I am hoping that you have calculated your own personal range of calories by using the NHS BMI calculator and are not just sticking to the 1400cals which is a generic number and not suitable for all.
There are many people on the forum who are unable to exercise but still manage to lose weight by changing their way of eating.
I can not give you a list of meals, but would say that you should watch your consumption of Carbs. Eating rice, potato, bread and pasta will not fill you up, it will make you feel hungry. I would suggest that you include some good fats into your meals to make them more filling and leave you feeling satisfied and not wanting to pick at snacks. Include things like full fat yoghurt, cheese, use butter and olive oil, eat avocado and fattier cuts of meat and oily fish.
Take a look at what others are eating for ideas on the Daily Diary thread. This can be found in Events.
As for Christmas, I am afraid that is just a challenge we all have to get through and it comes down to will power. If you can, ask people not to buy you chocolates and sweets as presents and have as little as possible in the house.
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In my personal experience, losing weight is far more about calories in, than exercise. I was a total slob and I didnt start any exercise really until I'd lost a good 2 stone. Then I did the couch-to-5-k. I read a good quote on here - 'you can't outrun a bad diet'. Thats true I reckon. I totally recommend joining a weigh in group on here - chose whichever day of the week is going to suit you best.
I started the 12 week program about the same time as you (8th nov , 2 years ago). By Christmas I'd lost about a stone and was totally on a roll. I found Christmas really easy because I didn't want to undo all my hard work. I did relax, but not completely, and whilst I had something of everything, I didnt go mad. I had 1 mince pie not 2. I had 1 chocolate not a boxful. etc. I was worried about it, but it was fine.
Can't recommend a best dinner, but there's TONS of recipes on here which make my mouth water!! Have a look at Pineapple27 , she's always posting incredible meals with proper recipes and fully calorie counted xx
I also recommend Pinapple27 postings. She has great meal ideas!
Hi Bluesky1222 and welcome aboard!!
Personally - i'm 5 stone down since i joined the site and lost a bit before i found the forum too and i didn't up my exercsise too much - just some gentle walking to and from work. For me, i believe most of the loss is down to the food choices i now make - although i understand the walking will have helped a little.
In terms of top 5 meals - that all depends on what you like to eat. There is no point in you eating what you don't like / fancy as for me you wont feel satisfied. There are some recipe sections on here though so have a browse through and see what might take your fancy! Most will have calorie information to help you.
My other suggestion is think of a meal that you like and enjoy and google *lower calorie xxx* - you might be surprised and find a twist on a meal you enjoy but may have thought unhealthy. One that springs to me that i love is southern fried chicken and chips. A takeaway for this meal - well i dread to think of the calories / fat content but a home made version with sweet potato wedges and a nice salad is a fantastic way to have the food you may crave but with a healthier twist.
You don't need to exercise to lose weight. It helps, but it's not necessary. Cranking away for hours on the elliptical trainer can actually prevent weight loss if you restrict calories too heavily.
Also, fatty food has nothing to do with getting fat. It's just an unfortunate linguistic quirk that we use the same word to describe bodyfat and fat in food. In reality, dietary fat is used quite efficiently for fuel because it passes very slowly into your bloodstream, unaccompanied by insulin which would ordinarily promote storage rather than burning. Most of the fat that ends up deposited in your fat cells is actually synthesized from dietary carbohydrates. This is not a problem per se; bodyfat is there to act as temporary storage for food energy. Where it all goes wrong is when people continually top-up with starchy or sugary foods, so your body never needs to recover that stored energy. Fat goes in and never comes out.
So don't be afraid of fat. If you're trying to lose weight, the critical point is to reduce or avoid things like flour-based products (especially white bread), white rice, sugar, breakfast cereals, and potatoes; if you eat these on a regular basis, your body simply has no reason to touch your stored fat. Replace them with vegetables, meat, eggs and dairy and the weight will start to drop off. You'll probably feel better too.
As for Christmas, just go with the flow. It's a couple of days of the year. As long as your daily habits are healthy (as above) then a little indulgence is fine - and in fact you'll find you don't want to indulge to excess if your general diet is correct.
s others reassure you, the main element of weight loss is what you choose to eat.
That definitely doesn't mean that you have to go hungry. In fact you need to nourish your body with healthy food.
Regarding Christmas treats, I'll buy mince pies the week before Christmas and have one or two, but when they're gone, they're gone!
The Christmas dinner is turkey veg and potatoes, which is a low fat dinner anyway and I'm just not going to eat the boxes of chocolate that are given to me.
Hi, well you can’t waste all that ink and paper can you. I assume you have checked your calorie allowance so you know how many calories you can have each day. Use your calories wisely, my experience is you can feel satisfied if you eat the right foods and unfortunately all things sweet will not satisfy you and only leave you wanting more. You have at least three weeks to prepare yourself to stop eating anything which has a high sugar content. Before Christmas treats are constantly being offered around. And unfortunately the big boxes of chocolates and biscuits don’t help as they are so big and you dont realise how many you have eaten. Check out what is high sugar content even the soft drinks mixers and fresh fruit juice can soon add up the calories. Good luck and keep posting for support also look at daily diary for menu ideas.
It is important to eat foods with high protein such as beans and lentils and food with high water density such as courgettes, tomatoes and cucumbers. These should leave you full.
In order to limit your appetite at Christmas have glucosamine, high protein and high water density foods but remember that dark chocolate, popcorn and even (limited) yoghurt foods (fattening but with probiotic qualities) are good for you.
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