Day one (again!)

[invalidusername]

Hi everyone,

Like many people I have tried so many different diets and exercise plans in the past with limited success. I tend to find that I stick to them for a few days or weeks but then have a bad day or two and give up and not only put back on the weight I lost but extra as well!

I'm only 19 but I'm 6 foot 3 and weigh 21st 6 so I've reached the point now where I really feel like I need to make serious changes to my lifestyle for all the usual reasons. Problem is, if I try and make drastic changes instantly then I know after a week or two I will fail and I can't really afford to fail again and certainly not put on any more weight! However, I also find that making small changes and only losing small amounts of weight at a time frustrates me because I feel like I could be doing more and a week of no weight loss can make me feel downbeat.

So, enough rambling. What I'm really asking is, what tips (and success stories!) do people have for making changes to your lifestyle to lose weight steadily and most importantly, to stick to it for the long term and not throw the towel in?

[Sweet95]

hello! first of all i am glad that you joined this community. i personally am getting so much support and i am getting to know such amazing people with great stories to get inspired. You know i was like you exactly not a single difference. I did so many diets like name one and i did it and i hate it like i really loved food and i wanted to see just these fast results but unfortunately always as fast they came, as fast was the amount of time that they go cause i would always gained my weight back until i reached the biggest weight that i ever was in. Now i am going to explain you something that i did that actually helped me you know to get through this and finally to be determined to go never more in a diet and approach a healthy lifestyle which makes me drop the weight in a very healthy permanent way and doesn't come back which is important cause we all know that. And we know that is actually easy to drop the weight but keeping it is just the worst. Now i was a person obsessed with scales i would go on a scale at least like once in 2 days or every day. And even if sometimes i noticed difference in my body like i felt lighter and comfortable i would go straight to that scale and even if the body was starting to change if that scale numbers were the same than i would just get so mad and go directly to binge eating. Well finally got the solution. I am doing this thing right now that i am actually calculating the calories needed to get my body to function which you can find it through BMR calculation and i would eat that amount of calories in veggies and fruits and lean meat and just a little carbs. I would like to play safe with carbs and keep it low cause they make you crave, and if i want to just binge eat i would binge on fruits and veggies. The thing of the weight is that i would weight once a month and i would journal it. You know why it is simple and not hard to maintain this, well because you are seeing yourself everyday as you are, you are used to your weight and there is no problem staying like a few more days in that weight and just dropping little by little, you know the little by little changes make the body changes more faster and if you use weight quick you actually gonna look pretty much the same but the water is that is coming out from those diets is actually changing the numbers, so you're not losing fat. Fat needs time to lose. It needed you probably not a week or to to go from the right weight you were to this weight you're in so that excessive amount of time well a little bit faster throughout some months ore a year or two years it depends is needed to adjust your own body. And actually eating healthy is just delicious. Well i just wrote too much.. good luck and wish you the best.

[Tanialaur]

Tell yourself you are not dieting but healthy eating- this works because you don' t deny yourself any food but eat them moderately and feel pleased that you have nt pigged out. Have lots of healthy snacks and plan ahead with your meals. Good luck!

[invalidusername]

Thanks for the replies guys, one of the main problems I am having at the minute is that I work part time as a bar man in a Chinese restaurant. This typically involves two or three shifts a week which start at 6pm (teatime!) and we are provided with free food by the restaurant. I am trying to plan my meals beforehand and have done well the last few days but as someone who is not very good at resisting the offer of a free chinese meal this means I have had food from the restaurant on the days I work. We are actually allowed food when we get there and more food to take away at the end of the night, also free, and I know it sounds weak of me but it is hard to turn down free food like that. I thought about trying to pick healthier options from the menu but I know if I do this when I get there then I will feel let down because I didn't have what I REALLY wanted and then I end up getting something really bad at the end of the night and eating that as well! Last night I had garlic and chilli chicken when I got there and got some house special fried rice and curry sauce to take away at the end of the night but saved that for my lunch today. Obviously I know its not ideal to be having the Chinese but every other meal I have eaten for the last 5 days except those 2 Chinese meals has been healthy so given my current weight I will most likely still be losing weight despite this. So does that mean in the short term its okay to carry on like this because then its more of a lifestyle change? Plus, if I do still allow myself the odd bit of Chinese food when at work I am less likely to have a blowout after a few days of healthy eating and possibly feeling like I am missing out.