I am feeling lost and stupidly could actually cry!

[sweetheart]

A bit of background, in my adult life I have always struggled with my weight. My parents are very obese and I always feel like I am fighting against my genes. I have followed pretty much every diet you can think of.

My weight was stable a couple of years ago but an injury meant I was sat around at home a lot and ended up stacking on a bunch of weight which I've been trying to lose ever since.

In desperation to be "normal" with food I went to see a neutritionalist a month ago and was working on learning to eat heailthy and lose the weight rather than another faddy diet, however for one reason or another I can no longer see her and my initial concern is that I REALLY need to shift some weight before our holiday next month.

When I get back I can focus on putting a long term plan together to lose weight properly, for good and sensibly but right now I feel the feeling I always get when my weight issues get the better of me which is blind panic!

What am I going to do for the next month to shift some decent weight!!!!!

Moderate carb, low fat.

eg breakfast 2 eggs and fat free natural yoghurt with oatbran
lunch fish and salad
snack 25g nuts and apple
dinner grilled chicken breast / lean meat and veg.

I'm going to be brutally honest here and say the best that you can aim for in the next 4 weeks is about 7 pounds. It's not much but you would feel better for it.

I think however if you want to look and feel better for your holiday that you need to exersize. Doing about 30 minutes of moderate cardio everyday (a walk where you have to change your breathing but could still talk) plus some resistance training (sit ups, squats, lunges and push ups). This sort of exersize will help you loose weight but also make you look and feel better.

In terms of dieting the biggest tip I have is write it down. Write down what you eat.

I have found weight watchers incredibly helpful. I stay at the meetings so I get some support. I also email my mum everyday as she is also a weight watcher.

Being overweight sucks and it fucking hard work to loose weight it's really really hard but it is doable. I used to be a size 20 and I'm looking at getting a pair of size 12 jean in a week or two (more of a money thing but that is another story).

Good luck

Sweetheart; I know a book which could change your life :-)
It's called 'On Eating', by Susie Orbach. It was recommended to me by a friend who has bulimia. It's about changing your attitude to food. It works for me...give it a shot. It'll cost a lot less than a Nutritionalist. Let's face it: we do generally know what we should & shouldn't eat. Doing it is the issue.. Good luck. Can't help with the short term thing except to agree with the previous posters. Exercise (Jillian Michaels DVDs) & low carb seem to work for lots...

exercise really isn't a problem as I do lots already. I have tailored my training to more resistance work recently with the aim of toning up for holiday. I'm currently doing per week:-
1 x 40 min cv session
2 x 60 min cv sessions
1 x 60 min pilates
3 x 40 min resistance session

Plus anything else I can fit in, maybe something fun at the weekends with the kids like ice skating or cycling.

I do have good results when low carbing but I find it extreamly difficult to stick to. Also I'm not brilliant at really knowing the rules and often eat things I think are good and turn out to be bad! In reality I probably know exactly what it is I need to do it's just the panic has set in.

I know the best I'm gonna do is about 7Ibs but that would be ok. I'll probably put on at least 7 on holiday so at least I'll be coming back no worse off than I am now.

I really also need to come up with a plan for when I get back from holiday. I really want / need this to be the last time I diet but I'm running out of time, money and patience with every bloody fad diet that comes my way!

even now actually thinking about the neutritionalist it seems like just another bloody fad diet thing I've tried and failed at! I'm getting mad at myself now!

Look please don't go on a crash diet. If you lose 7lbs in 4 weeks, then when you are on holiday you will gain 10lb and an extra % of fat to compensate for the muscle that you lost through crash dieting.

Have you ever read Paul McKenna I can make you thin ? It basically helps you to eat mindfully rather than going on a diet and learning to love your body or at least put up with it the way it is now.

I can't say its a magic bullet, but it seems such a shame when you are trying to mindshift to eating healthily rather than dieting to go back to your old ways.

Also why will you put on so much weight on holiday ? Can you make the focus of your holiday something other than food - try to enjoy the tastes but not feel that treating yourself means clearing your plate and having ice creams every day

I know the feeling too I'm on count down away next Saturday with two other families, my best friends are both skinny minnies and I feel like the jolly green giant next to them, even when I was thinner.

I have tried to take more measured action so this involves bringing in my lunch most days at work which is a nice big mixed salad and really concentrating on what I am eating and stopping when I am full, not sure if its working but hey ho I'm not going to spend my holiday in a funk about my weight ( but will avoid all cameras unless I am fully dressed)

One more thing, healthy eating is great but you do have to be really strict about portion sizes. I discovered that nuts are really good for you and ate loads and then put on weight, so now I restrict myself to about 4-5 brazils and a small handful of cashew nuts that I bring into work in a little bag.

Enjoy your holiday when it comes.

I second Paul McKenna. I'm obsess. I had a bad attitude towards food. I've been following Paul's principles since January although I've struggled more recently with being ill I lost a stone in two months by eating consciously, eating food I enjoy - no diet crap! Listening to the CD every day helps me keep me focused. The book and CD are available on Amazon for about £7 now.
Pop over here where a group of us are Pauling together. Look at recent posts where people have said to someone else how long they've been doing it and how much they've lost.
I've not lost tonnes of weight but since I've started I feel a lot better about myself. Considering I've been too ill to exercise I've not put on tonnes of weight! Please, please come and have a look. It might just be the change you need.

C'mon, we're really nice and we make you eat loads of yummy stuff and IT WORKS REALLY WELL

Hello tea, figured this is where you'd be!

Yes come on over and join us, I joined a couple of weeks ago and despite getting my bottom slapped a fee times for the odd naughty treat, I lost I think it was 6lbs in week one?

You get to eat gorgeous food, feel lots better and talk to lovely people ;)

Btw the best exercise you can do to burn fat is interval training, with weights - not cardio. The more muscle you can tone the more fat you will burn.

Thanks for the replies!

Yes I've done Paul McKenna, it's anter one f the fad diets I've tried. The thing is the nutrition woman I was seeing said to eat 5 small meals a day which is at odds with what pm says about only eating when hungry!!!!!

This s why I feel so bloody lost!

That is conventional advice given to ensure your blood sugars stay balanced so you don't fall in to the trap of grabbing rubbish food if they drop to get your energy levels back up. (you won't need to do that on bootcamp)