Sigh. I need to lose 10 lbs.

[elizabeth]

Honestly, I need to lose 25, but let's start with 10. My health is really suffering right now, the extra weight is really making it difficult to do normal day to day things.

I know I need to track what I eat so I can see where I'm going wrong, or not wrong, but where I can improve. What's better for tracking? FitDay or SparkPeople? I've been trying SP, but I find it tedious to enter everything.

I also need gentle exercise encouragement. I'm not allowed to do anything that raises my heart rate, or makes me short of breath, and I'm not supposed to do anything that requires me to lie on my back for an extended period of time. Oh, and I can't do stairs or inclines, my neigborhood is just hilly enough to make it too hard for me to walk.

I need to fit this around a day that starts at 4 am, involves a long commute and a desk job, as well as 2 very active kids that require supervision and transportation to various activities in the evenings.

On the positive side, I walk a mile at lunch every day (not very fast, but I do it) that it's not raining or above 98. I have an exercise bike, a fitness ball, various resistance bands and hand weights. I get FitTV if there is something worth DVRing from there and have no objections to purchasing DVDs.

I know my weak points in food right now is evening snacking (although I've improved a lot in the past 6 months), dark chocolate and my daily coffee with sugar and cream. My good food side is that I love oatmeal for breakfast and have no objections to carting my lunch to work everyday.

Hitting post before I turn chicken ...

[indigo]

Honestly, I need to lose 25, but let's start with 10. My health is really suffering right now, the extra weight is really making it difficult to do normal day to day things.

I know I need to track what I eat so I can see where I'm going wrong, or not wrong, but where I can improve. What's better for tracking? FitDay or SparkPeople? I've been trying SP, but I find it tedious to enter everything.

I also need gentle exercise encouragement. I'm not allowed to do anything that raises my heart rate, or makes me short of breath, and I'm not supposed to do anything that requires me to lie on my back for an extended period of time. Oh, and I can't do stairs or inclines, my neigborhood is just hilly enough to make it too hard for me to walk.

I need to fit this around a day that starts at 4 am, involves a long commute and a desk job, as well as 2 very active kids that require supervision and transportation to various activities in the evenings.

On the positive side, I walk a mile at lunch every day (not very fast, but I do it) that it's not raining or above 98. I have an exercise bike, a fitness ball, various resistance bands and hand weights. I get FitTV if there is something worth DVRing from there and have no objections to purchasing DVDs.

I know my weak points in food right now is evening snacking (although I've improved a lot in the past 6 months), dark chocolate and my daily coffee with sugar and cream. My good food side is that I love oatmeal for breakfast and have no objections to carting my lunch to work everyday.

Hitting post before I turn chicken ...

Do you have anywhere to swim? (nt)

[KMP]

Can you just use a journal to track your food? I find that it's easier to write than take the time to punch it into the computer. Also in my food journal I tend to also write my mood and the time. That way I can see that I snacked on M&M's at 1:30 because I was frustrated, not because I was hungry. Are you snacking in the evening because you're hungry or just out of habit. If it's because you're hungry try to get more calories into the day and then you won't be hungry. Habits are hard to break and take perseverance! Find something else to do, a puzzle, a computer game, something involves your hands and your mind so that you can think of something else!

Cream and sugar are hard to give up....try decreasing your sugar by a little bit, and then a little bit more. Change from full fat to fat-free 1/2 & 1/2.

Look into adding some isometric exercise into your day. Things that you can do while at your desk or driving. Such as contracting and holding your stomach muscles (don't forget to breathe!) Dust off that exercise equipment and make a commitment to using it, that is doable (i.e. don't say you'll do it every day, when you know you won't or can't.)

[Bickery]

(((Elizabeth))) I would find it very hard to lose weight without strenuous exercise.

Can you walk around the soccer field (or where ever their activities are taking place) for some extra exercise?

[bannanabette]

First of all, {{{Hugs}}}. Let's face it, if this were easy, we would all be at our "ideal weight".

Second of all, logging food intake IS tedious - and honestly some people find it more tedious than others. It doesn't have to be something that you need to do for a long time, but doing it for just a week can give you an idea of what you're actually eating so that you can make the most effective changes. For instance, I don't necessarily think that dark chocolate and cream and sugar in your coffee is all that bad, but it depends on how much you're eating and if you can make better choices elsewhere. And then again, actually measuring how many calories are in that cream and sugar might be impetus to find an alternative.

