Nerdy Women and Weight Loss

[Yodis]

Hello everyone!

 

I'm excited to join Nerd Fitness and work with everyone to reach our goals! We all know that everyone has different genetics when it comes to weight loss or fitness. I just learned that, unfortunately, it is generally harder for women to loose weight than men. I have always been in somewhat good shape, but now I'm almost 30 and finding that I can't just eat whatever I want and be lazy. I am also finding that it takes more time to loose weight than it did when I was younger.  I have heard that men can drink lots of milk in order to bulk up and build muscle, but as a female scout/druid, I think lots of dairy is a bad idea. I still need to do a lot of research on this topic and talk to professionals. I have also heard from some people that soy products are good for women because of the estrogen, but others have said that soy products will cause weight gain in women because of the extra estrogen. (Maybe it can be good for women in menopause, but not for women in their 20s and 30s?) Another issue is the sugar cravings durring PMS. It is good to have will power durring this time and eat fruit instead of ice cream, candy and pasta. It is easy to want to stay inside durring this time as well because of cramps, etc. (Sometimes I just get pissed off at the world and want to play Starcraft or Minecraft, but it would be a better idea to go on a peaceful hike first, and then game.)

 

Anyway, what do you guys/gals think? Any advice?

[Hammlin]

Hi! First- welcome to the rebellion! Pop in the scouts and say hi to us!

Second, I would use yourself as an experiment- cut out dairy for a week, and see what it does. Maybe try a Whole30- I did that and found that I almost instantly get sick w gluten and dairy- who knew? The book It Starts With Food is a great guide for helping you experiment on yourself

W my Sugar cravings I keep some high quality dark chocolate, in small quantities in my freezer, they are harder to eat fast because they are frozen and there isn't enough in there for me to totally fall off the wagon and get run over.

Good luck!!!

[sylkamaru]

Hello and welcome !

 

Good for you to want to change.

 

There are quite a few things that you can do easily which are very good help :

- banish processed carbs and replace by whole version

- soda ==> sparkling water : soda are much consumed because of sugar but also because of bubbles. You take out sugar, you let the bubble you have half of pleasure without any downside

- eat fresh : no more already prepared pack meals : it is actually not that much time more for preparation

[Lyra Rigby]

GOMAD - that's the milk diet thing. I think it's gross and unnecessary. I am severely lactose intolerant too...so I wouldn't advice it at all. If you are looking to gain muscle, there are two things you can do to make it happen. One is do some sort of resistance and/or body weight exercise on a regular basis, 3-4 times a week. I've been doing P90X and I focus mostly on the strength days. As a lady with a lot of weight to lose, that works well for me. I love lifting, though and I'm a total sucker for upper body stuff. I do modified pull ups with resistance bands and I've also spent a lot of time doing exercises to strengthen my forearms and wrists to make upper body exercises easier. The other thing you can do to build muscle is to get some extra protein in your diet. I drink a protein shake in the morning (roughly 30g of protein in it)...+20-30g per meal. That helps, imo.

 

As far as soy goes, I wouldn't do it. Mostly because they put lots of sweeteners and chemicals in soy milk to make it taste ok and who wants that crap? If you are going to do soy, I'd go with a quality soy powder like Bob's Red Mill or Garden of Life Raw Organic Protein. I've tried both and they were only ok, imo...but you might like them.

 

I use almond milk to mix my protein shakes and I like it. I buy the unsweetened version. I use Nutribiotic Rice Protein powder to get extra protein. I'm not vegan or anything like that, but I don't do whey or soy proteins anymore due to some digestive issues that I've had in the past. Quest Bars are another good way to work in some protein AND to satisfy a sweet tooth. Those are occasional treats for me nowadays, usually after a really intense workout. The chocolate and chocolate chip cookie dough flavors are the bomb. Apple Pie and Coconut Cashew are good too.

 

I also allow myself one cheat day per week. What that amounts to is one cheat meal. I usually get pizza and eat it while watching a movie. I may also have a sweet treat, something like some Oreos or a soda, in the evening before bed or earlier in the afternoon if I want it. This method (if you call it that) comes from The 4 Hour Body, which may prove to be a good read for you. He discusses several methods to lose and gain weight, build muscle, fine tune your diet and eating schedule, etc. You should check that out.

 

I wish you lots of luck on your journey.