I have a lot to lose. I've done it before & kept it off for *years* but illness
- and as a result, comfort eating - it crept back on. I am now tackling it.
1. *And most important* - get checked out by a doc first to make sure it's safe to go on a
restricted calorie diet and that there's no underlying problems which can cause problems. Make
sure any medical advice given by a qualified medical practitioner is followed.
I'm *not* a medical practitioner - and the following is just what works for me. I really do strongly
advise taking proper medical advice before commencing any diet/exercise plan, particularly is you
are very overweight to start off with.
What works for me ...
Weigh *everything* I eat apart from veggies (of the non-starchy kind).
Keep a diary of everything I eat - this not only tells me what I've eaten during the day, but tells
me what I can still have
Eat a healthy balanced diet with plenty of fruit & veg in it.
Cut out sugar - use sweeteners
Don't add salt to food
Keep it low-fat - note low-fat, not no-fat.
Ban any alcohol.
Ban anything fried or roasted.
Drink lots of water
As a woman, calcium is important - get your calcium requirements from skimmed milk and natural
low-fat yoghurt - not from full-fat cheese.
*Always* have breakfast - my favourite to stop any hunger pangs mid-morning is porridge made from
1oz oats, a little sweetener, water (done in microwave) topped with a small sliced banana and a dash
of skimmed milk. It works for me.
If you feel hungry - have a hot drink (tea/coffee/herbal tea) and if, 30 mins after that, you are
still hungry - eat some veggies kept in the fridge for this purpose - carrot sticks, sweet pepper
slices, celery, tomatoes, etc., but *not* anything with sugar or fat between meals.
Vegetable soup - a dieter's lifesaver! - made with vegetable stock and lots of mixed veg - carrots,
swedes, celery, onions, tomatoes, *any* non-starchy veg - is a great low-calorie filler-upper.
Limit red meat to no more than about 8oz per week.
Limit eggs to no more than 7 per week.
Limit full-fat cheese to no more than 4oz per week.
get weighed no more than once a week.
Exercise little & often. Remember that if you haven't been exercising for a while to start off
gently. Don't try to do too much too soon. If you do, you risk injury and also being put off
exercising. Make it *fun* and you'll keep doing it. Walking is a good starter. Then cycling. Running
is the pits and the gym is even worse. Swimming is good, but being large, I tend to keep away from
public pools - so I do little swimming, even though it is great exercise.
Don't expect to lose a lot of weight quickly - aim for no more than lb to 2lbs a week. At first, a
calorie controlled diet of 1000 calories a day will cause a swift loss, but after a couple of weeks
or so this will level out to a lower weekly weight loss.
Expect to "plateau" for a while, where weight doesn't seem to drop even if sticking to diet. Don't
be put-off by this - up the exercise level a bit.
Every 10lbs lost, award self a treat not of the food variety - a nice bit of make-up, perfume -
whatever, but *not* a food reward.
Get to a support group of some kind - whatever works for you - it's important to keep the
enthusiasm going
Get support of family - loved ones backing you can make all the difference
Realise this is not a "diet", but is a *lifestyle* of eating a healthy, blanced diet combined with
regular exercise.
Keep at it!
*Expect* to fall off the bandwagon sometime. Pick yourself up, dust yourself down and get back on
it! Don't let one or two failures make you give up completely.
p.s. Tell your wife you love her - *often* to build self-esteem. Particularly that you love her
whatever her size, but that for her health, it's better to be a healthy weight for her age
& height
Cheers, helen s
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