My doctor wants me to lose weight but she didn't really give me any suggestions. Where should I start?

I need to lose a significant amount of weight...my first goal is 30 lbs. I'm a busy mom of 2 and I just don't have a lot of extra time for meetings, hitting the gym, and counting carbs, but how else do I get started? I need something that's easy enough to implement family-wide (my husband is pre-diabetic and also needs to lose weight) so fad diets are out...general guidelines and recipes are appreciated!
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I am overwhelmed by the number of responses! Thanks all for your suggestions--what a wide variety of ideas! I'll review them all to pick my favorite answer.

The thing is, cutting out carbs really does make you lose weight. You don't have to necessarily "count" carbs but if you just try to eat a lot of protien & vegetables (and some fruit) and then cut out carbs such as bread, sugar, pasta, etc. you will drop a ton of weight without exercising. An example of a healthy meal is chicken with a side of vegetables & a side salad. It's easy to cook this way and your whole family will be healthy.

Good luck!!!

there are a great many resources for weight loss online, suggest you google weight loss and start doing your own research.

try hip hop abs. it is inexpensive compared to a gym member ship and with the guide lines, u only need to work out for 30 min a day excluding sundays (break). also only some days you have to work out twice mabye one in the morning and one at night. no more than 1 hour for the day!! its great as long as u follow thier Tilt Tuck and Tighten method!!!

Start by eating fewer calories a day in 5 to 6 small meals. Cut out as much sugar and refined carbs as possible--shop the outside of the super market and stay out of the aisles. You and your children will survive without sugary treats, shells and cheese, and chips. Lean meats, a little dairy, and fresh fruits and vegetables are all you need.

Hey there, great question and i'm glad I came across it today. :)

I'm going to give you some free advice.

Contrary to what you might think, Low Fat Foods DON'T WORK.

You cannot lose weight using Low Fat Diets. Low fat foods have been popular for more than 15 years, but yet our society is getting more overweight as each year passes. This fact alone should tell you that eating a purely low fat menu is not the answer to losing weight.

Anyways, to be honest again, with all the "programs" out there today, many people are getting things mixed up, they are trying MORE than one thing, and NOT sticking to one program, and as a result of this..they're NOT losing weight...hell, some are GAINING weight because they don't have the proper guidance..

I'm going to recomend a book, it's not free, BUT i've used it myself and I still DO and I lost fat AND gained muscle........in fact, after 30 days....well, you get the picture. :-)

Anyways, check out this link for more information and PLEASE let me know if you have any questions. :-)

http://www.squidoo.com/The-Lose-Weight-Meal-Plan

Another interesting article you MIGHT find interesting is "The Truth about 6-pack abs".

That's located here: http://www.truthaboutabs.com/ab/?hop=jlenney

Good luck!

Jeff

Well first you should try and cut down on the amount of food you are eating and the amount of carbs,sugar,fat,etc. If that doesn't work then maybe you should consider going to a diet place such as weight watchers or Jenny Craig.

Good Luck,
Mellisa

P.S. Hope you lose the weight you need to lose and feel better about yourself!

Hi,,i just started my diet two weeks! i have a whole lot more to loose though,,80 pounds!!!(YUCK!!!) baby weight! Anyways i started off with a body cleanse/body detox! It was great it gets rid of all the body toxins,,from fast food and junk like that,,through your pee and poop! it doesnt make u feel all crazy like diet pills its all natural,,,i got mine from walgreens for $7,,called 7DAY DETOX! and i lost 6 pounds the first week,,,and motivated and feel good to loose more! GOOD LUCK! i know how it is!

choose an exercise program that the whole family can enjoy together. it is hard to squeeze time in for exercise when there are children you have to care for. swimming is an activity my family enjoys and its great exercise. also a low carb diet will help. try going to your local recreational center together. there are many activities that the kids will enjoy as will you.

I'm only 16 but when i want to loose weight i cut out breakfast and chocolate. but u being a working mom cant really cut out breakfast. eat less carbohydrates (cut down on toast, rice, potatoes etc, it doesnt mean you have to count them like!) and drink water instead of fizzy minerals! If you live near a store it would be a good idea to take a nice stroll around instead of hopping in the car, it gets you out in the freash air and gets you moving!!

