Diet and Weight loss advice

jdm01

Member
I have a large family and I work fulltime, I am looking to concentrate on myself this year and I need to focus on my health. I currently weigh over 300lbs, which is a constant worry. I accept i've put myself in this situation and I am taking responsibility to sort it out.

I am separating my life into Diet and Exercise, however here is the challenge. I need both of them to co-exist without too much interference in the other - I know there's a balance to be had, however here's what I need:

I go through two phases in my working life:

Phase 1 - I am a computer worker, working long hours at times and don't have time for regimented exercise - not an excuse, but this is the reality and I need to ensure I am losing weight while in this phase.

Phase 2 - I am getting more active - brisk walks of 1/2 mile morning and night, what do I need to do to my diet to ensure I am losing weight.


Additionally, I am a simple man, with simple needs and a large family - I need to make sure I build up to have

Simple ideas for breakfast - cereal is ideal, porridge too much of a hassle! (need to watch portion control though - normally have around 50g of cereal, just realised 28g is the recommended portion)

Simple ideas for lunch - A cup of home made soup and a small salad is the norm but something as easy would be ideal (baked potato 3 days out of 7, soup and salad the other 4? - Excellent, simple and what I need instructed on)

Simple ideas for Dinners - I need to build up to a balanced 14 recipes that I can repeat over the course of a month for planning purposes - ideas that maybe the rest of the family can have.

Supper - Again, like breakfast I need something simple like a couple of slices of toast with an egg - simple but something to keep me away from the crisps and biscuits!

Snacks - Fruit and the likes - I love fruit and if I have the option to take a couple of pieces of fruit to work mid morning and mid afternoon - this would be ok.


It sounds simple to do, but how would I get enough calories for my current size and my current static lifestyle, yet still lose weight and still get a healthy balanced diet? And what happens when I start being more active again - do I need to increase portion size slightly?

This appears complicated to me and I have a scientific mind, however I need all your advice how I should begin to make this happen.

Thanks Loads

Jake
 
Good luck on your diet journey Jake, it is good you have decided to take some time for yourself and get yourself fitter.

Try the FoodFocus site, it will give you the calories you need to lose weight, it has an index of how many calories foods have and it also has a journal so you don't lose track of your intake. It is totally free and has some fabulous resources.

Food Focus - Permanent Weight Loss

Good luck, you can do it. x x
 
Thanks GaynorEm - excellent tip for FoodFocus.

J
 
Hello Jake, just wanted to say hi and wish you luck on the journey. I really do like the sound of your scientific approach - I get the feeling you have the problem by the scruff of the neck and you know the all-important basics of what you have to do and how you're going to do it. Sounds to me like you have both the will and the savvy to get to your goal, and if you have the patience to go with them, you'll nail it!

I hope that Gaynor's great link is helping you out with meal ideas, but here's a few quick, pre-prepared things that have helped me a lot... don't know if any of them are to your taste, but might be something in here that helps:

Batchelors Soupfuls pouches of soup, 400g. Wide range of flavours - the Harvest Vegetable and the Chicken and Country Vegetable are both only 160 calories for the whole pouch, and microwave in 3 mins. Soup's great for filling you up and the old comfort factor.

John West Light Lunch range - tubs of salmon or tuna with veggies and a range of different flavoured dressings. All around 200 calories, all very tasty, and the protein in them is good for keeping hunger at bay for longer.

Sushi. M&S do a nice range of sushi and a variety of portion sizes. Packed with nutrients and feels like a treat!

Asda 'Fresh Tastes' range of bagged, microwavable meals. All fresh ingredients, great flavours, plenty of veggies, and ready in 4 mins. There's Thai prawns and noodles, Chilli beef and noodles, Chow Mein, Thai curry and rice, and pasta options. Takes the hassle out of weighing things and figuring out the calories - they're all in the 300-400 calorie bracket. If you team them with a big bowl of steamed veggies, they're even more satisfying.

Just on a general note - fruit and vegetables have really been the pillar of weight loss for me. I've eaten tonnes of them, bulking out my evening meal with 1-2lbs of veggies at times! Broccoli seems especially satisfying, and if it's steamed it retains most of its nutrients - meant to have a wide range of great health benefits, it's my personal hero!

One tip I have for making a delicious low-calorie 'sauce' for pasta, is to chop up a mountain of onions, tomatoes, leeks, carrots, red peppers... and put them in a non-stick frying pan (you don't even need the low calorie spray oil, really) then stick in a spoon of vegetable bouillon and enough boiling water to cover them, and bring to the boil then lower to the lowest heat and just let them simmer until the moisture has evaporated, about 1.5-2 hours, and you're left with the most gorgeous sweet and luscious concentrated vegetables - it's like a vegetable jam, sort of. It's really lovely with pasta, and if you'd miss the meat you can always add some lean minced beef to it, or even better - quorn. The stewed vegetables make a great filling accompaniment to any meal, though.

