Okay, here's the plan: LONG MESSAGE

Hey no problem at all! I'm like you, I didn't want a dietitian telling me what to do. My goal weight was 58 kg's but I knew that if I'd tell the dietitian that, he or she would say "no! you need to weigh atleast 65 kg's." That would mean a disagreement before even starting off. So I decided against that.

Also, admitting to my family that I indeed had a problem was a no go for me. I wanted to dig myself out of the pit. And I did. So you can too.

Okay, now what I did was the following:
Step 1: you're prolly like me: you know the nutritional value of every food. You're constantly doing calculations to determine your calorie intake (except when you're binging because then you don't want to know.) Okay, step one is to let go of that entirely.

I'm serious. Concentrate on reducing your food intake to 3 meals. No snacks at first, because you need to get used to eating separate meals again instead of eating pretty much the entire time.

- eat what you want to eat. If you want to eat a sandwich, eat a sandwich. If you want pasta, eat pasta, etc. Listen to what your body is telling you even if your head is screaming "carbs make me fat!" Don't focus on eating healthily just yet. You'll just continue on that vicious cycle.

Don't worry about weight gain either. Once you've settled into 3 meals a day of your choice your weight will stabilize and even go down. (I lost 5 pounds in that period and I was eating pizza.) Your body will start giving you signs when it's full, so you won't be struggling with those binges anymore.
Your mind will wander off from food to other things you enjoy, because you are no longer restricting food intake. In other words, you'll get your natural eating pattern back from way back when you were a kid and quit eating before your belly said it was full.

Note: this might take a while, so be patient. The best way to go about this is to be laid back. You've got one rule: 3 meals a day, and that's it. One day, when you notice you haven't consciously thought about food except when it was actually time you were supposed to eat a meal is the moment you know you've succeeded.

Step 2 Once you've completed the first step, it's time to introduce healthier stuff.

****IMPORTANT: ignore all foods that are marketed as "healthy." You might not want to believe it, but all that stuff from Tofu, to Soy Milk and yoghurt sweetened with artificial Sweetners are bad for you.

As for the Organic hype, ignore that as well. The time when organic was actually organic has passed and today it's only used as a marketing ploy. Same goes for the "all natural" stamp and similar devices. They are all cunning ways to get the customer to spend more.*****

As for introducing stuff, be careful in the beginning. Don't trade your rice dish for lettuce just yet. Start with eating more fruit. Instead of 2 sandwiches for lunch, take one and an apple. (for example.) Or instead of that sweet spread you use for your sandwich, get meat. Switch it up as well, so you won't get bored.

Pick fruits that you really like, not because they are low in calories. As for dinner, start introducing more veggies and eat those first before you continue onto the rest of your meal. Again, pick those that you enjoy. Start laying off the gravy a bit. Switch fried chicken for grilled chicken. Eat fish (if you like fish, that is) Small things. Almonds instead of cashews, etc. Whatever you do, make sure that you're satisfied after every meal.

Don't cut back on intake because you'll get cravings afterward which will have you grabbing that snickers bar later on.

Also, start cutting back on the soda. Drink more water.

Step 3 Okay, now you're well on your way to a healthy eating pattern, it's time to focus on exercise. Go to a gym and let a trainer determine your level. Set up a fatburning programme.

-I started with training twice a week, doing cardio moderate intensity for 25 minutes and light weight training for the other 20/25 min's. Often there are grouplessons as well. Inform yourself and try them out, see if there's any of your liking. If there aren't any of those, see if you can hire a personal trainer once a month. Take notes after you've done the workout so you know exactly what to do the next time you visit the gym. When he comes again, ask for a different workout so your body won't get used to the exercises.

- Do you do any sports? If not, now's the time to find one. I've picked up salsa dancing. I do martial arts as well. Those two are at parallels, but they never leave me bored.
Once you've picked sports, it's time to increase your workouts a bit. Say you do streetdance Wednesday, once a week. Weave 2 workouts around it. Monday, Friday.

-Introduce interval training. Long, moderate intensity cardio is not the way to go for long term fatloss. Do intervals. A couple of mins on max intensity, one minute lower intensity, , max intensity, etc....This can be anything from running on the threadmill to doing ropejumping.
- turn your weight workout into a cardio workout. What I mean by that is "keep moving." After lifting those weights, don't sit down for 5 mins, but continue with, say, your triceps.

Step 4: Now you're exersising, you might find those 3 meals to be a bit on the small side. You can now introduce 2 snacks.

***IMPORTANT***If you feel you're losing control again after introducing those snacks (as in: you're thinking about food again the entire time) then go back on 3 meals****

Try to introduce protein in snacks opposed to carbs. Protein helps building muscle and your body burns more cals digesting them. Have a protein shake post workout for example.

Step 5: Have fun. Don't cut out bad food from your life entirely. Yes there are people that are able to do that but for now it's not a realistic goal. Going out with your friends and having fries once in a while isn't bad.

Hope this helped. If you have any questions, post them here and I'll be happy to help!

P.S. I'm no dietitian, so people may disagree with me. But this is what I did and I've lost over 20 lbs so far and eliminated almost half of the bodyfat I was carrying around. I haven't had a relapse in months and I feel good. I hope this will help you to feel good as well.










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