I need help to do this please!

[loulou1]

Hi this is my first time on a forum of any kind! I need motivation to lose 10lb in 4 weeks! I have dieted on and off since my teens (20 odd yrs) tried all diets, exercise regimes etc and worked out I have an unhealthy relationship with food and I'm an emotional eater. Have lost and gained weight but usually put weight back on after a hol or event.

I have been calorie counting using an app for the last 5 months but progress has been slow. (9lb off) prob due to my falling off the wagon during weekend social events then finding it hard to -walk every day, started running twice a week and do short tae bo and ten min leg workout to try to tone up. I can feel boredom setting in as I have to force myself to exercise. Feel I'm an expert on what to eat and how to exercise but master of neither!

Decided yesterday to try high protein regime to give me a kick start as it has worked in the past but I found it hard to maintainlonger term. I'll give it another go as I feel desperate to shift these pounds! I wud like to avoid full fat cheeses if poss as I wud like to use healthy fats instead.

I cud do with some new exercise suggestions please and motivation to stick with this. My prob areas are legs and upper arms particularly need tricep workout advice? Can I reach this goal in 4 weeks or am I being unrealistic? Please help! Thank you in advance...

[timc1981]

One of the scientific underpinnings of low carb is that the insulin response from sugar causes your body to store and accumulate fat.

Watch out for too much protein, because it can be gluconeogeneic (which means that it turns into glucose if not used). High fat is the real ticket to low carb, because the body has much less insulin reponse to it than either protein or carbohydrates.

As far as losing 10 pounds in 4 weeks...you probably could, but the question is what kind of weight will you be losing? If you're talking about losing 10 pounds of fat, at your current weight, you might be able to with the help of a trainer and some pretty serious calorie restriction. A lot of it would also depend on your natural biochemistry and tendency to hold onto body fat.

Good luck!

[loulou1]

Thanks for yr response. Good advice about fats. What ratio would you suggest?

[timc1981]

Obviously, the carbs are the issue. Low carb can generally range from 20-100g per day of carbohydrates.

Protein might be anywhere from 80g-200g (obviously, depends on your weight, and how your body works). I know people who have gone ketogenic (super low carb) that look for calorie ratios of 1 : 3 : 9 (carbs : protein : fat). For ketosis, you generally need to stay under 1.5g per kilogram of weight per day (for your weight, that's 100g per day).

That being said, carbohydrates usually create a much bigger insulin response than protein, so you probably will not have to be a lunatic about keeping track of protein if you don't plan to be on a ketogenic diet.

To sum up, for ketosis, you would be looking at
33g carbs
100g protein
the rest fat

For low non-ketosis low carb, you could probably bring carbs up to 55-60g per day, but you'll probably want to make sure your protein stays under 120-150g per day.

You may want to consider looking at particular low carb strategies, like Atkins or paleo, or some other low carb diet, because each of them have different ideas about what those ratios look like

Personally, I'm usually around 80g per day of carbs, because my goal at this point is more maintenance than actual weight loss

[Nancy LC]

Why 10 pounds in 4 weeks? Maybe the root cause of your failure is unrealistic expectations. You can't dictate to your body to lose X pounds in X weeks/days/months.

It also sounds like you need some education in what Low Carb is about. Lots of great books out there to read on the topic.

As far as long-term feasibility... well, if you can't make it a life style change, then your results will probably be temporary. You can reintroduce some carbs, but you can't go back to how you were eating before.

To get ideas on what to eat, check out the thread on "I'm so bored with Low Carb food" in my signature.

[bkloots]

First of all, Loulou, you've found a really great forum! People here are informed, helpful, motivating. So plan to stick around for a long time.

We're all about good health--which means (here anyway) sticking to a low-carbohydrate way of eating for life. In time, LC eating helps your body find its own best weight and other measures of health (blood pressure, lipid profile, etc.)

LC eating (Atkins, for example) gets lot of press by promising quick weight loss. That can happen. But it isn't universal, and it isn't a very good goal. You can get discouraged fast with that kind of expectation.

As Nancy says, read a good book. Why We Get Fat is a good one, with an excellent low-carb eating plan included. You can get it on Kindle, or probably in a used book store or library.

You can use a tracker like Fitday (free online) to determine the nutritional values of the food you eat. It matters WHAT you eat more than how much. The values for a "ketogenic" (fat-burning) low-carb eating plan are something like 65% fat/10% carb/25% protein. Your mileage may vary.

Having a good exercise habit works in your favor. But you don't need to overdo it. Some resistance training, some walking or running. That's fine. On low-carb, your body will shed fat, and you will look leaner anyway.

The main thing is finding a way of eating you can sustain, even if you occasionally (emphasis on OCCASIONALLY) take a break for cake. Nobody can stay on a diet they hate. But we low-carb eaters think that buttered broccoli, bacon and eggs, green salad with real dressing, and meat with the delicious fatty bits left on is a menu we can live with.

Best wishes.

[loulou1]

Thank you everyone for yr advice. I'm going to read up as suggested. Will keep you posted of my progress. X :wave:

[jaywood]

:wave: welcome to the forum.

Thanks for yr response. Good advice about fats. What ratio would you suggest?

That depends on what plan you want to follow. Low carb is such a wide ranging term.

You really need to go look at a couple of the concepts and choose one. By doing it this way round, rather than "low carb ish" you will find it easier to stay on plan. It also makes it easier for us to offer you help and support :D


EDIT:
Damn there is no need for this post as others have already posted. Should probably have pushed post before falling asleep on the couch !!

[Elizellen]

Welcome to the board, Loulou! :wave:

I noticed you wrote this I wud like to avoid full fat cheeses if poss as I wud like to use healthy fats instead.
Most of us here think the fat in "full fat" cheese is as healthy as any other animal fat and avoid the lowfat cheeses because of the other ingredients they add to it to replace the taste of the fat they remove when making it

[loulou1]

Thank you for your reply. I am re-educating myself on low carb lifestyle now! Re-reading Dr Atkins. All makes perfect sense - including the fats choices when plan is followed properly. Had gud day yesterday. Challenge tonight as at friends for drinks and takeaway. Plan to avoid all carb based foods and replace with salad. Hopefully will b indian food so can go for tandoori or korma as lower carb options.