oh my god!!

[iwannabeavampire]

I have weighed myself for the first time in a very long time, and i have at least 9 stone to lose.

How the hell do i start?

Would running be any good? or would it be to damaging on my joints?

I knew i was big but just under 19 stone I still cant believe it.

sorry Im rambling, just a bit shocked.

HELP!!

Firstly, chose a plan which fits in with your life.

Be it one that's already on the market (weight watchers, slimming world, rosemary conley, lighter life etc etc etc) or something you can do yourself, ie: just cut down what you're eating.

You don't have to join any of the above clubs (well, maybe lighter life as I think they give you stuff to make up & eat/drink)but basically the rest can be followed at home without joining up to a club!

Start with small changes that you can stick to over a long period - baby steps.. ie: if you're using white bread, change to brown, full fat milk, to semi-skimmed, full fat cheese to reduced fat cheddar etc.. common sense changes.

Make sure you get a breakfast every day, it's the most important meal of the day.

Maybe if you list your typical days menu some of us could point you in the right direction?

If you're going to start running, take it easy, follow a programme which lets you build up your time & stamina

Thank you, I have already decided to cut down on my portion sizes.

I always eat breakfast, I usally have either two pieces of toast with butter and marmite/peanut butter, or a bowl of cornflakes and semi-skimmed milk. Never add sugar.

Lunch is usally a sandwich, or pasta and cheese.

Tea is whatever my dp makes. Sometimes its procced (sp) crap and sometimes its homemade cottage pie ect.

Any help what so ever would be fantastic.

sounds like you eat a lot of carbs, which are fine but not for breakfast, lunch and tea, IMO. There are LOADS of diet threads on MN, have a peek and see one that takes your fancy

Just to give you an idea of what we are eating on the NOTHING TASTES AS GOOD THREAD

Breakfast-bowl of Sultana Bran

Lunch- soup with oatcakes orsalad with tuna,ham etc

tea- I'm eating a small portion of whatever I cook for my family, minus any mash or chips or whatever. Others are having fish/meat with loads of veg or salad

Snacks- fruit, carrots sticks, etc

We've all lost weight!

Yes, way too much bread I think. MAybe think of changing it to something else?

What about fruit & veg?

What do you snack on? Or do you think your main meals alone are enough to make you gain weight?

Drinks? diet or full fat drinks?

There's a great thread at the minute, "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" or something v.v.similar. Even if you don't want to post yet, go & have a read

Try & have some protein for breakfast, like an omelette (sp?) or scrambled eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms etc... fill you up without resorting to the dreaded bread

X with cyb

I wouldnt run yet, power walking avec ipod would be better

Yeah i really do eat way to many carbs, I just dont know what to replace them with.

I dont snack, i dont eat fruit really which is stupid cos my dd loves the stuff.

I have about two cups of tea with one sugar in each, and i drink lots of fizzy drinks.

I love veg so increasing that would be easy.

I will go and have a look at the thread.

Thanks for the help, its made me start to think about it properly.

Yeah you need to work up to running so power walk to begin with on a distance or time limit and then start doing interval training while is run for 1 minute, walk for 4 minute slowly reducing the time that you walk and your find you get fitter quicker! But also do some weights if you have them as they build muscle which helps burn fat!

If you do want toast try switching to wholemeal and from butter to marg or low fat butter! Little changes do the world of difference!

Also drink about 2 litres of water a day to flush out any naughty toxins in your body!!! Water is your friend!!!!

Hope these tips help!!!

iwanna, come over to the thread...we're all as mad as a box of frogs but we are supporting each other

Hi iwannabeavampire, I so understand where you are coming from. I didn't weight myself at all since I had DC2 who is now 2.5 as I dreaded what the scales would say and when I finally did I caught a real shock so I really do understand how you are feeling.

I started dieting in October and have so far lost 64.5 lbs so it can be done and I'm sure you'll be able to do it now that you have decided you would like to do it. I'm doing a low carb diet called Go Lower and it has been brilliant. They send you your meals all ready made so you only need to warm them up and all the work is already done for you, no weighing etc and they are nutritious too. You can even eat chocolate and snacks on this diet and lose weight!

diddo on ditching the carbs, you might find it hard to begin with but it defintely gets easier. I am also on Golower like Mummymels so can vouch that it works, into my 9th week and have lost 31 1/2 Lbs! Already feeling like a new woman and much more positive and in control of my weight loss, something I have never been before, and believe me I have tried them all!

Best advice I can give is not to expect it to come off really quickly and then give up when it doesn't. Take your time, give yourself realistic targets over many months, even years! one step at a time. You can do it.

One step at a time is good advice. Choose one thing to change about your diet this week and stick to it, next week continue doing that and commit to changing on more thing. Some suggestions:

Try adding some protein to your breakfast as this will help stop you from feeling hungry too quickly, so you could have some scrambled eggs with a piece of toast.

Have a snack mid morning and mid afternoon, again include some protein in it if you can.

At lunch and dinner try and make sure half your plate is full of veg and then have some lean meat or fish and a small helping of good carbs (try and eat brown bread, wholewheat pasta, wholemeal bread etc) on the other half of your plate.

Try and cut down your fizzy drinks to one a day and drink more water.

Don;t eliminate any food group completely from your diet, your body needs a combination of protein, carbs and fats.

Good luck

Hey thank you all for the advice.

Ive started to make some changes, the first being eating breakfast later (about 8.30-9) and having boiled eggs and toast.

Lunch I still struggle to think of something lovely that me and dd can eat.

I am drinking more water and less fizzy crap.

Still finding it hard to cut down portion sizes, but am working on it.

And last but not least i am starting my power walking to running this week. :O

cyb I have been lurking on your thread.
simmo39 congrats on your weight loss.
lostgirl thats what i have been doing.

Again thank you all for your help.

if you're stuck for a replacement for bread have you tried wraps? Still carbs but a lot less

iwanna, about portion size- try eating off a side plate. See how full you feel afterwards.. you may be used to feeling over full from the portion size you are eating.

When you are 'sated' but not overstuffed it feels quite different, but you will get used to it.

Portion size is really important. On the side of cereal boxes it givs the calories etc for a 30g serving.

I actually weighed out a 30 g serving and it was about half of what I was usually eating