Weight loss lifestyle change suggestions?

Question

I am 5'8" and weigh 165lb my ideal weight according to BMI charts is between 140-150. I am aiming for 145. So what i need are some practical (low budget) suggestions that i can add to my everyday life. I'm not trying to lose weight for an event or impress a guy I looking for something that will last... Help?

For those who didn't read the question (only one so far) I'm not looking for a diet fad that i'll probably quit in 48hours i'm looking for little details that make a big difference over time

Answer 1

Avoid "diets". They deprive you and don't last. People who siet always gain back the weight plus more.

Start drinking more COLD water. It will help your metabolism. Drink a full glass before each meal. It will help you feel more satisfied.

Stop overeating. That is when you eat until you are FULL. It takes your body about 15-20 minutes to register when you are full, and it usually takes about the size of your fist. So eat more slowly, and stop when you are no longer hungry.

Eat more than three meaels. When you stop eating when you are no longer hungry, you might get hungry again sooner, so eat 5-6 meals, and smaller portions. Don't skip meals and trick you body into going into "hoard mode" because it thinks you are starving.

Get enough of the right nutrients. Make sure you are eating a balanced diet. Don't overload on carbs and skimp on proteins. Pay attention to serving sizes. Many prepackaged foods are sneaky, and include 2 or more servings per package.

Quit snacking in front of the tv. You are more likely to space off and consume an entire bag of chips.....or lose track of what you're eating. Try one serving in it's own bowl, no more.

Switch what you eat and when. Make most of your carb intake in the morning and before exercise. It will give you more energy throughout the day. Also, your activity throughout the day will give your body a chance to burn it off.

Try a few new snack techniques. Instead of cake, pie, or cookies for dessert, try a raspberry yogurt with a handful of granola cereal on top. Instead of vending machine chips or candy at work, try toting a tupperware with sliced apples in plain yogurt with cinnamon on top. Instead of fast food for lunch, try a salad kit (from the gorcery store-dressing and crutons included) and some Tyson pre-cooked seasoned chicken strips on top.

QUIT DRINKING SODA. Go easy on the sports drinks and juices, too. They are calorie filled and give you about a third of your day's necessary calories per every 32 ounces. Switch tp iced teas and crystal light.

Eat less sauces, gravys, and dressings. Substitute for lemon juice, seasonings, and spices. Switch to breaded instead of batter fried foods.

Try new dinners and lunches, like broiled whitefish. Tilapia is good. Brush with olive oil, a squirt of lemon juice, and bake for 10 minutes on 350 uncovered, then top with sliced almonds, and move up rack and broil for 5 minutes. Serve with french-cut green beans with a squirt of lemon juice instead of butter, and one dinner roll with butter, or a rice dish (one scoop). If you are still hungry, wait a few more minutes. Follow up 30 minutes later with yogurt and granola, or a banana with chocolate syrup drizzled on it.

The point is to change the reason and the method of eating. Not to deprive you and starve you. You can add years to your life and improve your health greatly by making a few simple changes. And you can learn a few new foods that will satisfy you and not make you feel all sleepy from being stuffed.

For more tips, go to www.drphil.com.

Answer 2

There has been a lot of good advice given in response to your question; but there are a few things missing and a couple of things I feel are incorrect.

The key definitely is eating 5-6 smaller meals a day instead of 3 large ones.

And one of the most important things is NEVER NEVER, EVER, EVER skip breakfast! Whether or not you eat when your wake up in the morning determines your body's metabolism for the entire day. Skipping breakfast will cause your body to go into "starvation mode" decreasing your metabolism by 10-20% (increasing the number of calories your body stores as fat).

Try to eat within one hour of waking up, and preferably unsweetened, unflavored oatmeal (you can add your own cinnamon, dried fruit, and milk) or some other whole grain cereal.

According to studies done by Men's Health eating food before you go to bed does not make you gain weight; however, eating foods high in carbohydrates late in the day will cause your body to store these carb calories as fat. So, try not to eat any carb heavy foods (breads, potatoes, rice, pasta, etc.) after 4pm or 6 hours before you go to bed.

Definitely stop drinking soda and avoid any food that contains large amounts of high fructose corn syrup, and any food that contains trans fats.

Say you currently drink one 12 oz soda a day. If your were to drink water instead; and made no other dietary changes, in one year's time you would lose 5 lbs.

Another key is make sure all your meals are high in protein (chicken/turkey breast, eggs, milk, lean beef, and whey protein powder). And high in fiber before 4pm.

Cardio is good and you should try to get at least one 30 minute cardio workout a week (two if you can fit it into your schedule), but more important is weight training.

Two, preferably three, times a week you should do a 30-40 minute total body weight training workout. The reason why weight training is more important than Cardio is that weight training builds more muscle, and the more muscle your body has the more calories it will consume to support the muscle, hence the more fat you will burn.

