HELP!!! Weightloss for WDW

[lbarellano]

Hi All
Help I am a Pooh 22/24 size woman. I plan to loss weight for a trip in Sept 2010. Any tips for a person with back and shoulder injury. I walk up two fligts of stairs around ten times a day M-F. Plus since I am a school custodian I am constantly mopping, and lifting furniture with help. So m-f I am kept on my toes. As far as walking I walk 30 minutes every day. Help please with any advice.

 

[CLR4321]

How about water exercises? I have arthritis in my back and was prescribed water exercises to do. Each set would take about 30-40 mins, and left me feeling great after them. I just moved, so am trying to find a local pool to start up with so I can get back in the water! Do you have a local pool or even a fitness center with a pool? Look into one that has a therapy pool. Those are typically a max of 4 -4.5 ft deep and are kept warmer (about 90 degrees) than a normal pool. They are like being in a bathtub. Are you on a diet? You may want to consider one if you are open to the option. Good luck!

 

[lbarellano]

Hi I was looking into the YMCA or 24 hour fitness. They both have pools. The problem is I work from 3pm to 11:30 pm and I volunteer with my daughters school from 11am-2pm. I do love to swim and want to thank you for the advice. By chance do you know of any good diets. I eat a lot of fruit salads and chicken salads.

 

[Hannathy]

Figure out how many calories you are using a day and then eat 500 calories a day less and you will loose weight ( 1 pound a week with this number) the only way to loose is to take in less than you use. you need to use up 3,500 calories over what you eat a week to loose a pound.
watch what fruit you are putting into those salads, many fruits are very high in calories! are you putting dressing on the chicken salads?
by simply upping her activity and eating a bit less than she was using my DD lost 30 pounds over 5 months and has kept it off for a year.
Make sure you eat breakfast.

 

[lbarellano]

Wow 30 lbs thats great. Thanks for this info I had no idea. I do use a dressing on the side for the chicken salad. I eat watermelon, cantalope, strawberries, kiwi, mango, and apples in the fruit salad. I do eat a bowl of cherrios, a sliced apple or orange for breakfast. Thanks I feel so encouraged by your help!Thanks

 

[RMulieri]

It comes down to Calories in ,Calories Out. You can work out till you drop, but if you are fueling yourself with overprocessed ,non nutritonal foods your weight won't budge.You also need to really keep track of calories, and hidden calories that you don't tend to think about .I found that for me I was sabotaging myself.I was so under estimating what I was eating..So now I weigh and measure out my food.I bought the Calorie King book, which is great and I create my calorie deficit by cutting out crap and exercise.For low impact, swimming is good,So is good old fashioned walking.Get some good walking shoes and hit the pavement.Start out slow and increase weekly.The bonus of the walking is it definitely helps for Disney.

 

[Hannathy]

All the melons are great! they are very lo in calories. using the dressing on the side does help. another hint is don't try to deprive yourself of everything you will end up over doing it when you "crack" just eat small portions. when you get yourself a snack measure everything don't ever take the bag or box. just start reading labels things like Miracle whip has a lot fewer calories than Mayo. they make low calorie bread which helps with sandwiches. And watch empty calories like soda it adds up very fast and butter, etc.

If you do it slowly and by just cutting back a bit and the junk you are more likely to keep it off than if you go on a drastic diet. Good luck you have a great goal to work toward Disney! you can do it, you are already active which for most people is the hardest part to start.

 

[lbarellano]

Thanks. The biggest problem I think I'm gonna have is the candy. I have cut wayyyyyy back but I love gummy bears. I always chew gum. around 3 stride peices a day. Is that bad? I have been walking more this last week. I have stopped taking the truck to work. I take a shuttle, then walk about 4 school blocks to work. Come September I plan to start speed walking in my building at night. What do you all think speed walk the corrider then up the two flights of stairs then speed walk that corrider then down the stairs a couple of times before the end of work? Anything else I can do any advice is welcome.

 

[bellebud]

someone i know is going to have lap-band surgery soon... she had to lose a certain amount of weight before they would do the surgery. her "diet" from the doctors is mainly cutting out bread and pasta, and eating good forms of protein. When they bring the kids out for pizza, she'll eat a big salad and the cheese off a couple slices of pizza. no 'snack' foods (no popcorn, pretzels, etc). She is allowed to eat nuts. She bought individual bags of different kinds of nuts, and that's her main snack. so correct me if i'm wrong, but it's mainly cutting out carbs (???)

