Gained too much weight

[Kojack7156]

I need someone to help me with a good diet for helping me to get back in shape. I was 195 -200lbs out of the academy 4 years ago and now I have fallen victim to stress and I weigh 240 lbs I need to lose at least 30 lbs and get back into shape. If anyone has any advice for me it would be great. I know how to work out but I need the diet to go with it, and working nights its hard to eat right when all you have is junk around you.

[FLLawdog]

Everyone's body is different, but what worked for me was knocking off regular sodas and drinking close to 50-60 ounces of water a day, with a couple of diet Barqs' or diet Dr. Peppers thrown in for taste. Just by doing that, I'd loose about 5 pounds the first week and about 12 the first month.

Diets. I tried Atkins and hated it. If it works for someone else, GREAT. But it wasn't for me. What did work was Weight Watchers. The meetings were awkward because I was the only guy in there, but the plan worked real well. I ate real food and hit my problems areas...junk food and portion sizes. I'd average about 5-7 pounds a week for the first few weeks, then it dropped off. I'm not on it anymore because of schedule conflicts with the meeting times, but I'm losely following the plan.

Will power. Instead of grabbing a Reese's Cup, I'd spend the extra bucks for a protien bar or go even cheaper and grab a banana. There for a while, 7-11 had ALL of their energy/protien/low carb bars HALF PRICE. Including EAS and Met-RX. If I'm cheap, I'd pack a bag with a peanut butter and banana sandwich and some fruit. Throughout the night I'd refill my water bottle with water (my insulated mug hasn't been in my car since I got back to the road-it won't fit in the cupholders).

Exercise. Anything that gets you moving. I'm not a runner, but I got turned onto the treadmill and eliptical machine. Do that 3-4 times a week, plus a moderate workout (my plans of doing the Rock Hard challenge took a detour shortly into it...too much summer company, my sister moved down and everything else...but I'm ready to get back to it on Monday).

At one point, I was closing in on 230 and my 38's were tight. Just before all hell broke loose, I got down to around 202, but I'm back up to about 208. I know I can do it once I put my mind to it, it's just DOING IT!

Good LUCK!!!

[Kojack7156]

I will def give it a shot. I have cut out reg sodas I just need to get to drinking water. I was working 2 police jobs at once and that didn't help me at all. I quit one of them yesterday so now I will have more time to get in shape. I think I might even just start bringing protien shakes to work to replace those junk cravings.

[medicineman]

Kojack7156 - I dropped 40 lbs - from 230 to 190 - in about 3-4 months with out excercising last October. I went on the WeightWatchers program. It was really simple, I wasn't ever really hungry after the first week or so, it's highly endorsed by the medical profession, you can eat pretty much whatever you want. It's all about protion control - I still went to McDonalds every now and then, had chocloate, etc. You just end up learning to not eat as much. It was really pretty east. If you don't think that is for you something else that helps is to cut out, or greatly reduce any caffine intake and start drinking water more. Caffine screws up your matabolism and drinking more water actually helps reduce additional water weight because your body learns to regulate itself as it knows that it is getting a steady supply as opposed to trying to store water. Also the water helps increase your matabolism and keeps your stomach full feeling. The bigest thing I found is that I eat when I'm bored or just because it's sitting there (e.g. someone brings in doughnuts or cookies). When I see the food sitting there in the squad room I just remind myself that I would rather lose weight instead of enjoying the whole 5 seconds of eating whatever it is. Let me know if you want mre information or help, I'd be glad to tell you anything I can.

[degrat38]

A few years ago I dropped 105 lbs of fat and packed on about 15 lbs of muscle. I used to drink a 2 liter or more of pop a day. I dropped that to 1-2 cans a day, drank water, and diet pop. I go to subway and quiznos a bunch and get one of their low fat subs. I also snack on 'wow' potato chips that have a lot less fat. This way I am able to keep the weight off and I can still eat out. On average I try to make monday through friday healthy eating days and using the weekend of junk food days. That way I can give into my cravings and still know that I will be keeping the weight off during the week days.