Losing weight the smart way?

[Cutie14]

Hi everyone!
I would like to hear from all you successful dieters. I want to lose weight (about 15 - 20 pounds) but don't want to go on any fad diet. I love carbs and don't like eating meat too much (just chicken and turkey). Can anyone tell me how they lost weight in a healthy way? What kind of diet did you have? Exercise? How often? How much weight did you lose and in what amount of time? Thanks everyone!

[mel1977]

well, we all react differently b/c our metabolisms and bodies are different. I will share what worked for me and hope if you like the idea, it will work for you too.
I was 5' 5 3/4" and 155 lbs. I used to drink heavily, or lets say atleast three nights a week and beer. I was 22. I ate crappy, never worked out. I woke up one morning and said to myself"this summer I WILL wear a bikini". I did.
I really was just smart about what I put in my mouth. Instead of my ten cokes, I went to diet (use diet dr. pepper if you hate diet soda). I watched my alcohol consumption, drank the lightest beer possible, or bacardi and diet soda.
My favorite foods: red meat, tuna, wheat bread, REGULAR peanut butter (low fat is worse for you), lite popcorn, cheese and crackers, beef jerky, veggies (broccoli and green beans the most), carrots and celery, sugar free jelly, WOW or light chips ( i never had intestinal probs), rice cakes are good too, pickles, turkey, roast beef (for sandwhiches) and so on. I never skimped. If I wanted something I ate it. BUT, I would watch what I ate and how much. Counting calories is key too. You'd have to have someone tell you though how many you need for your weight loss goals.
I took to walking (power, under 15 mins) and home video aerobics ( Ilove buns and abs of steel 2000). Sometimes I used the treadmill but not much. I would do this atleast three times a week. I was a smoker though and that did affect my food intake. I was not a sweets person, but every now and then I'd get a craving. Just moderate how much you take in.
NOW, I just had back surgery. I am bored and I also quit smoking in OCt. I didn't gain any weight until one month AFTER surgery, almost four months after i quit smoking. WHY? well, I was bored all the time and when I quit I had a big sweettooth. I gained TEN pounds. Okay, so not much, and I go always gain some in the winter, and it always melts off in the summer. I was at my smallest 125, heaviest since weight loss 145, maybe. right now I sit around 138, before surgery 129. There are many reasons though and being stuck sitting all the time with nothing to do but shove food in the mouth cause your bored doesn't help. SO, since my pain is down I am back to walking. I walked for thirty mins today and did some muscle stuff after.
I hope I didn't get confusing. All I want to say is if you make the decision and look at your eating habits carefully and change them to healthier, you'll lose weight. You have to really want to, you have to stick with it and you have to work out. Don't look at the scale either. Look at your clothes. Muscle weighs more than fat. I was a 4-6 over the summer. Now I am a 6-8. I about died when i thought I was a 10. I haven't been a ten for over five years and I am not about to go back. Nothing wrong with it, just isn't for me. I like being a 6-8 b/c I am thinner but still have my curves. Besides, my hubby doesn't like me thin. He wants a little meat on his woman. I am reaching thirty in a couple of years and can't wait. I think I will feel the best I ever had.
Good luck to you on your goals and take it one day at a time. BEST WISHES!

[bakennedy]

I too did weigfht watchers and currently rejoined. IT WORKS! The points system has changed a little. I weigh under 150 so my points are 20 for the day, but I get flex points to use throughout the week. It helps me plan accordingly for my week and if I know I am going to be going out later in the week I just save my flex points for that meal. You also can earn extra points with exercise. Right now they are having a special where there is no enrollment and the cost isn't too bad. Only $12.00 a week.

Try it out and see how you like it.

[KHPtotherescue]

Could you tell me what the point balance is for over 250 pounds? I'm embarrassed to say but that's my range.

[llamamuffinmama]

i was over 255 lbs myself and i also love carbohydrates and never liked much meat, so i'll tell you what worked for me! i decided to go vegan (more out of concern for the animals than anything else), and the happy side benefit was weightloss- over 100 pounds to reach a healthy body weight for my height. i feel better than i ever have in my whole life! and except for the last 10-20 pounds, it came off REALLY easily. I didn't feel like I was "on a diet" at all.


here's some of the things i eat as a vegan:
(*note: i do also try to reduce the amount of fat in my diet, but i'm not fanatical about it. i do little things like having salsa or a low fat gravy with my baked potato instead of margarine or a richer gravy, etc.)

