slim fast ... and pigging out

**Darling** · 06-14-2011 07:56 AM

so i started to trade out my calorie filled breakfast with a slim fast, then i traded out my lunch for a low cal salad, i lost about 5 or more pounds, then i screwed it all up, i switched to 2 drinks and a dinner, but now my dinner is a fiesta im starved and now im gaining weight again. so yes slim fast works if your smart now i have to be smart again and stat eatting lunch and a more modest dinner.
any tips would be great im 5'2 and started dieting bc i got to 130, started small excessive and slim fast dropped to 121, now back to 125. i would like to stay at 120 but cant keep it there...

**KMonte85** · 06-14-2011 08:38 AM

Darling, this is going to sound crazy, but if you want to lose weight and keep it off you are going to have to EAT MORE. You're starving yourself and binging at dinnertime. If you eat a healthy, lean, balanced diet - you won't be depriving yourself so you won't binge, and your metabolism will kick into high gear and burn more calories. A breakfast of protein and healthy carbs (think a peice of wholegrain toast with nut butter, and a serving of fruit) will boost that metabolism in the morning. If you get hungry before lunch, eat a serving of fresh veggies for a healthy filler. Your lunch sounds good, a salad is a great way to go. Have a snack before dinner (fruit or veggies) so you aren't starving, and then dinner should be a healthy mix of fiber, carbs and lean protein again.

Does this sound like a lot of food to you? Maybe. But it is GREAT for your body, and will actually help you in the long run to getting to your ideal weight.

Do you do any sort of exercising to help with your weight loss? A good mix of cardio and strength training will also really help to get those last few stubborn pounds to get off and stay off.

**WildChild** · 06-14-2011 09:00 AM

KM is right. Your wonderful body is designed to conserve. If it thinks there is a famine, it will direct you to store calories.

**Seeker_Advice** · 06-14-2011 10:09 AM

Diets don't work. 80% of Weight Watcher clients are repeat. Same with Jenny Craig, slime fast, etc.

The only thing that works over your lifetime is lifestyle changes.

Several smaller meals over the course of your day, like 5 or 6 are better than the "three square" meals a lot of us were raised on.

Eat a healthy protein, a complex carbohydrate and a healthy fat at each meal. The key to weight loos and maintaining a healthy form is keeping your metabolism revved up. The key to keeping your metabolism revved up is giving it "fuel" throughout the day via several smaller "meals".

**CHANDLERS WISH** · 06-14-2011 03:10 PM

The six small meals a day, works wonders for people....

Whites of eggs as an omlette with sliced mushroom or a piece of smoked salmon, a small tub of yoghurt, or a boiled egg on wholemeal toast smidgen of butter.....

Breakfast is the key.

In between breakfast and lunch a piece of fruit.

Lunch, a salad with small portions of grilled chicken, or tuna, or fat free ham.....A salad wrap.

A snack a small handful of nuts, and a piece of fruit.

Dinner never after 7pm....never fatty, lean meats 1/3 and 2/3 either salad or vegetables (no white sauce or gravy, or butter), soy sauce and a squeeze of half a lemon make a great no fat salad dressing, and seseme seeds on top of vegetables give a little taste difference as well...

WATER
WATER
WATER

And some exercise even if it's 10 mins a day brisk walk....

Forget these "slim fast" it's the words that make people drink them, sure they may fill you up but then you crave food later as your body is starving as KM stated....

Low fats, lots of salads/veg/fruit and lean meats, some nuts, some dairy all in small proportions is what you need to consider.

CW

**Beautiful Disaster** · 06-14-2011 03:17 PM

I'll echo... when you were doing the slim fast gig you weren't getting enough calories for your body. Try using something like LoseIt or MyFitnessPal to put your ideal weight, current weight and calculate your daily needed calories. Then log your food each day and your exercise. You need to get in tune with what your body actually needs vs what you're putting into it.

The reason you felt starved.....is because that's exactly what you were doing to your body. Give it what it needs, in the healthiest way possible, and exercise.

**Darling** · 06-14-2011 07:53 PM

Thank you guys!!!!
Really your words are what i needed, Slim fast seems easy during the day bc of my busy work schedule 9:30-4 im in the water teaching swim lessons and from 6:30 to 7:30 im coaching.... so it seems great just to grab a drink and keep going, but by 8 at night im totally pigging out... i know thats the worst time but i cant help it! I should eat at 5 but i love to have dinner with my husband and he gets home at 7 pm. HE LOVES TO EAT OUT....

I do exercise in the morning i try to do squats sit ups and "girly" push ups!

Would it be wise to have a better breakfast or a better lunch? what kind of portion sizes are we talking about, and if i eat past 7 will it kill my diet???

I never had to watch my weight i was a swimmer and slim but now im married and teach..... big change!

Thank for all your help!!

**Seeker_Advice** · 06-15-2011 07:22 AM

Think of your body shape as a triangle or pyramid. If you eat a nice healthy breakfast, a smaller healthy lunch and a light dinner, you will be 'shaped' like a triangle on it's point (broader shoulders, thinner middle, thinneer buttocks and legs..in theory). If you eat a light breakfast or skip it, a bigger lunch and a big dinner, then you will end up looking like a typical triangle...thin at the top and wide at the bottom (in theory).

Which would you rather be? Again, this is just theory or a way in which to think about the calories we consume and what happens to our bodies after we consume them.

Your metabolism slows in the evening and slows even more when you sleep, so your body is not burning the calories as much as it is during the day when you are active and awake.

Several smaller healthy meals are 'best' throughout the day.