Getting Inspired

[bluerose]

Well it has been over 6 months that I have not smoked a ciggarette,Now loosing some weight it my next challange. I have been having lots of trouble walking due to very sore feet(willing to walk anyways) baught myself a pair of walking boots for not smoking. and never have I been on a diet so do not even know where to start? Well maybe cleaning out the fridge and cuboards would be a good start. No more Butter or coffee cream or Pepsi or chips and chocolate I now stand infront of the chocolate section and drool. Ok so my SIL posted this video on her F.B. and its wonderful and wanted to share it along with my accomplishment and the next step for me.
P.S. is yoga a good place to start for someone over weight and over 50.

[vesper]

Wow amazing! Of all the habits to change I always noticed smokers have the most difficult time. Since you did that, you can do anything!!

[CSLT]

Yahoo! Congratulations on 6 months free of smoking!!

You can definitely tackle the weight loss!! Most of weight loss comes not even from exercising, it comes from changing what you eat and how much you are eating! It's all about not eating more calories than you are expending

Obviously everyone is different but what I found worked really well for me when I was working on weight loss (I lost 20 lbs, 2 years ago and an now maintaining that weight loss) was that I counted calories which was a huge eye opener in just HOW much I actually had been eating (I know that isn't for everyone I'm just sharing what I did ) and ate really clean (low sugar, no junk food, etc) 5 days of the week and then 2 days of the week I just allowed myself to have whatever I wanted... obviously within reason but it helped me get through the healthy days, knowing that in a few days I did get to have that treat I was craving! I wasn't denying myself the things I loved forever - just on the healthy eating days.

A good place to start for too if you're a pop drinker is to start with cutting back on and then cutting out pop. My husband did that (he went from 6 cokes a day to 0) and lost 15 lbs doing that alone!

Also if you use coffee creamer and butter you could start by just cutting back on the amount you use and then eventually you will find that you don't miss it at all. I was huge on the coffee creamer as well and just gradually cut back and now I like my coffee black! Though occasionally I will put some flavoured creamer in as a special treat

A great book too that helped my husband too was:
Jackie Warner's "This is Why You're Fat (and how to get thin forever)" book - most libraries should have it.
Her jumpstart diet plan was perfect for my husband who didn't want to count calories and still wanted to eat his McDonalds!! It basically says you must incorporate these 6 (I believe it was 6...) foods into your daily eating (eg: 2 hard boiled eggs, 1 bowl of oatmeal, etc) and then I don't care what else you eat. But the idea is that these healthy foods really fill you up so you don't even WANT to eat McDonalds after because you're eating good nutritious foods. Anyway might be worth a try, it worked for my husband

Sorry this is so long - but hopefully you'll find some bits of helpful info in all of my ramblings

[bluerose]

Thanks Vesper and cslt good advice and insperation...

[walkonby]

first bluerose congrats on the cessation of smoking!! I haven't had a real good cry for a while and that inspirational video triggered the waterworks for me. What a hero that fellow is! He transformed himself after basically giving up.
I was so proud that he showed in the video that he failed and fell over many times until he succeeded! That is key for losing weight too I find.
We have our successes and then we slip a bit, but don't give up on yourself.
Start with the small areas of your diet first, the empty calories that are consumed drinking. Water is the best, but if you need your tea and coffee, try drinking them black ( no calories), also limit alcohol.
Also consume as many raw, and fresh foods as possible...that fills you up lessening the temptation to overeat.

Good luck with your walking. Yoga was never my thing, I always found it difficult ( I am not very flexible) and kind of boring, but if you try it I hear it really is good for any age.

[bluerose]

Thanks walkonby that video is great,need yoga mat and it would be nice to be a bit more bendable lol congratulations on Hamlet lucky kitty.

[blueeyetea]

A very inspiring video. Good for him!

Bluerose, it's quite possible your feet hurt because of the extra weight, you might want to think of seeing your doctor and getting orthodics, which will help take the pressure off your feet, and from there, you can start exercising just by walking.

Now about the yoga. Any exercise is better than no exercise, but yoga will not help you lose weight in the same way that 30 minutes of brisk walking will. The yoga exercises will exercise your mind (in stopping monkey brain) and stretch your muscles, but it won't burn many calories. After a yoga session, you won't be as susceptible to give in to eating the food you shouldn't. To keep that focus, you'll have to do a session often, if not daily. Once a week just won't cut it. If you want to give it a try, I would suggest you try it with a DVD (Yoga for Weight Loss by Susan Deason, for example), or go to a studio where they have "gentle yoga". It's been my experience that even a beginner hatha yoga class is too hard, and the teachers don't have the time to give you extra attention. A gentle yoga class is already modified to keep the pace slower.

For the diet, most weight loss plans are successful because they remove foods that influence insulin production and that includes any food rich in carbohydrates: bread, flour, pasta, potatoes, sugars. Even a plan as popular as Weight Watchers which says you "can have anything you want" eventually pushes you to remove these foods in order to stay full. At the same time, if you remove these foods, you need to replace the calories with something, so increasing your protein intake and fat will do that without leaving you hungry. If you want to know more on the subject, a good book to read is "Why We Get Fat" by Gary Taubes.

Because it's a lot to learn, if you have to pick between exercising and dieting to get you started and see results, concentrate on the diet first. While exercise has it's place in a healthy lifestyle, it also makes you hungry, which doesn't help if you're trying to curb your appetite.

[Lynn49]

Hon, congratulations on your quitting smoking! Our DD quit a year ago and I'm so proud of her!

As for weight-loss...I've probably been on every diet that has ever come out in the past 40 years, and it comes down to one simple truth: Calories In / Calories Out.
Yes, counting calories is a bore...which is why everyone keeps looking for THE diet that's fast and easy, but it's still always been and always will be about how many of those things we shove in our mouths.

I lost 50lbs this past year doing WeightWatchers on line (I never joined, just used the information), and did the calculations on everything I ate (I wrote the things I ate most in a little book so I didn't have to re-calculate), and there's the food list on the WW site that does all the work for you. And other sites do as well, just google "points plus foods" and you should get more information. I think I was allowed about 29 last year, but I never went over 25 and hovered around the 23-ish points mark.
The only 'special' food I bought was the WW bread, since I like my sandwiches, so using 2 of those slices I was still able to have those, as opposed to open-face sandwiches, which I never found as satisfying.

Good luck with whatever you choose to do.
BTW...I posted a challenge in this section...care to join?

[bluerose]

Thanks everyone,ya ya know just weighing my options on things and seeing whats out there, Yesterday it was a lady who wrote a book called The Virgin Diet where she wants you to cut out 7 foods for 3 weeks soy,peanuts,dairy,eggs,gluten,sugar and subsitutes,corn!!!!! and after that you will have amazing happiness. Well good luck to who ever does it but it would be impossable for me "BUT' it was interesting and cutting down and maybe even cutting out food stuffs is the path I want to take,along with adding new items to my menu like beans and almond milk. I realy liked that video of the guy ,its still a inpreration and I will walk since thats my favorite thing with my dog. and

quite possible your feet hurt because of the extra weight, you might want to think of seeing your doctor and getting orthodics, which will help take the pressure off your feet, and from there, you can start exercising just by walking.

should do that totally agree. good luck to everyone who wants to change there lifestyles for the better.

[bluerose]

I need more than a yoga mat ,I need to be able to bend holy carp.