Spiritually speaking, do any of you have any tips for getting in the right mindset to lose weight?

Losing weight = your body

Your body ≠ spiritual

For me, nope. My diet is so freakin' restricted because of my meds that I'm gonna eat what I want (within the restrictions) when I want. I had pumpkin pie for breakfast, because whatever isn't gone by 4pm I have to throw away; it'll be too old for me to eat after that. Nothing more than 48 hours old, but this will be 72 hours by 4; if I get sick from it, I'll regret it and probably never eat pumpkin pie again but we'll see. Some foods go bad for me faster than others.

I did have to drop about 30 pounds a few years ago, my insulin was high and I was on my way to diabetes. The nutritionist (I was still in the AF) put me on a diabetic diet, all that was, was I ate six small meals each day at about 220 calories each. I couldn't do it, it was too much! So I ate 5 times each day, the 1st, 3rd, and 5th meals were 300 calories and the 2nd and 4th were about 150-170 calories. I was always eating and I was always full. I took in about 1300 each day which you don't want to go below, and the weight came off pretty quickly. And I could eat anything I wanted, it's like the Rev Soleil said, portion control. If I wanted a candy bar, I cut it up into 5 pieces and had a piece with each meal and filled up with the rest of my food and free food, raw veggies and sugar free jello with cool whip. No more diabetes for me!

There are many sensible things you can do that will make a tremendous difference over the long term if you need to lose weight. It can be done in a healthy way. This is what has worked for me.

Keeping a food journal really does help. It will give you a much better sense of how much you are eating, and when, and why.

Make a few additional small changes - walk everywhere, always use stairs instead of elevators, walk on escalators, get up and move around at least once an hour if your work or your life in general is sedentary, walk every day, use a pedometer. Walking 10,000 steps a day is a really good idea. Build up to a long brisk walk everyday, or most days. Be more active and watch less TV and spend less time on the computer. Buy one piece of exercise equipment to have at home and be strict with yourself about using it. Sometimes you can find mini-steppers or exercise bikes at second hand stores and thrift stores for just a few dollars.

Start a weight lifting routine. Join a gym. Possibly you can find one that has someone who specializes in weight lifting programs for beginners. Weight lifting will increase your metabolism as well as improve posture and appearance overall. Even if you can't get to the gym you can work out at home using things around the house. Invest in a good weight training book. The Dummies series actually has a good one.

In terms of diet, cut out or reduce things like junk food, pop, fat, fast food. Eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meat, fish. Particularly if you choose a vegetarian lifestyle include natural peanut butter, hummus, dried fruit and nuts. Pay close attention to getting the nutrients your body needs to be healthy.

Make your portion sizes smaller. Use a smaller plate - in our society we have become accustomed to thinking that we need a large plate of food at every meal, and we don't. About quarter of your plate of food should be protein and at least half of it should be veggies.

Learn to count calories. At your current weight and activity level, you may possibly need about 2000 calories or more to maintain your current weight. So you will lose weight at a reasonable and healthy rate if you cut back to about 1600 or 1700 calories a day.

Eat small amounts frequently, rather than three large meals. Never skip breakfast. Include some protein in your breakfast. It will help get you through the day.

Drink plenty of water, at least 8 big glasses of water a day, and more if it is very hot, if you sweat a lot, or if you are exercising intensely, and eliminate fruit juices. Fruit juices have too many calories, so get your vitamins from fresh fruit, not the juice. You will begin to see changes in your body.

Check out websites about nutrition, exercise, weight training, etc.

I found the book to be very informative and easy to read.

I've lost 17 pounds in 12 days, I'm just concerned that I'm losing too much weight, too quickly. I will admit I haven't followed the guide exactly. I'm not sticking perfectly to the listed foods and meal plans (but mostly) and doing very little exercise, but the weight keeps flying off.

It clearly works and if I'd followed it exactly I think it would scare the living daylights out of me because of the amount that I'd lose. So thanks again for the information. I've never purchased anything like this before because they are usually full of trash, but 3WD has been a pleasant surprise.

