Diets and Weight Loss

Give it a go on Spark People and see what it says your calorie range should be. Since you are short like me, probably around 1200-1500. www.sparkpeople.com

Yes, that's right but the problem is that if I burn 1600 calories a day with my current activity level and I want to lose 15 lbs by December, I need to cut my calories by 750/day.  Which means I'm eating less than 1000. 

Well, to lose a pound a week, you'd have to make sure that your weekly calorie deficit was 3500 calories, right? (since it's 3500 calories in the pound)--maybe the math is off somehow.
I'm rubbish at this; I've definitely gained weight since moving over here, but I'm hoping that picking up horseback riding again will help.  That and having a job that doesn't let me nosh on snacks all day!

Yes, exactly.  So that's 500 calories less a day.  Which would put me at about 1000 a day total that I can eat.  Blah. 

I wanted to start this thread for those of us who are on the weight loss journey to get some tips and advice...or just general support.

The thing I believe is inevitable is that I will have to start incorporating exercise into my lifestyle (which I currently have 0% of unless you consider walking 4 blocks in heels from work to the parking garage exercise).  And believe me when I say that I absolutely HATE exercise.  I will find every excuse in the book to avoid it.  And I know that I need to exercise because even though I'm now considered to be within my "healthy weight" range, I get winded just walking up one little hill, gasping for air and think I'm going to die.  I need motivation to get the ball rolling though.

Also (I can't believe I'm actually complaining about this), but has anyone come across resistance from their spouse/family when trying to lose weight.  My hubby keeps telling me that I look great (which is always nice).  But the other night he actually got mad at me when I told him I wanted to lose 10-15 more pounds...I mean like seriously pissed.  He is dead set against me losing anymore weight...so I'm having a hard time dealing with that.

First I wanna say congrats on your progress! 40 pounds, wow that's amazing!

One suggestion that I can offer is to definitely incorporate some exercise, especially light weight training. It doesn't have to be 5 or 7 days a week, but 2 to 3 days a week will do wonders to your body. Also do some light weight training. If you gain some muscle, not necessarily bulk up, your body will burn more calories for using that muscle. Work out 2-3 times a week and trust me, your body will change. For me, I just keep a 5 pound weight nearby and if I'm watching tv or something, I'll do some lifts.

And about your husband, I can bet that he probably isn't against you losing weight as much as him just worrying about your self esteem and feeling down because of weight. He might see it as "if she loses fifteen more pounds, she won't be happy and want to lose more and more and become unhealthy." Just reassure him that this is not the case and that he shouldn't have to worry.

And about your husband, I can bet that he probably isn't against you losing weight as much as him just worrying about your self esteem and feeling down because of weight. He might see it as "if she loses fifteen more pounds, she won't be happy and want to lose more and more and become unhealthy." Just reassure him that this is not the case and that he shouldn't have to worry.

He's not as bad now and he seems to be reassured when I explain to him how much I eat.  I think part of it is his insecurity about me losing weight (me getting extra attention) and also him worried about making sure I'm healthy.  At first I was always complaining "I'm so hungry" and things like that; so I think he was just worried that I was trying to starve myself to death or something.  I really wasn't but I did cut my calories by around 1000 per day (yes I was eating WAY too much) so it took awhile for me to adjust.

Anyway, I've now lost 5 more pounds so I have about 5-10 more to go and I'll be happy.  I just have to be really careful with all the holidays coming up so I don't gain too much of it back.

My motivation was that we want to start trying for a baby in a few months and I wanted to be healthy before getting pregnant (to hopefully make things easier; my pregnancy with my daughter was a nightmare!).

Yes, exactly.  So that's 500 calories less a day.  Which would put me at about 1000 a day total that I can eat.  Blah. 

Stick with 1200-1300 for a while. I'm sure you will lose weight. Maybe you should try for losing 10 pounds by your goal date instead of 15? Anyway, it certainly seems to me that you eat healthfully and exercise a lot, so it sounds like you are in good shape to begin with. 

Yes, that's right but the problem is that if I burn 1600 calories a day with my current activity level and I want to lose 15 lbs by December, I need to cut my calories by 750/day.  Which means I'm eating less than 1000. 

www.jillianmichaels.com

Please do not consume less than 1200-1600! I did that for years doing the starvation thing.  I have poor metabolism because of this on top of some irreversible damage to my stomach.  Please don't try to do that!  In addition to going up and down 2-3 dress sizes up and down and up and down, I am the heaviest I've been in a long time due to messing up my metabolism.  It works for awhile but the body will go into survival mode and you will end up gaining!

This is a great website.  She outlines exactly how much to eat, how to formulate your calorie intake and burn-off.  JM def. says to eat! There's also great recipes.

Thanks Jewlz and julie.bug!  I am definitely NOT going to be starving myself!  Recipe for disaster and I don't have the willpower - I love food!  The thing is, this is just the formulas telling me what I burn based on my height and weight, so it's just mathematical that I would need to restrict below 1000.  But I am not mad and wouldn't do that, no matter what my weight loss goal is.  I will take a look at that Jillian Michaels' website. 

