wieght loss

hey ladies, i'm wanting to start a diet/life style change as since ive quit smoking 7 months ago ive gained 10kg!...now ive done the duken diet but that didnt end up being a lifestyle change, but i did lose 15kg on it,(before i quit) just couldnt stay on it.i need modavation!.annnyway what im wanting to know it what is your success to keeping wieght off and whats your diet that kicked you off to a lifestyle change...i have an exercise plan, its the eating part i need advice with.  

Hi,  Congratulations on the weight loss !! its hard work :) especially sticking to it !!....but im going to say (which you've probably heard a million times) diets dont work, you need to make everyday lifestyle and diet changes but diets that make you cut out food groups like carbs or live on juices dont work and arent healthy you need little bits of everything (all in moderation).  I workout 5-6 times a week mixture of boxing and weights and all sorts...and i pretty eat as natural as i can.  Breakfast is oats with water with a sprinkling of protein powder and berries, i have salads and tuna or brown rice and chicken/tuna for lunch and meat (sometimes red sometimes chicken/fish) and salad for dinner - if i need snacks during the day i make my own bliss balls (mixture of almonds/coconut/coconut oil/protein powder blizzed in the blender rolled and frozen) or smoothies (so many yummy ones out there) ....   and take a multivitamin.  drink loads of water (i get sick of plain water so i chop a lemon up and put that in it - could use limes to).  i think if you try and stick to eating as clean and natural as possible (the less things in tins and packets the better) and portions really watch your portions.  
Good Luck - small things make all the difference (like removing sugar from tea/coffee) little bits all add up.
 

Ashy Bines Clean Eating Guide is amazing and then a brisk walf after work with the dog. If you want it (the guide - not the dog haha) I could email you a copy of the PDF?

Also I've found that if I'm craving something I have to have some otherwise, I'll over eat on something else haha.

Green tea is amazing, for weight loss/metabolism benefits you need about 7 cups a day. I don't smoke at work so when I want a smoke I have a tea haha.

It's working well so far - I've lost 5.5kgs since Christmas! Woo only another 15kgs for the year and I'm at my goal.

Oh and one of the best tips I was ever given for portion controlling is to dish up your meal on a normal dinner plate - then half it and place it onto a butter plate. Have it with a glass of water and then if you are still hungry in 30/45 mins you can have the other half.. It's a bit of effort, but isn't everything these days haha

that'd be awesome if you could email it to me! my email is [email protected] .. cant wait to have a looksie :) 

Congratulations on quitting smoking!  My mother used to smoke for a long, long time and it wasn't until she had a heart attack that she got the boot up the proverbial to get her to quit.  So well done!

Diets are always a sticky subject.  There's something that works for everybody but one size definitely doesn't suit all.

For me, I have a wicked sweet tooth, so I've tried to cut out processed sugar and replace it with unpasturised honey.  Now, for some things - this just doesn't work.  So I have to skip out a lot of the time.  However, if I'm having some tea or something I normally add sugar to, unpasturised honey is my go-to.

I also avoid processed carbs and use almond or coconut flour in my cooking which has made a huge, dramatic difference.

To curb my sweet tooth I take apple cider vinegar, and I use coconut oil in all of my cooking instead of canola/sunflower/olive oil - although I do still use olive oil, just not as much.

If you're finding it hard to stick to a good eating plan (as opposed to a 'diet), start out small rather than go cold turkey.  It's working for me since cutting everything out all at once just made it worse!

Good luck :)

Wow 15kgs thats such a huge accomplishment!

I recently started on a "lifestyle change" to help with my acne because absolutely no products had helped me, but then I lost a whole dress size in the process as a bonus! You can imagine how stoked I am. Its like a 2 in 1 lifestyle change.

The medical advise was to eliminate all processed foods from my diet. Well that is extremely hard and I have not done that completely because I love food too much to just give up on so much :) What I have eliminated completely - but also found replacements for...

SUGAR  - non in my tea and coffee, replaced with honey, no food stuffs with sugar (i do have the odd cake or treat but rarely)
BREAD - for the obvious reason, I've replaced with Provitas

Yep thats all I've eliminated completely but I've made sure to add more healthy food to my diet.

