Well, I guess it's better late than never, but I just found this post.
Anyway, I for one, know exactly what you're talking about. (Even though you sound like you're well on your way now)
I've been trying to lose weight for some time now, but with my recent knee surgery, that made it very difficult to excercise.
That aside...
I found an excellent website with a lot of USEFUL and HEALTHY tips. It's written very straight forward.
http://www.intense-workout.com
Here's some info from the "Weight Loss" section: (It's very long, but a GREAT read)
What I am about to give you is totally FREE, detailed, easy to understand information on weight loss and losing weight and how to lose weight and fat without using any type of pill or supplement, without using some "fitness magazine" diet, and by eating not 1, not 2, not 3, but 5 meals a day! Sound impossible? Sound too good to be true? Sound like I'm going to make you buy my "book" or order my "product" first before I tell you? Well I'm not! I don't have a book and I don't a have product. I am not trying to sell you a damn thing! What I am trying to do, no... what I am GOING to do, is tell you exactly how you can lose weight. Enjoy...
Weight loss is simple, burn more calories then you consume. If you can fully understand that then you are on your way to losing weight. There are 6 simple steps. Here they are:
1) Count how many calories you eat in a normal day. Thats right, wake up, and eat like you would normally eat and count the calories in everything you eat and everything you drink and keep track of it on a piece of paper or on the computer some where. You might be thinking to yourself, "yeah right, I'm not gonna sit around counting calories all day." Well, if your thinking that, then your obviously not dedicated enough to losing weight. If this is the case, then feel free to go waste your money on the newest useless weight loss pill. But, if you are dedicated enough to take 10 minutes out of your day and count the calories, then keep on reading.
2) At the end of that day, add up the number of calories you ate/drank. Be as exact as possible. Once you add it all up, you now have the total number of calories you consume daily. Also, weigh yourself.
3) Starting the day after you counted calories, eat 500 calories LESS then you normally do. So, lets pretend that the day you counted calories you counted 2000. For the rest of the week, you would eat 1500 calories a day. Understand? All you have to do is subtract 500 from the total number of calories you consume in a normal day, and eat this new number of calories every day for the next 7 days.
4) Instead of eating 3 big meals a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner), or eating all day all the time, spread those calories out over 5 smaller meals. Eat one meal every 2 and a half to 3 hours. Doing this will speed up your metabolism.
5) Cardio. Cardio is a must for weight loss. If your serious about losing weight, but don't want to do the cardio workouts, then you are wasting your time. Jog, walk, swim, jump rope, ride a bike, take an aerobics class, whatever.. just do it! All it takes is 30 minutes a day, 3 - 5 days a week. I say 3-5 days a week because I don't know if you have 5 pounds to lose, or if you have 50 pounds to lose. So, depending on how much your looking to lose, figure it out. 3 times a week is the minimum though. (For information on the most effective time of the day to do your cardio workout, read doing cardio for maximum weight loss)
6) At the end of that week, weigh yourself. You'll notice a difference just after one week! Now, don't expect to see a 20 pound difference. Losing anymore then 1 or 2 pounds a week is unhealthly. So look for a 1 or 2 pound weight loss at the end of the week. Don't sound like much? You can lose 5-8 pounds a month! Thats around 75lbs a year! So if you have ALOT of weight to lose, you can lose it. If have just a few pounds to lose, you can lose it.
Important weight loss tips for losing weight effectively! (extremely important!)
- THE FAT MUST GO! Stay away from fat! Get rid of all the chips and candy. No more fast food, nothing fried. No more cookies, no more cake, no more of these saturated fats. There is no question about it and there is no way around it, get rid of these types of foods. Don't get me wrong, there is no way to eat 0 grams of fat every day. BUT, the only places you should be getting any of your daily fat intake from are lean meats (not the fried fast food kind), chicken (again, not fried!), etc. as well as the foods that contain the "healthy" types of fat, which can be found in just about every type of fish (tuna fish, salmon, etc.), nuts and flaxseed oil.
- LOWER THE CARBS! Most people think that it is fat that makes people fat and that just by eating less fat, they are on their way to weight loss! WRONG! They are only half right. Carbs are just as bad (if not worse) than fat when it comes to losing weight. Stay away from high carb foods. Carbs will eventually turn into fat. Foods like bread, rice, pasta, potatos, etc. are high in carbs. Sure, you need some carbs, which is why foods like these are ok to eat, but only eat a little of it! Stick to high protein low carb/low fat foods like tuna fish (and other seafood), chicken breast, turkey, fruits and vegetables etc. (For more information, read the Diet and Nutrition section.)
- WATER! Drink water! Get rid of the soda, get rid of the beer, and get rid of the sports drinks. Drink around a half gallon of a day, more if you can. Spread it out throughout the day, just like your 5 meals. Yes thats alot of water, but its that water that will give you energy and speed your weight loss. (Zarah I read what you wrote about not being able to drink water, but surely there has to be SOMETHING you can do. I mean, water is GOOD for you. It's just terrible you have to limit the amount of water you drink.)
![:\](https://bluelight.org/xf/BL_Images/Orig_Emoji/wrygrin.gif "wry grin :\")
- STRENGTH TRAINING! YES! Weightlifting isn't just great for muscles, its great for losing weight. Muscles burn calories.
- Weigh yourself at the end of every week. If you ever have more then 2 weeks go by without losing 1 pound, its time to change something. Eat 250 less calories then you've been eating. And keep everything else the same. Each time you see weight loss stop for more then 2 weeks, decrease calorie intake by 250 until you get down to where you want to be. Remember, NEVER starve yourself!
- Sleep! YES! Sleep! The easiest, yet most over looked step. Get atleast 8 hours of sleep a night. Trust me, your gonna need it! =]
- Food cravings! Can't stop giving in to your food cravings?
Read this: food cravings (This guy gets VIOLENT in this section! Talking about "How in the HELL can you NOT eat something?" It's actually very motivational)
- Still don't understand weight loss yet? Read this: How to lose weight: My day in a weight loss chat room
There you have it. You now know everything you need to know about losing weight. You didn't have to buy any weight loss pills or books on losing weight, instead, you should use the money you just saved and go buy some good food or a gym membership.
Now, I never once said this would be easy. If it was easy, you would have done it already. Losing weight isn't something you can just do "on the side." You also can NOT lose weight fast. You are going to have to dedicate your mind and body and your time to doing it! So, you now have the information you need, all you have to do now is use it.
I'm not sure about you, but that's the type of stuff that motivates me.
I hope that has been atleast a little bit of help.
And not to steal your sunshine, but I too have lost ALMOST 10 lbs. I feel much better, I seem to be in a better mood and I have more energy now. I need to lose a lot more than just 10 lbs, but hey... you have to start somewhere.
I think any diet that says "eat all the fatty bacon you want but you can't have fruit because of the NATURAL sugars" is a crock of shit. I don't care if that diet works for some people... its become over-advertised and it needs to stop. I work at a restaurant where they pride themselves on having a TON of "low carb" selections. People ask me carb questions all the time. Its aggravating.