But if you really find it too tedious to do, perhaps you could just write it down on paper? Or, if you're not too embarrassed, you could post it here or email it to someone? I wouldn't mind entering it for you for a few days. Or you could skip it and just try to make healthier, lower calorie choices in the places where you think you're going astray.

For instance, snacking on carrots and celery and some kind of low fat dip instead of what you usually snack on. If you really want dark chocolate, look up how many calories dark chocolate is, and then figure out how many chocolate chips that is. Then when you're craving dark chocolate, count out the chips and eat them, and you'll know exactly how much you've had.

I'll tell you what I do with coffee - it might horrify you. I don't make it with water anymore - I just heat up skim or lite soy milk and use that directly in the coffee press (or I just use instant coffee). It probably ends up being the same calories as cream, but I get a full serving of calcium and little or no fat and some protein. And it needs less sugar because there's enough sweetness in that much milk. If I'm craving something really sweet I use artificial sweetener, but most of the time I don't use any at all.

It's really hard to work exercise into such a busy schedule. Good for you about the walking! I really think the best thing you can do is gradually work more walking into your life. Sometimes I see people at the gym with folders of work, and they just walk on the treadmill while reading their reports. Maybe you could use your exercise bike and if you have any time where you are usually sitting down - reading, watching tv, knitting, etc, you could gently exercise then.

Remember, we're here to gently encourage you however you need it. You can do it!

[anastasia]

Honestly, I need to lose 25, but let's start with 10. My health is really suffering right now, the extra weight is really making it difficult to do normal day to day things.

I know I need to track what I eat so I can see where I'm going wrong, or not wrong, but where I can improve. What's better for tracking? FitDay or SparkPeople? I've been trying SP, but I find it tedious to enter everything.

I also need gentle exercise encouragement. I'm not allowed to do anything that raises my heart rate, or makes me short of breath, and I'm not supposed to do anything that requires me to lie on my back for an extended period of time. Oh, and I can't do stairs or inclines, my neigborhood is just hilly enough to make it too hard for me to walk.

I need to fit this around a day that starts at 4 am, involves a long commute and a desk job, as well as 2 very active kids that require supervision and transportation to various activities in the evenings.

On the positive side, I walk a mile at lunch every day (not very fast, but I do it) that it's not raining or above 98. I have an exercise bike, a fitness ball, various resistance bands and hand weights. I get FitTV if there is something worth DVRing from there and have no objections to purchasing DVDs.

I know my weak points in food right now is evening snacking (although I've improved a lot in the past 6 months), dark chocolate and my daily coffee with sugar and cream. My good food side is that I love oatmeal for breakfast and have no objections to carting my lunch to work everyday.

Hitting post before I turn chicken ...

I hear you about the food logging being tedious, but honestly, that was the most eye-opening thing for me. I'm doing WW, the Flex plan, and (not to sound like a commercial but...) I have lost 27 lbs in 3 months. 30 pounds was my goal, but really what I want is to fit comfortably in a size 10, so I'll keep going until I get there. Honestly, it's been like magic—follow the plan, the weight comes off! It's not FUN by any stretch, but it has worked, and I only just started exercising a couple weeks ago. Until then it was all about food intake.

I don't go to meetings; I track my points online. It's relatively easy—tedious, sure, but it also appeals to my obsessive side in a good way. ;-) I still measure most of what I eat—also tedious, and DH laughs at me (lovingly :ohno:), but again, it works. I started out with 1/4 cup of half and half in my coffee every morning (2 points) and have since reduced that to 1/8 cup. I weaned myself off sugar in my coffee years ago and highly recommend that, especially if you choose to switch to fat-free half and half, which contains corn syrup (along with a lot of crap, FYI).

That's one thing about WW that I don't like—their emphasis on crap. Fat-free versions of real foods, artificial sweeteners, etc. It's not a healthy eating plan IMO; it's a weight loss plan. However, you CAN do it in a healthy-food way if that is important to you; you just have to be strict with your limits. In this way it has worked for me. I eat a huge salad for lunch every day with protein in the form of beans or meat, and 0-point salad dressing that I make out of balsamic vinegar, lime juice, and dijon mustard. I still eat real, whole foods; I just eat less of them. I don't feel deprived but I do have to be conscious of my choices. It helps that I can pretty much eat what I want one day a week—I save up my weekly points for my Sunday date night with DH and we go out for a nice dinner.

