Weight Loss Tips

[heyman]

I am an advocate of physical activity .... and of course throw out bread, biscuits, pasta after twelve hours

[dojo]

It's very easy to start dropping the weight or keep it off, if you make an effort to cook from scratch at home and use good healthy ingredients. 2 months ago, as I was nauseous all the time and realized I'm dropping weight too much, I started making a conscious plan to eat and meet my calorie needs (am usually under my daily 'budget' and having to feed an extra human - even if she was half an inch - was really an issue). So I started using an app (LoseIt) to track my calories. I was 'shocked' to see that our home cooked meals (and us Romanians usually cook similarly to what you guys do in the South), even if theoretically filled with calories, couldn't compete with a McDonalds burger in terms of calories.

So the main idea is to read those labels, stay away from the 500 calorie burgers and eat as much as you can from what you cook at home. I started snaking on healthy and yet fulfilling stuff, ate pretty well and barely met my 'budget'. Sure, one day, drinking 2 cans of Sprite and eating at a burger joint (we were traveling), I went way over my normal intake just with that meal.

I'm also a firm believer in exercise. Not only does it help burn some calories, but it helps you feel way better and energized.

[Tessol36]

Weight Loss tips

Basically losing weight is all about discipline. If you are going to cheat every now and then then, don't be sad if you don't notice any difference on the scales.

Be more active, eat right, rest when you need to and avoid stress.

Move about as often as possible. You will be surprised how much calories you burn when you do regular house work. Use the stairs instead of the elevator. Always have comfy shoes in you to do this. Walk to work and the grocery store if you can.

Do NOT skip meals. Eat a healthy breakfast, if you are on the run, enjoy a healthy breakfast smoothie. Take a snack to work like apples, banana, nuts or other dried fruits. try to avoid the fast food place round the corner.

Eat your veggies.

EXERCISE AT LEAST 3 TIMES A WEEK.

Clean out your house/kitchen (fridge, pantry)of all WRONG foods that are not right for your weight loss goal.

Most importantly DISCIPLINE, FOCUS!

DO NOT GIVE UP!

[danielhermann]

Personally I am not in favor of any diets. I believe you should eat everything in moderation so that you don't crave for anything and binge on it. This is to be coupled with exercise and good rest. Lead a regular life. Cut down on carbonated drinks and processed foods. You will see the results

[corn18]

Personally I am not in favor of any diets. I believe you should eat everything in moderation so that you don't crave for anything and binge on it. This is to be coupled with exercise and good rest. Lead a regular life. Cut down on carbonated drinks and processed foods. You will see the results

This is the correct answer. Do the fad diet and you will lose weight. And when you grow weary of that diet, you will gain it all back. And a few extra pounds as punishment.

Losing and maintaining weight is just like saving. It is a lifestyle that has a very basic formula:

Eat less than you burn = weight loss
Spend less than you make = saving

No need to complicate it more than THAT.

The part that is difficult is the "lifestyle" part. How many of you hate being wealthy? How many of you hate being healthy? I would speculate the answer is NONE. Although the basic tenants for being successful at both are easily found in books, fora and lore, for some reason not everyone is wealthy and healthy. Why is that? Because it is more complicated than THAT. Both require a long term strategy and commitment that each individual can sustain long term. That's hard. Any endeavor that involves the human mind is complicated.

Eliminating entire food groups is a quick fix. No carb, low carb, low sugar, low fat, ice cream is the enemy, bread is the root of all obesity, sugary drinks make us fat, blah, blah, blah. They all can work in the short term. The long term fix is to start out by eating less and exercising more. Then as you progress, be confident and make adjustments that fit your body and mind. If you like ice cream, eat ice cream. Just do it in moderation and as part of a well balanced diet that includes all foods. Easy to say, hard to do.

Just like for us prolific spenders, it is very difficult to reduce our spending. It's even more difficult to pay ourselves first. Both are basic tenants of a long term savings plan that are tried and true, but I prefer the quick fix of getting paid more. Ask me how that's working out. Short term fix without a lifestyle change = fail.

Exercise: don't run because you have to, run because you want to. If you don't enjoy running, don't run. Find an activity that you enjoy and do that. You will end up at your goal weight and be able to maintain it with aplomb. If you go on a "diet" , you will be dieting for the rest of your life and that just sucks.

Just my $.02

Tom