Hi, My name is April & I am very new to this kind of thing

I

i-can-do-this

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As my topic says, I'm new to this kind of thing but I think it would help me alot during my journey to lose weight. I'm currently 220 lbs & would like to lose around 80 lbs. It's going to be hard, I know but I've been huge all my life and I'm so tired of looking in the mirror and not liking what I see. I started yesterday walking on the treadmill. When I got home from work this morning I walked on the treadmill for 25 min & after lunch I walked for 30 min. Later I will walk another 20 min or so. I haven't started the diet foods but I have cut down on portions. That's going to be my down fall is the diet foods. I do love salads so I'll prolly eat alot of that. Any suggestions??

Thank u in advance!!

April
 
HI April,
I am new at this also. I am a 39 year old mom and i have lost 120 pounds. It took me 2 years to do this, i still have 40 more to go and if i could have gotten this far anyone can do it!!! It`s really hard trying to be on a diet and cook for the family. One advice i can give that worked for me is cut down on sugar, carbs, soda.....eat your food with a fork, no breads nor tortillas. Your doing excellent walking, that is what i am doing also. Just take one day at a time. When you get that sugar craze feeling , make yourself a coffee with splenda, that will help. I also had a green drink everyday in the evenings (no later than 6p.m.), half of the blender with crystal light drink, a handful of lettuce, a piece of celery and 1 cactus plant(nopal in spanish), i had this drink because i was doing the atkins diet. Well, with the atkins diet and this drink i am down 120 pounds. I hope this info is useful to you. Good luck
 
CONGRATS ON THAT WEIGHT LOSS!!!

My thing is that I LOVE Coke, but for the past 2 wks I have cut my self down to 1 a day but am trying to do just half of 1 now. I'm trying to wing myself off because all my life I've had all that caffeine and I tried stopping cold turkey but boy did I have migraines that I thought would never go away. But now I'm hooked on Crystal lite ( cheap kind ) it is so delicous. I do have a bad back. 2 yrs ago I fell on some ice and damaged my SI joint & they say there is nothing that can be done & I've had 2 knee surgery's. When I was younger the doctor kept telling my mother that it was growing pains & finally she just took me on to a specialist & found out that my knee was deteriating so that's where the 2 knee surgery's come from. So I have to be really careful on what excercise that I do but many people said that I could lose alot by doing the treadmill. What's your opinion on that??
 
i-can-do-this,

There are treadmills that has shock absorption built into them. They're more expensive than the usual ones, but I have tried them. They're really nice to use. When you walk, the floor of the treadmill moves up and down, according to your weight. Feels like you're walking on grass. Maybe if you do decide to shop for a gym to work out at, check the treadmills. If they have these type, then you would be better off using these, to reduce the impact on your knees.

Swimming is another great way to get started. Swim a lot back and forth, do it for a while, until you have lost half the weight before running. That way, you'll be at a lighter weight. Less stress on the knees.

As for the coke, I totally understand where you're coming from! :) I used to be a Diet Coke/ Diet Pepsi addict. I stopped drinking it for 3 weeks, and recently, at a birthday party, I drank some, and it was too much for me. Didn't really like the taste. Pepsi shocked my taste buds... There's so much sugar in that stuff. When you drink it all the time, it doesn't seem like a big deal. But after a while of not drinking it, you'd be surprised at how quickly your taste buds will say "whoa, Nelly!"

Anyhow, as for your knee issues, I would personally recommend that you do other exercises where you can take the weight off your knees. Bicycling, swimming, upper body weight training, ab training, etc. I would recommend that you should try to lose as much you can doing those things.

When you have reached the point in which you cannot lose anymore, then go for the treadmill, but try to use a shock absorption treadmill. But maybe you should check with your doctor first, and see if there were any supplements you can take for your knees. Calcium for bones, and something for the ligaments.

My back and knees used to hurt occasionally. But now that I have lost 20 pounds, there is no pain at all. It does make a difference.

Best of luck,
George
 
The best advice I can give is this:

1) don't view it as diet foods, but rather a lifestyle change. Portion control is a must and you don't have to eat salads all the time. Stay away from the 3 whites (sugar, salt and white flour) as much as possible. If limit those, you'd be surprised at how much weight you will shed.

2) don't be afraid to have a cheat day. Treat yourself 1 day a week, but don't over do it. A lot of people binge and eat as much junk food. If you have strong will power, keep some cookies or something around. When you start having those cravings, have 1. the craving will go away and you only consumed maybe 50-80 calories.

3) alter what you eat. If you have a salad every day for lunch, you will get tired of it. instead, just make healthy lifestyle changes. have a salad one day, a tuna sandwich on wheat bread and no mayo the next day, etc.

4) alter your workouts. After a while, your body will get adjusted to any workout routine you do and you will plateau. If you continue to alter your workout, your body won't have time to get adjusted.
 
Thanks for the advice!!

I really appreciate everyone's advice. I've lost 4 lbs so far so I'm getting somewhere but I'm thinking that is a bit much in a week. I hear alot about that you shouldn't lose more than 2 lbs a week. So I'm not sure what is going on. But I'm happy with the weight loss. It may just be 4 lbs but I can already feel a change going on even with my energy lever.

Thanks everyone!!

April
 
i-can-do-this said:
I really appreciate everyone's advice. I've lost 4 lbs so far so I'm getting somewhere but I'm thinking that is a bit much in a week. I hear alot about that you shouldn't lose more than 2 lbs a week. So I'm not sure what is going on. But I'm happy with the weight loss. It may just be 4 lbs but I can already feel a change going on even with my energy lever.

Thanks everyone!!

April
Click to expand...
The first couple of weeks you may notice a large amount of "weight" being shed off. Most of this will probably be water weight, so don't be disappointed when you start seeing 1-2 lb a week.
 
Your nearly there

Hi April,
You can do this, in fact "you are doing it" any tips for me please????? btw.. I love the name, well... the things I have learned over the last 3 weeks are eat everything in its natural state, learn to conquer your negative thought pattern with new healthy thoughts, weigh yourself twice a month, have plenty of grapes in the fridge, wear something tight that didnt fit you so you can work on the feeling of moving down a dress size, drink water b4 meals, if you have a bad day, get up and start again the next day, dont deprive yourself of what you really fancy, try and keep away from the family when they all start munching away, keep to the wlf with like minded people. Congrats on your weight loss, and what a steady pace you have gone at, thats a top secret I reckon.
take care
caroline
xx
 
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