Where WW has helped me a lot is with portion sizes and seeing the "cost" of fatty and high calorie, high-carb foods. Oatmeal, for example, is 2 points for 1 cup prepared, but it jumps up substantially for a bigger serving (2 cups = 5.5 points), and the raisins and other dried fruit I used to add with abandon are surprisingly "expensive" so I now measure and limit those.

I don't mean to be a WW pusher—what's important is having an accurate view of the impacts of your food choices and being strict with your limits. Most of the tedium of food tracking is in the beginning IME, when you're first figuring out what to eat and how much. Now that I have my own system down, I don't have to track everything, though I still do, usually, because it's useful to see toward the end of the day how many points I have left when I'm deciding whether that snack I am craving is worth it or not.

As for exercise, I think gentle movement would be good for you—leg raises lying on your side, stretches standing up, that sort of thing.

Whatever you choose, you can do it! :thumbsup:

[mirage1]

Honestly, I need to lose 25, but let's start with 10. My health is really suffering right now, the extra weight is really making it difficult to do normal day to day things.

I know I need to track what I eat so I can see where I'm going wrong, or not wrong, but where I can improve. What's better for tracking? FitDay or SparkPeople? I've been trying SP, but I find it tedious to enter everything.

I also need gentle exercise encouragement. I'm not allowed to do anything that raises my heart rate, or makes me short of breath, and I'm not supposed to do anything that requires me to lie on my back for an extended period of time. Oh, and I can't do stairs or inclines, my neigborhood is just hilly enough to make it too hard for me to walk.

I need to fit this around a day that starts at 4 am, involves a long commute and a desk job, as well as 2 very active kids that require supervision and transportation to various activities in the evenings.

On the positive side, I walk a mile at lunch every day (not very fast, but I do it) that it's not raining or above 98. I have an exercise bike, a fitness ball, various resistance bands and hand weights. I get FitTV if there is something worth DVRing from there and have no objections to purchasing DVDs.

I know my weak points in food right now is evening snacking (although I've improved a lot in the past 6 months), dark chocolate and my daily coffee with sugar and cream. My good food side is that I love oatmeal for breakfast and have no objections to carting my lunch to work everyday.

Hitting post before I turn chicken ...I wonder if there's some kind of beginner's yoga that might work? Building a little bit of muscle through really gentle yoga might help make it easier to carry the weight, and help build up your metabolism a little so any dietary changes you make would have a greater impact.

Good luck!

[bannanabette]

I wonder if there's some kind of beginner's yoga that might work? Building a little bit of muscle through really gentle yoga might help make it easier to carry the weight, and help build up your metabolism a little so any dietary changes you make would have a greater impact.

Good luck!

Or another idea which might not be practical depending on your work environment, but if you could substitute sitting on an exercise ball instead of a chair, that can help strengthen your core muscles.

[Rosemary]

Can you add walking when you are at a practice? Just walking around the field, even if it's once or twice - it is better than sitting.

I'm no good when it comes to eating advice because that is my weakness. I am truly screwed up - I stopped at Baskin Robbins today, ON THE WAY HOME FROM MY 3 MILE WALK DOWN THE PARK, and got a milkshake! Most people are wound up from exercising and can manage to resist at least until after they shower. I'm was so disgusted with myself.

[Kari]

H
I also need gentle exercise encouragement. I'm not allowed to do anything that raises my heart rate, or makes me short of breath, and I'm not supposed to do anything that requires me to lie on my back for an extended period of time. Oh, and I can't do stairs or inclines, my neigborhood is just hilly enough to make it too hard for me to walk.


Would you be able to wear a Walkvest (http://www.walkvest.com)? It's a cotton vest that has pockets for small weights - I think it comes with 4 lbs & can be increased to 12 or 16 total....

Anyway, the reason I ask is that since you aren't allowed to do vigorous cardio exercise b/c of your heart, maybe this would increase the intensity of the walking that you are already doing (and help build more muscle mass at the same time).

I've been using this for six months or so & it is really comfortable and causes me no pain, stress, or strain on my back.

hth!