What diet helped YOU lose weight?

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Forum -> Health & Wellness -> Healthy Lifestyle/ Weight Loss/ Exercise

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amother

Fri, Jul 19 2013, 12:08 pm

So I'm fed up with myself.
I'm 5'4, 152 pounds and I feel like a cow. I am careful with what I eat, (about 1200 calories a day) and I excersize for 40-50 minutes 4-5 times a week. And I still am losing nothing. Zilch. Zip. Nada.

I want to lose 15-20 pounds. Any suggestions? Success stories?

chocolate moose

Fri, Jul 19 2013, 3:23 pm

have you had your thyroid checked?

agreer

Fri, Jul 19 2013, 4:43 pm

Low carb high protein but not crazy...no butter, red meat, cold cuts...
All calories are not created equally! (Jillian michaels say this all the time)

U may be eating too little. Ur body might. Be used to ur exercises. Change it up!

Also...how old r u? That may be an issue

mommyof2boys

Fri, Jul 19 2013, 7:49 pm

Two things. Actually three.

1) look up periodization when exercising. You need to be building building then cutting back. You also really need to be doing resistance training with weights etc, not just cardio.

2) 1200 calories is a bit too low. I'd say try and eat 1500-1600. Keeping track of your calories is way better than a specific diet. But one thing all women (and men) can benefit from is more protein. I know I certainly dont get near what I need. Think 100g!!!

3) lastly and by far the most important. go to your doctor for blood work and a physical. make sure they check for hypothyroidism.

good luck, please let us know how the blood results are. Im curious, because for the most part it seems you are doing everything right.

FranticFrummie

Fri, Jul 19 2013, 9:37 pm

The ONLY thing that worked for me was the HCG diet. Search the site for HCG and you'll get tons of info. I posted a lot about it.

chani8

Sat, Jul 20 2013, 2:54 pm

You may need to micromanage your calories. But first you have to get a better idea of your BMR, so you know more exactly how many calories you should be eating.

Then you really need to get a scale out and measure your food to be sure you are being accurate in portion size. It very easy to make mistakes, underestimating how much food you ate.

Doing those two things, made a very big difference for me. I was stuck for a while, not losing, and finally re-did my BMR (which showed I got to eat less calories as I got thinner). Then I got the scale back out of the depths of my cupboard, and checked my portion measurements, and sure enough . . .it's very easy to understimate, due to wishful thinking!

The only other thing that I do, is a method of tweaking my metabolism. There is an 'expert method' to this, but I do it l'kavod shobbos. What it is, simply, is that you overeat every so often so that your metabolism doesn't get lazy. I've not read too much about this, but I notice that I see no bad result at all, from overeating by as much as 400 calories both friday and shobbos.

I have one more thing to say to you. If there is any chance that you are undereating, plus exercising, then you may very well have put your metabolism in what they call, starvation mode. If that is the case, then I would recommend that you get your BMR straightened out and start eating enough calories. However, in order to not suddenly gain from that, you may need to vary your calorie intake. One day eat BMR, one day 1200, then on exercise day eat your exercise calories. Keep your metabolism guessing.

I guess I have another thing, that is, if your fat is tummy fat, then the doctors say that is from too many carbs. So if that is the case by you, then consider eating a low carb diet on top of counting calories. We eat low carb for it's many health benefits.

etky

Sat, Jul 20 2013, 3:35 pm

chani8 wrote:

I've been maintaining a 30 kilo weight loss this way for almost 10 years. I did WW to lose the weight but did not stick to the eating plan over Shabbat (though I didn't go totally overboard either). I think it's very important to throw your metabolism a curve ball every so often and it also helped me stick to the diet during the week, knowing that on Shabbat I could eat more. Even now, I don't mind forgoing that piece of cake during the week because I know that on Shabbat I can have some w/o the guilt. And, as others said, change up your exercise routine and making sure you are doing strength training as well as aerobic exercise. Both rev up your metabolism but in different ways.

amother

Sat, Jul 20 2013, 3:38 pm

I am DONE with diets!
They dont work and I'm only fat because of the diet/binge cycles.
The latest thing I'm into and have seen some success so far but it's ups and downs...
is stopping to emotionally eat .There is one book that some friends of mine have been successfull with, IMO you need a group/partner because hard to do alone.
"The seven secrets of slim people" can get on amazon for really cheap
and another one I just started reading is do deal more with the emotions is "end emotional eating" by jennifer L. Taitz. I'm just at the beginning but can tell you I never enjoyed food so much in my life until now and it's gonna take a while but it works. if not for seeing my friends who've done it I wouldn't have believed it. LEt's start a support group here!!!

