The future...how to change your lifestyle? Please share!!

[Amilee*]

When I lose this weight (and leading up to it),i have come to the conclusion I need to re-educate myself about diet and activity,also ,how I spend my time.

Is anyone else already thinking this?

Main things I have come up with are,start reading low g.i . cookery books (when I can bear it!) (library).
Start looking at details for groups in the area for doing activities (library again).

Start walking our dog more (doing it now).

Restrict time spent slobbing on computer (mm..need help with that one)ideas please?

Make appointment with dietician (only then confess i have being doing this diet and wait for their disaproval).
Get advice about how to get the balance right,and how to stop snacking when I am at home all day.(help !!,advice please)

Cut out drinking a WHOLE bottle of wine at home,only drink when I have a meal out.


Eat, REGULAR meals,like it was a religion.
Don't skip lunch.

Increase water (difficult,I have never particularly liked the taste of water,after associating it with the taste and smell of bleach or chlorine that they used to give you in the plastic water jugs at junior school),any ideas?

Know I know I can't do all of these at once,but am trying to think about these changes ,and make them gradually.



Any tips anyone,or share your ideas/hopes/plans?

 

[Amanda71]

My main one is- ONLY EAT WHEN I'M PHYSICALLY HUNGRY!. When I start to eat again I will asking myself the question all the time.
I know already that I eat because it looks nice or I'm bored or whatever other reason I can think of, not because I'm actually hungry. Lesson learned

 

[Hedgehog]

Redefine your meaning of the word "treat". Remember something you have every day is not a treat its a habit.

Only treat yourself now and again and even then only to something you absolutely LOVE if you can take or leave it, leave it. Also if you treat yourself occasionally you will look forward to it and appreciate it more

If you have problems drinking water due to the chemical smells / tastes associated with it, try drinking it warm with freshly squeezed lemon juice in it

Eat more slowly, chew longer and savour your food. This gives your body time to realise that you are full. It can take 20 minutes for the brain to realise and send the message that you have had enough

Dont eat everything on your plate, always leave something

Consider getting public transport into work to increase your activity levels.

Cook from scratch, and avoid processed food and salt as much as possible

 

[Amilee*]

One of the problems are,I don't work,so have too much time to nibble.
I will try the lemon juice idea,sounds good.
I already cook our owm meals from scratch,but cooking had become a hobby,not always a good thing.I am having to rethink what I am cooking and think about measuring out the olive oil i use in frying an onion for example ,as its easy to get carried away and just "pour" the oil in the pan.I might have to switch to that spray oil altogether.
Yesterday i ordeed 4 gi cookery books out of the library,so I am going to start swatting up on healthier lower fat cooking.

 

[Amanda71]

I always use the spray oil. Highly recommend it

 

[airgirl]

Wow, your really getting some good tips i think we could all benefit from. The best i heard was the 80/20 rule. So your saintly for 80% of the tme and 20% indulgant. I think that really makes sense in terms of maintaing weight around your lifestyle.

Sadly when i first heard this i was doing it the opposite way round so it's no surprise i'm on my millionth diet but without a doubt the last ever diet that i do. I'll be using that rule when i get to goal as it seems pretty simple to use without it dominating my life.x

 

[Hedgehog]

I always use the spray oil. Highly recommend it

Me too

The best i heard was the 80/20 rule. So your saintly for 80% of the tme and 20% indulgant.

My sister does this, have to say it works very well for her, when I get well into maintenance and more confident with it I intend to do it myself

 

[Amilee*]

Can you buy a spray and put your own oil in?
Where do you buy them from?

 

[lalliali]

^^u get stuff like flora etc which do spray oils x

 

[abz]

i have used the frylight olive oil spray in the past and it's amazing.

my main one will be DO NOT buy clothes in the next size up. if they start getting tight, make myself smaller, not my clothes bigger.
and the above of course

abz xx

 

[icemoose]

My biggest piece of advice and the key for me was to break the emotional benefit that I was getting from food.

Therefore once I didn't turn to food when I needed a friend or a weapon to beat myself up with then I found maintaining about 3547 times easier.