Oolong tea - I drink about 3 cups a day in between coffee, tea and water. Its the base tea for all slimming teas but much more effective on its own.
Lots of pineapple - Eaten on an empty stomach, the enzymes will break down the food of the previous day, thus not turning it to fat.
Lots of watermelon - It not only has fat burning enzymes but a great meal replacement so I make to have only watermelon for breakfast/lunch at least twice a week.

And, of course exercising with my dog has been a huge help to knock off excess fat.

Good luck on your new Lifestyle journey!


 

   Congrats on quitting smoking. What I do is avoid all processed foods and just stick to one ingredient foods as much as possible. One ingredient foods are foods with one ingredient like beef, chicken, tomatoes, spinach, apples, broccoli, cauliflower, kiwifruit and the list goes on..and no, sugar doesn't count as a one ingredient food. I also avoid products containing wheat and gluten and sugar substitutes and chemicals and stuff like that. Instead for carbs I'll opt for brown rice or red rice. The reason is your liver works to break down fat and stuff like that but also part of it's job is dealing with the toxic stuff and chemicals that you may eat in processed foods. When it's busy dealing with that it can't do as good a job of breaking done fat, by limited the ammount of chemicals and stuff it has to deal with it can do a better job of dealing with fat.
   I do however give myself one day off a week from my diet and exercise to relax and eat what I want chips, cookies, ice-cream, instant noodles, . The purpose is to give me break a so I can continue with my diet and to increase leptin levels. Leptin is a hormone that tells your body to burn fat. Higher leptin levels equals more fat burnt. If you go on a diet your leptin levels drop after a few days because your intake diminishes your body doesn't see the need to continue producing leptin and leptin production shuts down and you hit a plateau in weight loss. Enjoying foods you like once a week encourages your body to fire up your leptin levels and gives your taste buds a much needed break.
  Lastly I do make exceptions to my diet on occasion for one meal or a day,  if I go eat out with friends or family but I make sure it's just that's an exception and not a weekly occurence. Also if are craving chocolate a couple squares of chocolate that are over 70% cocoa is okay so long as you restrain yourself not to devour half the bar. It's not fun to be on a diet some days I really want to eat cookies and chips and sandwiches and just not workout, but I know that if I want to weigh under 60kgs that's the price I have to pay.

When you quit smoking you tend to eat more because you end up replacing one bad habit with another. I gained so much weight when I did. I've lost 30kgs now though just from making my self control my portions and eat healthy. I dont exercise but I plan on starting. Good luck to you. Its a hard journey, but the results are worth it.

wow 30kg!! well done you!! ive got the exercise down, its just the eating side i need to control :) 

Mrs Rain I feel your pain!! I gave up smoking 6 weeks ago and have gone up 2 dress sizes :( Well done to you!! Its a real struggle and nobody knows just how hard it is! Keep Sipping lots of water and chewing gum. Those are my secrets 

awesome natz well done!!  alot of people dont make the first week let alone 6 weeks! :) it is damn hard, i guess putting on wieght while giving up is just part of the process...a sucky one at that! but hey i wouldnt go back to smoking....im actually thinking of asking the doctor about advice on the tummy band :/ .... and ive seen something about a baloon?? i dunno its abit over the top i think?? 

Mrs_rain85 I am needing to lose weight too, well I have alot too loose :( but im excited for the change, if you dont have one and want a weightloss buddy someone to chat too, im up for it, always good to have someone there to talk too who knows what you are going through :)

Your amazing well done! Thats a huge weight loss! When I was being fit and healthy I would keep a weightloss diary of what I ate, exercise and how I felt each day with weekly weigh in and measurements, I would also buy an outfit I would keep in my closet that was 2 sizes smaller and that would be my motivation, it worked everytime! Goodluck on continuing with your weightloss journey, slow and steady always win the race x

i have alot to loose too, like around 25kg, a wieghtloss buddy sounds awesome! im keen