I can't believe how much weight she's lost these past few months by doing this (i'm thinking it's 30lbs). We keep telling her to just keep doing this and forget the surgery, but she's afraid she'll 'fall off the wagon' without the surgery.

I also remember hearing from someone how much sugar is in fruit (which we all really know, but I myself had never really thought about it), and if you're dieting to not eat too much fruit. doesn't matter that it's natural sugar.

I've also read a bit about high fructose corn syrup (don't know if any of it is true or not), and there now seems to be a debate (that it's actually NOT bad), but wow - it's in almost everything! I was reading how kids today are heavier than the last generation, even eating the same foods. high fructose corn syrup wasn't in things like ketchup, cereals, fruit juice, etc. Now that it's in everything, it's putting weight on people. I try to avoid it now (but it's hard!) I figure it can't hurt to NOT eat it.

Watch out for "light" products... they might have less fat than their counterpart, but they sometimes have more sugar, which isn't good either. I really read labels a lot now, looking at fat content along with sugar content.

Eat 'real' foods only... nothing processed. Meat, veggies, drink water w/ meals (fruit juices have so much sugar!)

I don't know about cereal for bkfast... isn't that carbs? then the fruit is sugar. I'd have a couple of eggs (no bread) and maybe a slice of low sodium ham. Protein is supposed to keep you fuller longer.

I've recently read that what you drink (or don't drink) is more important than what you eat (or don't eat) if you're trying to lose weight... there are so many calories in almost all drinks except water. And that eating a big breakfast is very important (but again, be careful w/ the carbs and sugars).

OK, now to end this... I know absolutely nothing about nutrition or diets... i'm only passing along things i've heard or read. So if anyone needs to correct anything, please do so. Good luck!!

 

[jackie101]

I did weight watchers after all my pregnancies & it was great. It showed me how to eat right & it was very easy to follow.
Good luck!

 

[lbarellano]

Thanks for the advice.
I drink about 4 to 6 -24 oz waters a day. I am not a kool aid or soda drinker. I will add a crystal light or south beach single packet into one of the 24 oz waters once a day. I don't eat pasta too often. Maybe around once a month. The big problem is my dinner time at work is between 7:30 and 8pm monday through friday. On weekends I try to eat dinner between 4 and 5 pm.

 

[plutolovr]

South Beach Diet. It's fantastic. The first 2 weeks can be a little tough, but once you're through that it's very good and adaptable to any lifestyle. It's basically what Bellebud described. No white foods. No flour, sugar, white potatoes, white rice, etc. You mainly eat out of your refrigerator for the first 2 weeks. Lots of veggies, eggs for breakfast, lean ham, turkey, chicken, etc. I lost 12 pounds in the first 2 weeks and it really squashes your cravings for sugar and carbs. Fruit will spike your blood sugar and make you crave more sweets. After the first 2 weeks you can start introducing fruits and some healthy carbs back into your diet gradually. This gives you the opportunity to see what your trigger foods are.

Add some weight lifting to your exercise, this is very important as lean muscle burns more calories.

Good luck, you can do it.

 

[JerseyMamaBear]

I did weight watchers after all my pregnancies & it was great. It showed me how to eat right & it was very easy to follow.
Good luck!

love weight watchers! lost 30 in 5 months right in time for my disney trip and kept it off for well over a year until I got pregnant (back to back). Cant wait until this one is out so I can start back up.

 

[zoemurr]

South Beach Diet. It's fantastic. The first 2 weeks can be a little tough, but once you're through that it's very good and adaptable to any lifestyle. It's basically what Bellebud described. No white foods. No flour, sugar, white potatoes, white rice, etc. You mainly eat out of your refrigerator for the first 2 weeks. Lots of veggies, eggs for breakfast, lean ham, turkey, chicken, etc. I lost 12 pounds in the first 2 weeks and it really squashes your cravings for sugar and carbs. Fruit will spike your blood sugar and make you crave more sweets. After the first 2 weeks you can start introducing fruits and some healthy carbs back into your diet gradually. This gives you the opportunity to see what your trigger foods are.

Add some weight lifting to your exercise, this is very important as lean muscle burns more calories.

Good luck, you can do it.

quite a bit of weight on the "no white" diet. The main things you are cutting out are sugar and white flour. It's hard at first, but you do stop craving it. There are lots of alternatives out there, but it does take some research.

 

[MSSANDRA]

I lost about a hundred pounds about 18mos ago and have not gained any back. Exercise is important but the diet has more dramatic effects quicker.

A few things that work for me:

No food is off limits.That just makes you crave it more. two or three m&
m's, one cookie or a bite of that great cake.

