I am a mother of two, and weigh more now than I did before I was pregnant. I need to lose 70 pounds.
My two children keep me busy with football and softball. I try to diet, but it never works out. By the time I get off from work, and get home I am too tired to exercise.
I try watching what I eat, but it is hard because I don't like the food that is good for you. For example raw vegetables, lettuce, or any salad stuff.
I did lose 20 pounds on Weight Watchers, but came to a stand still. I am in a slump.
Any help or suggestions would be great. Thanks!
Perhaps try eating vegetables with a dip, such as a mustard you like, hummus, or ranch (so long as you factor them into your calorie count) to try to learn to like them. Start with something sweeter, like bell peppers (particularly red, though they are more expensive than green) and carrots. If you learn to like raw vegetables, that will help because they fill you up with bulk for no calories, and if you have a protein rich food you can eat with them, that will be even better. If you don't work to change your eating habits permanently, you'll just gain the weight back.
If you are too tired to exercise after work, try to exercise in the morning, even if it's just a short walk (assuming your neighborhood is safe). Do some push-ups, crunches, or squats in the morning, buy a small set of weights (you can find them used on Craigslist for a reasonable price) to use in the morning. Does your workplace have stairs? If so, always take them if you have the opportunity, or walk up and down them several times on your lunch break. Take a walk on your lunch break. You can often find you have time to exercise when you have energy, but sometimes you have to make time.
ReplyI was overweight from the time my second son was born till 4 months ago- he is 19! I tried everything but I just didn't have the time or motivation to make it work. My secert to getting back where I need to be (and I am about 1/2 way there) has been Curves for exercize and Diet to Go for healthy eating/weight loss. My son has lost 65 pounds on the low carb. My husband has lost 30 on the vegetarian. I have lost 20 pounds on the low fat. The food is amazing, convenient and affordable. Check it out.
ReplyIf you truly cannot stand vegetables, salads, etc then I recommend you try a high protein diet with chicken and lean meats. The trick of the high protein diet is that you will stay fuller for longer, and therefore won't be tempted to snack on empty calories.
ReplyAre you an adult or a child? I think any adult who says they don't like veggies is being ridiculous. There are literally thousands of different veggies and dozens of ways to fix them - to say you don't like any of them is just childish.
I don't mean to be harsh, but good grief. I get so sick of adults who refuse to eat veggies and fruit. It's ridiculous
ReplySorry, but to me it doesn't sound like you're in the right mindset to actually lose weight. You say you "try" to diet but it "never works out"...if you want it to work out, it WILL work out. You have to make it work for you if you want success. You say you don't like any foods that are good for you...sorry, but I think that's being a tad immature. Like Kara said, there are hundreds of different veggies and fruits and hundreds of ways to prepare them. Try new things and see if you can find things you do like. As far as exercise goes, I'm sure you can squeeze 20 minutes of walking or biking into your day...even if you do 2 10 minute spells, it's better than nothing. Keep resistance bands in your car and use them during your kids' games or something like that. I've lost 90 lbs and have kept it off for almost 8 years now and I'll tell you one thing: you have to want to change or you won't lose the weight, plain and simple.
ReplyI have to agree with Kara and Spectra. I also did WW, lost 33 lbs and got to goal. I've maintained for 3 months now. While a lot of people are exercising their hearts out, they complain they don't like vegetables, or fruits or fish or whatever. But they drink at every social occasion or make poor choices in their food selections. I am also a busy mother of two very energetic boys and I increased my activity level very little (I currently do not exercise in the traditional sense-that's what kids are for!). Here's my "secrets":
1. I was highly motivated due to health issues in the family. I also wanted to look hot again before the sagging started setting in and gray hair took over.
2. Plan snacks and meals. I researched full fat recipes I like and skinnied them. I discovered new WW friendly recipes all over the internet. I continually do this.
3. Got a freezer. Cook and prepare food in bulk and freeze in portions. I don't have time to make a fresh lunch for work or kids lunches each day. Some days I just want to grab and go, or sometimes I'm simply too tired to make dinner.
