Tips for kickstarting a weight loss program?

I'm a seriously overweight individual. Have just joined a gym and start in a week. I get a one on one personal training session each week which is great and should keep me motivated!



Was just wondering if anyone had suggestions as to healthy eating suggestions. Don't want a fad diet- or miracle cure. But aside from the obvious 5 veg 2 fruit blah blah blah, is there anything you guys have tried or can suggest.



I'm someone who skips breakfast- can't handle eating at all in the mornings, which is bad, I know- so would love some imput there! Lunch is always "subway" 6 inch healthy option and dinner is usually balanced.

Also- what are your opinions on snacking? Good thing or bad thing? I usually eat meals at about 5 hours apart, no snacks just diet softdrinks and water.

Need to lose a "butt load" hehehe! But don't want a silly option that requires too much thought or not enough food!Tips for kickstarting a weight loss program?
I woudn't skip breakfast--it's just not a healthy thing to do. Experiement with different things to eat if you don't like it--if cereal doesn't do it for you, try waffles, if they don't do it for you, try oatmeal, if that's no good, try cream of wheat, etc. Just vary it up.

In terms of healthy eating, you're definetely on the right track in terms of not wanting fad diets or anything. My advice is that soft drinks are an easy way to cut calories (you say you're drinking diet soft drinks, which is fine for calories but there's a controversy that it might have some bad side effects because of the artificial sugar. Do a google search for "aspatarme" and decide for yourself.) As well, cutting pointless side dishes--you don't always need chips and a pickle to make a sandwich complete.



My two big recommendations to you are firstly, to stay motivated. If you fall out of the habit of living healthy, it's easy to discourage yourself and not get back in--don't make that mistake. Stick with it, and if you fall out, get back in, even if you're not seeing results right away.



The second is to exercise--the once a week with a trainer is great, but you should ideally be doing exercise 3-4 times a week. You might look at the calories you burn on a treadmill and compare those to the amount in a candy bar and despair, but the gain from exercise in terms of weight loss isn't just the calories you actually burn during the exercise. Once you build muscle, that muscle burns calories just by existing. It's a handy thing.



And if you can't stay motivated to just go to the gym and pump iron or to run every day or whatever, make a motivation for yourself. Join a hiking club, so your exercise earns you great scenery, or take up swing dancing, so your partner is depending on you not dropping her, or just exercise with a buddy so you'll have someone cheering you on.



Oh, and one last piece of advice. Don't go totally Spartan--once in awhile, let yourself have the dessert on a night out with friends or skip your workout if there's a great party going on or something. One dessert isn't going to ruin you, and you'll have a lot better chance of giving up if you try to be perfect (because it's impossible to be perfect) than if you indulge yourself on rare occasions.



Good luck!
First, never starve yourself. Starvation will result in loss of water and muscle, not fat. Your body will go into famine mode, and your metabolism will be impaired.



Eat 5~6 healthy meals a day. Never skip breakfast. You should reverse your eating trends, normal in the morning, moderate at lunch, reduced inthe evening. Snack healthily in between.



Waht to eat? Make it 2 vegs and 1 meat. Snack on fruits and nuts. CUT OUT the soft drink and all sugary drinks/food.



Never diet continuously every day. Take a break for 1 day in the week, maybe Sat or Sun or whichever day that is convenient for you. This is to break you out from your diet mode and reward yourself. In this 1 day break, enjoy any food modrately. This way, dieting will not be a long and depressing process.



This is sensible dieting, not a fad. Good luck.Tips for kickstarting a weight loss program?
read tips on weight loss and exercise programs on this site
Just wanted to start off by saying, "good luck." If you think about diet and exercise as a lifestyle from this point on instead of something you have to do to look good or fit into an outfit you like, you will have an easier time at it. Remember that all journeys begin with the first step. Joining the gym is our first step, so congrats.



Lets talk about your diet. Right now you should be thinking about lowering your caloric intake. You need to burn more then you put into yout body. The food choices you make will greatly affect the outcome. If you are not a breakfast eater, try making your own shake. Go buy yourself a Magic Bullet. Use the small cup attachment and fill it with fruit, maybe low fat yogurt, and ice. You can even add some fresh squeezed juice if you want. Try to stay away from juices and fruits that contain too much sugar. While we are on the sugar topic, eliminate sodas of all kinds, this includes diet soda and coffee. Stick with lots of water and the occasional juice. Next you should bring some healthy snacks with ou to work. if you drink your shake at 8am, then you want to snack around 10am. Something light, low calorie and fat. Maybe something high in protein so you feel it longer. At 12pm, get your 6 inch subway and split it in two. Save half for your mid-day snack and eat just your 3 inches with water only. No chips, no candy. About 2pm, you can bring out the second half of your sandwich and eat that with water again. Go to the gym and do resistance exercises at a cardio pace. That means using enough resistance to do about 12-15 reps with the last couple being difficult but to so much that you loose form. Move to the next machine and within 30-45 seconds, begin the next exercise. You may want to stay away from exercises that would but too much impact on your knees. If you are really overweight, you want to protect your joints as much as possible. After the workout, eat a healthy moderate dinner. Your last meal should be before 7pm if possible.