I also would like to lose around 40lbs.. im not HUGE now but if i lost 40 i would be at my ideal... skinny weight. Im taking it a few steps at a time.. like plan to lose 5 or so lbs per week. and go from there. thats what im doing. one step at a time. start by slowly changing your eating habits.. you cannot just wait up one morning and force yourself to eat right if you havent for so long because you will be miserable and give up. week out the 'bad' foods one by one and cut back on the amounts one step at a time. also increase exercise one step at a time as well.. do a litte bit of exercise at first then step it up a little bit each day, or each week , or every other day or whatever. dont load yourself down all at once because you will get overwelmed and give up. make it a gradual change and you will see your weight gradually change.

I have found that cooking with fresh produce and lots of herbs and spices helps me eat much healthier. When food tastes better, be it chicken or salad or anything I feel more satisfied. This has helped me cut down on fat, sugar and excess salt in my cooking. Good luck!

go this website and start all of the work outs in baby steps.
http://www.stewsmith.com/linkpages/1000ab.htmto

well there is plenty of ways to start first of all make sure you are getting a good 8-10 hours of sleep. Also start eating healther like eat plenty of colorful fruits and vegtables. Also try v8 and other drinks that are good for you. Try getting into a gym. Also try walking and running. You can burn 9 calories in a minute with jump-roping or running. Also drink plenty of water!!! Hope this helps!!!(:

Push yourself away from the table. Start with more fruits vegetables, more water and smaller potions of meat and other fatty foods

Wow. Ignore everyone that just said you should randomly start walking or running for an hour a day, and randomly cutting things cold turkey from your diet. If you are trying to lose that much weight, you are in no condition to be exercising that much right off the bat, and cutting things from your diet won't help either. Here's how to keep weight loss simple. Everyone can do this, regardless of how much they are trying to lose.

1. Find out how many calories someone with your weight needs to eat per day to maintain their weight. You can find a calculator that will do this for you online. When you find this calorie amount, eat less than that amount. Don't cut it in half, but try to eat about 10%-30% less in calories. Also, when you look at nutrition information in foods, make sure you pay attention to how many of those calories are from fats. When you feel you have lost some weight, recalculate the calories you need. Keep eating less than the maintenance amount of calories until you are satisfied with your weight.

TIP: It's generally best to eat more natural foods than processed and packaged foods (i.e. pasta instead of a bag of chips)

2. While you can't just randomly start running, you can exercise little by little each day. Take a walk for a half hour or so, the cardio is good for you and every day you will feel yourself being able to walk farther and longer.

3. If you really want to make it easy on yourself, start a strict nutritional program. I suggest Health Management Resources (look them up). It seems expensive, but it's the same as if you spent money on regular food instead of their supplements. Stay on your program and don't give up!

VERY FIRST place to start is www.mypyramid.gov. It builds your meal plan based on your wt, ht and gender and has an option to lose or maintain. Of course in your case pick "lose". Take a week or so getting adjusted to that and try implementing a 30 minute walk every day, usually after dinner when it is cooler out is best. But take it slow and your first goal should not be 30 lbs. Safe wt lose is 2lbs a week. Make your first goal 10 lbs by a certain date and go gradually from there.

my aunt is the same way do you have stairs in you home? if so just take a double step on them during naps like the same climber same results an its slow but effective for thighs buttocks

It sounds like you have it, Now just stick to it....................

just change what you eat instead of a burger get a salad

you dont have to diet to eat healthy
and dont try to cut out all unhealthy foods at once, if you need to work your way into it then thats perfectly fine
start with cutting out fast food, even healthier places still contain alot of crap in thier food.
begin eatting healthier, more veggies, more fruits
cut down on coffee (contains alot of sugar) or get a sugar replacement like splenda
if you like to munch out (like me) repleace unhealthy snacks with thier healthier alternatives like rice chips instead of regular chips. Carrots and dip instead of chocolate.

No one really has alot of time for drivning all the way to gym and the headache that goes with that. One of the best ways to loose weight is skipping. Its great cardio. Or even hula-hooping. As long as you are pushing yourself to go as fast as you can or as long as you can, the body will burn calories.

