Hi - I am new to this forum and feeling pretty desperate. I have fallen for every diet under the sun and none have worked. I have always kept a healthy body weight (even after two kids) but for the past five years things have slowly gotten out of control. I have gained about 60 pounds in five years and am now determined to take it off ... the healthy way (if I can figure out what that is ... no carbs? low fat? both at the same time? - I am confused). I just started a workout program (Krav Maga) and I plan to be consistent (walking on the treadmill 3-5 miles a day did not make a dent). Sorry for the long message ... does anyone have any advice or recommendations that you don't mind sharing?
Need your advice
- Thread starter Riches
- Start date
This will be short and to the point. weight loss and getting into shape is a combination of diet + resistance training + intense cardio. if you don't have these in order you won't see the results you're looking for. Or at least results will be severely delayed. *notice that diet comes first, yes it's that important*
With my clients that I see, 99% of the time their diet is crap. Even when they think they are eating "healthy", it really just means that they are completely leaving out foods that they should be consuming or trying some fad diet that never works. Your body needs food, it's fuel. And it needs fuel from all 3 macronutrient sources. That means you need to be eating fats, eating protein, and eating complex carbs. (notice that I said complex, and not simple carbs. avoid simple carbs) I can't count the number of times i've heard that someone thinks they are eating healthy, and when I look at their diet, it's low cal, zero fat, very low protein, and all carb. ugn. So post what you have for your diet, i'm sure this will go a long way to solving a good amount of your problems.
With my clients that I see, 99% of the time their diet is crap. Even when they think they are eating "healthy", it really just means that they are completely leaving out foods that they should be consuming or trying some fad diet that never works. Your body needs food, it's fuel. And it needs fuel from all 3 macronutrient sources. That means you need to be eating fats, eating protein, and eating complex carbs. (notice that I said complex, and not simple carbs. avoid simple carbs) I can't count the number of times i've heard that someone thinks they are eating healthy, and when I look at their diet, it's low cal, zero fat, very low protein, and all carb. ugn. So post what you have for your diet, i'm sure this will go a long way to solving a good amount of your problems.
KaraCooks
New member
Sign my name to what Jynus said.
"Low fat" or "low carb" or "low whatever" is silly.
You need fat and you need carbs. In fact you need healthy fats to help your body process other nutrients. The only thing that will cause you to lose weight is to eat fewer calories than your body burns.
Here's my advice: Stop eating packaged foods, processed foods, convenience foods. Start looking at the ingredients of the things you buy. If there are added sugars, added chemicals, added preservatives or flavors or colors ... don't eat it. If it's not something you'd recognize as food in it's raw form, don't eat it.
A good rule of thumb for calories is to use 15 calories per pound of bodyweight to figure out what your "maintenance" calories would be (in other words, the number of calories you'd need to eat to stay where you are). Then subtract about 30% from that number.
For example, I weigh 174, so my maintenance calories would be around 2610. Subtracting 30% from that gives me 1827. I usually eat anywhere from 1700 to 1900, keeping towards the lower end of that on most days.
Once you've figured your calorie level, make sure you're getting an adequate amount of protein, carbs, and fats. It's not just about the numbers - you want to make sure that you're fueling your body properly.
Keep in mind that this isn't an exact science. Some people are more efficient at burning calories. Some people have damaged their metabolisms by years of yo-yo and fad dieting and it will take them a while to get back on track. Start with the 30% figure and if it isn't working for you, tweak it a little. Drop another 10% and see where that takes you. But just remember that you're not going to get immediate results.
And, further to that, remember that this is a moving target. AS you lose weight, you'll need fewer calories ... so periodically take stock of where you are and see if you need to eat less - or eat more.
Do it sensibly and slowly and don't expect "Biggest Loser" results. Just keep plugging along and you'll do fine.
"Low fat" or "low carb" or "low whatever" is silly.
You need fat and you need carbs. In fact you need healthy fats to help your body process other nutrients. The only thing that will cause you to lose weight is to eat fewer calories than your body burns. Here's my advice: Stop eating packaged foods, processed foods, convenience foods. Start looking at the ingredients of the things you buy. If there are added sugars, added chemicals, added preservatives or flavors or colors ... don't eat it. If it's not something you'd recognize as food in it's raw form, don't eat it.
