Hi there~ Completely new at this.

[Chells]

So, I'm actually really nervous about this. It's silly, I know, but I'm a shy person so hello everyone!

 

My name is Chells, I'm 29 and female. I've got PCOS, so there are some hormonal issues to work around. I'm also far, far, far above where I should be body weight wise. I've managed to get to a point where I'm not having chronic back pain any more through exercise, but I can't manage to translate that into weight loss. 

 

I'm here because I don't know what to do. I've tried a lot of ways to lose weight. I've paid for expensive trainers that I could barely afford, tried a variety of diets, tried a lot of different work outs and haven't been able to make any progress. Even worse, none of the things I've tried have felt good to me. You're supposed to feel better when you work out, right? Even after months of doing so with a trainer, it always felt horrible. 

 

My goals are to lose 15 pounds by the new year (or even just move the scale a bit), to be able to walk at a quicker pace (I get out of breath quickly), and to find ways to be healthier over all. 

[Disnutt]

Hi!  

 

One of my best friends has lost over 50 lb of PCOS related weight by following low carb high fat (LCHF) to address the insulin resistance that her doctor told her was the cause of the PCOS.  She also had some peripheral neuropathy that has disappeared since starting the diet.  She couldn't exercise until the nerves stopped hurting so that's the next stage on her journey.  Your mileage may vary but check it out.

[The lone wolfie]

Hi 

welcome to the rebellion

19 minutes ago, Disnutt said:

low carb high fat (LCHF) to address the insulin resistance

I read the thing @Disnutt said in the book 4 hour body recently.

here are a few ideas from it .

• There are two factors- food,exercise and medicine.(the third is optional)
• Set short term goal. Like a few pound  a week. 
• Measure your self, dont just track weight, look for measurements of your arms, thighs, hips and waist along with body fat %. This is because weight doesnot  account for the lean muscle mass that you gain from workout
• eat slow carb (avoid white carbs) 

I think you can make use of the book. 

 

Also  experiment with different workouts and diets one at a time. The is no perfect program unless you combine ideas that to make something suit you the best.

Good luck

[Mahalak]

On 9/28/2016 at 10:55 PM, Chells said:

So, I'm actually really nervous about this. It's silly, I know, but I'm a shy person so hello everyone!

 

My name is Chells, I'm 29 and female. I've got PCOS, so there are some hormonal issues to work around. I'm also far, far, far above where I should be body weight wise. I've managed to get to a point where I'm not having chronic back pain any more through exercise, but I can't manage to translate that into weight loss. 

 

I'm here because I don't know what to do. I've tried a lot of ways to lose weight. I've paid for expensive trainers that I could barely afford, tried a variety of diets, tried a lot of different work outs and haven't been able to make any progress. Even worse, none of the things I've tried have felt good to me. You're supposed to feel better when you work out, right? Even after months of doing so with a trainer, it always felt horrible. 

 

My goals are to lose 15 pounds by the new year (or even just move the scale a bit), to be able to walk at a quicker pace (I get out of breath quickly), and to find ways to be healthier over all. 

How goes it, Chells? 

[Chells]

On 9/29/2016 at 7:57 AM, Disnutt said:

Hi!  

 

One of my best friends has lost over 50 lb of PCOS related weight by following low carb high fat (LCHF) to address the insulin resistance that her doctor told her was the cause of the PCOS.  She also had some peripheral neuropathy that has disappeared since starting the diet.  She couldn't exercise until the nerves stopped hurting so that's the next stage on her journey.  Your mileage may vary but check it out.

 

I've never heard of low carb, high fat before. I always thought that fat was bad for me, but maybe I'm just not looking at the right kind of fats. Thank you for the suggestion! I'm definitely going to check it out. 