I suggest Weight Watchers. Meetings are weekly, for a half hour. Or, you can join on line. It would be good for your entire family to eat healthy, which is what WW is all about. I'm a lifefime member - I was 380, and now I'm 212. They key is portion control (eating right) and lifestyle change (you have to get out and move). Both of those will be good for ALL of you. Be patient with it, be honest with it, and WW can help you lose that 30 - and more if you want.

you should start by simply walking everyday.
you can take the whole family.
there are lots of easy and effective exersices
on the internet and in magazines you can do.
it's good that u dont wanna diet cuz diets dont work.
eating slow is the best way to speed up your metabilisim.
enjoy the food but don't stuff yourself
and stop eating when your full.

hope this helps :]

Well, first, the simplest thing to do is, EAT HEALTHY!

eat carrots, celery, salad, etc.. instead of fats and junkfood

then, go from there :)

Walking is the best place to start. you have to look at what you are eating, also. You can not eat more calories than you are burning in a day or you will gain.

ah same here. start eating healthier more veggies. smaller portions use smaller plates..eat dinner at the tabl .take family walks when the sun is going down. try to get in @ least 30 min of exercise for 5 days out of the week ,
get an eliptical trainer use it while watching tv at night or one of those manual tread mills [80 bucks..] drink water green tea[promotes weight loss]]

good luck with everything=]]
eat in moderation...

A really great website that is free and sort of works like an online Jenny Craig (minus the ordering food part) is www.sparkpeople.com. They help you get a good start to losing weight. And as for all these people telling you to make drastic changes, those hardly ever hold, like maybe 5% of people who drastically change their lifestyle stick to it and end up gaining back more weight than what they started with.

Sparkpeople helps you set small goals and a firm foundation to build on to. They have a good diet tracking program that just lets you enter in the foods you eat and it counts the calories/carb/everything for you. It also will give you a recommended calorie per day intake for losing a certain amount of pounds in a certain time limit. It's very helpful and there are lots of helpful articles there. There is a message board for support and questions. You can design your own page to tell your personal story on. As well as the food tracking there is a fitness tracker option.

It's extremely helpful you should check it out!

It also has thousands of recipies! They email me a new one everyday! Too bad i don't cook! lol

You can eat as much as you want as long as your eating foods that are healthy for your body. Lots of fruits and vegetables. If you get a craving, try drinking green tea, not only does it increase your metabolism, I find it surpresses my cravings. Drink alot of water, at least 8 glasses a day. Eat smaller meal portions but increase your meals throughout the day (I say about 6 meals), even if your not hungry. You won't be hungry and you won't gain weight. If anything you will lose with a bit of excersing. Stay aways from sugars and startches.

You need to cut sugar completely from your diet. Don't add sugar to anything. Don't eat anything that is naturally high in sugar like fruit and fruit juice, corn etc. Drink only bottled water. Eat very low or no-fat food. Don't eat late at night. Eat lots of veggies and drink veggie drinks (eg. V8) whenever you are hungry. Eat chicken breast for protein. DON'T STARVE YOURSELF.
As far as exercise is concerned, walking long distances is a good start. Find a sport that you like and stick with it.

Focus on the tried and true. Ultimately, losing weight comes down to one key principle: Burn more calories than you consume. The steps that follow won't work if you have a thousand more calories coming into your body on a daily basis than you have coming out. Lay the foundation for weight loss with these practices:

Count calories and keep a food diary.
Go on a diet.
Cut down on sugar, high fructose corn syrup, trans fats and saturated fats.
Burn more calories by exercising: Run, walk, even exercise at the computer you are sitting in front of now.
Raise your metabolism.