I too need to lose at least 25-30kg and found that there is a free to use website called myfitnesspal.com that offers tools such as a meal tracker, exercise tracker and a forum where similar minded people from all over support each other and offer advice.  I found it to be highly helpful knowing how much calories, carbs, protein, fat and sugars I was consuming and what I needed to change.  Not really a diet as a healthy lifestyle, I was actually under eating in calories at 1,020 a day but my fats and sugars were maxed out so it abled me to switch around some foods to get a good balance to meet daily targets.  Only been back on tracking for 2 weeks but have lost 1.7kg which is healthy loss rate =)  Good luck and well done on giving up the smokes x

I use my fitnesspal to... i gym about 6 times a week a variety of things but i hit a wall so i thought i needed to fine tune the food side of things and downloaded this app.  Its great, i found the same i was eating too few calories but too much carbs and not enough protein so been tweaking and tweaking...if anything it at least motivates you to be answerable to what you eat...plus realistically see that just because you work out doenst mean you can eat whatever you want ...stick it at !! :) Good luck

Another Myfitnesspal fan here - I love the barcode scanner on the app, so handy!

cool thanks, ill check it out :)

:) whats a good way to contact you! x

Hey lovelies, thought I would add my success story here.

After having my kiddie winkles, I gained so much weight and felt super yucky.  I got sick and tired of summer coming and going and feeling hot, sweaty and not being able to fit my clothes.  My 30th birthday was coming up and I thought right today is the day that I start looking after myself and getting healhy. 

A workmate of my partner came in one day, and was hardly recognisable, he had literally lost half of his weight and he told us what he used.  The system is Bodytrim by Geoff Jowett and I have had the best results I've ever had on any previous diet I used (and believe me I'd tried the majority lol)  The reason this one worked was because it wasn't a diet, it was a lifestyle plan, so not an overnight fix.  On this system I lost 18kg and am forever grateful that I started it.  The great thing about this system is the support network you get.  I am part of groups on facebook and we all exchange recipes and tips and sometimes we just chat and motivate each other.  Its a fantastic feeling also when you know you're helping other people.

I use my treadmill daily probably for about 45min-1hour, I just put on my favourite tv series, so it doesn't feel like I'm exercising at all.  I drink 2-3 litres of water a day and also drink lots of herbal teas.  In order to not feel hungry, have a big glass of water before you eat, and then a big glass of water after you eat, fills you up.

Sorry its a bit long winded lol.

"In order to not feel hungry, have a big glass of water before you eat, and then a big glass of water after you eat, fills you up."

There was an article on the news a couple of weeks ago where they are trialling a new thing in England that they think will replace the gastric banding.  It involves swallowing a pill that contains a little balloon (don't ask me what it's made of, can't remember) that fills up with water and puts pressure in your stomach to make you feel like you're full.  The balloon will last about 6 weeks I think and needs topping up with water every now and then.

Working on your quote and having watched that article, this is probably really good advice for those wanting to lose weight.

Lauralu best way to contact me would be email or facebook : [email protected] or Nikki Hassall.

Mumof3munchkins wow 18kg thats awesome luv!! i might look it up and see if its right for me sounds good to me!

and yeah Imoshen i think thats where i saw it, i couldnt quite remember what the baloon did, you refreshed my memory! :) i think ill do the healthy way for wieghtloss as much as i want the band.

I recently caught up with a friend that had a sleeve inserted, not the band, her doctor didn't agree with using that method.  She lost something like 48kgs (I'm sure that's how much she lost, don't quote me) from it over a period of 9 months. 

She said it was nice to be able to buy clothes off the rack but she can only eat tiny tiny portions of food now and lots and lots of water.

EDIT:  Friends doctor only consented to the sleeve because her weight was affecting her health.

wow 48kg in roughly 9 months is so quick...good on her though! my weight isnt effecting my health...well it kind of is as i have diabetes on my dads side,high BP and colestrol .. so im so scared im gonna get it so something needs to happen!

