Help! (veggies, weight loss, carbs, running)

[grmngrl8203]

I am just kinda starting the whole weight loss thing. I'm 26 years old and a size nine, about two years ago I was a size three and now I'm wanting to downsize but not exactly sure the best way to go. Back then I had a really high metabolism and I worked at bars so I always was skinny, then I got my 8-5 office job and sit on my butt all day. I do have bad knees but do try and do the elliptical in the buildings gym everyonce in a while. I have a five year old and always am running around with him ecspecially during the summer but didnt lose anything, actually gained. How do I get my metabolism back up? How long is a good workout? What kind of exercises should I be doing? I want to remove my belly fat and my thigh/butt fat. And also about the foods I eat. Not big on veggies, do eat a lot of fruit and a lot of meats, chicken, beef, and pork. Breakfast is usually a cold cereal and sometimes oatmeal. And what are some good snack foods that dont taste like your eating chalk? And I dont smoke or drink. Thanks

[sgresident]

Since I have fallen off my wagon, I hate to think my advice is much good... but here goes anyway.
last january, I started writing down everything I ate and tried to keep the calorie total between 1500 and 1800 a day. This proved quite successful. I lost around 10 lbs or so and have maintained that loss. at the beginning of sept, I started following the south beach diet and exercising. this was a lot more structure. the first two weeks on the plan, you cannot have any sugar, bread, potatoes, rice, grains, fruit etc. after two weeks, you start back adding fruit and whole grains. while I was sticking to the plan, and exercising my 30 minutes each day, I lost another 9 lbs. I have been struggling to eat properly(have been indulging in too many sweets) and have failed miserably about exercise over the past couple months. I have gained back about 4 lbs. as far as you metabolism, try to eat a breakfast that includes some protein, eat a snack, again include some protein and eat it about 2 hours after breakfast.
lunch should include lean protein, veggies, some fruit etc. don't forget the afternoon snack. healthy dinner and again a light snack before bed! watch intake of alcohol and be sure to drink lots of water.

[pitt_transplant]

If you never worked out try out a free gym membership with a free CERTIFIED personal trainer. They can show you proper form so you run less of a chance of injury. You can even ruin your knees just doing a bike if you have the seat and pedals wrong. Look for a no commitment type deal. You may end up liking it there and join anyway..but this way..free and no traps.

Don't change your diet until you know what you are doing wrong now.
Enter what you eat into a an online food journal. I prefer spark diet for logging and calorie count,calorie king, or daily plate to look up calories if I cant find them on sparks data base:
Free Diet Plans at SparkPeople
They also have free exercise plans based on your personalized stats and fitness level.

A simple to do list: (in order)
- get a scale - weigh in 1x a week at least ( I like taylor brand because the last and are cheaper)
- get a food scale - (cheap-10 bucks at the store & ebay has them too)
- get a measure tape - this will show you shrinking when the scale doesn't at times
- hang those size threes on the outside of your closet as a visual reminder
* fill out "spark people" and just log the calories of what you eat in a day. Do not modify yet. That way you can see honestly what your food and output is and see where you can change things. Like for me when I first started and saw how higher calorie the full fat foods were is started experimenting with lower fat foods versions so I could actually eat like a human instead of a bird. I think that keeps you from going back to fattening habits more than anything. Knowing the cost of impact of the bad habit.
* after 1-2 weeks of logging the foods look at the calorie avg, grades of your food choices, are you eating too many carbs etc.
A simple guide to how many of the three macronutrients you should be getting: (fats/carbs/protien)
Carb, Protein, Fat Calorie Calculator
- Then just start your spark program as they guide you. They even have an option for food suggestions which I think is good because I go to that instead of take-out when I cant think of anything I really want to make or eat.


You can skip the (*) steps if you just want to get on this thing and get to it.
If you backslide and gain Do start logging you honest habits during the backslide to see where its coming from. (if you regain post diet restriction phase)

For the office they make bike pedals that you can throw under your desk to pedal on. That would be good for you all around because it would give your legs circulation through the day to avoid spider veins, cellulite, varicose veins, & clots. They are SUPER cheap:
Walmart.com: Carex Portable Pedal Exerciser for Arms or Legs: Health Care Products

♥,
former size 16+ ( Stop buying sizes after that..lol)
now size 2-6. (Size 0 if I dont want to sit down..lol)