Lose Weight Now, Ask Me How

November 11, 2008 8:53 AM

How can I lose weight, not through dieting, but through acquiring good and non-punitive habits?

There is a lot of diet advice out there - don't eat dairy, don't eat meat, don't eat bread, take up our new diet and spend £70 on supplements each month - and what I want is to know how to have a balanced diet that doesn't involve cutting out most foods I enjoy, cutting out whole food groups altogether, or feeling guilty because I have a square of milk chocolate rather than dark?

Relevant information:
- I work in an office, and at the moment cannot take on the financial commitment of gym membership. I occasionally swim but in practise this is once a month if that. I want to start walking the 20mins to and from the train station during the week rather than taking the bus to give me a bit of activity. I would very much need a sports bra for anything more intensive than this, plus my once-fractured metatarsal gives me gip occasionally. I recently learned to cycle but am not ready for the road yet.

- I've put on two stone this year, partly from a broken foot and partly from taking sodium valproate - if you're unfamiliar with this, the side effects cause weight gain and seem to increase my appetite. Therefore any diet too restrictive (ie. to get rid of the extra weight) would be torture! I am quite tall so can carry extra weight without it having a huge impact on my health, but I don't *feel* healthy and my self-image is pretty sucky.

- I've previously put on weight from taking Depo-Provera a few years back at the same rate, most of which just dropped 'naturally'. I've never embarked on a determined weight-loss program and tend to fluctuate a lot. More gain than lose on balance.

- I eat meat, although not very much. Not a big sweet snacker but I love houmous, cheese and toast (though don't buy as much cheese). I don't tend to spend a lot on my food and know I could up my veg intake. I tend to make my own lunches at home to bring into work, and have museli in the morning and maybe yogurt or a cookie as a sweet snack int he afternoon.

- We get a few chocolates from time to time at work. I also like pizza and fast food, but have this once a fortnight if that. I don't tend to buy ready meals and try and make healthy choices if I can.

posted by mippy to health & fitness (25 comments total)

Forgot to add - I never drink fizzy drinks/soda, but I drink a lot of tea, and very occasionally wine.
posted by mippy at 8:55 AM on November 11, 2008

I find an apple tends to help with mid morning hunger. Not too high in calories, but the fiber fills me up.

Sparkling water has a similar effect.

Are their stairs in your office that you could walk up? Taking the stairs, plus maybe a mid-morning or afternoon walk can be helpful.

Just a few thoughts.
posted by beachhead2 at 9:09 AM on November 11, 2008

I'm in the same boat as you, so I wish you luck and empathy.

Something that's helped me is to just stay away from all the holiday sweets that people tend to bring. It'll put on weight like nothing else, especially when you feel 'obligated' to try everything.
posted by zooropa at 9:14 AM on November 11, 2008

Here's something very simple you can do that will actually save you money: eat less.

Don't necessarily eat less often, and don't feel the need to avoid/eliminate certain kinds of foods--other than the trash you should be avoiding anyways--just cut back on portion sizes.

Example: a McDonald's value meal usually has more than half of the calories you should probably consume all day. If you get a big one, it can be as much as two-thirds. There's no way a healthy person needs to eat that much, but because that's how portions are served, that's what we eat.

Restaurants are obvious culprits, but the same goes on at home too. You'd be surprised how calorically dense even normal foods are and how much more we tend to serve ourselves than we actually need.

I've been on a "diet" since January which consists almost entirely of just not eating as much as I used to, and I've lost almost 20 pounds and 2 inches off my waist since then. I'm spending less on food too.
posted by valkyryn at 9:16 AM on November 11, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Apologies if this is a stupid question - do you have Weight Watchers, or something similar, in the UK? The idea with WW is that you don't have to cut out any particular food, you just have to be aware of how much you eat and try to regulate the portion size. And you don't necessarily even have to cut back as much as you might think. Once you add more of the good stuff, eat when you're hungry, and add a little bit more exercise, you might not crave the junk so much.

With your foot issue, it sounds like a stationary bike would work well for you. Then you don't have to worry about biking on the roads.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 9:18 AM on November 11, 2008

I recently learned to cycle but am not ready for the road yet.

Get ready for the road. Riding not just to the train station, but all the way to work, will make a huge, huge difference.
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 9:19 AM on November 11, 2008

Some of the most useful advice I've received from Ask.Me.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:25 AM on November 11, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

You're going to have to change your whole mindset regarding exercise.

It is way, way too easy to find reasons not to exercise if you don't want to, and I kind of get the sense from what you've written that you are doing just that.