I don't eat low fat, low GI, low carb or anything like that now, I just eat healthy and for that I mean an appropriate amount of calories overall to keep me slim so I can do everything else in life which sits on top of being healthy.

Mike

 

[Porgeous]

For me the key has been planning. I plan my weekly food intake and calories, nothing prohibited but all weighed and measured. Because I know what I am eating I don't find that my mind wanders to thoughts of "what do I fancy" I eat what I have planned and prepared.

Gxx

 

[Amilee*]

My biggest piece of advice and the key for me was to break the emotional benefit that I was getting from food.

Therefore once I didn't turn to food when I needed a friend or a weapon to beat myself up with then I found maintaining about 3547 times easier.

I don't eat low fat, low GI, low carb or anything like that now, I just eat healthy and for that I mean an appropriate amount of calories overall to keep me slim so I can do everything else in life which sits on top of being healthy.

Mike

i definitely identify with that,also eating out of boredom.

 

[Amilee*]

i have used the frylight olive oil spray in the past and it's amazing.

my main one will be DO NOT buy clothes in the next size up. if they start getting tight, make myself smaller, not my clothes bigger.
and the above of course

abz xx

agree with this for me too,and no buying anything with an elasticated waist.

 

[Amilee*]

For me the key has been planning. I plan my weekly food intake and calories, nothing prohibited but all weighed and measured. Because I know what I am eating I don't find that my mind wanders to thoughts of "what do I fancy" I eat what I have planned and prepared.

Gxx

I don't really get on with meal planning,but I tend to always keep certain basics in my fridge/freezer.
But maybe i might give it a try.

 

[KD]

I'm the same as mike. Don't count anything and I certainly don't try to do low fat as fats can be so healthy.

I did count calories for a while after reaching target though, just so I could get better aquainted with what a 'normal' person eats. Once I got used to that, I stopped counting.

Personally, I didn't chose low GI as it restricts certain healthy foods that I wanted to include in my diet, but I must admit that many of the foods I do eat, happen to be low GI....coincidence more than anything.

 

[Amilee*]

I'm the same as mike. Don't count anything and I certainly don't try to do low fat as fats can be so healthy.

I did count calories for a while after reaching target though, just so I could get better aquainted with what a 'normal' person eats. Once I got used to that, I stopped counting.

Personally, I didn't chose low GI as it restricts certain healthy foods that I wanted to include in my diet, but I must admit that many of the foods I do eat, happen to be low GI....coincidence more than anything.

What type of foods does it restrict?
I haven't read the books yet.

When I reach taget ,how many calories does a normal person eat?

 

[bridie]

your all on about low gi etc but what you need is a balanced diet.... yes you can have treats and drink but you need regular excersize and thats all there is too it. the main thing is not to obsess on what you are eating. if your excersising reglarly you wont need to
xxxx

 

[KD]

What type of foods does it restrict?

I think it depends on whether you do low GI or low GL.

It's all a bit of a minefield really and that's what put me off. For instance, carrots are high GI, salted peanuts are low, but common sense tells me that carrots are probably better for me.

Also something that is low GI, could change it's value within a meal, or how it's cooked (even if you don't add anything to them).

I think the main principles are great, but for maintenance, it was just too complex to get hung up on.

When I reach taget ,how many calories does a normal person eat?

That really depends on your height, weight, lifestyle. For me it's about 1800 cals.

your all on about low gi etc but what you need is a balanced diet....

Exactly, though I would recommend following a calorie controlled diet (maintenance cals, not low cals) until you are used to eating 'normally' again. Once you are comfortable with that, you can 'go it alone'

I really liked weightlossresources as you can track your carbs/protein/fats and get it as close as possible with what is generally considered a healthy balance.

You can also find out about the calorie density of the foods you are eating. Whether it's a food that you can plenty of (within your cal allowance), or something you should take a little more care with serving size.

 

[Amilee*]

What I like the sound of with gi maintenance,is that you are restricting the amount of carbs you eat.I have learned that too many carbs seems to make you hungry,but apparently eating a low gi diet means you feel fuller for longer because your glucose levels are more balanced.