Hi everyone..

I really want to get back into shape.. and also lose some weight. I started changing my lifestyle about five weeks ago.. and have had positive results. I am 5'1" and 123-125lbs. (for now). My goal is about 113-117lbs.... although I'm not sure how much weight matters.. more then size.

I workout about 4-5 times a week. My dog and I walk 3 miles everyday at a fast pace. I am quite active..at least once a week I will row, kayak, bike, and swim. I have a muscular build, would consider myself medium frame.

I average 900-1200 calories a day that mostly consist of fresh vegetables, lean proteins, and some grains.

In five weeks I have only lost about 5-8 lbs. I don't mind losing slowly, I just want to be losing the right way. I don't want any fad diets or pills... I am changing my lifestyle.

Does anyone have any tips? Lately I have been feeling hungry in between meals and have no clue what to snack on. I drink about 3 liters of water a day.

I am also looking for a fast morning workout.. about 15 mins.. any suggestions or videos you found successful?

Thanks everyone!
Ash

It takes roughly 1700 calories a day to maintain 125 lbs at your exercise level. With that in mind, if you're eating around 1200 calories a day you are creating a deficit of one pound a week which is good. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif The exercise is good too.

Your diet doesn't sound faddish to me. A diet is about eating what you love in moderation. In my opinion, trying to change a lifetime of eating patterns to lose weight and KEEP IT OFF, is near impossible, hence the over 90% failure rate. If you are finding that you're hungry, eat more calories. To maintain 115 pounds you'd need roughly 1600 calories a day at your exercise level so if you consistently eat say, 1400 calories a day you will lose weight. Granted it won't be fast but don't feel bad if you eat up to 1400 a day. It's better to up your calorie intake a bit if you're hungry to keep you from binge eating or deciding to chuck the whole thing. You could even move up to 1300 calories a day for awhile. AS you said, if this is a permanent change for you (which ultimately, weighing loss is for everyone who maintains) then eating more but not too much will result in weight loss in the end. After all, at some point you have to find a weight and calorie balance to maintain yourself at 115 and stay there forever. This is where I feel so many people fail. They try and reduce calories too much due to wanting to lose fast and fail. If you eat what you need to maintain a goal weight like you will have to do for the rest of your life then you shouldn't starve.

Some snacks I eat that are not high in calories are rootbeer floats with diet rootbeer and lite ice cream (90 calories). Angelfood cake (100 calories). Chocolate coke made with diet coke and light hersheys syrup (50 calories). Sugarfree jello (40 calories for the whole box). Pretzel sticks (120 calories for about 60). Now if you want healthy snacks, ask someone else. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wink.gif

I'm on a maintenance cycle now from losing 23 pounds. I keep track of every morsel of food at www.fitday.com. (http://www.fitday.com.) I don't exercise at all and don't plan to. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wink.gif

You're doing great. Keep up the good work.

Thanks so much for your reply Lindarella. I have been using fitday.. that is how I have been tracking my calories and activities. My mom just told me I should snack on celery and cucumbers... of course mom would say that!! I'm sure every once in awhile i will want some of that angel foodcake YUM!

Yes I am making a lifestyle change and I am commited. I just wish the pounds would roll off faster.. but i know that it will take awhile.. and I'm in for the long haul.

Thanks again for you comment

Yes, moms would say that. She's right of course but come on I need some real snacks. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

I love the fitday and don't think I could have done it or maintained without it. It's just so darn easy. For others who are reading this, low carbers, low fatters and other dieters, it also keeps track of that too. You can set it up to keep track of many things. Even if you're not on a diet but just want to watch your nutrition it's good. I just can't say enough about how much it helps to have it all spelled out there right in front of you everyday.

I'm rambling. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/biggrin.gif The reason I posted was because I forgot to give you a URL for snacks that I also use. http://www.shs.unc.edu/library/articles/100snacks.html
It's 100 snacks for under 100 calories and sometimes I pick things from this list to eat if I need a snack.

I hear you about it not coming off fast. I decided one day that SO WHAT if it don't come off fast. All I was going to do was get fatter if I didn't do something. Even if I only lost 1 pound a month, in a year it would have been 12 pounds.

