WANTED - Miracle

[Willow9]

Hi, thought I better introduce! I'm 33 and I seriously need to loose weight.. (same old story I hear you sigh) I know all the healthy eating banter and I follow it BUT I love to cook, I love food and I would rather make a Sunday roast to please my family than take them on holiday (and when I do its all the foodie places).

I need to snap out of it but don't know how. I've done the famous diets and the not so famous. I will never do shakes or tablets I want to train myself to eat properly. I can control my portion size but I am still "hungry" ok ok maybe bored. So I ask how do you stop yourself from craving flavour? Because like I said I know I'm not hungry.

Abit about me...

I work in an office, I travel for and hour every day. I get up at 6am and get home at 6pm and do all the obvious things make tea, make pack up etc. Please could someone offer some advice on what I could do as a form of exercise, any suggestions considered.

Thanks if you have got this far and can offer some advice.

[Willow9]

Thank you Jamesmark, carbs are the devil in disguise

[MW50]

For exercise to do any good you have to commit to doing it regularly and sustain it over time, so you need to find something you enjoy. If you are competitive try a sport like squash or tennis. If you are social join a dance class or walking group. If you are short of time look at all the routines on Utube that you can do at home. If you are not into jumping around try a yoga or tai chi class.

[slimpickings 2 stone]

Channel your love of cooking but make it work for you rather than against you. Experiment with veg, what casserole can you make with the lowest calories? Explore quorn, quark and quinoa and add spice rather than sauce. I love eating and cooking food for friends and family as well but bit by bit I am relearning. Personally I think you know what to do but you just need support and that s what this forum provides. My working day is similar to yours and I discovered late evening swimming at my local pool. My tip to you is sign up for the NHS 12 week plan and keep using this supportive forum to keep motivated. Good luck xx

[Seuzan in reply to slimpickings]

I really like this idea of making the love of cooking work for you rather than against you. You can play with food and discover all sorts of ways to be creative yet really healthy!

Food tastes more enjoyable now that I am consciously aware of what I am eating and how often.

[teresina08]

I eat 1000kcal of fibre-containing food every day.

200mL skinned milk + 40g wholemeal cereal for breakfast

20g peanuts, 1 banana, 1 clementine 1 apple aound 11AM

120g wholemeal pasta + 40g fat reduced pesto (tesco) + 1 tomato for lunch

2 slice wholemeal bread + 30g lighest philadelphia around 5pm

and normally veg , zucchin, eggplants, sweet potatoes fish or meat for dinner

you should feel stuffed before going to bed, if you still hungry eat a slice of bread before going to bed!

[Willow9 in reply to teresina08]

Thank you for this, I think this is what I am looking for some kind of menu and adapt to personal preference. I appreciate this thank you

[Zest Healthy BMI]

HI Willow9,

Welcome to the NHS weight loss forum. I'd recommend reading the Welcome Newbie post - see the Pinned posts section (top right-hand-side of the homepage) and have a look at the NHS 12 week plan.

Also, have a look in NHS plan for exercise recommendations - there's lots of information there on that as well.

Hopefully you'll find something that suits you well. I enjoy walking and also some running. But there are lots of types of exercise out there, and it's good to find one that you enjoy.

Lowcal

[Hidden]

I run a group where I live to help people lose weight without going on a diet. Here is my video for this week. Have a look. See if it helps you any and above all good luck and stay focused. I've lost 145lbs and kept it off.

youtube.com/watch?v=AUj69xc...(Not working as expected?)

[Hidden]

Hello,

A few thoughts:

Cooking - as you love to cook, you should actually be at an advantage over the people who never cook and instead get takeaways, as you can control what you cook and what you put into it. Have you tried looking at what you cook to see where you can tweak it to reduce the calories - eg baking/boiling/steaming rather than frying, using 0% greek yoghurt instead of cream, doing griddled fruit kebabs or baked apples rather than trifle for pudding? and so on....

I think sunday roast can be a very diet-friendly meal - don;t add fat to the meat when cooking, and serve with boiled potatoes rather than roast, lots of boiled green veg and thin gravy. It is pretty much as nice as a traditonal fatty roast, I think.

With having to go to work and getting up quite early, have you thought about taking your breakfast into work with you? Quite a lot of breakfast foods are easily portable and you can get them ready the night before. This would mean you start eating a bit later in the day, and it will keep you feeling more full up until lunchtime.

Obviously take a packed lunch too, so you aren't tempted by the works canteen or local sarni shops.

On my diet (went down from 11stone 3lbs to 8 stone 8lbs), I also found it really helped to have at least 2 veg portions with my lunch and 3 with my dinner every day regardless of what else I ate. They really filled me up, and of course they contain very few calories.

For exercise, you could try walking at first, and maybe see if you can build up to a bit of jogging/running as you get fitter. Can you walk all or part of the way to work? Can you walk for half an hour at lunchtime? Can you set up walking meetings, where you discuss things while walking around rather than sit talking in an office?

While watching TV, you can do a few muscle toning exercises using water bottles or one of those resistance bands you can buy, or your own body weight.

At the weekend, can you do active things as a family - playing in the park, long walk, swimming, frisbee etc?

I hope that's of some help.

[Willow9 in reply to Hidden]

I do steam and don't add much fat to meals, so I am going in the right direction I think the next step is get rid of carbs and a little walking for starters.. I know they are simple things but I think knowing that it works with perseverance is nice to hear. Thank you for your advice