I'm extremely overweight and trying to lose weight. What are your thoughts on the diet I've set myself?

Question

Okay, firstly, I'm not crash dieting. I'm making sustainable changes to my lifestyle which I can continue long-term, as I know that I'll put the weight back on if I don't do this.

Previously, my three main problems were too much food, the wrong type of food, and not enough exercise.
So now I'm getting by with this.

Breakfast....
1 slimfast shake or a piece of fruit.

Lunch....
Some fruit, or a salad.

Dinner....
Steamed or grilled chicken, fish, or turkey.
Boiled rice or pasta with peas, corn, chopped up onion, peppers, and other fresh crunchy veg through it.
Some fresh steamed or boiled veg.

Evening snack....
Some fruit, celery or carrots, and a glass of V8.

I've also reduced my portion size quite dramatically.

I'm planning to start swimming and doing water aerobics next week too.

So far, I've been doing it for a week and a half, and I haven't been feeling hungry or deprived of food, so all's going well on that front.

Any thoughts or comments?

Just wanted to add, that after only a week and a half, I'm feeling much better about myself already. My skin has improved and I'm already starting to feel certain items of clothing getting more comfortable to wear.

Another additional.
Thanks for all the encouragement guys.
I don't have a target weight in mind. In fact I'm not even bothering with scales and weight.
My target is partly to become a lot lighter, and healthier than I am now.
But mainly, I want to be able to go into ordinary high street clothes shops and buy garments off-the-peg, just like normal people do.
I'm sick of having to go to special websites for larger people to buy my clothes, and paying twice as much for them.

Answer 1

Very good diet. I agree that breakfast should be a more substantial REAL food (oatmeal, egg sandwich, etc.). I would also recommend a fruit-based snack b/t breakfast and lunch or b/t lunch and dinner, which would allow you to shift the lunch from salad to salad-with-protein (as was also recommended).

Finally, I would add movement. Not necessarily exercise (since I'm not a doctor and don't know the effect on you), but movement will help burn off the calories. REMEMBER: weight loss == burning more calories than you consume. Your body WILL adjust to your diet.

I actually began MY exercise program when I read that George Foreman, the great boxer, had gained a lot of weight and was at a loss on how to lose it. So he set a bucket of pennies at one end of his porch, and an empty bucket at the other, and every day, he would carry pennies from one to the other. Just to add movement to his day.
From this, he progressed to his return to boxing.

Add movement for now.

Answer 2

I still am overweight even though I have lost 80 pounds. The only thing I want to add is the advice of my dietitian. She told me the larger a person is the more calories they need to get the metabolism going. I had lived for 3 years on 1000 calories a day and barely lost any weight. She increased my calorific intake to between 1400-1600 and weight literally melted away. I was unable to exercise at that time so that made it doubly hard. What I did was put 1400 calories on a piece of paper and work out 4 meals using those and then I could still have a snack if I wanted with the other 200 calories.Above all remember to drink lots and lots of plain water. Dieting releases toxins into your system so you need to flush them away. Remember that breakfast is the most important meal and don't skimp on it. She told me the best breakfast was beans on toast! Now I can't eat that for brekkie but if you can, go for it. Good luck, and if you need some moral support my 360 page is open to the public, leave me a message there and I will always get back to you.

Answer 3

First of all, congratulations on taking such a positive view on changing your life.

Your choices sound good, particularly snacking on fresh fruit and vegetables. Even better is not weighing though measuring progress is useful - why not use a piece of string to measure your waist (no tape measure) and tie a knot in it and measure your progress that way?

I would also suggest that you try a bit more for breakfast to see you through to lunch - good choices are porridge (get the sachets to control portions) sweetened with fruit or a small portion (c. 30gms) of a bran based cereal. Depending on what time of day you do your exercise this will help a lot.

Seek support from helpful people - I personally found a diet club (Weightwatchers) great for this. Keep posting on here and updating us on your progress.

The only other thing to say is variety variety variety. Don't eat the same fruits/vegetables, try something different each week like an exotic fruit or cooking things in a different way i.e. roasting vegetables with garlic and chilli.

1 last thing - drink lots of water - it really helps!

GOOD LUCK!

You have definitely made the right choice by making small sustainable changes in your life.

Answer 4

i am very lucky in the fact I've never had to diet however I've always eat very healthy food , i think the food you are eating is very healthy . on reading different diets i find them very confusing as some say eat more protein as this gets your metabolism working faster, others say eat less fat or less carbs. god only knows which is the correct way. i believe that eating a healthy balanced diet, get plenty of exercise and fresh air you wont go far wrong. just remember it is what you put in your mouth that makes you put on weight. your diet seems ok to me after a while you will get used to eating healthy foods and it will become the norm. good luck with the water aerobics it is great fun and great exercise keep up the good work i hope it goes well for you

Answer 5

Good for you hon!!! Sounds to me like you are on the right track so far! You seem to realize that eating healthy and exercising is the right way to go about losing the weight and I applaud you for that.

Continued success and good wishes are coming your way! Keep with it and success is just around the corner. Take it one day at a time, and dont constantly weigh yourself. Only weigh in once a week. And remember, if you start to gain muscle, you will also NOT lose lots of weight at first. Muscle weighs more than fat. So don't be discouraged if at some point this happens. You are still on the right track~

Answer 6

Personally, when I want to lose weight I cut down my portions sizes and cut out all junkfood. I then exercise for about 30 minutes every other day, doing pilates or heavy dance routines. It works wonders!

You're taking it one step further and if you can stick to what you're doing you should lose quite a lot! Well done and good luck and I hope it all goes well!

Answer 7

Good luck with the diet, which sounds good, but I would suggest a more filling breakfast. Cereal with fruit would be good as this will keep you feeling fuller and keep your energy levels up.
Also tell yourself you are allowed a small treat occasionally otherwise you will get bored with the food. A small treat now and then won't hurt.
How about making your own ice lollies with frozen fruit juice.

Answer 8

Sounds good to me!! However the only change I would recommend is to your breakfast. Why not change the slimfast shake to something more substantial like a bowl of cereal. Make sure it is a healthy cereal though - something like Cornflakes, All Bran, Bran Flakes, or Shredded Wheat!! A small bowl of ceral contains about the same amount of calories as the shake, and will keep your energy levels high until lunch.

Answer 9

Well Done! You will find it gets easier.Walking in water is better than swimming.Do ten laps in water, it's like double what you do walking on dry land.Have you logged onto www.nutrax.com might help you? Also if you log onto allrecipes.com you can find tempting dishes also. When you slim down, you'll find a new world out there. Good Work!

Answer 10

Congratulations on making a change! Make sure to tell us how it's going! One thing you could do is allow yourself more calories during the day, and cutback at night. Basically, eat the same amount, just more during the day so that you can burn them off more.