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How to lose 5+ pounds

Lucky$trike

Bluelighter
Joined
Dec 2, 2007
Messages
302
Location
Chandler, AZ
I'm looking for a heathly, cheap way to lose 5 or more pounds. I'm a 5'8" 130lb female. Last winter at my skinniest I was 117lbs but I was probably averaging around 119. I would be happy losing 5, maybe even 10. People say that they don't even see 5 pounds on me, but I notice the difference.

I suck at exercising, ok at dieting. I don't know why I was so skinny last year. I think it was because I wasn't eating out at all and now my boyfriend takes me out practically every night but I always try to order something healthy.

Help me guys!! What works? I need a plan that I can follow =D
 
Sodium has very little to do with body weight and even the most extreme restriction only lowers water retention, not body fat.

To lose fat, it's very simple. Carbohydrate control. Eliminate simple, processed carbs from your diet, and minimize the complex carbs. Do this by avoiding sugars, and replacing grains, beans and potatoes with green vegetables.
 
I wrestled in high school and would lose 10+ lbs in a few days, to make weight. We would have 3 hour practices in a heated wrestling room and I would lose 5+ in a practice.

If I were you, I would:

Do 45 minutes of intense cardio, like on a tredmill or elliptical 4-5x's a week.

Eat light, drink a lot of water,, no pop!

And see where that takes you... GL:)
 
eat earlier in the day.

and run

for losing such a small amount of weight, id stick to cardio workouts.

you dont have to change your diet too much
 
besides what everyone else said...diet change and proper minerals and vitamins etc etc..
I've found that high protein diet, iodine (like kelp), ingesting coconut oil, and green tea extract all will shed the pounds and keep it off if continued for a substantial amount of time
 
Sodium has very little to do with body weight and even the most extreme restriction only lowers water retention, not body fat.

To lose fat, it's very simple. Carbohydrate control. Eliminate simple, processed carbs from your diet, and minimize the complex carbs. Do this by avoiding sugars, and replacing grains, beans and potatoes with green vegetables.

I'm trying to lose weight as well.

I thought I was in the clear by eating low glycemic index carbs but I will try to take it a step further and replace them with green vegetables. *sigh* That will be hard, if not impossible because I really love my 100% stone ground wheat bread with nutella.
 
I'm trying to lose weight as well.

I thought I was in the clear by eating low glycemic index carbs but I will try to take it a step further and replace them with green vegetables. *sigh* That will be hard, if not impossible because I really love my 100% stone ground wheat bread with nutella.

This is a common idea because low GI carbs are a lesser evil than high GI. However, when it boils down to the biology of body fat, insulin is the complete controlling factor. Only the rate, not the amount of insulin released is affected by GI.

Eating low GI is much, much better than high GI, but the carbohydrate density ultimately keeps it from being a healthier option than green vegetables.

The comparison that I like to make when teaching our Intro to Nutrition class for our weight loss program is that 1 cup of spaghetti (a low-GI food) has 35 grams of carbohydrate while 1 cup of broccoli has 3 grams. Now, imagine yourself eating 11 cups of broccoli.
 
-If nothing works, try caffeine...for some reason I lose my appetite whenever I get an energy drink buzz.

Just be careful with the enegry drinks, and sugar content. Black coffee is your friend.

I really believe the diet aspect of getting into shape is way harder than actually working out. Working out takes a hour or so out of the day. Preparing the six (healthy!)meals is a much larger pain in the ass.

Eating 5 or 6 smaller portioned meals has always worked for me. Try carb cycling...have a high carb day, a low carb day, and a ZERO carb day. Pretty self-explanatory with the high carb day containing as many as you want, the low with half your meals containing carbs, and the ZERO with absolutely no carbs all day. You body responds well to the constant change, and I've noticed great results with this cycling process.

What everyone else said about sugars, cokes, sweets in general gotta go. Haha I know I'm going to catch a lot of shit on this site for saying this, but watch out for sugar withdrawls. I read about them while researching the whole carb cycling, and thought it was a joke. However, on the ZERO carb day, I am one cranky S.O.B. People don't realize how much sugar they consume everyday, and when it's taken away, it can make you quite the irritable bastard. If you think about it, you've been consuming sugar(usually excessive sugars) your entire life, and to suddenly take them away sucks. I quit a 3 year nicotine habit, and that was a breeze compared to getting used to having no sugar all day.
 
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Good reading, I'm currently trying to lose 10 - 15 lbs and there's a lot of good advice here.

I'm buying a treadmill this week. I figure even after I lose the weight, I'll still use it a few times a week to stay in shape.
 
I know this is bad, but I drop weight like nothing if I stick to fish and only eating before 5. I usually only eat one meal a day, but sometimes I'll eat breakfast and then at 2pm and then nothing for the rest of the day. It's the only thing that works for me. For me, I can eat anything I want...fries, bacon, whatever as long as I eat it for lunch and then don't eat anything after 4 or 5pm.

Well... I am a wine lover, so I do drink 2-3 glasses at night.
 
Haha I know I'm going to catch a lot of shit on this site for saying this, but watch out for sugar withdrawls. I read about them while researching the whole carb cycling, and thought it was a joke. However, on the ZERO carb day, I am one cranky S.O.B. People don't realize how much sugar they consume everyday, and when it's taken away, it can make you quite the irritable bastard. If you think about it, you've been consuming sugar(usually excessive sugars) your entire life, and to suddenly take them away sucks. I quit a 3 year nicotine habit, and that was a breeze compared to getting used to having no sugar all day.

Sugar withdrawal is very real. Sweets are addictive due to a very strong dopamine release in response to their ingestion. I've seen dizziness and irritability carry on for as long as three weeks after a complete stop of sugar intake.

I absolutely require a complete removal of sugar from the diet of my clients, so I see the withdrawal symptoms pretty often.
 
Sugar withdrawal is very real. Sweets are addictive due to a very strong dopamine release in response to their ingestion. I've seen dizziness and irritability carry on for as long as three weeks after a complete stop of sugar intake.

I absolutely require a complete removal of sugar from the diet of my clients, so I see the withdrawal symptoms pretty often.

Haha alright at least one person believes me. Yah, to be honest, I thought it was a load of bullshit myself. I'm just about on my 4th week of the carb cycling, and on the no carb/sugar days, I'm still quite pissy. I also feel more rundown which I expected, but I upped my fat intake because I read fats would in turn take the place of carbs as an energy source. Keto diet I believe.

RAbbi, you think my body will eventually adapt to the different energy source, and I'll start feeling a little better?
 
It has nothing to do with adapting, it's only breaking the habit of the hormonal response to sugar and simple carbohydrates.

If you look at the Krebs Cycle, your body can derive energy from protein, carbs, or fat. The only difference is that your body replaces glycogen with ketone bodies generated in the liver from protein and/or fats when your carbohydrate intake is low.

I personally don't buy into carb cycling. I give my clients the simple plan of replacing grains, beans and potatoes with green vegetables and replacing the caloric intake with fat. It usually takes them a few weeks to a month to break the habit. High carbohydrate intake is never healthy (google search deadly quartet for some great info relating many modern diseases to hyperinulinemia) so I try to get them to a carb intake of no greater than 40% of total calories.
 
DD's post is spot on.

Eliminate processed foods and drinks with carbohydrates in them and do even a tiny bit of exercise and you will drop weight incredibly fast. It really is THAT simple. Its just hard to get yourself to actually do it consistently.
 
5lbs of bodyfat = 17,500 calories

That means you need to accumulate a 17,500 calorie reduction below your maintenance level (whatever caloric level is required for YOUR metabolism to maintain its weight steady).

Cutting anymore than 500 calories a day below maintenance is not very healthy..

cutting 500 calories out of your diet a day will result in about 1lb of weightloss a week.

You must keep up with strength resistance exercising otherwise you will be losing muscle and fat (you don't want this of course you need your muscles).
 
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