Hey guys

Sorry to be a pest but I really need some advice. Here is my situation

I am a girl, 5ft 6 and I weigh 14 stone.

Because everyone in my family is big boned, I have never really had a problem, I don't eat that bad so I just dealt with it.

However recently i went to my doctor with migraine problems and chest pains. I also have a history of heartattacks and diabetes in my family. My GP said that it is because of my weight. The nurse also said that I am obese. I would never have used that term to describe me, overweight yes, but not obese. I wear size 16/18 in clothing, and now I feel I need to do something.

I have always wanted to lose weight, i was picked on at school for, but because of my personality no one would say anything to me now but my mum. She always calls my fat and says I need to lose weight.

I have decided that I want to lose weight for myself no one else, so that my health will not suffer in the long run. In the past I have tried numerous diets, none of which have worked.

Can anyone help me out.

I know I need to diet with exercise, but to be honest I can't really afford gym membership, it is too expensive where i live, but I like swimming, although I am conscious of being in a cossie....as for diets, or good foods to eat I need a lil help

Thanks so much in advance, and sorry for babbling on!

CC

As your family is big-boned you will probably only need to lose about 2 stone to be be perfect for your height.

I'm not a doctor so have no clinical evidence to back up what im saying,I just know this from reading and observation.

African/Black people tend to have denser bone and muscle mass which will account for a lot of your weight,that is to say a White woman at your height would need to weigh 10 stone in order to be considered healthy whereas you could be in the 11-12 stone range and look and feel the same.

Ok...there are fitness experts in the Village and i'm sure they will be along shortly but in the meantime here are Jetts top tips.



Stay away from McDonalds,KFC and all fast food outlets all the time......if you must eat Chicken and Burgers eat the stuff that your fam makes.

Don't EVER shop for food at Iceland.....the fact that they even call the stuff in that place food is fraudulent.

Whatever you do eat you should have a ratio of 70% vegetables the other 30 meat or whatever protein you wish to consume.

Cut out sweets 90% of the time,save your chocolate consumption for when you are feeling pre-menstural and nothing else will hit the spot.



As for exercise,if you cant quite handle the idea of gym or swimming at the moment then I suggest stairs.Wherever you have stairs be they in your home or maybe near a bridge near your yard,climb them for half an hour a day...or since you are just staring,climb them til you get exhausted which might happen after ten minutes but you wil gradually build up to longer periods and the weight will fall off.

The thing about exercise is the CONSISITENCY,don't think you can do it twice a week and expect miracles.......if you can do the bare minimum of 25 mins on stairs 5 days a week YOU WILL SEE RESULTS......and that time goes by very quickly.

However if you sit on your ass expecting the weight to just magically disappear.....well??



So to summarize......no fast food whatsoever

chocolate only in desperate and emergency situations



and..........

Exercise for short periods of time BUT CONSISTENTLY.



Good Luck.




Oh PS:you might wanna change your username to something less fattening to aid in your quest for weight loss....the thought of those might be sabotaging you subliminally every time you post.



Howzabout LettuceWrap or CucumberSarnie??

i agree with all the above advice, butas its advice u want chocolate cookie then i'll just add a little of my own:



1. If u must eat fast/junk food (sometimes when you're on the move it's hard not to) never agree to be supersized. just get the smallest meal option, like a happy meal if you're at mcd's, or a mini variety meal if you're at kfc. that way you will still be able to eat what you like but you are limiting the portion size - something some people have trouble with.

2. Don't be too hard on yourself and deprive yourself of all the things you love eating, no matter the fat or calorie content. still eat the things you like, but practise moderation. if u try to cut out everything that is fattening you will be very unhappy, and more prone to crumble and pig out.

3. Don't get dragged into any of those faddy liquid-only diets or other weird ones that no one could realistically stick to for any length of time.

4. When you're around family and friends who tend to push food on you, learn to say no if you aren't really hungry. If what is being offered is very tempting just accept a very small amount and if they give you a large amount anyway - leave half of it.

5. Plan your meals beforehand. do all the shopping you need to do to prepare meals for at least a few days and think about it first before you go shopping. Choose things that are filling andhigh in energy but low in fat and sugar. Eat mainly breast meat if you like chicken; eat middle back instead of streaky if you like bacon, scramble eggs with a little butter and milk or boilinstead of frying. Try to grill or ovenbake anything you would normally fry.

6. Try and up your intake of the fruits and veg that you like most.

7. Don't eat out of boredom, get a mini trampoline and if you are bored...bounce on that for a while.

8. When you feel peckish (rather than hungry) have a couple glasses of water then wait a while to see if you really are peckish. Sometimes if you're a bit dehydratedit canfeel likehunger.make sure you drink lots of fluids anyway, especially if you are exercising more. not too much sugary drinks tho.

9. Don't skip meals or starve yourself for long periods, this will make your body resist losing the excess weight. If anything eat very often, but eat small amounts and eat sensible healthy food as much as you can.