I think you might need something more satisfying at breakfast than cereal. Most are just sugary carbs and leave you open to hunger very soon after you've eaten them. A more protein-rich breakfast will keep you fuller for longer. Beans on toast, kippers, boiled eggs and smoked salmon... that kind of thing. I think breakfast is important, especially for a hardworking guy like you. Sets you up for the day.

There's loads of low calorie healthy snacks out there you can use to fill up hunger gaps or quell cravings. Alpen light cereal bars, Muller or Weightwatchers light yoghurts, snackajacks popcorn, skinny cow ice cream lollies, philadelphia extra light cream cheese on rice cakes with light slices of ham/turkey, etc. It's great that you like fruit - so much lovely stuff in the shops right now. Strawberries and peaches are especially low and delicious together!

As for how to balance activity and calorie intake - I think it's great you're managing to get the exercise in every day. Personally I'm not an exerciser, I've just relied on diet to lose weight, so you should see much quicker results. All I'd say is take it slowly and start out with a generous calorie allowance, especially if you're exercising. You can always tweak it downwards as the pounds start to come off, if you feel things are slowing. But just keeping to a clean healthy diet in the early days should give you great results.

Best of luck with your loss, and let me know how it's going!
 
I have calorie counting software to help me on the food side of things - I couldn't live without it. All I need is a set of scales and some measuring spoons - the software does the rest. I can plan my days with simple foods I can live with - its easier for me because I'm useless at portion control, my eyes are way to big for my belly!

I haven't figured out the exercise yet. I do about 30 mins walking a day but it would be great to get a few high calorie burning sessions in now and again to get those pounds shifting. I've just bought a tae bo video that might do the trick.
 
Thanks guys - i've had some serious thought around this and decided to follow the Slimming World program. It's good to know i've got encouragement and that people have followed this sucessful journey before me!

Thanks again

J
 
Hiya

I too am a slimming world member with a lot still to lose. The men in my group are very successful with their losses, one lost 3 stone in 12 weeks!
I think because you can eat certain foods 'freely', you shouldn't feel deprived.

Some of my favourite sw friendly meals that suit the family;

Ham,egg and sw chips
Homemade Quorn cottage pie
Homemade quorn chilli con carne
Vegetable pasta bake

Alot of these you can batch cook and freeze for convenience........

Oh, and as a snack, mugshots are the way to go!!

Wishing you every success x
 
Thanks!

Hiya

I too am a slimming world member with a lot still to lose. The men in my group are very successful with their losses, one lost 3 stone in 12 weeks!
I think because you can eat certain foods 'freely', you shouldn't feel deprived.

Some of my favourite sw friendly meals that suit the family;

Ham,egg and sw chips
Homemade Quorn cottage pie
Homemade quorn chilli con carne
Vegetable pasta bake

Alot of these you can batch cook and freeze for convenience........

Oh, and as a snack, mugshots are the way to go!!

Wishing you every success x


You've done fantastically well FBB, thanks for the ideas - i'm still studying the science bit just now trying to get the balance right between each of the meals.

I'm working on my weekly food list just now and I hope to get some insight and add to the structure have above.

Wish me luck ;o)

J
 
I hope you really enjoy SW. I must say I've found the plan very easy to follow and I am never hungry (I get odd cravings but they can be synned or diverted, heh). I do Extra Easy and so far my weight loss has been pretty decent.

My boyfriend has a mate who is pretty big and I'd give anything to get him to come to my SW meeting. He'd really benefit and SW isn't torture or anything. Oh well, I'm just a nosey old bat, probably.

Have fun and go you! *hug*
 
Must admit, I didn't hear about Slimming World until recently... but I love the look of their approach. Wish I'd found it when I started out, because I've eyed up all their free foods rather enviously. Bit worried that switching over at this stage would be the only excuse the greedy demon in me needs to go nuts on oven chips, though! It's a struggle to remember that I'm no longer eating for two - me *and* my inner binger! :p

Best of luck to all with the weight loss. Just got to keep chipping away at it...

(mmm, chips)
 
Thanks!

Thanks Scarlett - I started on a healthy eating plan last week and lost 2lbs so it's kicked off. Today is my first day on the Original plan and how I've loved it. It does seem pretty simple and i've just enjoyed my first proper meal on this plan - Broccoli, Cauli, Green Beans, 100g Potatoes, Carrotts & heaps of Roast Beef. How can this make me lose weight? :)

I'm certainly looking forward to this plan and I am hoping that it works for me!

thanks again

J
 
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