Exercise has to become something you enjoy doing, or at the very least, a routine, normal part of your schedule. Just like brushing your teeth, taking a shower, and getting dressed. Something you wouldn't even think about skipping, because it's just something you do every day without even considering it.

If you can make exercise a routine part of your schedule, and you don't fight with yourself to do it, I think you will then find that you will come to enjoy it. Pay particular attention to the way you feel afterward, and your general increase in healthy feelings overall. Emphasize that positive stimulus, and that will encourage you to exercise more.

You need to get at least 30 minutes of exercise strenuous enough to elevate your heart rate, preferably 5 times a week. Find an activity that you enjoy doing to make it easier.

Good luck!
posted by mikeand1 at 9:29 AM on November 11, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

I overhauled my diet and feel so much better as a result. Here is what worked for me: 1) planning ahead what I would eat for the day (helps with impulse sweets and office treats); 2) putting at the center of that planning fruits and/or veggies in every meal, and working from there; 3) subbing whole grains or fruits/veg for processed carbs; 4) making sure I had enough protein (was eating too many carbs, not enough protein, and getting hungry sooner); 5) strategic snacking -- combining a carb with a protein (string cheese with apple; handful of almonds with little bag of popcorn or carrots); 6) minimizing eating out (this alone can really help; if you do eat out, bring 1/2 home and cut it with broccoli or other veg you like). There's a lot you can do with several simple changes -- good luck.
posted by *s at 9:29 AM on November 11, 2008

Two stone = 28 pounds = 12.7 kilos, for those who might be wondering.

So you've gained about 3 pounds a month, which is about as fast as you would want to safely lose it, too. Meaning, you need to think of this as a long-term project, not something that you make a quick fix, work on it for a couple of weeks, and never again need to think about.

Three pounds a month (gaining or losing) comes from relatively small additions or subtractions from your diet -- we aren't talking huge amounts of calories here. There's no need for you to go on one of those weird and restrictive diets; you just need to limit what you are eating by about the same amount you have been going over. It's portion control, basically, plus maybe keeping an eye on your drinking and late night snacking.

This is where Weight Watchers and programs like it really work, or you can just learn it on your own, I guess. What you want are easy rule-of-thumb guides for portions and food choices, without it turning into an unsustainable exercise in self-limitation.
posted by Forktine at 9:30 AM on November 11, 2008

Seconding SuperSquirrel's suggestion of Weight Watchers. This program is designed to help you do exactly what you say you want: To lose weight by learning better eating habits. You don't need to buy any special foods, or eliminate anything from your diet. It just gives you the tools to incorporate the foods you like to eat into a manageable healthy diet. You can still have that chocolate every day, as long as you budget for it. And it's a way of eating that you can use your entire life - not some crazy diet that deprives you of whatever it is you love. I used Weight Watchers to help me lose weight after my baby was born and I've found, 2 years later, that its the best way to eat what I like, in moderation.
posted by Kangaroo at 9:36 AM on November 11, 2008

Diets, statistically speaking, don't work. Even weight watchers, which is the most successful of them, has a poor success rate after 5 years.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/05/28/health/main620201.shtml

http://fatfu.wordpress.com/2008/01/24/weight-watchers/

YMMV of course, due to individual differences and all that.

The people that I know who have lost weight and kept if off do it by a strict calorie restriction and massive amounts of exercise.
posted by reddot at 9:53 AM on November 11, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

The people that I know who have lost weight and kept if off do it by a strict calorie restriction and massive amounts of exercise.

Strict calorie restriction would be considered, by most, a diet.

Your diet actually sounds fairly okay--increase your veggie intake, definitely, and try to incorporate walking or another enjoyable form of exercise into your routine.

I'd also recommend that you read up on "Health at Any Size." Losing weight might not necessarily be healthy for you, and you'll feel better about yourself, and likely have a larger impact on your life, if you accept the possibility that your weight might be natural for you and instead focus on improving your health and general quality of life.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 9:58 AM on November 11, 2008

Is there a public leisure center or something like that near you? I do understand the financial commitment problem with joining a gym, but exercise is key to loosing weight. Of course eating healthily is very important as well. You should plan meals well in advance and practice portion control. Learn what a portion really is. Also, and this helped me enormously when I had to lose weight, eat slowly. Chew each mouthful and drink water whilst eating. You'll get full before you know it.