A good rule of thumb for calories is to use 15 calories per pound of bodyweight to figure out what your "maintenance" calories would be (in other words, the number of calories you'd need to eat to stay where you are). Then subtract about 30% from that number.
For example, I weigh 174, so my maintenance calories would be around 2610. Subtracting 30% from that gives me 1827. I usually eat anywhere from 1700 to 1900, keeping towards the lower end of that on most days.
Once you've figured your calorie level, make sure you're getting an adequate amount of protein, carbs, and fats. It's not just about the numbers - you want to make sure that you're fueling your body properly.
Keep in mind that this isn't an exact science. Some people are more efficient at burning calories. Some people have damaged their metabolisms by years of yo-yo and fad dieting and it will take them a while to get back on track. Start with the 30% figure and if it isn't working for you, tweak it a little. Drop another 10% and see where that takes you. But just remember that you're not going to get immediate results.
And, further to that, remember that this is a moving target. AS you lose weight, you'll need fewer calories ... so periodically take stock of where you are and see if you need to eat less - or eat more.
Do it sensibly and slowly and don't expect "Biggest Loser" results. Just keep plugging along and you'll do fine.
Thanks
Thanks for the advice and feedback. I am going to give these suggestions a try and see what my efforts yield. I have a lot of work in front of me, but I do realize that slow and steady will win the race. And yes, the Biggest Loser has jacked with my mind. I don't understand why I can't lose 5-10 pounds a week. Thanks for the reality check. I will keep you updated with my progress. Have a great day!
Thanks for the advice and feedback. I am going to give these suggestions a try and see what my efforts yield. I have a lot of work in front of me, but I do realize that slow and steady will win the race. And yes, the Biggest Loser has jacked with my mind. I don't understand why I can't lose 5-10 pounds a week. Thanks for the reality check. I will keep you updated with my progress. Have a great day!
KaraCooks
New member
Yeah, and that's one of the big reasons I loathe the show. You have to remember that the contestants on the show spend 5-6 hours a day working out while guided by trainers, eat meals prepared by nutritionists, and focus 100% on weight loss. They don't have jobs, kids, spouses, housework or anything else to worry about while they're on the campus. All they do is live to lose weight.
Normal people can't do that. So setting those expectations is only going to make you disappointed in the long run.
Sesha
New member
5-10 pounds a week! Noooo! I hear this from my clients that watch BL as well and I too HATE the show! It is beyond unrealistic, not to mention totally unhealthy!
Have patience with your weight loss. It's not going to happen over night. You need to keep working hard and stay positive! Hopefully these forums will supply you with some good support!
Have patience with your weight loss. It's not going to happen over night. You need to keep working hard and stay positive! Hopefully these forums will supply you with some good support!
sorry i don't spend my whole day typing an essay for every reply to explain everything in depth? odd that another supposed fitness professional would give a warning like that when there are sticky's here saying the same thing as me. "intense" is individual to the person. I thought that would be apparent.
Jynus, I didn't say you had to go in depth at all. I was hinting that you should tailor your advice based on the individual on the receiving end of said advice.
It's a matter of saftey.
If we have fitness professionals running around here saying you have to exercise with high intensity... it could leave novices a) very frustrated since they don't have the capacity to do so or worse b) in trouble (at best with some orthopedic injury and at worse in a coffin).
I'm not sure what your point is. My stickies don't say this. And if you could show me stickies that say blanketly that all people regardless of starting points should exercise at a high intensity, I'd appreciate so the confusion could be corrected.
Mind you, most of the stickies here were not put there by me.
Sorry, I figured since you're a fitness professional you were using the term intensity to mean a % of MHR or LT or something of that sort.
Look, I'm not looking to debate here b/c as I see it, there's nothing to debate. It's only common sense to err on the side of safety when you're "working with" people in a hands off fashion with no access to medical history, current conditioning, testing, etc.