Big bowl, big servings, big weight gainDownsize your kitchenware. The human mind works in mysterious ways. It turns out that using smaller bowls, plates, and containers can subconsciously influence how much you serve yourself. Even nutrition experts are victims of this phenomenon; when 85 of them were given a random mix of small and large bowls and scoops, those who got larger bowls served themselves 31% more ice cream, and added on another 14.5% if they had bigger scoops![1]

Put down the knife. By putting down whatever utensils you're using between every bite, you can significantly slow down your eating time, leaving your stomach a chance to feel full and reducing the likelihood that you'll go for seconds. Another technique that can have a similar effect is to take a sip between each bite. Numerous studies have shown that eating slowly results in eating less.[2][3] There's even a device you can get from a dentist that you wear to make your oral cavity smaller so that you take smaller bites,[2] and a fork that's so awkward to use that you'll get less food per bite![4]

Know thine enemy. Make a list of the food items that are your weaknesses. These aren't always unhealthy foods, either. Sometimes we fool ourselves into believing that as long as we avoid the "bad" foods, we're making progress. At least, that's what we like to think as we get up for our third serving of fruit salad, or finish a bag of pretzels in one sitting because they're "healthier" than chips. Remember that too much of anything is bad. You probably don't need to keep a food diary to know your enemies. Common culprits include soda, bread, alcohol, and fast food. Whatever your weakness, cut down on it. If you cut it out completely, you're more likely to binge. Only buy small packages of it and only have it only once in a while. If cutting down doesn't work, you might need to go cold turkey.

Whole grain pastaChoose whole grains over a whole belly. If you switch out all of your refined grain food (white bread, food made with white flour) for whole grain food (oatmeal, whole-grain cereal, whole-grain pasta, brown rice and barley) you won't lose additional weight overall. Sorry. But, you will lose more weight in the belly area, which will make it look like you lost additional weight--at least, that's what a Penn State study implies.[5] Not only will your slimmer profile make you feel better about your progress, but by losing the VAT (visceral adipose tissue) you're also doing away with a risk factor for type 2 diabetes, coronary vascular disease, and some types of cancer.[6] So check those labels and make sure that any grain-based foods you buy are made up of at least 51 percent whole grain.[5]

Limit your spending. Some people have an easier time controlling their wallet than controlling their diet. So go ahead, cut up those credit cards, and build up your emergency fund, if you haven't already (in its own account, and leave the bank card at home). Limit the amount of cash you have in your wallet, especially if you're subject to spontaneous fast food indulgences. When you go grocery shopping, have a list prepared, and bring just enough money to cover those items (this might take a few dry runs). The embarrassment of not having enough money at the register will keep you from throwing a few extra items in the shopping cart. If you don't do the grocery shopping, then offer to take on this monumental role. Your family or roommates might complain about the absence of junk food, but you'll be doing them a favor by stocking the kitchen with healthy stuff. They'll thank you...later. Years later.

Set a digital watch to go off every two hours. Only eat when the watch tells you to. Spontaneous eating sessions (those times when you feel those hunger pangs, those cravings, and you scour the cabinets or the streets in search of satisfaction) are your weakest points. This is why all weight loss books tell you to avoid skipping meals. If you eat every two hours, you won't get so hungry that you gorge yourself when you do eat. You know how it goes: "Oh...I'm so hungry...the brownies are right there...I'd have to walk all the way to the deli to get a sandwich, but my stomach's churning...". Of course, if you eat the equivalent of a cheeseburger every two hours, that's a recipe for obesity, but again, you're more likely to retain self-control and stick to your diet when you don't have hunger pangs to cloud your judgment. It wouldn't hurt, however, to plan out what you'll eat (smoothie at 10, chicken salad at 12, a single piece of leftover cherry pie at 2, a slice of bread with peanut butter at 4, and so on).

This has the added benefit of increasing your metabolism. Extending the time between meals makes your body go into "starvation mode", which means it'll hold onto as many calories as possible and store them as fat. This is why fasting and skipping meals will only make things worse. In addition to having four to six small meals per day[7] eating healthy snacks will also increase your metabolism.[8]
Another useful way to think about this is to use a "hunger scale". Rate your hunger on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being so hungry that you feel weak and 10 being so full that you just want to curl up in bed and digest. Eat when you're at about 3, which is when you're just a little hungry, but not famished.[9]

Trade weight for cash. A 2007 study showed that the more you pay people to lose weight, the more pounds they drop over a 3 month period.[10] If there's someone who keeps nagging you to lose weight, ask them if they'll pay you for every pound you lose. If your employer is self-insured, they might consider enlisting the services of a company that develops reward programs to encourage employees to lose weight.[11] You can also sign a contract that forces you to pay up for every pound you don't lose (or every pound you gain)[12] and whatever money you pay (or gain) can be donated to charity.

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