I'm going to come back to the exercise thing though as it's so important. I'll just say this: I don't believe in diets at all. I think they're all stupid. If you start from exercising then you'll start to understand that your body is a mechanism and food is fuel and nothing more. Years ago I didn't think a meal was good unless it was rich and big. Now I can really be satisfied with a small salad with a tiny bit of freshly made dressing, or a small amount of carbs after working out. I think that most people know how to eat healthily they just need some prompting to do so, and that's why starting with exercise before everything else will push you in that direction. Then learn to plan meals and control portions and you'll find that you will be able to afford a little treat from time to time, because it is just that. Good luck!
posted by ob at 10:04 AM on November 11, 2008

Have you spoken to your psychiatrist about this? Typically, they're very concerned about weight positive drugs, unless they're a last resort.

Also, while we can't know much about the quantities you eat, and only you know that, it does seem like the makeup of your diet is fairly sound... Certainly upping the veggies, switching to whole grains, and substituting for your sweet afternoon snack would be good. And green tea is a metabolism booster, so I hope that's the tea you're drinking. Ultimately, however, I echo the others - it's going to come from exercise, mostly. You have my empathy - I hate exercising as much as anyone.
posted by namesarehard at 11:24 AM on November 11, 2008

When you eat matters quite a bit. Eat a large breakfast as soon after you get up as possible. This is when your body needs food-energy the most because you've just been fasting for many hours and you have a whole day of activity ahead of you. If you don't eat a large breakfast, or wait to eat it until later in the day, your body may interpret this as an emergency "no food" scenario and will start storing more fat. Lunch should be a big meal, too, for similar reasons. Dinner however, should be small. Aim to eat maybe a piece of toast, a small bit of cheese and an apple or something. You don't need to eat a big meal at night because you're probably not going to be doing much that requires food-energy in the evening. Most people just hang around the house and then go to bed.

Along similar lines:
a.)get comfortable eating breakfast foods that go out of the breakfast foods box. Soups make a great breakfast and give you lots of nutrients to carry you through your day (far more than say, buttery pancakes with lots of syrup), as do salads.
b.)don't eat before you plan on taking a nap or partaking in other sedentary activities. The reason we eat food is to give us energy, and taking a nap right afterward confuses our bodies.
c.)do eat before you exercise. If you're going to be moving your body around a lot, you shouldn't do so on an empty stomach. If you are exercising when you're hungry, your body will feel taxed and store more fat.

Sumo wrestlers build bulk by eating the biggest meal of the day right before bed. You want to do the opposite. Good luck!
posted by RingerChopChop at 11:49 AM on November 11, 2008

Despite the implication of another poster, two 20 minute walks a day at a reasonable pace "count" as exercise, and will be a decent down payment on your goals.

As for diet, obsessing over exactly over what you eat and when, is secondary to the real issue, which is caloric intake. What you eat and when isn't unimportant. It can help manage your hunger level and potentially what you are hungry for, but that's only important in that it can make it easier to keep your caloric intake.

Good luck.
posted by Good Brain at 12:25 PM on November 11, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

You're thinking of fad diets. Regular diet: take in fewer calories than you expend each day. It's that simple. 1 pound is 3500 Calories. A net loss of 500 Calories a day is 1 pound a week.
posted by gramcracker at 12:56 PM on November 11, 2008

something I found really helpful - I make sure I bring at least 2 vegetable or fruit snacks in to work each day, and leave them on my desk as I work. They look and smell really good, and then when I get hungry I can just grab and eat, so I'm not tempted to get fattier snacks
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 1:17 PM on November 11, 2008

Figure out how many calories you need to eat to lose weight. Eat that many calories divided up into however many meals and snacks you enjoy each day. Eat whatever food you want that fits into your calorie range. You already know, in general, what's healthy to eat.

Example: if you are a short, older, inactive female, you might need to eat 1200 calories per day to lose weight. 250 for breakfast, 350 for lunch, 200 as a snack, 400 for dinner. When you get to the desired weight, add more calories until your weight stabilizes. With this process you will learn how much food is appropriate for your body.

Hint: if you can't find other means of physical activity, consider a pedometer and work towards 10000 steps per day.

Good luck. Other "behavioral" methods may work, but in the end they only trick you into doing the above.
posted by objdoc at 1:25 PM on November 11, 2008

I've got to nth the increasing of water intake. Sparkling, tap, Brita, whatever. It can definitely make you feel more full and give you more energy. Upping your veggie intake can make a huuuuge difference, especially if you eat raw. That's about all the advice I can think of in terms of diet.

