Hi Everyone, I am 24 years old now and I have been unhappy with my weight since the 7th grade when I started eating a package of cookies a week. That stopped after a year or two but it got me headed down a bad path. My eating habits were bad but I still lived with my parents at that point so at least I was getting a good dinner. Fast forward a few years and I'm in college. Working harder than I ever have and really stressed out for 4 straight years. That led to a lot of binge eating and not giving a shit what i was eating, so long as I ate something. This turned into an addiction. I started eating everything and anything with no care for what it was doing to my body. I gained about 30lbs while in college. In the year since college I'v gained another 20lbs. I'm up to 205 now (or last time I weighed myself) and I'm really unhappy with it. I have been depressed for a long time, despite all the good things that have happened to me. Unemployed, I was struggling with finding ways to fill my time. I would mope around the house for hours on end going from video game to video game until I realized they were all boring me. I decided I needed a hobby and it was going to be my health. That was two weeks ago. I started running a little bit and then last monday decided to try out a p90x video. It was intense but I liked that I didn't need to leave my house to do it. Because of that, I have been able to stick with it and have done it consistently for a week and 2 days now. I haven't been following any kind of plan. I just do the video I want to do and try to not repeat a video in a week. If I do a p90x video every day and keep my calories low, logically, I should lose weight, right? I'v only been doing it a little more than a week, but I haven't been following the diet to a T. I have been having eggs for breakfast with a piece of toast or a greek yogurt, then either some cashews or a granola bar for a snack (I know, the granola bar isn't the best). THen usually a sandwhich or something for lunch. Today I had a ham and cheese sandwhich with onions (openface, so there's only one piece of bread). and then another snack of cashews usually then for dinner my boyfriend and I cook something. Last night we made mac and cheese, not the best weight-loss friendly food, but we used whole grain pasta and lower fat milk and added broccoli, cauliflour and carrots. Usually I try to have something we both like and make it healthier since my boyfriend isn't dieting or losing weight because he's skinny as it is. I do get a little lost with what to eat at times and though I'm not strictly following the p90x diet, I do kindof understand how it works and i do try to get a good amount of protein. My boyfriend is also vegetarian, which means I eat vegetarian for most dinners. Does anyone know of any vegetarian recipes that are easy and packed with protein? I haven't completely cut out bad foods, I'm just trying to train myself to eat them in moderation. I know I won't be able to resist the occasional alfredo because it's one of my favorite foods. Maybe someday it won't be so appetizing to me, but in the meantime I"m going to figure out how to eat it properly. I guess my questions is: Do you think I will see results if I make an effort to eat healthier than I was and do a p90x video every day? I'v been at it a week and a half now and have started feeling better mentally than I have in a long time. I can feel my confidence slowly coming back and I'm feeling much more motivated than I have been in the past year. (Also, is it ok to mix up the p90x workouts? Right now I'm just trying to build a habit of doing it every single day, but eventually I might do it in order. I'm also not necessarily looking to change in 90 days. I understand that changes take time and I am trying to change my lifestyle, not just my body. )
While diet is important, I think it's possible to get too preoccupied with it. My philosophy on health is that I eat what I want to eat, except that whenever I'm tempted to make a bad choice, I find a way to try and make a better choice (a bag of sour fruit candies is sweet and sour, but so is a plate of fruit). I recommend sticking/returning to running. Run very, very slow, for a long time. I went from barely being able to run two miles last summer to running a half-marathon in 2:07:56. It'll feel easy, and at your weight, you can probably burn 800 calories in 45 minutes. Everybody's different, so I can't make guarantees, but since the endorphine release is wonderful, I can't see you ever stopping unless you go too fast to begin with. Sending warm thoughts and wishing you luck on the journey. Sister Adrian.
If you're doing an intense program like P90X, you shouldn't be too aggressive with controlling your diet. You need to eat a healthy diet that provides your body with enough calories to maintain your metabolism. The exercise should be enough to take off the 20 pounds without needing to diet.
A low cost alternative to cashews (which are rather pricey in Virginia anyway) is almonds. Dry roast em in a 170F oven for 20min and they get a nice crunch without cooking out the good fats and stuff. I eat a quarter cup about 4x a day, either as part of a meal or as a snack in the AM/PM. Very high in protein and other good stuff. Peanut butter on apple slices makes for a good high protein snack that can be sweet enough to kill the desire for a dessert as well. If you really must do a sweet treat, try buying something intensely good (chocolate truffles say) that is individually wrapped (Lindt truffles for example). Note the serving size and then eat no more than a serving. Or less. You can find that just eating one (and a serving is 3) can kill the urge while remaining lo-cal/resonably healthy. Hope this helps, Todd