4. I already liked fruits and veggies, raw or cooked, so I would say reteach your taste buds. If you stop eating or significantly reduce the frequency and portions of higher caloric foods, you won't crave them after a while. Stop being a picky eater and learn to use seasonings.
5. Attend the WW meetings-numerous studies have shown that group meetings like this are beneficial to losing weight.
6. Listen to your body. You don't have to do EVERYTHING everyone suggests. Figure out what works for you and do that. For example, I eat the bulk of my days calories before 1pm. Everything I've read says you should eat every two hours or six small meals a day. Well, I eat breakfast, a snack nearly every hour or more, then lunch, then I stop eating until dinner. After lunch I'm full and can last the afternoon to take the kids where they need to go, plus maybe do some grocery shopping and make dinner. By then I'm hungry, so my dinner is about 2/3 of the points left and I save 1/3 of what's left for a treat and/or fruit.
If you were able to lose 20 lbs with WW, then something worked. Figure out what it was and go back to that habit. If you're truly unmotivated, nothing in the world will get rid of the weight until you are. Because when you're motivated, disliking vegetables won't be an excuse.
ReplyI'm not sure anybody really actually likes raw vegetables, at least not more than a cheeseburger or a pepperoni pizza, but isn't that the problem - that you've been eating too much of what you like? Suck it up and mix in a salad once in awhile, nobody ever said dieting is delicious.*
* although healthy food can be quite tasty, it'll never be as good as the aforementioned cheeseburgers and pizza.
Replycopied from my other post from someone else having trouble dieting.. hope this helps some.
I had a similar issue last summer. I thought I was eating healthy but found I really was not. I did lose some weight, about 20lbs, but gained it right back plus 5. May I did things differently, I've lost 30lbs WITHOUT changing my calorie intake. Here's my suggestions:
1. I recently did an experiement for my college SR. project about estrogen and endocrine disrupting hormones. We found that the male rats we injected with estrodiol gained more weight. And here's the kicker. They did NOT eat more. I went organic for my chicken, milk, eggs, ect. At least go organic for the dairy and eggs if you can't afford to do it completely.
2. Do NOT starve yourself. You will just crave carbs as I did I'm sure and binge. Eat your protein. You absolutly must have that in order to work out. If you're not getting enough to go GNC and get some whey protein it's only like 120 caleries and mixes right into a glass of water. Additionaly, if you are working out, especially if you are working out. You HAVE TO HAVE FAT. This is important. You can buy those fish oil tablets at like walgreens or whatever.
3. Buy and read the book that has changed my life forever: "Good calories Bad calories" can't remember the author's name but he is the editor of science mag. It's extremely technical but it's well worth the work to read it.
4. Go get a check up. There are many hormones that could be absent or reduced which will cause you to be unable to lose weight. Have your doc check your thyroid. Getting the check up should probably be #1 on my list because you should do that before you do anything else.
These are my suggestions and they have worked for me and my husband. I lost 30lbs and my husband has lost 60. Our energy level increased, we started working out in June, just one month after our diet change. Before our diet was changed working out made us so tired. LOL everything made us tired, honestly.
Best of luck,
ReplyJennifer
You could try a low fat diet for a few weeks and see how you do. Over the last 7 months, I've lost 44 pounds by reducing fat intake, rationing my portions, and alternating days of cardio and weights. There are so many great substitutes available to us now. Use ground turkey instead of ground beef in meatloaves, chili, spaghetti sauces etc. Eat more fish and chicken. Try the vegetable steamer bags for your broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, corn on the cob. If the veggies are steamed properly, you may prefer that over raw, and there's nothing worse than overcooked veggies (yuck). After changing my mindset on food and eating as I just described, planning meals has become a fun challenge, and my family has no complaints about the meals I serve. Once you get excited about the lowfat, healthy meals, you'll no longer crave those salty, fatty, carb soaked foods. You won't ... trust me. The secret is in balance and moderation. I went from 181 to 137 and I'm not hungry, I don't feel deprived, I haven't spent $$ on diet pills and plans, and the aches and pains are gone. I hope this helps ... Good Luck
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