Needing to go on a diet but....

[FarmerChick]

since your schedule is mixed up it would be good to eat your heavier meals at the earliest times. eat your bread, pasta type things more early, then eat lighter foods for dinner, like a delish steak and salad or tons of veggies.

many people with mixed up schedules mix up their body also.

so eating heavier type items earlier and very light meals towards the end of the day before bed helps. Tony's work has a night shift...oh boy those hours can screw ya up and one gal wanted to lose about 60 lbs......she did this, eat heavier early, eat lighter later and she shed the weight.

so might help you good luck
90 is doable I lost 70 just by eating carefully and thoughtfully, but I ate everything in moderation.

 

[farmerlor]

I can tell you what's working well for me.

I have 1) cut out (or severely down) all egregiously-high-carb things that I've been accustomed to eating, especially as snacks. For me, that means no more pretzels in the house P), tortilla chips only as a rare treat, ice cream only as rare treat, and I serve a whole lot less rice/pasta/bread/tortillas with dinner (and when we do have them, I try to minimize how much of them I eat myself)

And 2) stopped trying to limit how much "good" fats I was eating.

And 3) when I am hungry and it does not seem logical that I am REALLY hungry, I go drink a glass of water and wait a half hour and see if I'm still wanting something to eat. Often I'm not.

So, without any major changes and certainly without any complicated diet plan, I have lost a bit over 20 lbs in the past 6 months, which may not sound that great but you have to understand that this is WITHOUT PAYING ANY REAL ATTENTION TO IT AT ALL and certainly without feeling in any way food-deprived or "dieting". (Well every now and then I crave pretzels ) I am pretty certain I will keep this weight off, too, because it is an easy and basically-appealing change in diet.

And honestly, if I would quit eating so darn much chocolate (serious dark chocolate) I would probably lose a lot more weight

Something like that should be pretty easy to implement no matter how odd or inconvenient your schedule.

(Also, if you are in the habit of drinking soda pop or juice, if you cut that out right now and switch to water, that *alone* will make a big difference. Although that did not apply to me)

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

I agree with Pat with one little extra comment. Listen to your body. If your body says it wants something you are missing something, try to figure out what it is. I tend to crave salty snacks, I've found through experimentation that when I'm really hungry for salt what I NEED is potassium so if I eat some bananas for a few days that salty thing goes away. Your body will tell you that you need to increase certain vitamins when you start dieting so be proactive and start taking some good ones before hand and that will forestall a whole lot of problems. Don't forget the vitamin D and don't forget to stick some extra exercise in there somewhere.

 

[tortoise]

Measure your rib cage too. It is one of the first places weight seems to fall off.

I can be 50 pounds overweight and still count my ribs.

It's a good point, I'm just wierd like that.

 

[SKR8PN]

so might help you good luck
90 is doable I lost 70 just by eating carefully and thoughtfully, but I ate everything in moderation.

Moderation is the key. The Wife is now putting our portions on the plate and that's ALL we get. The one exercise I needed more of, was pushing myself away from the table.

 

[patandchickens]

See that is why I am pretty excited about getting steady meaningful weight loss by not eating high-carb things... because I kind of SUCK at portion control LOL

Pat

 

[FarmerChick]

so might help you good luck
90 is doable I lost 70 just by eating carefully and thoughtfully, but I ate everything in moderation.

Moderation is the key. The Wife is now putting our portions on the plate and that's ALL we get. The one exercise I needed more of, was pushing myself away from the table.

yea portion control is so important

when you truly learn the size of a real portion, you just can't believe how small it can be LOL but once you learn to adjust, ya kinda just eat that amt and push yourself away from the table....so true

no portion control on fresh veggies etc...but when ya eat that pasta or heavy meal, whew, you gotta give up some of the size



true Pat....it is key to load up on the good foods and the junkier stuff ya love to eat like mac n cheese, loaded potatoe etc. just have to be portioned. I do it that way and it sure keeps the pounds off

 

[journey11]

I've been doing www.myfitnesspal.com since just before Thanksgiving and have lost 12 lbs so far (stalled out a little on all the Christmas goodies, but now I'm back on track )

It's free and it will help you calculate how many calories you should be eating in a day based on your activity level and stuff. Then you log in everyday and record what you eat and any exercise you do. It's good to keep a log so you can analyze your eating habits and see where you need to make changes. I was so shocked in those first few days at just how many extra calories I was consuming--I had no concept of how little bites of this or that added up so quickly. It was really eye-opening!

They have forums where you can make friends (people are very encouraging and helpful on there) and you can ask questions and get advice on diet/exercise/etc.

Basically, you need to eat less calories than what you burn in a day. If you exercise, it will free you up to eat a little bit more if you want. And of course, if you eat junk food, it will use up your calorie allowance very quickly. It will help you learn to think before you munch so that you can make healthier choices.

I've been going low-carb and eating lots of veggies and lean meat. That's worked really well for me. I am also taking 3 oz. of raw ACV daily (half in the morning and half in the evening) in a glass of water and I can tell that it really has helped with my appetite control and improved my digestion.

You really ought to check it out. Like I said, it is completely free! No annoying ads or anything.

ETA: Anybody who wants to do it, feel free to friend me on there. I'm "sunbeam11".

 

[Dunkopf]

Be sure you eat soon after waking up. Get some protein in. If you don't eat in the morning your metabolism stays in economy setting and doesn't burn energy. Don't eat for at least 3 or 4 hours before bed.

 

[Wifezilla]

See that is why I am pretty excited about getting steady meaningful weight loss by not eating high-carb things... because I kind of SUCK at portion control LOL

Pat

Cutting portions used to just make me gnaw on the furniture

Low carb is the only thing that gets my appetite under control. Also no more wild blood sugar swings that used to leave me shaking and sweating if I didn't eat all the darn time.

I ate a LOT at first when I switched to low carb and still lost weight. Now I eat less because a lot of the damage I did to myself over the years is mostly repaired.

Now the only time I get wicked hungry is the day before my period. Stupid hormones

 

[AL]

I work a wonky shift as well - 430pm to 1am. For "breakfast" I usually go to my parent's house and eat whatever they are having for lunch. I dish up the veggies first and that way I have less room for meat or starchy stuff.

Then, eat every 3 hours. I carry little baggies of celery / carrots / apple/ broccoli etc to work with me. I also eat a little cup of low cal yogurt or low cal pudding ( I know some of you just fainted ).
When you feel hungry in between meals drink at least 8oz of ice water first.

When I get home at night is my most difficult time. I usually try to have like a spoon of peanut butter and an apple , or a single piece of wheat bread with a slice of cheese, or in cold weather I heat up some oatmeal or something. Then , even though it isn't really enough to burn those calories, I walk the dogs around the pasture to check the horses and chickens.


Water water and more water. You can add flavors to it if you need to, but lots of ice cold water .