I'm all keen for a weight loss buddy!  I'm not going to lie and say I have a 'little' bit of weight to loose *gulp* I have like.....50 kgs....say it fast and it might not sound as bad? Anyway I've started off on the Venus diet and have lost 5kg in 4 weeks, so really pleased with that, that's like 10% of the way there! WEE HEE! Anyway I can also say myfitness pal is AMAZEBALLS!! I love being able to check calories at the supermarket with their app.

well done on the loss of 5kg!! the venus diet?? do tell me more!  :) we can all be wieght loss buddies! hehe 

I'll be your weight loss bud hehe 

@Wh0syaMama - I love MFP too 
My username on there is EllskiNZ if anyone wants to be friends. I've been a bit slack entering my food lately, I need people to keep me accountable!

I have lost 52 kilos in 18months.
I have a pretty easy going diet, go for a walk a few times a week amd drink water.
No personal trainers, no pills, no ops, no drugs, its purely mind over matter. Easier said then done hey? TRUST ME, if you want to loose weight you will do it on your own. 
I was way happier at 117kgs then 65kgs. Be proud of your body, curves are beautiful, confidence is beautiful. 

wow Amanda07 thats awesome as 52kg in 18 months! so may i ask why you feel you were happier at 117kg, that is a huge change isnt it going from 117 to 65!... i dont want to be some skinny lady, at the moment im 112kg  i would just like to be roughly 85-90kg. because i do believe curves are beautiful. and also what were you doing to loose that much? like what were you eating etc...

In June last year I decided I wanted a lifestyle change and joined a gym and started to eat much healthier and cleaner. After deciding to go on many 'diets' throughout my teenage years that I got bored of and gave up on I knew I had to try something different. I began working out 4-5 (sometimes more) times a week doing a mix of both cardio and weights - do not be scared of weights! They aren't going to make you massive, and they'll dramaticly assist in weightloss compared to just cardio. On an average day I will eat eggs for breakfast (without toast), some sort of salad for lunch and a meat with vege/salad for dinner - with snacks of fruit/vege/sometimes a few crackers etc throughout the day. Cutting carbs was one of the main things I did, I used to eat at least 4 pieces of bread during a day because it was quick and easy so I knew that was something that had to go. I loved pasta also, people actually get addicted to processed carbs and I didn't even realise how bad they were for your body. Sometimes I will have a treat or two, especially during the weekends but even when having a 'treat' i'll generally try to do it as healthy as possible, eg. some rice crackers instead of a whole bag of chippies. I also upped my water intake and started drinking green tea occasionally. So far I have lost 15kg in total. Between June-September I had lost 10kg with 3% bodyfat loss. Between September- Janurary I had lost another 5kg with 6% bodyfat loss - which shows a gain of muscle and also a loss of fat which is awesome. I have 13kg to go to have achieved my first "goal", from there I will still have more to go. I strongly believe eating clean and training hard is the healthiest and most effective way to lose weight. I also sometimes use myfitnesspal.com which helps with calorie imput/output. Hope this helps, and good luck :)

I have found since I have cut back on smoking I too have gained weight! IT sucjs, like your trying to do something good for your body and its like your getting punished! I find walking lots helps, lots of water. fRuit for snacks. TRy not to eat too much pasta, bread, potatoes. STick to stir frysm fresh fruit and vege, kean mean. BUt most of all stay positive! IT will take time, so paitence is your friend :-)

Wow it's so good to see that there are others on here that are trying to lose weight too. I too have quite a bit to lose 30-40kgs if im brutely honest with myself. Just got my invite to my 10yr high school reunion in the mail yesterday and so i am determined to lookbetter by then (1st dec).
I have lost about 25kgs previously but then i have plateu'd and kinda given up. I too use my fitness pal.

So far I have lost 9.5kgs since March. It has been easy because I gave up on dieting. All I have done is go to the gym and eat LESS, I still eat the same food, just smaller portions sizes. Eating all healthy has never worked for me because I just crave "unhealthy" foods and give up and eat them again in large amounts.
Good luck.

