And so, my journey begins...

[Deleted]

Moved to Sports & Fitness.

Good luck with the change, OP. Perseverance begets progress.

[Kuniku]

Counting calories is the worst way to lose weight ever. EVER.

All you have to do is eat healthily. You can eat as many greens as you like. Huge piles of it. Don't bother counting how many calories are in a tomato, just stuff your face. Protein is fine too. Chicken breasts, steak, fish, even bacon and sausages are fine. Try finding interesting ways of cooking them. Chilli always adds flavour to a meal, and a curry is perfectly fine. Nothing beats coming home to a fucking huge steak, devouring the lot alongside a pile of fresh veg or salad. Berries are incredibly tasty and almost 0 calories. You can go through heaps of them if you want something nice to eat.

Just stay away from starchy carbs, rice, pasta, potatoes. Do some exercise and you can more or less eat what you like.

the problem comes if you can't fit enough exercise into your week, i'm terrible at doing exercise at home and until a couple of dirty cheap gyms just opened near me havent been able to afford the gym, so cutting down what i eat AND eating healthier is the way to go tbh

I'd say the other important factor is IF you are exercising you still need to eat enough to fuel that exercise correctly - i find that if I havent eaten the right stuff before jujitsu i don't get much training done and it therefore wont burn as much it should =p

[jimmy valmer]

Berries are fucking great. Super low in calories and have natural sweet taste. Perfect to satisfy your hunger for sugar.

My favourite healthy food is just a bowl of fruit salad. I mix things up to try new tastes as well.

[Deleted]

Prepare for:

a) Depression
b) Exhaustion
c) Resigning

You can't lose weight with such strict diets. You need to take it slow. I am sorry but that's the truth. I understand and I applause your will to get fit, you just can't get 'there' where other people have been working out and taking care of their diet for years in order to be in such a place/fitness.

Take it slow. You ll starve all the time at first.

[Marie]

As others have mentioned in the thread, it's important to not want to do or change too much too quickly. Start out slowly by cutting out some unhealthy food in your diet replacing it with something else step by step.
In the end it's a lifestyle change and you'll have to keep it up your whole life and not just a few weeks, months or years.

That being said, I think just having a salad for lunch for example is going to hurt you in the long run. It gets really boring quite quickly to eat the same thing over and over again and will not help you to stay motivated to eat healthy.
If you're really unsure about what's healthy for you or not, there are calorie counting sites online which will help you keep track of your daily intake. It's not a bad idea to do that for a couple weeks just to get a feel for how much calories are in certain foods.
I wouldn't keep it up forever though because some people have a tendancy to start obsessing over it and develop unhealthy eating habits.

In general try to stay away from processed food, eat small sized portions but eat more often to keep you satisfied.
Steamed veggies are always great to have with lean meat, tofu or quorn.
You can also make tasty wraps using nori (japanese seaweed sheets), shredded chicken, yoghurt, bell peppers and avocado. Spice it up if you like with some salsa or if you like it well spicy: siriacha sauce.

Consistency in exercising can be difficult but i find it best if i try to incorporate it into my daily life.
Walking to the next shop to get my groceries done for example, taking the bicycle to visit friends - that sort of thing
Other than that there are a great many online instructors with exercising videos which might help you to work out at home.

Good luck!

[Deleted]

Ok first of all, 1200 calories is not enough by far. Secondly, forget calories. They're completely useless. Just think about it, if you would eat chocolate for less than 2000 calories in a day, and ONLY chocolate, you wouldn't lose weight. Just eat healthy natural food, salad, fruits, proteins and some carbos depending on how much energy you consume. And take it slow in the beginning, don't overdo your training. When you get more fit, start exercising more and harder.

Pretty basic tips but that's how you start. Good luck.

[sisco09]

i also disagree.

[Beavis]

Supportive? More like realistic. As I said earlier, goal #1 is to not overdo it; make a schedule of calorie intake that you can sustain for the rest of your life. If you just want to lose weight, chances are you'll gain it again, even if you do succeed. To maintain a healthy figure, reform your lifestyle. Sounds harsh, but it's reality.

That wasn't directed at you. Did you not see the person I quoted?

