1LikesTips please
Hi all I need to loose 140lbs.Anyone have any tips please help me out.I am 34years old and I have tried everything.
08-31-2013, 03:24 AM
#2
Super Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 2,225
Have you tried self-hypnotism? Sometimes, it helps when you've tried 'everything' else. It is no substitute for tracking your food intake and staying within a calorie limit, but it does help in other areas like motivation and reducing anxiety.
12-07-2013, 07:34 AM
#3
FitDay Member
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 18
I have a great deal of weight to lose as well. The best advice I can find is don't make yourself miserable. The key to long term weight loss in large amounts is long term behavior modification. You can't do something for a week or a month. Because of this, many of us eat foods we don't like, give up whole food groups, or force ourselves into unhappy exercise, then can't keep it up - because no one is going to do something that makes them miserable for the long term.
Be honest. Honest about the foods you will eat, honest about the exercise you can do, honest about what you can commit to. If something is not pleasurable, you won't do it. That does not mean you lack will power - it means you are human, and the brain has evolved to keep you supplied with dopamine. So pick out foods that you enjoy eating, pick out the nutrient dense ones and eat those in small amounts.
No one wants to do it, but in the beginning you will need to weigh your food or count the calories. I recommend starting at 2,000. You can lose a lot of weight on 2,000 calories, and if you work all day you will need them to keep your energy up. You will be tempted to negotiate calories (I can eat this today if I don't eat this tomorrow....ect) This will not work. You really need to stick to your guns on the 2,000. I once calculated that even 200 calories a day (once slice of cheddar+one apple) over 2,000 every day will actually cause you to gain.
Also, the calorie killer is eating out. Even if the calories are on display, most of the time most chain restaurants don't measure out the amounts of sauces and oil exactly when cooking. It may say 500 calories and really be 1,000. If you want to stick to 2,000 you need to make your own food.
Find out if you are insulin resistant - if you have a muffin and a glass of orange juice do you go into an exhaustion coma? This means your body produces insulin differently, and you will need to make sure you are eating protein and fat with your carbs to slow down your insulin response.
Choose an easy exercise that costs no money, and you enjoy. I suggest walking. Walk an hour outside of your usual activities. Go at a comfortable pace. Not slow and meandering, not fast.
Also, sometimes you will have a shitty day, and go over your calories. That is life. The key is that the next day you get back on the horse and don't use it as an excuse to throw the whole week away.
If you can do this for a year, you will lose at least half the weight. It is going to be annoying because you are going to want external validation from the scale, and that will end up happening slowly when you want it to happen quickly. If you are very big, you will also have to wait for the "Have you lost weight?" exclamations that feel so good.
But if you can do it - eat foods you enjoy in the right amounts, eat nutrient dense foods, make sure your meals have fat, carbs and protein in every meal, walk an extra hour every day, it really will work.
Be honest. Honest about the foods you will eat, honest about the exercise you can do, honest about what you can commit to. If something is not pleasurable, you won't do it. That does not mean you lack will power - it means you are human, and the brain has evolved to keep you supplied with dopamine. So pick out foods that you enjoy eating, pick out the nutrient dense ones and eat those in small amounts.
No one wants to do it, but in the beginning you will need to weigh your food or count the calories. I recommend starting at 2,000. You can lose a lot of weight on 2,000 calories, and if you work all day you will need them to keep your energy up. You will be tempted to negotiate calories (I can eat this today if I don't eat this tomorrow....ect) This will not work. You really need to stick to your guns on the 2,000. I once calculated that even 200 calories a day (once slice of cheddar+one apple) over 2,000 every day will actually cause you to gain.
Also, the calorie killer is eating out. Even if the calories are on display, most of the time most chain restaurants don't measure out the amounts of sauces and oil exactly when cooking. It may say 500 calories and really be 1,000. If you want to stick to 2,000 you need to make your own food.
Find out if you are insulin resistant - if you have a muffin and a glass of orange juice do you go into an exhaustion coma? This means your body produces insulin differently, and you will need to make sure you are eating protein and fat with your carbs to slow down your insulin response.
Choose an easy exercise that costs no money, and you enjoy. I suggest walking. Walk an hour outside of your usual activities. Go at a comfortable pace. Not slow and meandering, not fast.
Also, sometimes you will have a shitty day, and go over your calories. That is life. The key is that the next day you get back on the horse and don't use it as an excuse to throw the whole week away.
If you can do this for a year, you will lose at least half the weight. It is going to be annoying because you are going to want external validation from the scale, and that will end up happening slowly when you want it to happen quickly. If you are very big, you will also have to wait for the "Have you lost weight?" exclamations that feel so good.