I totally agree with what a lot of the other girls have said.. diets don't work. Perhaps try changing one thing a week.. make that your goal for the week and you won't feel overwhelmed. The first week could be drinking more water, the second week could be having a good breakfast, the third could be less sugar in your coffee etc. A few things that I personally do that make a difference to my weight is always eating a good breakfast, I often have oats with a banana. I also almost always cook a healthy dinner and the fact that I am vegetarian makes this quite easy. I am terrible with unhealthy snacks though! Planning out meals, even if it is just dinner, makes a big difference too. You could create a Pinterest board for healthy recipes. Goodluck, you obviously have the motivation and determination to succeed so I'm sure you will do well xx

I totally agree, one of the biggest changes I made and that i have stuck with is drinking loads of water. i average 2.5-3.5lt per day and if i dont i get a headache. we also are mostly gluten free at home as my oldest is intollerant to it.

 chelseaadelaide totally agree with staggering the changes. Drastic diet changes cause people to not stick with it and give up. Pick one thing to give up i.e Surgary drinks and do this even for a few weeks until you are comfortable with not having it anymore. Once you feel you have conqured that choose another. I have found this is the best tactic with people and I have seen amazing results. Good luck, you are doing amazingly... giving up smoking is a massive step in the right direction. If you can do that then you will certainly reach your other goals :)

Congratulations on your weight loss Katy! Thats some amazing results :)

Well done everyone. When I'm good, I'm good but when I bad there's no stopping me. I need a kick start at the moment and will refer back to old school weight watchers and what I learnt over 10years ago. Portion control, water consumption, breakfast and exercise :-)  I need to stop trying to eat as much as my boyfriend :-) And less chocolate. Will never cut one thing out but a whole lot less of. Keep up the good work everyone. You all inspire me.

I've been on the weight loss train for coming up 3 months now and it really is a lifestyle change! I've designed my own little programme that helps me stay on track and leaves little room for quitting... 

First of all I wear my FitBit tracker 24/7. This tracks all the steps I take from running and walking. It then syncs to the companion app which is installed on all my devices and tells me how many calories I can still eat for the day. 

I track all my food with My Fitness Pal which also syncs over to the FitBit app adjusting the calorie allowance as I go.  The allowance is slightly different between the two apps,  but I just stick to what the FitBit one allows me.  I always try to keep a few steps ahead of myself, adding what I am going to have for dinner around lunch time just to make sure that I'm going to have enough calories to work with.  This also stops me from making last minute bad food choices. 

For exercise,  I have a routine:
Mon, Wed and Fri I do a 20 min "pyramid" walk on my treadmill which increases the speed and incline every two minutes and then back down again.  This a is a great lunch break workout as you have time to gently warm down.
I also do the Couch to 5k programme on these days which is yet another app.  It teaches you to run 5k without stopping, by doing short running/walking intervals. 

Tues and Thurs I climb the stairs that are in my town with my workmate.  We go up two flights, down one...all the way to the top and then opposite on the way down.  This near kills me by the way. 
At home on these days I do the 30 Day Shred programme, but I don't use the DVD, I just have all the circuits written down in my shed-gym.  

Sat and Sun I just fit in an endurance walk on my treadmill of at least an hour. 

I'm losing weight pretty steadily with doing all this and feeling pretty damn great too.  I think the most important advice I can give is to make a commitment.  Plan your workouts. Write them on a calendar or make yourself a cute little fitness book.  Think ahead about food, don't let yourself make last minute decisions on what you're going to eat, or you will be more likely to make a bad decision.   

Sorry this post is so long!  I've also been kind of documenting my journey on Tumblr,  if you search allaboutemzor you should find me. xoxo 

Emzor, that is so cool -- well done on taking charge. It sounds like you have it sorted! Have fun with the 5K.

I was obsessed with calorie counting and tracking for a while a few years back and I found that my thinking about food and calories and exercise became really distorted; it becomes all or nothing for me whenever I go back to it. More recently I've taken a more intuitive approach rather than obsessing over it, and it's working better for me. It's not for everyone though, and if you don't have a good idea of what and how much to eat then tracking might be a better option for you.