---------- Post added 2012-10-11 at 03:13 PM ----------

Ok first of all, 1200 calories is not enough by far. Secondly, forget calories. They're completely useless. Just think about it, if you would eat chocolate for less than 2000 calories in a day, and ONLY chocolate, you wouldn't lose weight. Just eat healthy natural food, salad, fruits, proteins and some carbos depending on how much energy you consume. And take it slow in the beginning, don't overdo your training. When you get more fit, start exercising more and harder.

Pretty basic tips but that's how you start. Good luck.

You can lose weight eating pure bacon grease if there's a calorie restriction and gain weight on good stuff if you eat too much. Telling people to ignore calories is terrible advise.

[Bolson13]

People saying that counting calories is useless should be ignored. There is a good reason why most nutritionists in the western world will tell you to keep track of your daily caloric intake. It is not the end all of a healthy diet but it sure is a part of it.

Regarding your weight loss diet, I would not try to do it too fast. You need to learn yourself a new lifestyle. It is better to loose the weight over a year and get used to it then lose it in 3 months, be all proud and then slowly get back into your old pattern.

That is why besides a diet, I would also recommend learning what actually is a healthy diet. Learn what the stuff on the back of the labels actually means for you. Or at least the basics. Then try to go around 1800 calories as a start with good variation in different foods. Make an effort to learn what is available with low calories. Also, learn that you don't have to diet every day because that will frustrate you. If you go out for beers on a saturday, you can easily do a little more exercise or do a 1600 calorie day the next monday and be fine.

So take your time, the key is a good healthy diet and educating yourself for the rest of your life.

[Deleted]

Well, I've always wanted to drop weight, but about two weeks ago, I lost my dog of about 7 years (she was actually like 12, rescued her from a shelter), and to put it bluntly, it's really made me take a look at my life and get a grip on my personal bullshit.

So, starting today, I'm putting myself on a strict diet and exercise regiment. I'm cutting myself down to 1200 calories a day plus a salad, and 1700 calories on Sunday (or on a rare occasion, like a date). Plus, I'm cutting out everything but Water to drink, save for Sunday, when I figure I'll let myself have a soda as long as I count the calories.

I've still not totally settled what *kind* of calories I'm doing to be taking in, though. I feel like I should start eating some kind of Fruit for breakfast, but not really sure what fruits are really good for you. I dislike bananas, but if it's healthy, then screw it; I'll eat those for breakfast, too. If any of you guys have some feedback here, please post!

For lunch, like I said; Salad all the way. Truth be known, I actually prefer my salad plain anyways, which just a tiny bit of Italian dressing, and my sister usually picked up Baby Spinach Leaves that mix pretty well. It's simple, but it's not bad; will take some adjusting to, no doubt.

For dinner... there's the problem, really. I'm living with my sister right now, who doesn't need to diet and doesn't want to diet. I think she'll be supportive as she can, but considering we were pretty much raised on pasta, pizza, and fast-food, I think it's going to be a hard-sell to find something truly satisfying to cook for dinner. Best if it doesn't have a ton of prep-work (around 45 min or less, preferably). If any of you guys know a good site or book with good, healthy recipes, or have a recipe of your own, please share!

And finally, the exercise. Used to, I would drive down to the local YMCA and jog their track, but A) it takes a lot more effort to drive somewhere, B) it actually burns through a ton of gas, and C) I don't like working-out in front of other people. So, I guess I'm just gonna do what "normal people" do, and just walk around my neighborhood in the mornings. If I stick with it, I'll probably buy a bike, since I've found jogging to be kind of hard on my knee (injury from a few years ago, being overweight and jogging probably isn't helping it).

Aside from jogging or biking, any other personal suggestions for physical activity? I've thought about trying to get into Boxing more, as I have a bag already and have always loved the idea of it, but I tend to lose interest about like 15 minutes, lol.

Anyways... well, that's my game-plan! If you guys have any suggestions to add, please, feel free to throw them at me! I will so, though, that I'm adamantly against any sort of Atkins or Paleo diets, as I don't really care for meat that much to begin with, and I always feel *REALLY* sick when I try those, as well as sapped of energy.

Time to go H.A.M.!!!

Simple walks for 30 minutes every day + a normal diet is all that's needed for weight loss. Cut all the sugar. Candy, soda etc.
Good luck and keep motivated!
I have a big problem with it myself, but I also suffer from mental problems that really screw with me. But I'll get a grip on it. I've lost 3 kilo's so far, and hopefully I haven't gained it back