not expect to loose all t he weight at one time, if you can loose 10- 15 pounds a month that is good. At first you may loose more but do not get discouraged if your weight loss decreases as time goes by, stick with everything and you can always increase the exercise by changing from the brisk walk to a jog and gradually increase the time and distance you spend jogging.
4. Ok the first thing I can tell you is DO NOT MAKE your goal 100 lbs. I am 5'3 and the lowest I will ever go is 110 because anything below is considered underweight and unhealthy. I'm always asked how I keep my weight so low & manage to keep in shape and Iwill tell you one thing. It's sticking to it. Once you are at the weight you want to be, you gotta watch it. Give yourself 5 lbs of space. The moment you're up 5 lbs from your desired weight then be more careful and lose it. 1) STAY away from fast food. Fast food will ruin you. Instead treat yourself to fast food once about every 3-4 weeks as a reward for such good work. 2) Eat salads before all meals besides breakfast...substitute it for a parfait or just yogurt. Buy fresh fruits and yogurt at a market & make your own. You will save lots of money & learn to love to make healthier foods. -Avoid syrup (fattening) breakfast foods. Stick to the healthy boring stuff. Lite-fat oatmeal is also a good choice. I prefer Special K cereals & bars & par-fait. 3) Exercise. Running will get you to your desired weight easier. Also try doing laps at a pool for an hour. You'll lose tons of calories without realizing it. 4) If you can get to a gym, see if they have a sauna, I've seen very fast results losing 15 lbs I gained over the summer in just 2 weeks with adding suana after working out. It'll cleans your body. You'll shed the water you drank during workout here. 5) Drink lots of water after 7-8 before you go to bed. This will keep your body hydrated so you dont feel the urge to grab a soda when your thirsty. Coffee has been known to increase metabolism but if you're going to drink coffee use sweetners/little sugar & very small amount of cream or skim milk 6) Green tea will flush out what you have eaten & help maintain a good metabolism while helping you lose weight. Add a little lemon into your hot green tea's & you'll love them. Asians drink them alot = skinny people. 7) when you get an urge to eat lots of food like you said, drink a full glass of water first This will fill you up fast & slow down the urge. Then go grab fresh vegie's & fruits make a quick snack to eat. Learn to LOVE salads. Look up international salad receipes online. You'll be amazed. :) Remember. Determination is the key. You're right, you are young. Give yourself a reward for reaching your desired weight. It'll motivate you better. Also. If you have an ipod, use it. Time fliesss when I'm listening to music while running. Otherwise I keep thinking about "when is it gonna be over" One more thing: If you surround yourself with healthier decisions (aka foods) You'll manage your weight better cause when you look around you, that's all you'll see & have to eat :D
5. One thing you mentioned is that you feel like you always have to be either eating or drinking something. You obviously have to eat, but when you're not having a meal, why not try drinking more water? Maybe you can keep a water bottle with you at all times, so when you're feeling hungry and you know you're going to be having breakfast, lunch, or dinner soon, you can fill up on water and save the calories you would have eaten. If you don't like the taste of water, try flavored water or vitamin water, or you can put a lemon or lime with it to give it flavor. The stairs leading to your apartment can actually help you lose weight without making you go to the gym, if you think about it. You can try walking up and down those stairs for a few times a week outside of when you actually need to use them to begin with, and gradually increase the number to every day. When you feel comfortable enough (and this may not be for a while, but when it does happen, you'll be proud of yourself), you can start running up and down the stairs every day. Another thing you can do is try to walk more when you can. Park farther away from stores in the parking lot so you'll have to walk a greater distance, and walk whenever an errand is fewer than one mile away from your apartment if possible. Whenever you're bored and want to eat food, take a walk around the block to erase your boredom, or even walk around your apartment. As for when you eat and you're not hungry, put a post-it note on your refrigerator saying something like, "Are you sure you're hungry?" That will get you to think twice before you open it up and eat. Also, write down everything you eat. That way, you know exactly what you're eating -- and how much of it -- and you'll know what you need to cut down. You should also write down when you excercise and how much. Another thing you can do is join an exercise class at a gym. Do something that sounds interesting to you, and stick with it -- don't just do something that sounds like it will help you lose weight, do something that sounds like fun. Getting your boyfriend to do the class with you might benefit you both: it'll give you the support you need to know you're not doing it alone, and it might help him get into shape if he's out of shape. If you're low on money and aren't sure you can afford to join a class, maybe you can buy some exercise DVDs and exercise with them at home. They may feel corny at first, and you may feel like you look rediculous doing the exercises, but they can actually really help. One obvious thing you need to do: start eating healthy. It's good that you and your boyfriend have started eating at home again, but you need to really think about what you're eating. Make a conscious effort to buy healthier food at the grocery store, and make a list beforehand and stick to it so you don't end up buying unhealthy foods. While I do think it would be good for you to lose weight, I don't think you need to lose 100 pounds. I think 60-75 pounds would be a more realistic goal, but you can figure it out as you go along. Instead of thinking to yourself that you have to lose 60 pounds, it might be easier to make smaller goals on the way. For example, make a goal to lose ten pounds first, and once you lose that, you can go from there. Reward yourself after your small goals to motivate yourself, and once you feel you're at a good weight for yourself, you can give yourself an even bigger reward! I hope this helps, and good luck with your weight loss :)