Hello

[tazlynx2002]

Hello, I just joined the site and am looking forward to learning and sharing with all of you. Im not exactly sure how to go about doing it. I guess regular exercise and good food. I havent decided which type of diet will work the fastest for me and the best. I have done Atkins a few years ago, but I have slowly gained it back. Im not looking to go down that road again! Any ideas or suggestions would be great! Nice to meet you all

[Missy]

Welcome to the boards. The most advice I can give you is to make your diet something you can live with for the rest of your life, no quick fixes, no dieting fads ...no nonsense. No one can stick to a carb-free diet for the rest of their life...it's not possible. You probably have a pretty good idea of what kinds of food would be considered healthy...stick to those. Choose whole grain breads & pasta...eat lots of dark green vegetables, and drink TONS of water. Main things to watch for is high sugar content in products, check the ingredients...try to find things that are high in protein. Be careful with salad dressings, gravies, sauces, ketchup etc..a lot of them are either high in sugar or high in fat.

What I do to help keep track of the amount I should be eating is keep a spreadsheet using Excel. I eat 1500 calories a day, so I portion out my foods so they equal that amount. My fat content is never higher than 50g/day...my carbs sit around 220g or so...and my protein around 130g. I drink 3 litres of water everyday too (I have a 1L bottle that I refill throughout the day so I know how much I've drank).

As for workouts...weights and cardio. But most importantly in weight loss is your food..that is #1 thing to work on. You can work out as much as you want and be eating crap..and you won't get results.

Personally, I allow myself to have one "cheat meal" a week...I try to keep the meal around 800 calories or so...so that I am able to feel normal lol. Sometimes we'll have tacos using ground turkey and fat free sour cream along with veggies & salsa...or we have a couple slices of pizza...etc. Don't deprive yourself or you'll never stick with it...chances are you'll give in. Just plan ahead and work the foods into your calories for the day.

[christa]

Hi There

I am new also. Hopefully we can learn this together. Losing has been a hard battle to me. Anyway. Hope to hear from you soon.

[Jana]

Don't do Atkins or any of those fad diets. They do not work. The only and best way to lose weight is to start a diet and stick to it, but do it the right way and the healthy way. This is what I've been doing. I cut out the soda, fast food, candy, Starbucks, junk food, and started working out. I do Cardio at least 4 times a week, and I eat smaller portions and better meals. I haven't quite gotten to where I eat extremely healthy, but I don't eat a lot of fatty stuff, and I stick to low fat stuff and fat free stuff, and I'm dropping weight pretty well. I weighed 268 pounds on February 22nd, and today I weigh 253. At the beginning of December, I weighed 279 pounds. I've lost 26 pounds since then. I have a long way to go, but if I can do it, anyone can. The secret is in the eating, and the best workout you can get is Cardio. It works you out ALL over.