Unsure of where to start...

I'm brand new. I want to make a change, and I know that I need to eat less and healthier, and exercise more. But I don't have a specific "plan". I've tried diet plans before and I felt like there were too much of a commitment, and I gave up, so I'm afraid if I expect too much of myself that I will fail yet again.

That's where I need help. I need a plan that is doable for my busy and transient life. I'm home for the summer from college and every day is different. I can't do the same exact thing everyday. I want to lose 30 pounds in the next 3 months - 10 pounds a month, 2 pounds a week. I don't like exercising and the gym is far away so I need to be able to do stuff at home or outside.

Any advice would be appreciated more than you know!!

Tue. May 15, 5:59pm

1. You can do it! You've already taken one first step - joining PeerTrainer! Stick with it, and you will succeed. Your goals are totally reaslitic, but will take lots of hard work.

2. Start by logging a few days of how you eat and exercise right now. Pay attention to the nutritional value of each food - how many calories, fat, protein, etc. Also pay attention and write down the portions. Be aware of when and why you eat. Are you eating because it is "time"? Are you eating because you are bored or stressed out? Are you eating because you are actually hungry?

3. Evaluate your eating. Are there healthy foods you could ADD to your diet to improve it? Are you getting 5 servings of fruits and veggies? Are you eating whole grains, or just white rice and french fries? Could you cut back on portions of high fat foods - for example, eating 1/2 cup of ice cream instead of a pint.

4. If you aren't ready to count calories or grams of protein, I suggest portion control. Almost anything is okay in moderation - but that means really sticking to one serving. If you really can't stop at one serving of a food, it might be easier for you to cut that out of your diet. Don't go back for seconds if you aren't hungry, and don't finish everything on your plate. Even leaving three bites at every meal can mean a little bit of weight loss.

5. Find an activity you DO like. Maybe you can walk a neighbor's dog, or try rock climbing at a local gym. Maybe swimming, biking, yoga, frisbee, jumping rope, salsa dancing, boxing on the Nintendo Wii... anything to get you moving that you enjoy!

Tuesday, May 15, 2007, 6:38 PM

Welcome!

A good place to start is by tracking your calories. You can't really know what adjustments you eed to make in your diet if you don't know what you are eating. Use your peer trainer log to keep track of every bite and then count up the calories. Once you know how much you are eating, you will be able to figure out where you want to make changes. Also try adding more fresh fruits and veggies, and minimizing your intake of processed foods.

Personally, in addition to peertrainer for support, I used a website called www.fitday.com to track my calories.

As for the exercise, don't worry so much about it at first. If you make too many changes at once it can seem overwhelming. Try to move more - take the steps instead of the elevator, park at the end of the parking lot, etc. Try taking a walk after dinner or on your lunch break. Every little bit helps!

Good luck to you!

Tuesday, May 15, 2007, 6:43 PM

i feel the same way!

I have always been the type of person who would like to lose wheight but is tyed up with a busy life and is unable to keep a steedy diet plain. My advise for you is to stick with peertrainer and lose some serious weight. I also just started and already can see the results. keep trying to find differnt ways to get exersise. I also dont like a whole lot of exersise, but what worker for me is dancing. I am usualy only at home at night and watching some dancing vidos helped. I also dont like working out in front of alot of people witch also worker out at home.
Hope you see some good results. good luck!!

Tuesday, May 15, 2007, 6:47 PM

Wow, thanks so much for all your help! Any more advice is greatly appreciated.

Has anyone had any success with the Fat Smash diet? It seems a lot like South Beach, which I tried and was too hard for me to stay on.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007, 11:26 PM

dont diet. Workout and make healthy food choices

Wednesday, May 16, 2007, 3:00 AM

Most popular diets are really just ways of "tricking" yourself into cutting calories (by cutting out certain food groups.) They are hard to stay on indefinitely, b/c you'll cheat to get the food group that you're missing, so they generally don't lead to permanent weight loss.

That being said, doing one for a little while, to kick-start some weight loss, might not be a bad idea, as long as you have a plan as to how to add the "forbidden" foods back in, in small quantities, and to regulate everything else.

Think of changing your diet really in terms of substitution. Can you substitute water or diet soda for regular soda? Substitute whole grain bread for white. Substitute baked chips for regular, then air-popped popcorn for the light chips. Turkey bacon for regular. Turkey sandwich w/ mustard and lots of veggies instead of roast beef with mayo and cheese. Burger w/o the bun instead of with the bun. Skipping the butter and sour cream (or maybe using just a little light sour cream) on a baked potato. Skipping the whipped cream on the Starbucks, and ordering the "light" or "sugar free" version.

Just pick a couple substitutions that you can handle, and incorporate them for a few weeks. Then add a couple more. And then a couple more. Soon enough, you'll be eating really healthily, and it'll be habit, and you won't feel denied, so you'll be able to stick to it better.

Also, make small goals for yourself - i.e. lose 5 lbs, then reward yourself for that. Making a goal of 30 lbs is a little bit frusterating, b/c it'll take a long time to get there (honestly, probably longer than 3 months), and you don't want to get discouraged. Once you reach the first mini goal, reward yourself (mani/pedi, new gym clothes, whatever works for you), and make a new mini goal. Then you'll be able to reach milestones on your way to your goal weight, and be proud of what you've accomplished that far!

Wednesday, May 16, 2007, 9:40 AM

I started by making one change a week.
example : Week one - increase water consumption
Week two - try one new veggie every day (and don't load it with butter!)
Week three - exercise at least four time this week (and keep it that way!)

take your time and set small goals. you can do it!!!!

Wednesday, May 16, 2007, 9:40 AM

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