Weight Loss! - Oak Park,IL

I followed Jillian Michaels advice. Stick to 1200 calories a day. You wont starve if you do it right. Lean meats, eggs, protein shakes ( I use Jillian Michaels whey protein in chocolate with milk), veggies and fruits. Don't drink anything accept water and drink lots of it. I drink 90 oz a day. I did this for 3 weeks a few months ago and lost 10 lbs fast. I am now resuming it along with Jillian Michaels Extreme Shed and Shred. It's intense and works really well.

After my last pregnancy I immediately lost 30lbs after the baby. I thought the rest of the weight would fall off to but it didnt. I had to do some dieting and 20lbs fell off in a month. This is what I did..

1. Get active, do at least 15-30 minutes of exercise daily
2. Everything I bought to eat was the healthy version. (low fat, fat free, reduced cal, reduced sodium, etc.) and lean meats
3. Drink alot of water..but if you need a soda, drink a diet one
4. Eat smaller portions
5. Snack on fruit& veggies

Im not good at counting calories so I didnt. I basically exercised more and made healthier choices. I still ate the foods that I normally eat, I just bought a healthier version

Updated

After my last pregnancy I immediately lost 30lbs after the baby. I thought the rest of the weight would fall off to but it didnt. I had to do some dieting and 20lbs fell off in a month. This is what I did..

1. Get active, do at least 15-30 minutes of exercise daily
2. Everything I bought to eat was the healthy version. (low fat, fat free, reduced cal, reduced sodium, etc.) and lean meats
3. Drink alot of water..but if you need a soda, drink a diet one
4. Eat smaller portions
5. Snack on fruit& veggies

Im not good at counting calories so I didnt. I basically exercised more and made healthier choices. I still ate the foods that I normally eat, I just bought a healthier version

I want to tell you to NOT stick to 1200 cal a day (did you know that eating only 1000 cal is considered anorexic behavior, and 200 calories more then an anorexic is not a good diet!) you can eat 1200 3 days a week or so but the next day eat 1500 cal. it will keep your metabolism working better. Alot of people will tell you to cut out carbs, Don't! Just eat better carbs like brown rice and white potatoes (yes white potatoes are a great diet food that have been given a bad wrap. They have more potassium then a banana, which is great if you work out alot.) Try eating oatmeal for breakfast a couple times a week. I also use "natural fillers" when making meals. Instead of making one serving of pasta I make half a serving then add a bunch of low cal veggies (like zuchini that has been peeled instead of sliced, it looks alot like pasta when cooked). I also want to say that I disagree with Mallory P. when she says right off the top not to eat any simple carbs. If you elminate something that you eat alot altogether that is a recipe for failure. You will most likely just end up bingeing later. Learning how to have treats in moderation is part of a healthy life style. Now if you now there is something you can not eat in moderation, dont eat it. For example I could have 4 hershey kisses to stop a chocolate craving, but I know there is no way I am going to stop at 4, so I have a chocolate pudding cup instead. (I won't even get half of it if my toddler is around anyway!) I have lost 150 pds.

I am, but I set out to lose 50 and have 10 or 15left.

And I have to add, that I've list most of my weight with the DVDs of Jillian micheals also

Watch your carbs. I know after this there will be a lot of remarks about how "limiting a food group is wrong and a calorie is a calorie." This is simply not true. In a nutshell the science of carbs is to provide energy and the more available carbs in your body the more your body will use them. When there is not a ton of carbs available your body will start to use your fat stores. IT is of course more complex than that and I would advise you to do a bit of research on this. So right off the top do not eat any simple carbs like white sugar and flour. Any carbs that you eat should be complex ones like whole greains and especially vegetables and some fruits such as berries. Unless you really hate vegetables this is a pretty do-able way of eating. Its also the best way of eating for life esp in disease prevention. Check out South Beach Diet as a great manual for this which also has lots of recipes.

-lastly...NO liquid calories! and measure protions size.