I have to eat less calories than you would as I don't exercise at all so you're doing great in that respect. I'm eating under 1400 a day now to maintain between 125-130 at 5'5". It seems enough. I seldom eat out. Maybe once every 2 months. I had a whopper 12 weeks into the diet and let me tell you it was the best whopper I ever had. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif I don't eat breakfast.

Oh also, if you cook, don't know how old you are, but I surf diabetic websites to get some nice recipies for snacks like muffins and cakes and things.

Keep up the good work. Just think, by Thanksgiving, at this rate you will hit your goal and can buy a new, smaller, pretty outfit as a treat. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

I think your energy intake is quite OK - just hang in there. It's good that you have changed your lifestyle, the only true way to change your weight. If you want to, use a diet planning tool which makes it easier to follow up your food intake and exercise.

Cheers!
Fred

[This message has been edited by moderator2 (edited 06-26-2002).]

Thanks so much for that snacks link... I love it.. so many things to choose from!! woo-hoo... I think variety is key when we make a change like this. Thanks again.......

OH I have another question. I was told that if I eat less then 900 calories a day my body goes into starvation mode.. has anyone else heard this to be true? I eat quite a bit and sometimes its hard to reach 900... I don't want my body to go into a starvation mode though. Thanks again for the input. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/round.gif

The starvation mode varies by individual - based on size, activity level and gender - but the number sounds about right.

A couple of comments:

Slow steady weight loss is the best and safest approach. Your body will have the time to stabilize into a new normal. And the longer you're doing what you're doing, the longer you're likely to be able to maintain this lifestyle. So congrats on this.

But - a couple of cautions:

Diet soft drinks - all soft drinks [including fizzy bottled water] contain substances that leech calcium out of the body, esp. the bones. Colas contain caffeine which also leeches calcium. There's a good chance that, unless you're supplementing your calcium by a very large amount, you may be encouraging osteoporosis.

Artificial sweeteners - try to keep your consumption of sweeteners as low as possible, esp. aspartame which has been linked to several neurological disorders. The newest artificial sweetener - the one made from sugar but is not sugar - sounds promising. However - personally, I'd still stay clear of it since this is virtually the same premise used to sell the idea of hydrogenated oils which we have since learned are not at all healthy.

I think that you are doing great. Losing weight slowly this way is very sensible. I'm into natural foods and exercise too. I lost about 25 pounds almost 20 years ago, and kept it off by changing my lifestyle. Cakes, cookies, sodas and the like are definitely off my list. I don't miss them a bit. It feels so great to be healthy this way!

To eat snacks between meals, cucumbers and celery are good as you tell us. What I do sometimes when I want to eat, and I know I don't need any more pounds, is have some butterless popcorn (that is just plain with no salt either).

Oh, also I should add.... Definitely don't cut back your calories a lot. Just lose slowly. Don't go into starvation mode - like 900 calories or less a day.

With the popcorn, celery, cucumbers, and other low calorie non-processed foods, they are good to supply you with vitamins, minerals, and fiber etc. Eat them, when the body is trying to get you to gain the weight back that you lost. It's the yo-yo syndrome.

My personal experience with the yo-yo syndrome, is that the body will do incredibly strange things to you with hunger pangs, to try to get you to gain back the fat reserves.

During this "dieting" period almost 20 years ago, I would be eating sensibly, and I would always have these strong hunger pangs for weeks. I kept checking the scale and no weight was lost. So, I knew that it was just my body trying to trick me.

When I lost about 5 to 10 pounds, what I would then do would be to "plateau" this effort. I would just try to stay even for about 6 to 12 weeks. After that time, then I might try for another weight loss - then I would stabalize everything where I didn't lose or gain weight again. Sometimes I would gain back a pound or two. It took me about 2 years to do it. I wasn't after any quick fix - just a sensible lifestyle change.

If you are committed to that lifestyle change, then consider yourself successful already. Keep up the good work. You have plenty of time to develop and maintain a healthy weight. Your effort to exercise is very important too. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif