Hi, thanks for your responses. The person who mentioned their tryin to gain weight is probably a guy who's tryin to gain muscle. My brother was like that, scrawny, and I always felt for him. I didn't inherit that side of the family unfortunately. lol. The slimfast optima plan is a new plan that slimfast is doing. It's the slimfast shakes, but now thier lower sugar, but same taste. Depending on your weight range you follow their plan on
www.slimfast.com. For me I do 1450 cal's per day for my weight range to lose weight. That's a 180 cal shake or bar for bkfst, and 150 cal add on like an scrambled egg or a piece of toast. Then a snack, then again do a shake or bar and 150 cal's like half a turkey sandwhich. Then another snack an hour later. Drinking lots of water 8-8 fluid ounces per day minimum. (helps keep you full too). Then 500 cal dinner. Which is 4 ounces of meat. I usualy do grilled chicken, or occasionally flank steak or sirloin, or filet minion, then a starch, like a potatoe or rice, then fill half the plate with vegies. Usually green beans or corn or brochali, and a small salad on the side. Don't use your cal's on condiments like butter. Doing this plan with all the snacking you never feel hungry. I love it. Before I eat in the mornin I go on the treadmill for 30 minutes and do high intensity fast walk. Then go to the gym before I eat dinner, and work out for a half hour to an hour. I do weight training only at the gym, and maybe swim afterwords. The key to lose weight is you need to burn more calories and fat than you consume. On the site you also get some great info, and dieticians are an emails call away and great recipes and support from slimfast buddies. Some great hints and low fat cals to try are: "I can't believe it's not butter, -Light" And canola sray vegetable oil so you use less when frying. Using mustard on a sandwhich instead of mayo. And not drinking your calories, and not letting food control your life. That has been my key to success and keeping it off, and I just thought I'd share. It takes around 2 solid weeks to get use to any major change in diet. So hang in there it gets easier. I've been goin at it since June. And keep in mind less isn't always better. Fact: Any adult human needs 1200 cal's minimum to not suffer kidney and liver damage. So don't starve yourself to lose weight, you'll just gain. I didn't know I was getting too low on cal's one month, and got REALLY sick, and gained weight, so keep track of your cal's when dieting too. And it is proven that if you go too high above your target heartrange while working out that you'll just burn muscle, so keep that in mind while doing any cardio. I've learned a lot of this through dieticians and through trainers. But really do get a check out from your doctor before you start any diet or exercise program, as you may have som condition you don't know about, and can agrivate it. You never know.
After I started losing weight I noticed a huge increase in happiness and wellbeing, and my back stopped hurting, and posture and balance got HUGELY better. I love Pilates and Joglates. They are great for increasing balance, and strengthening the abs and back. Weight training has been great too, and makes it easier to lose weight than cardio alon. You'll feel happier and healthier, and after a while you'll look forward to working out and the extra energy you get after working out. I just thought I'd share my experiences and hope this helps someone out there wanting to lose weight. Thanks~Ali
