|
Author: Delory
Date: 10-31-03 20:09
At least not food-wise. I didn't do the soup/salad dinner tonight... instead I ate some Indian food which included fried wheat bread (called parathas) and of course fried spiced potatoes. I tried to really decrease my portions but I feel terrible. If I keep doing this I will never lose weight. I did exercise for half an hour again today but I almost feel like it isn't enough. Should I be doing more? Maybe 2 half hour sessions a day?
I hear people talk about losing weight and still eating whatever they want as long as they cut down the portion size, but I have a hard time doing that too! I feel really upset with myself... three hours after a nice workout I go and eat and gain whatever calories I lost right back!
Just needed to vent!! Thanks for reading...
|
|
Reply To This Message
|
|
Author: Gary
Date: 11-01-03 04:37
First, do not allow one lost battle to discourage you, simply make up your mind not to let it happen several times in the same week, an occasional calorie splurge might not be a problem, but if it happens too often then you are defeating your own efforts.
Second, it is generally understood that about 80% of weight loss comes from reducing calories and about 20% from exercise (exercise is still important though becuase it also improves your health in other ways besides just helping to lose weight).
You mentioned about some people saying they can eat whatever they want and still lose weight as long as they cut down the portion size, but then you admit you have trouble cutting down the portion size yourself so that might not be the best method for you right now, perhaps if when you eat a meal you first fill up on low calorie stuff like vegetables and that might help you to limit the portion sizes on the higher calories stuuf because you will already be almost full from the vegetables.
This is VERY important to remember -
You can't simply guess at how many calories you might be eating in a day, and simply hope that a smaller portion size will be low calorie, some foods, especially fried foods, can be high in calories even in smaller portions, so in order for your efforts to be effective you must make sure that your daily calorie intake is less than what the daily "maintaince" calories would be for your weight.
Keep this basic rule in mind each day -
The calories you eat in a day MUST be lower than your "daily maintiance calories" (for your current weight) in order to lose weight.
Now in order to do that, you have to keep an accurate account of all the calories you eat as you go thru the day so you stay under your "daily maintaince calories", just guessing and hoping that smaller portion sizes might be lowering the calories enough is not accurate enough, you need to know what calories you are eating because most people, (before they really start keeping close track), usually find they were eating a lot more calories in a day than what they thought they were eating.
So - here is a good place to start,
first you should find out what your current "daily maintaince calories" are according to your age, height, weight, ect. and once you know that all you do is reduce your daily calories by 500 per day for each pound you want to lose per week.
Here is an online calculator where you can find out what your daily maintaince calories would be -
http://www.dietitian.com/ibw/ibw.html
Remember that one pound of weight is equal to 3500 calories,
so if you eat 500 less calories per day than what your "daily maintaince calories" is for your current weight, then you should lose one pound per week, (1000 less per day = 2 pounds per week), just make sure to eat healthy foods to get your proper nutrition, and don't go under 1200 calories a day without getting your doctor's ok, and anyone should see their doctor first anyhow before starting any serious weight loss program.
7 X 500 calories = 3500 calories per week
....and here is an online database of calories (and other nutritients) in various foods, just type in the type of food and hit enter on your keyboard -
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/cgi-bin/nut_search.pl
Weight loss is just basic math, eat less calories than you burn per day and you will lose weight !
....so make sure your efforts are effective by keeping an accurate account of your daily calories and you will have success !!!!!
You CAN do it - so stay encouraged !!!!!
Gary 360/175/175
|
|
Reply To This Message
|
|
Author: Delory
Date: 11-02-03 11:57
Gary, thank you so much for your informative response. You're right about something... I am definitely doing a lot of guesswork when counting my calories for the day. I am eating less so I know the number must be less, but I still have no idea what the number actually is. I'm just learning how difficult it is to get caloric contents for ethnic, homecooked foods.
The science behind weight loss makes it sound so incredibly easy - as you said, eating less calories than you burn per day will obviously help the pounds come right off. I think I may need to stave off the majority of Indian meals for now, at least. I am used to eating at least one every day (that's what happens in Indian families... lots of food everywhere!) but I think... in fact, I KNOW... that it's not going to get me very far if I keep it up. I may just cut it down to once or twice a week instead, but with smaller servings.
Thanks again, especially for those links. You have helped me out so much!
|
|
Reply To This Message
|
|
Author: Delory
Date: 11-02-03 12:00
Fabulous, thank you so much for posting that! It made me feel about a hundred times better. I was beating myself up over my little slip up earlier, but I don't feel too bad about it now. I just need to make sure not to do it repeatedly.
I definitely don't intend on eating soup and salad for dinner for the rest of my life... I don't think I could! I like the idea of splurging a little bit on one day of the week and maintaining healthy eating for the rest of the week. I don't think I'm the sort to "pig out" though. I usually don't eat chips or cookies or candy, but it's the actual meal itself that gets me... lots of spiced vegetables and fried breads and things. It's a lifetime habit that's hard to break!
Thanks again for your help :)
|
|
Reply To This Message
|
|
Click here
for a great cookbook
with quick & healthy
recipes
Weight Lifting
For Absolute Beginners:
Illustrated Guide
CLICK HERE
|