Probably, like most women, you think lifting weights will make you too big or muscular; but it won't. Unless you are taking steroids or spending 12 hours a week in the gym; as a women, you do not have the hormones required to put on huge amounts of muscle mass, weight training will only tone your muscles, not dramatically increase them in size.

The South Beach diet is a good diet; however, the Abs Diet is the best diet around by far. It is similar to South Beach, but focuses on 12 power food groups. The goal is to get as many as these power foods as possible into each meal. The idea behind this is that the more good foods you squeeze into each meal, the less room there is for bad foods.

A good mnemonic to remember the power foods list is, Abs Diet Power:

A - Almonds and other Nuts
B - Beans and other Legumes
S - Spinach and other Green Vegetables
D - Dairy Products
I - Oatmeal
E - Eggs
T - Turkey Breast and other lean Meats
P - Peanut Butter
O - Olive oil and Canola oil
W - Whole Grain Breads and Cereals
E - Extra Protein (Whey) Powder
R - Raspberries and other Berries

Good Luck!

Answer 3

Okay, you absolutely must include physical activity to your life. At least three or four times a week do something aerobic (like run, bicycle, swim, or even walk) for AT LEAST 20 minutes each time, I would try to push that out to 40 minutes over time as your body gets more comfortable with the excercise.

Then, there's lots of tips with regard to diet. 1) If you're a soda drinker, limit that to one soda per week. Even diet sodas have sodium which makes you retain water and feel and look heavier. 2) Eat healthy, well rounded meals most of the time. Don't eat fast food, even their healthy choices are usually disguised with unhealthy stuff...seriously these companies want you to believe that they're trying to be more health conscious, but it's still not as good as making your own meals (which is cheaper too). 3) If you're going to cheat on your diet, try to only do that once a month. 4) If you're used to having a dessert after every meal (and by dessert I mean sugary desserts like cookies, cake, ice cream, etc.), you should limit that to only once or twice a week and eat fresh fruits for your dessert instead for the rest of the week...and be careful of pineapple (it has almost as much sugar as a candy bar)...

Answer 4

Add in more fresh vegetables to at least your lunch and dinner meals. And eliminate or cut waaaaaaay back on refined sugar. You'll be surprised how much sugar is contained in many products we eat. Switch out white rice to brown, white bread to whole grain, white potatoes to yams or sweet potatoes. And finally, grill or broil most of your meats. Those are changes most people can easily live with and the weight will come off gradually.

Answer 5

Eat every 2 hours a meal that should be healthy & less than 150kcal. Eat 7 dates at least as one meal a day. Eat Grill fish minimum 4 times a week. Use Organic Sunflower Oil in your cooking. DO NOT DRINK WHILE EATING drink minimum 30 minutes after the meal. Sleep 2 hours after last meal. Do not stop eating anything you like.

Answer 6

South Beach Diet – This diet limits the amount of carbohydrates that you consume in the first two weeks. The following is allowed in the first two weeks; chicken breast, turkey breast, turkey bacon, all types of seafood, boiled ham, Canadian bacon, low fat or fat free lunchmeat, cheese that is low-fat or fat-free such as cottage cheese, cheddar, cream cheese, nuts, peanut butter, pecans, eggs (whole or egg substitute), vegetables (Artichokes, asparagus, beans and legumes, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, cucumbers, eggplant, lettuce, mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, zucchini), canola and olive oil, all spices as long as no sugar has been added. Sweets (limit to 75 calories per day): Chocolate powder (no added sugar), cocoa powder (baking type), hard candy, sugar substitute (all sugar-free unless otherwise specified). After the second weeks slowly add carbohydrates into you diet although after two weeks your body will not be craving them.

After being on the south beach diet for just two short weeks you will see a drop at least one whole size a long with feeling healthier and seeing results in your blood pressure and blood sugar levels.

Eating five smaller meals rather than three larger ones will keep your sugar levels stable eliminating highs and lows in your levels, which will slow down weight loss. Your metabolism will stay stable allowing you to lose weight more rapidly. Discontinue eating foods after you have had supper (your body has to work overtime to burn up food eaten that late in the evening).

It has been proven repeatedly that eating five small meals will have a dramatic change in your weight. On average, a typical person will lose five to ten pounds in the first two weeks. Losing weight will help add years to your life, improve your health ailments and have you living a long and healthy life.

Answer 7

create emergency packs filled with healthy foods such as nuts fruits or sliced vegetables to help you avoid unhealthy temptations

Answer 8

the omega 3 fatty acids in salmon may dial up your bodys ability to burn fat especially if you add some exercise

Answer 9

Yeh - eat more veggies and less junk food. Maybe do something that has physical exercise in it like walking, riding a bike or similar.

Answer 10

wiggle while you watch for 40 minutes fidgeters burn up to 350 more calories a day than couch potatoes