ETA I expected a lot of people to disagree with me. I just want to say that their "reasoning" is why so many american women are overweight. White potatoes?? Maybe in that perfect world where bacon and donuts aren't so bad either. The fact of the matter is that losing weight is not easy and if it were more people would be thin. You need the discipline to sideline certain foods for a while until you are where you want to be.

Try out www.sparkpeople.com. Free, you can track food and exercise. You put in your current information, say how much you want to lose by when, it gives you daily menus and exercise. Lots and lots and lots of motivational stories. Recipes too.

The site was created by a person who took money he earned from selling a business to help people achieve their goals.

It may be a bit overwhelming at first. Take it for a spin and try a few things.

I highly recommend the calorie counting, and making these changes as life changes and not just for a short period of time.

Best of luck!

Trying to lose 15. Lost 3 lbs so far over the past 2 weeks. I expect it will take 12-13 weeks to lose the remaining 13 lbs, as I generally aim for 1 pound per week.

Calorie counting is the only thing that has ever worked for me. 10 years ago I lost 20 pounds and kept it off for over 5 years thanks to calorie counting. Having a baby finally put some of the weight back on and then a very stressful year packed on a few more pounds.

I used to use spreadsheets for counting calories, but now I use the free MyFitnessPal app, which makes it pretty easy. My daily calorie goal is 1500, but if I exercise I can eat a little more than that and still lose weight.

To help jump-start the diet, I quit all sugary snacks and desserts for the past 2 weeks. I've never done that before because I've always felt depriving yourself completely can backfire. However, I figured I could hold out giving up something for only 2 weeks. I have to say it has worked wonders and I lost 1 more pound than expected. I may stretch the no-sugar resolution for one more week to keep the momentum going.

Best of luck! Remember, if you eat 3500 calories more than what you burn, you gain a pound. Burn 3500 calories more than you eat and you lose a pound. Eat 500 calories less a day and you'll lose a pound in a week.

Track what you eat! You will be amazed at how much this can help you. I started using caloriecount.com and have lost 13 lbs since the end of February. The site will help you log foods, exercise, and track the nutritional value of everything you eat. It will also tell you based on age, gender, height and weight what your max calorie intake should be on a daily basis and will give you an analysis of how you did at the end of each day along with a grade for your nutrition. My husband has been doing it since the end of March and has already lost 17 lbs. Try it...it works! And best of all, it's free : )

don't 'diet.' you'll feel deprived and anxious and you'll boomerang. start incorporating one healthy improvement at a time and get comfy with it before you start the next one. limiting white carbs is a great idea, but i don't agree that just quitting them altogether will be helpful in the long-term.
cutting calories and starting to exercise are equally important. don't elevate one over the other.
i've found that the adage 'don't drink your calories' has really made an impact. i love fancy lattes, and i'm not interested in coffee or tea that doesn't have real cream and sugar. so rather than try and drink stuff i don't love, i make them an occasional treat.
find a way to move that you don't hate. if you loathe running, or aerobics, you're not going to stick with it. do get tough with yourself to do something every day (you want to groove those 'must work out' neural pathways into your brain) but do give yourself permission not to hate it. if your thing is running but you just can't bear it today, run more slowly. or walk. or go up and down the steps for 15 minutes. it's more important to make it a habit than to burn X amount of calories on any given day. pick workouts that you can live with. i have discovered a belated love of running (to my shock) but i run very very slowly, and always have the option of going even more slowly or turning for home if it sucks. 99% of the time once i'm out there i'm fine. putting on my running gear is the hardest part. i enjoy lifting weights, so can do that twice a week while watching tv. i HATE ab work so i baby myself with that. i get to watch iron chef if i do abs at every commercial (and there are an awful lot of commercials......)
drink lots of water.
good luck!
:) khairete
S.

Jillian Michaels' book "Making the Cut" absolutely works! It is a 30-day workout and eating plan. You must stick to her rules (like no desserts or alcohol and limited calories), but it is only 30 days and really does work. I used it after I finished nursing my second child and my abs were cut! My weight wasn't so much an issue, but I had fat around my middle and wanted to tone my body. I do her routine at my local gym (primarily in the women's section because everything is at my fingertips) and added extra cardio workouts to her recommendations. Good luck!