What can I do to loose the weight that I am dying to loose?

Question

I'm 5"3" & 1/2 and I am about 180 lbs. What can I do to cut the cravings and loose the weight. I want to loose 20 lbs but I am only 10 lbs over weight, by what my doctor has told me.

Answer 1

focus
go on a diet and excercise plan with a good friend or sister or mom! but make sure its someone you can totally count on! give eachother confidence and build eachother up!
at the end you will both be closer and healthier!

Answer 2

The food you eat is the most important thing to concentrate on! Not just calories and fat but the quality of what you eat. A lot of low calorie microwave dinners isn't going to help because they still contain a lot of sugar and various other crap which gets turned straight to fat as it can't be used for energy (empty calories like in alcohol). Do some research on the web about what is good quality food, make sure you get plenty of protein and vitamins along with GOOD fats. And always be wary of quantity. As for cravings, those will become easier to control with the more weight you lose as you see your progress, for now you only have your will power.

Answer 3

I guess the bottom line is diet and exercise....at least that's what 'they' say... LOL

Drinking lots of water will help to make your stomach feel full, so you won't want to reach for Ben & Jerry's (my FAV!). Apples are a good snack, as is any fruit, if you need something after dinner.....a friend of mine didn't eat anything at all after 8pm and lost a few pounds after a short time.

Eating three meals a day, even if they're small, is alot better than 'starving' yourself all day and then eating dinner... it keeps your metabolism up.

Daily walking is great if you can't go the 'trainer' route, like some people do.

If you're consientious about what you're eating/doing, and stay relatively strict with yourself, you should be able to reach your goal of losing the 20 lbs... but do it for yourself.

Best of luck to you!

Answer 4

I have lost 22 pounds over several months, there is no easy way. I walk every other morning for about half an hour, throw at least 3 salads into my week and portion control, if I want Mcdonalds ok but I get a happy meal. I go past the ice cream store I get a kiddie cone, sounds silly but has been quite effective.

Answer 5

First, good for you! Back in March, I was about your weight and I'm only 5'4, so I know where you're at!

I do wonder about your doctor's suggestion, though. I checked with my doctor, did a lot of research and determined that to reach a healthy BMI (body mass index), I had to be closer to 140, if not 135.

I'll tell you what I've done so far. I'm at 148.8 as of this morning. :)

1. Cut out anything with trans fats. They're the worst kind of fat, and avoiding them means avoiding the worst junk food - most doughnuts, fast food french fries.

2. Switch to whole grains. Whole grain pasta and breads are widely available, and if you try a few, you'll probably find some that you like. For example, I'm not a fan of super-grainy bread, but I do like pumpernickel.

3. Don't skip breakfast. I eat a whole wheat English muffin with peanut butter - Smart Balance makes the healthiest, but any of the no sugar added, natural varieties are pretty good, plus fruit and one of the Kashi cereals or lite yogurt.

4. Add more veggies and fruits. This one is tough for me, but gets easier every week. Frozen is just as good as fresh, if a little pricier. Start with what you like, and add in from there. I buy a lot of the frozen mixes. If you like pasta, adding them in is an easy fix. I've included a link below to Barilla Plus' website - they have some good ideas.

5. Eat more chicken, turkey and fish, less red meat. Things like chicken tacos and turkey meatballs - never thought I'd love 'em, but turns out that I sometimes like them more than the originals.

6. Exercise. I don't have an ambitious routine, but I do have the luxury of walking many places that I once would've driven. I walk between 3 and 5 miles a day.

7. Find treats that aren't diet-destroying. While I don't eat a lot of "diet" foods - they're expensive, and I'm not sure about the chemicals - I do splurge on Haagen Daas frozen yogurt. I buy vanilla and mix in frozen berries, or sometimes a few cookies. (My husband just bought thin mints from the Girl Scouts - yum!)

Lastly, everyone in the house goes on the diet. My husband complains every now and again, but honestly he needed to drop a few pounds, too. And our 3 y.o. doesn't know any other way to eat now.

You might pick up Walter Willett's Eat, Drink & Be Healthy or Eat, Drink & Weigh Less. They give *very* sensible advice based on rock solid research from Harvard Medical School. I've also found that items labeled with "Best Life" - Bob Greene's diet plan - are usually quite good.

My next steps are going to be to add in some weight training or maybe a yoga class, and to keep finding new and interesting ways to eat my veggies!

BTW, even though it is a little obsessive, I weigh myself every day. This week, I've been everywhere from 151.8 to 148.8. Some days I'm higher, but the trend is clearly down. I do it because cheating was really throwing me off course. For me, it's much easier to avoid french fries if I know I'll spend a week looking at higher numbers.

Good luck - you can do it!

Answer 6

Many experts say, "diet and exercise." What worked for me, is simple. I cut soda out of my diet and skipped lunch. The first couple of days was difficult but my body adjusted after a while. Late night snacks are the worse. If you gotta snack, do it in the day time. Also, Muscle weighs more than fat, so it goes to reason, exercise a little but not too much. If you start "bulking up" on muscle, you will look better but gain weight. James

Answer 7

You mean LOSE the weight .
The rule of thumb is 100 pounds for 5'0" and 5 pounds for every inch over that.

You should weigh 125-130 or so.
Your doctor is wrong.
You need to lose 40-50 pounds.

Even at 140 or so, you would be considered overweight.

Cut down portion sizes.

Answer 8

One of the things that I did to help me is to limit the fats but overload the roughage so that you are full but not full of the bad stuff. What I would do is to make myself a salad with whatever veggies you want, then 3 or 4 ounces of lean meat and a tablespoon or two or dressing. That and a piece of fruit will help to keep the cravings away. I also keep a big jar with precut carrots and celery in water in the fridge.

Answer 9

well the best thing to do is to try to avoid any food that you know that may increase your cravings instead of decrease them. exercise as much as you can and want. water is the best thing to drink. i lose 20lbs just off drinking water and exercising. its that easy!

Answer 10

exercise nd cut out the junk food