I need to lose 40 pounds (yikes).

[Anonymous]

I just realized that I have 50 pounds of extra weight to lose. Some of it is baby weight, some of it is pre-baby weight. I really want to lose at least 20 fairly quickly in order to feel and look better. I'm 5'11 and 215#. I'd like to get to 180, preferably 170.

What is the quickest, healthiest, and cheapest way to lose the weight?

~I have a 6 month old; I'm a stay at home mom.
~We eat clean/healthy.
~I'm a sugar addict! I know I need to cut my sugar intake by 75%!
~No extra income for gym/trainer/weight watchers
~I'm not a runner, but I am a stellar walker!

This is such a hard realization. I didn't know I had that much to lose. Advice? Support?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just realized that I have 50 pounds of extra weight to lose. Some of it is baby weight, some of it is pre-baby weight. I really want to lose at least 20 fairly quickly in order to feel and look better. I'm 5'11 and 215#. I'd like to get to 180, preferably 170.

What is the quickest, healthiest, and cheapest way to lose the weight?

~I have a 6 month old; I'm a stay at home mom.
~We eat clean/healthy.
~I'm a sugar addict! I know I need to cut my sugar intake by 75%! ~No extra income for gym/trainer/weight watchers
~I'm not a runner, but I am a stellar walker!

This is such a hard realization. I didn't know I had that much to lose. Advice? Support?

You already know what you need to do. So just do it.

[Anonymous]

Good luck to you OP! You can do this!

My dad had to lose 30-40 pounds in order to be eligible for a certain kind of surgical procedure to treat prostate cancer. He was really motivated to get the particular procedure. He managed to do it by cutting his portion sizes, cutting carbs, eating more healthfully and finally getting some exercise. (He is a sedentary professor and never gets up from the computer.)

Though I'll note that he unfortunately gained it all back over time. Once the fear of the surgery was over, he fell back into his old, tremendously unhealthy habits.

Good luck to you!

[Anonymous]

You can do this. I've found it helpful to avoid food after 3 or 4 pm. If you have to sit down and eat with the family, just have salad. Making small changes can help you reach your goal.

Walking is a great exercise.

Be patient with yourself. And, find something to keep your mind on something other than food. For instance, I find that when I knit, while we watch television in the evening, I'm much less likely to eat or drink anything that I'll regret the next day.

[Anonymous]

Cut your carbs. At least to 100g, if you can go under 50-60g there are benefits. The first few days will massively suck, and then it will get easier. Count carbs and calories using MyFitness Pal or something similar. Track before you eat. Weigh/measure foods for a few weeks until you can accurately eyeball, and even after that spot check several times a month to make sure portion sizes aren't increasing.

I have more to lose but have lost 50 lbs in the last 3 months (not a typo) this way. My doc is thrilled. I think at a lower weight you may lose slower, but aiming for 1-1.5% of your body weight a week is doable. There is evidence (studies) that the common wisdom of 1-2 lbs per week isn't right and people who lose fast are more likely to get closer to their final goal weight and no more likely to gain it back (BTW - EVERYONE is likely to gain it back no matter how fast or slow you lose, so you have to be vigilant long term).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cut your carbs. At least to 100g, if you can go under 50-60g there are benefits. The first few days will massively suck, and then it will get easier. Count carbs and calories using MyFitness Pal or something similar. Track before you eat. Weigh/measure foods for a few weeks until you can accurately eyeball, and even after that spot check several times a month to make sure portion sizes aren't increasing.

I have more to lose but have lost 50 lbs in the last 3 months (not a typo) this way. My doc is thrilled. I think at a lower weight you may lose slower, but aiming for 1-1.5% of your body weight a week is doable. There is evidence (studies) that the common wisdom of 1-2 lbs per week isn't right and people who lose fast are more likely to get closer to their final goal weight and no more likely to gain it back (BTW - EVERYONE is likely to gain it back no matter how fast or slow you lose, so you have to be vigilant long term).

Congratulations on your weight loss, but that kind of quick loss is almost certain to be unsustainable.

[Anonymous]

Beachbody on demand is less than 200/yr and amazing for quick at home workouts.

[Anonymous]

you eat too many calories, doesn't matter clean or whatever fad you are following

[Anonymous]

Look into intermittent fasting. It has worked wonders for me. I've lost the hard-to-lose weight and I really feel fantastic.

[Anonymous]

I just started the 21 day fix eating plan, and I really really like it. Its basically a portion controlled clean eating diet plan. I don't like home video workouts, so I downloaded the eating plan online for free, and bought knockoff containers on amazon for about $16. I workout on my own when I can. Even if you are eating clean, its very likely that you are simply eating too much. The plan is a great way to teach yourself about portion control.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look into intermittent fasting. It has worked wonders for me. I've lost the hard-to-lose weight and I really feel fantastic.

My mother did this for about a year. Worked wonders for her. And now she is MUCH more mindful about what she eats. She's not rail thin, never will be, but did learn she has to keep her calories under control to keep weight from piling on. The good part about it is that every time she wanted something on a fasting day, she knew she could have it tomorrow. Usually when tomorrow rolled around, she didn't want it anymore. That really helped her make the mind-mouth connection of how much we eat when we're bored or just because we feel like it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look into intermittent fasting. It has worked wonders for me. I've lost the hard-to-lose weight and I really feel fantastic.

