Diet advise needed?

Question

I am looking for the least expensive, and easiest to follow, simple and healthy diet. My son and I want to loose weight for our health and we are using the goal of a cruise we have planned for November. He was given the cruise for his high school graduation...but we don't have a lot of money for fancy foods. We both need to lose at least 50 lbs but we want something that will be easy to follow. I can probably last on any diet, but I really don't want my son to fail. We plan on starting an exercise routine tomorrow.

Answer 1

You have to make lifestyle changes to lose weight (fat) and keep it off. Fad diets make you lose a lot of weight in a short amount of time but all you lose actually is water weight and muscle and slow down your metabolism and then gain back more than lost because were not able to keep following it (who could?)
You have to eat 5-6 small meals a day - that way your body gets calories when it needs them and doesnt have any extra left to store in fat reserves, keeps blood sugar more stable, make healthy food choices - 5-8 servings of fruit and veggies a day, protein, complex carbs, healthy fats, drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. stay away from junk food, fried foods, anything made out of white flower, white rice, cakes, sugar, cookies, ketchup, dressings, sodas, alcohol etc.
Cardio is the only fat burning exercise (we cant spot reduce body fat) and it burns fat all over your body but you have to do it 4-6 times a week for average of 45min - those are running, jogging, elliptical, rope jumping, swimming etc. and do some light weight training a few times a week - the more muscle you have the faster your metabolism.
and take multivitamin, Omega or Flax oil capsules with breakfast.

Answer 2

Have you heard of Herbalife? They have a great weight loss plan for people who are serious about loosing weight. They have a shake and supplement diet that works great if you stick to the plan and you will see results the first month. If your just looking for a supplement that you can take you need to try the Total Control. Anyway if you go to mydiet4u.com you can put in your information and someone will call you and tell you about there product line and the sample pack that you could get for free just having to pay for shipping or you can just start on the products. THey have a 30 money back guarantee so you can lose. Anyway I would recommend that you registar on that site and you can also check out there product website at www.hugenutritionmall.com and look at there shapeworks programs. You dont have to buy the kit but thats what I did and the stuff works great and you can loose 15 to 30 lbs in one month. Hope this helps. Good Luck!

Answer 3

I personally love Weight Watchers. They don't tell you what you can and can't eat. I have learned from them that it is more portion control and exercise than "diet" foods. I'm not sure how many pounds you need to lose to drop a pant size. I think it is somewhere around 10 lbs.

Answer 4

actually you have to eat to loose weight. You have to fuel your body. Your stomach is only the size of your fist. You HAVE to eat every three to four hours, fist size meals. Healthy meals. If you do this about six times a day. You will not be hungry and you will not be hungry. If you feed your body like this, your body will NOT store food because it knows you will give it more. Your body is like a computer, you have to program it and tell it how to behave and how to work properly.

Okay...I only started four Mondays ago and All I do is walk one hour every morning. I wear a calorie counter monitor to loose weight by the numbers. I have already lost two pant size and 23 pounds. I am a woman and have three kids and this is the method I use when I gain weight.. I am now at a size two and everyone is always amazed that I have had three kids. This is what I do below when I throw on a few extra pounds. It always works..No diet pills, no energy drinks..just me walking and getting the water I need. Of course I watch what I eat and the Lean Cuisine meals are great for that since the calories per box are 180 to 380 per box. Just make sure you eat healthy every three to four hours so your body will perform at its max.


Here it is:

Helpful Tips for weight loss:

1)A good way to loose weight is to use a calorie counter watch

Keep to a 1,200 food intake

Add 1,200 plus 3,500 (equals one pound of fat) ...and that is the total amount of calories you need to burn each day. Its actually really easy once you start watching the numbers and it doesn't seem like work or exercise. Its just a matter of changing the way you think about loosing weight.

I use this method when i gain some pounds. The first time I did this I went from 168 to 127

2) Most people do not get enough water in their system. Water is your body's principal chemical component, comprising, on average, 60 percent of your weight. Every system in your body depends on water. For example, water flushes toxins out of vital organs, carries nutrients to your cells and provides a moist environment for ear, nose and throat tissues.

Lack of water can lead to dehydration, a condition that occurs when you don't have enough water in your body to carry out normal functions. To determine if you are getting enough water use this simple formula.. Take your weight, for example 150 pounds and divide by 2. Take your answer which is 75 lbs and change it to ounces, in this case 75 ounces. That is how many ounces of water you need a day. Your body performs mostly on water. If you make sure you get enough water everyday your body will perform at top notch and your body will no longer have the cravings of junk food. You will have a better performing body system to help you work out and feel better thru out your day.

Answer 5

To maintain a healthy lifestyle & get in shape try this:

Try making small changes, if you really love a certain food that is ok, just cut down your portions, you don't need to deprive yourself to be healthy.

As for your overall diet try to cut down on your calories, eat lean protein, and whole grains - bread is not bad, so long as it is whole grain & high in fiber, also eat your veggies & drink lots of water. Also lean calcium products such as yogurt, low fat milk & cheese fill up with low calories & high nutrition content. Cut out saturated & monosaturated fats & excess sugar
For snacks I eat a lot of fruit & veggies as snacks, baby carrots, snap peas, grape tomatoes, grapes, berries, peaches. I also love the Flat Earth veggie & fruit chips, Quaker ranch rice cakes, popcorn, whole grain crackers, dark chocolate, blue diamond nut thins & string cheese. These are all small snacks with low fat & low calories.

It is best to eat 1200-1500 calories per day, if you eat less than this your metabolism will slow down, making it harder to lose weight. NO fast food. don't drink empty calories, stick to water, low cal juices (I mix 100% juice w/25% water to lower calories) & low fat milk. no soft drinks (diet or regular)
no eating unless you are hungry!

That being said, never underestimate the power of a good workout routine. In order to be healthy you MUST make time to exercise. Not exercising is not an option if you want to be healthy.

Lots of Cardio & weight training. do 30-45 minutes of strength training 3-4 times per week followed by 45-50 minutes of cardio 5-6 times per week. do your strength training 1st, it burns more calories. I also do loads of crunches prior to & after cardio. Also walk more during the day. Take a walk on your lunch break, walk to the store, aim for 10,000 steps per day a pedometer is a great idea. The more active you are the more calories you will burn & the more weight you will lose.

To stay healthy & not get discouraged remember this:
It is not recommended that you lose more than 2-3 pounds per week. Rapid weight loss can be dangerous & is hard to maintain. losing weight is difficult because 1 lb is 3500 calories, so you must burn 3500 calories per pound you want to lose.

If you really want to lose the weight you are going to have to use discipline & work hard. Your health is worth it!