Foods to stay away from:

white rice, potatoes, refined sugars, sodas, white bread, pretty much anything white that is not a vegetable.



Once a week, reward yourself by eating something you like if you stuck with your diet. Also, get out of the gym and go for a walk, hike, or go biking. Sign up for a local charity walk to keep yourself motivated.
Low carbohydrates...



Dr. Atkins diet plan for life...



the only plan that ever worked for me...



For example, meat has zero carbs...



Eat all the meat you want...



Anyway, check it out...
Okay that's your problem, you love food too much, don't eat till your full, start snacking through out the day and cut out the 3 meals a day, and breakfast or the first meal is the most important, because your body burns it up as the day goes on.



Cut out soft drinks. Ideally, fruit, vegetables and water



And i wouldn't suggest eating meat, or very, very! little. because there or soo many bad things in meat, you can get everything you need from other places other then resorting to meat
Other than the typical tips that most websites would give, I'd have to say that one of the most helpful things I've come across is the concept of "mindfulness" while eating. It helps to think about why you're eating something, and if you're actually hungry for it...plus, it helps if you focus on the texture and flavor of the food, and how it makes you feel...there's a lot more to eating right than just what you eat...it's how you eat it. Distracting yourself while eating is a good way to eat too much...so stay away from the TV or reading while you eat, and focus on how lovely each bite is. Other than that, I'd reiterate all the stuff on "healthy foods". :)

good luck!!
Once you start working out you'll likely be more hungry in the mornings after awhile, especially if you don't do any nighttime eating. Just remember not to get too obsessed too quickly. Approach this as a lifestyle change. Change one or two habits at a time and don't beat yourself up if you get off track. Just get on track with the next meal, don't wait till the next day. I think snacks are a great way to keep your metabolism and blood sugar steady throughout the day and they prevent you from stuffing too much at meals because you aren't absolutely starving when you get to your eat a major meal. I personally like light yogurt, string cheese, fruit, carrot sticks, and those single servings packs of nuts like the Planter's almonds with the lower salt. Just getting in the right mindset is a big step. I wish you the best of luck.
Listen: you need to do 200 minutes of cardio a week. Remember fat does not turn into muscle, so you need to lose your fat while putting on muscle. The 45 minute thing is not true, but don't over 60 minutes at a time.



Do 5-10 minutes of cardio to warm up, then do your weight training. Do 30 to 60 minutes more of cardio, then go home.



The best time to eat is just after your workout within an hour when your metabolism is raging. For your muscles, incorporate some isolated soy protein or whey protein. Whey is more potent but the soy tastes better!



Don't look at your scale as the be all and end all, but get a measuring tape to check your progress, and that will show more tangible results.



Good luck and stick at it.
Despite all the rumors skipping breakfast is fine. You are listening to your body instead of rumors. Thousands of people have overcome health problems by giving up breakfast. To see how wrong people are post a question about fasting. Then see my site on it to see how wrong they are.



Diets do not work. 99% of people gain the weight back. Here is how it works. No one teaches the animal what to eat and what not to eat. He knows instinctively what to eat. Humans also have the same instinct. The way it works is just eat whatever tastes good and that will be healthy for you and non-fattening. That is why a baby tastes everything. So again whatever tastes good, is good for you. This is why you will spit out spoiled milk.



But wait!!! Man has the technology to create rat poison. It tastes like healthy food (good taste) but kills the rat. So man has done that to you. Note- any food unaltered by man (uncooked) that tastes good, is good for you. So if you are stranded in the woods, that is how you know what to eat (cooking changes that). So man has created fake fruit. It tastes like fruit that exists in nature but it is terrrible for health, addictive and fattening called sweets.



So it is natural to like real sweets called fruit, like a baby does, but they have fooled you just like the rat. But they do not want to kill you. They want you to become obese so you will buy lots of their foods. This is called GOOD BUSINESS. Remember the above (not on site) and see site below to re-learn how to eat so you can be thin and fit for life.



http://phifoundation.org
take simple meals with less of fat and sweet things,take lot of fruits and vegetables.Make a schedule which you like,and can continue without break cheerfully,results will come automatically,good luck
First off, Good Luck on your endeavors. As for breakfast you need to start eating something. If you like eggs and sausage you can try the two eggs and two sausages. And you are gonna have to drop those soda down. And when I went on my weight lost program, I continued to eat everything I knew I would eat later just in moderation and I can tell you it worked for me. Because when you deprive yourself you tend to over do it when you get it again. So if it is something you want eat it. Remember broil, grill or boiled is good and nutritious. Grill corn on the cob is excellent. Sorry so long. But hope this helps you some.



Great Weight Loss on the Way!
buy a gym membership... then after you've doled out all that money.. you'll feel way too bad not to go...
There are some useful tips here.