But if you can do it - eat foods you enjoy in the right amounts, eat nutrient dense foods, make sure your meals have fat, carbs and protein in every meal, walk an extra hour every day, it really will work.
12-07-2013, 09:27 AM
#4
Super Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 2,225
I'll second that 'make your own food' idea. This can be dangerous if you end up really liking the food you make to the point that you overeat. There are so many many books out there now that give you terrific recipes if you're a 'foodie' (someone who loves to explore food tastes and recipes) and so many that give you terrific recipes if you are not (the 3-ingredient cookbook, microwave cooking for one, low-fat cooking, pressure cooker cooking, crockpot cooking). They all offer low-fat and low-calorie meal recipes.
When I think back to when the only low-calorie cookbooks were plain and simple, I'm amazed at how far we've come. The internet (wow, search that if you want to spend a couple DAYS at your computer, looking at recipes!) and specialized food interests (gluten-free, low-carb, vegan, low-fat, etc.) have just expanded food horizons incredibly.
I have a set of old cookbooks that creates fast food in the home kitchen, achieving most of the same tastes you find in the drive-through restaurants. Tweak them a little bit and they have fewer calories, sometimes a lot fewer calories. Wow! Not that I do this much (OK, for a breakfast sandwich, yes) but it's definitely an option.
When I think back to when the only low-calorie cookbooks were plain and simple, I'm amazed at how far we've come. The internet (wow, search that if you want to spend a couple DAYS at your computer, looking at recipes!) and specialized food interests (gluten-free, low-carb, vegan, low-fat, etc.) have just expanded food horizons incredibly.
I have a set of old cookbooks that creates fast food in the home kitchen, achieving most of the same tastes you find in the drive-through restaurants. Tweak them a little bit and they have fewer calories, sometimes a lot fewer calories. Wow! Not that I do this much (OK, for a breakfast sandwich, yes) but it's definitely an option.
06-15-2014, 04:49 AM
#6
FitDay Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 1
I feel like I have tired everything too. Finally, for the very first time I feel like I have the answer. I would suggest that you read "It Starts With Food" by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig. It has truly changed my life. No more cravings for sweets and empty carbs. I've been doing Whole 30 and eating as much of the suggested foods as I want and the weight keeps dropping off. I was one of those sweet then salty eaters and could go back and forth all day long without feeling full. Also, I would suggest watching the documentary "Fed Up" ... it is great to see the reason behind the weight issues. I'm still not exercising as much as I should but I am working up to it. 
06-19-2014, 07:35 PM
#7
FitDay Member
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 4
Smaller Increments
I would suggest making attainable, incremental goals. 140 sounds like a lot of weight, but if you break it up into much smaller increments, you will find yourself reaching goals more quickly. Try 5 (or even 2 or 3) at a time! Also, weekly goals (1.5 pounds) are attainable, as well. Best wishes and be good to yourself!
06-25-2014, 01:59 AM
#8
FitDay Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 1
This was first posted in 2013, and people are still replying to it! 
For those still reading this thread looking for the same kind of answer, believe it or not, before you can lose weight, you need to know WHY you're eating so much in the first place. Why are you packing on the pounds? Sure, you're putting in more calories than you are dishing out, so your body stores the extra, but I mean, WHY are you still eating when technically you're not hungry? Your body obviously isn't really starving, yet you continue to eat.
Explore the question why first and foremost before tackling any food dietary plan. No matter what you do food-wise, it will make no difference if you don't address the why.
For me, it was stress. When I stressed out, I sought out food as a means of comfort and to de-stress. Once I addressed my stress WITHOUT food, the food part became easier.
What's your why?
For those still reading this thread looking for the same kind of answer, believe it or not, before you can lose weight, you need to know WHY you're eating so much in the first place. Why are you packing on the pounds? Sure, you're putting in more calories than you are dishing out, so your body stores the extra, but I mean, WHY are you still eating when technically you're not hungry? Your body obviously isn't really starving, yet you continue to eat.
Explore the question why first and foremost before tackling any food dietary plan. No matter what you do food-wise, it will make no difference if you don't address the why.
For me, it was stress. When I stressed out, I sought out food as a means of comfort and to de-stress. Once I addressed my stress WITHOUT food, the food part became easier.
What's your why?
05-16-2017, 01:56 AM
#10
FitDay Member
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 2
I would suggest making attainable, incremental goals. 140 sounds like a lot of weight, but if you break it up into much smaller increments, you will find yourself reaching goals more quickly. Try 5 (or even 2 or 3) at a time! Also, weekly goals (1.5 pounds) are attainable, as well. Best wishes and be good to yourself!