chani8

Sat, Jul 20 2013, 4:41 pm

Thanks for sharing that, Etky!! (I also vary my exercise routine, prefer weight lifting, and rarely do cardio.)

amother

Sun, Jul 21 2013, 12:35 am

OP here.
First of all, thanks all for your advice
I had my thyroid checked out a couple months ago and all bh is well
Chani8-how do I calculate my BMR?
Fanaticfrummie- I thought the HCG diet is only used when looking to lose a lot of weight like 50-100 pounds not 15-20

vintagebknyc

Sun, Jul 21 2013, 12:43 am

I've lost @ 11 pounds since february using my fitness pal. (am 5'5, now 144. started at 155.) that's about half a pound a week, tho that last pound took five weeks.

(if I wrote about this earlier in the thread, I apologize. it's late and I'm exhausted)

basically, 1200 calories a day, and I built in a cheat day. (shabbos, of course). and yoga three times a week, part of which are difficult enough to become cardio.

I'm doing well at this calorie level, and have managed to factor in a glass of wine with dinner.

good luck!

amother

Sun, Jul 21 2013, 2:08 am

HCG!

I know all the hype against it, but I'm the biggest fan. I was exactly like you...(5'5'') and 152 lbs. I gotta say it turned my life around...I'm 20 lbs less now and loving it!

Good luck--its really hard work but youll see results right away-its really gratifying.

amother

Sun, Jul 21 2013, 2:14 am

Op here.
can you explain exactly how the hcg diet works? im skeptical of all these 'miracle' diets that you have to shell out money for powders and pills and sprays... also I like FOOD

mandksima

Sun, Jul 21 2013, 2:15 am

I definitely believe all calories are not created equal and the quality of food plays a huge part in your health and ability to lose weight and keep it off. I suggest a whole food diet to everyone and if you have issues losing weight even though your calorie count is low and you exercise, you may have to go off all grains and dairy. Only eat foods that occur in nature and no processed foods, sugar or artificial sweeteners. It is hard as you have to prepare all of your food and hardly eat out but you can seriously get rid of that last bit of weight that has stubbornly stayed put. Once you start, you won't find it so hard to stay on as you get used to clean eating.

bamamama

Sun, Jul 21 2013, 2:29 am

I've lost 40lbs since January with OA. I chose a food plan that basically has me eating 1000-1200 calories per day and I've cut out all foods which trigger binge eating for me (each person will have her own list) - basically, if I look at something and think I could eat the whole thing (pan of lasagne, cake, pie, pot of mac and cheese, pizza, box of donuts....the list goes on), I don't even start with it. One portion isn't satisfying to me. 5 portions wouldn't be satisfying...so I stay far away...

rachel91

Sun, Jul 21 2013, 2:45 am

My own diet, I lost 37 kg in half a year, after I had a baby. And I didn't gain back again.

FranticFrummie

Sun, Jul 21 2013, 3:23 am

amother wrote:

I'm 5'7", and I went from almost 190 pounds to 130. I've been holding steady at 130 for the past two years, eating normally and not gaining. I did lose my cravings for carbs and sugar, and consider them rare treats rather than one of the major food groups. Very Happy

If you're 150, I'm assuming you want to get down to 120 or 125, right? You can do the HCG and just stop when you feel that you're at a healthy weight. 6 to 8 weeks should do it. It resets your metabolism "set point", as well as your cravings.

As you slowly start adding foods back in, keep CLOSE track of which foods make you feel icky. I found some odd intolerances, fibromyalgia flareups, and migraine triggers that way, and I never would have discovered them otherwise. No more walnuts for me!

chani8

Sun, Jul 21 2013, 5:21 am

amother wrote:

Well, the easiest way is to join myfitnesspal.com and once in, go to APPS, then BMR.

Then, make friends with all the other imamothers on there and get all the support you need. We're hopping, happening, moving and grooving over there and having a blast. MFP is a website where thousands of people are losing weight and getting fit, without crazy fad diets. It's about adjusting your diet and learning to eat right amounts for you, for life. And it's free. The support makes all the difference!

shirtsandskirts

Sun, Jul 21 2013, 7:37 am

amother wrote:

I'm on board. Did you join the emotional eating group? Come join that and we can start this topic...

amother

Sun, Jul 21 2013, 10:59 am

What is the hcg diet and how does it work?

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