I am a registered nurse who has been a yo-yo dieter since my first diet at age 5. I have lost thousands of pounds over the years only to gain it all back with friends. i have been working on lifestyle changes for the past couple of years and have lost around 75 pounds. I had lost 90 but have started to back slide. I am back on track now and need to keep focused on the health benefits of healthy eating and exercise and not the vanity part. I have a broken foot and have limited mobility right now but have found some great exercise routines that are easy on the feet. I hope to meet new friends and suppost systems. I am interested in helping others with their quest to be healthy and in teaching exercise to the obese. (I taught step aerobics in the 80's) Large or out of shape persons have special needs for exercise and they are not readily addressed in the community, I guess they don't sell memberships and equipment, or so they don't think. I think they are wrong. Lets support each other and get healthy!!!
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I am a registered nurse who has been a yo-yo dieter since my first diet at age 5. I have lost thousands of pounds over the years only to gain it all back with friends. i have been working on lifestyle changes for the past couple of years and have lost around 75 pounds. I had lost 90 but have started to back slide. I am back on track now and need to keep focused on the health benefits of healthy eating and exercise and not the vanity part. I have a broken foot and have limited mobility right now but have found some great exercise routines that are easy on the feet. I hope to meet new friends and suppost systems. I am interested in helping others with their quest to be healthy and in teaching exercise to the obese. (I taught step aerobics in the 80's) Large or out of shape persons have special needs for exercise and they are not readily addressed in the community, I guess they don't sell memberships and equipment, or so they don't think. I think they are wrong. Lets support each other and get healthy!!!
At any rate, the gist of what I was going to say is that your plan to keep away from white flour, sugar, high fructose corn syrup sounds good! It'll help avoid cravings! Get in plenty of veggies and some fruits, that'll help as well.
On the exercise, I have a tendency to overdo and set myself back, this year, I've taken more time to work up to harder exercise and so far, so good. I think 30 minutes a day is a very good goal! You can do a lot with 30 minutes! That was about the length of my body weight resistance training workout on Saturday and I was surely sweating after!
As for the diet, yes, sugar is your sworn enemy. Avoid it at all costs. Try to find other options that can take their place.
Remember, water is your best friend when making a life change like this -- make sure you get enough of it!
Also, make sure you get you required calorie intake and DO NOT try starving yourself -- this can lead to very bad consequences.
To be frank... it's easy to say something is a lifestyle plan... but really, truly accepting the reality of that often comes later in the game. Which is OK too! That's what happened for me, it's like something finally clicked recently and I started thinking of the way I eat as how I will eat for life. Not without some sadness mind you, for the fact that I cannot eat bags of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups or other things I like in the quantities I might like! I'll have them, on rare occasion, but not in quantity, because I know that is a very slippery slope.
There's still always that fear, too, that I will somehow go back to how I previously ate, bingeing on junk and gain back. I'm not sure that fear will ever go away and it's probably best it shouldn't! I just keep focused on what I truly want and that is helping me keep the eating clean and healthy 90% of the time.
If you can, start by getting trigger foods out of your house. And stock up on good healthy options. That really does help!
You are embarking on a life change not a "diet" or quick weight loss program here. Before you begin, please commit yourself to this change permanently. You and you alone hold the answer to when you will reach your goal and maintain it indefinitely. We, your contacts and motivators, are here to keep you pumped and positive as you struggle on this very long journey.
So what do you have for a game plan?