Only eat if you are really hungry!! Think about it. Are you board or is it just "time" to eat???

Decide if the food is worth it. My mom's carrot cake is, that cheap grocery store cake- No. Take one bite and decide. Throw it out right away if it is not worth it. It cost no more to throw out than to eat.

Recall each day what you ate. Write it down if that helps (I did not) and grade yourself and see what you need to do to improve tomorrow.

If you mess up, forgive yourself and start over right then. Waiting till tomorrow is dangerous.

Weight everyday (dr's say not to but it worked for me) Keeps you on track and offers imediate feed back!!!

Food-
no red meat at home- Eat it out sometimes but never cook it.
Only white meat chicken/skin removed.
NEVER FRY ANYTHING.

Fat Free Dairy-
milk
cheese
ice cream (Byers fat free is GREAT
sourcream
drinking skim milk makes you feel fuller longer

Whole Grains
cerals
rice
pasta
bread (I like white wheat)

LOTS of fruits and Veggies

Now that I am have been at my goal, I do cheat when we eat out but when I was loosing, I would seach the menu for the best choice I could make. Most of the time I would, and still do sometimes, divide the meal before I start and take the other 1/2 home. If it was not a great choice, give that 1/2 to DH or other and do not eat it yourself.

Hope something in here helps!!!
You can do it!!!!!!!!

 

[Lil Bo Peep]

I lost quite a bit on Weight Watchers as well but it cost money to join but another option is Spark People. It is a free online weight loss group and has so many things for you to help you on your weight loss journey. They also have online videos, nutrition tracker and fitness tracker. Give it a try.

www.sparkpeople.com

Good Luck on your weight loss journey.

 

[daleswife]

I did michael Thurmon's 6 week body makeover and lost 28lbs in 6 weeks. I was a size 22 too and now Im a size 18. I have gained a lot back and i plan on going on it again starting monday for our trip. the exercises are light and you have to do at least 30 minutes of exercise to get your heart going. I do brisk walk. It works. Its like $130 for the program, but it works wonders!!! Good luck!!!!

 

[megsters]

I lost quite a bit on Weight Watchers as well but it cost money to join but another option is Spark People. It is a free online weight loss group and has so many things for you to help you on your weight loss journey. They also have online videos, nutrition tracker and fitness tracker. Give it a try.

www.sparkpeople.com

Good Luck on your weight loss journey.

i LOVE the spark people....tons of information...and the support is fabulous!! so much information. if im not on the dis...im over there.

in last year's people mag...you know the annual issue where they have people who have taken weight off and look FANTASTIC!!!...one of those women had used spark as well...i recommend looking into it.

 

[polkadotsuitcase]

lbarellano, sounds like you've got a fantastic attitude about all this -- and I think that's half the battle! You've also received some super advice from other posters. Sounds like everyone really knows what they're talking about.

I was going to suggest you consider shaking up your workout routine, too -- you said you walk 30 minutes a day -- when I was in weight-loss mode (um...maybe I should say when I *am* in weight-loss mode, lol), switching off steady walking with intervals really made an impact. Every other day (or so) I'd do a shorter workout (20 min or so), but do something like 3 minutes steady walk alternating with 1 or 2 minutes of a really fast walk or even jog/run. That got the old ticker fired up and I noticed a faster weight loss.

Good luck!

 

[RMulieri]

I will tell you the best thing I ever did was let Dh buy me a bodybugg.For those of you that watch the show the biggest loser you probably are familiar with the armbands they wear.The bodybugg was not cheap( I got it for $242 on sale, it retails for anout $400)But this little thing is the gem that has already allowed me to drop 10 lbs in a few weeks.It is an armband /online computer program that uses 3 different measuring tools to measure calories required, calories burned, steps taken, calories per min burned, etc.To set up,you answer a profile of questions,how much weight loss you would like ,helath history,medication history,weight loss history,dieting history,exercise preferneces etc.it gives you a program/criteria based on what you have entered.You wear the armband and digital display and inreal time it tells you what you have done so far, and how much more to do to meet your goals.For calorie intake,you input all your meals into the computer and at the end of the day it graphs out calories burned, vs eaten, and goals met or not.For me this has been a godsend.I truly understimated what I was eating and my old HRm was so over-estimating calories burned since it only uses HR as a parameter, and that is not accurate since meds and other factors influence HR , and high HR does not neccessarily mean high calorie burn.I find that I am pushed to walk those extra steps, and put down that calorie laden junk because i see now what it means to my weightloss.It really was the best thing I have done.