I had a free yoga membership from last June until just recently (in exchange for tidying the studio) so that was great! Now that it's come to an end I've started doing the yoga classes at my gym and making the most of the pool. I try to do strength training three times a week, and I play indoor netball once a week as well. At my gym you have to book online for the classes so I'm using that to keep me accountable.

Some weeks are good, some weeks are bad, and I've learnt to just take it easy on myself. Stress and anxiety is no good -- cortisol levels increase and that sets off a whole hormonal cascade which leads to more issues, so be kind to yourself!

hey everyone :) I have quiet a lot of weight-loss experience from my short 19 years of life.

when i was 17 i weighed near 100kg. I moved away to australia and lost around 25-30kg. the biggest thing was absolutely changing my lifestyle and mindset. you have to change your mindset to a "no excuses" approach. becasue no matter what there is no excuse not to eat healthy and exercise. i drank LOTS of water and walked absolutely everywhere. i lost all that weight without a diet plan, personal trainer or gym. so its totally possible to do it on your own. you dont have to eat salads all day or starve yourself. its actually the opposite. i ate whenever i was hungry. obviusly smaller portions and all healthy/clean food. i kept it off because i managed to boost my metabolism over time , with the healthy eating. i eventually could eat whatever i wanted and maintain my weight very easily. you must learn to listen to your body and give your body what it needs. 

after all that i got pregnant and put all the weight back on plus more! after six moths i was back down to my pre-pregnancy weight and so happy with myself :) so i had lost another 30 or so kg.
the key is eating! you have to eat 5-6 meals a day to help boost your metabolism. exercise 4-5 times a week. you must be committed and realise this isnt going to come easy and it could take a LONG time to reach all of your goals. may i reccommend Tumehe Rongonui's meal plans. theey are amazing and very realistic/achievable. 

i really wish you luck with your journey. weightloss starts  with your mind not your body. :)

hey everyone :) I have quiet a lot of weight-loss experience from my short 19 years of life.

when i was 17 i weighed near 100kg. I moved away to australia and lost around 25-30kg. the biggest thing was absolutely changing my lifestyle and mindset. you have to change your mindset to a "no excuses" approach. becasue no matter what there is no excuse not to eat healthy and exercise. i drank LOTS of water and walked absolutely everywhere. i lost all that weight without a diet plan, personal trainer or gym. so its totally possible to do it on your own. you dont have to eat salads all day or starve yourself. its actually the opposite. i ate whenever i was hungry. obviusly smaller portions and all healthy/clean food. i kept it off because i managed to boost my metabolism over time , with the healthy eating. i eventually could eat whatever i wanted and maintain my weight very easily. you must learn to listen to your body and give your body what it needs. 

after all that i got pregnant and put all the weight back on plus more! after six moths i was back down to my pre-pregnancy weight and so happy with myself :) so i had lost another 30 or so kg.
the key is eating! you have to eat 5-6 meals a day to help boost your metabolism. exercise 4-5 times a week. you must be committed and realise this isnt going to come easy and it could take a LONG time to reach all of your goals. may i reccommend Tumehe Rongonui's meal plans. theey are amazing and very realistic/achievable. 

i really wish you luck with your journey. weightloss starts  with your mind not your body. :)

I'm going into an old thread. I'm on my second week clean eating and working out. I'm going to weigh in once a month. I'm hoping to reach my goal weight by December. 

Seriously healthy eating and only eating if you are really hungry.Plenty of veggies and raw fruit is best if you need a nibble.

I like chocolate too much lol

Same Aboutface, and I'm partial to Bluebird chicken chips!

Don't be hard on yourself re weight. Stopping smoking is the best thing you can do so you need to be proud of yourself firstly. Try eating using a smaller plate as often over eating is visual so a small plate looks like a big meal.Lots of water betweem meals is good because often hunger is dehydration  and cllery sticks are also good for the hunger nibble.

Firstly be proud of yourself for quitting smoking. If you can achieve that you can achieve anything. Drink lots of water as I have heard often when you feel hungry it can be dehydration.Use a small plate for your meals and have a little of everything so you don't feel like you are missing out. Be kind to yourself and celebrat your success's.