Get started today!

I think the most important aspect of losing weight is not to set unrealistic goals that you cannot achieve, or at least not immediately. If you only exercise for 10 minutes a few times a week, you HAVE accomplished something. Congratulate yourself on achieving simple tasks and you will feel more motivated. I really wish you the best of luck and I congratulate you on settling in California!

90 % of losing weight is your diet. Exercise is important but actually the small part. The mindset you want to have when adjusting your diet is that your not going to just adjust your diet for a short time to lose a certain amunt of weight and then go back to eating crap . No you want to depelop a way of life in how you eat. Which is why people who lose weight slowly and slowly adjust their diet and life style are usually most sucessful in losing weight and keeping it off.

You want to shoot for losing no more than 1 1/2 to 2 pounds a week and if you see yourself going over that up your calories. That might seem like a slow pace but I guarantee when you do take off weight that slowly your going to look very healthy and feel strong having lost very little muscle mass.Eat frequent smalll meals no less than 3 and try for 5 meals a day( this is difficult to do I know) Eating small frequent meals is key to keeping your metabolism up.

Keep fresh fruits and vegetables around at all times to snack on if you get hungry.Try to reward yourself with some kind of small treat each day to keep you going. I use to make small little strawberry shortcakes which are not to fatning to have after my dinner with a small cup of coffee. Keep a calender on the wal monitoring your weight loss. If you go over the 1 1/2 to 2 lb. week limit. Up your food intake.

It's going to take you awhile to gete a rountine and will be a pain the but in the begining. After while everthing will become automatic. You will actually find yourself getting use to eating small portions and after a while you wont have to mesure out your food. These are just some tips. I once lost about 75 lbs and did it very successfully to feel and look great after was finished. Oh and drink water, Lots of water with meals and when working out.

Try to do some carido every day. Even if it is just mild walking. Also, I picked one day a week usuall saturday on the weekend to completely splurge and eat what I wanted.

This will give you something to look forward to . Not to mention it will shock your metabolism. The body has a habit of being stubborn when you lower it's calories.

Most of the time in the begining you will lose weight easily and then after your body senses that calorie reduction it slows down by lowering your metabolism. Thats why you need to cardio and one day a week in splurging and piging out to trick your metabolism into staying high.

I hope these tips helped you. God bless you !

The thing that's going to help you best is portion control.

Only 20% of the calories you burn actually goes towards moving your body around -- the rest needed just for maintaining your body temperature and basic metabolic processes. Which means that, even if you ran your @$$ off on the treadmill and doubled your activity level every single day, it's not going to be nearly as effective as simply not putting the food in your body in the first place.

So get in the habit of indulging those cravings (because you know you're going to break down eventually, anyway); but after you cut yourself a slice of whatever, put a third (or even half) of it back. You scratch the itch, and you keep the extra calories out of your body.

You might also see about forming a support group with some of your co-workers, to help keep each other honest.

Oh, and one more bit of advice? Cut out as much fat -- particularly dairy products -- as you can stand.

if you eat many small meals throught the day, like 5-7 small meals, it will help your metabolism.

hey it's what i do and i weigh 138 pounds and am 6'2"

i rarely do any physical activity anymore, i used to do it a lot but havn't for about a year now.

i just wish i could gain weight. :/ i'm at an unhealthily low weight.

The Reverand has it, sweetie. And If you are going to eliminate something from your diet, get rid of high fructose corn syrup first. You can find foods that don't include this chemical. Eat raw foods, and eat smaller portions more often to rev up your metabolism, and for other benefits, as well. Then you will want to get up and move more, which is good for the heart and lungs. Keep thinking (and visualizing yourself) positively, too.

Finding activities that you find more fun than food is always a help, dancing, swimming, yoga, hiking, bike riding, etc. You not only exercise the weight off, but you don't have time to eat.