I nth what mikeand1, ob, PhoBWanKenobi , and namesarehard have all said. Your statements, when read between the lines, indicate that you are justifying your lack of exercise. Unfortunately, if you really want to lose the weight, changing your diet is only Part One of the solution. Your diet isn't too bad to begin with so you might want to consider Part Two: exercise.

As others have noted, it's got to become something you like or a well-established routine that borders on physical dependency. I've been exercising 3-5x a week since May, and I've gotten to the point that taking a week off (which I did 2 weeks ago) essentially ruins me. I became depressed, tired, unfocused, sore all over, bloated, etc.

Start off slow. Like the 20-minute commute walks you mentioned. Do you have a friend or colleague who can join you? Friends are really good motivators, not to mention free when compared to a personal trainer. Build a routine from there.

If there is an opportunity in the future to join a gym (and maybe even a personal trainer), please seriously consider it. Especially if you hate exercise with all your heart. Seriously, that was me in May and now I am so gung-ho about exercise it's a little scary. Sure, I've been lucky enough to afford a gym membership but next year I may will lose this financial ability. I'm a little stressed out about it but I think with enough home equipment I'll be okay.

This could even be your strategy. Even if you don't stick with the gym long term, it helps you establish routine so that when you stop paying, you are still motivated and dependent enough on the exercise to want to find ways to exercise outside or at home. I don't think I would ever have considered buying a BOSU ball prior to May. But having had a personal trainer teach me how to effectively use equipment and motivate me, I now feel confident enough to do it myself and if necessary, train at home without all the scary muscly men.
posted by Menomena at 2:08 PM on November 11, 2008

The broken foot will heal, and that will help you get your old exercise mojo back, so don't sweat that too much. That said, cycling will make a big difference.

Something that's been doing good things for me lately is replacing manufactured breakfast cereal with plain rolled oats. I don't cook them - I just stick them in a bowl with milk as if they were manufactured breakfast cereal. They're chewy, so a given quantity of rolled oats takes about twice as long to eat as the same volume of most breakfast cereals, which means I need less of them than weetbix to fit the breakfast ritual. They're also more filling. Some days after an oat breakfast, I get to two or three o'clock in the afternoon before my body lets me know it's lunchtime.
posted by flabdablet at 2:33 PM on November 11, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

A good large water bottle with a handle that makes it easy to lug is a very good thing, too. I use a three litre ex-fruit-juice one with a handle and a wide neck, and will often empty that over the course of a day without thinking about drinking, just by taking a swig whenever the urge arises. Keeping the water bottle with you at all times is the key to making this work.
posted by flabdablet at 2:35 PM on November 11, 2008

1. Keep a log of everything you eat. Use one of the many inexpensive software programs which show the macronutrients of your food - the amount of calories, protein, carbs, fats, etc.

2. Weigh yourself regularly and add that data to the log.

3. Gradually reduce the number of calories you eat per day until you start to lose weight. Identify that magic number, probably something between 1000 and 1500 depending on your size and weight.

The way you select what to eat is by getting your calories from a balance of protein, fat and carbs. Most of the fat and carbs we eat are high in calories, so you will probably have to eat less of them and more low-fat protein. Get your carbs from fruit and vegies, not starches or grains.

You don't have to use any specific approach to selecting which foods you eat as long as the daily total stays under the magic number of calories. Have that small piece of chocolate (100 calories more or less) as long as you compensate somewhere else.

Good foods to help lose weight:

Vegetable salads with a light dressing.
Low fat cottage cheese.
Egg white omelettes.
Tofu stir fry with light oil.
Chicken without the skin or sauce.
Fish roasted in the oven.
Oatmeal.
Minimal amounts of bread and other starches.
Avoid processed foods.
posted by conrad53 at 3:51 PM on November 11, 2008

I know you said you couldn't afford a gym membership, but if your office is large enough, it's worth discussing a company-wide scheme with your HR department. That way the gym gets a large batch of new clients, you get a cheap membership and your company gets to brag about all the extras they offer employees. Everyone's a winner!

If you have space at home, hit up Freecycle for unwanted exercise bikes or treadmills. Try to exercise at regular times so you get into the habit. During your favourite TV show is good because it creates a timer. You just walk or cycle from the opening theme to the end credits.

It's always difficult at that 'too old to cycle on the pavement, too inexperienced for the road' stage. As an in-between stage, check out your local canal network. It's less crowded than the streets and cycling along the towpaths can give you a whole new perspective on your hometown and take you to places you'd never normally visit.

Why not sign up for an allotment? That would provide you with exercise and fresh vegetables!
posted by the latin mouse at 7:05 PM on November 11, 2008