From Sophie, Age 19 - 02/11/12 - IP#: 94.196.63.xxx Click here to reply Ht. 5'3", Start: 220 lb, Today: 215 lb (BMI %tile: 98), Goal: 175 lb - HELP !!! Please, any tips would be appreciated I'm just not getting anywhere no matter what I do !!!
Reply from Renee the Nutritionist - 05/17/12 - IP#: 204.76.166.xxx Sophie....don't give up! The focus should be VOLUME. You want to get the most VOLUME with the least fat and calories. That means more fruits, vegetables and whole grains (and good fats like avocado, nuts, and seeds). Your plate should be 1/2 vegetables (some fruit here is ok too), 1/4 protein source, and 1/4 whole grain starch. Your protein choices should be lean like chicken without the skin, fish, or egg whites (beef only occasionally), or you can have vegetarian meals by replacing animal foods with beans and rice, or beans and pasta, or beans in a salad, etc. Vegetarian meals are not only better for the environment but for your health! You 1/2 plate vegetables should be varied like leafy greens, peppers, onions, green beans, artichokes, eggplant, asparagus, cabbage, tomatoes, carrots, mushrooms, etc. Whole grains are things like 100% whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, bulgur wheat, quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, barley, etc. Stay away from processed meats (hot dogs, sausages, salami, bologna, etc.) and processed flour (white flour). DO NOT have any sweetened drinks or juices in the house. These are just a gateway to obesity. Kids, and adults too, need to drink plain water (or carbonated) and milk (soy, almond or oat milk good too) and that's it. Many studies have surfaced about 100% fruit juice being as bad as soda. You get the sugar and the calories without the fiber from the whole fruits. As for exercise, I suggest some sessions of interval training. This involves any cardiovascular activity done in fast and slow intervals. For example, on the treadmill, after you warm-up for 5-10 minutes, go at your normal moderate pace for 3 minutes, then do 1 minute full effort (incline or running) and then back to 3 minutes at moderate effort and then 1 minute full effort again, and repeat over and over for 30 minutes total. Then cool down for 10 minutes. Intervals like these have shown to raise your metabolism for a much longer period of time after you are done compared to just doing the treadmill at the same pace the whole time. In general though, you should be changing your cardiovascular and weight training routines every 6-8 weeks or so to challenge the body. The body is a smart machine that adapts to everything. so if you burned 500 calories for an hour of exercise at first, after 6 or 7 weeks it has adapted and you will no longer burn that amount of calories for that activity. This is why change is good about every 6-8 weeks. Good luck to you! All that said, don’t forget weight training. As we age we lose muscle mass and if we do nothing to slow down the loss of it, our metabolism will slow down too. Hence we need less calories than before. So, hit the weights without fear! The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn at rest! Feel free to go to my site for healthy and quick recipes: www.2-b-well.net. Good luck!
Reply from Liz, Age 35 - 05/14/12 - IP#: 75.135.201.xxx Sorry about the double posts about veggies- I clicked reply on the wrong line! Sorry! Guess you can tell I'm new to the boards. ;-) anyway, wishing you the best and keeping you in my prayers as well! xoxo
Reply from Liz, Age 35 - 05/14/12 - IP#: 75.135.201.xxx I totally agree with the above poster-veggies are the answer!
Reply from Liz, Age 35 - 05/14/12 - IP#: 75.135.201.xxx Try drinking only plain water. It helped me soooo much.