 

On 9/29/2016 at 8:28 AM, ajoylucid said:

• Set short term goal. Like a few pound  a week. 
• Measure your self, dont just track weight, look for measurements of your arms, thighs, hips and waist along with body fat %. This is because weight doesnot  account for the lean muscle mass that you gain from workout
• eat slow carb (avoid white carbs) 

Also  experiment with different workouts and diets one at a time. The is no perfect program unless you combine ideas that to make something suit you the best.

Good luck

 

I am definitely going to try all these things! I had one of them so far, the short term goal. But I'm still looking into what are slow carbs vs white carbs. White carbs just make me think of Wonder Bread. For measuring yourself, I guess I would need a tape measure? I'll invest in one soon. Thank you so much for the suggestions!

 

On 10/9/2016 at 8:24 PM, Mahalak said:

How goes it, Chells? 

 

I've been walking more and watching what I eat! So while I haven't managed to hit 10,000 steps per day (my ankles start to hurt really badly before I get there), I've lost ~5 lbs. I'm still trying to find something that works for me though. My energy levels have dropped a lot since I started being more health conscious and I don't really get why.

[TalkDisneyToMe]

Hey Chells! I am a shy person, too, but have been working over the past few years to be more outgoing. It definitely helps to talk to people online at first if you're really shy - and nerd fitness is full of some of the greatest and least judge-y people out there!

 

I think personal trainers push beginners too hard. That's an assumption, because I have never used one, but from what others tell me their trainers have had them doing during their first few sessions...it's overwhelming. If you start too big too soon, you're setting yourself up for failure. The key to starting weight loss is to start slowly. Replace some caloric beverages with water each day, make it a goal to eat one fruit or one vegetable each day, walk for 10 minutes every day for a week. Literally baby steps.

 

I read above that your ankles start hurting before you can get to your step goal - maybe your step goal is too high! I have mine set at 10,000 but don't reach it every day between work and school. I lowered it for a while to 8,000 and was much happier to be getting the happy dance from my Fitbit more often!

 

Carbs are complex...well, some of them. Literally, there are complex carbs (like whole grain breads, vegetables, and beans) and simple carbs (like white bread, white rice and sugar). Carbs get a bad rep because of those simple carbs. They provide quick energy and lots of it, and if you're not using it, it gets converted to fat in your body. Think of a sugar rush! You're hyper and energetic after something sugary, but crash later. And after that giant slice of cake? Your tummy is a teeeeny bit bigger if you didn't burn all the calories it provided. That's why they say you can't outrun your fork - if you're not burning as much as you're consuming, you're storing it as fat!

 

I know a lot of nerd fitness follows the Paleo diet, where they cut out carbs completely. This is totally a personal choice! I couldn't do it. While I don't eat a ton of bread and virutally no pasta, I do have my carbs throughout the day! The trick is to choose the right kinds of carbs.

 

And carbs are just one piece of nutrition. Carbs, Protein, and dietary Fat all provide energy (calories). Some proteins are better than others (egg protein is a complete protein and is considered the standard against which all other proteins are rated!), some fats are better than others (trans fats are a NO NO! Saturated is pretty bad. Poly and monounsaturated fats are good!)

 

Okay, so lets make this easier. Small choices throughout your day will give you more nutrients, keep you fuller, and therefore cause you to eat less. The less you eat (calories), the less you store. The more you move, the more you burn. Less storage and more burnage means weight loss! Woohoo!

 

In an obvious comparison, lets say one day I eat:

 

Breakfast: A donut (if I can help myself from grabbing another...and another...)and double-double coffee

Lunch: McDouble, medium fry, medium Coke

Snack: Bag of chips!

Dinner: Macaroni and Cheese (the kind with the gooey cheese, not powder)

Late night snack: Reese's pieces! (Maybe I went to the movies or something)

 

So for breakfast I had sugar from the donut, sugar from the coffee, and a little bit of dairy and fat from the coffee. For lunch I had a white bread bun (filled with sugar, by the way), a processed fatty beef burger (saturated fat), processed fatty cheese, ketchup (sugar), french fries (so much fat...), and a sugary Coke. Chips are more fried potatoes, so more fat. For dinner, we had a white pasta and cheese that is just an oily sauce. Plus the butter we might have added on top of it...more fat. And for a late night snack, I ended the night with a ton of sugar.

