Hello from Lauren!!
 

Hi there. I am Lauren and I am here to lose 37 pounds by May 15. My birthday is May Second and I love my dog, Buddy. I would love to make some friends here !

Welcome aboard the forum. This is a great spot to find ideas, get answers and be inspired. Don't be shy, all questions are good questions.

Thank you very much!

Welcome Lauren! Congratualtions on committing to a better you!

Do any of you have any good suggestions for weight loss? :)

Different things work for different people, what has worked well for me is this basic daily plan:

1 hour workout
2 servings of whole grain, low-fat, carbohydrates
3 servings of fruit
4-7 servings of low-fat lean protein
8 8oz glasses of water
9-10 servings of vegetables

I also try and put 10K on my pedometer, keep my calories below 1,600 and my calorie pie at 40-40-20 (carbs, proteins, fats). The other thing is that I start again every meal, even if the last one was bad.

Thanks so much, I will try that. I hope it works for me. Would it help to do extra sit ups and weight work? I have a few questions...I hope they don't annoy you!

Does it work to concentrate on one particular area of the body (say, legs or abs?).
Do you lose more weight if you become a vegetarian?
If one ate nothing except yogurt for lunch and breakfast would they lose weight?

a full body workout will do wonders.

Some of the vegetarians that I know are the worst eaters... cheese fries, potato chips, garbage food... but it's not meat so they call themselves vegetarians.

IMO you want balanced meals that include a good protein, carb and a good fat. One of my favorite breakfasts is oatmeal, a protein shake and some almonds. Which is:
Protein shake = 180 grams (3/4 serving) of ff milk, 100 grams of ff cottage cheese
Oatmeal = 1 serving of Quaker quick oats, made with water
Almonds = 1/2 serving

this equates to:
475 cals (probably more than what most people here take in for breakfast)
95.g fat (18%)
45.8g carbs (39%)
51.1g protein (43%)

This will usually hold me over for a few hours and give me some energy.

Working out is always good, I think it helps to vary your workouts, keeps your body confused and your mind less bored. It helps to concentrate on particular areas of the body while you are working on them, like when you work the deltoids try to feel the muscle contract etc. But like Mike said you have to work them all for the most benefit.

Becoming vegetarian for weight loss typically counter acts the additional exercise. When you beat the muscles up, you need to feed them some protein and meat is a very good source of protein. However, if you are already on the fence politically and socially, by all means go veggy. But educate yourself on how to get enough protein as a dieting vegetarian.

I suppose you can lose weight eating just yogurt for breakfast and lunch, it all depends on what you eat for snacks and dinner. So if you eat only a low-fat, low-cal yogurt for breakfast and lunch, 200 calories total, but then bust out starving at dinnertime and eat 2,500 calories of double cheese, deep dish, meat lovers pizza, then no I don't think you can lose weight that way. Personally I would get bored out of my mind and cheat like crazy after maybe 3-4 days of eating just yogurt for breakfast and lunch.

!
 

Do you journal your food yet? That is the best way to see what you are really eating on a daily bases and will help you figure out what you need to change.

Good Luck!:)

Questions are good!

Not really, if you mean to lose fat deposits in an area should you work that area. For example, i have a bit of a beer gut. Doing crunches all day won't make the fat there disappear any faster than running and burning the same calories. Fat is pulled relatively evenly from around the body. You just want to make sure you are burning more calories than you are consuming. FitDay will be great for doing that, so it's good you found it.

You can, but that would be solely an artifact of a reduction in consumption of high calorie density foods. Remember, things like Twizzlers, Twinkies and beer are vegetarian, but consuming those in quantity won't help you lose weight.

It is possible to lose weight eating anything. There was a nutrition professor who ate nothing but Twinkies all day and lost weight to prove the point that it's simply a matter of if you are eating more calories than you consume. However that is only one dimension of it. You want to make sure that your dietary habits through the day are not causing you to binge eat at night. I did that many times in my past. I'd skip breakfast. I'd have almost nothing for lunch (like a bowl of soup), and a "sensible dinner." Then I would get a little hungry so have a couple potato chips. Then a couple more. Then some ice cream. Next thing you knew I was probably eating vastly more calories than i would with a balanced diet.

If you are a grazer like me it's good to eat many times throughout the day, 5-6 small meals rather than two to three big ones. Each one should be a good mix of carbs, fat and proteins. Make the protein about the size of the palm of your hands (probably about the size of a deck of cards) and a serving of vegetables about the size of your closed fist. If you track all of that in FitDay you should see that is putting you on a reasonable calorie count for the day for a typical loss diet (and if you bump those up a bit for maintenance).

However you are looking at a very aggressive weight loss schedule. You may have to reduce to less food than that. It is highly recommended that you not lose weight at the rate you are talking about, but it's not impossible. I've bucked the trend and done that in a relatively healthy way. The big thing I would make sure you do is make sure you are continuing to feed your body. If you drop too low in calories (and that level will depend on what you are eating) your body *will* cannibalize your muscle mass and thus lower your overall metabolism. That is what causes weight gain in people coming off of diets, along with unchanged habits. Use FitDay to make sure you are getting 100% of all your macronutrients (carbs, protein, fat) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). Also make sure that you are getting sufficient protein. I use the rule of thumb of 0.5 grams to 1 gram per pound of lean body mass. Exercise will be important here too.

Hope that helps, sorry for being so verbose.

No they are not. Meatless does not = vegetarian.

Twinkies have "vegetable and/or animal shortening... and beef fat".

My husband is veggie and I tend to eat a lot of vegetarian meals but still throw in the occasional fish or chicken just because :) If you are interested in going vegetarian please do the research and make sure that you are eating balanced meals. There are plenty of protein sources available, so that shouldn't be an issue. I would suggest checking out The Flexitarian Diet by Dawn Jackson Blatner, it has some really good recipes and covers all the basic nutrition questions that you might have. It's a way of easing into the veggie thing if that's what you want to do.

I would also say that staying along the outside walls of the grocery store will help as well, fresh produce, meats, etc stay away from things in boxes :)

I didn't realize that they were still (potentially mind you) using animal fat in twinkies. Most have converted over to vegetable shortening products. Twizzlers and beer are not only vegetarian but vegan. Twizzlers now has the PETA stamp of approval even. If you like, replace Twinkies with Oreos and you have the same net effect--vegetarian or vegan does not necessarily equal healthy. It is more than possible to eat a healthy vegetarian or vegan diet, and doing so will be very beneficial. However I'm just trying to point out that people shouldn't cleave to a surface label of a diet or food to determine whether it is healthy or not.

The Peta stamp on Twizzlers is just to show it is now Vegetarian friendly since they stopped using gelatin in the product. Hostess still uses beef fat and in some of their products animal shortening. Some of their products may list it as natural flavoring. The Drake bakery was bought by Hostess and they did promise to keep that brand free of animal fats.

I agree while one "way" of eating may better for some, another way may be better for others. IMO, the outer aisles are the best bet for anyone, regardless, of what label they fall under.