10.Must stress this: still eat all the things you like but limit portion size and how regular you have them if they are not so healthy. at the same time try to increase your intake of healthier stuff you probably wouldnt normally eat so much of, like pulses, salads and fruit.

good luck.

*if u like swimming go for it, if u can go early in the morning there probably wont be many other swimmers so you neednt feel so self-conscious.

i have a friend who was grossly overweight, (over 17stones) she didnt change her eating habitsmuch but took up swimming (everyday) and she lost about 4 or 5 stones that way. plus she really enjoys it, it tones up her body and allows her to continue eating the way she wants to.

Believe me, youdon't need a gym membership to exercise. Try going on long walks everyday and then when you feel up to it, try running for 3-4 times a week. Just set your own pace, you don't even need to go very long distances. Just take it slow at first, walk when you need to and bring water and some good tunes with you.

You can also try biking. Bikes are wonderous things, you can travel long distancesand not feel tireduntil you get off the bike. And off course, I swear by swimming. Don't feel self-conscious. Just go to a pool with serious swimmers and you'll be too busy doing laps to care about others think.

You can also get areobics and yoga tapes so you can exerciseathome. Justtry to findsomething that you enjoy, change it up from time to time so it doesn't become boring, and be persistent. It'll soon become second nature to you.

Dancing is another great form of exercise and try to incorporate some toning exercises into your routine. It'll help your body to stay firmer as you lose the weight.

Also try to keep a reasonable target weight lose in mind.Don'tpush yourself too hardor expect to see results within days.It might take months before you notice new changes inyour weight. Have a talk with your mom andlet her know that what you need is her support not nagging and put-downs. It's very important that you feel good about yourself because depression will only decrease your desire to keep up with your exercise. Talking to other women in this situation might help you as well. But try not to rumminate and stay far away from people who are rumminating about their own self-worth and weight loss. What you need are some happy, hopeful people who will lift your spirits when you're feeling down. And remember, exercise releases endorphins so the more you exercise, just don't over do it, the better you'll feel.

Good luck! niceone.gif

Wow that you guys for the replies thus far,I haven't read through them thoroughly yet, when I do I will get back to you

But thank you...clp)

CC

@ ChocolateCookie

Here are my recommendations considering everything you wrote in the thread-starter.

Exercise:

- Exercise early in the morning and make it thevery first thing youdo (even before breakfast).Start by jogging a mile. If you can't do a mile, then make 1 mile a goal by starting off with afew blocks and building your way up. If you need to jog for a little and then speed-walk for a little thenthat is fine as well as long as you are keeping your heart rate up.

-Before you go jogging, do 3 sets of 10men's pushups. No using the knees for women's pushups. If you can't do 10, then it is a goal for you to work towards. Afterwards, do reverse-crunches by laying on the floor and lifting your legs & butt straight up off the floor where your legs point straight up in the air. Hold it for a couple of seconds, then come back down. Do 3 sets of 10.

Diet:

- Breakfast (after exercise): You need a complex carbohydrate such as a whole wheat muffin and perhaps 1 glass of juice. Other complex carb alternatives arewhole wheat bread spread with peanut butter, oatmeal (no cream of wheat), etc.

- Lunch: Whatever you want,but strictlyprohibit, or limit to the best of your ability,fried food, foods made with dairy products, or fatty meats like bacon or sausage. Make sure you get a good protein source like turkey, fish, chicken, or eggs. Do not eat pork unless it is a loin, and don't eat beef unless it is steak. This means no ground beef or products made from it like ground beef tacos or hamburgers. Remember, you can eat whatever you want within these limits, but just do not over-eat.

- Dinner: Keep it light. Salads and light soups (not creamy) are good. Strictly limit simple carbohydrates such as white rice, white potatoes, pasta, cake, ice cream,and sugary snack foods. In fact, you want to limit your carbohydrates for dinner all together as much as possible. Also, if you must, eat only a very small portion of meat (no more than 4 ounces), but I would suggest eggs in place of meat. I would only recommend eating more proteins for dinner if you find your stomach achingly empty in the morning that you cannot exercise. Try not toeat dinner within 3 hours of bed time.

Rest:

-Do not take mid-day naps. Make sure you get a full night of rest (7-8 hours). Most people don't realize that rest is perhaps the most important element of a healthy body. With good rest, your metabolism will be at its best during the day.

Shemsi en Tehuti..thank you for those recommendations I will take them into account...

Shemsi en Tehuti wrote:
Well I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.....although im pretty sure that if you were to strip all the flesh of me, my skeleton alone would still weigh in the region of 7 stone,such is the density of my bones.

I recently had my body fat percentage tested and it's 23 more important than my weight is mywaist tohip ratio and that has been holding at 27/40 for some time now and i'm 5 ft 6 and weigh 12 stone 3.

I do have quite a bit of muscle because I have been cycling all of my life so im sure the muscle in the thigh and butt area is quite dense.

I cant go by those height weight chart which they have in the doctors offices,if I were to diet down to the 9 stone they recommend I would look an absolute mess.

I suppose I could lose anothe