Only drink water (the old fashioned kind, not the flavored kind) and black coffee.

Eat eggs or nonfat/no sugar/no flavor Greek yogurt with real fruit for breakfast.

Big salad for lunch with clean protein and minimal dressing. If you add fruit and nuts, you shouldn’t really need dressing.

Spinach and clean protein for dinner. Extra veggies.

Fruit and nuts for a snack.

One piece of chocolate (dove) for dessert.

15-20k steps per day and you’ll lose weight. It does take time though.

And it goes without saying: no wine, beer, or booze.

May I ask what you weigh/your height and how you typically ate before going on the health kick?

I’ve been really lazy lately and need to get back on track. 5’9” and 174. Blah. I would like to drop 20 pounds but I’d be thrilled to lose 10.

Walking is great. You need to add more veggies in your diet.

Cut down carb by 25%, , remove alcohol, sugar, processed food, junk food. Increase fresh veggies by 50% and fresh fruit by 10%

Walking is good, but more intense exercise is better. You can try run/walk intervals, but if that doesn't appeal, take a class at a gym or YouTube has an abundance of great videos to try-- Look for something with intervals (the title may call it HIIT). It gives you around a 40+second burst of exercise and 10+ seconds to recover, which is a nice way to build your endurance as you get more fit. And definitely add in some strength training--a day of upper body and a day of lower body to start. Start with bodyweight exercise and learn the form, then add weights gradually. Again, YouTube videos can walk you through this, but a trainer would also be helpful.

I’ve found that regularly doing some kettle bell exercises helps me - especially those that are cardio bursts from a squat movement. It gets my heart rate up. I WFH so do a couple sets of 15 a few times throughout the day. Increasing the amount of water I drink and cut out snacking after 8. I typically stay away from processed foods in general, but love cheese and crackers, so stopping at 8 works for me.
Good luck

Anonymous wrote:10K isn't enough. Double it plus weights.

Don’t listen to this person

Anonymous wrote:Thanks, I’ve been trying to stick to 1500 calories per day for the past 2 weeks and I’ve lost 2 pounds. I guess that’s to be expected and this is going to take a while. I will also try some light weights.

This is actually a very good rate of weight loss!

I'm able to work up a good sweat on my daily walk but I do it on the treadmill at a good pace and constant incline (so 5 miles and 2000+ vertical feet in about 65-70 minutes). I have no idea how many steps this is. My job is sedentary and I tend to be a couch potato for a good chunk of the evening. I must be burning something because I eat a ton.

I was overweight when I started and have maintained a 40+ pound weight loss for two years by doing this along with cutting out most junk food and sugar from my diet. Some days I do an additional walk outdoors if it's not raining, too hot, too cold, too humid, etc. I really, really hate jogging.

Walking is not great for losing weight. Let's say you walk 3 miles. Not bad, right? About how many calories is that? Equivalent to a Starbucks coffee maybe if you are lucky. Losing weight is all about watching what you put in your mouth. Walking is for mental health, sunshine, movement, doing something other than sitting, reminds you to watch what you are eating, etc.

Walking is great for losing weight, but it is not permission for eating a ton.
For example, in the summer of 2020, the pandemic, I started walking well over 17K steps.
I could eat anything and keep losing weight, but I was around 125 lbs. These walks were not slow. Nor do I eat over 3000 calories per day. I stopped walking, and I am not losing weight.
10K seems too low for weight loss.

You mentioned you are a working mom - I imagine you don't have time to walk 20,000 steps a day as some posters are recommending. I recommend working in a few HIIT or tabata workouts - you can find some that are low intensity or that incorporate free weights depending on your preference. It's a more efficient workout, and I was able to do videos at home rather than spending hours walking when my kids were little.

Yeah, if you are overweight, jogging is not the answer. Too much strain on the joints. Step 1 is losing weight and, as someone said, that's done in the kitchen. Cut calories. Continue walking/moving. I don't know how overweight you are, but doing some strength training will help. Not sure what exercises you are capable of. Maybe some body weight squats to start? Cardio is not the best way to lose weight but it will help with overall health, so, as others suggested, try to take your walks on hills, stairs, etc. Good luck.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks, I’ve been trying to stick to 1500 calories per day for the past 2 weeks and I’ve lost 2 pounds. I guess that’s to be expected and this is going to take a while. I will also try some light weights.

1 lb per week is good. Weight loss doesn't (or at least shouldn't) happen overnight.

Anonymous wrote:Can you ramp up your walking? Add stairs? Hills? Jogging intervals?

Walking for me burns virtually no calories. In an hour, I'd burn just 150 calories just walking moderately. It just doesn't get my heartrate high enough to make a dent.

And I disagree with 17:13 - I lost 50+ pounds and have maintained it for nearly a decade, focusing primarily on increasing my exercise. Exercise raises your metabolism, and as long as you make it a permanent part of your life, it will make a considerable dent in weightloss, if not make it a significant factor. For me, exercise was more important than a perfect diet.

But you admitted the reason you're not experiencing the calorie burn is because you don't get your heartrate up enough - basically it's passive walking. When I walk for a purpose I make sure to get my heartrate up. Today's walk was 4.73 miles, I burned 326 cals. It took me 1hr15min, with an average heart rate was 126bpm (highest was 138bpm).

Anonymous wrote:Can you ramp up your walking? Add stairs? Hills? Jogging intervals?

Walking for me burns virtually no calories. In an hour, I'd burn just 150 calories just walking moderately. It just doesn't get my heartrate high enough to make a dent.

And I disagree with 17:13 - I lost 50+ pounds and have maintained it for nearly a decade, focusing primarily on increasing my exercise. Exercise raises your metabolism, and as long as you make it a permanent part of your life, it will make a considerable dent in weightloss, if not make it a significant factor. For me, exercise was more important than a perfect diet.

NP. I love to jog but I've bern ordered not to by my doctors. Same with stairs. Ellipticsl is the best option ive found.

My friend started walking last summer and so far he's lost 85lbs from walking and strict diet changes. He started at 280lbs and now he looks significantly different from his weightloss. He walks 10km twice a day.