So it's your height and weight but without any exercise?  Because, then, we're in a similar boat, because I'm not that tall and don't really "need" that many calories over 1000 (maybe 1200 on a good day) if I'm being totally sedentary.  So, I have to make sure to exercise in some way almost every day in order to eat not-very-much food!
Luckily, as I've been getting more muscled up, my metabolism has also gone up, and I can eat more without gaining.  Still have to keep up the exercise though.  Sigh.

Yes, height and weight without any exercise.  Just regular sedentary lifestyle and sleeping 8 hours a night.  It says I burn about just about 1,600 calories doing that, and thus if I want to lose weight, I should clearly eat less.  To lose 1.5 lbs a week, I need to eat 750 fewer calories a day, which means I can only eat 830 calories!!  That's insane.  In other words, if I want to eat more, I have to exercise to burn off anything over that. I really, really don't think trying to lose a pound or a pound and a half a week is too much, but I'm clearly not going to only eat 830 calories a day.  It kind of sucks. 

Yes, height and weight without any exercise.  Just regular sedentary lifestyle and sleeping 8 hours a night.  It says I burn about just about 1,600 calories doing that, and thus if I want to lose weight, I should clearly eat less.  To lose 1.5 lbs a week, I need to eat 750 fewer calories a day, which means I can only eat 830 calories!!  That's insane.  In other words, if I want to eat more, I have to exercise to burn off anything over that. I really, really don't think trying to lose a pound or a pound and a half a week is too much, but I'm clearly not going to only eat 830 calories a day.  It kind of sucks. 

I'm pretty sure that Spark People says it is something like a 500 calorie defecit... something about eating 250 less calories per day, and burning 250 calories more per day. Although I think they actually say 1000 per week, because most people don't exercise every day. Meh. Too confusing. I think watching what you are eating, watching the size of your portions, and moving around a bit more is really the best way to go. 

Have refrained from adding my 2p on this thread until now, but here goes...

I don't believe that diets work - not in any long-term meaningful sense.

I was extremely overweight when I moved to England (approx 20 stone) and lost 5 stone in the first 2-3 years of moving here.  This was accomplished by:  DH is a relatively healthy eater so I went from lots of junk food & fast food, etc to eating a more balanced diet with lots of fruit and veg.  It wasn't terribly hard - more just small changes gradually to what were very bad habits.  (Most of our meals are cooked at home from scratch.  We do go out for meals occasionally but we don't get takeaways any more - takeaways just seem to taste vile to us nowadays after having cooked so much for ourselves.)  And I started to walk a lot vs being sedentary & driving everywhere.  We have done a lot of country rambling over the years since I moved here - including two long distance walks:  The Dales Way and the Cumbria Way.  I was probably in the best shape I've ever been in my life when we were training and doing those walks.  In any case, I am convinced that my weight loss would not have been as much, or as sustained, had it not been for the exercise.  In fact, I was nearly at my goal weight back in my 20s due to dieting alone on Weight Watchers - but I didn't develop an exercise habit back then, and the weight eventually all came back on plus more!  (I got to the point where counting everything and obsessing over my next meal felt very OCD and unhealthy in a psychological sense.)

I still need to lose more weight, but fortunately the weight I did lose allowed me to come back off blood pressure tablets so the healthy benefits have been measurable.  Unfortunately, I lost some ground in the past year due to a bad knee injury when we were walking the Cumbria Way (a fall) which took over a year to heal, having the flu, the death of my mom - so less exercise & lots of comfort eating.    But I am trying to get back up on that horse, and get going again - we have started walking again & are talking about training for a new long distance walk for next summer - Yorkshire Wolds Way.

I try not to pay much attention to what the latest greatest pundits are saying, because it keeps changing & everything will give you cancer & so on & so forth.  Just trying to be sensible and work on cultivating healthy habits.  

I try not to pay much attention to what the latest greatest pundits are saying, because it keeps changing & everything will give you cancer & so on & so forth.  Just trying to be sensible and work on cultivating healthy habits.  

I agree with this.  Cooking at home instead of eating out all the time was definitely the main contributor in my weight loss. I added in the calorie tracking function just to help me along to getting proper portions and to avoid overeating. It did help a great deal, and now I don't necessarily need to keep logging things in because I know what a proper portion size should look like. It also helps me balance my diet as far as protein, carbs, and fat are concerned so I can make sure I am getting good amounts of each. But yeah, eating sensibly and walking or even just moving around a bit more are really the best ways to get started. I don't kill myself with exercise and I try not to binge too much on the good stuff, and I have managed to get to a healthy weight for my height while still enjoying food. 

I don't believe that diets work - not in any long-term meaningful sense.

The funny thing is, you actually have gone on a diet and didn't even know it! You're on the best kind of diet there is....you changed your eating habits to be more healthy and balanced, and you've incorporated exercise into your life. That's the kind of lifestyle that doctors and nutritionists think we should all be living. Your diet just doesn't have a trademarked name! 

Yeah I just despise the term 'diet' - cos I don't wanna be on one, and DH doesn't want me to be on one either!  He just wants me to work on being healthier so I'll be around for a long time to make his life a living he££!    (also the counting, tracking, etc on a lot of 'diets' just does my head in  )

That's the kind of lifestyle...

It's a lifestyle, not a diet!