BREAKFAST: coffee with almond milk or silk soy creamer, frozen waffles (from vans or nature's path), blueberry pancakes or french toast (made without egg or dairy with substitutes instead) with maple syrup or agave nectar, vegan breakfast sausage links, scrambled tofu, tempeh skillet with potatoes and other veggies sauteed in small amount of olive oil, english muffins or toast w/ light nonhydrogenated margarine or just jam, fruit salad, smoothies, cereal w/ soymilk or almond milk or rice milk or oat milk, oatmeal, tofu "omelettes", whole grain breakfast porridges, homemade muffins (corn, apple cinnamon, blueberry, carrot cake style, you name it), apple juice, orange juice, grapefruit juice, veggie canadian bacon, tempeh bacon, homemade tofu bacon, breakfast sausage patties, chilled melon soup, soya yogurt with fresh fruit, silk live! soy yogurt drink (mango, peach, raspberry or strawberry), homefries, hash browns, bagels with tofutti cream cheese or peanutbutter or almond butter (these are higher in fat, but they're a good treat) and jam or hummus and veggies, biscuits and gravy...

LUNCH: rice and bean burritos with veggies, a little guacamole and salsa plus tofutti sour cream substitute and/or vegan soy cheese if i'm treating myself, fat free veggie chili (amy's makes a good one) and tortillas, pb&j, pasta with marinara sauce and sometimes vegan meatballs, veg lasagne with crumbled tofu instead of ricotta, mock turkey sandwiches with soy mayo or mustard and veggies, hummus and roasted veggie sandwiches, baked felafel, veggie sushi, baked potatoes with soy sour cream and chives, mashed potatoes and gravy, gardenburger riblets or veggie sweet and sour pork, baked tofu and avocado sandwich with mustard, soy cheese quesadillas, tempeh burger or boca burger and roasted potatoes, veggie soups (carrot ginger, mulligatawny, potato leek, minestrone, lentil, split pea, tomato...), indian vegetable curries over rice, vietnamese tofu cristal rolls, veggie sub with garlic and vinegar and a little olive oil, grilled soy cheese and tomato sandwich, seitan "philly" sub...

I tend to be less strict about fat and richer foods at dinner time. If I'm "good" all day, I'll throw a little caution to the wind. But when I eat some of the richer foods, I try to limit the amount to a reasonable (not bird-sized but not huge) portion.

DINNER: Chinese food (vegetable chow fun, szechuan spicy string beans, yu xiang broccoli, sesame tofu, ma po tofu, kung pao tofu, eggplant in garlic sauce, etc), Japanese food (pan fried udon noodles with veggies and tofu, inari, avocado/cucumber/tofu/carrot/shiitake nori rolls, agedashi tofu, etc), Italian food (homemade lasagne with almond-tofu "ricotta" and veggies, tuscan white bean soup, bruchetta, garlic bread with non-hydrogenated margarine and soy parmesan, pasta with veggies and assorted styles of sauce, etc), tempeh scallopini, seitan "parmesan", dairy-free tofu-mushroom stroganoff, Thai food (assorted curries with veggies and tofu asking waiters to leave off the fish sauce, sticky rice with mango, pineapple tofu fried rice, etc), Indian food (see above), potato onion pierogies with herb infused margarine, cheeseless pizza piled high with veggie toppings with or without vegan soy cheese, vegan meatless buffalo "chicken" fingers or plain meatless chicken fingers with barbecue sauce and tater tots, barbecue tofu or seitan and veggies, meat-free shepard's pie or veggie pot pie, chili and cornbread, green veggies (kale, broccoli, chard, spinach), salads with grilled tofu and to'feta (marinated tofu which tastes a lot like feta cheese), vegan mac & cheez, tofu-veggie stir fry, vegetarian baked beans and tofu hot dogs (smart dogs rule)...

DESSERTS: sometimes I have a fruit salad with a little soy yogurt on top, sometimes i make low fat muffins or brownies without eggs, applesauce, puddings made with silken tofu and chocolate chips, or pudding mix made with soymilk instead of cow's milk, etc. there are also some very good lower fat and lower calorie soy "ice creams" that taste GREAT with a little chocolate syrup over the top.

i drink pretty much only water, sometimes a little sparkling water with fruit flavoring and no calories...

for recipes and more info on trying vegetarianism/veganism, look up Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). They have a great free veg starter kit they'll mail to you or you can download it for free!

You can do it!!!!