trying to lose the same 10 pounds for the last 5 years...any tips?

[Anonymous]

Hi all,
Does anyone have any diet tips for me...I am trying to lose 10 pounds..forget about even maintaining the weight loss....I can't even lose the pounds to begin with. I am currently 5'2 and 125 pounds. I have a petite bone structure and would look best at around 115. Right now I am very curvy in the butt/hips area but also have stomach heft, following the birth of my son 3 years ago. I can't seem to do carb-free diets as they make me moody/foggy. I can't overdue high fiber material as it aggravates my irritable bowel issues. I am also a sugar addict and reach for chocolate when stress hits. I recently got a fit bit and am trying to get in 10,000 steps a day. I also do cardio for 40 minutes on the treadmill about 4 times a week. I know I need to work in more variety in my exercise and strength training as well as keep a log of my food using an app like my fitness pal.

Here is what I'm trying to eat during an ideal day
breakfast: hardboiled egg/fruit
snack: fruit/ and a 1/4 cup of nuts
lunch: black bean or lentil soup (amy's organic line) and 1/2 peanut butter sandwhich on wheat and assorted veggies and hummus
dinner: small portion of whatever the family is eating and green smoothie with 2 cups of kale/spinach and 1.5 fruits.
snack: 100 calorie microwave popcorn

What would you suggest?

[Anonymous]

I think 125 lbs on a 5'2" woman is perfectly healthy and normal. Try to love your body the way it is and focus on eating for more energy and get some exercise. I find that I feel better about myself when I'm exercising and eating right, even if not actually losing anything. You honestly, don't sound like you need to lose any weight, and 115 lbs might not be where your body naturally wants to be.

[Anonymous]

Order this dvd and add some more high quality protein to your diet. You definitely sound more like you need to tone what you have as opposed to consuming fewer calories.

http://www.amazon.com/Jillian-Michaels-30-Day-Shred/dp/B00127RAJY

Find a better stress food. My go to is 3-2-1 cake (Angel food+Devils Food cake mix). It's about 125 calories, and the fact I have to schlep out the mix jar, make it, wait for it to cool, and clean up afterwards helps put distance between the hunger and the stress.

[Anonymous]

Weight watchers worked for me. I did the online version.

[Anonymous]

Chew slowly, drink a lot of water, and tone.

[Anonymous]

Lose the fruit for a while, add more protein and fat. For example, have two eggs and some salsa at breakfast. For lunch, don't have the sandwich but have some ham and cheese slices on the side, or dip veggies into the peanut butter. Dinner, again lose the fruit when making the smoothie -- use some greek yogurt or something else if possible. Snack -- have the popcorn but make sure you out some butter and/or some cheese sprinkled on it.

This is not super low carb, but maybe enough to get the ball rolling.

Try to get rid of the trigger food (don't keep chocolate in the house) or you will loose that battle.

[Anonymous]

Less nuts and nut butter. More lean protein. Less fruit. More salad/veggies.
Check your sodium intake with the popcorn/nuts/soups. I find that throws my weight off at times.

[Anonymous]

I am 5'2 115, curvy (hip and ass), and I could afford to gain weight. I think 125 is perfect. Just tone and tighten.

[Anonymous]

You are eating too many calories.
Multiply the weight you want to be times 100. If you don't exercise, that is that amount of calories you can eat.
If you want to weigh 115, you can only eat 1150 plus however many calories you burn off via exercise, which is probably between 100 and 250. So you should only be consuming at most 1400 a day, on a day you exercise.
By my calculation, you are consuming around 1600 NOT including "small portion of dinner."
Sorry but you are eating too much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are eating too many calories.
Multiply the weight you want to be times 100. If you don't exercise, that is that amount of calories you can eat.
If you want to weigh 115, you can only eat 1150 plus however many calories you burn off via exercise, which is probably between 100 and 250. So you should only be consuming at most 1400 a day, on a day you exercise.
By my calculation, you are consuming around 1600 NOT including "small portion of dinner."
Sorry but you are eating too much.

I should add, this advice is from my sibling who is a doctor. She also says many short people have trouble with their weight because they don't understand how much less they are supposed to be eating. You can eat 100 calories for every additional inch. So if you are surrounded by taller family members and coworkers, you may think, "but I don't eat any more than they do!" Well yeah, but you are short, so you can't eat as much if you want to be thin.

Having said all this, 5'2 and 125 doesn't sound like terrible stats to me. Is your bmi 24 or below?

[Anonymous]

Wait, multiply by ten, not a hundred!

[Anonymous]

More protein, more water, weight training for toning. 115 may be too small. Try 3-4 egg whites for breakfast and a green smoothie. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Hey there - I'm 5 feet, my regular weight is 115, I'm sometimes up to 120 or down to 110, depending on food/exercise. Here's my advice (which is not based in any medicine or anything, just my own experience with similar body type and similar reaction to not having enough carbs):

- Cut out the snacks that aren't fruit, and let yourself eat as much fruit as you want. No more popcorn, no more nuts between meals. Just fruit. As much as you want. See if that helps.

- Maybe try to skip the hummous and veggies on top of the soup and sandwich. Just sandwich or hummous and veggies, not both. Sounds like too much lunch for people our size.

- Is the dinner smoothie just kale, or is there stuff like yogurt in there, too? Smoothies just seem like wasted calories to me, in general. Can you just eat some kale or spinach along with dinner instead of drinking it?

Also, your description of your day's food is making my hungry! Delicious stuff. Good luck with everything - and even if you don't lose a pound, sounds like you're just fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are eating too many calories.
Multiply the weight you want to be times 100. If you don't exercise, that is that amount of calories you can eat.
If you want to weigh 115, you can only eat 1150 plus however many calories you burn off via exercise, which is probably between 100 and 250. So you should only be consuming at most 1400 a day, on a day you exercise.
By my calculation, you are consuming around 1600 NOT including "small portion of dinner."
Sorry but you are eating too much.

I should add, this advice is from my sibling who is a doctor. She also says many short people have trouble with their weight because they don't understand how much less they are supposed to be eating. You can eat 100 calories for every additional inch. So if you are surrounded by taller family members and coworkers, you may think, "but I don't eat any more than they do!" Well yeah, but you are short, so you can't eat as much if you want to be thin.

Having said all this, 5'2 and 125 doesn't sound like terrible stats to me. Is your bmi 24 or below?

I so agree! It sucks though! I am 5'4" and all of my female relatives and friends are 5'8"-5'10". Many have never really worked out and stay long and lean (though in swimsuits now that they are in their 40s you can tell---but damn in clothes they look like skinny bitches). I work my ass off--weights, running, UXF, spinning, etc. I am very muscular but I can gain 5lbs by just eating a cracker--at least it feels that way!

[Anonymous]

There are lots of different theories and approaches, and different things work for different people.

Things to consider:
Are you getting enough "good" fats?
IBS - look into gluten sensitivity and leaky gut (has been linked to thyroid problems, which would make it difficult to lose weight)
Are you getting enough calcium / dairy? Consuming non-skim dairy has been linked to successful weight loss (skim milk has a higher glycemic index than whole milk)
Be careful of the sodium intake from the soup and nuts.
Smoothies can be calorie bombs, especially if you are using a gizmo that separates out the fiber. The body generally doesn't register the calories you drink. You are better off eating the ingredients whole. Kale chips or sauteed spinach sound good to you?

Add some strength training. Muscle burns more calories at rest. And a toned body at the same weight looks better.

And focus less on the weight and more on how you feel, what your body can DO.