My mother did this for about a year. Worked wonders for her. And now she is MUCH more mindful about what she eats. She's not rail thin, never will be, but did learn she has to keep her calories under control to keep weight from piling on. The good part about it is that every time she wanted something on a fasting day, she knew she could have it tomorrow. Usually when tomorrow rolled around, she didn't want it anymore. That really helped her make the mind-mouth connection of how much we eat when we're bored or just because we feel like it.

This was very much my experience as well. And bonus- it couldn't be cheaper!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look into intermittent fasting. It has worked wonders for me. I've lost the hard-to-lose weight and I really feel fantastic.

My mother did this for about a year. Worked wonders for her. And now she is MUCH more mindful about what she eats. She's not rail thin, never will be, but did learn she has to keep her calories under control to keep weight from piling on. The good part about it is that every time she wanted something on a fasting day, she knew she could have it tomorrow. Usually when tomorrow rolled around, she didn't want it anymore. That really helped her make the mind-mouth connection of how much we eat when we're bored or just because we feel like it.

This was very much my experience as well. And bonus- it couldn't be cheaper!

OP. Can you tell me about this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cut your carbs. At least to 100g, if you can go under 50-60g there are benefits. The first few days will massively suck, and then it will get easier. Count carbs and calories using MyFitness Pal or something similar. Track before you eat. Weigh/measure foods for a few weeks until you can accurately eyeball, and even after that spot check several times a month to make sure portion sizes aren't increasing.

I have more to lose but have lost 50 lbs in the last 3 months (not a typo) this way. My doc is thrilled. I think at a lower weight you may lose slower, but aiming for 1-1.5% of your body weight a week is doable. There is evidence (studies) that the common wisdom of 1-2 lbs per week isn't right and people who lose fast are more likely to get closer to their final goal weight and no more likely to gain it back (BTW - EVERYONE is likely to gain it back no matter how fast or slow you lose, so you have to be vigilant long term).

Congratulations on your weight loss, but that kind of quick loss is almost certain to be unsustainable.

Based on what? Unsustainable in terms of speed (agreed, it will slow down), or unsustainable in terms of keeping it off? As I mentioned, there is newer research out that shows losing fast is NOT correlated with your likelihood to regain. The fact is, most everyone is statistically likely to regain - slow or fast loss. And those who lose slowly are less likely to get close to their goal weight. It's depressing, but for some of us, it has to be a life-long commitment to regular weighing, monitoring our food, etc.

Long term, I plan on weighing in at the doctor every 3 months in addition to continuing forever with weekly Weight Watcher meetings (which I'm already doing). Something about the doctor keeps me really accountable. And I'm accepting I'm going to have to log my food daily, forever. Not everyone has to do that, but I have a serious "medical" issue and that's the way for me I'll have to treat it. If someone is diabetic, they have to take their blood sugar daily/more than daily forever; for me, to fight obesity long-term, I have to log my food daily. I really am starting to look at it that way. I think the difference is that this time I've approached weight loss from a true health point-of-view. In the past, deep down I was approaching it from a vanity point of view but paid lip-service to health so I wasn't really willing to do what it took long term, put accountability systems into place, etc.

Anyway, back to the quick loss thing - here's some research on it. I did a ton of research before deciding how I was going to eat, how much, etc and was surprised to learn the quick vs slow loss thing isn't really proven in terms of keeping it off.

http://www.diabetesforecast.org/2015/mar-apr/is-fast-or-slow-weight-loss.html
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587(14)70200-1/abstract

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look into intermittent fasting. It has worked wonders for me. I've lost the hard-to-lose weight and I really feel fantastic.

My mother did this for about a year. Worked wonders for her. And now she is MUCH more mindful about what she eats. She's not rail thin, never will be, but did learn she has to keep her calories under control to keep weight from piling on. The good part about it is that every time she wanted something on a fasting day, she knew she could have it tomorrow. Usually when tomorrow rolled around, she didn't want it anymore. That really helped her make the mind-mouth connection of how much we eat when we're bored or just because we feel like it.

This was very much my experience as well. And bonus- it couldn't be cheaper!

OP. Can you tell me about this?

There are different ways to do it. You can find detailed guidelines online.

I have done it a couple of ways, depending on what my lifestyle is like at the time. There is every other day fasting, where you eat normally one day, keep your calories around 500 the next, and then normally again the next. Another method is blocking out a window of time where you don't eat every day. For me, the best way to do that was to have my normal coffee every morning and then eat nothing until dinner, when I would eat a healthy dinner but not overdo the calories.

A couple of pros to every other day fasting- you don't feel so deprived on fast days when you know you're off the hook the next day, and you can finagle your on/off days so that you have off days when you want them (eating out with family, holidays, etc.)

Doing the time block method on a daily basis is good in that you can have a normal dinner with your family every evening. For me it means fewer off days, though.