Dieting results in long term changes to hormones and muscle fibers.

[GaYellowDawg]

88. I've lost 21 pounds in 6 weeks.

You have to do a number of things in order to lose weight.

1. Make yourself some general guidelines about food intake to combat your worst habits. I have these:

A. No fast food.
B. No fried chicken/meat.
C. No sugared soft drinks.
D. No salad dressings.
E. No deli "instant meal" type foods.

2. Track your calories and stay on or below budget consistently. Track everything. No omitting or lying.

3. BREAKFAST!!

4. Exercise. Start slow, then build as you can.

5. If you choose to go below a certain calorie level (for me, it's 2000), make sure that much of it is protein.

6. Drink a LOT of water. I try to get in a gallon a day.

7. Take vitamin/mineral supplements to make up any unrealized deficiencies. Every morning with breakfast, I have 2 multivitamins, 2 calcium/Vitamin D supplements, a Vitamin E supplement, and a biotin supplement.


Before I got started with this, I was taking in about 3500-4000 calories from eating a lot of fast food, etc. I cut back to 2450 calories a day for 4 weeks. Now I've stepped it down to 1500 a day, and all 3 meals have protein. I eat a lot of 93/7 ground beef. I love the taste, it's low calorie, low fat, high protein, low cholesterol (as far as meat goes). But everyone has different tastes, and you HAVE to find something that works for YOUR taste, not anyone else's. I detest beans, but if you love them and you don't like or object to beef? Make the beans a staple food instead of what I do. Everyone has at least one very good source of low fat, low calorie protein. Find it. And realize this: everyone's starvation threshold is different, too. I'm lucky enough to be able to take in 1500 calories (at over 300 pounds) and still lose weight rapidly. When I get to my target weight, I will pick a maintenance calorie level.

I used to be a complete couch potato. I got into a workout program, worked at it as hard as I could, and in 6 weeks, after seeing a lot of different exercises, I've chosen my exercise of choice: swimming. Yesterday, I swam a mile in an hour and 2 minutes. Today, I'm going to try to cut that to an hour flat. I can't emphasize too much the importance of exercise. I have a ton more energy now than I did with a diet of 2K more calories. It IS possible to lose weight and gain muscle density and mass simultaneously. I don't give a damn what anyone says. I am stronger and have more muscle now than when I started dieting.

You also have to learn the difference between hunger and thirst. Sometimes, thirst can feel like hunger. It's messed up.

You also have to deal with the fact that sometimes, you're going to feel hungry. You have to learn to eat at certain times a day (without having more than 4 hours between meal intervals), and in between? If you get irritated at the feeling, then in the first few weeks before weight loss begins to kick in, suck it up. When the weight loss begins to kick in, get up and walk around for a second and feel how much better off you are. I find that the irritation goes right away.

Finally, here's this: it will be hard. Resign yourself to that. But with the effort comes reward. I feel so much better about myself right now, and it is unreal how much better I feel physically. Just losing 21 pounds has impacted every area of my life positively, even though I want to lose about 120 more. It will be a huge challenge, but when you're in the process of overcoming it? Just knowing that you're succeeding at something that hard is the kind of boost to your self-esteem and emotional well-being that no food can match.