Hi all,
I really need some guidance,I must lose weight..I would rather do it myself then have surgery.Its hard cooking for one person and living on a tight budget makes it harder to buy fresh fruits and veggie's and food that I need.I hate looking in the mirror and seeing what stares back at me,and I dont want to become imobile or develop serious health problems.Any ideas on how I should go about losing?

Thanks,
Jasmine

Well .. first you should go talk to your doctor and have a physical done.

Also, before you start trying to lose weight, before you change ANYTHING, start a food journal. For at least three days, write down EVERYTHING that you eat and try to include the amount, the number of calories and fat. What "mode" are you in right now? Maintenance or are you gaining? If you've been maintaining the same weight pretty consistently, then take the number of calories that you're eating and remove 250 calories a day. If you've been gaining, I would recommend subtracting 500 calories a day.

Also, add in water. The first 10 or so pounds will drop right off if you increase the amount of water you drink. Replace soda with water.

Hi Jasmine,

I'm not sure what you're doing now but from my own experience making changes one at a time has worked best for me. Whenever I had tried to change everything at once it just proved too much. I started off cutting out sugar and after a couple weeks then I included exercise (walking in my case) and then I cut back on my portion size and then cut out starches and limited fats. I took time doing this and it seems to work for me. I've been drinking water for years now and noticed I can't really drink much else. Also the thing that made the biggest difference for me was to stop eating in the evenings. I don't eat after 7pm.

I know what you mean about a tight budget. I'm really sick of eating chicken and frozen veges http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/tongue.gif and since I'm not much of a cook I sometimes struggle to keep meals interesting.

Keep us updated on your progress!

Take care, Gypsy





[This message has been edited by Gypsy959 (edited 12-05-2002).]