anyone with weight loss tips? :) thanks

[shen]

hi, i'm 22 years old and working on a call center environment and on a night shift duty... i'm new here and i love this site! well... i started getting fat when i was in college... and i want to get rid of this... my job makes me gain more weight, foods are temptations and always sitting - they said, it makes your butt wide - lol... hehehe.. Well, I'd love to know your tricks and ways on losing weight... I'll appreciate anyone who'll reply on my post... thank you!

[sourpuss]

The key to losing weight and keeping it off is to really make lifestyle changes. That's why diets don't work long term. You lose the weight and then go right back to what made you overweight to begin with.

Firstly, take a look at your diet. Are you eating as healthy as you can? No harm in treating yourself occasionally, deprivation only makes you over eat later. But on the whole you should develop healthy eating habits. I don't know what your diet is like so I can make recommendations there. I've found nutritiondata .com helpful.

How active are you? You should be getting at least 30 minutes of exercise at least 5 times a week. Try working it into your day if you are tight on time. Can you walk or bike to work? Can you walk to the grocery store instead of driving. Instead of driving to the store every week or so I make smaller trips and walk.

Pack healthy snacks for work that taste good so you aren't tempted by the junk there.

Can you give us an outline of your current eating and exercise. Maybe we can come up with some little tweaks that will help.

Good luck to you.

[shen]

hi sourpuss, thanks for the reply.. well, i tried exercising when i was in college but i'm too lazy to continue it... the only exercise that i can do is to walk from our house to work.. and using the stairs instead of the elevator..

when it comes to foods, i like veggies and fishes but i also dig meats, pizzas, burgers, chocolates... i tried to stop drinking sodas but can't help the temptations... i also tried to eat cereals, oatmeals, wheat breads, low fat milk, noodles, but it only makes me starve... i'm used to eating rice - i'm asian so i'm more into rice... which is really rich in carbo for enery, right? mmmm... sometimes, i just give up and say, "give myself a break and eat what i want!"

since i'm on a call center environment, i usually come home mid morning, and just get myself to sleep (b4 that i eat first)... and upon waking up, go to work again.. there are lots of temptations in our workplace cuz it's near in fast food chains and restos and our company provides free drinks for us.. including sodas! haha.. during weekends, i still busy myself in front of the computer...

i noticed that the clothes i bought last summer is too tight now. lol... whew! thanks for the help... really appreciated it...

[sourpuss]

Well, I think you're just going to have to suck it up and do a few things that you don't want to do. (if you really want to be healthy and lose weight, if you aren't committed to the idea you won't be successful)

Think of it in terms like this. When you want a soda, ask yourself what do you want more, this soda, or to be healthy and lose weight. Aside from the fact that soda is full of sugar that makes you gain weight it has tons of chemicals in it that are bad for you. Cut back at first to just one a day. Drink water instead.

Leave for work 20 minutes earlier and walk an extra mile and walk as fast as you can to get your heart rate up. Do the same on the walk home. When you get to work and use the stairs, jog up the stairs (all the way to the top and back down) do that a couple of times and work your way up to doing a few laps every day when you get there.

Switching to whole grains and oatmeals, etc actually keeps you feeling fuller longer. The feeling like you are starving is in your mind. Fast foods are full of quick burning carbs and fat. Those carbs burn off right away and then you are hungry again. A big bowl of oatmeal in the morning will sustain you for hours.

Treat the fast food and sodas as a treat. Eat healthy all week and allow yourself that fast food dinner once a week when you are at work.

[shen]

Thank you for your tips sourpuss and I find nutritiondata.com very useful - thanks so much for that! I have another query if you don't mind... my butt is getting wide and i think it's because of always sitting due to my work.. does dieting helps reduce this? sometimes due to over-sitting, my butt aches and during breaks, I walk in hallways and outside the building just to get rid of always sitting... thanks!

[sourpuss]

Great! I've found that site very helpful too.

Dieting will definitely help with the butt thing. Losing body fat in general will help and keep up the walking on your breaks, not only for the exercise but to loosen up your muscles and joints that are just stuck in one position all day while you are sitting- get that blood flowing! A good exercise to do for your behind is called supermans:
http://www. deepdownwellness.com/exercises/superman.html

(I put a space in after the www so you'll have to retype it, I think we're not allowed to paste direct links)

Anyway, keep it up and post your progress! I'll help keep you motivated!

[shen]

wow! thanks for the site... i started switching to oatmeals this morning.. nwei, do green tea really helps reduce fats? cuz i want to try those green tea slimming teas... some people who take slimming teas has a great body reaction like releasing body wastes from time to time... but me, not really... huhuh..a coffee commercial said that coffee has more anti-oxidants than green tea and red wine.. i'm not into coffee actually.. i'm more into tea... i think Lipton tea is great. so what do u think? have you tried green tea or slimming tea? what's your body's reaction to that?

[sourpuss]

I drink a lot of green tea. Not so much for the slimming properties (never noticed) but for the caffeine and the antioxidants (and the taste).

Keep up the good work!

[justkatni]

Hi There I am new here too.
After 3 children I have had a lot of problems keeping the extra weight off. I found a site that helped me alot, maybe it will work for you as well. http://www.ahealthcafe.com/femmers
Keep me posted.

[sourpuss]

Hey Shen, give us an update! How is the progress?