Well I have taken the steps and discovered TOPS. I feel great to have started.

I got my picture taken, I have followed some advice from Pamela and gave myself small goals (10 pound increments) and feel that this time I may do it for good.

Having said that here is my challenge. I am 6.2 ft and with a weight of 262 pounds. My goals are to shed 10 pounds a month for the next 6 months. Now I am starting to excercise from scratch (minimum 20 minutes per day) bu i dont really have a good food plan.

Can anyone recommend a good reasonable plan which would not involve serious measuring and buying of weird foods.

Looking forward to your replies and thanks for all your help and support.

Regards

Mike

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Welcome Michael,
Glad you found your way here. Funny you should ask about what to eat. Just yesterday I posted to the Diet Board under counting calories, just what is considered a portion size of different foods, then I posted a 1600 calorie per day menu based on those portions. Seeing as how you are a man, I would probably increase the calories to about 2200 daily. So I guess I would add about 3 portions of protein to breakfast, lunch and dinner plus a couple extra starchs. Hope that helps and at least gets you started. Good luck on your journey!!!

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thanks for the advice I will look it up


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Hi MichaelT,
I am new to the bulletin boards myself. I was just reading posts when I found yours. In Dec. of 1999 I decided I was getting tired of being on the diet-gain rollercoaster
so I quit dieting. I decided I would set a new years resolution to eat as healthy as I could for just one day at a time. I aslo make a decision to drink losts of water and get some kind of daily exercise. Guess what happened? The weight started coming off. I lost 19 1/2 pounds in 26 weeks. Now I know that's slow, but at least I no longer felt deprived which in the past would lead to failure. That's an average of 3/4 lb. a week. Unfortunately, I returned to the self-destructive behavior of compulsive eating and I've gain my weight back. I'm beginning again tomorrow though. That's about all any of us can do. If we fall, we must get back up and proceed on if we want to reach our goals. Good luck in whatever you chose to do to get the weight off. What works for one might now work for others. As for me, I'm done with diets. Keep us posted on your progress!

Cindy

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This response may reach you a bit late; just hopped here by mistake and saw your posting. For your consideration: try following the food pyramid. No strange foods, no odd portion sizes. Easy to follow, and there really is a lot of food available - the catch being the type of food you select, of course. Hope all is going well. Will you post again and update us? Best wishes to you.

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10 pounds a month? Not plausible. Or healthy. Shoot for 4-8, but probably closer to 4. Makes sure to work out with weights about 3x/ week, doing 2-3 sets/ exercise. shoot for failure between reps 6-12. do 1 - 2 exercises / muscle group, preferably free wights, use good form, work each muscle group once a week, the same day each week. aerobics: 30 minutes day, low intensity. nonworkout days: before eating. Workout days: after working out, before eating. meals? breakfast and pre/post workout are your most important. an hour preworkout, eat a thing of fat free lite yogurt or an apple, and eat 1/2 cup cottage cheese. post workout, eat a chicken breast and 2 baked potatoes or sweet potatoes(for more details do a search on glycemic index. eat one serving low glycemic carbs pre workout, and two servings high glycemic carbs post workout). Every meal (besides the aforementioned, should be small. Eat one serving carbs, one serving fat, and one serving protein as a meal. (a serving of anything is about 100 cals... make sure to shoot for the serving size). workout days, eat the pre and postworkout foods + 5 meals(2000 cals). nonworkout days, eat 6 meals(1800 cals). if possible, dont eat anything 4 hours before bed, but dont skip any meals to do so. Now that Ive posted all that, i can just forward questions to this post. Anything else?

PS: the food pyramid might work because your watching your calories, but its emphasis is on too many carbs and not enough protein and fat. i recommend 35 - 50% of your diet from carbs, 25 - 40% protein, and 15-30% fat. try it for a couple weeks before you knock it.

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Thanks to all of you for your great incite into this hard road ahead. I am moving more and more on the advice of not dieting but rather eating less and excercising. The excercise part has been difficult.

So far no great loss but I am feeling better and I am continuing down this road. I will keep you posted and if you have any more suggestions please post.

Thanks again for all your support

Michael



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Mike - Tops has a food plan and it is in a book they have - called The Choice Is Yours.
It basically follows a healthly eating plan - foods from all food groups advising you to chose the lower fat options. If you are in Tops, ask your leader about the book. It is not very expensive and contains alot of good advise on food choices. I believe for me in Canada the book was $13.00

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Michael welcome to diettak:

You've made a great start by coming here and seeking the info you wanted. You will meet people on different programs and I'm sure you will find what works for you. I myself and following the Low Carb plan and it's what works for me. I've currently lost 34 pounds since January. Losing a weight of 1 1/2 to 2 lbs a week is the safest route to go. Some people do lose more depending on their fitness program. We have a chat scheduled tonight at 9 and feel free to join us. You will meet fantastic people there. Feel free to email me anytime you please. I'm one of the 3 moderators posted on the boards so feel free to keep in touch.

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[This message has been edited by joanne (edited 05-31-2000).]

Thanks for your replies. I just got the TOPS book at my meeting yesterday and will start following it. I also bought an awsome book called From couch potatoe to Baked Potatoe is seems to take a healthy apporach. As for the low carb diet I was on Atkins last year and lost 10 pounds but guess what (gained 15 back).

Anyways I am working harder each day and today I started writing down all I eat. I want to loose I am decided.

Keep the ideas coming I need the motivation and support.

talk to you all soon


Mike

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