Starting a sensible diet and exercise!

[StellaP]

Hello,
My problem is that I need to loose around 10 kilos and cannot seem to get round dieting and exercising. During the day and while I am at work I seem to be sensibly eating, but by the time I come home I seem to be having no energy left, get extremely hungry and eat all the time, let alone the fact that I cannot convince myself at 9,00 o clock at night to exercise.

While every morning I start with a good fibre breakfast, at luch time I eat a salad with vegies and meat or tuna, by 9,00 I come home, I feel totally exchausted with no energy left for working out and extremely hungry , that I may eat chocolates or bread sandwithces with honey or marmelade.... well I quess that is bad eh??

On the other hand I feel phycologically down as I have already put on a few kilos and cannot get round in actually ziping a few pairs of trousers that I have.

Well what is the key to proper eating to avoid feeling hungry the time I come home after quite a few hours without eating have passed by , and after having a light salad lunch?

What is the proper nutrition to energy boost up? What can I have to add enery to myself without being fattening? I ofter feel stressed out from work and I resort to eating... what can I do to get back to gym?

Do you think that diet pills may be appropriate to my case? Although I have attempted diet pills in the past they did not work .. at least not for me...

I have to tell you here that I was exercising in the past. So I also get dissapointed when at times I try to force myself reach a certain advance level that cannot immediately reach and then I quit.

Anyone there with a similar problem? Anxiously awaiting for your reply on what is the optimum combination of eating , loosing weitght, and enery booster as well. I really have a busy daily shcedule and the only think i by pass everytime is gym and seem to constantly resolve to bad eating habbits.

Thanks
Stella P

 

[Debra]

An observation: it's no wonder that you're starving at 9 p.m. if you haven't eaten since lunch. One way to control bingeing is to eat before you're starving. Try not to go more than 4 or 5 hours without eating, even if you have to eat mini-meals. Proper fuel will energize you, helping you start those workouts & make them more effective.

Assume you're not a North American since you used kilos in connection to weight loss. Look for a good sports nutrition book that will help you with planning a weight loss program. As for motivation, that's why we're here! Go through the discussions on the "open" forum & you'll find others also struggle with motivation.

Hope this helps Stella.
Debra

 

[lorrie]

Hi Stella!

Debra had some good advice with the mini meals. I'm certainly no nutrition expert but what I do is bring small, easy snacks to my office that I can eat at my desk: hardboiled eggs, apples, grapes, carrot and celery sticks, tomatoes and cucumbers with a little vinagrette, etc. Usually, I only have yogurt and a big bottle of water for lunch but then around 2:00 and again at 4:00 I eat little snacks. Sometimes when the fruits and veggies just don't meet my cravings, I'll eat a 1/2 bagel with some turkey or peanut butter or a granola bar. This gives me fuel to work out which I do in the evenings after work and then I eat a good dinner. You might also want to try keeping pre-prepared healthy snacks at home that are just as easy to grab and snack on as the junk food. Cleaned, cut up veggies, fruits, flavored rice cakes etc. Instead of the honey and marmalade sandwiches try turkey and yellow mustard (no calories in yellow mustard!) on whole grain bread.

I still do eat junk food unfortunately but try to do so in moderation just to kill the craving. And when my hormones cry for chocolate, I just give in and don't beat myself up about it and then try to eat better the next day.

DON'T RESORT TO DIET PILLS!!! It will take time but healthy eating and regular exercise WILL work for you. These forums will provide you with lots of motivation which is necesary when it seems like you're never going to reach your goals.

Get determined - your mindset is the key to making the changes you want. Good Luck!

 

[Goldfinch]

Hi Stella,
I had the same problem as you, ate sensibly til dinner time and then I was starving and could not avoid overeating. I was always taught snacking in between meals was a no-no and that 3 meals a day should be it. I also had that late afternoon energy drain you mentioned.

I had to change my eating habits. Now I never let myself get hungry if I can help it. I eat every 2 to 3 hours or 4 to 5 times a day. I also increased my protein intake which really helps you not to get hungry again so fast.

Figure out how many calories you need in a day, say 2000 or what ever, and divide it into 5 mini-meals of 400 calories each. Make sure you get adequate protein each time you eat. I use Myoplex Lite shakes and Balance bars when I 'm out and I need to eat.

I immediately noticed an increase in energy when I increased my protein intake and started eating more frequently. Plus I lost about 10 lbs. and have kept it off. Of course, I exercised, too! If you get your energy level up you may feel like tackling some exercise. Hope this helps. Good luck, Sheila