 

THAT is a simple carb heavy day. Look at all that sugar! And fat! I got some protein from the burger and cheese, but my day was mostly carbs and fat. Totally missing out on vitamins, minerals, fibers, and protein.

 

Now, if I were to extremely change my diet up, I would do something like this:

 

Breakfast: A hardboiled egg and black coffee or tea

Lunch: Roasted turkey (not deli, actually cut from the bird!) and avocado on whole grain bread, an apple, and a water

Snack: A banana with peanut butter

Dinner: Baked chicken with a bag of steamables vegetables - eater's choice. (Let's say green beans!)

Late night snack: Cheddar cheese and whole grain crackers.

 

So for breakfast I have a protein, lunch was a protein, a healthy fat (avocado, which is a fruit!), a whole grain bread, and a fruit. My banana was another fruit and a protein/fat. Dinner was a protein with no added fat and a vegetable. And at the end of the day I craved a little bit of dairy and some more whole grains.

 

The only simple sugars here are my banana and apple, which come loaded with vitamins and minerals. I had tons of protein, whole grain breads which will take longer to digest and keep you full, and some fats - peanut butter and avocado, which are also loaded with good things!

 

Obviously, not everyone changes diets that extremely from one day to the next. At least not sustainably. This is where to power of substitution comes into play. To meet myself halfway and to ease myself into healthier eating, I would do something like this:

 

Breakfast: Fried eggs with butter on whole grain toast, coffee with one milk and one sugar.

Lunch: Deli meat sandwich with light mayo on whole grain bread, an apple, and water

Snack: Carrot sticks and chip dip.

Dinner: Whole wheat spaghetti and meatballs, light sauce

Late night snack: I'll stick with the cheddar cheese here, but add another fruit since I've only had the apple today. Cheddar cheese and apples is awesome.

 

Now even that might be a huge huge step toward eating healthy, and that's okay. Take one bad thing in your day and replace it with something good. Here's a secret: if you replace something earlier in the day, you'll be more inclined to eat healthy all day and replace other things, too!

 

I don't know how much you know about nutrition, so I hope I didn't over simplify or offend you! I'm going to school for nutrition and so I get really into it. Sorry for the long post, but I hope it helped!!

 

Oh, and for physical exercise - if your ankles are hurting from walking, try something that has less impact on your joints! Cycling, yoga, the elliptical. I find that the constant pounding of walking or jogging can even hurt me sometimes....

 

-Amy

[Mahalak]

15 hours ago, Chells said:

 

I've never heard of low carb, high fat before. I always thought that fat was bad for me, but maybe I'm just not looking at the right kind of fats. Thank you for the suggestion! I'm definitely going to check it out. 

 

 

I am definitely going to try all these things! I had one of them so far, the short term goal. But I'm still looking into what are slow carbs vs white carbs. White carbs just make me think of Wonder Bread. For measuring yourself, I guess I would need a tape measure? I'll invest in one soon. Thank you so much for the suggestions!

 

 

I've been walking more and watching what I eat! So while I haven't managed to hit 10,000 steps per day (my ankles start to hurt really badly before I get there), I've lost ~5 lbs. I'm still trying to find something that works for me though. My energy levels have dropped a lot since I started being more health conscious and I don't really get why.

Two great goals! The 10K steps come with time, and definitely one step at a time! And I agree: it isn't for everyone. Swimming is great for joints. And blessings on watching what you eat! I don't know what to say about energy levels being down in the face of all of this, except to ask how you are sleeping, because I know that has an effect, and to echo the observations on eating what is good for YOU, as opposed to the general population. I'm learning about that myself, for myself, right now.